Government Response Research Articles

Malaysia's Climate Change Framework and Local Government Response

Climate change is a significant global challenge affecting our planet's ecosystems. Addressing this challenge requires a concerted effort from all stakeholders, including businesses, academic institutions, and government at all levels. This paper examines Malaysia’s national policy on climate change and its legal framework at national and international levels. It also aims to consider the response by local authorities. The discussion adopts the doctrinal legal research analysis. The findings of this paper can provide the policymakers, governments, and local authorities in Malaysia to expedite their climate change mitigation effort.

Stewards of Society: Preparedness and Perceptions Among the Unsung Heroes of Public Health Service Delivery

Front-line public health workers are essential to protecting the health of the public, particularly during widespread public health emergencies. Local public health workers were instrumental in mitigating the spread of the coronavirus pandemic through their efforts to contract trace, disseminate tests and vaccines, and educate the public about the dynamic state of the crisis. Yet, reports indicate that the public health workforce has been shrinking for some time. Recent studies indicate more than one-quarter of those serving in public health roles hope to leave the profession within one year because of factors such as stress and burnout. Few studies examine the perceptions of local health workers or the impacts that multi-level governmental responses have on their ability to do their jobs. Having a strong public health workforce is essential for a thriving society, so addressing this gap and identifying solutions are important steps towards identifying solutions for slowing the exodus of public health workers from the field. Through analysis of original survey data of front-line workers mid-pandemic in two western states, this project examines perceptions regarding factors which contribute to added stress and burnout. Findings indicate that workers felt relatively prepared to address a public health crisis, but institutional factors, such as changing job responsibilities, competing governmental directives, and limited resources, may contribute to ongoing feelings of burnout. To address these concerns, decision makers need to provide more resources and have a clear strategy of communication to mitigate conflicting governmental directives.

Anxiety about the pandemic and trust in financial markets

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated a novel context of global financial distress. This paper enters the related scientific debate and focuses on the relationship between the anxiety felt by the population of a wide set of countries during the pandemic and the trust in the future performance of financial markets. Precisely, we move from the idea—grounded on some recent literature contributions—that the volume of Google searches about “coronavirus” can be considered as a proxy of anxiety and, jointly with the stock index prices, can be used to produce indicators of the population mood—in terms of pessimism and optimism—at country level. We analyse the “very high human developed countries” according to the Human Development Index plus China and the main stock market indexes associated with them. Namely, we propose both a time-dependent and a global indicator of pessimism and optimism and classify indexes and countries accordingly. The results show the existence of different clusters of countries and markets in terms of pessimism and optimism. Moreover, specific regimes emerge, with optimism increasing around the middle of June 2020. Furthermore, countries with different government responses to the pandemic have experienced different levels of mood indicators, so countries with less stringent lockdown measures had a higher level of optimism.

Covid-19 pandemic and firm performance: evidence on industry differentials and impacting channels

PurposeThis study explores the impacts of Covid-19 on the performance of firms operating in different industries, and further discovers suspected impacting channels through which Covid-19 is significantly associated with firm performance.Design/methodology/approachA dataset of 402 listed firms from 2017Q1 to 2021Q4 is proceeded with high dimensional fixed effect (firm-quarter fixed effects) models and difference-in-difference models supported by propensity score matching. A thorough robustness testing procedure with a falsification test with a hypothetical event is applied.FindingsThe study asserts that the pandemic has remarkably hurt the businesses in industries that are more vulnerable to the coronavirus and governmental response policies. Adding to the confirmation of sales and expense channels, new channels – competition and short-term receivables –through which the negative impact of the pandemic is passed on firms is also examined.Originality/valueFirst, this study is to be the first comprehensively investigate and affirm the varying impact of Covid-19 on the business performance of listed firms from different industries in Vietnam, providing additional insight into this research field in Vietnam and emerging economies. Second, the authors examine possible channels paving the way for the impact of Covid-19 on firms' performance and especially explore new channels associated with competition and short receivables. Third, the findings help to form the recommendations for Vietnamese firms, and the study could be replicated for other emerging countries under other similar infectious diseases-driven crises.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-02-2023-0072

The Predictors of SMEs and In-House Recovery of Pandemic: Employees’ Perspective Toward Challenges, Drivers and Government Responses from Jordan Context

Purpose: This study seeks to provide evaluations of the challenges, drivers and government responses that are provided for SEMs and in-house recovery in Jordan context in time of COVID-19, from viewpoints of owners and employees of SMEs and in-house businesses.
 
 Theoretical framework: This study reviews the literature for the challenges, drivers and government responses for SMEs to assemble the list that was used to gather respondents’ evaluations and provide an evaluation of the SME environment in Jordan during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
 Design/Methodology/Approach: Using a questionnaire, data was collected for this study, purposive sampling was applied, and a sample of 1,179 provides the assessments that were used to gather the results. SPSS was used to conduct data analysis that was based on the use of descriptive analysis.
 
 Findings: The findings show that owners and employees of SMEs and in-house businesses in Jordan express moderate levels of agreement toward all proposed challenges, with the exception of challenges related to market factors, which are at a high level of agreement. Additionally, all proposed drivers are at moderate levels of agreement, and the highest agreement level is for e-marketing factors.
 
 Research practical & Social implications: The study suggests allowing government agencies, educational institutions, donor and support organisations, and owners and employees of SMEs to adopt strategic business plans that take advantages of possible drivers and mitigate the consequences of challenges in the business environment.
 
 Originality/Value: This study contributes to the emerging literature concerning SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic by targeting owners and employees of SMEs and in-house businesses in Jordan to gather their responses regarding a set of challenges, drivers and government responses that the literature proposed as characterising the business environment during the pandemic.

All-cause Excess Mortality Cross-sectional Correlation Analysis at Global Scale during COVID-19, 2020-22

The excess mortality during COVID-19 is significantly higher than the reported death due to COVID-19 infections. This study conducts a cross-sectional correlation analysis between excess mortality and reported COVID-19 death, aging rate, GHS (Global Health Security) index, and government response stringency index in the timeframe from January 2020 to September 2022. This study aims to explore the main contributors to excess mortality, hence to provide guidance on future diagnosis and control of the pandemic. A cross-sectional log-linear model is fitted with 79 observations to estimate the explanatory power of reported COVID-19 death, aging rate, GHS index and stringency index on excess mortality at a global scale. The correlation between excess mortality and reported COVID-19 death is also examined on a nation level by calculating the Spearman correlation coefficient on the time series of the two. The cross-sectional log-linear model has adjusted . The estimate for log of reported COVID death is ; aging rate is ; GHS index is ; stringency index is not significant. On a nation level, Brazil and United States have high correlations between reported and excess death (), the reported death takes up 85% and 86% respectively, of excess death. India and Japan, similarly, have high correlation coefficient (), but with COVID-19 death accounting 9% and 47% of excess death. Germany and China have relatively small correlations between reported and excess death (), but Germany has reported death taking up 89% of excess death, whereas in China the ratio is 4%. At a global scale, the reported COVID-19 death has the most explanatory power in excess mortality, which means that most of excess mortality is attributed to death from COVID-19 infections. Aging rate has a negative correlation between excess mortality, this is partly because of the preference of aged population to live in countries with better health care capacities. There is no significant explanatory power of stringency index on excess mortality, suggesting that the impact of government responses on COVID-19 vary by each nation. On a country level, the correlation between COVID-19 death and excess mortality can also vary, mostly due to the different levels of health care disruptions, efficiency and impact of government measures and other COVID-19 unrelated events such as wars and heat waves.

Analysis of Supply Chain Management under the Impact of Epidemic

Based on this epidemic, the author found that the supply chain is a very important issue for every country. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the supply chain management of countries and companies under the epidemic. This paper will reflect well on the measures and actions taken by some countries in response to the new outbreak, and its importance is that it is the first relatively effective summary and analysis of supply shortages. The paper focuses on presenting data and comparing measures, ranking and comparing them, and then selecting the best. The results found that government response to this phase of the great wave of supply chain disruption requires the introduction of a series of solution policies. For companies, it is necessary to improve digitalization, enhance supply chain coordination, and consider the layout of warehouses and multiple warehouses on the basis of ensuring survival. For logistics service providers, it is necessary to increase business flexibility, increase transportation options, improve accessibility, and prepare themselves for emergencies and preparedness.

Fiscal Policy and Resilience of the Tourism Industry Against the COVID-19 Pandemic

The tourism sector is encountering a global crisis as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This article aimed to identify and analyze the implementation and impact of fiscal policy on the resilience and sustainability of tourism industry businesses in Indonesia amid the COVID-19 pandemic. An exploratory descriptive qualitative method was used in this research through in-depth interviews with tourism sector business actors in Yogyakarta City, Sleman Regency, Bantul Regency, and Magelang Regency on the implementation of fiscal policy of tax relief for relevant tourism business during the pandemic. The results of the research identified the impact of implementing fiscal policy on business resilience in the tourism sector which is more befitting for medium and large business categories, whilemicro and small businesses could only take advantage of fiscal policy in the form of tax relief, which according to participants is transparent, easy to implement, and does not have a detrimental impact on future. This research contributes to theory, practice, and policy by providing an overview of the impact of environmental factors on the sustainability of tourism sector businesses, the government's response to the crisis, the impact of fiscal policy implementation on the resilience of tourism sector businesses, and input for the government in making future policy.

Alert notifications for governmental disaster response via instant messaging applications

Disaster response decision-making requires adaptation to increasing information overflow, namely the continuing growth of the amount and sources of data. Conversational agents, software applications interacting with users conversationally, have been adopted to enhance accessibility to information for this purpose. This study conceptualizes the design and implementation of alert notifications via instant-messaging-based conversational agents for governmental disaster response to achieve timely and accurate awareness to support effective decision-making. The data inventory scheme to support comprehensive implementation and the Rich Notification Architecture (RNA) for alert notifications are constituted. The data inventory scheme distinguishes data providers for service availability. The RNA improves service availability and information accessibility by dissecting complex procedures to construct an alert notification from a data source. The approach is adopted in two central governmental agencies in Taiwan, demonstrating its applicability to different disaster response goals.

Perfect Pretext: Populist Authoritarian Seizure of Pandemic Emergency Powers in India and the Philippines

Using Frankfurt School Critical Theory, we examine the political outcomes of how Asian populist authoritarian regimes seized the COVID-19 pandemic context for regime maintenance and power consolidation. The pandemic revealed interesting India-Philippines parallels highlighting three inter-connected political-economic development patterns contextualising analogous state responses to COVID-19. First, how neo-liberal economic policies pursued through old and new technologies of domination accompanied phenomenal economic growth rates without addressing structural socio-economic inequalities. Second, how parallel predisposing conditions of failed political promises, increased rent-seeking opportunities, and corruption under constricted neo-liberal democracies, gave rise to populist authoritarian leaders. Third, how combined neo-liberalism and populist authoritarianism conditioned conflictual and contested government responses to the pandemic, bolstering power consolidation and regime maintenance, on the one hand, and ensuing political contestations on the other. Populist authoritarianism persists during pandemics through three significant connected elements of ideological domination propagated through mass media, the hetero-patriarchal family, and educational system.

COVID-19, various government interventions and stock market performance

PurposeAccording to the Government Response tracker (oxCGRT) index, the overall government response, stringency, economic support, containment and health policies to COVID-19 from January 2020 to December 2022. The main objective of this paper is to explore how stock market performance is affected by these polices, respectively.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employ EGARCH and autoregressive distributional lag (ARDL) models to test the impact of epidemic prevention policy implementation on stock market returns, volatility and liquidity and make cross-country comparisons for six important world economies.FindingsFirstly, the implementation of various preventive policies hurts stock market returns and increases volatility, but there are a few indicators that have no effect or have an easing effect in some countries. Secondly, health policies exacerbate market volatility and have a stronger effect than other policy indicators. Thirdly, In China and the USA, anti-epidemic policies have been shown to worsen liquidity, while in Japan they have been shown to improve liquidity.Originality/valueFirst, enrich the growing body of COVID-19 research by comprehensively examining whether and how government prevention policies affect stock market returns, volatility and liquidity. Second, explore the impact of different types of intervention policies on stock market performance, separately.

Assessment of the impact of government response measures on the spread of COVID-19: panel data evidence for 50 countries

This article investigates the impact of Government’s response measures to new COVID-19 cases. This is proxied by a stringency index of 50 countries from April 2020 to March 2022. Our World in Data COVID-19 dataset was utilised employing several panel econometrics methods. This article fills a gap in empirical research by employing a range of econometric methods over an extended period and countries. The article provides the basis for the formulation and implementation of government response measures or policies to other major public health events that may occur in the future. The research found a positive association between Government’s response measures and new cases initially and in the long term and a significant short-term error correction component. This indicates an incremental and repeatable implementation approach, proposing a cyclical or lagged relationship where response measures reach a level of stringency after some time, then induce a decline in new cases. The timing, speed, and stringency of implementation of the government policy response measures are crucial in our understanding of the relationship or link between the government policy response measures and new COVID-19 cases.

Crisis Communication During COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons from Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta

The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the global population, disrupting many aspects of human life, including education. Countries like Indonesia have implemented policies requiring schools, colleges, and universities to be closed. This research aims to develop crisis communication guidelines specifically adapted for higher education institutions to prevent the spread of the virus. One higher education institution, Yogyakarta Muhammadiyah University (UMY), has switched from traditional face-to-face lectures to online learning. This study used a qualitative approach, data collection techniques of in-depth interviews with the UMY Public Relations Bureau, the UMY Planning and Development Agency (BPP), students, and document analysis to examine crisis communication management strategies implemented by universities during the pandemic. The study results found a crisis communication model used by students, parents, educators, and employees to continue learning and working safely and comfortably despite the spread of COVID-19. The latest information can be found on https://COVID 19.umy.ac.id/ and UMY’s official social media. This research contribution includes the integration of theory, practical applications, empirical insights, and a deeper understanding of crisis communication strategies in the context of higher education institutions and government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reviewing terrorism threat on China after the cold war

ABSTRACT Over the past three decades, terrorism has directly threatened China's national security and has played a key role in its foreign policy. The nature of terrorism in China is changing, as is the Chinese government's response to the threat. Despite the issue's importance, there is still little knowledge about the changing face of terrorism in China. Thus, this study fills the gap in the literature on this subject by reviewing the terrorism threat against China after the Cold War from 1989 through 2020, based on the global terrorism database. The study's main findings reveal that China is not a significant target of terrorism when compared to other powers. Terrorism in China is domestic and concentrated in four specific districts, chiefly caused by the Uyghurs Uprising. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the BRI did not cause a dramatic increase in terrorist attacks against Chinese citizens outside China.

경신참변과 중국정부의 대응

경신참변과 중국정부의 대응

Indonesia’s pro-people foreign policy: the protection of Indonesian women migrant workers in Malaysia in 2022

This study investigates the Indonesian government's strategies to safeguard its informal sector in Malaysia, which has experienced considerable human rights violations and exploitation. Such incidents breach both the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Law No. 18 of 2017 on the Indonesian migrant workers' protection. Utilizing the pro-people foreign policy theory and the citizen protection concept, this research explores the government's responses to these issues as a protective measure for its citizens. Employing a qualitative descriptive method, data was gathered through library studies. The findings reveal that the Indonesian government, in its bid to protect indonesian women migrant workers in malaysia by 2022, has publicly criticized the Malaysian government, implemented a Moratorium, and pushed for immediate bilateral meetings between the two nations. Hence, the study concludes that these efforts have positively influenced the protection of indonesian women migrant workers in malaysia in 2022

국제연맹의 동양 여성매매 조사와 식민지 조선

The first objective of this paper is to examine the roles played by the Government-General of Joseon, one of the colonial powers, in the process of the Japanese government’s response to the League of Nations’ Commission of Inquiry into Traffic in Women and Children in the East.
 On the one hand, the modern state-regulated prostitution system in Japan shows different aspects depending on the time, region, and political characteristics of the region within the sphere of influence called ‘the Empire,’ but existing studies have a tendency to neglect this fact. This negligence intersects with the methods of history denialists who deny the damages caused by ‘state-regulated prostitution’ and ‘comfort women.’ Substantial truths can be concealed amid the ‘authorized ignorance and strategic disregard’ of historical facts.
 The second objective of this paper is to reveal that such an attitude, which causes difficulty in discussing the historical character of the state-regulated prostitution system and the ‘comfort women’ system of the Japanese army, is shown by the inquiry of Japan by the League of Nations’ Commission and the response of the Japanese government. In other words, it is a contemplation on how the Commission of Inquiry, the Japanese government, and the Government-General of Joseon invisibilized the colonial state-regulated prostitution system, which was strongly associated with human trafficking even compared with Japan. This paper aims to disclose the fact that while Japan struggled to gain recognition in the international society as a late-starting imperialist nation, it steered away from the human trafficking problem of Japanese colonies from an imperialist point of view.

The conflict of interest that is so grave that we all prefer to ignore it?

Conflict of Interest declaration is the default way to mitigate the risk of harm of unconscious or deliberate promotion of self-interest causing misinformation or wrong decision-making. Public attention to the disclosure of interests caused by private sources of research funding results in a routine procedure now. At the same time, very strong interests caused by taxpayer-covered Governmental funding of research are generally badly underestimated. Researchers generally have no idea that taking public funding and promoting policy advice to provide more funds should be declared as a conflict of interest: Promotion of more funds and power under the control of bureaucratic bodies or entities is anticipated to bring more funding for the researchers themselves. For example, the COVID-19 response of most democratic governments, based on the use of emergency powers, enjoys broad support from publicly funded research – though the effectiveness of such a response is not supported by the history of previous pandemics. The explicit requirement to disclose public funding as a potential Conflict of Interest, at least in case the authors promote more power and more funds for the Government, will mitigate risks of one of the potentially dangerous biases both in research and indecision-making.

Impacts of public health and social measures on COVID-19 in Europe: a review and modified Delphi technique.

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 led countries to implement a set of public health and social measures (PHSMs) attempting to contain the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This study aims to review the existing literature regarding key results of the PHSMs that were implemented, and to identify the PHSMs considered to have most impacted the epidemiological curve of COVID-19 over the last years during different stages of the pandemic. The PHSM under study were selected from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT), supplemented by topics presented during the Rapid Exchange Forum (REF) meetings in the scope of the Population Health Information Research Infrastructure (PHIRI) project (H2020). The evidence- based review was conducted using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines to identify which reviews have already been published about each PHSMs and their results. In addition, two modified Delphi panel surveys were conducted among subject matter experts from 30 European countries to uphold the results found. There were 3,212 studies retrieved from PubMed, 162 full texts assessed for eligibility and 35 included in this PHSMs summary. The measures with clearest evidence on their positive impact from the evidence-based review include social distancing, hygiene measures, mask measures and testing policies. From the modified Delphi panel, the PHSMs considered most significant in the four periods analyzed were case isolation at home, face coverings, testing policy, and social distancing, respectively. The evidence found has significant implications for both researchers and policymakers. The study of PHSMs' impact on COVID-19 illustrates lessons learned for future pan- and epidemics, serving as a contribution to the health systems resilience discussion. These lessons, drawn from both the available scientific evidence and the perspectives of relevant subject matter experts, should also be considered in educational and preparedness programs and activities in the public health space.

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to healthcare among people with disabilities: evidence from six low- and middle-income countries

BackgroundThe pandemic has placed considerable strain on health systems, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), leading to reductions in the availability of routine health services. Emerging evidence suggests that people with disabilities have encountered marked challenges in accessing healthcare services and supports in the context of the pandemic. Further research is needed to explore specific barriers to accessing healthcare during the pandemic, and any strategies that promoted continued access to health services in LMICs where the vast majority of people with disabilities live.MethodsQualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with persons with disabilities in Ghana, Zimbabwe, Viet Nam, Türkiye (Syrian refugees), Bangladesh, and India as part of a larger project exploring the experiences of people with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic and their inclusion in government response activities. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.ResultsThis research found that people with disabilities in six countries - representing a diverse geographic spread, with different health systems and COVID-19 responses - all experienced additional difficulties accessing healthcare during the pandemic. Key barriers to accessing healthcare during the pandemic included changes in availability of services due to systems restructuring, difficulty affording care due to the economic impacts of the pandemic, fear of contracting coronavirus, and a lack of human support to enable care-seeking.ConclusionThese barriers ultimately led to decreased utilisation of services which, in turn, negatively impacted their health and wellbeing. However, we also found that certain factors, including active and engaged Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) played a role in reducing some of the impact of pandemic-related healthcare access barriers.