IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/pubmgr/v16y2014i7p969-986.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Constitutive Effects of Performance Indicators: Getting beyond unintended consequences

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Dahler-Larsen

Abstract

The idea that performance indicators in public management have unintended consequences is almost as old as performance measurement itself. But, is 'unintended consequences' an appropriate and insightful idea? The very term rests on an identification of intentions and assumptions about validity that are demonstrably problematic. Based on a distinction between trivial and advanced measure fixation, an argument is made for constitutive effects that are based on less problematic assumptions. Through this conceptual move, the political dimension of performance indicators is appreciated. The conceptual dimensions of constitutive effects are carved out, empirical illustrations of their applicability are offered and implications discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Dahler-Larsen, 2014. "Constitutive Effects of Performance Indicators: Getting beyond unintended consequences," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(7), pages 969-986, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:pubmgr:v:16:y:2014:i:7:p:969-986
    DOI: 10.1080/14719037.2013.770058
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/14719037.2013.770058
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/14719037.2013.770058?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    RePEc Biblio mentions

    As found on the RePEc Biblio, the curated bibliography for Economics:
    1. > Economic Development Technological Change, and Growth > Technological Change: Choices and Consequences > Technology Assessment > Indicators for Technology Assessment

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kalpazidou Schmidt, Evanthia & Graversen, Ebbe Krogh, 2020. "Developing a conceptual evaluation framework for gender equality interventions in research and innovation," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Beime, Kristina S. & Englund, Hans & Gerdin, Jonas & Seger, Karin, 2024. "Theorizing the subjectivizing powers of market-based technologies: Looking beyond coercion and seduction," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    3. Jeongeun Kim, 2018. "The Functions and Dysfunctions of College Rankings: An Analysis of Institutional Expenditure," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 59(1), pages 54-87, February.
    4. de Kam, David & Kok, Josje & Grit, Kor & Leistikow, Ian & Vlemminx, Maurice & Bal, Roland, 2020. "How incident reporting systems can stimulate social and participative learning: A mixed-methods study," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(8), pages 834-841.
    5. Julia Heuritsch, 2023. "The Evaluation Gap in Astronomy—Explained through a Rational Choice Framework," Publications, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-26, June.
    6. Chen, Huey T. & Morosanu, Liliana & Powell-Threets, Kia & Lian, Brad & Turner, Nannette, 2019. "Assessment of the monitoring and evaluation system of a population-based program: Theory-driven evaluation approach," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    7. Elizabeth Troncoso & Francisco Ganga-Contreras & Margarita Briceño, 2022. "Incentive Policies for Scientific Publications in the State Universities of Chile," Publications, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-19, June.
    8. Loet Leydesdorff & Lutz Bornmann & Tobias Opthof, 2019. "hα: the scientist as chimpanzee or bonobo," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 118(3), pages 1163-1166, March.
    9. Alberto Baccini & Giuseppe De Nicolao & Eugenio Petrovich, 2019. "Citation gaming induced by bibliometric evaluation: A country-level comparative analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(9), pages 1-16, September.
    10. Julia Heuritsch, 2021. "Reflexive Behaviour: How Publication Pressure Affects Research Quality in Astronomy," Publications, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-23, November.
    11. Giliberto Capano & Benedetto Lepori, 2024. "Designing policies that could work: understanding the interaction between policy design spaces and organizational responses in public sector," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 57(1), pages 53-82, March.
    12. Fontdevila, Clara, 2023. "The politics of good enough data. Developments, dilemmas and deadlocks in the production of global learning metrics," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    13. Cinzia Daraio, 2017. "A framework for the Assessment of Research and its impacts," DIAG Technical Reports 2017-04, Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering, Universita' degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza".
    14. Alejandra Rodas-Gaiter & Pablo Sanabria-Pulido, 2020. "Management, Goal Alignment, And Performance Assessment Legitimacy: Evidence From The Colombian Public Sector," Public administration issues, Higher School of Economics, issue 5, pages 81-104.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:pubmgr:v:16:y:2014:i:7:p:969-986. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RPXM20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.