Allocation Of Public Funds Research Articles

СВІТОВИЙ ДОСВІД ФОРМУЛЬНОГО ФІНАНСУВАННЯ ПРОФЕСІЙНОЇ ОСВІТИ

Vocational education plays an important role in the national education systems of different countries. At the same time, the issue of the framework of financing the provision of educational services remains extremely important. The aim of the article is to analyze the best practices of formulaic financing of vocational education. The article considers the main approaches to determining the components of the formula for financing vocational education. To achieve our goal, we used several scientific methods, such as synthesis, analysis, deduction, etc. The analysis of the best practices of formula financing of vocational education is carried out, the basic indicators which are used for the formula for the financing of vocational education are defined. It is established that the proper funding and adequate allocation of funds for vocational education help to improve the quality of educational services. The allocation of public funds using a formula can be based on criteria determined by each country, depending on the place of vocational education in the general education system. The funding formula is most often used when vocational education is part of general secondary education or its direct continuation. It is determined that the use of the financing formula helps to increase the efficiency and transparency of the allocation of funds. The key factor in the successful use of the formula is the choice of allocation criteria. It is established that the basic criteria are usually used in funding formulas such as the type of educational institution that provides educational services, type of educational program, number of students and years of study, the need for additional funding for students with special needs. Among the countries that use the funding formula extensively, we analyzed the practices of the UK and Denmark. Both countries have a long history of using the formula, constantly improving and assessing its efficiency.

Public Health Care and Government Health Expenditures in Pakistan

This study evaluates the impact of health care expenditure by the government on health sector outcomes in Pakistan by using data from the period 1982 to 2016. To examine whether the variables are stationary, the ADF test is run whereas the relationship among the variables is tested through the ARDL model technique. The empirical result from the regression equation shows that healthcare expenditure affects significantly the health sector outcome i.e., a decrease in infant deaths in the long run. Bilateral and multilateral fund assistance becomes a part of health expenditure in less progressive countries which is helpful for increasing the resource allocation in the vital segment of the economy. Hence funds allocated for health care expenditure need to be sensibly utilized because it will help in achieving a portion of the Millennium Development Goals. Improved wellbeing can be achieved as an outcome of enhanced capacities of the health sector as a result of the proper allocation of public healthcare funds.

PUBLIC EXTERNAL DEBT AND ITS IMPACT ON EXCHANGE RATE IN NIGERIA

The study is an attempt to empirically examine the impact of public external debt on exchange rate in Nigeria. The nature of data for this study is secondary data and the major source of data is the Statistical Bulletin published annually by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) December, 2018.The study used Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Error Correction Model (ECM) tools of analysis in the investigation of the impact and relationship among the economic variables. The long and short run results confirmed that public external debt has impact on exchange rate in Nigeria. However, based on the probability value at the short run all independent variables were statistically significant in explaining variation in Exchange Rate in Nigeria except Foreign Reserve in Nigeria (FRN) at 5 percent level of significance. While, at the long run the External Debt in Nigeria (EXDTN), Debt Service Payment in Nigeria (DSPN) and Foreign Reserve in Nigeria (FRN) Foreign Reserve in Nigeria (FRN) was statistically significant in explaining the variation in Exchange Rate in Nigeria (EXCHR) at 5 percent level of significance. Therefore, the study recommends that Government should increase the mechanism to check and control the allocation and implementation of public funds in Nigeria to reduce deficit budget and exchange rate in Nigeria.

Electoral Incentives and the Allocation of Public Funds

Abstract Politicians allocate public resources in ways that maximize political gains, and potentially at the cost of lower welfare. In this paper, we quantify these welfare costs in the context of Brazil’s federal legislature, which grants its members a budget to fund public projects within their states. Using data from the state of Roraima, we estimate a model of politicians’ allocation decisions and find that 26.8% of the public funds allocated by legislators are distorted relative to a social planner’s allocation. We then use the model to simulate three potential policy reforms to the electoral system: the adoption of approval voting, imposing a one-term limit, and redistricting. We find that a one-term limit and redistricting are both effective at reducing distortions. The one-term limit policy, however, increases corruption, which makes it a welfare-reducing policy.

The Evolution of Methodical Approaches for Evaluation the Efficiency of the Activities of Scientific and Research Organizations in the Czech Republic

The article deals with the evolution of methodological approaches used in the Czech Republic to assess the effectiveness of scientific institutions. This country shares common features with Ukraine in the organization of science and it is one of the most successful examples of socio-economic and organizational reforms in Eastern Europe. It is showed that the evaluation method, introduced in the Czech Republic since 2004, was initially purely quantitative and focused exclusively on research results such as publications, patents, prototypes, and the like. Authors conclude that the quantitative assessment did not take into account the quality of research; they also poorly reflected the importance of the results, and encouraged scientific organizations to play a dishonest game with inflating the values of individual indicators. Aggregation of all indicators into one complex indicator did not allow to evaluate the efficiency of the institution’s activities correctly, and bibliometric indicators strongly depended on the citation culture in a particular scientific discipline. The key elements of the implemented new assessment methodology (M17+) are considered, in which preference is given to the informed expert reviews, which involve a set of available indicators together with other information to make a decision on the overall assessment more comprehensive. Use M17+ will provide the following opportunities: to evaluate the results and impact of scientific activities; to make a general forecast for the development of enterprises; evaluate departmental structures and different missions of institutions under evaluation; to utilize views of the partners; evaluate the institution in the national and international contexts; provide information for the allocation of public funds secured for the institutional development of scientific institutions. The conclusion is made that the switching from the simplified, purely mechanistic approaches to assessment indicates the recognition of the complexity of scientific activities and the diversity of functions of research institutes in the socio-economic development of the state. Studying the experience of evaluating research institutions in the Czech Republic is of great importance for Ukraine as a country with European integration intentions, especially in the context of limited funding for science and increased difficulties with obtaining the budget money.

EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF TAX COMPLIANCE DETERMINANTS IN KATSINA STATE, NIGERIA

Tax compliance is determined by many factors, which are categorized into social, economic, institutional, demographic and individual factors. In this regard, the main objective of this study is to empirically evaluate and understand tax compliance determinants usingdata generated from agro-allied industries in some selected local government areas of Katsina state, Nigeria. As such, primary source of data was employed through the use of structured questionnaire to collect relevant information from all the 133 agro-allied industries in the study area and multinomial probit model was adopted for estimation. Basically, the findings from this study indicate that tax rate, level of income, perception on government spending, change in government policy, simplicity of tax system and efficiency of the tax authority are significant determinants of tax compliance among agro-allied industries in the study area; whereas perception on equity and peer influence are insignificant determinants. In this connection therefore, the study recommends that government should ensure efficient allocation of public funds, in order to fiscally motivate taxpayers to develop compliance attitude. Also, policy formulation and implementation should physically be centered towards improving the quality of life of citizens, so as to improve taxpayers’ belief in policy makers thereby increasing the level of compliance. And finally, the tax authorities should be transparent and accountable in tax collection, which may result to positive compliance as well as increase in tax revenue yield for national development.

Preference Elicitation for Participatory Budgeting

Participatory budgeting enables the allocation of public funds by collecting and aggregating individual preferences. It has already had a sizable real-world impact, but making the most of this new paradigm requires rethinking some of the basics of computational social choice, including the very way in which individuals express their preferences. We attempt to maximize social welfare by using observed votes as proxies for voters’ unknown underlying utilities, and analytically compare four preference elicitation methods: knapsack votes, rankings by value or value for money, and threshold approval votes. We find that threshold approval voting is qualitatively superior, and also performs well in experiments using data from real participatory budgeting elections. This paper was accepted by Yan Chen, decision analysis.

The role of business incubators in creating sustainable small and medium enterprises

Background: Despite the prevalence of business incubators as platforms through which new ventures can be technically and financially supported, there is controversy on the extent to which a one-size-fits-all approach to business incubator support can be applied to all emerging or existing small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Aim: To explore the value addition and role of business incubators to assist entrepreneurs to grow their businesses to enable them to become entrepreneurial leaders. Setting: State of SMEs; Business incubators; the development of entrepreneurs in South Africa. Method: A literature survey regarding the nature of business incubators was conducted, making use of a convenience sample comprising a pre-published list of 58 business incubators. Results: Business incubators see themselves in a position of strength and are not in a true partnership with the incubatee. Most business incubators only support Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment candidates, ignoring the needs and value-add of a diverse SME population. Findings highlighted the conflicting information about the state of SMEs in South Africa, thereby calling for policies to clearly and uniformly report reliable statistics on the status of SMEs to enable more focussed support for SMEs. Conclusions: Business incubators must clearly conceptualise their own business operating model and articulate their value-add to prospective emerging entrepreneurs. Post COVID-19 it is essential to fast tract the sustainability of SMEs and role clarification and differentiating are two important factors that need to be taken into consideration by both business incubators and entrepreneurs to ensure focussed support and allocation of public and private funding.

Are Italian research assessment exercises size-biased?

Research assessment exercises have enjoyed ever-increasing popularity in many countries in recent years, both as a method to guide public funds allocation and as a validation tool for adopted research support policies. Italy’s most recently completed evaluation effort (VQR 2011–14) required each university to submit to the Ministry for Education, University, and Research (MIUR) 2 research products per author (3 in the case of other research institutions), chosen in such a way that the same product is not assigned to two authors belonging to the same institution. This constraint suggests that larger institutions, where collaborations among colleagues may be more frequent, could suffer a size-related bias in their evaluation scores. To validate our claim, we investigate the outcome of artificially splitting Sapienza University of Rome, one of the largest universities in Europe, in a number of separate partitions, according to several criteria, noting significant score increases for several partitioning scenarios.

A mechanism to improve the allocation of public investment funds

Subject. This article deals with the issue of improving the public investment allocative efficiency. Objectives. The article aims to develop an approach to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public investment in the economy. Methods. The study is based on a panel data regression with random effects. Conclusions and Relevance. All sectors of the economy have different demand for investment resources attracted, determined by operational and technological aspects. The results of the study can be used to develop an effective system of public investment.

Examining the life-cycle artistic productivity of latin american photographers: álvarez bravo, larraín, and salgado

The paper examines the life-cycle artistic productivity of three leading Latin American photographers of the twentieth century: Manuel Álvarez Bravo (Mexico), Sergio Larraín (Chile), and Sebastião Salgado (Brazil). The analysis constructs narratives using art books and other sources of expert commentary, following the approach in earlier contributions to the economics literature on the subject [David W. Galenson, 2007, Old masters and young geniuses: The two life cycles of artistic creativity, Princeton University Press]. The research identifies Manuel Álvarez Bravo as a ‘conceptual innovator’, a feature that caught the French surrealists’ attention early in his career. In contrast, Sergio Larraín and Sebastião Salgado accomplish their contributions to photography like ‘experimental innovators’. The investigation assembles and evaluates metrics from museum holdings and selected retrospectives to gauge the robustness of the conclusions emerging from the benchmark narratives. The results can be useful from the academic and public policy viewpoints: a better understanding of life-cycle artistic productivity can inform deliberations on the allocation of public funding for creative industries.

Artistic quality and consensus decision-making: On reviewing panels in the performing arts

Although panel reviewing is frequently used in the allocation of public cultural funds, the internal functioning of artistic panels has received little attention in cultural and sociological studies. This article examines panel reviewing in the field of theatre. Based on in-depth interviews with panel experts, it analyses factors that are influential in terms of procedural and substantive aspects of decision-making. Our investigation deals with: (1) individual critical approaches of members and how they come into play in panel deliberations, (2) group composition and diversity, (3) group and leader influence on individual and collective decisions and (4) the meaning of consensus as a decision rule. The article sheds light on how collective judgements are formed, shared and constrained by the procedural (e.g. group diversity, decision rules), social (e.g. group pressure) and personal (e.g. individual approaches and tastes) aspects of group decision-making.

Cross-Border Access to Health Care in the European Union as a Sustainable Development Policy

Purpose: It is emphasised that the principle of the free movement of persons and services, resulting in the blurring of borders between countries, and expansive growth in migration, have many far-reaching consequences not only in terms of economic development but also as regards the human rights. The purpose of this article is to present the issue of cross-border access to health care as the determinant of sustainable development policy. Design/Methodology/Approach: In this article, we take note that sustainable development is a concept which focuses on the quality of life of a human being for whom health is a value of fundamental importance. The desired state of affairs in this respect can be achieved through the proper management of five categories of capital, natural, economic, human, social, and capital integrating other types of capital. Findings: The issue of proper management of the individual types of capital and the redistribution of legally protected goods related to access to health care will become increasingly important since the whole axiology of EU policies based on the principles of free movement of persons and services must be taken into account to ensure access to health care. Practical implications: The implementation of Cross-Border Directive 2011/24/EU requires taking into the quality of such services, the appropriate standard of health care, and equal rights of every patient and respect for such rights. Originality/value: The article is based on a legal analysis indicating the formal and interpretative weaknesses related to the implementation of the Cross-Border Directive. A correct analysis of the Directive in question may contribute to the development of an appropriate health policy model based on the principles of freedom to provide services. It should also take into consideration the call for efficient allocation of public funds in health care.

National-to-Local Aid and Recovery from Extreme Weather Events: Evidence from the Philippines

We examine the link between extreme weather events and national aid and transfers at the municipal level in the Philippines between 1992 and 2015. Using local-level data of public income and expenditures, local precipitation, poverty incidence, and satellite-based night light luminosity, we find that the national government seems to exhibit strategic behavior by allocating more national aid and transfers during dry spells, in which damage is significantly higher and more prolonged compared to periods of higher-than-usual precipitation. Notwithstanding, the amount of national aid and transfers in these events were very small at about $2 per capita per affected municipality, suggesting that the lack of effectiveness of aid and transfers could be the result of a lack of capacity rather than poor government allocation of public funds.

Study design factors influencing patients\u2019 willingness to participate in clinical research: a randomised vignette-based study

BackgroundHigh patient participation in clinical research reduces selection bias and ensures the generalizability of study findings. We explored study-related factors that may influence patients’ willingness to participate in research.MethodsWe submitted by mail two vignettes that described clinical research studies – a drug trial and a diagnostic study – to patients recently discharged from hospital and assessed their willingness to participate. We used a factorial design to randomly allocate three study attributes per vignette: in the drug trial, presumed superiority of new drug versus equipoise, public versus industry funding, and random versus non-random treatment allocation; in the diagnostic study, common versus rare disease, genetic versus protein analysis, and automatic reporting of results versus reporting on request.ResultsOf 2600 patients contacted, 1140 (44%) participated. Globally, willingness to participate in a drug trial was lower than in a diagnostic study (44.8% vs. 76.2%; P < 0.001). In the drug trial, participation was significantly higher when the new drug was presented as presumably better than the old (vs. equipoise) and when the study was funded by public sources (vs. industry), but was not affected by the allocation method. None of the factors tested in the diagnostic study was associated with participation.ConclusionsPatients were more likely to participate in a hypothetical observational diagnostic study than in a hypothetical drug trial. Participation in the trial was lower when clinical equipoise was expressed and when the trial was funded by industry. These results suggest that some features of study design can influence participation.

Subsidization of Entrepreneurship in Rural Areas in Poland: Scale, Effects and Regional Diversity

Purpose: The objective of this article is to deepen knowledge about public support for entrepreneurship in rural areas and to assess the scale and effects of this support considering the spatial context. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study is based on a set of data from official reports of the Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture. The analysis included programs supporting entrepreneurial initiatives in rural areas in Poland, implemented under the Rural Development Program 2007-2013 and 2014-2020. Findings: The results show that the demand for support for economic initiatives in rural areas in Poland is high. The consumption of programs supporting the development of entrepreneurship in rural areas and the scale of their subsidization varies regionally and depends on the spatial context. The effects of this subsidization are visible in investments in fixed assets, improvement of farm infrastructure, restructuring in the production of food and non-food agricultural products, increase of employment in rural areas and generation change in the countryside. Practical Implications: The study provides evidence of the effectiveness of subsidizing activities to support the development of entrepreneurship in rural areas and stresses the importance of regionalization of subsidizing agriculture and rural areas in the efficient allocation of public funds. In addition, the study highlights the need to continue this support and to develop new, complementary programs that will consider region-specific needs and their local conditions. Originality/Value: This study contributes to literature, showing that the consumption of entrepreneurship support programs in rural areas varies considerably depending on the territorial context.

Adoption and impact of technology in the rice-wheat system

In this study the adoption, impact of varieties and resource management practices in selected states of India, viz. Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh has been examined during 2014-15. The economic surplus method was used to calculate impact of variety and technology. Result revealed that rate of varietal improvement and notification has increased for both rice and wheat, but there is varietal concentration. Top three varieties contributed more than threefourths of total seed sale in the region. The estimated IRR was 38.8% and the ratio of net benefits to the cost was 17.31 which are slightly lower than the rates reported in the past. Nevertheless, these returns are quite high to justify higher allocation of public funds to agricultural research.

A Desvalorização da Remuneração Docente na Disputa pelo Fundo Público Municipal: o caso de Curitiba-PR

This article aims to analyze the actions of unappreciation of Curitiba (state of Parana, Brazil) municipal workers, with a focus on the remuneration between 2016 and April 2018. In a context of fight for the municipal public fund, the current demand for enhancement of teacher remuneration, and using the Fiscal Accountability Law (FAL) as a parameter, it was analyzed the expenditure by position, the municipal government debt, the total expenditure on personnel and its implications to the object of the work. The results showed that the political unappreciation processes of the municipality are not based on the FAL, as it was under control. The evidence leads to political decisions of public fund allocation that do not comprise the remuneration of the public worker as an investment, particularly those who are education providers.

Social heterogeneity, local capacity, and urban parks: Evidence from US cities

This paper analyzes the provision of urban parks and recreational spaces, focusing on public funding efforts in metropolitan cities. Using cities as units of analysis and fifteen years of data, we examine their public funding efforts for parks and recreational spaces, evaluating the reliability of the findings across alternative modeling specifications. Social and institutional characteristics are explored as for explanations of public funding efforts for parks and recreational spaces. The main finding is that significantly different levels of parks and recreation spending are prevalent across American cities. Additional findings are that social and institutional conditions affect the public funding of parks and recreation programs, based on a pooled spatial analysis of cities. While its primary contribution is to research on disparities in urban parks and recreational spaces, the paper also integrates social and institutional literatures to identify factors influencing the allocation of public funds to those spaces in metropolitan areas.

Modeling Uncertainty in the Wings Method Using Interval Arithmetic

This paper introduces a novel approach to support decision-making by combining the Weighted Influence Nonlinear Gauge System (WINGS) method with interval arithmetic. This approach allows to include uncertain judgments and/or different opinions in a decision process. Our research aims at increasing the ability of WINGS to model decisions in situations of uncertainty and at extending the reach of its practical applications. The new, relatively simple and transparent method can become a useful and practical tool for the decision makers. Mathematical correctness of the proposed methodology is proven. Based on the new method, a procedure for solving a complex decision problem is created. Its applicability is illustrated by two case studies. Choosing the best option for the organization’s competitive position in a health-care organization shows how the proposed method works with uncertain judgments. Its usefulness for group decision-making is illustrated by applying it to a decision concerning allocation of public funds for sport development in a small commune.