By using a stochastic frontier model, we have identified several firm-specific attributes as determinants of technical efficiency in foreign-financed manufacturing firms in southern China. The empirical results suggest a strong association between efficiency and employee motivation, which...

This report considers the potential/appropriate role for local authorities (LAs) in relation to the downturn phase of the current recession. It focuses on the most valuable functions which they can fulfil in this context, and takes a cautious view about the potential for extending any boost to...

This chapter draws on research carried out under the Energywatch funded project “Essential Services for low-income consumers: Limits of competition in provision of essential services to low-income consumers”. The project was conducted by a group led by the Public Services International...

Contingency based research has been used extensively within the area of accounting control (Chapman, 1997; Chenhall, 2003; Gerdin and Greeve, 2004), though there is a lacuna of contingency research within not-for-profit organisations (Chenhall, 2003), particularly in the UK. The study‟s overall...

This thesis examines the way in which decisions about the treatment and disposal of solid waste are analysed in the English counties. The emphasis is on decisions with strategic dimensions rather than on tactical issues relating to plant operations. On the basis of an examination of legislation,...

Local government globally is evolving in response to rising public expectations, changing socio-demographic factors and a growing focus on efficiency. The asset base used by municipalities in its service provision is changing to reflect this evolution. A new discipline of asset management has...

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s partnership has come to be the accepted mechanisms for the delivery of regeneration initiatives. The widespread evidence of partnership working across all spheres of government activity suggests that it now represents the new economic orthodoxy in the approach to...

The adoption of performance-related pay schemes is part of the wider market-type reforms occurring in public services today. However, this ‘managerial revolution’ has prompted an academic debate for and against these practices. The main questions raised revolve around the novelty,...

The study seeks to clarify why donors such as the World Bank still insist on the use of their financial management system rather than the recipient country’s financial management system, despite the intention under the Paris Declaration 2005 to use the respective government’s systems. The...

The importance of human capital to the economic performance of a national, regional or local economy is now well established. Labour markets are thought to reward individuals in proportion to their marginal productivity and to encourage an efficient allocation of skilled workers. However, labour...