Public Sector Participation Research Articles

The Process, Ground Work and Expected Investment on the Necessary Infrastructures and Places for Rural Tourism Development by Involved Groups in Tehran Province

The Process, Ground Work and Expected Investment on the Necessary Infrastructures and Places for Rural Tourism Development by Involved Groups in Tehran Province

Indústria e universidade: a cooperação internacional e institucional e o protagonismo da mobilidade estudantil nos sistemas de inovação da Alemanha

Resumo O presente trabalho visa apresentar um quadro sobre as políticas empreendidas pela República Federal da Alemanha no sentido de captar as potencialidades técnico-científicas ao redor do mundo, por meio da atração de estudantes e pesquisadores para as universidades do país, levando em consideração as motivações que originaram tal necessidade para a manutenção de sua competitividade industrial, trespassando percalços e desafios econômicos e sociais percebidos e inserindo tal processo no campo da cooperação internacional. Para tanto, o artigo procurará promover a discussão sobre o papel da universidade no processo de produção de conhecimento e, em seguida, ressaltando a cooperação internacional e interinstitucional como elemento fundamental para a mobilidade estudantil e a produção e troca de conhecimento, buscará situar o processo de migração na Alemanha. A partir disso, estabelecendo relações entre produção de conhecimento e geração de inovação, procurará avaliar como essa realidade se manifesta na competitividade industrial alemã. Assim, além de pesquisa bibliográfica sobre o tema, o artigo estará amparado pelo levantamento dos dados disponíveis que demonstram não só a necessidade da iniciativa, mas como ela vem alterando a disposição e a articulação entre os setores com tal finalidade, buscando avaliar os resultados até então observados. Nesse sentido, serão analisados: a circulação de estudantes do mundo em relação à Alemanha; a participação das áreas privadas, estatais e universitárias em pesquisa e inovação; e os resultados apresentados. O período de 2000 a 2012 foi dividido para que se possa delinear a realidade enfrentada pelo país, resultando na implementação do programa. Ainda com base nas informações disponíveis, o artigo procurará delimitar o programa de inovação alemão de maneira a concluir com a indicação de um eventual modelo de geração de inovação passível de reprodução por países em desvantagem em termos de desenvolvimento frente à Alemanha.

Scope and Status of Vegetable Seed Production in Ethiopia

This paper reviewed the scope and status of vegetable seed production in order to assess the current vegetable seed supply, production, distribution scenario and production potential. Adaptation and demonstration of improved vegetable technologies have shown the potential of producing different types of vegetable in different agro climatic regions in the country. It is important to identify suitable production belts and establish model seed multiplication scheme with strong collaboration of research, farmers/growers, seed distributors, vegetable producers and the extension sector. It is important to encourage private sectors that are interested in the horticulture seed industry. In many Asian countries the seed are commercially handled in which the market share of the private sector is more than 80%. It is important that variety development program be linked with the seed system. In additions, the economics of seed production be considered to assist farmers for decision. For efficient, economic and sustainable seed supply, seed production should be decentralized into major crop production zones with active participation of both public and private sectors. At the same time, the local seed supply should be organized using both local and improved varieties through secondary seed multiplication scheme. Improved seed production and distribution are predominantly carried out in the public sector; the scope of the formal seed supply systems is limited in developing countries like Ethiopia. Though there is huge potential; horticultural crop production and multiplication of improved variety of the seed is a great bottle neck problem. Lack of varieties and inadequate breeder and basic seed supply for effective seed production, limited technical and managerial experience and material resource absence of specialized seed farms in adequate coverage of economically important crops and lack of independent quality seed control system specially the foreign seed should be addressed by the responsible seed center.

Public Sector Participation and Compliance across National and Global Transparency Regimes

ABSTRACTTransparency has recently become a widely supported norm of information regulation within and among states. Transparency may be a widely accepted element of good governance, but it has a number of dimensions and manifestations. This article is among the first to examine the relationship between public sector transparency at the domestic and global levels. While the extant literature suggests that we should expect a strong relationship between the degree of a jurisdiction’s domestic and global commitments to public sector transparency, our sample of the 33 jurisdictions for which data are available finds no such correlation. The article develops an explanation of this unexpected finding, which highlights the varied incentives to implement transparency-promoting reforms that different jurisdictions experience. This analysis suggests that many developing countries engage in marginal participation across regimes. More concerning are possible cases of mock compliance where states participate in transparency regimes without the intention of fully implementing their commitments. Mock compliance is of particular concern in the sphere of global governance in which sovereignty is contested and compliance mechanisms face unique challenges.

Survival and Dysfunctions of Bureaucracy: A Critical Analysis of Public Bureaucracy in Sri Lanka

This study examines the survival and dysfunctions of public bureaucracy in Sri Lanka. Major objective of this study is to analysis functions and practical challenges of public bureaucracy in Sri Lanka. As well as it tries to find out the solutions which can be used to improve the effectiveness service of bureaucracy in Sri Lanka. Bureaucracy is most important role in the world: implementation and formulation of policy, delegated legislation, administrative adjudication, importance to government and governing process, service to the people, etc. In contrast, it has earned a nick name for red tapism, nepotism, and corruption. This study is a qualitative research and data were collected mainly from secondary sources such as books, journals, newspapers, internet articles and relevant research articles. In Sri Lanka, public bureaucracy has earned bad name and ill will of the people, due to challenges of Public Administration Reforms (PAR), inefficiency and ineffectiveness public service delivery, dysfunction of constitutional arrangements, ineffectiveness of Public Service Commission (PSC) and ombudsman, failure and changing the public policies, politicization and family rule of administration, ethnic, regional vise bureaucracy, insufficient resources and capacity, lack of citizen participation and lack of awareness of the citizens, corruption etc. Ensuring provincial autonomy decentralization, ensuring greater communication and accountability between policymakers, citizens, bureaucrats and politicians, ensuring higher salary scale/higher salaries in public sector, strengthening stakeholders and citizen participation, strengthening the Public Private Partnership (PPP), introducing e-government techniques and New Public Management (NPM) reform in governance process, administrators should learn and get the training in other languages (Tamil and Sinhala), strengthening the ombudsman and public service commission and ensuring better financial management and accountability are can be improving public bureaucracy in Sri Lanka.

La armonización territorial: su incorporación en la planificación y gestión administrativa mediante la gestión del riesgo

A lo largo del artículo emergen varios elementos con los cuales se puede establecer la incidencia de las políticas públicas en las tomas de decisión en el territorio, sobre todo en la utilización de tres instrumentos de planificación y de gestión territorial como el Plan de Desarrollo (PD), el Plan de Ordenamiento Territorial (POT) y los Planes de Manejo Integral de Cuencas Hidrográficas (Pomca), estructurados por medio de las Unidades de Planificación y de Gestión Territorial (UPGT). Estos permiten articular el desarrollo de programas y proyectos en un territorio asociado en municipios y departamentos, con el motivo de invertir y localizar infraestructuras que reduzcan la vulnerabilidad y amenaza en áreas que han sido objeto de deslizamientos e inundaciones e intervenidas por el Gobierno nacional mediante la Ley 1523 de 2012 de Gestión del Riesgo y complementadas por otras normas que fortalecen la dimensión ambiental, social, económica y administrativa que coadyuvan a un ordenamiento territorial más integral. La participación de actores y sectores públicos y privados y la sociedad civil son coordinados con la puesta en marcha de los Comités de Integración Territorial (CIT), que jalonan los procesos administrativos alrededor del riesgo y de los desastres naturales asociados, en muchos casos, con las actividades humanas

A Unified Framework for Open Access Regulation of Telecommunications Infrastructure: Literature Review and Policy Guidelines

The concept of Open Access (OA) plays a central role in the ongoing academic and political debate on the appropriate regulatory framework for next-generation access net- works in Europe. However, clear policy conclusions on the effect of OA regulation were usually precluded by a fundamental lack in common understanding what actually de- fines an OA policy and along which dimensions OA regulation can be structured. This paper attempts to reconcile these diverse views by offering a definition and a conceptual framework by which OA endeavors can be identified and uniquely classified. The frame- work encompasses, among others, mandated OA regulation of vertically integrated firms, public-sector participation, co-investments, and OA in the context of vertical separation. Along this framework, the extant economic literature is surveyed with regard to aspects of competition and social welfare, investment and innovation, as well as practical and legal issues. Based on these insights, a policy guideline is developed that shall assist policy makers in identifying the appropriate OA scenario for the regulation of telecom- munications infrastructure.

Serbest Zamanda Sıkılma Algısı Ölçeği: Faktör Yapısının Belirlenmesi ve Demografik Farklılıklar

The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Leisure Boredom Scale (Iso-Ahola & Weissinger, 1990) for adults in Turkey. The second purpose was to investigate the differences based on demographic variables (gender, marital status, working sector) regarding leisure boredom. In total 312 employees from public and private sectors (167 female, 145 male) residing in Ankara participated in this study. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were conducted to test the structural validity of the scale. EFA demonstrated that this scale yielded two subscales in the Turkish version. The first factor was named and the second factor was named by the participating researchers after reviewing the related literature and examining the factor structure of the scale. The scale consists of 10 items; the item factor loadings for the overall scale range between 0.38 and 0.83; and the Cronbach Alpha coefficient for the subscales was determined 0.72 for boredom and 0.77 for satisfaction in the final form of the scale. According to t-test results regarding the demographic variables, there was statistically significant difference in gender only in the “satisfaction” subscale, and between women and men participants, with men participants having higher mean scores (p<.01). There was no significant difference in terms of marital status in total LBS and the subscales. Concerning the working sectors of the participants, the analysis showed significant differences in total LBS and the “boredom” subscale between public and private sector's participants, with public sector's participants having higher mean scores than the latter (p<.01). In conclusion, the results of the research demonstrated that the Turkish adaptation of “The Leisure Boredom Scale” can be used as a valid and reliable measurement tool to examine and evaluate the leisure boredom levels of Turkish adults. Another conclusion of the study worth noting is that there were significant differences between the different components of gender and working sector variables in terms of leisure boredom levels.

A unified framework for open access regulation of telecommunications infrastructure: Review of the economic literature and policy guidelines

The concept of open access (OA) plays a central role in the ongoing academic and political debate on the appropriate regulatory framework for next-generation access networks in Europe. However, clear policy conclusions on the effect of OA regulation were usually precluded by a fundamental lack in common understanding what actually defines an OA policy and along which dimensions of OA regulation can be structured. This paper attempts to reconcile these diverse views by offering a definition and a conceptual framework by which OA endeavors can be identified and uniquely classified. The framework encompasses, among others, mandated OA regulation of vertically integrated firms, public-sector participation, co-investments, and OA in the context of vertical separation. Along this framework, the extant economic literature is surveyed with regard to aspects of competition and social welfare, investment and innovation, as well as practical and legal issues. Based on these insights, a policy guideline is developed that shall assist policy makers in identifying the appropriate OA scenario for the regulation of telecommunications infrastructure.

Analysis of the Impact of Fuel Subsidy Removal on Households and Sectors of Production in Ghana

This paper seeks to assess the impact of fuel price increase on the wellbeing of households with more emphasis on the lower income brackets. It uses 2013 average fuel price hikes for petrol, kerosene, diesel and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and is structured in the following order: Analysis of the national fuel consumption, household budget shares by quintiles, the effect of fuel price increase on different households and the effect of fuel price increase on sectors of production. The paper concludes that fuel subsidies in their current state should be restructured in Ghana but in a gradual approach to reduce shocks to the economy. In reducing such subsidies, all the resources gained should be channeled into efficient social interventions. Public sector participation in the transportation sector is imperative for cushioning the poor from fuel price hikes.

Urban Infrastructure Condition and Neighbourhood Sustainability: A Contingent Valuation Approach

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the implication of infrastructure condition to urban neighbourhood sustainability and how a demand driven approach can enhance willingness to pay for service improvement. The study is a survey research carried out through the distribution of structured questionnaires to 1040 households in 8 metropolitan local government areas namely; Alimosho, Apapa, Eti-osa, Ikeja, Shomolu, Mushin, Kosofe and Surulere. The questionnaire was designed to elicit information on households’ preferences and demand for urban infrastructure including willingness to pay and averting expenditure. Findings from the study indicated that different areas of the city have preferences for different infrastructure both in specific types and service option, and that demand driven provision will enhance WTP and has implication to neighbourhood sustainability. It will also encourage cost recovery and public sector participation in infrastructure provision.Key words: Demand side management, infrastructure, sustainability, urban neighbourhood, willingness to pay.

A Study of the Problems of Public Sector Housing Schemes and How It Affects the Low-Income Class in Boron State, Nigeria

Housing has been classified as a universally second most important human need after food. However because of its importance to man, it has become a scarce commodity, hence its problem have also been described as a universal experience that the whole world is being confronted with. Although the problem of housing has become a matter of national concern in Nigeria, each state seems to have their own peculiar housing problems as far as public sector participation in housing schemes is concerned. Of much interest to this study is the problem of housing among low income class in Borno State. They are the peasant farmers and the urban proletariat who lives in most inhabitable houses characterized by absence of social amenities as a result of their inability to afford descent housing accommodation. The primary objectives of this study is to examine and ascertain the problems of public sector housing schemes as it affects the low income class. Questionnaires were developed and distributed to the sampled population in six (6) local government areas in Borno State; they include Maiduguri Metropolitan, Biu, Bama, Gwoza, Monguno and Gubio which represents the three zones in the state. Findings shows that previous successive administration have not done enough toward the provision of low income housing, hence the low income class are placed at disadvantage position in terms of access to public housing schemes. The research made recommendations that may help address this housing problem such as the need to implement the National Housing Policy and to assist the low income class.

Heritage Tourism Marketing: Status, Prospects and Barriers

Heritage tourism marketing plays a significant role to attract tourists in heritage destinations. Bangladesh is endowed with historical and archaeological sites. The country has all the potential to be an important heritage destination in the world. Well-planned marketing of these heritage destinations is a primary requirement to attract both foreign and domestic tourists. There are some barriers which can impede successful heritage tourism marketing in Bangladesh. Lack of coordination among stakeholders, insufficient funding and providing less importance to the needs of the tourists can obstruct successful heritage tourism marketing. Developing creative promotional program, coordination among relevant stakeholders, conservation and protection of heritage sites and active participation of both private and public sector are necessary to implement heritage tourism marketing in Bangladesh.

Can modern input use be promoted without subsidies? An analysis of fertilizer in Ethiopia

AbstractFertilizer use in Ethiopia has nearly quintupled since official elimination of direct input subsidies in the early 1990s. During this time, policies changed from liberalization, with both private and public sector participation, to a government monopoly over imports along with exclusive marketing through farmers’ cooperatives. This article presents estimates of detail costs and margins in the value chain, econometrically derived profitability and yield responses, as well as costs of the government's fertilizer promotion policies. Results suggest that (a) irrespective of the methods of calculation, fertilizer use in major cereal is profitable; (b) while there is no official subsidy program, fertilizer promotion has involved large fiscal costs—estimated at US$40 million per year since 2008; and (c) there has been a mismatch between government's policy targets and the effective fertilizer demand, resulting in large carryover stock with estimated implicit costs of US$30 million per year during 2008–2011. Areas of policy attention, value chain improvements, and ongoing efforts to improve for fertilizer use and profitability are discussed.

Modeling relational transaction and relationship quality among team members in public projects in Hong Kong

Prior studies have found that relational contracting (RC) practices are helpful in nurturing good relationships among project team members. These empirical studies, however, did not differentiate by project type (i.e., public or private projects). In reality, the situation faced in public projects would be different from that of private projects since for example, some public sector participants may be indifferent to, concerned about or indeed opposed to, building close relationships with private sector counterparts. In the context of public construction projects, this study aims to develop models to explain the association between relationship quality and the extent to which RC practices are adopted. Data were collected via a questionnaire survey in Hong Kong, China. Using Multiple Linear Regression and Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), models for predicting the relationship quality among project team members were developed. The mathematical equations were validated by a case study. The models show that the relationship quality among project team members can be predicted by the extent to which these RC practices are implemented: (i) adoption of flexible strategies; (ii) readiness to compromise on unclear issues; (iii) willingness to commit on a long-term basis; (iv) attitude towards teamwork; (v) trust among team members; (vi) sharing of project information; (vii) understanding among team members; and (viii) alignment of the objectives of different parties. The models are recommended to public clients, consultants and contractors that aim to achieve good relationships in public projects.

Data Mining Meets the Needs of Disaster Information Management

Techniques to efficiently discover, collect, organize, search, and disseminate real-time disaster information have become national priorities for efficient crisis management and disaster recovery tasks. We have developed techniques to facilitate information sharing and collaboration between both private and public sector participants for major disaster recovery planning and management. We have designed and implemented two parallel systems: a web-based prototype of a Business Continuity Information Network system and an All-Hazard Disaster Situation Browser system that run on mobile devices. Data mining and information retrieval techniques help impacted communities better understand the current disaster situation and how the community is recovering. Specifically, information extraction integrates the input data from different sources; report summarization techniques generate brief reviews from a large collection of reports at different granularities; probabilistic models support dynamically generating query forms and information dashboard based on user feedback; and community generation and user recommendation techniques are adapted to help users identify potential contacts for report sharing and community organization. User studies with more than 200 participants from EOC personnel and companies demonstrate that our systems are very useful to gain insights about the disaster situation and for making decisions.

Farmers’ perceptions of the quality of extension services provided by non-governmental organisations in two municipalities in the Central Region of Ghana

Since independence in 1957, the provision of major support services for farmers such as physical infrastructure and research services for the agricultural sector in Ghana has been the preserve of the government. However, with respect to agricultural credit, extension and marketing services, there has been a mix of both public and private sector participation with public services declining in quantity over the period of structural adjustment programmes in the country beginning in 1983–2006. Over this 24-year period, government involvement in extension delivery to farmers declined. Since 2007 the level of government support for the agricultural sector has increased considerably with government support for investment in agriculture outpacing its recurrent expenditures for the sector. The decline of government extension delivery led to an increased role for not-for-profit organizations such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in supporting farmers. We assessed the quality of extension services provided by four NGOs in two municipalities of the Central Region of Ghana: Mfantseman and Komenda–Edina–Eguafo–Abrem (KEAA). The study was based on random sampling of farmers with the gender used as the key attribute in the choice of the optimal random sample. Beneficiary farmers assessed six main services provided by NGOs, namely information support, input supply, training, technology transfer, credit and monitoring and evaluation of extension activities. Farmers generally perceived the services to be relevant to their operations. However, they had mixed opinions concerning the services with respect to their adequacy, availability and their timeliness of supply. Monitoring and evaluation of extension activities by NGOs was generally acceptable.

Nonprofit and Public Sector Participation in Self‐Organizing Information Networks: Twitter Hashtag and Trending Topic Use During Disasters

Twitter's hashtag categorizations and trending topics offer accessible tools through which people communicate and self‐organize during disasters. This article examines Twitter communication networks, specifically the roles played by nonprofit and government agencies, that were engaged during four disasters: (1) The Boston Marathon bombing, (2) The West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion, (3) The Midwest spring flooding in Peoria, Illinois, and (4) The Moore, Oklahoma tornado. NodeXL and UCINET were used to collect and analyze data and determine network composition and structure. Nonprofit and government Twitter pages provided additional data. Findings indicate varied levels of engagement. While several state‐level public agencies and regional nonprofits used Twitter with some regularity, many failed to participate in hashtag networks that penetrated disparate user groups. The article concludes with a discussion on how organizations might more effectively promote response efforts through this medium.

Science-to-Business collaborations: A science-to-business marketing perspective on scientific knowledge commercialization

Exchange between science and industry is a prerequisite for innovation (Kaufmann & Tödtling, 2001; Pittaway, Robertson, Munir, Denyer & Neely, 2004) and has attracted considerable interest to the role of relationships and interactions in the process of bringing ideas to the market and commercializing knowledge (Pittaway et al., 2004; Porter & Ketels, 2003; Story, Hart & O'Malley, 2009). Despite enormous government financing, artificially supporting the development of such collaborative partnerships has proved difficult. This study extends industrial marketing's B-2-B model by looking at public sector participants in collaborations in order to examine the process of establishing scientific–knowledge–commercialization collaborations. It is based on 82 interviews in 17 collaborative-research projects in both Ireland and Germany. The findings suggest that retention is a catalyst for improving established collaborations to facilitate the commercialization of scientific knowledge through repeated projects. Retention results from loyal collaborators. Collaborators become loyal and committed because they are content with the overall relationship, commercialization service and quality. It is fundamental that all collaborators understand each other's roles and motive as incongruities hamper the development of productive collaborations. In addition, universities need to develop a greater appreciation of the role of satisfaction. Overall, the study shows the importance of repeat collaborations and the development of mutual benefits which facilitate scientific knowledge commercialization. The study also demonstrates how contextual differences impact on scientific knowledge commercialization in both Ireland and Germany.

The Impact of Behavioral Goals on Transfer from a Management Development Program

The present field study examined transfer from a management development program that focused on interpersonal skills for public sector participants (n=172). Using a quasi-experimental design, participants were assigned to one of three behavioral goal conditions (behavioral outcome goals, behavioral specific goals, rank-ordered behavioral goals) or a comparison (‘do your best’, or DYB) condition. Transfer was assessed using a self-report survey and both self-report and workplace observer (median = 4) behavioral observation scales (BOS). Overall, the management development program was effective. Transfer was high across all study conditions. Self-efficacy and usage of skills (based on self-BOS ratings), across all conditions, were higher post-program relative to pre-program. Post-program self-BOS ratings revealed that behavioral outcome goals increased transfer relative to behavioral specific goals or rank-ordered behavioral goals. Behavioral specific goals reduced transfer, as assessed by workplace observer BOS ratings, relative to all other study conditions. There was no evidence that either form of behavioral goals was superior to DYB. Implications for management development and goal setting are discussed.