The complexity of governments today makes the accountability desired by citizens difficult to achieve. Written to address performance policies within state and national governments, Government Performance and Results: An Evaluation of GPRA’s First Decade summarizes lessons learned from a 10-year research project that evaluated performance reports produced by federal agencies under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). The results of this project can help answe...

In the United States, the express purpose of regulation is, according to a 1993 executive order, to "protect or improve the health and safety of the public, the environment, or the well-being of the American people." However well intentioned, all human action carries with it the potential for secondary, sometimes negative, consequences. In the case of regulation, these consequences may cause harm-by exacerbating poverty, increasing opportunity inequality, raising prices, or reducing econom...

Originally published in 1994. The energy crisis of the 1970s provided an opportune climate for public sector entrepreneurship to develop. The authors present case studies from six innovative and diverse municipalities in Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden and the United States. The studies document problems these communities encountered while implementing new ideas in energy conservation and changes in energy supply and municipal planning. Each community was selected on the basis of its earl...

This timely book takes a wide-angled look at how the field of community development is evolving in an era of reduced resources, changing priorities, privatization, competition, and performance management at the federal, state, and local government levels, as well as for non-profits and private sector entities. It shows how community development organizations and programs are offering many new services, entering into new partnerships, developing extensive networks, and attracting new and al...

Learn easy ways to get free money from Government Grants. Reasons for using grants, avoid Government Grant Scams, and gain key grant benefits.

An in-depth look at the trouble with shareholder value thinking and at better options for models of corporate purpose.Executives, investors, and the business press routinely chant the mantra that corporations are required to "maximize shareholder value." In this pathbreaking book, renowned corporate expert Lynn Stout debunks the myth that corporate law mandates shareholder primacy. Stout shows how shareholder value thinking endangers not only investors but the rest ...

If you find that the domestic market is saturated, exporting is a very important strategic initiative, and you need this book to understand everything inherent in export marketing. This book describes the steps necessary to achieve success in export marketing. It is a step-by-step guide to the art and science of export marketing, from initial discovery to researching new markets, to the financial aspects, to managing ongoing operations.

The United States has two separate banking systems today—one serving the well-to-do and another exploiting everyone else. How the Other Half Banks contributes to the growing conversation on American inequality by highlighting one of its prime causes: unequal credit. Mehrsa Baradaran examines how a significant portion of the population, deserted by banks, is forced to wander through a Wild West of payday lenders and check-cashing services to cover emergency expenses and pay for nec...

Resource Management for School Administrators is the only comprehensive book covering all school resources—fiscal, facilities and human resources. Each chapter has objectives that are aligned with the new ELCC and ISLCC standards on accreditation. Many of the federal and various state policies and laws are included. Everything you need to know on managing school resources are covered: national and state perspectives, future challenges to funding public education, resource allocation, devel...

From David Card, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, and Alan Krueger, a provocative challenge to conventional wisdom about the minimum wageDavid Card and Alan B. Krueger have already made national news with their pathbreaking research on the minimum wage. Here they present a powerful new challenge to the conventional view that higher minimum wages reduce jobs for low-wage workers. In a work that has important implications for public policy as well as for the d...

Each year we pay billions in fees to those who run our financial system. The money comes from our bank accounts, our pensions, our borrowing, and often we aren’t told that the money has been taken. These billions may be justified if the finance industry does a good job, but as this book shows, it too often fails us. Financial institutions regularly place their business interests first, charging for advice that does nothing to improve performance, employing short-term buying strategies that...

While energy efficiency projects could partly meet new energy demand more cheaply than new supplies, weak economic institutions in developing and transitional economies impede developing and financing energy efficiency retrofits. This book analyzes these difficulties, suggests a 3-part model for projectizing and financing energy efficiency retrofits, and presents thirteen case studies to illustrate the issues and principles involved.