Publication: Arms Length Bodies
Date
2009-11
ISSN
Published
2009-11
Author(s)
Abstract
There has always been a diversity of
organizational forms within the public sector. However, in
some countries organizational diversification has increased
significantly through the distribution of government
responsibilities to so-called "arm's-length
bodies." This notion reflects their common
characteristic of being at arm's length from the
control of politicians, outside the hierarchical control of
traditional vertically-integrated line ministries and
departments. There is some uncertainty concerning the scale
of this movement of staff and budgets towards such agencies.
Some commentators maintain that arms-length agencies have
always been found within governments and that some highly
publicized examples of "agencification" have
skewed the debate (Wettenhall 2005). Others argue that the
creation of distinct entities with independent financial
management regimes held responsible for discrete areas of
service delivery is a distinct and growing phenomenon.
Citation
“Manning, Nick; Shepherd, Geoffrey. 2009. Arms Length Bodies. Global Expert Team (GET) Brief. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/ed49786d-3e50-5f01-94fc-71f3416ad551 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”