The Costs of Patronage: Evidence from the British Empire

2018 ◽  
Vol 108 (11) ◽  
pp. 3170-3198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guo Xu
Keyword(s):  
Public Finance ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
British Empire ◽  
Colonial Administration ◽  
Tax Exemptions ◽  
British Colonial ◽  
And Performance

I combine newly digitized personnel and public finance data from the British colonial administration for the period 1854–1966 to study how patronage affects the promotion and incentives of governors. Governors are more likely to be promoted to higher salaried colonies when connected to their superior during the period of patronage. Once allocated, they provide more tax exemptions, raise less revenue, and invest less. The promotion and performance gaps disappear after the abolition of patronage appointments. Patronage therefore distorts the allocation of public sector positions and reduces the incentives of favored bureaucrats to perform. (JEL D73, F54, H83, J45, M51, N43, N44)

Policing the British Empire on the Bund: The Origin of the Sikh Police Unit in Shanghai

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-73
Author(s):  
Cao Yin
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
British Empire ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Reference Point ◽  
Police Force ◽  
Imperial History ◽  
Municipal Police ◽  
British Colonial ◽  
British Colonies ◽  
Modern Shanghai

Red-turbaned Sikh policemen have long been viewed as symbols of the cosmopolitan feature of modern Shanghai. However, the origin of the Sikh police unit in the Shanghai Municipal Police has not been seriously investigated. This article argues that the circulation of police officers, policing knowledge, and information in the British colonial network and the circulation of the idea of taking Hong Kong as the reference point amongst Shanghailanders from the 1850s to the 1880s played important role in the establishment of the Sikh police force in the International Settlement of Shanghai. Furthermore, by highlighting the translocal connections and interactions amongst British colonies and settlements, this study tries to break the metropole-colony binary in imperial history studies.

FOREIGN SERVANTS IN AN INDIAN PRINCELY STATE BHOPAL (19TH — EARLY 20TH CENTURIES)

2020 ◽  
pp. 151-163
Author(s):  
E. Yu. Vanina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
British Empire ◽  
Central India ◽  
High Status ◽  
Domestic Servants ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
Princely State ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
British Colonial

Bhopal, one of the ‘princely states’ and vassals of the British Empire (Central India), enjoyed special favour with its sovereign. Throughout a century, it was ruled by four generations of women who gained themselves, in India and outside, the reputation of enlightened and benevolent monarchs. Archival documents and memoirs allow glancing at the hitherto hidden world of domestic servants who not only ensured the comfortable and luxurious life of the princely family, but its high status too, both for fellow Indians and for British colonial administrators. Among the numerous servants employed by the Bhopal rulers, freely hired local residents prevailed. However, the natives of some other countries, quite far from India, were conspicuous as well: the article highlights West Europeans, Georgians and Africans (“Ethiopians”). In the princely household, foreign servants performed various functions. While British butlers and Irish or German nannies and governesses demonstrated the ruling family` s “Westernized” lifestyle, Georgian maids and African lackeys showcased the affluence and might of the Bhopal queens. Some foreign servants came to Bhopal by force: the reputation of ‘progressive’ was no obstacle for the Bhopal queens to use slave labour. When such cases became public, the British authorities responded with mild reproaches: condemning slavery, they nevertheless loathed any discord with their trusted vassals.

Federal public finance accounting standard “Employee Payments”

2020 ◽  
pp. 5-10
Author(s):  
Olga Shinkareva
Keyword(s):  
Public Finance ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Employee Benefits ◽  
Reporting Standard ◽  
Accounting Standard ◽  
Disclosure Of Information

The article is devoted to the analysis of the Federal Accounting Standard of Public Finance “Payments to Personnel”, which will be applied in the conduct of accounting and reporting from January 1, 2021, including medical state and municipal institutions. The article considers the main provisions of this standard — peculiarities of recognition and evaluation of objects of personnel benefits accounting, termination of their recognition, as well as disclosure of information on objects of personnel benefits accounting in accounting financial statements. This standard is compared with the International Public Sector Financial Reporting Standard 39 “Employee Benefits”

The Economics of Government

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vito Tanzi
Keyword(s):  
Public Finance ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Rent Seeking ◽  
Major Conclusion ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Private Market

This book deals with practical or real life aspects of public finance. It focuses on the growth in the activities of governments, in a world that expects more than in the past from governments. The book focuses on the growing complexity in both the work of the private market and that of the public sector. It stresses that part of the growing complexity is due to the more ambitious role that governments tried to play today, while part is due to choices made by governments, so that complexity may be partly avoidable. This was important in the different pursuit of social welfare by different countries. Complexity has increased opportunities for abuses, for rent seeking, and for mistakes in policies. It may also have increased the attraction of populist policies that claim to offer magical or easy solutions to problems. A major conclusion of the book is that the objective of simplicity in laws and in policies should be given more importance by both economists and governments.

Analysis of Financial Performance of Public Sector Banks in India: CAMEL

2020 ◽  
pp. 097674792096686
Author(s):  
Yudhvir Singh ◽  
Ram Milan
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Banking Sector ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Capital Adequacy ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Public Sector Banks ◽  
The Government ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Asset Quality

Public sector banks have been merged by the government in the last few years. This is the rationale behind conducting this study. The purpose of this article is to determine the factors affecting the performance of public sector banks in India and the interrelationship between bank-specific determinants and performance of public sector banks. In this article, we shall analyse the financial data of all the public sector commercial banks for a period spread across 11 years (2009–2019); Capital adequacy, Assets quality, Management efficiency, Earning, and Liquidity (CAMEL) has been used as a performance determinant; system generalised method of moments (GMM) analysis has been used to find the effect of determinants on the performance measurement of public sector banks; and CCA (canonical correlation analysis) has been used to find the interrelationship between the bank-specific determinants and the performance of public sector banks. The finding has important implications in terms of performance in the banking sector. Certain limitations of this study are: It is based on secondary data. The study only covers the financial aspects and not the non-financial aspects. It is found that the asset quality is negatively related with performance of public sector banks. Liquidity and inflation are inversely related to performance of public sector banks in India. Capital adequacy is positively related with banks’ performance, but inversely related with banks’ interest margin. GDP growth has a significant positive impact on banks’ performance, but inversely related with banks’ interest income. Inflation rate is inversely related with banks’ performance. Banking sector reforms are insignificantly related with banks’ performance.

scholarly journals The City-State of Boston: The Rise and Fall of an Atlantic Power, 1630–1865

2020 ◽  
Vol 94 (3) ◽  
pp. 631-636
Author(s):  
Noam Maggor
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
British Empire ◽  
American Revolution ◽  
Regional Autonomy ◽  
Atlantic Trade ◽  
History Of ◽  
British Colonial ◽  
City State ◽  
The City ◽  
American Nation

Mark Peterson's The City-State of Boston is a formidable work of history—prodigiously researched, lucidly written, immense in scope, and yet scrupulously detailed. A meticulous history of New England over more than two centuries, the book argues that Boston and its hinterland emerged as a city-state, a “self-governing republic” that was committed first and foremost to its own regional autonomy (p. 6). Rather than as a British colonial outpost or the birthplace of the American Revolution—the site of a nationalist struggle for independence—the book recovers Boston's long-lost tradition as a “polity in its own right,” a fervently independent hub of Atlantic trade whose true identity placed it in tension with the overtures of both the British Empire and, later, the American nation-state (p. 631).

Boards and governance of state-owned enterprises

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Nana Yaw Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Boards Of Directors ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Executive Directors ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Content Type ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
State Enterprises

Purpose – This study aims to examine the structure, attributes, and performance of boards of directors of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) within the broader context of public sector governance. This is informed by the less attention given to the concept among public sector organizations despite efforts to make state enterprises more effective and efficient, especially in developing and middle income countries. Design/methodology/approach – Data was collected through questionnaires self-administered in 2010 to all 25 SOEs in Accra, Ghana, out of the 29 nationwide. Some key officials were interviewed and documentary evidence analyzed to achieve triangulation of data and results. Findings – Results show that state-owned enterprises have boards and comply with the minimal governance issues outlined the legal frameworks establishing them. However, they exhibit significant weaknesses in the areas of board performance evaluation, criteria for board appointment, the balance of executive directors and non-executive directors, and other board characteristics, indicating a departure from general practices. Practical implications – Findings suggest the need for a tailored corporate governance framework or code for state-owned enterprises in developing countries. Originality/value – Compared to the literature, this study provides insight on boards from the perspective of state enterprises in ensuring good corporate governance, particularly in the context of a middle income country (Ghana).

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