City manager compensation has received heightened scrutiny in the media and in public debate. High salaries for city managers are sometimes compared with the salaries of elected officials, but this might not be the best comparison if we consider the nature of their work. If city managers are responsible for municipal corporations, then the scope of the municipal enterprise should explain compensation practices. Because California cities vary in the scope of services provided, we test an enterprise argument. The analysis makes a distinction between the scope of direct service delivery and contract service delivery by cities. Elite interviews with search firms in California provide additional insight into compensation practices. We conclude with paths for future research and discuss normative implications consistent with the enterprise framework for governing bodies to consider as they set city manager compensation.
AchenC. H. (2002). Toward a new political methodology: Microfoundations and ART. Annual Review of Political Science, 5, 423-450.
2.
AikenL. S.WestS. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE.
3.
AllergrettoS. A.KeefeJ. (2010). The truth about public employees in California: They are neither overpaid nor overcompensated. Berkeley, CA: Institute for Research on Labor and Employment.
4.
BaronR. M.KennyD. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
5.
BenderK. A. (2003). Examining equality between public- and private-sector wage distributions. Economic Inquiry, 41, 62-79.
6.
BenderK. A.HeywoodJ. S. (2010). Comparing public and private sector compensation over 20 years. Washington, DC: National Institute on Retirement Security.
BrowerR. S.AbolafiaM. Y.CarrJ. B. (2000). On improving qualitative methods in public administration research. Administration & Society, 32, 363-397.
9.
BrownT. L.PotoskiM. (2003). Contract-management capacity in municipal and county governments. Public Administration Review, 63, 153-164.
10.
BrownT. L.PotoskiM. (2004). Managing the public service market. Public Administration Review, 64, 656-668.
11.
BrownT. L.PotoskiM.Van SlykeD. M. (2008). Changing modes of service delivery: How past choices structure future choices. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 26, 127-143.
12.
ByrneT. P. (2014). Ethical dilemmas in a California city: Lessons in leadership, transparency, and accountability. California Journal of Politics and Policy, 6, 577-598.
13.
ClingermayerJ. C.FeiockR. C. (1997). Leadership turnover, transaction costs, and external city service delivery. Public Administration Review, 57, 231-239.
14.
CondreyS. E.FacerR. L.IILlorensJ. J. (2012). Getting it right: How and why we should compare federal and private sector compensation. Public Administration Review, 72, 784-785.
15.
Congressional Budget Office. (2012). Comparing the compensation of federal and private-sector employees. Washington, DC: The Congress of the United States. Retrieved from https://www.cbo.gov/publication/42921
16.
CooperP. J. (2003). Governing by contract: Challenges and opportunities for public managers. Washington, DC: CQ Press.
17.
DavisT. J.GabrisG. T. (2008). Strategic compensation: Utilizing efficiency wages in the public sector to achieve desirable organizational outcomes. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 28, 327-348.
18.
DawsonJ. F. (2014). Moderation in management research: What, why, when, and how. Journal of Business Psychology, 29, 1-19.
19.
DexterL. A. (1970). Elite and specialized interviewing. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
20.
DobrescuV.MirkovicS.MohsenzadehS.VeallM. R. (2014). Top-end salaries and the Ontario public sector. Canadian Public Administration, 57, 459-477.
21.
EdwardsC. (2010). Public sector unions and the rising costs of employee compensation. Cato Journal, 30, 87-115.
22.
FeiockR. C.StreamC. (1998). Explaining the tenure of local government managers. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 8, 117-130.
23.
FredericksonH. G.NalbandianJ. (2002). The future of local government administration: The Hansell symposium. Washington, DC: International City/County Management Association.
24.
GoldsteinG. S.EhrenbergR. G. (1976). Executive compensation in municipalities. Southern Economic Journal, 43, 937-947.
GulickL. (1937). Notes on the theory of organization. In GulickL.UrwickL. (Eds.), Papers on the science of administration (pp. 1-45). New York, NY: Institute of Public Administration, Columbia University.
27.
HendersonA. C. (2015). Municipal shared services and consolidation: A public solutions handbook. New York, NY: Routledge.
28.
Hogan-EschT. (2011). Failed state: Political corruption and the collapse of democracy in Bell, California. California Journal of Politics and Policy, 3, doi:10.2202/1944-4370.1159
JoaquinM. E.GreitensT. J. (2012). Contract management capacity breakdown? An analysis of U.S. local governments. Public Administration Review, 72, 807-816.
31.
Joassart-MarcelliP.MussoJ. (2005). Municipal service provision choices within a metropolitan area. Urban Affairs Review, 40, 492-519.
32.
KaatzJ. B.MorrisJ. C. (2000). The “overpaid bureaucrat”: Comparing public and private wages in Mississippi. Public Personnel Management, 29, 129-146.
LangbeinL. I.LewisG. B. (1998). Pay, productivity, and the public sector: The case of electrical engineers. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 8, 391-412.
LedvinkaC. B. (2008). The enduring importance of public-sector compensation: Special issue introduction. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 28, 304-307.
37.
LeRouxK.PandeyS. K. (2011). City managers, career incentives, and municipal service decisions: The effects of managerial progressive ambition on interlocal service delivery. Public Administration Review, 71, 627-636.
38.
McCabeB. C.FeiockR. C.ClingermayerJ. C.StreamC. (2008). Turnover among city managers: The role of political and economic change. Public Administration Review, 68, 380-386.
39.
McGinnisM. D. (1999). Polycentricity and local public economies: Readings from the workshop in political theory and policy analysis. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
40.
MeierK. J.BohteJ. (2000). Ode to Luther Gulick: Span of control and organizational performance. Administration & Society, 32, 115-137.
41.
MillerG. H.Jr. (1993). Profligacy or prudence? Changes in employment and compensation of state and local government workers. Public Budgeting & Finance, 13, 95-106.
42.
MillerG. J. (1981). Cities by contract: The politics of municipal incorporation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
43.
MillerM. A. (1996). The public-private pay debate: What do the data show?Monthly Labor Review, 119, 18-29.
44.
MunnellA. H.AubryJ-P.HurwitzJ.QuinbyL. (2011). Comparing compensation: State-local versus prviate sector workers. Chestnut Hill, MA: Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.
45.
OakersonR. J. (1999). Governing local public economies: Creating the civic metropolis. Oakland, CA: ICS Press.
46.
OspinaS. M.DodgeJ. (2005). Narrative inquiry and the search for connectedness: Practitioners and academics developing public administration scholarship. Public Administration Review, 65, 409-423.
47.
OstromE. (1983). A public service industry approach to the study of local government structure and performance. Policy & Politics, 11, 313-341.
48.
OstromV.BishR. L.OstromE. (1988). Local government in the United States. San Francisco, CA: ICS Press.
49.
OstromV.OstromE. (1977). Public goods and public choices. In SavasE. S. (Ed.), Alternatives for delivering public services: Toward improving performance (pp. 7-49). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
50.
OstromV.TieboutC. M.WarrenR. (1961). The organization of government in metropolitan areas: A theoretical inquiry. American Political Science Review, 55, 831-842.
51.
PikettyT. (2013). Capital in the twenty-first century. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.
52.
ReillyT. (2013). Reforming public pay and benefits. State and Local Government Review, 45, 57-64.
53.
ReillyT.SchoenerS.BolinA. (2007). Public sector compensation in local governments: An analysis. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 27, 39-58.
54.
RuhilA. V. S.SchneiderM.TeskeP.JiB.-M. (1999). Institutions and reform: Reinventing local government. Urban Affairs Review, 34, 433-455.
55.
SonenblumS.KirlinJ. J.RiesJ. C. (1977). How cities provide services: An evaluation of alternative delivery structures. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing.
56.
SteinR. M. (1993). Arranging city services. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 3, 66-92.
57.
StewartF. M.KetchamR. M. (1941). Intergovernmental contracts in California. Public Administration Review, 1, 242-248.
58.
StillmanR. J.II. (1974). The rise of the city manager: A public professional in local government. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
59.
StreibG.SlotkinB. J.RiveraM. (2001). Public administration research from a practitioner perspective. Public Administration Review, 61, 515-525.
60.
TeskeP.SchneiderM. (1994). The bureaucratic entrepreneur: The case of city managers. Public Administration Review, 54, 331-340.
61.
U.S. Government Accountability Office. (1985). Comparison of federal and private sector pay and benefits. Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://gao.gov/products/GGD-85-72
62.
U.S. Government Accountability Office. (1994). Federal/private sector pay comparisons. Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://www.gao.gov/products/OCE-95-1
63.
U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2012). Results of studies on federal pay varied due to differing methodologies. Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-564
64.
WarnerM.HefetzA. (2009). Cooperative competition: Alternative service delivery, 2002–2007. In Municipal year book 2009 (pp. 11-20). Washington, DC: International City/County Management Association.
65.
WatersR. O.PowellJ. C. (2009). Salaries of municipal officials, 2008. In International City/County Management Association (Ed.), Municipal year book 2009. Washington, DC: International City/County Management Association.
66.
WatsonD. J.HassettW. L. (2004). Career paths of city managers in America’s largest council-manager cities. Public Administration Review, 64, 192-199.
67.
WheelandC. M.PalusC. K.WoodC. (2014). A century of municipal reform in the United States: A legacy of success, adaptation, and the impulse to improve. The American Review of Public Administration, 44, 11S-28S.
