A strategy framework for performance measurement in the public sector

This paper looks at a little-studied question: what are the strategic choices behind the selection and implementation of performance measurement practices in public sector entities? The paper presents a new strategy framework which provides a structured approach to the many options available for measuring performance effectively. The framework is primarily intended for large public sector organizations, such as municipalities, but will also be useful in smaller entities.     

The welfare consequences of strategic behaviour under approval and plurality voting

This paper studies the welfare consequences of strategic behaviour under approval and plurality voting by comparing the utilitarian efficiencies obtained in simulated voting under two behavioural assumptions: expected utility-maximising behaviour and sincere behaviour. Under approval voting utilitarian efficiency is relatively high irrespective of the behavioural assumption, and under the plurality rule strategic voting significantly increases utilitarian efficiency.     

Stock market response to analysts' perceptions and earnings in a technology-intensive environment

This paper investigates the contemporaneous stock market response to financial analysts' perceptions of the firm and accounting earnings in the telecommunication and electronics industry in Finland. Analysts' perceptions used in the study are based on the Most Admired Companies survey similar to that conducted by Fortune magazine in the United States. The results indicate the nonfinancial information of the firm measured in terms of the analysts' perceptions has value relevance in a technology-oriented stock market.     

Is There Room for Ethical Consumers on the Finnish Political Spectrum?

Journal of Consumer Policy - This paper examines ethical consumption by comparing attitudes between different political party supporters. In recent consumer theories, it is argued that...     

Model selection in macroeconomics: DSGE and ad hocness

ABSTRACT

We investigate the applicability of Rodrik’s accounts of model selection and horizontal progress to macroeconomic DSGE modelling in both academic and policy-oriented modelling contexts. We argue that the key step of identifying critical assumptions is complicated by the interconnectedness of the common structural core of DSGE models and by the ad hoc modifications introduced to model various rigidities and other market imperfections. We then outline alternative ways in which macroeconomic modelling could become more horizontally progressive.     

Technology education for children in primary schools in Finland and Germany: different school systems, similar problems and how to overcome them

Even if the results of international student assessment studies such as PISA or TIMSS show that girls have been catching up in mathematics and natural sciences, there are still remarkable gender differences in the number of males and females studying and working in the technological fields after basic education. Technology is still a male-dominated area. This is true for the German and Finnish societies. Results of the studies conducted in the UPDATE project show that influences on interest in technological themes take place already in early childhood. Therefore, efforts should be put in developing early childhood education and elementary school education, to raise girls’ interests and motivation towards technology. This article reports the results of the UPDATE-WorkPackage3-project mainly in Finland and in Germany. It concentrates on studying elementary school pupils’ (age 6–12), particularly girls’ motivation towards the contents and methods of technology education. Various curriculum documents and national learning conditions are discussed and suggestions for the gender equitable technology education are made.     

Births-Deaths Nexus of Firms: Estimating VAR with Panel Data

This paper investigates dynamic interrelationships between the births and deaths of firms at the level of the 88 Finnish subregions during 1989–1993. The births-deaths nexus of firms is analysed using vector autoregressions (VAR) and an instrumental variable estimator. The main findings are: first, that the firm births equation has a two-year lag structure, which means that firm deaths cause firm births, and firm births cause subsequent births following two- year lags; and second, that according to the firm deaths equation, which has a one-year lag structure, firm births do not cause firm deaths, but firm deaths cause subsequent deaths. A further finding is that the use of the ordinary least-squares estimator produces inconsistent, and clearly different results from those produced by the instrumental variable estimator.     

Ageing shocks and short-run regional labour market dynamics in a spatial panel VAR approach

Using a flexible spatial panel VAR model for a small-scale labour market system, we investigate the dynamic interdependences between changes in the demographic structure and the labour market performance of a regional economy. With a particular focus on ageing shocks, we describe an increase in the share of elderly in regional population due to exogenous changes in the institutional context, such as pension reforms. The regional labour market implications of an ageing shock are then tested with regard to the effects on employment growth, unemployment and labour participation rate. Our results based on a sample of 71 Scandinavian regions point to negative regional labour market effects of an ageing shock implying a reduction in employment growth and a temporarily declining labour participation rate, while the unemployment rate increases. Importantly, spatial spillovers amplify these negative impacts through a marginalization of macro-regional labour markets. As a robustness check, we reverse the causal ordering and analyze the responses to a positive macroeconomic shock which initially increases employment growth. We find direct and spatially indirect adjustment patterns characterized by a reduction of the unemployment rate, an increase in the labour participation rate and a decrease in the share of elderly in the population.     

铜版纸胶印油墨组分的可视化分析

近年来,人们在纸张吸墨性与印品密度的关系方面进行了广泛的研究。本文将一系列热固型油墨的各组分分别印刷到铜版纸上,利用聚焦离子束（FIB）观察各组分的分布情况。然后利用同样的方法,观察成品油墨印刷时各组分的分布情况。油墨光油也适用于改良的薄层色谱（TLC）板,这些薄板与纸张涂有相同的涂层。TLC板上分离的油墨组分可以使用红外光谱来测定。实验结果表明,聚焦离子束可对进入涂料层的油墨组分进行观察,但是矿物油例外。由于其具有挥发性,在干燥后和真空环境内不能留在纸张涂层内,同时注意到当蜡溶解在油里的样品同样要求在涂层的孔隙结构有一个非常清晰的成像时,FIB图像的差异显著增加。这项研究与其他已知研究结果一致,即颜料和硬树脂留在涂层的表面,而矿物油和植物油迅速渗透进入涂层。酯类溶剂和溶解蜡同样渗入涂层。