Formal Institutions Research Articles

Legal Regulation of the Remediation of Accumulated Environmental Damage at Industrial Sites in the USA

The practice of eliminating accumulated environmental damage in the United States of America is reviewed. The relevance of the stated problems for the Russian Federation and the need for critical analysis of similar foreign experience is stated. The general legal regulation of handling hazardous chemicals in the USA is described, the direct subject of the research is defined as legal and institutional forms of elimination of consequences of releases of hazardous chemicals into the environment in accordance with the CERCLA law. The historical background of the regulatory act is investigated, and the negative influence of political circumstances on its quality is revealed. The main elements f the system of liquidation of accumulated environmental damage created by CERCLA are thoroughly analysed, the features of legal procedures related to preparation and implementation of measures on remediation of contaminated objects are revealed in detail. The problems of financial sustainability of these measures caused by changes in tax regimes are revealed, some peculiarities of prosecuting persons guilty of environmental contamination with hazardous chemicals are revealed. Based on the results of the study, conclusions are formulated about the possibility of adopting some positive features of foreign experience and the need to continue comparative research in the field of elimination of accumulated environmental damage.

The cinematographic community: Fernand Deligny’s ‘tentatives’ and radical film education

Fernand Deligny’s experiments with film in the context of social work and therapeutic communities since the 1950s are part of what Marlon Miguel calls ‘semi hidden histories’, whose study is broadening the landscape of film theory and film education. Located at the margins of institutional forms of teaching and care, the ‘tentatives’ organised by Deligny involved a participatory use of the camera, the idea of film and film-making as an egalitarian and heterotopian space, and rested on the formation of radically inclusive communities. This article focuses on the proximity Deligny saw between cinema and that ‘common body’, made of contingent events and impersonal gestures, which for him constituted the common ground of the human. Inspired by the principles of éducation nouvelle, by his life with non-speaking autistic children, and taking shape through a collaboration with Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Deligny’s work placed itself within an alternative vision of education, beyond the pedagogical model later criticised by Jacques Rancière, which understands it not as a series of techniques for the transmission of knowledge, but rather as a fundamental dimension of collective life.

Інституційна структура радянської економіки та її роль у формуванні економічної спадщини України

The article is devoted to the historical and economic analysis of the key determinants of the institutional structure of the planned and distributed economy and their influence on the formation of the economic heritage of Ukraine. The purpose of the study is to summarize the main trends in the evolution of the institutional structure of the Soviet economy and to determine its role in the formation of the «track effect» in the economic development of Ukraine. The article reveals the historical prerequisites of the institutional breakdown and the formation of the Soviet socialist economy, and characterizes the peculiarities of its institutional structure at various historical stages. The author reveals the mechanism of interaction between formal and informal institutions and their role in the economic development of the planning and distribution system of management. Defined the institutional features of the formation and functioning of the mobilization economy and the system of centralized state management of economic processes. The impact of the economic reforms of the 1950s and 1960s on the strengthening of the communicative value of horizontal economic ties and the formation of the «administrative market» as a matrix of the shadow economy has been established. Revealed the main distortions of the institution of property, the essence of power-property relations, the reasons for their rooting, and the economic consequences of its functioning. The author identifies the role of the Soviet institutional heritage in the distortions of the Ukrainian business environment and the risks of the emergence of the «historical rut» effect in the institutional development of the Ukrainian economy. Substantiated the conclusion about the advisability of a limited application of mobilization methods of economic management in the post-war economic revival and the need to develop state policy measures aimed at strengthening the institution of private property, protecting the rights of owners, overcoming corruption and establishing social control over the distribution of economic power and responsibility.

Деінституціоналізація корпоратизму в радянській економіці та її наслідки для економіки сучасної України

The article is devoted to the study of the Soviet period of Ukraine’s economy, in particular the transformation of institutions in the absence of Ukrainian statehood. The subject of the study is corporatism as a mechanism for coordinating and implementing the interests of the state, society and business in different economic systems: the command-administrative and market ones. The aim of the article is to identify the main factors of the deinstitutionalization of corporatism in the Soviet economy and to clarify their impact on the modern economy of Ukraine. General scientific methods of interdisciplinary research, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction and a systemic approach are used in generalizing economic trends and determining cause-and-effect relationships. It is argued that the ideology of Bolshevism was the basis for changing the economic system, on whose basis the transformation of economic institutions in the command-administrative economy was carried out. The author reveals the content and mechanisms of the nationalization of the economy, the degeneration of formal institutions of corporatism and their use to restrict economic freedom and suppress civil society, which contradicts the very idea of corporatism as a union of equals. The importance of excluding national interests from economic consciousness and practice is emphasized, as evidenced in particular by the inefficiency of the allocation and use of Ukraine's productive resources. The article established the consequences of the deinstitutionalization of corporatism in the Soviet period for the economy of modern Ukraine, namely: high concentration of property, monopolism, the inability of large industry to self-sustainable development, the lack of concentration of capital in high-tech industries, and the lack of social partnership. The conclusion is made about the replacement of corporatism by bureaucratic corporatism in the Soviet period of Ukrainian history and its further transformation into oligarchic corporatism in the 90s of the 20th century.

Landscapes of state capitalism: Reconciling the vernacular, national development imaginaries, and green capital accumulation

This article theorizes ‘state capitalist landscapes’ as a unique spatial form shaped by state‐owned developers that reconcile economic goals with national development imperatives and symbolic national imaginaries. State capitalist landscapes, I argue, integrate economically productive spaces with natural spaces to symbolize imaginaries of the nation. Through an inductive case study methodology, this article surveys three industrial zones developed and/or under development by state owned developers: Singapore's Jurong, China's Xiong’an New Area, and Thailand's Wangchan Valley. In each of these cases, natural landscapes are integrated into new economic zones in order to construct specific symbolic and/or political imaginaries of the nation: Singapore's ‘garden city’, China's ‘ecological civilization’, and in Thailand the ‘sufficiency economy’. By bringing together work on ‘infrastructural landscapes’ and ‘state capitalism’ this paper provides a concrete material perspective to contemporary discussions of state capitalism, while also bringing more grounded, political and institutional perspectives to landscape infrastructure studies, which has tended to set aside discussions of institutional forms or national political dynamics in a focus on form and materiality of infrastructure landscapes worldwide.

Social trust and formal institutions: How do they shape public debt?

AbstractThis research investigates the impact of varying levels of social trust across economies on the development of effective formal institutions that serve to determine public debt. Analysing a sample of 95 economies from 2000 to 2020, our econometric results indicate that social trust is a pivotal determinant of public debt. The effect operates indirectly through the quality of various categories of legal system and property rights indicator. In particular, the results reveal that the relationship between social trust and economic‐judicial institutions are complementary to each other. In addition, we also find that countries with higher social trust tend to reduce their primary deficit in the face of higher debt, thereby reducing the likelihood of uncontrollable debt scenarios.

Manajemen Kurikulum Program Muadalah Kulliyatul Muballighien Al-Islamiyah (KMI) di Pondok Pesantren Al-Ishlah Bondowoso

Al-Ishlah Islamic Boarding School implements the Muadalah Kulliyatul Muballighien Al-Islamiyah (KMI) program which aims to produce muballigh who not only master religious knowledge but are also competent in da'wah and education. The program seeks to align the pesantren curriculum with the formal curriculum to ensure the quality of education is equivalent to formal educational institutions. This study aims to evaluate the curriculum management of the Muadalah program in the pesantren, focusing on the process of curriculum planning, implementation, organization, and evaluation. The method used is a qualitative approach with a case study, which involves interviews and direct observation. The results showed that Al-Ishlah Islamic Boarding School has integrated the pesantren curriculum with the national curriculum, as well as implemented relevant learning methods, such as tahfidz and yellowIslamic classic books, to equip students with in-depth religious knowledge and da'wah skills in accordance with the challenges of the times. However, challenges in the management of human resources and educational facilities still need attention to improve the effectiveness of this program.

Industrial diversity, formal, and informal institutions: a configurational moderation of the innovation input-output relationship

ABSTRACT This study seeks to uncover configurations of industrial diversity and institutions that act as boundary conditions in the conversion of innovation inputs into outputs. Specifically, we analyse how industrial diversity, rule of law, open markets, power distance, and individualism combine to influence countries’ transformation of innovation inputs into innovation outputs. A novel, two-stage fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis is used to identify configurational moderation on panel data from 66 countries. Results revealed three distinct equifinal combinations of conditions that moderate the innovation input-output relationship: (1) the presence of open markets and individualism, coupled with the absence of power distance; (2) the presence of industrial diversity, open markets, and individualism; and (3) the presence of rule of law and power distance. These configurations support the presence of high innovation outputs, even when innovation inputs lose importance. This study reconciles the literature on industrial structure with institutional theory and embeds them in the NSI approach. Furthermore, it helps to clarify the current discussions of whether innovation benefits more from industrial diversity or specialisation, or through one cultural profile or another. Thus, the study sheds light on previous inconsistencies in the literature by harmonising different approaches to innovation.

Implementasi Proyek Penguatan Profil Pelajar Pancasila (P5) dalam Kurikulum Merdeka di Pondok Pesantren Daarussunnah Wangon

This research is motivated by implementing the independent curriculum in all educational institutions under the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Religion, where this regulation requires formal educational institutions, both those with full-day and boarding status, to implement the independent curriculum. The Daarussunnah Wangon Islamic Boarding School is one of the institutions with an Islamic boarding school background that implements this curriculum. This is because the Daarussunnah Wangon Islamic boarding school carries out formal education under the auspices of the Ministry of Religion at the MTs and MA levels. As one of the formal Islamic boarding schools that implements an independent curriculum, it cannot be separated from various problems in its implementation. Among them; are delays in the socialization of the independent curriculum, adjustments to the curriculum by combining the independent curriculum and Islamic boarding schools, and limited movement of Islamic boarding schools in the Pancasila student project scheme. The aims of this research are (1) to find out the implementation of the independent curriculum at the Daarussunnah Wangon Islamic Boarding School, (2) to find out the implementation of the project to strengthen the profile of Pancasila students at the Daarussunnah Wangon Islamic Boarding School.

Guiding transdisciplinary synthesis processes for social-ecological policy decisions

Interdisciplinary synthesis research has been promoting significant advances in expanding academic knowledge. However, its application to address social-ecological problems poses challenges, typical of transdisciplinary research and co-production initiatives. Based on the experience of seven working groups from a Brazilian synthesis nucleus dedicated to co-producing social-ecological public policies, we present eight learnings to strengthen transdisciplinary syntheses. Those syntheses require flexibility in the working group dynamics to facilitate collaborative work, with frequent and short meetings held in easily accessible locations (1) for the involved stakeholders. They also require flexibility to shape different trajectories, depending on demand urgency, data and knowledge availability (2). Flexibility is also required to adjust to political circumstances, acknowledging that there are trade-offs between responding to urgent political needs and creating novel ideas, knowledge and outputs (3). In addition, the creation of formal institutions, particularly, formal engagement at the science-policy interface (4) and creating formal platforms for disseminating non-academic outputs (5) are key to stimulate the involvement of policy-makers and scientists in collaborative transdisciplinary syntheses. Symmetrical, horizontal interactions within a two-way science-policy linkage (6), alongside collective reflexivity on bridging diverse knowledge, skills, and authorities (7) are crucial for aligning academic knowledge with policy practices. Active involvement of individuals skilled in both scientific research and policy-making, who act as knowledge brokers, further strengthens this alignment. Finally, attention to create positive interactions and transparently communicating help to build trust among participants (8). These adjustments can enhance the potential of transdisciplinary syntheses to generate actionable knowledge at the science-policy interface.

BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF THE MAP OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND INFLUENCE OF THE PHENOMENON OF STREET CRIME (1966-2023) FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ISLAMIC LAW

This study aims to determine the crimes that are still rampant in Indonesia by researching street crimes in Indonesia. This study employs qualitative research methods with a normative juridical approach, analyzing secondary data from published literature. The research employs bibliometric data analysis techniques through searching, deepening, examining, investigating, and researching all publications indexed in Scopus regarding the impact of street crime phenomena on public peace from a criminological perspective: public spaces in Indonesia from 1996 to 2023. The obtained data will be analyzed using Microsoft Excel and R/R-Studio applications. VOSviewer will be used synchronously for synchronous analysis of keyword emergence. Street crime is a phenomenon of street-level criminal activities observed from a specialized execution perspective. Terms in the Quran and Hadith related to the behaviour of klitih (a local term for violent behaviour) are also discussed, including the forms of legal measures applied to it. The term al-hirabah refers to armed groups aiming to create chaos, spill blood, and harm people, which is entirely contrary to religion, morality, rules, and laws. Prevention can be approached through traditional means, and legal enforcement must involve various community elements to take control of the issue with support from the state and formal institutions. The results show an annual growth rate of 6.49%, which represents the average yearly increase in published research papers on street crime over the studied period. This research provides a brief overview of the accessible literature and offers recommendations for future research.

Institutional experience, formal institutional quality, and firm performance: An analysis of firms from the European Union

Firms’ success depends on their ability to deal with formal institutional quality. Specifically, firms exposed to a diversified set of institutional profiles can achieve institutional competitive advantage that provides firms with diverse knowledge and broader learning opportunities. While prior studies argued that being exposed to a diversified set of institutional profiles negatively influences firms because institutional knowledge can only be replicated in similar institutional profiles, they missed the point of learning from diversity. The purpose of this study is to further understand how firms’ institutional experience moderates the relationship between formal institutional quality and firms’ performance. We argue that firms with higher and more diverse institutional experience will adapt more efficiently to formal institutional quality, thus improving firms’ performance. We test the hypotheses on 4,011 publicly traded firms from the European Union between 2010 and 2021, and our results show that firms that develop higher institutional experience are better able to efficiently adapt to and leverage formal institutional quality and achieve higher firm performance. We contribute to the ongoing discussion on how formal institutions influence firms’ performance by acknowledging the importance of developing a diversified institutional experience. JEL CLASSIFICATION: F23

Young Women’s Informal Leadership: Reflections on Taking Responsibility in Youth Participation

This article aims to enhance understanding of young women’s experiences in political participation by examining their practices of ‘informal leadership’ within Italian and German radical grassroots organizations. It explores the biographical pathways that lead young women to assume leadership roles and highlights the often invisible practices of responsibility that challenge traditional power dynamics. Drawing on gender and feminist studies, the article reveals how gendered practices of responsibility emerge in the analysed participatory settings and how gender biases obscure the recognition of certain leadership practices. In so doing, the article also examines the broader implications for understanding youth participation. It argues that dominant discourses, which emphasize contemporary young people’s disinterest in taking responsibility in civic and political spheres, overlook how and where young people assume responsibility outside formal political institutions and fail to consider the impact of various inequalities on young people’s ability to take on responsibilities.

Informal venture capital in emerging economies: a case of Pakistan

ABSTRACT Venture capital in emerging economies is part of the shadow economy and consequently under-explored. The paper attempts to disentangle the hidden operations of informal venture capital (IVCs) in emerging economies such as Pakistan. Moreover, the study examines the impact and consequences of the un-documented economy, the role of IVCs and networks that give rise to the shadow economic systems. Using 21 semi-structured interviews, (1) we developed a conceptual framework to study the presence of IVCs; (2) the analysis suggests that IVCs fill the finance gap where formal financial institutions and government funding schemes failed to meet the needs of high-growth entrepreneurs; (3) IVCs have a significant presence in case of Pakistan and serve a vital role in promoting economic well-being; (4) the findings suggest that government-sponsored schemes give rise to favouritism and malpractices in the distribution of funds give rise to “Hybrid” IVCs operation; (5) finally, our results suggest rationalisation of IVCs promote sustainability and agenda for entrepreneurial growth. The findings have implications for policymakers to develop venture capital markets and facilitate the transition of IVCs to formal capital markets.

Party Organisation, Youth Wings and Political Representation in Contemporary Albania

Despite the political mobilisation of young people in protest politics in postcommunist Eastern Europe, the political representation of young people in legislatures is low. The article investigates how party youth wings contribute to such representation. Dimensions of party organisation such as degree of leadership autonomy, entropy and organisational entrenchment are better predictors of youth political representation by youth wings than formal political institutions designed to incentivise the political representation of under-represented groups. We generate our findings based on the cross-case comparison of the youth wings of the two dominant centre-left parties in Albania.

A Case for Grassroots Theological Education (GTE) in Moral Development from Daniel 1 for the Nigerian Context

This paper discusses the critical need for Grassroots Theological Education (GTE) to promote moral development in Nigeria, focusing on the biblical narrative of Daniel 1. In Nigeria, where moral degradation and ethical challenges such as corruption, violence, and social injustice are pervasive, traditional theological education fails to address these issues effectively at the grassroots level. The problem lies in the gap between formal theological institutions and the moral realities societies face, particularly in rural and underserved areas. This study fills that gap by arguing for implementing GTE, which is community-based, accessible, and contextually relevant for moral formation in Nigerian society. The paper examines the current state of theological education in Nigeria and its shortcomings in addressing moral development. It analyses the narrative of Daniel 1 to draw insights into moral integrity and propose a grassroots model of theological education that can better address Nigeria’s moral challenges. Through an analytical approach, the study employs textual analysis of Daniel 1 and a review of secondary sources on theological education and moral development in Nigeria. The findings reveal that Daniel’s moral courage in the face of cultural and political pressures offers valuable lessons for Nigerian youths and parents struggling with similar ethical dilemmas. Inspired by the narrative, GTE provides practical lessons for moral formation by engaging societies at their level of understanding and need. The paper recommends the establishment of locally-driven theological education that integrates biblical teaching with real-life moral challenges, focusing on practical ethics, leadership, and the promotion of integrity from a young age.

Revisiting KH Muafi Ali Zaini's Legacy: 'Modernization' of Islamic Boarding School in Sampang

This study explores the transformation of Islamic boarding school education, focusing on two key aspects: revitalization and modernization. Revitalization involves renewing educational programs to enhance their effectiveness, while modernization refers to evolving the Islamic education system to improve its quality. The research aims to analyze the historical leadership of Kyai Muafi Zaini in these movements, assess community responses to the changes, and evaluate the outcomes for alumni and the broader community. Utilizing qualitative historical research methods heuristic data collection, source criticism, interpretation, and historiography the study verifies data through credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability checks. Findings reveal that Kyai Muafi Zaini, a prominent figure born in 1947 and deceased in 2006, played a significant role in revitalizing and modernizing Islamic boarding school education, particularly in Sampang Regency. He was a charismatic leader who established several formal educational institutions, including MTs Nazhatut Thullab and SMA Nazhatut Thullab. Through these institutions, he implemented significant transformation efforts that not only contributed to the improvement of community welfare but also played a crucial role in changing the local perception of education in Sampang. Zaini's contributions were pivotal in enhancing the quality of education in the region, as well as in shifting the negative stigma traditionally associated with Islamic education. His vision and dedication fostered a learning environment that encouraged academic excellence and personal growth. His legacy as a committed scholar and influential community leader continues to inspire and shape the educational landscape, ensuring that future generations benefit from the foundation he helped create.

An empirical analysis of gender differences in asymmetric labor adjustment: evidence from Korea

AbstractThis paper documents the difference in asymmetric labor adjustment between male and female employees, as alluded to in the labor economics literature. Based on detailed gender-specific employment disclosures of Korean-listed firms, we report a significant presence of labor cost stickiness. Breaking labor costs down, we further show that labor cost stickiness is mainly attributable to the asymmetric adjustment of employment rather than that of wages. More importantly, this adjustment is more salient for males than it is for females, suggesting that managers tend to dismiss females to a greater extent than males during sales downturns than they recruit during sales upturns. In cross-sectional analyses, we present evidence that formal and informal institutions underlie the asymmetric labor adjustment. Lastly, gender differences in asymmetric labor adjustment widen the tenure gap across gender, which may contribute to the low likelihood of firms appointing and promoting female executives.

Unpacking Assumptions About Disproportionate System Involvement Among LGBTQ+ Youth of Color

ABSTRACT Over the course of the last decade, data has reflected that LGBTQ+ youth are disproportionately represented in the child welfare system. In many jurisdictions, the majority of LGBTQ+ youth disproportionately represented are also youth of color. The precise mechanisms of these intersecting forms of disproportionality are underexplored; however, a flattened single narrative of family rejection is often presumed to be the driving force behind LGBTQ+ youth of color’s disproportionate representation. This assumption is, in part, informed by a biased and hyperbolic notion that communities of color are less tolerant of queer and trans children and lends itself to practical responses that may be punitive toward families and disinhibit familial engagement. Moreover, this assumption fails to acknowledge the historical role that the child welfare has played in regulating, surveilling, and fracturing families of color and in criminalizing youth and parents of color alike. In this paper, we argue for a more nuanced understanding of the roles played by structural and institutional forms of racism, homophobia, and transphobia in understanding LGBTQ+ youth of color’s disproportionate representation.

Access and usage of formal financial services among small-scale Cassava farmers for productivity in Enugu state, Nigeria.

Purpose: Access to financial resources has been identified as one of the ways of boosting farm output, and this can be achieved through improving access to and usage of formal financial services. The study thus evaluated the effects of financial inclusion on cassava production among small-scale farmers in Enugu state, Nigeria. Methodology: A multi-stage sampling technique was employed in the selection of 162 cassava farmers in Enugu State. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, multiple regression analysis, and Likert scale rating Technique. Finding: Empirical results showed that the average of all respondents who participated in the survey was 43 years and 62.35% of the total respondents were males. Additionally, the result showed mean household size (4.75), mean years of cassava farming experience (5.86 years), and mean farm size (0.45 hectares). The majority (88.30%) of the farmers had access to a formal financial institution and the average amount saved in the last 12 months was ₦162,154.32. The multiple regression analysis showed that socioeconomic characteristics influencing cassava output are household, farming experience, farm size, farm income, and input cost. Additionally, financial inclusion positively influenced cassava output through access to formal financial institutions and level of savings. Originality: The findings revealed the positive effect access and usage of formal financial services have on the economy. Therefore, the study recommends that farmers be encouraged to improve their usage of formal financial services such as improving their savings levels at banks and banks to reduce charges on formal financial services.