Setting the Standard in Performance Measurement Systems

A fundamental challenge in the design of performance measurement and incentive systems is the establishment of appropriate benchmark levels of performance, also known as performance standards. Drawing from the information economics, contract theory and public administration literatures, we derive theoretical implications for the construction of performance standards. We then assess alternative methods that are commonly used to construct performance standards and consider their application in performance measurement systems in public programs. We draw out important lessons for the establishment of performance benchmarks and other implications for performance standards system design in public organizations.     

Identität als Netzwerk

Wenn man von „Identit?t” spricht, dürfte sich im Allgemeinen das geistige Bild einer Kugel, etwas in sich Geschlossenes, einstellen. Die entsprechende „klassische” Identit?tsvorstellung ist seit dem cultural turn in eine Krise geraten, ohne dass jedoch eine befriedigende neue Vorstellung an ihre Stelle getreten w?re. Ausgehend von einer relationalen Wirklichkeitsauffassung (Cassirer, Rorty, Bourdieu) unterbreitet der vorliegende Artikel den Vorschlag, sich Identit?ten als Netzwerke von Dispositionen vorzustellen. Die Problematik wird in der Diskussion um kollektive Identit?ten sozialer Bewegungen verortet. Die Entwicklung der theoretischen Modellvorstellung nimmt ihren Ausgang bei der empirischen Untersuchung von religi?sen Bewegungen in einer Bürgerkriegssituation (Guatemala). Eine Analyse der Tiefenstruktur praktischer Operatoren der Wahrnehmung, des Urteilens und des Handelns der Akteure erlaubt die Rekonstruktion dieser Operatoren im Modell eines Netzwerks fundamentaler logischer Relationen, die den allt?glichen Wahrnehmungs-, Urteils- und Handlungsweisen zugrund liegen. Auf dieser Basis werden dann theoretische Perspektiven eines Netzwerk-Modells von Identit?t diskutiert. Dabei werden verbreitete Probleme der Identit?tstheorie im Rahmen der Bewegungstheorie aufgegriffen, wie z.B. individuelle vs. kollektive Identit?t, das Verh?ltnis von Kognition, Affekt und Leib oder die Relation von Identit?ten und gesellschaftlichen Strukturen. Diese Fragestellungen werden mit Hilfe des Netzwerk-Modells neu interpretiert.     

Dimensions of publicness and performance in substance abuse treatment organizations.

Changes in funding, clientele, and treatment practices of public and privately owned substance abuse treatment programs, compelled in part by increased cost containment pressures, have prompted researchers' investigations of the implications of organizational form for treatment programs. These studies primarily probe associations between ownership status, patient characteristics, and services delivered and do not empirically link organizational form or structure to treatment outcomes. Data from the National Treatment Improvement Evaluation Study (NTIES) were used to study the relationship of ownership and other dimensions of publicness identified in the public management literature to patient outcomes, controlling for patient characteristics, treatment experiences, and other program characteristics. A few effects of organizational form and structure on substance abuse treatment outcomes are statistically significant (primarily improved social functioning), although the specific contributions of measures of ownership and publicness to explaining program-level variation are generally small.     

Political yardstick competition, economic integration, and constitutional choice in a federation:

This paper investigates the behavior of rent-seeking politicians in an environment of increasing economic integration. The focus of the paper is on the implications of globalization-induced political yardstick competition for constitutional design with a view to the current discussion in the European Union. In contrast to the established literature, we carefully portray the double-tiered government structure in federal systems. The number of lower-tier governments and the allocation of policy responsibilities to the two levels of government are subject to constitutional choice.     

Identification of DYS385 allele variants by using shorter amplicons and Northern Thai haplotype data

Primers currently used for amplification of locus DYS385 on the Y chromosome give quite long amplicons that are difficult to resolve on native polyacrylamide gels. We therefore designed new primers that give much shorter products for easy separation. With this system, two allele variants that were characterized by sequencing as 14.1 (GAAA --> GAAAA) and 14.2 (GA insertion), were identified in two unrelated Northern Thai men due to their decreased mobility. Interestingly, initial capillary electrophoresis mistyped the 14.1 variant amplified with the traditional primers as allele 14. Forty different haplotypes were found in 147 Northern Thais with a haplotype diversity of 0.9430. Haplotype 13-18 (frequency 0.136) is the most frequent one: for comparison: haplotype 14-18 (frequency 0.074) was found to be the most common in a population from Bangkok (n = 95) in an earlier study. This striking difference within Thailand's population probably results from genetic differences in the founding populations.     

Are the rich too rich to be expropriated?: Economic power and the feasibility of constitutional limits to redistribution

Public Choice - Why is it that, in democracies, the poor do not expropriate the rich even though they outnumber them? In this paper we analyze the commonly held belief that the rich escape...     

Under the Kremlin's Thumb: Does Increased State Control in the Russian Gas Sector Endanger European Energy Security?

This article examines the effect of increased state control over the Russian gas sector and its ultimate impact on energy security in Europe. The various mechanisms by which the state has acquired ownership (or quasi-ownership) over several independent gas producers as well as the potential dangers this poses for European energy supplies are scrutinised. Due to the demonstrated inefficiency of Russian state-controlled companies, negative consequences, such as slowed production growth, are likely to result. The few remaining independent gas producers are still hampered in their development due to the government's reluctance to implement structural reforms in the Russian gas sector.