Blockchain Papers

Alessandro Innocenti

This paper gives an interpretation of the recent diffusion of the processes of productive outsourcing founded on two explanatory points. The first is that such processes replace a hierarchical paradigm of information diffusion with a decentralized paradigm in which independent subcontracting firms autonomously collect and process part or all of the prominent information. The second is constituted by the change of the modality of production innovation, becoming the result of autonomously developed inputs that are successively made complementary by the work of the network through an encapsulation process of the information. This is made possible by the fact that after an initial phase in which a new input is jointly projected by the contractor and the subcontractor and in which the information comes shared, a phase follows in which the prominent information for the specification of the characteristics of the product and for the solution of the local and unforeseen problems is collected and processed in a sequential manner and then encapsulated in the input by autonomous production units. In comparison with the vertical integration (make) or the market (buy), this form of governance (subcontract) allows for the organization in more efficient manner of the processing of the information, for the reduction of the informative costs and for the minimization of the risk of spillover.

Massimo Bordignon

Problems of `soft budget` constraints in intergovernmental relationships are currently at the frontier of research in local public economics. This paper reviews the Italian experience in the field, starting from the mid-1970s up to the present period, compares it with that of other countries, and uses it to comment upon the state of the literature. The paper argues that the soft budget constraint problem has been a rampant one in Italian local public finance, generating efficiency losses, lack of political accountability and undermining the soundness of public finances. The paper inquires into the causes and possible solutions to the problem, and in particular describes and comments upon the decentralization process of the 1990s. Finally, the Italian debate on fiscal federalism of the 1990s is also reviewed, arguing that some of the suggestions of this debate may be of interest more generally.

Guillaume Poupard, Jacques Stern

No abstract is available for this record.

Joshua Adetunji Odeleye

Private-ownership of roads in Nigeria is still at the deliberation stage. In other words roads (tarred and untarred) are owned by Federal, State and Local authorities in Nigeria. Most of these roads, however, share a common characteristic of being “unsafe at any speed”, at any time of the day. This is as a result of the low quality of the road components, structures and patterns. For example, road surfaces are undulating and rough. Also, the poor standard of road infrastructure like guard railings/barriers; pavement marking and signs; illumination levels, traffic signals, horizontal/vertical alignment and sight lines contribute largely to the increasing carnage on Nigerian road network. This trend persists because authorities in Nigeria have practically relegated to the background regular road safety audit operations. This is an inevitable aspect of modern methods of road administration and management, which determines a number of traffic potentials concerning highway high collision locations; protection of errant vehicles from light poles, trees, ditches, replacement of damaged and missing signs, street lighting, capacity and level of service analysis. Finally, this paper suggests commissioning of a National Road Research Fund, with a view to developing an efficient road safety audit operational system. Also, the introduction of private initiatives and a Community-based Approach in road administration, as well as decentralization of road administration framework at all levels, will greatly help “engineer out” potentially unsafe features across Nigerian roads, towards a better road traffic environment in the 21st century.

Ajay Mahal, Vivek Srivastava, Deepak Sanan, Mahal, Ajay · 6 authors

The paper has two main objectives. The first is to trace the progress in the process of decentralisation in the provision of public services in India. The second is to test the hypothesis that decentralisation in the system of public service delivery in primary health care and education led to improved outcomes for the rural Indian population. Before 1992, with few exceptions, there was little movement towards decentralisation. Rural local bodies functioned primarily as program executing agents for government line departments, with little control over finances, administration, or the pattern of expenditure. The only decentralisation that existed was in the importance of state governments vis-à-vis the centre. After the 1992 Constitutional Amendments, significant progress has taken place in the form of the passing of conformity legislation by state governments, the setting up of State Finance Commissions to examine the distribution of resources from states to local bodies, and accelerated moves towards transfer of planning and expenditure responsibilities to village bodies. The paper used data from the 1994 NCAER survey to test the hypothesis that increased decentralisation/democratisation positively influences enrolment rates and child mortality once the influence of socioeconomic circumstances, civil society organisations, the problem of capture of local bodies by elite groups, and so on are controlled for. Our main empirical findings are that indicators of democratisation and public participation, such as frequency of elections, presence of non-governmental organisations, parent-teacher associations and indicator variables for decentralised states generally have the expected positive effects, although these are not always statistically indistinguishable from zero.

Ronald Cramer, Ivan Damgård, Philip MacKenzie

No abstract is available for this record.

Colin Sindall

D. Drache and T. Sullivan (eds) Routledge, London, 1999 Quality, Evidence and Effectiveness in Health Promotion: Striving for Certainties J. K. Davies and G. Macdonald (eds) Routledge, London, 1998 Managing for Health: Implementing the New Health Agenda D. J. Hunter Institute for Public Policy Research, London, 1999 Health sector reform has been high on the international agenda for more than a decade, driven by rising costs, globalization and a political resurgence of interest in market solutions to what were previously seen as the responsibility of the welfare state. For many it is hard to remember that less than 20 years ago, ideas now taken as part of conventional wisdom were to some extent unimaginable. The first of the three books reviewed here, Drache and Sullivan's Health Reform: Public Success, Private Failure provides a useful reminder of the relationship of current health care reform discourse to its wider political origins. Health Reform: Public Success, Private Failure began as a seminar on reforming Canada's health care system, held in 1996. The book contains papers presented at that meeting, and many commissioned expressly for publication. Contributors include leading international commentators on health and social policy, e.g. Yale University's Ted Marmor, Columbia's Mary Ruggie and Canadian economist, Robert Evans. Throughout, the major theme is that of the tensions between publicly funded health care and the increasing enthusiasm of decision-makers for health systems driven by market dynamics. While consideration of the Canadian system forms the core of the content, papers from US and Australian authors, and the way the topics are approached, ensure that the book has an international perspective and relevance. The 18 chapters are organized into five parts. Their titles give something of a sense of the flavour and organization of the book. They are as follows. Public–private conflicts in health policy. Restructuring Anglo-Saxon health systems: shifting state/market boundaries. Decentralization and devolution: new state forms and practices. The political economy of health care reform in Canada. On the frontier of reform. In their introductory chapter, Drache and Sullivan identify three major objectives for health reform, which provide the conceptual organizing framework for much of the book's content. The first, and they argue, most important consideration, is ‘how to sustain a public commitment to a comprehensive range of health services for all citizens’. The second is how to improve the efficiency of health care services in times of fiscal constraint. The focus on these objectives, particularly the first, reflects the fact that this publication is clearly more sympathetic to a Beverage-style model of publicly financed health service provision than much of the literature on health care reform. In fact, the views of many of the contributors appear well encapsulated in a comment (attributed to Robert Evans in Ted Marmor's chapter), which refers to the influence of market-oriented US ideas on health system reform as ‘intellectual acid rain’, which falls on their Canadian neighbour. Many in the health promotion field may see the book's title and think that this is a publication purely concerned with health ‘care’, and hence perhaps focused too ‘downstream’ to be of great interest. If so, they would be mistaken on two counts. Firstly, the third objective proposed by the editors indicates why this is one of the more relevant publications on health reform for a health promotion audience. According to Drache and Sullivan, the third objective of health reform should be how to ‘devise social arrangements which engender healthy populations’. This perspective is canvassed most fully in the book's final chapters, which deal with the social determinants of health. For example, in their chapter ‘Governing Health’, Lavis and Sullivan examine the important contribution of working life and labour market arrangements to health as well as considering the type of governmental structures required to take a broader, more holistic view of health determinants. The book's final chapter, titled ‘Health, Health Care and Social Cohesion’ by Canadian J. Fraser Mustard, sets out a persuasive argument for social investment in the early years of life, and for the significance of trust and social capital as the basis for a healthy society. There is a second reason why this book should be of more than passing interest for readers of Health Promotion International. This is that the book's contributors make a persuasive case that how a health care system is organized and funded can itself be health promoting, in ways perhaps not widely recognized. This capacity of a publicly funded health system to foster a sense of a caring society, in which people see themselves as citizens rather than consumers, is a theme running throughout the book. As the editors comment in their introduction ‘markets may be back with a vengeance but health care remains a stabilizing instrument of citizenship at a time of global instability’. Publicly financed health care systems which provide universal coverage and access to care do appear to offer equity benefits and better health outcomes than alternative models. However, even in these circumstances there remain non-financial barriers to health care usage, and disparities still exist, e.g. in uptake of preventive care by lower income groups. Nevertheless, there appear to be broader, if diffuse, benefits to health from a publicly financed system. As Mustard states: A society that decides to make health care available to all of its citizens through a universal insurance system, makes provision of health care a potential institutional structure to help sustain social cohesion and trust (p. 334). While much of the book therefore is concerned with social and health care arrangements that are ‘health promoting’ in the broadest sense, health promotion tends to be treated as a strategy targeted at individual lifestyle. For example, Gail Donner's challenging chapter on the ‘fallacy of demand reduction’, i.e. demand reduction as increasingly embraced as part of managed care in the US, equates health promotion with health education efforts to, e.g. stop people smoking. Donner argues that demand reduction strategies in isolation from broader system reforms and ‘upstream’ public policy change, can themselves become both victim blaming and ineffective. In their chapter, ‘The Virus of Consumerism’, Feldberg and Vipond argue that health promotion itself represents one of the instances in which market-oriented health care systems treat people as ‘consumers’ rather than citizens. The answer to why health promotion is viewed in this way, in a book explicitly concerned with the social determinants of health, may perhaps in part be explained by the relationship of several contributors to the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIAR), an organization closely associated with the development of the ‘population health’ perspective on health improvement in Canada. For example, Fraser Mustard was the founder of CIAR, and another contributor, economist Robert Evans, is a CIAR fellow. Perhaps not surprisingly then, to the extent that Health Reform deals with the health care system's role in the broad domain of prevention, the perspective is strongly ‘population health’ rather than ‘health promotion’.1 For those who have not been engaged with this peculiary Canadian debate see Frank, J. W. (1995) why “population health?” and Labonate, R. (1995) Population health and health promotion: what do they have to say to each other? both in the Canadian Journal of Public Health.86, 162-168. In contrast to the ‘whole of system’ policy perspective of Health Reform: Public Success, Private Failure, the focus of John Davies and Gordon Macdonald's book is on the more specific elements of health promotion research and practice. The contributors are drawn from the UK, Australia, the USA, Canada and a number of European countries, and most are well known in international health promotion circles. As with the Canadian book, Quality, Evidence and Effectiveness in Health Promotion has its origins in a conference, in this case the Third European Conference on Effectiveness: Quality Assessment in Health Promotion and Health Education, held in Turin in 1996. However, while many of the contributors participated in that event, the book's 11 chapters were developed after the conference, and many include references as recent as 1998. The book is divided into three parts, broadly reflecting the themes in the title. Part 1, ‘Methods for Assessing Evidence and Effectiveness’, contains three chapters, one an overview of health promotion in the United States, and two which are concerned with measuring effectiveness and evaluating health promotion in various community settings. Part 2, ‘Methods for Assessing Quality’ consists of three chapters which each provide practical guidance on different aspects of quality assurance and assessment in health promotion. The four chapters of Part 3, ‘Approaches to Synergism’ are more of a mixed bag, with the first two chapters providing case studies intended to illustrate the synergy of linking effectiveness measures with quality assurance. Of the final two chapters, one provides an international overview from the perspective of a World Health Organization working group on quality assurance and effectiveness, and one, by the book's editors, provides a summary of the ‘state of the art’, and suggests a number of steps and principles for improving effectiveness and quality assessment in health promotion. The real strength of this book is the range of practical models, tools and techniques presented. For example, the chapter by Baum contains a useful tool for monitoring the changing expectations of key players in a community-based health promotion initiative. An approach of this type, as Baum notes, could potentially be of great value in helping make explicit changing and conflicting objectives, and in analysing progress of an initiative. What results is the construction of a ‘stakeholder-focused’ approach to outcome assessment, which recognizes that interventions in human systems are likely to have multiple impacts, and that assessments of the value of these effects are likely to differ according to where one stands. Similarly, Speller and colleagues provide useful guidance in tracking and evaluating the progress of alliances for health; Springett provides a framework for indicator development to track the effects of policy change on health and social well-being in a healthy cities initiative (and highlights the difficulties involved); Haglund and colleagues present a quality assurance instrument based on the SESAME health promotion planning model. The book contains many more examples than this brief selection can do justice to. While issues of effectiveness and quality assurance are well covered, the book is less helpful on the question of evidence in health promotion. Accepting that this is intended as a publication to improve and inform practice, nevertheless one might have expected from the title a more organized and comprehensive discussion of the challenges associated with ‘evidence-based’ health promotion, e.g. those associated with theories of knowledge, power and the nature of social systems. Some of these issues have been raised in recent issues of Health Promotion International. Another issue which the authors might have considered for inclusion, and one which often figures strongly in discussions of quality assurance elsewhere, is the role of management and leadership. This topic is well covered in David Hunter's short publication Managing for Health, prepared for the London-based Institute for Public Policy Research. Hunter is Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Nuffield Institute. This report is primarily concerned with the contribution of management to achievement of the Labour Government's objectives for Britain's National Health Service (NHS), and its main theme is the importance of effective management in moving from a focus on health care to a focus on health. Hunter argues that a new type of management is needed to move beyond the market-oriented approach of the so-called ‘new public management’ which has dominated the health system since the early 1980s. This does not mean, however, a return to the inflexible bureaucratic models of the past, but needs to consider a management approach consistent with the ‘third way’ in British politics championed by intellectuals, such as Anthony Giddens. Hunter suggests a way of thinking about ‘managing for health’, where the goal of management is health gain and health outcomes, rather than the management of inputs for health care. Hunter identifies a number of key health policy themes that managers will need to deliver on in the policy context created by the government's NHS reforms. These include: a commitment to narrowing the health gap; a commitment to quality; a greater emphasis on primary health care. The first theme Hunter suggests will require nothing less than a paradigm shift in the way health services are managed, requiring managers to develop a ‘whole systems’ way of thinking and to actively promote ‘joined up solutions to joined up problems’. For Hunter, good management is critical to closing the gap between policy and effective implementation, and this is particularly true in terms of addressing health inequalities. Hunter identifies a number of key skills health managers will need to develop. These include the following. Building alliances and networks with non-health organizations, and the capacity to work within alliances. Talking and listening to users of services. Developing information and intelligence databases to support the new public health. Having a strategic framework based on health improvement. Paying attention to the organizational forms needed to fulfil these functions; including development of vision, culture, people and skills. While Hunter's report is very much focused on the UK, the principles it espouses have international relevance, and its public health perspective makes it highly relevant to a health promotion audience. It is useful to see these three publications as a ‘package’. Together they provide a policy overview of health care reform; some specific guidance, on how, within that context, health promotion can move to more effective practice; and a consideration of the role of management as the key linkage between policy and practice. A comment contained in the editors' introduction to Quality, Evidence and Effectiveness in Health Promotion provides an example of the lessons for health promotion in the health care reform literature. Davies and Macdonald note that a key theme at the conference which inspired their book was that the development of an evidence-based approach to health promotion would help ensure that health promotion remains ‘at the forefront of local, national and international health policy development and investment ...’ However, a reading of Drache and Sullivan's book perhaps provides a more realistic perspective on where health promotion sits in the eyes of both policy commentators and health system decision-makers. While health promotion as yet is not at the top of the health reform policy agenda, the insights contained in these three publications help point the way to how health promotion might achieve this position in the future. The author would like to thank Jenny Jefferson for her assistance in the preparation of this review.

Susan Bibler Coutin, Josiah McC. Heyman

In this short but complex monograph Heyman uses his expertise as an ethnographer of both borderlands and border enforcers to devise moral and practical improvements in U.S. immigration policy. Heyman argues persuasively that current U.S. immigration policies are both unjust and unworkable. They are unjust, he contends, because they are fueled by antiimmigrationism, a sentiment that fails to recognize the common humanity of others. They are unworkable, he notes, because numerical controls have not prevented the influx of immigrants who are not authorized to live and work in the United States. Heyman reasons that as a member of a profession that is dedicated to analyzing the human condition, he is ethically obligated to promote policies that are both realistic and moral. Finding a moral heart for U.S. immigration policy is devoted to this endeavor. Heyman proposes that immigration to the United States be governed by compacts between the local communities where immigrants reside and employers or relatives who want to bring an immigrant into the country. Local communities would assess the improvements in housing, education, and public services that would be needed to accommodate new residents. Immigrant sponsors would then contribute to the costs of these improvements. According to this plan, immigration would be decentralized, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service would become a clearinghouse, illegality and law enforcement activities along U.S. borders would be reduced, immigrants could travel more freely, and all immigrants would be legal permanent residents entitled to live, work, receive public services, and even vote in local elections within the United States. There is much to commend about this proposal. Shifting the focus of the INS from enforcement to regulation would make crossings less hazardous, thus reducing death tolls along the U.S.-Mexico border. The current artificiality of the categories of kin who can sponsor immigrants would be replaced by a system that more realistically reflects individuals' actual relationships. Immigrants would be able to come and go legally, instead of being trapped within U.S. borders by a pending legalization case or by a fear of being apprehended upon reentry. According immigrants greater (indeed almost all) legal rights would reduce discrimination. I do, however, have some doubts about the proposal. For instance, migration from one part of the United States to another also adds new residents to local communities, and could potentially burden local services. Why then should employers only have to contribute to local infrastructure if they hire individuals from outside of the country? Also, if employers face extra costs for hiring immigrant workers, immigrant workers may face job discrimination. It seems more equitable to hold the federal government responsible for allocating resources to local communities based on their population sizes and demographics. Financing such allocations through across-the-board taxes instead of through compact costs charged to immigrant sponsors would further reduce distinctions between permanent residents and citizens. Heyman grounds his policy critique and proposal in what he characterizes as core anthropological values and the common characteristics of moral systems. …

Lluís Anglada

Cooperation between libraries is a universal language spoken in different dialects. In 1996 the libraries of the state-funded universities and the State Library of Catalonia (Spain) formed a consortium to act as a channel for cooperation. The organization, operation, and funding of the Consortium of Academic Libraries of Catalonia (CBUC) are an example of how this universal language has been adapted to the specific characteristics of the library and university system in Catalonia. The CBUC has a union catalogue, an interlibrary lending program, and other cooperation programs. In 1999 it set up the Digital Library of Catalonia, a series of electronic resources shared by all the libraries of the consortium. From their experience in the CBUC, the member libraries have found cooperation to be hard work but also a means of introducing changes and grasping the future. * Introduction The Registrum Librorum Angliae, a collective catalogue of the books of 186 monasteries in England, was drawn up in the late fourteenth century. This was a cooperative effort aimed at facilitating the location of documents and shows us that cooperation between libraries is a universal language spoken in different dialects. Spanish universities were organized centrally until the early 1980s. In 1984 the University Reform Law gave universities an autonomy that allowed them to renew their system of organization and to start a process of renewal of their libraries that has shown significant results in the last fifteen years.(1) This renewal involved an increase in the budgets devoted to purchasing collections, building new buildings, and automating the libraries, which marked the beginning of association and cooperation between libraries. Coinciding with the process or reorganization of the state, the Spanish administration became decentralized, and the powers delegated to the regions include responsibility for certain aspects of higher education. Catalonia is an autonomous region of Spain with 6 million inhabitants and a university system of eight public universities and three private ones, forming a university community of 189,118 students, 13,358 lecturers, and 6,240 administrative staff. Catalonia has its own language--Catalan--and a national library, the Library of Catalonia, which pays special attention to regional culture. In the 1980s the Catalan libraries began to cooperate through associations of specialized libraries and the first union list of journals of university libraries, which was, however, discontinued. The decentralization of the administration and of university funding played an important role in finally converting these early attempts at cooperation into the Consortium of Academic Libraries of Catalonia in the '90s. * What is the CBUC? Background The Consortium of Academic Libraries of Catalonia (CBUC) is formed by eight public universities of Catalonia and the Library of Catalonia (figure 1), whose mission is to improve library services through cooperation. [Figure 1 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The origin of this consortium is found in the changes that took place in the university world and in their libraries in the early '90s. In 1990 there were three universities in Catalonia that were automated with in-house systems. In the following five years the number of universities increased considerably, and it became clear that the development of automated systems by the individual universities was not a feasible option for the future. Although each university completed an independent assessment of automated systems, the process was informally conditioned by the idea that it would be better to choose the same vendor in order to facilitate support and installation.(2) This informal collaboration strengthened relationships between the libraries and made their directors and the university managers see that working together could give results that the libraries alone could not achieve. …

Steen Olsen

Diabetic nephropathy is one of the most frequent and clinically important complications to diabetes mellitus (DM), affecting approximately 40% of patients who have had diabetes for more than 20 years and contributing to a substantial part of patients entering into end-stage renal failure programmes. Our knowledge of the clinical development and morphological basis for diabetic renal disease has augmented tremendously during the last half century [1,2] and during the last decade we have been able to understand at least some elements of its pathogenesis. Nephropathy in a patient suffering from DM may, however, not be related directly to the diabetic disease but may be a complicating renal disease, not due to the diabetic metabolic abnormality. The situation is further complicated since logically both lesions may be present in the same patient. While it was formerly held that non-diabetic renal disease was of minor importance in DM, this seems not so obvious to-day, and opinions of investigators about prevalence of non-diabetic renal disease in DM, as revealed by renal biopsies, have been conflicting. The correct diagnosis is important for the patient since prognosis and treatment may vary according to the underlying cause. Furthermore: if a substantial part of renal disease in diabetics had other causes than the diabetic metabolic derangement, this must be a confounding factor in the interpretation of intervention trials. The classical diabetic nephropathy is morphologically primarily a glomerulopathy, characterized clinically by proteinuria and progressive decrease of glomerular filtration. Tubular atrophy and interstitial fibrosis is a common final pathway for many renal diseases including diabetic nephropathy. These lesions have formerly been interpreted as ischaemic sequels to vascular and glomerular lesions but they may also occur in diabetics with only mild vascular and glomerular lesions and at an early stage of diabetic renal disease. In some reports this was even rather frequent [3,4] and it is today not at all obvious that tubulointerstitial lesions are of ischaemic origin. A competing hypothesis relates them to the diabetic state, just as glomerulopathy [5–7]. This problem will not be addressed here, I have been asked to provide a brief presentation of problems related to the differentiation of non-diabetic from diabetic glomerular lesions in renal biopsies. Since our problem is one of differential diagnosis it is first necessary to give a brief review of glomerular lesions, which can be regarded with confidence as being directly caused by the diabetic metabolic abnormalities. Following the first seminal report by Kimmelstiel and Wilson [8] and later on worked out in great detail by others, we have now a clear idea of the histopathology of diabetic renal disease and its progress with time. We know now, that at the onset of insulin dependent DM (IDDM) (in this type the zero time is well defined) there is enlargement of the glomeruli indicating increased glomerular function, but no other structural lesions by light microscopy (LM) or electron microscopy (EM). The first ultrastructural lesions (widening of the mesangial matrix and thickening of the peripheral glomerular basement membrane) can be morphometrically identified 2–3 years after onset [9]. Changes can usually not be seen by LM until several years of diabetic disease. They are described in two forms. In the diffuse form there is a widening of all mesangial regions as well as thickening of the peripheral capillary basement membranes, corresponding to what is already apparent at an earlier time from morphometry on EM pictures. The diffuse lesion is most conspicuous in PAS-stained sections. In the nodular type some of the mesangial regions take on the appearance of round nodules which are acellular in their centres but surrounded by a rim of mesangial nuclei. While these types are sometimes described as separate histologic entities, there are good reasons to regard the nodular type as a further development of the diffuse type. Missing a formal proof of this (e.g. by the study of sequential biopsies from the same patients), it is clear that nodules are formed from mesangial matrix, that they occur later in the disease than the diffuse lesion and that nodules never occur without associated marked diffuse lesions. To this account of what is regarded as the most important glomerular lesions may be added that hyaline (exudative) lesions sometimes occur in the form of capsular drops and hyaline caps. It is unclear whether mesangial hypercellularity is a feature of glomerular diabetic lesions. Using quantitative technique, Wehner and Anders [10] as well as Kimmelstiels group [11] found a significant increase of mesangial nuclei in nodular and diffuse diabetic glomerulopathy. On the other hand, Østerby, counting on EM montages, did not find hypercellularity in the early stage of juvenile DM (0–5 years) [12]. In experimental diabetic nephropathy there is early mesangial proliferation and increased expression of growth factors [13]. Using immunofluorescence, a diffuse, linear localization of IgG in glomerular capillary walls, and sometimes also of small quantities of other plasma components, is frequent. There is general agreement that this is due to non-specific trapping of plasma components along the glomerular capillary wall, and they are not associated with presence of deposits on EM. In parallel with the progress of glomerulopathy, arteriolar sclerosis and hyalinosis develop. The hyaline arteriolosclerosis affects the afferent as well as the efferent arteriole, which is not the case with non-diabetic arteriolosclerosis. Otherwise there are no differences between the structure of arteriosclerosis and arteriolosclerosis in diabetics and non-diabetics. Arteriosclerosis occur earlier and in more severe degree in diabetics than in the non-diabetic population. It is therefore not unexpected that arteriosclerosis and focal scars are frequent in biopsies from patients with DM, especially non-insulin dependent DM (NIDDM) which occurs in older patients. It is generally held that GN complicating IDDM is comparatively rare, probably around 2–3% in unselected cases with proteinuria and duration of diabetes of more than 10 years. Some reports have shown an impressively high prevalence of GN in NIDDM. The widely diverging results of the reports indicate, however, that something must have gone wrong. We have recently analysed 10 renal biopsy studies (including our own) specifically dealing with NIDDM [3,4,14–21]. The rates of GN in these series vary between 0 and 66% and other complicating renal diseases were reported to be present in between 0 and 20%. These diverging results can of course be due to selection criteria (only one was a population based cross-sectional study [15]) or geographical differences, but the criteria for diagnosis of GN and interobserver variation in the pathologists interpretation of structural lesions may also be responsible. As most types of glomerulonephritis are due to deposition of antibodies in the glomerular capillary walls or the mesangium, immunohistochemical investigation will often, together with the LM characteristics of the glomerular lesions, provide an unambigous diagnosis. This applies to the most common GN form, IgA nephropathy, as well as several other such as membranous GN, membranoproliferative GN, postinfectious, complex mediated GN, and GN associated with systemic lupus erythematosus. GN in systemic vasculitis may be without immune deposits, but the LM picture (crescentic or focal, segmental proliferative GN) is easily distinguished from the lesions seen in diabetes. While the identification of these types in the reports of complicating renal disease in NIDDM must be regarded as unproblematic, this is certainly not the case for two other types: mesangial proliferative GN and minimal change disease. There is therefore reason to discuss these entities specifically. This is a descriptive term indicating diseases with increased mesangial cell number (more than three mesangial cells per mesangial region in at least 80% of all glomeruli). This light microscopical picture (as defined by a WHO committee [22]) can be seen in several types of GN such as IgA nephropathy, in the resolution phase of postinfectious GN, in some cases of GN associated with SLE etc. These types have all heavy immune deposits and their composition (immunoglobulin classes) pattern and location makes them easy to distinguish from diabetic glomerulopathy. There is, however, a comparatively rare mesangioproliferative GN without immune deposits. We meet two problems with this type if it is detected in a patient with diabetes. One is that mesangial hypercellularity (as discussed above) may be a feature of diabetic glomerulopathy, at least in some stages of its development. The other is that the usual evaluation of mesangial cell number is subjective, and as such dubious, especially in cases with only weak or moderate increase of the number of cells. A biopsy diagnosis in a diabetic patient of slight or moderate mesangioproliferative GN without immune deposits must therefore be regarded as questionable. This term indicates, according to the WHO classification of glomerular disease [22], conditions with normal glomerular structure or minor glomerular abnormalities such as slight mesangial hypercellularity. Clinically it comprises minimal change nephrotic syndrome as well as mild or moderate persistent isolated proteinuria. Significant immune deposits detected by immune histochemistry or on EM are not present. Podocyte foot processes are more or less effaced, but this is unspecific and can be seen in all renal diseases with proteinuria [23]. The pathogenesis is unknown. The application of this diagnosis in a patient with DM presents serious problems. Normal glomeruli by LM and no deposits by immunofluorescence or electron microscopy is completely compatible with early diabetic glomerulopathy with slight or even moderate albuminuria. On the other hand, patients suffering from DM may of course also be affected by other glomerular diseases, possibly even with a higher incidence that the non-diabetic population. Among these complicating conditions are the `classical', well defined glomerular immune disorders mentioned above, but also the less well characterized renal diseases collected under the term minimal change nephropathy. To this may be added that it is well known that a collection of biopsies with normal glomeruli may comprise cases of the more serious renal disease, focal, segmental glomerulosclerosis and hyalinosis, due to missing representation of the abnormal glomeruli in a biopsy with a restricted number of glomeruli. The correct diagnosis may in such cases be made in a later biopsy from the patient. It will be clear from the above discussion that it is hazardous to make the diagnosis of glomerulonephritis based upon light microscopy alone, especially in the situation dealt with here. This may underestimate the prevalence of GN in DM [24], but probably also overestimate if slight or moderate mesangial hypercellularity alone is used as a criterium. Immunofluorescence microscopy should always be added to the investigation of such cases, and optimally also EM. The clinical context is of course also significant. If it is strongly different from diabetic nephropathy, for example, if nephrotic syndrome appears suddenly early in the course of the diabetic disease, the diagnosis of minimal change nephrotic syndrome becomes convincing. Haematuria, which is not characteristic for diabetic nephropathy may indicate GN. In the ten reports discussed above, many other renal diseases than GN was found, among these amyloidosis and myeloma which can also involve glomeruli. In amyloidosis there is deposition of the abnormal protein in the mesangial matrix and along the capillary walls. The morphology is usually different from diffuse and nodular diabetic glomerulopathy, but nodules may nevertheless be seen. Mesangial nodules can also be seen in myeloma and related dysproteinaemias [25]. The conclusion from these considerations must be the following. If a patient suffering from DM develops clinical nephropathy (proteinuria) there may logically be three reasons. Diabetic glomerulopathy may be in progress, non-diabetic renal disease alone may be responsible for the nephropathy, or both may be present. Non-diabetic nephropathy is most often glomerulonephritis, but also other renal diseases, not related to the diabetic disease (amyloidosis etc). A renal biopsy studied by light microscopy and immune fluoroscence may provide the key to correct diagnosis, either presenting characteristic diabetic glomerulopathy alone or unequivocal GN with glomerular immune deposits. There are, however, situations where a biopsy cannot lead to a reliable diagnosis. Renal diseases associated with normal glomerular structure (minimal change nephropathy) or with slight or moderate alterations which cannot with certainty be differentiated from diabetic renal disease in early stages (mesangial proliferative GN without immune deposits) may of course also occur in diabetics and proteinuria may be related to one of these diseases. Such a patient may belong to the category which never develop diabetic renal disease or he or she may have diabetic glomerulopathy at an early stage where there is proteinuria but no structural changes on LM. Even if the biopsy is investigated with EM the situation is not necessarily unambigous: slight or moderate thickening of the glomerular basement membrane or mesangial matrix may be present in patients with longstanding diabetes without proteinuria. We have expressed the opinion that complicating GN in NIDDM is present in about 10% [14], other investigators have reported 25% [15] or even more. Actually it may be impossible at the moment to gain reliable knowledge of the prevalence due to the problems discussed above. The group of patients with DM and normal glomeruli or slight or moderate mesangial proliferation should be investigated carefully in order to solve this important problem.

Roy Bahl

Fiscal Decentralization is a popular economic development strategy among transition and developing countries. This article reviews the advantages of fiscal decentralization in a theoretical context, but critiques the relevance of the standard theory of federalism as it applies to emerging economies. It is argued that the macroeconomic benefits of fiscal centralization, the absence of good instruments of local government finance, and the centralist politics that characterize most low income countries have been strong enough to hold back increased emphasis on local government finance.

Mike Burmester, Yvo Desmedt, Toshiya Itoh, Kouichi Sakurai · 5 authors

No abstract is available for this record.

Chuji Sakamoto

The purpose of the paper is to revaluate the roles of the reformed local autonomy for promoting decentralization and local autonomy against new centralization. I consider the local autonomy and finance in Japan after World War II, focussing on the roles of so called 'Kakushin Jichitai', reformed local autonomy in the 1960's and 1970's. Firstly I review the developing and declining processes of 'reformed local autonomy' in the period of high economic growth in Japan. Then I discuss the roles of these reformed local government bodies through rising citizen movements. The local governments like Minobe-Tosei or Asukata-Yokohama-Shisei contributed to the tax reforms and some other financial reforms and promoting decentralization. The 1960's and 1970's in Japan are called 'The Period of New Centralization' in intergovernmental relations. However, the roles of these reformed local autonomy for promoting decentralization against new centralization should be revaluated.

Brian K. Hall

The story of the discovery of the platypus (Figure 1) teaches us much that is relevant to the nature of scientific evidence, orthodoxy, entrenched authority, the role of personalities in science, the slow overthrow of old mores, national rivalries, prejudices and priorities, the strictures of animal classification, what it takes to be described as a mammal, conservation, and extinction. A rivalry that pitted nation against nation, naturalist against naturalist, and professional against amateur endured for 85 years before the true nature of the platypus was revealed. Long after the evidence was wrested from Nature half a world away from where the debate raged, professional biologists continued to argue about this paradoxical creature. How did such a situation arise? The platypus, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, whose combination of avian, reptilian, and mammalian features so puzzled nineteenth century naturalists and continues to fascinate people to this day. Modified from Augie (1992). Platypuses—duckbills, watermoles, or duckmoles, as the European settlers of New South Wales called them—are found only in Australian freshwater lakes and streams. David Collins, who arrived with the First Fleet as Deputy Judge-Advocate, provided an early description in the second edition of An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales: The Kangaroo, the Dog, the Opossum, the Flying Squirrel, the common Rat, and the large Fox-Bat (if entitled to a place in this society), made up the whole catalogue of animals that were known at this time, with the exception which must now be made of an amphibious animal, of the mole species, one of which has been lately found on the banks of a lake near the Hawkesbury. In size it was considerably larger than the land mole. The eyes were very small. The forelegs, which were shorter than the hind, were observed at the feet, to be provided with four claws, and a membrane, or web, that spread considerably beyond them, while the feet of the hind legs were furnished, not only with this membrane or web, but with four long and sharp claws, that projected as much beyond the web, as the web projected beyond the claws of the fore feet. The tail of this animal was thick, short, and very fat; but the most extraordinary circumstance observed in its structure was, its having instead of the mouth of an animal [mammal], the upper and lower mandibles of a duck. By these it was enabled to supply itself with food, like that bird, in muddy places, or on the banks of the lakes, in which its webbed feet enabled it to swim, while on shore its long and sharp claws were employed in burrowing; nature thus providing for it in its double or amphibious character. These little animals have been frequently noticed rising to the surface of the water, and blowing like the turtle. (Collins 1802, p. 62) Captain John Hunter, the second governor of the new colony, watched an Aborigine spear a platypus in Yarramundi Lagoon near the Hawkesbury River just north of Sydney in 1797. The Aborigine sat patiently at water's edge for more than an hour, observing the animal as it came to the surface to breathe, before he attempted to spear it with his short wooden spear. Hunter's fine drawing of this animal accompanied Collins's description of this “amphibious animal, of the mole species” (Figure 2). A keen naturalist and fellow of the Royal Society, Hunter supplied many animals and plants to naturalists in England. Many saw his sketch and read Collins' description before specimens became available. The incomparable English wood engraver, Thomas Bewick, published another early representation in 1800 in his justly renowned A General History of Quadrupeds (Bewick 1800; Figure 3). Governor John Hunter's drawing of the amphibious animal of the mole kind, which was drawn in 1797 and included as an engraving in the second edition of David Collins' An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales (Collins 1802). Thomas Bewick's engraving of the amphibious animal, the last plate in the fourth edition of A General History of Quadrupeds (Bewick 1805). The platypus was given its scientific name, Platypus anatinus (flat-foot duck), in 1799 by George Shaw, a parson turned Keeper of the Department of Natural History of the Modern Curiosities of the British Museum. His description of the platypus was based on a single skin and accompanying sketch sent by Hunter to the Literary and Philosophical Society in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1798. The skin of this original (type) specimen is still preserved in the British Museum. Shaw's description (Shaw 1799) was published in the tenth volume of an important natural history journal of the time, Naturalist's Miscellany—or, to give it its full, descriptive title: The Naturalist's Miscellany: or Coloured Figures of Natural Objects Drawn and Described Immediately from Nature— produced by Shaw and the illustrator Frederick P. Nodder as an outlet for all manner of discoveries from the natural world. Over 1000 different animals were illustrated in its pages between 1798 and 1882, including the kangaroo, black swan, and echidna from the Great South Land, now known as Australia. Shaw's description was remarkably accurate, based as it was on a dried skin with a desiccated and hardened “bill” so unlike the soft, flexible bill of the living animal. Although he thought it was a mammal, its exotic, even bizarre appearance mystified Shaw: Of all the Mammalia yet known it seems the most extra-ordinary in its conformation; exhibiting the perfect resemblance of the beak of a Duck engrafted on the head of a quadruped. So accurate is the similitude, that, at first view, it naturally excites the idea of some deceptive preparation by artificial means; the very epidermis, proportions, serratures, manner of opening, and other particulars is the beak of a shoveler, or other broad-billed species of duck, presenting themselves to the view; nor is it without the most minute and rigid examination that we can persuade ourselves of its being the real beak or snout of a quadruped. (Shaw 1799, p. 384) Three years later, the Göttingen anatomist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, who is famous for his discoveries of mammoths and crinoids (an extinct class of echinoderms), described the platypus from a second skin sent by Hunter. Blumenbach named the animal Ornithorhynchus paradoxus (paradoxical bird-snout; Blumenbach 1803). The world now had two names for this exotic creature. Unknown to Shaw, however, the generic name Platypus had been used for a genus of beetles in 1793. Such are the strictures of the international rules of zoological nomenclature that Platypus had to be abandoned. However, Shaw's specific epithet stood. The platypus thus became Ornithorhynchus anatinus. It seems entirely appropriate that this animal, which so resembles a hybrid, should bear a hybrid name. Ornithorhynchus greatly puzzled and agitated naturalists of the day. Was it a mammal, as Shaw thought? Did it represent a new group of animals? Could it be a “missing link” between two well-known groups, especially between reptiles and mammals? Did it represent a new class of vertebrates, as the French anatomist Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire maintained? Or was it a hoax, as many suspected and as Shaw himself wondered, even as he wrote the initial description? Did the females lay eggs, as birds and many reptiles do? Or did they give birth to live young, as mammals do? The creature, with its fur, duck bill, and webbed feet, would have appeared even more paradoxical had it been known that it laid eggs and suckled its young. No animal was known to do that. Furthermore, no animal was supposed to do that. In the taxonomy established for European species by European naturalists, it was axiomatic that all milk-producing animals give birth to live young, and so, by definition, are mammals. Warm-blooded egg-laying animals were birds. Cold-blooded egg-laying animals were reptiles. There was no place in this scheme for the platypus. A hoax—the bill of a duck attached to the skin of a mole—would have been in keeping with a number of other bizarre animals fabricated and displayed as genuine in Britain and America in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Robert Knox, the Edinburgh anatomist whose name we now associate with body snatching and grave robbing (and possibly even murder) to obtain human cadavers for dissection, provided a rationale for suspicions that the platypus was a hoax in his account of the animal's anatomy: It is well known that the specimens of this extraordinary animal first brought to Europe were considered by many as impositions. They reached England by vessels which had navigated the Indian seas, a circumstance in itself sufficient to rouse the suspicions of the scientific naturalist, aware of the monstrous impostures which the artful Chinese had so frequently practised on European adventurers; in short, the scientific felt inclined to class this rare production of nature with eastern mermaids and other works of art; but these conjectures were immediately dispelled by an appeal to anatomy. (Knox 1823, p. 27) If not a hoax, then Ornithorhynchus was truly paradoxical. New findings only added to the paradox. In 1802, the surgeon and anatomist Sir Everard Home reported that the males had internal testes—like reptiles and unlike mammals—and that both males and females had a cloaca, a common opening for the alimentary, excretory, and reproductive tracts (Home 1802). Possession of a cloaca is a reptilian characteristic, more particularly a characteristic of reptiles that retain their eggs within the body, where the young hatch. Such a mixture of structures quickly established the notion of the platypus as a missing link between reptiles and mammals. Other European anatomists then set to work in the “platypus industry.” The great German anatomist Johann F. Meckel published four influential accounts, the first (Meckel 1823) on the nature of the spur and poison gland in males. In the second (Meckel 1824) he mentioned the existence of mammary glands, but he did not describe them until his detailed papers of a few years later (Meckel 1826, 1827). The secretion of milk in a live animal was described for the first time 6 years later by Lieutenant the Honorable Lauderdale Maule of the 39th Regiment of the British Army, which was stationed in New South Wales. According to Maule's description (Maule 1832a, 1832b), the mammary glands were not typical; fur covered the nipples, and the glands themselves were quite small, except during lactation. However, the presence of mammary glands—no matter how unusual or atypical—satisfied many naturalists that these animals must be mammals. The absence of wings and feathers meant that they were not birds, and their warm bloodedness and the presence of a diaphragm meant that they were not reptiles. Anatomical features suggesting egg laying were, however, consistent with the platypus not being a mammal. Certain bones found in the pectoral girdles, otherwise known only from of reptiles the platypus at the between reptiles and that made it a missing was the platypus a Or a with a It paradoxical. now in the and However, in the years after their these animals were in an of and had especially for Shaw, the first to a live included them with and in a group that called now known as the (Shaw 1799, Home thought that they to a new of mammals (Home 1802). Geoffroy for a class for the platypus and which he named of the single opening for and but he was about their to other mammals. and in a new the the German anatomist the between reptiles and mammals. the French anatomist and in the of at the Natural History a of the to Although Meckel the mammary glands, he was not that they were true mammalian mammary that the platypus a class by A would have these early at It was not until late in the nineteenth century that specimens of what were described as species of platypus were The Ornithorhynchus was described from a and lower by the of the years later it was to be a specimen of the living platypus, anatinus. A second Ornithorhynchus by the is now known to be a now the platypus is not described by and and is only by upper a of the lower and an described by is an early The of both species are to the found in living Modern do not have the and are by on both the upper and lower The most of a new species, from the has but is otherwise an In the debate the and of the platypus, national and were at as much to the nation whose the scientific world. Britain was against against against Although they that the was a mammal, and that the eggs within the body as in even at up to in the eggs were much larger than mammalian the English Geoffroy and that the eggs were as in birds and but that a and other that were true mammals that produced live young. saw that the to the paradoxical platypus lay in its a time after the discovery of mammary glands and milk laid eggs was to the The that all milk-producing animals give birth to live young was so entrenched that of egg laying by were not There are of egg production and birth to one of which have is in the are a and the young are not in an animals and mammals are suckled at mammary with large of are takes place the body of the and the young from the eggs after they are animals birds and reptiles. are within the body, and are from in the egg and not a The young within the body of the animals some and and four species of Although and some of the early in New South Wales were that laid eggs, the European scientific are the of by the evidence of and were even to be by or by provided by The Sydney to of that laid eggs with the that evidence must be and reported on by in the world has then all the scientific world and where they have not in scientific they came from the surgeon Sir John wrote in the of the Society of on is and in in the years later, P. to or with a which live in the of the and which lay In a to a John of that he had found two eggs in a in which he had a platypus These eggs were the size of a and were soft, and being without or to a the eggs before their be they the first platypus eggs to be Or were they the eggs of a in the by a to the other published of eggs that were to be from the platypus. Geoffroy published a description of a egg in only to that the egg was much large to have the The Australian of this egg with the of that is at to an Australian that the egg is that of the common It was not unusual for the settlers or even the to eggs of other species to them as platypus two eggs by one a the other a much to his George the first and of the Australian who had the of and the of their egg production in New South Wales and who was an important in the of in supplied the specimens on which based his papers on the of and of these papers and in to the Royal Society in thought that the to the of lay eggs live young would be to and a platypus during what was thought to be the and this he to By however, was that such of (and and in the name of would to their extinction. In the to his of animal and of a in pages of which are to the Figure A of the platypus by for the Society, plate in by George used on the of the Many of the Australian and birds are not only to that but even of rare and such has been the of that they are in a of in time, have been and the of be from their the Ornithorhynchus and the the and the like the and only in the pages of the The that what he has been to with to this important not be without to p. by the of the century the platypus was to extinction. by however, are what all considered the last of evidence for platypus with a that the were in their that laid eggs, he himself from examination of that they did not eggs that be to the “platypus only to be at the by an young The the of lay from in and years later was in to was a of who had while in the only after being of In his established the which became the zoological of the the first used the a the and of the Royal Society, and of from to to in to the of lay His was to and The of specimens were, of had for without In set up on the banks of the River in and the to work for and platypus of and many in the water, for the eggs of the of the to and very had from the In the second of had in but it was not until the that the laid eggs from the of In the an Ornithorhynchus whose first egg had been second egg was in a of appearance larger that of was at a to a p. A has of of the and and the first of as the head to The presence of an of such an in the of a platypus that before the eggs were the sent in the to a where it would the to of the of of the Sydney to it to the British at p. which has few for in to the of the British for the of in It the by the of platypus egg production was The four in the a of do lay eggs large of the is not A egg is what birds the egg just like a By one of of so common in scientific on one after the platypus with the of the South Australian found an in the of an the very that was read in the echidna egg to the Royal Society of South in If is on the of of then and the for the discovery of in If is on the of of the then has published his findings in not until Ornithorhynchus eggs now second place to the A little after his was read in a from to was to the Royal Society of New South Wales. has with The Platypus eggs were and should have been in New England by but is much more Platypus are quite to how they have not been The the are is the of the for They that it is the of the eggs having a of that to years in to the of and His were of a naturalist, to the of for the of the and only by as he described them in a to on the other from of the of animals he and an of to work to his In of he females from a single in an to eggs or In and employed to was not that in the of a few had the of platypus egg laying and (and the An echidna found by and it an egg from its sent another this time to in to that he had all There was no of this of platypus egg continued for some In his on the in the edition of the the renowned evidence, that not to be evidence that the eggs in this genus are In their on the platypus, however, and they wrote that established the that Platypus as well as is of the platypus is that live for like years and for their is one of a who is at years after is no that has an egg being did it is that he found a with an egg that he had The platypus from to on one to eggs eggs, in of are laid in a at the of a two quite different the banks of or a short used by both and a used by the to young. as long as and with first described by Maule in The Platypus in the banks of a where the is and and the and covered with or by the of the surface is the to a which the away from the a to and rising its a of some few from the edge this two a to the and in the which is a with and and more than from the water, or than two feet the surface of the of their were, with and (Maule 1832a, and the platypus as a link between and were what had in he like the platypus it is like the it its is quite but it is important to that the is well the egg is The tail the eggs to an with a of even the is much are their in this important in the for while fur the young a of some the in late Of of the platypus, has the double of the first work on the platypus based on a of and the first to animals in was no 6 a to the of and eggs by a animal in a single day. is more than half the animal's so much time the to so much time water, it is that in his David in as and the the Sir in he a famous at in In and what was until very the only platypus birth in the Australian Natural History in he was described as single most and influential naturalist in had a long with In late while was at one of four naturalists, the for near by the the River in which the Platypus the as it is called or the the for one It was all to no was not to a living Platypus or even a in Australia. saw only the of the Platypus of a duck), which the to in a made by the animals from one to The that he was the Platypus did not lay eggs, and that he had the young and his description of them with what from on the years and after he was not to a living by then of and at in as of of the British for the of to read It was reported that that it the of from a reptilian of with such a to human the of the platypus would to be felt in yet another of that is another much that is relevant to the nature of scientific evidence, orthodoxy, entrenched authority, the role of personalities in for in the preparation of this from the Natural and of and the of is

Gilles Duranton, Stéphane Déo

No abstract is available for this record.

Horst Siebert

In continental Europe, the unemployment rate has risen continuously from a low level of below 3 percent in the early 1970s to more than 10 percent in the late 1990s. If those who are in governmental employment schemes and in early retirement are included, the unemployment rate runs as high as 20 percent in quite a few European countries, including France and Spain. The basic rule for a stable employment situation in an economy is: nominal wages should stay in line with labor productivity growth plus the increase in producer prices. In a situation of high unemployment, however, when the unemployed are to be integrated into the labor market, the productivity rule has to be modified: the increase in real wages should stay below the productivity growth rate until a satisfactory level of employment has been obtained. The most elegant approach to creating more employment is to improve labor productivity. If an economy succeeds in raising labor productivity, there is more scope for real wage increases or for more employment. We should, however, not overestimate the potential of an economy to increase labor productivity. If we want to integrate the unemployed, average labor productivity in the economy is likely to decrease. We should be realistic enough as to expect trends in Europe to be similar to those in the United States, where labor productivity per hour has increased by less than 1 percent per year since 1980. The task for Europe is to change the institutional setup of labor relations, to move wage formation closer to the market process, and to allow greater wage differentiation. It is unlikely that the "social partners", i.e., the trade unions and employers' associations, will be able to change the rule system sufficiently. Therefore, it is necessary to change the legal rules, especially those in favor of the unemployed, for instance, by introducing a legal right for each individual to enter the labor market at a wage of his or her choice. If continental Europe wants to reduce unemployment, it will have to change the impact of the welfare state. With respect to the level of benefits provided by unemployment and health insurance, a distinction should be made between large risks and small risks for the individual. Such a distinction between large and small risks would allow the costs of the social security system to be reduced, thus lowering the tax on labor. Insurance against large risks would be mandatory, small risk coverage would be optional. With respect to financing the welfare state, more choice should be given to the individual as concerns the insurance coverage that he/she desires. One serious issue concerning social welfare payments is determining the extent to which the level of social welfare benefits should be scaled down for those who are able to work in order to increase the incentive to work and the intensity of the search for work. A related issue is whether unemployment benefits should be reduced in their level or in the length of time they are paid in order to intensify the job search and reduce the reservation wage. • Shifting the employment issue to the EL) level would take attention away from the need to decentralize wage formation, i.e., to negotiate wages at the level of firms. It would be an incentive not to undertake the necessary steps to solve national unemployment problems and it would shift the financial burden to those countries that are successful in reducing unemployment. It would elevate the national labor market cartels to the EU level and it would blur the lines of responsibility. National governments would shift their responsibility to the EU level. This would be an extremely dangerous development for European integration because the European cause would become the scapegoat of failed national policies.

Junaid Aḥmad

The note highlights the importance of
\n sound intergovernmental fiscal relations, and proper
\n regulation for successful sub-national borrowing, and
\n illustrates the potential macroeconomic hazards of
\n decentralizing borrowing powers, arguing that the impact of
\n a possible moral hazard problem, namely, the access to
\n financial markets by sub-national governments, may generate
\n unplanned liabilities for central governments. Yet academia,
\n and country experiences do not suggest adverse links between
\n decentralized borrowing powers, and the central
\n government's ability to maintain fiscal discipline, and
\n macroeconomic stability. Rather the key seems to lie in the
\n design of fiscal decentralization, particularly the
\n regulatory framework under which borrowing powers are
\n decentralized. The note outlines the reasons why
\n sub-national governments require access to financial
\n markets: to finance capital spending, and foster political
\n accountability, which can be achieved through direct
\n borrowing by central government, through a public financial
\n intermediary, or, through direct borrowing. As per designing
\n the regulatory framework, the note suggests better
\n information systems, bankruptcy laws, and access to tax
\n bases, in addition to separate fiscal/financial systems, and
\n sound legislation to impose budget discipline, enabling
\n access to capital markets to complement fiscal powers
\n devolution to regional authorities.

Birgit Pfitzmann, Ahmad‐Reza Sadeghi

No abstract is available for this record.

Kevin J. Lansing

No abstract is available for this record.

Rosario Manasan, Ruben G. Mercado

This paper explains the evolution of the metropolitan organizations that have been established to oversee the development of Metro Manila, provides a survey of their responsibilities, authorities, organizational structure, financing, institutional relationships as well as briefly assess their strengths and weaknesses. It then discusses the major management challenges in Metro Manila at present and how they are being addressed under the current set-up. Under the present decentralized framework, governance of Metro Manila becomes more challenging as cities and municipalities that compose it have political legitimacy and significant powers and authorities relative to the Metropolitan organization. However, the paper has emphasized that with proper allocation of powers, authorities and financing, the metropolitan body can take on a more important role in terms of actual delivery of metro-wide services. While the present metropolitan body appears to have taken on more responsibilities in the delivery of services transcending local boundaries, still a large part of these metro-wide services still remain with the national government agencies. This is primarily explained by the fact that while the national government has continuously provided subsidies to the metropolitan body, it still allocates a sizeable portion of the budget for metro-wide services to the national government agencies. These agencies, being line departments, are inherently concerned with their own sectoral priorites rather than serving the needs of the metropolis per se. Consequently, the metropolitan body is left with very difficult task of having to orchestrate the sectoral programs of various national government agencies, including metro-wide services. This situation not only makes government effort almost intractable but also increases costs in terms of both manpower and financial costs. The advantage of metropolitan governance under a decentralized framework is that it allows the local government units within the metropolis to respond directly to the priority needs of their respective constituents by seeking creative means to deliver urban services. This is attested to by the innovative programs and projects some cities in Metro Manila have implemented which have been included in this paper under the discussion of models of good city governance.

Cheng Wing. Choi

This research attempted to gain an insight into the experiences and perspectives of staff in the Vocational Training Council (VTC) on the devolution initiative being implemented in its technical institutes. The research was developed from the conceptual framework of centralization and decentralization. It adopted a qualitative case-study approach to inductively understand human experience in context-specific settings. The data collection techniques consisted of documentary analysis, observations and in-depth semi-structured interviews to achieve the objectives of methodological triangulation. Before the introduction of the devolution initiative, the Technical Institutes Division Headquarters was the supervisor of the technical institutes. It was considered to stifle the initiatives of the technical institutes because of its strong controlling emphasis. The strategic and organizational review of the VTC conducted in 1996 acted as a catalyst to set off the changes. It appears that the main thrust of the devolution initiative is to achieve effectiveness and efficiency. Staff in general welcomed release from the management and control by the headquarters, but considered the pace of change to be too fast. There was a remarkable degree of concurrence among staff in focusing student learning outcomes as the key to change. Although the devolution initiative is a major cultural change in the VTC, the senior management have paid little attention to the organizational culture of the technical institutes. Since staff have not been consulted and empowered, most of them are indifferent, or even resistant, to this far-reaching change. The scope of decentralization with respect to the use of resources, participative decision-making and curriculum development is limited. Changing the organizational culture, flattening out the hierarchy, opening up opportunities for teachers to contribute meaningfully to the decision-making process, and fostering greater professional development, together with good management and adequate autonomous funding, are promising strategies to change the VTC towards a more entrepreneurial one.

J. Mohajeri

No abstract is available for this record.

Markus Jakobsson, Claus-Peter Schnorr

We study the notion of meta-proofs, which, as the name indicates, are proofs about proofs. We employ the notion of meta-proofs to produce a highly efficient oblivous proof of correct exponentiation. It is minimum-knowledge independently of whether the input is valid or not, a property that does not hold for many other protocols (that are zero-knowledge only for valid inputs.) This has direct security implications to multiparty protocols, where the protocols we demonstrate — one interactive and one non-interactive — can be employed to obtain protocol robustness at a low cost. As a result of potential independent interest, we show how to turn any standard discrete log signature scheme into a scheme for proving equality of discrete logarithms. We demonstrate our method using the Schnorr signature scheme.

Oded Goldreich, Amit Sahai, Salil Vadhan

No abstract is available for this record.