Local Government Level Research Articles

Does Performance-Related-Pay work? Recommendations for practice based on a meta-analysis

Performance-related-pay (PRP) is a controversial topic. Views about its impact are mixed. Through a meta-analysis of studies in public administration, we aim to provide an evidence-based answer to the question: Does PRP work? Our meta-analysis finds a statistically significant, positive but small population effect size between PRP and employee and performance outcomes. Subgroup analyses show that PRPs impact is contingent upon the type of outcome, geographical context, government level, and data source rather than universal in nature. Effect sizes decrease when performance outcomes are measured as opposed to employee outcomes; in USA and European contexts compared to Asian contexts; at the local level compared to the federal level; and when multiple source or experimental data are used compared to single source data. Based on our findings and PRP literature, we construct a flowchart to support practitioners in deciding whether PRP may “work” for them while avoiding its many and typical pitfalls. Evidence for practice Our meta-analysis demonstrates that the impact of performance-related-pay (PRP) on employee and performance outcomes in public administration is statistically significant and positive; however, the fact that the effects sizes are small leads us to conclude that PRP is not a “magic bullet”. Intriguingly, performance outcomes are less impacted by PRP than employee-related outcomes like work motivation and job satisfaction, implying that PRP might carry some motivational benefits while its benefits for better performance outcomes are questionable. PRP seemingly works better in Asia than in Europe or the USA – arguably due to existing predispositions regarding the effects of rewards and monetary incentives – and also seems more effective at the federal than the local government level. Much of the small positive impact uncovered in this meta-analysis seems to be the result of the type of data used in studies. Specifically, studies using multiple or experimental data show a trivial and statistically insignificant overall impact. Practitioners thus need to carefully assess how they will evaluate PRPs impact to avoid biases due to data type. An evidence-based flowchart including questions at the macro (cultural and societal considerations), meso (specific organizational characteristics), and micro (individual and team behavior) level is presented as a support tool for practitioners in deciding upon and designing PRP systems in their organization.

ПОРІВНЯЛЬНИЙ АНАЛІЗ МЕХАНІЗМІВ ПРОТИДІЇ КОРУПЦІЇ В УКРАЇНІ ТА КРАЇНАХ ЄВРОПИ

This article is devoted to the study of the experience of other countries of the world, in particular European countries, in anti-corruption methods and the possibility of their application in Ukraine. The concept of corruption is international, there is not a single country that does not face this phenomenon and does not try to counteract it. The article provides a comparative analysis of anti-corruption activities in countries such as Poland, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Ukraine. It is found that the positive experience of European countries in the activity against corruption is a confirmation that when solving the relevant problem, it is necessary to use a comprehensive approach and a principled administrative and legal position. It is established that European countries have developed and adopted special anti-corruption laws, as well as created certain effective organizations, some of which work not only at the local government level, but at the international level. In Ukraine, as well as in other countries, special laws have been created that are aimed at anti-corruption. It is stated that European countries have developed and approved special laws aiming at anti-corruption activity, as well as created particularly effective organizations which work not only at the local level, but also at the international one. The country is actively creating an anti-corruption strategy to prevent corruption activity. It is analyzed that Ukraine needs to speed up the process of euro integration which will help to come closer to entering the international anti-corruption bodies. International anti-corruption experience will allow Ukraine to achieve transparency in corruption and pave the way to its decrease. It is emphasized that hard work on preventive measures against corruption is effective in European countries that is extremely necessary for implementation in Ukraine to prevent corrupt offenses. Fruitful work on anti-corruption measures will lead to a decrease in corrupt practices in any field. Key words: corruption, anti-corruption activity, strategy, Ukraine, European countries, international experience.

Whom are you speaking for? Obstacles to participation encountered by special-seat councillors in Tanzanian Local Councils

With the implementation of the special-seats programme at the local level of the Tanzanian government, special-seat representatives experience obstacles similar to those experienced by their counterparts in the Tanzanian parliament – the national level. It was established that because of these obstacles, the participation of these women councillors – defined as the attempts they make to affect decisions – is rather low compared to elected male and female councillors. This article focuses on the context in which special-seat councillors have to do their work and how this could partly explain the low participation. It addresses how the special-seat councillors function in practice, and how this compares to the functioning of councillors elected from the wards. The insights into their functioning are derived from data collected from four councils, observation of the meetings, and interviews with councillors between 2012 and 2014. The authors conclude that an improvement of accountability mechanisms would be important for increasing the participation of the special-seat councillors and propose three changes in the organization of the special-seats programme to bring this about.

Implementing the energy transition: lessons from New Jersey’s residential solar industry

ABSTRACT A desire to shift from fossil fuels to non-carbon-emitting energy sources has become an imperative supported by national, state, and local policies. In the U.S., a diverse array of policies at multiple levels of government have helped the solar industry achieve exponential growth. These advancements, however, are mediated by local implementation processes, which might be expected to have a large impact in the context of U.S. federalism. This paper investigates the effects of two countervailing forces – policy incentives and implementation disincentives – on residential solar adoption in New Jersey. The New Jersey case study includes two complementary analyses designed to illuminate policy incentives and implementation disincentives, respectively. The first is an interrupted time-series analysis that evaluates the effects of federal and statewide renewable energy policies on residential photovoltaic (PV) growth. The second is a set of semi-structured in-depth interviews with solar industry experts, providing implementation insights from the solar industry and indirectly portraying residential customers’ experiences. Results confirm that market-based instruments at the state-level play a crucial role in increasing the relative financial advantage of these systems and, thus, the attraction of residential solar PV to adopters. In addition, the behaviours of future adopters and the valuation of this technology as an investment in the housing market will impact the spread of residential PV systems in the future. Unfortunately, case study findings also confirm that an absence of standardized solar application procedures and outdated interconnection standards is a significant drag on the adoption rate. This highlights a need for policymakers to place greater emphasis on local implementation pathways in solar policy design. Options to achieve this include more robust ex-ante coordination among state and local levels of government and with industry to standardize implementation processes. While U.S. federalism may at times be constraining, our results suggest that even minimal levels of ex-ante coordination can lead to implementation gains that will have a large impact on solar diffusion outcomes.

The Comprehensive Analysis of the Network of Superstructure Based on Territorial Characteristics of Accommodation and Food and Beverage Service Providers Considering the Financial Crisis and COVID-19: The Case of Bihor County, Romania

This study presents the territorial differences in structure of functioning accommodation and food-and-beverage service providers by their distribution based on registered field of economic activity and financial data on the level of local governments within Bihor County that were classified into four potential destination types. Furthermore, the aim of the research is to identify the concentration of business activities based on their turnover in proportion to the population on the level of local governments using the Hoover-index method for the period of 2005–2020. Lastly, another aim is to examine the efficiency of these hospitality service providers using the Hoover index on their sales revenue in proportion to their labor force between 2005 and 2020. The time frame enabled the examination of the effects of two critical incidents: the financial crisis of 2008 and COVID-19, which impacted the activity of the examined firms in hospitality. As a result, both group of service providers showed a significant increase in number of entities, turnover, and average annual number of employees after 2014. That trend was intensively interrupted by COVID-19, which was not the case for the period of financial crisis. The significance of Oradea and Sânmartin were present as central areas regarding business activities of the examined fields, thus crucially influencing the trends of the county. In the case of territorial inequalities, the two categories showed differing trends, as in the case of efficiency, although lodging services proved to show higher territorial inequalities but better performance.

Geographies of COVID‐19

Geographies of COVID‐19

Open Data Intermediaries: Motivations, Barriers and Facilitators to Engagement

Open data programs have become increasingly established at national and local levels of government. While the degree of success these programs have had in achieving their objectives remains open to question, one factor that has been identified as important to any success is the role of open data intermediaries, individuals and organizations that help others to make use of open data. In this paper we investigate how people become engaged with open data, what their motivations are, and the barriers and facilitators program participants perceive with regard to using open data effectively. We interview participants from a variety of backgrounds with differing levels of experience and engagement with open data. Participants include students learning how to train others in open data techniques and tools; people who attend open data events and use open data for commercial or social benefit; and representatives from local government, municipal agencies and a civic tech non-profit. We identify pathways to successfully developing and nurturing a community of open data intermediaries, and make five recommendations for organizations planning and managing open data programs.

The Impact of External Shocks on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Linking the COVID-19 Pandemic to SDG Implementation at the Local Government Level

Using data from a survey we conducted in collaboration with the Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities (VVSG), this article sought to examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the implementation of SDGs by Flemish local governments (cities and municipalities). Identifying such effects has usually been conducted on individuals and at a macro level and not at the organization and local government level. By using a counterfactual approach, we were able to disentangle various COVID-19 effects over time and learn how systems at the local level react to external shocks. The approach allowed us to single out the effects of the pandemic at the organizational level while looking into three distinct periods: before the pandemic, during the pandemic, and in its aftermath. Results showed that the COVID-19 pandemic slowed down the Flemish public sector’s implementation of SDGs at the local level. At the same time, COVID-19 allowed local public institutions to accelerate the implementation of a few SDGs (e.g., SDG1, SDG3) and to postpone a few SDG-related activities which would be resumed once the pandemic is ‘over’. COVID-19 is not only a challenge; it acts as a wake-up call and an opportunity to commit more towards the implementation of (certain) SDGs.

Making Sense of Twenty-First Century (Sub)Urban Landscapes: Blandscapes, Blendscapes, Brutalscapes and Brutopianscapes

This paper makes a call for a more nuanced reading of the dynamic kaleidoscope of (sub)urban landscapes that characterize contemporary metropolitan regions. Within this metropolitan context, there is a need to move beyond perceiving the 'suburbs' as distinct and separate from, and, subservient to the 'city'. If anything, the suburbs are in a deep symbiotic relationship with the 'city' – (sub)urban entanglements. Such entanglement means that the suburbs and the city simultaneously exhibit suburban and urban elements. Hence, the terms (sub)urban, (Sub)urban, (sub)Urban, and (SUB)URBAN are used as a framework to denote the varying degrees of intermingling and scale of suburbanity and urbanity that characterize (sub)urban areas. Although suburbia has long been framed as a fundamental facet of the 'American dream' and the 'great Australian dream' the suburbs have been the object of much criticism, and derided for their conformity, domesticity and uniformity. In short, the suburbs have been stereotyped as a blandscape. However, as metropolitan regions have grown in physical and demographic terms, an array of (sub)urbanisms have emerged, and continue to do so, thereby creating a (sub)urban blendscape in terms of housing morphologies, densities, land uses, socio-cultural diversity, and governance at the metropolitan, sub-regional, local government, and suburb level. Simultaneously, an array of (sub)urban brutalscapes have also emerged as metropolitan regions have expanded. Suburbanization, extended urbanization, gentrification and (sub)urban regeneration are all contributing processes to the (re)production of brutalscapes that manifest at a range of scales and assume a variety of forms – e.g. infrastructural, sociocultural, housing, and environmental. Despite the criticisms of and problems with suburbia the idea(l) of the suburban dream prevails as metropolitanism expands. This points to the metropolitan region constituting a brutopianscape.

The potential of using blockchain technology at the level of local government

The aim of the article is to analyze the possibilities of using blockchain technology at the local government level. The analysis of the literature on the subject and the case study method were used to assess the potential of using the blockchain. Solutions already existing, observed and successfully implemented in other countries were investigated. Using the case study method, four implementation areas have been identified, namely: supporting election processes, functioning of the administration, cybersecurity and efficient functioning of the supply chain. The diagnosis carried out in relation to the progress of works in Poland indicates significant problems and challenges, including the lack of coherent actions at the central government level. The use of blockchain technology is incidental in the Polish local government. The possibility of improving and accelerating the work should be noticed in the activities of the European Union, which for several years has been adopting solutions aimed at intensifying the implementation processes.

Rationalization of the local budget economy: a comparative analysis of the legislative basis in Poland and Romania in the concepts of positive law and natural law

Motivation: The contrast between positive law and natural law regarding the rationalization of public budget management is strongest at the local government level. Local government finances are governed by the budget law enacted by parliament. However, it is at the subnational level of government where the natural right to self-determination and making rational decisions in the interest of local communities is most apparent.Aim: This article evaluates and compares the scope and instruments of Polish and Romanian budget laws that enable the rationalization of managing subnational budgets from the perspective of positive law and natural law. The article is based on research using qualitative methods (a literature review and a critical examination of financial legislation in Poland and Romania) and a descriptive comparative analysis.Results: The research confirms the main thesis of the article that the pillar of budget management rationalization in Polish and Romanian local governments is a symbiosis of positive law with natural law, the underpinning and enhancement of which should be formal legislation.

Costs and benefits associated with the adoption of tomato and sweet pepper nursery seed propagation technologies in Arumeru and Mvomero districts in Tanzania

Seed propagation technologies are becoming increasingly popular among vegetable producers in developing countries due to their ability to provide benefits by lowering production costs. We assessed the costs and benefits of seed propagation technology adoption for tomato and sweet pepper production using a partial budget approach for seedling trays or field nursery technologies in the districts of Arumeru and Mvomero in Tanzania. We applied Net Present Value, Cost–Benefit Ratio (CBR) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) to choose the best seed propagation technology that can be adopted by farmers and especially those producing vegetable seedlings as their core business and for commercial purposes. We collected the data using a household survey questionnaire, interviews, and focus group discussions. The results show that switching from field nurseries to seedling trays is economically beneficial by increasing the rate of return value to 3.02, which is greater than one, implying a rate of return of 302 %, which is greater than the costs of new investments. Overall, we can conclude that farmers were less likely to grow vegetable seedlings in seedling trays due to the fact that seedling tray technology was considerably more expensive than field nursery technology. As a result, we recommend that policymakers at all levels of local and central governments promote extension agent training in this technology to promote seedling tray propagation among vegetable farmers and make the technology affordable to farmers in order to increase agricultural productivity, income, and well-being.

지방자치단체의 사회적기업 지원정책 집행과 적극적 시민의식의 역할

As the type and category of social problems expanded, it became complicated that could not be solved only by the state or market mechanism, and a social economy that combines social values and market economy emerged as a new alternative. The government recognizes the usefulness of social enterprises as a voluntary subject of social value creation and provides support policies for them, but the implementation level of support policies for social enterprises varies considerably from local governments. Therefore, in order to promote the implementation of social enterprise support policies, it is necessary to diagnose what factors cause differences across jurisdictions. The political and socioeconomic environment and conditions have been considered important as factors affecting the activism at the local government level. In this study, citizenship held by members of the local community is presented as one of the main environmental variables that affect the implementation of social enterprise support policies. As a result of analyzing local governments' social enterprise product purchases and citizen awareness survey data, it was confirmed that the solidarity factor of active citizenship had a positive effect on the execution of social enterprise support policies. Therefore, in order to develop the social economy, including social enterprises, policy efforts to promote citizens' social efficacy should be expanded.

Institutional analysis of actors involved in the governance of innovative contracts for agri-environmental and climate schemes

In this study, we used institutional analysis to investigate the design of innovative contracts for agri-environmental and climate schemes. The aim of such contracts is to better incentivize farmers for the provision of environmental public goods in comparison to current ‘mainstream’ contracts. For the analysis, we differentiated four contract types: result-based, collective, land tenure, and value chain contracts. To represent each type in the analysis, we selected 19 case examples from six European countries. Cases were identified through a mix of methods, combining literature review, web search, and expert consultation. After a structured data collection based on Ostrom’s institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework, we focused our analysis on the involved actors and their roles in contract governance. Our results highlight the great diversity of public, private, and civil actors involved from the local, regional, national or international governance level, each performing one or several critical roles in contract governance. We found that it is highly context-dependent which actors assume certain roles. We also discuss how provision of environmental public goods through the contracts might potentially be impacted by certain roles and their assignment to specific actors.

Do you know to whom you pay your taxes? The case of decentralised Spain

AbstractSurveys show that most citizens are unable to correctly identify the taxes received or the services provided by the different levels of government. This shortcoming represents an obstacle to democratic accountability and for the efficiency gains that the theory of fiscal federalism attributes to fiscal decentralisation be effective. Exploiting the 2015 wave of the Spanish Institute for Fiscal Studies' Fiscal Barometer, this paper empirically determines the profile of citizens who are best able to identify the allocation of taxes among the central, regional and local levels of government. The estimates suggest that these citizens are those who are able to identify the government that provides the services financed by those taxes, who correctly identify other taxes received by the same government, who reside in a foral region, and who enjoy a high level of education.

Analyzing Post-Disaster Reconstruction Stakeholder Networks: Malaysian rural housing

This article uses the social network analysis to identify resource coordination and information exchange of stakeholders in the inter-organizational network by studying the project-related interactions of rural housing reconstruction in Temerloh, Pahang that were funded by the Malaysian government, His Majesty the King and NGO. The data was collected through content analysis and interviews with 23 government agencies, NGOs, and community stakeholders. Findings from the analysis established that government agencies had the highest actor centralities, with the Rural Development Ministry and the local government level being the most central among the government agencies, whereas the homeowners had the lowest centralities.

Analysis of local government accounting disclosure based on international public sector accounting standards (IPSAS)

Research aims: This study aims to test and analyze whether there is an effect of government openness, government financing, economic growth, audit opinion, and prior experience with IFRS in the public sector on the level of local government accounting disclosure based on IPSAS.Design/Methodology/Approach: The population in this study was all local governments in Indonesia in 2016-2020. The samples selected for use in this study were 64 local governments, following the sample criteria. The data type was secondary, which was then analyzed using multiple regression analysis.Research Findings: The results of this study exposed that government openness, prior experience with IFRS in the public sector, and audit opinion affected the level of local government accounting disclosure based on international public sector accounting standards (IPSAS). In contrast, government financing and economic growth did not support disclosing financial statements based on IPSAS.Implication: This research can potentially be relevant to the Government Accounting Standards Committee, the central government, local governments, and the community. By assessing the factors influencing the disclosure of local government accounting based on IPSAS, this research can be used as a consideration for Government Accounting Standards Committee in improving related standard regulations and encouraging local governments to implement an accrual-based IPSAS Public Accountant Standard Implementation Strategy.Originality/Value: Research on analyzing factors affecting local government accounting disclosure based on IPSAS, in particular, has not been widely studied in Indonesia, especially using local government objects. Hence, this research in Indonesia is an interesting thing to study further.

Localizing Sustainable Development Goal 13 on Climate Action to Build Local Resilience to Floods in the Hunter Valley: A Literature Review

The realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development requires local governments globally to integrate Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into their policy and practice. In the case of the Hunter Valley Region of Australia, a key sustainable development issue is climate change-induced flooding. The localization and mainstreaming of SDG 13 on climate action can support tangible municipal climate actions in the Region. However, while it is acknowledged that SDG localization is needed to address sustainable development challenges, there is a gap in research and practice to guide local government attempts at SDG localization. This research analyzes literature on SDG localization to understand strategies, challenges and gaps that can inform localization approaches for the Hunter Valley. An analysis of the literature revealed that the implementation of SDG 13 at the local government level is a sparsely researched area, and in practice, efforts to implement SDG 13 have not been publicly communicated. Research-based recommendations for SDG 13 localization are presented to highlight the potential of integrating SDGs into pre-existing local policy so that the SDGs and their targets can support climate action and decrease disaster risk of future floods in Hunter Valley communities.

Angļu valodas prasmes kā izglītības iestāžu vadītāju profesionālā kapitāla elements

One of the variables in professional capital is decisional capital (Hagreaves & Fullan, 2012). Its quality depends on the amount and quality of other professional capital variables – human capital and social capital. Thus, decisional capital can be considered to be derived from the sum of accumulated human and social capital. Summarizing the interviews data, it can be concluded that the higher the level of English language skills, the greater the opportunity to use them as a resource for professional capital in a specific political, social and historical context. Namely, it can be said that in Latvia, in the 21st century, English language skills have become a resource for the leaders of educational institutions for the formation and development of professional practice, just as Russian language skills in the 20th century, during the Soviet occupation. Thus, if professional capital is resources, investments, and assets that make up, define, and develop a profession and its practice (Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012), then English language skills are an element of the professional capital of educational leaders. From the answers of the respondents it can be concluded that the acquisition of the English language is promoted more by the internal motivation (personality requirement / understanding of the professional dimension) than by the external motivation. In some cases, the lack of motivation is the reason why the English language skills of the managers of an educational institution are not enough to be used as a resource to increase professional capital. It may be worthwhile for education policy makers at the state and local government level to develop common requirements for the skills of the managers of an educational institution, which in addition to the formal requirements (impeccable reputation, loyalty to the Republic of Latvia, pedagogical education or higher and pedagogical education) (Izglītības likums, 1998), would serve as a basis for creating a more homogeneous corps of heads of Latvian educational institutions and the quality of education in the country as whole.

Violated factors in building citizen-centric e-government websites: insights from the performance of the federal, state and local governments websites in Malaysia

PurposeCommon evaluation tools on e-government websites are available globally and locally to standardise and improve the quality of information and services. However, a commonly ignored aspect is the way to obtain detailed measurements of factors influencing citizen centricity; in other words, how official websites cater to the needs and contributions of citizens at different levels of government. Thus, this paper aims to apply a citizen-centric framework in evaluating the e-government websites of three different levels of authority in Malaysia: federal, state and local.Design/methodology/approachThe adapted citizen-centric checklist for e-government websites (aCCEW) with 40 characteristics across four components – openness (21), transparency (5), participation (10) and responsiveness (4) – was adopted to evaluate case studies of 36 government agency websites in Malaysia. Any conformity between the characteristics was marked using a binary measure, and the citizen-centric value was calculated for each component/characteristic.FindingsThrough website observations, ratings and descriptive comparisons, this study found that the aCCEW is a useful tool, especially for identifying certain critically violated factors. These were deficiencies in e-decision-making, revealing successful initiatives created through open data, revealing fund transfers and expenditure records and the level of social media responsiveness.Research limitations/implicationsThe research contributes theoretically by improvising characteristics in the CCEW to become aCCEW and testing it in multiple levels of government in Malaysia to see its applicability to be adopted in other similar research of e-governments. This could become a new benchmark through the additional research insights it offers into similar perspectives of public values realisation in e-government website design that focuses on more than merely functionality. Attempt to relate the violated factors and strengths of aCCEW website design components to the level of centralisation (power) of federal, state and local governments was also genuine in the e-government research.Practical implicationsRegardless of the many different government systems, federal, state and local governments can benchmark the examples assessed in this study, rethink their power relationships, and further improve their e-platforms to suit the contexts of their users/residents’ needs and contributions.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study contributed to the first Malaysia-based research that identifies and compares factors that contribute to citizen-centric e-government website building at the federal, state and local government levels. The discussion adds value by comparing different systems and levels of e-government websites to their power possession.