2020
Working Paper
HBS Working Paper Series

The Impact of CEOs in the Public Sector: Evidence from the English NHS

By: Katharina Janke, Carol Propper and Raffaella Sadun

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:102

Abstract

Abstract Governments worldwide have sought to reform the delivery of public services by mimicking private sector governance models that grant CEOs greater autonomy and give them responsibility for meeting key government targets. We examine the effectiveness of this approach in the context of English public hospitals, complex organizations with multi-million turnover. We find little evidence of CEOs’ impact on hospital production, though estimated pay differentials suggest that the CEOs are perceived to be differentiated by the market. These findings are not driven by endogenous sorting of CEOs. The results question the effectiveness of top-down managerial approaches to improve public sector performance.

Keywords

CEOs; Management; Performance; Public Sector; Measurement and Metrics; Health Industry

Citation

Janke, Katharina, Carol Propper, and Raffaella Sadun. "The Impact of CEOs in the Public Sector: Evidence from the English NHS." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 18-075, March 2018. (Revised September 2020.)