Multi-level Governance System Research Articles

Двухуровневая игра процесса обеспечения ответственности за нарушение права ЕС

This article seeks to reveal the role of compliance in the functioning of the European Union as a system of multi-level governance and to observe the factors determining the differentiation of EU member states by the level of compliance with the European Union law. In order to determine this level, it is necessary to concentrate on three main stages of compliance: (1) transposition of the norm, (2) implementation of the norm and (3) application of the norm. The author concludes that, within the framework of the compliance process, member states and institutions of the EU, primarily the European Commission, participate in a “two-level game”, in which they evaluate the gains and costs of choosing one or another strategy associated with the three stages of compliance. The European Union countries choose between: (1) unconditional compliance, (2) negotiation of better compliance conditions, and (3) ignoring the normative requirements for the longest possible period of time. In turn, supranational regulators, in their attempts to combat violations of the EU law, choose between the “soft” instruments of enforcement to compliance and the “hard” instruments of infringement. The choice of compliance strategies at the lower (national) level of power is determined by the following factors: (1) the level of economic development of the state, (2) the influence and role of the state within the framework of EU institutions, (3) the strength of the administrative apparatus of the state, (4) the coalition potential of the state and (5) legal fit. Thus, some states violate the European Union law intentionally (voluntary non-compliance), while the difficulties of the compliance process for other countries are determined by objective reasons of a socio-economic nature (involuntary non-compliance). In turn, the supranational level of the “two-level game” when choosing a compliance strategy is guided by both administrative and reputational motives. Acknowledgements. The article uses the results of the Project “Strategies and Mechanisms of Maintaining the Stability in Multi-Level Political Systems”, conducted as part of the HSE University Fundamental Research Program in 2019.

Сетевая текстура мировой политики: трансрегионализм БРИКС

In the world witnessing profound transformations at all levels of interstate relations as well as the search for effective forms of international interaction, networks have already proved to be among the most effective patterns of cooperation. Informal, flexible, stable, cooperative, multilevel and pluralistic international networks have been promoting a new architecture of the 21st century world politics, with BRICS being one of its manifestations. BRICS also represent a special type of networks – a transregional one, which combines resources of the powerful states from different regional subsystems claiming to be the leaders of a new polycentric world. Applying the network approach, the author analyzes the nature, potential, resources, mechanisms and institutions of BRICS as an actor in the global governance. This network is based on a balance of interests, resources and values. The group forms a stable network with relatively stable links that contribute to its stability despite political and economic factors forcing its disintegration. Such a pattern of transregional cooperation has not only become an objective reality, but also confirms its effectiveness and competitiveness in the multilevel system of global governance. BRICS, while remaining an informal forum, could not avoid institutionalization (albeit in a soft and flexible form), having formed a complex network of forums, councils, as well as real institutions such as the New Development Bank or BRICS Network University. The group is distinguished by a high concentration of resources in a network that operates on the basis of group interest and a culture of consensus, which ensures its stability even in case of internal political changes and bilateral contradictions. Amid increasing competition of new transregional associations and projects, the BRICS states tend to use the openness of the group to cement their global leadership, initiating “BRICS+” project that might become an even more inclusive transregional network embracing more regional and middle powers in the framework of cooperation.

Smart Specialization as an Innovative Strategy for the Regional Economic Growth: Experience of Central and Eastern European Countries for Ukraine

The initiated processes of reforming the government and public finances in Ukraine have provided real opportunities for increasing the resources for sustainable development of regional economic systems, communities and territories. At the same time, domestic practice shows ineffective mechanisms for implementing the State, regional policy, deepening both interregional and intra-regional asymmetries in terms of socioeconomic development. These aspects highlight the increased interest in the scientific and practical problem of converting opportunities into tools to stimulate economic growth of territories and updating the State Regional Policy of Ukraine, which should be based on the system of multilevel governance of territories and development of its strategic vision, especially in terms of competitive advantages. The purpose of the study is to systematize the experience of strategizing the regions of the EU, Central and Eastern Europe and to carry out a comparative analysis of the choice of priority areas of smart specialization in terms of groups of regions with appropriate economic structure. The object of research in this article are the processes of strategizing the regional development on the basis of smart specialization in Ukraine and the EU Member States. In the course of the research a set of general scientific methods of scientific cognition (system analysis, logical generalization, analogy, comparative analysis) was used, which provided an opportunity to realize the integrity of scientific research. The practices of regional strategy on the basis of smart specialization of Central and Eastern European countries are analyzed. Their economic profile and priorities of reasonable specialization are determined. The peculiarities of the functioning of the economy of the countries / regions selected for analysis are highlighted. Emphasis is placed on the consequences / benefits of implementing innovative strategies for the economic progress of countries / regions. A comparative assessment of the priority areas of smart-specialization of the EU and Ukraine in terms of groups of regions with the appropriate structure of the economy is made. As a result of the study, no unambiguous correspondence was established. Recommendations are given and imperatives are determined, upon which the policy of sustainable growth of the regions of Ukraine should be developed, based on the results of the conducted research.

MULTI–LEVEL GOVERNANCE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: FEATURES AND PERSPECTIVES

The system of multi-level governance is being established in the countries — members of the European Union, within the framework of which there is considerable redistribution of authority between the main levels of power. These levels — supranational, national and subnational — are becoming increasingly interdependent, and there is the lack of unambiguous domination of a single particular level of power or an institute.The decision-making mechanism within the multi-level governance system is sufficiently fragmented. It is consensus — based and involves participation of not only formal state institutions but also of different non-governmental structures connected with the civil society. Finally, we have a new system of mutual relations between the state and the society with borders becoming more transparent.There are two major dimensions of the multi-level governance being described in the scientific literature — the "vertical", based on the interaction of three power levels mentioned above, and the "horizontal", involving the dynamic interaction of state and non-governmental structures, with the activities of the latter being often of a network origin. Mutual relations of the power levels in the European Union are complex and dialectical. The subnational level begins to play an increasingly important role, and this role is no longer necessarily mediated by governments of the corresponding countries, i.e. by the national level. Subnational authorities are active on the European arena through their representative offices and channels of communication available to them. Meanwhile many European states failed so far to create more or less strong regions able to perform significant powers and to serve as real limiters to the powers of their national governments.With consideration of asymmetry typical for the territorial organization of public power in the European Union and the growing economic and political crisis the perspectives of the multi-level governance seem to be rather vague. The ideologists of the corresponding concept managed only to give a new interpretation of the decision-making process in the European Union, but they failed to describe clearly enough the mechanisms of further development of the European integration.

Perceived adaptive capacity within a multi-level governance setting: The role of bonding, bridging, and linking social capital

In 2012 Sweden implemented a collaborative governance regime for managing moose (Alces alces). This was guided by the awareness that decentralization and stakeholder participation can help to reduce conflicts, foster systematic learning, and handle complexity. However, previous research has highlighted that there are no blueprint approaches to the governance and management of natural resources. In this case, diverse multi-use landscapes, ever-changing ungulate populations, and other external stressors (e.g. climate change, wildlife diseases) can create challenges for collaborative institutions. Adaptive capacity is therefore needed as it allows a system and the actors involved to react successfully to social-ecological changes and to develop even in times of no imminent change or risk. Using Swedish moose management as an example of a multi-level governance system, this research assesses the critical determinants of adaptive capacity across levels. We developed and applied a psychometric approach to measure actors’ perceived adaptive capacity on two levels in the management system. A web-based survey was sent to Moose Management Groups (n = 765, response rate = 81 %) and Moose Management Units (n = 1,380, response rate = 71 %). Using structural equation modelling, we assessed the relative importance of governance aspects, different types of social capital, as well as human and financial capital on actors’ perceived adaptive capacity. Linking and bridging social capital in the system had significant impacts on both levels. Actors felt more prepared to handle future challenges in moose management when they perceived benefits through collaborations with levels below and expressed social trust in authorities and the management level above. Besides those similarities between the two levels, fairness was a more important determinant of actors’ perceived adaptive capacity on the lower management level. These results can contribute to a future improvement of the collaborative governance setting by finessing strategic interventions on different levels. Furthermore, our results illustrate the importance of scale when assessing the adaptive capacity of a system.

Assessing and explaining policy coherence: A comparative study of water governance and large carnivore governance in Sweden

AbstractThis paper explores the relationship between different types of multilevel governance systems and policy coherence (i.e., uniformity of goals and rules) through a study of the governance systems for water and large carnivores in Sweden. The study objects represent multilevel governance systems for contested natural resources in the same national context, although in different policy areas and with substantial differences in institutional arrangements. We define the characteristics of each governance system through an institutional analysis of official records and compare their perceived ability to promote coherence through a statistical analysis of survey data. Our empirical results both support and problematize common ideas about how different institutional features relate to policy coherence in multilevel governance. The results clearly indicate that multilevel governance systems are challenged by conflicting goals and rules, both within and across governance systems, and that the capacity to address these difficulties is generally perceived as wanting in both types of systems. The results tentatively suggest that clashes with other governance systems are more prominent in polycentric and ecologically based systems, whereas internal goal and rule conflicts are more prevalent in centralized and more traditionally organized systems. The findings contribute to our understanding of the quandaries associated with the design of new governance systems. The study also contributes important insights into what features to focus on in attempts to mitigate the downsides of different institutional arrangements in multilevel governance systems.

Position of OLAF in a multi-level governance system of the European Union

The author aims to investigate the position of OLAF in the multi-level governance system (MLG) of the European Union with specific inter-institutional consequences of such location, assuming that OLAF is not a classical supranational institution. In the research subject an important role is played by the European Commission (EC), which established OLAF and gave it specific competences to act. These facts are fundamentally important for further considerations, so they can have a major impact on the precise determination of OLAF’s position in the MLG. If OLAF as an agent and supervisor has control powers over supranational institutions, including its principal, a supranational European Commission, it is unlikely that it would also be a supranational institution. This article demonstrates, that OLAF is not a classic supranational institution because it exhibits strong features of a supra-supranational institution operating in a multi-level EU governance system. A helpful theoretical and methodological research tools we consider the Principal/Agent Theory (PAT) and its combination Principal/Supervisor/Agent Theory (PSAT) on the one hand, and the concept of multi-level governance (MLG) on the other hand.

Corporate policy entrepreneurship and cross‐boundary strategies: How a private corporation champions mobile healthcare payment innovation in China?

SummaryThe private nature of corporate actors does not necessarily preclude them from contributing to public interest. When business strategies and genuine public motivation are favorably aligned, corporate actors from the private sector can also drive public sector innovations. For a private corporation, policy entrepreneurship inherently entails crossing not only the public–private boundary but also various policy domains. This study formulates five propositions to characterize the cross‐boundary strategies of corporate policy entrepreneurship, a distinct form of policy entrepreneurship in a developing authoritarian state. The case study of mobile healthcare payment innovation in China finds that the corporate entrepreneur used a series of cross‐boundary strategies adeptly that eventually made the innovation not only adopted in one locality but also rapidly diffused nationwide. These strategies were not used in isolation or in a pure stepwise fashion but appeared to be recursive and interactive, suggesting the dynamic nature of corporate policy entrepreneurship in a multilevel governance system. More studies could be done to further examine strategies and processes of other forms of policy entrepreneurship in various national and sectoral settings.

Multilevel blame games: Blame‐shifting in the European Union

AbstractWho blames whom in multilevel blame games? Existing research focuses either on policymakers' preferences or their opportunities offered by the institutional structures in which policymakers operate. As these two strands of literature barely refer to each other, in this article we develop an integrated theoretical model of blame‐shifting in multilevel governance systems and assess it empirically. In line with the first strand, we assume that policymakers have a preference for shifting blame onto actors on a different level from themselves. In line with the second, we suppose that opportunities for doing so depend on institutional responsibility for policymaking and policy implementation. We check the plausibility of our integrated model by examining policymakers' blame attributions in three cases where European Union migration policies have been contested: border control, asylum, and welfare entitlements. We find that our integrated model does better in explaining blame‐shifting in these cases than the isolated models.

Public acceptance of nuclear power plants in Indonesia: Portraying the role of a multilevel governance system

Problems with public acceptance have made nuclear power plant (NPP) projects in Indonesia experience a number of considerable setbacks. Trust in the managing authorities is one of the key factors that is expected to enhance the acceptance of nuclear energy. However, in a country with a multilevel governance system, such as Indonesia, the concept of trust needs to be specified further. By employing both multinomial logit and path models, this paper shows that nuclear energy authorities and local governments are the key players that positively influence the acceptance of NPPs. Meanwhile, the role of the central government in promoting the acceptance of NPPs is barely perceptible. We show important implications for the future development of nuclear energy in Indonesia.

FORMATION OF THE MODERN CONCEPT OF EUROPE IN THE CONTEXT OF SOCIAL NEO-INSTITUTIONALISM

In the scientific discourse of the XXI century, the concept of modern Europe is being reformed under the influence of reforming the activities of the European Union. Scientific publications and research are conducted based on a study of the policies of the European Union countries, EU institutions and structural elements, and the problems that arise in the process of activity and development. The concept of modern Europe is a general term that embraces European values, the European standard of living, European policy, and European priorities, giving the concept of European studies a stable association with the European Union. In this context, the main causes and consequences for the scientific discourse, political practice, and future development of European countries must be considered. Neoinstitutionalists have attempted to analyse institutions based on atomistic methodology. Institutional transformations, processes of intra-European integration and enlargement of the EU, discussions on membership and exit from the EU raise issues of identity and development of governance in Europe. Europeanisation can be seen as a discourse, governance, and institutionalisation. The first interpretation emphasizes that modern Europe is a discourse, not only ideological but also administrative. In this sense, Europeanisation can be a means of expression of institutional globalization through domestic policy. In the article, the hypothesis is put forward and proved that the interpretation of the concept of modern Europe directly correlates with the future development of the European Union and its members. The dissemination of exclusive practices will help to spread the ideas of radical “Eurosceptics”, which could lead to the collapse of the European Union. The inclusive aspect of the concept of Europe is represented by the ideas of “Europeists” who, based on the common history, culture, mentality of the peoples of Europe, substantiate the positive influence on the state development of integration, non-state cooperation, and extrapolation of EU norms and principles into the new territories of Europe. There are three main reasons for shaping the concept of Europe as the boundaries of EU policy: The consolidation of political positions of the European Union and its growing role as an actor in world politics; Essence of the EU enlargement concepts; Features of development within the European community. The modern concept of Europe is considered in the context of a modern multi-level governance model. Therefore, Europeanisation is the interaction of different layers of interests, including structures of regional, multi-level governance, legitimacy of domestic and foreign policy. The impact of the multi-level governance system on the functioning of public administration systems in the Member States and neighbouring countries is considered. Four approaches are identified based on the analysis of relationships between different levels of governance. The necessity of formulating new theoretical paradigms defining the relations between the Member States and the technocratic institutions of the EU, as well as between the Europeanised system of national agencies and the ministries overseeing their activities, has been proved.

Private Labor Market Intermediaries in the Europeanized Live-in Care Market between Germany and Poland: A Typology

AbstractThis article looks at the role of private companies involved in organizing so-called live-in care arrangements between two EU member states, Germany and Poland. Due to gaps in the public long-term care system, employing livein migrant care workers in private households has become a widespread individualized solution to rising long-term care needs in Germany. Since eastern EU enlargement, private brokerage agencies placing Polish live-in migrant care workers in German households have grown considerably. Building on approaches conceptualizing the role of intermediaries in formalizing domestic work, we aim to provide a more fine-grained typology of private brokerage agencies, taking into account not only the legal environment and structural features of these private enterprises, but also theirstrategic positioningunder conditions of high legal uncertainty in the EU multi-level governance system. By analyzing corporate as well as political strategies of these intermediaries, we distinguish three different agency types we call pioneers, minimum effort players and followers.

Public Support Agencies for Innovation in Multilevel Governance Systems: Exploring the Existence of Signs of Complementarity and Substitution

The aim of this paper is to analyze the existence of indications of complementarity/substitutability between the innovation agencies operating in Spain (regional, national, European, and Seventh Framework Programme), which will allow us to determine the corresponding asymmetries in the implementation of the so-called subsidiarity principle. The data used in the study come from the Panel de Innovación Tecnológica 2015 and 2016 (Spain). The empirical analysis has been carried out by the so-called adoption approach, having previously corrected the selection biases that may be present in the sample. The results obtained indicate that there are indications of substitution between the two Spanish agencies (regional and national), while other relationships between agencies exhibit indications of complementarity. These indications of complementarity/substitutability show that the implementation of the principle of subsidiarity between the two Spanish agencies seem to work correctly, while this implementation is much more diffuse between the two Spanish agencies and the two European agencies. Therefore, these results reveal that there is an obvious asymmetry in the implementation of the principle of subsidiarity between the different agencies. These findings may be an important guide in the decision making of managers. Knowing which agencies are substitutes and which are complementary is extremely relevant information, since it allows the advance determination of which combinations of agencies should be avoided. It also provides policy makers with relevant information for the design of more efficient innovation promotion policies. Finally, this research uses a new methodology for the evaluation of the interaction that takes place between the different public agencies for the promotion of innovation, thus contributing to policy analysts and academics, who conduct such evaluations, have at their disposal a new tool for analysis.

The National Strategy for Inner Areas: Innovation, Policy Transfer and Post-Earthquake Reconstruction

Abstract This article analyses the Italian National Strategy for Inner Areas (NSIA) as a new policy for local development only partially linked to the European cohesion policy. It focuses on its innovative contents (vision, governance and methodology), and mainly on the transfer of innovation to lower levels of government and between local administrations. As an empirical study of policy transfer and policy innovation in a system of multilevel governance it shows an unexpected transfer of the NSIA methodology to another policy field: that of post-earthquake reconstruction in Central Italy. The article concludes by applying the typology of policy transfer developed in its first part to the analysis of the case-study as a whole.

Sustainable Energy Planning as a co-creative governance challenge. Lessons from the Zero Village Bergen

Sustainable energy transition implies different, but interlinked strategies, technologies and policy interventions, implying a complex array of overlapping systems that are shaped by the intervention of diverse actors. The formal mechanisms of transition to sustainability are ill equipped to address and conform with the political and power dimensions. Furthermore, there is no determined blueprint for sustainability transitions and the existing governance systems hitherto have been inefficient and implicated in unsustainability. This paper argues that energy transition requires conceptualization of co-creative governance, and the dynamic interplays between power relations in the face of conflict of interests. Thereby, this paper goes beyond the traditional division of governance network between private, public and academia to investigate the political structure underpinning the functionality of governance. To assess how sustainable energy transitions can be materialized, the aim is to understand how different multilevel governance systems deal with the competing interests, asymmetrical power and mobilization of resources for goal achievement in the case of Zero Village Bergen. It describes how the latent conflict between different involved actors’ interests has led to prolongation, recurring controversies, stagnation, and moments of adaptation. The purpose is to shed light on political and institutional challenges that are common to other sustainable transition initiatives. The method used is semi-structured interviews with private and public actors. The contribution is to theory building in sustainable energy planning from a governance lens.

Climate change adaptation in Norway: learning–knowledge processes and the demand for transformative adaptation

ABSTRACTDuring the last decade, it has become evident that planet earth will be warming. Hence, there is an increasing focus on how to adapt to a changing climate. The adaptation literature underlines the importance played by local government in planning and implementing adaptation policies. This article is addressing learning–knowledge–action processes within and between local (municipal) and central (national and regional) government levels, thereby filling a gap in the literature. The analysis is using empirical data from Norway; a country commonly considered as having a well-developed multi-level governance system, with a strong bottom-up component, thereby apparently meeting a core condition for developing and implementing transformational changes. The study finds that single and double-loop learning are dominating, fostering incremental changes, but combined incremental changes related to technically handling surface water are approaching transitional change. As a first step, the study suggests it is necessary to formulate policies that explicitly combe incremental changes in order to achieve transitional and transformational change. Moreover, policies for fostering oppositional knowledge networks as part of vertical–horizontal governance may be necessary for pushing the system in the direction of transition and transformation.

Responsibility for climate change adaptation

AbstractAs a policy process, climate change adaptation is rapidly advancing. Yet fundamental questions remain unanswered including, who is responsible for planned adaptation and when, who is liable for losses and damages resulting from climate change and how is responsibility distributed in a multilevel governance system? Responsibility can be evaluated in terms of the timing of particular events, the specific societal actors involved and the rules and norms used to attribute responsibility for dealing with those events. Four types of responsibility—care, liability, accountability, and responsiveness for adaptation—are identified, based on empirical studies and examples from the literature. This review demonstrates the need to further explore the normative implications of responsibility and how they should be considered in adaptation governance and policy.This article is categorized under: Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change > Values‐Based Approach to Vulnerability and Adaptation

The Local Governance of Migration

Over the past 20 years, Canadian immigration and integration policies have seen a considerable degree of decentralization and empowerment of the subnational level driven by the goal to align immigration policies more effectively with the needs and objectives of different communities. While the nation-state still has the prerogative as regards the recruitment progress, provinces and, often in a more informal capacity, cities have taken on a more pronounced role in attracting and settling newcomers. This article examines how, in the Canadian context, cities have been proactive in utilizing immigration as a tool to address local labour needs, to develop strategies for becoming “welcoming communities”, and to provide a sense of urban citizenship. Cities have responded to the challenge by building public-private partnerships in which settlement organizations, service providers, and employers play a prominent role. The most effective initiatives are those that increase the city’s ability to draw on multi-stakeholder networks and to enable policy coordination in Canada’s system of multilevel governance.

Regional ocean governance: Integrating and coordinating mechanisms for polycentric systems

Regional ocean governance has been flagged as critical for successful achievement on SDG14 and other ocean related SDGs. The 20 ocean regions of the world are characterized by clusters of multilevel intergovernmental arrangements relating to EBM. Among the many needs for strengthening ocean governance in these regions is the development of effective regional integrating and coordinating mechanisms. These have been emerging somewhat organically. This study explores the clusters of regional agreements in the 20 regions to determine the extent to which integration mechanisms are in place or planned. It also looks at the extent to which the concept of governance polycentricity can be applied in these regions. Only four regions have established regional integration mechanisms thought to be needed for ecosystem-based management; while such mechanisms are planned in five others. Seven regions do have some level of intersectoral coordination such as within fisheries or environment or at a subregional level in a Large Marine Ecosystem (LME). Four regions show no sign of regional coordination. The study also the extent to which regional clusters of arrangements actually meet criteria for polycentricity based on governance theory. Regions have taken different approaches to regional integration mechanisms, but mostly based on working with a polycentric multilevel system of governance, rather than trying to tame it. There is both the need, and an untapped potential, for increased learning among regions regarding integration mechanisms and the polycentric structure and function of the regional clusters that they are seeking to integrate.

Modern slavery and international business scholarship: the governance nexus

PurposeModern slavery is a problem that international business (IB) research can no longer ignore. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) are often contributors to the persistence of modern slavery, by virtue of the regulatory challenge they pose to states and their insufficient oversight of supply chains. The purpose of this paper is to show that governance inadequacies with respect to modern slavery will be lessened if IB scholars give more attention to MNEs’ governing role within and beyond global value chains.Design/methodology/approachA set of arguments is presented in support of intensified effort in IB research with respect to studying the role of MNEs in transnational labour governance. The paper draws inspiration from IB theory and the conceptualisation of the MNE in neighbouring disciplines that regard it as a bearer of duties toward labour, consistent with its role in multilevel governance. Insights from the literature on global and multi-level governance are utilised.FindingsThe paper construes modern slavery as a multi-level governance challenge and argues that MNE capabilities and responsibilities with respect to labour governance and the deterrence of slavery exceed those identified on the margins of IB literature. MNEs are underappreciated as governors within the multilevel transnational labour governance system. The IB discipline is in a strong position to develop our understanding of the MNE’s different roles in governance and thereby contribute to the reduced incidence of modern slavery.Originality/valueThis paper represents an attempt to mobilise the IB academy to help eliminate slavery from workplaces that rely on MNE patronage or where labour rights abuses are made possible by MNE diversion of governance resources. It places particular emphasis on the use and abuse of MNEs’ governance capabilities in the sphere of international relations and calls attention to over-simplification of the MNE, IB’s primary unit of analysis.