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Article
Publication date: 22 August 2008

Michael Macaulay and John Wilson

The purpose of this paper is to show that since its election in 1997, the Labour Government in the United Kingdom has pursued a policy agenda which in some senses represents a…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to show that since its election in 1997, the Labour Government in the United Kingdom has pursued a policy agenda which in some senses represents a continuation of the New Right agenda it inherited. Central to this agenda has been the emphasis placed on choice in public services.

Design/methodology/approach

Within the context of the New Right agenda this paper explores the concept and suggested merits of choice in public service provision. It does so by focusing on the experiences in England, particularly in relation to health and education.

Findings

By reference to the empirical evidence, the paper evaluates the conceptual arguments in favour of choice and finds that the current emphasis is consistent with the news of the New Right.

Originality/value

The paper questions the merits of choice in public service provision and, in doing so, suggests that the apparent political consensus in favour of choice can not be justified.

Details

International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 21 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3558

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 25 August 2006

Hamilton Lankford and James Wyckoff

The pattern of racial segregation in U.S. elementary and secondary schools has changed significantly over the last 25 years. This chapter examines the relationship between the…

Abstract

The pattern of racial segregation in U.S. elementary and secondary schools has changed significantly over the last 25 years. This chapter examines the relationship between the racial composition of schools and the choices white parents make concerning the schools their children attend. Restricted access files at the Bureau of the Census allow us to identify each household's Census block of residence and, in turn, suburban public school districts and urban public school attendance areas. We find that the racial composition of schools and neighborhoods are very important in the school and location decisions of white families.

Details

Improving School Accountability
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-446-1

Article
Publication date: 12 July 2022

Guoquan Xu, Fang-Chun Liu, Hsiao-Tang Hsu and Jerry Lin

The choice of accounting methods is critical in measuring the performance and sustainability of a public defined benefit pension (DBP) plan, and such measurement has an impact on…

Abstract

Purpose

The choice of accounting methods is critical in measuring the performance and sustainability of a public defined benefit pension (DBP) plan, and such measurement has an impact on the effectiveness of the entire pension system. Prior literature rarely discusses the choice and rationale of the accounting assumptions for public DBP plans. This study fills the gap by investigating whether crucial plan characteristics, including operational performance, financial health, sponsor fiscal stress, and audit quality, are associated with the accounting assumptions of public DBP plans.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample includes 1,170 plan-years from the intersection of the Center for Retirement Research and public DBPs' annual financial reports for the years 2001–2013. This study develops regression models to examine the relationship between the characteristics of public DBP practices and DBP accounting choices.

Findings

The empirical results show that the public DBPs that have better investment performance, higher funding status, less fiscal stress, and that are audited by Big 4 accounting firms are more likely to adopt conservative accounting choices.

Originality/value

The study documents the impact of crucial pension plan characteristics on public DBP managers' accounting choices, which were not extensively discussed in pension literature. The findings help us understand the rationale for employing different accounting treatments in the context of public pension fund practices. In addition, the study sheds light on policy implications for the future reform of public pension regulations.

Details

Asian Review of Accounting, vol. 30 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1321-7348

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 30 June 2017

Jennifer A. Reich

Public health programs facilitate access to resources that not only provide individuals’ options but also often foreclose individual preference through prescriptive requirements…

Abstract

Public health programs facilitate access to resources that not only provide individuals’ options but also often foreclose individual preference through prescriptive requirements. This chapter takes two disparate cases from public health – vaccines and family planning –that reveal patterns of inequality in who has access to individual choice and who requires state support to exercise choice. Looking specifically at dynamics of funding and compulsion, this chapter elucidates how reliance on the rhetoric of individual choice as an expression of freedom rewards those with the greatest access to resources and fails to make sure that all members of the community have the resources to shape their own outcomes or to make sure collective health is protected.

Details

Studies in Law, Politics, and Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-811-6

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 September 2016

Eddy S.W. Ng, Charles W. Gossett, Samuel Chinyoka and Isaac Obasi

The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that may be related to a career choice in the public vs the private sector in a developing African country.

3448

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that may be related to a career choice in the public vs the private sector in a developing African country.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a sample of graduate management students, the authors tested reward preferences and altruism, elements of public service motivation, on their generalizability to a developing country in Africa. The authors also examine the role of career attitudes, individual personality factors, and cultural values on a career choice in public service.

Findings

The authors find that not all the factors associated with the choice of sector (public or private) found in previous studies apply in the Botswana context.

Research limitations/implications

Perry and Wise (1990) developed the concept of public service motivation to explain why individuals may be motivated to serve the public. However, two of the factors associated with public service, intrinsic motivation, and altruism, were not predictive of a career choice in the public sector in Botswana, and thus may limit its generalizability outside of western developed countries.

Practical implications

In Botswana and other developing economies, government jobs are considered to provide lucrative and stable employment, and attract educated citizens regardless of motivations. However, as the private-for-profit sector is emerging, these countries could soon be facing serious competition for top university students, and will need to develop a strategy for attracting the best talents to choose employment in the public sector over career options in the private sector.

Originality/value

The present study seeks to further the understanding on how individuals make a career choice between public vs private sector management in a developing country.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 45 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 May 2021

Chin-Ching Yin, Yi-Ching Hsieh, Hung-Chang Chiu and Jhih-Ling Yu

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, this study applies social presence theory to explore the influences of public self-awareness on consumers’ choice inconsistency and…

1291

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, this study applies social presence theory to explore the influences of public self-awareness on consumers’ choice inconsistency and post-choice satisfaction. Second, the authors investigate how time pressure moderates the effects of self-awareness on choice inconsistency and post-choice satisfaction so that online sellers can better align their marketing strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

This research consists of two studies. Study 1 conducted a 3 (self-awareness: public/private/control) × 2 (time pressure: high/none) experiment, and 311 online participants were recruited to explore the influence of public self-awareness and time pressure. Study 2 used a 3 (self-awareness: public/private/control) × 2 (time pressure: high/no) × 2 (self-consciousness: high/low) quasi-experiments, and the authors used 652 online participants to examine the effect of self-awareness, time pressure and public self-consciousness on choice inconsistency and post-choice satisfaction.

Findings

The results indicate that publicly self-aware consumers under high time pressure show greater inconsistency than those under no time pressure. Also, people with higher public self-consciousness exhibited higher choice inconsistency and post-choice satisfaction in public self-awareness situations than those in private self-awareness and control conditions.

Research limitations/implications

To generalize the results, this study should be replicated using more heterogeneous populations in diverse regions and cultures, as well as other product categories.

Practical implications

This study explores the implications of evoking self-awareness during online consumption and the online purchase process by observing the moderating effect of self-consciousness and time pressure. The findings provide insights to marketing practitioners who seek to increase their companies’ competitive advantage and profits through effective online manipulations of consumers’ self-awareness.

Originality/value

Extant research does not address how time pressure affects the relationships among public self-awareness, choice inconsistency and post-choice satisfaction. In addition, prior research only focused on public self-awareness in customer consumption. This study bridges these gaps and has implications for e-commerce, consumer behavior and relationship marketing research fields.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 55 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 August 2019

Agneta Ranerup and Helle Zinner Henriksen

Many countries today, especially in Europe, provide publicly funded public services in quasi-markets. As these markets commercialize, agencies of various types are providing…

1436

Abstract

Purpose

Many countries today, especially in Europe, provide publicly funded public services in quasi-markets. As these markets commercialize, agencies of various types are providing technologies that support citizens’ choice of services. Citizens’ use of technologies for service provision is studied as e-government under labels of channel management, e-service uptake or adoption. In contrast, by using actor–network theory (ANT), the purpose of this paper is to focus on the marketing devices that are used to enroll citizens to choose technologies in a context with large penetration of quasi-market arrangements.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a Swedish case study, this paper uses qualitative data from 11 occurrences of technologies to support citizens’ choice (“market devices”) in education, healthcare and public pension in an analysis of the means taken (“marketing devices”) to increase their use. The study formulates a tentative typology of these devices.

Findings

The marketing devices are intended to attract citizens’ attention to the possibility of choice (e.g. catalogs, postcards and commercials), invite interaction (e.g. various social media platforms), improve the technological support in line with user needs (e.g. user participation in development), increase visibility of technological support (e.g. search optimization) or directly connect citizens to technological support (e.g. via links).

Originality/value

The paper contributes to e-government research through a typology of means taken to increase citizens’ technology use based on selected concepts from ANT, and to a discussion of technologies and humans.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 32 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 April 2010

Masaya Ishikawa and Hidetomo Takahashi

This study examines the relationship between managerial overconfidence and corporate financing decisions by constructing proxies for managerial overconfidence based on the track…

2170

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between managerial overconfidence and corporate financing decisions by constructing proxies for managerial overconfidence based on the track records of earnings forecasts in Japanese listed firms. We find that managers have the stable tendency to forecast overly upward earnings compared to actual ones and that their upward bias decreases the probability of issuing equity in the public market by about 4.7 percent per one standard error, which economically has the strongest impact on financing decisions. This tendency is observed when we employ alternative measures for managerial overconfidence and other model specifications. However, in private placements, the choice to offer equity is not always avoided by managers. This implies that managers place private equity with the expectation of the certification effect

Details

Review of Behavioural Finance, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1940-5979

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 30 November 2016

Peter J. Boettke, Vlad Tarko and Paul Aligica

Hayek’s “Use of knowledge in society” is often misunderstood. Hayek’s point is not just that prices aggregate dispersed knowledge, but also that the knowledge embedded in prices…

Abstract

Hayek’s “Use of knowledge in society” is often misunderstood. Hayek’s point is not just that prices aggregate dispersed knowledge, but also that the knowledge embedded in prices would not exist absent the market process. Later, in The Constitution of Liberty, he argues that this same idea can also be applied to the study of political and collective choice phenomena. Democracy is not just about aggregating preferences. Absent the democratic process, the knowledge necessary to solve collective problems is not generated. We compare this perspective on democracy to Bryan Caplan’s and Helen Landemore’s theories, and we argue that Hayek’s account focused on “opinion falsification” is richer. Unlike Caplan or Landemore, who adopt a static perspective, Hayek is more interested in the long-term tendencies and feed-back mechanisms. For example, why do Western democracies seem to have gradually moved away from the most deleterious types of economic policies (such as price controls)? Hayek’s conjecture is that the democratic process itself is responsible for this. We connect Hayek’s conjecture about democracy to the broader argument made by Vincent Ostrom, who has claimed that public choice should study not just incentive structures, but also collective learning processes. We believe that this line of research, that is, comparative institutional analysis based on the collective learning capacities embedded in alternative institutional arrangements, merits a lot more attention than it has received so far. The question “Which collective choice arrangements have the best epistemic properties?” is one of the most important neglected questions in political economy.

Details

Revisiting Hayek’s Political Economy
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-988-6

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 3 December 2018

David J. Hebert

Traditional public choice analysis implicitly views political outcomes as the intention of a single-minded person. This view is seriously misguided. Rather than viewing politics…

Abstract

Traditional public choice analysis implicitly views political outcomes as the intention of a single-minded person. This view is seriously misguided. Rather than viewing politics as being done by one person or a group of persons acting in concert, this chapter presents an Austrian economist’s thoughts on what an Austrian theory of public choice would look like. Particular attention is paid to the emergent, rather than additive, quality that political outcomes exhibit.

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