Design Of Public Policies Research Articles

Socioeconomic and environmental contexts of suicidal rates in a latitudinal gradient: Understanding interactions to inform public health interventions

Suicide results from complex interactions between biological, psychological, and socioeconomic factors. At the population level, the study of suicide rates and their environmental and social determinants allows us to disentangle some of these complexities and provides support for policy design and preventive actions. In this study we aim to evaluate the associations between environmental and socioeconomic factors and demographically stratified suicide rates on large temporal and spatial scales. Our dataset contains information about yearly suicides rates by sex and age from 2000 through 2017 along a 4000 km latitudinal gradient. We used zero-inflated negative binomial models to evaluate the spatio-temporal influence of each environmental and socioeconomic variable on suicide rates at each sex/age combination. Overall, we found differential patterns of associations between suicide rates and explanatory variables by age and sex. Suicide rates in men increases in middle and high latitude regions and intermediate age classes. For adolescent and adult women, we found a similar pattern with an increase in suicide rates at middle and high latitudes. Sex differences measured by the male/female suicide ratio shows a marked increase with age. We found that cloudiness has a positive effect on suicide rates in both men and women 24 years old or younger. Regional poverty shows a major impact on men in age classes above 35 years old, an effect that was absent in women. Alcohol and marijuana consumption showed no significant effect sizes. Our findings support high spatio-temporal variability in suicide rates in interaction with extrinsic factors. Several strong differential impacts of environmental and socioeconomic variables on suicide rates depending on sex and age were detected. These results suggest that the design of public policies and interventions to reduce suicide prevalence need to consider the local social and environmental contexts of target populations.

Energy Imbalance Gap, Anthropometric Measures, Lifestyle, and Sociodemographic Correlates in Latin American Adults-Results from the ELANS Study.

Overweight and obesity are often explained by an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure. This, in addition to metabolic effects, makes it difficult to assess the real state of individual energy balance. This study aims to analyze the energy gaps between intake and expenditure in the adult population of Latin America, as well as its relationships with sociodemographic variables and nutrition status, to draw an epidemiological perspective based on the trends observed. The energy imbalance gap was used to this end. The difference between energy intake and expenditure can be applied as a reference to explain whether weight equilibrium can prevent weight gain. Moreover, the energy imbalance gap allows for a better understanding of the design of public health policies. Using data from the Latin American Study of Nutrition and Health, the energy imbalance gap in adult population from eight Latin-American countries was assessed in 5994 subjects aged from 19–65. Usual dietary intake was measured using two non-consecutive 24 h dietary recalls. The sociodemographic questionnaire was supplemented by anthropometric measurements. Physical activity was measured through the long International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Energy expenditure was obtained using the basal metabolic rate. For the overall sample, the mean energy intake was 1939.1 kcal (95% CI: 1926.9; 1951.3), the mean of energy expenditure was 1915.7 kcal (95% CI: 1906.4; 1924.9), and the mean of energy imbalance gap was 23.4 kcal (95% CI: 11.9; 35.0). Results show that energy intake and expenditure were higher in men. Moreover, subjects aged 19–34, of high socioeconomic level, who completed high school, were mestizos and were of normal weight consumed the highest number of calories. Overall, a positive energy imbalance gap was observed. Overweight and obese from Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela showed a significantly lower energy imbalance gap than underweight subjects. These findings confirm the high variability of energy imbalance gap and the accompanying correlates of energy intake and expenditure. Further research is needed to specifically address interventions in low and middle-income countries such as many in Latin America, to help reduce the prevalence of obesity and eradicate undernutrition.

The Need for Data Contextualization in Urban-Water Systems in Terms of Environmental and Behavioural Health.

The current paper addresses the need for making scientific knowledge easily accessible, comprehensible, and tailored for citizens, especially in urban-water habitats, enabling their behavioural change and consequent climate change resilience. It proposes a schema that integrates data from different sources and highlights their relevance to citizens (aiming to raise their awareness), the impact on the citizens' Quality of Life as well as the way they (will have to) perform various activities. Targeted bibliographical research through online digital libraries was conducted to capture the scientific coverage and validation of this need. As an outcome, the complexity and interdependencies of environmental and behavioural health issues growth has been confirmed, and public health programs have begun to identify the need for the integration of data from diverse sources. Therefore, the proposed schema could be used for enabling better design of public health policy making.

Greener on the other side? an analysis of the association between residential greenspace and psychological well-being among people living with spinal cord injury in the United States.

Secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from a multisite survey study. To describe associations between residential greenspace and psychological well-being among adults living with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). Community. Participants were from the Spinal Cord Injury-Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) Calibration Study (N = 313). Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis was used to define five- and half-mile buffer areas around participants' residential addresses to represent community and neighborhood environments, respectively, and to create measures of natural and developed open greenspace. Associations of greenspace measures with two SCI-QOL psychological well-being domains (positive affect and depressive symptoms) were modeled using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, adjusted for demographic, injury-related, and community socioeconomic characteristics. People living in a community with a moderate amount of natural greenspace reported less positive affect and more depressive symptoms compared to people living in a community with low natural greenspace. At the neighborhood level, a moderate amount of developed open space was associated with less positive affect and more depressive symptoms than a low amount of developed open space. Contrary to expectations, residential greenspace had a negative relationship with psychological well-being in this sample of adults with SCI. Understanding how and why natural spaces are associated with quality of life for people with mobility disabilities can influence public policy and urban planning designs to ensure that residential greenspaces are accessible and beneficial to all.

Bibliometric mapping of techno-scientific systems of small Latin American worlds

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to compare the evolution of the scientific production of Costa Rica and Panama, from Central America and Paraguay and Uruguay, from South America in the period 2000–2018. To achieve this, first, a bibliometric mapping was performed using the Web of Science (WoS) database. Second, the triple helix model was used to determine whether there are similar patterns or marked differences in the distribution of this type of publications in the helices of government, academia and industry.Design/methodology/approachThe steps followed in this study were as follows: design and application of an algorithm to perform WoS downloads; download the publications using the country descriptor; process data using R and VOSviewer; design of a profile of the selected countries based on indicators; and use of the triple helix model to determine the weight of the scientific production.FindingsThe data found corroborate that the small technoscientific worlds examined do not have the minimum Science & Technology personnel nor the capabilities in infrastructure and technological equipment, and that expenditure in this area is minimal and for these reasons, the production in the WoS is low.Originality/valueStudying the small technoscientific worlds from a bibliometric perspective allows generating inputs to diagnose the state of these countries in this area, as no evidence of similar studies in these countries was found in Scopus or the WoS. Likewise, examining scientific production from the triple helix model makes it possible to identify the weaknesses of each actor, and the results can contribute to the design of better public policies.

COVID-19: Psychosocial impact and mental health in Latin America

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only had health, economic, and political impacts, but also significant psychosocial and mental health consequences worldwide. In this article, different documentation and studies on mental health were analyzed, with the aim of identifying the various problems detected during the pandemic. Methodologically, a narrative and integrative review of the scientific literature was carried out. In Latin America, the most recent studies have documented and made patent effects on the various vulnerized populations such as migrants, women, children, the elderly, people living with significant disabilities, people experiencing marked housing and food insecurity, and temporary workers laboring in what has been referred to as the informal economy. In light of this, it is proposed that addressing these issues should involve the coordination of transnational policies and the definition of an agenda of critical priorities to focus and address. For this to come about, it is important that the empirical evidence generated by regional epidemiological studies contribute to the design of public policies on mental health of the Latin American population, so that they reduce the negative effects as well as prevent the future consequences of a pandemic that is not yet over.

Change from within: Community social workers as local policy actors

AbstractPolicy practice (PP) refers to the on-the-job activities of social workers (SWs) intended to influence the design of public policies. Despite the importance attributed to this type of practice within social work, there is limited empirical knowledge on how SWs actually engage in PP and what explains it. This study contributes to this body of knowledge by examining the engagement of eighteen Israeli local government community SWs who engaged in PP to affect their localities’ policies. The study employed a qualitative method and used semi-structured interviews. The policy issues addressed were diverse, with policies for children and adults with disabilities, for physical infrastructures and for community development prominent. The participants employed foundational strategies, such as cultivating personal and professional relationships with officials in the municipality’s hierarchy, and targeted strategies such as organising meetings between high-level officials and residents. Motivational, facilitating and opportunity factors can explain the engagement in PP. Our main conclusion is that local government community SWs who decided to be policy actors and create change from within adopted a ‘collaborative institutional policy practice’, which is based primarily on internal, collaborative and consensual strategies.

Komisja bezpieczeństwa i porządku jako podmiot lokalnej polityki bezpieczeństwa

Collegial advisory bodies are one of the highly institutionalized and formalized arrangements that ensure citizens' involvement in local decision-making and design of public policies. This paper aims to reveal functions fulfilled by security and order committees, an example of local authorities' collegial advisory bodies on local security policy. The article presents the results of qualitative research conducted through semistructured interviews in selected Polish district cities. The author focuses on security and order committees that, although operating for many years in Poland, have been entities overlooked in the academic discourse regarding local security. Meanwhile, the research shows that the composition of the commissions and the scope of their competencies create conditions that allow them to participate actively in the local security policy programming. In addition, the competencies of the security and order committees enable them to evaluate local security policy. Furthermore, to a certain extent, they can also assess how local authorities carry out local security tasks.

Exploring the language heterogeneity strategies of European think tanks

• Think tanks often produce a variety of research products tailored to a range of audiences. • The design of public policy is influenced by the orientations and recommendations proposed by the experts in the think tanks. • The positioning strategy of think tanks takes as a frame of reference their capacity for dissemination in the media sphere. • The strategies are conditioned by each think tank's experience and the conditions of commercial openness of the country. This article explores the communication strategies of the main European think tanks who specialise in international economic policy through a study of their linguistic heterogeneity. For this purpose, a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is carried out of 19 European think tanks included in the 2018 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report, an annual ranking produced by the University of Pennsylvania since 2008. The studied result is the number of languages in which the think tanks analysed, which was published in the press worldwide from 2009 to 2018. The information was obtained from the Factiva® database, owned by Dow Jones & Company©, which provides access to more than 33,000 news sources from over 200 countries in 27 languages. The results suggested no necessary conditions for a think tank to articulate its communication strategy, regardless of its level of language heterogeneity. However, the sufficiency analysis showed different causal configurations employed by think tanks in designing their strategies. The evidence shows a wide dispersion of the number of news items, the years of experience of the think tanks and the number of languages employed in their communication strategies from 2009 to 2018.

Sources of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in Jordan: Self-reported approach

BackgroundUnderstanding the dynamics of virus transmission is essential for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. Demographic factors could influence transmission of the virus in different communities. Herein, the sources of COVID-19 infection in Jordan were explored. In addition, the effects of demographic factors and the adherence to preventive measures on household transmission were investigated. MethodsThe study recruited Jordanian adults who recovered from COVID-19 from March to July 2021. Using a questionnaire, information about participants’ demographics, level of adherence to personal protective measures, and their perceived source of COVID-19 infection were collected. Crosstabs were used to test for differences in household transmission ratios between different demographic variables. Logistic regression analysis was used to predict risk factors for household transmission. ResultsThe study recruited a total of 2313 participants. Household transmission was the most frequently reported source of infection (44.9%). Other sources of transmission were work/education related (16.0%), friends (8.6%), healthcare facilities (4.8%), social/event gathering (3.1%), shopping activities (2.2%), and public transport (1.6%). Significantly higher ratios of household transmission were reported by older adults (>60 years), college/university students, and female participants. No significant difference in household transmission was found between low-income and medium-high income groups. A significant increase in household transmission ratios was found with increased adherence to mask-wearing and social distancing. This could be a reflection of the reduced risk of community transmission with increased adherence to these preventive measures, coupled with the difficulty in adhering to these measures within the household setting. In multivariate logistic regression, females, young adults (18–30 years), older adults (>60 years), and those who adhere to mask-wearing most of the time were associated with an increased risk of infection in the household setting. ConclusionThe results reported in the current study provided an insight into the transmission dynamics of the virus in Jordan, as an example of the MENA region. These findings could be invaluable for the future design of public health policies to control COVID-19 and possibly future pandemics.

Effects of a Linear Innovation Policy in Non-linear Innovation Sectors: Empirical Study in Strategic Sectors of the State of Mexico

This article takes up the discussion of the different models of innovation to understand science, technology and innovation policy in Mexico. The main objective of this research is to identify the effects of the innovation policy in Mexico in strategic sectors of the State of Mexico, through public policy instruments focused on encouraging technological innovation in companies in the State of Mexico. Another objective of this study is to add to the development of the theoretical framework of the innovation policy that helps to design better instruments that promote innovation in diverse technological sectors. The main instrument for promoting innovation in companies in Mexico, recognized in the last 20 years, the Innovation Stimulus Program (PEI), is analyzed to find out the impact of a public policy instrument that follows a linear model in companies of strategic sectors of the State of Mexico that follows a non-linear model of innovation. PEI serves companies of different sizes and purposes, it operates under three modalities: INNOVAPYME (aimed at micro, small and medium-sized companies), INNOVATEC (aimed at large companies) and PROINNOVA (companies of any size that present proposals in connection with at least two Higher Education Institutions or Research Centers). For this study, the focus is oriented to companies from strategic sectors of State of Mexico that are dedicated to innovation activities in the areas of the chemical, agro-food, health, automotive, new materials and plastics technology industries, technologies focused on sustainable development, and information technologies. The main strategic sectors of innovation defined in the State of Mexico follow a non-linear model of innovation, but government programs dedicated to encouraging innovation in companies seem to focus on linear innovation processes. Regarding the methodology, quantitative methods are used to know the effect of policy instruments in strategic sectors of the State of Mexico, a microeconomic analysis is supported through the Survey on Innovation and Technological Development (ESIDET) 2017. By knowing the effects of the main instrument of innovation policy in Mexico, it is possible to identify the role of the state government to strengthen these efforts, complement or improve them. The results present some concrete recommendations on the design of public policies to achieve the greatest benefits in investment in STI to promote regional technological innovation in strategic sectors.

Cuidados paliativos: percurso na atenção básica no Brasil

In 2022, an important international report was published on the “value of death” not only in the field of health, but in relation to human societies in general. This report proposed to reimagine systems related to end of life in which death is understood not only as a physiological event but also as a relational and spiritual phenomenon with a value of its own and inseparable from life. It identifies the low priority given by most governments worldwide to the issue of alleviating suffering and supporting bereavement, evidenced by the low investment in palliative care. At the same time, we are witnessing in Brazil changes that threaten the feasibility of palliative care policies in primary health care. The denial of finitude within health systems is reflected in global indicators such as the quality of death index of The Economist magazine, in which Brazil ranks 42nd, the global atlas of palliative care of the World Hospice and Palliative Care Alliance, where Brazil is in level 3b, and the global trends in opioid consumption of International Narcotics Control Board of the World Health Organization, in which opioid consumption in Brazil is in the hundreds of doses per million inhabitants per day. Despite notable advances in the legislative and executive fields with regard to palliative care, the Brazilian Unified National Health System (SUS) and primary health care have suffered important structural setbacks that will impact the design of public policy for palliative care. The goal of this article is to undertake an initial analysis of the impacts of current policies within this context and their repercussions in the construction of a solid policy for palliative care.

Financial literacy and its relationship with sociodemographic variables

he aim of this research is to determine if there is a significant difference between the socio-demographic population groups in relation to financial literacy in Mexican adults, between 18 and 70 years old. It is assumed that there is a significant difference in financial literacy levels according to age, gender, educational level, residence, region, marital status, household position, economic dependents, work conditions, job position, income, material and financial wealth, and financial experience. The method is derived from the approaches of Lusardi and Mitchell (2011a), OECD (2018), OECD (2017) and Atkinson and Messy (2012). Data from the Mexican survey ENIF (2018) are used. The methodology and the use of microeconomic data provide originality on the research of financial literacy for Mexico. The results of the Probit econometric model show sociodemographic variables that help to predict the probability that Mexican adults will answer the financial literacy questions correctly and provide evidence on specific groups of the Mexican population that present significant differences in financial literacy. Particularly this refers to those with low educational level, women, the disabled, retirees, low-income people, those who are not included in the financial system, as well as those who lack training in financial education issues. The findings can be useful for the design of public policies on financial literacy, the basic financial knowledge that the population should acquire in order to make informed decisions.

Palliative care: pathway in primary health care in Brazil.

In 2022, an important international report was published on the "value of death" not only in the field of health, but in relation to human societies in general. This report proposed to reimagine systems related to end of life in which death is understood not only as a physiological event but also as a relational and spiritual phenomenon with a value of its own and inseparable from life. It identifies the low priority given by most governments worldwide to the issue of alleviating suffering and supporting bereavement, evidenced by the low investment in palliative care. At the same time, we are witnessing in Brazil changes that threaten the feasibility of palliative care policies in primary health care. The denial of finitude within health systems is reflected in global indicators such as the quality of death index of The Economist magazine, in which Brazil ranks 42nd, the global atlas of palliative care of the World Hospice and Palliative Care Alliance, where Brazil is in level 3b, and the global trends in opioid consumption of International Narcotics Control Board of the World Health Organization, in which opioid consumption in Brazil is in the hundreds of doses per million inhabitants per day. Despite notable advances in the legislative and executive fields with regard to palliative care, the Brazilian Unified National Health System (SUS) and primary health care have suffered important structural setbacks that will impact the design of public policy for palliative care. The goal of this article is to undertake an initial analysis of the impacts of current policies within this context and their repercussions in the construction of a solid policy for palliative care.

Geographic Concentration of Economic Activities in Aburrá Sur in Antioquia (Colombia) — A Reinterpretation of the Industrialisation Coefficients of the Stochastic Independence Approach

In terms of economic geography, spatial and industrial concentration represents an increasingly important input for the design of public policies that foster local economic development and productive transformation of a territory. This analysis aims to identify the geographic concentration indices of different sectors in which the economic activity is distributed in each of the five municipalities that are part of the territorial agglomeration of Aburrá Sur in the department of Antioquia (Colombia). The methodology is based on a reinterpretation of the industrialisation coefficients used in the stochastic independence approach, which explains the divergences between specialisation levels of production and geographical concentration by using entropy indices that consider the reference distribution as uniform distribution, as is the case with maximum dispersion. We start from the hypothesis that in the municipalities belonging to the Aburrá Sur predominates the high concentration in the manufacturing industry, although some of them could have medium and even low concentration because they have different sector indicators. Results show that the manufacturing industry is the most concentrated sector in the territorial agglomeration. The research findings can be used by political and economic actors in the territory for designing strategies and decision-making on sectoral strategic development commitments.

Acolhimento em um centro de atenção psicossocial: relato de experiência de um médico em formação

Abstract: Introduction: Services aimed at psychosocial care are essential for guaranteeing the rights of the assisted population, acquiring a long process, and still current, called Psychiatric Reform, with a public policy design of strategies and programs for the effectiveness of care aimed at the individual and their social context. Among these, embracement stands out as an interlocutor in the processes that involve the user of the Psychosocial Care Network and the services provided by the health units, with emphasis on the Psychosocial Care Center and in particular care related to alcohol and drug users (CAPSad). The present experience report aims to present the nuances of embracement present in the services and activities provided by a CAPSad in a municipality in the interior of Bahia and the importance of this experience for medical training. Experience report: the experiences were presented in four moments: first contacts and the experience of getting to know the CAPSad; Symposium on the care of users of alcohol and other drugs, monitoring medical consultations in mental health and carrying out activities in the waiting room and with therapeutic groups. Discussion: The experiences of comprehensive mental health care enabled the medical student to experience embracement and the singularities of psychosocial care; understand the vulnerabilities of people who use alcohol and illicit drugs; the importance of the family in the care process; participate in medical consultations based on the Person-Centered Clinical Method; as well as multiprofessional care for the integrality of health actions. Conclusion: Comprehensive mental health care constitutes a challenging and necessary topic for the training of the future physician. The inclusion of the student in the psychosocial care network favors the processes aimed at teaching-learning and strengthens the teaching-service-community integration.

Harm and Helmets: How Harmful Social Costs Fail to Justify Paternalistic Health and Safety Regulations

Mill’s harm principle and the financial externalities of risky behavior are routinely invoked to justify health and safety regulation. However, this approach fares poorly when subjected to theoretical scrutiny. First, it is false: individuals engaging in risky behavior do not harm others. Second, even if risky behavior were harmful to others, the argument from harmful externalities does not imply safety-enhancing policy interventions, at least not without additional appeals to paternalism. Third, focusing on the economic impacts of accidents invites perverse victim-blaming attitudes toward accident victims that undermine democratic values and justice. To improve our moral understanding of health and safety regulation, I sketch a theory of public policy justification grounded in the controversies which attract our attention to paternalistic polices in the first place. On this account, justificatory arguments are plausible if they identify goods that individuals genuinely affirm on their own terms, are sensitive to causal responsibility and imbalances between restraint and protection, and comparatively engage with possible policy alternatives. Illustrating the shortcomings of one dominant approach to public policy justification and reorienting us toward the controversies that policy justifications need to confront reflect two ways that political theory can help enhance justice in public policy design and articulation.

Experiences of Unemployed Black People Living with Disabilities in Soshanguve Township, South Africa - An Exploratory Study

The promise of a better life for all made by the South African government in 1994 remains unfulfilled, as many South Africans are still living in the margins of the economy where unemployment and poverty are rampant. People living with disabilities (PLWDs) are the worst affected, as they are poor with no access to jobs and housing. Despite the enactment of the Employment Equity Act (EEA) Number 55 of 1988, employment opportunities for black PLWDs are scarce in South Africa. This is due to, among other reasons, the fact that employers are reluctant to employ disabled people. This narrative study examined the experiences of black people living with disabilities (PLWDs) in Soshanguve Township, Tshwane, South Africa. It employed the symbolic interactionist (SI) theory as a lens to gain insights into the experiences of black women and men living with disabilities in their quest to access employment opportunities. The study was exploratory qualitative in nature and employed the case study design approach. Data were collected using a purposive sample of 15 black men and women living with disabilities in the Soshanguwe Township with whom in-depth interviews were conducted. This was complemented by focus group interviews with 13 purposively selected respondents who met the selection criteria. Findings were that people living with disabilities (PLWDs) were discriminated against and marginalised in employment and the workplace before and after post–apartheid South Africa. This situation leaves them inactive, economically disadvantaged and poor. The study expands knowledge on the experiences of black men and women who live with disabilities, thereby contributing towards the design of public policies and other social security interventions meant to alleviate the plight of marginalised communities in general and people living with disabilities.

Keterlibatan Warga Terhadap Akun Twitter Pemerintah Provinsi Jawa Tengah, Jawa Timur, Jawa Barat : Analisa Data Mining

This article focuses on citizen engagement analysis on local government twitter through data mining analysis. Based on the concept of measuring citizen engagement from Haro-de-Rosario in 2018, this article analyzes three official twitter accounts of the Central Java provincial government, East Java province and West Java province. Data were collected by data mining with Scrape Storm software with measurement dimensions consisting of love, reply, retweet, tweet, and followers. The measurement results reveal that the level of citizen engagement varies widely, the highest value of citizen engagement is the account of the province of East Java (0.00068), and the second rank is the province of Central Java with a value of 0.00031 and the third rank is the province of West Java with a value of 0.00023. The design of public communication policies on social media should consider aspects of the level of citizen engagement as a benchmark for government efforts to increase public participation interest in managing local government.

TOKI's impact on transaction costs in planning and land development: Looking at large-scale housing projects in Istanbul's Avcılar- Ispartakule region

Minimising costs is one of the main objectives in public policy design. The formation of public institutions like TOKI (the Mass Housing Administration) that have financial and administrative power to plan and develop land for housing production aims to minimise costs. However, the effect of the advantages arising from TOKI's powers on transaction costs is unknown. This article examines TOKI's impact on transaction costs in planning and land development through the analysis and comparison of the transaction costs of two large-scale housing projects in Istanbul's Avcılar Ispartakule region (Mass Housing Area)—one developed by a public-private partnership (PPP) between Emlak Konut REIC (real estate developer, owned by TOKI) and a private sector actor and the other by a private sector actor alone. The findings of the study, rather than making generalisation, provide a relative comparison of the transaction costs, and identifies the cost-inducing activities in their processes. The findings indicate a disparity between the transaction costs related to the plan making process and the project development process of the two projects. TOKI's plan making process in the Mass Housing Area reduced transaction costs. However, the PPP appeared less efficient than the private sector project in the land development process. In particular, in partnering with the TOKI, time-related costs arose mainly in negotiations during the land acquisition and construction phases. The case study's findings, demonstrate a disconnect between TOKI's defined purpose to produce mass housing more efficiently and the high transaction costs incurred in the land development phase.