Showing papers on "Public policy published in 1978"

Interorganizational policy making : limits to coordination and central control

Abstract: In this volume, experience in a number of Western nations and in a variety of policy areas is drawn upon to consider what structural features of the political-administrative system might account for the inability of governments to guide socio-economic processes and developments more effectively. The focus is on the interorganizational characteristics of government problem solving -- that both the formulation and implementation of public policy increasingly involve different governmental levels and agencies, as well as interactions between public authorities and private organizations.

Public sector economics

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on public sector economics. The term public sector economics has, over the past 15 years, gradually replaced the more traditional but narrower topic of public finance, which refers to the study of the problems of financing the activities of the public sector mainly through taxation and public debt. Public finance was, therefore, an extension of price theory in which the impacts of the various taxes and debt instruments were examined in terms of their effects upon allocation of resources, that is, upon price formation, employment, investment, and savings decisions. Public finance also paid considerable attention to the legal and administrative details of alternative tax regimes. By contrast, public sector economics incorporates the expenditure side of public sector decision making, thereby, widening the scope of study to include topics such as cost-benefit analysis, fiscal federalism, public choice, public enterprises, and social economics. This widening of the scope of the subject area makes it more difficult to define clearly its boundaries.

The acquisition and utilization of technical information by administrative agencies.

Abstract: Through a review and integration of the heretofore rather distinct literatures dealing with (1) policy making in administrative agencies, (2) the use of scientific and technical information in public policy, and (3) the utilization of policy research, this paper develops preliminary conceptual frameworks of the variables affecting the acquisition and the utilization of technical information by administrative agencies. Although previous research, based largely upon case studies of a few decisions within a single agency, has resulted in numerous bivariate hypotheses, the number of variables involved and recognized problems of generalizing the results suggest that future research be oriented toward a number of strategies capable of simultaneously examining the effect of numerous variables over large numbers of cases.

Crowding Out Or Crowding In? The Economic Consequences of Financing Government Deficits

Abstract: The prevailing view of the economic consequences of financing government deficits, as reflected in the recent economics literature and in recent public policy debates, reflects serious misunderstandings. Debt-financed deficits need not "crowd out" any private investment, and may even "crowd in" some. Using a model including three assets - money, government bonds, and real capital - the analysis in this paper shows that the direction of the portfolio effect of bond issuing on private investment depends on the relative substitutabilities among these three assets in the public's aggregate portfolio. Since the all-important substitutabilities that make the difference between "crowding out" and "crowding in" are determined in part by the government's choice of debt instrument for financing the deficit, this analysis points to the potential importance of a policy tool that public policy discussion has largely neglected for over a decade - debt management policy. When monetary policy is non-accommodative, within limits debt management policy can take its place in augmenting the potency of fiscal policy, or in improving the trade-off between short-run stimulation and investment for long-run growth.

The Power of the Street-Level Bureaucrat in Public Service Bureaucracies:

Abstract: The difficulties of controlling the daily behavior of low level bureaucrats has been widely appreciated by both administrators and academic students of bureaucracy. This article provides a theoreti...

Multi-Market Interdependence and Local Market Competition in Banking

Abstract: C LEARLY, one of the most significant institutional developments affecting the organization of American industry in recent years has been the trend toward diversification. Many important industries have been restructured as single product firms have been replaced (often by acquisition) by large conglomerates producing scores of diverse products. The rapid emergence of the conglomerate form of business organization has raised fundamental questions regarding the implications of this trend for the market system-a system in which interfirm competition is the basic regulating device.1 There has been a great deal of controversy within the economics and legal professions about the long-run implications of conglomerate firms for economic performance.2 This is due, in large part, to the fact that there is no theoretical framework and no general empirical evidence that is relevant to the intermarket relationships of multi-product firms. The shortcomings of theory arise from the fact that traditional microeconomic theory focuses only on the interrelationships of firms operating in the same market, while the lack of empirical evidence stems from the fact that appropriate micro level data for testing generally are not available. Although the lack of theoretical framework and data generally has precluded systematic analysis of the competitive effects of diversification,3 a number of intuitively appealing and workable hypotheses have been developed in connection with the conglomerate form of business organization. This study tests one of the major hypothesized consequences of conglomerate dominance-the development of mutual forbearance. The hypothesis holds that conglomerate firms that meet in many markets will develop a "live and let live" philosophy since action initiated in any market may induce retaliation in other markets where they are more vulnerable.4 As a consequence, the prevalence of conglomerate firms will mean a reduction in rivalry even in markets with a relatively competitive structure based on traditional measures of market structure. This study uses a multiple regression model to analyze the relationship between market rivalry and intermarket contacts of dominant firms. The study develops a simple model that illustrates the implications of the mutual forbearance hypothesis and discusses the hypothesis in the context of commercial banking. It then sets out the estimating equation and develops a variable that is designed to capture the degree of intermarket contact among dominant firms. Additional variables are developed and used along with the intermarket contact variable in a regression analysis that covers a sample of 187 major banking markets. The study focuses upon the commercial banking industry because it is characterized by firms with relatively homogeneous product mixes that operate in a variety of relatively well defined geographic markets. Furthermore, and of particular importance, the necessary micro level data are available. Finally, the issue is highly relevant in banking today.5 However, by focusing upon the banking industry the results may be subject to question in two respects. First, it may be argued that the diversification subject to investigation in this study is Received for publication December 22, 1976. Revision accepted for publication June 7, 1977. * University of Florida and Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System, respectively. Support from the Center for Public Policy Research at the University of Florida and from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is gratefully acknowledged. The opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their respective institutions. I See Grabowski and Mueller (1970) and Grether (1970). 2 See, for example, Edwards (1955), Stocking (1955), Edwards (1964), Turner (1965), Federal Trade Commission (1969), St. John's Law Review (1970), Steiner (1975). 3 For a test of one consequence of conglomerate firms, see Rhoades (1973) and Rhoades (1974). 4 This hypothesis was first stated by Edwards (1955). In another context, Solomon (1970) suggested it may be important in the banking industry. 5 See, U.S. v. Marine Bancorporation, Inc., et al. (1974) and U.S. v. Connecticut National Bank et al. (1974).

The Intraurban Ecology of Primary Medical Care: Patterns of Accessibility and Their Policy Implications

Abstract: Patterns of intraurban accessibility to primary medical care in four major Scottish cities are examined in the context of existing public policy and against the background of intraurban patterns of...

Economic value of natural Coastal wetlands: A critique

Abstract: Recent estimates by J. Gosselink, E. Odum, and R. Pope of the economic value of natural wetlands have had considerable impact on analyses and discussions of public policies concerning natural wetlands management. However, these economic value estimates are neither conceptually nor empirically correct. First, these workers failed to recognize the nature of the process by which economic values are determined and made an illegitimate marriage of the principles of systems ecology and economic theory. Second, where Gosselink et al. attempted to apply proper economic principles, their calculations resulted in economic value estimates that are most likely in error.

Firm Effects and Industry Effects in the Analysis of Market Structure and Profitability

Abstract: The Federal Trade Commission's recent public policy emphasis has been on antitrust action to break up firms in certain industries. The basis for such action is often the market structure-profitabil...

Changing Public Policy: The Impact of Public Opinion, Antiwar Demonstrations, and War Costs on Senate Voting on Vietnam War Motions'

Abstract: A new approach to the study of legislative change enables us to deal directly and quantitatively with questions about how long-term changes in public policy come about. The approach is applied to the aggregate change of mind by the U.S. Senate as it moved from support of the Vietnam war to opposition from 1964 to 1973. Substantively, cumulative war costs, public opinion, and antiwar demonstrations all had significant effects on Senate roll call outcomes, but they were so highly intercorrelated that their separate effects could not be disentangled. In addition, demonstrations taking place in the months before a vote had a slight positive impact on the number of dovish votes received by motions. The 1970 invasion of Cambodia seems to have led to a significant turning point in the way the Senate dealt with the war. The general strengths and weaknesses of the new approach are assessed. It opens a new area to statistical inquiry and generates a number of novel questions that should lead to additional research.

The Subsidized Muse: Public Support for the Arts in the United States

Abstract: The open question the case for large-scale public support for the arts patterns of public support direct subsidy programs in the United States the effects of public support on the arts support for the arts and the public interest the direction of public policy - some recommendations.

Crowding Out or Crowding in? The Economic Consequences of Financing Government Deficits

Abstract: The prevailing view of the economic consequences of financing government deficits, as reflected in the recent economics literature and in recent public policy debates, reflects serious misunderstandings. Debt-financed deficits need not "crowd out" any private investment, and may even "crowd in" some. Using a model including three assets - money, government bonds, and real capital - the analysis in this paper shows that the direction of the portfolio effect of bond issuing on private investment depends on the relative substitutabilities among these three assets in the public's aggregate portfolio. Since the all-important substitutabilities that make the difference between "crowding out" and "crowding in" are determined in part by the government's choice of debt instrument for financing the deficit, this analysis points to the potential importance of a policy tool that public policy discussion has largely neglected for over a decade - debt management policy. When monetary policy is non-accommodative, within limits debt management policy can take its place in augmenting the potency of fiscal policy, or in improving the trade-off between short-run stimulation and investment for long-run growth.

Political System Support and Public Response to the Energy Crisis

Abstract: This paper considers the impact of diffuse support for the political system on public compliance with official policy by studying citizens' reactions to the energy crisis of 1974. Using data from a survey of Los Angeles residents, the paper examines these specific hypotheses: (1) that diffuse support promotes conformity to the government's "line" during a crisis; (2) that longstanding symbolic loyalties, rather than the impact of the crisis on the individual's personal life, determine attitudinal conformity to the government's "line," and (3) that behavioral compliance to official policy is determined more by situational constraints than by underlying political attitudes. The main results of the study were that diffuse support for the political system had only a weak relationship to attitudinal agreement with the official "line" on the energy crisis, overshadowed by the role of political partisanship. And diffuse support did not have any impact on self-reported changes in behavior. Behavioral compliance in the form of reduced energy consumption was instead controlled by situational constraints. This implies that widespread public cynicism about the political process need not undermine the effectiveness of public policy. Moreover, "support" for the political system should be viewed as a multi-faceted phenomenon involving dimensions of response that have different determinants.

Foundations for Normative Planning

Abstract: Widely assumed in planning practice and theory is the “instrumental” view that planning can and must be limited to the “value-free” consideration of alternative public policy means However, value-free planning is impossible in principle because planning is essentially political In addition, attempts to deal with planning's “ethical” issues by pragmatic politics and claims to professionalism have been in adequate More fundamentally, the work of contemporary philosophers suggests that, contrary to the “logical-positivist” position of the instrumental view, ethical decisions can be rationally justified in ways similar to those of the empirical sciences This position provides the intellectual foundation for normative planning as the rational evaluation of both the means and ends of public policy

An Analysis of the Acquisition of Some Consumer Competencies Among Adolescents

Abstract: Recent public policy discussions have focused on the role and influences of television, school, and family in teaching young people various desirable and undesirable consumer-related cognitions and behaviors. This research provides a theoretical and empirical basis useful in resolving such issues. The study examined the influences of television, family, school and peers on the acquisition of specific consumer skills that contribute to the individual's competency and proficiency as a consumer in the marketplace.

From Social Issues to Public Policy

Abstract: Examines how social issues are translated into governmental action Details actual social issues and governmental response Suggests kind of response a citizen can expect, and how government can be sensitized to issues

Environmental Improvement Through Economic Incentives

Abstract: The environmental control strategies that have evolved over the past decade have centered around a system of standards enforced by regulatory agencies. While this method has produced important gains and slowed the growth of environmentally harmful activities, it nevertheless contains defects that allow many polluters to elude control. This book examines an alternative that can be used instead of or in conjunction with direct regulation to control air and water pollution, noise, congestion, and other activities that degrade the environment. This book analyzes the dynamics of implementing charges, including the political, legal, and technical problems that must be faced, and suggests ways of dealing with them. The theoretical basis of the charges concept is outlined, and an extensive survey of existing and proposed charges systems is presented. Legislators, regulatory agency personnel, planners, engineers, and policymakers will find this work an accessible and useful analysis.

Voters, legislators and bureaucracy: Institutional design in the public sector

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to outline a theory of representative democracy which explains why rational actors construct an excessively bureaucratized government. We define excessive bureaucratization as the selection of an inefficient production technology for the public sector, characterized by relative factor proportions that entail more bureaucracy than the proportions that would minimize total costs. Thus, the question of excessive bureaucracy is related to but conceptually different from whether a particular policy is worthwhile. Furthermore, it presumes a concern more fundamental than the observation that implementing a public policy inevitably requires the expenditure of scarce resources.

Crime as a National Political Issue: 1964-76 From Law and Order to Domestic Tranquility

Abstract: An examination of crime, code name "law and order," as a major political issue over four presidential campaigns commencing in 1964 leads to a number of at least tentative conclusions: (1) Law and order has been a campaign issue primarily for conservative candidates challenging more liberal incumbents or incumbent administrations-for example, Gold water (1964), Nixon and Wallace (1968), and Reagan (1976). (2) The con servative proposals for handling crime have generally encompassed an ap proach to crime control based on the concepts of free will and retributive justice. (3) There are fundamental inconsistencies between the political philosophy of conservatism and certain law and order strategies for han dling crime. (4) The monopoly over this issue at the national level by can didates from the political right has had definite effects upon public policy regarding crime-effects that are likely to continue well into the future.

Current Issues in Public Administration

Abstract: Preface. Introduction. Part One: What Is Public Administration? 1. Introduction to Public Administration. Part Two: Bureaucracy, Politics, and Public Policy. 2. The Political Setting of Public Administration. 3. Public Policy and Administration in a Federal System. 4. Public Administration in Democratic Society. Part Three: The Management of Government Agencies. 5. Understanding Public Organizations. 6. Human Resources Management. 7. Public Budgeting and Financial Management. 8. Policy Analysis, Implementation, and Evaluation. Part Four: Public Administration and Change. 9. Public Administration in a Three-Sector Society: Relationships among Governmental, Business, and Nonprofit Organizations. 10. Public Administration in the Twenty-First Century. Appendix. Current Cases in Public Administration. About the Authors.

The journey to work

Abstract: This book provides a systematic description of work travel in an Australian city. The pattern of journeys is analysed by occupation, by sex and for the different parts of the metropolitan area. Comprehensive data collected at the 1971 census and in the course of the Sydney area transportation study is used to discuss a number of important policy options. Conclusions are discussed as of two different kinds: those which summarise the distribution of employment opportunities and people's response to them, and those which have implications for public policy affecting the location of jobs and investments in transport facilities.