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| Publications

Promoting Ethics in the Public Service

Ethics is gaining prominence in the discourse about governance today. There is a perception that standards in public life are in decline. This raises questions about the costs of misconduct on the part of those who have been entrusted with guarding…
| Publications

Economic Governance: Guidelines for Effective Financial Management

Good governance is considered synonymous with sound development management. However, economic governance of national state is facing serious problems because its traditional sovereignty over economic affairs has been imperceptibly eroded to other…
| Publications

Financial Management in Transitional Economies

The United Nations General Assembly, in its resolutions 48/180 and 48/181 of 21 December 1993, encouraged the relevant bodies of the United Nations system to foster the environment for entrepreneurship, privatization, demonopolization and…
| Publications | Public Institutions

Governance in Africa: Consolidating the Institutional Foundations

It is expected that efforts to consolidate governance institutions throughout Africa will be rewarded by the fruits of social stability and economic wellbeing. While remarkable strides have been made in some circumstances, substantial gaps persist…
| Publications

Development of Entrepreneurship and Small Business in Transitional Economies

This paper looks at the emergence of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe and tries to evaluate the policies that rendered their growth possible. The issues dealt with are as follows: •…
| Publications

Interaction between the Public Sector and Technological Innovation: Government Policy towards Research and Development

This report analyzes the role of the state in supporting research and development (R&D), as part of state policies towards technological change. The report is a contribution to the ongoing work of the Division for Public Economic and Public…
| Publications

The Role of the Market in the Provision of Public Goods and Services: Balancing Market Failure and Government Failure

One of the most important issues under debate in policy circles in recent years is the appropriate role of governments and markets in fostering economic development. Over the last two decades, governments have assumed a smaller role as privatization…
| Publications

Trends and Issues in the Analysis of Public Expenditures

This report contains six papers presented at a United Nations Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting on "Patterns and Trends in Public Expenditures", held at United Nations headquarters in New York on 8 - 10 June 1999. The first paper focuses on public versus…
| Publications

Redesigning Methods and Procedures for the Delivery of Local Services in Small Island Countries

Recently, in many developing countries, a variety of administrative reform efforts have been initiated as a means to promote sound development under the concept of promoting “good governance.” One important consequence is that the improvement of…
| Publications | Participation and Accountability

Transparency and Accountability in Government Financial Management

The first on-line meeting of experts under United Nations auspices was an Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting on Effecting Transparency and Accountability in Government Financial Management. The meeting was held in New York, Addis Ababa, Accra, Mbabane,…
| Publications

Capacity-building in Selected Least Developed Countries: the African Lusophone Countries

As part of its regular budget activities, the Division for Public Economics and Public Administration (DPEPA) of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) has undertaken jointly with the Community of Lusophone Countries (…
| Publications

Formalizing Microcredit: Crossing the Bridge Between Non-governmental Organizations and Commercial Banks

This paper reviews the existing literature on microcredit with a focus on the formalization of commercial banks and an involvement of commercial banks in microcredit operations. It does so primarily through the analysis of microcredit financial…