Size and growth in federal executive agencies |
| |
Authors: | Robert McGowan Richard Higgins |
| |
Institution: | Department of Public Administration , The Maxwell School, Syracuse University , Syracuse, New York, 13210 |
| |
Abstract: | Concepts of size and growth have presented a number of problems to organization theorists in a variety of disciplines. Of primary concern is the method by which such concepts are operationalized. Utilizing personnel and budgetary data from a sample of seventy-three federal executive agencies, the effect of size on administrative hierarchy is examined. It is hypothesized that -- as agencies increase in size -- a larger proportion of this increase will be middle-grade and upper-grade Personnel. Coversely, the amount of personnel in lower-level positions will exhibit a decreasing rate of growth. As a means of specifying the phenomenon of growth, the pattern of agency growth over a twenty-nine year span of time (1948-1976) is examined. The effect of appropriations growth on personnel growth is posited to operate in a positive manner. Methods of analysis utilized include scatterplot analysis to provide a profile of federal executive agencies. Correlation and simple regression analysis serve as tests of the primary hypotheses. |
| |
Keywords: | |
|
|