How do different organizational influences lead street-level workers to move towards clients? A comparison of care services for the elderly in Germany and Israel

This study on the long-term care sectors for the elderly in Germany and Israel shows that in both countries, street-level workers mostly use their discretionary space to move towards clients. Based on 52 semi-structured interviews, we found that this tendency is to a considerable extent a product of organizational influences and orientations. These are, in turn, shaped by different institutional settings, especially market characteristics. Street-level workers operating in social entrepreneurship contexts – predominantly found in Germany – move towards clients for different reasons than those working for organizations that function according to entrepreneurial logics – mainly identified in Israel.