Higher Levels Of Government Research Articles

Women’s representation in higher leadership positions in Ethiopia in the last three decades since 1991

Gender equality in decision-making positions is crucial to achieving the goals of good governance, peace, democracy, and inclusive/sustainable development. The major aim of this research article is to investigate the representation trend of women in higher decision-making positions over the last thirty years, since 1991. The federal three organs of government (law formulating, law enforcing, and law interpreting bodies) were the focus of this research. This research is a mixed type of research that inculcates both qualitative and quantitative data types. Secondary data sources from relevant government institutions were mostly used. The data was analyzed through content analysis of documents and presented via descriptive data presenting techniques. The research findings reveal that although women’s representation in positions of decision-making has advanced considerably in recent years, the empirical data throughout the previous thirty years demonstrated the underrepresentation of women in higher leadership positions within the Ethiopian federal government. Furthermore, Women never held certain higher-level government leadership positions, such as the Prime Minister position, which seems to be forbidden for women. Women made up 23%, 19%, 19%, and 24% of the House of Peoples Representatives (HPR), the House of Federation (HoF), ministerial posts, and judicial bodies, respectively over the last three decades. Women are visibly underrepresented in the executive positions as compared to others. Thus, substantial policy and practical initiatives are needed to remove institutional, social, and economic barriers to boost women’s advanced visibility in senior leadership roles.

Micro-municipal administration: a review and network-based framework

PurposeMicro-municipalities are a widespread form of local government worldwide. However, research into micro-municipalities is often fragmented across various disciplines (e.g. public management, urban studies, etc.), limiting our understanding of the diverse influences impacting micro-municipal administration. Here, we review the literature on micro-municipalities and investigate the network relationships affecting their administration.Design/methodology/approachWe performed a systematic literature review on micro-municipal administration. We adopted a network perspective for analysing the sample articles, which helps identify the multiple nodes that influence micro-municipalities’ administration, the drivers of relationships between the nodes, and the direction and flow of authority between these nodes.FindingsWe propose a network-based framework of micro-municipal administration that incorporates tailored interventions and support from higher government levels, adaptive stakeholder engagement, residents’ active participation, and responsive leadership.Originality/valueThis is the first systematic literature review of micro-municipalities and the first to propose a network-based framework for their effective governance.

Urban informality as regulatory ambiguity: a case study of urban village redevelopment in Shenzhen

Housing demolition in urban villages is a contentious subject. Examining the state-informality nexus, this study argues that informality enters the tensions between interpretations of regulations as text or intent. By utilizing the two analytical categories, this paper argues that higher-level government strategically provides an ambiguous regulatory framework that enables district governments utilized informality as a strategy in the urban village redevelopment in Shenzhen. Three specific strategies were identified: finding alternatives, conceding the use value, and reinterpret ambiguous terms in the context of regulatory framework. Thus, the district government has been able to successfully promote the demolition of houses. As demonstrated in the case study, local officials should understand the intent of regulations and policies in addition to enforcing the text of them. If the intent of a regulation is not contradicted, its enforcement is feasible even if it deviates from the text. This study contributes to international debates on informal settlements and housing governance.

The mandate of “heaven”: How forestland property rights were undermined under the Chinese discourse of Ecological Civilization

The relationship between upholding forestland property rights and achieving environmental conservation is not always straightforward. Occasionally, property rights can be undermined in the pursuit of environmental conservation. This article adopts the concept of “rule of mandates” to explain how a Chinese reform of property rights over forestland, namely the Collective Forest Tenure Reform (CFTR) initiated in 2003, was subsequently undermined under the discourse of Ecological Civilization. In doing so, the article updates the framework for analysing policy implementation under the rule of mandates. Unlike the rule of law, the rule of mandates enables a government to assign a set of mandates that are ambiguous, contradictory, and with hierarchical priorities. Under the top-down authoritarian hierarchy, lower-level governments are obliged to implement the high-priority mandates of higher-level government. Tracing the forest governance dynamics of two counties in Fujian province from 2010 to 2019, the case study reveals that, in the early 2010s, the central government prioritized environmental conservation over forestland property rights under the discourse of Ecological Civilization. At local levels, this manifested in undermining property rights through restricted timber harvest levels for the sake of environmental conservation. Unlike policy implementation under the rule of law, restrictions on timber harvest were implemented by direct government mandates. This analysis points to the vulnerability of property rights under the rule of mandates. In a developing country context characterized by pressing environmental concerns and a dysfunctional rule of law, this study demonstrates the challenges of prioritizing environmental conservation over legal tenure.

Role of local governments in EU member states’ climate policy and legislation

This article provides a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges that local governments have in achieving climate objectives, both within EU member states’ national climate policy and national climate law, and how this relates to the literature on multi-level governance. More specifically, the differences and similarities between the national climate plans and national climate legislation of four selected member states (Germany, Ireland, Netherlands and Spain) have been examined. The findings from this can be related to the literature on multi-level governance when it comes to opportunities and challenges regarding the role that local governments fulfill. On the one hand, local governments are often seen as potential key drivers that can successfully work together and whose involvement can lead to more effective climate governance. On the other hand, local governments are legally and financially dependent on higher levels of government in the implementation of their assigned climate-related tasks and responsibilities.

The official career of Sir Christopher Hales, attorney general and master of the rolls under Henry VIII

Abstract This article is the first study of the official career of Sir Christopher Hales. It casts new light on the workload and responsibilities of an early Tudor lawyer-administrator at the highest levels of government. It is structured around the principal stages in Hales’s career: undersheriff of Kent (1507–8), solicitor general (1525–9), attorney general (1529–36) and master of the rolls (1536–41). Its chief contribution to scholarship is that it provides a detailed discussion of the office of attorney general in the early Tudor period.

Flattening of government hierarchies and growth of farmers’ income

Continuously raising farmers’ income is important for poverty reduction. In a multilevel government system, institutional arrangements can influence the role of grassroots governments in economic and social development. Based on the rural statistical data of 743 townships in Province A in central China from 2001 to 2012, we use the difference-in-differences (DID) approach to investigate the effect of the reform of flattening governmental hierarchy at the township level on increasing farmers’ income. We find that the reform of grassroots flattening hierarchies significantly promotes the growth of farmers’ income. Specifically, in the face of economic-assessment pressure from the higher-level government and the incentives of fiscal excess revenue in the reform, the township government will make full use of the greater administrative power and resources endowed by the reform to vigorously attract investment to increase the number of enterprises and provide farmers with more non-agricultural employment opportunities, thus raising their wage income. Moreover, this reform’s income-increasing effect is more obvious in townships that are closer to the county seat and have more convenient transportation, a higher level of human capital, and a stronger ability to exercise administrative power.

The role of behavioral decision-making in panic buying events during COVID-19: From the perspective of an evolutionary game based on prospect theory

Sudden public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic have triggered widespread panic buying incidents globally, causing disruptions in commodity markets characterized by imbalances between supply and demand. This has posed a serious threat to social stability. During sudden public health events, panic buying typically complicates epidemic prevention and control efforts, leading to adverse consequences such as resource wastage, supply-demand imbalances, and market failures, which pose a threat to social stability and economic development. The progression of panic buying is significantly influenced by the actions and choices of both the public and local authorities. Therefore, studying the impact of the behavioral decisions made by the public and local governments plays a pivotal role in the evolution of such events. Building upon this premise, this paper studies the role of behavioral decisions in the COVID-19 panic buying event from the perspective of an evolutionary game. First, the public’s attitude toward the development of the event is divided into two categories: those with a negative attitude and those with a positive attitude. At the same time, the concepts of mental benefits and mental costs are introduced and quantified, serving as key factors in public decision-making. Second, prospect theory is used to elucidate the risk preferences and loss aversion of decision-makers. An evolutionary game model is constructed with the public and local governments as the main entities based on prospect theory. The replication dynamic equation is constructed using the benefit perception matrix, and the equilibrium point and stability conditions of the model are deduced. Third, the impact of participants' behavioral decisions during the panic buying event on the event’s evolution process is discussed through numerical simulation analysis. The results show that (1) in the context of sudden public health emergencies, material demand is the primary cause of public panic buying behavior. Postpanic buying events, such behavior is influenced primarily by the proportion of individuals with negative attitudes within the population. Local governments should release positive information regarding supplies in a timely manner during the nascent stage of panic buying events and actively monitor the proportion of individuals with negative attitudes. (2) There is a positive correlation between risk preference and public panic buying behavior, whereas loss aversion has the opposite effect. The spiritual benefits perceived by the public from engaging in panic buying increase with higher risk preference, whereas perceived costs related to health issues increase with deeper levels of loss aversion. (3) When response costs exceed what local governments are willing to bear, reputation gains and losses play a crucial role in their decision-making. The probability of local governments adopting responsive strategies increases with their emphasis on reputation and aversion to reputation losses. Higher-level governments should enhance the dissemination of positive and negative examples of government handling, enhancing local governments' sense of responsibility and honor to improve their perception of reputation gains and losses, thereby encouraging proactive management of panic buying events.

Digital transformation of construction industry under government reward and punishment mechanism based on evolutionary game modeling

ABSTRACT Current research on digital transformation in the construction industry requires an in-depth analysis of the behavioral strategy choices of relevant key players. This paper bridges this gap by combining the characteristics of the construction industry and focusing on the key behavioral players in the digital transformation of the construction industry. It constructs an evolutionary game model involving the government, construction units, and construction enterprises, and examines the impact of government incentives and penalties on the strategic choices of each game participant. MATLAB is used to simulate, validate and analyze the effects of various factors on strategic choices to verify the validity of the model. The results suggest that (1) increasing incentives and subsidies for construction units and enterprises will facilitate the advancement of digital transformation in the construction industry. However, they must be kept within a specific range or they may lead to speculative behavior. (2) By setting a loss limit and penalizing local governments, higher-level governments can stimulate the digital transformation of construction enterprises. Through the analysis of the evolutionary results, several countermeasure suggestions are put forward, aiming to promote the digital transformation of the construction industry.

Whose Upward Mobility?: Evaluating Intersectional Effects of Gender Quotas

ABSTRACT Existing research shows that gender quotas implemented at the lowest level of government can have positive spillover effects on enhancing women’s representation at higher levels of government where gender quotas are not in place. Yet it is unclear whether this carry-over effect varies for different subgroups of women. I theorise why gender quotas may support the career progression of some women but not others. Analyzing India’s 40 years of state-level election data, I find that more women from privileged groups have run for higher-level political office with exposure to 50% gender quotas implemented at the village level political office. A closer look at the overall institutional context shows that women from traditionally disadvantaged groups benefit in higher-level elections in the presence of electoral quotas for subordinate groups. Had there been no quotas for marginalised groups at the higher level, the upstream effect of exposure to gender quotas would have been skewed toward women from dominant groups. This research contributes to our understanding of sustainable representation through an intersectional lens and emphasizes the importance of carefully designing institutional reforms in achieving political inclusion.

Research on the impact of environmental regulation on enterprise high-quality development

Economic high-quality development requires the harmonious integration of economic growth and environmental protection. Enterprises are not only an important force in achieving economic high-quality development, but also the main source of environmental pollution. The government bears the main responsibility for environmental management, and its behavior will inevitably affect the production decisions of enterprises. This study explores the impact of environmental regulation on enterprise high-quality development, using a sample of A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2013 to 2021. The study finds a U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and enterprise high-quality development. This relationship is more significant in the samples of state-owned enterprises, heavily polluting enterprises, and local governments that rely less on tax revenues from key enterprises. The mechanism analysis from the perspectives of enterprises shows that environmental regulation promotes enterprise high-quality development by driving them to increase green investment, propel green innovation, and enhance environmental responsibility. Analyses from the perspective of government competition reveals that the pressure from high levels of government will slow the arrival of the turning point of environmental regulation, whereas public pressure and competition pressure from peer governments will accelerate it. This study provides some micro paths for the realization of economic high-quality development.

Using adaptive cycles and panarchy to understand processes of touristification and gentrification in Valencia, Spain

This paper takes a multi-level approach to gain a better understanding of (tourism) gentrification and tourism excesses in three popular tourist neighbourhoods in Valencia, Spain. This city radically changed tourism policies in 2015, from a top-down approach that was focused on economic growth, towards one in which localhood and community development are stimulated. However, the change has done little to mitigate issues related to high levels of gentrification and touristification. This issue has been investigated using adaptive cycles and panarchy as a framework. Using these concepts has helped clarify how current policies mainly stimulate bottom-up innovations to overcome the lack of creative capacity at the local level (in other words, the ‘poverty trap’). Yet they insufficiently address processes that relate to the worldviews and higher governance levels that contribute to maintaining the current economic growth-oriented tourism ecosystem (the ‘rigidity trap’). The implications of our findings and ways forward conclude the paper.

Information retrieval and classification of real-time multi-source hurricane evacuation notices

In the United States, tracking time-sensitive critical information such as evacuation notices for approaching natural hazards like hurricanes poses a significant challenge. This difficulty arises from the rapid issuing and distribution of these notices by numerous local authorities that may span multiple states. Additionally, evacuation notices often undergo frequent updates, and they are distributed through various online portals lacking standard formats. Unlike weather warnings, there is no centralized database for live (or past) evacuation notices. To meet the demand of data for crisis-related government notices, we developed an approach to detect and retrieve locally issued hurricane evacuation notices in real time. Evacuation-related text data were collected mainly through spatially targeted information retrieval. These data were then manually labeled and used to train natural language processing (NLP) models. The NLP models in turn classified all text data into one of the three notice categories, i.e., mandatory evacuation notices, voluntary evacuation notices, and not an evacuation notice. The classification of mandatory evacuation notices achieved a very high accuracy (recall = 96 %). These NLP models, when applied to future hurricanes, will provide real-time evacuation notices for situation awareness to higher-level government agencies and news outlets. The archived evacuation notices serve as a valuable resource for scholars to study government responses to weather warnings and individual behaviors influenced by evacuation history. Our research framework may extend to other disaster types, allowing for rapid and targeted retrieval, classification, redistribution, and archiving of real-time government orders and notifications.

The soft channels of policy diffusion: Insights from local climate change adaptation policy

AbstractDiffusion has become both an important concept for studying policy spread and a popular governance approach, particularly where direct coercion is unavailable or undesirable. However, the prevailing mechanism‐centered concept is difficult to measure and poorly captures the governance potential of policy diffusion. To address these issues, this article presents a new channel‐centered framework that distinguishes between six soft policy diffusion channels: autonomous, collaborative, exemplary, persuasive, organized, and funded diffusion. The framework is probed by studying local climate change adaptation policy using original survey data collected from the administrations of 190 municipalities located in the central German state of Hessen. The regression results indicate that the local institutionalization of adaptation in Hessen is associated with several interventions by higher levels of government, including the provision of a policy model, a municipal climate network, and grant programs. However, the density of concrete adaptation measures is associated with noninstitutionalized exchanges between municipalities. External grants are also found to be more effective in institutionalizing adaptation in larger municipalities. These results demonstrate the usefulness of the framework for distinguishing and comparing different diffusion channels and suggest that different types of interventions may be required to effectively support adaptation policy development at the local level.

Ownership structure and integrated reporting quality: empirical evidence from an emerging market

Purpose This paper aims to explore the role of ownership structure on integrated reporting quality (IRQ) in an emerging market. Design/methodology/approach This study includes a sample consisting of 64 firms from Bursa Malaysia, with 173 firm-year observations from 2017 to 2020. Feasible Generalised Least Square model has been used to test the hypotheses. Findings The findings show that government ownership has a positive effect on IRQ and that the integrated reports and <IR> framework are well aligned. Foreign ownership influences IRQ positively. However, the results did not support the effect of family ownership on IRQ as hypothesised. Practical implications The findings of this research hold practical implications for companies and regulators in Malaysia. The results demonstrate to investors that both government and foreign ownership have a positive impact on IRQ. Therefore, investors can make well-informed investment decisions regarding companies with a high level of government or foreign ownership. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to explore the effect of ownership structure on IRQ in the Malaysian context.

Mayors Unchecked: Vertical and Horizontal Dimensions of Local Autonomy in Latin American Municipalities

In this paper, we argue that, relative to chief executives at higher levels of government, mayors in Latin America often operate with fewer outside checks on their scope of action, with problematic consequences for democracy. To make this argument, we examine a number of factors that can render mayors especially powerful and autonomous as political actors, and distinguish between the vertical (inter-governmental) and horizontal (inter-branch) dimensions of their autonomy. Vertically, we show that mayors have more institutional leeway than governors given the absence of the mechanism of interventions from the national government that could check their power. Horizontally, we identify a number of institutional and noninstitutional advantages that can enable mayors to exercise predominance vis-à-vis municipal legislative bodies and other actors in the local political landscape. To support our argument, we provide evidence gathered from fieldwork in six municipalities in three different countries (Chile, Paraguay, and Peru).

The Path of Rural Social Capital Improvement in China from the Perspective of Planners: A Case Study of Hongtang Village in Yunnan Province

China’s rural areas have long been backward in development, and many villages have completed poverty alleviation with the help of the government. Facing the requirements of sustainable development, it is necessary to change the development path, continuously increase social capital, and effectively connect with government investment resources. The existing research and practice mostly construct the strategy of social capital from the inside of the village, lacking interaction with the superior government. This paper argues for the method of planners’ intervention. The advantage is that it links the power of government and villagers, creates a perceptible, experiential, valuable material environment, and promotes collective action. Through this process, the knowledge interaction and social relations in the village can be improved. The purpose of this paper is to study how participatory planning affects the content and mechanism of this process mentioned above. Taking Hongtang village as a case study, we analyze the in-depth changes that participatory planning has brought to the rural space and social level. In the participatory planning practice of Hongtang village, college rural planners took a small vegetable garden as the breakthrough point to stimulate villagers’ participation. In the process of the upgrade, planners evolved the interaction between the village committee and villagers in the path of IMEE, which is “Intervene, Motivate, Enable, Empower”. Moreover, planners always maintained contact with the higher-level government. Through the upgrade of small vegetable gardens, the villagers’ initiative was brought into practice, the social capital was fully explored, and an effective link with the government’s resource allocation was realized.

Women's representation in higher leadership positions in Ethiopia in the last three decades since 1991.

Gender equality in decision-making positions is crucial to achieving the goals of good governance, peace, democracy, and inclusive/sustainable development. The major aim of this research article is to investigate the representation trend of women in higher decision-making positions over the last thirty years, since 1991. The federal three organs of government (law formulating, law enforcing, and law interpreting bodies) were the focus of this research. This research is a mixed type of research that inculcates both qualitative and quantitative data types. Secondary data sources from relevant government institutions were mostly used. The data was analyzed through content analysis of documents and presented via descriptive data presenting techniques. The research findings reveal that although women's representation in positions of decision-making has advanced considerably in recent years, the empirical data throughout the previous thirty years demonstrated the underrepresentation of women in higher leadership positions within the Ethiopian federal government. Furthermore, Women never held certain higher-level government leadership positions, such as the Prime Minister position, which seems to be forbidden for women. Women made up 23%, 19%, 19%, and 24% of the House of Peoples Representatives (HPR), the House of Federation (HoF), ministerial posts, and judicial bodies, respectively over the last three decades. Women are visibly underrepresented in the executive positions as compared to others. Thus, substantial policy and practical initiatives are needed to remove institutional, social, and economic barriers to boost women's advanced visibility in senior leadership roles.

Has fintech affected the credit loan scale of urban commercial banks in China?

ABSTRACT This study aims to empirically examine the impact of financial technology (fintech) on the credit loan scale of urban commercial banks in China. Using panel data from Chinese urban commercial banks spanning 2011 to 2020, the study employs the Financial Technology Development Index to measure fintech development. The findings indicate that fintech significantly increases the credit loan scale of urban commercial banks. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the magnitude of change in credit loans is more pronounced in urban commercial banks with larger scales and higher governance levels. The findings further indicate that fintech improves the information acquisition and processing capabilities of urban commercial banks, reducing information asymmetry and expanding the scope of credit services, particularly benefiting small and medium-sized enterprises. The study underscores the importance of technological innovation for banks to enhance risk assessment and address liquidity challenges. It also highlights the need for regulatory supervision to ensure the responsible use of fintech. Overall, the study contributes to the understanding of how fintech influences the credit loan scale of urban commercial banks and offers insights for banks and policymakers to leverage fintech for sustainable financial development.

Information disclosure and pollution reduction: evidence from environmental NGO monitoring in China

This paper investigates the impact of environmental information disclosure on firm pollution behavior by leveraging an exogenous shock which allow Chinese environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) to disclose pollution information. Using a difference-in-differences approach comparing firms in disclosed cities versus undisclosed cities, we find ENGO information disclosure significantly reduces manufacturing firm COD emissions. We explore several potential mechanisms and find that the reduction effect was primarily driven by “higher-level government supervision” rather than “public supervision.” Heterogeneous analysis reveals significant effects only for firms facing high reduction pressure, low governance costs, weak local protection, and in heavy-polluting industries. Our findings provide insights into supplementing inadequate regulations with informal institutions to achieve environmental aims within a decentralized economy.