Public Policy and Organisations

About the research group

Public policy as a cornerstone of the functioning of society and the well-being of citizens.

The Public policy and organisations research group brings together an active group of researchers from Regional Studies, Public Management, Public Law, and Social and Health Management. In the field of science, we all represent Administrative Sciences.

Traditionally, public policy covered what public organisations (the state, municipalities and regions) do to promote the functioning of society and the well-being of citizens.

Now, many things are done by leveraging the input of for-profit and not-for-profit private organisations. Public organisations have also set up organisations that can be classified as private for many of their tasks. Similarly, many seemingly public organisations are in fact hybrid organisations combining the features of the public and the private.

It still makes sense to understand public policy as activities that promote politically decided goals, and at least mainly through the use of tax money. In principle, it does not matter now in the same way whether organisations which promote the goals and use the tax money are private or public. Due to public goals and resources, even private activities are not normal business or civic activities in this reconstructed framework of public action. We examine the role of private organisations as an indication of diversifying public action. The fact that new opportunities come with new challenges to solve is also taken into account in our examination.

In addition to the perpetual issues of public action and organisations – such as politics vs. administration, public vs. generic management models, management as science vs. skill, professional management vs. profession-based management, efficiency vs. effectiveness, public monopolies vs. market conformity, detailed steering and regulation vs. self-direction and self-regulation, etc. – our research topics comprise the current challenges of public policy in particular. These include complexity, wicked problems and the need to promote democracy, the functioning of service and governance systems, safeguarding good governance and basic rights of citizens, creating effective links between innovation policy, regional development and smart regional specialisation as well as the many challenges of management values and ethics that the diversification of public policy has further increased.

Old means and models are not enough to solve problems. New types of means and new combinations of existing means are needed. There is a need for innovative research that exploits and, where appropriate, questions the dominant research tradition.

Tutkimusryhmän johtajana toimii julkisjohtamisen professori Esa Hyyryläinen.

Current news and events

Vox cordis

02/28/2021 - Research

How effective are conflict of interest policies and rules of ministers and top officials?

A new comparative study by Christoph Demmke, Professor of Public Administration at the University of Vaasa, and Jari Autioniemi, University Teacher, analyzes the effectiveness of rules, policies, and practices related…

News

02/18/2021 - Research

GRETA project develops policy tools for sustainable smart specialization strategies

The project GRETA (Green Transformation! A policy tool for Regional Smart Specialization) implements the Interreg Baltic Sea Region programme by developing tools supporting the green transformation of society and…

News

12/22/2020 - Research

The example of research platforms of University of Vaasa conquers Baltic Sea regions

The research platforms of the University of Vaasa are gaining a lot of attention among regional planners and innovation policy makers around the Baltic Sea.

Show more news

Publications

Publications in SOLECRIS research database

Research projects

Project	Duration	Actors
GRETA— Green Transformation! A Policy tool for Regional Smart Specialisation in the Baltic Sea Area	01/2021 - 09/2021	Public policy and organisations, Management
FAIR – FINDING INNOVATIONS TO ACCELERATE IMPLEMENTATION OF ELECTRIC REGIONAL AVIATION	05/2020 - 06/2022	InnoLab, Management, Public policy and organisations
The liability of civil servants	04/2020 - 12/2021	InnoLab, Public policy and organisations
InnoDigi-driven inter-organizational network solutions	01/2020 - 01/2022	InnoLab, Public policy and organisations, Digital Economy, Management
Making Sense of Climate Change: Perspectives of Citizens, Business Leaders and Political Decision-Makers	09/2019 - 10/2020	InnoLab, Public policy and organisations
Anti-Corruption Network for the EU-Commission		Public policy and organisations, InnoLab
EU-Presidency Advice for the Portuguese EU-Presidency		Public policy and organisations, InnoLab
Ministerial Policy Advisors in the EU		Public policy and organisations, InnoLab
Integrity Management in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany		Public policy and organisations, InnoLab

Research group members

Regional Science

Samuli Aho

Project Researcher

School of Management, Regional Studies

firstname.lastname@univaasa.fi