Marketization, Managers and Moral Strain: Chairmen, Directors and Public Service Ethos in the National Health Service

Survival of the public service ethos in Britain has been called into question following introduction of the 'new public management' and marketizing reforms in much of the public sector. This article examines how these developments have occurred in the NHS, using survey data to analyse NHS board members' substantive ethical values. Unexpectedly the results suggest that NHS board members with a predominantly NHS background appear less ethically conservative, more flexible and less risk–averse than those recruited from non–NHS backgrounds; and that as yet the NHS management 'culture' is not very homogenous in respect of 'business ethics'. The NHS reforms also appear to accentuate the tensions between transparent public accountability in NHS management and incentives not to publicize certain types of information. Recent codification of NHS 'business ethics' can be understood as an attempt to buttress the public service ethos against the increased moral strains of a quasi–market.     

胸外按摩致肋骨骨折法医病理学分析

目的　探讨胸外按摩致肋骨骨折特点。　方法　对 1990～ 2 0 0 0年间华西医科大学法医学院所做 30例胸外按摩致肋骨骨折的尸检进行法医病理统计分析。　结果　肋骨骨折男性 2 8,女性 2例 ,年龄为 18～ 6 8岁 ,胸外按摩骨折主要发生在疾病、电击伤、溺死及中毒病例 ,以第 6～ 9肋骨的腋前、中线骨折常见 ,多为左侧。　结论　胸外按摩与外伤所致肋骨骨折具有明显的区别。     

THE MARKET FOR INDUSTRY: WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD?

This paper investigates one of the perennial mysteries in the area of state and local finance, the provision of tax and other subsidies to business by federal, state and local governments in the face of solid evidence that such incentives do little to nothing to influence business location or job creation. The paper looks at the upsurge in such governmental aid in the last decade and considers whether this upsurge has occurred because such aid is more efficacious than it used to be or whether it has occurred for political reasons unrelated to its effectiveness.