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This paper studies the largest 250 companies in Australia in the early 1990s and their network of interlocking directorates. It examines the institutional profile of Australian big business and the impact of globalisation. It finds that international capital has not, as yet. made major inroads into the core of Australian big business although global finance capital has had a major impact on its mode of operating. It argues that the greatest area for structural change is the privatisation of government-owned enterprises. Following the precedents of US and international studies the paper then explores key features of the theory of financial hegemony. The paper uses network analysis of interlocking directorships to assess the centrality of banks and the direction of ties among big businesses. Australian banks are heavily interlocked and 'attract' executives of other companies to their boards but they do not constitute the core of the intercorporate network as in the US. As outlined by Australian scholars the systemic conditions of capitalist hegemony in this country involve uncritical acceptance of big business leadership. These conditions privilege all large, Australian public companies (the 'private sector') as the core institutions of class power. Centralisation and hierarchy within big business parallels these conditions of public culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops theoretical results, for a class of coordination mechanisms for resource allocation in decentralized firms, using as a model the decomposition of linear programs. Of the two pure decentralized allocation mechanisms (price-directive and resource-directive), resource-directive mechanisms, based in concept upon rationing or budgeting procedures, have received less attention in the literature. This paper focuses on these mechanisms and reports that under rather mild conditions the use of the plausible and economically appealing rule of allocating a global resource so as to equalize its marginal value over alternate uses is almost surely doomed to failure. In particular it is found that (1) resource-directive decompositions induce a kind of structural degeneracy in the decentralized divisions; (2) the amount of degeneracy increases with the number of divisions and the number of scarce global resources; and (3) degeneracy "seeks its own level" in that degeneracies spread over the divisions. The implication of these results for those interested in organizational design is that caution should be observed in utilizing such a rule as equalizing marginal values, and that more complicated and costly procedures for effecting resource allocation may be required. Finally, some symmetries between price-directive and resource-directive mechanisms are summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

`Glasnost Hungarian style' forms part of a process of reform initiated from `above'. From `below', there has been a remarkable renaissance of civil society, with increasing numbers of people becoming actively involved in public and political life. At the same time, gathering social and economic crisis threatens to destabilize the country, while institutional structures inherited almost intact from the Stalinist period serve as a strait-jacket, precluding any meaningful and lasting change. This is particularly evident in the print media, a field which is strictly regulated and controlled. Licensing of newspapers and periodicals, allocation of newsprint, strict price controls, almost non-existent opportunities for the entry of new actors into the field, a high degree of press concentration in the hands of the power elite — all these characterize the situation in the Hungarian press. All of these factors are incompatible with movement towards a democratic and pluralistic socialist society, but change in these areas is predicated on the reform of political institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents views on a paper presented by David F. Bradford and Wallace E. Oates during a panel discussion focused on the theorem that matching grants are more stimulative than lump-sum grants of equivalent amount. Charles J. Goetz suggested that from a methodological standpoint, the Bradford-Oates study did not imply excessive generality wherein it contradict the earlier Goetz-McKnew economic model. Thomas E. Borcherding examined the issues of fiscal decentralism wherein he criticized it on the following grounds: (1) the incorrect characterization of fiscal centralism; and (2) the total neglect of the mechanism linking the decisions of noncentral units with the central unit's decision as to the method of finance and dispersal of the grants-in-aid. Walter E. Williams examines the mathematical models of fiscal decentralization.

The article focuses on the Chihuum Piiuywmk Inach/A Gathering of Good Minds project, which explores the role of the data analysis phase in community-engaged research and emphasizes anti-oppressive methodologies aligned with indigenist approaches. The paper discusses the challenges of decolonizing research methodologies, particularly in the analysis phase, and contributes to the conversation on decentering colonial and institutional systems of oppression in research.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of product substitutability on sales performance of integrated and decentralised supply chains. The authors model supply chain performance effects by applying a Cournot equation to a combination of different industry configurations. The study aims to extend existing equilibria models in different supply chains by including the effects of product substitutability on supply chain performance. By extending existing equilibria models, the authors explore the relationship between the degree of product substitutability, chain structure and chain performance when some actors of the supply chain behave as Stackelberg leaders in a duopoly. Design/methodology/approach – The paper models a supply chain performance by applying a Cournot equation to different supply chain structures in a duopoly. Findings – The findings indicate that, for each specific-supply chain structures in different market configurations, when product substitutability reaches a certain threshold decentralised supply chains outperform integrated chains, in disagreement with common belief in current existing literature. Research limitations/implications – The study is limited to the application of differential equations in a competitive market configured as a duopoly. Future studies might extend the same model to a competitive market characterised by more than two actors. The findings imply that current tendency of lean implementations through integrated supply chains does not always favour supply chain performance. Practical implications – The paper includes implications for the development of a stronger differentiation strategy based on consumer value when markets are characterised by high-product substitutability. Originality/value – These findings highlight the importance of differentiation and consumer-value generation in markets that follow Nash equilibria as opposed to the current focus on price competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promulgation of the South African Disaster Management Act No. 57 of 2002 and the National Disaster Management Policy Framework of 2005 placed South Africa at the international forefront by integrating disaster risk reduction into all spheres of government through a decentralised approach. Yet, good policy and legislation do not necessarily translate into good practice. This paper provides a critical analysis of the Act and Policy Framework. Using qualitative research methods, it analyses the attitudes and perceptions of senior public officials on all levels of government, the private sector and academia. The study finds that one of the weakest aspects of the Act and Framework is the absence of clear guidance to local municipalities. The placement of the disaster risk management function on all tiers of government remains problematic, funding is inadequate and overall knowledge and capacities for disaster risk reduction are insufficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between administrative reform in Portugal and the impacts on the dependence of local governments in the face of budgetary resources of state and local municipal revenue collection, which is understood as a form, among others, participation civil society in local public policies. Design/methodology/approach – The study opts for an exploratory analysis using the grounded theory approach, including the use of data relating to local government structures and partnerships with the private sector, based on the main lines of the public administration reform. The data were supplemented by documentary analysis, including legislative documents and papers in specialized area of administrative decentralization and civil society participation in local public policies. Findings – The paper provides empirical insights about how the increased participation of civil society in local public policies is associated with less reliance on state budgets and a greater number of local managerial structures. Research limitations/implications – Due to the chosen research approach, the results cannot be generalized. A comparative study between several countries could bring several interesting insights. Social implications – The paper includes implications for economic and social development of new public policies in the context of administrative reforms. Originality/value – This paper makes several theoretical and empirical contributions on this research field specially about local public manager's decisions for financial resources transfers within the active policy of sustainable local development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many companies with global supply networks suffer from market volatility and supply disruptions, which adversely affect both their short and long-term profits. Although using mechanisms, such as supply contracts, is useful to mitigate uncertainty, the inherent inefficiency of decentralization is a critical issue that needs to be considered at early design stages. This paper studies a supply chain problem where a buyer receives a product from a cheap but unreliable main supplier and signs an option contract with a perfectly reliable backup supplier to share supply and demand uncertainty. To build efficiency benchmark models, we first consider a centralized problem and then explore a decentralized problem where there is only a wholesale price contract between the buyer and the backup supplier. Considering the option contract, we reconstruct optimization problems and sequentially characterize the members' reservation and production policies under a voluntary compliance regime. Subsequently, we establish a win–win coordination mechanism that maximizes system efficiency and meanwhile is desirable from both contract members' perspectives. Results reveal that the proposed mechanism leads the backup supplier to choose a lower level of production capacity than the buyer's reservation amount (i.e., an underproduction policy). We realize that the existing mismatch between the members' optimal policies is caused by the buyer's phantom ordering. This paper sheds light on the effectiveness of contract-based mitigation strategies that enable firms to ensure responsive backup capacity under demand uncertainty and supply disruptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the effect of two policy changes on the efficiency of Italian regional governments in the provision of health care services: first a change in the electoral system, second a process of fiscal decentralisation. The paper provides two main contributions: (1) a comprehensive analysis of the two main reforms that involved Italian regional governments and the health care sector during the 1990s, (2) the evaluation of the impact of the electoral reform in a quasi-experimental setting. Final results are in line with recent theoretical predictions that show a positive relationship between government efficiency and the electoral accountability enhanced by institutions such as electoral rules and fiscal decentralisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY Donor support for decentralization comes in two main categories: policy support to increase the autonomy of subnational governments (SNGs) and project/program activities to improve the responsiveness and accountability of those SNGs. In the former, donors advocate for reforms that increase the extent or 'quantity' of decentralization, whereas in the latter, they aim at the 'quality' of decentralized governance. Drawing upon this distinction, this paper's argument is twofold. The principal argument is that donors have had modest causal impacts on the quantity of decentralization because the preexisting political incentives of central governments are sufficient to explain decisions for major reforms. Decentralization advances farthest when there are regime-level incentives to decentralize, a moderate amount when there are government-level incentives, and minimally when donors (or other actors outside the central state) are leading champions of decentralization. The second argument of the paper is that donor efficacy is further complicated by partially conflicting emphases that sometimes tradeoff local autonomy with accountability. Implications include support for those programming efforts that pair autonomy with responsiveness at the local level. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-disaster governance is a popular discussion topic in disaster research, but in practice understanding of the issue is limited. This paper discusses recovery governance since the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami, focusing on two dimensions: decentralisation and citizen participation in local governance. Regional Japan's socio-spatial vitality has been shrinking and weakening under the developmental state system. The 2011 disaster exposed vulnerabilities in the sociopolitical system. For a short time it appeared that local political space had been opened for alternative governance systems; however, only limited improvements have occurred in decentralisation reform and civic participation systems. Tsunami recovery was constrained and delayed by predisaster trajectories, although socio-spatial inequalities increased. The paper suggests the implications of this for the developmental state and argues that drastic action should be taken to rectify the faults of the socio-political system, to stop the disaster-affected area's decline, and to promote regional and community recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the vibration-based ambient modal identification methods in the literature are structured to process vibration data collected from a dense array of sensors centrally to yield modal information. For large systems, for example bridges, one of the main disadvantages of such a centralized architecture is the cost of dense instrumentation, predominantly consisting of the sensors themselves, the data acquisition system, and the associated cabling. Recent advances in wireless smart sensors have addressed the issue of sensor cost to some extent; however, most of the algorithms-with the exception of very few-still retain an essentially centralized architecture. To harness the full potential of decentralized implementation, the authors have developed a new class of algorithms exploiting the concepts of sparsity (using wavelet transforms) within the framework of blind source separation. The problem of identification is cast within the framework of underdetermined blind source separation invoking transformations of measurements to the wavelet domain resulting in a sparse representation. Although the details of these decentralized algorithms have been discussed in other articles, in this paper, for the first time, these algorithms are studied experimentally on a full-scale structure using wireless sensors. In a truly decentralized implementation, only two sensors are roved along the length of a pedestrian bridge, and the performance of the proposed algorithms is studied in detail. A pedestrian bridge located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, is chosen primarily to highlight the methodology used to address modal identification under low-sensor density and for pedestrian loading. Issues arising from several modes being excited on this bridge and the presence of narrowband pedestrian excitations are addressed. The accuracy of modal identification that is achieved using the proposed decentralized algorithms is compared with the results obtained from their centralized counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on Romanian experiences regarding the financial strategies used by managers from pre-university education. In Romania, local public authorities provide funds to pre-university institutions. Given the sharp economic recession and the austerity measures imposed by Romanian government, the public executives had to find solutions in collecting additional funds and in spending wisely the existing financial resources. Therefore, our paper aims at examining several practices regarding: (i) employees' wages, (ii) EU funds implementing, (iii) self-financing activities, (iv) public procurement and (v) balancing strategies for the budgets, which could improve the financial management of public institutions. This also can contribute to the increase in the efficiency of spending at micro-level within public administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge 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.)

This paper compares the costs and benefits of municipal amalgamations based on the post-war consolidation experiences of a variety of OECD countries. It begins by suggesting that local and regional government consolidation is currently a popular trend. Second, the paper argues that the processes that lead to public sector consolidation are mainly political processes; these include vested interests, ideological framing, multilevel government conflict, institutional and interpersonal conflicts, and power plays. While such amalgamations affect the professionalism of service delivery and the quality of local democracy, previous research is divided about the extent and direction of those effects. This paper argues that three dilemmas are at stake: (i) the well-known Dahl-Tufte dilemma, in which better service delivery is balanced against the loss of citizen effectiveness; (ii) the possibility that consolidation voids the merits of decentralisation; and (iii) the consideration of long-term effects versus temporary transition costs. The transition costs lead to the recommendation that it is preferable to consolidate in a one-step process as opposed to incrementally. Without additional knowledge about optimal size, consolidation can only be seen as gambling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In the first STROKESTOP atrial fibrillation screening study, participation was influenced by socio-demographic and geographic factors. To improve uptake in the second study, two screening sites were added, closer to low-income neighbourhoods which had very low participation in the first study. This paper aims to analyse the geographic and socio-demographic disparities in uptake in the second trial and compare the results with the first trial. Methods: Inhabitants of the Stockholm region born in 1940 and 1941 were randomised 1:1 to be invited to screening or serve as controls. Medical history, blood samples and single-lead-ECG were collected. Invitee's residential parish was used for geo-mapping analysis of the geographical disparities in participation, using hierarchical Bayes methods. Individual data for participants and non-participants were obtained for the socioeconomic variables: educational level, disposable income, immigrant and marital status. Results: Higher participation was observed in those with higher education, high income, among non-immigrants and married individuals. Participation between the first and second studies improved significantly, where additional screening sites were introduced. These improvements were generally significant, in each population group according to socio-demographic characteristics. Conclusion: Decentralisation of screening sites in an atrial fibrillation screening program yielded a significantly positive impact on screening uptake. Adding local screening sites in areas with low uptake had beneficial impact on participation across a wide spectrum of socio-demographic groups. Decentralised screening substantially increased the screening uptake in deprived areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domain Name System (DNS) is a widely used infrastructure for remote control and batch management of IoT devices. As a critical Internet infrastructure, DNS is structured as a tree-like hierarchy with single root zone authority at the top, which puts the operation of DNS at risk from single point of failure. The current root zone management is lack of transparency and accountability, since only the root zone file is published as the final outcome of operations inside the root zone authority. Towards distributed root zone operation in DNS, this paper presents a blockchain-based root operation architecture—RootChain, composed of multiple root servers. On the basis of maintaining the single root authority for top-level domain (TLD), RootChain decentralizes TLD data publication by empowering delegated TLD authorities to publish authenticated data directly. The transparency and accountability of root zone operation are attained by smart-contracting the whole life cycle of TLD operation and logging all operations on the chain. RootChain is transparent to recursive/stub resolver and DNS/DNSSEC-compatible. A proof-of-concept prototype of RootChain has been implemented with Hyperledger Fabric and evaluated by experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The importance of accessible mental health treatment is a global concern, particularly when one in five people will experience a mental health problem in their lifespan. This is no less important in Ghana; however, no studies have yet attempted to appraise and synthesise the potential enablers and barriers to accessing services in Ghana. The aim of this integrative review is therefore to identify and synthesise existing evidence on the barriers and enablers to accessing mental health services in Ghana.Methods: A search of the published literature was conducted using Medline, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL (EBSCO), Web of Science, and Scopus electronic databases. The search was limited to papers published in English and within 2000-2018. Using pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, two reviewers independently screened the titles and abstracts of the retrieved papers. A data extraction form and a Critical Appraisal Checklist were used to extract and appraise data, respectively. The integrative review incorporates both qualitative and quantitative data into a single synthesis.Results: Out of 42 papers that met the inclusion criteria, 50% used qualitative methods, 33.3% used mixed methods and 16.7% used quantitative methods alone. The potential barriers in accessing mental health services were attitudinal, knowledge about services, treatment cost, transportation and geographical proximity, as well as perceived efficacy of medication. Similarly, the health systems factors contributing to barriers were low priority, limited funding sources, irregular medicine supply, limited services for marginalised groups and poor state of psychiatric facilities, together with poor management of mental health cadres. The potential enablers for service users involved increased decentralisation and integration, task-shifting and existing support services.Conclusion: The existing evidence on mental health in Ghana is skewed towards weaknesses in the systems and stigma, with rationally little, or no, evidence or emphasis on the effectiveness, or quality of mental health services. These attributes largely neglect the provision of psychiatric services for marginalised mental health service user groups, including children, adolescents, people with disabilities and the elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economic & Regional Studies/Studia Ekonomiczne i Regionalne is the property of Sciendo 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 model of the Austrian Constitutional Court, with its Kelsenian origins, has been influential in the Cypriot constitutional context in a variety of intertwined and changing ways. The initial constitutional design followed the centralized and concentrated constitutional review by the Supreme Constitutional Court. The collapse of the bi-communal structure of the Cypriot system resulted in the application of the law of necessity and the establishment of a new Supreme Court with a simultaneous decentralization of constitutional review. At the time of writing a new reform initiative is underway, and the discussion about the Austrian model and Kelsen is revived. The continuous and varied influence from the Austrian prototype and interestingly the Kelsenian logic is assessed while recognizing the delicate idiosyncrasies of the Cypriot setting. The argument is that at neither stage the Austrian model was purely applied in Cyprus and the systemic adjustments were the result of improvisation rather than model adherence. This paper highlights the inconsistencies in the understanding of the Austrian model and explains the 'modelling vertigo'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Software-defined networking (SDN) introduces a new method in networking that by offering programmability and centralization, it can dynamically control and configure networks. In traditional networks, data plane did the whole forwarding process, but SDN decouples data plane and control plane by using programmable software controllers for deciding how to forward different flows. By implementing control plane in a software-based independent layer, the network management will become much easier and new policies can be applied to the network by changing a few lines of code. Since the resource allocation and meeting the required service-level agreement are really important in large-scale networks such as cloud datacenters, using SDN can be very useful. In these networks, one logically centralized controller cannot handle the whole network traffic and it will become network bottleneck. Therefore, multiple distributed controllers should be allocated in different regions of the network. Since the request rate of switches varies in time, by dynamic allocation of controllers, network resources will be allocated efficiently and this approach can also reduce power consumption. In this paper, we are going to propose a framework for provisioning software controllers in cloud datacenters by using metaheuristic algorithms. These algorithms can be less accurate compared to other kinds, but their main characteristics like simplicity, flexibility, derivation free, and local optimum avoidance make them a good nominee for solving controller provisioning problem and controller placement problem. Our framework improves computation time and reaches better results compared to other allocation techniques, but it is less accurate in some scenarios. Therefore, we believe metaheuristic approach can be very useful in developing new technologies for SDN in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the problems of untruthful reporting, distortion and gaming of data and performance measures. It explores this relatively neglected area in the principal-agent framework and also tries to assess whether the level of organizational decentralization has some effect on the scope of these problems. We develop a multi-level game theoretical model showing that agents are key players, and that monitoring and sanctioning for gaming should be included in the explicit contract between principals and subordinates in every level of the organization. We apply the model and its insights to the financial services industry where misconduct flourishes. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the effects of political decentralisation on economic growth in Spain, an issue that has generated heated debates in recent decades. Our analysis of the last three and a half decades, a period characterised by the weak narrowing of the income per capita gap within regions, does not offer conclusive results on convergence and points to the importance of alternative factors. Several proxies were used to capture the decentralisation process. We also studied some potential interactions between decentralisation and other variables. All in all, our empirical evidence shows robustly that transferring more responsibilities to subnational governments does not significantly affect growth in any sense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlike developing countries, advanced economies combine top-down and bottom-up approach for strategic planning and consider energy policy in the wider scope of spatial planning. In order to better align planning policies in different sectors, the authorities have transferred decision making from the central government to the local communities. This paper provides a brief overview of the London's strategic spatial and energy policies, examining how they fit within more general visions and objectives. Past and future approaches to the spatial and energy planning were also analysed, with respect to the legal documents that supported actions of different government levels. This paper presents decentralised energy planning and supply in London, highlighting the significance of experience and lessons learned in the development of decentralised energy options for developing countries, willing to engage their resources to contribute to a low carbon economy in accordance with their financial and other possibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a mixed-method, multiple-site study of teacher deployment in Indonesian primary schools. Results from a sample of 23 districts were analysed at district and national level. Substantial disparities in teacher distribution were found in all districts, between schools, between sub-districts and between specialist subjects. Two main issues emerged: uneven teacher distribution and small schools. The study found that a policy research approach which addresses political and cultural, as well as technical, dimensions at sub-national level can succeed in improving teacher deployment where previous efforts have failed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on unemployment insurance; it sketches the rationale for a degree of centralisation that would create a lean insurance union, addressing the risk of large economic shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Combatting corruption is an important social and commercial issue in most human societies. Many researchers have revealed how an effective anti-corruption practice can possibly minimise corruption in an organisation. However, studies focusing on organisations which are relatively successful in managing corruption at the employee level are relatively rare. On this note, this study aims to focus on Grameen Bank in particular, a Nobel-Prize-winning microfinance institute that was able to minimise its level of corruption among its employees in a country where corruption is the norm.Design/methodology/approach This paper uses standard economic theory to explain the perceptions and behaviours of the employees of Grameen Bank who live and work in a highly corrupt socio-cultural environment. This paper used questionnaires to ascertain the perceptions of Grameen Bank employees’ notions regarding corruption-combating behaviours. Interviews were also conducted among Grameen’s board members, managers and officers to further explore the nature and effectiveness of this organisation’s anti-corruption mechanisms.Findings Corruption can never be entirely eradicated; however, it can be diminished and opportunities for corruption can be minimised. This paper found, through an analysis of employees’ perceptions relating to governance and corruption in the Grameen Bank, that corruption exists, but there are systems in place to prevent it and to assist with staff morality. This research also uncovered a number of best practices in Grameen Bank’s governance to minimise corrupt behaviours, which include, but are not limited to, strong monitoring, decentralisation of authority, review of decision-making process, high internal audit intensity, impersonal punishment, anti-corruption cultures and transparency.Originality/value This study suggests that it is possible for organisations to resist corruption, especially microfinance institutions, even when they operate in a highly corrupt socio-cultural environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the conditions for teacher competence development as they relate to the current restructured governance of the education sector in Sweden. In reviewing the literature, contextual factors in the workplace are often pointed out as central to conditions for competence development. However, we argue that a sector-level approach is useful in examining and explaining competence development conditions, especially in times of governance change. We describe how a workplace's geographical location and budgetary situation, along with its size and age, relate to how teachers experience their working conditions. The findings indicate that the organization of work at a local workplace level impacts the conditions for competence development. Moreover, various regional and local characteristics seem to affect the conditions for competence development in that the organization and governance of the education sector create different conditions for competence development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new scheme for the coordination of dynamic, uncapacitated lot-sizing problems in two-party supply chains where parties' local data are private information and no external or central entity is involved. This coordination scheme includes the following actions: At first, the buyer generates a series of different supply proposals using an extension of her local lot-sizing problem. Then the supplier calculates his cost changes that would result from the implementation of the buyer's proposals. Based on these information, parties can identify the best proposal generated. The scheme identifies the system-wide optimum in different settings-for instance in a two-stage supply chain where the supplier's costs for holding a period's demand in inventory exceed his setup costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing decentralization of the power supply poses new challenges to the market integration of renewable energies. One concept for the market integration of distributed energy resources (DER) is the virtual power plant (VPP). A VPP aggregates a portfolio of smaller DERs and operates them as a unified and flexible resource on the energy and balancing power markets. The operation planning of the market participation is, however, characterized by uncertainties, mainly due to the forecasting errors of renewable energy resources. Thus, this paper presents a model for the multi-market operation planning plan of a VPP with regard to the forecasting errors of the associated DERs. The spot- and intraday markets and the balancing power markets are modeled individually to ensure a valid market participation of the VPP. The forecasting errors are integrated in the planning process through a two-stage stochastic optimization. Exemplary results show the impact of controllable DERs in the planning process of a VPP consisting of a storage system and several PV power plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To tackle the impacts of the intermittent infeed of renewable energies, power system management evolves from a centralized to a decentralized grid control strategy, thereby micro-grids are getting more relevant, especially regarding the self-sustaining energy supply of building complexes and premises. For control of the power flow and for energy management purposes within micro-grids, the exchange of information between the components is essential. A range of several hundred meters, data rates of several hundred kbits, and low latency are key requirements in widespread premises. This paper addresses the investigation and development of a novel communication technology that is highly suitable for a robust and interoperable micro-grid control and local energy management. The introduced fieldbus protocol is based on RS-485 and an adaption of the IEEE Std. 802.15.4 in combination with the modern Internet of Things protocols. Besides the introduction of the so-called IoT-Bus protocol, the evolutionary approach of adapting and combining existing technologies is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Profit sharing schemes have been analysed assuming Cournot competition and decentralised wage negotiations, and it has been found that firms share profits in equilibrium. This paper analyses a different remuneration system: employee share ownership. We find that whether firms choose to share ownership or not depends on both the type of competition in the product market and the way in which workers organise to negotiate wages. If wage setting is decentralised, under duopolistic Cournot competition both firms share ownership. If wage setting is centralised, only one firm shares ownership if the degree to which goods are substitutes takes an intermediate value; otherwise, the two firms share ownership. In this case, if the union sets the same wage for all workers neither firm shares ownership. Therefore, centralised wage setting discourages share ownership. Finally, under Bertrand competition neither firm shares ownership regardless of how workers are organised to negotiate wages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geosensor networks present unique resource constraints to spatial computation, including limited battery power, communication constraints, and frequently a lack of coordinate positioning systems. As a result, there is a need for new algorithms that can efficiently satisfy basic spatial queries within those resource constraints. This paper explores the design and evaluation of a family of new algorithms for determining the topological relations between regions monitored by such a resource-constrained geosensor network. The algorithms are based on efficient, decentralized (in-network) variants of conventional 4-intersection and intersection and difference models, with in-network data aggregation. Further, our algorithms operate without any coordinate information, making them suitable applications where a positioning system is unavailable or unreliable. While all four algorithms are shown to have overall communication complexity O( n) and optimal load balance O(1), the algorithms differ in the level of topological detail they can detect; the types of regions they can monitor; and in the constant factors for communication complexity. The paper also demonstrates the impact of finite granularity observations on the correctness of the query results. In the conclusions, we identify the need to conduct further fundamental research on the relationship between topological relations between regions and limited granularity sensor observations of those regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant need for flexibility and organizational performance improvement has initiated an increased implementation of the project management concept and a shift from a functional to a project-oriented organization. The need for a flexible, yet integrated management system that will provide both strategic, as well as operational excellence in organizations is caused by the uniqueness of contemporary business environment. The most common issues faced by these organizations are the alignment between projects implemented by an organization and that organization's strategy, and models for measuring project success in terms of its contribution to an organization's strategic goals. The aim of this paper is to analyze the known frameworks and models used for measuring project success and present recommendations for developing conceptual framework that would allow for a systematic selection of key performance indicators (KPIs) to be used as a base for measuring project success. The paper gives an overview of the different characteristics and categories of the KPIs, the links between measurements and KPIs, KPI interdependence, and indicates the possibility of an integrated performance index adapted application. Key recommendations for the development of a conceptual framework for measurement and analysis of project success are to determine KPIs based on project life cycle phases and an analysis of project environment. This is especially important during the formulation of KPIs that will serve as a basis for project success measurement and evaluation in terms of contribution to an organization's strategic goals [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the Chinese provincial panel data from 1995 to 2008, using the panel co-integration method, this paper presents an empirical study on the long-term equilibrium relationship between the fiscal decentralization, the local government competition and the farmland conversion. On this basis, establishing the dynamic panel data model, using the generalized method of moments (GMM) to analyze the dynamic impact of the fiscal decentralization and the local government competition on the farmland conversion from the view of three cross-regional groups and the mainland China. The results show that there is a long-run co-integration relationship between the fiscal decentralization, the farmland conversion and the local government competition, and also there is a positive significant influence of the fiscal decentralization and the local government competition on the farmland conversion, a 1% increase in the degree of fiscal decentralization will increase the area of farmland conversion by 0.3280%. In addition, there is a significant difference of the incentive effect of local government competition on the farmland conversion in different regions. Th e paper ends with policy suggestions for perfecting the system of the fiscal decentralization, taxation and the division of responsibility and authority, reforming the criterion of the political achievement assessment, strengthening the management of land revenue, reducing the reliance of the local government on land finance; at the same time, the farmers' land property rights should be perfected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Dutch planning, there has always been an important role for spatial concepts. Their role has arguably changed with the recent decentralization of planning to the regional and local level. At the national level, guiding concepts of a more procedural nature have replaced the more substantive and place-based spatial concepts, leaving more room for regional and local interpretation. At the regional and local level, spatial concepts are still in use, but this seems to be in a more communicative, negotiating and developing role than before. In this paper, we analyse how place concepts are used to exercise power, mobilize recourses and frame meaning over the use of the peri-urban areas, in the changing Dutch planning context. This paper focuses on two competing place concepts for overlapping green urban fringe areas in The Hague Region, which have been promoted by different actor constellations and which represent different visions about the meaning of these peri-urban areas. The case study allows conclusions about the changing role of spatial concepts in Dutch spatial planning. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper analyzes the strategic effects of decentralized user-fee and enforcement policies for the financing of interregional spillover goods. We derive the equilibrium pricing and enforcement rules for a n-region economy. We show that under mild conditions on the pattern of substitution between spillover goods and contrary to the 2-region case, the decentralized equilibrium cannot be Pareto improved by coordinated policy changes. However, decentralized equilibria are suboptimal from the point of view of utilitarian welfare. We characterize the direction of the distortion for this case. The regions' incentives for user-fee enforcement are ambiguous in general. With only two regions and if regions only charge non-residents, however, there is overinvestment in user-fee enforcement in the decentralized equilibrium. For the case of a Tullock enforcement function and linear demand for the spillover goods we show that welfare is u-shaped in a parameter that measures the technological advantage of user-fee enforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Purpose – Public services will face major challenges over the next decade; severe financial pressures and cuts; growing demand; raising public and user expectations; decentralisation and community empowerment; opportunities to deploy new technology; and global competition. This will result in a changing relationship between citizen and services users with the state and service providers. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges and opportunities in contemporary public sector leadership which face executive leaders. Design/methodology/approach – The paper considers what public service leaders will need to do; how they will need to behave; and the competencies and styles of leadership that will be required. It is a commentary and thought piece based on the author's wide experience, conversations with leaders from all sectors in the UK and his advisory and research projects. Findings – There will be a paradigm shift in the relationship between the business, public, social and third sectors and this will require more effective collaboration between the sectors. The result of these far-reaching changes is the need for a strong, outcome focused and collaborative leadership across all sectors, and specifically in the public sector. Leadership will be critical. Originality/value – This article provides challenge and advice for leaders in the public sector and in the business, social and third sectors who work with the public sector and are responsible for public service delivery. It should enable leaders and potential leaders to consider how they can develop and practise collaborative leadership personally and within their organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of fiscal decentralization on the size of regional governments in Spain, by controlling for economies of scale, interregional heterogeneity and institutional framework. We study it over 1985 to 2004 using a panel dataset of seventeen spanish regions. The results can be easily summarized. Firstly, it supports the classic public goods theory of a trade-off-between the economic benefits of size and the costs of heterogeneity. Secondly, it doesn't reject the 'Leviathan' hypothesis and neither does the 'common pool' hypothesis. Thirdly, by contrast, the paper partly rejects the 'Wallis'' hypothesis. It argues that government size is mediated by financial resources obtained through intergovernmental grants, consistent with welfare economics and positive economic policies. We conclude that later advances in the decentralisation process must be compatible with the goal of reducing fiscal imbalances that emanate from the vertical structure of fiscal power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]