Journal of Economic and Social Policy

Book Review: Centeno. M. A. and Cohen. J. N. (2010), Global Capitalism: A Sociological Perspective

Judith Johnson — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:49:55 PDT

Economic Implications of FTTH Networks: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Brandi N. Guidry et al. — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:49:54 PDT

Individuals and businesses are becoming ever more reliant on advanced telecommunications technologies that provide increased bandwidth capabilities. Because fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) enables the technology necessary to facilitate such things as sophisticated computer-aided design and advanced system integration, drastic improvements in efficiency of technology-intensive business processes and communication are expected. In an effort to empirically assess the economic impact of FTTH at the community level, this study employed a quantitative design using cross-sectional data collected for 16 experimental communities as well as for 16 matched control cities. The findings of this research are seemingly reflective of potential economic improvements that could arise if FTTH is present in a community. Specifically, annual employment rate, mean annual household income, and educational attainment were found to be significantly higher in experimental cities as compared to control cities. These results offer some insights regarding policy-making efforts at the federal, state, and local levels.

Match Making: Finding People Missing Out on Government Assistance

David Baker — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:49:53 PDT

The populist narrative of welfare cheating in Australia is perpetuated, in part, through the reporting of overpayments identified via government initiatives such as data-matching. The Data-matching Program compares the income reported to Centrelink with data held by the Australian Taxation Office. This paper reports that at least half as many people may be missing out on government assistance as are receiving an over payment. The amount being missed is appreciably more than the government saves through recouping over payments. It is argued that data-matching should be used to find those people missing out on assistance, the number of which the government should also be quantifying.

The ECB in an Enlarged Monetary Union: How to Reform the Rotation Scheme

Wolfram Berger et al. — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:49:53 PDT

The ECB recently announced the details of a rotation scheme for voting rights it will implement for its Governing Council as soon as the number of member states exceeds 18. However, skepticism remains regarding whether this model is appropriate to prepare the ECB for euro-zone enlargement. This study proposes, discusses, and evaluates possible amendments to this model from three perspectives (efficiency, European orientation, transparency) that deal with flexible majority voting, regrouping of countries, weighted voting, and centralised decision making. Each model improves on the rotation model in some respect, yet only a move toward more centralised decision making promises efficient, timely, and transparent decisions that avoid national biases. The widespread skepticism about the political acceptability of this approach is not shared in this paper. Instead, we note encouraging signs that a European identity is close to developing so that centralised policy making can be expected to gain more legitimacy and acceptability.

Social Preferences and Policy Centralisation: The Case of US Speed Limits

Daniel Albalate — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:49:52 PDT

In reviewing the US debate on speed limits, we illustrate how a different valuation of the trade-off between private mobility needs and safety concerns can shape transport policy. The decentralisation debate and the speed limit in each state, obey the social preferences and valuation given to this trade-off, which in turn are largely influenced by geography. It is consistent with evidence that higher speed limits are found in states with greater mobility needs, even though their fatality rates are among the highest. We illustrate the inefficiency of centralisation when regulating aspects affected by diverse and heterogeneous social preferences across regions.

Principles of Political Economy Applied to Policy and Governance: Disembedded Economy, Contradictions, Circular Cumulation and Uneven Development

Phillip Anthony O'Hara — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:49:51 PDT

The purpose of this paper is to apply some core general principles of political economy to central issues of policy and governance. After a short section explaining the nature of the science of political economy, we start with Polanyi’s principle of the disembedded economy, and how this relates to cycles and waves of policy-making concerning the double movement and the relationship between markets, reciprocity and redistribution. Then we go on to scrutinise the principle of contradiction, paying special attention to the importance of capital-labor relations, the finance-industry dichotomy, monopoly versus competition, profit and the environment, plus individual versus society. Thereafter the principle of circular and cumulative causation is linked to social and production aspects of complex systems of political economy. And lastly we examine the principle of uneven development and how crucial this is to policy-making institutions as the world undergoes asymmetries of financial instability, climate change and cycle dynamics. Core principles thus provide a good grounding for general policy purposes when activist governance measures are required to improve human and environmental provisioning.

Book Review: ‘Controversies in Local Economic Development: Stories, Strategies, Solutions’ by Martin Perry

Lila Singh Peterson — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:51:42 PDT

Economic Modelling of Climate Change and Water in a Regulated River Basin

Jerry Courvisanos et al. — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:51:41 PDT

Focus is on agricultural production of a river basin economy and ecosystem processes relating to climate change and water supply. A generic regulated river basin model of agricultural production is integrated with an existing demand-based macroeconomic model in discrete time which has been developed previously over a series of computer simulation experiments. This is the forerunner to a fully-specified Murray-Darling Basin model. Two crops are in the model - rainfed wheat and irrigated rice - with River Basin Commission revenue and expenditure, as well as exports and imports outside the river basin economy. The model simulates 100 years of production.

Horizontal Fiscal Equalisation and Regional Development: A View From Western Australia

Christopher Berry — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:51:40 PDT

Australia has a well established system of financial assistance grants to State, Territory and Local Governments based on the principle of horizontal fiscal equalisation. From a regional development point of view, the current system for State/Territory level funding is not favourable for regions. Differences between the levels of State services to regions and to capital cities are entrenched in the Commonwealth system for GST revenue allocation to the States. The local government funding arrangements however provide considerable assistance to regional areas, but only in terms of local government functions. The paper examines the role of financial assistance grants in supporting regional development in Australia.

Rural Volunteer Community Transport Drivers: The Need for Greater Participation in the Policy Process

Margaret Anderson Ms et al. — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:51:38 PDT

Volunteers form the backbone of rural community transport services. They deliver a range of services including driving transport-disadvantaged clients to essential health and social care appointments. While trips for social care are usually local, trips for health appointments often involve long distances, long days, and out of pocket expenses for the drivers. In these situations volunteers and their passengers are exposed to increased levels of risk. Governments at all levels consider volunteer involvement as civic participation or social capital, yet little is known about the experiences of rural volunteer community transport drivers or local policy that governs their work. This paper describes a study that conducted an analysis of policy documents related to volunteer activity in four community transport organisations in rural NSW. The study explored variations in policies, whether volunteer drivers had participated in their development or revision, and whether the government models of the service agency was related to volunteer policy.

Key findings include: that operational policies lack consistency across the services; that the role of volunteer drivers varies across services located in the same region; that participation of volunteers in either developing or reviewing local policies that govern their work was evident in the policies of only one of the four services; and that governance models do not appear to be related to volunteer participation.

Responding to Australia's Regional Skill Shortages Through Regional Skilled Migration

Roslyn Cameron — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:51:37 PDT

Skill shortages in regional Australia are having a profound effect upon regional sustainability and renewal. The causes and drivers of skill shortages involve a complex interplay between macroeconomic trends and proximal causes. This paper draws together recent policy initiatives and research on skill shortages in the Australian context and the implications this has for regional Australia. Skilled migration has become a key element in Australia’s strategy to address major human capital issues and imperatives and specific reference is made to regional skilled migration initiatives as a “glocalised” response to regional skill shortages. Recent reforms in migration policy towards a demand-driven, economic modelling system, has seen greater input from states/territories and regions into the required skills and types of targeted skilled migration programs needed to assist in meeting regional skill shortages. The paper reviews several pieces of research on regional skilled migration before concluding with some key issues and directions for future research in relation to the role and effectiveness of the regional skilled migration scheme in assisting Australia to address regional skill shortages.

On Unaffordable Regional Infrastructure

Mark McGovern — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:51:36 PDT

Modern societies have failed to find affordable ways to fund needed infrastructure. Problems have multiplied from ignoring the particular characteristics of infrastructure and assuming the adequacy of the conventional finance of recent times, be this publicly or privately sourced. These failures, compounded by insensitive monetary stances, have led to a lingering economic and financial malaise, one particularly evident in some regions. Such failures have also contributed to the parlous position of many governments and the current global crisis. Infrastructure affordability is a central theme in this paper. Affordability, investment and credit are explored using simple numerical illustrations to highlight important aspects of probably the most pervasive means of finance, debt. Interest rate and other movements over decades can generate significant variations in yields realised from investments. Conditions over recent decades appear to have made debt-financed infrastructure more unaffordable than any time in the century since the States of Australia federated. It is little wonder that all States are currently struggling with infrastructure provision. A new era may be emerging from current crises but its eventual success, or otherwise, will reflect how well (un-)affordability is addressed. Prospective yields on investments need to be sufficiently realisable. Recognition and accommodation of the peculiarities of various forms of investment will be part of any adequate new foundations. The “infrastructure (un-)affordability problem” needs to be much better appreciated, understood and accommodated, by private and public parties alike.

Identifying and Communicating Current Issues for Regional Australia

Kate Charters et al. — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:51:34 PDT

The development of policy affecting regional Australia is dependent on a range of information that is collected at many levels. For regional communities to prosper it is important that issues of importance and relevance to regions be collected and considered in the decision making processes of planners and policy makers. This paper reports on an extensive study of regional Australian stakeholders consisting of considered experts, government, business and community members who contributed data via a community consultation process. The data was analysed and developed through a series of action research stages and categorised to identify six broad themes that propose directions for the future. The broad themes span governance, the economy, infrastructure, population and social issues, natural resource use management, and cultural and land rights issues. Each is discussed in detail and provide insights for future action that will promote a stronger Australia.

Special Issue: Current Issues in Regional Australian Economic and Social Policy

Peter Vitartas et al. — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:51:32 PDT

The Construction of ‘Regional Development’ in the Boardroom: A Comparative Analysis of New South Wales and Western Australia

Lou Conway et al. — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:15:14 PDT

The expression ‘regional development’ has entered contemporary policy discourse as if it represented a commonly understood and well-defined activity.

This paper considers the manner in which board members of state government-funded regional development agencies in New South Wales (NSW) and Western Australia (WA) describe regional development. We outline four major discourses surrounding regional development in the literature and compare these with the narratives gathered from 53 regional development board members in NSW and WA. Analysis of these semi-structured interviews suggests that board members see regional development in overlapping and coalescing discourses which inform understandings of their roles within the broader framework of regional development governance. Further, we suggest that regional development is principally driven by uncertainty and the boards are regarded, at least by those within the boardroom, as instruments of politicised activity.

Public Value: Positive Ethics for Australian Local Government

Bligh Grant et al. — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:15:13 PDT

The challenges confronting Australian local government are typically problematised in terms of either economic sustainability and efficiency, or the ‘democratic deficit’ resultant from amalgamations. Comparatively little attention has been paid to a justification of local government aimed at reinforcing its legitimacy against reform processes initiated by other tiers of government. In an attempt to rectify this deficit, this paper explores the applicability of Mark Moore’s (1995) theory of Public Value to Australian local government. We argue that despite Rhodes and Wanna’s (2007) objections to the applicability of Moore’s theory to Westminster political systems, Public Value provides both an accurate sociological heuristic and a normative theory of politics and public sector management for Australian local government.

Superheroes or Puppets? Local Government Chief Executive Officers in Victoria and Queensland

Stephen Jones — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:15:12 PDT

This article examines the chief executive positions in the Victorian and Queensland local government systems through Mintzberg’s three-dimensional model and Broussine’s capacity model, highlighting the complexities and diversities of these roles. The different approaches to reform taken by the state governments have produced different relationships between chief executives and elected representatives. Of particular interest is the impact of the contract and key performance indicators used by local governments and their ability to facilitate or constrain chief executives in achieving their objectives. The findings suggest that a key challenge for local governments is to establish contractual and performance systems that allow chief executives to achieve their objectives, to deal more effectively with challenges facing communities and contribute to more sustainable local governments.

‘Bottom-up’ Internal Reform in Australian Local Government: The Lake Macquarie City Council Review Process

Brian Dollery et al. — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:15:11 PDT

Australian local government policy makers have traditionally placed great emphasis on forced ‘top-down’ council amalgamation as the main engine of local government reform to the exclusion of other approaches. Drawing on the distinction between structural reform and process reform in local government, this paper examines the Service Review process conducted by the Lake Macquarie City Council over the period 2008 to 2010 as a case study of ‘bottom-up’ internal reform. While the Australian literature on amalgamation has spawned a very useful line of inquiry which has focused on alternative structural models to council mergers, in common with amalgamation most of these alternative models represent different forms of structural change. By contrast, through its analysis of the Lake Macquarie City Council Service Review as a quintessential example of process reform, this paper represents a tentative first step at establishing a parallel Australian literature on models and case studies of internally driven process reform.

Shared Services in Australian Local Government: The Brighton Common Service Model

Simone Valle de Souza et al. — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:15:10 PDT

A series of national and state public inquiries have established that the great majority of Australian local councils find themselves in straitened financial circumstances, with the problem of financial distress most acute in small regional, rural and remote local authorities. Given the spatial dimension of financial unsustainability, various solutions have been proposed, including shared service provision. While considerable ingenuity has been displayed by the local government sector across Australia in the implementation of a wide variety of different shared service models, the academic literature has unfortunately lagged far behind real-world developments. There is thus an urgent need for scholars of Australian local government to consider new shared service models in order to provide a critical assessment of these models as an aid to informed local government policy making. In an effort to meet this gap in the literature, this paper provides a detailed analysis of the common service provision model developed by the Brighton Council in southern Tasmania.

Enhancing Regional Cooperation between Local Councils: A Proposed Two-Tier Model for Australian Local Government

Don Ramsland et al. — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:15:09 PDT

Various state-based and national reports into Australian local government have conclusively demonstrated that the problem of financial sustainability is widespread amongst local councils, especially in non-metropolitan areas. The main impact of this financial distress has fallen on local infrastructure and the magnitude of the problem is now so large that only massive injections of funds from higher levels of government can resolve the problem. However, some scope also exists for local councils to improve the efficiency of their operations. While structural reform in the guise of amalgamation has largely failed to generate efficiency gains, all state-based and national inquiries into local government saw significant potential in shared service models. This paper seeks to augment the existing embryonic literature on alternative models of local government suited to Australian circumstances by proposing a new two-tier model of local governance that can enhance regional cooperation between local councils. The model seeks to preserve local democracy and local representation while simultaneously encouraging shared services in those areas of service provision that exhibit economies of scale and scope economies.