Organizational size and public service performance: a meta-analysis and an agenda for future research

Richard M. Walker, Rhys Andrews, Bert George and Xuan Tu

Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration, 2024, vol. 46, issue 1, 32-65

Abstract: The question whether small or large organisations are associated with the best public service performance has long been a subject of debate in public administration research, and has had profound ramifications for practice. This article seeks to bring clarity to this debate by conducting a meta-analysis of studies scrutinising the relationship between organisational size and public service performance (45 articles, 122 effect sizes). Meta-analytical and meta-regression results show mostly null findings. We discuss the circumstances in which organisational size matters for public service performance, and propose rekindling venerable research agendas about nonlinearity and contingency in the size-performance relationship.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1080/23276665.2023.2176333

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