Interacting Capacities: The Indirect National Contribution to Subnational Service Provision

Abstract

Different levels of government often interact on the ground, providing closely related services. While multilevel governance arrangements have been studied broadly, scarce literature has explored the contribution of national governments to achieving subnational policy goals. By reconceptualizing administrative decentralization as coexisting devolution (to subnational governments) and deconcentration (through field units), this research explores the indirect national contribution to subnational performance by delivering associated services. This article tests the following hypotheses: (1) there is a positive effect of national deconcentrated capacity on subnational policy outputs, and (2) under policy overlap, this contribution diminishes with increasing levels of subnational capacity. While Colombian schooling is decentralized, the national government indirectly contributes to education through a national agency that administers child protection services. Analyzing data for Colombian subnational governments over a decade reveals that national capacity boosts education provision while the least endowed regions benefit the most, thus providing evidence supporting both hypotheses.

Softening Performance's Pitfalls by Integrating Context and Capacity: A Government Competitiveness Framework

“…Bello‐Gomez (2020) provides important insights at a different level. While Moynihan, Beakgaard, and Jakobsen (2020) focus on the employee level and on the performance component of the model, Bello‐Gomez's “Interacting Capacities: The Indirect National Contribution to Subnational Service Provision” focuses on national‐ and subnational‐organizational levels and the capacity component of the model.…”

“…Managers who "use data to facilitate problem-solving, which is associated with greater goal-based learning" (1007) will find greater success because this approach relies on the capacity and expertise of professionals, bringing "insight into the causes behind organizational performance, as well as the levers to improve results" (1001). Bello-Gomez (2020) provides important insights at a different level. While Moynihan, Beakgaard, and Jakobsen (2020) focus on the employee level and on the performance component of the model, Bello-Gomez's "Interacting Capacities: The Indirect National Contribution to Subnational Service Provision" focuses on nationaland subnational-organizational levels and the capacity component of the model.…”

Human Resources in Multilevel Service Provision Performance: The Role of Field Offices and Local Organizations

“…Schools must report to ICBF when children are absent from classes, which triggers a process to investigate the situation, identify vulnerabilities, and make sure the child returns to a safe environment, including access to the health and education systems. Thus, ICBF actions affect, even though indirectly, outputs of education provision, such as high school enrollment and dropout rates (Bello-Gomez, 2020).…”

“…While the literature on decentralization has emphasized a financial viewpoint to understand government production functions (Bahl & Linn, 1994; Porto et al, 2018), it has rather neglected the role of organizational, administrative, and human factors (Ahmad et al, 2005). Consequently, the interaction of national and local governments through their own bureaucracies for service provision has received scarce scholarly attention (Bello-Gomez, 2020).…”

The Umbrella Metaphor

“…Moreover, the way managers use performance data seems to matter; if managers reinforce the perception of performance management as an externally imposed tool of control, professionals withdraw effort, but when managers use data in ways that solve organizational problems, professionals engage in goal‐based learning. Bello‐Gomez (2020) explores the interaction of capacity at different levels, looking closely at the indirect national contribution to subnational performance in a context. Taking Columbian schools as the object of study, the results suggest that national capacity boosts education provision, and that regions with the least own‐source capacity benefit the most.…”