American Journal of Evaluation, Ahead of Print.
The literature contains several models that link types of evaluation use with organizational factors. However, until now, none of them have been thoroughly verified. This study aims to empirically verify the hypotheses proposed by Steven Højlund, who suggests that the type of evaluation use in organizations is determined by the adoption mode of evaluation practice (coercive, mimetic, normative, or voluntary). Qualitative comparative analysis was conducted on 23 cases from departments of Polish municipal administration, revealing the necessary conditions for most types of evaluation use. Instrumental use resulted from voluntary adoption, symbolic use from coercive adoption, and normative adoption—or the absence of coercive factors—led to legitimizing use. The situation was least clear for conceptual use, where we identified three possible combinations of necessary conditions. Although we found some significant relationships between adoption modes and types of evaluation use, the overall explanatory potential of Højlund’s model appears to be quite limited.