PENN STATE HBG
MIDDLETOWN, PA 17057
Biography
Odd J. Stalebrink is an associate professor of public administration at the School of Public Affairs at the Pennsylvania State University. His research and teaching specialization is in the area of public budgeting and financial management. His scholarly work has appeared in numerous peer reviewed journals including but not limited to Financial Accountability and Management, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Journal of Public Budgeting Accounting and Financial Management, The Accounting Forum, American Review of Public Administration, Transportation Research A: Policy and Practice, International Journal of Technology, Policy and Management, and the Journal of Public Budgeting and Finance. He is a member in the Association for Budgeting and Financial Management (ABFM); the National Tax Association (NTA); the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM); and the European Accounting Association (EAA). He holds a Ph.D. in public policy from the School of Public Policy, George Mason University, Va., and masters and bachelor degrees in business administration from Jönköping International Business School (JIBS), Sweden.
Professional Affiliations
- American Society of Public Administration (ASPA)
- Association for Budgeting and Financial Management (ABFM)
- The National Tax Association (NTA)
- The Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM)
- The European Accounting Association (EAA)
Dr. Stalebrink has continued his research on pension reform at the state level. He has periodically traveled to Arlington, Virginia to meet with other scholars and administrators concerned with the topic of pension reform.
Research Interests
- Public management and governance
- Institutional governance and administrative capacity
- Public budgeting and financial management
- Behavioral dimensions of public sector decision-making
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
Recent Work (2024–2026)
Stalebrink, Odd J. 2026. Practice Without Theory? The Wonder of Bethpage Black. Public Administration Review.
https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.70114
Stalebrink, Odd J. 2026. From Opportunity to Constraint: Structural Inequities in Public Pension Fund Investing. Public Budgeting & Finance.
https://doi.org/10.1111/pbaf.70018
Stalebrink, Odd J. 2024. Utilizing Priming Effects to Improve Access to Governmental Financial Reports: An Experimental Study of Non-Expert Users. Public Administration Quarterly, 48(4), 228–238.
Selected Earlier Contributions
Stalebrink, O. J., & Donatella, P. 2021. Public Pension Governance and Opportunistic Accounting Choice: A Politico-Economic Approach. American Review of Public Administration, 51(3), 227–245.
Bu, Q. S., & Stalebrink, O. J. 2020. Can Fund Sentiment Beta Predict Future Performance? Journal of Asset Management, 21(6), 524–534.
Stalebrink, O. J. 2018. Public Pension Fund Investments: The Role of Governance Structures. Journal of Law, Economics & Policy, 14(1), 35–60.
Stalebrink, O. J. 2017. Governmental Accounting and the Management, Discussion and Analysis Section: An Exploratory Study of Understandability. Public Administration Quarterly, 43(1), 120–141.
Stalebrink, O. J. 2016. Public Pension Funds and Alternative Investments: A Tale of Four Swedish National Pension Funds. International Journal of Public Administration, 39(2), 107–121.
Stalebrink, O. J. 2014. Public Pension Funds and Assumed Rates of Return: An Empirical Examination of Public Sector Defined Benefit Pension Plans. American Review of Public Administration, 44(1), 92–111.
Books and Teaching Materials
Stalebrink, O. J. 2025. The People’s Country Club: The Conflicts that Forged Bethpage Black. Kindle Direct Publishing.
Stalebrink, O. J. 2025. The People’s Country Club: Students’ Companion. Kindle Direct Publishing.
These volumes are based on original archival research and were developed as case-based teaching materials for graduate-level courses in public budgeting and financial management. They are used to illustrate how governance, fiscal systems, and administrative decision-making operate in complex public projects.
Encyclopedia Entries
Hao, Y., Kim, Y., & Stalebrink, O. J. 2025. The Flypaper Effect in Fiscal and Tax Policy. In A. Farazmand (Ed.), Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer.
Stalebrink, O. J. 2022. State and Local Governmental Accounting in the United States. In A. Farazmand (Ed.), Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer.
Sacco, J. F., & Stalebrink, O. J. 2015. NGOs: Impact of Sarbanes-Oxley. In D. A. Bearfield & M. J. Dubnick (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy.
Policy Reports & Proceedings
Stalebrink, O. J., & Antón, P. S. 2024. A Budget-Theoretical Perspective on DoD PPBE Reform. Acquisition Innovation Research Center. Part of the AIRC research series for the PPBE Reform Commission.
https://acqirc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/05.-WRT-1079-AIRC-2023-TR…
Antón, P. S., Stalebrink, O. J., & Buettner, D. J. 2024. Improving Comptroller Benchmarks on Program Spending. Acquisition Research Symposium.
Education
B.Sc.; M.Sc.; Ph.D. (George Mason)