Governance Innovation Research Articles

Artificial Intelligence, Climate Change and Innovative Democratic Governance

AbstractThis policy-oriented article explores the sustainability dimension of digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI). While AI can contribute to halting climate change via targeted applications in specific domains, AI technology in general could also have detrimental effects for climate policy goals. Moreover, digitalisation and AI can have an indirect effect on climate policy via their impact on political processes. It will be argued that, if certain conditions are fulfilled, AI-facilitated digital tools could help with setting up frameworks for bottom-up citizen participation that could generate the legitimacy and popular buy-in required for speedy transformations needed to reach net zero such as radically revamping the energy infrastructure among other crucial elements of the green transition. This could help with ameliorating a potential dilemma of voice versus speed regarding the green transition. The article will further address the nexus between digital applications such as AI and climate justice. Finally, the article will consider whether innovative governance methods could instil new dynamism into the multi-level global climate regime, such as by facilitating interlinkages and integration between different levels. Before implementing innovative governance arrangements, it is crucial to assess whether they do not exacerbate old or even generate new inequalities of access and participation.

THE INFLUENCE OF PHILANTHROPIC FOUNDATIONS ON CITY GOVERNMENT INNOVATION

AbstractIn this study I examine the role of philanthropic foundations in stimulating city government innovation. Reduced budgets and rising consumer demands are challenging organizational capacity in government, prompting government officials to recognize the need for innovation to improve policies, programmes and practices. This empirical study draws upon qualitative interviews and policy reports to generate comparative case studies on three city governments in England: Bristol, Manchester and Newcastle. It builds on work in urban studies and policy mobilities that reveals how foundations can influence urban agendas, finding that philanthropic foundations engage with city governments through three different types of collaboration: direct provision of financial resources, exchange of non‐financial resources with city governments and indirect engagements. Philanthropic foundations are blending financial resources and less tangible provision of space and time to enable city governments to experiment with new ideas, policies and ways of working. The fusion of non‐governmental resources provides city governments with the capacity to act, and city governments often use non‐governmental funding for riskier projects and for projects that may not have taken place if public funding had been used. Through these different collaborations and by deploying a suite of interventions and methods, philanthropic foundations stimulate product, service, process, conceptual and governance innovation in city governments.

Local government innovation model in Pekanbaru City, Indonesia: a study of public service mall

This research aims to find a model for implementing local government innovation in Pekanbaru City. One of the Innovation Public Service Mall innovations with the highest score is SMART PETAKU (Pekanbaru City Government Land Asset Management System) with a score of 820. However, there are still several innovations with the lowest score, one of which is the E-Archive with a score of 0. Using the theory of disruptive innovation ( Yu Hang, 2010), the basic design of this study uses a qualitative method with a descriptive approach from primary data sources obtained from in-depth interview techniques and secondary data, namely passive observation techniques. The research findings show that first, the success of the internal perspective is determined by the indicators of visionary and innovative local government head leadership, the right organizational structure with the establishment of a Public Service Mall, an organizational culture that is not separated from the pathology of democracy, and employee competencies that require development. Second, an external perspective determined by supervision from the Pekanbaru City DPRD, community participation, and appreciation factors that have a significant effect on the performance of the Pekanbaru City Government. Third, the marketing aspect is supported by the existence of a dynamic website from the content and information presented. Fourth is the technological perspective, where the Pekanbaru City Government through the Public Service Mall applies the E-Gov concept with application designs for requests and complaints. The conclusion of the study found the IEMT model with internal, external, market, and technology perspective dimensions. Recommendations for further research are collaborative governance studies in service innovation with the private sector at Public Service Malls which are still disproportionate.

Symbolic or substantial? Different responses of state-owned and privately owned firms to government innovation policies

What influences a firm's response to government innovation policies? This study draws upon the institutional logic perspective to propose that China's state-owned enterprises, guided by state logic, are more likely to make a substantial response to such policies—a response that takes the form of the increased volume of invention patent applications, a steady grant rate, and market-related expenses. In contrast, private firms, guided by market logic, are more likely to make a symbolic response in terms of the increased volume of invention patent applications, a reduced grant rate, and increased market-related expenses and revenues. Results from our study, which uses a quasi-experimental approach based on an exogenous government innovation policy and data on publicly listed Chinese companies, support our arguments. These findings deepen the scholars' understanding of the effects of policy on state-owned and private firms.

Governing the knowledge commons: Hybrid relational–contractual governance in china’s mining industry

How do industry participants govern knowledge commons and deal with knowledge production and sharing? Beyond privatized intellectual resources safeguarded by the intellectual property system (e.g., patent and copyrights), a knowledge commons is an alternative type of intellectual property regime that has become increasingly prevalent but remains understudied. Substantiated by fieldwork data in three mining sites in China’s Jiangxi province, this article examines the ways in which contractual and relational governance mechanisms work together to facilitate collaboration and innovation and mitigate ambiguity and volatility. This study contributes to the existing literature on knowledge commons and innovation governance and enhances the empirical understanding of innovation in emerging economies where formal protection of intellectual property is insufficient.

Systematic Literature Review on Alternative Governance Arrangements for Resource Deficient Situations: Small Island Community-Based Ecotourism

This paper builds on evidence of community participation in the form of capacity-building practices following the growing trend of ecotourism development that is exponentially penetrating small islands. With an emphasis on the discussion of governance and local community involvement in development processes, this paper uses a systematic literature review combined with bibliometric analysis to identify and explore the trajectories of key themes in research in the field of alternative governance of small island ecotourism from 1980-2021. Initially, we identified 572 papers that matched the selection criteria. After filtering, we found 22 articles that revolved around the governance of (community-based) ecotourism on small islands. Building on the review, we then examined the potential theoretical contributions to guide future research regarding the building of bottom-linked socially innovative governance of ecotourism on small islands in general, and the role of participation, community capacity building, (socio-political) emancipation and (political) bargaining power in particular.

How does the target of green innovation for cleaner production change in management process? Quality targeting and link targeting

The global economy has accelerated the transition to a green, low-carbon economy. An enterprise's green innovation (GI) is directly related to its capacity for sustainable production as a micro-subject of economic development. This study examined the impact of managerial capacity on enterprise green innovation and changes of green innovation targeting. We used data collected manually from 423 Chinese A-share companies from 2010 to 2017. The effect of various external impact signals was then investigated. This study's findings are as follows: (1) Managerial ability stimulated green enterprise innovation. The marginal effect was 0.0696. While quality targeting has focused more on green invention innovation, managerial capacity significantly improved the marginal impact of green substantial innovation by 0.0375; (2) The clean production link targeting analysis confirmed that enterprises focused on end-of-pipe governance innovation (0.0466), along with new energy innovation (0.0495) rather than energy-saving innovation (−0.0227); (3) The multi-period DDD (Difference in Difference in Difference) model revealed that low-carbon city policy promoted green innovation with a diminishing trend; (4) The voluntary environmental regulation signals, ISO14001 certification, displayed a substitute effect for managerial capacity on enterprise green innovation. This paper provides recommendations, including that enterprises should improve the utilization of new and renewable energy while improving and optimizing production processes. The government should also improve innovation incentive policies and strengthen environmental information disclosure.

Promoting Innovation or Exacerbating Inequality? Laboratory Federalism and Australian Age Discrimination Law

According to laboratory federalism, federal systems can promote governmental innovation and experimentation, while containing the risks of innovation to only one jurisdiction. However, it is unclear whether these benefits are realised in practice and whether states are actually effective ‘laboratories’. This article evaluates the extent to which laboratory federalism is occurring in practice, focusing on a case study of age discrimination law in Australia. Drawing on related ideas of democratic experimentalism; legal doctrinal analysis of age discrimination law in the Australian states and territories, and at the federal level; and qualitative expert interviews with 66 Australian respondents, I map the potential and limits of laboratory federalism in advancing age equality. I argue that, in this particular context, the benefits of experimentation may be outweighed by the resulting difficulties of enforcing age discrimination law, exacerbating inequality in practice. The federal structure has led to a confused and confusing patchwork of legal regulation. There is therefore a need for stronger federal structures to facilitate mutual learning and better realise the benefits of laboratory federalism.

Dilemma and countermeasures of community sports center governance under the background of big data and Internet of Things

My country is currently in a new era of industrial revolution and technological development, among which the most representative is the rapid development of information technology. And the action plan has been formulated, and it is pointed out that it is necessary to deeply integrate the real economy and artificial intelligence, the Internet and digital China, as well as the smart society and big data. As the most critical part of community governance, the complexity and difficulty of community sports center governance is relatively high. Therefore, one of the key goals that all sectors of society are currently concerned about is how to build and develop community sports through more advanced technical means center. The innovative governance community sports center must effectively combine and integrate the current advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things and big data, so that the level of community governance can be effectively improved. This paper draws on the academic background of “governance” in the field of public management. Different from social management, “governance” mainly reflects the administrative aspect, the cooperation between the government and all sectors of society, while the traditional social management mainly highlights the state’s administrative management. It reflects the concept that the government’s management power is inviolable and unshareable, which is also very different from the development direction of the gradual liberalization of the administrative power advocated by the Chinese government. Therefore, the effective way to solve various social problems at this stage is to change the concept of social management to community governance, and this approach has also been supported and valued by the government in recent years. The research shows that the management efficiency of community sports facilities can be effectively improved by optimizing the community sports governance system, making full use of the convenience brought by information resources, and using its own advanced technology.

Driving Business Performance: Cost Leadership and Government Innovation in SME Partnerships

This quantitative study aims to analyze the influence of Cost Leadership Strategy and government-led innovations on business performance through SME partnerships in the Food and Beverage sector. Conducted in the Sidoarjo district of Indonesia, with a population of 49 SME groups, the research utilized a saturated sampling technique and employed a structured questionnaire to gather data. Using SEM PLS analysis, the results indicate that the Cost Leadership Strategy accounts for 44% of the business performance variance, while innovation through partnerships drives an impressive 86% impact on business performance. The findings underscore the significance of strategically fostering sustainable business performance, highlighting the role of the government in supporting SME partnerships to achieve growth and efficiency in the global marketplace.
 Highlights:
 
 Cost Leadership Strategy: Examining the impact of cost-focused approaches on SME business performance.
 Innovation in SMEs: Understanding how innovative practices contribute to business growth.
 Partnerships for Success: Analyzing the role of SME collaborations in driving sustainable business outcomes.
 
 Keywords: Cost Leadership Strategy, Innovation, SME Business Performance, SME Partnerships, Indonesia.

Opening the black box of social innovation in migration governance

The aim of this paper is to investigate the role played by social innovation in challenging exclusion and marginality in relation to migration governance. Drawing on some reflections that have emerged from fieldwork, this contribution proposes an analytical framework that considers four interwoven dimensions: intercultural relations, social infrastructures, discourses and imaginaries and forms of participation. On the basis of these dimensions, social innovation can support and implement creative solutions that bring together civil society actors and local administrators. Although social innovations originate mainly at the level of civil society, we sustain that the study of socially innovative practices can be useful to explore the growing involvement of non-state actors in the governance of migration and their potentialities in terms of collective action.

Does the value-added tax reduction policy promote a firm’s green innovation? Evidence from China

ABSTRACT Based on the quasi-natural experiment of the Notice on Policies Related to the Simplified Value-added Tax Rate in 2017, this paper constructs a difference-in-difference model to shed light on the impact of the value-added tax reduction policy on a firm’s green innovation and its potential mechanism. The results reveal that after the implementation of the value-added tax reduction policy, the green innovation level of firms affected by the policy shock has significantly improved, and this conclusion remains consistent after a series of robustness tests. From the type of firms’ green innovation, the enforcement of the value-added tax reduction policy spurs firms’ substantive green innovation, but has limited impact on firms’ strategic green innovation. The mechanism test finds that easing financing constraints is an important channel for tax reduction policies to affect firms’ green innovation activities. In addition, the analysis indicates that the positive effect of the value-added tax reduction policy on green innovation is more pronounced among firms with more government innovation subsidies, stronger human capital, and higher capital intensity.

Impact of beta-blockers on mortality and cardiovascular disease outcomes in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea: a population-based cohort study in target trial emulation framework

There is no real-world evidence regarding the association between beta-blocker use and mortality or cardiovascular outcomes in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). We aimed to investigate the impact of beta-blocker use on all-cause mortality and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in patients with OSA. We conducted a target trial emulation study of 37,581 patients with newly diagnosed OSA from 1st January 2000 to 30th November 2021 using the IMRD-UK database (formerly known as the THIN database). We compared the treatment strategies of initiating beta-blocker treatment within one year versus non-beta-blocker treatment through the method of clone-censor-weight. Covariates, including patients' demographics, lifestyle, comorbidities, and recent medications, were measured and controlled. Patients were followed up for all-cause mortality or composite CVD outcomes (angina, myocardial infarction, stroke/transient ischaemic attack, heart failure, or atrial fibrillation). We estimated the five-year absolute risks, risk differences and risk ratio with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) with standardised, weighted pooled logistic regression, which is a discrete-time hazard model for survival analysis. Several sensitivity analyses were performed, including multiple imputation addressing the missing data. The median follow-up time was 4.1 (interquartile range, 1.9-7.8) years. The five-year absolute risk of all-cause mortality and CVD outcomes were 4.9% (95% CI, 3.8-6.0) and 13.0% (95% CI, 11.4-15.0) among beta-blocker users, and 4.0% (95% CI, 3.8-4.2) and 9.4% (95% CI, 9.1-9.7) among non-beta-blocker users, respectively. The five-year absolute risk difference and risk ratio between the two groups for all-cause mortality and CVD outcomes were 0.9% (95% CI,-0.2 to 2.1) and 1.22 (95% CI, 0.96-1.54), and 3.5% (95% CI, 2.1-5.5) and 1.37 (95% CI, 1.22-1.62), respectively. Findings were consistent across the sensitivity analyses. Beta-blocker treatment was associated with an increased risk of CVD and a trend for an increased risk of mortality among patients with OSA. Further studies are needed to confirm our findings. Innovation and Technology Commission of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region Government.

The Implications of Agglomeration and Alliance Governance for Innovation in Alliances

The Implications of Agglomeration and Alliance Governance for Innovation in Alliances

Evolution of Chinese original-innovation talent policies: a topic modelling approach

ABSTRACT Original-innovation talent significantly influences a nation’s competitive edge. Consequently, supportive policies towards original-innovation talents are critical for the enhancement of national innovation governance. This study utilised a Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) model to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the development and evolution of 334 original-innovation talent policies enacted in China from 1978 to 2022, where we scrutinised the features and progression of China’s original-innovation talent policies and recapitulated the course of their maturation. Semantic analysis was employed to pinpoint the keyword characteristics of these policies, while the LDA model was utilised to extract relevant information, study the evolution of topic intensity, and dissect the fluctuation of topic intensity across various periods. The results indicated that China’s original-innovation talent policies have metamorphosed in alignment with the nation's development objectives, which now focus predominantly on the support of breakthroughs in key core technologies and basic research. The paper concludes with suggestions for strengthening the top-level design of policies, optimising incentive policies, and creating a supportive environment for original innovation.

Local Governance Support Tools for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Adaptation Strategies: The EU Contribution in the Case Study of the Municipality of Naples

Today’s global context poses ongoing challenges that can be addressed by implementing a systemic and strategic approach directed toward climate-resilient cities. During times of energy and digital transition, managing climate risks involves analysing sector-specific impacts and fostering a shared commitment at the national and international levels; in this sense, European programs promote the dissemination of good practices and implementation of projects and tools to improve the resilience of communities to climate challenges. This paper examines the Naples municipality as a case study within the SEACAP 4 SDG capitalization project in the implementation of innovative governance support tools for hazard and climate adaptation, mitigation, and energy rehabilitation to enhance local governance, planning, and design strategies towards a sustainable and low-emission future. Within the creation of a living lab, tools were selected as part of the project, and training sessions were held targeting key stakeholders. The training aimed to form and inform key players about the tools’ potential, leading to their incorporation into the municipality’s strategic action plan for future implementation. This case study has a high repeatability and stands as a starting point for the implementation of this approach in numerous other local municipalities.

The "UNAV-experience of living with chronic heart failure scale": a psychometric validation study

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – EU funding. Main funding source(s): Plan Estatal de I+D+I 2013-2016 (2013-2016 State Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation) of the Spanish Government and co-financed by the Subdirectorate-General for the Evaluation and Promotion of Research of the Carlos III Health Institute (Instituto de Salud Carlos III - ISCIII) and the European Regional Development Fund (Fondos Europeos de Desarrollo Regional - FEDER) Introduction No validated patient-reported scale has been identified focused on exploring the life experience of people with chronic heart failure. Its development is necessary to address the person's view as a unitary being, and understand the illness as a health experience embedded in the person's life history. Purpose This study aimed to analyse the psychometric properties of the "UNAV-Experience of Living with Chronic Heart Failure Scale" in a large Spanish population. Methods A test-retest validation study was conducted between June 2020 and May 2022. The study was performed in five Spanish hospitals' outpatient heart failure units. The sample consisted of 300 adult patients with chronic heart failure with functional class II-IV. The test-retest was performed with 50 of these patients. Sociodemographic data, clinical data, the Minnesota Living With Heart Failure Questionnaire, the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire and the UNAV-Experience of Living with Chronic Heart Failure Scale were collected. The adjustment of the data to the Rasch model was analysed, as well as psychometric analyses according to classical test theory: data quality and acceptability, reliability and construct validity. Results The initial version of 53 items (developed based on the results of a qualitative study, a systematic literature review, the opinion of a panel of experts and a pilot study) was finally reduced to 30 items. Through Rasch's analysis, five dimensions were identified that made up this scale: 1) Living with CHF involves profound personal changes (7 items); 2) People living with CHF have to accept their situation (5 items); 3) People with CHF need to feel that their life is normal (7 items); 4) People with CHF need to live with hope (5 items); 5) People with CHF feel that their situation negatively influences their close environment (6 items). No subscales showed asymmetry or floor effect. All items had a corrected total item correlation >0.30. The homogeneity index of the items ranged from 0.31 to 0.57, and Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.73 to 0.87. The intraclass correlation coefficient was between 0.79 and 0.89. All subscales showed significant differences by gender (p<0.001), except for the Acceptance subscale. The subscales on Profound Change, Acceptance and Hope showed significant differences by educational level (p<0.05). Regarding functional class, subscale scores significantly differed between class II and III-IV (p<0.01). Conclusions The UNAV-Experience of Living with Chronic Heart Failure Scale is an original and valid tool to measure the experience of living with chronic heart failure from the person's perspective.

How innovation funding leads enterprises to engage in research and development: Small and medium enterprises' perspective.

Technology-based small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the driving force behind China's economic and technological development. However, these enterprises often face challenges in financing their research and development (R&D) activities due to limited financing opportunities. Previous research has primarily focused on the resource attributes of government innovation subsidies, which serve as a crucial funding source for these SMEs. This paper aims to explore the impact of government innovation subsidies on firms from a novel perspective, considering the signaling characteristics of these subsidies. The theoretical foundation of this study lies in the asymmetric information theory and the signaling mechanism through which government subsidies send signals about enterprises. The study uses enterprise data from 2012 to 2019 to investigate the effect of government subsidies on the R&D investment of enterprises listed on the SMEs Board in Chinese stock market. The results reveal a significantly positive effect of government subsidies on the R&D investment of SME Board-listed enterprises and verify the mediating role of financing constraints in this effect. The extent to which government subsidies influence the R&D investment of SME Board-listed enterprises is associated with the enterprises' ownership characteristics, debt ratios, and times interest earned ratios. This study contributes to the literature on the SMEs Board market and may provide the Chinese government insights into developing industry policies that maximize the effectiveness of government subsidies.

Innovating urban governance through ‘Challenges’

ABSTRACT In recent years, urban “Challenges”—competitions that solicit and reward novel solutions to urban policy problems—have become embedded within a wider program of governance innovations presented to city governments as effective means to solve complex urban problems. This paper offers an overview and critical evaluation of the uses of Challenges in contemporary urban governance innovation, based on an extensive analysis of existing Challenges and related practitioner and promotional literature. Situating Challenges within the increasingly prominent urban governance innovation trends, we suggest a fourfold categorization for understanding the diverse positionings, motivations and objectives at play in the application of Challenges. We present a critique of the prominent logics of projectification, technological solutionism and competition associated with Challenges and conclude by offering coordinates for more intensive and contextually-specific analyses of the Challenge phenomenon.

On defense of “ethification” of law: How ethics may improve compliance with the EU digital laws

In recent years, academics and professionals witness the rise of the “ethification” of law, specifically in the area of ICT law. Ethification shall be understood as a proliferation of moral principles and moral values in the legal discourse within the areas of research, innovation governance, or directly enforceable rules in the industry. Although the ethical considerations may seem distant from mere regulatory compliance, the opposite is true. The article focuses on the positive side of the “ethification” of digital laws through the lens of legal requirements for impact assessments pursuant to General Data Protection Regulation and conformity assessments in the proposal for the Artificial Intelligence Act. Authors argue that ethical considerations are often absent in the context of using new technologies including artificial intelligence, yet they may provide additional value for organizations and society as a whole. Additionally, carrying out ethics-based assessments is already in line with existing regulatory requirements in the fields of data protection law and proposed EU AI regulation. These arguments are reflected in the context of facial recognition technology, where both data protection impact assessment under the EU General Data Protection Regulation and conformity assessment under the proposal of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act will be mandatory. Facial recognition technology is analyzed through the ethics-based assessment involving stakeholder analysis, data flows map, and identification of risks and respective countermeasures to show additional insights that ethics provides beyond regulatory requirements.