Demands For Accountability Research Articles

“Property rights are human rights”: Bureaucratization and the logics of rule of law interventionism in postwar Kosovo

AbstractWhat makes property restitution “successful” in postwar Kosovo? How are multiple, overlapping, and conflicting property regimes folded into the process of postwar transition? And what can the implementation of rule of law illuminate about international interventionism? Daily practices at the Kosovo Property Agency (KPA, the administrative, quasi‐judicial institution that the United Nations tasked with postwar property restitution) reveal the runaway effect of the growing bureaucratization of international human rights: institutional success is measured through neoliberal “technologies of accountability,” and the project itself becomes the key outcome. This is the result of a paradigm shift in global development that saw the legalization of property rights as a cornerstone of post‐conflict state‐building. A parallel shift towards managerialism and auditability in public sector management has given rise to demands for efficiency and accountability in transnational institutions. Together, these moves, which found fertile ground in Kosovo's reconstruction process and determined the mandate and institutional setup of property restitution, transform rule of law from an idealized public good to a shortsighted, box‐ticking exercise chiefly concerned with the production of measurable returns. These benchmarks sidestep the complicated historical legacies of property relations and entitlements and generate new forms of rights inequality.

Escaping transparent, asymmetrical and agentive accountability? Entrepreneurial accounts and researchers' countertransference

PurposeThis article of exploratory research provides a critical perspective on accountability, focusing on three characteristics: transparency, asymmetry and individual agency. An experimental method is developed, calling for an ethics of accountability.Design/methodology/approachFour entrepreneurs have given accounts of themselves and their projects in life cycle interviews. This article applies Devereux's approach (1967), which allows for opacity (the “unconscious”) to oneself and to others with symmetry between analysts and analysed, and a lack of demarcation between the observer and the observed.FindingsA tragic entrepreneurial accountability trap of continuous self-justification was discovered, which pertains both to the entrepreneurs and the researchers. Nonetheless, the researchers as inspired by Devereux's method were able to realize a form of accounterability.Social implicationsThis article shows that the demands for transparent, asymmetrical and agentive accountability call for ethical reflection. The request for accounts, as resulting in the accounts given and the research conducted into accountability, are all sources of constraints. Differing the accountability situation may lessen the constraints.Originality/valueThis study introduces Devereux's method as an investigative tool in accountability research, opening up new perspectives on communication and analysis. This article shows the researcher as situated both inside and outside of the accountability mechanisms. This article explores a singular form of accountability; that of entrepreneurs who seemingly only account for the future, thereby disconnecting them from others.

RMS balancing and planning under uncertain demand and energy cost considerations

In recent years, we have observed rapid changes in the customer demand along with shorter product life cycles. In addition, sustainability concerns about production systems are growing, especially due to energy supply fluctuations in terms of either availability or cost. Among these challenges, energy efficiency is of the utmost importance, and Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS), most notably through their scalability feature, could represent a valuable solution: production resources can be reorganized promptly to adapt throughput to external factors, such as uncertain demand or Time-Of-Use prices. Although the aforementioned challenges concern day-to-day management, they should be anticipated at the design stage of the production system, whose behavior might otherwise not meet expectations and hinder the competitiveness of the company. One possibility is to consider the expected performance of such a system from the viewpoint of different productivity and energy-efficiency criteria, through line balancing and future production planning. This can be modeled as a bi-level optimization problem, in which the line balancing of the RMS is the upper level and the configuration planning is the lower level. We consider three criteria, namely the number of workstations, the expected service level and the expected energy cost, taking into account demand uncertainty through scenarios. A three-phase matheuristic is developed and its performances on instances derived from the literature are discussed. The results show that consistent energy cost savings can be achieved, even with very few configurations.

How big data analytics is used in forensic accounting and auditing

In this study, we investigate the application of big data analytics in forensic accounting and auditing. Big data technology mediates the connection between awareness and plans to use for fraud detection. We made an effort to assess how big data might be used in forensic accounting and auditing practices. Design/methodology This research is based on systematic literature review, and it provides a thorough understanding of the existing literature on big data research in forensic accounting and auditing. The research was gathered through peer-reviewed literature using current (post-2014) articles. Results/findings The model for corporate auditing has changed. Managers at the organization are proactively identifying and resolving internal abnormalities and discrepancies prior to an external audit using conventional audit techniques. Known white-collar crimes at several publicly traded corporations have led to a high demand for forensic accountants. Big data analytics is a key tool for spotting fraud patterns. Students should be encouraged to develop skills in data generation, sharing, analytics, mining, reporting, and storage because big data analytics is essential to business education. Practical implications and conclusions The study's conclusions can be applied to the forensic accounting industry to assist in the development of Big Data fraud-fighting technology. Big data analytics and forensic accounting should be covered in accounting curricula. By offering different perspectives on big data and its practical implications in accounting practice, this research contributes to the body of published knowledge. As more companies use big data, the need to update the accounting curriculum is highlighted because success now requires a distinct set of skills. Future research should involve interviewing and surveying accountants, auditors, and other members of the financial services industry, which will be difficult but necessary.

Problems of trade and provision in the daily life of rural regions residents of Central Kazakhstan during 1964-1985

The article discusses the place of trade and supply in the Soviet system, based on a planned economy, and the impact of changes in the daily life of rural regions. The research paper used archival documents and interview materials that were first introduced into scientific circulation. Since the Soviet trade and supply system, which did not take into account demand, could not fully provide the common population with types of goods, the qualities of the “Soviet man” in everyday life always helped to find a way out of the difficult, and the solution of the problem was carried out in the system of institutional and beyond structures. The article takes into account the disadvantages and advantages of providing local differences between districts and types of goods, reflects changes in taste and innovations in human needs. Nomenclature with low interest and zeal for the cause in Soviet institutions, as in other fields of activity of the Soviet era, the most important thing is an ordinary “Soviet man” with the desire to satisfy his basic needs in a rigid state and ideological system are given by examples of rural areas. The primary sources of the habits formation, which in most life situations first give importance to informal contacts, are indicated by clear evidence. In conclusion, it was concluded that the supply of the rural population with consumer goods was completely subordinated to the state, the place of shortages was covered by informal contacts and relations on the local ground, and the common people fought the deficit through the methods of “silent resistance”

Effective technologies and practices for reducing pollution in warehouses - A review

This article examines the challenges of implementing the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals 2050 green initiative for warehouse management and operation and highlights a gap in the literature on specific strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pollution in warehousing and logistics operations. A four-step review process was used to analyze 75 recent research articles on environmental sustainability, smart energy consumption and warehouse green practices. Warehouse building configuration and operation were reviewed to identify critical environmental issues, along with green industrial building legislation in the European Union, the United States and Asia. This study found that increasing warehouse construction and renovations are worsening pollution and industrial waste production, while space demand in the United States will reach 560 × 106 by 2025. Findings showed that packaging waste from warehouses accounted for 12% of the 146.1 × 106 t of municipal solid waste in the United States landfills in 2018 and the industry's growth is increasing indoor and outdoor air pollution. Warehouses' energy consumption is also worsening due to their energy needs. This article proposes green warehouse practices and technologies as potential solutions to mitigate the environmental effects of the industry's growth. Legislation is needed to solve many warehousing issues as global e-commerce grows for better consumer accountability demands and efficiency gains.

Integrated operation of gas and power system through the P2P market mechanism

AbstractPeer‐to‐peer (P2P) energy trading is a new technology for integrating distributed energy resources (DERs) into the power system. A P2P market allows direct energy trading between end‐users, enables local power and energy equilibrium and supports power grid operations. As a common DER, gas‐fired power plants are employed to deal with the intermittency of the power system due to their flexible characteristics. Therefore, the intermittency in the power system transmits to the gas system through the gas‐fired power plants, which makes the operation of these systems even more interdependent and cost‐effective. This paper proposes a market‐based two‐stage framework for the integrated operation of power and natural gas grids taking into account demand response and both network constraints. In the first stage (scheduling stage), the MINLP‐based optimisation approach is used for the optimal scheduling of two energy carriers considering AC power flow and gas hydraulic calculations for the next 24 h. Then, in the second stage, the continuous double auction (CDA)‐based P2P energy trading approach is used for enabling customers to trade energy with each other. To simulate human trader behaviour and maximises the benefits of customers, the authors considered the optimum bidding strategy through the zero intelligent plus trader model. The simulations executed on a 33‐bus power distribution grid and a 33‐node gas network indicate that the proposed framework can dramatically reduce the total operational cost and improve the performance of both networks. Using only the MINLP optimisation problem, first stage, the total operational cost of both networks is reduced by 15.58%, while the voltage profile at the end of the power grid is improved by about 7%. In the next stage, the total operating cost of both networks is further decreased by 29.31% via implementing the P2P energy trading mechanism.

A Model for Integrated Approach to Professional Development of Extension Educators: Implications of Adult Education Principles and Practices

Improving the quality of educational programs and the demand for accountability have put the professional development of Extension educators high on Cooperative Extension’s agenda. Effective professional development facilitates improved program design and implementation, which, in turn, translates into higher clientele satisfaction. The purpose of this article is to discuss the principles and practices of adult education and their application in designing professional development offerings with specific examples for Extension educators. Using the integrated approach of learning, the authors present a framework and share their experiences for the application of practice in designing professional development programs for Extension educators.

Evaluating Research for Development: Innovation to Navigate Complexity

Large publicly funded programmes of research continue to receive increased investment as interventions aiming to produce impact for the world’s poorest and most marginalized populations. At this intersection of research and development, research is expected to contribute to complex processes of societal change. Embracing a co-produced view of impact as emerging along uncertain causal pathways often without predefined outcomes calls for innovation in the use of complexity-aware approaches to evaluation. The papers in this special issue present rich experiences of authors working across sectors and geographies, employing methodological innovation and navigating power as they reconcile tensions. They illustrate the challenges with (i) evaluating performance to meet accountability demands while fostering learning for adaptation; (ii) evaluating prospective theories of change while capturing emergent change; (iii) evaluating internal relational dimensions while measuring external development outcomes; (iv) evaluating across scales: from measuring local level end impact to understanding contributions to systems level change. Taken as a whole, the issue illustrates how the research for development evaluation field is maturing through the experiences of a growing and diverse group of researchers and evaluators as they shift from using narrow accountability instruments to appreciating emergent causal pathways within research for development.

Extractive sector governance: does a nexus of accountability render local extractive industries transparency initiatives ineffective?

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative’s (NEITI) ineffectiveness in delivering public accountability to Nigerian citizens. Although this failure is recognised in prior literature, the authors contend that NEITI’s role is obscured by one-sided links to external factors.Design/methodology/approachThe conceptual framework presented in this study is built around Dillard and Vinnari’s (2019) distinction between different accountability systems and Brown and Dillard’s (2020) complimentary insights on the technologies of hubris and humility. The analytical framework draws from Grant and Keohane’s (2005) modes of accountability, which the authors use to articulate conflicting accountability demands (to-whom and for-what) of NEITI’s operating relationships. Combined, the authors analyse official documents, media, reports and interview responses from members of NEITI’s National Stakeholders Working Group.FindingsThis study surfaces a variety of intersecting interests across NEITI’s operational relationships. Some of these interests are mutually beneficial like that of Donors and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Others run counter to each other, such as NEITI’s relationship to the Presidency which illustrates a key source of NEITI’s ineffectiveness. In discussing these interests, the authors articulate their connection to NEITI’s design as an accountability system and its embedded limitations.Originality/valueThe authors provide incremental understanding of prior insight regarding NEITI’s ineffectiveness by drawing attention to its fundamental design as an accountability system and its failure to deliver public accountability. To illuminate these failures, the authors also map NEITI’s competing accountability demands – the nexus of accountability – to demonstrate the complex socio-political reality within which NEITI is expected to operate. The authors posit that NEITI’s ineffectiveness has as much to do with NEITI itself, as it does with external factors like the quality of information disclosed and the unique Nigerian context.

Instrumentalizing community participation with responsive legal internalization in the public sector selection process

There is considerable public demand for transparency and accountability in the selection of public officials due to their responsibility for realizing people's welfare. However, especially in Indonesia, the selection of public officials is still fraught with administrative violations and policy problems, despite the implemented merit system. A form of community participation is necessary as a control mechanism, and this can be realized through instruments under a responsive legal paradigm with the spirit of community participation. This study aims to analyze the public participation needed in the selection of public officials in Indonesia and how community participation can be instrumentalized in the selection of public officials as a form of responsive legal internalization. This research makes use of deductive thinking with a case and conceptual approach. The method used allows us to determine the urgency of the need for public participation in the election of public officials. The results of the study show that the need for bureaucratic reform towards a responsive bureaucracy and the need for preventive control of the bureaucracy are reasons proving the necessity of public participation in the selection of public officials in Indonesia. Moreover, the instrumentalization of community participation in the selection of public officials as a form of responsive legal internalization can be realized by establishing a means of community participation in the checking of track records and other components and parameters of participatory assessment.

Mining violations, rent-seeking, and resource governance in China: Evidence from central environmental protection inspection

In China, many laws governing resource extraction have been loosely enforced due to a lack of local legitimacy attributable to stakeholders’ conflicting interests. Such nonenforcement has had severe environmental impacts and affected the livelihoods of local communities and ecosystems. The central environmental protection inspection has brought about changes to resource governance. By examining 368 mining-related instances, and cases of illegal coal mining in the Qilian Mountains and sand mining, this study demonstrates that new trends have appeared in contemporary resource governance, including a demand for government accountability in environmental damage and a change from nonenforcement to strict enforcement of the law. These changes reflect a move towards centralised resource governance. This has significant implications for resource and environmental governance in China.

Data-driven governance and performances of accountability: critical reflections from US agri-environmental policy

ABSTRACT Public institutions have increasingly responded to calls for more accountability by promoting ideas of data-driven governance. As this focus on using data tools to strengthen governance intensifies, it is important to examine how the tools that underlie such claims are made. In the context of US agri-environmental policy, policy leadership has spoken the language of data-driven decision-making for over thirty years, primarily in response to accountability demands. However, the reliance on metrics and calculation is most explicit in the newest initiative called the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). Unlike other initiatives, the CSP used a single environmental scoring and decision-making algorithm to allocate approximately US$3.8 billion to 68,000 farmers. Applying a Social Construction of Technology approach to the development of the tool shows that different social groups – political aides, program officials, and subject-matter specialists – interpreted data-driven governance differently. Tool design emerges not despite but through the contestations over the purpose and practicality of doing data-driven governance. Social groups involved in tool development are themselves embedded in different accountability structures that shape the rationalities they marshal when negotiating practical decisions about tool design. The final tool used in the CSP was technically contested and the tool development process was poorly documented, yet it had an important legitimacy function: it deflected accountability pressures for more rationalization in public spending without causing major policy disruption. Centering analysis on the negotiations entailed in making the tools that come to underlie claims of data-driven governance can explain how and to what extent a push for more data in public policy can strengthen (and weaken) accountability relations.

Institutional design beyond democratic innovations

ABSTRACT Steffen Ganghof’s Beyond Presidentialism and Parliamentarism can improve existing typologies in comparative government and has great potential for discussions about democratic innovation and reform. So far, democratic innovations like deliberative mini-publics have remained mostly additive, leaving the underlying decision-making logics of representative political systems unchanged. Ganghof’s ideas can move debates about how deliberative democracy is to be institutionalized forward. Semi-parliamentary government constitutes an intriguing option to meet both demands for legislative flexibility and responsiveness to citizens’ concerns and demands for stability and accountability. At the same time, I identify a limitation of the book in the fact that Ganghof’s normative theory of democracy remains thin. To appeal to citizens in constitutional reform processes, proposals for semi-parliamentary reform need to do more than reconcile conflicting visions of majority rule. They need to speak to democracy’s central promises of equal autonomy and rationality.

In the midst of so much injustice, can there be a seat for energy justice at the Nigerian table?

Abstract The end of the 20th century and the start of the 21st century recorded an increase in demands for accountability and justice on a plethora of levels. Social justice was a broad theme which was followed by environmental justice and climate justice. Energy justice is a relatively new phenomenon that advocates for the equitable sharing of both the benefits and burdens of energy sources and services. Nigeria, the largest producer of oil and gas on the African continent, has for decades been beset by issues of corruption, mismanagement of resources and wealth, a lack of accountability and a lopsided discriminatory distribution of the benefits, proceeds and profits from the Nigerian oil industry. The people of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, which is the area responsible for Nigeria’s oil, feel impoverished by the exploitation of their land and left out of the profits, end products and projects which result from resources on their land. The regulation of the Nigerian energy industry is one facet of the industry that has come against heavy complaints and criticisms. The management of the country’s natural resources and the sources, generation, provision and distribution of energy (both domestic and industrial) within its geographical territory is an area that requires substantial work and overhaul. This work examines the tenets of energy justice and recommends the adoption of the restorative justice tenet as a path to improving the Nigerian energy system and correspondingly improving the environment and the lives and human rights of the people who live in the Niger Delta region.

Juridification and judgement calls: Swedish schoolteachers’ reflections on dealing with bullying, harassment, and degrading treatment

ABSTRACT While teachers are obliged to report and investigate incidents of bullying, harassment, and degrading treatment in Swedish schools, research suggests that they sometimes struggle to decide which incidents to report. In this study, we investigate Swedish schoolteachers’ reflections on dealing with bullying, harassment, and degrading treatment, and on balancing their pedagogical work with juridical demands to report. The study is based on qualitative interviews conducted with teachers at three comprehensive schools in Sweden, which were analysed in relation to Bronfenbrenner’s social-ecological framework. The findings demonstrate that teachers make judgement calls regarding which incidents to report and that these influence and are influenced by micro-, meso-, exo-, macro- and chronosystem factors. The findings also suggest that increasing demands for professional accountability negatively affect the professional responsibility of teachers and may lead to them making judgement calls that are not always in the best interests of the children for whom they have responsibility.

Policy Framework and Financial Corporate Compliance in Public Universities in Kenya

One of the important components of corporate governance that improves accountability and transparency in an institution's financial management is financial corporate compliance. The emergence of alarming cases of financial impropriety in Kenya's public universities has intensified the demand for financial accountability in the public sector and exposed the boards and management to increasing scrutiny. Public organizations have reported cases of inadequate or absence of financial compliance, and public universities have also cited comparable circumstances in audit reports. It is unclear, however, what the causes of this compliance are or what function corporate governance plays in it. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of policy framework on financial corporate compliance at Kenya's public universities. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The study's target population was 40 accredited public universities in Kenya. The data were gathered through the use of extensive, quasi-structured questionnaires. The study used descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution tables, percentages, and measures of central tendency such as the mean. Chi-square and correlation analysis were used to establish the relationship between the study variables. The study reached a finding that policy framework has a positive impact on prudential corporate compliance during the period of study. The study found that most universities have adopted ethics and a code of conduct that the universities operate under a specific code of conduct and ethics which enables the university to actualize financial corporate compliance. The study recommends all public universities to be keeping track of all activities required to be adhered to by the public institution finance department more regularly to ensure the smooth running of the institutions. It is also recommended the university management facilitate regular training for the officers in the finance department to equip them with the relevant information of the newly amended policies by the government to govern the finances used to run public universities.

Regulatory Framework and Financial Corporate Compliance in Public Universities in Kenya

One of the important components of corporate governance that improves accountability and transparency in an institution's financial management is financial corporate compliance. The emergence of alarming cases of financial impropriety in Kenya's public universities has intensified the demand for financial accountability in the public sector and exposed the boards and management to increasing scrutiny. Public organizations have reported cases of inadequate or absence of financial compliance, and public universities have also cited comparable circumstances in audit reports. It is unclear, however, what the causes of this compliance are or what function corporate governance plays in it. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of regulatory framework on financial corporate compliance at Kenya's public universities. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The study's target population was 40 accredited public universities in Kenya. The data were gathered through the use of extensive, quasi-structured questionnaires. The study used descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution tables, percentages, and measures of central tendency such as the mean. Chi-square and correlation analysis were used to establish the relationship between the study variables. The study findings indicated that regulatory framework affects positively financial corporate compliance during the period of study and its effects are significant. The study also found that the universities are regulated by accredited regulatory bodies as stipulated by the constitution. This study recommends that the government should employ thorough accountability measures and policies that will make every officer in public universities be held responsible for every activity he/she has undertaken on behalf of the university that may lead the university to incur some expenditures.

Institutional Framework and Financial Corporate Compliance in Public Universities in Kenya

One of the important components of corporate governance that improves accountability and transparency in an institution's financial management is financial corporate compliance. The emergence of alarming cases of financial impropriety in Kenya's public universities has intensified the demand for financial accountability in the public sector and exposed the boards and management to increasing scrutiny. Public organizations have reported cases of inadequate or absence of financial compliance, and public universities have also cited comparable circumstances in audit reports. It is unclear, however, what the causes of this compliance are or what function corporate governance plays in it. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the institutional framework on financial corporate compliance at Kenya's public universities. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The study's target population was 40 accredited public universities in Kenya. The data were gathered through the use of extensive, quasi-structured questionnaires. The study used descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution tables, percentages, and measures of central tendency such as the mean. Chi-square and correlation analysis were used to establish the relationship between the study variables. The results of the study showed that institutional framework has a positive impact on financial corporation compliance. This illustrated that institutional framework had a compelling impact on financial corporate compliance. This study recommends that the government should employ thorough accountability measures and policies that will make every officer in public universities be held responsible for every activity he/she has undertaken on behalf of the university that may lead the university to incur some expenditures.

Legal Framework and Financial Corporate Compliance in Public Universities in Kenya

One of the important components of corporate governance that improves accountability and transparency in an institution's financial management is financial corporate compliance. The emergence of alarming cases of financial impropriety in Kenya's public universities has intensified the demand for financial accountability in the public sector and exposed the boards and management to increasing scrutiny. Public organizations have reported cases of inadequate or absent financial compliance, and public universities have also cited comparable circumstances in audit reports. It is unclear, however, what the causes of this compliance are or what function corporate governance plays in it. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the legal framework on financial corporate compliance at Kenya's public universities. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The study's target population was 40 accredited public universities in Kenya. The data were gathered through the use of extensive, quasi-structured questionnaires. The study used descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution tables, percentages, and measures of central tendency such as the mean. Chi-square and correlation analysis were used to establish the relationship between the study variables. The study discovered that the legal framework had a considerable impact on financial corporation compliance during the study period and had a favorable impact on it. These results show that Kenya's public universities are accredited by the commission on higher education and operate by its rules, which increases financial corporate compliance. The study recommends all public universities to be keeping track of all activities required to be adhered to by the public institution finance department more regularly to ensure the smooth running of the institutions. It is also recommended the university management facilitate regular training for the officers in the finance department to equip them with the relevant information of the newly amended policies by the government to govern the finances used to run public universities.