MEASUREMENT OF THE ROLE O F THE PUBLIC SECTOR IN THE FINNISH ECONOMY

Following the growth of the public sector traditional measures of the size of the public sector have appeared to be inadequate for policy purposes. In the article the role of the public sector in the Finnish economy is described first by using some traditional methods and indicators. The historical background of the development is briefly discussed. After that some specific problems of the measurement are discussed. These problems include measurement of output and productivity, definition of appropriate balance of the public sector, different measures to describe the size and scope of the public sector, role of tax reliefs and subsidies, different organizational arrangements, public sector regulation etc.
The growth of the public sector takes many different forms and it appears to be more difficult than formerly to obtain a comprehensive picture of the scope of the public sector. For different purposes different indicators have to be used. At the end of the paper the implications of the changing emphasis in the public policy are discussed.     

SIZE OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR,ECONOMIC GROWTH AND THE INFORMAL ECONOMY: DEVELOPMENT TRENDS IN THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY*

The growth of the public sector in the post-war period and the consequences of this development for economic growth is a strongly disputed subject of economic theory and policy. In this paper the development trends of state activities in the case of the Federal Republic of Germany are presented. The structure of public expenditures as well as the tax structure are taken into consideration and possible impacts on real economic growth are analysed. The negative correlations between some kinds of public expenditures (or taxes) and the growth rate of real GNP should not be taken in proof of the growth-retarding effects which might ensue from increasing state activities. It seems to be more likely that state activities have induced shifts of resources from the formal into the informal economy. Politicians should be aware that some measures of economic policy conventionally proposed will strengthen the movement into the informal economy, thus intensifying the current problems within the public budgets as well as in the social security system.     

ACCOUNTING FOR THE PUBLIC SECTOR IN DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

This paper seeks to set out in some detail an accounting structure for the public sector of developing countries which will provide the information essential for development planning. The public sector is of course of special importance in planning because of its sheer size and its pivotal position for altering the contours of the entire economy. Yet the information available for this strategic area often falls far short of what is needed, and also of what could be provided with more effort.
The paper is divided into a number of sections, the first two of which are concerned with demarcating the public sector and with the nature of the accounting framework proposed. These are followed by sections dealing with the distinction between development and other expenditures; the need for separate financial information; public enterprises; the grouping of expenditures according to the purposes served; and income distribution. A final section touches briefly on some of the data problems involved in implementing the system. In addition, a full set of accounts for the public sector and its components is appended.     

The Social Economy Sector in Japan

The Social Economy Sector is a new comer in Japanese society. Based on two experiments and theories derived from the European concept of social economy and the American concept of the non profit organization, the Japanese way of integration of a social economy sector is developing under the name of the Non Profit and Co-operative Sector. The change of social policy and public policy under the influence of the new liberalism has urged a change in traditional relations between public sector and private sectors and created the new role of a social economy sector. Even though there is no clear image of the sector, both the financial need of public authorities and the social needs of citizen users especially in social security and medical care has made the social economy sector an alternative for realizing better service supply.     

SOCIAL ECONOMY IN THE CO-CONSTRUCTION OF PUBLIC POLICY

ABSTRACT:  In this paper, I focus on the contribution of the social economy to the democratization of the State and of public policy by making use of the distinction between the concepts of co-production and co-construction. In part one, I clarify the meanings given to various concepts. In particular, I pay attention to the idea of a co-production of public policy. This concept relates to the organizational dimension of policy and enables a contextualization of the participation of both civil society stakeholders and market forces in the implementation of services to the public. In part two, I discuss the concept of co-construction which relates to the institutional dimension of public policy and enables an analysis of how both civil society stakeholders and market forces are defining public policies. While the co-construction of public policy can produce various types of outcomes, I favor a solidarity-based model in which the State is open to forms of governance inclusive of the contributions of civil society stakeholders and market forces. This type of co-construction is fitting with a concern for the general interest and is ready to use the resources of the social economy. In part three, I review the housing policy case study in Canada and Quebec during the last twenty years. Three observations emerge from this case study: 1) the presence of both co-production and co-construction in public housing policy; 2) an active presence of the social economy such as co-operatives and non-profit organizations; 3) this active presence of the social economy has helped to produce a number of social innovations that have improved the democratization of public policy in the housing field.     

PUBLIC SECTOR STATISTICS FOR THE UNITED KINGDOM

This paper describes the composition of the public sector in the United Kingdom and traces the development and contribution to the economy of the three main sub-sectors-central government, local government and public corporations—over the past thirty years. Relevant data for output, employment, fixed capital formation and national wealth set the public sector into perspective with the economy as a whole and illustrate how its share of human and other resources has changed over the years. While all four measures show the public sector share of the total to have been around 30 percent in 1980, historically the changes have moved very differently. The slow, but fairly steady, increase in the share of employment and output contrasts with very marked changes in the other two measures. Although public sector fixed investment nearly doubled in real terms between 1950 and 1980 its share of total investment declined from 48 to 31 percent, a much smaller share being taken by dwellings, electricity supply and the railways. In terms of the share of national wealth the public sector moved from a state of indebtedness to the rest of the economy in the fifties and sixties to a position of holding nearly one third of the value of tangible and financial assets in the late seventies. A small part of the paper considers the international dimension, but because few other countries use the concept of a public sector, this section examines only the relationship between total tax revenue and GDP in a number of countries and employment in general government. The problems of determining the boundary of the public and private sectors occurs most frequently at the interface between public corporations and private enterprises; the rules for deciding classification are set out in so far as they can be specified. The last sections of the paper put the statistics into their policy context and consider the value of public sector aggregates. The conclusion is that a general case cannot be made to justify assembling public sector aggregates for all countries; the need will be determined by the economic policies being pursued in a particular country. Although the United Kingdom gives considerable prominence to a public sector financial aggregate, the Public Sector Borrowing Requirement, the functions of the public corporations and the rest of the public sector are so disparate that consolidated accounts for the public sector are no longer prepared.     

ESTIMATION OF THE STOCK OF CAPITAL IN SPAIN

The paper presents the methodology and results of the estimation of the endowments of capital in the Spanish economy. It distinguishes between endowments of public capital and private capital. The series corresponding to the public sector cover the period 1955–97 and consider seven categories (or functions). The estimates are disaggregated by 17 regions and 50 provinces. The level of disaggregation is regional and provincial (NUTS2 and NUTS3 in European terminology). The private capital series cover the period 1964–97 and consider 17 sectors of production, with disaggregation at regional level. The information refers to two variables: gross formation of fixed capital (in current and constant pesetas) and capital stock in constant pesetas (base year 1990).     

SECTOR‐SPECIFIC EXTERNALITIES AND STATUS PREFERENCES IN THE UZAWA‐LUCAS MODEL*

This paper shows that introducing preferences for social status based on human capital holdings modifies the finding of Gómez (2004 ) that sector‐specific externalities associated with human capital in the goods sector do not violate the optimality of the competitive economy in the Uzawa–Lucas model. The effect of an increase in the degree of sector‐specific externalities is qualitatively the same as that of an increase in the strength of the desire for status. Hence, paradoxically, a greater degree of sector‐specific externalities makes human capital accumulation more excessive from the social point of view.     

Minutes of Spring Council Meeting, 1965, of the Catholic Economic Association

This research compares perceived organizational support to work–family balance measures and policies in various work environments to determine whether the organizational context can be a mediating variable or whether the social economy sector, with its mission and management approach (participatory decision-making) might have an influence on organizational support to work–family balance. We studied the social economy sector and compared findings with three other sectors in the public service that have a public service mission but not the same democratic or participatory management mode: a metropolitan police service, social work, and nursing, all in the same city. Our research identifies many significant differences between the four sectors, essentially owing to the characteristics of the social economy sector. In addition to our quantitative research, we conducted interviews (36) in the sector and results indicate that the specificity of the social economy sector, i.e. mission and management mode, explain the overriding concern for work–life balance in the social economy sector.     

ENRICHING WORK ENVIRONMENT IN THE WELFARE SERVICE SECTOR: THE CASE OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISES IN SWEDISH CHILDCARE

Karasak and Theorell's demand/control model for analyzing work environment posits a high degree of both demands and control for active or good working conditions, while stress occurs when demands are plentiful, but there are few possibilities of control. This article addresses a significant increase of work‐related demands for the employees of the public sector in Sweden. It also explores the potential contribution of social enterprises to enrich work environment and provide ‘good work’. The empirical data was taken from two separate studies of work environment at Swedish childcare facilities, one from 1994–95 and another from 2006–07. The article shows that work environment conditions changed radically about 20 years ago and that the effects are still apparent today. The results also show, however, that small, social enterprises continue to offer a better work environment than public facilities.     

ON THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT PATTERNS OF PUBLIC CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES

The multiplier effects resulting from an isolated increase in the level of public consumption within different public branches are investigated and the policy implications are discussed. The article begins with a theorethical analysis which shows why and in which ways these multipliers can be expected to differ between public branches. Thereafter, an empirical investigation is given, based on simulations with an econometric model of the Swedish economy. In this model the public activities are divided into 13 different public branches. The effects of an increase in public consumption on employment, imports and private consumption are found to differ considerably depending on which branch of the public sector is expanded. Some implications for short run stabilization policy are discussed. The article ends with a special analysis of the implications for a medium term planning problem: the trade off between private and public consumption growth. This analysis throws new light on the old topic "private or public consumption". In an economy with highly differentiated production in the public sector the trade-off is shown not to be unique. The sacrifice of private consumption growth corresponding to a given growth of public consumption expenditures will vary considerably according to the distribution of the public consumption growth within the different branches of the public sector.     

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF PUBLIC‐PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS AND ANALYSIS OF THEIR SOCIAL VALUE*

ABSTRACT: This article applies political economy theory to public‐private partnerships (PPPs). First, we propose that social welfare is the appropriate normative evaluation criterion to evaluate the social value of PPPs. Second, we specify the goals of PPP participants, including private‐sector partners and governments. Third, we review the observed outcomes of PPPs and analyze them from both a political economy perspective and a social welfare perspective. Fourth, based on a comparison of the actual outcomes of PPPs to normatively desirable social welfare outcomes, we propose some ‘rules for governments’ concerning the design of government PPP institutions and the management of PPPs. We argue that if governments were to adopt these rules there would be fewer PPPs in total, they would be more like traditional government contracts and there would be a greater likelihood of improved social welfare. However, political economy theory also explains why implementation of any reform will be difficult.     

GROWTH IN THE SHADOWS: EFFECT OF THE SHADOW ECONOMY ON U.S. ECONOMIC GROWTH OVER MORE THAN A CENTURY

Taking a long‐term look at U.S. economic growth over 1870–2014, this paper focuses on the spillovers from the shadow or the unofficial economy to growth in the official sector. Shadow activities might spur or retard economic growth depending on their interactions with the formal sector and impacts on the provision of public goods. Nesting the analysis in a standard neoclassical growth model, we use a relatively new time series technique to estimate the short‐run dynamics and long‐run relationship between economic growth and its determinants. Results suggest that prior to World War II (WWII) the shadow economy had a negative effect on economic growth; however, post‐WWII the shadow economy was beneficial for growth. The sanding effect of the shadow economy in the earlier period is especially robust to alternate considerations of possible endogeneity and an alternate set of growth determinants. (JEL E26, O43, O51, K42)     

EXPERIENCE OF PRIVATIZATION IN EASTERN GERMANY*

ABSTRACT^**: The analysis of the experience of privatization in Eastern Germany shows that the boundaries between the private and public sectors will become increasingly blurred, with the public sector becoming more like the private sector. One may also expect that employment will fall and productivity greatly increase. The legislature's urge to regulate everything will ultimately subside but the public sector will continue to be of vital importance for the economy as a whole. A modernized public sector will be able to deploy its services to make an important contribution to economic growth and employment.     

1998年中国反衰退措施效果研究

对1998年反衰退措施效果的研究表明:(1)由于政府预算规模过小,地方政府必须保持平衡预算且不能借贷等原因,财政自动稳定器对1999年经济复苏所做出的贡献微不足道;(2)在相机抉择政策方面,1998年的财政政策不具备扩张的特征,难以构成经济复苏的推动力。这一发现对于当前反衰退经济政策的制定和未来财政体制的改革都具有重要意义。     

中国上市公司高管薪酬差异分析

随着中国市场经济和证券市场的不断发展,中国上市公司的高管薪酬也不断提高,成为舆论与学术界关注的焦点。通过研究中国上市公司年报披露的高管薪酬数据,笔者发现,行业、地区、企业规模、企业效益、股权集中度差异下高管薪酬存在差异,但并不规则,由此引申出上市公司高管薪酬制度存在的问题,并提出对策建议。     

MODES OF GOVERNANCE IN THE DUTCH SOCIAL HOUSING SECTOR

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 cope with the changing welfare policies, but with varying results. In this paper we show that the implemented modes of governance in the Dutch social housing sector did not always realize the values that the sector was supposed to deliver. The framework we propose also facilitates the discussion about the concept of a social enterprise and the embedding of a service of general interest in the European Union.     

THE PUBLIC SECTOR IN FINANCIAL FLOW STATEMENTS: JAPAN'S CASE

One of the most characteristic features of Japan's public sector is the predominant role of the Treasury system, which operates not only budgetary funds of the central government but also various other funds such as Postal Savings Funds and surplus funds of public corporations.
Among the general account and 45 special accounts of the Treasury system, the Foodstuff Control, the Foreign Exchange Fund and the Trust Fund play important roles, both through their intra-governmental transactions and through their transactions with private sectors. Particularly noticeable is the role played by the Trust Fund Bureau, which serves as a financial institution for government agencies. Surplus and accumulated funds in the Postal Savings and other special accounts of the Government are deposited in the Trust Fund Bureau, which employs these funds for intra-governmental ways and means loans, and for government loans and investment programs.
Another feature of Japan's Treasury system is that it deposits all the Treasury funds solely with the Bank of Japan.
The activities of local authorities and local public enterprises are also largely financed by Treasury funds, and are intertwined with the Treasury system.
The statistical systems for monetary and financial flow analysis developed by the Bank of Japan, therefore, place stress on the analysis of flows of Treasury funds, and are based on an institutional sectoring to reflect the flows of funds as they actually take place. One exception is the Monetary Survey compiled in accordance with the IMF formula, which adopts a kind of functional sectoring for international comparison purposes.
In the last three years, Japan's public sector, which had long stood rather neutral in the financial patterns of the economy, has begun to show an increasing financial deficit. With the increasing financial deficit of the sector, the financial patterns of the nation as a whole are undergoing remarkable changes.     

HETEROGENEITY AND THE PUBLIC SECTOR WAGE POLICY

A model with search and matching frictions and heterogeneous workers was established to evaluate a reform of the public sector wage policy in steady state. The model was calibrated to the U.K. economy based on Labour Force Survey data. A review of the pay received by all public sector workers to align the distribution of wages with the private sector reduces steady‐state unemployment by 1.4 percentage points.     

THE PUBLIC SECTOR PAY GAP IN FRANCE, GREAT BRITAIN AND ITALY

We investigate public–private pay determination using French, British and Italian microdata. While traditional methods focus on parametric methods to estimate the public sector pay gap, in this paper, we use both non-parametric (kernel) and quantile regression methods to analyze the distribution of wages across sectors. We show that the public–private (hourly) wage differential is sensitive to the choice of quantile and that the pattern of premia varies with both gender and skill. In all countries the public sector is found to pay more to low skilled workers with respect to the private sector, whilst the reverse is true for high skilled workers. When comparing results across countries, we find that where pay formation is more regulated (i.e. as in France and Italy) the public sector pay gap is smaller; whilst where market factors play a larger role in pay determination (i.e. as in Great Britain) the public sector pay gap is larger—particularly in the lower part of the wage distribution—and females are much better off in the public sector as compared to the private sector.