Examines government strategies for decentralizing agricultural extension, concluding that such changes are largely determined by the country's constitutional status. Reviews decentralization guidelines for structural and fiscal reforms and participatory management systems. (SK)

This paper assesses the impact on economic growth of increased efficiency of public spending in primary and lower-secondary education. Higher efficiency in public spending in schools can bolster growth through two main channels. On the one hand, it can allow a transfer of labour from the public sector to the business sector at unchanged…

The goals of the early childhood business plan are to explain, inform, and guide public and private stakeholders and policymakers and the general public about the investments and activities required for all children to have opportunities for school success. The business plan presented in this report has two parts, an asset review and an action…

Pay for performance is a popular public education reform, and millions of dollars are currently being targeted for pay for performance programs. These reforms are popular because economic and management theories suggest that well-designed incentive pay programs could improve teacher effectiveness. There is little evidence about the characteristics…

The last five years have seen a significant increase in the involvement of the private sector in the core areas of education delivery and not just in the provision of educational support services. This growing involvement of the private sector in education has been commented on in the press and in debates on education, but it is often…

Discusses balance sheets and income statements for private-sector companies and the ratios that have been developed to guide corporate decision makers. Discusses the various public-sector reports that school districts create and how they can be used to create information via ratios to help school administrators and policymakers in directing and…

The prospect of tuition fee increases for public sector universities has attracted an enormous amount of attention in recent years as governments in all industrialized countries have responded to the converging pressures of increased demands for higher education and rising costs of competing areas of social spending. I show that this dilemma is…

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…

The prevailing view among leaders in the university community is that America is not investing enough in higher education. A recent survey of the American economy by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) echoed that concern. After all, college graduates are dramatically more productive than those without higher education…

Since the election of the Campbell government in 2001, teachers have experienced heightened conflict with the provincial government. An analysis of the discourse and power relations between the BC Teachers' Federation (BCTF) and government reveals a neo-liberal agenda on the part of government and anti-neo-liberalism on the part of the BCTF.…

Discusses seven propositions underlying the strategies that insurance pools can, will, and must pursue: (1) risk management versus risk financing; (2) elimination of windfall advantages; (3) the maintenance of market-dominant status; (4) cost leadership; (5) client focus; (6) innovation and diversification; and (7) leadership challenges. A sidebar…

This article considers evidence which suggests that Australia's current approach to the funding of non-government schools does not serve the common good. Educational provision is now segmented and a majority of private schools have resources that are either moderately or highly superior to those available in public schools. The current funding…

The Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet met to review investments in technology and education that are being made in the United States on the federal, state, and local and private sector levels. Presiding was Representative Fred Upton (chairman). Members present included Representatives Upton, Gillmor, Shimkus, Wilson, David,…

The book "Marketizing Education and Health in Developing Countries," edited by Christopher Colclough, examines five salient aspects of education and health care (cost recovery, public versus private alternatives, cost shifting, improved efficiency, and fiscal reforms) useful for examining national privatization efforts. A marriage of…

During the 1960s, many rural local governments were believed to provide inadequate government services, which hindered rural development. Rapid growth in government spending has reduced the incidence of government poverty from 78 percent of nonmetropolitan counties in 1962 to only 7 percent in 1987. Those counties still government-poor in 1987…