Investigating stakeholder concerns during public participation

Developing major infrastructure and construction (MIC) projects is complicated, since it involves multifaceted policy issues. As a result, appropriate participatory mechanisms have been increasingly employed to improve the legitimacy of the project decision process. Yet it cannot always guarantee a mutually acceptable solution since the expectations and requirements of multiple stakeholders involved can be diverse and even conflicting. Overcoming this necessitates a thorough identification and careful analysis of the expectations of various stakeholder groups in MIC projects. On the other hand, though most project stakeholder concerns are consistent across the globe, contextual differences may lead to diverse priority levels being attached to these factors. This research, therefore, aimed to examine the perceptual differences between paired stakeholder groups from mainland China mega-cities and Hong Kong in rating their concerns over MIC projects. The research findings are expected to benefit both the Central Government of China and the Government of Hong Kong SAR for coping better with the rapid expansion of MIC projects in the territory and the increasing expectations of social equality, and therefore achieving the much desired harmonious development of the community.

Större frihet - bättre lokalt anpassad service? : Förvaltningsreformer och kommunernas service för utvecklingsstörda 1994-2000

In the beginning of the 1990s the legislation regarding the municipalities and the system of central government transfers were reformed in Finland. This resulted in a move from detailed governmental control to increased municipal autonomy. The purpose of this decentralization was to enable the municipalities to better adapt their administration and service supply to local needs. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of the increased municipal autonomy on the organization of services for people with intellectual disabilities. Did the increased autonomy cause the municipalities to alter their service supply and production and did the services become more adapted to local needs? The data consists of statistical information on service use and production, and also of background data such as demographics, economics and political elections on 452 municipalities in Finland from the years 1994 and 2000. The methods used are cluster analysis, discriminant analysis and factor analysis. The municipalities could be grouped in two categories: those which offered mainly one kind of residential services and others which had more varied mixes of services. The use of institutional care had decreased and municipalities which used institutional care as their primary form of service were mostly very small municipalities in 2000. The situation had changed from 1994, when institutional care was the primary service for municipalities of all sizes. Also the service production had become more differentiated and the municipalities had started using more varied ways of production. More municipalities had started producing their own services and private production had increased as well. Furthermore, the increase in local autonomy had opened up possibilities for local politics to influence both the service selection and methods of production. The most significant motive for changes in the service structure was high unemployment and an increasing share of elderly people in the population, particularly in sparsely populated areas. Municipalities with a low level of resources had made more changes in their service organization while those with more resources had been able to carry on as before. Key words: service structure, service for people with intellectual disabilities, municipalities, contingency theory, New Public Management

Traditional Village Governance (Desa Adat) and Inter-ethnic Conflict in Bali : A Study of Conflict between Balinese and Migrants: Cases from Municipality of Denpasar

Regional autonomy in Indonesia was initially introduced as a means of pacifying regional disappointment at the central government. Not only did the Regional Autonomy Law of 1999 give the Balinese a chance to express grievance regarding the centralist policies of the Jakarta government but also provided an opportunity to return to the regional, exclusive, traditional village governance (desa adat). As a result, the problems faced by the island, particularly ethnic conflicts, are increasingly handled by the mechanism of this traditional type of governance. Traditional village governance with regard to ethnic conflicts (occurring) between Balinese and migrants has never been systematically analyzed. Existing analyses emphasized only the social context, but do not explain either the cause of conflicts and the ensuing problems entails or the virtues of traditional village governance mechanisms for mediating in the conflict. While some accounts provide snapshots, they lack both theoretical and conflict study perspective. The primary aim of this dissertation is to explore the expression and the causes of conflict between the Balinese and migrants and to advance the potential of traditional village governance as a means of conflict resolution with particular reference to the municipality of Denpasar. One conclusion of the study is that the conflict between the Balinese and migrants has been expressed on the level of situation/contradiction, attitudes, and behavior. Yet the driving forces behind the conflict itself consist of the following factors: absence of cooperation; incompatible position and perception; inability to communicate effectively; and problem of inequality and injustice, which comes to the surface as a social, cultural, and economic problem. This complex of factors fuels collective fear for the future of both groups. The study concludes that traditional village governance mechanisms as a means of conflict resolution have not yet been able to provide an enduring resolution for the conflict. Analysis shows that the practice of traditional village governance is unable to provide satisfactory mechanisms for the conflict as prescribed by conflict resolution theory. Traditional village governance, which is derived from the exclusive Hindu-Balinese culture, is accepted as more legitimate among the Balinese than the official governance policies. However, it is not generally accepted by most of the Muslim migrants. In addition, traditional village governance lacks access to economic instruments, which weakens its capacity to tackle the economic roots of the conflict. Thus the traditional mechanisms of migrant ordinance , as practiced by the traditional village governance have not yet been successful in penetrating all aspects of the conflict. Finally, one of the main challenges for traditional village governance s legal development is the creation of a regional legal system capable of accommodating rapid changes in line with the national and international legal practices. The framing of the new laws should be responsive to the aspirations of a changing society. It should not only protect the various Balinese communities interests, but also that of other ethnic groups, especially those of the minority. In other words, the main challenge to traditional village governance is its ability to develop flexibility and inclusiveness.

Tuloverotuksen reaalinen muuttuminen Suomessa : Kuusikymmentä vuotta verojen vuoristorataa

The study seeks to find out whether the real burden of the personal taxation has increased or decreased. In order to determine this, we investigate how the same real income has been taxed in different years. Whenever the taxes for the same real income for a given year are higher than for the base year, the real tax burden has increased. If they are lower, the real tax burden has decreased. The study thus seeks to estimate how changes in the tax regulations affect the real tax burden. It should be kept in mind that the progression in the central government income tax schedule ensures that a real change in income will bring about a change in the tax ration. In case of inflation when the tax schedules are kept nominally the same will also increase the real tax burden. In calculations of the study it is assumed that the real income remains constant, so that we can get an unbiased measure of the effects of governmental actions in real terms. The main factors influencing the amount of income taxes an individual must pay are as follows: - Gross income (income subject to central and local government taxes). - Deductions from gross income and taxes calculated according to tax schedules. - The central government income tax schedule (progressive income taxation). - The rates for the local taxes and for social security payments (proportional taxation). In the study we investigate how much a certain group of taxpayers would have paid in taxes according to the actual tax regulations prevailing indifferent years if the income were kept constant in real terms. Other factors affecting tax liability are kept strictly unchanged (as constants). The resulting taxes, expressed in fixed prices, are then compared to the taxes levied in the base year (hypothetical taxation). The question we are addressing is thus how much taxes a certain group of taxpayers with the same socioeconomic characteristics would have paid on the same real income according to the actual tax regulations prevailing in different years. This has been suggested as the main way to measure real changes in taxation, although there are several alternative measures with essentially the same aim. Next an aggregate indicator of changes in income tax rates is constructed. It is designed to show how much the taxation of income has increased or reduced from one year to next year on average. The main question remains: How aggregation over all income levels should be performed? In order to determine the average real changes in the tax scales the difference functions (difference between actual and hypothetical taxation functions) were aggregated using taxable income as weights. Besides the difference functions, the relative changes in real taxes can be used as indicators of change. In this case the ratio between the taxes computed according to the new and the old situation indicates whether the taxation has become heavier or easier. The relative changes in tax scales can be described in a way similar to that used in describing the cost of living, or by means of price indices. For example, we can use Laspeyres´ price index formula for computing the ratio between taxes determined by the new tax scales and the old tax scales. The formula answers the question: How much more or less will be paid in taxes according to the new tax scales than according to the old ones when the real income situation corresponds to the old situation. In real terms the central government tax burden experienced a steady decline from its high post-war level up until the mid-1950s. The real tax burden then drifted upwards until the mid-1970s. The real level of taxation in 1975 was twice that of 1961. In the 1980s there was a steady phase due to the inflation corrections of tax schedules. In 1989 the tax schedule fell drastically and from the mid-1990s tax schedules have decreased the real tax burden significantly. Local tax rates have risen continuously from 10 percent in 1948 to nearly 19 percent in 2008. Deductions have lowered the real tax burden especially in recent years. Aggregate figures indicate how the tax ratio for the same real income has changed over the years according to the prevailing tax regulations. We call the tax ratio calculated in this manner the real income tax ratio. A change in the real income tax ratio depicts an increase or decrease in the real tax burden. The real income tax ratio declined after the war for some years. In the beginning of the 1960s it nearly doubled to mid-1970. From mid-1990s the real income tax ratio has fallen about 35 %.

Somali State Failure: Players, Incentives and Institutions

In Somalia the central government collapsed in 1991 and since then state failure became a widespread phenomenon and one of the greatest political and humanitarian problems facing the world in this century. Thus, the main objective of this research is to answer the following question: What went wrong? Most of the existing literature on the political economy of conflict starts from the assumption that state in Africa is predatory by nature. Unlike these studies, the present research, although it uses predation theory, starts from the social contract approach of state definition. Therefore, rather than contemplating actions and policies of the rulers alone, this approach allows us to deliberately bring the role of the society – as citizens – and other players into the analyses. In Chapter 1, after introducing the study, a simple principal-agent model will be developed to check the logical consistence of the argument and to make the identification of causal mechanism easier. I also identify three main actors in the process of state failure in Somalia: the Somali state, Somali society and the superpowers. In Chapter 2, so as to understand the incentives, preferences and constraints of each player in the state failure game, I in some depth analyse the evolution and structure of three central informal institutions: identity based patronage system of leadership, political tribalism, and the Cold War. These three institutions are considered as the rules of the game in the Somali state failure. Chapter 3 summarises the successive civilian governments’ achievements and failures (1960-69) concerning the main national goals, national unification and socio-economic development. Chapter 4 shows that the military regime, although it assumed power through extralegal means, served to some extent the developmental interest of the citizens in the first five years of its rule. Chapter 5 shows the process, and the factors involved, of the military regime’s self-transformation from being an agent for the developmental interests of the society to a predatory state that not only undermines the interests of the society but that also destroys the state itself. Chapter 6 addresses the process of disintegration of the post-colonial state of Somalia. The chapter shows how the regime’s merciless reactions to political ventures by power-seeking opposition leaders shattered the entire country and wrecked the state institutions. Chapter 7 concludes the study by summarising the main findings: due to the incentive structures generated by the informal institutions, the formal state institutions fell apart.

Perinatal mortality and maternal health in rural China

Background and context Since the economic reforms of 1978, China has been acclaimed as a remarkable economy, achieving 9% annual growth per head for more than 25 years. However, China's health sector has not fared well. The population health gains slowed down and health disparities increased. In the field of health and health care, significant progress in maternal care has been achieved. However, there still remain important disparities between the urban and rural areas and among the rural areas in terms of economic development. The excess female infant deaths and the rapidly increasing sex ratio at birth in the last decade aroused serious concerns among policy makers and scholars. Decentralization of the government administration and health sector reform impacts maternal care. Many studies using census data have been conducted to explore the determinants of a high sex ratio at birth, but no agreement has been so far reached on the possible contributing factors. No study using family planning system data has been conducted to explore perinatal mortality and sex ratio at birth and only few studies have examined the impact of the decentralization of government and health sector reforms on the provision and organization of maternal care in rural China. Objectives The general objective of this study was to investigate the state of perinatal health and maternal care and their determinants in rural China under the historic context of major socioeconomic reforms and the one child family planning policy. The specific objectives of the study included: 1) to study pregnancy outcomes and perinatal health and their correlates in a rural Chinese county; 2) to examine the issue of sex ratio at birth and its determinants in a rural Chinese county; 3) to explore the patterns of provision, utilization, and content of maternal care in a rural Chinese county; 4) to investigate the changes in the use of maternal care in China from 1991 to 2003. Materials and Methods This study is based on a project for evaluating the prenatal care programme in Dingyuan county in 1999-2003, Anhui province, China and a nationwide household health survey to describe the changes in maternal care utilization. The approaches used included a retrospective cohort study, cross sectional interview surveys, informant interviews, observations and the use of statistical data. The data sources included the following: 1) A cohort of pregnant women followed from pregnancy up to 7 days after birth in 20 townships in the study county, collecting information on pregnancy outcomes using family planning records; 2) A questionnaire interview survey given to women who gave birth between 2001 and 2003; 3) Various statistical and informant surveys data collected from the study county; 4) Three national household health interview survey data sets (1993-2003) were utilized, and reanalyzed to described the changes in maternity care utilization. Relative risks (RR) and their confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for comparison between parity, approval status, infant sex and township groups. The chi-square test was used to analyse the disparity of use of maternal care between and within urban and rural areas and its trend across the years in China. Logistic regression was used to analyse the factors associated with hospital delivery in rural areas. Results There were 3697 pregnancies in the study cohort, resulting in 3092 live births in a total population of 299463 in the 20 study townships during 1999-2000. The average age at pregnancy in the cohort was 25.9 years. Of the women, 61% were childless, 38% already had one child and 0.3% had two children before the current pregnancy. About 90% of approved pregnancies ended in a live birth while 73% of the unapproved ones were aborted. The perinatal mortality rate was 69 per thousand births. If the 30 induced abortions in which the gestational age was more than 28 weeks had been counted as perinatal deaths, the perinatal mortality rate would have been as high as 78 per thousand. The perinatal mortality rate was negatively associated with the wealth of the township. Approximately two thirds of the perinatal deaths occurred in the early neonatal period. Both the still birth rate and the early neonatal death rate increased with parity. The risk of a stillbirth in a second pregnancy was almost four times that for a first pregnancy, while the risk of early neonatal deaths doubled. The early neonatal mortality rate was twice as high for female as for male infants. The sex difference in the early neonatal mortality rate was mainly attributable to mortality in second births. The male early neonatal mortality rate was not affected by parity, while the female early neonatal mortality rate increased dramatically with parity: it was about six times higher for second births than for first births. About 82% early neonatal deaths happened within 24 hours after birth, and during that time, girls were almost three times more likely to die than boys. The death rate of females on the day of birth increased much more sharply with parity than that of males. The total sex ratio at birth of 3697 registered pregnancies was 152 males to 100 females, with 118 and 287 in first and second pregnancies, respectively. Among unapproved pregnancies, there were almost 5 live-born boys for each girl. Most prenatal and delivery care was to be taken care of in township hospitals. At the village level, there were small private clinics. There was no limitation period for the provision of prenatal and postnatal care by private practitioners. They were not permitted to provide delivery care by the county health bureau, but as some 12% of all births occurred either at home or at private clinics; some village health workers might have been involved. The county level hospitals served as the referral centers for the township hospitals in the county. However, there was no formal regulation or guideline on how the referral system should work. Whether or not a woman was referred to a higher level hospital depended on the individual midwife's professional judgment and on the clients' compliance. The county health bureau had little power over township hospitals, because township hospitals had in the decentralization process become directly accountable to the township government. In the township and county hospitals only 10-20% of the recurrent costs were funded by local government (the township hospital was funded by the township government and the county hospital was funded by the county government) and the hospitals collected user fees to balance their budgets. Also the staff salaries depended on fee incomes by the hospital. The hospitals could define the user charges themselves. Prenatal care consultations were however free in most township hospitals. None of the midwives made postnatal home visits, because of low profit of these services. The three national household health survey data showed that the proportion of women receiving their first prenatal visit within 12 weeks increased greatly from the early to middle 1990s in all areas except for large cities. The increase was much larger in the rural areas, reducing the urban-rural difference from more than 4 times to about 1.4 times. The proportion of women that received antenatal care visits meeting the Ministry of Health s standard (at least 5 times) in the rural areas increased sharply from 12% in 1991-1993 to 36% in 2001-2003. In rural areas, the proportion increase was much faster in less developed areas than in developed areas. The hospital delivery rate increased slightly from 90% to 94% in urban areas while the proportion increased from 27% to 69% in rural areas. The fastest change was found to be in type 4 rural areas, where the utilization even quadrupled. The overall difference between rural and urban areas was substantially narrowed over the period. Multiple logistic regression analysis shows that time periods, residency in rural or urban areas, income levels, age group, education levels, delivery history, occupation, health insurance and distance from the nearest health care facilities were significantly associated with hospital delivery rates. Conclusions 1. Perinatal mortality in this study was much higher than that for urban areas as well as any reported rate from specific studies in rural areas of China. Previous studies in which calculations of infant mortality were not based on epidemiological surveys have been shown to underestimate the rates by more than 50%. 2. Routine statistics collected by the Chinese family planning system proved to be a reliable data source for studying perinatal health, including still births, neonatal deaths, sex ratio at birth and among newborns. National Household Health Survey data proved to be a useful and reliable data source for studying population health and health services. Prior to this research there were few studies in these areas available to international audiences. 3.Though perinatal mortality rate was negatively associated with the level of township economic development, the excess female early neonatal mortality rate contributed much more to high perinatal mortality rate than economic factors. This was likely a result of the role of the family planning policy and the traditional preferences for sons, which leads to lethal neglect of female newborns and high perinatal mortality. 4. The selective abortions of female foetuses were likely to contribute most to the high sex ratio at birth. The underreporting of female births seemed to have played a secondary role. The higher early neonatal mortality rate in second-born as compared to first-born children, particularly in females, may indicate that neglect or poorer care of female newborn infants also contributes to the high sex ratio at birth or among newborns. Existing family planning policy proved not to effectively control the steadily increased birth sex ratio. 5. The rural-urban gap in service utilization was on average significantly narrowed in terms of maternal healthcare in China from 1991 to 2003. This demonstrates that significant achievements in reducing inequities can be made through a combination of socio-economic development and targeted investments in improving health services, including infrastructure, staff capacities, and subsidies to reduce the costs of service utilization for the poorest. However, the huge gap which persisted among cities of different size and within different types of rural areas indicated the need for further efforts to support the poorest areas. 6. Hospital delivery care in the study county was better accepted by women because most of women think delivery care was very important while prenatal and postnatal care were not. Hospital delivery care was more systematically provided and promoted than prenatal and postnatal care by township hospital in the study area. The reliance of hospital staff income on user fees gave the hospitals an incentive to put more emphasis on revenue generating activities such as delivery care instead of prenatal and postnatal care, since delivery care generated much profits than prenatal and postnatal care . Recommendations 1. It is essential for the central government to re-assess and modify existing family planning policies. In order to keep national sex balance, the existing practice of one couple one child in urban areas and at-least-one-son a couple in rural areas should be gradually changed to a two-children-a-couple policy throughout the country. The government should establish a favourable social security policy for couples, especially for rural couples who have only daughters, with particular emphasis on their pension and medical care insurance, combined with an educational campaign for equal rights for boys and girls in society. 2. There is currently no routine vital-statistics registration system in rural China. Using the findings of this study, the central government could set up a routine vital-statistics registration system using family planning routine work records, which could be used by policy makers and researchers. 3. It is possible for the central and provincial government to invest more in the less developed and poor rural areas to increase the access of pregnant women in these areas to maternal care services. Central government together with local government should gradually provide free maternal care including prenatal and postnatal as well as delivery care to the women in poor and less developed rural areas. 4. Future research could be done to explore if county and the township level health care sector and the family planning system could be merged to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of maternal and child care. 5. Future research could be done to explore the relative contribution of maternal care, economic development and family planning policy on perinatal and child health using prospective cohort studies and community based randomized trials. Key words: perinatal health, perinatal mortality, stillbirth, neonatal death, sex selective abortion, sex ratio at birth, family planning, son preference, maternal care, prenatal care, postnatal care, equity, China

Actividades de las autoridades argentinas y la embajada española sobre los anarquistas antes de la Ley de Residencia

Resumen: El presente trabajo investiga la actuación de la Embajada de España con respecto a la entrada a la Argentina de inmigrantes con antecedentes anarquistas durante fines del siglo XIX y los primeros dos años del siglo XX. Registra además el interés por seguir los movimientos de dichos inmigrantes en el país. Se destaca el rol de la documentación diplomática, mediante la cual la Embajada española se mantenía en permanente contacto con el gobierno central, con las autoridades argentinas y con los consulados del interior para intercambiar información. A través de las fuentes se puede observar la labor de “inteligencia ideológica” que se realizó y el detallado conocimiento que se tenía sobre los anarquistas, sus vías de traslado hacia nuestro país, sus profesiones, paraderos, domicilios, relaciones, y las minuciosas descripciones físicas de los sospechados. En esta política se nota la coparticipación entre la Embajada de España y las instituciones argentinas para desligarse de elementos que denominaban “no deseados”. También se consideran las relaciones entre el anarquismo argentino y el español, así como la importancia de la prensa revolucionaria, aun sobre la misma España. La vigilancia que ejercía la Embajada española sobre los inmigrantes, el control sobre los anarquistas españoles en la Argentina y la influencia de éstos sobre los sucesos de la Península demuestran a las claras la preocupación del gobierno hispano en la cuestión.

Políticas públicas y desigualdades regionales en la distribución del ingreso en la Argentina

Resumen: El análisis de los indicadores de ingresos, desigualdad y pobreza en cada uno de los 32 centros urbanos muestra las grandes disparidades regionales de la Argentina. En la Zona Norte del país el ingreso per capita es un 35% inferior al promedio nacional, la pobreza es 4 veces mayor que en la capital y la distribución del ingreso es más desigual. Los datos estadísticos disponibles indican que el crecimiento económico y las políticas públicas que se han implementado recientemente han reducido los niveles de pobreza agregados, pero han tenido poco impacto en las regiones más pobres del país. Por otra parte, el impacto distributivo de las políticas y programas públicos en la Argentina es reducido cuando se los compara con lo que sucede en los países mas desarrollados. Se requiere el diseño y la implementación de nuevas políticas públicas de reducción de la pobreza que se focalicen en los problemas y dificultades específicas que enfrentan las regiones más pobres. Entre ellas se destaca la necesidad de políticas para disminuir la alta informalidad del empleo que caracteriza a estas zonas. Por otra parte, las nuevas políticas deberían transferir las responsabilidades y premiar los esfuerzos propios de los gobiernos locales, reemplazando la actual “cultura de la dependencia” de los programas del gobierno central por un desarrollo institucional local que enfatice la gestión eficiente de las administraciones públicas provinciales y el desarrollo del capital social local.

Análise do nível de aderência do modelo conceitual do sistema de custos às teorias da contabilidade de custo: experiência no governo federal para configuração e implantação do sistema de informações de custos - SIC

Este estudo expõe os objetivos, as diretrizes, o modelo conceitual e o processo desenvolvido para a implantação do Sistema de Informações de Custos do Governo Federal (SIC), descrevendo e explicando o marco conceitual e suas principais características, a abordagem em três dimensões (conceitual, tecnológica e cultural), as razões para os procedimentos adotados na sua construção, trabalhando a correspondência entre os conceitos da contabilidade governamental e da contabilidade de custos. O trabalho teve como proposta identificar e apresentar a configuração do sistema de informações de custos (SIC) a ser adotado pelo Brasil no âmbito da Administração Pública Federal como uma solução conciliatória junto aos atores envolvidos, e analisar e revelar o nível de aderência do SIC às teorias da Contabilidade de Custos, para tal fim foi desenvolvida a pesquisa exploratóriodescritiva, socorrendo-se em pesquisas bibliográfica e documental; na coleta de informações aplicando as técnicas de entrevista e observação direta intensiva; e na análise dos dados levantados, a técnica de análise de conteúdo. A importância do SIC é enfatizada como elemento de mensuração de custos, de melhoria da qualidade do gasto público e de vetor indutor da construção da mentalidade de custos na Administração Pública Federal que, poderá vir a ser o grande salto da administração patrimonial e burocrática para a administração gerencial.

O Município na federação brasileira: limites e possibilidades de uma organização assimétrica

A federação é uma forma de Estado adotada modernamente por mais de trinta Países, e consiste numa divisão territorial do poder entre um governo central e governos locais. No Brasil, esta divisão contempla um poder local-estadual e um poder local-municipal. A federação é assimétrica quando aos entes de mesmo nível (local-estadual ou local-municipal) são atribuídos diferentes regimes jurídicos, para compensar ou equilibrar suas diversidades. O chamado federalismo fiscal estuda as receitas e despesas dos entes que integram um Estado federal. No Brasil, sempre se adotou a simetria entre os municípios. Após a análise da posição do município brasileiro na questão fiscal (receitas, encargos e formas de redistribuição de recursos), identificam-se quatro pontos passíveis de mudança normativa, para seu aperfeiçoamento: brecha vertical, guerra fiscal, critérios para criação de municípios e regiões metropolitanas. As propostas formuladas na tese são: a mudança do paradigma da simetria, instituindo-se um regime especial para os municípios com população inferior a dez mil habitantes; a proibição de que sejam criados novos municípios com este porte; novos critérios e procedimentos para criação de municípios; instituição de um conselho de municípios, junto ao Senado Federal; nova forma de rateio do fundo de participação dos municípios, com a criação do fundo de participação das regiões metropolitanas; a serem criadas pela União e geridas através de conselhos formados pelos municípios e Estados-membros participantes, na proporção de sua população, área e economia.

Mecanismos federais de coordenação de políticas sociais e capacidades institucionais locais : o caso do Programa Bolsa Família

Este trabalho analisa o Programa Bolsa Família (PBF), tratando de sua evolução ao longo do governo Lula, tanto no que diz respeito ao seu escopo quanto a seu desenho institucional e as alterações que foi sofrendo em seus objetivos. Tendo em vista a natureza federativa do Estado brasileiro, o objetivo do trabalho é mostrar os desafios enfrentados pelo poder central para garantir a implementação homogênea de um programa nacional de transferência condicionada de renda a ser gerido pelos municípios. Para tanto, são analisados, de um lado, os recursos institucionais e as estratégias de que dispunha o governo federal para alcançar os seus objetivos para o PBF, e de outro, os resultados e a dinâmica da gestão municipal do programa em dois grandes centros urbanos, São Paulo e Salvador. São analisadas informações relativas ao desempenho nacional do programa e também referentes à implementação municipal do PBF nos casos escolhidos, por meio de dados de surveys realizados com a população de baixa renda e de entrevistas semi-estruturadas com gestores municipais do programa nessas duas cidades. A tese identifica os mecanismos que asseguram o crescente poder de coordenação do governo federal no sentido de fazer com que suas principais diretrizes para o programa sejam de fato implementadas no plano municipal. Mostra também que o processo de implementação do PBF é afetado não só por seu desenho institucional, definido no plano federal, mas também pelas diferentes capacidades institucionais disponíveis no plano local recursos humanos, capacidade de gestão e articulação entre diversos serviços e políticas, infra-estrutura disponível, entre outros aspectos e pelos diferentes interesses políticos na maior ou menor coordenação dos programas locais de transferência com o programa nacional. Finalmente, o trabalho examina ainda os limites e possibilidades para a articulação do PBF com uma política mais ampla de assistência social.

A implantação do sistema gerencial de custos (SISCUSTOS) desenvolvido pelo Exército Brasileiro: estudo de caso na 1 Inspetoria de Contabilidade e Finanças do Exército

A implantação de sistemas de custos no setor público tem sido apontada como uma necessidade gerencial primordial para se alcançar as dimensões dos princípios da eficiência, eficácia e efetividade na administração pública, fato que proporcionaria a otimização do uso dos escassos recursos disponíveis. Com o advento da Lei de Responsabilidade Fiscal entrou em evidência a discussão sobre o tema no cenário nacional, sendo mais recentemente criada no governo federal uma comissão interministerial de custos com objetivo de elaborar estudos e propor diretrizes, métodos e procedimentos para subsidiar a implantação de Sistemas de Custos na Administração Pública Federal. Tendo em vistas essas necessidades, o presente trabalho tem por objetivo principal verificar a adequabilidade do Sistema Gerencial de Custos (SISCUSTOS) implantado no Exército Brasileiro permite a apuração de custos sob a ótica da teoria contábil e complementarmente analisar se o sistema de custos adequasse as metodologias do custeio ABC e fornece subsídios para a tomada de decisões. Para isso realizou-se um estudo de caso de natureza qualitativa, coletando-se dados de fontes primárias e secundárias, além de entrevistas com os servidores responsáveis pelo desenvolvimento, implantação e operacionalização do sistema. O resultado verificado foi que as funcionalidades disponibilizadas pelo SISCUSTOS vislumbram a aderência do sistema com o plano teórico, permitindo que as informações extraídas da contabilidade governamental contemporânea sejam ajustadas, para uma possível aproximação da contabilidade orçamentária com a contabilidade patrimonial, necessitando apenas de alguns ajustes para itens aqui denominados como peculiares da contabilidade governamental. No caso do método de custeio ABC observou-se que a metodologia está sendo subtilizada, e que o grau desejado em extrair todas as contribuições disponibilizadas pelo ABC somente virá com a maturidade da gestão de custos, sendo que, para atingir tais objetivos haverá a necessidade de se fixar como atributos cognitivos os 4C - Cultura de Custos, Comprometimento, Competição e Confiabilidade - entre os usuários do sistema e a alta administração.

Brasil rumo aos padrões internacionais de contabilidade para o setor público: uma análise sob a ótica do Financial Management Reform Process Model de Lüder.

O termo Sistema Contábil define toda a modelagem pela qual são tratados os dados internos e externos, de forma estruturada, para atender às demandas atribuídas à profissão contábil (tanto nos sistemas privados como nos governamentais), englobando fatores intrínsecos e extrínsecos da contabilidade e seus inter-relacionamentos. As variações desses fatores levam ao desenvolvimento de sistemas nacionalmente específicos. Nas classificações internacionais desses sistemas, são identificadas influências como a dos Estados Unidos, a do Reino Unido e a da Europa, ou ainda uma orientação micro ou macro, também definidas como modelo anglo-saxão e modelo continental. Observa-se, ainda, uma relação entre os níveis de desenvolvimento contábil públicos e privados. As principais causas determinantes da diversidade contábil se relacionam com as variáveis do modelo proposto por Lüder para se avaliar reformas governamentais financeiras (o FMR) e esse fato, por conseguinte, determinou a escolha do referido modelo para realizar as análises deste estudo. A pesquisa foi realizada com procedimentos metodológicos de natureza teórica com caráter exploratório e descritivo, através da qual se pode observar que a IFAC tem sido considerada responsável pelos principais esforços no processo de harmonização contábil do setor público e que boa parte dos países vem aceitando a IFAC como órgão emissor de padrões contábeis internacionais, ainda que os países que adotam integralmente esses padrões sem adaptações, sejam exceções. Os padrões de contabilidade governamental emitidos pela IFAC (IPSAS), na verdade, têm servido como um padrão de qualidade, e não como uma norma a ser adotada integralmente. A análise das principais características nacionais determinantes da diversidade contábil frente à adoção ou adaptação dos padrões internacionais da IFAC para o setor público, sob a ótica do FMR, indica que, no Brasil, o sistema contábil do setor público é mais propício a um processo de convergência aos padrões internacionais de Contabilidade da IFAC.

Políticas imigratórias e as instituições burocráticas no governo Vargas (1930-1945)

O respectivo trabalho tem como objetivo destacar o desenvolvimento das políticas imigratórias e a sua repercussão no cotidiano do imigrante, entre os anos de 1930 e 1945. Nesse período, salientamos as políticas de Estado e suas respectivas mudanças, alinhadas ao contexto histórico, no tocante a seleção dos imigrantes desejáveis e indesejáveis. A evolução do aparelhamento estatal, com a criação e adaptação de instituições repressivas, jurídicas e burocráticas, é ponto fundamental para compreender a relação do Estado com o imigrante. Além disso, vale destacar que a imagem do estrangeiro como um problema de segurança nacional era constantemente reforçada pela retórica oficial do Estado. Assim, a própria sofisticação das estruturas organizacionais confluíam para certo afastamento das instituições do poder central, resultando em maior autonomia nas decisões e conseqüente descenso no rigor do julgamento sobre os imigrantes. Dessa forma, se faz necessária uma análise crítica sobre o contexto histórico, captando o sistema estatal como algo heterogêneo, a fim de compreender as nuanças nas políticas e ações do Estado, bem como o papel do imigrante nesse processo.

Poverty in the fisheries, inductors, causes and intervention

The study is prompted by the poverty that persisted among the fishing communities of lake victoria at time of considerable cash inflow into the fisheries development of fish processing industry. There has been need for understanding of the poverty and what strategies would be most appreciate for it's reduction.This study has attempted to respond to the needby identifying the nature and distribution of the poverty within the fisheries lake victoria,Uganda, the factor responsible for itand the options for poverty reduction intervention. The study examined the global and regional perspectives of poverty and wealth distribution, noting that wide disparities existed between the developed and the developing world and also between the developing countries themselves. A historical review of development policies and strategies revealed that while successive strategies were able to contribute to growth, their achievement towards poverty alleviation were less than satisfactory, hence the need for continually developing new strategies. A background to Uganda’s society and economy is provided, examining the demographic, political, environmental and economic conditions of the country. Uganda’s development strategies are reviewed, highlighting the role of the Poverty Eradication Action Plan, Uganda’s main strategy for implementing the policy of poverty reduction and wealth distribution. At the agricultural sector level, the Plan for the Modernisation of Agriculture has been formulated, followed by the National Fisheries Policy, aimed at providing a policy framework for the management and development of the fisheries. An appropriate definition of poverty was formulated, considered relevant to the situation of Lake Victoria. The dimensions of poverty included inadequate basic necessities, low education and health achievements, a sense of insecurity and exposure to risk. The research methodology was enhanced by the examination of the Lélé Model of the Poverty–Environmental Degradation problem, the World Bank Model of Poverty Causation and the subsequent Lake Victoria Model developed in this study. It has provided a plan for the research, the consideration of criteria and a data collection plan. The data collection instruments included secondary data search, key informant interviews and a sample survey based on a structured questionnaire. The study identified all the four dimensions of poverty in the fisheries, provided poverty profiles with respect to the different activities, groups of people and regions in the fisheries, based on consumption poverty. Among the people identified to be in poverty were the fishing labourers, fishers of Oreochromis niloticus and those operating with non-powered boats. In the post-harvest fisheries, large proportions of processors involved in salting and sun-drying, market stall and bicycle traders were in the poverty category. The ethnic groups most affected included the Samia, Basoga and Bakenye while the Districts of Jinja, Bugiri and Busia had the highest proportions of fishers in the poverty category. With respect to the other dimensions of poverty, the study showed that educational achievement was low within the fishing communities. The health status was poor, due mainly to the prevalence of malaria, diarrhoea, bilharzia and HIV/AIDS. There was a sense of insecurity within certain sections of the fishing community, due to leadership weaknesses within the local as well as the Government institutions. Some community members operated in a state of risk because they were vulnerable to episodes of income, health and education. The causes of poverty in fisheries included weaknesses within the institutional and social environment, limitations in the technology available to the poor, resource degradation and unfavourable economic factors. The recommendations of the study for poverty reduction included strengthening of policies, developing links, improving capacities and increasing resources, to be applied at the levels of Central Government, Local Government and of the community. In view of the achievements of the methodology used on this study, involving reference to the models, it is recommended that future research should build upon this model approach, as it will continue to produce results, especially when attempting to forecast changes relating to interventions.