On managerial succession

This dissertation is an exploration, development and application of a theory on the effects of managerial succession on organizational performance in the public sector. Public management is a field of study within public administration that is gaining momentum and is strengthening both its theoretical and empirical bases. In this dissertation I build upon the very small literature on managerial (or executive) succession to develop a theory of the effects of managerial succession on performance. I posit that in the short-term performance will decrease; however, over time organizations that have had a succession event will see an increase in performance. I employ the use of three unique datasets: Texas school district superintendents, British local education authorities, and Major League Baseball field managers. All datasets have particular strengths that allow for a more complete empirical analysis. What we find is that, while there appears to be no significant relationship between managerial succession and performance in the year following the succession event, there is a positive and significant event over time. Furthermore, in the British analysis, which is designed to test a similar organization to the Texas analysis yet in a vastly different organizational structure, we find no significant relationship between performance and succession.