Risk management in the public sector : a comparison of Germany, France and Italy

In a context of growing uncertainty (pandemic, geopolitical tensions, inflation, sovereign debt crisis), it is becoming more and more important for public sector organisations to assess, anticipate and mitigate the numerous risks affecting their activity. The literature shows that the issue of risk management in the public sector is fairly old (Vincent, 1996; Kapuscinska & Matejun, 2014). These studies highlight the diversity of issues relating to risk management in the public sector: the type of risk to be assessed (Mahama & al, 2022), the integration into the management control system (Rana & al, 2019), the vulnerabilities raised by crises (e.g., Padovani & al, 2021) the conditions for success (Bracci & al, 2022) or the choice of a formal or vernacular approach (Carlsson-Wall & al, 2019). However, little research has been done on how these risk management approaches are implemented (Bracci & al, 2021), and, more specifically, the issue of risk assessment remains largely understudied. However, this step is particularly crucial and can be approached in very different ways by public organisations. Our study responds to this gap by comparing risk assessment approaches implemented in the public sector of the three largest European economies: Germany, France and Italy. We investigate risk assessment through a review of norms, regulations, and reports by control and auditing authorities to appreciate whether a common approach emerges and, in particular: (i) what types of risks are assessed in the administrations of the different countries studied; (ii) what frameworks, methodologies and tools are used to assess these risks, and (iii) what are the observed differences/regularities between the different countries and how they can be explained. Our study highlights the differences between the German, French and Italian administrations in the way they assess risks but also the points of convergence. Moreover, the study assesses the emergence of a European appreciation for risk assessment and explains symmetries and differences regarding the administrative traditions of these three countries (Kuhlmann & Wollmann, 2019).