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Greater Accountability (greater + accountability)
Selected AbstractsThe governance and performance of universities: evidence from Europe and the USECONOMIC POLICY, Issue 61 2010Philippe Aghion Summary We test the hypothesis that universities are more productive when they are both more autonomous and face more competition. Using survey data, we construct indices of university autonomy and competition for both Europe and the United States. We show that there are strong positive correlations between these indices and multiple measures of university output. To obtain causal evidence, we investigate exogenous shocks to US universities' expenditures over three decades. These shocks arise through the political appointment process, which we use to generate instrumental variables. We find that an exogenous increase in a university's expenditure generates more output, measured by either patents or publications, if the university is more autonomous and faces more competition. Exploiting variation over time in the ,stakes' of competitions for US federal research grants, we also find that universities generate more output for a given expenditure when research competitions are high stakes. We draw lessons, arguing that European universities could benefit from a combination of greater autonomy and greater accountability. Greater accountability might come through increased reliance on competitive grants, enhanced competition for students and faculty (promoted by reforms that increase mobility), and yardstick competitions (which often take the form of assessment exercises). --- Philippe Aghion, Mathias Dewatripont, Caroline Hoxby, Andreu Mas-Colell and André Sapir [source] Famine Intensity and Magnitude Scales: A Proposal for an Instrumental Definition of FamineDISASTERS, Issue 4 2004Paul Howe Ambiguities in current usage of the term ,famine' have had tragic implications for response and accountability in a number of recent food crises. This paper proposes a new approach to defining famine based on the use of intensity and magnitude scales, where ,intensity' refers to the severity of the crisis at a given location and point in time, while ,magnitude' describes the aggregate impact of a crisis. The scales perform three operations on ,famine': first, moving from a binary conception of ,famine/no famine' to a graduated, multi-level definition; second, disaggregating the dimensions of intensity and magnitude; and third, assigning harmonised ,objective' criteria in place of subjective, case-by-case judgements. If adopted, the famine scales should contribute to more effective and proportionate responses, as well as greater accountability in future food crises. [source] The governance and performance of universities: evidence from Europe and the USECONOMIC POLICY, Issue 61 2010Philippe Aghion Summary We test the hypothesis that universities are more productive when they are both more autonomous and face more competition. Using survey data, we construct indices of university autonomy and competition for both Europe and the United States. We show that there are strong positive correlations between these indices and multiple measures of university output. To obtain causal evidence, we investigate exogenous shocks to US universities' expenditures over three decades. These shocks arise through the political appointment process, which we use to generate instrumental variables. We find that an exogenous increase in a university's expenditure generates more output, measured by either patents or publications, if the university is more autonomous and faces more competition. Exploiting variation over time in the ,stakes' of competitions for US federal research grants, we also find that universities generate more output for a given expenditure when research competitions are high stakes. We draw lessons, arguing that European universities could benefit from a combination of greater autonomy and greater accountability. Greater accountability might come through increased reliance on competitive grants, enhanced competition for students and faculty (promoted by reforms that increase mobility), and yardstick competitions (which often take the form of assessment exercises). --- Philippe Aghion, Mathias Dewatripont, Caroline Hoxby, Andreu Mas-Colell and André Sapir [source] Contamination: Nursing Diagnoses with Outcome and Intervention LinkagesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NURSING TERMINOLOGIES AND CLASSIFICATION, Issue 2 2007Laura V. Polk DNSc PURPOSE.,To relate the collaborative processes involved in the evolution of environmental nursing diagnoses and the linkages between two new nursing diagnoses and their associated interventions and outcomes; to describe the environmental health implications of contamination. DATA SOURCES.,Published research articles, official reports, textbooks, and collaborative discussion with experts in community and global health. DATA SYNTHESIS.,Reflection following review of the literature and collaboration with experts led to the development of a new schema for environmental diagnoses and development of two new diagnoses, allowing for greater clarity and distinction between the contamination diagnoses and risk for poisoning diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS.,An environmental nursing diagnosis schema, with its emphasis on contamination, infection, and violence, provides nurses with a holistic framework for making judgments about environmental influences related to individual, family, community, and global health. The diagnoses of Contamination and Risk for Contamination provide necessary language to describe human responses and risk states that may arise following exposure to environmental contaminants. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS.,Development of environmental diagnostic labels and delineation of the linkages to nursing outcomes and interventions will allow nurses to take active roles in identifying environmental components that affect health and planning care that responds to environmental health needs. Greater clarity in the use of language will allow nurses to incorporate environmental concepts appropriately in nursing assessments and improve the accuracy of the diagnostic process and selection of distinct interventions and outcomes. This will result in better outcomes for patients and communities and permit greater accountability of nursing's contribution to environmental health. [source] Reflexive Interdisciplinary Research: The Making of a Research Programme on the Rural Economy and Land UseJOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2006Philip Lowe Abstract This paper provides an account of the origins and formation of the UK Research Councils' Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) programme and its approach to promoting interdisciplinary working between social and natural scientists. The programme is set in the context of broader developments in science policy, including a policy discourse centred upon sustainable development and the knowledge economy and associated demands for greater accountability in science. Interdisciplinarity promises research that will be more relevant and responsive to public needs and concerns. In describing the provenance of the RELU programme, therefore, the paper seeks to lay out the different stages in its initiation and design to show how, to varying degrees, these were open to external scrutiny and influence. The process of developing the programme illustrates that it is not straightforward to make research agendas and funding more transparent and accountable. It also provides insights into the challenges that interdisciplinarity and accountability present to established science institutions. [source] Using limiting factors analysis to overcome the problem of long time horizonsNEW DIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION, Issue 122 2009Raymond Gullison In recent years, donors to biodiversity conservation projects have sought greater accountability, using professional evaluators to help assess the degree to which grantees are achieving conservation objectives. One of the most formidable challenges evaluators face is the time required both for ecological systems to respond to management interventions and over which grantees must maintain their biodiversity conservation gains. The authors present a simple methodology, called limiting factors analysis, which was developed during the course of evaluating several large portfolios of conservation projects. The method is a practical basis for rapidly assessing whether current conditions are likely to prevent grantees from achieving their long-term objectives. Use of the methodology is illustrated with examples from recent evaluations of the Andes Amazon Initiative and the Columbia Basin Water Transactions Program. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Presidential Fitness and Presidential Lies: The Historical Record and a Proposal for ReformPRESIDENTIAL STUDIES QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2010ROBERT DALLEK Since at least the late nineteenth century, U.S. presidents have engaged in substantial and unjustified deception in a variety of domains, and future presidents will continue to do so unless new mechanisms are created to ensure greater accountability and oversight. The problem is particularly apparent in two very different domains: personal health and foreign policy. Several presidents and presidential candidates have concealed grave health conditions that impaired their ability to govern. As future presidential candidates are unlikely to be more forthcoming about their health, the public interest should be protected by an independent medical panel to evaluate presidential candidates. In foreign policy, recent decades have seen several egregious cases of presidential deception, including Lyndon B. Johnson on Vietnam, Richard M. Nixon on the Chilean coup, and George W. Bush on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Such ethical lapses justify a constitutional recall amendment, under which a congressional supermajority could subject the continued service of a sitting president to a popular vote. [source] Continuing medical education, needs assessment, and program development: Theoretical constructsTHE JOURNAL OF CONTINUING EDUCATION IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS, Issue 1 2001Mr. Michael Aherne MEd Associate Abstract Continuing medical education (CME) program development and needs assessment have historically been practiced within the tradition of Ralph Tyler's education model. In light of transformational social, political, economic, and technical forces that demand greater accountability and responsiveness from physicians, CME units are challenged to transform their cultures and structures from models that deliver education to models that support the facilitation of learning for enhanced competence and performance. This article describes key change forces for physicians and brings program development and needs assessment into focus for the discussion. The impact of change forces on program development and needs assessment are examined, and some techniques to move beyond the traditional approach of felt needs are presented as a way of enabling strategic administrative planning and change management. [source] | ||||||||||||||||