Pointers: Pay; Housing; NHS; Regional policy; Public expenditure; Industrial support; US deficits

Using performance indicators to drive improved service delivery and cost‐effectiveness has been a recognized management technique in the public sector for many years. Most managers are now convinced of the possible benefits, at least in theory. Reality, though, is much less encouraging. Partial coverage, poor implementation and unrealized expectations are still the norm. Yet the potential for radical improvement by making the most of performance measurement is even greater than most people would believe. The question is how to unlock this potential.     

Computer-based instruction in accounting education

The recent introduction of four computer-based instruction packages for accounting may offer an alternative to existing teaching methods, thereby providing staff with more time to undertake their other duties. This paper assesses the background to the use of packages of this type, and proposes a six-stage cycle to be followed if they are to be successfully integrated into accounting course. A report is then given of a study into the use of nine modules from one of the packages (the PEER Statements of Standard Accounting Practice course) by a class of second-year accounting students. It finds that the modules have limited value as an additional resource, but that supplantive use (i.e.lecturer substitution) may be a practical alternative to conventional teaching; that students like the approach and wish to see it used in other areas; and that low computer literacy is no barrier to use.     

Reputational contagion and optimal regulatory forbearance

Existing studies suggest that systemic crises may arise because banks either hold correlated assets, or are connected by interbank lending. This paper shows that common regulation is also a conduit for interbank contagion. One bank's failure may undermine confidence in the banking regulator's competence, and, hence, in other banks chartered by the same regulator. As a result, depositors withdraw funds from otherwise unconnected banks. The optimal regulatory response to this behavior can be privately to exhibit forbearance to a failing bank. We show that regulatory transparency improves confidence ex ante but impedes regulators' ability to stem panics ex post.     

PUBLIC–PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP TO DEVELOP TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE: A CASE STUDY OF THE ECONOMIC RETURNS OF DNA DIAGNOSTICS

This paper presents a quantitative case analysis of one US Advanced Technology Program (ATP) public–private partnership that advanced the technology infrastructure of molecular diagnostics, resulting in substantial downstream economic and public health benefits. Biotechnology R&D is generally characterized by technologies requiring substantial investments in time, money, and effort to develop and sustain concepts through long incubation times. Public sponsorship of a partnership between two companies who would have not otherwise collaborated, Affymetrix and Molecular Dynamics, accelerated the development of DNA microarrays and DNA sequencing technologies and induced innovation at competitor firms. Public sponsorship of private-company research accelerated the completion of the Human Genome Project and improved both the quality and rapidity with which the biotechnology industry and medical science acquire genetic information. Counterfactual scenarios were used to quantify net public benefits by estimating the hypothetical costs of achieving the same outcomes as using the processes and technologies the ATP-cofunded innovations superseded.     

Relationship between just-in-time manufacturing practices and performance: A meta-analytic investigation

Just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing is among the most commonly researched topics in the area of operations management. This study examines the relationship between JIT manufacturing practices and performance outcomes by means of meta-analysis of correlations approach. Based on an in-depth analysis of literature spanning from 1992 to 2008, the results of this meta-analytic investigation support a positive relationship between JIT manufacturing practices and aggregate performance. However, the findings suggest that not all individual JIT practices are associated with all types of performance outcomes. This study highlights the JIT practices that have the greatest impact on individual performance outcomes and emphasizes the role of moderating factors in the relationship between JIT practices and performance. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed and directions for future theory building in JIT are presented.     

The productivity performance of Irish dairy farms 1984–2000: a multiple output distance function approach

This study measures productivity growth on Irish dairy farms over the period 1984–2000. A total factor productivity index is constructed for the dairy system and is decomposed into technical change, efficiency change, and changes in scale efficiency. This is achieved by estimating a stochastic output distance function model of the production technology in use on Irish dairy farms. Overall, productivity on Irish dairy farms grew by 1.2% per annum over the sample period.

Agricultural policy,migration, and malaria in the United States in the 1930s

The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was associated with a population shift in the United States in the 1930s. Evaluating the relationship between the AAA and the incidence of malaria can therefore offer important lessons regarding the broader consequences of demographic changes. Using a quasi-first difference model and a robust set of controls, we find a negative association between AAA expenditures and malaria death rates at the county level. Further, we find that the AAA was associated with increased out-migration of low-income groups from counties with high-risk malaria ecologies. These results suggest that the AAA-induced migration played an important role in the reduction of malaria.     

A foreign exchange transaction reporting system (FXTRS) for central banks

This paper builds on our 1996 work, “Introducing Competition to Global Currency Markets” [1], with respect to recent developments of the international capital and foreign exchange markets. Recent proposals are reviewed relevant to the desirability of a new architecture or structure to improve the operation of these markets. We propose in greater specificity than in our earlier paper a Foreign Exchange Transaction Reporting System, (FXTRS^sm), whose specific technological features will supplement the beneficial affects of non-technological methods proposed by ourselves and others to stabilize and improve these markets, while reducing their social and environmental costs. Patents are pending on the FXTRS^sm and royalties earned will be donated to the United Nations by the authors.     

Evaluating the Monetary Policy Committee

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has now been in operation for two years. How can one judge whether it is performing its tasks successfully? In this article Alan Budd considers some of the difficulties in answering what might appear to be a straightforward question.