Budget Responsibilities Research Articles

The last mile: Flood risk communication for better preparedness in Nepal

Over the last decade, several flood early warning systems have been established in Nepal, helping reduce the number of people affected and killed by floods. However, there are still challenges in communicating flood warning to the most vulnerable. The unavailability of real-time monitoring in smaller streams and tributaries has created challenges for communicating early warning. The ongoing restructuring process of the multilevel governance system in the country also presents challenges, specifically institutional such as insufficient coordination among relevant agencies, lack of adequate personnel, limited budget, and unclear roles and responsibilities. This study uses the Alexander framework (2015) to identify gaps in flood early warning communication in relation to their technical, institutional and socio-cultural components. Qualitative research methods in the form of key informant interviews and on-site focus group discussions were conducted at the national, district and local levels to collect data, taking Ratu watershed as a case study. Based on our analysis, we conclude that, first, while progress has been made in the monitoring and forecasting of floods, integration of socio-cultural aspects that can make early warning information accessible to the most vulnerable has to be strengthened. Second, warning messages need to be co-designed with communities and tailored to meet their diverse needs for proper dissemination and timely protective action. Finally, for flood risk communication to bridge ‘the last mile’ in terms of reaching the most vulnerable in the community must take account of their distinct social, economic and political experiences in both content and delivery of the information.

Облікове розкриття фінансових коригувань та бюджетів відповідальності у фінансовій звітності

The role of accounting (public-financial) with special emphasis on financial reforms and budgetary responsibility for the preparation of financial statements is increasingly becoming necessary and important to increase the economic development and financial stability of the country during governance. In order to have financial reforms, there must be responsibility in public accounting as well as in the analysis and financial reporting by the responsible staff at both levels. It is therefore important to have this cooperation in all areas of policy making, defining the responsibilities of the two levels. The purpose of this article is to show about accounting, reforms and budget responsibilities in the financial statements at both levels of financial-budgetary governance. The research was conducted through a questionnaire according to the practices of the OECD, the IMF and the World Bank. The questionnaire was compiled according to Likert scales and was distributed at the governing levels to the state of Kosovo, its completion was done accurately by attaching audited financial reports for each variable taken for study. The data for all variables were processed via the SPSS and R program, which allowed to draw conclusions and recommendations for all variables at both levels. To achieve the results, econometric tests and analyzes were used, such as: descriptive analysis, testing of two samples, analysis of testing of a dependent variable, etc. Based on the results, it is emphasized that there should be reforms for the safeguarding of public money, fair allocation of expenditures, securing of funds and that the responsibilities at both levels differ from the expectations that should occur in the accounting of financial statements.

‘See you soon?!’ Mobility, competition and free-riding in decentralized higher education financing

ABSTRACT Highly skilled human capital is usually also highly mobile. Concerns regarding interregional migration revolve around suboptimal public financing of higher education rooted in free-riding behaviour if budget responsibilities are decentralized. This investigation sets out to answer whether cross-state mobility of students in general and individual taste variation in the preference for ‘home’ and ‘university’ states in particular justify concerns about the free-riding behaviour of state governments. We analyse graduates’ location choices when leaving university using a mixed logit model and subsequently relate the revealed taste variation to individual characteristics. The results suggest some attachment to ‘home’ states that justify concerns about potential free-riding. However, substantial taste variation exists and is partly associated with the quality of human capital. State governments free-riding on the investment of others therefore may face a quality trade-off.

The Iron Cage of Leadership—the Role of First-Line Managers in Child Welfare

Abstract In the social services in general and particularly in child welfare, high staff turnover and recruitment difficulties have been reported for many years. Previous studies have shown that giving social workers adequate social support is important in getting them to maintain their job commitment and remain at the workplace. The aim of the present study was to investigate how child welfare managers perceive and respond to the content and demands of their professional role. Interviews were conducted with forty-two first-line managers. The results indicate that the expectations of the social workers and the demands of the organisation are in conflict. The overall picture is one of challenges and dilemmas in a changing managerial role, where the focus is increasingly on control, administration and budget responsibilities. While the managers highlight what can be regarded as transformative ideals and prioritise offering support and guidance to the social workers under them, the organisation seems to be pushing managers towards a leadership role characterised by control and authority, where quantitative measuring, monitoring and control processes are expected––a leadership style associated with transactional leadership. The influence of New Public Management on the conditions for, and the contents of, leadership in social services is discussed.

Fiscal Delegation in a Monetary Union: Instrument Assignment and Stabilization Properties

Motivated by the failure of fiscal rules to eliminate deficit bias in the euro area, this paper analyzes an alternative policy regime in which each Member State government delegates at least one fiscal instrument to an independent authority with a mandate to avoid excessive debt. Other fiscal decisions remain in the hands of member governments, including the allocation of spending across different public goods, and the composition of taxation. We study the short-and long-run properties of dynamic games representing different institutional configurations in a monetary union. Delegation of budget balance responsibilities to a national or union-wide fiscal authority implies large long-run welfare gains due to much lower steady-state debt. The presence of the fiscal authority also reduces the welfare cost of fluctuations in the demand for public spending, in spite of the fact that the authority imposes considerable “austerity” when it responds to fiscal shocks.

A generic correspondence: Sturgeon–Roddenberry letters on sf, sex, sales and Star Trek

Filed away in the Theodore Sturgeon Collection at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library of Kansas University are three pieces of correspondence from 1966 between Theodore Sturgeon, the renowned sf short-story writer and novelist, and Gene Roddenberry, the screenwriter, producer and, most famously, creator of Star Trek (US 1966-9). One document is a two-page memo from Roddenberry dated 8 June 1966, in which he presents some directions to and demands upon Sturgeon, who was then writing the script for Episode 15 of Season 1, 'Shore Leave', which ultimately aired on 29 December 1966. The other documents are both three-page letters from Sturgeon to Roddenberry dated 15 June and 20 October 1966, respectively; the first is a cover letter for a draft of the episode's script, while the second is a response to script revisions made by Roddenberry's production team and witnessed by Sturgeon first-hand when he visited the episode as it was being shot on location. Contained in this correspondence are crystalline insights into sf as two of its great creators navigated their collaboration on Star Trek.Theodore Sturgeon is renowned for the formidable number of mind-bending short works he published, from 'Microcosmic God' (1941) to 'Killdozer!' (1944) and beyond; for his award-winning and quite amazing 1953 novel More Than Human; for serving as the living model of Kurt Vonnegut Jr's recurring character Kilgore S. Trout; and, most significantly in the context of Star Trek, for writing the episode 'Amok Time' (15 Sep 1967), which introduced the phrase 'live long and prosper' and the iconic V-shape Vulcan hand gesture. By the time he began working with Roddenberry, Sturgeon had already achieved fame and acclaim as a major force in sf. Sturgeon's correspondence with major genre figures such as Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and Robert Heinlein, to name but a few, attests to the consistent and rigorous thought and theorisation he brought to sf as a genre under constant innovation. His letters to Roddenberry articulate Sturgeon's aspirations that sf transcend what he considered the adolescent values of its pulp origins as well as what he worried was the crass commercialisation of sf tropes merely to score television viewer numbers to attract advertisers without offering narratives of substance and sophistication. Fascinatingly, amid this intriguing dialogue, Sturgeon also pens what may well be the first conceptualisation of Star Trek slash fiction.What follows are glimpses into this correspondence in chronological order. The analysis aims to highlight fundamental elements of their discussion on sex and commercialisation in sf as the genre moves across media. In working with archival materials such as this, it's crucial to bear in mind the context of a collaborative project with budget responsibilities and production objectives and timelines. To put it simply: the extracts selected and scrutinised below represent a creative negotiation within a genre, rather than supposedly 'authentic' truths about the character or beliefs of either correspondent.Roddenberry's memo opens with the aggressive promise - 'At the close of this you will no longer be a virgin' - before sending Sturgeon two clear and related directives: write the script for all the departments involved to know exactly what to do, shot by shot, and move the plot much faster or you lose the audience, and therefore the advertising dollars too ('Memo' 1). On the first point, Roddenberry deploys a pointedly long list to make his point:Am also asking Dorothy [presumably Dorothy 'D.C.' Fontana, renowned writer on the series] to enclose here copies of subsequent scripts. Why? Because my rather conservative directors, designers, costume men, optical experts, special effects people, casting department, greensmen, film editors, assistant directors, script boys, gaffers, grips, sound men, carpenters, painters, just to the mention the major departments, need these things broken down shot by shot, description by description, all neatly numbered in the fashion of our Hollywood ancestors. …

016 Barnsley Hospice - “Mapping Our Communities”

Barnsley Hospice offers a broad range of services to an adult population of approximately 177,000 individuals across 127 square miles of the borough.As in many hospices, there exists a wealth...

Integration of services for older people: back to funding

Purpose: To demonstrate that funding is an essential component of integrated care, even in a universal publicly funded health care system. Context: The PRISMA coordination-type model is actually being generalized in the Province of Quebec (Canada) concurrently with the creation of Health and Social Services Centers (HSSC), a merging of hospitals, community centers and nursing homes in a local area. Case description: PRISMA originally included six components: coordination tables, single entry point, case management, individualized service plan, unique assessment tool and computerized clinical chart. Funding was not included since it was hypothesized as not necessary in the context of a universal publicly funded Beveridge-type health care system. The creation of HSSC implies that all public institutions are under the same governance structure with budget responsibilities. In addition to slowing down the implementation process of PRISMA, this structural integration also marginalized home care in the financial distribution, hospitals and nursing homes being seen as priorities. This has limited the availability of home care services, reducing the case-managers’ power to get the appropriate services to their patients. Discussion and conclusion: The introduction of a specific funding for long-term care, like the long-term care insurances implemented in many European and Asian countries would give the case-managers a better lever to provide their patients with the necessary services to remain at home. Funding should then be added as a 7th component of the PRISMA model.

Joint ventures in patent contests with spillovers and the role of strategic budgeting

Abstract We consider an R&D contest between n firms in the presence of external spillovers. Our analysis focuses on the effects of these spillovers on joint venture activities between firms. In particular, we are interested in how different budget responsibilities within the research joint venture (RJV) affect profits of firms taking part in the joint venture and profits of their non-cooperating rival firms. Three arrangements for RJVs are analyzed: First, cooperation, in which the firms participating in the joint venture completely share the research they create in the innovation process and each firm has a sovereign budget responsibility. Second, a collusive arrangement in which the participating firms not only share their research but have joint budget responsibilities in the sense that they make all strategic choices cooperatively and maximize joint profits. Third, a hierarchical form, in which the cooperating firms establish joint headquarters which have strategic budget responsibility in the sense that it can strategically subsidize R&D efforts of its member firms so as to maximize overall RJV profits. We show that the first two arrangements can be mimiced in the hierarchical structure and that a hierarchical structure is optimal if it completely subsidizes its members’ R&D activities. In this case all rival firms are driven out of the contest.

How Medicaid Agencies Administer Mental Health Services: Results From a 50-State Survey

This brief report describes some notable variations in how state Medicaid agencies administer and fund Medicaid mental health services. Hour-long telephone interviews were conducted with all state and District of Columbia Medicaid directors or their designees. Responses indicated that Medicaid and mental health agencies were located within the same umbrella agency in 28 states, potentially facilitating collaboration. The mental health agency provided funding for some Medicaid mental health services in 32 states, and counties provided such funding in 22 states. Medicaid agencies generally delegated more authority to state mental health agencies in states where some Medicaid funding came from mental health sources and also in states where both agencies were in the same umbrella agency. The increasing role of Medicaid in funding state mental health services, combined with new federal limits on Medicaid financing of these services, underscores the importance of interagency collaboration and better alignment of Medicaid and mental health responsibilities.

Organizational design of R&D after mergers and the role of budget responsibility

We consider an innovation contest between n firms in the presence of knowledge leakages from an innovating firm to its rivals. Our analysis focuses on the effects of these knowledge spillovers on merger activities between firms. In particular, we are interested in how different organizational designs of R&D after mergers affect profits of firms taking part in a merger and profits of their non-merging rivals. Three organizational arrangements are analyzed: first, a fusion of R&D departments in which the newly merged firm decides to close down one of the previously two R&D departments. Second, a profit center arrangement in which the newly merged firm keeps the old R&D departments as fully functional entities with a sovereign budget responsibility at each of the two departments. Third, a multisubsidiary organizational form in which the newly merged firm still keeps the old R&D departments but with restricted budget responsibility in the sense that they are forced to determine cooperatively their R&D budgets in order to maximize overall firm’s profits. It turns out that the different organizational designs of R&D after the merger and the budget responsibilities have major impacts on merger outcomes.

Norwegian General Hospitals, 1970–2002: County Ownership—An Interlude between Welfare Localism and State Direction

Over the last three decades, Norway has experienced two fundamental reforms in hospital organization and direction. In 1970 the nineteen county authorities took over ownership and budget responsibilities for hospitals within their areas, replacing a highly varied and complex structure of ownership, typically generated locally. In 2002 hospitals were transferred to the state and amalgamated into five regional government enterprises. These, in turn, have organized all hospitals in their region under local health enterprises. Both regional and local enterprises are separate legal entities, with their own executive boards and managing directors. The Minister of Health appoints the boards of the regional enterprises, while their directors and the boards of the local enterprises are appointed by the regional boards. Both regional and local enterprises are supposed to have full autonomy for day-to-day operations, while being subject to strategic and political decisions by the Minister of Health as the ultimate authority of the enterprise assembly (foretaksmote).1 The “enterprise” concept is, of course, borrowed from private business, modelled on companies of limited liability. The choice of this organizational model must be understood at least partly within the context of a general politico-administrative reform, inspired by the worldwide New Public Management movement. Each enterprise is a separate economic entity with a clear responsibility for balancing its budgets. Privatization (or part-privatization) and bankruptcy, however, are out of the question, as the state in the end retains full economic responsibility. The objective of this article is to contribute towards an understanding of this pattern of reform. I will suggest three explanations. First, ownership and organization in the hospital sector falls nicely into a long line of development in the creation of the Norwegian welfare state—with the emphasis on “state”. This can be described as the development from “welfare localism” to central direction with the aim of equalizing welfare provisions nationally. The desire to secure equal rights, care and benefits nationwide has always been a concern of the state, but I will argue that this concern has greatly increased over the last few decades. From this perspective, the two reforms in 1970 and 2002 could even be considered as two steps in one and the same process. This theme of centralization versus decentralization is, of course, a general and common one in international hospital history,2 and in the on-going reform debate on hospital organization in several countries in the western world. It is also an important theme in ongoing social science research on current hospital reform. A central question in this respect, which calls for a broader comparative approach than is possible within the scope of this article, is whether developments in Norway—from a decentralized towards a centralized system of hospital organization—run counter to a general trend towards decentralization of hospital management and direction, and if this is the case, why?3 Secondly, both the reorganization of the 1970s and that of 2002 fall neatly into a broader picture of fundamental Norwegian political and administrative government reform. Important factors behind both hospital reforms are thus at least as much connected to the problems of reorganization of government and administration in general, as they are specific to hospital politics. Thirdly, the fundamental problems and tensions that inspired reform at the beginning of the new millennium were basically the same as those that made reform necessary thirty years earlier. Several problems in hospital politics were probably greater at the end of the three decades of county ownership than at the beginning. I will therefore argue that it is possible to see the phase of general county ownership as an interlude in a hundred-year-long search for the “right” way of organizing Norwegian hospitals. Circumstances and what are considered good and appropriate organizational solutions probably change more than the fundamental problems of hospital politics, which have turned out to be surprisingly consistent and recalcitrant. State regional enterprise is just as much the hegemonic politico-administrative “solution of today” as county ownership was in the 1960s and 1970s.

Change Readiness for SAP in the Canadian Healthcare System

The study described in this article was designed to assess the change readiness for e-business cost management systems (particularly SAP) within the Canadian healthcare system. Previous studies and experts suggest that change readiness is an important variable in the application of e-business cost management system implementation. One hundred and fifty-four chief executive officers within the Canadian healthcare system were surveyed. The response rate was 25.9 percent. The survey included a demographic sheet, which supported a better understanding of the profile of Canadian healthcare CEOs, their operational budget responsibilities, and their feelings toward e-business cost management systems. A change readiness instrument reviewed CEOs’ change readiness scores in relation to four independent variables (implementation of an e-business cost management system, healthcare restructuring, budget size and tenure of the CEO). There was a significant difference between change readiness scores and the implementation of an e-business cost management system. Given the small sample size (n=40), findings are limited. However the study offers more information on this issue than is found in the Canadian healthcare literature to date.

Perceived Environmental Uncertainty, Organizational Culture, Budget Participation and Managerial Performance in Ghana

ABSTRACT The paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey from Ghana that investigates how perceived environmental uncertainty (environmental level factor) and organizational culture (organizational level factor) influence budget participation, and how budget participation in turn influences managerial performance. Data is gathered using a survey questionnaire responded to by 89 line managers with budget responsibilities. Results presented illustrate support for organizational culture influencing budget participation, but not for the possible influence of perceived environmental uncertainty on budget participation. Consistent with prior studies, budget participation was found to influence managerial performance. The study contributes to the emerging literature on management accounting practices in the developing world.

Dealing with Scarce Resources

Organizational power ad politics researchers contend that the conflicts over scare resources intensify competition and conflict but can be useful for an effective distribution of resources. A total of 59 mars with budget responsibilities from both expanding and retrenching organizations were interviewed on specific budget conflicts. Consistent the power perspective. these conflicts could be productive. Open-minded discussion of opposing views contributed to making these conflicts useful for productivity, relationship development, and unity. In contrast with organizational power theorizing, cooperative goals, not competition, shaped the productive management of conflicts over scarce resources.

Pushing budgets down the line: ascribing financial responsibility in the UK social services

Budgets are too aggregated, they hold too high a level in the organizational hierarchy, and they are not owned by individuals; therefore they cannot track the consequences of individual actions ‐ these are criticisms of public sector budgets as financial mechanisms of control and accountability. Pushing budgets down the line ‐ devolving budgetary responsibilities to front‐line operational staff ‐ in short, delegation, is current governmental thinking on making budgets more effective instruments in control and accountability. This paper explores the issue of the extent to which budgets have been devolved in the context of empirical data from eight UK social services departments and finds that the devolution of budgets stops short of the front line of service delivery. This research also demonstrates that although individual responsibility for budgets has been ascribed to individuals these individualized responsibilities are being dissipated through organizational processes. First, levels of authorization for spend are not aligned with budget responsibilities. Second, there are multiple sources of access to the budgets “owned” by individuals. Third, organizational rules prescribe spending patterns and constrain the authority of budget holders. Should these results be seen as a residual control problem or are there more fundamental concerns at stake here? The paper theorizes these social and organizational issues in the social services through the notions of individualism and collectivism ‐ focusing particularly on the concept of responsibility.

The linear additive and interactive effects of budgetary goal difficulty and feedback on performance

This study examines the effects of budgetary goal difficulty and feedback on budgetary performance. It is predicted that both goals and feedback are necessary, but neither is sufficient for improvements in performance. Results from a questionnaire survey of 44 senior managers with budget responsibilities in a property development and management corporation provide support for these predictions. They show that goals and feedback interact to affect performance, while independently, goals and feedback have no effect on performance. These results are discussed in the light of available evidence, and some implications for future research are examined.