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.     

The Role of Boards in the Failure and Turnaround of Non-Profit Organizations

This article reports on research that examined the role that boards play in the failure and turnaround of non-profit organizations. The article concludes that boards do often play an important hands-on role in turnaround, which is different from that described in much of the normative literature. As well as needing skills, such as leadership, those board members leading the change process need high levels of commitment, emotional resilience and a 'safe place' to formulate plans.     

The Elected Mayor and Local Leadership

This article examines the new leadership role of the English elected mayor. The authors suggest that the management and governance of the local authority is subject to significant change within the mayoral system, and that elected mayors represent a form of strong political management which is essentially new within English local government. The authors discuss the prospects for the future of the executive mayor, and suggest potential areas for further research, including succession planning in mayoral authorities, the nature of the first mayoral re-election campaigns outside London, and the possible growth of this form of local leadership.     

Minding the Quality in Local Authority Finance Departments

The quality of financial services in local authorities cannot be taken for granted. It requires active management to counteract the unrelenting pressures of increasing workloads and reducing resources. Warwickshire County Council has developed and implemented a distinctive approach to quality management for financial services which is gaining a great deal of attention. It provides a framework for continuous improvement and a way forward for quality evaluation in tendering exercises.     

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。     

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.     

The Role of Leadership in the Modernization and Improvement of Public Services

This article examines the central role of leadership in the Government's conception of modernization and improvement, before outlining key approaches to understanding leadership and the management of influence in and by local authorities. Local authorities are increasingly concerned with distributed leadership (even though new structural arrangements may concentrate political leadership); of leadership at the cross-roads of different organizational cultures and structures; of the importance of inter organizational leadership not just leadership by individuals; and the importance of influence across organizational boundaries not just control of the internal organization. The authors call for models of leadership to be updated to reflect new challenges.     

Strengthening Political Leadership in UK Local Government

Many councillors and officers in local government have begun to question long-established approaches to local authority leadership and management. This article shows that there is growing interest in developing new ways of revitalizing local democracy and projecting the value of local government. It examines some of the models of local authority management found in other countries, including the directly elected mayor. The article argues that the responsibilities of the executive need to be separated from those of the council. Legal barriers which prevent UK local authorities from reshaping their organizations to meet new challenges need to be removed.     

Analysing Deprivation and Local Authority Performance: The Implications for CPA

This article uses regression analysis to explore the statistical relationship between deprivation and the performance indicators used for the first round of Comprehensive Performance Assessments (CPAs) for English local authorities. The statistical significance of the results is described and analysed in light of the Audit Commission's decision to exclude deprivation from the CPA framework. For over one third of the PIs tested, deprivation had a statistically significant adverse effect on performance. The author shows that external environmental constraints on local authority performance must be recognized for accurate and equitable performance assessments.     

地方政府如何引导地方金融平稳转型

在目前我国特定的政治体制和经济背景下,地方政府对于改善当地金融生态环境、促进金融效率的提高仍然起着重要作用。大多地方金融机构正处于艰难转型的十字路口,平稳走过这个十字路口当然需要政府助一把力。那么,面对依然问题丛生的地方金融,地方政府应该和能够做些什么呢?     

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。     

中国地方预算决策自主权缺失问题分析

实现地方预算决策自主权的合理归位是确保地方公共产品有效供给的核心制度安排。地方预算决策自主权的内容包括:(1)地方辖区居民选择地方预算决策主体的权力;(2)地方预算决策主体自主作出地方预算决策安排的权力。文章从这两大方面深入、客观地剖析了中国地方政府预算决策自主权缺失的具体表现。     

政府要在金融工作中有所作为

金融与经济唇齿相依、血肉相连、共生共荣。没有繁荣的金融就没有快速发展的经济,没有健康发展的经济也不可能有繁荣的金融。遵循经济金融发展规律,强化政府在经济金融工作中的协调、服务职能,探求经济金融良性互动发展之路,是当前各级政府面临的重大课题。各级政府在抓经济发展过程中,必须在促进金融事业稳健发展中有所作为,坚持一个统领,做到两个保证,实现三个扩大,注重四个优化,达到五个加强。     

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.     

地方领导关心行业和协会建设系列报道

近一段时间以来,广东省委副书记、省纪委书记王华元,广东省财政厅党组书记、厅长刘昆,湖北省财政厅党组成员、纪检组长徐新生,河北省财政厅党组成员、副厅长郭秀堂,四川省财政厅副厅长帅克、郑建新就行业发展、协会建设先后发表讲话,作出指示。现摘编如下:——2005年11月10日,广东省委副书记、省纪委书记王华元出席“发挥行业自律作用、共建诚信和谐广东”为主题的广东省注册会计师行业发挥自律作用的活动并作了重要发言。王华元书记在讲话中指出,发挥行业协会自律作用是党中央、国务院和广东省委、省政府在新形势下做出的重要部署,既是行业…     

地方领导关心行业发展与协会建设系列报道

近年来,许多地方的党政领导和财政部门领导都对行业建设和协会工作作出批示和指示,提出了要求和期望,有力地指导和推动了各地注册会计师行业的建设与发展。为此,我们专门开设了这个栏目,集中反映地方各级领导关心行业发展和协会建设的情况,促进行业各项工作的开展。     

论会计准则的法律地位

本文从法律的角度论述了会计准则的性质和地位 ,进而探讨了在西方遵循会计准则并非免除法律责任的充分条件 ,最后从我国法律体系和会计准则的基本特征出发 ,讨论了我国会计准则的法律地位。在我国 ,目前应当充分肯定会计准则的法律地位 ,在认定虚假财务报告时应以会计准则作为基本依据 ,同时应当努力提高会计准则的质量 ,缩小会计准则与公众意识的差距。     

中国共产党领导下地方政府债务管理的探索和展望

本文系统梳理了党的领导下地方政府债务管理的探索实践,归纳总结了其内在逻辑、规律认识,对地方政府债务管理前景进行了分析。