Public Sector Policy Research Articles

PUBLIC POLICIES AND THEIR IMPACT ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to identify the impact of public policies on economic development through a systematic review method. Theoretical Framework: The paper emphasizes the role of decentralization in allowing governments to implement efficient public policies that drive economic development, referencing Kitchenham’s guidelines for systematic literature review. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study employed a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) based on 55 selected studies. Data were extracted and synthesized to answer 8 research questions related to the impact of public policies on economic sectors and development. Findings: The review identified that public policies significantly impact economic development, particularly in the industry and environment sectors. Countries like China are leading in policy application for growth. Decentralization enhances policy effectiveness by allowing local adaptation. However, gaps remain in understanding the influence of public policies in less-explored sectors, highlighting the need for further research. Research, Practical & Social Implications: The study suggests that public policies play a critical role in shaping economic development, particularly in sectors like industry and environmental policy. Future research should focus on extending these findings to other sectors. Originality/Value: This research adds to the growing body of knowledge by synthesizing existing studies and identifying key sectors and metrics for evaluating the impact of public policies on economic development.

EHT and environmental justice at EPA Victoria: Aspirations and regulatory realities

Abstract EPA Victoria (Australia) is a statutory authority that regulates polluting activities and advises other Victorian government departments on relevant policy settings. In 2016, a public health function was installed at EPA Vic to provide emergency health messaging during pollution events, review research evidence of environmental-health relationships and assess industry-contracted health risk assessments of polluting entities. An Environmental Health Tracking Network (EHTN) is under development to support these activities. The EHTN is an agile data and analytical infrastructure for translating expertise across an expanding multidisciplinary network of public health researchers, EPA operational staff and public sector policy makers. Its current interactive dashboards calculate health impacts and associated costs of air pollution scenarios, model land-use influences on land and water contamination and identify coincidences of sociodemographic-, urban environment- and pollution exposure-disadvantage in a high spatial resolution environmental justice (EJ) framework. Regulatory leverage of EHTN intelligence, however, requires legislated EJ thresholds and/or legally tractable costing of industry-externalised human health impacts. Thus, to establish triggers for more stringent conditions on polluting activities and promote equity of interventions and regulations, novel regionally and EJ specific health risk functions are required. Considering these ambitions and challenges, the EHTN at EPA Vic is focussed on 1) identifying and characterising vulnerable populations at high spatial resolution, 2) estimating associated exposure-health effect size modifications using primary epidemiological methods and 3) applying these to health impact and cost assessments of pollution and waste. We seek defensible grounds on which to impose more stringent standards for polluters and redress entrenched social, health and economic disadvantage. Speakers/Panelists Hanna Tolonen THL, Helsinki, Finland

Critical Factors Influencing the Success of Social Entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurs are solving agents for social and economic problems. Having innovations aimed to tackle the unlimited human problems innovators enter into the business as social entrepreneurs. Putting independent scientific findings into the practical field of business poses several problems requiring the entrepreneur to tackle the issues and challenges of the business world. This study aimed to answer the linkage of innovation with social entrepreneurship, the relation of individual innovators with entrepreneurship, types of the support the society can provide to social entrepreneurs in their contribution to solving the unlimited human problems, and the role of political economy in achieving success by social entrepreneurs. The methodology employed for the study involves a review of the findings of previous studies and an analysis of the opinions of the leading social entrepreneurs. The main finding of the study includes an educational program to clarify the duality of the understanding of social entrepreneurship, preparation, and implementation of robust business strategy along with identification of market relevance of innovation, innovative funding of start-up and scaling stage of entrepreneurship, perpetuity in innovation for sustainability, friendly public policy and public sector as a potential partner in achieving success of social entrepreneurship as the critical factors.

Suburban neighbourhoods as places for everyday cultural participation: the case of Jyväskylä in Finland

ABSTRACT The research on and policy related to cultural participation calls for more attention to how people include culture in their everyday lives and local surroundings. We analyse the everyday cultural experiences of people spending free time in suburbs in a Nordic context. We analyse the characteristics of our case suburban neighbourhoods as spatial contexts of cultural participation and reflect on the methodology for analysing everyday cultural participation in place. We show that (1) other meaningful activities at a certain location affect cultural participation, (2) cultural offerings outside the neighbourhood affect the motives for and patterns of cultural participation in and from the neighbourhood (3) other public policy sectors than the actual cultural sector influence the support of cultural participation in a certain location.

Blighted properties:

A blighted property is a property that has deteriorated, is vacant, has been abandoned, or has been foreclosed. This occurs when property depreciates over time due to neglect or damage. The study examines the factors contributing to vacancy and unutilised state-owned properties under the custodianship of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI). Most of the Department's properties are older than 100 years. Some of the vacant and underutilised properties are susceptible to theft, vandalism, vagrancy, and illegal occupation. Furthermore, maintenance on these properties has been lacking. The cost to the State of maintaining vacant buildings without any return on investment, continuous municipal payments, and security for safekeeping necessitates a discussion of strategies to address this problem. A self-administered questionnaire was administered to 105 DPWI employees responsible for managing vacant properties and ensuring their welfare. The relative importance of the contributing factors was quantified by the relative importance index method. According to the findings, external factors like poor public sector planning and policy are the most significant factors influencing vacancy in State-owned properties. In addition to that, there are challenges related to regulation, framework, and policy under the management of assets, as well as internal issues indicating weak procurement.

Population dynamics, environmental issues and public sector policies in South Asian economies: a panel co-integration analysis

Population dynamics, environmental issues and public sector policies in South Asian economies: a panel co-integration analysis

Population dynamics, environmental issues and public sector policies in South Asian economies: a panel co-integration analysis

Population dynamics, environmental issues and public sector policies in South Asian economies: a panel co-integration analysis

Public policy and internal security sector governance challenges: A situational study of some economic development indicators

Lately, public policy as a major political instrument has failed terribly in ensuring desirable internal security sector administration in Nigeria. This paper investigates the Nigerian public policy and internal security governance challenges using poverty, unemployment, gross domestic product (GDP), and foreign direct investment (FDI) as the baseline. The incident of poverty in Nigeria in 2020 reveals that the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria experience a severe rate of poverty, owing largely to an unprecedented rate of internal security problems (Olurounbi, 2021). The paper explores secondary research methods, secondary sources of data, and secondary data analysis (SDA) techniques. The paper reveals that Nigeria’s crucial economic metrics, such as poverty, unemployment, GDP, and FDI, have been significantly aggravated by the country’s poor internal security situation. As a result, residents are now experiencing significant economic hardship, negatively impacting Nigeria’s current internal security governance situation. The paper concludes that Nigeria’s internal security sector governance, particularly in the last ten years of democratic administration, has failed reasonably to meet Nigerians’ expectations. Following the findings, the paper advocates, among others, for a genuine electoral process capable of bringing in skilled people to public policy decision-making and program execution in Nigeria.

Design Thinking in Public Policy Design: A Typological Study

In recent years, design has emerged as a method for shaping public policies and services. This article employs a typological research approach to analyze the application of design thinking in the field of public policy. Its aim is to elucidate the developmental trajectory of design thinking, assist designers in gaining a better understanding of the unique context of public policy, and promote the further evolution of design thinking in the domain of public policy. Through literature analysis and comprehension, this article is built upon the foundation of public sector policy labs. It constructs an analytical framework based on two dimensions, institutional nature and participation stages, categorizing public sector innovation labs in the field of public policy into three types: exploratory labs, executive labs, and collaborative labs. It also summarizes the classification criteria and characteristics of each type of lab. Furthermore, the article explores the inherent logical relationships between different types of labs, offering a systematic and scientific analysis to facilitate the integration of design thinking into public policy.

Exploring Technology Acceptance in Management Accounting Tools’ Adoption in Public Sector Accounting: A Sustainability Perspective for Organizations

This quantitative research study delves into the adoption of management accounting tools (MATs) and their impact on organizational performance and sustainability within the provincial branches of the Supreme Audit Agency of the Republic of Indonesia (Badan Pemeriksa Keuangan Republik Indonesia/BPK-RI). A well-structured research design and data collection approach is employed, where surveys are administered to 435 senior auditors within BPK-RI provincial branches. A robust data analysis using structural equation modeling (SEM) through SmartPLS v4 software is conducted to assess the relationships between variables. This study provides compelling evidence that the perceived usefulness of MATs significantly impacts their adoption. This underscores the importance of how users perceive the utility of these tools. Furthermore, this research identifies that MATs’ adoption directly affects organizational performance and sustainability, highlighting the positive impact of these tools in the public sector. However, this research suggests that user perceptions of the ease of use of MATs do not significantly influence their adoption in the public sector accounting context. The study also reveals that MATs play a mediating role, facilitating the relationship between perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness and their subsequent impact on organizational performance and sustainability. These findings are valuable for public sector organizations, policy development, and future research initiatives, contributing to a better understanding of MATs’ adoption and its implications in the dynamic landscape of public sector accounting, especially in Indonesia.

Conceptualizing destination-community hospitality: an illustrated framework leveraging Persianate culture

PurposeBy adopting a cultural lens, this study aims to conceptualize destination-community hospitality to capture societal hospitality at the destination as an intangible asset. Destination-community hospitality comprises a set of attitudes and traits that are organically conveyed by community members and directly experienced by tourists. The paper contributes to efforts aimed at freeing hospitality from the confines of commercial lodging and food and beverage establishments.Design/methodology/approachThis study proposes an affection–attention–awareness (AAA) framework by drawing on the pertinent literature and leveraging the affective–behavioral–cognitive model of attitudinal change. It focuses on the effects of cognition in conceptualizing destination-community hospitality as the core of the framework. Methodologically, the framework is illustrated with qualitative data including observational fieldwork and interviews conducted in Iran.FindingsIllustration of the AAA framework in the context of Iran highlights how welcoming attitudes are leveraged at a destination as an ingrained community mindset even in the absence of formal initiatives or professional training. It underscores the hospitality advocacy role of local-community members irrespective of public-sector policy and capacity deficiencies.Practical implicationsDestinations that strive to attract tourists should tap into the significant wealth of intuitive hospitality within communities as an intangible resource. The ingenuity should be preserved to sustainably enhance the overall tourist experiences. The framework can serve as a guide to strategically facilitate destination-community hospitality.Originality/valueResearch on community-wide hospitality at destinations, as a major cultural asset in the context of strategic hospitality management, remains underdeveloped. With illustrative evidence, the findings elevate the critical role of community members as innate advocates of hospitality in developing destinations. The proposed framework of destination-community hospitality provides a new perspective and impetus for investigating hospitality beyond commercial domains.

Investigating the Role Transformational Leadership, Innovative Work Behavior, and Team Member Exchange on Public Service Organization Performance

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the effect of transformational leadership on performance in public service organizations, analyze the relationship between innovative work behavior and performance and analyze the exchange of team members on performance in public service organizations. Theoretical framework: The foundation for building a theoretical framework is Leader-member exchange is a specific approach that is used to develop leadership relationships between the leaders of an organization and its members with various kinds of actions that organizational leaders can take based on their exchanges and interactions such as providing high dedication and education to members with the aim of establishing relationships. public sector policy innovation emphasizes organizational capacity to create conceptual ideas and implement them in a policy action or simply public sector innovation involves the creation, development and application of practical ideas to achieve benefits to the public. Transformational Public Sector Leadership is a leadership model that has advantages in restoring, maintaining and building public trust in the government. So that transformational leadership is more suitable for public sector leadership models Methods: This research method is a quantitative survey, research data obtained by distributing questionnaires online to 765 employees of public service organizations. Data analysis used a structural equation model (SEM) with SmartPLS 3.0 software. The stages of data analysis are validity, reliability and significance tests. The sampling technique used is non-probability sampling. The questionnaire used in this study uses a Google form which will be distributed to respondents. This questionnaire measurement method uses a Likert scale of 5, namely Strongly Disagree (STS), (2) Disagree Answers (TS), (3) Neutral Answers (N), (4) Agree Answers (S), Strongly Agree (SS) The independent variables used in this study are as follows: transformational leadership, innovative work behavior, exchange of team members. The dependent variable used in this research is performance. Results and conclusions: The results of this study are that transformational leadership has a positive and significant effect on performance, innovative work behavior has a significant positive effect on performance, exchange of team members has a positive and significant effect on the performance of public service organizations. Finding implication: The results of this study have theoretical implications, namely strengthening the theory that transformational leadership, innovative work behavior, and team member exchange have a positive and significant contribution to public service organization performance. The practical implication of this research is to improve performance, the management of public service organizations encourages transformational leadership, innovative work behavior, and team member exchange. Uniqueness/value: The novelty of this research is the relationship model of transformational leadership, innovative work behavior, and team member exchange on public service organization performance which has never been analyzed by previous studies.

Impact of out-of-pocket medical expenditure after major illness in the family on food consumption of a household

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to see the impact of increased out-of-pocket expenditure oh health care exerting budget pressure on households, which leads to change in dietary consumption.Design/methodology/approachIt was a hospital-based cross-sectional study comprising 414 patients with a chronic or major illness attending a large tertiary care public hospital at Delhi, India. Each patient represented a household with total number of family members of 2,550 in the study. Questionnaire was used to gather data on factors responsible for changes in consumption of 12 major food items.FindingsModerate decrease in food consumption of a household after major illness is associated with: rural residence (p < 0.001), decrease in savings (p < 0.001), more number of household items sold (p < 0.001), education of the children affected (p < 0.001), upper socio-economic status (SES) (p < 0.001) and children started working after illness in family (p = 0.043). In addition to decrease in food items, there was also deterioration in quality of food preparation. More than 80% of the families did not change the intake of cereals (rice and wheat), pulses and sugar. Food items that were decreased by most families were fruits, followed by milk and its products, vegetables, meat and egg, oils and ghee.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is a subset of other two studies previously published. The authors had not been able to cover this aspect fully in those two studies but understood the importance of impact of expenditure on illness on food consumption. The authors studied change in food consumption pattern (not amount) in subjects after illness. The impact of weather changes in food consumption on the impacted nutritional status of family has not been studied. The authors only collected cross-sectional, observational data and recall bias cannot be completely ruled out and corrected. With such data, only associations could be concluded, not causality. The illness condition of a household was measured by presence of chronic disease and inpatient treatment. Such measures did not take into account the types of illness and number of episodes. Data of this study cannot capture whether food intake of family prior to illness was sufficient/in excess/deficient. The Kuppuswamy scale, mostly used in urban and peri-urban settings, was also used for rural subjects in the study, which might have resulted in impaired capture of rural SES. The authors did not assess whether families were allocated food grains by schemes like public distribution system, which might have resulted in biased decrease in food consumption. Questionnaire used was not validated.Practical implicationsThis study demonstrates the various factors that act as barriers to proper food consumption, including non-financial factors. The policy of user fee in government is hitting poorer section, and equity and access to health are compromised. Health expenditure should be increased by public sector policies to implement uniform healthcare. There is need for more studies to identify measures that could be put in place when designing policies and interventions for the uniform distribution of benefits.Social implicationsThe policy of user fee in government is hitting poorer section, and equity and access to health are compromised. Health expenditure should be increased by public-sector policies to implement uniform healthcare.Originality/valueMajor or chronic illness affects money acquisition and priorities of expenditure, resulting in deterioration in quality of food consumption and by a household.

Unveiling management trends in the public sector: A literature review and research agenda

Abstract Scholars and practitioners have, for many decades, sought to address management issues related to public sector policies. This study examines the academic research on this sector focused on these topics by conducting an automated computer analysis of 17,928 documents indexed in Scopus and published between 1950 and 2021. Six clusters were identified within this literature: economic growth during crises, reforms for the future, human relations, successful practices, partnerships and public banking services. This study thus systematises the lessons learned over the past decades, thereby contributing to governments’ ability to design public policies to meet future challenges and providing tools for dealing with the current coronavirus disease-19 pandemic.

Corruption and political interventions in public health authorities–Hellenic Republic Region of Attica: Conceptual analysis study

The national public health services and the organizations carried out over the practice of policy interventions and changes in the functioning of government, public policy, and public health sector administration. This conceptual study analyses the public health services and anti-corruption management organizations have direct links with political intervention. They have a negative impact on society and partially effective responses, also in times of pandemic, with affected epidemiological factors in the protection of public health. Leadership in the services plays a key role in ensuring smooth functioning and transparency, and the influence on them of the government and administrative machinery in Greece by the government.&lt;br /&gt; A phenomenon and practice, where the laws are completely renewed every time the government changes with the introduction of a specific policy. It is necessary that the structure and functioning of the state, public officials, and personnel be outlined in the context of the implementation of minimizing corruption. The primary purpose for integrity, a particular problem with the appointments of supervisors in these departments by direct assignment to the posts of directors, without considering the relevant legislation and without merit-based procedures and review by the special service councils that appoint directors based on criteria and legislation governing the evaluation of employees. Digital health services and e-government is also determining factor with a positive impact, universally, also and in times of pandemics will give benefits in relation to the anti-corruption actions. In this study give necessary methodology, systematic literature reviews and principles to anti-corruption.

The strategic development plan of the national anti-doping agency in the context of current challenges

Optimizing the structure of the National Anti-Doping Agency in the government that would allow the development and implementation of well-thought-out public policies in all related sectors of the Conventions is important for the balanced development of the country in the field of integrity in sports. It is worth noting that optimizing the structure of the National Anti-Doping Agency is a necessity of public administration reform, and is accompanied by important elements of good governance, strengthening the capacities of the services to prevent and combat doping, intelligence and research, and the de facto accountability of employees of the public institution. Therefore, in order to ensure an efficient, democratic, transparent and responsible realization of the national anti-doping program and of the public policies and objectives drawn up by the National Anti-Doping Agency, as well as, by virtue of the cited normative acts, it is necessary to carry out the strategic planning process and the drawing directions of action.

Comparing Formal Public Sector Policy Staff: Organizing Principles, Composition, and Distribution in Anglophone Countries

This exploratory article examines the contemporary state of formal government policy staff in Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand, contributing to the ongoing research seeking to understand the policy capacity of governments. It analyzes the size, composition, and distribution of the countries’ formal policy staff across government units. Comparative analysis reveals significant differences in the basic organizing approaches used to categorize policy staff as well as important differences in their numbers, composition, and distribution across government units. While uneven distributions characterize all four cases, there is significant variance in where staff work, their seniority, and functional classifications as “analysts” or “managers”. The analysis provides fresh insights into the nature and availability of policy analytical capacity within these governments. It also underscores major gaps in how governments collect and make available basic data on their policy staff, which raises questions about their ability to effectively manage and deploy those staff.

Advocating the Policy of Cultural Heritage

The necessity to establish a culture of public policy at all levels of state organization in Bosnia and Herzegovina stems from the dissatisfactory position of culture in society, as well as its marginalization. This paper focuses on the creation of a cultural heritage policy. Cultural heritage policy was chosen due to the importance of cultural heritage for Bosnia and Herzegovina and its population but also because of a non-existent solution for the prevention of its decay, devastation, and looting. Cultural heritage policy may be defined as a systemic and planned attitude of the state and its authorities towards the sector of cultural heritage. There is a need to create a cultural heritage policy, as a public sector policy arises in a moment of increased interest among international and national organizations of culture for studying the phenomenon of heritage. The importance of heritage is further increased due to its connections with the economy and tourism. The paper emphasizes that the creation of cultural heritage policy is conditioned by the existence of state/parastate authorities for the sector, by passing the regulations to arrange the sector of cultural heritage, by determining the model for financing the sector, and by adopting strategic documents determining the guidelines for the development of the sector.

Public Policy Issues in the Context of Public Sector Reforms: A Qualitative Storytelling of a Former Government Department in the Asia-Pacific Region

Predominantly public policy is a set of guidelines initiated by the government of a country to work in favour of mass people or the public. We showcase and represent public policy materials against the backdrop of being involved in the process of accountability, transparency, and efficient and effective administration and program delivery. In addition, the selected government department used private-sector management control technologies to deal with the public-sector reform initiatives. These elements are considered part of the modern approach to public administration also. The study may be useful to policymakers formulating new public sector policies. Moreover, the findings reported in this study would be useful to public sector managers in their daily decision-making process.

Data justice for youth in and leaving care: mapping the child welfare data landscape in Ontario

ABSTRACT The digitization of social services provides the public sector with new tools to monitor and meet managerial and legislative objectives. But these practices re-shape service provision and the experiences of those receiving social welfare interventions. This article reports on results from phase one of an institutional ethnography of public sector policy, knowledge, and technology. We begin by describing our iterative mapping methodology. We then share preliminary results of our efforts to investigate the socio-technical processes that shape people’s experiences on the frontlines of child welfare agencies in Ontario Canada –those who are the targets and recipients of these services and those involved in service delivery and governance. Results include a map of child welfare data holdings, as well as a synthesis of key informants’ concerns about how and whether the provincial child welfare information management and policy landscape enables their legislative duty to promote the best interest, protection, and wellbeing of youth. Results suggest data holdings are compromised by methodological and infrastructural issues that undermine the utility of the Child Protection Information Network for clinical practice as well as for monitoring systemic trends.