Lower Levels Of Government Research Articles

The Covid-19 pandemic: collective action and European public policy under stress

Abstract The European continent faces an apocalyptic pandemic that poses mortal danger to millions of citizens. This paper seeks to address the role played by European public policy in addressing the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently, each Member State across Europe is applying its own measures to deal with the coronavirus; namely, decentralised decision-making that could trigger political tensions among the states. The paper argues that European public policy must change rapidly and fundamentally if these tensions are to be successfully managed; otherwise, such policy might simply cease to exist. Moreover, the known and notorious problem of collective action, information asymmetries, irrationality, negative externalities and the related free-riding phenomenon persistently are distorting the Member States’ combined efforts, resulting in deficient attempts to contain the spread of Covid-19. The paper also argues that the current unprecedented outbreak of this superspreading virus calls for a bigger EU-wide coordinated response. We argue that the Covid-19 pandemic is a good example of an area in which the central EU level holds a comparative advantage over lower levels of government. In addition, the paper offers several substantive insights into ways to improve the public policy response in the ‘war’ against Covid-19.

Effects of Devolution on the Restructuring of the Provincial Administration in Kenya: A Case of Nairobi City County

Devolution in Kenya is about decentralising political, financial and administrative powers to forty seven counties. Kenya had practised devolution through the one year Majimbo government which lasted in 1964, before the highly centralised provincial administration was established. The provincial administration was centralised and gained control over all decentralized ministerial functions in the country; as an extension of the executive office of the president in the field. The Constitution stipulates that the provincial administration be restructured to align with the devolved administrative structure. Little research has been done on the structural frictions that arise from the fact that central governments are keen to retain or recapture the same authority that have been devolved to the lower level governments. Therefore, on this basis this study sought to establish the effects of implementing devolution on the operations of the Provincial Administration. The study was anchored on the objectives of establishing how devolution had shaped the structure of the Provincial Administration in Kenya; examine the extent to which functions of both County and National Government Administrators are interlinked and to identify the challenges faced in the implementation of Schedule Four of the Constitution. Both primary and secondary data were used. The study was guided by the Structural Functionalism theory of Emile Durkheim, which compare the society to an organism comprising of structures that influence each other for its own existence. A case study design was used with Nairobi City County as the study area. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the sample size for the questionnaires from the sample frame. Further the study used purposive sampling technique to select key informants for the interview guide. SSP version 21 and Content analysis were used to analyse the descriptive data. Data was presented in tables, charts and prose form. The study found out that the provincial administration had restructured through change of tittles and administrative units but not functions, there were points of roles interlinkages some of which are not procedurally and devolution was facing challenges such as: - revenue allocation, administrative and bureaucratic culture, organisational capacity and stakeholder mistrusts. The study concluded that duplication of functions by both levels of government still exists and that the aligning of the provincial administration with the schedule four was yet to be fully attained. Devolution advance national unity by recognising diversity and that it promotes participatory and transparent exercise of authority. The study recommends the enactment of legislation on functions to regulate the constitutional functions of the two levels of government and that commission on Revenue allocation to focus on Wards as the point of reverence in budgeting as they happen to be the service delivery vocal point. It further recommends the need for concerted efforts in creation of awareness on matters devolution through a structured civic education program. The fourth schedule needs to be implemented in tandem with the county government act 2012, for separation of functions between the National and County governments. There is need further research on devolution in future and to widen the study by including a bigger samples size, widening its scope and other variables not covered by this study.

A Gender Equalizing Regulatory Welfare State? Enacting the EU’s Work-Life Balance Directive in Denmark and Poland

This article examines the implementation of the European Union’s (EU) work-life balance directive in Denmark and Poland through examining the earmarking of paid parental leave. This enables us to assess whether the EU could be emerging as a gender equalizing regulatory welfare state (RWS). Our analysis points to tensions arising when regulatory decisions are made at a higher level of governance but require implementation and funding at lower levels of governance. In both countries, there are similar parental leave schemes ex-ante, and major actors had similar initial stances on parental leave, favoring stagnation. Yet the plans to implement show how the actors’ positions changed, and the likely result is extended parental leave, with payment (known as double expansion) and more gender-equal participation (degenderization) in parental leave. Although in two different institutional settings, the similar outcome suggests that these changes are due to the European Union acting as an emerging RWS, which influences Member States’ regulatory instruments with fiscal elements.

Construction Aggregates and Environmental Policy Integration in a One-Party State: The Case of Hoa Binh, Vietnam

In fast growing economies, rapid urbanization generates high demand for construction aggregates in the rural hinterland of cities. Their extraction often causes negative repercussions on the environment. In Vietnam, the central government has made strong efforts to incorporate environmental objectives in the aggregate mining sector, and, in a one-party state, it has powerful means to implement its policies. Nevertheless, adverse environmental effects of aggregate mining are visible throughout the country. Against this background, the purpose of this paper is to identify barriers for environmental policy integration in a one-party state. The aggregates industry in Hoa Binh Province, located in the hinterland of the fast growing capital Hanoi, is taken as a case. Methods of the study, which was conducted between 2015 and 2019, include literature review, document and data analysis, interviews, group discussions for information collection and validation of results, and site visits. Six environmental policy integration barriers are derived from the literature. They form the conceptual basis for explaining difficulties of environmental policy implementation and integration in the concrete case. The study demonstrates that the following factors provide a viable concept for analyzing deficits of environmental policy integration in a fast modernizing one-party state: (a) the prevalence of top-down approaches with insufficient trigger-down effects, (b) the predominance of socioeconomic over environmental objectives, (c) weak incentives to improve environmental performance, (d) fragmented environmental planning and implementation, (e) weak institutional control mechanisms on lower levels of government, and (f) compliance oriented public participation and deficient compensation mechanisms. These are potential entry points for coping with environmental challenges of growth oriented sector policies.

Dividend payout policy of Shariah compliant firms: Evidence from United States

This paper investigates the effects of religious screening on payout behavior of US firms. Shariah compliant (SC) indices serve as suitable sample as they are emerging as alternative investment class in the last two decades. Through an analysis of a sample of US firms belonging to Dow Jones proprietary database for the period 2006–2018, this study provides evidence that SC firms are more prone to make total payout, cash dividends and repurchases. We use panel logistic regressions with industry and year fixed effects. The findings reveal that the drivers of higher propensity of total payout are higher profitability, higher retained earnings, lower debt capital structure and lower asset growth. The factors that contribute to likelihood of paying higher cash dividends are higher profitability, lower governance levels and lower market/book assets ratio. Moreover, better governance, lower asset growth and lower equity/assets increase the propensity of SC firms to make higher repurchases. These findings are important contribution to the Islamic corporate finance and dividend policy literature.

Institutionalized data quality assessments: a critical pathway to improving the accuracy of integrated disease surveillance data in Sierra Leone

BackgroundPublic health agencies require valid, timely and complete health information for early detection of outbreaks. Towards the end of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in 2015, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS), Sierra Leone revitalized the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response System (IDSR). Data quality assessments were conducted to monitor accuracy of IDSR data.MethodsStarting 2016, data quality assessments (DQA) were conducted in randomly selected health facilities. Structured electronic checklist was used to interview district health management teams (DHMT) and health facility staff. We used malaria data, to assess data accuracy, as malaria was endemic in Sierra Leone. Verification factors (VF) calculated as the ratio of confirmed malaria cases recorded in health facility registers to the number of malaria cases in the national health information database, were used to assess data accuracy. Allowing a 5% margin of error, VF < 95% were considered over reporting while VF > 105 was underreporting. Differences in the proportion of accurate reports at baseline and subsequent assessments were compared using Z-test for two proportions.ResultsBetween 2016 and 2018, four DQA were conducted in 444 health facilities where 1729 IDSR reports were reviewed. Registers and IDSR technical guidelines were available in health facilities and health care workers were conversant with reporting requirements. Overall data accuracy improved from over- reporting of 4.7% (VF 95.3%) in 2016 to under-reporting of 0.2% (VF 100.2%) in 2018. Compared to 2016, proportion of accurate IDSR reports increased by 14.8% (95% CI 7.2, 22.3%) in May 2017 and 19.5% (95% CI 12.5–26.5%) by 2018. Over reporting was more common in private clinics and not- for profit facilities while under-reporting was more common in lower level government health facilities. Leading reasons for data discrepancies included counting errors in 358 (80.6%) health facilities and missing source documents in 47 (10.6%) health facilities.ConclusionThis is the first attempt to institutionalize routine monitoring of IDSR data quality in Sierra Leone. Regular data quality assessments may have contributed to improved data accuracy over time. Data compilation errors accounted for most discrepancies and should be minimized to improve accuracy of IDSR data.

Tailings facility failures in the global mining industry: Will a ‘transparency turn’ drive change?

AbstractIn this article, we critically analyse emerging regulatory controls around the design and management of tailings facilities in the global mining industry. Following several high profile, catastrophic tailings facility failures, a Global Tailings Review (GTR) was established to develop a new industry Standard. We describe the precursors to the GTR and review the public disclosure requirements of 19 separate industry‐endorsed standards and certification schemes. On several criteria, the GTR Standard requires unprecedented levels of public disclosure by mining companies. Does this amount to a ‘transparency turn’ in tailings management? We argue that while improved disclosure provisions may provide visibility for investors, regulators and other stakeholders, the socialisation of transparency norms is a highly complex, contingent and ultimately fragile endeavour. Using indicators relevant to achieving transparency, we demonstrate the contextual variability into which mining companies will be disclosing information. Our analysis highlights the sheer number of tailings facilities in locations with multi‐dimensional complexity, including low levels of literacy and governance, with correspondingly high levels of inequality and corruption. We discuss these conditionalities in relation to the GTR Standard, and conclude by outlining future research priorities.

Political Fragmentation and Firm Entry in the Mexican Maquiladora Sector

Although prior studies using a bargaining perspective have argued that political fragmentation has a positive impact on organizational outcomes and market entry, they have narrowly focused only one type of political fragmentation, horizontal, to the neglect of the other, vertical. By failing to consider the differences between these two types of political competition, prior predictions on the effects of political fragmentation on firm outcomes are likely to be more limited than previously posited. We examine vertical political fragmentation and argue that this will have a negative impact on firm decisions to enter geographic markets. Applying an institutional theory lens, we propose that vertical fragmentation will reduce the attractiveness of certain locations as potential sites for firms by augmenting institutional complexity and diminishing organizational access to resources. By examining market entry of all foreign manufacturing firms (maquiladoras) into Mexican cities from 1990 to 2006, the results show that vertical political fragmentation decreases firm entry, and that this effect is mediated by the amount of public resources that flow from upper to lower-level government jurisdictions, and is moderated by vertical fragmentation at other government levels and in jurisdictions where vertical fragmentation is a new phenomenon.

Waste-to-Energy in the EU: The Effects of Plant Ownership, Waste Mobility, and Decentralization on Environmental Outcomes and Welfare

Waste-to-energy (WtE) could prevent the production of up to 50 million tons of CO2 emissions that would otherwise be generated by burning fossil fuels. Yet, support for a large deployment of WtE plants is not universal because there is a widespread concern that energy from waste discourages recycling practices. Moreover, incineration plants generate air pollution and chemical waste residuals and are expensive to build compared to modern landfills that have appropriate procedures for the prevention of leakage of harmful gasses. In the context of the EU, this paper aims to provide a picture of the actual role of WtE as a disposal option for municipal solid waste (MSW), enabling it to be utilized as a source of clean energy, and to address two important aspects of the debate surrounding the use of WtE; namely, (i) the relationship between WtE and recycling, and (ii) the effects of decentralization, waste mobility, and plant ownership. Finally, it reviews the role of the EU as a supranational regulator, which may allow the lower government levels (where consumer preferences are better represented) to take decisions, while taking spillovers into account.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Risk:Evidence from China

The empirical findings in this paper show that CSR mitigates the firm-specific risk of Chinese firms, but exacerbates the market risk since CSR is associated with higher market risk. In addition, the returns of CSR-minded firms rise faster than those of less CSR-minded firms when the stock market return is positive, indicating that Chinese investors value firms’ CSR performance when the stock market is up. The ‘upside’ effect is driven by the positive news effect and reliability effect, especially pronounced for firms with a lower level of government ownership and firms whose CSR policies are less driven by agency problems. Key words: Corporate social responsibility, firm risk, idiosyncratic risk, market risk, China

Delegation of Taxation Authority and Multipolicy Commitment in a Decentralized Leadership Model

This article examines to what extent taxation authority should be delegated to local or lower-level government. Delegation of taxation authority can be regarded as a commitment to the local tax rate ex ante in a decentralized leadership model, in which local governments set policies ex ante and the central government decides transfer policies ex post. Previous papers point out that ex post interregional transfers of the central government distort ex ante regional policies of local governments. However, Silva clarify the case where efficient expenditure by local governments is achieved. This article examines the delegation of taxation authority by extending Silva’s model to include commitment to taxation and generally derives the conditions when efficient public expenditure by local governments can be achieved in relation to the delegation of taxation authority. The model adopted in this article allows various levels of spillovers of local public goods and various types of multipolicy commitments of taxation and/or expenditure.

The impact of the Social Security Fund on auditor litigation risk

In this study, we examine the effect of the Social Security Fund on auditor litigation risk. Using audit fees as a proxy for auditor perceptions of litigation risk, we find that the Social Security Fund significantly reduces auditor litigation risk. Furthermore, we show that the Social Security Fund influences auditor litigation risk through reducing both the audit risk and the business risk of public companies. In addition, the impact of the Social Security Fund for reducing auditor litigation risk is more obvious in the group of firms with low levels of internal governance, which indicates that the Social Security Fund plays an important governance role as a high-quality institutional investor. In summary, we verify that the Social Security Fund, when acting as an institutional investor, plays an important role in corporate governance, and that it helps to reduce auditor litigation risk. Our results provide empirical support for expanding the governance role of the Social Security Fund as an institutional investor in China’s A-share market.

Editorial Introduction: Governance, Citizenry, and Methodological Advancement in Policy Research

Editorial Introduction: Governance, Citizenry, and Methodological Advancement in Policy Research

PERFORMANCE LEGITIMACY: THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS UNDER THE SULTAN’S ADMINISTRATION IN YOGYAKARTA

In his capacity as governor, Hamengkubuwono has a coordinating role to play between the provincial, municipal and district governments in Yogyakarta. Though most policy responsibility lies with the districts and city of Yogyakarta, the sultan still has an important function to fulfil as effective cooperation between different tiers of government is a crucial factor in facilitating successful policy outcomes at the local level. For the sultan, his role as mediator and coordinator works well because it reinforces public perceptions of him as a neutral arbiter who stays aloof from the bickering of day-to-day politics. Over the years, he has cultivated this image of a paternalistic figure by making regular appeals to district heads and the mayor of Yogyakarta to serve the people better. In the rare events where conflicts arise over public policy (for example over land), Hamengkubuwono successfully deflected the blame for controversial policies to the lower-level governments, even though the royal palace often has a direct stake in these policy decisions.

Functionalization of the Village Head as Customary Leader in the Social Field in South Sumatra

The presence of the New Order government has brought about changes in the lowest level of government, which fairly basic leads to some institutional unification and uniformity. This has resulted in the loss of legal community units in Indonesia. The loss of indigenous community units began with the beginning of Law Number 5 of 1979 on Village Governance as a follow-up to the birth of Law Number 5 of 1974 on the Principles of Government in the Regions. Correspondingly, in South Sumatra, the lowest institutional governance tool, which is also a territorial indigenous community unit called Marga was abolished through the Decree of the Governor of South Sumatra No.142/ KPTS/1983. With the abolition of the Marga, it implies the loss of a typical indigenous institution of South Sumatra, which was merged into the Village institution as stipulated in Law Number 5 of 1979 on Villages. As a result, all the lowest institutions in South Sumatra switched their names to villages including, their functions and authorities. The removal of the Marga government and being replaced with the Village, has resulted in the loss of social functions and the function of resolving disputes customarily manner in the community. The function shift of the village head was not necessarily the transfer of the authority of the pesirah Margahead to the village head in resolving arising problems in the community. As a result of this obscurity of the function, all arising problems in the community should resolve by the formal public law determined by the state. This results in an imbalance in the lowest community, including in villages in South Sumatra, to break the chain, the research framework has carried out to answer these problems.

Pelaksanaan Otonomi Daerah Terhadap Pembangunan Masyarakat Di Kabupaten Indragiri Hulu

Regional autonomy is an authority granted by the central government to the lower level governments, namely the Provinces, Regencies / Cities to manage their own households. The purpose of this study was to determine the implementation of regional autonomy towards community development in Indragiri Hulu Regency. The usefulness of this research should be of theoretical, practical and academic benefit, of course. This type of research uses qualitative and quantitative research types that are descriptive based on the information the author obtained, through primary data and secondary data, with respondents totaling 200 people. The technique of analyzing the data the authors conducted a qualitative analysis that would be carried out through primary, secondary, and library sources. The analysis will use a descriptive approach. The results showed that the implementation of regional autonomy carried out by the Government of the Indragiri Hulu Regency in the category did not go well. But on the other hand, the deliberation of the development plan (Musrenbang) through the Regional Work Unit (SKPD) in the category is not running well with the policy of the City / Regency Government only prioritizing the local government and the central government. In addition, the effect of implementation on community development is not well categorized in the development of basic facilities, infrastructure.

The COVID-19 Pandemic: Collective Action and European Public Policy under Stress

The European continent faces an apocalyptic pandemic that poses mortal danger to millions of citizens. This paper seeks to address the role played by European public policy in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, each Member State across Europe is applying its own measures to deal with the coronavirus; namely, decentralised decision-making that could trigger political tensions among the states. The paper argues that European public policy must change rapidly and fundamentally if these tensions are to be successfully managed; otherwise, such policy might simply cease to exist. Moreover, the known and notorious problem of collective action, information asymmetries, irrationality, negative externalities and the related free-riding phenomenon persistently are distorting the Member States’ combined efforts, resulting in deficient attempts to contain the spread of COVID-19. The paper also argues that the current unprecedented outbreak of this superspreading virus calls for a bigger EU-wide coordinated response. We argue that the COVID-19 pandemic is a good example of an area in which the central EU level holds a comparative advantage over lower levels of government. In addition, the paper offers several substantive insights into ways to improve the public policy response in the “war” against COVID-19.

Self-Governance, Polycentricity, and Environmental Policy

This chapter explores Elinor and Vincent Ostroms’ normative and analytical arguments regarding self-governance and how self-governing systems can resolve environmental problems without the need for top-down, centralized policies. On the normative side, the Ostroms argued that citizens should be free to develop their own rules and strategies for solving environmental problems. The Ostroms’ conception of self-governance pushes back against the practice of far-removed politicians and bureaucrats manipulating the actions of citizens like pieces on a chessboard. On the analytical side, self-governance can solve environmental problems because people who are nearest to an environmental problem often have more knowledge and better incentives to solve it. Much of the Ostroms’ research found that polycentric systems, which have multiple, overlapping decision-making centers, allow societies to both achieve self-governance and effectively solve environmental problems. A polycentric approach allows lower levels of government and private associations to find solutions that are better tailored to local conditions, take advantage of local knowledge, and have more direct involvement with local populations. This chapter examines a case study of sage-grouse conservation in the American West that shows how polycentric and community-oriented institutions can solve environmental problems and uphold self-governance.

Courts as Monitoring Agents: The Case of China

This paper shows that courts are not only a crucial part of the rule of law in the conventional sense but that they can also serve an important function in revealing information regarding the performance of lower level governments to the central government, and thereby improve their performance. After having developed a general argument in that vein, the recent reforms to the Chinese court system are partially interpreted as an attempt to make the courts monitoring agents of the central government. Based on primary data from more than 1,000 Chinese local courts, the argument is tested empirically and its hypotheses are largely confirmed.

Vertical integration for climate change adaptation in the water sector: lessons from decentralisation in Africa and India

Vertical integration, which creates strategic linkages between national and sub-national levels, is being promoted as important for climate change adaptation. Decentralisation, which transfers authority and responsibility to lower levels of organisation, serves a similar purpose and has been in place for a number of decades. Based on four case studies in semi-arid regions in Africa and India, this paper argues that vertical integration for climate change adaptation should reflect on lessons from decentralisation related to governing natural resources, particularly in the water sector. The paper focuses on participation and flexibility, two central components of climate change adaptation, and considers how decentralisation has enhanced or undermined these. The findings suggest that vertical integration for adaptation will be strengthened if a number of lessons are considered, namely (i) actively seek equitable representation from marginal and diverse local groups drawing on both formal and informal participation structures, (ii) assess and address capacity deficits that undermine flexibility and adaptive responses, especially within lower levels of government, and (iii) use hybrid modes of governance that include government, intermediaries and diverse local actors through both formal and informal institutions to improve bottom-up engagement.