THE STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE

The 'dual state' thesis provides a useful starting point in analysing the relationship between the central and local state. However the history of reform in local government finance suggests that the dual state approach underemphasizes a number of important features of the relationship. Notably the degree of diversity which exists between the interests displayed by different sectors of the central state, the vertical linkages which exist between national and local levels and the difficulty of pursuing coherent long term strategies in local finance.     

Public policy and quality of community life in american cities: a search for linkage

The purpose of this research is to identify and examine linkages that exist between public policy and quality of life in American cities. A review and analysis of public policy research and social indicators research over the past twenty years is included. Social indicators are further defined into both objective and subjective indicators. The developing confluence of the two areas of research constitutes the basis for the remainder of the paper.

The data for this study are derived from a nationwide survey conducted by Louis Harris and Associates, Inc., in late December, 1977 and early January, 1978, for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Interviews were conducted for a sample of 7,074 adults, asking them about their perceptions on the quality of community life, government services, social problems, and future possibilities. The findings are analyzed through use of a frequency distribution of the quality of life measures and the quality of public service variables.

The pattern of statistical relationships indicates that the nine public service variables are sharply divided into two groups. One, seven variables (police, garbage, street lighting, fire, public schools, parks and playgrounds, and road and street maintenance) are all highly inter-correlated. The correlation coefficients among them range from a high of .411 (police and fire) to a low of .218 (garbage and public schools). The other, public transportation and public health service are also closely inter-correlated, but their relationships with the other seven are all uniformly weak.

These two groups of public services have distinct political and policy implications. The first group of services tends to represent those traditionally well-established public services that are considered “vitally important” for the well-being of the general public. The second group, in contrast, tends to represent those public services that are relatively new and serving primarily the needs of low income or minority groups in the community whose political influence is most likely to be marginal.

A few generalizations may be drawn from the statistical relationships. First, the general indicators of community life quality such as feelings about the overall community and neighborhood are more strongly correlated with the quality ratings of public services than the quality indicators of specific life domains. Second, some of the strongest relationships are found between specific public services and specific domains of life quality that might be expected logically to have close association such as police and safety (r=.317) and public schools and child raising (r=.427). Third, those public services that are considered part of mainstream local services and important for the daily life of the general public (such as police, fire, public schools, parks and playgrounds, etc.) tend to be very strongly correlated with the measures of community life quality. Fourth, in contrast, those services that are primarily affecting underprivileged groups in the community and not considered part of the mainstream of local services are poorly or insignificantly correlated with the measures of community life quality.     

Measuring Network Structure

Networks have been a research issue in public administration for many years. Because of the difficulty of measuring networks, they have often been treated as a metaphor, a conceptual scheme, or a management technique (networking). The work on networks in public administration is almost all of the case study and rarely of the comparative case variety. This article presents the results of two studies of networks using social network analysis as a technique for studying structural relationships between organizations. This technique is utilized to show both the research and practical potential of network analysis as an evaluation methodology for organizations that jointly produce a service. In the first study, the network provides mental health services to seriously mentally ill adults. In the second study, the network attempts to prevent young people from abusing drugs and alcohol. The two studies were undertaken for different reasons. The first was an elaborate comparative study of four mental health networks and the relationship between network design and performance. The second was a much simpler consulting effort to help a local prevention partnership create linkages to other community organizations. However, in both of the studies the goal was to measure the structural ties in the network based on various types of relationships that exist in a given field of practice. These linkages are ties that bind the network together and become data that can be used to compare networks on their degree and type of integration. The article makes the argument that links in a network are one way that scholars can compare networks in similar or different policy domains. At the same time, the article argues that analysing linkages in an organization's network is an effective and practical means of determining how well integrated any given organization is in a network.     

What Should We Do? Public Attitudes about How Local Government Officials Should Confront Fiscal Stress

Despite strong scholarly interest in the topic of fiscal stress, little attention has been paid to understanding how the general public thinks local governments should respond to situations where declining revenues endanger service levels. This study reports findings from a survey of 660 residents undertaken between November 2006 and January 2007 in the US state of Michigan to examine their support for eight potential strategies to cope with fiscal stress in five different local government services. We find that the public has a surprisingly nuanced perspective about these strategies and on their use for different services. Our findings may provide local policymakers with some insights about how to respond to fiscal stress.     

The expansion of the public sector in federalism: a comparative analysis of a macro level governing structure and government size

ABSTRACT

Utilising Oates’ fiscal federalism theorem, the Tiebout model and Berry’s common pool model, this paper examines the effects of four characteristics of a macro level governing structure on public sector employment using a mixed method approach. Regression analysis explores the individual effect of fiscal decentralisation, spatial fragmentation, interjurisdictional competition and jurisdictional overlap on the levels of local public employment; and the qualitative comparative analysis explores the complexities between the four macro characteristics and their combined relations to the levels of state public employment. The results of the statistical analysis suggest that more labour inputs are required to produce public goods and services to meet the needs of local residents. Moreover, the qualitative comparative analysis reveals causality asymmetry between these characteristics and highlights how different interactions of characteristics of a macro level governing structure affect different levels of public sector employment.     

EXPLAINING VARIATION IN PERCEPTIONS OF RED TAPE: A PROFESSIONALISM‐MARKETIZATION MODEL

In the public administration literature, ways in which perceptions of red tape vary between different parts of the public sector remains relatively unexplored. In this article we define organizational red tape as a subject‐dependent concept; that is, we expect to see variations in the level and type of red tape between different internal stakeholder groups. We then explain variations with two organizational‐based variables, professionalization and marketization. The empirical analysis is undertaken on nearly 800 English local government services. The framework correctly predicts that officials in highly professionalized and marketized services perceive higher levels of red tape, while those in less professionalized and marketized services report lower levels. We then summarize our findings and comment on their theoretical and practical significance.     

Shared services in Brazilian local government: Urban development in small counties

In this article we break new ground by investigating cooperative agreements in urban development services, which include urban development, housing and sanitation for small local governments in Brazil (i.e., those with fewer than 20,000 residents in 2013–15). We find that public expenditure on urban development can be explained by both horizontal (intermunicipal cooperation) and vertical (public–public partnerships) cooperation. Regarding the impact of public sector cooperation on public expenditure, our results show that housing and sanitation services are less costly under intermunicipal cooperation. By contrast, urban development services are less costly when local authorities do not cooperate with other public entities. For public–public partnerships (with the state or federal government) cooperation leads to an increase in public funding, which implies that cooperative agreements might not lead to lower public expenditure. The findings in this article provide useful empirical insights into the administrative reorganization of Brazilian local government.     

The Performance of Nursery Schools in Italian Municipalities

In a neo-liberal approach, the need to increase levels of cost saving, effectiveness, and quality in producing local public services is correlated to awareness of the limited resources available and is an economic issue that has been much debated in recent decades. Ways of measuring and evaluating public services have stimulated academic interest for several years now. In this context, evaluating the levels of performance of public services provided by non-profit organizations (NPOs) as a consequence of contracting-out by public administration is an essential variable in rationalizing—both in terms of quantity and quality—public expenditure.

The aim of this article is to measure multi-dimensional aspects of nursery school services offered by Italian municipalities and to verify whether using different management models makes a difference in the results obtained. We examine data contained in final accounts of main Italian municipalities in order to evaluate effectiveness, cost saving, and quality aspects of the nursery school service supplied.

Regarding overall performance, the distinction between direct management and contracting-out has not brought out significant differences in terms of effectiveness and cost saving, even if the direct management solution is better than the externalized one. By contrast, as previous research showed, quality levels for externalized services are on average lower than for directly managed services.     

Public Attitudes to Local Government in Turkey: Research on Knowledge,Satisfaction and Complaints

This study examines prevailing characteristics of public attitudes to local government in Turkey based on the findings of a questionnaire based research project. The level of public knowledge of local government, people's satisfaction with local service provision, public views and complaints about local services are analysed. The findings show that the level of public knowledge of local government is low and people do not complain about local government services although the level of satisfaction is low. The belief that complaints would have no effect is the main reason for not complaining. The impact of sex, age, education, income, length of residence in the locality, housing tenure, and political opinion on public attitudes to local government is also assessed. Of these variables, age, education and income levels are found to be significant.     

Evaluating local government performance in times of crisis

In recent years, Spanish local governments have come under increasing pressure to accommodate severe economic restrictions while maintaining their provision of local public services. We analyse overall cost efficiency in Spanish local governments during the period of the economic crisis (2008–2013), under four different non-parametric methodologies. Moreover, given how problematic it is to precisely define what municipalities do, we compare three different output models with various measures of quantity as well as quality. Results suggest that Spanish local government efficiency improved over the period 2008–2013 since budget expenditures (inputs) fell while local public services and facilities (outputs) were maintained. We also find evidence of the possible implications of service quality when measuring municipalities’ efficiency, and of structural differences in the average efficiency between municipalities located in different Spanish regions. Finally, our results confirm that the level and variation of efficiency scores are affected by the approach taken.     

COMPETITION OR MONOPOLY? COMPARING PRIVATIZATION OF LOCAL PUBLIC SERVICES IN THE US AND SPAIN

Differences in national traditions of public intervention, institutional arrangements and public service markets make local public services an area of great diversity. In this paper we undertake a comparative study of how local governments arrange for delivery of water and waste services in the US and Spain. We find levels of privatization are higher in Spain than in the US. We review organizational reform in the two contexts and compare service delivery data using national surveys from each country. We find lower and less stable privatization in the US stems in part from adherence to public choice emphasis on the benefits of market competition over public monopoly. By contrast, Spanish municipalities reflect an industrial organization approach, and create hybrid public/private firms which benefit from both market engagement and economies of scale available under monopoly production. We conclude that managing monopoly may be more important than competition in local service delivery.     

Research and Development,Competitiveness and European Integration of South Eastern Europe

This article explores the relationship between research and development (R&D) and competitiveness of South East European (SEE) economies from the perspective of European Union (EU) integration. Specifically, the article addresses the question of whether South East Europe is a potential asset or liability to the enlarged EU. SEE countries are quite diverse in terms of levels of competitiveness, with visible effects on the role of R&D, which is confirmed by analysis of R&D demand and supply factors. Improvements in the national innovation systems of SEE countries have largely taken place through vertical linkages on the supply and demand sides. However, a wider role for R&D will depend increasingly on the strength of horizontal linkages within national systems of innovation and their key agent—the local innovative business enterprise sector. This calls for a rethinking of science and technology policy, traditionally defined as a sectoral activity.     

Health scrutiny,democracy and integration: Part of the same jigsaw?

Set against the major restructuring of decision-making processes within local government and the wider modernisation agenda for public services, this paper suggests that the scrutiny process (specifically in relation to local authority health scrutiny) can be described in two analytically different, but not necessarily contradictory, ways. It could be seen as a process to increase the levels of local democracy or as a form of integration across different organisations/sectors. The article is informed from the first half of a three-year evaluation that includes interview and observational data from in-depth case study research in five local authorities and their associated Primary Care Trusts (PCTs). The research highlights examples of health scrutiny in terms of both democratic input and integration/joined-up working by organisations from different public sectors, to facilitate scrutiny reviews and resulting changes. It is suggested that further evaluation of the continued development of health scrutiny will be required to examine the potential longer-term impacts on local governance issues, partnership working and the health of the local population.     

Tackling society's “detritus”: Stakeholder partnerships and Urban service delivery in India

In view of the emerging debate on a coordinated‐management perspective for resolving development improvidence, there is now a broadening of the scope of decentralization, emphasising not only vertical restructuring of powers and resources but also analogous horizontal restructuring at the local level to include collaborators outside the government arena. Grounded on this perspective, the present paper examines the process of stakeholder partnerships in urban service delivery, especially on urban environment maintenance service through refuse collection and disposal. The paper is reflective in nature, drawing on a case study of solid waste management processes in Bangalore, India. It examines the characteristic of stakeholder partnership in the delivery of public services, draws insights into the enabling environment and thereupon attempts to identify future interventions to strengthen the delivery of public municipal services. The paper argues that much more needs to be understood if institutional pluralism in local government is to become an effective development strategy.     

The efficiency and effectiveness of municipally owned corporations: a systematic review

Municipally owned corporations (MOCs) are increasingly utilised to provide local public services, but little remains known about their efficiency and effectiveness. In this article, we offer a typology of MOCs, explore the variables that affect their behaviour, and perform a systematic review of public administration articles published between 2001 and 2015 on their efficiency and effectiveness. We find that MOCs are often more efficient than local bureaucracies in the provision of services such as refuse collection, water distribution, and transit services, although they also have high initial failure rates. We conclude that municipally owned corporations are a viable means for delivering some local public services for localities capable of initiating and managing complex contracts. In light of the scarcity of literature on this topic, our conclusions remain tentative, and we encourage additional research into this growing phenomenon.     

Friends or Foes? Nonstate Public Goods Providers and Local State Authorities in Nondemocratic and Transitional Systems

Ordinary citizens often welcome nonstate provision of public goods and social welfare, but government officials, particularly in nondemocratic and transitional systems, may view nonstate actors as political competitors. Drawing on a combination of qualitative and quantitative data from rural China, this paper finds that some kinds of nonstate participation in public goods and social welfare provision can actually make local officials more optimistic about their ability to implement state policies and elicit citizen compliance. Local officials often believe that coproduction of public goods and services with community groups in particular, often with community actors taking the lead, can build trust and social capital that can spill over into increased citizen compliance with state demands, a central element of state capacity. Simply increasing levels of public goods provision, however, is not associated positively with optimistic perceptions of local state authority and capacity. Moreover, other forms of nonstate participation such as coproduction between private businesses and local officials or substitutive provision by nonstate actors have less potential for building trust between officials and citizens and are not seen by officials as beneficial for increasing citizen compliance.     

Public Services, Quangos And Women: A Concern For Local Government

The past eighteen years have witnessed a shift in the locus of much public sector service provision from elected and heavily regulated local government to the more opaque, appointed sector of quasi-autonomous non-governmental organizations (QUANGOs). This shift has been the basis of much debate about the nature of democratic accountability and whether the users of public services are empowered by such decentralization. What has yet to be considered is how the displacement of local authority representation and service delivery may affect different groups of service users. This article is concerned with such issues in relation to women as consumers of public services who, from genuine political as well as expedient motivations, have been relatively well represented by local authorities. The concern here is that as decision making moves away from public view, the need to be seen to accommodate difference is lost, and representative diversity will suffer.     

Municipal Socialism Then and Now: some lessons for the Global South

Given the large and growing literature opposed to the privatisation of services such as water and electricity, it is peculiar that so little has been written about the experience of ‘municipal socialism’—a set of roughly analogous historical movements that used local governments to challenge private service delivery and advance ‘socialist’ agendas from the late 1800s to the 1940s. Although primarily a European and American phenomenon, and emerging from different contexts than those prevailing today, municipal socialism found widespread support and transformed many public services. Results were mixed, with some experiments being little more than (pre)Keynesian attempts to revitalise capital accumulation in the face of ‘irrational’ private sector services, but the lessons are important as these experiments provided the first intellectually and politically sustained resistance to privatisation and other prototypical forms of what we now call neoliberalism, and demonstrated the possibility of effective service delivery by the public sector. This paper reviews these experiments, focusing on the experience of the United Kingdom and drawing lessons for contemporary efforts to build alternatives to privatisation in cities in the South, where local-level, socialist-oriented reforms have been relatively strong.     

The joint demand for health care,leisure, and commodities: Implications for health care finance and access in Vietnam

This paper explores linkages between the demand for health care providers and the consumption of food, non-food goods, and leisure in Vietnam, using a mixed continuous/discrete dependent variable model. Cross-price elasticities calculated from the model suggest there are strong substitution effects between health care, leisure, and certain commodities. The model allows us to explore the implications of replacing user fees with alternative forms of health care finance, such as commodity taxes. In particular, the results suggest financing public health care services with a non-food sales tax rather than user fees would be more progressive and would improve access to care.