Showing papers on "Government published in 1988"

Government spending in a simple model of endogenous growth

Abstract: One strand of endogenous-growth models assumes constant returns to a broad concept of capital. I extend these models to include tax- financed government services that affect production or utility. Growth and saving rates fall with an increase in utility-type expenditures; the two rates rise initially with productive government expenditures but subsequently decline. With an income tax, the decentralized choices of growth and saving are "too low," but if the production function is Cobb-Douglas, the optimizing government still satisfies a natural condition for productive efficiency. Empirical evidence across countries supports some of the hypotheses about government and growth.

Notes on the Difficulty of Studying the State (1977)

Abstract: The state is not the reality which stands behind the mask of political practice. It is itselfthe mask which prevents our seeing political practice as it is. There is a state-system: a palpable nexus of practice and institutional stucture centred in government and more or less extensive, unified and dominant in any given society. There is, too, a state-idea, projected, purveyed and variously believed in in different societies at different times. We are only making difficulties for ourselves in supposing that we have also to study the state - an entity, agent, function or relation over and above the state-system and the state-idea. The state comes into being as a stucturation within political practice: it starts its life as an implicit construct: it is then reified - as the res publica. the public reifkation. no less - and acquires an overt symbolic identity progressively divorced from practice as an illusory account of practice. The ideological function is extended to a point where conservatives and radicals alike believe that their practice is not directed at each other but at the state; the world of illusion prevails. The task of the sociologist is to demystify; and in this context that means attending to the senses in which the state does not exist rather than to those in which it does. When the state itself it is danger', Lord Denning said in his judgment yesterday, "our cherished freedoms may have to take second place. and even natural justice itself may have to suffer a setback'. 'The flaw in Lord Denning's argument is that it is the government who decide what the interests of the state should be and which invokes 'national security' as the state chooses to define it'. Ms Pat Hewitt. director of the National Council for Civil Liberties, said yesterday'. The Guardian. 18.2.77 ttt**

Economics and Elections: The Major Western Democracies

Abstract: Does a government's fate at the ballot box hinge on the state of the economy? Is it inflation, unemployment, or income that makes the difference? What triggers economic voting for or against the incumbent - do voters look at their pocketbooks, or at the national accounts? Do economic voters "punish" rulers for bad times, but fail to "reward" them for the good times? Are voter's judgments based on past economic performance or future policy promises? These are some of the questions considered by Michael Lewis-Beck in this major cross-national study of the effect of economic conditions on voting behavior in the Western European democracies and the United States.

The logic of currency crises

Abstract: Once one recognizes that governments borrow international reserves and exercise other policy options to defend fixed exchange rates during currency crises, the question arises: What factors determine a government’s decision to abandon a currency peg or hang on? In a setting of purposeful action by the authorities, the possibility of self-fulfilling crises becomes important. Speculative anticipations depend on conjectured government responses, which depend, in turn, on how price changes that are themselves fueled by expectations affect the government’s economic and political positions. This circular dynamic implies a potential for crises that need not have occurred, but that do because market participants expect them to. In contrast to this picture, most literature on balance-of-payments crises ignores the response of government behavior to markets. That literature, I argue, throws little light on events such as the European Exchange Rate Mechanism collapse of 1992–1993. This article presents two different models in which crisis and realignment result from the interaction of rational private economic actors and a government that pursues well-defined policy goals. In both, arbitrary expectational shifts can turn a fairly credible exchange-rate peg into a fragile one.

Private interest government : beyond market and state

Abstract: Market liberalism and state interventionism are both challenged as modes of democratic government by this book. It suggests that the development of private interest governments might be a more viable policy alternative for the future. It also questions whether the state could devolve certain public policy responsibilities to interest associations in specific economic sectors. The book focuses specifically on interest associations in a disaggregated, rather than global, approach to economics and politics. Ten Western industrialized countries are covered, subjects ranging from advertising with self-regulation, private accountancy regulation and the British voluntary sector to four comparative papers on the corporatist arrangements in the governance of the dairy industry.

Reliability Assessment of Large Electric Power Systems

Abstract: This book covers a wide range of relevant material related to present-day knowledge and application in power system reliability. Increasing socioeconomic pressures to create safe and reliable power systems are being exerted on utilities by government, environmental groups and society in general. The material presented in this book will play a role in finding acceptable solutions to such pressures and will encourage the increased use of reliability techniques in practical applications.

Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: policies for adjustment revitalization and expansion.

Abstract: This is the first comprehensive study on Sub-Saharan Africas (SSA) efforts at attaining educational development. The 3 objectives of the study were to: 1) identify and describe common problems and issues of educational development in Africa; 2) provide leaders in each country with comparative data and analytical tools to develop their own policies and priorities; and 3) suggest specific policy directions for consideration by national education authorities and donors. The study includes 3 major sections: 1) The Policy Context; 2) Policy Options for African Governments; and 3) An Agenda for Action. By independence SSA governments has inherited inadequate educational systems--between 1960- 1983 enrollment reached about 63 million increasing about 9% during the 1970s increasing adult literacy from 9% to 42%. However these gains are now threatened by the rapidly growing population. The past decade has seen "stagnation in enrollments and erosion in the quality of education" requiring governments to introduce "profound" changes in educational policy. The minimum educational policy reform packages need to contain "adjustment revitalization and selective expansion." Whatever adjustment measures are made to alleviate the "burden" of education and training on public budgets will not be sufficient to provide the African educational system with the essential tools needed for its future development. The international donor community needs to provide 3 kinds of support: 1) seed money; 2) access to collaboration with other countries; and 3) access to high-quality specialized technical expertise without ties to a particular government.

Sources of Innovation

Abstract: It has long been assumed that product innovations are typically developed by product manufacturers. Because this assumption deals with the basic matter of who the innovator is, it has inevitably had a major impact on innovation-related research, on firms' management of research and development, and on government innovation policy. However, it now appears that this basic assumption is often wrong. In this book I begin by presenting a series of studies showing that the sources of innovation vary greatly. In some fields, innovation users develop most innovations. In others, suppliers of innovation-related components and materials are the typical sources of innovation. In still other fields, conventional wisdom holds and product manufacturers are indeed the typical innovators. Next, I explore why this variation in the functional sources of innovation occurs and how it might be predicted. Finally, I propose and test some implications of replacing a manufacturer-as-innovator assumption with a view of the innovation process as predictably distributed across users, manufacturers, suppliers, and others.

Town and country planning in the UK

Abstract: This edition has been extensively revised to take into account changes introduced by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and the UK Government's mission to change the culture of planning. It provides an explanation of the nature of planning, the institutions and organisations involved, the plans and other tools used by planners, the system of controlling development and land use change, and mechanisms for implementing policy and proposals. Detailed consideration is given to: the nature of planning and its historical evolution; Central and Local Government, the devolved administrations, the EU and other agencies; the mechanisms of controlling development; environmental and countryside planning; sustainable development, waste and pollution; heritage and transport planning; urban renaissance and regeneration; community involvement in planning;and changes to the profession and education of planners.

The Libertarian Idea

Abstract: Libertarianism is both a philosophy and a political view. The key concepts defining Libertarianism are: Individual Rights as inherent to human beings, not granted by government; a Spontaneous Order through which people conduct their daily interactions and through which society is organized independent of central (government) direction; the Rule of Law which dictates that everyone is free to do as they please so long as they do not infringe upon the rights of others; a Divided and Limited Government, checked by written constitution; Free Markets in which price and exchange is agreed upon mutually by individuals; Virtue of Production whereby the productive labour of the individual and any translation of that labour into earnings belongs, by right, to the individual who should not have to sacrifice those earnings to taxes; and Peace which has, throughout history, most commonly been disrupted by the interests of the ruling class or centralized government.

Holistic Resource Management

Abstract: A companion to Holistic Resource Management, the Holistic Resource Management Workbook provides the practical instruction in financial, biological, and land planning necessary to apply the holistic management model. Allan Savory's teaching approach was developed and tested in classes for ranchers, farmers, and government agency personnel. Case studies drawn from real-life situations and presented in clear language lead the reader through the planning process.

To Bargain or Not To Bargain: That Is The Question

Abstract: We use economic analysis in a simple game-theory framework to ascertain under what circumstances a government would want to precommit itself to a no-negotiation strategy. From the government viewpoint, we examine both the choice of deterrence expenditure (i.e., expense meant to reduce terrorist logistical success during incidents) and whether to negotiate or not.

Extended Deterrence and the Prevention of War

Abstract: A government seeking to prevent an attack on an ally may threaten the use of force to protect the ally. This is called "extended" or third-party deterrence. This book defines the political and military conditions under which a policy of extended deterrence is likely to succeed or fail.

Promises, Promises: Credible Policy Reform Via Signaling

Abstract: Empirical experience and theory both suggest that policy reforms can be aborted or reversed if they lack sufficient credibility, One reason for such credibility problems is the legitimate doubt regarding how serious the government really is about :he reform process. This paper considers a framework in which the private sector is unable to distinguish between a genuinely reformist government and its nemesis, a government which simply feigns interest in reform because it is a precondition for foreign assistance The general conclusion is that the rate at which reforms are introduced may serve to convey the government's future intentions, and hence act as a signal of its "type". More specifically, credible policy reform may require going overboard: the government will have to go much farther than it would have chosen to in the absence of the credibility problem.

Fiscal decentralization and government size

Abstract: Numerous studies have attempted to model the possible factors contributing to universal growth in public sectors. This paper analyzes one device that appears capable of controlling some of that growth: fiscal decentralization. The results reported here also support the use of monopoly government assumptions in models of public policy

Beyond Westminster and Whitehall: The sub-central governments of Britain

Abstract: Beyond Westminster and Whitehall provides the first comprehensive account of the range of sub-central government institutions that are responsible for the delivery of services to citizens. These bodies are the warp and weft of the British system of government and yet are all too frequently ignored. For a full understanding of British government, the study of sub-central government is of equivalent importance to that of the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, and Parliament. Westminster and Whitehall do not always get what they want. There are a great many restraints upon the actions of the centre, and central policies all too often have unintended consequences. This book, demonstrating that Britain is not a unitary state but a differentiated polity in which sub-central governments play a key role, will be essential reading for teachers and students of British politics.

Financial deregulation, monetary policy, and central banking

Abstract: The paper analyzes the need for financial regulations in the implementation of central bank policy. It emphasizes that a central bank serves two functions. Central banks function as monetary authorities, managing high-powered money to influence the price level and real activity; and they engage in regular and emergency lending to financial institutions. The authors term these functions monetary and banking policies, respectively. They emphasize that regulations are not essential for the execution of monetary policy because high-powered money can be managed with open market operations in government bonds. By its very nature, however, banking policy involves a swap of government securities for claims on individual banks. Just as private lenders must restrict and monitor individual borrowers, a central bank must regulate and supervise the institutions that borrow from it. Virtually all economists agree that there is an important role for monetary policy to stabilize prices and real activity. Banking policy has been rationalized as a source of funds for temporarily illiquid but solvent banks. To assess that rationale, the authors develop the distinction between illiquidity and insolvency in detail, showing the distinction to be meaningful precisely because information about the value of bank assets is incomplete and costly to obtain. Nevertheless, they explain why the cost of information per se cannot rationalize banking policy. On the basis of such considerations, they find it difficult to make a case for banking policy and the regulatory and supervisory activities that support it.

Culture and Government: The Emergence of Literary Education

Abstract: Preface - Acknowledgements - Introduction - PART 1 ENGLISH - Government - Culture - English - PART 2 CRITICISM - Two Models - The Pedagogical Imperative - Exemplary Knowledge - Conclusion - Notes - Bibliography - Index

Government and economic growth: A non-linear relationship

Abstract: Recently, various authors have examined the relationship between growth in government size and total economic growth. In each case, the authors permitted only a monotonic relationship. This paper examines the issue of a non-linear relationship between growth in government and overall growth in the economy. Government contributes to total economic output in various ways. The provision of Pigovian public goods enhances the productivity of the private sector inputs increasing total output. However, the public decision-making process can result in an inefficient quantity of public goods. The likelihood of this outcome increases with the size of government. Further negative effects are created by the revenue raising and spending mechanisms of government, and the increasing diversion of resources into ‘unproductive’ rent-seeking activities. The magnitude of these effects is likely to increase with the relative size of government. A simultaneous equations model that incorporates these different influences is developed and tested using time-series data for the United States. The estimates indicate that the non-linear model is the better for explaining the growth of total economic output.

Intellectual Property Rights and North-South Trade

Abstract: We study the incentive that a government in the South has to protect the intellectual property rights of Northern firms, and the consequences of the decision taken by the South for welfare in the North and for efficiency of the world equilibrium. We conduct our analysis in the context of a competition between a single Northern producer and a single Southern producer selling some good to an integrated world market. In this competition, only the Northern firm has the ability to conduct R&D in order to lower its production costs, but the Southern firm can imitate costlessly if patent protection for process innovations is not enforced by the government of the South. We find that the interests of the North and the South generally conflict in the matter of protection of intellectual property, with the South benefiting from the ability to pirate technology and the North harmed by such actions. A strong system of intellectual property rights may or may not enhance world efficiency.

Governing Education: A Sociology of Policy Since 1945

Abstract: First published in 1988, this book was the winner of the SCSE Best Education Book award of that year. This new edition describes the government's attempts to control educational changes since 1945 and the resulting implications for contemporary explanations of schooling and the state in Britain. In interviews with officials, politicians and educationalists, key figures involved in the making and practice of policy talk about their careers and their attempts to control education and each other.

Explaining Government Growth in the U.S. States

Abstract: Despite the explosive increase in the research program on government growth in recent years, little work has been done on government growth disaggregated to the subnational level. I examine the empirical validity of five competing models of government growth for the fifty U.S. states from 1945 to 1984: Wagner's Law, fiscal illusion, party control, bureau voting, and intergovernmental grant. Government size is defined in terms of state government spending as a proportion of total state economic output, with separate implicit price deflators being employed for the public and private sectors. Based on a longitudinal test of these competing models, the analysis uncovers strong empirical support for the bureau voting and intergovernmental grant models, moderately weak support for the Wagner's Law model, and virtually no support for the fiscal illusion and party control explanations. These findings have important implications for the study of government growth in general and, more specifically, in the states.

Indigenous political systems of western Malaya

Abstract: An analysis of the political organization of the traditional government of the Malay Sultans before the introduction of British rule in 1874.

Macroeconomic and Social-Control Policy Influences on Crime Rate Changes, 1948-1985

Abstract: Informed by the insights of political economy, this study investigates the often-presumed though empirically elusive relationship between societal economic distress and crime. In a social-indicators model, we argue for including both unemployment and inflation rates as measures of the overall health of the economy. We contend that in the face of these destabilizing economic conditions, government engages in dualistic social control policies. On one hand, it attempts to discourage antisocial behavior via placative forms of control and, on the other, it exercises its deterrent capacities. Using annual time-series data for the period 1948-1985, we employ dynamic modeling techniques to examine these influences on annual fluctuations in rates of homicide, robbery, and burglary. The results yield mixed support for the hypothesized relationships, with the posited model gaining potency as we move from explaining more violent to less violent offenses. Finally, these findings hold when we control for changes in two other theoretically important influences: criminal opportunity and the age structure of the population. (abstract Adapted from Source: American Sociological Review, 1988. Copyright © 1988 by the American Sociological Association) Socioeconomic Factors Crime Rates 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s Violence Rates Homicide Rates Robbery Rates Burglary Rates Crime Causes Violence Causes Economic Inequality 07-02

Automatic Government: The Politics of Indexation

Abstract: One of the most dramatic and least studied policy changes of the past twenty years is the increased use of indexing automatic adjustments for inflation in federal programs. Currently, programs comprising more than one-third of the federal budget have indexing provisions. The growth of indexing is all the more remarkable since it appears to conflict with the electoral interests of most politicians. Without indexing, legislators can vote for popular increases in social security benefits, federal pay, and other programs during election years and claim credit with their constituents for doing so. Indexing tends to keep such votes off the agenda. Why would politicians renounce these credit-claiming opportunities instead of embracing them? R. Kent Weaver examines the reasons for the growth of indexing in federal programs and its consequences for current policy. He focuses on indexing debates in six policy areas: social security, food stamps, congressional pay, dairy price supports, the minimum wage, and federal income tax brackets. Weaver argues that to understand indexation policy and policymaking in general we must broaden our understanding of policymakers' motivations. They have often given up opportunities to claim credit because they are even more concerned with avoiding blame for unpopular decisions and outcomes. Politicians' efforts to avoid blame for unpopular actions not only have determined whether indexing proposals were adopted, but have also shaped the effects of indexing on programs where it was adopted. Weaver shows that the effects of indexing have varied substantially across programs, and he suggests guidelines for the future use of indexing in federal programs.

Managing public disputes : a practical guide to handling conflict and reaching agreements

Abstract: Draws on the authors' extensive experience in mediating public disputes involving such issues as mining regulation, waste disposal, and airport expansion to provide managers in business and government with step-by-step guidelines for designing workable conflict management strategies and successfully carrying them through to resolution.

Policy Community, Policy Network and Comparative Industrial Policies:

Abstract: This article explores ways in which the relationships between ‘government’ and ‘industry’ in the making and carrying out of policy can be compared cross-sectorally and cross-nationally. It draws attention to the accumulating empirical evidence which suggests a disjuncture between conventional characterizations of national economic and industrial policies and processes, with what actually happens in practice. It argues that more systematic attention needs to be given to the analysis of the norms of policy and behaviour at different policy levels. Using the concepts of policy community and policy network, it shows how policy networks can be identified, characterized and compared, and how relationships within networks are regulated by ‘rules of the game’.

Occupational health: Recognizing and preventing work-related disease

Abstract: A multidisciplinary approach to the practice of occupational medicine. It is an introductory text that puts into context the complex medical, political, social, and economic issues involved in diagnosing and preventing work-related illness. The text covers: approaches to recognizing and preventing occupational disease, hazardous workplace exposures, occupational diseases by organ system. The new edition has been completely updated and revised. The contents have been reorganized and tightened so that some of the more specialized sections from the previous edition are covered by a parent topic in a preceding section. A new chapter on shift work has been added. Contributors include primary care and specialist physicians; contributors from industry, government, industrial hygienists, safety and ergonomic experts, psychologists, economists, lawyers and sociologists.