John, P; (2014) Policy entrepreneurship in UK central government: The behavioural insights team and the use of randomized controlled trials. Public Policy and Administration , 29 (3) 257 - 267. 10.1177/0952076713509297.

Preview

PDF Public Policy and Administration-2014-John-257-67.pdf Available under License : See the attached licence file. Download (108kB)

Abstract

What factors explain the success of the UK Cabinet Office’s Behavioural Insights Team? To answer this question, this article applies insights from organizational theory, particularly accounts of change agents. Change agents are able—with senior sponsorship—to foster innovation by determination and skill: they win allies and circumvent more traditional bureaucratic procedures. Although Behavioural Insights Team is a change agent—maybe even a skunkworks unit—not all the facilitating factors identified in the literature apply in this central government context. Key factors are its willingness to work in a non-hierarchical way, skills at forming alliances, and the ability to form good relationships with expert audiences. It has been able to promote a more entrepreneurial approach to government by using randomized controlled trials as a robust method of policy evaluation.

Download activity - last month

Export as JSONCSVXML

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as CSVJSONXML

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as XMLCSVJSON

Archive Staff Only

View Item