Showing papers on "Agency (sociology) published in 1983"
TL;DR: Jensen and Fama as mentioned in this paper developed a set of propositions that explaim the special features of the residual claims of different organizational forms as efficient approaches to controlling agency problems and explained the survival of organizational forms in specific activities.
Abstract: Social and economic activities, like religion, entertainment, education, research, and the production of other goods and services, are carried on by different types of organizations, for example, corporations, proprietorships, partnerships, mutuals and nonprofits. There is competition among organizational forms for survival. The form of organization that survives in an activity is the one that delivers the product demanded by customers at the lowest price while covering costs. The characteristics of residual claims are important both in distinguishing organizations from one another and in explaining the survival of organizational forms in specific activities. This paper develops a set of propositions that explaim the special features of the residual claims of different organizational forms as efficient approaches to controlling agency problems. © M. C. Jensen and E. F. Fama, 1983 Michael C. Jensen, Foundations of Organizational Strategy Chapter 6, Harvard University Press, 1998. Journal of Law & Economics, Vol XXVI (June 1983) This document is available on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) Electronic Library at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/paper.taf?ABSTRACT_ID=94032 AGENCY PROBLEMS AND RESIDUAL CLAIMS
3,594 citations
TL;DR: Agency problems, auditing, and the theory of the firm: Some Evidence as discussed by the authors, by Ross L. Watts and Jerold L. Zimmerman, was a seminal work in the field of law and economics.
Abstract: Agency Problems, Auditing, and the Theory of the Firm: Some EvidenceAuthor(s): Ross L. Watts and Jerold L. ZimmermanSource: Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 26, No. 3, (Oct., 1983), pp. 613-633Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/725039Accessed: 29/06/2008 23:14
1,198 citations
01 Jan 1983
TL;DR: The European Space Agency (ESA) as mentioned in this paper is the successor to the European Launcher Development Organization and the European Space Research Organization, which were created under separate conventions concluded in 1962 as European bases for the execution of space activities and programs.
Abstract: This chapter describes the establishment and role of European Space Agency (ESA). The ESA is the successor to the European Launcher Development Organization and the European Space Research Organization, which were created under separate conventions concluded in 1962 as European bases for the execution of space activities and programs. ESA was created by the Convention for the Establishment of a European Space Agency, which was opened for signature in Paris on May 30, 1975. The Director General, who is appointed by the council, acts as ESA's chief executive officer and legal representative. He reports annually to the council, attends its meetings, and may make proposals but has no vote. The administrative structure beneath the Director General consists of function oriented Directorates for Administration, Applications Programmes, Spacecraft Operations, Scientific Programmes, and Space Transportation Systems, as well as the Technical Directorate.
637 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the development of quantitative risk assessment approaches by Federal regulatory agencies in the United States, and identify the mathematical models currently being used for risk extrapolation, including their inherent uncertainties.
Abstract: Scientists have long used conventional toxicological methods to establish “safe levels of exposure” for chemicals presumed to have threshold health effects or doses below which significant effects are unlikely to occur. These same methods cannot be used to establish safe levels of exposure for non-threshold pollutants, such as carcinogens. Therefore, Federal regulatory agencies in the United States are using risk assessment methods to provide information for public health policy decisions concerning increases in risk associated with increases in exposure to carcinogenic and other non-threshold pollutants. Acceptable exposure/risk levels are decided by policymakers who consider descriptions and estimates of risks together with social and economic benefits from the uses of the chemical. This paper focuses on the development of quantitative risk assessment approaches by Federal regulatory agencies in the United States, and identifies the mathematical models currently being used for risk extrapolation, including their inherent uncertainties. The uncertainties and limitations of these methods have led some scientists to question the utility of quantitative risk extrapolation. The experience of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as summarized in this paper, can provide a realistic basis for evaluating the pros and cons. Finally, shortcomings in current risk assessment methods and their use in policy decisions are explored, and areas for possible improvement, given current scientific knowledge, are identified.
243 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1983
TL;DR: In this paper, the double standard of content is used to define bad faith, denial of agency, and pollution of agency in the context of art, science, and philosophy.
Abstract: Prologue 1. Prohibitions 2. Bad Faith 3. Denial of Agency 4. Pollution of Agency 5. The Double Standard of Content 6. False Categorizing 7. Isolation 8. Anomalousness 9. Lack of Models 10. Responses 11. Aesthetics Epilogue Author's Note Afterword Notes Index
192 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1983
TL;DR: Mashaw as discussed by the authors has taken a micro-sopic account and appraisal of the Social Security Administration's methods and problems, but also a generalized and philosophic inquiry into the nature of the 'justice' such an agency, bureaucratically organized, can dispense.
Abstract: "Mashaw has taken ...the Social Security Administration's handling of disability claims ...and from it has drawn, not only a microsopic account and appraisal of SSA's methods and problems, but also a generalized and philosophic inquiry into the nature of the 'justice' such an agency, bureaucratically organized, can dispense. He provides an unorthodox redefinition of what the administrative law that matters is, and fresh insights inot why it matters and how it develops...Brilliant."-Harvey C. Mansfield, Perspective
140 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an explanation for the what and why of management accounting, which is based on the agency theory of the firm and the notion of accounts as stories, the tales individual members of organizations construct to explain, understand and justify the behavior of themselves and others in organizations.
Abstract: ‘Accounting’, as the term is utilized in textbooks, discussed by teachers and researchers, and practiced by accountants, has evolved a narrow and specific meaning. It refers to the financial transactions of enterprises, and is generally concerned with the process of codifying, summarizing and reporting on such transactions. Although recent years have seen (at least on the research front) accounting becoming more broadly defined to include such things as individual and group reactions to transactions or their results (see, e.g. the human information processing research conducted by Ashton, 1976, and others, and the efficient market research undertaken by Beaver, 1972, and others), other interpretations and analyses based on the term itself have not occurred. For example, a recent article by Silverman (1975) on accounting in organizations bears little or no resemblance to “our” sort of accounting. What Silverman is concerned with are accounts as stories, the tales individual members of organizations construct to explain, understand and justify the behavior of themselves and others in organizations. Just such interpretation and analysis provided the genesis of the arguments in the present paper which attempt to explain what management accounting is and, more importantly, why it exists. Prior to launching into this explanation, a short digression on another recent approach which addresses these same questions sets the stage for the ensuing analysis. The newest explanation for the what and why of managerial accounting that has appeared in the literature is agency theory. In simple form, the argument is advanced that a principal (or owner) will seek accounting reports from an agent (or manager) as a form of control in an attempt to ensure that his resources are not being squandered. A number of papers have appeared based on this relatively simple proposition, for example Zimmerman’s (1979) research on cost allocation, Demski & Feltham (1978) on budgeting and Atkinson (1979) on standard setting problems. The work has basically been concerned with the design of incentive and accounting systems to overcome the assumed fundamental incentive of an agent to provide a less than honest report on his utilization of assets. Importantly, as Zimmerman (1979) argues, the questions are addressed in a positive rather than normative form. The fundamental difficulty with what amounts to an agency theory of the firm is that unidimensional explanations of behavior are, in general, not rich enough to capture the variety of human experience. Central to agency notions are assumptions that agents as resourceful, evaluative, maximizing men (REMMS) will, in the absence of tight restraints and controls engage in activities such as shirking, theft and on-the-job leisure, or the consumption of prerequisites such as “. . . thick carpets, air-conditioning or congenial employees” (Zimmerman, 1979, p. 506). The behavioral assumptions of REM men must be severely questioned in the light of the last twenty years of research into the area of human choice (March, 1978); the elements of Taylorism in the description of expected behaviors is an overly simplistic and inaccurate model of behavior in organizational settings. For example, the role of power in
62 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare the strategies and tactics of mediators from a state agency and a federal mediator, showing that state mediators use a building strategy and emphasize directive tactics to gather information, assess priorities, and encourage parties to move the parties on discrete issues.
Abstract: Labor mediators see the achievement of a settlement as their objective. From this point of convergence, mediators will differ on the strategy to be used to achieve this end. Tactics refer to the specific actions mediators take in the service of these strategic ends. Based on a participant observation of 10 mediators on 16 cases, the strategies and tactics of mediators from a state agency are contrasted with those used by mediators from a federal agency. The state mediators use a building strategy and emphasize directive tactics to gather information, assess priorities, and encourage parties to move the parties on discrete issues. In contrast, the federal mediators favor a narrowing strategy and emphasize tactics to encourage the parties to continue to meet and progressively refine their proposals in order for an acceptable package to emerge. Mediators from both agencies see their strategic approach as responsive to the parties they serve.
58 citations
54 citations
48 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the organizational environments and interorganizational network which potentially influence ethical/unethical behavior of advertising decision-makers and explore the consequences of the environment for un/ethical decisions.
Abstract: This study explores the organizational environments and interorganizational network which potentially influence ethical/unethical behavior of advertising decision-makers. Questions explored are: Do advertising agencies and their client corporations have similar standards of ethical behavior? Are the influences on un/ethical behavior for these two types of organizations similar? Corollary to this second question, the researchers wish to determine if the differential association model of un/ethical behavior reported in "Predicting Unethical Behavior Among Marketing Practitioners" (Zey-Ferrell, Weaver, and Ferrell 1979) would be validated with samples of advertising practitioners. Through the investigation of these questions, the consequences of the environment for un/ethical decisions are explored. Additional research is suggested and implications for structural improvements in the environment for un/ethical decisions including public policy considerations are discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the organization of inspection and enforcement practices in the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement and show that patterns of inspector discretion affect the size of civil fines imposed for regulatory violations.
Abstract: Recent trends in regulatory bureaucracies in the United States indicate a shift toward detailed, rigid mandates. In part, this movement represents an attempt to weave an increasingly seamless web of non-discretionary policies for field-level inspectorates. This paper examines the organization of inspection and enforcement practices in such an agency—the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. The creators of the enabling legislation and the agency top executives went to great lengths to circumvent inspector discretion. Questionnaire and interview data on the agency's inspector corps suggest that such efforts were only partially successful. Not only do field-level personnel employ discretionary practices, but the nature of the regulated industry structures the context of inspector discretion. We show a relationship between corporate size and the exercise of inspector discretion. We also show that patterns of inspector discretion affect the size of civil fines imposed for regulatory violations.
01 Jun 1983
TL;DR: A longitudinal analysis of individual-level mental health caseload data from an energy boomtown indicates that while energy-related persons account for a substantial portion of the service demand, their use of mental health services is not disproportionately high for their relative population numbers, nor are their problems more severe than those of their nonenergy counterparts.
Abstract: Mental health administrators in high growth areas are challenged to meet increasing service demands in a time of declining federal support. Existing literature on energy boomtowns in the western United States would suggest that administrators in these areas should prepare especially to meet the needs of newcomers. Increasing service demands in boomtowns have often been attributed to the “special problems” of these incoming energy workers and their families, or to a “predisposition” on their part to use agency services of all types. This article examines this hypothesis through a longitudinal analysis of individual-level mental health caseload data from an energy boomtown. Findings indicate that while energy-related persons account for a substantial portion of the service demand, their use of mental health services is not disproportionately high for their relative population numbers, nor are their problems more severe than those of their nonenergy counterparts. Rather, a major portion of the caseload increase was due to the needs of the nonenergy population, among whom theper capita caseload effectively doubled within four years.
TL;DR: This article organized the available information on school desegregation plans in order to elevate the quality of the current debate and identify what policy issues can be illuminated by social science research; to clarify the extent of agreement this research has generated; and to discover, where possible, what characteristics of deseggregation plans effectively help to reduce racial isolation, to curb white flight, and to achieve an overall positive community response.
Abstract: SOME twenty-five years after Brown v. Board of Education, confusion reigns among the public, lawyers, judges, and scholars over the impact of school desegregation on children and on the communities in which they live. If we depend largely on news reports and word-of-mouth accounts, the public consensus appears to be that school desegregation does not work and that it creates more violence and interracial hostility during its implementation than it will ever be able to eliminate thereafter. The validity of this conclusion in large measure depends on a quantity of relatively inaccessible research-some of it unpublished and much more of it scattered in diverse journals. The dispersion of the literature makes it quite impossible for scholars, much less laymen, to obtain a complete and accurate picture of the current situation. Distorted and incomplete findings are often cited by desegregation advocates and opponents alike in court cases, congressional hearings, and administrative proceedings. The decisions taken thereafter, whether on the structure of a desegregation plan, the content of a statute, or the finding of an agency, show the ill effects of the poor information upon which they implicitly or explicitly rely. The purpose of this paper is to organize the available information on school desegregation plans in order to elevate the quality of the current debate. Thus the paper seeks to identify what policy issues can be illuminated by social science research; to clarify the extent of agreement this research has generated; and to discover, where possible, what characteristics of desegregation plans effectively help to reduce racial isolation, to curb white flight, and to achieve an overall positive community response. To this end, the first section of the paper explores the effects of
TL;DR: The theory and structure of a day unit designed to intervene in the systems of families who present with severe or multiple problems to agencies attempting to help them, but who are difficult to engage in a therapeutic pact and unresponsive to attempts at outpatient therapy are described.
Abstract: This paper describes the theory and structure of a day unit designed to intervene in the systems of families who present with severe or multiple problems to agencies attempting to help them, but who are difficult to engage in a therapeutic pact and unresponsive to attempts at outpatient therapy. An analysis of these families is offered in terms of the relations between internal and external boundaries and difficulties in making transitions in the daily contexts of life. The principles of the unit are described in terms of the creation of an artificial extended family, the intensification of sequence and patterns of interaction, and the making and traversing of boundaries. Particular attention is paid to the function of agency interventions in family patterns and to redefining the relationship between family and agencies.
TL;DR: In this article, strategies for development of fifth-generation computers in Japan, the United States, and Western Europe are compared and contrasted briefly in a short introductory article, and individual approaches are then explored in depth in a series of short articles.
Abstract: Strategies for development of fifth-generation computers in Japan, the United States, and Western Europe are compared and contrasted briefly in a short introductory article. Individual approaches are then explored in depth in a series of short articles. The discussion covers the activities of Japan's Institute for New Generation Computer Technology (ICOT); the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency's new Strategic Computing and Survivability (SPS) program, the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corp. (MCC), and university-industry-government joint research, all in the United States; and efforts by Great Britain and the European Common Market.
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of scale and client media allocations on advertising agency costs were investigated and it was found that large agencies' costs seem to be sensitive to the mix of media in which their clients advertise and that larger agencies' clients advertise in media that are apparently more profitable for the agencies.
Abstract: This study attempts to answer a simple question: How important are economies of scale in advertising agency operations? Advertising agencies, like most other businesses, are multiple-product firms. An agency's costs may depend on how their clients allocate their advertising budgets across media and there is considerable variation in media mix among agencies. (Sec. II provides some quantitative information on this variation.) Accordingly, we use nonlinear estimation techniques to examine the influences of both scale and media mix on advertising agency costs. We find evidence that scale economies may not be as important as many have argued and that media Nonlinear cost functions are employed to study the effects of scale and client media allocations on advertising agency costs. Over 200 U.S. agencies in 1977 apparently were large enough to exhaust essentially all economies of scale, though very small agencies may have had substantial scale-related cost disadvantages. Agencies' costs seem to be sensitive to the mix of media in which their clients advertise. On average, larger agencies' clients advertise in media that are apparently more profitable for the agencies. Implications for a number of issues in marketing and industrial organization are briefly explored. * We are indebted to James Lattin and, especially, Severein Borenstein for excellent research assistance and to the Ford Motor Company for partial financial support through a grant to M.I.T. Acknowledgement is also due to Harry Darling, Robert Finn, John Hauser, Jerry Hausman, Lew Pringle, Diane Schmalensee, Thomas Stoker, and a referee for helpful comments and discussions. Responsibility for the opinions expressed here and any remaining errors rests solely with us.
31 Aug 1983
TL;DR: The National Institute of Education Panel on the Effects of School Desegregation as mentioned in this paper examined the metanalytic evidence and concluded that black children gained academically from school desegregation.
Abstract: AUTHOR Cook, Thomas D. TITLE What Have Black Children Gained Academically from School Desegregation: Examination of the Metaanalytic Evidence. SPONS AGENCY National Inst. of Education (ED), Washington, DC. PUB DATE 31 Aug 83 NOTE 61p.; For related documents, see UD 023 302-308. Paper submitted as one of a collection from the National Institute of Education Panel on the Effects of School Desegregation. PUB TYPE Information Analyses (070) -Viewpoints (120)
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of four sets of factors on the perceived influence of the governor over the state administrative apparatus were examined based on data collected from state administrators in 1978, and it was found that these factors account for nearly one-fourth of the variance in the influence of a governor over state agencies.
Abstract: Previous research has concentrated on differences in gubernatorial power across states. Relatively little research attention has been devoted to the sources of gubernatorial influence over state agencies. Based on data collected from state administrators in 1978, this study examines the effects of four sets of factors on the perceived influence of the governor over the state administrative apparatus. These sets are: formal powers of the governor, characteristics of the agencies, characteristics of the positions held by administrators, and personal characteristics of these officials. Results show that these factors account for nearly one-fourth of the variance in the influence of the governor over state agencies, as reported by agency heads.
TL;DR: This article focuses on ways in which helping agents, including family therapists, become part of the problem they are treating, with particular emphasis on triangular patterns that frequently develop when one agency involves another in carrying out its functions and in diffusing conflict with a client and his or her family.
Abstract: This article focuses on ways in which helping agents, including family therapists, become part of the problem they are treating. Particular emphasis is placed on triangular patterns that frequently develop when one agency involves another in carrying out its functions and in diffusing conflict with a client and his or her family. We refer to this process as an agency triangle. Case examples of such triangles involving various service systems (e.g., schools, courts, mental health centers) are presented, followed by discussion of how agency triangles can be prevented.
01 Jan 1983
TL;DR: An agent differs from an employee by the fact that the activities of the agent are not monitored in detail as mentioned in this paper, and the principal does not give his agent contingency orders on how to handle each possible decision situation as he does to supervised employees.
Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview on principals and agents. An agency relationship between two individuals exists when the agent is authorized by the principal to make, modify, or cancel contracts with a third party in the principal's name. An agent differs from an employee by the fact that the activities of the agent are not monitored in detail. The principal does not give his agent contingency orders on how to handle each possible decision situation as he does to supervised employees. Some guidelines may be spelled out and the agent may be monitored to some extent, but the essential feature of the agency relationship is the freedom of the agent to determine activities and contracts independently. The power to act independently for the principal can be used by the agent for his own benefit. A contract makes the contractor liable for damages, but the legally determined financial compensation may not be a satisfactory alternative to specific performance. The contract could spell out the principal's desires for performance in each possible contingency.
Book•
01 Jan 1983
TL;DR: The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) of the Philippines has been building its capacity to develop water users' associations on small-scale irrigation systems over a five-year period.
Abstract: Over a five year period the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) of the Philippines has been building its capacity to develop water users' associations on small-scale irrigation systems. The NIA approach is to develop a water users' association prior to construction of the physical system and then to involve association members fully in the planning and construction of the system. Implementing this participatory approach has required a wide variety of changes in the agency's policies, procedures, and personnel. The paper details the changes that have been made within the agency, examines the nature of the learning process which has led to these changes, and discusses the implications for donor support of other small-scale irrigation programs and more generally for programs involving village level work.
TL;DR: An examination of the way in which the Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and Consumer Product Safety Commission each responded to evidence of formaldehyde's carcinogenicity in animal systems reveals the interplay between politics and science policy in regulatory determinations.
Abstract: An examination of the way in which the Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and Consumer Product Safety Commission each responded to evidence of formaldehyde's carcinogenicity in animal systems reveals the interplay between politics and science policy in regulatory determinations. In some cases there were significant and unjustified departures from reasoned decision-making. Agency decisions not to take action deserve special attention by citizens, the Congress, and the judiciary to ensure that federal regulatory agencies take the necessary steps to protect the public from significant health, safety, and environmental risks.
TL;DR: The authors empirically tested the assumption that the more creative alternatives generated, the better the chance of developing the most effective campaign creative strategy, and the results indicated that the assumption was correct.
Abstract: This study empirically tested the assumption that the more creative alternatives generated, the better the chance of developing the most effective campaign creative strategy. A panel of four professional creative people from a branch of a “top-twenty” advertising agency judged positioning statements generated by four groups of advertising students. Various analyses of the data tended to confirm the assumption.
TL;DR: Many analysis have hailed citizen involvement in the production of public services as an important development which will enhance service delivery and reduce public agency expenditures as mentioned in this paper. But, this analysis has not considered the role of government agencies.
Abstract: Many analysis have hailed citizen involvement in the production of public services as an important development which will enhance service delivery and reduce public agency expenditures. This articl...
TL;DR: While "hunkering down" has become a common survival principle in government, there are times when such a strategy is inappropriate and potentially damaging to one's career and ego.
Abstract: watchful. In certain situations, they will be better off leaving, both to protect their reputations (which suffer from association) and to achieve more useful and meaningful career opportunities. While "hunkering down" has become a common survival principle in government, there are times when such a strategy is inappropriate and potentially damaging to one's career and ego. For others, a reasonable future for career civil servants exists, despite the current storm clouds. It is brighter in some agencies than in others. In the final analysis, it is up to individual career employees to assess their agency's prospects for survival and future utility. Finally, improvement in program performance will require considerable attention to the development of a career professional staff. Such an activity is not an especially glamorous subject for political leaders, will certainly not make such leaders famous, and would probably not even draw accolades from the public. Yet, no substantial improvement in government performance is possible without attention to such issues over a reasonably long period of time. As our political leadership confronts the numerous problems facing the nation in the 1980s, the role of the professional civil servant must be examined. If expertise and high program performance is desired, supportive environments must be fostered and nurtured. Otherwise, the federal government is less likely to retain or attract the nation's most capable individuals. Many agencies offer a model for such environments. In those agencies, there is a reason for career employees to make a substantial career commitment to those institutions and for those institutions to make a substantial investment in individuals. Our political leadership would do well to use these institutions as a model for what government can be at its best.