ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses main research questions: What is the character of the changes to public management that are taking place under present-day austerity? Does austerity entail path-breaking change and/or path-dependent patterns of change? and Why are different and/or similar patterns of change found in different countries? It reviews the literature on institutional continuity and change in public management and the literatures on cutback management and budgetary reform to help qualify the expectations about the likely character and pattern of changes to public management in times of austerity. The chapter discusses continuity and changes to public management at a general level. It zooms in on the literature on cutback management and budgetary reforms. The chapter discusses the likely consequences of austerity to public management in different countries. It presents a model for understanding similarities and differences between countries. The chapter discusses why countries pursue different reform trajectories, and how this may matter to their patterns of change in times of austerity.
