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The Effect of New Public Management Reforms on Climate Change Adaptive Capacity: A Comparison of Urban Planning and the Electricity Sector

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Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation

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Abstract

From the mid-1980s and onwards, a number of public institutions in Western democracies were subject to New Public Management (NPM) reforms, applying management tools from the private sector, oriented towards outcomes and efficiency. The chapter identifies organizational factors that influence adaptive capacity to climate change and finds that the NPM reforms have changed the sectors, significantly reducing adaptive capacity to climate change. In urban planning project planning has been moved to private actors, undermining formal responsibility for adaptation. In addition, an increased focus on efficiency and short-term market orientation has reduced adaptive capacity. For the electricity sector, the revolutionary change with the reform in 1991 led to an abrupt undermining of adaptive capacity. The radical change in incentive structures, from encouraging security of supply to an extreme focus on economic efficiency, downplayed robustness and adaptation. The change in formal structure is followed by a corresponding professional demographic change which further undermines adaptive capacity. Whereas both sectors were previously dominated by engineers focusing on robustness of constructions and maintenance, many economists focusing on cost reduction and economic efficiency were employed as a result of NPM reforms.

The chapter shows that adaptive capacity to climate change is influenced by a wide set of organizational factors beyond the traditional discussions, which have important practical implications for public administration.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fridtjof Nansen Institute, 326, 1326, Lysaker, Norway

    Tor Håkon Inderberg

  2. Norwegian University of Life Sciences, 5003, 1432, Ås, Norway

    Knut Bjørn Stokke

  3. Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research, Gaustadalléen 21, 0349, Oslo, Norway

    Marte Winsvold

Authors
  1. Tor Håkon Inderberg
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  2. Knut Bjørn Stokke
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  3. Marte Winsvold
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tor Håkon Inderberg .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hamburg University of Applied Sciences Faculty of Life Science, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

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Inderberg, T.H., Stokke, K.B., Winsvold, M. (2014). The Effect of New Public Management Reforms on Climate Change Adaptive Capacity: A Comparison of Urban Planning and the Electricity Sector. In: Leal Filho, W. (eds) Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40455-9_83-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40455-9_83-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-40455-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

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