Privatization Policy Research Articles

The Legal Aspects of Privatization in Electricity Business Sector

Privatization is a crucial issue for third-world countries such as Indonesia. In the electricity sector, which is the lifeblood of the community, the involvement of the private sector is a crucial concern. Two judicial reviews of the electricity law in 2003 and 2015 proved the significant issue of privatization in electricity. This study analyzes how the state regulates the privatization policy of the electricity sector in Indonesia. This study, a normative or doctrinal legal research model, explores electricity regulations and doctrines such as Laws Number 20 of 2002 and Number 30 of 2009, Law Number 11 of 2020 on Job Creation, and two decisions of the Constitutional Court number 001-021-022/PUU-I/2003 and 111/PUU-XIII/2015. In conclusion, this study explains that Indonesia allows the privatization of the electricity sector throughout the role of private companies is still under state control. Privatization, which is a reduction in the role of the state and an increase in the role of the private sector, has been well implemented by state-owned enterprises, including the electricity sector. Both decisions of the Constitutional Court emphasize the strong role of the state and become the majority in controlling the electricity business, but do not reject the role of the private sector. Furthermore, state-owned enterprises have a top priority as a provider of electricity for the community.

Voluntary Green Commitment and Optimal Privatization Policy in a Mixed Eco-Industry

Abstract This study investigates the impact of target emissions from polluting firms on the production of green technology and the optimal policy decisions of privatization on the eco-industry under their voluntary commitments. For this, we formulate a vertical structure consisting of a downstream polluting industry and an upstream mixed eco-industry where private and public eco-firms produce emission abatement goods. The results show a U-shaped non-monotone relationship between environmental damage and the optimal degree of privatization, that is, welfare-maximizing public ownership is full nationalization or full or partial privatization, depending on the environmental damage. It supports that the government should have large ownership of partially privatized eco-firms for environmental protection, especially when environmental damage is serious.

Mainstreaming climate adaptation into urban development projects in the Netherlands: private sector drivers and municipal policy instruments

ABSTRACT Improving the climate resilience of urban areas critically depends on the integration of climate adaptation measures, i.e. mainstreaming, into regular construction practices. As research has largely focused on public sector adaptation, the mainstreaming of adaptation into private sector projects remains poorly understood. The aims of this study are twofold. First, we examine what drives private developers and investors to mainstream adaptation into large-scale urban development projects. Second, we explore what policy instruments municipalities can employ to stimulate private sector mainstreaming. Our theoretical lens combines insights from the literature on mainstreaming, sustainable building drivers and policy instruments. These concepts are used to guide our analysis of four urban development projects and an interview study in the Netherlands, a densely populated delta country which is rather vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Our results show that private developers and investors seldom explicitly include adaptation measures into their development projects. An important impediment is the perceived absence of direct monetary benefits. If adaptation measures are implemented, they are often realized as a side-effect of creating a high-quality living environment or because private actors expect other professional benefits, such as corporate image enhancement or development of know-how. To stimulate private sector mainstreaming, Dutch municipalities already use a mix of policy instruments that might be a source of inspiration for other countries. Yet, especially the way in which enforcement and incentives are applied is not always effective. Key policy insights Despite the private sector’s growing awareness about the need for and importance of climate change adaptation in the Netherlands, adaptation is still seldom explicitly included in large-scale urban development projects. Municipalities should invest in policy instruments that target consumers. Communication, education and incentives can be used to raise consumer awareness and consequently demand for climate-adaptive properties. Municipalities should collaborate with the private sector to develop clear, uniform and feasible adaptation requirements. Municipalities should actively participate in urban development projects, i.e. co-developing with the private sector. This way, private sector drivers and policy instruments can strengthen each other to pave the way for future-proof and climate-resilient urban environments.

Effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the food supply chain

This study’s objective was to analyze institutions’ role in positioning Brazil to reduce uncertainties in food supplies related to COVID-19. We intend to demonstrate that food security must be integrated with food safety. This research is an exploratory study of COVID-19’s effects on food systems using qualitative data. This study demonstrates that public and private policies carried out at the international level are needed to avoid new health crises originated by zoonoses. The integration of public and private policies requires the following strategies: building strong institutions, strengthening the agricultural research and innovation system, public policies for sustainable agriculture, strict sanitary control laws, enhancing cold chains of animal protein production, and encouraging the vertical integration model in animal protein chains. This analytical scheme can be applied in the context of agro-industrial systems from an institutional perspective, allowing research into the effect of crises on agri-food supply chains, as in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as contributing to its prevention. It was found that demands to prevent new pandemics are: an outgrowth of the effective adoption of standard sanitary controls; coordination of agri-food systems; and public policies.

The Rota das Emoções in the touristic context of Northeast region of Brazil

The objective is to analyze the importance of the Rota das Emoções in the development of Piauí's territory. Piauí is studied in the context of the Northeast of Brazil, geographical space of Piauí and public tourism policies, with a focus on the Programa de Regionalização do Turismo (Tourism Regionalization Program) that suggests itineraries with the emergence of the Rota das Emoções (Route of Emotions), a regional route that comprises the Brazilian states of Piauí, Ceará and Maranhão. The relevance is given by the significant growth acquired by tourism in contemporary society. Governmental actions that promote territorial tourism diffusion are examined in Brazil, especially in Piauí. Private policies that regulate and establish tourist services that generate formal and informal jobs and trigger transformations with a multiplier effect. However, infrastructural transformations do not meet social objectives, directed to the market and to people's well-being.

Evaluation on the Impact of Cache Parameter Selection in Access-Driven Cache Attacks

Cache attacks exploit the hardware vulnerabilities inherent to modern processors and pose a new threat to Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Intuitively, different cache parameter configurations directly impact the attack effectiveness, but the current research on this issue is not systematic or comprehensive enough. This paper’s primary focus is to evaluate how different cache parameter configurations affect access-driven attacks. We build a flexible and configurable simulation verification environment based on the Chipyard framework. To reduce the interference of other factors, we established a baseline for each category of parameter evaluation. We propose a novel evaluation model, called Key Score Scissors Differential (KSSD), for evaluating common private and shared cache parameters under the local and cross-core attack models, respectively; among these are private cache replacement policy, private cache capacity, cache line size, private cache associativity, shared cache capacity, and shared cache associativity. Ours is the first evaluation of the shared cache under a cross-core attack model. As a result of the evaluation, the quantitative metrics can provide a reliable indication of information leakage level under the current cache configuration, which is helpful for attackers, defenders, and evaluators. Furthermore, we provide detailed explanations and discussions of inconsistent findings by comparing our results with the existing literature.

Governing AI through ethical standards: learning from the experiences of other private governance initiatives

ABSTRACT A range of private actors are positioning varied public and private policy venues as appropriate for defining standards governing the ethical implications of artificial intelligence (AI). Three ideal-type pathways – oppose and fend off; engage and push; and lead and inspire – describe distinct sets of corporate and civil society motivations and actions that lead to distinct roles for, and relations between, private actors and states in AI governance. Currently, public-private governance interactions around AI ethical standards align with an engage and push pathway, potentially benefitting certain first-mover AI standards through path-dependent processes. However, three sources of instability – shifting governance demands, focusing events, and localisation effects – are likely to drive continued proliferation of private AI governance that aim to oppose and fend off state interventions or inspire and lead redefinitions of how AI ethics are understood. A pathways perspective uniquely uncovers these critical dynamics for the future of AI governance.

Tying Your Hands and Getting Stuck? The European Origins of Italy's Economic Stagnation

ABSTRACT The dominant interpretation of Italian economic stagnation in the last decades is that this is due to insufficient liberalisation, but an alternative explanation emphasises the unintended consequences of Italy's strategy of tying itself to the European mast (‘external constraint’). Based on historical reconstructions of three policy areas, public debt management, privatisation, and labour market policy, this paper seeks to adjudicate between these two rival accounts. It argues that insufficient liberalisation fails to explain the Italian trajectory. The external constraint does a better job of explanation, but more as a necessary condition for stagnation than as a sufficient one. In other words, it would probably have been possible to manage the external constraint differently to produce better outcomes, but without the external constraint, the Italian stagnation would likely have been less deep.

Entry and exit decisions under public and private information: an experiment

We design an experiment to study how reversible entry decisions are affected by public and private payoff disclosure policies. In our environment, subjects choose between a risky payoff, which evolves according to an autoregressive process, and a constant payoff. The treatments vary the information disclosure rule on the risky payoff, such that in the public information treatment the risky payoff is always observable, while in the private information treatment, the risky payoff is observable only to the participants who enter the market. We find that under private information, market entry is higher, which suggests that subjects engage in exploration and place value on information.

Analyze of Saudi Arabia international trade policy under the perspective of neo-liberalism theory

The globalization, privatization, and opening-up process of developing countries attract the world. These policies are helpful for the development of developing countries. This article uses Saudi Arabia as an example to study the execution of globalization, privatization, and opening-up policies. The article also discusses the influence of these policies in Saudi Arabia. The literature review method is applied in this article to explore the privatization and open-up policy of Saudi Arabia. This study mainly relies on information gathered from former academic reports and articles analyzing the economic reform of Saudi Arabia and some media articles. This article studies Saudi Arabia's economic globalization process and uses neo-liberalism theory to conduct qualitative research on the decisions of Saudi Arabia. The economic structure of Saudi Arabia profoundly relies on its resources. The economic system of Saudi Arabia also has some flaws, including the corruption and low efficiency of its bureaucratic system and public sector. The economic system highly relies on the global oil market, and there is also potential employment risk. The article uses the neo-liberalism theory to analyze globalization, privatization, and geopolitics in Saudi Arabia. The article studies the intentions of Saudi Arabia to strengthen its oil industry and financial market and solve the problem of low-efficiency public sectors and the contradiction between economic development and geopolitics conflict between Israel. This article found out that the neo-liberalism theory does influence the decisions made by the authorities of Saudi Arabia. However, the decisions of Saudi Arabia are also influenced by some factors, like the geopolitical conflict with Israel, which is outside the paradigm of the neoliberalism theory. This article may help developing countries make decisions in the international trade system, especially developing countries that are highly reliant on natural resources.

Assessing Brunei Darussalam Public and Private Sector Readiness Towards Big Data Application

This exploratory study aims to assess and investigate Brunei Darussalam’s readiness in developing and applying big data technologies for its public and private sectors, using Social, Technological, Environmental and Policy (STEP) framework. The results show that the population are digitally literate (Social) and utilises smart devices as well as internet network connectivity that is widely offered by the local telecommunications company (Technology). The government of Brunei Darussalam established multiple digital transformation initiatives including implementation of 5G connectivity as well as digital economy masterplan to digitally transformed in the near future (Environment). Regardless of the absence of national digital data privacy policy (Policy) in Brunei, the recent nation’s successful big data application in public sector – BruHealth Application – to contain Covid-19 community spread was achieved. Alas, the existence of such policy in the near future will create opportunities for the local private sectors to capitalise big data technologies to their business strategies.

How Private Is Your RL Policy? An Inverse RL Based Analysis Framework

Reinforcement Learning (RL) enables agents to learn how to perform various tasks from scratch. In domains like autonomous driving, recommendation systems, and more, optimal RL policies learned could cause a privacy breach if the policies memorize any part of the private reward. We study the set of existing differentially-private RL policies derived from various RL algorithms such as Value Iteration, Deep-Q Networks, and Vanilla Proximal Policy Optimization. We propose a new Privacy-Aware Inverse RL analysis framework (PRIL) that involves performing reward reconstruction as an adversarial attack on private policies that the agents may deploy. For this, we introduce the reward reconstruction attack, wherein we seek to reconstruct the original reward from a privacy-preserving policy using the Inverse RL algorithm. An adversary must do poorly at reconstructing the original reward function if the agent uses a tightly private policy. Using this framework, we empirically test the effectiveness of the privacy guarantee offered by the private algorithms on instances of the FrozenLake domain of varying complexities. Based on the analysis performed, we infer a gap between the current standard of privacy offered and the standard of privacy needed to protect reward functions in RL. We do so by quantifying the extent to which each private policy protects the reward function by measuring distances between the original and reconstructed rewards.

Evaluation of risk factors in Ghanaian public-private-partnership (PPP) power projects using fuzzy synthetic evaluation methodology (FSEM)

PurposeThis paper aims to evaluate the risk factors and determines the overall risk level (ORL) of public-private-partnership (PPP) power projects in Ghana using fuzzy synthetic evaluation methodology (FSEM).Design/methodology/approachIn this paper review of literature led to the development of a 67-factor risk list which was ranked by experts and industry practitioners through a questionnaire survey.FindingsThese factors were grouped into principal risk factors (PRFs) using component analysis and they served as the input variables for fuzzy analysis. The seven components were: Contract and Payment risks, Environmental risks, Financial and Cost risks, Legal and Guarantee risks, Operation risks, Socio-Political and Performance risks (SPR) and Tender and Negotiation risks. Study showed that the ORL of Ghanaian PPP power projects is high implying they are risky to both the public and private sectors. Fuzzy analysis also confirmed SPR as the most critical principal factor.Originality/valueThis study is significant and demonstrates that fuzzy methodology can be used as a useful risk evaluation tool and risk assessment framework for private investors, policy makers and public sector.

Collaborative governance or state regulation? Endless efforts but little capacity for sustainability transformation of the German textile sector

AbstractCollaborative governance is increasingly demanded in multiple sectors and considered promising to address wicked sustainability challenges. Whether it meets these expectations remains uncertain, particularly as such initiatives take place within a broader landscape of public and private policies and projects. We explore how collaborative governance initiative is shaped by its broader landscape to deliver on its goals. To do so, we provide a framework for analysing governance modes and social interactions in collaborative governance. We use an exploratory case study of the German Partnership for Sustainable Textiles (hereafter: Textiles Partnership). The partnership is a multi‐stakeholder, collaborative governance initiative that links to a variety of different initiatives, and highlights barriers and transformation potential both within and outside its boundaries. Based on qualitative interviews, analysis of policy documents and a focus group discussion, we show that the complexity of the landscape field is accompanied by capacity constraints for all actors involved. Such complexity raises questions about whether this governance mode influences actual change on the ground, or diverts energies into navigating and proliferating complexity with low levels of meaningful outcomes. There is a growing call from actors within the partnership towards more state‐centred regulation, resulting in a Due Diligence Act in 2021, to regulate corporate action across national borders. The evidence we present shows the need to reconsider the balance between state regulation and collaborative governance arrangements.

Out-of-pocket payments made by patients transported by Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS)

ObjectiveRecent news media have reported that Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) programs use the practice of balanced billing, resulting in exorbitant charges not covered by insurance companies and financially burdening patients. To date, no study has described the billing practices of HEMS programs. We look to provide transparent billing practices and average patient payment of one midwestern non-profit HEMS program and report the reimbursement data of both federal and private insurance policies for transports. MethodsCollated billing data were obtained from a HEMS program for two time periods from January 2017 through June 2018 (P1) and July 2018 through December 2019 (P2). From P1 to P2 the base charge per transport was increased. All transports that generated a bill during the periods were included and descriptive statistics were used to depict the findings. ResultsPer flight, base charge was $19,158 in P1 and $33,023 in P2. On average, patients paid $158.09 and $178.99 out-of-pocket, respectively. Reimbursement practices of insurance companies varied widely across time periods and among each other. ConclusionThe amount charged by this HEMS program and amount patients paid on average for flights was less than has been commonly reported in recent news media. More transparency in costs and payments between non-profit and for-profit HEMS agencies should occur.

Institutions and Foreign Direct Investment: What Role for Investment Policy in Southeast Europe?

Abstract Institutions are generally perceived as an important determinant of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Which institutions matter and why for FDI, remains however one of prominent questions in public policy debate amid complexities related to different institutional dimensions, and incomplete or even vague understanding of underlying mechanism(s) at work. In this paper we account for these ambiguities, and focus on institutions that reveal government efforts to design proper institutional and policy framework to attract FDI, as opposed to considering institutions in broader sense. Specifically, we contribute to FDI policy debate by analysing the impact of institutions measuring Investment policy and promotion on inward FDI flows in South East Europe (SEE). To this end we use a unique dataset that is comprised of specific, FDI related institutional indicators developed and published by the OECD. The results of this empirical investigation deeper our understanding on whether differences in FDI policies and institutional set-up across South East European (SEE) countries explain variations in inward FDI flows relaying on bilateral FDI flows and the gravity modelling technique. We bring novel evidence that investment policy efforts seemingly do pay off, highlighting the importance of progress and reforms embodied not only in FDI regulation, but also in FDI policy variables including FDI Promotion and Facilitation, Transparency, Privatisation policy and Public Private Partnership in attracting FDI in SEE. The analysed institutional effect properly accounts for the possible time-variant and context-dependant effect of institutions. The suggested importance of FDI policy variables seem valuable in terms of general FDI policy issues and trade-offs.

Environmental awareness of the private firm and optimal privatization in a mixed duopoly

This study investigates the optimal privatization policy in a mixed duopoly where the private firm may have environmental awareness. It finds that if the marginal environmental damage is low (high), partial privatization is optimal and its optimal level increases (decreases) with the degree of the private firm's environmental awareness. However, if the marginal environmental damage is moderate, full nationalization or full privatization can be optimal and the optimal privatization level does not depend on the degree of the private firm's environmental awareness. This study highlights the role that environmental pollution and private firms' environmental awareness play in determining optimal privatization policy.

THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON THE PERFORMANCE OF BANKS IN PUNE CITY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Advent of ICT has brought transformational changes in the Indian Banking Industry. Liberalisation, privatization and globalization policy and the recommendations of various committees paves the way for use of ICT in the Indian Banking sector. ICT has made the banking more easy, convenient and user friendly. It has changed the way the banks provide the services to their customers. It has also impacted the performance of the banks in all respects. The present study is modest attempt to study the impact of IT on the performance of banks operating in Pune City. The researcher has selected 5 branches each of 2 Public Sector Banks, 2 Private Sector Banks, and 2 Co-operative Sector Banks operating in Pune City and the impact of information technology on core operational areas as well as secondary operational areas. Total sample size is 1950 which includes bank customers, employees and managers/officers. The study reveals that the private banks lag behind in several aspects as compared to the nationalized and cooperative banks and there is a lot of improvement required in several areas. One cannot clearly distinguish the nationalized banks as the best performers or the cooperative banks is the best performers because there are issues that need to be taken care of in nationalized and cooperative banks also. What the study would conclude is that, for a bank to be successful there should be a proper commitment of the top-level management and at the same time the IT staff who takes care of the hardware and software infrastructure within the bank must work in harmony with the banking staff. KEY WORDS: Information Technology, E-banking, online banking, e-banking service quality, customer satisfaction, CRM

Local Government Policy Model in Utilization of Rice Harvested by the Merauke Community

The harvest of farmers has not been absorbed optimally, Merauke rice is hampered in marketing, the government has the responsibility to pay attention to the needs of the community, especially farmers in the utilization of the rice harvest which is very abundant. local government policy making in the utilization of rice yields in Merauke district. This research is a normative and socio-legal legal research. This research was conducted at the Regional Secretariat of the Legal Division of Merauke Regency. The location of this research was chosen based on the approach of authority and the level of involvement of the agency. Primary data, and secondary data. The data collection used was literature study, observation and interviews. The analysis technique uses qualitative-descriptive data analysis. Characteristics and concepts of the policy model in the utilization of rice yields, is the existence of government and/or private policies to expand agricultural land. There is communication between government officials or private business entities with the utilization of the rice harvest. There are economic benefits for farmers. The land is dominated by land that is still forested and has not become agricultural land. It needs the support of human resources, water resources, infrastructure and financing. Influencing and livelihood conditions and the economy of local landowners and territories. Policy model in the utilization of rice yields” in this study with the main and supporting theories after being elaborated from the literature study and abstracted from the themes in the field, namely by looking at the existence of government and/or private policies to expand agricultural land. There is communication between government officials or private business entities with the utilization of the rice harvest. There are economic benefits for farmers. The land is dominated by land that is still forested and has not become agricultural land

Analysis of trends in sepsis mortality in Brazil and by regions from 2010 to 2019.

ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE To characterize the profile of inpatients and trend of sepsis mortality in the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS), throughout Brazil, and in its regions separately, from 2010 to 2019.METHODS Observational, analytical and retrospective study of secondary data obtained through consultation to the Sistema de Informação Hospitalar (Hospital Information System). All incoming septicemia notifications from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2019 were included. The following sociodemographic variables were used: sex, age, race, region and federative unit of residence. For data analysis, we used mortality and hospitalization coefficient, relative risk and Joinpoint regression.RESULTS There were a total of 1,044,227 cases of sepsis in Brazil, yielding a mean prevalence coefficient of 51.3/100 thousand inhabitants. There were 463,000 deaths from sepsis recorded, with a mean prevalence coefficient of 22.8 deaths/100,000 inhabitants. The highest rates occurred among the elderly, of brown race, and there was no significant difference between genders. The Southeast region accounted for the highest rates of hospitalization and deaths. A general trend toward increased mortality was observed in the period studied.CONCLUSION The heterogeneity of Brazil should be considered regarding socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, and differences in health investment and underreporting between regions, in order to understand the disease’s epidemiological course. Finally, these findings should be correlated with other studies, in an effort to understand the behavior of the disease, and provide inputs for public and private policies in order to reduce the expressiveness of cases and deaths from sepsis in Brazil.