This dissertation examined transportation grants provided to states under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Some states acquired more grants and utilized them in a timelier manner than others. This dissertation examined why this is the case, utilizing System Theory and Resource Based Theory as the intellectual framework. Human resource and financial resource capacities were viewed as the principal drivers of success and studying this managerially controllable variables underpin the analysis. Though many studies have examined ARRA since 2009, my dissertation is the first to simultaneously examine the three stages of the ARRA transportation grant process: acquisition, implementation, and impact. There are three research questions, aligned with the three stages: (1) what factors affect state governments in the acquisition of competitive grants? (2) what factors affect state governments in the implementation of competitive and formula grants? and (3) what factors affect state governments in expenditure recovery and transportation investment? Government Capacity consists of four components, namely human resources, financial resources, general management, and experience. I used three regression models (log-linear for the first, and panel corrected standard error for the last two) to test the impact of the government capacity on grant acquisition, implementation, and impact. Overall, the test results showed that three dimensions of government capacity played a significant role to varying extents with respect to ARRA: human resource, financial resource, and experience. States with higher government capacity [strength (S) of capacity] turned the threat (T) of the Great Recession into an opportunity (O) for the restoration and development of transportation, and compensated for their weakness (W). The dissertation concluded that specific aspects of Government Capacity were thus relevant predictors of the acquisition, implementation, and impact of ARRA grants. Findings also support prior research that quality, not quantity of personnel may of signal import to organizational capacity during times of fiscal stress.

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / Local governments worldwide are invariably faced with challenges of human capacity constraints, corruption, lack of operating transparency and accountability, dysfunctional ward committees, poor public participation, non-compliance with legislation and by-laws, poor prioritisation of community needs, unaligned budget processes, unauthorised and wasteful expenditure, tensions between politicians and administrators, as well as weak financial viability. A strong legal framework, clearly defining authority and accountability, backed by relevant skills development training, are necessary foundations for service delivery; however, without the appropriate training, staff performance could remain inadequate. Various countries have reached varying levels of local government effectiveness; however, all too often municipalities do not have the adequate skills required, to deliver the services needed, to ensure community development.

Masters of Commerce / Local governments worldwide are invariably faced with challenges of human capacity constraints, corruption, lack of operating transparency and accountability, dysfunctional ward committees, poor public participation, non-compliance with legislation and by-laws, poor prioritisation of community needs, unaligned budget processes, unauthorised and wasteful expenditure, tensions between politicians and administrators, as well as weak financial viability. A strong legal framework, clearly defining authority and accountability, backed by relevant skills development training, are necessary foundations for service delivery; however, without the appropriate training, staff performance could remain inadequate. Various countries have reached varying levels of local government effectiveness; however, all too often municipalities do not have the adequate skills required, to deliver the services needed, to ensure community development. Despite being well structured, South Africa’s institutional arrangements are often deeply flawed, while local government still needs to transform from passive service provider to proactive facilitator. Skills development legislation forms part of government policies to enable transformation; however, many local municipalities are burdened by poor service delivery, corrupt staff, and no accountability. Therefore, there is a desperate need to explore the best way of addressing local government challenges and skills shortcomings of their human resources. In this current study, the researcher conducted a case study to explore varying aspects of local government skills development, particularly the implementation of a training programme in a rural municipality. Data collection was conducted with key informants, as well as trainees, through in-depth, individual, semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data, present the findings relevant to the strategies, as well as make recommendations on the required enhancements, for improved implementation of local government skills development initiatives.

不同金融體系結構，引導資金分配的過程也會有所差異，進而導致不同的經濟發展模式。本研究主要探討在不同地方金融制度中，地方政府與地方金融機構及地方企業之間的互動關係，如何影響中國大陸地方經濟發展模式。 本文認為，自中國政府推動金融改革以來，依據融資來源，各地區將會出現以銀行信貸為主、以中央資金為主及以民間金融為主的三種不同地方金融制度，這三種不同的地方金融制度對地方政府行為有不同的限制和影響。另一方面，各地方政府都是由不同的官僚部門所組成，存在不同部門之間的利益衝突，能否良好協調各部門之間的衝突將會影響地方資源的配置情形。在特定地方金融制度的影響下，加上各地方政府不同的官僚結構運作，本研究認為最終將會引導出五種不同的地區經濟發展路徑。 / The purpose of this dissertation is to explore how local political and economic institutions shape divergent paths of regional economic development among different localities in China. This research proposes five models of Chinese regional economic development. Through an analysis of Chinese different localities, this research states that under the constraints of local distinct financial structures, the ways in which local governments and businesses develop different strategies to interact and respond to market competition and difficulties influence capacities of local government for economic leadership, and result in various economic developmental patterns.