PUBLIC BUDGETING: CONCEPTS AND APPLICATIONS

Robert W. Burchell, James H. Carr, Richard L. Florida and Jarnes Nemeth. The New Reality of Municipal Finance: The Rise and Fall of the Intergovernmental City .
Government Finance Officers Association. Capital Budgeting: Blueprints for Change .
Edward A. Lehan. Budgetmaking: A Workbook of Public Budgeting Theory and Practice .
Thomas D. Lynch. Public Budgeting in America , 2nd Edition.
John L. Mikesell. Fiscal Administration: Analysis and Applications for the Public Sector , 2nd Edition.     

The political process and the use of debt financing by state governments

Empirical evidence offered in this study suggests that decisions by state government officials to effect debt-financed spending depend in part on the state's gubernatorial election cycle. More specifically, the results reveal relative increases in state debt issues in anticipation of elections, and furthermore, they reveal that such increases are more significant for states characterized by high interparty political competition. While theoretical limitations preclude a definitive explanation for these results, the evidence is consistent with a view of state political markets where incumbent parties manipulate public policy so as to enhance the probability of success in pending elections. This insight is significant in that it suggests a relationship between public policy decisions and election cycles in a context heretofore unexplored.     

An innovative approach to metropolitan management in the philippines

The paper describes the historical development of metropolitan planning and administration in Metro Manila, and identifies five major problems: the sectoral isolation of planning; the inadequate involvement of local government; inadequacies in planning methods; weaknesses in the system of resource management; and institutional fragmentation. The development of the Capital Investment Folio process, its institutional framework and the main characteristics and results of applying the approach are described. The benefits and lessons which have emerged are then set out and their possible application elsewhere discussed. The main achievements of CIF are progress towards a rational system of urban planning; the generation of consensus within government about Manila's investment strategy; a more widespread appreciation of opportunity costs; and a new understanding of how to plan under conditions of uncertainty. It remains for CIF to be integrated into the national resource allocation process, and to be fully accepted by national government agencies. Local government still needs to be positively involved in the planning process.