This dissertation follows a three-essay format. Each essay evaluates a different fiscal institution from a public administration perspective. In the first essay I examine whether state-funded property tax exemptions are effective in reducing the property taxes. This class of exemption is characterized by a grant from state to local governments that is intended to replace property tax revenue and lower property tax payments. Two separate theories of local fiscal behavior predict that that price effects and fiscal illusion will reduce the effectiveness of this type of tax relief. I test these predictions using panel regression analysis on county-level data from Georgia. I find that only two thirds of the revenue allocated to this program is actually used for tax relief. In the second essay I test a model of the property tax in which the levy is set to balance the difference between budgeted expenditures and expected receipts from all other revenue sources. This model demonstrates how the property tax can be used to offset unexpected changes to other revenues given a change in personal income. This model is contrasted with an alternative model in which expenditures are budgeted after expected total revenues have been determined. I will estimate both models for local governments in Georgia and test which more accurately describes local fiscal performance. I will also use both to predict changes to the property tax over a period of time and measure which model generated the more accurate forecast. Unlike the first two papers, which are quantitative analyses of fiscal data, this chapter is a case study of the contract city model of governance as implemented in the newly incorporated city of Sandy Springs, Georgia. I investigate whether the scope of outsourcing in contract cities creates additional challenges for city officials that manage contractor performance. I evaluate the incentive structures in the contract agreements that influence the principal-agent relationship using a textual analysis research method. I find that certain combinations of municipal functions in a single public-private partnership creates the potential for negative synergies to arise which would increase the difficulty of monitoring and managing the private partner.

Business management / M. Com. (Business management)

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this research report is to identify the alternative service delivery models that could deliver effective and efficient services to the South African public in future. The current economic realities, the effects of globalisation, the potential for technological innovation and the public‟s demand for better services have led the South African government to reconsider the manner in which services are being rendered. A futures methodology tool that was employed in understanding the environment in which services are delivered in South Africa is the environmental scanning. Environmental scanning which took the form of literature review, analysis of statistics already produced by other researchers, official publications and correspondence, newspaper surveys, pamphlets and newsletters, dissertations and theses as well as information from the internet will be employed in this study. Constructive environmental scanning which encompasses both material monism (also known as pop-ism) and the transcendental monism (Naude.2008; 53) was employed to develop a sound understanding of the environment (factors and forces) which have a bearing on the futures of the public service delivery. This exercise revealed that in South Africa services delivery is influenced by the following driving forces (environments): cultural and social, political and legislative, technological and economic. The environmental scanning also revealed that due to the importance attached to service delivery; government had to move away from the conventional approaches to public service delivery where government was the sole provider of services to the public and sought alternative ways of delivering services to the public. The following alternative service delivery models were adopted by government: contracting out, concession, leasing, privatization, management contract, and Electronic government as alternative models of service delivery. Notwithstanding the success of most of the models, some of these proved to be a breeding ground for nepotism, corruption, fraud and a paradise for white collar criminals. Political interference, that masquerades as political oversight is the order of the day. All of these are taking place at the expense of services delivery and are costing the government dearly. Government viewed this as an unhealthy state of affairs and also realised that this situation cannot be left to perpetuate into the future. Most importantly, government has awoken to the reality that the future can no longer be left to chance. Scenario planning was adopted as the research methodology employed in anticipating and preparing for the future. In the quest for v seeking alternative service delivery models for the future, the research report adopted the six stages of scenario planning. The chief value of scenario planning is that it allows policy-makers to make and learn from mistakes without risking career-limiting failures in real life. Further, policymakers can make these mistakes in a safe, unthreatening, game-like environment, while responding to a wide variety of concretely-presented situations based on facts. Scenario planning has an added benefit of allowing participants the latitude to think freely, allows creativity and encourages innovation.

Business management / M. Com. (Business management)

The aim of the study was to analyze the effect brought about by the promulgation of the British Local Government Act of 1988 on the maintenance of parks and recreational services. The Act made it compulsory to local authorities to expose the maintenance of parks and recreational services to a tendering process, commonly known as compulsory competitive tendering. The implementation of compulsory competitive tendering had to be done between the promulgation of the Act in 1988, and 1994. With regard to this period, a perception existed that the standard of the administration of the maintenance of parks and recreational services declined. The research was done to determine if the implementation of compulsory competitive tendering on the maintenance of parks and recreational services could have resulted in a decline in the standard of the administration of the services, and how it could have happened. It was determined that the motive of the British Government at the time of implementation of the compulsory competitive tendering was primarily to save money. The result of the implementation of compulsory competitive legislation on the maintenance of parks and recreational services were amongst other things: - low morale of staff who were pressured to change - culture changes necessary to comply to compulsory competitive organisational structures - legislation that influenced the lives of traditional local authority employees drastically, and - the development of a new approach to financial management to comply to the government's expectations of saving money. / Public Administration / M. A. (Public Administration)

The aim of the study was to analyze the effect brought about by the promulgation of the British Local Government Act of 1988 on the maintenance of parks and recreational services. The Act made it compulsory to local authorities to expose the maintenance of parks and recreational services to a tendering process, commonly known as compulsory competitive tendering. The implementation of compulsory competitive tendering had to be done between the promulgation of the Act in 1988, and 1994. With regard to this period, a perception existed that the standard of the administration of the maintenance of parks and recreational services declined. The research was done to determine if the implementation of compulsory competitive tendering on the maintenance of parks and recreational services could have resulted in a decline in the standard of the administration of the services, and how it could have happened. It was determined that the motive of the British Government at the time of implementation of the compulsory competitive tendering was primarily to save money. The result of the implementation of compulsory competitive legislation on the maintenance of parks and recreational services were amongst other things: - low morale of staff who were pressured to change - culture changes necessary to comply to compulsory competitive organisational structures - legislation that influenced the lives of traditional local authority employees drastically, and - the development of a new approach to financial management to comply to the government's expectations of saving money. / Public Administration and Management / M. A. (Public Administration)