Public-private Governance Research Articles

Leveraging genomes to support conservation and bioeconomy policies in a megadiverse country.

The biodiversity crisis is a global phenomenon, and measures to monitor, stop, and revert the impacts on species' extinction risk are urgently needed. Megadiverse countries, especially in the Global South, are responsible for managing and protecting Earth's biodiversity. Various initiatives have started to sequence reference-level genomes or perform large-scale species detection and monitoring through environmental DNA. Here, we outline the Genomics of the Brazilian Biodiversity (GBB) consortium that is contributing to public policies on the conservation and management of Brazilian species. We describe our unique public-private governance and lessons in setting up a genomic consortium in a megadiverse country of continental scale. We explore the challenges while sharing knowledge for similar initiatives in the Global South. Ultimately, we aim to encourage Brazilian institutions and other megadiverse countries to invest and participate in large-scale genomic initiatives, demonstrating their commitment to preserving and monitoring their exceptional natural heritage while contributing to global biodiversity conservation.

문재인 정부의 반부패·청렴정책 이행평가에 관한 연구

The purpose of this study is to identify the tasks that need to be implemented to advance a clean society by deriving the achievements and limitations of the anti-corruption and integrity policies through the evaluation of policy implementation centered on anti-corruption and integrity-related matters among the Moon Jae-in government's presidential election promises. The policy evaluation targets are 44 anti-corruption and integrity-related tasks (26 eliminating deep-rooted evils, 7 reforming power institutions, 3 reforming political and electoral systems, and 8 economic democratization) among the 19th presidential election pledges of the Democratic Party of Korea. Whether the presidential election promises are linked to actual national policy tasks was examined through matching with the Moon Jae-in government's five-year plan for national affairs. In addition, the verification of the fulfillment of the pledge was made using the information system of the National Assembly, the data of the National Legal Information Center of the Ministry of Legislation, and the press releases and media materials of the relevant ministries. As a result of the analysis, it was found that about 7 out of 10 presidential election pledges related to anti-corruption and integrity were reflected in national tasks, and about 5 to 6 were actually implemented. By field, “pledges related to the eradication of deep-rooted evils and economic democratization” were largely reflected in national affairs tasks and many tasks were implemented, but “pledges related to political election reform and reform of power institutions” were evaluated as relatively less so. The main achievements of the Moon Jae-in administration’s anti-corruption and integrity policy are “establishment of a system of checks and control over institutions of power,” “attempts to restore public-private governance,” “wide-of-government measures that break away from partition administration,” and “Improvement of integrity in the public service community.” Major limitations include “over-immersion in reducing the power of the prosecution, including the complete deprivation of the prosecution’s right to investigate, resulting in a backlog of priorities for other anti-corruption and integrity reform tasks,” “problems with the political independence of power institutions such as the prosecution and the Board of Audit and Inspection,” “failure to reorganize independent anti-corruption organizations,”“non-compliance with the principle of zero tolerance for corruption,” “insufficient personnel control system for social leaders,” “failure to strengthen management of public interest corporations,” “insufficient legal and institutional infrastructure to ensure sustainability of public-private governance,” and “practice of enacting allopathic legislation according to specific issues with large social impact.” In particular, given that the issues presented as limitations are immediate tasks that must be resolved in order for our society to move towards a society of integrity, either the conservative or progressive governments should focus more on the relevant issues and exercise their policy capabilities.

Mapping two centuries of forest governance in Nordic countries: An open access database

Forest ecosystems play a crucial role in the production and protection of economic, social, and environmental values. To understand current challenges and trajectories shaping future strategies within the Nordic forest sector, it is important to map and trace past and present policy and governance developments. The core contribution of this short communication is to present an open-access database that compiles key forest-related public national policies, legislative documents, and private governance initiatives in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway from the 19th century to the present day. To showcase the potential use of the database, we conducted a comparative appraisal of forest governance trends across Nordic countries, outlining differences and shared characteristics. We identify a shift from a highly regulated and rationalized forest management regime in the 19th and early 20th centuries towards more flexible forms of contemporary governance. This transformation comes with the growing importance of sectorial freedom with responsibility principles, but also increasing calls for forest multifunctionality. Demands for recreation, climate change mitigation, and biodiversity conservation have intensified pressures on forest owners to provide public goods. However, the production and processing of marketable forest resources remains important to meet circular bioeconomy strategy goals. We conclude by briefly discussing the implications for strategic multifunctional use and polycentric governance of forests.

To what extent are Dutch citizens' interests and rights protected by ethical guidelines for smart cities?

Over the past two decades, the notion of smart cities has become increasingly popular to solve the complex problems that cities are facing. To deal with the ethical implications of smart cities, the Netherlands face a proliferation of ethical guidelines, principles, and manifests. However: To what extent are Dutch citizens' interests protected by ethical guidelines? This study answers that question using a critical discourse analysis. This exploratory analysis uncovers unnoticed themes in the ethical discourse on smart cities and offers recommendations to strengthen the protection of citizens. Together, the ethical guidelines that are selected represent at least five major cities in the Netherlands. This study finds that the ethical guidelines support the Smart City discourse in which: data is seen as a promise for the future, citizens' interests are not central and public-private governance is pre-supposed in the digital public space. Indeed, the ethical guidelines overlook how Big Data analytics transforms ways of governing, which is described as ‘algorithmic governmentality’. Therefore, if guidelines want to commit to the protection of citizens' interests, this study encourages them to review their guidelines in a Big Data context. However, as ultimately only laws and regulations can ensure the protection of citizens' interests and rights, future research is encouraged to look into the restructuring of the legal system.

Country-Specific Participation Patterns in Transnational Governance Initiatives on Sustainability: Preliminary Insights and Research Agenda.

Transnational public-private governance initiatives (TGIs) have become key elements in global governance, especially in the governance of sustainability. Pertinent research has concentrated on why TGIs have emerged as well as on their impacts on political outcomes and questions related to their legitimacy. This instructive literature has predominantly focused on TGIs as entities in their own right. This explorative study contributes to the literature by advocating a complementary analytical perspective that pays attention to domestic-level patterns of participation in TGIs and national factors that determine which types of organizations (public, business, or civil society) participate in TGIs. It is shown for six Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru) that there exists cross-country variation in the composition patterns in 29 TGIs on sustainability, suggesting that national conditions matter for how organizations participate in them. By improving the knowledge of the national conditions, a more complete analysis of participation and the effectiveness of TGIs can be provided in global sustainability governance. In this spirit, in a last step,an agenda is developed for guiding future research on this topic.

Do state-subsidized contractual arrangements improve farmers’ income? Empirical evidence from Algeria

ABSTRACT To modernize agricultural value chains, some governments subsidize contract prices paid to farmers by private firms to encourage them to adopt contract farming. The impact of price-subsidized contracts on farmers’ incomes has not yet been evaluated. To help fill this gap, we evaluated the impact of a contractual arrangement with a subsidized sales price implemented by a tomato cannery in Algeria. Our results showed that the arrangement increased profits by securing outlets and sales prices. The success of the Algerian intervention lies in generating a price premium and in combining public financial capacity and private governance of the contractual scheme.

Governance and Power Across Intersecting Value Chains: The Case of South African Apples

A prevailing focus of global value chain (GVC) analysis has been on the dominance of highly consolidated Northern retailers over suppliers in the global South. The rise of regional and domestic value chains (RVCs/DVCs) within the Global South which intersect with GVCs, has been found to involve private governance by Southern lead firms. However, we have limited insight into the implications of this changing value chain context for the role of public governance, or different groups of workers. South African fruit provides a rich example of rapid shifts in RVCs/DVCs governed by different private and public actors. The following two questions are addressed: How is the public–private governance of labour standards evolving in the context of RVCs and DVCs that intersect with GVCs? What are the implications for workers operating across different value chains? Conceptually, the paper draws on GVC analysis of governance and power, to examine the governance of labour standards across intersecting value chains. Our analysis highlights the intentional and unintentional mechanisms through which power and standard-setting are diffused away from Northern lead firms to a wider array of public and private actors operating across RVCs/DVCs. While existing analysis of governance and power focuses on singular GVCs, our study highlights diffusion of power across intersecting value chains, with significant and uneven implications for the public–private governance of labour standards. Our findings carry significant ethical implications for the governance of labour standards, as end-markets continue to shift South.

Understanding the bioeconomy through its instruments: standardizing sustainability, neoliberalizing bioeconomies?

Sustainability standards have been one of the hopefuls for decades when it comes to ensuring the sustainability of biomass for the bioeconomy, especially in the wake of their evolvement from voluntary, non-governmental to hybrid, public–private governance instruments in recent years. In addition to doubts regarding their legitimacy and effectiveness, however, they have also been associated with a neoliberalization of nature that integrates natural resources into a free market logic. Drawing on a conceptual framework that builds on political ecology and the political sociology of policy instruments, this paper challenges this notion. To this end, it examines sustainability standards in three countries/regions particularly prominent for the bioeconomy—the EU, Brazil, and Indonesia—to illustrate how these can be differentiated in terms of their neoliberal orientation, and what can be inferred from this for the orientation and state of the respective bioeconomies. The results show that the introduction of sustainability standards is not necessarily accompanied by a neoliberalization of nature. Rather, it is shown that the standards and their specific designs—and thus also their intrinsic understanding of sustainability as integration—are primarily intended to serve the material interests of the state and the respective industrial factions, for which neoliberal configurations are sometimes seen as rather obstructive, sometimes as rather useful. The sustainability standards, and thus the bioeconomies for which they stand, therefore, rather serve as instruments to stay on the path of modernization and industrial development already taken or envisaged, or, put differently, as strategies to avoid social–ecological transformation.

Food Safety Governance in the Age of COVID-19: How Does Employees' Attitude on Public-Private Governance System Affect Their Willingness to Blow the Whistle on Food Violations?

Online food delivery increases dramatically during the COVID-19 era and has grown into a global marketplace worth more than $150 billion dollars, necessitating a more effective and responsive governance system. Public-private governance systems with whistleblowing to the public are seen as an effective tool for addressing the formidable challenges of food security in modern society. Accordingly, this study aims to explore the determinants of whistleblowing intentions and to propose policy policies for the whistleblowing system to fully utilize the advantages of public-private governance systems. Through empirical research, this paper finds that employees' perceived effectiveness of government authorities, as well as their familiarity with whistleblowing systems, positively affect their intentions to blow the whistle. However, the whistleblowing intent of restaurant employees is adversely affected by the online platform's focus. The root cause lies in the employee's trust in both the government sector and corporate sector. This study thus argues that a suite of measures to promote individual trust in public-private governance systems is desired and that this is an effective means of better mitigating food safety governance challenges in terms of capacity and resources.

A monitoring, reporting and verification system for low carbon agriculture: A case study from Brazil

Low carbon agricultural techniques, which aim to reduce agricultural emissions without compromising productivity, are being widely adopted as one strategy to promote more sustainable food systems. Evaluating the impact of such practices requires an effective monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system. To our knowledge, no MRV system has been designed or implemented for monitoring and measuring the impacts of the adoption of low carbon agricultural practices. The goal of this paper is to explore the opportunities and challenges of developing a large scale MRV system for low carbon agriculture in Brazil - a major global food producer. The analysis presented in this paper is based on primary data, collected through interviews and conversations with experts, and secondary data from a literature review as well as from public and private databases. Hence, we discuss the three phases of monitoring, reporting and verification. In each case, we analyze the informational needs of an MRV system, evaluate the strengths and limitations of available tools to collect and process these data, and present a vision of how these constituent parts could form a comprehensive MRV system for Brazil. Our analysis reveals technical and governance challenges. On the technical side, challenges include the need to develop emissions factors to calculate mitigation across a range of biomes and low carbon agricultural techniques, and the high costs of gathering and verifying information on farm level. On the governance side, there is a need to generate economic incentives for farmers to share private, farm-level data with a public MRV system. The MRV system could help producers to demonstrate adoption and mitigation, giving them improved access to low-interest credit or certification programs. We conclude that the implementation of a large scale MRV system for low carbon agriculture demands an integrative approach based on a hybrid public-private governance system that prioritizes cost-effectiveness and facilitates smooth information transfer.

Edição especial: provisão de infraestrutura e gerenciamento de projetos em economias de baixa e média renda

Abstract This presentation introduces the special issue of Cadernos EBAPE.BR, focusing on the theme of infrastructure delivery and project management in low-and-middle income economies. This work highlights the rationale for the special issue and summarizes the articles published. Infrastructure projects operate in a complex environment and must handle multi-level management governance. These challenges are even more pronounced in low-and-middle income economies. Therefore, an infrastructure project management system must not only consider its internal structure but also the changes and impacts the project has on both internal and external environments. The thematic section of this special issue features four articles. The first article, presented by Carneiro (2023), takes a critical perspective on project studies with a focus on the World Bank’s role and influence. The World Bank is one of the primary funding sources for infrastructure projects and has committed to increasing investments in infrastructure from billions to trillions of US dollars. Pereira, Gomide, Machado, and Ibiapino (2023) as well as Pinto and Teixeira (2023) concentrate on Brazilian Amazon infrastructure megaprojects. Finally, Barros, Carvalho, and Brasil (2023) discuss inland waterway transportation in Brazil. This special issue aims to delve into project management studies related to the delivery of large-scale infrastructure projects, encompassing public-private governance issues, project execution, and stakeholder engagement. The four articles provide a comprehensive overview of the challenges Brazil faces in executing such projects. They all address the often-high socio-political complexity that characterizes the context surrounding infrastructure projects in low-and middle-income countries, whose ultimate objective is to create and distribute value to their citizens.

제주지역 청년세대 통일교육의 방향성과 개선방안에 대한 고찰

The purpose of this study is to examine the current status of unification education for the young generation in Jeju and to consider improvement measures according to the direction of unification education desired by future generations in Jeju. To this end, this thesis summarizes and reflects the achievements of local governments and private organizations in Jeju, which have played a leading role for peace in Northeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula, and the unification of South and North Korea, and the proposals for unification education of the youth in Jeju. Draw the direction of unification education. Based on this, after evaluating the current state of unification education for the youth generation in Jeju-do and public-private governance, vitalization of university unification education and sustainable unification of Jeju region as a new unification education improvement plan for the youth generation in Jeju region. It will propose the development of related youth leaders training programs and the development of tourism brands related to unification and peace in Jeju using OTT platform, SNS, and metaverse. In conclusion, it is argued that the related ordinances of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province need to be urgently revised to promote unification education.

Transnational Private Environmental Rule Makers as Interest Organizations: Evidence from the European Union

AbstractWhile anecdotal evidence suggests that transnational private rule-making organizations (TPROs)—such as eco-certification organizations—lobby public policy makers, we know little about the extent of this phenomenon or the characteristics of TPROs that lobby. TPRO lobbying is relevant given that their rule-making activities directly intersect with public policy. We use the interest group and private governance literatures to examine TPRO features that distinguish TPROs that lobby from those that do not. We developed an original data set of 147 environmental TPROs and assessed TPRO lobbying by their registration in the European Union’s Transparency Register (TR). We find that a quarter of the TPROs in our data set are registered in the TR, and that capacity and expertise matter. Contrary to expectations, however, we do not find that certain key features of TPROs—such as business origins or credibility—are correlated with being registered, which implies that these features do not create inequalities in the TPRO population in terms of lobbying likelihood. By assessing environmental TPROs as interest organizations that engage in lobbying, we contribute to research on public–private governance interactions and identify TPROs as an interest group population in its own right.

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

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

Transnational governance as strategy? Mapping and explaining the European Union’s participation in transnational public-private governance initiatives

ABSTRACT The European Union (EU) is involved in a range of global governance institutions. Its participation in transnational public-private governance initiatives (TGIs) is particularly pronounced. What explains the EU’s involvement in TGIs? Why does the EU participate in some initiatives but not others? I draw on theories of orchestration, access of transnational actors to intergovernmental organizations, and legitimacy of global governance institutions to identify factors that shape EU involvement in TGIs. Using new data on EU participation in 636 TGIs, I provide the first systematic mapping of the Union’s involvement in transnational governance initiatives and test my hypotheses using statistical analysis. My results suggests that the EU is more likely to become involved in TGIs with many participants and an institutional design that provides the initiative with organizational structure and operational capacity. My findings are relevant for research on transnational governance, inter-organizational interactions in global governance, and EU foreign policy.

Managing food waste in the United States: a proposed public-private governance and sustainability model

PurposeUsing the policy recommendations identified in the study as an analytical departure point, the study proposes a “public-private governance and sustainability model” that builds upon the policy options and develops implementation strategies for the key stakeholder institutions implementing the proposed solutions in the US food waste management ecosystem.Design/methodology/approachWithin an exploratory research perspective, an affinity diagram is employed to help identify important policy recommendations identified with key policy reports. Moreover, the study employs a “meta regulation” approach that employs four essential characteristics of any regulatory instrument or approach: target, regulator, command and consequences.FindingsThe study has identified the recommended solutions identified as most effective, and developed recommended implementation strategies that could accomplish the goal of potentially reducing food waste in the US at the consumer level. The study recommends passage of federal legislation that specifies what form of administrative rule-making and enforcement process should be instituted, as well as who are the important stakeholders to be considered and authority provided in this rule-making and enforcement process.Originality/valueThis study offers a comprehensive “proposed public-private governance and sustainability model” addressing food waste management safety and quality date labeling implementation challenges by the enforcing federal, state and local governments, as well as collaborating with industry associations and consumer interest groups.

The public–private governance regime on sustainable ship recycling: An in‐depth analysis

AbstractTo address global sustainability issues, legal frameworks increasingly build upon private governance contributions such as private standardization and/or private certification. This is particularly true for ship recycling under the Hong Kong Convention and its European implementation, the Ship Recycling Regulation. After a brief introduction into the old public law approach as compared with the new public–private governance structure, the article offers a critical in‐depth analysis of the effectiveness of the new governance structure based upon private certification. It thereby draws from research in, and experience with, traditional ship classification as well as other certification systems in European Union law. The article concludes that, despite laudable elements, the governance structure of the Ship Recycling Regulation has some important gaps and does not remedy the classical conflicts of interest of certification organizations. Among others, it should be complemented with a liability regime.

Investing in the single market? Core-periphery dynamics and the hybrid governance of supranational investment policies

ABSTRACT This article examines the impact of supranational investment policies on the resilience of the common market project and its impact on core-periphery dynamics. Reconstructing the hybrid governance processes around the Investment Plan for Europe (2015–2020) and its geographical distribution, it finds that these policies were effective in channelling funds to the Southern periphery after the Eurozone crisis, but aggravated the core-periphery dynamic for Eastern Europe. This fact stems from the differential presence of national public financing institutions as well as unevenly developed capital markets, two factors that are linked to the multi-level and public-private governance mix in the EU’s investment policies. These results hold implications for how to assess follow-up programs such as InvestEU and the Sustainable Investment Plan in the European Green Deal.

Hybrid governance and extraterritoriality: Understanding Singapore's state capitalism in the context of oil global production networks

This paper explores the intersections and overlaps between state capitalism and global production networks. A key feature of the so-called new state capitalism is the combination of state ownership and corporatisation, which creates a system that can be characterised as a hybrid of public–private governance in both corporate and network terms. Moreover, the internationalisation of state hybrids adds an extraterritorial dimension to the state, which can influence the configuration and governance of global production networks. This paper develops a conceptual framework (H–E–N) that foregrounds the relationships between hybrid governance (H), extraterritoriality (E) and global production network configurations (N), thereby promoting an integrated analysis of the implications of the new state capitalism for global production networks. This framework is mobilised to explain how state capitalism in Singapore has influenced the development of the city-state's position in upstream, midstream and downstream oil global production networks over the 1959–2019 period. The study demonstrates that hybrid governance, as part of a wider strategy of state capitalism, has been critical in the development of Singapore's position in oil global production networks. The hybrid nature of the institutional forms associated with state ownership – for instance state-owned enterprises and sovereign wealth funds – goes beyond market facilitation to encompass active state participation in markets. Hybrid governance not only allows the state to influence domestic outcomes but – through the extraterritorial strategies of hybrid entities – can also influence global production network configurations beyond its borders.

The Italian Insolvency Law Reform

The Italian insolvency and pre-insolvency frameworks have been reformed recently (2019, due to enter into force in September 2021 but now probably in 2022). This article recalls the intense period of reforms in Italian insolvency law, started in 2005 and culminated with the new ‘Code of enterprise crisis and of insolvency’. The Code introduces new rules for court-confirmed debt restructuring agreements (similar to schemes of arrangement) and judicial composition with creditors, as well as with regard to new rules for insolvency of groups, international jurisdiction and directors’ liability. The article addresses these novelties pointing out some unresolved issues. Finally, the article touches upon the compatibility of the new law with the Directive on restructuring and insolvency (Directive 2019/1023). Autonomy of sport, Private International Law, Public-private Governance, Corruption, Transnational Legal Order, Sports Economy, Legal Status of Sporting Organisations, Audit, Managerial Transparency, Economic Monitoring, International Sporting Convention