Decentralized Scheme Research Articles

The experience of Tunisian public healthcare system toward decentralization to the reduction of health inequalities in low-, middle- income countries

From 2014 to 2021, Tunisian government had a firm will to implement a progressive decentralization of welfare state governance, as outlined in its democratic Constitution. The Tunisian public healthcare system was selected as a pilot sector for experimenting with decentralization to reduce disparities in access to and quality of health services across different regions. This paper aimed to formulate an effective strategy for healthcare system decentralization in low- and middle-income countries, drawing on past experiences of its implementation. Country case study resulted the best methodology to achieve that goal. Top heath management, figured out by regional hospitals’ directors, was consulted to describe the technical, managerial and cultural “heritage” collected during the development process of the decentralization reform in public healthcare system in Tunisia. Findings revealed the Tunisian healthcare system decentralization should be, in first instance, the establishment of different decentralization paths according with regional pre-conditions, and then, of common protocols and procedures at national level for overcoming current differences between Tunisian territories. Decentralization process must be tailored to the specific needs of the regional Tunisian contexts to be effective but with a national control on that. Drawing from the Tunisian experience, proposed suggestions were valuable for the definition of an effective national healthcare system decentralization reform strategy more generally in low- and middle- income countries, especially in Middle East and North Africa region’s countries. Due to the common recent democratic history and welfare state approach, these countries could use this “heritage” to apply effective decentralizing reform strategies for reducing territorial inequalities, in this case territorial health inequalities.

Nigeria at Crossroad: Re-positioning the Nation Politically and Economically

Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, faces persistent political and economic challenges, and widespread poverty. This article examines the country’s woes and proposes comprehensive solutions. The paper argues that Nigeria’s transformation hinges on institutional reforms, economic diversification and inclusive governance. Recommendations such as enhancing the transparency and efficiency of the electoral process, effective decentralization strategy, strengthening anti-corruption institutions and economic diversification through agriculture and infrastructural development, implementing these measures requires a strong political will and leadership commitment, citizens engagement and participation, and strategic successful implementation of these measures as outlined in the paper can yield to improved governance and transparency, economic growth, diversification, and political participation, among others. This article concludes by providing a road map for Nigeria’s political and economic resurgence, highlighting the need for collective action and commitment from government, citizens and stakeholders.

Study on National Image Construction and International Communication in CHINA ON THE MOVE Amid Deconstructionism and Constructivism

National image documentary is a key part in shaping a country’s brand, fostering cultural exchange. However, China has faced challenges in presenting a dynamic and multidimensional national image on the global stage. In recent years, China has intensified its international communication efforts, leveraging various media formats to portray a more comprehensive image. The paper critically analyzes the contradictions inherent in the construction of national image and its overseas translation and communication, focusing on the biases of logocentrism and egocentrism. Taking China on the Move as a case study and examining its production, characterization, narrative, and translation strategies to summarize patterns and practices from a series of high-quality Sino-foreign co-produced documentaries. The analysis explores how the deconstructionist strategy of decentralization contributes to the joint-shaping of national image, and how an emphasis on marginalization reflects broader societal structures through the lens of ordinary lives. The deconstructionist translation strategy underscores the translator’s active role and the importance of “creative rebellion”. Conversely, the constructivist strategy elucidates the underlying logic of China’s image for international audiences, promoting empathetic communication by seeking common ground while acknowledging differences. The constructivist translation strategy also imposes necessary limitations on “creative rebellion” to ensure coherence in the translation process.

A self-organized optimal scheduling approach for integrated energy systems using bottom-up modelling

In recent years, decentralized methods have received growing attentions in the field of optimal scheduling of integrated energy systems (IESs) due to their advantages in independent operation and privacy protection. However, the development of decentralized scheduling strategies is usually challenging and time-consuming in practice. To address this problem, this paper proposes a generic self-organized multi-agent-based decentralized scheduling framework for IESs. Four types of base agent models were defined firstly to characterize the individual benefits of various energy entities in IESs. They could construct customized decentralized scheduling models easily. A topology-based fully-decentralized coordination approach was further presented to resolve the conflicts of individual benefits among agents. The coordination rules could be generated in a self-organized manner according to the topological structure of target IESs. Finally, an improved fully-decentralized alternating direction method of multipliers was developed to achieve the fully-decentralized optimization. Simulation results indicate that the generated strategy can reach satisfactory optimization accuracy and computational efficiency. The relative error of optimal results with the benchmark strategy is lower than 0.02 %, and the computational time is reduced by 46.7 % compared with conventional decentralized strategies. This study provides a generic and cost-effective solution to generate customized decentralized scheduling strategies for various types of IESs.

Political Socialisation and Capacity Building through Decentralisation Rural Local Leadership

After attaining Independence in 1947, a committee headed by Balvantrai Mehta studied the problems of local government, like the absence of people’s participation, and suggested ways and means for improving the execution of ‘Community Development Programme’ (CDP) and ‘National Extension Service’ (NES) scheme, launched on 1952 and 1953 respectively, in a phased manner. The partial success of both CDP and NES led to the formation of a three-tier arrangement, which is the process of democratic decentralization. The political socialization process is through every human being learning the essentials of socio-political life science he or she comes into the world. The behavioral movement has sensitized scholars in comparative politics to shift their research area from the static aspects of structural, legal, and historical analysis of the rural local governments to the dynamic aspect of the functions of these institutions. This area has received impetus, especially from scholars who have been oriented toward the methodology of functionalists. India is acknowledged for its local administration through the ages. The present local government structure has its roots in Lord Mayo’s strategy of decentralization of 1870, followed by Lord Ripon’s enunciation of local government in 1884, which had heralded a new trend of bringing people to the centre-stage in managing their own affairs. Mahatma Gandhi said that “the centre of power is not in Delhi or Calcutta or Bombay or in big cities; it should be distributed among the seven hundred thousand villages of India.” The significance of local government in India has considerably increased in the post-independent India. There is a paucity of research work on political socialization aspects of the rural local body leaders at the national and international levels. This research work would add to the multidisciplinary research literature relevant to Politics and Public Administration, Social Work, Sociology, Rural Development, Economics, etc. The present research paper examines the political socialization aspects of the rural local body leaders from Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu, India.

Decentralization of the health system - experiences from Pakistan, Portugal and Brazil.

Decentralization of a health system is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon that demands thorough investigation of its process logistics, predisposing factors and implementation mechanisms, within the broader socio-political environment of each nation. Despite its wide adoption across both high-income countries (HICs) and low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs), empirical evidence of whether decentralization actually translates into improved health system performance remains inconclusive and controversial. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive description of the decentralization processes in three countries at different stages of their decentralization strategies - Pakistan, Brazil and Portugal. This study employed a systematic analysis of peer-reviewed academic journals, official government reports, policy documents and publications from international organizations related to health system decentralization. A comprehensive search was conducted using reputable databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, the WHO repository and other relevant databases, covering the period up to the knowledge cutoff date in June 2023. Information was systematically extracted and organized into the determinants, process mechanics and challenges encountered during the planning, implementation and post-decentralization phases. Although decentralization reforms have achieved some success, challenges persist in their implementation. Comparing all three countries, it was evident that all three have prioritized health in their decentralization reforms and aimed to enhance local decision-making power. Brazil has made significant progress in implementing decentralization reforms, while Portugal and Pakistan are still in the process. Pakistan has faced significant implementation challenges, including capacity-building, resource allocation, resistance to change and inequity in access to care. Brazil and Portugal have also faced challenges, but to a lesser extent. The extent, progress and challenges in the decentralization processes vary among the three countries, each requiring ongoing evaluation and improvement to achieve the desired outcomes. Notable differences exist in the extent of decentralization, the challenges faced during implementation and inequality in access to care between the three countries. It is important for Portugal, Brazil and Pakistan to address these through reinforcing implementation strategies, tackling inequalities in access to care and enhancing monitoring and evaluation mechanism. Additionally, fostering knowledge sharing among these different countries will be instrumental in facilitating mutual learning.

The efficiency of public expenditures on basic services: The case of South African municipalities

AbstractThis paper examines the efficiency of service delivery across 213 local and metropolitan municipalities in South Africa, focusing on four critical areas: electricity, water, sewerage and waste removal. Utilising a order‐ partial frontier efficiency analysis (PFEA), the study calculates output‐oriented efficiency scores for each municipality, incorporating adjustments for service quality based on an ‘infrastructure quality‐index’. Our empirical findings indicate marked variations in efficiency, with electricity services exhibiting the highest efficiency rate at 35%, while waste removal lags behind at 22%. Additionally, municipalities centred around small urban towns are found to be more efficient, challenging the widely held view that larger municipalities are better equipped for efficient service delivery. The analysis offers empirical insights into local government performance in South Africa, underscoring the need for targeted policy interventions to address efficiency gaps. These results not only inform fiscal and administrative decentralisation strategies but also set the groundwork for future research exploring the underlying factors affecting municipal efficiency.

Sand cat swarm optimization algorithm and its application integrating elite decentralization and crossbar strategy.

Sand cat swarm optimization algorithm is a meta-heuristic algorithm created to replicate the hunting behavior observed by sand cats. The presented sand cat swarm optimization method (CWXSCSO) addresses the issues of low convergence precision and local optimality in the standard sand cat swarm optimization algorithm. It accomplished this through the utilization of elite decentralization and a crossbar approach. To begin with, a novel dynamic exponential factor is introduced. Furthermore, throughout the developmental phase, the approach of elite decentralization is incorporated to augment the capacity to transcend the confines of the local optimal. Ultimately, the crossover technique is employed to produce novel solutions and augment the algorithm's capacity to emerge from local space. The techniques were evaluated by performing a comparison with 15 benchmark functions. The CWXSCSO algorithm was compared with six advanced upgraded algorithms using CEC2019 and CEC2021. Statistical analysis, convergence analysis, and complexity analysis use statistics for assessing it. The CWXSCSO is employed to verify its efficacy in solving engineering difficulties by handling six traditional engineering optimization problems. The results demonstrate that the upgraded sand cat swarm optimization algorithm exhibits higher global optimization capability and demonstrates proficiency in dealing with real-world optimization applications.

Hayek’s Knowledge Problem and its Relevance in Organizational Management

This paper discusses the enduring influence of Friedrich A. Hayek's contributions to economics and political philosophy, particularly in the context of modern decentralized management principles. Through his knowledge problem, Hayek can be seen as the ideological forefather of the modern management strategy of decentralization and can provide managers with practical insight into decentralized decision-making. The paper explores how Hayek's insights, specifically regarding the distributed nature of knowledge, intersect with the concept of decentralized management. By empowering employees, fostering collaboration, and leveraging local expertise, decentralized management addresses the limitations of traditional hierarchical structures. Comparing Hayek's "knowledge problem" with decentralized management as represented by the management scholar Peter Drucker, provides a theoretical foundation for agile and innovative organizational strategies. This paper concludes by offering practical insights for managers based on Hayek and Drucker’s work, such as encouraging bottom-up innovation and recognizing the limits of centralization for modern managers seeking to enhance adaptability and decision-making processes within their organizations.

Quantized-output-feedback practical prescribed-time design strategy for decentralized tracking of a class of interconnected nonlinear systems with unknown interaction delays

This paper proposes a decentralized practical prescribed-time (PT) tracking design using quantized output feedback (QOF) for uncertain interconnected lower-triangular systems with unknown time-delay interconnections. The local output signals are assumed to be only measured and quantized for the PT tracker design under a band-limited network. By employing a PT-dependent scaling function, a decentralized memoryless PT observer based on quantized local outputs is developed to estimate local unmeasurable state variables. Owing to output quantization, the available output feedback signals become discontinuous. As a result, the tracking error between the actual (i.e., unquantized) local output and the local desired signal cannot be utilized in the local virtual controller. To address this issue, a novel adaptive compensation mechanism is derived to design the local PT neural network tracking laws using only quantized local outputs and estimated states. The proposed PT tracking controller does not require information on the interconnected nonlinear functions and interaction delays. During the Lyapunov stability analysis, the boundary layer error decomposition approach is employed to address the issue of non-differentiability in the local virtual control laws. The proposed QOF control system achieves practical PT stability. It is shown that the settling time of local tracking errors can be predetermined, regardless of the design parameters and initial conditions. Finally, the proposed QOF decentralization strategy is supported with illustrative examples and a comparison to demonstrate its benefits.

Effect of Decentralization Strategy on Macroeconomic Stability in Thailand

Effect of Decentralization Strategy on Macroeconomic Stability in Thailand

АДАПТАЦІЯ ЗАРУБІЖНОГО ДОСВІДУ ВИКОРИСТАННЯ ФІНАНСОВИХ ТА ТРУДОВИХ РЕСУРСІВ ТЕРИТОРІАЛЬНИХ ГРОМАД

This scientific research explores the experience of territorial governance organization in European countries and its impact on socio-economic development. Starting with an analysis of the role of a specific form of public authority of territorial communities, the study highlights the necessity of their autonomy in addressing local issues and managing respective territorial units. Special attention is given to the problems of resource provision for regional and local development, particularly the creation of favorable conditions for entrepreneurship and innovative technologies. Further investigation focuses on analyzing various models of local self-government, considering their financial stability and degree of autonomy in governance. This allows for a deeper understanding of the influence of territorial governance on socio-economic development and identifying the most effective approaches to decentralization in European countries. Significant attention is also paid to the analysis of community labor potential and its impact on the labor market development and socio-economic strategies. Assessing this potential is a key element in planning community development and ensuring the stability of their socio-economic status. Detailed study of this aspect helps determine optimal ways for authorities to influence labor market formation and promote its efficient functioning. The text also emphasizes the importance of assessing the labor potential of communities for planning labor market development and socio-economic strategies. The necessity of labor market monitoring and predictive analysis to ensure sustainable community development is highlighted. Overall, the text reflects the importance of proper territorial governance and its impact on the socio-economic development of communities and regions, as well as indicates ways to improve this process. Overall, this research reflects the importance of proper territorial governance organization as a key factor in achieving sustainable and equitable socio-economic development in regions and communities. Therefore, its findings can serve as a basis for developing decentralization strategies and local self-government policies in different countries worldwide.

A Comprehensive Review of Advancements in Communication-Efficient Distributed Optimization

Abstract: In the ever-evolving landscape of machine learning and deep neural networks, the demand for training large models on massive datasets has driven research into innovative approaches for efficient distributed optimization. These approaches aim to simultaneously improve model accuracy and generalization while mitigating the communication overhead challenges inherent to distributed training. Reduced communication complexity is highly desirable, as communication overhead often poses a performance bottleneck in distributed systems. This literature review explores the progression of communication-efficient techniques, culminating in the introduction of the Slow Momentum (SLOWMO) framework. It traces the trajectory of distributed optimization, addresses decentralization strategies, and highlights the role of Local Stochastic Gradient Descent (Local SGD) and momentum in communication-efficient algorithms. It delves into Block-Wise Model Update Filtering (BMUF) and introduces SLOWMO, a framework consistently enhancing optimization and generalization performance across various base algorithms. This review unveils the evolving field of communication-efficient distributed optimization, offering theoretical guarantees and practical insights for improving large-scale model training.

Countries’ vulnerability to food supply disruptions caused by the Russia–Ukraine war from a trade dependency perspective

Disruptions of key food and fertilizer exports from Russia and Ukraine have exposed many countries to challenges accessing some commodities since these countries’ war began. We evaluated the short-term, external, and direct impacts of disruptions of six food commodities and three types of fertilizer supplies from Russia and Ukraine on food access for all trading partners of the two countries by applying a set of trade and socioeconomic indicators. We found that the external food supplies of 279 countries and territories were affected to varying degrees; 24 countries—especially Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Mongolia—are extremely vulnerable because they depend almost entirely on a variety of food imports from Russia and Ukraine. Access to fertilizers was affected in 136 countries and territories, particularly Estonia (potassic fertilizer), Mongolia (nitrogenous fertilizers), Kazakhstan (mixed fertilizers), and Brazil, the United States, China, and India (all types of fertilizers). An integrated assessment of countries’ import types, purchasing power parity per capita, and populations indicated that the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Pakistan are most vulnerable to such supply disruptions. Development of research into diversification and decentralization strategies for food access is needed to guide stable food supply policies.

Evaluating the implementation of a dynamic digital application to enable community-based decentralisation of rheumatic heart disease case management in Uganda: protocol for a hybrid type III effectiveness-implementation study

IntroductionRheumatic heart disease (RHD) affects over 39 million people worldwide, the majority in low-income and middle-income countries. Secondary antibiotic prophylaxis (SAP), given every 3–4 weeks can improve outcomes, provided more...

MAJORITY RULE DECENTRALIZATION AND SWACCH BHARAT MISSION IN INDIA: AN EXAMINATION OF ADEQUACY AND STRATEGY STRUCTURE

Decentralization strategies have turned into a pretty much uniform design among states. The vote based left and right in entrepreneur a majority rules government advocate institutional upgrading concerning positive state. Decentralization works with the distinguishing proof of individuals' inclinations and wants by permitting them to take part straightforwardly in the plan and execution of plans. In India, the Panchayati Raj framework is broadly viewed as the main Decentralization device for making a majority rules system completely equitable and delicate. Just on two events, the Association and the Regions did the Indian states go about as a league. The 73rd amendment supports India's Decentralization cycle and makes it simpler for states to assign position to neighborhood legislatures. It has been contended that, while the starting points of decentralized administration can be followed back to antiquated India, the ongoing type of Decentralization created and laid out by a few Western researchers looks similar. In spite of the fact that Decentralization possibly gives critical open doors to viable country development, its execution is many times tormented by various issues. This exploration means to perceive political Decentralization and country administration issues in India.

Pengaruh Pendapatan Asli Daerah, Dana Alokasi Umum, dan Dana Alokasi Khusus terhadap Belanja Daerah Kabupaten/Kota Pada Provinsi Jawa Barat dan Banten

To attain autonomy at the regional level, local administrations must efficiently and effectively manage available resources. The decentralization strategy, which granted greater authority to the states, made this feasible. Examining how PAD, GAF, and SAF affect local budgets in West Java and Banten is the primary objective of this research. The Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget Realization Report for the Provinces of West Java and Banten covers the years 2017-2021 and provides numerical analysis of regional own revenues, general allocation funds, special allocation funds, and regional expenditures. Statistics and hypothesis testing in SPSS 24. Data for hypothesis testing was analyzed using multiple linear regression. The research indicated that (1) the PAD correlates positively with the Regional Expenditure of Regency/City Governments in West Java and Banten, and the greater the PAD, the higher the Regional Expenditure. Since the General Allocation Fund is positively correlated with Regional Expenditures, raising the GAF would likewise raise the Regional Expenditures of District/City Governments in West Java and Banten. Similarly, rising DAK will boost spending by Java Island's regional district and city governments.
 Keywords: Regional Original Income, General Allocation Fund, Special Allocation Fund, Regional Expenditure.

Quantized-state-based decentralized neural network control of a class of uncertain interconnected nonlinear systems with input and interaction time delays

This paper presents a quantized-state-based decentralized control strategy for uncertain interconnected nonlinear systems with time-varying delays under a networked control environment. Full state variables quantized via a uniform-hysteretic quantizer are available only for a decentralized adaptive control design. Unlike the existing decentralized adaptive recursive control designs, this study is focused on establishing a quantized-state-based decentralized learning mechanism for neural networks using discontinuously quantized states. Moreover, the stability of a decentralized neural network tracking system in the presence of time delays is analyzed. For each subsystem, a neural-network-based local adaptive tracker using a delay compensator is designed based on the local quantized state feedback. Technical lemmas pertaining to quantization errors and adaptive laws are presented to ensure the boundedness of all closed-loop signals and the convergence of local tracking errors to an adjustable neighborhood of the origin. Finally, illustrative simulations clarify and verify the decentralization strategy of the developed state-quantized adaptive tracking system. The control performance is evaluated using the root mean square control errors, where the values are 0.0293 and 0.0134 for each subsystem in Example 1 and 0.0467 and 0.0384 for each subsystem in Example 2.

Resilience effect of decentralized detention system to extreme flooding events

Abstract The experiences from recent urban flooding events suggest that the conventional centralized detention systems based on detention size expansion with minimum costs need to accommodate the extreme flooding events exceeding their design capacity. This study investigated the resilience effects of decentralized detention systems to address extreme flooding events in urban areas. An integrated flood resilience measure that integrates the regional performance of sub-basins with a decentralized flood control system was proposed and applied to an urban watershed including five sub-basins. Hydrologic and hydraulic analysis to quantify the hydrologic responses and resilience of the watershed to flooding scenarios was performed using the Hydrological Modeling System and Geospatial River Analysis System of Hydrological Engineering Centre models. The results identified the best locations of distributed detention ponds and characterized the effects of the decentralization levels of the detention system on enhancing flood resilience to extreme events. Additionally, an increase in the resilience effects of the decentralized detention system was found in the cases of more extreme flooding events from the combined impacts of high-intensity rainfall and land cover change. The findings suggest insights into incorporating decentralization strategies into decision-making on detention systems to resiliently cope with extreme flooding events in urban watersheds.

The drivers of carbon emissions in China: the perspective of fiscal decentralization

Fiscal decentralization determines government behavior considerably by being a major factor influencing China's carbon emissions. We analyze the impact of fiscal decentralization on carbon emissions on basis of the dataset of 30 Chinese areas for the period 2008 to 2020. We reveal that fiscal decentralization significantly raises carbon emissions, but worsens carbon emission efficiency. The impact of fiscal decentralization on carbon emissions varies significantly by geographical location and economic development level shocks. Local governments increase the expenditure on economic services while reducing the expenditure on basic public services as a result of the fiscal decentralization scheme, which is an important reason why the carbon emission level cannot be effectively improved. As such, it is necessary to keep pace with the times, and build a service-oriented government, and capitalize on the capabilities of local governments in terms of their service duties so as to maximize carbon reduction.