Local Governments In Taiwan Research Articles

The Effect of Personality Traits on Public Service Motivation: Evidence from Taiwan

The relationship between the Big Five personality traits (Costa & McCrae, 1992) and public service motivation (PSM) was examined using a questionnaire survey of 277 public servants employed by 3 local governments in Taiwan. Regression analysis results indicated that extraversion was positively related to attraction to policy making, but negatively associated with self-sacrifice. Agreeableness was positively correlated to compassion. Conscientiousness was positively related to commitment to the public interest, compassion, and self-sacrifice. Neuroticism was negatively associated with commitment to the public interest and compassion, but positively with attraction to policy making. Openness to experience was positively correlated with all dimensions of PSM. In summary, personality traits can function as strong predictors of public service motivation.

Gender and geographic differences in the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders in children: Analysis of data from the national disability registry of Taiwan

The prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in the world has increased dramatically in the recent decades. However, data at the national level are limited, and geographic differences are seldom evaluated. According to the law, the local governments in Taiwan began to certify disabled residents and provide various services in 1980, and the central government maintains a registry of certified cases. The registry started to enroll cases of ASD in 1990, providing a unique opportunity for studying ASD at the national level. Because the government discourages the certification under 3 years of age, we limited our analyses to those who were at least 3 years old. Using the registry data from 2004 to 2010, we calculated the prevalence of ASD by age, gender, and geographic area and assessed the changes over time. From 2004 to 2010, the registered cases between 3 and 17 years old increased from 3995 to 8072 annually, and the prevalence generally increased every year in all age groups (p<0.01). In each year there were more boy cases than girl cases, and the prevalence rate ratio ranged from 5.64:1 to 6.06:1 (p<0.01 in all years), with an increasing trend over time (p<0.01). A higher prevalence was observed in the urban areas over the years, and the prevalence rate ratio ranged from 2.24:1 to 2.72:1 (p<0.01 in all years), with a decreasing trend over time (p<0.01).

Performance assessment for municipal solid waste collection in Taiwan

Collecting municipal solid waste (MSW) is a major and expensive task for local waste management authorities, thus efficient MSW collection is a necessity. This study presents a procedure for developing an aggregate indicator (AI) to assess MSW collection efficiency based on multiple factors. The applicabilities of various key performance indicators (KPIs) are evaluated based on five selection criteria, and five KPIs are chosen to form the AI. The relative efficiencies of local MSW collection services are analyzed by the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method. A set of common weights for all five KPIs is then generated based on DEA results and four selection rules by modifying a previous approach. Finally, the proposed AI is applied to assess the MSW collection services provided by 307 local governments in Taiwan, and associated results are compared and discussed.

Evaluation of Local Preparedness for Influenza Pandemic in Taiwan

Background: Asia countries have been most affected by H5N1 influenza since 2003, and would be possibly the first to face the next pandemic. Taiwan, situated in Asia, has formulated the strategic plan for pandemic influenza. But according to SARS experience, the implementation of the local governments will be the crucial element. Methods: Twenty-five local governments were asked to complete their preparedness and response plan by 2004. In 2005, we evaluated those plans with 4 indicators, including cross-sectoral coordination, surveillance, medical resources mobilization, and personal protective equipments (PPE) management. In 2006, an exercise assuming a cluster of H5N1 cases occurred in their prefectures was conducted to examine their implementations. An expert committee was organized to observe the performances Results: The average score of evaluation was 78%. The governments in central area got highest scores which seems to be consistent with their performance during SARS outbreak wherein the impact were minimized. All scored high in cross-sectoral coordination. 92% of them were familiar with surveillance system. Although the Material Information System controls the stockpile and usage of PPE was developed after SARS epidemic, only 56% could utilize efficiently. The major gap was in medical resource mobilization. Only 52% local governments could totally grasp the health-care workers, ambulances, medical equipments, alternative medical facilities and funeral capacity. Fourteen governments attended the exercise all could run the mechanism smoothly and conduct early containment, but outsourcing was needed for larger clusters. Conclusion: Most local governments in Taiwan had included essential elements in their plans, but the executive and technical procedures have to be further practiced and promoted continually. Evaluation, exercise and then comparison among peers can facilitate the revision of the plans and better practice. We conclude that these processes are valid to improve the overall preparedness.

Four-in-one waste recycling performance of local governments in Taiwan

Since 1998, the EPA (Environmental Protection Administration) of Taiwan has been promoting the four-in-one recycling system to reduce waste production and increase the collection of recyclable resources, but there has been no objective evaluation to assess the recycling performance of local governments. This paper introduces a useful indicator (recycling efficiency) for accurate and meaningful measures to achieve better recycling performance and efficiency, and analyses the recycling efficiency of 23 local governments in Taiwan during 1998–2004. The data envelopment analysis, with multiple inputs and outputs, is used in constructing a recycling efficiency indicator. This study takes up four input variables, including the budget for environmental protection per capita, waste-cleaning vehicles per capita, waste-cleaning persons per square kilometre, and participants in promoting activities per capita frequency, along with two outputs (recycling volume per capita and recycling rate). The local governments are divided into three groups, and four environmental variables are incorporated to analyse the effects. According to the results, Keelung City has the highest performance, and Kaohsiung City and Taipei County the least. The high-education population proportion, real mean household income, and urban population proportion all have a positive relation with recycling efficiency. These results may help the EPA and local governments form feasible and efficient recycling targets.

Economic analysis of collecting parking fees by a private firm

The purpose of this paper is to show the possibility of a co-existence of public and private parking management systems even when all the parking spaces are owned by the government. This study focuses on the issue of collecting parking fees by a private firm that has been used by some local governments in Taiwan. We assume that the government behaves as a leader and a private firm as a follower in a Stackelberg three-stage game. At stage 1, the government selects its parking space. At stage 2, the government and the firm set their parking fees simultaneously. At the final stage, consumers (drivers) choose the parking lot between the space of the government and that of the firm by considering the full costs, consisting of the parking fee and the searching (with congestion) time cost. The objective of the government is to maximize welfare and that of the firm is to maximize profit. The model is constructed at first and a simulation analysis is then made. The result supports the strategy of adopting the franchise of collecting parking fees if the private firm is more efficient than the government. Moreover, the government may keep fewer parking spaces and release more parking spaces to the firm under the goal of maximizing welfare.