LAUSR

How frontline employees cope with perceived work pressure may be of direct influence on policy outcomes. This study contributes to the street-level bureaucracy literature in several ways. First, we study both passive client-oriented and active system-oriented coping. Second, we analyse how these coping behaviours relate to work pressure and work autonomy. Finally, this article analyses whether these relationships are conditioned by the performance regime. Using a unique set-up of hospital employees (n = 979) working in external and internal performance regimes, we find a higher level of system-oriented active coping than client-oriented passive coping. Moreover, we find that autonomy matters for system-oriented coping and work pressure for client-oriented coping, and that these relationships are context-dependent.