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This study aimed to comprehensively evaluate the research that has significantly impacted the advancement of disaster management models and approaches since the early 20th century. This review article focuses on scholarly papers indexed in Web of Science and Scopus, which present disaster management models. The selection criteria for these articles were based on their circular models or visual representations of disaster and crisis management from a diverse range of perspectives since 1920. Various disciplines, including public administration, sociology, geography, psychology, and civil defence, have shaped disaster management. Before the 1970s, pioneers in the field, including Prince (1920), Carr (1932), Powell (1954), Chapman (1962), and Stoddard (1968), analysed the impact of disasters on society, and their studies were a significant contribution to the development of disaster management. The circular disaster management model was first introduced by Baird et al. in 1975, focusing on relief-based initiatives. In 1987, Mitroff and fellow researchers delved deeper into the subject, exploring reactive and proactive approaches while integrating the notion of vulnerability. Later models incorporated entitlements such as development, economic progress, risk, hazard, and strategic planning. As time passed, these models grew more extensive and all-encompassing. Nevertheless, disaster management still requires further advancement to tackle crucial challenges like climate change, sustainable development goals, resilience, and the Sendai risk reduction framework. It is recommended that these issues be addressed under the leadership of public administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Books reviewed in this article: Eliminating World Poverty: Making Governance Work for the Poor – A White Paper on International Development. By the Secretary of State for International Development [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitalization and new technologies are now firmly on the agendas of governments worldwide. New technological trends have not only become catalysts for economic development, but are also reshaping how the public sector works and implements its policies. Amid technological transformations, the countries of Central Asia are searching for new ways to adapt to these changes. This paper aims to assess these attempts by exploring the digitalization policies of the five Central Asian countries. By using qualitative methods and expert interviews, the article identifies key limitations and potential areas of development for the Central Asian states regarding digitalization and artificial intelligence. By providing valuable insights, the article contributes to a deeper understanding of the digitalization challenges faced by developing countries. Through the analysis of local expert opinions, the article seeks to contribute valuable insights to the distinct approaches adopted by these countries, thus enriching the understanding of the region’s trajectory in the digital era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce and study in this paper the policy design improvement regarding the public procurement process for public management innovation. Public procurement is obtained transparently and efficiently at the exact cost of goods, constructions, services, among others. In addition, it has decreased the national budget and supported the national economic development. Most of the major contributions of public procurement included support for small businesses, jobs, and balanced regional development. Nevertheless, a lot of issues have become apparent during the public procurement process, thus requiring preventive measures. The aim of this study is to demonstrate an enhanced public procurement process and develop efficient policies in the future. For this reason, we investigated the issues regarding South Korea's public procurement process, and concentrated on policy improvement. It is our intention to provide a highly efficient global public procurement process that can be used as an academic paper that will help in developing South Korea's public procurement process and policy direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy consumption has gained growing importance in the world energy consumption portfolio over recent years. One of the reasons is the increasingly negative development of climate change. The research carried out in this paper aims to discern whether the examined economic indicator (GDP per capita) and the environmental indicator (CO2 emissions per capita) affect the renewable energy consumption in the region of the Visegrad Group (V4 - Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovak Republic) countries, and to draw implications for public administration in the given issue. The fixed effects panel regression model was used to verify the mentioned relationships between variables from 1990-2020. The results show that the level of the share of renewable energy consumption on the total energy consumption in the region of the V4 countries can be affected by the GDP per capita (positive relationship validated) and the CO2 emissions per capita (negative relationship validated). These results are mostly in line with the findings of other researchers conducted on different samples of countries, although some differences can be noted, especially regarding the direction of the relationship. The implications of the research results are presented on three levels: practical implications for the business sector, emphasis placed on political implications for public administration, and theoretical implications that lay the foundation for further research. The main limitation of the research results comes from the sample used in V4 countries and, thus, from the limited possibilities of generalizing the results. The direction of further research in the addressed issue will include a larger number of countries in the research and the use of various quantitative and qualitative research methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper summarizes and provides and overview on the economic and social processes influencing and supporting the successful management of settlements, focusing on Hungary. The role of leadership and settlement management is inevitable in the everyday operation as well as in the definition and realization of development concepts and strategies. The basis of stable operation and development is the financial independency and stability, thus we need to call the attention on the importance of economic development functions of settlements as well as on the important role of mayors and leaders in the economic and spatial development. The approaches, the ideas as well as the way how the leaders think are all determining factors in development. Nowadays, settlement development and regional economic development raise such key issues that are also the main research questions in our paper, like „What does a good municipality/a good settlement look like? How can 'good' be described?" What are the main characteristics of a suitable leader in the case of settlements? It is known that there are no targeted trainings, courses for mayors/heads of municipalities to prepare them to be good leaders, there are no nationally or internationally acknowledged skills, competences that could be applied to select the most suitable leaders for the positions. Therefore, we believe that we must call the attention to this shortage and motivate the experts in public administration, the researchers and scientists, as well as trainers and coaches to cooperate and work on the solution. In this paper, through the dimension of leadership/management, we intend to discover the characteristics of successful community leaders and to focus on the importance of the activities of 'local heroes', who prove to have strong commitment to the development of settlements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study has addressed a major research gap existing in the implementation of block chain technologies in public administration. The paper has further focused on the impact of blockchain implementation on the shadow economy, for a sustainable future. Based on the defined research problem, the study objective entailed establishing the effect of blockchain adoption and implementation on the shadow economy, for a sustainable future. Thus, the research question went as follows: the effect the effect of block chain adoption and implementation on the shadow economy, for a sustainable future? The study went for a mixture of primary and secondary data. The study participants and data points entailed stakeholders and players in the cryptocurrency world, drawn from public administration. The data was coded and inputted in SPSS 2. This was followed with reliability test, descriptive statistics and a series of regression analysis. The regression analyses were run to test the hypothesis formulated from the conceptual framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of regional policy in strengthening the EU's research and innovation policy paradigm, with a particular focus on smart specializations. These specializations play a major role in stimulating R&I at the regional level in less-developed regions of the EU. Smart specialization is the EU's new concept for the regions; it assumes improvement in both innovation and competitiveness, based on endogenic potential; in particular, in already existing branches of the economy. Smart specializations should, by definition, concentrate economic resources on chosen priorities; one of these priorities is the growth of the blue economy. Smart specializations need to be clearly defined, only then can they contribute to economic growth when combined with proper management of public financial means. The objective of this paper is to introduce and characterize the assumptions for smart specializations and to assess the progress of their implementation and the necessary conditions required in Polish regions; particularly when referring to sectors of the blue economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we study the impact of regulatory complexity, a measure of institutional quality, on the GDP, on per capita income and on the growth rate of the Italian regions. For comparative reasons we also use the duration of civil disputes as a further indicator of institutional quality used in the regressions as an alternative to the indicator of regulatory complexity. From the theoretical point of view, we use the approach of negative co‐ordination externalities, among the four sources of regulatory production that are at work at the same time. Our approach may be applied in all the countries with a multi‐level government system. Using the random effects and quantile regressions models we are able to quantify the effects of an improvement in institutional quality on the GDP and the growth rate, making a comparison between the results obtained using regulatory complexity or the duration of civil disputes as covariates. We also check for spatial dependence among variables. Econometric analysis supports the theoretical assumption that regulatory complexity is an impediment to the growth of regional GDP and per capita income. The main finding of our analysis is that a reduction in regulatory complexity would be more effective than a reduction in the duration of civil disputes in increasing the income and growth rate. This result could be useful for the policy‐maker because by reducing regulatory complexity we may obtain a considerable by‐product in the shorter duration of civil disputes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU provides financial support to promote economic development, but the results of development policies are affected by different of actors, among which public administration is particularly important. The goal of this paper is to investigate both the role of local authorities in the management of European structural funds intended for entrepreneurial development, and the role of other users of these funds. Applying the GLS method on a sample composed by the 116 Italian provincial capitals and considering the period 2014-2017 (n. 464 observations), our findings show that local governments produced higher positive impact, than other actors, in managing EU structural funds for local entrepreneurial development. Finally, we suggest policy making and managerial implications arising from the research findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic and technological development zone and high-tech industrial zone are important types of development zone in China, and there are differences in their connotation and goal setting. In this paper, basic data of national and provincial economic and technological development zones and high-tech industrial zones in China were collected and arranged. Kernel density analysis and other GIS spatial analysis techniques were used to analyze the evolution laws of spatial patterns of economic and technological development zones and high-tech industrial zones in cities from 2006 to 2018. First, the agglomeration intensity was compared by measuring the degree of regional agglomeration and dispersion on the two time nodes. Next, kernel density method was used to explore the evolution of the two in the spatial layout and location, and analyze development commonness and difference of economic and technological development zones and high-tech industrial zones. Finally, the trend and reason of spatial evolution of development zones with different leading industries were explored. Research results show that: 1 the agglomeration degree of layout of high-tech industrial zones is stronger than that of economic and technological development zones, and there are similarities and differences in distribution trend of spatial patterns of the two types of development zones; 2 the distribution of labor-intensive, capitalintensive and technology-intensive development zones is concentrated at smaller scales and dispersed at larger ones; 3 although there are differences between the economic and technological development zones and the high-tech industrial zones in the goal, support, structure and function, management system and so on, their spatial development presents a trend of convergence. In the future, when enhancing urban-rural planning and public administration, governments should combine the trend of industrial transformation and upgrading, and optimize spatial layout of development zones by adjusting industrial structure, layout, transportation and land use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The paper aims to investigate challenges facing small-, medium- and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs) in public procurement in Botswana fromthe view of a buyer. Design/methodology/approach - The researchers conducted consultative workshops, succeeded by focus groups and follow-up telephone interviews, to collect and validate data. A total of 75 procurement officers from central government ministries and local governments participated in the study. Findings - Results indicate that SMMEs find it difficult to deal with public procurement because of lack of capacity, unfair bias against SMMEs, inefficient government payment systems, unfair competition from their larger and established counterparts and centralized public procurement. The paper recommends a comprehensive integrated framework, improvement of SMME capacity and adopting policies to ensure greater public procurement market access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the information skills development programs that are being developed by the EU, there is an increasing interest in the acquisition and use of digital competences as an impact factor on the educational system at all its was levels. The present study aims to analyze the evolution of digital specializations generated by the digital evolution, in parallel with the development of the educational system, through a statistical analysis of the main indicators that have been reported at EU level on early education abandonment, employment rate of graduates, employment of IT specialists by gender, adult participation in gender-based learning, and other impact indicators that demonstrate the capacity of the population in the digital domain through the use of ICT solutions. The object of research were the statistical indicators reported for 2017 by Eurostat at the level of the European Union, for each member state of the union, obtaining a total of 29 statistical observations. The data were modelled through the GRETL statistical program, obtaining a model based on the smallest squares method in 2 phases. This paper shows that there is a need to assimilate the European approaches in the field of digital evolution, a necessity which varies according to the economic development of each member state, Romania being ranked in the chapter of assimilation of the objectives of the open education agenda in the second part of the European ranking, including based on the low absorption rates provided for Union programs in this area. The study theoretically proves and empirically confirms that the function obtained through modelling can be assimilated to the service demand function and can be integrated into the offer function harmonized with the information factor. This research study represents a contribution to the field of management of public utility companies and can be useful for educational institutions, students, the labour market and the general public, providing a starting point for further indepth research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims at analyzing the possibility of including developers (private companies focused on profits) into the process of revitalizing tenement houses located in the center of Poznan. The consideration is located in the capital city of Wielkopolska and takes into account the analysis of both the local housing real estate market and developers' enterprises in the city. The authors, supported by economic calculation and a case study, have researched the case of a free-market developer's project of revitalizing a well-located, yet run-down tenement house, and, on the contrary, the case of a developer taking over a property being a municipal resource. Having researched the market in order to set the parameters of further research works, both scenarios where evaluated when it comes to their economic, social and spatial results. The main purpose of the article was to analyze possibilities and to point out the determinant factors of using the economic potential of developers in the process of revitalizing housing resources located in downtown areas. The work is to contribute to the discussion on making the actions of public administration more flexible when it comes to cooperation with private investors. By outlining the research concept, the authors aim to set the basis for further and deeper analysis. The paper is to test the scientific community when it comes to the appropriateness of the diagnosis and the direction of potential research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inter-municipal cooperation (IMC) in the Czech Republic is common and fl exible and is generally viewed as a means to reduce problems related to the highly fragmented local government structure. Th e paper utilizes fi nancial and accounting data of public entities to evaluate the character and magnitude of inter-municipal cooperation in the Czech Republic. It concludes that the extent of public services provided based on the service contracts or through institutionalized forms of IMC is quite limited and that the majority of the IMC is somewhat informal and soft, e.g. exchange of experience and ad-hoc projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The papers aims at adding to the current of assessing the level of corruption, public administration reform and their impact upon the economic development a in-depth study that emphasizes once again the strong link between corruption and public administration as a provider of public service (Rose-Ackerman, 1999; Mauro 1998). Moreover, the issue that the paper is underlying refers to the lack of more developed and accurate instruments and methodologies that measure the corruption level in different fields of activity, and, as a consequence, the need to firstly estimate the intensity of the phenomenon upon the clients of the public administration. In order to avoid general perceptions, the authors decided to limit the research on a sample comprising only respondents that are both clients and providers of a public service (referred to as white-collar clients), hence assuming they have a more accurate understanding of the phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on theoretical debate and empirical evidence, both raised in the context of State Reform and Modernization of Public Management processes, this paper proposes a model of synthesis and analysis that allows characterizing such processes. Using a case study methodology, this research demonstrates the usefulness of such a model to the Chilean case, during the 1990-2006 period. There is evidence of particular features of these processes of reform and modernization in the Chilean experience. Said conclusion is based on data collected through the application and analysis of 37 interviews to key actors involved in those processes as well as the collection and analysis of official documents. This article identifies, describes and explains the variables that define the Policy of Modernization of Public Management in the Chilean experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political participation is widely seen as a desirable practice in good governance at the local levels. It is believed to be an enabler of citizens to have a more meaningful say and more influence on the decisions concerning the nature of services delivered by local governments to their constituencies. Political recruitment is one of the processes intended to support effective political participation in the respective local governments. Theoretical and empirical evidence however, often tends to underestimate the significance of political recruitment on political participation with respect to the eventual performance of councillors. This paper will analyse the framework for political recruitment and political participation, and illustrate the resultant implications to councillors' performance in Uganda's local governments. Of the many associated arguments, the paper singles out the issue of constituency and attempts to explain its profound effect on the recruitment process and the subsequent political activity. The paper concludes that political participation of councillors is highly influenced by the recruitment factors of the non-territorial constituencies more than the visibly geographically territories being represented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competition between metropolitan areas and old regions is one of the most visible results of the 'new regionalism' policy in the EU. The aimof this paper is to explain the newly emerged tensions between the regions and the cities within the EU in the context of the 'new regionalism'. The newly introduced 'Integrated Territorial Investments' (ITI), a potentially powerful instrument of the cohesion policy of the EU was presented as 'a flexible mechanism for formulating integrated responses to diverse territorial needs'. However, this flexibility produced a competitive relationship between cities and regions in their chase for money. Based on interviews with sub-state officials, the study focuses on two countries: Czechia and Slovakia. They are both major recipients of EU structural funds and the ITI tool is being implemented in both of them, however with different outcomes. Three variables have been identified as major factors causing the tensions: insufficient administrative capacity, political challenges and lack of shared understanding of priorities of regional development among sub-state actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a method for identifying regional poles and the turnpikes of growth based on the following foundations: four colour theorem, Wikinomics business model in the form of platforms for participation, evaluation of the functionality of websites run by public administration municipal offices, and dual graph reduction. The province of Warmia and Mazury, which is the subject of the study, is one of the poorest provinces in Poland in terms of economic development. It is therefore natural that the growth of this region requires external enterprise sources. This role can be best performed primarily by websites run by municipal offices, which initiate business activity in their corresponding areas, and consequently, can be regarded as Wikinomics platforms of participation. Using the k-means clustering method, these websites were divided into four separate quality classes. These classes were assigned four various colours, which were subsequently used for preparing the map of the province. Each municipality was marked with a colour corresponding to the quality class of the website run by the state administration unit operating in a given area. The system of colours resulting from the four colour theorem and a corresponding dual graph serve as a frame of reference with regard to each empirical colour distribution and to another, related, dual graph. Thus, the four colour theorem describes the largest diversity of regional growth poles. The measure of the economic growth of the region is a degree of reduction of the dual graph corresponding to the empirical colour distribution, which identifies actual growth poles and determines the turnpikes of growth. The ultimate development objective, although not always achievable, is a reduction of the dual graph to a single vertex, when all municipal offices in the province have websites of the highest quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the period of nearly three decades of post-socialist transition in the countries of Southeastern Europe (SEE), there were numerous synergistic, destructive and anti-developmental hindering institutional factors that directly caused the creation of social and economic insecurity. Many developmental problems, as well as social, economic and institutional deformations, have generated a lasting and deep crisis. This paper analyzes the basic deformations of public sector management, which has emerged as a driving force for all development problems in the SEE countries. It starts with two assumptions: first, weak and slow institutional changes were deliberately programmed by the nomenclature of government, in order to eliminate institutional competition and affirmation of the quasi-institutional monism of neoliberal type, which have enabled the substitutive development of the so-called alternative institutions; and second, highly interest-oriented motives of the government nomenclature have been the main cause of ignoring rational recommendations by representatives of non-institutional economic theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this cross-country empirical analysis is to investigate the relationship between good governance, measured through six clusters of governance developed by the World Bank, and the quality of business environment, captured through the ranking on the ease of doing business, also assessed by the World Bank. This paper analyzes the influence of governance indicators on the ease of doing business using a classification of economies of all countries with population of more than 30,000 citizens, divided on income groups such as low income, lower middle income, upper middle income, high income non-OECD and high income OECD. The findings show the significant influence of some governance indicators such as 'government effectiveness' or 'regulatory quality' on the ease of doing business, for all countries, while 'the rule of law' and 'control of corruption' are very determining factors for the business environment especially for countries classified in high income categories. Moreover, this paper could represent an argument for the relevance of governance quality for the ease of doing business, highlighting the necessity to pay enough attention to ensuring good governance in order to provide effective development outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste management has been a problem for Taiwanese society over the past two decades due to rapid economic growth and urbanisation. The building of incinerators, however, has stimulated controversies and social discontent over the impacts of incineration on both environmental and human health. In Beitou, a district in the capital city of Taiwan, not-in-my-backyard activism was launched against the building of an incinerator, but the community later promoted the idea of a ‘zero-waste city’ and played a role in the decision by Taipei's government. Using in-depth qualitative interview methods to interview local community actors, and green society members to understand the dynamics between actors, this research discusses these changes and employs the participatory governance approach to networks among residents of the local community and other actors. This paper also concludes that there has been a power shift in state–citizen relationships at the local level, deepening and consolidating democratic politics in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates how the creative economy discourse is interpreted and implemented in the context of Indonesia as a developing country. Our main conclusion is that the discourse is interpreted differently across localities. Bandung appears to be the only locality whose interpretation aligns with the general understanding of a creative economy that emphasises knowledge creation and innovation. This was made possible by the strong support from academia and communities who wanted to experiment with this policy idea. Our study also provides an insight into a creative economy developing not only as a discourse, but also as a workable framework for development policies, in this city. Conversely, other cities seem to pragmatically use the policy idea without considering the local context in a rebranding exercise in order to drive economic development, whereby traditional cultural industries are relabelled as creative despite performing hardly any innovation activities. Despite this, Bandung illustrates that there are possibilities for a developing country such as Indonesia to adopt the vision of a creative economy by reshaping local institutions to support successful experimentation with this new idea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Making innovation is currently one of the key factors of economic development, both for the private sector and the public sector. The public sector can help to support the effective form of knowledge creation and development that will lead to real innovations in the administrated region. Innovations can help meet the objectives of public policies (such as the creation of new jobs and support small and medium-sized enterprises, etc.). This paper tries to summarize the findings regarding knowledge and the innovation environment that public authorities can support in the form of regional innovation systems (RIS). Authors suggest a novel method for increasing efficiency of public financial support. This method was proven in RIS research in the Czech Republic, where the strategic documents initiating support RIS were created. The authors discuss the characters which adequately describe RIS. The added value of this paper is represented by the methodology of RIS describing and listing the public authorities' roles in establishing a knowledge environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban areas contribute to nearly two-thirds of India's gross domestic product, but only constitute 31% of the country's population. In this paper, I address the following questions: What are the specializations of Indian cities and towns, and how have these changed over time; and what part of the specialization identified is a result of local advantages versus industry or national economic growth? Answers to these questions are basic to sustaining the competitiveness of India's cities. I used standard Census of India data at city level to compute location quotients for India's cities and towns, and examined changes in their economic base over time. Further, I performed shift-share analyses for selected large cities to disaggregate their employment growth. On average, over 1991-2001, specialization in all sectors, with the exception of trade, decreased. I found evidence of persistence in the sectoral specialization of Indian cities during 1991-2001. Further, in all non-agricultural economic sectors, cities in states know to be backward and lagging are specialized in most sectors. Based on location quotient analyses, I find that Mumbai is the financial capital of the country, Delhi is the seat of public administration, and Bengaluru specializes in transport, storage, and communications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessing and absorbing European funds for agriculture represents the greatest challenge for Romanian public administration, business environment and non-governmental institutions. Making use of European funds is an opportunity to boost the economic growth of Romania, since it would mean an annual capital input equal with up to 5% of the gross domestic product. The paper presents details regarding disbursement of grants for Romanian agriculture and related sectors, for the main measures of the National Plan for Rural Development , since the beginning of plan implementation until now. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how far policy-makers understand the structure of the development industry, the perceived characteristics of developers and the extent to which such actors can be considered policy-responsive. If these matters are poorly understood, the effectiveness of planning policy may be undermined, especially where the private sector is responsible for undertaking most development. The paper is based upon empirical research on the Scottish Executive’s perceptions of, and policy stances towards developers between 1999 and 2007. It finds that the Executive appeared to have only limited understanding of what drives the development process or motivates individual developers and seemed unfamiliar with important differences within the industry, sectorally and geographically. Instead, ‘the notional property developer’ was incorrectly conceived as a malleable and potentially compliant partner with shared objectives to the State. The paper calls for a more thorough understanding of the development industry as a prerequisite to effective urban policy-making. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper distinguishes between 'immediate measures of the quality of civil administration' (IM-QCA), such as corruption, and the 'final measure of the quality of civil administration' (FM-QCA), which is the growth performance of an economy. The paper argues that, instead of being monotonic and linear, the relationship between civil service compensation and economic growth is characterized by vicious and virtuous circles, which are indicative of multiple equilibria. The paper uses the threshold regression methodology to test the multiple equilibria hypothesis and finds support for it. This finding questions the appropriateness of across-the-board salary reduction of civil servants as part of budget balancing austerity measures. Instead, the results of the paper suggest that civil service compensation can be an important policy tool for promoting economic growth, provided the complex, non-linear nature of the compensation-performance relationship, as revealed in this paper, is properly understood and taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews New Labour's planning legacy in Scotland to the Scottish National Party that was elected to office in May 2007. It highlights the significance of devolution in providing the political context and impetus for re-designing and reforming a more distinctive Scottish planning system. Significant factors also include the influence of European spatial planning principles and the technocratic-democratic tensions of the (New) Labour-Liberal Democratic coalition government that had promoted economic growth in Scotland during this period. The paper speculates on how the change to a Scottish National Party administration will take forward this inheritance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public spending has effects on growth and distribution that are complex to trace and difficult to quantify. But the composition of public expenditure has become the key instrument by which development agencies seek to promote economic development. In recent years, the development assistance to heavily indebted poor countries has been made conditional on increased expenditure on categories that are thought to be "pro-poor". This paper investigates the conceptual foundations and the empirical basis for the belief that poverty can be reduced through targeted public spending. While it is widely accepted that growth and redistribution are important sources of reduction in absolute poverty, a review of the literature confirms the lack of an appropriate theoretical framework for assessing the impact of public spending on growth as well as poverty. The dangers of policy decisions that are not well grounded in theory and supported by empirical evidence are indicated. With regard to the impact of any given type of public spending, policy recommendations must be tailored to countries and be based on empirical analysis that takes account of the lags and leads in their effects on equity and growth and ultimately on poverty. The paper sketches out such a framework and provides some evidence as the first step in what will have to be a longer-term research agenda to provide theoretically and empirically robust and verifiable guidance to public spending policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hungary's Electronic Signature Act (ESA) became effective in 2001 and provides for legal recognition of electronic signatures (e-signatures) and electronic documents. Electronic documents and e-signatures are presumed to be admissible evidence in court and may not be challenged successfully based on the mere fact of their electronic form. An electronic document signed with an e-signature is deemed to be in compliance with a statutory requirement for a handwritten signature on a paper document. However, the ESA excludes family-related documents (e.g., marriage certificates and divorce decrees), and those documents must continue to be in paper form to have legal validity. Also, consumers are not obligated to accept the electronic form; if a consumer objects, a business firm must use paper documents. Hungarian government departments may elect to issue or accept electronic documents. Although all types of e-signatures are recognized, the digital signature enjoys most-favored status because it utilizes cryptographic methods resulting in a heightened degree of reliability and security. The ESA provides for the licensure of certification authorities (CAs). In order to get a CA license, an applicant applies to the Hungarian Communications Inspector (Authority) and must meet financial and knowledge requirements and not have a prior criminal record. The principal duties of CAs are to issue certificates to successful applicants and confirm the authenticity and integrity of e-signatures (and the electronic documents to which they are attached) to relying third parties. Before issuance of the certificate, the CA must confirm the identity of the applicant and ensure that all information received on the application is accurate. The CA is responsible for maintaining the security of all information that it receives from the applicant. For a CA to issue a 'qualified' certificate it must comply with higher security standards; the only type of e-signature that can meet these standards is the digital signature. When a qualified certificate is issued, the subscriber will be given the private key that will enable them to 'sign' electronic documents. CAs must maintain a publicly accessible repository of certificates and public keys that can be used to decrypt a subscriber's message. A CA may incur legal liability for publishing a certificate with inaccurate information or for issuing a private key that does not have an interactive relationship with its public key. The ESA provides for legal recognition of certificates issued by CAs in foreign countries if the foreign CA meets one of the five criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three main characteristics of Japanese-style ODA over the past 50 years and the basic principle of the support for “self-help efforts” mentioned in the Japanese ODA Charter are described in this paper. The role of ODA in generating development effectiveness is taken up and possible ways for Japanese participation in the PRSP system are examined. The paper concludes with the proposal that offering ODA benefits not only the recipient but also the one extending assistance and recommends that Japan take advantage of the opportunity to serve the public good and thereby know genuine happiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social democratic parties have been agents in the neo-liberal transformation of public policy in recent decades. There has been debate about the reasons why social democrats have embraced market policies, with particular emphasis given to ideological trends, globalisation and electoral factors. This paper aims to shed further light on this debate by examining the case of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), which was a prominent social democratic exponent of neo-liberalism during its time in office in the 1980s and 1990s. In Labor's case, the primary cause of the shift from pledging social reform and interventionist government to neo-liberalism was the lower levels of economic growth that followed the end of the post-war boom in the 1970s. Social democrats rely on strong economic growth to fund redistributive policies. Thus when recession occurred in the 1970s it eroded the economic base to Labor's programme. While this paper focuses on the story of the ALP, it may provide some answers as to why social democrats elsewhere have adopted neo-liberalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses cross-national data to investigate the extent to which the adoption of human development strategies has resulted in a reduction of poverty in Africa. Inter-country variations in income and human poverty reinforce the established patterns of well-being within the continent, as countries in Northern and Southern Africa have the lowest levels of poverty. The empirical analysis reveals that inter- country differences in poverty levels can be accounted for by variables indicative of the different facets of human development. These include public expenditure on education, primary school enrolment, female educational enrolment, expenditure on health, and good governance. Other significant variables apart from those pertaining to human development are economic growth, high external debt, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and the geographical disadvantage of being a landlocked country. The paper also shows that foreign aid has had a limited effect on poverty reduction in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deficiencies of trust in many Latin American countries significantly impede efforts to attain sufficient levels of sustainable, long-term economic growth. This paper discusses the role of trust as seen through the eyes of small entrepreneurs in Latin America. Three tables are discussed that specifically portray the role of trust in society, how entrepreneurs use trust to sustain their enterprises and socioeconomic networks, and the impacts of low trust in economic development in Latin America. This paper confirms what many leading scholars have claimed over the past two decades, that a cultural legacy of fractious civil societies accompanied with disruptive and often-corrupt polities does matter when measuring human progress and economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regional level of governance in the Republic of Ireland is among the most weakly institutionalized in the EU when compared with other Member States. Nevertheless, under the sway of EU Regional Policy two new regional scales of governance were established in the 1990s. This paper examines the recent evolution of regional governance in Ireland with particular emphasis on the role being conferred upon Irish regional authorities to advance the implementation of sustainable development. It outlines and evaluates the impact of Structural and Cohesion Funds on sustainable development in Ireland. The paper argues that, despite mixed results, there is a simultaneous layering process occurring because of European transfers, programmes and initiatives whereby multiple 'regions' are coming into being linked to a concept of regional sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]