CLASSIFICATION PROBLEMS AND THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND THE MARKET: AN EXAMINATION OF NHS FOUNDATION TRUST CLASSIFICATION IN THE UK

ABSTRACT: In this paper we argue that national accounting categories provide an inadequate basis for evaluating differences between public and private sector services. This is because accounting categories rely on economic concepts such as market price but do not take account of substantive public policy goals such as universality. The argument has important consequences for the structures and systems of delivery especially where nonprofit providers and social enterprise models are substituted for public bodies formerly integrated into the government's delivery system. Using an example taken from the UK's National Health Service, we show that the mechanisms for ensuring universality through redistribution are not sufficiently taken into account for classification purposes.     

CHARTER SCHOOL COMPETITION AND ITS IMPACT ON EMPLOYMENT SPENDING IN MICHIGAN'S PUBLIC SCHOOLS

This paper seeks to determine how competition from charter schools affects a broad range of employees including instructors, administrators, and support personnel. Three empirical models are estimated utilizing a panel data from Michigan: a fixed effect model, a fixed effect model with lagged dependent variable, and an instrumental variable model. The key findings are that when a school district faces competition from charter schools they spend a larger percentage on instructors (most likely most of this is going toward teachers and not teacher aides), while spending a smaller percentage on employees that support instructors. The models seem to imply that the increased spending on teachers may not be reflected in a salary increase. (JEL H52, H75, I21, I22)     

OBESITY AND MORAL HAZARD IN DEMAND FOR VISITS TO PHYSICIANS

In this article, we use count data regression with sample selection to analyze the effects and degree of moral hazard in demand for visits to physicians among groups of individuals with similar body mass index (BMI). Our results suggest that the effect of moral hazard on the demand for visits to doctors is increasing in BMI for men and for overweight and obese women. Moral hazard is highest among overweight men. (JEL I11, C25)     

Fiscal Autonomy and Total Government Expenditure: An Austrian Case-study

The ongoing debate on the efficiency of a federal system versus a centralized system has lead to a diverse and unclear empirical picture of the effects of fiscal decentralization on public sector growth. For analyzing these effects it is crucial to consider the sub-national decision power on taxing and spending. In the current paper, we test for the effects of fiscal autonomy on total government expenditure using time series from 1955 to 2007 for Austria. Determinants of government expenditure are economic growth, fiscal illusion of policy makers, and the unemployment rate. We additionally account for different degrees of sub-national fiscal autonomy. Our econometric results suggest that the often-hypothesized dampening effects of fiscal autonomy cannot be corroborated for the Austrian system.     

Taxes,Tuition Fees,and Education for Pleasure

The fact that education provides both a productive and a consumptive (nonproductive) return has important and, in some cases, dramatic implications for optimal taxes and tuition fees. Using a simple model, we show that when the consumption share in education is endogenous and tuition fees are unconstrained, the optimal tax/fee system involves regressive income taxes and high tuition fees. A progressive labor income tax system may, on the other hand, be a second‐best response to politically constrained, low tuition fees. Finally, the existence of individuals with different abilities will also move the optimal income tax system toward progressivity.     

An exploratory study of organizational politics in Kuwait

Because politics is a way of life in organizations, organizational politics has been studied by several scholars over the past 40 years. Few studies, though, have examined organizational politics outside of the United States and Europe. This study is a further step toward closing that gap. In particular, we (1) examined the applicability of the Perceptions of Organizational Politics Scale (POPS) instrument in Kuwait, (2) examined the perceived existence of organizational politics in a public organization in Kuwait, and (3) sought to determine if perceptions of organizational politics seemed to be influenced by the same variables in Kuwait as in Western societies. The study found that the perception of organizational politics is relatively strong and that the POPS instrument was applicable in the Kuwaiti culture and could lead to an expanded understanding of organizational politics. The gender of the respondents, their tenure, and their current positions had some influence on perceptions of organizational politics. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Behaviours and entrepreneurial intention: Empirical findings about secondary students

This paper aims to identify some factors that may be explaining differences among secondary students in start-up intentions. For that, the study develops an entrepreneurial intention model sustained by the use of Azjen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour (TBP). Using a sample of students aged between 14 and 15 years old, a questionnaire based on the Li?án and Chen’s Entrepreneurial Intention Questionnaire was administrated. The purpose is to test a model of entrepreneurial intention using structural equations. The findings point that TPB is an appropriate tool to model the development of entrepreneurial intention through pedagogical processes and learning contexts. The education and training should centre itself much more in changing personal attitudes than in knowledge. Moreover, it is desirable that an entrepreneurship educational programme could contribute to the development of competences related to entrepreneurship, social and civic skills, and cultural awareness.