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This paper explores the relationship between micro-economic business models, economic structure, and locally sustainable prosperity. In this respect, the paper takes as a premise the contention that sustainable mobility requires a sustainable industry to create the vehicles and business models to deliver that mobility. The interactions between locality and scale are explored within the context of the anti-globalisation discourse. Thereafter, the paper provides a brief outline of some business models from the automotive industry where alternatives to the monolithic and centralised structure of the mainstream industry have been proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silicon Valley in California and the Hsinchu-Taipei region of Taiwan are among the most frequently cited 'miracles' of the information technology era. The dominant accounts of these successes treat them in isolation, focusing either on free markets, multinationals or the role of the state. This paper argues that the dynamism of these regional economies is attributable to their increasing interdependencies. A community of US-educated Taiwanese engineers has coordinated a decentralized process of reciprocal industrial upgrading by transferring capital, skill and know-how to Taiwan, and by facilitating collaborations between specialist producers in the two regions. This case underscores the significance of technical communities and their institutions in transferring technology and organizing production at the global as well as the local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work-in-progress paper aims to présent a qualitative analysis of the incidence of the organizational model of decentralization and local autonomy, on the EU member states, according to their own national specificities. In ternis of methodology, the research makes use of the comparative analysis, in order to test if the current sharing of administrative skills and the légal framework of local autonomy at the level of the EU member states leads to a effective supply of the public services for its citizens. For this purpose, the analysis focuses on two items, the architecture of administrative powers and local autonomy and the way of distribution of the necessary fmancial resources to support local self-government in some EU member states. For comparative analysis, the paper noted a number of EU member states, which has grouped them into four geographical areas (North, South, Center and South-East). As a work in progress, current research, based on those two items, it will highlight some différences and similarities which subsequently, will help the authors to identify the causes that generate them, in order to draw final conclusions about the functionality of the organisational model of décen­tralisation in the context of the need more acute to boost the quality of life and to strengthen the local public affaire in différent EU member states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A group of Faculty members of the School of Industrial Management at Purdue University have for some time been engaged in studies of decision making in a large, decentralized American manufacturing company. These studies have investigated decisions at the mills producing raw material and the converting plants of this fully integrated company. Examinations have been made of decision processes within and between company plants with the objective of adding to theory of behavior in organizations, particularly theory of working relations and theory of cognitive processes in the carrying out of complex organizational tasks, and application of theory to the solution of practical problems, such as those of scheduling production and of formal organization.
This paper discusses one of these projects, an attempt to construct a behavioral model of the decision rules actually employed to schedule orders for production in one of the firm's plants. This project has sought to embody decision rules in a computer program which will, in fact, take incoming data on orders and plant capacity and convert this into an operating schedule in a manner highly analogous to that of the human schedulers who performed this task.[] The following discussion avoids technical details, since the aim of this paper is to give an overall picture of the major purpose and problems of this type of research; to describe its origin and to suggest possible future application as seen by the researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change may potentially increase the magnitude of losses from natural hazards, but the United States experience shows that the primary reason for escalating losses is policy failure. It is well known that centralised, taxpayer-funded ex post disaster relief has actually encouraged development in risky jurisdictions and also weakened incentives for ex ante precautions in such jurisdictions (moral or 'charity' hazard). Less well known and analysed is the role played by centralised ex ante development subsidies-often masquerading as protective investment-in distorting incentives. This paper develops a simple three jurisdiction model in which homogeneous jurisdictions decide by majority vote in a centralised legislature on the centralised (federal) share of ex post loss and centralised spending an ex ante development in a Beneficiary jurisdiction, taking into account how these decisions about centralised spending impact local Beneficiary jurisdiction incentives for precautions against ex post loss. The model shows that the marginal cost of ex ante federal development spending may be greater for a Beneficiary jurisdiction than for a Contractor jurisdiction. This somewhat technical result has an observable implication: evidence that a small fraction of ex post loss in a Beneficiary jurisdiction is centrally compensated (shared across jurisdictions) is evidence that ex ante development subsidies there may be truly precautionary on net; conversely, evidence that a Beneficiary jurisdiction has a large share of its ex post hazard loss compensated by centralised disaster relief suggests that the ex ante development subsidies received by that jurisdiction did more to encourage new development and increase the amount at risk than they did to protect existing development. The model is extended to consider how ex post loss sharing impacts the demand for federally subsidised disaster insurance and other related issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper develops a model of directed search on the job in which transitions of workers between unemployment and employment and across employers are driven by heterogeneity in the quality of firm-worker matches. The equilibrium is such that the agents' value and policy functions are independent of the endogenous distribution of workers across employment states. Hence, the model can be solved outside of the steady state and used to measure the effect of cyclical productivity shocks on the labor market. Productivity shocks are found to generate large fluctuations in workers' transitions, unemployment, and vacancies when matches are experience goods, but not when matches are inspection goods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of decentralised control on finished goods inventory levels in a distribution system, and to identify the factors that determine the overall inventory level. Design/methodology/approach – The authors' study is based on a mixed method approach using both a survey and semi-structured interviews to assess inventory management practices and firm performance. Findings – It was found that the common assumptions that distribution outlets or dealers are homogenous and that their behaviour is uniform in response to central control, such as the manufacturer's strategy, do not hold in practice. In fact, the authors show that under conditions of decentralised control, the inventories held at outlet level vary greatly around the aggregate inventory at overall manufacturer level and in this sense bear little resemblance to it. Amongst other conclusions, these findings provide a possible explanation for previous studies' inconclusive evidence on inventory reduction. Research limitations/implications – The authors' research is based on evidence from the automotive industry in the USA; future research may include a wider industry analysis and geographical scope. Practical implications – The paper identifies how incentives and decision-making structures at the outlet level need to be considered in order to derive decisions that are optimal at the supply chain level. Originality/value – The paper extends the current literature on the determinants of inventory levels by using dealer-level data, as opposed to manufacturer or firm-level data in previous studies, thereby identifying possible causes for the previously inconclusive evidence on inventory levels in distribution systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses introducing evaluation into a national decentralized educational system. It discusses an international seminar held in Oslo, Norway, in May 1989. Basically, participants had 15 papers addressing a strategic question: How can government use evaluation to guide education while attempting to decentralize both administrative structure and pedagogical content. The 15 international experts include 6 from Norway, 4 from Sweden, 4 from the United States, and 1 from Great Britain. After a brief review of the Norwegian system by Marit Granheim, the first four papers by Ulf Lundgren, Hans Weller, Jon Langlo, and Kjell Eide are focused on education and decentralization. These writers are heavily influenced by the late seventies' and eighties' discussion of the linkage between decentralization and modernization, basically the need to bypass the heavy hand of centralized bureaucracies. Lundgren is quick to point out that evaluation can be the fourth dimension of the government's "steering system" completing legal, economic and ideological controls. Decentralization carries in its wake an increased need for coordination and articulation.

Copyright of Croatian & Comparative Public Administration is the property of Institut za Javnu Upravu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper assesses the extent to which party systems are nationalized in four federations. In doing so, the research addresses two questions. First, is dual accountability operational across decentralized countries, or do sub-national voters turn to national cues as a means to economize in a complex information environment? By bringing a cross-national dataset to bear on this question, we are able to provide insight into where and why dual accountability might operate. Second, what explains variation in the extent to which party systems are nationalized across countries and time? We build on previous literature to suggest a number of factors likely to impact the extent of nationalization. We examine those factors in the context of provincial-level elections in Argentina, Canada, Germany and the United States. Using national and sub-national economic data, we find little evidence of dual accountability in any of our countries. We find that economic performance matters little for regional electoral outcomes, and where it does, sub-national outcomes reflect national rather than sub-national conditions. More important are the roles of partisan relations across levels of government and election timing. Sub-national co-partisans of the nationally governing party lose votes, particularly as the time from the most recent national election grows. The strength of these effects varies across our cases in predictable ways. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: During the past decade scholars have noted growing ideological polarization between Democratic and Republican Party elites in the United States. This trend has occurred in a party system traditionally characterized as decentralized. This paper examines whether the trend towards partisan polarization noted by scholars at the national level has affected state party systems in similar ways. Are some state party systems more polarized than others? The paper uses a classification scheme of state party systems developed by David Mayhew to try to explain interstate differences in partisan polarization. The paper concludes that states with political environments that supported pragmatic and non-ideological traditional party organizations are less polarized in the modern era than states without such environments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Grounded in a historical analysis of the processes of managerialization in Israel between the 1950s and the 1970s, this paper explores the ways in which well-integrated U.S. experts, in collaboration with their Israeli counterparts, retheorized and disarmed the well-institutionalized and antimanagerialist Israeli version of workers' participation in management. It demonstrates how through the bricolage of the radical local alternative with the U.S.-originated promanagerialist version of workers' participation in management, foreign intervention opened the way for the formerly unwelcome professionalization of corporate control in the country. In so doing, the importance of translation and theorizing are stressed as mechanisms of reproduction of geopolitical domination of the world system center over the periphery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between various quantitative measures of urban centralization and urban housing prices through the use of a 2000 data set from the 452 Census designated urbanized areas in the United States. An empirical study of this type is necessary because: (1) the theoretical influence of creating more centralized urban areas—or what many would consider less “sprawl”—on what people pay for housing is indeterminate, (2) now popular “Smart Growth” policies advocate more centralized urban areas, and (3) some have argued that a cost of this centralization is an increase in the price of homes. After controlling for differences across United States urbanized areas in residents' economic status and demographics, number and type of households, climate, household growth, nonresidential land uses, and the structural characteristics of houses, we find that a more centralized area exhibits a lower median home value and percentage of homes in an upper-end price category. Therefore, we offer no evidence to support the contention that a successful effort to further centralize an urban area raises the price of homes in that urban area. © 2006 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the experiences of welfare clients on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Indian immigrant information technology (IT) workers on the H-1B visa to analyze how public-private collaborations in the spirit and practice of outsourcing, i.e. systematic fragmentation and decentralization of both corporate and state activities, function as mechanisms for disciplining labor. Through an analysis of these groups' parallel experiences with exploitative work and employers in the US., this paper identifies how outsourcing is not merely a business model for cross-border trade, but also a key principle, component, and outcome of policy-based neo-liberal economic restructuring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses aspects of the Spokane, Washington wholesale market. A study of the market was conducted from 1949-1951. The objectives of the study were to determine the extent of the trading area for major wholesale lines, to identify trends in the market, and to obtain competitor information. Researchers found that the wholesale market was dominated by the regular, or merchant, wholesaler. Competition between the Spokane wholesale market and other large U.S. city wholesalers was significantly influenced by transportation costs and distance. The study revealed that there exists some tendency for the market area to move eastward and that some decentralization had taken place.

The economic theory of federalism is largely built around the premise that more heterogeneous preferences result in more decentralized policy making. Despite its prominence and importance, this central tenet of economic federalism has never been empirically evaluated. This paper presents the first formal test of the link between preference heterogeneity and endogenous policy decentralization using as a case study liquor control in the United States over the period 1934–70. The results are reassuring: States with more heterogeneous preferences are more likely to decentralize liquor control and allow for local government decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the reasons for the emphasis of educational policy analysis on federal and state activity in the United States. There are two reasons why educational policy analysis has focused on federal and state activity: bias of research focus and the centralization of public education. Much of the work in policy analysis begins with the acceptance of organizational models which implicitly or explicitly reduce the importance of local policy analysis. State and federal activity lends itself to analysis more readily than does local activity. Policy analysis is not a traditional function of local level school personnel. The creation of such a role or function within a school district must overcome a strong bias at the local level for direct service to students and against central office administration. One of the most significant areas of policy analysis during the last quarter century has been educational finance. The primary centralizing factor in educational finance has been the shift in responsibility for financing education from local communities to the state.

Despite steady increases in homelessness in the U.S., only recently has research on transportation needs and use for persons experiencing homelessness (PEH) been the focus of research endeavours. Moreover, limited research has identified how the geographic relocation of homeless community services and resources impacts the transportation needs of PEH and how this process affects access to health and social services. To fill this gap in the literature, using a community‐engaged research approach, we conducted a qualitative research study in which 24 professionals working in planning, transportation, local government, and the homelessness services sector were engaged in in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews. We examined participant perspectives on how PEH transportation needs and use changed after three new emergency shelters replaced a centralised one, and how access to health and social services was impacted. Data were organised into three overarching categories: (1) Changes in transportation need and use following decentralisation; (2) Impact of transportation changes on PEH access to services; and (3) Recommendations for improving transportation access. Findings suggest the need to offer PEH transportation on demand, provide education on transportation and system navigation, and increase transportation‐related funding for homeless service providers and PEH to ensure transportation costs are not a barrier to healthcare and social services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the implications of fiscal decentralization for economic stability. It has been discussed that fiscal decentralization reduces the variance of GDP growth, due to the greater diversification of performance across jurisdictions. We examine this theoretical result using a panel data set of the 50 states of the USA over the period of 1992–1997. We show that the theoretical specification of the production function is supported. We also show a negative significant relationship between fiscal decentralization and economic volatility. The results are robust when we take into account the endogeneity of fiscal decentralization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether cities and regions will continue to decentralize - or whether they will adopt strategies to grow differently, such as the New Urbanism - is a key decision for localities in the United States during the current era of development. One of the difficulties in discussing potential futures is that in order to decide which course of action should be taken, a value claim must be made. Contemporary society troubled relationship with values often prevents planners, designers, and writers from elucidating the value positions that undergird their plans and designs. Pragmatist philosophy offers a method for inquiry into values. This type of consideration is generally missing from contemporary discourses around built space. This paper examines and compares the value orientations of two prominent schools of thought on urban! suburban development: suburban decentralization and the New Urbanism. Can the approach to inquiry advocated by pragmatist philosophy current debate on current issues in urban design and development? All criticism worthy of the title is but another name for that revealing discovery of conditions and consequences which enables liking, bias, interest to express themselves in responsible and informed ways instead of ignorantly and fatalistically. (Dewey, 1926:43 1) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: While the World Health Organization (WHO) has established guidance on COVID-19 surveillance, little is known about implementation of these guidelines in federations. which fragment authority across multiple levels of government. This study examines how subnational governments in federal democracies collect and report data on COVID-19 cases and mortality associated with COVID-19. Methods: We collected data from subnational government websites in 15 federal democracies to construct indices of COVID-19 data quality. Using bivariate and multivariate regression, we analyzed the relationship between these indices and indicators of state capacity, the decentralization of resources and authority, and the quality of democratic institutions. We supplement these quantitative analyses with qualitative case studies of subnational COVID-19 data in Brazil, Spain, and the United States. Findings: Subnational governments in federations vary in their collection of data on COVID-19 mortality, testing. hospitalization, and demographics. There are statistically significant associations (p < 0.05) between subnational data quality and key indicators of public health system capacity, fiscal decentralization, and the quality of democratic institutions. Case studies illustrate the importance of both governmental and civil-society institutions that foster accountability. Conclusions: The quality of subnational COVID-19 surveillance data in federations depends in part on public health system capacity, fiscal decentralization, and the quality of democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The youth sport system in the United States is not achieving its full potential. There is a need to reimagine this system in ways that are evidence-based, innovative, and coordinated to best safeguard and promote the well-being of young people. The purpose of this expert commentary, composed by the President's Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition Science Board, is to propose a set of changes across multiple levels of influence (e.g., individual, family, school, organization) that could cultivate a more developmentally sound youth sport system. By advancing the vision of the National Youth Sports Strategy to provide quality youth sport to all young people in the country, these changes have substantial potential to benefit young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based upon a body of empirical research drawn largely from property tax rollback settings, a conventional wisdom about the consequences of fiscal limitation has emerged, which holds that fiscal limits are easily circumvented through a combination of inter-governmental bailouts and a turn toward alternative revenue sources; it also holds that fiscal limitation exacerbates the rush toward nonguaranteed debt by complicating the tax-support potential of general obligation bonds. What has been missing is a strict test of this conventional wisdom based upon evidence from a fiscal limit setting that contrasts in important ways with Proposition 13 and similar situations. This paper reports results of analysis of one such case-local government in Missouri after the Hancock Amendment. It shows strong support for the revenue diversification thesis, mixed results concerning debt impacts, and no support for the fiscal centralization thesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the extent to which characteristics of local union affiliates, employers, and product markets influence centralization of authority over collective bargaining in national unions in the United States. Our results suggest that the proportion of the union workers in the jurisdiction organized by the union, the degree of unionization in the industries, the degree of heterogeneity of industries that the union organizes, and the size of local affiliates each influence the centralization of collective bargaining decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent patterns of urban growth have reflected the redistribution of manufacturing employment within and among metropolitan areas. As the production requirements for manufacturing have changed, so have the economic strengths of alternative production sites. This paper focuses on the determinants of metropolitan (SMSA) differentials in the extent of manufacturing decentralization, and city differentials in the growth of manufacturing employment. Location decisions within SMSAs depend on the significance of agglomeration economics found in the city relative to potentially lower unit labor and land costs available outside it. The most important of the agglomerative forces are urbanization economics, not readily transferable to suburbs. External economics accrue from central city locations to groups of firms, resulting in lower average costs of production. The most important economies come from the availability of ancillary services, centralized shipping points, and larger, more skilled labor supplies. Firms dominated by urbanization economies are typically small and use space vertically rather than horizontally. Thus, higher unit land costs in cities are less an obstacle to centralized firms than to those for which horizontal plant layouts will minimize costs.

We consider the role of government in the process of technological development, showing that the role of government regarding technological development varies over the development process. When a country is far from the technological frontier, the government can spur economic development through the centralization of economic and political control, but as the economy approaches the technological frontier, government's role must change considerably, political and economic freedom being necessary. In addition, domestic business groups can act as substitutes for governmental intervention, and multinational corporations can supplement governmental efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent national trends in US higher education point to the importance of deemphasizing solo and isolated initiatives and focus instead on identifying and addressing institution‐wide movements for improvement. These trends suggest that academic advising is entering a new period in which comprehensive, intentional, and integrated advising solutions are preferred and sought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the increasing pervasiveness of telecommunications technologies, very few studies have holistically attempted to examine their use in organizational contexts. This study approaches the use of these technologies from an innovation perspective. Literature on innovation is synthesized into a testable model and the results of a senior IS executive survey of 154 organizations is reported. Factors that enable initiation, adoption, and implementation of a set of 15 distinct telecommunications technologies are examined. Two factors in particular, environmental uncertainty and decentralization of decision making, show significant relationships with the usage of these technologies. The results provide useful insights into the usage of individual technologies and the contextual factors that enable diffusion of this important set of technologies in U.S. organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the myths associated with the size of business enterprises. Although the popular belief that large, multidivisional (and often multinational) corporations are dying out is false, the difficulties facing traditional big business are still sizeable. The author considers how newly emergent large firms make it in an economy geared towards smaller organizations. Concentrated economic power is changing its shape, as big firms are creating networks and making financial and technology deals with one another. Governments at all levels are typically involved in the process, while smaller firms act as their suppliers and subcontractors. As production becomes increasingly decentralized, managers try to enhance their flexibility in the face of obstacles to market entry and of chronic uncertainty about political conditions and customer demands in distinct places.

The article discusses economies of scale in the manufacturing industries of various countries. Comments from several economists are taken from several contemporary journals. The author discusses the differences between big and small businesses. Because of numerous advantages seen in small business as well as changes in the market, the author believes that big businesses that exist in the traditional sense are dying out. The growing popularity of decentralization in management is discussed. The overall size of a firm is seen as largely irrelevant for competitive advantage. Diversification to build size for the sake of size is the wrong strategy for most companies in the U.S.

University-environment relations, administration, and the functioning of organizational subunits are considered in a cross-cultural comparison of universities in two countries. The distribution of influence is analyzed in terms of the sharing of influence in decision making across hierarchical levels. A distinction is drawn between decentralization and collegiality. Data were collected from a stratified random sample of 80 academic departments in 46 major universities in the United States and 12 schools of study in 2 English universities. Results indicate that influence in decision making is shared in universities in both countries—with variations due to discipline and subunit reputation—and that there is less collegiality within subunits and greater decentralization in English schools. The effects of size on distributions of influence and the impact of differential patterns of faculty time use are also considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This examination addresses the following questions: Is participative management an American version of European industrial democracy? What are they and what can be expected from them? Is one a substitute for the other? Are they passing fads or here to stay? For what kinds of issues are they best suited? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on retail sales and store analysis in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and Hollywood, California. Censuses from the years 1929, 1933 and 1935 included information from all three geographic regions, despite different populations and business prosperity. A chart is presented which tracks the total market share of sixteen regions within the entire Los Angeles market. Relative gains and losses in sales volume changes are presented. Additional analysis and charts seek to evaluate the changing patterns between downtown Los Angeles and the county as a whole, potentially suggesting a decentralized retail trade industry.

The article discusses some possible uses for the U.S. Census of Business Data. To economists the Census provides the factual basis which is essential in the appraisal of economic life in the U.S. The Census shows tendencies toward geographic concentration, migration, and decentralization. These factors are of importance to industrial sectors. Through migration demand changes can be determined. General business conditions throughout the U.S. can also be ascertained through this analysis. The Census provides a comparison of salaries and wages broken down by business type and region in the U.S.

In this study, 300 American suburbs are classified according to the three major forms of government: commission (considered to be most decentralized), mayor-council, and council-manager (most centralized). Various social and economic characteristics are then examined. The commission city is the least likely, and the council-manager city is the most likely, to be newer and to have a young, mobile, white, middle-class population that is growing rapidly. It is suggested that the socioeconomic character of a city may partly determine its political structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]