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In this paperwe share the behind-the-scenes story of the development of our paper "When worlds collide: The internal dynamics of organizational responses to conflicting institutional demands," which received the 2020 Academy of Management Review Decade Award. Furthermore, 10 years into its publication, we assess the degree towhich the phenomenonof conflicting institutionaldemands is still prevalent today. Wefurtherpushour theorizing, extending our initial model of the determinants of organizational responses to institutional complexity by discussing the potential consequences of these responses and outlining the organizational factors that may enable their successful enactment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decentralization as an organizing principle has drawn growing interest from scholars and practitioners because of its perceived suitability for contemporary market conditions and alignment with employees' evolving work expectations. However, efforts to decentralize authority face significant obstacles and often end in failure. I propose that existing research on decentralization has struggled to generate insight into how such barriers can be overcome because it has treated decentralization as a static outcome imposed by organizational designers. In contrast, this article treats decentralization as a dynamic and situated achievement that must be continually enacted, and it leverages ethnographic data from a decentralization effort in order to build theory on the organizational practices that support enactments of decentralized authority. I find that successful enactments of decentralized authority were supported by practices that established clear boundaries of authority and focused collective attention on these boundaries, as well as by practices that depersonalized collective attributions of the source of authority. At the same time, the practices were difficult to sustain because they were cognitively, emotionally, and temporally demanding. Through this study, I show that decentralization is not merely a one-time structural change but an ongoing collective process that requires navigating and neutralizing the structural and psychological forces pulling organizations back toward hierarchy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indian democracy has noble features of decentralization, devolution, and de-concentration. The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA) of the early 1990s is a landmark for democratic decentralization which accorded constitutional status to Panchayati Raj or Local Governance system within the country. Wherein Gram Panchayat (village level) is the basic unit of grassroots governance, Panchayat Samiti (block level) at the middle level and Zila Parishad (district level) is the highest level of local administration. With 73rd CAA, 29 functional items were put under Panchayats, relating to Sustainable Development Goals, such as Poverty Alleviation, Zero Hunger, Good Health & Well-being, Quality education, Gender equality, Clean water and Sanitation, Clean energy etc. The UNDP identifies Local Governments as vital partners in implementation. This paper analyzes the major challenges of Indian rural local government in achieving the sustainable development goals and examines its viable perspectives. The research methodology followed is descriptive research with narrative and qualitative analysis. The findings indicate significant challenges in attaining the SDGs in rural India and limited resources with rural local governments like. The silver lining, however, lies with the government willingness to translate the digital gains into productive information, mass awareness creation, and push for greater effective role of women the local governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Energy-Water-Food (EWF) nexus is a complex and multidimensional system, in which the energy, water and food resources are strongly interconnected. EWF nexus systems are seriously threatened by natural hazards (e.g., climate change and extreme weather events) along with other human-driven threats, including rapid population growth, urbanization, terrorism, and geopolitical uncertainty. As such, integrated analysis, as encouraged by the EWF nexus can facilitate the identification of essential connections and potential conflicts that may arise in the planning and operation of resource systems. Moreover, in order to consider immediate shocks and long-term pressures, it is imperative to prioritize the strengthening of EWF system resilience by incorporating robust and efficient resource management strategies, which consider various dimensions of sustainability and security such as technical, environmental, economic, and societal aspects. Decentralization is one concept that has the potential of improving the resilience of nexus systems faced to the multiple risks governing them through reducing single points of failure and enabling swifter responses to sudden shocks and continuous volatilities. However, in order to achieve a holistic system resilience through decentralization, the assessment of the different risks impacting each nexus sector is fundamental, yet it can be particularly challenging. Therefore, the objective of this study is to review the currently available resilience assessment methods for the EWF nexus system. The systematic literature review will connect various assessment methods used within decentralization studies that are applied to improve the resilience performance of the EWF nexus system. A total of 84 journal papers were evaluated. The review demonstrates that the deployment of multi-criteria decision-making framework based on composite indicators can be effective in addressing risks and uncertainties within EWF systems. Furthermore, findings of this review illustrate complementary connections between decentralization and resilience concepts, which when integrated with the EWF nexus approach, can be effectively utilized for integrated sustainable resource management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interorganizational partnerships can spur innovation, but their value may be diminished by friction in knowledge flows between firms. We consider how a partner's organizational structure may influence the knowledge that is accessible via partnerships. We focus on how a partner's structure trades off localized autonomy for its managers, which facilitates timelier decision making, and unified control, which facilitates integration. By shaping this balance, centralization of decision rights within the partner organization shapes access to its knowledge. Centralized structures generate wide-ranging internal knowledge pathways that enable access to a broader array of a partner's knowledge. However, the reduced managerial autonomy afforded by centralization makes decision making more cumbersome, which constricts the rate of access to a partner's knowledge. We find evidence of this tradeoff in the context of corporate venture capital relationships between incumbents and startups in the pharmaceutical industry. An increase in the incumbent's diversity of knowledge or in the knowledge required by the startup enhances the value of a greater breadth of access, whereas the degree to which the startup can leverage social ties (affinity) or hierarchical fiat (authority) alleviates the costs of a reduced access rate. Each of these features makes an incumbent organization's centralization more valuable to the startup. By highlighting this tension related to centralization, our findings suggest that new firms striving to maximize their partnership benefits may need to carefully consider their partners' internal structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Serbian Journal of Management is the property of Serbian Journal of Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Given India's high patient load on the existing healthcare setup, as well as political, social, and organizational challenges, the nursing sector is facing various problems, therefore leading to substandard nursing experiences leading to poor patient care at the parallel healthcare setups, specifically homecare. This paper presents self-managed organizations (SMOs) characterized by a horizontal management structure as an effective alternative to existing hierarchical management structures overladen with bureaucracy. Therefore, we are exploring the strategies at self-managed homecare organizations that can make nursing a better and more productive experience. Method: This study utilized Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT), employing semi-structured interviews to explore nursing dynamics in horizontal organizational structures. It delved into crucial aspects like finances, organizational structure, value systems, information flow, and conflict resolution within SMOs. The methodology involved theoretical sampling, prioritizing expert self-management knowledge over mere representativeness. Seven nurses, twelve management members, and fifteen patients from self-managed homecare organizations contributed to the examination of nursing experiences. Constant comparative analysis of data led to the identification of the Qualitative Success Enablers (QSEs), revealing three themes: Insightfulness, Enhancing Nursing Experience through Job Enrichment, and Autonomy-Enabled Intrapreneurship. Results: The findings indicate that the horizontal management structure represented by the studied organization in India has shown considerable success in times laden with uncertainties during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially during the delta wave, which revealed the frailty of existing healthcare infrastructure. The organization successfully maintained a better nursing experience and gained patient and employee satisfaction, as revealed by in-depth semi-structured interviews and constant comparative analysis. Conclusion: In a world of unique challenges, we stand on the brink of significant transformations. SMOs are vital in India's homecare sector for enhancing nursing experiences and overall organizational performance. Fostering a trust-based environment within SMOs is integral to delivering effective services. The autonomy to design nursing jobs, insightfulness, and innovativeness in the nursing job through suitable training activities, various job enrichment methods, and finding meaningfulness in a job through softer aspects of caregiving result in an enhanced nursing experience at SMOs. This groundbreaking approach can be extended to other homecare organizations in India, relieving the strain on the existing healthcare system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: Limited liability enables corporate parents to avoid financial responsibility of their subsidiaries. However, courts can disregard separate legal personality, "pierce the corporate veil," and impose the debts of a subsidiary on its parent—an exception referred to as "enterprise liability." We argue that in countries with weak enterprise liability, groups can better compartmentalize risks by incorporating more of their units as legally independent subsidiaries. Weaker enterprise liability may also induce headquarters to delegate more decision‐making authority to their subsidiaries, invest more, and expand faster, although failure rates could rise. Using data from 16 countries across the Americas, Asia, and Europe, we provide evidence supporting these predictions. This paper highlights two channels—risk compartmentalization and subsidiary autonomy—through which limited liability laws affect organizational outcomes. Managerial Summary: Limited liability is a key attribute of the corporate form. However, when the owner of a corporation is another corporation (as in corporate groups), a key justification for limited liability—to protect small, passive investors from unlimited losses—is severely weakened. We examine how variation in parent limited liability protections for subsidiaries across countries affect firm boundaries, internal organization, and performance. In countries with strong limited liability protections, groups partition their assets more finely into legally independent subsidiaries and grant their subsidiaries more autonomy. They also invest more and grow faster, although they experience higher rates of significant revenue declines. Our findings suggest that limited liability laws play a central role in shaping organizational structure and performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Question/Issue: Based on Property Rights Theory and Empowerment Theory, this paper uses the establishment of local State‐Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commissions (SASACs) as a quasi‐natural experiment to investigate whether and how SASACs improve the efficiency of state‐owned enterprises (SOEs). Research Findings/Insights: (1) After the establishment of SASACs, and compared to those not supervised by the SASACs (i.e., the control group), SOEs governed by local SASACs (i.e., the treatment group) have experienced a significant increase in decentralization and empowerment from the government, proxied by corporate pyramid levels. We also find increased pay‐performance sensitivity for SOE managers and higher productivity measured by total factor productivity (TFP). (2) SASACs adopt different strategies to manage SOEs in monopolistic and competitive industries. (3) The above effect of the SASACs is more pronounced in SOEs supervised by high‐quality governments that effectively protect property rights, enforce fair contracts, apply laws and regulations to everyone, and sufficiently refrain from expropriation. Theoretical/Academic Implications: Using a quasi‐natural experiment, this paper expands the existing literature on SOE reform from the perspective of incentive reform at the regulatory level based on Property Rights Theory and Empowerment Theory. Practitioner/Policy Implications: (1) Privatization is not necessarily the only optimal solution for SOE reform. We show that the unification of power and responsibilities can be very effective and is perhaps less costly and more practical than privatization. Thus, our study provides an encouraging solution for SOE reform for other countries. (2) Countries experiencing SOE reform should also work on strengthening their government quality in order to fully maximize the benefit of the reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decentralization of funding management poses a conceptual challenge to the study of political criteria in the allocation of funding in the EU Cohesion Policy, as existing research often assumes unidimensional actor constellations and motivations. Combining insights from distributive politics and multilevel party politics, this article uses a unique data set of beneficiary data at the local level from Polish Regional Operational Programs (2007–2013) to explore the ability of regional authorities to engage in vote-seeking and explores how institutional and political multilevel structures affect these strategies. We demonstrate that the vote-seeking of sub-national authorities is constrained in two ways. Competition between regional and national authorities limits the possibility of regional governments that are politically opposed to the national government targeting their electoral strongholds. In contrast, partisan harmony between different institutional levels incentivizes a vote-seeking strategy that takes into consideration electoral dynamics at both the regional and national level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable, integrated, and representative management of water is one of the main challenges faced by governments worldwide, especially where water resources are not abundant, such as the Ebro River basin in Spain. The Spanish state has granted powers in matters related to water that has adhered river basins. The main objective of this study is to examine the specific case of water management in Catalonia, a region within the Ebro basin, through literature review and interviews conducted with key informants in water organizations operating in Catalonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During China's reform era, dominant narratives described a transition away from centralised planning in favour of mutually reinforcing processes of liberalisation and decentralisation. Under Xi Jinping, the talk has increasingly been of the recentralisation of authoritarian-state powers and party discipline. Questioning both reform-era transition narratives and equally simplifying claims about their recent reversal, the paper argues for an enriched treatment of party–state spatiality, understood as a polymorphic and multi-scalar process, rather than simply a more complex one. In the emergent Greater Bay Area megaregion, 'new era' zoning strategies are being repurposed as drivers of pathfinding reforms animated by the party–state, in contrast to received readings of zones as single-purpose instruments of liberalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to give a short description of Swedish healthcare provision for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Swedish persons with IDD should have access to the general healthcare system on the same terms as the general population, and thereby enjoy equal opportunities for healthcare of good quality. Reports from government agencies and interest groups, however, describe a decentralised and fragmented healthcare system that requires significant coordination; a lack of adjustments; a lack of specialised healthcare professionals; and gaps in healthcare provision. Research in recent years has reported unequal access to planned healthcare; excess mortality and premature deaths; and insufficient or inadequate support in end‐of‐life care. We conclude that health inequalities and healthcare challenges faced by Swedish persons with IDD might be caused by obstacles at several structural levels. Allowing persons with IDD to access timely and adequate healthcare requires the development of better opportunities for coordination of healthcare and social services, as well as training for healthcare professionals and direct support staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve Sustainable Development Goal 5 for gender equality by 2030, it is crucial for health and development professionals and governmental officials to understand how legal systems empower or oppress populations on the basis of gender worldwide, including opportunities and challenges of statutory provisions created by legal pluralism. Using Ethiopia as a case study, this paper examines how local laws applied in Sharia and Customary Dispute Resolution courts impact gender equality and the health of women and girls inspite of the inculcation of human rights statutes into national legislation, including the Constitution. We identify several key issues with the substantive law and its enforcement. First, laws which have been instituted at the national level to improve gender equally have been poorly enforced at the local level. Second, there is a sustained enforcement of laws that oppress women and that protect male perpetrators of gender-based violations. Third, local courts limit female representation and uphold patriarchy. To improve the health of women and girls, stakeholders must take into consideration the ways in which legal systems uphold harmful gender norms and obstruct and/or advance progress towards equal representation, opportunities, and constitutionally-mandated protections for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The background of this research encompasses contemporary cultural policy issues and their factors of influence, with a special focus on cultural participation processes. The sphere of culture provides the fundamental base for reading and changing the paradigmatic paths through the contents and acts of formal and informal stakeholders. Culture is deeply interlinked with other departments of the entire economy by connections with feedback loops. The impacts of culture on the socio-economic and natural environment, as the "fourth pillar" of sustainable development, are recognized on the international level by theory, expert groups, and practice. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to bring about a deeper understanding of participatory processes and their importance for strategic priority areas of cultural policy development. Study design/methodology/approach: Our study design included institutional analysis, starting from the regulatory framework that reflects cultural policy and its strategic goals, by involving previous relevant theoretical research including the ICET model. Another objective of the paper is to answer a range of questions. What are participation processes' main characteristics and challenges in culture and cultural policy development? Is there a relationship between these challenges? How to achieve desirable cultural and institutional integrative transformations in order to accomplish the strategic priority areas of cultural policy? We bring the conclusions based on theoretic and empirical overview of new empirical research findings based on the survey conducted in 2022 for the need of EPICA research project.1 Findings/conclusions: The findings of this research lead us to recognition, conceptualization and understanding of the existing participatory processes in culture, towards inspiring the future modelling of more integrative strategic and systemic solutions to reflect desirable and harmonized development. Limitations/future research: The limitations of research reflect future endeavour to contribute to reforming the field of culture (by formal and informal means) through more robust horizontal integration with other departments, to achieve sustainable and coherent effects through linking strategies, new forms of participation, decentralization, arm's length principle, and degrowth policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) plays an important role in China's 'Belt & Road Initiative'. It is also one of the most disaster-prone regions in the world. Considering that decentralized disaster governance has been gaining much attention in the world, this paper systematically analyzes the disaster management system in the CPEC region. Specifically, it compares the national, provincial, municipal and community-level institutional mechanisms for disaster management in China and Pakistan, and then closely examines the current trends of decentralized disaster governance based on a recent round of semi-structured and open-ended interviews in Xinjiang, China and Pakistan. Issues and gaps of decentralized disaster governance were drawn out from the experiences of participation among related stakeholders. We found that although the decentralization of the disaster management system has been the main trend in both China and Pakistan, national and provincial disaster management agencies still play a key role in the disaster relief work. Therefore, the centralization and decentralization of disaster management are not contradictory, but the more disaster governance shifts towards decentralization, the more urgent the consolidation of multi-level (vertical) and broader (horizontal) collaboration becomes. Based on this analysis, we aim to provide insights, lessons and recommendations for the way forward for strengthening disaster management in CPEC. In particular, we summarize different but integrated approaches towards effective disaster risk coping strategies and regional cooperation on disaster management in CPEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the interrelationships among local government debt, fiscal decentralization, and public health. The investigation begins by constructing a theoretical model to analyze the inherent connections between these variables. Subsequently, an empirical analysis is conducted using data from China between 2015 and 2021. The findings demonstrate a bidirectional relationship between fiscal decentralization, local government debt, and public health. Specifically, it is observed that an increase in local government debt has adverse effects on both fiscal decentralization and public health, while fiscal decentralization has a positive impact on public health. These insights are consistently validated through rigorous regression methodologies, affirming the robustness and significance of these relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the workload and lack of a critical mass of trained operational researchers within their ranks, health systems and programmes may not be able to dedicate sufficient time to conducting operational research (OR). Hence, they may need the technical support of operational researchers from research/academic organisations. Additionally, there is a knowledge gap regarding implementing differentiated tuberculosis (TB) care in programme settings. In this 'how we did it' paper, we share our experience of implementing a differentiated TB care model along with an inbuilt OR component in Tamil Nadu, a southern state in India. This was a health system initiative through a collaboration of the State TB cell with the Indian Council of Medical Research institutes and the World Health Organisation country office in India. The learnings are in the form of eleven tips: four broad principles (OR on priority areas and make it a health system initiative, implement simple and holistic ideas, embed OR within routine programme settings, aim for long-term engagement), four related to strategic planning (big team of investigators, joint leadership, decentralised decision-making, working in advance) and three about implementation planning (conducting pilots, smart use of e-tools and operational research publications at frequent intervals). These may act as a guide for other Indian states, high TB burden countries that want to implement differentiated care, and for operational researchers in providing technical assistance for strengthening implementation and conducting OR in health systems and programmes (TB or other health programmes). Following these tips may increase the chances of i) an enriching engagement, ii) policy/practice change, and iii) sustainable implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The centralization of Finnish maternity services can mean longer journeys when women are in labor. The aim of this study was to describe women's experiences of having an unplanned out-of-hospital delivery (OHD) and to produce a deeper understanding of how to support them when this happens. Design: Qualitative descriptive study design with narrative inquiry method. Methods: Individual interviews were carried out with 15 women who had an unplanned OHD and the data were analyzed using a narrative method. Results: Three narratives described the women's experiences of an unplanned OHD with a common plot being their sense of control. In the first narrative, a sense of control was maintained; in the second, the sense of control fluctuated; and the third narrative centered on a loss of control. All the narratives were related to the women's experiences of what was happening to their body, the people around them during delivery, and the situation after the childbirth. Conclusion: Having an unplanned OHD forced women to reconsider their preconceptions and expectations of childbirth and focus on how to handle the situation at hand. A key factor was the sense of control they felt while giving birth, which should be considered a core principle in maternity care practices, from antenatal care to delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is decentralized, wherein field offices coordinated at the state level undertake inspections. We study whether this structure can lead to interstate frictions in sharing information and how this impacts firms' compliance with workplace safety laws. We find that firms caught violating in one state subsequently violate less in that state but violate more in other states. Despite this pattern, and in keeping with information frictions, violations in one state do not trigger proactive OSHA inspections in other states. Moreover, firms face lower monetary penalties when subsequent violations occur across state lines, likely due to the lack of documentation necessary to assess severe penalties. Finally, firms are more likely to shift violating behavior into states with greater information frictions. Our findings suggest that internal information within regulators impacts the likelihood and location of corporate misconduct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research hinges upon the relationship between fiscal decentralization and life satisfaction. It contributes to the field by performing an empirical analysis focused on the case of Chile, by merging the national household survey (CASEN) with municipal level information. This analysis is based on a hierarchical empirical model, in which data from both sources are integrated. Our results show a significant positive effect of municipal level fiscal decentralization on individual subjective wellbeing. Nonetheless, we also show that said result is contingent upon residents' political representation, which is in line with the hypothesis that citizens' oversight of local authorities is a necessary condition for the effect of fiscal decentralization to emerge. From the viewpoint of how fiscally decentralized measures should be implemented in practice, above evidence suggests that said process should be accompanied by the strengthening of local residents' participation in community relevant matters. Further confirmation of this is presented in this research, by showing that residents' membership in organized groups further increases individual subjective well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Universal health coverage (UHC) improves national health outcomes while addressing social inequalities in access to quality healthcare services. The district health system (DHS) is critical to the success of UHC in South Africa through the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme. Family physicians (FPs), as champions of primary care, are central to the DHS operation and implementation of NHI. Methods: This was a qualitative exploratory study that used semi-structured interviews to explore FPs views and engagement on NHI policy and implementation in their districts. Ten FPs were included through purposive sampling. Results: Most of the FPs interviewed were not engaged in either policy formulation or strategic planning. The NHI bill was seen as a theoretical ideology that lacked any clear plan. Family physicians expressed several concerns around corruption in governmental structures that could play out in NHI implementation. Family physicians felt unsupported within their district structures and disempowered to engage in rollout strategies. The FPs were able to provide useful solutions to health system challenges because of the design of their training programmes, as well as their experience at the primary care level. Conclusion: Healthcare governance in South Africa remains located in national and provincial structures. Devolution of governance to the DHS is required if NHI implementation is to succeed. The FPs need to be engaged in NHI strategies, to translate plans into actionable objectives at the primary care level. Contribution: This study highlights the need to involve FPs as key actors in implementing NHI strategies at a decentralised DHS governance level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Jordanian Journal of Computers & Information Technology is the property of Jordanian Journal of Computers & Information Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Urban spatial structure remains the center of quest and modeling. The decentralization concept is among the leading literature discourses that guide spatial analyses. In line with the decentralization discourse, the application of land-use optimization as a modeling method has grown significantly. Despite decentralization dominating the contemporary spatial analysis literature, no study so far explicitly declares an end to the centers (and subcenters). While centers (and subcenters) are alive, the land-use optimization has never taken this macro-morphological structure into consideration. This case study frames land-use optimization within the agglomeration and decentralization concepts based on the view that no single conceptual framework addresses spatial analysis sufficiently. On a theoretical level, the link is between coarse morphological assumption (basis of economic geography) and decentralization (basis of sustainable built environment). The paper blends these dual theories, one governing urban macro-morphological structures and the other governing decentralization literature. On a methodological modeling level, it blends centers and other discretized uses. Optimizing four objectives across the complete centralization through multiple centers of gravity to complete the decentralization of urban spatial structures applying Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II, the case study findings justify the importance of explicit modeling of the macro-morphological element. It has been observed that multicenter urban forms perform well above both the single center and the dispersed scenarios. It is, therefore, argued that an appropriate approach to land-use optimization is modeling both the macro-spatial element and fine spatial elements. The result further indicates that local land-use planning regulations place the structure of city in a suboptimal state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing rapidly before the early 2000s, literature on provincial Thai politics has dwindled in recent years. This article makes a small attempt to redress this trend by highlighting one distinctive yet understudied emerging electoral dynamics in provincial Thailand. Specifically, drawing mainly on Thai-language primary sources, this paper shows that in the majority of Thailand’s provinces, the Provincial Administrative Organisation, an electoral institution that has received an unprecedented amount of state funding in the post-1997 age of decentralisation, has enabled influential political families to retain and even increase their power. As political and economic power has been decentralised from Bangkok, it has ironically been centralised in the hands of a limited number of oligarchic provincial elites. This phenomenon is not an historical aberration; rather, it should be viewed as one manifestation or product of Thailand’s enduring patrimonial culture, in which public officeholders’ positions are regarded as an extension of their personal or familial property. I conclude by discussing the Thai case theoretically and comparatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how conflict-affected communities in Ukraine (the Lugansk region) can develop sustainable mental health services in decentralised settings. The main interest focuses on community stakeholders' perception of their problems and solutions that communities can create to achieve better mental health coverage. Design/methodology/approach: A series of roundtables (RTs) (4 RTs, 62 participants overall), accompanied by interactive brainstorming techniques, were conducted with communities' representatives/stakeholders from the East of Ukraine (Lugansk region, a government-controlled area) during the year 2021. Participants (health, mental health, social care workers and administration representatives) were provided with the opportunity to discuss mental health services' development challenges and create affordable solutions for their communities. Results of discussions were submitted to qualitative analysis and offered for review by participants. Findings: Decentralisation in Ukraine led to allocating funds alongside responsibilities for developing the services to communities. Most of the communities appear not to be ready to acknowledge the role of mental health services, entirely relying on the existing weak psychiatric hospital-based system. Awareness-raising interactive capacity-building activities for the community leaders and decision-makers effectively promote community-based mental health services development. Five clusters of challenges were identified: leadership, coordination and collaboration problems; infrastructure, physical accessibility and financial problems; mental health and primary health-care workforce shortage and lack of competencies; low awareness of mental health and available services and high stigma; war, crises and pandemic-related problems. Communities stakeholders foresaw seven domains of action: increasing the role of communities and service users in the initiatives of governmental bodies; establishing in the communities local coordination/working groups dedicated to mental health service development; developing the community-based spaces (hubs) for integrated services provision; embedding the mental health services in the existing services (social, administrative and health care); mental health advocacy and lobbying led by local leaders and service users; increasing capacity of communities in financial management, fundraising; developing services by combining efforts and budgets of neighbouring communities. Research limitations/implications: The study has potential limitations. Participants of the roundtables were mostly appointed by local authorities, so some of them didn't have a motivation for mental health services development. Service users were involved only from the facilitators' side, not from the side of communities; therefore, it was impossible to include their view of problems and solutions. Obtained data were limited to the opinion of local professionals, administration workers and other local stakeholders. The human rights aspect was not clearly articulated in the tasks of the roundtables. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, the paper is original in terms of its topic (connecting decentralisation and local stakeholders' engagement for understanding the challenges of mental health services development) and research strategy (engagement of Ukrainian communities, qualitative analysis of the discussion results and applying the best practices and international recommendations to the local context). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kabylia is a region of Algeria located on a mountainous part of the Mediterranean basin; it has a vernacular heritage with recognized socio-cultural, environmental and architectural qualities. Thanks to its assets, the development of tourism in the region will bring economic dynamism to the region. These villages are home to associations that used to exist under other names (Thajmaat, village committees). In this paper, we examine the real contribution of village associations to village tourism and the importance that citizen participation can have in a decentralized decision-making scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the effects of public agency relocation on the growth of local employment. The South Korean government has recently relocated 154 public agencies from the Seoul Metropolitan Area to local cities, called "Innovation Cities." This policy was formulated to foster decentralization and regional development. However, only a few studies have examined the impact of this relocation. The innovation cities seem to be suffering from a lack of innovation, and the effects of decentralization. In this study, we evaluated the effects of relocation by using the synthetic control method and applying panel data gathered from 2006 to 2018. The unit of analysis is the small tier of local authority, and the outcome variable is the number of workers within each regional jurisdiction. To investigate counterfactuals, we determined control groups by selecting specific covariates of local employment. The results show that the increase in local employment was mostly caused by the migration of public agency employees to the destination areas. Spillovers are limited and influenced by regional characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Duzce University Journal of Science & Technology is the property of Duzce University Journal of Science & Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The rise of centralized mining pools for risk sharing does not necessarily undermine the decentralization required for blockchains: because of miners' cross-pool diversification and pool managers' endogenous fee setting, larger pools better internalize their externality on global hash rates, charge higher fees, attract disproportionately fewer miners, and grow more slowly. Instead, mining pools as a financial innovation escalate miners' arms race and significantly increase the energy consumption of proof-of-work-based blockchains. Empirical evidence from Bitcoin mining supports our model's predictions. The economic insights inform other consensus protocols and the industrial organization of mainstream sectors with similar characteristics but ambiguous prior findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Widespread neoliberal approaches to education consider schools increasingly accountable for self-management and 'client' recruitment, encapsulating economic ideologies that assume privatisation is essential for social progress. With an ever-shifting landscape of market-driven policies and the increasing growth of private education settings, more research is needed to cast light on emerging or under-researched aspects of autonomous schools. Located within a U.S. state that has strict constraints on tax subsidies for religious K-12 education, this paper investigates how an extensive form of decentralisation corresponds with schools' discipline and ethical environment. It analyses teacher interviews and web documents from faith-based, autonomous schools in a state that has devolved power and authority for decision-making to parents and other independent 'agents', having a distanced relationship with its nonstate 'actors'. The paper follows Foucault's use of the metaphor of the panopticon and adopts his power analysis to examine the nature of parental control and its influence on disciplinary and ethical practices. Evidence suggests that these autonomous schools are driven by a 'mini-public' ideology that constrains educators' autonomy and generates particular disciplinary norms; entangling ethical, educational, and social ramifications, including teacher resistance and teacher demoralisation. Implications for policy are discussed in this context of control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mobilization of teacher leadership, simultaneous decentralization of power, and centralization of support for teacher-led initiatives is seen as important to educational improvement in post-Soviet Kazakhstan where hierarchical cultures and structures still prevail. The current study reports on results from the Teacher Leadership in Kazakhstan (TLK) initiative, which was based on the internationally recognized Teacher-led development work strategy that enabled teachers to lead individual development projects throughout one academic school year. The TLK initiative involved 16 principals, 32 school-based facilitators, and 150 teachers. Using a mixed-methods design, research for the initiative was conducted over one academic year and collected a wide range of data through questionnaire surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Analysis using structural equation modeling suggested that improved teacher program experience resulted in enhanced teacher leadership capacity, and that teachers from more collaborative school cultures enjoy more impactful initiatives. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups provide further insights into these findings. Implications for policy and practice and future directions are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Jurnal Wacana Politik is the property of Jurnal Wacana Politik (JWP) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of the paper is to verify a thesis according to which countries which are considered to be the most representative examples of implementing the national cultural autonomy concept (Hungary and Serbia) in fact use the construct of national minority self-government, which, according to administrative law commentaries, is classified as non-territorial, or special self-government. In order to fulfill this task two decentralisation solutions which are aimed at pursuing national and ethnic minorities' ambitions to maintain and enhance their cultural identity: national minority self-governments and national cultural autonomy has been presented. These legal constructs are not equivalent, although in international literature on the subject they are often treated as synonyms. In this context Serbian and Hungarian regulations has been presented and assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Information Technologies & Communications / Revista de Tecnologías de la Información & Comunicaciones is the property of ECORFAN-Mexico S.C. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In view of the problems of dispersion, repetition, closure and low efficiency in the sharing of large-scale scientific instruments in universities, this paper introduces the involution theory and analyzes the institutional obstacles faced by the sharing of large-scale scientific instruments in practice from the contradiction between supply side and demand side of large-scale scientific instruments, as well as the tendency of management decentralization, purchase duplication, utilization inefficiency, cognitive degradation, support weakening and channel fragmentation. The suggestions such as the market operation mechanism of "Prior to carry and try" and open sharing modes of three types, three modes, three stages and three steps are proposed to improve the sharing of large-scale scientific instruments in universities for decision-making reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the geography of bank lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and tests the argument that large institutions with complex organizational structures are better able to filter 'hard' information than 'soft' information. Mortgage lending is used as a control to illustrate the case of 'hard' and 'soft' information. Using data on individual bank lending to SMEs and mortgages by postcode area in Great Britain for the period 2013(2)–2014(4), the paper explains the spatial dispersion of SME lending in the UK in terms of geographical distance and supports the policy of establishing a geographically decentralized financial system as a counterbalance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiscal decentralization is aimed to improve Public Services Delivery as the subnational governments get control of additional revenue and expenditures responsibilities and are in a better position to provide basic services to the local people. The 7th NFC Award is considered as a big step toward fiscal federalism wherein the criteria for horizontal and vertical distribution of resources has been changed to accommodate major demands of the federating units. This research paper has been an attempt to identify that to what extent the new fiscal arrangements under the 7th NFC Award has been successful to improve health services delivery in Pakistan. For this study data on various health indicators has been collected for the period 2001 to 2019 divided into two groups i.e., pre 7th NFC period (2001 to 2010) and post 7th NFC Award period (2011 to 2019). To identify the impact of 7th NFC Award on health services delivery in Pakistan various variables were selected including Infant Mortality, Under Five Years' Mortality, Life Expectancy at Birth and Health Expenditures (%GDP) as dependent or endogenous variables at national level whereas for comparison at provincial level Life expectancy at birth and Under Five Years mortality were used as dependent variables. The variables were tested at the national level as well as the provincial level and interprovincial comparison was also performed. For the analysis purpose different techniques for trend analysis were applied including the Chow breakpoint test, recursive coefficient, Wald-Coefficient Restriction test, Equality of Variance test, trend estimates, Durbin Watson Test and Forecast analysis. Additionally, the Difference-in-Difference approach was also applied to compare other provinces as treatment groups i.e., Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan with Punjab as a control group. The results suggest health indicators have responded positively to the additional funds' transfer and Life expectancy at birth, Infant mortality and Under Five years' mortality have improved at national level. Life expectancy and under five years' mortality has generally improved in all provinces except for life expectancy in KP. While comparing the performance of other provinces with Punjab it is found that life expectancy at birth, infant mortality and Under Five years' mortality have improved in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while Baluchistan did not improve health indicators in comparison to Punjab. However, to realize further benefits of the fiscal decentralization it is suggested that additional fund transfer is not a sufficient factor to bring change and should be complemented by administrative and legislative actions on part of the government. Innovations and the role of the private sector are crucial in improving public services delivery in health sector. Moreover, the capacity of the government machinery and the ability to develop plans and strategies is important to realize the benefits of the fiscal decentralization by the provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A manufacturer may encroach on his suppliers by developing substitutable components. In the presence of encroachment, the manufacturer could assemble products using (high-end) components purchased from the supplier, and assemble products using (low-end) components produced in-house. Thus, the manufacturer must deliberate on how to manage the expanded organisation consisting of competing product divisions. In this paper, we examine the quintessential organisational structure decision – the centralisation versus decentralisation choice – from the perspective of the manufacturer. Our model assumes that the supplier is a dominant player, moving first by pricing the high-end component, and consumers have a higher willingness-to-pay of the product containing the high-end component. In such a context, we find that the manufacturer may encroach on the supplier even if producing the low-end component costs more than producing the high-end one. The supplier should strategically price to deter or accommodate downstream encroachment contingent on the manufacturer’s organisational structure decision. If the unit cost of low-end components is high enough, product-based decentralisation is preferred to centralisation due to the supplier’s lower wholesale price. Furthermore, the manufacturer’s strategic decentralisation always hurts the supplier, always benefits the customers and could benefit or hurt the entire supply chain under certain conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to explore how Swedish principals experienced the decentralisation and re-centralisation reforms and how they affected principals' autonomy and decision-making capacity. Data were obtained from three surveys of Swedish principals, carried out in 2005, 2012 and 2019. The results show that principals experienced a high degree of autonomy in their decision-making in 2005 and 2012 and also a balanced control from state and municipalities. At the time of the third study in 2019, principals continue to express a rather high degree of autonomy, but this autonomy is now combined with an increased degree of control. However, given the high degree of autonomy, in combination with low degree of conflicts between different stakeholders, the article concludes that the expression 'in the eye of the storm there is calm' appears to suit Swedish principals' decision-making, at least, in the development of decentralisation and re-centralisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the local government level, activities related to regional autonomy and decentralization go beyond merely implementing financial decentralization from the Central Government to Local Governments or Local Governments to Local Government Work Units (SKPD). It also includes the decentralization of asset management at the regional business unit level. The Regional State-Owned Enterprise (Perseroda) of South Sulawesi Province, as one of the units of Regional-Owned Enterprises, requires proper governance to promote regional autonomy and optimize regional revenue. Therefore, it is crucial to implement good governance principles to ensure accountable financial and asset management, which represents a government's success in providing public services. The implementation of good governance principles includes accountable, transparent, and law-abiding asset management. This study aims to analyze the application of the values and principles of good governance in asset management within the Perseroda of South Sulawesi Province. The study adopts a qualitative approach, and data are collected through interviews, observations, and document analysis. The data analysis technique is an interactive model, with data validity tested through triangulation. The results indicate that the application of values and principles of good governance in asset management still needs improvement due to constraints related to the quality of human resources and the adoption of technology in asset management. Efforts to enhance the quality of human resources, employee motivation, socialization, and control mechanisms for implementing good corporate governance must be optimized, with the aim of integrating these principles and values within the body of Perseroda in South Sulawesi Province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are significant data privacy implications associated with Electronic Health Records (EHRs) sharing among various untrusted healthcare entities. Recently, a blockchain-based EHRs sharing system has provided many benefits. Decentralization, anonymity, unforgeability, and verifiability are all unique properties of blockchain technology. In this paper, we propose a secure, blockchain-based EHR sharing system. After receiving the data owner's authorization, the data requester can use the data provider's keyword search to discover relevant EHRs on the EHR consortium blockchain and obtain the re-encryption ciphertext from the proxy server. To attain privacy, access control and data security, the proposed technique uses asymmetric searchable encryption and conditional proxy re-encryption. Likewise, proof of permission serves in consortium blockchains as the consensus method to ensure the system's availability. The proposed protocol can achieve the specified security goals, according to the security analysis. In addition, we simulate basic cryptography and put the developed protocol into practice on the Ethereum platform. The analysis results suggest that the developed protocol is computationally efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a context characterised by low competitiveness of agrifood enterprises in Cameroon, a socio-economic study on Small and Medium-Sized Agrifood Enterprises (SMAE) in the Cameroon cities of Yaoundé in the Centre region, Douala in the Littoral region, and Bafoussam in the West region was carried out between March and September 2021. This was with the aim of analysing the main characteristics of these enterprises. Data were collected from 300 managers of SMAE selected through a purposive sampling method. Descriptive statistical were used to analyse the data. The results revealed that SMEA in Cameroon are mostly Very Small Enterprises (VSE) (89.7%) with less than 10 years of existence, and self-funded without external sources of finance. Their production systems are essentially artisanal (69%) and their personnel are not qualified (72%). In addition, they are mostly organised in the form of Common Initiative Groups (CIGs), cooperatives or enterprises without legal status. These SMAE are mainly run by married (66,7%), female (56%) and higher level graduate (60%) managers with ages ranging from 41 to 50 years. The decision-making process in these enterprises is centred on the managers with a structure based on group work and very few employees with a job description. However, meetings are held frequently in these enterprises, and employees are most often consulted and informed of any developments. Furthermore, the main marketing strategy used by these enterprises is word of mouth, while informal observation is the main business intelligence strategy. Very few SMAE have Research and Development (R&D) activities. Nevertheless, they rely mainly on training to stay technologically alert. In addition, they generally collaborate with customers and suppliers. These characteristics mainly predispose Cameroonian SMEA to be unprofitable and inefficient. Therefore, the paper recommend to sensitize SMAE to the advantages of being formal, to put in place fiscal measures that match up with SMAE’s activities, to develop financial systems adapted to SMAE’s reality, to empower women and reduce gender inequalities in order to improve their managerial performances, to raise young entrepreneurs awareness of the importance of perseverance and the benefit of marriage on business, to help SMAE managers and their personnel to continuously build their capacity, to support SMAE financially and technically, to help SMAE in developing well defined business strategies, to sensitize SMAE managers to the importance of decentralisation in their activities and to promote collaboration between SMAE and strategic partners in their environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blockchain technology provides decentralized consensus and potentially enlarges the contracting space through smart contracts. Meanwhile, generating decentralized consensus entails distributing information that necessarily alters the informational environment. We analyze how decentralization relates to consensus quality and how the quintessential features of blockchain remold the landscape of competition. Smart contracts can mitigate informational asymmetry and improve welfare and consumer surplus through enhanced entry and competition, yet distributing information during consensus generation may encourage greater collusion. In general, blockchains sustain market equilibria with a wider range of economic outcomes. We further discuss the implications for antitrust policies targeted at blockchain applications. Received May 31, 2017; editorial decision May 29, 2018 by Editor Itay Goldstein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new consensus has emerged which stipulates that the Eurozone problems are caused by a lack of embeddedness of the euro in proper financial and fiscal unions. This paper reviews the debates on the Eurozone's state of disembeddedness and argues that it is not enough to embed the monetary union in scaled-up financial and fiscal unions. For the euro problems to disappear it needs to be embedded in social Europe. The transfer of policy prerogatives at the supranational level does not make the structure embedded, but the substance of the policy measures. From a Polanyian perspective, the extent of the Eurozone dis/embeddedness depends not on the level of centralization of policymaking, but on the interplay between the two forgotten Polanyian principles: improvement and habitation. This paper tries to assess the extent of dis-embeddedness through these two principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]