Policy Frames Research Articles

Perception and Purchase Behavior of Functionally Illiterate Women for Food Products in Delhi

India, as the world’s fastest emerging economy, is no exception to the international problem associated with functional illiteracy. Millions of consumers penetrate the marketplace with inadequate literacy skills which makes them make ineffective decisions that may endanger an opportunity to optimize their already inadequate financial resources. This study provides marketers with valuable information and insights about the characteristics of Indian consumers in terms of their perceptions and purchase behaviour. The study was exploratory and descriptive in nature. A screening test was conducted to first qualify the respondents for the study and then a survey-based questionnaire was used for data collection. Women respondents were chosen, and Judgment sampling was used to recruit willing respondents that met the selection criteria. The study confirms the previous studies that functionally illiterate consumers earn a low income. Price was identified as the most influential factor during the purchase of food products for functionally illiterate women. The results are consistent with the findings of Viswanathan who suggested that low literate or illiterate consumers do not tradeoff between groups of product characteristics. The study benefits retailers as they seek to understand consumers’ problems and demands as well as improve facilities provided in their stores to assist functionally illiterate consumers. The study is significantly beneficial for policymakers as they could frame policies that will emphasize visual product depiction so that functionally illiterate consumers can make informed decisions. The study also benefits food product manufacturers as they could develop the products keeping in consideration the functional illiteracy of consumers. Appreciating that illiterate consumers are not equipped with adequate knowledge related to structure and function and they spend the money they earned with a danger of being browbeaten, the findings of this study can be effective in helping such customers make well-informed purchasing decisions to make optimal use of their hard-earned income.

What drives the investment intentions of emerging economy millennials? Examining the effect of financial advertisement with the PLS-SEM

The financial service sector involves high-risk and uncertain elements that make financial decision-making challenging; thus, information sources act as facilitators. The present study analyzed the effects of financial advertisements on investors’ behavioral intentions with perceived risk acting as a mediator and gender and marital status as moderating variables. The study empirically validates the proposed conceptual model (based on Stimulus–Organism–Response) with the interrelationship between financial advertisement antecedents, perceived risk, and investors’ investment intentions. Data were collected from 481 respondents using the survey method and analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). “Multigroup analysis (MGA)” was conducted to identify the gender and marital status intergroup moderating effects. The study confirms the significant relationship between informativeness and truthfulness with the perceived risk. The result found that credibility and truthfulness are significantly related to investor intention. In addition, the mediating effect of the perceived risk was found to be absent. Gender is moderating the relationship between credibility and investment intentions; informativeness and perceived risk; truthfulness and perceived risk, whereas marital status moderates the relationship between credibility and investment intentions; involvement and perceived risk; and truthfulness and perceived risk. The present study helps to understand millennial investment decision-making when they are exposed to various financial promotions and advertisements. This study provides insights to the government in policy framing regarding the financial advertisements essentials and disclosures that need to be focused on.

Analysing the stability of advocacy coalitions and policy frames in Ghana’s oil and gas governance

Political associations and public discourse on policy issues are essential components of any democratic system. Yet, their characteristics, particularly those concerning change or stability over time, remain largely understudied, especially outside western jurisdictions. By applying the advocacy coalition framework (ACF) to the context of Ghana’s oil and gas governance, this article seeks to reduce these limitations by analysing coalition stability at the micro- and meso-levels as well as examining the stability of policy frames as expressions of policy beliefs. Applying analysis of variance and network analysis, these objectives are pursued using news media data collected between 2007 and 2019. The results show coalition stability at the meso-level but instability at the micro-level. In addition, some policy frames appear more stable while others seem less stable. This article contributes to existing knowledge by proposing two levels of coalition stability analysis, augmenting the number of ACF applications beyond western jurisdictions, facilitating comparative analysis, and producing more generalisable knowledge.

Utječu li izravna plaćanja i poljoprivredno osiguranje na dohodak u vinogradarstvu?

In the EU 7 million farmers benefit from direct payments. Direct payments represent a significant share of farmers’ income and help stabilize the farm income. Besides direct payments, the farmer can contract agricultural insurance to guarantee compensation for occurred damage on their farm. The insurance premium is a cost for farmers but provides safety in the situation of a risk occurrence. Premium can be subsidized in the frame of Common Agricultural Policy to help farmers insure their business and prevent climate risks and damages. The paper aims to determine the importance of direct payments and insurance in stabilizing farmers’ income using gross margin in viticulture. Both scenarios, 1st with direct payments and 2nd without direct payments with sub scenarios - 1st without risk occurrence, 2nd most probable, 3rd probable, and 4th catastrophic were calculated and discussed. Results show that in all shown scenarios/sub scenarios, farm income in viticulture is positive while only catastrophic scenario shows a negative gross margin. The decision tree shows that farmers need to insure their business in both scenarios. Limitations of the research arise from the limited access to data. To the best of our knowledge, there are no studies investigating the importance of direct payments and agricultural insurance in stabilizing the farmers’ income in Croatian agriculture.

The Political Viability of Carbon Pricing: Policy Design and Framing in British Columbia and California

The Political Viability of Carbon Pricing: Policy Design and Framing in British Columbia and California

Do macro-economic factors influence the life insurance industry in India An empirical approach

The insurance industry has marked its importance in augmenting the process of economic growth through its prominent contribution in terms of financial intermediation, capital accumulation, resource allocation and risk protection. The Indian insurance industry has shown a sharp rise since the formation of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority in 1999. Assuming the important and potential role of insurance, this study aims to investigate the macro-economic factors that may influence the life insurance sector in India with time-series data covering a period of 39 years (1980-2018). Employing Engle-Granger co-integration, ordinary least square regression and causality analysis it is found that foreign direct investment (FDI), broad money (M2) and gross capital formation (GCF) positively and significantly influence insurance sector growth in India. Engle-Granger causality test reveals one way causal relationship from GCF to life insurance penetration, whereas FDI and M2 are in reverse causality that runs from insurance penetration. The practical implication of this study lies in utilising the findings of this study by the policymakers in framing favourable policies to ensure sustained growth of the life insurance sector in India. The study is limited to the consideration of macro-economic factors only.

Is the e-payment gateway system sustainable in India – Analysis through the interpretive structural model approach

Globally, digital payment has been seen as a common feature of developed countries. A gap was identified in literature regarding identification of the most critical variables in e-payment and the development of a model for the sustainability of e-payment. The purpose of the present study is to fill this gap, by identifying and modelling the critical factors influencing e-payment sustainability. The study also looks at the sustainability of the e-payment gateway system and develops the interpretive structural model (ISM) approach. The cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) analysis technique has been used. Results of the study shows that behavioural intention, compatibility, trialability, trust, security, perceived cost and other factors play a significant role in the commitment of the consumer towards e-payment. The findings of the study will guide government, corporates and policy makers while framing strategies and policies for the sustainability of digital payment – a cashless move in India.

Promoting Equity through Equitable Risk Tradeoffs

AbstractThe impact and economic merits of President Biden’s Executive Order 13985 on equity depend on how the executive order is implemented. While policy discussion to date has focused on equitable outcomes, we propose framing risk equity policies in terms of equitable risk tradeoff rates based on six policy guidelines. The starting point for ex ante evaluation of equity for mortality risk policies should be the symmetric application of the value of a statistical life (VSL) to all groups. Because of the substantial heterogeneity in VSLs by income and demographic characteristics, symmetric tradeoff rates generate subsidies and deficits relative to private values of risk. Efforts to provide for distributional preferences should be grounded in an understanding of the differentials already provided through application of a uniform VSL. Targeting government programs to specific groups ex ante should be coupled with estimates of the efficiency loss based on symmetric tradeoff rates and the implicit tradeoff rate ratio relative to the average VSL needed to support the redistributive policy. Here, we propose equity guidance that could be incorporated in a revised version of Office of Management and Budget Circular A-4. We contrast the ex ante equity guidance approach with the ex post risk equity evaluation procedure that is incorporated in the Biden Administration’s recently proposed Justice40 plan, where 40% of the benefits of existing programs must be targeted to certain minority groups without ex post examination of their cost effectiveness either feasible or currently planned.

Globalization, Governance, and Inclusive Human Development: An Asian Perspective

An enhanced focus on inclusive economic growth has recently led to a paradigm shift in framing development policies. Inclusive human development cannot be achieved if principles of participation and equity are disregarded. The current study investigates the implications of globalization and governance from the perspective of inclusiveness by using IHDI (Inequality-Adjusted Human Development Index) for a set of Asian countries from 2010 to 2018. The Feasible Generalized Least Square (FGLS) technique is used to assess this relation, and the results show that governance and globalization aid in making human development more inclusive. Population growth has a negative relation with inclusive human development, and higher population growth in Asia puts pressure on the already fragile institutions. The study also entails reducing corrupt practices, ensuring accountability, and transparency in political and regulatory processes is vital for broad-based human development. Higher liberalization, higher levels of social globalization, and effective governance can also be helpful in realizing the goal of more inclusive human development in Asia. Keywords: corruption, governance, human development, inequality, liberalization. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55463/hkjss.issn.1021-3619.60.62

Factors Influencing Residents’ Quality of Life in Metropolitan Ibadan, Nigeria

The study examined factors influencing residents’ quality of life in metropolitan Ibadan, Nigeria, to use information to provide policy guidelines for sustainable infrastructural development. Primary data for the study were collected through a questionnaire administered to 1,035 respondents (2% of household heads in all residential buildings in the metropolis), using a systematic sampling technique. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data obtained. Findings established that ten variables are loaded on factor one. These variables are the balance between your work and family (-.952), family structure (-0.938), current annual income (.952), free time or leisure time (.893), access to healthcare services (.671), and economic opportunities (.810). Others are the size and quality of home (-.949), the general physical condition of house (-.909), quality and reliability of services provided by the government (-.956), and the neighborhood as a place to raise children (.817). In actual sense, factor 1 is associated with socio-economic and environmental factors and is so named. Thus, the study concluded that the residents' quality of life in Ibadan metropolis was poor. This study has provided information on residents’ quality of life based on residents’ perceptions. This information can be used by decision-makers in framing development policies aimed at improving the residents’ quality of life. Keywords: quality of life, factors, infrastructure, facilities, environment. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55463/hkjss.issn.1021-3619.60.23

On Defaults, Framing, and Local Tax Policy: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Portugal

On Defaults, Framing, and Local Tax Policy: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Portugal

A Pact with the Third Sector. Between Co-Production and Civic Participation. The Italian Case

The co-creation/co-production paradigm received significant attention in the last decades from Public Administration managers, officials, and scholars as a viable tool to overcome the limits of the New Public Management framework. Some scholars recognise that co-creation can be the basis for building an alternative administration model called New Public Governance. Other research found that co-creation is an innovative practice in the social investment policy frame. A more recent EU research project examines the idea and practice of co-creation in public services informed by lived experience pilots in 10 European countries. This paper presents the Italian case as an example of an institutional configuration open to the citizens’ participation in the co-design of public services. The paper is organised as follows. In the first paragraph, we illustrate the recent development of the legislation concerning the participation of citizens and civil society organisations in designing and delivering public services and/or management of common goods. The second paragraph deals with a deep analysis of “grey material” and scientific publications concerning the history, evolution and future perspectives of the “Shared Administration” procedures. The third paragraph presents a case study of collaboration between citizens, Third Sector/Civil Society Organisations (TSO/CSO) and public administration at the local level (Municipality of Bologna). The conclusive paragraph summarises the key findings of our study.

Probing Reluctance to Green Consumerism in an Emerging Economy: An Empirical Evidence

Purpose: The paper aims to understand how eco labels influence attitude towards green product purchases. The study progresses to analyze why attitude does not translate to actual purchase behavior even when eco labels transpire green information to customers'. This is done using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) Design/methodology/approach: The study used partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS SEM) to analyze the statistical data. The TPB was used as the root model to understand the green purchase behavior and how eco labels with product attributes influence attitude towards green products. The variables of TPB namely attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control contributed to the constellation of green product behavior. The questionnaire was distributed using convenience sampling method to 241 youths (university students). Findings: Firstly, the study successfully established the validity of TPB in the Indian context towards green products. It classifies the model on product, perception and actual level which adds to the better rendition for consumers' green behavior. Secondly, with the addition of eco labels and product attributes of green products improved the prediction power of TPB from 53.1% to 58.5%. Thirdly, eco labels and product attributes came out to be cardinal antecedents to harbor favorable attitude towards green products. The study also found the attitude was not translating to green purchase behavior and mandated further inquiry to the concern. Finally, the study vouches for gender neutrality while promoting green products. Research implications: Firstly, the study adds to the mounting evidences towards the applicability of TPB towards green product purchase in India. Secondly, the study addresses the importance of ecol labels and product attributes towards harboring favorable attitude towards green products. Finally, unfolds the nuances for the inability to translate attitude towards green purchase behavior. Managerial implications: Firstly, the study advances the indispensability of eco labels to promote green products. Firms can materialize on this dynamics of information dissemination through eco labels and promote sustainable attitude among consumers'. Secondly, the firms can understand the dynamics of consumer behavior and work accordingly to frame policies conducive towards translating attitude into green purchase behavior. Thirdly, the study strongly documents the need to market green products in a gender neutral manner. Originality: The study draws novelty on two prospects. Firstly, the study uses eco labels and product attributes as antecedents towards attitude. Secondly, the study also aims to determine the actual green purchase behavior using the TPB model. Thirdly, the study investigates the moderating role of gender towards green product behavior.

New philanthropy's discursive, relational, and institutional labour in networks of governance

New philanthropy has had a growing participation in public education management around the world, which continued during and since the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the method of network ethnography and the strategy of following policy, this paper examines new philanthropy's mundane activities with an analytical heuristic to explore new philanthropy's discursive, relational, and institutional labour. Through the case of Lemann Foundation’s work in Brazil between 2020 – 2021, it illustrates how new philanthropy labours to frame policy problems, construct legitimacy, coordinate network efforts and resources and institutionalise ideas and relationships into policies, and how its work continued pre-pandemic forms of labour and agendas, with gradual adjustments to deepen the participation in network governance.

Public Health Volunteers Perspective on Motivation: An Assessment by Spotlight on Africa Uganda Foundation

Low motivation among workers across various institutions is one of the main problems affecting performance of public health volunteers. This study was aimed at identifying key factors attributed to motivation among Public Health Volunteers (PHVs) in Bukasakya and Namabasa sub counties in Mbale District in Uganda. The level of motivation was assessed in relation to each attribute used to measure satisfaction. The study considered various attributes to motivation and performance of health volunteers. A descriptive survey design was used, a questionnaire was administered among 139 respondents most of which were the PHVs. A questionnaire with Likert scale was developed and administered to the respondents. The attributes of motivation were then categorized into personal and organizational attributes. For the qualitative component, participants with varied responses in quantitative data were selected and interviewed. This study underscores the significance of different attributes of motivation. The results revealed that 99% of respondents had attended school, 80.58% were very happy to be PHVs, 84 % reported improved quality of life, 69% exhibited confidence, although 87% were not sure to volunteer again for the next coming 7-10 when they were asked. Over 70% were satisfied with incentives provided and partly attributed their motivation to these incentives. Generally, the respondents were very happy with the working conditions in the organization, in Health the facilities and in the community. In an arrangement where health facilities involve health volunteers in the activities, there is need to consider their motivation, while framing administrative strategies and policy guidelines.

Inaugural Address

Sardar Aseff Ahmad Ali, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Dr Rashid Amjad, President, Pakistan Society of Development Economists, Honourable Ministers, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen! It is indeed a privilege and honour to address this distinguished gathering of economists. I am very happy that this meeting is being attended by internationally acclaimed economists and academics from both within and outside the country. I am especially heartened to see that students of economics from all over Pakistan have been especially invited to attend this meeting. Over the years the Annual Conference of the Pakistan Society of Development Economists has become one of the leading events on the calendar of meetings where experts from various disciplines discuss cutting edge issues that confront developing economies in general and Pakistan’s economy in particular. The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics is to be congratulated for holding such conferences on an annual and regular basis. The President of the Society has mentioned that I have actively encouraged the participation of economic experts, academics and researchers in the policy planning process. I firmly believe that this interaction will lead to framing of economic policies that respond to our economic needs and lead to more sustainable and equitable economic growth. I will continue to involve our body of economists in formulating policies and thank you for your offer to work closely with our government. The theme of this year’s Meeting “Economic Sustainability in a Globalised World” is very timely and touches the very heart of the economic challenge we face at the global and national level. The world has witnessed a global financial meltdown which started in the USA but spread to other parts of the world, both developed and developing. This financial crisis has now hit the real economy, causing a massive decline in global manufacturing output and global trade which is the worst since the Great Depression in 1929. World output is projected to shrink in 2009 and world trade expected to decline markedly this year.

Narrative dynamics in European Commission AI policy—Sensemaking, agency construction, and anchoring

AbstractArtificial Intelligence (AI) is arguably one of the most powerful and disruptive technologies of our times which may pose challenges as well as opportunities to contemporary political organizations. Studying AI from a lens of perceived uncertainty, this article studies the policy response of the European Commission toward this fast‐paced emerging technology. By empirically focusing on the Commission's policy process from start to end, from initial communication to concrete proposal, the article shows how different types of narratives are used to construct the new policy area of AI policy. A novel theoretical framework is constructed building on a combination of narrative organizational studies and narrative policy studies, displaying how narratives play a key role in organizational sensemaking, agency construction and anchoring. The paper finds that the Commission broadly makes sense of AI technologies with a future‐oriented discourse, establishes agency to existing and new forms of political organizing and anchors the policy response within the overarching frame of the EU single market policy. The main contribution of the paper is that it shows how political organizations settles uncertainty through narratives and sketches a way forward through establishing policy goals and anchoring them within pre‐existing lines of political mobilization.

New challenges and established policy fields – Assessing stability and change in climate adaptation policy through a lock-in perspective / Neue Herausforderungen in etablierten Politikfeldern – Eine Analyse von Stabilität und Wandel in der Klimaanpassungspolitik anhand einer Lock-in-Perspektive

Impacts of climate change, such as sea-level rise and changes in annual precipitation, are becoming increasingly visible around the world and within Germany, thus increasing pressures to adapt. Forces of stability and change within established policy fields greatly determine the extent to which governance systems can adapt to worsening existing risks and new challenges. Employing a lock-in perspective and a comparative analysis of the governance of coastal risks in Schleswig-Holstein and water scarcity in Thuringia, we show how infrastructures, institutions, actors, and cognitive framing shape policy landscapes and together constitute dynamics of policy stability and change in the face of long-term climate impacts. This paper offers a comprehensive, systemic perspective of how adaptation challenges fit into established policy paradigms and programs as it highlights how non-material and material components are intertwined and can act as constraints to policy-making.

Water remains a blind spot in climate change policies

For the first time in the latest Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), water has been the focus of dedicated chapters in both Working Group 1 (Chapter 8) and 2 (Chapter 4). Nevertheless, we argue here that water has not yet received the full attention it deserves from both scientists and policymakers for several reasons. Firstly, the historical focus on temperature change has been further increased with the use of global warming levels motivated by an aim to be consistent with current policy framings. Secondly, an increasing attention paid to extreme weather has sometimes overshadowed longer time-scale changes such as the aridification of an increasing fraction of arable land and the increasing variability of the water cycle from month to month, season to season, and year to year that also yield cascading impacts on all water use sectors. Thirdly, a stronger focus is needed on understanding the effectiveness of current and future adaptation strategies in reducing water-related climate risks. Finally, the role of water has not been adequately recognized in the assessment of mitigation strategies although the compliance with the Paris Agreement and the current pledges all require a massive deployment of land-based strategies whose feasibility and efficiency heavily depend on water resources. It is thus essential to develop a more integrated approach to water and climate change, that would allow scientists and policymakers to “close the loop” between mitigation options, water cycle changes, hydrological impacts and adaptation.

Towards an integrated framework for evaluating transformative innovation policy

In recent years, a new frame for innovation policy has emerged, namely “transformative innovation policy” (TIP), which aims at addressing transformative change or “Grand Challenges”. Such a shift in policy theory should, ideally, be reflected in policy evaluation, but the literature has so far provided little advice on how to address TIP-related evaluation challenges such as directionality and system-level behavioural additionality. This paper discusses how the evaluation of policy interventions targeting system innovation can be designed to address these challenges. Combining the literature on sustainability transitions with policy evaluation, we propose an integrated evaluation framework composed of three main components: (i) programme theory (programme goals, systems boundaries and desired (or accepted) development paths); (ii) system analysis (transformative outcomes); and (iii) synthesis and overall assessment (including revision of programme theory). By integrating the two sets of literature, we provide a bridge between academic research on transitions and current evaluation practices. We briefly illustrate the applicability of the integrated framework in the BioInnovation Strategic Innovation Programme in Sweden.