New development: Wang Anshi's Wanyanshu as the origins of modern public management?

The drive for efficiencies across all areas of public spending in the UK has accelerated the need for improvements in service performance. This article considers how police performance might be improved through the adoption of a ‘Lean’ philosophy. This is seen as a potential driver for internal police improvements and is made in response to the government's call for reform and to address the challenges of a decrease in future police funding.     

New development: Reviews of public sector performance—groundhog day?

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to canvass, and comment on, the main features of the recently completed Review of Governance, Performance and Accountability legislation/framework at the national level of government in Australia. Most of the Report’s 52 recommendations are procedural and will only be discussed when they may be of particular relevance in a broader context. The review reported on 4 September 2018. It continues the long line of reform reports conducted over the last 30 to 40 years. However, before the review was even completed, the Australian government announced (on 4 May 2018) another wide-ranging Independent Review of the Australian Public Service (APS), with a reference group of national and international experts having ‘diverse public and private sector experience’. Some suggested that the latter review should encompass the findings and recommendations of the former and be considered together, particularly as the announced chair was also a member of the earlier two-person review team. While no one would question the need for continuous learning, the main issue is about effective implementation of agreed recommendations that would improve performance and promote greater public confidence and trust in government.     

Financing dies in darkness? The impact of newspaper closures on public finance

We examine how local newspaper closures affect public finance outcomes for local governments. Following a newspaper closure, municipal borrowing costs increase by 5–11 basis points, costing the municipality an additional $650,000 per issue. This effect is causal and not driven by underlying economic conditions. The loss of government monitoring resulting from a closure is associated with higher government wages and deficits and increased likelihoods of costly advance refundings and negotiated sales. Overall, our results indicate that local newspapers hold their governments accountable, keeping municipal borrowing costs low and ultimately saving local taxpayers money.     

New development: Local public audit—the changing landscape

This article considers the implications for local public audit of the abolition of the Audit Commission and its audit practice (District Audit). The audit regime of NHS foundation trusts, where the Audit Commission is not responsible for auditor appointments or their oversight, is investigated to provide insights for the future of local public audit.     

New development: The future of public service regulation—the professional's perspective

Regulatory failures have shifted the debate from the burden of regulation to its effectiveness. In response, regulators will be more sceptical of self-assessments, more responsive to consumers, provide better information, investigate inputs as well as outcomes and work more collaboratively.     

New development: Are social impact bonds (SIBs) viable in Italy? A new roadmap

This paper presents a roadmap to support the development of social impact bonds (SIBs) in Italy. Current barriers and opportunities are explained. SIBs should be piloted in areas where the cultural, ideological, technical and governance barriers are low. Accurate measurement systems will be necessary and an effective governance structure needs to be agreed. With careful piloting and follow-up, the SIB model could be a solution to welfare and public service funding in Italy.     

Has the value of cash increased over time?

We document a dramatic increase in the market valuation of cash holdings of US firms from 1988 to 2013. The value of one dollar of cash has increased by $0.019 per year during the period, indicating that shareholders place more value on cash in recent years. We also find that the increasing trend in cash value is driven mainly by increases in institutional shareholdings and accounting conservatism. We further decompose cash change into cash flows from operation (CFO) and cash flows from investing and financing activities, and find that CFO is a significant driver of the increasing trend in cash value.     

New development: Time for a consequential impact tax to support the NHS?

The UK's National Health Service (NHS) is facing its most serious financial crisis since its inception and positive, enduring, fundamental changes need to be made if the NHS is to survive as a financially sustainable entity. This article looks at the costs of lifestyle self-abuse behaviour (over 15% of the total NHS spending) and proposes a new tax to offset the costs of treatment and preventative education. The idea is applicable to other countries facing similar problems.     

New development: China’s debt transparency and the case of urban construction investment bonds

China’s true level of local government debt is unknown. The central government recently introduced policies to increase transparency and close some of the obscure financial instruments. Urban construction investment bonds (UCIBs) are one of the key instruments affected by these changes. Both positive and negative impacts can be expected. The issues the Chinese government is facing and its policy response provide important lessons for other governments.     

New development: The conundrum of fair value measurement—evidence from the UK FRAB

This article is based on documentation from the UK Financial Reporting Advisory Board (FRAB) relating to the adoption of IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement. It shows that the development of financial reporting in government involves continuous adaption to new and updated international standards and changing circumstances. Outcomes are influenced by path dependencies and the taking of particular conceptual positions.     

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: Towards a collaborative competency framework to enhance public value in university– industry collaboration

Despite the increasing attention paid to university–industry research collaborations (UICs) to drive national innovation agendas, little is known about to what degree the collaborative competence of participants is considered before the award of contracts. This article proposes that a definition of collaborative competence is required, that collaborative competence should be acknowledged when evaluating UIC proposals, and that an evaluative framework for collaborative competence is needed to enhance public value outcomes for UICs.     

New development: Accountability in public partnerships—The case of Local Strategic Partnerships

Present arrangements for the accountability of Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) and Local Area Agreements (LAAs) are confused. While only local authorities have a direct accountability to the electorate for them, yet they lack powers over their public partners to make that accountability genuine. These partners should be obliged to follow the lead of the local authority.     

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: Value for money (VFM) in public services—the importance of organizational culture

VFM has been a key aspect of public service management for several decades and its importance has been raised in recent years as a consequence of austerity. Organizational culture is recognized in research literature as a key driver of organizational performance. However, little attention has been paid to the topic of organizational culture in relation to VFM in public services. This article presents the findings of new research in this area.     

The missing link? Finance,public services,and co-production: The case of social impact bonds (SIBs)

The authors explain why social impact bonds (SIBs) are an excellent—and probably the only—example of the finance–social services–co-production link. They show how SIBs can provide a functional linking mechanism in social service systems. Furthermore, they can help boost the innovation and sustainability of this system. The co-production concept is related to practice by studying two prison SIBs (HMP Peterborough in the UK and Rikers Island in the USA). They explain why co-production is relevant and how it works in SIBs.     

New development: Can ‘public’ market-based solutions restore the banking system? The case of non-performing loans (NPLs)

The authors discuss how policy-makers could use new market-based solutions to dismantle NPLs. They examine viable solutions for NPLs and then study the Italian State Guarantee Scheme for NPL Securitization (GACS) to highlight how public actors could efficiently use public resources to solve the NPL problem.     

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.     

Does disaggregation of fair value information increase the value relevance of the fair value hierarchy?

In response to pressures from Congress, the SEC and investors, the FASB issued ASU 2010-06, Improving Disclosures about Fair Value Measurement. ASU 2010-06 mandates that firms provide disaggregated fair value information by class of financial instruments under each level of the fair value hierarchy. Using financial statements of publicly traded banks for the first quarters of 2009 and 2010, this study examines whether providing class-level information increases the value relevance of the fair value hierarchy. In support of our hypothesis, we find that fair value relevance increases under ASU 2010-06.     

New development: Accounting recognition of public infrastructure—applying a practical control criterion approach

ABSTRACT

The accounting recognition of public infrastructure can be extremely complex. This article explores and discusses the key IPSAS definitions and reviews the national accounting frameworks of some countries as regards their criteria for recognizing these assets. The author makes an important contribution to public sector accounting research by presenting a new way of recognizing public infrastructure as an asset based on the control criterion.