Autonomy of State Agencies: A Scandinavian Style?

NPM-doctrines states that ideal-type agencies should have a high level of managerial
autonomy, while being controlled through result-based control instruments, like
performance contracts. In this article, the authors present a first preliminary attempt to
comparatively analyze the autonomy of state agencies in four Nordic countries:
Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. By using survey data from more than 500
state agencies in the four countries, the article analyses whether there is indeed a
Scandinavian style of autonomy and result control and assesses which structural,
cultural, and environmental variables might explain similarities and differences in the
autonomy of agencies.