uprava
mednarodna znanstvena revija za teorijo in prakso
Univerza v Ljubljani Fakulteta za upravo
I
\ i. 1 1 ml'jijmj
letnik VII, {tevilka 3, november 2009 ISSN 1581-7555
Revija Uprava je znanstvena revija, ki združuje različne discipline povezane z javno upravo. Obravnava teoretična in praktična vprašanja ter rešitve s področja javne uprave, upoštevajoč upravne, pravne, ekonomske, organizacijske in informacijske vidike delovanja in razvoja javne uprave.
izdajatelj / publisher
Fakulteta za upravo Univerze v Ljubljani
naslov uredništva / address
Fakulteta za Upravo Univerze v Ljubljani Gosarjeva 5, SI-1000 Ljubljana tel.: +386 (0)1 5805-500 faks: +386 (0)1 5805-521 e-pošta: revija.uprava@fu.uni-lj.si
odgovorna urednica / editor
Stanka Setnikar-Cankar
uredniški odbor / editorial board
Srečko Devjak, Nevenka Hrovatin, Maja Klun, Rudi Kocjančič, Polona Kovač, Alenka Kuhelj, Rajko Pirnat, Janez Stare, Metka Tekavčič, Ljupčo Todorovski, Mirko Vintar
mednarodni uredniški odbor / international editorial board
Stephen BAILEY (Glasgow Caledonian University, Velika Britanija), Helena BLAZIČ (Ekonomski fakultet Rijeka, Sveučilište u Rijeci, Hrvaška), Mirjana DRAKULIČ (Fakultet organizacionih nauka, Univerzitet u Beogradu, Srbija), Jürgen HARBICH (München, Nemčija), Gyorgy JENEI (Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem, Corvi-nus University of Budapest, Madžarska), Theo P.W.M. van der KROGT (EAPAA, European Association for Public Administration Accreditation, Nizozemska), Kveta KUBATOVA (University of Economics Prague, Češka Republika), Margaret LINEHAN (Cork Institute of Technology, Irska), Katarina OTT (Institut za javne financije, Zagreb, Hrvaška), Mirko PEJANOVIČ (Fakultet političkih nauka Sarajevo, Univerzitet u Sarajevu, BiH), Heinrich REINERMANN (Deutsche Hochschule für Verwaltungs-wissenschaft, Speyer, Nemčija), Walter SCHERRER (Economics Institute, University of Salzburg, Avstrija), Zeljko ŠEVIČ (Glasgow Caledonian University, Velika Britanija), John TAYLOR (Glasgow Caledonian University, Velika Britanija), Neda VITEZIČ (Ekonomski fakultet Rijeka, Sveučilište u Rijeci, Hrvaška), Jacques ZILLER (Université di Pavia, Facoltà di Scien-ze Politiche, Italija)
tehnično uredništvo / tehnical editor
Nataša Svržnjak
oblikovanje / design
studiobotas
fotografije / photography
arhiv fakultete, Matevž Paternoster
prelom / text design
Marjeta Pečarič
lektoriranje / editing
Katarina Puc
tisk / print
ČukGraf, tiskarna in trgovina d.o.o
ISSN
1581-7555
Revija Izhaja štirikrat letno. Cena posamezne številke je 25,00 EUR. Letna naročnina za pravne osebe je 60,00 EUR, za posameznike 45,00 EUR, za študente 30,00 EUR, za tujino 80,00 EUR.
Znanstveno revijo Uprava je Javna agencija za raziskovalno dejavnost RS opredelila kot znanstveno periodično publikacijo in jo v letu 2009 tudi sofinancira.
Revija Uprava je indeksirana v mednarodnih bazah:
-	ECONLIT
-	CSA-Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
-	PAIS-International (Public Affairs Information Service)
-	EGPA-PAZBABEL
vsebina / contents
5 Stanka Setnikar Cankar Uvodnik
7 Wolfgang Drechsler
The rise and demise of the New Public Management: Lessons and opportunities for South East Europe
1.01	Original scientific article
29 Miloš Senčur
Dvodomni sistem kot nasledek procesa decentralizacije
1.02	Pregledni znanstveni ~lanek
45 Miloš Senčur
The bicameral system as a successor to decentralisation
1.02 Review article
61 Maja Zaman Groff, Marko Hočevar
Public oversight of the audit profession -Comparison of implemented practices in the EU and the U.S.
1.02 Review article
81 Jaka Vadnjal
Assessment of establishment and operations under market conditions for a public equity fund
1.02 Review article
103 Petra Došenovič Bonča, Maks Tajnikar
Model presoje poslovne uspešnosti in izkoriščenosti zmogljivosti v bolnišnicah
1.04 Strokovni ~lanek
131 Tatjana Tozjek
Nekateri vidiki varnosti, prožnosti in varne prožnosti
1.04 Strokovni ~lanek
summaries / povzetki
25 Wolfgang Drechsler
Vzpon in propad novega javnega menedžmenta: lekcije in priložnosti za JV Evropo
1.01	Izvirni znanstveni ~lanek
77 Maja Zaman Groff, Marko Hočevar
Javni nadzor nad revidiranjem -Primerjava sistemov, uvedenih v Evropski uniji in v Združenih državah Amerike
1.02	Pregledni znanstveni ~lanek
99 Jaka Vadnjal
Presoja ustanovitve in delovanja javnega sklada tveganega kapitala pod tržnimi pogoji
1.02 Pregledni znanstveni ~lanek
127 Petra Došenovič Bonča, Maks Tajnikar
Business process model as a tool to assess business performance and capacity utilization in hospitals
1.04 Professional article
144 Tatjana Tozjek
Some aspects of flexibility, security and flexicurity
1.04 Professional article
Uvodnik
Spoštovani.
Pred vami je nova številka revije Uprava, ki jo boste lahko brali v novoletnem času. Zato je priložnost za razmislek o dobrih željah in pričakovanjih.
Slovenski javni upravi želim v prihodnjem letu preboj iz primeža uvedbe sistema plač. Očitno je, da je uvedba novega plačnega sistema sprožila plaz adminis-triranja in iskanja boljših možnosti za določene skupine zaposlenih. Ne dvomin, da vidijo snovalci sistema predvsem njegove pozitivne strani. Zaposlene pa je novost zatekla v zelo različnih stanjih. Nekatere skupine zaposlenih so bile ob uvedbi novega sistema objektivno v slabšem položaju, kar jih bo spremljalo še dalj časa. Spremembe so mogoče samo ob napredovanjih, finančne spodbude so začasno zamrznjene. Na področjih izobraževanja, raziskovanja, zdravstva, kulture, socialne varnosti je sistem nagrajevanja nekonkurenčen z zasebnim sektorjem. V boljšem položaju so predvsem koncesionarji, ki prejemajo proračunska sredstva za izvajanje svoje dejavnosti, na področju plač pa lahko delujejo kot zasebniki brez omejitev, s katerimi se ubadajo njihovi konkurentje v javnem sektorju. Samo ugibamo lahko, kakšen namen je vodil predlagatelje v uvedbo tega neenakopravnega položaja za javne institucije.
Vsakodnevne zadrege s plačnim sistemom obremenjujejo vse organizacije javnega sektorja kot tudi ministrstvo in jim jemljejo energijo in čas, ki bi ga morali nameniti za snovanje programov sprememb in prilagajanj pogojem delovanja v kriznih razmerah. Zato je druga želja namenjena snovalcem strategij in programov, da končno predstavijo svoje jasne programe in cilje delovanja, določijo prioritetna področja delovanja za naslednje leto, jih uskladijo z možnostmi in pričnejo z njihovim izvajanjem. Gospodarska kriza ne more biti izgovor za inercijo pri določanju dolgoročnih nalog izboljšanja delovanja javne uprave v Sloveniji.
Tretja želja je namenjena zaposlenim v javnem sektorju v Sloveniji. Kljub omenjenim pomanjkljivostim sistema nagrajevanja ostaja varnost zaposlitve pomemben element stabilnosti področja. Vendar različne raziskave kažejo, da se nezadovoljstvo širi tudi v javnem sektorju. Tukaj zaposleni iščejo razloge za to, da se določene naloge, predvsem pa spremembe, ne morejo in ne želijo uvesti. Očitno je za manj učinkovito in manj strokovno delo najlažje iskati zunanje vzroke.
Tak pristop vodi v sistem, kjer ostajajo le tisti zaposleni, ki jih ni mogoče plačati tako malo, kot so oni sposobni malo narediti. Istočasno pa ostajajo brez zaposlitve mladi, ki ne morejo dobiti niti priložnosti, da pokažejo drugačen odnos do dela in novo znanje.
Zato vsem iskalcem zaposlitve v javnem sektorju želim, da bi se zopet vzpostavil sistem pripravništva in praktičnega dela med izobraževanjem. Sodelovanje z bodočim delodajalcem je najboljši način medsebojnega spoznavanja, ki ima pozitivne učinke za obe strani.
Odgovorna urednica Red. prof. dr. Stanka Setnikar Cankar
Original scientific article
The rise and demise of the New Public Management: Lessons and opportunities for South East Europe
UDK: 005:35(045)
Wolfgang Drechsler
Department of Public Administration, Tallinn University of Technology drechsler@staff.ttu.ee
ABSTRACT
The essay traces the rise and demise of New Public Management (NPM) during the last quarter of a century, as well as the emergence of a new public administration phenomenon, tentatively called the Neo-Weberian State (NWS), which is argued to be more suitable for coping with the current crisis and its aftermath as well. The essay then focuses on the optimal public administration system for South East Europe, for which the experience of the new Member States of the European Union is used for lesson-drawing. Here, too, it is argued that NPM is definitely not suited for the region, especially in current conditions but also generally. The NWS, in spite of several problems including those of context, remains the current concept of choice in the development of public administration in Europe, and as such can also be utilized in various ways in South East Europe.
Key words: New Public Management, Neo-Weberian State, South East
Europe, new EU Member States.
JEL: H83, D73, P20, L33, H11.
It is particularly interesting to see what shape the public administration should take in South East Europe - specifically in the Western Balkan region, which may be defined, functionally for the present purposes, as the countries of former Yugoslavia, without Slovenia but including Albania. Public administration, after all, is the state in action, without which there is no state at all, and it
is one of the most vital paradigms of the modern world. It is especially relevant to the countries of the region during the current phase, marked both by internal transition and consolidation and moves towards EU accession, if to varying degrees, and made even more relevant by the current crisis and the re-emergence of the state at the centre of development. Yet the ideal public administration structure is a moving target, as its form is not only context-specific, but even the more abstract ideal is changing over time and currently in a state of flux and re-assertion worldwide. This essay therefore attempts to outline changes in the western concept of optimal public administration, i.e. the general goal of public management reform, and then to draw some lessons from the transition experience of the new EU Member States from Central and Eastern Europe, as arguably they experienced a similar experience some time previously.
1. New public management and its demise
The most important reform movement over the last quarter of a century in public administration has been New Public Management (NPM). NPM constitutes the transfer of business and market principles and management techniques from the private into the public sector, symbiotic with and based on a neo-liberal understanding of state and economy. The goal, therefore, is a slim-lined, minimal state in which any public activity is decreased and, if at all, exercised according to business principles of efficiency. It is popularly denoted by concepts such as project management, flat hierarchies, customer orientation, abolition of career civil service, depolitisation, total quality management, and outsourcing. Transparency, citizen involvement, and decentralisation are not part of the original core of NPM, both theoretically - because the NPM focus on the apolitical rule of the expert makes them more difficult, and because they do not necessarily contradict previous forms of public administration at all - and empirically.
NPM comes from the Anglo-American sphere, and it was strongly pushed by most international finance institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF. It originates from the 1980s, a time characterised by the dominance of neoliberal governments and the perceived crisis of the welfare state and its financing, but it came to full fruition in the early 1990s. NPM was on the one hand a
powerful trend within public administration scholarship and practice - which explains much of its power - and on the other, a genuine ideological concept.
As important and, though more rarely, as successful as several NPM-inspired reforms of the public sector might have been and still may be, what one notices first when looking at the public and private spheres is the difference, not the similarity. The state is characterised primarily by its monopoly on power, force, and coercion on one side, and its focus on the public good, on the other, while the business world legitimately focuses on profit maximisation. The use of business techniques within the public sphere therefore miscomprehends the most basic requirements of any state, particularly of a democracy, seeing them as a liability; yet regularity, transparency, and due process are simply much more important than low costs and speed.
For this reason economic and theoretical management insights in particular could only establish themselves once the dominance of the NPM has passed, which as a genuine ideology was not even open to arguments stemming from its own leading method. NPM reforms created, for instance, quasi-markets within administrative organisations in order to generate market behaviour: yet, such behaviour can only develop in genuine and not in quasi (pseudo) markets. (See Konig, 2001, pp. 6-7)
Another example is the problem of the performance-related pay concept in relation to the demands of multitasking and motivation through identification with the organisation. As has been demonstrated particularly well by George Akerlof (Akerlof & Kranton, 2003), every organisation must have employees who perform well (and cheaper) by identifying with the organisation, and that it is therefore a key requirement of a good organisation to engender employee identification with an organisation, therefore creating "motivational capital" (p. 29). Akerlof points out the problems denoted by the concept of "multitasking," well investigated by Bruno Frey and his school (see Frey, 2007, pp. 209-212 for an excellent summary), with performance-related pay and monetary incentives only, which is a hallmark of NPM and perhaps the cornerstone of its employment culture; he adds that overstrict supervision leads to less quality and a declining output (Akerlof & Kranton, 2003, pp. 1 1, 22-26). As Frey writes, "For no position - except perhaps the most simple assembly line work - can all relevant aspects be defined and measured" (Frey, 2007, p. 209). Aker-lof consciously validates his work by linking it to Weber's concept that successful bureaucracies are based on the motto "an office is a vocation" with all this implies (Akerlof & Kranton, 2003, p. 29). NPM therefore acts and looks like
the application of business and management techniques to the public sector, but not only in an inappropriate and simplistic, but also in an obsolete way.
But even by the standards of business efficiency, NPM cannot be said to be successful from today's perspective. For many years it has been clear that there is no empirical evidence that NPM reforms have led to any productivity increase or welfare maximisation (König, 1997, p. 214). The most that may be claimed is that "several years of attempts and experiences of public management reforms in western Europe and other OECD countries give evidence of relative failure rather than success" (van Mierlo, 1998, p. 401). Empirically, the catchword promises have not been delivered - flat hierarchies are a matter of appropriateness and depend in their suitability entirely on context; treating citizens merely as customers takes away their participatory rights and duties and thus harms the state; the abolition of career civil service will usually lead to the erosion of administrative capacity; depolitisation - and thus de-democratisation - leads to the return of the imperial bureaucrat (in its worst sense, disguised as the entrepreneurial bureaucrat: same power, less responsibility); and outsourcing has proven to be excessively expensive and often infringes on the state's core competences, as well as on the most basic standards of equality. Quality management is not necessarily an NPM concept and can just as easily be applied elsewhere and was actually always understood to be part of a well-working PA; project management may frequently work, but as a principle and in the long run, it is more expensive and less accountable than the traditional approach.
In advanced public administration scholarship itself then, particularly - but not only - in Europe, advocates of NPM are now heavily on the defensive, if NPM is proposed as a world view (i.e. an ideology), rather than as one of several useful perspectives for public administration reform (i.e. part of the "tool box"). What was an option fifteen years ago is simply not an option anymore today. One could mark the following stages in public administration development:
•	around 1995, it was still possible to believe in NPM, although there were first strong and substantial critiques;
•	around 2000, NPM was on the defensive, as empirical findings spoke clearly against it as well;
•	around 2005, NPM was no longer considered a viable concept.
In other words, it has become quite rare in the last five to ten years, and is becoming rarer still, to see articles in the very top journals, or essays and keynote addresses by the very top public administration scholars - particularly in Europe, but also in the United States - that are based on or implicitly assume the validity of NPM.
Yet, in many areas of scholarship and of the world, and particularly in policy, NPM is very much still alive and kicking (i.e. the farther one departs from academia above all and from Europe or international and central government). This is also true at the level of the EU and many Member States, where it strikes a chord with the predominant world view or views (See Drechsler, 2009a).
Nevertheless, particularly at the local and regional levels, many communities have in recent years, and after careful deliberation, acted against NPM reforms, even in traditional NPM strongholds (See Schäfer, 2008). The justifications for stopping NPM reforms given by the city of Dübendorf (Zurich) in Switzerland provide a fair summary: "No improvements of efficiency, effectiveness or quality could be attributed to NPM reforms" (Noordhoek & Saner, 2005, p. 38). Shortly before the global economic crisis, the news that New Zealand, the most famous trailblazer of NPM reforms, was buying back its privatised railway system because privatisation had proved disastrous for economic development, investment, and innovation (a standard justification for privatisation) is the most notable nail in the coffin for NPM (See http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/rail+buy+back+marks+new+sustainable+ era+transport for the official government announcement).
When the global financial meltdown hit in autumn 2008, it took the most market-oriented circles a week at most to change full swing and demand that the state come to the rescue. It also changed, for a while, public and political attitudes towards bureaucracy in general, and the critique of NPM as formulated above seemed almost trivial. It seemed clear that the NPM phrases, logic, and entire way of thinking was of the same mindset that had caused, or at least triggered, the crisis to begin with: a naive faith in simplified laissez-faire economics and the predictably negative role of the state. However, when the economy seemed to rebound in the summer of 2009, this was rapidly forgotten by many NPM advocates, so that at present while some countries and public institutions have retracted and are heading in the direction that will be outlined below, others believe that now is the time for NPM reforms. Yet this is no longer under the mantle of "better service for less money" but merely
in order to spend less (Peters, forthcoming). However, it is clear to most observers that now the time has come for alternatives to NPM.
2. The Neo-Weberian state
The counter-model to NPM, indeed its bête noire, is what is called Webe-rian public administration. This label is highly problematic, as NPM presents a caricature of it and thus builds up a paper tiger. Apart from the caricature, for Weber, the most efficient public administration was a set of offices in which appointed civil servants operated under the principles of merit selection (impersonality), hierarchy, division of labour, exclusive employment, career advancement, the written form, and legality. This increase of rationality - his key term - would increase the speed, scope, predictability, and cost-effectiveness required for an advanced mass-industrial society (Weber, 1922, esp. pp. 124130).
It seems that fundamentally, with all its weaknesses, the Weberian model is still the best around, and is certainly superior to the NPM; to paraphrase Churchill, it is the worst form of public administration except all others. The connection between Weberianism and economic growth seems, in any case, very close (See Evans & Rauch, 1999).
Nevertheless, the optimal administrative structure of our times - whether pre-crash, post-crash, or mid-crash - does not consist of a simple rehash of the organisation principles of the mass production paradigm, whose weaknesses are amply known from excessive legalism via genuine bureaucracy to genuine antagonism to innovation and the economy. NPM also offers some managerial-ist elements and even larger principles which as such could be judged positively, as long as they do not form the basis of the system, and there must be some adaptation to best match current circumstances with their different challenges, demands, and socio-intellectual context.
The most discussed model for the administrative paradigm to follow NPM, i.e. post-NPM, is not therefore a return to the previous one, but according to the concept of Pollitt and Bouckaert proposed in 2004, the so-called Neo-Weberian State (NWS), a fortuitous metaphor describing a model that co-opts the positive elements of NPM, but on a Weberian foundation, so that
both are, asymmetrically, deemed as superceded (Pollitt & Bouckaert, 2004, pp. 96-102). One can briefly sum up the NWS as follows:
Table 1: The Neo-Weberian State (summary)
Neo-Weberian	Weberian
Shift from an internal focus on bureaucratic rules to an external focus meeting citizens' needs and wishes. The primary route to achieving this is not applying market mechanisms (although they may occasionally prove useful) but the creation of a professional culture of quality and service.	Reaffirmation of the role of the state as the main facilitator of solutions to the new problems of globalisation, technological change, shifting demographics, and environmental threat.
Supplementation (not replacement) of the role of representative democracy with a range of devices for consultation with, and direct representation of citizens' views.	Reaffirmation of the role of representative democracy (central, regional, and local) as the legitimating element within the state apparatus.
In resource management within government, a modernisation of the relevant laws to encourage greater focus on achieving results rather than merely following procedure correctly. This is expressed partly in a shift from ex ante to ex post controls, without a complete abandonment of the former.	Reaffirmation of administrative law -suitably modernised - in preserving the basic principles pertaining to the citizenstate relationship, including equality before the law, legal security, and the availability of specialized legal scrutiny of state actions.
Professionalisation of public services, so that the bureaucrat becomes not simply an expert in the law relevant to his or her sphere of activity, but also a professional manager, focused on meeting the needs of his or her citizens/users.	Preservation of the idea of a public service with a distinct status, culture, and terms and conditions.
Source: Pollitt & Bouckaert, 2004, pp. 99-100
The NWS was intended as an empirical-analytical, not as a normative model, and one of its creators, Pollitt, is quite self-critical about several of its aspects, nor is this the only criticism around (See Pollitt et al., 2009, as well as Dunn & Miller, 2007). And yet, the NWS is to date perhaps the best explanatory model of what is going on in Europe, and it does not throw good manage-rialist - and participatory - principles out when rejecting NPM as a whole. It is still very much part of the research agenda, but in lieu of anything better, it significantly helps our understanding of contemporary public administration.
In fact, the NWS is the perfect match for an innovation-based society, in contrast to NPM. When dealing with innovation-based economics, the foundation of the Lisbon Agenda, the EU's main development programme, there is an immense push-pull function form what is, after all, a state-based socioeconomic development programme that asks for, draws upon, and requires high-quality public administration to implement it (Drechsler, 2009a). Innovation in the general interest, rather than that of an individual entrepreneur, is a question of successful innovation policy, and who should implement that, if not the administration? Whatever the future leading technologies will be - nanotech, biotech, convergence or something completely different - its setup will require a particularly capable state actor and a science and technology policy implemented by a civil service that is denoted by long-term planning, high competence, and tolerance for mistakes: the opposite of NPM (Drechsler, 2008). Innovation is a matter of state, as Claude Rochet puts it succinctly (2007).
It should further be emphasised for the current ICT paradigm that e-governance and NPM are not actually related, as is usually assumed because they seem to share certain features. Almost none of the traditional Weberian categories became obsolete through ICT (potentially, exclusive employment does, which may be a problem for the nucleus of civil service), while some -such as the written principle and division of labour - are actually enforced. In the most prominent case of hierarchy, there are mixed dynamics, as it is weakened by network models of organisation but strongly enforced via the extreme control and coordination capabilities of ICT. Overall e-governance and the NWS can reinforce each other, and in fact seem to do so (See Dunleavy et al., 2005, 2006).
Finally, the NWS seems to be the best model available for public administration in times of crisis - or at least, during the current crisis. Whether one likes the state or not (and it often comes down to just that), the return of the state into the economy, on a scale unimaginable in mid-2008, means that our
system cannot function without a genuinely competent and motivated civil service, and that cutting public expenditure at least in this realm is the worst idea imaginable. The new big state is already there - and it is in the interest of everyone, anywhere (excepting a few profiteers), that it is well-administered. In fact, it may even be argued that the best hope for managing both the crisis and later recovery well is the return of the mandarin, i.e. of a highly capable, responsible, motivated, long-term focused senior civil service, among other Neo-Weberian and indeed traditional Weberian institutions.
3. Lessons and opportunities for South East Europe
But what does this all mean for South East Europe? In fact, the crisis itself has not manifested itself in any specific manner in this region, so one must consider any particular features of the region that would make the NPM and NWS appropriate or inappropriate (and regarding the latter, there is certainly a basic question regarding the applicability of Weberianism, old or new, to this region) in themselves, or as a reservoir of good practices. This can be done by looking at pre-crash experiences. For South East Europe, it would be necessary to look at the individual countries, their background, traditions, human and other resources, and specific questions such as the state of neo-liberalism in Serbia, the prevalent civil service payment systems in Macedonia, and the legacy of the Venetian Republic's administration in Montenegro. That is beyond the remit of this essay, if for no other reason than for that of space. Specifically in relation to the applicability of the NPM, however, a set of countries that has recently undergone similar experiences and decisions exists: the new EU Member States in Central and Eastern Europe (a term that will also be applied to them during their accession period) - including Slovenia. Acknowledging any differences and specific features and with all the problems of lesson-drawing as such (see Randma-Liiv, 2007, specifically about Central and Eastern Europe) understood, one can still state that the debate on the use of NPM in the new Member States is similar enough to that facing South East Europe right now to be of use in gaining insight into what actions would be beneficial, and what actions to avoid in the region, with lessons for the times of crisis and beyond.
For one reason or another, serious comprehensive evaluations of the new Member States' experiences in public administration from an ex-post perspective still seem to be missing (an exception is the brilliant Randma-Liiv, 2009), but one may already state generally that the main problem for new Member States in this sphere was not structures, which are formally easy to replace, but people, who are not. The main problem in the new Member States, in other words, was the lack of well-qualified, motivated civil servants.
The problem is that good public administration, a high-quality civil service, and a good understanding of the concept of state are interdependent: if one element is bad, the other two will suffer as well (Drechsler, 2000, p. 5). Public administration appears to require a special virtue - loaded though that word is - on the part of its main protagonist, the civil servant, in order for the system to function well or even at all. This virtue cannot be created artificially and is highly dependent on tradition. How, then, can a good civil service be developed, if there is neither good tradition nor ethos, which was the situation generally faced by the new Member States? High civil service pay would be an answer, but in most of the new Member States, the consensus was that this cannot be afforded - or that the civil service is paid far too well anyway. Furthermore, as described above, performance-related pay, which seemed to be the solution, does not work. Thus, one had to go back (but did not always do so) to the old insight that the state must offer what the state can offer best: the classic virtues of security, respect, stability, civility, and fulfilment - the opposite of NPM measures. If the state does this, it will in turn become more prestigious to work in the public administration. Ideally, this should lead to a greater general faith in the state and the emergence of a decent concept of state, which again will result in a higher civil service prestige - and so on, and so forth.
What was generally true for public administrations in the new Member States was that it was a nomenclature administration before the 1989/91 revolutions; where members of the cadre "were professional administrators, but with politically and ideologically defined qualifications." (Konig, 1997, p. 215) That means that their experience was not necessarily valid, and their competence might have been low. In addition, many fields of administration - from fiscal to municipal - were generally deficient. So, the question was not only, or even primarily, one of downsizing, but rather one of building instead of reforming a functioning public administration system, which is invariably costly. And
indeed, there was no genuine downsizing at all, only the rhetoric of downsizing (Drechsler, 2003).
In addition to the transition experience, the EU accession process was the second key feature for all new Member States, as it is now for the South East European region. The increase of administrative capacity, that is public administration reforms geared towards high quality, was primarily EU-driven in the new Member States. It may well be that the administrative capacity of the new Member States was highly deficient in according to EU requirements right until accession, and that "the EU has been far from consistent in the signals it has sent to the candidate states" (Verheijen, 2000, p. 41). Yet the extent to which the public administrations of the new Member States appeared successful - particularly regarding the (pre-crash) success in the case of Slovenia, Hungary, and Estonia - was largely due to the EU accession process.
Even before EU accession became realistic, however, the self-chosen public administration models for the new Member States were often Germany and Sweden, and far less often the United States, and certainly not Britain (Rose, 1993, pp. 113-144). Therefore, it was not surprising to see that "traditional continental career systems appear to be the main source of inspiration for Central and Eastern European states. The German model is emerging, at the current time, as a dominant influence in most states. ... In general ..., there appears to be a clear tendency to return to the continental roots' of pre-1945" (Verheijen, 1999, pp. 330-331). Thus, often "the foundations were being laid to build an administrative elite shaping a Weberian-style bureaucracy under the authority of elected politicians" (Cardona, 2000, p. 3), particularly in Hungary and to some extent in Slovenia. (Unfortunately, it goes beyond the scope of this essay to look at the specifically Austrian influence in South East Europe today and over recent decades, but this would be an important path to pursue in this context.)
After that which has been said about the power of the NPM creed during the 1990s, and given the frequent role of neo-liberal governments in new Member States around that time, this requires some explanation. First, while public administration reform in the new Member States was promoted by various international organisations, what made the difference was that SIGMA, the OECD unit advising Central and Eastern Europe states on administrative reform (the most important agency dealing with the topic in the region, far more ubiquitous than the World Bank), took a critical perspective towards NPM from the beginning. Therefore, in spite of pressure from other organisations and
the understandable urge by consultants and by those people from the new Member States engaged in reform who had learned about NPM in summer schools and training seminars in the west and thus became its advocates, the classical perspective could usually prevail (See Speer, 2001, pp. 85-86). Perhaps even more important was the explicit preference of the EU for a traditional public administration (Verheijen, 1999, p. 337), never mind its own engagement with NPM ideas and reforms, which also mostly came a decade later ("Kinnock Reforms") (See Drechsler, 2009a; Bauer, 2006). Both the very direct demands and the accession trajectory towards a self-satisfied, well-paid, traditional civil service of enormous proportions with all the advantages and drawbacks would have made NPM reforms rather a waste of effort and money.
However, in addition to these external reasons, there were internal reasons that meant NPM was particularly unsuitable for the new Member States, which lay more in the transition experience than in the EU trajectory. As JJ Hesse writes, "the introduction of business approaches in public administration, as advocated by NPM concepts, may well prove disastrous in systems based on a continental European tradition in which either the preconditions may not be in place or where they may be rejected due to their inherent logic" (1998, p. 176). NPM is particularly bad if pushed upon transition and development countries because if it can make any sense, then it is only in an environment of a well-functioning democratic administrative tradition. After all, deregulating "the public service may not be viable before there is a set of values that will permit government to operate in an accountable and non-corrupt manner without the existence of formalized controls" (Peters, 2001, p. 167).
This was seen within the new Member States as well. A 2002 study based on interviews with civil servants in several of these countries concluded that NPM "is also known for its tendency to re-establish political control over the civil service, which is exactly the opposite of what 100% of interviewees of this study considered desirable for their countries. So, in at least one very important aspect, i.e. the relations between civil service and government, the NPM approach appears to be highly unsuitable, given the current needs" (King, 2002, p. 4). As the key democratic requirement of transparency is one of the first victims of any form of NPM (Haque, 2001), "frequently NPM-defined effectiveness and efficiency bring about a decrease in accountability and responsibility, and in that way are undemocratic" (Debicki, 2003, p. 35). That, however, is
nowhere more problematic than in countries where the main order of the day is to establish a democratic state, rather than to cut costs.
Therefore, the lesson from the new Member States to South East Europe is clearly not to adopt NPM as a paradigm (rather than specific NPM tools). As Guy Peters stated:
"Despite the appeal of ideas such as deregulation and flexibility, governments attempting to build both effective administration and democracy might require much greater emphasis on formality, rules, and strong ethical standards. The values of efficiency and effectiveness are important but in the short run not so crucial as creating probity and responsibility. Once a so-called Weberian administrative system is institutionalized, then it may make sense to consider how best to move from that system towards a more "modern" system of public administration" (2001, p. 176; see also p. 164; Randma-Liiv, 2009).
And Klaus König has pointed out that a lesson that specifically East Germany can teach the other Central and Eastern European countries - and now South East Europe - is to create the classical continental public administration system first, which answers the specific problems of delegitimisation and other typical problems (König, 2001, pp. 195-199):
"The application of contract management in Central and Eastern Europe makes it very difficult to build up a modern functional system of public administration which contains basic qualities and ethical standards according to the Western model; negotiating and executing the contracts leads to high transaction costs... (p. 197) Only when a well-educated public service with the basic values of administrative ethics is in place and if a system of clear responsibilities prevails, so that measures for good public performance can be defined and its costs are transparent, only then are the prerequisites created for the decision into which direction a reform process should go. ... It may be more important, depending on the local situation, to create legal certainty via a fixed order of responsibility, rather than to tap reserves of rationalization through simulated competition" (p. 198).
The first great opportunity offered by the lessons of the new Member States for South East Europe is to avoid the NPM phase altogether, without ignoring the important lessons from NPM and the powerful NPM tools. We know now that NPM "clean-ups" cannot solve the problems of incompetence and lack of democracy in a bureaucracy that are a hangover from the previous
regime, nor those of corruption - it cannot be done, however desirable that may be. And this is clearly a pre-crash lesson.
The second opportunity lies in the concept of the NWS, and goes beyond the experience of the new Member States, because the NWS was not yet in place as a concept for most of their transition, only appearing towards the end of that phase. Nonetheless, the NWS, as a viable and well-supported alternative that allows one not only to criticise NPM but to concretely present a quite coherent, contemporary, modern model of what a public administration should look like is something that was not available to the new Member States. This is a fringe benefit that the comparatively late transition offers South East European countries, from which they can garner a serious advantage. This is all the more so because the NWS, by its syncretistic nature, does combine the best of both worlds, while leaving ample room for national specifics on the other. And this is the case under the conditions of the current crisis as well, even more so than before. This does not mean that the NWS should or even can be adopted in its entirety in South East Europe, especially because it may well be argued that the region never had an old Weberian tradition, but its insights can certainly be helpful.
There will always be advisors, politicians, and stakeholders who will advocate NPM, whether because they think it is still the fashion, because of genuine ideology, or because they really see it as the best solution to the problems at hand, and currently, because they think it saves money that must be saved. So, there will always be throwbacks in the development of public administration in the region. Nevertheless, the general direction into which public administration in South East Europe should head is reasonably clear. As Aristotle says in the Politika, "a state comes into existence for the purpose of ensuring survival, and it continues to exist for the purpose of the good life" (Arist., Pol. I 1252b). And as Marsilius of Padua comments upon this passage, the latter, the good life, "is the perfect final cause of the state" (Defensor pacis I. iv.1.). A good life in a good state in South East Europe, as diverse as the region may historically, economically, and culturally be, yet consolidated and heading towards EU membership, geared towards peaceful and productive coexistence in the globalized, competitive environment of the 21st century beyond the current crisis, is unthinkable without a high-quality, appropriate, well-working public administration and a responsible, responsive, competent and trustworthy civil service, which is also crucial for weathering the effects of the crash as they continue to unfold. The best model (to look at, not to copy) for such an
ideal currently appears to be the Neo-Weberian State (or something of its kind or even beyond it); it is certainly not New Public Management.
4. Acknowledgments
This essay is based on the keynote address of the same title for the 2nd International Symposium on the Development of Public Administration in South East Europe, University of Ljubljana and NISPAcee, Ljubljana, 19 June 2008; it was updated in November 2009 in order to situate its argument within the context of the current crisis. Sections 1 and 2 were based on several previous publications, especially Drechsler, 2005b and, more recently, 2008 and 2009a; section 3, on Drechsler, 2005a; thoughts on the crisis came from Drechsler, 2009c and especially from "The Neo-Weberian State: Public Administration Paradigm for the Current Crisis?" a plenary paper delivered at the 7th Portuguese National Congress of Public Administration on "The State and Administration in the Answer to the Crisis", Lisbon, 10 November 2009. I am grateful to Mirko Vintar and Stanka Setnikar-Cankar for their kind invitation and hospitality and for the participants of the conference for their excellent feedback during the discussion session, to Tiina Randma-Liiv and Ingbert Edenhofer for commenting on the essay version, and to the staff of the Portuguese National Institute of Public Administration for discussing the crisis perspective. Support from the Estonian Science Foundation (grant no. 7577) and the Estonian National Research Scheme (grant no. SF0140094s08) for the research upon which this essay is based is gratefully acknowledged.
Wolfgang Drechsler is Professor and Chair of Governance at Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia, and co-director of its graduate Technology Governance program. He has served as Ad-visor to the President of Estonia, as Executive Secretary with the German Wissenschaftsrat during German Reunification, and as a Senior Legislative Analyst in the United States Congress (APSA Congressional Fellow). He is a member of the NISPAcee Steering Committee and, as the public management expert, of the Lisbon Agenda Group.
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POVZETEK
VZPON IN PROPAD NOVEGA JAVNEGA MENEDŽMENTA: LEKCIJE IN PRILOŽNOSTI ZA JUGOVZHODNO EVROPO
V Jugovzhodni Evropi je še posebno zanimivo pogledati, kakšno obliko naj bi privzela javna uprava. Javna uprava je konec koncev država v delovanju, prvina, brez katere države sploh ni, poleg tega pa je tudi ena od najvitalnejših paradigem današnjega sveta. Še posebno je pomembna za države regije, ki jo trenutno zaznamujejo - čeprav različno - notranja tran-zicija in konsolidacija ter proces pridruževanja Evropski uniji (EU), njen pomen pa sta še okrepili trenutna kriza in ponovna pojavitev države na osrednjem prizorišču razvoja. Idealna struktura javne uprave je gibljiva, saj njena oblika ni specifična samo glede na okoliščine, temveč se s časom spreminja tudi njen abstraktnejši ideal, ki je trenutno povsod po svetu negotov in se znova uveljavlja. V tem članku želimo torej orisati spremembe „zahodnega" koncepta optimalne javne uprave, tj. splošnega cilja reforme javne uprave, nato pa pridobiti spoznanja iz tranzicijskih izkušenj tistih novih držav članic EU, ki so del Srednje in Vzhodne Evrope, saj so najverjetneje šle skozi podobne procese.
Najpomembnejše reformno gibanje zadnjega četrt stoletja v javni upravi kot taki je novi javni menedžment (NJM), tj. prenos poslovnih in tržnih načel ter upravljavskih tehnik iz zasebnega v javni sektor, in sicer v simbiozi z neoliberalnim pojmovanjem države in gospodarstva ter na njegovi podlagi. Glede na sodobno javnoupravno vedo je NJM zlasti - vendar ne samo - v Evropi trenutno močno v defenzivi, če ga razumemo kot svetovni nazor (tj. ideologijo), ne pa kot eno od več koristnih perspektiv za reformo javne uprave (tj. „orodje"). Nenadni globalni finančni zlom jeseni 2008 je spremenil tudi javni in politični odnos do birokracije na splošno, kritika NJM, kakor je izražena zgoraj, pa je bila videti skoraj trivialna - in bilo je kot na dlani, da imajo fraze, logika in celoten način razmišljanja NJM prav tisto miselno podstat, ki je sprva povzročila oziroma vsaj sprožila krizo, naivno vero v gospodarski liberalizem in predvidljivo negativno vlogo države.
Protimodel NJM, pravzaprav njegov „grdi raček", je tako imenovana Weberjanska javna uprava. Kaže, da je weberjanski model z vsemi slabostmi vred v bistvu še vedno najboljši, zagotovo pa je boljši od NJM - saj je, če uporabimo Churchillove besede, najslabša oblika javne uprave, razen
vseh drugih. Optimalna struktura uprave našega časa - ni pomembno, ali pred zlomom, po njem ali med njim - pa vseeno ne pomeni preproste predelave organizacijskih načel paradigme množične proizvodnje, katere slabosti so dobro znane - od pretiranega legalizma prek pristne birokracije do zagrizenega nasprotovanja inovaciji in gospodarstvu. Model upravne paradigme, ki sledi NJM in o katerem je že nekaj let največ govora, tj. post-NJM, zato ne pomeni vrnitve k prejšnjemu, temveč v skladu s Pollit-tovim in Bouckaertovim konceptom iz leta 2004 pomeni tako imenovano neoweberjansko državo (NWD), metaforo za opis modela, ki sicer prevzema pozitivne prvine NJM, vendar na weberjanskem temelju, tako da sta oba asimetrično aufgehoben.
Zdi se, da je NWD najboljši model javne uprave, ki nam je na voljo v kriznih časih - oziroma vsaj med sedanjo krizo. Najsi bo država človeku všeč ali ne, njena vrnitev v gospodarstvo v obsegu, ki je bil še sredi leta 2008 nepredstavljiv, pomeni, da naš sistem ne more delovati brez resnično usposobljene in motivirane državne uprave ter da je zmanjševanje javnih izdatkov na tem področju najslabša mogoča zamisel.
Kaj pa vse to pomeni za Jugovzhodno Evropo? Kriza se v tej regiji dejansko ne kaže nič drugače kot drugje, tako da moramo v tem smislu pogledati, kaj je posebnega v tej regiji, kar bi določalo primernost ali neprimernost NJM in NWD (in kar zadeva slednje, gre nedvomno za osnovno vprašanje o uporablnosti weberjanizma, starega ali novega, v tej regiji) kot takih oziroma kot rezervoarjev dobrih praks - to pa lahko storimo z analiziranjem izkušenj iz časa pred zlomom. Prav pri vprašanju uporabnosti NJM imamo vrsto držav, ki so nedavno dobile podobne izkušnje in sprejele podobne odločitve, in sicer nove države članice iz Srednje in Vzhodne Evrope - med njimi tudi Slovenija. Če upoštevamo vse razlike in posebnosti, pa tudi težave pri jemanju lekcij, lahko rečemo, da je bila razprava o uporabi NJM v novih državah članicah tako podobna razpravi, ki jo ravno začenja Jugovzhodna Evropa, da je lahko koristna pri ugotavljanju, kaj bi bilo v regiji dobro storiti in čemu bi se bilo dobro izogniti - to pa bi prineslo spoznanja za čas krize in obdobje po njej.
Glavno spoznanje, ki ga nove države članice lahko ponudijo Jugovzhodni Evropi, je nedvomno, naj ne sprejemajo NJM kot paradigme (razen kot posamična orodja NJM). Zdaj namreč vemo, da s „čistkami" NJM ni mogoče rešiti niti problemov preostanka nekompetentne in nedemokratične birokracije iz prejšnjih časov niti problemov korupcije - preprosto ni
mogoče, ne glede na to, kako lepo bi to bilo. To pa je nedvomno že lekcija iz časa pred zlomom.
Druga priložnost je koncept NWD, ta pa presega izkušnje novih držav članic, saj v času, ko so se spoprijemale z intenzivno tranzicijo - oziroma zgolj v čisto zadnjih letih NWD kot koncept še ni obstajal. Kakor koli že, NWD kot izvedljiva in dobro podprta alternativa, ki človeku omogoča, ne samo da kritizira NJM, temveč da konkretno predstavi povsem razumljiv, sodoben model tega, kako naj bi bila javna uprava videti, je nekaj, kar odgovornim v novih državah članicah ni bilo na voljo. Je posebna ugodnost razmeroma „pozne" tranzicije, ki jo imajo države Jugovzhodne Evrope in od katere si lahko obetajo precejšnjo korist.
Dobrega življenja v dobri državi Jugovzhodne Evrope (ne glede na zgodovinsko, gospodarsko in kulturno raznolikost regije), ki je konsolidi-rana in se približuje članstvu v EU, usmerjena v mirno in plodno sožitje v globaliziranem, konkurenčnem okolju 21. stoletja po sedanji krizi, si ni mogoče zamisliti brez kakovostne, ustrezne, dobro delujoče javne uprave ter odgovorne, odzivne, kompetentne in zaupanja vredne državne uprave, ki je ključnega pomena tudi za premoščanje še aktualnih vplivov zloma. Zdi se, da je trenutno najboljši model (po katerem bi se lahko zgledovali, ne bi pa ga posnemali) za tak ideal NWD (oziroma nekaj podobnega ali celo presegajočega); zagotovo pa to ni NJM.
Pregledni znanstveni članek
Dvodomni sistem kot nasledek procesa decentralizacije
UDK: 342.25(045)
Miloš Senčur
Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za upravo
milos.sencur@fu.uni-lj.si
IZVLEČEK
Prispevek se posve~a vpra{anju teritorialnega principa v dvodomnem sistemu, ki se je kot prevladujo~i element pri oblikovanju drugega doma parlamenta obdržal do danes. S prikazom njegove vloge v primerjalno-pravni in slovenski ureditvi pa pride do ugotovitve, da postaja teritorialni drugi dom parlamenta vse bolj tudi nujni pogoj za unitarne države z razvito stopnjo decentralizacije, zato je med njimi in federativnimi državami v tem pogledu vedno manj razlik. Razlike glede vloge in položaja drugega doma so predvsem posledica stopnje decentralizacije oziroma razvitosti lokalne samouprave, svoje pa v~asih prispeva tudi oblika državne oblasti. S slabitvijo vloge parlamenta v razmerju z izvr{ilno oblastjo se namre~ zmanj{uje tudi vloga in položaj drugega doma. Kljub temu pa pomen dvodomnega odlo~anja v teoriji in praksi ne pojenja.
Ključne besede: parlament, decentralizacija, dvodomni sistem. JEL: K19
1. Uvod
Pomemben element pri odločitvi za oblikovanje dvodomnega predstavniškega organa, zlasti z vidika dognanj in izkušenj primerjalno-pravne ureditve in z vidika tradicije oziroma izkušenj konkretne države, naj bi bila oblika državne ureditve, saj je vprašanje teritorialnega predstavništva z njo v tesni
zvezi. Za federativno urejene države je dvodomna ureditev parlamenta conditio sine qua non že zaradi uresničevanja federalnega načela, ki vključuje tudi ustrezno zastopanost teritorialnih enot v zveznem parlamentu. Vprašanje pa je, v kolikšni meri notranja členitev vpliva na vzpostavitev dvodomnega sistema po teritorialnem principu v primeru unitarne države in kakšno vlogo ima tedaj drugi dom. Ta naj bi vsekakor v obeh primerih predstavljal svojevrsten mehanizem zavor in ravnovesij v delovanju (centralne) zakonodajne veje oblasti.
Za federativno urejene države in za unitarne države je značilno, da oblast ni nujno centralizirana, ampak je vrsta oblastnih nalog po načelu vertikalne sub-sidiarnosti prenesenih v izvajanje ali celo upravljanje različnim oblikam teritorialne organiziranosti, razmerja med njimi in osrednjo oblastjo pa ob obstoju ustreznih okoliščin temeljijo predvsem na sodelovanju in soodvisnosti. Praktično v vsaki državi je poleg centralne ravni še nižja raven, kjer gre za bolj ali manj razvito in razvejano lokalno samoupravo. Gre za oblike t. i. teritorialne decentralizacije.
Koliko ravni bo med centralno in lokalno ravnjo je odvisno od posamezne države,' predvsem od njene velikosti, zgodovinskih okoliščin in vse bolj tudi od zahtev, ki jih prinaša sodoben upravljavski proces.2 V zvezi z različnimi oblikami in ravnmi teritorialne organiziranosti hkrati poteka tudi proces integracije, ki poskuša te različne elemente družbenega sistema na ustrezen način uokviriti. Slednje pa že po naravi stvari nakazuje različne dimenzije odnosov med centralno oblastjo in teritorialnimi enotami, zlasti vprašanje medsebojnega vpliva.
2. Oblike teritorialne decentralizacije
Pri vprašanju oblikovanja poddržavnih oblasti gre za nenehno iskanje ustreznega ravnotežja med decentralizacijo in centralizacijo in s tem za iskanje novih organizacijskih oblik, tudi na teritorialni osnovi.
1	Brezovšek meni, da obstoj mreže teritorialnih enot predstavlja nujnost v sodobni državi (Brezovšek, 1997, str. 188). Po podatkih DEXIE iz Pariza (publikacija EU sub-national governments: an overview) je v državah članicah EU 92500 podržavnih skupnosti oz. oblasti (Vlaj, 2009).
2	Namreč, če gre le za eno stopnjo lokalne samouprave, potem prihaja do nasprotij in polarizacije v razmerjih med državo in lokalnimi skupnostmi. Po drugi strani pa ima tudi preveč stopenj običajno negativne posledice za upravljavski proces z vidika njegove učinkovitosti.
Pomemben kriterij za decentralizacijske ukrepe strukturne, finančne in druge narave naj bi bila predvsem težnja po razumnem odpravljanju morebitnih teritorialnih pomanjkljivosti oziroma po zasledovanju enakovrednosti življenjskih razmer prebivalcev na ravni širše, državne skupnosti.3
V praksi gre za različne oblike in načine prenosa državnih nalog navzdol.4 Pri tem gre bodisi za najmanj intenzivno stopnjo tega prenosa, za dekoncen-tracijo ali upravno decentralizacijo,5 ko je predvsem zaradi funkcionalnih in organizacijskih potreb na strani centralne upravne organizacije in zaradi potreb prebivalstva po dostopnosti upravnih storitev izvajanje oblastnih in drugih nalog zaupano organom izven centralne lokacije, bodisi gre za decentralizacijo v ožjem smislu, kjer ta prenos vključuje tudi pristojnost za oblikovanje politik in deloma lasten nadzor nad izvajanjem nalog.8
Ena od oblik in posledic procesa decentralizacije v sferi upravljanja z javnimi zadevami je lokalna samouprava. Lokalna samouprava črpa svojo moč neposredno iz ustave,7 obenem pa ustava določa tudi meje njenega delovanja in nadzora nad njo. Lokalna samouprava pomeni pomemben način družbene (samo)regulacije,8 ki je hkrati neločljivi del državne ureditve.9 Zaradi tega so razmerja med lokalnimi skupnostmi in državo bistveni element samouprave. Pri tem gre v skladu z načelom vertikalne delitve oblasti za obojestranski nadzor v razmerjih z državo in za možnosti zastopanja lokalnih skupnosti na centralni ravni. Od slednjega bo namreč odvisen obseg vpliva lokalnih skupnosti na urejanje njihovega položaja in odnosov z državno oblastjo.
3	Vzpostavitev ustreznega ravnotežja pri razdelitvi javnih prihodkov med osrednjo oblastjo in teritorialnimi enotami za financiranje njihovih javnih potreb je tudi v naši praksi vedno problematično in težko rešljivo vprašanje. O pomembnosti ekonomskega vidika procesa decentralizacije gl. več v Bugarič, 1998, str. 121-130.
4	Za teritorialne oblike na slovenskem ozemlju zadnjih sto let je značilno, da je upravljanje javnih zadev potekalo na več teritorialnih ravneh, kjer so se prepletale naloge samoupravnega in državnega značaja. Nazadnje je bil vzpostavljen enostopenjski komunalni sistem kot poskus oblikovanja najbolj optimalne samoupravne in oblastne skupnosti z vidika iskanja sorazmerja med frekvenco upravnih nalog ter številom prebivalstva in velikostjo ozemlja.
5	Ta izraz je npr. izrecno uporabljen v 5. členu italijanske ustave, ko je govora o službah, podrejenih državi (gl. na spletni strani: http://www.senato.it/istituzione/29375/articolato.htm, uporabljeno 2. 10. 2009).
6	V teoriji je v tem primeru govora o politični decentralizaciji, ki naj bi bila najvišja stopnja avtonomije (Porta, 2003, str. 207).
7	Prim. Osnutek ustave Republike Slovenije, Poročevalec Skupščine Republike Slovenije, št. 17/90, str. 20.
8	Tako imamo na istem območju dve oblasti, pri čemer se mora tudi država podrejati lokalni oblasti (npr. na področju urejanja prostora).
9	Država daje npr. lokalnim skupnostim smernice na področju urejanja prostora, čeprav to področje sodi v izvirni delokrog lokalne samouprave.
Čim bolj je država decentralizirana (s političnega in ekonomskega vidika), bolj bodo v ospredju vprašanja glede razdelitve pristojnosti med njenim centrom in njenimi deli, prav tako pa tudi vprašanje, kakšen vpliv naj imajo slednji na oblikovanje centralnih organov in na njihove odločitve. S stopnjo decentralizacije raste tako tudi potreba po ustrezni povezanosti med sistemom kot celoto in njegovimi deli, ki se pogosto uresničuje v obliki dvodomne strukture centralnega organa oblasti.
Dvodomni sistem pa ni edina oblika delitve državne oblasti, enako tudi načelo horizontalne delitve oblasti ni edini vidik dvodomnosti. Politična oziroma družbena moč namreč ni porazdeljena le horizontalno, v smislu klasične delitve oblasti, ampak tudi vertikalno. Načelo vertikalne delitve oblasti dobiva vse večji pomen, kajti pomemben delež oblasti naj bi pripadel lokalni samoupravi.10 Njeni nosilci pa imajo glede na svoj samoupravni položaj hkrati pravico, da predstavijo svoja stališča in sodelujejo pri reševanju vseh tistih vprašanj, ki se nanašajo na uresničevanje lokalne samouprave."
3. Idejni temelji in praksa teritorialnega predstavni{tva v primerjalni ureditvi
Najstarejši, v določenem smislu referenčni drugi dom, je ameriški senat,'2 saj njegov nastanek datira v leto 1787. Za razliko od večine drugih domov do danes ni doživel nobenih pomembnejših sprememb z vidika enakopravnosti razmerja s predstavniškim domom kongresa. Senat je bil zasnovan kot predstavnik federalnih enot, vendar so kasneje (zlasti po uvedbi neposrednih volitev) nad interesi posameznih držav tudi v tem domu prevladali interesi političnih strank.'3
10	Prim. Odločbo ustavnega sodišča Republike Slovenije, št. U-I-176/04 (Uradni list RS, št. 21/06).
11	Prim. Odločbo ustavnega sodišča Republike Slovenije, št. U-I-24/07(Uradni list RS, št. 101/07).
12	Po njem so se zgledovale številne federacije. Delegati vseh avstralskih kolonij so npr. že na konferenci leta 1890 v Melbournu sprejeli odločitev o bodoči federativni ureditvi države, katere centralni parlament bo dvodomen (širše na spletni strani: http://parlinfo.aph.gov. au/parlInfo/, uporabljeno 2. 10. 2009).
13	Grad et al., 2004, str. 143.
Ameriškemu zgledu je sledila že švicarska ustava iz leta 1848, ki je uvedla dvodomni zvezni zakonodajni organ.14 Po sedanji ustavni ureditvi (ustava iz leta 1999) zvezno skupščino sestavljata zvezni zbor in kantonalni zbor. Moč in svoboda švicarskih kantonov, z izjemo kratkega obdobja obstoja unitarno urejene države, se je odrazila tudi v vlogi in položaju drugega doma. Ta je bil po pristojnostih ves čas popolnoma izenačen s prvim domom, kantonom pa je bilo dopuščeno, da sami določajo način njegovega oblikovanja.15 Pomembnost zgornjega doma je zmanjšana v primerih, ko gre za obravnavo zadev na skupni seji obeh domov, kjer pride do izraza številčna prednost prvega doma. Njegovo vlogo zaščitnika interesov kantonov zmanjšuje tudi referendum, saj je v tem primeru zaupana ljudstvu. Poleg tega je za Švico v zadnjih desetletjih značilna centralizacija, ki vpliva na njeno preoblikovanje v skupino unitarnih držav."
Nemčija je imela federativno ureditev že po ustavi iz leta 1871, vendar pa je bila zakonodajna oblast pretežno v rokah centralne oblasti, ki je slabila vlogo in položaj federalnih enot.17 Kasneje so bile z Weimarsko ustavo zožene še pristojnosti drugega doma, zato prevladuje mnenje, da je bila Nemčija tedaj bliže decentralizirani unitarni državi.1" Po prihodu Hitlerja na oblast je bil drugi dom skupaj z deželami leta 1934 ukinjen.19 Po koncu druge svetovne vojne sta imeli obe nemški državi dvodomni parlament, oba zgornja domova pa sta bila predstavnika teritorialnih enot.20 Z združitvijo držav leta 1990 je bila uveljavljena zahodnonemška ustava. Zvezni svet ima v razmerju s prvim domom podrejeno vlogo.21 Na določene zakone ima pravico vložiti absolutni veto,22 sicer pa le
14	Brli}, 1931, str. 467.
15	V preteklosti so v nekaj primerih predstavnike kantonov volile skupščine kantonov, danes pa so voljeni neposredno. Po kantonalnih predpisih je tudi mandatna doba enotno urejena (podatki so s spletne strani http://www.ipu.org/english/home.htm, uporabljeno: 2. 10. 2009).
16	Trifunovska, 1991, str. 138. Po drugi strani pa je kot posledico decentralizacije zaznati okrepljeno vertikalno povezovanje med kantoni in enotami lokalne samouprave (Zimmermann, 1993, str. 86).
17	Zvezno državo iz tistega obdobja so pogosto imenovali z izrazom psevdofederalizem (Beyme, 2002, str. 307).
18	Grad et al., 2004, str. 91.
19	Prav tam.
20	Predstavnike drugega doma Vzhodne Nemčije so volile skupščine teh enot, katerih sklepi pa zanje niso bili zavezujoči. Tam so bile dežele odpravljene leta 1952 in je bila država odtlej unitarna (Grad et al., 2004., str. 108).
21	Zvezni svet po mnenju von Beyma ni drugi dom. Bolj mu pripisuje polparlamentarni značaj, ki se kaže v tem, da se javnost ne zanima za njegovo delo, da člani glasujejo enotno kot delegacija, da je nadzor nad vlado le posrednega značaja ipd. (Beyme, 2002, str. 310). Na nekem drugem mestu pa avtor sklene, da se je zvezni svet v nasprotju s pričakovanji tvorcev ustave razvil v močan drugi dom (str. 316), kar je seveda bližje dejanskemu stanju (Russell, 2000, str. 216-218).
suspenzivni veto.23 Člane zveznega sveta izvolijo deželne vlade izmed svojih članov24 ter imajo imperativni mandat, kar pomeni, da sledijo navodilom deželnih vlad.25
Ustava Avstrije iz leta 1920, po kateri je drugi dom odražal federativno ureditev države, je bila dvakrat spremenjena (v letih 1925 in 1929), pri čemer je druga sprememba vpeljala v drugi dom tudi poklicne stanove.2" Ta sprememba v strukturi drugega doma dobi radikalizirano nadgradnjo v novi ustavi iz leta 1934, ko drugi dom povsem izgubi vlogo predstavnika teritorialnih enot. Z ustavnim zakonom iz leta 1945 je bila ponovno uveljavljena prvotna ustava, zato ima tudi drugi dom pristojnosti, podobne prvotni ustavni zasnovi. V okviru pristojnosti drugega doma je poleg pravice do zakonodajne iniciative in suspenzivnega veta omeniti še pravico do soglasja na odločitve prvega doma v izrecno določenih primerih.27
Španske avtonomne skupnosti nekateri primerjajo z nemškimi deželami in zaradi tega Španijo uvrščajo med visoko decentralizirane, skoraj federativne države.2" V španskem senatu je večina članov drugega doma neposredno izvoljenih v okviru teritorialnih enot, del članov pa izvolijo njihovi predstavniški organi. Nekateri menijo, da je španski senat zaradi tega nenavaden drugi dom, ter da neposredno izvoljeni člani senata nimajo naravnih povezav z lokalnimi oblastmi, čeprav so večinoma tudi člani skupščin avtonomnih skupnosti.29
22	V poštev pride predvsem pri spremembi ustave, zakonih z vplivom na državne finance, ter tistih zakonih, ki vplivajo na deželno upravno jurisdikcijo (širše na spletni strani: http://www.bundestag.de, uporabljeno 2. 10. 2009).
23	Po 50. členu nemške ustave imajo dežele pravico prek zveznega sveta sodelovati pri zakonodaji zveze tudi v zadevah EU (gl. spletno stran: http://www.bundestag.de/gesetze/gg/, uporabljeno 2. 10. 2009).
24	Od tri do šest predstavnikov, pač glede na število prebivalcev v posamezni deželi. Mandatna doba članov nemškega drugega doma ni določena, ker jih imenujejo in odpokličejo deželne vlade (podatki so s spletne strani: http://www.ipu.org/english/home.htm, uporabljeno 2. 10. 2009).
25	Po mnenju teoretikov gre v primeru nemškega zveznega sveta za unikaten in za najuspešnejši drugi dom glede teritorialnega zastopstva. V njem ni strankarskih skupin, ampak so stališča njegovih članov pogosto tista, ki vplivajo na strankarsko politiko. Drugi dom zagotavlja mehanizem kontrole nad zvezno zakonodajo, njegova potencialna moč, da to zakonodajo blokira, pa ustvarja sistem povezanosti in medsebojnega vpliva na relaciji zveza in dežele (Russell, 2001b, str. 114 in 115).
26	Sprememba naj bi bila posledica zahtev političnih strank po pravi demokraciji (Polzer-Srienz, 2000, str. 27).
27	Teorija je tak položaj drugega doma označila kot lažni dvodomni sistem, že sicer neznatno zastopanje interesov federalnih enot na zvezni ravni pa se s prevlado strankarskih interesov nad njimi le še povečuje (Koja, 1970, str. 259).
28	Šmidovnik, 1993, str. 203.
29	Russell, 2001b, str. 211.
Tudi v večini številnih ustavnih ureditev Francije je bilo teritorialno predstavništvo vedno pomemben element parlamenta. V obdobju tretje republike je npr. senat predstavljal občine kot najstarejše in najbolj pomembne družbene skupine, domova pa sta bila v zakonodajnem postopku načeloma enakopravna.30 Ustava četrte republike je znatno omejila pristojnosti drugega doma, po ustavi pete republike iz leta 1958, ki velja še danes, pa mora biti v parlamentu zagotovljeno predstavništvo teritorialnih enot." Po mnenju teoretikov gre pri vključevanju lokalnih interesov na državni ravni za podobno zastopanost, kot je uveljavljena pri federativno in regionalno urejenih državah, kar daje lokalnim oblastem veliko možnosti za vplivanje na odločitve na višjih ravneh (senat je dejansko svet francoskih občin).32
Italijanski senat je po ustavi oblikovan na regionalni osnovi.33 Zato bi pričakovali, da bo v večji meri zastopnik interesov regij, vendar pa vpliv političnih strank to vlogo senata in pomen regij v sistemu dvodomnosti zmanjšuje.34 Med predlogi za reformo ustavnega sistema v Italiji je tudi predlog, da bi imel senat manjše število članov, ki bi jih volili predstavniki občinskih, pokrajinskih in regijskih svetov, splošno zakonodajno pristojnost pa bi imel le spodnji dom.35
Kakor vidimo, je teritorialna osnova za oblikovanje drugega doma parlamenta danes prevladujoča in najbolj običajna3" ter predstavlja zgled v moderni državi.37 V federativnih državah so razlogi za dvodomno ureditev praktično enaki
30	Podobno urejen način volitev v senat je imela tudi Švedska, kjer so člane zgornjega doma volili predstavniški organi provinc ter delegati tistih mest, ki niso bili zastopani v predstavniških organih provinc (Stefanovic, 1931, str. 540).
31	Prim. 24. člen ustave (http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/connaissance/constitution.asp, uporabljeno 2. 10. 2009).
32	Meny, 1998, str. 117.
33	V italijanskem sistemu gre za štiri ravni oblasti. Regije lahko same sprejemajo zakone na različnih področjih, imajo pa tudi zakonodajno iniciativo (http://www.senato.it/istituzione/ 29375/articolato.htm, uporabljeno 2. 10. 2009).
34	Predstavniki obeh zbornic se v poslanske skupine združujejo praviloma po strankarski pripadnosti (Osnove, 1998, str. 70).
35	Klano, 2005, str. 177 in 178.
36	Teritorialno predstavništvo je pravzaprav izvorna sestavina modernega dvodomnega parlamenta, saj je tudi angleški model dvodomnega sistema sprva temeljil na teritorialnem principu.
37	Npr. v Ukrajini je konec marca 2009 v parlamentarni postopek posredovan osnutek nove ustave, kjer je predvidena uvedba dvodomnega parlamenta. Ukrajinski predsednik se je za takšen predlog odločil po zgledu drugih držav, ki imajo dvodomni sistem. Parlament bo združeval predstavnike političnih sil v spodnjem domu, ki bodo voljeni neposredno po proporcionalnem sistemu, in predstavnike lokalnih skupnosti (zastopnike regij), ki bodo v zgornji dom prišli neposredno na podlagi večinskega volilnega sistema po načelu paritete (Juščenko, 2009, str. 5). Podobno v srbski ustavnopravni teoriji menijo, da naj bi se regiona-lizacija države odražala tudi v strukturi parlamenta, četudi enodomnega (Pejic, 2005, str. 80).
in govorijo o dvodomnosti kot nujni posledici oblike državne ureditve. Z redkimi izjemami imajo vse federacije dvodomne parlamente,38 drugi dom pa je v vlogi predstavnika federalnih enot.39 Za unitarne države pa je struktura parlamenta odvisna predvsem od stopnje decentralizacije države in razvitosti njene lokalne samouprave. Povsod pa ima teritorialno zastopstvo različno pomembno težo.
Med državami z dvodomnim sistemom, kjer ima pomembno vlogo teritorialno predstavništvo, prihaja do pomembnih razlik glede vloge in položaja drugega doma zaradi različnega zgodovinskega razvoja in družbenih sprememb v posamezni državi,40 posebej sprememb na ekonomskem in političnem področju (npr. nastanek političnih strank in krepitev njihove vloge),4' razlik z vidika enakopravnosti med teritorialnimi enotami,42 različnih možnosti teritorialnih enot za udeležbo in vpliv pri odločanju na centralni ravni,43 procesov federali-
38	Npr. Saint Kitts & Nevis, Micronezija in Venezuela (Massicote, 2001, str. 152).
39	Dvodomna ureditev je marsikje značilna tudi za federalne enote. V Avstraliji je npr. izjema le Queensland, ki je drugi dom ukinil že leta 1922. Več o tem gl. v Abolition of the Upper House, Information on Parliament and Government in Queensland, str. 1-11 (spletna stran: http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au./, uporabljeno 2. 10. 2009), kjer je zanimivo stališče, da je enodomni parlament odklon od demokracije, dvodomni sistem pa potreba vsake vladavine. To stališče je razumljivo, saj so avstralske federalne enote imele dvodomne parlamente po britanskem vzoru še v času statusa kolonij, večinoma iz istih razlogov, kot so značilni za unitarne države, tj., da pomenijo ustrezno zavoro in uravnoteženost znotraj zakonodajne oblasti.
40	Tipičen primer je Francija, kjer je v dvestoletni zgodovini dvodomne strukture parlamenta (v določenem obdobju tudi večdomne) njegov drugi dom doživljal številne preobrazbe, tako glede sestave, kakor tudi glede pristojnosti. Podobno je bilo tudi v nekdanji federativni Jugoslaviji, kjer so se družbene spremembe izrazito izražale v organizacijskih spremembah predstavniških teles na vseh ravneh oblasti.
41	Npr. ameriški senat je v vlogi predstavnika interesov lastniških struktur finančne, trgovske in veleposestniške narave pogosto soglašal s predpisi, ki so krepili pristojnosti zveze na račun državic, zato so danes razprave glede njegove vloge in potrebe po nadaljnjem obstoju podobne kot pri unitarnih državah z dvodomnim sistemom (Hague et al., 2001, str. 275). Že Laski je menil, da je bilo načelo predstavništva teritorialnih enot v ameriškem senatu izigrano z dejavnostjo strankarskega sistema, saj republikanci iz senata glasujejo enako kot republikanci iz predstavniškega doma (Laski, 1934-35, str. 60).
42	Praviloma ima vsaka teritorialna enota v drugem domu zveznega parlamenta enako število predstavnikov ne glede na njeno velikost in število prebivalstva (Pejic, 2005, str. 78). Ker pa je vloga teritorialnega elementa danes prikrita s strankarsko politiko in strankarsko zvestobo pri delovanju, je po mnenju teoretikov (Russell, 2003, str. 313) za večjo dinamiko drugega doma bolj pomembno, da nobena politična stranka nima pretirane večine v drugem domu, kot pa to, da so vse teritorialne enote v njem paritetno zastopane.
43	V nekaterih federativno urejenih državah te možnosti niso uveljavljene le v okviru dejavnosti drugega doma, ampak tudi na druge načine (npr. tako, da mora odločitve zveznega parlamenta potrditi tudi določeno število federalnih enot oziroma njihovih parlamentov, kot je to primer v Švici, Kanadi in podobno v nekdanji SFR Jugoslaviji). Francoski enodomni parlament je po ustavi iz leta 1793 moral sprejete zakone posredovati v mnenje vsem občinam v državi (če je desetina občin iz večine departmajev nasprotovala zakonu, je parlament moral sklicati t. i. primarne skupščine za dokončen sprejem zakona). Na ta način so imele teritorialne skupnosti v Franciji podobno vlogo, kakor jo imajo v dvodomnem sistemu. Po drugi strani pa so tudi primeri, kot npr. v kanadskem parlamentu, ko člane senata imenuje zvezna izvršilna oblast in je zato vloga drugega doma kot zastopnika federalnih enot vprašljiva.
zacije,44 centralizacije in decentralizacije skozi različna obdobja,45 novih vzorcev javnega upravljanja in podobno.
Po drugi strani pa je pri teh državah mogoče najti številne stične točke, ki med drugim koreninijo tudi v obliki njihove državne ureditve oziroma državne oblasti. Velja prepričanje, da ima drugi dom v predstavniških organih federativnih držav pomembnejšo vlogo od drugega doma v unitarni državi. Iz razlogov, zaradi katerih je oblikovan, je to tudi upravičena domneva, vendar praksa tega ne potrjuje v prepričljivi meri. Očitno je pri tem pomembna tudi oblika državne oblasti,4" ki v določeni meri vpliva na vlogo in položaj drugega doma.47
Lahko bi rekli, da je tam, kjer parlament kot sistem izgublja na pomenu, ali pa, kjer je ločitev oblasti manj dosledno izvedena, tudi vloga drugega doma vse manjša.4* V zvezi s tem je posebna italijanska ureditev, ker gre za unitarno državo in za parlamentarno republiko, a je senat kljub temu popolnoma enakopraven s predstavniško zbornico. Toda v italijanskem primeru gre za več pomembnih okoliščin, ki na neki način to posebnost pojasnjujejo. V Italiji ima namreč predsednik države, čeprav je posredno izvoljen, bistveno večjo vlogo in močnejši položaj kot v drugih parlamentarnih ureditvah, vključno z našo.4® Poleg tega pa je v Italiji kljub unitarni ureditvi prisoten močan regionalni naboj,50 ki se zrcali tudi v pogostih zahtevah po federalizaciji države.
44	Belgija je bila dolgo časa unitarna in centralizirana država, vendar je od leta 1970 dalje postopoma krenila po poti decentralizacije in federalizma, da bi leta 1993 tudi uradno postala federativna država (Lijphart, 1999, str. 100). Belgija je primer, ki kaže, da so meje med federalnim in regionalnim zborom lahko tudi zabrisane (Ribičič, 2000, str. 56).
45	Gre za stalen proces prerazporejanja funkcij med centralno oblastjo in teritorialnimi enotami v smeri krepitve ene ali drugih.
46	Za Kanado, Nemčijo in Avstrijo je značilna podrejena vloga drugega doma, čeprav gre za federativno urejene države, vendar pa imajo te države hkrati parlamentarno obliko oblasti (delna izjema v skupini tovrstnih držav je npr. Avstralija, a ima tudi tam drugi dom manjšo težo, ko gre za razmerje do vlade in za sprejemanje zakonov finančne narave).
47	V federativnih državah s skupščinskim sistemom (npr. Švica in bivše socialistične države), s predsedniško obliko oblasti (npr. ZDA) ali s prevladujočimi elementi predsedniške oblike oblasti (npr. Rusija) je npr. vloga drugega doma v parlamentu enakopravnejša.
48	Danes se v prid dvodomnosti navaja, da so raznoliki interesi, zastopani v drugem domu, manj pod vplivom vlade, kot pa v spodnjem domu (Russell, 2001a, str. 442).
49	Daljša mandatna doba predsednika države, pristojnost za oblikovanje vlade, imenovanje najvišjih državnih funkcionarjev, odobravanje osnutkov zakonov, ki jih vlada predloži v parlament, sklicevanje izrednih sej katerekoli zbornice parlamenta, pristojnost za njuno razpustitev, opravljanje nadzora nad izvajanjem zakonodajne funkcije v obliki odložilnega veta, vse to so značilnosti, ki govorijo o relativno močni vlogi italijanskega predsednika države.
50	Dežele imajo zakonodajno pristojnost na določenih področjih, imajo pravico do zakonodajne iniciative, lahko zahtevajo razpis razveljavitvenega ljudskega referenduma, poleg tega je osrednja državna oblast v skladu z načelom subsidiarnosti prepustila regionalnim oblastem, provincam in občinam cel niz upravnih nalog (Klaric, 2005, str. 174 in 175).
4. Teritorialno predstavništvo v razvoju slovenske dvodomnosti
Slovenci se, podobno kot preostali evropski prostor, srečujemo z različno strukturo in oblikami predstavniških organov že zelo dolgo in v različnih državnih tvorbah. Dvodomna struktura parlamenta je tudi v starejši teoriji vedno imela precej zagovornikov.5' Odločitve v praksi pa so seveda bile posledica razmerja sil med različnimi družbenimi skupinami. Zlasti v nekdanji skupni državi Jugoslaviji se je dinamika družbenih odnosov izrazito odražala v številnih spremembah strukture zveznega in republiških predstavniških organov.52 Rdeča nit sprememb so bile tudi razprave o pomenu teritorialnega predstavništva v zakonodajnem organu.53 Plod tovrstnih razprav o iskanju ustreznejših oblik za sodelovanje občin pri oblikovanju republiške politike oziroma pri njihovem vplivanju na delo republiške skupščine in na doslednejše uveljavljanje načela dvodomnega odločanja, je bila na slovenskih tleh najprej uvedba zasedanja delegatov občin kot posvetovalnega telesa v republiški skupščini, kasneje pa uvedba zbora občin kot enakopravnega zbora skupščine.54
Struktura parlamenta je zaposlovala tudi snovalce nove slovenske ustave.55 To vprašanje je bilo še posebej povezano s strukturo bodoče lokalne samouprave. Glede temeljnih lokalnih skupnosti ni bilo posebnih razhajanj, pač pa so bila odprta vprašanja glede oblikovanja širših lokalnih skupnosti in njihove zastopanosti na državni ravni. Stališča v zvezi s tem so bila diametralno nasprotna. Nekateri so menili, da pokrajin sploh ne potrebujemo, ker bi proces regionalizacije hkrati pomenil težnjo po federalizaciji države, drugi pa, da brez vzpostavitve druge ravni ne bo razvoja lokalne samouprave, kar bo imelo negativne posledice tudi glede uveljavljanja teritorialnih interesov pri določanju politike na državni ravni. Slednji so opozarjali, da bo ob velikem številu majhnih
51	Vošnjak, 1920, str. 198-203 in Steska, 1920, str. 1-20. Vošnjak je menil, da naj bi bil zgornji dom predstavnik vseh socialno-gospodarskih dejavnikov v državi, Steska pa je poudarjal, da je sodelovanje teritorialnih avtonomnih zastopstev pri zakonodaji protiutež prenagljenim odločitvam parlamenta.
52	Temeljit pregled tistega obdobja v Kristan, 1970, str. 184 in 185.
53	Sejni zapiski Skupščine SR Slovenije, št. 38/68, Priloge, str. 472.
54	Že v razpravah o osnutku ustave je bilo poudarjeno, da mora v republiški skupščini priti do izraza v vsej raznolikosti interes občin v vseh zadevah, ki so po svoji naravi take, da neposredno posegajo v interese občanov ter v položaj, vlogo in naloge občine kot teritorialne skupnosti (prim. v Sejni zapiski Skupščine SR Slovenije, 61. seja republiškega zbora,18. 7. 1973, str. 115).
55	Prim. magnetogram razprave o teh vprašanjih na 18. seji Komisije za ustavna vprašanja Skupščine Republike Slovenije z dne 12. 12. 1990.
in strokovno šibkih občin in ob odsotnosti druge ravni lokalne samouprave nastal v razmerju do centrov moči na državni ravni prehud razkorak."
V različnih fazah procesa nastajanja nove slovenske ustave se je kot alternativna rešitev v bodoči strukturi parlamenta ves čas pojavljal državni svet kot zastopnik posebnih interesov (lokalnih, socialnih, poklicnih ipd.), ki pa nikoli ni bil deležen ustrezne obravnave. Zaradi tega sta tudi njegova vloga in položaj vse od uvedbe dalje precej nedorečena. Zlasti to velja za zastopstvo teritorialnih interesov, ki imajo v državnem svetu absolutno večino.57 Dilema tvorcev ustave, kakšen drugi dom oblikovati, da bo ta ustrezal nalogam zastopstva teritorialnih enot in pozitivno vplival na zakonodajno dejavnost oziroma procese družbenega upravljanja, je tako prisotna še danes. Tudi zaradi nedosledno izvedenega načela delitve oblasti po vertikalni liniji.
Po ustavnih spremembah leta 2006 je dvostopenjska lokalna samouprava postala obveznost. Vmesna stopnja med državo in občinami naj bi bile pokrajine kot širše samoupravne lokalne skupnosti. S tem naj bi tudi drugi dom slovenskega parlamenta dobil izrazitejšo vlogo (bodisi kot zbor pokrajin bodisi kot strukturno reformiran državni svet58), seveda ob pogoju hkratnega premisleka o ustreznosti zdajšnjih njegovih pristojnosti. Pri tem gre vedno za vrsto možnosti, od oblikovanja močnega drugega doma, kar lahko privede celo do podrejenosti prvega doma, do vzpostavitve takšnega drugega doma, ki se v praksi izkaže kot neučinkovit in nepotreben. Rešitev je običajno kompromis, ki pa je upravičen le v primeru, če zadosti vnaprej določenim kriterijem (kot so npr. zagotovitev pristojnosti, ki bodo odločilne v zakonodajnem postopku, ustrezen vpliv v razmerju do izvršilne oblasti ipd.). Razvojno gledano naj bi zato rešitve glede bodoče vloge in položaja državnega sveta potekale primarno predvsem v naslednjih dveh smereh:
• v smeri spremembe razmerja med državnim svetom in državnim zborom kot splošnim predstavniškim organom oziroma v smeri zagotavljanja večje konkurenčnosti državnega sveta z ustrezno redefinicijo in modifikacijo njegovih pristojnosti in
56	Prim. v Ribičič, 2007, str. 331.
57	Pri tem je treba upoštevati tudi dejstvo, da je bil državni svet zasnovan še v času obstoja komunalnih občin, tako da gre za neke vrste anahronizem.
58	Najbolj zanimiva, široka in intenzivna razprava o možnostih preoblikovanja državnega sveta v teritorialno predstavništvo oziroma predstavništvo bodočih pokrajin je v strokovni javnosti potekala že leta 1998, kjer so bile predstavljene tako prednosti kot slabosti morebitnih sprememb (gl. npr. v Grad, 1998, str. 168-172 in Kristan, 1998, str. 173-174), še bolj aktualna pa je postala po zadnjih ustavnih spremembah (širše v Ribičič, 2007, str. 336-339).
• v smeri spremembe njegove notranje strukturiranosti (delno ali v celoti), pri čemer je temeljna smer preobrazbe strukture državnega sveta odvisna od bodoče smeri nadaljnjega razvoja decentralizacije oziroma lokalne samouprave kot njene teritorialne oblike.
5. Sklepne misli
Oblikovanje drugega doma v večini federativno urejenih držav z dvodomno strukturo parlamenta temelji na teritorialnem principu. Ta vse bolj postaja nujni pogoj tudi za unitarne države z razvito lokalno samoupravo, zato je med njimi in federativnimi državami v tem pogledu vedno manj razlik. K postopnemu izenačevanju prispeva tudi delovanje političnih strank, katerih interesi pogosto preplavijo interese ostalih družbenih skupin.
Iz preteklih izkušenj in iz primerjalne ureditve lahko črpamo koristne napotke za prihodnje odločitve. Nekatere dosedanje rešitve, tak primer je nedvomno ustavna opredelitev državnega sveta, so bile sprejete v veliki meri nepremišljeno, kar ima za posledico vedno močnejši glavobol vsakokrat, ko je na političnem jedilniku vprašanje presoje sedanje in bodoče vloge državnega sveta ali celo njegove ukinitve.
Povezanost lokalne samouprave s centralno oblastjo in potreba po njunem sodelovanju in usklajevanju tudi pri nas terja ustreznejše institucionalne oblike. V državnem svetu imamo posebno zastopstvo lokalnih interesov, kar pomeni, da je lokalna samouprava eden od strukturnih dejavnikov parlamenta. Parlament naj bi poleg političnih interesov, katerih glavni nosilci so politične stranke, odražal tudi interese samoupravnih teritorialnih enot. Državni svet zato pomeni vsaj možnost preprečevanja popolnega monopola in samovolje splošnega predstavniškega organa, ki lahko v nasprotnem primeru neovirano oblikuje zakonodajo po lastni meri oziroma po meri političnih elit. Navedena možnost pa je uresničljiva le v razmerah, ko ima drugi dom parlamenta široka pooblastila in takšne pristojnosti, ki ga v veliki meri približujejo razmerju prirejenosti s prvim domom. Gre predvsem za pomembno, včasih tudi odločilno vlogo v zakonodajnem postopku, v ustavno - revizijskem postopku, v zadevah finančne narave in v razmerju do izvršilne veje oblasti. Če je eno glavnih orožij drugega doma predvsem suspenzivni veto, s katerim zgolj začasno odloži uveljavitev nekega zakona, potem bo težko izpolnil pričakovanja, pa naj gre za povsem pragmatično
uveljavljanje interesov teritorialnih enot ali za uveljavljanje demokratičnih standardov znotraj zakonodajne veje oblasti. V obeh primerih pride v sferi javnega upravljanja do demokratičnega deficita, le v drugačni dimenziji tega upravljanja.
Mag. Miloš Senčur, višji predavatelj na Fakulteti za upravo Univerze v Ljubljani, je diplomiral in magistriral s področja javne uprave na Pravni fakulteti v Ljubljani. Zadnjih dvajset let deluje v javnem sektorju kot član prvega slovenskega parlamenta, direktor občinske uprave, načelnik upravne enote, vrhovni državni revizor za lokalno samoupravo, univerzitetni učitelj. Pri dosedanjem delu se je ukvarjal z raznimi vprašanji, kot so premoženjskopravna razmerja med občinami, razmejitev pristojnosti med občino in državo, volitve zastopnikov lokalnih interesov v državnem svetu, vloga občin v zakonodajnem postopku, razpolaganje s stvarnim premoženjem države in občin in podobno. Kot zunanji sodelavec ministrstva, pristojnega za javno upravo, že več let sodeluje v okviru programa obveznega usposabljanja za imenovanje v naziv.
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Review article
The bicameral system as a successor to decentralisation
UDK: 342.25(045) Miloš Senčur
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Administration, Slovenia milos.sencur@fu.uni-lj.si
ABSTRACT
The present paper focuses on the issue of territorial principle in a bicameral system which has remained until today the prevailing element in the development of the second chamber of parliament. By presenting its role in the Slovenian and comparable legal systems, the paper suggests that the territorial second chamber of parliament is ever more becoming an indispensable condition also for unitary states with a high level of decentralisation, blurring the distinction between unitary and federal states in such respect. The differences in the role and position of the second chamber are mainly related to the level of decentralisation or development of the local government and, occasionally, to the form of state power. In fact, the weakening of the parliament's role in relation to the executive also diminishes the role and position of the second chamber. Nevertheless, the significance of bicameral decision-making in theory and in practice remains unchanged.
Key words: parliament, decentralisation, bicameral system JEL: K19
1. Introduction
An important element in the development of a bicameral representative body - particularly in the light of the findings and experience from comparable legal systems and the tradition or experience of the country concerned - is the form of state organisation to which territorial representation is closely related. In the countries governed by a federal system, a bicameral parliament is the
conditio sine qua non for the implementation of the federal principle which also implies proper representation of territorial units in the federal parliament. Thus, what needs to be examined is to what extent internal subdivision affects the establishment of the bicameral system based on the territorial principle in the case of unitary states, and what is then the role of the second chamber. In both cases, the latter should act as a specific mechanism of breaks and balances in the functioning of the (central) legislature.
A characteristic of both federal and unitary states is that power is not necessarily centralised - based on the principle of vertical subsidiarity, numerous tasks are transferred into implementation or even management of various forms of territorial organisation whose relations with the central government are based, in the relevant circumstances, mainly on cooperation and interdependence. Practically any state has, in addition to the central level, also a lower level of government represented by a more or less developed and diversified local government. This is known as territorial decentralisation.
The number of levels between the central and local governments depends on the individual country,' mainly on its size, on historical developments, and increasingly often on the requirements brought about by the contemporary management process.2 As regards the various forms and levels of territorial organisation, a process of integration is in place aimed at gathering the various elements of the social system under a common framework, as appropriate. This by itself points to varying dimensions of the relations between central government and territorial units, particularly their interactions.
2. Forms of territorial decentralisation
The shaping of sub-national authorities is a continuous search for the right balance between decentralisation and centralisation, and thereby a search for new forms of organisation, also on territorial basis. A significant criterion in the
1	Brezovsek states that the existence of a network of territorial units is a prerequisite of the modern state (Brezovsek, 1997, p. 188). According to DEXIE, Paris (publication EU Subnational governments: an overview) EU Member States comprise 92,500 sub-national communities or authorities (Vlaj, 2009).
2	If there is only one level of local government, conflicts and polarity arise in the relations between the state and the local communities. On the other hand, an excessive number of levels normally presents negative consequences for the management process in terms of its efficiency.
selection of decentralisation measures of structural, financial and other nature should be, in particular, the tendency to reasonably eliminate any territorial drawbacks or strive for the equality of living conditions of the population at the level of a broader state community.3
In practice, various forms and methods for a top-down transfer of state's tasks exist.4 They refer either to the least intense level of transfer - i.e. deconcentration or administrative decentralisation5 where the performance of authoritative and other tasks is entrusted with bodies outside the central location, mainly owing to functional and organisational needs of the central administrative organisation and population's needs for access to administrative services -or to decentralisation in a stricter sense where transfer also implies the right to formulate policies and, partly, self-control over the implementation of the tasks."
One of the forms and consequences of decentralisation in the management of public affairs is local government. The powers of local government are provided by the constitution7 which also sets the boundaries of its operation and control. Local government is an important method of societal (self)regulation" and at the same time an indivisible part of state organisation.9 For such reason, the relations between local communities and the state are considered an essential element of self-governance. Based on the principle of vertical separation of power, this involves reciprocal control in the relations with the state and the possibility of local community representation at the cen-
3	Establishing the right balance in the distribution of public revenue between central government and territorial units to finance their public needs is a problem and hardly resolvable issue also in Slovenia. More about the significance of the economic aspect of decentralisation in Bugarič, 1998, p. 121-130.
4	Over the last one hundred years, a characteristic of the territorial units in Slovenia is that the management of public affairs has been organised at several territorial levels where local and state tasks intertwine. Eventually, a single-level public utility system was established as an attempt to design the optimal self-governance and authority community in terms of achieving balance between the frequency of administrative tasks and the number of population and size of the territory.
5	The term is, for example, explicitly used in Article 5 of the Italian constitution regulating the services depending on the state (see: http://www.senato.it/istituzione/29375/ articolato.htm, accessed on 2 October 2009).
6	In such case, theory speaks of political decentralisation as the highest level of autonomy (Porta, 2003, p. 207).
7	Cf. draft Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia, Poročevalec - bulletin of the Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 17/90, p. 20.
8	Thus, the same territory is managed by two governments, whereby also the state must subject to the local government (e.g. in spatial planning).
9	For example, the state gives local communities guidelines for spatial planning although such issue falls in the scope of work of the local government.
tral level. It is also the basis to determine the scope of influence of local communities on the regulation of their position and relations with the central authority. The higher the level of decentralisation (in political and economic terms), the more attention is devoted to issues relating to the separation of power between the state's centre and its parts, and those relating to the impact the latter should have on the shaping of central bodies and the decisions they make. The level of decentralisation is also directly proportional to the need for adequate interconnection between the system and its parts, which often results in the form of a bicameral structure of the central authority.
However, the bicameral system is not the only form of separation of state powers, and the principle of horizontal separation of power is not the only aspect of bicameralism. In fact, political or social power is not distributed just horizontally in the classical sense, but also vertically. The principle of the vertical separation of power is indeed gaining importance since a considerable share of power should be held by the local government.'0 The holders of such power have, given their self-governing position, at the same time the right to present their views and participate in the resolution of issues relating to the exercise of local government.''
3. Conceptual bases and practices of territorial representation in comparable countries
The oldest - and in a certain sense considered as reference - second chamber is the United States Senate,'2 established as early as 1787. Contrary to most other chambers the Senate has, to date, undergone no significant changes in terms of equality with the Congress' House of Representatives. Originally, the Senate had been designed as representative of the federal units although here, too, the interests of political parties later (mainly following the
10	Cf. Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia No. U-I-176/04 (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia No. 21/06).
11	Cf. Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia No. U-I-24/07 (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia No. 101/07).
12	A model to numerous federations. For example, at the Melbourne conference of 1890 the delegates from all Australian colonies decided for a future federal organisation of the country with a bicameral central parliament (more at: http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/, accessed on 2 October 2009).
introduction of direct elections) prevailed over the interests of individual states."
The U.S. model was followed by the Swiss constitution of 1848 introducing a bicameral federal legislature.'4 According to the existing constitutional system (constitution of 1999), the Federal Assembly is composed by the National Council and the Council of States. The power and freedom of the Swiss cantons has reflected in the role and position of the second chamber, except during the relatively short existence of a unitary state. In terms of powers, the second chamber has been equal to the first and the cantons have been allowed to autonomously define the manner in which it would be structured." The importance of the upper chamber diminishes in the event of joint sessions where the numerical advantage of the first chamber comes to the fore. Its role as protector of the cantons' interests is further reduced in the event of a referendum where such role is entrusted to the people. Nevertheless, over the last decades Switzerland has been characterised by centralisation affecting its transformation into a group of unitary states."
Germany introduced a federal type of government with the constitution of 1871 although the legislative power was mainly in the hands of the central authority, weakening the role and position of the federal units.'7 Later on, the Weimar constitution restricted also the powers of the second chamber, and the prevailing opinion today is that Germany was then close to a decentralised unitary state.'8 Following the rise of Hitler to power, the second chamber and the Länder were abolished in 1934. '9 In the post-war period, both German states had bicameral parliaments and both upper chambers were representatives of territorial units.20 With the German reunification in 1990, the constitution of West Germany prevailed. The Federal Council (Bundesrat) is subordinate to the first cham-
13	Grad et al., 2004, p. 143.
14	Brlic, 1931, p. 467.
15	In the past the representatives of the states were occasionally elected by the states' assemblies; today, they are elected directly. The cantons' regulations also provide for a uniform duration of their term of office (data from: http://www.ipu.org/english/home.htm, accessed on 2 October 2009).
16	Trifunovska, 1991, p. 138. On the other hand, there are signs of decentralisation resulting in the enhanced vertical integration among the cantons and local government units (Zimmermann, 1993, p. 86).
17	The then federal state was often named pseudo-federalism (Beyme, 2002, p. 307).
18	Grad et al., 2004, p. 91.
19	Ibid.
20	The representatives of the second chamber of East Germany were elected by the assemblies of these units, yet their decisions were not binding. The Länder were abolished in 1952 and the country became a unitary state (Grad et al., 2004, p. 108).
ber.2' It has the right to absolute veto on certain laws,22 and to suspensive veto on all other legislation.23 The members of the Federal Council are elected by the state governments from among their members 2 and have an imperative term meaning that they must follow the instructions of their state governments.26
The 1920 constitution of Austria, pursuant to which the second chamber reflected the federal organisation of the state, was amended twice (in 1925 and 1929), whereby the 1929 amendment expanded the second chamber to also include professions.2" Such change to the structure of the second chamber was radically upgraded with the new constitution of 1934 when the second chamber completely lost its role of representative of territorial units. The constitutional act of 1945 re-established the original constitution and returned to the second chamber powers similar to those originally provided. In such context, in addition to the right to legislative initiative and suspensive veto, mention needs to be made of the right to consensus to the decisions of the first chamber in specific cases.27
The Spanish autonomous communities are sometimes compared with the German Länder, ranking Spain among highly decentralised and almost federal
21	According to von Beyme, the Bundesrat is not a second chamber. It has a rather semi-parliamentarian character shown by the fact that the public takes no interest in its work, that its members vote unitarily as a delegation, that control over the government is indirect, etc. (Beyme, 2002, p. 310). At some point the author concludes that the Bundesrat has - contrary to the expectations of the authors of the constitution - developed into a strong second chamber (p. 316), which is of course closer to the actual situation (Russell, 2000, p. 216-218).
22	This is useful mainly in the event of amendments to the constitution, laws affecting public finance, and those affecting the states' administrative jurisdiction (more at: http://www.bundestag.de, accessed on 2 October 2009).
23	Pursuant to Article 50 of the German constitution, the Länder participate through the Bundesrat in the legislation and administration of the Federation and in matters concerning the European Union (see: http://www.bundestag.de/gesetze/gg/, accessed on 2 October 2009).
24	From three to six representatives, depending on the number of inhabitants in the individual federal state. The term of office of the members of the Bundesrat is not fixed - they are appointed and removed by the state governments (data retrieved from: http://www.ipu.org/english/home.htm, accessed on 2 October 2009).
25	According to theoreticians, the Bundesrat is a unique and most successful second chamber in terms of territorial representation. It has no party groups and the positions of its members often influence the parties' policies. The second chamber provides a mechanism of control over federal legislation, while its potential force to block such legislation creates a system of interconnection and mutual influence between the federation and the states (Russell, 2001b, p. 114 and 115).
26	The amendment was a result of the requests for true democracy made by political parties (Polzer-Srienz, 2000, p. 27).
27	Theory described such status of the second chamber as a false bicameral system, where the already insignificant representation of federal units' interests at the federal level is increasing with the predominance of party interests (Koja, 1970, p. 259).
countries.28 In the Spanish Senate, most members are directly elected within territorial units while other members are elected by their representative bodies. For such reason the Senate is often regarded as an unusual second chamber where directly elected members have no natural links with the local authorities although they are mostly also members of autonomous communities' legisla-
29
tures.
Likewise, most of the many constitutional systems of France considered territorial representation to be an essential part of any parliament. During the Third Republic, the Senate represented the communes as the oldest and most important social groups, and the two chambers had, in principle, equal powers in the legislative procedure.30 The Fourth Republic significantly restricted the powers of the second chamber, while the 1958 constitution of the Fifth Republic (still applicable today) provides that territorial units must be represented in parliament.3* According to theoreticians, the involvement of local interests at the state level implies a similar representation as the one established in federally and regionally organised countries, giving the local authorities great possibilities to influence decisions at higher levels (the Senate is actually the council of the French communes).32
The Italian Senate is constitutionally shaped on a regional basis.33 It would therefore be expected that it mainly acts as representative of the regions yet such role of the Senate and the importance of the regions in the system of bicameralism are diminished through the influence of political parties.34 One of the proposals to reform the constitutional system in Italy was for the Senate to have less members elected by representatives of municipal, provincial and regional councils, while general legislative power would be held exclusively by the lower house.38
28	Smidovnik, 1993, p. 203.
29	Russell, 2001b, p. 211.
30	A similar system of election to Senate applied in Sweden where the members of the upper house were elected by representative bodies of the provinces and the delegates of the cities that were not represented in provincial representative bodies (Stefanovic, 1931, p. 540).
31	Cf. Article 24 of the constitution (http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/connaissance/ constitution.asp, accessed on 2 October 2009).
32	Meny, 1998, p. 117.
33	The Italian system recognises four levels of authority. The regions may autonomously adopt laws related to several areas and also hold legislative initiative (http://www.senato.it/istituzione/29375/articolato.htm, accessed on 2 October 2009).
34	As a rule, the representatives of both chambers gather in parliamentary groups by party affiliation (Osnove, 1998, p. 70).
35	Klaric, 2005, p. 177 and 178.
As seen above, the prevailing and most common method for the development of the second chamber of parliament today is regional basis", serving as a model for the modern state.37 In federal countries, the reasons for a bicameral system are practically the same and consider bicameralism a necessary consequence of such type of state organisation. With some rare exceptions, all federations have bicameral parliaments,38 the second chamber acting as representative of the federal units.39 In unitary countries, the structure of parliament mainly depends on the level of the country's decentralisation and development of its local government. The importance of territorial representation varies.
In the countries governed by bicameral systems where territorial representation plays an important role, significant differences are observed in the role and position of the second chamber owing to different historical development and social changes in individual countries,40 particularly in economics and politics (e.g. creation of political parties and strengthening of their role),4'
36	Territorial representation is in fact the prime component of the modern bicameral parliament, and also the English model of bicameralism originally derived from the territorial principle.
37	E.g. in late March 2009, Ukraine submitted into parliamentary procedure a new draft constitution providing for the introduction of a bicameral parliament. The Ukrainian president chose such option based on the example of other countries with established bicameral systems. The parliament would thus gather representatives of political forces in the lower house, elected directly according to a proportional system, and representatives of local communities (regions), entering the upper house directly based on a majority electoral system under the principle of parity (Juscenko, 2009, p. 5). Similarly, the Serbian constitutional law theory states that regionalisation of the country would also reflect in the structure of parliament, although unicameral (Pejic, 2005, p. 80).
38	E.g. Saint Kitts & Nevis, Micronesia and Venezuela (Massicote, 2001, p. 152).
39	The bicameral system is sometimes characteristic also of the federal units. Australia for example only has one exception - Queensland, where the second chamber was abolished already in 1922. More in Abolition of the Upper House, Information on Parliament and Government in Queensland, p. 1-11 (website: http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au./, accessed on 2 October 2009), stating that a unicameral parliament is a deviation from democracy while a bicameral system is what every governance needs. Such statement is understandable since bicameral parliaments based on the English model persisted in the Australian federal units even in the time of the colonies status, mostly for the same reasons as those typical of unitary states, i.e. for serving as brake and balance of the legislature.
40	A typical example is France where in the 200 years of history of bicameral parliament (or even multicameral in a certain period of time) its second chamber experienced several transformations both in terms of composition and powers. Quite similar was the situation in former federal Yugoslavia where social changes explicitly reflected in the organisational changes of representative bodies at all levels of power.
41	For example, the US Senate in its role of representative of the interests of the ownership structures of financial, commercial and large estates nature has often supported regulations strengthening the power of the federation on the account of the states; therefore, today's discussions about its role and the need for its further existence are similar as in unitary countries with bicameral systems (Hague et al., 2001, p. 275). Already Laski believed that the
distinctions in terms of equality of territorial units,42 varying possibilities of territorial units' participation in and influence on decision-making at the central level,43 federalisation processes,44 centralisation and decentralisation over different periods,4" new patterns of public affairs management, etc.
On the other hand, these countries have numerous points in common which are rooted, among other, in the form of their state organisation or state authority. The prevailing conviction is that the second chamber in the legislatures of federal countries has a more important role than the second chamber in unitary countries. This is, given the grounds for its existence, a justified supposition although not sufficiently confirmed by practice. Obviously, the form of state organisation is important46 and to some extent affects the role and position of the second chamber.47
It may well be said that where the parliament as a system is losing importance or where the separation of power is less consistent, also the role of the
principle of representation of territorial units in the U.S. Senate was outwitted by the activity of the party system since the republicans in the Senate and those in the House of Representatives always vote the same (Laski, 1934-35, p. 60).
42	As a rule, all territorial units in the second chamber of the federal parliament have the same number of representatives irrespective of the unit's size and population (Pejic, 2005, p. 78). Yet since the role of the territorial element is in practice disguised by party politics and party loyalty, theoreticians (Russell, 2003, p. 313) believe that it is more important for the dynamics of the second chamber that no political party has excessive majority in the second chamber than that all territorial units are represented therein on a parity basis.
43	In some federal countries, these possibilities are not available merely within the framework of activities of the second chamber but also in other ways (e.g. the decisions of the federal parliament must be approved by a certain number of federal units or their parliaments, such as in Switzerland, Canada, and similarly in former Yugoslavia). Pursuant to the constitution of 1793, the French unicameral parliament had to forward the adopted laws to all communes in the country to obtain their opinion (if a tenth of the communes from most departments opposed a law, the parliament had to convene what was known as primary assemblies for the law to be finally adopted). Thus, the territorial communities of France had a role similar to those in bicameral systems. On the other hand, there are cases such as the Canadian parliament where members of the Senate are appointed by the federal government, thus questioning the role of the second chamber as representative of federal units.
44	Belgium was a unitary and centralised state for a long time, but since 1970 gradually pursued decentralisation and federalism to officially become a federal country in 1993 (Li-jphart, 1999, p. 100). Belgium is an example showing that the boundaries between federal in regional assembly may also be blurred (Ribičič, 2000, p. 56).
45	This is a constant process of redistribution of tasks between the central government and the territorial units in order to strengthen the one or the others.
46	Canada, Germany and Austria are characterised by a subordinate role of the second chamber although these countries have a federal system, yet have at the same time a parliamentary form of power (a partial exception in this group of countries is Australia, but also there the second chamber has a minor role when it comes to relations with the government or adoption of finance-related laws ).
47	In federal countries with an assembly system (e.g., Switzerland and the former socialist countries), with a presidential system (e.g. USA), or with prevailing elements of the presidential system (e.g. Russia), the role of the second chamber in parliament is more equal.
second chamber is diminishing.48 A specific example in such regard is the Italian system: Italy is a unitary country and a parliamentary republic, and nevertheless the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies are fully equal. Yet the Italian case presents several important circumstances which somewhat explain this peculiarity. For example, the president - although indirectly elected - has a greater role and a stronger position than in other parliamentary systems, including Slovenia.49 Moreover, despite its unitary organisation, Italy features a strong regional component50 also reflected in the frequent requests for federalisation.
4. Territorial representation in the development of Slovenian bicameralism
Slovenians and the rest of Europe alike have been experiencing different structures and forms of representative bodies over different periods of time and through various systems of state organisation. The bicameral structure of parliament found many advocates even in older theories.5' In practice, however, the decisions were the result of the distribution of power among various social groups. Particularly in the case of former Yugoslavia, the dynamics of social relations clearly reflected in numerous changes in the structure of the federal and republic representative bodies.52 The fil rouge of such changes was also a series of debates on the importance of territorial representation in the
48	An argument in favour of bicameralism is that the various interests represented in the second chamber are less influenced by the government than in the lower house (Russell, 2001a, p. 442).
49	Longer term of office of the president, the right to form the government, the appointment of senior state officials, the approval of draft laws submitted by the government to the parliament, convening extraordinary sessions of any parliamentary chamber, the right to dismiss them, supervision over the implementation of the legislative function in the form of suspensive veto, are all characteristics testifying to the relatively strong role of the Italian president.
50	The regions have legislative powers in certain areas, the right to legislative initiative, they may request the calling of an abrogating popular referendum; in addition, based on the subsidiarity principle, the central government transferred a series of administrative tasks onto regional governments, provinces and municipalities (Klaric, 2005, p. 174 and 175).
51	Vosnjak, 1920, p. 198-203 in Steska, 1920, p. 1-20. Vosnjak believed that the upper house should represent all socio-economic players in the country, while Steska argued that the participation of territorial autonomous representations in legislation acted as counterbalance to overhasty decisions of the parliament.
52	For a thorough overview of this period see Kristan, 1970, p. 184 and 185.
legislature.63 In Slovenia, the debates about finding the most suitable form of municipal participation in the formulation of republic policies or municipal influence on the work of the republic assembly and on a more consistent implementation of the principle of bicameralism, first resulted in the introduction of the meeting of municipal delegates as a consultative body of the republic assembly, and later on in the establishment of the Chamber of Municipalities as an equal chamber of the Assembly.64
The structure of parliament occupied also the thoughts of the authors of the new Slovenian constitution,66 particularly in relation to the structure of the future local government. No particular disagreement was expressed in relation to the basic local communities but questions were raised regarding the establishment of broader local communities and their representation at the state level. The opinions thereon were diametrically opposed. Some people believed regions to be unnecessary since the process of regionalisation would at the same time imply a tendency toward the federalisation of the state, while others thought that without establishing the second level the local government could not be developed, which would negatively affect also the promotion of territorial interests in the formulation of state policies. The latter also cautioned that a large number of small and technically weak municipalities and the absence of the second level of local government would lead to an excessive gap in the relation toward the centres of power at the state level.68
Over the various stages of drafting the new Slovenian constitution, the National Council as representative of special interests (local, social, professional, etc.) has always been considered an alternative solution in the future structure of parliament, but has not received adequate attention. For such reason, its role and position have been rather undefined ever since its establishment. This applies in particular to the representation of territorial interests which have the absolute majority in the Council.67 Thus, the dilemma faced by
53	Session records of the Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, No. 38/68, Appendices, p. 472.
54	Already the debates on the draft constitution stressed that in the republic assembly adequate attention should be given to the diversity of municipal interests in all matters which directly affect the interests of the citizens and the position, role and tasks of the municipality as territorial community (Cf. Session records of the Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, 61st session of the Chamber of the Republic, 18 July 1973, p. 115).
55	Cf. verbatim records of the debate at the 18th session of the Commission for Constitutional Affairs of the Slovenian Assembly of 12 December 1990.
56	Cf. Ribičič, 2007, p. 331.
57	This may be regarded as anachronism since the National Council was established already at the time of "municipal communes".
the authors of the constitution about which type of second chamber should be chosen in order to satisfy the tasks of territorial representation and have a positive influence on the legislative activity or social management processes, is still very topical. Also owing to the inconsistent implementation of the principle of vertical separation of power.
The constitutional amendments of 2006 made the two-stage local government compulsory. The intermediate level between the state and the municipalities would be represented by the regions as broader self-governing local communities. This would provide the second chamber of the Slovenian parliament with a more prominent role (either as chamber of the regions or a structurally reformed National Council68), on condition of a simultaneous consideration of the suitability of its existing powers. Several possibilities are to be examined, from the creation of a strong second chamber, which might even lead to subordination of the first chamber, to the establishment of a second chamber which would in practice qualify as inefficient and unnecessary. The right solution is usually a compromise, which however is only justified if it meets certain criteria (such as powers decisive for the legislative procedure, adequate influence in the relation toward the executive, etc.).
In terms of development, the solutions regarding the future role and position of the National Council should be directed toward:
•	a change in the relation between the National Council and the National Assembly as the general representative body, or improved competitiveness of the National Council with adequate redefinition and modification of its powers; and
•	a change in its internal structure (partly or entirely), whereby the transformation of the National Council's structure depends on the future development of decentralisation or local government as the territorial aspect thereof.
58 The most interesting, broad, and intense public debate on the possibilities to transform
the National Council into a territorial representation or representation of the future regions
was held as early as 1998 when both the advantages and disadvantages of possible modifi-
cations were presented (see e.g. Grad, 1998, p. 168-172 and Kristan, 1998, p. 173-174); the
debate became even more topical following the most recent constitutional amendments
(more in Ribičič, 2007, p. 336-339).
5. Conclusion
In most federal countries with bicameral parliaments, the second chamber is established based on the territorial principle. The latter is ever more becoming an indispensable condition also for unitary states with well-developed local government, slowly blurring the differences between them and the federal countries. A contribution to gradual equalisation is made also by political parties whose interests often prevail over the interests of other social groups.
The past experience and the comparisons with other countries provide useful guidelines for future decisions. Some of the existing solutions, an example thereof certainly being the constitutional definition of the National Council, have largely been adopted without due consideration, which results in increasing headache anytime the assessment of the existing and future role or even abolishment of the National Council appears on the political menu.
The interconnection between local and central governments and the need for their cooperation and coordination call for more adequate institutional forms also in Slovenia. Local interests are represented in the National Council, which means that local government is one of the structural elements of the parliament. In addition to political interests mainly pursued by political parties, the parliament should reflect the interests of self-governing territorial units. The National Council thus represents at least a possibility to prevent the absolute monopoly and arbitrariness of the general representative body which may otherwise freely create legislation to fit its own interests or the interests of political elites. Such possibility is, however, only feasible where the second chamber has powers and competences broad enough to make it more equal to the first chamber. This mainly refers to a significant and sometimes even decisive role in the legislative process, in the process of constitutional review, in financial matters, and in the relation toward the executive. If one of the main weapons of the second chamber is suspensive veto whereby it only temporarily suspends the entry into force of a law, then it will hardly meet the expectations - be it a pragmatic promotion of the interests of territorial units or the implementation of democratic standards within the legislative branch. Both cases result in a democratic deficit of public administration, which only differs in terms of its dimension.
Miloš Senčur, Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Administration of the University of Ljubljana, obtained his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in public administration at the Faculty of Law of Ljubljana. For the last twenty years, he has been engaged in the public sector as member of the first Slovenian parliament, director of municipal administration, head of administrative unit, supreme state auditor for local government, university professor. His hitherto work has been centred on issues such as property law relations among the municipalities, distribution of powers between municipality and the state, elections of representatives of local interests in the National Council, role of municipalities in the legislative procedure, managing the physical assets of the state and municipalities, etc. As an external associate of the ministry responsible for public administration, he has been participating in the programme of compulsory training for appointment in grade for several years.
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Review article
Public oversight of the audit profession - Comparison of implemented practices in the EU and the U.S.
UDK: 33.025.13(4:73)(045) Maja Zaman Groff
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Economics, Slovenia maja.zaman@ef.uni-lj.si
Marko Hočevar
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Economics, Slovenia marko.hocevar@ef.uni-lj.si
ABSTRACT
Following financial scandals at the turn of the century, the audit profession in the European Union, the United States and elsewhere, has undergone profound legislative and regulatory reforms, including the requirement for intense public oversight of the profession. The article provides an overview of the development of external quality assurance systems in the audit profession in the EU and the U.S. with emphasis on the system of public oversight, implemented after the passing of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 in the U.S. and the Statutory Audit Directive of 2006 in the EU. The aims of the article are: 1) to explain different backgrounds of external quality assurance systems in the EU and the U.S., 2) to describe implemented practices related to the public oversight system in the two regions and 3) to present the main findings of the existing empirical research focusing on the impact of the newly established systems of public oversight on the quality of audit services. Our literature research reveals that the evidence on the impact of the public oversight on the ultimate audit quality in the EU has not yet been provided because the Member States have only finished the implementation of the Statutory Audit Directive requirements into national legislations by the year 2008. In the U.S., on the other hand, first empirical evidence has been presented, suggesting that the quality of auditing has improved after the passing of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. So far evidence has been provided to support the proposition that PCAOB opinions are associated with earnings quality of the audit firm's clients, that auditors have become more conservative and that the new inspectors (as opposed to the former system of self-regulation) can hold the auditors to stricter standards by taking concrete actions against felonious auditors and imposing costly penalties.
Key words: audit profession, public oversight, quality assurance systems in EU and U.S., monitoring, peer review.
JEL: M48
1. Introduction
Following the milestones of economic development, specialized areas of interest have developed within the accounting profession and a variety of accounting-related professions have emerged. Development of different accounting-related professions (e.g. financial and management accounting, tax consulting and auditing) followed the need for specialized services, sought by the state, public sector and business. Comparing different accounting-related professions it is crucial to emphasize that the majority, such as financial and management accounting, cost accounting and tax consulting have always been driven by private interest. In its early history, the auditing profession was no exception to this rule.
The period of the industrial revolution and high economic growth in Europe (the period between years 1750 and 1850) was the period of transformation of successful entrepreneurs and small family businesses into large industrial corporations. The period, following the industrial revolution and the separation of owners from the management, especially the second half of the 19th century, was the period of increasing role of auditors and the rise of the audit profession. At this time, auditors became important players in resolving the agency problem between diverse interests of owners (principals) and their appointed managers (agents). Auditors acted in the interest of owners to whom they periodically reported on the completed audits. Consequently, auditing contributed to improved quality of information flows and played important role in decreasing information asymmetry between principals and agents. As auditors were not only expected to detect clerical errors and omissions in financial statements, but also to report on any evidence of management fraud, they had to be independent of management.
With further development of financial markets the provision of an independent opinion on the financial statements to the general public became the primary objective of an audit and the auditors were recognized to act in public interest. The main audit objective gradually changed from the detection of fraud to reporting on the actual financial condition of an entity. Audited financial statements became crucial for functioning of capital markets because the auditing process reduced the information asymmetry between the management and diverse groups of players on capital markets. Several researchers have studied the relation between audit quality and its impact on financial state-
ments credibility. Alles, Kogan and Vasarhelyi (2004, p. 184) claimed that assurance added value to communications between an auditee and its audience and that the degree to which audited financial statements added this value was directly related to the credibility of the auditor. Similarly, Teoh and Wong (1993, p. 365) provided evidence that companies increased the credibility of their financial statements by appointing high-quality auditors. Hillary and Lennox (2005, p. 216) suggested that an audit firm's average client preferred a high-quality auditing since high-quality auditing helps to reduce information risk and the cost of capital.
Today, among different accounting-related professions, only the audit profession is closely related to the public interest and is therefore most regulated. Consequently, the requests for and standards of external quality assurance systems for statutory audits have been included in national auditing regulations already before the profound changes in the profession-related regulation, represented by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) in the U.S. and the Directive 2006/43/EC (Statutory Audit Directive) in Europe.
Inclusion of quality assurance requests in national legislations of individual states was crucial because although audit reports did refer to the use of auditing standards and declared auditor's independence in the title of the report itself ("independent auditor's report"), there was no other assurance whether the audit was truly carried out in conformity with the standards declared in the report and whether the independence-related rules were respected, not to mention an essential question, what provisions the independence-related rules included. The need for external monitoring of audit profession originated from request for appropriate quality of audit services, including the auditor's independence.
External quality assurance system is the profession's principal means of demonstrating to the public, to regulators and other interested parties that auditors are performing at a level that meets the established auditing standards as well as ethical rules. In addition, it encourages the profession to implement quality improvements in auditing methods. Surveys, related to effects of quality assurance on quality of statutory audits (Recommendation on quality assurance for the statutory audits in the European Union, 2000) demonstrate that quality assurance is actually adding value in detecting and preventing weaknesses in the audit process and that it results in improvements of auditing procedures and internal quality control systems of audit firms. Taking into consideration that already in year 2000 statutory audits were mandatory in over
three million limited liability and joint stock companies across the EU under the two accounting directives (at that time the 4th Directive on the Annual accounts of certain types of companies and the 7th Directive on Consolidated accounts of companies with limited liability), and that the 8th Directive at that time did not contain specific guidance related to audit function and external quality assurance, audit regimes and quality assurance systems differed significantly between different EU Member States as well as the U.S.
2. Quality assurance for the statutory audit in the EU and the U.S. before the recent financial scandals
Due to lack of any specific guidelines, a number of different external quality assurance systems have developed in practice. Depending on the status of persons in charge of carrying out the quality assurance, these can generally be classified as variations of two principal types of systems: monitoring and peer review (Public Oversight of the Accounting Profession in Europe, 2007, p.12):
•	Monitoring refers to a situation where quality assurance reviews are undertaken by staff employed by an independent review organization (professional body or regulator).
•	Peer review refers to a situation where the review organization organizes and supervises the reviews undertaken by experienced and authorized practitioners of audit firms or statutory auditors (hence the reference to "peer"), working on the contract basis.
Observing the divergent ways of external quality assurance development, the European Commission issued its first recommendations on quality assurance in November 2000 (Recommendation on quality assurance for the statutory audit in the European Union - Minimum requirements, 2000). The goal of these recommendations was to ensure that all statutory audits were covered by equivalent quality assurance systems with sufficient public oversight. The ultimate purpose of improved quality insurance in the audit profession was to improve the reliability and comparability of financial information and to
restore confidence in the efficient functioning of the EU capital markets. The Recommendation on quality assurance for the statutory audit was passed as a result of the discussions within the EU Committee on Auditing, which is composed of representatives from the Member States and the European audit profession. The minimum requirements related to the implementation of quality assurance systems in the Member States still allowed certain flexibility: both basic methodologies (monitoring and peer review) were acknowledged when appropriate safeguards were applied. On the other hand, the ambition of the recommendation was to change the existing situation where not all EU statutory auditors were obliged to be covered by a quality assurance system (before the recommendation was passed some Member States did not have a system for quality assurance at all, whereas in other Member States coverage existed only voluntarily). The ultimate goal of the recommendation was to improve the quality of auditing services throughout the EU by encouraging quality assurance systems, which put forward specific requirements such as the frequency and the scope of the quality reviews and confidentiality. In particular, the requirements for public oversight composed of a majority of non-practitioners, publication of the results and the possibility of access to the review files by the competent authorities were the major contributions of the recommendation to upgrade the existing quality assurance systems (Recommendation on quality assurance for the statutory audit in the European Union -Minimum requirements, 2000).
In the U.S., the roots of the external quality assurance systems in the auditing profession can be traced to the early 1970's, when the profession became self-regulated following several accounting scandals that involved fraudulent financial reporting and caused the public to question audit effectiveness. After hearings at the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, the SEC Practice Section (SECPS) was established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and any AICPA member firm that was engaged in auditing financial statements of public companies was required to belong to the SECPS and was required to undergo a peer review at least once every three years (Lennox & Pittman, 2009, p.3). On the other hand, audit firms with no public company clients were given an option to join voluntarily and these firms were also subject to peer reviews (Hilary & Lennox, 2005, p.214). The primary focus of the peer review process was on the overall quality of the audit firm and the reviewers documented their findings in "peer review opinions" that were publicly available. In their reports, reviewers disclosed any systematic weakness found and issued an opinion that could be either "clean" (if
they found no significant weaknesses at the audit firm), "unmodified with weaknesses" (if weaknesses were significant but not serious), "modified" (if weaknesses were serious) or "adverse" (if weaknesses were very serious). Hilary and Lennox (2005) provided first evidence on the credibility of AICPA peer reviews. They carried out an extensive survey in which they studied whether the opinions issued by the peer reviewers provided credible information to clients about audit firm quality. They investigated the credibility of peer reviews by examining audit firm dismissals and appointments in the 12-month period following issuance of peer review opinions and found that the reviewed firms gained clients after receiving clean opinions and lost clients after receiving modified or adverse opinions. Their tests indicated that peer reviews were perceived informative about the quality of the audit firms. Casterella, Jensen and Knechel (2009, p.732) also found that there was a predictable link between the number of weaknesses identified in a firm's peer review report and the likelihood of that audit firm having a malpractice claim filed against it. Similarly, in their discussion of the changing role of audit committees in the corporate governance process, Woodlock and Claypool (2001) pointed out several dimensions that should be considered at the audit committee meetings to improve its oversight and the confidence in the company's financial statements. In the context of the external auditor selection they suggest the audit committee members to review a copy of the external auditor's latest peer review because "audit committees that review the peer review are in a better position to determine whether the external auditor is suited for auditing the company's records" (Woodlock and Claypool, 2001, p. 30).
The debate between advocates and opponents of the implemented quality assurance system through the self-regulation was strident and it was becoming increasingly a political one. Among the advocates of the system, Charles Kaiser, a former chair of the AICPA, stated that self-regulation provided credibility, generated public trust and reduced unnecessary and costly governmental intervention (Hilary & Lennox, 2005, p. 214). On the other hand, peer review has come under considerable criticism from many members of the Congress, the media and others. The critics of self-regulation had argued that peer reviews lacked credibility (Hilary & Lennox, 2005, p. 212) and the prevailing cynical view of these reviews by their opponents was consolidated in the following statement: "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" (Lennox & Pittman, 2009, p. 3). This and other critiques were mainly related to the general lack of independence among reviewers and reviewees (Anantharaman, 2007, p. 8). The generally perceived lack of independence was primarily
the consequence of possibility that the reviewee was allowed to choose the audit firm to carry out the peer review.
Following the financial scandals at the turn of the century, the audit profession has lost the confidence of all groups of players on financial markets. After long centuries of building the profession, it suddenly seemed to have reached the point of "dead end". Major players (governments, regulators, public agencies, investors and others) soon agreed that the profession that had been designated to act in the interest of public, has shifted its course to begin acting in the interest of profit. Unfortunately the consensus on the need for immediate action, in the sense of profound changes in the profession-related regulation, was reached too late to prevent the damage to financial markets and profession itself. The ambition to restore public confidence in audit profession, improve reliability of publicly available financial information and stabilize financial markets, led to profound legislative and regulatory reforms in the field of the audit profession in Europe, the U.S., and elsewhere. These reforms have redefined the roles of all players related to a public company's financial reporting process (management, internal and external auditors, boards of directors, supervisory boards and audit committees) and have highlighted the requirement for intense public oversight of the audit profession.
3. Development of public oversight of the audit profession as the consequence of recent financial scandals
The recent financial scandals, especially Enron and Worldcom, that caused the fall of one of the big players in the auditing services market, Arthur Andersen, have heavily undermined public confidence in the audit profession. Alles, Kogan and Vasarhelyi (2004, p. 188) point out that the prevailing theory behind corporate failure in the mind of the public was that "it is due to deliberate fraud between managers, aided and abetted by auditors, who, at best, are incompetent and, at worst, corrupt and outright compliant". Considering such prevailing view of the audit report users it was clear that significant modifications, regarding the oversight of the audit profession, were indispensable. Restoring auditor credibility was one of the major ambitions of both, the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 in the U.S. and the Statutory Audit Directive (2006/43/EC)
in the EU. This issue was given a priority due to the importance of audited financial statements in facilitating capital market transactions.
In the following two sections we present the characteristics of the newly implemented public oversight systems in the EU and the U.S. Because there is a high possibility that the new practices influence auditors' incentives, we are convinced that it is of major importance to study their impact on ultimate audit quality. DeFond (2009, p. 1) points out that while auditor incentives, most commonly associated with audit quality, are litigation and reputation concerns, oversight mechanisms that are used to monitor the profession are also likely to impact auditors' incentives. Therefore, at the end of each section, we attempt to provide any existing empirical evidence related to efficiency of the public oversight systems on the quality of audit services provided by audit firms.
3.1 Public oversight of the audit profession in the EU
In the EU, criteria for the quality assurance system were put forward in the Statutory Audit Directive in June 2006. With its principal scope to ensure consistently high quality of auditing services in all EU Member States, the Directive introduced a requirement for all statutory auditors and audit firms to be subject to a system of an independent quality assurance, organized independently from the reviewed statutory auditors and audit firms and subject to public oversight on the basis of home country control. The requirements of the Directive called for profound changes of quality assurance arrangements in a number of European countries.
Although the new requirements related to the audit profession entailed adjustments in national legislation of the Member States, the Directive still allows for considerable differences regarding how external quality assurance systems for statutory auditors and audit firms can be set up. In general, the two types of quality assurance systems that have been introduced already before the Statutory Audit Directive (monitoring and peer review), can be found in Europe. In monitoring, quality assurance reviews are undertaken by staff employed by a review organization. In peer review, the review organization organizes and supervises the reviews to be undertaken by experienced and authorized practitioners of audit firms or statutory auditors. Despite these differences, both systems of monitoring and peer review are considered to comply with the Statutory Audit Directive. Under either of the existing two systems, the newly established public oversight body may also attend the
reviews as part of its oversight work. Several EU countries have selected the monitoring approach to exercise the oversight of the audit profession. Representatives of this group of countries are Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Cyprus and Slovenia. On the other hand, the peer review approach was chosen by Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Greece and Luxemburg. In practice, also a combined approach can be found. Such approach refers to a situation where oversight is primarily carried out by independent professionals, employed at professional institutes, in co-operation with auditors-practitioners working on a contractual basis. The primary advantage of this approach is that contractual partners have valuable experience in auditing and knowledge regarding business operation in specific business areas. The combined approach can be found in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden, Austria and France (Quality assurance arrangements across Europe, 2006).
In the Directive not only types of selected quality assurance systems but also the system of their financing is subject to independent decision, taken by the Member State. Consequently, considerable differences regarding the public oversight financing exist among different EU countries. In table 1 we present the financing arrangements of the public oversight system in four selected EU countries and Switzerland.
Table 1 reveals that significant differences exist among European countries regarding financing of the public oversight systems across Europe. Taking into consideration the number of audit firms and the number of auditors, registered in different countries, it is still evident, that the total yearly available funds vary significantly among selected countries. Also, while the majority of countries have built the financing system of their public oversight on yearly fees, collected from auditors and audit firms, in some countries the public oversight system is financed exclusively from the state budget.
We believe that existing differences of established public oversight practices in different Member States raise a number of highly interesting questions. First, it can be assumed that the total amount of yearly available funds affects the quality of the work performed by the public oversight body. But the comparison of the funding systems and, particularly, the type of financing, also reveals that in countries with smallest amounts of yearly funds they are financed through the state budget and are therefore highly independent from auditors and audit firms.
Table 1: Comparison of financing arrangements of the public oversight system in selected European countries
	Finland	The Netherlands	Sweden	Switzerland	Slovenia
Number of audit firms	74	485	111	3067	52
Number of auditors	n.a.	1438	4108	6545	208
Public oversight body	Auditing Board of the Central Chamber of Commerce	Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) - Audit firm supervision department	Supervisory Board of Public Accountants	Switzerland's Federal Audit Oversight Authority	Agency for Public Oversight of the audit profession
Type of financing	Yearly fees from audit firms	Yearly fees from audit firms	Yearly fees from auditors	Yearly fees from audit firms and auditors	Financed exclusively from budget (180.000 EUR)
Yearly amount of fees collected	700.000 EUR (expected rise to 1 mio EUR)	Must be approved by the Ministry of Finance regarding planned activities	4,2 mio EUR	4,2 mio EUR	0
Number of employees	9	20	20	22	5
Source: Financing of public oversight bodies, 2009 (adopted)
As countries with higher budgets are mostly financed by the fees collected from auditors and/or audit firms, this raises the question of independence which is (in theory and practice) highly related with the audit quality. And second, no evidence has so far been provided on influence of the type of the quality assurance system selected (monitoring or peer review) on audit quality. It is important to point out that within both systems special attention should be paid to specific aspects of the quality assurance system. In the monitoring system it is crucial to maintain high experience levels and professional competencies for reviewers. In the peer review system the emphasis is focused on
compliance with the independence-related standards. An interesting question arising from the debate on the trade-off between expertise and independence and its influence on the quality of work performed by the oversight body has not yet been answered.
3.2 Public oversight of the audit profession in the U.S.
In the U.S., at the time of financial scandals, audit firms had been subject to self-regulation under peer review for nearly 25 years. The financial reporting failures renewed the on-going concerns about the effectiveness of self-regulation, the peer review program and the discussion whether monitoring separate from the profession is essential for ensuring high-quality auditing (Lennox, Pittman, 2009, p. 1). Empirical research, focusing on the period before the financial scandals, reveals mixed results regarding the efficiency of the existing quality assurance system. On one hand, survey results supported the high information value of peer reviews. The survey, carried out by Hilary and Lennox (2005) provided evidence that peer-review reports were associated with perceived audit quality. Their work was extended by Casterella, Jensen and Knechel (2009), who tested if peer review opinions were also associated with actual audit quality. Their research provides evidence that peer review opinions were associated with actual audit quality in the sense of predicting audit failure such as malpractice claims alleging auditor negligence, overworking staff and taking on risky clients (Casterella, Jensen & Knechel, 2009, p. 732). On the other hand, an important factor, adding to the debate whether the self-regulation of the profession failed to protect investors against poor quality audits, was the fact that Deloitte and Touche gave Arthur Andersen a favorable opinion even after the Enron and other potential audit failures came to light. Moreover, despite many publicly known cases of audit failure, none of the major audit firms has ever received a negative peer review opinion (Alles, Ko-gan & Vasarhelyi, 2004, p. 185). Casterella, Jensen and Knechel (2009, p. 714) indicate that the general observation (although at that time not yet systematically studied) was that most audit failures involved firms receiving clean (unmodified) peer-review reports. On basis of extent literature review they also point out the evidence that peer-reviews report relatively few weaknesses, that almost all peer-reviews result in unmodified reports, that most audit failures involve peer-reviewed firms and that peer-review cannot be effective because of the general lack of independence between reviewers and reviewees.
The system of oversight of the audit profession was profoundly changed following the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, when the system of self-regulation through peer review process for the audit firms with SEC clients was replaced by independent inspections, carried out by the newly created body, the Public Company Accounting and Oversight Board (PCAOB). Under the new legislation, audit firms are required to undergo PCAOB inspection annually if they audit at least 100 public companies and triennially if they have less than 100 clients among public companies (Anantharaman, 2007, p. 10). On the other hand, audit firms with no SEC clients continue to be subject to peer reviews, administered by the AICPA. One of the consequences of the Sarbanes Oxley Act, regarding the establishment of the PCAOB was that 47 small audit firms ceased auditing public clients during the period immediately following the passage of SOX. The survey of the factors behind their decision revealed that concerns about the PCAOB inspections were the auditors' primary reasons for exiting the industry (DeFond, 2009).
4. Empirical evidence on the impact of the newly established public oversight systems on quality of audit services
In the U.S., an increasing number of researchers have been focusing their empirical research on comparison between the self-regulation of the audit profession and the new public oversight practices. Anantharaman (2007, p. 33) found that firms that themselves review other firms consistently receive more favorable opinions from peer reviewers than from PCAOB reviews and that firms with peer reviewers who are less likely to be independent (such as smaller, non-competing firms) and firms likely to be »peer review specialists« also receive significantly more favorable opinions from peer review than from the PCAOB. Gunny and Zhang (2006, p. 12) found that peer review opinions were not associated with earnings quality of the audit firm's clients whereas they found evidence to support the proposition that PCAOB opinions were associated with earnings quality of the audit firm's clients. They confirmed that audit firms that receive favorable PCAOB opinions have clients with higher earnings quality. Moreover, DeFond (2009, p.2) concludes that the new inspectors can hold the auditors to stricter standards by imposing costly penalties:
"...unlike the peer reviewers the PCAOB inspectors are able to take actions against felonious auditors which can result in large penalties. These actions can include notifying the SEC of auditor transgressions, notifying the Justice Department of possible criminal violations, and disciplinary proceedings by the PCAOB itself". Consequently, he argues that auditors might have incentives to improve audit quality in anticipation of the inspections. Some evidence suggesting that the quality of auditing and the quality of financial reporting have improved after the passing of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 has also been presented by Cohen, Dey and Lys (2008), confirming that earnings management has been declining and by Lobo and Zhou (2006) pointing out that after the passing of the SOX, auditors appear to be increasingly conservative.
In the EU, on the other hand, the Member States have only finished the implementation of the Statutory Audit Directive requirements into national legislations by the year 2008. In the U.S., at least 4 years have passed from the reform (2002) to the publication of first contributions in high quality accounting journals such as Accounting Horizons (Lobo and Zhou, 2006), The Accounting Review (Cohen, Dey and Lys, 2008) and Journal of Accounting and Economics (DeFond, 2009). In our opinion, the finding, that no empirical evidence has so far been provided on how the newly established systems of public oversight in various EU Member States influence the ultimate quality of audit services, can be mainly contributed to the fact that so far no comparable sets of data have been available to allow for a high quality statistical analysis.
5. Conclusion
Following the financial scandals at the turn of the century, the audit profession has lost the confidence of all groups of players on financial markets. The ambition to restore public confidence in audit profession, improve reliability of publicly available financial information and stabilize financial markets, led to profound legislative and regulatory reforms in the field of the audit profession in Europe, the U.S., and elsewhere. These reforms included the requirement for intense public oversight of the audit profession. Preliminary surveys, related to effects of quality assurance systems on quality of statutory audits demonstrated that quality assurance was actually adding value in detecting and preventing weaknesses in the audit process and that it
resulted in improvements of auditing procedures and internal quality control systems of audit firms.
In the article we explained different backgrounds of external quality assurance systems in the EU and the U.S., described implemented practices related to the public oversight system in the two regions and presented the main findings of the existing empirical research focusing on the impact of the newly established systems of public oversight on the quality of audit services provided by audit firms.
Studying the consequences of implementation of the new public oversight is a matter of high importance for two reasons. First, this issue is related to a long-standing debate regarding the trade-off between expertise (represented by the oversight through monitoring and peer reviews by professional organizations) on one hand and independence (represented by the more objective public oversight of the profession) on the other. Second, it is crucial to know how the new quality assurance system affects the ultimate quality of the audit services provided and how it signals actual audit quality.
Our research of published contributions of various researchers, focusing their empirical studies on the impact of public oversight system on quality of audit services provided by audit firms reveals that the evidence for the EU has not yet been provided because the Member States have only finished the implementation of the Statutory Audit Directive requirements into national legislations by the year 2008. In the U.S., on the other hand, first empirical evidence has already been presented. Various researchers report empirical results in support of the proposition that the quality of auditing has improved after the passing of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. So far evidence has been provided to confirm that earnings management has been declining, that auditors have become more conservative and that the new PCAOB inspectors can hold the auditors to stricter standards by taking concrete actions against felonious auditors and by imposing costly penalties.
Maja Zaman Groff, PhD, is Assistant Professor and a member of the Accounting and Auditing Department at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Economics. Her areas of research interest include auditing-related issues such as the role of auditing and audit committees in corporate governance and quality assurance. She cooperates with a Slovene audit firm and is involved in the corporate governance of various Slovene corporations as a member of audit committees. She has published a number of professional and scientific papers.
Marko Hočevar, PhD, is Full Professor of Accounting and Auditing at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Economics. He has acquired various experience working with industry and public sector including: serving as an independent expert in many business and accounting cases, working with corporations and public organizations in designing costing systems, developing and implementing planning and control systems. He has written several textbooks and professional books and has published a number of professional and scientific papers.
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POVZETEK
JAVNI NADZOR NAD REVIDIRANJEM -PRIMERJAVA SISTEMOV, UVEDENIH V EVROPSKI UNIJI IN V ZDRUŽENIH DRŽAVAH AMERIKE
Vzporedno z glavnimi mejniki v zgodovini gospodarskega razvoja so se v okviru računovodske stroke razvijala specializirana področja, na katerih se je oblikovalo več z računovodstvom povezanih poklicev. Razvoj takšnih poklicev (npr. finančni računovodja, davčni svetovalec, revizor) je sledil potrebam po specializiranih računovodskih storitvah, po katerih sta povpraševala tako javni kot tudi gospodarski sektor. Ob primerjavi različnih, z računovodstvom povezanih dejavnosti, je pomembno poudariti, da večino teh, kot so na primer finančno (pa tudi stroškovno ali poslovodno) računovodstvo in davčno svetovanje, že od samega začetka usmerja zasebni interes. V svoji zgodnji zgodovini je to pravilo veljalo tudi za poklic revizorja. Danes je med vsemi računovodskimi poklici le poklic revizorja tesno povezan z javnim interesom in je zato med vsemi poklici tudi najbolj zakonsko reguliran in nadziran. Glede na to, da se nadzor nad kakovostjo izvajanja računovodskih poklicev, ki jih usmerja zasebni interes, izvaja na trgu prek ponudbe in povpraševanja, je treba nadzor nad kakovostjo opravljanja revizijske dejavnosti zakonsko regulirati, da bi zagotovili in ohranili delovanje v javnem interesu.
Vključitev zahtev po vzpostavitvi primernega sistema obvladovanja kakovosti revizijskega dela v zakonodajo je izredno pomembna za uresničevanje javnega interesa na področju revidiranja. Čeprav so se revizorji v revizijskih poročilih že pred vključitvijo teh zahtev v zakonodajo sklicevali na uporabo revizijskih standardov in izrecno izjavljali svojo neodvisnost že v samem naslovu revizorjevega poročila (»poročilo neodvisnega revizorja«), dejanskega zagotovila, da so bili revizijski standardi pri izvedbi revizije resnično upoštevani in so bila upoštevana vsa pravila, povezana z neodvisnostjo revizorja, ni bilo. Potreba po zunanjem nadzoru nad revidiranjem tako izhaja iz zahteve po ustrezni kakovosti revizijskih storitev, vključno z zagotavljanjem revizorjeve neodvisnosti.
Primerno zasnovan in dosledno izvajan sistem zunanjega obvladovanja kakovosti revizijskih storitev je najbolj učinkovit način, s katerim revizor svojim strankam, državi in javnosti dokazuje, da izvaja revizijske storitve
v skladu z zahtevami revizijskih standardov in etičnih načel. Poleg tega takšen sistem spodbuja uvajanje izboljšav v revizijske postopke. Raziskave, ki se osredotočajo na proučevanje učinkov zunanjega obvladovanja kakovosti zakonskih revizij v Evropski uniji, kažejo, da ustrezno zasnovani in izvajani sistemi dejansko pripomorejo k odkrivanju in preprečevanju pomanjkljivosti v procesu revidiranja in se zrcalijo v večji kakovosti opravljenih revizijskih storitev (Recommendation on quality assurance for the statutory audits in the European Union, 2000). Upoštevaje podatek, da je bilo v Evropski uniji že v letu 2000 kar tri milijone družb z omejeno odgovornostjo in delniških družb zavezanih k obvezni reviziji letnih računovodskih izkazov v skladu z računovodskima direktivama (s tedanjima četrto direktivo o letnih računovodskih izkazih posameznih vrst družb in sedmo direktivo o konsolidiranih računovodskih izkazih) in da osma (revizijska) direktiva v tem času še ni vsebovala posebnih navodil v zvezi s sistemom obvladovanja kakovosti revizijskih storitev, so se v posameznih državah oblikovali zelo različni sistemi obvladovanja kakovosti revizijskega dela.
Nedavni finančni škandali, predvsem Enron in Worldcom (ki sta povzročila padec enega izmed največjih akterjev na trgu revizijskih storitev, revizijske družbe Arthur Andersen), so močno zamajali zaupanje javnosti v revizijsko stroko. Alles, Kogan in Vasarhelyi (2004, str. 188) navajajo, da je bilo prevladujoče javno mnenje po izbruhu finančnih škandalov, da gre za »...posledice namernih poslovodskih prevar ob pomoči revizorjev, ki so v najboljšem primeru nesposobni, v najslabšem primeru pa podkupljeni«. Upoštevaje takšen prevladujoč pogled na kakovost revizijskih storitev v očeh uporabnikov revizijskih poročil, so bile obsežne spremembe, povezane z nadzorom revizijske dejavnosti, nujne. Ponovna vzpostavitev zaupanja v revizijsko stroko, povečanje verodostojnosti javno dostopnih računovodskih poročil ter stabiliziranje finančnih trgov so bili glavni cilji zaostrene zakonodaje, tako Sarbanes - Oxleyevega zakona iz leta 2002 v ZDA kot tudi Direktive 2006/43/ES o obveznih revizijah letnih in konsolidiranih računovodskih izkazov družb iz leta 2006 v Evropski uniji.
Članek opisuje različne poti razvoja sistemov obvladovanja kakovosti revidiranja v Evropski uniji in v Združenih državah Amerike ter sisteme, ki so bili v EU in v ZDA uvedeni za potrebe izvajanja javnega nadzora nad dejavnostjo revidiranja. Predstavljene so tudi glavne ugotovitve nekaterih empiričnih raziskav, ki se osredotočajo na proučevanje vpliva novih
mehanizmov javnega nadzora nad revidiranjem revizijskih storitev, ki jih izvajajo revizijske družbe.
Poznavanje posledic uvedbe novih sistemov javnega nadzora nad revidiranjem je ključnega pomena iz dveh razlogov. Prvič, ker je to področje povezano z zelo aktualno razpravo o prednostih in slabostih različnih vrst nadzora, ki so na eni strani povezane z visoko ravnjo strokovnega znanja (običajno se visoka strokovnost pripisuje sistemu medsebojnega nadzora oz. sistemu »peer review«), na drugi strani pa z visoko ravnjo neodvisnosti (le-ta je v največji meri zagotovljena z neodvisnim nadzorom oz. s sistemom »monitoring«). In drugič, ker je pomembno spremljati, kako novo uvedeni sistemi obvladovanja kakovosti vplivajo na kakovost revizijskih storitev in kakšne signale o dejanski kakovosti takšen sistem pošilja uporabnikom revizijskih poročil.
V Združenih državah Amerike vse več raziskovalcev proučuje razlike med novo uvedenim sistemom javnega nadzora (ki ga v ZDA izvaja Odbor za javni nadzor oz. Public Company Accounting and Oversight Board -PCAOB) in nekdanjo samoregulacijo revizijske dejavnosti, ki se je izvajala prek sistema medsebojnega nadzora (»peer review«).
Anantharaman (2007, str. 33) na primer ugotavlja, da revizijske družbe, ki se tudi same ukvarjajo z izvajanjem medsebojnega nadzora, redno prejemajo boljša poročila o kakovosti od izvajalcev nadzora v sistemu medsebojnega nadzora kot od PCAOB. Na podlagi izsledkov raziskave avtor ugotavlja tudi, da revizijske družbe, ki izvajajo medsebojne preglede in za katere je manj verjetno, da dosledno ustrezajo kriterijem neodvisnosti (gre predvsem za manjše revizijske družbe) in tudi revizijske družbe, ki so se v večji meri specializirale za izvajanje medsebojnih pregledov, prav tako pridobivajo bistveno bolj ugodna mnenja iz medsebojnih pregledov kot od PCAOB.
Gunny in Zhang (2006, str. 12) poročata, da mnenja, ki izhajajo iz medsebojnih pregledov, niso povezana s kakovostjo izkazanega poslovnega izida (»earnings quality«) pri naročnikih revizijskih storitev revizijske družbe. Potrdila pa sta hipotezo, da je kakovost izkazanega poslovnega izida pri strankah revizijske družbe povezana z mnenjem, ki ga izda PCAOB kot organ javnega nadzora. Avtorja tako ugotavljata, da imajo revizijske družbe, ki prejemajo pozitivna mnenja PCAOB, stranke z višjo kakovostjo izkazanih poslovnih izidov.
DeFond (2009, str. 2) ugotavlja, da imajo novi inšpektorji kot izvajalci javnega nadzora v primerjavi z nekdanjim sistemom samoregulacije v
rokah učinkovitejše mehanizme, na podlagi katerih lahko uveljavljajo strožje standarde kakovosti, in sicer pravi, da "... za razliko od izvajalcev medsebojnega nadzora lahko inšpektorji PCAOB v primeru nekaterih pomembnejših odkritih nepravilnostih sprožijo ukrepe, katerih posledice so visoke kazni za revizijske družbe. Ti ukrepi vključujejo prijavljanje nepravilnosti organu, zadolženemu za nadzor borz in vrednostnic (Securities and Exchange Commission - SEC), posredovanje izsledkov o morebitnih ugotovljenih kriminalnih dejanjih Ministrstvu za pravosodje in disciplinske ukrepe, ki jih izvaja neposredno PCAOB«. Avtor meni, da so zato revizijske družbe že v fazi pričakovanja javnega nadzora motivirane k izboljševanju kakovosti revizijskih storitev.
Nekatere dodatne dokaze, ki kažejo, da se je po uvedbi Sarbanes -Oxleyevega zakona kakovost revizijskih storitev, z njo pa tudi kakovost računovodskih poročil družb, v katerih se izvaja revidiranje računovodskih izkazov, izboljšala, podajajo tudi Cohen, Dey in Lys (2008). Avtorji potrjujejo, da so po uvedbi zakona vse manj zaznani primeri prilagajanja poslovnega izida pri naročnikih revizijskih storitev. Lobo in Zhou (2006) pa dodajata, da so po uvedbi zakona revizorji postali bolj konservativni.
Medtem, ko je bilo v Združenih državah Amerike objavljenih že nekaj raziskav s tega področja, pa rezultatov tovrstnih raziskav v Evropski uniji še ni. Državam članicam EU je bila namreč ob uvedbi Direktive 2006/43/ES o obveznih revizijah letnih in konsolidiranih računovodskih izkazov družb dana možnost, da zahteve direktive vključijo v svoje nacionalne zakonodaje v roku dveh let, to je do sredine leta 2008. V ZDA so minila vsaj štiri leta od uvedbe Sarbanes - Oxleyevega zakona leta 2002 do objave prvih izsledkov raziskav v prvorazrednih revijah s področja računovodstva in revizije, kot so npr. Accounting Horizons (Lobo and Zhou, 2006), The Accounting Review (Cohen, Dey and Lys, 2008) in Journal of Accounting and Economics (DeFond, 2009). Avtorja menita, da gre razloge za zaostanek na področju proučevanja posledic uvedbe novih sistemov javnega nadzora nad revidiranjem na kakovostjo revizijskih storitev v Evropski uniji pripisati predvsem dejstvu, da doslej še ni bilo na voljo kakovostnih primerljivih podatkov, ki bi lahko služili kot osnova za izvedbo kakovostne statistične analize.
Review article
Assessment of establishment and operations under market conditions for a public equity fund
UDK: 338.246.027(045) Jaka Vadnjal
Gea College, Visoka šola za podjetništvo jaka.vadnjal@gea-college.si
ABSTRACT
The government of Slovenia established a publicly funded venture capital fund in order to provide start-up finance for small companies. The fund was meant to fill in the market gap in early-stage equity finance supply. The fund is co-financed from EU structural funds and has to comply with strict regulation regarding possibility of market distortion from such measure. The objective of the study is to give a straightforward answer whether the public fund will behave within the equity market conditions or will impose an unloyal competition to the existing privately financed funds. In accordance to this, an evaluation is given advising that the public fund should not be regarded as a state-aid measure.
Key words: venture capital, SMEs, fund management company, state aid, market conditions
JEL: G24
1. Introduction
In 2008 the Government of Slovenia established a risk capital investment fund - Prva družba tveganega kapitala (thereinafter "PDTK") which was the first implication of the Law on venture capital companies (ZDTK) adopted in 2007. The objective of adopting the specialized law on venture capital was
mainly to set up a legal framework for establishment of new venture capital firms, the purpose of the PDTK is to provide capital to SMEs which preferably have core competencies in technology and are in their start-up phase. The PDTK's focus are SMEs in key technology sectors of the Slovenian economy. The authorities hope that the measure will lower underlying financing risks and increase confidence in further financing, notably private-equity financing, thus to override the traditional finance gap evidenced in this sector (Chu & Hisrich, 2001). While financing eligible activities, the measure is intended to increase the competitiveness and to strengthen the equity base of start-up SMEs (Bay-gan, 2003).
The activities that are to be financed with the capital provided by the PDTK are moreover research or pre-competitive technological development of new or improved products, processes or services. Eligible activities will be tailored to a recognized market demand and should be distinguished by particular know-how, if possible capable of having intellectual property rights protected (Hellman & Puri, 2000). The mission of the PDTK is also to financially catalyze and stimulate the knowledge flow from research institutions to mostly SMEs, as an integrative element in the setup of support institutions, universities, research and technology parks, incubators and public agencies providing to SMEs (Botazzi & Da Rin, 2002).
2. Objectives of the study
The PDTK and its investments are directly financed by public resources: (1) from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), (2) co-financing from the national budget of the Republic of Slovenia, and (3) from own resources of Slovenian Enterprise Fund (SEF), which is a public fund. The financing under the measure may improve the overall financial condition and enhance the market position of all stakeholders involved (Sunley et al., 2005). The measure does not rule out the award of aid to firms engaged in economic sectors where intra-Community trade takes place. Thus, the fund and its operations could constitute aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) EC. The assessment of this measure could fall within the scope of the Community Guidelines on State aid to promote risk capital investments in small and medium-sized enterprises (thereinafter "the Guidelines").
For the Guidelines to be applicable the following conditions must be met: (1) the measure must be a scheme, targeting SMEs; (2) the measure must not be intended to provide capital to an individual enterprise; (3) the measure must exclude aid to enterprises in difficulty as defined in the Guidelines and, (4) the Guidelines do not apply to aid for export-related activities, namely aid directly linked to the quantities exported, to the establishment and operation of a distribution network or to other current expenditure linked to the export activity, as well as aid contingent upon the use of domestic in preference to imported goods. Thus, the planned measure falls in an unfavorable position of conflict between real market driven forces and bureaucratic establishment of rules that are set to defend market conditions (Lerner, 2002).
As defined within the scope of the Guidelines, financing for the setting-up and operation should only be provided at market conditions. According to this, there are certain issues which may be daubed whether they are eligible to be treated as market conditions (Farag et al., 2004): (1) how the fund management company would be selected, (2) what would be appropriate fund management remuneration, (3) expected rates of returns for the investment and (4) possibility for private sector co-investment. In accordance to this, the following questions were defined to be addressed and answered in the research:
Q1. Is there a fund management company in Slovenia which may be ready and competent to manage a publicly established risk capital fund according to the Guidelines and respecting ERDF rules?
Q2. What is the flat rate management fee, normally charged on comitted capital by the fund management companies operating in Slovenia and what is the market conditioned level of profit sharing fund for management remuneration?
Q3. What are the expected rates of return for risk and venture capital investments in the Slovenian market?
Q4. Is there any interest in private sector to invest in a publicly established fund or to co-invest alongside the fund's investment on the level of an individual company?
The present study should be therefore understood as more exploratory rather than confirmatory, thus no propositions and/or hypotheses are proposed. Instead, just a set of research questions is put forward.
3. Literature overview
While debt financing is the most important source of European enterprise finance over the past decade, alternative instruments can become a significant factor in providing flexibility and choices that better reflect the needs of enterprises throughout their development. Venture capital is likely to become the most important option for specific knowledge based and growth oriented types of SMEs.
The experience of venture capital in the USA shows that different forces call for an increasing share in venture capital financing, either in the form of (formal) venture capital funds, business angels or existing corporations through their capital venturing. Experts used to stress the »equity capital culture« when explaining the strength of venture capital in the USA and Great Britain (Cumming and Macintosh, 2003). However, according to some empirical evidence (Ernst & Young, 2006) it is not only a true entrepreneurial Anglo-Saxon culture but government support for this type of capital with appropriate regulation and tax policy that is needed. The U.S. government supported innovative SMEs through SBICs, tax-policy-preferred capital gains while, in 1978, pension funds were allowed to invest in venture capital funds (Gompers & Lerner,
2002).	Along with the »silent revolution« involving entrepreneurship and changes in technology, this support has seen growth in the amount of traditional venture capital from around USD 5 billion in the mid-1990s to growth for more than twenty times in ten years, with an even larger amount in informal investments (Bygrave et al., 2003). Venture capital has also developed a viable organizational structure of partnership management companies that are rewarded according to an investment's success. Europe expressed its commitment to risk capital as a reflection of its concern over the high level of SMEs' dependence on debt finance, as part of efforts to create an entrepreneurial Europe (Cosh & Hughes, 2003). However, EU countries have trailed behind the development of venture capital in the USA (Romain and Van Pottelsberghe,
2003)	and the economic slump in 2001-2002 seriously aggravated the situation in the venture capital market for both SMEs and VC funds (Kjaergaard & Nordstrom, 2004). Yet, it can be assumed that following economic recovery venture capital will again become more important at least for certain types of SMEs or enterprises in certain stages of their existence (Hermann et al., 2004). This is very important since venture capital has backed those companies that have really made technology breakthroughs. The study of VC-backed firms in Europe
shows that venture capital was an essential ingredient of their creation, survival and growth, while 60% of these said they would not be in business today without the funding and support of venture capitalists (Mayer et al., 2001).
Slovenian banks and other investors as the supply side of venture capital started early in the entrepreneurship wave of 1990s, to become involved in some types of venture capital investment (Glas et al., 2002). However, problems arise more from the demand side and the lack of ambitious entrepreneurial projects. In addition, the legal, administrative and tax environment is not conducive to such investments. Because of the overall low development of capital markets, one of the main obstacles seems to be the lack of exit possibilities which make the venture capital market liquid and thus attractive for investors (Wright et al., 2005).
One of the sub-goals of the study is also to assess the market dynamics of equity financing. Demand and supply of venture capital is defined by three groups of factors (Schertler, 2003): (1) the level of entrepreneurial initiative of individuals, (2) innovation potential of the economic environment, with the resulting number of innovative ideas with ambition for entrepreneurial implementation and (3) institutional environment, making decisions on number and terms of financing innovative ideas. Saertre (2001) states, that it is a typical inductive research, where pattern builds on theoretical selection, being more desired and appropriate in comparison to coincidental selection, which is basis of deductive research. A »loose structured interview« is the most adequate format of collecting data, recommended in literature (Miles and Huberman, 1994). It enables a sufficient quantity of information for a quality development of theory and hypothesis (Andersen & Bollerslev, 1997), as well on the field of financing with private equity, discussed in this research. However, it turns to be a great research challenge to try to measure and evaluate a phenomenon that hardly exists and to put efforts to predictions of further development. Thus, confirmation of existence of equity gap at the market with really small quantities appears to be problematic, which is consistent to some previous research (Freshwater et al., 2001).
Nevertheless, one of the objectives is to obtain certain quantitative estimations from the study. Numerically it is a small pattern, which is a conscious weakness of the study but is a direct consequence of researching a small-scale market. The paradigm that it is not appropriate to address quantitative research questions with qualitative methods (Davidsson, 2005) was consciously by-passed for this occasion since no better research solution was
available. As we have to deal with two theoretically different concepts, a pre-formulated content of the interview has been structured only for the part where we want to collect quantity data in order to make a rough estimate on the extent of demand and supply of equity capital.
4. Methodology
The methodology applied for this particular report generally consists of (1) descriptive analyses of secondary sources, revealed in the literature and sources section; (2) qualitative primary data and information analyses and; (3) benchmarking with the similar public venture capital fund established in another country, which has passed the identical procedure of proving the (non)compliancy with the EU state-aid measures. The primary data was compared and compiled from two collection processes. The first round took place in May and June 2006 (Vadnjal et al., 2006) and the second round was overtaken in February 2007.
The methodology of data collection was a semi-structured interview, held with several equity market players such as venture capital companies and fund management companies operating in Slovenia while also several banks, insurance companies and some larger corporations were invited to participate in the study (Megginson, 2004). The interviews were held with top representatives of the companies, thus it can be proposed that their opinions represent competent, true and fair reflection of the current market situation (Meyer, 2007). The Slovenian market is, as expected, specific for its limited scope, having low level of specialization in the finance intermediaries sector (Bruton & Ahlstrom, 2003), which results in the fact that many industry players (apart from traditionally managed banks) are active in several financial sub-markets.
The participants in the study may be differentiated into three groups on the basis on their market position being: (1) fund management companies, or fund supplier institutions such as (2) financial holdings, banks, insurance companies etc., and (3) larger corporations. Several actors participating in the study may be wearing different hats, being both, the fund management company and financial company, or other combinations which may not be particularity of Slovenia (Mason, 1999). On the other hand, expressed limitations of the
market do not put many research opportunities to go into some more in-depth quantitative research methodologies in order to get a more accurate evaluation of several market parameters, such as expected return rates, management fees, management remuneration (profit sharing option), etc. Another important limitation of the study is that the data was collected in the times which were still far away from the recession (before autumn 2008) which imposes the possibility that the attitudes of the respondents might be quite different in the light of the actual global economic crisis.
The following market actors in Slovenia participated in the study (some names repeat for mentioned reasons of being involved in different activities):
•	As fund suppliers (16): NLB, Abanka, Banka Koper, Probanka, Poštna banka, Hranilnica Lon, Banka Celje, Reifeissen Krekova banka, NKBM (as banks), Zavarovalnica Triglav, Adriatic Slovenica, Prva pokojninska družba (as insurance companies), Poteza, KD Holding, Aktiva invest; Individa (as financial companies);
•	As corporate investors (14): Ilirija, Mura, ETI, Blues, EMO orodjarna, Alpina, Petrol, Danfoss Trata, AC Cosmos, Kovinoplastika Lož, Brest, Litostroj; Krka, Gorenje;
•	As fund management companies (11): Horizone Venture Management, Poteza, NLB Funds, Sivent, KD Holding, Ilirika, Taxgroup, Aktiva Invest, Perspektiva, Individa, RSG fund.
5. Key findings
Key findings relevant to the raised issues in the objectives of the study are in the fields of (1) fund management where selection of the fund management company is considered and remuneration of the management company is discussed; (2) expected rates of returns for the funds and, (3) public involvement in the PDTK's investment activities.
5.1 Fund management
There are two questions which were identified regarding the possible consideration of the market conditions of the PDTK's operations. According to Guidelines, also the service providers within the investment process should be expected to behave strictly under market conditions. For this particular reason, selection procedures are examined together with service price (i.e. fund management remuneration).
5.1.1 Selection of the fund management company
The management company was not selected by a public tender procedure. From the comparative study of the other potential fund management companies mentioned above it could be concluded that the fund management company established by the government is the only company in Slovenia, having the human resource potential available, that has the expertise to manage funds with ERDF co-financing in strict compliance with EC and domestic regulation. Moreover, the general opinion of the benchmarked management companies was that they would not be interested in the future to manage schemes falling under "too demanding administrative and legal procedures". In the table 1, there is a summary of the interpreted answers to this research question.
Table 1. Interest to manage a public fund
Q1: Do you have interest and competencies to manage a publicly established and financed risk capital fund?				
Yes	Maybe	No		Total
		Not interested	Not competent	
0	1	4	6	11
Source: Own research 2006-2008
The evaluation of the management capabilities available in the region was also done. The companies focused on the region as they consider proximity to be vital for managing funds of that size and scope, given the need for intensive monitoring and supervision of the target enterprises. The evaluation pointed out that there was no fund management company with a track record of managing
EU funds. Furthermore, the existing fund management companies (1) were mostly established to manage internally created and raised funds, (2) there was actually only a branch office for Slovenia, or (3) might be temporary out of business for certain legal reasons. As far as competences were concerned, the vast majority of respondents admitted not to have any experience with EU funding prerequisites but they generally shared impression that a bulk of bureaucratic procedures had to be dealt with in such cases, thus implying requirements for additional and for the time being non-existing human resources in order to manage such a fund.
5.1.2 Fund management remuneration
Remuneration of the managing company is normally expected to consist of two components. Firstly, the managing company will receive 2.5% of the committed capital annually as management fee, during the six-year investment phase. Secondly, after the investment phase ends, the variable part of the management fee will be calculated based on the capital invested less the costs. The second phase is paid after the completion of the investment phase on the level of each particular project (i.e. invested company). The costs are located proportionally to committed capital into a particular investment. Three investigated fund management companies expected the fees to be around 20 %, which is also EVCA's (2009) recommendation. Other participants in the study whether regarded this information as confidential or did not provide any clear answer. Having in mind the limited availability of trustworthy research data and information, it is confirmed that 20 % shares on profit by the management company is a market conditioned expected variable part of the fund management remuneration. In the table 2, there is an analysis of participant's answers regarding the management fee, while in table 3 the views regarding the profit-sharing fees are described.
Table 2. Management fee rate
Q2: What is the fee rate on the committed capital that you normal charge for similar fund management assignments?				
2.5 %	Around 2.5 %	Classified information	No answer	Total
6	3	2	0	11
Source: Own research 2006-2008
The remuneration principles, as presented, do reflect market rates, taking into account the limitations of Slovenian market and its development phase, which can be evaluated as early enough for many of study respondents to express mere their expectations from possible future deals rather than actually achieved and collected management fee rates. The other possibility is also that the expressed 2.5 % fee rate is expressed through following EVCA's (2009) recommendations. The two respondents which did not want to reveal information regarding the management fee rate (1) were a foreign branch office of a larger fund operating all over Europe and (2) a company which was established on purpose to manage a particular fund.
Table 3. Management profit-sharing rate
Q3: What is profit-sharing fee rate that you normal charge for similar fund management assignments?				
20 %	Around 20 %	Classified information	No answer	Total
2	2	1	6	11
Source: Own research 2006-2008
5.2 Expected rate of returns
The evaluation of expected rate of returns on the level of an individual investment is a demanding assignment. The research among fund suppliers (Vadnjal et al., 2006) may impose a speculation that possible fund suppliers may not have a very clear picture on preferable or expected return rate. The articulated rate can be summed up to be "at least 20 %" which is on the other side often achieved even in the mutual funds industry in which majority of the potential fund providers also operate. In the table 4, data on expected rates of return are elaborated in detail. It can be observed that this opinion was provided by four study participants while others did not answer anything.
Table 4. Expected rate of return
Q4: What is your expected rate of return when investing into start-ups?				
20 %	At least 20 %	Classified information	No answer	Total
0	4	0	7	11
Source: Own research 2006-2008
On the other hand, the research has been made in the times of positive trends on Slovenian stock exchange markets which consequently make mutual funds industry highly attractive for massive in-flows of cash. Therefore, the expected return rates for more risky venture capital investments may be higher. However, this might change rapidly in the case of downturn of the stock exchange ratios. In this case, lower expected return rates for venture and risk funds are expected. Since the data for this study were collected far before the 2008-09 recession, it is correct to give a brief comment in the light of the financial crisis. One can say that it has affected the venture capital industry like all other businesses. Fund-raising has become extremely hard and investment managers are more cautious. As there have been hardly any activities in the 2009, it can be stated that the crisis would seriously affect the findings if the research would have been undertaken in some later stage of the crisis.
5.3 Private sector investments
There were options of private sector direct or indirect investment involvement assessing: (1) direct investments from the private sector into the fund managed by PDTK and (2) potential co-investments in the targeted SMEs. The elaborated data on the potential interest to invest into the PDTK's fund is available in the table 5, while the alternative option to co-invest on the level of individual company is explored in the table 6.
Table 5. Interest for investments into PDTK
Q5: Would you be interested to invest directly into PDTK's fund?				
	Yes	Maybe	Not at all	Total
Financial inst.	0	2	14	16
Corporations	0	0	14	14
Total	0	0	28	30
Source: Own research 2006-2008
Concerning the direct investment into the fund the study participants expressed high level of aversion regarding this investment option. The following reasons for practically nil interest were expressed:
•	High risk, combined with low rates of return, as compared to other investment opportunities (management-buy-outs/buy-ins, private equity placements etc.);
•	High monitoring and supervision costs which means high overhead and sunk costs in comparison to the volume and quantity of the funds;
•	The limited investment opportunities because of the preferences for geographical proximity of invested companies;
•	Relatively low management fees, due to the small average volume of transactions;
•	Moderate level of experience and expertise regarding more risky investments and direct ownership involvement in the companies;
•	Funds prefer to keep the due diligence processes under their own control;
•	They insist to keep management and supervision of investments within their own management companies;
•	Financial intermediaries which are active in several different capital market segments prefer to remain flexible and not to lock their resources only into venture capital activities because of possible better opportunities in other sub-markets (for instance mutual funds);
•	Some intermediaries (like banks and insurance companies) face serious legislative barriers and limitations which prevent them from getting involved into riskier financial investments.
Based on this evaluation, it can be stated that a clear market failure is present at the market segment on which the PDTK operates and that the PDTK does not offer satisfactory investment or co-investment opportunities for private investors. Moreover, there is perceived almost no interest among private investors to participate at the level of the PDTK. However, there is some interest for the involvement at the level of each transaction, alongside the PDTK operations. Interestingly, in the same time period (2006-2008), two banks have already decided to invest in privately established and managed venture capital fund.
Several interviews were conducted also with larger companies that may in the future provide some capital with a clear objective to foster development of spin-off companies, which may increase the research and development potential of the core business. However, this is the concept that has not reached its maturity in Slovenia yet. Out of the 14 explored investment companies (listed above), none of them expressed any interest to invest into the publicly established fund, nor considered any equity investments or co-investments in new start-ups or spin-offs.
Table 6. Interest for co-investments on the individual company level
Q6: Would you be interested to co-invest with PDTK into individual company?				
	Yes	Maybe	Not at all	Total
Financial inst.	12	2	2	16
Corporations	2	2	10	14
Total	14	4	12	30
Source: Own research 2006-2008
6. Conclusions and recommendations
At the time being there is no fund management company operating in Slovenia, which would be evaluated to possess competencies and interest to manage publicly funded risk capital fund. The government of Slovenia should therefore proceed with the activities to provide its own venture fund management company PDTK with sufficient both financial and other necessary resources. It would be highly recommendable for PDTK to pull together a network of experts in order to provide expertise and assistance in the investment decision-making processes. This pool of experts should not be limited to Slovenian based specialists but should involve at least European if not global business perspective. There is a need to underpin again that Slovenian risk and venture capital market is far from the point of being regarded as developed (only between 28 and 30 investments done so far, only two exits in twelve years), thus making these estimations very robust and conditioned with only limited quantity of data and information.
The market conditioned management fee rate is 2.5 % in Slovenia and the profit sharing fee is 20 % of the profits realized. The PDTK should include the business rates mentioned above in their business plan. Thus, speaking about market conditioned internal rate of return on investment risk capital and venture capital investment is at least 20 %. Project proposals with projected returns below 20 % on year basis should be directed out of the PDTK's pipeline and further due diligence process.
There is no interest from private sector in Slovenia to invest in the PDTK's fund. On the other side, there is some interest in private sector to go into syndicated investments together with PDTK. PDTK should develop a sustainable system to attract co-investment on the company level from the private sector. However, there may always remain a certain degree of reluctance towards this type of private-public investments because of the possible fear of government's and politically motivated interventions with regard to the business.
The Community Guidelines on State aid to promote risk capital investments in SMEs enforce that financing for the start-up and operation should only be provided at market conditions. Several issues which maybe impose dilemmas whether they can be treated as market conditions were over-viewed in this study: (1) selection of the fund management company; (2) fund management remuneration; (3) expected rates of returns and
(4) private sector co-investment. The following recommendations may be put forward:
•	As far as the selection of the fund is concerned, the supply of competent service provider which would also have experience with co-financing arrangements through ERDF fund does not exist. Therefore, the need for existence of a publicly owned management company which fills in the gap is supported.
•	Regarding the management remuneration it can be stated that 2.5 % management fee on the capital committed is the market conditioned charge. There is less evidence to support 20 % profit sharing remuneration. However, these findings should be trusted to be accurate in the given situation within the scope of the data and information available.
•	As far as expected rates of return are concerned, the evidence and experience is Slovenia is poor and offers not much spare room for possible elaboration. However, the bottom rate of 20 % is rate advised to the PDTK's fund management and supervisors.
•	Lastly, the fund management can only thrive for private co-investment on the level of individual company. By no means there is any evidence on any potential interest from potential fund suppliers to invest in the publicly established venture capital fund. On the other hand, there is a certain interest in private sector to go for syndicate investment with the PDTK. This interest is widely expressed by financial institutions while it is less evident among corporations.
The possible implications of the paper are needed to be discussed with caution. First, the doubt about methodological issue remains present with the main dilemma: if more sophisticated techniques were used, would this increase the reliability of the results. It has been a repeated issue of researching something that is hard to research because of small scope or due to the phenomena never researched so far (Da Rin et al., 2006). Thus, the more sophisticated methods would not diminish the doubtfulness of the results, probably the most serious limitations of the study.
Dr. Jaka Vadnjal graduated from mechanical engineering, mastered from entrepreneur-ship and holds Ph. D, all from University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He is senior lecturer at GEA College of Entrepreneurship, where he also serves as director of the research institute and president of the senate. He has been teaching at GEA College since 1996 and managed and participated in several research projects. He presented papers at several conferences worldwide. He authored and co-authored eleven original scientific articles published in journals. The papers and articles cover topics in family business and venture capital. He is also co-author of four books on entrepreneurship also published outside Slovenia.
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POVZETEK
PRESOJA USTANOVITVE IN DELOVANJA JAVNEGA SKLADA TVEGANEGA KAPITALA POD TRŽNIMI POGOJI
1.	Uvod
Slovenska vlada je leta 2008 ustanovila Prvo družbo tveganega kapitala (PDTK). Družba naj bi z javnim denarjem zapolnjevala tržno nišo v lastniškem financiranju malih in srednjih podjetij (MSP) in predvsem podjetniških zagonov. Družba je bila ustanovljena po Zakonu o družbah tveganega kapitala (ZDTK), ki ga je Slovenija sprejela 2007. PDTK naj bi se usmerila predvsem v visokotehnološka podjetja s potencialom doseganja visoke dodane vrednosti in hitre rasti ter vstopa na mednarodne in globalne trge. PDTK ima za poslanstvo tudi spodbujanje trženja znanja, ki je plod razvoja in raziskovanja v raziskovalnih institucijah, na univerzah, v tehnoloških parkih in podjetniških inkubatorjih.
2.	Namen študije
Načrtovano je, da se bo PDTK financiral iz javnih virov in sicer delno iz slovenskega nacionalnega proračuna in delno iz evropskih strukturnih skladov. Kot tak mora delovati v skladu z evropsko regulativo in navodili evropske skupnosti glede obravnavanja javno financiranih skladov tveganega kapitala v kontekstu državnih pomoči. Če javno financirani sklad lastniškega financiranja dobi status javne pomoči, lahko njegovo delovanje postane izjemno težavno in posledično manj učinkovito. Zato se države, ki organizirajo podobne finančne instrumente, skušajo izogniti statusu državne pomoči za svoje sklade. Seveda je to mogoče le, če dokažejo, da tudi javni skladi tveganega kapitala delujejo po tržnih zakonitostih in niso nelojalna konkurenca zasebnim skladom. Kriteriji presoje, ali državni sklad deluje po tržnih zakonitostih, ki jih skušamo preveriti tudi v pričujoči študiji, so predvsem: (1) kako bo izbrana družba, ki bo upravljala s skladom, (2) kakšna bo ustrezna nagrada za upravljanje sklada, (3)kakšni so pričakovani donosi na investirana sredstva in (4) možnosti soinvestiranja zasebnega sektorja. V zvezi s tem so bila za študijo postavljena naslednja raziskovalna vprašanja:
Q1. Ali v Sloveniji obstaja upravljalska družba, ki bi bila sposobna upravljati tak sklad v skladu z evropskimi pravili o državnih pomočeh in Evropskega sklada za regionalni razvoj?
Q2. Kakšna je fiksna provizija kot delež investiranega kapitala za nagrade menedžmentu in kakšen je pričakovani odstotek upravljalske družbe pri delitvi dobička?
Q3. Kakšni so pričakovani donosi za javni sklad tveganega kapitala?
Q4. Ali v zasebnem finančnem sektorju obstaja interes za soinvestiran-je v javni sklad tveganega kapitala?
3.	Pregled literature
Lastniško financiranje je v Evropi manj prisotno v podjetniški kulturi kot na primer v ZDA (Cumming and Macintosh, 2003), vendar so poskusi spodbujanja lastniškega financiranja prisotni povsod v razvitejših in tudi tranzicijskih gospodarstvih (Gompers & Lerner, 2002). Čeprav Evropa glede lastniškega financiranja še zelo zaostaja za ZDA (Romain and Van Pottelsberghe, 2003), prav v razvoju lastniškega financiranja mnogi avtorji vidijo prebujenje podjetniške Evrope (Cosh & Hughes, 2003). Seveda je tvegani kapital primeren samo za natančno določen in relativno ozek segment podjetij, ki so se s svojo inovativno podmeno odločila za hitro rast (Hermann et al., 2004; Mayer et al., 2001). V Sloveniji začetki tveganega kapitala segajo v sredino devetdesetih let prejšnjega stoletja (Glas et al., 2002), vendar pravega razvoja doslej ni bilo, kar je pripisati predvsem majhnosti trga in posledično nizki likvidnosti kapitalskih trgov (Wright et al., 2005).
4.	Metodologija
Metodologija študije sestoji iz treh delov: (1) deskriptivne analize sekundarnih virov, (2) kvalitativne analize primernih virov in (3) primerjave s podobnimi javnimi skladi tveganega kapitala v drugih deželah, ki so se ravno tako ukvarjali z vprašanji državnih pomoči. Primarni podatki so bili zbrani v dveh krogih (Vadnjal et al., 2006). Ključna metodologija
zbiranja primarnih podatkov je bil pol-strukturirani intervju, h kateremu so bile povabljene banke, zavarovalnice, družbe za upravljanje in tudi večja podjetja (Megginson, 2004). Intervjuvani so bili najvišji predstavniki teh institucij, pristojni, da izražajo resnične namere določene družbe (Meyer, 2007). Pri tem se je kot omejitev pokazala nizka stopnja specializacije v sektorju finančnega posredništva (Bruton & Ahlstrom, 2003), kar se kaže v tem, da mnogi igralci igrajo različne vloge v finančnih tokovih.
V raziskavi so sodelovale naslednje inštitucije (nekatera imena se zaradi vpletenosti v različne procese pojavljajo več kot enkrat):
•	Inštitucije, ki zagotavljajo sredstva (16): NLB, Abanka, Banka Koper, Probanka, Poštna banka, Hranilnica Lon, Banka Celje, Reifeissen Krekova banka, NKBM (kot banke), Zavarovalnica Triglav, Adriatic Slovenica, Prva pokojninska družba (kot zavarovalnice), Poteza, KD Holding, Aktiva invest; Individa (kot finančne družbe);
•	Korporacijski investitorji (14): Ilirija, Mura, ETI, Blues, EMO orodjarna, Alpina, Petrol, Danfoss Trata, AC Cosmos, Kovinoplastika Lož, Brest, Litostroj; Krka, Gorenje;
•	Firme za upravljanje skladov (11): Horizone Venture Management, Poteza, NLB Funds, Sivent, KD Holding, Ilirika, Taxgroup, Aktiva Invest, Perspektiva, Individa, RSG sklad.
5. Ključne ugotovitve
Prvo raziskovalno vprašanje se ukvarja z možnostjo, da se upravljalsko družbo izbere z javnim razpisom. Med potencialnimi kandidati ni niti ena upravljalska družba eksplicitno izrazila interesa za upravljanje z javnim skladom tveganega kapitala. Velika večina jih meni, da niso usposobljeni za upravljanje takega sklada zaradi preveč zahtevnih administrativnih postopkov v zvezi z državnimi pomočmi in zahtevami strukturnih skladov. Kljub temu se je večina morebitnih upravljalskih družb strinjala z 2.5 % upravljalsko provizijo, 20 % udeležbo na dobičku po končani investiciji in pričakovanimi donosi 20 % na letni ravni.
Vprašanje glede pričakovanih donosov na investicijo je pokazalo, da je med morebitnimi družbami za upravljanje le malo izkušenj in znanja, saj jih velika večina na vprašanje sploh ni odgovorila. Zato so verjetno pri izraženem mnenju o 20% pričakovanih donosih sledili priporočilom EVCA.
Za soinvestiranje zasebnega sektorja v javni sklad praktično ni interesa. Med razlogi za tako prevladujoče stališče najdemo visoko tveganje, visoke stroške monitoringa in nadzora, zelo omejene možnosti financiranja zaradi omejenega geografskega prostora, relativno nizke upravljalske provizije, malo izkušenj pri upravljanju tveganih investicij in željo po samostojnem opravljanju skrbnih pregledov. Zaradi vsega naštetega lahko trdimo, da na področju upravljanja sklada tveganega kapitala obstaja napaka trga, kar pomeni, da bo država morala nadaljevati z aktivnostmi ustanavljanja in zagona lastne družbe za upravljanje.
6. Zaključki in priporočila
V Sloveniji trenutno ni upravljalske družbe, ki bi bila spodobna upravljati javno financirani sklad tveganega kapitala ob upoštevanju zahtev sheme državne pomoči in zahtev evropskih strukturnih skladov. Tržno pogojeno nagrado za upravljanje sredstev bi lahko opredelili kot 2.5 % na investirana sredstva, pri čemer upravljalske družbe pričakujejo tudi 20 % udeležbo na dobičku. Pričakovani donosi na investirana sredstva se v pogojih tveganega financiranja gibljejo od 20 % letno navzgor. Od zasebnega sektorja ni bilo zaznati interesa za soinvestiranje v javni sklad tveganega kapitala. Koristno bi torej bilo, da država nadaljuje z zagonom lastne družbe za upravljanje, ki bo po eni strani delovala skladno s tržnimi pogoji in po drugi strani zagotavljala kompetence pri izvajanju zahtev strukturnih skladov in državnih pomoči. Zaradi majhnosti obsega raziskave ostaja odprta tudi metodološka dilema o ustreznosti raziskovanja neraziskanega (Da Rin et al., 2006), kar lahko komentiramo tudi s tem, da tudi bolj sofisti-cirane metode, kot jih uporabljamo v študiji, ne bi odpravile dvoma v zanesljivost rezultatov in ugotovitev.
Strokovni članek
Model presoje poslovne uspešnosti in izkoriščenosti zmogljivosti v bolnišnicah
UDK: 005.336.1:614.21(045) Petra Došenovič Bonča
Ekonomska fakulteta Univerze v Ljubljani petra.d.bonca@ef.uni-lj.si
Maks Tajnikar
Ekonomska fakulteta Univerze v Ljubljani maks.tajnikar@ef.uni-lj.si
IZVLEČEK
Pri presoji poslovne uspešnosti bolnišnic običajno uporabljamo nabor kazalnikov in kazalcev, ki bodisi v obliki odnosov med kategorijami bodisi v obliki absolutnih vrednosti izražajo poslovno uspešnost. Takšne kazalnike in kazalce poslovne uspešnosti zelo pogosto dopolnjujemo s kazalniki učinkovitosti, ki odražajo zlasti vidik izkoriščenosti človeških in materialnih zmogljivosti in s tem vsaj delno pojasnjujejo kazalnike poslovne uspešnosti. V tej razpravi prikazujemo, da je analiza poslovne uspešnosti bolnišnic na podlagi standardnih kazalnikov in kazalcev pomanjkljiva, in pojasnimo, da lahko presojo poslovne uspešnosti in učinkovitosti v bolnišnicah izboljšamo z uporabo procesnega modela.
Ključne besede: bolnišnica, presoja poslovne uspešnosti, procesni model. JEL : I19
1. Uvod
Pri analizi poslovne uspešnosti bolnišnic običajno uporabljamo nabor kazalnikov in kazalcev, ki bodisi v obliki odnosov med kategorijami bodisi v obliki absolutnih vrednosti izražajo poslovno uspešnost. Kazalnike poslovne uspešnosti zelo pogosto kombiniramo s kazalniki učinkovitosti, saj domnevamo, da učinkovitost vpliva na poslovno uspešnost. Glede na to, da so cene storitev v naših bolnišnicah določene administrativno in je v veliki meri dan tudi
obseg delovanja posameznih bolnišnic, je v resnici učinkovitost ključna za oblikovanje stroškov in s tem tudi za poslovno uspešnost. Vendar je uporaba takšnih kazalnikov in kazalcev sporna in pogosto ne daje resničnega vpogleda v poslovno uspešnost bolnišnic, zlasti pa ne omogoča pojasnjevanja razlogov za določeno poslovno uspešnost in ne daje podlag za sprejemanje ustreznih poslovnih potez za povečanje poslovne uspešnosti. Zato v tej razpravi prikazujemo, kako lahko analizo poslovne uspešnosti v bolnišnicah izboljšamo z uporabo procesnega modela in izračunov izkoriščenosti zmogljivosti znotraj posamezne bolnišnice.
2. Pomanjkljivosti standardnih kazalnikov in
kazalcev v analizi poslovne uspešnosti bolnišnic
Relativne odnose med določenimi kategorijami poslovanja običajno imenujemo kazalniki, absolutne vrednosti kategorij pa kazalci. V zdravstvu lahko opredelimo obsežen nabor kazalnikov in kazalcev, s katerimi prikazujemo učinkovitost, tehnične in tehnološke značilnosti postopkov zdravljenja in opreme, uspešnost zdravljenja in uspešnost poslovanja. Poslovna poročila slovenskih bolnišnic naj bi obsegala sistematiziran spisek kazalnikov in kazalcev njihove poslovne uspešnosti in učinkovitosti.
2.1 Standardni kazalniki in kazalci poslovne uspešnosti in učinkovitosti bolnišnic
V bolnišnicah uspešnost in učinkovitost poslovanja ocenjujejo s pomočjo treh skupin kazalnikov in kazalcev. Prvo skupino v bolnišnicah imenujejo kazalniki poslovne učinkovitosti, drugo kazalniki kakovosti in tretjo kazalniki kliničnih poti. Kazalnike poslovne učinkovitosti spremljajo vse bolnišnice po predpisani enotni metodologiji, ki je opredeljena v 27. členu in Prilogi IX Področnega dogovora za bolnišnice za pogodbeno leto 2008 (2008a).
Kazalniki poslovne učinkovitosti bolnišnic so izračunani na podlagi kazalcev o realiziranem fizičnem obsegu dela bolnišnic po posameznih dejavnostih, na podlagi podatkov o številu zaposlenih po posameznih kvalifikacijskih profilih, na podlagi podatkov o obsegu razpoložljivih materialnih zmogljivosti ter na podlagi podatkov o prihodkih, ustvarjenih s plačili za opravljene storitve s strani zunanjih plačnikov (Zavod za zdravstveno zavarovanje Slovenije, druge zavarovalnice,
bolniki s plačili iz žepa), in stroških za izvajanje dejavnosti posameznih enot bolnišnice.
Kazalniki poslovne učinkovitosti vključujejo izbrane finančne kazalnike (na primer kazalnik celotne gospodarnosti, delež amortizacije v celotnem prihodku, delež porabljenih amortizacijskih sredstev, stopnja odpisanosti opreme, dnevi vezave zalog materiala in koeficient plačilne sposobnosti), kazalnike spremljanja učinkovitosti izrabe človeških in materialnih zmogljivosti ter nekatere druge kazalnike (na primer delež stroškov za informacijsko tehnologijo v celotnih prihodkih, delež stroškov za izobraževanje v odhodkih in delež stroškov energije v celotnih prihodkih).
V okviru kazalnikov in kazalcev spremljanja učinkovitosti izrabe človeških zmogljivosti bolnišnice spremljajo za posamezne dejavnosti število bolnikov in obseg zdravstvenih storitev na zdravnika, na medicinsko sestro in na druge člane negovalnega osebja. Izkoriščenost materialnih zmogljivosti pa bolnišnice ločeno opazujejo za razpoložljivo opremo in razpoložljive prostore. Bolnišnice tako spremljajo izkoriščenost določenih aparatur (na primer RTG aparati, računalniška tomografija in magnetna resonanca), pri čemer ločeno spremljajo uporabo aparatov za hospitalne in ambulantne bolnike, izkoriščenost operacijskih dvoran in izkoriščenost intenzivnih enot. Izkoriščenost materialnih zmogljivosti v obliki prostorov pa za posamezne dejavnosti spremljajo z vidika deleža prostorov, ki se uporabljajo za opravljanje dejavnosti, v celotnem razpoložljivem prostoru posamezne dejavnosti ter z vidika njihove izkoriščenosti.
2.2 Omejitve standardnih kazalnikov in kazalcev
Vendar nabor kazalnikov in kazalcev, ki smo jih prikazali v poglavju 1.1, ni uporaben sam po sebi, saj njihova višina in velikost za določeno obdobje ali v določenem trenutku omogoča le malo analitičnih sklepov. Take sklepe lahko naredimo šele tedaj, ko posamezne kazalnike in kazalce primerjamo med sabo. Primerjamo jih lahko v času in na tej podlagi sklepamo, ali se razmere izboljšujejo ali slabšajo, primerjamo pa jih lahko tudi med bolnišnicami. Za take primerjave moramo imeti podatke o drugih bolnišnicah, še boljše pa je, če imamo izbrano bolnišnico, ki lahko igra vlogo zgleda. Pa tudi če razpolagamo z informacijami o vrednosti kazalcev in kazalnikov za več obdobij in več bolnišnic, je osnovni problem ta, da poslovodstvo bolnišnic težko spremlja veliko število različnih kazalnikov in kazalcev, obstaja pa tudi večja verjetnost neustrezne interpretacije njihove medsebojne povezanosti. Tako se za primerjavo med
enotami določene bolnišnice in med bolnišnicami uporabljajo drugačne metode primerjalne analize (na primer Ozcan, 2008, str. 3-13 ter Hollingsworth in Peacock, 2008, str. 28-42).
Da bi lahko s takimi primerjavami izvedli analitične sklepe, ki bi izkazovali resnične razmere, in zlasti da bi lahko na podlagi teh sklepov potegnili poslovne poteze, ki bi povečale poslovno uspešnost, moramo poznati medsebojno odvisnost posameznih kazalnikov in kazalcev. Pri tem pa naletimo na problem heterogenosti poslovnih procesov med različnimi bolnišnicami in celo znotraj njih, torej na primer med oddelki, klinikami ali enotami. Povečanje določenega kazalnika v določeni bolnišnico lahko vodi do izboljšanja poslovne uspešnosti, v drugi pa jo znižuje. Absolutna raven nekega kazalnika ali kazalca v različnih bolnišnicah, enotah ali oddelkih različno vpliva na poslovno uspešnost. V praksi vedno kaže določen kazalnik ali kazalec pri medsebojnih primerjavah razlike v učinkovitosti in uspešnosti poslovanja pa tudi razlike, ki izhajajo iz hetero-genosti poslovnih procesov.
Ker na poslovno uspešnost v bolnišnicah vpliva tudi plačilni sistem z višino cen za zdravstvene storitve in z obsegom podeljene dejavnosti znotraj zdravstvene mreže, večina kazalcev in kazalnikov poslovne uspešnosti ni ustrezna le zaradi navedenih težav pri njihovi uporabi, pač pa je neuporabna tudi zaradi vpliva plačilnega sistema na njihove denarne vrednosti. Upoštevati je treba zlasti spodbude, ki jih ustvarja plačilni sistem, oziroma vplive plačilnega sistema na obnašanje in odločitve izvajalcev zdravstvenih storitev (Kornai, Eggleston, 2001, str. 84-85; Phelps, 2002, str. 376-429). Najpomembnejši kazalniki poslovne uspešnosti so tako v neki bolnišnici odvisni od cen storitev, obsega podeljene dejavnosti, plačilnega sistema, razpoložljive tehnologije in izbranih tehnik ter od stroškovne in tehnične učinkovitosti. Zavedati se moramo, da je le doseganje tehnične in stroškovne učinkovitosti v resnici v rokah poslovodstev v bolnišnicah. Kazalniki uspešnosti naj bi namreč vključevali zgolj kategorije, ki so pod vplivom vodstva, nediskrecijskih dejavnikov pa ne, saj v tem primeru dobimo neustrezno sliko poslovne uspešnosti in učinkovitosti v primerjavah med različnimi bolnišnicami.
Da bi se izognili večini omenjenih težav pri analizi poslovanja bolnišnic in da bi znali razlikovati med različnimi dejavniki, ki vplivajo na poslovno uspešnost bolnišnic, si lahko pomagamo z analizo izkoriščenosti zmogljivosti in poslovne uspešnosti, ki temelji na uporabi prilagojenega procesnega modela bolnišnice. Analiza poslovne uspešnosti bolnišnic mora torej izhajati iz poteka poslovnih procesov bolnišnice. Pomembno vlogo pri doseganju večje učinkovitosti in
uspešnosti so izboljšavam pri izvajanju procesov pripisovali že začetniki zgodnejših teorij o menedžmentu (npr. Taylorjev znanstveni menedžment), z razvojem sistemske teorije in s prispevki sodobnih teoretikov pa je postalo jasno, da do maksimizacije učinkovitosti posameznih oddelkov in funkcij v organizaciji lahko pride tudi na račun učinkovitosti in uspešnosti organizacije kot celote. Prav te vidike namreč izpostavljajo sistemska teorija, ki organizacijo obravnava kot kompleksen sistem, sestavljen iz medsebojno in z okoljem povezanih delov z določenimi lastnostmi, in prispevki sodobnih teoretikov, zlasti s formalizacijo ideje o verigi vrednosti, ki presega meje oddelkov ali funkcij podjetja ali organizacije, kar je pomembno prispevalo k razvoju procesnega pogleda na organizacije (Harmon, 2007). Analizo izkoriščenosti zmogljivosti in poslovne uspešnosti, ki temelji na uporabi procesnega modela bolnišnice, lahko izvedemo v vsaki bolnišnici posebej, zanjo ni nujno, da imamo na voljo primerjalne podatke iz drugih bolnišnic, posebej pomembno pa je, da omogoča izoblikovanje določenih predlogov za prenovo procesov, ki bi pripeljali do večje učinkovitosti in uspešnosti poslovanja v bolnišnici.
3. Procesni model in presoja poslovne uspešnosti in izkoriščenosti zmogljivosti v bolnišnicah
Procesni model, ki ga lahko uporabimo za analizo poslovne uspešnosti, mora slediti toku bolnikov, ko ti vstopajo v bolnišnico, prehajajo iz ene dejavnosti oziroma enote bolnišnice v drugo znotraj bolnišnice in izstopajo iz bolnišnice. Pri tem zaposlujejo zmogljivosti iz različnih klinik, oddelkov in enot znotraj in tudi zunaj bolnišnice, v kolikor bolnišnica za določene storitve napoti bolnike k drugim zdravstvenim organizacijam, obremenjujejo različne človeške in materialne zmogljivosti v bolnišnici, povzročajo stroške in ustvarjajo pravice bolnišnice v okviru plačilnega sistema do prihodkov bolnišnice. Tokove bolnikov med oddelki in enotami bolnišnice opredeljujejo procesi zdravstvene obravnave bolnika. Ti procesi neposredno prispevajo k ustvarjanju vrednosti bolnišnic oziroma k doseganju ustreznega izida zdravstvene oskrbe, zato jih imenujemo tudi temeljni poslovni procesi (Ould, 1995; Harmon, 2007; Lenz in Reichert, 2007).
Stroški pa v procesu zdravstvene obravnave nastajajo tudi zaradi podpornih poslovnih procesov, zato je treba pri analizi poslovne uspešnosti temeljnih procesov upoštevati tudi stroške, ki jih povzročajo podporni procesi.
3.1	Dva koraka pri presoji poslovne uspešnosti in izkoriščenosti zmogljivosti
Analiza poslovne uspešnosti, ki upošteva temeljne procese oziroma tokove bolnikov v bolnišnici, obsega v grobem dve fazi. V prvi fazi oblikujemo procesno sliko bolnišnice, ki kaže tokove bolnikov znotraj bolnišnice med posameznimi oddelki in enotami, pa tudi tokove bolnikov med bolnišnico in drugimi zdravstvenimi organizacijami. Cilj te faze ni le opredeliti procese in njihovo medsebojno odvisnost, pač pa tudi kvantificirati aktivnosti, ki tečejo znotraj teh procesov. Na tej podlagi dobimo v drugi fazi dva bistvena rezultata za analizo poslovanja. Prvi rezultat se navezuje na ugotovitev o izkoriščanju človeških in materialnih zmogljivosti v posameznih procesih in dejavnostih, drugi rezultat pa se nanaša na ugotovitev o uspešnosti poslovanja po posameznih procesih, in sicer z vidika organizacijskih enot, ki sodelujejo v teh procesih. Oba rezultata sta lahko podlaga za preoblikovanje procesov, ki privede do večje učinkovitosti, pa tudi do znižanja stroškov v bolnišnici. Zlasti analiza izkoriščenosti človeških in materialnih zmogljivosti omogoča tudi organizacijske spremembe, ki vodijo do bolj izglajenega toka bolnikov skozi procese. Takšna analiza uspešnosti poslovanja daje tudi odgovor na vprašanje, v kolikšni meri so procesi, skozi katere teče tok bolnikov, obremenjeni s stroški podpornih služb, saj je opredelitev temeljnih procesov povezana tudi z opredelitvijo njihovih podpornih procesov. Poleg tega pa primerjava tako opredeljene poslovne uspešnosti določene enote z izkoriščenostjo človeških in materialnih zmogljivosti te enote kaže tudi, v kolikšni meri lahko vodstvo vpliva na poslovno uspešnost. Če določena enota kljub polni izkoriščenosti zmogljivosti in ustreznemu izvajanju svojih temeljnih poslovnih procesov dosega nizko poslovno uspešnost, lahko ugotovimo, da je nizka poslovna uspešnost posledica na primer neustreznega plačilnega sistema za opravljanje dejavnosti; to pa je nediskrecijski dejavnik, ki vpliva na uspešnost opazovane enote, česar pri primerjavah poslovne uspešnosti takšne enote z drugimi enotami ne smemo zanemariti.
3.2	Procesni model
Pri oblikovanju procesnega modela bolnišnice je smiselno domnevati, da so procesi povezani s tokovi bolnikov, takšni procesi zdravstvene obravnave pa zahtevajo, da se bolniki gibljejo med posameznimi oddelki in enotami. Posamezne bolnišnice so namreč organizacijsko razdeljene na oddelke, ki izvajajo različne zdravstvene dejavnosti. Ključni dejavnosti bolnišnic sta bolnišnična
dejavnost in specialistična ambulantna dejavnost. Posamezne oddelke bolnišnične in specialistične ambulantne dejavnosti pa sestavlja več enot, ki so specializirane za izvajanje določenih specialnosti zdravstvenih dejavnosti, torej za določen nabor zdravstvenih storitev. Da bi lahko oblikovali dovolj natančen procesni model oziroma dovolj natančno strukturo procesov zdravstvene obravnave, je smiselno opazovati tokove bolnikov med enotami na čim nižji ravni opazovanja. Natančno zajemanje poteka procesov v bolnišnicah z namenom ugotavljanja uspešnosti in učinkovitosti je nujno zato, ker so tokovi bolnikov oziroma procesi zdravstvene obravnave kompleksni, pri njihovi izvedbi pa sodeluje veliko ljudi z različnih področij in specialnosti. Poleg tega velja, da tudi znotraj posameznih izvajalcev ti procesi niso omejeni na posamezne oddelke ali poslovne funkcije. Ti procesi se pogosto spreminjajo zaradi tehnološkega napredka, razvoja novih metod zdravstvene obravnave ali novih postopkov, ki so povezani z obravnavo posameznega bolnika. Večine aktivnosti posameznih procesov zdravstvene obravnave ne moremo v celoti avtomatizirati, številne aktivnosti pa niso primerne niti za delno avtomatizacijo in je njihovo izvajanje v celoti vezano na zdravstveno in drugo osebje. Med procesi zdravstvene obravnave in znotraj njih poteka prenos velikega obsega in velikega števila različnih informacij, kakovost in obseg sodelovanja in usklajevanja dela med osebjem in med osebjem in opremo, tako medicinsko opremo kot sistemi za podporo odločanju, pa sta ključna pri zagotavljanju kakovostne zdravstvene oskrbe bolnikov ter pri obvladovanju stroškov zdravstvene oskrbe (Poulymenopoulou, Malamateniou in Vassilacopoulos, 2003; Anyanwu et al., 2003).
Glede na to, da moramo procese opazovati z vidika toka bolnikov, so posamezne enote bodisi začetna bodisi končna točka teh procesov, v velikem številu primerov pa le mesto, na katero vstopa bolnik, a je zunaj med začetno in končno točko nekega procesa. V teh primerih bolnik začasno izstopi iz procesne poti in se čez čas vrne na osnovno procesno pot. Pri tem je osnovni tok bolnikov vezan na vstop bolnikov iz okolja v bolnišnico in izstop bolnikov iz bolnišnice v okolje. Vstop bolnikov v bolnišnico lahko nastane na podlagi napotitve osebnega zdravnika, na podlagi napotitve drugih izvajalcev zdravstvenega varstva pa tudi brez napotitve. Čeprav bi lahko v procesnem modelu bolnišnice domnevali, da bolniki načeloma vstopajo v bolnišnico skozi enote specialistične ambulantne dejavnosti (ambulante), so lahko take vstopne točke v procesnem modelu tako ambulante kot enote bolnišnične dejavnosti (bolnišnične enote). Čeprav bi lahko domnevali, da je osnovna točka izstopov bolnikov iz bolnišnice
enota, v kateri bolnik vstopi v bolnišnico, v procesnem modelu bolnišnice ni smiselno omejiti izstopa bolnikov iz bolnišnice na vstopno točko.
Ker procesni model bolnišnice oblikujemo na podlagi tokov bolnikov in ker ga uporabljamo z namenom ugotavljanja poslovne uspešnosti, je smiselno v procesnem modelu opazovati zgolj enote, ki sodelujejo pri zdravstveni obravnavi bolnikov in tako tudi ustvarjajo prihodke bolnišnice. S pomočjo procesnega modela tako ni smiselno opazovati uspešnosti enot, ki izvajajo nezdravstvene dejavnosti. Takšne enote izvajajo podporne procese temeljnih zdravstvenih procesov, zato jih je treba ustrezno povezati s temeljnimi procesi. V bolnišnicah lahko nezdravstvene dejavnosti razdelimo v dve skupini. V prvo sodi zdravstvena administracija, v drugo pa ostale podporne dejavnosti (npr. računovodstvo, vzdrževanje in čiščenje). Ti dve skupini moramo v procesnem modelu obravnavati različno. Dejavnost zdravstvene administracije je namreč neposredno povezana z zdravstvenimi dejavnostmi posameznih enot, zato je treba zmogljivosti in stroške zdravstvene administracije opazovati v okviru posameznih enot, ki opravljajo zdravstvene dejavnosti. Druge nezdravstvene dejavnosti pa ne vstopajo v oblikovanje procesov, znotraj katerih se gibajo bolniki, zato jih ni smiselno upoštevati pri ugotavljanju izkoriščanja človeških in materialnih zmogljivosti v bolnišnici. Treba pa je upoštevati stroške, ki nastajajo zaradi izvajanja takšnih podpornih dejavnosti, in jih mora bolnišnica pokrivati z ustvarjanjem določenega presežka prihodkov nad odhodki posameznih enot, ki izvajajo zdravstvene dejavnosti.
3.3 Elementi procesnega modela
Sestavni deli modela bolnišnice, ki jih prikazuje Slika 1, so:
1.	enote, ki sestavljajo organizacijsko strukturo bolnišnice;
2.	vstop bolnikov v posamezno opazovano enoto od zunaj, torej vstop iz okolja bolnišnice;
3.	vstop bolnikov v posamezno opazovano enoto iz drugih enot bolnišnice, ki lahko nastanejo bodisi zaradi napotitve bolnika v opazovano enoto na pregled ali napotitve bolnika v opazovano enoto na nadaljnjo obravnavo;
4.	razpoložljivi inputi v obliki tako človeških kot materialnih zmogljivosti, ki jih zaposluje opazovana enota, ki izvaja zdravstveno obravnavo oziroma zdravstvene storitve;
5. tehnični količniki za posamezno opazovano enoto v obliki normativov uporabe tako človeških kot materialnih zmogljivosti, ki omogočajo izračun potrebnih inputov glede na enega bolnika, za katerega opazovana enota izvaja zdravstveno obravnavo oziroma zdravstvene storitve.
3.3.1 Matrika napotitev na pregled in matrika napotitev na nadaljnjo obravnavo
Če opazujemo obremenjenost posamezne enote znotraj bolnišnice z bolniki, obseg te obremenjenosti ne določa zgolj vstop bolnikov od zunaj v bolnišnico, pač pa obseg obremenjenosti določajo tudi tokovi, ki se vzpostavljajo med enotami znotraj bolnišnice. Posamezna enota je torej lahko obremenjena z bolniki, ki vstopajo od zunaj v bolnišnico, z bolniki, ki prihajajo iz druge enote v to enoto na pregled, in z bolniki, ki so napoteni iz druge enote, ker so tam zaključili zdravljenje in nadaljujejo obravnavo v tej enoti. S posnetkom kvantitativnih vidikov teh premikov bolnikov lahko oblikujemo dve matriki procesov, ki kažeta tok bolnikov med posameznimi enotami v bolnišnici.
Prva matrika kaže tokove bolnikov v primeru, ko bolniki odhajajo iz določene enote v drugo enoto na pregled in s tem obremenijo po obsegu dela takšno drugo enoto. Da bi lahko oblikovali takšno matriko, moramo torej za vsako enoto v bolnišnici ugotoviti, v katere druge enote ta enota napoti svoje bolnike, opredeliti pa je treba tudi število takšnih bolnikov. Poleg tega pa je za ustrezno ugotavljanje poslovne uspešnosti takšne enote treba ugotoviti tudi, koliko bolnikov ta enota napoti na pregled k drugim zdravstvenim organizacijam, saj ima bolnišnica zaradi takšnih napotitev stroške.
Druga matrika pa kaže kvantitativne vidike procesov, ki nastajajo z nadaljnjo obravnavo bolnikov znotraj bolnišnice. Tudi v tem primeru je treba upoštevati, da lahko bolnik zaključi obravnavo znotraj katerekoli enote bolnišnice in nadaljuje obravnavo v katerikoli drugi enoti bolnišnice. Pri matriki napotitev na nadaljnjo obravnavo lahko upoštevamo tudi, da lahko bolniki nadaljujejo obravnavo pri drugih zdravstvenih organizacijah. Ker pa takšni bolniki ne obremenjujejo niti človeških in materialnih zmogljivosti bolnišnice niti ne povzročajo stroškov tej bolnišnici, jih ni treba upoštevati pri kvantifikaciji procesnega modela bolnišnice, ki ga uporabljamo za oceno izkoriščenosti človeških in materialnih zmogljivosti ter poslovne uspešnosti njenih enot.
Slika 1: Model bolnišnice
Izkoriščenost zmogljivosti
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ZMOGLJIVOSTI: človeške in materialne
NORMATIV DELA PO BOLNIKU:
-	osebje: zdravniki, medicinske sestre, zdravstveni delavci in nezdravstveni delavci (zdravstvena administracija)
-	4 najdražji aparati ali deli opreme
CELOTNO ŠTEVILO BOLNIKOV
ZAČETNO ŠTEVILO BOLNIKOV
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napotitve iz enote v enoto na pregled (začasne napotitve v druge enote)
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napotitve iz enote v enoto na nadaljnjo obravnavo (zaključek obravnave v začetni enoti)
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3.3.2 Kvantifikacija toka bolnikov
Bolnišnice podatkov o tokovih bolnikov med enotami, ki nastajajo bodisi zaradi napotitev na pregled bodisi zaradi napotitev v nadaljnjo obravnavo, ne poročajo v svojih letnih poročilih, prav tako pa jih v takšni obliki ne zahtevajo plačniki zdravstvenih storitev. Tako je mogoče matriko napotitev na pregled in matriko napotitev na nadaljnjo obravnavo oblikovati zgolj na podlagi internih podatkov bolnišnic in razgovorov z zaposlenimi v posameznih enotah bolnišnice.
Pri ugotavljanju celotnega števila bolnikov, ki obremenjujejo posamezno enoto in vstopajo vanjo bodisi od zunaj bodisi iz drugih enot zaradi napotitev na pregled ali na nadaljnjo obravnavo, pa ne moremo vseh enot bolnišnic obravnavati ne enak način, saj bolnišnice ne poročajo podatkov o bolnikih in opravljenih storitvah na enak način za vse dejavnosti in posledično enote, ki te dejavnosti izvajajo.
Glede na razpoložljivost podatkov o tokovih bolnikov lahko posamezne enote razporedimo v pet skupin glede na to, ali se na ravni enote pojavlja izvirno financiran prihodek, ki nastane z zaračunavanjem storitev plačniku zunaj bolnišnice (prihodek je na primer za specialistične ambulantne dejavnosti opredeljen s ceno in številom točk, za bolnišnične dejavnosti pa s ceno in številom uteži za posamezno skupino primerljivih primerov), in glede na zajemanje števila bolnikov, ki končajo obravnavo v posamezni enoti (število zaključenih obravnav). Razpoložljivost podatkov o tokovih bolnikov je odvisna od mehanizmov plačevanja zdravstvenih storitev, ki so uveljavljeni v Sloveniji. Za leto 2008 na primer so ti mehanizmi in načini spremljanja podatkov o številu bolnikov in opravljenih storitvah opredeljeni v Splošnem dogovoru za pogodbeno leto 2008 (2008b), v Področnem dogovoru za bolnišnice za pogodbeno leto 2008 (2008c) in v Navodilu o beleženju in obračunavanju zdravstvenih storitev (2009).
V prvo skupino lahko uvrstimo enote, pri katerih ne moremo ugotoviti niti prihodka niti števila zaključenih obravnav (na primer laboratorij). Zanje je značilno, da vanje ne vstopajo bolniki od zunaj, obravnave bolnikov znotraj takšnih enot pa nastajajo z napotitvijo bolnikov iz drugih enot bolnišnice, in sicer tako iz ambulant kot iz bolnišničnih enot.
Za drugo skupino enot je značilno, da pri njih nastaja prihodek, čeprav v bolnišnici ne ugotavljajo števila zaključenih obravnav (na primer fizioterapija za potrebe ambulant). Prihodek v teh primerih nastaja s financiranjem obravnav bolnikov, ki prihajajo v takšno enoto iz ambulant bodisi na pregled bodisi na nadaljnjo obravnavo. Za obravnavo bolnikov, ki so napoteni iz bolnišničnih enot,
pa takšne enote ne dobijo plačila od zunanjega plačnika, saj je celotna obravnava takšnih bolnikov financirana v okviru sistema plačila skupin primerljivih primerov. Za enote druge skupine je značilno tudi, da vanje ne vstopajo bolniki od zunaj, saj bi bili sicer zabeleženi v okviru števila zaključenih obravnav.
Za tretjo skupino enot je značilno, da pri njih ni mogoče ugotoviti prihodka, obstaja pa število zaključenih obravnav znotraj enote. V tem primeru število zaključenih obravnav obsega tako zaključene obravnave bolnikov, ki prihajajo od zunaj, s čimer ustvarja enota tržni prihodek, kot bolnike, ki prihajajo v enoto iz te skupine iz ambulant na pregled. Ne zajema pa bolnikov, ki prihajajo iz bolnišničnih enot na pregled v takšno enoto, saj so ti zajeti že v okviru financiranja skupin primerljivih primerov, niti bolnikov, ki prihajajo iz ambulant in bolnišničnih enot na nadaljnjo obravnavo, saj domnevamo, da v takšnih enotah ne teče nadaljnja obravnava.
V četrti skupini, ki zajema bolnišnične enote, za katere je značilno, da lahko ugotovimo tako prihodek kot število zaključenih obravnav (število odpuščenih bolnikov) na ravni enote, pa število zaključenih obravnav obsega poleg bolnikov, ki vstopajo v bolnišnico od zunaj, tudi bolnike, ki vstopajo iz ambulant na nadaljnjo obravnavo. V primerih, ko vstopajo v takšno bolnišnično enoto na nadaljnjo obravnavo bolniki iz ambulant znotraj bolnišnice, se namreč v obravnavani bolnišnični enoti odpirajo novi primeri iz skupin primerljivih primerov. Tok bolnikov iz ambulant zgolj na pregled v bolnišnično enoto pa znotraj bolnišnice zaradi narave bolnišničnih enot ne nastaja in zato tudi ni vključen v število zaključenih obravnav znotraj bolnišničnih enot. Vstop bolnikov v določeno enoto bolnišnične dejavnosti iz drugih enot bolnišnične dejavnosti na pregled (na primer konziliarni pregledi) pa tudi ni zajet v številu zaključenih obravnav, saj mora bolnišnica strošek takšnih storitev kriti s plačili za skupine primerljivih primerov tistih enot, ki so napotile bolnika na pregled.
Za peto skupino enot, ki zajema ambulante, v kateri bolnišnica izkazuje tako prihodek kot število zaključenih obravnav (število obiskov) znotraj enote, je značilno, da število zaključenih obravnav obsega poleg bolnikov, ki vstopajo v enoto od zunaj, tudi bolnike, ki so napoteni iz drugih ambulant v analizirano ambulanto zaradi pregleda ali nadaljnje obravnave, pa tudi bolnike, ki vstopajo iz bolnišničnih enot v nadaljnjo obravnavo v analizirano ambulanto. Ne zajema pa bolnikov, ki prihajajo iz bolnišničnih enot v posamezno ambulanto zgolj na pregled, saj so ti bolniki plačani v okviru sistema financiranja skupin primerljivih primerov in niso posebej plačani v okviru dejavnosti analizirane ambulante.
3.3.3	Celotno število bolnikov v določeni enoti
Glede na opisano kompleksnost tokov bolnikov med enotami bolnišnice in ugotavljanja števila bolnikov, ki jih obravnavajo v posamezni enoti, in glede na cilj procesnega modela, moramo vpeljati v model klasifikacijo posameznih enot v omenjenih pet skupin. Ker je število bolnikov, ki obremenjuje posamezno enoto, seštevek števila bolnikov, ki vstopajo od zunaj, in števila bolnikov, ki vstopajo v enoto iz drugih enot na pregled ali nadaljnjo obravnavo, in ker v bolnišnici ne spremljajo števila bolnikov, ki vstopajo od zunaj, pač pa število zaključenih obravnav, moramo v modelu za vsako od petih skupin enot izračunati število bolnikov, ki vstopajo od zunaj iz števila zaključenih obravnav. Takšna korekcija je potrebna, saj z opredelitvijo procesov ugotovimo število bolnikov, ki v enoto vstopa zaradi napotitve na pregled ali nadaljnjo obravnavo. Če bi to število bolnikov zgolj prišteli k številu zaključenih obravnav, bi zaradi dvojnega štetja nekaterih skupin bolnikov v modelu izkazovali nerealne obremenitve posameznih enot bolnišnice.
Z upoštevanjem števila bolnikov, ki vstopajo v določeno iz drugih enot bolnišnice, in števila bolnikov, ki vstopajo od zunaj, kar smo izračunali iz števila zaključenih obravnav, lahko ugotovimo celotno število bolnikov, ki obremenjujejo posamezno enoto. To število kaže neto obremenitev posamezne enote z bolniki, ki bodisi prihajajo v bolnišnico in enoto od zunaj in v enoto z napotitvami znotraj bolnišnice na pregled ali v nadaljnjo obravnavo.
3.3.4	Normativi uporabe zmogljivosti določene enote na bolnika
Za opredelitev povpraševanja po človeških in materialnih zmogljivostih v bolnišnici je treba število bolnikov, ki izhaja iz njihovih tokov v bolnišnici, spremeniti v povpraševanje po posameznem tipu zmogljivosti. Za ta namen opredelimo, koliko delovnih ur ali koliko strojnih ur potrebuje posamezni bolnik v povprečju znotraj posamezne enote v delovnem procesu, v katerega je vključen pri svojem zdravljenju. Zaradi tega je treba v procesni model bolnišnice vključiti nabor normativov uporabe za vsak tip zmogljivosti in za vsako enoto opazovanja v bolnikovem toku posebej. Normativi kažejo intenzivnost zaposlitve posameznega elementa zmogljivosti, pri čemer je v primeru bolnišnic smiselno, da upoštevamo človeške, prostorske in posteljne zmogljivosti ter zmogljivost aparatov.
Zaposlenost človeških zmogljivosti oziroma delovne sile lahko ugotavljamo s časovnim obsegom dela, izmerjenega v urah, katerega posamezni kvalifikacijski profil potroši za obravnavo posameznega bolnika v celotnem času, ki ga
posamezni bolnik prebije v obravnavi znotraj posameznega oddelka. Pri velikosti prostorov oziroma površin, ki pripadajo posamezni enoti, moramo opredeliti potrebno velikost glede na značilnosti dejavnosti, ki se v teh prostorih izvajajo, in glede na število bolnikov, kar lahko za posamezno bolnišnico ocenimo na podlagi preteklih podatkov, primerjave z drugimi bolnišnicami ali glede na ekspertno mnenje. Pri ugotavljanju posteljnih zmogljivosti lahko izhajamo iz povprečne ležalne dobe, ki je značilna za določeno enoto bolnišnice. Pri aparatih pa lahko izhajamo iz časovnih normativov, izraženih v urah, ki kažejo, koliko časa posamezni bolnik v celotnem obdobju svoje obravnave znotraj ene enote zaseda neki aparat.
Vsi navedeni normativi (normativi za delovno silo, prostor, posteljne zmogljivosti in aparate) so v modelu konstantni in jih zato razumemo kot tehnične normative.
4. Presoja izkoriščenosti zmogljivosti
Analiza izkoriščenosti človeških in materialnih zmogljivosti je v bistvu stranski proizvod na poti k analizi poslovne uspešnosti bolnišnice. Ker pa je del iste analize, seveda razkriva tudi pomembne dejavnike, ki vplivajo na njeno poslovno uspešnost. V bistvu je naturalni vidik poslovne uspešnosti bolnišnice, čeprav izkoriščenost zmogljivosti ne pomeni nujno tudi tehnične in stroškovne učinkovitosti bolnišnice. Neka bolnišnica je namreč lahko tehnično neučinkovita, kar pomeni, da na enoto outputa uporablja prevelik obseg inputov v primerjavi z učinkovitimi bolnišnicami, a te inpute polno zaposluje. Za analizo izkoriščenosti zmogljivosti po enotah bolnišnice potrebujemo povpraševanje po teh zmogljivostih, ki ga dobimo iz toka bolnikov in normativov uporabe zmogljivosti na bolnika, in obseg zmogljivosti po enotah.
4.1 Potrebe po zmogljivostih v enotah
Pri delovni sili lahko povpraševanje opredelimo na osnovi normativov, ki kažejo obravnavo posameznega bolnika znotraj celotne obravnave v eni enoti v urah, in števila bolnikov, ki jih obravnavajo v enem letu znotraj posamezne enote. Glede na to, da smo pri normativih za delovno silo opredelili čas, ki ga posamezni zdravstveni delavec nameni obravnavi posameznega bolnika v
smislu dnevnega normativa, je treba pri izračunavanju povpraševanja po človeških zmogljivostih znotraj posamezne enote upoštevali tudi ležalno dobo bolnikov v okviru enote. V primerih, ko statistika v bolnišnicah ne zajema teh ležalnih dob (na primer za ambulante), pa je smiselno domnevati, da je dnevni normativ ustrezen. Takšno povpraševanje je odvisno torej od števila bolnikov in od normativov za obravnavo posameznega bolnika v času, ki ga bolnik preživi znotraj posamezne enote.
Tudi povpraševanje po prostoru in po posteljah moramo opredeliti na osnovi števila bolnikov. Potreben prostor pa lahko določimo z upoštevanjem normativa potrebnega prostora na bolnika in števila bolnikov, ki vstopajo v posamezno enoto. Povpraševanje po posteljnih kapacitetah pa lahko opredelimo na podlagi števila bolnikov in povprečne ležalne dobe v posamezni enoti. Tudi povpraševanje po posameznih aparatih je povezano s številom bolnikov, ki vstopajo v posamezno enoto, z deležem teh bolnikov, ki so obravnavani s pomočjo posameznega aparata, in s časovnim normativom, izraženim v urah, za obravnavo pacienta na takšnem aparatu.
4.2 Razpoložljive zmogljivosti po enotah
Dejavnosti, ki se izvajajo v posameznih enotah, moramo opazovati tudi z vidika zmogljivosti, ki jih posamezna enota uporablja pri izvajanju teh dejavnosti.
Človeške zmogljivosti lahko opazujemo z vidika štirih tipičnih kvalifikacijskih profilov, ki delujejo znotraj posamezne enote. Delovno silo bolnišnic lahko zajamemo v kategorijah zdravnikov, medicinskih sester, drugih zdravstvenih delavcev in nezdravstvenih delavcev. Pri vseh štirih profilih je potrebno ugotoviti število zaposlenih v posamezni kategoriji, pri tem pa zaradi medsebojne odvisnosti enot upoštevati tudi dejstvo, da nekateri zaposleni delujejo v različnih enotah.
Materialne zmogljivosti pa moramo opazovati z vidika površine prostorov, ki jih za svojo dejavnost uporablja posamezna enota, z vidika števila bolniških postelj in števila različnih vrst aparatov, ki jih uporablja enota pri izvajanju svoje dejavnosti. Glede na to, da v bolnišnicah uporabljajo veliko različnih aparatov in opreme, se je z vidika ugotavljanja uspešnosti smiselno omejiti zgolj na najdražje tipe aparatov in tako omejiti nabor aparatov, za katere ugotavljamo stopnjo izkoriščenosti. Pri opredelitvi vrednosti aparatov je smiselno upoštevati njihovo nabavno vrednost in oblikovati ključe za delitev stroškov amortizacije ob predpostavki, da doba uporabe vseh ključnih aparatov ne presega amortizacijske
dobe. Na ta način se pri analizi poslovne uspešnosti izognemo vplivu odpisanosti aparatov in opreme na poslovni izid.
4.3 Ugotavljanje izkoriščenosti zmogljivosti enot
Odnos med ponudbo zmogljivosti in povpraševanjem po zmogljivostih kaže izkoriščenost človeških in materialnih zmogljivosti znotraj posamezne enote. Prednost uporabe procesnega modela pri ugotavljanju izkoriščenosti zmogljivosti je opredelitev povpraševanja, ki z upoštevanjem tokov bolnikov med enotami odraža dejansko obremenitev posamezne enote.
Pravilnost ocene izkoriščenosti v največji meri izhaja iz ocene normativov zaposlovanja posameznih zmogljivosti, ki merijo intenzivnost njihove uporabe. Če je ocena normativov objektivna, lahko iz stopnje izkoriščenosti posamezne zmogljivosti izvedemo tudi sklep o stopnji njene izkoriščenosti. V primeru nizke stopnje izkoriščenosti, tedaj je nižja od 1, taka zmogljivost pomembno prispeva k stroškom, čeprav z vidika bolnišničnih procesov ni v celoti potrebna. S tem lahko identificiramo zmogljivosti, ki jih lahko odpustimo ali dezinvestiramo, ali pa zanje najdemo zaposlitev v dejavnosti zunaj bolnišnice ali v diverzifikaciji dejavnosti same bolnišnice. V primeru visoke stopnje izkoriščenosti zmogljivosti, ko je stopnja višja od 1, pa kaže na ozka grla, ki onemogočajo doseganje ustreznega obsega dejavnosti v drugih enotah in gladek tok bolnikov med enotami. S tem lahko ugotavljamo tudi izvore čakalnih dob v bolnišnici. Pri tem dobimo tudi informacijo, ali je mogoče z večanjem intenzivnosti dela, ki se kaže v normativih, doseči večji obseg dejavnosti brez zaposlovanja dodatnih zmogljivosti. Rezultat tako omogoča oceno intenzivnosti zaposlitve posameznega elementa zmogljivosti v bolnišnici in ugotovitev morebitnih presežnih ali manjkajočih zmogljivosti. Vse to omogoča argumentacijo ključnih poslovnih potez, kot so nakup nove opreme ali zaposlitev novih delavcev, ugotovitev presežne delovne sile in nepotrebne opreme, reorganizacijo bolnišnic za bolj tekoč tok bolnikov, ko ne nastajajo čakalne vrste, in ugotavljanje zmogljivosti, ki povzročajo stroške, ne pa tudi prihodkov. Sploh ni drugega načina ugotavljanja presežne delovne sile. Analiza normativov oziroma intenzivnosti dela posameznikov pa omogoča tudi opredelitev ustreznega sistema nagrajevanja.
5. Presoja poslovne uspešnosti bolnišnice
Poslovno uspešnost posameznih enot ugotavljamo z izkazi uspeha, katere sestavljajo prihodki in odhodki, ki so neposredno povezani z dejavnostjo posamezne enote. Do njih pridemo tako, da v procesni model in model za ugotavljanje izkoriščenosti zmogljivosti vpeljemo cene dejavnikov in storitev, ki jih opravljajo v posamezni enoti.
5.1 Ugotavljanje odhodkov enot
Odhodkovni del izkazov uspeha posamezne enote bolnišnice sestavljajo materialni stroški zdravil, stroški zdravstvenih storitev, stroški dela, odhodki financiranja, izredni odhodki, amortizacija in drugi stroški.
Pri tem so ključni materialni stroški zdravil, ki so izračunani iz povprečnih stroškov zdravil oziroma stroškov zdravil na bolnika v posamezni enoti, pomnoženimi s številom bolnikov, ki so bili obravnavani v posamezni enoti. Na podoben način so izračunani tudi stroški zdravstvenih storitev, ki so načeloma izračunani v odnosu do števila bolnikov, ki jih napoti posamezna enota na obravnavo k drugi zdravstveni organizaciji. Pri tem je osnovni izračun stroškov zdravstvenih storitev preprost produkt povprečne vrednosti storitev na bolnika, ki ga obravnavajo zunanji izvajalci, in števila takšnih bolnikov.
Pri opredelitvi stroškov dela posamezne enote je treba upoštevati, da lahko zaposleni delo opravljajo v različnih enotah. Stroške dela tako izračunamo kot produkt števila zaposlenih iz delovnih ur po posameznih kvalifikacijskih skupinah, pri čemer upoštevamo samo delovne ure, ki jih zaposleni opravijo v analizirani enoti, in dejanske stroške dela takšnih zaposlenih, vendar samo za tisti del delovnih ur, ki jih zaposleni opravijo v enoti. Na ta način smo v model stroške dela vključili v obliki variabilnih stroškov.
Izredne odhodke in druge stroške, ki sestavljajo odhodke posamezne enote, moramo razdeliti na enote z uporabo ključev. Izredne odhodke lahko med enote delimo sorazmerno glede na materialne stroške zdravil, stroške zdravstvenih storitev, stroške dela in odhodke financiranja. Pri razporeditvi drugih stroškov pa lahko sorazmernost opredelimo glede na materialne stroške zdravil, stroške zdravstvenih storitev, stroške dela, odhodke financiranja in izredne odhodke.
Stroške amortizacije na ravni enot izračunamo na osnovi dejanskih amortizacijskih stopenj bolnišnice in neodpisane vrednosti zgradb, neodpisane vrednosti opreme ter drugih opredmetenih osnovnih sredstev, pri čemer moramo neodpisano vrednost sredstev razporediti med enote. Neodpisano vrednost zgradb lahko razdelimo med posamezne enote glede na površino prostora, s katerim enota razpolaga, v celotnem razpoložljivem prostoru bolnišnice. Neodpisano vrednost opreme in drugih opredmetenih osnovnih sredstev pa je smiselno razporediti na posamezno enoto glede na vrednost izbranega nabora najdražjih tipov aparatov, ki jih uporablja posamezna enota. Na ta način, kot smo pojasnili, zagotovimo, da razlike v stopnjah odpisanosti opreme ne vplivajo na poslovni izid.
Med posamezne enote moramo razporediti tudi splošne stroške bolnišnice, to so stroški podpornih procesov, med katere lahko uvrstimo stroške dela uprave, službe vzdrževanja in drugih podpornih služb. Stroške dela uprave lahko med posamezne enote razporedimo glede na število bolnikov in število zaposlenih v posamezni enoti. Stroške dela služb vzdrževanja, ki zajemajo, na primer, stroške dela tehnično-vzdrževalne službe in stroške dela čistilnega servisa, lahko razporedimo glede na osnovna sredstva, s katerimi razpolaga posamezna enota.
Prav tako moramo vsako posamezno enoto obremeniti z materialnimi stroški in stroški storitev, ki niso materialni stroški zdravil in stroški zdravstvenih storitev. Nerazporejene materialne stroške lahko med enote razporedimo glede na obseg osnovnih sredstev, nerazporejene stroške storitev pa glede na število bolnikov, obravnavanih v posamezni enoti.
Tako ugotovljene režijske stroške, ki jih posamezna enota mora pokrivati iz svojega pokritja in ki zajemajo stroške dela služb uprave, stroške dela služb vzdrževanja ter nerazporejene materialne stroške in stroške storitev uporabimo za ugotavljanje neto poslovnega rezultata posamezne enote znotraj analizirane bolnišnice. Razliko med prihodki in odhodki, ki na ravni posamezne enote nastanejo neposredno zaradi opravljanja zdravstvenih dejavnosti, smo namreč zmanjšali za te režijske stroške in tako ugotovili neto poslovni rezultat posamezne enote. S pomočjo tako opredeljenega izkaza uspeha posamezne enote lahko ugotovimo, v kakšni meri posamezna enota prispeva k ustvarjanju prihodka, v kakšni meri prispeva k nastajanju odhodkov, pa tudi v kolikšni meri s svojim presežkom prihodkov nad odhodki lahko pokriva splošne oziroma režijske stroške poslovanja bolnišnice.
5.2 Ugotavljanje prihodkov enot
Z vidika ugotavljanja poslovne uspešnosti posameznih enot je ključno ugotavljanje prihodka posamezne enote. V analizi poslovne uspešnosti lahko uporabimo tri načine ugotavljanja prihodkov enote. Prvič, uporabimo lahko dejanske prihodke, ki jih plača zunanji plačnik. Drugič, dejanske prihodke pa lahko tudi popravimo z upoštevanjem vstopa bolnikov iz drugih enot, kar vključuje interno zaračunavanje določene enote za opravljene storitve drugim enotam. Tretjič, dejanske prihodke enot lahko popravimo z upoštevanjem zaračunavanja za opravljene storitve drugim enotam, pa tudi z upoštevanjem, da analizirana enota s svojimi bolniki obremenjuje druge enote in mora posledično določen del svojega prihodka prenesti na takšne druge enote. Izhodiščni prihodki iz poslovanja, ki jih uporabljamo v analizi uspešnosti enot, so dejanski prihodki, ki jih posamezne enote dobijo s plačilom storitev od zunanjega plačnika.
Drugi tip prihodkov iz poslovanja izračunamo tako, da upoštevamo tako tiste bolnike, ki vstopajo iz okolice v bolnišnico in jih plačuje zunanji plačnik, kot tiste bolnike, ki prihajajo iz ene enote v drugo enoto znotraj bolnišnice. Pri izračunu drugega tipa prihodkov iz poslovanja izhajamo iz izhodiščnih prihodkov iz poslovanja, torej dejansko realiziranih prihodkov. Drugi tip prihodkov iz poslovanja sestavljajo prihodki, ki jih dobi enota z zaračunanjem storitev plačniku zunaj bolnišnice, in prihodki, ki bi jih enota dobila, če bi zaračunavala svoje storitve tudi enotam znotraj bolnišnice, če storitev ne plača plačnik zunaj bolnišnice. Prihodki iz poslovanja, katere izračunamo na ta način, bi morali biti enaki ali večji od prihodkov iz poslovanja, ki jih enote ustvarjajo s sistemom financiranja s strani zunanjih plačnikov njihovih storitev.
Prihodke iz poslovanja, ki upoštevajo vstop iz drugih enot, izračunamo kot produkt celotnega števila obravnavanih bolnikov, torej celotnega števila bolnikov, ki obremenjujejo enoto, in povprečnih prihodkov na bolnika, ki jih bolnišnica doseže v posamezni enoti. Prihodek bolnišnica ustvarja z zaračunavanjem opravljenih storitev zunanjemu plačniku, pri čemer je cena storitev oziroma cena obračunske enote, s katero se spremlja obseg storitev (točka ali utež), za bolnišnico dana kategorija. Za izračun prihodka na bolnika pa je treba ustvarjene prihodke deliti s številom bolnikov, ki jih financirajo zunanji plačniki. Kot smo pojasnili, takšno število bolnikov odraža število zaključenih obravnav.
Vendar je mogoče prihodke na bolnika na opisani način ugotoviti zgolj za četrto in peto skupino enot iz drugega poglavja tega članka, pri katerih se na
ravni enote pojavljajo tako prihodki iz poslovanja kakor število zaključenih obravnav. V drugi skupini enot, pri kateri ne beležijo števila zaključenih obravnav na enoti, izkazujejo pa prihodke iz poslovanja, moramo prihodke na bolnika oziroma ceno obravnave posameznega bolnika izračunati nekoliko drugače, in sicer v obliki količnika med prihodki iz poslovanja in celotnim številom bolnikov, ki jih obravnavajo znotraj takšne enote in ki lahko izvirajo zgolj iz napotitev na pregled ali nadaljnjo obravnavo. Pri tretji in prvi skupini enot, ki ne beležijo prihodkov iz poslovanja, pa kot ceno obravnave posameznega bolnika upoštevamo lastno ceno dejavnosti takšne enote v obliki razmerja med celotnimi odhodkov poslovanja enoto in celotnega števila obravnavanih bolnikov.
Če bi med enotami znotraj bolnišnice obstajali tržni odnosi, bi morala enota, ki je sprejela bolnika, zaračunati svojo storitev enoti, ki je poslala bolnika, če enota -prejemnica dodatne obravnave bolnika take obravnave ni dobila plačane od zunanjega plačnika. S tem bi nastali pri enoti, ki pošilja bolnike, stroški, ki bi bili podobnega značaja, kot so stroški zunanjih zdravstvenih storitev za posamezno enoto, ti stroški pa bi zmanjševali poslovno uspešnost enot, ki pošiljajo bolnike v druge enote. Da bi ugotovili resnično uspešnost poslovanja v posamezni enoti, moramo torej poleg stroškov obravnave dejanskega števila bolnikov in prihodkov na podlagi tega števila obravnavanih bolnikov, upoštevati tudi stroške, ki bi nastali, če bi morala enota za svoje bolnike, ki jih napoti v druge enote na pregled, plačati tem enotam za opravljene storitve. Če upoštevamo na opisani način tudi medsebojno zaračunavanje storitev med enotami znotraj bolnišnice, kadar storitve v neki enoti, ki nastanejo s pošiljanjem pacientov iz druge enote, niso plačane s sredstvi zunanjega plačnika, dobimo poslovni rezultat posamezne enote, ki natančno izraža uspešnost take enote tudi ob upoštevanju medsebojne soodvisnosti. Prihodki v tem primeru izražajo tudi prihodke, ki nastanejo zaradi tokov znotraj enot v bolnišnici in so seveda lahko enaki ali večji od prihodkov, ki jih posamezne enote dobijo od zunanjega plačnika za opravljene storitve, stroški pa v tem primeru obsegajo stroške obravnave dejanskega števila bolnikov, ki vstopajo v enoto, pa tudi stroške, ki jih takšna enota povzroča s pošiljanjem bolnikov na pregled ali nadaljnjo obravnavo v drugo enoto, če teh stroškov ne pokrivajo zunanji plačniki v drugi enoti.
5.3 Ugotavljanje poslovne uspešnosti
Trije poslovni rezultati v bolnišnici že sami po sebi nudijo veliko analitično podlago. Govorijo namreč, v kolikšni meri zunanji plačnik v resnici pokrije stroške neke enote, v kolikšni meri bi se poslovni rezultat izboljšal, če bi z
internim fakturiranjem določena enota svoje storitve, ki jih ne dobi plačanih od zunaj, zaračunavala drugim enotam, in kakšen bi bil poslovni rezultat, če bi upoštevali v celoti medsebojno fakturiranje storitev v bolnišnici. Šele zadnji poslovni rezultat, ki ga sedaj v nobeni bolnišnici računovodsko ne ugotavljajo, je resnična slika poslovne uspešnosti posamezne enote.
Analiza prihodkovne in odhodkovne strani izkazov uspeha po enotah odkriva tudi tiste elemente zlasti odhodkov enote, ki najbolj vplivajo na njeno poslovno uspešnost. S tem vidimo tudi, na kašen način lahko uvedemo stroškovne prihranke. Ker ti lahko nastanejo bodisi s spreminjanjem cene dejavnikov bodisi s spreminjanjem zaposlenih zmogljivosti, lahko z analizo izkoriščanja zmogljivosti ugotovimo, ali je mogoče s spreminjanjem zaposlenih zmogljivosti znižati stroške in izboljšati poslovni rezultat. Prav tako je mogoče oceniti, ali bi lahko z zniževanjem cen dejavnikov (na primer nižanjem cen zdravil ali povprečnih plač zaposlenih) povečali poslovno uspešnost. Poslovne cilje na področju poslovne uspešnosti lahko tako prevedemo v cilje na področju gospodarjenja z zmogljivostmi. Odpravljanje presežnih zmogljivosti pa lahko prevedemo v rezultate v poslovni uspešnosti. Izračunamo lahko tudi, koliko bolnišnico stane odpravljanje čakalnih vrst. Posebni vidik uporabe tega modela je tudi ocena ustreznosti plačilnega sistema. Če v bolnišnici ugotovijo, da ni mogoče povečati intenzivnosti in izkoriščanja zmogljivosti in da ni mogoče znižati cen dejavnikov, ob tem pa še vedno dosegajo negativni poslovni rezultat, lahko sklepajo, da je financiranje bolnišnične dejavnosti napačno. Ker analiza izkoriščenosti zmogljivosti temelji na količinskih normativih in ker se ti neposredno izražajo v poslovnem uspehu, lahko vsaka bolnišnica presodi, v koliki meri ji ustrezajo cene storitev, ki jih plačuje zunanji plačnik. Zato je mogoče z modelom preverjati tudi ustreznost določitve cen obračunskih enot za opravljene storitve (na primer utež v primeru skupin primerljivih primerov, točka ali bolnišnično oskrbni dan) v okviru plačilnega sistema pri nas.
6. Ugotovitve in priporočila
Prikazana analiza poslovne uspešnosti v bolnišnicah z uporabo procesnega modela omogoča, da opredelimo notranje in zunanje vzroke poslovne neuspešnosti. Opredelimo lahko dva notranja vzroka. Prvi notranji vzrok poslovne neuspešnosti so neustrezni normativi, ki jih dosegajo zaposleni pri izvajanju dejavnosti na ravni posameznih enot bolnišnice. Zaradi njih obravnava
bolnikov zahteva prevelik obseg človeških in materialnih zmogljivosti in pretirano vključevanje drugih enot bolnišnice pri izvajanju dejavnosti določene enote. Oboje tudi nepotrebno povečuje stroške izvajanja dejavnosti posamezne enote. Drugi notranji vzrok poslovne neuspešnosti pa je neustrezna izkoriščenost razpoložljivih zmogljivosti. Ta nastane, ker so razpoložljive zmogljivosti prevelike glede na obseg toka bolnikov, na normative za izvajanje dejavnosti in na medsebojno odvisnost enot v bolnišnici. Presežne zmogljivosti povzročajo nastajanje stroškov, ki so nepotrebni z vidika obsega dejavnosti, ki ga izvajajo v bolnišnicah. Če so za določeno organizacijsko enoto ustrezni tako normativi za opravljanje dejavnosti kot vključevanje drugih enot in v njej ne nastajajo presežne zmogljivosti, poslovni uspeh enote pa je še vedno negativen, je očitno vzrok takega poslovnega neuspeha v neustreznih cenah storitev, ki jih priznava zunanji plačnik. Neustrezni plačilni sistem oziroma neustrezne cene, ki jih zunanji plačnik priznava za zdravstvene storitve, je tako zunanji vzrok poslovne neuspešnosti.
Da bi vodstvo bolnišnic prikazani procesni model lahko uporabilo za presojo poslovne uspešnosti in opredelitev razlogov za nizko poslovno uspešnost na ravni posameznih enot, je treba v bolnišnici spremljanje podatkov o obsegu opravljene dejavnosti in o nastalih stroških prilagoditi na način, da bodo ustrezali potrebnim vhodnim podatkom prikazanega procesnega modela. Tako je treba na ravni enot spremljati obseg opravljene dejavnosti, in sicer ne zgolj na način, kot ga zahteva zunanji plačnik zdravstvenih storitev, pač pa na način, ki omogoča opredelitev vrste vstopa bolnikov v posamezno organizacijsko enoto (vstop od zunaj ali vstop iz drugih enot). Tovrstni podatki namreč omogočajo, da se na ravni posameznih organizacijskih enot opredelijo tako dejanski prihodki, ki nastanejo s plačilom zunanjega plačnika, kot transferni prihodki, ki nastanejo z zaračunavanjem storitev med posameznimi enotami. Natančno spremljanje tokov bolnikov med enotami tako omogoča tudi razporejanje nastalih stroškov med organizacijske enote bolnišnice. Za ustrezno razporejanje nastalih stroškov med organizacijske enote bolnišnice je treba na ravni enot natančno opredeliti tudi razpoložljive zmogljivosti. To je ključno tudi za izračun njihove izkoriščenosti. Primerjava razpoložljivih zmogljivosti s povpraševanjem po zmogljivostih, ki je določeno z normativi, ki jih dosegajo zaposleni pri opravljanju dejavnosti, in s številom obravnavnih bolnikov namreč kaže doseženo stopnjo izkoriščenosti.
Ključno za zaokrožitev opisanega procesnega modela pa je oblikovanje normativov, ki bi jih morali dosegati zaposleni pri opravljanju dejavnosti in uporabi
materialnih zmogljivosti. Prav s spreminjanjem teh normativov lahko vodstvo spremlja in regulira intenzivnost in produktivnost dela ter izkoriščenost zmogljivosti ter s tem vpliva na poslovni izid enot in bolnišnice kot celote. Ti normativi so lahko tudi podlaga za uveljavitev sistema evidentiranja dejanskega dela, preko katerega lahko vodstvo spremlja obseg opravljenega dela zaposlenih, odpravi velika nesorazmerja v obremenitvi med zaposlenimi, poleg tega pa z normativi za opravljanje dejavnosti in s sistemom evidentiranja dela stimulira zaposlene k učinkovitemu delu, vpliva pa lahko tudi na strukturo ponudbe bolnišnice.
Mag. Petra Došenovič Bonča je asistentka na Katedri za ekonomsko teorijo in politiko na Ekonomski fakulteti Univerze v Ljubljani. Njeni raziskovalni področji sta ekonomika zdravstva in ekonomika javnega sektorja. Sedanje raziskovalno delo vključuje proučevanje učinkovitosti in uspešnosti izvajalcev zdravstvenih storitev v Sloveniji in proučevanje inovacij kot dejavnika učinkovitosti in uspešnosti bolnišnic v Sloveniji. Trenutno je članica Sosveta za zdravje Statističnega urada Republike Slovenije. Sodelovala je pri razvoju magistrskega študija Management in ekonomika v zdravstvenem varstvu, ki je nastal s pomočjo sredstev EU in je prvi tovrstni program v Sloveniji. Objavila je članke, v katerih analizira in proučuje različne vidike slovenskega zdravstvenega sistema in reforme ter politike v tem sektorju. Sodeluje v svetovalnih projektih na področju zdravstva v Sloveniji.
Dr. Maks Tajnikar je redni profesor na Katedri za ekonomsko teorijo in politiko na Ekonomski fakulteti Univerze v Ljubljani. Bil je minister za malo gospodarstvo (1992-93) in minister za gospodarstvo (1993-96) Republike Slovenije. V obdobju 2001-2007 je bil dekan Ekonomske fakultete. Objavil je več kot 230 strokovnih in znanstvenih člankov, učbenike (Mikroekonomija, Upravljavska ekonomika, Tvegano poslovodenje, Postkey-nesianska ekonomska teorija), je avtor 5 knjig in soavtor 5 knjig. Njegova raziskovalna področja so podjetništvo, ekonomika javnega sektorja in ekonomika zdravstva. Sodeloval je pri razvoju magistrskega študija Management in ekonomika v zdravstvenem varstvu, ki je nastal s pomočjo sredstev EU in je prvi tovrstni program v Sloveniji. Trenutno je tudi vodja tega programa na Ekonomski fakulteti. Objavil je članke, v katerih analizira in proučuje različne vidike slovenskega zdravstvenega sistema in reforme ter politike v tem sektorju. Sodeluje v svetovalnih projektih na področju zdravstva v Sloveniji in je član Sveta Kliničnega centra Ljubljana.
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SUMMARY
BUSINESS PROCESS MODEL AS A TOOL TO ASSESS BUSINESS PERFORMANCE AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION IN HOSPITALS
Business performance analysis and assessment is usually performed using various indicators of performance in both ratio form or as indicators in absolute values. Such indicators of business performance are often coupled with indicators of efficiency that reflect the levels of utilisation of available resources. Efficiency indicators help explain indicators of performance. The paper demonstrates that business performance analysis based on standard business performance indicators can be improved for the case of hospitals if one views the hospitals as process organisations when analysing their business performance and efficiency.
The paper thus demonstrates that the assessment of business performance of hospitals has to be based on a business process model of the studied hospital. Such business processes have to reflect the flows of patients from the point of their entry into a hospital to the point of their exit from the hospital upon completion of their treatment. Patient flows are determined by the treatment processes they undergo. During their treatment the patients pass through hospital's various organisational units. The patient's treatment process engages capacities of several units, departments or clinics of a hospital and also capacities of other providers of health care services in case a hospital refers a patient to a different health care institution for additional services. Because the patient's treatment process engages various human and material capacities of a hospital it also creates costs on the one hand and the right of a hospital to claim payments from the insurers and create revenue in line with the implemented payment system for health care services. Treatment processes that determine the flows of patients through the hospital's organisational units are the hospital's core processes. This means that from all business processes carried out by a hospital the treatment processes contribute most significantly to the outcome of the patient's care. The hospital's treatment processes are thus the hospital's value-adding processes. There are several other business processes a hospital carries out to support its core treatment processes. Such support processes or enabling processes do not contribute to creating additional value directly. However, they create
costs and have to be accounted for in business performance analysis and allocated correctly to the performance of core treatment processes.
A business process model of a hospital that is used to analyse and assess its business performance consists of the following elements:
1.	detailed list of hospital's organisational units;
2.	number of patients entering each analysed hospital's organisational unit based on a referral from other health care organisations or without a referral (entry as a first contact with a hospital)
3.	number of patients entering each analysed organisational unit based on a referral from other hospital's organisational units
4.	standards for delivery of care for each analysed organisational unit that determine the needed quantity of human and material capacities per patient and therefore determine both the needed total quantity of human and material capacities
5.	total quantity of available human and material capacities of each analysed organisational unit.
Business performance assessment of hospitals that is based on a business process model of the studied hospitals entails two phases. In the first phase we have to model the hospital's business processes and develop a model of business processes that shows patient flows between hospital's organisational units and patient flows that link the hospital to other health care organisations. The purpose of this first phase is to define the processes and determine their interdependence and also to quantify the activities that comprise the processes. Results of the first phase can then be used in the second phase to obtain two results that provide information about the hospital's business performance. The first result shows the capacity utilisation rates for both human and material capacities engaged during the delivery of hospital's core processes. The second result demonstrates the achieved business performance of core processes aggregated at the level of individual organisational units.
Both results provide guidelines for business process change that contributes to increased efficiency and lower costs. Analysis of capacity utilisation rates can also be used to implement organisational changes that enable smoother patient flows and reduce bottlenecks and excess capacities. Analysis of capacity utilisation rates is thus necessary to determine employment needs and needs for new investments and also those excess
capacities that create costs but cannot contribute to outcomes of care and hospital's revenues.
Detailed allocation of incurred costs to hospital's organisational units that is based on patient flows or treatment processes enables the determination of business performance on the level of individual organisational units. Such an analysis enables us to determine which units create losses and which are the ones that contribute to the creation of profits. Such an analysis that is based on determining the links between core and support processes also enables us to allocate the costs created by the support processes more accurately to the core processes and units that carry them out. In addition, the analysis of business performance that is based on a model of business processes enables us to develop several measures of performance. First, we can determine the performance that shows the relation been the incurred costs and revenue created by payments from insurers and other payers. Second, we can determine the performance taking into consideration the interdependence of various organisational units and both actual revenues and revenues created by internally charging transfer prices.
Assessment of business performance based on a model of business processes that links the analysis of business performance to the analysis of capacity utilisation also enables us to determine the causes of poor or good performance. Causes of poor performance can be internal or external. There are two main internal causes. The first internal cause is inappropriate standards for delivery of care for each analysed organisational unit that determine the needed quantity of human and material capacities per patient. The second internal cause is underutilised human and material capacities. The external cause of poor performance relates to the inappropriate payment system for health care services. If, for example, a certain organisational unit fully utilises human and material capacities and has appropriate standards for delivery of care, then we can attribute poor performance to inadequate prices set for delivery of health care services. The prices and the payment system set for the provision of health care services are a nondiscretionary factor that cannot be influenced by the hospital's management. The above discussion shows that the analysis of business performance based on a model of business processes identifies the causes of poor performance that can be influenced by the management, the measures that need to be taken to tackle poor performance and those causes that are external and represent a nondiscretionary factor of poor business performance.
Strokovni članek
Nekateri vidiki varnosti, prožnosti in varne prožnosti
UDK: 331.5.021(045) Tatjana Tozjek
Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za upravo tatjana.kozjek@fu.uni-lj.si
IZVLEČEK
Za povečanje prožnosti organizacije izvajajo različne ukrepe na področju časovne razporeditve dela, obsega dela, stroškov dela, notranje mobilnosti zaposlenih. Ti ukrepi imajo tako pozitivne kot negativne učinke na zaposlene v organizacijah. V strokovni literaturi se za razmerje med prožnostjo na trgu dela in socialno varnostjo zaposlenih uporablja izraz varna prožnost. Države in organizacije morajo pri uvajanju sprememb na področju prožnosti in varnosti slediti vzoru držav, ki so na tem področju do sedaj naredile že veliko. Zagotoviti je potrebno prožno zaposlovanje, ki bi omogočalo hitro prilagajanje potrebam trga dela in s tem konkurenčnost, uveljaviti je treba sistem socialne varnosti, ki bi preprečeval, da bi visoka mobilnost zaposlenih povzročala občutek negotovosti ter sprejeti aktivno politiko zaposlovanja, ki mora temeljiti na usposabljanju in izobraževanju kot temelju zaposljivosti. Pri uvedbi modela varne prožnosti pa morajo upoštevati potrebe in specifičnosti njihovega trga dela, saj enostavno kopiranje modelov uspešnih držav ne prinese pozitivnih posledic.
Ključne besede: varna prožnost, strategija, model, socialna varnost, trg dela, zaposlovanje
JEL: H0 1. Uvod
Organizacije morajo ostati prožne, da lahko reagirajo na nepričakovane spremembe na področju povpraševanja, se prilagajati novim tehnologijam, zaposleni morajo biti kar se da učinkoviti ter pripravljeni na vseživljenjsko učenje in drugo. Organizacije zato želijo prožnejšo delovno-pravno zakonodajo, ki bi jim dopuščala prilagajanje števila zaposlenih, zaposleni pa želijo kar se da
visoko socialno varnost. Dejstvo je, da previsoka varnost povzroči togost trga dela in s tem ovira prilagajanje zaposlenosti razmeram v gospodarstvu, zato morajo države in organizacije iskati pravšnje razmerje med prožnostjo in varnostjo.
Za razmerje med prožnostjo na trgu dela in socialno varnostjo zaposlenih se uporablja izraz varna prožnost. Pojem je razmeroma nov, enotna uveljavljena definicija še ne obstaja, temveč se v razpravah pojavljajo različne opredelitve posameznih avtorjev.
V prispevku so navedene nekatere opredelitve prožnosti, varnosti ter varne prožnosti. Prikazane so značilnosti modelov varne prožnosti Danske, Nizozemske, Švedske in Avstrije ter podani nekateri predlogi za uvedbo modela varne prožnosti v Sloveniji.
2. Opredelitev prožnosti
Tros in Wilthagen (2004, str. 171) ter ILO (2004, str. 14) navajajo štiri osnovne elemente prožnosti:
•	zunanja numerična prožnost, ki označuje sposobnost organizacije, da prilagaja raven potrebnega produkcijskega faktorja dela spremembam na trgu blaga z zmanjšanjem ali povečanjem števila zaposlenih;
•	notranja numerična prožnost, ki označuje sposobnost organizacije, da prilagaja obseg in časovno razporeditev dela (število delovnih ur in delovni čas) brez zmanjšanja ali povečanja števila zaposlenih;
•	funkcionalna prožnost, ki daje delodajalcu možnost razporejanja zaposlenih na različna delovna mesta (notranja mobilnost zaposlenih);
•	prožnost plač in stroškov dela, ki se znotraj organizacije pojavlja kot problem nagrajevanja dela oziroma povezanosti plač z rezultati.
V literaturi je poznan tudi pojem prožnost trga dela. Standing (1986, str. 59) je prožnost trga dela opredelil kot hitrost in obseg prilagajanja:
•	cen spremembam ponudbe in povpraševanja;
•	količin spremembam cen, plač in dohodkov;
•	kakovosti spremembam strukture povpraševanja po delovni sili.
Kajzerjeva (2005, str. 12) navaja, da se v strokovnih razpravah pojem omejuje zgolj na prožnost plač in stroškov dela, zanemarja pa se vprašanje prilagajanja količin spremembam na strani ponudbe in povpraševanja. Prožnost trga dela naj bi omogočala hitrejše prilagajanje gospodarstva spremembam in zagotavljala bolj učinkovito razporeditev produkcijskega faktorja dela, čeprav prožnost ni sinonim za učinkovitost delovanja trga dela. Pravi tudi, da se je v Sloveniji do sedaj v ospredje postavljala predvsem numerična prožnost oziroma se je prožnost razumela zgolj kot lažje odpuščanje delavcev.
Najbolj pogosta interpretacija prožnosti trga dela, ki jo opredeljujejo različni avtorji (npr. Lazear, 1990, str. 699, Siebert, 1997, str. 37), pa je povezana z regulacijo trga dela in institucijami trga dela, ki se sintetično izraža z indeksom varovanja zaposlitve (angl. Employment Protection Legislation Index); ta omogoča primerjavo ureditev na področju delovnih razmerij. V poročilu OECD (2004, str. 72) je navedeno, da je indeks razčlenjen na tri vsebinsko dopolnjujoče se elemente:
•	regulacije, ki se nanašajo na pogoje trajnih pogodb o zaposlitvi v primeru individualnih odpuščanj;
•	dopolnilne pogoje v primeru obsežnejših odpuščanj;
•	regulacije glede možnosti zaposlovanja za določen čas (pogoji zaposlitvenih pogodb za določen čas).
Ignjatovic (2002, str. 45) navaja, da trg dela ni prožen v primerih, če:
•	so nadomestila za brezposelne previsoka ali jih brezposelni prejemajo predolgo;
•	zakonodaja preveč obremenjuje delodajalce pri zaposlovanju in odpuščanju delavcev;
•	je dovoljeno tedensko število delovnih ur preveč strogo omejeno;
•	je nadurno delo preveč nagrajeno;
•	imajo delavska predstavništva velik pomen in varujejo delavce pred konkurenco;
•	plače niso prožne.
3. Opredelitev varnosti
Wilthagen, Tros in van Lieshout (2004, str. 114) so opredelili 4 tipe varnosti:
1.	varnost službe - delovnega mesta - je verjetnost, da bo zaposleni zadržal službo pri nekem delodajalcu. Ta vrsta varnosti je zagotovljena z varnostjo zaposlenih pred odpuščanjem in pred večjimi spremembami delovnih pogojev. Je glavni predmet zakonodaje varnosti zaposlenosti.
2.	Varnost zaposlitve je verjetnost zadržanja v zaposlitvi - ne nujno pri istem delodajalcu. Pomeni dosegljivost nove zaposlitve za odpuščene in brezposelne, ki ustrezajo njihovim kvalifikacijam in preteklim delovnim razmeram. Zaposljivost iskalcev je mogoče povečati z vseživljenjskim usposabljanjem, ki ga lahko ponudijo tako delodajalci kot aktivne politike zaposlovanja.
3.	Dohodkovna (socialna) varnost je dohodkovna varnost v primeru prenehanja plačanega dela.
4.	Kombinacijska varnost je gotovost, s katero je mogoče usklajevati plačano delo z drugimi družbenimi odgovornostmi. Slednja ne more biti prikazana z drugimi vrstami varnosti.
Mednarodna organizacija dela (ILO, 2004, str. 14) je v okviru Programa socialno ekonomske varnosti opredelila pojem ekonomske varnosti. Ekonomska varnost je sestavljena iz osnovne socialne varnosti, ki je opredeljena z dostopom do infrastrukture za osnovne potrebe zdravja, izobrazbe, stanovanja, informacij in socialne varnosti ter varnosti, ki je povezana z delom.
Pojem varnosti na trgu dela podobno kot prožnost trga dela zajema več vidikov. Osnovna varnost pomeni omejevanje vplivov negotovosti in tveganj, s katerimi se ljudje dnevno soočajo, z zagotavljanjem socialnega okolja, v katerem lahko pripadajo določeni skupnosti, imajo možnost opravljati izbrani poklic ter razvijejo svoje zmožnosti z dostojnim delom (ILO, 2004, str. 15).
4. Opredelitev varne prožnosti
Koncept varne prožnosti temelji na ideji, da si dimenziji prožnosti in varnosti nista nasprotujoči, ampak sta vzajemno podporni v kontekstu globali-zacije, s katero se soočajo vse ekonomije (Tros, Wilthagen, 2004, str. 169).
Wilthagen in Tros (2004, str. 166) varno prožnost opredelita kot politično strategijo, ki hkrati na eni strani spodbuja prožnost trga dela ter prožnost v organizaciji dela in delovnih razmerjih ter poveča varnost zaposlitve in socialno varnost na drugi strani, predvsem za šibkejše skupine znotraj in izven trga dela. Ta definicija nakazuje, da se strategije in politike varne prožnosti razvijajo na koordiniran in nameren način, na primer skozi pogajanja med socialnimi partnerji ali med individualnimi delodajalci in zaposlenimi na različnih ravneh. Tak način ne izključuje vloge tržnih sil, finančnih vspodbud, fiskalnih ukrepov, javno-zasebnih partnerstev ali popolnoma zasebnih organov in agencij.
Avtorja pa varne prožnosti nista videla le kot politike in strategije trga dela, ampak tudi kot določeno stanje na trgu dela. V tem primeru sta definirala varno prožnost kot tipično obliko varnosti in kot tipično obliko prožnosti. V tem smislu pravita, da je varna prožnost stopnja zaposlitvene, dohodkovne varnosti, ki omogoča kariero delavcev z relativno skromno pozicijo na trgu dela ter aktivnost in socialno vključenost. Trdita tudi, da je varna prožnost stopnja numerične prožnosti in plačne prožnosti, ki omogoča trgu dela in posamezni organizaciji hitro in ustrezno prilagoditev spremenjenim pogojem, z namenom ohranitve konkurenčnosti in produktivnosti (Wilthagen, Tros, 2004, str. 167).
Tangian (2004, str. 11) je to opredelitev varne prožnosti, zaradi neprimernosti za merjenje, zožil na socialno varnost in zaposlovanje atipičnih zaposlitev, ki niso trajne zaposlitve za polni delovni čas.
Van Velzen in Wilthagen (2004, str. 4) sta ugotovila, da se lahko strategije varne prožnosti razlikujejo pri vsaj treh dimenzijah:
•	glede na raven spodbujanja strategije varne prožnosti (nacionalna, regionalna, lokalna, industrijska, raven organizacije);
•	glede akterjev, ki so vključeni v strategije varne prožnosti (država, regionalni ali lokalni vladni predstavniki, socialni partnerji, organizacija ali zaposleni);
•	glede oblike uveljavitve oziroma normativne oblike strategij varne prožnosti (zakon, kolektivna pogodba, socialni sporazum, individualna pogodba, politike razvoja človeških virov).
5. Modeli varne prožnosti po svetu
Reforme vpeljane v več državah, kot so na primer Danska, Nizozemska, Švedska in Avstrija, katerih primeri so prikazani v nadaljevanju, so v zadnjih dveh desetletjih kljub različnim ekonomskim pogojem zmanjšale brezposelnost in stimulirale rast produktivnosti. Ne glede na to, da so imele različne začetne položaje in so sledile različnim potem, jim je skupna učinkovita kombinacija fiskalne prilagoditve ter reforme trga dela in trga proizvodov.
V nadaljevanju so prikazani štirje primeri uspešne uvedbe modela varne prožnosti v praksi.
Za vzorčni primer varne prožnosti se je uveljavil danski model. Danska ima učinkovito kombinacijo prožnosti (velika zaposlitvena mobilnost kot posledica relativno nizke stopnje varnosti zaposlitve), socialne varnosti (radodaren sistem zavarovanja za brezposelnost) in aktivne politike trga dela (Lang, 2006, str. 3). Madsen (2002, str. 51) navaja, da danski zlati trikotnik trga dela sestavljajo trije segmenti:
•	visoka eksterna numerična prožnost (prožno zaposlovanje, ki omogoča delodajalcem hitro prilagajanje potrebam trga dela in s tem konkurenčnost);
•	visoka raven dohodkovne varnosti (sistem socialne varnosti, ki preprečuje, da bi visoka mobilnost zaposlenih pri le-teh povzročala občutek negotovosti ali marginalizacijo);
•	visoka raven zaposlitvene varnosti (aktivna politika zaposlovanja, ki temelji na usposabljanju in izobraževanju kot temelju zaposljivosti).
Na sliki 1 je prikazan tako imenovani zlati trikotnik varne prožnosti danskega trga dela.
Puščici, ki povezujeta prožni trg dela in sistem zavarovanja za brezposelnost ponazarjata, da veliko število delavcev vsako leto prizadene brezposelnost, toda večina se jih vrne na delo po kratkem obdobju brezposelnosti. Tistim, ki se ne vrnejo hitro v zaposlitev, pomagajo z aktivnimi programi (mišljena je aktivna politika zaposlovanja) na trgu dela. Argument, ki podpira koncept zlatega trikotnika je, da je uspeh danskega zaposlitvenega sistema rezultat edinstvene kombinacije prožnosti (merjeno z visoko stopnjo mobilnosti služb), socialne varnosti (radodarni sistem socialne pomoči in nadomestil za brezposelnost) in aktivnih
programov trga dela, ki podpirajo trajajočo transformacijo ekonomije (Bradgaard, Madsen, Larsen, 2005, str. 3).
Slika 1: Zlati trikotnik danskega trga dela
Drugi primer uspešne uvedbe modela varne prožnosti je Nizozemska. Značilnost Nizozemske je, da se pogodbe o začasnem delu lahko sklepajo največ za obdobje dveh let, pogodbe za določen čas pa za obdobje treh. Delodajalec lahko sklene pogodbo za določen čas le trikrat zaporedoma, naslednja pogodba pa mora biti sklenjena za nedoločen čas. Pri tem so možna odstopanja glede na veljavno kolektivno pogodbo in dogovor (Van Oorshot, 2001, str. 9). V obdobju recesije lahko delodajalec delavce odpusti, dokler se razmere v organizaciji ne izboljšajo, delodajalec pa ima možnost, da delavca na čakanju začasno pokliče na delo. Za te primere je določen minimalni prihodek in minimalno število ur, ki jih mora delodajalec plačati delavcu. Denarna nadomestila so zagotovljena tudi za tiste, ki so pripravljeni sprejeti nižje plačano delovno mesto. Uzakonili so tudi izenačenje pravic zaposlenih z atipičnimi oblikami pogodb s pravicami redno zaposlenih (Clasen et al., 2001, str. 161, 162).
Skupna značilnost uspešne uvedbe modela varne prožnosti Nizozemske in Danske je velika vloga socialnih partnerjev in pripravljenost na popuščanje tako na strani delodajalcev kot delojemalcev.
Tudi Švedska si je pri uvedbi modela varne prožnosti za vzor vzela Dansko. Na Švedskem večina kolektivnih pogajanj poteka na lokalni in ne na državni ravni. Plače in delovni pogoji so predpisani v kolektivnih pogodbah in Zakonu o varovanju zaposlitve. Pomemben del tega določa, da delodajalec ne more prosto izbirati, koga odpusti v času zaposlitve. Zakon namreč navaja, da je v času zmanjševanja števila zaposlenih treba najprej odpustiti zaposlene, ki so dobili zaposlitev zadnji. Obstajajo pa nekatere izjeme, ki so bile uvedene predvsem zaradi prilagodljivosti zakona in veljajo za mala in srednje velika podjetja. Vloga socialnih partnerjev pri pogodbenih dogovorih je velika. Pobude k varni prožnosti dajejo organizacije delodajalcev in sindikati skupaj, v okviru različnih sporazumov v zvezi z zniževanjem števila zaposlenih ter finančnih spodbud. Sporazumi v zvezi z zniževanjem števila zaposlenih so dogovorjeni v okviru kolektivnih pogodb. Cilj teh sporazumov je izpolniti tako zahteve delodajalcev kot potrebe presežnih delavcev. Obstaja osem upokojitvenih programov, kar zajema 50% delovne sile.
Na Švedskem obstajata dva velika sklada: Fundacija za varovanje zaposlitve in Varnostni svet zaposlenih. Fundacija za varovanje zaposlitve pomaga presežnim delavcem pri iskanju nove zaposlitve. Ustanovljena je bila z Zakonom o varovanju zaposlitve za zaposlene v javnem sektorju. Zakon o varovanju zaposlitve pokriva zaposlene, katerih pogoji zaposlitve so urejeni s kolektivnimi pogodbami med švedsko vlado za delodajalce na strani vlade in strankami na strani zaposlenih. Sporazum vključuje zaposlene, ki imajo pravico do odpravnine in imajo vsaj eno leto delovnih izkušenj na položaju. Z nekaterimi izjemami so upravičeni do odpravnine, ki ustreza znesku, ki skupaj s koristmi iz zavarovanja za primer brezposelnosti omogoča do 80 odstotkov plače v prvih 200 dneh in 70 odstotkov v naslednjih 100 dneh za zaposlene z dohodki nad zgornjo mejo zavarovanja za primer brezposelnosti. Varnostni svet zaposlenih pa je združenje v lasti Konfederacije švedskih podjetij in Sveta za pogajanje in sodelovanje. Člani so običajno vodstveni delavci v zasebnem sektorju. Varnostni svet zaposlenih pomaga presežnim delavcem pri iskanju nove zaposlitve in zagotavlja odpravnino in finančno podporo za usposabljanje posameznikov, starejših od 40 in z najmanj pet let izkušenj na položaju. Ti programi podpirajo tudi zaposlene, ki želijo ustanoviti lastna podjetja (Thorsen, Brunk, 2009, str. 1).
V Avstriji so uvedli sklade, ki so orodje za vzpostavitev potencialne delovne sile na prožen in smiseln način in s tem podpirajo strukturne spremembe. Finančno so podprti predvsem iz evropskih virov, posebej iz Evropskega socialnega sklada. Brezposelni dobijo priložnost za delo, medtem ko dobivajo socialno varnost v obliki nadomestil za brezposelnost, povezanih z izobraževanjem, nadaljnjim izobraževanjem ali usposabljanjem na delu. Posebnost teh skladov so njihova dolgoročna naravnanost in njihovi posledično vzdržni učinki na zaposlovanje. Spodbujajo večjo poklicno, plačno in geografsko mobilnost, kot ukrep, ki meri na ravnotežje med prožnostjo in socialno varnostjo. V smernicah sklada avstrijskega zavoda za zaposlovanje so zapisali naslednje:
•	vključevanje organizacij, ki iščejo zaposlene, v usposabljanje brezposelnih glede na obstoječe potrebe;
•	premoščanje vrzeli med zahtevanimi in obstoječimi kvalifikacijami brezposelnih;
•	podpiranje strukturnih sprememb;
•	izboljševanje možnosti za zaposlovanje žensk (European Communities, 2008, str. 30-35).
6. Predlogi za oblikovanje modela varne prožnosti v Sloveniji
Domadenikova in ostali (2005, str. 1—4) navajajo, da so problemi, ki v Sloveniji slabo vplivajo na varno prožnost, predvsem dokaj visoki stroški zaposlovanja in odpuščanja (odpravnine, socialni prispevki, davek na izplačane plače, odpovedni roki, ...), prezgodnje upokojevanje, premalo efektivnega dela (vpliv bolniškega staleža, malic, praznikov, nadur, dopustov,.) ter prevelika vloga sindikatov.
Kresalova (2007, str. 492-494) pravi, da bi morala Slovenija čim prej pristopiti k temeljni analizi stanja in k oblikovanju celovitega modela varne prožnosti glede na slovenske specifične značilnosti ter cilje urejanja področja dela, pri čemer bi bilo smiselno omejevati pretiran obseg tako imenovanih prožnih oblik zaposlovanja (še posebej za določen čas) oziroma tudi pri tem spodbujati enako zastopanost žensk in moških v teh oblikah zaposlitve. V večji meri je treba
spodbujati predvsem funkcionalno prožnost v povezavi z zagotavljanjem varnosti za delavce, kar naj bi na srednji in dolgi rok spodbudno učinkovalo na produktivnost in inovativnost delavcev ter s tem tudi konkurenčnost gospodarstva. Prizadevati si je treba za pravno ureditev, ki bo spodbujala usklajen ekonom-sko-socialni razvoj, uravnoteženo spodbujala pravšnjo povezavo prožnosti in varnosti, preprečevala segmentacijo trga dela in dela na črno ter upoštevala tudi načela nediskriminatornega zaposlovanja. Pri tem je treba upoštevati temeljna načela varne prožnosti, oblikovana na ravni Evropske skupnosti.
V temeljnih načelih Evropske skupnosti je navedeno, da mora varna prožnost:
•	vključevati prožne in zanesljive pogodbene ureditve (s stališča delodajalcev in delojemalcev ter vključenih in izključenih), celostne strategije vseživljenjskega učenja, učinkovite aktivne politike trga dela in sodobne sisteme socialne varnosti;
•	temeljiti na ravnovesju med pravicami in odgovornostmi za delodajalce, delojemalce, iskalce zaposlitve in javne organe; prilagoditi jo je treba posebnim okoliščinam, razmeram na trgih dela in industrijskim razmeram držav članic;
•	zmanjšati razliko med vključenimi in izključenimi delojemalci na trgu dela, kar pomeni, da morajo biti vključeni delojemalci pripravljeni na prehajanje z enega na drugo delovno mesto, med tem procesom pa morajo biti zaščiteni; izključeni delojemalci, vključno z brezposelnimi, pa potrebujejo lahek dostop do trga dela in odskočno desko, ki jim bo omogočala napredovanje do stabilnih pogodbenih ureditev:
•	spodbujati notranjo in zunanjo varno prožnost (znotraj organizacij in med organizacijami) in pri tem spodbujati tako mobilnost navzgor kot tudi mobilnost med obdobji brezposelnosti ali neaktivnosti in zaposlitvijo;
•	podpirati enakost spolov s spodbujanjem enakega dostopa do kakovostnih delovnih mest za ženske in moške, z zagotavljanjem možnosti v zvezi z usklajevanjem dela in družinskega življenja ter enakih možnosti za migrante, mlade, invalide in starejše delojemalce;
•	zahtevati ozračje zaupanja in dialoga med javnimi organi in socialnimi partnerji, kjer bodo vsi pripravljeni prevzeti odgovornost za spremembe - prizadevati si morajo za pravično razdelitev stroškov in koristi, zlasti med organizacijami, posamezniki in javnimi proračuni ter namenjati posebno pozornost posebnemu položaju malih in srednjih organizacij (European Commission, 2007, str. 10).
7. Zaključek
V času recesije je pomen pravšnje povezave med prožnostjo in varnostjo še bolj v ospredju, saj lahko prevelika prožnost pripelje do velikih socialnih sprememb, prevelika varnost pa povzroči togost trga dela in s tem ovira prilagajanje zaposlenosti razmeram v gospodarstvu.
Države in organizacije morajo zato slediti vzoru držav, ki so na tem področju do sedaj naredile že veliko (kot sta na primer Danska in Nizozemska) ter zagotoviti prožno zaposlovanje, ki bi omogočalo hitro prilagajanje potrebam trga dela in s tem konkurenčnost; uveljaviti je treba sistem socialne varnosti, ki bi preprečeval, da bi visoka mobilnost zaposlenih povzročala občutek negotovosti ali marginalizacijo, ter sprejeti aktivno politiko zaposlovanja, ki mora temeljiti na usposabljanju in izobraževanju kot temelju zaposljivosti.
Pri uvedbi koncepta varne prožnosti morajo države upoštevati potrebe in specifičnosti trga dela ter ureditev prilagoditi družbenemu, socialnemu, gospodarskemu, zgodovinskemu, kulturnemu kontekstu in potrebam, saj enostavno kopiranje konceptov uspešnih držav (kot sta na primer Danska in Nizozemska), prav zaradi že omenjenih razlogov ne more prinesti pozitivnih rezultatov.
Mag. Tatjana Kozjek je od leta 2004 zaposlena na Fakulteti za upravo Univerze v Ljubljani kot asistentka za področje organizacije javnega sektorja. Raziskuje področje organizacije javnega sektorja in upravljanja s človeškimi viri, sodeluje pri pripravi in izvedbi vaj ter seminarjev za javne uslužbence.
Literatura in viri
•	Bredgaard, T., Larson, F., Madsen, per K. (2005). The Flexible Danish Labour Market - A Review. CARMA Research Papers (1). Aalborg: CARMA Aalborg University.
•	Clasen, J., Kvist, J., Van Oorschot, W. (2001). On condition of work: increasing work requirements in unemployment compensation schemes. V: Kautto, M., Fritzell, J., Hvio-den, J., Kvist, J., Uusitalo, H. (ur.): Nordic Welfare States in the European Context (pp. 161-186). London: Routlege.
•	Domadenik, P., Hribar Milič, S., Pirš, S., Pajhnikar, T., Kolar, S., Smrekar, M. (2005). Prispevek delovne skupine: Delovna zakonodaja za večjo konkurenčnost, Ljubljana.
•	European Commission. (2007). Towards Common Principles of Flexicurity: More and better jobs through flexibility and security. Retrieved 23. 09. 2008 from Towards Common Principles of Flexicurity: More and better jobs through flexibility and security. Directorate-General for Employment. Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Unit D.2. Manuscript completed in July 2007.
http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=2756&langId=en.
•	European Communities (2008). Flexicurity in a context of restructuring, Thematic Review Seminar on the European Employment Strategy. Retrieved 29. 08. 2008 from Flexicurity in a context of restructuring, Thematic Review Seminar on the European Employment Strategy http://www.mutual-learning-employment.net/flexicurityinacontextofrestructuring.
•	ILO. (2004). Economic security for a better world. Genova: ILO.
•	Ignjatovic, M. (2002). Družbene posledice povečanja prožnosti trga delovne sile. Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za družbene vede, Ljubljana.
•	Kajzer, A. (2005). Fleksibilnost trga dela - problem definicije in merjenja. Zbornik 15. statistični dnevi. Komuniciranje z dajalci in uporabniki statističnih podatkov ter podpora EMU in Lizbonski strategiji, Radenci, 11-20.
•	Kresal, B. (2007). Evropski socialni model prožne varnosti (flexicurity) in Slovenija. Delavci in delodajalci 4(7), 475-496.
•	Lang, D. (2006). Can The Danish Model of »Flexicurity« be a Matrix for the Reform of European Labour Markets? Cahiers du GRES - Groupment de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (18), Touluse.
•	Lazear, E. P. (1990). Job Security Provision and Employment. Quarterly Journal of Economics 105(3), 699-726.
•	Madsen, per K. (2002). Security and Flexibility: Friends or Foes? Some Observations from the Case of Denmark. The future of Work. Employment and Social Protection. Proceedings of the France - ILO Symposium, 49-62, Lyon: International Institute of Labour Studies.
•	OECD. (2004). Employment Protection Regulation and Labour Market Performance. OECD Employment Outlook, 61-125.
•	Siebert, H. (1997). Labour market rigidities: At the Root of Unemployment in Europe. Journal of Economic Perspectives. American Economic Association 11(3), 37-54.
•	Standing, G. (1986). Labour Flexibility: Cause or Cure for Unemployment? Public Lectures (25), Genova: International Institute for Labour Studies.
•	Tangian, A. (2004). Defining the flexicurity index in application to European countries. Diskussionpapier. WSI in der Hans Boeckler Stiftung (122), Duesseldorf.
•	Yvonne Thorsen, Y., Brunk, T. (2009). Sweden: Flexicurity and industrial relations. Retrieved 11. 11. 2009 from Sweden: Flexicurity and industrial relations. Oxford Research. http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/studies/TN0803038s/se0803039q.htm.
•	Tros, F., Wilthagen, T. (2004). The Concept of »Flexicurity«: a new approach to regulating employment and labour markets in Flexicurity. Conceptual Issues and Political Implementation in Europe. European Review of labour research 10(2), 166-186.
•	Van Oorschot, W. (2001). Activation and flexicurity policies in the Netherlands. Work welfare and citizenship. Tilburg: Tilburg University, Department of sociology.
•	Van Velzen, M., Wilthagen, T. (2004). The road towards adaptability, flexibility and security. Discussion paper. Tilburg University, Tilburg.
•	Wilthagen, T., Tros, F., Van Lieshort, H. (2004). Towards »Flexicurity«? Balancing Flexibility and Security in EU Member States. European Journal of Social Security 6(2), 113— 136.
SUMMARY
SOME ASPECTS OF FLEXIBILITY, SECURITY AND FLEXICURITY
In recent years, numerous events have increased the competitiveness and pace of structural change in many countries. Organizations must remain flexible in order to react to unexpected changes in demand, they must adapt to new technologies. The employees are required to be productive and prepared for lifelong learning. Organizations, therefore, want a more flexible labour legislation that would allow them to adapt the number of employees, and employees on the other side want to have as high social security contributions as possible. The fact is that if security is too high it causes rigidity of the labour market and thus hinders adjustment of employment conditions in the economy. Therefore countries and organizations are obliged to seek a correlation between flexibility and security.
The paper describes some of the definitions of flexibility, security and the correlation between flexibility and security of the so-called flexicurity. Presented are some strategies of the countries that have successfully introduced the concept of flexicurity.
Wilthagen and Tros (2004, pp. 166) define flexicurity as a flexible political strategy, which on the one hand promotes labor market flexibility, flexibility in work organization and labor relations and increased job security and social security on the other hand, particularly for the vulnerable groups on and outside the labor market. This definition suggests that strategies and policies of flexicurity develop on a safe, coordinated and deliberate way, for example, through negotiations between social partners or between individual employers and employees at various levels. This method does not exclude the role of market forces, financial incentives, fiscal measures, public-private partnerships or private organizations and agencies.
The Danish flexicurity model has been established in the nineties and it has the effective combination of flexibility (high job mobility as a result of a relatively low level of job security), social security (generous system of unemployment insurance) and active labour market policies (Lang, 2006, pp. 3).
Countries and organizations should follow the countries that in this area have been successful (such as Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands).
They should provide flexible employment, allowing rapid adjustment of labour market needs and competitiveness; promote social security system, preventing a feeling of insecurity and marginalization because of the high mobility of staff, and take an active employment strategy, based on training and education as the cornerstones of employability.
When adopting the concept of flexicurity the countries must consider the needs and specificities of their labour market. Simply copying the concepts of successful countries (such as Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands), especially because of the specificity of individual labour markets, values and needs, will not bring positive outcomes.
Navodila avtorjem
V reviji Uprava objavljamo izvirne članke, ki obravnavajo teoretična in praktična vprašanja razvoja in delovanja javne uprave.
Znanstvene članke objavljamo v slovenskem in v angleškem jeziku, izjemoma v nemškem ali francoskem jeziku. Druge članke objavljamo v slovenskem, nemškem ali francoskem jeziku, z daljšim povzetkom v angleškem jeziku.
Uredniški postopek
Uredništvo lahko še pred recenzijo zavrne objavo članka, če njegova vsebina ne ustreza najavljeni temi, če je bil podoben članek v reviji že objavljen, ali če članek ne ustreza kriterijem za objavo v reviji. O tem uredništvo pisno obvesti avtorja.
Pred sprejemom članka v recenzijo mora avtor podpisati Izjavo o avtorstvu, s katero avtor prenese materialne avtorske pravice na izdajatelja revije in dovoli objavo članka na spletu.
Članek naj bo lektoriran, v uredništvu se opravlja samo korektura. Izjemoma se po dogovoru z avtorjem besedilo tudi lektorira.
Vsi članki se recenzirajo in razvrstijo po tipologiji COBISS (1.01 Izvirni znanstveni članek; 1.02 Pregledni znanstveni članek; 1.04 Strokovni članek; 1.08 Objavljeni znanstveni prispevek na konferenci). Med recenziranjem avtorji in recenzenti niso imenovani. Članki pod 1.01, 1.02 morajo za objavo prejeti dve pozitivni recenziji.
Po sprejemu članka pod 1.01, 1.02 v objavo se avtorje, ki so poslali članek v slovenskem jeziku, obvesti, naj pošljejo še prevod članka v angleški jezik.
Oblikovanje članka
Naslovu prispevka naj sledi: polno ime avtorja/avtorjev, naziv institucije/institucij in elektronski naslov/naslovi. Članek mora vsebovati še:
-	izvleček, ki naj v 8 do 10 vrsticah opiše vsebino prispevka in dosežene rezultate raziskave;
-	ključne besede: 1-5 ključnih besed;
-	JEL kodo iz klasifikacije po Journal of Economic Literature - JEL (http://www.aeaweb.org/journal/jel_class_system.html);
-	članek pod 1.04, ki bo objavljen v slovenskem, nemškem ali francoskem jeziku, naj vsebuje tudi povzetek v angleškem jeziku v obsegu 3 strani. (v povzetku prevedite naslov in ključne besede ter predstavite vsebino članka (opredelitev problema in ugotovitve));
-	kratek življenjepis avtorja/avtorjev (do 8 vrstic).
Članek naj bo napisan v urejevalniku besedil Word (*.doc, *.docx) v enojnem razmiku, brez posebnih ali poudarjenih črk. Ne uporabljajte zamika pri odstavkih. Razdelki od Uvoda do Sklepnih ugotovitev naj bodo naslovljeni in oštevilčeni z arabskimi številkami.
Slike in tabele, ki jih omenjate v članku, vključite v besedilo. Opremite jih z naslovom in oštevilčite z arabskimi številkami. Če v članku uporabljate slike ali tabele drugih avtorjev, navedite sklic pod sliko, tabelo ali kot sprotno opombo. Enačbe oštevilčite v oklepajih desno od enačbe.
Članek naj obsega največ 30.000 znakov.
V besedilu se sklicujte na navedeno literaturo na način: (Novak, 1999, str. 456).
Na koncu članka navedite literaturo po abecednem redu avtorjev in vire, po naslednjem vzorcu:
Članek v reviji:
•	Gilber, G., & Pierre, P. (1996). Incentives and optimal size of local jurisdictions. European Economic Review (40), 19-41.
Knjiga:
•	Katzenbach, J., & Smith, D. (1993). The wisdom of teams. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Knjiga z urednikom:
•	Keene, E. (Ed.). (1988). Natural Language. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.
Prispevek na konferenci:
•	Bugarič, B. (2002). Od hierarhične k participativni (odprti) javni upravi. IX. dnevi slovenske uprave. Portorož (pp. 23-29). Ljubljana: Visoka upravna šola.
Internetni vir:
•	Tax Administration of the Republic of Slovenia. (n.d.). Retrieved 8. 5., 2007, from Tax Administration of the Republic of Slovenia: http://www.durs.gov.si/
Uradna publikacija, poročilo:
•	(2001). World Development Indicators. Washington: World Bank. Disertacija:
•	Richmond, J. (2005). Customer expectations in the world of electronic banking: a case study of the Bank of Britain. Ph. D. . Chelmsford: Anglia Ruskin University.
Kadar ima publikacija več kot štiri avtorje, navedite samo prvega avtorja, npr. Novak et al. Če navajate dve deli ali več del istega avtorja, letnico označite, npr. 2005a, 2005b...
Priporočamo, da uporabite samodejni zapis literature, ki ga omogoča Word 2007 (zapis APA).
Ko je članek dokončno urejen in pripravljen za tisk, ga prejme avtor v dokončni pregled in potrditev.
Članek imenujte po priimku prvega avtorja (Novak.doc) in ga pošljite po elektronski pošti na naslov:
reviia.uprava@fu.uni-lj.si.
En izvod članka, natisnjenega na papirju, pošljite na naslov:
Fakulteta za upravo, Uredništvo revije Uprava, Gosarjeva ulica 5, 1000 Ljubljana.
Instructions for Authors
The Uprava (Administration) journal publishes articles dealing with theoretical and practical issues relating to the development and function of public administration.
Academic texts are published in Slovene and English, and exceptionally in German and French. Other articles are published in Slovene, German or French, with an extended summary in English.
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The editorial board may decide not to publish an article even before peer review, if its content does not match the stated themes, if a similar article has already been published in the journal, or if the article does not meet the criteria for publication in the review. The editorial board will inform authors of such a decision in writing.
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Articles classified as 1.01 and 1.02 must have two positive peer reviews in order to be published.
After acceptance of an article 1.01, 1.02 for publication, authors submitting an article in Slovene are asked to provide a translation into English.
Article formatting
The article's title should be followed by: the full name of the author/authors; the name of the institution/institutions and email address(es). The article 1.04 must also include:
-	an abstract describing the content of the contribution and research results achieved in 8 to 10 lines;
-	keywords: 1-5 keywords;
-	a JEL code (Journal of Economic Literature) -(http://www.aeaweb.org/journal/jel_class_system.html);
-	if published in Slovene, German or French, the article must also have a summary in English, 3 pages in length (the summary should translate the title and keywards and present the content of the article (define the argument and findings));
-	a short CV of the author/authors to the article (up to 8 lines).
An article must be supplied in the MS Word (*.doc, *.docx) with single spacing, without special or highlighted characters. Do not indent paragraphs. Sections from the introduction to the conclusion should be titled and numbered with Arabic numerals.
Figures and tables mentioned in the article should be included in the text. They should be titled and numbered with Arabic numerals. If the figures or tables of other authors are used in the article, give the reference below the figure or table or as a footnote. Equations should be numbered in brackets to the right of the equation.
Articles should not exceed 30 000 characters.
References in the text to cited literature should be made as follows: (Novak, 1999, p. 456).
State the literature in alphabetical order of author and source at the end of the
article, as follows:
Article from a journal:
•	Gilber, G., & Pierre, P. (1996). Incentives and optimal size of local jurisdictions. European Economic Review (40), 19-41.
Book:
•	Katzenbach, J., & Smith, D. (1993). The wisdom of teams. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Book with editor:
•	Keene, E. (Ed.). (1988). Natural Language. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.
Conference contribution:
•	Bugarič, B. (2002). Od hierarhične k participativni (odprti) javni upravi. IX. dnevi slovenske uprave. Portorož (pp. 23-29). Ljubljana: Visoka upravna šola.
Internet source:
•	Tax Administration of the Republic of Slovenia. (n.d.). Retrieved 8. 5., 2007, from Tax Administration of the Republic of Slovenia: http://www.durs.gov.si/
Official publication, report:
•	(2001). World Development Indicators. Washington: World Bank. Dissertation:
•	Richmond, J. (2005). Customer expectations in the world of electronic banking: a case study of the Bank of Britain. Ph. D. . Chelmsford: Anglia Ruskin University.
If a publication has more than four authors, state only the first author, e.g. Novak et al. If citing two works or more by the same author, indicate the year, e.g. 2005a, 2005b, etc. We recommend the use of the automatic literature citation, which is supported by Word 2007 (APA citation).
When the article has been finally edited and prepared for printing, it is sent to the author for final check and confirmation.
The article filename should use the first author's surname (Smith.doc) and be sent by email to the following address: reviia.uprava@fu.uni-li.si.
One printed, paper copy of the article should be sent to the following address:
Fakulteta za upravo, Uredništvo revije Uprava, Gosarjeva ulica 5, 1000 Ljubljana.