Assessing Incrementalism in British Municipal Budgeting

1976 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
James N. Danziger
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Empirical Test ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Explanatory Models ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Budgetary Process ◽  
Limited Perspective ◽  
Standard Operating ◽  
Operational Models ◽  
Municipal Budgeting

One observation about the budgets of governments has passed into the conventional wisdom: budget-making, we are told, is a process of ‘incremental decision making’. The approach of the incrementalists is directed primarily to the question of how the creation of the new budget in a particular year (‘the budgetary process’) is to be explained. The approach seeks to characterize how budgeters respond to the problem of allocating resources and to develop explanatory models of budgetary outputs. But, despite the volume of research that now exists on budgetary incrementalism, the operationalization of the concept remains an issue, and many of the empirical studies have the limited perspective of a single budget-making system – that is, of one set of resource allocators, who employ the same standard operating procedures, rules of search, and so on. This paper has two objectives: (1) to explicate some simple operational models of budgetary incrementalism; and (2) to examine the adequacy of these models by means of an empirical test in four comparable budget-making systems – British county boroughs.

scholarly journals Not the ‘from the editors’: On guarding ‘topness’

Organization ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 135050842097209
Author(s):  
Hugh Willmott
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Value Orientations ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Ethical Principles ◽  
Management Review ◽  
Evaluative Criteria ◽  
Specific Focus

The paper reflects on the experience of preparing a ‘From the Editors’ (FTE) editorial for The Academy of Management Review that went through a process of editorial evaluation prior to its rejection. It provides a detailed example of an encounter between orthodox and heterodox forms of scholarship, illuminating their distinctive value-orientations and forms of engagement. Its specific focus is upon evaluative criteria applied, accountability of decision-making and the mobilization of scholarly aspirations and ethical principles in the preparation and assessment of the FTE. Its intent is to stimulate debate on what it means to ‘challenge conventional wisdom’ – an aim that is broadly shared by ‘top’ journals in the field of management and organization.

scholarly journals Leverage Points for Governing Agricultural Soils: A Review of Empirical Studies of European Farmers’ Decision-Making

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bartosz Bartkowski ◽  
Stephan Bartke
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Symbolic Capital ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Behavioural Characteristics ◽  
Peer Orientation ◽  
Economic Constraints

What drives farmers’ decision-making? To inform effective, efficient, and legitimate governance of agricultural soils, it is important to understand the behaviour of those who manage the fields. This article contributes to the assessment and development of innovative soil governance instruments by outlining a comprehensive understanding of the determinants of farmers’ behaviour and decision-making. Our analysis synthesises empirical literature from different disciplines spanning the last four decades on various farm-level decision-making problems. Based on a conceptual framework that links objective characteristics of the farm and the farmer with behavioural characteristics, social-institutional environment, economic constraints, and decision characteristics, empirical findings from 87 European studies are presented and discussed. We point out that economic constraints and incentives are very important, but that other factors also have significant effects, in particular pro-environmental attitudes, goodness of fit, and past experience. Conversely, we find mixed results for demographic factors and symbolic capital. A number of potentially highly relevant yet understudied factors for soil governance are identified, including adoption of technologies, advisory services, bureaucratic load, risk aversion and social capital, social norms, and peer orientation. Our results emphasise the importance of a broad behavioural perspective to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and legitimacy of soil governance.

scholarly journals The European Parliament and the Layered Politicization of the External Dimension of the Common Fisheries Policy

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hubert Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Empirical Test ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Veto Players ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
Fisheries Policy ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The Common ◽  
Policy Fields

When the Lisbon Treaty entered into effect, the European Parliament became a core player in the decision-making processes of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and its external dimensions. This new role suggested a shift towards stronger politicization in what had previously been a rather technocratic policy field. However, the CFP is not yet marked by a clear and consistent level of politicization. I use the concept of ‘layered politicization’ to explain this pattern. Although it is not comparable to the degree of political controversy shaping fully politicized policy fields, some similar political dynamics can be observed. Among them is a transformation in the policy process due to higher ratification requirements; a higher likelihood of political deadlock resulting from an increasing number of veto-players; and a strengthening of the contested legitimacy of EU decision-making. An empirical test of these theoretical propositions is provided here in the form of two case studies; the negotiation of Fisheries Partnership Agreements with Morocco and Mauritania.

scholarly journals Major renovations of apartment complexes: Russian people’s projective attitudes and behavior practices

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 190-211
Author(s):  
Anna V. Ermishina ◽  
Lyudmila V. Klimenko
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Common Property ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Actual Behavior ◽  
Apartment Buildings ◽  
Public Property ◽  
Property Owners ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Attitudes And Behavior

This article analyzes the Russian people’s projective attitudes and behavior practices when it comes to participating in the funding and organizing of major renovations of apartment buildings. The empirical base for the study consists of data from sociological surveys conducted by VCIOM (2015-2020), the Institute of Sociology of the RAS (2003-2019), FOM (2015), Levada Center (2019), The European Social Survey (2016, 2018), as well as the authors’ own expert interviews conducted in 2020. The need to ensure the safety of housing, the complexity and high cost of renovations is a reasonable explanation for government interference in this sector. Russia’s housing legislature assigns responsibility for maintaining and renovating common property to apartment owners, while also stipulating a funding procedure for major renovations based on deposits made by property owners. The system currently in place in Russia for funding and organizing major renovations, which implies the existence of both a “common reserve” and “special accounts” for regulated property owner contributions (that resemble a tax), is far from perfect, it being associated with such issues as a lack of funding, low quality of major renovations, susceptibility to corruption, owners having insufficient control when it comes to decision making. While analyzing material from all-Russian and regional empirical studies, the gap becomes evident between projective attitudes and the actual behavior of Russian people in the realm of major renovations. Despite a marked critical attitude when it comes to evaluating utility service quality, not to mention the “common reserve” model (which is a way of pulling together funds for major renovations and keeping them on the regional operator’s account) being regarded as socially unjust, nevertheless property owners demonstrate a low degree of civic self-organization and meager capability when it comes to taking collective action (as in participating in apartment complex meetings to discuss major renovations, creating and transferring money to dedicated accounts, keeping track of the major renovation process etc.). The reasons why property owners are so slow to develop any efficiency largely lie in the specifics of the institutional collective decision-making environment in regards to the funding and execution of local public property renovation, which also includes major renovations of apartment buildings.

scholarly journals A Study on the Development of Training Content Scenarios for On-Site Commanders Engaged in Firefighting Activities

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-146
Author(s):  
Woo-Young Chun ◽  
Ji-Hee Lee ◽  
Hyung-Jun Kim
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Core Competencies ◽  
Standard Operating Procedures ◽  
Training Content ◽  
Standard Operating

This study examines the development of content scenarios to facilitate the training of on-site commanders in firefighting activities. To establish the training content scenario system, the three core competencies of the on-site commanders were set as situation judgment, communication, and decision-making. A system of scenarios was established to actively reflect these three core competencies when designing the scenarios. All the contents of these scenarios are based on Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). The scenarios comprise 14 stages that are divided into four steps with the exception of stages 1 and 14, which mark the beginning and end of the training. It consists of the situation setting stage and the first, second, and third decision-making stages. Specifically, situation judgment and communication are important factors in each stage.

Integrating Budget Transparency into E-Government Websites

2010 ◽  
pp. 305-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ernita Joaquin ◽  
Thomas J. Greitens
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Budgetary Process ◽  
Present Information ◽  
Budget Decision ◽  
Government Websites ◽  
The Government ◽  
Government Website ◽  
Previous Scholarship

This chapter provides a basic template that governments can use when integrating budgetary information into any type of e-government website. Building on previous scholarship on citizen participation, budgeting, and budgetary transparency in e-government, the template divides budgetary information into two broad categories: process-based information that gives citizens a better understanding of budget decision-making and their avenues of participation, and outcome-based information that shows citizens the types of revenue collected by the government and how those revenues are used. We examine these two categories of budgetary information on state governmental websites in the United States and find that as governments increase the technological presentation of budgetary outcomes on their websites, a decline in the presentation of some types of budgetary process information occurs. We suggest that regardless of the sophistication of the e-government website, governments must present information on both the budgetary process and outcomes for true budgetary transparency via e-government to occur.

Legislative Decision-Making

2021 ◽  
pp. 83-108
Author(s):  
Neilan S. Chaturvedi
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Logic Model ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Interview Data ◽  
Party Leadership ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Voting Decisions ◽  
Legislative Decision

Chapter 4 examines the logic used by moderates in determining how to vote on legislation. Using interview data from six retired senators, Chapter 4 examines the pressures they face, both within the chamber with party leadership and outside the chamber with constituents and interest groups. While conventional wisdom would dictate that moderates vote only for legislation that they find palatable, and vote against all else, using data collected by Project Vote Smart capturing the issue positions of many senators, we see that all too often this is not the case—centrists get “railroaded” by leaders and vote with the majority, even when the legislation goes against their stated position. Using voting decisions on key votes and publicly stated positions by senators, the chapter then creates a logic model that illustrates how moderates decide how to vote on legislation.

scholarly journals Climate Change and Dairy in New York and Wisconsin: Risk Perceptions, Vulnerability, and Adaptation among Farmers and Advisors

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 3599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lane ◽  
Murdock ◽  
Genskow ◽  
Betz ◽  
Chatrchyan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
New York ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Dairy Farmers ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Using Data

Climate change impacts on agriculture have been intensifying in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States. Few empirical studies have considered how dairy farmers and/or their advisors are interpreting and responding to climate impacts, risks, and opportunities in these regions. This study investigates dairy farmer and advisor views and decisions related to climate change using data from seven farmer and advisor focus groups conducted in New York and Wisconsin. The study examined how farmers and advisors perceived climate impacts on dairy farms, the practices they are adopting, and how perceived risks and vulnerability affect farmers’ decision making related to adaptation strategies. Although dairy farmers articulated concern regarding climate impacts, other business pressures, such as profitability, market conditions, government regulations, and labor availability were often more critical issues that affected their decision making. Personal experience with extreme weather and seasonal changes affected decision making. The findings from this study provide improved understanding of farmers’ needs and priorities, which can help guide land-grant researchers, Extension, and policymakers in their efforts to develop and coordinate a comprehensive strategy to address climate change impacts on dairy in the Northeast and the Midwest US.

Elected member influence in the United Nations Security Council

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Farrall ◽  
Marie-Eve Loiselle ◽  
Christopher Michaelsen ◽  
Jochen Prantl ◽  
Jeni Whalan
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Security Council ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Real Power ◽  
Council Decision ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Common Understanding

AbstractThis article reassesses how members of the UN Security Council exercise influence over the Council’s decision-making process, with particular focus on the ten elected members (the E10). A common understanding of Security Council dynamics accords predominance to the five permanent members (the P5), suggesting bleak prospects for the Council as a forum that promotes the voices and representation of the 188 non-permanent members. The assumption is that real power rests with the P5, while the E10 are there to make up the numbers. By articulating a richer account of Council dynamics, this article contests the conventional wisdom that P5 centrality crowds out space for the E10 to influence Council decision-making. It also shows that opportunities for influencing Council decision-making go beyond stints of elected membership. It argues that the assumed centrality of the P5 on the Council thus needs to be qualified and re-evaluated.

Ethical Decision Making

2011 ◽  
pp. 313-319
Author(s):  
Norizah Mustamil ◽  
Mohammed Quaddus
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Ethical Decision ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Situational Factor ◽  
Scholarly Journals ◽  
Ethical Practices ◽  
Unethical Practices ◽  
Decision Making Model

Studies have shown that organizations are putting more effort in enforcing the ethical practices in their decision making activities (Janet, Armen, & Ted, 2001). An increasing number of models have also been proposed that have attempted to explore and explain various philosophical approaches to ethical decision making behaviour. In addition, many empirical studies have been presented in various scholarly journals focusing on this subject with the aim of putting theory into practice (O’Fallon & Butterfield, 2005). Nevertheless, unethical practices including fraud, corruption, and bribery continue to be reported (Trevino & Victor, 1992). Bartlett (2003) claims that there is a large gap between theory and practice in ethical decision making research, as existing models are trapped either in undersocialized view (focus on individual factors only) or oversocialized view (focus on situational factor only). Development of a theoretical framework in the ethical decision making area has proven to be very challenging due to the multitude of complex and varied factors that contribute to ethical behaviour. This article attempts to contribute in this challenging area by reviewing and examining the major existing models and presenting an integrated model of ethical decision making model.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document