Stuart Bretschneider

Organizational Adoption of Microcomputer Technology: The Role of Sector

Microcomputer and work-station technology is the latest wave in computing technology to influence day-to-day operations in business and government organization. Does sector affect adoption of this new information technology? If so, how? Utilizing the data from a large comparative national survey of data processing organizations, this proposition was examined. The results confirm that after controlling for other factors such as organizational size, experience with computer technology, current investment in computer technology, procurement practices, and the task environment of the organization, the sector an organization operates within has a major differential effect on adoption of microcomputer technology. Public organizations have more microcomputers per employee, a result that is potentially due to a more information intensive task environment and the potential use of microcomputer technology as a side payment in lieu of salary. The latter factor derives from lower wage rates faced by public employees.

Political and organizational influences on the accuracy of forecasting state government revenues

Abstract This paper tests a general theory of the factors influencing the accuracy of state government revenue forecasts. Besides the more familiar hypotheses on forecasting techniques and randomness of dependent variable time series, our theory includes hypotheses on the political environment and organizational procedures used in forecasting. The primary data are from three surveys of state governments and include percentage forecasts errors for total and sales tax revenues. The analysis uses two measures of forecast accuracy, the mean and median absolute percentage errors. These are estimated in a linear model that uses ordinary least squares and least absolute value regressions. The results confirm most parts of the theoretical model, subject to the caveats of field data. Forecast accuracy increases when there are independent forecasts from competing agencies. It increases even more when formal procedures exist to combine competing forecasts. It decreases when outside expert advisors are used and when there is a dominant political party or ideology. Finally, it increases when simple regression models and judgmental methods are used as opposed to univariate time series methods or econometric models.

Can State Government Actions Affect Innovation and Its Diffusion?: An Extended Communication Model and Empirical Test

Abstract This article looks at how a state governments roles as both a sponsor and a diffuser of an innovation affect the adoption-diffusion process. The article first develops a theoretical framework by extending the basic communication model of diffusion to include state governments role in state government-sponsored innovation and its diffusion. This model also incorporates organizational and innovation factors. Next an empirical test of the extended communication model is conducted using data on innovations sponsored by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The results suggest that the degree of state government involvement in innovation development is positively associated with diffusion. The results also indicate that state governments diffusion-facilitating efforts such as providing information about innovations, financial support during development, and procedural facilitation of development are positively related to industrys adoption decision for new innovation.

Adaptive Technological Substitution Models

This article demonstrates the use of feedback estimation approaches to develop self-adaptive innovation diffusion models for forecasting technological substitution. Data from three innovations are analyzed, and limitations of the proposed procedures are discussed.

Estimating School Efficiency: A Comparison of Methods Using Simulated Data.

Abstract Developing measures of school performance is crucial for performance-based school reform efforts. One approach to developing such measures is to apply econometric and linear programming techniques that have been developed to measure productive efficiency. This study uses simulated data to assess the adequacy of two such methods, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Corrected Ordinary Least Squares (COLS), for the purposes of performance-based school reform. Our results suggest that in complex data sets typical of education contexts simple versions of DEA and COLS do not provide adequate measures of efficiency. In data sets simulated to contain both measurement error and endogeneity, rank correlations between efficiency estimates and true efficiency values range from 0.104 to 0.240. In none of these data sets were either DEA and COLS able to place more than 31% of schools in their true performance quintile.

Economic, organizational, and political influences on biases in forecasting state sales tax receipts

Abstract This paper investigates factors influencing fixed bias in forecasting state sales taxes revenues. By extending an existing model used to explain forecast accuracy to include a series of complex interactions related to the potential political and policy use of revenue forecasts, the paper extends our understanding of the forecasting process in government. Exploratory empirical analysis based on survey data is used to provide evidence that bias in forecasting results, at least in part, from political and policy manipulation. There is also evidence that institutional reforms associated with ‘good management’ practices affect forecast bias, but in complex ways depending upon the extent to which political competition exists within the state.

Local government information technology capacity: an exploratory theory

Local government has made use of information technology for a long time, but the level of information technology capacity varies tremendously across local governments. While Web-based e-government applications development becomes more prevalent, applying newly developed IT continues to depend on the general ability of government to obtain, manage and utilize IT. This paper starts by providing a comprehensive definition of IT capacity, which incorporates both human aspect and non-human aspect of IT capacity. Next, we propose a theoretical model to identify and knit together the crucial factors affecting the achievement of IT capacity in local governments. Managerial capability of IT manager affects the level of IT capacity of a local government through the interactions with support from administrative authorities and financial supports available for IT innovation. A series of cases from New Jersey municipalities illustrate the proposed theory and enrich it by revealing the relationships between the factors not identified in the theory.

Internal and external interorganizational relationships and their impact on the adoption of new technology: An exploratory study

Abstract This article examines internal and external interorganizational relationships and their impact on the probability of organizational adoption of new technologies. First, the paper provides an overview of existing adoption-diffusion research along with a new conceptual framework that links internal and external interorganizational relationships among various industrial groups to the adoption-diffusion process. Based on this new conceptual framework, we formulate hypotheses and an empirical model. The model is estimated using data from 12 technology development projects funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The results suggest that interorganizational relationships vary across industries and play a significant role in the adoption decisions of organizations. The results also suggest that external technology transfer agents facilitate this process.

Decentralization of Human Resource Management: Driving Forces and Implications

In the past two decades, decentralization ofh uman resources management has been one ofthe themes of administrative reform. While a lot of research has been conducted at the federal level, less of it has specifically targeted state government This article uses data from the 1998 survey of state governments to fill in this gap by identifying the driving forces and implications of human resources management decentralization in thestates.

The weighted Russell measure of technical efficiency

Theoretical consideration of technical efficiency has existed since Koopmans [10] defined it for production possibilities for which it is not possible to increase any output without simultaneously increasing any input, ceteris paribus. The nonparametric approach to efficiency measurement known as Data Envelopment Analysis is based on the index of Farrell [9], which measures radial reduction in all inputs consistent with observed output. Even after Farrell efficiency is achieved, however, there may exist additional slack in individual inputs, suggesting that the Farrell index does not necessarily measure Koopmans inefficiency. To solve this problem, the non-radial Russell measure was introduced. This paper shows that problems may arise with the Russell measure due to restrictive assumptions on the implicit weighting of inputs and outputs. This paper develops a new measure, the Weighted Russell measure, that relaxes this assumption. Using simulated data, the new measure is shown to be preferred to existing methods. In addition, the new method is applied to analyze the performance of New York State school districts.