Alternative Modes Of Governance Research Articles

Alternative modes of governance: Clans and social instability in rural China

As one form of informal institutions, clans have played a significant role in driving Chinese socioeconomic development. However, there is currently no consensus on how clans are correlated with social instability in rural areas. This paper aims to explore the correlations between clans and social instability, utilizing village-level data from the 2015–2021 China Household Finance Survey. The findings reveal a positive correlation between clans and social instability in rural areas. Notably, this relationship follows an inverted U-shaped pattern when considering political distance. Mechanism analysis suggests that clans are accompanies by more social disputes and conflicts of interest in intermediate zones compared to areas located farther away or closer to the local political center. Further analysis indicates that both the decrease in legal governance and the increase in potential interests aggravate the negative correlation between clans and social stability. Additionally, it is observed that implementing the “yi jian tiao” policy in grassroots governance can help mitigate the social contradictions caused by clans and brings positive influence, but the existence of multiple clans is positively correlated with social instability. Our analysis implies that more attention should be focused on the intermediate zones, where an enormous number of conflicts between formal and informal institutions exist.

The institutional environment and gig platform transaction cost solutions

Abstract A growing number of labour market participants transact through gig platforms. This choice should reflect a reduction in transaction costs for platform users, compared to costs they meet when using alternative modes of governance. We exploit a unique cross-platform, cross-country data set of gig platform users to test the impact of the institutional environment in one of its dimensions – the strictness of labour market regulation (LMR) – on the ability of gig platforms to reduce users' transaction costs. According to our findings, the regulation indicator of both the user and platform countries influences transaction costs for platform users, even controlling for platform and user characteristics. The platform appears to reduce transaction costs most when users face stricter or weaker LMR, in a U-shaped effect. In the former case, the platform may provide an escape from labour regulations when hiring for tasks, while in the latter case, the platform can economize on the usual transaction costs of private contracting by administrating some types of users' activities.

Do spatial practices legitimize the values promoted by organizations? An ethno-architectural survey of governance and sustainable development in coworking spaces

ABSTRACT Compared to traditional organizations, a coworking organization needs to be clearly distinguished, recognized and identified in its environment. The question of legitimacy is therefore relevant for coworking spaces. We investigate their spatial practices through Lefebvre’s spatial triad, and how they affect their organizational legitimacy, in order to establish whether these practices support the values promoted by coworking organizations. Based on an ethno-architectural survey, interviews and an analysis of their websites, we focus on two main values promoted by the collaborative spaces we investigated: alternative modes of governance and sustainability. We found that their spatial practices did not fully align with these values. We introduce the concept of spatial legitimacy, and our ethno-architectural survey contributes in methodological terms to the analysis of spatial practices in the field of organizational studies.

Conceptualization of “Othering”: An Analysis of Western Media’s Mechanism for Constructing the Discourse of Beijing Winter Olympics

The objective of the Olympic movement is to maintain separation of sports from politics. However, international politics has played a significant role in the survival and development of the Olympic Games throughout its history. Recently, Western media's politicization of Olympic organizers has been on the rise. This research paper aims to examine the role of mainstream media outlets in the United States, Canada, Britain, and Germany. It analyzes carefully selected samples of texts published during the Beijing Winter Olympics, employing critical discourse analysis as the primary methodology. The study aims to uncover the discourse strategies employed by Western media in covering Beijing Winter Olympics, the ideologies behind them, and their constructed image of global governance. The paper also examines the historical and realistic conditions in which this image has been formed and analyzes the discourse mechanism of Western media system. Western media’s narrative of the Olympic Games host is not primarily about China but rather a reflection of the West’s self-construction needs and embodiment. In this context, China is portrayed as a systemic competitor that challenges Europe, "subverts" international rules, and promotes alternative modes of governance. Through a critical analysis of the political implications underlying Western media coverage during the Beijing Winter Olympics, this study exposes the inherent limitations of the Western "othering" framework. In doing so, it provides invaluable insights that contribute to the development of Chinese discourse and narrative systems, ultimately strengthening the Chinese subjectivity framework in the realm of international communication.

Time-Based Performance Increases Across Governance Modes

Governance research highlights the performance benefit of using the same governance mode in successive transactions. We extend this work by examining whether the time that a firm spends running a given transaction has an influence on the focal transaction’s performance and whether the magnitude of this influence is the same in internal organization as it is in contractual governance. Drawing on arguments derived from organizational learning theory and transaction cost theory, we argue that time-based performance increases are primarily fueled by coordinated adaptation in internal organization, while they mostly result from high-powered incentives in contractual governance. We next develop a contingency approach to suggest that time-based performance increases are greater in internal organization than in contractual governance if the transaction is technologically complex and if it involves high levels of environmental uncertainty. Data on water supply performance in France during 1998–2008 largely support our arguments. Overall, we highlight that firms’ ability to increase transaction performance in the course of action differs more in nature than in magnitude between internal organization and contractual governance. We discuss the theoretical implications for research on the relative performance of alternative governance modes.

Exploring governance issues between online food delivery platforms and restaurant partners in India

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the governance of external entities that lie outside the boundaries of digital platform firms by using the theoretical lens of the transaction cost theory (TCT). TCT offers alternative modes of governance for effectively managing transactions in market, hierarchy or hybrid scenarios providing a perfect framework to study platform governance.Design/methodology/approachThe paper explores governance issues between restaurant partners and online food delivery platforms in India via qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews of various stakeholders, including restaurant partners and platform managers.FindingsThe study reveals that information asymmetry, opportunism, control and trust deficit are the major strategic governance issues in online food delivery platforms.Research limitations/implicationsThough care had been taken to cover all types of restaurants, due to lockdown number of restaurants studied was restricted in number. Despite the restrictions, findings provided valuable insights into the governance issues of the digital platform. Challenging times like Covid-19 make the study even more crucial from the strategic perspective. The study also adds to the literature on platform governance and provides practical implications for account managers and policymakers.Practical implicationsThe study uncovers various critical governance issues. These, if resolved using the right combination of governance mechanisms, will lead to increased partner participation and value creation on the platform.Originality/valuePlatforms outsource the value creation to external entities without having any hierarchical control over partners. The paper studies governance outside the boundaries of the firm using TCT. Hence, it helps to extend governance outside the boundaries of the firm.

To dam or not to dam in an age of anthropocene: Insights from a genealogy of media discourses

Numerous studies have highlighted the negative consequences of dams (long-term alterations of Earth systems and social and economic injustices), and have questioned the sustainability of dams, i.e., the capacity of dams to meet the social, economic, and environmental needs of the current generation without compromising the needs of future generations. After having stalled in the 1990 s, dam construction has entered a new period of growth. Recent research has shown that this new phase in dam building can be explained by the promotion of hydropower as clean energy. To clarify the continuing debate on the construction of dams, particularly on their impacts and sustainability into the future, this paper examines the discourses on dams within the public domain. We used a collection of newspaper articles published in Le Monde from 1945 to 2019 on dams that were planned and built throughout the world (n = 1471). Results show a rise of different discourses on water infrastructure, which with time deal less with positive technical appraisals and more with controversies. Since the mid-2000 s, new arguments are defended (green energy) and new controversial discourses on the social and economic sustainability of dams (bearability, equitability) have emerged along with environmental questions (greenhouse gas footprint). These discourses reveal different understandings of sustainability which increase the complexity of the debate on dams. Results from this study suggest a need for a stronger dialogue between the scientific and public domains on the impacts of dams. Knowledge transfer and exchange would be particularly beneficial on ‘renewable energy’ and ‘green energy,’ and alternative modes of governance regarding dams. • Debates on dams have increased these past years in the scientific and public domains. • We examine the discourses and debates on dams within the public domain. • We identify a genealogy of discourses on dams and critically analyse these discourses. • We show how these discourses reveal different understandings of sustainability. • More knowledge transfer and exchange are needed on the impacts of dams.

The Vietnam Women’s Union and the Contradictions of a Socialist Gender Regime

ABSTRACTVietnam’s transition from a centrally planned economy to a “socialist market economy under state guidance” since the late 1980s has provided women with unprecedented opportunities. Their increased mobility and economic power notwithstanding, Vietnamese women continue to be essentialised as mothers and carers in public discourse while their professional achievements and public lives are ostensibly de-emphasised. As the largest state institution tasked with representing women and advancing the Communist Party’s women-focussed social and political agendas, the Women’s Union plays a pivotal role in shaping the ideologies and values that serve to discipline women’s gendered behaviours and regulate their gendered lives. In this article, I examine the femininity ideals promoted by the Women’s Union in order to identify the contradictions in the Vietnamese socialist gender regime that subjects women to immense social pressure and perpetuates gender inequalities. The article invites re-thinking of the taken-for-granted relationship between women’s political representation and their empowerment. It also reveals ambivalence in the socialist state’s attempts to reframe socialist models of personhood at a time when the socialist national narrative is being challenged by globalisation, calling forth alternative modes of governance.

Towards sustainable urban basic services in low-income countries: A Technological Innovation System analysis of sanitation value chains in Nairobi

The provision of basic services suffers from a multitude of sustainability challenges in many cities of low-income countries. Sanitation provision faces particular challenges in the form of environmental contamination, high costs, and large inequalities among urban residents. In recent years an increasing number of innovations in on-site systems have been developed, which have not yet evolved into fully functional alternatives to the existing regimes. We study three prominent recent on-site sanitation initiatives in informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya that aimed at developing entire “sanitation value chains”, which we conceptualize as an emerging Technological Innovation System (TIS). The analysis leads us to propose alternative governance modes for the TIS to overcome system failures such as capability, coordination and institutional barriers. Conceptually, the paper extends conventional TIS analyses towards entire value chains, enabling a wide range of transition processes to be addressed beyond informal settlements and low-income countries.

Life cycle assessment calculative practices in the Swedish biofuel sector: Governing biofuel sustainability by standards and numbers

AbstractSince the introduction of the European Union's Renewable Energy Directive (RED), biofuel‐producing firms are required to perform life cycle assessment (LCA) based greenhouse gas accounting in order to fulfill part of directive's sustainability criteria. This paper adopts the concepts of “governing by standards” and “governing by numbers” to understand the LCA practices of biofuel‐producing firms and assess the critical moments of friction between these alternative modes of governance. We focus our analysis on the use of LCA in the Swedish biofuel industry, undertaking case studies on the use of LCA in four Swedish biofuel‐producing firms and semistructured interviews with industry associations and governmental bodies. Results indicated that the RED not only influences what biofuel sustainability entails but also structures the calculative practices used to measure it. At the same time, our results point to friction between achieving regulatory compliance and improving biofuel sustainability.

The provisioning of collective goods by MNEs in emerging markets

PurposeThis paper aims to determine the essential “collective goods” which a foreign multinational enterprise (MNE) must have before production can start in a remote area of an emerging economy, and to consider the alternative governance modes available to procure or create these goods.Design/methodology/approachThis purpose is examined conceptually and theoretically. First, the concept of “collective goods” is presented, followed by a consideration of the traditional “buy, ally or make” contractual approaches available to obtain goods and services. These approaches are repositioned in the context of an “emerging economy” so that alternative “ordering systems” as well as “non-contractual” means of obtaining things have to be considered in the context of internalization and reciprocity theories.FindingsIt is difficult to obtain collective goods in remote areas of emerging economies where private ordering prevails and even succeeds but at high transaction costs and with substantial government intervention. However, the use of non-contractual modes of exchange such as reciprocity is available to facilitate exchanges between market MNEs and nonmarket state offices and civil-society associations such as non-governmental organizations with which collaboration is necessary but which cannot be acquired or controlled by MNEs. However, market firms can use philanthropy and lobbying to obtain the help of these nonmarket actors who know how to operate under private and state-ordering systems.Research limitations/implicationsTheoretical implications: Internalization theory explains why MNEs are able to obtain collective goods by providing them “in-house”, while reciprocity theory exemplifies how non-contractual modes of exchange can substitute for the traditional but contractual “buy, ally and/or make”.Practical implicationsManagerial implications: In terms of the organizational structure of the subsidiary of an MNE operating in an emerging economy, it appears that the line functions of procurement, engineering and production may rely more on contractual exchanges with foreign suppliers, while the staff functions of public affairs, government relations and human resources may be more adept at using reciprocal exchange with local suppliers.Originality/valueThe provisioning of the collective goods when a firm builds its facilities in a remote and underdeveloped part of an emerging economy has hardly received any research attention nor have the non-contractual ways – such as reciprocity – available in the context of private ordering to obtain these goods.

European integration through ‘soft conditionality’. The contribution of culture to EU enlargement in Southeast Europe

This article discusses how the European Commission employs cultural policy to facilitate EU enlargement processes. Since 1989 the European Commission has funded cultural programs in accession states as a ‘soft’ complement to its ‘hard’ conditionality. It reflects a more general trend in which the EU employs alternative modes of governance to deal with resistance against EU interference in national affairs. By investing in culture, the EU hopes to stimulate transnational cooperation, economic growth, social cohesion and identification with the EU. However, the outcomes of these investments cannot be predicted. Characteristic for soft policy programs is that participating states are responsible for their eventual interpretation and implementation. By comparing the policies and practices of EU cultural investments in accession states Southeast Europe, and particularly in Serbia, this paper discusses the limits and possibilities of EU funded initiatives to enlargement revealing an increasing governing through soft conditionality.

The Activities of Adl Wal Ihsane in the Neighbourhoods. How to Build a ‘Non-Legal’ Consensus from a ‘Tolerated’ Conflict

Based on observation of the activities of the female members of the Moroccan Islamist movement Justice and Spirituality (Al Adl Wal Ihsane, AWI) at neighbourhood level, this chapter analyses the conception of development fostered by this movement and tries to answer the following questions: how do conflicting visions of development (those of AWI, the authorities and other associations) live together in the same neighbourhood, and what do the interactions between these different active participants tell us about modes of government on the local scale? If we view Islamists as agents of human development, and religious education and spirituality as important elements in this development, we see how complex the social and political relations are that the Islamist movement has with power and with society as a whole. The interactions of Islamist movements with various local players highlight a dialectic between conflict and consensus based on a ‘Western’ hegemonic model of development. This dialectic allows other strategies to find expression—strategies that flourish in daily activities—and other conceptions of what is seen as a ‘good’ way of conducting one’s life. Intentional or not, strategies of discharge, differentiation, discretion, competition or compliance, and the alternative modes of governance and conduct of life that this chapter highlights, show that the relationships between different players cannot be reduced just to conflict or consensus, and that their behaviour cannot be explained solely as a form of rejection or acceptance. The neo-liberal paradigm of development can comprise both a common ground and a place of conflict between quite different models of society.

Local–Global Linkages in Environmental Governance: The Case of Crop Genetic Resources

The loss of biodiversity is a global environmental problem that poses important governance challenges. Effective governance of crop genetic resources as a component of biodiversity is essential, given that such resources are the building blocks of today's modern agriculture. This article examines the formal governance framework in place for crop genetic resources, as embodied in the Convention on Biological Diversity and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and compares this to alternative modes of governance proposed by peasants' organizations such as Via Campesina. The author argues that the existing formal governance framework falls short of providing an effective mechanism for the conservation of crop genetic resources. Alternative governance mechanisms may more effectively connect the local and the global in a way that recognizes the contributions of local communities to conserving genetic resources in centers of diversity, and re-embeds their control over agricultural production processes.

How to Deliver Foreign Aid? The Case of Projects Governed by the Spanish International Agency

International agencies use two alternative modes of governance to deliver international aid projects: under bilateral agreements with recipient governments (in-house), or through incumbent NGOs. Through the lenses of institutional and transaction cost economics, this article examines 95 international aid projects delivered in Morocco and Ecuador by the Spanish international agency finding that those projects delivered “in-house” present different features than those projects outsourced through incumbent NGOs. Specifically, international aid projects delivered “in-house” involve important investments in specific assets, are much more complex, and can turn the public agency into a hostage of its own disbursement.

First mover, strategic alliances and performance: context of turmoil in China

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore whether being a first‐mover into the Chinese market through strategic alliance with host companies provides competitive advantages to the foreign entrant. The aim is to understand the relevance of the first‐mover and internationalization process (incremental learning) for competitive advantage in China during environmental uncertainty. Thus, the author proposes that the first‐mover (foreign firm) would be able to deflect environmental uncertainty, such as the economic recession of 2008, by forming an alliance with Chinese enterprises earlier than its rivals.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative methods for data analysis were used in support of the proposition. The sample comprises 187 foreign multinational enterprises that entered into the Chinese market through strategic alliance with local partners. The dependent variable is return on assets (ROA) of the firm. The author used the timeline as the independent variable. The longer duration implies earlier entrants on the temporal scale. The author also used several controlled variables at the firm level, industry level and national level of the home country. The analysis was based on ordinary regression.FindingsThe result supports the main hypothesis in favour of the first‐mover advantage. Apart from the main effects in the hypotheses, there are some interesting alternative effects captured in the control variables. It appears that age of the firm tends to hamper firm performance. Industrial discretion is another control variable. The author predicted a positive coefficient. However, the result is not significant. The result shows competitive forces can lead to a better performance for the first‐mover. This observation is counterintuitive because monopoly is the source of performance, and competition reduces monopoly. It should be negatively correlated, but the result shows the opposite. In this sense, competition appears to be contributing to the firm's performance. A possible reason is that firms compete in the downstream of the industrial value china in established industries. Hence, the first‐mover advantage supports the early entrant in competitive conditions. Licensing mode of governance is negative. In comparison to alternative modes of governance, it appears that contractual mode such as licensing is less conducive for better performance. Firms that entered into IBA in China after her membership with WTO performed lower than those entered before WTO. Home country's R&D spending has not shown significant and positive influence on the performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe author proposes that cultural distance needs to be included in the research and analysis for a better understanding on the phenomenon of first‐mover advantage. Second, the research needs to be replicated in other contextual settings. China is indeed a big market. However, there are multiple different institutional systems in the world. Third, it will be interesting to identify the late‐mover's advantage so that policy decisions can be made in comparative terms.Originality/valueThis paper is different and novel in two ways. First, it reveals that companies that had entered into Chinese markets were able to deflect some of the losses caused by the global slowdown. It means that internationalization can be both positive and negative. It is negative because global crisis can adversely affect almost all economies. However, it can be positive when some economies are stable, and the firm has entered into that stable market earlier than others. Second, the research reveals that cultural and institutional distance can be a positive source during an economic crisis. The author can see today (in 2012) that similar economies of the west are still struggling to get out of the recession of 2008.

Determinants of Equity-Based and Co-Operative Foreign R&D and Impact on the Parent Firm’s Performance

The paper complements entry mode research by dealing with the choice of alternative modes of governance in the specific case of foreign R&D and its impact on a parent firm’s performance. Firstly, we identify the factors that determine whether a firm locates abroad any R&D activities, and, if it does so, whether it chooses an equity-based rather than a non-equity co-operative mode of governance. The OLI paradigm is used as theoretical background of this analysis. Secondly, we determine the impact of foreign R&D on a parent firm’s performance in terms of innovation output and labor productivity, and investigate whether this effect differs among firms using the one or the other governance mode. The study is based on separate estimations for Switzerland and Austria using comparable firm data and model specifications. The two countries are interesting cases as they strongly differ in terms of level and pattern of internationalization.

Rethinking Terrorist Safe Havens: Beyond a State-Centric Approach

Over the last decade, the term safe haven has stirred controversy both in the political arena as well as in the academic literature. Several authors have emphasised the imprecise and commonly ill-conceived use of this terminology. This article intends to provide a fresh analytical framework to better understand the notion of terrorist safe haven. Rejecting the orthodox state-centric approach that envisions terrorist safe havens solely in their static and territorial dimensions, we focus rather on the social dynamics that characterise these spaces. We contend that although they might appear socially fragmented, these geographical areas are ruled by alternative modes of governance that impose a form of social order regulating interactions among actors. We use the concept of ‘social space’ to capture the framework in which social interactions between local actors are taking place. While we recognise that the social order that governs a given social space imposes constraints for actors, we contend that it can be subjected to internal contestation, opening a series of opportunities for transnational terrorist networks. We then try to highlight how terrorist groups might take advantage of these internal dynamics and create new ones to ensnare some local actors into forming alliances with them. This article addresses several case studies to further illustrate the theoretical discussion. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of the importance of interpersonal relationships between local and transnational actors. While this article proposes a preliminary analysis of the question, it opens up new research avenues in conceptualising why and how some regions have come to attract transnational terrorist groups.

Preventive Justice: The Search for Principles

In this essay, I sketch a critical analysis of doctrines and practices commonly identified as instances of “preventive justice.” In Part I, after rehearsing briefly the distinction between law and police as alternative modes of governance best viewed in contradistinction to one another, I argue that preventive justice is neither new, nor different, being instead a long familiar instance of penal police. Part II moves from analysis to critique, considering briefly various criticisms of “preventive justice” raised, or implied, and concluding that they miss the mark, either because they are inapposite (from the perspective of police) or unfounded (from the perspective of law).

Cooperative versus corporate governance of LTL networks

In the less than full truck load (LTL) freight market, integrated transport companies compete head-on with multilateral horizontal alliance networks of smaller LTL service providers: the LTL population is characterised by a dichotomy of cooperative and corporate governance modes. In this paper, we identify the strategic management challenges of LTL networks and analyse the suitability of the two alternative governance modes to respond to these challenges. The analysis reveals a framework which allows the systematic exploration of LTL networks from an institutional perspective. It shows the contingent effects of governance on the strategic decision fields of LTL networks. Integrated transportation companies are more efficient regarding decision-making and network configuration at the expense of potential disadvantages concerning capital resources, narrow-mindedness, bureaucratic tendencies and detachment from the customer. Transportation alliances benefit from innovative strategic initiatives and close customer relations, but suffer from potential incompatibilities of alliance partners and inefficiencies regarding strategic decision-making and network configuration.