Government

About: Government is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 141043 publications have been published within this topic receiving 1991874 citations. The topic is also known as: gov.

Reinventing Government: How The Entrepreneurial Spirit Is Transforming The Public Sector

Abstract: Catalytic government - steering rather than rowing community-owned government - empowering rather than serving competitive government - injecting competition into service delivery mission-driven government - transforming rule-driven organizations results-orinted government - funding outcomes, not inputs customer-driven government - meeting the needs of the customer, not the bureaucracy enterpirsing government - earning rather than spending anticipatory government - prevention rather than cure decentralized government - from hierarchy to participation and teamwork market-orinted government - leveraging change through the market putting it all together.

Bureaucracy and representative government

Abstract: This is the first book to develop a formal theory of supply by bureaus. Niskanen develops an original and comprehensive theory of the behavior of bureaus with the institutions of representative government. He challenges the traditional view that monopoly bureaus are the best way to organize the public sector, and he suggests ways to use competitive bureaus and private firms to perform operations such as delivering mail, fighting wars, or running schools more efficiently than the present government agencies. The theory concludes that most bureaus are too large, grow too fast, use too much capital, and exploit their sponsor. His theory explains the relation of the output and budget of a bureau to demand and cost decisions. It compares bureaus with other forms of organization facing like conditions and delineates the production and investment behavior of a bureau, the behavior of nonprofit firms with no sponsor, the behavior of mixed bureaus with financing from a sponsor and from the sale of services, the effects of competition between a bureau and a competitive industry. The book also develops a simple theory of the market for public services financed through a representative government; the final section suggests a set of changes to improve the performance of our bureaucratic and political institutions, based both on theory and Niskanen's professional experience. It is essential reading for professionals and students in the social sciences and could prove instrumental in reforming some of our government institutions.

National Innovation Systems: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract: This anthology examines national systems of technical innovation An introductory chapter provides an overview of the principal topics in current discussion of industrial and technology policy Innovation is defined as the processes by which firms master and put into practice product designs and manufacturing processes that are new to them A wide range of factors, organizations, and policies influence the capabilities of a nation's firms to innovate Technology and pure science are distinguished, and the social institutions that play a role in innovation are examined These include industrial and government research laboratories, research universities, and industrial policy agencies These institutions provide the core for the analyses of national innovation systems Individual chapters are devoted to six large high-income countries (France, Italy, Japan, the US, the UK, and West Germany), four smaller high-income countries (Australia, Canada, Denmark, and Sweden), and five lower income countries (Argentina, Brazil, Israel, Korea, and Taiwan) Each chapter is a detailed description of each country's structure and behavior in the development of product and process technologies, and catalogues the innovation strategies of each country, covering topics including historical analysis of technological development, breakdown of industries, and investigation of these institutions in terms of R&D expenditures and their influence Differences in the innovative patterns include size and resource endowments, national security considerations, and historical and social beliefs Factors leading to effective innovative performance include strong core competencies, high-quality education and training, and stable and facilitative economic and trade policies A final retrospective chapter compares and contrasts the various innovation systems It assesses whether identifying an innovation system is useful, considers whether national institutions matter when commerce and technology are becoming transnational, and reflects on the future of national systems in such a world (TNM)

Constitutions and Commitment: The Evolution of Institutions Governing Public Choice in Seventeenth-Century England

Abstract: The article studies the evolution of the constitutional arrangements in seventeenth-century England following the Glorious Revolution of 1688. It focuses on the relationship between institutions and the behavior of the government and interprets the institutional changes on the basis of the goals of the winners—secure property rights, protection of their wealth, and the elimination of confiscatory government. We argue that the new institutions allowed the government to commit credibly to upholding property rights. Their success was remarkable, as the evidence from capital markets shows.

Political Economics: Explaining Economic Policy

Abstract: What determines the size and form of redistributive programs, the extent and type of public goods provision, the burden of taxation across alternative tax bases, the size of government deficits, and the stance of monetary policy during the course of business and electoral cycles? A large and rapidly growing literature in political economics attempts to answer these questions. But so far there is little consensus on the answers and disagreement on the appropriate mode of analysis. Combining the best of three separate traditions -- the theory of macroeconomic policy, public choice, and rational choice in political science -- Torsten Persson and Guido Tabellini suggest a unified approach to the field. As in modern macroeconomics, individual citizens behave rationally, their preferences over economic outcomes inducing preferences over policy. As in public choice, the delegation of policy decisions to elected representatives may give rise to agency problems between voters and politicians. And, as in rational choice, political institutions shape the procedures for setting policy and electing politicians. The authors outline a common method of analysis, establish several new results, and identify the main outstanding problems.