Public Sector Development Research Articles

An Audit Tool for Intellectual Property Management

Smart State is a Queensland Government initiative that recognises the central role of knowledge-based economic growth. In this context, the management of intellectual property (IP) within Queensland and Australian government research and development agencies has changed dramatically over recent years. Increasing expectations have been placed on utilising public sector IP to both underpin economic development and augment taxes by generating new revenues. Public sector research and development (R&D) management has come under greater scrutiny to commercialise and/or corporatise their activities. In a study of IP management issues in the Queensland Public Sector we developed a framework to facilitate a holistic audit of IP management in government agencies. In this paper we describe this framework as it pertains to one large public sector Agriculture R&D Agency, the Queensland Department of Primary Industries (QDPI). The four overlapping domains of the framework are: IP Generation; IP Rights; IP Uptake; and Corporate IP Support. The audit within QDPI, conducted in 2000 near the outset of Smart State, highlighted some well developed IP management practices within QDPI's traditional areas of focus of innovation (IP Generation) and IP ownership and licensing (IP Rights). However, further management practice developments are required to improve the domains of IP Uptake and Corporate IP Support.

Cash to accrual and cash to accrual

This study traces the development of financial reporting in two publicly funded hospitals in New South Wales over the period 1857 to post‐1975, with particular focus on the use of cash and accrual accounting. The historical analysis draws on process and contextual change and stakeholder theory, and uses both primary and secondary data, to describe patterns of change (and non‐change) in the hospitals’ financial reporting and to identify the social and political influences associated with such reporting. The study provides historical context for recent developments in public sector reporting and accountability in Australia, particularly the (re)introduction of accrual accounting, and provides insights into the nature of accounting change both in public sector organizations and generally.

Taming the Elephant: An Introduction to California's Statehood and Constitutional Era

Research Article| January 01 2003 Taming the Elephant: An Introduction to California's Statehood and Constitutional Era John F. Burns John F. Burns Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar California History (2003) 81 (3-4): 1–26. https://doi.org/10.2307/25161698 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation John F. Burns; Taming the Elephant: An Introduction to California's Statehood and Constitutional Era. California History 1 January 2003; 81 (3-4): 1–26. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/25161698 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentCalifornia History Search This content is only available via PDF. Copyright 2003 CHS Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Pharmacogenomics, Genetic Tests, and Patent-Based Incentives

Pharmacogenomics promises to revolutionize medicine by using genetic information to guide drug therapy. Genetic tests should help doctors improve drug safety and efficacy by better matching patients and drugs. This chapter evaluates the effectiveness of patent-based incentives to create genetic tests, and considers the optimal mix of public and private sector pharmacogenomic research and development (R&D). Drug patent owners have a strong incentive to develop genetic tests that predict adverse drug reactions and allow them to market drugs that otherwise would be shelved. Incentives are also strong for genetic tests that are created as part of the drug development process. Incentives tend to be weaker for genetic tests that are used in conjunction with existing drugs. Drug patent owners might gain or lose profit from the introduction of genetic tests into existing drug markets. Profits may fall because of lost sales, or profits may rise because drugs are more valuable to appropriate patients, and because drugs become more differentiated. Public sector R&D should target genetic tests that are likely to be underprovided by the private sector because private returns are low relative to social returns, or private costs are high relative to social costs. Private returns are relatively low when the rate of adoption of a genetic test is apt to be low, when test results increase consumer heterogeneity and consumer bargaining power, and when a test reveals information relevant to the use of more than one drug. Private costs are relatively high when test innovators need to obtain costly patent and trade secret licenses.

Ciudad oscura, ciudad luminosa. Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1980-2000)

En las dos últimas décadas, la ciudad de Santa Cruz de Tenerife experimenta una expansión de su espacio residencial caracterizada por el destacado papel de la iniciativa privada. La distribución de la actividad constructiva revela una clara divisoria entre la ciudad consolidada, donde predomina la promoción privada, y las periferias, que concentran la vivienda pública. Esta diferenciación residencial propicia nuevos procesos de segregación, reforzados por actuaciones del sector público realizadas al margen del principio de equidad social.

The organisational and human resource challenges facing primary care trusts: protocol of a multiple case study.

BackgroundThe study is designed to assess the organisational and human resource challenges faced by Primary Care Trusts (PCTs). Its objectives are to: specify the organisational and human resources challenges faced by PCTs in fulfilling the roles envisaged in government and local policy; examine how PCTs are addressing these challenges, in particular, to describe the organisational forms they have adopted, and the OD/HR strategies and initiatives they have planned or in place; assess how effective these structures, strategies and initiatives have been in enabling the PCTs to meet the organisational and human resources challenges they face; identify the factors, both internal to the PCT and in the wider health community, which have contributed to the success or failure of different structures, strategies and initiatives.MethodsThe study will be undertaken in three stages. In Stage 1 the key literature on public sector and NHS organisational development and human resources management will be reviewed, and discussions will be held with key researchers and policy makers working in this area. Stage 2 will focus on detailed case studies in six PCTs designed to examine the organisational and human resources challenges they face. Data will be collected using semi-structured interviews, group discussion, site visits, observation of key meetings and examination of local documentation. The findings from the case study PCTs will be cross checked with a Reference Group of up to 20 other PCG/Ts, and key officers working in organisational development or primary care at local, regional and national level. In Stage 3 analysis of findings from the preparatory work, the case studies and the feedback from the Reference Group will be used to identify practical lessons for PCTs, key messages for policy makers, and contributions to further theoretical development.

The Best Value Agenda for Auditing

The developments in the public sector auditing can be seen against a backcloth of adverse publicity for private sector audits. This focus on the private sector has meant public sector developments have gone largely unnoticed. The advocacy of Best Value is a logical and useful development in addressing the needs of the citizen with an active interest in the public sector.

On the Political Economy of Recent Public Sector Development

This paper starts from a major contradiction in the literature on recent public sector development. On the one hand, globalization theory is read as implying major tendencies towards the retrenchment of the public sector and a ‘race to the bottom’ in social spending. On the other hand, comparative studies are largely unanimous in arguing that such tendencies have not occurred. To gain greater purchase on the realities of recent public sector trends, we disaggregate data for public expenditure change in 19 OECD countries over the period 1984 to 1997. We then develop a series of models of the factors determining expenditure trends over this period. The findings presented here provide no evidence that exposure to international trade leads governments to down-size their public sectors and suggest that the main influences on contemporary expenditure patterns have been unemployment, economic growth and catch-up from prior expenditure level.

Public sector reform – Implications for accounting, accountability and performance of state‐owned entities – an Australian perspective

Faced by increased globalization, the dissatisfaction of Australian citizens, and a curtailing of spending, the Australian Government has embarked on a major reform agenda centered on new public management ideals to achieve greater economy, efficiency, and effectiveness. A major driver of reform in all levels of government has been the introduction of the national competition policy. Describes the recent developments in Australian public sector and discusses reform implications for accounting, accountability and performance in Queensland local governments. Suggests that accounting plays a significant role in promoting accountability, efficiency and effectiveness of public sector services.

Substance, Form and PFI Contracts

The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) was launched by the United Kingdom Government in 1992 in order to encourage the private sector in the UK to become more involved in public sector development projects. A key theme of the initiative was that the public should receive ‘value for money’. This article investigates the accounting issue as to whether or not the private or the public sector should record any property related to PFI projects on balance sheet. It argues that although both HM Treasury and the Accounting Standards Board (ASB) might agree on the accounting principles, the practical impact is that in order for related properties to stay off the public sector's balance sheet, substantial risk needs to be transferred to the private sector. As a consequence of this, the objective of providing value for money to the public may not be achieved.

The Financing Arrangements for the Regional (Autonomous) Governments for the Period 1997-2001

Fiscal decentralisation has been one of the key features of developments in the Spanish public sector in recent decades. There has been a gradual shift of responsibilities for the management of certain services from the State to the regional (Autonomous) governments (RGs) along with development of the arrangements for financing these responsibilities. This paper focuses on analysing the financing arrangements for the RGs, describing those currently in force for the ordinary-regime RGs and for the specific-status RGs. In addition, the information available on the RGs’ resources is discussed. This information shows that only about 30% of resources are obtained directly from taxpayers and, therefore, help to increase the degree of fiscal co-responsibility of the RGs, while the majority, the other 70%, come from other general government bodies. With the new agreement for the period 1997-2000, the relative weight of tax resources rose by almost 10 percentage points of GDP, especially as a consequence of the incorporation of the regional tranche of the personal income tax for the ordinary-regime RGs which accepted the agreement. The relationship between transfers and tax resources is the reverse in Navarre and in the Basque Country.

Public and Private Sector Accounting ‐ The Non‐identical Twins

A debate in this journal, spanning severa1 years, over the accounting treatment of public assets has concentrated attention on the appropriateness of the Public Sector Accounting Standards Board's decision to apply private sector accounting concepts to the development of public sector accounting standards. The Case is examined here and it is shown why private sector accounting standards must be appropriately adapted to suit a very different and varied operating environment in the public sector. These differences have been largely ignored, with resulting problems for public sector accounting standards.

Unions and New Shopfloor Strike Strategies and Learning Processes among Public Employees

The construction of a welfare state in most western industrialized countries went hand in hand with the development of an expansive public sector. Having discussed the theoretical arguments social scientists have applied to explain the increasing collective industrial activity among public employees in selected industrialized countries, this article endeavours to test the proletarianization, the organization and the interaction hypotheses alongside the welfare state crisis argument. In light of statistical data on strikes and four detailed case studies of the development of mass organizations and shopfloorbased strike activity, that is base organizations, in Denmark, only a conditional interaction model remains. This model states that the development of the public sector contributed to the growth of modem mass organizations and to the construction of informal base organizations with shared goals, especially through the establishment of large bureaucratic settings with elaborate internal labour markets. The model also confirms that base organizations acquired their main resources from, and partly owed their existence to, the formal labour unions, who themselves could not remain unaffected by the base organizations either. Finally it is argued that the combined, but often unintended, efforts by mass and base organizations introduced durable changes in the system of industrial relations, and opened up new labour market strategies for public employees.

Boardroom in the Twenty-First Century: Issues and Challenges

The new economic policy initiated by the government in 1991 which led to liberalisation, end of license system, private sector involvement in economic development and disinvestment of public sector has given rise to increased expectations for greater accountability and effective functioning of organisations. The degree of expectation varies, depending on the nature of organisation, whether public or private sector, but nevertheless the requirement is common to all. It is in this context that corporate governance and the role of Board of Directors in the governance of organisations is receiving increased attention. The National Task Force set up by the Confedration of Indian Industry (CII) evolved in 1998, the “Desirable Corporate Governnance Code” which lays down the basic guidelines on issues concerning board of directors, desirable disclosures, capital market issues, creditors rights and financial institutions and nominee directors. In the case of public sector undertakings a novel scheme called “Navaratna” was introduced whereby the boards of nine central public sector companies were restructured with lesser number of officials from government and more professionals from outside. Reduced ownership of the government through disinvestment by more than 50 per cent seems to be the only answer to provide the PSUs with the requisite autonomy.

Book Reviews Comptes rendus

Book reviewed in this article:A Government Reinvented: A Study of Alberta's Deficit Elimination Program Edited by Christopher j. bruce, ronald d. kneebone and kenneth J. mckenzie. Don MillsThe Future of Governing: Four Emerging ModelsPar b. guy petersThe Maltese Public Service, 1800–1940: The Administrative Politics of a Micro–StateBy Codfrey a. PIROTTAProvinces: Canadian Provincial Politics >Edited by Christopher dunnIn Pursuit of the Public Good: Essays in Honour of Allan J. MacEachen Edited by tom kentGlobalization and Marketization of Government Services: Comparing Contemporary Public–Sector Developments Edited by Andrew masseyOrganizational Performance and Measurement in the Public Sector: Toward Service, Effort and Accomplishment Reporting Edited by arie halachmiMonitoring Performance in the Public Sector: Future Directions from International Experience Edited by john mayne

Application of Accrual Accounting in the Australian Public Sector – Rhetoric or Reality

This paper presents a contextual. historical analysis of recent accrual accounting developments in the Australian Public Sector (APS). It takes a critical stance in that it questions the accrual accounting developments on a number of grounds. The paper examines changes in public sector financial management and accountability in four distinct settings, being: accrual financial reporting, accrual management systems, whole of government reporting, and accrual based budgeting. The findings show that already in Australia accrual accounting has made significant encroachments into some areas of annual financial and budget reporting. This influx has meant that terms such as ‘deficit’, ‘debt’, ‘liabilities’, ‘operating results’, ‘assets’, etc. have begun to change in meaning, which it is argued has important implications for the current process of transformation of aspects of the APS.

Seeking a conceptual explanation of the growth of public sector employment beyond current reform parameters

Argues that the debate concerning the growth of public employment has remained largely uninformed in a conceptual sense beyond the economic variables. Suggests that the time is now pertinent to identify the additional parameters affecting the situation if an enriched understanding is to evolve on the future role and management of the public sector in the developing state. Reviews the literature contributions that are significant in this respect, not only with the aim of putting the public sector developments of the last ten years in perspective but also to contribute to the current debate on the emergence of new administrative paradigms for developing States that provide a more balanced view of political, economic and social development.

The Public Sector and Sunbelt Development

The Public Sector and Sunbelt Development

Investments in african agricultural research

Over the past three decades Africa's public agricultural research systems have changed in substantive ways. The total number of researchers increased fourfold, the dependency on expatriate researchers significantly declined, while the education levels of national researchers improved. Initially the growth in research staff was matched by growth in expenditures. But since the late 1970s, real research spending has stagnated. In addition, loans and grants from donor agencies now account for a sizeable share of total funding for many African agricultural research systems. Many of the developments of the past decade in personnel, expenditures, and sources of support for public sector research and development (R & D) in Africa are not sustainable. Spending per scientist has declined continuously during the past 30 years, most dramatically during the 1980s. Resources are spread increasingly thin over a growing group of researchers, which has negative effects on the efficiency and effectiveness of agricultural research in Africa.

Harnessing the global foreign currency market: Proposal for a foreign currency exchange (FXE)

Abstract The global foreign exchange market, with a turnover of over $1 trillion daily, is the world's largest and most liquid financial market. It has certain inefficiencies, however, being actually a two‐tier market ‐ a competitive interbank market and a publicly quoted captive market of end users. Creating a foreign currency exchange (EXE), to serve the foreign currency market as national bourses serve securities markets, could abolish these inefficiencies. It could promote order, transparency and increased competition, lower transaction costs, and be justified by the fact that transnational activities such as foreign exchange trading use the global commons and depend on global governance. From user fees lower than the premiums consumers now pay when changing currencies with banks ‐ at present their only recourse ‐ FXE could realize vast revenues, which could be used for peacekeeping, development and other functions of the international public sector.