Decentralized Form Research Articles

Coordinating assemblages: accounting for a novel disaster

PurposeThis study aims to examine how hospitals and regional and local health authorities in the Italian region of Marche accounted for and reported the use of emergency funds from the EU, the Ministry of Economic and Finance and administrative bodies called actuator subjects. Unlike a sudden impact disaster, such as an earthquake, the pandemic was slow moving and novel. This meant that the guidelines for medical, legislative, financial and administrative action were not as developed as those for sudden impact emergencies with which the Italian state was, unfortunately, experienced.Design/methodology/approachThe paper investigates the Italian public healthcare setting since the declaration of the State of Emergency until its end—that is, from January 2020 to July 2021. We conducted 31 semi-structured interviews with nine key-actors working for national, regional and local administrative bodies. A range of related official documents were analyzed.FindingsWe show a non-linear and emergent account of standardization and coordination. We show how different state and transnational actors developed their own procedures to standardize COVID-related cost classifications and reports. These attempts also involved coordinating assemblages, at the center of which are templates imposed on hospitals and regional authorities by national state entities for cost-reporting practices and aggregation. Importantly, templates’ visual features enabled coordination across the different standardization initiatives that populated the emergency response effort.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper provides academics and policy makers with insights into the role played by accounting tools, templates, reports and guidelines to coordinate different cost standardization initiatives.Originality/valueAccounting guidelines that standardize costs are known to be deployed hierarchically by states and transnational organizations for coordination purposes. We highlight, however, the emergence of not only hierarchical forms of coordination but also their interrelation with decentralized forms of coordination. These two types of coordinating assemblages, each standardizes cost through the accounting templates that they use. We demonstrate the emergent nature of coordination even within hierarchical entities like the state. Reporting templates are pivotal for understanding this coordination process. However, when a centralized coordinating body is absent, it is the visual features of accounting, rather than its imposition, that enable coordination.

LPPAC: Lightweight privacy-preserving distributed payments with access control

The privacy-preserving distributed payment system leverages the advantages of its decentralized form while upholding data privacy. Currently, numerous solutions effectively safeguard users’ privacy, encompassing transaction amounts and identities, but in practical deployments, these solutions may impose limitations due to their indiscriminate treatments. Recognizing that real-world transactions involve not only the exchange of funds but also the transfer of assets, we introduce a lightweight privacy-preserving distributed payment scheme called LPPAC, which differentiates its treatment of different levels of private data. The transformation of amounts, which directly involves monetary values, is rigorously protected using appropriate encryption techniques. Additionally, we incorporate transaction pruning techniques to reduce storage overhead and enhance operational efficiency. In the context of asset transfers, there may be instances where parties other than the transacting entities need to be informed to make adequate preparations. However, the information related to asset transfers is inherently linked to transaction amounts. Therefore, we introduce an access control mechanism to allocate corresponding access rights. Through this approach, we theoretically establish that LPPAC can offer a precise privacy protection solution without compromising privacy. Furthermore, experimental results show the strong performance of LPPAC in practical applications.

Economic Decentralization and High-Quality Urban Development: Perspective from Local Effect and Spatial Spillover in 276 Prefecture-Level Cities in China

The advancement of high-quality urban development is of paramount importance for the enhancement of sustainable development and competitiveness at the city level. The economic decentralization system represents a pivotal institutional driving force in this regard. This paper examines the impact of decentralization on the high-quality development of Chinese cities. It constructs the high-quality urban development index (HUDI) through the entropy weight method and analyzes the mechanisms and spatial correlations between fiscal and financial decentralization on the high-quality development of cities through the establishment of panel and spatial regression models. The findings indicate that fiscal and financial decentralization exert a positive influence on urban high-quality development. However, the two forms of decentralization do not exhibit synergies but rather exert an inhibitory effect on one another. Furthermore, decentralization has a considerable positive spatial spillover effect on urban high-quality development. Heterogeneity analyses demonstrate that the impact of the economic decentralization system varies across different regions, reform periods, and cities with varying administrative levels. The robustness test of this paper provides further evidence of the reliability of the research findings. This paper offers theoretical support and policy recommendations for optimizing economic decentralization systems and promoting high-quality urban development.

The review and development of professional standards through the lens of Democratic Anchorage points

AbstractThe recent review of the Scottish professional standards for teachers, led by the General Teaching Council for Scotland, offered a unique perspective to interrogate participative approaches in policy‐making in the Scottish education context and to provide insights and implications for future policy‐making. Using one of the authors’ experiences as a General Teaching Council Scotland Officer during the review of the professional standards, this paper conceptualises the consultation process as a form of democratic governance, using Sørensen and Torfing's framing of the four anchorage points that enable democratic legitimacy in governance networks. This perspective places policy‐making within a governance structure that is created by networks that interact, overlap and are entangled with each other, implying a decentralised form of governance. An analysis of the stages of the review process demonstrated that it was participatory. However, there was an over‐reliance on the established policy‐making community. In addition, authentic participation was restricted as choices were limited by the metagovernor. We argue that Sørensen and Torfing's anchorage points for democratic legitimacy allow an interrogation of the extent to which policy‐making in Scottish education is authentically democratic and conclude by offering a framework of critical questions for more transparent democratic participation in future iterations of similar professional standards reviews.

Competing strategies between public and private self: separation and diffusion of the entrepreneurial identity of solo entrepreneurs on social media

Social media are gaining significance in organizations and their business strategies. Therefore, the self-presentation of solo entrepreneurs on social media requires a strategic analysis and concept due to their specific business structure. Solo entrepreneurs work on their own without having any employees in their company. In other words, they stay as the personification of a one-(wo)man-firm. The business structure of solo entrepreneurs is particular since they operate in the most decentralized form of a firm, which is a one-person firm. In some way, solo entrepreneurs can be regarded as independent (self-employed) laborers. When presenting themselves online, they must decide which characteristics of the private self should be emphasized and which should be incorporated into the entrepreneurial identity to be useful to the business. Our qualitative study conducted twelve semi-structured interviews with solo entrepreneurs to understand how they present themselves on social media and how the solo entrepreneur offered online differs from the private self. We have found that there are features of the personal self that are kept strictly out of the entrepreneurial sphere, but there are areas that make a mix of personal and entrepreneurial selves. Our results help to understand the group of solo entrepreneurs and their unique characteristics in an increasingly important field of digital media.

Делегирование полномочий (деволюция) как форма децентрализации публичной власти и опыт ее реализации в Великобритании

The article analyzes the meaning and correlation of the concepts of “delegation of powers”, “empowerment”, “transfer of powers” and “devolution” in scientific doctrine and legislation. The conclusion is made that these terms are synonymous as forms of decentralization of power. The experience of devolution in the UK has been studied.

Shaping "administered decentralisation" through accounting and accountability practices: The case of Italian municipalization (1903-1904)

Introduction: This paper focuses on the peculiar model that the Italian central gov-ernment adopted in 1903-1904 to directly manage public services. Aim of the work: The aim of this work is to demonstrate how accounting and ac-countability practices introduced by the Italian central government, functioning as representational and translational technologies of government, shaped the archi-tecture of the so-called "administered decentralization". Methodological approach: This paper is based on an in-depth analysis of primary and secondary sources, including the texts of the law and the Royal Decree enact-ed by the Italian central government in addition to the related parliamentary acts. Empirical material is analyzed and interpreted in light of the Foucauldian idea of govern(mentality). Main findings: This paper highlights the role that accounting and accountability practices played in establishing and shaping power relations among central and local governments involved in the direct management of public services. Originality: Contrary to the extant literature, this paper demonstrates how ac-counting and accountability practices contributed to the establishment of a decen-tralized form of government rather than centralized models. Moreover, it explores the municipalization process in a historical period that remains hitherto unex-plored in the accounting literature.

The Burden of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis among Kenya's Devolved Health Units and Associated Treatment Outcomes

Background: A devolution is a form of decentralisation or the transfer of authority and responsibility from central to lower levels of government for a range of public functions. The drafters of the 2010 Kenyan constitution chose to devolve functions to 47 newly created counties. In Kenya, health is a devolved function that county governments run. Tuberculosis is managed at the county level in coordination with the National Leprosy Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Program (NLTP) with a mission of End TB Strategy to achieve a 95% decline in deaths due to tuberculosis compared with the 2015 baseline and reach an equivalent 90% reduction in tuberculosis incidence rate. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study that collected data from health facilities accredited by the NLTP for drug-resistant tuberculosis treatment. The study population included patients who tested positive for drug-resistant tuberculosis from 2014 to 2019. Data was sourced from NLTP Electronic Medical Records (TIBU-System). After abstraction, the data was entered into Excel and analysed through STATA software version 13. Results: Of the 2674 enrolled patients in total, there were more males affected with DRTB at 64 % compared to the female patients. The public facilities carried the immense burden of diagnosis and treatment of the patient, having a cumulative number of 83 %, while the prison sector had the lowest number. For the resistance pattern, the new, relapse, and failure of first-line drugs accounted for most drug-resistant cases at 80 %, with only 65 % of the total cases having been done a gene-expert test at the point of screening. Conclusion: With a devolved health unit in Kenya, there needs to be a more coordinated support system from the national government to the county health units in terms of surveillance of TB disease. Regional centralised laboratories for diagnosis and monitoring of TB would reduce the time it takes for samples to come to Nairobi for testing, which takes time before patents are initiated on treatment.

Decentralized Governance and the Performance of Garissa County, Kenya

Devolution is the strongest form of governance decentralization. Devolution involves rescaling of responsibilities or powers from the national to the regional political organization. The actual form and politics of such rescaling will vary substantially between states, however, amounting to a radical transfer of powers and resources in some cases and a more modest and rhetorical shift of responsibility and service delivery in others. The conceptual scope of this study will be limited to four governance structures variables namely financial decentralization, administrative decentralization, political decentralization and citizen participation. This study targeted staff of Garissa County and were composed of senior managers, middle level managers and operational staff. The study employed descriptive survey design. The researcher used questionnaires as research instruments to collect data to the study. The study adopted both primary and secondary data analysis research design. Primary data was collected using semi structured questionnaires containing both closed and open-ended questions to allow variety. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. In addition, the study used multiple regression analysis to analyze the data. From the study findings, this study concluded that administration decentralization has a significant and a positive effect on the performance of Garissa County. The study also concluded that political decentralization has a significant and a positive effect on the performance of Garissa County. From the findings, the study further concluded that financial decentralization had significant and a positive effect on the performance of Garissa County. The study finally concluded that citizen participation had a significant and positive effect on the performance of Garissa County. The study recommended that the government should increase county government autonomy to promote administrative decentralization. The study also recommended that national and county governments should put in place measures to safeguard the independence of political decentralization. The study further recommended that national and county governments should put in place a set of deliberate and proactive processes, policies and structures that support financial decentralization. Finally, the study recommended that county governments should improve citizen participation practices to ensure citizen involvement in governance.

Decentralization and immunization program in a single-party state: the case of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic

BackgroundThe Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), a lower-middle-income country, lags behind other Southeast Asian countries in immunization coverage for children under two years of age. The organization of health services is a key determinant of the functionality of immunization programs. However, this aspect, and in particular its decentralization component of the healthcare system, has never been studied.MethodsA case study in the Lao National Immunization Program was performed using a neo-institutional theory-based conceptual framework, highlighting the structure (rules, laws, resources, etc.) and interpretative schemes (dominant beliefs and ideas) that underlie the state of decentralization of the healthcare system that support the conduct of the immunization program. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with representative actors from various government levels, external donors, and civil society, in four provinces. Data were complemented with information retrieved from relevant documents.ResultsThe Lao healthcare system has a deconcentrated form of decentralization. It has a largely centralized structure, albeit with certain measures promoting the decentralization of its immunization programs. The structure underlying the state of centralization of immunization services provided is coherent with a shared dominant interpretive scheme. However, the rapid economic, technical, and educational changes affecting the country suggest that the coherence between structure and interpretative schemes is bound to change.ConclusionUnprecedented opportunities to access quality higher education and the use of social networks are factors in Lao PDR that could affect the distribution of responsibilities of the different levels of government for public health programs such as the National Immunization Program.

Citizen-led decentralised energy futures: Emerging rationales of energy system organisation

The current energy systems are undergoing fundamental changes driven by the climate crisis, unfolding digitalisation and increasing calls for a more active citizens' engagement. The impact of these ongoing trends on the future energy system, however, is far from straightforward. Although there is an increasing shift towards a decentralisation, it is not clear yet how exactly this new decentralised configuration will unfold and materialise. In this article we explore the rationales behind current trends towards a more decentralised electricity system. Given the developments in the electricity system, our study centres on emerging initiatives led by citizens and their values. Theoretically, we first mobilise the notion of socio-technical system as constituted and reproduced by actors, institutions, and technology, operating based on certain shared principles. We use this lens to describe the past and current energy system organisation. Secondly, based on two dimensions of value orientation and steering direction we define four emerging ideal-types socio-technical decentralisation configurations. We examine possible pathways of change, and the institutional, actor and technological preconditions they require, to become predominant forms of decentralisation. We conclude that although all forms of decentralisation may potentially contribute to low carbon objectives, they are likely to co-evolve catering to diverse system needs and the citizen requirements simultaneously.

Understanding Self-Government

Increasingly the go-to option for managing separatism, territorial autonomy provides special self-government for territorially concentrated minorities. Rather than an institution in its own right, autonomy is often studied as a form of decentralization and federalism or an endpoint in peace processes. To aid in conceptual development and demonstrate varied applications, this paper analyzes the varied forms and uses of territorial autonomy. The best-known forms are democratic and post-conflict. Less understood are indigenous, authoritarian, and ‘nested’ autonomies. These types of territorial autonomy are approach by distinct scholarly subfields and feature varied causes, institutions, effects, and defects.

К вопросу о теории деконцентрации власти

This article examines the issues of the theory of deconcentration in the domestic and foreign scientific literature. In this context, the author consistently examines the existing positions regarding the understanding of the category “deconcentration” and its relationship with the concept of “decentralization”, and also studies the types of deconcentration. In particular, it is noted that in the Russian legal system, unlike other countries, this term is not used. Thus, deconcentration as one of the factors of the organization of power has been reflected in France and Cambodia. However, despite the absence of mention in Russian legislation, this mechanism is widely used within the framework of the territorial organization of public administration. As for the literature, most researchers point out that deconcentration is one of the forms of decentralization of public power. At the same time, among other manifestations of the latter, it is characterized by the least degree of autonomy of local government structures. The author understands by deconcentration the movement of the central government to the periphery through the formation of territorial subjects (or the empowerment of local subjects) as agents (representatives) of the central government, characterized by relations of power and subordination and not involving the creation of a separate level of public authority. The article also touches upon the issue of classification of the types of the analyzed legal phenomenon.

Empowering Panchayati Raj: Role of Ict in Strengthening Grassroots Governance

The article explores the important role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in bolstering grassroots governance within India's Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). Panchayati Raj, a decentralized form of administration, empowers local governance through elected bodies at the village, block, and district levels, aiming for participatory decision-making and local development. ICT, comprising digital tools and technologies, revolutionizes governance by enhancing communication, transparency, service delivery, and citizen engagement. Despite the transformative potential, PRIs face challenges such as resource constraints, limited infrastructure, and privacy concerns. The integration of ICT empowers PRIs through capacity building, transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement while offering policy recommendations and collaborative strategies for effective implementation. The article underscores the significance of leveraging ICT to foster inclusive, responsive, and accountable governance tailored to the needs of local communities within PRIs.

The Impacts of Health Decentralization on Equity, Efficiency, and Effectiveness: A Scoping Review

Decentralization is considered an important component of participatory democracy. However, despite its widespread implementation in the healthcare sector, its impact on health systems’ performance remains unclear. Using a theoretical framework based on the World Health Organization’s five decentralization variables—geography and sociodemographics, organization of political processes, functions and economic weight, steering, and control—we conducted a scoping review to unveil causal mechanisms linking each feature to equity, efficiency, and effectiveness. Following the PRISMA protocol, 1627 articles were screened, and 63 were selected for data analysis, with a focus on middle- and high-income countries. The findings show that the most frequently discussed forms of decentralization are fiscal and administrative, with a primary focus on how governance mechanisms affect equity and efficiency. The effects of decentralized healthcare governance on equity, efficiency, and effectiveness are diverse and contingent on contextual factors and the implementation processes. The spatial context (geography) of decentralization negatively impacts equity, and steering strongly affects effectiveness. Functions and economic weight significantly influence efficiency, albeit with variability. Overall, decentralization falls short of delivering substantial healthcare system benefits, although this depends on contextual factors.

Optimizing The Utilization Of Village Funds Through The Quadruple Helix Approach: A Literature Review

Village funds have become one of the alternative solutions in alleviating rural poverty in several countries, including Indonesia. The aims of this study is to identify implementations in the use of village funds in Indonesia as a form of village fiscal decentralization and to provide alternative strategies for optimizing village funds to achieve the goals of village fiscal decentralization. This research design is a literature review on the implementation of the utilization of village funds by using institutional databases to search for recommended journals. Based on the results of the literature review, there are several obstacles in implementing the use of village funds including, (1) Utilization of village funds still has weaknesses in the process of planning, organizing, implementing and controlling. In addition, in this process community participation and involvement is still not optimal, (2) There is no clear priority planning and program at the village level. Most of the village funds are used for infrastructure, so community empowerment programs tend to be sub-optimal (3) Most of the BUMDes are not in accordance with the goals and needs of the community and have not optimally empowered village communities. In its implementation, a four-actor collaboration model (quadruple helix) is recommended in this study.

Exploring decentralized ammonia synthesis for hydrogen storage and transport: A comprehensive CFD investigation with experimental validation and parametric study

Hydrogen energy plays a vital role in the transition towards a carbon-neutral society but faces challenges in storage and transport, as well as in production due to fluctuations in renewable electricity generation. Ammonia (NH3), as a carbon-neutral hydrogen carrier, offers a promising solution to the energy storage and transport problem. To realize its potential and support the development of a hydrogen economy, exploring NH3 synthesis in a decentralized form that integrates with distributed hydrogen production systems is highly needed. In this study, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for the Ruthenium (Ru) catalysts-based Haber–Bosch reactor is developed. First, a state-of-the-art kinetic model comprehensively describing the complex catalytic reaction is assessed for its sensitivity and applicability to temperature, pressure and conversion. Then, the kinetic model is integrated into the CFD model, and its accuracy is verified through comparison with experimental data obtained from different Ru-based catalysts and operation conditions. Detailed CFD results for a given case are presented, offering a visual understanding of thermal gradients and species distributions inside the reactor. Finally, a CFD-based parametric study is performed to reveal the impacts of key operation parameters and optimize the NH3 synthesis reactor. The results show that the NH3 production rate is predominantly influenced by temperature, with a two-fold difference observed for every 30 °C variation, while pressure primarily affects the equilibrium. Additionally, the affecting mechanism of space velocity is thoroughly discussed and the best value for efficient NH3 synthesis is found to be 180,000 h−1. In conclusion, the CFD model and simulation results provide valuable insights for the design and control of decentralized NH3 synthesis reactor and operation, contributing to the advancement of sustainable energy technologies.

Economic Operation of Multi-terminal Interlinking Microgrid Based on the Decentralized Protocol

This paper develops a decentralized control strategy based on an interlinking converter to realize the global economic optimal operation of a multi-terminal interlinking microgrid (MG). The control objective is to minimize the total generation cost (TGC) of the interlinking microgrid system. The proposed control is composed of local and global controllers, which deal with sub-MG and interlinking MG systems respectively. The local controller regulates the incremental cost (IC) value matching in the sub-microgrid based on the nonlinear dynamic droop control with equal IC to achieve the optimal load power distribution in the local DG units. The global controller controls BIC through the bus voltage signal to match the IC value of the entire interlinking MG system in a decentralized form, which significantly improves the reliability and scalability of the system and achieves the global optimal economic optimal operation under the condition of meeting the power demand and production constraints. The feasibility and superiority of the proposed controller are verified by PLECS under various test cases.

Small-Signal Modeling and Analysis of Converter Interactivity in 48 V DC Grid

Due to the flexibility of realization in decentralized form, environmentally genial, and the easy integration with renewable energy sources, storage units, and loads, the direct current (DC) microgrid has shaped as a subject matter worldwide. In a DC microgrid structure, the concurrent operation among multiple DC-DC converters, connected in parallel fashion across the common DC bus, realizes substantially with the average current information-based droop control technique. However, such control logic requires two minimal controllers with an inter-reliant design process to implement the overall control action. Considering the coupling effect during converter operation, this paper analyses the implementation of a mixed-signal peak current information-based droop control logic for the parallel connected converter system. A thorough small signal and switch-based modeling process for the interconnected systems are carried out with consideration of resistive and constant power loads. Adaptability to modeling with a first-order approximation-based approach makes the methodology easy for the design of the controller and stability analysis process in a parallel connected converter system. The veracity of the designed model is verified using simulation studies. A hardware prototype with two boost converters operating in parallel and feeding power to a resistive load and a buck converter (behaving as a constant power load) is fabricated to study the performance of the designed controller, along with the effect of different transient events on overall system performance.

Investigating freedom to learn program as form of education decentralization in Indonesia

Education is one of Indonesia's goals as stated in the fourth paragraph of the 1945 Constitution. However, the decentralization problem of education through transformational schools found various obstacles. This study aims to explore the problems of decentralization of education of the Freedom to Learn program through transformational schools spread throughout Indonesia. This study used the literature study method obtained from literature and books and with VOSViewer software which analysed 2.339 social articles discussing decentralization. The results of the research showed that decentralization implementation of education through transformational schools met obstacles such as inadequate facilities and many teachers are struggling to use technology, so the decentralization process is not maximal. The researchers suggest that the government should provide space for policy targets from lower levels spread throughout Indonesia so that the education decentralization process can run.