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UNION IMPACT ON POLICE EXPENDITURES IN FLORIDA
Title
UNION IMPACT ON POLICE EXPENDITURES IN FLORIDA.
Creator
Putchinski, Laurence, Lawther, Wendell, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
The continued steady growth of public sector unions compels public administrators to understand the influence labor organizations exert upon local governments. The following study demonstrates the extent of union influence upon police expenditures in Florida. Union influence not only increases total police expenditures and personal services expenditures, it also causes operating expenses to rise. Union influence is less pronounced, and possibly even non-existent in capital outlays...
Show moreThe continued steady growth of public sector unions compels public administrators to understand the influence labor organizations exert upon local governments. The following study demonstrates the extent of union influence upon police expenditures in Florida. Union influence not only increases total police expenditures and personal services expenditures, it also causes operating expenses to rise. Union influence is less pronounced, and possibly even non-existent in capital outlays expenditures because of possible lack of interest on the part of the union in this area and also because of the existence of economically predetermined policies regarding capital outlays such as vehicle purchases. Public sector unions, by formalizing and enhancing the exit-voice phenomenon within government systems, influence the expenditures of local government. This influence manifests its presence specifically in local government expenditures. By examining the association between unionization and the level of expenditures in local government, this study attempts to illustrate the influence of unions upon local governments. Specifically, this study assesses the impact of police unionization has upon local government police department expenditures for municipalities in the state of Florida. A qualitative inquiry combines with a quantitative study to examine the extent of union influence on police expenditures in Florida.
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Date Issued
2005
Identifier
CFE0000409, ucf:46402
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000409
PARTICIPATION: A MODEL OF INDIVIDUAL WILLINGNESS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE TRANSPORTATION PLANNING PROCESS
Title
PARTICIPATION: A MODEL OF INDIVIDUAL WILLINGNESS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE TRANSPORTATION PLANNING PROCESS.
Creator
Neidhart, Michael, Lawther, Wendell, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
This study sought to identify the key determinants that lead individuals to participate in the transportation planning process. Two models of participation, one for the short-term and another for the long-term, were developed to test whether the key internal and external determinants are responsible for influencing a person's willingness to participate. The data for this study came from a mail-back survey that was administered to a random sample of 570 individuals throughout the State of...
Show moreThis study sought to identify the key determinants that lead individuals to participate in the transportation planning process. Two models of participation, one for the short-term and another for the long-term, were developed to test whether the key internal and external determinants are responsible for influencing a person's willingness to participate. The data for this study came from a mail-back survey that was administered to a random sample of 570 individuals throughout the State of Florida for a response rate of 37.37 percent. The results indicate that the internal motivational determinants exert more influence on a person's short-term willingness to participate as compared to a person's long-term willingness to participate. In addition, the external social capital determinants exert more influence on a person's long-term willingness to participate as compared to a person's short-term willingness to participate. However, only one of the three external citizenship orientation variables, participatory citizenship orientation, was found to be influential in determining a person's short-term willingness to participate. Recommendations were made for public managers to work collaboratively with the public as a participative facilitator, thereby opening up the decision-making process to the general public. One suggested course of action is for public managers to use existing civic organizations as a base for widening an agency's long-term planning outreach programs. In addition, suggestions for future research propose that qualitative studies delve in-depth into the positive/negative feelings related to participation, as well as look at how different public participation techniques may affect a person's willingness to participate, especially as it relates to different time frames.
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Date Issued
2005
Identifier
CFE0000452, ucf:46400
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000452
DETERMINANTS OF HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE ON COUNTY EFFICIENCIES: A STUDY OF FLORIDA COUNTIES
Title
DETERMINANTS OF HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE ON COUNTY EFFICIENCIES: A STUDY OF FLORIDA COUNTIES.
Creator
Davis, Janet, Lawther, Wendell, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Performance measurement has been adopted and implemented in the private sector as a tool to measure and improve performance. Performance measurement is relatively new to the public sector, yet counties could benefit from establishing performance measures. This study uses the 67 Florida counties to compare Human Resource performance measures to county efficiency measures through path analysis to assess the contribution compensation and recruitment practices have on county efficiency measures...
Show morePerformance measurement has been adopted and implemented in the private sector as a tool to measure and improve performance. Performance measurement is relatively new to the public sector, yet counties could benefit from establishing performance measures. This study uses the 67 Florida counties to compare Human Resource performance measures to county efficiency measures through path analysis to assess the contribution compensation and recruitment practices have on county efficiency measures of fiscal, process and technical efficiencies. It includes county contextual variables in the models. The data was collected via professional publications and organizations, survey and personal contacts and entered into a SPSS data set. Six path analyses were established 1) three for HR variables with the three county efficiency variables and 2) three for HR variables plus contextual variables with the three county efficiency variables. The compensation variable, annual salary adjustment, was statistically significant to county fiscal efficiency, in the HR to county fiscal efficiency and HR / contextual variables to county fiscal efficiency. None of the variables were statistically significant in the process efficiency models. Health costs were statistically significant in the county technical efficiency path analysis. When the county contextual variables were added, health costs, percentage of benefit to salary, county size and county wealth were statistically significant. The HR compensation variables impact county efficiency, either fiscal or technical.
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Date Issued
2008
Identifier
CFE0002053, ucf:47603
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002053
The Effect of the Great Recession on Local Goverment Policy in Florida
Title
The Effect of the Great Recession on Local Goverment Policy in Florida.
Creator
Levey, Richard, Martin, Lawrence, Zhang, Ning, Lawther, Wendell, Hawkins, Christopher, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
The length and depth of the Great Recession of 2008 provides an opportunity to examine the policy behavior of local governments unlike any window since the 1930's post Depression era. Utilizing Peterson's (1981) City Limits typology as a framework for local government policy allows for an evaluation of whether or not the economic downturn caused local governments to change their relative expenditures between policy categories. The City Limits typology has been widely used in the literature to...
Show moreThe length and depth of the Great Recession of 2008 provides an opportunity to examine the policy behavior of local governments unlike any window since the 1930's post Depression era. Utilizing Peterson's (1981) City Limits typology as a framework for local government policy allows for an evaluation of whether or not the economic downturn caused local governments to change their relative expenditures between policy categories. The City Limits typology has been widely used in the literature to explain how expenditures define a local government's role in economic development. The typology has had limited use in a pre-post natural experimental research design to determine if a local government has 'shifted' policy priorities as measured by changes in expenditures among and between policy categories. This research design and the use Peterson's framework combine for a study that has not yet been conducted under similar conditions.Most of the existing literature, including the research from the 1980's, failed to account for inter-state differences that directly affect local government expenditures and policy. Concentrating solely on Florida local governments, this study eliminates the confounding nature of a national study and ensures that the unit of analysis is comparable for research purposes. The study utilizes actual expenditure data for all cities and counties in Florida from FY2006 through FY2011. The research tests for the relationships between changes in policy priorities from pre- to post-recession, and the type of government, form of government, and various socio-economic factors.The research contributes to a new body of knowledge that is just beginning to emerge in the literature about how local governments respond to periods of extreme fiscal stress. The findings suggest that cities and counties had an inverse response from pre- to post-recession with cities shifting toward developmental expenditures and counties prioritizing allocational spending. Differences were also found between forms of government. In addition, the density of population was found to contribute differently to shifts in expenditures for cities and counties. The study identifies emerging patterns that can help local governments understand past behavior and better anticipate future economic downturns.
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Date Issued
2015
Identifier
CFE0005971, ucf:50782
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005971