Suchergebnisse

ABSTRACTSeveral factors have been contributing to the growing use of public private‐partnership (PPP) arrangements by local governments, such as, the need for new investments on infrastructure (e.g. decentralization of responsibilities, regulatory requirements demanding better quality and environmental protection, renovation of the networks), imposition of strict debt limits to the localities, and local government reform policies/programs. Whereas contractual PPP arrangements, such as concession contracts, can be seen as an extension of traditional public procurement (with additional complexities in contract design and management) and are currently better handled by contracting authorities, institutionalized PPPs (mixed companies) are still quite puzzling for both practitioners and academics. In fact, the following questions deserve further investigation: When are mixed companies expected to depict a higher performance than other options? What are the risks involved and how should they be allocated and mitigated? How should mixed companies be monitored and evaluated? The articles in this Special Issue provide insightful answers to these and many other relevant questions to policy makers.

This article looks at the use of institutionalized public–private partnership (PPP) arrangements by local governments for the delivery of different types of infrastructure. It starts by analyzing the mixed company model from a theoretical point of view, in particular the potential for internal regulation and the achievement of a relational agreement. Then, after discussing the practicalities of crafting this type of governance structure, four Portuguese case studies are examined. The empirical evidence on mixed companies operating in the water, waste, transportation, and education sectors shows that the extreme complexity involved in the whole life‐cycle management of these companies usually leads to a poor protection of the public interest.

ABSTRACTPartnerships between public and private actors have a long history in Europe and USA. More recently, however, we have been witnessing an extensive use of these instruments, an increasing number of the purposes for which they are used, and a growing ambition to create more stable interactions, e.g. by institutionalizing partnerships as mixed companies. From a democratic perspective this development potentially creates problems in terms of steering and accountability. Questions can be raised about the extent to which partnerships will promote the public interest and defend collective interests. The particular difficulties of mixed companies arise, we argue, from their combining two features. One is the shift in values and the increased acceptance of private‐sector values following from the New Public Management reform wave. The second is the way these structures become institutionalized, locking in the value set and making reaction to any changes in social need. The core argument of this article is that the combined effect of these two features represents a significant weakening of public value in mixed companies.

Aus sowjetischer Sicht

Intellectual Property has become the main factor that adds value to companies today, hence it is important the correct control of its "intangible assets". This article will delve into the particularities of the process of foreign investment in Cuba and the contribution of intangibles to the mixed companies by one of the partners for its creation, with destination to the social capital. At the same time, it deepens in the need to correctly handle, in the contractual phase, the elements related to the liquidation of these contributed intangible assets, institution that will be analyzed from the doctrinal, legislative and judicial point of view, carrying out a study of the literature, the norms and the sentences dictated by Cuban institutions. ; La propiedad intelectual se ha convertido en el principal factor que agrega valor a las empresas hoy día, de aquí la importancia del correcto control de estos "activos intangibles". Este artículo se adentrará en las particularidades del proceso de inversión extranjera en Cuba y en el aporte de intangibles a la empresa mixta por uno de los socios para su constitución, con destino al capital social. A la vez, profundiza en la necesidad de manejar correctamente, en la fase contractual, los elementos relativos a la liquidación de estos activos intangibles aportados, institución que se analizará desde el punto de vista doctrinal, legislativo y judicial, realizando un estudio de la literatura, las normas y las sentencias dictadas por instituciones cubanas.

In the traditional basic general legislation on public procurement, the mixed economy society was treated as a modality of indirect management of public services, as literally followed by art. 275 in relation to 277 of the Consolidated Text of the Public Sector Contract Law of 2011, but also at the local level, specifically in art. 85. 2. b of Law 7/1985 on Bases of Local Regime. The mixed economy companies have had to adapt their contracting to the public procurement regime of Law 9/2017 of November 8. The transition from private law to public law has had some difficulties to a large extent due to legislative deficiencies that a rule written for public administrations causes when applied to contracting authorities that are not public administration. The complexity of contracting this figure is not exhausted by the law of public sector contracts, but rather reaches the application of other rules originally intended for administrations. Law 9/2017 of November 8 allocates a title to the hiring of mixed economy societies, but it presents important controversies that generate legal uncertainty and are developed throughout this article. ; En la tradicional legislación general básica sobre contratación pública, la sociedad de economía mixta era tratada como una modalidad de gestión indirecta de servicios públicos, tal y como se desprendía literalmente del art. 275 en relación con el 277 del Texto Refundido de la Ley de Contratos del Sector Público del año 2011, pero también en el ámbito local, concretamente en el art. 85. 2. b de la Ley 7/1985 de Bases de Régimen Local. Las sociedades de economía mixta han tenido que adaptar su contratación al régimen propio de la contratación pública de la ley 9/2017 de 8 de noviembre. La transición del derecho privado al derecho público ha tenido ciertas dificultades en gran medida por las deficiencias legislativas que una norma redactada para las administraciones públicas provoca cuando se aplica a poderes adjudicadores que no son administración pública. La complejidad de la contratación de esta figura no se agota con la ley de contratos del sector público, sino que alcanza la aplicación de otras normas originalmente destinadas a las administraciones. La Ley 9/2017 de 8 de noviembre destina un título a la contratación de las sociedades de economía mixta, pero presenta importantes controversias que generan inseguridad jurídica y que son desarrolladas a lo largo del presente artículo.

AbstractThis paper examines a model of privatization and divestiture of a vertically integrated public monopoly. The framework is used to derive general conditions of how mixed companies might be used to promote efficient outcomes without assuming either an ideal social planner or superior cost performance of private enterprise. The conditions suggest that efficient public policy towards mixed (public‐private partnership) companies depends on basic cost and demand conditions. The results indicate that: (1) a vertically integrated private monopoly can be more efficient than any combination of mixed companies when there is a sufficiently flat linear (elastic) demand curve and relatively greater (upward sloping) marginal cost for the downstream sector; (2) an upstream public and downstream public firm can achieve the first best outcome when the downstream firm has constant marginal costs; and (3) a partial privatization of the upstream firm achieves higher welfare than taking that action for the downstream firm. The intuition behind the propositions is provided using standard features of cost and demand. While the implications for public policy regarding privatization and divestiture in infrastructure sectors are not definitive, the results underscore the importance of understanding cost and demand conditions when developing and implementing public policies.

Technostress (TS) has previously been addressed mainly from a broader organizational perspective, leaving more specific salient settings in the background. This paper bridges this gap by exploring TS dynamics in consulting companies in Germany, a setting that was previously little investigated but is highly TS-prone. This study uses an exploratory mixed-methods approach (MMR) with three components: 1) quantitative validation of the TS test-battery, 2) qualitative exploration of workplace TS through employee experiences, and 3) analysis of the relationship between TS experiences and demographics (age, gender, rank). Quantitative data representativeness is achieved through context-specific test-battery validation and a tailored questionnaire. 702 consulting company employees (based in Germany, aged 18-65) of a renowned management consulting firm participated (m = 417, f = 275). Qualitative data representativeness was ensured through in-depth interviews with 15 employees of different ages, genders, and ranks and company affiliations (Accenture, Boston Consulting Group, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Roland Berger). Quantitative results indicated that female employees and those above 35 experienced higher levels of Techno-Complexity. Female employees experienced higher TS overall, reflected in their higher Techno-Overload, Techno-Invasion, and Techno-Complexity scores. This applied even to female employees who disagreed with the gender-difference tendency. Additional findings indicated that senior-ranking employees experienced more Techno-Overload and Techno-Invasion. Qualitative results highlighted three themes that further shape the psychological profile of TS in the investigated workplace: a) factors influencing TS, b) TS impact on workplace habits, and c) coping strategies. These findings emphasize that understanding the relationship between creators and demographics is crucial for mitigating consulting workplace TS.

Piracy attacks constitute a serious threat against which ships must be ready to defend themselves, particularly given the financial, political and logistical challenges involved in ensuring internationally coordinated protection. Yet, defense is highly challenging given the range of ship types, differing levels of government support, a constantly adapting pirate body, and pressures on costs and resources. Indeed, despite much guidance to deal with piracy, attacks continue unabated, and ships must defend themselves. To complement such guidance and suggest priorities for ship defense, this paper adopts a Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and in-depth interviews to identify key strategic criteria against piracy attacks. Questionnaire responses were from 14 shipping operators and 7 academics. Subsequently, highly experienced government officials (n=3) and shipping operators (n=3) were interviewed to provide additional depth and perspectives. Results show key criteria are international conventions and policy, followed by defense strategies in perilous water areas, and ship's hardware and software. Regarding implementation, it is suggested shipping companies take ownership of any measures introduced, and outlined how they can do so. Also, managerial implications for shipping companies, governments, international bodies and researchers are outlined.