Economic Development and the Growth of Public Expenditures in Scandinavia, 1875–1965

1980 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-42
Author(s):  
David Klingman ◽  
B. Guy Peters
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Policy Formation ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Industrial Society ◽  
Public Expenditures ◽  
The Public ◽  
Cast Doubt ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

This paper examines the sources of the growth of the public sector in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark from 1875 to 1965. The analysis focuses on variations over time and across the three Scandinavian countries in the elasticity of public expenditures to growth in GNP, and in the patterns of relationship between the rate of growth of expenditures as a proportion of GNP and the rate of change in various socioeconomic, political and institutional indicators, using correlation and regression analysis of annual change-rate data. The results cast doubt on the applicability to the Scandinavian context of Herber's adaptation of Wagner's Law of the growth of the public sector in industrial society. The results also cast further doubt upon the applicability to public policy formation of the Bull–Galenson hypothesis concerning differences among the Scandinavian countries in the impact of the timing and rate of their industrialization on the radicalness of their labor movements. The variations of public policy over time and space might be better explained by anti-depression and war-time spending and by certain aspects of organizational ‘learning’, such as the tendency for policy-making behaviour to adjust only slowly to changing conditions and the post-Keynesian effort to fine-tune the economy.

scholarly journals Tourism Partnerships and Small Firms

2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhodri Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Policy Formation ◽  
Central Feature ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
The Public ◽  
Advanced Capitalist

Partnerships have been a central feature of the tourism public policy landscape in advanced capitalist countries for some time. The intuitively appealing argument is that, by sharing expertise and decision making, commitment to the local tourism project is ensured. By participating in partnership working, small firms – which are almost universally characteristic of the sector – are said to contribute to the form and competitiveness of the tourism offer. Drawing on a variety of sources, this paper argues that in most cases such assertions are misplaced because ‘partnerships’ organized by the public sector are often predicated on an inadequate conceptualization of small firms in tourism, fail to appreciate the importance and complexity of informal economic relations, and usually ignore the particular power relations at play in local tourism policy formation and change.

scholarly journals E-government: what is it, and will it transform government?

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Gauld
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Communications Technology ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Money ◽  
Developmental Phases ◽  
The Impact

Like many trends that influence public policy and administration, ‘e-government’ is a multifaceted and nebulous idea, easily applied to a range of different situations, across the entire gamut of government and society, and with differing intentions. There are wide-ranging claims made for e-government, considerable hopes pinned on it, and substantial commitments – financial and otherwise – made to it. The concept has been embraced by political leaders; it is being used to drive changes to the public sector, and to legitimise investment of public money in information and communications technology (ICT). An important question, however, is what ‘e-government’ is, and what shape an ‘e’ government might have. This article overviews the concept, the developmental phases of e-government and some international and local policy developments, and speculates on the impact of ICT on the future shape of government.

scholarly journals Long-term effectiveness of elderly health care voucher scheme strategies: a system dynamics simulation analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ka Chun Chong ◽  
Hong Fung ◽  
Carrie Ho Kwan Yam ◽  
Patsy Yuen Kwan Chau ◽  
Tsz Yu Chow ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Chronic Disease ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
System Dynamics ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Dynamics Simulation ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background The elderly healthcare voucher (EHCV) scheme is expected to lead to an increase in the number of elderly people selecting private primary healthcare services and reduce reliance on the public sector in Hong Kong. However, studies thus far have reported that this scheme has not received satisfactory responses. In this study, we examined changes in the ratio of visits between public and private doctors in primary care (to measure reliance on the public sector) for different strategic scenarios in the EHCV scheme. Methods Based on comments from an expert panel, a system dynamics model was formulated to simulate the impact of various enhanced strategies in the scheme: increasing voucher amounts, lowering the age eligibility, and designating vouchers for chronic conditions follow-up. Data and statistics for the model calibration were collected from various sources. Results The simulation results show that the current EHCV scheme is unable to reduce the utilization of public healthcare services, as well as the ratio of visits between public and private primary care among the local aging population. When comparing three different tested scenarios, even if the increase in the annual voucher amount could be maintained at the current pace or the age eligibility can be lowered to include those aged 60 years, the impact on shifts from public-to-private utilization were insignificant. The public-to-private ratio could only be marginally reduced from 0.74 to 0.64 in the first several years. Nevertheless, introducing a chronic disease-oriented voucher could result in a significant drop of 0.50 in the public-to-private ratio during the early implementation phase. However, the effect could not be maintained for an extended period. Conclusions Our findings will assist officials in improving the design of the EHCV scheme, within the wider context of promoting primary care among the elderly. We suggest that an additional chronic disease-oriented voucher can serve as an alternative strategy. The scheme must be redesigned to address more specific objectives or provide a separate voucher that promotes under-utilized healthcare services (e.g., preventive care), instead of services designed for unspecified reasons, which may lead to concerns regarding exploitation.

Mobility as a Service Operating Model to Enable Public Policy

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110266
Author(s):  
Christina Joy Ditmore ◽  
Angela K. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Operating Model ◽  
The Public ◽  
Equity And Access ◽  
Policy Goals

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is the concept through which travelers plan, book, and pay for public or private transport on a single platform using either a service or subscription-based model. Observations of current projects identified two distinct approaches to enabling MaaS: the private-sector approach defined as a “business model,” and the public sector approach that manifests as an “operating model.” The distinction between these models is significant. MaaS provides a unique opportunity for the public sector to set and achieve public policy goals by leveraging emerging technologies in favor of the public good. Common policy goals that relate to transportation include equity and access considerations, environmental impact, congestion mitigation, and so forth. Strategies to address these policy goals include behavioral incentivization and infrastructure reallocation. This study substantiates two models for implementing MaaS and expanding on the public sector approach, to enable policy in favor of the public good.

Public Sector Employment, Quality of Government, and Well-Being: A Global Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 223386592110117
Author(s):  
Robert Davidson ◽  
Alexander Pacek ◽  
Benjamin Radcliff
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Global Analysis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
The Public ◽  
Employment Quality ◽  
The Impact

While a growing literature within the study of subjective well-being demonstrates the impact of socio-political factors on subjective well-being, scholars have conspicuously failed to consider the role of the size and scope of government as determinants of well-being. Where such studies exist, the focus is largely on the advanced industrial democracies of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development. In this study, we examine the size of the public sector as a determinant of cross-national variation in life satisfaction across a worldwide sample. Our findings strongly suggest that as the public sector grows, subjective well-being increases as well, conditional on the extent of quality of government. Using cross-sectional data on 84 countries, we show this relationship has an independent and separable impact from other economic and political factors.

Up the Garden Path? Enterprise Bargaining and Decentralization in the NSW Public Sector

1995 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael O'Donnell
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
New South ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Green Paper ◽  
Garden Path ◽  
Reform Agenda ◽  
The Public ◽  
South Wales ◽  
The Impact

Decentralizing industrial relations within New South Wales is a central recom mendation of the Niland Green Paper (1989). Decentralism also represents the cornerstone of the New South Wales government's industrial relations reform agenda enshrined in the New South Wales Industrial Relations Act 1991. To date there has been little analysis of the impact o f this legislative change on industrial relations in the New South Wales public sector. This paper provides a case study that examines the degree to which responsibility for bargaining has been devolved within the Parks and Gardens of the New South Wales Ministry for the Environ ment. It argues that, in contrast to the rhetoric of the New South Wales Act, the central agency presiding over the introduction of enterprise bargaining in the public sector, the Public Employment and Industrial Relations Authority; has been reluctant to delegate responsibility to parties in the workplace.

An End to Incrementalism? The Impact of Expenditure Restraint on Social Services Budgets 1979–1986

1989 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aidan Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Social Service ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Activity Data ◽  
The Public ◽  
Total Budget ◽  
Service Departments ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

ABSTRACTThe theory of incrementalism is a long-standing and influential perspective on policy making and resource allocation in the public sector. Previous research on social services budgeting suggests that resources are allocated incrementally, although there has been some debate as to whether this would persist in an era of prolonged expenditure restraint. Incremental budgetary outcomes are operationalised as percentage changes in budgets pro-rata with percentage changes in the total budget, and as stable shares of total expenditure for each activity. Data for 99 English social service departments supports incrementalism in that budget shares change by only 1.8 per cent, but percentage allocations depart from pro-rata incrementalism by a mean of 74 per cent. The comparison of the two summary indices over time supports those who have argued that prolonged restraint would encourage non-incremental budgeting, but change in the agency's total budget does not consistently predict budgetary outcomes. The effect of restraint on incrementalism varies with the measure used and across the component activities of the measures, but there is enough evidence to suggest a significant decline in the level of incrementalism in social service departments. In particular, non-incremental budgeting is strongly associated with the growth of day centre expenditure on the mentally ill and the elderly before 1982–3, and after that with the pursuit of the ‘community care’ strategy within state provided services for the elderly and children. Incrementalism as a general theory of agency budgeting is limited in its ability to explain variations in the degree of incrementalism between agencies, between component budgets and over time. The conclusion suggests that further research should seek explanations for these variations in the varying balance of the competing forces which shape outcomes in welfare bureaucracies and in the relationship between these forces and the organisation's environment.

COVID’s Effect on India’s Health Services: A Commentary

Social Change ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-492
Author(s):  
Imrana Qadeer
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
The Public ◽  
State Authority ◽  
Comprehensive Framework ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Second Wave

Using a comprehensive framework (the state’s will to deliver, its institutional strength and its legitimacy), this article assesses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public sector healthcare services in India. The power to deliver was explicit when the interventions were harsh, increasing the burden of death and disease on health services. But when it came to healthcare by the public sector we find a worsening of achievements of non-COVID ailments during the pandemic and an inability to tackle the second wave due to gaps in the nation's infrastructure, a centralised control undermining state authority; and visible results of a flawed policy that pushed further the agenda of making healthcare a profitable business.

Research from China finds no significant difference in impact of public service motivation (PSM) in public and private sectors

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Employee Performance ◽  
Intention To Leave ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The authors assumed PSM would be higher in the public sector, but they set up a trial to find out if this was the case. Design/methodology/approach To test their theories, the authors conducted two independent surveys. The first consisted of 220 usable responses from public sector employees in Changsha, China. The second survey involved 260 usable responses from private sector employees taking an MBA course at a university in the Changsha district. A questionnaire was used to assess attitudes. Findings The results found no significant difference between the impact of public sector motivation (PSM) on employee performance across the public and private sectors. The data showed that PSM had a significant impact on self-reported employee performance, but the relationship did not differ much between sectors. Meanwhile, it was in the private sector that PSM had the greatest impact on intention to leave. Originality/value The authors said the research project was one of the first to test if the concept of PSM operated in the same way across sectors. It also contributed, they said, to the ongoing debate about PSM in China.

scholarly journals The Influence of Strategic Leadership on Building Employees’ Entrepreneurial Orientation: A Field Study at the Jordanian Public Sector

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Sahar Mohammad Abu Bakir
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Entrepreneurial Orientation ◽  
Change Agent ◽  
Strategic Leadership ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Continuous Control ◽  
The Public ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
The Impact

The public sector in Jordan is confronting many problems; reports show that citizens are not contented with the number and quality of current services. Consequently; persistent initiatives to uphold the sector performance took place at all levels, relying on the inventive employees and leadership to achieve the intended improvement. So this study seeks to test the impact of strategic leadership (charismatic, visionary, change agent and servant) on building entrepreneurial orientation (proactiveness, innovativeness and risk taking) in Jordanian public sector employees.A random sample was selected of 500 employees working at health, education, agriculture and other service governmental organizations. To obtain the required results multiple regression was calculated using (21) SPSS version.It was found that the charismatic, change agent, servant styles positively influence employees proaciveness, with no influence on the other two entrepreneurship dimensions. While visionary style has no significant influence on all entrepreneurship dimensions. However the public sector reform is achievable, through comprehensive strategies, successful implementation, and effective continuous control. Innovative departments need to be established and financed away from bureaucratic environments.

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