Policy Studies Research Articles

Positioning Students to Experience Poverty and Consider Its Implications

This study examined students’ encounters with and responses to poverty-based experiential learning during an undergraduate sociology class. Students’ academic readings and experiencing real-life context were channeled through reflective analysis of public policy’s implications. Students’ writing, which had reflective and diagnostic elements, was scrutinized using qualitative content analysis methods by two trained researchers. Findings revealed deep student engagement. Feelings of empathy, solidarity, and fearing failure’s inevitability emerged within students’ clear, complex, text-based writing. A small sample prevented large-scale extrapolation, which was a key limitation. Practical implications included suggestions for economics, civics, and sociology instruction as well as guidance for how, when, and when not to use experiential learning.

Addressing Goal Conflicts: New Policy Mixes for Commercial Land Use Management

Commercial land use management that focuses on a future-oriented urban and regional development must address multiple goals. Effective policy mixes need to simultaneously (1) improve city-regional and inter-municipal cooperation, (2) reduce land take, and (3) assure the long-term economic development of a region. Using the Northern Black Forest in Germany as a case study, we brought together planning and land use research with public policy analysis. We applied cross-impact balances (CIB) to build and analyze a participatory policy-interaction model. Together with a group of 12 experts, we selected effective individual measures to reach each of the three goals and analyzed their interactions. We then assessed the current policy mix and designed alternative policy mixes. The results demonstrate that current approaches to commercial land use management present internal contradictions and generate only little synergies. Implementing innovative measures on a stand-alone basis runs the risk of not being sufficiently effective. In particular, the current practice of competing for municipal marketing and planning of commercial sites has inhibiting effects. We identified alternative policy mixes that achieve all three goals, avoid trade-offs, and generate significant synergy effects. Our results point towards a more coherent and sustainable city-regional (commercial) land-use governance.

A public policy analysis with key stakeholders' insights to understand India's compliance with the WHO framework convention on tobacco control.

BackgroundTobacco-related morbidity and mortality is a global public health challenge. India is the second largest consumer of tobacco in the world. The present paper synthesises the data from qualitative interviews of experts working in the field of tobacco control alongside a critical analysis of the national tobacco control policy of India.MethodsThe research methods adopted for the present work included the following: 1) qualitative in-depth interview of experts and analysis of the qualitative data using thematic analysis; 2) searching existing literature and secondary data on the national tobacco policy and analysing the same using the methodological orientation of qualitative content analysis; and 3) health policy analysis of the national tobacco policy. Themes and sub-themes obtained from the two approaches were compared to generate meaning.ResultsNine experts (three women and six men) participated in the in-depth qualitative interviews from a variety of professional backgrounds (preventive oncology researcher, tobacco cessation specialist, public health expert, clinicians and human rights activists). The systematic and comprehensive literature search resulted in finding 14 research papers, reviews, policy documents and commentaries on the tobacco epidemic in India. The various themes that emerged from the qualitative interviews that found support from secondary data as well were: ‘Conflicting policies of Government: Promoting tobacco production and at the same time restricting its use’, ‘Failure to shield from influence of tobacco industry’, ‘Demand reduction proposals through taxation and pricing’, ‘Legislation to protect from and reduce the harm of second-hand smoking’, ‘Health warning on packaging and labelling of tobacco products’, ‘Promotion and advertisement of tobacco products’, ‘Prohibiting production by and sale to minors’.DiscussionThe control of a tobacco epidemic has multiple structural and functional challenges embedded in the complexity of the public–private interfaces, socio-economic forces, conflicting interests of the stakeholders and diverse nature of the problem. Any intervention planned to reduce the tobacco usage at a population level needs to take these factors into consideration.

Does green finance investment and technological innovation improve renewable energy efficiency and sustainable development goals

Sustainable goals are achieved by utilizing private firms' investment in renewable energy sources. Globally, the demand for alternative sources of Renewable Energy (RE) and green finance (GF) has prompted an increase in research on these topics. This research applies a novel technique panel cointegration and causality model to evaluate the causes of green finance development in China between 1990 and 2020. This study adds information on the relationship between green finance and financial inclusion in the form of private firms' investments. The findings show that green finance and financial inclusion (FI) are beneficial to development globally and more granular. For every 1% growth in RE sources, there will be a 0.522% rise in trademark filings and a 0.1243% rise in private sector investment filings. The trademark and patent are promoted by 0.062% when financial inclusion is improved by 0.031%. Investment, commerce, and human progress have a calming effect on the connection discussed above. A variety of robustness tests supports our model results. This study's policy recommendations include decentralizing the energy industry to allow for more private sector participation; financial incentives for enterprises to use RE. It is clear from these findings that our study contributes significantly to the field of empirical research and also gives crucial policy recommendations.

A análise do ciclo das políticas: uma ferramenta para Assistentes Sociais

This article aims to present some theoretical concepts and models of public policy analysis. The aim is to provide social workers with a theoretical analysis of the social policy process with special relevance to the model of analysis of the policy cycle in phases or moments. This option is related to the perspective of the social worker as an implementing agent of public policy, following the perspective of Michael Lipsky (1976, 2010), who considers implementers as active agents with influence on policy, as real "policy makers". Thus, the article presents the three phases of the cycle - formulation, implementation and evaluation - in order to present a general framework that can be operationalised and used as a tool to analyse the policies that these professionals implement. Facing the need to analyse the policy one implements contributes to the politicisation of intervention, through the mobilisation of power in the struggle of forces that characterise the social field, to combat inequality and defend rights and social justice. If this challenge is not taken up, the social services profession may be assumed to be merely executive, abdicating its propositional function and its active role in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of social policies.  

Taking women on boards: a comparative analysis of public policies in higher education

ABSTRACT There is growing interest in the underlying mechanisms affecting female leaders in Higher Education (HE). This article compares four countries – Germany, Norway, Poland and Sweden to identify key structural conditions (enablers and barriers) for female representation in academia by studying the regulative framework of government policy. Two research questions are guiding the analysis: first, what (if any) policy instruments are chosen to increase the number of female leaders in HE? Second, to what extent does this choice of instruments mirror either sectorial logic (HE) or national policy styles? The empirical results of the article show that while processes of policy diffusion are observable at the sectoral level, gender equality policies and instrument choice differ considerably in the four countries under consideration. The article thus concludes that national policy styles need to be understood as enabling and disabling policy factors for gender equality in HE shaping the process of translating diffused models decisively.

Public policies of guarantee for minimum prices on products of sociobiodiversity (PGPMBio): composition of the extraction cost of Amazonian chestnut in Rondônia and Acre

Objective: To analyze the Minimum Price Guarantee Policy for Sociobiodiversity Products - PGPMBio with focus on the composition of the extraction cost of the Brazil nut in the states of Rondônia and Acre. Materials and Methods: This work used a qualitative approach through a field study. The Matrix proposed by Easton (1957) enabled an analysis of Public Policy. The field research took place at three different times, with 34 respondents: the first was in Brasiléia -AC) Acre State) in November 2014, in Porto Velho - RO (Rondônia State) in March 2015, in Brasiléia - AC and Cobija - Bolivia in June 2015. Results: It was concluded that there is a discrepancy between the minimum price defined in PGPMBio and the price paid by the market in the cases studied. The results show that PGPMBio does not consider environmental costs in the elaboration of the minimum price, employing economic criteria in a context that requires a sustainable vision. Study limitations: The size of the extractivist sample, which, due to its small quantity, makes it impossible to expand the results for the entire population, being limited to the reality of the interviewees. Practical implications: It is suggested to include bonuses for environmental services in the calculation of the minimum price. Originality: The recognition of the workforce on the extractivism of the Chestnut-of-the-Amazon in the composition of the product's cost. This was possible due to the analysis of production costs of the Chestnut-of-the-Amazon through the methodology of analysis of public policies of Easton (1957) and the simultaneous verification of the applicability of PGPMBio among the extractivists.

Analysing land policy processes with stages model: Land policy cases of Ethiopia and Rwanda

Land policies are formulated with the goal of addressing land use management challenges. Therefore, a thorough investigation is required to assess effectiveness of land policy processes. The unknown land use policy effectiveness is how and where the formulation and identification of land use problems affect the throughput of policy implementation. The main objective of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of land policy processes using models of public policy analysis. The study analyses how the stages model could be useful for analysis, and in which areas the advocacy coalition framework (ACF) could enhance the analysis. For comparative insights, land policy cases of Ethiopia and Rwanda were used. Data on land policy processes in the two cases were gathered from literature and data collected from field. The analysis with the two models shows that the effectiveness of executing land use policy processes does not only rely on the conventional cycle and sequence of land use policy implementation steps (i.e. identification of the problem, formulation of the solution, execution of the solution). Instead, during the problem formulation certain dynamics occur which may prevent finding the right and only solution. The stages model is useful for analyzing manifestations as they occur along processes, and the ACF is required as a valuable model to enhance analysis by understanding the cause of manifestations. This study would impact the research method for analyzing effectiveness of land policy processes and improving practices of policy making on the basis of good land governance and public administration perspective.

A preliminary study on productivity investments in tourism security of a multi-islands province: Community perspectives for holiday destination holistic strategy for Community-Based Tourism model of Romblon, the Philippines

Community-Based Tourism is seen for having a huge impact on rural communities in the Philippines and many countries. It is generally known for its pro-poor implications that deliver socio-cultural, ecological, and economic benefits to steer a community if directed with strong policies. CBT has a great potential on elevating the said aspects of a locality for community development. Hence, the proponent attempted to comprehensively determine the perceptions of key actors in CBT with quantitative approaches to shed light on its costs and benefits in the communities of Romblon Province in the Philippines. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was utilized as the main research design to impute relationships on latent variables. In the second and final phase of the research project, the proponents will develop a holistic strategy for a provincial CBT model through a thorough review and analysis of public policies in the past 10 years. Data Mining on LGUs and Communities through SEM (survey method), Econometrics (LGU Data Analytics), and Key-Informant Interviews (face-to-face interview) will be the main approaches of the study.

Comparative Public Policy Analysis: Shortcomings, Pitfalls, and Avenues for the Future

Comparative public policy is a blooming research area. It also suffers from some curious blind spots. In this paper we discuss four of these: (1) the obsession with covariance, which means that important phenomena are ignored; (2) the lack of agency, which leads to underwhelming explanatory models; (3) the unclear universe of cases, which means the inferential value of theories and the empirical results are unclear; and (4) the focus on outputs, even though most theories contain strong assumptions about the political process leading to certain outputs. Following this discussion, we then outline how a closer integration of policy process theories may be fruitful for future research.

New digital technologies and firm performance in the Italian economy

ABSTRACT New digital technologies can generate substantial gains for adopting businesses. In this paper we analyse the impact of new technologies associated with the Industry 4.0 paradigm on labour productivity, average wages and sales growth. The analysis is based on microdata produced by the Italian National Institute for the Analysis of Public Policies (INAPP) on a large representative sample of Italian firms. We merge INAPP data with Orbis data covering the period 2010–2014-2018. By applying a Diff-in-Diff methodology, we show that the economic size of the effect of new technologies on productivity and sales is approximately twice as large as the effect on average wages. The positive impact is stronger for small and medium-size firms, even though the effects appear to be concentrated among more mature rather than younger firms and are heterogeneaous along the distributions. Results are robust to unobserved heterogeneity and endogeneity issues.

Reducing childhood stunting in India: Insights from four subnational success cases

Global success case analyses have identified factors supporting reductions in stunting across countries; less is known about successes at the subnational levels. We studied four states in India, assessing contributors to reductions in stunting between 2006 and 2016. Using public datasets, literature review, policy analyses and stakeholder interviews, we interpreted changes in the context of policies, programs and enabling environment. Primary contributors to stunting reduction were improvements in coverage of health and nutrition interventions (ranged between 11 to 23% among different states), household conditions (22–47%), and maternal factors (15–30%). Political and bureaucratic leadership engaged civil society and development partners facilitated change. Policy and program actions to address the multidimensional determinants of stunting reduction occur in sectors addressing poverty, food security, education, health services and nutrition programs. Therefore, for stunting reduction, focus should be on implementing multisectoral actions with equity, quality, and intensity with assured convergence on the same geographies and households.

Race, power, and policy: understanding state anti-eviction policies during COVID-19

AbstractIn the United States, striking racial disparities in COVID-19 infection and mortality rates were one of the core patterns of the virus. These racial disproportionalities were a result of structural factors—laws, rules, and practices embedded in economic, social, and political systems. Public policy is central among such structural features. Policies distribute advantages, disadvantages, benefits, and burdens in ways that generate, reinforce, or redress racial inequities. Crucially, public policy is a function of power relations, so understanding policy decisions requires attentiveness to power. This paper asseses statistical associations between racial power and state anti-eviction policies. Charting the timing of state policy responses between March 2020 and June 2021, I examine correlations between response times and racial power as reflected in state populations, voting constituencies, legislatures, and social movement activities. Ultimately, I do not find any significant associations. The null results underscore the complexities and difficulties of studying race, power, and public policy with theoretical nuance and empirical care. While the findings leave us with much to learn about how racial power operates, the conceptualization and theorizing offered in the paper, instructively underscore the value of centering racial power in analyses of public policy.

Capabilities of Computer Algorithm Utilizing Artificial Neural Networks and its Implications to Economy: A Public Policy Analysis

The massive abundance of studies pertinent to Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) has produced exciting and dulcet effects on different industries and academic disciplines. Albeit the findings of the studies relating to ANNs invite potential enterprising opportunities, it is an incontestable fact that these enterprising opportunities, like fruits of the ANNs, valiantly interpose an economic threat to the working manpower. Employment retrenchment is portending as companies opt to enjoy the benefit yielded from the application and use of ANN mechanisms. ANNs will overshadow and replace the working manpower. This study is a meta-analysis that profoundly discourses on the implications of economic issues embedded in the application and use of ANNs. The findings hereof are critical and material considerations in the craft of effective public policy measures that necessarily balance the economic impact of the ANNs to working manpower. Thus this study aims to answer two primary inquiries; (1) what are the economic implications of the application and use of ANNs? and (2) what public policy measures balance the economic downsides of the application and use of ANNs?

Feature Expansion Word2Vec for Sentiment Analysis of Public Policy in Twitter

Social media users, especially on Twitter, can freely express opinions or other information in the form of tweets about anything, including responding to a public policy. In a written tweet, there is a limit of 280 characters per tweet and this allows for problems such as vocabulary mismatches. Therefore, in this study, the feature expansion Word2vec method was applied to overcome when the vocabulary mismatches occur. This study develops and compares the Twitter sentiment analysis system using the feature expansion Word2vec method with the Logistic Regression (LR) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification algorithms and the system without the feature expansion Word2Vec method. The results of this study, the feature expansion Word2Vec method on the SVM classification algorithm succeeded in increasing the system accuracy up to 0,99% with an accuracy value of 78,99%.

Effects of Healthcare Policies and Reforms at the Primary Level in China: From the Evidence of Shenzhen Primary Care Reforms from 2018 to 2019.

Countries worldwide are making efforts to achieve health equity. China focuses on the implementation of the policy goal of “improving the primary level” to eliminate the health equity gap. The main purpose of this study is to examine the effects of the healthcare reforms at the primary level in China and to analyze the key factors that can help to improve their effectiveness. From the perspectives of the policy attention mechanism and public policy analysis, this study will explore primary care reforms from policy formulation to policy implementation on the basis of grounded theory and empirical research on primary care reforms in Shenzhen, China, that was conducted from 2018 to 2019. The present study found that the government pays close attention to the medical level and service level of primary care services at the policy formulation phase but less attention to talent level and information sharing. At the same time, this study combined with empirical data from primary care centers in Shenzhen for the period covering 2018 to 2019 evaluates policy implementation and its effect. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the medical level, talent level, service level, and information sharing helped to develop primary care services and improved health equity. Nevertheless, this study reflects a deviation between policy formulation and policy implementation for the development of primary care policies. Empirical experience shows that the development of talent level and information sharing can significantly promote primary care services and health management. Therefore, this study implies that in the process of promoting the health equity at the primary level, more attention should be paid to the consistency between policy formulation and policy implementation. Additionally, the policy promotion and influence mechanism can be improved, particularly in terms of talent development and information sharing, in order to effectively promote the development of health equity at the primary level.

Teaching public policy analysis: Lessons from the field

Understanding how to make the world a better place requires interdisciplinary knowledge. Public policy analysis helps policymakers arrive at informed policy decisions. The policy analysis process involves public problem definition and data collection, stakeholder identification, a rationale for government involvement, evaluation criteria, identification and analysis of policy alternatives, and a recommendation. Economics informs not only the identification of market failures but also how we think about public problems, evaluate relevant research, identify policy alternatives, weigh objective criteria (costs, benefits, equity), and select optimal solutions. Students of policy analysis gain experience through in-class examples of contemporary topics and an iterative policy paper, where each student selects a public problem, conducts research, and writes an analysis. Students become effective consumers and beginning producers of policy analysis.

Упровадження аналізу політики у діяльність органів державної влади (в умовах модернізації державного управління та реалізації парламентської реформи)

Досліджено актуальні питання розробки та упровадження аналізу політики у діяльності органів державної влади. Дано визначення аналізу політики як діяльності зі створення знань про процес вироблення політики й у ході цього процесу. Аргументовано, що особливого значення набуває використання цього інструменту в умовах модернізації державного управління та реалізації парламентської реформи. Всебічно проаналізовано питання причини виникнення та історичної еволюції аналізу політики як в Україні, так і в інших зарубіжних країнах. Визначено та дано комплексну характеристику трьох основних етапів виміру аналізу публічної політики, що розрізняються між собою за часом здійснення аналізу, а саме: перспективний, ретроспективний, інтегрований. На основі проведеного дослідження вироблено практичні рекомендації щодо упровадження аналізу політики у діяльність органів державної влади, зокрема Апарату Верховної Ради України.

Biodiversity Conservation and the Role of Policy Resources: The Case of Saint Helena

Biological diversity is declining globally. The current national environmental policies that many countries around the globe have adopted and are implementing have not halted biodiversity loss as expected. This is also happening in several European peripheral areas that constitute important “biodiversity hotspots” for the numerous species, habitats and ecosystems they host. Among these biodiversity hotspots, the Overseas Territories (OTs) of the United Kingdom (UK) represent important areas for academic investigation, particularly at this moment. The recent exit of the UK from the European Union will imply a net drop in financial contributions made available for the UK’s OTs. This adds to the limitations and constraints imposed upon those territories by their geographical isolation and small scale, as shown by the case of Saint Helena. The article provides insights on the role of policy resources in the analysis of public policies. It, then, focuses on biodiversity policy in St Helena under various angles: relations with the UK, organisational arrangements within the island, the legislative framework and its execution for the protection of biodiversity. Finally, the article discusses the major challenges faced in the development and implementation of Saint Helena’s biodiversity policy with an emphasis on the role of tangible and intangible resources. It concludes with a set of recommendations tailored around the specific case of Saint Helena but also applicable to other OTs.

9 - Maritime Policy and Economic Development: A Comparison of Nigerian and Japanese Experiences since the Second World War

It is now generally recognized that the maritime sector could, if properly harnessed, play a critical role in the development of regional, national and global economies. This is in view of the growth-pole potentials of ports and ancillary industries. Although a comparison of Japan, a leading global power, and Nigeria, a vastly underachieving African country, might sound far-fetched, the effort is rewarding, as shown in this article, for its implications for public policy formulation and implementation. This paper attempts a comparison of the evolution and implementation of policies relating to the development of ports, the mercantile marine and port industries in both countries. Focusing on the roles of the government and the private sector, it locates the discussion in a wider, global comparative context. The prospects and challenges of regional development through the agency of the maritime sector in both Nigeria and Japan are considered in the light of such concepts as 'maritime industrial development areas (MIDAs)' and 'developer ports'. Pertinent lessons in comparative history and public policy analysis are highlighted in the paper, which has benefited from primary research in both countries.