CEEOL - Search Result

Advancing Comparative Research on the Extent and Impacts of Intermunicipal Cooperation

Author(s): Troy Mix,Eduard Bakoš,Filip Hrůza / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: municipal cooperation; comparative research; impacts; Czech; United States Air Force;

Why do municipalities cooperate and what are the main impacts of such cooperation? Though intermunicipal cooperation (IMC) is not a new public administration topic, answers to these basic questions remain unsettled. In an effort to address these questions, this paper scopes a cross-national comparative research agenda on IMC by 1) identifying data sources and methods that can reveal the extent and impacts of IMC in the Czech Republic and the US and 2) characterizing the implementation of IMC in these settings.

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Social Innovations in Slovakia: Success versus Failure

Author(s): Beata MERIČKOVÁ MIKUŠOVÁ,Juraj Nemec,Mária Murray Svidroňová / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: co-creation; social innovation; failure,; public spaces;

The objective of this paper is to present the factors that were the key differences between successful and failed social innovations in a co-creation initiative in Slovakia. Out of 33 implemented projects in this initiative we analyzed 21 final reports for the co-creation projects and selected 5 cases for an in-depth analysis. With 5 representatives of the co-creation projects we conducted structured interview, based on methodology of LIPSE project [Learning from Innovation in Public Sector Environments, project that focuses on identifying drivers and barriers of social innovation and its outcome).

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Evaluation of Ministerial Employee Satisfaction within the Context of the Civil Service Act

Author(s): Milan Půček,František Ochrana,Michal Plaček / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: ministrial employee; satisfaction; Civil Service Act;

The paper presents the results of empirical research [April-June 2013) regarding the employees of ministries in the Czech Republic [N = 1351 respondents) who deal with analytical, conceptual, strategic, planning, project, programming, strategic and managerial activities. From the current perspective, it regards workers who fall under the regime of the Civil Service Act, which came into effect on 1.1.2015. The main objective of the survey was to explore some aspects of employee satisfaction linked to performance in their position. Based on the survey results, we define the previous state which existed prior to the introduction of new legislation and discuss the possible impacts of the new legislation on employee satisfaction and on the level of the civil service as a whole.

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Introducing Accrual Accounting in the Czech Local Governments: Challenges and Risks

Author(s): Filip Hrůza,Francesca Manes Rossi / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: local government; public sector accounting; financial management; accounting reform; accrual accounting;

Within recent decades the new public financial management stream has brought different changes and innovations in the accounting systems of public entities globally. A trend towards the adoption of accrual accounting has been largely recognized between European countries, even in accordance with pressure exercised by the European Union, aimed at achieving comparable financial reporting. The Czech Republic has recently entered the group of countries with reformed public sector accounting [PSA) to make public finance system more realistic and accountable in accordance to EU accounting policy recommendations. Focusing on Czech local governments [CLG) the paper presents the identification of main points in mentioned implementation process in the Czech Republic and the analysis of perception and use of the related outcomes by CLG financial officers based on previous research.

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The Impact of Unemployment on Public Budgets. The Czech Republic Case-study

Author(s): Robert Jahoda,Jana Godarová / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: unemployment; social policy; public expenditure; tax revenue; economic modeling;

The unemployment is one of the factors which have a direct impact on the performance of the economy. Furthermore, there is a direct link between the unemployment rate and the government budgetary position; unemployed persons usually draw on social benefits and their tax payments to public budgets are lower. This paper aims to comprehensively assess the impact of unemployment on the condition of both the income and the spending side of public budgets. We based our quantification of the impact of unemployment on public budgets on earlier published studies.

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Fully Merit-based and Closed Pay-as-you-go Pension System: Basis of Reforms

Author(s): Jana Kotěšovcová,Radim Valenčík / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: pension system; human capital; transferred price; productive services;

A reform of social investment and social insurance system [especially financing of educational and health care services) necessarily requires a reform of the pension system so that this system should be fully merit-based, closed and with a single basic pension payment. This will make it possible to create a feedback among economic effects of the sectors that contribute to acquisition, retention and employment of the human capital [especially by providing educational and healthcare services) and sources of their funding. The fully merit-based pension system need not collide with meeting the principles of solidarity and simultaneously, it creates a highly motivating environment for all stakeholders [providers and users of services related to acquisition, retention and employment of the human capital).

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Economic Context of the Czech Army Military Deployments and Export

Author(s): Miroslav Krč / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: military spending; public economy; military deployments; export;

The paper analyzes the influences of the military deployment on the export and the consequences of military spending on the public sector. The theory of the state defence economy deals with the impact of military spendings on economic variables. Several studies have confirmed the positive effects of the military spending. Using the quantitative analysis the paper is trying to evaluate the economic impact of the military deployments on the export between 2002 and 2009. Statistical data were used to identify interdependencies between Czech army spendings on the military deployement and the size of the export to Iraq destination.

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Fiscal Bills and Implementation Lags

Author(s): Daniel Němec,Hana Lipovská / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: fiscal discretion; fiscal procedure; government budget; implementation lags; Senate;

The aim of this paper is to broaden our knowledge of the implementation lag and primarily to analyse the impact of bicameralism on it. For the aim of this research, an original dataset of fiscal discretionary bills and state budget bills was created. The dataset on the fiscal discretionary bills is based on the original list of discretionary government expenditures and revenues, which was compiled by the Czech National Bank. Our extended dataset covers 69 bills in total for the period 1994-2013. While standard implementation of fiscal discretionary measures takes 215 days, implementation without the Senate took only 143 days. The monocameral procedure used for the state budget bill takes just 103 days. For the aim of our research, we defined the original concept of fiscal procedure as a monocameral legislative process.

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Modelling of Municipality Indebtedness Evaluation at Regional Level

Author(s): Pavel Petr,Romana PROVAZNÍKOVÁ,Jiří Křupka / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: data analysis; indicators of indebtedness; modelling; municipal debt; North-east Cohesion Region;

The objective of this article is to evaluate and analyse municipal indebtedness of the Czech Republic [CR) municipalities [with the exclusion of the capital city Prague) from the point of view of their size - both for the entire CR for year 2013 and the NUTS2-Northeast [NUTS2-NE) region for the years 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Selected indicators have been used to evaluate municipal debt (MD). One of them is the “budget responsibility" indicator. This indicator will be compulsory for municipalities based on approving the CR constitution law. Another indicator is the share of debt in the total municipality assets. We have used a system approach for executing this analysis.

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Who Has Had the Main Say in the Path of the Czech Pension Reform: Politicians, Experts - or Both?

Author(s): Martin Potůček,Veronika Rudolfova / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: pension reform; the Czech Republic; Discursive Institutionalism; frame analysis; politicians, experts; communication;

Although pension systems are among the most stable elements of social systems, even they evolve. In recent decades, dozens of countries have joined in by enacting minor adjustments or significant reforms. Politicians as well as invited experts have been paying close attention to the topic. In this paper, we analyze the framework of the spirit and content of the discourse of the Czech pension reform between 2004 and 2014 with the aid of discursive institutionalism theory and methods of framing analysis.

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Provisional Budgets and Budget Accuracy in Czech Towns

Author(s): Lucie SEDMIHRADSKÁ / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: budget accuracy; provisional budget; local government; rebudgeting;

The purpose of the paper is to explore the frequency of the provisional budgets and the influence of the time of budget approval on budget accuracy in Czech towns with more than ten thousand inhabitants between 2010 and 2014. The difference of means test [t-test) is used for the analysis. Provisional budgets are quite common in Czech towns, on average 28% towns used provisional budget between 2010 and 2015. Its usage is higher in the postelection years, especially 2011. The time of budget approval does not influence the accuracy of any type of budget revenues, however it has, with exception of 2012, positive impact of the accuracy of current expenditure. Its accuracy is higher in towns which approved their budgets later, i.e. in the course of the current fiscal year.

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Policy Case Study: Impact of the Policy Changes on the Housing Loan Market

Author(s): Emília Sičáková-Beblavá,Miroslav Beblavý / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: bank; consumer; interest rates; policy changes;

The article analyses the impact of the state regulation on a housing loan market in Slovakia in the period of 2010 till 2015. This issue is explored by the case study that enables a holistic view of the influence of three factors [policies) in one area and comparing the situation prior to and after the policy changes.

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Method of Non-weighted Average Absolute Deviation in Context of Income Inequality. Case Study of the Czech Republic

Author(s): Kamila Turečková / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: income inequality; method of non-weighted average absolute deviation;

The aim of this present paper is to introduce the alternative new method to express and measure income inequality in the society and in the economy. There is presented use of the method of non-weighted average absolute deviation for expressing and comparing income inequality in case of Czech Republic in years 2005-2013. The result of measuring of income inequality usingh method of non weighted average absolute deviation is, in practical part of article, compared to 3 other, well-known traditional indicators - Gini coefficient, Robin Hood Index and S80/S20 Ratio in order to highlight compatibility between all these methods to measure income inequality.

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The Level of Education in Regions of the Czech Republic according to Census Results

Author(s): Tomáš Fiala,Jitka Langhamrová,Jana Langhamrova,Kornélia Csefalvaiová / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: age structure; census; education; Czech Republic;

Level of education has a significant impact in assessing the cultural level and quality of human capital in the region regarding to age, gender and educational level for the whole population. The paper presents changes of education level of population in the period 1991-2011 and interregional differences based on the census data of Czech population. The development of unemployment rate and average age of population in each education category is also mentioned. Significantly different from other regions is Prague having the oldest population, the highest education level and at the same time the lowest unemployment rate.

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Determinants of Hospital Efficiency in the Czech Republic

Author(s): Eva Gajdošová / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: efficiency; hospital; DEA;

The paper deals with factors affecting hospital technical efficiency in the Czech Republic between the years 2008 and 2013, namely the existence of differences in average efficiency rate in the distribution according to the type, number of beds and location [Czech regions) of hospitals. Technical efficiency is analysed by means of data envelopment analysis (DEA) method.

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Participatory Budgeting as an Innovation in Local Public Services Delivery: The Slovak Case

Author(s): Lydia GONDÁŠOVÁ,Mária Murray Svidroňová / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: public services delivery; innovation; participatory budgeting; citizen involvement;

The marketization of public services brings among other objectives also an increase in public expenditure efficiency, improvements in public services quality and co-creation in public services provision. In this article we analyze participatory budgeting that can be perceived as an innovative tool for an effective management of public services delivery. Participatory budgeting enables better allocation of public sources according to citizen's needs. By involving the citizens in decision making concerning the local government's spending, the participatory budgeting also enables co-creation of the public services and helps to increase the quality of public services.

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Approaches to the Assessment of Research and Development in EU Countries

Author(s): Martina Halásková,Pavel Bednář / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: assessment; indicators; publications; research and development; researchers;

This paper deals with approaches to the assessment of Research and Development [R&D) in the countries of the European Union. Results of the research introduce the assessment of R&D in the EU [27) countries, on the basis of the indicator of R&D results [the number of publications in R&D per 1,000 inhabitants, and the number of publications per FTE researcher from the government and the higher education sector), and the indicator of human resources in R&D [research in the public sector per 1,000 active persons) in 2012, using cluster analysis and correlation analysis.

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Communication Media in the Aspect of Competitive Intelligence of Selected University - Research of Pardubice University

Author(s): Kateřina Kantorová,Jan Panuš,Hana JONÁŠOVÁ / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: marketing; competitive intelligence; university;

This paper is focused on the analysis of communication methods, with the aim to utilize the rate of individual communication media of selected stakeholder groups [applicants of researched University). The constituent part of this article is an example of benchmarking of the most frequent communication tools, websites and social networks. The major source is based on individual phases of a processing cycle, such as management of data collection, processing, and data analysis. The aim is to simplify University fast orientation in rapidly growing marketing communication and stabilize the competitive position. Data is taken from a questionnaire among students.

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Region to Region Comparison of Selected Social Services for Senior Citizens

Author(s): Miloslava Kašparova,Jiří Křupka,Pavel Jirava / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: social services; senior; population ageing; data analysis; regional comparisons;

This contribution deals with the topic of certain social services provided on the level of and by the Czech Republic [CR) administrative regions. This contribution is focused senior citizens [elderly) target group. The objective of a background study executed for the purpose of this contribution was to identify how social services for this target group had developed with time. The objective is also to show what the midterm tendencies in this services sector in connection with democratic developments towards population ageing are. Relevant data was acquired from Regional information service [RIS) and from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the CR [MPSV CR).

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Internal Quality Assurance Practices in Czech Public Higher Education

Author(s): Daria KUCHAŘOVÁ / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: internal quality assurance; quality measurement instruments; quality management; higher education;

The environment in which higher education institutions (HEIs) are operating has dramatically changed. Wider access to HE and new ways of government funding, has put pressure on accountability of HEIs. Increased competition and international mobility of students and staff has raised expectations about quality. As a result, delivering a high quality service has become an important strategic goal for the many HEIs, so they are forced to introduce internal mechanisms to manage quality. In order to effectively manage quality, it is important to be able to accurately measure it.

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