scholarly journals The Role of the International Code Council in the U.S. Building Regulation System and Green Building Construction1

2014 ◽  
pp. 61-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Walls
Author(s):  
Jessica F. Green

This book examines the role of nonstate actors in global environmental politics, arguing that a fuller understanding of their role requires a new way of conceptualizing private authority. It identifies two distinct forms of private authority—one in which states delegate authority to private actors, and another in which entrepreneurial actors generate their own rules, persuading others to adopt them. Drawing on a wealth of empirical evidence spanning a century of environmental rule making, the book shows how the delegation of authority to private actors has played a small but consistent role in multilateral environmental agreements over the past fifty years, largely in the area of treaty implementation. This contrasts with entrepreneurial authority, where most private environmental rules have been created in the past two decades. The book traces how this dynamic and fast-growing form of private authority is becoming increasingly common in areas ranging from organic food to green building practices to sustainable tourism. It persuasively argues that the configuration of state preferences and the existing institutional landscape are paramount to explaining why private authority emerges and assumes the form that it does. In-depth cases on climate change provide evidence for the book's arguments. The book demonstrates that authority in world politics is diffused across multiple levels and diverse actors, and it offers a more complete picture of how private actors are helping to shape our response to today's most pressing environmental problems.


1992 ◽  
Vol 26 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 1831-1840 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. A. Roesner ◽  
E. H. Burgess

Increased concern regarding water quality impacts from combined sewer overflows (CSOs) in the U.S. and elsewhere has emphasized the role of computermodeling in analyzing CSO impacts and in planning abatement measures. These measures often involve the construction of very large and costly facilities, and computer simulation during plan development is essential to cost-effective facility sizing. An effective approach to CSO system modeling focuses on detailed hydraulic simulation of the interceptor sewers in conjunction with continuous simulation of the combined sewer system to characterize CSOs and explore storage-treatment tradeoffs in planning abatement facilities. Recent advances in microcomputer hardware and software have made possible a number of new techniques which facilitate the use of computer models in CSO abatement planning.


2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 385-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Thibodeau ◽  
John Harry Evans ◽  
Nandu J. Nagarajan

SYNOPSIS Starting in 1995, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) transformed a bureaucratic healthcare system into a performance-driven, patient-focused integrated healthcare network. The VHA's experience may offer lessons for private and public sector providers as the U.S. explores alternative healthcare delivery systems and payment methods. Similar patient-focused integrated systems are one of the hallmarks of the latest U.S. attempt to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare delivery. The use of performance incentives to promote cooperation and innovation is also central to both the VHA and the U.S. reform. This study reviews the VHA's experience with an eye to identifying issues and potential research avenues for accounting researchers interested in the role of accounting information for control, coordination, and organizational change.


2004 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vineeta D. Sharma

Due to the high incidence of fraud in Australia, regulatory reports suggest strengthening the monitoring role of the board of directors (BOD). These reports recommend greater independence and no duality (chairperson of the BOD should not be the CEO) on the BOD. While there is no Australian evidence, research evidence in the U.S. supports these suggested reforms. It is not clear whether the research evidence observed in the U.S. will generalize to the Australian setting because of contextual differences. This study extends the U.S. findings to the Australian context and investigates the relationship between two attributes of the BOD, independence and duality, and fraud. In addition, I examine whether institutional ownership plays a role in the context of fraud. The more highly concentrated institutional ownership in Australia suggests the presence of some relationship. Using a matched sample of fraud and no-fraud firms from 1988–2000, I find that as the percentage of independent directors and the percentage of independent institutional ownership increases, the likelihood of fraud decreases. As expected, the results show a positive relationship between duality and the likelihood of fraud. These results support the call for strengthening the composition and structure of the BOD in Australia.


Author(s):  
Gordon Moore ◽  
John A. Quelch ◽  
Emily Boudreau

Choice Matters: How Healthcare Consumers Make Decisions (and Why Clinicians and Managers Should Care) is a timely and thoughtful exploration of the controversial role of consumers in the U.S. healthcare system. In most markets today, consumers have more options and autonomy than ever before. Empowered consumers easily shop around for products and services that better meet their needs, and they widely share their reviews on social media to inform and influence other consumers. Businesses have responded with better experiences and prices to compete for consumers’ business. Though healthcare has lagged behind other industries in this respect, there is a rising tide of interest in consumer choice and empowerment in healthcare markets. However, most healthcare provider organizations, individual doctors, and health insurers are unprepared to consider patients as consumers. The authors draw upon the fields of medicine, marketing, management, psychology, and public policy as they take a substantive, in-depth look at consumer choice and point out its appropriate use, as well as its limitations. This book addresses perplexing issues, such as how healthcare differs from other consumer-driven markets, how consumers make healthcare decisions, and how increased consumer choice in healthcare can not only aid and empower American consumers but also improve the overall healthcare system.


Author(s):  
James E. Baker

This article discusses covert action within the context of the U.S. law. The first section describes the main elements of the U.S. legal regime, including the definition of covert action and the “traditional activity” exceptions, the elements of a covert action finding, and the thresholds and requirements for congressional notification. The second section describes some of the significant limitations on the conduct of covert action. The third section discusses the nature of executive branch legal practice in this area of the law. And the last section draws conclusions about the role of national security law within the context of covert action.


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