Navigating financial distress and perceived vulnerability to build (financial) resilience during austerity: an exploratory study on the responses to shocks in local government

Dom, BK ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0889-2571, Murphy, P ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8459-4448, Jones, M and Collins, A ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9805-9091, 2026. Navigating financial distress and perceived vulnerability to build (financial) resilience during austerity: an exploratory study on the responses to shocks in local government. Public Management Review. ISSN 1471-9037

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Abstract

This study examines how English local authorities (LAs) responded to prolonged austerity and how their perceived vulnerability shaped the sequencing of strategic decisions over time. Although financial shocks have been widely studied, less is known about how LAs interpret their vulnerability and how these interpretations influence decision-making and/or responses. Using data visualisation and evidence from semi-structured elite interviews, the research explored the impacts of austerity on LAs’ perceived vulnerability, and how their responses changed as perceptions of vulnerability evolved across the longitudinal study period. Results were presented across three eras of austerity and analysed through a combined 3Rs (retrenchment, repositioning, reorganisation) and RPL (response, perception, learning) models. The findings show that perceived vulnerability influences the timing and depth of strategic choices, producing different vulnerability trajectories with significant consequences for resilience. The study contributes to public management literature by integrating resilience with turnaround strategies, introducing perceived vulnerability as a dynamic driver of response strategies, enabling LAs to bounce back and subsequently bounce forward. Practically, it provides a phased framework to support LAs’ strategic planning under ongoing fiscal shocks.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Public Management Review
Creators:	Dom, B.K., Murphy, P., Jones, M. and Collins, A.
Publisher:	Informa UK Limited
Date:	24 March 2026
ISSN:	1471-9037
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1080/14719037.2026.2644629 DOI 2597994 Other
Rights:	This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Public Management Review on 24 March 2026, available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2026.2644629
Divisions:	Schools > Nottingham Business School
Record created by:	Laura Borcherds
Date Added:	08 Apr 2026 10:51
Last Modified:	08 Apr 2026 10:51
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/55511

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