Confronted with rising citizen discontent, the Reinventing Government movement, and new technological challenges, public organizations everywhere are seeking means of improving their performance. Their quest is not new, rather, the concern with improving the performance of government organizations has existed since the Scientific Management Movement. "Public Sector Performance" brings together in a single volume the classic, enduring principles and processes that have defined the field of public sector performance, as written in the words of leading practitioners and scholars. Taken as a whole, this volume provides a performance compass for today's public managers, helping them to reconstruct the public's confidence in, and support of, government.Defined here as managing public organizations for outcomes, performance is examined in all its varied dimensions: organizing work, managing workers, measuring performance, and overcoming resistance to performance-enhancing innovations. The selected articles are interesting, thought provoking, and instructive. They are classics in that they have been widely cited in the scholarly literature and have enduring value to public managers who seek to understand the many dimensions of performance. The book is organized into three sections: Performance Foundations, Performance Strategies, and Performance Measurement. Excerpts from additional selected articles feature special topics and wisdom from performance experts.

This is the first collection of readings in the economics of state and local public finance in almost thirty years. The scope of the thirty pieces is broad, including both classic and current articles. The articles fall into three broad categories: public choice and fiscal federalism, revenue sources and the fiscal condition of cities.

The book is an excellent resource for undergraduate economics courses in which state and local public finance comprises a substantial part of the syllabus, and for graduate courses in state and local public finance in public policy programmes, planning and public administration. The collection is also valuable to anyone who needs to understand the theory and practice of public finance, including policy analysts, planners, public administrators, and financial market analysts.

This major book presents an objective and penetrating economic analysis of stabilization and reform in Eastern Europe, combined with a compassionate plea for individual rights and solidarity. Janos Kornai - one of the most famous Hungarian economists of his generation - focuses on two main issues: first, the problems of stabilization and adjustment, which are painful but necessary conditions of sustainable growth and second, the reform of the 'premature welfare state' of Eastern European countries, which is disproportionately large in relation to the resources available and which was hitherto managed in a highly centralized, bureaucratic and paternalistic way. Struggle and Hope goes beyond most other books on the transition process by placing considerable emphasis on the understanding of the ethical implications and the historical roots of each problem, and also the political conditions and consequences of change. Although economic efficiency is extremely important, it is not the exclusive criterion; ethical principles of individual sovereignty and solidarity must also receive particular attention. Professor Kornai's insightful analysis will become required reading for all those concerned with the process of post-socialist transition.

The recent devolution to the states of responsibilities previously held by the federal government -- a key goal of the deficit-reduction, smaller-government agenda of the 1990s -- has far-reaching implications for state budgets. At the moment, a strong economy has put most states into a strong enough fiscal condition to shoulder such burdens as welfare reform and public investment. But beneath the current surpluses are structural problems that are unlikely to withstand the next economic downturn; as a result, any essential public needs will be left unmet. This book deal with three major areas of concern: first, the effect of moving large numbers of welfare recipients into labor markets; second, the planned federal reforms in the health care field that will shift costs to the state and local sector; and third, trends in federal aid. A basic finding of these essays is that state economies can accommodate these challenges generally speaking, but the effect of recent welfare reform presents a problem too long-range to be adequately assessed in the near-term.

Economists and political scientists deal with three major areas of concern: the effect of moving large numbers of welfare recipients into labor markets, the planned federal reforms in the health-care field that will shift costs to the state and local sectors, and trends in federal aid. Focusing on the impact of US devolution of responsibility and costs to the states, they find that the state economies can accommodate the challenges generally, but that the effect of welfare reform is too long-range to be adequately assessed in the near-term.

The authors of this work examine the dominant view that voluntary activity promotes social capital and hence good government, but also explore alternative models for the creation of social capital. Theoretical discussion is combined with detailed case studies to provide a new explanation of :
* the origins and nature of social capital
* its effects on political participation and policy-making
* the role of the voluntary sector
Contributors go on to examine the possibility that current changes in the voluntary sector may in fact undermine social capital and consider the consequences.
This book is an important step forward in this rapidly growing field of research and adds a unique European perspective to a debate which has been largely US-focussed.

This comprehensive new text breaks the mould of traditional Public Sector Economics texts. It provides the student with a solid grounding in theory and focuses on how this theory can be applied to a broad range of contemporary issues such as health and education, the monopoly regulation and privatisation, as well as taxes and incentives. This approach teaches the student to understand how the public sector interacts with the rest of the economy, why governments act in the way they do, enabling them to evaluate policies and their alternatives.

This volume provides a history of tax limitation movements in America, showing how direct democracy can, ironically, lead to diminished public involvement in government. Contrary to conventional wisdom, recent ballot initiatives to limit state taxes in the USA have not been the result of a groundswell of public outrage. Instead, they have been carefully orchestrated from the top down by professional tax crusaders: political entrepreneurs with their own agenda.

eBook available with sample pages: HB:0415920175

Taxation in Modern China explores the tax and public finance issues arising from China's economic transition. The contributors, among the leading authorities on public finance, transitional economics and policy reform in China, direct attention to the largest and most comprehensive fiscal reform programme in modern history. The essays collected here cover the main institutional, intergovernmental and industrial issues and address the long-term challenge facing China as well as transitional changes.

The widespread restructuring and privatization of UK public services has fundamentally changed the nature of society. This text is an examination of all aspects of public sector management. It includes: recent developments in the public sector and policy making; analysis of the role of markets and quasi markets in the allocation and delivery of public services; the heuristics and dialectics of resource allocation; news stories from the press, such as the story of "child B" to illustrate arguments; and two diagnostic inventories "Monksbane and Feverfew" and "RAPS" which readers can use to assess their own values about public services.

This set gathers together ten essential texts on Taxation. Covering the history of taxation from the seventeenth century to the modern day, these titles range over tax legislation, income taxes, taxation in communist countries, tax and government, and universal income.

Financing Decentralized Expenditures presents new original research papers on the structure of intergovernmental fiscal relations in virtually all types of countries and the design and implementation of transfer mechanisms between different levels of government.In developing, transition, and industrial countries alike, the process of decentralization of government expenditures has proceeded apace to provide better accountability and quality of services to consumers. At the same time, tax administration constraints dictate the central collection and assignment of the major sources of revenues - particularly income taxes and VAT. This generates an imbalance in favour of the central government. The manner in which this imbalance in redistributed affects the degree and nature of decentralization generating considerable debate in countries as diverse as Italy and Denmark, those in North America, as well as countries in transition, such as China and Russia. The book includes a balance of overview pieces that explore the general issues supplemented by a large number of studies of intergovernmental transfer systems in specific countries. It offers a unique source of reference by providing a wealth of information of grant systems around the world.

Financial Regulation presents an important restatement of the purposes and objectives of financial regulation. The authors provide details and data on the scale, nature and costs of regulatory problems around the world, and look at what sort of countries and sectors require special attention and policies. Key topics covered include: * the need to recast the form of regulation * incentive structures for financial regulation * proportionality * new techniques for risk management * regulation in emerging countries * crisis management * prospects for financial regulation in the future.

The main focus of downsizing has shifted from the private to the public sector. The cutbacks began in the Department of Defense. Now the goal is a federal civilian workforce reduction of 12 percent by the year 2000.

This pioneering study looks at the management of workforce reductions in the public sector both in theory and in practice. Three case studies -- of the Defense Logistics Agency, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Food and Drug Administration -- illustrate the organizational, managerial, and human dimensions of attempting to improve performance with reduced resources. The author draws on extensive interviews with senior executives and middle managers in the three agencies; at the General Accounting Office, the Office of Personnel Management, and the National Performance Review; the Senior Executives Association and the Federal Managers Association; and scholars and researchers.

In a larger sense, this work pushes the boundaries of knowledge concerning organizational change and makes a significant contribution to organization theory. It offers important new insights not only for public sector managers but for organization theorists and management specialists whose work on downsizing has been presumed but not shown to be applicable to the public sector.

In the public sector at the moment resources are scarce - or at the very least finite and limited - how they are allocated is therefore of crucial importance.
This book analyses this process and examines the competing values that underlie the public service ethic, including the role of markets and quasi-markets, in the delivery of public services.
Topics discussed include:
* whether people should be denied the public services they need because public bodies are short of money
* what balance we should strike between markets and public organisations to provide public services
* whether the use of markets has gone too far and whether we need to return to a public service ethic

Following the introduction of the uniform business rate in 1990, local property taxation changed dramatically, whilst retaining many of its historical and familiar characteristics. Rating Law and Valuation details the existing, non-domestic rating system from the principles of rate liability and the definition of hereditament, the rateable value, to the procedure for compiling and altering the rating lists. The book also discusses how the methods of valuation are used by rating valuers to produce rateable values for the more common property types. The text concludes with a similar treatment of Council Tax which is levied on domestic property. Rating Law and Valuation is written primarily for those studying property valuation as part of their course, and is an indispensible reference book for those taking professional courses of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Incorporated Society of Valuers and Auctioneers (ISVA), and Institute of Revenue and Rating Valuation (IRRV). It is also a useful resource for practitioners who are required to deal with rating law and valuation but who do not do so on a regular basis.

This wide-ranging, up-to-date and detailed account of all aspects of public economics covers topics as varied as:

* classical theorems of welfare economics
* the theory of public expenditure
* the effects of taxation on savings, labour supply investment and risk-taking
* commodity, income and expenditure taxation
* public sector and cost-benefit analysis
* fiscal federalism.

Written by Raghbendra Jha, an author with an established reputation, this book fills the gap in literature on this topic and will be a valuable reference for undergraduates in the fields of economics and public finance.

The main focus of downsizing has shifted from the private to the public sector. The cutbacks began in the Department of Defense. Now the goal is a federal civilian workforce reduction of 12 percent by the year 2000. This pioneering study looks at the management of workforce reductions in the public sector both in theory and in practice. Three case studies -- of the Defense Logistics Agency, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Food and Drug Administration -- illustrate the organizational, managerial, and human dimensions of attempting to improve performance with reduced resources. The author draws on extensive interviews with senior executives and middle managers in the three agencies; at the General Accounting Office, the Office of Personnel Management, and the National Performance Review; the Senior Executives Association and the Federal Managers Association; and scholars and researchers. In a larger sense, this work pushes the boundaries of knowledge concerning organizational change and makes a significant contribution to organization theory. It offers important new insights not only for public sector managers but for organization theorists and management specialists whose work on downsizing has been presumed but not shown to be applicable to the public sector.

Modern Public Economics covers this popular subject area in an accessible and user-friendly way. Topics are coherently explored and include welfare economics, taxation theory, applied problems in public economics and fiscal federalism. All results are explicitly derived, making analysis of topics much clearer for students. The book also interweaves topics from the frontiers of research, giving students a basis from which to participate in contemporary discussions. This book will be of great use to advanced undergraduates and also postgraduates in Public Economics.

First Published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This text clarifies and consolidates existing knowledge about the development of the Treasury's role in public policy making. The book focuses on three main areas: the development of the Treasury from earliest times to the present, giving special attention to the last 25 years; the Treasury's current structure and organization at both ministerial and official level, including the radical changes that were introduced in 1995 as a result of the 1994 Fundamental Expenditure Review; the Treasury's role in the financing and responsibility of Next Steps Agencies, including brief case studies of the Civil Service College, the Contributions Agency and the Royal Mint. The structure and organization of the Treasury was radically changed in 1995 following a new statement of its aim, mission and objectives. These changes are explained here, with details of its new directorate and team structure.

In "Honest Numbers and Democracy," Walter Williams offers a revealing history of policy analysis in the federal government and a scorching critique of what's wrong with social policy analysis today. Williams, a policy insider who witnessed the birth of domestic policy analysis during the Johnson administration, contends that the increasingly partisan U.S. political environment is vitiating both "honest numbers" -- the data used to direct public policy -- and, more importantly, honest analysts, particularly in the White House.

Drawing heavily on candid off-the-record interviews with political executives, career civil servants, elected officials and Washington-based journalists, Williams documents the steady deformation of social policy analysis under the pressure of ideological politics waged by both the executive and legislative branches. Beginning with the Reagan era and continuing into Clinton's tenure, Williams focuses on the presidents' growing penchant to misuse and hide numbers provided by their own analysts to assist in major policy decisions.

"Honest Numbers and Democracy" is the first book to examine in-depth the impact of the electronic revolution, its information overload, and rampant public distrust of the federal government's data on the practice of policy analysis.

A hard-hitting account of the factors threatening the credibility of the policymaking process, this book will be required reading for policy professionals, presidential watchers, and anyone interested in the future of U.S. democracy.

This study explores the formation of the European Union's tax policy and asks why member states did not raise objections to it. Firstly, it examines the "Europeanization" of domestic tax policy in Italy and the UK, asking how domestic policy has changed and what is meant by "Europeanization". Secondly it puts the European Union tax policy in the wider context of tax globalization. Will the liberalization of capital movement, tax havens and the flexibility of multinationals in managing their taxable incomes wreck the European Union's fragile tax policies? In addressing these issues the study finds that knowledge is one of the most important resources in the European corporate tax process. It highlights the political problems raised by the search for rules, principles and appropriate levels of tax co-ordination and concludes that the European Union should re-consider its tax policy with new arguments.