Coordinating for Analytical and Punitive Capacity: The Case of Work-related Crime in Norway

Abstract

Coordination and collaboration is a perennial theme within public administration and management. This paper studies coordination and collaboration in the public sector by examining a specific case and policy field: The Norwegian joint, multi-agency effort to prevent and combat work-related crime. The main research questions are: How has the Norwegian government organized their work against work-related crime over the last decade? What specific coordination instruments have been introduced, and how do practitioners in the field assess these instruments? What characterizes coordination and collaboration, and what facilitates and constrains it? We find that the coordination efforts are seen as largely successful. The development represents a larger societal push towards joint intelligence efforts at the national level for the purpose of more analytical capacity and more effective use of punitive sanctions. At the same time, sector-based priorities, regulations and performance targets clearly constrain coordination and collaboration between the main actors in the field.