Defining Asia Capabilities for Australia's Public Service

Twenty‐three years ago, questions posed in this journal asked whether and how the Australian public service was prepared to engage effectively in Asia. More recent meta‐analyses of public policy scholarship suggest that Western policy scholars and administrators continue to pay limited attention to Asian policymaking, despite the rise of Asia in the 21st century. This article contributes a research‐derived Asia capabilities framework for Australia's public service, distilled from a qualitative study with public administration leaders at Commonwealth, state, and local government levels. It taps scholarly literature in ‘cultural intelligence’, global leadership competencies, and training to provide a robust conceptual underpinning for the framework. The framework defines the knowledge, skills, capabilities, and experiences vital for Australia's public service to engage effectively with the region in a rapidly changing policy environment.     

Fiscal Policy Composition,Public Debt,and Economic Activity

This paper uses a dynamic general equilibrium model i) toinvestigate how changes to different spending and revenue items of the budgetaffect economic activity and public finance; and ii) to evaluate thewelfare costs of alternative fiscal policy maneuvers. The paper shows that,unlike an increase in government purchases of final goods, an increasein public employment and transfers can have a contractionary effect onthe economy in the same way as a rise in tax rates. It also suggests thatfiscal adjustments implemented by cutting spending items increasehouseholds' welfare and are more effective in reducing the primary deficitand public debt than are increases in tax rates.     

The Impact of Energy Asset Privatisation on State Government Debt Management and Service Provision in Victoria and New South Wales

The purpose of this article is to look at the impact of the privatisation of the electricity and gas industries in the state of Victoria on the level of state government debt and subsequent ability of the state to deliver public services in the areas of health, education and law and order. In order to undertake this, a comparison is made with the state of New South Wales (NSW), where the privatisation of the electricity industry was often debated during the 1990s and 2000s, but never undertaken.     

Australia's Political Institutions and the Corruption of Public Opinion1

This article explores structural causes for the decline in the quality of Australia's political and policy conversations. Three are nominated. The first concerns the changing role of the major party organisations. These no longer contribute to agenda setting; they are no longer forums for activist and interest mobilisation; they no longer mobilise and cue a mass base. The second structural change concerns the rise in the role of the media. This is now the primary bridge between the formal political system and the surrounding society, a role for which it is singularly ill‐equipped. The third change concerns the misalignment between the formal political system and Australian society. The formal system was formed in the early twentieth century when Australian society was broadly divided by class allegiance. Those days are long gone. Class has decomposed. A variety of new concerns differentiate and pluralise social attitudes. Possible remedies are then discussed.     

Fiscal rules,fiscal outcomes and financial market behaviour

Since the outbreak of the eurozone's sovereign debt crisis, a range of fiscal policy measures have been adopted at the European Union (EU) and national levels that have given rise to claims of a significant reinforcement of fiscal policy constraint. Given the prominence and reinvigorated political appeal of fiscal rules in the EU and beyond, it is disconcerting how little we actually know about the link between fiscal rules, budgetary outcomes and market behaviour. In this research note, the aim is to take stock of the existing literature and challenge its contribution to the current policy debate on the merits of fiscal rules. Specifically it will focus on problems linked to endogeneity, measurements and contextuality.     

Organization and Reporting of Public Financial Accounts: Insights and Policy Implications from the Singapore Budget

This paper analyses the Singapore government budget's organization and reporting structure, and draws lessons and policy implications for improving public financial management practices. The paper finds that Singapore's fiscal marksmanship record has been poor with consistent underestimates of revenue and overestimates of expenditure. Second, subtle divergences from international reporting standards limit the information available and constrain the budget's analytical usefulness in international comparisons. Third, current reporting conventions of the budget fail to provide an adequate representation of the government's fiscal position. Fourth, revised estimates of budgetary balances in line with international reporting standards show a considerable increase in the fiscal space available. The policy implications of these findings are discussed, as well as some reporting changes which can help improve the fiscal marksmanship record, increase public sector transparency and accountability, and facilitate better quality discourse among all stakeholders on public financial management.     

The Howard Government: The Extent to which Public Attitudes Influenced Australia's Federal Policy Mix

This article focuses on the interaction between government policy and public attitudes in order to explain why the Howard government was reasonably pragmatic given that it maintained enough popular support to win four successive federal elections from 1996, and why such a relationship is crucial to evaluating policy trends in Australia's liberal democracy in terms of understanding both policy possibilities and limitations no matter how flawed or divisive certain policies may appear to be.     

Performance Management in Australia's Public Mental Health Service: A State Based Perspective

This article investigates the implementation of key performance indicators (KPIs) in Western Australia's public mental health system. A nationally agreed performance measurement framework forms part of the much needed reform now taking place within Australia. However, progress in the effective monitoring and reporting of KPIs is slow in most states, including Western Australia. The authors report on the results of a selective case study involving semi‐structured interviews with mental health administrators and offer a more nuanced insight into the intricacies and difficulties involved in performance measurement reform. The principal finding is that effective performance measurement and reporting can be internally problematic, particularly within a fragmented and networked system. This tends to give rise to a conformance‐only approach to performance measurement.     

Australia's Indicator-Based Sustainability Assessments and Public Policy

Operationalising sustainability has proven difficult because the concept is ambiguous and fraught with contradictions. In response, sustainability indicator systems to characterise and measure sustainable development have been developed globally. The focus of this article is on how indicators function as an instrument of policy to enhance achievement of environmental and sustainability policy in Australia at national scale. In theory, by integrating information from the environmental, social and economic domains and then feeding knowledge to a wide range of policy sectors, sustainability indicator systems may facilitate cross-agency and -portfolio connectivity. Key characteristics of the various sustainability indicator systems developed to inform policy at the national level are described, noting the diverse approaches to indicator development in Australia. The structural relevance of indicator systems to the mechanisms of policy and institutions in Australia is discussed, and corresponding issues of institutional fit are analysed .     

Do citizens care about government debt? Evidence from survey experiments on budgetary priorities

Ever since the Great Recession, public debt has become politicised. Some research suggests that citizens are fiscally conservative, while other research shows that they punish governments for implementing fiscal consolidation. This begs the question of whether and how much citizens care about debt. We argue that debt is not a priority for citizens because reducing it involves spending and tax trade-offs. Using a split-sample experiment and a conjoint experiment in four European countries, we show that fiscal consolidation at the cost of spending cuts or taxes hikes is less popular than commonly assumed. Revenue-based consolidation is especially unpopular, but expenditure-based consolidation is also contested. Moreover, the public has clear fiscal policy priorities: People do not favour lower debt and taxes, but they support higher progressive taxes to pay for more government spending. The article furthers our understanding of public opinion on fiscal policies and the likely political consequences of austerity.     

公共需求管理与公共服务标准化

公共服务标准化建设是服务型政府建设的一个重要发展阶段,它是与公共需求的变化相适应的。本文把人的需要分为生存型需要、安全型需要、享受型需要和发展型需要。中国目前公共需求正从生存型向安全型、享受型、发展型转变,政府公共服务精细化、标准化是这一需要变化的必然要求。政府应通过了解需求、整合需求和引导需求,推进公共服务标准化建设,提升公共服务水平。     

公共管理的由来及其与公共行政的内在差异--由传统公共行政到公共管理研究之一

产生并服务于当代西方国家政府改革实践的公共管理,促进了行政科学理论研究的重大变化.这种转变,既丰富了行政科学研究的视野与研究方法,也带来了公共事务治理理念与治理模式的变革,从而为公共事务的有效治理、公共利益的有效实现,开辟了广阔的社会资源和发展前景.本文拟对公共管理的由来、特性及其与传统公共行政的内在差异,进行学理意义上的简要梳理和归纳.     

Success and Failure of Fiscal Consolidation in the OECD: A Multivariate Analysis

This paper tests five hypotheses explaining thesuccess and failure of fiscal consolidation in amultivariate regression framework. These hypothesesconcern (i) the composition of the consolidationprogramme, (ii) its size and persistence, (iii) thegravity of the debt situation, (iv) the influence ofthe international macroeconomic environment and (v) thecontribution of a preceding devaluation. To testfor composition effects we use cyclically-adjusteddata. Although many conclusions of the existingempirical literature are confirmed, some do notsurvive. A popular hypothesis – that to succeed, consolidationshould rely on cutting the government wagebill – is rejected. A new empirical result is that thecontribution of a devaluation to the success of fiscalconsolidation depends on the composition of theconsolidation programme.     

From New Public Management to Public Value: Paradigmatic Change and Managerial Implications

Both practitioners and scholars are increasingly interested in the idea of public value as a way of understanding government activity, informing policy‐making and constructing service delivery. In part this represents a response to the concerns about ‘new public management’, but it also provides an interesting way of viewing what public sector organisations and public managers actually do. The purpose of this article is to examine this emerging approach by reviewing new public management and contrasting this with a public value paradigm. This provides the basis for a conceptual discussion of differences in approach, but also for pointing to some practical implications for both public sector management and public sector managers.     

论公共权力、公共管理与有效政府的范式界定

当前世界各国都迫切需要解决这样一个问题在社会经济的发展进程中,政府该发挥一种什么样的作用,以及如何使这一作用得到有效发挥?本文从公共权力的视角入手,通过对公共权力基本内涵的分析,界定了"有效政府"的范式,为我国行政改革提供了有益的借鉴.     

A Decade of Deficits and Debt: Japanese Fiscal Policy and the Rise and Fall of the Fiscal Structural Reform Act of 1997

Japanese budgetary and fiscal policy have experienced dramatic changes during the last several years, marked by the rise and fall of the Fiscal Structural Reform Act of 1997. This act altered the budgetary process with the goal of reducing Japan's rapidly growing deficit and debt. Yet the onset of recession in 1998 led Japan to engage again in large-scale deficit spending to stimulate the economy, and in the process discard its budget reforms.     

论新公共服务理论对新公共管理理论的传承与超越

根据库恩的科学范式转换的观点,目前公共行政领域的两种范式:新公共管理范式和新公共服务范式。两种范式的关系并非替代而是传承与超越的关系,这种关系可以通过他们对理性的关注、对参与的关注、对组织弹性化改革与放松管制的态度的比较来说明。了解两种范式的关系对于解决我国目前建设服务型政府中的一些理论和实践困惑有指导意义,提示我们对新公共管理的成果是批判继承而不是抛弃,最终实现公平、公共利益和效率效能价值的统一。     

西部地区运用财税政策吸引FDI效果的实证研究

90年代中后期国家陆续给予了西部地区一系列优惠政策,但从西部地区吸引FDI的总量和质量来看,都远远低于全国水平。本文对西部地区财税政策吸引FDI的效果进行分析,观察外商投资者对于财税政策的敏感程度,提出吸引FDI的相应对策。