A Multilevel Assessment of Local Contract Management Capacity and Management Reform Nested in State Contexts Over Time.

This research assesses how state and local factors combine to influence the adoption of performance measurement for local service contracting nested in state contexts over time. Using a multilevel linear growth model to analyze local survey and official data, the findings demonstrate that local adoption of performance measurements nested in state contexts changed significantly; local contract management capability are significantly linked to the adoption of performance measurement. State contexts have a large impact on that adoption as well. The findings, which may have been unobserved by previous studies, suggest that local practices are indeed embedded in state governance across time. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]