The price of personalizing politics: Political distrust and economic performance in Latin America, 1996–2006

While research has provided evidence that culture and institutional performance shape individual level trust in political institutions, scholars have neglected to adequately estimate the effect of political institutions and macroeconomic conditions on trust. Using data from the World Value Surveys for eleven Latin American cases, we test if countries with “partyizing” electoral systems - those with rules that encourage voters to hold the party, not individuals, accountable for government performance - experience lower levels of distrust in political parties and the legislature in times of poor economic conditions than those countries with “personalizing” electoral rules. Our analysis shows that the macro political and economic context largely conditions the impact of culture and institutional performance on political trust.     

完善地方服务型政府绩效评估体系的思考

政府绩效评估是建设服务型政府的重要推力,也是检测服务型政府行政效能的有效方法。本文着重分析了当前地方服务型政府绩效评估体系中存在的一些突出问题：价值观扭曲、指标设置不合理、评估主体单一化和评估程序性不足。在此基础上,有针对性地提出了完善地方服务型政府绩效评估体系的几点建议与对策。     

我国政府绩效评估主体研究的现状、问题及发展趋势评析

评估主体研究是政府绩效评估研究中的一个重要领域。评估主体是整个政府绩效评估体系的主导因素,对于政府绩效评估具有重要的价值。近年来,政府绩效评估主体研究虽已取得了一些共识,形成了主导性的研究理论与方法,但与政府绩效评估的现实需要相比还存在较大的差距,所取得的研究成果有限,还需要进一步深化。尤其是需要加强政府绩效评估主体的实证研究、比较研究、量化研究以及基础理论创新研究。     

关于地方政府绩效评估问题的思考

强化地方政府绩效评估有利于提升我国地方政府的施政水平,促进区域生态发展、社会发展和经济发展。本文认为,应认真研究并分析地方政府绩效的内涵、绩效评估的主体选择、绩效评估指标体系、指标分值的权重分配与绩效分级等基本问题,只有这样,才能有效地开展地方政府绩效评估工作。     

发达国家政府绩效评估经验对我国的启示

随着我国政治体制改革的不断深化,政府绩效评估作为行政管理制度的有效工具,必须以公务员绩效考核制度为基础。本文结合西方发达国家政府绩效评估的实践及其经验,分析了目前我国政府绩效评估的不足及其成因。认为,公务员是创造政府绩效的重要载体,公务员考核制度的完善是政府绩效评估得以顺利开展的前提。因此,提高公务员队伍整体素质是我国政府绩效评估工作中一个亟待解决的问题。     

股权分置改革有效改善了公司绩效吗？——基于双重差分模型的估计

本文基于2004年到2008年上市公司样本数据,研究股权分置改革的政策有效性。考虑到股权分置改革的分批逐步推进特性,本文运用双重差分方法进行分析。研究结果发现,股权分置改革显著改善了公司绩效,总资产收益率提高了2．19％,并且股改具有一定的持续效应,股改当年总资产收益率提高了1．14％,股改后第一年进一步提高1．69％,但第二年开始股改政策效应减弱,在第三年甚至变为显著为负的影响。本文的研究对于认识股权分置改革的有效性及其长期影响有重要意义。     

合同法上赔偿损失的请求权基础规范分析

我国合同法上规定有许多赔偿责任,但这些赔偿责任的规范基础不尽相同:有的以传统民法上的违约责任为规范基础,比如第97条规定的合同解除后的赔偿责任、第108条规定的逾期违约后的赔偿责任、第110条规定的继续履行后的赔偿责任、第107条及113条规定的赔偿责任等;有的则属于独立的责任规范基础,例如第42条、43条、58条等属于缔约过失责任规范的范畴;第122条属于加害给付的范畴。第48条规定的无权代理人的赔偿责任之请求权基础应解释为缔约过失更为合理;第406条及425条规定的赔偿责任制规范基础解释为违约责任更为合适。第189条的赔偿责任实际上是赠与合同不能履行的赔偿责任,属于违约责任;第191条规定的赔偿责任中。     

HRM: Performance Relationship: Need for Further Development?

The last decade of empirical research on the HRM value additions, also known as the “HRM and performance” debate, demonstrates evidence that HRM does matter (Huselid, 1995 Huselid, M. 1995. The impact of human resource management on turnover, productivity and corporate financial performance. Academy of Management Journal, 38(3): 635–672. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Guest et al., 2003 Guest, D.E., Michie, J., Conway, N. and Sheehan, M. 2003. Human resource management and corporate performance in the UK. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 41(2): 291–314. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Wright et al., 2003 Wright, P., Gardner, M. and Moynihan, L. 2003. The impact of HR practices on the performance of business units. Human Resources Management Journal, 13(4): 21–36.  [Google Scholar]; Rehman et al., 2010). Unfortunately, the relationships are often statistically weak and the results ambiguous. This article reviews and attempts to extend the theoretical and methodological issues in this debate. Its aim is to build an agenda for future research in this area. A brief overview of achievements to date is followed by the theoretical and methodological issues related to what constitutes HRM, what is meant by the concept of performance, and the nature of the link between these two. In the final section, it is argued that research designs should start from a multi-dimensional concept of performance, including the perceptions of employees, and build on the premise of HR systems as an enabling device for a whole range of strategic options. This implies a reversal of the strategy-HRM linkage.     

Child Welfare's Iron Cage: Managing Performance in New Zealand's Child Welfare Agency

The purpose of this article is to explain the performance management practice in use within one of New Zealand's public service agencies—Child, Youth and Family Services. These practices are described with reference to New Zealand's formal model of public sector management and the professional social work model understood by the majority of the agency's staff. The article draws on recent research into performance management practices in nine of New Zealand's public service agencies that included Child, Youth and Family Services. This involved a number of semi-structured interviews with managers and staff from the national, regional, and local levels of each agency together with a review of relevant documentation.

It is argued that performance management practices exist on a continuum representing the “rationality of control” which extends from a regulative control model of rules and fixed targets to one that is more reliant on shared understandings, learning, and flexible targets. It is further suggested that the institutional structures underlying this continuum determines the extent to which performance management practices within individual agencies are loosely coupled with those used for purposes of external accountability.

The article highlights the tension that exists in an organization that encompasses the substantive logic of “a values-based profession” (Ronnau, 2001 Ronnau, J. P. 2001. “Values and ethics for family-centered practice”. In Balancing family-centered services and child well-being: Exploring issues in policy, practice theory, and research, Edited by: Walton, E., Sandau-Beckler, P. and Mannes, M. 34–54. New York: Columbia University Press.  [Google Scholar]) but which is bound by the formal, instrumental rationality implicit in its system of external accountability that, it has been claimed, “reduces a complex reality to something simplistic and one dimensional” (Tilbury, 2004 Tilbury, C. 2004. The influence of performance measurement on child welfare policy and practice. British Journal of Social Work, 34: 225–241. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). It, therefore, argues that the formal model of performance measurement and management of the public service should encompass the broader information and rationality used by managers within public service agencies.