Wider Reform Research Articles

Reforming the power sector in transition: Do institutions matter?

This paper aims to investigate the often poorly explored link between power sector reforms and wider institutional reforms in the economy across different groups of transition countries. We use panel-data econometrics based on bias corrected dynamic fixed effect analysis (LSDVC) to assess the impact of reforms on macroeconomic and power sector outcomes. The results indicate that power sector reform is highly inter-dependent with wider reforms in other sectors of the economy. The findings indicate that failure to harmonize inter-sector reforms leads to power sector reform measures being ineffective. We conclude that the success of power sector reforms in developing countries largely depend on the extent to which they synchronize inter-sector reforms in the economy.

Emerging Trends and Old Habits in Higher Education Management: Focus on the Public vs. Private Funding Debate

This work takes into consideration the wide reform process that is impacting on Universities all over the world, especially focusing on the public versus private funding debate for Higher Education Institutions. In this regard, the paper provides some considerations on possible funding sources, discusses data related to the relevance of public funding and presents the features of the main models of public funding across many countries, particularly focusing on Europe.

Gregory C. Shaffer and Ricardo Melendez-Ortiz (eds), Dispute Settlement at the WTO: The Developing Country Experience

As the 10th anniversary of the launch of the WTO multilateral trade negotiations at Doha approaches, this collection of essays serves as a painful reminder that the so-called �Doha Development Round� is far from concluded. It also recalls how the WTO's dispute settlement system has continued to have an important �norm-generating function�.1 Nowhere is this more so than in disputes involving developing countries. In some instances developing country Members initiate formal dispute settlement proceedings at the WTO precisely to promote wider reforms of their governance and administrative structures. In others the participation of Member governments in formal dispute settlement procedures at the WTO has been supported by industry and the business sector. A few developing country governments have drawn on dialogue with local civil society organizations in bringing or defending complaints with important social implications for their citizens. Based on original research and pioneered by the Geneva-based International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), the book under review provides a unique set of case studies of various low-income and middle-income2 developing countries that have been active in WTO dispute settlement over the past decade. Its aim is to share �challenges, experiences, and best practices, and to inform deliberation and debate over what is possible� for developing countries when using the system (at p. xv). The case studies are organized on a regional basis (South America, Asia, and Africa) with selected contributions from each region. The case study on Brazil in Chapter 1 sets the tone. According to Shaffer, Sanchez Badin, and Rosenberg, the country's success in WTO dispute settlement is attributable to a professionalised Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a supportive and well-organized business sector, and a networked elite of professional lawyers and trade policy specialists. Brazil was one of the first two countries (the other being Venezuela) �

Atualizando a Hidra? O estágio supervisionado e a formação docente inicial em História

Este artigo tem por objetivo pensar o currículo e a formação docente inicial em História, sobretudo a partir do lugar construído para a prática de ensino e estágio supervisionado. As novas diretrizes aumentaram a carga horária das práticas e do estágio, o que, em teoria, exigiu amplas reformas, a partir de 2001, nos programas curriculares dos cursos de licenciatura. Para além dessas mudanças e reformas, o que se observa na formação docente são algumas permanências que seguem atualizando velhos problemas. A presente discussão retoma esses problemas a partir de elementos da trajetória histórica da disciplina nos últimos 30 anos, utilizando também alguns dados empíricos - como narrativas de professores egressos dos cursos de História da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) e da Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC), formados entre o final da década de 1970 e a década de 1990, com a intenção de contribuir para o debate sobre a formação docente em História nos dias atuais.

An urgent call to implement systematic monitoring of a comprehensive set of quality indicators for maternity services

This commentary paper proposes that historically the lack of significant system wide reform of the sector may be in part related to the quality of evidence that has informed reviews of maternity services. It calls for the implementation of systematic monitoring of a comprehensive set of quality indicators and makes suggestions about how this goal might be achieved.

Survey of recent developments

Indonesia has so far suffered a relatively mild impact from the global financial crisis. Its economy grew at 4% in the year to June 2009, displaying a more resilient response than some of its neighbours. Fiscal stimulus measures, deft monetary policy and cash transfers to the poor served to soften the impact of the crisis. Parliamentary elections in April and presidential elections in July provided further economic stimulus. Election-related spending and the stimulus measures helped maintain formal sector employment levels and the proportion of casual employees in the workforce. Like the cash transfers, payments by parliamentary candidates to voters contributed to household incomes, particularly among the poor. This is reflected in widespread declines in poverty observed in 2009. The crisis, the stimulus package, the direct cash transfers and the election campaign spending combined to create a mechanism of income redistribution in favour of the poor. On 20 October Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Boediono were inaugurated as president and vice president for 2009–14. They announced key economic targets for 2014, including 7% economic growth, 5–6% unemployment and an 8–10% poverty level. It is crucial that the two leaders tackle important reforms – even politically sensitive ones – that will remove obstacles to faster and more employment-friendly growth. However, the plan for their first 100 days focuses on a series of small, politically non-sensitive reforms designed to demonstrate their commitment to, and create momentum for, wider reform. This strategy is unlikely to create an impression that the government is serious about more substantial and essential reforms. Nor is it likely to generate the economic impact necessary to bring the economy closer to the government's key economic targets. The slow expansion of infrastructure since the 1997–98 crisis is a major obstacle to future high and sustained economic growth. Despite some signs of improvement in recent years, Indonesia's rate of infrastructure investment remains far below pre-crisis levels. Tackling this problem should be a high priority for the government. While pursuing ways to grow faster, Indonesia – one of the world's largest CO2 emitters-needs to respond more vigorously to climate change. The leaders have pledged to place climate change mitigation high on their policy agenda. Yet little has been said about how, as one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, Indonesia should support her people's adaptation to its effects. The government needs to give high priority to adaptation and promote it at the international level.

From Progressivism to Conservatism: The decline of the Town Planning Association of New South Wales in the 1930s1

The 1930s marked a transition in the town planning movement from early progressivism toward a more pragmatic problem-oriented focus setting the scene for wider reforms after World War II. The decade saw a shift from amateur advocacy towards a more professional outlook and organisation. The surviving capital city-based Town Planning Associations which had led the early movement confronted new challenges during this period. Formed in 1913 as the first such body, the Town Planning Association of New South Wales remained active in Sydney on many fronts of city improvement and in campaigning for legislative reform. But its status and authority faltered under changes in leadership, the emergence of rival bodies, and an inability to reconcile the community and professional goals of town planning. By the 1940s the Association paradoxically stood for anti-planning and was critical of plans, planners and planning institutions as inimical to the popular interest. Set against the evolving fortunes of town planning reform over the first third of the twentieth century and the development of Sydney as Australia's largest city, this article examines the activities of the Town Planning Association of New South Wales in the 1930s. They exemplify the struggle of citizen-based planning at a time of change in the organisation and values of town planning practice.

Micro–macro linkages in institutional restructuring processes in the water sector: example of the operations management support project (OMS) in Jordan

The German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) has supported the Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ) since 1994 by the provision of assistance aimed at increasing the efficiency of the potable water supply and wastewater disposal services under the Operations Management Support (OMS) project. Using OMS as an example, this article shows the links of the change processes at the utility and the sector level (micro–macro linkages) for the introduction of institutional changes within the Jordanian water sector. The support of OMS followed co-evolutionary thinking, that is, it supported the dynamics coming from the utility level and affecting the sector level as well as the feedback loops from sector level to utility level. On the utility level, OMS activities and the induced improvements are a technical base for wider reform processes. They facilitated the implementation of private sector participation, PSP, with better quality base data. The information systems which were introduced by the project also indicated the importance of structural changes on the sector level and the urgency of these reforms. And finally, the involvement of OMS staff on the utility level made them credible when offering advice about the sector level. Hence, the parallel support of activities on both levels provided a deeper awareness of the reform issues and contributed to the success of the sector reforms.

Party-System Reform in Democracy's Grey Zone: A Response to Moraski

AbstractThis article analyses the party-system reforms introduced in Russia during Vladimir Putin's presidency. It contests Byron Moraski's interpretation, published in an earlier edition of this journal, which claims that the reforms introduced in Putin's second term were a response to the 2003 Duma election and were intended to preserve the unity and discipline of United Russia, the regime's ‘party of power’. This article argues that Moraski's explanation of the second-term reforms is flawed and contends that the first- and second-term reforms were part of a wider reform programme designed to centralize Russia's political system, consolidate its party system and contribute to the construction of a façade democracy. The article also challenges Moraski's argument that these reforms, while introduced to advance the regime's interests, could further democratization in the longer term by adding the crucial caveat that stronger opposition parties that could act as a democratizing influence will only emerge if practices of electoral manipulation lessen or fail.

Rural Unemployment: Incidence and Evidence

The effect of population growth and demographic transition on economic growth, poverty, inequality and on rural livelihoods has been widely discussed and debated (Birdsall and Sinding 2001). Within this debate, the focus has also been on how the age structure of a country’s population could affect its future rate of growth. A productive work force coupled with a larger working age population could offer the opportunity for a country to grow faster. This phenomenon is referred to as the demographic dividend. In the context of East Asia, it has been argued that one of the factors contributing to the annual increase in per capita income of over 6 percent over the period 1960-1995 was the favorable age structure of the population. These countries had a bulge in the working age population and created opportunities for the workforce. This enabled them to reap the demographic dividend (Bloom and Williamson 1998). Against the backdrop of these discussions, in this paper we examine the employment and unemployment scenario over the period 1993-2004 in the context of India. This is also the period when the Indian government undertook a slew of economy wide reforms. India is a relatively young country and it is often conjectured that it might be ideally poised to reap the demographic dividend. Over 37 percent of its population is in the age group 0-14 years, 17.7 percent is in the age group 15-24 years and 14.8 percent is in the age group 25-34 years. It is projected that the proportion of population in the working age group of 15-64 years would increase from 62.9 per cent in 2006 to 68.4 percent by 2026 (Economic Survey 2006-2007, p. 215). There has been feminization of the workforce over the years. Except for the low poverty regions, in all other regions the workforce participation rate for women have increased and that of men have declined in 2004-2005 compared to 1993-1994. Over the period employment situation worsened in the low poverty region. Though there was some tendency of diversification of workforce away from agricultural sector, the unemployment rate almost doubled for both men and women. Thus even though people are moving out of agricultural sector all of them are not getting absorbed in the non agricultural sector.

The lessons of Eastern Europe for modern intelligence reform

The proliferation of threats to security, which emerge in states going through major reform processes, demands a functional intelligence architecture. Accurate intelligence is essential in identifying risks to the wider reform process. Western intelligence agencies have viewed intelligence services in reforming states as tactical opportunities and sources of intelligence rather than as targets for reform in the context of a wider reform agenda. Sensitivities inherent in intelligence gathering in states with a recent history of repressive government make the relationship between the intelligence services and civil society crucial if the intelligence services are to be effective and to play a positive role in the transition process. The practice of countering terrorism has altered the nature of intelligence gathering in ways that make accountability and public legitimacy more central to the effectiveness of intelligence services than the ‘traditional’ threats did. Western models of intelligence oversight and accountability are inadequate in states without developed traditions of democratic governance and weaknesses in wider political culture means that these models are not effective in lending intelligence services popular legitimacy. Alternative models for structuring the relationship between the intelligence services, parliament, the executive and the public must therefore be identified.

Empowering the Incapacitated Worker? The Employment and Support Allowance and Pathways to Work

The article offers a critical discussion of the welfare-to-work regime and developments since the Welfare Reform Act 2007 was enacted, with a particular focus on policies towards those who are incapacitated from work. It considers a new measure, the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) which is replacing both Incapacity Benefit and other forms of support such as the ‘incapacitated from work’ and ‘disabled worker’ categories of Income Support. As the article considers, this is just one of the strands in the government's evolving ‘empowerment’ agenda unveiled in A New Deal for Welfare: Empowering People to Work (2006, Cm 6730). This has the declared aim of increasing the labour market participation rates of sizeable groups such as those in receipt of Incapacity Benefit and those who are disabled, as well as lone parents, carers, older workers, and unemployed people in the ethnic minority communities. A critical assessment is made of wider reform objectives such as achievement of an overall national 'employment rate' of 80% - an increase of nearly 7% on the latest figures for the UK issued by the OECD's Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics, and the Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey figures. Much of the article's attention is focused on the kind of interventions described in 'Reducing Dependency, Increasing Opportunity: Options for the Future of Welfare to Work' (David Freud: Department of Work and Pensions, March 2007).

In the Triune Name: Some Aspects of Baptismal Practice in Early Reformed Churches

Within the wider Reformation in the sixteenth century, liturgical development of the early Reformed tradition saw a major departure from the rites of the medieval Catholic church including those for baptism. Part of this shift was determined by the spatial setting for baptism as well as by differences in the form of water container used for the rite. This article explores some of the baptismal practices that developed in early Reformed churches in light of such factors, and in relation to the understanding of the notion of adiaphora. After a brief reflection on the variety of ritual usage, the study examines the setting for baptism at the heart of the worshipping community along with the three types of water container used at the critical moment of baptism: the font, the ewer, and the basin. It concludes by noting that such diversity is characteristic of the multi-stranded Reformed tradition.

New e-Health Tracks in Engineering Education of the Politecnico di Milano

In Italian universities, most curricula have recently been deeply innovated. Out of the historical and usual five-year-based degrees to be taken after the five-year-based Secondary School / High School the University system moved into a 3+2 year university framework. Engineering curricula were changed too. Such a wide reform forced the redesign of many courses, even entire course tracks. In some cases it also facilitated the re-design of Doctoral (Ph.D.) programs. The introduction of some one-year based and subject-focused programs, to be taken right after a specifically considered degree, was facilitated as well.At the Engineering Faculties of the Politecnico di Milano, as far as it concerns Medical Informatics and Telemedicine, curricular courses and course tracks, as well as a couple of one-year subject-oriented programs have been widely re-organized. We describe the entire new educational offer.The aim of the educational offer remains to enable students to acquire technical skills, and to use them for becoming Medical Information and Communication Technology experts. Often the student involvement in research is the practical pass for obtaining such result. In doing so students understand better what a positive technological return for the users is. Running research programs relate to the Visible Human Dataset and Digital Anatomy, to textual and image Data Integration, to Health Information System and eHealth, and to Bioinformatics. Some prototypes, developed at the Laboratory of Medical Informatics and Telemedicine, are briefly mentioned.

Water and Sanitation in South Asia in the Context of the Millennium Development Goals

The South Asia region holds the key to the fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals related to water and sanitation. Any effort towards achieving the 2015 targets would require investments in the sector that cannot be generated internally by the countries of the region. The authors demonstrate that such efforts will invariably require at least a 10-fold international inflow of investments to the region, besides massive domestic investments and adoption of sector efficiency measures. This article identifies and discusses a plethora of problems that the sector faces in the South Asia region and links the problems to two root causes: inappropriate tariff structures and poor governance. The article also discusses the issue of prevalence of corruption in the water and sanitation sector in the South Asia and concludes that the sector needs wide reforms with a strong political commitment to take on the challenge of the year 2015 development targets.

The Historical and Political Background to the Proposals for Local Commissioning of Primary Dental Care by Primary Care Trusts

This paper provides a background to the changes that are about to occur in the system for primary oral healthcare delivery in the NHS. This is part of a far wider reform programme involving all public sector services. The challenges that the Government faces are not unique: all countries are striving to alter their care systems to address the changing expectations of the electorate while attempting to control both the costs and inequalities. What is unique to the United Kingdom is the historical legacy of the NHS and its political importance, which should not be underestimated. An overview of the agenda for change in all parts of the health sector is presented. This is followed by a more detailed analysis of the proposals for future delivery of primary oral care in the NHS and the subsequent issues arising. A consistent theme running throughout the Government's agenda is devolution. Indeed, the detailed programme discussed in this paper applies only to England and Wales. The fact that Scotland has different plans highlights the importance of the political and cultural setting to any reform programme.

Towards a new policy framework for the enlarged Europe: investing for growth and modernisation

European leaders aim to turn the enlarged Union into “the most competitive and dynamic knowledge–based economy in the world” (Lisbon Declaration). Without major increases in infrastructure investments, however, dynamic growth — the missing ingredient of the European model — will not materialise. Given extraordinarily tight fiscal prospects, policy reform is imperative: (i) redeployment of resources from agricultural subsidies towards productive investment; (ii) selectivity and rigour in project screening; (iii) a larger role for the private sector and (iv) pricing policies designed to mobilise resources, manage demand and internalise environmental costs. Project funding should remain the instrument of choice for strategic infrastructure projects with regional integration features. Implementation performance must improve and, at country level, EU funding should be targeted to the poorest countries of the Union. Where policies and institutions are weak, EU funding should be conditional and channelled through well–designed programmes that emphasise sector–wide policy reforms, regional development and community–based initiatives.

‘Doing the business’: paradox and irony in vocational education – GNVQ business studies as a case in point

Drawing on a single case study in the Transforming Learning Cultures in Further Education (TLC-FE) project, discussed in the introduction to this volume, this article explores contrasting perspectives of tutors' and students' experiences of a General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ). The ‘case in point’ is an Intermediate level GNVQ in Business Studies. The study juxtaposes the official discourse of GNVQ as a high skill qualification, offering parity of esteem and access to higher education and employment, with the reality as tutors and students experience it. The article explores the often contradictory ways in which these experiences interrelate with one another in shaping the teaching and learning culture of the GNVQ site. The term ‘site’ is used here to denote the context and situation that frames the teaching and learning experiences of tutors and students. As the title suggests, the article identifies ambiguities in the way tutors and students make sense of GNVQ Business Studies, in the wider context of vocational education and training (VET) policy. A number of overlapping themes are identified that connect the contrasting biographies and identities of tutors and students with the development of learning cultures in the site. The article deals with each of these in turn to illuminate the complex ways in which the ‘empty shell’ of GNVQ is given meaning in the often paradoxical conditions of further education (FE) practice. It is pertinent to examine this site in such depth at a time when Intermediate GNVQs are being transformed into Vocational General Certificates in Secondary Education (VGCSEs), which form part of the wider reform of 14-19 education and training in England.

Behind the Classroom Door: The Challenge of Organisational and Pedagogical Change

In many school systems the inabilityof system wide reform to significantly enhancestudent learning is clearly evident. There is agrowing recognition among policy makers of theneed to locate improvement efforts closer tothe classroom and to support schools inbuilding the internal capacity for change. Thisarticle compares three school improvementprojects that have been successful in achievingorganisational and pedagogical change. Thiscomparative analysis highlights the importanceof building the capacity for change anddevelopment at both the school and classroomlevel. It also emphasises the need to generateprofessional learning communities withinschools if improvement is to be sustained.

Hierarchical Generalised Linear Models with Time-Dependent Clustering: Assessing the Effect of Health Sector Reform on Patient Outcomes in New Zealand

New Zealand has one of the most reformed health systems in the world. This paper is primarily concerned with modelling the impact on hospital outcomes of the reforms of the early 1990s, when as part of a major, health sector wide reform process, the administration of public hospitals passed from elected Area Health Boards (AHBs) to Crown Health Enterprises (CHEs) operating under a competitive model of health care provision dominated by the funder/purchaser/provider split. The impact of reform processes on public hospitals is of particular interest since they consume 40%–50% of public expenditure on health, and have been repeatedly restructured in an attempt to contain the ever-expanding cost of health care. There is concern among both health professionals and the general public that these restructurings are reducing the quality of hospital services, and therefore negatively effecting patient outcomes. Using data from a study of 34 New Zealand public hospitals, we discuss the application of Bayesian hierarchical generalised linear models to the analysis of trends in patient outcomes over the period 1988–2001. The time-varying nature of the grouping of hospitals within larger health authorities complicates the application of HGLMs because the cluster structure of the data changes over the study period. An approach to dealing with such ‘time-dependent clustering’ by introducing period-specific authority level effects is developed. The analysis does not support the proposition that higher level authorities had an effect on outcome trends, or that the administrative changeover from AHBs to CHEs impacted on 60-day post-admission mortality.