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A primary purpose of the voluntary administration legislation is to provide a flexible procedure by which a company can attempt to reorganise its affairs and continue trading. Informed decision‐making regarding which companies should attempt reorganisation is critical to the efficient operation of company rescue legislation. This paper explores decision‐making associated with the voluntary administration process, with a focus on the relevance of financial information to the reorganisation decision. Statistical models are developed to provide some insight into the reorganisation decision and the problem of identifying suitable (successful) reorganisation candidates from a pool of distressed companies. Additionally, insolvency experts’ decisions regarding companies’ prospects in reorganisation are examined. The decision accuracy of insolvency experts was found to be significantly lower than statistical model accuracy, indicating that further development of statistical models may be a useful aid to insolvency experts.

The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between trade credit supply and financial distress outcomes, considering the role that trade credit plays as a substantial source of liquidity for distressed companies. Specifically, it examines whether there is an association between trade credit supply and the outcomes experienced by companies that undergo the voluntary administration (VA) insolvency procedure under Australian corporate law.

The study examines a sample of companies that were listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and entered VA between 2002 and 2019. Ordered logistic regression is used to determine the relation between trade credit and VA outcomes. The VA outcomes considered are as follows: (1) company liquidation, (2) orderly dissolution through an agreement with creditors, or (3) an agreement with creditors for reorganization of all or part of the company's business.

The findings show that trade creditors' willingness to supply credit is influenced by their rational expectations about the future prospects of financially distressed customers. Higher levels of trade credit and an increase in trade credit supply prior to VA are associated with a greater probability of achieving a reorganization versus a liquidation or dissolution outcome.

There is no apparent prior study investigating the connection between trade credit supply and outcomes for distressed companies entering insolvency administration. Therefore, this study provides novel evidence on the role of trade credit in the context of financial distress. Understanding the relationship between trade credit supply and outcomes is particularly significant considering that many jurisdictions offer distressed companies the opportunity to pursue reorganization under their insolvency laws. Examining financial distress and trade credit in the Australian creditor-friendly context expands on existing research. Prior research has predominantly relied on data from the United States, which has debtor-friendly bankruptcy law. Consequently, these studies may lack generalizability to jurisdictions with creditor-friendly law such as Australia.

Purpose – To analyze the emergence of new organizational forms in the Danish welfare sector.

Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on Niklas Luhmann and Gunther Teubner, the research analyzes governmental documents, policy programs, action plans, and strategic documents.

Findings – A partnering structure has emerged with a new politics of voluntarism, complex forms of integration and new imaginary distinctions between voluntariness and public care. This can usefully be conceptualized as aspects of the stabilization of a “third-order system.” The research identified a number of different managerial strategies for involvement in the system.

Practical and social implications – Social welfare has become a mix of public and civil society values and norms, and extensive resources have been invested from both governmental and nongovernmental sides to build up shared competences for the new forms of partnering-based organization. However, to act according to the new principles of partnering, at the strategic and managerial level, the voluntary organizations have to behave in a schizophrenic manner – as both individual organizations and cooperational partners within the system.

Research implications – The concept of “third-order system” is especially useful in analyzing mixed forms of management in the welfare sector.

Originality – Different forms of radical organizational analysis are combined to develop a notion of “third-order system” in the welfare sector.

Since 1915 adult education in New Zealand has been chiefly the responsibility of the Workers' Educational Association. The Workers' Educational Association enjoyed a virtual monopoly in the area until 1946 when National and Regional Councils of Adult Education were established in association with the University of New Zealand. Although the National Council held the purse‐strings, control of adult education rested chiefly with the University—related Regional Councils. Problems arising from the finance, control and stalling of adult education culminated in the passing of the 19G3 Act which eliminated the Regional Councils and established a reformed National Council. The implications of the Act are university acceptance of responsibility for adult education, financial support from the University Grants Committee and a decline of local influence on programmes. A crucial issue with the growth of university interest is whether there is likely to be a disproportionate growth of professional courses at the expense of liberal studies.

This paper aims to provide an examination of the position employees find themselves during corporate insolvencies. The paper examines employees' rights under insolvency procedures such as administration, company voluntary arrangements (CVA), administrative receivership, pre-packs and liquidation, to establish whether the rescue goal can be affected by employees' claims. Priorities in liquidation are also widely examined to establish the status of employees under this procedure and their entitlements.

Legal analysis.

The law offers more protection to employees than unsecured creditors. In comparison to unsecured creditors and even floating charge security holders, employment claims stand in a highly enviable position during insolvency.

The paper offers a wholesale assessment of the rights of employees during insolvency. There is a lacuna in research literature that addresses the issue of employment rights during insolvency.

Examines the huge voluntary sector contribution and shows that vast numbers of the population involve themselves in voluntary work at some time or another. Estimates that the value of their contributions could be as high as £40 billion. This huge sum is generated by dedicated people who nevertheless are for the most part not managed or badly managed, are a constantly shifting group and are not subject to the normal disciplines of business. Sets out how human resource management, as adopted by industry, can be adapted sensitively for the volunteer work‐force, despite the fact that normal levels of management ‐ control and direction ‐ are either unusable or so weak that they can be accepted or ignored, according to mood and conditions.

The article addresses the FCC Network Neutrality Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to clarify its importance, timeliness and concerns in relation to Commission market administration and industrial rationalization duties and obligations. It notes industry rivalry, proposed regulatory policy concerning managed services and non‐discriminatory network administration, and voluntary and mandatory Network Neutrality standards.

The paper provides and analysis of the FCC Notice.

The article notices the FCC's approach to “non‐discriminatory” conduct as a feasible public policy, which could stimulate innovation and investment. It specifies fruitful areas for Network Neutrality public policy.

The article concisely evaluates a major FCC initiative.

This paper aims to provide a reflection on the other contributions to this special issue of IJPSM on the “employment implications of the outsourcing of public services to voluntary, not‐for‐profit organisations” in the light of more widely available discourses and evidence.

The paper, in line with the purpose, draws on relevant secondary sources, including those forming part of this special issue.

The provided analysis centrally concludes that, against the backcloth of growing competitive pressures and public expenditure cuts, there is a real threat of a general downward trend in the employment conditions of voluntary sector staff engaged in the delivery of outsourced public services that has the potential to adversely affect service quality.

There is a need for much more extensive research on how market‐based outsourcing is impacting on the work experiences of voluntary sector staff outside the area of social care and the implications that it has for the quality of service provision.

The analysis draws attention to the need to consider further regulatory action to protect the terms and conditions of voluntary sector staff engaged in the delivery of outsourced public services.

The paper serves to highlight that, rather than improving the value for money of social care services, outsourcing has the potential to do the opposite by adversely impacting on the employment conditions of staff and hence the quality of services provided.

The purpose of this paper is to trace the origin and development of the increased use of the voluntary sector in the delivery of public services in the UK and to identify both the threats and opportunities that this policy poses.

The paper uses government documents to examine policies and models for change. This is located within a discussion of the literature around the developing role of the voluntary sector in public service provision against the backdrop of wider neo‐liberal public sector reform.

New Labour laid the basis for a major expansion in the use of the voluntary sector in public service provision as part of its public service reform programme. It did so with a range of sometimes contradictory justifications. The policy is now being extended by the new coalition government.

The process of change outlined in the paper is continuing, so it is not possible to make conclusive statements regarding its impact. Further research will be required to monitor the effects.

Alerting the voluntary sector organisations to the potential problems of large‐scale involvement in public service provision may assist them in retaining their independence and effectiveness.

The paper contributes to a necessary (and overdue) assessment of the impact of the changed role of the voluntary sector in public service provision on the sector itself, the services provided and the surrounding framework of accountability.

The traditional form of legal research with its predominant emphasis on doctrinal and theoretical analysis is now increasingly augmented by empirical research that seeks to document actions and decisions and draw broader conclusions. This relatively new research tradition is arguably making a positive contribution to legal theory and practice, particularly in the USA [for a general discussion see SJ Lubben, “Do Empricial Bankruptcy Studies Matter?” (2012) 20 ABI L Rev 715]. The paper aims to report on the use of empirical research to examine corporate governance in the context of financially distressed UK public companies.

The paper uses statutory corporate filings and mandatory stock exchange reports to document the process of informal debt resolution prior to the company’s entry into administration or Company Voluntary Arrangement. The findings are presented in an innovative way as a series of case studies focusing on process, participants and outcomes of informal debt resolution.

The paper concludes that it is possible to use case study research as a means to explore corporate governance in the context of financially distressed companies. Although such an approach is challenging in various ways, there are some advantages that complement more traditional research approaches. The findings show how directors’ attention shifts away from shareholders’ interests to those of creditors at times of financial distress and challenges conventional models of governance that stress shareholder value.

The distinctive features of the research are the development of a case-study based approach that draws on publicly available data sources, a process based analysis and a synthesis of corporate governance and law.