Authors Jones and McCaffery provide perspectives on Canadian government actions to manage financial contingency and restraint. Although the primary focus is on provincial government, attention is also paid to the actions of the federal government. The authors begin by presenting a theoretical framework through which government financial restraint management may be evaluated. In the following chapters, criteria derived from this framework are then applied to provincial government financial stress and restraint management actions. They examine the provincial economic base, revenue and expenditure trends, and financial condition. In particular, annual and cumulative budget deficits and debt loads are reviewed as indicators of the degree of financial stress faced by provincial governments. Actions taken by provinces to increase revenues and productivity, and to control expenditures, are reviewed from the early 1970s to 1987, with emphasis on the period 1983-1987. A comparison of financial stress management in the Province of Ontario and the State of California is also presented, and this comparative approach is continued in a chapter on Canadian federal government financial stress management. Finally, Canadian federal efforts to institute budget control under the Policy and Expenditure Management system are compared to budget control approaches utilized by the U.S. federal government. This unique study will improve our understanding of how the Canadian provincial and federal governments manage budgeting and financial stress. Both for the increased knowledge it offers of Canadian fiscal practices and for the insight into our own government's fiscal difficulties, scholars and students of Canadian studies, political science, public policy and administration, and economics will want to read Government Response to Financial Constraints.

Mission Statement: The mission of the book series is to be consistent with the mission statement of the International Public Management Network (IPMN) that will sponsor the series. The mission of IPMN and the book series is to provide a forum for sharing ideas, concepts and results of research and practice in the field of public management, and to stimulate critical thinking about alternative approaches to problem solving and decision making in the public sector. The book series editors will seek to facilitate exchange and cooperative work among scholars interested in transformational change in the public sector in individual nations and around the world. Our intent will be to create and sustain a dialogue on emerging management concepts, methods and technology so that readers can learn about innovation and change in public sector organizations throughout the world. IPMN presently includes members representing 70 different countries approximately 600 representatives from these nations. As such, we have a solid base of subscription support for the book series within IPMN. For more information on IPMN see the website at: http://www.willamette.org/ipmn/about.html In addition, we want the series to appeal to members of the Public Sector section of the Academy of Management and to the members of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. Both editors belong to and participate actively in AOM and APPAM.

Mission Statement: The mission of the book series is to be consistent with the mission statement of the International Public Management Network (IPMN) that will sponsor the series. The mission of IPMN and the book series is to provide a forum for sharing ideas, concepts and results of research and practice in the field of public management, and to stimulate critical thinking about alternative approaches to problem solving and decision making in the public sector. The book series editors will seek to facilitate exchange and cooperative work among scholars interested in transformational change in the public sector in individual nations and around the world. Our intent will be to create and sustain a dialogue on emerging management concepts, methods and technology so that readers can learn about innovation and change in public sector organizations throughout the world. IPMN presently includes members representing 70 different countries approximately 600 representatives from these nations. As such, we have a solid base of subscription support for the book series within IPMN. For more information on IPMN see the website at: http://www.willamette.org/ipmn/about.html In addition, we want the series to appeal to members of the Public Sector section of the Academy of Management and to the members of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. Both editors belong to and participate actively in AOM and APPAM.