PUBLIC SECTOR INTER-INSTITUTIONAL COMBINATIONS - AN INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVE

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the recent research litarature regarding public sector inter-institutional combinations. Based upon a sample of 51 articles published in 2010-2013 in four databases (Science Direct, Springer Link, Wiley Online Library and Sage), this study summarizes and analyses the approaches found. In the light of an in-depth empirical research the article looks at the issues raised by the public sector inte-institutional combinationsbygrouping the sample usingthe folowing criteria: year of publication, research methodology, field, the mentioning of New Public Management(NPM) concept, theory and geographical area studied.The results reveal the fact that the predominant research methods used are: case study and statistical methods. The vast majority of papers analyze public institutions combinations of local public administration and investigate public sector combinations from Europe. Additionally, the majority of studies from the sample mention the concept of NPM and the institutional theory is mentioned in five articles.