Blockchain Papers

Liliane Beaulieu

No abstract is available for this record.

Dennis A. Rondinelli

No abstract is available for this record.

Altug Iftar, Edward J. Davison

No abstract is available for this record.

John M. Quigley

This paper considers the relative centralization or decentralization of public finance, and relates the equity and efficiency issues ot the special features of developing economies. The paper considers the centralization of taxation and service provision in Indonesia in relation to these theoretical prinicples and indicates ways in which we may expect decentralization to proceed in the Indonesian context.

Susan A. MacManus

The 1980s were a decade of federal fiscal devolution. Federal cutbacks reflected the Reagan administration's commitment to decentralization and the realities of federal budget deficits. Cutbacks increased fiscal pressure on state and local governments, while restrictions on their borrowing capacity made it more difficult to use long-term tax-exempt debt to raise revenue in the short term. These restrictions also made it more difficult to finance public-private partnerships. To cope, state and local governments improved management techniques, transferred functions to the private sector and to other units of government, diversified their revenue systems, and looked for more discretionary revenue. Revenue enhancement was often limited by restrictive statutes, intergovernmental competition, and public opposition. Growing cynicism about the fairness of taxes prompted passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986. This act significantly affected state and local taxing and borrowing. It did little, however, to allay state and local fears that the federal government would continue to capture more revenue for itself. As we enter the 1990s, the major question will undoubtedly be, Which governments can or should pay for what?

P.J. Eberlein, Haesun Park

No abstract is available for this record.

H.S. Tzou, C.I. Tseng

No abstract is available for this record.

Jean-Pierre Belanger

The present article is a critical account of the official report from the Commission of Inquiry on Health and Social Services in Quebec (la Commission Rochon). This report is first examined in light of the socio-political context of Quebec society in the '80s with a particular emphasis on factors which directly influenced the development of the Commission's work. The author then presents the main elements of the report. He stresses the quality and appropriateness of studies bearing on Quebec social evolution during the last 20 years and on the identification of health and social problems in the present time. He reminds us of the radical diagnosis made on the organization of health services. The principal options for more adequate health system orientations are then studied in the context of debates following the report publication, two years ago, particularly concerning issues of regional decentralization and financing. The author finally stresses the new challenges of today in social health management, while showing the profound continuity existing between the Commission's works and those of the Castonguay Commission, at the beginning of the '70s.

Oded Goldreich

Abstract Abstract. Recent approaches to the notions of randomness and proofs are surveyed. The new notions differ from the traditional ones in being subjective to the capabilities of the observer rather than reflecting “ideal” entities. The new notion of randomness regards probability distributions as equal if they cannot be told apart by efficient procedures. This notion is constructive and is suited for many applications. The new notion of a proof allows the introduction of the notion of zero-knowledge proofs: convincing arguments which yield nothing but the validity of the assertion. The new approaches to randomness and proofs are based on basic concepts and results from the theory of resource-bounded computation. Elements of this theory are presented only to the extent required for the description of the new approaches. This survey is not intended to provide an account of the more traditional approaches to randomness (e.g., Kolmogorov Complexity; see also Bennett’s account in this volume) and proofs (i.e., traditional logic systems). Whenever these approaches are described it is only in order to confront them with the new approaches.

Arvind, R.S. Nikhil

No abstract is available for this record.

Элинор Остром, Larry Schroeder, Susan Wynne

The terms of reference for the Decentralization: Finance and Management Project posed the following question: How can the likelihood of maintaining rural infrastructure be increased in developing countries so that rural infrastructure facilities are sustained over time rather than allowed to deteriorate long before their expected useful lives are completed? This report focuses on the institutional arrangements within which rural infrastructure facilities are financed, designed, constructed, operated, maintained, and used. Several case studies drawn from the authors' own experiences, from those of various donor agencies and from the academic literature are presented to provide both successful and unsuccessful real-world examples of infrastructure sustenance efforts. As the relationships between theoretical concepts and the practical problems of infrastructure sustenance is not always obvious, these case studies serve to illustrate the concepts discussed here.

R. Perlack

H.G. (Mike) Jones and I had numerous meetings with EEGSA staff. We discussed rural electrification plans, reviewed documents, and collaborated on collecting information on decentralized energy alternatives. Meetings were also held with USAID/Guatemala, USAID/ROCAP, NRECA, MEM, PVOs, and equipment vendors. A preliminary draft report and spreadsheet for comparing decentralized power alternatives was completed. The report and findings were presented to EEGSA and the methodology transferred to EEGSA staff. A set of recommended followup activities was also presented to EEGSA.

Mohan Munasinghe

The significant progress made during the UN International Water Decade is reviewed, eight years after its inception in 1981. Major issues remain, especially in rural areas. The advantages of an integrated water resource planning framework (IWRP) are explained, including the use of this process to develop a flexible strategy for the water and sewerage sector to meet national policy objectives. Economic efficiency in supply implies optimal service quality and least cost planning, while efficient pricing policy requires the implementation of long‐run marginal cost based tariffs. Better sector organization, management, accountability, options for decentralization and innovative financing methods are also discussed.

Martin Pfaff

The empirical evidence available for OECD countries suggests that economic factors play a major role and that demographic factors play a minor role in explaining differences in health care spending across countries. When countries are grouped on the basis of their health care systems, some significant cross-country differences result: countries with higher transfer rates (a larger share of collective financing) are not generally characterized by higher health care expenditures, and conversely, countries with a larger share of private financing (including higher coinsurance rates) do not have lower expenditures. Rather, the opposite holds true. Similar conclusions apply to the share of public versus private production of health goods. Furthermore, the results do not support the claims of those critics of universal public insurance systems who consider the expansion of the coverage to be a major source of expenditure growth. These findings cast serious doubt on the claim that cost containment can be achieved via market reforms that rely heavily on direct consumer payments and cost sharing as instruments of financing. A comparative analysis of the historic record of the United States, Canada, and the Federal Republic of Germany generally supports these conclusions; it also suggests that a greater degree of public penetration offers a better chance for control of health spending, particularly in periods of austerity. There is a strong presumption that health care systems relying on some overall control of spending generally are more cost-effective than those relying more on decentralized mechanisms of control. Services are more equitably distributed in relation to health and payment for health services is far more progressive in the former type of system.

S. S. Gaitonde, Doug Jacobson, A. V. Pohm

Interest in integrating voice and data on local computer networks has been building in recent years. Subsequently, much research has been devoted to various techniques that are implementable on existing networks using current standards. This exposition discusses the design issues in implementing a document retrieval system on a token ring network.

Gabriel L. Miller, Eric R. Wagner

No abstract is available for this record.

C. Chris Wu

We study two sets of models: independent percolation models in half spaces Zᵈ⁻¹ x Z₊, and Ising/Potts models as well as the Fortuin-Kasteleyn (FK) random cluster models on branching planes T x Z, where Z is the one-dimensional lattice, Z₊ = {0,1,2,...} and T is a Bethe lattice. We prove that for independent percolation in half spaces, the infinite cluster is unique whenever it exists. For the Ising/Potts models on branching planes, there are (at least) two phase transitions; that is, there exist(s) a unique Gibbs state, tree-like nonunique Gibbs states or plane-like nonunique Gibbs states corresponding to high temperature, intermediate temperature or low temperature. In the low temperature plus phase, the plus infinite cluster is unique and it "traps" the space T x Z and prevents co-existence of the minus infinite cluster. For the FK random cluster models (which are dependent percolation models) on T x Z, the number of infinite (open) clusters may be zero, infinity or one depending on the value of p--the probability of each bond being open. This is an extension of Grimmett and Newman's results for independent percolation on T x Z. We also prove that both the independent percolation model and the FK random cluster models satisfy a finite island property when p is close to 1. Chapter 1 is an introduction. Chapter 2 contains the proof of the uniqueness theorem for independent percolation in half spaces. The proof utilizes only a large deviation estimate and translation invariance of the models along the hyperplane Zᵈ⁻¹ x {0}. The Ising/Potts models and the FK random cluster models on the branching planes are studied in Chapter 3. The methods are to use the FK representation of Ising/Potts systems as dependent percolation models to carry over Grimmett and Newman's results for independent percolation to the Ising/Potts models. However, in order to prove the plane-like behavior of the Ising/Potts models, the corresponding results for independent percolation are not sufficient and this led us to investigate independent percolation again and prove a new finite island property. Chapters 2 and 3 are independent. Readers with basic knowledge of percolation and Ising models can omit chapter 1 and read chapters 2 and 3 directly.

Vladimir Jotsov

No abstract is available for this record.

J.N. Reddy

No abstract is available for this record.

M. Bellare, S. Micali, R. Ostrovsky

No abstract is available for this record.

Felix FitzRoy

No abstract is available for this record.

Hermann Locarek, Carl-M. Preuß

No abstract is available for this record.

馨 黒澤, Kaoru Kurosawa, わかは 尾形, Wakaha Ogata · 8 authors

No abstract is available for this record.

Alfredo Lozano Castro

espanolDiversos estudios, ensayos, discursos, trabajos, etc., sobre la «ciudad hispanoamericana», concuerdan que la fundacion de ciudades en America represento algo asi como la implantacion de una forma de vida civilizada en los pueblos nativos indigenas, convirtiendose dicho acontecimiento en una de las aportaciones culturales del viejo al nuevo continente. Este criterio, que sostienen en la actualidad algunos sectores del pensamiento iberoamericano, plantea algunos interrogantes: ?Ha sido verificado este criterio en la realidad geografica del vasto territorio americano con el detenimiento indispensable para llegar a conclusiones ciertas? ?Responde este criterio a la realidad de los conocimientos alcanzados por las civilizaciones prehispanas y en particular la civilizacion andina representada en su ultima fase de evolucion autarquica por la cultura inca? ?Tenia dicha cultura una forma de organizacion territorial? Este articulo intenta desde nuestra propia experiencia ofrecer respuestas partiendo del analisis de un caso particular, Ias ciudades hispanoandinas del Ecuador. EnglishA host of studies, papers, speeches, theses and what you will on-The Spanish-American City» seem to agree that the founding of these answered something akin to a wish to set up forms of civilized life amongst the native population and that thus these represent a cultural gift of the Old to the New World. Though this idea has been taken up by certain sectors of Ibero-American thinking of Iate, one or two doubts as to its validity could still be raised, or so the paper claims. Has it in fact ever been put to the proof in terms of the immensity of the americas in such a way that such an examination could offer some hard and fast conclusions, we are asked? Does it answer to that stake of affairs that our knowledge of pre-hispanic civilizations allows us now to understand? this mos especially when considering the andine culture as then bodied forth in the last flowering of Inca cultures evolution in autarchy. Was this culture orgainized in a territorial way? The paper, based as it is on the author's own experience, offers answers to these questions that take the Hispano-Andine cities of Equador as their touch stones.