Outward Orientation,Investment and Finance Constraints: A Study of Indian Firms

We investigate the presence of finance constraints on firms' investment behaviour using Indian manufacturing as a case study. This question becomes particularly interesting in the post-1991 period when substantial market oriented reforms were undertaken. We argue that in the Indian institutional context (especially, the underdeveloped state of bankruptcy laws and restrictive exit procedures) outward orientation rather than size is the relevant criteria for distinguishing firms that may be 'finance-constrained' from those that are not. Using panel data for 718 Indian manufacturing firms for the period 1993-98, we find that exporting firms are less constrained in financial markets than firms which sell primarily to domestic markets.     

An Ethical Governance Perspective on Anti-Corruption Policies and Procedures: Agencies and Trust in Cameroon,Ghana, and Nigeria Evaluation

The purpose of this research is to state that ethical governance is important, because it concerns the right thoughts (values) and elements (mechanisms) needed for a successful anti-corruption crusade. Trust is strongly linked to performance; ethical governance can help in actualizing anti-corruption agencies’ expected or desired performance. The subjects of the comparative research are the anti-corruption agencies of Cameroon, Ghana, and Nigeria. A qualitative analysis of documents and interviews and a triangulation approach are used in arriving at research results, because policies and procedures are studied through anti-corruption agencies documents and public trust is investigated through expert interview. Ghana represents the strong case and best practices, because it has anti-corruption policies and procedures that agree more with ethical governance, followed by Nigeria, which is the moderate case, before Cameroon, which is the weak case. “Independence” as an ethical mechanism occupies the strongest position to achieving result in anti-corruption related crusade.     

Public Pension Funds and Alternative Investments: A Tale of Four Swedish National Pension Funds

This exploratory study offers insights into why public pension plans might invest in alternative asset classes at levels inconsistent with modern portfolio theory. Using a case study methodology, the research relies on fieldwork data and in-depth interviews with individuals familiar with four Swedish national pension funds. The findings suggest that alternative assets are perceived as important vehicles for improving portfolio diversification, but that the funds’ propensity to invest in them is constrained by information asymmetry and access to alternatives. The findings also indicate that investment restrictions and political considerations have had limited effects on decisions to invest in alternative assets.     

Public Sector Reforms and Service Quality Issues From the Perspective of the Small Island Developing States in the Pacific: A Case of Fiji

The purpose of this article is to compare service quality of the Fiji Islands Maritime Safety Administration (FIMSA) and the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji (MSAF). Using a structured questionnaire, data were collected from 200 Fiji maritime industry stakeholders. Research findings identified FIMSA and MSAF service delivery misalignment with customer expectations; customer’ expectations exceeded perceived customer service experiences of FIMSA and MSAF; and, perceived customer service experiences of MSAF were noticeably better than those of FIMSA.     

The Impact of Gender and Early Delinquency on Reoffending: A Life History Perspective

In New Jersey, conversations within a statewide antiviolence initiative stimulated the idea to begin interviewing local repeat offenders to uncover the root of their criminal trajectories. Capturing the life histories of recidivists provides a rich understanding of how these individuals entered and remained in a criminal lifestyle. Employing qualitative methods, 20 men and women were interviewed in a local county jail and asked to describe numerous aspects of their lives that may have contributed to their criminal outcome. Similarities and differences are described between and among the men and women.     

In Search of the Holy Grail in Public Service: A Study on the Mediating Effect of Public Service Motivation on Organizational Politics and Outcomes

ABSTRACT

There appears to be a research gap in terms of examining whether PSM will hold fast even in the midst of a politically charged work environment. This article investigates how highly motivated government employees would react to the potentially adverse effects of political perception (POP) on organizational commitment, job satisfaction and workplace stress. The findings indicated that PSM exists among the respondent municipal social workers in the Philippines and that this motivation directly translates to positive outcomes. However, PSM did not have the expected mediating effect which is a departure from the commonly held view about its buffering power and mitigating role.     

Housing and Council Tax Benefits Administration in England: A Long-Term Perspective on the Performance of the Local Government Delivery System

The Coalition government announced, in 2010, that between 2013 and the end of 2017 all existing claims to income-based welfare allowances, including housing benefit, would gradually move to the Universal Credit (DWP 2010). This article evaluates the performance of the Council Tax and Housing Benefits Administration Services under the current system for the delivery of these benefits since they were transferred fully to local authorities in 1993 up until December 2011. During this period the performance of local government has been influenced by four successive national delivery regimes, namely: Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT); Best Value; Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) and Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA). An earlier article (Murphy, P., Greenhalgh, K. and Jones, M., 2011. Comprehensive performance assessment and public services improvement in England – a case study of the benefits administration service in local government. Local Government Studies, 37 (6), pp. 579–599) examined the CPA period in detail and found a significant improvement in performance across all types of authorities in all parts of the country during this period. The current article complements this earlier analysis and provides a longer-term perspective on the performance of the benefits service between 1993 and December 2011. The findings of this article show that under CCT the performance of the system was poor, there were wide variations in individual local authority performance, with many acknowledged inadequacies in the system and unacceptably high levels of fraud. However, towards the end of CCT and in the subsequent Best Value period the antecedents of some of the tools and techniques subsequently used to drive improvement in the CPA era were either put in place or were being developed. The Best Value period itself did not show significant improvements in performance and it was not until many of the initiatives were refined, developed and applied within the CPA framework that sustained and significant improvements became evident. This overall improvement generally continued under the CAA although the previous trend of consistent reductions in the variation between authorities’ performance had changed between 2009–2010 and 2011–2012. It is too early to judge whether these latest trends will be maintained under the Coalition government’s localism regime.     

The Influence of Emotional Labor and Emotional Intelligence on Job Performance: Does Ownership Type Matter? A Comparison of Public and Private Organizations in China

ABSTRACT

Given the limited knowledge about the effect of contextual factors of organizational ownership types on emotional labor, this research addresses two main questions: (1) whether emotional labor varies among organizations with different ownership types; and (2) whether emotional labor and emotional intelligence relate to job performance in different ways in public and private organizations. This paper examines the research questions with 306 self-report questionnaires from the public sector, domestic privately-owned enterprises and foreign-invested firms in China. Significant differences were found in the emotional labor reported in public and private organizations. Overall, emotional labor was found to have a significant effect on in-role performance, and emotional intelligence moderated the link between emotional labor and job performance in public organizations, but not in private organizations.