The Role of Incubators in the Entrepreneurial Process

We outline a model that improves our understanding of the role of incubators in the entrepreneurial process. Specifically, we focus on the impact of the services offered, namely infrastructure, coaching and networks, on the graduation rates of the respective incubators tenants. The model is tested among three different types of incubators, for-profit, non-profit, university-based incubators. Based on our qualitative findings, we conclude that our initial model is ineffective, in the sense that it cannot fully explain the role of the incubators in facilitating entrepreneurship. Interviews with directors of incubator centers were also carried out simultaneously. Further analysis of the results along with interview responses from incubator directors, led us to propose a more comprehensive model to explain how incubators affect the entrepreneurial process.     

Reinventing Osborne and Gaebler: lessons from the Gore Commission

Abstract: After only a few months in office, President Clinton launched a major review of government operations. The review, commonly known as the Gore Commission, looked at government-wide issues, as well as department- or agency-specific matters. The commission consulted a widely read book by David Osborne and Ted Gaebler and studied various government efforts at reform, both in the United States and elsewhere during the 1980s. Yet the process, if not the substance, of the review goes considerably beyond any of these. This paper looks at the work of the Gore Commission, reports briefly on its findings, and compares the review process adopted by Gore with other, earlier, efforts. It also identifies a series of “lessons learned” from the Gore Commission in the hope that they will be helpful to other governments should they contemplate undertaking similar reform measures. Sommaire: Quelques mois après son entrée en fonction, le président Clinton a lancé une vaste révision des opérations gouvernementales. Dans le cadre de cette révision, connue sous le titre de “ Commission Gore ”, on a examiné des questions à l'échelon de l'ensemble du gouvernement, ainsi que des questions concernant des ministères et des organismes précis. La commission a consulté le livre trés populaire de David Osborne et Ted Gaebler et étudia divers efforts de réforme gouvernementale, aux États-Unis et ailleurs, au cours des années 1980. Le processus, sinon la substance même de ce réexamen, va nettement au-delà de ces deux volets. Le présent article analyse le travail de la Commission Gore, rend compte brièvement de ses constatations et compare le processus de révision adopté par Gore avec d'autres efforts qui l'avaient précédé. Il definit également une série de “ leçons ”à tirer de la Commission Gore, dans l'espoir qu'elles seront utiles à d'autres gouvernements qui voudraient entreprendre de mesures de réforme similaires.     

A DESIGN PERSPECTIVE ON POLICY IMPLEMENTATION: THE FALLACIES OF MISPLACED PRESCRIPTION

Implementation has been used to try to explain too much, particularly that policy formulation should be oriented around implementation. The concentration on implementation has added little to our theoretical understanding of policymaking. Implementation studies have taken either "The Horrors of War" or "The Search for Theory" views. The latter has four major views, none of which is adequate. The best approach is to treat implementation as only one of a number of conditions which must be fulfilled for successful policymaking. The design perspection, explained in the paper, is the best approach for this.     

School Finance Reform's Impact on New Jersey's State Spending Priorities

The combination of school finance reform, voter opposition to higher taxes, and rising costs forced the state of New Jersey to reorient its spending priorities. This article presents an analysis of budgetary data for the period FY 1990 to FY 1996, which clearly indicates that: 1) state resources were shifted from direct state services to state aid; 2) even though the 1991 sales and income tax hikes were revoked, the state's tax structure was more progressive in 1996 than in 1990; 3) Governor Florio's attempts to level down per pupil expenditures by reducing payments to wealthy school districts were largely stymied; 4) the proportion of state resources allocated to public education was lower in FY 1996 than the year preceding school finance reform; 5) because of education's reduced budget share, efforts to level up per pupil expenditures were severely circumscribed; and 6) state aid was diverted from homestead rebates to municipal aid.     

From Foster Care to Adulthood: The Role of Income

This study explores the role of income for young people with experience in foster care transitioning to adulthood. It draws on in-depth structured interviews with eight staff members and 38 current and former foster youths age 18 years and older, who were participants in an innovative program to build their assets and financial capability. Interviews took place in four sites in three states. This study illuminates how those with experience in foster care seek to obtain and manage money to transition successfully to adult financial roles. Findings suggest that early and practical experiences with money are important for gaining financial capability. The study also highlights the need for child welfare professionals to develop expertise in financial literacy and understand the pitfalls that lie in both traditional and nontraditional financial services. By deepening understanding among staff of the economic realities facing the young people today, child welfare agencies will be more likely to prepare former foster youths for life on their own.     

The dynamics of policy change: Policy succession

This paper suggests that the policy model assumed by most writers on policy analysis neglects the implications of the fact that most new policies in contemporary Western political systems are in fact replacing old policies, and that this is increasingly likely to be the case. Similarly, the recent interest in policy termination is partly misplaced since it fails to follow through adequately the implications of the fact that most policy terminations lead to policy succession. Accordingly, there is a need to study and analyse the processes involved in policy succession. This paper places policy succession in the context of policy change, sketches a model which describes the distinctive features of the policy succession process, outlines the various kinds of policy succession which occur, and draws out some implications for policy makers resulting from the increasing importance of policy succession.This article is a revised version of a paper entitled The policy succession process: Implications of policy change, presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, DC, 28–31 August 1980.