Understanding Vacancy Time: A Theoretical Framework Informed by Cross-sector Comparison

Abstract

At least since Warner et al.’s (1963) publication of The American Federal Executive, a body of research has focused on understanding the characteristics and experiences of bureaucrats, whether public sector employees are motivated differently than their private sector counterparts, and how employees advance through various career ladders. However, little research has considered the importance of executive vacancies for organizations. The purpose of this study is to first provide an overview of the frequency and length of vacancies in multiple sectors and to then propose a framework and set of testable hypotheses for future research evaluating the causes and consequences of such vacancies. We compare vacancies from 48 US federal agencies with data from the Fortune 100 private firms, NonProfit Times Top 100, and the US News and World Report top 100 public and private nonprofit universities over a 21-yr period (1993–2013). These data are used to provide a starting point to develop a framework with a number of additional hypotheses for future empirical analysis.