ABSTRACT In recent years, some public administration and management scholars have observed a shift in the trend of New Public Management (NPM) and privatization towards post-NPM, and a ‘return to the public’ in terms of public sector reforms. However, this shift does not necessarily appear in all policy fields. The aim of this article is to analyse public sector reforms and their policy processes in social service provision, focusing on child day-care centres in Japan since the 1990s. The article reveals the trajectory of policy reforms in relation to the privatization of day-care centres using a historical institutionalism approach.

中文翻译：

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日本的托儿服务私有化：分析1990年代以来的逐步政策变化

摘要近年来，一些公共行政和管理学者观察到新公共管理（NPM）和私有化向后NPM趋势的转变，以及在公共部门改革方面的“回归公众”。但是，此转变并不一定会出现在所有策略字段中。本文旨在分析1990年代以来日本儿童日托中心的公共部门改革及其在提供社会服务方面的政策过程。文章揭示了使用历史制度主义方法进行的与日托中心私有化相关的政策改革轨迹。