Meritocracy and the Singapore Political System

The separation of implementation from policy has been diffused as ‘agencification’ around the world. It is considered an organisational reform based on new public management (NPM). The semi-autonomous public organisations executing policy are set up and are given a greater flexibility in operations in exchange for strengthening accountability for results. The central government of Japan also adopted the organisational reform in which agencies were called independent administrative institutions (IAIs). The reform intends not only to make the public service more transparent but to improve efficiency and quality of services through separating the implementing functions from the policy units, ministries and departments. It is assumed that flexibility in operations and result orientation would improve organisational performance through a feedback instrument of evaluating results into the budget other than an incentive mechanism. This article investigates whether the intended objectives have been accomplished. The specific focus is on the impacts on the budgetary system in terms of performance. The analysis shows that in Japanese agencies, ex-post performance information has not been fed into the budget process. Also the actual outcomes are explained by an incremental funding system, technical problems in measurement of results (performance measurement) and bureaucratic motivation through adopting a principal agent model.     

An Assessment of a Drastically Changed Federal Workplace in the United States

Abstract

Written by four experienced government employees, this article discusses many alarming changes that have been forced on the Federal government workplace over the past 20 years. The article identifies actions by elected and appointed officials that have greatly changed and weakened a workplace that was a model for America. Several attributes of the Federal workplace of the past and of the present are compared and contrasted.     

Commissioning for Health and Wellbeing: An Introduction

Local government reforms have been carried out in a number of European countries, aiming at both more effective service production and increased citizen participation in local politics. Although extensive research has been carried out analysing the content and background of these reforms, few if any, studies have considered the democratic effects of these reforms at the level of the individual citizen. This article investigates relationship between local government reforms and citizen trust in local government, focusing on individual-level data on local government reforms in Norway in 2008. The analysis shows that it is difficult to find a clear relationship between reform policies and trust in local politicians. These findings parallel other contributions in concluding that it is difficult to find substantial effects from local government re-organisations.     

Auditee Strategies: An Investigation of Auditees’ Reactions to the Norwegian State Audit Institution’s Performance Audits

This article contributes to theory on accountability—how it is played out and responded to. It uses the Norwegian State Audit Institution as an illustration. The responses of the audited entities to the SAI’s institutional pressure were identified through an analysis of four different cases. Four auditee strategies were identified. They indicate that the performance audit has impact when the auditees agree with the conclusions of the SAI. Sanctions from the control committee and the Parliament are equally important. Even though the extent of sanctions and conflict of opinion matter for the auditees’ responses, the effects are context dependent.     

论侦查人员的认知能力与量子技能

刑事侦查是一个不完备信息条件下的未知问题求解,而刑事侦查过程是一个综合智能实现的活动,通过这种综合智能活动完成侦查任务,得到满意的成效。文章基于刑事侦查的有限理性与实践意义,为完善侦查过程与侦查人员的知识体系提出了一个概念模型,即侦查人员的认知能力与量子技能。并且将刑事侦查过程建立在认知能力、量子技能和知识管理基础上,通过对刑事侦查过程中侦查人员应该具备哪些认知能力,认知能力的偏差对侦查过程和成效会产生哪些影响,以及如何在刑事侦查过程中建立量子技能,并且,通过侦查过程实践的自组织、自学习完善刑事侦查知识体系的构建。     

综合性本科院校财务管理制度研究

随着我国高等教育的迅速发展,高校办学规模不断扩大,综合性本科院校财务任务日益繁重,原有的财务管理制度存在诸多的问题：学校集中财务统筹管理模式已经不适用于学科种类复杂、下属院系数量繁多的综合性本科院校;学校的预算工作往往只停留在预算报表的编制上,在具体的执行过程中,编制的预算报表没有发挥主导作用;由于高校由国家出资,高校管理者作为法人在高校办学的收益上没有任何压力,导致国家资源的浪费,缺乏有效的校内监督机制;长期以后高校“重教学、轻行政”的管理体制,导致财务人员的普遍水平不高等问题.改革综合性本科院校财务管理制度必须从加强收支预算管理、推行财务分析、加强内部审计监督等方面进行.     

公共部门导入知识管理的整体流程分析

公共部门尤其是政府机构,导入知识管理理念和技术是其应对社会需求发展的必然选择。如何进行知识管理、如何推动其组织成员做好知识管理是公共部门导入知识管理所直接面临的两个难题。本文从公共部门导入知识管理的必要性出发,从知识来源和管理人员成长两个角度对公共部门导入知识管理整体流程进行了尝试性分析,并以政府如何将公众意愿转化为公共管理知识作了进一步的实证研究。     

Long-Term Capital Management and the sociology of arbitrage

Arbitrage is a key process in the practice of financial markets and in their theoretical depiction: it allows markets to be posited as efficient without all investors being assumed to be rational. This article explores the sociology of arbitrage by means of an examination of the arbitrageurs, Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM). LTCM's 1998 crisis is analysed using both qualitative, interview-based data and quantitative examination of price movements. It is suggested that the roots of the crisis lay in an unstable pattern of imitation that had developed in the markets within which LTCM operated. As the resulting 'superportfolio' began to unravel, arbitrageurs other than LTCM fled the market, even as arbitrage opportunities became more attractive, causing huge price movements against LTCM. Three features of the sociology of arbitrage are discussed: its conduct by people often personally known to each other; the possibility and consequences of imitation; and the limits on the capacity of arbitrage to close price discrepancies. It is suggested that by 1998 imitative arbitrage formed a 'global microstructure' in the sense of Knorr Cetina and Bruegger.     

杠杆收购的本土化研究

杠杆收购作为公司并购的一种特殊形式,始于20世纪70年代的美国,80年代达到高峰。其特征在于收购资金主要来源于市场融资,收购的目的是以更高的价格出售公司或公司的股票。因此,杠杆收购较之传统意义上的公司收购有很大的区别。杠杆收购的发展,离不开低信用等级债券的辅助。作为杠杆收购中最有特色的融资手段之一,低信用等级债券的独特优势使其成为杠杆收购中最为最活跃的分子。在我国现实背景下,杠杆收购有其本土化发展的空间和可能性。     

治安管理部门实施社区警务战略的治安对策

当前治安管理部门在实施“社区警务”战略中的治安对策是:建、防、治三位一体,松紧适宜,管放适当;立足于点,点面结合;审时度势,因势利导;专群结合,强基固本;提高素质,适应需要。