Policy Coordination Research Articles

The dynamics of policy coordination: The case of China’s science and technology policy-making

AbstractThe literature on policy coordination between government agencies reveals little about how coordination is managed in centralized political systems. This paper, therefore, presents a dynamic and quantitative analysis of policy coordination in China based on the science and technology (S&T) policy documents issued by China’s central government agencies in the period 1978–2019. From a series of snapshots depicting inter-agency policy development in five historical stages over this timeframe, we find that (1) policy coordination has developed steadily and has mainly occurred to interpret macro strategies and put in place more detailed implementation measures. (2) Ministries under the purview of the State Council have played a leading role in policy coordination, while other types of agencies have cooperated in more supporting roles. (3) Coordination efforts have mainly focused on inclusive and national demand-oriented themes, such as high-tech industrialization, rural S&T, and social development. This research offers a panoramic view of policy coordination trajectories and mechanisms in centralized political systems. As such, it adds to the analysis methods available for quantitatively studying policy documents.

Lost in translation: Challenges in creating new transformative innovation policy practices

The purpose of this paper is to identify key challenges that national policymakers face in trying to translate transformative innovation policy (TIP) theory into policy practice. We focus on the case of the Swedish innovation agency Vinnova’s attempt to translate its TIP-related innovation perspective into the policy practice of the Swedish Innovation Partnership Programme (IPP). By means of a discourse perspective, we identify two key discourses and one institution influencing Vinnova’s translation process. In addition, we describe four key challenges that Vinnova faces in this translation process relating to (i) the involvement of relevant stakeholders, (ii) overcoming a dominant discourse, (iii) time constraints of an institutionalized parliamentary system, and (iv) realizing policy coordination ambitions. This study adds to previous literature in identifying dominant discourses or institutional structures as a key barrier for change. Its contribution is to show how transformative translation challenges are played out in a national-level context.

Evolution of biogas policies in China (2001–2019): Dynamics of policy instruments towards energy transitions

China has emerged as global significant producer of biogas during the last two decades. The Chinese government promoted various types of policy instruments to facilitate the emergence and further development of biogas. This article used the method of content analysis to study the transitions of biogas policy instruments in China. The article in sum surveyed 108 policy documents issued by the central government of China from 2001 to 2019. The article analyzed the number, stringency, forms and institutions of these biogas policies and compared the evolution of different types of policy instruments in the different periods of time. The results showed that the Chinese government continuously prioritized Environmental-type instruments, while Supply and Demand types of instruments have been supplementary. The actual implementation of policy instruments remained gaps with the ideal policy promotion. A balance of different types of policy instruments and mechanisms for policy coordination should be strengthened to constantly support biogas production in the country.

Regional Governance for Food System Transformations: Learning from the Pacific Island Region

The unsustainability of food systems is a global policy challenge. There is an urgent need for the improved coordination and integration of policies across sectors to improve food system outcomes. The aim of this study was to examine the role and opportunities for regional governance in strengthening policy for food system transformations, using the Pacific Island region as a case study. We conducted a qualitative policy analysis, drawing on data from 21 interviews with experts and participants in Pacific Island regional food system governance, and the analysis of 17 key regional commitments (policy documents) relating to food systems. The findings indicate that the Pacific Island region has made significant progress towards improved regional food systems governance. Regional governance has been used to address multiple shared and inter-related challenges associated with food systems, improve coordination across silos, and facilitate constructive engagement on policy issues between international, regional, and national actors. However, food systems outcomes related to the economy, nutrition, and environment continue to be mixed, and there are challenges to policy coordination and effectiveness at the regional level. Interviewees envisaged a regional approach characterized by being rooted in regional values, meeting multiple objectives, balancing tensions, and providing meaningful support and resources for countries. Following food systems disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, this study suggests that there is an opportunity to strengthen regional food system governance through paradigm change, the development of new modes of coordination, and increasing the dynamic interactions between regional institutions, countries, and communities.

Foreign Eco-Technology Licensing Strategy and the Coordination of Import Tariff and Emission Tax Policies

This study investigates eco-technology licensing strategy by a foreign firm that offers two-part tariff licensing contracts (i.e. combination of a per unit royalty and a lump-sum fee) to a domestic polluting firm under the strategic import tariff in the presence of an exogeneous emission tax. We particularly consider the possibility of negative royalty (or subsidised royalty per unit production) by the foreign licensor and compare the two different licensing cases with and without non-negative royalty. We find that given a lower level of emission tax, the licensor may choose negative royalty only when the import tariff is high. We also find that the optimal import tariff with non-restrictive licensing contract with a negative royalty is higher than that with restrictive one, but allowing a negative royalty is better for domestic welfare unless the emission tax is so high (or environmental damage is serious). Finally, we show find that the optimal import tariff under the two-part tariff licensing might have a negative relationship with an emissions tax.

Coordination of Catholic Education Implementation Policies in North Sulawesi

This study focuses on one aspect of management, namely the Coordination of Policies for the Implementation of Catholic Education in North Sulawesi (a multi-site study at the Catholic Education Foundation of the Diocese of Manado, the Brothers Don Bosco Foundation for the Manado Representative and the Yoseph Yeemye Foundation for the North Sulawesi Representative). The formulation of the research problem is: 1. How is the coordination of policies for the implementation of Catholic education. 2. How to coordinate the implementation of Catholic education policies. 3. What are the internal and external obstacles in policy coordination and coordination of policy implementation for Catholic education in North Sulawesi, as well as solutions. 4. What are the results of the coordination of the implementation of Catholic education policies in the three foundations. This study uses a qualitative approach with a multi-site study design. Data collection techniques include interviews, observation. and documentation. Data analysis includes the process of flow of activities that occur simultaneously, namely data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. The results of this study indicate: 1. Coordination of policies for the implementation of Catholic education in the three foundations, carried out in a top-down hierarchy, that all regulations originate from the leadership of the hierarchy or institution, which is then forwarded to the leadership of the institution/unit below it; and then disseminated to all staff of the respective foundation employees. 2. Coordination of the implementation of policies for the implementation of Catholic education in the three foundations, always guided by the universal regulations of the Catholic Church, which are concreted through the vision-mission, statutes, or AD-ART, and the strategic plans of each foundation, all of which become the moral strength, in achieving the goal of a plenary Catholic education. 3. The results of the coordination of the implementation of policies on the implementation of catholic education in the three foundations, are determined and promoted by the KWI Education Commission, through the National Council for Catholic Education, the Catholic Education Council of the Diocese, Congregations/Tarekats, through Catholic educational institutions or foundations, with their vision-mission and spirituality with the Statute , its Articles of Association and Bylaws, are harmonized with various government regulations, through a Christian governance management, evangelization in the field of education. 4. Solutions to overcome external and internal constraints in coordinating the implementation of policies for the implementation of Catholic education at the Catholic Education Foundation of the Catholic Diocese of Manado, the Brothers Don Bosco Foundation in Manado, and the Yosep Yeemye Foundation in North Sulawesi. 5. The results of the coordination of the implementation of policies for the implementation of Catholic education at the Catholic Education Foundation of the Catholic Diocese of Manado, the Brothers Don Bosco Foundation of Manado, and the Yosep Yeemye Foundation of North Sulawesi. Keywords: Coordination, Policy and Implementation, Implementation of Catholic Education DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-30-06 Publication date: October 31 st 2022

PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUE OF EDUCATIONAL POLICIES: DOMESTIC BREACHES

Present research article deals with the policy making gaps, implementation of such policies for the promotion of primary education. The policies were identified and re-interpreted towards the existing policy issues after document analysis and in-depth interviews from the government officials and teaching staff. Various policies were present but number of out of school children were increasing as per annum demographic growth. Objective of the study was to identify the issues, ground based realities which create hinder in the promotion of education at the primary level. Various issues were included but those were not the only concerns which lessened educational development. The present research article was explorative and applied in nature which identify various issues in policy implementation level and ground facilities which were supporting factors for the promotion of educational development at primary school level. In-depth interviews were conducted from government officials, departments concerned with policymaking and its implementation e.g., NHCD, BECS and NEF. Both interview and document analysis techniques were used and included for the study. After the analysis of available educational policies, governmental departments’ view point, and interventions for the promotion of education, it was found that the absence of the collaboration among various departments, lack of political will, poor communication among all the stakeholders, weak administration at national and provincial level, issues of governance were some of the major barriers. It was highlighted that lack of coordination among the government departments is the main reason of this less promotion.The study concluded that lack of documentation and identification of gaps were the major reasons of lesser enrollments in primary schools. Poor communication among various government departments, governance structure and the lack of political will discuss in detail with personal input of spokesperson which clearly states that financial gaps and irregularities were some of the major causes of educational policies’ failure in Pakistan. Key Words: Educational Policy, Implementation gaps, political will, Corruption, Governance and poor coordination

USER POINT PERSPECTIVE AS A PROCESS FOR URBAN (RE)DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF RIVERFRONT CBD IN KHULNA CITY

Khulna is an industrial city of Bangladesh which experienced the migration of people from surrounding areas for better scope of job and living. Over the years, some parts of the city have become over populated as some others have been left rather under or un-utilized. Current situation indicates that the present development authority has little control over the land use or economic activity in this area. High cost of land, poor institutional management, absence of a clear national land policy and lack of co-ordination between government agencies have made development programs more challenging. So far no legislative decision has been taken to meet the current problems of land ownership. Now it is felt that an integrated participatory program might give some directions towards a sustainable approach to mitigate this crisis. Collaboration between public service providing institutions might bring positive results to the community. This research is an inquiry of the degree of acceptability of local stakeholders towards any redevelopment program of this old CBD, historically situated by the river Bhairab. At the same time, it intends to find out the potential target group(s) to be involved in the development program.

Towards regional scientific integration in Africa? Evidence from co-publications

Regional scientific integration is a critical pathway for the development of an integrated African research area and knowledge-based society. On the African continent, progress in scientific production and integration has remained limited, mostly led by a global or international agenda, and bound to a few top publishing nations. The high-level policy commitments and the accumulated policies and strategies developed and pursued under the various intertwined sub-regional economic groupings have, to date, only diversely contributed to policy alignment and coordination in the area of science, technology, and innovation (STI) across Africa. In this context, this paper provides a first and hence original assessment of the role of region-specific factors in shaping scientific collaboration on the continent. For this purpose, our study builds upon the proximity approach to analyse the determinants of scientific collaboration between African countries, using co-publications data from Thomson Reuters' Web of Science database as a proxy of such collaboration. Our results suggest that the majority of African regional economic communities (RECs) have not yet had a significant effect on scientific co-publication. Nevertheless, some important region-specific factors do seem to be at play, such as a shared ethnical language, membership in the African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education (CAMES), and the presence of a common European partner as a third partner in co-publication. Existing policies aimed at the development of an Africa-wide research area should aim to leverage existing and emerging regional excellence networks and novel coordination models to accelerate the process of scientific integration in Africa.

Monetary-fiscal coordination: when, why and how?

PurposeThis paper aims to revisit the theme of fiscal-monetary coordination in a general equilibrium setup that allows for unconventional monetary policy, monetary policy transmission and developing country characteristics.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a calibrated new Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model to study fiscal-monetary interaction.FindingsDebt sits at the center of monetary-fiscal interaction. Under high-debt conditions, the inflation-output trade-off rises with an increase in the strictness with which monetary policy targets inflation, undermining the standard prescription of strict inflation targeting. At the same time, the transmission of monetary policy is also impeded, due to which unconventional monetary policy becomes more appropriate. The need for coordination among the policies gets enhanced in the presence of borrowing cost channel. While the presence of borrowing cost channel increases the need for policy coordination regardless of the debt situation, features like higher share of non-Ricardian households and weaker monetary policy transmission affect monetary-fiscal interaction to a greater extent under high-debt environment.Originality/valueFirst, this paper uses inflation-output trade-off as a metric, to analyze fiscal-monetary interaction. Second, this paper considers the impact of developing country characteristics (such as a higher share of non-Ricardian households, impeded monetary policy transmission and supply constraints/borrowing cost channel) on fiscal-monetary interaction. Third, the DSGE model developed in this paper incorporates open market operations that could shed light on the role of unconventional monetary policy in the presence of high fiscal deficit and debt, which is particularly relevant in the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fourth, the model also permits an investigation into monetary policy transmission under different debt regimes.

Exploring Global Climate Policy Futures and Their Representation in Integrated Assessment Models

The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, paved the way for a new hybrid global climate governance architecture with both bottom-up and top-down elements. While governments can choose individual climate goals and actions, a global stocktake and a ratcheting-up mechanism have been put in place with the overall aim to ensure that collective efforts will prevent increasing adverse impacts of climate change. Integrated assessment models show that current combined climate commitments and policies of national governments fall short of keeping global warming to 1.5 °C or 2 °C above preindustrial levels. Although major greenhouse gas emitters, such as China, the European Union, India, the United States under the Biden administration, and several other countries, have made new pledges to take more ambitious climate action, it is highly uncertain where global climate policy is heading. Scenarios in line with long-term temperature targets typically assume a simplistic and hardly realistic level of harmonization of climate policies across countries. Against this backdrop, this article develops four archetypes for the further evolution of the global climate governance architecture and matches them with existing sets of scenarios developed by integrated assessment models. By these means, the article identifies knowledge gaps in the current scenario literature and discusses possible research avenues to explore the pre-conditions for successful coordination of national policies towards achieving the long-term target stipulated in the Paris Agreement.

Enhancing Policy Capacity for Better Policy Integration: Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in a Post COVID-19 World

The adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the UN, in 2015, established a clear global mandate for greater integrated policymaking, but there has been little consensus on how to achieve them. The COVID-19 pandemic amplified the role of policy capacity in mounting this kind of integrated policy response; however, the relationship between pre- and post-pandemic SDG efforts remains largely unexplored. In this article, we seek to address this gap through a conceptual analysis of policy integration and the capacities necessary for its application to the current SDG situation. Building on the literature on policy design, we define policy integration as the process of effectively reconciling policy goals and policy instruments and we offer a typology of policy integration efforts based on the degree of goal and instrument consistency including: policy harmonization, mainstreaming, coordination, and institutionalization. These forms of policy integration dictate the types of strategies that governments need to adopt in order to arrive at a more coherent policy mix. Following the dimensions of policy capacity by Wu et al. (2015), policy capacities are identified that are critical to ensuring successful integration. This information, thus, contributes to both academic- and policy-related debates on policy integration, by advancing conceptual clarity on the different, and sometimes, diverging concepts used in the field.

Framework for successful school reintegration after psychiatric hospitalization: A systematic synthesis of expert recommendations

AbstractThis systematic synthesis aimed to identify and synthesize expert recommendations from best available clinical and scientific literature for successful school reintegration of students after psychiatric hospitalization. Following principles outlined by the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Coordinating Centre (EPPI‐Centre), we searched 15 electronic databases with all possible literature from 1985 to May 2019 and conducted both supplementary retrospective and prospective reference searches. Fifty‐three documents (37 scientific and 16 clinical) met the inclusion criteria. A thematic synthesis of identified recommendations led to the development and definition of a nine‐step framework to guide collaboration between school and mental health practitioners. This innovative framework offers clear, structured and consensus‐based prescriptive guidelines to determine what should be done, for whom, by whom, when, and how, to facilitate the school reintegration of students hospitalized for mental health issues. Additional studies are necessary to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of this step‐based framework.

Are Medicare Funded Multidisciplinary Care Policies Being Claimed in accordance to Rehabilitation Needs in Patients with Stroke?

Australian Primary Care Practitioners are incentivised through Medicare funded policies to provide chronic disease management and facilitate multidisciplinary care. Little is known about how these policies are claimed in the long-term management of stroke. The objective of this study was to describe the use of funded primary care policies for people with stroke by impairment status. Linked Australian Stroke Clinical Registry (2010-2014) and Medicare data from adults with 90-180 days post-stroke EQ-5D health status survey data and admitted to one of 26 participating Australian hospitals were analysed. Medicare item claims for Primary Care Practitioner led chronic disease management and multidisciplinary care coordination policies, during the 18 months following stroke are described. Registrants were classified into impairment groups using their EQ-5D dimension responses through Latent Class Analysis. Associations between impairment and use of relevant primary care policies were explored using multivariable regression. 5432 registrants were included (median age 74 years, 44% female, 86% ischaemic), 39% had a chronic disease management claim and 39% a multidisciplinary care coordination claim. Three latent classes emerged representing minimal, moderate and severe impairment. Compared to minimal, those with severe impairment were least likely to receive chronic disease management (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR): 0.61, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.49, 0.75) but were most likely to receive multidisciplinary care coordination. Podiatry was the commonest allied health service prescribed, regardless of impairment. Less than half of people living with stroke had a claim for primary care initiated chronic disease management, with mixed access for those with severe impairments.

Trends in energy policy coordination research on supporting low-carbon energy development

The transition of the world's energy system to a low-carbon system is instrumental in achieving global carbon neutrality. This transition of the energy system requires coordination and cooperation among different energy-focused agents as well as integrated development between the agents and the system. However, the low-carbon transition of the overall system cannot be achieved by the spontaneous evolution of the system itself, but requires policy guidance and the coordination of different directions and measures. Policy coordination can effectively integrate the goals and measures of energy policy, and can drive the development of agents within the energy system. In-depth survey and analysis on energy policy coordination show that more attention should be paid to these two research topics: dual carbon target and supply security of the energy system. Specifically, demand-side response, consumption-side reforms, and energy management innovation would become new research priorities. And future research methods of energy policy coordination should focus on quantitative analysis and machine learning. Further, econometric methods should be combined to explore the stack effect of multiple agents within the energy systems. Based on different logical approaches associated with energy policy choices, a multi-agent and multi-dimensional policy coordination framework should be constructed to provide implementation strategies for a coordinated evolutionary transition to low-carbon energy.

The Effect of Fiscal Policy Asymmetries on Business Cycle Correlation in the EU

This paper reviews the role of bilateral fiscal differences, fiscal indiscipline and their joint effects in particular in determining business cycle synchronicity in the European Union (EU). Panel data comprising 28 EU members from 1999–2019 are used in the analysis. The two-step Instrumental Variable–Generalized Method of Moments (IV–GMM) is employed to estimate the effects of examined fiscal measures on business cycle correlations. The study finds that fiscal indiscipline doubles the negative effect of increasing fiscal differences on business cycle correlation compared to fiscally disciplined country-pairs. The findings suggest reopening the debate on fiscal policy coordination across Europe.

The Social Impacts of Circular Strategies in the Apparel Value Chain; a Comparative Study Between Three Countries

The apparel value chain is essential for the livelihood of millions of workers around the globe. However, human rights violations and the lack of a sustained income by apparel workers demonstrate the poor working conditions present in this sector. Circular economy (CE) has been used by incumbent businesses and startups as a framework to achieve sustainability, thus contributing to its economic, environmental and social dimensions. However, there is a lack of knowledge on its social impact. Most of the literature assesses CE’s social impacts by focusing only on the number of jobs created. However, the majority of studies agree on the need to analyse further the quality and inclusivity aspects. This paper explores the social impact of the different circular strategies implemented in three countries. It assesses social impacts related to the quality of jobs, workers’ sustainable livelihood and gender equality and inclusion. Results corroborate that CE social ambition is low, and that current circular strategies follow the same feminisation and precariousness of working conditions found in the linear apparel value chain. Thus, policymakers and businesses alike need to strengthen their CE social ambition; coordinate policy and strategies with different countries stakeholders of the apparel value chain to minimise trade-offs; and safeguard a just circular transition. This research contributes to the body of literature on CE by introducing a social impact assessment framework for circularity called SIAF-CE⚥. Additionally, it provides evidence on the current CE social impact implemented by startups and incumbents in regional and global contexts.

Forest Biomass Policies and Regulations in the United States of America

Using woody biomass from public lands could attract private investments, increase carbon dioxide emission reductions from sustainably harvested low-grade wood to mitigate climate change, provide benefits for the environment, and support rural community economies. Available for use are about 210 million oven dry tons (in the western U.S. alone) of small-diameter wood and harvest residues that could be removed through hazard-fuel treatments and used for bioenergy and bioproducts; representing an economic value of approximately USD 5.97 billion (109). Reaching that utilization goal requires an assessment of current U.S. policies, regulations and directives influencing the use of forest biomass and identification of barriers, challenges, and potential opportunities associated with the use of woody biomass from public lands. One objective of this review is to support the implementation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (USDA-FS) new effort called “Confronting the Wildfire Crisis: A Strategy for Protecting Communities and Improving Resilience in America’s Forests”, but greater coordination of public policies (regulatory legislation, government subsidies, support programs) at different government levels could increase adoption of forest biomass for bioenergy and bioproducts while also promoting different supply chains for long-term biomass supplies and industry investments. Harmonizing the definition of key biomass terms used by different programs that support using forest biomass for bioenergy and other bioproducts, including the Renewable Fuel Standard, may increase forest biomass use from public lands.

Monetary and macroprudential policy coordination with biased preferences

This paper studies the extent to which biased policy preferences, motivated by narrow institutional mandates, affect the gains from coordination between monetary policy (which may respond to financial imbalances) and macroprudential regulation (in the form of capital requirements) in responding to financial stability considerations, and whether these mandates can be set optimally. Numerical experiments show that, depending on the degree of bias in policy preferences, coordination may not entail burden sharing (in the sense of one policymaker reacting more, and the other less, aggressively to financial stability concerns) and may not be Pareto improving relative to the Nash equilibrium—even though it may generate significant gains for the economy as a whole. The optimal institutional mandate, based on maximizing household welfare under coordination, internalizes the impact of the cost of each policymaker’s own instrument use on policy decisions. As a result, there may be an inverse relationship between the degree of bias in preferences and the instrument manipulation cost.

Monetary Policy and Inequality Links: Should Central Banks be Concerned?

In this article, the link between monetary policy and inequality is investigated using the vector auto regression based impulse response functions. The study was motivated by persistent high income inequality in South Africa and the COVID-19 pandemic has renewed the debate on the links between monetary policy and inequality. South African annual time series data from 1990 to 2021 was used to examine the relationship between monetary policy and inequality. The impulse response functions show that the overall income distribution is briefly improved following a monetary policy shock. The findings suggest a fluctuating effect of monetary policy on inequality of which after period six a shock to monetary policy has no effect to inequality since the relationship reaches a stable state. The policy implication is the countercyclical use of monetary policy to reduce inequality is only effective in the early phases and in the long term the effect of monetary policy on inequality is reduced. The policy suggestion is that monetary policy alone cannot tackle inequality in an economy with other structural challenges that are outside of the monetary system. Hence policy coordination between monetary policy and fiscal policy is essential.