A critical review of corporate governance reforms in Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Ahmad Al-Hiyari

2017-01-01

Following the East-Asian financial crisis in 1997 and the corporate accounting scandals, the shareholder’s confidence in the audited financial statements was adversely affected and regulators started to think seriously reforming the existing corporate governance practices. As a result, numerous initiatives were implemented to accelerate improvement of corporate governance practices. One of these initiatives was the Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (MCCG). The code was derived from the a...

Shelter from the Storm: Roles, responsibilities, and challenges in United States housing policy governance.

Science.gov (United States)

Willison, Charley

2017-11-01

Housing is a critical social determinant of health. Housing policy not only affects health by improving housing quality, affordability, and insecurity; housing policy affects health upstream through the politics that shape housing policy design, implementation, and management. These politics, or governance strategies, determine the successes or failures of housing policy programs. This paper is an overview of challenges in housing policy governance in the United States. I examine the important relationship between housing and health, and emphasize why studying housing policy governance matters. I then present three cases of housing governance challenges in the United States, from each pathway by which housing affects health - housing quality, affordability, and insecurity. Each case corresponds to an arm of the TAPIC framework for evaluating governance (Krieger and Higgins) [1], to assess mechanisms of housing governance in each case. While housing governance has come a long way over the past century, political decentralization and the expansion of the submerged state have increased the number of political actors and policy conflict in many areas. This creates inherent challenges for improving accountability, transparency, and policy capacity. In many instances, too, reduced government accountability and transparency increases the risk of harm to the public and lessens governmental integrity. Copyright © 2017 The Author. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Housing in China: State Governance, Market and Public Perception

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emile Kok-Kheng Yeoh

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Chinese house prices have been receiving huge coverage in both the domestic and the international media. Although the Chinese government has implemented many policies to control house prices, especially in the big cities, it is obvious that there is disequilibrium between demand for and supply of houses. Even though numerous housing policies have been put in place to overcome that, house prices in China are still rising. Many Chinese citizens from the low- and middle-incomes group find it difficult to purchase a house in the cities due to high house prices. This paper covers the current situation of the house prices in China, introduces the existing state of affairs about the Chinese housing market, explores a series of important reasons for high house prices, examines various public policies the Chinese government is using to control real estate, as well as reveals the citizens’ perceptions related to rising house prices. To gauge citizens’ perception of the current state of affairs in this regard, a questionnaire survey was conducted to gather information with a final sample of 256 respondents from more than ten cities of different tiers in the different regions of China.

Partnering between Government and Industry, and Acquisition Reform Initiative

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Jones, Richard

1997-01-01

The diminishing use of technical Military Specifications (Mil-specs) and the increased emphasis on performance based requirements due to acquisition reform has limited technical communication between government and industry...

Good governance and budget reform in Lesotho Public Hospitals: performance, root causes and reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Vian, Taryn; Bicknell, William J

2014-09-01

Lesotho has been implementing financial management reforms, including performance-based budgeting (PBB) since 2005 in an effort to increase accountability, transparency and effectiveness in governance, yet little is known about how these efforts are affecting the health sector. Supported by several development partners and $24 million in external resources, the PBB reform is intended to strengthen government capacity to manage aid funds directly and to target assistance to pressing social priorities. This study designed and tested a methodology for measuring implementation progress for PBB reform in the hospital sector in Lesotho. We found that despite some efforts on the national level to promote and support reform implementation, staff at the hospital level were largely unaware of the purpose of the reform and had made almost no progress in transforming institutions and systems to fully realize reform goals. Problems can be traced to a complex reform design, inadequate personnel and capacity to implement, professional boundaries between financial and clinical personnel and weak leadership. The Lesotho reform experience suggests that less complex designs for budget reform, better adapted to the context and realities of health sectors in developing countries, may be needed to improve governance. It also highlights the importance of measuring reform implementation at the sectoral level. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine © The Author 2013; all rights reserved.

China's Insurance Regulatory Reform, Corporate Governance Behavior and Insurers' Governance Effectiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Huicong; Zhang, Hongliang; Tsai, Sang-Bing; Qiu, Aichao

2017-10-17

External regulation is an important mechanism to improve corporate behavior in emerging markets. China's insurance governance regulation, which began to supervise and guide insurance corporate governance behavior in 2006, has experienced a complex process of reform. This study tested our hypotheses with a sample of 85 firms during 2010-2011, which was obtained by providing a questionnaire to all of China's shareholding insurance companies. The empirical study results generally show that China's insurance governance effectiveness has significantly improved through strict regulation. Insurance corporate governance can improve business acumen and risk-control ability, but no significant evidence was found to prove its influence on profitability, as a result of focusing less attention on governance than on management. State ownership is associated with higher corporate governance effectiveness than non-state ownership. Listed companies tend to outperform non-listed firms, and life insurance corporate governance is more effective than that of property insurers. This study not only contributes to the comprehensive understanding of corporate governance effectiveness but also to the literature by highlighting the effect of corporate governance regulation in China's insurance industry and other emerging economies of the financial sector.

The central government power generating capacity- reforms and the future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, Rajendra

1995-01-01

The alarming resource gap that the states were facing in 1970's has prompted the Central Government to augment the resources for power generation by creating two new entities in November 1975 viz the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC). Few other organisations also exist in central sector which are engaged in power generation like Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC). NTPC being the leading player in the power sector, it can neither be indifferent nor dissociate itself from the reforms sweeping the sector today. The article describes the Central Government's role in power generation, reforms and NTPC and further prospects of NTPC

Change of government: one more big bang health care reform in England's National Health Service.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, David J

2011-01-01

Once again the National Health Service (NHS) in England is undergoing major reform, following the election of a new coalition government keen to reduce the role of the state and cut back on big government. The NHS has been undergoing continuous reform since the 1980s. Yet, despite the significant transaction costs incurred, there is no evidence that the claimed benefits have been achieved. Many of the same problems endure. The reforms follow the direction of change laid down by the last Conservative government in the early 1990s, which the recent Labour government did not overturn despite a commitment to do so. Indeed, under Labour, the NHS was subjected to further market-style changes that have paved the way for the latest round of reform. The article considers the appeal of big bang reform, questions its purpose and value, and critically appraises the nature and extent of the proposed changes in this latest round of reform. It warns that the NHS in its current form may not survive the changes, as they open the way to privatization and a weakening of its public service ethos.

People, Governance and Forests—The Stumbling Blocks in Forest Governance Reform in Latin America

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arnoldo Contreras-Hermosilla

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This article examines common barriers to achieving adequate levels of forest resource governance in countries of Latin America. It looks at the deficiencies of the policy and regulatory frameworks affecting forests, the common failure to impose the rule of law, the main factors that constrain the effectiveness of government actions in the forest sector and at the political barriers to introducing reforms for change in governance structures. The elimination of these barriers acquires new importance in the implementation of successful REDD+ programs in the countries of the region.

China’s Insurance Regulatory Reform, Corporate Governance Behavior and Insurers’ Governance Effectiveness

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Hongliang; Qiu, Aichao

2017-01-01

External regulation is an important mechanism to improve corporate behavior in emerging markets. China’s insurance governance regulation, which began to supervise and guide insurance corporate governance behavior in 2006, has experienced a complex process of reform. This study tested our hypotheses with a sample of 85 firms during 2010–2011, which was obtained by providing a questionnaire to all of China’s shareholding insurance companies. The empirical study results generally show that China’s insurance governance effectiveness has significantly improved through strict regulation. Insurance corporate governance can improve business acumen and risk-control ability, but no significant evidence was found to prove its influence on profitability, as a result of focusing less attention on governance than on management. State ownership is associated with higher corporate governance effectiveness than non-state ownership. Listed companies tend to outperform non-listed firms, and life insurance corporate governance is more effective than that of property insurers. This study not only contributes to the comprehensive understanding of corporate governance effectiveness but also to the literature by highlighting the effect of corporate governance regulation in China’s insurance industry and other emerging economies of the financial sector. PMID:29039781

China’s Insurance Regulatory Reform, Corporate Governance Behavior and Insurers’ Governance Effectiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huicong Li

2017-10-01

Full Text Available External regulation is an important mechanism to improve corporate behavior in emerging markets. China’s insurance governance regulation, which began to supervise and guide insurance corporate governance behavior in 2006, has experienced a complex process of reform. This study tested our hypotheses with a sample of 85 firms during 2010–2011, which was obtained by providing a questionnaire to all of China’s shareholding insurance companies. The empirical study results generally show that China’s insurance governance effectiveness has significantly improved through strict regulation. Insurance corporate governance can improve business acumen and risk-control ability, but no significant evidence was found to prove its influence on profitability, as a result of focusing less attention on governance than on management. State ownership is associated with higher corporate governance effectiveness than non-state ownership. Listed companies tend to outperform non-listed firms, and life insurance corporate governance is more effective than that of property insurers. This study not only contributes to the comprehensive understanding of corporate governance effectiveness but also to the literature by highlighting the effect of corporate governance regulation in China’s insurance industry and other emerging economies of the financial sector.

Tax reform in the Lula government: continuity and fiscal injustice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandrine Brami-Celentano

2007-04-01

Full Text Available The tax reform proposed by the Lula government in 2003, quickly approved by Congress, remained at the limits of the proposals of the previous government of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and his Social Democratic party (PSDB, inspired by neoliberal ideology. The small advances in reducing regressivity, such as exemptions for basic consumer products, have not altered the role of the tax structure in the concentration of wealth, with a predominance of indirect taxes and their regressive effects. Taxation has deserved little attention in the broad debate about social policies in Brazil, which concentrates on the allocation of public expenses and the efficiency of spending, without proper attention to the role of the tax structure in the concentration of income and wealth in the country. The article presents the regressive profile of the Brazilian tax structure, preserved by the reform of 2003 and discusses the neoliberal agenda that guides the initiatives of the Lula government in this field.

Magical or monstrous? Hybridity in social housing governance: Understanding market oriented reforms of social rental housing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blessing, A.P.

2014-01-01

For much of the 20th century, state agencies were central to the provision of welfare state services in Western democracies. In its final decades, however, radical reforms placed the state in a facilitative role, incentivizing private not-for-profit and commercial actors to deliver programs of

How do government reforms influence the establishment of private limited companies in Sweden?

OpenAIRE

Patel, Ibrahim; Thörn, Simon

2012-01-01

Background: This study focuses on three reforms which the Swedish government have performed: The abolishment of the audit requirement, the reduction of the legal capital requirement, and the reduction of the employment taxes. What effect have they had on the establishment of private limited companies? Purpose: The purpose of this dissertation is to explain the influence government reforms have on the establishment and re-establishment of private limited companies inSweden. Method: An explanat...

International Experience in Reforming the System of Higher Education Governance in terms of Increasing the University Autonomy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chmutova Iryna M.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of the article is to summarize the international experience of reforming the system of higher education governance and develop directions that will contribute to increasing the effectiveness of the Ukrainian model for governance of higher education and ensuring its autonomy. There identified common elements and trends in European higher education reforms: greater autonomy for higher education institutions with less direct administrative intervention; greater emphasis on private rather than public funding; emphasis on the quality and effectiveness of education. The tools for implementing reforms in the European higher education system are identified: the New Public Management (NPM model, governance through networks, and new forms of governance. The changes in the university autonomy of European countries for the period of 2010-2016 are summarized. The content of the reforms in terms of increasing the autonomy of HEIs in the countries of Asia is disclosed. Possible vectors for reforming the system of higher education governance in Ukraine are identified: introduction of a model for funding HEIs on the basis of combining a one-time full budgeting and financing by results; assigning universities ownership of their buildings and their sale in the market; strengthening the decentralization of government control of higher education; development of legislative bases for the self-sufficiency of HEIs; inclusion of external stakeholders in decision-making governing bodies of HEIs; maximum involvement of students in decision-making.

75 FR 80335 - Federal Government Participation in the Automated Clearing House

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-22

... Participation in the Automated Clearing House AGENCY: Financial Management Service, Fiscal Service, Treasury...) is amending its regulation governing the use of the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system by Federal... institutions, consumer advocacy groups, industry associations, the Senate Committee on Finance and the House...

78 FR 75528 - Federal Government Participation in the Automated Clearing House

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-12

... Participation in the Automated Clearing House AGENCY: Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Treasury. ACTION: Notice of... Service (Service) is proposing to amend its regulation governing the use of the Automated Clearing House... Automated Clearing House, Electronic funds transfer, Financial institutions, Fraud, and Incorporation by...

Governance and Funding Reforms in Dutch Higher Education: Past, Present, and Future

Science.gov (United States)

Ritzen, Jozef M. M.; Marconi, Gabriele

2012-01-01

This article reviews the history of higher education governance and funding in The Netherlands, generalising when possible to other European countries. It finds that governance reforms and the funding of higher education appear to be driven by economic and demographic factors, including massification. Furthermore, the Bologna Process can be…

Corporate Governance Convergence : Evidence from Takeover Regulation Reforms in Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goergen, M.; Martynova, M.; Renneboog, L.D.R.

2005-01-01

This paper contributes to the research on corporate governance by predicting the effects of European takeover regulation.In particular, we investigate whether the recent reforms of takeover regulation in Europe are leading to a harmonization of the national legislations.With the help of 150

Mapping Government Reforms in Quality against Higher Education Theory: Is the Relationship Symbiotic?

Science.gov (United States)

Alderman, Lyn

2016-01-01

In Australia, a review of the higher education sector is usually triggered by a change in government leadership, followed by the development and implementation of the government's response in the form of a reform package to enact change. The aim of this study was to conduct an independent evaluation of a large-scale national government policy…

Qualitative analysis of governance trends after health system reforms in Latin America: lessons from Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Arredondo, A; Orozco, E; Recaman, A L

2018-03-01

Health policies in Latin America are centered on the democratization of health. Since 2003, during the last generation of reforms, health systems in this region have promoted governance strategies for better agreements between governments, institutions, and civil society. In this context, we develop an evaluative research to identify trends and evidence of governance after health care reforms in six regions of Mexico. Evaluative research was developed with a retrospective design based on qualitative analysis. Primary data were obtained from 189 semi-structured interviews with purposively selected health care professionals and key informants. Secondary data were extracted from a selection of 95 official documents on results of the reform project at the national level, national health policies, and lines of action for good governance. Data processing and analysis were performed using ATLAS.ti and PolicyMaker. A list of main strengths and weaknesses is presented as evidence of health system governance. Accountability at the federal level remains prescriptive; in the regions, a system of accountability and transparency in the allocation of resources and in terms of health democratization strategies is still absent. Social protection and decentralization schemes are strategies that have allowed for improvements with a proactive role of users and civil society. Regarding challenges, there are still low levels of governance and difficulties in the effective conduct of programs and reform strategies together with a lack of precision in the rules and roles of the different actors of the health system. Copyright © 2017 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

75 FR 21146 - Public Input on Reform of the Housing Finance System

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-22

...Consistent with the Obama Administration's commitment to openness and transparency and the President's Open Government Initiative, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) seek public input on establishing a more stable and sound housing finance system.

Modes of Governance in the Dutch Social Housing Sector

OpenAIRE

Ruys, P.H.M.; Bruil, J.; Dix, H.G.

2007-01-01

Abstract: We describe and analyze five consecutive modes of governance in the Dutch social housing sector. We compare these institutional forms with the five policy values that the sector was assumed to realize. For that purpose we propose and use a new, analytical framework based on a separation principle that is applied to the coercion domain (the governance of transactions) as well as to the interaction domain (the welfare values). The consecutive modes of governance were introduced to cop...

A critical review of corporate governance reforms in Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Al-Hiyari

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Following the East-Asian financial crisis in 1997 and the corporate accounting scandals, the shareholder’s confidence in the audited financial statements was adversely affected and regulators started to think seriously reforming the existing corporate governance practices. As a result, numerous initiatives were implemented to accelerate improvement of corporate governance practices. One of these initiatives was the Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (MCCG. The code was derived from the approach applied by the British Hampel Committee, which attempt to mitigate the agency problem between corporate managers and outside owners. This study suggests that the British approach is unsuitable to Malaysian business environment. Particularly, the MCCG that had been lunched since 2011 ignore the uniqueness of Malaysia’s capital market, regulation environment and ownership structure. Therefore, the study recommends that policy makers and other regulators should consider the local business environment when establishing future code on corporate governance.

EU ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE REFORM: ARE WE AT A TURNING POINT?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Daianu

2011-03-01

Full Text Available The sovereign debt crisis is creating enormous anguish in the European Monetary Union (EMU. Not surprisingly, emergency measures continue to be used at a time when a sort of economic recovery seems to be underway. Against this background the European Council summit of last October considered a Task Force report with a telling name: "Strengthening economic governance in the EU". This document is to be examined in conjunction with the governance reform proposals issued by the European Commission at the end of September and related documents. For the depth of this financial crisis and the "Great Recession" have forced EU governments and EU institutions to take a hard look at the governance structure of the Union. But it would be wrong to say that this demarche is an attempt to explore a terra incognita. From the very beginning of the European Monetary Union (EMU there was some discomfort with its institutional underpinnings and there were misgivings regarding its optimality as a currency area. This explains why a train of thought underlines a political rationale, too, for the creation of the EMU. Likewise, criticism regarding the way regulation and supervision have been established in the Union is not of recent vintage. And insufficiencies of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP, with almost all member states flouting its rules at various points in time, have been repeatedly pointed out. This said, however, the flaws of financial intermediation have been less tackled by policy-makers and central bankers for reasons which, partially, are to be found in a paradigm which has dominated economic thinking in recent decades. This paper focuses on roots of the huge strain in the EU (EMU and main policy issues ensuing from the current crisis. It also looks at the stake NMSs have in a reformed EU economic governance structure. The challenges for EU economic governance reform are to be seen from a broad perspective: the crisis of the financial intermediation

Governance, technology, and equity: An integrated policy framework for energy efficient housing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Golubchikov, Oleg; Deda, Paola

2012-01-01

Transforming the housing stock to a low energy performance is a key priority in the context of sustainable development and a post-carbon transition. However, in terms of its practical implementation it, firstly, faces a number of complex institutional barriers, while, secondly, involves a risk of being dominated by a narrow technocratic agenda for energy/carbon reduction that may overtake the socially progressive pursuits of housing policy. Energy efficiency strategies for the residential sector must, therefore, be multidimensional, fully synergised with housing policy, and incorporating the principles of equity, access and a balanced geographical development. This paper discusses a strategic policy framework, which was designed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) to address those important needs in international policy. The document – Action Plan for Energy-efficient Housing in the UNECE Region – outlines a number of goals, targets and actions structured at three dimensions: (i) governance and finance, (ii) technological advancement, and (iii) access and affordability. The Action Plan provides a comprehensive and integrated framework, based on which governments can shape their own pathways towards a sustainable low-energy residential sector. - Highlights: ► Residential sector has a large potential for energy and carbon reduction. ► Energy efficiency for housing must be reconciled with socially oriented housing policy. ► Action Plan for Energy-efficient Housing in the UNECE region is presented. ► The Plan offers an integrated framework for sustainable transition to low-energy housing. ► Governance, technology, and equitable access are three key elements of the framework.

U.S. Government Financial Statements: FY 2000 Reporting Underscores the Need to Accelerate Federal Financial Management Reform

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Walker, David

2001-01-01

.... In passing the 1990 Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act and other financial management reform legislation, such as the Government Management Reform Act and the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (FFMIA...

Between Efficiency, Capability and Recognition: Competing Epistemes in Global Governance Reforms

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Jennifer

2007-01-01

This article examines global governance reforms as a site of contestation between three different "truths"/epistemes (the market, human rights principles, and cultural identity) in terms of the competing principles of efficiency, capability, and recognition. Nancy Fraser's conceptions of participation parity and a dialogical approach of…

Sales compensation governance: the last frontier of corporate reform.

Science.gov (United States)

Gundy, Peter R; Gaeta, Elizabeth C

2004-01-01

The area of sales compensation has remained relatively untouched by recent pressures for compensation reform. This article highlights some of the ways that sales organizations stumble in managing their compensation programs, and why it takes more than a simple tactical fix to address these problems effectively. The authors describe a more structured governance framework that not only identifies and resolves key sales compensation issues, but ultimately safeguards the effectiveness and financial integrity of the sales organization itself.

Building Better Homes: Government Strategies for Promoting Innovation in Housing

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hassell, Scott

2003-01-01

.... In this context, the report identifies options and strategies for the federal government to consider as it continues to further advance innovation in housing to make homes more affordable, durable...

Christopher Hood & Ruth Dixon: A Government that Worked Better and Cost Less? Evaluating Three Decades of Reform and Change in UK central Government

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Steen Juul

2017-01-01

Bogen A Government that Worked Better and Cost Less? er en evaluering af 30 års New Public Management reformer i Storbritanien. Evalueringen viser, at NPM ikke holder hvad det lover. Reformer har ikke givet mere velfærd for færre penge tværtimod, reformerne har giver mindre velfærd for flere penge....

Housing, income support and mental health: Points of disconnection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Csiernik Rick

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract There exists a disconnection between evolving policies in the policy arenas of mental health, housing, and income support in Canada. One of the complexities associated with analysing the intersection of these policies is that federal, provincial, and municipal level policies are involved. Canada is one of the few developed countries without a national mental health policy and because of the federal policy reforms of the 1970s, the provincial governments now oversee the process of deinstitutionalization from the hospital to the community level. During this same period the availability of affordable housing has decreased as responsibility for social housing has been transfered from the federal government to the provincial and/or municipal levels of government. Canada also stands alone in terms of being a developed nation without national housing policy instead what is considered "affordable" housing is partially dependant upon individuals' personal economic resources. As well, over the past decade rates of income supports have also been reduced. Psychiatric survivors have long been identified as being at risk for homelessness, with the disconnection existing between housing, income and mental health policies and the lack of a national policy in any of these policies areas further contributing to this risk.

Governing Health Care through Free Choice: Neoliberal Reforms in Denmark and the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Larsen, Lars Thorup; Stone, Deborah

2015-10-01

We compare free choice reforms in Denmark and the United States to understand what ideas and political forces could generate such similar policy reforms in radically different political contexts. We analyze the two cases using our own interpretation of neoliberalism as having "two faces." The first face seeks to expand private markets and shrink the public sector; the second face seeks to strengthen the public sector's capacity to govern through incentives and competition. First, we show why these two most-different cases offer a useful comparison to understand similar policy tools. Second, we develop our theoretical framework of the two faces of neoliberalism. Third, we examine Denmark's introduction of a free choice of hospitals in 2002, a policy that for the first time allowed some patients to receive care either in a public hospital outside their local area or in a private hospital. Fourth, we examine the introduction of free choice among private managed care plans into the US Medicare program in 1997. We show how policy makers in both countries used neoliberal reform as a mechanism to make their public health care sectors governable. Fifth, on the basis of our analysis, we draw five lessons about neoliberal policy reforms. Copyright © 2015 by Duke University Press.

Modes of Governance in the Dutch Social Housing Sector

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ruys, P.H.M.; Bruil, J.; Dix, H.G.

2007-01-01

Abstract: We describe and analyze five consecutive modes of governance in the Dutch social housing sector. We compare these institutional forms with the five policy values that the sector was assumed to realize. For that purpose we propose and use a new, analytical framework based on a separation

Impact of the Government Funding Reforms on the Teaching and Learning of Malaysian Public Universities

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, Abd Rahman; Farley, Alan; Naidoo, Moonsamy

2012-01-01

The Malaysian Government intention to implement the higher education reforms is observable in the implementation of National Higher Education Strategic Plan beyond 2020 in 2007. This plan emphasises on improving the research and teaching in higher education in accordance with the government objectives. Parallel to the introduction of this plan,…

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN MALAYSIA: THE EFFECT OF CORPORATE REFORMS AND STATE BUSINESS RELATION IN MALAYSIA

OpenAIRE

Nor Azizah Zainal Abidin; Halimah @ Nasibah Ahmad

2007-01-01

The Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 not only introduced the term of corporate governance but also drew attention of the public about the weaknesses of Malaysian corporate governance practice. After 1998, Malaysian government decided to adopt corporate reform that could enhance the quality of good corporate management practice. Thisreform is clearly stated in the code and rules of corporate governance. The purpose of this research is to study the significance of implementing the code and rules ...

Tax reform in emerging transition: Is Kosovo’s Government and NGOs mathematical economics rational?

OpenAIRE

Mulaj, Isa

2009-01-01

Tax reform in small emerging democracies is difficult to measure what effects is likely to produce due to countries’ aggregate political and economic vulnerabilities. If both are taken as remaining relatively stable, then it is easier to discuss what impact the reform introduced may have in the economy and her stakeholders. In absence of a monetary policy, the Government of Kosovo in mid-2008 adopted the changes in tax rates taking effect from January 2009, with the aim to foster economic gro...

PRACTICE OF GOOD GOVERNANCE AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bălăceanu Cristina

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Corporate governance reforms are occurring in countries around the globe and potentially impacting the population of the entire planet. In developing countries, such reforms occur in a larger context that is primarily defined by previous attempts at promoting “development” and recent processes of economic globalization. In this context, corporate governance reforms (in combination with the liberalising reforms associated with economic globalization, in effect represent a new development strategy for third world countries. The most basic questions that arise with respect to this situation are what the prospects for this new development model are and whether alternatives should be considered. Keywords: governance, corporate governance, economic globalization, development.

Public Sector Reform and Governance for Adaptation: Implications of New Public Management for Adaptive Capacity in Mexico and Norway

Science.gov (United States)

Eakin, Hallie; Eriksen, Siri; Eikeland, Per-Ove; Øyen, Cecilie

2011-03-01

Although many governments are assuming the responsibility of initiating adaptation policy in relation to climate change, the compatibility of "governance-for-adaptation" with the current paradigms of public administration has generally been overlooked. Over the last several decades, countries around the globe have embraced variants of the philosophy of administration broadly called "New Public Management" (NPM) in an effort to improve administrative efficiencies and the provision of public services. Using evidence from a case study of reforms in the building sector in Norway, and a case study of water and flood risk management in central Mexico, we analyze the implications of the adoption of the tenets of NPM for adaptive capacity. Our cases illustrate that some of the key attributes associated with governance for adaptation—namely, technical and financial capacities; institutional memory, learning and knowledge; and participation and accountability—have been eroded by NPM reforms. Despite improvements in specific operational tasks of the public sector in each case, we show that the success of NPM reforms presumes the existence of core elements of governance that have often been found lacking, including solid institutional frameworks and accountability. Our analysis illustrates the importance of considering both longer-term adaptive capacities and short-term efficiency goals in public sector administration reform.

Public Sector Financial Management Reform: A Case Study of Local Government Agencies in Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monir Mir

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Indonesia has taken initiatives to reform its public sector financial management. One of the reform agendas was to introduce ‘cash to accrual’ accounting for improved financial reporting. It is expected that improved financial reporting will enhance financial accountabilities of the governmental agencies and will assist both internal and external decision makers whose decisions will be based on the financial reports. However, it has been observed that there is a significant increase in the number of qualified audit reports when these financial reports were audited. This also means that these financial reports are lacking in providing true and fair views on the financial activities of the governmental agencies, thereby not assisting in discharging their accountabilities. This study seeks to answer the question as to why the numbers of qualified audit reports have increased despite the existence of various governmental accounting reform agendas. Based on the in-depth case studies of three Indonesian local governments, it is found that the demand, the supply and the quality assurance of the accounting information outputs in these local governments are not in parity, and this lacking in parties actually has impacted in producing unqualified and usable accounting reports.

Practice of good governance and corporate governance

OpenAIRE

Bălăceanu Cristina; Predonu Andreea – Monica

2010-01-01

Corporate governance reforms are occurring in countries around the globe and potentially impacting the population of the entire planet. In developing countries, such reforms occur in a larger context that is primarily defined by previous attempts at promoting “development” and recent processes of economic globalization. In this context, corporate governance reforms (in combination with the liberalising reforms associated with economic globalization), in effect re...

STIMULATION OF CONSTRUCTION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING BY REFORMATION OF A CONSTRUCTION COMPLEX MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BRONEVYTSKYI S. P.

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Development of offers on stimulation of construction of affordable housing by reformation of a construction complex management system. Methodology. The revelation of the problems of planning of construction in large cities. The analysis of forming of structure of a build complex management in soviet times and in a transitional period. The revelation of the modern, actual, socio-economic problems of the construction activity management. Proposition on the improvement of methods of construction management in cities of Ukraine. Results. The methods of a construction complex management in countries with a market economy as for building of affordable housing are shown. Originality. In composition of a town-planning documentations, except for the norms of the common use of territories of city (density of population of micro region, the maximum parameters of a construction examining of land areas are proposed to determine: building percent and coefficient of maximum superficial area. Practical value. The principle of management and organization of construction is norms of a build use of territories for building of mass affordable housing for funds of population and investors while providing of the comfort of housing in accordance with state construction norms.

The housing policy nexus and people’s responses to housing challenges in post-communist cities

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Sasha Tsenkova

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This article explores major trends and patterns of change embedded in the overall process of economic, social and political transformation reshaping the urban challenges in eastern European cities. It reflects on important drivers of change such as efforts to create a market-based housing system and competitive housing markets in the post-communist urban world. The research draws much-needed attention to an important set of urban and housing policy issues with broad implications for understanding the transition process in the region. It explores the multi-layered processes of market-based housing reforms (privatisation, deregulation and devolution and their impact on the spatial transformation of urban housing markets in eastern European cities. The main argument, supported with empirical evidence from a number of eastern European cities, is that the impact of these most significant processes of urban change has created a mosaic of diverse urban challenges. Exploring these urban challenges through the housing lens sets the stage for a better understanding of urban social movements in eastern European cities and their dynamic realities. The article argues that the diverse role of urban social movements can be explained by reference to democratic traditions, practices and policy cultures in eastern European cities, and also to institutional structures and the capacity of non-market stakeholders. In some cases, stronger government and governance traditions since the political changes of the 1990s would allow non-government organisations to “voice” their concerns and be accepted as a legitimate partner in coalitions responding to urban challenges. In other cases, such capacity and institutional collaboration may be non-existent, leading to “exit” and abandonment of formal systems. In the first option, urban social movements have resurrected debates about gentrification and social segregation in housing estates and neighbourhoods previously

Striving for Sustainable Development and the Coordinating Role of the Central Government: Lessons from Swedish Housing Policy

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Kristina Söderholm

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Housing plays an important role in the development of welfare policies and also often in achieving sustainability goals. There exists, however, implementation gaps between policies and practices in urban development and housing. Here it should be possible to draw lessons from policy implementations in the past. In this article we explore the strategies of the Swedish central government in implementing a social housing policy in the mid-20th century. The policy was successfully implemented in that it resulted in the rapid expansion and modernisation of the Swedish apartment stock in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and acute housingshortages and poor housing standards were overcome. The main lesson learned from the Swedish case study is the critical role of the central government in implementation throughthe strategic coordination of policy aims, instruments, stakeholders and interests throughout the implementation process. Although the central government could have used hard, almost authoritarian policy instruments to force the realisation of the new policy, it mainly used soft policy tools and focused on coordination. In the contemporary networked governance setting, the central government, like no other player, still has the potential to guide and coordinate implementation processes for the realization of sustainable housing visions.

The role of law and governance reform in the global response to non-communicable diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Magnusson, Roger S; Patterson, David

2014-06-05

Addressing non-communicable diseases ("NCDs") and their risk-factors is one of the most powerful ways of improving longevity and healthy life expectancy for the foreseeable future - especially in low- and middle-income countries. This paper reviews the role of law and governance reform in that process. We highlight the need for a comprehensive approach that is grounded in the right to health and addresses three aspects: preventing NCDs and their risk factors, improving access to NCD treatments, and addressing the social impacts of illness. We highlight some of the major impediments to the passage and implementation of laws for the prevention and control of NCDs, and identify important practical steps that governments can take as they consider legal and governance reforms at country level.We review the emerging global architecture for NCDs, and emphasise the need for governance structures to harness the energy of civil society organisations and to create a global movement that influences the policy agenda at the country level. We also argue that the global monitoring framework would be more effective if it included key legal and policy indicators. The paper identifies priorities for technical legal assistance in implementing the WHO Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs 2013-2020. These include high-quality legal resources to assist countries to evaluate reform options, investment in legal capacity building, and global leadership to respond to the likely increase in requests by countries for technical legal assistance. We urge development agencies and other funders to recognise the need for development assistance in these areas. Throughout the paper, we point to global experience in dealing with HIV and draw out some relevant lessons for NCDs.

Networks and Fault Lines: Understanding the role of housing associations in neighbourhood regeneration: a network governance perspective

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Gerard van Bortel

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The changing role of housing associations in neighbourhood regeneration This study aims to increase our understanding of the role of social housing organisations in neighbourhood regeneration governance networks, in order to enhance the performance and outcomes of these networks. Our understanding of how governance networks work is still limited, especially concerning the role of non-state actors like housing associations. Hierarchical government steering is increasingly mixed with market mechanisms and networked forms of decision-making. These shifts in governance often result in more complex decision-making that can easily lead to deadlocks, low-quality outcomes and ambiguous anchorage of democratic principles. Neighbourhood regeneration takes place in rather exceptional governance networks. The organisations involved, and the problems at hand, are place-based. Actors, like housing associations, local authorities and community organisations, are more or less ‘locked’ into the regeneration network and need to collaborate in order to solve the problems. The complexity of neighbourhood renewal processes is often very high, due to the large number of actors involved, and the combination of insufficient housing quality, lack of affordability and supply, along with social and economic problems that need to be addressed. Housing associations focus on the delivery of affordable decent quality housing; but, in many countries—like the Netherlands and England—these organisations also have an important role in neighbourhood regeneration. Housing associations are non-profit organisations that provide housing for low and moderate-income households. They operate largely autonomously from the government, although they are often strongly regulated and dependent on government subsidies. Housing associations in England and the Netherlands share many organisational characteristics and hybrid third-sector values emerging from the need to balance social and

Public Management Reform and Organizational Performance: An Empirical Assessment of the U.K. Labour Government's Public Service Improvement Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Richard M.; Boyne, George A.

2006-01-01

We present the first empirical assessment of the U.K. Labour government's program of public management reform. This reform program is based on rational planning, devolution and delegation, flexibility and incentives, and enhanced choice. Measures of these variables are tested against external and internal indicators of organizational performance.…

Problems of reforming of the Russian Empire local government at the beginning of the 1830s

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Nataliya L. Semyonova

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the problems of the local government reforming in the high ruling circles of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 30s of the XIX century on the basis of the published and unpublished archival documents. The author has analyzed the ideas of the Minister of the Internal Affairs A.A. Zakrevsky taken under consideration by the Emperor Nicolay I in 1831. The project presupposed the reform of the local government on the basis of the principles of making the governor’s influence more powerful, restoring the unity of the province’s governmental bodies, increasing a number of officials in the provincial government and their payments. The author concludes that A.A. Zakrevsky’s suggestions were of a purely declarative character. The discussion of the ideas by the Minister of the Internal Affairs at the high governmental circles showed that the representatives of the supreme power had found it necessary to keep “The Institute of the Russian Empire province ruling” in 1775 and had been reluctant to consider any changes in it. The author came to the conclusion that the most important criteria of administrative changes at that time were the tasks to create such an apparatus of government which would be cheap, efficient and could provide the best correlation between the power authority of the local and central bodies. The key moment becomes an idea of the Minister of Finance who provided financial grounds by any changes and reforms.

Global Economic Governance Reform and the Roleof Asia: Opportunities Offered by the G20

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Yoon Je Cho

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The recent global financial crisis has highlighted the importance of international monetary and financial system reform. The current system is deemed to be no longer adequate to meet the needs of a complex, integrated world economy. With regards to the reform of the international monetary system, there have been various proposals both in demand and supply sides. These include proposals to build a stronger global financial safety net, to diversify the supply of international reserve currency and so on. These proposals face trade-offs between desirability and political feasibility. Given this situation, a practical transition would be to strengthen policy coordination among the major economies and to reform the International Monetary Fund. The success on both fronts depends heavily on global economic governance reform and the role of the G20. Increased status and representation of Asian countries in the G20 give both privileges and responsibilities to Asians. To meet these responsibilities, Asians should put forth greater efforts to develop their intellectual leadership in global economic issues through creating new forum and institutions.

Education Governance for the Twenty-First Century: Overcoming the Structural Barriers to School Reform

Science.gov (United States)

Manna, Paul, Ed.; McGuinn, Patrick, Ed.

2013-01-01

America's fragmented, decentralized, politicized, and bureaucratic system of education governance is a major impediment to school reform. In this important new book, a number of leading education scholars, analysts, and practitioners show that understanding the impact of specific policy changes in areas such as standards, testing, teachers, or…

Beyond Ambiguity: A Practical Framework for Developing and Implementing Open Government Reforms

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Merlin Chatwin

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The broad idea of ‘Open Government’ is widely accepted as a facilitator for rebuilding trust and validation in governments around the world. The Open Government Partnership is a significant driver of this movement with over 75 member nations, 15 subnational government participants and many others local governments implementing reforms within their national frameworks. The central tenets of transparency, accountability, participation, and collaboration are well understood within scholarly works and practitioner publications. However, open government is yet to be attributed with a universally acknowledged definition. This leads to questions of adaptability and salience of the concept of open government across diverse contexts. This paper addresses these questions by utilizing a human systems framework called the Dialogue Boxes. To develop an understanding of how open government is currently positioned within scholarly works and practitioner publications, an extensive literature search was conducted. The search utilized major search engines, often-cited references, direct journal searches and colleague provided references. Using existing definitions and descriptions, this paper populates the framework with available information and allow for context specific content to be populated by future users. Ultimately, the aim of the paper is to support the development of open government action plans that maximize the direct positive impact on people’s lives.

Using clinical governance levers to support change in a cancer care reform.

Science.gov (United States)

Brault, Isabelle; Denis, Jean-Louis; Sullivan, Terrence James

2015-01-01

Introducing change is a difficult issue facing all health care systems. The use of various clinical governance levers can facilitate change in health care systems. The purpose of this paper is to define clinical governance levers, and to illustrate their use in a large-scale transformation. The empirical analysis deals with the in-depth study of a specific case, which is the organizational model for Ontario's cancer sector. The authors used a qualitative research strategy and drew the data from three sources: semi-structured interviews, analysis of documents, and non-participative observations. From the results, the authors identified three phases and several steps in the reform of cancer services in this province. The authors conclude that a combination of clinical governance levers was used to transform the system. These levers operated at different levels of the system to meet the targeted objectives. To exercise clinical governance, managers need to acquire new competencies. Mobilizing clinical governance levers requires in-depth understanding of the role and scope of clinical governance levers. This study provides a better understanding of clinical governance levers. Clinical governance levers are used to implement an organizational environment that is conducive to developing clinical practice, as well as to act directly on practices to improve quality of care.

Profits and votes: Entrepreneurs and the government in Brazilian housing policy

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EDNEY CIELICI DIAS

2015-12-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACTAfter more than twenty years of low housing construction output, the housing policy recovered its momentum in the country with the ascent of the Partido dos Trabalhadores (Workers' Party, PT to the seat of the federal government. This article demonstrates - through the analysis of documents, interviews and research conducted with businessmen - that the impetus of such a state policy is a part of the PT electoral strategy, which is based on economic growth and the expansion of social programs. The research analyses the dovetailing of interests between the Lula (the Brazilian President from 2003 to 2010 administration and the civil construction business - the latter concerned with expanding its business, and the former with increasing the supply of jobs and the level of economic activity. This process culminated in the launching of the largest social housing program to be implemented in the country. Minha Casa, Minha Vida (My House, My Life, is a project in whose planning building companies played a key role, performing feasibility studies and carrying out social housing projects.

Effects of Housing Costs and Home Sales on Local Government Revenues and Services

OpenAIRE

Allee, David J.

1991-01-01

The subtitle of this paper should be " How recession and federal devolution have caused local governments to cut services and raise property taxes --now, what should be done in response to the resulting clamor for local government consolidation?" Housing drives local government services. Home sales represent opportunities for more income and more costs. Intergovernmental competition for tax base and the role of state and federal aid to provide equity between jurisdictions are central to the q...

The British parliament: An effort towards the constitutional reform

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Pejić Irena

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The British Parliament is the eldest representative assembly which inspired the development of most European parliamentary systems. This institution provides a framework for the Westminster model of democracy. The Parliament structure is based on bicameralism, including two chambers: the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The two-chamber structure is an integral part of the British parliamentary system. During the last century, many reforms took place regarding the modernization of Parliament. Thus, the number of members of the House of Lord has been reduced in order to ensure more efficiency in the working procedures. However, the House of Commons is still 'the dominant House' given its capacity to recruit a political majority which is eligible to control the Cabinet. During the 20th century, several waves of reforms engulfed the traditional English parliamentarism and its 'unwritten' constitution. Although the reforms have yielded some results, they have not yet produced a constitution in the formal sense. The partially reformed Parliament has not lost the traditional supremacy it was initially vested under the original postulates of the parliamentary sovereignty doctrine. The great constitutional reform in the UK, initiated in 1997, has encompassed not only Parliament but also a vast array of other areas ranging from the state power organization to human rights. In this process, the British Parliament should exercise a dual function: as a subject of reform ('reformer', as well as an object of reform ('the reformed'. Undoubtedly, the United Kingdom has been facing one of the largest waves of constitutional reforms in its long history, which will sooner or later lead to a constitutional codification in the state whose system is still predominantly based on the historical and 'unwritten' constitution.

Evidence on equity, governance and financing after health care reform in Mexico: lessons for Latin American countries

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Armando Arredondo

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This article includes evidence on equity, governance and health financing outcomes of the Mexican health system. An evaluative research with a cross-sectional design was oriented towards the qualitative and quantitative analysis of financing, governance and equity indicators. Taking into account feasibility, as well as political and technical criteria, seven Mexican states were selected as study populations and an evaluative research was conducted during 2002-2010. The data collection techniques were based on in-depth interviews with key personnel (providers, users and community leaders, consensus technique and document analysis. The qualitative analysis was done with ATLAS TI and POLICY MAKER softwares. The Mexican health system reform has modified dependence at the central level; there is a new equity equation for resources allocation, community leaders and users of services reported the need to improve an effective accountability system at both municipal and state levels. Strategies for equity, governance and financing do not have adequate mechanisms to promote participation from all social actors. Improving this situation is a very important goal in the Mexican health democratization process, in the context of health care reform. Inequality on resources allocation in some regions and catastrophic expenditure for users is unequal in all states, producing more negative effects on states with high social marginalization. Special emphasis is placed on the analysis of the main strengths and weaknesses, as relevant evidences for other Latin American countries which are designing, implementing and evaluating reform strategies in order to achieve equity, good governance and a greater financial protection in health.

Failures of Corporate Governance in Housing Cooperatives – Case Study

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Waldemar Walczak

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this paper is a discussion and in-depth analysis of the legal and organizational circumstances associated with the activities of Supervisory Boards in housing cooperatives.Methodology: A critical analysis of the existing legislation, own analytical analysis of the source documents, supplemented by conclusions and observations formulated on the basis of a case study, for the preparation of which information has been used obtained from primary sources in the form of documents of the analyzed housing cooperative and information obtained through participant observation.Findings: What has a decisive impact on the mechanisms of corporate governance in housing cooperatives are the direct behaviors of Supervisory Board members, as well as the lack of awareness and involvement of the residents, who do not want to actively participate in the life of the cooperative. A diagnosis is presented of the most important factors that infl uence the actual operations of the analyzed Supervisory Board. While the current legal regulations make it possible to ensure effective and proper control as well as adequate supervision over the activities of cooperatives.Originality: The paper enriches the theory of management sciences in terms of a wider perception of the term corporate governance in relation to other organizations than companies. The presented methodological approach that is the basis for a comprehensive and thorough inspection of the activities of the Management Board can be used in other cooperatives as well. In the literature on the subject no similar analysis, supported by the results of own analytical research, had been found.

The Politics of Organizational Reform: An Exploratory Study of the Effects of Corporate Management on Selected Aspects of the Education Service in English Local Government.

Science.gov (United States)

Housego, Ian E.

In 1974 local government in England underwent external and internal reform. The external reforms involved changes in governmental structures and functions, while the internal reforms involved the introduction of "corporate management," a concept stressing more centralized administration and fewer local executive bodies. This paper first…

Competition between Public Supervision and Professional Management: An Ethnographic Study of School Governance Reforms in Switzerland

Science.gov (United States)

Hangartner, Judith; Svaton, Carla Jana

2014-01-01

This article discusses insights from an ethnographic study of local governance practices in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland, under changing policy conditions. Recent reforms introduced and strengthened the position of head teachers, enhanced the responsibility of the municipalities and introduced new quality management procedures in local…

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN MALAYSIA: THE EFFECT OF CORPORATE REFORMS AND STATE BUSINESS RELATION IN MALAYSIA

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Nor Azizah Zainal Abidin

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 not only introduced the term of corporate governance but also drew attention of the public about the weaknesses of Malaysian corporate governance practice. After 1998, Malaysian government decided to adopt corporate reform that could enhance the quality of good corporate management practice. Thisreform is clearly stated in the code and rules of corporate governance. The purpose of this research is to study the significance of implementing the code and rules of corporategovernance since the public already realize the close relationship between business and politics. Three companies were chosen as indicators for this study. As a result, it was found that companies which are involved in corporate malpractice but have goodrelationship with states will always be excluded from the legal corporate action.

Linking Housing and School Integration Policy: What Federal, State and Local Governments Can Do. Issue Brief No. 5

Science.gov (United States)

Tegeler, Philip

2015-01-01

This Issue Brief states that, in spite of the obvious "reciprocal relationship" between housing and school policy, government housing and education agencies have rarely collaborated to promote the common goals of racial and economic integration. Recent efforts to promote collaboration among housing and school agencies have focused on…

Government regulation versus market orientation in social housing management : Limitations and opportunities of European and Australian landlords

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nieboer, N.; Gruis, V.H.

2005-01-01

In the past ten to twenty years, governments in various countries have introduced or reinforced market principles in their housing systems. As a consequence, social landlords have increased opportunities to adopt a more market-oriented approach towards the management of their housing stock.

Navigating the field of housing: housing pathways of young people in Amsterdam

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hochstenbach, C.; Boterman, W.R.

2015-01-01

In many western cities, housing opportunities of young people are increasingly constrained due to housing market reforms and decreasing affordability as a result of processes of gentrification. Little is known about how young people deal with these constraints and how this differs across class and

The «Group of Twenty», IMF and EU and Reforming of Global Governance

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Evgeniy J. Il'in

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This article is devoted to the process of reforming the global financial system and world economic organizations since the foundation of the International Monetary Fund at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944 to present time. Special attention is given to results of cooperation of the IMF and the "Group of Twenty"in the context of the world financial crisis 2008-2009. This article mentions the key benchmarks of the historical development of world economy: foundation of the Bretton Woods financial system, rejection of the gold standard at the Jamaica Conference, transition to the floating exchange rates, the wave of crises in the 1990-s, the world financial crisis of 2008-2009. The process of evolution of the IMF within the framework of these global events is considered here. The cooperation of EU, IMF and "Group of Twenty" is considered. The reforms of the IMF and their results are analyzed. The policy of the IMF at different historical stages of its evolution is estimated. As well as it results, the article also deals with the formation and development of the "Group of Twenty". The increasing role of the "Group of Twenty" in the global economic governance and reforming the IMF is considered. Especially is marked the necessity of the further reforms of the IMF and increasing of participation of the "G-20" in the world economic and politic system.

Reforming Romanian energy policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perkins, S.

1993-01-01

Success in reforming energy sector depends on the implementation of the programme of economic reform agreed in February 1993. The difficulty of the negotiations between the International Monetary Fund and the Romanian government reflects the wider difficulties faced by the economy as a whole. They can be blamed in part on the legacy of uneconomic and inflexible industrial development and in part on opposition from interest groups which stand to lose from reform. Nonetheless, in spite of hesitant approach, the government does appear committed to the economic reform necessary to establish a market-oriented economy. But as the danger of a financial crisis engendered by the inadequately supported short-term borrowing of foreign exchange becomes urgent, the question is whether economic reform can be now implemented fast enough to protect economic enterprises and saving from a debt crisis. The scope for further delay in implementing the 1993 economic reform programme is fast disappearing. Procrastination should not be allowed to threaten the success of the reforms achieved in the energy and other sectors of the economy. 8 refs., 2 figs

25 CFR 256.25 - Is my Federal government-assisted dwelling eligible for services under the Housing Improvement...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Is my Federal government-assisted dwelling eligible for services under the Housing Improvement Program? 256.25 Section 256.25 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS... dwelling eligible for services under the Housing Improvement Program? Yes. You may receive services under...

REFORMING OF LAND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM UNDER AUTHORITY OF DECENTRALIZATION

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Dorosh O.S.

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the problems related to the reform of land management from the beginning of the land reform ill the presentine. This need has arisen due to making another attempt to reorganize the structure of the land structures. With the launch of the land reform established the State Committee of Ukraine for Land Resources in 1992. To speed up land reform and land privatization in 2001 formed the administrative bodies of the State Committee for Land Resources of Ukraine. In order to improve the system of state land management in 2011 created the State Agency of Land Resources of Ukraine, which was reorganized in 2014 into the State Service of Ukraine of geodesy, cartography and cadastre. Over the years, in order to "optimize" the system of central executive body, content of this body has not been changed and constantly was changing its name and subordination, namely: the State Committee for Land Resources - Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine, the State Agency of Land Resources of Ukraine - Ministry of Agrarian policy and Food of Ukraine, State Service of Ukraine of geodesy, cartography and cadastre - Ministry of regional development, construction and housing. On the basis of analysis concerning the powers of the central executive authorities, local authorities found that the newly farmed Service State Land Cadastre das not contribute to the effectiveness of the administration, especially at the national level, as these features ave not provided by "Regulations on State Land Cadastre " and other regulations. In addition, the local level detected removal of local government in matters of land relations. In conclusion, proposed system based redistribution of powers on the level of central executive bodies and local authorities to reform the system of land management with regard to decentralized processes in Ukraine. It is advisable to restore central authority for land reform and regulation of land relations to the

Tariff-Tax Reforms and Market Access

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kreickemeier, Udo; Raimondos-Møller, Pascalis

2006-01-01

Reducing tariffs and increasing consumption taxes is a standard IMF advice to countries that want to open up their economy without hurting government finances. Indeed, theoretical analysis of such a tariff-tax reform shows an unambiguous increase in welfare and government revenues. The present pa...... efficient proposal to follow both as far as it concerns market access and welfare.JEL code: F13, H20.Keywords: Market access; tariff reform, consumption tax reform....

Telecom Reform

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Telecom Reform: Principles, Policies and Regulatory Practices, provides a comprehensive and definitive review and assessment of the unfolding telecom reform process, and its implications for information society development. It is an invaluable resource and authoritative reference on telecom reform...... and information infrastructure issues - for people in government, academia, industry and the consulting community. This book addresses the process of policy and regulatory reform in telecom that is now in its formative stage. It draws on detailed knowledge of industry development and regulatory experience......, as well as expertise in the new technologies, industries, economics, policy development, and law to present and critique the principles, policies and regulatory practices associated with telecom reform. Twenty six international experts address thirty two topics that are essential to successful telecom...

Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Becoming Americans - U.S. Immigrant Integration

OpenAIRE

Rumbaut, RG

2007-01-01

Hearing on 'Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Becoming Americans - US Immigrant Integration,' Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Serial No. 110-27. May 16, 2007. Abstract: In this statement to a House Hearing on comprehensive immigration reform focusing on immigrant integration, English and foreign language competencies, preferences and use among immigrants and thei...

Comparing social housing in the Netherlands and Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Engberg, Lars A.

The paper compares the Dutch and the Danish social housing systems, with a particular focus on recent reforms and on how social housing actors deliver in relation to the key housing policy objectives of anti-segregation measures, urban regeneration, comprehensive housing upkeep and green retrofit...

Reforming Municipal Budgeting and Financial Management in a South American City: A Case Study of Asuncion, Paraguay

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Rachel BALLARD

2000-01-01

Full Text Available With increasing frequency, the two highly interrelated subjects of municipal budgeting and effective financial management are becoming ever more central to discussions of local governance reform in Latin America. Among the most important factors contributing to this are the growing concern throughout the hemisphere about the decentralization of governmental services and the expanding influence of elected mayors. For at least a decade, governments from Mexico to Argentina, have been discussing and, in some cases, actually carrying out, efforts to decentralize to the local level public service provision in such important program areas as economic development, education, health services and housing.

The Spatial Dimension of House Prices

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Yunlong Gong

2017-04-01

This research underlines market forces in the operation of Chinese interurban housing markets in the post-reform era, and contributes to the understanding of spatial dimension of house prices, not only in China, but also in other market-oriented economies.

Local government influence on energy conservation ambitions in existing housing sites-Plucking the low-hanging fruit?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoppe, T.; Bressers, J.Th.A.; Lulofs, K.R.D.

2011-01-01

Greater energy efficiency can be achieved in existing dwellings thanks to longer lifecycles, slow replacement rates, and technical innovations. Many such dwellings are located in dense urban neighbourhoods, where urban renewal projects are undertaken. Local government can encourage the setting of ambitious goals as a stepping stone to realizing energy efficiency goals that achieve high levels of energy efficiency. The research question which this paper addresses is: to what degree do local governments influence ambitions to conserve energy in existing housing sites? To examine this issue, thirty-three sites in the Netherlands were studied using a quantitative analysis. The results show that collaboration between local authorities and local actors increases the level of ambition to conserve energy. However, local authorities intentionally selected sites with poor energy efficiency, so it would be easy to meet ambitious energy conservation targets. Collaboration between local authorities and local actors turns out to be the key factor in selecting those sites. Moreover, there is little sign of genuine ambition. This article contributes to the debate on energy conservation policies in local housing sites. The study provides starting points for systematic, empirical research into the realisation of energy conservation in existing housing, especially in large-scale refurbishment projects. - Research Highlights: → Local governments encourage the setting of goals to realize energy efficiency goals. → Local authorities intentionally select sites with poor initial energy efficiency performance. → Collaboration with local actors turns out to be a key factor in selecting those sites. →There is little sign of genuine ambition. → Starting points for empirical research into the realisation of energy conservation in housing.

Cost-benefit analysis of reforming Israel's electricity industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tishler, A.; Newman, J.; Spekterman, I.; Woo, C.K.

2006-01-01

In June 2003, the Israeli government decided to reform the Israeli electricity industry, which is currently dominated by Israel electric corporation (IEC), a government-owned vertically integrated electric utility. The first step of the planned reform will be taken in 2006, when IEC will be functionally separated into generation, transmission, local distribution, and customer services. Immediately thereafter will be the second step, which by 2012 will result in the deregulation and privatization of the wholesale generation and customer services. Transmission and distribution (T and D) services will remain regulated but will be available to all T and D users under mandatory open access. This paper summarizes a cost-benefit analysis of the government's reform plan. Relative to a regulated regime, the government's plan, even if carried out flawlessly, may only yield a small net benefit. However, it entails a large increase in electricity producer profit and government tax receipt, at the expense of electricity consumers. A less-than-perfect transition to competition can easily wipe out the potential gain of the government plan. Market reform experience to date shows that electricity market reform can easily fail, and the factors for success do not exist in Israel. Since the outcome of a failing reform can be disastrous, it will be imprudent to implement the government's plan in 2006, when the current electricity law expires. Hence, we recommend performance-based regulation for the period of 2006-2010. Subject to an updated cost-benefit analysis, possible decentralization, privatization and competition may follow

Possible Regulatory Improvements of the American Housing Finance System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lunde, Jens

2018-01-01

Book review of: Susan M. Wachter and Joseph Tracy (eds.): Principles of Housing Finance Reform. PENN—University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 282 pp, $65.00s, ISBN: 978-0-8122-4862-3......Book review of: Susan M. Wachter and Joseph Tracy (eds.): Principles of Housing Finance Reform. PENN—University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 282 pp, $65.00s, ISBN: 978-0-8122-4862-3...

After Access: Canadian Education and Copyright Reform

Science.gov (United States)

Geist, Michael

2006-01-01

With the dramatic growth of the Internet in the 1990s, the Canadian government developed a well-regarded strategy for addressing the emerging issues posed by the "information highway." The strategy featured legal reforms to address privacy and e-commerce, administrative reforms for the government online initiative, and connectivity…

Housing markets and housing policies in India

OpenAIRE

Tiwari, Piyush; Rao, Jyoti

2016-01-01

Issues of housing in India are synonymous with ignorance of housing in active government involvement at the policy and program formulation levels. They are also due to the problems that unplanned urbanization, income disparity, poverty, illiteracy, and unemployment brought. These issues extenuated the housing problem, causing a housing shortage of 51 million in 2011. Though India has a long history of establishing policies, programs, and institutions to cater to housing, without allocating ad...

Impact of reform and privatization on consumers: A case study of power sector reform in Orissa, India

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kundu, Goutam Kumar; Mishra, Bidhu Bhusan

2011-01-01

Orissa is the first state in India to have undergone reform in the power sector, with the government withdrawing its control. The model of this reform is known as the WB-Orissa model. The goal of this paper is to examine the impact of this reform on consumers of electricity, which has been measured using multiple regression models. The variables represent the parameters that consumers are most interested in, and the regression coefficients represent the weights of the corresponding variables. The data were collected using a survey methodology. The impact of reform was found to be mixed. Some groups of consumers saw benefits, while others felt a negative impact. A focus group study was conducted to identify the variables of interest to consumers of electricity. The model was used to estimate consumer benefit and was validated using primary data and structural equation modeling. The study revealed beneficial aspects of reform and areas with no benefits. - Highlights: → Linear regression model with seven variables explains consumer benefit. → Governance issue exists after power sector reform of Orissa. → Reform benefited most consumers with a few exceptions. → Reform affected agricultural consumers.

The role of the Government Energy Efficiency Act in the National Energy Act of 1992

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Good, L.; Williams, D.R.

1993-01-01

Last year Senator John Glenn's Government Energy Efficiency Act to reform energy management in the Federal Government was adopted entirely into the Senate's comprehensive energy bill. This year key portions of an equivalent bill were incorporated into the House of Representatives comprehensive energy bill after intensive lobbying by AEE's National Capital Chapter. According to a House staffer who played a key role in the bill, the section on energy manager training was included as a direct result of the Chapter's persuasion. Each bill passed in its respective house. At the time of this writing, in the spring of 1992, the two houses are scheduled to go into conference and attempt to merge their separate bills into one National Energy Act of 1992. The 102nd Congress seems determined to establish a national energy policy before election time, but the two houses take very different approaches to the problem, The bill could be voted into law during or just before the 15th World Energy Engineering Congress (WEEC). This paper will discuss some of the strengths and loopholes that apply to the Federal sector. The presentation of this paper at WEEC in October will bring AEE members up to the minute on these developments

Governance and Institutional Autonomy: Governing and Governance in Portuguese Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Magalhaes, Antonio; Veiga, Amelia; Ribeiro, Filipa; Amaral, Alberto

2013-01-01

This paper aims at looking at governance instruments beyond managerial technicality. It intends to do so by analysing the impact of governance reforms on the universities autonomy assumed as a regulation instrument to politically steer systems and institutions. The regulation efforts undertaken at the European and national levels reflect a trend…

From Situation to opposition: the welfare reform of the Lula’s government from the perspective of the PSDB deputies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felipe Corral de Freitas

2015-06-01

Full Text Available With the defeat in the 2002 elections, the PSDB was characterized as the "strong opposition" to the government of the PT. He reached the command of the Executive in 2003, implemented a reform in Social Security, thus constituting the first time the opposition PSDB. Thus, the objective of this work is to understand the discursive behavior of federal PSDB deputies, held during the sessions of the Great Expedient of the Federal Chamber, when dealing with this reform. For the analysis, the theoretical and methodological aspects of discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe were used. It was possible to identify that the new political context has changed the identities of PT and PSDB, but kept the antagonistic relationship. Moreover, because it is the first time opposition, the PSDB did not build hegemonic discourse against the reform, but critical of its formatting.

Bureaucratic Reform in Irrigation: A Review of Four Case Studies

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Diana Suhardiman

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Poor performance of government-managed irrigation systems persists globally. This paper argues that addressing performance requires not simply more investment or different policy approaches, but reform of the bureaucracies responsible for irrigation management. Based on reform experiences in The Philippines, Mexico, Indonesia, and Uzbekistan, we argue that irrigation (policy reform cannot be treated in isolation from the overall functioning of government bureaucracies and the wider political structure of the states. Understanding of how and why government bureaucracies shape reform processes and outcomes is crucial to increase the actual significance of reforms. To demonstrate this, the paper links reform processes in the irrigation sector with the wider discourse of bureaucratic reform in the political science, public administration, and organisational science literature. Doing so brings to light the need for systematic comparative research on the organisational characteristic of the irrigation bureaucracies, their bureaucratic identities, and how these are shaped by various segments within the bureaucracies to provide the insights needed to improve irrigation systems performance.

POLICY DEVELOPMENT TRAINING AND EDUCATION RESOURCES TO REFORM THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT DISTRICT OF MAKASSAR SIDENRENG RAPPANG

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Syamsuddin Maldun

2015-02-01

Full Text Available This research aims to know and study the strategy of resource development policy reform of local government district of Makassar Sidenreng Rappang. The research method used is descriptive qualitative study type, while the phenomenological approach is used. This is intended to give description in a systematic, factual and actual response object is examined. Results of the research implementation of education and training is not conducted in a planned and timely to get quality apparatus of the abilities, knowledge, skills, expertise, and job skills, as well as a good mental attitude, and optimal performance. Whereas in the era of regional autonomy, it takes the resources of local government apparatus that is intelligent and responsive to the needs of an increasingly complex society services. 

Impact of reform and privatisation on employees a case study of power sector reform in Orissa, India

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kundu, Goutam Kumar; Mishra, Bidhu Bhusan

2012-01-01

Orissa is the first state in India to have undergone reform in the power sector with the Government withdrawing its control. The state government owned integrated Electricity Board which was responsible for generation, transmission and distribution of electricity was unbundled into separate generating, transmitting, distributing and trading companies. The structure and ownership changed. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the reform and privatization on employees. The impact of reform on employees was measured with the help of multiple regression models. The variables represent the parameters that employees are most interested in, and the regression coefficients represent the weights of the corresponding variables. The data were collected using a survey methodology. The impact of reform was observed to be mixed one. Some employees felt benefits while others mentioned negative impact. The study revealed beneficial aspects of reform and areas with no benefits. - Highlights: ► Employee benefit is a linear function of 11 variables. ► Eleven variables predict 95.8% of employees benefit. ► Money received by the employees increased after reform. ► Employees benefit due to reform is a mixed one.

Administrative Reform

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Plum, Maja

Through the example of a Danish reform of educational plans in early childhood education, the paper critically addresses administrative educational reforms promoting accountability, visibility and documentation. Drawing on Foucaultian perspectives, the relation between knowledge and governing...... of administrative technology, tracing how the humanistic values of education embed and are embedded within ‘the professional nursery teacher' as an object and subject of administrative practice. Rather than undermining the humanistic potential of education, it is argued that the technology of accounting...

Working towards Justice, Security Sector Reform and Better ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

... on security sector reform, constitutional reform, governance of diversity and critical dialogues in MENA societies. ... Reform will take time and one of the tests for those involved in this process is exercising patience and .... Related articles ...

Political Parties, Clientelism, and Bureaucratic Reform

OpenAIRE

Cruz, Cesi; Keefer, Philip

2015-01-01

The challenge of public administration reform is well-known: politicians often have little interest in the efficient implementation of government policy. Using new data from 439 World Bank public sector reform loans in 109 countries, we demonstrate that such reforms are significantly less likely to succeed in the presence of non-programmatic political parties. Earlier research uses evidence from a small group of countries to conclude that clientelistic politicians resist reforms that restrict...

Assessment of housing design decisions in informal housing ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The rapid urbanisation of cities in developing countries has witnessed a growth in the volume of housing construction in the urban areas. The demand for housing and the inability of government to meet this demand has encouraged the growth of informal housing. The concept of healthy buildings is of great importance, ...

Housing Wealth and Consumption: A Micro Panel Study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Browning, Martin; Gørtz, Mette; Leth-Petersen, Søren

2013-01-01

find little evidence of a housing wealth effect on consumption: unexpected innovations to house prices are uncorrelated with changes in total expenditure at the household level. A reform in 1992 allowed – for the first time - house owners to use their housing equity as collateral for consumption loans....... We find that young house owners likely to be affected by credit constraints react to house price changes after 1993. Our findings suggest that house prices impact total expenditure through improved collateral rather than directly through wealth....

The Theory of Grid Investment and Governance from the Perspective of New Regulation: Enlightenment on China's Electric Power System Reform

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

FENG Yong-sheng

2016-01-01

The main contents of theoretical studies on grid investment and governance include the business investment patterns,the regulated investment patterns,and the incentive and efficiency issues of the power grid ownership and the operating right under the implementation of the integrated structure and separated structure.The commercial investment mode relies on the assumption of near-perfect competition and the separated structure of the grid ownership and the system operating right,which in reality is prone to distorted incentives for grid investment and easy to generate team moral hazards,thus it is difficult to ensure effective grid investment in the competitive electricity market.By relying on incentive regulation,the integrated structure of the grid ownership and the system operating right under the regulated investment mode can avoid moral hazard in the teams and various distorted investment incentives.Comparatively speaking,the regulated investment mode is a more appropriate one to be the main target pattern for the grid investment during China's power market reform.The power grid governance should focus on the release of the potential efficiency under the integrated structure of the grid ownership and the right to operate the system.The power system reform must take a coordinated promotion of the construction of a competitive market and the reform of the grid management system,so as to avoid becoming a simple interest re-adjustment.

TAX-REFORM - DREAMING ABOUT TOUGH REALITIES

NARCIS (Netherlands)

DEKAM, F

1992-01-01

This paper discusses four papers concerned with tax reform. It is concluded that tax reform has had a rather limited impact on behaviour so far but that governments should press ahead with gradual improvement and not expect dramatic results.

Russia’s Regional Governance at the Change of Epochs: Administrative Reform Drafts in the Late 19th-Early 20th Centuries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergey V. Lyubichankovskiy

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This article addresses the long and complex process of Russia’s government working out draft reforms aimed at transforming the country’s regional governance system in the late 19th-early 20th centuries. Aware of the unsatisfactory state of affairs in the area of the organization and operation of the governorate administration, the supreme state authorities initiated the development of relevant reform, looking to not only engage representatives of the local bureaucratic elite in the process but take account of public opinion in respect of the principles of the set-up and activity of the regional administration. This article demonstrates that drafts developed during the late imperial period, which persistently sought to promote the idea of strengthening the governor’s authority and uniting the major governorate collegia into a single institution, fell short of being realized. This circumstance had a negative effect on the operation of the governor’s authority, which was clearly manifested in the extremely hard conditions of the February Revolution of 1917. The weakness of governorate rulers in combination with widespread “anti-governor” sentiment locally, expressed in the form of mass arrests of functionaries by the uprisen people, forced the Provisional Government to fully renounce the existing regional governance system by revoking the governor posts and handing authority over to the chairmen of the county councils.

Legal Reform, De-colonization and State-building in Palestine ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Legal Reform, De-colonization and State-building in Palestine. Demands for legal reform have come from both inside and outside Palestine. Inside Palestine, legal reform is seen as a prerequisite for democracy and good governance. Outside, legal reform is perceived as integral to the continued peace process with Israel.

Veto player theory and reform making in Western Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Angelova, Mariyana; Bäck, Hanna; Müller, Wolfgang C; Strobl, Daniel

2018-05-01

Veto player theory generates predictions about governments' capacity for policy change. Due to the difficulty of identifying significant laws needed to change the policy status quo, evidence about governments' ability to change policy has been mostly provided for a limited number of reforms and single-country studies. To evaluate the predictive power of veto player theory for policy making across time, policy areas and countries, a dataset was gathered that incorporates about 5,600 important government reform measures in the areas of social, labour, economic and taxation policy undertaken in 13 Western European countries from the mid-1980s until the mid-2000s. Veto player theory is applied in a combined model with other central theoretical expectations on policy change derived from political economy (crisis-driven policy change) and partisan theory (ideology-driven policy change). Robust support is found that governments introduce more reform measures when economic conditions are poor and when the government is positioned further away from the policy status quo. No empirical support is found for predictions of veto player theory in its pure form, where no differentiation between government types is made. However, the findings provide support for the veto player theory in the special case of minimal winning cabinets, where the support of all government parties is sufficient (in contrast to minority cabinets) and necessary (in contrast to oversized cabinets) for policy change. In particular, it is found that in minimal winning cabinets the ideological distance between the extreme government parties significantly decreases the government's ability to introduce reforms. These findings improve our understanding of reform making in parliamentary democracies and highlight important issues and open questions for future applications and tests of the veto player theory.

Assisted Housing - Housing Choice Vouchers by Tract - National Geospatial Data Asset (NGDA)

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Housing and Urban Development — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP) is the federal government's major program for assisting very...

Liberalism, Radicalism, and Self-Governing Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Swartz, Ronald

1978-01-01

Contrasts Karl Popper's theory of social reform with a Marxist theory of reform. Concludes that a liberal approach to educational reform, as exemplified by A.S. Neill's self-governing school at Summerhill, is generally more satisfactory. (Author/DB)

Innovate the Land Supply Pattern and Stabilize the Housing

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

WANG Junjie; Chen haibo

2015-01-01

In the process of building a harmonious socialist society, the protection of people＇ s livelihood is the priority, and to solve the housing problem of over one billion residents is the top priority. The present thesis begins with the land supply mechanism, and do researches on the style, the source and the type of land supply. With the analysis of land finance, the present thesis finally put forward the measures to innovate the land supply pattern, to increase the supply of low-income housing, to reform the way of land supply and to explore the circulating pattern of normative collective construction land that comes to is on the market. Meanwhile, it combines the present house property tax reform, putting forward the idea that imposing land property tax should be a way to inhibit the behavior of speculation. The present thesis aims at keeping the housing price at a reasonable level so that the purpose of stabilizing the housing price can he achieved.

Fostering Home-Grown Democratic Reform | IDRC - International ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

To support the political and governance-related processes taking place, the Arab Reform Initiative ... In the summer of 2012, several papers were commissioned on Egypt's constitutional reform looking at specific issues such ... Related articles ...

Tax Reform in Brazil: a Public Choice Theory approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Allan Silveira dos Santos

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This article aims to analyze tax reform necessity and the barriers to the implementation of tax reform at the light of public choice theory. The research identifies the arguments that provides the explanation for the tax reform does not occur in Brazil. The question that the article searches to answer is: what are the justifications for the Brazil not have done tax reform? The literature review addresses the failures of government, public choice theory and the theory of optimal taxation. The evidence and studies show that there are reasons to think about a tax system more consistent with the Brazilian reality, indicating the existence of "government failures" that may be the probable cause of impairment of the tax reform.

Influence of the Reform of Local Self-Government in Ukraine on the Formation and Development of Labor Potential

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kharuk Kateryna B.

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The article determines the peculiarities of formation and development of the labor potential in the process of the reforming local self-government in Ukraine. It has been found that an integration of population, the system of economic entities, infrastructure units, scientific-technical potential allows to determine the need for modern spatial forms of concentration of labor potential, i.e. for consolidated territorial communities. With the purpose of formation and development of labor potential, considering impacts of the reform of local self-government in Ukraine, the following activities has been proposed to be carried out: improving the living standards of rural residents, creation of productive jobs, socio-economic cooperation between communities, infrastructure development, use of natural resources, socio-labor, agricultural and industrial capacities, effective use of rural socio-labour potential, development of agricultural production, rural non-farm activities, development of social infrastructure, creation of advisory service and introduction of a system of continuous education, development of family medicine, collaboration with regional and central authorities, involvement of the regional budget funds, establishment of a fund for economic development, cooperation with domestic and foreign investors. It has been determined that the introduction of the above measures will affect the increase in employment within the consolidated territorial communities.

Polish Housing Policy in Com parison with the Housing Policy in the UE – Selected Issues

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Szelągowska

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to present the main principles of Polish housing policy and to compare it with the housing policy in the European Union. Poland, as an UE member, did not hammer out successful solutions which could facilitate the process of building new low-rental dwellings. The authors aim is to find the answer to research question: is it worth concentrating on fulfilling housing needs of low-income households in Poland and if yes, why? In order to do this the following hypothesis is put forward: on account of long-standing neglect connected with the Polish social housing finance there is an urgent need of housing reform oriented to the low-income housing growth.

Russian electricity reform. Emerging challenges and opportunities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2005-07-01

The Russian Government is pursuing a strategy of very high economic growth, with the objective of doubling gross domestic product in ten years. It recognises the central role the electricity sector has to play to achieve this target and has embarked on a highly ambitious program of electricity reform. If it is to succeed, the reform program will have to create market structures, market rules and a regulatory framework that will foster competitive wholesale and retail electricity markets. At the same time, it will have to deal with sensitive social issues related to tariff rebalancing and the removal of cross subsidies. Only competitive markets based on transparent prices that reflect costs can deliver the efficient, reliable and internationally competitive performance needed to meet the government's economic targets. Such markets are essential to attract new investment that will be required to ensure security of electricity supply after 2010. This book focuses on key aspects of the proposed reform that could have an important bearing on its success. It also raises concerns as to the pace of reform in related areas, such as the need for complementary reforms in the Russian natural gas sector. The IEA commends the Russian Government on its efforts to embrace this electricity reform - a key element critical to meeting the challenges ahead in terms of its economic growth and energy security. 17 figs., 10 tabs., 3 maps.

Health care reforms.

Science.gov (United States)

Marušič, Dorjan; Prevolnik Rupel, Valentina

2016-09-01

In large systems, such as health care, reforms are underway constantly. The article presents a definition of health care reform and factors that influence its success. The factors being discussed range from knowledgeable personnel, the role of involvement of international experts and all stakeholders in the country, the importance of electoral mandate and governmental support, leadership and clear and transparent communication. The goals set need to be clear, and it is helpful to have good data and analytical support in the process. Despite all debates and experiences, it is impossible to clearly define the best approach to tackle health care reform due to a different configuration of governance structure, political will and state of the economy in a country.

The Role of Democratic Governing Bodies in South African Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Karlsson, Jenni

2002-01-01

School governance reform in post-apartheid South Africa aimed to democratize schooling while accommodating diverse school histories of underdevelopment or self-management. Analysis of relevant legislation shows the reform was structured to allow representative democracy and partnerships. But two recent studies suggest that governance reforms have…

The Italian experience for the recovery of the housing market. An economic model applied to the management of local governments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gianluigi De Mare

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Following the crisis generated by the financialization of private real-estate, construction prices have gradually decreased depriving the housing market of the necessary growth stimuli. Many countries have set up measures to revive this highly strategic area for the national economy. With reference to the Campania Region Law n. 19 dated 28 December 2009, known Housing Plan, this work has two objectives: to recognize the fundamental estimation problems that need to be solved in the implementation of the Campania Housing Plan; in addition, predict the effects of the regulations on the regional economy, both in overall terms as well as for each production sector, with particular attention being given to the construction industry. Regarding the first objective, the contents of the law are analysed on the basis of the principles that govern the appraisal. The consequences of the Campania Housing Plan on the economic system are then evaluated using input-output matrices, which are able to capture the structural relationships that exist among the various productive sectors. The numerical calculations require a preliminary investigation aimed at collecting a list of interventions approved by local governments in accordance to the Housing Plan. The cost of the works, as proposed in the applications submitted to the local administrations, is the input data for the implementation of the Social Accounting Matrix 2010 of the Campania Region.

The Dynamics of Reforming the Public Administration System in Ukraine: Monitoring and Analysis of Implementation of the Reform of Decentralization of Power

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yaroshenko Igor V.

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The European integration choice of Ukraine, enshrined in the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, has defined the strategic direction of the country’s development for the near future. One of the main directions of the country modernization is the reform of administrative-territorial, political, public administration systems and establishment of the democratic institution of public power – the local self-government. Formation of foundations and principles of reforming the local self-government and territorial organization of power in Ukraine in accordance with the basic provisions of the European Charter of local self-government is an integral part of the national legislation in this sphere. Carrying out monitoring and analysis of the implementation of the reform of decentralization in Ukraine, as well as assessment of the level of its implementation and efficiency of functioning, identification of problematic issues and risks of implementation of the decentralization reform are very important for timely provision of recommendations for the appropriate solutions.

Validity Theory: Reform Policies, Accountability Testing, and Consequences

Science.gov (United States)

Chalhoub-Deville, Micheline

2016-01-01

Educational policies such as Race to the Top in the USA affirm a central role for testing systems in government-driven reform efforts. Such reform policies are often referred to as the global education reform movement (GERM). Changes observed with the GERM style of testing demand socially engaged validity theories that include consequential…

Trade liberalization and tax reform strategies: The case of the Korean oil industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shim, Kieun; Jung, Yonghun

2012-01-01

The decline in government revenues due to tariff reductions has become a major concern for most developing countries, including Korea. This paper focuses on the Korean oil industry to examine which post-trade liberalization tax reform strategy is optimal, depending on the government's priority between social welfare and government revenue. We find that the important factors for choosing an optimal tax reform policy are price elasticity of demand and market competition. Based on a price-inelastic demand and the low competitive market for Korea's oil industry, if the goal of a tax reform policy is to increase social welfare, the recommended strategy is to raise the consumption tax by a scale of less than the sum of tariff cuts times the crude oil price and oil import tax cuts. This strategy would also reduce inflation, but it could be detrimental to government revenue. However, if the policy's goal is the preservation of government revenue, the recommended strategy is to raise the consumption tax by a scale equal to the sum of tariff cuts times the crude oil price at the pre-tax reform and oil import tax cuts. This strategy does not change either government revenue or social welfare. - Highlights: ▶ Which post-trade liberalization tax reform is optimal for Korea's oil industry? ▶ Both final and intermediate markets are modeled under imperfect competition. ▶ Both price elasticity and market competition are important for an optimal tax reform. ▶ The optimal tax reform depends on the priority between welfare and government revenue.

Louise Penner, Victorian Medicine and Social Reform: Florence Nightingale among the Novelists

OpenAIRE

Talairach-Vielmas, Laurence

2013-01-01

Much social activism went on in the Victorian period, and quite a few social reformers were women. These female social reformers were even fictionalized and satirized, as Mrs Jellyby in Bleak House (1854), Dickens’s obsessive philanthropist who focuses so much on Africa that she forgets to look after her house, children and husband. Florence Nightingale was one of these activists. The nurse who became famous for her involvement in the Crimean War was a highly significant Victorian public figu...

Macroeconomic effects of proposed pension reforms in Norway

OpenAIRE

Fredriksen, Dennis; Heide, Kim Massey; Holmøy, Erling; Solli, Ingeborg Foldøy

2005-01-01

Abstract: Ageing combined with generous welfare state schemes makes the present fiscal policy in Norway unsustainable, despite large government petroleum revenues. We estimate to what extent two suggested reforms of the public pension system improve fiscal sustainability and stimulate employment, two main objectives of the reforms. To this end we apply two large models iteratively: 1) a detailed dynamic micro simulation model to estimate government pension expenditures; 2) a la...

Pending reforms: challenges to governabilty in Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sonia Fleury

2012-04-01

Full Text Available After President Lula’s two terms of office, the election of Dilma Rousseff generated all kinds of different expectations, whether because of the candidate’s lack of a political career within the Workers’ Party (PT, or because of her rather uncharismatic personality and poor propensity towards political negotiations with the allied parties that favoured the governability of the previous term of office. The country she has inherited is in a much better situation than the one inherited by the first PT government, with a stabilised economy and inflation under control. The sustainable policies for reducing poverty have generated conditions that encourage the enlargement of the middle class which, together with the creation of popular credit mechanisms, have served to halt the effects of the world crisis and have generated enormous expectations of social mobility. This scenario, together with the country’s increasingly recognised presence as an important international actor, provides unprecedented possibilities for the advancement of the “development with social inclusion” project. Nevertheless, certain reforms still need to be implemented that could threaten governability: political reform, federative agreement and tax reform, as well as social reforms.

PROFIT VERSUS SOCIAL WELFARE, CONTINUITY VERSUS CHANGE. THE VISION OF SOCIAL GOVERNANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bodislav Dumitru-Alexandru

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Bankers didn’t want the change; they wanted the money of contributors without a reform of the financial sector. Although the idea of a reform and of a new regulation method was brought in the discussion in January 2007, it remained at idea level state. The idea of excessive regulation would have stopped evolution and this concept wouldn’t be sufficient to take action against regulation and considering innovation as part of the risk (innovation isn’t a real positive fact in the banking sector, because this innovation has as its base point derivate financial instruments that have no real foundation, but the risk is an integrated part of capitalism. The problem of these innovations was that innovation was directed toward the gain of banks despite their clients, be it an owner of a mortgaged house, this way being clear the idea of modifying the stimulus system of bankers to have an efficient reform at top management level and at a moral level for the American contributor. Elections brought a new president, a new team that must share their vision and to reform the governance program. CONTINUITY VERSUS CHANGE is the main purpose of this research paper.

Health care reforms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marušič Dorjan

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In large systems, such as health care, reforms are underway constantly. The article presents a definition of health care reform and factors that influence its success. The factors being discussed range from knowledgeable personnel, the role of involvement of international experts and all stakeholders in the country, the importance of electoral mandate and governmental support, leadership and clear and transparent communication. The goals set need to be clear, and it is helpful to have good data and analytical support in the process. Despite all debates and experiences, it is impossible to clearly define the best approach to tackle health care reform due to a different configuration of governance structure, political will and state of the economy in a country.

The future direction of electricity reform in APEC economies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pritchard, Robert

2005-01-01

A 2003 study of Electricity Supply Industry (ESI) reform experience in the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies emphasised that the overriding principle of ESI reform must be to maintain the security and stability of the entire power system. This is what differentiates ESI reform from reform of other industries. For all economies, particularly developing economies, attracting private investment in the ESI is a vital ongoing need. However, since the mid-1990s, private investors have become more risk-averse. Today, it is less safe for governments to assume that their 'reformed' electricity sectors will attract the requisite level of private investment. The APEC study found that competitive electricity markets are unsuited to developing economies in the early stages of reform. However, enterprise level reforms can produce major gains by commercialising and corporatising electricity utilities and by providing them with economic incentives to operate to high technical and commercial standards. The APEC study also emphasised that governments must remain responsible for the outcomes of ESI reform irrespective of any changes in industry structure and ownership. This is a fundamental responsibility which cannot be left to a regulator. (Author)

Race, Housing, and the Federal Government: Black Lives on the Margins of the American Dream

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Hughes

2016-11-01

Full Text Available As historians have increasingly explored the complex historical relationship between race, class, and institutions such as the federal government in shaping contemporary American society, historical sources such as the Federal Housing Association’s Underwriting Manual (1938 provide provocative opportunities for teaching. Brief excerpts from the Manual are a small window through which to examine the underappreciated role of the U.S. federal government in creating and sustaining a racialized version of the American Dream. The result is an opportunity to equip students, as citizens, with the historical thinking skills and sources to examine the enduring historical arc of racial injustice and resistance in the United States that serves as the foundation for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Essays on the economics of housing subsidies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schilder, F.P.W.

2012-01-01

In a perfect market a government needs not to intervene. For several reasons the housing market is not a perfect market and, thus, governments generally tend to intervene. The Dutch government, however, intervenes mainly by subsidies to such an extent that the housing market has become strongly

State Housing Revival

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Donovan, Elizabeth

2015-01-01

Government funded housing for people in need is a challenge many countries face around the world. This research investigates how to sustainably regenerate post-war suburban state housing in New Zealand, in particular, the suburb of Glen Innes in Auckland. Reviving the community and regenerating...... the buildings is essential for improving the overall quality of the neighbourhoods both socially and physically. Achieving this in a holistic sustainable manner illustrates that there are alternatives to demolition and new builds, as the answer to the current housing shortage problems. New Zealand is confronted...... with the dilemma of what to do with existing government-funded housing which are no longer socially or physically suitable for the current demographic. New Zealand has a large cultural diversity with many new immigrants from the Pacific Islands and Asia. There is a need for culturally flexible and inclusive...

Distributed Leadership for ICT Reform in Singapore

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, David; Ho, Jeanne

2012-01-01

This study examines distributed leadership in Information Communication Technology reform in a government school in Singapore. The study adopts a naturalistic inquiry approach, drawing upon a case study of the aforementioned school for much of its data. The study found that leadership for Information Communication Technology reform is distributed…

Medium-Density Mixed Housing: sustainable design and construction of South African social housing

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Osman, A

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Medium-Density Mixed Housing (MDMH), of which social housing (SH) is one component, is perceived to have the capacity to contribute to the transformation of fragmented South African cities more than the massive roll-out of government subsidised ‘one-house...

China's health care system reform: Progress and prospects.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ling; Fu, Hongqiao

2017-07-01

This paper discusses the progress and prospects of China's complex health care reform beginning in 2009. The Chinese government's undertaking of systemic reform has achieved laudable achievements, including the expansion of social health insurance, the reform of public hospitals, and the strengthening of primary care. An innovative policy tool in China, policy experimentation under hierarchy, played an important role in facilitating these achievements. However, China still faces gaps and challenges in creating a single payer system, restructuring the public hospitals, and establishing an integrated delivery system. Recently, China issued the 13th 5-year plan for medical reform, setting forth the goals, policy priorities, and strategies for health reform in the following 5 years. Moreover, the Chinese government announced the "Healthy China 2030" blueprint in October 2016, which has the goals of providing universal health security for all citizens by 2030. By examining these policy priorities against the existing gaps and challenges, we conclude that China's health care reform is heading in the right direction. To effectively implement these policies, we recommend that China should take advantage of policy experimentation to mobilize bottom-up initiatives and encourage innovations. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Academic Governance and Academic Reform: Legitimacy and Energy.

Science.gov (United States)

Peter, Kenneth B.; Bain, Linda L.

1998-01-01

A thorough review and revision of curriculum at San Jose State University (California) illustrates that the modern university can achieve major internal academic reforms when two important conditions are met: legitimacy and energy. These two concepts are defined and practical illustrations are drawn from the institution's recent experience in…

Governance of Governance in Higher Education: Practices and Lessons Drawn from the Portuguese Case

Science.gov (United States)

Magalhaes, Antonio; Veiga, Amelia; Amaral, Alberto; Sousa, Sofia; Ribeiro, Filipa

2013-01-01

The implementation of the governance reform of Portuguese higher education has been developed under the influence of "new public management" resulting in the loss of collegial governance. Additionally, the need for meta-governance of the higher education system and institutions to monitor institutional performance against policy…

Dutch social housing sector reforms : Exploring the effects on low income households

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Groen, A.; Pruyt, E.; Boumeester, H.J.F.M.

2012-01-01

Social rental housing ought to function as safety net for the lower income groups in the housing system. However, the Dutch housing system has a relatively large social housing stock in relation to other housing systems in Europe – larger than would be required for a safety net for lower income

The ambiguities of performance-based governance reforms in Italy: Reviving the fortunes of evaluation and performance measurement.

Science.gov (United States)

Marra, Mita

2018-08-01

Over the past two decades, Italy's administrative reforms have institutionalized evaluation to improve program effectiveness, staff productivity, and results-driven accountability against waste and corruption. Across ministries, regional governments, universities, schools and environmental protection agencies, seemingly unexpected consequences have emerged out of the implementation of performance measurement and evaluation regimes within public organizations. Formal compliance to legally binding evaluation procedures, judicially-sanctioned managerial accountability and lack of cross-agency coordination coupled with long-standing cultural separations among evaluators are some of the ambiguities associated with a performance-based governance system within Italian public administration. Building upon the 'new governane theory,' and qualitative fieldwork, I explore the political consequences of evaluation and performance measurement for possible improvements. From a normative perspective, greater integration between program evaluation and performance measurement can support organizational learning and democratic accountability both at the central and local level. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abortion law in Nepal: the road to reform.

Science.gov (United States)

Thapa, Shyam

2004-11-01

In 2002 Nepal's parliament passed a liberal abortion law, after nearly three decades of reform efforts. This paper reviews the history of the movement for reform and the combination of factors that contributed to its success. These include sustained advocacy for reform; the dissemination of knowledge, information and evidence; adoption of the reform agenda by the public sector and its leadership in involving other stakeholders; the existence of work for safe motherhood as the context in which the initiative could gain support; an active women's rights movement and support from international and multilateral organisations; sustained involvement of local NGOs, civil society and professional organisations; the involvement of journalists and the media; the absence of significant opposition; courageous government officials and an enabling democratic political system. The overriding rationale for reforming the abortion law in Nepal has been to ensure safe motherhood and women's rights. The first government abortion services officially began in March 2004 at the Maternity Hospital in Kathmandu; services will be expanded gradually to other public and private hospitals and private clinics in the coming years.

Political Struggle Over The Immigration Reform During G.W.Bush Presidency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksandra Aleksandrovna Filippenko

2014-01-01

Full Text Available By the beginning of the XXI century, the US had about 12 million illegal aliens and the immigration reform was evidently much needed. The Immigration Act of 1990 was significantly outdated and required revision. Additional regulations that passed in the 1990-s had to be systematized. The White House and the president George W. Bush inclined to the comprehensive immigration reform that would include an amnesty for the certain part of the illegal aliens. Some lawmakers were ready to strike a deal, but than happened the 9/11 tragedy. Immigration reform was shelved and turned into a matter of national security. Immigration reform bills were taken into consideration only in conjunction with boarder security bills. Edward Kennedy was very much aware of the issue's complexity and the need for reform; he did all he could to reach a compromise with his fellow Republicans. John McCain became his closest ally in the reform. Democrats made considerable concessions, while moderate Republicans were willing to meet them halfway, but the conservatives would not let the Congress adopt a new legislation, calling any attempt at comprehensive immigration reform an amnesty for the criminals. During the 107-110 Congresses the immigration reform was thoroughly worked through from both sides, but the proposed bills rarely got to the floor and never passed both Houses. Even though the time has passed, suggestions offered and deals reached during the Bush presidency did not lose the edge and any new immigration legislation is going be based on the 2002-2008 bills.

POLITICAL STRUGGLE OVER THE IMMIGRATION REFORM DURING G.W.BUSH PRESIDENCY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksandra Aleksandrovna Filippenko

2014-01-01

Full Text Available By the beginning of the XXI century, the US had about 12 million illegal aliens and the immigration reform was evidently much needed. The Immigration Act of 1990 was significantly outdated and required revision. Additional regulations that passed in the 1990-s had to be systematized. The White House and the president George W. Bush inclined to the comprehensive immigration reform that would include an amnesty for the certain part of the illegal aliens. Some lawmakers were ready to strike a deal, but than happened the 9/11 tragedy. Immigration reform was shelved and turned into a matter of national security. Immigration reform bills were taken into consideration only in conjunction with boarder security bills. Edward Kennedy was very much aware of the issue's complexity and the need for reform; he did all he could to reach a compromise with his fellow Republicans. John McCain became his closest ally in the reform. Democrats made considerable concessions, while moderate Republicans were willing to meet them halfway, but the conservatives would not let the Congress adopt a new legislation, calling any attempt at comprehensive immigration reform an amnesty for the criminals. During the 107-110 Congresses the immigration reform was thoroughly worked through from both sides, but the proposed bills rarely got to the floor and never passed both Houses. Even though the time has passed, suggestions offered and deals reached during the Bush presidency did not lose the edge and any new immigration legislation is going be based on the 2002-2008 bills.

Electricity reforms, democracy and technological change. (Electricity systems, 'market liberalization' reforms, internationalisation, and the need for new democratic governance system - the Danish case)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hvelplund, F.

2001-07-01

At the end of the 1990s, Danish energy policy reached a turning point because of technical challenges due to the high proportion of fluctuating wind power production and the increased cogeneration share, and because of new regulation regimes being introduced in Denmark and its neighbouring countries. In this specific historical situation, with the above background, the questions that will be analysed in this publication are as follows: 1) Which governance systems are most efficient, with regard to achieving optimal goal performance by means of the present typical uranium/fossil fuel electricity supply systems? 2) Which governance systems are the most efficient in the transformation process from the present uranium/fossil fuel electricity supply systems to renewable energy-/conservation based electricity system? 3) Which changes in goal performance of the Danish electricity supply system has the 1999 Danish electricity 'liberalization' reform induced? 4) Will the Danish electricity supply system be able to maintain its consumer ownership institutions and remain independent of the 'third party' shareholder ownership structure after the 1999 Danish 'liberalization' reform? a) Are the Danish electricity companies able to compete on the Danish electricity market with foreign suppliers? b) Will the Danish energy companies be able to compete on the market for energy capital goods, or will foreign companies, for instance German power companies, buy them? Will the Danish consumer ownership model survive? c) Will the Danish 'flat' price structure survive on the future electricity market? d) Will the 1975-2000 energy technology innovation process survive under the new market conditions? How will conditions on the German market influence this development? The relevance of these questions is particulary enhanced when seen in relation to the goals of international, and especially Danish, energy policy. The main question therefore, is: will the development outlined under 1

E-government as Institutional Transformation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meijer, A.J.; Zouridis, S.

2004-01-01

Throughout the world, e-government has become a key element of modernization and government reform programs. E-government has put a spell on public administration from Singapore to Uruguay and from the United States to Hong Kong. This worldwide movement is interesting from the perspective of

The indonesia’s Police Reform Police in the Reform Era New Institutionalism Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ACHMAD NURMAND

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Since the reformation and democratization movement in 1998, Indonesians have faced a chronic corruption problem. At the beginning of reformation era in 1998 to fight against corruption, the Indonesian government reforms the organization structure of the Indonesia Police to be an independent body separated from the Military organization. The police reforms begun in 1999 and got legal foundation with Act No. 2/2002. However, since fourteen years, the level of police reform has not yet succeed because of low community satisfaction on police service and the intense conflicts always occur whenever ACA investigates the case of corruptions conducted by police leaders. Three conflicts between police institution and ACA have taken placed. By using institutionalism approach, this research focus on the reform in police themselves are major actors on how reforms are organized and managed. This study is interpretative in nature gained only through social constructions such as language, consciousness, shared meanings, documents, tools, and other artefacts’. This finding revealed that this unsuccessful institutionalization process took place in a context of the main task of police for communicty service. Second, the study has demonstrated that three concepts from institutional theory as aforementioned provided vocabularies and insights to explain the phenomenon under study.

The New Technology and Educational Reform: Guidelines for School Administrators.

Science.gov (United States)

Matthews, Mark; Karr-Kidwell, PJ

This paper presents the results of a literature review on educational methodology reforms. The first section discusses five factors in broad-based school reforms: change theory; organizational theory; state/national politics; local politics/governance; and leadership theory. Five types of reforms for school-wide success are described in the second…

Fossil fuel subsidy reform: lessons from the Indonesian case

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Savatic, Filip

2016-10-01

Global assessments of consumption and the Indonesian case show the relevance of non-household consumers of subsidized energy products. As shown in this study, understanding in more nuance how reforms affect them has the potential to improve the reforms that will be developed by policy-makers worldwide. Further study can reinforce the many benefits of successful reform for the countries and societies slowly turning away from these policies of the past. Estimates regarding the amount of public funds utilized to subsidize the production or consumption of fossil fuels are staggering. For 2011, they range from $83 billion in OECD member states, to nearly $4.1 trillion worldwide if environmental externalities are considered. Numerous studies have demonstrated that subsidies repress economic growth, undermine energy sector investment, increase public debt, benefit wealthy citizens over the poor, instigate a rise in illicit activities, and engender greater global and local pollution. The negative effects of fossil fuel subsidies have led numerous governments to reform their energy policies. There has also been a growing international consensus in favor of reform. While the components of successful reform programs have been identified through past case studies, the nature of reforms adopted by several governments that target non-households have not been systematically examined. Since the late 1990s, the Indonesian government has implemented numerous reforms of its fossil fuel subsidies, including measures targeting household as well as non-household energy consumption. In doing so, it has incurred significant fiscal savings. However, an innovative budgetary analysis reveals that households receive a minority, and a declining share, of fossil fuel subsidy funds. This is the case despite the fact that subsidies were implemented to ensure poor households have access to cheap energy. These findings demonstrate the need to consider non-household sectors in the design of fossil

A Theory of the Reform of Bureaucratic Institutions

OpenAIRE

Susanto Basu; David Li

2000-01-01

By bureaucratic institutions or bureaucracy, we mean the rules and regulations that are implemented by government agencies. Burdensome bureaucratic institutions are leading obstacles to economic development and therefore the target of economic reform of many countries in today's world. In this paper, we provide a theoretical framework to analyze the reform of bureaucratic institutions. The analysis shows the key to the reform is to properly incentivize the incumbent generation of bureaucrats,...

A Corporate Governance Index : Convergence and Diversity of National Corporate Governance Regulations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Martynova, M.; Renneboog, L.D.R.

2010-01-01

The issue of appropriate corporate governance framework has been a focal point of recent reforms in many countries. This study provides a comprehensive comparative analysis of corporate governance regulatory systems and their evolution over the last 15 years in 30 European countries and the US. It

Governance or Governing – the Missing Link?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luminiţa Maria Crăciun

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Governance and governing are two distinct concepts, but they intertwine. “Good governing” exercises good influence on development. “Good governance” supposes first a relationship of power focused on a series of reforms structured at three levels: the political – administrative level, the economic level, and the level of civil society. As this dimension is difficult to measure, the qualitative evaluation of the governing act raised the interest of the World Bank researchers, who elaborated and monitored the dynamics of a set of indicators, which includes six major dimensions of the governing. A retrospective concerning the image of governing in Romania during the period from 1996 to 2005 suggests a modest increase of the score: from -0.138 (1996 to 0.008 (2002; that was partially achieved based on the voice and responsibility index and on the political stability index, not on those that measure more directly the administrative performance or the integrity of the governing act. For a comparative study, we chose seven countries for the purposes of analysis (two new European Union member states: Romania and Bulgaria; two older member countries of the European Union: Slovenia and Latvia; three non-member states: Moldova, Ukraine, and Georgia, which reveal the quality of the governing from a comparative perspective. Corruption control completes the image created by the analyzed indicators. The mere formal accomplishment of commitments made in the pre-accession activity, doubled by recent internal evolutions, bring doubts about the credibility of the anticorruption reforms, as Romania continues to be considered the country with the highest CPI in the European Union. The pessimism of public opinion and the fact that only 34% of the Romanian people consider that the level of corruption will decrease in the following three years constitutes an alarm signal addressed to the governance, in view of the real reformation of the administration system

A feasible reform for the electricity supply industry in Hong Kong

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ngan, H.W.; Wang, J.H.; Engriwan, W.; Lo, K.L.

2006-01-01

With the current scheme of control regulation for the Hong Kong electricity supply industry expiring in 2008, the Government has sent out a consultation paper seeking views from the general public on its reform and possible future development. This paper investigates the characteristics of the current agreement and the rationale for feasible reform of the Hong Kong ESI. It leads to a discussion on a proposed feasible reform using performance-based regulation approach modeling and the associated implementation issues related to price capping, risk analysis, performance indices, quality monitoring and governance

British Columbia's health reform: "new directions" and accountability.

Science.gov (United States)

Davidson, A R

1999-01-01

The health policy New Directions committed the British Columbia government to a population health perspective and extensive community involvement in the health services reform process. The policy envisaged elected citizen boards with authority to raise revenues and exercise a significant degree of local autonomy. Academic and public attention has been paid to the decision in November 1996 to collapse New Directions' two-tier governance structure into a single level. Less attention has been paid to the profound changes that occurred prior to the government's reversal on the question of governance. This paper focuses on those changes. During the critical three years between the 1993 launch of the reform and its formal revision in 1996, the government's positions on elections, taxation power, local autonomy and scope of action for regional boards all changed. Those changes marked a retreat from political accountability to the community and an advance towards managerial accountability to the government.

Network governance of active employment policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damgaard, Bodil; Torfing, Jacob

2010-01-01

The recent reform of the Danish governance system in the field of active employment policy has been subject to fierce criticism, as many commentators fear that it is the beginning of the end of the Danish Model of active stakeholder involvement. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative data, ......, the tight metagovernance of the LECs does not seem to straightjacket the LECs as there is a considerable scope for local policy making which makes it worthwhile for the social partners to participate in the local networks.......The recent reform of the Danish governance system in the field of active employment policy has been subject to fierce criticism, as many commentators fear that it is the beginning of the end of the Danish Model of active stakeholder involvement. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative data......, this study aims to analyse the impact of the governance reform by assessing the initial experiences with the Local Employment Councils (LECs). The analysis shows that the LECs are relatively well-functioning and contribute to an effective and democratic governance of local employment policy. Furthermore...

Implementing Lean Health Reforms in Saskatchewan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Greg Marchildon

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Saskatchewan has gone further than any other Canadian province in implementing health system process improvements using Lean, a production line discipline that originated with the automobile industry. The goal of the Lean reform is to reduce waste and improve quality and overall health system performance by long-term changes in behaviour. Lean enjoys a privileged position on the provincial government’s agenda because of the policy’s championing by the Deputy Minister of Health and the policy’s fit with the government’s patient-centred care agenda. The implementation of reform depends on a major investment of time in the training and Lean-certification of key leaders and managers in the provincial health system. The Saskatchewan Union of Nurses, the union representing the single largest group of health workers in the province, has agreed to co-operate with the provincial government in implementing Lean-type reforms. Thus far, the government has had limited independent evaluation of Lean while internal evaluations claim some successes.

Putting "The System" into a School Autonomy Reform: The Case of the Independent Public Schools Program

Science.gov (United States)

Gobby, Brad

2016-01-01

The Australian Federal and state governments have been introducing neoliberal reforms to the governance of their education systems for a number of decades. One of the most recent programs of reform is the Western Australian Independent Public Schools (IPS) initiative. Similar to decentralizing reforms around the world, the IPS program seeks…

China's power sector reforms - where to next?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-12-15

With the fastest growing energy demand in the world, China is now the largest electricity consumer after the United States. How can the government best assure affordable and environmentally sustainable electricity supply in the future? The Chinese government has initiated electricity sector reforms to overhaul an antiquated system and attain new energy security and environmental objectives. How China proceeds with these reforms will have lasting consequences, both locally and globally. Assessing the current state of electricity regulation in China, this report draws on experience elsewhere to explore how better to develop and communicate strategy, how to moderate growth in demand through increased efficiency, how to integrate environmental goals into planning and operation, how to ensure sufficient supply when and where it is needed, and how to handle institutional and governance challenges. In this respect, electricity sector reform in other countries offers valuable lessons as to how China might proceed.

Mind the gap: Australian local government reform and councillors’ understandings of their roles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sue Fei Tan

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Over the last two decades a feature of local government reforms globally has been the introduction of New Public Management (NPM.  Under this broad approach to public administration there is an expectation that councillors play a greater strategic role and move away from involvement in day-to-day management.  This research, carried out in the state of Victoria, Australia, examines councillors’ understandings of their roles.  Based on 17 in-depth interviews and two focus groups, we found that despite the evolving legislative requirements framing councillors as policymakers not managers, most councillors continued to seek involvement in the day-to-day management of councils.  We argue that this gap may be linked to the diversity of views concerning the role of the councillor and the idea of representation and how both play out at the local level.  It may also signal a lack of awareness as to how the legislatively inscribed role for councillors has changed over time.

75 FR 63194 - Notice of Proposed Information Collection Comment Request Housing Trust Fund

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-14

... Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008, as amended, established the Housing Trust Fund (HTF... of total new business for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to be allocated as a dedicated source of annual funding for the HTF, unless allocations are suspended by the Director of the Federal Housing Finance...

The keys of the kingdom as paradigm for building up the church in reformed church government

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. le R. du Plooy

1998-06-01

Full Text Available This article adopts an ecclesiological approach and concentrates on the prominent concepts the keys of the kingdom and building up the church. The article attempts to determine the significance those concepts may have for the government of the church and emphasises the close relationship between the keys of the kingdom and the building up of the church. According to Reformational viewpoints the administering of the keys serves the edification of the church. It becomes clear that the notae ecclesiae and the keys of the kingdom function as the basic elements of the church order and must be regarded as the basis or pillars upon which the church is built.

China’s Entrance to the WTO and Financial Reform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ki-Soon Park

2000-09-01

Full Text Available The openness and liberalization of China’s financial market is expected to accelerate with her entrance to the WTO. China plans to carry out liberalization measures, including the expansion of the Renminbi business scope. Openness and liberalization will expedite the integration of internal and external sectors, thereby making the domestic financial market more vulnerable to environmental changes. Consequently, China should establish a strong financial system to efficiently cope with the contagion effects of an external financial crisis. However, China’s financial system is still very weak, mainly due to the enormous bad loans to SOEs (state-owned enterprises. Accordingly, the Chinese government should carry out financial reform measures such as strengthening the financial supervision system, dealing with bad bank loans and restructuring the financial institutions. On the whole, China’s entrance to the WTO is expected to have a positive influence on her financial sector by accelerating such reform policies as financial reform and SOE reform. Entrance to the WTO will make society recognize the necessity of reform and openness. The Chinese government can decide to push some difficult reform policies which would not have been considered without WTO entrance.

REFORMING CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN ETHIOPIA ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

milkii

financial resources on domestic and international capital markets through good corporate governance excited ...... It does not provide for separation of the roles of a chief executive officer (CEO) and board Chairperson;. • Besides, the law does ...

From policy to practice: education reform in Mozambique and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The Mozambican government has introduced reforms of basic education, notably the introduction of interdisciplinarity, learner-centredness and new teaching pedagogies. This is a case study of how these curriculum reforms have been implemented at Marrere Teachers' Training College. We conducted interviews with ...

Reforming the health care system: implications for health care marketers.

Science.gov (United States)

Petrochuk, M A; Javalgi, R G

1996-01-01

Health care reform has become the dominant domestic policy issue in the United States. President Clinton, and the Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have all proposed legislation to reform the system. Regardless of the plan which is ultimately enacted, health care delivery will be radically changed. Health care marketers, given their perspective, have a unique opportunity to ensure their own institutions' success. Organizational, managerial, and marketing strategies can be employed to deal with the changes which will occur. Marketers can utilize personal strategies to remain proactive and successful during an era of health care reform. As outlined in this article, responding to the health care reform changes requires strategic urgency and action. However, the strategies proposed are practical regardless of the version of health care reform legislation which is ultimately enacted.

[Does the healthcare for rare diseases benefit from the legislative reforms?

Science.gov (United States)

Heyder, Ralf

2017-05-01

The founding of the National Action League for People with Rare Diseases (NAMSE) in 2010 represents the creation of a significant political platform. In addition, recent years had seen Germany and the EU adopt specific legislative measures aimed at improving healthcare for people with rare diseases. In this article we will give an overview of the legislative reforms adopted between 2013 and 2016 and evaluate how the specific healthcare situation of people with rare diseases has been improved. This article analyzes the health care legislative reforms adopted during the 18th term (since 2013) of the German lower house, the Bundestag, as well as their self-governing implementation. The analysis also extends to similar political initiatives of the European Commission. The impact of the recent hospital reforms on the health care received by patients or on the work of health care providers in the field of rare diseases cannot be assessed conclusively at this point (January 2017). One positive feature is that the health care coverage mandate of the university hospital outpatient departments now also comprises rare diseases. Recent legislative measures have created possibilities to improve the economic position of centers for rare diseases and university hospital outpatient departments. What these improvements will look like specifically depends on the implementation within the hospital plans of the federal states as well as on the outcome of the remuneration negotiations between university hospitals and health insurance funds.

The Forerunner of the Government Reform of Peter the Great

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikita V. Shevtsov

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract: This article describes the life and work of the distinguished political leader of the 17th century Vasiliy Vasilyevich Golitsyn. He entered the history of our country as a thoughtful reformist and a brilliant diplomat. His transformations created the foundation for the future pivotal reforms by Peter the Great. Being an outstanding analyst and a strategic planner, Golytsin won his combats not on the bloody battlefields but in the course of fights on the diplomatic arena. During the reign of Sophia, when he had received ultimately unlimited power warrant, he mainly fostered all of his efforts to the implementation of the socio-economic changes and the rise of prestige of the Russian State. However, as it often happens with the prominent reformists he became a victim of the in-house political tussle; he placed the wrong bet on Sophia instead of Peter the Great and his court. As a result, he was deprived from his post, lost his estates, and was sent into exile to the north of the country. The author of this article followed the probable route of Golytsin’s exile ramblings and paid special attention to the stay of the disgraced knyaz in Pinezhskiy Volok - currently the settlement of Pinega situated approximately 200 km away from Arkhangelsk on the banks of the Pinega River. The article also offers a detailed description of the Krasnogorskiy Monastery located 15 km away from the settlement. Golitsyn used to visit this monastery regularly and in 1714 was buried there disclaimed by Peter. The tombstone from his grave was preserved and is now stored in the Museum of Regional Studies in Pinega.

Housing sector in emerging countries and international climate policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barbier, C.

2006-01-01

After a first part on the relationship between housing and greenhouse effect in developing countries (assessment of the share of the housing-tertiary sector in CO 2 emissions in the world, housing stock growth and livelihood improvement, trend towards a sustainable city), this report proposes an overview of the Chinese situation in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption in the housing sector, fossil energy production, energy prices, urban demographic dynamics and its impact on the housing stock. It describes the Chinese institutional frame (housing policy reform, energy mastering policy, actors of the housing sector), discusses some perspective aspects of housing energy consumption and CO 2 emissions: energy consumption by 2020, regional approach, usages of electricity, evolution of the housing stock by 2020, potential gains in CO 2 emissions, methodological framework for the assessment of the evolution of housing energy consumptions, simulation tool

Drug pricing reform in China: analysis of piloted approaches and potential impact of the reform

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yixi; Hu, Shanlian; Dong, Peng; Kornfeld, Åsa; Jaros, Patrycja; Yan, Jing; Ma, Fangfang; Toumi, Mondher

2016-01-01

Objectives In 2009, the Chinese government launched a national healthcare reform programme aiming to control healthcare expenditure and increase the quality of care. As part of this programme, a new drug pricing reform was initiated on 1 June 2015. The objective of this study was to describe the changing landscape of drug pricing policy in China and analyse the potential impact of the reform. Methods The authors conducted thorough research on the drug pricing reform using three Chinese databases (CNKI, Wanfang, and Weipu), Chinese health authority websites, relevant press releases, and pharmaceutical blogs and discussion forums. This research was complemented with qualitative research based on targeted interviews with key Chinese opinion leaders representing the authorities’ and prescribers’ perspectives. Results With the current reform, the government has attempted to replace its direct control over the prices of reimbursable drugs with indirect, incentive-driven influence. Although the exact implementation of the reform remains unclear at the moment, the changes introduced so far and the pilot project designs indicate that China is considering adaptation of some form of internal and external reference pricing policies, commonly used in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. Several challenges related to the potential new mechanism were identified: 1) the risk of hospital underfunding, if hospital funding reform is not prioritised; 2) the risk of promoting the use of cheap, low-quality drugs, if a reliable quality control system is not in place and discrepancy between the available drugs is present; 3) the risk of increasing disparity in access to care between poor and rich regions, in case of country-wide price convergence; and 4) the risk of industry underinvestment, resulting in reduced competition, issues with quality and sustainability of supply, and potentially negative social impact. Conclusions Foreign pricing policies

Application of IPSAS Standards to the Vietnamese Government Accounting and Financial Statements

OpenAIRE

LE , TRANG THI NHA

2012-01-01

The Vietnamese government has implemented a reform of public financial management in a realm of government accounting. The current government accounting regime has met requirements of budget management. However, it provides very little information of financial position and performance. Furthermore, in the context of the increasing international integration and requirements of public sector management reform, the Vietnamese government accounting needs to be improved with applying full accrual ...

Institutional determinants of power sector reform in Pakistan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ullah, Kafait; Arentsen, Maarten J.; Lovett, Jon C.

2017-01-01

The electricity supply sector in Pakistan has performed poorly in recent years. Reforms were introduced in the mid-1990s to improve the sector, but progressed slowly with no significant impacts on pre-reform performance. This study uses new institutional economics as a theoretical basis to elucidate reasons for the failure of power sector reforms in Pakistan to make improvements. Interviews with 23 experts using Q-methodology generated 215 statements that were used as a Q concourse. Of these, 51 statements were selected for the Q sample and ranked by 34 respondents depending on their importance. Analysis revealed four important discourses on the determinants of power sector reform failure in Pakistan. These included weak governance structure, country and sectoral endowments, inefficient regulator and unspecified political institutions or unfriendly political contexts. The study recommends establishment of institutions that support a market based power supply sector and improvements to the contractual arrangements between stakeholders to reduce opportunistic behaviour. - Highlights: • This study utilizes New Institutional Approach to study power sector reforms in Pakistan. • Work of Douglass North and Oliver Williamson help create analytical frame. • Q methodology helps overcome data limitations. • Results reveal institutional aspects as important for poor performance of reforms. • Study suggests policy recommendations to improve institutional environment and governance of power sector in Pakistan.

In-Migration and Housing Choice in Ho Chi Minh City: Toward Sustainable Housing Development in Vietnam

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ducksu Seo

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Since the initiation of Vietnam’s Doi Moi policy in 1986, the rate of urbanization has rapidly increased with a great influx of immigrants from rural areas. With such migration becoming a large acceleration factor for urban growth, the shortage of housing has become a critical problem in the cities. The Vietnamese government encouraged self-built housing and public–private partnerships to produce different types of housing stock. There are few available academic studies about housing choice in Vietnam to help understand movement dynamics and to foster sustainable housing development. The purpose of this study is to analyze housing choice and moving determinants in Ho Chi Minh City, and thereby establish recommendations for sustainable housing development in Vietnam. For an empirical study, a citizen questionnaire survey was conducted in HCMC and an in-depth analysis was carried out. The results indicate that the row house type for single-family housing is strongly preferred, but a preference for apartments is also observed for future planning. The factors influencing housing choice and movement are family income, housing ownership, housing typology, and commuting environment. These phenomena suggest that the government should prudently consider affordable housing development in many districts. The results of this study will help to establish policies for sustainable housing development in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The Changing Modes of Administrative Reform in South Korea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chonghee HAN

2017-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we review the past two decades of administrative reform in South Korea and argue that the dominant models and theories in the fi eld, i.e., New Public Management (NPM, post-NPM, and traditional public administration have been in a state of fusion in implementing measures without a coherent reform model. We observe that the reform movements can neither challenge nor undermine the traditional bureaucracy and maintain that they are the result of a complex mix of both environmental events and contextual factors. We specifi cally examine the co ncrete change and development of administrative reform during the Kim Dae Jung (1998- 2003, Roh Moo Hyun (2003-2008, and Lee Myung Bak (2008-2013 administrations in South Korea. Among the cases being considered are the restructuring of government ministries, the executive agency system, and rationalization of public enterprises, as well as such performance management schemes as the evaluation system for government departments and the Open Position System. We conclude that the developmental state and the hierarchical bureaucracy are still salient in South Korea’s inconsistent administrative reform since the 1990s and that it is crucial to design a prudent reform strategy to achieve a more effective public sector.

Investigating Outcomes of T-Government Using a Public Value Management Approach

OpenAIRE

Veenstra , Anne; Janssen , Marijn

2012-01-01

Part 5: Evaluation; International audience; A main objective of transformational government (t-government) is to realize public sector reform. Initiatives of public sector reform, commonly referred to as New Public Management (NPM), often failed to achieve the desired results and led to undesired outcomes. Hence, a new reform approach, referred to as Public Value Management (PVM), emerged to overcome these negative effects and to which the use of information technology (IT) is central. This p...

ANALYSIS ON CONFLICTS OF CHINA’S COAL TAX REFORM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dong Wang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the conflicts which are resulted from coal tax reform in China from economic and public policy perspectives. An analytical framework involving actors, values, interests and institution has been applied. China’s central government eagers to achieve fiscal revenue increase, environmental protection and energy conversation goals by a good governance of coal system. As a traditional and feasible policy instrument, taxation is regarded for dealing with energy issues in politics and governance. However, coal tax reform proposal has induced many controversies in China. The causes of that include value conflicts of all actors, competing interests of all parties and institutional barriers of economic, politics and legislation. Therefore, the government cannot regulate coal issues only through taxation. The case reveals that good governance on coal cannot be achieved only by economic tools as coal system contains so high stake and involves so many players.

Ownership Structure Reform and Bank Performance in Nigeria | Ani ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Nigeria undertook a major bank structure reform between 2004 and 2006. A pivotal plank of that reform was the pegging of government ownership in deposit money banks to 10%. This was informed by the general economic theory that state ownership in commercial undertakings hurts operating performance. This paper ...

The Search for Accountability and Transparency in Plan Colombia: Reforming Judicial Institutions - Again

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Nagle, Luz

2001-01-01

.... Fundamental reforms in Colombia should begin by directly strengthening the moral legitimacy of the government, holistically enhancing socioeconomic development, and meticulously reforming the legal...

Employee Housing: A Time for Reassessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Morrell, Louis R.

1987-01-01

One provision of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 states that when a tenant pays rent that is less than 5 percent of the appraised value of a property, the difference is considered taxable income for the employee. This provision is forcing colleges to reassess their employee housing policies. (MLW)

Wombs for rent: an examination of prohibitory and regulatory approaches to governing preconception arrangements.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Melody

2003-02-01

On October 9, 2002, Bill C-13 had its first reading in the Canadian House of Commons. Bill C-13 was in the same form as Bill C-56 of the First Session of the Thirty-seventh Parliament, which had its first reading on May 9, 2002. Bill C-13, an Act respecting assisted human reproduction, prohibits the practice of commercial surrogacy or preconception agreements in Canada, under threat of criminal sanction. In the first half of the article, the author discusses the deficiencies of the Bill's prohibitory approach to governing surrogacy agreements. These problems include the difficulty of implementing a criminal regime, the weak constitutional basis on which the federal government claims jurisdiction to enact a criminal prohibition of commercial surrogacy and the legislation's inability to prevent exploitation and coercion of vulnerable parties in surrogacy arrangements. In the second half of the article, the author examines an alternative regulatory scheme proposed by the Ontario Law Reform Commission and compares it to the prohibitory approach. The author concludes that the regulatory approach is much more effective than the prohibitory approach in governing the practice of commercial and non-commercial surrogacy arrangements. Regulation minimises the potentially exploitative aspects of surrogacy and provides legal protection to both parties in the agreement. The regulatory scheme proposed by the Ontario Law Reform Commission is also more effective in protecting the best interests of the child born as a result of a preconception agreement.

Democracy on the edge: limits and possibilities in the implementation of an urban reform agenda in Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Rolnik, Raquel

2011-01-01

The 1990s in Brazil were a time of institutional advances in the areas of housing and urban rights following the signing of the new constitution in 1988 that incorporated the principles of the social function of cities and property, recognition of the right to ownership of informal urban squatters and the direct participation of citizens in urban policy decision processes. These propositions are the pillars of the urban reform agenda which, since the creation of the Ministry of Cities by the Lula government, has come under the federal executive branch. This article evaluates the limitations and opportunities involved in implementing this agenda on the basis of two policies proposed by the ministry — the National Cities Council and the campaign for Participatory Master Plans — focusing the analysis on government organization in the area of urban development in its relationship with the political system and the characteristics of Brazilian democracy.

The reform of the italian regionalism and the impact on the government of the energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spagnolo, Marcella

2006-01-01

The actual distribution of powers about energy is more discussed after the reform of the art. 117 of the constitution. In front of a contradiction in terms, the government is been obliged to take some emergency solutions, that are witnessed by the reiterated petition to the urgent decree. It was a question of some measures justified, about the matter, from several points of view but they risked cracking seriously the relation between state and regions. The system of energy has naturally and objectively a national configuration and so people demand how the decentralization politics of the competencies has to be interpreted, that was introduced by the reform of title 5. of the constitution. The art. 117 of the Constitution implies the energy among the subjects of competing law, and let the State to determinate the basic principles, in order to ensure the basic homogeneity of the subject. The limits of such regional power are: 1) the limit of national interest (disappeared from the literal diction of the art. 117, but there are debates above its survival; 2) the basic principles role; 3) the normative settlement and the admissibility of 'accomodating' state detail norms in the subordinate matters to the competing legislative power. Even if in the Constitutional text does not exist any longer national interest just like a 'passe-par tout' to limit and coerce the regional interventions, this does not mean that national interest are disappeared: national interest has one of its substantial variability and only the State can be its interpreter, as only representative of the joint republican interest. The Consulta has recently asserted that if on one hand the Constitution has moved the centre of the legislative power in aid of the districts, on the other has strengthened the role and the importance of the basic principles; at least, it has done it for the subjects of competing law. In fact, someone confirmed that the principles may be deducible without an explicit

The Rhetoric of a Reform: The Construction of "Public", "Management" and the "New" in Norwegian Education Reforms of the 1990s

Science.gov (United States)

Trippestad, Tom Are

2011-01-01

This article presents a critical rhetorical analysis of the governing and reform ideology of the Norwegian school system of the 1990s. It uses Karl Popper's "The Open Society and its Enemies" as a critical resource in the reading of the reforms, and discusses some of the consequences of the regime's models of leadership and public…

Reform in Secondary Education: The Continuing Efforts to Reform Secondary Education, and a Modest Proposal. Curriculum Bulletin Vol. XXXII, No. 340.

Science.gov (United States)

Saylor, Galen

The author begins by examining the functions of the school and the basic principles governing the provision of education in the American democracy as a way of providing a framework for analyzing proposals for the reform of secondary education. He then examines proposals for reform. His major focus is on ten proposals made by agencies,…

Reforming the reform: the Greek National Health System in transition.

Science.gov (United States)

Tountas, Yannis; Karnaki, Panagiota; Pavi, Elpida

2002-10-01

The National Health System (ESY) in Greece, which was established in 1983, is in a state of continuous crisis. This situation is caused mainly by the system's problematic administration, low productivity and inadequate Primary Health Care. These have led the re-elected PASOK government to introduce by the end of 2000 a radical reform of the health system. The 200 reform measures announced by the new Minister of Health and Welfare include changes aiming at: the decentralization of the ESY, the creation of a unified financing system for the social insurance funds, a new management structure in public hospitals, the organization of a Primary Health System in urban areas, and the strengthening of Public Health and Health Promotion. These changes are presented and discussed in this paper.

Health Reform in Mexico City, 2000-2006

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asa Cristina Laurell

2008-07-01

Full Text Available With the goal of fully guaranteeing the constitutional right to health protection, Mexico City’s leftist administration (2000-2006 undertook a reform to provide health services to people without insurance. The reform had four components: free medicine and health services; the introduction of a new service model (MAS; the strengthening, expansion, and improvement of services, and legislation to ensure that the city government become guarantor of this constitutional right. The reform resulted in 95% of eligible families being enrolled in free care; expansion of health care infrastructure with the construction of five new health care centers and a 1/3 increase in the number of public hospital beds in impoverished and disadvantaged areas; increased access to and use of health services particularly by the poor and for expensive interventions; and the legal guarantee of the continuity of this policy. The implementation of this new policy was made possible through an 80% budget increase, improvements in efficiency, and a successful fight against corruption. The health impact of the reform was seen in decline of mortality rates in all age groups between 1997 and 2005 (22% for child mortality, 11% for economically active age groups, and 7.9% for retired age groups and by a 16% decline in AIDS related mortality between 2000 and 2005. This reform contrasts with the health care reform promoted by the right wing Federal government in the rest of the country; the latter was based on voluntary health insurance, cost-sharing by families, access to a limited package of services, and gradual enrollment of the population

57 Culture Consideration in the Design of Government Housing ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Arc. Usman A. Jalam

Although an attempt was made in all the three estates to cater for the value systems of the ... estate developers to consider cultural traits in housing design and development. Key words: ... of human value systems in housing design ... immediate family as well as extended family ... self satisfaction which refer to the physical.

Analytical study on carbon dioxide reforming of natural gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohashi, Hirofumi; Sakaki, Akihiro; Inagaki, Yoshiyuki

2001-01-01

In recent years, considerable attention has been paid to carbon dioxide reforming of natural gas, namely CO 2 reforming, since it can produce synthesis gas with low hydrogen-to-carbon ratio preferentially used for production of liquid hydrocarbons in the Fischer-Tropsch and methanol syntheses. This reaction has also very important environmental implications because CO 2 , a green house gas, may be converted into valuable feedstock. In JAERI, CO 2 reforming using the out-of-pile test facility, which is a 1/30 scale model of the HTTR hydrogen production system, is also being considered as an application of steam reforming. For the purpose to estimate the reformer performance in the facility, numerical analysis of natural gas reforming processes of CO 2 and combined reactions with steam and CO 2 has been carried out using mathematical model on heat and mass balance accompanied by chemical reactions. The reformer performance was evaluated in the effect of pressure, temperature, process gas composition and reaction rate constants of the catalyst on conversion, product gas composition and heat consumption of He gas. And also, the potential of carbon formation by CH 4 cracking reaction and Boudouard reaction was estimated. (author)

Housing, energy and the environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1991-02-01

In 1985 the Association published An Energy Policy for Housing, setting out recommendations for action by local authorities and central Government to tackle the problem of fuel poverty and the improvement of the energy efficiency of the nation's housing. Based on a survey of Association members and discussions with other relevant organisations, the report then concluded that, ''the Government has yet to demonstrate any real commitment to positive investment in an energy efficient housing stock''. Five years later, the Association decided to undertake another survey to establish the extent to which its recommendations have been acted upon and to assess other factors which might have affected the achievement of any energy efficient housing stock. This report is the result of that new survey and it shows that, whilst many more authorities have made progress in developing good practice, much local authority housing is still energy inefficient and many low income households still suffer from fuel poverty. (author).

Aspects of Land Administration in the Context of Good Governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G Pienaar

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Recent international developments have emphasised the importance of good governance in land administration. Good governance practices are inter alia predictable, open and enlightened policy-making; accountable and transparent processes; a professional ethos that combats corruption, bias, nepotism and personal gain; and strict financial control and management of funding. This paper explores aspects of land administration where public funding and interests necessitate the application of good governance practices. The South African land reform programme is divided in three sub-programmes, namely land restitution, land redistribution and tenure reform. Land reform is a vast subject, based on policy, legislation and case law. Therefore it is impossible to deal with good governance principles over the wide spectrum of land reform. Special attention is however given to the land restitution programme in terms of the Restitution of Land Rights Act 22 of 1994 and tenure reform in the rural areas by means of the Communal Land Rights Act 11 of 2004. The purpose is not to formulate a blueprint for good governance or to indicate which good governance principles will solve all or most of the land tenure problems. It is rather an effort to indicate that policies and procedures to improve good governance in some aspects of land reform are urgently needed and should be explored further. The three land tenure programmes have been introduced with some degree of success. Legislation promulgated in terms of these programmes, especially the Restitution of Land Rights Act and the Communal Land Rights Act, is extensive and far-reaching. However, many legislative measures are either impractical due to financial constraints and lack of capacity of the Department of Land Affairs, or are not based on sufficient participation by local communities. Land administration should furthermore be planned and executed in the context of global good governance practices. This includes

57 Culture Consideration in the Design of Government Housing ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Arc. Usman A. Jalam

form of varying material specifications that reflected culture and needs (Sani, 2002). Housing is of course, not an isolated issue, but is inextricably linked to other aspects of daily living, including a general sense of security and well being, and a feeling of independence and control over one's life. Housing is subject to social,.

75 FR 59242 - Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-27

... Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government... Chair of the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. A system of records... (National SMART) Grant Program, the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH...

Tariffs and subsidies in Zimbabwe's reforming electricity industry: steering a utility through turbulent times

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mangwengwende, S.E.

2002-01-01

In 1991, the Government of Zimbabwe adopted a public enterprise reform strategy as part of a World Bank driven Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP). For the electricity sector, the Government adopted a two-pronged programme of reform - a performance improvement programme (PIP) for the national utility, the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), and a legal and regulatory reform programme for the electricity sector in general. Ten years later, significant success has been achieved in improving the utility's performance in technical operations and customer service. However, there has been very little progress on the legal and regulatory front. This has adversely affected the utility's financial performance, as well as frustrating the Government's efforts in attracting private sector investment. The centrality of the tariff question reflects the importance of the customer or end-user to the power sector reform process. This article outlines the power sector reform experiences in Zimbabwe with special focus on the tariff question. The paper suggests, from the perspective of a utility executive, reasons for the mixed results at ZESA, and lessons for other countries in the region undertaking similar reforms. (Author)

Corporate governance and earnings quality : evidence from the Malaysian banking sector

OpenAIRE

Siniah, Thangamany

2017-01-01

This thesis investigates whether corporate governance conformance by Malaysian banks improves their financial reporting quality. It is motivated by the controversies surrounding corporate governance reforms and the calls for systematic research on its efficacy in the post-reform period. Malaysian banks have been subject to international standards of corporate governance since before and after the 1997–1998 Asian Financial Crisis. Malaysia’s common-law tradition, greater level of financial and...

Who defines the need for fishery reform?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, Rikke Becker; Raakjær, Jesper

2014-01-01

-making process as reform according to this ‘grand reform’ discourse was blocked by a combination of small-scale fishers’ informal networks and the power of the parliamentary majority. After a parliamentary shift in power the new government implemented the ‘grand reform’ gradually whilst new patterns...... of participation and exclusion emerged. In this process, the identities of the participating participants were reinterpreted to fit the new patterns of influence and participation. The article argues that fishery reform does not necessarily start with the collective recognition of a problem in marine resource use...... and a power-neutral process of institutional learning. Instead, it argues that fishery reform is likely to be the ‘reform of somebody’ and that this ‘somebody’ is itself a changing identity....

Features Of The Local Government Development In Pre-Revolutionary Russia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lyubov I. Rogacheva

2014-09-01

Full Text Available In the present article historical development of the municipal government institutes in the pre-revolutionary Russia are analyzed. Author emphasizes that in Russia at different stages of the statehood historical development a great experience of various forms and institutes of self-government were developed. History shows that municipal government in Russian conditions cannot develop in full in the conditions of weakening government. Without support of the strong state, municipal government have weak chances, but strong government may also suppress, crush self-government. In the Russian history the balance of public administration and self-government was quite often broken into the favor of the first, what may be explained by political and geographical factors of the country development which caused need of the strong centralized government existence. Reforms in the middle of the XIX century aggravated a question of the municipal government reforming, on the creation of new system instead of imperfect and outdated former structure. Elimination of the serfdom which changed legal status of the considerable part of population in the country caused the need of country estate involvement in the solution of various economic tasks at the municipal level. This task in a certain degree was solved during the reforms of the second half of the XIX century. However model created during this period was not ideal, it suffered from many defects, inherent for the long time by the system of the state and public relations in Russia. At the beginning of the XX century questions of the municipal government reforming were again actively discussed by scientists and public figures, on this subject there were numerous publications. However, revolutionary events made questions of municipal government almost irrelevant for the long time.

The Dutch health insurance law: the accumulation of 30 years of reform thought.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groenewegen, P.P.; Jong, J.D. de; Delnoij, D.M.J.

2006-01-01

Background: The new health insurance law builds on a history of 30 years of reform plans and small steps, eventually leading to the recent reform. Methods: We use policy documents and papers from government, advisory bodies, and independent analysts to describe backgrounds of the reform and actual

The role of law in adaptive governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barbara A. Cosens

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The term "governance" encompasses both governmental and nongovernmental participation in collective choice and action. Law dictates the structure, boundaries, rules, and processes within which governmental action takes place, and in doing so becomes one of the focal points for analysis of barriers to adaptation as the effects of climate change are felt. Adaptive governance must therefore contemplate a level of flexibility and evolution in governmental action beyond that currently found in the heavily administrative governments of many democracies. Nevertheless, over time, law itself has proven highly adaptive in western systems of government, evolving to address and even facilitate the emergence of new social norms (such as the rights of women and minorities or to provide remedies for emerging problems (such as pollution. Thus, there is no question that law can adapt, evolve, and be reformed to make room for adaptive governance. In doing this, not only may barriers be removed, but law may be adjusted to facilitate adaptive governance and to aid in institutionalizing new and emerging approaches to governance. The key is to do so in a way that also enhances legitimacy, accountability, and justice, or else such reforms will never be adopted by democratic societies, or if adopted, will destabilize those societies. By identifying those aspects of the frameworks for adaptive governance reviewed in the introduction to this special feature relevant to the legal system, we present guidelines for evaluating the role of law in environmental governance to identify the ways in which law can be used, adapted, and reformed to facilitate adaptive governance and to do so in a way that enhances the legitimacy of governmental action.

Introducing CSR - The Missing Ingredient in the Land Reform Recipe?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henk J Kloppers

2014-05-01

Full Text Available In reaction to the unequal land ownership brought about by decades of apartheid, the first democratically elected government embarked on an extensive land reform programme - a programme consisting of the three constitutionally protected pillars: restitution, redistribution and tenure reform. The aim of this programme is not only to provide for restitution to persons who lost their land as a result of racially based measures, but also provide previously disadvantaged South Africans with access to land in order to address the unequal land ownership. This research focuses on the restitution and redistribution pillars of the land reform programme. The progress made in terms of both these sub-programmes has been disappointing. With reference to redistribution the government has set the target to redistribute 30% of white owned commercial agricultural land to black persons by 2014. To date, less than 10% of this target has been achieved and all indications are that the overwhelming majority of land which has been redistributed is not being used productively or have fallen into a state of total neglect. The state of the redistributed land can be attributed to a variety of causes, with the main cause being the government's inability to provide proper post-settlement support to land reform beneficiaries. Against this background it is clear that alternative options have to be identified in order to improve the result of land reform. This article identifies corporate social responsibility (CSR as one of the missing ingredients in the recipe for a successful land reform programme. The article introduces CSR and discusses the business case for CSR; identifies its benefits; considers its possible limitations; and examines the major drivers behind the notion. From the discussion of these topics it will become evident that an assumption of social responsibility by businesses in especially the agricultural sector might contribute to an improved land reform

Malaysia : Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC), Corporate Governance Country Assessment

OpenAIRE

World Bank

2005-01-01

This ROSC assessment of corporate governance in Malaysia benchmarks law and practice against the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, and focuses on listed companies. Important corporate governance reforms have been implemented in Malaysia since 1998, when a high-level Finance Committee on Corporate Governance, consisting of both government and industry, was formed to identify and address weaknesses highlighted by the Asian financial crisis. Key reforms have included the development of a ...

Malian Crisis and the Lingering Problem of Good Governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaimie Bleck

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This article draws on an original survey of 892 displaced persons in Bamako and Mopti/Sevare right before the 2013 presidential elections, which ushered Mali back into multi-party democracy. Our data demonstrates their prioritization of good governance reform as an important solution for the Malian crisis. We then leverage public opinion polling between 2014 and 2015 in Bamako to evaluate how far the government has come in good governance reform. We demonstrate Malians’ dissatisfaction with the government’s efforts to reduce corruption as well as concerns about instability in the capital.

Malaysia water services reform: legislative issues

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nabsiah Abdul Wahid

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The latest attempt by the Malaysian government to restructure its water sector has managed to promulgate two important acts, the Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara (SPAN Act (Act 654 and the Water Services Industry Act (WSIA/Act 655; these also complicate the governing of water services and water resources in the country as they affect the sovereignty of a state’s land and water issues. In Malaysia’s federated system of governance, water resources are placed fully within the purview of each State’s government, as stated in the Waters Act 1920 (Revised 1989, while water services are straddled across the purview of both the State and Federal government (Water Supply Enactment 1955. Any reforms will remain problematic unless further analysis is carried out on the available legislation that directly impacts said reform, particularly the Waters Act and Water Supply Enactment. For example, when the Waters Act stipulates “the entire property in and control of all rivers in any State is vested solely in the Ruler of that State”, it is clear that the Federal Government has no authority whatsoever over water resources of any states. The Water Supply Enactment 1955 (adopted by several States further empowers the state’s water supply authorities to supply water to domestic and commercial consumers. Other legislation that has been enacted to govern land and water issues in the country include the Geological Act 1974 on groundwater abstraction and the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (incorporating all amendments up to 1st January 2006 on some aspects of the environmental impact of groundwater abstraction. While these legislations seemed to provide adequate coverage on the governance of groundwater abstraction; treatment, distribution and wastewater management, which form the water supply value chain in the country, are not covered. Similarly, the Sewerage Services Act 1993 covers only wastewater governance issues rather than the whole value chain

The implications of reform-oriented investment for regulation and governance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haigh, Matthew; de Graaf, Frank Jan

2009-01-01

Emergent practices of reform-oriented shareholder engagement are characterised as a professional social movement which gains credibility by influencing the institutional networks imbricating investors. The limitations of structuralist and atomistic tendencies in social movement analysis are resol...

THE APPEARANCE OF GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRACY IN QUANTUM ERA

OpenAIRE

Kadir, Gau

2015-01-01

This study will answer three main questions: 1) how is the reduction of Weber???s theory in the bureaucracy appearance?; 2) How is the model of government bureaucracy in rationalistic and quantum era?; and 3) how is the reality of government bureaucracy reformation model in rationalistic and quantum era? This study was employed empirically by using qualitative method and content analysis techniques with the focus on the bureaucracy reformation as a result of rational thinking application in q...

Energy-efficient housing stimulus that pays for itself

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nevin, Rick

2010-01-01

This paper describes an energy-efficient housing stimulus strategy that can: (1) quickly provide large-scale job creation; (2) reduce home energy bills by 30-50% with associated reductions in emissions and energy assistance spending; (3) stabilize home values and reduce foreclosure inventory; (4) help to eliminate childhood lead poisoning; and (5) implement regulatory reforms that highlight market incentives for cost effective energy efficiency and alternative home energy investments. These benefits, far in excess of costs, can be achieved by combining 'lead-safe window replacement' with other weatherization activities and simple regulatory and market reforms. This strategy can help to coordinate American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for energy efficiency, the $75 billion Making Home Affordable plan to reduce foreclosures, and the recently announced partnership between the Departments of Energy (DOE) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to streamline weatherization efforts and spur job creation. (author)

Governance and Development: Changing EU Policies

OpenAIRE

Hout, Wil

2010-01-01

textabstractAbstract This introductory article to the special issue on European Union, development policies and governance discusses how notions of ('good') governance have come to dominate development discourses and policies since the mid-1990s. The article argues that governance was part of the so-called Post-Washington Consensus, which understands governance reform as part of the creation of market societies. Although academics have commonly emphasised the fact that governance concerns the...

South Africa's universal health coverage reforms in the post-apartheid period.

Science.gov (United States)

van den Heever, Alexander Marius

2016-12-01

In 2011, the South African government published a Green Paper outlining proposals for a single-payer National Health Insurance arrangement as a means to achieve universal health coverage (UHC), followed by a White Paper in 2015. This follows over two decades of health reform proposals and reforms aimed at deepening UHC. The most recent reform departure aims to address pooling and purchasing weaknesses in the health system by internalising both functions within a single scheme. This contrasts with the post-apartheid period from 1994 to 2008 where pooling weaknesses were to be addressed using pooling schemes, in the form of government subsidies and risk-equalisation arrangements, external to the public and private purchasers. This article reviews both reform paths and attempts to reconcile what may appear to be very different approaches. The scale of the more recent set of proposals requires a very long reform path because in the mid-term (the next 25 years) no single scheme will be able to raise sufficient revenue to provide a universal package for the entire population. In the interim, reforms that maintain and improve existing forms of coverage are required. The earlier reform framework (1994-2008) largely addressed this concern while leaving open the final form of the system. Both reform approaches are therefore compatible: the earlier reforms addressed medium- to long-term coverage concerns, while the more recent define the long-term institutional goal. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electricity reform in Argentina: Lessons for developing countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pollitt, Michael

2008-01-01

Argentina was one of the first countries in the world to implement a comprehensive reform of its electricity sector. Among developing countries only Chile has had a comparably comprehensive and successful reform. This paper traces the history of the Argentine reform, which began in 1992, and assesses its progress and its lessons. We conclude that the reform was very successful prior to the collapse of the Argentine peso in early 2002. We suggest lessons for the generation, transmission and distribution (and retailing) sectors, as well as the economic regulation of electricity and the general institutional environment. We note that the achievements of the sector have been severely strained by the government's poor energy policy since the crisis

Codes of Good Governance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beck Jørgensen, Torben; Sørensen, Ditte-Lene

2013-01-01

Good governance is a broad concept used by many international organizations to spell out how states or countries should be governed. Definitions vary, but there is a clear core of common public values, such as transparency, accountability, effectiveness, and the rule of law. It is quite likely......, transparency, neutrality, impartiality, effectiveness, accountability, and legality. The normative context of public administration, as expressed in codes, seems to ignore the New Public Management and Reinventing Government reform movements....

The role of law in adaptive governance

Science.gov (United States)

Cosens, Barbara A.; Craig, Robin K.; Hirsch, Shana Lee; Arnold, Craig Anthony (Tony); Benson, Melinda H.; DeCaro, Daniel A.; Garmestani, Ahjond S.; Gosnell, Hannah; Ruhl, J.B.; Schlager, Edella

2018-01-01

The term “governance” encompasses both governmental and nongovernmental participation in collective choice and action. Law dictates the structure, boundaries, rules, and processes within which governmental action takes place, and in doing so becomes one of the focal points for analysis of barriers to adaptation as the effects of climate change are felt. Adaptive governance must therefore contemplate a level of flexibility and evolution in governmental action beyond that currently found in the heavily administrative governments of many democracies. Nevertheless, over time, law itself has proven highly adaptive in western systems of government, evolving to address and even facilitate the emergence of new social norms (such as the rights of women and minorities) or to provide remedies for emerging problems (such as pollution). Thus, there is no question that law can adapt, evolve, and be reformed to make room for adaptive governance. In doing this, not only may barriers be removed, but law may be adjusted to facilitate adaptive governance and to aid in institutionalizing new and emerging approaches to governance. The key is to do so in a way that also enhances legitimacy, accountability, and justice, or else such reforms will never be adopted by democratic societies, or if adopted, will destabilize those societies. By identifying those aspects of the frameworks for adaptive governance reviewed in the introduction to this special feature relevant to the legal system, we present guidelines for evaluating the role of law in environmental governance to identify the ways in which law can be used, adapted, and reformed to facilitate adaptive governance and to do so in a way that enhances the legitimacy of governmental action. PMID:29780426

Studies on Dutch Housing Corporations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Veenstra, Jacob

2016-01-01

One third of all dwellings in the Netherlands is owned by housing corporations. These are privately governed institutions executing a public task (social housing). Recently, corporations have received negative attention due to various incidents (such as fraud and excessive risk-taking). This put

Beyond Housing First: Essential Elements of a System-Planning Approach to Ending Homelessness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alina Turner

2014-10-01

-serving system will co-ordinate around the Housing First philosophy. In many cases, the entire organizational infrastructure will have to be re-aligned in a way that supports the implementation of a Housing First approach. On the ground, services must be co-ordinated in a way such that clients can be assessed by level of need using standardized methods across all agencies, while reducing duplication of services across agencies. An important part of this is the requirement for an effective and integrated information management, so that different agencies can track what services are — and are not — being provided to each client, to what effect, and how the client’s need level changes over time. Finally, there must be formal systems of performance management and quality assurance to clarify whether systems are operating as they should, and whether goals — most importantly, improving the condition of clients — are being met. There is a great deal of growing support for the Housing First approach in the non-profit sector and government sector alike. This presents an opportunity to make real progress in making wholesale changes to our approaches for ending homelessness, which have been needed for some time. Key to that is leveraging the widespread enthusiasm for Housing First programming into a reform for the entire homeless-serving system. Housing First as a popular catchphrase is not a magic bullet for ending homelessness — but as a philosophical basis for guiding broader change throughout the system, it does have the potential to get us closer to that ultimate goal.

The bishops and housing.

Science.gov (United States)

Shellabarger, Thomas

2005-01-01

According to Catholic social teaching, housing is not a commodity but a human right. To ensure that all people--especially low-income elderly and other vulnerable populations--have access to affordable housing, the church has established a variety of programs, services, and advocacy efforts. Much of this work is based on key concepts: preserving existing housing stock, creating new programs to provide more options for the underserved, empowering residents and communities to deal with housing issues, establishing partnerships to make organizations' efforts more successful, making housing affordable, and ending discrimination in housing. Although church ministries, community groups, the private sector, and other players must work together to find solutions to the housing crisis, federal leadership is essential. Especially with the housing affordability gap growing and the U.S. population aging, the federal government must provide the resources, leadership, and direction for effective housing solutions.

Philippine Corporate Governance : Environment and Policy and their Impact on Performance and Finance

OpenAIRE

Cesar G. Saldaña

2000-01-01

The Asian Development Bank initiated a study of Corporate Governance and Finance in Selected developing Member Countries in November 1998. The objectives of the study for the Philippines are to evaluate the history and current state of corporate governance in the Philippines; establish a sound analytic basis for policy and regulatory reform measures to strengthen corporate governance of Philippine companies and recommend reform measures for the Philippine government and the Bank. It analyzes ...

Hydrogen production from methane reforming: thermodynamic assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Assis, A.J.; Hori, Carla E.; Avila Neto, Cicero; Franco, Tatiana [Federal University of Uberlandia (UFU), MG (Brazil). School of Chemical Engineering]. E-mail: adilsonjassis@gmail.com

2008-07-01

The main contributions of this study are to conduct a comparative thermodynamic analysis of methane reforming reactions and to asses the influence of key operational variables on chemical equilibrium using an in-house code, developed in the open-source software Scilab{sup c} INRIA-ENPC (www.scilab.org). Equilibrium compositions are calculated by two distinct methods: evaluation of equilibrium constants and Lagrange multipliers. Both methods result in systems of non-linear algebraic equations, solved numerically using the Scilab function 'fsolve'. Comparison between experimental and simulated equilibrium data, published in the literature, was used to validate the simulated results. Effects of temperature, pressure, initial H{sub 2}O/CH{sub 4} ratio (steam reforming), initial CH{sub 4}:CO{sub 2}:N{sub 2} ratio (dry reforming) and initial O{sub 2}/CH{sub 4} ratio (partial oxidation) on the reaction products were evaluated. (author)

The Evaluation of Higher Education Expenditure Performance and Investment Mechanism Reform

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, De; Fu, Meiying

2009-01-01

Along with the reform of Chinese Government public finance, higher education belongs to the public product, gradually changes from "fund investment management" to the "expenditure performance management". The evaluation of expenditure performance system becomes the key point of higher education investment mechanism reform. This…

How the economic crisis in Greece affected the steps in applying e-government at the first degree self government of Greece

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dimitrios S. Goulas

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Greece, in the frame of appliance of e-Government, the last years has made significant steps which have changed the way its public services work and especially the local self government, which is represented by municipalities. Many countries, not only in the European Union but also throughout the world, are adopting decentralization reforms in order to empower local communities. In Greece specially, the economic crisis that started from 2009, gave one extra motivation to use decentralization to make local self government more efficient. Decentralization is the process of transferring authority, responsibility and accountability from central to local governments. To accomplish this, Greek government applied the Law 3852 «Kallikratis plan», instituted in 2010, reforming the local self administration and its duties. The purpose of this paper is to present the consequences of this change to the e-government steps that were done before «Kallikratis plan».

Counting the cost of housing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Michiel Ras; Evelien Eggink; Edwin van Gameren; Ingrid Ooms

2006-01-01

Original title: Uitgerekend wonen. The Dutch government exerts a great influence on the housing costs incurred by households. Tenants can apply for housing subsidy, while owner-occupiers can set their mortgage interest against their income tax. These measures have existed for a long time, but

The Dynamics of Centralized Procurement Reform in a Decentralized State : Evidence and Lessons from Indonesia

OpenAIRE

Sacks, Audrey; Rahman, Erman; Turkewitz, Joel; Buehler, Michael; Saleh, Imad

2014-01-01

A central policy of the Government of Indonesia's strategy for enhancing its country's economic and social development is to develop infrastructure and expand service delivery. Public procurement reform is a key component of this policy. Despite the decentralization of financial responsibility and authority to relatively autonomous local level governments, procurement reform in Indonesia i...

Digital governance and institutional change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schlæger, Jesper

2010-01-01

Coal allocation in China is a seminal case of e-government in the political economy. The empirical phenomenon of market supporting e-government has not been systematically analysed. By developing and applying a digital governance model this article examines institutional change in a case of coal...... allocation reform in China. The case shows how the central state used e-government to get rid of planning overload. Coal allocation meetings were abolished in favour of an ecology of online market solutions. The findings suggest that further research on Chinese e-government would benefit from attention...

Nuevos patrones en el gobierno de los colegios (New Patterns of School Governance). ERIC Digest.

Science.gov (United States)

Renchler, Ron

This digest in Spanish explains why public-school governance is receiving increasing scrutiny. It identifies who is held accountable for results in the current governance system and describes recent proposals for transforming governance structures. Since many reforms of the past decade bypassed the school board and district office, reformers are…

[The reform of Spanish abortion law].

Science.gov (United States)

Requero Ibáñez, José Luís

2009-01-01

The article focuses on the different factors and circumstances that have led to the reform of Spanish Abortion Law (1985). Judicial investigations of several abortion clinics have demonstrated that up until today there has been a widespread tendency of the clinics to practice beyond the limits established by the law. Nonetheless, the reaction of the government has not been to protect the life of the unborn. Its reaction has been, however, to cover the irregularities committed by the abortionists through the legalization of their abusive practices. Besides, the reform of the law has been inspired by elements of radical feminism. The author points out the major reasons that make this reform unconstitutional and offers alternative solutions for the protection of the mother and the unborn child.

Public Sector Reforms: New Public Management without Marketization?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Löfgren, Karl; Pedersen, John Storm

2012-01-01

Is it possible to imagine New Public Management without marketization? In Denmark the present liberal-conservative Government has, throughout its 10 years in power, designed and implemented more than 15 major management reforms in the public sector. Although most of the reforms are rhetorically...... firmly rooted in neo-liberal ideologies they have, in practice, promoted tools and mechanisms of the “traditional,” or Old, Public Management. Based on an empirical study of the reforms, we suggest that the notion of “pragmatic” New Public Management is introduced to enhance the current understanding...... of New Public Management in the Western industrialized societies....

From Government to Governance: Teach for India and New Networks of Reform in School Education

Science.gov (United States)

Subramanian, Vidya K.

2018-01-01

The Teach for India (TFI) programme, an important offshoot of the Teach for All/Teach for America global education network, began as a public-private partnership in 2009 in poorly functioning municipal schools in Pune and Mumbai. Like its American counterpart, the programme in India has similar ideas of reform and recruits college graduates and…

Gender Implications of UK Welfare Reform and Government Equality Duties: Evidence from Qualitative Studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fran Bennett

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The UK coalition government is bound by equality duties to have regard to the impact of its policies on various groups, including women. This article investigates how far this legislative commitment is influencing debates about current welfare reforms, especially plans for ‘universal credit’ (a new means-tested benefit. The authors draw on findings from recent studies of within-household distribution from a gender perspective, including their own qualitative research. A major aim of this research was to facilitate more nuanced analysis of the effects of welfare reforms in terms of gender roles and relationships within the household. This article therefore examines how far findings from qualitative studies, in conjunction with the key principles they develop for assessing the gender impact of welfare reforms, can be used to examine ‘universal credit’; and to what extent these influenced the UK government’s proposals and analysis in the light of its commitment to equality duties. Los derechos de igualdad obligan al gobierno de coalición del Reino Unido a tener en cuenta el impacto de sus políticas sobre varios grupos, incluidas las mujeres. En este artículo se investiga hasta qué punto este compromiso legislativo está influyendo en los debates sobre las reformas de bienestar actuales, especialmente los planes de “crédito universal” (un nuevo beneficio de ingreso. Los autores se basan en los resultados de estudios recientes sobre la distribución dentro de los hogares desde una perspectiva de género, incluida su propia investigación cualitativa. Un objetivo principal de esta investigación era el de facilitar un análisis más matizado de los efectos de las reformas de bienestar en términos de roles y relaciones de género dentro del hogar. Por tanto, este artículo examina hasta qué punto los resultados de estudios cualitativos, en relación con los principios fundamentales que se desarrollan para evaluar el impacto de g

Reforming Victoria's primary health and community service sector: rural implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Alford, K

2000-01-01

In 1999 the Victorian primary care and community support system began a process of substantial reform, involving purchasing reforms and a contested selection process between providers in large catchment areas across the State. The Liberal Government's electoral defeat in September 1999 led to a review of these reforms. This paper questions the reforms from a rural perspective. They were based on a generic template that did not consider rural-urban differences in health needs or other differences including socio-economic status, and may have reinforced if not aggravated rural-urban differences in the quality of and access to primary health care in Victoria.

The Little White School House: The Impact of Progressive Reform on the Social and Educational Policy of the United States Indian Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1895-1940.

Science.gov (United States)

Senese, Guy Blaise

Christian (1880-1900) and Progressive (1920-1940) reforms affected the U.S. government's attempt to acculturate and educate American Indians. Religious groups supported the Dawes Allotment Act (1887), which allotted parcels of land, previously tribally held, to individual Indians. This led to de-tribalization, loss of cultural identity, and loss…

China's proposing behavior in Global Governance: the cases of the WTO Doha Round negotiation and G-20 process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongsong Liu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This article examines China's proposals on the reform of global governance, and discusses the main features of China's proposing behavior in the cases of the WTO Doha Round negotiation and G-20 Process. The main findings are: (1 in the critical junctures of global governance reform, China engaged the reform of the global governance institutions proactively, and put forward a series of reform proposals; (2 in proposing behavior, China argued the global governance institutions should be properly adjusted without intention to change the basic principles, refrained from playing a leadership role while proposing jointly with other countries, and upheld the principled idea of pro-development.

Electricity reform in Argentina: Lessons for developing countries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pollitt, Michael [Judge Business School and ESRC Electricity Policy Research Group, University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)

2008-07-15

Argentina was one of the first countries in the world to implement a comprehensive reform of its electricity sector. Among developing countries only Chile has had a comparably comprehensive and successful reform. This paper traces the history of the Argentine reform, which began in 1992, and assesses its progress and its lessons. We conclude that the reform was very successful prior to the collapse of the Argentine peso in early 2002. We suggest lessons for the generation, transmission and distribution (and retailing) sectors, as well as the economic regulation of electricity and the general institutional environment. We note that the achievements of the sector have been severely strained by the government's poor energy policy since the crisis. (author)

Electricity regulation and electricity market reforms in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ngan, H.W.

2010-01-01

The electricity industry of China has been in a process of reforms since the 1980s. This paper gives a review on the three main stages of reforms in China so as to trace out key features of various reform measures including those for power investment financing, the separation between government and power enterprises, and the division between power generation firms and power grids. The findings suggest that further regulatory change in China's electricity market reform is necessary when integration of the electricity markets and increased competition are paving the way ahead for a market-oriented structure. Prospective electricity regulation in the form of a strong legal system and effective institutions that protect market competition and promote appropriate incentives for efficiency are suggested in the paper. (author)

Interest Groups' Influence over Drug Pricing Policy Reform in South Korea

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Woojin

2005-01-01

In 1999, the Korean government made a drug pricing policy reform to improve the efficiency and transparency of the drug distribution system. Yet, its policy formation process was far from being rational. Facing harsh resistance from various interest groups, the government changed its details into something different from what was initially investigated and planned. So far, little evidence supports any improvement in Korea's drug distribution system. Instead, the new drug pricing policy has deteriorated Korea's national health insurance budget, indicating a heavier economic burden for the general public. From Korea's experience, we may draw some lessons for the future development of a better health care system. As a society becomes more pluralistic, the government should come out of authoritarianism and thoroughly prepare in advance for resistance to reform, by making greater efforts to persuade strong interest groups while informing the general public of potential benefits of the reform. Additionally, facing developing civic groups, the government should listen but not rely too much on them at the final stage of the policy formation. Many of the civic groups lack expertise to evaluate the details of policy and tend to act in a somewhat emotional way. PMID:15988802

Interest groups' influence over drug pricing policy reform in South Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Woo Jin; Kim, Han Joong

2005-06-30

In 1999, the Korean government made a drug pricing policy reform to improve the efficiency and transparency of the drug distribution system. Yet, its policy formation process was far from being rational. Facing harsh resistance from various interest groups, the government changed its details into something different from what was initially investigated and planned. So far, little evidence supports any improvement in Korea's drug distribution system. Instead, the new drug pricing policy has deteriorated Korea's national health insurance budget, indicating a heavier economic burden for the general public. From Korea's experience, we may draw some lessons for the future development of a better health care system. As a society becomes more pluralistic, the government should come out of authoritarianism and thoroughly prepare in advance for resistance to reform, by making greater efforts to persuade strong interest groups while informing the general public of potential benefits of the reform. Additionally, facing developing civic groups, the government should listen but not rely too much on them at the final stage of the policy formation. Many of the civic groups lack expertise to evaluate the details of policy and tend to act in a somewhat emotional way.

Thoughts on a comprehensive tax reform

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Li Wanfu

2015-01-01

"The Decision on Several Major Issues Regarding the Deepening of Reform" adopted by the Third Plenum of the Eighteenth Session of the CPC Central Committee gave a new position to the next round of tax reform,and proposed its objectives,tone,mission,and core tasks.The new round of tax reform should cover a wide range of issues,including state governance,tax legislation,economic reform and development,social management,globalization,ecological and environmental protection,improvement of tax collection,as well as other related issues.Particular attention should be paid to replacing business tax with VAT,completing legislation on VAT,adjusting the scope,collection mechanisms,and rates of consumption tax;strengthening regulation and control,implementing a personal income tax system that considers both aggregate income and income by source,promoting real estate tax legislation,expanding the ad valorem natural resource tax,accelerating the gradual replacement of fees with taxes,and introducing legislation on environmental protection taxes.

An Analysis of the Regulatory Environment Governing Hearsay Electronic Evidence in South Africa: Suggestions for Reform – Part One

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lee Swales

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this two-part article is to examine the regulatory environment governing hearsay electronic evidence in South Africa – with a view to providing clear, practical suggestions for regulatory reform in the context of the South African Law Reform Commission's most recent Discussion Paper on electronic evidence. Technology has become an indispensable part of modern life. In particular, the Internet has facilitated new forms of business enterprise, and shifted basic communication norms. From a legal perspective, technology has presented several novel challenges for courts and legal practitioners to deal with – one of these key challenges relates to electronic evidence and in particular the application of the hearsay rules to the digital environment. The South African Law Reform Commission has identified the application of the hearsay rule as one of the core concerns with regard to electronic evidence, and certain academic analysis has revealed inefficiency in the current legal position which may involve multiple sources of law. Moreover, the Law Society of South Africa has stated that there is some confusion amongst members of the profession in relation to hearsay as it applies to electronic evidence. With the pervasive and burgeoning nature of technology, and with the Internet in mind, it is natural to assume that electronic evidence will be relevant in most forms of legal proceedings in future, and hearsay electronic evidence in particular will play an increasingly important role in years to come. Consequently, part one of this article will consider the key definitional concept in relation to electronic evidence – data messages - and examine whether the definition should be revised. In addition, part one of this article will answer two further critical questions posed by the South African Law Reform Commission in relation to data messages and hearsay evidence, namely: should a data message constitute hearsay? And, how should one

The Canadian Government perspective on cost-effective regulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, J.K.; Iwankow, C.

1996-01-01

Fiscal constraint, globalization of markets, and accelerated technological change have resulted in a new focus on the cost-effectiveness of government activities and, in turn, on methods of policy evaluation. An exploration of regulatory problems, and the use of regulation as a public policy instrument, reveals a commonalty of experience in all industrialized countries. This paper provides a brief synopsis of the Government of Canada's perspective on cost-effective regulation. To understand cost-effective regulation, this paper examines the principles of regulatory reform which underlie the current strategy of the federal government (collaborative decision-making mechanisms., methods of clear policy evaluation, and well defined lines of accountability). It discusses the nature of, and rationale for, government regulation, the reasons for regulatory reform in the economy, and the principal aims of Canadian regulatory reform and regulatory policy assessment. It does so by specifically addressing the role of cost-benefit analysis in the process of regulatory assessment - a method which involves systematically identifying, and quantifying where possible, the social benefits and costs associated with alternative public policy actions - with a particular focus on regulation which affects the Canadian nuclear industry. (author). 51 refs

The Canadian Government perspective on cost-effective regulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martin, J K; Iwankow, C [Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Ottawa, ON (Canada)

1997-12-31

Fiscal constraint, globalization of markets, and accelerated technological change have resulted in a new focus on the cost-effectiveness of government activities and, in turn, on methods of policy evaluation. An exploration of regulatory problems, and the use of regulation as a public policy instrument, reveals a commonalty of experience in all industrialized countries. This paper provides a brief synopsis of the Government of Canada`s perspective on cost-effective regulation. To understand cost-effective regulation, this paper examines the principles of regulatory reform which underlie the current strategy of the federal government (collaborative decision-making mechanisms., methods of clear policy evaluation, and well defined lines of accountability). It discusses the nature of, and rationale for, government regulation, the reasons for regulatory reform in the economy, and the principal aims of Canadian regulatory reform and regulatory policy assessment. It does so by specifically addressing the role of cost-benefit analysis in the process of regulatory assessment - a method which involves systematically identifying, and quantifying where possible, the social benefits and costs associated with alternative public policy actions - with a particular focus on regulation which affects the Canadian nuclear industry. (author). 51 refs.

School Reform Unplugged: The Bensenville New American School Project, 1991-93.

Science.gov (United States)

Mirel, Jeffrey

1994-01-01

This examination of the New American Schools Development Corporation initiative in Bensenville (Illinois) details the controversy over the reform effort and argues that factors such as school governance, local control, and school finance played major roles in determining program outcomes. The importance of political influences in reform efforts is…

The impact of social housing on the labour market status of the disabled.

Science.gov (United States)

Gregoir, Stéphane; Maury, Tristan-Pierre

2013-09-01

Disability may impact on employment through entitlement to social housing. Estimates of an original dynamic panel data model of disability, labour market and housing tenure transitions in England indicate that up to one-quarter of the lower employment probability of the disabled can be attributed to the effect of qualifying for social housing. Short-lived disabilities can result in long spells in social housing that reduce incentives to participate in the labour market. This suggests that authorities should reform the welfare system and the allocation of social housing to limit the persistent and unfavourable consequences of allocating social housing to the disabled. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Obesity and health system reform: private vs. public responsibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Y Tony; Nichols, Len M

2011-01-01

Obesity is a particularly vexing public health challenge, since it not only underlies much disease and health spending but also largely stems from repeated personal behavioral choices. The newly enacted comprehensive health reform law contains a number of provisions to address obesity. For example, insurance companies are required to provide coverage for preventive-health services, which include obesity screening and nutritional counseling. In addition, employers will soon be able to offer premium discounts to workers who participate in wellness programs that emphasize behavioral choices. These policies presume that government intervention to reduce obesity is necessary and justified. Some people, however, argue that individuals have a compelling interest to pursue their own health and happiness as they see fit, and therefore any government intervention in these areas is an unwarranted intrusion into privacy and one's freedom to eat, drink, and exercise as much or as little as one wants. This paper clarifies the overlapping individual, employer, and social interest in each person's health generally to avoid obesity and its myriad costs in particular. The paper also explores recent evidence on the impact of government interventions on obesity through case studies on food labeling and employer-based anti-obesity interventions. Our analysis suggests a positive role for government intervention to reduce and prevent obesity. At the same time, we discuss criteria that can be used to draw lines between government, employer, and individual responsibility for health, and to derive principles that should guide and limit government interventions on obesity as health reform's various elements (e.g., exchanges, insurance market reforms) are implemented in the coming years. © 2011 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

Distinctions, Affiliations, and Professional Knowledge in Financial Reform Commissions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Seabrooke, Leonard; Tsingou, Eleni

the different stresses in reports with and without clear mandates, and the role of important members of the policy community in promoting particular reform ideas. The article finds that differences in ideas emerging from the financial reform expert groups reflect nested power relationships in the commissioning...... the reports. Fractal distinctions, such as between ‘behavior’ or ‘system’ as a reform focus, allow us to locate the object of regulation within expert groups, experts’ professional context, and the politics behind the commissioning of work. Analyzing fractal distinctions provides a useful way to understand...... of work, constituent audiences, and reform priorities among governing institutions, rather than distinct ‘European’ and ‘American’ ideas....

Representation through Privatisation: Regionalisation of Forest Governance in Tambacounda, Senegal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melis Ece

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Government officials, development agents and scholars showcase Senegal's 1996 regionalization reforms as a step towards the deepening of decentralisation. Yet this article shows that the reforms narrowed down local democracy via neoliberal processes. The reforms defined the regional councils as development intermediaries, to serve as a space for the negotiation of public-private partnership contracts between local governments and business interests. Focusing on Tambacounda Region of Senegal, the article analyses the effects of the reforms on forest governance at regional and rural-community scales. First, using two project case studies, it illustrates the use of forest management plans and project-based environmental committees in enabling privatisation of rural community forest governance at the expense of democratic processes. Second, it examines how the intermediary role of the regional council compromised its ability to represent the substantive interests of base-level rural communities and helped instrumentalise the council to promote different privatisation alternatives offered by 'community-based' projects. This role was facilitated by a public-private development agency of the council. The discursive analysis of a regional council meeting illustrates that rather than offering a deliberative and participatory forum, council meetings were used to make representation claims about the 'local people' and to push a market-based neoliberal rationality.

Water Policy Reforms in South Korea: A Historical Review and Ongoing Challenges for Sustainable Water Governance and Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ik-Chang Choi

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This study aims to provide an opinion on the state-of-the-art of changes and reforms of water policies in South Korea, as well as the challenges along with their implications for sustainable water governance and management. In parallel with change in water resource characteristics generated by physical, environmental and socio-economic challenges such as: (1 uncertainties about climate change (flooding and drought including seasonal and regional variation in precipitation; (2 significant increase in water use caused by rapid urbanization and population growth in industrialized urban areas; (3 inadequate water pricing mechanism which covers only around 80% of the production cost and makes it harder to maintain water systems; and (4 recursive water quality degradation and conflicts over water rights between regions resulting from non-point source pollution in highland versus lowland areas, Korean water policies have been developed through diverse reforms over 100 years. Nevertheless, new challenges for sustainable water management are continuously emerging. To meet those challenges we provide two ideas: (i provider-gets-principle (payment for ecosystem services of cost-benefit sharing among stakeholders who benefit from water use; and (ii water pricing applying full-cost pricing-principle internalizing environmental externalities caused by the intensive water use. Funds secured from the application of those methods would facilitate: (1 support for upstream (rural low income householders suffering from economic restrictions; (2 improvement in water facilities; and (3 efficient water use and demand management in South Korea’s water sectors. We expect that this paper can examine the lessons relevant to challenges that South Korea faces and offer some implications on the formulation of new integration and further reforms of the institutions, laws and organizations responsible for managing water resources in South Korea.

Letter to Congressional Leaders on Top Defense Management Challenges

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

2000-01-01

This is in reply to the joint letter of October 12, 2000, from the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on the Budget and Committee on Governmental Affairs, the House Government Reform Committee, House...

The Philosophy of University Housing

Science.gov (United States)

Wallace, James A.

2012-01-01

This article examines a stated philosophy of university housing and the philosophy's effect on the facilitation of the personal and intellectual growth of students residing in the residence halls and the development of a sense of community. This particular philosophy governs the housing operations at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.…

The uncertain reform to the Chilean pension system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivan Obando Camino

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract: This paper describes the attempts to introduce some solidary features into the private pension system and the reform strategy followed thereof by left-wing governments in Chile since 2008. The negative impact on retirees of a private pension system driven by financial markets and profit-oriented actors has led to a continuing questioning of this system by experts and the population. The strong veto powers that major industry actors hold in the policy process determined that those governments adopted an institutional reform strategy based on layering. This paper surmises that this strategy may a have an impact on the pension system in the long-term by steering it gradually towards a public pension system. Keywords: Social security. Pension system. Solidarity system

Teacher Reform in Indonesia: Can Offshore Programs Create Lasting Pedagogical Shift?

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, William; Hyde, Mervyn; Whannel, Robert; O'Neill, Maureen

2018-01-01

Regional and national interest in reforming teaching in Indonesia has seen governments, NGOs and education specialists combine to drive pedagogical changes among school teachers there. Results of these programs have been indifferent at best. This paper reports on teacher reform programs in Provinsi Papua, one of the most marginal societies in…

Have Recent Financial Reforms Improved Financial Accountability in the Australian Commonwealth Public Sector?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Graham Bowrey

2007-09-01

Full Text Available Since the early 1990s the Australian Commonwealth public sector has undergone significant financialreforms, due primarily to the current federal Liberal government’s drive to improve the financialaccountability of the Commonwealth Government. These reforms include the adoption of accrualaccounting and budgeting and the development and implementation of an outcomes and outputs framework.These reforms culminated in the first full federal budget to be developed on an accrual basis in 1999 – 2000.This paper will examine the implementation of these reforms and the associated processes to determinewhether or not the Commonwealth government is more financially transparent and better able to dischargeits financial accountability. It is argued the complexity of the processes associated with, and the reportingrequirements of these reforms may have actually decreased the level of accountability to the key party towhom accountability is due — the Australian public.

Prospects for tax reform in China following the 18th CPC National Congress

OpenAIRE

Yang, Zhiyong

2015-01-01

After the 18th National Congress, the Chinese government should speed up tax reform and tax reduction. Tax structure should switch to direct tax. Consumption tax reform of lower tax burden could start within a short time. Replacing business tax by value-added tax should be quickly completed. Personal income tax reform should move toward comprehension. Uneven resource distribution should be taken into consideration in resource tax reform. Property tax should be included in the local financing ...

Land Governance, Gender Equality and Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ravnborg, Helle Munk; Spichiger, Rachel; Broegaard, Rikke Brandt

2016-01-01

pursued in these reforms and examines the role played by donor cooperation. Despite significant progress in developing land legislation that upholds gender equality, implementation often does not follow suit, and women still face discrimination. Based on country case studies, the article identifies six......Most land governance reforms seek to enhance tenure security, encourage investments and thereby promote economic growth. Increasingly, land reforms attempt to secure women's and other vulnerable groups' access to land. This article reviews the extent to which gender equality in land tenure has been...... challenges, which should be addressed to achieve gender equality in land tenure....

Challenges in developing e-government for good governance in North Sumatra

Science.gov (United States)

Siahaan, AY

2017-01-01

E-government as one form of public administration reform in Indonesia is increasingly related to the pursuance of good governance. This paper examines the relationship between of e-government and good governance by utilizing the case study design on the implementation of e-procurement in North Sumatra. It reveals centrality of local politics and business culture in understanding resistances of both local government officials and local business which creates loopholes’ for the practice of ‘bad governance’ in all phases of e-procurement in North Sumatra province. Data transparency does not equate and guarantee the realization of good governance. Public knowledge and understanding on government decision making processes and accountability (process and policy transparency) are central to achieve good governance through e-procurement. E-procurement system does not automatically change organizational and working culture of the implementers and suppliers. This paper provides insight to the attitude and the perception of private sector engage in e-procurement towards government in implementing e-government. Resistance, digital divide and local politics interrelatedly obstruct the realization of pursuing good governance through e-procurement.

The executive and legislative branches and trade unions in the Argentine social security reform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sidney Jard da Silva

2007-01-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes the interaction between organized labor and government during reform of the pension system in Argentina. The purpose is to investigate the political and institutional conditions favorable to the inclusion of trade unions in a negotiated pension reform process. The Argentine pattern of union-government interaction was shown to be shaped more by the peculiarities of the decision-making process than by the demands and power of union organizations.

The search for viable local government system in Nigeria: an ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The history of the Nigerian local government system has been one long episode of trails and errors aimed at achieving viable local government institution without much success. Local government in the country began its long series of reforms from the colonial period when the colonial government attempted to ...

Women's housing conditions in Bangladesh.

Science.gov (United States)

Shefali, M K

1996-01-01

This news article describes women's housing conditions, housing policy, and pilot programs to house poor women in Bangladesh. Although Bangladesh has a constitution that reinforces the equal status of women, in practice, men dominate and patrilineal customs determine inheritance and property rights. Religious affiliation also determines land tenure and inheritance. Muslim women can inherit 12.5% of their husband's property if there are children. 25% is inherited if wives are without children. Hindu women without sons can inherit their husband's property, but not parental property. Many families refuse to release property to women without a fight. Women, regardless of ownership of land, rarely control or use their land. The custom of requiring men to maintain wives during the marriage, and daughters until marriage, creates obstacles to women's decision making about property. Without collateral and other security women are unable to secure bank loans. Many women are also constrained by the requirement of male consent or guarantees for bank transactions. Banks do not have a gender responsive criteria for selecting loan recipients. The government does not provide sufficient housing to satisfy the growing housing needs due to population growth. Some housing is available from slum landlords. A National Housing Policy was formulated in 1993. Priority would be given to the housing needs of low income women in urban areas and women-headed households with income below the poverty line. The policy does not address the underlying factors that prevent equal access to housing for women. The government prepared a Human Settlement and Urban Development proposal for the Habitat II conference. The plan did not address gender issues. Special efforts are being made by nongovernmental groups to meet the housing needs of professional women and for some disadvantaged women.

Friendly vertical housing: case of walk-up flat housing development in Yogyakarta

Science.gov (United States)

Fosterharoldas Swasto, Deva

2018-03-01

In Yogyakarta Province, the local government have developed walk-up flats housing for more than ten years since the mid of the 2000s. Yogyakarta City and Sleman Regency was pioneering the construction with some blocks of flats in several locations. However, after this period, there is limited evaluation about the effectiveness of the occupancy. One of the issues is related to the sustainable housing development. Concerning this situation, it is proposed to examine how the development of walk-up flats housing in Yogyakarta City and Sleman Regency can be evaluated based on specific housing indicator, as a part of sustainable housing development concept. This paper would like to explore the phenomenon on how ‘friendly’ the flats is. The researcher will qualitatively asses variables from the walk-up flat cases in Yogyakarta City and Sleman Regency. The results suggested that the physical quality of the vertical housing situation could be enhanced to meet residents’ satisfaction.

Mismanagement and reform failures in Nigeria: historical perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John N. N. Ugoani

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The Nigerian economy started experiencing economic recession from 1981 which was characterized by low capacity utilization, incomes, and consumption patterns. Public enterprises were operating at the lowest ebb. Government discovered that, without any exception, such enterprises were infested with problems of confused and conflicting missions; political interference in operating decisions; abuse of monopoly powers; defective capital structures; bureaucratic redtapism in their relations with supervisory agencies; mismanagement; nepotism and corruption. Consequently, reform failures and entrenched bureaucratic corruption have created systemic poverty amidst robust economic growth in Nigeria; a situation that supports the phenomenon of poor people in a rich country. Nigeria at present is ranked among the poorest nations in the world and also has one of the highest unemployment rates. It is estimated that more than one in every five adults in Nigeria is either unemployed or underemployed with about 67 million youths unemployed which is not unrelated to the effects of mismanagement and reform failures. The exploratory research design was used in the study. Qualitative data provided empirical evidence that most past reform programmes in Nigeria did not achieve the objectives for which they were established. With a Negative – Positive Ratio of 7:2 based on the study, it was found that government reform policies have not made the desired positive impact on socio-economic development in Nigeria.

Reform Implementation and Educational Management in Vocational Colleges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Friche, Nanna; Slottved, Mette

In 2014, a new reform of the VET system in Denmark was decided by a broad political coalition in the Parliament. This reform implies fundamental changes in VET, for example by changing the course structure and design, by an intended boost of teaching quality, by limited access, and a separation...... and targets reflects governance principles of performance management. Performance management is an idea that is growing in popularity, in Europa and abroad. In Denmark, the VET reform represents an example of how management philosophy and ideas of performance management inform a number of current reforms...... in the policy area of education. The logic of performance management is that organizations and individuals are given objectives, measurable indicators are derived from these objectives, and features such as authority or incentives are deployed in order for organizational actors to meet or improve performance...

Labor tax reform, unemployment, and search

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heijdra, Ben J.; Ligthart, Jenny E.

A key obstacle to reducing payroll taxes in many industrialized and transition countries is the direct revenue loss to the government that it implies. This paper studies a simple and practical labor tax reform of reducing a payroll tax and increasing a progressive wage tax that keeps the marginal

Comprehensive District Reform: Philadelphia's Grand Experiment.

Science.gov (United States)

Useem, Elizabeth; Balfanz, Robert

2002-01-01

This report describes "Philadelphia's Grand Experiment" in comprehensive school district reform, from its conception through its initial months of implementation. In 2001, as part of the remedy for low student performance, the governor ordered the state to take over governance of the Philadelphia School District, with a substantial…

Distinctions, Affiliations, and Professional Knowledge in Financial Reform Expert Groups

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Seabrooke, Leonard; Tsingou, Eleni

2014-01-01

to understand the different stresses in reports with and without clear mandates, and the role of important members of the policy community in promoting particular reform ideas. The contribution finds that differences in ideas emerging from the financial reform expert groups reflect nested power relationships...... the reports. Fractal distinctions, such as between ‘behaviour’ or ‘system’ as a reform focus, allow us to locate the object of regulation within expert groups, the experts' professional context and the politics behind the commissioning of work. Analysing fractal distinctions provides a useful way...... in the commissioning of work, constituent audiences and reform priorities among governing institutions, rather than distinct ‘European’ and ‘American’ ideas....

Leadership Development in Social Housing: A Research Agenda

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, Carolyn; Blenkinsopp, John; McCauley-Smith, Catherine

2010-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a research agenda to underpin leadership development activity in the social housing sector, in the light of an identified need for effective leadership in this sector owing to the continual reform and changes it faces. Design/methodology/approach: A literature review is conducted by searching a…

The Spanish reforms on domestic work regulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Desdentado Daroca

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses the latest Spanish reforms regarding domestic work. The Spanish legislator, doubtlessly influenced by the ILO Domestic Work Convention nº 189 – which, however, was not later ratified in Spain- made a deep reform on domestic work in 2011. This legal reform implied a striking change that affected both working conditions and social security of employees in the family home. The aim of this reform has been to bring the regulation in domestic work closer to the general regulation for other workers, although maintaining certain specialties. Regarding working conditions, their setting as “particular employment relationship” has been held. However, the differences between this relationship and the common ones have been reduced. As for social security, domestic employees have been incorporated into the General Social Security System, but with important specialties, thus erasing the Special Domestic Employees System. The paper also examines the legal changes that have taken place in this field after the new Government arose.

Leveraging non-binding instruments for global health governance: reflections from the Global AIDS Reporting Mechanism for WHO reform.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, A L; Alfven, T; Hougendobler, D; Tanaka, S; Buse, K

2014-02-01

As countries contend with an increasingly complex global environment with direct implications for population health, the international community is seeking novel mechanisms to incentivize coordinated national and international action towards shared health goals. Binding legal instruments have garnered increasing attention since the World Health Organization adopted its first convention in 2003. This paper seeks to expand the discourse on future global health lawmaking by exploring the potential value of non-binding instruments in global health governance, drawing on the case of the 2001 United Nations General Assembly Special Session Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. In other realms of international concern ranging from the environment to human rights to arms control, non-binding instruments are increasingly used as effective instruments of international cooperation. The experience of the Global AIDS Reporting Mechanism, established pursuant to the Declaration, evidences that, at times, non-binding legal instruments can offer benefits over slower, more rigid binding legal approaches to governance. The global AIDS response has demonstrated that the use of a non-binding instrument can be remarkably effective in galvanizing increasingly deep commitments, action, reporting compliance and ultimately accountability for results. Based on this case, the authors argued that non-binding instruments deserve serious consideration by the international community for the future of global health governance, including in the context of WHO reform. Copyright © 2013 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Metagoverning Collaborative Innovation in Governance Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Eva; Torfing, Jacob

2017-01-01

, the current wave of New Public Governance reforms perceives collaboration between relevant and affected actors from the public and private sector as the primary vehicle of public innovation, and tends to see governance networks as potential arenas for collaborative innovation. The new focus on collaborative...... innovation in networks poses a fundamental challenge for public managers, elected politicians, and others aiming to metagovern governance networks. Hence, we claim that a specific metagovernance strategy is needed when the purpose of governance networks is to stimulate efficiency, effectiveness...

The reform of the Italian Yachting Code

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alberto Pasino

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to address the legislative reform of the recreational boating legislation currently pending in Italy (Law 167/2015, which has delegated the power to reform the Yachting Code to the Italian Government with a specific focus on the relationship between the Yachting Code and the Navigation Code. The issue will be addressed through an analysis of the history of the relationship between the rules governing recreational boating and the general navigation legislation in Italy. Starting with an analysis of the first few rules of the Navigation Code devoted to recreational boating, which had been regulated together with the forms of operation of the ship for economic purposes, the discussion will then review the contents of Law 50/1971 (s.c. ‘’piccolo codice della nautica da diporto’’, which led to the first division between recreational boating and general navigation legislation. Law 172/2003 – a piece of legislation which was intended to reorganize and boost recreational boating and nautical tourism – will also be mentioned, considering the legislator’s attempt to make the rules governing recreational boating fully autonomous from the general maritime legislation. Law 171/2005 (s.c. ‘’codice della nautica da diporto’’ will then be briefly reviewed, with particular emphasis on the legislator’s choice to recognize that recreational boating rules have a special nature in relation to general navigation legislation, but are not fully autonomous from it. The paper will finally focus on the choice made by the legislator through Law 167/2015 – an act which delegates the Government to reform the Yacting Code – which confirms the approach chosen by the ‘’codice della nautica da diporto’’, and on the consequences of such choice on legal institutions such as the shipowner’s limitation of liability.

Encapsulating the delivery of affordable housing: An overview of Malaysian practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jamaluddin Nor Baizura

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Urban population increases much faster than other geographical areas and this brings huge challenges to Malaysian government especially those responsible for the provision of housing. Moreover, the rise of living cost and pressure towards the current economic situation had inevitably led to huge demands for affordable housing. Thus, affordability and inaccessibility of people in owning a house has become one of the major issues in Malaysia. These issues are not only faced by the low-income group but mostly experienced by urban dwellers including the middle-income group whom are not eligible to apply for low-cost housing delivered by the government, yet cannot afford to buy a house. Hence, the Malaysian government had therefore established the Perumahan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (PR1MA as the catalyst in providing adequate, quality and affordable houses. Furthermore, the Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB and the state governments also play their big role in providing affordable house at the state level. In trying to ensure smooth delivery of affordable housing, a systematic approach is required. This paper intends to examine the delivery of affordable housing in Malaysia. The objective was to assess the parties involved, and the various stages of the process. The methodology adopted for this study includes in-depth interviews with affordable housing agencies. Investigation showed that the major problem relates to a mismatch in the delivery of affordable housing. Moreover, the political and economic aspects, as well as the organization situation had also influenced the inefficiency of affordable housing delivery system. Additionally, the significant of this paper is expected to formulate an improved strategy and guidance in delivery system, thus ensuring that the method of practice is applicable throughout the country.

Jails and Local Justice System Reform: Overview and Recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

Copp, Jennifer E.; Bales, William D.

2018-01-01

Over the past three decades, the number of people housed in local jails has more than tripled. Yet when it comes to reforming the nation's incarceration policies, write Jennifer Copp and William Bales, researchers, policymakers, and the public alike have focused almost exclusively on state and federal prisons. If you took a snapshot on a single…

Digging deeper : Public housing in Ghana managed by local authorities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aziabah Akanvose, A.B.; Gruis, V.H.; Elsinga, M.; Van der Flier, C.L.

2015-01-01

In the 1980s, the government of Ghana decided to withdraw from direct housing provision. In lieu of this, the two main institutions through which government provided and managed public housing – the TDC and SHC sold off most of their dwellings. The few remaining dwellings were transferred to local

Reducing Health Services for Refugees Through Reforms to the Interim Federal Health Program

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew C. Stevenson

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Since 1957 the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP has provided temporary health care coverage to refugees and refugee claimants, but in 2012 the Conservative government reformed the IFHP, reducing, or eliminating access to health services for these groups. The government framed the changes around fairness and safety, stating that it would save tax payers $100 million over five years, reduce incentive for migrants with unfounded refugee claims from coming to Canada, protect public health and safety, and defend the integrity of the immigration system. With a Conservative majority, the reform was easily implemented despite a lack of evidence supporting these claims. In 2014, the Federal Court rejected the government's notion of fairness and safety, ruling that the cuts were cruel and unusual treatment of an already vulnerable population. The government appealed this ruling but, in 2016, the Liberals took power and restored funding to the IFHP to pre-2012 levels. Ad hoc evaluations predicted inequitable and adverse impacts on refugees, negative impacts on health, and increased costs to refugees, provincial governments, and health providers. Overall the threats and weaknesses of this reform clearly outweighed the few and unconvincing opportunities and strengths of the program, leading to its demise.

Fuel cell generator with fuel electrodes that control on-cell fuel reformation

Science.gov (United States)

Ruka, Roswell J [Pittsburgh, PA; Basel, Richard A [Pittsburgh, PA; Zhang, Gong [Murrysville, PA

2011-10-25

A fuel cell for a fuel cell generator including a housing including a gas flow path for receiving a fuel from a fuel source and directing the fuel across the fuel cell. The fuel cell includes an elongate member including opposing first and second ends and defining an interior cathode portion and an exterior anode portion. The interior cathode portion includes an electrode in contact with an oxidant flow path. The exterior anode portion includes an electrode in contact with the fuel in the gas flow path. The anode portion includes a catalyst material for effecting fuel reformation along the fuel cell between the opposing ends. A fuel reformation control layer is applied over the catalyst material for reducing a rate of fuel reformation on the fuel cell. The control layer effects a variable reformation rate along the length of the fuel cell.

Kazakhstan's Pension System: Pressures for Change and Dramatic Reforms

OpenAIRE

Seitenova, Ai-Gul S.; Becker, Charles M.

2003-01-01

Five years ago, Kazakhstan embarked on a dramatic reform of its pension and social security system in order to move from an unsustainable public defined benefit ("solidarity") system to one of defined mandatory contributions (accumulative system). While assessment of long-run success is premature, early results have exceeded expectations. This paper considers the reform's rationale and initial impact: Why did the Government of Kazakhstan decide to introduce a new pension system? What advantag...

Exploring Factors Affecting Implementation of Public Private Partnership Housing Projects in Bauchi State, Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammed Sani

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Public Private Partnership (PPP Housing scheme in Nigeria is intended to complement government effort toward increasing housing stock and providing affordable housing in the country. However, Bauchi state government adopted the construction of 5,000 phases PPP Housing. But 6 years after the commencement of the scheme, only a few numbers of housing units were completed and commissioned. Therefore, it becomes imperative to carry out research on the impact level of those factors affecting the implementation of the scheme. The aim of the study is to investigate impact level of factors affecting the implementation of PPP housing projects in Bauchi state with a view to find out possible ways that will improve the implementation of the scheme. The descriptive and explorative research design was adopted for this study. 54 structured Questionnaires were administered to construction professional’s staff under private housing developers and relevant government agencies in Bauchi state. 42 valid Questionnaires were retrieved and analysed with SPSS software. The result of the quantitative data analysis shows that creation of favourable investment environment and government support have very high Impact on the implementation of Bauchi PPP housing projects. Therefore, this study recommends that government and other stakeholders should give more attention to the creation of favourable investment environment, support in policy formulation and managerial strategies in the future for improving the implementation of PPP housing projects.

Towards a Theory of the Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy

OpenAIRE

Adrian Kay

2000-01-01

This paper sets up two competing frameworks to assess the evidence of the CAP reforms of the 1980s and 1990s. The two frameworks differ in the degree of prominence given to interest groups in affecting CAP decisions. The paper concludes that the most important mechanism behind CAP reforms is the interaction of EU institutions and member state governments. Interest groups, at national or EU-level, have limited influence on the reform process. The paper does not claim to have developed a new th...

Quality reform and "the learning pre-school child" in the making

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krejsler, John B.

2012-01-01

The article argues that Early Childhood Education & Care (ECEC) is being redesigned based on quality reform discourse with references to global knowledge economy across Nordic countries and the EU. This takes place in policy processes that extend from transnational agents like the OECD and EU...... to national governments, local municipalities and ECEC institutions. Drawing on theoretical insights from Foucauldian genealogy, Laclau and others, the article explores how these policy processes reconfigure what counts as quality in ECEC in a Danish context. It is substantiated how the Danish government...... promotes governance structures among municipalities and professionals that pull ECEC into comprehensive educational strategies. This process draws on policy advice from the OECD and EU. Quality reform thus changes in fundamental ways the organisation and content in ECEC. In discourse, learning displaces...

What the utilities need of government. What the government needs of industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1982-01-01

A transcription of a panel discussion at the 1982 Nuclear Commerce Conference was presented. Particular interest was given to a discussion of the standardization of nuclear power plant design. Topics also discussed included reform of licensing legislation, promotion of nuclear energy by government agencies, and international nuclear power projects

Indonesian Housing Policy and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saddam Rassanjani

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The main objective of the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs in Indonesia is to bring accelerated development in all aspects so that the poverty rate is expected to decrease even disappear. One of the programs that aimed to reduce poverty rates in Indonesia is the provision of housing for the community, especially the underprivileged. Moreover, it is a the million houses program that proclaimed by the Ministry of Public Works and People's Housing, and this program is correlated with the SDGS, especially goal 11 (sustainable cities and communities. The research is relying on secondary data basis primarily from books, journals, published reports and online news. It is expected that this study is able to provide a new insight for the government in building a community residential area, which is to integrate development plans into three dimensions (social, economic, and environment which are the pillars of sustainable development. Unfortunately, nowadays the government is relying too hard on achieving quantity and a little focus on quality. Furthermore, an experience on the MDGs edition can be an important lesson for the government in realizing SDGs, especially now that SDGs are in line with the points that contained in the RPJMN. Therefore, if the government is able to maximise this global development agenda, it is not impossible that the million houses program can be one of the leading programs in overcoming the problem of poverty, especially housing shortage in Indonesia.

Liberalisation Reform, 'Neo-centralism', and Black Market: The Political Diseconomy of Lake Nasser Fishery Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christophe Béné

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Despite its relatively modest importance, and the current difficulties faced by the government in implementing liberalisation in the rest of the country, the Egyptian governement decided to embark on a reform of the Lake Nasser fishery in the early 2000s. The objective of this article is to analyse the evolution of this reform from a political economy perspective. The paper looks retrospectively at the general context of the reform, describes the different institutional and economic changes that have resulted from its realisation, identifies how the distribution of power between the different actors has altered the course of its implementation, and finally assesses the outcomes of the reform. The analysis shows that, while some major institutional changes have taken place, those changes have had little to do with a 'liberalisation' as conventionally understood in neo-classical literature. Instead, the new status quo turns out to be one where the central government and its different parastatal agencies have managed to maintain their existing advantages. The failure to reform more thoroughly the system also led fishers and fish traders to engage in a large-scale black market activity in which a substantial amount of fish is smuggled through unofficial trade channels.

The incidence of local government allocations in Tanzania

OpenAIRE

Jameson Boex

2003-01-01

Since 1999, Tanzania has been actively pursuing reforms of the way in which the central government finances local government activities. This paper looks at the current incidence of central government allocations to local authorities in Tanzania through: 1) examining of potential problems with the current financing method, 2) showing large variations between local government allocations, and 3) finding that surprisingly what drives t his distribution of resources maybe substantial pro-wealthy...

Analysis of the National Modernizers Network for the Support of the Public Administration Reform Process from Romania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alina PROFIROIU

2010-10-01

Full Text Available The reform process of the state and implicitly of the public administration was a priority for the past governments of Romania. During 2004- 2009, within the reform process, the main actors involved in the coordination, implementation and monitoring of reform measures were: the Prime Minister, the Superior Council for Public Administration Reform, Public Policy Coordination and Structural Adjustment, the Ministry of Public Finance, the General Secretariat of Government, Ministry of Administration and Interior (renamed for a short time Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reform, the Central Unit for Public Administration Reform, National Institute of Administration, the National Agency of Civil Servants, and the National Modernizers Network. For evaluation of aspects related to the reform process it was designed a selective research within the members of the National Modernizers Network, for assessing their perception of the public administration reform undertaken by the institutions presented above. Evaluating their opinion can be an important point in the revitalization of the area of the administration reform process. Also, the research conducted aimed at assessing the degree of modernizers’ involvement in activities related to important aspects of the reform process: strategic planning, formulating and evaluating public policies, financial management, human resources management, decentralization, introduction of new information and communication technologies and administrative simplification.

Medical Malpractice Reform: A Fix for a Problem Long out of Fashion.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirkner, Richard Mark

2017-10-01

State tort reforms have all but relegated the malpractice crisis to the history books. But there's good news for those of you into all things retro: The House of Representatives just voted to fix the malpractice crisis by a 222-197 margin.

Dostoevsky v. The Judicial Reforms of 1864: How and Why One of Nineteenth-Century Russia’s Greatest Writers Criticized the Nation’s Most Successful Reform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian Conlon

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The legal reforms of 1864 marked a shift in Russian legal culture from an amorphous, corrupt, pre-modern system of procedure, structure, and customary law to an independent, modern, and westernized system as liberal as that of any nation. These reforms were nearly universally lauded by legal and cultural critics, both at the time they were introduced and in historical accounts. Despite the apparent necessity and success of the new courts, one of the leading figures in nineteenth-century Russian literature (and indeed the history of world literature, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, continually criticized the new system in both his fiction and non-fiction.Through the synthesis of historical, legal, and literary analysis, this study will examine why Dostoevsky had an adverse reaction to the reforms, the literary techniques he used, and whether Dostoevsky presented a viable alternative to the reformed courts. In order to fully comprehend Dostoevsky’s reaction to the reforms, this study will contrast the pre and post-reform judicial systems in Imperial Russia. This study will explore the scope and evolution of Dostoevsky’s criticism of the law through analysis of his pre-reform fiction, including ‘House of the Dead’ and ‘Crime and Punishment,’ his post-reform fiction, including ‘The Idiot,’ ‘Demons,’ and ‘Brothers Karamazov,’ and portions of his experimental literary periodical, ‘A Writer’s Diary.’

Families Hardest Hit: Effects of Welfare Reform on Homeless Families.

Science.gov (United States)

Dworkin, Julie

This report presents data from 1999 surveys of people living in Chicago shelters and warming centers for families with children. The surveys asked about the impacts of welfare reform on respondents' lives. Researchers also surveyed housing and food assistance agencies, shelters, and other social service agencies. Of 481 families surveyed, 44…

Indonesian heath care and the economic crisis: is managed care the needed reform?

Science.gov (United States)

Hotchkiss, D R; Jacobalis, S

1999-03-01

The ramifications of the current economic crisis are being felt throughout Asia, but problems are particularly acute in Indonesia; in the midst of high inflation and unemployment the government is considering expanding managed care reform. In this paper, we discuss the impact of the recent economic crisis on the health sector in Indonesia, and analyze the potential for implementing effective reform following the managed care model. The health sector is discussed, highlighting pre-existing problems in the health care supply environment. The determinants of the economic crisis are summarized, and the broad impacts of the crisis to date on the health sector are assessed. Next the prospects for success of current managed-care reform proposals are examined in some detail: viability of expanded managed care reform measures are assessed in light of the continuing crisis and its likely impacts on the consumers and suppliers of health care. Analysis of the potential impact of the continuing crisis focuses on key participants in health care reform: households, the government, and private health care providers. In conclusion the potential viability of managed care appears poor, given the current economic, political, and institutional conditions and likely future impacts, and suggest some alternative reform measures.

Evaluation of Large-scale Public Sector Reforms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Breidahl, Karen Nielsen; Gjelstrup, Gunnar; Hansen, Hanne Foss

2017-01-01

and more delimited policy areas take place. In our analysis we apply four governance perspectives (rational-instrumental, rational-interest based, institutional-cultural and a chaos perspective) in a comparative analysis of the evaluations of two large-scale public sector reforms in Denmark and Norway. We...

FISCAL DECENTRALIZATION IN ALBANIA: EFFECTS OF TERRITORIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariola KAPIDANI

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The principle of decentralization is a fundamental principle for the establishment and operation of local government. It refers to the process of redistributing the authority and responsibility for certain functions from central government to local government units. In many countries, particularly in developing countries, fiscal decentralization and local governance issues are addressed as highly important to the economic development. According to Stigler (1957, fiscal decentralization brings government closer to the people and a representative government works best when it is closer to the people. Albania is still undergoing the process of decentralization in all aspects: political, economic, fiscal and administrative. Decentralization process is essential to sustainable economic growth and efficient allocation of resources to meet the needs of citizens. Albania has a fragmented system of local government with a very large number of local government units that have neither sufficient fiscal or human capacity to provide public services at a reasonable level (World Bank. However, recent administrative and territorial reform is expected to have a significant impact in many issues related to local autonomy and revenue management. This paper is focused on the progress of fiscal decentralization process in Albania, stating key issues and ongoing challenges for an improved system. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of recent territorial reform, identifying problems and opportunities to be addressed in the future.

The 2015 hospital treatment choice reform in Norway: Continuity or change?

Science.gov (United States)

Ringard, Ånen; Saunes, Ingrid Sperre; Sagan, Anna

2016-04-01

In several European countries, including Norway, polices to increase patient choice of hospital provider have remained high on the political agenda. The main reason behind the interest in hospital choice reforms in Norway has been the belief that increasing choice can remedy the persistent problem of long waiting times for elective hospital care. Prior to the 2013 General Election, the Conservative Party campaigned in favour of a new choice reform: "the treatment choice reform". This article describes the background and process leading up to introduction of the reform in the autumn of 2015. It also provides a description of the content and discusses possible implications of the reform for patients, providers and government bodies. In sum, the reform contains elements of both continuity and change. The main novelty of the reform lies in the increased role of private for-profit healthcare providers. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Towards a sustainable plan for new tube houses in Vietnam

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nguyen, P.A.; Bokel, R.M.J.; van den Dobbelsteen, A.A.J.F.; Hein, Carola

2016-01-01

In Vietnam, the history of cities can easily be seen through their urban patterns, landscapes and housing typologies. Most recently, the economic reform in 1986 has resulted in huge impact on the Vietnamese society. The rapid economic growth and privatisation of the market has resulted in the

Public Sector Financial Management Reform: A Case Study of Local Government Agencies in Indonesia

OpenAIRE

Monir Mir; Wahyu Sutiyono

2013-01-01

Indonesia has taken initiatives to reform its public sector financial management. One of the reform agendas was to introduce ‘cash to accrual’ accounting for improved financial reporting. It is expected that improved financial reporting will enhance financial accountabilities of the governmental agencies and will assist both internal and external decision makers whose decisions will be based on the financial reports. However, it has been observed that there is a significant increa...

Governance, Reform and Islamism in the Middle East and North Africa

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

... with some 145 staff members on five continents, working through field-based analysis ... And, the fourth will examine the dual challenge of meaningful political reform and ... IDRC invests in research and knowledge to empower women in India ... to address climate change-related challenges in India, including heat stress, ...

Powering China: Reforming the electric power industry in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yi-Chong Xu

2002-01-01

The book reports on the rapidly changing face of the electricity business in China. Reforms by the central government and the need for more and more electric power have pushed the electricity sector from a central planned economy to a markets-based system. The international ramifications of China's reform programme are discussed. The author describes electricity industry reform in other countries including the USA and UK. The author points out that in China after 1998 there was a move to recentralise control but by then it was too late to reverse the reforms. The problems of tariff policies, pricing, and sources of new investments, including from foreign countries, are discussed. The final section of the book deals with problems arising from the need for massive retrenchment of power-section workers, cross-subsidies, and triangular debts. The book is said to provide a sound description of the political economy of power reform in China without getting bogged down in economic modelling

Structural Dynamics of Education Reforms and Quality of Primary Education in Uganda

Science.gov (United States)

Nyenje, Aida

2016-01-01

This paper examines Uganda's recent undertaking to reform her Primary School education System with a focus on the effect of structural dynamics of education reforms and the quality of primary education. Structural dynamics in the context of this study is in reference to the organizational composition of the education system at the government,…

An evaluation of the 2003 tax reform effort in Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Werneck Rogério L. F.

2006-01-01

Full Text Available This paper provides an assessment of the tax-reform effort launched by the newly elected Lula government in 2003. It analyzes how the envisaged reform had to be changed and scaled down, in the wake of strong political resistance, after a failed attempt to develop a consensual proposal, fully supported by state-governors. The main effective changes are then evaluated. Challenges ahead are discussed at the end.

Economising subsidies for green housing features: A stated preference approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yung Yau

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In light of the enormous amounts of energy and resources consumed by housing development and operations, many governments have started recognising the urgent need to promote green or eco-friendly housing with the aim of achieving sustainable development. Apart from regulations, governments can offer incentives to developers to provide green features in their developments by offering subsidies in various forms. However, such subsidisation is often uneconomical. In theory, market forces can lead to green housing provision without any government intervention if the market players are willing to pay extra for the green features of housing. Against this background, this article presents the findings of a study that compared potential homebuyers’ willingness to pay (WTP for various green housing features based on findings from a structured questionnaire survey in Macau. The housing attributes under investigation included uses of green materials (e.g., sustainable forest products and construction methods (e.g., prefabrication, energy-efficient technologies (e.g., LED lighting and water-saving devices (e.g., grey-water recycling systems. Results indicate that the respondents’ WTP was mainly motivated by economic incentives. Green housing attributes that can offer direct financial benefits corresponded to greater WTP. The policy implications of the research findings then follow.

What lessons have been learned in reforming the Renewables Obligation? An analysis of internal and external failures in UK renewable energy policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wood, Geoffrey; Dow, Stephen

2011-01-01

Despite operating a delivery programme for RES-E since 1990, UK targets and policy goals have not been achieved. In response, the Government reformed the RO. This article re-examines UK renewable energy policy by analysing the internal and external failures of the various mechanisms to determine if Government has learnt from previous experience in reforming the RO. Government did not learn from their own actions during the NFFO/RO transition, evidenced by high-levels of similarity in internal/external failures. The reformed-RO is expected to significantly increase deployment, has provided a 'renewables package' by comprehensively addressing both internal/external failures but major internal failures (price/financial risk) still remain, resulting in contiguous failures over two decades and two mechanism changes (NFFO, RO, RO/reformed-RO). Success will again be heavily dependent on a select few technologies and new/untested measures to combat external failures. Mechanism-extension to 2037 is probably the single most important factor underlying potential deployment increases. However, introducing a FIT-like system via the sheer number of 'bolt-on' reforms to counter policy failures indicates loss of direction and clarity. Overall, although Government appears to have learnt some of its lessons from the past two-decades, significant doubt remains whether renewable energy policy objectives will be met via the latest mechanism change. - Research highlights: → Review of UK renewable energy policy learning behaviour via the 2009 Renewable Obligation reform. → Applies key lessons and analysis of NFFO/RO, RO reform and possible FIT schemes. → Finds UK Government has learnt some lessons from the past but some failures remain contiguous over two decades. → In contrast to previous changes, 2009 reform provided a comprehensive reform package. → Significant doubt remains whether objectives will be met via latest mechanism change.

Ideas about housing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Earon, Ofri

2009-01-01

This booklet is a project documentation of a short-term project titled ‘IDEAS ABOUT HOUSING Arkitektkonkurrencernes boligløsninger’. Architectural competitions have been used to develop new living concepts reacting on current political, economical and social flows. Participation in an architectural...... an important part of the world of architecture and planning in Denmark. Competitions, sponsored by government organizations, housing associations, or private business, are usually requests to make proposals for a specific project, but they are also sometimes used to elicit ideas about a general project type...

Indoor Temperatures in Low Cost Housing in Johannesburg, South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nisha Naicker

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Ambient and indoor temperature affects thermal comfort and human health. In a changing climate with a predicted change in temperature extremes, understanding indoor temperatures, both hot and cold, of different housing types is important. This study aimed to assess the hourly, daily and monthly variation in indoor temperatures in different housing types, namely formal houses, informal houses, flats, government-built low-cost houses and old, apartheid era low-cost housing, in five impoverished urban communities in Johannesburg, South Africa. During the cross-sectional survey of the Health, Environment and Development study data loggers were installed in 100 homes (20 per suburb from February to May 2014. Indoor temperature and relative humidity were recorded on an hourly basis. Ambient outdoor temperatures were obtained from the nearest weather station. Indoor and outdoor temperature and relative humidity levels were compared; and an inter-comparison between the different housing types were also made. Apparent temperature was calculated to assess indoor thermal comfort. Data from 59 retrieved loggers showed a significant difference in monthly mean indoor temperature between the five different housing types (p < 0.0001. Low cost government-built houses and informal settlement houses had the greatest variation in temperature and experienced temperatures between 4 and 5 °C warmer than outdoor temperatures. Housing types occupied by poor communities experienced indoor temperature fluctuations often greater than that observed for ambient temperatures. Families living in government-built low-cost and informally-constructed homes are the most at risk for indoor temperature extremes. These types of housing should be prioritised for interventions aimed at assisting families to cope with extreme temperatures, gaining optimal thermal comfort and preventing temperature-related health effects.

The Brazilian electrical system reform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mendonca, A.F.; Dahl, C.

1999-01-01

Although the Brazilian electrical system has been a public monopoly, the threat of electricity shortages from a lack of investment triggered a comprehensive reform. In 1993 the government began a series of laws, decrees and regulations reforming the tariff policy, allowing privatization of utilities, foreign investments and independent power producers, and creating an independent transmission grid and a new electricity regulatory agency (ANEEL). The new regulatory framework is not completely defined but the proposed model intends to transform bulk electricity supply into a competitive market similar to that adopted in England. Our objective is to evaluate whether the proposed reform will succeed in attracting the required private capital, will allow an unregulated wholesale electricity market and will require a strict regulatory framework. The reform has been quite successful in privatizing the distribution companies but is allowing monopolistic rents, and has failed until now to attract private investments to expand generation capacity. The risk of blackouts has increased, and the proposed wholesale electricity market may not be appropriate because of barriers to constructing new hydroelectric units, now 90% of the system. Therefore, a new regulatory framework and a strong regulatory agency with a well-defined tariff policy should have preceded the privatization. (author)

Implementing the Strategy for financial reform of higher education in Mozambique (EFES)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fonteyne, Bart; Jongbloed, B.W.A.

2018-01-01

This report describes the results of more than fifteen years of cooperation between the Government of Mozambique, the Government of the Netherlands, the Mozambican higher education institutions and the relevant stakeholders in designing and implementing reforms in the financing of higher education

A new corporate governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ion Bucur

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The issue of corporate governance has become increasingly important as globalisation has begun to accelerate and the economic and financial turmoil have intensified. Post-crisis context has imposed the need to expand the prospects for analysis over governance and companies, as well as the need to identify new ways of administration and resource management. From this perspective, the author aims to highlight the conditions, factors and events that have generated profound changes within the business environment, while the analysis is focusing on contemporary changes in the systems of corporate governance and economic mutations, especially in terms of the companies. The establishment of new governance rules is demanding a theoretical approach based on new methodological requirements which are needed to reform theoretical foundations and to promote creative and effective shapes and governance systems.

The influence of housing characteristics on rural migrants’ living condition in Beijing Fengtai District

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liu Wen Tao

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The study analyzes the influence of housing characteristics on rural migrants’ living condition in Beijing Fengtai District, China. The researcher will identify rural migrants in Beijing, examine their housing characteristics (housing crowding, housing privacy and housing facility and the influence on their living condition. Also, some suggestions are given to improve their housing characteristics and living condition. The government should revise the migrant housing policy and hukou management. Also, the rural migrants should try to increase their education level and social skills. For the occupation, the local government should give the rural migrants more job opportunity. These issues are analyzed in relation to local government attitudes toward the rural migrants. The analysis is based on data collected from two types of interviews: rural migrants and management interviews which examine the rural migrants’ housing and managerial aspects of this research, respectively. It is also supported by the utilization of secondary data. The findings of the study indicate that the rural migrants’ housing characteristics (housing crowding, housing privacy and housing facility highly influence their living condition in Beijing Fengtai District. Therefore, the local government should give some assistance to this group people in the big cities. This paper reports on the findings of a study to seek acknowledged definitions of the terms Project and Project Management. The study was based on a conventional review and analysis of the definitions from a series of texts.

The French prescription for health care reform.

Science.gov (United States)

Segouin, C; Thayer, C

1999-01-01

In 1996, the French government introduced a wide-ranging health care reform which aimed to resolve the problems of rising health expenditure and a levelling off in health sector income. Changes in the regulation of the health care system sought to strengthen quality while improving professional practice. At the same time the changes were intended to encourage greater synergy both between professionals and between the different parts of the system, thus promoting greater cost-effectiveness. The tools designed to achieve these results included: the creation of new regional hospital agencies, the introduction of cash-limited budgets at national and regional level, the launching of a contracting procedure between health authorities and hospitals and the setting up of a new health care accreditation agency. With some signs of improvement in the overall health insurance budgetary situation, the Jospin government seems to be supporting the broad lines of the reform introduced by its predecessor.

Governance in the Arab region: Addressing challenges and envisaging the future

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denise Sumpf

2016-08-01

Full Text Available When the Arab Uprisings began in 2011, citizens called for dignity, democracy and social justice. Instead of witnessing the birth of more pluralistic societies and stronger governance systems, the past years have brought the Arab region only renewed authoritarianism, conflict, and yet weaker state systems. The regional governance deficit is creating a striking underperformance of most Arab governments in political and socioeconomic development terms. To limit the damage of this downward trend, Arab governments must adopt a 2030 Vision of governance reforms to increase political participation and political freedoms, to ratify and implement international human rights conventions and transitional justice measures, adopt population policies that reflect the region’s changing demographic realities, reduce poverty through economic reform and combat corruption. The 2030 Vision will ensure the region enjoys a new era of inclusive, accountable and effective governance and the consequent benefits for sustainable development

德國高等教育治理之改革動向 Trends of Higher Education Governance Reforms in Germany

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

張源泉 Yuan-Chuan Chang

2012-12-01

Full Text Available 當代德國高等教育正處於劇變轉型過程，改革政策不斷地湧現，此來自其陷入危機，因而冀由改革方案汰舊換新。本研究先釐清治理的意涵與機制，再進一步探析其陷入危機之背景、改革內容，並於最後提出評析。本研究從治理角度探究此議題，係著眼於「治理」涵蓋多元之調控機制，較能對改革動向有一整全觀照。德國大學治理改革內容包含：一、國家管制鬆綁，尤其是預算編列方式與大 學法律地位之變革；二、透過目標協議與高等學校校務諮詢委員會，強化外部利害關係人之調控；三、增強競爭態勢，此包含績效導向之資源分配、卓越計畫，以及教授薪資制度；四、強化行政上自主調控，並縮減學術自治之相關權限。惟高等教育經費依然拮据，且相關績效指標過於抽象。但競爭態勢則已明顯提升。 Higher education in Germany today is in a stage of great transformation. Due to the educational crisis, new reform policies are constantly emerging to replace former ones. This study began with a clarification of the significance and mechanisms of governance, and then presented a deeper analysis of the background of the crisis, reform measures, and concludes with a concluding discussion. The reform measures of university governance in Germany included: 1 Deregulation of state control, particularly in terms of budgeting and stipulation of university regulations; 2 Enhancing the authority of external stakeholders through the higher education advisory committee and negotiations regarding university objectives; 3 Bolstering competitive advantages, including performance-based resource allocation, excellence initiatives, and faculty salaries; 4 Enhancing independent regulation of administrative affairs and decreasing the authority accorded to academic self-governance. Although funds for higher education remain insufficient and

Hybridization of governance : The challenge of balancing policy impacts

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Heijden, J.J.

2009-01-01

This paper focuses on the impacts of hybrid forms of governance. Such hybrids are characterized by an arrangement of tasks and responsibilities, regarding regulatory governance, between public and private sector agencies. Empirically the paper is based on regulatory reforms in Australian and

Narrating health and scarcity: Guyanese healthcare workers, development reformers, and sacrifice as solution from socialist to neoliberal governance.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Alexis

2017-08-01

In oral history interviews, Guyanese healthcare workers emphasize continuity in public health governance throughout the late twentieth century, despite major shifts in broader systems of governance during this period. I argue that these healthcare workers' recollections reflect long-term scarcities and the discourses through which both socialist politicians and neoliberal reformers have narrated them. I highlight the striking similarities in discourses of responsibility and efficiency advanced by socialist politicians in 1970s Guyana and by World Bank representatives designing the country's market transition in the late 1980s, and the ways these discourses have played out in Guyana's health system. Across diverging ideologies, politicians and administrators have promoted severe cost-control as the means to a more prosperous future, presenting short-term pains as necessary to creating new, better, leaner ways of life. In the health sector this has been enacted through a focus on self-help, and on nutrition as a tool available without funds dedicated for pharmaceuticals, advanced medical technologies, or a fully staffed public health system. I argue that across these periods Guyanese citizens have been offered a very similar recipe of ongoing sacrifice. I base my analysis on oral histories with forty-six healthcare workers conducted between 2013 and 2015 in Guyana in Regions 3, 4, 5, 9, and 10, as well as written records from World Bank and Guyanese national archives; I analyze official discourses as well as recollections and experiences of public health governance by those working in Guyana's health system. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Novel ecosystems: Governance and conservation in the age of the Anthropocene.

Science.gov (United States)

Clement, Sarah; Standish, Rachel J

2018-02-15

Meeting conservation objectives in an era of global environmental change has precipitated debate about where and how to intervene. Ecological and social values of novel ecosystems are particularly contested. Governance has a role to play, but this role is underexplored. Here, we critically review the novel ecosystems literature to identify challenges that fall within the realm of governance. Using a conceptual framework for analysing adaptive governance, we consider how governance could help address five challenges. Specifically, we argue that reforming governance can support the re-framing of policy objectives for ecosystems where transformation is likely, and in doing so, it could highlight the tensions between the emergence of novel ecosystems on the one hand and cultural expectations about how ecosystems should look on the other. We discuss the influence of power, authority and administrative competence on conservation efforts in times of environmental change. We consider how buffering can address translational mismatch between conventional conservation policy and modern ecological reality. This review provides insights into how governance reform could enable more adaptive responses to transformative changes, such as novel ecosystems, while remaining committed to achieving conservation outcomes. Indeed, at their best, adaptive responses would encompass the reality of ecological transformation while being sympathetic to concerns about undesirable outcomes. Connections between researchers in the fields of governance, ecology and conservation could help to achieve these twin aims. We provide examples of governance and policy-making techniques that can support context-specific governance reform that supports more effective conservation in the Anthropocene. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

MEDICINAL CANNABIS LAW REFORM IN AUSTRALIA.

Science.gov (United States)

Freckelton, Ian

2016-03-01

Attempts at medicinal cannabis law reform in Australia are not new. However, in historical perspective 2015 and 2016 will be seen as the time when community debate about legalisation of medicinal cannabis reached a tipping point in a number of Australian jurisdictions and when community impetus for change resulted in major reform initiatives. In order to contextualise the changes, the August 2015 Report of the Victorian Law Reform Commission (VLRC) and then the Access to Medicinal Cannabis Bill 2015 (Vic) introduced in December 2015 into the Victorian Parliament by the Labor Government are scrutinised. In addition, this editorial reviews the next phase of developments in the course of 2015 and 2016, including the Commonwealth Narcotic Drugs Amendment Act 2016 and the Queensland Public Health (Medicinal Canna- bis) Bill 2016. It identifies the principal features of the legislative initiatives against the backdrop of the VLRC proposals. It observes that the principles underlying the Report and the legislative developments in the three Australian jurisdictions are closely aligned and that their public health approach, their combination of evidence-based pragmatism, and their carefully orchestrated checks and balances against abuse and excess constitute a constructive template for medicinal cannabis law reform.

Education Policy Reform in Sri Lanka: The Double-Edged Sword of Political Will

Science.gov (United States)

Little, Angela W.

2011-01-01

In 1997, the Government of Sri Lanka launched a comprehensive set of education reforms designed to promote equitable access to basic education and improvements in learning outcomes. The package of reforms arose as a political response to widespread youth unrest in the late 1980s and attracted considerable "political will", a vague but…

Governance, Reform and Islamism in the Middle East and North Africa

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

And, the fourth will examine the dual challenge of meaningful political reform and the rise of Islamism. In addition, Crisis Group will publish a briefing ... HarassMap et Uber Égypte nouent un partenariat pour sensibiliser la population à la question du harcèlement sexuel. L'organisation HarassMap, soutenue par le CRDI, ...

Reforming Mexico’s Energy Sector to Enhance Stability

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-27

requirement to reform Mexico’s energy sector. Subsequent analysis demonstrates government ownership of Petroleos Mexico (Pemex) is the fundamental...ownership of Petroleos Mexico (Pemex) is the fundamental destabilizing flaw in regulatory policy, by tracing various problems back to this root cause... Petroleos Mexico (Pemex) is the second largest company in Latin America and the seventh largest producer of oil in the world.1 The government of

76 FR 14273 - Government Reform for Competitiveness and Innovation

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-16

... should also consult broadly with external stakeholders, including Members of Congress, business leaders... the past. We live and do business in the information age, but the organization of the Federal Government has not kept pace. Government agencies have grown without overall strategic planning and...

Innovations in Sub-National Government in Europe Innovations in Sub-National Government in Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Linze Schaap

2010-12-01

Full Text Available La mejora del gobierno se encuentra arraigada con frecuencia en los niveles descentralizados. En este artículo es el cambio dentro del gobierno mismo, principalmente la emergencia de la “gobernanza” y el cambio en el tamaño administrativo. Las reformas estructurales adoptan formas diversas: el aumento del tamaño para mejorar la capacidad del sistema, el aumento del tamaño para favorecer la participación ciudadana, y la reducción del tamaño para favorecer asimismo la participación ciudadana. Además, se advierten nuevas formas de acción dentro de los mismos gobiernos: cooperación transfronteriza, cooperación intermunicipal y nuevas formas de evaluación del rendimiento y de la gestión financiera. Los autores concluyen el artículo mencionando algunos desafíos para los académicos y para los gobiernos.Improvement in government is often rooted in decentralised layers of government. In this article the authors discuss the recent history of innovations in sub-national government in Europe. They focus on two general trends and developments. Cases of interesting practices and developments illustrate the general trends. For each general trend a distinction is made between two kinds of innovations: structural reforms and new ways of working within existing institutional settings. The first trend concerns changing relations between government, civil society and citizens, in response to the increased contestation of the nature of traditional representative democracy. Examples of structural reforms are: increased citizen participation, the expanded use of referenda and the introduction of the directly elected mayor. New ways of working are: forms of coproduction between the public sector and the third sector. The second trend described in this article is change within government itself, mainly the rise of ‘governance’ and changing administrative scales. Structural reforms take several forms: scale enlargement to enhance system capacity

Reform of irrigation management and investment policy in African development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

KW Easter

2004-11-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the reform of water and irrigation management in Africa and compares it with similar reforms in Asia.  Several things are evident from the review.  First, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA is at an earlier stage of irrigation development and reform than Asia.  Second, the articulated need for reform is much stronger in Asia than it is in SSA.  Third, the productivity of small-scale irrigated farms is significantly lower in SSA compared to Asia.  Thus any irrigation investment strategy in SSA should be different from Asia and focus on increasing small-farm productivity as well as small-scale irrigation projects.  Finally, all direct government irrigation investments should be done jointly with decisions regarding the type of project management.

Global health governance - the next political revolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Kickbusch, I; Reddy, K S

2015-07-01

The recent Ebola crisis has re-opened the debate on global health governance and the role of the World Health Organization. In order to analyze what is at stake, we apply two conceptual approaches from the social sciences - the work on gridlock and the concept of cosmopolitan moments - to assess the ability of the multilateral governance system to reform. We find that gridlock can be broken open by a health crisis which in turn generates a political drive for change. We show that a set of cosmopolitan moments have led to the introduction of the imperative of health in a range of policy arenas and moved health into 'high politics' - this has been called a political revolution. We contend that this revolution has entered a second phase with increasing interest of heads of state in global health issues. Here lies the window of opportunity to reform global health governance. Copyright © 2015 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Norms, legitimacy, and global financial governance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Underhill, G.R.D.; Zhang, X.

2006-01-01

Despite regular and serious systemic volatility, reform of international financial architecture remains limited, retaining market-oriented characteristics and adjustment mechanisms. A failure of the architecture to focus on the political underpinnings of global financial and monetary governance

22 CFR 204.43 - Governing law.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Governing law. 204.43 Section 204.43 Foreign Relations AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT HOUSING GUARANTY STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS Administration § 204.43 Governing law. This Guaranty shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of...

Corporate Governance in Singapore : Recent Developments For the Next Millennium

OpenAIRE

Mak Yuen Teen; Phillip H. Phan

2000-01-01

This paper surveys the regulatory and structural environment as it relates to corporate governance in Singapore, and present empirical evidence on corporate governance practices in areas such as ownership structure, disclosure, board and directors, the use of share option schemes, and the impact of government corporate ownership. It reviews corporate governance reforms that have been implemented or proposed, and assesses their likely impact on future corporate governance practices in Singapor...

School Reform: America’s Winchester Mystery House

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Daniel Meyer

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This quantitative study examines the correlation between international student achievement test outcomes and national competitiveness rankings. Student achievement data are derived from a variation-adjusted, common-scale metric data set for 74 countries that have participated in any of the international mathematics and science achievement tests since 1964. National competitiveness data are taken from the 2014–15 Global Competitiveness Index (GCI published by the World Economic Forum. A Spearman’s rank-order correlation was run to assess the relationship between student performance on international achievement tests and the competitiveness of nations. For all nations, there was a moderate positive correlation between student performance on international achievement tests and the competitiveness of a nation, rs(98=0.688, p<0.001. However, this relationship disappeared among the 18 most competitive nations, the cohort to which the United States belongs. The relationship also disappeared among the 18 nations with the highest achievement scores on international tests. Student performance on international assessments appears to have no relationship to the competitiveness of the United States. This study has implications for legislators and public education leaders who want to maximize the return on investments in education. Education dollars and reform initiatives should be diverted toward addressing poverty, funding schools equitably, alleviating social stress and violence, and supporting young families and students of immigrant families.

The European Union in International Financial Governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Niamh Moloney

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This article considers the role of the European Union in international financial governance after the institutional reforms it undertook in connection with the global financial crisis. It suggests that the new administrative actors that support the governance of the European Union's single financial market, notably the European Supervisory Authorities, have the potential to reshape how the European Union engages with international financial governance. It finds that the European Union’s effectiveness in influencing international financial governance—and the effectiveness of international financial governance more generally—is likely to strengthen as a result.

Genuine federalism in the Russian health care system: changing roles of government.

Science.gov (United States)

Chernichovsky, D; Potapchik, E

1999-02-01

The reforms that have affected the Russian health care system since the breakup of the Soviet Union, principally those in the general administration of the Russian Federation, have suffered from inconsistency and the absence of a strategy. The various reforms have caused a shift from a national health system characterized by highly centralized management and control, typical of the totalitarian uniform state, to a highly decentralized but fragmented multitude of state systems. Each of these systems is relatively centralized at the local level and run by local administrations with limited government infrastructure and experience. The role of government in the emerging system, and in particular the role of the federal government, remains ill defined. As a result, there is a grave risk that the Russian health care system may disintegrate as a national system. This undermines (a) the prevailing universal and fairly equitable access to care, (b) stabilization of the system following a long period of transition, and (c) the long-term reform that is required to bring the Russian health care system up to par with the health care systems in other developed countries. A rapid transition to a genuine federal health system with well-articulated roles for different levels of government, in tandem with implementation of the 1993 Compulsory Health Insurance System, is essential for the stabilization and reform of the Russian health care system.

Strengthening Democratic Governance through ICTs : Post Election ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

... including electronic media (television, radio), print media, Internet-based social networking tools ... Researchers will identify gaps in media coverage of proposed governance reforms; identify ... Giving girls and women the power to decide.

Negotiating reform at an arm's length from the state: Disease Management Programmes and the introduction of clinical standards in Germany.

Science.gov (United States)

Burau, Viola

2009-07-01

Studies of German health policy often highlight institutional constraints to reform. However, based on a case study of the introduction of clinical standards as part of the Disease Management Programmes for chronic illnesses, this article suggests that negotiating reform at an arm's length from the state can also lead to governance change, although the strengthening of hierarchy is not as prominent as that in some of the countries studied in this special issue. As such, the case of Germany offers interesting insights into the politics of governance change that occur in the shadow, but largely without the direct involvement of the state, which is typical of a corporatist health-care state. In this respect, the analysis identifies three leverages for change. First, the change in medical governance explicitly builds on earlier reforms and gives the reform alliance a competitive edge. Second, the organisations of the joint self-administration, as a more or less open ally of the state, play an influential role throughout the reform process. Importantly and third, this is complemented by the state steering at a distance.

The Problems in Chinese Government Financial Information Disclosure and Relevant Proposals

OpenAIRE

Zhe Wang

2016-01-01

Government financial information is an important part of government information, fully reporting the operational efficiency and the place where government puts tax onto. This paper analyses the problems in Chinese government financial information disclosure and the necessity of reform in detail. It also provides several proposals for the improvement of Chinese governmental financial report and financial information disclosure system.

The construction of the Public City. Governance of Urban Processes and Transformation: the role of Social Housing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matteo Gambaro

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The following report looks at a selection of research and consultancy activities carried out by members of the «Governance, Design and Valorisation for the Built Environment» Research Group from the BEST Department at the Politecnico di Milano on behalf of Novara City Council. This work was undertaken with the objective of framing a systematic and multi-scalar design to be used in the redevelopment and upgrading of social housing through an approach which emphasised reconstruction of urban relationships and enhancement of the landscape and environment of noteworthy segments of the city. The aforementioned activities were then concentrated within «Neighbourhood Contract III» and «URBACT Active Travel Network ATN» programmes.

Housing Development In Papua For Improved Welfare Of The People

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Thobby Wakarmamu

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Normatively a housing development in Papua is a need that can not be ignored. The relationship between economic progress with the level of economic progress is bidirectional. On one side of the housing development can stimulate economic growth and development. On the other hand economic growth particularly the growth of per capita income will increase growth in demand for home or place of residence. Theoretically the income elasticity of demand for housing is greater than one. When the economy grew 1 percent then the demand for housing will grow larger than 1 percent. In other words the demand for housing is very sensitive to economic growth. Having regard to the economic development of Papua today then greater attention and seriously to the problem of housing especially housing should have become the governments main agenda of both central and local government of Papua. The issue is whether the real problem of public housing in Papua The answer to this question is very important in order to avoid overlapping of activities and housing policy will only be a waste of resources in Papua

[Colombia: what has happened with its health reform?].

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez-Arias, Rubén Darío; Nieto, Emmanuel

2014-01-01

The health reform adopted in Colombia in 1993 was promoted by different agencies as the model to follow in matters of health policy. Following the guidelines of the Washington Consensus and the World Bank, the Government of Colombia, with the support of national political and economic elites, reorganized the management of health services based on market principles, dismantled the state system, increased finances of the sector, assigned the management of the system to the private sector, segmented the provision of services, and promoted interaction of actors in a competitive scheme of low regulation. After 20 years of implementation, the Colombian model shows serious flaws and is an object of controversy. The Government has weakened as the governing entity for health; private groups that manage the resources were established as strong centers of economic and political power; and violations of the right to health increased. Additionally, corruption and service cost overruns have put a strain on the sustainability of the system, and the state network is in danger of closing. Despite its loss of prestige at the internal level, various actors within and outside the country tend to keep the model based on contextual reforms.

A Concise Analysis of Argentina’s Post-Junta Reform of Its Major Security Services

Science.gov (United States)

2006-12-01

Carlos Menem (1989–99), respectively a radical and a Peronist, implemented civil-military reform of the security forces. Initially, the reforms...purging the ranks, while Menem used indirect methods, while pointing to the on-going economic crisis to legitimize continuation of his reforms. In all...Politics 35, no. 1 (October 2002): 1. 93 Ibid., 2 94 David Pion-Berlin, 110. 39 civilian government, whereas Menem took advantage of the general

The impact of IMF conditionality on government health expenditure: A cross-national analysis of 16 West African nations.

Science.gov (United States)

Stubbs, Thomas; Kentikelenis, Alexander; Stuckler, David; McKee, Martin; King, Lawrence

2017-02-01

How do International Monetary Fund (IMF) policy reforms-so-called 'conditionalities'-affect government health expenditures? We collected archival documents on IMF programmes from 1995 to 2014 to identify the pathways and impact of conditionality on government health spending in 16 West African countries. Based on a qualitative analysis of the data, we find that IMF policy reforms reduce fiscal space for investment in health, limit staff expansion of doctors and nurses, and lead to budget execution challenges in health systems. Further, we use cross-national fixed effects models to evaluate the relationship between IMF-mandated policy reforms and government health spending, adjusting for confounding economic and demographic factors and for selection bias. Each additional binding IMF policy reform reduces government health expenditure per capita by 0.248 percent (95% CI -0.435 to -0.060). Overall, our findings suggest that IMF conditionality impedes progress toward the attainment of universal health coverage. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Social security reform in two stages

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Carlos Ranulfo Melo

2006-01-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes Brazilian social security reform during the Fernando Henrique and Lula Administrations. After comparing the contexts in which the different Constitutional Amendment proposals (PECs were submitted and the behavior by Members of Congress during the two periods, we argue that a contextual change (namely a switch in places between government and opposition affected the distribution of preferences and resources between the players and impacted the government in the various arenas in which the game was being played, and that as a result the reformist agenda has made more progress under the current Workers' Party administration.

Reform and efficiency of state-owned forest enterprises in Northeast China as “social firms”

Science.gov (United States)

Han Xue; Gregory E. Frey; Geng Yude; Frederick W. Cubbage; Zhang Zhaohui

2018-01-01

State-owned forest enterprises (SOFEs) in northeast China have experienced past economic loss andenvironmental degradation, causing government to seek reforms. Measurement of technical efficiencyallows us to evaluate overall trends and how reforms affect production of social and environmental goods.Previous assessments have used small samples, short time...

Adaptability of competitive electricity reforms a modular analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dubois, Ute

2009-01-01

Among the competitive electricity reforms that have been implemented in Europe and the US for the last 18 years, none has 'survived' over several years without major changes. Their changing nature raises the question of their adaptability. Two characteristics of reforms play a key role on their adaptation properties. Firstly, they are 'modular' objects in the sense of [Baldwin, C., 2008. Where do transactions come from? Modularity, transactions, and the boundaries of firms. Industrial and Corporate Change 17 (1), 155-195]. Secondly, they are produced in an institutional process which leads to 'incomplete' rules and designs [Pistor, K., Xu, C., 2003. Incomplete law. International Law and Politics 35, 931-1013]. We propose a typology of adaptations based on the framework proposed by [Williamson, O.E., 1991. Comparative economic organization: the analysis of discrete structural alternatives. Administrative Science Quarterly 36 (2), 269-296] for contracts: (1) in case of small disturbances, adaptations are realized quasi-automatically, by autonomous decisions of the institutions governing the implementation of reforms; (2) in case of middle-range disturbances, adaption is made by Coasian bargaining; (3) finally, in case of strong disturbances, or when bargaining is not feasible, the adaptation of reforms is in the hands of legislative and executive institutions [North, D.C., 2005. Le processus du developpement economique. Editions d'Organisation]. These institutions can reform the reforms [Joskow, P.L., 2006. Introduction to electricity sector liberalization: lessons learned from cross-country studies. In: Sioshansi, F.P. (Ed.), Electricity Market Reform: An International Perspective. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 1-32; Hogan, W.W., 2002. Electricity market restructuring: reforms of reforms. Journal of Regulatory Economics 21, 103-132]. The role of these types of adaptations in each electricity reform is a consequence of the allocation of rights to the regulator, to

Housing as Social Right or Means to Wealth?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Jens Ladefoged; Seabrooke, Lenoard

2008-01-01

changes to taxation and housing finance regimes in a liberal market for residential property, Australia, and a corporatist market, Denmark. During the last decade, government regulatory changes to taxation and housing finance systems in Australia and Denmark facilitated residential property booms...... on future developments....

Poverty and environmental impacts of electricity price reforms in Montenegro

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, Patricia; Klytchnikova, Irina; Radevic, Dragana

2009-01-01

The creation of the Energy Community of South Eastern Europe in 2005 committed countries in South Eastern Europe to liberalize their energy markets in accordance to EU regulations. The Government of Montenegro is thus in the process of reforming its energy sector, which includes an electricity tariff reform. This paper analyzes the environmental and social impacts of an increase in residential electricity tariffs contemplated - which is expected to range anywhere from 40 to over 100% increase. As this analysis shows, such a significant price rise will impose a heavy burden on the poor households and it may adversely affect the environment. In an ex ante investigation of the welfare impact of this price increase on households in Montenegro, we show that the anticipated price increase will result in a very significant increase in households' energy expenditures. A simulation of alternative policy measures analyzes the impact of different tariff levels and structures, focusing on the poor and vulnerable households. Higher electricity prices could also significantly increase the proportion of households using fuelwood for space heating. Thus the level of fuelwood consumption should be carefully monitored under the electricity tariff reforms and the Government of Montenegro should combine the tariff reforms with a carefully evaluated set of policy measures to mitigate the effect of the electricity price increase on the poor. (author)

Poverty and environmental impacts of electricity price reforms in Montenegro

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Silva, Patricia [Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen, Studiestraede 6, DK-1455 Copenhagen K (Denmark); Klytchnikova, Irina [The World Bank, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Department (ECSPE) (United States); Radevic, Dragana [Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (ME)

2009-03-15

The creation of the Energy Community of South Eastern Europe in 2005 committed countries in South Eastern Europe to liberalize their energy markets in accordance to EU regulations. The Government of Montenegro is thus in the process of reforming its energy sector, which includes an electricity tariff reform. This paper analyzes the environmental and social impacts of an increase in residential electricity tariffs contemplated - which is expected to range anywhere from 40 to over 100% increase. As this analysis shows, such a significant price rise will impose a heavy burden on the poor households and it may adversely affect the environment. In an ex ante investigation of the welfare impact of this price increase on households in Montenegro, we show that the anticipated price increase will result in a very significant increase in households' energy expenditures. A simulation of alternative policy measures analyzes the impact of different tariff levels and structures, focusing on the poor and vulnerable households. Higher electricity prices could also significantly increase the proportion of households using fuelwood for space heating. Thus the level of fuelwood consumption should be carefully monitored under the electricity tariff reforms and the Government of Montenegro should combine the tariff reforms with a carefully evaluated set of policy measures to mitigate the effect of the electricity price increase on the poor. (author)

School-Based Management: The Next Needed Education Reform.

Science.gov (United States)

Guthrie, James W.

1986-01-01

Recommends the implementation of school-based management systems as one way to meet government demands for educational reform. Describes the functions of principals, school advisory councils, school-site budgeting and accounting, and annual planning and performance reports in successful school-based management systems. Presents examples of…

Global health justice and governance.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruger, Jennifer Prah

2012-01-01

While there is a growing body of work on moral issues and global governance in the fields of global justice and international relations, little work has connected principles of global health justice with those of global health governance for a theory of global health. Such a theory would enable analysis and evaluation of the current global health system and would ethically and empirically ground proposals for reforming it to more closely align with moral values. Global health governance has been framed as an issue of national security, human security, human rights, and global public goods. The global health governance literature is essentially untethered to a theorized framework to illuminate or evaluate governance. This article ties global health justice and ethics to principles for governing the global health realm, developing a theoretical framework for global and domestic institutions and actors.

African Universities and the State: Prospects for Reform in Senegal and Uganda.

Science.gov (United States)

Eisemon, Thomas Owen; Salmi, Jamil

1993-01-01

In both Senegal and Uganda, higher education reform will occur only if the universities have more administrative and fiscal autonomy. A shift from government participation in governance, enrollment, and use of resources in favor of more indirect control is recommended. However, the specific policy approaches recommended for the two countries…

The Absolutist Reformism: Projects of Political Reforms in Russia (2nd half of 18th century – 1st quarter of 19th century

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Konstantin D. Bugrov

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the phenomenon of absolutist reformism – a form of political culture that chronologically spans from the mid-18th century to 19th century, and is determined by both communicative context (genre, pragmatic purpose, and the social and political status of its participants, the members of court-administrative elite. The author argues that the principal reformers, who belonged to the court and administrative elite of Russian Empire, were competing with each other, and the reform proposals allowed the competitors to simultaneously improve their own positions within the structure of state governance and enact the absolute power of the monarch to bring the reform forth. However, that meant that the monarch was appearing in the reform proposals as an omnipotent arbiter capable of creating the social and political institutions by his will. Consequently, these reform proposals – starting from the early projects of the 1750es – 1760es, and finishing with the intense production of reform plans under Alexander I – were aimed at increasing the power of monarch, assuring its benevolent character, and protecting it from the potential usurpation from the inside of the bureaucratic apparatus. This logic of argumentation, which places the monarch against the bureaucracy, was to flourish later on in Russian 19th century.

An analysis of policy levers used to implement mental health reform in Australia 1992-2012.

Science.gov (United States)

Grace, Francesca C; Meurk, Carla S; Head, Brian W; Hall, Wayne D; Carstensen, Georgia; Harris, Meredith G; Whiteford, Harvey A

2015-10-24

Over the past two decades, mental health reform in Australia has received unprecedented government attention. This study explored how five policy levers (organisation, regulation, community education, finance and payment) were used by the Australian Federal Government to implement mental health reforms. Australian Government publications, including the four mental health plans (published in 1992, 1998, 2003 and 2008) were analysed according to policy levers used to drive reform across five priority areas: [1] human rights and community attitudes; [2] responding to community need; [3] service structures; [4] service quality and effectiveness; and [5] resources and service access. Policy levers were applied in varying ways; with two or three levers often concurrently used to implement a single initiative or strategy. For example, changes to service structures were achieved using various combinations of all five levers. Attempts to improve service quality and effectiveness were instead made through a single lever-regulation. The use of some levers changed over time, including a move away from prescriptive, legislative use of regulation, towards a greater focus on monitoring service standards and consumer outcomes. Patterns in the application of policy levers across the National Mental Health Strategy, as identified in this analysis, represent a novel way of conceptualising the history of mental health reform in Australia. An improved understanding of the strategic targeting and appropriate utilisation of policy levers may assist in the delivery and evaluation of evidence-based mental health reform in the future.

The Reforming States Group and the Promotion of Federalism

Science.gov (United States)

Andersen, Kathleen S.

1998-01-01

Since 1991, leaders in health policy from the legislative and executive branches of state government have come together, with financial support and staff collaboration from the Milbank Memorial Fund, to share their experiences and to work on practical solutions to pressing health care problems. What began with a handful of states at the forefront of health reform is now the Reforming States Group (RSG), a bipartisan, voluntary association that includes leaders from over 40 states. This article describes the origins, history, and future prospects of the RSG. PMID:9510901

The Problems in Chinese Government Financial Information Disclosure and Relevant Proposals

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Zhe Wang

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Government financial information is an important part of government information, fully reporting the operational efficiency and the place where government puts tax onto. This paper analyses the problems in Chinese government financial information disclosure and the necessity of reform in detail. It also provides several proposals for the improvement of Chinese governmental financial report and financial information disclosure system.

Heterogeneous convergence of regional house prices and the complexity in China

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Rui Lin

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to analyze the convergence of regional house prices and its complexity in China. In this purpose it used nonlinear time varying factor model. The obtained results have provided evidences for the existence of some degree of segmentation in China’s housing market. By further dynamic analysis of the convergence, we have found that important housing policies from Chinese central government can significantly alter the housing market but with a time lag of 4 to 5 months, and that quite different behaviors exist between the new house market and the second-hand house market in China, which provides the evidence for the complexity of housing market in China. Multiple factors together are the driving forces for the regional house price convergence. And the driving forces differ among three clubs. The basic conclusion provided from the realized research is that the conventional definitions of economic regions may not be appropriate to analyze house price segregation in China. Heterogeneous convergence exists in China’s regional house prices, indicating the complexity of regional house prices in China. And housing policies should be implemented with different focus among the regions. The way of the central government is to make housing policies aiming at different sub-markets of the new house market and the second-hand house market.

The new reform educational in the Ecuador and its application in education special

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rocio Ernestina García Liscano

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The Ecuador over the years, the government of the citizen revolution has made drastic changes in the education system,with the aim of improving the quality of learning of Ecuadorians. This article is aimed at analyzing the educational reform in Ecuador from the new institutions of the country, which constitutes the government of Econ. Rafael Correa Delgado with the new educational model that began in January 2010, from this restructuring conducted an analysis of special education in our country, if considered in the reforms and if taken due importance concerning the preparation of disabled people. This analysis also helps to demonstrate what are the benefits generated by the educational reform within specialized educational units, based on the perspective of before and after, and as by their application has been made to strengthen the processes of quality improvement, relevance, equity and efficiency of special education in Ecuador.

Decision making under the tree: gender perspectives on decentralization reforms in service delivery in rural Tanzania

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Masanyiwa, Z.S.

2014-01-01

In recent decades, decentralization has been upheld by governments, donors and policy makers in many developing countries as a means of improving people’s participation and public services delivery. In 1996, the government of Tanzania embarked on major local government reforms reflecting the

Analysis on Conflicts of China’s Coal Tax Reform

OpenAIRE

Wang, Dong

2012-01-01

This paper investigates the conflicts which are resulted from coal tax reform in China from economic and public policy perspectives. An analytical framework involving actors, values, interests and institution has been applied. China’s central government eagers to achieve fiscal revenue increase, environmental protection and energy conversation goals by a good governance of coal system. As a traditional and feasible policy instrument, taxation is regarded for dealing with energy issues in poli...

[Psychiatric reform, federalism, and the decentralization of the public health in Brazil].

Science.gov (United States)

Costa, Nilson do Rosário; Siqueira, Sandra Venâncio; Uhr, Deborah; Silva, Paulo Fagundes da; Molinaro, Alex Alexandre

2011-12-01

This study examines the relationships between Brazilian psychiatric reform, the adoption of the Centers for Psychosocial Care (CAPS) and the development of the Unified Health System (SUS). The adherence of municipal governments was a variable determinant for the spread of reform, especially due to the continental scale and fragmentation of the Brazilian federation. The article demonstrates the institutional stability of psychiatric reform in Brazil over two decades. The institutional nature of the decision-making process in the public arena has permitted the implementation of new organizational formats through imitation and financial incentives. The psychiatric reform was successful in defending the advantages of CAPS in relation to the asylum and hospital model dominant in past decades. The inductive policies, strengthened and upheld by Law 10.216/2001, transformed the agenda of psychiatric reform, limited to pioneering cities in a national public policy.

Medical workforce education and training: A failed decentralisation attempt to reform organisation, financing, and planning in England.

Science.gov (United States)

Ovseiko, Pavel V; Buchan, Alastair M

2015-12-01

The 2010-2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government proposed introducing a radical decentralisation reform of the organisation, financing, and planning of medical workforce education and training in England. However, following public deliberation and parliamentary scrutiny of the government's proposals, it had to abandon and alter its original proposals to the extent that they failed to achieve their original decentralisation objectives. This failed decentralisation attempt provides important lessons about the policy process and content of both workforce governance and health system reforms in Europe and beyond. The organisation, financing, and planning of medical workforce education is as an issue of national importance and should remain in the stewardship of the national government. Future reform efforts seeking to enhance the skills of the workforce needed to deliver high-quality care for patients in the 21st century will have a greater chance of succeeding if they are clearly articulated through engagement with stakeholders, and focus on the delivery of undergraduate and postgraduate multi-professional education and training in universities and teaching hospitals. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Passive houses in Norway

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Halse, Andreas

2008-12-15

The paper analyzes the introduction of passive houses in the Norwegian house market. Passive houses are houses with extremely low levels of energy consumption for heating, and have not yet been built in Norway, but have started to enter the market in Germany and some other countries. The construction sector is analyzed as a sectoral innovation system. The different elements of the innovation system are studied. This includes government agencies, producers, consumers, finance and education. The analysis shows that passive and low-energy houses are on the verge of market breakthrough. This can partly be explained by economic calculations, and partly by processes of learning and change in the institutional set-up of the sector. The construction sector is a sector characterized by low innovative intensity and little interaction between different agents. Those working to promote passive houses have to some extent managed to cope with these challenges. This has happened by breaking away from the traditional focus of Norwegian energy efficiency policies on technology and the economically rational agents, by instead focusing on knowledge and institutional change at the level of the producers. (Author)

Social innovations in local government : The case of local development agent

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Junjan, Veronica; Balogh, Marton

2013-01-01

Background: There is an increased attention in the administrative reform literature accorded to the mechanisms governing the processes of institutionalisation of changes and of diffusion of innovations in local governments. Objectives: Current paper investigates mechanisms that influence the process

Power sector reforms in India

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bajaj, Harbans L; Sharma, Deepak

2007-07-01

India faces endemic electrical energy and peaking shortages. The Power Sector is plagued with mounting commercial losses due various inefficiencies, colossal commercial and technical losses and increasing subsidy burden on the states. These shortages have had a very detrimental effect on the overall economic growth of the country. In order to re-vitalise the sector and improve the techno-economic performance, the Government of India has initiated the reform process in 1991. This paper analyses the pre-reform era and identifies the key concerns which led to the initiation of the reforms. It also analyses the likely impact of the major policy and regulatory initiatives that have been undertaken since 1991 including the provisions of the new enactments which have come into force eventually in the form of The Electricity Act, 2003. This paper details out the key features of the Act and its likely impact on the Indian electricity industry in the emerging scenario. The paper also discusses major issues like power trading, role of regulator in the new regime, issue of open access, introduction of power markets and role of Appellate Tribunal for Electricity in harmonizing the orders of the various regulators.

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION – REFORM IT OR CHANGE IT?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sterian Maria Gabriela

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The failure of Doha Round is a serious step backward for the WTO and the multilateral trading system. Some analysts already discussed in their research about the round as being already closed and they propose the developing of a new program within the organization. WTO still remains a very important institution due to its proven role in encouraging states not to take protectionist measures during the recent economic crisis, but the global trade governance reform must reflect all the changes and realities. The transition is being made toward a more regionalized and preferential global trade and the emergence of strong developing countries shape the whole multilateral trade negotiations. The important growth rates in emerging countries are translated also in strong demand for representation in global trade governance. Objectives: This paper aims to underline the role of multilateralism as form of international cooperation, the link with global economic governance and what concerns academic community in terms of having a reform of it. Prior Work: It has been tried to emphasizing the concepts already developed by known researchers in the field. Approach: The approach is a more theoretic one done in a comparative manner with emphasis on results and future research. The critical method approach is done with qualitative results. Results: The key results are related to pros and cons of reforming the World Trade Organization, as well as presenting the criticisms and proposals for having a second World Trade Organization. Implications: The implications are varied in terms of studying the concepts and addresses researchers in the field, but also lecturers and students. Value: The main added value is the compared approach of the traditional WTO as it derived from General Agreement on Tariff and Trade and the proposal for a new one and its formal relationship with the global economic governance.

Managing risk selection incentives in health sector reforms.

Science.gov (United States)

Puig-Junoy, J

1999-01-01

The object of the paper is to review theoretical and empirical contributions to the optimal management of risk selection incentives ('cream skimming') in health sector reforms. The trade-off between efficiency and risk selection is fostered in health sector reforms by the introduction of competitive mechanisms such as price competition or prospective payment systems. The effects of two main forms of competition in health sector reforms are observed when health insurance is mandatory: competition in the market for health insurance, and in the market for health services. Market and government failures contribute to the assessment of the different forms of risk selection employed by insurers and providers, as the effects of selection incentives on efficiency and their proposed remedies to reduce the impact of these perverse incentives. Two European (Netherlands and Spain) and two Latin American (Chile and Colombia) case studies of health sector reforms are examined in order to observe selection incentives, their effects on efficiency and costs in the health system, and regulation policies implemented in each country to mitigate incentives to 'cream skim' good risks.

Reviewing tax system and its reform plan for the fuel market in South Korea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, M.-K.

2005-01-01

After a long period of government intervention in the energy market, the Korean government has realized that the costs of its intervention are greater than the benefit as the economy got more complicated and more integrated into the world economy. The objective of the energy tax reform is to establish a transparent set of taxing principles, in order to internalize externalities from energy consumption. The expected effects of the reform is to motivate energy conservation and to promote R and D on energy conservation technologies which will ultimately result in the strengthening of industrial competitiveness and the reduction of urban air pollution

Reviewing tax system and its reform plan for the fuel market in South Korea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Myung-Kyoon Lee

2005-01-01

After a long period of government intervention in the energy market, the Korean government has realized that the costs of its intervention are greater than the benefit as the economy got more complicated and more integrated into the world economy. The objective of the energy tax reform is to establish a transparent set of taxing principles, in order to internalize externalities from energy consumption. The expected effects of the reform is to motivate energy conservation and to promote R and D on energy conservation technologies which will ultimately result in the strengthening of industrial competitiveness and the reduction of urban air pollution. (author)

Keeping Faith with Economic Reform | Usman | Economic and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In a rare glimpse of the policy direction of the present government led by President Umar Yaradua, the Minister of Finance Shamsuddeen Usman discusses the significant macroeconomic and structural reforms being put in place. According to him, the direction of the current administration is to sustain macroeconomic ...

Absent alternatives and insider interests in postcrisis financial reform

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mügge, D.; Stellinga, B.

2010-01-01

The credit crisis that began in the summer of 2007 has fundamentally challenged much financial regulation and the political institutions that produced it. Measured against the criticisms that have been brought forth against previous financial governance, the extent of governments’ overall reform

Local Government in the South Pacific Islands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Graham Hassall

2008-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper we seek to answer some basic questions about the condition of local government in the Pacific. Firstly, we examine what is meant by ‘local government’ in the various islands and for that matter how Pacific Island states have perceived and accepted local government institutions in practice; second, we ask basic questions about existing legal and constitutional recognition and powers; and third, we provide initial findings on current per capita expenditure and local government financial viability in a number of Pacific cities and towns. We also make some observations on current moves towards local government reform.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN ROMANIA. EVOLUTION AND PERSPECTIVES

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BUȘAN GABRIELA

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Thanks to slow way to political, legal, social and economic reform, the corporate governance appears in Romania, from concept and filing, until the early 2000`s. This paper analyzes the evolution of corporate governance in the period 2000-2015, it is presented the OECD principles of corporate governance of companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and it analyse the situation of the public entities who had the obligation to apply the provisions of O.U.G 109/2011 on corporate governance of public entities and to publish on its Web site the Annual Report

Unleashing the Potentials of Housing Sector in Nigeria as Perceived by Users

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Taiwo David Olugbenga

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Housing is a basic need and a human right. The role that housing plays in the social and economic development of a country cannot be underestimated. Interventions in housing by government are widely acknowledged as one of the ways by which the social aspect of the life of the citizenry can be impacted especially through mass housing otherwise called social housing. This paper aims to examine the various potentials in the housing sector in order to enhance the delivery of more housing to Nigerians. A survey research approach was used in the study. Descriptive analysis was employed to explain the potentials in the housing sector. Housing deficit in Nigeria currently stands at about 17 million units. Efforts to meet and rectify the deficit will need a concerted effort of individuals and government. It requires unleashing the potentials in the housing sector to stimulate growth in the economy, thereby diversifying the economy from the mono to a multi sector economy. Interventions of governments at all levels as well as the involvement of informal sector in the housing sector will have a multiplier effect. It will generate multiple employment opportunities which will in turn stimulate the economy through the circulation of money in the system. The paper noted that interventions in housing sector will stimulate industries in the production of local building materials. Additionally, ailing companies will be revitalized, thereby improving the standard of living of the citizens. The paper concludes that strengthening and repositioning of agencies such as the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria, Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company, will accelerate the release of the potentials in the housing sector and thereby enhance the delivery of affordable houses for Nigerians.

Health Care Reform: a Socialist Vision

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Martha Livingston

2010-04-01

Full Text Available At first glance, it doesn't seem as though socialism and health-care reform have a whole lot to do with each other. After all, the most visible "left" position in the current discussion of health-care reform merely advocates for the government to assume the function of national insurer, leaving the delivery of health care - from its often-questionable content to its hierarchical relationships - firmly in place. As such, a single payer, Medicare-for-All insurance program is a modest, even tepid reform. Those of us on the left who have been active in the single payer movement have always seen it as a steppingstone toward health-care justice: until the question of access to care is solved, how do we even begin to address not only health care but also health inequities? How, for example, can working-class Americans, Americans of color, and women demand appropriate, respectful, humane, first-rate care when our ability to access any health-care services at all is so tightly constrained?

A review on weaknesses and strengths of delivering Mehr housing project in terms of achieving economical goals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Karshenasan

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Housing is one of the most important sections of development in a country and its economic importance has put it in the center of attention. It can cause rise and depression of habitation by its extended economic aspects. Mehr Housing plan is a state run housing project in most cities started 2007 in Iran to protect and provide cheap housing for poor people and young couples. Mehr housing project by its large scale and wide dimensions can affect the society’s economy. Therefore, to investigate weaknesses and strengths of this project in terms of economic and applying necessary reformation can increase the success probability of this project. For this purpose, this study assess the weaknesses and strengths of Mehr housing of province of Khorram Abad in Iran for achieving economic goals and also presents solutions to better access to these goals. Time scope of the present study is 6 months of 2011 and the second 3 months of 2012. The methodology is applicable in terms of goal and is descriptive survey in terms of nature. In this study, a combined method of interviewing to experts and distributing a questionnaire among the applicants of Mehr housing has been used for data collecting. Among strengths of Khorram Abad in economic section, employment and urban landfill pattern reformation can be implied. In addition, among weaknesses of this project are lack of proper first design and technical justification of the project and use of only 2 shabby fabrics.

The political economy of electricity dispatch reform in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kahrl, Fredrich; Williams, James H.; Hu, Junfeng

2013-01-01

The transition to a cleaner and more cost-efficient electricity system in China is political-economic as well as technological. An example is the reform of China's method of dispatching power plants, which potentially affects the economic relationships between consumers and producers, between grid and generating companies, and between central and provincial governments. Historically, coal-fired power plants in China all received roughly the same number of operating hours, regardless of efficiency or cost. In 2007, Chinese government agencies began to pilot “energy efficient dispatch,” which requires that generators be dispatched on the basis of thermal efficiency. Using a case study of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China, we evaluated potential energy and cost savings from a change to energy efficient dispatch. We found that the savings are at best relatively small, because large, efficient generators already account for a significant share of total generation. Moreover, as an administrative policy that does not change economic incentives, energy efficient dispatch exacerbates imbalances and center-provincial tensions in the current system. We argue that incentive-based dispatch reform is likely to produce better outcomes, and that the keys to this reform are empowering an independent regulator with pricing authority and establishing a formal, transparent ratemaking process. - Highlights: ► Savings from China's energy efficient dispatch (EED) policy are at best relatively small. ► EED exacerbates imbalances and center-provincial tensions in China's current power system. ► Incentive-based dispatch reform is likely to produce better outcomes than EED. ► Keys to reform are independent regulation and a formal, transparent ratemaking process. ► Transition to cleaner, cost-efficient electricity system in China is political-economic as well as technological.

Governance in urban development crisis situations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jörg Rober

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Urban shrinking processes are increasingly recognized as a phenomenon for research in urban politics, encompassing entire cities or parts of it as well as metropolitan areas that are experiencing a fundamental decline in both their economic and social bases.Cities are facing complex social problems like aging processes within the resident population and simultaneously running shrinking processes. Observable side effects of these transformation processes are higher vacancy rates and under-utilization of infrastructure facilities. Therefore cities are no longer able to cope alone with this growing complexity, hence a demand for cooperation evolves. The ongoing reforms of internal structure of local government connected with the devolution of resources and competences, as well as the changing external relationships between the business community, local public bodies, individual bureaucrats and local politicians, increase institutional fragmentation. Thus internal and external reform processes generate an extended network of policy actors involved in local decision making. Schools of thought in urban politics accentuate the changing role of local governments in decision making processes. Regime theory, corporatism, regulation theory or civic governance concepts differ in their emphasis on the importance of specific actors participating in local decision making. The paper reviews the competing theoretical assumptions for the importance of specific actors in local decision making. This addresses the question to what extent specific governance modes adopted in reaction to shrinking processes are an expression of a changing relationship between local governments and civil society or business actors in an international comparative context. Is there a trend to more convergence with respect to the adopted governance modes?

Are we there yet? A journey of health reform in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, Christine C

2013-08-19

• Five years on from the establishment of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission, it is timely to review the context for reform and some of the actions taken to date, and to highlight remaining areas of concern and priority. • The Commission's final report was released in July 2009 and presented 123 recommendations organised under four reform themes: Taking responsibility: individual and collective action to build good health and wellbeing - by people, families, communities, health professionals, employers, health funders and governments Connecting care: comprehensive care for people over their lifetime Facing inequities: recognise and tackle the causes and impacts of health inequities Driving quality performance: leadership and systems to achieve best use of people, resources and evolving knowledge. • Overall, the Australian Government's response to the Commission's report has been very positive, but challenges remain in some key areas: Financial sustainability and the vertical fiscal imbalance between the federal and state governments Getting the best value from the health dollar by reducing inefficiency and waste and using value-based purchasing across the public and private health sectors National leadership across the system as a whole Getting the right care in the right place at the right time Health is about more than health care - increasing focus on prevention and recognising and tackling the broader social determinants of health.

Polycentrism and Poverty: Experiences of Rural Water Supply Reform in Namibia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Falk

2009-02-01

This paper investigates how polycentric rural water supply reform impacts on natural resource management and water users’ livelihoods in three communal areas of Namibia. The analysis takes into account the effects of historic discriminative policies and the resulting low financial, human and social capital of rural communities. We conclude that the devolution of institutional and financial responsibility for water supply to users has had a positive impact on rural water management. However, the introduction of cost recovery principles conflicts with the objectives of the Namibian government to alleviate poverty and inequality. The high level of inequality within the country as a whole and also within communities impedes the development of fair fee systems. Polycentrism faces the major challenge of building on existing structures without replicating historic injustices. It allows, however, for the state to mitigate any negative impact on livelihoods. While the reform is in the process of full implementation, the government is discussing various options of how the poor can be guaranteed access to water without diminishing their development opportunities. The Namibian experience demonstrates the difficulties in developing effective incentive mechanisms without undermining major social objectives. Our analyses show that, compared to naive monocentric governance approaches, polycentrism offers much broader opportunities for achieving multidimensional objectives. Nonetheless, a reform does not become successful simply because it is polycentric.

Pharmaceutical policy reform in Canada: lessons from history.

Science.gov (United States)

Boothe, Katherine

2018-07-01

Canada is the only country with a broad public health system that does not include universal, nationwide coverage for pharmaceuticals. This omission causes real hardship to those Canadians who are not well-served by the existing patchwork of limited provincial plans and private insurance. It also represents significant forgone benefits in terms of governments' ability to negotiate drug prices, make expensive new drugs available to patients on an equitable basis, and provide integrated health services regardless of therapy type or location. This paper examines Canada's historical failure to adopt universal pharmaceutical insurance on a national basis, with particular emphasis on the role of public and elite ideas about its supposed lack of affordability. This legacy provides novel lessons about the barriers to reform and potential methods for overcoming them. The paper argues that reform is most likely to be successful if it explicitly addresses entrenched ideas about pharmacare's affordability and its place in the health system. Reform is also more likely to achieve universal coverage if it is radical, addressing various components of an effective pharmaceutical program simultaneously. In this case, an incremental approach is likely to fail because it will not allow governments to contain costs and realize the social benefits that come along with a universal program, and because it means forgoing the current promising conditions for achieving real change.

Game theoretical framework in determining house prices

Science.gov (United States)

Saiddin, Nor Syuhadah; Zaibidi, Nerda Zura; Sulaiman, Nor Intan Saniah; Abidin, Norhaslinda Zainal

2017-11-01

Housing is a vital component in world's economic development as it provides big contribution of the wealth. The issue of high house prices, worrying several parties, especially middle income buyers in Malaysia. Basically, in housing, there are three main parties involved; buyer, property developer and government. Interaction between those parties will give an impact to the housing market, specifically house prices. The complexity of the interaction has increased due to the differences in each party's preferences and interest. In this research, the main objective is to develop the framework of the interactions among those parties using game theoretical approach. To do so, the preferences and target of each party are investigated and their constraints are established. From the framework, it offers some ideas on how the interaction occurs and how it affect the house prices.

the role of financial institutions towards affordable housing to urban

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Mugumbate

weak positive effect (=.345) of housing finance on affordable housing and contributed to ..... Officers and 81 selected beneficiaries (middle income earners) of the several ..... transaction has to be independently valued by the Chief. Government ...

Globalization and Summit Reform: An Experiment in International ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2 juin 2008 ... Featuring a Foreword by Dr Gordon Smith, an Afterword by the Right Honourable Paul Martin, former Prime Minister of Canada, and a glossary of terms, Globalization and Summit Reform provides a unique, insiders' perspective on the process of international governance and its future prospects. A course ...

AFFORDABILITY OF LOW INCOME HOUSING IN PUMWANI, NAIROBI, KENYA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Crispino C. Ochieng

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Since 1987, in Kenya, through the National Housing Corporation (NHC, an arm of the central government that delivers affordable houses, the local government embarked on the redevelopment of Pumwani the oldest surviving affordable low income housing in Nairobi. Pumwani was started in 1923 and it targeted early African immigrants to Nairobi. Currently, the old Pumwani is home to some of the city’s poorest dwellers majorities who depend on the informal sector for an income. Redevelopment was targeted at housing all the genuine dwellers. Instead delivery ended up with house types that were at first rejected by the beneficiaries. Although the new housing was slightly of an improved physical and spatial quality it was unaffordable. Beneficiaries were required to pay an average monthly rent of US$157 for up to eighteen years towards purchase of the new house. In the beginning, some of them had declined to take position of the newly built houses. To raise the basic rent majorities of those who have since moved in have opted to rent out some of the space. To date there is still standoff with some of the houses still unoccupied. Except during the period of social survey when the beneficiaries were brought in to supply the necessary information, the entire construction process was undertaken by NHC under a turnkey project. Among other factors the construction process was at fault for it raised the costs. Also, some of the basic housing needs were not effectively looked into. There was a housing mismatch.

Fundamental dimensions of Financial condition in the federal government

OpenAIRE

Murphy, Mark S.

2001-01-01

Historically, financial reports of federal agencies focused on budgetary accounting, the reporting of obligations and expenditures of appropriated funds. The Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990 and subsequent legislation significantly changed this pattern by requiring the 24 largest government agencies to reorganize their financial staffs and establish Chief Financial Officers to reform accounting procedures and reporting. To achieve the goals of the financial reform acts, it must be d...

China Public Budget Reform Program (CPBR) - Phase II | IDRC ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

The Government of China has adopted a national reform program aimed at making budgeting more transparent and accountable through public involvement and enhanced oversight. Building on work carried out under Phase I (102965), the China Development Research Foundation (CDRF) will analyze China's current ...

32 CFR Appendix E to Part 310 - Sample of New or Altered System of Records Notice in Federal Register Format

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

.... 552a(r) of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, were submitted on January 20, 2006, to the House... submitted on January 29, 2004, to the House Committee on Government Reform, the Senate Committee on.... The electronic records systems employ user identification and password or smart card technology...

76 FR 46774 - Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records-Federal Student Aid Application File

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-03

... the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and the Administrator of the Office of... Chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Chair of the House... Grant Change Flag. The National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (SMART Grant) data...

The financialization of Danish cooperatives and the debasement of a collective housing good

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bruun, Maja Hojer

2018-01-01

The article tells the story of Danish cooperative housing’s radical transformation from a collective housing good and commons to a financialized asset during the 2000s when neoliberal housing reforms were introduced and the mortgage finance market was deregulated. Processes of financialization...... and private interests. Housing cooperatives have existed as a form of collective housing throughout the 20th century, balanced, on the one hand, between the reproduction of kin, family and local communities and the common good and, on the other, between the market and the reproduction of the base for both...... families, local communities and the larger public sharing the housing commons. During the 2000s, processes of financialization brought the market and the cooperatives' base so close together, primarily through new mortgaging opportunities, that families and communities have lost their savings and the base...

The financialization of Danish cooperatives and the debasement of a collective housing good

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bruun, Maja Hojer

2018-01-01

The article tells the story of Danish cooperative housing’s radical transformation from a collective housing good and commons to a financialized asset during the 2000s when neoliberal housing reforms were introduced and the mortgage finance market was deregulated. Processes of financialization...... families, local communities and the larger public sharing the housing commons. During the 2000s, processes of financialization brought the market and the cooperatives' base so close together, primarily through new mortgaging opportunities, that families and communities have lost their savings and the base...... of collectively-owned housing have to be understood not only in relation to the dynamics of the surrounding housing market and political-economic changes but also to the communities and social relations that they presuppose and feed off, often in contradictory ways, as people are motivated by both solidarity...

The financialization of Danish cooperatives and the debasement of a collective housing good

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bruun, Maja Hojer

2018-01-01

The article tells the story of Danish cooperative housing’s radical transformation from a collective housing good and commons to a financialized asset during the 2000s when neoliberal housing reforms were introduced and the mortgage finance market was deregulated. Processes of financialization...... and private interests. Housing cooperatives have existed as a form of collective housing throughout the 20th century, balanced, on the one hand, between the reproduction of kin, family and local communities and the common good and, on the other, between the market and the reproduction of the base for both...... families, local communities and the larger public sharing the housing commons. During the 2000s, processes of financialization brought the market and the cooperatives’ base so close together, primarily through new mortgaging opportunities, that families and communi- ties have lost their savings...

Building Better Homes: Government Strategies for Promoting Innovation in Housing

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hassell, Scott

2003-01-01

This report examines the structure, characteristics, and motivations of major participants in the housing industry to explore how innovation might be improved or accelerated within the industry as it currently exists...

24 CFR 598.210 - What certifications must governments make?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... pervasive poverty, unemployment and general distress, as prescribed by § 598.110; (c) The nominated urban... 24 Housing and Urban Development 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false What certifications must governments make? 598.210 Section 598.210 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating to Housing and...

76 FR 79050 - Federal Home Loan Bank Housing Goals: Mortgage Reporting Amendments

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-21

... FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY 12 CFR Part 1281 RIN 2590-AA48 Federal Home Loan Bank Housing Goals... governing housing goals for the Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks) to make those requirements consistent with... Section 1205 of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) amended the Federal Home Loan Bank...

Sustainable house construction and green financing. Explanation for 'green mortgages'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-05-01

The Dutch government finances the sustainable construction of new houses by means of so-called 'green loans'. Extra costs for the construction of a sustainable house are compensated by a lower interest rate for a green loan. In this brochure it is explained when green financing of house construction is possible and how to apply for such loans

The Fiscal and Macroeconomic Impacts of Reforming Energy Subsidy Policy in Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Nora Yusma Bte Mohamed Yusoff; Hussain Ali Bekhet

2017-01-01

The rationalization of a gradual subsidies reforms plan has been set out by the Malaysian government to achieve the high-income nation target. This paper attempts to analyze the impacts of energy subsidy reform policy on fiscal deficit and macroeconomics variables in Malaysia. The Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Model is employed. Three simulations based on different groups of scenarios have been developed. Importantly, the overall results indicate that removal of fuel subsidy has signif...

Faith-based initiatives and the challenges of governance.

Science.gov (United States)

Biebricher, Thomas

2011-01-01

The task of this paper is to offer an analysis of the Faith-Based and Community Initiative (FBCI) established by George W. Bush and continued under the Obama administration based on a critical and decentred approach to governance (networks). The paper starts out by placing FBCI in the context of the welfare reform of 1996 arguing that both share certain basic assumptions, for example, regarding the nature of poverty, and that FBCI can be interpreted as a response to the relative failure of some aspects of the reform of 1996. In what follows, FBCI is analysed as a typical case of (welfare) state restructuring from government to governance. Emphasis is given to the way discourses and traditions such as communitarianism and public choice have shaped the formation of this new governance arrangement in the field of social service delivery in order to strive for a ‘decentring’ of FBCI by drawing attention to actors' beliefs and worldviews. Finally, I argue that it is not least because of a divergence of such views between policy-makers and faith-based organizations that the effect of FBCI remains for the time being limited.

Seeing through Transparency in Education Reform: Illuminating the "Local"

Science.gov (United States)

Koyama, Jill; Kania, Brian

2016-01-01

Utilizing "assemblage," a notion associated with Actor-Network Theory (ANT), we explore what discourses of transparency can, and cannot, accomplish in a network of education reform that includes schools, government agencies, and community organizations. Drawing on data collected between July 2011 and March 2013 in an…

Nigeria's Banking Sector Reforms: the Journey So Far | Onodje ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The current economic crisis appears to vindicate strident calls for financial sector reforms to enthrone sound financial practices and good corporate governance as means to ensuring sustainable economic growth and development. It is thus appropriate in the current adverse global economic circumstances, to determine the ...

Regional environmental tax reform in a fiscal federalism setting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. CIASCHINI

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The increasing attention to climate changes have led national Governments to design environmental tax policies able to face environmental problems and their associated economic consequences as a negative change of GDP. The environmental taxation in particular is considered a powerful instrument of pollution control. More important, it provides public revenue that can be recycled both at State level and Local level in order to attain the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the regional double dividend. In this respect, we use a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE model with imperfect labour market, to assess the regional effects of an environmental fiscal reform designed with the aim of reducing the CO2 emissions in a fiscal federalism setting. In particular, we introduce a local green tax on commodities output with a progressive structure. The tax burden depends on the commodity polluting power and the tax revenue is collected by the Local Government. According to the fiscal federalism principles the Central Government reduces the transfers to the Local Government by the same amount of the tax revenue and compensates the transfer reduction with a cut in Households income tax. The application is done on a bi-regional Social Accounting Matrix for Italy and the results highlights the distributional effects of the reform on macroeconomic variables into the bi-regional income circular flow.

The Role of Law in Adaptive Governance | Science Inventory ...

Science.gov (United States)

The term “governance” encompasses both governmental and nongovernmental participation in collective choice and action. Law dictates the structure, boundaries, rules, and processes within which governmental action takes place, and in doing so becomes one of the focal points for analysis of barriers to adaptation as the effects of climate change are felt. Adaptive governance must therefore contemplate a level of flexibility and evolution in governmental action beyond that currently found in the heavily administrative governments of many democracies. Nevertheless, over time, law itself has proven highly adaptive in western systems of government, evolving to address and even facilitate the emergence of new social norms (such as the rights of women and minorities) or to provide remedies for emerging problems (such as pollution). Thus, there is no question that law can adapt, evolve, and be reformed to make room for adaptive governance. In doing this, not only may barriers be removed, but law may be adjusted to facilitate adaptive governance and to aid in institutionalizing new and emerging approaches to governance. The key is to do so in a way that also enhances legitimacy, accountability, and justice, or else such reforms will never be adopted by democratic societies, or if adopted, will destabilize those societies. By identifying those aspects of the frameworks for adaptive governance reviewed in the introduction to this special feature relevant to the legal sy

Notes from the laboratories of democracy: state government enactments of market- and state-based health insurance reforms in the 1990s.

Science.gov (United States)

Barrilleaux, Charles; Brace, Paul

2007-08-01

We identify two policy strategies that state governments pursue to reduce uninsurance, and we classify policies as being either state based or market based. The two policy strategies are distinguished by whether states rely on the institutional capabilities of the state or market processes to provide insurance. We develop and test models to explain states' adoptions of each type of policy. Using Poisson regression, we evaluate hypotheses suggested by the two strategies with data from U.S. states in the 1990s. The results indicate that institutionally more-capable state governments with strong liberal-party presence in the legislature adopt more state-based policies and fewer market-based policies. By contrast, the model of market-based, business-targeted reforms reveals that government capability plays a smaller role. Instead, these policies are driven by economic affluence, political competition, higher incomes, greater uninsurance, and more previous attempts to address the uninsurance problem. These findings reveal distinct institutional, partisan, electoral and demographic influences that shape state-based and market-based strategies. First, policy choices can be driven by the presence or absence of state capability. The domain of feasible policy choices open to states with institutional capability may be decidedly different than that available to states with fewer institutional resources. Second, while market-based policy approaches may be the most feasible politically, they may be the least successful in remedying practical uninsurance issues. These results thus reveal that institutional characteristics of states create an important foundation for policy choice and policy success or failure. These results would suggest that the national government's strategy of pursuing market-based solutions to the problem will not result in its being solved.

[Study on the reform and improvement of the medical device registration system in China].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lanming

2012-11-01

Based on the theories of the Government Regulation and Administrative Licensure, aiming at the current situations of medical device registration system in China, some policy suggestions for future reform and improvement were provided as follows. (1) change the concepts of medical device registration administration. (2) perfect the regulations of medical device registration administration. (3) reform the medical device review organizational system. (4) Optimize the procedure of review and approval. (5) set up and maintain a professional team of review and approval staff. (6) reinforce the post-marketing supervision of medical devices. (7) foster and bring into play of the role of non-government organizations.

The new social housing scheme in Nigeria: How beneficial for the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The Nigerian government recently inaugurated a Special Committee on National Social Housing Scheme (NSHS) with a presidential mandate to provide housing for its less privileged citizens. In the pilot phase of the scheme, the committee was to build 18,000 units of houses across the country before the end of 2006.

Curriculum reform at Chinese medical schools: what have we learned?

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Lei; Cheng, Liming; Cai, Qiaoling; Kosik, Russell Olive; Huang, Yun; Zhao, Xudong; Xu, Guo-Tong; Su, Tung-Ping; Chiu, Allen Wen-Hsiang; Fan, Angela Pei-Chen

2014-12-01

Curriculum reform at Chinese medical schools has attracted a lot of attention recently. Several leading medical schools in China have undergone exploratory reforms and in so doing, have accumulated significant experience and have made considerable progress. An analysis of the reforms conducted by 38 Chinese medical colleges that were targeted by the government for upgrade was performed. Drawing from both domestic and international literature, we designed a questionnaire to determine what types of curricular reforms have occurred at these institutions and how they were implemented. Major questions touched upon the purpose of the reforms, curricular patterns, improvements in teaching methods post-reform, changes made to evaluation systems post-reform, intra-university reform assessment, and what difficulties the schools faced when instituting the reforms. Besides the questionnaire, relevant administrators from each medical school were also interviewed to obtain more qualitative data. Out of the 38 included universities, twenty-five have undergone major curricular reforms. Among them, 60.0% adopted an organ system-based curriculum model, 32.0% adopted a problem-based curriculum model, and 8.0% adopted a hybrid curriculum model. About 60.0% of the schools' reforms involved both the "pre-clinical" and the "clinical" curricula, 32.0% of the schools' reforms were limited to the "pre-clinical" curricula, and 8.0% of the schools' reforms only involved the "clinical" curricula. Following curricular reform, 60.0% of medical schools experienced an overall reduction in teaching hours, 76.0% reported an increase in their students' clinical skills, and 60.0% reported an increase in their students' research skills. Medical curricular reform is still in its infancy in China. The republic's leading medical schools have engaged in various approaches to bring innovative teaching methods to their respective institutions. However, due to limited resources and the shackle of traditional

75 FR 20717 - Federal Housing Administration: Continuation of FHA Reform; Strengthening Risk Management Through...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-20

... Administration: Continuation of FHA Reform; Strengthening Risk Management Through Responsible FHA-Approved...) that are designed to strengthen FHA by improving its management of risk. This final rule increases the... designed to enhance FHA's risk management functions. The announcement preceded completion of an independent...

Health, welfare reform, and narratives of uncertainty among Cambodian refugees.

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, G; Beyene, Y; Ken, P

2000-06-01

Massive disruptions to a way of life, such as those brought on by widespread violence, terror, and genocide, disorder the body as well as the social order. When they flee their homelands, refugees bring their experiences of violence and terror with them. Drawing on an ethnographic study of 40 Cambodian refugees between the ages of 50 and 79 who suffered from one or more chronic illnesses, we explore how refugees who live with chronic illnesses and are dependent on government support were affected by the threat of welfare reform. When welfare reform threatened to cut Cambodian refugees' income, it posed a new crisis for those who were chronically in limbo and placed further constraints on their lives. Through their narratives, Cambodian refugees enacted their bodily distress and resisted the threat of welfare reform. The story of threatened welfare reform in the U.S. and its possible consequences for refugees is a story of quixotic U.S. politics, policies and antidotes for refugeeism gone awry.

Yu Kilchun’s Concept of Reform of the Tax System in the Korean Empire

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinah Yang

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Yu Kilchun in “Semubu (Tax Department” criticizes the trend of the tax system, in which the authority to impose and collect taxes had been taken away from the local magistrates and the isŏ class (composed of hyangni, local functionaries, and sŏri, petty clerks during the Kabo Reform was once again returned to them. Yu Kilchun devised a concept of tax system reform on the premise of the reorganization of the administrative districts into the chu-kun-hyang-ri (state-county-district-village system. Yu’s idea was to make myŏn (hyang, district a governing administrative unit, placed under direct government control. To fund the operation of local governments, Yu proposed to create local taxes, chu taxes and hyang. Tax amounts were to be determined by local assemblies, chuhoe and hyanghoe, which were given the authority to deliberate on budget. The authority to review tax sources, levy and collect taxes was given to hyang, a small unit of administrative division. By imbuing this authority to hyang, Yu Kilchun planned to exclude local magistrates and the isŏ class in the tax collection process. Since “Semubu” discusses the reorganization of administrative divisions and local tax administration, as well as local tax system reform, the discovery of this text is significant, as it expands the range of the reform ideas proposed by Yu Kilchun, and furthermore the Enlightenment Party.

China's electricity market-oriented reform: From an absolute to a relative monopoly

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Qiang; Chen, Xi

2012-01-01

The market-oriented reform in electricity industry has become a global trend since 1980s. Although China's electricity industry has been reformed since 1978, the substantial reform has not been conducted until 1985. Before 1985, China's power industry had been absolutely monopolized by the central state-owned companies. The absolute monopoly has been broken since 1985, when the Chinese government opened doors for non-central state-owned investment entities and foreign investors in power supplies in order to solve the chronic power shortage. In 2002, the comprehensive electricity reform plan entitled Scheme of the Reform for Power Industry was enacted. However, implementation of this plan was delayed due to electricity supply shortages. Even worse, a new kind of monopoly has been developed under the background “the state advances, the private sector retreats” in late years. In some sense, the former absolute monopoly has transformed the current relative monopoly. We contend that the relative monopoly has reversed the market-oriented reform in China's electric industry. If the relative monopoly remains unchanged, it will be harmful to public welfare.

Commitment to Cybersecurity and Information Technology Governance: A Case Study and Leadership Model

Science.gov (United States)

Curtis, Scipiaruth Kendall

2012-01-01

The continual emergence of technologies has infiltrated government and industry business infrastructures, requiring reforming organizations and fragile network infrastructures. Emerging technologies necessitates countermeasures, commitment to cybersecurity and information technology governance for organization's survivability and sustainability.…

Thermodynamic assessment of hydrogen production and cobalt oxidation susceptibility under ethanol reforming conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Avila, C.N. de; Hori, C.E.; Assis, A.J. de

2011-01-01

A comparative thermodynamic analysis of ethanol reforming reactions was conducted using an in-house code. Equilibrium compositions were estimated using the Lagrange multipliers method, which generated systems of non-linear algebraic equations, solved numerically. Effects of temperature, pressure and steam to ethanol, O 2 to ethanol and CO 2 to ethanol ratios on the equilibrium compositions were evaluated. The validation was done by comparing these data with experimental literature. The results of this work proved to be useful to foresee whether the experimental results follow the stoichiometry of the reactions involved in each process. Mole fractions of H 2 and CO 2 proved to be the most reliable variables to make this type of validation. Maximization of H 2 mole fraction was attained between 773 and 873 K, but maximum net mole production of H 2 was only achieved at higher temperatures (>1123 K). This work also advances in the thermodynamics of solid-gas phase interactions. A solid phase thermodynamic analysis was performed to confirm that Co 0 formation from CoO is spontaneous under steam reforming conditions. The results showed that this reduction process occurs only for temperatures higher than 430 K. It was also found that once reduced, Co based catalysts will never oxidize back to Co 3 O 4 . -- Highlights: → Thermodynamic analysis of ethanol reforming reactions using an in-house code. → Analysis performed by solving systems of non-linear algebraic equations. → H 2 and CO 2 equilibrium data are useful to validate catalytic tests. → Maximization of H 2 mole fraction achieved between 773 and 873 K → CoO reduction is spontaneous under steam reforming of ethanol conditions.

The search for local government autonomy in Nigeria: legal and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article examines the status of the local government under the tripartite governmental system in Nigeria that has been in operation since 1979. It reviews the various reforms that the administration of local government has gone through from the colonial era till 1999 when the extant Constitution of Nigeria came into force.

Policy Capacity for Health Reform: Necessary but Insufficient: Comment on "Health Reform Requires Policy Capacity".

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Owen

2015-09-04

Forest and colleagues have persuasively made the case that policy capacity is a fundamental prerequisite to health reform. They offer a comprehensive life-cycle definition of policy capacity and stress that it involves much more than problem identification and option development. I would like to offer a Canadian perspective. If we define health reform as re-orienting the health system from acute care to prevention and chronic disease management the consensus is that Canada has been unsuccessful in achieving a major transformation of our 14 health systems (one for each province and territory plus the federal government). I argue that 3 additional things are essential to build health policy capacity in a healthcare federation such as Canada: (a) A means of "policy governance" that would promote an approach to cooperative federalism in the health arena; (b) The ability to overcome the "policy inertia" resulting from how Canadian Medicare was implemented and subsequently interpreted; and (c) The ability to entertain a long-range thinking and planning horizon. My assessment indicates that Canada falls short on each of these items, and the prospects for achieving them are not bright. However, hope springs eternal and it will be interesting to see if the July, 2015 report of the Advisory Panel on Healthcare Innovation manages to galvanize national attention and stimulate concerted action. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Market reforms and public incentives: finding a balance in the Republic of Macedonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Nordyke, Robert J; Peabody, John W

2002-03-01

The Republic of Macedonia is undertaking sweeping reforms of its health sector. Funded by a World Bank credit, the reforms seek to improve the efficiency and quality of primary health care (PHC) by significantly strengthening the role of the market in health care provision. On the supply-side, one of the key reform proposals is to implement a capitation payment system for PHC physicians. By placing individual physicians on productivity-based contracts, these reforms will effectively marketize all PHC provision. In addition, the Ministry of Health is considering the sale or concessions of public PHC clinics to private groups, indicating the government's commitment to marketization of health care provision. Macedonia is in a unique position to develop a new role for the private sector in PHC provision. The private provision of outpatient care was legalized soon after independence in 1991; private physicians now account for nearly 10% of all physicians and 22% of PHC physicians. If the reforms are fully realized, all PHC physicians-over 40% of all physicians-will be financially responsible for their clinical practices. This study draws on Macedonia's experience with limited development of private outpatient care starting in 1991 and the reform proposals for PHC, finding a network of policies and procedures throughout the health sector that negatively impact private and public sector provision. An assessment of the effects that this greater policy environment has on private sector provision identifies opportunities to strategically enhance the reforms. With respect to established market economies, the study finds justification for a greater role for government intervention in private health markets in transition economies. In addition to micro-level payment incentives and administrative controls, marketization in Central and Eastern Europe requires an examination of insurance contracting procedures, quality assurance practices, public clinic ownership, referral

European electricity markets reforms: the 'visible hand' of public coordination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Finon, Dominique; Roques, Fabien

2013-01-01

The paper investigates how proposed reforms on policies to maintain generation adequacy and encourage clean technology investments in a number of European countries modify the role of the market. In these reforms the government, regulator and system operator take on explicit planning and coordination responsibilities with the introduction of capacity mechanisms and long-term support for clean technologies. We highlight the interactions of these mechanisms with the electricity market and how they reallocate risks between generators, government and consumers. The different mechanisms offer varying degrees of autonomy to generators with regards to investment decisions. In a prospective way, the paper also explores how designs of these different mechanisms might converge towards a unified technology neutral mechanism in the long-run. This could involve auctioning of long-term contracts for all types of existing and new capacities, whether it is low carbon or fossil fueled. (authors)

The Ralph review - tax reform and the Australian gas industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horden, P.; Kellock, I.

1999-01-01

The impact of the Federal Government's tax reform package on the Australian gas industry will be generally negative, particularly in terms of infrastructure investment, according to Pricewaterhouse Coopers' Peter Hordern and Ian Kellock. This article examines the critical aspects of the package. Overall, the impact of the tax reform package (consisting of the Ralph committee's report and the Government's initial response) on the Australian gas industry would appear to be negative. The removal of accelerated depreciation and the potential for severe limitations on leasing arrangements is particularly bad news. While the proposed reduction in the company tax rate may appear positive, this is unlikely to provide significant benefit to the industry. The reality is existing gas infrastructure investors are generally in tax losses and will derive no immediate benefit from the rate change. For new investors, the reduction in rate will not offset the loss of accelerated depreciation deductions

A Concise Analysis of Argentina's Post-Junta Reform of Its Major Security Services

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Kitt, John J

2006-01-01

.... The implementation of appropriate security-sector reform by transitional governments in areas of regional instability, such as Iraq, Argentina, and El Salvador, is an issue of considerable concern...

The Consequences of Tax Reforms

OpenAIRE

Hohenthal, Michael

2018-01-01

In this paper, I examine the effects of tax reforms for an economy in a welfare state. I do this by a macroeconomic model, which includes not only households, firms and a government but also a monopoly labour union. The households are of two types, workers and entrepreneurs. The workers are employed by the firms, which are owned by the entrepreneurs. This paper shows that decreasing labour taxation and increasing consumption taxation would have a number of positive effects. These include incr...

HUD Digital Government Strategy Report

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Housing and Urban Development — The HUD Digital Strategic Plan clearly articulates the goals of openness and transparency, furthering the innovation economy and meeting more global government wide...

Australia is Facing a HousingAffordability Crisis: Is the Solution to this Problem the Singapore Model of Housing?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John McLaren

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Australia is pricing young buyers out of the housing market. Unfortunately, debt-free home ownership in the retirement years is a key part of the Australian welfare system. This paper provides one possible solution to the current housing predicament of Australia. In doing so, the paper examines the housing strategy in Singapore, where residents are provided with accommodation at a reasonable cost. This strategy is examined and translated for use in Australia. In conclusion the paper proposes that the Singapore model of home ownership is worthy of consideration by the government of Australia.

An evaluation of systemic reforms of public hospitals: the Sanming model in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Hongqiao; Li, Ling; Li, Mingqiang; Yang, Chunyu; Hsiao, William

2017-10-01

Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have been searching for effective strategies to reform their inefficient and wasteful public hospitals. Recently, China developed a model of systemic reforms called the Sanming model to address the inefficiency and waste at public hospitals. In this article, we explain and evaluate how the Sanming model reformed its 22 public hospitals in 2013 by simultaneously restructuring the hospital governance structure, altering the payment system to hospitals, and realigning physicians' incentives. By employing the difference-in-difference (DID) method and using the hospital-level data from 187 public hospitals in Fujian province, we find that the Sanming model has reduced medical costs significantly without measurably sacrificing clinical quality and productive efficiency. The systemic reform, on average, has reduced the medical care cost per outpatient visit and per inpatient admission by 6.1% (P-value = 0.0445) and 15.4% (P-value transformation of public hospitals, where the governance structure, payment system and physician compensation methods are aligned, are crucial to improving their performance; it holds critical lessons for China and other LMICs. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

[The political project and governance capacities].

Science.gov (United States)

Spinelli, Hugo

2012-01-01

This article presents a theoretical overview of personal and institutional governance capacities (experience, leadership and knowledge on the individual level, and organizational capital available on the institutional level) and their relationship to politics and policies in the Latin American context. Using the theoretical production of Carlos Matus regarding the act of governing, diverse dimensions of this problem are put into discussion in relation to other authors and experiences in different historical moments. Theories, methods and techniques of government are explored and the need for state reform with an internal logic is analyzed. It is concluded that there is a need to build a theory for the practice of governing/managing public organizations, and this construction requires creative actions that use theory as a toolbox.

The Mexican electricity sector: Policy analysis and reform (1992–2009)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramírez-Camperos, Adriana María; Rodríguez-Padilla, Víctor; Guido-Aldana, Pedro Antonio

2013-01-01

This article analyses the cause–effect relation of the structural reform in the Mexican electricity sector, called the Public Electricity Service Act, from 1992 to 2009. One of the main arguments of the reform is to attract private investment in order to reduce the financial load of the government in infrastructure for the development of the National Electric Power System by means of six modalities (Power Self-Supply, Cogeneration, Small Power Production, Independent Power Production, Power Export and Power Import). The article presents the global context of reforms adopted in 1990. The major policies and events are presented in chronological order (before and after reform). In addition, it analyses the new institutional framework, the evolution of modalities, technologies of electricity generation and tariffs. The main conclusion is that the result of reform could be considered a partial progress. The Independent Power Production modality shows greater participation, while Power Self-Supply and Cogeneration are lower. The subsidy policy is maintained. Progress is needed in policies and strengthening, and also in updating regulatory and normative frameworks

Energy sector reforms status of Danish energy policy - 2000

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gullev, L.

2000-01-01

The new millennium brings change and new ways of thinking to the energy sector. Today the sector faces new challenges which it must deal with at a time where increasing market liberalisation and increasing internalisation is creating completely new frameworks for the sector. The Danish tradition of progressive energy policy action plans is the best possible basis on which to build. The target remains set. Energy policy must create the framework for structuring future energy systems so as to ensure that they are sustainable. Over many years there have been numerous initiatives to transfer consumption to cleaner energy sources, which has now led to a steady reduction in CO 2 emissions. The government places great importance on a continuation of this current development, both short term and long term. The adoption of the Electricity Reform in spring 1999 was an important step in the right direction. The government can, with great satisfaction, conclude that an agreement has now been made with most of the Parliament regarding a Gas reform, modernisation of the heat Supply Act and a new Energy Saving Act. In addition to this, the agreement also includes a follow up to the Electricity Reform concerning utilisation of biomass, offshore wind turbines, harmonisation of costs for priority electricity production, private generator's payment to priority electricity and the establishment of a market for electricity based on renewable. (author)

Policy alternatives in reforming energy utilities in developing countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gabriele, Alberto

2004-01-01

This paper examines the policy alternatives faced by developing countries in their endeavor to preserve and develop their electricity and gas systems, two service-oriented industries which--along with oil--provide the bulk of energy supply both in developed and in developing countries. Even in very poor countries, industrially generated energy is indispensable for carrying out most economic activities. Therefore, governments traditionally recognize that the supply of gas and electricity entails a fundamental public service dimension. The Introduction presents the case for reforming of energy utilities, discusses in general terms the pros and cons of privatization, and attempts to locate the reforms in a broader historical framework in which developing countries' governments faced characterized by increasing financial hardship. Section 2 constitutes the core of the paper. It reviews the main features of gas and power sector reforms in the developing world and analyzes specifically the cases of five semi-industrialized countries in Latin America and Asia. Section 3 (Concluding remarks) briefly evaluates the country experiences reviewed above and indicates a few policy lessons which can be learnt from them. The main conclusion is that, in a long-run development perspective, full-scale privatization of gas and power sectors in developing countries entails significant risks, and therefore a flexible policy approach is preferable to a rigid commitment to extensive liberalization

Sustainable Administrative Reform Movements Policy in Joko Widodo's Administration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yogi Suprayogi Sugandi

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Joko Widodo (Jokowi is a leader that is widely expected to transform Indonesia into a better country. Hopes and wishes were rising when he was elected as the president of Indonesia. This paper will describe various innovations undertaken before and after his presidential inauguration as well as the assorted innovations made in reforming the administration of his cabinet. As the president of Indonesia, Joko Widodo is required to realize the aspirations of the people in freeing the government from corruption, collusion, and nepotism. The management of ministerial and non-ministerial institutions becomes the very first crucial issue undertaken by Joko Widodo. This led to a polemic in regards to reducing or increasing the number of institutions, as the Jokowi administration actually increased the amount. In Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration, several policies were made systematically and based on legislations that had been approved by the lagislature. Joko Widodo's administration in more partial in nature. The administrative reform program that is highly anticipated is the continuation of the Public Service Act. This law is a step forward from the administrative reform program that aims at the creation of good governance. Changes is career path, salary system, pension and benefits for civil servants, performance-based staffing are various efforts of sustainability carried out by Joko Widodo's administration.

PRIVACY AS A CULTURAL VALUE WITHIN TRADITIONAL IRANIAN HOUSING: Lessons for Modern Iranian High Density Vertical Development Housing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siyamak Nayyeri Fallah

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The role of value of privacy in shaping Iranian culture is vital. In contrary to modern middle-class Iranian high density vertical development housing, this cultural principle plays a great role in shaping spatial organization of Iranian traditional housing. The aim of this study is to establish a framework to improve spatial organization of modern Iranian high density vertical development (HDVD housing through lessons learnt from traditional Iranian housing. In this regard, to reach the aim through qualitative approach and case study strategy, this value of the Iranian traditional housing was investigated. The data collection methods to collect data from middle-class traditional and modern high-density vertical development (HDVD housing, were multiple tactics as direct observation, open-ended expert interview, semi-structured and focus group interviewing, taking photo, and plan layout. As conclude, it was reached that privacy as a principle governing all aspects of life has had deep impacts on spatial organization of traditional Iranian housing. Thus through using the spatial concept of privacy learnt from traditional Iranian housing can formulate recommendations to betterment spatial organization of middle-class modern Iranian HDVD housing.

Service Delivery with More Districts in Uganda : Fiscal Challenges and Opportunities for Reforms

OpenAIRE

World Bank

2013-01-01

Ugandan decentralization efforts of the 1990s represented an unusually authentic and powerful local government reform, compared to similar efforts pursued in many other low-income countries. However, over time the changing interests of the central agencies, dissatisfaction with service outcomes, and the overall dynamics of the country's governance resulted in the adoption of a number of re...

Power sector reform in India: current issues and prospects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, Anoop

2006-01-01

Power sector reforms in India were initiated at a juncture when the sector was plagued with commercial losses and burgeoning subsidy burden. Investment in the sector was not able to keep pace with growing demand for electricity. This paper takes stock of pre-reform situation in Indian power sector and identifies key concerns that led to initiation of the process of reform. The paper discusses major policy and regulatory changes undertaken since the early 1990s. The paper also illustrates changes in the market structure as we move along the reform process. We also discuss some of the major provisions of the recently enacted Electricity Act 2003 that aims to replace the prevailing acts which govern the functioning of the power sector in the country. In this context, we discuss two issues arising out of it, namely open access and multi-year tariff that we think would have a significant bearing on the performance of the sector in the near future. The paper also evaluates the reform process in the light of some of the regulatory changes undertaken. Finally, the paper briefly discusses the issues involved in introduction of competition in the power sector primarily through development of a market for bulk power

Continuity and Change : Comparative Case Study of Hospital and Home Care Governance in The Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oomkens, Rosanne|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/314569286; Hoogenboom, Marcel|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/14667863X; Knijn, Trudie|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/072101032

2015-01-01

This article aims to understand the evolution of health care governance in the Dutch hospital and home care sector. We pay particular attention to how institutionalized governance structures shape policy reform. Professionally-dominated governance structures are likely to continue to exist to some

Who pulled the strings? A comparative study of Indonesian and Vietnamese tax reform

OpenAIRE

Heij, Gitte

2007-01-01

Many countries overhaul their tax systems from time to time. In the Asian region countries like Indonesia, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand have all undergone drastic tax reforms in the last 20 years. The need to fill the government coffers, attract foreign investment and make the tax system more equitable are among the factors instigating these tax reforms. Leading politicians, key institutions, external advisers, lobby groups and parliamentarians are just a ...

Fast track land reform, tenure security and investments in soil conservation: Micro-evidence from Mazowe district in Zimbabwe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zikhali, P.

2010-01-01

The government of Zimbabwe launched the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) in 2000 as part of its ongoing land reform and resettlement programme which aims to address a racially skewed land distribution. Its goal has been to accelerate both land acquisition and redistribution, targeting at

Practical application of corporate governance principles in a developing country: A case study

OpenAIRE

Wanjiru Gachie; Desmond Wesley Govender

2017-01-01

The importance of examining corporate governance in organisations cannot be overemphasised. Corporate governance failure which has resulted from weak corporate governance systems has highlighted the need for research aimed at contributing to the improvement and reform of corporate governance at business, national and international level. A review of corporate governance mechanisms and their practical application in two retail companies in South Africa was undertaken. The research question tha...

The Reform Process of Portuguese Higher Education Institutions: From Collegial to Managerial Governance

Science.gov (United States)

Bruckmann, Sofia; Carvalho, Teresa

2014-01-01

Portuguese public higher education institutions have been undergoing a major reform process since 2007. The most noticeable changes were introduced by Law 62/2007, which gave higher education institutions the option to choose between two different institutional models (foundational and public institute), and allowed the implementation of new…

Revision of the law governing the energy industry; Neuregelung des Energierechts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anon,

1993-11-03

In its report on measures for safeguarding the competitiveness of the German industry, the Federal Government announced a number of reforms covering among others a revision of the regulatory framework governing the electricity and gas industry. Major goals in this context are deregulation and an enhancement of competition. The Federal Ministry of Economics prepared a draft plan for action addressing the need for an amendment of the Energy Management Act and the Act Against Restraints on Competition. Implementation of the measures given in the draft plan would create completely new conditions for the pipeline energy supply industry. (orig./HSCH) [Deutsch] Die Bundesregierung hat in ihrem Bericht zur Zukunftssicherung des Wirtschaftsstandorts Deutschland auch die Reform des Ordnungsrahmens fuer Strom und Gas angekuendigt. Ziel dieser Reform sollen Wettbewerb und Deregulierung sein. Das Bundeswirtschaftsministerium hat dazu auf Fachebene ein Konzept erarbeitet, das ein neues Energiewirtschaftsgesetz sowie eine Aenderung des Gesetzes gegen Wettbewerbsbeschraenkungen umfasst. Das Konzept wuerde die leitungsgebundene Versorgungswirtschaft auf eine voellig neue Grundlage stellen. (orig./HSCH)

77 FR 37233 - Consolidated Delegation of Authority for the Office of Housing-Federal Housing Administration (FHA)

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-20

... and FHA policies, principles, and procedures necessary for financial management; to issue directions... of the accounting and financial information and systems functions; (7) The authority to prepare and... regulation of government- sponsored enterprises (GSEs) under the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety...

Local Government Responses to Education Grants.

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Ronald C.; Papke, Leslie E.

2000-01-01

Provides a primer for policymakers about the economics of education grants and draws implications for school finance reform. Includes an overview of the types of education grants that states and the federal government have used to aid local spending and summarizes findings from states' experiences with different forms of education finance.…

The Financial Sector and Corporate Governance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mallin, Chris; Mullineux, Andy; Wihlborg, Clas

2004-01-01

In 1992 the Cadbury Committee report on the financial aspects of corporate governance waspublished. The Committee had been established following the failures of a number of highprofile businesses in the UK which had shaken confidence in the market. Some nine yearslater, in 2001, the collapse...... of Enron sent shockwaves through the US market. As a result of theEnron collapse and various other high profile scandals in the years since its occurrence, the USis examining its own corporate governance structures and provisions to determine how thesemight be improved and help avoid another Enron. The EU...... similarly is developing principlesand legislation to improve corporate governance, and scandals such as Royal Ahold andParmalat have helped drive further governance reforms.In this paper we detail the development of corporate governance codes in the UK and theadaptation of similar codes in the EU. We...

The Impact of Uruguay’s 2007 Tax Reform on Equity and Efficiency

OpenAIRE

Bruno Martorano

2012-01-01

In 2007, the Uruguayan government implemented a new tax reform which introduced a new progressive labour income tax, a flat capital income tax, and reduced some indirect taxes, with the objective of improving fiscal balance, income distribution and economic growth. This paper presents an evaluation of the impact of such tax reform on equity and efficiency on the basis of data derived from the Encuesta Continua de Hogares (ECH) for the years 2006 and 2009. Using a Difference-in-Differences tec...

Infrastructures and Necessary Actions Parallel to Reforms of Medical Service Tariffs to Improve Health System Performance in Iran: A Qualitative Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alireza Jabbari

2017-09-01

Conclusion: First, it seems that various issues and aspects related to tariff determination should be considered. Furthermore, some preliminaries should be provided before tariffs' reformation or some actions should be taken in line with that for the success of tariff reformation process. These measures and reformations  are related to the Ministry of Health, insurances, and the government.

National Guard State Partnership Program: A Whole-of Government Approach

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-01

be better able to take ownership of and solve crisis situations within their borders, provide necessities to their people through sound governance...lower level concentrated focus on a partner country (State vs . U.S. Government); executing mission spanning military, political, economic and...and hydroelectric development, foreign investment 22 reform and development, franchise opportunities, bio-fuels development, and public and

New public management reforms in Nigerian democratic governance

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper brings concepts and ideas from around the world about the need for and ways of achieving more responsive and accountable new public management within the framework of democratic governance. The paper adopts a content analysis method through the use of secondary data. The findings of the paper ...

Reforming Security Sector Governance South Asia | CRDI - Centre ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

In South Asia, security discourse has traditionally been confined to government circles, with no room for voices from civil society. ... L'honorable Chrystia Freeland, ministre du Commerce international, a annoncé le lancement d'un nouveau projet financé par le Centre de recherches pour le développement international ...

Educational Development and Reformation in Malaysia: Past, Present, and Future.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, Rahimah Haji

1998-01-01

Discusses educational development in Malaysia, focusing on curriculum changes, issues, and future perspectives. Discusses the development of values education, its importance in the curriculum, and the government's efforts to mold a united nation with Malaysian values. Current reforms target tertiary education. The school curriculum has not been…

The Search of a New Logic of Public Administration Reforms: The Case of Metropolitan Areas in Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renato Ruffini

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to formulate some recommendations for the currently undergoing reform of Italian metropolitan areas. This case is particularly relevant since it clearly represents how, even if expected by law, reforms might not happen on the implementation side. We draw the recommendations from some basic assumptions of the collaborative governance model. Recommendations deal with the development of a systemic, collaborative and leadership oriented view of reforms. Indeed, reforms should be intended not only as a legislative process, but also as a complex change management process characterized by the decisive role of the human factor.

Housing Policy. A Critical Analysis on the Brazilian Experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paulo Nascimento Neto

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The last decade has revealed significant advancements on social housing in Brazil. Along with the implementation of the National Housing Policy (2004, the National Housing System (2005, and the National Housing Plan (2008, a consistent model to face the Brazilian housing deficiency was created. The prime period of the actions and resources taken by the various government levels and private agents took place during the implementation of Minha Casa Minha Vida [My Home My Life] program (PMCMV, whose goal was to build a million houses. Based on the outlined context, this paper seeks to evaluate the relationship between National Housing Policy and PMCMV, discussing its implications on housing outlook in the country. A bibliographical and documentary research showed theoretical and conceptual unbalance between these two policies, allowing speculation on the prevalence of the economic component over the social one.

Labour market reforms in the context of political power theory: The case of Slovenia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tjaša Redek

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The rigidity of labour market has several important negative economic consequences: it stifles job creation, increases discrimination of those that it is actually aimed at protecting (young, women and the low-skilled, hurts the unemployed, slows down economic restructuring and damages its global competitiveness. But reforms are slow and often marked with disputes among partners in the collective bargaining process. Afraid of social security loss, unions usually oppose the reform, while governments usually give in to the union pressures and negative image of reform consequences created by unions and assisted by media. The characteristics of the labour market and labour market reform with respect to bargaining among power groups are examined both theoretically and empirically in the case of Slovenia.

Hydrogen Production via a High-Efficiency Low-Temperature Reformer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paul KT Liu; Theo T. Tsotsis

2006-05-31

Fuel cells are promoted by the US government as a viable alternative for clean and efficient energy generation. It is anticipated that the fuel cell market will rise if the key technical barriers can be overcome. One of them is certainly fuel processing and purification. Existing fuel reforming processes are energy intensive, extremely complicated and capital intensive; these disadvantages handicap the scale-down of existing reforming process, targeting distributed or on-board/stationary hydrogen production applications. Our project involves the bench-scale demonstration of a high-efficiency low-temperature steam reforming process. Hydrogen production can be operated at 350 to 400ºC with our invention, as opposed to >800ºC of existing reforming. In addition, our proposed process improves the start-up deficiency of conventional reforming due to its low temperature operation. The objective of this project is to demonstrate the invented process concept via a bench scale unit and verify mathematical simulation for future process optimization study. Under this project, we have performed the experimental work to determine the adsorption isotherm, reaction kinetics, and membrane permeances required to perform the process simulation based upon the mathematical model developed by us. A ceramic membrane coated with palladium thin film fabricated by us was employed in this study. The adsorption isotherm for a selected hydrotalcite adsorbent was determined experimentally. Further, the capacity loss under cyclic adsorption/desorption was confirmed to be negligible. Finally a commercial steam reforming catalyst was used to produce the reaction kinetic parameters required for the proposed operating condition. With these input parameters, a mathematical simulation was performed to predict the performance of the invented process. According to our simulation, our invented hybrid process can deliver 35 to 55% methane conversion, in comparison with the 12 and 18-21% conversion of

Policy Brief: Petroleum product pricing reforms in India. Are we on the right track?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Agarwal, Pravin Kumar; Soni, Anmol

2013-03-15

The path to petroleum product pricing reforms in India has been full of undulations. Even though Administered Pricing Mechanism (APM) was dismantled during 1 April 1998 to 31 March 2002, the government continued to regulate the prices of petrol, diesel, Public distribution System (PDS) kerosene, and domestic LPG, except for over a year, when oil marketing companies (OMCs) revised the consumer prices of petrol and diesel in line with the international prices. In June 2010, petrol pricing was deregulated, but government control continued to an extent. This control of petroleum product prices has not only severely affected the fiscal balance of the economy, but has also adversely impacted the oil companies (both upstream and downstream), eventually affecting the overall development of the sector. In fact, the impact of petroleum product subsidies has compelled the government to announce certain reforms in the past few months.

Educational reform and the public: Two case studies of Poland and Saskatchewan (Canada)

Science.gov (United States)

Kaproń, Danuta; Stephan, Werner

1991-09-01

The involvement of the public in educational reform processes in modern democratic societies primarily serves the purpose of politically legitimizing the reform agenda. This study examines the rationales implicitly or explicitly submitted to the public to explain why educational reforms in the two countries should be endorsed. Although differences in the political culture caution against a hasty comparison of the two case studies, a number of politico-economic similarities allow for a valid juxtaposition. In Poland the context of socio-political and economic renewal prompted the reformers to emphasize the human-capital model which heightened public awareness and participation in the debate surrounding the reform. Public involvement in Saskatchewan was negatively affected for mainly two reasons. First, the government evidently manipulated public input by various means and thereby appears to have predetermined the outcome. Second, the rationale for the reform, based on a free-market model, tightened the linkage between the needs of the labour market and the mandate of the schools. As a result, public interest and participation was greatly diminished.

Four logics of governance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Friche, Nanna; Normann Andersen, Vibeke

unintended consequences. Theoretically, we draw on different management and governance theories, e.g. performance management. Empirically, the study is based on surveys to teachers and students at all Danish vocational colleges and interviews with school leaders, teachers and students at six colleges (cases...... and well-being of students enrolled in the VETs must be strengthened. We focus on target 1, 2 and 4. The reform is being implemented in a field of VET that can be characterized by four logics of governance. Firstly, a governance logic characterized by institutional independence of vocational colleges......For the last fifteen years completion rates in Danish vocational education and training (VET) has stayed on a rather low level. In 2014, only half of the students enrolled in a vocational program on upper secondary level, graduated from the program (Flarup et al 2016). In Denmark, like in other...

Path Dependencies and Institutional Bricolage in Post-Soviet Water Governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jenniver Sehring

2009-02-01

Based on empirical findings, four variables through which the neopatrimonial context in both countries impacts water governance are identified: the decision-making process, the agricultural sector, the local governance institutions, and internal water-institutional linkages. A historical-institutionalist perspective shows how path dependencies limit reform effectiveness: institutionalised Soviet and pre-Soviet patterns of behaviour still shape actors’ responses to new challenges. Consequently, rules and organisations established formally by the state or international donor organisations are undermined by informal institutions. Yet, informal institutions are not only an obstacle to reform, but can also support it. They are not static but dynamic. This is elucidated with the concept of 'institutional bricolage', which explains how local actors recombine elements of different institutional logics and thereby change their meaning.

Optimal green tax reforms yielding double dividend

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandez, Esther; Perez, Rafaela; Ruiz, Jesus

2011-01-01

In an stylized endogenous growth economy with a negative externality created by CO2 emissions and in which abatement activities are made by private firms, we find a wide range of dynamically feasible green tax reforms yielding the double dividend without any need to assume a complex production structure or tax system, or a variety of externalities in production. As a remarkable finding, we obtain certain scenarios in which increasing the emissions tax up to the Pigouvian level and removing completely the income tax is dynamically feasible and, also, it is the second-best reform. Hence, as a difference to previous literature, in these scenarios the first-best tax mix is implementable, allowing for the elimination of both environmental and non-environmental inefficiencies. Our result arises because of the consideration of public debt issuing and the management of the government budget balance with an intertemporal perspective. The result is obtained for an intermediate range of environmental bearing in preferences, the valid range being contingent on the pre-existing income tax rate. The type of tax reform that we propose could also be implemented for different energy taxes. - Highlights: → We use an endogenous growth model with a negative externality from CO2 emissions. → Abatement activities are made by private firms to reduce payment of emissions taxes. → We find dynamically feasible green tax reforms yielding the double dividend result. → Our result arises thanks to the inclusion of public debt issuing as a financing device. → The type of tax reform proposed can be implemented for other energy taxes.

Ideological leaning and praxis of housing co-operatives in South Africa: Matters arising

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Richard Jimoh

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Social movements came about as a result of dissatisfaction felt by society from the status quo. They present their grievances through demonstrations, strikes, riots, occupation of land, boycott of business or by the development of social and economic alternatives such as self-help schemes or saving clubs. In South Africa, people join housing co-operatives because it takes a long time to wait for the Reconstruction Development Project (RDP houses promised by the Government. The leaning of 5 housing co-operatives was examined within the context of ideology and praxis that are components of triad model. This was done through multi-case study whereby the chairpersons of the housing co-operatives were interviewed using structured interview format. Findings from the study indicated that all the housing co-operatives were not open and voluntary; also, the housing co-operatives were not administered the same way. In all, efforts were put in by the housing co-operatives in engendering the ideology of co-operatives on one hand and the government on the other hand in providing the necessary subsidy so that the gap in the housing deficit could be bridged since this fitted its policy on housing.