Department: Public Policy and Management ![[clear]](close-x.png "Remove this limiter")
91 matches in the database.
These are records: 1 - 30.
[1] [2] [3] [4]
3.
Bychkova, Olga V.
What do things do in policy? Describing the heating sector reform in post-soviet Russia.
Degree: PhD, Public Policy and Management, 2007, Ohio State University
► Today, the notion of “right” institutions – ones that are democratic and…
(more)
▼ Today, the notion of “right” institutions – ones that are democratic and pro-market - predominate conventional studies of democracy in post-communist countries. The focus is on the articulation or non-articulation of citizens' interests and their ability to influence the state and its decisions. For instance, while studying the city infrastructure in current Russia, most analysts believed that changes in ownership or management style of housing maintenance and utility companies would result in the empowerment of citizens and the creation of civil society. Many studies were developed to explore constraints that inhibit such progress. While this view captures many of the central problems of market and democracy building in Russia today, this study claims that such an approach should be corrected through an examination of the role of things in policy-making. Employing the “actor-network” approach, it will explore the case of reforms in the administration of the Russian municipal sector. As in other sectors of the Russian economy, the biggest changes included market-oriented reforms that proposed to make people liable for their apartments. Residents, who have become owners of their flats after privatization, are now responsible for the maintenance of their buildings. While the program of reforms included many stages, one of the major steps was the introduction of market-oriented technologies that were expected to re-orient residents’ incentives from collective to individual consumption of utility and housing services. However, this conventional account misses something important about local politics in the housing and utility sector. For most analysts, the implementation process evolves in a ‘materially free’ environment where the “right” technologies can successfully “teach” consumers to live in a democratic pro-market society. Focusing on financial requirements, they neglect the overall effect of new technology on the implementation of democratic and market policies across Russian cities. Most studies do not account for fact that technological innovations were introduced in the field with the already existing scripts of consumers’ behavior and experts’ power. How do old technologies that promote collective use interact with the new equipment that encourages individual consumption? In this study, I will address these questions by studying changes in Russian urban infrastructure.
Advisors/Committee Members: Brown, Trevor.
Keywords: Heating sector, Russia, actor-network approach, implementation studies
More Like This
6.
Chang, Yu-Min.
Factors contributing to the effectiveness of implementing a national policy at the local level : a case study of community-specific regulation of municipal water pollution control.
Degree: PhD, Public Policy and Management, 1999, Ohio State University
► As the role of local government expands to fill the gaps created…
(more)
▼ As the role of local government expands to fill the gaps created by reduction in the federal government's involvement in the design of national policies, it is important to understand the variability and limits of a local government's capacity to adapt these policies. Policy instrument theory suggests the importance of the link between policy design and implementation success. This study expands policy instrument theory by linking a community's contextual capacity to its adoption of the design and operational criteria of a policy instrument. This linkage allows for the identification of some of the causes of effective adaptation of national policies at the local level. This study incorporates the socioeconomic and agency perspectives, derived from the theories of urban politics, economic/interest groups, and resource-dependency models, to explain the behaviors of local governments and local target groups that occur as a result of the implementation and the specifications of locally designed instruments.A longitudinal and exploratory case study of municipal water pollution control of two Ohio communities is used to provide empirical evidence to shed light on the theoretical concepts and related hypotheses introduced here. In sum, the findings of this study provide evidence of the following: 1) local government's effectiveness in adapting a federal policy is positively related to its increased involvement in designing and implementing the policy; 2) the outcomes of adaptation vary among local governments in part due to the context-specific elements of design and operation of the regulations; and 3) the punitive measures a local regulatory agency is legally allowed to use to insure compliance and the willingness of the regulatory authority to use these measures are highly correlated with the socioeconomic profile of the local community and the agency's resource independence.This study adds to the details on policy instrument theory, and cautions against the over-simplification of the theory's conventional advice that "tool substitution" would bring success to policy implementation by replacing one tool with another. This study suggests that to fully utilize a policy instrument's potential, some attention must be focused on a local government's capacity to design and to implement policies. This study suggests that the way the instrument is designed and implemented by the local government is related to the socioeconomic profiles of the local community and the local agency's level of resource dependency. The relationship between the local contextual capacity and the local government's adoption of design and operational criteria of regulations affects the degree of effectiveness of local implementation of the national policy. This study provides a new perspective for examining how the contextual capacity of a local community interacts with its ability and willingness to adapt a national policy. It does this, in part, by studying the behaviors of local government and groups targeted by the policy. This study provides information to policy makers about what a local government can do, and suggests that the federal government designate resources and authority by taking into consideration the contextual capacities of local governments. This study also urges policy scholars to research the methods of incorporating contextual capacity into policy designs.
Advisors/Committee Members: Desai, Anand.
More Like This
10.
Cho, Im-Gon.
Local government fiscal impacts on wages, housing values, and household migration.
Degree: PhD, Public Policy and Management, 1997, Ohio State University
► The study examines the effects of various local characteristics on households migration…
(more)
▼ The study examines the effects of various local characteristics on households migration decisions and behaviors as well as the capitalization of wage and housing values. Introducing central city and suburban fiscal variables allows us to incorporate the current fragmented local government system into the analysis and to examine the direction and magnitude of the fiscal interdependency or externalities between the central city and suburbs.It is found that both housing values in the central city and suburbs capitalize local tax and expenditure level, which could be used as evidence for fiscal interdependency between the central city and suburbs. From Roback's expanded model, it is shown that population distribution between central city and suburb can be explained by levels of amenities in the central city and suburbs. Estimation results show that higher per capita education expenditure in the central city (CEDU) and higher per capita welfare, health, and employee retirement expenditure in the central city (CWF&HH) tend to decrease the population ratio of suburbs to the central city while higher per capita welfare, health, and employee retirement expenditure in suburbs (SWF&HH) tends to increase the ratio.>Out-migration analysis shows the existence of externalities in central city safety expenditure (CSAFTY), central city infrastructure expenditure (CINFRA), and suburban infrastructure expenditure (SINFRA) while education expenditure in the central city and suburbs (CEDU and SEDU) and welfare, health, and employee retirement expenditure in the central city and suburbs (CWF&HH and SWF&HH) do not seem to have such externalities. In particular, central city residents do not favor higher safety expenditure and infrastructure expenditure because of their externalities over non-taxpayers (suburban residents). This causes some central city residents to decide to move from central city to the suburbs. In part, the central city migrants' preference is reflected in the negative effect of CSAFTY on central city housing value.With a unified government system, it is predicted that the central city would experience less out-migration since higher levels of local government services would make the central city a more attractive place to live. Because of the spill-over effects of central city government expenditures over suburban residents, it is also predicted that the suburbs would not lose population in spite of poor public service provision in the suburbs under a unified government system. It is also predicted that the number of out-migrants who decide to exit the current MA's would decrease with a unified government system. It can, therefore, be argued that metropolitan governance is not a new form of beggar-thy-neighbor-policy, but a win-win policy prescription for both the central city and suburbs.
Advisors/Committee Members: Adams, Charles F.
More Like This
11.
Clements, Michael Edward.
Local telephone quality-of-service : the impact of regulation and competition.
Degree: PhD, Public Policy and Management, 2001, Ohio State University
► Changes in market structure and regulation are creating an important transition in…
(more)
▼ Changes in market structure and regulation are creating an important transition in the local telephone industry. A dominant firm - competitive fringe market structure is replacing the traditional monopoly market structure while state regulators increasingly rely on alternative regulation in place of traditional rate-of-return regulation. At the same time, quality is important and shows signs of decline. However, no theoretical or empirical literature addresses quality in a transitional market structure with regulation.The theoretical component begins with a framework of quality that distinguishes between equipment and system oriented quality and people and process oriented quality. Next, I extend the existing literature on quality in a monopoly environment with regulation. In price - quality space, I find that regulation directly influences the monopolist's quality. Importantly, price cap and rate freeze regulation are associated with lower quality. Finally, I develop a theory of quality in a dominant firm - competitive fringe environment with regulation. I compare the unregulated monopoly and dominant firm -competitive fringe outcomes and I compare the unregulated and the regulated dominant firm - competitive fringe outcomes. In both instances, I find the outcome depends on the nature of the competitors' products or services and the nature and stringency of regulation.The theoretical component provides a framework and hypotheses for the empirical analysis of local telephone quality-of-service. I develop a panel dataset consisting of the largest local telephone company in each state for 1991 through 1999. I first examine the trends in quality-of-service, where seven of eight quality measures indicate decline. Next, I conduct regression analysis on quality-of-service in monopoly markets. The regression results indicate that quality-of-service declines with price cap/rate freeze regulation and deregulation. Next, I conduct regression analysis on quality-of-service in dominant firm -competitive fringe markets. The regression results indicate that competition and regulation have a mixed impact on quality-of-service. Finally, I examine whether investment in modern infrastructure, corporate merges, and labor unrest influence quality-of-service.
Advisors/Committee Members: Jones, Douglas N.
More Like This
12.
Crandall, Angela M.
Organizational Determinants Of Information Quality In Local Education Agencies.
Degree: PhD, Public Policy and Management, 2008, Ohio State University
► Government decision-making is only as good as the information on which it…
(more)
▼ Government decision-making is only as good as the information on which it is based. This study empirically examines the relationship between information quality and strategies organizations use for producing information. The theoretical framework employed consists of ideas from contingency theory, information resource management (IRM) and total data quality management. The information life cycle model was used to structure the information production process and to identify actions taken at various stages to improve information quality. These actions or tactics were categorized into Thompson’s (1967) strategy types to identify strategy content. Education provided an ideal context for this study, due to the data-driven nature of state and federal education law. Information production is a long-linked process laden with interdependencies. Situated in an intergovernmental environment, school district processes are influenced by reporting requirements and timelines dictated by state and federal law. School districts are dependent upon state and federal agencies to establish stable, functioning systems so production activities can be planned and scheduled. When coupled with tight reporting time frames any instability or interference from the intergovernmental environment can affect this process, which can interfere with information quality. Local context can also vary across school districts, which may mean that strategies used by a district in one context, may not be effective for all. Six case studies were conducted in Ohio local education agencies which informed the development of a follow-up survey administered to Ohio public school districts. Results demonstrated that due to the long-linked nature of the production process for assessment information submitted via an intergovernmental information system, there may be several potential factors that influence information quality. Potential contributing factors examined were jolts to the production process, contingencies faced, and the mix of strategies adopted for producing information. Local government agencies can be penalized based upon the quality of information produced, and when there are tight time lines for production, most agencies will adopt tactics to speed production. Larger districts were more likely than small districts to buffer, while most districts engaged in smoothing and rationing, and the majority of tactics for all districts could be classified as anticipating and adapting.
Advisors/Committee Members: Landsbergen, David.
Subjects: Education; Public administration
Keywords: information quality; contingency theory; education data; information production process; school district; student assessment data
More Like This
14.
Drtina, Ralph E.
Conflict management in environmental administration : the case of U.S. Steel Corporation's proposed lakefront plant.
Degree: PhD, Public Policy and Management, 1980, Ohio State University
► This dissertation is a case study which describes and explores the procedures…
(more)
▼ This dissertation is a case study which describes and explores the procedures for preparation of a large-scaled project Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). The U.S. Steel Corporation, in conjunction with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Arthur D. Little, Inc., initiated a series of Technical Team meetings to afford Federal, state, and local public agency officials the means to exchange information and to resolve conflicts on a proposed integrated steel plant. The highly acclaimed overlapping group cooperative approach resulted in a DEIS document prepared in an expeditious 16 months.The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which cooperative group processes were in existence during the preparation of the U.S. Steel DEIS, and the social psychological dimensions of such processes. The primary instrument was a questionnaire using a set of behavioral variables adapted from Rensis Likert's Profile of Organizational Characteristics. In addition, a newly designed organizational involvement scale offered respondents the opportunity to evaluate the participation of selected organizations. Finally, a cost accounting model designed to estimate the savings to the applicant organization of a cooperative approach was formulated and explored.Data were gathered by means of questionnaire response and by interviews. Results indicate that participants viewed the DEIS effort as a mildly democratic and cooperative undertaking on the Likert derived scales. However, participants also expressed a preference for even greater cooperation to facilitate the DEIS process. Further, participant organizations received variable scores on actual involvement, thereby indicating the differential importance placed upon the project by agency administrators. The cost-savings model was generally recognized as being an important device to encourage cooperative efforts, but surprisingly, no applicant cost data on previous DEIS efforts were found to be available.In summary, this dissertation provides the basis for improving the interaction of Technical Team members in the future. To facilitate greater cooperation, group discussion leaders and members could benefit from programs designed to educate participants on the group decision-making process. From an administrative view, top level support and adequate funding are vital to ensure the full involvement of participants. Additionally, the study enumerates several specific topics on environmental assessment procedures which require future research.
Advisors/Committee Members: Lundstedt, Sven B.
More Like This
16.
Eckerd, Adam Michael.
Equal Partners at Every Level of Decision Making: Environmental Justice and the Policy Process.
Degree: PhD, Public Policy and Management, 2011, Ohio State University
► Public policies affect a wide range of stakeholders, intentionally and unintentionally, individually…
(more)
▼ Public policies affect a wide range of stakeholders, intentionally and unintentionally, individually and collectively. Environmental policy, in particular, can affect the social and natural environments, and have broad effects beyond those intended by policymakers. This dissertation represents an effort to confront these complications by focusing on the socioeconomic equity effects of a set of environmental policies. Using a framework that encompasses a holistic approach to public policy and management research, the dissertation consists of three related projects that, taken together, describe in deep detail the how environmental policy decision making is affected by concerns over environmental justice. The first project is an aggregate evaluation into how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prioritizes the cleanup of hazardous sites nationwide. Using data from the EPA and U.S. Census, quantitative analysis reveals that the EPA tends to prioritize those sites deemed most risky, and that sites located in predominantly minority communities may proceed more slowly through the initial phases of the cleanup process, but are not less likely to ultimately be cleaned up than other sites. The second study is an investigation of three cases of localized projects that affect community environmental conditions. Using the comments provided during the preparation of three Environmental Impact Statements (EISs), this qualitative, exploratory project sheds light on the propensity of high socioeconomic status residents to engage in collectively organized action as compared to lower socioeconomic status residents, but finds that such collective action is of limited efficacy in achieving parochial interests of community residents. The third project is an attempt to explore the potential effects on neighborhoods of the mitigation of environmental risk. With little empirical data available to directly assess these affects in the aggregate, this project uses an agent-based model to simulate several counterfactual policy alternatives to determine the relative advantages of different strategies in terms of mitigation environmental risk, and of doing so as equitably as possible.
Advisors/Committee Members: Desai, Anand.
Subjects: Public Administration; Public Policy
Keywords: environmental justice; environmental policy; public participation; policy analysis; public management
More Like This
18.
Elliot, Amy Elizabeth.
An analysis of participation, quality of care and efficiency outcomes of an inter-organizational network of nursing homes.
Degree: PhD, Public Policy and Management, 2007, Ohio State University
► In providing for residents, the average nursing home today must deal with…
(more)
▼ In providing for residents, the average nursing home today must deal with complicated and competing issues that involve adhering to regulatory guidelines for quality of care while maintaining operations with limited reimbursement. In response to these challenges, many nursing homes establish external, collaborative efforts through networks. This dissertation examines the Pioneer Network, an inter-organizational network that claims positive quality of care and efficiency outcomes are associated with network participation. To test these assertions and to further elucidate network participation, this research pursues the following objectives: 1) examine the organizational characteristics of early adopter homes participating in the Pioneer Network and to what extent those characteristics contributed to significant transformations in financial and quality outcomes 2) evaluate the effect of Pioneer Network participation on quality of care and per bed net income of nursing homes. In the evaluation of the organizational characteristics of early adopter homes of the Pioneer Network, results suggest that the early adopters of the Pioneer Network were more likely to be large, non-profit and composed of a higher percentage of private paying residents. To determine the outcomes of homes participating in the Pioneer Network by organizational characteristic, this dissertation employs a difference-in-difference approach to examine significant changes from 1996 to 2003 in quality of care and profitability for four organizational characteristics including profit type, home size, chain status and market concentration. Findings imply that non-profit homes exhibited a greater change over for-profit homes in all quality of care and profitability outcomes. In addition, homes in less competitive environments significantly improved in quality of care and profitability over homes in more competitive environments. This dissertation also evaluates the effect of Pioneer Network participation on quality of care for nursing home residents and the per bed net income of the home from 1996 to 2003. For quality of care, findings indicate homes participating in the Pioneer Network achieved better quality of care outcomes for residents over comparable non-participant homes between the two timeframes. Results of the profitability analysis also suggest that homes participating in the network outperformed control homes during the same timeframe.
Advisors/Committee Members: Marvel, Mary K.
More Like This
27.
Heckman, Alexander C.
Desperately Seeking Management In State Environmental And Transportation Performance: Testing One Measure Of Management Quality, Two Models Of Government Performance, And Three Ways To Make Management Research Relevant.
Degree: PhD, Public Policy and Management, 2008, Ohio State University
► It is the desire for government that works well for citizens and…
(more)
▼ It is the desire for government that works well for citizens and prevents things from going terribly wrong that drives an interest in understanding the causes of government performance. Generally, government performance is determined by the management actions of government agencies operating within various practical and political constraints, which are in large part set by the policy authority and resources given to agency management by elected officials. Shedding light on the nature and impact of management on government performance is a major challenge for scholars given the difficulty of measuring such a complex concept and the complexity of factors that determine performance outcomes. Unfortunately, our current understanding of these issues is limited.This dissertation provides insights into how to better measure management and assess its impact on government performance outcomes. I address these issues by analyzing the validity of the Government Performance Project state management grades, comparatively testing the explanatory power of the Government Performance Framework and the Mazmanian and Sabatier Implementation Framework in state environmental and transportation performance contexts and demonstrate three approaches for improving management research into the causes of government performance. My analysis generates useful insights regarding: 1. the usefulness of the GPP as a measure of management quality and how it could be improved, 2. the potential performance gains that can be achieved by improving management quality, 3. how public administration research can better generate useful insights about the impact of management and other factors impacting government outcomes by using a comparative research design and simulation methods. I conclude that research using better measures of management quality, more advanced analytical techniques, comparative research designs, and mixed methods will be needed if management scholars want to move management research forward in a way that provides better and more useful insights for scholars, policymakers, and managers. My analyses facilitate the drawing of general conclusions because the empirical testing is performed using data from all fifty states and within two widely disparate policy contexts that present qualitatively different management and political challenges for producing the desired policy outcomes studied – reducing air pollution and maintaining state highway infrastructure.
Advisors/Committee Members: Brown, Trevor.
Subjects: Environmental science; Management; Organization theory; Organizational behavior; Political science; Public administration; Transportation
Keywords: management; public management; implementation; government performance; environment, transportation; simulation methods; state government; comparative methods, Government Perfomance Project grades
More Like This
[1] [2] [3] [4]
