bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
FAITH‐BASED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Authors: Reese Laura A. , Shields Gary
Published: June 2005

This article identifies factors that appear to contribute to the economic development activities of faith‐based institutions. Based on in‐depth interviews with churches in Detroit, it concludes that size and revenue of concretion, theology of the head clergy, active initiative by the head pastor or other religious leader, and location in a census tract with residents with lower educational attainment are important determinants of activities. Churches with primarily African American congregations appear to be more active in financing economic development. Denominations of the church appear to have little effect, and deficits in size and resources can be balanced by other attributes.
HOPE VI: A Promising Vintage?
Authors: Finkel Andrew E , Lennon Karin A. , Eisenstadt Elizabeth R.
Published: June 2005

Public housing policies in distressed communities if they are to succeed, must be based on much more realistic assumptions than they are now. We look at HOPE VI, a public housing policy that not only changes the physical environment, but also social services, job training, work opportunities, transportation, child care and other support services. HOPE VI goes a long way to improving public housing policies for distressed communities.
URBAN DEVELOPMENT ACTION GRANTS REVISITED
Authors: Dreussi Amy Shriver , Leahy Peter
Published: June 2005

The Urban Development Block Grant (UDAG) program evolved from preceding programs in aid of distressed communities, including permitting local officials and private businesses wide berth in making deals for UDAG utilization and actively recruiting small cities to participate. This case study examines the impact these evolutionary departures had in two small cities—Follansbee, WV, and Farrell, PA—which received multi‐million dollar UDAGs for steel projects in 1984 and 1988, respectively. Although the two cities had much in common economically, their use of UDAG funds was quite dissimilar. Outcomes were vastly disparate, raising questions about the ability of small communities, particulary those dominated by one declining company, to make appropriate decisions regarding program participation, as well as larger issues of federal intervention.
DEVOLUTION and RECENTRALIZATION OF WELFARE ADMINISTRATION: Implications for “New Federalism”
Authors: Adkisson Richard V. , Peach James T.
Published: June 2005

When the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program was created, participating states were made responsible for the administration of the program. States could choose between administering the program themselves or allowing local administration under state supervision. Initially, 32 of the 50 states (64%) opted for the state‐supervised, locally‐administered structure. By 1990, only 15 states (30%) were operating under state‐supervised systems. Amid decades of talk about federal‐to‐state decentralization, seventeen states have chosen to centralize their welfare administration systems. This choice is an important one as there is substantial evidence indicating that administrative structure is an important determinant of program delivery costs and equity. This article uses a logit model to identify the characteristics that have influenced state choice of administrative model. The results suggest that decisions to centralize welfare administration have been systematic choices, driven by geographic, demographic, economic, and political considerations unique to each state.
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE GROUPS: Grass‐roots Movement or NGO Networks? Some Policy Implications
Authors: Rios Jo Marie
Published: June 2005

The literature on environmental justice indicates that there is a strong presence of grass‐roots activity. This research uses the political process model to investigate whether the environmental justice groups are a social movement or a network of nongovernmental organizations. The results indicate that the majority of these groups do not track the theoretical tenets. There are two groups operating under the penumbra of the environmental justice movement: a social movement and a nongovernmental organization (NGO s) network. There is a modest degree of insurgent action, i.e., blocking the siting of landfills. The NGO's predominate and are the driving force behind this movement through the use of orthodox strategies, formal organizations, ample institutional capacity, lack of protest politics and a strong perception of injustice. These groups do not perceive success in their efforts. This research contributes to the scarcity of literature on the role of minority NGO's in domestic policy‐making.
THE EVOLUTION OF AN ISSUE: The Rise and Decline of Affairmative action
Authors: Elliott Euel , Ewoh Andrew I.E.
Published: June 2005

This article examines the development of the affirmative action issue since its inception, and compares its dynamics and evolution with the broader civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. It identifies and discusses three periods or phases of the affirmative action regime. This vein of research helps provide at least a partial explanation for why policies in related areas of civil rights may produce different outcomes, and explicates the broad resistance to key elements of the anti‐discrimination effort of the last three decades. A tentative model based on the congruence of the policy stance of political institutions to public opinion is suggested. We conclude that while issues such as affirmative action may be susceptible to long‐run institutional counter pressures, voluntary programs to increase diversity will certainly continue.
THE HEALTH CARE FINANCIAL CRISIS: REORGANIZATION AND EVIDENCE‐BASED MEDICINE AS A RESPONSE TO AN “UNHOLY TRINITY”
Authors: Clark Cal , McEldowney Rene
Published: June 2005

The key issues of the health care system are often conceptualized as involving three basic dimensions: 1) the quality of health care provided, 2) access to the health care system, and 3) the cost of health care. Following two decades of rapidly escalating health costs throughout advanced industrial societies, the relationships among these three dimensions now constitute what has been called an “unholy trinity” in that improvements along one dimension will almost inevitably provoke problems in terms of one or both of the others. This symposium examines two distinct types of reform that have been developed in response to the crisis in health care costs. The first focuses upon attempts to reorganize existing institutions in order to make them more effective and cost‐efficient. The second considers the move toward “evidence‐based medicine,” that is, more critically evaluating health care outcomes to make sure that treatments are effective and cost‐efficient.
IDENTIFYING HEALTH CARE COST CRISES IN OECD NATIONS
Authors: Shaw Thomas
Published: June 2005

This study develops an empirical model for determining whether a nation's health care expenditures are experiencing a crisis based on the trend over time of the ratio of total health spending to total domestic expenditures. A dynamic regression model is applied to 22 OECD nations for the 1960–1994 period to estimate whether or not levels of health spending are converging towards a stable equilibrium and, if they are, what this equilibrium is and how long it will take to reach it. Crisis is defined as an empirically divergent process. The principal findings from this analysis are that: 1) three nations (France, Greece, and the United States) are experiencing a crisis according to this definition; 2) although the crisis potential is relatively high in all the OECD nations, there appears to be a critical region or threshold where the tendency towards crisis increases dramatically; 3) the time to reach equilibrium is generally quite long, indicating the opportunity for substantial policy intervention; and 4) Denmark stands out as a successful case where health costs have been contained.
SCIENTIFIC‐BUREAUCRATIC MEDICINE AND UK HEALTH POLICY1
Authors: Harrison Stephen , Wood Bruce
Published: June 2005

One prominent method for controlling health costs is to find measures for the management of demand. Various options exist for this; and many of them have been tried during the fifty years of the UK's National Health Service. Current policy now focuses on what may be called “scientific‐bureaucratic medicine.” This policy is based on the assumptions that valid medical knowledge is derived from accumulated research evidence and that such knowledge should be implemented through clinical guidelines which are enforced to some extent. This UK development has parallels with the US Agency for Health Care Policy and Research whose experience, therefore, raises some policy issues for the UK.
THE WORST OF BOTH WORLDS: NURSING HOME REGULATION IN THE UNITED STATES
Authors: Hovey William
Published: June 2005

The current system of nursing home regulation, focused on prescriptive regulations and a punitive approach to compliance, can be described as “the worst of all worlds.” The approach is both burdensome to the industry and ineffective in protecting consumers. This article proposes an alternative model for nursing home regulation, focused on co‐regulation (the use of private accreditation agencies) and deregulation (the repeal of state certification of need laws).
MANAGED COMPETITION IN FLORIDA HEALTH CARE: ITS STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
Authors: Feldheim Mary Ann
Published: June 2005

Managed competition in health care is a model for reform that has been adopted by several states and considered as a model for national health care reform. This article assesses the strengths and weaknesses of managed competition in Florida based on the responses of essential participants in the managed competition network and data from network documents. Results of the analysis reveal that the strength of the reform has been in offering small employers and their employees a wide choice of health care insurance and in providing them with information to make informed health insurance choices. In addition to increasing choice and information, the managed competition network has become the small group insurance industry watchdog, applying pressure to keep the market fair and functioning. However, cost control difficulties and a continued limited access to health insurance demonstrate the weaknesses of the Florida reform. The article concludes by discussing the politicization of health care reform in Florida and the future of this reform effort in a changing political climate.
MENTAL HEALTH CARE FOR OLDER PERSONS: NETWORKING AS A RESPONSE TO ORGANIZATIONAL CHALLENGES1
Authors: Jenkins Carol L. , Laditka Sarah B.
Published: June 2005

We use case study methodology to examine the degree of cooperation and coordination among organizations providing mental health care to older persons. Mail surveys and in‐depth interviews were employed to gather data from human service organizations in one relatively rural county of Upstate New York. We find that organizations that are older and provide larger numbers of services tend to have a higher degree of integration with other organizations. There is little evidence of formal coordination of services. Informal cooperation, at least on an ad hoc basis, is common, though. Older persons with chronic mental health problems are relatively well served by the system. Older persons whose mental health problems are associated with the aging process are not well served by the system. The growth of mental health managed care has increased competition among many organizations, further fragmenting a weakly integrated system.
NEW DIRECTIONS IN MEDICAL OUTCOMES RESEARCH: THE VIEW FROM HARVARD
Authors: Larson James S.
Published: June 2005

This study evaluates the emerging field of medical outcomes research based on interviews at Harvard Medical School. Medical outcomes research at Harvard is multifaceted, but may be summarized as involving certain key components. The emphasis at Harvard is on “quality of care,” viewed as a combination of outcomes evaluation and process evaluation, delivery of the service and its result. In a time of shrinking budgets, outcomes and process research can be justified economically because of the relatively low cost of patient self‐reports and because of their usefulness. Physicians may be motivated to measure quality of care by emphasizing the positive effects of research on the process of care and outcomes. Medical outcomes research is a field that is undergoing change and is becoming increasingly oriented toward the practical needs of patients and physicians.
SPECIALIZATION OF NURSING HOME CARE AND OUTCOMES1
Authors: Silva Ajith , Porell Frank W.
Published: June 2005

Implications of nursing home specialization for health outcomes were examined. The formal hypothesis tested in this study was that facilities specializing in the treatment of certain kinds of residents, as reflected in a critical mass of such residents, are more likely to experience better health outcomes over time compared to facilities that do not specialize in the treatment of such residents. Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), survival, and several diagnosis‐specific outcomes were analyzed for residents. Multivariate state‐dependence and logistic regression models were estimated for residents of six diagnostic sub‐groups. Specialization was empirically defined in terms of concentration of residents with certain diagnoses within nursing facilities. Empirical results indicate that specialization has some positive effects on some outcomes. For instance, facilities specializing in the care of Alzheimer's disease patients appear to produce comparatively better outcomes with respect to restraint use and accidents. Residents with diagnoses of hypertension or ischemic heart disease in specialized facilities also fare better in terms of survival. Residents with a diagnosis of cerebrovascular disease in specialized facilities were found to experience worse outcomes with respect to most of the outcomes modeled in this study, however. Overall, specialization only appears to make a difference in the outcomes of residents with certain medical conditions for some health outcomes. Regression results also indicate that basic measures of frailty such as functional deficiencies, incontinence, and behavioral problems largely contribute to detrimental effects irrespective of the diagnostic group or the outcome considered.
THE PERFORMANCE OF NATIONAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS: A “GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS” FINDING FOR REFORM POSSIBILITIES
Authors: Clark Cal , McEldowney Rene'
Published: June 2005

This paper seeks to contribute to an understanding of how macro health systems work by comparing three possible sets of influences on national health care outcomes: 1) health care facilities and their presumed link to national affluence, 2) social characteristics which are assumed to promote healthy behavior, and 3) political variables in the form of welfare state development. Our findings bear both optimistic and pessimistic connotations. On the one hand, the somewhat limited importance of the first set of factors shows that good health in a country is not simply the function of high spending levels. However, the surprisingly strong role of “social development” in determining health care outcomes that emerges implies that much more than the direct provision of health care must be manipulated to ensure optimal health for a nation's population.
POLICY FOR THE‘DESERVING,’BUT POLITICALLY WEAK: THE 1996 WELFARE REFORM ACT AND BATTERED WOMEN
Authors: Chanley Sharon A. , Alozie Nicholas O.
Published: June 2005

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law #104–193) is perhaps the most visible national legislation since the sweeping Civil Rights laws of the 1960s. For social policy so well entrenched into the American social fabric, the rapidity with which reforms swept through the welfare system was unprecedented and confound conventional theoretical pronouncements on bureaucracy and policy change. The swiftness of reform, and the political rhetoric that surrounded the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, have prompted criticism that reformers responded more to the social construction of welfare recipients than they did to the dictates of sound public policy (Magusson and Dunham, 1996). This article discusses the ramifications of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act for battered women and concludes that battered women's social construction as deserving of public assistance, but politically weak, precipitated welfare reform policy, targeted to battered women, that has been largely rhetorical rather than substantive.
THE ROARING SILENCE: FEMINIST REVISIONS IN THE EDUCATIONAL POLICY LITERATURE
Authors: Parsons Michael , Ward Emily R.
Published: June 2005

Absent from assessments of feminism's influence on the academy and the disciplines is an evaluation of the impact of feminist thought on policy research. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate feminist scholarship's presence in the core policy and higher education journals. The first section of the paper explains why it is important to consider the influence of feminism on the policy literature. This is followed by a discussion of what is meant by feminism in the context of this paper. The third section presents the methodology used in evaluating the literature. The paper concludes with a discussion of the findings and implications
PARADIGMS, POLICIES, AND PEOPLE: EXPLORING THE LINKAGES BETWEEN NORMATIVE BELIEFS, PUBLIC POLICIES AND UTILITY CONSUMER PAYMENT PROBLEMS
Authors: Hyman Drew , Bridger Jeffrey , Shingler John , Van Loon Mollie
Published: June 2005

This article takes a step toward unifying normative and empirical policy analysis by examining the convergence of societal metatheories, public policy models, and empirical data on consumers. It begins with the premise that policies rest on a foundation of normative beliefs or metatheories that, in turn, put boundaries around the possible and give social meaning to the policies and programs that flow from them. The interaction of social metatheories about poverty and existing policies to deal with people with utility payment problems is examined. The article continues with the idea that good policy arguments are supported with empirical data and factual evidence. An empirical cluster analysis of a representative sample of consumers provides a basis for identifying the extent to which the empirical clusters conform to any or all of the metatheory‐policy linkages. The ultimate message is that theory and practice ought to demarcate where they are deductively metaphysical, based on beliefs about a subject, where they are inductively empirical, based on objective measurements relevant to the situation to which applied, and where a mixed approach is used. Linkage of the three types of information allows policy research to identify options in light of the values and metatheories on which they are based and the objective characteristics and effects on their objects of action. The implications are that when policies are based on beliefs that reflect only a part of empirical reality, implementation may fail or be inefficient and ineffective.
MEASURING THE WAR ON DRUGS: A CYBERNETIC MODEL FOR ANALYZING THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DRUG SEVERITY, DRUG SALIENCE AND DRUG FUNDING
Authors: White Richard D.
Published: June 2005

This study explores the rationality of drug policy. It proposes a cybernetic relationship between actual drug severity, public salience of the drug problem, and anti‐drug funding. The study hypothesizes that increases in the severity of the drug problem will cause an increase in the salience of the drug issue. Increased salience in turn leads to political pressure and increased drug funding. As funding increases, anti‐drug programs become more robust and effective and drug severity decreases. When severity decreases, salience should in turn decrease. And so on. To test the cybernetic model, the study correlates trends of drug data from 1970 through 1996. It finds significant correlation between drug severity, measured by hospital emergency room drug episodes, and drug salience, measured by media coverage of drug events. The study finds correlations of drug funding and severity to be ambiguous, and finds no correlation between drug funding and drug salience. The findings do not support the overall hypothesis of a rational, cybernetic process but offer insights on drug policy dynamics.
GLOBALIZATION'S IMPACT ON STATE‐LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POLICY
Authors: Clark Cal , Montjoy Robert S.
Published: June 2005

The growing exposure of the U.S. economy to international competition, popularly termed globalization, over the past two decades has brought some momentous changes affecting the American economy, society, and life styles. Not surprisingly, these changes have been reflected in growing political turbulence and shifts in policy paradigms as well. This symposium explores the effects that globalization has had on economic development policy and practice by state and local governments in the United States. Part I charts and seeks to explain“The Expanding Global Linkages” of state and local governments over the last several decades. Part II on the” Potential for Transformation “then argues that the economic transformations set off by globalization are pushing state and local development policy toward strategies that should overcome some of the problems associated with the previous strategy dubbed “smokestack chasing.” Yet, caution is certainly necessary before accepting such optimistic interpretations. Part III, therefore, presents several analyses suggesting that smokestack chasing “struck back” and that blind reliance on free markets and entrepreneurs hip can be dangerous to a community's social and economic health, indicting the existence of “Pitfalls in a Changing Universe.”
THE GROWNING INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES OF THE AMERICAN STATES1
Authors: Conlan Timothy J. , Sager Michelle A.
Published: June 2005

This article examines state responses to the changing global economy, by exploring the growth of state international economic activities, variations in these activities, factors promoting and limiting state involvement in international affairs, and implications of these trends for the implementation of state economic development policies. Global economic competition, a changing domestic political and economic landscape, the modernization of state government, and increasingly open international markets have inspired states to increase their international activities. Consequently, dramatic growth in state international activities has occurred in the fields of trade promotion and economic development. Yet, state and local involvement in international affairs has not been universally accepted nor consistently funded.
THE GROWING IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION UPON CITY POLICIES1
Authors: Chernotsky Harry I.
Published: June 2005

The increasing pace of globalization is impacting numerous cities across the United States. The imperatives of complex interdependence and the progressive internationalization of production have been particularly important stimuli. Moreover, the increasing professionalization of local governments makes them better equipped to handle an active international role. As the forces of globalization penetrate deeper into communities, local leaders find themselves resorting to symbolic or “conscious‐raising” measures designed to heighten international sensitivities and awareness. Economic interests are also pivotal in forging bilateral foreign contacts and accords initiated at the local level. Of particular significance is the horizontal restructuring of private‐public sector relationships. Finally, a case study of Charlotte illustrates both the variety of forces pushing cities to respond to globalization and the considerable constraints that still exist upon such efforts.
LOCAL REGIMES: Does Globalization Challenge the “Growth Machine”?
Authors: Clark Cal , Green Johnny , Grenell Keenan
Published: June 2005

This article explores the possible impacts that globalization might have upon the nature of local governments and the economic development policies that they adopt. We begin by outlining the theory of how “corporate regimes” dominate most urban centers, why they implement skewed economic development policies, and why globalization appears to be exacerbating these problems. Research on state‐and‐local economic development outside urban centers indicates that several types of business development exist and that they differ significantly in their implications for improving conditions in a community. This suggests that other types of corporate regimes are possible. The logic of globalization points toward the need to establish more progressive corporate regimes willing to implement some of the reforms advocated by critics of the “growth machine.”
GLOBALIZATION'S IMPACT ONSTATE AND LOCAL POLICY: The Rise of Regional Cluster‐Based Economic Development Strategies1
Authors: Felbinger Claire L. , Rohey James E.
Published: June 2005

We propose proactive policies which allow state and local governments to participate in the global economy, offering opportunities and venues for effective development. We first develop the argument that the changing economic conditions associated with globalization call for a new approach to state‐local economic development policy. We then outline three assumptions which are critical to drive successful state and local economic development policy in a global environment. The major part of the analysis describes this new strategy of “regional cluster‐based economic development,” drawing extensively upon a case study of Cleveland's economic revitalization.
MOVING INTO GLOBAL COMPETITION: A Case Study of Alabama's Recruitment of Mercedes‐Benz
Authors: Gardner Edwin I. , Montjoy Robert S. , Watson Douglas J.
Published: June 2005

Globalization is changing the game of economic development, but the emerging rules and optimal strategies remain somewhat unclear. The Mercedes case discussed in this article illustrates the rough and uncertain nature of this transition. From the perspective of the traditional strategy, the price of the jobs initially promised by Mercedes seemed high; and the ultimate cost was increased by the intense competition among the bidding states. Yet from another perspective, the incentives offered by Alabama can be viewed as “table stakes” for the new global game of economic development.
EXPORTING AMERICAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PRACTICE TO RUSSIA
Authors: Buss Terry F.
Published: June 2005

The failure of US initiatives to build local/regional economic development capacity in Russia following the fall of Communism has been partly blamed on national factors, Russian culture, and American consultants. Much of the failure, however, probably resulted because American approaches to economic development—‐highly successful in other contexts—could not work during Russia's transition from a command economy to its current state. Such things as promoting entrepreneurship, developing public‐private partnerships, creating a market economy, accessing start‐up capital, attracting foreign investment, overcoming bureaucratic corruption and high taxation, working within the rule of law, and negating organized crime either should not have been done, or could not have been done, leaving many of our programs ineffective. We ask whether the Russian deviations from the U.S. model have any implications for the current situation facing state and local development policy in the U.S.
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION REFORM IN FLORIDA: Why Did Two Innovative Return to Work Programs Fail?
Authors: Jewett Aubrey
Published: June 2005

Why do well‐intentioned public policies sometimes fail? This research examines the failure of two Florida workers’ compensation reforms intended to help previously injured employees return to work: the obligation to rehire program and the preferred worker program. Interviews conducted with Floridians involved in workers‘compensation reform are examined to find out why these two programs failed. The disappointing outcome of the obligation to rehire and preferred worker programs can be tied to the dominance of business groups in state policymaking, the failure to provide a proper incentive and enforcement system, and the inability to foresee the consequences of reform because of policy and environmental complexity.
REPRESENTATIVE IDEOLOGY AND THE VOTE FOR WELFARE REFORM
Authors: Adkisson Richard V. , Daniel David L.
Published: June 2005

This article examines the congressional vote for HR3734, The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. The primary concern is to identify the factors that had a significant influence over the voting decision, paying special attention to representative ideology measured by Americans for Democratic Action and American Conservative Union voting scores. An empirical model is developed and estimated using logistic regression. The model incorporates proxies for representative ideology, constituent ideology, constituent economic interests, and the potential for legislative shirking. The results indicate that representative ideology was an important factor in the vote, but that constituent ideology and interests were also influential. Knowledge of the pattern of voting on the original legislation should prove useful to policymakers as the need for further refinement of the welfare system becomes evident, as it almost surely will.
PROTECTION FOR WHOM?
Authors: Siplon Patricia , Hoag Brandt
Published: June 2005

For several decades almost all the states have addressed the goal of ensuring an adequate supply of blood and blood products through the provision of “blood shield laws.” These laws shield the blood industry from strict liability in the case of viral or other contamination of blood or its components. These laws were passed with little regard for other considerations, such as safety incentives. This article traces the development of the blood industry, its influence on state and national blood policy, and the consequences of such policy for people infected with hepatitis and HIV through blood and blood products. The authors conclude that the closed nature of the policy process has had negative consequences for the creation of blood policy that should balance concerns of both supply and safety.
SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS IN CHINA
Authors: Tao–chiu Lam , Perry James L.
Published: June 2005

ABSTRACT This article examines a neglected area of reform in China: service organizations. It discusses the structural features of service organizations and the institutional constraints on eflorts to reform them.
INSTITUTIONAL REFORM IN ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE SYSTEM OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA: Service Organizations as an Alternative for Administrative Enhancement
Authors: Lo Carlos Wing‐Hung , Lo Jack Man‐Keung , Cheung Kai‐Chee
Published: June 2005

The economic reform in the PRC inaugurated by Deng Xiaoping in 1979 has changed the landscape of the regime's environmental governance by putting it in a more market‐oriented context. As a strategy to strengthen administrative capacity in a situation heavily circumscribed by the limited resource support from local governments, the environmental protection authorities at all levels have established a sizable number of service organizations to provide them administrative support. These service organizations have to sponsor their own operation by engaging in revenue‐generating or fund raising activities. This has led to the emergence and proliferation of service organizations in the environmental governance system in the last decade. This article will examine, from a state capacity perspective, institutional reform in the environmental governance system of the PRC1.
RESTRUCTURING CHINA'S WELFARE REGIME AT THE LOCAL LEVEL: A Case Study
Authors: Lee Peter Nan‐Shong
Published: June 2005

This article focuses on the restructuring of the governing apparatus of occupational welfare in the industrial sector within a territorial hierarchy during the reform era. The paper focuses on the transformation to a program‐centered provision from a work‐unit‐centered provision in examining the restructuring of the programs of occupational benefits in three cases: retirement benefits, medical care and housing. The paper also analyzes the changing role of each type of public organization as well as the relationship among them in the wake of economic reform.
COMMODIFICATION OF HOUSING WITH CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS
Authors: Chiu Rebecca L.H.
Published: June 2005

In its attempt to reform the housing system, China has rapidly marketized but not privatized the housing production process and system. In contrast, the consumption of housing is privatized quickly but marketized slowly. Yet, the housing allocation process still largely relies on the old system of heavy subsidization. Nonetheless, housing subsidy has been curtailed and the growth in home ownership and the future pegging of rent and price with household income would dwarf the housing provider role of the government. The commodification process necessitated new government roles since government support in infrastructure and superstructure is essential for the healthy functioning of the newly emerged housing market. Overall, retention of the public ownership of the development companies and the housing financiers differentiate the Chinese housing reform process from those of other market and post‐socialist economies.
FIZZ, FROTH, FLAT: The Challenge of Converting China's SOEs into Shareholding Corporations
Authors: Freund Elizabeth M.
Published: June 2005

China's attempts to convert its state firms into shareholding corporations have failed to alter SOE management behavior. This article examines this failure by looking at the flotation of Tsingtao Brewery shares in Hong Kong. The article argues that for reforms to be meaningful, changes need to be made to economic, political and legal institutions by which SOEs operate. These changes, such as allowing SOE directors managerial autonomy and clarifying areas of the Company Law, create incentives for managers to run their firms as business entities responsive to market forces and responsible to their investors.
TECHNOLOGY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN CHINA: Commercialization Reforms in the Science and Technology Sector
Authors: Baark Erik
Published: June 2005

A vital component of China's reforms in the area of science and technology (S&T) activities during the last two decades has been improving the commercial exploitation of technology generated in research institutes. This article analyses the various concepts and measures introduced to guide policies for the commercialization of technology as well as various approaches employed by the Chinese government in the light of theories of market‐pull innovation and public choice.
NEW INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMICS AND THE ANALYSIS OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR
Authors: Dollery Brian
Published: June 2005

The development of New Institutional Economics (NIE), and especially its core components agency theory, property rights economics and transaction costs economics, appears to have provided policy analysts with powerful tools for the analysis of public sector organisational behaviour and design. In particular, the adoption by NIE of the concept of “bounded rationality” and its employment of a “comparative institutions” approach to the question of economic efficiency seems especially applicable to public bureaucracies. However, NIE is difficult to define with any degree of precision and may well possess an inherent bias towards normative policy prescription favouring market solutions to public sector problems.
FEDERAL POLICY IN LOCAL CONTEXT: The Influence of Local State‐Societal Relations on Endangered Species Act Implementation
Authors: Davidson Debra J.
Published: June 2005

Current debates regarding the degree to which centralization or decentralization of environmental bureaucracies promotes more effective management of natural resources suggest the need for employing new methodologies to empirical analysis, in a variety of political and ecological settings. In this paper, recent state synergy scholarship is adopted to an analysis of the impact of state‐societal relations on the implementation of the U.S. Endangered Species Act in the coastal redwoods region of California. This study suggests that certain state‐societal relations at the peripheries of bureaucratic state systems pose potential sources of both state autonomy and capacity. Effective utilization of such sources may be hampered, however, by policy actions that reflect national‐level political pressure, leading to management decisions that are not necessarily designed to improve either the ecological or social welfare of the region. In conclusion, the author argues that decentralization may be beneficial to bureaucratic effectiveness, however such efforts will be contingent on the ability of states to develop dense connecting networks with social actors that can contribute to policy goals.
THE NEW POLICY CHALLENGES OF FINANCIAL SERVICES GLOBALIZATION
Authors: Dombrowski Peter
Published: June 2005

Can nation states cope with numerous public policy challenges–ranging from regional financial crises to the failures of large financial services firms–posed by today's globalized financial and monetary landscape? As Benjamin Cohen has argued “governments must consciously adapt to a dramatic transformation of their status, from monopolists to oligopolists, if they are to adequately represent the interests of all their citizens in monetary affairs.” This article briefly examines the nature of the policy challenges facing states and reviews the findings of symposium contributors who explored the national, regional and international responses of states to the fast moving global financial and monetary developments.
TESTING ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATIONS OF CAPITAL CONTROL LIBERALIZATION*
Authors: Li Quan , Smith Dale L.
Published: June 2005

The literature on why restrictions over capital flows have been liberalized is filled with alternative causal stories (the pluralist, statist and systemic model, and economic explanations). In this article, we provide a test of these models of capital control liberalization within the context of 18 OECD countries from 1967 to 1995. We have avoided the usual practice of aggregating multiple governments in one country within one year into one country‐year observation, and use the country‐year‐government as the unit of analysis instead to correctly test the relationship between government characteristics and liberalization policy. We find that when the government considers lifting or imposing restrictions over capital flows, it responds to both systemic pressures and the key supporters of free capital flows. Governments also consider the current account balance and are heavily influenced by the prior policy choice regarding restrictions on capital transactions. We fail to find support for such explanations as the impact of government ideology, government strength, and central bank independence.
POLITICS, INSTITUTIONS, CONSTRUCTIVISM and the EMERGING INTERNATIONAL REGIME for FINANCIAL REGULATION
Authors: Porter Tony
Published: June 2005

This article examines the growing number of interconnected international groupings that have been built to regulate global finance over the past quarter century. It suggests that the rationalistic approaches focusing on egoistic actors that have dominated scholarly study of this issue area have contributed to the understimation of the strenght of the regime for regulating global finance. It examines, as an alternative, constructivist approaches that stress the importance of institution.
CAPITAL MOBILITY, DOMESTIC POLITICS, and FRENCH MONETARY DIPLOMACY
Authors: Walsh James I.
Published: June 2005

ABSTRACT2

This article evaluates the role of increased capital mobility, sectoral interests, and domestic institutions in bringing about policy change in French capital markets. Capital mobility played an indirect role by making it more costly for French governments to pursue inflationary economic policies. But it was domestic politics, not capital mobility, that led governments to achieve lower inflation by stabilizing the exchange rate. The key domestic political factor was institutional change to regulatory practices, while financial markets reduced bank lending to industry and internationalized French finance, breaking the strong ties and comon monetary diplomacy interests of bankers, industralists, and policymakers, and thereby weaken the political priority of promoting domestic growth and industrial competitiveness.
THE IMPACT of FINANCIAL SERVICES GLOBALIZATION UPON the CARIBBEAN COMMON MARKET
Authors: Gayle Dennis J.
Published: June 2005

This article tests three hypotheses concerning the policy effects of foreign exchange market liberalization and exchange controls in the three Caribbean Common Market countries of Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, and Barbados during the 1990s. It concludes that these cases do not show either monetary or fiscal policy to be particularly effective, when foreign exchange markets are liberalized before a functional bank regulatory system is put in place. These cases also imply that given the challenges posed by financial services globalization, the need for informed judgment by governments regarding the pace and scope of financial sector liberalization will remain critical, particularly within small developing countries.
BANKING ON THE PERIPHERY: Bolivia's Financial Reforms, 1985–1996
Authors: Boyd Frank A.
Published: June 2005

This article examines the sequencing of financial reform in LDCs in Bolivia. Bolivia undertook a dramatic stabilization program in 1985 and, over the next decade, steadily improved the oversight and regulation of domestic banks. I explain how these reforms proceed under three democratically elected administrations who each used political pacts to ensure legislative support for their agenda. At the international level, external shocks twice precipitated deeper banking reforms, but Bolivia's underdeveloped capital markets prevented the speculative attacks observed in other cases. The Bolivian experience demonstrates the potential for financial reform in the poorest of LDCs and the need for further research in similar cases.
THE TROUBLE WITH HEDGE FUNDS
Authors: Harmes Adam
Published: June 2005

This article examines the impact of hedge funds on the workings of international financial markets and their implications for public policy. In contrast to the neoclassical view of hedge funds, which views them as being‘too‐small‐to‐matter, this article argues that the activities of hedge funds are significant for policymakers because of their ability to become extensively overleveraged and to act as market leaders. I consider the role played by hedge funds in financial crises, market volatility, market manipulation and systemic risk. The article concludes with a critical review of recent proposals for dealing with the public policy issues raised by hedge funds.
WOLF'S MODEL: Government Failure and Public Sector Reform in Advanced Industrial Democracies
Authors: Wallis Joe , Dollery Brian
Published: June 2005

Many developed nations have embarked on public sector reform programs based on the New Public Management (NPM) paradigm. This article seeks to evaluate the efficacy of NPM reform strategies as a means of dealing with the problem of “government failure” in public sector hierarchies by examining these strategies through the analytical prism provided by Wolf's theory of nonmarket failure. Drawing on the New Zealand experience, we explore the potential for NPM reform initiatives to mitigate the problems of nonmarket supply. Moreover, we examine how “autonomous policy leadership” and “advocacy coalition networks” can overcome the various obstacles to the successful implementation of reform strategies delineated by Wolf under his “conditions of nonmarket demand”. The article then focusses on the efficacy of NPM in removing, or at least reducing, the various forms of government failure identified in Wolf's taxonomic catalogue of nonmarket failure. We conclude by assessing some of the likely tradeoffs involved in the application of NPM reform programs.
WELFARE REFORM: Recent Policy and Politics
Authors: Mead Lawrence M.
Published: June 2005

Public policy research has not combined policy and political analysis as its pioneers imagined. Mostly, political scientists study just the policy process, abandoning prescriptions to policy specialists. A better approach is to combine policy and political analysis, using positions on issues to assess policymaking, and vice versa. This article illustrates that approach by applying it to recent welfare reform. I take raising work levels as the chief goal of reform and assess the Family Support Act (FSA) of 1988 and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 against it. FSA was a timid compromise that achieved little while PRWORA was a conflicted measure that achieved more, but at unnecessary risk. I also ask how the tensions between best policy and politics might be resolved. This approach makes public policy research more relevant to the real stakes in policymaking. [142 words.]
WELFARE IDEOLOGY, THE MARKET AND SOCIAL SECURITY: Towards a Typology of Market‐Oriented Reform
Authors: Hyde Mark , Dixon John
Published: June 2005

The global shift towards the market in the provision of social security is typically associated with the values of the New Right, but we take issue with this view. An examination of the main welfare ideologies that have influenced the development of contemporary social security systems suggests that the market and individualism have a role to play in a range of approaches to reform. Whilst some approaches unreservedly endorse the market – in a way which accords with the ideas of the New Right – other approaches adopt a pragmatic orientation based on a recognition of two public policy dilemmas, “market failure” and “state failure.” This attempt to define a middle way typifies many of the recent social security reform initiatives. Drawing upon Esping‐Andersen's recent work on de‐commodification, we construct a typology of normative approaches to the provision of social security which may be used to contextualise market‐oriented social security reform initiatives. This we argue is necessary to avoid the over‐simplified dichotomy between individualism and collectivism which is typical of so much recent work on social security reform.
THE MARKET PROVISION OF MANDATORY SOCIAL SECURITY: Protecting the Public Interest in Perpetuity
Authors: Dixon John , Kouzmin Alexander
Published: June 2005

Pressures to introduce market reforms to public social security system emerged as a reaction to state welfare paternalism, drawing strength from the spirit of liberalism and emphasizing the virtues of the marketplace. Market reform advocates seek to shift the prevailing social security paradigm away from community solidarity to individual responsibility, with a view to divesting government of some of its statutory social security responsibilities. Market reform of public social security provision redefines the public‐private boundary, making socio‐political governance more a process of co‐ordination, steering, influencing, and balancing pluralist interactions, with the civil service increasingly expected to act as trustee of the public interest. What, however, the public interest is and how it differs from private interest is problematic and it should reflect the shared values that create social bonds and identity within a society. The daunting twin challenges facing governments are to design a set of regulatory arrangements that can protect the public interest in perpetuity, and to resist calls for government subsidies to support the economic rent expectations of privatized providers. To meet these challenges the “hollowed‐out” state must become a “smart” state.