Broader Reform Research Articles

THE IMPACT OF REFORMS AND PRIVATIZATION ON FIRMS’ CONDUCT IN THE PRESENCE OF INTERCONNECTED CONGLOMERATES AND WEAK AND INEFFICIENT REGULATORY INSTITUTIONS

ABSTRACTCritics of broad reforms, including privatization, argue that these policies may lead to the creation of rent‐seeking interconnected large business groups in the absence of a strong regulatory framework and well‐functioning courts. The empirical evidence in a developing country context in particular is however still scarce. Based on a case study of the Pakistani cement industry, this paper fills this gap. Our study shows that due to interconnected conglomerates’ tactics, such as exclusionary practices, the acquisition of smaller competitor firms and the addition of significant capacities, the industry has witnessed a stable degree of seller concentration after broader reforms including privatization. Consequently, colluding conglomerate firms have been able to maintain control over supply and prices for two decades in the post‐reform period, despite allegations of tacit collusion leading to the imposition of fines and the issuing of warnings by the regulator, which is, however, weak and inefficient.

Made in America: Race, Trade, and Prison Labor

Made in America: Race, Trade, and Prison Labor

Recasting Pensions in Europe: Policy Challenges and Political Strategies to Pass Reforms

Recasting Pensions in Europe: Policy Challenges and Political Strategies to Pass Reforms

‘Embodied knowing’: exploring the founding of the Melbourne Rudolf Steiner school in 1970s Victoria, Australia

ABSTRACTEducation in Victoria, Australia not only underwent significant change in the 1970s, but was witness to a widespread educational reform project. Whilst exploration of the more widespread alternatives has been of some interest, the smaller progressive traditions that emerged in some ways ‘alongside’ the broader reforms have rarely been examined in any detail. This article explores the founding of the Melbourne Rudolf Steiner School (MRSS) in the 1970s, the first of its kind in Victoria, and the third such school nationally. Analysis is based primarily on interviews with educators directly involved. L.A. Reid’s notion of education as an ‘aesthetic’ object is drawn on to examine the collective experiences of the founders of the MRSS, and the particular expression they gave to Steiner’s educational ideas.

Structural Reform Priorities for Brazil

Over the last few decades, Brazil has experienced relatively weak economic growth due to stagnant productivity. To boost productivity, Brazil should embark on an ambitious structural reform process. In doing so, it is crucial that authorities select a few reform priorities to avoid dispersing political capital on an overly broad reform agenda. The paper aims to identify Brazil’s reform priorities in two steps. First, it estimates the impact that different reforms have on Brazil’s productivity. Second, it analyzes survey data to assess the extent of public support for reforms. The results show that banking sector reforms would generate the largest productivity gains and have the highest level of public support. Moreover, they would also be relatively easy to legislate and generate significant fiscal savings.

Structural Reform Priorities for Brazil

Over the last few decades, Brazil has experienced relatively weak economic growth due to stagnant productivity. To boost productivity, Brazil should embark on an ambitious structural reform process. In doing so, it is crucial that authorities select a few reform priorities to avoid dispersing political capital on an overly broad reform agenda. The paper aims to identify Brazil’s reform priorities in two steps. First, it estimates the impact that different reforms have on Brazil’s productivity. Second, it analyzes survey data to assess the extent of public support for reforms. The results show that banking sector reforms would generate the largest productivity gains and have the highest level of public support. Moreover, they would also be relatively easy to legislate and generate significant fiscal savings.

“Educating for Democratic Living”: The City-Wide Citizens’ Committee on Harlem (CWCCH), 1941 – 1947

This historical case study focuses on the origins, educational goals, and school reform activities of the City-Wide Citizens’ Committee on Harlem (CWCCH), a political action group in Harlem in the 1940s. An interracial and interfaith civil rights organization with a broad reform agenda, CWCCH used democracy’s rhetoric as a vehicle for social change through an extensive public awareness campaign coupled with savvy organizing, ample organizational resources, and powerful political connections in both the White and African American communities. The article situates school reform work in Harlem during the 1940s in light of a larger citywide civil rights agenda and interracial activism.

What kind of veto player is the Italian Senate? A comparative analysis of European second chambers

The literature finds evidence that the presence of strong institutional veto players correlates with policy gridlocks. In recent years, in several European countries the rationale of parliamentary second chambers as veto players has been called into question. With regard to Italy, in 2016 the parliament approved a broad constitutional reform, later rejected by a referendum. According to the proponents, this reform would have made Italian institutions more functional in a comparative perspective. Did voters actually block some sort of functionality? To answer this question, this article presents a systematic comparison of second chambers in the European Union. The theoretical framework is based on three dimensions of strength, operationalized by means of quantitative indicators and a comprehensive index of strength. The article ends with a discussion of the findings and a proposal for further research outlooks.

Rolnictwo i turystyka w rozwoju społeczno-ekonomicznym Mauritiusu

Celem tego opracowania jest przedstawienie, analiza i ocena miejsca rolnictwa i turystyki w procesie rozwoju społeczno-ekonomicznego Mauritiusu. Jest to państwo, któremu pomimo, silnie ograniczających uwarunkowań geograficznych, udało się przyspieszenie (w ostatnich 20-30 latach) procesu rozwoju społeczno-ekonomicznego. To stało sie podstawą i wstępem do zainicjowania badań tej afrykańskiej – wyspiarskiej gospodarki.

Police Reform Through Data-Driven Management

Over a 2-year span, the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) transformed from a department struggling to comply with its expansive federal consent decree to one exploring even broader reforms through a data-driven management approach. NOPD believes more than ever in the adage you manage what you measure. NOPD conducts monthly audits of consent decree compliance and distributes the results to hold leadership accountable for implementing reforms. Through frequent audits, NOPD has produced dramatic, swift compliance improvements. Concurrently, NOPD leadership introduced a data-driven management framework that addressed all facets of management: MAX (Management Analytics for Excellence). This article presents the viewpoints of two sides of the consent decree: NOPD and the federal judge overseeing implementation of the consent decree. NOPD and its monitoring partners use MAX’s performance metrics to monitor reform implementation and address areas requiring improvement. This article details how to implement reforms through a data-driven management approach.

National Interests and Common Ground in the US Immigration Debate: How to Legalize the US Immigration System and Permanently Reduce Its Undocumented Population

The conventional wisdom holds that the only point of consensus in the fractious US immigration debate is that the system is broken. Yet, the US public has consistently expressed a desire for a legal and orderly immigration system that serves compelling national interests. This paper describes how to create such a system. It focuses on the cornerstone of immigration reform,1 the legal immigration system,2 and addresses the widespread belief that broad reform will incentivize illegal migration and ultimately lead to another large undocumented population. The paper begins with an analysis of presidential signing statements on seminal immigration legislation over nearly a century. These statements reveal broad consensus on the interests and values that the United States seeks to advance through its immigration and refugee policies. They constitute additional common ground in the immigration debate. To serve these interests, immigration and refugee considerations must be “mainstreamed” into other policy processes. In addition, its policies will be more successful if they are seen to benefit or, at least, not to discriminate against migrant-sending states. Not surprisingly, the US immigration system does not reflect the vast, mostly unanticipated changes in the nation and the world since Congress last meaningfully reformed this system (27 years ago) and last overhauled the law (52 years ago). The paper does not detail the well-documented ways that US immigration laws fall short of serving the nation's economic, family, humanitarian, and rule of law objectives. Nor does it propose specific changes in categories and levels of admission. Rather, it describes how a legal immigration system might be broadly structured to deliver on its promises. In particular, it makes the case that Congress should create a flexible system that serves compelling national interests, allows for real time adjustments in admission based on evidence and independent analysis, and vests the executive with appropriate discretion in administering the law. The paper also argues that the United States should anticipate and accommodate the needs of persons compelled to migrate by its military, trade, development, and other commitments. In addition, the US immigration system needs to be able to distinguish between undocumented immigrants, and refugees and asylum seekers, and to treat these two populations differently. The paper assumes that there will be continued bipartisan support for immigration enforcement. However, even with a strong enforcement apparatus in place and an adaptable, coherent, evidence-based legal immigration system that closely aligns with US interests, some (reduced) level of illegal migration will persist. The paper offers a sweeping, historical analysis of how this population emerged, why it has grown and contracted, and how estimates of its size have been politically exploited. Legalization is often viewed as the third rail of immigration reform. Yet, Congress has regularly legalized discrete undocumented populations, and the combination of a well-structured legalization program, strengthened legal immigration system, and strong enforcement policies can prevent the reemergence of a large-scale undocumented population. In contrast, the immense US enforcement apparatus will work at cross-purposes to US interests and values, absent broader reform. The paper ends with a series of recommendations to reform the legal immigration system, downsize the current undocumented population, and ensure its permanent reduction. It proposes that the United States “reissue” (or reuse) the visas of persons who emigrate, as a way to promote legal immigration reform without significantly increasing annual visa numbers.

Call for papers: Journal of Research in Science Teaching – Special Issue: A critical examination of the Next Generation Science Standards

Call for papers: <i>Journal of Research in Science Teaching</i> – Special Issue: A critical examination of the Next Generation Science Standards

The EU data protection reform and the challenges of big data: remaining uncertainties and ways forward

ABSTRACTAs the first broad reform of the EU data protection legislation is being achieved, and notwithstanding EU institutions’ confident discourse, scepticism remains about the reform’s ability to safeguard the fundamental right to data protection in the face of evolving data processing techniques underlying so-called big data. Yet, one might wonder whether the cause for this difficulty should be ascribed mainly to technological progresses that the law finds it hard to deal with or rather to the policy choices embedded in the legal reform itself. Indeed, a new data protection enforcement model is being adopted, which relies heavily on risk assessment and management by the data controllers themselves. Likewise, data protection authorities see their supervisory role significantly weakened. These developments and the underlying rationality are discussed. Given the limitations of the risk-based approach as currently devised, we suggest that it be reappraised in consideration of risk regulatory experiences in other domains.

A comparison of how behavioral health organizations utilize training to prepare for health care reform

BackgroundUnder the Affordable Care Act, States have obtained Medicaid waivers to overhaul their behavioral health service systems to improve quality and reduce costs. Critical to implementation of broad service delivery reforms has been the preparation of organizations responsible for service delivery. This study focused on one large-scale initiative to overhaul its service system with the goal of improving service quality and reducing costs. The study examined the participation of behavioral health organizations in technical assistance efforts and the extent to which organizational factors related to their participation.MethodsThis study matched two datasets to examine the organizational characteristics and training participation for 196 behavioral health organizations. Organizational characteristics were drawn from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Mental Health Services Survey (N-MHSS). Training variables were drawn from the Clinical Technical Assistance Center’s master training database. Chi-square analyses and multivariate logistic regression models were used to examine the proportion of organizations that participated in training, the organizational characteristics (size, population served, service quality, infrastructure) that predicted participation in training, and for those who participated, the type (clinical or business) and intensity of training (webinar, learning collaborative, in-person) they received.ResultsOverall 142 (72. 4%) of the sample participated in training. Organizations who pursued training were more likely to be large in size (p = .02), serve children in addition to adults (p < .01), provide child evidence-based practices (p = .01), and use computerized scheduling (p = .01). Of those trained, 95% participated in webinars, 64% participated in learning collaboratives and 35% participated in in-person trainings. More organizations participated in business trainings than clinical (63.8 vs. 59.2%). Organizations serving children had higher odds of participating in both clinical training (OR = 5.91, p < .01) and business training (OR = 4.24, p < .01) than those that did not serve children.ConclusionsThe majority of organizations participated in trainings indicating desire for technical assistance to prepare for health care reform. Larger organizations and organizations serving children were more likely to participate potentially indicating increased interest in preparation. Over half participated in business trainings highlighting interest in learning to improve efficiency. Further understanding is needed to support organizational readiness for health care reform initiatives among behavioral health organizations.

Book Review

Book Review

Iran The Chronicles of the Subsidy Reform: Successes, Controversies, and Shortcomings of the 2010-2014 Reforms and Lessons for Future Reformers

We review the experience of Iran’s Targeted Subsidies Reform, from the early successes that followed its implementation in December 2010 to the challenges encountered in 2012-13. We discuss briefly the key elements of the second phase of the reform launched in March-April 2014. The short interval between the start of the reform in December 2010 and the intensification of international sanctions against Iran in late 2011, in particular the country’s crude oil exports and access to the international financial system, made the reform particularly difficult. The sanctions severely impeded Iran’s access to international technologies, expertise, and investment needed to facilitate more rapid and orderly reduction of the economy’s energy intensity and its re-orientation towards non-oil exports.We address several popular criticisms of the key elements of the reform design, implementation record, and broader economic and social impact. We identify and elaborate on the most critical design and implementation shortcomings. We propose options for the next steps in subsidy reforms, and put them into the context of broader reforms to modernize the economic architecture in Iran and other oil and gas exporting countries.

Mexico

This paper discusses the findings and recommendations made in the Financial System Stability Assessment for Mexico. Mexico’s economic fundamentals are strong. The medium-term outlook for the Mexican economy foresees steady growth underpinned by strong macroeconomic policies, broad reform initiatives, and relatively strong balance sheets. Key risks are external and include a U.S. growth slowdown, lower oil prices, and volatility in global financial markets. The financial system is broadly resilient, notwithstanding some weaknesses under certain adverse shocks. The solvency and liquidity stress tests of the banking system indicate that it can withstand severe adverse macro-financial shocks despite large capital losses in some cases.

Economic Reforms in China and India: Past and Future Challenges

In China and India broad economic reforms since the 1980s progressively opened to private initiative and international trade and were key contributors to their formidable growth patterns. Today, the positive effects of past liberalizations are fading and the two countries have reached a level of development and complexity that requires a “new generation” of reforms, qualitatively more complex and politically less palatable. This paper identifies the turning points in China’s and India’s long phases of fast growth. It then turns to the open issues that need government action to support a sustainable and lasting growth process. In China, the priorities are to foster new growth engines by boosting domestic consumption and improving quality and efficiency on the supply side. In India, the reforms proposed by the government aim at facilitating investment, fostering innovation, protecting intellectual property, and building top-class manufacturing infrastructure. Broad reforms of financial and labor markets are also on the agenda. To make progress in these reforms both countries will require overcoming the resistance of vested interests and short term implementation costs.

Pathway to Reform: Developing Action Research Capacity in Accounting Education

ABSTRACTOutside of accounting education, action research is widely considered crucial for supporting broad reforms. Action research integrates theory with action to solve problems, improve practices, and address issues together with those who experience them. Yet the body of action research in accounting education remains very small. Historically, efforts to reform accounting education have led to pockets of innovation but have not systematically addressed impediments that inhibit widespread continuous improvement. Lack of available formal training inhibits development of the action research capacity needed to support broad reform in accounting education. This paper provides a conceptual action research framework that includes two ontologies to classify different types of action research. One type, emancipated action research, involves taking strategic action to change or eliminate structural impediments that limit improvement achievable through other types, often earlier phases, of action research. The paper reports an action research project that involved two strategic actions, investigation of an action research reflection practice and use of an educative case to report the project. The case illustrates how action research can support reform in accounting education and demonstrates a generalizable approach accounting educators and education researchers can use to develop action research capacity.

Qualitative examination of enacted stigma towards gay and bisexual men and related health outcomes in Tajikistan, Central Asia

ABSTRACTGay and bisexual men (GBM) in Tajikistan are an extremely stigmatised group at high risk for sexually transmitted infections and HIV. However, there is a paucity of research on how and in what way stigma affects their lives. We conducted a qualitative study to examine the impact of stigma on GBM’s lives in Tajikistan, focusing on stigma enactors, settings, factors affecting vulnerability of GBM and health consequences. Eight individual in-depth interviews and 3 focus-group discussions with 13 participants (N = 21) from GBM community were conducted in two cities of Tajikistan. Results reveal that police frequently engage in blackmail and perpetrate sexual and physical violence against GBM. Service providers often discriminate against GBM limiting their access to health and legal services. Exposure to stigma results in chronic stress affecting mental health of GBM. Fear of disclosure, low social cohesion, absence of prominent opinion leaders and activists reduce resilience of GBM community to stigma. State-sanctioned violations of human rights of marginalised populations and lack of effective legal protection mechanisms have enabled widespread harassment of GBM. These findings warrant further research on stigma leading to the development of culturally adapted and tailored multilevel structural interventions, including broad legal and policy reforms.