The choices made by governments about how to reward their top employees reveal a great deal about their values and their assumptions about governing. This book examines rewards of high public office in seven Asian political systems, a particularly rich set of cases for exploring the causes and consequences of the rewards of high public office, having some of the most generous and most meagre reward packages in the world. There are a range of economic, political and cultural explanations for the rewards provided by governments. Likewise, these choices are assumed to have a number of consequences, including variations in the levels of corruption and economic success. Reward for High Public Office includes case studies focusing on Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Singapore. It will interest students and researchers of politics, public administration and Asian studies.

As the ongoing political and economic transition in the Central and Eastern Europe countries (CEE) moves into the next century, the most advanced countries in the region are preparing to deal with their prospective entry into the European Union. More a process than an event, joining the EU is likely to place heightened demands on public administrations throughout the region. To assist these countries with their efforts, the Bank conducted a study of the regions. The results of that study are included in this volume. 'Ready for Europe' specifies and clarifies the administrative requirements of accession. The author uses in-depth case studies for three pre-accession countries, Estonia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic to make these specifications. The book defines the performance level countries will need to attain for a range of administrative tasks so the countries may reach a minimal threshold for EU membership. It applies selected standards to determine each country's readiness for accession and for the longer-term transition agenda. The author focuses on these three critical areas of administrative performance in the context of EU accession: - How advanced is the development of a politically neutral, professional human resource cadre in the civil service? - Do countries have the necessary institutional infrastructure at the government's core (that is, cabinet level) to formulate and coordinate policymaking in an efficient and democratic manner? - How well are the dedicated institutional structures and processes established to shepherd countries through the accession process working?