Entries by Editorial Staff

The Power To Take: The Use of Eminent Domain in Massachusetts

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Author: Michael Malamut, Esq., New England Legal Foundation This study is the first to analyze concrete data to determine patterns in the use of eminent domain. The analysis includes a survey of law review articles, practitioners’ manuals and reported Massachusetts opinions; structured interviews with legal practitioners; and a review of Massachusetts eminent domain statutes, especially in comparison to the 1974 Model Eminent Domain Code. The Power to Take: The Use of Eminent Domain in Massachusetts

Government Effectiveness Index: A Cross-State Survey

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Author: James Stergios, Director of Research, Pioneer Institute The central objective of the Government Effectiveness Index (GEI) is to assess how Massachusetts is doing in comparison to other states. It seeks to provide measures of effectiveness based on the efficient use of resources (inputs as a function of quantity or output) and on performance outcomes (quality of output). It does so in regard to eight “core” functions of state government (functions common to most states): K-12 educa- tion, higher education, highways, transit, state police, the judiciary, corrections, and financial administration. This first edition tests the GEI model on a sample set of six states: Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Virginia. We chose the first four com- parison […]

Toward a High-Performance Workplace: Fixing Civil Service in Massachusetts

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Author: Jonathan Walters, Governing Magazine This paper is a call for continued improvement in a system that in its current form is overly bureaucratic, unresponsive, rule-bound, and control oriented.  The changes suggested address three troubling trends that have been gathering momentum in Massachusetts:  First, the use of “provisional” hires as a way to sidestep testing and hiring rules entirely.  Second, the inclination to exempt entire classes of employees from the civil service system altogether.  And third, continued difficulty on the part of specific agencies to compete for the best and brightest job candidates in what is today a fiercely competitive job market. Toward a High-Performance Workplace: Fixing Civil Service in Massachusetts

An Economic History of Health Care in Massachusetts 1990-2000

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Author: Jerome H. Grossman, M.D. This report examines the Massachusetts health care system during the tumultuous period from the late 1980s to the close of the 1990s. This timeframe begins with the attempt in 1988 to become the first state in the country to ensure universal entitlement to health insurance and ends with the fiscal crisis of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and the general climate of uncertainty and angst that has beset the state’s health care system. Apart from describing the important events of this timeframe—and highlighting the pivotal decisions of earlier decades that set the stage for this period of upheaval—the report aims to illustrate more broadly ways in which the health care system in Massachusetts (and in the […]

Teacher Contracts in Massachusetts

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Author: Dale Ballou, University of Massachusetts at Amherst This report is an initial effort to provide systematic information on teacher contracts in Massachusetts. In the summer of 1999, the Pioneer Institute solicited copies of the current contract from all districts in the state. From those that responded, 40 districts were selected to reflect the diverse make- up of the Commonwealth. Although there was no attempt to make the sample statistically representative, the three largest urban systems were included, along with a sample of suburbs and small towns. Care was taken to ensure a mix of high-, medium-, and low-income communities. In these 40 contracts, five topics were closely examined: 1) compensation; 2) teacher evaluation and discipline; 3) transfers; 4) layoffs; […]

Charter Colleges: Balancing Freedom and Accountability

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Author: Robert O. Berdahl and Terrence J. MacTaggart This paper applies the charter school idea to public higher education. It makes the case that deregulation coupled with a charter or agreement with the state will enable institutions to operate more efficiently and will produce higher quality educational results. The argument is based on research comparing highly regulated institutions with more independent colleges across the country, as well as interviews with a number of educational, public policy, and political leaders in Massachusetts. The authors draw on the history of Michigan as well as the more recent experience in New Jersey. Charter Colleges: Balancing Freedom and Accountability

Flawed Forecasts: A Critical Look at Convention Center Studies

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Author : Heywood T. Sanders, Trinity University The analyses and forecasting presented in convention center feasibility studies rest in part on assumptions about future demand and supply of convention space at both the national and local levels, developed from data supplied by trade groups. Facility size, amenities, and location combine to give specific venues some degree of market appeal and perceived competitiveness. These attributes are quantified through surveys and other means and used to predict event bookings and attendance for each venue, given either current capacity or a planned expansion. These predictions, in turn, inform the calculation of likely direct and indirect economic benefits to the community of building or expanding a convention center. This paper takes a hard look […]

Economic Opportunity in Boston: An Index of the Regulatory Climate for Small Entrepreurs

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Edited by David J. Bobb Economic Opportunity in Boston: An Index of Economic Opportunity for Small Entrepreneurs provides a first look at the costs of regulatory mandates on small business in Boston. In the absence of other serviceable attempts to assess the consequences of regulatory barriers on small businesses, it seeks to establish a framework for measuring the cost of regulation and for weighing these costs against the benefits they may provide. The preparation of the Index was motivated by the question of whether and to what degree an entrepreneurially inclined individual, who is able and hardworking, can succeed in Boston today. With a proud history firmly anchored in enterprise, New England—and Boston in particular—has long enjoyed the reputation of […]

The Cost of Inaction: Does Massachusetts Need Public Construction Reform?

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Author: Douglas D. Gransberg, University of Oklahoma As debate continues over reform of public construction in Massachusetts, Douglas Gransberg, associate professor of construction science at the University of Oklahoma, offers two significant contributions: First, he has employed a vast collection of data to measure the efficiency of the Design- Bid-Build process currently in use in the Commonwealth. And, in so doing, he has neatly separated the issue of efficiency from the fear of corruption that in the 1970s spawned the Ward Commission and continues to inspire opposition to reform. The truth of the matter is that the two issues—corruption and reform—can and should be debated separately. There is no evidence correlating the use of alternative procurement methods with an anomalous […]

Economic Opportunity in Boston: An Index of the Regulatory Climate for Small Entrepreneurs

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Edited by David J. Bobb Economic Opportunity in Boston: An Index of Economic Opportunity for Small Entrepreneurs provides a first look at the costs of regulatory mandates on small business in Boston. In the absence of other serviceable attempts to assess the consequences of regulatory barriers on small businesses, it seeks to establish a framework for measuring the cost of regulation and for weighing these costs against the benefits they may provide. The preparation of the Index was motivated by the question of whether and to what degree an entrepreneurially inclined individual, who is able and hardworking, can succeed in Boston today. With a proud history firmly anchored in enterprise, New England—and Boston in particular—has long enjoyed the reputation of […]

The Cost of Inaction: Does Massachusetts Need Public Construction Reform?

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Author: Douglas D. Gransberg, University of Oklahoma As debate continues over reform of public construction in Massachusetts, Douglas Gransberg, associate professor of construction science at the University of Oklahoma, offers two significant contributions: First, he has employed a vast collection of data to measure the efficiency of the Design- Bid-Build process currently in use in the Commonwealth. And, in so doing, he has neatly separated the issue of efficiency from the fear of corruption that in the 1970s spawned the Ward Commission and continues to inspire opposition to reform. The truth of the matter is that the two issues—corruption and reform—can and should be debated separately. There is no evidence correlating the use of alternative procurement methods with an anomalous […]

Competition in Education: A 1999 Update of School Choice in Massachusetts

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Author: Susan L. Aud George Mason University White Paper No. 6 • September 1999 In March 1991 Massachusetts passed an interdistrict choice law that gave parents the option of enrolling their child in any district they selected, provided that district had voted to receive students under the program. The tuition for that child would be deducted from the sending district’s state aid and added to the receiving district’s state aid. In 1997, David Armor and Brett Peiser conducted a study to examine the social, racial, and financial impact of the interdistrict choice program on participating districts and, secondly, to determine if the thesis behind the market competition model of education was being borne out in Massachusetts. Specifically, the Armor/Peiser study […]

Nonprofit to For-Profit Conversions in Health Care

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Privatization is a term that has triggered passionate debate in recent years. Here in Massachusetts, a law to stop it has been enacted. What we are really debating, however, is not true privatization at all. Privatization implies a complete withdrawl of government from provision and finacncing of a formerly public service, usually through the sale of government owned assets. Rather the debate has been about “private contracting,” whether government should contract with private vendors for provision of services instead of providing services directly. Opponents of private contracting fear that any savings will come largly from lower wages and reduced fringe benefits. Others are concerned that, while private contracting may be beneficial for services such as snow removal or highway maintenance, […]

Public Profits from Private Contracts: A Case Study in Human Services

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Privatization is a term that has triggered passionate debate in recent years. Here in Massachusetts, a law to stop it has been enacted. What we are really debating, however, is not true privatization at all. Privatization implies a complete withdrawl of government from provision and finacncing of a formerly public service, usually through the sale of government owned assets. Rather the debate has been about “private contracting,” whether government should contract with private vendors for provision of services instead of providing services directly. Opponents of private contracting fear that any savings will come largly from lower wages and reduced fringe benefits. Others are concerned that, while private contracting may be beneficial for services such as snow removal or highway maintenance, […]

Missing the Bus: The Fight to Contract Competitively for MBTA Bus Service

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Public transit agencies across the nation are struggling to control costs without reducing service. One effective strategy used by a growing number of public transit agencies is to contract competitively for bus operations. Almost without exception, these agencies report that private bus companies can deliver equal or better service at a 20 to 30 percent lower cost. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) wants to use the same strategy and has accepted two bids to run 40 percent of its bus operations. The MBTA’s cost analysis shows that it will save 23.1 million over five years. However, a 1993 antiprivatization law (commonly called the Pacheco Law) sets up a series of tests that an agency must pass before it can […]

Challenging Convention(al) Wisdom: Hard Facts About the Proposed Boston

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As the political leadership of Boston and the Commonwealth consider investing $700 million in a new publicly owned convention center in South Boston, plans are already in place to enlarge facilities in the nation’s capital and in San Francisco. Disccusions have also begun in New York City, Atlanta, and SanJuse to enlarge or replace facilities in those cities. In each case the goal is to bring in more out-of-state visitors and the dollars that come with them. The success of each project is invariably assured by feasibility studies and civic pride. Challenging Convention(al) Wisdom: Hard Facts About the Proposed Boston Convention Center

If We Build It Will They Come? And Other Questions About the Proposed Boston Convention Center

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In 1965 Boston’s War Memorial Auditorium (later Hynes Convention Center) opened to great fanfare and anticipation. But, by the mid 1970s, Boston officials were already proclaiming Hynes too small for growing conventions and promising that an expanded convention center would draw far more meetings and visitors to the city. An expansion of the Hynes was begun in 1985. When it finally opened three years later, the expectations were as optimistic as 23 years earlier. The center was expected to bring $500 million into the city’s economy and create 8,000 new jobs. Yet the convention business did not expand at the new Hynes. Even with the promise of free rent for meetings that booked early, the Hynes attracted in 1990, 1991, […]