Government revenue, private welfare, and tax reform in a small open economy

This paper examines the welfare and revenue effects of consumption and income taxes in a general equilibrium model with variable supply of labour and public goods. We derive the optimal consumption and income tax rates for such an economy. It is established that it is better to lower the income tax rate and increase the rate of consumption tax when this economy is in a downturn.

Issues in the implementation of cross-cultural management in Australia-evidence from a study of selected public and private sector organisations

This study examines the current status of cross-cultural management (CCM) in Australia.

The study is based on Reyes' (2004) Ph.D research of a qualitative nature in five organisations in the public and private sectors selected from a sample of organisations which appear to lead the field in Australia in respect of CCM. Literature is also surveyed to present a picture of the current legal and institutional setting of CCM in Australia and provide a context for the study.

Analysis of the findings highlights the gap between cross-cultural rhetoric and action in workplace situations. Problems are identified leading to incomplete and inadequate implementation of CCM in the respondent organisations. The study argues for the need for management to take a systems approach to the formulation and implementation of CCM. Some suggestions are made for improvements in the future.

An urgent challenge: new training opportunities for junior medical officers

There will be a massive increase in the number of medical school graduates over the next 5–10 years — there were 1287 Australian resident graduates in 2004, and there will be more than 3000 by the middle of the next decade.

A workshop held during the 11th National Prevocational Medical Education Forum explored ways to provide the additional prevocational training posts that will be required.

Four possible sites for additional training posts were discussed:
         • expansion of public hospital training posts;
         • general practice;
         • private hospitals; and
         • other sites, including private rooms and community placements.

Current accreditation procedures will need to be amended to accommodate more interns.

There will be limited access to prevocational training posts for non-resident (full-fee-paying) graduates and international medical graduates.

There is an urgent need for postgraduate medical councils, state health departments, the federal government, and medical boards to work together to identify, develop and accredit new training posts.

Cross-sector organisational engagement with ethics : a comparison between private sector companies and public sector entities of Sweden

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to describe and compare similarities as well as differences in the organizational engagement with ethics between private sector companies and public sector entities.

Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted in order to examine the organizational engagement with ethics in the largest private sector companies and the largest public sector entities in Sweden. Two adapted questionnaires were developed for each sector. The outcome of this research procedure is reported in this paper.

Findings – There are both minor and major differences between the private sector and public sectors, where the private sector companies overall tend to be more engaged with ethics than the public sector entities in areas such as: ethical bodies, ethical tools, internal and external ethical usage, and ethical support measures and ethical performance measures.

Research limitations/implications – This paper makes a contribution to theory as it outlines findings for the benefit of other researchers working in private and/or public sectors in the field. A suggestion for further research is to examine the organizational engagement with ethics in other countries/cultures that differ from the ones in this research effort performed in the private and public sectors of Sweden.

Practical implications – The research may be of managerial interest as it provides a grounded framework of areas to be considered in the examination of organizational engagement with ethics in both private sector companies and public sector entities. It may be used as a benchmark by either sector.

Originality/value – It reports a research effort to develop and describe a cross-sector comparison of the organizational engagement with ethics between private sector companies and public sector entities of Sweden. A framework is also introduced and illustrated. It also makes a contribution to theory and practice in the field as it is based upon a dual sample that provides insight into cross-sector organizational engagement with ethics.

Communicating the ethos of codes of ethics within the organization : a comparison of the largest private sector organizations in Sweden and Turkey

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to examine the ways that the largest private sector organizations in Sweden and Turkey communicate the intent of their codes of ethics to their employees.

Design/methodology/approach – Primary data were obtained via a self-administered mail questionnaire distributed to a census of the top 500 private sector organizations based on revenue in each country.

Findings – The research identified some interesting findings that showed that the small group of companies in Turkey that have a code may appear to be more “advanced” in ethics artifacts usage than Sweden. Such a conclusion is counter-intuitive as one would have expected a developed nation like Sweden to be more advanced in these measures than a developing nation such as Turkey. Culture may play a large role in the implementation of ethics artifacts in corporations and could be a major reason for this difference.

Research limitations/implications – As this is such a new area of investigation in Turkey, the responses amount to only 32 companies that have a code. The small sample is indicative of the formative evolution toward having codes of ethics within companies operating within Turkey.

Practical implications – This study enables those organizations that comprise corporate Turkey to view the current state of codes of ethics in Turkish companies and to compare these with the responses of a developed country of the European Union. Originality and value – A review of the literature indicates that this is the first time that such an international study specifically focused upon codes of ethics and the artifacts to inculcate the ethos of the code into every day corporate affairs has included Turkey as one of the participating countries.

Wait no more : the use of private dental services by welfare recipients in Australia

Dental services in Australia are available both privately and publicly. However, access to public dental services, like access to public hospital services for non-urgent treatment, is subject to a considerable waiting period. Moreover, access to public dental services is restricted to certain categories of welfare beneficiaries who qualify for a health care card. Because of the waiting time for public treatment, there is a frequent call for more public dental resources. This paper addresses the issue of what the waiting time for public dental services represents. One view largely confirmed by our research is that state governments are using the waiting time as a way of trying to push more and more people into the private sector. We find that more and more health care card holders are using the
private sector for dental services.

An econometric model of the determinants of private investment and a CGE model of the impact of democracy on investment and economic growth in Fiji

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to construct an econometric model of the determinants of private investment with a particular focus on the impact of democracy on investment.

Design/methodology/approach – The first step was to econometrically derive the long-run elasticities; then to modify the Fiji computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to incorporate the investment function. Also the econometrically derived long run elasticities in the CGE model were used.

Findings – It was found that democracy has a positive and statistically significant impact on private investment in Fiji. The paper's simulation of Fiji becoming a fully democratic country on investment and other macroeconomic fundamentals, based on a CGE model, reveals that real gross domestic product and real national welfare increase by around 0.01 and 0.05 per cent, respectively; government savings and revenue performance improves; there is a trade balance surplus; and both private consumption and disposable income increase by around 0.05 and 0.12 per cent, respectively.

Originality/value – This is the first study that uses a CGE model to examine the impact of democracy, via investment, on other macroeconomic fundaments. No other study is known to have modelled democracy in a CGE framework.

Interpreting risk allocation mechanism in public-private partnership projects : an empirical study in a transaction cost economics perspective

Risk allocation in public-private partnership (PPP) projects is currently claimed as capability driven. While lacking theoretical support, the claim is often 'violated' by current industrial practice. There is thus a need for formal mechanisms to interpret why a particular risk is retained by government in one project while transferred to private partners in another. From the viewpoint of transaction cost economics (TCE), integrated with the resource-based view (RBV) of organizational capabilities, this paper proposed a theoretical framework for understanding risk allocation practice in PPP projects. The theories underlying the major constructs and their links were articulated. Data gathered from an industry-wide survey were used to test the framework. The results of multiple linear regression (MLR) generally support the proposed framework. It has been found that partners' risk management routine, mechanism, commitment, cooperation history, and uncertainties associated with project risk management could serve to determine the risk allocation strategies adopted in a PPP project. This theoretical framework thus provides both government and private agencies with a logical and complete understanding of the process of selecting the allocation strategy for a particular risk in PPP projects. Moreover, it could be utilized to steer the risk allocation strategy by controlling certain critical determinants identified in the study. Study limitations and future research directions have also been set out.

Sport/cultural events : public and private perceptions of the hybrid event

This paper explores the public and private perceptions of events that amalgamate two different themes into one unified event. In this paper, we refer to this as a hybrid event. The paper is set within the context of Melbourne, Australia, where two hybrid events (specifically a sport/culture event) were delivered in 2006 and 2007. Media reports about the 2007 event were analyzed to capture the public perception of the sport/cultural event, and focus group data, collected from attendees of the events, were analyzed to explore the private perceptions of the hybrid event. The results indicate that there are a range of views about the sport/cultural event, which are not always consistent. The findings of this study indicate that the hybrid event has the capacity to wade through a cluttered marketplace, but that it does require strong branding to position itself in the marketplace for competitive advantage.

Examining communication and team performance during clinical handover in a complex environment : the private sector post-anaesthetic care unit

* Threats to patient safety during clinical handover have been identified as an ongoing problem in health care delivery.

* In complex handover situations, organisational, cultural, behavioural and environmental factors associated with team performance can affect patient safety by undermining the stability of team functioning and the effectiveness of interprofessional communication.

* We present a practical framework for promoting systematic, comprehensive measurement of the factors involved in clinical handover.

* The framework can be used to develop viable solutions to the problems of clinical handover.

* The framework was devised and used in a recent project examining interprofessional communication and team performance during clinical handover in post-anaesthetic care units.

* The framework combines five key concepts: clinical governance, clinician engagement, ecological validity, safety culture and team climate, and sustainability.

* We believe that use of this framework will help overcome the limitations of previous research that has not taken into account the complex and multifaceted influences on clinical handover and interprofessional communication.