A supply-demand model of public sector size

We develop a supply-demand model for the public sector with a political equilibrium. The model considers the inefficiencies caused by taxes and includes costs associated with the provision of public goods to consumers. We show that the size of the public sector may depend on the median voter's income, population size, costs associated with paying tax, and quality of institutions, all of which reflect the costs of provisioning public goods. The estimates for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries are compatible with theoretical predictions; however, they do not confirm Wagner's law, which holds that the public sector share does not grow with an increase in income. A greater dependency ratio and the Gini coefficient increase demand for redistribution policies. Greater government effectiveness is a supply-side factor that increases the public sector's share in an economy.     

Administrative tradition and management reforms: a comparison of agency chief executive accountability in four Continental Rechtsstaat countries

This article investigates perceived accountability patterns of national agencies’ chief executives in four countries with a Rechtsstaat tradition and tests theoretical expectations about potential tensions between managerial reforms and administrative values using survey data (N = 453). All countries combine old and new forms of accountability requirements, while legal and financial accountability have not been replaced with results accountability. Switzerland and the Netherlands score highest on results accountability, though in combination with legal and financial accountability, which are dominant in Germany and Austria. Nation-specific characteristics seem more important for core values of public administration than generic characteristics of the Rechtsstaat model.     

Exploring the structure and meaning of public service motivation in the Turkish public sector: a test of the mediating effects of job characteristics

Using a data set consisting of 315 middle-managers at the district level in the Turkish public sector, we develop a structural equation model (SEM) for assessing the impact of empowerment and stewardship on public service motivation (PSM) through job characteristics. The results demonstrate that stewardship and empowerment are distinct ‘levers’ that managers can use in novel ways to influence PSM; and cultural context may factor into the manipulation of these levers. We find that job-based mediators may not compliment leadership styles and self-generating rewards, but, rather work separately in their appeal to PSM.     

Psychological safety climate and workplace bullying in Vietnam’s public sector

The bureaucratic and impersonal nature of public management can fertilize workplace bullying and risks for psychological health and safety. Psychological safety climate (PSC) is an important indicator to reduce psychological hazards. Yet, there have been few studies conducted to examine the existence of PSC in the public sector in non-Western economies. This study examined the implementation of PSC and its effects on 274 employees from six branches of a Vietnamese public sector organization. The results suggest that senior management in organizations should consider positive work conditions and an effective system of policies, procedures, and practices for the prevention of psychosocial hazards.     

The Variegated Financialization of Housing

There is a small but growing literature on the financialization of housing that demonstrates how housing is a central aspect of financialization. Despite the varied analyses of the financialization of housing and the importance of housing to financialization, the relations between housing and financialization remain under‐researched and under‐theorized. The financialization of housing is not really a specific form of financialization, transcending as it does a number of different forms of financialization. Housing systems, in particular, vary widely across the globe, which implies that housing financialization will be inherently variegated, path‐dependent and uneven. In this introduction to the symposium, I will discuss how the articles to follow contribute to the literature on the financialization of housing. Housing has entered a post‐Fordist, neoliberal and financialized regime. Increasingly, both mortgaged homeownership and subsidized rental housing are there to keep financial markets going, rather than being facilitated by those markets. There is little evidence that the global financial crisis has resulted in any de‐financialization of housing. There are common trajectories within uneven and variegated financialization, rather than radically different and completely unrelated forms of housing financialization.     

Dynamic and non-neutral productivity effects of foreign ownership: A nonparametric approach

This paper studies two novel productivity characteristics of foreign acquisition on high-tech manufacturing firms: the dynamic and the non-Hicks-neutral effects. A dynamic productivity effect of foreign ownership arises when adoption of foreign technology and management practices takes time to fully realize. Furthermore, these dynamic adjustments may be capital or labor augmenting as adoption of advanced production technologies tends to have non-neutral productivity implications in developed countries. We propose and implement an econometric framework to estimate both effects using firm-level data from China's manufacturing sector. Our framework extends a nonparametric productivity framework, in which identification is achieved using a firm's first-order conditions and timing assumptions. We find strong evidence of dynamic and non-neutral effects from foreign ownership, with significant differences across investment sources. Investment from OECD sources is found to provide a long-term productivity boost for all but the largest recipients, while that from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan does not raise performance. These findings have implications for China's declining labor share and for the rising domestic value-added content of its high-tech exports.     

关于进一步推进国有经济 改革发展的一些意见

改革开放以来,在我国国有经济的改革与发展取得巨大成就的同时,社会上流行着的一些错误观点：如国有企业低效率论、国有企业垄断论、国进民退论、国有企业退出竞争性领域论等,对坚持国有企业改革和发展的正确方向起了极其不良的干扰作用。本文在澄清这些错误观点的基础上,提出了一些对国有企业进一步改革发展思路的看法。     

海南高职酒店管理专业校企合作现状与分析

为了深入了解行业企业在高职酒店人才培养过程中所起的作用、具体的运作方式及不同企业的关注点,课题组对海南省15家星级酒店进行了问卷调查和深度访谈。调研显示,高职院校在今后的校企合作过程中,应更加关注行业企业的需要,进行教育教学改革,探索形式多样的校企合作人才培养方式。     

信息化水平与技术创新能力的协整关系——基于2005—2010年中国工业行业面板数据的实证分析

利用2005—2010年中国工业37个细分行业的面板数据,运用面板单位根检验、面板协整检验、面板协整估计等方法检验了信息化水平、市场化水平、行业利润等因素对中国工业技术创新能力的影响。利用多种协整检验方法所得的结果一致表明,信息化水平、市场化水平、行业利润等与中国工业技术创新能力之间存在长期稳定的均衡关系;面板协整估计结果表明,信息化水平显著促进了中国工业技术创新能力的提升,但该影响具有明显的时序差异。     

Financial innovation in the UK

This study employs a national survey of over 1100 British financial firms to ascertain the determinants of financial innovation and their sales success using the logit and the generalized Tobit models. We find that the likelihood of financial innovation rises with the size of financial firms, employee education, greater expenditure on research and development, the availability of finance and the extent to which firms cooperate with each other. Perceptions of economic risk and innovation costs are also influential. R&D, cooperation and human capital are the main variables driving the success of financial innovation, measured by the percentage share of innovations sold. Firms in London/the south have a significantly greater tendency to innovate, though Scotland also does well. Stock broking, fund management and related activities are more innovative than firms in the financial intermediation and pension/insurance sectors.