The discourses of neoliberalism and global market competition dominate social and economic agendas at the beginning of the twenty-first century. In particular, global competition and new managerialism have underpinned the recent emphases on accountability and administrative efficiency, and there has been a permeation of contemporary business…

July 2001 to June 2003 may have been dismal for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (down 14 percent), but it was a bull market for economics majors (up 23 percent). The greatest increase in undergraduate economics degrees over the two-year period was at state universities (up 32 percent), in particular large flagship state universities with…

This paper highlights the increasingly important topic of consumer confusion. Drawing parallels with experiences in the private sector, the concept of consumer confusion is explored within the higher education sector; what causes the phenomenon, how do consumers react to it and how can it be negated/minimised? The expansion and commercialisation…

The auditing culture and its concomitant, "performativity", have been at the core of the on-going public sector reforms of the last twenty-five years or so. The advantages and limitations of performance indicators as a managerial technique of control have long been known. Considered from an organisational, social and political…

Charter laws have been the reform debate's path of least resistance. But the combination of regulatory barriers, open admissions, lack of consumer sovereignty, preferential funding of traditional public schools, and political control of prices means that charter laws may be irrelevant as reform catalysts, or worse. Even the strongest charter laws…

In recent years the scope and application of intellectual property rights has been expanded remarkably in the area of medical research and development. This has strengthened the role of the private sector in developing and producing new medicinal drugs. However, medical research is usually close to a pure public good and thus not efficiently…

In this study, the authors make use of an unusual property of a data set from Bogota--whereby some teachers teach math to more than one group of students--to determine the roles of teacher quality, peer group composition, and class size. They show that all three have effects on student achievement. They also show that the average attributes of…

Reports a research effort conducted as part of a curriculum design process for a new Masters in Information and Communication at the University at Buffalo School of Informatics. Discusses input from private and public sector organizations who need information technology (IT) workers and who stressed the need for skills in communication, problems…

Gives the background of the field of public policy analysis and management beginning in 1967 when scholars at nine institutions designed education programs for careers in public sector decision making. Describes the state of the nation during that period, the original curriculum, changes over time, and the achievements of public policy schools.…

Provides microeconomic estimates of the returns to education in Spain, using 1990 Spanish labor force survey data. The rate of return to education is higher for self-employed than for wage and salary workers. Secondary education is better compensated in the private sector, whereas a university education is better compensated in the public sector.…

Analyzes Singapore's information technology master plan in relation to its earlier national computer policy plans. Topics include global activities, economic development, implementation and use of information technology and services, and partnerships with industry and the public sector. (Author/LRW)

Saint Mary's College of Maryland, previously a public college, has become a unique public-private hybrid in response to changes in state support commitments. Although this model could not be applied to most institutions, the experience suggests that college and universities must find new means of financing and relating to the state. (MSE)

Educational equity must be reconceptualized and merged with children's conditions and a broader concept of children's services than schooling. National goals, particularly learning readiness, demand a broader definition of children's finance and equity. School-linked services can be funded by converging existing public and private funding streams…

Reviews the literature from 1980-93 that discusses information technologies use by state and local governments. Highlights include public sector organizations; a history of information technology management; current information technologies, including information architectures and information resources management; geographic information systems;…

Examines technological and innovation processes and the economic benefits in a region with open borderlines (Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany) as part of a national innovation and economic system. Provides scientometric data on the contribution of public institutions to technological development and a synopsis of present structures and an information…