This book presents leading recent studies on the application of formal modeling for improved delivery of public services. It very significant updates and extends the type of material found in Operations Research for Public Systems, which began to organize studies about public systems.
The book opens with a set of overviews and perspectives by authors with broad experience in the analysis, planning, and operation of public systems. Numerous case studies make up the remainder of the book. These range from large, vaguely defined issues (How do citizens communicate with their governments? What is a “clean air” program?) to the operation of particular systems (How does one propose and test operating rules for an urban fire department or for a regional blood bank?). In each instance, studies include motivation, model formulation, solution, implications, and state of implementation of results.
Most of the chapters in Analysis of Public Systems can be read with or without detailed consideration of their technical content. For clarity and compactness, much of the intermediate mathematical detail is reference to other sources. The editors and authors have striven to make it possible for administrators, who many have limited analytic backgrounds, to use this book to develop their own views on the place of formal analysis in system planning and operation.
