Search results for "Discretion"

Impact of the Agent’s Environment on Discretion in the Field of EU Conflict Resolution

2017

Employing an agent–principal perspective on EU conflict resolution and focusing on the politics of discretion, we argue that the context in which the agent acts affects the principal–agent relation. Our conceptualization draws on the agent’s actions as a source of discretion, which can be either an unintentional product of the characteristics of the external environment in which the agent performs (structure-induced discretion) or a product of intentionally pursued agent action (interest-induced discretion). Focusing particularly on the European External Action Service, we find that the agent can exploit urgency and third party interplay as characteristics of EU conflict resolution in order…

Discretionary Government Consumption, Private Domestic Demand, and Crisis Episodes

2012

This paper analyzes the dynamic impact of discretionary government consumption purchases on private demand. Using a panel of 132 countries from 1960 to 2008, we find that while discretionary changes in government consumption lead to crowding-in effects in the short run, crowding-out effects take over in the medium run. In addition, we also find that both short-term crowding-in and mediumterm crowding out effects are amplified once we control for periods of crisis.

Discretionary fiscal policy over the cycle: new evidence based on the ESCB Disaggregated Approach

2009

This paper explores how discretionary fiscal policies on the revenue side of the government budget have reacted to economic fluctuations in European Union countries. For this purpose, it uses data on legislated revenue changes and structural indicators provided twice per year by National Central Banks of European Union countries in the ESCB framework for analysing fiscal policy. The analysis is based on the estimation of fiscal policy rules linking these measures of legislated fiscal policy changes to the output gap and other control variables. Then, baseline results are compared with regression estimates where variations of cyclically-adjusted indicators are used as proxy for discretionary…

The Role of Contextual Factors in the Influence of ICT on Street-Level Discretion

2017

Public service workers in the frontline have traditionally enjoyed a wide freedom to make decisions during policy implementation. Research shows that technology has both constraining and enabling effects on public service workers affecting their ability to exercise discretion. What remains unclear is under which circumstances discretion is influenced by technology. Using a case study approach and drawing on neo-institutional theory, this paper studies a court to identify contextual factors affecting the phenomenon. Findings show that technology has no unilateral effect on street-level discretion, and is found moderated by contextual factors such as the degree of social complexity in a case,…

Digitizing Discretionary Practices in Public Service Provision : An Empirical Study of Public Service Workers’ Attitudes

2019

Fiscal Policy Responsiveness, Persistence and Discretion

2008

This paper analyzes the different characteristics of fiscal policy using a two-step estimation procedure. First, we decompose both government spending and government revenue into three components: responsiveness, persistence and discretion. Second, we assess the determinants of these characteristics. Using data from 132 countries, our results show that fiscal policy is more persistent than responsive to economic conditions, which implies that the authorities may have less leeway in the short-run notably to curb spending behavior. In addition, countries characterized by greater fiscal persistence have less discretion and responsiveness. Finally, macroeconomic, institutional and geographic va…

Is Finland Different? Quality of Work Among Finnish and European Employees

2010

The issue of the quality of work-life has risen in popularity due to concerns about the economic and social sustainability of European societies. Throughout the continent, global competition, technological change and the intensification of work are common developments which are seen to affect the well-being of the workforce. Nevertheless, European countries differ substantially in terms of job quality. According to earlier research, employees in Sweden and Denmark (and to lesser extent in Finland) report a higher quality of work tasks than elsewhere in Europe. The aim of this paper was to investigate, in a cross-national context using multivariate techniques, whether job quality in Finland …

High performance Athletes dual career support opportunities in the context of the European Union

2015

This article aims to provide an overview of high performance athletes - students dual-career support opportunities in the European Union, in order to create dual career support system in Latvia. The paper provides an explanation of terms, and analyzes the UK, Ireland, Germany, Belgium and other countries' experience in the dual career. In the process is created a comparative overview of the possibilities for support in several European countries. High-performance athletes main types of support are flexible exam schedule, individual study plan, consultations with lecturers, distance learning studies (e-learning), the mentor's advice, and reduced requirements for entrance exams. In Latvia the…

Political discretion and corruption: the impact of institutional quality on formal and informal entrepreneurship

2017

This paper analyses the impact of political discretion and corruption on firm creation rates, distinguishing between formal and informal entrepreneurship. The results show that political discretion discourages the creation of formal enterprises as fewer restrictions on the government's opportunistic behaviour increases uncertainty and risks for entrepreneurial activities. Corruption also has a negative influence on formal entrepreneurship, as it increases the costs of the procedures required to create and manage the company with no assurance that the other party will fulfil the agreement. Regarding informal entrepreneurship, our results show that the negative impact of corruption also appli…

Corruption, political discretion and entrepreneurship

2018

Purpose While common sense suggests that corruption will likely have a negative impact on the economy as it raises the cost of doing business, research on the topic showed inconsistent results (positive, negative and neutral). This paper aims to verify whether corruption has a “grease” or “sand” effect on the wheels of entrepreneurial rates and under which conditions corruption will have stronger or weaker effects. Design/methodology/approach Using institutional theory as the basis for the hypotheses, generalized least squares estimation is conducted to empirically examine the role of corruption and political discretion in entrepreneurship in a sample of 93 countries. Findings Countries wi…