Performance measurement is an increasingly important and ever more frequently monitored measure of excellence in public sector organisations. For this purpose, public sector organisations employ excellence models such as the European Foundation for Quality Management model, Common Assessment Framework (CAF), Business Scorecard, etc. With the support of European Institute for Public Administration and the national organisations responsible for the development of quality/excellence, many European public administration organisations, including the Slovenian Police Service, use the CAF model as a basis for developing and improving both the enablers and results of their operations. In this respect, the main purpose of the paper is to present and apply a non-parametric methodology for measuring police performance results. The analysis shows that the data envelopment analysis scores and the rankings vary significantly across the police stations. In general, most police stations in the country could attain better results by fully implementing the enablers suggested by the CAF model. Consequently, the empirical results of the paper can serve as a guide for police management when further investigating how to enhance the performance results of police stations.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4523182
The article presents an economic valuation of the Ljubljanica riverbanks area, which is an urban cultural landscape with distinct qualities of international importance. For this purpose, we combined a classical contingent valuation with a closed-form version of discrete choice method, where the protest responses have been removed. By using econometric analysis, we obtained the willingness-to-pay (WTP) value and established its determinants. It was ascertained that residents derived more utility from implementation of the targeted development scenario than visitors. Thus, a discriminatory contribution scheme similar to the one with respect to the mean WTP could supply substantial revenue for further targeted development, while still providing ample consumer surplus for both residents and visitors. The present analysis represents one of the method’s very few applications to urban public spaces in Central and Eastern European countries.
COBISS.SI-ID: 1809038
Paper provides an estimate of the costs of reducing employee turnover and an estimate of the costs of employee turnover in Slovenian companies. The study included all economic activities, and in this respect it is one of the few studies that focus on the complete economy of an individual country. The study estimated two groups of costs; namely, the costs of employee-preferred measures for reducing employee turnover rates in organisations and the average costs of replacing an employee in an organisation. When evaluating the costs of employee-preferred measures we mainly wanted to evaluate the costs of subsidising informal meetings, bonuses for the continuity of employment and bonuses for workplace attendance. Most other measures preferred by employees are of a non-financial nature, except for promotion, which we did not evaluate specifically as it is primarily part of the company‘s employment and job diversity policy. In estimating the costs of employee turnover we focused only on the costs of hiring a new employee: the cost of replacing an employee and the cost of introducing the new employee. Using several assumptions the estimated total cost of employee turnover in Slovenia ranges from €2.2 million to €3.4 million per year in year 2011.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4774830
Optimal rail network infrastructure and rolling stock utilization can be achieved with use of different scheduling tools by extensive planning a long time before actual operations. The initial train timetable takes into account possible smaller disturbances, which can be compensated within the schedule. Bigger disruptions, such as accidents, rolling stock breakdown, prolonged passenger boarding, and changed speed limit cause delays that require train rescheduling. In this paper, we introduce a train rescheduling method based on reinforcement learning, and more specifically, Q-learning. We present here the Q-learning principles for train rescheduling, which consist of a learning agent and its actions, environment and its states, as well as rewards. The use of the proposed approach is first illustrated on a simple rescheduling problem comprising a single-lane track with three trains. The evaluation of the approach is performed on extensive set of experiments carried out on a real-world railway network in Slovenia. The empirical results show that Q-learning lead to rescheduling solutions that are at least equivalent and often superior to those of several basic rescheduling methods that do not rely on learning agents. The solutions are learned within reasonable computational time, a crucial factor for real-time applications.Optimal rail network infrastructure and rolling stock utilization can be achieved with use of different scheduling tools by extensive planning a long time before actual operations. The initial train timetable takes into account possible smaller disturbances, which can be compensated within the schedule. Bigger disruptions, such as accidents, rolling stock breakdown, prolonged passenger boarding, and changed speed limit cause delays that require train rescheduling. In this paper, we introduce a train rescheduling method based on reinforcement learning, and more specifically, Q-learning. We present here the Q-learning principles for train rescheduling, which consist of a learning agent and its actions, environment and its states, as well as rewards. The use of the proposed approach is first illustrated on a simple rescheduling problem comprising a single-lane track with three trains. The evaluation of the approach is performed on extensive set of experiments carried out on a real-world railway network in Slovenia. The empirical results show that Q-learning lead to rescheduling solutions that are at least equivalent and often superior to those of several basic rescheduling methods that do not rely on learning agents. The solutions are learned within reasonable computational time, a crucial factor for real-time applications.
COBISS.SI-ID: 7444321
In regulating administrative procedures, legislators at the national and European levels should devote special attention to the codification of procedural rights in administrative relations that are recognized as European principles of good administration. Furthermore, there is a normative issue to be addressed between a more or less centralized general codification, with common minimum standards applying in any kind of administrative relation, and the admissibility of special procedural rules adapted to the specifics of individual administrative areas. A comparative analysis of the Slovenian General Administrative Procedure Act and eu standards regarding principles of administrative procedures is conducted in order to identify the role of principles, such as the right to be heard, the right of access to information, and the right to legal protection, on the national level. An additional analysis of the case law of the Slovenian Constitutional Court shows that the general codification of respective procedural rights is indispensable in pursuing the principle of the equal protection of rights. The Slovenian case can serve as a model for other, especially Eastern European, countries. The author argues that there is a need for general codification, which should not be overly detailed, but which should still serve the basic objectives of administrative procedures, namely ensuring substantive rights and the most important legal interests of the parties, in addition to guaranteeing effective protection of the public interest. At the same time, special rules should be allowed as exceptions in order to regulate sector-specific aspects, while nonetheless ensuring that such rules remain in compliance with European and constitutional procedural principles.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4940462