scholarly journals Does Meritocracy Lead to Bureaucratic Quality? Revisiting the Experience of Prussia and Imperial and Weimar Germany

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Delfs Erbo Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Bureaucratic Autonomy ◽  
Principal Agent Theory ◽  
Weimar Germany ◽  
Agent Theory ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
The Government ◽  
Over Time

How do state bureaucracies become high-quality organizations? Leading comparative politics studies assume that bureaucratic quality is forged by the introduction of meritocratic personnel systems because meritocracies, in contrast to politicized bureaucracies, select the most competent applicants for the jobs at hand. However, in line with principal-agent theory I propose that without a certain level of responsiveness of bureaucrats to the government in place and its policies, the positive consequences of meritocracy for bureaucratic quality are drastically reduced. Meritocracy is likewise essential to bureaucratic quality but, given that it demands some bureaucratic autonomy, meritocracy also creates a control problem. To study the consequences of meritocracy for bureaucratic quality, I revisit bureaucratic developments in the paradigmatically important historical cases of Prussia as well as Imperial and Weimar Germany. Based on extant scholarship of Prussian and German bureaucratic history, the analysis shows that bureaucratic quality varies over time with responsiveness even when meritocraticness is constant at high and low levels, and that governments knowing this hesitate to adopt meritocratic systems despite their advantages if they believe the bureaucracy will be unresponsive. Studying Prussia and Germany historically helps distinguish between the consequences for bureaucratic quality of meritocracy from those of responsiveness. On this basis, I identify where comparative politics studies may benefit from adding, in a comparative historical perspective, responsiveness to the explanation of bureaucratic quality.

scholarly journals Strengthening Cybersecurity in Singapore

2019 ◽  
pp. 96-128
Author(s):  
Ching Yuen Luk
Keyword(s):  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Cyber Attacks ◽  
Timely Manner ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Cooperative Approach ◽  
Development Trajectory ◽  
The Government ◽  
Over Time

This chapter uses a historical perspective to examine the development trajectory of e-government in Singapore, the trends and patterns of cybercrimes and cyber-attacks, and the measures taken by the government to combat cybercrimes and cyber-attacks. It shows that the government has adopted a proactive, holistic, and cooperative approach to cybersecurity in order to tackle the ever-increasing cybersecurity challenges. It has regularly reviewed and improved cybersecurity measures to ensure their effectiveness and strengthened its defense capabilities over time through coordinating national efforts with public and private sectors and cooperating with regional and international counterparts. The chase for a perfect cybersecurity system or strategy is both impossible and unnecessary. However, it is important and necessary to establish a cybersecurity system or formulate a cybersecurity strategy that can monitor, detect, respond to, recover from, and prevent cyber-attacks in a timely manner, and make the nation stronger, safer, and more secure.

scholarly journals Physical activity trajectories following gynecological cancer: results from a prospective, longitudinal cohort study

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (11) ◽  
pp. 1784-1790
Author(s):  
Steven Fleming ◽  
Tamara Jones ◽  
Monika Janda ◽  
Dimitrios Vagenas ◽  
Leigh Ward ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Endometrial Cancer ◽  
Gynecological Cancer ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Physical Activity Levels ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

BackgroundParticipating in physical activity after a diagnosis of cancer is associated with reduced morbidity and improved outcomes. However, declines in, and low levels of, physical activity are well documented in the broader cancer population, but with limited evidence following gynecological cancer.ObjectiveTo describe physical activity levels from before and up to 2 years after gynecological cancer surgery; to explore the relationship between physical activity patterns and quality of life; and to describe characteristics associated with physical activity trajectories post-gynecological cancer.MethodsWomen with gynecological cancer (n=408) participated in a prospective study that assessed physical activity and quality of life pre-surgery (baseline), at 6 weeks, and 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 and 24 months post-surgery. Validated questionnaires were used to assess physical activity (Active Australia Survey) and quality of life outcomes (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General). Generalized estimating equation modeling, group-based trajectory analysis, and analysis of variance were used to identify physical activity levels over time, to categorize women into physical activity trajectory groups, and to assess the relationship between physical activity levels and quality of life, respectively.ResultsWomen had a mean±SD age of 60±11.4 years at diagnosis, with the majority diagnosed with endometrial cancer (n=235, 58%) or stage I disease (n=241, 59%). Most women (80%) started with and maintained low levels of physical activity (1–10 metabolic equivalent task hours per week), reported no physical activity throughout the follow-up period, or reduced physical activity levels over time. Only 19% of women maintained or doubled physical activity levels, so that by 24 months post-diagnosis they were engaging in sufficient levels of physical activity. Women with endometrial cancer (58% of the sample) were more likely to be overweight or obese and to report low levels of physical activity or none at all. Higher physical activity levels were associated with higher quality of life (p<0.05).ConclusionThe low baseline and surveillance levels of physical activity show that the vast majority of gynecological cancer survivors have the ability to improve their physical activity levels. Integration of physical activity advice and support into standard care could lead to gains in quality of life during gynecological cancer survivorship.

scholarly journals EFFECTS OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE ON MANAGEMENT EFFICIENCY OF LITHUANIAN STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES

Ekonomika ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-97
Author(s):  
Liudas Jurkonis ◽  
Dovilė Petrusauskaitė
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Specific Area ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
Principal Agent ◽  
Public Governance ◽  
Principal Agent Theory ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Agent Theory ◽  
Management Efficiency ◽  
The Government

Abstract. Management efficiency of state-owned enterprises (SOE) is being widely discussed not only in Lithuania, Central Eastern Europe, but also globally (mainly focusing on such countries as China, having state monopoly in most of the industries). Moreover, this topic is interesting to scholars both in the context of public governance reforms and a specific area of public administration. On the other hand, the topic of SOEs management is quite specific due to its duality: firstly, it is an area of public governance with an intensive intervention of the government, and secondly, SOEs are autonomous enterprises having dual – social (e.g., creation of work places, implementation of state-level projects, etc.) and economic (e.g., profitability, return on investment, etc.) – goals. Following the paradigms of (post) new public governance, principal agent theory, corporate governance guidelines established by such international organizations as the OECD, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and others, this paper is focusing on the management and performance of SOEs, trying to find an evidence of positive effects related to the implementation of corporate governance principles in Lithuanian SOEs. The paper seeks to identify those aspects of corporate governance which are the most relevant in terms of their potential effect on the management efficiency of Lithuanian SOEs.Key words: state-owned enterprises, corporate governance, principal agent theory, management efficiency

scholarly journals Anatomy of the Privatization of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in Ghana: Implication for Policy and Accountability

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 181
Author(s):  
Eugene Danso
Keyword(s):  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Principal Agent ◽  
Private Ownership ◽  
Principal Agent Theory ◽  
Performance Targets ◽  
Agent Theory ◽  
Administrative Policy ◽  
Company Limited ◽  
The Government

With the administrative and operational functions of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) becoming increasingly complex and sophisticated among developing countries by the 1980s, privatization was recommended by the IMF/World Bank as a remedy to these institutional deficiencies . This is contingent on the neoclassical debate that private ownership rather than public ownership of management and operations of SOEs results in prudent policy process and accountability. Therefore, this study sought to assess the validity of this assertion by employing the Principal-Agent theory in assessing the level of accountability between the citizens (principal) and the government (agent) during private ownership of service delivery. As a qualitative study, this paper adopts unobtrusive content analysis of an empirical study of the privatization of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL). The government (agent) under the Principal-Agent theory is to ensure that the private operator, Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL) respects the terms of divestiture, while upholding the principles of accountability. However, the findings of the study suggest that the failure of government (agent) to uphold core accountability mechanisms such as transparency, accessibility to information, sense of ownership, responsiveness, and conformity to established monitoring and evaluation measures, contributed to the inability to achieve key performance targets, leading to the unsuccessful policy outcome of the privatization contract. This paper, therefore, argues that the failure to adopt accountability mechanisms in the divestiture of SOEs will inevitably compromise administrative policy outcomes.

scholarly journals A Principal-Agent Theory Perspective on PPP Risk Allocation

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (22) ◽  
pp. 6455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asheem Shrestha ◽  
Jolanta Tamošaitienė ◽  
Igor Martek ◽  
M Reza Hosseini ◽  
David J Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Project Performance ◽  
Principal Agent ◽  
Risk Allocation ◽  
Principal Agent Theory ◽  
Agent Theory ◽  
Community Benefits ◽  
Operational Life ◽  
The Government ◽  
Cycle Efficiency

This study proposes a framework for the allocation of risk in public private partnerships (PPP) projects. Its contribution lies in the recognition and incorporation of risks introduced by project stakeholders, and as articulated by the principal-agent theory (PAT). The framework assesses risks and routes these risks to those parties best equipped to mitigate their impact on the project. This allocation of risk is facilitated by a thirteen-step process. The practical benefit of this study lies in outlining a clear, systematic method for allocating risk efficiently to both the government and private enterprise parties of the project. In so doing, risk mitigation can be expected to improve project performance, optimize stakeholder goals, and enhance sustainability objectives, including improved operational life-cycle efficiency and elevated social and community benefits.

scholarly journals Study on Third-Party supervision of Major Ecological Ecological Projects Auditing Based on Principal-agent Theory

2019 ◽  
Vol 79 ◽  
pp. 03009
Author(s):  
Liang Zhao ◽  
Chuiyong Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Principal Agent ◽  
Principal Agent Theory ◽  
Agent Model ◽  
Agent Theory ◽  
Incentive Policy ◽  
Principal Agent Model ◽  
The Government

Without considering the existence of third-party audit supervision and considering the existence of third-party audit supervision, the principal-agent model of major engineering audits between government and audit organizations was constructed. The analytical solutions under various hypothetical conditions were analyzed for the government. The optimal incentive policy for major engineering audits provides the basis. The analysis results prove that, the introduction of third-party units for audit supervision can effectively stimulate audit behavior, reduce information asymmetry, and create higher engineering quality and audit quality in the process of major engineering audit.

Strengthening Cybersecurity in Singapore

2021 ◽  
pp. 1665-1688
Author(s):  
Ching Yuen Luk
Keyword(s):  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Cyber Attacks ◽  
Timely Manner ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Cooperative Approach ◽  
Development Trajectory ◽  
The Government ◽  
Over Time

This chapter uses a historical perspective to examine the development trajectory of e-government in Singapore, the trends and patterns of cybercrimes and cyber-attacks, and the measures taken by the government to combat cybercrimes and cyber-attacks. It shows that the government has adopted a proactive, holistic, and cooperative approach to cybersecurity in order to tackle the ever-increasing cybersecurity challenges. It has regularly reviewed and improved cybersecurity measures to ensure their effectiveness and strengthened its defense capabilities over time through coordinating national efforts with public and private sectors and cooperating with regional and international counterparts. The chase for a perfect cybersecurity system or strategy is both impossible and unnecessary. However, it is important and necessary to establish a cybersecurity system or formulate a cybersecurity strategy that can monitor, detect, respond to, recover from, and prevent cyber-attacks in a timely manner, and make the nation stronger, safer, and more secure.

scholarly journals A Reestruturação do Espaço Urbano em Juiz de Fora a partir de Projetos Urbanos de Grande Impacto

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 3133-3144
Author(s):  
Luciane Tasca ◽  
Sabrina Ferretti Do Amaral
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Spatial Planning ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Spatial Restructuring ◽  
The Government ◽  
Year 2000 ◽  
The City ◽  
The Town

O presente artigo se insere na temática da reestruturação do espaço em cidades médias brasileiras e apresenta como principal objetivo analisar a implantação de Projetos Urbanos de relevante impacto na estrutura da cidade de Juiz de Fora, MG. Segundo perspectiva histórica, desde a década de 1970, o município vem passando por alterações significativas na sua estrutura, resultantes de sua expansão e do surgimento de novas centralidades. Destaca-se, no entanto, que desde o ano 2000, Juiz de Fora se tornou palco de Projetos Urbanos (especialmente na sua Região Sul), a partir de mudanças implementadas pela administração pública focadas no planejamento estratégico e no empresariamento urbano.  Percebe-se assim, o surgimento de um novo núcleo de atratividade num processo crescente de alteração da dinâmica urbana do município. Diante da ineficiente ação por parte do poder público local, somada à falta de políticas urbanas integradas ao planejamento espacial da cidade, este trabalho se justifica por se apresentar como um meio de explorar e debater idéias que contribuam efetivamente para a qualidade urbana da cidade.   This paper is part of the issue spatial restructuring in Brazilian average cities and has as its objective to analyze the implementation of urban projects of significant impact on the structure of Juiz de Fora, MG. According to a historical perspective, since the 1970s, the city has been undergoing significant changes in its structure, resulting from its expansion and the emergence of new centers.  Stands out, however, from the year 2000, Juiz de Fora became the scene of urban projects (deployed in its Southern Region), from the implemented changes by the government focused on the strategic planning and the urban enterprising: It is noticed, the rise of a new core attractiveness distinct from the others: excluding and in order to threaten the dynamic urban areas.  In front of the ineficcient action from the local government, together with the lack of integrated urban policies to the spatial planning of the city, this work is justified by presenting itself as a way to explore and discuss ideas that contribute effectively to the quality of the town.

scholarly journals Urban development-induced displacement and quality of life in Kolkata

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 597-614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annapurna Shaw ◽  
Tara Saharan
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Improvement Project ◽  
Environmental Improvement ◽  
The Government ◽  
Over Time

This paper draws together issues of urban development-induced displacement and resettlement and the quality of life of the affected population over the longer term. It reviews settlement strategies related to the Kolkata Environmental Improvement Project, exploring residents’ recollection of the relocation process and comparing and contrasting the situation over time of two groups of low-income households: those who refused a resettlement package and chose to continue to reside in their canalside huts; and those who accepted the package and moved into new flats provided by the government. The paper highlights issues of livelihoods, social cohesion and sanitation among both sets of households to find out whether those who were resettled experienced improvement in these aspects of their lives. Findings point to resettled households’ overall satisfaction with sanitation despite periodic lapses in functioning, and a modicum of social support, but significant livelihood problems among the poorest households, and dissatisfaction with the small size of units.

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