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.

Inter and Intra Governmental Arrangements for Productivity - An Agency Approach focuses on public productivity. It addresses long standing and current questions on government productivity. Its scope and coverage range from theory to very specific applications. First of all it demonstrates the applicability of a theoretical framework to concrete issues in the public sector: the Principal Agent (PA) theory or the Agency theory. Secondly, it demonstrates the different perspectives of this theoretical framework as seen by researchers and practitioners from various countries. The volume is based upon the revised seminar papers from a conference that was held at the University of Twente. Two trends obvious in this world are its increasing global character and the need for increasingly efficient and effective organizations. Inter and intra governmental organizations need to learn to effectively and efficiently work together in complex web like relationships. This study forms a major step in that direction. It consolidates several current economic concepts that are highly visible and specifically applies them to various levels and functions of government. It emphasizes that PA theory is a powerful conceptual framework because of the economic focus on transactions between principals and agents. The issues of information asymmetry, across government constituents, political/diplomatic considerations, and the narrow focus of PA problems will be described. Attention is also given to the issues of citizen demands, internal markets, franchising, competitive procurement and contracting in'. The study concentrates on academic thinking about the applicability of PA concepts to administrative theory building. As such it makes a current, valid contribution to the knowledge and practice of public administration world-wide.

CARlA BODO Board Member of the Cultural Information and Research Centres liaison in Europe (CIRCLE) and Director of the Observatory for the Performing Arts at the Department of the Performing Arts of the Italian Prime Minister's Office, Roma The relation between the public and the private sector in the field of culture, the central theme of this publication, was thoroughly debated during the 1997 CIRCLE Round Table in Amsterdam. It was not the first time CIRCLE addressed this issue. In 1988 CIRCLE'S Bureau was invited to participate in a seminar in Budapest on The State, the Market and Culture. I will never forget the emotional impact of Sacha Rubinstein's demonization of state sup port and his apotheosis of the role of the market in the cultural field in Russia. So, in ad vance of actual events, we suddenly had a premonition of what was going to happen, ofthe turmoil which was about to radically change the socio-political scene of Central and East ern Europe. Six years later, in 1994, we met again in Budapest for a Conference on The Distribu tion of Roles between Government and Arts Councils, Associations and Foundations."

CARlA BODO Board Member of the Cultural Information and Research Centres liaison in Europe (CIRCLE) and Director of the Observatory for the Performing Arts at the Department of the Performing Arts of the Italian Prime Minister's Office, Roma The relation between the public and the private sector in the field of culture, the central theme of this publication, was thoroughly debated during the 1997 CIRCLE Round Table in Amsterdam. It was not the first time CIRCLE addressed this issue. In 1988 CIRCLE'S Bureau was invited to participate in a seminar in Budapest on The State, the Market and Culture. I will never forget the emotional impact of Sacha Rubinstein's demonization of state sup port and his apotheosis of the role of the market in the cultural field in Russia. So, in ad vance of actual events, we suddenly had a premonition of what was going to happen, ofthe turmoil which was about to radically change the socio-political scene of Central and East ern Europe. Six years later, in 1994, we met again in Budapest for a Conference on The Distribu tion of Roles between Government and Arts Councils, Associations and Foundations."

Inter and Intra Governmental Arrangements for Productivity - An Agency Approach focuses on public productivity. It addresses long standing and current questions on government productivity. Its scope and coverage range from theory to very specific applications. First of all it demonstrates the applicability of a theoretical framework to concrete issues in the public sector: the Principal Agent (PA) theory or the Agency theory. Secondly, it demonstrates the different perspectives of this theoretical framework as seen by researchers and practitioners from various countries. The volume is based upon the revised seminar papers from a conference that was held at the University of Twente. Two trends obvious in this world are its increasing global character and the need for increasingly efficient and effective organizations. Inter and intra governmental organizations need to learn to effectively and efficiently work together in complex web like relationships. This study forms a major step in that direction. It consolidates several current economic concepts that are highly visible and specifically applies them to various levels and functions of government. It emphasizes that PA theory is a powerful conceptual framework because of the economic focus on transactions between principals and agents. The issues of information asymmetry, across government constituents, political/diplomatic considerations, and the narrow focus of PA problems will be described. Attention is also given to the issues of citizen demands, internal markets, franchising, competitive procurement and contracting in'. The study concentrates on academic thinking about the applicability of PA concepts to administrative theory building. As such it makes a current, valid contribution to the knowledge and practice of public administration world-wide.

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.