| Abstract: | Abstract Public management occurs within institutional and spatial contexts that define constraints and shape opportunities for public action. Importantly, the creation, adaptation, and nurture of institutions are socially valuable results of governmental action. Similarly, all human action occurs in and has effects in spatial contexts. The quality of life available to humans is dramatically affected by location and making places more valuable is an important goal of much public policy. Analyses at the nation state level find government creation and maintenance of institutional rules supporting democratic polities and market‐based economies are the most important factors in the long‐term economic performance of nations. When considering institutional context at the regional and local levels, or in specific policy arenas, at least three measures—(1) existing capacity for collective action; (2) complexity; and (3) volatility—need to be considered. Spatial contexts can be usefully analyzed along several dimensions, including structure of the economy, distribution of assets/liabilities and public, business, nonprofit and household activities, geography and population dynamics, among others. Estimating transaction costs of collective action can be a common entry point into analyses of institutional and spatial contexts. Both analysis and practice of public management will be advantaged by systematic attention to institutional and spatial context. |
