How does government funding affect nonprofits' program spending? Evidence from international development organizations

Under the new governance models, the scope of government funding of nonprofit activities in service delivery and policy implementation is extensive. There is a long‐standing concern that government funding may compromise nonprofit operations and lead to unintended consequences. This research examines the concern by exploring the effect of government funding on nonprofits' spending on programs and services. Existing theories and empirical evidence propose competing arguments concerning the relationship between government funding and nonprofits' program spending. Using a 20‐year panel dataset of international development nonprofits registered with the United States Agency for International Development, we find that nonprofits receiving more government funding spend significantly higher proportions of their organizational resources on development programs. Government funding seems to increase nonprofits' program spending and to make them more focused on their mission‐related activities.     

Japan's security agenda in the post‐cold war era

The radically changed regional security environment in the post‐cold war Asia‐Pacific poses serious challenges to Japan's security policy. Tokyo must develop a new strategic view of the region to complement its tendency to emphasize security based on economic growth and interdependence. Japan's relations with the United States, Russia and China have far‐reaching, long‐term regional security implications, yet Tokyo is barely managing to respond to bilateral political and economic issues as they arise. While the waning of the cold war security threat and budgetary considerations are putting increasing constraints on Tokyo's spending for both defence and foreign economic assistance, there are conflicting international demands and fears concerning expanded Japanese international security roles. At the same time, Tokyo's desire to participate more actively in United Nations peacekeeping and to gain a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council is hampered by the domestic constitutional debate and widespread pacifism, both legacies of the Second World War and the cold war. Tokyo must muster both domestic and international support for legitimate uses of the nation's enormous power potential.     

Beyond sticks and stones: Human capital enhancement efforts in response to violent crime in Latin America

Violent crime has been commonplace in Latin America over the past decades. While existing research has made progress in explaining the rationale and outcomes of government coercive strategies against crime, it has overlooked the non‐coercive strategies implemented to improve public security. It is argued in this article that political authorities make human capital enhancement efforts to shape actors’ incentives about criminal activity and mitigate crime. Accordingly, it is hypothesised that violent crime increases human capital enhancement efforts, and that the effect of violent crime on human capital enhancement efforts is larger when left‐oriented governments are in power because they stress actors’ motivations over windows of opportunities as the main drivers of crime. Support for these hypotheses is found in a sample of Latin American democracies in the period 1990–2007.     

All spending is not equal: European Union public spending,policy feedback and citizens’ support for the EU

While public support is central to the problem‐solving capacity of the European Union, we know little about when and why the EU can increase its citizens’ support through spending. Extensive research finds that citizens living in countries that are net beneficiaries of the EU budget are more supportive of the EU, assuming that citizens care equally about all forms of spending. It is argued in this article, however, that the amount of spending is only part of the story. Understanding the effects of spending on support requires a consideration of how transfers are spent. Drawing on policy feedback theories in comparative politics, it is shown that support for the EU is a function of the fit between the spending area and economic need in individuals’ immediate living context. Results from a statistical analysis of EU spending on human capital, infrastructure, agriculture, energy and environmental protection in 127 EU regions over the period 2001–2011 corroborate this argument. As the EU and other international organisations become increasingly publicly contested, the organisations themselves may increasingly try to shore up public support through spending, but they will only be successful under specific conditions.     

Advertising Spending by Incumbents and Challengers

Abstract

As candidates spend increasing amounts of money on television advertising, it becomes critically important to assess the degree to which this advertising produces results. In an examination of a particularly hard fought primary for a major state-wide office, this study compares the impact made by each candidate's television advertising on voter intentions during the campaign and the votes ultimately received at the end. Results suggest that over the course of the campaign, television advertising benefited the challenger more than the incumbent.     

¿Cómo recaudar más sin gastar mejor? Sobre las dificultades de incrementar la carga fiscal en México

This article explores how tax revenue can be increased in Mexico, especially through more collection in higher-income sectors. An overview of the Mexican government's capacity to collect taxes is offered before analyzing the reasons why tax revenue has not increased in over more than two decades. A sketch of strategies that the recent Peña Nieto administration could have followed in order to increase tax revenue in a progressive fashion is also provided. One of the article's main arguments is that without more efficient public spending, it will be difficult to collect more taxes permanently, especially in such an open economy, with institutions that are as weak as those in Mexico. Furthermore, in a democracy, there is little public acceptance for more taxes, no matter how progressive they may be, unless the government can provide certainty about more efficient public spending. For these reasons, unless the quality and progressiveness of public spending and tax collection advances, it is even undesirable that the government increase its tax revenue.     

How do candidates spend their money? Objects of campaign spending and the effectiveness of diversification

We present a novel approach to the study of campaign effectiveness using disaggregated spending returns from the 2007 Irish general election. While previous studies have focused on overall levels of expenditure as a predictor of electoral success, we consider the types of activities on which candidates spent money and the overall diversification of candidates’ campaign expenditure as predictors of electoral success. We offer a replicable framework for the measurement of campaign diversification as well as for the evaluation of its effects on electoral performance. We examine how factors such as campaign expenditure and candidates’ incumbency status condition the effects of campaign diversification. It is shown that diversification is only related to electoral success when campaigns are well-financed.     

公共安全支出对陆疆国防支出影响的实证研究——基于陆疆9省(区)的面板数据

以陆疆9省(区) 2007-2016年国防支出与公共安全支出的面板数据作为样本数据,采用最大似然估计方法对短面板数据进行了随机效应回归分析,结果发现,公共安全支出对陆疆9省(区)国防支出具有显著性作用,陆疆经济发展水平制约着陆疆国防支出。公共安全支出与陆疆国防支出呈现负相关关系。陆疆安全稳定在一定程度上受到了城乡差距的影响。地方财政支出与国防支出的关系为正,财政支出的增加能为国防支出提供更多支持,但并不显著,说明地方财政支出对国防支出影响因子较小,国防支出在陆疆安全上有一个比较稳定的投入,也印证了陆疆国防支出与地方经济发展的关系。陆疆国防支出的增加对犯罪率的下降有促进作用,社会犯罪行为是陆疆另一个社会稳定影响的因素,一些国际犯罪、宗教类犯罪行为会影响陆疆国防安全。