MIT Libraries logoDSpace@MIT

MIT
View Item 
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • MIT Open Access Articles
  • MIT Open Access Articles
  • View Item
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • MIT Open Access Articles
  • MIT Open Access Articles
  • View Item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Sociology, Street-Level Bureaucracy, and the Management of the Public Sector

Author(s)
Piore, Michael J.
Thumbnail
DownloadNote: there was a change in the title just before publication (108.7Kb)
OPEN_ACCESS_POLICY

Open Access Policy

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike

Alternative title
Beyond Markets: Sociology, street-level bureaucracy, and the management of the public sector
Terms of use
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
This article extends the concept of street-level bureaucracy to address the problem of the inflexibility and rigidity of governmental rules and regulations, a problem at the heart of the standard economic argument against an active government role in the management of the economy. In so doing, it seeks to create a conceptual bridge over which a range of social science disciplines can be drawn into the debate about public sector management and thereby expand the repertoire of policy tools. The article draws primarily on research on one class of street-level bureaucratic organizations, labor inspection organizations in Latin America and southern Europe, and secondarily on a project focusing on DARPA, the research arm of the US Department of Defense. In both organizations, line officers have wide discretion in program development and management and in effect adjust to changing economic and social conditions in a way not unlike the market. These adjustments are grounded in tacit rules that evolve through discussion among the line agents coping day-to-day with novel cases. Management can influence that evolution by entering into the ongoing discussion and giving it direction. Various ways in which it might do so are examined.
Date issued
2011-01
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/74597
Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics
Journal
Regulation and Governance
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell Pubishers
Citation
Piore, Michael J. “Beyond Markets: Sociology, Street-level Bureaucracy, and the Management of the Public Sector.” Regulation & Governance 5.1 (2011): 145–164. Web.
Version: Author's final manuscript
ISSN
1748-5983
1748-5991

Collections
  • MIT Open Access Articles

Browse

All of DSpaceCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

My Account

Login

Statistics

OA StatisticsStatistics by CountryStatistics by Department
MIT Libraries
PrivacyPermissionsAccessibilityContact us
MIT
Content created by the MIT Libraries, CC BY-NC unless otherwise noted. Notify us about copyright concerns.