Suchergebnisse

Competitive tendering for public services has triggered a heated academic debate. In political economy, competition is claimed to improve efficiency. If this is true, why are most governments faithful to the monopoly model? Political economists suggest that public sector employees and unions influence the preferences of the elected politicians. In new institutional theory, competition is claimed to undermine democratic governance. If this is true, why do some elected governments make use of competitive tendering? In this tradition, organisational solutions are seen as expressions of autonomous values and perceptions about the outcomes of organisational solutions – not as manifestations of vote–maximising politicians subject to self–interested interest groups. When governments use competition, it is due to misconceived management fads that have temporarily penetrated long–established perceptions and value systems.These propositions have not been subjected to proper empirical testing. We have analysed extensive data about Norwegian local politicians, and found support for the notion that the perceptions of elected politicians affect their preferences for tendering for residential care services for elderly people and hospital services. But we found support for the political economy propositions as well. Party affiliation, interest group background and economic situation influence the perceptions and organisational preferences of elected politicians. Reform may be a question of political values and perceived consequences, but these values, perceptions and policy preferences are influenced by political self–interest and can be changed by exogenous economic shocks.

Treaties — Various Forms of — Resolutions of the International Conference of American States.United Nations — Charter of — Chapter XI on Dependent Territories — Puerto Rico and the United States of America.Dependent Territories — Chapter XI of the Charter of the United Nations — Effect of United States Legislation in Puerto Rico — Status of Residents of Puerto Rico — Liability to Military Service in United States Forces — Effect of a Resolution of the International Conference of American States.

Recent studies of job tenure raise the question of the appropriate duration statistic to use in historical research. This article compares duration measures and examines their empirical and theoretical implications for historical research on employment tenure. Using a variety of data from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, we find that although there existed a sector of stable jobs, most industrial jobs were brief. Since World War I, however, there has been a sharp shift in the relative size and importance of the short- and long-term job sectors.

AbstractIn 1998, around one hundred alleged sorcerers were killed in Banyuwangi District, East Java. Most scholars treated the killings as a conspiracy. My evidence indicates that local residents have been killing 'sorcerers' for at least the past half century. Rather than a conspiracy, the increased numbers of killings in 1998 can be attributed to: 1. A perception that the reform movement ca 1998 incorporated violence against sorcerers, as much as social or political protest; 2. Attempts by officials to safely relocate 'sorcerers', by identifying those to be relocated. Officials thereby inadvertently confirmed the identities of 'sorcerers' and gave encouragement to potential killers; 3. A perception that officers of the police and army were afraid they would be accused of human rights violations if they prevented local residents killing 'sorcerers'.