International Policy Environment Research Articles

‘Gaming’ in the English primary school: ‘do whatever you need to do to make your data look good’

ABSTRACT In an international policy environment of intensified high-stakes accountability, pupil assessment data are an invaluable commodity and critical indicator of both school and teacher effectiveness. Teachers’ engagement with pupil data and the associated experiences of increased accountability are of great consequence, and highly contentious for perceptions and experiences of policy. In the context of the English primary school, this paper explores the progressively tactical nature of teachers’ enactment of assessment policy, and the impetus to ‘make the data look good’. It draws upon an empirical study of rich qualitative data from 42 interviews with 22 primary teachers employed in the South-East of England. The findings add to an evolving field about ‘gaming’, and particular consequences for teacher identity are discussed. The paper further advances insights about teachers’ experiences of ‘in-school assessment’ as pertinent for understanding gaming. It locates the pupil progress meeting as an iteration of teacher accountability and performativity, and particular site of contestation, and a specific contribution to knowledge in this regard.

A technopreneurial venture’s dilemma with product selection

Learning outcomes This case is designed to provide learners with strategic decision-making skills. It also introduces the various nuances of establishing a technopreneurial venture and creating and sustaining a competitive advantage. The setting allows learners to comprehend the significance of assessing the business environment and the advantage of being a first mover in any business sector. The case allows a rare glimpse into the strategic decision framework of a scale-wise relatively much small tech firm that is competing with global giants and creating waves, and winning accolades for its performance. The case also allows learners to understand the analysis and decision-making parameters studied by a company while selecting a product. After working through and discussing this case, learners should be able to identify the strategic decision framework in which Aeron undertakes a product selection decision; analyze the conditions in the operating environment that made Aeron possess a competitive advantage; and design the product choice strategy for Aeron. Case overview/synopsis This case is about the journey of two friends, Abhijeet Bokil and Ashwani Shukla, who started a company together in Pune, India, in 2008 and achieved great success. The case discusses their tryst with different products and industrial sectors. It unfolds the journey of their startups and their finding the desired product category. It also discusses the various hurdles they face while establishing the business. The journey was tough as it occurred in the unpredictable background of the dynamic international technology and policy environment. The common challenges to entrepreneurship were present throughout their journey. The team encountered various financial and technological trials during these years. The case explains how excellent strategic choices made the team overcome those challenges. The biggest dilemma faced by the team was to select between two of their products. The one who gave them visibility and success or the new upcoming one with more entry barriers. The case deals with the issue of product selection in the sectors of telematics and weather monitoring. Complexity academic level The case is appropriate for courses in Business management, Strategy management programs & innovation and Entrepreneurship management courses. The case would suit BBA and MBA students learning various management models. Supplementary material Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

The impact of trade policy uncertainty on labour demand elasticity: evidence from China

ABSTRACT Research on the effect of trade on labour demand elasticity is rich, but lacks studies on the effect of trade policy uncertainty. Using firm-level labour demand elasticity data from China, this paper supplements current research by presenting evidence for the impact of trade policy uncertainty on labour demand elasticity. Using the granting Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status by the US to China as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper constructs a difference-in-differences model. The empirical results show that a reduction in trade policy uncertainty following the grant of PNTR status significantly reduces labour demand elasticity in China. The decrease in trade policy uncertainty thereby improves employment stability. This paper reveals the importance of cultivating a stable international trade policy environment for stabilizing the domestic job market.

The Obligations of Governments and Big Pharma Regarding Equitable Vaccine Supply

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc the world over, simultaneously creating opportunities for some, including ‘Big Pharma.’ Governments continue to have the obligation for managing the pandemic, and many governments delegated the responsibility for vaccine supply to Big Pharma. Developed countries generously funded vaccine development, while reserving the first option to purchase the vaccines for themselves, thus being accused of vaccine hoarding. Concurrently, Big Pharma has disclaimed liability for any side effects caused by the virus, and any obligation to share its vaccine intellectual property. This left most of the world, particularly the Global South, in a precarious position regarding vaccine supply. This article discusses the obligations of governments to their own people and to the rest of the world and the obligations of Big Pharma, specifically regarding equitable vaccine supply during the COVID-19 pandemic. To articulate its arguments for vaccine equity, the author relies primarily on the right to dignity and attempts to balance this right against the seemingly conflicting interests of the Global North. The vaccine equity issue is an intersectional issue perpetuated by systemic inequalities affected by a myriad of factors including historical power imbalances. It is argued that all parties need to act to overcome the pandemic, especially states and companies in the Global North. This would be consistent with international policy and legal environment and the requirements of global justice.

Policies Impacting Access to Plant Genetic Resources in Last Four Decades

A paradigm shift occurred in the international policy environment with respect to biological diversity from “heritage of mankind” to “sovereign rights of a nation”, primarily triggered by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992. To address the issue of food security, in terms of access to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) as well as for realization of farmer’s rights, the International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources (ITPGRFA) was adopted 2001. In 2010 a Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (NP-ABS) was developed under CBD to facilitate exchange of biological resources bilatellary between countries, on mutually agreed terms. Both the Treaty and CBD offer regulatory mechanisms for exchange of germplasm and fair and equitable share of benefits and are implemented through national policies in mutually supportive manner. However, practically they have impacted germplasm flow. In the world of plant breeding and crop improvement, these regulations are seen to bring a slow-down in the international exchange of germplasm hampering scientific progress.

Analysis of Factors Affecting Chinese Outward Foreign Direct Investment: An Empirical Study Based on Stochastic Frontier Model

This paper uses panel data of 20 target countries of China’s outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) from 2011-2019 to establish a stochastic frontier gravity model to study the influencing factors of China’s OFDI and to define and measure the investment potential by summarizing and generalizing the relevant literature. The results show that: Chinese GDP, host country GDP, host country trade openness, host country government governance capacity, and host country intellectual property protection level are positively correlated with Chinese OFDI; national investment guidance policies have a very obvious positive effect on the growth of Chinese outward investment. In the post-epidemic era, in order to promote the development of Chinese OFDI and fully exploit the potential of Chinese OFDI, we should strengthen macro and micro regulation to ensure a stable and high-quality economic development, actively introduce national investment policies to cope with changes in the international investment policy environment, optimize the investment industry structure, and avoid investment risks.

ABD dış politikasında yumuşak gücün ve yumuşak güç araçlarının önemi

Soft power is one of the tools used by the USA to achieve its goals in the international arena. With its soft power tools, the USA tries to shape the ideas and beliefs, economic, political, social and cultural values of other societies and to legitimize its foreign policy attitudes and behaviors in their eyes. In other words, it tries to create an international policy environment that can carry out its policies comfortably with soft power tools. In this framework, the study examines the soft power policy and tools of the USA

How to assess health policy impacts of new generation trade agreements

Abstract Issue Negotiation of trade agreements has become a key part of current international policy environment with the consequence of increasing concerns over impacts on public health, health protection and policy space for health. Trade agreements represent 'meta-regulation' where key impacts will be on how governments can regulate with different implications depending on existing regulatory framework within a country. Engaging with trade requires understanding how health-related arguments can be made and where they reside. Results This presentation discusses where and how public health advocates can engage with trade related decision-making on new generation trade agreements with focus on regulation, services and protection of investment and intellectual property rights. The innovative approach on policy space for health will overcome focus on existing standards and allows discussion on what exceptions and exclusions in trade agreements actually imply. Policy space allows analysis on impacts which may not relate to direct health outcomes, such as issues with privacy, health data, access to new technologies, and pricing of medicines. The presentation will use case examples from European Union trade agreements and will discuss politics of mandate negotiations as well as how diversions, rhetorical/empty claims and circular traps are used in in political decision-making and the extent to which and how these can be counteracted on key public health and health systems -related issues. Lessons learned If negotiated agreements will affect how governments can regulate in future rather than existing standards, this requires a different approach for public health researchers and advocates. The lessons learned will provide suggestions on how to approach trade policies as part of Health in All Policies and where limits and opportunities of health and sustainability impact assessments reside. Key messages New generation trade agreements impact on regulatory policy space. Assessing impacts of trade agreements need to go beyond impact assessments.

Beyond prohibition: responses to illicit drugs in West Africa in an evolving policy context

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss priorities for effective responses to illicit drugs in West Africa in a changing international policy environment. Design/methodology/approach The paper analyzes published research, technical papers and reports on drug use and policy responses in West Africa and opines on priorities for drug policy in the region within the post-United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) 2016 policy environment. Findings Drug use and related harms continue to increase in West African countries despite efforts to reduce drug trafficking and use through legal prohibition. The UNGASS 2016 outcome document enables flexibility in policy interpretation and implementation, which provides an opportunity for governments to prioritize national needs in drug policy. West African countries should prioritize and support research and data collection, prevention, treatment and harm reduction and sustainable livelihoods. Originality/value The paper emphasizes the need for West African countries to seize the opportunity created by the ineffectiveness and weakening of the prohibition regime as well as new treaty flexibility following UNGASS 2016 to reform drug policies to prioritize regional and national needs.

Evolution of the global coal trade network: A complex network analysis

The evolution of the global coal trade flow among countries impacts coal trade systems operation, coal resource exploitation and global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Several strategies of sustainable development to counteract the impacts of the evolution of the global coal trade network (GCTN) have been proposed. However, the effective implementation of such strategies requires a clear understanding of the evolution of the GCTN and its impacts. This paper focuses on the analysis of the features of the evolution of the GCTN. It builds a complex network model of the global coal trade based on the international coal trade data from 1996 to 2015 and especially explores the evolution of the global coal trade from both continuous time series and comparative perspectives. Through network analysis, the main findings obtained are as follows. (1) The GCTN is scale-free, which means that a tiny minority of countries own many coal transportation partners, and a marked majority of countries own a few. (2) Although Japan, India and South Korea were the top three countries in terms of coal traffic volume in 2015, their intermediate function was weak; Russia and Italy lost their intermediate importance over time. (3) There existed an obvious alteration in that the centre of the network moved to Asia from North America and that the uneven flow distribution of the network became more intense. These results suggest that due to the scale-freeness of the GCTN, global policy makers should establish an international policy environment and strengthen the protection of countries that are important for coal trade, which are defined as key nodes in the GCTN and include the USA, China, and India, to ensure the stable operation of the network and maintain coal transport security. In addition, the findings indicate the huge effects of Asia’s coal consumption on the global CO2 emissions in recent years. Policy aimed at reducing Asia’s CO2 emissions should be adopted for the reduction of global emissions.

A health app developer\u2019s guide to law and policy: a multi-sector policy analysis

BackgroundApps targeted at health and wellbeing sit in a rapidly growing industry associated with widespread optimism about their potential to deliver accessible and cost-effective healthcare. App developers might not be aware of all the regulatory requirements and best practice principles are emergent. Health apps are regulated in order to minimise their potential for harm due to, for example, loss of personal health privacy, financial costs, and health harms from delayed or unnecessary diagnosis, monitoring and treatment. We aimed to produce a comprehensive guide to assist app developers in producing health apps that are legally compliant and in keeping with high professional standards of user protection.MethodsWe conducted a case study analysis of the Australian and related international policy environment for mental health apps to identify relevant sectors, policy actors, and policy solutions.ResultsWe identified 29 policies produced by governments and non-government organisations that provide oversight of health apps. In consultation with stakeholders, we developed an interactive tool targeted at app developers, summarising key features of the policy environment and highlighting legislative, industry and professional standards around seven relevant domains: privacy, security, content, promotion and advertising, consumer finances, medical device efficacy and safety, and professional ethics. We annotated this developer guidance tool with information about: the relevance of each domain; existing legislative and non-legislative guidance; critiques of existing policy; recommendations for developers; and suggestions for other key stakeholders.ConclusionsWe anticipate that mental health apps developed in accordance with this tool will be more likely to conform to regulatory requirements, protect consumer privacy, protect consumer finances, and deliver health benefit; and less likely to attract regulatory penalties, offend consumers and communities, mislead consumers, or deliver health harms. We encourage government, industry and consumer organisations to use and publicise the tool.

Approaching Multifunctionality by a ‘Normative View’: Finnish Farmers’ Visions on Contemporary Agriculture

Abstract Productivity alone is not the most important defining character of contemporary agriculture. On the grounds of the dominant models of market liberalization and multifunctionality, farmers have been urged to take new roles beyond food production. By deploying a ’normative’ view of multifunctionality, based on the acknowledgment of spatial heterogeneity, and on an actor-oriented explanation of agricultural change, this paper investigates Finnish farmers’ visions on the redefined and redifining role of contemporary agriculture. From a review and anaylsis of sixteen qualitative semi-structured interviews, it emerges that such visions — through their components of identity, opponent, and project — are constructed upon three factors which are linked to each other to a various extent: 1) farming contingent conditions (as location, climate, terrain); 2) externalities (including international policy environment, and market liberalization); 3) farmers’ personal views on profitability and risk. In a policy context dominated by uncertainty, decision-making has shifted mainly from the national to the international level, and the collected data supports the dominance of productivist actions and thoughts. On one hand, farmers still tend to prioritize the continuity of production, which contribute both to resistance identity, and to the identification of a variety of opponents. Yet on the other hand, farmers are, to an embryonic stage, upgrading themselves to meet the challenges faced by contemporary agriculture.

Safety as a Synergistic Principle in Space Activities

The two space anomalies that occurred in October 2014 brought home, once again, the fact that space activities are dangerous. The U.S. Congress had acknowledged this fact by characterizing space transportation as “inherently risky” in the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004. While that description does not go as far as to say space activities can never be safe or are completely unsafe, it includes the tacit understanding that space transportation provides complex and sometimes unique challenges. While some of these challenges are engendered by the realities of space systems operationally, others arise from the perspective of how much safety is legally required and for whom. The immediate article attempts to provide an overview of the legal underpinnings of space safety and some of the implications arising from current space policy. It will begin with some historical context, proceed to describe the current international and domestic legal and policy environment, identify some key emerging issues, and end with brief recommendations.

Inclusive education in progress: policy evolution in four European countries

This paper seeks to compare the evolution of inclusive education policy in the four countries of an EU-funded research project (QualiTYDES) operating under the shared policy environment of the UN, EU and European Commission. A shared policy cannot of course be assumed to result in common legislative or provisional outcomes at national level. The different sociocultural, political, historical and economic contexts in each country shape its journey towards ‘compliance’ with an international convention (both pre- and post-ratification), and neither the route nor the destination can be assumed to be shared, given the scope for different interpretations of the same texts. This paper places the implementation trajectories of four European countries side by side as they attempt to move towards ‘inclusive’ education systems. Following a brief overview of the international education policy environment relating to the education of people with disabilities, we describe the national education policy responses in Ireland, Austria, Spain and Czech Republic in recent decades, including both legislation pertaining to special educational need and implementation of policies in practice. The comparison highlights the different manifestations of inclusive education current in each country, and also explores the challenges which have arisen as individual countries attempt to align international policy with provision in existing education systems, each with their own legacy interests, pressures and priorities. Examples of ‘gaps’ in this alignment are where learners with disabilities/SEN are likely to be failed, and represent the critical points at which barriers to fully inclusive education arise and negatively impact opportunity over the life course.

The impact of national agenda on a local education authority's website: a visual semiotic analysis

This paper reports an analysis of the website of an education authority in the state of Queensland, Australia during the changeover from a state-based curriculum to a national curriculum. The paper’s value lies in the capture of an exact moment of change. Kress and van Leeuwen’s grammar of visual design is employed to analyse the changes to the Queensland Studies Authority’s website from 2009 to 2010. The significant changes to the site show the impact of policy that has been borrowed from the UK and the USA around testing and accountability, and as such has bearing on the international policy environment. The impact of these testing and accountability measures is twofold. First, that regimes of accountability and testing outweigh the significance of changes to curriculum and pedagogy and, second, that this understanding has implications for teacher education and teacher professionalism. We argue that borrowed policy from the international sphere, through a national agenda and then on to a local education authority, has hollowed out and narrowed the provision of education information and assistance available to readers of the site. This is most notable in the shift we observe from informed teacher professionalism through links to professional development available on the site in 2009 to prescription most notably evident in the absence of professional development hyperlinks on the site in 2010. The inference we draw, for example, is that teachers in the state of Queensland are to follow the prescriptions on the web page without access to policy learning through professional development. This has implications for teacher education and teacher professionalism.

Promoting Competition: European Union and the Global Competition Order

Global developments such as economic interdependence and the proliferation of national and regional competition regimes have created a complex international competition policy environment. The European Commission’s DG Competition has responded to these developments by making the international dimension of competition policy a priority since the late 1980s. It advocated for the establishment of a binding multilateral competition framework at the WTO, pursued bilateral cooperation agreements, extraterritorially applied its competition rules, and tried to export its competition policy model to its neighbors. This paper examines DG Competition’s objectives and strategies in internationalizing the EU’s competition policy, and evaluates the success of these strategies in furthering the EU’s goals in this area. The findings suggest that among all of the strategies it has tried, the DG has had most success with exporting the EU’s competition regime to other countries; however, this strategy may have reached its limits, and needs to be supplemented by multilateral efforts.

Africa’s Development Corridors as Pathways to Agricultural Development, Regional Economic Integration and Food Security in Africa

Africa’s Development Corridors as Pathways to Agricultural Development, Regional Economic Integration and Food Security in Africa

Bridging and Linking in a Divided Society

This paper reports the results of research into social capital levels in the Central Housing Community Network, part of the community consultation structure of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. Membership of the forum increased the bonding, bridging and linking social capital of its members and appeared to improve community relations, although that was not its stated purpose. However, the empirical link between social capital and the quality of community relations remains unproven. The research provides an example of the state creating a positive space for interaction with civil society through consultation on service delivery issues. In an international policy environment where ‘mixed’ communities are the ideal, the potential of service-based forums to contribute to community cohesion may have been underestimated.

Social Policy Change in Countries without Mature Welfare States: The Case of Turkey

AbstractAs part of the institutional changes in Turkey since the 1980s that laid down the foundations of a market economy, the transformation of the social security system has recently come on the agenda. This article discusses the possible outcome of this transformation by situating the case of Turkey in the context of the contemporary international social policy environment shaped by neo-liberal globalization.It is possible to suggest that throughout the world a new system of welfare governance has recently emerged, which is characterized, first, by a novel emphasis on workfare as opposed to welfare. It modifies, second, redistributive action by the state through diverse partnerships between the state, private sector and voluntary initiatives in the provision of social care and public services. The impact of this new system of welfare governance on social policy is especially important in less developed countries where the role of the state in welfare provision is recently being taken more seriously. With the new emphasis on workfare accompanied by the increasing role of non-state actors, the newly introduced social policy measures might not necessarily consolidate the basis of citizenship rights but they might mainly serve to keep under control the socio-economic insecurity aggravated by the expansion of market relations. This observation is of particular significance for the analysis of the contemporary social policy environment in Turkey that this article presents.

Engaged or divorced? Cross‐service findings on government relations with non‐state service‐providers

AbstractNon‐state provision (NSP) of basic services is an important substitute for government services in most developing countries. The international policy environment favours the idea that service levels could be improved if government and non‐state providers collaborated. This article examines the experience based on studies of basic education and healthcare, water and sanitation in six African and South Asian countries. It finds that, while policy is now generally in support of NSP, practice is more often unsupportive and relationships are surrounded by mistrust. The main providers of non‐state services—local entrepreneurs, individual practitioners, community organisations and small NGOs—are largely absent from any dialogue with government. They are exposed to forms of regulation that are largely repressive and effectively designed to protect established interests. Nevertheless, the article identifies positive examples of alternative forms of regulation that advance improved service standards, of facilitation by large NGOs acting in an intermediary role in support of local actors, and of replicable forms of collaboration between government and non‐state providers. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.