Policy Categories Research Articles

Determinants of Mobile Phone Penetration: Panel Threshold Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

ABSTRACTDespite the evolving literature on the development benefits of mobile phones, we still know very little about factors that influence their adoption. Using 25 policy variables, we investigate determinants of mobile phone penetration in 49 Sub-Saharan African countries with data for the period 2000–2012. The empirical evidence is based on contemporary and non-contemporary OLS, Fixed Effects, System GMM, and Quantile Regression techniques. The determinants are classified into six policy categories. They are: (i) macroeconomic, (ii) business/bank, (iii) market-related, (iv) knowledge economy, (v) external flows, and (vi) human development. Results are presented in terms of threshold and non-threshold effects. The former has three main implications. First, there are increasing positive benefits in regulation quality, human development, foreign investment, education, urban population density, and Internet penetration. Second, there is evidence of decreasing positive effects from patent applications. Third, increasing damaging influences are established for foreign aid and return on equity. Non-threshold tendencies are discussed. Policy implications are also covered with emphasis on policy syndromes to enhance more targeted implications for worst-performing nations.

A Comparison of International Drunk-Driving Policies and the Role of Drinking Patterns

Effective drunk-driving policies are not adopted consistently in many countries. To understand how drinking behaviors influence national drunk-driving policymaking, the associations between drunk-driving policies and country-level drinking volumes and patterns were examined. Data for 194 countries were obtained from the WHO 2012 Global Information System on Alcohol and Health. Country-level drinking behaviors were measured using average drinking volumes and patterns of drinking scores based on six attributes of risky drinking. Drunk-driving policies were categorized into preemptive measures (random breath testing, breath alcohol concentration limits for driving a vehicle, and sobriety checkpoints), penalties (community service, short- or long-term detention, fines, suspension or revocation of license, and vehicle impoundment), mandatory treatment, and ignition interlock. Data analysis was conducted in 2017. The percentages of each policy adoption were examined in countries with different drinking behaviors. The internal consistencies of preemptive measures were calculated using Cronbach's α. A structural equation model was established to examine the associations between drinking behaviors and drunk-driving policy categories, after adjusting for national income levels and general alcohol policies. Mandatory treatment and preemptive measures were less commonly adopted than penalties were. The adoption of preemptive measures had a low consistency level, and the consistency level decreased with drinking pattern riskiness. Risky drinking patterns were negatively associated with mandatory treatment policy. Drinking patterns are associated with national drunk-driving policymaking. Accessible medical treatment and comprehensive preemptive measures should be advocated in countries with risky drinking patterns.

Global patterns of national climate policies: Analyzing 171 country portfolios on climate policy integration

Over the last decades, a growing number of countries around the world adopted policies towards climate change. However, apart from the remarkable increase in legislative activity, we know little about the composition of country portfolios on climate policy and whether those rely mainly on specific climate policies or the integration of climate objectives across domains. Research on policy integration is often bound by a dearth of suitable data and has to rely on small-n comparative case study designs or a certain type of policy when investigating these phenomena. Our paper addresses this gap by drawing on the Climate Change Laws of the World database for national climate legislation across eight policy categories. Hereby, we systematically assess how climate-related policies have developed over the last 27 years and across 171 countries. The analysis shows that since 1990, the scope of country portfolios has risen considerably. This increase started somewhat slowly in the 1990s but accelerated afterwards across all categories, albeit at different times and to varying degrees of coverage. In particular, climate policies on energy demand and supply as well as administrative arrangements are widespread. Our findings suggest that efforts at CPI were more common in the energy than the transportation domain. The focus of climate specific categories, i.e. no efforts at CPI, were ‘administrative arrangements’, and, albeit to a much lesser extent, policies addressing carbon pricing. With respect to future climate action, the results of our cross-country analysis are two-fold. On the one hand, it is reasonable to assume that countries not having enacted policies in the most commonly addressed categories will soon follow suit. On the other hand, transportation and carbon pricing, specifically, are policy areas that are least addressed in our sample and represent an area where much is yet to be uncovered.

New reading of Saharan agricultural transformation: Continuities of ancient oases and their extensions (Algeria)

Agriculture in the Algerian Sahara underwent radical transformations during the second half of the 20th century. Agricultural development programs, aiming to integrate the Sahara in the national economy, were based on an agribusiness model implemented outside existing oases – in the so-called extensions – through the conquest of new agricultural land and the use of pumped groundwater. The rehabilitation of existing ‘traditional’ oases received less attention as their capacity for agricultural development was thought limited. While the new agricultural landscape is considered by policy makers to be a creatio ex nihilo, we demonstrate that the extensions are in fact, the creatio ex materia of the ancient oases, and that the two Saharan agricultural landscapes are firmly connected. The objective of this article is then to challenge the dichotomous view of Saharan agricultural development and the underlying binary policy categories. This demonstration is based on a study of the Sidi Okba oasis and the surrounding extensions. The results of this study first show that the binary framing of agricultural development in Algeria’s Sahara is inadequate, as it neglects the temporal and spatial continuities and the hybridity of both landscapes. However, the study also shows that binary policy categories, even when they are inaccurate, participate in the construction of the new Saharan agricultural realities. We conclude that the new extensions are a better-adapted version of the traditional oasis in the context of globalization but in continuity with the ancient oasis. Questions concerning the social, economic and environmental sustainability of this model remain to be answered.

Forecasting US recession with the economic policy uncertainty indexes of policy categories

Uncertainty about the future affects economic decisions today since there is an option value to postpone economic decisions. Using the economic policy uncertainty (EPU) indexes of policy categories developed by Baker et al. (2016), this study estimates the probit model to predict the recession probability in the United States, and quantifies the relative significance of the category-specific EPU indexes. The EPU indexes of national security and regulation are found relatively useful as predictors of recession. These category-specific measures of uncertainty provide information about the occurrence of recession that the other variables do not contain.

The development and codesign of the PATHway intervention: a theory-driven eHealth platform for the self-management of cardiovascular disease.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a leading cause of premature death worldwide. International guidelines recommend routine delivery of all phases of cardiac rehabilitation (CR). Uptake of traditional CR remains suboptimal, as attendance at formal hospital-based CR programs is low, with community-based CR rates and individual long-term exercise maintenance even lower. Home-based CR programs have been shown to be equally effective in clinical and health-related quality of life outcomes and yet are not readily available. The aim of the current study was to develop the PATHway intervention (physical activity toward health) for the self-management of CVD. Increasing physical activity in individuals with CVD was the primary behavior. The PATHway intervention was theoretically informed by the behavior change wheel and social cognitive theory. All relevant intervention functions, behavior change techniques, and policy categories were identified and translated into intervention content. Furthermore, a person-centered approach was adopted involving an iterative codesign process and extensive user testing. Education, enablement, modeling, persuasion, training, and social restructuring were selected as appropriate intervention functions. Twenty-two behavior change techniques, linked to the six intervention functions and three policy categories, were identified for inclusion and translated into PATHway intervention content. This paper details the use of the behavior change wheel and social cognitive theory to develop an eHealth intervention for the self-management of CVD. The systematic and transparent development of the PATHway intervention will facilitate the evaluation of intervention effectiveness and future replication.

Indigenous peoples, the city and inclusive urban development policies in Latin America: Lessons from Bolivia and Ecuador

AbstractThe historical construction of indigeneity as essentially rural policy category represents a key cause for the ongoing exclusion of urban indigenous peoples and blocks progress in delivering Agenda 2030 in Latin American cities. Even in Bolivia and Ecuador, where urban indigeneity is recognized through constitutional reforms, there are obstacles to the delivery of policies shaped to urban indigenous interests. By reviewing experiences from these countries, this article highlights that policy delivery problems are a result of multiple factors, including (1) rural constructions of indigeneity, (2) conflicting development priorities, and (3) difficulties in promoting universal rights while simultaneously guaranteeing indigenous rights. The article concludes with policy recommendations for more inclusive urban development approaches which leave no indigenous person behind.

The Exceptionalism of the Open Space Issue in American Politics*

ObjectiveOur objective is to illustrate the need to differentiate specific issue types within broad policy categories by showing the exceptional support in American politics for open space issues.MethodsWe test this assertion with econometric analyses of outcomes from over 600 state ballot measures on environmental and energy issues.ResultsWe find exceptional support for open space ballot measures in simple comparisons and in fuller models of ballot measure passage. As one example, over 80 percent of the open space measures pass, whereas 50 percent of all the other measures pass.ConclusionExceptional support for open space is important for this policy area specifically but also as an illustration of the need to differentiate broad policy categories into specific issues.

"Left to my own devices, I don't know": using theory and patient-reported barriers to move from physical activity recommendations to practice.

Physical activity recommendations exist for individuals with osteoporosis; however, to change behavior, we must address barriers and facilitators to their implementation. The purposes of this project are (1) to identify barriers to and facilitators of uptake of disease-specific physical activity recommendations (2) to use the findings to identify behavior change strategies using the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW). Focus groups and semi-structured interviews were conducted with community-dwelling individuals attending osteoporosis-related programs or education sessions in Ontario. They were stratified by geographic area, urban/rural, and gender, and transcribed verbatim. Two researchers coded data and identified emerging themes. Using the Behaviour Change Wheel framework, themes were categorized into capability, opportunity, and motivation, and interventions were identified. Two hundred forty community-dwelling individuals across Ontario participated (mean ± SD age = 72 ± 8.28). Barriers were as follows: capability: disease-related symptoms hinder exercise and physical activity participation, lack of exercise-related knowledge, low exercise self-efficacy; opportunity: access to exercise programs that meet needs and preferences, limited resources and time, physical activity norms and preferences; motivation: incentives to exercise, fear of fracturing, trust in exercise providers. Interventions selected were training, education, and modeling. Policy categories selected were communication/marketing, guidelines, and service provision. Barriers unique to individuals with osteoporosis included the following: lack of knowledge on key exercise concepts, fear of fracturing, and trust in providers. Behavior change techniques may need tailoring to gender, age, or presence of comorbid conditions.

"We get them up, moving, and out the door. How do we get them to do what is recommended?" Using behaviour change theory to put exercise evidence into action for rehabilitation professionals.

Rehabilitation professionals can help people with osteoporosis to engage in a multicomponent exercise program and perform activities of daily living safely. However, rehabilitation professional face barriers to implementing exercise evidence, especially for specific disease conditions like osteoporosis. We performed a behavioural analysis and identified rehabilitation professionals' barriers to and facilitators of implementing disease-specific physical activity and exercise recommendations (Too Fit to Fracture recommendations), and used the Behaviour Change Wheel to select interventions. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with rehabilitation professionals, including physical therapists, kinesiologists, and occupational therapists, and transcribed verbatim. Two researchers coded data and identified emerging themes. Using the Behaviour Change Wheel framework, themes were categorized into capability, opportunity, and motivation, and relevant interventions were identified. Ninety-four rehabilitation professionals (mean age 40.5years, 88.3% female) participated. Identified barriers were as follows: capability-lack of training in behaviour change, how to modify recommendations for physical and cognitive impairments; opportunity-lack of resources, time, and team work; motivation-lack of trust between providers, fear in providing interventions that may cause harm. Interventions selected were as follows: education, training, enablement, modelling and persuasion. Policy categories are communication/marketing, guidelines, service provision and environmental/social planning. Key barriers to implementing the recommendations are rehabilitation professionals' ability to use behaviour change techniques, to modify the recommendations for physical and cognitive limitations and to feel comfortable with delivering challenging but safe interventions for people with osteoporosis, and lacking trust and team work across sectors. Future work will report on development and evaluation of knowledge translation interventions informed by our study.

Using Contemporary Behavior Change Science to Design and Implement an Effective Nutritional Intervention Within Professional Rugby League.

Designing and implementing successful dietary intervention is integral to the role of sport nutrition professionals as they attempt to positively change the dietary behavior of athletes. High-performance sport is a time-pressured environment where immediate results can often supersede pursuit of the most effective evidence-based practice. However, efficacious dietary intervention necessitates comprehensive, systematic, and theoretical behavioral design and implementation, if the habitual dietary behaviors of athletes are to be positively changed. Therefore, this case study demonstrates how the Behaviour Change Wheel was used to design and implement an effective nutritional intervention within a professional rugby league. The eight-step intervention targeted athlete consumption of a high-quality dietary intake of 25.1MJ each day to achieve an overall body mass increase of 5kg across a 12-week intervention period. The capability, opportunity, motivation, and behavior model and affordability, practicability, effectiveness/cost-effectiveness, acceptability, safety, and equity criteria were used to identify population-specific intervention functions, policy categories, behavior change techniques, and modes of intervention delivery. The resulting intervention was successful, increasing the average daily energy intake of the athlete to 24.5MJ, which corresponded in a 6.2kg body mass gain. Despite consuming 0.6MJ less per day than targeted, secondary outcome measures of diet quality, strength, body composition, and immune function all substantially improved, supporting sufficient energy intake and the overall efficacy of a behavioral approach. Ultimately, the Behaviour Change Wheel provides sport nutrition professionals with an effective and practical stepwise method to design and implement effective nutritional interventions for use within high-performance sport.

Accumulating history: dirt, remains and urban decay in Nairobi

In anthropology and related fields, “ruin” and “decay” are terms that are often used interchangeably. By paying close attention to the materiality and politics of dirt and decay in a colonial-era housing estate in Nairobi, Kenya, this article argues for their uncoupling. Instead of implying loss or oblivion, decay is explored as a process of accumulation: an excess that constitutes a material history. Remains, rubbish and dirt continue to be active in the present, effecting and constraining certain atmospheres, attitudes and politics. Drawing a distinction between “urban decay” as a policy category and as a material process, the article also considers what happens if these remains are wiped away in schemes of urban renewal. The loss usually associated with ruination may emanate not so much from decay as from its elimination.

정책 범주에 대한 사회적 선호 분석 - 신재생에너지 정책을 중심으로 -

본 연구는 하나의 정책 범주 내에 포함되는 복수의 유사 정책들에 대한 사람들의 선호를 분석할 수 있는 통합적인 접근법을 제시하고 이를 실증분석에 적용한다. 많은 경우, 특정부문의 포괄적인 정책 기조를 결정하기 위해선 정책 범주에 대한 사람들의 선호 구조를 이해할 필요가 있다. 이를 위해 본 연구는 개별 정책들에 대한 다양한 선택 실험 자료들을 통합한 후 유형 별로 분류하는 방법을 제안한다. 분류된 자료는 이산선택 모형의 일종인 다변량 프로빗 모형을 통해 분석한다. 실증 분석은 전력, 수송, 난방 분야 내의 대표적인 신재생에너지 정책인 신재생에너지 공급의무화 제도(RPS), 신재생연료 혼합의무화 제도(RFS), 신재생열에너지 공급의무화 제도(RHO)에 대해 수행되었다. 분석 결과, 응답자들은 전반적으로 에너지 가격 상승이 적은 정책을 선호하며 따라서 에너지 가격 상승에 민감하게 반응하는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 신재생에너지 정책에 대한 사람들의 평균적인 선호도는 RHO 도입 방식에 따라 부분적으로 변하는 것으로 나타났다. 실증 분석의 대상인 세 가지 신재생에너지 정책에 대한 응답자의 지식수준과 환경친화적인 정책 유형 간에는 정의 관계에 있는 반면, 응답자의 환경 보호에 대한 태도는 그렇지 않은 것으로 나타났다. 따라서 신재생에너지 정책 도입에 따른 에너지 가격 상승에 대한 사회적 저항을 완화시키려면, 포괄적인 환경 보호에 대한 홍보보다는 해당 신재생에너지 정책에 대한 국민들의 이해도를 높일 수 있는 구체적인 전략 마련이 필요하다. 결론적으로 본 연구는 개별 정책들의 상위 개념인 정책 범주에 대한 사람들의 선호를 통합적으로 분석하였다. 본 연구에서 제안한 자료 통합 및 분류법은 공통된 속성을 공유하는 어떠한 정책군 또는 제품군에도 적용될 수 있다는 장점을 지닌다.

Gap analysis of water governance in Northern Iran: A closer look into the water reservoirs

The amount of rainfall in Mazandaran province of Northern Iran is high. Mazandaran has man-made water reservoirs called Ab-bandan, to collect rainfall for irrigating rice farms during the growing seasons. However, rice farms face water scarcity because only a small amount of rainfall is being stored in Ab-bandans, while either the remaining water runs off into the sea, or causes water-logging or flooding. This research addresses Ab-bandans governance gaps in the Mazandaran province, using the ‘Multi-level Governance Framework’ introduced by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). A modified Delphi technique with face-to-face interviews and a ranking round is used to identify Ab-bandans governance gaps. The identified gaps are classified into seven categories by applying the OECD's framework. In each of the categories there is one most important gap: the lack of a specific law for Ab-bandans, lack of long-term and strategic planning, low recognition of Ab-bandans at the national level, insufficient budget, lack of water user associations, lack of research in practice, and lack of using technology. The findings show that lack of a specific law for Ab-bandans in the country's water law is the most acute gap of all. In addition, the analysis highlights the fact that the policy category is the most critical one. The identified gaps are interlinked and exacerbate each other, therefore, a holistic perspective is needed to understand and resolve them. This study recommends a reform in the country’s water law, improved linkage between levels of government, co-operation among organizations involved in Ab-bandans management, and participation of local stakeholders in planning.

Displaced citizens and abject living: The categorical discomfort with subjects out of place

ABSTRACTThe authors argue that the political exclusion of displaced people living within states under a variety of humanitarian and policy categories is simultaneously constitutive of mainstream political belonging and social belonging for those excluded. Based on long-term research engagement with displacement in Georgia, Jordan and Sudan, they analyse situations in which an initial crisis-based humanitarian status has become protracted, and in which people have been labelled both forced migrants and citizens, giving rise to tensions with the mainstream but also creating social identities that foster belonging from experiences of exclusion. By analysing these processes as abjection – forms of state control and boundary-making that exclude members from what requires their inclusion – they show that a type of ambiguous citizenship emerges from protracted situations of displacement. People ‘out of place’ but within a state exclude themselves from full citizenship rights by nurturing an alternative status derived from their experiences with displacement regimes. When established and enduring for a lengthy period, such displacement statuses become social categories and identities through processes of abjection. The authors conclude that citizenship itself becomes ambiguous through norms of belonging, the formation of new social categories, and because forced migrants help to constitute the political.

Refugees, migrants, neither, both: categorical fetishism and the politics of bounding in Europe’s ‘migration crisis’

ABSTRACTThe use of the categories ‘refugee’ and ‘migrant’ to differentiate between those on the move and the legitimacy, or otherwise, of their claims to international protection has featured strongly during Europe’s ‘migration crisis’ and has been used to justify policies of exclusion and containment. Drawing on interviews with 215 people who crossed the Mediterranean to Greece in 2015, our paper challenges this ‘categorical fetishism’, arguing that the dominant categories fail to capture adequately the complex relationship between political, social and economic drivers of migration or their shifting significance for individuals over time and space. As such it builds upon a substantial body of academic literature demonstrating a disjuncture between conceptual and policy categories and the lived experiences of those on the move. However, the paper is also critical of efforts to foreground or privilege ‘refugees’ over ‘migrants’ arguing that this reinforces rather than challenges the dichotomy’s faulty foundations. Rather those concerned about the use of categories to marginalise and exclude should explicitly engage with the politics of bounding, that is to say, the process by which categories are constructed, the purpose they serve and their consequences, in order to denaturalise their use as a mechanism to distinguish, divide and discriminate.

Moving Onward?

This article examines the migration-asylum nexus in the microcosm of Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya by focusing on refugees and asylum seekers who move onward from a first refuge, in Central-East Africa. By drawing on qualitative ethnographic field research in Kakuma, the article outlines how such “secondary movements” cause many anxieties, as the distinction between refugees and migrants is blurred by motivations that are not exclusively protection related. Based on a Foucauldian analysis of power and discourse, we argue that this creates a contested social and semantic space wherein all actors struggle to uphold the rigid distinction. Additionally, by combining the strengths of migration studies’ consideration for policy categories and mobility studies’ holistic perspective toward migration, the article aims to further deepen academic interaction between two literature traditions in order to enhance our understanding of how mobility is “shaped” and “lived” by people in wartime situations.

Quantitative Analysis of Policy Transfer among China’s National Innovation Independent Demonstration Zones

Policy transfer is a process in which different organizations learn from each other to achieve policy innovation. It is also considered as an important channel of policy issuance. In China, national independent innovation demonstration zones serve as carriers of not only technological development, but also technological policies issued by China. Along with development of these national independent innovation demonstration zones, policy exchange and cooperation has become increasingly frequent among them. This paper attempts to find out different paths for policy transfer through a textual analysis of policies among China’s national independent innovation demonstration zones. First, quantitative connotation and characteristics of policy transfer are analyzed. Then, a policy transfer quantitative evaluation index system is built based on three dimensions of policy transfer, namely intensity, breadth and speed. Following that, the quantitative evaluation index system is used to analyze policy transfer among national independent innovation demonstration zones. The paper tries to explore favorable policy categories for transfer, and learn the policy development status in these national independent innovation demonstration zones as well as the policy transfer trend from different perspectives. To sum up, this research can provide not only data support for policy innovation of China’s independent innovational demonstration zones and accelerate their in-depth cooperation in terms of policy transfer, but also a new methodological research paradigm for quantitative analysis of policy transfer among parallel organizations.

"I do not have time. Is there a handout I can use?": combining physicians' needs and behavior change theory to put physical activity evidence into practice.

Uptake of physical activity (PA) guidelines would improve health and reduce mortality in older adults. However, physicians face barriers in guideline implementation, particularly when faced with needing to tailor recommendations in the presence of chronic disease. We performed a behavioral analysis of physician barriers to PA guideline implementation and to identify interventions. The Too Fit To Fracture physical activity recommendations were used as an example of disease-specific PA guidelines. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews were conducted with physicians and nurse practitioners in Ontario, stratified by type of physician, geographic area, and urban/rural, and transcribed verbatim. Two researchers coded data and identified emerging themes. Using the behavior change wheel framework, themes were categorized into capability, opportunity and motivation, and interventions were identified. Fifty-nine family physicians, specialists, and nurse practitioners participated. Barriers were as follows: Capability-lack of exercise knowledge or where to refer; Opportunity-pragmatic tools, fit within existing workflow, available programs that meet patients' needs, physical activity literacy and cultural practices; Motivation-lack of incentives, not in their scope of practice or professional identity, competing priorities, outcome expectancies. Interventions selected: education, environmental restructuring, enablement, persuasion. Policy categories: communications/marketing, service provision, guidelines. Key barriers to PA guideline implementation among physicians include knowledge on where to refer or what to say, access to pragmatic programs or resources, and things that influence motivation, such as competing priorities or lack of incentives. Future work will report on the development and evaluation of knowledge translation interventions informed by the barriers.

Multi-level and Multi-route Innovation Policies in China: A Programme Evaluation Based on Firm-level Data

Since the Chinese government’s rapid increase in expenditures on science and technology (S&T) during the 2000s, numerous related policies have been implemented by national-, provincial-, city-and prefecture-level governments in China. Each level of government aims to promote innovation activities; however, few empirical evaluations have been conducted for each policy level and category. This study estimates the treatment effects of innovation policies at each government level and category by using firm-level survey data from Chengdu, an inland city. Results suggest that aggregated S&T policies stimulate effective firm-level innovation activities, in particular, city-level policies and various government services. On the other hand, some policy categories, including tax incentives, seem to be inefficient and these results are also consistent with related studies. Restructuring the current policy menu and establishing further feedback mechanisms for S&T policy will improve the efficacy of such spending.