Public and private management: now, is there a difference? A systematic review

Abstract

What is the difference between public and private management? This contested question has implications for why and how to study public management and for how to manage public organizations. Therefore, we conduct the first systematic review of the empirical literature of perceptual and behavioral differences between public and private managers since Boyne (2002a). We review 41 studies related to five theoretical expectations: Public managers experience a more complex stakeholder environment, stricter accountability demands, more ambiguous goals, less autonomy, and different values than their private sector counterparts do. The findings from the reviewed studies provide evidence of differences related to all five themes. However, as a field, we need a more refined understanding and operationalization of what it means to be a public versus a private organization. Additionally, we argue it is time to move beyond the dichotomous difference/no-difference discussion and focus on substantive, contextual factors and behavioral effects.