Great expectations but poor results: financial and social performance of the T oscana Energia merger

Benchmarking is often used in the public sector as a way of driving up performance. This article explains why benchmarking does not necessarily lead to better performance and why it can generate unwanted consequences. The article recommends ways of improving the link between benchmarking and performance. These involve the design of the benchmarking scheme, the presentation of benchmarking scores, the stakeholders to which these scores will be disclosed, and the actions that will be undertaken as a follow-up.     

New development: What is the meaning of philosophy for local government officers?

This article reflects on how the philosophical foundations of public administration and the practice of local government can be linked together. Informed by Ongaro, E. (2017. Philosophy and public administration: An introduction. Edward Elgar), the relationship between philosophy and public administration is considered, followed by a discussion of what this means for local government. Virtue ethics and utilitarianism are applied to two current examples of local government practice. The article ends by detailing key points for the future relationship between philosophy and local government.     

New development: Mutual solutions to shaping public service delivery

There have been a number of developments in approaches to public service delivery in the UK, partly as a response to austerity measures, as well as a shift to new models of public sector, private and third sector provision. This article considers the development of public service mutuals—those organizations that have spun out of the public sector, and where employees of the new providers play a key role in shaping and delivering public services at local and national levels. The authors identify areas where further work is needed to better understand these new models and to consider whether the perceived benefits associated with traditional mutual models are applicable when applied to public service provision.     

从经济学视角谈公立医院管理体制改革

我国公立医院管理体制经历数次改革,虽取得一些进展,但仍存在诸如商业贿赂、可及性低、病人看病难、设备诊断费高、医药费贵、大诊断、大处方等一系列问题。本文从经济学视角对公立医院服务体系的构成要素进行不同性质的理论区分,明确市场和政府在公立医院服务供给中的界限,在此基础上提出以医疗费结算为核心的公立医院管理改革及医疗服务体系改革措施。     

Debate: We just do not know: Healthcare expenditure trends

The increasing use of accrual accounting by governments around the world has led to the appearance of public sector balance sheet information both at a wholeof-government level and at the level of an individual public sector entity. However , this new information can only be useful if it actually gets used. This article explores some of the barriers that have become evident in attempting to use balance sheet information for decision-making and accountability purposes. These barriers are not insubstantial and require acknowledgement and a reformulation of the value of balance sheet information by those promoting its benefits. Such a reformulation is suggested.     

Behavioural normative economics: foundations,approaches and trends

This article summarises the theoretical foundations, main approaches and current trends in the field of behavioural normative economics. It identifies bounded rationality and bounded willpower as the two core concepts that have motivated the field. Since the concepts allow for individual preferences to be context-dependent and time-inconsistent, they pose an intricate problem for standard welfare analysis. The article discusses the ways in which two prominent approaches – the preference purification approach and the opportunity approach – have tackled the problem. It argues that shortcomings in each of these approaches motivate an agency-centric perspective. The article presents two concrete policy proposals of the agency-centric approach. While this approach is promising, the article argues for pluralism in normative economics since an exclusive focus on agency can likely not do justice to the multifarious concerns that citizens hold.     

财政风险与国债结构管理--从国债再融资角度的分析

国债风险是财政风险中的核心内容，控制风险的思路不能囿于国债总量的控制，还要注重国债结构管理所能发挥的作用。本文从国再融资资风险的角度，分析了国债结构管理在防范财政风险中的作用，并对我国国债现状进行了实证分析。最后，笔者提出，为降低我国财政风险，目前应该增加长期债券比例，形成一个均衡的债务期限。     

Intended or Unintended Consequences? Resource Erosion in New Zealand's Government Departments

Internationally, a feature of public sector reforms over the last twenty years is the characterisation of negative effects as unintended consequences, yet the reform programme continues as before (Humphrey et al., 1993 and 1998). This article reports the findings from an investigation of ostensibly unintended consequences of New Zealand's public sector financial management system: resource erosion in government departments which both escapes parliamentary scrutiny and damages departments' capability to perform even core functions (State Services Commission, 1998a; and Controller and Auditor–General, 1999). The findings suggest that these effects might not be unintended. The system's structures and processes, including designed–in resource erosion processes and a surreptitious approach, are highly consistent with those advocated to facilitate privatisation.     

Assessing the implementation of managerial reforms in Catalan government: the development of professional public management

This article examines the extent of recent managerial reforms in Catalan government. The results were unexpected. Reforms which aimed to provide public administrations with more managerially-oriented frameworks are failing to embed in Catalan administrations, particularly in areas like accountability and incentives systems. This article will be of particular value in countries where the boundaries between politicians and managers coming from administrative careers in the public service are blurred, such as in Spain, France and Italy.     

New development: Leveraging ‘big data’ analytics in the public sector

This article examines the opportunities presented by effectively harnessing big data in the public sector context. The article is exploratory and reviews both academic- and practitioner–oriented literature related to big data developments. The findings suggest that big data will have an impact on the future role of public sector organizations in functional areas. However, the author also reveals that there are challenges to be addressed by governments in adopting big data applications. To realize the benefits of big data, policy-makers need to: invest in research; create incentives for private and public sector entities to share data; and set up programmes to develop appropriate skills.     

New development: Eight and a half propositions to stimulate frugal innovation

This article distills some key ideas and practices which research indicates can stimulate innovation in public services in thrifty ways. Some propositions may be surprising, given the conventional wisdom about innovation. The propositions are intended to provoke policy-makers, public managers and academics, challenging thinking and encouraging new approaches to innovation.     

William Vickrey: Contributions to Public Policy

This article introduces the reader to the full range of William Vickrey's contributions to economics from a public policy perspective. It is organized in similar manner to the book Public Economics: Selected Papers by William Vickrey; it examines Vickrey's public policy contributions to social choice and allocation mechanisms, taxation, marginal-cost pricing, urban transportation, urban economics, and macroeconomic policy.     

An investigation of the short-term performance of the Canadian IPO market.

This article explores the short-term return performance of the Canadian initial public offering (IPO) market. Historically, the Canadian IPO market has shown to be one of the least underpriced markets in the world. This paper uses recent IPOs from 2010 to 2017, and the results confirm that the Canadian IPO market remains one of the least underpriced IPO markets in the world. The mean (median) first-day returns show that Canadian IPOs are marginally underpricing at only 1.45% (0.24%) during the sample period. Additional short-run return measures indicate that Canadian IPOs underperform the market in their 1-month, 6-month, and 12-month holding periods. This research also contributes to the existing IPO literature by showing that restricted voting share offerings tend to be more underpriced and perform poorly over the short-term.     

The measurement of turnaround management strategies in local authorities

The use of turnaround management strategies (TMS) in the public context is beginning to be researched, however adjusted measurement tools are still needed. This article describes the construction and validation of a new scale for measuring TMS in local authorities.     

The (im)possibilities of open data?

The perceived benefits and possibilities that the production, publication and consumption of Open Government Data (OGD) can provide to citizens and the economy are well documented. In the UK, this has resulted in the introduction of key legislation, such as the Freedom of Information Act 2010, and the Data Protection Act 2018. However, there is insufficient empirical knowledge and evidence to support the extent as to which the intended possibilities of OGD (transparency, releasing social and commercial value, and participation and engagement) have been realized. This article investigates these supposed possibilities and suggests that they may be impossibilities instead.     

New development: Gender (responsive) budgeting—a reflection on critical issues and future challenges

Gender budgeting needs to become institutionalized more strongly in our societies and public policies. The article suggests some of the possible challenges to be taken into consideration to make it ‘work’, including availability of technical capacities and data, securing support in the political agenda, involving stakeholders, balancing spontaneity and standardization, and considering wider sources of inequality.     

中国农村社会养老保险制度变迁与政策评价

“十二五”规划纲要中明确提出要健全覆盖城乡居民的社会保障体系,着实实现新型农村社会养老保险制度全覆盖也随即提上了发展El程。本文通过对我国农村社会养老保险制度的发展脉络进行解读,从制度变迁的视角对这一政策进行评价,分析政策遭遇困境的原因,重点分析新型农村社会养老保险制度存在的缺陷。     

New development: What works now? Continuity and change in the use of evidence to improve public policy and service delivery

This article highlights 10 key strands of continuity and change in the use of evidence over the past two decades. Interest in evidence use continues, as do the many challenges encountered when seeking to deliver on this aspiration. There have been developments in ideas and actions, which foster some optimism that better use of varying forms of evidence can be encouraged.     

论智慧城市公共服务体系的建设

随着科技和社会的不断发展,智慧城市作为创新2.0环境下的城市形态,呈现出飞速的发展。本文就智慧城市中的公共服务体系的建设进行了分析与阐述。     

New development: Public sector controllership—reinventing the financial specialist as a countervailing power

Different types of ‘controllers’ can be distinguished in the public sector. The authors’ research indicates that public sector controllers acknowledge the distinctive characteristics of ‘hybrid’ controllers, but question some of the possible advantages of ‘pure’ controllers. This result could signal a decreasing share of pure controllers and thus a loss of financial expertise in the public sector. This article calls for the controller to be ‘re-invented’ as a professional who combines solid financial expertise with an independent and critical attitude towards overly ambitious politicians and managers. The general public’s support for public sector organizations could be enhanced if strong controllers counterbalance the sometimes too optimistic views of managers and politicians.