At present we observe a decreasing role for the state in many areas where it used to be prominent. Amidst severe budgetary cuts, the state and its organs are confronted with ever louder calls for efficiency in public office (value for money') and public performance. Simultaneously we see in many democratic welfare states the rise of new institutional forms and social organizations responding to new public priorities. Phenomena like privatization and de-regulation, new forms of regulation and self-regulation, and the rise of special issue groups are an expression of this. This book seeks to provide order in some of today's issues and to offer analysis and explanation for selected topics. The book opens with contributions on the importance of concepts of present-day institutional economics interpreting modern governmental behavior and organization. Subsequent chapters deal with new developments in various fields such as environmental management and conservation, political legitimacy, or the new roles for covenants. Audience: This volume will be of interest for scholars in the fields of public service, government studies and adjacent branches of economics, political science and law.

At present we observe a decreasing role for the state in many areas where it used to be prominent. Amidst severe budgetary cuts, the state and its organs are confronted with ever louder calls for efficiency in public office (value for money') and public performance. Simultaneously we see in many democratic welfare states the rise of new institutional forms and social organizations responding to new public priorities. Phenomena like privatization and de-regulation, new forms of regulation and self-regulation, and the rise of special issue groups are an expression of this. This book seeks to provide order in some of today's issues and to offer analysis and explanation for selected topics. The book opens with contributions on the importance of concepts of present-day institutional economics interpreting modern governmental behavior and organization. Subsequent chapters deal with new developments in various fields such as environmental management and conservation, political legitimacy, or the new roles for covenants. Audience: This volume will be of interest for scholars in the fields of public service, government studies and adjacent branches of economics, political science and law.

This volume contains a selection of papers on new technologies, networks and governance structures presented at the Rothenberge Seminar 2007, a joint venture of the School of Management and Governance of the University of Twente, the Institute of Public Economics of the Westfalische Wilhelms-Universitat Munster and the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Groningen. Each paper explores a specific aspect of newly emerging technologies. The contributions range from a discussion of new conceptualizations of procuring knowledge to problems generated by targeted governmental policies including weapons production, strategies in adopting new technologies, regulation in environmental issues, the origin of rail transport in the Prussian Rhine Province, and a discussion of the work of the American-Canadian urban theorist Jane Jacobs.

This book contains a collection of essays written by renowned economists on the occasion of Andras Brody's 70th birthday. Andras Brody has contributed to many fields of economics, including mathematical modelling, the theory of economic growth, marxian economics and input-output analysis. The essays contained in this book deal with new results in these and related fields, and cover both theoretical and empirical aspects. Among the topics being discussed are foundations of input-output analysis, methodologies for measuring economic growth and structural change, and normative aspects of economic behaviour. The book also includes a chapter on the extraordinary event of building an input-output table for the newly reunited Germany.