Local Government Management Research Articles

Quality of service and citizen satisfaction in a Lima district municipality

In the context of a district municipality in Lima in 2023, quality of care and citizen satisfaction are vital areas of study to understand the effectiveness of local government policies. This research approach dives into assessing how public services, municipal administration, and citizen interactions intertwine to influence the overall perception of inhabitants regarding the quality of services received. Exploring citizen satisfaction involves analyzing how different initiatives, programs and local government management impact residents' daily lives, well-being and trust in institutions. This study seeks to identify factors that influence the perception of quality of care, addressing the effectiveness of implemented policies and their alignment with the expectations and needs of the community, thus contributing to the continuous improvement of municipal services and the citizen experience

Debt as a motivation for earnings management by Portuguese municipalities?

IMPACT This article focuses on earnings management in local government. Specifically, it examines whether politicians in Portuguese municipalities engage in earnings management due to indebtedness. The findings are critical for citizens/voters, as it enables them to evaluate potential inefficiencies in the management of public resources. The author recommends that standard setters make improvements in accounting standards to minimize the opportunity for accounting discretion at the local level.

Self-governing organizations and culture: addressing condominium law developments in China

PurposeThis paper aims to unfold the intricate relations between private law design, the structure of organizations for collective action and cultural values and orientations that practically guide interpersonal interactions in Chinese society.Design/methodology/approachDrawing upon the Hofstede Insights National Culture survey (The Culture Compass) data and some judicial rulings in China, this paper examines the legislative development and judicial approach to settle condominium disputes to explain and address the cultural orientation for future legal reform. This paper examines how the law reflects and responds to the cultural and social variations/interactions among the stakeholders, namely, local government, developers, homeowner associations, condo owners and property management agents.FindingsCulture plays a significant role in shaping how condominiums are governed in China. This analysis can highlight the role of cultural factors that influence the success or failure of condominium governance and suggest ways in which governance structures can be adapted to reflect the legal culture of the community better. The emphasis on social harmony, respect for authority, relationships and networks and knowledge and expertise all contribute to a unique approach to condominium governance that reflects the values and priorities of Chinese society.Originality/valueWhile much has been written on the importance of property rights to economic development, relatively little seems to be understood about processes of change in complex property systems, particularly in China, a socialist-transforming country. Specifically, there is a lack of reliable knowledge about the intricate relations between the structure of organizations for collective action and cultural orientations that practically guide interpersonal interactions in Chinese society. The question at the heart of this research relates to the condominium rules most suitable for an emerging Chinese private property market.

The influence of authentic leadership on institutional framing in Acoliland, Uganda: A local government perspective

The research that has confirmed the beneficial relationship between authentic leadership and institutional framing has included global metrics for both concepts. In order to study how authentic leadership affects institutional framing, this work particularly examined how the four dimensions of authentic leadership relate to the regulative, normative, and cognitive/dimensions of institutional framing. In this study, a quantitative technique restricted to a cross-sectional study and a questionnaire instrument to local government employees (n=261) were employed to collect data in accordance with a positivist research paradigm. Statistical analysis with the statistical package for social scientists (SPSS) was utilised to analyse the quantitative data gathered. The outcome of stepwise multiple regression analysis demonstrates that there are substantial correlations between all aspects of authentic leadership and institutional framing. The relational transparency component had the greatest score (M=4.0; SD=3.8), while balanced processing and internalised moral perspective received the lowest scores (M=3.9; SD=3.8). Furthermore, when these perceptions are impersonal and aimed at the local government rather than when they are directed toward individual people, authentic leadership is a better predictor of institutional framing. These findings have practical ramifications for management in local governments, particularly for handling their employees.

Responsible Urban Innovation Working with Local Authorities a Framework for Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Purpose: By demonstrating that by adopting the principles of responsible urban innovation, we can harness the potential of digital technology to address urbanization issues and can minimize potential negative impacts.Methods: The paper proposes a conceptual framework for accountable urban innovation, focusing on government AI systems, and draws on a literature review, practical examples, and research. The authors argue that responsible urban innovation must balance the costs, benefits, risks, and impacts of developing, implementing, and using AI systems in local government management. This approach emphasizes the importance of achieving desired urban outcomes while ensuring accountability.Results: The framework provides potential directions for future research and development, offering an overview of recognized topics and a schedule for analysis. This research may assist urban managers, planners, and decision-makers in understanding the critical role that government AI systems play in achieving accountable outcomes. By adopting responsible urban innovation principles, we can harness the potential of digital technology to address urbanization issues while minimizing potential negative impacts.Novelty: The conceptual framework presented in this study offers a new view in understanding the role of local government AI systems in achieving accountable outcomes.

Local government managers’ change-oriented leadership and employees’ change-supportive behaviour during COVID-19: utilizing the theory of planned behaviour

ABSTRACT Past research has provided important insights on the role of public leaders in fostering employees’ change-related behaviour, but the psychological mechanisms and boundary conditions underlying this relationship remain unclear. This research relies on the theory of planned behaviour and the value-congruence model to shed light on when and how local government managers’ change-oriented leadership influences employees’ change-supportive behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on survey data collected from 758 local government employees in Thailand, our structural equation modelling analyses revealed that local government managers’ change-oriented leadership had a positive relationship with employees’ change-supportive behaviour via the mediating roles of employees’ attitude for change, perceived climate for change and self-efficacy for change. Furthermore, perceived value congruence between managers and employees was found to enhance the indirect relationship between change-oriented leadership and change-supportive behaviour. This research highlights the importance of change-oriented leadership and value alignment in fostering change-related behaviours among government employees.

Local government competitiveness analysis using the perspective of organizational excellence: Evidence from Indonesia

Local government competitiveness is an intriguing contemporary issue that has not been discussed extensively in prior studies on the evolution of the structure and scope of government. This study aims to explore how local government management processes can enhance regional competitiveness for the benefit of citizens. Using an analytical hierarchy of paired comparisons and indicator aggregation, this study analyzes several components of the local government managerial process by quantifying the degree of importance of each component. Data were collected from 38 regions in Indonesia and 34 government experts. The results of the analysis show that there are three components of the local government managerial process that contribute significantly to regional competitiveness: the quality of customer/citizen management with an eigenvector value of 0.187, strategic planning with an eigenvector value of 0.169, and the effectiveness of the integrity system with an eigenvector value of 0.136. Other results show that the resultant eigenvector values for other components are less than 0.100 or 10%, so these components are not classified as strong. Furthermore, the p-value of the intercoder reliability test using the t-test was greater than the significance level of 0.05, implying that there was no difference between the test results of the first and second expert groups. This study concludes that customer/citizen satisfaction with government products and services, the effectiveness of strategic planning that focuses on socio-economic development, and legal and ethical compliance of organizational actors are the primary determinants of enhancing regional competitiveness.

The performance function in local government: Does location impact performance data use?

AbstractResearch has demonstrated that certain drivers increase the probability of performance data use in local government. One performance driver that has received minimal attention is where the performance function is organizationally located, even though prior research has shown that the organizational placement of the performance function can potentially influence the design and use of performance measurement systems. Our study explores how the organizational placement of the performance function in local government influences key drivers of performance data use. We find evidence that performance functions located outside the budget office are more likely to promote the drivers of measurement system maturity, other management processes, and devolved decision‐making, which in turn increases the probability that local officials engage in performance data use. We also identify several research implications to advance the study and practice of performance management in local government and conclude with research limitations and suggestions for future research opportunities.

Indonesia’s Plan for Concurrent Regional Expansion

The development of ties between the center and the regions came to light after Indonesia underwent reformation in 1998. A new paradigm in the management of local government in Indonesia has emerged as a result of the passing of Law No. 22 of 1999. One effect of the passage of Law No. 22 of 1999 was the enlargement of the region to create a number of new autonomous regions. The pattern of creating new autonomous areas based on the will of the people causes certain regional expansions to be successful while others result in conflicts due to the interests of local elites (bottom-up). Therefore, the creation of new autonomous zones and the birth of a new paradigm require a new formulation. As a result, the creation of new autonomous regions requires a new formulation, and Law No. 23 of 2014’s regional structuring idea represents the development of a new paradigm. How to formulate the development of a new autonomous region through concurrent regional expansion is the study’s formulation of the problem. According to the study’s findings, regional growth is required in order to meet the needs of the envisioned increase in the number of Provinces, Regencies, and Cities.

Police unions and police fatalities in the United States, 1990−2018

As of 2018, thirty-one states granted collective bargaining rights to police officers that require local government management to recognize and collectively bargain in good faith with police unions. Although scholars have identified factors related to police fatalities, the influence of police unions has gone understudied. Research in other occupational areas shows that union strength is associated with fewer workplace injuries and fatalities. This research analyzes the influence of union strength and collective bargaining rights on police fatalities. Using state-level data from 1990 to 2018, a rare-event analysis of police fatalities indicates that states with strong public employee unions experience fewer accidental line-of-duty deaths of police officers. Further, this analysis shows that states which grant collective bargaining rights to police officers have fewer felonious line-of-duty deaths of police officers compared with those that do not grant police collective bargaining rights. This article concludes with a discussion of the policy implications and the role of collective bargaining in police safety.

How to integrate gender budgeting in the public agenda: insights from an Italian local government

IMPACT This article presents guidance for public managers and policy-makers who are voluntarily developing gender budgeting (GB) at a local level. The article provides useful insights to local government managers on how to develop a GB initiative and what factors determine full integration into the public budget. Local policy-makers should consider gender as a strategic value to be integrated in all of the programmes and activities of a public sector organization, and they need to involve stakeholders in GB implementation and use.

Regional Development Bank Competition: Evidence from Indonesia

Regional development banks are intermediary institutions that can develop the national economy and drive regional development through local government management. This study aims to analyze the effect of competition in regional development banks on efficiency with risk as a moderating variable. This study uses the regression panel data estimation technique based on data from regional development banks in Indonesia for the period 2016- 2020, a total of 130 observations. The novelty of this study is that it is still rare to examine using a sample of regional development banks using the Leaner Index model to analyze bank competition. This study finds that competition negatively and significantly affects efficiency at regional development banks in Indonesia. Risk strengthens the impact of competition on efficiency. The unstoppable competition requires banks to make several efficiencies both from the micro and macro sides to survive. Regional development banks are very close to local governments, so they should be able to optimize investments in technology-based products and services and improve credit quality.JEL: G2, G21, G28

Methodology for Natech coupling risk assessment using correlative multi-criteria decision-making method

When a natural disaster occurs, it may damage multiple industrial facilities in a certain area at the same time, and the resulting Natech events may have an impact on the surrounding industrial facilities, generating coupling risk. In this study, the assessment of Natech events coupling risk is conducted using the method of correlated multi-criteria decision-making, and the knowledge of fuzzy measures is introduced to solve the uncertainty problem in Natech coupling risk. Natech Coupling Risk Index is constructed to involve physical and functional facilities. The concept of equivalent population is proposed to compare the risks generated by physical facilities and functional facilities. And economic indicators are added to calculate the comprehensive risk value. The purpose of this contribution is to enable local government managers to use their expertise and resources and the existing risk assessment of the plants themselves and rely on the scoring of experts limitedly to quickly and easily identify potential high Natech risk areas. In the calculation process of coupling risk, the government can also take the lead to promote information communication between different plants and other industrial subjects. The proposed method was applied in a realistic chemical industry area in Guangzhou, China and in a hypothetical town. The result shows that the physical risk may be transferred to the population and economy through the coupling between industrial facilities and the functional link between functional facilities and population and economy.

Conflicts and tourists’ destination choice intention: a study of Kashmir Valley in India

ObjetivoEste estudio se centra en extender la teoría del comportamiento planificado para una mejor comprensión de la actitud y la intención de los turistas de visitar un destino políticamente inestable y conflictivo como Kashmir.Diseño/metodología/enfoqueSe administró un cuestionario adaptado de estudios previos a 490 turistas. Los datos recogidos se analizaron mediante análisis factorial exploratorio seguido de un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales mediante SPSS y AMOS. El estudio prueba y valida un modelo de predicción de comportamiento más robusto basado en la Teoría del Comportamiento Planificado (TPB).ConclusionesLos resultados del estudio muestran que la intención de elección del destino en un área políticamente sensible como Jammu y Kashmir está determinada conjuntamente por el atractivo percibido del destino, la imagen percibida del destino, la familiaridad con el lugar, la exposición a los medios y el valor percibido. Sin embargo, el riesgo percibido y la actitud resultaron ser determinantes no significativos de la intencionalidad de elección.Limitaciones/implicaciones de la investigaciónEl estudio valida empíricamente la TPB ampliada para predecir el comportamiento de los turistas en un entorno políticamente sensible. Además, el estudio proporciona información relevante a los gestores de destinos, los responsables políticos y los profesionales para desarrollar estrategias que mejoren la imagen y el atractivo de los destinos. Aunque el estudio proporciona una visión crítica del proceso de toma de decisiones del turista, ciertas limitaciones, como el enfoque geográfico restringido, el muestreo de conveniencia y el hecho de ignorar las variaciones intergrupales, merecen atención.Originalidad/valorLa investigación presenta un esfuerzo pionero en la aplicación de un modelo TPB integrado que determina la intencionalidad de la elección del destino en una región políticamente sensible de Jammu y Kashmir. La región tiene potencial para ser uno de los mejores destinos del mundo. Por consiguiente, el estudio de las percepciones, actitudes e intención de los turistas hacia Kashmir podría ayudar al gobierno local y a otras organizaciones de gestión de destinos a trazar acciones futuras.

Financial Performance Management in Local Governments: Example of Istanbul and Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipalities

Bu çalışmada yerel yönetimlerin finansal performansı büyükşehir belediyesi örneği üzerinden ele alınmıştır. Normalize Edilmiş Maksimum Değerler yöntemi ile kriterler ağırlıklandırılmış; Bulut Endeksi yöntemi, Topsis yöntemi ve Aras yöntemleriyle de alternatifler sıralanmıştır. İlgili yöntemlerin sıralama sonuçları Copeland yöntemiyle bütünleşik hale dönüştürülmüştür. Finansal performans sıralama sonuçları arasındaki ilişkiler Spearman Rho ile analiz edilmiş ve sonuçları değerlendirilmiştir. Çalışmada, Copeland bütünleşik sıralama sonuçlarına göre İstanbul ve Kocaeli Büyükşehir Belediyeleri için en yüksek performans düzeylerinin 2016 ve 2021 yıllarında gerçekleştiği, bununla birlikte en düşük performans düzeylerinin ise 2011 ve 2012 yıllarında gerçekleştiği tespit edilmiştir. Çalışma sonuçları performans sıralamalarının kullanılan yöntemlere göre farklılaşabileceğini ortaya koymaktadır.

지방자치단체의 SNS 마케팅커뮤니케이션이 관광지 이미지와 신뢰 및 행동의도에 미치는 영향

Purpose: In the tourism industry, research is being conducted on SNS marketing communication, tourist destination image, trust, and behavioral intention, but research on SNS marketing communication by local governments is insufficient. Based on this research background, the impact of local governments' SNS marketing communication on tourist attraction image, trust, and behavioral intention is empirically verified to derive implications.
 Methods: A total of 350 copies of the questionnaire were distributed, and a total of 339 copies were used for the final statistical analysis, excluding 11 people due to insincere or inaccurate responses. As an analysis method of the study, simple and multiple regression analysis was performed using SPSS 24.0 to verify the reliability, validity, and hypothesis of variables.
 Results: It was confirmed that SNS word of mouth and SNS publicity are important factors in SNS marketing communication of local governments. In addition, it was found that the image of a tourist destination had a significant effect on the behavioral intention if the image of a tourist destination and the trust were high.
 Conclusion: SNS managers of local governments should be aware of the importance of SNS word of mouth and SNS publicity, and it may be important to upload detailed tourism information on SNS posted by local governments so that tourists can provide good local information when uploading tourism information on SNS.

Scoping review: understanding the barriers and drivers of risk management in local governments

PurposeThis paper aims to provide scholars with a deep understanding of the field through the identification of strengths and weaknesses in the literature and support decision-makers in the development of new practices in local risk management based on scientific data. The specific question in this review asks: what are the drivers and barriers to local risk management?Design/methodology/approachThis paper provides an overview of the scientific literature produce over the past 20 years of the divers and barriers to local risk management. This paper presents a scoping review of peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2019 inclusively in the fields of public policy and public administration.FindingsThis paper makes three main observations regarding the state of the literature. First, this paper finds that scholars mainly focus on single risk and certain regions of the world. Second, there is multiple approached used by the literature to study risk management at the local level. Third, little attention is given to the political context in which local risk management takes place.Originality/valueThis paper is a complete literature review of more than 500 peer-reviewed articles published in academic journals regarding risk prevention policies over the past two decades. This paper analyzed the main findings of the current literature to provide a general view of the scholarship and improve the collective understanding of risk management at the local level by providing future research avenues.

Impacts of tourists’ trust, perception and acceptance of health quick response technology on responsible pandemic travel behaviours

旅游者对健康快速反应技术的信任、感知和接受疫情大流行期间负责任旅游行为的影响研究目的本文旨在建立并实证检验一个理论框架, 以解释健康快速反应 (QR) 技术信任和接受对负责任的大流行旅行的影响。研究设计/方法/途径该研究整合了信任、信心和合作理论以及技术接受模型来解决研究目标。 采用配额抽样的方法, 在中国大陆对 1089 名受访者进行了全国在线调查。 应用结构方程模型来评估提出的假设。研究发现结果表明, 健康二维码技术信任可以提高旅行信心并减轻旅行恐惧, 这会影响游客的旅行意愿和社会疏远做法。 然而, 游客对健康二维码的接受鼓励了社会疏远行为, 而不是旅游意图。研究局限性/影响该研究说明了健康信息技术在大流行背景下提高游客信心和负责任的旅行行为方面的作用。 此外, 该研究通过调查健康相关技术的接受度与流行病旅行行为之间的关系, 支持并补充了技术接受度模型。研究实际意义这项研究帮助当地政府和旅游管理者评估健康二维码在中国大流行旅游中的有效性。 提供了提高游客信任度、技术采用和负责任行为的策略。研究独创性/价值这项研究与现有文献的不同之处在于调查了大流行旅行中的创新技术（即健康二维码）。 鉴于 COVID-19 爆发后健康二维码的流行, 它填补了知识空白并提供了改善大流行旅行安全的建议。

John Stewart: A personal appreciation

John Stewart: A personal appreciation

Climate Change and Health: Local Government Capacity for Health Protection in Australia.

Climate change is the greatest global health threat of the 21st century, with numerous direct and indirect human health consequences. Local governments play a critical role in communities' response to climate change, both through strategies to reduce emissions and adaption plans to respond to changing climate and extreme weather events. Australian local government environmental health officers (EHOs) have the relevant skills and expertise to inform and develop adaptation plans for health protection in the context of climate change. This study used an online survey followed by phone interviews of local government management to determine the extent to which EHOs are involved in adaptation planning in health protection climate change plans. Questions were also asked to determine whether local councils are aware of EHOs' capability to contribute and to gauge the willingness of management to provide EHOs with the workload capacity to do so. The findings demonstrated that although climate adaptation and mitigation planning is occurring in local government, it is not including or considering the public health impacts on the community. Primarily, it was found that this oversight was due to a lack of awareness of the health impacts of climate change outside of a disaster or emergency scenario. Currently, EHOs are an untapped source of knowledge and skills that can contribute to climate change adaption planning. To support this, a framework of local environmental health practice was developed to assist the reconceptualization of the scope of practice required for the planning and response to climate change.