The concept of board in the public sector: the contribution of the behavioral perspective

In recent years, increasing scholarly attention has been directed toward the field ofgoverning bodies research. However, little attention has been paid to the behavioral perspective on studying public boards. Aiming to fulfill this gap this paper offers a review of the international literature addressing boards behavior within the unique organizational setting of public sector. Five theoretical perspectives provide evidence of the role of board of directors in public administrations: agency perspective, stakeholder perspective, board strategic involvement perspective, administrative behaviour perspective and public value perspective. Considering as behavioral studies those publications focusing on actors, processes, decision making, relationships and interaction inside and outside the boardroom, we analyzed 84 papers. Adopting the framework provided by Huse (2007), we classified these papers following four behavioural dimensions/blocks which are crucial to understand board dynamics(figure 1): board members, interactions, structures and leadership, decision making culture. The article concludes by discussing possible directions for future research that might further contribute to enrichthe “behavioral governance perspective” in public organizations