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on Project, Program and Portfolio Management |
| By: | Kim Swales (Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde) |
| Abstract: | For the last two decades, the primary instruments for UK regional policy have been discretionary subsidies. Such aid is targeted at “additional” projects - projects that would not have been implemented without the subsidy - and the subsidy should be the minimum necessary for the project to proceed. Discretionary subsidies are thought to be more efficient than automatic subsidies, where many of the aided projects are non-additional and all projects receive the same subsidy rate. The present paper builds on Swales (1995) and Wren (2007a) to compare three subsidy schemes: an automatic scheme and two types of discretionary scheme, one with accurate appraisal and the other with appraisal error. These schemes are assessed on their expected welfare impacts. The particular focus is the reduction in welfare gain imposed by the interaction of appraisal error and the requirements for accountability. This is substantial and difficult to detect with conventional evaluation techniques. |
| Keywords: | discretionary subsidies, appraisal error, accountability, cost benefit analysis |
| JEL: | R13 R38 R58 D61 |
| Date: | 2008–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:str:wpaper:0812&r=ppm |
| By: | Grant Allan, Graham Ault, Peter McGregor and Kim Swales (Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde); Graham Ault (Institute for Energy and Environment, Electronic and Electrical Engineering Department, University of Strathclyde); Peter McGregor (Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde; Institute for Energy and Environment, Electronic and Electrical Engineering Department, University of Strathclyde); Kim Swales (Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde) |
| Abstract: | As demand for electricity from renewable energy sources grows, there is increasing interest, and public and financial support, for local communities to become involved in the development of renewable energy projects. In the UK, “Community Benefit” payments are the most common financial link between renewable energy projects and local communities. These are “goodwill” payments from the project developer for the community to spend as it wishes. However, if an ownership stake in the renewable energy project were possible, receipts to the local community would potentially be considerably higher. The local economic impacts of these receipts are difficult to quantify using traditional Input-Output techniques, but can be more appropriately handled within a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) framework where income flows between agents can be traced in detail. We use a SAM for the Shetland Islands to evaluate the potential local economic and employment impact of a large onshore wind energy project proposed for the Islands. Sensitivity analysis is used to show how the local impact varies with: the level of Community Benefit payments; the portion of intermediate inputs being sourced from within the local economy; and the level of any local community ownership of the project. By a substantial margin, local ownership confers the greatest economic impacts for the local community. |
| Keywords: | renewable energy; rural economic impacts; revenue sharing; community ownership |
| JEL: | Q42 R15 O18 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:str:wpaper:0811&r=ppm |
| By: | Sköld, Martin (Dept. of Business Administration, Stockholm School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Knowledge development patterns in radically new product architectures are explored. The aim is to achieve rich insights to generate explanatory propositions from a longitudinal field-study of three years. Results descend from a strategically selected sample pictured by a large industrial corporation up to develop a new product architecture as a principal mean to achieve synergies from an acquisition process. The study demonstrates how knowledge about two domains; components and architecture, simultaneously changes when developing radically new product architectures. Explanatory propositions suggest: (1) architecture to add complexity and uncertainty; (2) components to reduce complexity and uncertainty; (3) and architectural knowledge to be developed from knowledge about components. |
| Keywords: | Knowledge development; patterns; radical innovation |
| Date: | 2008–11–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhb:hastba:2008_008&r=ppm |
| By: | Oehler-Sincai, Iulia Monica |
| Abstract: | The paradigm of NPM, like its forerunners, has been trying to answer the same question for almost twenty years: how to implement policies, strategies, programs and projects, using the market-type mechanisms, so that the institutions of the state could achieve the desired results. The praises and criticism that have accompanied this paradigm along its evolution are fully justified. Indeed, the NPM has strengths and weaknesses as well, and one purpose of this paper is to identify them and to find answers to the following questions. Which components of the mechanism named NPM generate negative results? Why? What can be done? It is not easy to answer these questions, taking into consideration the multitude of factors influencing the public management, and especially the tremendous impacts of the accelerated process of globalization. The global problems of nowadays make any unilateral action of a government unconceivable, and this brings us to the concept of global public management (GPM). Nevertheless, the way forward will be the subject of another paper. The paper is structured in two main sections, as follows: The first section provides a conceptual framework, examining the multifaceted structure of the NPM and its mechanisms (the “state-of-the-art” of the “art of the state”). The second section suggests a theoretical framework on “measuring” the aggregate attribute of the NPM – the QoG – illustrated by practical cases, in a twofold perspective: longitudinal (variation in time) and cross-sectional (variation among countries). |
| Keywords: | New Public Management; Global Public Management; Governance; New Institutional Economics; Bertelsmann Transformation Index; Corruption Perceptions Index; e-Government Index; Global Competitiveness Index; Human Development Index; Index of Freedom in the World; Transition Indicators; Worldwide Governance Indicators |
| JEL: | E0 H10 K0 B0 H0 Y1 H83 H80 C80 |
| Date: | 2008–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11767&r=ppm |
| By: | Martina Kauffeld-Monz (Institute for Urban Science and Structural Policy (IfS Berlin), Germany.); Michael Fritsch (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, German Institute for Economic Research (DIW-Berlin), and Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany.) |
| Abstract: | The discussion on regional innovation systems emphasizes the duality of local and global links. While the former enable effective knowledge exchange between regional actors, the latter are considered to provide regional systems with knowledge diverse to their knowledge base. Our empirical analysis of 18 German regional innovation networks highlights the importance of public research organizations for inter-regional knowledge exchange. The broker and gatekeeper function of public research organizations may be particularly important in lagging regions that typically suffer from a lack of large firms who often assume the role of "gatekeepers of knowledge". |
| Keywords: | Regional systems of innovation, innovation networks, knowledge broker, gatekeeper |
| JEL: | D83 D85 L14 |
| Date: | 2008–22–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2008-089&r=ppm |