Exploring Board Behavior in a Public Context: Experiences from a Swedish Municipal Corporation

Abstract

Based on an eclectic behavioral theoretical approach and institutional logic, this study explores what constitutes board behavior in the public setting. The empirical material relates to a longitudinal case study of a local municipal corporation (MC). Whereas private sector board research tends to highlight the tasks of control and service, we have identified multiple board tasks in Swedish MCs: control, decision-making, service, conflict resolution, education, legitimizing the MC, and key value implementation. We also found four contingencies of board tasks in our data, namely board composition, board leadership, presidium empowerment, and board processes, thus providing further knowledge on the emergence of specific board tasks in MCs. By combining the eclectic behavioral and institutional logics perspectives, our study highlights how and why different board behavior emerges from an institutional frame. Our findings contribute to the nascent field of research on public boards by providing empirical insights into public board behavior.