The attitudes of frontline bureaucrats play a crucial role in the implementation of administrative restructuring. Administrative integration is a type of administrative reform that can fundamentally change the structure of a local administrative system and may face opposition from local public bureaucracies. Successful administrative integration requires reformers to comprehensively grasp the factors that influence frontline bureaucrats’ attitudes toward this distinctive form of administrative restructuring. This study empirically examines how organizational configurations shape bureaucratic attitudes toward administrative integration. The findings have both theoretical and practical implications for research on bureaucratic attitudes, organizational configurations, and administrative integration.
AikenL. S.WestS. G.RenoR. R. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. SAGE.
3.
AufrechtS. E.BunL. S. (1995). Reform with Chinese characteristics: The context of Chinese civil service reform. Public Administration Review, 55(2), 175–182. https://doi.org/10.2307/977183
4.
BarkiH.PinsonneaultA. (2005). A model of organizational integration, implementation effort, and performance. Organization Science, 16(2), 165–179. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1050.0118
5.
BauerM. W. (2012). Tolerant, if personal goals remain unharmed: Explaining supranational bureaucrats’ attitudes to organizational change. Governance, 25(3), 485–510. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0491.2012.01572.x
6.
BertelliA. M.PalmaN. (2021). Rational choice perspectives on bureaucracy. Oxford University Press.
7.
BorryE. L.DeHart-DavisL.KaufmannW.MerrittC. C.MohrZ.TummersL. (2018). Formalization and consistency heighten organizational rule following: Experimental and survey evidence. Public Administration, 96(2), 368–385. https://doi.org/padm.12407
8.
BouckaertG.PetersB. G.VerhoestK. (2010). Coordination: What is it and why should we have it? In BouckaertG.PetersB. G.VerhoestK. (Eds.), The coordination of public sector organizations: Shifting patterns of public management (pp. 13–33). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230275256_2
9.
BrehmJ. O.GatesS. (1999). Working, shirking, and sabotage: Bureaucratic response to a democratic public. University of Michigan Press.
10.
BrodkinE. Z. (1997). Inside the welfare contract: Discretion and accountability in state welfare administration. Social Service Review, 71(1), 1–33. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30012604
Central Committee of Chinese Communist Party. (2013). Zhonggong Zhongyang Guanyu Quanmian Shenhua Gaige Ruogan Zhongda Wenti De Jueding (the Decision of the Central Committee on the Key Issues of Comprehensively Deepening Reform in English). http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2013-11/15/content_2528179.htm
13.
ChanH. S.WongK. K. K. (1994). Environmental attitudes and concerns of the environmental protection bureaucrats in Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China: Implications for environmental policy implementation. International Journal of Public Administration, 17(8), 1523–1554. https://doi.org/10.1080/01900699408524953
14.
ChebatJ. C.BabinB.KolliasP. (2002). What makes contact employees perform? Reactions to employee perceptions of managerial practices. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 20(7), 325–332. https://doi.org/10.1108/02652320210451223
15.
ConverseP. E. (2006). The nature of belief systems in mass publics (1964). Critical Review, 18(1–3), 1–74.
16.
DavisK. C. (1969). Discretionary justice: A preliminary inquiry. LSU Press.
17.
De DreuC. K. W.NijstadB. A.van KnippenbergD. (2008). Motivated information processing in group judgment and decision making. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 12(1), 22–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868307304092
18.
DingH.PanR. (2016). Zhongguo XIngzheng Gaige De Shenhua Yanjiu—Jiyu Meiguo Jinbu Shidai Gaige Jingyan De Shijiao [A research on the deepening of Chinese administrative reform—Based on the perspective of American progress era reform experience]. Xiangtan Daxue Xuebao: Shehui Kexue Ban (Journal of Xiangtan University), 40, 22–26.
19.
DuanN.DanZ.WangF.PanC.ZhouC.JiangL. (2011). Electrolytic manganese metal industry experience based China’s new model for cleaner production promotion. Journal of Cleaner Production, 19(17), 2082–2087. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2011.06.024
EatonS.KostkaG. (2014). Authoritarian environmentalism undermined? Local leaders’ time horizons and environmental policy implementation in China. The China Quarterly, 218, 359–380. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305741014000356
EvansT. (2010). Professionals, managers and discretion: Critiquing street-level bureaucracy. The British Journal of Social Work, 41(2), 368–386. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcq074
FanL. (2014). International influence and local response: Understanding community involvement in urban heritage conservation in China. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 20(6), 651–662. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2013.834837
27.
FanY. (2015). The centre decides and the local pays: Mandates and politics in local government financial management in China. Local Government Studies, 41(4), 516–533. https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2014.968706
28.
FosterK. W. (2006). Improving municipal governance in China: Yantai’s pathbreaking experiment in administrative reform. Modern China, 32(2), 221–250. https://doi.org/10.1177/0097700406286188
29.
GainsF.JohnP. (2010). What do bureaucrats like doing? Bureaucratic preferences in response to institutional reform. Public Administration Review, 70(3), 455–463. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2010.02159.x
30.
GaoX.ShenR. (2012). Promoting integrative law enforcement system reform: Achievement, problem and solution. Chinese Public Administration, 5, 12–14.
31.
GlanzJ. (1991). Bureaucracy and professionalism: The evolution of public school supervision. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.
32.
GlissonC. A.MartinP. Y. (1980). Productivity and efficiency in human service organizations as related to structure, size, and age. Academy of Management Journal, 23(1), 21–37.
GrönroosC. (2001). The perceived service quality concept–a mistake?Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, 11(3), 150–152.
36.
HageJ.AikenM. (1967). Relationship of centralization to other structural properties. Administrative Science Quarterly, 12(1), 72–92. https://doi.org/10.2307/2391213
37.
HerzogL.ZackaB. (2019). Fieldwork in political theory: Five arguments for an ethnographic sensibility. British Journal of Political Science, 49(2), 763–784. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123416000703
38.
HjortskovM. (2018). Citizen expectations and satisfaction over time: Findings from a large sample panel survey of public school parents in Denmark. The American Review of Public Administration, 49(3), 353–371. https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074018765822
39.
HoodC. (1995). The “new public management” in the 1980s: Variations on a theme. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 20(2), 93–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/0361-3682(93)E0001-W
40.
HuL. T.BentlerP. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–55.
41.
HuangY. (1999). Inflation and investment controls in China: The political economy of central-local relations during the reform era. Cambridge University Press. https://books.google.com/books?id=90DMDU_0N0wC
42.
HuberJ. D.ShipanC. R.BatesR. H.ComissoE.LangeP.MigdalJ.MilnerH. (2002). Deliberate discretion?: The institutional foundations of bureaucratic autonomy. Cambridge University Press. https://books.google.com/books?id=kT2EF6Et_SoC
JacobsenD. I. (2005). Sand in the machinery? Comparing bureaucrats’ and politicians’ attitudes toward public sector reform. European Journal of Political Research, 44(6), 767–799. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2005.00247.x
45.
JamesO. (2007). Evaluating the expectations disconfirmation and expectations anchoring approaches to citizen satisfaction with local public services. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 19(1), 107–123. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mum034
46.
JantanM.NasurdinA. M.FadzilN. F. A. (2008). Organisational innovation: Does structure, culture, and country of origin matter?Journal for Global Business Advancement, 1(2–3), 271–288. https://doi.org/10.1504/jgba.2008.018385
47.
JohariJ.YahyaK. K. (2019). Organizational structure, work involvement, and job performance of public servants. International Journal of Public Administration, 42(8), 654–663. https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2018.1498106
48.
KeiserL. R. (2010). Understanding street-level bureaucrats’ decision making: Determining eligibility in the social security disability program. Public Administration Review, 70(2), 247–257. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2010.02131.x
KornaiJ.HaggardS.KaufmanR. R. (2001). Reforming the state: Fiscal and welfare reform in post-socialist countries. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139175296
51.
LamT.-C.ChanH. S. (1996). China’s new civil service: What the emperor is wearing and why. Public Administration Review, 56(5), 479–484. https://doi.org/10.2307/977047
LynnN. B.VadenR. E. (1979). Bureaucratic response to civil service reform. Public Administration Review, 39(4), 333–343. https://doi.org/10.2307/976210
55.
MarchJ. G.OlsenJ. P. (1983). The new institutionalism: Organizational factors in political life. American Political Science Review, 78(3), 734–749. https://doi.org/10.2307/1961840
56.
MayP. J.WinterS. C. (2007). Politicians, managers, and street-level bureaucrats: Influences on policy implementation. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 19(3), 453–476. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mum030
57.
Maynard-MoodyS.MushenoM. (2003). Cops, teachers, counselors stories from the front lines of public service. University of Michigan Press. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.11924
58.
McLaughlinK.OsborneS.FerlieE. (2002). New public management: New trends and future prospects. Psychology Press.
59.
MeierK. J.BohteJ. (2001). Structure and discretion: Missing links in representative bureaucracy. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 11(4), 455–470. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.jpart.a003511
60.
MeierK. J.O’TooleL. J.Jr. (2002). Public management and organizational performance: The effect of managerial quality. Journal of Policy Analysis & Management, 21(4), 629–643. https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.10078
61.
MeierK. J.StewartJ. (1992). The impact of representative bureaucracies: Educational systems and public policies. The American Review of Public Administration, 22(3), 157–171. https://doi.org/10.1177/027507409202200301
62.
MeilichO. (2005). Are formalization and human asset specificity mutually exclusive? A learning bureaucracy perspective. Journal of American Academy of Business, 6(1), 161–169.
63.
MohammedA. R. (2021). Discretion on the frontlines of the implementation of the Ghana School Feeding Programme: Street-Level Bureaucrats adapting to austerity in northern Ghana. Public Administration Development, 42, 33–43. https://doi.org/10.1002/pad.1905
64.
NasurdinA. M.RamayahT.Chee BengY. (2006). Organizational structure and organizational climate as potential predictors of job stress: Evidence from Malaysia. International Journal of Commerce and Management, 16(2), 116–129. https://doi.org/10.1108/10569210680000211
65.
OberfieldZ. W. (2012). Public management in time: A longitudinal examination of the full range of leadership theory. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 24(2), 407–429. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mus060
66.
OlsenJ. P. (2007). Europe in search of political order: An institutional perspective on unity/diversity, citizens/their helpers, democratic design/historical drift, and the co-existence of orders. Oxford University Presshttps://books.google.com/books?id=Y9gTDAAAQBAJ
67.
OsborneD.OsborneD. E.SilverbergR.GaeblerT. A. (1992). Reinventing government: How the entrepreneurial spirit is transforming the public sector. Basic Books. https://books.google.com/books?id=IMKGAAAAMAAJ
68.
OsborneS. P. (2010). Introduction The (New) Public Governance: a suitable case for treatment?. In The new public governance? (pp. 17–32). Routledge.
69.
PiersonP. (1996). The path to European integration: A historical institutionalist analysis. Comparative Political Studies, 29(2), 123–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414096029002001
70.
PiresR. R. C. (2011). Beyond the fear of discretion: Flexibility, performance, and accountability in the management of regulatory bureaucracies. Regulation & Governance, 5(1), 43–69. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-5991.2010.01083.x
PreacherK. J.CurranP. J.BauerD. J. (2006). Computational tools for probing interactions in multiple linear regression, multilevel modeling, and latent curve analysis. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 31(4), 437–448.
RaineyH. G. (2009). Understanding and managing public organizations. John Wiley & Sons.
75.
RiccucciN. M. (2005). Street-level bureaucrats and intrastate variation in the implementation of temporary assistance for needy families policies. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 15(1), 89–111. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3525799
76.
RohrschneiderK.BurkR. O. W.KruseF. E.VölckerH. E. (1994). Reproducibility of the optic nerve head topography with a new laser tomographic scanning device. Ophthalmology, 101(6), 1044–1049. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0161-6420(94)31220-6
77.
SandfortJ.OngS.McKayC. (2018). Performance management regimes in practice: Examining the local agencies implementing temporary assistance for needy families. The American Review of Public Administration, 49, 145–158. https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074018809202
78.
SawinG. (1989). Can expectations influence perceptions and attitudes?ETC: A Review of General Semantics, 46(1), 70–71. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42579506
79.
SellsS. B. (1963). An interactionist looks at the environment. American Psychological Association, 18(11), 696–702. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0042730
80.
ShapiroI.SkowronekS.GalvinD. (2006). Rethinking political institutions: The art of the State. NYU Press.
81.
SkowronekS.OrrenK. (2020). The adaptability paradox: Constitutional resilience and principles of good government in twenty-first-century America. Perspectives on Politics, 18(2), 354–369. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592719002640
82.
StarkweatherJ. (2014). Factor analysis with binary items: A quick review with examples. Benchmarks RSS Matters.
83.
StinchcombeA. L. (2000). Social structure and organizations. In BaumJ. A. C.DobbinF. (Eds.), Economics meets sociology in strategic management (vol.17, pp. 229–259). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-3322(00)17019-6
84.
ThomannE.van EngenN.TummersL. (2018). The necessity of discretion: A behavioral evaluation of bottom-up implementation theory. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 28(4), 583–601. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muy024
85.
TreinP.MaggettiM. (2020). Patterns of policy integration and administrative coordination reforms: A comparative empirical analysis. Public Administration Review, 80(2), 198–208. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13117
86.
TummersL.BekkersV. (2014). Policy implementation, street-level bureaucracy, and the importance of discretion. Public Management Review, 16(4), 527–547. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2013.841978
87.
TummersL.VermeerenB.SteijnB.BekkersV. (2012). Public professionals and policy implementation. Public Management Review, 14(8), 1041–1059. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2012.662443
88.
Van RooijB.LoC. W.-H. (2010). Fragile convergence: Understanding variation in the enforcement of China’s industrial pollution law. Law & Policy, 32(1), 14–37. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9930.2009.00309.x
89.
VinzantJ. C.DenhardtJ. V.CrothersL. (1998). Street-level leadership: Discretion and legitimacy in front-line public service. Georgetown University Press.
90.
WedemanA. (1999). Agency and fiscal dependence in central-provincial relations in China. Journal of Contemporary China, 8(20), 103–122. https://doi.org/10.1080/10670569908724338
91.
WedemanA. (2001). Incompetence, noise, and fear in central-local relations in China. Studies in Comparative International Development, 35(4), 59–83. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02732708
92.
WildavskyA. (1987). Choosing preferences by constructing institutions: A cultural theory of preference formation. American Political Science Review, 81(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.2307/1960776
93.
WillemA.BuelensM. (2007). Knowledge sharing in public sector organizations: The effect of organizational characteristics on interdepartmental knowledge sharing. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 17(4), 581–606. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mul021
WongC. (2009). Rebuilding government for the 21st Century: Can China incrementally reform the public sector?The China Quarterly, 200, 929–952. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305741009990567
96.
WoodB. D.WatermanR. W. (1991). The dynamics of political control of the bureaucracy. American Political Science Review, 85(3), 801–828. https://doi.org/10.2307/1963851
Wudazhiku (Think Tank of Wuhan University). (2015). Shenhua Zonghe Xingzheng Zhifa Tizhi Gaige Yanjiu [Research of deepening the reform of integrated administrative executive system in Hubei Province], Hubei Gaige Zhiku Zhongdian Yanjiu Keti [Key Project of the Think Tank of Reform in Hubei], No. ZKCG201503, December.
99.
XiaD. (2016). Zonghe Xingzheng Zhifa Gaige De Nanti Jiqi Pojie [The difficulties and solutions of the reform of integrated administrative executive system]. Zhongguo Xingzheng Guanli (Chinese Public Administration), 6, 35–39.
