@inbook{00d64d702e0a4aa39a07e4ce54a693c2,
title = "Process-tracing as a tool to analyse discretion",
abstract = "Despite the decades of theorization, the causal processes in-between acts of delegation and agency discretion and autonomy are still not developed theoretically, with much ambiguity about how the model{\textquoteright}s elements are causally connected. This chapter shows that process-tracing is a useful methodological tool for improving our theoretical and empirical understanding of the causal processes underlying the pa model. Process-tracing, as a case-study method, requires explicitly theorizing the causal mechanism that connects delegation to agency costs and forces the analyst to unpack the process empirically. The added-value of process-tracing is illustrated on the example of the council secretariat{\textquoteright}s facilitating leadership in intergovernmental negotiations. It is claimed that process-tracing confronts the principal–agent model to closer logical scrutiny, ultimately leading to stronger causal claims and better theorization.",
author = "Yf Reykers and Derek Beach",
year = "2017",
doi = "10.1007/978-3-319-55137-1_11",
language = "English",
isbn = "978-3-319-55136-4",
series = "Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics",
publisher = "Palgrave Macmillan",
pages = "255--282",
editor = "Tom Delreux and Johan Adriaensen",
booktitle = "The Principal Agent model and the European Union",
address = "United States",
}