THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING PROGRAMS

Assimilating disadvantaged workers in labor markets has been the focus of national policy initiatives for at least two decades. In recent years, public policies have been formulated which will not only provide incentives for the private sector to employ the disadvantaged, but also afford the private sector a larger responsibility in formulating and implementing targeted employment programs. The Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) and Target Jobs Tax Credit (TJTC) are two major examples. This paper initially reviews the public and private employment and training efforts between 1962 and 1982. Considerable attention is given to summarizing and evaluating the performance of these efforts, especially in light of recent program initiatives by the Reagan Administration.     

POLITICIANS AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC POLICIES

Policy scientists can make important contributions to the study of policy distribution, a question that is likely to be among the most crucial national issues to be discussed throughout this decade. One aspect of this question that has been neglected is the theoretical assumption associated with public choice theory that politicians, once elected, will reward their supporters through the distribution of policy benefits. However, empirical research indicates that policy benefits seldom are distributed in this way. Instead, politicians follow the principle of universalism. In league with bureaucracies and policy communities, politicians define need and then ask bureaucracies to allocate benefits. This makes politicians roles as distributors of policy very different than simplistic models suggest.     

COMPETITIVE MARKETS AND THE PROVISION OF PUBLIC SERVICES

Abstract: There is no universal panacea to improve the efficiency of public enterprises. However there is a worldwide trend at present to place more emphasis on markets than on centrally devised planning. The ownership of public enterprises is examined and it is argued that the performance of public enterprises is related to placing them in a more competitive environment. The importance of industry structure to competition is then discussed. The next sections turn to more practical matters. The first notes the present federal reforms of public enterprises and notes some similarities with the reforms set out in British White Papers in the 1950s and 1960s; and these reforms did not work in the sense of providing greater efficiency. Finally by way of example the deregulation of the NSW egg industry is examined; and the role of the government as a shareholder is discussed in the context of Australian Airlines. The paper concludes with a short summary.     

THE ROLE OF PUBLIC PROGRAMS AND PRIVATE MARKETS IN REEMPLOYING DISPLACED WORKERS

This paper is about the reemployment difficulties of "mainstream" workers dislocated in mid-career by structural economic change. Contrary to popular assumptions, empirical evidence suggests that most workers in this category do not encounter extraordinary reemployment difficulties.
For those that do, the root problem is not dislocation per se but rather such well-known failures of the private labor market as geographic immobility, underinvestment in training, and inefficient labor exchange institutions. Public policy should be structured in terms of correcting these market failures, not in terms of dislocated workers as atarget group.     

CEOs, POLICIES AND PUBLIC BODIES

Abstract: The literature on statutory authorities has concentrated largely upon matters of structure and administrative arrangements. One significant dimension which has received scant treatment is the idiosyncratic role of chief executive officers in such organisations and their ability to capture both the agency and policy-direction, often in ways immune from government control. This article mainly examines one example from the Northern Territory, the Darwin Trade Development Zone, but evidence is included to support the contention that similar processes occur in other statutory authorities both locally and elsewhere in Australia. It is argued that structural reforms cannot by themselves remedy the gap between expectation and policy-delivery. Avenues for reform are discussed, including the more orthodox accountability linkages, and the conclusions drawn argue for greater attention to be given to the appropriateness of chief executive appointments within a context of more disciplined and coherent policy-direction.     

PARADIGMS, POLICIES, AND PEOPLE: EXPLORING THE LINKAGES BETWEEN NORMATIVE BELIEFS, PUBLIC POLICIES AND UTILITY CONSUMER PAYMENT PROBLEMS

This article takes a step toward unifying normative and empirical policy analysis by examining the convergence of societal metatheories, public policy models, and empirical data on consumers. It begins with the premise that policies rest on a foundation of normative beliefs or metatheories that, in turn, put boundaries around the possible and give social meaning to the policies and programs that flow from them. The interaction of social metatheories about poverty and existing policies to deal with people with utility payment problems is examined. The article continues with the idea that good policy arguments are supported with empirical data and factual evidence. An empirical cluster analysis of a representative sample of consumers provides a basis for identifying the extent to which the empirical clusters conform to any or all of the metatheory‐policy linkages. The ultimate message is that theory and practice ought to demarcate where they are deductively metaphysical, based on beliefs about a subject, where they are inductively empirical, based on objective measurements relevant to the situation to which applied, and where a mixed approach is used. Linkage of the three types of information allows policy research to identify options in light of the values and metatheories on which they are based and the objective characteristics and effects on their objects of action. The implications are that when policies are based on beliefs that reflect only a part of empirical reality, implementation may fail or be inefficient and ineffective.     

WOMEN AND MANAGEMENT IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Abstract: Although welcome gains have been made towards greater equity for women in the public service in recent years, many issues have yet to be tackled adequately. The paper is essentially concerned with the problems which arise because EEO programs have been couched in managerial terms, as part of the recent management reform and improvement programs within the public sector. This technocratic approach is very masculine in style and largely requires assimilation to the dominant male form of management. In concentrating on formal organisational issues. EEO programs can deflect attention from a direct engagement with the relevant value matters. Nor is the relationship between the work environment and other institutions, most importantly the family, dealt with in the managerialist approach.     

FOOD SECURITY AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT POLICIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Despite petrodollars, ideological and economic divisions in the Middle East make for difficult agricultural development. High food deficits plague the area and projections are for Increased consumptlon and food shortfalls. However, the area has seen some dramatic production and development growth and external food aid t ofurther this development seems worthwhile for the Middle East and the West.