Mind the Gap: The Impact of Administrative Staff on Cutback Management in Georgia Municipalities

• In Event: Considering the Constraints of Government Agencies

Abstract

Fifty years ago, Charles Levine presented a set of tools that officials could use to respond to fiscal stress, but our understanding of when and why these tools are applied is still limited. How local governments respond to periods of stress such as recessions has substantial implications for the study of public financial mangmeent and how practitioners plan for these situations. In this study, I examine the role that administrative capacity plays in defining the choice of a cutback management strategy in municipal governments. Specifically, it presents an argument for policy instrument choice that is shaped by the administrative capacity provided by administrative staff and their expertise. This study applies a panel dataset of nearly all Georgia municipal governments over ten years beginning with the Great Recession to test how the number of staff, their average pay, specialization, and several other measures of staff capacity impact that municipality's use of common cutback management policy instruments. I find that the quantity and quality of key personnel are strong predictors of more complex policy responses, and that staff in public-facing roles preferentially adopt simple, politically favorable approaches. The study provides evidence that administrative capacity plays a substantial role in municipal policy choice, and that staff characteristics place constraints on the feasible menu of viable policy options. These findings present the need for more thorough consideration of policy instrument choice and the role of administrative capacity in studying or suggesting policy for small and medium-sized governments.

Author

• Daniel Rudy, University of Georgia
  Presenting Author