As 2023 comes to a close it is time to reflect on some accomplishments, service, and community engagements. During the busy year, MPA faculty Lucky Anguelov published two co-authored peer-reviewed scholarship pieces. The first, “A replication of ‘contracting out: for what? With whom?” is published in the Public Administration journal. The study, replicates Ferris and Graddy’s classic 1986 study of local government production and sector choice to assess how public procurement has changed over the past 35 years. The findings show that today, contracting out is more commonly used across 25 local government service areas. In contrast to the original study, much of the growth has been in government-to-government contracts. The analysis suggests that contracting out remains of the highest importance in 21st-century governance and that additional research is needed on how to manage contracts to achieve the best value. The second publication is book chapter for the Research Handbook on Public Financial Management – “Future directions for research in public procurement and contract management” (Chapter 19). The chapter outlines primary takeaways from existing research on public procurement and contract management and identifies four important gaps in the literature. For each gap, the authors review exiting studies and present a series of unanswered research questions.

This year, Lucky also presented original research at two international conferences. At the European Urban Research Association (EURA) 2023 in Reykjavik (University of Iceland), Lucky presented research relying on qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to examine the relationships between characteristics of inter-municipal cooperation initiatives and their effectiveness. To address the research question this study examined the presence of necessary and sufficient conditions that can help in explaining the efficacy of Bulgarian multipurpose municipal associations (MMAs). Lucky also attended and presented at the Public Management Research Conference (PMRC) 2023 at Utrecht University School of Governance (USG) in the Netherlands. The research presented by Lucky contributes to the literature by expanding our understanding of strategies used by cities in the provision of sustainability-relevant services. In particular, the study explores what factors help explain decisions about who provides public transportation, recycling collection, provision of drinking water, public health, and homelessness services within cities.

Lucky presenting at conference in Iceland.

Finally yet importantly, on September 13, Lucky also attended the Ceremony and Friendship Delegation Celebrating the Washington State – Hyogo Prefecture Sister State Relationship. At the ceremony, MPA Director Mike Craw and MPA Assistant Director Marcia Zitzelman joined Lucky in celebrating the oldest formal relationship between a U.S. State and a Japanese Prefecture. This event also marked the 20th anniversary of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Hyogo Administrative Policy Studies Association (HAPSA) and the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) – Evergreen Chapter. This international relationship was specifically noted in the newly signed agreement.