Privatizing Higher Education in Spain

(WP 13/03 Clave pdf)The Spanish university system has witnessed many changes. Initial conditions for competition were laid down in 83, specially through the recognition of legal status to private universities. However, the shortage of students since 98 and the drop on demand for higher education has prompted further reform recently.In 2001 a new act was enacted to force market-like behavior and to privatize some operating conditions of state universities. It´s too early to assess the effectiveness of these changes, but public funding remains mostly unchanged and this is a key issue that would need to be modified in order to provide conditions of authentic competition in the higher education.Competition, Higher education, Privatization, Public goods, Economics of education

SME and global industries: managing the global supply chain in the consumer electronic industry

This research takes place within a broader study, which aims to highlight the evolution strategies of the companies competing within the consumer electronics industry, and the consequent changes that have characterized the market worldwide. This paper analyzes some management and organizational issues of a me-dium Italian firm (Mivar), which has been producing television sets for almost fifty years. The aim of this paper is to underline not so much the path of Mivar growth, but the gradual loss of competitiveness, which has now led this firm to a position of total dependence on its environment. This could pro-voke the exit of Mivar from the market.Emphasizing the opportunities offered to companies by the growing inter-nationalization of the business, we highlight, however, that generally the globalization of an industrial sector does not imply a consequent internationalization of the firms operating in it. This can happen especially if the firm suffers for weaknesses due to sub-optimal size and inadequacy of its governance, like in the case of Mivar, where the lack of internationalization of its business causes several problems in managing the global supply chain, therefore compromising the system of relationships with upstream and downstream companies.Television Set Industry, Internationalization, SME Governance, International Supply Chain

Does lending behaviour of banks in emerging economies vary by ownership? Evidence from the Indian banking sector

While much has been discussed about the relationship between ownership and financial performance of banks in emerging markets, literature about cross-ownership differences in credit market behaviour of banks in emerging economies is sparse. Using bank-level data from India, and a portfolio-choice model, for nine years (1995-96 to 2003-04), we examine banks’ behaviour in the context of emerging credit markets. Our results indicate that, in India, the data for the domestic banks fit well the aforementioned portfolio-choice model, especially for private banks, but the model cannot explain the behaviour of foreign banks. In general, allocation of assets between risk-free government securities and risky credit is affected by past allocation patterns, stock exchange listing (for private banks), risk averseness of banks, regulations regarding treatment of NPA, and ability of banks to recover doubtful credit. It is also evident that banks deal with changing levels of systematic risk by altering the ratio of securitized to non-securitized credit. These results have implications for disbursal of credit to small and medium enterprises in India

Achieving education for all: How much does money matter?

This paper explores the extent to which differences in the resources allocated to education explain differences in educational access and performance across countries. Cross-country regression analysis shows that the link between educational access and performance and public education expenditure is weak.. The paper suggests that levels of household spending, the effectiveness of the public expenditure management system and the composition of public education spending are important factors explaining this weak link. The results imply that the achievement of the education millennium development goals will require more than just increases in expenditure on primary education. This does not imply that resources are unnecessary, but that increasing resources alone is unlikely to be sufficient. The composition of resources and institutions that govern the use of these resources play a central role in translating resources into better schooling outcomes. A stronger focus on these aspects of education systems will be required if the Millennium Development Goals in education are to be achieved.education; public expenditure; millennium development goals

Public entrepreneurship as innovative management strategy in the public sector : a public choice-approach

Paper Originally Presented at the 65th Annual Conference of the Southern Economic Association , Fairmont Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America, November 18-20, 1995. Bureaucratic service organisations in the public sector are increasingly loosing their previous comfortable monopoly positions in providing services to the public, due to radical structural changes in modern society. The public finance of their services by politicians ordering public services as elected representatives of the citizens-consumers is not longer guaranteed, and neither is the consumption of their services by the public. Government bureaucracy is forced to produce services under (quasi) competitive market conditions. In a competitive system of public service provision, government bureaucracies have to conquer new markets with new services (new product/market combinations). External management of their relations with funding politicians and with the service consumers is becoming vital for their survival. ''Public Entrepreneurship'' is an important element of the necessary innovation of strategic management of government bureaucracies. In this paper, the concept of public entrepreneurship is elaborated. Public entrepreneurship originally is constructed by Osborne and Gaebler as a device to ''reinvent government''. The consequences of public entrepreneurship for their relations with political superiors and sponsors on the one hand, and their contacts with consumer-clients and interest groups on the other hand, are explored from the institutional perspective of public management reform in Western Europe. Public entrepreneurship combines elements of classical market entrepreneurship and elements of modern social entrepreneurship of institutions of private initiative. Public entrepreneurship imposes new challenges for bureaucrats operating between the political leadership of their bureau and the clients of the services provided by their bureau. Public entrepreneurship also causes new problems of political-democratic control. These challenges and problems are explored and some solutions are formulated.public economics ;

Infrastructure networks and the competitiveness of the economy

This paper aims to examine how technical infrastructure networks may contribute to improving the competitiveness of the Hungarian economy. Consequently, our main question will be to establish how certain networks or sectors can promote competitiveness of the entire economy rather than how they could be more competitive in their own field. In the macroeconomic or regional sense competitiveness is interpreted as the entirety of safeguards and preconditions that provide a long term basis for success in a competitive market environment. The review of the economic, social, institutional and facility preconditions of competitiveness has highlighted that practically every component must be backed by a good system of relations: both strong, balanced internal relations promoting co-operation and external relations to assure outward linkages. Despite the above correlation, it would be a fallacy to assume that infrastructure networks as linking elements in general are factors per se improving competitiveness. In accordance with the level of development of the economy, the key forms of activity and the realistically attainable objectives, different linkages and service needs become key for the development of the economy in different stages

Knowledge Transfer, Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth: Some Reflections and Implications for Policy in the Netherlands

This paper provides an overview of the relationship between entrepreneurship university spin-off activity and economic growth. It suggests the need for a diversified university structure, and that spin-offs are a misleading measure of the most important activity for technology transfer which remains the training and education of highly qualified scientists and technologists. It argues that a linear approach to the innovation process positioning basic science at one end of a chain and commercialization at the other is misleading. The reality is more complex and incorporates important areas of activity where consideration of use and the pursuit of basic science go hand in hand.University spin-offs, Technology Transfer, Entrepreneurship, Productivity, Economic Growth