Neurons are highly polarized cells with axons reaching over a meter long in adult humans.To survive and maintain their proper function,neurons depend on specific mechanisms that regulate spatiotemporal signaling and m...Neurons are highly polarized cells with axons reaching over a meter long in adult humans.To survive and maintain their proper function,neurons depend on specific mechanisms that regulate spatiotemporal signaling and metabolic events,which need to be carried out at the right place,time,and intensity.Such mechanisms include axonal transport,local synthesis,and liquid-liquid phase separations.Alterations and malfunctions in these processes are correlated to neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS).展开更多
[Objective] To analyze the positioning of low-carbon agriculture development in local governments of China. [Method] The emissions of green-house gas, the connotation and characteristics of low-carbon agriculture, and...[Objective] To analyze the positioning of low-carbon agriculture development in local governments of China. [Method] The emissions of green-house gas, the connotation and characteristics of low-carbon agriculture, and the necessity of developing low-carbon agriculture were analyzed, obtaining the positioning and measures for the development of low-carbon agriculture in local government. [Result] Government plays a leading role in the development of low-carbon agriculture. The development of low-carbon agriculture can be promoted through the formulation of scientific low-carbon agricultural development plan, culturing new talents on low-carbon agriculture, promoting low-carbon agricultural technology, establishing low-carbon agricultural risk prevention mechanisms. [Conclusion] Making economy, environment and resources coordinated with each other, leading by the concept of scientific development with the concept of sustainable development, is where the future of agricultural development in China lies.展开更多
Two rounds of leveraging-up have led to a high debt ratio in the Chinese economy, triggered liquidity mismatch and increased systemic financial risks. The key causes of local government liabilities are soft budget con...Two rounds of leveraging-up have led to a high debt ratio in the Chinese economy, triggered liquidity mismatch and increased systemic financial risks. The key causes of local government liabilities are soft budget constraints and non-market-based factor allocation. Currently, the risks of local government liabilities are generally controllable. This paper concludes that the long-term solution to managing local government liabilities is to enhance budget constraint and institutional assurance and proposes countermeasures in the reform of urban construction investment and ftnancing mechanisms.展开更多
This paper analyzes the links among Europeanization, multilevel governance, and international activities of local governments. To do so, a revision of the literature on these three areas is provided, with a special em...This paper analyzes the links among Europeanization, multilevel governance, and international activities of local governments. To do so, a revision of the literature on these three areas is provided, with a special emphasis on the effects that the Europeanization process (hierarchical and horizontal) and multilevel governance (type I and type II) have had over the internationalization of local governments. Thus, local governments' international activities have evolved and adapted to a complex system of governance. Furthermore, the paper offers a reflection on current trends such as European Union (EU) and national programmes aimed at fostering International initiatives of local governments, and the impact of the economic crisis on these activities.展开更多
The Pearl River(Zhujiang)Delta(PRD)has been a focal point in reform era ac ademic circles not only for its dramatic industrial growth but a lso the simultaneous agricultural development.Unlike most of existing researc...The Pearl River(Zhujiang)Delta(PRD)has been a focal point in reform era ac ademic circles not only for its dramatic industrial growth but a lso the simultaneous agricultural development.Unlike most of existing research on the PRDeconomic development and transformation fromthe whole region level,this paper explored this question f romthe perspec-tive of a township using Beijiao in Shunde City as a case study.Unlike the c onclusions of existing studies whic h attribute the regional economic transition to the macro factors,particularly the influence of external investment,t his research re-veals that at the level of township,t he local government,the town-villa ge owned enterprises and the individ uals have been playing remarkable roles in local economic transformation.In the early stage since the economic reform,Beijiao township government,replacing the central a nd provincial governments before,b egan to manipulate the development o f town-village owned enterprises and lead the local economic transformation from agricultural to industrial dominated.As the town-village owned enterprises grew during the later years,they gra dually acted as the main dominant pla yer leading the local agricultural and industrial growth.At the same time the individuals in Beijiao were playing more in dependent role to gain their most profits.While the local government changed to be t he real manager of local economies.S o the local economic transition was not entirely externally driven.In another word,the“driven from outsidemodel can not totally explain the economic fact in this specific region.展开更多
The influence of the transfer payments from the central government to the local governments on the local governments' efforts on taxation must be taken into consideration by every country for the design of the transf...The influence of the transfer payments from the central government to the local governments on the local governments' efforts on taxation must be taken into consideration by every country for the design of the transfer payments. Based on the theoretical analysis on the influence of the transfer payments from the central government to the local governments' on the local governments' payments', this paper indicates that the local governments' efforts on taxation depends on the demand elasticity of the district for public goods, It increases with the increase of the elasticity. Judge the degree of the local govet:nment's efforts on taxation by measure 2. After an empirical analysis on the transJer payments from the central government to the local governments'from 2000 to 2004, this paper gets the con- clusion that the local governments' effbrts on taxation ctbates with the increase of supporting payments or with the increase of the ratio of transfer payments to local wiliing public paymentS. Under speCific Circumstances, the higher the ratio of transfer payments to the local fiscal expenditure is. the smaller the local governments' efforts' on taxation is" under the central payments, whereas' the higher the local income is, the higher the efforts is under the central pav- ments. Based on this', this paper gives the meaning of its eOrresponding pofiCieS. "展开更多
Interprovincial counterpart support is a cooperative system used by local governments to achieve horizontal flow of resources based on cross-regional cooperation.Existing research has mainly focused on governance ef‐...Interprovincial counterpart support is a cooperative system used by local governments to achieve horizontal flow of resources based on cross-regional cooperation.Existing research has mainly focused on governance ef‐ficiency,institutional advantages,and ranking incentives while ignoring the scrambling behavior and opera‐tional mechanisms of local governments formed by ranking incentives and territorial responsibilities.This study selected the Wenchuan earthquake,Yushu earthquake,and COVID-19 as three typical cases.We con‐structed a theoretical framework for competition among provincial local governments and found that competi‐tion in interprovincial disaster counterpart support followed a dual behavioral logic of“striving to be first”and“fear of being last”.Specifically,local governments will choose striving to be first under the logic of time coercion,content games,and territorial responsibility;they will choose fear of being last under the logic of re‐sponsibility avoidance and moral pressure.This type of scrambling-based horizontal competition reflects the logic of local government competition tournaments.This study further revealed the specific processes,mecha‐nisms,and results of horizontal local government competition,which can provide inspiration for cross regional and provincial cooperation.展开更多
The purpose of this article is to raise the question of how important decentralisation and local governments are for the successful transition and eventually for sustainable human development of a state. The paper foc...The purpose of this article is to raise the question of how important decentralisation and local governments are for the successful transition and eventually for sustainable human development of a state. The paper focuses on the gap between development or transition and decentralisation within academic and international policy discourse. In article, the author tries to answer such questions as how local government can contribute to SHD (sustainable human development). And how should the international community contribute to and support the transition and development process of the developing countries? Article shows that local self-government can be a school of democracy and responsibility for the wealth of the state and citizens. By sharing the Polish decentralisation experience, the author shows how important decentralisation might be for successful transition, democratization and sustainable development. The paper also includes a short introduction to the European Charter, recent African efforts like AMCOD or UCLGA and European Union development assistance policy. The purpose of this is to show how little attention is paid to local governments and decentralisation within international policy and how huge is the gap between Europe's (developed) states and Africa's (developing) states related to their decentralisation policy, law and practice.展开更多
The situation of the contemporary economic systems is based on their ability to ensure optimal response to the customer needs. There are several important groups of clients, who may determine development processes and...The situation of the contemporary economic systems is based on their ability to ensure optimal response to the customer needs. There are several important groups of clients, who may determine development processes and who are recipients of public services. They include: residents, entrepreneurs, tourists, and State Treasury. Local governments are equipped with a range of legal instruments to provide public services addressed to the selected clients. The objective of this paper is to present the application of the AHP method to assess the significance of the selected categories of public services for different groups of clients in Poland. The results allow setting priorities for future policy and adjust the tasks to the specific expectations of each group of clients. The model of assessment of public services was built using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Since the 1970's, this multicriteria decision-support method has been used by researchers and practitioners in many areas of socioeconomic life. The case study presented in this paper involved 14 experts--public administration workers in one of the districts in Southern Poland. The survey consisted of two stages. First, they assessed--using the AHP--the influence of each group of customers on local development processes. The most important was "business" (priority 38.7%), followed by "tourists" (29.7%), "citizens" (26.1%), and "central administration" (5.5%). Second, they evaluated at the five-point Liken scale the influence of over 20 different public services with respect to different groups of clients. The results were aggregated using arithmetic mean and multiplied by the priorities of the clients. The synthesized final score indicated the most significant public activities overall, which were "roads" (4.16), "transport" (3.93), and "tourism" (3.84).展开更多
Local governmental debts in China seem to be in a more precarious position than local government debts in the USA. The scale of Chinese local government debts far surpasses that of the USA. Further, Chinese local gove...Local governmental debts in China seem to be in a more precarious position than local government debts in the USA. The scale of Chinese local government debts far surpasses that of the USA. Further, Chinese local government debts appear to be expanding at an alarming rate in the past decade or so. This research focuses on grand strategies for dealing with Chinese local government debts. There are five research questions for this paper: 1) What is the size of the Chinese government debts? 2) Are Chinese local government debts controllable? 3) Who or what caused the rapid increase of the Chinese local government debts? 4) Is it possible to have individual accountability for increasing local government debts in the future? and 5) Will it be helpful to create a local government debt management organization in the Chinese central government? Based on the available literature, this analysis also utilizes in death interviews with 13 government officials, policy analyst, and scholars. First, this paper identifies the size and categories of debts related to Chinese local governments. Then this paper illustrates various ways and methods of Chinese local governments to obtain leverage. After analyzing the causes and origins of these debts, the research demonstrates a potential local systematic risk. By contrast to its advantages and disadvantages, the paper suggests that the local governmental debts need to be constrained. It is important to restrict debt growth in terms of issuing, buying, repurchasing, collateralizing, etc. within a legal framework. With the consideration of political mechanisms in China, the research suggests that the central government establishes a specific organization to help normalize the local governmental debts with the function of supervision and management. The research also believes that it will be an effective way to control the growth of local debts if the central government can hold the relevant top leaders/officials of local governments to be accountable for their performances related to debt accumulation.展开更多
This case study focuses on the current and future needs of the management accounting within the Tallinn city government and their potential relationships with the sustainability reporting. This analysis is based on th...This case study focuses on the current and future needs of the management accounting within the Tallinn city government and their potential relationships with the sustainability reporting. This analysis is based on the study carried out within the city organizations in 2011. The questionnaire drawn up by the authors includes several questions about the current management accounting tools of the city and their development and support needs. The authors also add some questions related to the sustainability reporting, which is obligatory for the city as one of the members of the Aalborg Charter. The quantitative methodology was used. The authors' conclusion is that the level of the managerial accountability of the Estonian municipality is increasing and its sole economic focus is changing to a broader perspective. According to the findings of the study, the authors argue that both management accounting principles and sustainability principles are coming closer together. By using Talcott Parsons' adaptation, goal attainment, integration, and latency (AGIL) paradigm, the authors point out four critical components for implementing the sustainability reporting into a management accounting system. The results of this study highlight the role of values in the management accounting development, which is in harmony with the AGIL paradigm.展开更多
The fiscal system is an important part of national economic management and deals with the division of financial responsibility and power, regulates and defines the fiscal activities among different levels of governmen...The fiscal system is an important part of national economic management and deals with the division of financial responsibility and power, regulates and defines the fiscal activities among different levels of governments. The changes in economic system and economic structure decide the changes of fiscal function and fiscal structure, which results in the changes in intergovernmental distribution form and local government behavior. This paper takes a look at the stages of China's fiscal reform process and the impacts on local government behavior, and tries to find measures for perfecting the fiscal system reform to optimize local government behavior and guarantee a healthy national economy.展开更多
Maltese Local Councils are required to prepare financial reports compliant with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Through documentary research, this study examined the suitability of this requireme...Maltese Local Councils are required to prepare financial reports compliant with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Through documentary research, this study examined the suitability of this requirement and implications for institutional relationships. This study showed that IFRS statements are problematic to produce and interpret at the local level of government, and that, on their own, they are undermining the control needs of the Central Government. This study highlighted the important role of financial reporting for accountability by showing that the use of financial reporting systems that do not fit the reporting entity may actually lead to avoidance of accountability by mystifying reality.展开更多
This paper investigates the effect of local government intervention on capital deepening of manufacturing sector by using interprovincial panel data sets of 28 Chinese provinces,municipalities and autonomous regions b...This paper investigates the effect of local government intervention on capital deepening of manufacturing sector by using interprovincial panel data sets of 28 Chinese provinces,municipalities and autonomous regions between 1994 and 2011.Theoretical research indicates that as a transitional economy,China's local government intervention in corporate investment behaviors will cause excessive investment,thus bringing about a long-term and sustained tendency of capital deepening in manufacturing sector.Empirical test further discovers that in a certain range,the phenomenon of capital deepening in manufacturing sector is not an inevitable result endogenous to economic development and technology progress,and that investment behaviors of manufacturing sector are largely subject to the external institutional environment.Fiscal decentralization has indeed promoted capital deepening of manufacturing sector.Financial credit expansion and interventions in SOEs are major instruments for local governments to intervene in the capital deepening of manufacturing sector and such an influence is particularly significant for China's central,western and northeast regions.Therefore,clarifying government functions and improving local government performance review mechanism are of great significance to the healthy development of China's manufacturing sector.展开更多
In the perspective of local governmental competition, the impact of local governmental competition on farmland conversion is analyzed in terms of political competition, factors competition and products competition, an...In the perspective of local governmental competition, the impact of local governmental competition on farmland conversion is analyzed in terms of political competition, factors competition and products competition, and the empirical analysis is conducted according to the provincial data from 2002 to 2007. The results show that the endowment of land resources correlates negatively with the scale of farmland conversion, and the population, the tendency of exceeding capital investment and the competition of research and development input correlate positively with the scale of farmland conversion. According to these research results, corresponding policies and countermeasures are put forward: we should overhaul the system of performance evaluation of local governmental officials; we should normalize the local governmental competitive behavior.展开更多
Consolidated Financial Statements (CFSs) in the public sector represent useful financial tools to improve transparency and accountability toward internal and external users. This aggregate view is only a part of the...Consolidated Financial Statements (CFSs) in the public sector represent useful financial tools to improve transparency and accountability toward internal and external users. This aggregate view is only a part of the information needed in order to give politicians, managers, employees, financial institutions, rating agencies, and citizens a whole view of a local government's financial performance. It emerges the need to have segment information, covering specific policy areas for which it is appropriate to separately report financial and non-financial information. This paper, after having discussed the need for accountability and decision-making in a theoretical framework, gives account of a pilot project realized by the municipality of Reggio Emilia, which introduced CFSs and segment reporting. The empirical study is based on an action research as a methodological approach to solving practical problems. Finally, the paper also offers some practical suggestions to contribute to the applicability of the segment reporting in the public sector.展开更多
In this study, we discuss the financial constraints and the behavior of local governments. We expect that governments in relative wealthy region will act as a helping hand for companies trader its control on average, ...In this study, we discuss the financial constraints and the behavior of local governments. We expect that governments in relative wealthy region will act as a helping hand for companies trader its control on average, while those in relative poor region will be a grabbing hand. By dividing local governments into 3 categories according to its GDP per capita and Fiscal Revenue per capita, we test the relationship between government attributes and the long-term performance of listed companies in corporate control market. We find that target companies who are later controlled by the wealthiest government achieve better performance, while those who were later controlled by the poorest governments also achieve significant better long-term performance.展开更多
Parts of China are an advanced industrial society with excellent public transportation, universities, industry, and other modern features; while other parts (geographically and functionally) remain a developing nati...Parts of China are an advanced industrial society with excellent public transportation, universities, industry, and other modern features; while other parts (geographically and functionally) remain a developing nation. For China, to build a stronger and more equitable society requires much work to develop governance at the local level. In pursuit of this goal, China actively seeks to learn lessons from abroad, including from American local government. This article examines the similarities and differences between these two nations and their systems of government toward the end of identifying potential challenges to Chinese efforts to learn from American-style local governance. This is grounded in policy transfer theory, which guides the discussion of how to learn from other jurisdictions--from other jurisdictions within the nation, from other points in time within the nation, and from other nations. Perhaps the ultimate questions are, "Should China continue efforts to learn from external models or focus its energy internally?" and "Does China need a more clearly defined governance model rather than its current approach that simultaneously allows and questions a high degree of decentralization (both within the party and the government)?" This paper seeks to add to that intellectual discourse by applying recent data and a conceptual framework.展开更多
In order to find out reasons for local government illegally occupying cultivated land and reduce such acts to ensure China's grain security,this paper made an analysis through building the single person game model...In order to find out reasons for local government illegally occupying cultivated land and reduce such acts to ensure China's grain security,this paper made an analysis through building the single person game model for local government's legal or illegal occupation of cultivation land.It reached the conclusion that the benefit obtained by local government from illegal occupation of cultivated land is far greater than cost and punishment of such illegal acts.Illegal act is an optimal choice of local government to maximize its benefits,which is also the major reason for its illegal occupation of cultivated land.Thus,to reduce these illegal acts of local government,it should reduce benefits of local government obtained from illegal occupation of cultivated land,and increase costs for illegal occupation of cultivated land.展开更多
Natural disasters, in all of their phases, have been and are part of social development processes, where their types describe development stages and their impact is reflected in cultural differences and social develop...Natural disasters, in all of their phases, have been and are part of social development processes, where their types describe development stages and their impact is reflected in cultural differences and social development processes. A big impact in this process has also the technological development, which has affected the society to face various crises. Unfortunately, policymakers have not learned a lesson from this and as a result, they do not prepare themselves and public to react adequately against these crises. Facts indicate that technological advancement created the possibility of presenting different development sizes of catastrophe. As a result, our planet represents "the world of danger" since development activities in one place affect the population outside its borders. This applies to natural and technological disasters, like: earthquakes, floods, fires, industrial and nuclear incidents, etc. Dynamical developments of our time require clarification of some problems which are very important for the security of every human being but also for the country and functioning of its security system. Although these cases are managed on daily basis at the lowest possible geographical, organizational, and legal level, again there are circumstances in which successful operations in managing an incident depend on the involvement of many governmental levels, functional agencies, and emergy response. These circumstances required effective and efficient reaction between a citizen as the first one to face the danger and local government bodies which are obligated for his protection.展开更多
文摘Neurons are highly polarized cells with axons reaching over a meter long in adult humans.To survive and maintain their proper function,neurons depend on specific mechanisms that regulate spatiotemporal signaling and metabolic events,which need to be carried out at the right place,time,and intensity.Such mechanisms include axonal transport,local synthesis,and liquid-liquid phase separations.Alterations and malfunctions in these processes are correlated to neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS).
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(70901035)~~
文摘[Objective] To analyze the positioning of low-carbon agriculture development in local governments of China. [Method] The emissions of green-house gas, the connotation and characteristics of low-carbon agriculture, and the necessity of developing low-carbon agriculture were analyzed, obtaining the positioning and measures for the development of low-carbon agriculture in local government. [Result] Government plays a leading role in the development of low-carbon agriculture. The development of low-carbon agriculture can be promoted through the formulation of scientific low-carbon agricultural development plan, culturing new talents on low-carbon agriculture, promoting low-carbon agricultural technology, establishing low-carbon agricultural risk prevention mechanisms. [Conclusion] Making economy, environment and resources coordinated with each other, leading by the concept of scientific development with the concept of sustainable development, is where the future of agricultural development in China lies.
文摘Two rounds of leveraging-up have led to a high debt ratio in the Chinese economy, triggered liquidity mismatch and increased systemic financial risks. The key causes of local government liabilities are soft budget constraints and non-market-based factor allocation. Currently, the risks of local government liabilities are generally controllable. This paper concludes that the long-term solution to managing local government liabilities is to enhance budget constraint and institutional assurance and proposes countermeasures in the reform of urban construction investment and ftnancing mechanisms.
文摘This paper analyzes the links among Europeanization, multilevel governance, and international activities of local governments. To do so, a revision of the literature on these three areas is provided, with a special emphasis on the effects that the Europeanization process (hierarchical and horizontal) and multilevel governance (type I and type II) have had over the internationalization of local governments. Thus, local governments' international activities have evolved and adapted to a complex system of governance. Furthermore, the paper offers a reflection on current trends such as European Union (EU) and national programmes aimed at fostering International initiatives of local governments, and the impact of the economic crisis on these activities.
文摘The Pearl River(Zhujiang)Delta(PRD)has been a focal point in reform era ac ademic circles not only for its dramatic industrial growth but a lso the simultaneous agricultural development.Unlike most of existing research on the PRDeconomic development and transformation fromthe whole region level,this paper explored this question f romthe perspec-tive of a township using Beijiao in Shunde City as a case study.Unlike the c onclusions of existing studies whic h attribute the regional economic transition to the macro factors,particularly the influence of external investment,t his research re-veals that at the level of township,t he local government,the town-villa ge owned enterprises and the individ uals have been playing remarkable roles in local economic transformation.In the early stage since the economic reform,Beijiao township government,replacing the central a nd provincial governments before,b egan to manipulate the development o f town-village owned enterprises and lead the local economic transformation from agricultural to industrial dominated.As the town-village owned enterprises grew during the later years,they gra dually acted as the main dominant pla yer leading the local agricultural and industrial growth.At the same time the individuals in Beijiao were playing more in dependent role to gain their most profits.While the local government changed to be t he real manager of local economies.S o the local economic transition was not entirely externally driven.In another word,the“driven from outsidemodel can not totally explain the economic fact in this specific region.
文摘The influence of the transfer payments from the central government to the local governments on the local governments' efforts on taxation must be taken into consideration by every country for the design of the transfer payments. Based on the theoretical analysis on the influence of the transfer payments from the central government to the local governments' on the local governments' payments', this paper indicates that the local governments' efforts on taxation depends on the demand elasticity of the district for public goods, It increases with the increase of the elasticity. Judge the degree of the local govet:nment's efforts on taxation by measure 2. After an empirical analysis on the transJer payments from the central government to the local governments'from 2000 to 2004, this paper gets the con- clusion that the local governments' effbrts on taxation ctbates with the increase of supporting payments or with the increase of the ratio of transfer payments to local wiliing public paymentS. Under speCific Circumstances, the higher the ratio of transfer payments to the local fiscal expenditure is. the smaller the local governments' efforts' on taxation is" under the central payments, whereas' the higher the local income is, the higher the efforts is under the central pav- ments. Based on this', this paper gives the meaning of its eOrresponding pofiCieS. "
文摘Interprovincial counterpart support is a cooperative system used by local governments to achieve horizontal flow of resources based on cross-regional cooperation.Existing research has mainly focused on governance ef‐ficiency,institutional advantages,and ranking incentives while ignoring the scrambling behavior and opera‐tional mechanisms of local governments formed by ranking incentives and territorial responsibilities.This study selected the Wenchuan earthquake,Yushu earthquake,and COVID-19 as three typical cases.We con‐structed a theoretical framework for competition among provincial local governments and found that competi‐tion in interprovincial disaster counterpart support followed a dual behavioral logic of“striving to be first”and“fear of being last”.Specifically,local governments will choose striving to be first under the logic of time coercion,content games,and territorial responsibility;they will choose fear of being last under the logic of re‐sponsibility avoidance and moral pressure.This type of scrambling-based horizontal competition reflects the logic of local government competition tournaments.This study further revealed the specific processes,mecha‐nisms,and results of horizontal local government competition,which can provide inspiration for cross regional and provincial cooperation.
文摘The purpose of this article is to raise the question of how important decentralisation and local governments are for the successful transition and eventually for sustainable human development of a state. The paper focuses on the gap between development or transition and decentralisation within academic and international policy discourse. In article, the author tries to answer such questions as how local government can contribute to SHD (sustainable human development). And how should the international community contribute to and support the transition and development process of the developing countries? Article shows that local self-government can be a school of democracy and responsibility for the wealth of the state and citizens. By sharing the Polish decentralisation experience, the author shows how important decentralisation might be for successful transition, democratization and sustainable development. The paper also includes a short introduction to the European Charter, recent African efforts like AMCOD or UCLGA and European Union development assistance policy. The purpose of this is to show how little attention is paid to local governments and decentralisation within international policy and how huge is the gap between Europe's (developed) states and Africa's (developing) states related to their decentralisation policy, law and practice.
文摘The situation of the contemporary economic systems is based on their ability to ensure optimal response to the customer needs. There are several important groups of clients, who may determine development processes and who are recipients of public services. They include: residents, entrepreneurs, tourists, and State Treasury. Local governments are equipped with a range of legal instruments to provide public services addressed to the selected clients. The objective of this paper is to present the application of the AHP method to assess the significance of the selected categories of public services for different groups of clients in Poland. The results allow setting priorities for future policy and adjust the tasks to the specific expectations of each group of clients. The model of assessment of public services was built using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Since the 1970's, this multicriteria decision-support method has been used by researchers and practitioners in many areas of socioeconomic life. The case study presented in this paper involved 14 experts--public administration workers in one of the districts in Southern Poland. The survey consisted of two stages. First, they assessed--using the AHP--the influence of each group of customers on local development processes. The most important was "business" (priority 38.7%), followed by "tourists" (29.7%), "citizens" (26.1%), and "central administration" (5.5%). Second, they evaluated at the five-point Liken scale the influence of over 20 different public services with respect to different groups of clients. The results were aggregated using arithmetic mean and multiplied by the priorities of the clients. The synthesized final score indicated the most significant public activities overall, which were "roads" (4.16), "transport" (3.93), and "tourism" (3.84).
文摘Local governmental debts in China seem to be in a more precarious position than local government debts in the USA. The scale of Chinese local government debts far surpasses that of the USA. Further, Chinese local government debts appear to be expanding at an alarming rate in the past decade or so. This research focuses on grand strategies for dealing with Chinese local government debts. There are five research questions for this paper: 1) What is the size of the Chinese government debts? 2) Are Chinese local government debts controllable? 3) Who or what caused the rapid increase of the Chinese local government debts? 4) Is it possible to have individual accountability for increasing local government debts in the future? and 5) Will it be helpful to create a local government debt management organization in the Chinese central government? Based on the available literature, this analysis also utilizes in death interviews with 13 government officials, policy analyst, and scholars. First, this paper identifies the size and categories of debts related to Chinese local governments. Then this paper illustrates various ways and methods of Chinese local governments to obtain leverage. After analyzing the causes and origins of these debts, the research demonstrates a potential local systematic risk. By contrast to its advantages and disadvantages, the paper suggests that the local governmental debts need to be constrained. It is important to restrict debt growth in terms of issuing, buying, repurchasing, collateralizing, etc. within a legal framework. With the consideration of political mechanisms in China, the research suggests that the central government establishes a specific organization to help normalize the local governmental debts with the function of supervision and management. The research also believes that it will be an effective way to control the growth of local debts if the central government can hold the relevant top leaders/officials of local governments to be accountable for their performances related to debt accumulation.
文摘This case study focuses on the current and future needs of the management accounting within the Tallinn city government and their potential relationships with the sustainability reporting. This analysis is based on the study carried out within the city organizations in 2011. The questionnaire drawn up by the authors includes several questions about the current management accounting tools of the city and their development and support needs. The authors also add some questions related to the sustainability reporting, which is obligatory for the city as one of the members of the Aalborg Charter. The quantitative methodology was used. The authors' conclusion is that the level of the managerial accountability of the Estonian municipality is increasing and its sole economic focus is changing to a broader perspective. According to the findings of the study, the authors argue that both management accounting principles and sustainability principles are coming closer together. By using Talcott Parsons' adaptation, goal attainment, integration, and latency (AGIL) paradigm, the authors point out four critical components for implementing the sustainability reporting into a management accounting system. The results of this study highlight the role of values in the management accounting development, which is in harmony with the AGIL paradigm.
基金This paper is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 70373051). The authors are grateful to Penny Prime for helpful discussion.
文摘The fiscal system is an important part of national economic management and deals with the division of financial responsibility and power, regulates and defines the fiscal activities among different levels of governments. The changes in economic system and economic structure decide the changes of fiscal function and fiscal structure, which results in the changes in intergovernmental distribution form and local government behavior. This paper takes a look at the stages of China's fiscal reform process and the impacts on local government behavior, and tries to find measures for perfecting the fiscal system reform to optimize local government behavior and guarantee a healthy national economy.
文摘Maltese Local Councils are required to prepare financial reports compliant with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Through documentary research, this study examined the suitability of this requirement and implications for institutional relationships. This study showed that IFRS statements are problematic to produce and interpret at the local level of government, and that, on their own, they are undermining the control needs of the Central Government. This study highlighted the important role of financial reporting for accountability by showing that the use of financial reporting systems that do not fit the reporting entity may actually lead to avoidance of accountability by mystifying reality.
基金funded by Humanities and Social Sciences Research Youth Foundation Program of the Ministry of Education:Challenges of Workforce Absorption of Manufacturing Sector and Solutions-Perspective Based on Capital Deepening(Approval No.12YJC790034)
文摘This paper investigates the effect of local government intervention on capital deepening of manufacturing sector by using interprovincial panel data sets of 28 Chinese provinces,municipalities and autonomous regions between 1994 and 2011.Theoretical research indicates that as a transitional economy,China's local government intervention in corporate investment behaviors will cause excessive investment,thus bringing about a long-term and sustained tendency of capital deepening in manufacturing sector.Empirical test further discovers that in a certain range,the phenomenon of capital deepening in manufacturing sector is not an inevitable result endogenous to economic development and technology progress,and that investment behaviors of manufacturing sector are largely subject to the external institutional environment.Fiscal decentralization has indeed promoted capital deepening of manufacturing sector.Financial credit expansion and interventions in SOEs are major instruments for local governments to intervene in the capital deepening of manufacturing sector and such an influence is particularly significant for China's central,western and northeast regions.Therefore,clarifying government functions and improving local government performance review mechanism are of great significance to the healthy development of China's manufacturing sector.
文摘In the perspective of local governmental competition, the impact of local governmental competition on farmland conversion is analyzed in terms of political competition, factors competition and products competition, and the empirical analysis is conducted according to the provincial data from 2002 to 2007. The results show that the endowment of land resources correlates negatively with the scale of farmland conversion, and the population, the tendency of exceeding capital investment and the competition of research and development input correlate positively with the scale of farmland conversion. According to these research results, corresponding policies and countermeasures are put forward: we should overhaul the system of performance evaluation of local governmental officials; we should normalize the local governmental competitive behavior.
文摘Consolidated Financial Statements (CFSs) in the public sector represent useful financial tools to improve transparency and accountability toward internal and external users. This aggregate view is only a part of the information needed in order to give politicians, managers, employees, financial institutions, rating agencies, and citizens a whole view of a local government's financial performance. It emerges the need to have segment information, covering specific policy areas for which it is appropriate to separately report financial and non-financial information. This paper, after having discussed the need for accountability and decision-making in a theoretical framework, gives account of a pilot project realized by the municipality of Reggio Emilia, which introduced CFSs and segment reporting. The empirical study is based on an action research as a methodological approach to solving practical problems. Finally, the paper also offers some practical suggestions to contribute to the applicability of the segment reporting in the public sector.
文摘In this study, we discuss the financial constraints and the behavior of local governments. We expect that governments in relative wealthy region will act as a helping hand for companies trader its control on average, while those in relative poor region will be a grabbing hand. By dividing local governments into 3 categories according to its GDP per capita and Fiscal Revenue per capita, we test the relationship between government attributes and the long-term performance of listed companies in corporate control market. We find that target companies who are later controlled by the wealthiest government achieve better performance, while those who were later controlled by the poorest governments also achieve significant better long-term performance.
文摘Parts of China are an advanced industrial society with excellent public transportation, universities, industry, and other modern features; while other parts (geographically and functionally) remain a developing nation. For China, to build a stronger and more equitable society requires much work to develop governance at the local level. In pursuit of this goal, China actively seeks to learn lessons from abroad, including from American local government. This article examines the similarities and differences between these two nations and their systems of government toward the end of identifying potential challenges to Chinese efforts to learn from American-style local governance. This is grounded in policy transfer theory, which guides the discussion of how to learn from other jurisdictions--from other jurisdictions within the nation, from other points in time within the nation, and from other nations. Perhaps the ultimate questions are, "Should China continue efforts to learn from external models or focus its energy internally?" and "Does China need a more clearly defined governance model rather than its current approach that simultaneously allows and questions a high degree of decentralization (both within the party and the government)?" This paper seeks to add to that intellectual discourse by applying recent data and a conceptual framework.
文摘In order to find out reasons for local government illegally occupying cultivated land and reduce such acts to ensure China's grain security,this paper made an analysis through building the single person game model for local government's legal or illegal occupation of cultivation land.It reached the conclusion that the benefit obtained by local government from illegal occupation of cultivated land is far greater than cost and punishment of such illegal acts.Illegal act is an optimal choice of local government to maximize its benefits,which is also the major reason for its illegal occupation of cultivated land.Thus,to reduce these illegal acts of local government,it should reduce benefits of local government obtained from illegal occupation of cultivated land,and increase costs for illegal occupation of cultivated land.
文摘Natural disasters, in all of their phases, have been and are part of social development processes, where their types describe development stages and their impact is reflected in cultural differences and social development processes. A big impact in this process has also the technological development, which has affected the society to face various crises. Unfortunately, policymakers have not learned a lesson from this and as a result, they do not prepare themselves and public to react adequately against these crises. Facts indicate that technological advancement created the possibility of presenting different development sizes of catastrophe. As a result, our planet represents "the world of danger" since development activities in one place affect the population outside its borders. This applies to natural and technological disasters, like: earthquakes, floods, fires, industrial and nuclear incidents, etc. Dynamical developments of our time require clarification of some problems which are very important for the security of every human being but also for the country and functioning of its security system. Although these cases are managed on daily basis at the lowest possible geographical, organizational, and legal level, again there are circumstances in which successful operations in managing an incident depend on the involvement of many governmental levels, functional agencies, and emergy response. These circumstances required effective and efficient reaction between a citizen as the first one to face the danger and local government bodies which are obligated for his protection.