Romanian Public Sector Research Articles

Behavioural indicators of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness within Romanian and British public sector hospitals

PurposeThis paper aims to report the results of a replication study of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness within a Romanian public sector hospital, and to discuss the extent to which they are similar to and different from findings from equivalent studies carried out in two British NHS Trust hospitals.Design/methodology/approachConcrete examples (critical incidents) of effective and ineffective managerial behaviour were collected using Flanagan's critical incident technique (CIT). The critical incidents were content analyzed to identify a smaller number of behavioural statements (BSs). These were then compared and contrasted against two British BS data sets using realist qualitative analytic methods, and deductively coded and sorted into extant behavioural categories.FindingsA total of 57 BSs were identified of which 30 were examples of effective and 27 of least effective/ineffective managerial behaviour. The multi‐case/cross‐nation comparative analysis revealed high degrees of commonality and relative generalization between the Romanian and British findings.Research limitations/implicationsData saturation may not have been achieved during the CIT collection phase of the study. The relevance and transferability of the findings to other public sector hospitals in Romania have yet to be demonstrated empirically. The results have potential as “best evidence” to inform and shape “evidence‐based HRD” initiatives designed to train and develop effective managers and leaders within the health services sector of Romania and the United Kingdom.Originality/valueThe study is a rare example of indigenous managerial behaviour research in a non‐Anglo country. The results lend strong empirical support for universalistic explanations of the nature of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness.

The Impact of an Unexpected Wage Cut on Corruption: Evidence from a 'Xeroxed' Exam

This paper aims to understand how corruption responds to financial incentives and, in particular, it is an attempt to identify the causal impact of a wage loss on the prevalence of corruption in the education sector. Specifically, we exploit the unexpected wage cut in May 2010 that affected all Romanian public sector employees, including the public education staff, and examine its effect on students’ scores on the high-stakes national exam which occurs at the end of high school—the Baccalaureate. To exploit the effect of an income shock on corruption, we use a difference-in-difference strategy and compare the change in the exam outcomes between the public schools—the treatment group—and the private schools—the control group, which were unaffected by the wage cut. Our findings suggest that the wage loss led the public schools to have better exam outcomes than the private schools in 2010 relative to 2009. We attribute this difference to the increased involvement in corrupt activities by public school staff, which was driven by financial incentives. These results match an unprecedentedly high number of allegations of fraud and bribery against school principals, which earned the 2010 Baccalaureate the title of the Xeroxed exam—akin to identical test answers found to have been distributed to numerous students.

Labour Taxation and Personnel Expenditure in the Romanian Public Sector

The global economic crisis, which had a strong impact on virtually all states of the world, brought additional challenges to the public sector. The governments had to choose between two alternatives: to decrease public expenditure by adopting austerity measures (option chosen by most EU Member States) or to increase public investments, in an attempt to stimulate economic growth (alternative preferred and supported by the US and Great Britain). The paper at hand aims to analyze the public expenditure policy in Romania, as a result of the economic conditions imposed by the crisis, with a focus on the relationship between the incomes collected from taxes on labour and the public expenditure with the personnel employed within public institutions. We shall analyze and compare the figures regarding public expenditure for the wages of persons working in the public sector in the years prior to the crisis and following the adoption of the austerity measures. At the same time, we shall analyze the corresponding numbers regarding the amounts collected from taxes on labour. The goal of the paper is to identify the possible connection between the reduction of personnel expenses and the decrease of the budgetary deficit, which was the intended purpose of the austerity measures in the field of public employees' salaries. Since the labour tax is computed on the basis of the salary earned, we expect both the expenses with the personnel and the amounts collected from labour tax, to decrease. However, this decrease will be in different percentages. The paper will analyze if the final balance between expenses with salaries and labour tax is positive or negative, in other words, if the austerity measures helped improve the budgetary deficit or deepened it. The final part of the research focuses on a comparative analysis between the EU Member States, with respect to the levels of taxation on labour, the percentage of labour tax in the GDP, and the public expenditure with the personnel, in an attempt to show if there are certain similarities or differences between EU and/or NISPAcee States.

"Cash Accounting Standardization In The Public Sector "

An important component of public institutions' accounting is represented by cash accounting. At the same time, the normalization, harmonization and convergence of accounting are the chronological stages generated by globalization. The paper Cash Accounting Standardization in the Public Sector approaches aspects regarding the role of the budget within public institutions' accounting, the management of public financial resources, the cohabitation need between cash accounting and accrual accounting, the provisions of international accounting referential regarding the financial reporting specific for cash accounting, as well as the positioning of the Romanian public sector in relation to these provisions.

Romanian Public Sector Entities between Performance and Audit of Performance

Performance creation and measurment in the public sector entities has become a priority in the Romanian public sector. Limited resources, many and different requests for quality services compel the government to have a greater control upon the way of spending public money and providing economy, efficiency and effectiveness services. By this constructive research we define the performance concept, identify the ways of measuring and assessing the degree of performance achievement in the public sector from Romania.

Budgetary Implications When Using Electronic Transactions In The Romanian Public Sector

The scope and complexity of the financial operations carried out in the public sector justify the investments for the modernization of the means and instruments used for cashing budgetary revenues and for making payments out of public funds. The implementation of new electronic means must be performed in all the segments of the public sector, but particularly in the treasury units.

How effective are senior managers in the Romanian public sector?

Increased managerial effectiveness has been a concern for academics, management trainers and developers. However, the topic has remained relatively unexplored, especially so far as the effectiveness of the senior managers and officials is concerned. Examines results of first‐time study which has been carried out in the Romanian public sector. Finds that senior managers are aware of the needs for their own and others’ effectiveness and desire for development, and that the presence of certain conditions, some specific to Eastern European countries, tend to act as inhibiting factors insofar as the development of the senior managers is concerned. Concludes that effectiveness should be defined as functions of awareness of self and other organizationally shared and unshared values, constraints, demands and choices available to senior managers and their abilities and skills to get the job done. Thus, further understanding of the topic requires attention being paid to managers, their work, organization and social realities as they are and not as one expects them to be.