Government budgetary techniques and related management systems have been recently of great concern in many countries all over the world. At the present time a few, major developments have been made in this field and these are the main focus of discussions in this thesis with a view to assessing their respective influence on the management of government activities in general, and local government in particular. This study aims to achieve one major objective, that of the empirical investigation of the state and developments of such techniques and procedures in English local authorities. This was done on the basis of the combination of a theoretical analysis, supported by the necessary descriptive material, with an empirical survey to test the main hypotheses of the study. The thesis is presented in three parts, where the first and the second present the theoretical review of the literature, critically discussing the state of the above-mentioned procedures in government activities through both central and local government. The final part summarises and evaluates the findings resulting from the analysis of the survey. The various findings have, where appropriate, been used to test the conclusions of the theoretical aspects of the thesis. The research findings suggest that traditional budgetary procedures in English local authorities are no longer sufficient for an effective and efficient allocation of resources. The annual budget within a corporate planning framework is an integrated part of overall policy and strategy in most authorities. Indeed it is a significant part of the corporate planning system. The present research also confirms that English local authorities have tended to doubt the practical value of PPBS and to prefer a corporate planning approach. A number of authorities have recognised the value of adopting ZBB, and some of them have adopted a modified budgeting approach based on ZBB principles. It seems that these authorities believe in ZBB as an approach suitable to a climate of restraint and cutback. Finally, the majority of the authorities disagree that the introduction of any changes in their accounting and auditing systems were a direct result of the introduction of the newer budgetary techniques.

This thesis explores the relationship between state funding and the organisational characteristics of third sector organisations (TSOs). It presents a cross-sectional exploratory data analysis conducted using data from charities’ accounts and annual returns. The thesis contributes to a longstanding debate about the impact of state funding on TSOs’ independence and the role of the third sector within the welfare mix. The findings make an original contribution to this debate by opening up a new stream of quantitative evidence, to supplement the largely qualitative evidence base that already exists. This makes it possible to explore how changes at the organisational level have played out across the sector as a whole. In particular, it explores the links between state funding and TSOs' voluntary characteristics, financial health, and administrative spending. The findings suggest a mixed picture. Various associations were found in the data, though there were also numerous negative results where no link was found. Those associations that were uncovered were generally quite small. As such there is little evidence overall to suggest that state income is acting as a major driving force for organisational change within the third sector.

This study examines policies and practices in procurement and commissioning which aim to maximise the value of public organisations’ spend by asking for contractors to deliver social value (community benefits) as added value, over and beyond the core requirement. It draws from case studies of revealing practices to i) contribute to the definition and interpretation of the term ‘value’ in procurement and commissioning, ii) identify a theoretical model of how community (societal) benefits can be delivered as ‘added value’, aimed at improving public procurement and commissioning practices and iii) explore the implications of this model for the current debate on ‘Public Value’, examining how it might contribute to policy and practice in creating and delivering value in public services delivery.

This thesis examines the theoretical and empirical relationship between modes of governance and public service efficiency. We argue that different modes of governance yield different levels of efficiency depending on the nature and scale of the transactions upon which they are deployed. The experience of OECD countries is used to examine the effects of different modes of governance on the efficiency of education, health, and social protection systems. In the education sector, the share of public providers is found to exert a negative effect on efficiency whereas the degree of decentralisation of the decision-making procedures of public providers is found to exert a positive effect on efficiency. In the health sector, the introduction of market-type mechanisms to public integrated health systems is shown to have positive effects on efficiency, whereas further movement towards a market model of health care insurance and provision is shown to depress efficiency. In the social protection sector, we conclude that as public social security systems exceed their remit to assist individuals smooth their income across the life cycle and/or states of nature and to provide basic social safety nets to the destitute, the efficiency of social transfers in reducing poverty is damaged.

Self assessment system (SAS) has become the key administrative approach for both personal and corporate taxation in developed countries including the USA, UK and Australia. This approach emphasises both the taxpayers’ responsibility to report their income and the need for them to determine their own tax liability. Central to the motivations of self assessment system introduction is an increase in the efficiency of tax collection for the tax authority; however, of more vital importance is the need to enable this without having an unacceptable detrimental effect on the other key characteristics of a well-designed tax system (equity, wider administrative efficiency etc). This requires the development of public awareness of tax laws, and improvements in voluntary compliance. According to prior studies on this topic one of the main facilitating factors in achieving these aims is the development of the level of tax knowledge among taxpayers. The objective of this study is to investigate how facilitating factors interact in the development of a suitable SAS focusing in particular on the role of tax knowledge. To explore the interaction in the real setting the country of Malaysia is used as a case tax system for this study. This country is due to chosen its fairly recent introduction of SAS enabling a specific focus on changes brought about by the move to a SAS with as little time for ‘noise’ creating factors as possible that may result from longer implemented SAS. It also enables a study of this topic in the context of a developing country where many of the prior studies in this area have had in the context of developed countries. This study focuses on the level of individual Malaysian taxpayers’ knowledge and explores how tax knowledge levels influence tax compliance behaviour in a new SAS. Data was collected through a large scale national postal survey resulting in 1,073 responses. Five stages were used to facilitate the analysis. Stage 1, using the t-test and ANOVA, focuses on the characteristics of taxpayers’ knowledge including gender, ethnicity, educational level and income level. Stage 2 attempts to describe the relationship between tax knowledge and tax compliance using multiple regressions. Stage 4 examines taxpayers’ compliance determinants more widely than tax knowledge. Nine variables were tested in Stage 4. Control variables were added in both Stage 3 and Stage 5 in order to assess whether the inclusion of control variables significantly affects tax compliance behaviour. The results suggested that tax knowledge has a significant impact on tax compliance even though the level of tax knowledge varies significantly among respondents. The results also indicate that tax compliance is influenced specifically by probability of being audited, perceptions of government spending, penalties, personal financial constraints, and the influence of referent groups. Results of this study answer such questions as which various taxpayer characteristics of tax knowledge affect compliant behaviour. The results of this study can inform policymakers on the extent to which tax knowledge is important in a self assessment system and in what ways it can affect compliance. It also provides an indicator for tax administrators of the relative importance of tax knowledge in assisting with the design of tax education programmes, simplifying tax systems and developing a iii wider understanding of taxpayers' behaviour. This study contributes to current global literature in this field of the relative importance of tax knowledge in affecting tax compliance, as well as exploring the factors that make people pay taxes in a self assessment system, and discusses methods of increasing voluntary compliance.

The dissertation investigates the development and evolution of the investment patterns of the two Chinese Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs)--China Investment Corporation (CIC) and State Administration of Foreign Exchange Investment Company (SIC). The dissertation demonstrates that the IPE literature on SWF is divided between realists, mercantilists and financial economists. Through my research, I advance three related set of propositions. First, I argue that because China opted to develop two SWFs, each with its own distinct institutional and operational background, one drawing on Central bank reserves (SIC), the other evolved as a swap arrangement from foreign reserve (CIC), the two funds saw each other as competitors. Second, the dissertation shows that competition over rate of return ensured that the funds would prioritize commercial interests over the political goals to the Chinese state. Third, and irrespective of the above, I show that paradoxically, political and economic controls proved useful for the Chinese state to support China’s fledgling SOEs and SOCBs in order to sustain fast economic growth. With regard to CIC’s global operations, the State Council cleverly used the fund’s connection and capital capacity to access wider range of international business opportunities, gain management knowhow, technology transfers, raw materials and energy resources.

The thesis examines the extent to which Mercosur member states can establish a common approach to regional development, and what Mercosur can learn from the European Union experience of regional development funds. Through an extensive statistical analysis this thesis maps and profiles regional disparities in Mercosur in order to expose the nature and scale of the regional development challenge faced by the region. It argues that the creation of a Mercosur Regional Development Fund (MRDF), although not the sole solution, is one way forward towards the reduction of regional disparities. The thesis then proposes a theoretical framework which can be employed to account for prospective policy transfers between two supranational associations such as the EU and Mercosur. A critical analysis of the EU regional development fund experience leads the thesis to propose that there are some key EU principles which Mercosur can apply. Finally, the thesis discusses the objectives and main characteristics of a MRDF in terms of how it might best address the needs of the Mercosur less developed regions.

This thesis presents three empirical studies on household finance. The thesis is inspired by the following phenomena: (1) the development of household finance; (2) the importance of enhancing financial inclusion; (3) the rising prevalence of obesity in western countries; (4) the global ageing challenge. Using the China Household Finance Survey, I investigate the determinants of financial inclusion, focusing on the role played by informal finance. I test the extent to which financial inclusion affects households' consumption. My findings suggest that enhancing financial inclusion in China may play an important role in rebalancing the economy towards domestic consumption. Using the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, I investigate the extent to which households' consumption profile changes after health shocks. My findings suggest that non-medical consumption is generally insured against health shocks in China. Using the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, I find a positive association between financial stress and bodyweight in Europe. I find that individuals are more likely to respond to self-perceived financial stress than to objective levels of debt. Thus, policies aimed at improving citizens' ability to cope with financial stress may play a role in tackling the obesity epidemic in Europe.

The documentary credit has for a long time served as a very reliable form of financial instrument in the trading of international goods. The certainty of payment guaranteed under the documentary system is attributed to the autonomous nature of the credit contract, which is that it is independent of and unaffected by the contract of sale which it supports. So long as the documents which are presented strictly comply with the terms of the credit, the paying bank will be under an obligation to pay. However, documents which are non-compliant are also frequently presented in practice. The autonomous characteristic of the instrument also gives rise to problems because there are circumstances where, even though compliant documents are tendered, payment made under the credit would be unfair. This thesis attempts to investigate the various grounds which could provide a basis for withholding payment under a documentary credit. From the perspective of all the main parties involved in a documentary credit transaction, issues relating to payment are of utmost importance. Discrepant documents and fraud, which are well established as valid grounds, will be examined. The thesis will also explore other possible grounds to withhold payment such as illegality, nullity, unconscionability and breach of negative stipulations which exist in the underlying contract connected to the credit. The parameters of these grounds will be identified and where appropriate, recommendations will be made.

Lüder's Financial Management Reform Process Model (2002) is used to analyse and explain the context of the accounting reform process at the central government of Malta, thus introducing Malta in the field of Comparative International Governmental Accounting Research (CIGAR). Organisational Theory that underlies this model is referred to when discussing its limitations. The qualitative research methodology required a set of interviews with actors involved in the reform process, supported by documentary research. The governmental accounting reform process in Malta is described in two phases: the environment of the first phase is assessed as conducive to change; in the second phase, stronger forces at macro level reduced this conduciveness. The long-winding reforms at central government level in Malta may only be illusory because once the statistical reporting requirements for Eurostat were achieved, the reform concept changed. The findings confirm the centrality of the budget in government accounting. The decision by the Maltese Government to adopt International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) does not appear to be well-informed and appears based on the quest for credibility. The objective of the European Union (EU)'s interest in IPSAS is also questioned since these financial reporting standards do not give budgeting particular importance, and reporting to the EU by member states is already harmonised through the ESA95.