In this paper the generality and wide applicability of Zero-knowledge proofs, a notion introduced by Goldwasser, Micali, and Rackoff is demonstrated. These are probabilistic and interactive proofs that, for the members of a language, efficiently demonstrate membership in the language without conveying any additional knowledge. All previously known zero-knowledge proofs were only for number-theoretic languages in NP fl CONP. Under the assumption that secure encryption functions exist or by using "physical means for hiding information," it is shown that all languages in NP have zero-knowledge proofs. Loosely speaking, it is possible to demonstrate that a CNF formula is satisfiable without revealing any other property of the formula, in particular, without yielding neither a
Increasingly, a volatile public policy issue in rapidly growing areas is traffic congestion. The sprawl of suburban growth, decentralization of urban centers and the shift of jobs from urban centers to suburban areas contributes to traffic congestion. Traditionally, government's response to traffic congestion has been to use engineering, public finance and regulatory control to design and build new highway systems or expand exiting ones. The authors suggest instead that state and local governments use a combination of techniques to better manage land use applications and explore public finance alternatives to achieve a better balance between travel demand, transportation capacity and environmental concerns.
This monograph examines the adequacy of the joint task force (JTF) to operate effectively in the context of wartime uncertainty. Military theorists have long understood the deleterious effects of uncertainty on the conduct of war. Commanders never know as much about the enemy or environmental conditions as they would like, so they decide and act on the best information available, however incomplete. In coping with uncertainty, there are proven methods of structuring one's organization to meliorate its effects. These methods involve decentralizing command, lowering decision thresholds, and creating self-contained, semi-autonomous units. U.S. military doctrine recognizes the need for JTFs in responding to the global commitments of the nation. Unfortunately, Service incompatibilities and parochialism often have hampered the joint commander's ability to get the job done. Congress mandated reform through the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986; the result has been to streamline joint command structures, thus making them better able to deal with uncertainty. The experience of multi-Service operations during World War II confirms the wisdom of creating joint task forces when doctrinal conditions are met. My research into two of these operations -- FLINTLOCK in the Marshall Islands and HUSKY in Sicily – indicate that an integrated joint command structure, akin to a modern JTF, reduces the effects of uncertainty by allowing the central headquarters to operate with less information.
The authors study an economy where externalities provide an explicit role for intervention and technology shocks generate aggregate uncertainty. In laissez-faire there is too much unemployment. However, the authors show how to support the optimal allocation as a decentralized equilibrium using a self-financing linear employment subsidy. Generally, this subsidy is a function of economic conditions, and they characterize the way in which it varies with the shock. A special case of the authors' results indicates that a simple restriction on technology, homotheticity, implies the optimal subsidy is constant or independent of unemployment. Copyright 1991 by Economics Department of the University of Pennsylvania and the Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association.
The purpose of this paper is to compare the performance of some instruments of environmental policy, using data for a coal-fired power plant. Each decentralized scheme coverages towards the social optimum, chosen by a regulator. We look at the performance of a changing tax rate on emission, of an announcement of the tax formula, of an announcement of the tax formula with a tax refund possibility, and of a tax-cum subsidy scheme. Our emphasis is on full information concerning the tax and subsidy formulas and on the opportunity for the firm to optimize intertemporally. We also test two performance schemes which combine social optimal pricing with optimal abatement decisions. Our interest is to compare the speed of convergence of the schemes, the monetary side payments (subsidy, bonus) required, and to look for self-financing schemes.
Since 1978, China's economic reforms and her pursuit of modern technology have significantly opened the scope of her hospital services and financing. While the decentralization and higher incomes have given Chinese hospitals new freedoms, they have also raised the specter of new limitations on access to healthcare. The authors review these changes and consider what the future holds for the Chinese hospital system.
Exemplary approanes to school-based budgeting are examined in this paper. Interviews were conducted with district staff involved in implementing school-based budget reforms in five school districts--Chicago, Dade County (Florida), Detroit, Los Angeles, and Edmonton (Canada)--and with state-level staff in California, Florida, Kentucky, and England. The first section offers a review of literature, with a focus on key school finance issues. The second and third sections analyze the design and organization of different approaches to school-based budgeting and highlight the various ways in which local districts and states encourage school-based budgeting. The fourth section proposes a set of initiatives for state and local policymakers to enhance implementation while maintaining fiscal accountability. The recommendation is made for creation of a partnership between staLes and districts for implementing school-based management, with responsibility varying according to states' different political cultures. Specifically, the partPership would be responsible for specifying the ends of the educational system and school sites would have authority over the means. Four tar)les are Included. (16 references) (LMI) ***************************/!******************************************* Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. *********************************************************************** SCHOOL-BASED MANAGEMENT IN BIG CITY DISTRICTS: ARE DOLLARS DECENTRALIZED TOO? By Priscilla Wohlstetter and Thomas Buffett Center for Research in Education Finance (CREF) School of Education University of Southern California
Redemocratization in the Southern Cone has contended with a fiscally weakened state and ideologically divided groups. Years of free-market military rule have scaled back the welfare state and deteriorated public health care. Draconian cutbacks in public spending have forced private voluntary organizations (PVOs) to provide care for the urban poor. Shantytown health care and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have surfaced to fill the gap created by a shrinking public sector under military rule in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. This paper overcomes some shortcomings of Weberian and Marxian analyses of bureaucratic behavior and empowered social groups through the study of shantytown health care as a new social movement. A comparative review of medical-care policy in Buenos Aires, Santiago, and Montevideo reveals that only Santiago and Montevideo hold promise for decentralization. Neighborhood-based activities in shantytowns remove primary care from the marketplace by decommodifying it. Success of shantytown health care under democratic rule depends on its ability to remain autonomous. In doing so, it would avoid cooptation by political parties and the stigmatized public health system.
Selecting a Communication Service Organization : the Ministry of Finance Determining what type of organization to select is a very central question for a communication service and the success of its activities. Based on an initial assessment, what communication strategy should be adopted, which type of organization should be selected, how can central and decentralized structures be connected ?
Decentralized Communication at the Ministry of Finance With a view to decentralization, the regional information centers have formed an original regional communication tool whose objective has been to make contact with citizens in the field. How have these developed from 1977 to 1988 ? With what problems and difficulties have they been confronted ? An assessment of 11 years of decentralized communication at the Ministry of Finance.