Estimation of the Value and Cost of Government and Market Supplied Goods

A review of previous research indicates that people's valuationsof government supplied services are not closely related to theircosts, raising the question of how much people know about thecosts of such goods. Respondents rated the value of governmentand market supplied goods and services and estimated their costsin three studies. The respondents made poor estimates of the percapita costs of supplying government services, and were littlebetter at estimating per capita expenditure on a range of marketsupplied goods (e.g., expenditure on fruit), but they were quiteaccurate at estimating the prices of individual market supplieditems. Rated values of individual market supplied itemscorrelated well with the costs of the items, but rated annualvalues of both government and market supplied goods were moreweakly correlated with their annual per capita costs. The resultssuggests that the inaccuracy in estimating the costs ofgovernment goods might arise because such items do not haveindividual item prices rather than because people generally donot pay for them themselves.     

Complex management contracts: the case of customs administration in Mozambique

The literature suggests that management contracts for public services work best when payment to the contractor is performance‐related and when there is minimal involvement by government in daily management. However, as this case study of Mozambique illustrates, neither of these principles can be straightforwardly applied in management contracts for organizational reform in a developing country. First, establishing successful performance‐related payment is difficult in a contract with multiple objectives and poor information. The value in setting up performance‐related payment appears to be more in focusing the objectives of the contract than in improving the contractor's performance. Second, a virtually ‘hands on’ role is required for the government agency supervising the contract, in the numerous political, legal and staffing issues which arise. The capacity of the agency to carry out this function is critical to the performance of the contract. It faces the challenge of completing the reorganization, sustaining initial achievements and running the new system economically. There are grounds for guarded optimism. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hanging in,stepping up and stepping out: livelihood aspirations and strategies of the poor

In recent years understanding of poverty and of ways in which people escape from or fall into poverty has become more holistic. This should improve the capabilities of policy analysts and others working to reduce poverty, but it also makes analysis more complex. This article describes a simple schema which integrates multi-dimensional, multi-level, and dynamic understandings of poverty, of poor people's livelihoods, and of changing roles of agricultural systems. The article suggests three broad types of strategy pursued by poor people: ‘hanging in’, ‘stepping up’, and ‘stepping out’. This simple schema explicitly recognises the dynamic aspirations of poor people, diversity among them, and livelihood diversification. It also brings together aspirations of poor people with wider sectoral, inter-sectoral, and macro-economic questions about policies necessary for the realisation of those aspirations.     

Core–Peripheral Structure and Regional Governance: Implications of Paul Krugman’s New Economic Geography for Public Administration

Paul Krugman’s work is much celebrated in the fields of international trade and economic geography, recognized with the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics. Although his work is less prominent in public administration, it has important implications for the study of political fragmentation, collaboration, economic development, and service delivery in metropolitan areas. The authors discuss how Krugman’s core–periphery model adds a critical piece to the regional governance puzzle by explaining the concentration and dispersion of economic activity and the productive advantages of spatial closeness. They summarize the central propositions of Krugman’s work to identify its policy inferences for intergovernmental coordination and strategies for successful management of urban growth, as well as its implications for public administration theories of governance, collaboration, and institutional collective action.     

Comparison of molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE) with classical solid-phase extraction (SPE) for the detection of benzodiazepines in post-mortem hair samples

This preliminary study compares the benzodiazepine results for 10 post-mortem scalp hair samples using a classical solid-phase extraction (SPE) and a molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE) system. The hair samples selected for testing were from drug-related deaths where a positive benzodiazepine blood result was obtained. Samples were decontaminated with 0.1% sodium dodecyl sulfate, distilled water and dichloromethane, incubated overnight in methanol/25% aqueous ammonium hydroxide (20:1), extracted by SPE or MISPE and subsequently analysed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS). Both extraction methods detected diazepam, nordiazepam, oxazepam, temazepam and nitrazepam in the samples. Diazepam was detected in a greater number of samples using MISPE due to both its lower limit of detection (LOD) and higher extraction recovery as a result of excellent molecular recognition of the template (diazepam) imparted by the imprinting process. The selective recognition of two diazepam analogues, nordiazepam and oxazepam, was demonstrated using MISPE since they were also detected in a greater number of samples. In contrast, another diazepam analogue, temazepam, was detected in a greater number of samples using SPE since the LOD using this extraction was lower than with MISPE. Nitrazepam was detected in one sample using both extraction methods. Overall the MISPE and SPE hair results were in good qualitative agreement. For the samples, where both extraction methods detected nordiazepam, temazepam and oxazepam, the concentrations were always higher for SPE. This is probably due to the MIP procedure producing extracts with fewer matrix interferences than the extracts produced using the classical SPE method. MISPE could be used as a complementary method to classical SPE for the analysis of benzodiazepine positive hair samples collected from chronic users.     

Analytical survey of restorative resins by SEM/EDS and XRF: databases for forensic purposes

Frequently in forensic cases, unknown substances must be identified. Automated databases can ease the burden of comparison as materials may be compared against many known standards in a relatively short period of time. It has been shown that dental resins can be named according to brand or brand group even in conditions as harsh as cremation. Databases are already in use for many materials, but no such database exists for dental resins. Thus, two databases were generated. One utilized a laboratory-based method, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS), in conjunction with the Spectral Library Identification and Classification Explorer (SLICE) software. The other was based on portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The ability to perform database comparison with portable instrumentation can thus be brought directly to the field. Both the SLICE and XRF databases were evaluated by testing unknown resins. EDS is a well-established technique and the SLICE program was demonstrated to be a good tool for unknown resin identification. Portable XRF is a relatively new instrument in this regard and its databases have been constructed mostly for metal alloy comparison and environmental soil testing. However, by creation of a custom spectral library, it was possible to distinguish resin brand and bone and tooth from other substances.     

A case of fatal aconitine poisoning by Monkshood ingestion

Accidental aconitine poisoning is extremely rare in North America. This report describes the confirmation of a case of accidental aconitine poisoning using a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method. The case involved a 25-year-old man who died suddenly following a recreational outing with friends where he consumed a number of wild berries and plants including one that was later identified as Monkshood (Aconitum napellus). Postmortem blood and urine samples were available for analysis. All routine urine and blood toxicology screens were negative. The LC-MS/MS method allowed sensitive quantification of aconitine, the main toxin in A. napellus, and showed 3.6 and 149 microg/L in blood and urine, respectively. These concentrations were similar to that reported in other aconitine-related deaths. This case illustrates the dangers of consuming unidentified plants, and documents concentrations of aconitine in blood and urine in a fatal case of A. napallus-related poisoning.     

Self-control, attachment, and deviance among Hispanic adolescents

Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory of crime has received considerable empirical attention since its publication in 1990. Implicitly embedded in self-control theory is its cross-cultural applicability, though this is seldom examined. In this study, self-control theory was tested in a novel cultural setting (San Juan, Puerto Rico) and in relation to maternal attachment. The analysis relied on data collected from a self-report survey administered to a sample of Puerto Rican adolescents attending public school in Dorado, Puerto Rico, part of metropolitan San Juan. Results indicated that maternal attachment was related to self-control and that both attachment and self-control independently predict deviant behavior. Further analyses revealed only partial support for the ability of low self-control to mediate the effects of attachment on deviant behavior, contrary to the general theory's predictions. Study limitations, directions for future research, and policy implications are also discussed.     

Rethinking the Economic Torts

We propose a revised conceptual basis for the economic torts which is true to their historical role of regulating the competitive process. Claims that the economic torts are part of a wider principle of prima facie liability for intentional harm or that they are based on a theory of secondary or accessorial liability should, we argue, be rejected. Instead, we focus on a narrower and, we claim, more defensible conception of these torts in terms of the economic interests which they protect, the kinds of interferences which trigger liability, and the nature of the justifications which should be accepted as defences.