Comparing Government Performance Indicators: A Fuzzy-set Analysis

Abstract

National governments rely on global performance indicators to measure where they stand and to build future strategies. However, no previous study has compiled various indices to investigate pathways to government performance. We use fuzzy-set analysis to investigate what role each of five determinants of government performance—trait competitiveness, change-oriented citizenship behavior, public service motivation, organizational identification, and corruption tolerance—play in three representative government performance indicators—Government Effectiveness, Government Efficiency, and Throughput. The results indicate that government performance as measured by these three indicators is commonly tied to strongly public-service-motivated employees. These three indicators are distinguished from one another with regard to the number of factors that contribute to the construction of sufficient configurations, the role of innovation-inclined factors, and the role of corruption tolerance.