Public Finance Theory

This paper assesses James M. Buchanan's claim of following a positive approach in stark contrast to the normative approach to public finance of Richard A. Musgrave. The goal of this paper is to shed light on the foundations of modern American public finance by analysing one aspect of the methodology of its two most prominent fathers. I show (1) that it is difficult to distinguish Musgrave's and Buchanan's theories of public goods along the positive/normative dividing line and (2) that Buchanan's theory can also be considered normative. In the first three parts, I follow the Weberian methodological tradition in looking for value judgements in the theories, and by reflecting on the nature of ideal types. In the last part, I propose a broader interpretation of Buchanan's methodological stance within the academic context of the 1960s.

This paper utilizes a unique survey data set of toll revenue collection on New York City bridges administered by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Bridges and Tunnels (MTA Bridges and Tunnels). This data set, which contains detailed information on road user income and location, is analyzed by use of Lorenz curves and Gini coefficients (described in more detail below) of burden on users of various toll facilities (both value-priced and fixed-rate tolls)
in the New York–New Jersey region. The authors develop empirical estimates of the social equity conditions on the existing priced facilities. The paper concludes with a discussion of policy solutions to address equity concerns and market power conditions.

This article presents results from the first statistically significant study of cost escalation in transportation infrastructure projects. Based on a sample of 258 transportation infrastructure projects worth US$90 billion and representing different project types, geographical regions, and historical periods, it is found with overwhelming statistical significance that the cost estimates used to decide whether such projects should be built are highly and systematically misleading. Underestimation cannot be explained by error and is best explained by strategic misrepresentation, that is, lying. The policy implications are clear: legislators, administrators, investors, media representatives, and members of the public who value honest numbers should not trust cost estimates and cost-benefit analyses produced by project promoters and their analysts.

Megaproject Planning and Management: Essential Readings contains the seminal articles from the growing body of research on megaproject planning and management along with an original introduction by the editor, Bent Flyvbjerg. The leading and most cited authority in the field, Flyvbjerg has used crowdsourcing and 25 years of experience to cherry-pick from several hundred articles and books the writings that define the field. This volume will be an indispensable source for those wishing to speak with authority about how megaprojects are prepared, delivered, and fought over. The target audience is students, academics, practitioners, and media pundits alike, as well as communities affected by megaprojects.

Back cover text: Megaprojects and Risk provides the first detailed examination of the phenomenon of megaprojects. It is a fascinating account of how the promoters of multi-billion dollar megaprojects systematically and self-servingly misinform parliaments, the public and the media in order to get projects approved and built. It shows, in unusual depth, how the formula for approval is an unhealthy cocktail of underestimated costs, overestimated revenues, undervalued environmental impacts and overvalued economic development effects. This results in projects that are extremely risky, but where the risk is concealed from MPs, taxpayers and investors. The authors not only explore the problems but also suggest practical solutions drawing on theory, experience and hard, scientific evidence from the several hundred projects in twenty nations and five continents that illustrate the book. Accessibly written, it will be the standard reference for students, scholars, planners, economists, auditors, politicians and interested citizens for many years to come.

The article first describes characteristics of major infrastructure projects. Second, it documents a much neglected topic in economics: that ex ante estimates of costs and benefits are often very different from actual ex post costs and benefits. For large infrastructure projects the consequences are cost overruns, benefit shortfalls, and the systematic underestimation of risks. Third, implications for cost–benefit analysis are described, including that such analysis is not to be trusted for major infrastructure projects. Fourth, the article uncovers the causes of this state of affairs in terms of perverse incentives that encourage promoters to underestimate costs and overestimate benefits in the business cases for their projects. But the projects that are made to look best on paper are the projects that amass the highest cost overruns and benefit shortfalls in reality. The article depicts this situation as ‘survival of the unfittest’. Fifth, the article sets out to explain how the problem may be solved, with a view to arriving at more efficient and more democratic projects, and avoiding the scandals that often accompany major infrastructure investments. Finally, the article identifies current trends in major infrastructure development. It is argued that a rapid increase in stimulus spending, combined with more investments in emerging economies, combined with more spending on information technology is catapulting infrastructure investment from the frying pan into the fire.

The phase of the entire banking industry is rapidly changing in the 21st century. A focus-shift from traditional banking to new service delivery channels is paramount among many banks to provide customers with 24/7 (around-the-clock) access to banking services for improved customer service delivery. Herein, we investigate into the impact of electronic banking (e-banking) service delivery on customer satisfaction in Ghana. A purposive non-probability sampling technique was utilized in a 150 sample-size selection from e-banking customers of Trust Bank Ghana Limited, Ecobank Ghana Limited and Barclays Bank Ghana Limited (50 from each bank). SPSS Statistics version 21 was used to analyze the primary data. Multiple regression analysis was performed to determine the impact of e-banking service delivery on satisfaction of customers in the selected banks. For this study, a positive correlation between customer satisfaction and e-baking availability, reliability and convenience is establishe...

As megaprojects have become ubiquitous, their real benefits and costs have come under increased scrutiny. We interviewed Bent Flyvbjerg, who has extensively studied megaproject development. Flyvbjerg has found systematic problems in the development process: by intentionally misrepresenting information and deliberately disregarding risks, proponents instigate projects that result in fewer benefits and higher costs than promised.

The Supplementary Green Book Guidance on Optimism Bias (HM Treasury 2003) with reference to the Review of Large Public Procurement in the UK (Mott MacDonald 2002) notes that there is a demonstrated, systematic, tendency for project appraisers to be overly optimistic and that to redress this tendency appraisers should make explicit, empirically based adjustments to the estimates of a project’s costs, benefits, and duration. HM Treasury recommends that these adjustments be based on data from past projects or similar projects elsewhere, and adjusted for the unique characteristics of the project in hand. In the absence of a more specific evidence base, HM Treasury has encouraged departments to collect data to inform future estimates of optimism, and in the meantime use the best available data. In response to this, the Department for Transport (henceforth DfT), has contracted Bent Flyvbjerg in association with COWI to undertake the consultancy assignment "Procedures for dealing with Optimism Bias in Transport Planning". The present Guidance Document is the result of this assignment.

Bu çalışma, sosyal bilimler içerisinde iktisat felsefesi ve hukuk tartışmalarını da merkezde tutarak Türkçe mali yazında hiçe yakın tartışılmış iki olgu olan "ortak" ve "ortak olmayan" kaynak, mal ve mülkiyetin kullanım trajedilerini ele alma ve bu alanda maliye literatüründe temel oluşturma amacındadır.

"Over budget, over time, over and over again" appears to be an appropriate slogan for large, complex infrastructure projects. This article explains why cost, benefits, and time forecasts for such projects are systematically over-optimistic in the planning phase. The underlying reasons for forecasting errors are grouped into three categories: delusions or honest mistakes; deceptions or strategic manipulation of information or processes; or bad luck. Delusion and deception have each been addressed in the management literature before, but here they are jointly considered for the first time. They are specifically applied to infrastructure problems in a manner that allows both academics and practitioners to understand and implement the suggested corrective procedures. The article provides a framework for analyzing the relative explanatory power of delusion and deception. It also suggests a simplified framework for analyzing the complex principal-agent relationships that are involved in the approval and construction of large infrastructure projects, which can be used to improve forecasts. Finally, the article illustrates reference class forecasting, an outside view de-biasing technique that has proven successful in overcoming both delusion and deception in private and public investment decisions.

How do we know whether a country suffers from vertical fiscal imbalance (VFI)? What should be done about it? Academic appreciation of these issues in general, and the nature of political behaviour in particular, both have major implications for the way federations are fiscally structured. While the latter clearly is a problem of political negotiations, our focus is on the former, that is, conceptual clarity, which precedes meaningful negotiations. Thus, the paper aims to clarify the multiple usages of the symbolically loaded terms VFI and VFG (vertical fiscal gap) by critically engaging the fundamental assumptions and premises underlying these ostensibly similar notions. It proposes an alternative conceptual framework and introduces the concepts of vertical fiscal asymmetry (VFA) and vertical fiscal difference (VFD) that have the potential to better structure public debate on issues of vertical fiscal relations and stimulate a sensible appreciation of the problem and possible remedies.

This article presents results from the first statistically significant study of traffic forecasts in transportation infrastructure projects. The sample used is the largest of its kind, covering 210 projects in 14 nations worth U.S.$59 billion. The study shows with very high statistical significance that forecasters generally do a poor job of estimating the demand for transportation infrastructure projects. For 9 out of 10 rail projects, passenger forecasts are overestimated; the average overestimation is 106%. For half of all road projects, the difference between actual and forecasted traffic is more than ±20%. The result is substantial financial risks, which are typically ignored or downplayed by planners and decision makers to the detriment of social and economic welfare. Our data also show that forecasts have not become more accurate over the 30-year period studied, despite claims to the contrary by forecasters. The causes of inaccuracy in forecasts are different for rail and road projects, with political causes playing a larger role for rail than for road. The cure is transparency, accountability, and new forecasting methods. The challenge is to change the governance structures for forecasting and project development. Our article shows how planners may help achieve this.

Do different types of megaprojects have different cost overruns? This apparently simple question is at the heart of research at the University of Oxford aimed at understanding the characteristics of megaprojects, particularly in terms of how they are established, run and concluded. In this study, we set out to investigate cost overruns in the Olympic Games. To do so, we examined the costs of the Games over half a century, including both summer and winter Olympics. We looked at the evolution of final reported costs and compared these to the costs established in the Games bids, submitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) up to seven years before the Games occurred. In so doing we established the largest dataset of its kind, and documented for the first time in a consistent fashion the costs and cost overruns for the Olympic Games, from 1960 to 2012. We discovered that the Games stand out in two distinct ways compared to other megaprojects: (1) The Games overrun with 100 per cent consistency. No other type of megaproject is this consistent regarding cost overrun. Other project types are typically on budget from time to time, but not the Olympics. (2) With an average cost overrun in real terms of 179 per cent – and 324 per cent in nominal terms – overruns in the Games have historically been significantly larger than for other types of megaprojects, including infrastructure, construction, ICT, and dams. The data thus show that for a city and nation to decide to host the Olympic Games is to take on one of the most financially risky type of megaproject that exists, something that many cities and nations have learned to their peril. For the London 2012 Games, we find that: (1) With sports-related real costs currently estimated at USD14.8 billion, London is on track to become the most costly Olympics ever. (2) With a projected cost overrun of 101 per cent in real terms, overrun for London is below the historical average for the Games, but not significantly so. (3) The London cost overrun is, however, significantly higher than overruns for recent Games since 1999. London therefore is reversing a positive trend of falling cost overruns for the Games.

As megaprojects have become ubiquitous, their real benefits and costs have come under increased scrutiny. We interviewed Bent Flyvbjerg, who has extensively studied megaproject development. Flyvbjerg has found systematic problems in the development process: by intentionally misrepresenting information and deliberately disregarding risks, proponents instigate projects that result in fewer benefits and higher costs than promised.

Back cover text: This book aims to enlarge the understanding of decision-making on mega-projects and suggest recommendations for a more effective, efficient and democratic approach. Authors from different scientific disciplines address various aspects of the decision-making process, such as management characteristics and cost-benefit analysis, planning and innovation and competition and institutions. The subject matter is highly diverse, but certain questions remain at the forefront. For example, how do we deal with protracted preparation processes, how do we tackle risks and uncertainties, and how can we best divide the risks and responsibilities among the private and public players throughout the different phases of the project? - Presenting a state-of-the-art overview, based on experiences and visions of authors from Europe and North America, this unique book will be of interest to practitioners of large-scale project management, politicians, public officials and private organisations involved in mega-project decision-making. It will also appeal to researchers, consultants and students dealing with substantial engineering projects, complex systems, project management and transport infrastructure.

This paper focuses on problems and their causes and cures in policy and planning for large infrastructure projects. First, it identifies as the main problem in major infrastructure development pervasive misinformation about the costs, benefits, and risks involved. A consequence of misinformation is massive cost overruns, benefit shortfalls, and waste. Second, the paper explores the causes of misinformation and finds that political-economic explanations best account for the available evidence: planners and promoters deliberately misrepresent costs, benefits, and risks in order to increase the likelihood that it is their projects, and not the competition's, that gain approval and funding. This results in the "survival of the unfittest," where often it is not the best projects that are built, but the most misrepresented ones. Finally, the paper presents measures for reforming policy and planning for large infrastructure projects, with a focus on better planning methods and changed governance structures, the latter being more important.

Risk, including economic risk, is increasingly a concern for public policy and management. The possibility of dealing effectively with risk is hampered, however, by lack of a sound empirical basis for risk assessment and management. This article demonstrates the general point for cost and demand risks in urban rail projects. The article presents empirical evidence that allow valid economic risk assessment and management of urban rail projects, including benchmarking of individual or groups of projects. Benchmarking of the Copenhagen Metro is presented as a case in point. The approach developed is proposed as a model for other types of policies and projects in order to improve economic and financial risk assessment and management in policy and planning.

In this short story Leon, a man of African descent, and Pete, a man of unknown ethnicity, are discussing the results of some recent presidential primaries. It appears that a man named Jim, who has won the last two primaries, might become the next president, and Elizabeth, a woman of Samoan descent, might become his vice president. The conversation turns to the views of Jim and Elizabeth on a range of political and economic issues. Leon raises the issue of how income taxes are a modern form of slavery, since they confiscate the fruits of a worker's labor, a view that was expressed by Harvard philosopher Robert Nozick in his book, Anarchy, State and Utopia, and by Frederick Douglass, a former slave.

Out-of-control information technology (IT) projects have ended the careers of top managers, such as EADS CEO Noël Forgeard and Levi Strauss’ CIO David Bergen. Moreover, IT projects have brought down whole companies, like Kmart in the US and Auto Windscreen in the UK. Software and other IT is now such an integral part of most business processes and products that CEOs must know their IT risks, which are typically substantial – and overlooked. The analysis of a sample of 1,471 IT projects showed that the average cost overrun was 27% — but that figure masks a far more alarming “fat tail” risk.  Fully one in six of the projects in the sample was a Black Swan, with a cost overrun of 200%, on average, and a schedule overrun of almost 70%. This highlights the true pitfall of IT change initiatives: It’s not that they’re particularly prone to high cost overruns on average – it is that there are a disproportionate number of Black Swans. By focusing on averages instead of the more damaging outliers, most managers and consultants have been missing the real risk in doing IT. In conclusion, the article outlines ideas as to what can be done to avoid Black Swans.

Citizen participation is one of the national values in Kenya and is also a principle of public service. This study examined the key factors affecting public participation in budgeting process in the County Government of Nandi in Kenya. The study also sought to identify the key socio-cultural factors affecting public participation in the budgeting process in Nandi County. The study adopted a descriptive survey design targeting Community Based Organizations’ (CBOs) members who are residents of Nandi County, CBO officials and officials from the Treasury and Economic Planning department in the County Government of Nandi. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select members of Community Based Organizations who were administered with structured questionnaires. The study found out that public participation enhances the quality of the budgeting process. The study also found out that stakeholders’ involvement in budgeting process enhances accountability and transparency. Pearson correlation test found that there was a statistically significant positive relationship (R = 0.513) between stakeholder’s involvement and budgeting process since p < 0.05 (p = 0.014). It was also found that socio-cultural factors could also affect public participation in the budgeting process and using Pearson correlation test to determine the effect of socio-cultural factors on participatory budgeting process, the study found a weak positive relationship (R = 0.203) between Socio-cultural factors and budgeting process since p < 0.05 (p = 0.203).

This article enters the worlds of the social worker (Freud), economist (efficiency) and public administrator (Pragmatism) and explores them through the mechanism of public pricing or user fees. The point is to capture the language and values of each and to show how they differ. Social work looks to Freud for guidance. Clients get better if they pay an appropriate amount. Economists see user fees as a price a key mechanism of efficiency. Public administrators need to pay the bills and view fees as a revenue source.

Dès le début du XXe siècle et jusqu’à aujourd’hui, l’étude des finances de l’État a été en très large partie accaparée par la discipline de la « science économique » et délaissée par la sociologie et la politologie. Il en résulte que cette étude a été dominée par des approches qui, au-delà de leurs différences ou divergences, partagent un point commun fondamental : elles évacuent la dimension sociale et politique des finances publiques ou, lorsque ce n’est pas le cas, elles construisent ce que Michael Krätke appelle des « modèles frivoles », c’est-à-dire hautement formalisés, désincarnés, arbitraires et simplistes parce que fondés sur les prémisses de l’individualisme méthodologique. L’orientation qui domine maintenant de façon presque hégémonique depuis plusieurs décennies, la Public Choice School, témoigne abondamment de cette
attitude.
En marge de cette orthodoxie, il existe cependant quelques courants de pensée qui se sont maintenus tant bien que mal tout au long du siècle en élaborant une approche différente. La sociologie financière constitue l’un d’entre eux. Ce courant de pensée n’est presque pas connu dans l’espace francophone. L’objectif de cet article consiste donc à en retracer rapidement la genèse, les filiations et les principales propositions.

This paper focuses on problems and their causes and cures in policy and planning for large-infrastructure projects. First, it identifies as the main problem in major infrastructure developments pervasive misinformation about the costs, benefits, and risks involved. A consequence of misinformation is cost overruns, benefit shortfalls, and waste. Second, it explores the causes of misinformation and finds that political-economic explanations best account for the available evidence: planners and promoters deliberately misrepresent costs, benefits, and risks in order to increase the likelihood that it is their projects, and not those of their competition, that gain approval and funding. This results in the ‘survival of the unfittest’, in which often it is not the best projects that are built, but the most misrepresented ones. Finally, it presents measures for reforming policy and planning for large-infrastructure projects with a focus on better planning methods and changed governance structures, the latter being more important.

A major source of risk in project management is inaccurate forecasts of project costs, demand, and other impacts. The paper presents a promising new approach to mitigating such risk, based on theories of decision making under uncertainty which won the 2002 Nobel prize in economics. First, the paper documents inaccuracy and risk in project management. Second, it explains inaccuracy in terms of optimism bias and strategic misrepresentation. Third, the theoretical basis is presented for a promising new method called "reference class forecasting," which achieves accuracy by basing forecasts on actual performance in a reference class of comparable projects and thereby bypassing both optimism bias and strategic misrepresentation. Fourth, the paper presents the first instance of practical reference class forecasting, which concerns cost forecasts for large transportation infrastructure projects. Finally, potentials for and barriers to reference class forecasting are assessed.

Dan Lovallo and Daniel Kahneman must be commended for their clear identification of causes and cures to the planning fallacy in “Delusions of Success: How Optimism Undermines Executives’ Decisions” (July 2003). Their look at overoptimism, anchoring, competitor neglect, and the outside view in forecasting is highly useful to executives and forecasters. However, Lovallo and Kahneman underrate one source of bias in forecasting—the deliberate “cooking” of forecasts to get ventures started. My colleagues and I call this the Machiavelli factor.

Results from the first statistically significant study of the causes of cost escalation in transport infrastructure projects are presented. The study is based on a sample of 258 rail, bridge, tunnel and road projects worth US$90 billion. The focus is on the dependence of cost escalation on: (1) the length of the project‐implementation phase, (2) the size of the project and (3) the type of project ownership. First, it was found, with very high statistical significance, that cost escalation was strongly dependent on the length of the implementation phase. The policy implications are clear: decision‐makers and planners should be highly concerned about delays and long implementation phases because they translate into risks of substantial cost escalations. Second, projects have grown larger over time, and for bridges and tunnels larger projects have larger percentage cost escalations. Finally, by comparing the cost escalation for three types of project ownership - private, state‐owned enterprise and other public ownership - it was shown that the oft‐seen claim that public ownership is problematic and private ownership effective in curbing cost escalation is an oversimplification. The type of accountability appears to matter more to cost escalation than type of ownership.

This study was carried out to examine the impact of electronic banking on customer satisfaction in commercial banks in Imo State. The aim is to determine the relationship between electronic banking and customer satisfaction in some commercial banks in Imo State. The study used primary data; the instrument used in gathering the primary data was questionnaire. The statistical tool of analysis is the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Techniques. The result revealed that there is positive relationship between electronic banking and customer satisfaction in United Bank for Africa Plc, Access Bank Ltd and Keystone Bank Ltd. It also revealed that there is positive relationship between Automated Teller Machine and Mobile Banking and customer satisfaction in United Bank for Africa Plc, Access Bank Ltd and Keystone Bank Ltd. More so, the study shows that there is a negative relationship between point of sale and customer satisfaction in the three (3) banks. This implies that increase in charge levied on those electronic banking systems will have a corresponding decrease in customer satisfaction and vice-versa. The study therefore recommends the following; that banks should improve continuously in the advance of Automated Teller Machine for speedy transaction when using by customers; financial institutions (banks) and non-financial institutions should endeavor to make available POS machine at a minimal cost to some small business outlets in order to help in the achievement of cashless economy; the banks should ensure that there is creation of more internet security in internet and mobile banking so as to avoid loss of cash by customers as a result of fraudulent activities and finally, continuous advancement and reengineering information communication technology should play a vital role in the overall synergy of financial institution operations (banking). It becomes more important for bank leadership to deepen investment in ICT products to increase speedy, user friendly and perfect services. These will make Nigerian banks to stand firm in terms of efficiency, profitability, reliability, and competitiveness among its global competitors and to withstand challenges and changes that may occur in ICT controlled globalized economy.

This paper explores how theories of the planning fallacy and the outside view may be used to conduct quality control and due diligence in project management. First, a much-neglected issue in project management is identified, namely that the front-end estimates of costs and benefits – used in the business cases, cost-benefit analyses, and social and environmental impact assessments that typically support decisions on projects – are typically significantly different from actual ex post costs and benefits, and are therefore poor predictors of the actual value and viability of projects. Second, it is discussed how Kahneman and Tversky’s theories of the planning fallacy and the outside view may help explain and remedy this situation through quality control of decisions. Third, it is described what quality control and due diligence are in the context of project management, and an eight-step procedure is outlined for due diligence based on the outside view. Fourth, the procedure is tested on a real-life, multibillion-dollar project, organized as a public-private partnership. Finally, Akerlof and Shiller’s recent discussion in economics of “firing the forecaster” is discussed together with its relevance to project management. In sum, the paper demonstrates the need, the theoretical basis, a practical methodology, and a real-life example for how to de-bias project management using quality control and due diligence based on the outside view.

Purpose: This study is an assessment of economic development incentives. Economic development is a staple in the growth of municipalities, and the use of incentives continues to grow in popularity. Existing literature on economic development and incentives often cites that the downfall of the literature is its failure to judge a program’s ability to effectively meet their goals. As such, the purpose of this research is threefold: (1) literature identifies the four major goals of economic development (attract target industry, employment opportunities, increase tax revenue, and increase economic activity) and the four most commonly used incentives (tax abatement, tax increment financing, industrial development revenue bonds, and loan guarantees), (2) a connection is drawn between the goals of economic development and how they act as adequate criteria to assess the success of an incentive, (3) the perspectives of Central Texas City Managers assist in assessing the success of incentives in achieving the goals of economic development through this connection.

Methods: To satisfy the research purposes, a survey instrument was developed from the conceptual framework (descriptive categories). These surveys were administered to Texas City Managers in Texas City Management Association (TCMA) Regions seven and eight. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the results.

Findings: The data provides evidence that all incentives are considered to be successful in meeting the goals of economic development. Some incentives, however, were identified to be more successful or favored for particular goals. Based on the results of the survey, it is concluded that Tax Abatement can be accurately ranked as the most successful incentive in meeting all four economic development goals.

Pragmatism is a philosophy that emphasizes learning through action and building a knowledge base from experience and reflection. It is a potentially compelling approach for public budgeting and financial management. The largely normative theories of public finance, public financial management and public budgeting are examined and critiqued. We do not seek to abandon these valuable contributions to practice, however they often fail to describe and explain the practices of the field. In some cases, the norms prescribed may ...

The State-Owned Enterprises (SOE)(Company) are represent the concept of welfare state in Indonesia, which have been being the fundamental foundation to run the country. The genuine function of SOE are to become a private legal entitiy which get a capital from the state budget and have aim to obtain profits as many as possible, so that they can contribute and give positive impact toward to the inland revenue which can help the government to do national development and to create welfare for the citizens. Unfortunately, The SOE have a fundamental legal problem, that is the dualism of law. There are groups of regulations which have principle that SOE's assets are categorized as government's assets. But, in the other side, there are another groups of regulations which have a different principle that SOE's assets are categorized as company's assets. This dualism of law represents the improper logic of legal thinking and putting the Indonesian State-Owned Enterprises in interfering and crisis situation in the matter of seeking for more profits in order to create prosperity for the country.

Pragmatism is a philosophy that emphasizes learning through action and building a knowledge base from experience and reflection. It is a potentially compelling approach for public budgeting and financial management. The largely normative theories of public finance, public financial management and public budgeting are examined and critiqued. We do not seek to abandon these valuable contributions to practice, however they often fail to describe and explain the practices of the field. In some cases, the norms prescribed may not be shared by government officials and citizens, and thus the management or policy prescription become unhelpful. We believe theory should guide practice, but theory must also be informed by practice. We seek to establish a better basis to understand the structure and evolution of government budgeting and finance, and to help practitioners face difficult situations that call for workable solutions.
The classical pragmatism of Charles Sanders Peirce, John Dewey, William James, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. and Jane Addams is presented and applied to the theories of public finance, budgeting and financial management. Pragmatism focuses on inquiry and the problematic situation. Theories are viewed as tools to resolve the problematic situation. And, just as there are often many tools used to approach a problematic situation, there are many theories that, like tools or maps, are judged by their usefulness. This orientation makes sense for financial management because like all managers, they are focused on solutions to problems and cannot be wedded to academic theories to guide their action when the elected officials and citizens they serve need a solution.

The phase of the entire banking industry is rapidly changing in the 21st century. A focus-shift from traditional banking to new service delivery channels is paramount among many banks to provide customers with 24/7 (around-the-clock) access to banking services for improved customer service delivery. Herein, we investigate into the impact of electronic banking (e-banking) service delivery on customer satisfaction in Ghana. A purposive non-probability sampling technique was utilized in a 150 sample-size selection from e-banking customers of Trust Bank Ghana Limited, Ecobank Ghana Limited and Barclays Bank Ghana Limited (50 from each bank). SPSS Statistics version 21 was used to analyze the primary data. Multiple regression analysis was performed to determine the impact of e-banking service delivery on satisfaction of customers in the selected banks. For this study, a positive correlation between customer satisfaction and e-baking availability, reliability and convenience is establishe...

This chapter examines privatization as a method of expenditure control. The philosophical underpinnings of privatization are explored. Techniques of privatization )load shedding, contracting, franchising, self-help and volunteers) are introduced and assessed. Special attention is paid to issues surrounding contract monitoring.

Государственные гарантии как инструмент распределения рисков инвестиционного проекта Аннотация Государственные гарантии, предоставляемые по инвестиционным проектам,-важный управлен-ческий инструмент, способствующий привлечению инвесторов к финансированию общественно значимых проектов. Несмотря на многие преимущества, он сопряжен со значительными риска-ми для гаранта, поэтому вопросы управления рисками, связанными с гарантийными обязатель-ствами государства, актуальны для многих стран, в том числе и для России, где уже давно назре-ла необходимость изменения существующего механизма гарантийной поддержки инвестиций. В настоящей статье описан опыт Бразилии и Индии в области предоставления государственных гарантий по инвестиционным проектам. Он особенно значим для России, поскольку обе страны являются ее партнерами по БРИКС и рассматриваются как наиболее привлекательные для раз-мещения зарубежных инвестиций. Его полезно применить в России с точки зрения повышения защищенности государства как гаранта инвестиций и управления рисками инвестиционных про-ектов при принятии решений о выдаче гарантий. В статье анализируются особенности организа-ции и управления государственными гарантиями в сфере государственно-частного партнерства, исследуются такие элементы системы государственного управления, как формирование гарантий-ных фондов защиты инвесторов от инвестиционных рисков и проведение оценки эффективности реализации инфраструктурных проектов. На основе проведенного анализа даются рекомендации по совершенствованию инструмента государственных гарантий в России. Ключевые слова: государственные гарантии, инфраструктурные инвестиции, риски инфраструктурных проектов, гарантийные фонды, механизм гарантийной поддержки, условные обязательства, устойчивость бюджета JEL: E62, H54

This paper examines the question of whether the U.S. State Department's budget should be cut, and if so, by how much. If its budget increased by the same percentage as the increase in GDP since 2000, it would be 43.3 percent smaller than it was in 2016.

En partant de l'idée que l'État est un complexe relationnel et institutionnel spécifique doté de sa propre économie — économie de prélèvement-redistribution —, on propose une reformulation de l'architecture conceptuelle de l'approche économique de la régulation qui fait toute sa place à la logique du politique. Dans cette reformulation, l'ordre politique apparaît comme tout aussi redevable d'une approche régulationniste que l'ordre marchand, mais d'une approche régulationniste enrichie par la prise en compte des interdépendances entre ces deux ordres. La démarche adoptée dans cet article pour arriver à une telle conclusion privilégie le travail sur les concepts. On considère
que les difficultés relèvent pour l'essentiel de problèmes de définition des termes de la discussion. Qu'est-ce que l'économie et qu'est-ce que la politique? De quoi parlent économistes, sociologues et politologues lorsqu'ils emploient ces termes?
Les sciences sociales n'ont-elles pas simultanément trop circonscrit leur objet de recherche et pas assez affiné leur vocabulaire? Les mots et les choses n'ont-ils pas fini par vivre des histoires propres séparées, la communication entre disciplines se
faisant alors au prix d'importants quiproquos, à supposer qu'elle ne soit pas tout simplement un dialogue de sourds?