Government Of Albania Research Articles

In Research of An Optimal Size for Local Government in Albania

In Research of An Optimal Size for Local Government in Albania

Customers’ Attitudes and Perceived Constraints to E-Banking Services: A Survey Study in Albania

The relevance of the study is determined by the need to identify the level of satisfaction of customers of banks in Albania and the perceived limitations that hinder the development of electronic services. The purpose of the work is the analysis of clients’ perception of electronic banking services, the problems of ensuring client satisfaction and the development of proposals for its improvement. The methodological approach hinges on several key components: studying statistical data concerning banking services, conducting two-way analyses to explore variable interactions, conducting surveys to gather user insights, utilizing graphical methods to visualize the results, and employing generalization techniques to summarize research outcomes. The analysis of the development of the banking system of Albania, which showed a significant expansion of electronic services for customers, a substantial increase in the share of electronic transfers in their total number during 2010-2022. A survey of bank customers showed that the availability and flexibility of e-banking services are the most important attributes of their quality; however, there is an impact of perceived limitations on the increase in the number of e-banking users and the need to improve customer service has been proven. Despite the ease and speed of transactions, lower costs and time savings, customers do not rate e-banking as a high-quality service and demonstrate insufficient knowledge about these services. There is a need to improve communication with clients and to reduce costs or provide basic electronic banking services for free. The results and conclusions have practical significance in the development of financial and credit policy by the Government of Albania in the projection of the use of electronic technologies, for bank managers in the planning and marketing of banking services.

Performance Management in the Public Sector of Albania

In the realities of today's economy, the development of good governance in the public sector is one of the most important tasks of the authorities. If actions on the part of the authorities are not conducive enough, it can cause a multitude of negative consequences for the country's economy and the living standards of its citizens, as well as for the country. Therefore, an assessment of governance by the authorities in different countries around the world is a relevant research topic. The analysis is carried out for Albania in Vlora. The research aims to show how effective public administration is in the public sector in the country now. The main methods used in the study were analysis, forecasting, abstraction, and the historical method. The study included a contemporary assessment of the state of efficiency governance in Albania. It was shown that there are problems in this area due to the socialist past of the country. In addition, difficulties with the corruption component remain relevant, which requires urgent action and finding new methods to counter it. The work also assessed the current state of the Vlora region. It was shown that despite the serious difficulties associated with the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis, the region is developing quite strongly. The reason for this is, among others, the policy formulated by the public authorities, which aimed to support local producers and medium and small enterprises, as well as to create policies to promote domestic tourism. This paper brings new insights into the field of public sector management, as well as a better understanding of the functioning of the Albanian economy.

A Quality Perspective of Sustainable Management of Water Services: Insights of Citizens' Perceptions in Five Albanian Municipalities

This paper aims to explore citizens' perceptions of water services to inform policy-making and pressure service providers to improve efficiency and service quality using innovative solutions. Despite abundant water resource endowments, ongoing infrastructure upgrades, and technological advancements implemented for sustainable service management, the industry failed to deliver the expected results. However, more than 60% of produced water goes unbilled, service coverage disparities persist, service quality falls short of goals, and low water meter readings worsen resource utilisation and financial sustainability. As a result of poor and unsustainable social, environmental, and economic management of services, the industry witnessed a significant restructuring process, shifting from municipal to regional-level governance, overlooking citizen perceptions of water services as an element that may directly impact the sustainability and future developments of the water sector. The latter, coupled with research findings highlighting deficiencies of municipalities in Albania in local public services provision, triggered the in-depth investigation of water sector governance in Albania (from the citizens' point of view). The research sets a baseline in exploring citizens' perceptions of water services, using a representative sample-based survey in five Albanian municipalities and along five dimensions of service management: access and quality of the services, transparency and communication, satisfaction with services, value for money, and willingness to pay (WTP) for improved services. Our findings suggest a low satisfaction with water services offered by municipally-owned water utilities, primarily related to water supply duration and quality. Despite lacking trust in service improvement, WTP for improved services is positive. Received: 15 December 2023 / Accepted: 16 February 2024 / Published: 5 March 2024

Citizen Participation in the Local Government in Albania

Citizen Participation in the Local Government in Albania

Pharmaceutical policies in post-communist Albania: Progress and challenges toward European Union membership

Aim: Shifting from a communist regime to a democratic system has affected health system fundamentally in most of the Western Balkan countries including Albania. Albania became a European Union (EU) candidate country in 2014. Since then, one of the main concerns has been to approximate the legislation with the EU framework. The aim of this paper is to review the evolvement of pharmaceutical legislation in Albania and challenges toward achieving full approximation to the EU’s respective legislation. Methods: We used qualitative techniques, especially means of conventional content analysis and two sources to collection data. First, we consulted the Albania’s National Publications Office webpage and analysed all available legislation regarding “pharmacy”, “medicine” and “pharmaceutical products” from 1994 to 2021. Then, we analysed the National Integration Plans that have been published by the Government of Albania from 2014 to 2021. Results: The decrease of the price margin system goes in parallel with the increase of the pharmaceutical expenditure, including out-of-pocket expenditure on medicines and lack of adequate and sensitive reimbursement policies. The main pillars of the pharmaceutical sector in Albania are well-covered legally but not fully in concordance with the EU framework. Conclusion: There is a need to foster laws implementation that regulate the opening of pharmacies; a detailed regulation on pharmacovigilance; and a regulation on medicinal products for paediatric use. Also, the existing legal framework should be aligned with the European one. Medicine pricing methods should go in the same line with the decrease of out-of-pocket expenditure.

Albania's Diplomatic Relations with the Soviet Union during 1949-1960

This paper corresponds to one of the most important periods of history relating to the national and international politics of the Albanian state, specifically the isolated political and state cooperation of Albania with the Soviet Union. The Albanian-Soviet relations were very important, as they determined not only the orientation of the Albanian internal politics but also externally the behavior that Albania had to maintain in the international arena, especially in its relationship with Western and neighboring allies. This paper specifically refers to the period from 1949, when Albanian-Soviet relations took their official form and capacity, until 1960 when these relations were destroyed. To better explain the reasons and causes for the establishment of these relations, many internal and external political situations have been touched upon, which go beyond the stated time limits of our study. The main goal of this paper is the analysis of the conditions in which these relations were established, and their unusual, bilateral cooperation in the political, economic, international, and military fields. Very important are the moments of establishing Albanian-Soviet relations, in their development and ending in the most peaceful way possible. According to Albanian-Soviet relations issues in the context of international relations and national security are very difficult, but on the other hand particularly interesting. As well as in the discipline of Security Studies, no writing is considered completely closed, because the past is related to the present, which determined the future. The purpose is enough and the three historical periods (past, present, and future) are quite well connected, without division. Our paper aims to approach this relationship from a new perspective of study, as to understand its true nature, which is also important in that, the authority that the Union Soviet exercised to oriented directly in the function of its interests. geostrategic, in investigating Albanian position. How much space was devoted to Albania in the international communist movement? How important was Albania for the Union Soviet? Not only the economic growth in the years 1950-1960, was an unusual phenomenon for the poor Albanian people, who came from a backward economic tradition, but also it was influential in the social development of Albanian society, housing, employment, health, the fight against illiteracy, Both education and culture, increased confidence in the communist government in Albania, which was part of perfect implementation of the Soviet model, not only politically but also socially. All the "Sovietization" of the Albanian state and society was away in the discipline of Security studies which, at that time, was used by the BS to realize its hegemony in the international arena. In conclusion, I would close with the phrase "Stalin was the political muse for Enver Hoxha this worship, who continued his policy until the end of his life and he refused to be destabilized. This turned out to be fatal both in relations with the Soviet Union and with all other countries and ended up in the greatest isolation of Albania until the regime fell in the year 1990 ”.
 
 Received: 19 September 2022 / Accepted: 21 October 2022 / Published: 30 November 2022

Out of pocket payments and access to NCD medication in two regions in Albania.

ObjectiveThe financial burden from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) is a threat worldwide, alleviated only when good social protection schemes are in place. Albeit the Government in Albania has committed to Universal Healthcare Coverage (UHC), Out-of-Pockets (OOPs) persist. Through this study, we aimed to assess the OOPs related to consultations, diagnostic tests, and medicine prescriptions as self-reported by people suffering from NCDs.MethodsA household survey was conducted in two regions of Albania. The present analysis includes respondents who suffered from chronic health conditions and consulted a health care provider within the last 8 weeks (n = 898). Mixed logistic regression models with random intercepts at the level of communities were employed in order to assess the association of OOPs with age, gender, urban vs. rural residency, health insurance, marital status, barriers experienced, type of chronic condition(s) and region.ResultsOf those who consulted a provider, 95% also received a drug prescription. Among them, 94% were able to obtain all the drugs prescribed. Out-of-pocket payments occurred throughout the NCD treatment process; specifically, for consultation (36%), diagnostic tests (33%), and drugs purchased (88%). Drug expenditures accounted for 62% of all household expenditures. Respondents with health insurance were less likely to pay for consultation and drugs. The elderly (patients above 60 years old) were less likely to pay for consultations and tests. Those who lived in urban areas were less likely to pay for drugs and consultations. Patients encountering any form of barrier when seeking care had increased odds of OOPs for consultations (OR; 2.25 95%-CI; 1.57; 3.23) and tests (OR; 1.71 95%-CI; 1.19; 2.45).ConclusionOut-of-pocket payments by NCD patients principally made up through the purchase of prescribed drugs, remain important. Tackling the high costs of drugs will be important to accelerate the UHC agenda. Here, it is important to raise the population’s awareness on patients’ knowledge of their entitlements to health insurance, and on the current health reforms.

Local government in Albania and Kosovo: comparative overview

The purpose of this article is to file the administrative-territorial reforms, conducted by Albania Republic, in a comparative point of view with some other countries, especially with Kosovo Republic as a result of their past. Looking at the historical evolution of reforms in these countries with different local governance systems, and analysis of the latest developments will give us a deeper knowledge about the topic. This comparison would address reforms of the political bodies of local government (such as those relating to political accountability and decision-making in local government), with regard to administrative structures, because only by looking at both sides of the currency of the local government can we get a complete picture of the changes and improvements to be made. The decentralization process and reforms, as well as the territorial and administrative reform (TAR) and its effects in the country, were subject to extensive debates among experts and the media, especially during last years .Comparison aims at providing knowledge about the terminology and concepts used in the comparison of countries and characteristics of each country in connection with the territorial administrative reforms carried out, followed by a reformation of the local government. This treatment is based on the legal framework of local government, taking a look at its changes over the years, analyzing and decentralization strategy. The article offers concrete conclusions based on the performance of this multilateral process and its implementation in local units of state.

Women as an emerging actor in peace and security: The impact of UNSCR 1325 in Albania

Implementing the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) on Women, Peace, and Security in practice is emerging as a priority for Albanian security politics , in which the Government of Albania is endeavouring to act by increasing compliance with the norms promoted by the Resolution. This article reflects on the implementation of the UNSCR 1325 by focusing on the discourse on mainstreaming the women, peace and security norms in Albanian society. It finds that the UNSCR 1325 contributed to the increase of gender-related content in Albanian political, academic and civil society elite discourse, albeit selectively. Albanian political, academic and civil society actors appear to have been less responsive to the responsibilities of the UNSCR 1325, predictably due to the fact that Albania is not a conflict or post-conflict country, the status of which the Resolution primarily addresses. In conditions that Albania has been more responsive, the focus has been more on issues of gender equality in general rather than being guided by the specific norms of the UNSCR 1325.

Territorial rescaling and polycentric governance in Albania

Territories as relational geographical constructs are in constant formation and reformation, or rescaling, which results in spatial typologies of complex governance. The voting containers of a territory are merely one typology, often not matching the numerous functions within the other typologies. Under the assumption that voting containers are politically fixed, governance that adapts to the dynamics of territorial rescaling is required. This paper explores the relationship between territorial rescaling and polycentric governance in Albania. It concludes that polycentric governance can enable cooperation and efficiency throughout rescaling, assuming some conditions are in place for addressing the polycentricity gap.

Pharmaceutical policies in post-communist Albania: Progress and challenges toward European Union membership

Aim: Shifting from a communist regime to a democratic system has affected health system fundamentally in most of the Western Balkan countries including Albania. Albania became a European Union (EU) candidate country in 2014. Since then, one of the main concerns has been to approximate the legislation with the EU framework. The aim of this paper is to review the evolvement of pharmaceutical legislation in Albania and challenges toward achieving full approximation to the EU’s respective legislation. Methods: We used qualitative techniques, especially means of conventional content analysis and two sources to collection data. First, we consulted the Albania’s National Publications Office webpage and analysed all available legislation regarding “pharmacy”, “medicine” and “pharmaceutical products” from 1994 to 2021. Then, we analysed the National Integration Plans that have been published by the Government of Albania from 2014 to 2021. Results: The decrease of the price margin system goes in parallel with the increase of the pharmaceutical expenditure, including out-of-pocket expenditure on medicines and lack of adequate and sensitive reimbursement policies. The main pillars of the pharmaceutical sector in Albania are well-covered legally but not fully in concordance with the EU framework. Conclusion: There is a need to foster laws implementation that regulate the opening of pharmacies; a detailed regulation on pharmacovigilance; and a regulation on medicinal products for paediatric use. Also, the existing legal framework should be aligned with the European one. Medicine pricing methods should go in the same line with the decrease of out-of-pocket expenditure.

The Role of Good Governance in the Performance of a Public Entity (The Case of ARDA)

This study aims to provide an overview of central governance in Albania, focusing on farmers' opinion and satisfaction with activity of Agriculture Rural Development Agency (ARDA) in Albania, which is financed by public and EU funds either for financing or credit guarantying the Albanian Farmers. Thus, what is the farmers’ perception for ARDA activity and what would the subsidized farmers like to change or improve on governmental agency service delivery? This is followed by the well-known assumption that citizens rely on personal experiences when they create their own views, which are closely related to their knowledge and understanding of central government performance as a starting point for good governance, and in some cases, they can make central authorities liable for issues that are not under their direct control. For this reason, the main purpose of this research is to evaluate main stakeholders’ perception such as: the employees and high-level officials of ARDA, as service providers, and farmers or entrepreneurs in five districts of Albania as: Tirana, Berat, Fier, Elbasan and Durrës (randomly selected), as beneficiaries of these services. In this context, it is also interesting to find a correlation between their perceptions on performance of public services delivered, in order to increase performance and real welfare. The measurement of the perception of satisfaction was finalized by combining quantitative and qualitative research techniques. The combination of these methods has been used to derive the necessary results and to understand the essential role of good governance in the performance of the public entities in Albania. The results of this study highlight the most prominent problems of ARDA as well as the perception that subsidized farmers, in the above-mentioned districts, have for their opportunities, role and influence on important issues such as transparency, accountability, rule of law and citizen participation. According to the farmers' perception, all the performance indicators of ARDA that have been analyzed in this study are not at the expected level. Therefore, it is concluded that ARDA needs further performance improvement, in order to provide a quality service. Consequently, the understanding of farmers’ perception on central governance, whether true or perceived, is an important part of improving effectiveness and efficiency, providing services and improving accountability of central administration.

Public services: a standard process model following a structured process redesign

PurposeDespite widespread adoption of business process reengineering (BPR) for better delivery efficiency of public services, a structured approach continues to elude the most value-adding phase of BPR: business process redesign. From another viewpoint, the rising currency of Whole-of-Government (WoG) and “shared services” initiatives signal an unmissable trend toward resource reuse across public service agencies (PSAs) through business process standardization (BPS). This research invokes BPS into process redesign to produce a process redesign framework (PRF) and deploys the same to build a standard process model (SPM) for services of the government of Albania (GoA).Design/methodology/approachThe methodology follows the design science research (DSR) paradigm, wherein best practices extracted from literature are synthesized with stakeholder inputs to design the PRF and SPM, both of which are then evaluated with case study research.FindingsAdoption of PRF/SPM on a WoG basis will not only reduce service lead time but also enable a variety of public services to share the same process, thereby further saving costs for GoA. The research outputs will accelerate reengineering and subsequent digitalization of public service operations.Research limitations/implicationsImplementing SPM will maximize resource reuse and help offer uniform and integrated public services to GoA's customers. It will also enable demand-driven staff mobilization across GoA agencies. The proposed PRF/SPM have limitations in that they consider only flow aspects of service processes with aspects of conversion being ignored.Originality/valueThis research fulfills the need for a systematic approach to process redesign and prepares GoA for a WoG treatment to its BPR efforts.

The case for gender considerate tobacco control policies in Albania

BackgroundTobacco use is a serious health concern in Albania. While the prevalence of tobacco smoking has traditionally been higher for men, the increasing prevalence of smoking for women is becoming a concern. The 2007 Tobacco Control policy mandated smoke-free indoor spaces, banned various forms of tobacco advertising, required written health warnings on packaging and levied excise taxes on cigarette sales. Since smoking behavior varies among different demographic groups, each group’s response to a uniform policy will differ, blunting the effectiveness of these efforts as a result. This study examines various socioeconomic, demographic and behavioral factors affecting both the likelihood and frequency of smoking in Albanian households in order to provide insights on targeting various populations more effectively.MethodsThe study utilizes data from Albanian 2008–09 and 2017–18 Demographic and Health Surveys consisting of adults aged 15–49 years. The outcome variable includes respondents’ current tobacco smoking behaviour and its frequency. The exposure variables include respondents’ sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics. We use a two-level random intercept model with the two-stage residual inclusion estimation method to determine the association between outcome and exposure variables. By including a time variable, we capture the change in smoking behavior during the 2009–2018 period. We also extend the analysis by assessing the differential influence of gender on the likelihood of smoking, both by income quintiles and education.ResultsThe results suggest that the likelihood of smoking decreased by 23% in 2017–18 compared to 2008–09, after controlling for various socioeconomic and demographic factors. Tobacco smoking is also found to be linked to alcohol consumption, with binge drinkers 59% more likely to smoke tobacco compared to moderate drinkers. We also found significant inter-quintile and inter-educational differences in smoking practices within each gender category. While the likelihood of tobacco smoking decreases with increasing wealth and educational attainment among men, the opposite (for wealth) or more involved (for educational attainment) patterns are true among women.ConclusionsTo further enhance the effectiveness of the current Tobacco Control policy, the Government of Albania should target various demographic groups (such as poor males, rich and educated females) in a differentiated fashion.

Assessing forest governance in Albania

In the last 20 years, Albania has transferred the ownership and the responsibility of the management of 80% of forest area from central government to local government. The process was part of a wide decentralization reform aiming to tackle the challenges related to illegal logging activities, weak institutions, and capacities, unclear laws and regulations, frequent reforms in forest administration, high sector informality etc. Due to decentralization forest governance involve two levels of government and a range of stakeholders with different interests (local communities, forest owners, private sector, etc.). Although the reforms are under implementation, there is a lack of assessments, to analyze the governance challenges for the sector. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to provide an assessment of the status of forest governance in Albania, using a comprehensive analytical framework developed by FAO and PROFOR. The framework is based on three columns (i) policy, legal, institutional and regulatory frameworks, (ii) planning and decision-making processes and (iii) implementation enforcement and compliance. A set of 84 indicators, considered to be relevant for Albania, has been chosen out of 130 indicators proposed by PROFOR. The assessment is carried out through a survey, with a cross-section of 30 experts from various forest-related institutions (state and non-state). The results show that forest governance in Albania is far from good forest governance, despite some positive efforts. The reasons for this are no clear set of policy directions, conflicting or confusing laws, complex forest law and bylaws, no secure access to forest resources by local communities, low capacities of government (central and local) and non-government stakeholders, lack of transparency and accountability etc.

Comparative Review of Tax Systems in the Republic of Albania and Great Britain

Abstract The taxation system is most certainly one of the main pillars of economic development towards sustainable growth.The aim of this paper is to critically assess the importance of an effective Tax System, its impact on the Albanian economy. Furthermore we shall outline a comparison of the Albanian Tax system to that of the United Kingdom. At this time a number of very important reforms are being undertaken by the government of Albania in light of future integration towards the European Union.The overview on the United Kingdom has the aim to enlighten the path on what should be our focus while building a Tax System that can help economic growth, to that effect Great Britain as a country of a stable and strong economy can be of example.Many differences can be noticed between the United Kingdom tax system and the Albanian one. This fact is simple to be accepted as Britain is one of the world superpowers, while the Albanian economy is a developing one. The tax systems in these two countries, the development history, application of VAT or Income Tax have had very different processions.The United Kingdom has one of the most voluminous Tax Acts in the world. The international company of legal research “LexisNexis” discovered that the Acts of Parliament on Taxation in the United Kingdom have more than doubled since 1997. The annual amendments to taxation are part of the Finance Act which has the power to change norms and principles of taxation as previously defined. Taxation in the United Kingdom usually includes payments for central government agencies called Her Majesty’s Revenues and Incomes and local councils. Local Councils collect a tax called business norms from businesses. The Albanian Taxation System consists of a packet of laws, regulations, guidance and tax agreements, on the procedure of application, measure, amendment and removal of taxes.Taxes are the main source of income in the state budget and the local government budget and the foundation of the whole Albanian tax system. In conclusion, we shall analyze the impact of the frequent changes to Taxation Law within the Albanian system and the challenges faced in light of this changes in terms of implementation and application.

Fiscal Decentralization as an Instrument for Economic Development of Local Government in Albania

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Anti-corruption strategies versus public services and good governance in Albania

Corruption occurs in all countries regardless of the level of social and economic development. There is a high correlation between corruption and absence of respect for human rights and between corruption and undemocratic practices. Corruption alienates citizens from their government. There is also a high correlation between anti-corruption, good governance and public services. This paper will discuss how corruption affects good governance and public services in Albania. The relationship between central and local governments in Albania has always been fragile. The delegation of the competences from the central to the local government should be seen as a general benefit. A partial delegation of competences or fake delegation of competencies will be a problem for both central and local units. A partial delegation will lead to scarce public services and will give space for corrupt practices. Decentralization of the competencies will only be successful if local authorities can engage in political dialogue with central governments to promote their interests and cooperate among themselves. Strong involvement by all local government units is essential for the success of this process. Cooperation and coordination between central and local governments has been problematic as it is largely directed by political affiliation and influence. Improving this relationship is necessary to achieve constructive dialogue and institutional cooperation between the central agencies and local governments units. Intergovernmental relations will be improved through the establishment of institutional mechanisms of dialogue as well as the adoption of relevant legislation. This paper will discuss various anti-corruption strategies adopted in Albania.

Roli i pushtetit vendor për intesifikimin e shkëmbimeve midis Shqipërisë dhe Kosovës dhe integrimin në BE

On the road to integration into the European Union, Albania and Kosovo are faced with a series of conditions, mostly in the form of reforms, the overall goal of which is to strengthen institutions for good governance. However, the ability to govern and manage it can not be effective if it is perceived as a closed process, but instead co-operation with units of local self-government in the country and abroad is an alternative for both sides. The purpose of the article is to highlight the role of local government in enhancing and intensifying exchanges and relations between Albania and Kosovo and EU integration. The article has several objectives, firstly, aims to identify why local government can play an important role in this process of rapprochement and cooperation, secondly aims to identify the importance of this cooperation, thirdly, aims to analyze the benefits of these agreements and collaborations suggesting some forms of cooperation through agreements and analysis and concrete consequences that these forms of cooperation may have. For the realization of this article, several research methods have been used, such as research in order to observe the current cases of successful developments, secondly, the analysis method was used to analyze the concrete situation of local government in Albania and Kosovo. thirdly, the synthesis method was used to synthesize the knowledge and practices so far and their adaptation to the case of cooperation between Albania and Kosovo. The article aims to be in a form of recommendation for the ways and forms of cooperation by identifying the importance of cooperation, but not merely in the theoretical plan, but addressed in concrete form, identifying the forms of cooperation, the importance of increasing the role of local government also for integration into the EU.