Better service delivery, more satisfied citizens? The mediating effects of local government management capacity in South Korea

IF 1.4 3区社会学 Q1 AREA STUDIES

Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies Pub Date : 2021-02-09 DOI:10.1002/app5.316

Geiguen Shin, Byong-Kuen Jhee

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引用次数: 5

Abstract

Does decentralisation lead to higher citizens' satisfaction with the public services that local governments provide? Despite arguments that decentralisation improves public service delivery, studies have not successfully verified the effects of decentralisation on citizen evaluations of local government services. Given the importance of increased local empowerment in promoting desired public goods, we examine whether the hypothesised advantages of decentralisation on public service delivery still hold when applied to citizens' satisfaction with public services. Specifically, we explore both the direct and indirect impacts of decentralisation on citizens' satisfaction through the mediating impact of the local management capacity in Korea. Based on structural equation modelling, the results indicate that decentralisation has a direct negative impact on public service satisfaction, but its impact is not mediated by local management capacity. Due to Korean citizens' lower expectations regarding decentralisation, citizens' satisfaction is not improved even when local management capacity is increased via higher decentralisation.

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更好的服务，更满意的市民?韩国地方政府管理能力的中介效应

权力下放是否会提高公民对地方政府提供的公共服务的满意度?尽管有人认为权力下放改善了公共服务的提供，但研究并没有成功地证实权力下放对公民评价地方政府服务的影响。鉴于增强地方权力对促进期望的公共产品的重要性，我们研究了假设的权力下放对公共服务提供的优势在应用于公民对公共服务的满意度时是否仍然成立。具体而言，我们通过韩国地方管理能力的中介影响，探讨了权力下放对公民满意度的直接和间接影响。基于结构方程模型的研究结果表明，地方分权对公共服务满意度有直接的负面影响，但这种影响不受地方管理能力的中介作用。由于韩国国民对地方分权的期望值较低，即使通过提高地方分权提高地方管理能力，国民的满意度也没有提高。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies AREA STUDIES-

CiteScore

3.20

自引率

5.30%

发文量

审稿时长

6 weeks

期刊介绍： Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies is the flagship journal of the Crawford School of Public Policy at The Australian National University. It is a peer-reviewed journal that targets research in policy studies in Australia, Asia and the Pacific, across a discipline focus that includes economics, political science, governance, development and the environment. Specific themes of recent interest include health and education, aid, migration, inequality, poverty reduction, energy, climate and the environment, food policy, public administration, the role of the private sector in public policy, trade, foreign policy, natural resource management and development policy. Papers on a range of topics that speak to various disciplines, the region and policy makers are encouraged. The goal of the journal is to break down barriers across disciplines, and generate policy impact. Submissions will be reviewed on the basis of content, policy relevance and readability.