Analysing and evaluating the taxpayer's demand for merit goods: the case of public sector education and health in Mauritius

This paper analyses the average taxpayer's demand for merit goods, namely, education and health, in Mauritius, a small developing island state. To study these development-related goods, a fresh methodology is employed that captures the characteristics of the Mauritian economy. The empirical evidence relates to the post-independence period of more than three decades, 1973 to 1999 and beyond. The respective demand elasticities for each merit good are analysed and evaluated. The findings indicate that, contrary to the conventional theory of demand, beneficiaries tend to demand more of such goods when their prices are increased, and less when they are decreased. The rationale for this behaviour is that people, in general, and taxpayers, in particular, being quality conscious, increase their demand when they are asked to pay more, expecting in return an improvement in the quality of services. However, there is evidence that over these three decades users' preferences have shifted, particularly in the case of education, towards private provision, indicating less reliance on public sector provision, and that during the years of structural adjustments the demand for these services was severely suppressed.     

Man in the public sector

Summary This paper addresses the question of how to model government behavior. The central thought is that in principle the same behavioral model should apply to the behavior of individuals in the private sector as well as the public sector. The paper starts, therefore, with an outline of the contours of a general model of individual behavior. Use is thereby made of the so-called interest function approach that I developed inOn the Interaction Between State and Private Sector (Amsterdam, North-Holland, 1983) and which is somewhat further elaborated in this paper. The model is subsequently applied to the behavior of the individuals that make up the government organization, bureaucrats and politicians. The potential importance of the approach is indicated by a short survey of the theoretical and empirical results obtained with it so far.     

Residential renovation in the low income public housing sector: A case study in Merebank

Housing, an important research theme in development studies in recent years, is currently a central focus of concern in South Africa. Largely as a result of the inadequate supply of suitable housing the present trend among Indian households in the public sector in the Durban region is to renovate existing dwellings to suit their residential preferences and aspirations. This paper examines the nature of residential renovation in the public housing sector in order to identify and explain the processes that produce its occurrence, and to determine those factors which can be considered in policy formulation. The study was conducted in Merebank, a low income public housing scheme inhabited by Indians, and situated 15 km south of Durban. Changes in family size and composition, and a shortage of suitable housing, influenced the decision to renovate. The main concern was the addition of more space, especially bedrooms. Most of the renovations were undertaken on a self‐help basis, and financed from personal savings. Some of the problems experienced by renovators included: features of the original dwelling; building regulations; lack of loans; high interest rates; and shortage of materials. Access to finance, encouragement of self‐help improvement efforts, and flexibility in the design of low cost dwellings will help facilitate the residential renovation process.     

Measuring price inflation in the physician sector of the health care market

Summary The purpose of this study was to indicate the need for the development of an adequate measure of the inflation in prices of medical care services. Although the CPI provides a medical care component, the index has a number of serious shortcomings. These shortcomings hinder its usefulness for policy purposes. The main thrust of this analysis was to suggest an alternative measure of prices of medical care services. This suggested hedonic approach will produce a more realistic measure of medical care prices for policy purposes.     

Economics of the public sector

Likierman, A. 1988: Public Expenditure: Who Really Controls it and How? London: Penguin, £4.99.

Helm, D. (ed) 1989: The Economic Borders of the State. Oxford: Oxford University Press, £35.00 cloth, £15.00 paper.

Collard, D. (ed) 1989: Fiscal Policy: Essays in Honour of Cedric Sandford. Aldershot: Avebury, £35.00 cloth.

Hare, P. (ed) 1988: Surveys in Public Sector Economics. Oxford: Blackwell, £37.50 cloth.     

Investment appraisal in the public sector

Recent developments, such as privatization and the private financeinitiative, have raised the issue of which assets should beowned by the public sector and whether assets have differentvalues in the public and private sectors. In order to answerthe questions, we first note that the allocative considerationsthat usually motivate government intervention need not requirethe direct provision of services by the government using government-ownedassets. We then argue that the government should own the assetsused to provide the services where the private sector fearsexpropriation by the government, or where ownership conferson the private sector such power as to preclude efficient allocations.Finally, we argue that the discount rate for governments' projectsequals the expected return on comparable investments in thecapital markets. The government should, however, discount pre-taxcash flows at the pre-tax discount rate, for it receives alltax revenues.     

Evaluating public sector sponsored training in East Germany

Support of training has been a very important instrument ofactive labor market policy in East Germany. This paper attemptsan evaluation of the employment and wage effects of trainingsupported by public income maintenance outside of a firm. Afterdescribing the labor market developments in East Germany, weillustrate the evaluation problem. Then, we estimate a simultaneousmodel for participation in training, employment, and wages.Taking account of selection effects before participation, ourfindings mostly suggest positive though only partially significantlong-run effects of training on employment or wages.     

When the baby boom grows old: impacts on Canada's public sector

The authors discuss the dependency burden that is expected to result from demographic aging in Canada. "The estimated size of the burden depends on projections of demographic change, economic growth, and structural aspects of the major age-sensitive public-sector programmes. The burdens are analysed for 2016 and 2036, the period when demographic aging may be expected to have its most adverse impacts on old-age dependency ratios and public-sector programme costs. Contrary to many popularly expressed concerns, demographic aging is not the most important factor in determining future public-sector costs and revenues. Rather, aspects of the design and management of public-sector programmes represent the greatest area of uncertainty."     

Contracting out by the public sector: theory, evidence, prospects

Unlike privatization, contracting out (or simply 'contracting')does not generally involve the sale of publicly owned assets.Yet it has been widely used as a mechanism for reform of public-sectorservice provision. Contracting introduces ex-ante competition-competitionfor the market through competitive tendering. This article examinesboth the theory and evidence of contracting by the public sector.It considers the theoretical conditions, such as contractualincompleteness and the ownership pf physical assets, which mayimpede efficient contracting. It also reviews the internationalevidence which suggests that savings in the order of 20 percent are achievable, without sacrificing the quality of serviceprovided. In the UK, savings of between £240m and £280mhave been estimated for contracts let at the central governmentlevel. Substantial savings have also been generated by contractingat the local government level.     

The terms of trade between the public and private sector

Summary Budgetary policy mostly deals with the short run, during which period technology and factor endowments change only slightly. In the longer run, however, the capital-labour ratio may rise systematically and the productivity of the resources may increase due to technical progress. Consequently prices and outputs change and the real wage rate will increase. As public services are labour-intensive the relative price of public expenditure will also be leveled up. If, furthermore, the volume of public expenditure grows at the same rate as the national income, an increase of the, relative size of the public sector becomes unavoidable.     

Discourses of privatisation: the case of South Africa's water sector

The neoliberal offensive incipient during the 1970s matured into a globally hegemonic discourse during the 1990s. Developing countries like South Africa have their own peculiar brand of neoliberalism. This has taken various forms in South Africa, one of which is privatisation. Its discursive origins may be traced to key thinkers and institutions. And while there is a general discourse of privatisation there also exist sub-discourses in particular sectors, such as the water services sector. This paper examines the way a general discourse of privatisation evolved in South Africa and how this discourse has filtered into water services delivery. It argues that key role players and institutions acted as disseminators of a discourse of privatisation in the water services sector.     

Analysis of wage differentials by gender and ethnicity in the public sector

This study investigates the source of wage differentials between blacks, Hispanics, and whites, and between women and men, in metropolitan Dade County (Florida) government, and draws out the implications of this analysis for affirmative action planning. Our distinctive finding is that the primary factor causing observed wage differentials by ethnicity is the sorting of people across occupational categories. Wage decompositions reveal that for males, 70 percent, 88 percent, and 47 percent of the wage gaps between white and black, white and Hispanic, and Hispanic and black, respectively, are attributable to occupation. For females, the corresponding figures are 56 percent, 58 percent, and 51 percent. When comparing men and women of the same ethnic group, occupational employment patterns are found to be an important factor accounting for lower average female wages, yet within major occupational groups women seem to be receiving higher wages (on average) than men.     

第三部门对公共决策评价标准的影响

在我国社会转型的过程中，第三部门获得了巨大的发展空间和机遇．但同时也表现出了官民二重性，过渡性等特征。种种迹象表明，目前尚显稚嫩的国内第三部门．对公共决策评价标准的影响日益扩大。[编者按]     

Inequity in poverty: the emerging public health challenge in Johannesburg

In 2005, in recognition of the role of social factors in increasing health inequities, the World Health Organisation established the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. South Africa is among the most unequal societies in the world. It faces serious public health challenges, including an elevated burden of chronic disease, and high levels of violence. This paper presents data from a cross-sectional study of socio-economic and health status conducted in five Johannesburg housing settlements in 2006. The findings paint a picture of health inequities across and within the study sites, and socio-environmental conditions that undermine the prospects of protecting and promoting health. The authors suggest the need for a new approach to public health in areas of urban impoverishment in Johannesburg and elsewhere.     

Influence of the public sector on activity in Denmark, 1929-39

Abstract

The article presents the first quantification of Denmark's discretionary fiscal policy of the 1930s. The measuring of the discretionary budget effects is based on a revision of the changes in the aggregate public sector budget balance and a computation of the size of the automatic stabilisers. It is shown that Danish fiscal policy became steadily more contractive between 1932/33 and 1936/37, while changes in an expansive direction occurred only in 1931/32 and in the late 1930s. It is concluded that the fiscal policy pursued in Denmark had considerably more points of similarity with fiscal policy in Great Britain than with the Swedish policy of the 1930s.