Institutional Mechanisms Research Articles

UPDATING THE INTEGRATED BORDER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY IN UKRAINE UNDER MARTIAL LAW

The paper analyzes the steps taken by Ukraine in the process of updating its Strategy of Integrated Border Management in the context of European integration. The legal and institutional mechanisms for improving the border management system are investigate

Questioning God in the Wake of Sexual Abuse

This paper considers the engagement of Christian communities in the healing process of the victims after cases of sexual abuse. Over the last fifty years, restorative justice has emerged to respond to the harm inflicted on individuals by abusive behaviors. However, restorative justice alone, focusing on restoring the relationship between the victim and the aggressor, leaves many social and institutional mechanisms unchallenged. Drawing on Johann B. Metz’s political theology, I claim that three aspects must be taken into account by Christian communities to show solidarity with the victims and facilitate their spiritual healing: the necessity of structural change through serious consideration of social sin in the Church; the importance of parrhesia (open and honest speech) through peaceful public protests where survivors and their allies manifest their discontent and ask for accountability; listening to the marginalized as a priority that re-educates the Church to pay attention to those who suffer.

A ‘fateful compromise’? Transnational religious organizations and regional governance in Africa

ABSTRACT This article uses the activities of the Catholic and mainline Protestant churches in West Africa to explore how transnational theologically inspired actors are co-constructing a ‘new regionalism’ in Africa. It contends that through a strategy of ‘fateful compromise’ with states, rather than co-optation, mainline churches have evolved well-developed institutional platforms and coordination mechanisms capable of ‘re-scaling’ the governance of transboundary ‘peace–democracy–development nexus’ issues to the regional level. The empirical evidence is derived from the activities of the Regional Catholic Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA) and the Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in West Africa (FECCCIWA). Pivoting to regional spaces is a strategic response to inter-religious hegemonic competition, especially with Pentecostalism and revivalist Islam; shrinking domestic space for civil society organizations (CSOs); and de-secularization that diminished the historic churches’ erstwhile political influence in national policy. Furthermore, limited access to regional policy process granted to selected CSOs, particularly in Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), turned regional spaces into complementary or alternative sites of citizenship. The West African experience enriches the ‘new regionalism’ scholarship by introducing the concept of ‘fateful compromise’, which suggests multiple trajectories in church–state relations rather than presumption of ‘elite co-optation’ as the only option for inclusive or collaborative governance in regressive democracies in Africa.

What Is the European Central Bank Supposed to Do?

Abstract In July 2021, the European Central Bank (ECB) published a new monetary policy strategy, the first time in 17 years that it had undertaken a review of its monetary policy. In the intervening time, the world – and the economic challenges facing the ECB – have changed immensely but partly as a result of the ECB’s own maneuvering. In particular, monetary policy has been relied upon for every single malaise facing the global economy, including and up to the coronavirus pandemic. This paper argues that a review of central banks as an institutional mechanism in general, and in particular the ECB, was overdue but should not have been limited to policies; instead, an opportunity was missed to have an institutional review to examine whether or not it has been performing as intended. In particular, the vast experiment of unconventional monetary policy/issuance should have been more scrutinized from an institutional level as it appears to have contributed to the current problems the European economy faces. Europe and the ECB would be well served by taking stock of its actions over the past two decades and especially during the era of unconventional monetary policy to find a sustainable route forward.

Mini-publics, Social Legitimacy and Institutional Collaboration: Some Inherent Trade-offs and Three Alternative Design Strategies

Over the last few decades, an increasing number of governments have promoted the setting up of so called “mini-publics” to integrate policymaking processes in an attempt to improve policy decisions. This phenomenon has highlighted the importance of mini-publics to become fully integrated in our democratic systems. By presenting the findings of empirical research conducted on 29 local mini-publics, this paper aims to explain how mini-public design elements can affect the capacity of mini-publics to trigger or hinder two key integration mechanisms: the social legitimation mechanism and the institutional collaboration mechanism.

Safe storage and parking lots: anti-homeless laws and homeless service spaces in Los Angeles

ABSTRACT A new architecture that provides essential services (like property storage and vehicle parking) to unhoused people now exists in cities like Los Angeles, where thousands of people live on streets and sidewalks. This paper shows how homeless storage spaces are historically linked to mandatory “homeless sweeps” and laws that restrict the amount of personal property an unhoused person can legally keep. Similarly, the paper highlights how officially designated parking lots for people who live in their cars and vans paradoxically attempt to provide secure parking for unhoused people in a city that prohibits vehicle dwelling in other, safer parts of the city. Together, these insights help establish new homeless storage and parking spaces as products of institutional mechanisms that criminalize homelessness. Awareness of this history is critical to developing compassionate homeless policy without punitive undertones and creating built environments that preserve human dignity and reduce the stigma of homelessness.

Different while being similar: The dual institutional process and differential organizational status

Connecting the neoinstitutional theory with Bourdieu's field theory, we develop a framework on the dual institutional process of integration and differentiation in a field. While the neoinstitutional theory has focused on similar organizational structures, we shift the research focus to offer an institutional explanation of differential organizational status. Drawing insights from Bourdieu's theory and key concepts, we highlight that the very institutional mechanisms causing isomorphism-regulative forces, normative pressures, and cognitive processes-also generate systematic status differentiation among organizations via their different levels of capital, homologous structures, and various habitus in a field. Our extended framework has theoretical significance in advancing the neoinstitutional theory, the research of status in organizational and economic sociology, and the Bourdieusian perspective. By theorizing status differentiation among organizations, it also adds an important dimension to enrich our understanding of multilevel status and social hierarchies.

Chatbots, virtual-try-on (VTO), e-WOM: modeling the determinants of attitude’ and continued intention with PEEIM as moderator in online shopping

Purpose The purpose of this study is to develop an empirical model by understanding the relative significance of interactive technological forces, such as chatbots, virtual try-on technology (VTO) and e-word-of-mouth (e-WOM), to improve interactive marketing experiences among consumers. This study also validates the moderating role of the perceived effectiveness of e-commerce institutional mechanism (PEEIM) as a moderator between attitude and continued intention. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through personal visits and an online survey. The link to the survey questionnaire was shared on different social media platforms and social networking sites. A total of 362 responses obtained in the online and offline modes were considered for this study. Findings e-WOM emerged as the strongest predictor of attitude, followed by chatbots and VTO. The results of this study revealed that PEEIM did not moderate the relationship between attitude and continued intention. Originality/value Using the self-determination theory and behavioral reasoning theory as theoretical frameworks, this study is an initial endeavor in the online shopping context to empirically validate interactive forces like chatbots, VTO, e-WOM and PEEIM as moderators together to arrive at a holistic framework. These forces, in turn, act as significant contributors to online shopping satisfaction.

Making the invisible visible: Using a qualitative system dynamics model to map disparities in cumulative environmental stressors and children's neurodevelopment

BackgroundThe combined effects of multiple environmental toxicants and social stressor exposures are widely recognized as important public health problems, likely contributing to health inequities. However, US policy makers at state and federal levels typically focus on one stressor exposure at a time and have failed to develop comprehensive strategies to reduce multiple co-occurring exposures, mitigate cumulative risks and prevent harm. This research aimed to move from considering disparate environmental stressors in isolation to mapping the links between environmental, economic, social and health outcomes as a dynamic complex system using children's exposure to neurodevelopmental toxicants as an illustrative example. Such a model can be used to support a broad range of child developmental and environmental health policy stakeholders in improving their understanding of cumulative effects of multiple chemical, physical, biological and social environmental stressors as a complex system through a collaborative learning process. MethodsWe used system dynamics (SD) group model building to develop a qualitative causal theory linking multiple interacting streams of social stressors and environmental neurotoxicants impacting children's neurodevelopment. A 2 1/2-day interactive system dynamics workshop involving experts across multiple disciplines was convened to develop the model followed by qualitative survey on system insights. ResultsThe SD causal map covered seven interconnected themes: environmental exposures, social environment, health status, education, employment, housing and advocacy. Potential high leverage intervention points for reducing disparities in children's cumulative neurotoxicant exposures and effects were identified. Workshop participants developed deeper level of understanding about the complexity of cumulative environmental health risks, increased their agreement about underlying causes, and enhanced their capabilities for integrating diverse forms of knowledge about the complex multi-level problem of cumulative chemical and non-chemical exposures. ConclusionGroup model building using SD can lead to important insights to into the sociological, policy, and institutional mechanisms through which disparities in cumulative impacts are transmitted, resisted, and understood.

The Significance of Market Power in the Financial Sustainability of Emerging Agricultural Cooperatives in the Central Free State of South Africa: A Resource-based View

Introduction: Despite the accessibility of institutional support mechanisms to cooperative firms in South Africa, many emerging agricultural cooperatives in the Central Free State remain underrepresented in the mainstream market, thereby undermining their long-term financial sustainability. Yet, business sustainability literature on cooperative firms foregrounds the theoretical assertion that the existence of market power significantly influences financial sustainability. Purpose: The study set out to debunk the assertion that emerging cooperative firms in the Central Free State have market power that they can exert to increase their financial sustainability. Methodology: Drawing on the resource-based view theory and a review of literature, the study sought to establish whether market dynamics have a direct influence on the financial sustainability of emerging agricultural cooperative firms. Findings: The findings suggest that competition intensity and market concentration undermine the ability of the market power of cooperatives to positively predict long-term financial sustainability. Originality: The study links various indicators of financial sustainability to market power and establishes the influence of each of them on market power—an approach underexplored in entrepreneurial literature.

Impact of Green Development Mechanism Innovation on Total-Factor Environmental Efficiency: A Quasi-Natural Experiment Based on National Pilot Cities

The implementation of green development has become an important choice for countries seeking the harmonious development of the economy and the environment. The National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zone is an innovative institutional mechanism for exploring green development in China. This study utilizes the National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zone policy as a quasi-natural experiment. Adopting data from 290 prefecture-level and above cities in China during 2014–2019 as the research object, this study matches the propensity score and improved differences-in-differences to assess the impact of green development mechanism innovation on regional total-factor environmental efficiency. The results show that this innovation had a significant impact on the improvement of total-factor environmental efficiency. Compared with non-pilot cities, the implementation of pilot zone areas contributed 16.78% to the growth of total-factor environmental efficiency in the experimental group cities. In addition, further analysis shows that mechanism innovation is more effective in areas with high pollution and high resource consumption. This study enriches the research on evaluation of the impact of innovation in green development mechanisms and provides a reference for further promoting pilot national ecological civilization zones.

The impact of board reforms on audit fees: International evidence

AbstractIn this study, we investigate whether and to what extent country‐level board reforms affect audit pricing decisions. We find audit fees are positively associated with board reforms. An increase in audit fees is more pronounced for firms that switched up to Big N auditors following board reforms. After board reforms, firms are less likely to issue restatements, and both analyst forecast accuracy and management forecast frequency increase, indicating improved audit quality and information transparency in the postreform period. Moreover, the positive relation between board reforms and audit fees is more evident for firms in countries that lack institutional governance mechanisms, captured by emerging capital markets, high political risk, weak governmental enforcement actions and low corporate governance quality. Overall, our findings broadly support the view that audit fees increase upon demand for better audit quality.

Decent Work Systems: Management Model Analysis on the Example of Russian Railways

Decent work governance for modern socio-economic systems is a key goal and a common operating methodology. The current literature does not fully disclose the questions posed, which require the proposal of system management models, formed considering the factors of the external and internal environment that determine the characteristics of management in different sectors of the economy. The purpose of the paper is to update the modern provisions of the decent work theory, the formation of a basic model for managing decent working conditions and its substantive justification on the example of Russian Railways enterprises. For this purpose, the author describes the implementation research work using the methods of interdisciplinary analysis of literature and practical experience, as well as a regulatory framework, professional recruitment, including for the transport industry, strategic documents and concepts in responsible work. Also, the research used the method of counter modeling, which represents the decomposition of the theoretical model into the results of the production conditions, financial and socio-economic activities of a particular enterprise. As a result of the work carried out, the author built a model for managing suitable labor at the enterprise based on the scheme of suitable labor management, also relying on empirical data and the regulatory framework of Russian Railways. This model has become a methodological basis for analyzing the situation of decent labor management at the enterprises of Russian Railways. The data obtained testify to the operation of managerial, legal, supervisory, institutional and financial mechanisms for managing suitable work. The practice of applying the results of the study led both to positive results and identified problem areas that cause socio-economic risks in implementing personnel policy measures of Russian Railways.

Exploration on the continuous optimization of the business environment to build a civilized government under the rule of law

Countries around the world have been optimizing their business environment in order to improve their investment and market environment and promote healthy economic development. In recent years, Chinese governments at all levels have taken legal actions that are fair, safe, honest, convenient and predictable, benchmarked themselves against advanced international examples, focused on expanding and enhancing the scope and adjusting functions of marketization and rule of law, and addressed the difficult and blocking issues that undermine the business environment as a starting point, and blazed a trail to optimize the business environment, achieving certain realistic results, based on China's basic national conditions, and opening up a path to strengthen the rule of law and civilized government and focus on solving the soft environment issues such as institutional mechanisms. Based on China's basic national conditions, it has opened up a road for building a business environment with Chinese characteristics by strengthening the rule of law and civilized government and focusing on solving soft environment problems such as institutional mechanisms.

Food systems in depressed and contested agro-territories: Participatory Rural Appraisal in Odemira, Portugal

Farming regions in Europe, particularly in the South, are increasingly feeling the effects of climate change due to factors such as drought, extreme weather events, and desertification, with severe consequences for food security and food sovereignty. Additionally, decades of rural mismanagement have left countless of these farming territories severely depressed as well as at the mercy of competition for their natural resources. This paper presents and discusses the results of a Participatory Rural Appraisal conducted in the region of Odemira, Southwest Portugal. Rooted in the frameworks of agroecology and food democracy, this mixed methodology aims to support people in multiply stressed agro-territories to diagnose the state of their food systems and agroecosystems from a democratic and ecological point of view and engage local actors in imagining fairer and healthier food futures for their regions. Local food actors were invited to identify and qualify the main problems in the region's food systems, complemented by an agroecological assessment of farm production systems. The results of the study confirm the status of Odemira as a depressed and contested agro-territory, whose social, economic, and ecological vulnerability is being compounded by the clash between the model of traditional smallholder farming and that of large-scale intensive agriculture. The study also shows the potential of sustainable farming practices as well as collaboration between the different food actors to support an agroecological transition in the region. However, to jointly realise food democracy and food system sustainability, the tensions resulting from the current political support for hyper-industrialisation and the lack of democratic, institutional, and legal mechanisms available to local actors will need to be addressed head-on.

Barriers and opportunities in achieving climate and sustainable development goals in India: a multilevel analysis

ABSTRACT Climate action plans are essential for climate mitigation and adaptation as well as to achieve climate and development goals like the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the development and implementation of climate action plans at multiple levels involve decision-making processes. In this article, we examine the barriers and opportunities to decision-making in climate action plans for adaptation at three different governance levels in India: national, sub-national and local. Through a literature review and analysis of case studies, we find that lack of usable climate information, institutional weaknesses and capacity of actors are critical barriers to decision-making at all three levels in India. We recommend that providing usable and accessible climate information, creating evidence and knowledge on adaptation, strengthening the science-policy interface and institutional mechanisms, as well as building the capacities of actors can contribute to better decision-making and achieving targeted climate action plans and SDGs.

On some issues about English medium instruction in Armenian higher education institutions: based on the desk and field study of the Erasmus + SMARTI Project

This article is an attempt to present the benefits and challenges of English medium instruction (EMI) and its implementation in Armenian higher education institutions. Through statistically reliable and significant findings of the surveys conducted within the framework of Erasmus + SMARTI Project a qualitative and quantitative analysis has been carried out to identify the gaps existing in the mode of delivery and methodology of EMI and offer ways of bridging that gap. The article highlights the perceived benefits of EMI that include, but are not limited to, boosting internationalisation and quality assurance in Armenian higher education institutions through revising institutional policies, mechanisms and tools in line with Tuning Methodology from a student-centred and labour-market-demand perspective on both national and international levels. To attain these ambitious goals, the article offers step-by-step solutions to a plethora of obstacles and issues that Armenian higher education institutions currently encounter.

The Canadian Charter’s Notwithstanding Clause as an Institutionalized Mechanism of Court Curbing

ABSTRACT Recent interest in the use of section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has renewed political and scholarly attention to this unique device of constitutional politics. The notwithstanding clause is notable for being an opt-out clause exclusively available for government use, positioning it above the courts on key areas of rights. This article argues that the notwithstanding clause can be understood properly as an institutionalized mechanism of court curbing; that is, as an effort to limit a court’s power. We analyze uses of the notwithstanding clause using national and regional media coverage to understand how section 33 is framed, as well as an original dataset that investigates Canadians’ support of the notwithstanding clause and court curbing.

Aspects of forming the institutional mechanism for organization management

The research of organizations’ development based on the study of the institutional mechanism helps to identify problematic issues and the possibility of economical systems’ functioning, on the ground of which the directions for the enterprises’ evolvement are determined. The purpose of this article’s study is to reveal the features of institutional mechanism’s formation for managing an organization. Within the framework of this article, the analysis of basic concepts like “institution”, “institutional management”, “institutional mechanism”, etc. is conducted. It is determined that formal rules’ institutions, mechanisms and restrictions include legislation and structures that implement their activities by introducing general principles into society and forcing participants to comply with the established rules. It is substantiated that institutional mechanisms, in case of effective use in the activities of organizations, will ensure the interaction of institutions and enterprises, forming an infrastructure represented by institutional requirements and opportunities for their implementation.

Ensuring the economic security of the state by improving the policy of combating the financing of terrorism and armed conflicts

Combating the financing of terrorism and armed conflicts is a top priority in Ukraine to ensure its economic security. The institutional mechanism for the development and implementation of the policy of combating the financing of terrorism and armed conflicts covers a range of entities and the relations between them. In Ukraine, this institutional mechanism is at the stage of its creation and needs to be adjusted under the influence of new threats. The purpose of the article is to determine directions for improving the institutional framework of economic security of the state with regard to combating the financing of terrorism and armed conflicts. The methods of theoretical generalization, systematization, and comparative analysis were used in the process of research. The informational basis of the research includes the works of domestic researchers addressing the indicated problems. The article’s objective analysis of the areas of activity and competencies of the entities involved in the fight against terrorism, including its funding, proves the neglect of new changes and trends in terrorist threats. Taking into account the best European practices, the need to create a separate entity with a special status and powers, which will perform professional analytical and communication functions, as well as monitor threats directly related to terrorist funding, is emphasized. Such an entity can be presented in the form of a special body - the Agency for Combating Digital Threats and Terrorism. The existing Anti-Terrorist Center under the Security Service of Ukraine concentrates its activities and coordinates the work between the entities involved in the fight against terrorism. The proposed agency will monitor information on the Internet and work with the community in order to identify specific signs of terrorist activity, in particular regarding its funding. The use of modern identification and authentication mechanisms for transactions on the Internet will make it possible to identify users and create their digital footprints. With the help of big data analysis mechanisms, the Agency for Combating Digital Threats and Terrorism can create digital profiles of users and use them for predicate analysis that will prevent potentially criminal activities. The proposed direction for the improvement of the institutional mechanism of the policy of combating the financing of terrorism and armed conflicts with the use of new technologies and objects (including in the field of activities on the Internet and processing of cryptocurrency assets), which are produced by modern digital systems, should be implemented taking into account the requirements of international institutions in this sphere.