Organizational Characteristics of the Local Councils on Social Welfare Impact on Network Governance

Abstract We investigate whether vertical separation reduces quality discrimination and increases welfare. Consider an industry consisting of a vertically integrated firm, the incumbent, and an independent retailer, the entrant, which requires access to the services of the incumbent's wholesaler. The wholesaler can discriminate against either of the retailers by supplying it an input of lower quality than its rival. We show that, in our setting, vertical separation of the incumbent reduces discrimination against the entrant's retailer, although it does not guarantee non-discrimination. Furthermore, with vertical separation, the wholesaler may discriminate against the incumbent's retailer. Vertical separation impacts social welfare through two effects. First, through the double-marginalization effect, which is negative. Second, through the quality degradation effect, which can be positive or negative. Hence, the net welfare impact of vertical separation is negative or potentially ambiguous.

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Social welfare impact from enhanced Trans-Asian electricity trade

Energy ◽

10.1016/j.energy.2020.119106 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 215 ◽

pp. 119106 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Arturs Purvins ◽

Hana Gerbelova ◽

Luigi Sereno ◽

Philip Minnebo

Keyword(s):

Social Welfare ◽

Welfare Impact ◽

Electricity Trade

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Blame game or dialogue? Financial, professional and democratic accountabilities in a complex health care setting

Accounting Auditing & Accountability Journal ◽

10.1108/aaaj-03-2016-2449 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 31 (2) ◽

pp. 626-650 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jukka Pellinen ◽

Toni Mättö ◽

Kari Sippola ◽

Antti Rautiainen

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Network Governance ◽

Organizational Characteristics ◽

Public Health Care ◽

Care Organization ◽

Democratic Accountability ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Content Type ◽

Stakeholder Groups

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the complexity of the network governance setting affects accountability practices. The authors pay particular attention to the organizational characteristics that may enable a common understanding of multiple accountability relationships, or lead to problems in reconciling competing forms of accountability, thereby appearing as blame game-type behavior. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a case study with 31 semi-structured interviews in a Finnish health care organization (FHC) that offers basic public health care services. The organization represents a co-operative arrangement with the main city and three smaller municipalities. The FHC has faced difficulties in balancing budget constraints with the provision of statutory care to citizens. This case is analyzed with the help of theories relating to accountability, the blame game, and dialogue. Findings The authors found that in the FHC operating under austerity constraints, attempts to reconcile financial, professional, and democratic accountability were made but, instead of dialogue and consensus, the different stakeholder groups resorted to defensive tactics in order to protect their resources, position, or sense of professional obligation. The authors suggest that in a context of network governance, accompanied by an increasing emphasis on financial accountability, organizational practices are susceptible to conflicting accountabilities and behavior characterized in this paper as a blame game. Originality/value The study contributes to the empirical studies on accountability in the new public governance context by analyzing the complex accountability relations between stakeholder groups with different agendas. The authors suggest organizational characteristics that may exacerbate conflicts between different stakeholder groups and prevent constructive dialogue. Furthermore, the study analyzes the composition of democratic accountability within the studied organization.

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