Title: Board of directors within public organisations: a literature review

Authors: Alessandro Hinna, Ernesto De Nito, Gianluigi Mangia

Addresses: Faculty of Economics, Economy and Territory Department, Universita di Roma ''Tor Vergata'', Via Columbia, 2, 00133 Roma, Italy. ' Department of Public Management, Universita degli Studi di Catanzaro Magna Graecia, Campus Universitario, Viale Europa, Catanzaro 88100, Italy. ' Department of Management, Universita degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Via Cinthia, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo 80126, Italy

Abstract: Compared to the debate on corporate governance in the private sector and to the literature on the macro level of governance in the public sector, the micro-level governance of public organisations remains a neglected area of discussion. Against this backdrop, the paper presents an overview of international literature regarding boards in the public sector organisations, in order to evidence if, and in which terms, the board of directors has been a topic of research in public governance in the recent years. In conclusion, the paper provides suggestions for future research on boards in public organisations.

Keywords: board of directors; public organisations; corporate governance; private sector; public sector; macro-level governance; micro-level governance; public bodies; business governance; business ethics; literature review.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBGE.2010.033343

International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, 2010 Vol.5 No.3, pp.131 - 156

Published online: 01 Jun 2010 *

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