QoG Data

Swedish Agency Head Dataset

Data source: QoG Swedish Agency Database

This database consists of a comprehensive sample of administrative agencies in the Swedish executive bureaucracy between 1960 and 2014. The database is constituted by three distinct datasets: one that focuses on an agency's formal instruction; one that focuses on an agency's head; and one that focuses on an agency's budget. Note that each dataset has its own unit of analysis. The agency's head data can be found at SND.

The data was originally assembled for the project "The Politics of Administrative Design" (financed by the Swedish Research Council through grant 2014-947), which focused on how partisan shifts in government can affect the staff, structure, and process of public bureaucracies. The purpose of the dataset is to provide a quantitative catalogue of Swedish agencies for public use.

For the agency head data, one observation corresponds to one agency head, while the variables cover factors such as the head's education and background experience.

Finally, all three datasets contain relevant time-period indicators to enable users to determine the temporal coverage of an observation (e.g., enactment and revocation dates for the instructions). In total, the database covers 1925 agency instructions, 2315 agency heads, and 7102 fiscal years.

Importantly, while each dataset has its own unit of analysis, we have also included a unifying agency identification number that can be used to link variables across all three datasets. For example, suppose that we are interested in the School Inspectorate ("Skolinspektionen"). We can then start our investigation in either of the three datasets, and use the agency's ID number to match the agency's various instructions, heads, and budgets over time. Note, however, that because the units do not perfectly overlap (e.g., one fiscal year may cover more than one agency head), merging the datasets will require substantive decisions about how to structure the information in each dataset. For this reason, we have left it to the user's discretion to decide whether and how to merge the datasets, rather than impose any particular structure on all three datasets. In total, the database contains information on 664 unique agencies.

Dataset type

Time-Series

Dataset level

Other

Last updated by source

2018-09-09

Citation

When using this dataset, please cite as:

• Dahlström, C., Holmgren, M., Björkdal, C., Hazell, K., Khomenko, A., Svensson, R., & Åberg, P. (2018). Swedish administrative agencies, 1960-2014. University of Gothenburg: The Quality of Government Institute.

@misc{swedat1,
 author = {Dahlström, Carl and Holmgren, Mikael and Björkdal, Christian and Hazell, Kersti and Khomenko, Anna and Svensson, Richard and Åberg, Pär},
 last_updated = {2024-04-03},
 publisher = {University of Gothenburg: The Quality of Government Institute},
 title = {Swedish Administrative Agencies, 1960-2014},
 year = {2018}
}

Variables in this dataset

Browse variables and select them for download.

Political Adviser

QoG code: head_adviser

Denotes whether an agency head has served as a political adviser (politiskt sakkunning) in the parliament or government. The political adviser is a politically appointed position at the Government Off ...