scholarly journals Neoliberal Reforms in Higher Education and the Import of Institutions

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
Rustem Nureev ◽  
Vyacheslav Volchik ◽  
Wadim Strielkowski

The implementation of neoliberal reforms in higher education coincides with the radical institutional changes in the transition from a planned to a market economy. The modernization of higher education is also connected with the concept of the “entrepreneurial” university that represents a third-generation university with an emphasis on optimization and marketing. However, economic policy aimed at reforming and developing the public sector is based on the import of institutions related to the production of public and mixed goods. In this paper, we show that neoliberal reforms threaten the welfare state in transition economies such as the Russian Federation. In addition to marketing, monetization, and commercialization, all areas of the public sector underwent an optimization policy, which primarily implied a relative reduction in the cost of producing public goods. The rhetoric of the marketing of education represents the modern state’s masked refusal to fulfill a part of its social obligations. Moreover, we argue that market channels intended for financing education are highly dependent on the income level of the population, the availability of institutions and the infrastructure for raising funds, and, most importantly, the development of the educational services market. Within this context, another significant factor is represented by the positive externalities from the prevalence and quality of education. Thence, our results show that insufficient private demand for education, including higher education, can negatively affect the prospects for the country’s socio-economic development in the medium and long run.

2008 ◽  
Vol 104 (11/12) ◽  
Author(s):  
D.R. Walwyn

Despite the importance of labour and overhead costs to both funders and performers of research in South Africa, there is little published information on the remuneration structures for researchers, technician and research support staff. Moreover, there are widely different pricing practices and perceptions within the public research and higher education institutions, which in some cases do not reflect the underlying costs to the institution or the inherent value of the research. In this article, data from the 2004/5 Research and Development Survey have been used to generate comparative information on the cost of research in various performance sectors. It is shown that this cost is lowest in the higher education institutions, and highest in the business sector, although the differences in direct labour and overheads are not as large as may have been expected. The calculated cost of research is then compared with the gazetted rates for engineers, scientists and auditors performing work on behalf of the public sector, which in all cases are higher than the research sector. This analysis emphasizes the need within the public research and higher education institutions for the development of a common pricing policy and for an annual salary survey, in order to dispel some of the myths around the relative costs of research, the relative levels of overhead ratios and the apparent disparity in remuneration levels.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 196-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nirmala Dorasamy ◽  
Soma Pillay

This purpose of this article is to explore impediments to effective whistleblowing as a strategy for promoting anti-corruption practices within the South African public sector. Corruption, which violates the public service code of conduct; deters foreign investment, increases the cost of public service delivery, undermines the fight against poverty and unnecessarily burdens the criminal justice system. The article addresses the question on whether legislation on whistleblowing is adequate to encourage whistleblowing in the public sector. A review of literature determines that the effective implementation of whistleblowing legislation is largely dependent on addressing the challenges identified in the article. The quantitative research method was employed in the study to ascertain the views of employees in the public sector on whistleblowing. Empirical findings confirm the hypothesis that the protection of whistleblowers through legislation is inadequate to encourage whistleblowing. The article provides a conceptual framework for the effective achievement of the intended outcomes of whistleblowing in the public sector.


2011 ◽  
pp. 31-37
Author(s):  
Christopher G. Reddick

Electronic commerce or e-commerce has the potential to streamline existing functions and services in the public sector by reducing transaction costs or the cost of doing business. This article provides an overview of some of the critical e-commerce issues for the public sector focusing on its impact on reducing transaction costs.


2019 ◽  
pp. 150-177
Author(s):  
Alex Griffiths

This chapter focuses on one particularly salient application of algorithmic regulation in the public sector—for the purposes of risk assessment to inform decisions about the allocation of enforcement resources, focusing on their accuracy and effectiveness in risk prediction. Drawing on two UK case studies in health care and higher education, it highlights the limited effectiveness of algorithmic regulation in these contexts, drawing attention to the pre-requisites for algorithmic regulation to fully play to its predictive strengths. In so doing, it warns against any premature application of algorithmic regulation to ever-more regulatory domains, serving as a sober reminder that delivering on the claimed promises of algorithmic regulation is anything but simple, straightforward or ‘seamless’.


Author(s):  
Daniel Levy

Hugo Chavez's clash with Venezuelan higher education is a vivid present-day example of a history of confrontation between leftist, populist regimes and higher education in Latin America. Chavez has transformed the public sector through creation and expansion of new universities. Chavez's policies have alienated the country's private institutions of higher education. Both public and private universities are reduced in importance.


Author(s):  
Andreas Wörgötter ◽  
Sihle Nomdebevana

AbstractThis paper investigates the public-private remuneration patterns in South Africa with time-series methods for the first time since the introduction of an inflation-targeting framework in 2000. Co-integration tests and analysis confirm that there is a stable, long-run relationship between nominal and real remuneration in the public and private sector. The adjustment to the deviations from this long-run relationship is strong and significant for public-sector remuneration, while private-sector wages neither respond to deviations from the long-run relationship nor lagged changes in public-sector remuneration. The causal direction from private- to public-sector remuneration does not change if real earnings are calculated with the gross domestic product deflator. This is confirmed by simple Granger-causality tests.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-75
Author(s):  
Joy Chakraborty ◽  
Sankarshan Basu

Deregulation of the Indian insurance sector has witnessed the rise of private players in the Indian general insurance sector post-1999. Though the four major public sector general insurers still continue to dominate the Indian general insurance market, an abrupt rise in the number of private players has raised concerns upon the solvency position of the public sector general insurance companies in safeguarding their policyholders’ interests. The major reason for this concern could be attributed to the existing investment portfolios of the general insurance firms, the impact of which has been felt upon their solvency position. The present study investigated the investment portfolios of the four major public sector general insurance firms in India involved in multiline businesses, and its subsequent impact upon their solvency position. The application of the multiple linear regression model has been employed to investigate the solvency determinants of the public sector general insurance firms in view of their short-term and long-term investment portfolios, covering the study period from 2005–2006 to 2014–2015. The findings of the study have pointed out the necessity for the four public sector general insurers to focus on certain key investment variables in their investment portfolios in ensuring a sound solvency position in the long run.


2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Harding

Successive governments have encouraged the view of users of public services as consumers, choosing between different providers on the basis of information about the quality of service. As part of this approach, prospective students are expected to make their decisions about which universities to apply to with reference to the consumer evaluations provided by the National Student Survey. However, a case study of a post-1992 university showed that not all students made genuine choices and those who did tended to be in stronger social and economic positions. Where choices were made, they were infrequently based on external evaluations of quality.


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