Suchergebnisse

Kritik der Unschärfe von Modebegriffen wie 'Grundbedürfnisse' und 'Appropriate Technology' in der wirtschafts- und entwicklungspolitischen Diskussion. Gefordert werden: besserer Bezug zur Wirtschaftstheorie, Auseinandersetzung mit den Problemen des staatlichen Dirigismus, größere Vorsicht der Entwicklungsexperten bei normativen Aussagen. (DÜI-Wsl)

Die staatlichen 'South African Transport Services' haben seit 1982/83 nur Defizite erwirtschaftet. Die Autoren votieren daher für eine effizientere Betriebspolitik (vor allem im Eisenbahnbereich), was im einzelnen u.a. Stillegung defizitärer Strecken oder Erhöhung der Transporttarife bedeuten würde. Bestimmte Strecken, z.B. in schwarzen Gebieten werden aber weiterhin staatliche Subvention benötigen. (DÜI-Spe)

Water trade and the establishment of water markets continue to gain popularity among legislators as a vehicle for progressing the reform of the water resources sector in Australia. This has manifested itself at the most recent meeting of the Council of Australian Governments, where a range of changes to address the declining health of inland rivers included the strengthening of water property rights. These views appear to be premised on the belief that nonattenuated water rights are a prerequisite for maximizing the productive benefits of water and are broadly in line with notions often derived from neoclassical market theory. However, in spite of the apparent faith in the market mechanism, there is a growing literature illustrating the limitations of the market framework in the context of water resource management. Accordingly, there would appear to be grounds for a more cautious approach that recognizes the potential for market failures to emerge. This article explores the present growth of water markets and the legislative background that circumscribes them in the Murray-Darling Basin. Recognizing the constraints imposed by the status quo, this study then examines the implications of stronger property rights for entitlement holders and the use of water markets in the context of the goals assigned to Australian water managers.

Water trade and the establishment of water markets continue to gain popularity among legislators as a vehicle for progressing the reform of the water resources sector in Australia. This has manifested itself at the most recent meeting of the Council of Australian Governments, where a range of changes to address the declining health of inland rivers included the strengthening of water property rights. These views appear to be premised on the belief that nonattenuated water rights are a prerequisite for maximizing the productive benefits of water and are broadly in line with notions often derived from neoclassical market theory. However, in spite of the apparent faith in the market mechanism, there is a growing literature illustrating the limitations of the market framework in the context of water resource management. Accordingly, there would appear to be grounds for a more cautious approach that recognizes the potential for market failures to emerge. This article explores the present growth of water markets and the legislative background that circumscribes them in the Murray-Darling Basin. Recognizing the constraints imposed by the status quo, this study then examines the implications of stronger property rights for entitlement holders and the use of water markets in the context of the goals assigned to Australian water managers.

While a voluminous empirical literature has examined both municipal efficiency and financial sustainability in local government, to date no effort has been directed at investigating the relationship between administrative intensity and financial sustainability in local government, notwithstanding its public policy significance. The present paper thus seeks to address this gap in the empirical literature by examining the putative association between administrative intensity and financial sustainability in the New South Wales (NSW) local government system over the period 2015/16 to 2018/19. In addition, we examine whether variations in this relationship exist between regional and urban NSW local authorities. We find that administrative intensity has detrimental effects on financial sustainability in aggregate since it adversely affects the fiscal balance of local councils, while at the same time increasing the financial risk of local authorities. In terms of any variation between regional and urban councils, we find that administrative intensity has a differential impact on the two council categories in various ways.
Points for Practitioners
• No effort has been directed previously at investigating the relationship between administrative intensity and financial sustainability in local government, notwithstanding its public policy significance.
• This study investigates the putative association between administrative intensity and financial sustainability in the New South Wales (NSW) local government system.
• Our empirical findings show that administrative intensity has detrimental effects on financial sustainability.
• Administrative intensity has a differential impact on regional and urban local councils in various ways. 'One size fits all' approaches should thus be avoided in local government public policy formulation.

AbstractA vast empirical literature has investigated economies of scale in local service provision, especially in water and waste management. By contrast, the question of scale economies in local government administration has attracted much less attention, especially in Australian local government. To address this gap in the Australian empirical literature, we investigated administrative scale economies in the New South Wales (NSW) local government system for rural, regional, and urban local authorities over the period 2014/15 to 2017/18. We find that total municipal population and municipal staff exhibit a U‐shaped relationship with the total administration costs of urban councils in NSW. However, we find no economies of scale for administrative intensity in rural and regional councils in NSW.Related ArticlesErtas, Nevbahar. 2015. "Policy Narratives and Public Opinion Concerning Charter Schools." Politics & Policy 43(3): 426–51. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12120/full.Wallis, Joe, Tor Brodtkorb, Brian Dollery, and Muiris MacCarthaigh. 2017. "Local Government Reform: Expressed Leadership Identities of Commissioners in Inquiries Proposing Municipal Mergers in Northern Ireland and New South Wales." Politics & Policy 45(2): 285–308. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12199.Miragliotta, Narelle, Sarah Murray, and Martin Drum. 2021. "Values, Partisan Interest, and the Voting Age: Lessons from Australia." Politics & Policy 49(5): 1192–215. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12413.