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Government Authorities (government + authority)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting62%
Humanities and Social Sciences25%

Kinds of Government Authorities

  • local government authority
    		•

    Selected Abstracts

    Unpacking a Wicked Problem: Enablers/Impediments to Regional Engagement

    AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 1 2009
    Michael J. Christie
    A case study approach is applied to review Local Government Authorities (LGA) regional engagement in the Australian context. We address the question ,What are the key LGA enablers/impediments to regional engagement?' by applying Leydesdorff's (2000) proposition that triple helix type network systems exhibit patterns of complex behaviour if the interaction factors that trigger enablers are reflexively declared. The three strands of the LGA triple helix network system are institutions, industry and government. In this case study the LGA's overall management of its regional stakeholder relationships resulted in impediments that limit strong regional engagement. Importantly, the findings inform practitioners, policy-makers and research audiences of the nature of impediments and, by inference, the nature of enablers in LGA triple helix network systems. [source]

    AN EXAMINATION OF THE CONTENT OF COMMUNITY FINANCIAL REPORTS IN QUEENSLAND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES

    FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY & MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2008
    Trevor Stanley
    Annual reports, including general purpose financial statements, have been adopted as a key mechanism by which public sector entities discharge their accountability. However, there is concern about the complexity of public sector general purpose financial statements and consequently their effectiveness as an accountability mechanism. In Australia, the Queensland government has moved to address this issue in local government authorities by introducing a Community Financial Report as a means of simplifying the financial statements. A feature of this initiative was the lack of prescription given to local government authorities in the preparation of this report. This paper examines the form and content included in Community Financial Reports and also uses a disclosure index to determine the level of disclosure in the reports. The results of this research show that the form and content of the Community Financial Reports varied considerably. There was no definitive style, with each report being unique. The disclosure index revealed low levels of disclosure by local government authorities in the first year of the report as well as a lack of analysis of the Statements of Financial Performance, Position and Cash Flows. As well, there was a significant difference in the disclosures made by rural local government authorities compared with urban local government authorities. The results of this research will be of interest to local government authorities and local government regulators as they aim to provide useful, understandable information for stakeholders. [source]

    Evaluating e-government: learning from the experiences of two UK local authorities

    INFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Issue 1 2005
    Zahir Irani
    Abstract. Part of the remit of public sector management includes planning and reflecting on capital expenditure on new technology. With this in mind, the role that information systems play in supporting improvements in e-government service delivery to stakeholder groups continues to attract much attention. The authors of this paper seek to define the scope and role that information systems evaluation plays within the public sector. In particular, the authors assess whether public sector organizations might benefit from the use of established ex-ante evaluation techniques, when applied to analyse the impact of e-government information systems. Following a comprehensive review of the normative literature, an initial conceptual framework for public sector information systems evaluation is proposed, which is then empirically explored within two local government authorities. The conceptual framework is then revised by using the structured case approach, which is dependent on an iterative research cycle where triangulated data are elicited. This then supports the emergence of new concepts during each research cycle that leads to the view that information systems evaluation in the public sector is a process of experiential and subjective judgement, which is grounded in opinion and world views. This leads the authors to challenge the appropriateness of traditional modes of investment appraisal when applied in the public sector. The finalized framework embraces investment decisions, evaluation methods, culture and structure, as well as post hoc evaluation. It emphasizes the importance of situated, interpretive user assessments in evaluating e-government investments. [source]

    The Closing Frontier: Agrarian Change, Immigrants and the ,Squatter Menace' in Gokwe, 1980-1990s

    JOURNAL OF AGRARIAN CHANGE, Issue 4 2001
    Pius S. Nyambara
    ,Squatting' in the communal areas of Zimbabwe has been largely ignored in the literature because it is assumed that it does not exist in a ,communal' land tenure system. This article argues that ,squatting' in Gokwe villages has become a common strategy by landless immigrants to access land. Gokwe has been a frontier region for many immigrants in search of land since the 1950s with intense pressure on land by the 1990s. As the frontier closed, the question of citizenship in Gokwe villages became more signi?cant than ever before. Those who are not formally registered as residents are de?ned by local government authorities and established villagers as ,squatters' who should be evicted. The article traces how local authorities and established villagers have responded to what they perceive as the ,squatter menace'. It further examines the means used by ,squatters' to lay claims to land and to defend those claims in Gokwe villages. [source]

    Intimate encounters: the embodied transnationalism of backpackers and independent travellers

    POPULATION, SPACE AND PLACE (PREVIOUSLY:-INT JOURNAL OF POPULATION GEOGRAPHY), Issue 1 2010
    Fiona Allon
    Abstract This paper examines some of the tensions between local government authorities, residents, and backpackers occurring in a group of Sydney coastal suburbs that are the host destinations for large numbers of young independent travellers. Drawing on the concepts of ,intimacy' and ,encounter', it focuses on the kinds of embodied encounters occurring when the transnational networks of these travellers become overlaid on, and in conflict with, the patterns of occupancy and governance of relatively settled and established residential communities. These exchanges not only include the mix of experiences of local residents living side by side this group of transnational visitors, but also the interactions established among the travellers themselves. These involve new and novel relations of social and physical community formation, sexual practices, patterns of drug and alcohol consumption, as well as instances of danger, discomfort, and violence. The range and intensity of these kinds of encounters, as well as the problems frequently associated with them, appear to be increasing primarily because backpackers not only travel through but also dwell in place. One of the more neglected results of this phenomenon, is, as we suggest in this paper, a range of new encounters that are ,intimate' not only in the obvious sense of a meeting of diverse and physically proximate bodies. Employing the notion of ,cultural intimacy', we suggest that such encounters can also be said to arouse sensitivities associated with the often cherished and taken-for-granted fixities of home, place, and entitlement, for ,visitor' and ,host' alike. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

    Testing For Government Intertemporal Solvency: A Smooth Transition Error Correction Model Approach

    THE MANCHESTER SCHOOL, Issue 6 2001
    Andrea Cipollini
    Applied macroeconomists have tested for the government intertemporal solvency condition by either testing for linear stationarity in the total government deficit series or testing for linear cointegration between total government spending and total tax revenues. A number of authors have focused, in particular, on structural breaks in the government deficit process. In this paper, we use a smooth transition error correction model to test and estimate a shift in the adjustment toward a linear cointegration relationship between the government spending to output ratio and the total tax revenues to output ratio. Estimation results show that government authorities react only to large (in absolute value) changes in the government spending to output ratio. Residual diagnostic tests are provided and they show that the model is not misspecified. [source]

    Forecasting Hong Kong's container throughput: an error-correction model

    JOURNAL OF FORECASTING, Issue 1 2002
    Michael K. FungArticle first published online: 28 DEC 200
    Abstract A three-player oligopoly model is devised to capture the competitive interaction between operators of the Hong Kong container terminals, the Hong Kong midstream and the Singapore container terminals in providing container handling services. The oligopoly model is then estimated statistically and thereby the structural parameters can be identified. The results of the estimation confirm a substitutability between the services supplied by operators of different types (terminal versus midstream) and different locations (Hong Kong versus Singapore). Moreover, the model proposed in this article generates forecasts of demand for Hong Kong's container handling services that are more accurate than those reported by the government authority, and suggests an earlier construction of new terminals to meet future demand. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

    Australian Federalism Confronts Globalisation: A New Challenge at the Centenary

    AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 3 2002
    John M Kline
    Globalisation poses a special challenge for federal systems of government. Despite administrative reforms, Australia has not fully confronted crucial questions regarding the role of states and territories when international issues overlap areas of subnational government authority. This challenge emerged with controversies over environmental regulations, import quarantines and Aboriginal policies. Initial reforms focused mainly on treaty approval processes, leaving broader policy questions largely unexamined. Subnational governments sometimes react protectively when facing dislocation threats from global forces; conversely, they can carry out constituency representation and education functions in ways that promote Australia's competitiveness and counter public distrust of globalisation. Federalism's new challenge is to devise political processes that foster positive state and territorial participation in Australia's response to globalisation. [source]