Journey Of Reform Research Articles

Does the Classified Reform of Chinese State-Owned Enterprises Alleviate Environmental, Social and Governance Decoupling?

Accurate disclosure and proactive engagement in ESG practices are essential for achieving high-quality economic development, particularly as China addresses significant challenges during its reform journey. The Classified Reform of State-Owned Enterprises (CRSOE) is a strategic initiative by the Chinese government aimed at fostering this development. Our study leverages the implementation of the CRSOE as an exogenous shock, employing the difference-in-differences approach to assess the policy’s governance impact on ESG decoupling from the perspective of ownership heterogeneity. The policy was found to alleviate ESG decoupling, particularly pronounced among SOEs with special functions. The governance effect is achieved by reducing the aspiration–performance gap. Specifically, the policy effectively narrows the disparity between a company’s actual performance and the expected performance based on the industry average, thereby mitigating ESG decoupling. However, the policy’s impact can be weakened by factors such as political connections among executives and media attention. Furthermore, the CRSOE effectively addresses greenwashing practices within ESG decoupling, with a particularly strong effect on SOEs that fail to disclose ESG information in alignment with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the broader implications and underlying mechanisms of the policy. Therefore, building on the assessment of how the CRSOE policy impacts ESG decoupling, we also examine the mechanisms through which this policy operates and how its effectiveness varies under different conditions of heterogeneity. By extending the application of principal-agent theory and performance feedback theory, our research suggests that policymakers should prioritize market-driven reforms for fully competitive SOEs and promote a stronger emphasis on non-financial goals. Additionally, it is essential to mitigate the undue influence of political promotions on the management of all SOEs.

The politics of universal health system reform in the context of COVID-19

Abstract Background Implementing universalism is more a political than a technical project. With this in mind, Ireland devised a ten-year plan through political consensus to deliver universal healthcare - Sláintecare. The COVID-19 pandemic occurred early in its implementation. Methods This is qualitative research drawing on international literature on universal health system reform in the context of COVID-19 as well as the politics of health reform. The overall research programme is co-produced with the Irish health system. A timeline and analysis of the reform journey is drawn from documentary analysis of key policy documents, parliamentary reports and key informant interviews. Results Despite a policy commitment since 2005, universal healthcare implementation only became government policy in Ireland 2018. While whole system reform and implementation progress has been slow, the COVID-19 health system response boosted aspects of universalism and reform. All COVID-related services during the pandemic were universal, free at the point of delivery, as are most new services introduced since 2021. Despite the political consensus holding through a change government and the pandemic, and significant additional investment in the public health system, there remain many obstacles to reform. These include different stakeholder understanding of implementing universalism in Ireland especially in the context of COVID-19, how best to implement universal healthcare and the politics of delivering reform. Conclusions Contrary to other countries’ experience during COVID, Ireland pursued its policy aim of delivering universalism and expanded services provided universally, free at the point of delivery, with a focus on enhanced community care. The universalism applied to COVID-related prevention and care, new women’s health and chronic disease management services. Despite progress, government has yet to legislate for a universal entitlement to care and obstacles to reform implementation remain.

Connecting Small Peasants with Large Markets: The Need for a New Type of Rural Collective Economy – a Case Study of Zhanqi Village

Abstract Peasants often face difficulties in accessing markets and require state support and assistance. The rights granted by the state to rural areas and peasants have historically been difficult to implement effectively, leading to a substantial disparity between rural practices and national policies. This paper focuses on the 20-year reform journey of Zhanqi Village in Sichuan Province, showcasing how a new type of collective economy under the market system can serve as a bridge between the state and peasants. This approach addresses crucial issues such as shared prosperity, income, employment, and security for peasants, enhancing their sense of belonging. The study explores the characteristics of this new collective economy, emphasizing the interdependence and coexistence of collective and individual efforts, forming a public-private amalgamation. It delves into various aspects, including its strategic positioning, non-profit attributes, risk absorption, intermediary role, and the holographic organizational traits related to party involvement. The paper advocates for an integrated, multidisciplinary methodology to tackle yet-to-be-resolved practical challenges, contributing to the foundational understanding and development of China’s rural collectives and collective economy.

The Developmental Trajectories of the Pre-School Education System in Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2022

This study examines the evolution of the pre-school education system in Kazakhstan between 1991 and 2022. The period marks a significant transition post-independence, reflecting changes in educational policies and practices. The research employs a historical and analytical approach to understand the various phases of development in the Kazakhstani pre-school education sector. It highlights key reforms, including curriculum changes, pedagogical advancements, and integration of technology. The study also analyzes the challenges faced during this period, such as funding issues, teacher training, and rural-urban disparities. The findings suggest that while substantial progress has been made, further efforts are necessary to ensure accessibility and quality across the country. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of Kazakhstan's education reform journey and provides insights for policymakers and educators in similar contexts.

Back to the future? Reflections on three phases of education policy reform in Wales and their implications for teachers

Wales’ education system is part-way through an extensive journey of reform. This contextual paper explores the evolution of that journey, from the establishment of the Welsh Parliament in 1999 to late 2020, as Wales readies itself for the launch of a radical, new national curriculum. Drawing from a range of international literature and experience, it provides an overview of key policy developments and insight into the rationale for decisions taken by the Welsh Government to effect change. To do this, it separates reform into three core phases, each with its own characteristics borne out of landmark events that helped shape contemporary political and public discourse. In particular, the paper examines the impact of Wales’ shifting approach to policy development on the teaching workforce and considers implications for those at the site of practice. Ahead of forthcoming parliamentary elections, the paper resolves that a new, long-term approach to policy reform and teacher development is needed if Wales is to realise its ambitious vision for education.

Decolonial Reflections on the Zimbabwean Primary and Secondary School Curriculum Reform Journey

The Zimbabwean curriculum reform journey is shaped by the weight of cultural technologies of domination employed in the country during British imperial rule (1890-1980). Moreover, these imperial forms of domination that, paradoxically, continue to exist today influence the sociocultural and political institutions in the country and delineate what is epistemologically feasible. In addition, the inherited education curricula, specifically at primary school level (the focus of this study) were theoretically and pedagogically disengaged from the lifeworlds of the learners they intended to educate. In this conceptual article, I challenge this colonially inherited education and the paradox of superficial interpretation of unhu/ubuntu (ironically, a doxa in the postcolonial Zimbabwean education system). Further, I suggest considering epistemic depth in pedagogy as an experience that transforms education and society.

Police reform in Scotland: What can we learn from the experiences of front-line officers?

Little is known about how front-line police officers navigate major structural reforms within their organization. The findings presented in this paper were collected as part of the first ever empirical study of the newly created Police Service of Scotland between October 2013 and June 2014. The findings discussed here are pertinent to the wider academic literature in that they fill the current gap in knowledge on how front-line police officers experience major structural reforms at a police operational level; by exploring the ways, if any, reform impacted on the routine delivery of local policing. This paper focuses on three main themes which emerged from the analysis of 68 interviews conducted with a stratified sample of serving police officers; front-line police officers, their supervisors and managers across two geographically distinct case study areas in Scotland. The paper highlights police officers’ concerns around a lack of front-line involvement in either the planning or implementation of reform, the pace at which the changes associated with reform were rolled out and the internal communication processes adopted throughout the reform journey, all of which they claim impacted negatively on their daily routines. This unique data was collected using a variety of qualitative and ethnographic research approaches including non-participant observations, walking interviews, documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews at the precise time major structural reform was being implemented across Scotland.

Supporting Sustainable Water Management: Insights from Australia’s Reform Journey and Future Directions for the Murray–Darling Basin

Effective regulation of freshwater remains one of the biggest challenges facing our societies. In times of record-breaking weather extremes spurred by a changing climate, decision makers are increasingly aware of the need to formulate more effective governance to ensure the reliability, accessibility, and quality of this life-giving resource. In recent years, the Australian government has played a key role in water management. The government has managed a significant amount of water entitlements in the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB), through its Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH) agency, in a bid to increase river flows and thus improve the river system’s environmental and ecological conditions. The CEWH is unique in many respects, and the Australian government’s control of its budget and actions is a critical aspect of the Basin’s sustainable long-term management. Despite the importance of this instrument, this article points out that there are serious issues with the current governance arrangements, such as inherent conflicts in the Murray–Darling Basin Authority’s (MDBA) role, which is a concern raised by the Productivity Commission. This article goes on to recommend the policy changes required to address Basin-wide issues and promote sustainable practices to ensure the MDB’s long-term resilience.

Planning – A Risky Business?

Since the introduction of performance-based planning, Queensland's planning law framework has been repeatedly amended in response to complaints of complexity. This article traces Queensland's law reform journey and focuses on the issue of complexity in the context of planning schemes. The causes of complexity are diverse and to some extent remain unresolved. An issue that warrants more attention is the concept of "risk" in the context of planning (and particularly planning schemes). Risk-based approaches to regulation have been increasingly regarded as an effective way to manage risk and uncertainty. This article asks questions about risk concepts in planning and argues in favour of further research around a risk-based approach to planning scheme preparation.

Processes and Dynamics Behind Whole-School Reform

Despite decades of research, little is known about the dynamics of sustaining change in school reform and how the process of change unfolds. By tracing the nine-year reform journeys of four primary schools in Hong Kong (using multiyear interview, observational, and archival data), this study uncovers the micro-processes the schools experienced during their reform. New practices first took root in a group of pilot teachers before gradually disseminating to other teachers and eventually transforming the entire school. Challenges differed across the reform journey. Synergy between school leadership, external support, and organization redesign was critical for initial success. Continued progress depended on whether school leaders and external partners could adapt their roles and redesign the organization to address the school’s changing capacity and needs. The study reveals the long-term process of school reform and has crucial implications for policy, research, and practice.

Pengaruh Kompensasi Dan Budaya Organisasi Terhadap Kinerja Pegawai Dengan Motivasi Kerja Sebagai Variabel Perantara

Remuneration policy for employees of the Directorate General of Taxation is based on the idea of the need for organizations to pay attention to the interests of its employees who have a wide range of needs. Changes made to the Directorate General of Taxation has given satisfactory results of the shareholders. However, the bureaucratic reform journey tarnished the behavior of some unscrupulous employees DGT suspected of committing criminal offenses still be receiving gratification and misuse of authority. It shows that the remuneration policy has not been able to change the nature of the tax officials and necessary need to be assessed on matters that may significantly affect the performance of employees. The aims of this research are to analyze the influence of compensation and organizational culture, and its impact toward work motivation and employee’s performance at Kantor Pelayanan Pajak Pratama Pontianak. Compensation and organizational culture are independent variables, performance of employee as dependent variable, with motivation as an intervening variable. The sample for this research is all employees at this organization (102 persons). The software that used to analyze the data is statistical software SPSS 17. The researcher has used normality test, linearity test, heteroskedasticity test, and path analysis. As the results, the coefficient rate of direct influence of organizational culture toward employee performance is bigger than indirect influence of organizational culture toward employee performance through work motivation. So as to improve employee performance is more effectively through increasing the organizational culture.

Mapping the Journey of Reform and Assessment for an Elementary Education Teacher Preparation Program

This article describes the non-linear journey of an elementary education teacher preparation program in a large southeastern university during an eight-year process of program improvement. In that time period, the program developed and implemented innovative programs; collected data from various sources; and adopted a robust, valid, and reliable performance assessment instrument in order to enact program improvement. The authors provide details and lessons learned that highlight the relationship of practices for improving teacher candidate programs and performance assessment data. They conclude by sharing suggestions for continual improvement by utilizing actionable data.

A look back on the Vietnam’s economic institutional reform journey

Looking back on the 23-year renovation of the state economic institution, between the years 1992 and 2015 (which is supposedly completed basically) will clarify some issues of theory and practice concerning the state-owned model in the condition of Vietnam’s transitional economy. This innovation process is performed through the privatisation of state enterprises, the establishment of economic corporations and state general firms, then the equitisation of all corporations, general companies and state businesses in 2015. Some arising problems should have a discussion involving the key role of the state economy in practice; which administration model is proper; and whether or not the state economic reform is regarded as the necessary measure for the efficient social-economic development.

How to be ahead of the curve: The role of politicians in Serbia's reindustrialization

The implosion of Yugoslavia and economic sanctions which were imposed to Serbia by international community automatically pushed the country into depression. With 60% drop in output and mega-inflation the economy in 1993 passed through near-death experience. The legacy of depression demonstrates its severity up to these days. From Serbia's perspective the principal consequences of the implosion of Yugoslavia are as follows: deepening of old structural imbalances, population migration (including brain drain), and substantial damage to institutions (rules, systemic laws, regulatory bodies, prevailing behavior of economic agents, etc.). Epilogue was a long and deep transitional recession. Serbia's economic fact sheet shows that the economy is not sustainable. To escape a low-growth debt trap Serbia needs a spectacular turnaround. Without radical reforms the threat of default could develop into a full-blown crisis. Damage to the economy from a short shutdown is likely to be limited to economic risk. A longer shutdown could be quite harmful and extend to political and geopolitical risks as well. When you lose confidence, bright people and institutions, turnaround asks for some forces to take the lead in providing a wide range of economic reforms. The role of politicians in that process is unavoidable. But, it is not a trivial task. It is exactly the challenge that makes the triumph of reforms so rewarding. Done well, undertaken with a clear vision and organically, the exercise of reforms becomes a venture that can renew both the economy and political leadership. In that context the key question for Serbia's politicians is: what is the strategy to resurrect the economy and restore its credibility in business community? Money created by stimulus (or quantitative easing) is not applicable in the case of Serbia because it is not possible to refer to 'too big to fail' argument in almost irrelevant and reindustrialized economy. Turnaround is a challenging request for politicians as initiators and facilitators of reforms because they must keep all parts of society in balance while switching toward the new trajectory of economic development. The very first step in Serbia's reform journey is integration with the EU. For lower income economy like Serbia, compatibility with the EU opens the door to convergence effect. While Serbia is becoming politically closer to the EU, it is also becoming economically more vulnerable. As a consequence, a pressure on political leaders to make structural reforms is increasing. Economic reforms need conceptually heterogeneous approach. Macroeconomics looks at the economy from a helicopter perspective. But, it is not the only relevant perspective. Business (or microeconomic) perspective also matters. This is especially true when we are in the process of closing the output gap as the main long-term effect of sustained disequilibrium. Exploring the idea exposed in our previous articles [2], [3] and [4] we focus on various aspects of the reindustrialization strategy. The purpose of this paper is shift to another perspective, the analysis of the role of politicians in this process. What skills and mindsets do politicians need to possess to be initiators and facilitators of reindustrialization? First and foremost, they must be strategists. Their goal is to build something that is not there yet but it is achievable and effective. Strategy is anchored in a clear and compelling vision (or purpose). National economies should exist for reason. But, vision is not a strategy. Strategy is more than a great idea what to do, more than inspiration or a dream. It is a system of activities, a set of mutually reinforcing components under the umbrella of vision. Success of strategy is not due to a host of one simple activity, but to the implementation of great idea in an intricately woven system of activities that work in concert. It is a way of implementation of 7. Schumpeter's idea about creative destruction, to be 'ahead of the curve'. How is the article structured? Before we elaborate arguments for reindustrialization, we seek to understand past mistakes in former economic policies to avoid repeating them again. The previous aspects will be presented in introduction. Economic revival depends on new vision, on where we are heading. It is the principal point of two successive parts of the article dedicated to structural changes in the global economy and in Serbia, respectively. The fourth part provides proposals for reindustrialization as conceptual platform for economic revival. Before conclusion, the final part clarifies the role of politicians in reindustrialization of Serbia.

CHINA'S INTEGRATION WITH THE WORLD: DEVELOPMENT AS A PROCESS OF LEARNING AND INDUSTRIAL UPGRADING

The process of development is full of uncertainties, especially if it is a process of transition from a planned economy to a market oriented one. Because of uncertainties and country specificity, development must be a process of learning, selective adaptation, and industrial upgrading. This paper attempts to distill lessons from China's reform and opening up process, and investigate the underlying reasons behind China's success in trade expansion and economic growth. From its beginnings with home-grown and second-best institutions, China has embarked on a long journey of reform, experimentation, and learning by doing. It is moving from a comparative advantage-defying strategy to a comparative advantage-following strategy. The country is catching up quickly through augmenting its factor endowments and upgrading industries; but this has been only partially successful. Although China is facing several difficult challenges - including rising inequality, an industrial structure that is overly capital and energy intensive, and related environmental degradation - it is better positioned to tackle them now than it was 30 years ago. This paper reviews the drivers behind China's learning and trade integration and provides both positive and negative lessons for developing countries with diverse natural endowments, especially those in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The overall progress and challenges of Shanghai health care for the last 30 years since reform and opening up

Marked by the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the CPC, Shanghai health care started a journey of reform and opening up as with other sectors. This essay reviews various stages Shanghai health care experienced and the achievements for the last 30 years since reform and opening up, and analyzes the challenges Shanghai health care faces currently. On this basis, the essay summaries the experiences and lessons learned from Shanghai health care reform and development. Key words: 30 years since reform and opening up; Shanghai; Health care; Achievements; Challenges

The role of benchmarking within the cultural reform journey of an award‐winning Australian local authority

Wollongong City Council in New South Wales, Australia, won the Australian Quality Award in 1997 and the Australian Customer Service Award in 1998, the first local council to receive such awards. This article presents a case history of the cultural reform journey of the council since 1990, in particular the role played by benchmarking within a wider quality‐oriented programme. The article traces the evolutionary nature of the reform agenda over this period and shows that benchmarking has been introduced at the council in three stages as an integral part of an evolving and maturing culture based on corporate planning, quality, and performance management: stage 1 (process mapping and improvement), stage 2 (process benchmarking), and stage 3 (cost benchmarking). The article concludes by setting out a number of lessons based on the Wollongong experience for the introduction and use of benchmarking as part of a quality‐oriented cultural change programme.