Tab. 1:
Main theories addressing public sector management topics
| Theory | References | |
|---|---|---|
| NPM | This theory empathises how the use of entrepreneurial behaviours shape and transform public sector | Funck & Karlsson, 2020; Weiss et al., 1995 |
| Public choice theory | This theory focuses on the decisions that individuals make in government institutions, and it states that the individuals will prioritise their own interests over the public interest and social benefit | Emrah Firidin, 2022; James Buchanan & Gordon Tullock, 1958 |
| Stakeholder theory | Based on this theory, organisations must consider the interests of all stakeholders, not just shareholders or managers. Though stakeholder theory explicitly emerged from private sector, scholars apply it to public sector organisations, namely, in regards to e-government initiatives | Freeman, 1984; Jones et al., 2017; Scholl, 2001 |
| Contingency theory | This theory posits that the effectiveness of management approaches depends on the specific context in which the organisation operates, meaning that internal and external environments will shape decisions to achieve optimal functionality | Lawrence & Jay W. Lorsch, 1967; McGrandle, 2016 |
| Transformational leadership theory | This theory indicates that leadership can inspire and motivate employees to stay committed and achieve common goals | Bass & Bass Bernard, 1985; van der Voet, 2016; Wright & Pandey, 2010 |
[i] NPM: new public management
Fig. 1:
Research strategy
Tab. 2:
Absolute frequency of data by document type
| Document type | Absolute frequency |
|---|---|
| Article | 14,386 |
| Book chapter | 1,159 |
| Conference paper | 869 |
| Review | 856 |
| Book | 350 |
| Editorial | 106 |
| Note | 99 |
| Conference review | 33 |
| Short survey | 29 |
| Business article | 11 |
| Erratum | 10 |
| Letter | 6 |
| Retraction | 1 |
| Undefined | 13 |
Fig. 2:
Bar chart with the absolute frequency of literature published from 1950 to 2021
Tab. 3:
List of journals and books publishing more than 100 documents in the dataset
| Journals and books | Number of documents |
|---|---|
| Public Money and Management | 386 |
| International Journal of Public Administration | 378 |
| Public Management Review | 275 |
| Public Personnel Management | 209 |
| Public Administration Review | 206 |
| Review of Public Personnel Administration | 190 |
| Financial Accountability and Management | 170 |
| Proceedings of the ECEG | 143 |
| International Public Management Journal | 118 |
| World Development | 112 |
| Public Choice | 111 |
| Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory | 107 |
| Applied Economics | 101 |
| American Review of Public Administration | 101 |
[i] ECEG: European Conference on e-Government
Tab. 4:
List of the 10 most productive journals on management in public sector publication and the most cited documents
| Journals and books | Total citations | The most cited document | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Administration Review | 15,335 | West, 2004 | Wiley-Blackwell |
| Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory | 8,528 | Dunleavy, 2005 | Oxford University Press |
| Public Management Review | 6,355 | Voorberg et al., 2015 | Taylor & Francis |
| Public Money and Management | 5,588 | Dunleavy & Hood, 1994 | Taylor & Francis |
| World Development | 5,172 | Psacharopoulos, 1994 | Elsevier |
| Research Policy | 4,724 | Edler & Georghiou, 2007 | Elsevier |
| International Journal of Project Management | 3,759 | Bing et al., 2005 | Elsevier |
| International Journal of Public Administration | 3,671 | Smith, 1995 | Taylor & Francis |
| Accounting, Organizations and Society | 3,479 | Hood, 1995 | Elsevier |
| Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization | 3,362 | la Porta, 1999 | Oxford University Press |
| Financial Accountability and Management | 3,332 | Modell, 2004 | Wiley-Blackwell |
Fig. 3:
Trends in management research partnerships in public sector
Fig. 4:
Term view of VOSviewer co-occurrence map
Tab. 5:
Clusters’ characterisation
| Cluster | Most frequent terms | Number of occurrences |
|---|---|---|
| Cluster #1: Economic growth during crises | crisis | 201 |
| employment | 185 | |
| cost | 160 | |
| economic growth | 160 | |
| investment | 156 | |
| education | 153 | |
| European Union (EU) | 118 | |
| competition | 116 | |
| privatisation | 110 | |
| union | 108 | |
| Cluster #2: Reforms for the future | accounting | 291 |
| Australia | 122 | |
| United Kingdom | 116 | |
| response | 105 | |
| tourism | 98 | |
| new public management | 97 | |
| public sector reform | 97 | |
| future | 96 | |
| transition | 82 | |
| collaboration | 73 | |
| Cluster #3: Human relations | relationship | 266 |
| employee | 243 | |
| leadership | 216 | |
| job satisfaction | 136 | |
| outcome | 119 | |
| difference | 117 | |
| trust | 108 | |
| culture | 102 | |
| organisational performance | 94 | |
| motivation | 92 | |
| Cluster #4: Successful practices | Africa | 145 |
| adoption | 133 | |
| opportunity | 111 | |
| success | 90 | |
| knowledge management | 72 | |
| barrier | 70 | |
| action | 66 | |
| transparency | 61 | |
| diversity | 56 | |
| challenges | 52 | |
| Cluster #5: Partnerships | project | 333 |
| public private partnership | 157 | |
| problem | 153 | |
| partnership | 97 | |
| performance measurement | 80 | |
| comparative study | 71 | |
| solution | 67 | |
| Brazil | 60 | |
| money | 46 | |
| Hong Kong | 40 | |
| Cluster #6: Public banking services | India | 358 |
| bank | 292 | |
| empirical study | 188 | |
| service quality | 67 | |
| asset | 57 | |
| citizen | 51 | |
| customer | 45 | |
| customer satisfaction | 31 |
Fig. 5:
Overlay view of VOSviewer co-occurrence map by publication year
Tab. 6:
Suggested future research topics
| Area | Subarea | Topics |
|---|---|---|
| Accounting | Financial accounting | Non-financial reporting formats Accounting standards Consolidated financial statements |
| Management accounting | Insights into performance-based budgeting Management accounting in emerging economies | |
| Accounting in general | Public value and public sector accounting Accounting in the higher education sector | |
| Management | Citizenship | Co-creation with citizens Organisational citizenship behaviour |
| Control | Internal auditing Management control | |
| Innovation | Barriers to and governance strategies for digital and non-digital open innovation Innovation in developing countries | |
| Human resources | Talent management Intellectual capital Knowledge management | |
| Marketing | Branding | |
| Performance | Critical success factors of business process management Performance measurement From output to outcome measures Critical success factors of continuous improvement |