Cooperative Governance Research Articles

Wanshou(万寿） Palace at Nanchang : Reproduction of the Past and Consuming history in Modern China

This paper discusses the past reproduction and consuming historical phenomenon of Wanshou(万寿） Palace historical and cultural Block in Nanchang under the background of modern China. Wanshou(万寿）Palace, bearing a historical precipitation of more than 1700 years, is a symbolic cultural landscape of Nanchang. Its restoration and block protection are not only the material reproduction of buildings and blocks, but also the continuation of the cultural and spiritual aspects of Wanshou(万寿） Palace. The research uses the qualitative analysis method to deeply analyze the development process of the Tiezhu Wanshou（铁柱万寿） Palace, the architectural art characteristics and the concept and practice of modern China heritage protection. It is found that the Wanshou(万寿） Palace historical and cultural block, through the mutual support and cooperation of the Nanchang municipal government, scholars and the community, has profound practical significance for the reproduction of the past history and consuming history. Effectively combine Wanshou(万寿） Palace culture with modern consumption to provide an immersive cultural experience for citizens and tourists. However, the behavior of consuming history in the process of cultural heritage protection has a two-sided nature. People need to pay attention to the authenticity of culture in the process of protecting historical heritage and inheriting cultural value. This study provides practical planning suggestions and impact assessment for the historical and cultural construction and the sustainable development mode of cultural tourism in Nanchang, and provides valuable classics for the protection of historical heritage and the integration of historical reproduction and modern consumption in other cities.

Promotion of Service Delivery in Terms of the Social Contract Theory in South Africa's Legal Framework

As is evident in the prevailing water and electricity rationing, South Africa is reeling from a crisis of poor service delivery. Against the background of its apartheid history and liberal constitution, this article examines how South Africa's legal framework promotes efficient service delivery in the context of a social contract theory. Using a literature review and content analysis of legislation, this article argues that basic service delivery is a human right that underlies the core function of the State regarding its social contract with citizens. The article critiques cooperative governance and the demarcation of service delivery duties between the spheres of government in the 1996 Constitution, the Municipal Structures Act, the Municipal Systems Act, and the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act. It demonstrates how the legal framework places a heavy burden on the local government to provide basic amenities. By highlighting how a social contract informs the purpose of the constitutional State, the article demonstrates why service delivery must be taken seriously in a nation desperately in need of socio-economic transformation.

A Skills Gap Analysis of Farmer Directors of US Farmer Cooperatives

ABSTRACTBoards of directors are vital to firm performance and are an integral part of the decision‐making process of any business. Several studies have been conducted that observe corporate or nonprofit board characteristics, skills, and the board's connection to firm performance. In the cooperative space, the literature has focused on exploring the impact directors have on governance and policy. Only a few studies have examined director skills. The present study adds to this literature by identifying the skill gaps for directors of US farmer cooperatives, and what skills are most important for a director to possess. We found that the largest skill gaps were in cooperative governance and policy and cooperative finance. Time management was found to be the least important skill for directors to possess. Asking critical questions, strategic planning, and understanding current economic and industry conditions were consistently among the top three skills.

Study on the Development of Cross-border E-commerce by the Policy Trials of the Free Trade Zones (FTZ)

The Pilot Free Trade Zone is a milestone policy for opening up the foreign economy, and plays an important role under the policy orientation of ‘early and pilot implementation’ in China. 2023 will mark the 10th anniversary of the construction of the Pilot Free Trade Zone in Shanghai, and the new development pattern is based on the domestic macro-cycle as the main body, and the domestic and international double-cycle is mutually promoted, and cross-border e-commerce is just an important connection link relying on Internet technology and the emerging trade mode. Cross-border e-commerce, as an emerging trade mode relying on Internet technology, is an important link between the domestic and international double cycle. Exploring the path of enhancement of cross-border e-commerce development by the policy experiment of the Pilot Free Trade Zone can help to build a new development pattern in which the domestic and international double cycles promote each other, and provide a basis for deepening the policy in the future. Under the guidance of trade cost theory, government reengineering theory and cooperation theory, this paper draws the following conclusions, and the FTZ has reduced the trade cost of enterprises and further stimulated the vitality of cross-border e-commerce by continuously optimising the tax policy and simplifying the customs clearance procedures. In the future, it is necessary to aim for high-quality green development, identify strategic positioning, and give full play to regional characteristics, and at the same time, refine and improve the rules and standards for the development of digital trade and implement them fairly and equitably, so as to better promote cross-border e-commerce as well as the sustainable development of the economy as a whole.

Organized Capitalism and Organized Science

This article compares two different ways in which German industries, during the half century before 1914, managed to integrate useful results from scientific research: At the time, on the one hand there was single-firm-based industrial research, and on the other the cooperation of science, business, and government in the Emperor William Society for the Advancement of Sciences (1911) out of which, after the Second World War, the Max Planck Society emerged. On this basis, the article discusses similarities and tensions between capitalism and the sciences which, in spite of some structural similarities, follow different logics.

Cooperative Strategies in Transboundary Water Pollution Control: A Differential Game Approach

This paper, based on differential game theory, examines governance models and cooperative strategies for managing cross-border water pollution in regions with uneven economic development. To address cross-regional water pollution, three differential game models are constructed under different scenarios: the Nash noncooperative mechanism, the pollution control cost compensation mechanism, and the collaborative cooperation mechanism. This study analyzes the dynamic changes in pollution emissions, governance investments, and economic returns within each model. The results indicate that the collaborative cooperation mechanism is the most effective, as it significantly reduces pollution emissions, maximizes overall regional benefits, and achieves Pareto optimality. In comparison, the pollution control cost compensation mechanism is suboptimal under certain conditions, while the Nash noncooperative mechanism is the least efficient, resulting in the highest pollution emissions. Furthermore, the research explores the influence of cooperation costs on the selection of governance models. It finds that high cooperation costs reduce local governments’ willingness to engage in collaborative cooperation. However, an appropriate compensation mechanism can effectively encourage less-developed regions to participate. Numerical analysis confirms the dynamic evolution of pollution stocks and economic returns under different models, and provides corresponding policy recommendations. This paper offers theoretical insights and practical guidance for cross-regional water pollution management, highlighting the importance of regional cooperation and cost-sharing in environmental governance.

Humanization promotes equality over efficiency preference in carbon allocation

Decisions regarding international carbon allocation present an efficiency–equality dilemma. In addition to serving national interests, recent studies have shown the moral value foundations of carbon allocation preferences. Nevertheless, concentrating only on the moral values of the allocator is insufficient; the allocator's moral concern for the allocatees often plays an equally or even more crucial role. Inspired by the moral concern model of humanization, we propose that the humanization of allocatees boosts empathy toward them, thereby promoting equality (versus efficiency) preference in carbon allocation. The results of three studies (N = 911) reveal that humanization increases selection of more equal (versus efficient) allocation proposals (Studies 1–3) and decreases credit allocation differences between allocatees (Studies 2 and 3). Further, enhanced empathy is found to mediate these effects (Studies 2 and 3). By identifying the roles of humanization and empathy in carbon allocation preferences, this research provides a moral concern framework for understanding international carbon allocation controversies and has important implications for promoting climate governance cooperation.

From Globalization to Isolation: Exposure to the 2008 Financial Crisis and Three Dimensions of Liberal Attitudes in a Swedish Twin Design

Abstract This study investigates the link between non-liberal attitudes and adverse exposure to market disturbances during the 2008 global financial crisis, drawing from the premise that anti-liberal sentiments among Western voters stem from economic distress. We delve into three facets of liberal ideology in a Swedish sample: economic liberalism, liberal multiculturalism and liberal internationalism. Using variation in crisis exposure within identical twin pairs, comprehensive longitudinal economic data and detailed survey responses, we find no significant shift in economic or multicultural liberal attitudes with different crisis exposures. However, exposure to increased unemployment risk significantly lowered support for liberal internationalism, increasing scepticism towards global governance and multilateral cooperation.

Approach to Weighting the Success Criteria of Toll Road Project of Government Cooperation with Business Entities Procurement Model

In providing funding for toll road development projects, many developing countries are im-plementing PPP pro-curement schemes including Indonesia. This funding scheme is believed to be an innovative procurement process model and has good prospects for the future of the construc-tion industry in the world. However, in its implementation, the Indonesian government is currently faced with various problems that have the potential to have a negative impact on the management and development of toll roads in Indo-nesia. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to develop a method of evaluating the success of PPP-themed toll road projects and determining the current and future strategy of PPP-themed toll road development projects. Methodology This research, using an exploratory sequential mixed methods approach, involves four stages of research. Through a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of reputable scientific journals from various countries, a questionnaire survey was developed. The survey results were analyzed using multivariate statistical methods with the help of Par-tial Least square analysis software (PLS-SEM), analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and Relative Importance Index (RII) methods. The results of this research found 20 critical success indicators and four dimensions of project success. This study produces a new way to assess the success of PPP-themed toll road projects that is very important and can inspire the government in making policies, legislation and regulations as well as innovative strategies in develop-ing PPP-themed toll roads.

When does group chat promote cooperation in shared resource governance?

When people use shared resources, overextraction can occur. While deliberation tends to mitigate shared resource exploitation problems, the question remains: under what conditions does group chat improve cooperation in shared resource dilemmas? This study analyzes chat and game data from about 1500 rounds of gameplay involving 143 groups across 4 resource types using Sentiment Analysis and Structural Topic Model. We find that, despite their fundamental differences, the 4 games tend to have similar discussions, including strategizing actions, coordinating choices, and socialization, but they differ in which topics explain cooperation within each game. Discussion topics promoting cooperation include coordination in the foraging game (FOR) and long-term goals in the groundwater game (GG). However, discussion topics negatively associated with cooperation include off-topic/socialization in FOR and the irrigation game (IRR) and crop choice affirmation in GG. We suggest that the context in which communication occurs matters, and biophysical characteristics, rules of the game, and levels of uncertainty explain some variations of our findings.

Cultural Integrations for Organisational Performance: Synthesising Western Liberal, Sinocentric and Ubuntu Perspectives in South African Career Management Services

South African public organisations intrinsically integrate diverse cultural perspectives by embracing and promoting developmental state ideals, democratic principles of equality and fairness, and communitarianism in their governance frameworks. This embrace reveals the interplay of Western Liberal principles, Sino-centric values, and Ubuntu cultural perspectives in influencing organisational performance. This paper thus explored these dynamics by examining how conflicting and integrating perspectives affect and enhance career management practices for organisational performance. Key cultural themes, including individual autonomy, hierarchy, collaboration, societal order, and communitarianism, were reviewed at the North West Province Departments of Cooperative Governance, Traditional Affairs, and Human Settlements through mixed methods research. Findings revealed cultural conflicts culminating in unfairness in career management practices and a lack of collaborative efforts by role players involved. These findings underscored the necessity of weakening and integrating strong ontologies through panentheism to enhance economic and employee development, societal order, hierarchy, and communal well-being through structured governance, pluralist choice, collective fingers and societal order frameworks. This research offers practical implications for improving organisational performance in African multicultural contexts, which are valuable for career management and public administration professionals. Keywords: Ubuntu, Sino-centric Values, Liberalism, Organisational Performance, Integrative Governance.

Rethinking Policy Design: Integrating Traditional, Market-oriented and Corporatist Career Management Policy Instruments across South African Public Service Departments

Policy design gained popularity in the 1970s, thus proliferating extensive scholarly research within the field. This persistent trajectory is sustained by a significant emphasis on integrating diverse instruments within contemporary democratic and governance contexts. Despite the relevance of instrument mix, the integration of traditional, corporatist, and market-oriented policy instruments still needs to be explored in the African context, particularly in career management. This study addressed this gap by investigating the integration of these diverse paradigms through insights from the metaphysical foundations of governance models alongside the empirical data gathered from the stakeholders at the North West Province Departments of Cooperative Governance Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements. Findings revealed a divergence of policy design approaches, culminating in the misalignment of policy instruments in career management. This misalignment hampers the integration of employee development objectives with Public Service goals. Findings revealed that the underlying cause of this deficiency is the misalignment of NATO instruments. Therefore key stakeholders in both departments should realign policy instruments and enhance targeted capability building. The study contributes to public administration theory, policy design, career management, and integrative governance by prioritising the alignment of policy instruments, thereby bridging the gap between organisational and employee developmental goals. This collaborative approach reveals the potentiality of integrative governance in harmonising diverse policy instruments in public organisations. Keywords: Policy Design, Instrument Mixes, Career Management, Integrative Governance, Institutional, Atomistic, Fragmentation Ontologies.

Who takes the lead: Synergistic emission reduction effects of proactive government and efficient market in atmospheric pollution mitigation

In environmental protection, government and market forces must work together. However, existing literature often separates the two and discusses their roles independently. Therefore, this study incorporates both the market and government into a unified analytical framework. It redefines government force as environmental regulation and market force as allocation efficiency in environmental protection. The study empirically examines the synergistic emission reduction effects of active government and efficient market on air pollution, using data from 272 prefectural-level cities in China from 2003 to 2019. The results show: (1) Both government and market interventions can significantly reduce air pollution levels, and their combination achieves a synergistic emission reduction effect.(2) Within this synergy, government intervention remains dominant, while the market plays a supportive role. (3) Analyzing the heterogeneous effects under different scenarios reveals that collaboration and mutual monitoring between the government and the market can effectively counteract the adverse effects of economic policy uncertainty and corruption on the environment. Furthermore, when a single entity undertakes environmental protection, it may encounter issues of diminishing effectiveness over time. However, the synergistic effects of government and market cooperation can mitigate these challenges. (4) The synergy exhibits a threshold effect based on the varying strengths of government and market forces. (5) Public participation enhances the synergistic emission reduction effect of government and market, acting as a vital complement to their environmental protection efforts. This study provides new empirical evidence on the synergistic effect of current environmental protection measures in improving air pollution control.

Reconstructing the Cooperative Rule of Law as an Alternative for Economic Empowerment of Rural Communities in Indonesia

Cooperatives in the Indonesian economic system function as one of the efforts to achieve national development goals, namely creating a just and prosperous society in accordance with the principles of Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution. The legal basis of cooperatives in Indonesia is regulated by Law Number 25 of 1992 concerning Cooperatives. The purpose of this research is to study the development of cooperative law in Indonesia as an alternative to economic empowerment of rural communities, and analyse the legal construction of cooperatives as an alternative to economic empowerment of rural communities in Indonesia. This research is a normative legal research with a legislative approach and conceptual approach. The results show that the weaknesses in Law No. 25/1992 on Cooperatives, such as the unclear definition of cooperatives, unfulfilled principles, and lack of strict sanctions, indicate that the regulation needs to be reconstructed to address the existing problems and increase public trust in cooperatives. Thus, the reconstruction of Law Number 25 of 1992 on Cooperatives will not only improve cooperative governance, but also make a significant contribution to the economic empowerment of communities in Indonesia, especially in rural areas.

Kepastian Hukum bagi Foregin Direct Investment (FDI) dalam Skema Kerjasama Pemerintah dengan Badan Usaha (KPBU) di Ibu Kota Nusantara (IKN)

The arrival of foreign investors in the development of the IKN must be followed by legal protection for foreign investors because it is very important to attract and retain investors who come. Legal protection provided to foreign investors consists of guarantees of legal certainty, guarantees of protection for foreign investors against non-commercial risks, guarantees of equal treatment for all investors and guarantees against nationalization and other takeover actions. The purpose of this study is to provide legal certainty for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the government cooperation scheme with KPBU in the IKN. In conducting this research, the author uses a normative legal research method and is descriptive analytical in nature. The legal sources that form the basis of the KPBU scheme are regulated in Law No. 25 of 2007 concerning Investment, and Presidential Regulation No. 38 of 2015 which regulates KPBU in the provision of infrastructure. In addition, the government also provides support in the form of guarantees for investors, which aims to minimize the risks faced by the Implementing Business Entity (BUP) in infrastructure projects in the IKN. Projects such as Palapa Ring and SPAM Umbulan are real examples of the success of the KPBU scheme in the context of national infrastructure.

The Impact of Green Logistics on the Sustainable Development of Enterprises

This study examines the importance of green logistics for the sustainable development performance of enterprises. It analyzes the connotation and application of green logistics, the significance of corporate sustainable development, and the relationship between the two, to clarify the decisive influence of green logistics in contemporary enterprises. At the same time, it points out the existing problems in the development process of green logistics from multiple perspectives, indicating that the further development of green logistics requires the efforts and cooperation of enterprises, governments, and multiple parties in the supply chain. Following this positioning, several conceptual solutions are proposed, such as the innovation and sustainable utilization of green technology and green management in logistics, and the government's role as a third party in regulating the application of green logistics. The research results have theoretical significance, highlighting the impact of green logistics on corporate sustainable development and the important role of the government in sustainable development. The practical significance includes improving corporate sustainable development performance indicators in the technical and management dimensions, in order to further improve the organization's sustainable operations and behavior.

COUNTERING DISINFORMATION POLICY: CHALLENGES FOR UKRAINE’S NATIONAL SECURITY

he article examines the problems of combating disinformation in the conditions of a modern full-scale war and overcoming the challenges facing the national security of Ukraine. The concept of disinformation, its impact on public consciousness and the key mechanisms of the spread of false information are outlined. The main directions of the policy of combating disinformation aimed at ensuring information security and resistance to information attacks have been studied. The importance of the development of media literacy among the population as one of the main tools for countering disinformation campaigns through educational programs and social interaction is revealed. The experience of combating disinformation in the developed countries of the world, the USA and the countries of the European Union, is analyzed. The role of state and international initiatives, the cooperation of governments with technology companies, as well as the implementation of legislative mechanisms are highlighted. The main tools aimed at regulating the spread of false information in the information space are revealed. The study emphasizes the importance of active cooperation with international partners to ensure an effective fight against disinformation at the global level. Special attention is paid to the role of international organizations in the formation of a unified strategy for countering disinformation attacks. Prospects for attracting international support for the development of national information protection systems and Ukraine's participation in global information security initiatives are being considered. Proposed means of an effective policy of combating disinformation, which combine legislative, technical and educational measures. The methods of ensuring resistance to external information threats are characterized. Particular attention is paid to media literacy programs, which have become important elements of national strategies in the fight against fakes and disinformation attacks. The article considers the possibilities of implementing international experience in Ukraine with the aim of strengthening national information security. The expediency of developing complex programs, including the strengthening of modern means of monitoring the information space and raising the level of critical thinking among the population, is analyzed. Emphasis is placed on the need to create a national security strategy for combating disinformation, which will allow effective response to new threats and ensure information security in the conditions of modern warfare.

Clarifying social norms which have robustness against reputation costs and defector invasion in indirect reciprocity

The evolution of cooperation through indirect reciprocity is a pivotal mechanism for sustaining large-scale societies. Because third parties return cooperative behaviour in indirect reciprocity, reputations that assess and share these third parties’ behaviour play an essential role. Studies on indirect reciprocity have predominantly focused on the costs associated with cooperative behaviour, overlooking the costs tied to the mechanisms underpinning reputation sharing. Here, we explore the robustness of social norms necessary to secure the stability of indirect reciprocity, considering both the costs of reputation and the resilience against perfect defectors. Firstly, our results replicate that only eight social norms, known as the ‘leading eight,’ can establish a cooperative regime. Secondly, we reveal the robustness of these norms against reputation costs and perfect defectors. Our analysis identifies four norms that exhibit resilience in the presence of defectors due to their neutral stance on justified defection and another four that demonstrate robustness against reputation costs through their negative evaluation of unjustified cooperation. The study underscores the need to further research how reputational information is shared within societies to promote cooperation in diverse and complex environments.

A hybrid spatiotemporal model combining graph attention network and gated recurrent unit for regional composite air pollution prediction and collaborative control

Machine learning (ML) models have been extensively applied in air quality prediction. However, many of these models often failed to unveil complex mechanisms and regional spatiotemporal variations of composite air pollution. This brings uncertainties in using ML models for effective composite air pollution control. The present study developed a novel hybrid spatiotemporal model framework combining Graph Attention Network (GAT) and Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU), namely the GAT-GRU model, to foresee composite air pollutions with a focus on PM2.5 and O3. By extracting attention matrices for PM2.5O3 composite pollution and applying the Louvain algorithm, the framework established effective community network divisions for coordinated control of PM2.5O3 composite pollution. The framework was applied and tested in China's “2 + 26″ cities, a city cluster with most heavy PM2.5 and O3 pollution and precursor emission sources. The results demonstrate that the framework successfully captured spatiotemporal evolution of combined PM2.5 and O3 pollution. The attention matrix is autonomously generated during course of the model learning process with the aim to interpret the complex interactions among “2 + 26″ cities. The framework provides a new perspective for the interpretability of artificial intelligence models and offers a methodological support and scientific evidence for formulating regional pollution cooperative governance strategies.

REGIONALISM IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION OF UNDERWATER CULTURAL HERITAGE REGIME

The article is devoted to the characteristics of the peculiarities of public administration of underwater cultural heritage regime in the regions whose water areas are significantly rich in such objects. The research of regional specifics of legal regulation and organizational mechanisms of the maintenance of the operational regime aimed at underwater cultural heritage represents experience of countries that are parties to the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage and those who have not yet adhered to it. The relevance of the research issues is determined by the necessity to create the concept of the public administration of underwater cultural heritage regime in Ukraine based on the best international practices and progressive experience of the functioning of comprehensive legal regimes of sea areas and regional cooperation. The article aims to determine the main tendencies, the best tools and mechanisms of the public administration of underwater cultural heritage regime in the range of regions of the world, whose water areas are significantly rich in such objects. The article’s purpose is to suggest proposals regarding the adoption of the positive experience and implementation of the new practices of legal regulation and organizational support of the underwater cultural heritage regime in Ukraine. The methodological basis of the research is composed of general scientific and special legal methods of scientific knowledge (historical, statistical, analysis and synthesis, comparative, scientific abstraction, forecasting, simulation). The authors describe the main modern risks for underwater cultural heritage and the ways of their potential detrimental effects elimination. Within the classical ways of regional cooperation in the field of maritime activity, the joint efforts and national approaches to public administration of underwater cultural heritage regimes in Mediterranean, Black Sea and Caribbean Basins have been characterized. It was mentioned that typical features of such administration include the establishment of specially authorized national management bodies, approval of relevant legislation and regional specialized treaties, cooperation with interested parties and digitization of vaults of museums and underwater objects in situ. Special attention was drawn to the necessity of the development of national legislation of Ukraine on the activity in the field of underwater cultural heritage, to the intensification of efforts regarding cooperation on regional and global basis, as well as to the implementation of new technical opportunities for activation of underwater historical, cultural and archeological artifacts digitization.