Local Government Perspective Research Articles

The Role of Local Government in the Process of the Brownfield Regeneration – Case Study of Košice , Slovakia

Many enterprises were created during the process and steps of societal changes related to industrialization. Currently, we are undergoing further development and again changes, during which the established enterprises have been closed, and unused spaces have been left behind. The issue of brownfields is increasingly becoming more and more relevant. It is in everyone’s interest to use the potential of any area at the highest possible level. Brownfields offer several opportunities for overall revitalization using existing buildings. The main aim of this article is to analyze the status and possibilities of revitalizing brownfields in the city of Košice from a local government perspective. It also includes an optimal global model that covers the basic elements of subprocesses necessary for the local government’s revitalization of brownfields. The research results illustrate that identifying these objects generates a wealth of new information useful in understanding the current state of brownfields in Košice. This new knowledge can subsequently contribute to the quality of public administration’s public space management, the redevelopment of urban sites, and the improvement of urban life for everyone.

Jurisdiction-level costs of the initial phase of the COVID-19 vaccination program in the United States, December 20, 2020–May 31, 2021

This study aimed to quantify U.S. jurisdiction-level costs related to the COVID-19 Vaccination Program by estimating the per-dose-administered cost during December 20, 2020–May 31, 2021, from a combined federal and local government perspective. Costs were limited to vaccine purchase, administration (including operations and wastage), and local redistribution by jurisdictions. Data were collected through publicly available sources, published literature, and a survey of 62 jurisdictions (38 responded). A total of 284.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine were distributed to jurisdictions during the study period, of which 284.2 million doses were administered, and 0.4 million doses were wasted. The estimated cost per-dose-administered among the 38 jurisdictions that responded to study survey was $57.45 and imputed cost across all jurisdictions was $63.11. The findings on jurisdiction-level cost per-dose-administered and vaccination cost during the initial period of U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Program, when demand exceeded supply, may be considered in future pandemic preparedness planning.

Local Government Cybersecurity Landscape: A Systematic Review and Conceptual Framework

Local governments face critical challenges in the era of digital transformation, balancing the responsibility of safeguarding resident information and administrative documents while maintaining data integrity and public trust. These responsibilities become even more critical as they transition into smart cities adopting advanced technological innovations to revolutionize governance, enhance service delivery, and foster sustainable and resilient urban environments. Technological advancements like Internet-of-Things devices and artificial intelligence-driven approaches can provide better services to residents, but they also expose local governments to cyberthreats. There has been, nonetheless, very little study on cybersecurity issues from the local government perspective, and information on the multifaceted nature of cybersecurity in local government settings is scattered and fragmented, highlighting the need for a conceptual understanding and adequate action. Against this backdrop, this study aims to identify key components of cybersecurity in a local governmental context through a systematic literature review. This review further extends to the development of a conceptual framework providing a comprehensive understanding of the local government’s cybersecurity landscape. This study makes a significant contribution to the academic and professional domains of cybersecurity issues and policies within the local governmental context, offering valuable insights to local decision-makers, practitioners, and academics. This study also helps identify vulnerabilities, enabling stakeholders to recognize shortcomings in their cybersecurity and implement effective countermeasures to safeguard confidential information and documents. Thus, the findings inform local government policy to become more cybersecurity-aware and prepared.

Local government perspectives on housing buyouts in New York after Hurricane Sandy

ABSTRACT Understanding government experience with hazard buyouts can enhance future efforts. We conducted a study of state and local government perspectives about buyouts after Hurricane Sandy in the New York area, including three jurisdictions that participated in buyouts and two that did not. Respondents differentiated outcomes for buyout participants, which they saw as financially beneficial, and outcomes for residents remaining, including limited open space and risk reduction benefits. The perceived benefits and drawbacks of buyouts were dependent on site and local government characteristics. Buyouts were seen as most appropriate as a last resort, in response to financial losses for homeowners. Increasing partnerships and opportunities for cross-jurisdictional learning, expanding time frames for buyout participation, and revisiting buyout costs and benefits over time could enhance buyout programmes.

How can local government be better supported to collaborate for community health and wellbeing?

AbstractCollaboration is a key strategy among local governments as expectations of the sector grow and resources to meet them fall short. Thus, more research is needed to consider how local governments can be supported to collaborate with others, not least for community health and wellbeing outcomes. In an earlier study, we explored inter‐municipal cooperation using social network analysis and local government perspectives on community health and wellbeing in the Australian state of Tasmania. Extending that study in ways reported here, we interviewed elected representatives and council staff to understand how and why Tasmanian local governments might collaborate with others to support community health and wellbeing. Findings show participants want councils to work more collaboratively to effectively deal with common challenges but are impeded by factors such as isolation and resource shortages. Tasmania's local government reform and Healthy Tasmania strategic plan are significant opportunities for collaborative practice to be enhanced among its local governments generally, and specifically in relation to community health and wellbeing. We advocate for a more considered approach to collaboration for community health and wellbeing that could deliver far‐reaching benefits for local governments and their communities.Points for practitioners Collaboration in local government is often described in terms of ‘shared services’ and tends to focus on transactional services that require little tailoring to local communities. Our study found municipal personnel want their councils to work more collaboratively to address common place‐specific issues related to community health and wellbeing, but are influenced by cultures of self‐sufficiency, organisational capacity and support, connections, and legislation and policy processes. Local government collaborative practices could be supported by the development of a place‐based policy framework to guide collaboration across local government service types, establishment of an informal statewide community health and wellbeing network for councils to facilitate peer learning and support, funding guidelines that explicitly support and encourage collaboration, and identifying collaboration as a priority in strategic plans, policies, and frameworks.

Governing Sister City: Global Collaboration and Local Operation

This research aims to analyze the governance of a sister city from the perspective of local governments in Indonesia. It seeks to answer questions, such as why South Korea and Indonesia continue working together despite the cessation of activities during certain periods. It focuses on the dynamic of this cooperation management, the actors involved, and their roles. This research uses a qualitative method to collect data through interviews with informants from local governments and nongovernmental agencies, which serve as key supporting components. Results showed three types of outcome: dynamic, effective, and unimplemented cooperation. Three factors explain these outcomes: administrative support, local government capacity, and leadership. In addition, the nature of cooperation has evolved from being limited to government agencies to involving nongovernmental agencies, thereby strengthening the phenomenon of decentralized governance. These results are evidence of local government agencies' decentralized cooperation, which extends beyond national borders and involves nongovernmental agencies.

What is the implementation practice of schools as learning organisations from the perspective of local governments?

What is the implementation practice of schools as learning organisations from the perspective of local governments?

Transparência e seus drivers. Um estudo baseado na experiência colombiana (2012-2016)

Abstract The research aim is to analyze the drivers of transparency levels in Colombian municipalities from the perspective of citizens (agency theory) and local governments (legitimacy theory). We used the Panel Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE) and a system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator in a dataset of 1,101 Colombian municipalities for five years (2012-2016). Our results show that fiscal autonomy, education, gross domestic product per capita, population size, and political participation are positively associated with public information disclosure in Colombia. Through this research, we contribute to the transparency literature in subnational governments in developing countries by examining determinants related to “citizens’ monitoring abilities” and “pressures for legitimacy” in Colombia.

The impact of tax competition on urban-rural income gap: a local governance perspective

ABSTRACT In China, the regional economic development model affected by government competition is an important factor leading to the income inequality of urban and rural residents. This paper aims to study the influence mechanism of tax competition among local governments on urban-rural income gap from the perspective of government intervention and tries to explain the reasons for the gradual narrowing of urban-rural income disparity since 2010. Using a dynamic panel data of 30 provinces, this study reveals that tax competition has alleviated the urban-rural income gap, and this effect shows temporal extensibility and spatial correlation. It is more obvious in eastern and central China and consistent in different local tax categories. Although tax competition has narrowed the overall income gap, the wage income inequality has been exacerbated. In addition, local fiscal autonomy, urbanization, public service provision and industrial structure are the important influencing channels of the mechanism.

Leading officials' audits of natural-resource assets and local environmental attention: evidence of word frequency analysis from Chinese local government work reports.

Drawing on the textual contents of the Chinese local government work reports, this paper focuses on the impact of leading officials' audits of natural-resource assets on the local environmental attention allocation. The study has found that during the pilot period of audits, compared with the non-pilot cities, the local government in the pilot cities has concentrated more on the ecological environment field and has placed greater emphasis on the actual environmental governance. The results of mechanism analysis show that differences in the personal and take-office characteristics of local officials, may lead to different promotion pressure and performance evaluation modes, and then have a different impact on local environmental attention. The test results of consequence analysis show that the environmental attention in the pilot cities can be further transformed into environmental administrative and financial governance behavior. The paper discusses the policy effect and internal mechanism of leading officials' audits of natural-resource assets from the perspective of local governments' environmental attention, providing empirical evidence for China to carry out the top-level design of environmental policy based on the idea of optimizing officials' performance evaluation mechanism.

Complexities of Intergovernmental Relations in Water Service Provision: A Developmental Local Government Perspective

Water is a fundamental human right, and its provision is essential for the maintenance of the general quality of life. The South African government has a constitutional obligation to provide clean potable water to all citizens. This study explores the practice of cooperative government among the three spheres of government in the provision of water services to communities in South Africa. It also seeks to analyse the application of the principle of cooperative government as an effective tool for ensuring water service delivery in local government. Thus, to achieve these objectives, the study addresses two research questions: first, what are the complexities associated with intergovernmental relations in the efforts to provide water services to communities? And secondly, how could cooperative government be utilised as a mechanism for water service delivery in local government? This article begins by examining the literature on intergovernmental relations and cooperative government to provide a comprehensive understanding of the topic. A qualitative research method is applied, where interviews were conducted to determine the impact of cooperative governance on water governance. This study sheds light on the complexities associated with intergovernmental relations in the provision of water services to communities. The findings of this study recognise the need for municipalities to continuously monitor and improve their water service delivery strategies and water service delivery plans, to align with the conditions of the municipality and needs of the people. This is significant as it provides useful insights to policy makers, water service providers, and researchers in the field of intergovernmental relations and water service provision on how to address challenges associated with water service delivery within the intergovernmental relations context.

Local Policies and Vulnerability Women’s Labor: Case of Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality

Vulnerability of women’s labor is one of the most important issue about gender discrimination. Economic, social, political, environmental and natural risks are influenced by gender dynamics and have important differential impacts on men and women. At this point, local governments have important role to ensure equality between men and women in the field of labor force, as in every field. Because, local governments have important roles about solving social problems and ensuring local development, as well as providing many local and common needs. In this paper, the vulnerability of women’s labor has benn considered from the perspective of local governments. In this framework, first of all, the policies of Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality about against to vulnerability of women’s labor has been examined. Then the level of impact and satisfaction of these policies have been tried to be measured by making in-depth interview with 13 women working in Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality. According to the findings which obtained from the study, the administrators of the institution have a very important role in the level of satisfaction and policies towards the vulnerability of women's labor in the relevant institution. With this, it can be said that the policies on the relevant subject generally remain at the legal level, and there is a problem in reflecting the legal level in reality.

Implications of Municipal Boundary Determination on Social Integration of Diverse Communities in South Africa

This article scrutinises social integration from a local government perspective. It argues that the determinations and re-determinations of municipal areas compromise the inclusion and social boundaries that communities set for themselves. This article seeks to prove this claim through a comparative look at two case studies, namely, the Collins Chabane and the JB Marks local municipalities. Whereas the former resulted from the merger of two rural areas that belonged to separate municipal areas, viz Malamulele and Vuwani, the latter came to exist following an amalgamation of the then relatively more urban local municipalities of Tlokwe and Ventersdorp. Empirical evidence shows that the determination of municipal boundaries has disrupted communities’ social settings and their sense of belonging to their municipal area. It has become clear that there are still people who feel excluded from socio-economic development in their local areas. Primarily, the central proposition of this article is that municipal boundaries should consider the interests of groups of individuals who share cultural, ethnic or social ties within close proximity of each other. Keywords: Municipal demarcation, Municipal boundary determination, Re-determination, Social reintegration, Diverse communities

Inter‐municipal cooperation and local government perspectives on community health and wellbeing

AbstractGlobally, local governments face increasing service delivery demands and citizen expectations, including in relation to community health and wellbeing. Inter‐municipal cooperation is one strategy to respond to those demands. In Australia, however, there is limited empirical research about the types of inter‐municipal cooperation local governments engage in and about their perspectives on community health and wellbeing. Without such knowledge, limits are placed on strategies the sector can develop and deploy to collectively tackle complex issues that extend beyond municipal boundaries. Responding to that gap in research and those consequential challenges for strategy, we surveyed municipal personnel in all 29 local governments in the state of Tasmania and included questions to quantify inter‐municipal cooperation using social network analysis. Results show the extent to which local governments cooperate across seven domains and reveal that participants prioritised community health and wellbeing and described funding, collaboration, legislation, and systems thinking as ways to advance their contributions to that priority. We found social network analysis to be a useful method to measure inter‐municipal cooperation; however, further research into how and why local governments collaborate across diverse service types would help inform how those services can be enhanced, including for community health and wellbeing.Points for practitioners Inter‐municipal cooperation is important for local governments to manage resources with increasing service delivery demands and citizen expectations. This Australian study shows how inter‐municipal cooperation can be quantified and articulated visually using social network analysis—a method that could measure changes over time and enable cross‐jurisdiction comparisons. In Tasmania: inter‐municipal cooperation occurs in distinct regional networks and more research about how and why these networks function across diverse service types could inform service enhancement; and those in local government want to advance their contributions to community health and wellbeing and need support in the form of funding, collaboration, legislation, and systems thinking capacity.

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.

The carbon emission reduction effect of agricultural policy——Evidence from China

China has a high agricultural output and is a significant carbon emitter; thus, reducing carbon emissions in the agricultural sector is crucial for achieving carbon neutrality. To address this, China implemented the National Agricultural Sustainable Development Experimental Demonstration Zone policy in 2018, in which reducing agricultural carbon emissions (ACE) is a subject of concern. We explore the impact of the policy on agricultural carbon emissions reduction (ACER) using the propensity score matching and differences-in-differences (PSM-DID) methods with a series of robustness tests based on the panel data of prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2020. The results indicate that: (1) the policy significantly reduces carbon emissions and impacts carbon emission sources, with the results passing the robustness tests. (2) According to the mechanism test, agricultural financial support mediates carbon emissions reduction, and the policy reduces these emissions by decreasing the intensity of fiscal support. (3) The heterogeneity analysis illustrates that the carbon emissions reduction effect is more evident in cities with a small urban-rural income gap and a high proportion of agricultural output value. Finally, we provide suggestions to reduce carbon emissions from the perspective of national and local governments. This paper is particularly relevant for achieving sustainable agriculture development.

Unitarian Illusion in Peru: Recentralization and Intergovernmental Conflicts from the Perspective of Local Governments

Unitarian Illusion in Peru: Recentralization and Intergovernmental Conflicts from the Perspective of Local Governments

Photovoltaics literature survey (no. 182)

Photovoltaics literature survey (no. 182)

Renewable power generation policies in China: Policy instrument choices and influencing factors from the central and local government perspectives

Renewable power generation, which is the main driver of power decarbonization, is strongly supported by government policies. However, there are deficiencies in policy design, e.g., a lack of time consistency, incoordination among policies, and local protectionism. Policy-makers need to understand the evolution of renewable power generation policy instrument choices and the inherent influencing factors. This study uses textual content analysis to analyse the historical evolutionary trends, policy categories, dominant government departments, and the distribution along industrial segments of renewable power policy instruments from the perspectives of both the central and local governments. The factors influencing the policy instrument choice of local governments, especially the influence of CO2 emissions and thermal power generation on the choice of policy instruments for renewable power generation, are further analysed. The results show that China has formed a multi-sectoral and collaborative renewable power generation policy framework from the central government to local governments. Direct provision instruments and fiscal expenditure instruments are extensively employed, leading to over-dependence on such policy instruments. Empirical analysis shows that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between the frequency of use of renewable power generation policy instruments and CO2 emissions, as well as a positive relationship with thermal power generation. More specifically, in provinces with high CO2 emissions, local governments are more likely to choose direct provision and fiscal expenditure. Provinces with a high installed thermal power capacity have a more frequent use of both regulatory and fiscal expenditure policy instruments by local governments.

Recentralização, conflitos intergovernamentais e desigualdade territorial: perspectiva dos governos locais no Peru

Abstract Intergovernmental conflicts, in Latin America’s centralism and the recentralization in Peru, have been more acute over the last 30 years, producing sociopolitical, economic, and cultural problems at subnational levels. Based on the design of the grounded theory of Glasser and Strauss, this sociopolitical phenomenon is analyzed from the perspective of local governments in the Puno region to account for the emerging categories and subcategories of analysis regarding the dynamics of intergovernmental relations (IGR) in the local public policy process. The main argument is that, as a result of centralism, recentralization, and intergovernmental conflicts, territorial inequality reproduces and reinforces at the local level. These are expressed in a dichotomy between the deficit territorial dynamics (backward areas) and entrepreneurial territorial dynamics (growth areas).