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Three arguments are normally presented as rationale for the privatisation of state owned enterprises. The first relates to the problem of the financing of higher levels of public expenditure / the second is based on the viewpoint that private ownership is more efficient than public ownership / whilst the third claims that the losses of inefficient public enterprise are responsible for excessive budget deficits and other fiscal problems.<br /> <br /> Although empirical evidence proves that privatisation enhances economic efficiency, it negatively affects the affordability of and access to essential services, which may have serous consequences for poorer households. This happens through increased prices of essential services, such as electricity and telecommunication, as well as through loss of employment opportunities during and after privatisation.<br /> <br /> Many countries, also in Africa, implemented various types of privatisation programmes over the past two decades in order to decrease the relative size of governments and to improve efficient delivery of services. Towards the end the 1990&rsquo / s and after the tragic genocide, Rwanda&rsquo / s Government of National Unity also embarked on an ambitious restructuring programme of its state-owned enterprises.<br /> The main purpose of this study was to assess the likely impact of privatisation on poor households in developing countries. The report presents a general overview of the literature, with a specific focus on Brazil, Argentina and South Africa. It investigates the experiences of these countries and derives lessons that can be learnt. Finally it assesses the possible impact of the privatisation of essential service delivery on poor households in Rwanda.<br /> <br /> The main conclusion of the study is that governments should look beyond efficiency benefits of restructuring and focus on the overall opportunity cost of the privatisation of essential service delivery. The specific method of privatisation may determine the final social impact. The case studies also highlight the need for more research into the challenges facing the privatisation of essential service delivery. It is clear that any restructuring should be preceded by a thorough analysis of the likely impact on the poorer sections of the community.

This thesis reports on a multi-disciplinary evaluation of primary level health units, undertaken in Tanzania The research objectives were to evaluate the provision of primary level health care in order to develop recommendations for its improvement and appropriate methods for such assessment at district level. The evaluation used the technique of cost analysis together with specific review of structural and process quality and of the community's satisfaction with the available care, in order to assess production efficiency. An initial group of 58 health units, including both dispensaries and health centres, and government and voluntary agency units, were evaluated in the cost and structural assessments. Process quality was assessed in a sub-sample of twenty units, and community satisfaction in relation to a further subsample of ten units. The range of unit types was maintained at each stage of the study. This study's analysis indicates that these units were inefficient, characterized by poor productivity, limited structural, and weak process, quality. They were also poorly perceived by the community. Health centres were relatively expensive but of poor quality. Voluntary agency units performed no better than government units, and sometimes worse. The study's conclusions point to the need for better management of available resources to bring about more efficient, better quality care. The inadequacy of currently available resources was found to underlie some performance failures but an equally important problem was the weakness of the organizational structure of the health system. The research findings indicate the potential for efficiency savings, as well as considering the additional resources that might be generated through the introduction of user fees at the primary level. However, this potential will only be tapped if structures that encourage flexible and effective management are developed. The methods of this research could be used to strengthen managerial practices, either being adapted for use in other research studies or for monitoring at the district level. Similar research is required to support the development of management structures and systems.

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Thesis. 1975. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Economics. / Vita. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Asim K. Dasgupta. / Ph.D.

Electronic Government (E-Government) has become very important in recent years. It can be described as a system of digital interaction between a government and other parties, such as citizens, companies, employees, ministries and other government organisations. One of the most important elements of implementing E-Government systems is the interaction between users and E-Government systems, specifically the adoption and utilisation by those users, who are the main target of such systems. However, e-Government systems are still in the early stages in most developing countries including Saudi Arabia, and face many issues related to adoption, implementation and utilisation. Moreover, there is a lack of studies that investigate and analyse users' adoption and utilisation from different perspectives and also a lack of comprehensive frameworks specifically developed for such analysis. Thus, this research aims to investigate, analyse and understand the key factors that influence users' adoption and utilisation of e-Government systems and services in Saudi Arabia with a holistic approach. This could be used to enhance the current acceptance and use level and also would contribute to providing a user-centred path for designing and implementing new e-Services and government electronic systems. This study also aims to fill the knowledge gap in current e-Government literature about what might constitute a comprehensive framework on which to base such investigations. In order to achieve the research objectives, a comprehensive conceptual framework, namely, E-Government Adoption and Utilisation Model (EGAUM), was developed from a critical evaluation of several common models and theories related to technology acceptance and usage, in conjunction with a review of e-Government adoption literature. The developed model was then utilised to investigate and understand the influential factors on the adoption and utilisation of different types of users; namely, citizens, government employees and users from the business sector. A multiple method was employed in this research which includes a quantitative approach (as a main method) and a qualitative approach (as a supportive method). Several analysis procedures were employed, including descriptive and statistical analysis to validate the research model and to determine the significant influential factors. The results revealed that the user's Education Level, Perceived Benefits and implementing Regulations and Policies related to the e-Usage are common significant factors for the adoption and utilisation by all types of users. Moreover, the Functional Quality of Service/System, Perceived Simplicity and Socio-Cultural factors were found to be significant for the adoption and use of government employees and citizens. It was also found that Awareness plays a significant role in enhancing the adoption and use of public employees and users from the business sector. As a result of these findings, the research developed number of recommendations that can serve as guidelines for successful implementation of e-Government systems and services based on users' perceptions, attitude, beliefs, needs and choices.

This study seeks to determine whether the regulatory basis and operational structure of the Islamic financial model position it as the front-runner in terms of sustainability and resilience to financial crises. A critical review of the extant literature reveals that Islamic banks have performed better than conventional banks during economic shocks because Islamic banks are less exposed to risks. However, this study maps the profile of financial institutions that are generally resilient to financial crises, and notes that Islamic banks do not match this profile. Nonetheless, an assessment of the risk management strategies of Islamic banks reveals that they are in fact less likely to trigger instability when using profit-loss sharing schemes. The study utilises existing statistical data as part of the inter-disciplinary understanding of the effects of financial crises. The data is derived from various surveys and reports that chart overall performance considering the stressful financial environment of 2007-09 and beyond. This is complemented with original qualitative data that has been collected through surveys that identify the perceptions of key stakeholders in the banking sector on the resilience of their respective banking systems and how those systems could ultimately be improved. The traditional tripartite analysis of knowledge is adopted. The analysis at a generic level reveals that banks using the profit-loss sharing schemes match the profile of institutions that are generally more resilient to financial crises. The analysis at the level of the State reveals that where Islamic banks are accommodated within the same regulatory framework as conventional banks, the former are more resistant to financial shock. Lastly, the analysis at the level of individual banks reveals that the stress testing frameworks of the conventional banks may be rated as less effective than those of Islamic banks.

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