Tangible Costs Research Articles

Measuring the Effectiveness of America's War on Terror

ABSTRACT: America's efforts in the war on terror have been substantial and sustained, with more than four trillion dollars spent, two and a half million military members sent into harm's way, and nearly 7,000 service members losing their lives over the past 15 years. To date, however, few studies have sought to measure the effectiveness of those efforts. This study empirically assesses the extent to which US efforts in the war on terror have achieved the government's objectives and concludes those endeavors have been largely ineffective. ********** Whether seeking the defeat of al-Qaeda or, more recently, that of the Islamic State, the United States government has been prosecuting a war on terror for nearly 15 years. Tangible costs to the United States include 6,874 service members killed, 2.5 million Americans sent to fight, and an estimated $4.4 trillion dollars spent. (1) Despite such significant costs, little attention has been focused on what has been achieved. How effective have US efforts been in the war on terror? Determining an answer to this question is complicated by the inherently political environment in which the terror attacks of 9/11 and US responses took place. Terrorism is, itself, inherently a political act. Moreover, US leaders faced reelections as they attempted to balance varying constituent perspectives domestically and alliance interests globally. Significant national debates have occurred, and many continue, over the decision to invade Iraq, the closing of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, the use of drones, Syria, Libya, the Islamic State, et cetera. The stated objectives of President Bush and President Obama, however, remain a crucial component of any assessment by any side of the debate. Are Americans safer today? To what extent have al-Qaeda and terror groups of global reach been defeated? This question of effectiveness can be carved out as a technical exercise. This paper attempts to measure the government's effectiveness in achieving its stated objectives. Its focus is on US efforts outside the homeland, rather than on domestic efforts to protect against attacks. The first section briefly outlines US objectives in the war on terror. An overview on measuring policy effectiveness in general and the war on terror, in particular, follows. The data are analyzed in section three and then a theoretical explanation for the results follows. US Objectives for the War on Terror America's stated objectives have remained consistent over time. As outlined in various strategy documents published by the White House, they include protecting Americans, preventing terror attacks, defeating specific terror groups, and diminishing the conditions that fuel terrorism through promoting democracy. Less than two weeks after the attacks of 9/11, President Bush articulated the defeat of al-Qaeda and all terrorist groups with global reach as a US goal. President Obama has echoed that objective and added the Islamic State to the list. Both administrations pursued a broad objective of preventing terror attacks worldwide and a narrower one of protecting Americans and the homeland. Both administrations also sought the additional goals of diminishing the underlying conditions that facilitate terrorism by promoting democracy. (2) Measuring Policy Effectiveness Significant gaps exist in the scholarly research regarding the measurement of government effectiveness. The literature focuses more on how effectiveness could be measured, rather than on actually measuring it. The war on terror is no exception. In war, measuring effectiveness is typically difficult absent a total victory. War inflames human passions and is, inevitably, subject to psychological biases. Additionally, accurate data are often unavailable in conflict-affected states. Some scholars note that attempts to measure effectiveness in prosecuting a war, without one side surrendering, will be controversial and fraught with uncertainty. …

Being hit twice: The psychological consequences of the economic crisis and an earthquake.

The Great Recession has caused worldwide tangible costs in terms of cuts in employment and income, which have been widely recognised also as major social determinants of mental health. Italy has not been spared from the financial crisis with severe societal and mental health consequences. In addition, a strong earthquake hit the province of Modena, Italy, in 2012, that is, amid the crisis. In this study, we explored and investigated the possible additional impact of concurrent events such as economic crisis and a natural disaster. Our analysis elaborated data from two local surveys, ICESmo2 (2006) and ICESmo3 (2012), and a national survey carried out in 2013 by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (ISTAT)). A regression model was adopted to distinguish the effect of the crisis and the earthquake. Our analysis confirmed the negative effect of the economic crisis on psychological wellbeing, but within the province of Modena such an effect resulted as even stronger compared with the rest of Italy, particularly within those areas struck by the earthquake. Being hit by a combination of two major negative events might have a significantly increased negative effect on psychological health. The higher repercussion observed is not only attributable to the occurrence of a natural disaster but can be reasonably related to the additional effect of unemployment on psychological dimensions.

Spaces of Surveillance: A Study of Newspaper Articles on School Surveillance Cameras from 2002-2014

Today, school fires, vandalism, graffiti and bullying in school environments are common occurrences in Sweden. As a result, schools are faced with significant tangible and intangible costs for diff ...

Comprehensive flood economic losses: review of the potential damage and implementation of an agricultural impact model

With an annual loss averaging 580 M€ between 1990 and 2014, floods are the main natural catastrophe (Nat Cat) risk for the French Nat Cat compensation scheme. As part of its role in this scheme, the Caisse Centrale de Reassurance (CCR) offers state guaranteed reinsurance programs and has been modelling the risk of flooding since 2003. This model is based on the traditional valuation approach of direct tangible costs which pairs a physical model with exposure through damage curves. CCR wishes now to widen the studied damage scope to insured and noninsured economic costs and has been collaborating with the SAF research laboratory from the Institute of Financial and Insurance Sciences (ISFA) since 2014. CCR’s model has been used to estimate the insured direct damage to residential and non-residential properties and it is now being developed to include damage to vehicles, agriculture and network infrastructures. Research is also being carried out to take into account business interruptions and indirect losses using an Input-Output model. This article describes the undergoing work on model development to estimate the damage to agriculture.

Characteristics of Cyber Incident Response Teams in the World and Recommendations for Turkey

Today, in countries across the world, operations such as the digitalization of critical infrastructure and public services, through the use of computer networks, has revealed the security problems of cyber space. Used for the transferring and storing of highly critical data, any weaknesses and vulnerabilities located on these computer systems have the potential to cause tangible and intangible costs and losses on the country concerned. With the concept of cyber security growing in importance globally, countries have developed strategies, launched awareness-raising activities, and organized campaigns to have maximum information security level. In what is an ongoing process, it has been revealed that countries are finding it necessary to create computer security incident response teams, in order to protect their national cyber security. Cyber incident response teams are for the early identification of threats to national security that may occur in cyberspace, and to reduce the effects of any attack that may be encountered. In this study, we examined in detail the policies being implemented for the creation of cyber incident response teams and the qualifications team members should have. In addition, the cyber incident response teams created in developed countries around the World, and the properties and activities of these teams, are investigated. The study is concluded by examining the development of cyber incident response teams in Turkey, and presenting recommendations for Turkey.

Integrated System Development Methodology Design And LCC (Life Cycle Cost) Data Process

The Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC) industry is one of the multidisciplinary domains in which collaboration among related parties is of utmost importance1. Despite the intense flow of information between design and LCC (Life Cycle Cost) professionals, there is a lack of research to better understand and manipulate these processes. Architecture design and LCC management is a process of planning a tangible building and cost on a tangible land through intangible work. Due to this characteristic of design work, conventional design management was conducted around the drawings as the final outcome, but actual individual processes of design and LCC (Life Cycle Cost) planning for facility were excluded. As a result, design work and LCC planning completely depended on the individual abilities and experiences of each architect and LCC planner. Even organization of information required for design and LCC process are considered to belong to the domain of individual ability. Therefore, this study proposes an integrated system development methodology of design and LCC process for an information oriented design and LCC management system, which allows architects and LCC planners to easily access information to be provided in each design stage and its relevant LCC planning process, and for design and cost management companies to improve the performance through the systematic storage and usage of data after the completion of an educational project. This research analyzes actual design and LCC processes in currently active companies and proposes a standard design and LCC process, and then examines input and output information for each task in the process in order to propose an information oriented standard design and LCC process. Based on this, Data Flow Diagram (DFD) and Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) is designed for an information oriented design and LCC management system.

Conceptual endophenotypes: A new bridgehead from the bedside

Several strategies have been developed to bridge the gap between bench and bedside to establish precision medicine. The bridgehead recently launched by the NIMH is represented by the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) and data mining. The RDoC framework is based on basic research data, intending to stepwise develop data driven systems or dimensions, integrating information from different sources, which may allow prospective replication and finally lead to better ‘stratified’ clinical trials. However, this strategy faces numerous challenges at the bedside, ranging from proof of clinical relevance and cost-benefits to implementation in national healthcare systems. Here we introduce a complementary strategy, with a bridgehead at the bedside, the other side of the RDoC bridgehead. Our approach (Neuropattern™ NP) is based on conceptual endophenotypes of the stress response network. NP is a diagnostic tool, that discriminates 13 conceptual endophenotypes. We have already found that NP is capable of reducing the intangible, tangible, and direct costs in the treatment of stress related disorders. In addition, NP turns out to be a valuable research tool, since associations of gene variants with patterns seem to be more striking than with either symptoms or diagnoses. We conclude that both bridgeheads will be useful assets to develop a stratified medicine of mental disorders.

How Much Is Too Much to Pay for Internet Access? A Behavioral Economic Analysis of Internet Use.

The popularity of online recreational activities, such as social networking, has dramatically increased the amount of time spent on the Internet. Excessive or inappropriate use of the Internet can result in serious adverse consequences. The current study used a behavioral economic task to determine if the amount of time spent online by problematic and nonproblematic users can be modified by price. The Internet Purchase Task was used to determine how much time undergraduate students (N=233) would spend online at 13 different prices. Despite high demand for Internet access when access was free, time spent online by both problematic and nonproblematic users decreased dramatically, even at low prices. These results suggest that the amount of time spent online may be modified by having a tangible cost associated with use, whereas having free access to the Internet may encourage excessive, problematic use.

An integrated approach of flood risk assessment in the eastern part of Dhaka City

The flood risk is a function of the flood hazard, the exposed values, and their vulnerability. In addition to extreme hydrological events, different anthropogenic activities such as extensive urbanization and land use play an important role in producing catastrophic floods. Considerations of both physical and social dimensions are therefore equally important in flood risk assessment. However, very often the risk assessment studies focus either on physical or social dimensions. In addition, the available studies often focus on economic valuation of only direct tangible costs. In this study, we provide an integrated flood risk assessment approach that goes beyond the valuation of direct tangible costs, through incorporating physical dimensions in hazard and exposure and social dimensions in vulnerability. The method has been implemented in the Dhaka City, Bangladesh, an area internationally recognized as hot spot for flood risk. In this study, flood hazards for different return periods are calculated in spatial environment using a hydrologic model, HEC-RAS. Vulnerability is assessed through aggregation of various social dimensions, i.e., coping and adaptive capacities, and susceptibility. We assess vulnerability for both baseline and improved scenarios. In the baseline scenario, current early warning for study area is considered. In the alternative scenario, the warning system is expected to improve. Aggregating hazard, exposure and vulnerability, risk maps (in terms of both tangible and intangible costs) of several return period floods are produced for both baseline and improved scenarios. Compared to traditional assessments, the integrated assessment approach used in this study generates more information about the flood risk. Consequently, the results are useful in evaluating policy alternatives and minimizing property loss in the study area.

Looking for Links: How Faculty Research Productivity Correlates with Library Investment and Why Electronic Library Materials Matter Most

Abstract
 
 Objective – This paper summarizes two studies that share the same research question: do universities produce more scholarly research when they invest more in their libraries? Research libraries spend a great deal of effort reporting their expenditures, collections statistics, and other measures that serve as a basis for interlibrary comparison and even rankings. The straightforward assumption implied by this activity is that libraries better serve their student and research communities when they are well-funded and well-resourced. The studies examined here both ask if that notion can be validated empirically, not because research libraries require some sort of justification, but because in an environment of tough budget decisions and shifting opinions about the changing role of libraries, it may be useful to demonstrate that sustained investment in libraries offers tangible returns or that the failure to do so can result in tangible costs.
 
 Methods – A cross-sectional design featuring ordinary least squares regression analysis was used in both studies to estimate the relationship between scholarly research productivity at U.S. doctoral institutions and an array of institutional characteristics presumed to influence that productivity. The concept of research productivity is operationalized as the total number of scholarly journal articles produced by each institution over a five year period – as journal articles represent the most common form of scholarly expression across the greatest number of academic fields. Serving as the dependent variable, this data was regressed against a variety of institutional characteristics including faculty size, research expenditures, and grant awards, and several library variables centered mostly on expenditures. The concept behind this design is that to realistically explore the relationship between levels of library investment and research productivity, all other institutional drivers of research productivity must also be represented in the dataset. While the design was similar for both studies, they each drew on different data sources and marginally different populations. 
 
 Results – Both studies found that an institution’s research productivity is positively and significantly correlated with the level of investment it makes in its libraries. Furthermore, both studies found electronic library material expenditures to be particularly associated with increased productivity. This relationship was so strong that an institution’s level of research productivity appears to be sensitive to how its library’s collection budget is allocated between print and electronic materials. As the portion of the budget dedicated to non-electronic material grew, research productivity decreased in statistically significant fashion in both studies.
 
 Conclusion – While both studies succeeded in demonstrating the existence of an empirical relationship between library investment and research productivity, the most intriguing finding is that both studies observed a decrease in number of journal articles being produced as expenditures for non-electronic library materials increased. The conclusion is that the efficiencies of electronic resources offer such advantages over the use of traditional library materials in supporting scholarly research that productivity suffers as institutions dedicate a greater portion of their collection budgets to print materials at the expense of electronic materials.

Costly retaliation is promoted by threats to resources in women and threats to status in men.

What motivates people to act against their own self-interest? In men, what seems to be irrational decision-making in the short-term may be explained by other long-term benefits; thus retaliation may not be motivated by tangible costs, but instead intangible psychological variables (e.g., status threats). In contrast, there is evidence that women are more sensitive to tangible costs than are men. In Experiment 1, using the Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm (PSAP), we tested the prediction that in men, the frequency of provocation, and not the monetary loss (tangible cost), would be associated with retaliation, whereas women would be sensitive to the tangible costs. In keeping with the prediction, women (n = 80) who incurred greater tangible costs (irrespective of frequency) retaliated with more costly punishment, whereas men (n = 90) who were provoked more frequently (irrespective of tangible costs) retaliated with more costly punishment. In Experiment 2, we directly investigated whether women were more sensitive to threats to resources and men were more sensitive to threats to status, as suggested by the results of Experiment 1. Women's (n = 53) retaliation was greater when they reported it to be a means to protect their resources, and men's (n = 35) retaliation was greater when they reported it to be a means to protect their status. Thus, these results identify psychological variables that guide retaliation that is costly to the actor. Consistent with evolutionary perspectives, concerns about status appear to drive costly retaliatory behavior more so in men than in women.

Violence against nurses in the triage area: An Italian qualitative study

AimThis qualitative study aims to investigate the feelings experienced by nurses following episodes of violence in the workplace. BackgroundNumerous studies show that healthcare professionals are increasingly finding themselves victims of violence; of all professionals, nurses in the Emergency Department and especially those performing triage are one of the staff categories which most frequently experience these episodes during their work. IntroductionIn Italy, this phenomenon has been studied very little in comparison to other countries but has recently been gaining increasing attention. Few studies have investigated the feelings experienced by nurses following episodes of violence in the workplace. MethodsFor this study a phenomenological approach was used. Assumptions and previous findings were set aside (bracketing). A purposive sample of 9 nurses coming from 7 different Emergency Department in the region of Tuscany, Italy was interviewed during a focus group meeting. The data analysis was carried out using the Colaizzi method. ResultsData analysis revealed 10 significant themes/responses. The quality of reporting was guaranteed by adopting the COREQ criteria. DiscussionData analysis revealed that nurses feel that violent episodes are “inevitable” and that they feel they have grown accustomed to high levels of violence, that they suffer feelings of “inadequacy” but also that they are aware that they themselves can trigger conflict with patients, and again suffer the feeling of “being alone” in facing these problems and a sense of “being left on their own” by the institution and feeling “hurt”, “scared”, “angry” and have a sense that “it is not fair”. Last but not least, “the gender difference” appears to play an important role in the emotional response. ConclusionsTo suffer episodes of violence has serious and severe “hidden costs” which are just as important as the direct, tangible costs.

A Combined HPLC and LC-MS Approach for Evaluating Drug Stability in Elastomeric Devices: A Challenge for the Sustainability in Pharmacoeconomics

Objectives A longer postoperative care, needed for patients admitted to the hospital, is expensive and associated with increased morbidity and mortality, when compared with the outpatient setting. Outpatient therapy with continuous infusion of drugs with elastomeric pumps represents an effective method to address this problem. The aim of this work is to analyse the benefits in using elastomeric devices and to test their their behaviour towards drugs to changes during storage that could influence quality, safety and efficacy of the therapy. Methods Several drugs belonging to different therapeutic classes, including anticancer, analgesic opioids, local anesthetics and Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) have been studied using a combined HPLC/LC-MS approach. Each drug was loaded in three different brands of elastomeric devices and the samples were withdrawn over 7 days and submitted to HPLC/LC-MS analyses. Key-Findings All tested drugs showed high stability in each filled device, in fact only a low variability, less than 5 %, in term of percentage change in chromatographic areas, was observed. Moreover additional peaks, due to degradation of drug and/or to medical device-drug interaction, have not been detected both in HPLC and LC-MS analysis. Conclusion Thanks to the implementation, within clinical protocols, of the use of these infusion systems, two important goals can be achieved: a) the keeping of the quality of care also out of hospitals and b) the reduction of tangible costs as well as intangible costs in health care.

The KULTURisk Regional Risk Assessment methodology for water-related natural hazards – Part 1: Physical–environmental assessment

Abstract. In recent years, the frequency of catastrophes induced by natural hazards has increased, and flood events in particular have been recognized as one of the most threatening water-related disasters. Severe floods have occurred in Europe over the last decade, causing loss of life, displacement of people and heavy economic losses. Flood disasters are growing in frequency as a consequence of many factors, both climatic and non-climatic. Indeed, the current increase of water-related disasters can be mainly attributed to the increase of exposure (elements potentially at risk in flood-prone area) and vulnerability (i.e. economic, social, geographic, cultural and physical/environmental characteristics of the exposure). Besides these factors, the undeniable effect of climate change is projected to strongly modify the usual pattern of the hydrological cycle by intensifying the frequency and severity of flood events at the local, regional and global scale. Within this context, the need for developing effective and pro-active strategies, tools and actions which allow one to assess and (possibly) to reduce the flood risks that threatens different relevant receptors becomes urgent. Several methodologies to assess the risk posed by water-related natural hazards have been proposed so far, but very few of them can be adopted to implement the last European Flood Directive (FD). This paper is intended to introduce and present a state-of-the-art Regional Risk Assessment (RRA) methodology to appraise the risk posed by floods from a physical–environmental perspective. The methodology, developed within the recently completed FP7-KULTURisk Project (Knowledge-based approach to develop a cULTUre of Risk prevention – KR) is flexible and can be adapted to different case studies (i.e. plain rivers, mountain torrents, urban and coastal areas) and spatial scales (i.e. from catchment to the urban scale). The FD compliant KR-RRA methodology is based on the concept of risk being function of hazard, exposure and vulnerability. It integrates the outputs of various hydrodynamic models with site-specific bio-geophysical and socio-economic indicators (e.g. slope, land cover, population density, economic activities etc.) to develop tailored risk indexes and GIS-based maps for each of the selected receptors (i.e. people, buildings, infrastructure, agriculture, natural and semi-natural systems, cultural heritage) in the considered region. It further compares the baseline scenario with alternative scenarios, where different structural and/or non-structural mitigation measures are planned and eventually implemented. As demonstrated in the companion paper (Part 2, Ronco et al., 2014), risk maps, along with related statistics, allow one to identify and classify, on a relative scale, areas at risk which are more likely to be affected by floods and support the development of strategic adaptation and prevention measures to minimizing flood impacts. In addition, the outcomes of the RRA can be eventually used for a further socio-economic assessment, considering the tangible and intangible costs as well as the human dimension of vulnerability.

A methodology for estimating the tangible cost of data breaches

Concerns are increasing that data breaches are occurring more frequently, as technologies like the web, social media and the cloud become more integrated within standard business processes, often without rigorous security controls. A key question for business is determining the potential cost of a future data breach, since this will help in assessing the risk that data breaches pose – most importantly – to the bottom line (Watters, 2012).Although many studies in this area rely on subjective data (surveys and interviews) (Analytics, 2012), we use objective case studies to fit parameters from a general model of data breach costs, derived from applied econometrics (Schechter, 2005). This helps triangulate the findings of previous papers, but also overcomes some of the limitations with surveys, most notably self-selecting/reporting biases that can occur. Further, our results allow for interested parties to reproduce our results, including changing any figures as may be needed for their own circumstances. One example is to use consultancy rates instead of in-house rates, if the company does not have computer security engineers on staff.While many studies identify the intangible costs to businesses as the key source of variation in cost, our key finding is that the tangible costs are very significant in their own right. Indeed, while many experts predict that loss of reputation is one consequence of a data loss (Campbell et al., 2003), we find that some firms continue to grow, whilst having to write-off tangible expenditure for remediation work.Regardless of whether tangible or intangible costs are the greater or lesser contributors, firms need to focus on the total bottom line cost, and put in place measures to reduce the risk of a data breach in the most cost-effective way.

Habitat and herbivore density: Response of mule deer to habitat management

The suite of demands competing for wildlife management funds necessitates direct assessment of management decisions, especially when these decisions have direct costs, as well as tangible opportunity costs. We conducted a mark–resight study that estimated mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) density across multiple study units in southwest Colorado that had been exposed to different intensities of habitat treatments. Our treatments were comprised of common habitat management techniques including hydro-axe and roller-chopper disturbances as well chemical control of weeds and reseeding with desirable mule deer browse species. Reference study units received no habitat management treatments. Total deer densities varied between 20–84 deer/km2 in southern study units and 4–12 deer/km2 in northern study units. We did not observe a consistent pattern of higher deer density on advanced treatment study units despite it being the primary hypothesis of the study. We observed a wide range of variation in deer density among years. Resighting probabilities (range 0.070–0.567) were best modeled as an interactive function of study unit and year, although sampling method was also influential. We recommend that if population density is to be used as a population response variable, it be used in tandem with other, possibly more sensitive parameters such as overwinter survival or late winter body condition. © 2014 The Wildlife Society.

On the economic burden of MRSA in Germany

Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) usually exhibits resistance not only against β-lactam antibiotics but also against other classes of antibiotics with the result that infections caused by this bacterium are difficult to treat. Due to additional morbidity and mortality a high economic burden can be expected. The aim of this study was to outline the cost effects caused by MRSA colonisation and infections and to quantify the annual economic burden in Germany by using published data in order to assess the costs due to MRSA in Germany. Based on the available literature we estimated tangible and intangible costs per patient associated with MRSA. Total costs were calculated using data of the MRSA-KISS and the Federal Bureau of Statistics as well as other prevalence data. These costs are shown in prices of the year 2011. Direct costs occurring in German hospitals are estimated to be between 354.29 million € and 1.55 billion €. Productivity losses due to an extended duration of disease are evaluated to be at least 92.77 million € while lost quality adjusted life years due to MRSA infections are estimated at 0.292 * t per infected patient (where t denotes the time of the associated health impairment). It is not possible to quantify the total cost of illness caused by MRSA in Germany due to a lack of data on some of the direct costs (e. g., in rehabilitation facilities) as well as on the indirect and intangible costs. Nevertheless it can be shown that colonisation and infections caused by MRSA impose high costs on the health-care system and the whole economy as well.

Impact of international outsourcing on the value adding of industries

Purpose – The value adding of each industry represents the value difference between the outputs and inputs of that industry. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of international outsourcing on the value adding of industries. Design/methodology/approach – Input output analysis and linear programming are used as for the research methodology. Australian Motor Vehicle and Parts Manufacturing (AMVPM) industry as an outsourcer and its main suppliers were selected for ten alternative international outsourcing scenarios in a case study. Findings – In all international outsourcing scenarios except the baseline scenario, the reduction in the value adding of Australia would be approximately three times more than the value adding reduction of the AMVPM industry. Moreover, the international outsourcing ratio has negative relationships with the value adding of the Australian industries and positive relationship with the international industries. Finally, it was found that the degree of supplier's dependency on the orders of the outsourcer effects the percentage reduction of supplier's value adding. Research limitations/implications – The aggregated data and the uncertainties in the technical coefficients are the main limitations of this research. The social and environmental costs, other tangible and intangible costs, as well as benefits of international outsourcing need to be further analysed in future research. Practical implications – This study would help decision makers at the macro level to analyse and control the effect of international outsourcing on the value adding of their economies. Originality/value – This study expands the current research at the industry level of international outsourcing by quantifying the effect of international outsourcing upon the value adding of all respected industries.

Public Transportation and Contracting Out

Contracting is often discussed as a cutback mechanism for public managers. The empirical evidence indicates that there are little savings in contracting out due to transaction costs. Public transit agencies exhibit path-dependent behavior; there are tangible conversion costs that may preclude changing the provision of services. As such, public managers should consider the provision of services very carefully as it may set an agency on a long-term trajectory that will be difficult to change due to both conversion and transaction costs.

Crime and Erosion of Trust: Evidence for Latin America

Crime has tangible economic costs. It also has less understood and likely sizable intangible costs. In particular, widespread crime has the potential to weaken trust between citizens and institutions, undermine government reform efforts, and become an obstacle to development. Yet, the impact of crime on trust remains relatively unexplored in the literature. This paper analyzes the potential interrelationship between individual victimization and several measures of trust, including trust in formal public institutions and trust in informal private networks. It is based on a representative sample of individuals in 19 countries in Latin America. The empirical strategy is intended to mitigate overt biases and assess sensitivity to hidden biases. The results show that victimization has a substantial negative effect on trust in the local police but no robust effect on informal institutions. Governments may henceforth need to redouble efforts to reduce victimization and the resulting erosion of trust in public institutions.