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Abstract: This paper is concerned with an analysis of legislation, public administration and government expenditure decisions on policing activities. These three dimensions of government can be used as mechanisms of social control. Whether they are or not is an empirical question that has to be determined in each case. It is shown that there are no strict relationships between the three dimensions of government activity: separate decision‐making is undertaken for each of the three dimensions. It is indicated that there are eight possible combinations of the three dimensions, assuming that the three dimensions of government activity are bivariate and discrete. The empirical analysis relates to the state of Queensland and it is concluded that Queensland can be described as a case consisting of authoritarian legislation, public administration contrary to the rule of law, and low policing expenditures.

AbstractIn 1990 the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) published the human development index (HDI), a new measure that provides a means by which inter‐country and intertemporal comparisons of living levels can be undertaken. This paper has three objectives. Firstly, the various concepts and measures that can be used for inter‐country and intertemporal comparisons are described so as to put this new measure in perspective with respect to the existing literature. Secondly, the conceptual basis of the HDI is described and it is shown that the index actually calculated by UNDP is, in fact, only one of three possible measures of the general conception of human development stated by UNDP. Thirdly, empirical analysis of the two more important measures of the HDI indicates that there are some important differences between the measures. Absolute values and the ranking characteristics of the three measures of the HDI are examined. These differences may be quite important if the HDI is used as an explanatory variable in economic or social analyses.

Malnutrition is one of the major problems in the Third World. Rooted in mass poverty, it has implications that seriously hamper the ability of poor countries to reach higher standards of living. Malnutrition affects the biological development of human beings, which limits intellectual growth &, therefore, hampers SE betterment. At the same time, the cultural fabric in many countries has been badly torn, with an increasingly large share of population moving into grossly underemployed & gravely underprivileged Ur communities. This change has altered traditional lifestyles; one major consequence has been the marked decline in breast feeding. The nutrition & welfare of the family affected by new infant feeding practices interact not only with the household economy but also with a variety of external conditions. A model is presented to address these issues & measure the extent to which the above-mentioned interactions threaten economic growth & standards of living, encouraging a vicious circle of worsening quality of life & declining economic potential. The model is applied to the economy of Malaysia on the basis of statistical information generated by random sampling techniques. The model is designed to provide a simulation mechanism that, although based on expectations & known input conditions, takes into consideration random determination events within predetermined probable patterns. The basis of the procedure is a profile of events occurring within a single family over a span of ten years. 2 Tables, 6 Figures. Modified HA.

Abstract The impact of alternative drug policy objectives, specifically harm reduction/harm minimisation or prohibition, is unclear. The literature is confusing. This article conceptualises the causal connection between drug consumption and health harm (or reduced health status) then clarifies the implication of 'drug related harm'. By applying some geometrical tools from economics, the choice of policy objective is analysed. The preferences of policy advocates are then incorporated. Policy advocates are conceived as arguing that decision‐makers and consumers should adopt their preferences between drugs and health harm. With this approach, the difference between alternative drug policies, in particular prohibition and harm minimisation/reduction, is demonstrated.

This article places the experience of public psychiatric institutions for the long term mentally ill in the context of New Public Management (NPM). This managerialist school of thought has been in widespread ascendancy since the 1970s. Some key characteristics of deinstitutionalisation and NPM are outlined. We then present some historical data about the temporal process of deinstitutionalisation in Queensland's public psychiatric institutions. The time series analysis provided is of a single state since Australia's public health care system is state‐based. Although NPM is not a coherent set of principles or doctrines, it is argued that ideology and the reality may be contradicting. Some of NPM's particular emphases are empirically analysed, in particular the view that administration/management expenditures are to be reduced, while emphasising workers 'at the coal face'. The empirical results provide no evidence of a 'parsimonious' approach to management: parsimony occurs only for nursing staff. Relative expenditures on managerial functions have increased.