The problems of government, its management and its money, have perhaps never been more intense than in the UK following the EU referendum in June 2016. The assumptions put forward by BREXIT proponents are to be tested—a real empirical study of no longer hypothetical propositions.
This issue of Public Money & Management, as always, seeks to address real-world problems of public management and money through bridging research and practice. The debate articles start with David Walker’s questioning of the path of the UK ‘Government’s right to know’ (see p. 392) over recent decades—does current research serve the government’s knowledge needs? This is opportune as PMM enhances its potential ‘real’ impact more explicitly through an innovation starting in this issue: after each main paper and new development article its relevance is highlighted in an ‘impact box’.
The papers in this issue have significance for diverse problems of government: from government strategies for counter-terrorism (Denis Fischbacher-Smith, p. 399), to the achievement of council tax reform (Rajiv Prabhakar, p. 417), and how risk is addressed in relation to innovation (Sophie Flemig, Stephen Osborne and Tony Kinder, p. 425).
The papers by Sounman Hong (p. 447) and Erik Hans Klijn and Joop Koppenjan (p. 455) investigate public–private partnerships (PPPs): Hong adds to the case studies of PPPs with high costs and excessive returns to private shareholders, while Klijn and Koppenjan use a survey approach to try and understand the characteristics of successful PPPs.
Rosanna Spanò, Nadia Di Paola, Adele Caldarelli and Roberto Vona (p. 441), on the other hand, take the role of the accountant into a new domain and consider how accountants have a role to play in addressing problems associated with organized crime.
Debate articles by Sarah Cooper (p. 395) and by Lynda Burkinshaw (p. 398) argue for new ways of classifying and examining ‘old’ problems. Cooper argues for addressing women’s issues as a whole, rather than through factional policies; Burkinshaw highlights the complex employee arrangements now prevalent in the public and private sectors and calls for new thinking in classifying workers for tax and welfare purposes.
Sidra Irfan and Sandra Nutley (p. 396) show that, contrary to many opinions, although one size does not fit all in terms of our models and solutions, they can be adapted and lead to positive outcomes; moreover, the potential for learning is not one way—developed countries can learn from developing nations.
Two new development articles promote new thinking in the way rail services are provided (Reg Harman and Nicholas Falk, p. 463) and how governance mechanisms relate to the organizational setting (Kuo-Tai Cheng and Chun-Fa Cheng, p. 468).
Governments must overcome immense problems. Finding new ways of looking at issues, addressing new issues and providing new knowledge to meet the needs of public managers and policy-makers is what PMM strives to do. This issue is no different, indeed PMM was described as a ‘palimpsest’ in a previous editorial, but the overwriting throws up new outlooks each time. We are proud to disseminate new knowledge and highlight its potential impact. The recent endorsements on the journal’s website (go to www.tandfonline.com/rpmm and open ‘About this journal’/ ‘endorsements’) are testimony to PMM’s achievements in meeting the knowledge needs of many researchers, managers and policy-makers in the UK and internationally.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Sheila Ellwood
Sheila Ellwood is Professor of Financial Reporting, University of Bristol, UK and Deputy Editor of PMM.