Studies in the Management of Government Enterprise
[Book]
edited by Richard J. Horn.
Dordrecht
Springer Netherlands
1981
(179 Seiten)
Social Dimensions of Economics, 1
1. The Government as Manager: Weapons Procurement.- Notes.- Comments on "The Government as Manager: Weapons Procurement" by Seymour Melman.- 2. A First Approach to the Economic Theory of College Management.- Notes.- Comments on "A First Approach to the Economic Theory of College Management" by Charles E. Lamberton.- 3. A Post-Accord History of Principal Federal Reserve Functions.- Notes.- Comments on "A Post-Accord History of Principal Federal Reserve Functions" by Bernard Shull.- 4. Public Ownership and Natural Resource Utilization.- Notes.- Comments on "Public Ownership and Natural Resource Utilization" by Gerald Sirkin.- 5. The Development and Implementation of an Operational Planning System.- Notes.- Comments on "The Development and Implementation of an Operational Planning System" by Ellen Susanna Cahn.- 6. New York City's New Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) and Its Managerial Consequences.- Notes.- Comments on "New York City's New Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) and Its Managerial Consequences" by Harvey T. Dill and Roger P. Murphy.
The six studies in this volume represent investigations into aspects of the management of government enterprise. For the most part the concern is with those governmental units or agencies that provide products having nongovernmental counterparts. In each case the enterprise is taken as given, and there is no attempt to justify the participation of government in the production of goods. Instead, these studies attempt to define the positions and the functions of the decision makers, to evaluate product and pricing decisions and to specify appropriate mechanisms for providing the adequate and timely information required for efficient control. The first two studies examine the managerial role. James Suarez defines an enviornment in which the typical public or private sector classification does not apply. Given the monopsonistic position of the government in the armaments market, many managerial marketing decisions are not available to private firms. Thus the objectives of the participants in this market appear to be confounded. Suarez investigates this interdependent relationship. 8 STUDIES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF GOVERNMENT ENTERPRISE In "A First Approach to the Economic Theory of College Management," Barry Bressler addresses the problem of resource allocation within the college establishment. Bressler draws on utility theory to define the manager's objective function and on the imposed budget reductions suffered by units of the City University of New York to suggest some of the implications of this managerial construct. The third and fourth papers concentrate on the products of two government enterprises.