Governance Perspective Research Articles

Assessing the Fiscal Burden of Overweight and Obesity in Japan through Application of a Public Economic Framework

Introduction: Obesity continues to represent a significant public health concern, with a broad impact from both a health and economic perspective. Objective: This analysis assesses the fiscal consequences of overweight and obesity (OAO) in Japan by capturing obesity-attributable lost tax revenue and increased government transfers using a government perspective. Methods: The fiscal burden of OAO was estimated using an age-specific prevalence model, which tracked the Japanese population across different body mass index (BMI) categories. The model was populated with fiscal data for Japan, including employment activity and government spending, to calculate tax revenue and transfer costs. A targeted literature review was conducted to identify data estimating the impact of OAO on employment, income, sick leave, retirement, and mortality. These modifiers were applied to Japanese epidemiological and fiscal projections to calculate government tax revenue and spending. The incremental impact of reducing OAO in the general population was subsequently calculated. Results were estimated based on the 2023 Japanese working-age population aged 18 to 70 years. Results: The total fiscal burden of OAO in Japan, defined as BMI of at least 25, is estimated at US $13.41 billion (¥1925 billion), representing 0.4% of Japan’s gross domestic product. This consists of a loss of $6.3 billion (¥901 billion) and $1.2 billion (¥179 billion) in direct and indirect tax revenue, respectively, due to lower employment and income combined with higher sick leave. Excess OAO-attributable healthcare costs were $5.4 billion (¥769 billion), while additional pension payment spending of $0.5 billion (¥77 billion) was estimated, due to higher levels of early retirement. Conclusions: While the health implications of OAO are well documented, this fiscal analysis demonstrates the significant economic burden of OAO both to the healthcare system and broader government accounts. Policies aimed at reducing population-level obesity have the potential to benefit government accounts through increasing employment and reducing public spending, which can offset the cost of implementing these policies.

Evolution of nanotechnology policy initiatives in the BRICS countries: a comparative overview

The article provides a comparative review of the national nanotechnology initiatives in the largest emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa - BRICS). It focuses on the influential role of state action, the evolution of the initiatives, institutional aspects, and a brief comparison of recent scientific production among the countries. Understanding the context of each country's nanotechnology STI policy is essential for comprehending the scope and the primary challenges faced in developing these programs and initiatives. The methodology involved rigorous bibliographical and documentary research, analysis of scientific production indicators, and the estimation of a nanotechnology Activity Index. The political and institutional complexity and socioeconomic adversities in emerging countries are challenging obstacles to promoting emerging technologies. Government perspectives and their role as technology inducers or fosterers significantly differ among countries, even when they are institutionally similar. Overall, the main nanotechnology initiatives in the BRICS countries have historically been led by the state, resulting in significant scientific advancements but limitations on the potential for innovation outcomes. Alongside institutional heterogeneity in the formulation and implementation strategies, geopolitics plays a crucial role in the initiatives' trajectory, especially in countries vying for international leadership against Western powers.

Measuring Rurality and Analyzing the Drivers of Rurality in Megacities—A Case Study of Shanghai, China

The Rurality Index is an important reference for the formulation of rural development strategies and policies, but the evaluation of the rurality of megacities based on the township scale is relatively limited. Based on the perspective of spatial governance, this study constructed the evaluation index system of Shanghai’s rurality and carried out the evaluation of Shanghai’s rurality at the township scale from 2005 to 2020. The article adopts the MGWR model to analyze the driving effects of five key driving factors (the proportion of foreign population, per capita industrial output value, public finance revenue, social fixed asset investment, and rail transit coverage), and adopts the Geo-Detector model to analyze the interactive driving effects of two factors. The results indicate that the rurality index of megacities and townships as a whole shows a weakening trend, and the above factors have a predominantly negative impact on rurality, with differences in the intensity of the impact in different periods. There is an obvious interactive additive effect between the factors. When formulating policies for township development, government departments need to take into account the functional positioning of the region and comprehensively adopt targeted policies on population, industry, transportation, finance and investment to regulate and guide the transformation or sustainable development of the countryside.

Future health technology trends, policy, and governance perspective: the Turkish case

BackgroundAdvanced health technologies that emerge with the development of technology have an impact on health systems. This study aimed to determine the effects of these technologies on Türkiye’s health system and present policy recommendations to reshape Türkiye’s health system and policies accordingly.MethodsInterviews were conducted with senior managers, bureaucrats, policy-makers and decision-makers from seven different institutions on the subject. Content analysis was performed on the data obtained and evaluative categories were established.ResultsIt was concluded that these technologies would not have a positive impact on two identified themes, a negative impact on seven themes and a predominant impact on five themes in Türkiye.ConclusionsTo adapt to the new health ecosystem in Türkiye, it is recommended to increase digital literacy, conduct economic evaluations of technologies, promote domestic production, ensure up-to-date follow-up, collaborate with the engineering field, enhance health technology evaluation practices, improve access to technologies and ensure that the infrastructures of health institutions are compatible with technologies. Various policy suggestions have been presented for the development of Türkiye’s health system.

Mental health support for healthcare workers: what is it about governance and policy implementation

Abstract Background We adopt a health system and governance perspective to address the mental health needs of healthcare workers, considering the nature of interventions and the levels and actors involved in governance. The aim is to move the debate forward by identifying governance gaps hampering the implementation of health workforce policies and exploring strategies to effectively increase mental health support. Methods A qualitative comparative methodology is applied based on a case study design utilising a multi-level intersectoral governance matrix. The assessment matrix comprises four key categories: health policy and data, social policy and psycho-social conditions, organisation of work, and job and professional conditions. We conducted a rapid assessment of healthcare workforce developments in the European context, drawing on secondary sources and country experts. The country sample comprises Germany, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Results Awareness of mental health threats among healthcare workers increased, but policy discourse is driven by service delivery and labour market demands. The attention to healthcare workers’ needs is stronger on the international level especially supported by WHO action, and weakest at national/regional levels. Although organisations and professions demonstrate varying degrees of activity, their efforts are scattered and lack sustainability. Similar challenges were identified across healthcare systems, including limited action, disconnected actors, missing coordination, and a lack of attention to governance gaps and system weaknesses. Conclusions There are similar problems across countries. Mental health policy is driven by labour market needs and ignores research evidence and the individual needs. Successful mental health policy implementation needs multi-level governance and coherent coordination mechanisms, and generally greater attention to the ‘human side’ of the healthcare workforce. Speakers/Panelists Sara Alidina Central Administration of the Health System, Lisbon, Portugal Tomas Zapata WHO/Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark

Corporate Governance: Exploring Key Concepts, Mechanisms, and Historical Evolution

Corporate governance involves several key concepts that help define its scope and purpose. Though review of key corporate governance concepts and historical evolution is widespread in the extant literature, detailed review across the globe is limited. Motivated by this dearth, this study reviewed these concepts and explored how firms rely on them to implement effective corporate governance. The study employed documentary and descriptive research methods to review concepts of corporate governance, systems, mechanisms and historical perspectives around the world. Our study discovered that understanding internal controls helps ensure compliance, minimize risks and safeguard the firm’s assets. Similarly, the study discovered that executive compensation structures help align management interests with shareholder value and external oversight through auditing and regulation which provides an unbiased assessment of the firm’s financial reports. Our historical perspective of corporate governance highlighted significant milestones that have shaped its evolution. Importantly, these include reports and acts aimed at addressing corporate scandals and improving governance practices. We also discovered that to improve corporate governance standards worldwide, multilateral organizations like the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) among others have played a number of roles in developing international guidelines and codes of best practice. Further, the study explored the dynamic nature of corporate governance in response to evolving economic, social and technological trends. The study concluded that understanding the concepts, systems, mechanisms and historical perspectives of corporate governance is essential for firms and stakeholders to maintain transparency, accountability and sustainable performance.

Multifaceted Exploration of Public Awareness, Government Perspectives, and Community Attitudes Toward HIV.

The purpose of this research is to quantify the knowledge of students about HIV, social media contribution, and their satisfaction with the government and society's acceptance of HIV patients. A cross-sectional survey of 579 participants was conducted at Punjab University, University of Peshawar, Karachi University, Baluchistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences University, and Quaid-i-Azam University. Student self-administered surveys included demographics, knowledge, government satisfaction, social media rumors, and PLWHA acceptability. The response rate was 96.5%. The four variables are knowledge, government satisfaction, social media rumors, and HIV patient acceptance. The knowledge score in married males (Beta=-0.075) and married females (Beta=-0.022), government satisfaction in married males (Beta=0.087) and females (-0.412), social media rumors in married males (Beta=-0.125) and married female (Beta=-0.301, and HIV acceptance in society married male -0.301 and married female 0.07. the knowledge and government satisfaction, score showed that males had higher knowledge about HIV than married females. Married women say HIV acceptability in society is strong, whereas men believe social media spreads less misinformation. Similarly, there is a negative correlation between government satisfaction social media rumors (-0.687**) and HIV acceptance in society (-0.687**). HIV acceptance has a strong correlation with knowledge (0.711**) and social media rumors (0.727**). The p<0.001 indicates that there is a significant correlation. Sufficient knowledge and the positive role of social media, effective government contributions to eradicate HIV, and more awareness and knowledge can significantly change the attitude of the community toward PLWHA.

ASEAN, and Indonesia’s Rising Influence In The Region

When one looks at the world map, Indonesia is not really visible in a very obvious manner, due to it being an archipelago, scattered over thousands of islands in South East Asia. However, when one reads into it, they realize that it is actually the fourth most populous country on earth, and holds quite a bit of diplomatic power as well. Indonesia is one of the founding members of ASEAN, the Association of South-East Asian Nations. ASEAN houses major natural resources, a huge chunk of Earth’s population, and together, the 10 ASEAN member states form one of the busiest trade routes in the world. To keep it simple, ASEAN is a really important organisation, and Indonesia, being one of the founding members, as well as the largest country in it, acts as the de-facto leader. Unfortunately, Indonesia is prone to many natural disasters due to its unfortunate geographic location, smack in the Pacific Ring of Fire. Recent major disasters have weakened Indonesia’s position, and many countries now do not consider Indonesia as the de-facto leader of ASEAN. This research focuses on Indonesia’s rise and fall as the undisputed leader of ASEAN, and what the future holds in store for Indonesia. To conduct this research, numerous research papers have been referred to and cited, as well as fresh information has been collected on a primary data basis. The primary data is collected by interviewing 15 Indonesian citizens, as well as senior officials at the Consulate General of Indonesia, Mumbai. Thus, the research presents the observations derived from interviewing two sides, the perspective of the Indonesian citizens, as well as the perspective of the Indonesian government. The research aims to answer some questions such as if Indonesia is prepared to tackle the current and future issues arising in ASEAN, being the leader. The research goes a step further to figure out if the Pacific Ring of Fire affects the geopolitics of Indonesia, and finally, the research looks at if the Indonesian government, and their people, the citizens look eye to eye? All of the interviews of the Indonesian citizens have been conducted virtually via Google Forms, and a meeting at the Consulate was set up in Mumbai to get the government’s perspective.

Investigating the Antecedents of Corporate Governance Influencing the Investment Efficiency of Firms: A Synthesis of Literature and Future Research Agenda

This review study investigates the critical antecedents of corporate governance affecting firms’ investment efficiency. It proposes a comprehensive framework encompassing corporate governance’s multifaceted aspects for all stakeholders’ benefit. A thorough literature evaluation has been conducted using the SCOPUS database, encompassing all publications published between 2010 and June 2023. The existing body of literature has also been examined through the theoretical frameworks, journals, authors, articles and research construct questions. After synthesising 154 articles through bibliometric analysis, four key antecedents (financial reporting quality, auditing and accounting quality, environmental, social and governance (ESG), institutional ownership and board structure) of corporate governance were identified as primary influencers of investment efficiency. New corporate governance perspectives, such as ESG and carbon taxation in the context of investment efficiency, have been identified and can be explored in depth by future researchers. The review provides a holistic framework for corporate governance, which defines the association with investment efficiency. The study presents potential future research areas where scholars can extend the scope of corporate governance from the perspective of investment efficiency.

Implementation of Public Service Policy in Agile Government Study at Public Service Mall of Parepare City

The aim of this research is Implementation of Public Service Policy in Agile Government Study at Public Service Mall of Parepare City). The method used in this research is a qualitative research method approach. The focus of research on the Implementation of Public Service Policy in the Agile Government perspective at the Public Service Mall in Parepare City will be focused on two main aspects, namely the implementation process and its impact on service effectiveness. The results of this research show that the Implementation of Public Service Policy from an Agile Government perspective in the Parepare City Public Service Mall towards regulatory changes, community needs, and ever-changing market demands. The Public Service Mall in Parepare City has shown improvements in various aspects of public services, although there are some areas that still need further improvement.

Co-governance of open pit mines across China based on exposure risk assessment of particulate matter

Particulate matters (PMs) generated by open-pit mines (OPMs) pose a serious threat to human health and has attracted significant attention from government agencies. Previous exposure risk assessments of OPM-generated PMs focused only on environmental factors associated with individual mines, lacking large-scale assessments that integrate environmental factors with human behavior. Thus, to effectively implement governance policies for OPMs, we used the D8 algorithm to assess the risk of exposure to OPM-generated PM2.5 and PM10 across 315 Chinese cities and employed spatial Durbin modeling to explore how to co-govern the exposure risk from the perspectives of governments, companies, and the public. The results showed that 99.3% of the cities were affected by PMs originating from OPMs, and 56.5% of these cities experience a high exposure risk, approximately two-thirds of which are nonresource-based cities. The government's focus on digitalization, extractive companies' access to investment, and public participation in environmental management are key factors in reducing exposure. Cross-regional cooperation with regards to public participation and company investment is essential for reducing the effect of exposure risks on the surrounding area. This study can provide reference for the green mining construction and urban habitat improvement.

Coupled Analysis of Risk Factor for Tailing Pond Dam Failure Accident Based on N–K Model and SNA

The failure of tailings pond dams represents a complex coupled system involving various risk factors, including human, governance, facilities, and environmental aspects. It is crucial to identify key risk factors at the system level to enhance the safety management of tailings ponds. We analyzed 74 cases of tailings pond dam failure accidents, both domestically and internationally, from the perspectives of human, governance, facility, and environment. We employed the 2–4 Model to identify and extract the causes of dam failures, summarizing these into four primary risk factors and 40 secondary risk factors, while constructing a risk coupling mechanism model. The natural killing (N–K) model was implemented to analyze the risk coupling values of primary risk factors and quantify these couplings. The N–K model facilitated an analysis of the risk coupling values of first-level risk factors, while social network analysis (SNA) was employed to visualize the relationships among second-level risk factors and assess the centrality and accessibility of nodes within the risk factor network. The out-degree of the risk nodes was corrected by integrating the N–K model with the SNA, leading to the identification of key risk factors associated with tailings pond dam failures and the formulation of corresponding safety prevention and control strategies. The findings indicate that managing multi-risk factor coupling is an effective approach to mitigating the occurrence of tailings pond dam failure accidents. Notably, unfavorable environmental risk factors significantly contribute to the coupling of human–governance–facility–environmental risks, necessitating targeted management strategies. Furthermore, inadequate safety supervision, weak safety awareness, inadequate receipt and inspection, and irregular operation represent additional key risk factors requiring focused prevention and control efforts.

Can Corporate Environmental Social Responsibility and Financial Performance Achieve a Win-win Situation in China? -From the Perspective of Executive Social Capital

ABSTRACT Based on the new market corporate social responsibility theory, enterprises try their best to achieve a win-win situation between environmental social responsibility and corporate financial performance. This paper quantifies corporate environmental social responsibility from the perspective of enterprise front-end governance, back-end governance and employee green behavior, based on the data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2022. Return on assets is used to measure the corporate financial performance. Then, from the perspective of executive social capital, this paper explores the threshold effect of environmental social responsibility on financial performance and draws the following conclusions: (1) In the short term, corporate environmental social responsibility exerts a negative effect on financial performance by augmenting R&D investment. In the long term, corporate environmental social responsibility has a positive effect on financial performance by enhancing reputation or reducing financing costs; (2) Specifically, compared with employee green behavior, front-end and back-end governance have a notably substantial adverse effect on corporate financial performance; (3) When executive social capital crosses a specific threshold, the negative impact of corporate environmental social responsibility commitment on financial performance becomes insignificant. Consequently, this study suggests that bolstering executive social capital is essential for concurrently advancing corporate environmental social responsibility and financial performance.

Wallet wars or digital public infrastructure? Orchestrating a digital identity data ecosystem from a government perspective

With the eIDAS 2.0 legislation, the European Union seeks to establish a digital identity data ecosystem and to empower citizens to manage digital credentials from various sources through an ID wallet interface. To achieve this, governments must develop holistic orchestration models integrating technical, regulatory, and economic perspectives. This approach will foster ecosystem value creation, address orchestration tensions, and design sustainable operating models for various ecosystem actors. While IS research has explored private-sector governance mechanisms in platform and data ecosystems, a research gap exists in understanding public–private orchestration where governments act as orchestrators. We address this through a structured document analysis of 80 position papers from various stakeholders participating in a public government consultation process and 14 semi-structured in-depth interviews. By examining ecosystem value creation mechanisms, orchestration tensions, and monetization challenges, we identify two government orchestration standard types for the ID wallet provision. The Government ID-Infrastructure Wallet model embodies an ecosystem-integrated public infrastructure, while the Trust ID Wallet Federation exemplifies a dynamic and competition-driven approach. By bridging the self-sovereign identity ecosystem paradigm with digital identity infrastructure research, our work contributes to the understanding and theoretical development of data ecosystems and digital identity research from a government perspective.

Sufficiency Initiatives and Municipalities: Opportunities and Limitations for Bringing People and Politics Together

This article examines the potential and challenges of sufficiency initiatives within the urban environment, focusing on their ability to bring people and politics together. Drawing on research from the EU-funded “FULFILL” project, which includes surveys, interviews and case studies in five EU Member States, this study explores the role of civil society initiatives in fostering sufficiency—a concept that advocates for meeting human needs within planetary boundaries by altering lifestyles, societal norms, and regulatory frameworks. Sufficiency initiatives find themselves in a precarious position against a backdrop of growth-oriented urban development and face barriers such as lack of resources, legal and regulatory challenges, measurement difficulties, and inertia of municipalities. However, the study also identifies examples of fruitful cooperation between municipalities and initiatives and identifies enablers for successful collaboration, including aligned goals, engaged individuals, and effective communication. By providing an outlook for short-, mid-, and long-term governance perspectives, this article argues for strategic niche management in the short term, development of metrics for sufficiency in the medium term, and a systemic shift in urban dynamics in the long term. As urban sufficiency initiatives offer services and infrastructure to promote sustainable living, they are critical players in guiding cities towards ecological and social resilience. This article contributes to the discourse on urban sustainability by highlighting the importance of municipalities in nurturing sufficiency initiatives that can drive social well-being and environmental stewardship.

Optimization of industrial layout in airport economic zone through government-enterprise interaction

To avoid the issue of industrial layout plans in Airport Economic Zones (AEZs) being hard to implement due to mismatched the land supply and demand, it is necessary to clarify industrial layout factors that the government (land supplier) and locating enterprises (land demanders) focus on. This study constructs a AEZ's industrial layout optimization model from the government's perspective and enterprises’ locating utility. Based on the Gale-Shapley algorithm, aiming at eliminating blocking pairs, we establish government-enterprise interacting rules and coordinating mechanisms, corresponding to two types of government-enterprise interactions, namely public consultation and investment promotion joint meeting. According to government transparency and enterprise participation, the optimization model and Agent-Based Model are adopted in the combination to simulate the government-enterprise interactions in the decision-making of industrial layout in AEZ, under two interaction rules of “enterprises provide feedback in one go - the government makes revisions in one go” and “enterprises provide feedback one by one - the government makes revisions one by one”, respectively. By analyzing the changing curves of their objective functions, the equilibrium point where both parties can reach an agreement is identified, and the industrial layout scheme in AEZ is determined that will be mutually accepted. It is found that positive interaction with high government transparency and high enterprise participation will help improve the rationality of the industrial layout in AEZ, maximizing the efficiency of spatial allocation of elements and resources.

Breakthrough on Indonesia’s Energy Policy: Adaptive Governance Perspective for Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP)

Abstract The Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) agreement strives to attain a peak emissions level of 290 Mt CO2eq by 2030 in the power sector while targeting a 34% renewable energy mix. To support these goals, a minimum of 20 billion USD from public sector pledges and private financial institutions is allocated for expedited decarbonisation. This entails retiring coal-fired power plants and concurrently developing renewable energy-based generation. However, implementing the JETP initiative encounters regulatory and technical challenges in Indonesia, arising from conflicting stakeholder interests, inconsistent regulatory frameworks, opposition from established incumbents of fossil fuels industries, and limited implementation capabilities. These barriers pose a significant threat to the efficacy and efficiency of the JETP program. Consequently, enhancing adaptive governance, namely, polycentricity, learning, diversity, deliberation, participation, flexibility, responsiveness, political support, and collaboration, is crucial to mitigate potential obstacles, bolstering the probability of success for the JETP program.

The Importance of Digital Financial Literacy in Cyrptocurrency Investment: A Qualitative Study

This research aims to examine the role of digitial financial literacy in cryptocurrency investment activities. This research is a qualitative study through interviews with two key informants who have qualified experience in the field of investing in cryptocurrency. The study shows that digital financial literacy plays an important role in investing, especially in the technology-driven cryptocurrency space. Therefore, it is important for investors to have a good understanding and experience before choosing cryptocurrencies as part of their investment portfolio. From a government perspective, it is important to spread the understanding that financial literacy is an important part of investing. These findings also support the continuation of the government's programme to make digital financial literacy part of the roadmap in Indonesia's National Financial Literacy Strategy.

외국의 사교육 수요시장 및 수요관리 정책 동향 분석

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to analyze foreign private tutoring demand markets and demand management policy trends. The aim was to present implications necessary for managing the domestic private tutoring market. [Methods] In this study, using 103 domestic and foreign research materials, domestic and foreign private tutoring demand markets were analyzed in terms of participation rates of private tutoring, gaps in private tutoring expenses between classes, participation backgrounds and its purposes, and response measures and policies trends for private tutoring demand management were further analyzed as well. [Results] First, the participation rate results of private tutoring over all showed increasing trends across East and West countries regardless of rich or poor, capitalist or socialist, and its more increase due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The participation rates of private tutoring was higher among students with parents in socioeconomic status, who lived in cities, and had top grades, and the gaps in private tutoring expenses between classes were a factor causing social imbalance. Second, the backgrounds and purposes of participating in private tutoring were being formed by being linked to current or changing education, social culture, economy and policy. Although they were somewhat different depending on the education systems and overall conditions of each country, there was the common ground arisen from parents' human nature and desire who wanted their children to live a stable life in the future. While the backgrounds and purposes of private tutoring participation were driven from expectations for usefulness of private tutoring, it partially led to the factor causing the harmful effects of private tutoring. Third, each government's measures and policies for private tutoring demand management were somewhat different depending on the government's perspective on private tutoring and its level of the economy, but those most representative ones included strengthening public education, expanding after-school and care services, supporting the vulnerable social group, improving tests in schools and entrance examination systems, and reforming curricula in schools. These policies lowered students' burden of learning and parents' burden of educating and raising their children, but did not produce clear results in reducing the demand for and dependence on private tutoring. [Conclusion] In order to manage the private tutoring demand market, the multifaceted and complex aspects surrounding private tutoring must be understood deeply, and realistic policies suitable for interests of individuals and their society must be established through evaluations of the harmfulness and usefulness of private tutoring.

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

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