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Decentralization
Kinds of Decentralization Selected AbstractsFISCAL DECENTRALIZATION AND THE BUSINESS CYCLE: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF SEVEN FEDERATIONSECONOMICS & POLITICS, Issue 1 2010JONATHAN RODDEN Although fiscal policies of central governments sometimes provide modest insurance against regional income shocks, this paper shows that procyclical fiscal policy among provincial governments can easily overwhelm these stabilizing effects. We examine the cyclicality of budget items among provincial governments in seven federations, showing that own-source taxes are generally highly procyclical, and contrary to common wisdom, revenue sharing and discretionary transfers are either acyclical or procyclical. Constituent governments are thus left alone to smooth their own shocks, and we document the extent to which various restraints on borrowing and saving undermine their ability to do so. The resulting procyclicality of provincial fiscal policy is likely to have important implications in a world where demands for countercyclical fiscal policy are increasing but considerable fiscal responsibilities are being devolved to subnational governments. [source] THE ECONOMICS OF FISCAL DECENTRALIZATIONJOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SURVEYS, Issue 4 2010Duc Hong Vo Abstract There is no complete overview or discussion of the literature of the economics of federalism and fiscal decentralization, even though scholarly interest in the topic has been increasing significantly over recent years. This paper provides a general, brief but comprehensive overview of the main insights from the literature on fiscal federalism and decentralization. In doing so, literature on fiscal federalism and decentralization is grouped into two main approaches: ,first generation approach' and ,an emerging second generation approach'. The discussion generally covers the two notions of fiscal decentralization: ,fiscal autonomy' and ,fiscal importance' of subnational governments as the background of the most recently developed index of fiscal decentralization in Vo. The relevance of this discussion to any further development of a fiscal decentralization index is briefly noted. [source] Decentralization and Democracy in Indonesia: A Critique of Neo-Institutionalist PerspectivesDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 4 2004Vedi R. Hadiz This article assesses some of the major premises of neo-institutionalist explanations of decentralization policy and practices, but focuses especially on the relationship between decentralization and democracy, in the context of the recent and ongoing Indonesian experience with decentralization. In the last two decades ,decentralization' has become, along with ,civil society', ,social capital' and ,good governance', an integral part of the contemporary neo-institutionalist lexicon, especially that part which is intended to draw greater attention to ,social' development. The concern of this article is to demystify how, as a policy objective, decentralization has come to embody a barely acknowledged political, not just theoretical, agenda. It also suggests alternative ways of understanding why decentralization has often failed to achieve its stated aims in terms of promoting democracy, ,good governance', and the like. What is offered is an understanding of decentralization processes that more fully incorporates the factors of power, struggle and interests, which tend to be overlooked by neo-institutionalist perspectives. The current Indonesian experience clearly illustrates the way in which institutions can be hijacked by a wide range of interests that may sideline those that champion the worldview of ,technocratic rationality'. [source] Optimal Policy for Financial Market Liberalizations: Decentralization and Capital Flow ReversalsGERMAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 1 2000Theo S. Eicher Financial market liberalizations are an integral part of economic development. While initial booms in investment and output are commonly seen as signs of successful deregulation, they often reverse at a later stage as international capital flows turn negative and economic growth slows markedly. Such reversals of fortunes have commonly been attributed to incorrect policies that supposedly followed the initial, appropriate measures. It is unclear, however, if capital flow reversals are actually the result of policy reversals, or if they occur as part of the normal transition when financial liberalization is accompanied by a single suboptimal policy. The later hypothesis has not been explored in the theoretical literature We construct a general equilibrium growth model of a small open economy, in which capital flow reversals are the result of a single, suboptimal policy imposed at the beginning of the financial liberalization. We show how improper taxation of foreign borrowing initially leads to strong growth fuelled by an investment boom and foreign borrowing. Still along the transition, however, the model predicts that capital flows must reverse endogenously at a later stage, as the debt burden rises and the country-specific risk premium increases. Our data on the Latin American and East Asian countries provide strong support for our hypothesis. [source] Decentralization, Local Government, and the Welfare StateGOVERNANCE, Issue 4 2007JEFFEREY M. SELLERS Despite growing interest in decentralized governance, the local government systems that comprise the most common element of decentralization around the world have received little systematic attention. This article, drawing on the first systematic index of decentralization to local government in 21 countries, demonstrates a close relation between Social Democratic welfare states and an intergovernmental infrastructure that in important respects ranks as the most decentralized among advanced industrial countries. This empowerment of local government in these countries was less an outgrowth of Social Democratic welfare state development than a preexisting condition that helped make this type of welfare state possible. [source] Centralization and Decentralization in Administration and Politics: Assessing Territorial Dimensions of Authority and PowerGOVERNANCE, Issue 1 2001Paul D. Hutchcroft Throughout the world, diverse countries are implementing programs of decentralization as a means of promoting both democratic and developmental objectives. Unfortunately, however, scholarship has yet to offer a comprehensive framework within which to assess and reform central-local relations. This article seeks to overcome the "division of labor" that has long separated analyses of administrative and political structures, and to provide stronger conceptual vocabulary for describing and analyzing the complexities of centralization and decentralization in both administration and politics. After developing two distinct continua of administrative and political centralization/decentralization, the paper then combines them in a single matrix able to highlight the wide range of strategies and outcomes that emerge from the complex interplay of the two spheres. Depending on where a country lies within the matrix, it is argued, strategies of decentralization may do more harm than good. Strategies of devolution are especially problematic in settings with strong local bosses, and should never be attempted without careful analysis of the preexisting character of central-local ties. [source] Poverty and Local Governments: Economic Development and Community Service Provision in an Era of DecentralizationGROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2009LINDA LOBAO ABSTRACT Social scientists have given substantial attention to poverty across U.S. localities. However, most work views localities through the lens of population aggregates, not as units of government. Few poverty researchers question whether governments of poorer localities have the capacity to engage in economic development and service activities that might improve community well-being. This issue is increasingly important as responsibilities for growth and redistribution are decentralized to local governments that vary dramatically in resources. Do poorer communities have less activist local governments? Are they more likely to be engaged in a race to the bottom, focusing on business attraction activities but neglecting services for families and working people? We bring together two distinct literatures, critical research on decentralization and research on local development efforts, that provide contrasting views about the penalty of poverty. Data are from a unique, national survey of county governments measuring activity across two time points. The most consistent determinants of activity are local government capacity, devolutionary pressures, and inertia or past use of strategies. Net of these factors, levels and changes in poverty do not significantly impact government activity. There is no evidence the nations' poorest counties are racing to the bottom. Findings challenge views that poverty is a systematic structural barrier to pursuing innovative economic development policies and suggest that even poorer communities can take steps to build local capacity, resources, and networks that expand programs for local businesses and low-wage people. [source] Decentralization and health care in the former Yugoslav Republic of MacedoniaINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2006Sonia Menon Abstract Since its independence in 1991, the Republic of Macedonia became a highly centralized state, with most relevant decisions taken at the central level in Skopje, resembling the highly centralized system, which once characterized Former Yugoslavia. As agreed in the Framework Agreement, which ended six months of internal conflict, the Macedonian Government will decentralize public services delivery, including social protection, health, education, and infrastructure over the course of the next few years. Within health care, it is argued that by placing policy-making authority and operating control closer to the client, decentralization will reduce some of the inequities in service provision and inefficiencies present within the current centrally controlled system. In principle, local voters will have more information on the price and quality of services, thereby increasing competition in the sector and strengthening the private sector. The emphasis on market incentives resulting in greater efficiency and better management of health care institutions is viewed as one of the benefits of privatization. Critics of decentralization and the subsequent privatization of public services fear it may result in an erosion of quality and consistency across regions, leaving some regions, cities, villages and potentially vulnerable groups worse off than others. The paper argues that if the institutional weaknesses in Macedonia have not been addressed, decentralisation could result in further excluding the rural population from health care provision. Similarly, the need for a clear delineation of responsibilities and functions among different levels and institutions is outlined. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] District health systems in a neoliberal world: a review of five key policy areas,INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT, Issue S1 2003Malcolm Segall Abstract District health systems, comprising primary health care and first referral hospitals, are key to the delivery of basic health services in developing countries. They should be prioritized in resource allocation and in the building of management and service capacity. The relegation in the World Health Report 2000 of primary health care to a ,second generation' reform,to be superseded by third generation reforms with a market orientation,flows from an analysis that is historically flawed and ideologically biased. Primary health care has struggled against economic crisis and adjustment and a neoliberal ideology often averse to its principles. To ascribe failures of primary health care to a weakness in policy design, when the political economy has starved it of resources, is to blame the victim. Improvement in the working and living conditions of health workers is a precondition for the effective delivery of public health services. A multidimensional programme of health worker rehabilitation should be developed as the foundation for health service recovery. District health systems can and should be financed (at least mainly) from public funds. Although in certain situations user fees have improved the quality and increased the utilization of primary care services, direct charges deter health care use by the poor and can result in further impoverishment. Direct user fees should be replaced progressively by increased public finance and, where possible, by prepayment schemes based on principles of social health insurance with public subsidization. Priority setting should be driven mainly by the objective to achieve equity in health and wellbeing outcomes. Cost effectiveness should enter into the selection of treatments for people (productive efficiency), but not into the selection of people for treatment (allocative efficiency). Decentralization is likely to be advantageous in most health systems, although the exact form(s) should be selected with care and implementation should be phased in after adequate preparation. The public health service should usually play the lead provider role in district health systems, but non-government providers can be contracted if needed. There is little or no evidence to support proactive privatization, marketization or provider competition. Democratization of political and popular involvement in health enhances the benefits of decentralization and community participation. Integrated district health systems are the means by which specific health programmes can best be delivered in the context of overall health care needs. International assistance should address communicable disease control priorities in ways that strengthen local health systems and do not undermine them. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria should not repeat the mistakes of the mass compaigns of past decades. In particular, it should not set programme targets that are driven by an international agenda and which are achievable only at the cost of an adverse impact on sustainable health systems. Above all the targets must not retard the development of the district health systems so badly needed by the rural poor. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Equalization and the Decentralization of Revenue,Raising in a FederationJOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMIC THEORY, Issue 2 2003Robin Boadway We study federal economies in which regional governments have responsibility for delivering public services and redistributive objectives apply. The implications of these for the assignment of revenue,raising instruments and fiscal transfers, both vertical and horizontal, are considered. Models of heterogeneous regions of varying degrees of complexity and generality are constructed. For each case, we determine what fiscal instruments must be given to the regions and what intergovernmental transfers must be made in order that the social optimum is achieved. With heterogenous households and regions, the social optimum can be decentralized by making regions responsible for redistribution and implementing equalization transfers that depend on the number of households of each type. [source] Consequences of Decentralization: Environmental Impact Assessment and Water Pollution Control in IndonesiaLAW & POLICY, Issue 1 2010ADRIAAN BEDNER After having been one of the most centralized states in the world for more than thirty years, in 2001 Indonesia introduced a sweeping program of decentralization with important consequences for the management of the industrial sector. This article explores whether the decentralization process has led to substantial changes in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and enforcement of water pollution law. Its main findings are that the general division of authority in both fields has become less fragmented and that differences between districts have increased, but, in practice, not so much has changed as one would have expected. For EIA, "horizontal" disputes between sectoral agencies have been supplanted by "vertical" disputes between different levels of government. Monitoring and sanctioning of industrial water pollution have mainly continued within the scheme of the provincial program started under Soeharto's centralized regime, with still few initiatives at the district level. If any, such initiatives are usually driven by public complaints. On the other hand, there are indications that in the longer run the institutional changes may have more significant effects on EIA and enforcement practice. For EIA, these seem to be negative; for enforcement of water pollution regulation this depends much on the situation within a district or a province. [source] DECENTRALIZING HEALTH SERVICES IN THE UK: A NEW CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 2 2008STEPHEN PECKHAM Decentralization is a central plank of current government health policy. However, it is possible to discern both centralist and decentralist movements in the UK. This paper examines existing frameworks of decentralization in relation to identifying whether policy is decentralist or not and identifies a number of problems that limit their value. Key problems relate to the way decentralization is conceptualized and defined. Existing frameworks are also highly contextualized and are therefore of limited value when applied in different contexts. The paper then presents a new framework which, it is argued, provides a more useful way of examining centralization and decentralization by providing a way of categorizing policies and actions and avoids the problems of being contextually constrained. The paper ends with a discussion of how the framework can be applied in a health context and shows how this framework helps avoid the problems found in previous discussions of decentralization. [source] Decentralization in Kerala: Panchayat government discretion and accountability,PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2009Varsha Venugopal Kerala is regarded as one of the most decentralized states in India. Through a ,big bang' approach, Kerala implemented a significant fiscal decentralization program and then built the capacity of its local governments. We employ a diagnostic framework to analyze its local government discretion and accountability in political, administrative and fiscal domains. We find that Kerala's local governments have a very high degree of discretionary power accompanied by a high degree of accountability towards citizens. But the areas of administrative accountability and financial management need to be strengthened. Also there may have been excessive focus and investment on social accountability mechanisms at the cost of local government discretion and formal public sector accountability mechanisms. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Institutional pluralism in public administration and politics: applications in Bolivia and beyondPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2001Harry BlairArticle first published online: 15 MAY 200 In their book Administrative Decentralization: Strategies for Developing Countries, John Cohen and Steven Peterson construct a model they call ,institutional pluralism', which they contend is superior to more traditional modes of decentralization. It is characterized chiefly by multiple channels of service provision, thus inducing accountability into a sphere where previously there has been very little. While they restrict their analysis to the administrative realm, this article argues that the institutional pluralist model makes at least as much sense in political decentralization. Bolivia, which recently launched political reforms offering three separate structures linking citizen to state, serves as an excellent illustration of institutional pluralism in politics. This approach shows considerable promise for implementation in other settings, as can be seen in El Salvador, and a case can be made for its replication potential elsewhere as well. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Fiscal Decentralization and Provincial-Level Fiscal Disparities in China: A Sino-U.S. Comparative PerspectivePUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 2009Zhirong Jerry Zhao Since China's 1994 fiscal reform, increasing concerns have been voiced about fiscal disparities across the country. Can local governments fairly and effectively fulfill basic public services such as primary education, public health, and social welfare? This essay traces the evolution of intergovernmental relations in China since 1978. The fluctuation of provincial level fiscal distribution over time and the underlying factors behind fiscal inequality, as compared to a decentralized American revenue system, are analyzed. The author, Zhirong Jerry Zhao of the University of Minnesota, argues for additional research on alternative measures of local fiscal capacity. [source] Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Growth: Evidence from Spanish RegionsPUBLIC BUDGETING AND FINANCE, Issue 4 2009DAVID CANTARERO The degree of fiscal decentralization in Spain is similar to main federal countries and greater than unitary ones. The demand of public sector decentralization is based on a supposed efficiency gains that is far from being obvious. Using a data set for the Spanish regions, we reject the null hypothesis of a significant relationship between growth in per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and expenditure distribution among fiscal administrations. Nonetheless, we find empirical support for a relationship between revenue decentralization, far less advanced than the expenditure one, and growth. In both cases we do reject the null hypothesis of a nonlinear linkage between fiscal decentralization and growth in per capita GDP. [source] The Impact of Decentralization on Subnational Government Fiscal Slack in IndonesiaPUBLIC BUDGETING AND FINANCE, Issue 2 2009BLANE D. LEWIS Since Indonesia began implementing its decentralization program in 2001, subnational unspent balances have grown rapidly and have reached levels that many officials find unreasonably high. But the extent to which subnational government reserves are excessive, in general, is not obvious. A not implausible decrease in the price of oil would reduce transfers to subnationals significantly and, if sustained, could possibly eliminate reserves in a relatively short time. Central government should not take any immediate action to reduce subnational slack resources directly but should instead focus on removing the underlying causes of such. [source] Unconditional Intergovernmental Transfers to Finance Decentralization in AlbaniaPUBLIC BUDGETING AND FINANCE, Issue 2 2007LARRY SCHROEDER The Government of Albania embarked on a comprehensive program to decentralize decision-making powers with the passage of the Law on Organization and Functioning of Local Governments in 2000. A centerpiece of the policies undertaken to implement that legislation was an unconditional transfer program which, using a formula-based allocation mechanism, transferred substantial financial resources to the local communes and municipalities beginning in 2002. This paper describes that system and its evolution. It illustrates how the transfer was designed to take into account the transition from a centralized system to a decentralized arrangement for provision of local public services and how the formula has undergone some "fine-tuning" while retaining its simplicity. Analysis of the outcomes reveals how it has achieved its mandated objective of equalizing resources across local governments; however, it does so while running the risk of substantially discouraging local governments from mobilizing resources of their own. [source] Anatomy of Autonomy: Assessing the Organizational Capacity and External Environment of the Autonomous Region in Muslim MindanaoASIAN POLITICS AND POLICY, Issue 2 2009Benedict S. Jimenez Decentralization and autonomy can potentially increase public sector efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability, as well as fulfill a conflict-mitigating role. There is no guarantee, however, that decentralization, once implemented, would automatically produce the expected benefits. Using the case of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in the Philippines, this article explores the importance of organizational capacity and the cultural, political, and social conditions in the region to explain the performance of the autonomous government. The article concludes that for autonomy to work, the administrative and institutional capacity of the regional government should be revitalized and the current politico-administrative structure redesigned to accommodate local customs and practices and facilitate a consultative and collegial local governance arrangement. [source] Centralization and Decentralization in Administration and Politics: Assessing Territorial Dimensions of Authority and PowerGOVERNANCE, Issue 1 2001Paul D. Hutchcroft Throughout the world, diverse countries are implementing programs of decentralization as a means of promoting both democratic and developmental objectives. Unfortunately, however, scholarship has yet to offer a comprehensive framework within which to assess and reform central-local relations. This article seeks to overcome the "division of labor" that has long separated analyses of administrative and political structures, and to provide stronger conceptual vocabulary for describing and analyzing the complexities of centralization and decentralization in both administration and politics. After developing two distinct continua of administrative and political centralization/decentralization, the paper then combines them in a single matrix able to highlight the wide range of strategies and outcomes that emerge from the complex interplay of the two spheres. Depending on where a country lies within the matrix, it is argued, strategies of decentralization may do more harm than good. Strategies of devolution are especially problematic in settings with strong local bosses, and should never be attempted without careful analysis of the preexisting character of central-local ties. [source] Elites in Local Development in the PhilippinesDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 1 2010Andreas Lange ABSTRACT For many Philippine provinces, decentralization and more autonomous local development planning did not lead to the desired outcomes. This article examines the experiences of the two provinces of Cebu and Leyte. While Cebu became a centre of trade and industry, Leyte is still struggling with its local economy oriented to natural resources. A main reason for the divergent development paths of the two islands can be found in the emergence of different elite structures, which resulted in different path-dependent patterns of economic specialization. Despite this different historical experience, both provinces today suffer from similar institutional infirmities in their planning system for promoting local development. Local planning capacity constraints, such as regional and local co-ordination and co-operation patterns, local finances, human capital and knowledge are analysed. The Cebuano elites used the room for manoeuvre provided by decentralization reforms more successfully than elites in Leyte. This created pockets of efficiency in Cebu leading to more development-friendly investment policies. In order to increase local and regional planning capacity, short-term interventions and policy reforms at the local, regional and national level are discussed. [source] Decentralization and Democracy in Indonesia: A Critique of Neo-Institutionalist PerspectivesDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 4 2004Vedi R. Hadiz This article assesses some of the major premises of neo-institutionalist explanations of decentralization policy and practices, but focuses especially on the relationship between decentralization and democracy, in the context of the recent and ongoing Indonesian experience with decentralization. In the last two decades ,decentralization' has become, along with ,civil society', ,social capital' and ,good governance', an integral part of the contemporary neo-institutionalist lexicon, especially that part which is intended to draw greater attention to ,social' development. The concern of this article is to demystify how, as a policy objective, decentralization has come to embody a barely acknowledged political, not just theoretical, agenda. It also suggests alternative ways of understanding why decentralization has often failed to achieve its stated aims in terms of promoting democracy, ,good governance', and the like. What is offered is an understanding of decentralization processes that more fully incorporates the factors of power, struggle and interests, which tend to be overlooked by neo-institutionalist perspectives. The current Indonesian experience clearly illustrates the way in which institutions can be hijacked by a wide range of interests that may sideline those that champion the worldview of ,technocratic rationality'. [source] On the Spatial Dynamics of Democratic Politics: Analysing the Bolivian CaseDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 4 2003David Slater After an initial discussion of the ,diverse spaces of democracy', which sets out the main points of the author's approach to democratic politics, this article considers three perspectives on the relations between governmental decentralization and territorial democracy in Latin America. These two interrelated sections provide a thematic and conceptual background to a more specific treatment of the development and dynamics of decentralization in the Bolivian case. In examining the decentralization process in Bolivia, the article highlights the two spatial modes of this process , the regional and the local , and includes an appraisal of the relation between both modes and the nature of democratic politics. [source] Financing Decentralized Development in a Low-Income Country: Raising Revenue for Local Government in UgandaDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 1 2001Ian Livingstone Uganda has been engaged for a number of years in an ambitious programme of political and financial decentralization involving significantly expanded expenditure and service delivery responsibilities for local governments in what are now forty-five districts. Fiscal decentralization has involved allocation of block grants from the centre to complement increased local tax revenue-raising efforts by districts and municipalities. This article is concerned with the financial side of decentralization and in particular with an examination of district government efforts to raise revenue with the tax instruments which have been assigned to them. These are found to be deficient in a number of ways and their tax raising potential not to be commensurate with the responsibilities being devolved. Achievement of the decentralization aims laid down, therefore, must depend either on the identification of new or modified methods of raising revenue locally, or increased commitment to transfer of financial resources from the centre, or both. [source] Recovering from Crisis: The Case of Thailand's Spatial FixECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 4 2007Jim Glassman Abstract: Although the Asian economic crisis has been the subject of numerous analyses, the varied and uneven processes by which different Asian countries have recovered from the crisis have received comparatively less attention. This article focuses on the process of recovery in Thailand. While the crisis and recovery both have international dimensions that go beyond individual nation-states, the case of Thailand can be used to analyze some of the forces that are at work in both the national and international contexts. Thailand's process of recovery can be analyzed by noting tensions and overlaps among different forms of spatial fix,those involving investment in Bangkok' built environment, those involving the geographic decentralization of investment to lower-cost production sites, and those involving the effort to expand exports. Each of these spatial fixes involves different accumulation strategies and, therefore, political coalitions. This situation suggests the centrality of social struggles over the appropriation of surplus to both crisis and recovery. [source] Foreign direct investment and the dark side of decentralizationECONOMIC POLICY, Issue 49 2007Sebastian G. Kessing SUMMARY Fiscal decentralization VERTICAL, HORIZONTAL, AND FDI Both in the developed and developing world, decentralization of fiscal policy is frequently argued to foster investment, because allowing investors to choose between competing locations should make it difficult for each jurisdiction to tax the investment's returns. We point out that this ,horizontal' dimension of decentralization cannot eliminate ex post incentives to tax investments once they are irreversibly located in a jurisdiction, and that the negative ex ante investment effects of such ,hold up' problems are actually stronger when decentralization inevitably leads to multiple levels of taxation power in each location. Empirically, we detect significant negative effects on FDI of the ,vertical' dimension of decentralization, measured by the number of government layers, in a data set containing many countries and many suitable control variables. Indicators of overall fiscal decentralization do not appear to affect the investment climate negatively per se, but our theoretical arguments and empirical results suggest that policymakers should consider very carefully the form and degree of government decentralization if they aim at improving the investment climate. , Sebastian G. Kessing, Kai A. Konrad and Christos Kotsogiannis [source] Policy analysis for tropical marine reserves: challenges and directionsFISH AND FISHERIES, Issue 1 2003Murray A Rudd Abstract Marine reserves are considered to be a central tool for marine ecosystem-based management in tropical inshore fisheries. The arguments supporting marine reserves are often based on both the nonmarket values of ecological amenities marine reserves provide and the pragmatic cost-saving advantages relating to reserve monitoring and enforcement. Marine reserves are, however, only one of a suite of possible policy options that might be used to achieve conservation and fisheries management objectives, and have rarely been the focus of rigorous policy analyses that consider a full range of economic costs and benefits, including the transaction costs of management. If credible analyses are not undertaken, there is a danger that current enthusiasm for marine reserves may wane as economic performance fails to meet presumed potential. Fully accounting for the value of ecological services flowing from marine reserves requires consideration of increased size and abundance of focal species within reserve boundaries, emigration of target species from reserves to adjacent fishing grounds, changes in ecological resilience, and behavioural responses of fishers to spatially explicit closures. Expanding policy assessments beyond standard cost,benefit analysis (CBA) also requires considering the impact of social capital on the costs of managing fisheries. In the short term, the amount of social capital that communities possess and the capacity of the state to support the rights of individuals and communities will affect the relative efficiency of marine reserves. Reserves may be the most efficient policy option when both community and state capacity is high, but may not be when one and/or the other is weak. In the longer term, the level of social capital that a society possesses and the level of uncertainty in ecological and social systems will also impact the appropriate level of devolution or decentralization of fisheries governance. Determining the proper balance of the state and the community in tropical fisheries governance will require broad comparative studies of marine reserves and alternative policy tools. [source] Bridging the Realist/Constructivist Divide: The Case of the Counterrevolution in Soviet Foreign Policy at the End of the Cold WarFOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS, Issue 1 2005Robert S. Snyder The surprising end of the Cold War has led to a debate within international relations (IR) theory. Constructivists have argued that the end of the Cold War is best explained in terms of ideas and agency,specifically Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev's new thinking. A few realists have countered that Soviet material decline was "endogenous" to the new ideas. Can these two theoretical perspectives be reconciled with respect to this case? They can be partially integrated with a path-dependent strategy that places an emphasis on "institutions." Nevertheless, explaining the end of the Cold War largely requires a theory of Soviet foreign policy and its relation to the state. As a former or ossified revolutionary state, Soviet foreign policy for at least several years was largely based on the principle of externalization: outside threats were used to rationalize radical centralization, repression, and the dominance of the Party. In using the USSR's institutionalized legacy as a revolutionary state, Gorbachev acted as a counterrevolutionary and reversed this process with his revolution in foreign policy. In creating a new peaceful international order, he sought,through the "second image reversed",to promote radical decentralization, liberalization, and the emergence of a new coalition. The case examines how Gorbachev's domestic goals drove his foreign policy from 1985 to 1991. [source] Between Endless Needs and Limited Resources: The Gendered Construction of a Greedy OrganizationGENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 5 2004Bente Rasmussen One of the strategies of the modernization of public services is the decentralization of responsibilities and organizing work in autonomous co- operative teams with varied tasks. The empowerment of the public service workers in the front line is therefore a strategy in local government in Norway today. Under the assumption that women have ,natural' skills in caring, workers on the lowest levels are given responsibility for care and nursing. A study of the decentralization of public care for the elderly in their homes showed that being given interesting tasks and increased responsibility mobilized the efforts of the care workers. However, since the power of resources has been centralized, this has led to an intensification of work. In gendering the relevant discourses by explaining women's experiences of an over-heavy workload as a result of their ,mothering' and their inability to set limits, women care workers were constructed by their managers as unprofessional and not to be taken seriously. This has made the public care organization a greedy organization for the women care workers. [source] Temporary Work in the Public Services: Implications for Equal OpportunitiesGENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 4 2003Hazel M. Conley This article examines the impact of the growing number of temporary employment contracts in the public sector on equal opportunity theory, policy and practice. Quantitative and qualitative data from two case study local authorities are utilized to examine the mechanisms by which temporary work becomes an equal opportunities issue. A strong association between part-time work and temporary employment status is demonstrated as an important aspect of the gendered nature of temporary work. Links between ethnicity and temporary work are less clear but are based upon the insecurity of targeted funding for teachers and the under-valuation of the skills of the workers concerned. The data indicate that temporary workers are largely excluded from equal opportunity policy and practice, bringing into question a concept of equality that can permit less favourable treatment for certain groups of workers. It is argued that public sector restructuring, particularly concerning decentralization and the quest for flexibility, has facilitated the differential treatment of employees, thereby fundamentally eroding the basis of equal opportunity policy and practice. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||