The process of corporatization in public services has led to the emergence of new, more autonomous organizational forms. However, while these reforms have been centrally about the development of management capabilities in public sector organizations, we know surprisingly little about what this process involves. To address this concern, we draw on the literature on administrative intensity (AI) to frame hypotheses about the likely relationship between corporatization and investments in management and administration, and the consequences of these investments for performance. As an empirical case, we then focus on the effects of Foundation Trust status on AI and efficiency, effectiveness and responsiveness in the acute care hospital sector in the English NHS. Based on a database of nine years (2008/09-2016/17) and dynamic panel data regressions, the results show that corporatization leads to a leaner administration and improved organizational efficiency, effectiveness and responsiveness. In addition, the analysis reveals that lower levels of AI positively mediate the relationship between corporatization and performance, although only in relation to the efficiency dimension. These findings highlight the crucial, but previously misunderstood, importance of lean administration as part of the corporatization reform package, with implications for theory, research and policy.

中文翻译：

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公司化、行政强度和公共部门组织的绩效

公共服务公司化进程导致了新的、更自主的组织形式的出现。然而，尽管这些改革的核心是公共部门组织管理能力的发展，但我们对这个过程涉及的内容知之甚少。为解决这一问题，我们利用有关行政强度 (AI) 的文献来构建关于公司化与管理和行政投资之间可能存在的关系以及这些投资对绩效的影响的假设。作为一个实证案例，我们随后关注基金会信托地位对 AI 以及英国 NHS 急症护理医院部门的效率、有效性和响应能力的影响。基于九年（2008/09-2016/17）数据库和动态面板数据回归，结果表明，公司化导致更精简的行政管理，并提高了组织效率、效力和反应能力。此外，分析表明，较低水平的 AI 积极调节公司化与绩效之间的关系，尽管仅与效率维度有关。这些发现突出了精益管理作为公司化改革方案的一部分的关键但以前被误解的重要性，对理论、研究和政策具有影响。尽管仅与效率维度有关。这些发现突出了精益管理作为公司化改革方案的一部分的关键但以前被误解的重要性，对理论、研究和政策具有影响。尽管仅与效率维度有关。这些发现突出了精益管理作为公司化改革方案的一部分的关键但以前被误解的重要性，对理论、研究和政策具有影响。