Political Management and Local Government: The Views of Local Authority Chief Executives

The Labour Government has introduced radical measures to change local authorities' constitutions. These include a requirement to abandon the traditional committee system and to replace it with political executives. Local authority chief executives will play a critical role in these changes and they are also uniquely placed to offer observations on the likelihood of the measures being successful. Because of this, a questionnaire survey was undertaken of the chief executives of all local authorities in England and Wales to discover how councils are responding to the Government's measures and to obtain their views on the proposed political management arrangements.     

中国地方政府债务权责划分:实践探索与改革建议

地方政府债务权责划分是一国分级财政体制的重要内容。实现中国地方政府债务的合法化已经成为解决当前地方政府债务问题的前提条件。地方政府债务的合法化不仅是债务融资权的界定问题,更是管理责任的归属问题。近年来中国某些地方已经开始自发地探索地方层面上的政府债务权责划分的方法。国家应尽快制定统一的法规,赋予地方政府合法举债权,但应严格控制债务规模、界定使用范围。应在财政部和省市县财政部门设立债务管理机构,明确地方政府的债务偿还及风险管理责任,加大债务监督力度。     

The UK Landfill Tax: Financial Implications for Local Authorities

Local authorities in the UK are responsible for waste management. Since the introduction of the landfill tax in 1996, the costs of disposing of municipal solid waste in landfill has increased markedly. The money collected is being paid to central government, through Customs and Excise. Some remission of landfill tax money can be claimed by commercial organizations to develop sustainable waste management, but local authorities, which also have an important role in this, cannot do so. The authors explain why the hypothecation of landfill tax revenue would be helpful and why local authorities need additional funds to develop sustainable waste management projects.     

The Role of Local Authority Accountants in Environmental Decision-Making

This research used case studies in decision-making for environmental issues as a means to observe the role of management accountants in English local government. We found that while environmental considerations are important in local authorities, there is a lack of available accounting techniques to address them. The decisions we examined were made through an informal, essentially party political, process in which the accountants' role was limited to legitimising decisions.     

Relations with Non-Elected Agencies: Local Authority Good Practice

The controversy over reform of the local unelected state has tended to over-shadow principles of good practice for local authorities. This article shows how local authorities can get the best out of their relationships with non-elected agencies. In particular, how should they develop their strategic capabilities and representational roles in the 'new local governance'?     

Challenges to Implementing Strategic Performance Measurement Systems in Multi‐Objective Organizations: The Case of a Large Local Government Authority

A case study of the implementation of the balanced scorecard in a large local government authority is reported. Based on interview data, the factors that were perceived by senior managers to be important to the success or failure of the implementation are analysed. It is determined that scorecard measures were not effectively cascaded down to lower levels of the organization. Various inter‐related problems of leadership, training, feedback, employee empowerment and weak incentive schemes combined to cause communication difficulties which prevented the cascading problem from being effectively addressed.     

New development: Local Authority Publication Schemes Under FOIA 2000

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) requires public authorities to adopt and maintain publication schemes. This article compares the publication schemes prepared by 10 local authorities and identifies examples of good practice.     

地方领导关心行业发展与协会建设系列报道

今年以来,福建省副省长陈芸,上海市常务副市长冯国勤,浙江省常务副省长章猛进,辽宁省财政厅厅长邴志刚,江苏省财政厅副厅长江建平,浙江省财政厅副厅长罗石林,湖北省财政厅总会计师程用文,广东省财政厅副厅长李朝明,广西自治区财政厅副厅长张忠国,海南省财政厅副厅长吕勇,四川省财政厅党组成员张其昌,云南省财政厅纪检组长龙光伟,先后就注册会计师行业发展和协会建设发表讲话,作出指示。现摘编如下:陈芸(福建省副省长)在全面贯彻落实科学发展观、推进海峡西岸经济区建设的进程中,需要进一步推动注册会计师事业健康发展,通过注册会计师在会计…     

The Role of Leadership in the Turnaround of a Local Authority

This article examines leadership behaviour during a successful turnaround in a public services organization. Using findings from recent research on leaders in the public services, this article sets out a number of propositions about leadership behaviour. Then a case study of Newham Council from 1996 to 1999 is analysed to show that effective public services leaders do not simply work through visions, communications and empowerment. Successful leadership appears to be much more complex in turnaround situations than is suggested by much of the literature on visionary and transformational leaders.     

Hedge Fund Risk Dynamics: Implications for Performance Appraisal

Accurate appraisal of hedge fund performance must recognize the freedom with which managers shift asset classes, strategies, and leverage in response to changing market conditions and arbitrage opportunities. The standard measure of performance is the abnormal return defined by a hedge fund's exposure to risk factors. If exposures are assumed constant when, in fact, they vary through time, estimated abnormal returns may be incorrect. We employ an optimal changepoint regression that allows risk exposures to shift, and illustrate the impact on performance appraisal using a sample of live and dead funds during the period January 1994 through December 2005.     

中央政府与地方政府在宏观调控领域的博弈分析

中央政府与地方政府在宏观调控领域的博弈已经成为一种客观的经济现象,值得决策部门关注。通过中央政府与地方政府的博弈模型以及地方政府之间博弈的攀比效应可以解释博弈的内在形成机理。博弈既有积极效应,也有消极效应。当前博弈失序之矫正的关键在于加快制度创新,强化监管力度;加强预期研究,打造诚信政府。     

找财政局长“讨钱”

我事先估计:要么局长摆架子,根本不把我当回事,报告将石沉大海;要么看我们可怜,适当解决点资金,一万元止顶,毕竟我人微言轻啊。     

The Seven Deadly Sins of Performance Auditing: Implications for Monitoring Public Audit Institutions

Performance auditing is a longstanding feature of democratic government in many countries. It aims to lift the efficiency and effectiveness of public sector organisations, but numerous authors have voiced scepticism about its ability to do so. From three decades of performance auditing literature, this paper distils seven critiques of performance auditing: ‘anti‐innovation’, ‘nit‐picking’, ‘expectations gap’, ‘lapdog’, ‘headline hunting’, ‘unnecessary systems’ and ‘hollow ritual’. The paper concludes that the critiques are not valid in all cases, but serve to categorise risks to be managed in the design of performance audit programs and associated institutional arrangements. In light of the critiques, the paper proposes desirable elements of frameworks for monitoring and reporting the performance of institutions with performance audit mandates.     

地方税制的国际经验与借鉴

本文通过对美、德、日、法四国的地方税制进行比较分析,归纳出四国地方税制的特征,并在此基础上提出了对我国地方税制改革的建议:建立分级地方税制;选择财产税为地方税主体税种;采用集权为主的税权模式。     

日本地方财税管理体制探析及借鉴

本文介绍了日本地方税权的划分和财政制度,分析了日本地方财税体制的特点,并对完善我国财税体制提出了建议:积极探索财政管理体制改革、进一步完善转移支付制度、加快政府间财政关系的立法进程。     

政府绩效审计:国际演进及启示

我国政府绩效审计实践应用中的困惑及其与理想目标的背离,引发了对我国政府绩效审计应用乏力的反思。以国际主流政府绩效审计的发展为主轴,本文系统地描述和剖析了其思想起源、理论演进与实践发展的完整历程,并进行了简要地总结与评述,籍此,针对我国政府绩效审计发展中的瓶颈,就政府绩效审计的本质、范围、评价内容和指标体系设计等关键问题,着力分析了国外政府绩效审计给予的启示与意义,以期为我国政府绩效审计的未来良性变革与发展提供借鉴。