Financial Sustainability of Public Sector Entities, 2019
This chapter discusses the use of cost accounting as an important organizational tool for informi... more This chapter discusses the use of cost accounting as an important organizational tool for informing operational and financial sustainability strategies in public organizations. While the main accounting and budgetary theories tend to overlook cost accounting, the information that cost accounting provides is important for the effective functioning of both accounting and budgetary theories of public organizational sustainability. Furthermore, cost accounting informs two structural responses to sustainability challenges: contracting service delivery with private providers, and collaboration with government and nonprofit providers. In its current incarnation in the public sector, cost accounting may not be capable of addressing the large and important problem of financial sustainability of public services. As such, a systems-practices framework is developed to make a distinction between cost accounting systems from cost accounting practices. This model draws attention to differences in ...
Research Anthology on Reliability and Safety in Aviation Systems, Spacecraft, and Air Transport
While it is well known that cost is a politically salient issue, much less is known about the rol... more While it is well known that cost is a politically salient issue, much less is known about the role of cost development and how costs get elevated into the political discussion. This chapter looks at the role of cost accounting and cost development in the recent takeover attempts of two airports by the state of North Carolina. The Charlotte-Douglas airport takeover was a failed attempt, and the Asheville Regional airport takeover succeeded. The chapter makes three important contributions to the study of sustainable transportation financial management. First, it shows that costs are important to the political discussion of the takeovers. Second, it provides a discussion of the relevant costs in each case. Third, it provides research on the political dimensions of cost in the United States in the management of transportation assets, which may limit sustainable transportation policy.
Research Anthology on Reliability and Safety in Aviation Systems, Spacecraft, and Air Transport
While it is well known that cost is a politically salient issue, much less is known about the rol... more While it is well known that cost is a politically salient issue, much less is known about the role of cost development and how costs get elevated into the political discussion. This chapter looks at the role of cost accounting and cost development in the recent takeover attempts of two airports by the state of North Carolina. The Charlotte-Douglas airport takeover was a failed attempt, and the Asheville Regional airport takeover succeeded. The chapter makes three important contributions to the study of sustainable transportation financial management. First, it shows that costs are important to the political discussion of the takeovers. Second, it provides a discussion of the relevant costs in each case. Third, it provides research on the political dimensions of cost in the United States in the management of transportation assets, which may limit sustainable transportation policy.
Recent research indicates the need to understand the role financial resources play in election ad... more Recent research indicates the need to understand the role financial resources play in election administration. A key question is, when considering “financial resources,” how much does economic hardship affect the differences between the budgeted amount and the actual amount spent?. The limited research that has examined this question comes from the United Kingdom; it shows that there are significant differences between the two measures and they vary systematically based upon fiscal environmental conditions. This research examines whether the fiscal environment influences election administration budgets, spending, and the resulting budget variance in local US jurisdictions. Using county election administration spending data from four states, this research indicates election administration budgets, spending, and variances are related to the fiscal environment. Not only does this work have implications for measurement of election cost, but this work is key to understanding the financia...
Adequate income is a social determinant of health. In the United States, only Social Security ben... more Adequate income is a social determinant of health. In the United States, only Social Security beneficiaries receive inflation-protected guaranteed income. Social Security needs another 1983 compromise in which stakeholders accepted “shared pain” to avoid insolvency. We propose indexing the benefit using the chained consumer price index (CPI) for all urban consumers and providing a one-time bonus of 8% to 10% for beneficiaries in their mid-80s, when needs become greater. The chained CPI has little impact when beneficiaries start receiving benefits, but older beneficiaries need protection. The estimated 75-year savings from this restructured benefit amount to 14.2% to 18% of Social Security deficits. Modest increases in payroll taxes and maximum earnings taxed should make up most of the shortfall. Including unearned income with wages and salaries subject to the 6.2% individual tax would produce much more revenue. The discussion explores the proposal’s political feasibility, grounding ...
Student workers can influence professor productivity through the quality of research or teaching ... more Student workers can influence professor productivity through the quality of research or teaching support provided. This is, in part, dependent on whether students follow the directions or rules put forth by the professor. While research on rule following is emerging, we know little about what influences rule following in student-professor work relationships. Using a survey experiment, we examine whether the way in which information is conveyed and who conveys it shapes student rule following. While we find students largely follow rules regardless of whether they are written or unwritten, we find significant gender bias. Male students are less likely to follow instructions given by a female professor than a male professor. Gender bias among student workers is another bias in academia that may influence productivity, but perhaps greater representation could reverse this trend.
This study examines the attributes of organizational rules that influence rule following. Rule fo... more This study examines the attributes of organizational rules that influence rule following. Rule following fosters organizational effectiveness by aligning individual behaviors with organizational preference. While a range of theoretical explanations has been offered for rule following, the characteristics of rule design and implementation have received less empirical attention. Borrowing from the green tape theory of effective rules, this study examines the influence of two particular characteristics-rule formalization and rule consistency-on rule following. Three studies, which include two vignette experiments and a survey of two local government organizations, provide the data for the research. The results suggest that rule formalization and rule consistency independently increase rule following, with mixed evidence of interaction effects. The broad implication is that public managers must attend to both rule design and implementation to foster organizational rule following.
With the rise of third-party government, the lines between the sectors have blurred as has accoun... more With the rise of third-party government, the lines between the sectors have blurred as has accountability. Public service delivery failures can erode government legitimacy and trust, but who do citizens blame when something goes wrong? To answer this question, we employ an experiment to see whether citizens hold local governments and private contractors equally accountable for service delivery failure. We also examine how they expect the employees to be held accountable. Results demonstrate that blame is attributed to those providing the service directly. However, the introduction of a budget shortfall lessens the blame assigned to the contractor, and implicates the city even when the service is provided indirectly through a contract. Finally, citizens are less in favour of terminating the employment of both public and contract employees under budget shortfalls. Findings suggest that if citizens are given information about the context and who is in control of the service, they attribute blame accordingly.
Financial Sustainability of Public Sector Entities, 2019
This chapter discusses the use of cost accounting as an important organizational tool for informi... more This chapter discusses the use of cost accounting as an important organizational tool for informing operational and financial sustainability strategies in public organizations. While the main accounting and budgetary theories tend to overlook cost accounting, the information that cost accounting provides is important for the effective functioning of both accounting and budgetary theories of public organizational sustainability. Furthermore, cost accounting informs two structural responses to sustainability challenges: contracting service delivery with private providers, and collaboration with government and nonprofit providers. In its current incarnation in the public sector, cost accounting may not be capable of addressing the large and important problem of financial sustainability of public services. As such, a systems-practices framework is developed to make a distinction between cost accounting systems from cost accounting practices. This model draws attention to differences in ...
Research Anthology on Reliability and Safety in Aviation Systems, Spacecraft, and Air Transport
While it is well known that cost is a politically salient issue, much less is known about the rol... more While it is well known that cost is a politically salient issue, much less is known about the role of cost development and how costs get elevated into the political discussion. This chapter looks at the role of cost accounting and cost development in the recent takeover attempts of two airports by the state of North Carolina. The Charlotte-Douglas airport takeover was a failed attempt, and the Asheville Regional airport takeover succeeded. The chapter makes three important contributions to the study of sustainable transportation financial management. First, it shows that costs are important to the political discussion of the takeovers. Second, it provides a discussion of the relevant costs in each case. Third, it provides research on the political dimensions of cost in the United States in the management of transportation assets, which may limit sustainable transportation policy.
Research Anthology on Reliability and Safety in Aviation Systems, Spacecraft, and Air Transport
While it is well known that cost is a politically salient issue, much less is known about the rol... more While it is well known that cost is a politically salient issue, much less is known about the role of cost development and how costs get elevated into the political discussion. This chapter looks at the role of cost accounting and cost development in the recent takeover attempts of two airports by the state of North Carolina. The Charlotte-Douglas airport takeover was a failed attempt, and the Asheville Regional airport takeover succeeded. The chapter makes three important contributions to the study of sustainable transportation financial management. First, it shows that costs are important to the political discussion of the takeovers. Second, it provides a discussion of the relevant costs in each case. Third, it provides research on the political dimensions of cost in the United States in the management of transportation assets, which may limit sustainable transportation policy.
Recent research indicates the need to understand the role financial resources play in election ad... more Recent research indicates the need to understand the role financial resources play in election administration. A key question is, when considering “financial resources,” how much does economic hardship affect the differences between the budgeted amount and the actual amount spent?. The limited research that has examined this question comes from the United Kingdom; it shows that there are significant differences between the two measures and they vary systematically based upon fiscal environmental conditions. This research examines whether the fiscal environment influences election administration budgets, spending, and the resulting budget variance in local US jurisdictions. Using county election administration spending data from four states, this research indicates election administration budgets, spending, and variances are related to the fiscal environment. Not only does this work have implications for measurement of election cost, but this work is key to understanding the financia...
Adequate income is a social determinant of health. In the United States, only Social Security ben... more Adequate income is a social determinant of health. In the United States, only Social Security beneficiaries receive inflation-protected guaranteed income. Social Security needs another 1983 compromise in which stakeholders accepted “shared pain” to avoid insolvency. We propose indexing the benefit using the chained consumer price index (CPI) for all urban consumers and providing a one-time bonus of 8% to 10% for beneficiaries in their mid-80s, when needs become greater. The chained CPI has little impact when beneficiaries start receiving benefits, but older beneficiaries need protection. The estimated 75-year savings from this restructured benefit amount to 14.2% to 18% of Social Security deficits. Modest increases in payroll taxes and maximum earnings taxed should make up most of the shortfall. Including unearned income with wages and salaries subject to the 6.2% individual tax would produce much more revenue. The discussion explores the proposal’s political feasibility, grounding ...
Student workers can influence professor productivity through the quality of research or teaching ... more Student workers can influence professor productivity through the quality of research or teaching support provided. This is, in part, dependent on whether students follow the directions or rules put forth by the professor. While research on rule following is emerging, we know little about what influences rule following in student-professor work relationships. Using a survey experiment, we examine whether the way in which information is conveyed and who conveys it shapes student rule following. While we find students largely follow rules regardless of whether they are written or unwritten, we find significant gender bias. Male students are less likely to follow instructions given by a female professor than a male professor. Gender bias among student workers is another bias in academia that may influence productivity, but perhaps greater representation could reverse this trend.
This study examines the attributes of organizational rules that influence rule following. Rule fo... more This study examines the attributes of organizational rules that influence rule following. Rule following fosters organizational effectiveness by aligning individual behaviors with organizational preference. While a range of theoretical explanations has been offered for rule following, the characteristics of rule design and implementation have received less empirical attention. Borrowing from the green tape theory of effective rules, this study examines the influence of two particular characteristics-rule formalization and rule consistency-on rule following. Three studies, which include two vignette experiments and a survey of two local government organizations, provide the data for the research. The results suggest that rule formalization and rule consistency independently increase rule following, with mixed evidence of interaction effects. The broad implication is that public managers must attend to both rule design and implementation to foster organizational rule following.
With the rise of third-party government, the lines between the sectors have blurred as has accoun... more With the rise of third-party government, the lines between the sectors have blurred as has accountability. Public service delivery failures can erode government legitimacy and trust, but who do citizens blame when something goes wrong? To answer this question, we employ an experiment to see whether citizens hold local governments and private contractors equally accountable for service delivery failure. We also examine how they expect the employees to be held accountable. Results demonstrate that blame is attributed to those providing the service directly. However, the introduction of a budget shortfall lessens the blame assigned to the contractor, and implicates the city even when the service is provided indirectly through a contract. Finally, citizens are less in favour of terminating the employment of both public and contract employees under budget shortfalls. Findings suggest that if citizens are given information about the context and who is in control of the service, they attribute blame accordingly.
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