Values in Public Management: Privatization and the Public–Private Divide

CALL FOR PAPERS
Values in Public Management: Privatization and the Public–Private Divide

Journal: European Management Journal
Publisher: Elsevier
CiteScore: 14.0
Impact Factor: 7.3
Submission Window: 6 April – 8 May 2026
Expected Publication: 2027

Introduction
This special‑section Management Focus explores how public and private values intersect, clash, and coexist in public management, especially under processes of privatization, corporatization, and re‑municipalization. It invites research that interrogates the public–private divide in values, governance, and service delivery, and examines how public value creation, destruction, and tensions play out in different politico‑administrative, institutional, and technological contexts.

Guest Editors
Sorin Dan (University of Vaasa, Finland)
Tom S. Karlsson (University of Gothenburg, Sweden)
David E. Mills (Queensland University of Technology, Australia)

Key Themes / Topic Areas

Submissions invited on (but not limited to):

• Public and private value underpinnings of public management reforms and their impact on public value creation/destruction.

• Value alignment, conflicts, and tensions between public and private values in comparative governance and service‑delivery settings.

• Ethical and normative dimensions of balancing public and private values (public accounting, integrity, anti‑corruption, public procurement).

• Privatization, corporatization, and re‑municipalization in different policy areas and public services.

• Impact of AI and algorithmic decision‑making on public and private values in public management.

Submission Process & Key Dates

• Submission period: 6 April – 8 May 2026

• Submission portal: Elsevier Editorial Manager:
  🌐 https://www.editorialmanager.com/eumj/Default.aspx

• Paper type: Select “Management Focus: Values in public management”.

• All papers undergo the journal’s standard double‑blind peer review.

• Selected articles planned for publication in 2027.

Guidelines & Contact

• Author guidelines: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/european-management-journal/publish/guide-for-authors

• Queries:

  • Sorin Dan: sorin.dan@uwasa.fi

  • Tom S. Karlsson: tom.karlsson@gu.se

  • David E. Mills: d5.mills@qut.edu.au

About the Journal
European Management Journal (EMJ), Elsevier, is a leading, high‑impact journal publishing critical, empirically and theoretically informed research across management, with a strong European and global orientation.

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