Governments across the world are pursuing reform in an effort to improve public services. But have these reforms actually led to improvements in services? This volume develops a framework for a theory-based evaluation of reforms, and then uses this framework to assess the impact of new arrangements for public service delivery in the UK. This book: identifies the conceptual and practical problems of finding clear criteria for evaluating reforms; focuses on the shifts in public management towards markets and competition, towards the publication of performance indicators, and from larger to smaller organizations; considers what impact these reforms have had on the efficiency, responsiveness and equity of services; comprehensively reviews the evidence on the effects of reform on health care, housing and education; discusses the implications for public sector management.