Childcare Policies and the Politics of Choice

Governments have intervened in two basic ways on childcare: via the provision of leaves to care (usually taken by mothers) and the provision or (often only partial) financing of childcare services. These policy options reflect the fundamental debate on how young children should be cared for. Labour has developed both policy areas since 1997, but there is a question mark over how far mothers and fathers have a ‘real choice’ to work and/or to care. Parents' choice in this policy area is a sensitive political issue and, this article suggests, requires a careful balancing of policy instruments. Policy goals may conflict with preferences and there is also the difficult issue that parents' choices may prejudice their future welfare in a work/welfare system that is tending to assume that there will be increasing capacity for self‐provisioning.     

Shared Services: Lessons from the Public and Private Sectors for the Nonprofit Sector

Shared services arrangements in the Australian third sector are becoming more common. Notably, however, there is a lack of information to guide nonprofit organisations through the development and engagement of shared structures. This article reviews the lessons that have been recorded from the public and private sectors with respect to the engagement of shared services arrangements. Additionally this article explores the different types of shared services structures that can be adopted. Overall, this article highlights the need for further research and analysis of issues relating to shared services arrangements in order to assist the increasing number of Australian nonprofit organisations engaging these collective arrangements and structures.     

Reforming Social Services in Hong Kong: The Role of Contracting and Performance Management in the Non‐Profit Sector

Contracts and performance management, along with the concept of consumerism, have become the fundamental metaphors for New Public Management (NPM) and key changes in the public service. ‘Doing well while doing good’ and finding generally acceptable accountability measures for social services have become the perennial aspirations of planners, service providers and funders. This article examines the contingent factors and rationales behind the quality movement and recontracting exercise in reforming the delivery of personal social service programs in Hong Kong within the framework of New Public Management (NPM). It explains the use of long‐term relational contracts rather than the standard business contracts between the government as funder and non‐profit organisations as service providers. It also deals with the complex relationships among quality issues, quality standards, consumerism, accountability, performance indicators, and performance management.     

公共服务均等化“善治”取向下的理性选择

公共服务均等化问题是公共管理改革和实践的重要命题。诞生于西方社会的治理理论及其“善治”理念，已成为当今国际社会公认的公共管理研究语境和改革实践的普遍诉求。目前，中国城乡之间、地区之间公共服务的不均等化状态引发了众多社会矛盾，严重偏离了公共管理的善治取向。本文基于不同于公共财政范畴善治框架，以公平和效率为尺度，研究公共服务均等化策略的合理性，认为公共服务均等化有利于实现善治理念的公平取向和效率取向，达到公平和效率的高度统一，中国政府应该从理念和制度两个层面加强公共服务均等化建设。     

理顺物业管理与社区服务的关系 共同创建文明社区

物业管理和社区服务都是促进社区建设，创建文明社区的重要手段，二者有着许多共同目标，这是其合作的基础。但二者在实际运作中存在一些问题和矛盾，其原因主要在于管理缺乏法律依据和彼此之间缺少了解，没有建立起有效的沟通渠道。因此，只有理顺二者的关系，才能够实现社区建设的目标，促进社区发展。     

Drifting towards convergence? Motivation and performance management in state and private companies in the provision of telecom services in Ghana

The concept of expectancy on which many of the theories of workplace incentive programmes are based, claims that when employees are given a particular level of motivation, it will result in some level of performance. The general perception in Ghana is that public sector employees do not perform as efficiently as private sector workers because they lack incentives to do so. However, few studies have compared the incentive structures of the two sectors. Using empirical evidence from four telecom companies in Ghana, this article shows that the gaps between ‘state’ and ‘private’ have narrowed. Also, while incentive structures such as salary, fringe benefits and job (in)security are converging, critical performance management processes like employees' participation in decision‐making, performance appraisal, monitoring and credibility of sanctions are drifting apart. This article concludes that differences in performance between state and private companies may be explained by performance management processes and not incentive structures. It cautions that improved salaries and other office perquisites may not by themselves achieve organisational performance. Rather, incentives should be embedded in a broader approach through effective performance management processes. The information in the article is relevant to the ‘borderline’ part of the public sector under a deregulated environment. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

关于解决北京市劳动模范医疗问题的调查与思考

劳动模范为国家和社会做出了突出贡献,他们是国家的宝贵财富。党和政府历来都十分重视劳模工作。近年来,随着国家医疗制度的改革,劳模因医疗负担过重造成劳模生活困难。针对出现的新问题,开展调查研究,找出问题根源,制定措施,切实解决劳模困难。     

"自委会+公共服务公司":乡镇治理体制改革的新模式

社会主义新农村建设,统筹城乡发展,需要建立一个民主而富有效率的乡镇治理体系。我国自1983年恢复乡镇一级政权以来,乡镇政府为我国农村的改革、稳定、发展做出了不少贡献。但随着经济改革的推进,乡镇政权运行中面临的诸多问题开始凸显,乡镇体制改革势在必行。本文试从当前乡政村治体制困境分析出发,归纳出当前困扰乡镇治理的两个症结,通过对学界当前几种主流改革意见的评述,拟提出一种新的乡镇治理模式,并对这种模式进行可行性分析。     

我国公共服务改革的理念定位及改革趋势

20世纪80年代以来西方各国都进行了不同程度、不同方式的政府改革,其核心主题是提高政府公共服务的能力和水平。随着全球一体化的发展趋势,我国现阶段比以往更加重视政府的公共服务职能,如何创新公共服务供给机制是值得认真探讨的问题。     

WTO服务贸易总协定特点、我国承诺与广西服务业的发展

文章研究并阐析了WTO《服务贸易总协定》的主要特点和我国入世对服务业市场开放的承诺要点 ,较客观地分析论述了广西当前服务业发展的现状、优势和弱势 ,有针对性的提出在入世新形势下加快发展广西服务业的意义和新思路。