The Relationship between Street-Level Bureaucrats' Coping and Creaming Behavior and Client Outcomes: Evidence from the Danish School System

Studies revisiting Michael Lipsky’s concepts of coping and creaming among street-level bureaucrats (e.g. policeman, social workers, school teachers) have found considerable variation in the degree to which these... [ view full abstract ]

Studies revisiting Michael Lipsky’s concepts of coping and creaming among street-level bureaucrats (e.g. policeman, social workers, school teachers) have found considerable variation in the degree to which these bureaucrats’ cope with what Lipsky described as a chronic shortage of resources. A few studies have also focused on the impact of coping across policy areas e.g., policy towards vulnerable children and youth, refugees and immigrants, and the unemployed. They find that caseworkers’ coping and creaming have significant but varying impact on client outcomes. I extend this research with evidence from the Danish school system. I look specifically at the relationship between teachers’ coping and creaming behavior and their students’ performance, using student fixed effects on a 2011 survey of 9th class Danish and Mathematics teachers in public and private schools coupled with rich administrative data on past school performance, and detailed information on students’ test scores and social background.