The implementation of social policy through the nonprofit sector: a political market framework

The uneven geographic distribution of nonprofit organizations has been an issue of debate in the implementation of social policy since the 1980s. This paper proposes a political market framework to test an integrated explanation for the geographic distribution of nonprofits. Government failure theory attributes this variation to the distribution of social problems, so that nonprofit organizations are more prevalent in jurisdictions displaying larger and more diverse service needs that governments are not prepared or willing to tackle. In contrast, entrepreneurship theory argues that nonprofit organizations are created in jurisdictions with higher levels of prosperity and resources and a stronger tradition of generosity. This second explanation suggests that nonprofit organizations are established by entrepreneurs seeking to maximize non-monetary returns. Our framework argues that both demand-side and supply-side market forces help to explain the variation in the geographical distribution of nonprofit organizations. The hypotheses are tested using data assembled from nonprofit organizations established at the local level in continental Portugal. The variation in nonprofit sector activities is measured by the number of users and by the number of nonprofit organizations operating by block groups responsible for the implementation of social policy in each local jurisdiction. These groups constitute our dependent variables and include nursing homes, day care centers, home care organizations, leisure centers, and homeless care organizations. The paper employs a series of economic, social and demographic features of the local jurisdictions as explanatory factors to test the propositions derived from the political market framework for the formation and size of nonprofit organizations. Our findings indicate that citizen donations, demand heterogeneity, income, and population size are relevant predictors of the dimension of the local nonprofit sector

From civil servants to liberal professionals: an empirical analysis of the reform of Portuguese notaries

The use of market mechanisms has been progressively introduced as an alternative solution to public service delivery since the 1980s. This work addresses an uncommon public service function – civil law notaries – and seeks to analyse the factors that led to the formation of diverse market structures as a result of the choice of the privatization path over civil service status by public notaries. The Portuguese government allowed public notaries the choice to go private and regulated a numerus clausus of notaries by district. After the reform was completed, a diversity of market structures prevails throughout the 278 notarial districts. Our key hypothesis is that markets with multiple agents formed in jurisdictions having a larger and more profitable number of notary and legal acts that provided financial survival and profit. In contrast, monopolies formed as a result of a perceived absence of market opportunities and demand. During the period 2010-2011 we collected data from official statistics of the notary system supplemented by data on the economic and demographic features of each jurisdiction. Multinomial logistic regression is used to test the key hypothesis regarding market arrangements in the 278 notarial districts of Continental Portugal.This work was supported by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia – FCT) (grant number PEst-OE/CJP/UI0758/2011

Trends of reform in Portuguese local government: alternative mechanisms in service delivery

The influence on local government organization and management of new public management practices promoted by national administrative reforms remains an issue of contention. On one hand, some authors argue that these reforms have produced similar results at both the central and local levels of government (John 2001; Sanderson 2001; Van Gramberg & Teicher 2000). Others consider that the political nature of elected mayors and their legitimacy derived from close proximity with voters has limited its impact at the local level (McLaughlin 2002). However, it is unquestionable that local governance has changed over the years, distancing itself from traditional management involving clearly defined hierarchical relations, long-lasting career systems, bureaucratic control mechanisms, and in-house production. The influence of Public Choice theory and the New Public Management reforms have transformed local governance, albeit the degree of change remains under dispute. These changes resulted in the adoption of alternative mechanisms to deliver public services based on the externalization of service delivery, either using market approaches or employing partnerships with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The influence of New Public Management reforms brought about new service delivery arrangements replacing traditional bureaucratic in-house supply. Examples of these arrangements include: 1) CCT (Compulsory Competitive Tendering) replacing service delivery through in-house formal hierarchy with contracting (Fenwick, Shaw, & Foreman 1994); 2) Best Value relying on the comparison between delivery by the local government bureaucracy and alternative solutions provided by the market (Sanderson, 2001; Martin & Hartley 2000); 3) Local Government Amendment stressing the separation of municipal functions and highlighting the need for a corporate approach to commercial type functions (Wallis & Dollery 2001); and 4) New Steering Model (NSM) promoting functional decentralization and service autonomy to accomplish efficiency gains and quality in service delivery (Reichard 2003). Currently, local governments are responsible for the provision of an ever growing number of public services, including education, social services, land use planning and management, water supply, wastewater management, solid waste collection and management, and the promotion of local economic development. The mayoral system at the local level associated with the traditional administrative culture has produced resistance to the introduction and implementation of New Public Management reforms. In-house bureaucratic solutions still represent a large proportion of service delivery choices among Portuguese local governments. Nevertheless, the adoption of new governance mechanisms based on market competition and contracting out began increasing by the end of the 1990s. In recent years, we also witnessed the rise of alternatives to both market and hierarchy, through solutions relying on network partnerships and municipal cooperation. The large number of functions assumed by local governments as a result of central government delegation generated a substantial increase in the number and diversity of alternative governance mechanisms. We analyse the choice between these governance mechanisms in light of current trends of administrative reform. Our central hypothesis follows Robert Stein’s 1993 assertion that service characteristics influence the choice among governance mechanisms (hierarchy, market or network). We match three types of municipal services with these governance mechanisms and develop our hypotheses accordingly. First, we expect regulatory and monitoring activities to be provided by hierarchy type mechanisms (Lowi 1964; Peterson 1981; Barney 1999). Second, for activities involving the delivery of private goods and services (rival consumption and exclusion), local government officials will be inclined to use market-type mechanisms (Brown & Potoski 2003a; Ostrom & Ostrom 1977). Finally, social services, generally involving redistributive and social policies are most likely provided by network type mechanisms (Lamothe, Lamothe, & Feiock 2007; Brandsen & Pestoff 2006; Osbourne & McLaughlin 2004; Lowi 1964). The empirical analysis employs data collected from a sample of 102 Portuguese local governments between February and October 2008

The effects of amalgamations on voter turnout: evidence from sub-municipal governments in Portugal

The 2013 territorial reform of sub-municipal units (SMUs) of government in Portugal presents an interesting opportunity to understand the effect of amalgamations on democratic outcomes. Like other reforms of its kind, the Portuguese amalgamation reform was triggered by economic motivations, aimed at improving local services but seeking mostly to reduce the level of public expenditures. Much less relevance was given to the political impacts of territorial consolidation. The aim of this research is to assess the impacts of the Portuguese territorial reform on political participation measured as voter turnout in SMU elections. We use data from five election cycles (2001–2017) to compare turnout levels in amalgamated jurisdictions vis-à-vis the ones that did not amalgamate as a result of the process of territorial reform. The results of this quasi-experimental design indicate that turnout levels after the reform have decreased in the 2013 election and recovered in the 2017 election, but the negative effects were much more pronounced in amalgamated SMUs than in non-amalgamated SMUs.Previous versions of this paper were presented at the 2018 European Urban and Regional Association conference in Tilburg, The Netherlands and at the 2018 European Consortium of Political Research meeting in Hamburg, Germany. The authors would like to thank our colleagues Adam Gendzwill, Kurt Houlberg, Pawel Swianiewicz, and Filipe Teles for providing useful comments to these earlier versions of this manuscript. This research is partially supported by the "Programa Operacional da Regiao Norte", NORTE2020, in the context of project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000037 (SmartEGOV) and by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia) [grant no PEst-OE/CJP/UI0758/2019]. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation

The Nova SBE University merchandising venture

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and EconomicsThe objective of this Work Project is twofold: to create a research project on the opportunities for launching a Nova School of Business and Economics (Nova SBE) merchandise project; and the description of the planned strategy for this project. The objective of the research is to identify, validate and measure what opportunities lie within offering NOVA SBE merchandise. The objective of the strategy’s plan is to provide a guideline for the project, so it can start being implemented as soon as possible. This guideline will include recommendations regarding the product line, pricing and marketing in the short and long-term

A prestação de serviços públicos nas autarquias locais

O presente artigo visa analisar as modificações ao nível das configurações organizacionais identificadas nos governos locais inerentes ao processo de modernização e reforma administrativa. Desta forma, o artigo pretende analisar três dimensões distintas. Primeiro, procura explorar o conceito de Nova Gestão Pública analisando a sua amplitude e as consequências na estrutura organizacional da Administração Pública. Depois, procura contextualizar o processo de reforma e mudança administrativa à realidade da Administração Local. Para tal, identifica e explora alguns casos de modernização administrativa experimentada em diferentes países da OCDE. Finalmente, converge para o caso português. Procura identificar as diferentes alternativas organizacionais para a prestação de bens e serviços públicos a nível local. Fruto da sua exploração mas detalhada e fazendo uso das três dimensões escolhidas (controlo directo/competição/cooperação) procede então à classificação das diferentes alternativas organizacionais, pelos três mecanismos de governação conhecidos: Hierarquia/Mercado/Networks

Portuguese local government: exploring alternatives of service delivery

Nowadays, Local Governments have a heavy burden of dealing with much of the services with added value to citizens. Their competences kept on growing at the expenses of central government responsibilities’ cope with all these challenges, local governments use several mechanisms to deliver public services to their citizens. In this paper we analyze New Public Management (NPM), and post-NPM as mains reform paradigms with impact in the governance alternatives

The economic and political impacts of top-down territorial reforms: the case of portuguese parishes

The crisis of the sovereign debt forced the Portuguese government to reach out for joint financial help from the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) stresses the need for a major redefinition of the Portuguese local government system. Currently, the Portuguese local government is structured in two tiers (308 municipalities and 4259 parishes), both with an executive and deliberative elected bodies. The Portuguese government was asked to present a plan to amalgamate these local entities in order to enhance service delivery, improve efficiency and reduce costs. The main argument used is that excessive territorial fragmentation undermines efficiency and precludes scale economies. The main objective of the paper is to test two competing hypotheses regarding local government spending present in the consolidation/fragmentation literature. The Tiebout (1956) tradition argues that fragmentation induces lower spending through competition between local governments offering different taxes-services packages – the Leviathan model (Brennan and Buchanan 1980). This argument is in sharp opposition with the supporters of amalgamations arguing that territorial centralization can produce economies of scale and significant cost savings, reduce overlaps, and promote better accountability (Rosenfeld and Reese 2004). These hypotheses are tested with data collected from all 278 local governments of continental Portugal. We measure local government spending both in terms of total expenditures and grant transfers to parish governments and territorial fragmentation as the number of parish governments per 1000 individuals. Our findings show that higher levels of fragmentation lead to increased local government expenditures and transfers to parish governments, thus suggesting that the amalgamation proposed by the MoU and mandated by national legislation is likely to induce cost savings and improve financial sustainability

The economic and political impacts of top-down territorial reforms: the case of portuguese parishes

The crisis of the sovereign debt forced the Portuguese government to reach out for joint financial help from the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) stresses the need for a major redefinition of the Portuguese local government system. Currently, the Portuguese local government is structured in two tiers (308 municipalities and 4259 parishes), both with an executive and deliberative elected bodies. The Portuguese government was asked to present a plan to amalgamate these local entities in order to enhance service delivery, improve efficiency and reduce costs. The main argument used is that excessive territorial fragmentation undermines efficiency and precludes scale economies. The main objective of the paper is to test two competing hypotheses regarding local government spending present in the consolidation/fragmentation literature. The Tiebout (1956) tradition argues that fragmentation induces lower spending through competition between local governments offering different taxes-services packages – the Leviathan model (Brennan and Buchanan 1980). This argument is in sharp opposition with the supporters of amalgamations arguing that territorial centralization can produce economies of scale and significant cost savings, reduce overlaps, and promote better accountability (Rosenfeld and Reese 2004). These hypotheses are tested with data collected from all 278 local governments of continental Portugal. We measure local government spending both in terms of total expenditures and grant transfers to parish governments and territorial fragmentation as the number of parish governments per 1000 individuals. Our findings show that higher levels of fragmentation lead to increased local government expenditures and transfers to parish governments, thus suggesting that the amalgamation proposed by the MoU and mandated by national legislation is likely to induce cost savings and improve financial sustainability

Aligning Neural Machine Translation Models: Human Feedback in Training and Inference

Reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) is a recent technique to improve the quality of the text generated by a language model, making it closer to what humans would generate. A core ingredient in RLHF's success in aligning and improving large language models (LLMs) is its reward model, trained using human feedback on model outputs. In machine translation (MT), where metrics trained from human annotations can readily be used as reward models, recent methods using minimum Bayes risk decoding and reranking have succeeded in improving the final quality of translation. In this study, we comprehensively explore and compare techniques for integrating quality metrics as reward models into the MT pipeline. This includes using the reward model for data filtering, during the training phase through RL, and at inference time by employing reranking techniques, and we assess the effects of combining these in a unified approach. Our experimental results, conducted across multiple translation tasks, underscore the crucial role of effective data filtering, based on estimated quality, in harnessing the full potential of RL in enhancing MT quality. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate the effectiveness of combining RL training with reranking techniques, showcasing substantial improvements in translation quality.Comment: 14 pages, work-in-progres