Policy-making Mechanisms Research Articles

Income diversification patterns and their impact on bank risk

AbstractThis study focuses on the crucial topic of income diversification and its implications for bank risk, using the context of India's public and private Sector banks. The research spans the years 2005–2021, investigating the influence of varying degrees of non‐interest income on the risk profiles of Indian banks. Employing a program impact evaluation methodology, the study employs the generalised propensity score‐fractional dose–response function technique to ascertain the impact of different levels of non‐interest income on bank risk. The outcomes underscore the diverse effects of diversification contingent upon factors like bank size and ownership type, including large and small banks as well as public and private sector institutions. Notably, the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis introduced distinctive dynamics to income diversification's impact. By segmenting the study timeline into two periods—2005–2013 and 2014–2021—it emerges that income diversification lowered bank risk in the earlier period, while conversely amplifying risk in the latter phase. These insights bear significance as an early warning mechanism for bank executives, policymakers, and regulatory authorities, enabling them to navigate strategic transitions associated with non‐interest income. Employing a novel approach, this research contributes to the literature by evaluating the interplay between income diversification and bank risk across diverse levels of non‐interest income mix. In contrast to conventional econometric methods, the use of the generalised propensity score method stands out as a robust technique to mitigate confounding biases inherent in non‐experimental inquiries.

Cultural Policy Formation and State-Society Relations: Culture-led Urban Redevelopment of Enninglu in Guangzhou

Using the Enninglu redevelopment project as a case, this article examines how local governments in China pacify urban protests, consolidate the political legitimacy of urban agendas, and re-regulate state-society relations through cultural policy-making. The Enninglu urban renewal project has experienced three waves of social resistance since 2006. Accordingly, the government has made three rounds of urban policy changes, successively incorporating heritage preservation policies, creative economy policies, and public participation policies in response to different social demands. The case of Enninglu illustrates that cultural city-making in China is not merely “state-led,” but is assembled in a process of conflict between the state and society at the local level. This article argues for bringing the perspective of “state-society relations” to the study of Asian cultural/creative cities and further proposes a “legitimacy framework” to conceptualize the mechanisms of urban cultural policy-making in the context of social resistance.

Political grammars of justification and cost-benefit analysis in SEC rulemaking

We investigate how financial regulators justify rulemaking decisions on socially oriented disclosure rules through evidence-based policymaking (EBPM) mechanisms. To do so, we analyze the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) justifications within the cost-benefit analysis (CBA) it performs when promulgating the conflict minerals disclosure rule mandated by the U.S. Congress. We use a grammatical approach to analyze the SEC’s justificatory discourse wherein a grammar represents implicit rules that actors follow to be recognized as acting appropriately. We find that six key justifications comprise the SEC’s CBA discourse. These justifications reflect public, natural, and realist grammars that connect the SEC’s justifications in a way that aims to legitimize SEC decisions. Specifically, the SEC’s public grammar suggests that the Congressional mandate increases benefits to society and to market participants and increases costs to issuers. The SEC’s discretionary rulemaking, however, reflects a realist grammar that primarily justifies decreased costs to issuers. The SEC’s realist grammar is buffered by a natural grammar in which the SEC supports its justifications by mobilizing constituent comment letters regarding the rule’s costs while paying less attention to evidence consistent with the rule’s benefits. Overall, our evidence indicates regulators employ CBA, a purportedly objective, evidence-based endeavor, to justify tradeoffs between social and financial objectives when regulating social mandates, suggesting the political nature of EBPM mechanisms.

Understanding the gap between the gender equality and social inclusion policy and implementation in the energy sector: The case of Nepal

Social norms are often put forward to explain resistance to gender equality and social inclusion (GESI), and women continue to be largely absent from decision-making positions in the energy sector worldwide. However, there is limited research on the institutional mechanisms of policy-making and implementation at different scales within a federal system.Using Nepal as a case study, this paper explores why, despite commitments, progress toward GESI objectives in the energy sector has been slow. Based on a review of energy policies, and interviews at federal, provincial and local government spheres, this paper focuses on the institutional and policy processes at play within the energy sector and between the three spheres of the federal system (the national, provincial and local). It examines the extent to which these processes undermine the implementation of inclusion policy. Understanding the broader institutional processes helps to identify different types of bottlenecks compromising progress in GESI: those which are linked to deficient policy regimes which cannot be addressed solely through additional GESI-focused interventions, and those which can be characterized as resistant to GESI-related issues. The aim of this research is also to understand why Nepal's public energy institutions, despite a constitutional commitment to gender equality and non-discrimination based on caste, class, ethnicity and religion, seem so reluctant to mainstream GESI within its policies and practice. The paper concludes that GESI implementation in the energy sector suffers from limited human resources, a narrow conceptual framing and delays in policy development and implementation within different spheres of the federal system. Moreover, shortcomings related to GESI policy-making and implementation should be considered within the broader context of federalism. Therefore, to support GESI policy implementation, bureaucratic as well as local-level ownership of the concept and its relevance for sustainable development must be developed and strengthened.

A Study on the Impact of Ideological and Political Education of Ecological Civilization on College Students' Willingness to Act Pro-Environment: Evidence from China.

The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of ideological and political education with regards to ecological civilization on college students' pro-environment attitudes. Based on the survey data of 1622 college students, a series of econometric models are built to understand and test the impact of ideological and political education on students' pro-environment willingness. The results show that the ideological and political education of ecological civilization can effectively promote the environmental will of college students; the accumulation of environmental knowledge, ecological concern, and ecological reflection are the important mediums for the ideological and political education of ecological civilization; and the medium effect of ecological reflection is the strongest. In addition, this study also indicates that the pro-environment willingness of college students and their professional categories, whether to join the eco-environmental association, and other factors have a significant correlation. Therefore, this study reveals the current impact of ecological civilization education and the role of the mechanism for college educators and policymakers to promote the protection of the ecological environment, which provides an important reference.

Predictive modeling and analysis of air quality – Visualizing before and during COVID-19 scenarios

Quality air to breathe is the basic necessity for an individual and in recent times, emission from various sources caused by human activities has resulted in substantial degradation in the air quality. This work focuses to study the inadvertent effect of COVID-19 lockdown on air pollution. Pollutants' concentration before- and during- COVID-19 lockdown is captured to understand the variation in air quality. Firstly, multi-pollutant profiling using hierarchical cluster analysis of pollutants' concentration is performed that highlights the differences in the cluster compositions between before- and during-lockdown time periods. Results show that the particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) in air that formed the primary cluster before lock-down, came down to close similarity with other clusters during lockdown. Secondly, predicting air quality index (AQI) based on the forecasts of pollutants' concentration is performed using neural networks, support vector machine, decision tree, random forest, and boosting algorithms. The best-fitted models representing AQI is identified separately for before- and during-lockdown time periods based on its predictive power. While deterministic method reactively evaluates present AQI when current pollutants' concentration at a particular time and place are known, this study uses the best fitted data-driven model to determine future AQIs based on the forecasts of pollutant's concentration accurately (overall RMSE<0.1 for before lockdown scenario and <0.3 for during lockdown scenario). The study contributes to visualize the variation in pollutants' concentrations between the two scenarios. The results show that the reduced economic activities during lockdown period had led to the drop in concentration of PM10 and PM2.5 by 27% and 50% on an average. The findings of this study have practical and societal implications and serve as a reference mechanism for policymakers and governing bodies to revise their actions plans for regulating individual air pollutants in the atmospheric air.

Structural adjustment programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa in the 1980s and 1990s

The paper discusses the World Bank’s and International Monetary Fund’s Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) in Sub-Saharan Africa in the 1980s and 1990s. Most countries in this region did not demonstrate autonomy in regard to national economic management and public policy processes, but acquiesced to the economic austerity prescriptions of the international financial institution, which were supposed to have resuscitated their economies. The paper seeks to provide some insights pertaining to how multilateral financial agencies engaged national governments, not as partners in a contractual relationship, but as servile actors. This situation was not mutually beneficial to both parties as interventions in local economies through financial injections had not resulted in easier repayment of loans by Sub-Saharan African governments. However, conditionalities tied to loans resulted in the erosion of social policies and social rights in Sub-Saharan Africa in the said period. Instead of shoring up economies of the countries in the region, SAPs had helped to weaken or even implode them. SAPs also eroded the social policy gains which were attained in the decade of independence in this region. The paper’s main contention is that Sub-Saharan African countries should bolster their institutions, policy-making mechanisms, and not make the same mistakes they did during that period, if they want to develop and be prosperous this century.

A Framework for National Urban Policy-Making Evaluation Methodology: Challenges of Natural Resources Sustainability in Egypt

The national urban policies (NUP) adopted by Egypt during the period from the sixties to the second decade of the 21st century failed to address the challenges of sustainable urban development (SUD), as a result of some orientations affecting the mechanisms of policy-making and planning decisions in Egyptian urban areas. One of the most affected policies is preserving natural resources (land - water), resulting in the loss of many of these resources. The research hence addressed repercussions of this problem on policy-making methodology to deduce its weaknesses and strengths, by adopting a critical analysis method within three stages; overview and analysis of the research problem, then assessed policy-making mechanisms and planning decisions within the framework of evaluation methods deduced from experiences. Finally, it proposed a framework to develop an evaluation methodology that can function as an adaptive tool for development issues and urban governance in Egypt.

Assessing the synergies and trade-offs of development projects in response to climate change in an urban region

A synthesis of the complex relationships, including synergies and trade-offs, between urban development projects and climate change mitigation and adaptation objectives can ensure that all these relationships are taken into consideration. We used a systems approach and applied an impact matrix and chain effect analysis methods to projects in the highly urbanized Taipei metropolitan region to identify the influences and effects between urban development projects and climate change objectives. Three types of urban plans and projects were analyzed: flood control, transportation, and urban planning. The magnitudes of the influences and effects between these projects and plans were derived through interviews with experts familiar with Taipei's urban development. This pilot study found no synergy in the response to climate change mitigation and adaptation for the urban development projects analyzed. The current standalone policies and plans related to urbanization in Taipei have resulted in trade-offs for flood control and public transit projects because they contribute positively toward one climate objective but negatively impact another. A high-level policymaking mechanism that ensures coordination and collaboration between different sectors is needed to supervise sectoral policies. Prior to the approval and implementation of a plan, policymakers should request the assessment of synergies and trade-offs between plans and projects to ensure a synergistic effect to climate change issues. This study confirms that the strategy from individual sector in a metropolitan region will result in trade-off between climate change issues is a global problem. This paper also strengthens the concept that the assessment of synergy/trade-offs between policy and plans should be conducted using systemic approach.

Complexity of policy making in pandemic crisis: Harmonizing national policy with global prevention pandemic policy

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the complexity of policy making in the pandemic crisis in the current situation. How do the all countries make “trial and error” policy model in dealing with the dynamic changing environment. The administrative state's exclusive ability to guide and manage public policy and administration is increasingly being challenged in both developing and developed countries. The research approach is content review of official documents and online news from each continent, which is defined by a few nations, in order to get a broad image of how complicated policymaking is. This call identifies a slew of regional and global governance actors with sway over state administrative and policy decisions. The findings are there has been a proliferation of institutional procedures and policy-making mechanisms and beyond but frequently conflicting with conventional state policy processes of the government policy delivery. Upcoming Events Formal and informal institutions and actors, often in conjunction with national public administrations, but more often on their own, are at the heart of these policy processes. Multi-stakeholder ventures, global public-private partnerships, and global commissions are all examples of this.

Language policy and planning in the teaching of native languages in Pakistan

ABSTRACT The teaching of native languages is seen as being key to the development of cognitive skills, better academic performance in early grades and a resource for linguistic (re)vitalization and cultural revival. This study examines the institutional challenges in teaching and learning native languages in Pakistan. The study uses teachers’ agency through the public sphere paradigm as a theoretical framework to investigate the concerns and opinions of teachers and their agency regarding the challenges to native languages policy. The majority of teachers overwhelmingly support native languages, and endorse their importance in education, particularly in the development of cognitive skills and better academic performance. However, several institutional challenges hold back the teaching of native languages in public schools in Pakistan. The participants argue that native languages need an effective language-in-education policy. In addition, students, teachers and parents are not likely to deem native languages as resources until they gain some economic value. The study suggests that the current policy regarding native languages should be reviewed and refashioned considering their importance to students’ academic performance. Further, a dynamic policy-making mechanism is proposed where stakeholders at every level are able to coordinate in policy formulation and its effective implementation.

Cabinet Composition, Collegiality, and Collectivity: Examining Patterns in Cabinet Committee Structure

AbstractThis article examines one arena of decision-making in cabinet government: cabinet committees. It assesses the relationship between the composition of cabinets – their party make-up – and the structure of cabinet committees. Cabinet committees are groups of ministers tasked with specific policy or coordination responsibilities and can be important mechanisms of policymaking and cabinet management. Thus, the structure of committees informs our understanding of how cabinets differ in their distributions of policy influence among ministers and parties, a central concern in parliamentary government. We investigate two such dimensions: collegiality – interaction among ministers – and collectivity, the (de)centralization of influence. We find that cabinet committees in coalitions are significantly more collegial, on average, than single-party cabinets, though this is driven by minority coalitions. At the same time, influence within cabinet committees is less collectively distributed in most types of coalitions than in single-party cabinets.

Implementation of Complete Systematic Land Registration Fee (PTSL) Determination at City/District Level

This study aims to examine the policy for setting a Complete Systematic Land Registration (PTSL) fee at the central government level and the implementation of a Complete Systematic Land Registration (PTSL) fee determination at the Regency/City level. The research method in this thesis uses a normative juridical method and the research specification is descriptive analysis with the type of data based on primary and secondary data. Based on the results of observations and studies of laws and regulations related to the object of research, it shows that the PTSL costing policy has been regulated by the central government through a Joint Decree of 3 Ministers in which PTSL costs are categorized according to the region. Local governments in determining policies related to PTSL costing, their implementation must still refer to central policies so that policy synchronization continues. Regions that set costs in accordance with the SKB rules can immediately socialize the implementation of PTSL. Meanwhile, regions that determine the costs of PTSL themselves, through a policy-making mechanism and their determination must be regulated in writing through regional/village regulations. Suggestions from the results of this study. The implementation of PTSL needs to be socialized more massively, the government must ensure that there are no illegal fees, and if there are costs that exceed the provisions, a written determination is made and socialized to the public.

COOPERATION BETWEEN COMMUNITY AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE - A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MUNICIPALITIES OF PRISTINA REGION

Lately, the development of local government and community has taken new direction, especially in the countries of the Western Balkans, creating a partnership between these two parties. Local government is an important segment that has the legitimacy to organize local public affairs. Whereas community is regarded mainly as a social philosophy pertaining to the domain of communitarianism. More broadly, a community is a unit that includes the social networking, beliefs, values, norms and the social cohesion between its members, who are considered as social capital and are identified as part of the community. In Kosovo, the system of local government is one-tier type, central and local levels of government and municipalities are the basic unit of local government. Whereas the cooperation between the community and local government, although it is regulated by local self-government law, is still a needed practical implementation. It is important for the community to participate in public meetings, which are means used as local decision-making and policy-making mechanisms. The purpose of this study is a comparative analysis between the participation of the communities in the decision-making process in the municipalities of Pristina region (Pristina, Fushe Kosove, Obilic, Drenas and Gracanica) and the use of local decision-making mechanisms. The methodology uses analytical and comparative analysis, focusing on the communities in the Pristina region regarding their participation in public meetings. Additionally, the study analyses the empirical research conducted with the communities in the above-mentioned municipalities with a sample of 550 respondents. The results of this research show that the participation of the community in public meetings is low. About 50% of the study participants indicated that they do not attend public meetings for a number of reasons, such as the sense that their opinions and ideas were disregarded, the distance to the meetings, lack of timely information, and other influential factors. Keywords: Collaboration, community, local government, case, Pristina region.

Turnover of local government core officials, political connections and the investment and financing of private‐sector enterprises

AbstractIn this study, we examined the power operation and policymaking mechanisms of local governments in China and analysed the sources of risk in macroeconomic policies. Based on the reality of local governance in China, this article defines political uncertainty as normal or abnormal changes in the Standing Members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Provincial‐level Committee. We analysed the impact of turnovers of these local core officials upon the investment and financing of local private‐sector enterprises. We found that when changes in provincial inner core officials happened normally, the long‐term impact on the investment and financing of local private‐sector enterprises was not so obvious. However, when senior officials were investigated for corruption, the investment and financing of enterprises dropped significantly. For enterprises with personal political capital only, the impact of local core official turnover upon firm financing was even more pronounced. For private‐sector enterprises with partial state ownership, however, this negative impact was significantly weakened in the long term.

Can Artificial Intelligence Author Laws: A Perspective from Russia

This article discusses the issue of the introduction of digital technologies into policy-making. The article describes several systems of policy-making in the Russian Federation. In addition, the article discusses the issue of the introduction of a new System of policy-making in the light of the digital transformation of the Russian economy.&#x0D; &#x0D; The paper analyzes the capacities of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), in the context of their application in policy-making. The authors conclude that there are prerequisites and opportunities for deeper automation of the policy-making. This can improve the quality of the bills, can increase public involvement in the policy-making process, and speed up the development and adoption of new regulations. An intelligent system can develop legislative bills that are of superior technical quality and are non-contradictory in the context of both national and international legal systems. Digitalization processes should naturally lead to changes in the mechanism of policy-making, which in turn should lead to its greater automation. Moreover, insufficient automation today can become an obstacle in the digital transformation of the Russian economy.&#x0D; &#x0D; The authors conclude that in the future it would be possible for intellectual systems to author bills. The general development of AI systems shows that given the parameters of the problem and given the circumstance when the machine would be able to detect a center of social tensions in the community, the intelligent system itself would be capable of making proposals in the field of legislative regulation.&#x0D; &#x0D; The application of intelligent systems in policy-making is not without its drawbacks. Such systems are not transparent in the legal and technical sense and can also transfer human beliefs into the texts of the regulations. These problems can be addressed through public scrutiny and the introduction of a licensing system, however even this would create a number of new practical challenges.

Extending the Active Ageing Index to Hong Kong Using a Mixed-Method Approach: Feasibility and Initial Results

The rapid demographic transition heightens the urgency to develop a monitoring mechanism for policymakers to evaluate the impact of population ageing. The Active Ageing Index (AAI), developed for 28 European Union countries, has served as a global quantitative toolkit to benchmark the diverse experience of active ageing and older people’s potential. One can presume that the experiences of Asian elders are different to those with Europeans who have different cultural backgrounds. Thus, an approach that incorporates Eastern culture needs to be developed. In this paper, key findings of the focus group discussions with older men and women across the territories of Hong Kong are summarized. The lay perceptions of active ageing in the general public are identified and compared with the constituents of the European AAI. Also, the relative importance of the indicators given by the older Chinese people were differentiated by their demographic characteristics. The extent to which the older Chinese citizens and the expert groups of the AAI revealed similar judgement on the relative importance of the indicators of active ageing are also examined. The results reported in this paper illustrate how the mixed-method approach could serve as an appropriate method in extending the active ageing research in the Asia-Pacific region. The insights obtained would inform the construction of a more meaningful AAI in the Asian context. It is argued that incorporating the perspective of older people to encapsulate the defining characteristics of active ageing will lead to a wider acceptance of the AAI in a policy-setting mechanism.

How can contemporary innovation districts be classified? A systematic review of the literature

Innovation is a key driver of economic growth and competitiveness, and innovation clusters house much of the innovation generating high-tech and creative industries. These clusters, as a land use type, evolved overtime in terms of their functions, features, and spatial characteristics. This has led to their reconceptualization from a ‘science and technology park’ model to a ‘innovation district’ model. The key functional and spatial characteristics of innovation districts vary due to the local contextual factors. This makes the determination of the generic typologies of innovation districts challenging, and hence an understudied area of research. This paper aims to expand our understanding on the classification of innovation districts based on their key characteristics. The methodological approach of the study employs a systematic review of the literature on innovation districts, and places global case studies under the microscope. The results point to a holistic approach for the classification of innovation districts through three key factors—(a) Function; (b) Feature, and; (c) Space-use—and their 28 indicators. Each of these factors along with the broader ‘context’, as the fourth one, forms a cornerstone of a conceptual typology framework. The study findings consolidate our understanding on innovation districts, and informs policymaking mechanisms on their planning and development.

Mechanisms used by chemical manufacturing firms to promote green skills among employees: a case study in Malaysia

Threats imposed by climate change have raised the demand for green skills. Firms that provide green skills to their employees are touted to respond quickly to green policies and develop the capabilities to implement superior strategies to mitigate climate change. This study seeks to explore the mechanisms used by manufacturing firms to promote green skills among their employees. A case study approach using semi-structured interviews was deployed to explore these mechanisms in six large chemical manufacturing firms. The results indicate that collective effort, self-realisation and continuous awareness were the three main mechanisms used by firms to promote green skills among their employees. Firms actively engage employees from every level of management together to upgrade their skills. Pay raise and promotion are used as an incentive by firms to encourage the employees to obtain green skills. This study proposes a green skills development mechanism for policy makers and managers to nurture and invigorate green skills among employees.

Quantifying pediatric patient need for second- and third-line HIV treatment: A tool for decision-making in resource-limited settings

As national HIV programs across the world mature and continue to scale up towards UNAIDS’ 90-90-90 targets, it is increasingly important to accurately estimate HIV treatment needs in pediatric patient populations to prepare for anticipated increases in demand. This is particularly vital in sub-Saharan Africa, where the bulk of the global pediatric HIV burden remains concentrated, and for treatment-experienced populations, for which data are severely limited. This article discusses the conceptual framework behind and application of a five-year country-level quantification and decision-making tool aimed at providing national HIV programs and their partners with a better understanding of their evolving national HIV treatment and programming needs for second-and third-line pediatric populations. The conceptual framework of the algorithm which undergirds the tool is the patient pathway, along which key influencing factors that determine whether pediatric HIV patients are linked to care, remain in treatment, and are appropriately switched to later lines of treatment are accounted for quantitatively. Excel-based and arithmetic, the algorithm is designed to use available national, regional, and global data for factors impacting patient estimates including treatment coverage; routine viral load testing; viral load non-suppression; confirmed treatment failure; and patient loss to follow up—outcomes for which data are generally very limited in this patient population. The ultimate output of the tool is an estimate of the aggregate annual number of patients by treatment line. Given the limitations in available data for pediatric HIV, particularly for patients on second- and third-line treatments, this tool may help fill a data gap by providing a mechanism for policymakers to scenario plan, thus aiding resource allocation decisions for pediatric HIV program scale-up. The tool may be used to streamline national antiretroviral procurement of later lines of treatment, especially in resource-limited settings, and may also be used to add value to broader HIV policy and planning processes at the national level.