Areas Of Public Policy Research Articles

Behavioural insight and the labour market: evidence from a pilot study and a large stepped-wedge controlled trial

AbstractIn this article, we describe two experiments measuring the impact of a collection of interventions informed by behavioural sciences to reduce unemployment. In a small-scale pilot study (n= 2,383) run in partnership with a Jobcentre in the UK, we found that small changes to the way jobseekers interacted with employment advisers showed promising effects. Based on these findings, we refined our intervention and tested it in a second, larger trial (n= 88,033) across 12 Jobcentres in the UK. We found that our intervention significantly increased off-flow from benefits. These experiments demonstrate that policies and programmes aimed at reducing unemployment can benefit greatly from a deeper understanding of the behaviours of jobseekers and employment advisers. Further, we suggest that this approach could have positive implications for other areas of public policy.

El lugar de los cuerpos-territorios de las mujeres indígenas en procesos de desterritorialización y reterritorialización radicadas en Bogotá, Colombia

This article investigates the processes of deterritorialization and reterritorialization that have had to live in Bogota indigenous women from different parts of Colombia as a result of the armed conflict extended by decades. The interpretative argumentation is carried out from the new communitarian feminisms, the decolonial feminisms that allow to understand the positions of the indigenous women in terms of their search of recognition, agency, participation and autonomy. This is an article that aims to generate a reflection on the importance of recognizing the bodiesterritories of indigenous women and the relationships that remain between their culture and the territory to strengthen their participation in public policy areas in the city of Bogota.

A Problem Oriented Foresight Model for Population

Background: The choice of methods for shaping the effective foresight model has always been challenging. Future studies are supposed to re-integrate and re-frame issues in order to provide novel solutions. It is very difficult to choose from a large number of (about 100) methods from various disciplines and different paradigmatic and methodological roots while avoiding stereotypes. Methods: Involving both the experts of the field and the future researchers, a new approach for selection of method in forward-looking policy is presented, and based on policy challenges, future researchers were asked to prioritize methods to improve population policy by attractiveness and capability criteria. Results: As the final result, four methods were chosen considering the main aspects of attractiveness and capability of each method to improve each specific policy issue. Priorities were determined by calculating the total number of choices by capability of method, multiplied by the attractiveness of methods through the questionnaire to form the foresight model: casual layered analysis (CLA) with 2250 points, scenario with 1596 points, expert panels with 1560 points, and interviews with 1232 points, which were the top four methods, respectively. Conclusions: The path and logic used in this research to select the model of population foresight can be generalized to other public policy areas and can be a methodological basis for other applied interdisciplinary studies.

Mergers in higher education institutions: a proposal of a novel conceptual model

PurposeThe macroeconomic changes as well as the challenges facing universities nowadays result in the transfer and adaptation of various concepts and organizational methods from enterprises to universities. One of such solutions is mergers. Even though there are a very large number of practical examples of university mergers in the world, at the same time there is a shortage of frameworks that would help manage mergers. The purpose of this paper is to present key areas of focus in HEIs’ consolidation processes and the creation of the conceptual model of the universities’ mergers.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper synthesis, the inductive approach for model development and case study description were used. The analysis and findings were based on the systematic literature review taken out from management and public policy areas. The new public management and public value governance approaches as well as strategic and process theories of mergers were applied. The descriptive approach to management was used as well.FindingsFormulation of a Conceptual Model of Universities’ Mergers and ten principles of effective management of universities’ mergers that cover the entire process, from planning, through implementation, to integration.Research limitations/implicationsThere is a need to verify the proposed inductive model of universities’ mergers through further qualitative and mixed-methods research studies.Practical implicationsThe paper offers a significant opportunity for practical application of the presented content, because it indicates how the know-how from one (business) sector can be valuable for the future of another sector (the over-fragmented sector of higher education).Originality/valueThis study presents the key areas of focus in HEIs’ consolidation processes and proposes a novel Conceptual Model of Universities’ Mergers. It concludes with the principles of effective management of universities’ mergers.

Avaliação continuada de programas de educação superior

<p>O objetivo deste artigo é discutir o conceito de avaliação continuada a partir da experiência avaliativa de um programa de educação superior de uma universidade pública, que é ao mesmo tempo uma ação afirmativa, um curso de educação geral e uma nova forma de acesso aos cursos de graduação. Avaliação continuada representa uma inovação em termos conceituais e metodológicos na área de políticas públicas ao propor um processo que acompanha toda a existência de uma política. A análise da avaliação do programa de educação geral traz contribuições de duas naturezas: a) a compreensão de como construir um sistema de avaliação continuada; b) a operacionalização de tal sistema, evidenciando tanto a geração de insumos de forma contínua para a tomada de decisões quanto os desafios que vêm sendo enfrentados para que essa integração entre avaliação e tomada de decisões continue ocorrendo.</p><p><strong>Palavras-chave</strong>: Avaliação de Programas, Educação Superior, Políticas Públicas, Avaliação de Inovações Educacionais.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Evaluación continuada de programas de educación superior</strong></p><p>El objetivo de este artículo es discutir el concepto de evaluación continuada a partir de la experiencia evaluativa de un programa de educación superior de una universidad pública, que es a la vez una acción afirmativa, un curso de educación general y una nueva forma de acceso a los cursos de graduación. La evaluación continuada representa una innovación en términos conceptuales y metodológicos en el área de políticas públicas al proponer un proceso que acompaña toda la existencia de una política. El análisis de la evaluación del programa de educación general contribuye con aportes de dos naturalezas distintas: a) la comprensión de cómo construir un sistema de evaluación continuada; b) la ejecución de tal sistema, que pone de manifiesto tanto la generación de insumos de forma continua para la toma de decisiones, como los desafíos que se enfrentan para que dicha integración entre evaluación y toma de decisiones siga ocurriendo.</p><p><strong>Palabras clave</strong>: Evaluación de Programas, Educación Superior, Políticas Públicas, Evaluación de Innovaciones Educativas.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Continuous evaluation of higher education programs</strong></p><p>This paper discusses the concept of continuous evaluation, based on the evaluation experience of a higher education program from a public university. The program is not only an affirmative action, it is also a general education program and a new admission way to the undergraduate courses. Continuous evaluation represents innovation in conceptual and methodological terms, in the public policy area, as it proposes a process based on a policy. The analysis of the general education program provides two main contributions: a) the understanding of how to set up a continuous evaluation system; b) the management of the system. This highlights the continuous generation of subsidies for decision-making as well as the challenges that are being faced, which guarantee that the integration between evaluation and decision-making will continue to occur.</p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: Program Evaluation, Higher Education, Public Policies, Evaluation of Educational Innovation.</p>

A feminist look at social psychology / Una mirada feminista a la psicología social

This theoretical revision starts from the consideration that the gender perspective constitutes a critical, explanatory and alternative vision that comes from feminism and generates an analysis framework that takes into consideration and pays attention to the differences and inequalities between women and men in any activity or area of social development, research or public policies. The objective of this revision is to provide clues to understanding what gender or feminist social psychology is. To this end, firstly, we briefly describe feminist theoretical assumptions and the gender or feminist perspective, which constitute its starting point, and secondly, we analyse what it means to integrate these principles into psychology.

Social return on investment (SROI) in sport: a model for measuring the value of participation in England

ABSTRACTRecent and historical evidence suggests that sport creates societal benefits in terms of improved health, reduced crime, improved education and enhanced subjective well-being. However, there is limited empirical research on the monetary value of these non-market outcomes for society. The original research presented in this paper aims to calculate the social impact of sport in England, using a Social Return on Investment (SROI) framework. It is the first time an SROI framework has been used to value the sports sector at the national level. According to our study, in 2013/14 the social value of sports participation in England was £44.8 billion and the total financial and non-financial inputs to sport were £23.5 billion, giving an SROI ratio of 1.91. This means that for every £1 invested in sport, £1.91 worth of social benefit was generated. The research has several implications for policymakers. First, it shows it is possible to use an SROI framework to measure and value the wider benefits of sport to society, which provides a useful benchmarking tool for gathering evidence on the social impact of sport. Second, the research demonstrates that the return on investment in sport in England is positive and substantial, providing policymakers with evidence-based research upon which to better articulate the case for investment in sport. Third, it provides evidence that sport creates value to society across multiple social outcomes, potentially making it a cost-effective investment for addressing social issues across multiple public policy areas.

Evaluation of the Lithuanian Agricultural Policy Based on the Analysis of Qualitative Structure

At the beginning of the 21st century, rural policy remains one of the most important areas of public policy; huge financial and human resources are devoted to the implementation of this policy measures. The aim of the article is to provide holistic evaluation of the goals, means and key achievements of Lithuanian agricultural policy and to identify possible areas and ways of improvement. The diversity of agricultural policy measures applied in Lithuania after the restoration of independence in 1990 and achievements of the policy are analysed on the basis of new approach – the theory of qualitative structures. The study explores how policy measures to accelerate the process of industrialization in Lithuanian agriculture after the privatization of kolkhozes and sovkhozes have encouraged and supported private farms to implement extensive growth, intensification, specialization, risk management, collaboration and innovation production strategies, and what results they have achieved. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ppaa.18.1.23128

Trust in Public Policy Algorithms

Algorithms are playing an increasingly important role in many areas of public policy, from forecasting elections to predicting criminal recidivism. In most of these cases, the algorithms are viewed as additional tools for use by judges, analysts and policy-makers – a form of hybrid decision-making. But such hybridization relies on the level of trust people have in these algorithms, both by the policy-maker and the public. This paper reports the results of a series of experiments on individual trust in algorithms for forecasting political events and criminal recidivism. We find that people are quite trusting in algorithms relative to other sources of advice, even with minimal information about the algorithm or when they are explicitly told that humans are just as good at the task. Using a conjoint experiment, we evaluate the factors that influence people’s preferences for these algorithms, finding that several of the factors of common concerns for scholars are of little concern for the public.

System pomocy społecznej a starzenie się populacji – wyzwania i bariery w zakresie opieki długoterminowej

Starzenie się populacji Polski stawia przed społeczeństwem wyzwania związane z koniecznością zabezpieczenia zróżnicowanych potrzeb rosnącej grupy osób starszych. Pomimo postępu cywilizacyjnego (m.in. w zakresie technologii medycznych) nie każda osoba starsza będzie się cieszyła dobrym zdrowiem i zachowa zdolność do samoopieki do ostatnich dni życia. Część seniorów będzie mogła w przypadku wystąpienia różnego typu ryzyka, m.in. socjalnego lub zdrowotnego, liczyć na wsparcie ze strony rodziny. Natomiast według prognoz demograficznych i ekonomicznych zwiększać się będzie liczba seniorów, których zabezpieczenie potrzeb będzie uzależnione od wsparcia ze strony sektora pomocy społecznej. Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie, przed jakimi wyzwaniami staje sektor pomocy społecznej w związku z procesem starzenia się populacji. W szczególności, jakie są zakres, formy i rodzaje świadczeń z pomocy społecznej dla osób starszych oraz jakie są główne ograniczenia i bariery w ich realizacji. Zaprezentowane dane wskazują, że rządzącym w Polsce trudno będzie w najbliższym czasie sprostać zapotrzebowaniu na usługi opiekuńcze, szczególnie w wymiarze długoterminowym z uwagi na niedostatek zasobów, w tym ludzkich, finansowych itp. Dodatkowo w agendzie politycznej nie widać nacisku na tę sferę polityki publicznej.

Submission to the OHCHR Thematic Report to the United Nations General Assembly on Digital Technology, Social Protection and Human Rights

This submission seeks to respond to the questions raised in the call for submissions by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights into his thematic report to the United Nations General Assembly on digital technology, social protection and human rights. We focus on the Australian Government’s controversial program of automatically calculating and recovering debts owed because of welfare over payments, known as ‘robo-debt’. We aim to sketch lessons to be learned from its originally flawed design and implementation in relation to government decision-making generally. We focus in particular on the Rule of Law, which is a core constitutional value in most established legal orders, including Australia. Our focus in doing so is on three core rule of law concepts that, we suggest, have the widest acceptance across political and national systems: transparency and accountability; predictability and consistency; and equality before the law. We suggest that the lessons to be learned from robo-debt for other areas of public policy and government decision-making focus on the alignment of automated systems with rule of law values, which ultimately hinges on the appropriateness of design choices.

ПРОБЛЕМИ ТА ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ НОРМАТИВНО-ПРАВОВОГО ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ РОЗВИТКУ ІНФОРМАЦІЙНОЇ СФЕРИ В УКРАЇНІ

Urgеnсy оf thе rеsеаrсh. In the context of Ukraine's European integration, taking into account the construction of the information society, the issues of effectiveness of regulatory and legal support of the information sphere in the context of prevention and elimination of various means and methods of threats to man, society and state in the information sphere are becoming increasingly important. Tаrgеt sеttіng. In this context, the role of the relevant mechanism in ensuring information security of Ukraine, the need for effective legislative regulation of public relations, defining the legal framework for organizing and coordinating the actions of information security of Ukraine, developing priority areas of public policy. Асtuаl sсіеntіfіс rеsеаrсhеs аnd іssuеs аnаlysіs. Theoretical and methodological issues of regulatory and legal support of the information sphere are considered by such scientists as Z. Buryk, O. Bukhaty, K. Valigura, G. Golovchenko, O. Kurakin, O. Melnikov, O. Radchenko, O. Stukalenko, O. Tverdokhlib, O. Yaremenko and others. Unіnvеstіgаtеd раrts оf gеnеrаl mаttеrs dеfіnіng. The works of these scientists practically did not reflect the issue of development of the information sphere in Ukraine. Thе rеsеаrсh оbjесtіvе. The article is designed to structure the methodological framework for regulatory and legal support of the information sphere in Ukraine. Thе stаtеmеnt оf bаsіс mаtеrіаls. The article substantiates the expediency and formalizes the content of improving the regulatory and legal support of the information sphere in Ukraine. The importance and necessity of information sphere development in the structure of national security of Ukraine are substantiated. A schematic interpretation of the conceptual approach to the functioning of regulatory and legal support of the information sphere in Ukraine is presented. Соnсlusіоns. The current state of regulatory and legal support of the information sphere has necessitated the separation of legislative acts, norms, provisions that regulate various aspects of the research area. The priority directions of the state policy on regulation of the information sphere in Ukraine are defined.

Theoretical and Practical Interaction Between Legal Ideology and Legal Propaganda in the Soviet Society

The main function of any ideology is to legitimize the established order of things as true, universal and unshakable. The ideological form is aimed at the formation of the addressee's specific stereotypes of behavior corresponding to the trajectory of officially recognized ideas, values, axioms, principles, norms of law. Legal ideology is a conceptualized expression of normative, political and universal methods of legal understanding. As the methods of ideological influence can be identified scientific-doctrinal and official-legal nomination, legal propaganda, legal education, legal education, etc. Legal propaganda is the systematic and purposeful dissemination in society of certain legal ideas, values, norms and programs of behavior in order to control the addressee and control his thinking and behavior, has a coercive nature in order to prevent deviation from the absolute standards of behavior. Propaganda is often one of the main means of political manipulation. At present," legal propaganda" as the most radical concept has given way to softer methods of ideological influence - "legal education" and " legal upbringing". Legal literacy and legal awareness of citizens in modern Russia is an important area of public policy, the implementation of which is entrusted to the Federal and regional public authorities, local governments, professional legal communities and public associations of lawyers, in close collaboration with civil society structures in the form of social partnerships. The involvement of public organizations for legal education of the population through legal propaganda in order to implement the state policy was actively developed in the Soviet period. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze the phenomenon of the Soviet legal ideology in the context of legal propaganda by public organizations. The study was conducted within the framework of socio-cultural approach. That approach allowed expanding the idea of the place and role of legal propaganda in the Soviet society as a product of the state ideology focused on the identification of Soviet cultural values, its reglamentation and practical realisation.

Theoretical and Practical Interaction Between Legal Ideology and Legal Propaganda in the Soviet Society

The main function of any ideology is to legitimize the established order of things as true, universal and unshakable. The ideological form is aimed at the formation of the addressee's specific stereotypes of behavior corresponding to the trajectory of officially recognized ideas, values, axioms, principles, norms of law. Legal ideology is a conceptualized expression of normative, political and universal methods of understanding. As the methods of ideological influence can be identified scientific-doctrinal and official-legal nomination, propaganda, education, education, etc. Legal is the systematic and purposeful dissemination in society of certain ideas, values, norms and programs of behavior in order to control the addressee and control his thinking and behavior, has a coercive nature in order to prevent deviation from the absolute standards of behavior. Propaganda is often one of the main means of political manipulation. At present, propaganda as the most radical concept has given way to softer methods of ideological influence - legal and upbringing. Legal literacy and awareness of citizens in modern Russia is an important area of public policy, the implementation of which is entrusted to the Federal and regional public authorities, local governments, professional communities and public associations of lawyers, in close collaboration with civil society structures in the form of social partnerships. The involvement of public organizations for education of the population through in order to implement the state policy was actively developed in the Soviet period. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze the phenomenon of the Soviet ideology in the context of by public organizations. The study was conducted within the framework of socio-cultural approach. That approach allowed expanding the idea of the place and role of in the Soviet society as a product of the state ideology focused on the identification of Soviet cultural values, its reglamentation and practical realisation.

Self-Responsibility Gone Bad: Institutions and the 2008 Financial Crisis

The rise of self-responsibility as practiced in many public policy areas was part of the more general rise of neoliberalism. A case in point is the corporate social responsibility movement. This led in the world of finance to the 2008 financial crisis thanks to various deregulatory moves beginning in the early 1980s. As such, the crisis was the product of a series of incremental institutional changes that enabled corporate self-responsibility in finance to go terribly wrong. Once the crisis hit, a number of more radical institutional changes were pursued in order to reverse the movement toward self-responsibility. This was an institutional rebalancing. This article offers some ideas about how to think about institutional change in the context of this particular corporate self-responsibility movement. It focuses first on the institutional changes that caused the crisis and then on the institutional changes that followed in an effort to minimize the severity of the crisis and reduce the possibility that another one might happen again. The basic argument is that self-responsibility is not a phenomenon that can be reduced to individual action; it cannot work properly without that action being embedded in an appropriate institutional environment. This is an argument at odds with neoliberal theory.

Los programas de transferencia de renta desde la perspectiva de derechos: El caso de Chile Solidario

El Estado Chileno, en las últimas décadas, ha orientado su acción en el área social de las políticas públicas hacia la generación de un Sistema de Protección social que, en términos declarativos, apunta a generar condiciones para el disfrute y ejercicio de los derechos de las personas, concebidas como titulares de un conjunto de prerrogativas y facultades que el Estado debe respetar, proteger y promover.Dicho sistema pareciera ser ampliamente incluyente tanto respecto de la población que abarca, como de los derechos y recursos que provee. No obstante, al observar algunas de las iniciativas que comprende, se aprecia que éstas darían cuenta de una opción por los sectores más pobres de la población, debiendo los otros grupos sociales satisfacer sus necesidades, cada vez más, a través del mercado privado de recursos y servicios. Además de los problemas de cohesión social que esta situación genera, el análisis documental de programas sociales orientados a grupos que viven en situaciones de extrema pobreza, permite interrogarse respecto de la capacidad que poseen los programas de transferencia de renta -en tanto componente fundamental del actual sistema de protección social chileno-, para abordar la superación de la pobreza extrema en el país. Para ello, en este artículo, se adopta la perspectiva de los Derechos Humanos en el análisis de los programas de transferencia de renta, examinando el cumplimiento de ciertos criterios que, desde este enfoque, permitan establecer la existencia concreta de una propuesta normativa y operativamente fundada para la promoción, protección y garantía de los derechos civiles, políticos, económico-sociales y culturales (DESC).

Socio-economic Determinants of Adolescent Health in Russia

The article presents the results of a comprehensive study of the socio-economic determinants of the health of Russian adolescents, performed using quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative analysis was carried out on the basis of the data of the Russian Monitoring of the Economic Situation and Health conducted by the Higher School of Economics for 2010-2016 (19th- 25th waves) using the logistic regression apparatus. Qualitative data are obtained by conducting 39 semi-structured interviews with adolescents aged 14-17 living in the Republic of Udmurtia and the Moscow Region in two stages: in 2010 and 2013. Within the framework of the study, the complex of socio-cultural determinants of health is separately singled out for the first time and its significance is shown for the health of Russian teenagers. The definition of the most significant socio-economic determinants of adolescent health enabled developing a series of recommendations in the area of public health promotion policy.

Lobbying for rent regulation in Hong Kong: Rental market politics and framing strategies

Growing demand for private renting has stimulated debates on rent regulation in many cities. In Hong Kong, grassroots groups have lobbied for stronger rent regulation, in the context of rapidly rising rents. This paper seeks to interpret the evolving dynamics of the rent regulation debate in Hong Kong, from the 1990s to the present. In particular, the paper seeks to interpret changes in the lobbying strategies of advocacy groups, through applying theories from the sociological literature on framing processes. The findings reveal that advocates and opponents disagree because of divergent prognostic frames, despite their similar diagnosis of rental affordability problems. Furthermore, existing motivational frames are unable to mobilise support from a broader range of households. These insights are relevant not only to debates on housing policy, but also to other public policy areas, where the degree of resonance of motivational frames helps explain the change in momentum of policy advocacy work.

Job satisfaction in Chile: geographic determinants and differences

Logit, binary and multinomial models are used in this study to determine the impact of objective and perceived working conditions on workers’ job satisfaction. Possible differences between job satisfaction in the Metropolitan Region and in other areas of Chile are also explored. The data used in this analysis are drawn from the first National Survey on Employment, Work, Health and Quality of Life of Workers in Chile (ENETS). Wage levels were found to have a positive impact across the board, while residence in an area other than the Metropolitan Region also had a significantly positive effect. These results were corroborated using matching techniques. The finding that subjective perceptions have a great deal of explanatory power and that their impact outweighs the influence of objective conditions may be of interest in the areas of both public policy and business administration.

Public policy towards entrepreneurial finance: spillovers and the scale-up gap

Research in the area of public policy towards entrepreneurial finance has traditionally been focused on financing gaps, and whether or not government programs successfully address market failures for those financing gaps. More recently, a growing literature has identified externalities across different forms of entrepreneurial finance. These externalities include but are not limited to spillovers from one form of finance to another (such as from crowdfunding to venture capital, etc.), spillovers from domestic to international investment, and spillovers from early stage to late stage investment. Sometimes these externalities are positive and other times they are negative. In this paper, we review what is known about these spillovers and highlight a need to better understand these spillovers for the optimal design of a government’s portfolio of policy towards entrepreneurial finance.