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This article from Economic Policy provides a summary of five papers that contribute to our understanding of economic and policy issues. The first paper examines the impacts of historical conflicts on the current conflict in Ukraine, emphasizing the importance of demining, preserving social cohesion, and addressing gender imbalances and conflict-related sexual violence. The second paper evaluates the effectiveness of legislation aimed at restricting the mobility of unemployed individuals within specific areas of a city, finding that these laws are ineffective and have unintended negative consequences. The third paper analyzes the macroeconomic impact of structural reforms in Italy, showing that these reforms can lead to increased productivity and GDP growth. The fourth paper presents a comprehensive analysis of China's foreign lending practices, highlighting unconventional confidentiality clauses and collateral arrangements used by Chinese lenders. The final paper explores the question of higher education subsidies, finding that increased subsidies can have positive fiscal and welfare impacts in many countries. These papers offer evidence-based recommendations and policy lessons for policymakers in various contexts. [Extracted from the article]

China has become an impactful science superpower, but it is asserted that its influence provides it with disproportionate benefits that some national research policies have not thus far appreciated. To create context, Web of Science data are used to analyse research collaborations between the UK and China: trends in volume of output between 1981 and 2019; citation impact; and comparative performance across research fields. UK–China collaboration increased from fewer than 100 co-authored papers before 1990, to 750 per year in 2000, 3,324 in 2010, and 16,267 papers (10.9 per cent of UK output) in 2019. UK–China collaboration is concentrated in technology-based fields: in some (e.g. telecommunication), over 30 per cent of UK papers are in collaboration with Chinese-based researchers. The paper discusses the policy consequences to the UK of this indicative dependency, arguing that exiting from such collaborations is ill advised, provided the risks, perceived or real, are mapped, managed, and mitigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health inequalities research has a long history in the United Kingdom, and the development of government policies that are intended to explicitly address the existing health inequalities has been gathering pace since the Labour Party returned to power in 1997. In this paper, using the influential Acheson Report as a reference point, one of us (D.N.) describes how health inequalities policies have been developed, and the other (A.O.) assesses how, ideally, such policies ought to be developed. Although progress in the development of health inequalities policies has been made, the policies, and the evidence that has informed them, have been less than ideal. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This essay establishes the links between a little-known ‘experimental vignette’ by Thomas Bewick (1753–1828) and his work as an engraver of banknotes and anti-forgery devices. Taking these links as its cue, it brings the politics of paper money that emerged in England in the decades around 1800 to bear on a number of Bewick’s more famous wood-engravings – the ‘little whimsies’ that embellished his books of natural history. While seemingly far removed from the realm of banknote engraving, this essay suggests that these prints were informed by, and reflected upon, the problems raised by paper money and contemporary currency debates. Bewick’s printmaking can productively be compared to the critical work of early nineteenth-century currency radicals such as William Cobbett, who sought to expose the fictions of representation underpinning the British credit economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the number of centers involved in kidney donor programs in Great Britain. Basis of donor assessment guidelines; Consequences of associated physiological, ethical and clinical implications; Number of renal transplants performed annually.

Major projects are high-value (£100 million+) investments across sectors such as transport, energy, health, defence, or IT systems. Globally, a significant proportion of government policy initiatives are delivered through major projects. There is, however, a paradox at the heart of the major project phenomenon. Although major projects are indispensable tools for turning policy ideals into reality, their track record is strikingly poor. Cost and time overruns, financial engineering, under-supply, poor service, environmental detriment, and social dissatisfaction blight major projects. Poor outcomes have been a feature of the wide array of delivery mechanisms deployed over the past 150 years, including direct public provision, regulated private provision, public–private partnerships, and concessions, agreements, and franchises. The papers in this issue of the Oxford Review of Economic Policy explore the nature of this paradox and offer strategies designed to get major projects right, including repeatable platform strategies; mission-orientated investments; and deliberative and collaborative incentive schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to study the relationship between academic performance, gender, and science and technology grants. The empirical analysis is based on the Argentinean Fund for Scientific and Technological Research 'Scientific and Technological Research Projects' (FONCYT-PICT). The methodology is based on a multivariate decomposition for non-linear response models, an extension of the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition. Results confirm the presence of a gender gap. Women have lower probabilities of being awarded with funds than men, even when academic trajectories are alike. Results show that even if the productivity gap is closed, men's and women's trajectories are differently valued against women, and this negatively impacts their probability of being awarded. Therefore, even if women manage to publish more and—somehow—be more cited, the gap will persist. Explicit public policy measures are required to close the current gap and stop reproducing it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper delves into the proliferation of non-practicing entities (NPEs), a hot topic in academia and public policy, especially in the United States. The common belief is that Europe is less exposed to NPEs due to a robust patent system, higher enforcement costs, and smaller damage awards. Yet, using a new database of NPE patent applications at the European Patent Office (EPO), the study uncovers that NPEs activity in Europe is arising: they own nearly 20,000 EPO patents, primarily in Electrical Engineering. Moreover, we contribute the literature investigating the heterogeneity of the NPE business model and its relationship with the characteristics and use of the patents they target. Our econometric analysis provides threefold original evidence. First, NPEs with higher propensity for litigation (i.e. "Litigation" NPEs) acquire patents with higher infringement risk but similar technological quality than practicing entities. Second, patent aggregators (i.e. "Portfolio" NPEs) and technology companies (i.e. "Technology" NPEs) acquire higher-quality patents compared to those acquired by practicing entities. Third, patent acquisitions by "Litigation" NPEs and "Portfolio" NPEs reduce the subsequent use of protected technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The English Public Health White Paper proposes introducing smoke-free workplaces except in pubs and bars that do not prepare and serve food. The bar area will be non-smoking in exempted pubs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The most intriguing thing about the China policy of the Bush Administration during its first term is not that it did not follow up with its campaign promises. Rather it is the continued contradiction and inconsistency in conceptualization and implementation. Throughout the past 4 years, one heard two different voices from the Administration: one advocates a candid, constructive and cooperative relationship with China; the other insists on the need to restrain and contain China. Since 9/11, against the backdrop of the war against terror, the first voice prevailed over the latter. However, while the latter voice was largely subdued, it did reassert itself at times and on certain issues, and threatens to come back when circumstances change. Four years after the Bush Administration came into office, the question whether China is a competitor or a partner still remained unanswered. This paper will first review the evolution of Bush Administration's China policy during its first term. Then it will try to analyze the major factors shaping the development. Finally, it will speculate on the prospect for development of the relationship in Bush's second term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shows how the policy proposals contained in the government's Green Paper on pensions (DSS, 1998) affect the long term sustainability of Great Britain's public finances and redistribution. Description of the main proposals contained in the Green Paper; Assessment of the effect of the Green Paper on the sustainability of the public finances.

The paper asks: 'What can we learn from COVID-19 pandemic about effective use of scientific and technical information (STI) in policymaking and how might the lessons be put to use?' The paper employs the political rhetoric of 'follow the science' as a lens for examining contemporary concerns in the use of STI, including (1) 'Breadth of Science Products', the necessity of a broader concept of STI that includes by-products science, (2) 'Science Dynamism', emphasizing the uncertainty and impeachability of science, (3) 'STI Urgency' suggesting that STI use during widespread calamities differs from more routine applications, and (4) 'Hyper-politicization of Science', arguing that a step-change in the contentiousness of politics affects uses and misuses of STI. The paper concludes with a discussion, STI Curation, as a possible ingredient to improving effective use. With more attention to credibility and trust of STI and to the institutional legitimacy of curators, it should prove possible to improve the effective use of STI in public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Suicide is a significant cause of death worldwide. Various purposes can explain why people choose to attempt or commit suicide such as mental-health disorders, income-related-factors, quality of life or issues related to social context. This study aims to identify an updated association between 'isolation' and suicides. Methods In this regard, we had made a systematic review of the most recent papers, published from January 2016 to March 2022, thought the most acknowledged databases. This review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines for systematic reviews. To the best of our knowledge, this issue is very important due to the indirect relationship between COVID-19 and suicides. Results Our analysis demonstrates that suicide and -social isolation and loneliness- have a positive and direct relationship although these findings varied slightly by areas. Moreover, most of the attention is focused on the youth during the most recent period and this is a real problem because economies cannot afford losing (young) population. Conclusions In order to prevent suicides, public policies should prevent suicidal thoughts that it could induce to terminate the lives of individuals in their most productive years and harmful outcomes to their families and friends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is an erratum for a paper titled "Outdoor Programs for Veterans: Public Land Policies and Practices to Support Therapeutic Opportunities." The erratum states that there was a mismatch between Supplemental Photo 1 and Supplemental Photo 2 in the original publication, but this has been corrected. Additionally, an acknowledgement has been added to thank Kerrick Robinson and the paper's reviewers for their contributions. The research was funded by the USDA Forest Service. The authors of the paper are Monika M Derrien, Lee K Cerveny, and David G Havlick. [Extracted from the article]

Confusion concerning a child's genetic identity is a common objection to the application of novel technologies to human embryos. Unsurprisingly then, concern for genetic identity has been used to justify successive waves of regulatory activity and is again appearing in debates about regulatory responses to emerging reproductive technologies. By examining the history of Australian law's understanding and responses to so-called genetic identity in the context of past and current scientific developments in reproductive technology, this paper investigates regulatory reform needed for still emerging reproductive technologies. While this paper presents and analyzes in some detail Australian regulation and the policy deliberations and scientific developments that led to them, the identified inconsistencies in the regulatory responses, and recommended reforms to address emerging reproductive technologies offered, address issues relevant to many countries responding to the same technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For years Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has served as a key indicator of human progress and "successful" societies. Unfortunately, GDP has failed to robustly capture the human experience or predict resilience through crises; and obscures the presence of inequity -- a key determinant of suffering. It is clear the global community needs a new organizing principle: one that envisions and measures progress by focusing on the conditions that support health, resilience, and overall wellbeing. This paper examines key health promotion concepts and approaches, juxtaposed with philosophical underpinnings of the concept of wellbeing, alternative measurement strategies, and examples of wellbeing policy initiatives. In doing so, the paper highlights the relevance of wellbeing policy frameworks to health promotion, the utility of health promotion strategies for implementing wellbeing policy frameworks, and controversies and pitfalls that require consideration. The paper concludes by outlining how health promotion is uniquely poised to contribute to wellbeing policy frameworks that promote the sources of human and planetary thriving through sustainable development, and that promoting a wellbeing agenda can strengthen efforts to promote health by addressing social determinants and ensuring universal access to resources that support coping with emerging challenges and strengthen resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on a case study of a strategic funding initiative for biotechnology research and innovation, the paper analyses how policy objectives concerning innovation and value creation are responded to within the practices of researchers and governance actors. The paper employs an analytical perspective that centres on the interrelation between policy articulations and actors' daily work practices and provides a novel study of how innovation demands are negotiated and made sense of within the context of three different empirical sites: national policy and science governance, intermediary science governance, and research practices. The paper addresses a problematic 'hopeful' mode of governance in today's policy that is based on the idea of filling innovation deficits in current practices. As an alternative to this mode, the paper argues for the need for a more empathetic and practice-oriented policy discourse on innovation and value creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We highlight the state of the art in the eco-efficiency measurement using data envelopment analysis, including Malmquist–Luenberger productivity index. We also consider productivity change over time, provide directions for future studies in the field and gather the most recent policy suggestions for governments, organizations and sectors for reducing CO2 emissions. A structured literature search of the Web of Science academic database reveals 311 papers published between 1989 and 2022. We carry out network analysis of citations to show the evolution of the literature in this research topic. In doing so, we (a) examine the key-route main path of knowledge flows, (b) provide basic bibliometric information about the most active journals and authors, (c) conduct a qualitative in-depth analysis of the identified most important studies and (d) identify the research fronts and relate them to the emerging issues on the topic researched, focusing on the most recent period between 2000 and 2022. Based on the insights of the literature review, the second part of this paper critically analyses the papers on the key-route (main path) of this subject. This review can be used as guidance and a starting point for researchers and practitioners who want to further investigate optimal policies to reach NetZero. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In what ways are experts involved in policy development, and with what results? This paper attempts to answer these questions through a structured review of the academic literature, focusing on the identification of ‘methodologies’ of expert involvement, and on analying the subsequent policy impact of those exercises. Coding was applied to 103 articles, revealing that only a small range of methods has been utilised, that method choice is infrequently justified, and with little evidence of evaluation (either of the expert involvement process or of policy impact). We argue that robust evaluative processes are necessary to refine the efficacy of involvement processes (and the accuracy with which involvement methods are aligned to specific types of policy questions) and to document policy translation of outcomes. We therefore propose a framework to identify appropriate consultation methods for specific policy questions, and suggest some criteria for reporting expert involvement processes in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Health Impact Assessment is a key approach used internationally to identify positive or negative impacts of policies, plans and proposals on health and well-being. In 2020, HIAs were undertaken in Scotland and Wales to identify the potential health and well-being impacts of the 'stay at home' and physical distancing measures implemented at the start of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. There is sparse evidence evaluating whether the impacts predicted in HIAs occur following policy implementation. This paper evaluates the impacts anticipated in the COVID-19 HIAs against actual observed trends. The processes undertaken were compared and predicted impacts were tabulated by population groups and main determinants of health. Routine data and literature evidence were collated to compare predicted and observed impacts. Nearly all health impacts anticipated in both HIAs have occurred in the direction predicted. There have been significant adverse impacts through multiple direct and indirect pathways including loss of income, social isolation, disruption to education and services, and psychosocial effects. This research demonstrates the value of prediction in impact assessment and fills a gap in the literature by comparing the predicted impacts identified within the HIAs with observed trends. Post-COVID-19 recovery should centre health and well-being within future policies and decisions. Processes like HIA can support this as part of a 'health in all policies' approach to improve the health and well-being of populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a renewed interest in professional and academic discourse in the reconceptualisation of social work with adults as a human rights-based approach. This is compatible with the social model of disability, which philosophically adult social workers make claims to align with. This was recently argued for when the Department of Health in England piloted a named social worker for adults with learning disabilities, whose behaviour challenged services. This paper discusses the conceptualisation of rights-based practice, its relevance and appropriateness for contemporary social work policy. Drawing on the recognition theory literature, it shall be shown that the meta-theory of rights-based practice may have relevance to contemporary social work practice with adults with learning disabilities. The paper shall also consider the renewed interest in normative reconstruction in social work practice and influencing factors such as drives towards individualism and marketisation. It will consider how these impacted on the adoption into UK policy of social work as a positive intervention to address structural inequalities, perhaps more accurately described as disablism, experienced by adults with learning disabilities, which ultimately is concluded to be a 'wicked problem'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Like many countries, the increase in the population of older adults in Nepal has led to national policies and programs to address their needs. It would, however, also be fair to say that not enough is yet known about older adults and hence it is unclear if government programs truly address those needs. Nepal is a very poor country that is still largely rural and characterized by extremes of inequality based on caste/ethnicity, gender, region, and income/wealth. In this paper, we describe the demographic and social conditions of older adults in Nepal, inequality, sources, and limitations of the data about older adults, and public policy and programs for older adults. We believe that studies of older adults in Nepal would benefit from adopting social determinants of health, healthy aging, and life-course perspectives to both identify needs and formulate policy for older adults in Nepal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by the varying effectiveness of government intervention policies to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, and the potential positive relationship between ethnolinguistic diversity and social distance, this paper aims to provide empirical evidence on the relationship between ethnolinguistic diversity and the spread of COVID-19. In particular, using global data from 113 developed and developing countries during the early stages of the pandemic (from 31 December 2019 to 8 July 2020), we have found a significant negative effect of ethnolinguistic diversity on the spread of the virus. The result is robust to alternative measures of ethnolinguistic diversity and estimator that addresses endogeneity. Moreover, we also show that the impact of ethnolinguistic diversity on the spread of COVID-19 differs in economies characterized by different levels of democracy, policy stringency on addressing COVID-19 and health expenditure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between policy compliance, the emergence of alternate epistemes and authorities in online spaces, and the decline of trust and legitimacy in democratic institutions. Drawing on insights from public policy, regulation theory, and political theory, the paper critically engages with scholarship on "policy-takers" to illuminate the tensions of compliance and legitimacy in liberal states. It proposes a compliance--legitimacy matrix that identifies the features of policy compliance--including consent, legitimacy, expertise, and trust--and their relationship to the disaggregation of policy knowledge. The article applies this framework to a case study of social media posts that respond to policy information during the management of the Covid-19 pandemic in Australia. Through analysis of these posts, the study reveals the distrust in "the science" and experts advocated by government and the calls from skeptic groups for noncompliance with public health measures. The paper argues that public policy faces an epistemic crisis of public confidence, with significant downstream consequences for compliance with public policy initiatives that has been brought on both by the failures of states to cultivate trust in science and the government. The compliance--legitimacy matrix offers a useful tool for policymakers to anticipate and address objections from policy-takers and to preempt and diffuse their fears. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Services offering on-demand delivery of unhealthy commodities, such as fast food, alcohol and smoking/vaping products have proliferated in recent years. It is well known that the built environment can be health promoting or harmful to health, but there has been less consideration of the digital environment. Increased availability and accessibility of these commodities may be associated with increased consumption, with harmful public health implications. Policy regulating the supply of these commodities was developed before the introduction of on-demand services and has not kept pace with the digital environment. This paper reports on semi-structured interviews with health policy experts on the health harms of the uptake in on-demand delivery of food, alcohol and smoking/vaping products, along with their views on policies that might mitigate these harms. We interviewed 14 policy experts from central and local government agencies and ministries, health authorities, non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and university research positions in Aotearoa New Zealand using a purposive sampling strategy. Participants concerns over the health harms from on-demand services encompassed three broad themes—the expansion of access to and availability of unhealthy commodities, the inadequacy of existing restrictions and regulations in the digital environment and the expansion of personalized marketing and promotional platforms for unhealthy commodities. Health policy experts' proposals to mitigate harms included: limiting access and availability, updating regulations and boosting enforcement and limiting promotion and marketing. Collectively, these findings and proposals can inform future research and public health policy decisions to address harms posed by on-demand delivery of unhealthy commodities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dental caries, a non-communicable disease, is one of the most prevalent diseases globally and share common modifiable risk factors with obesity such as excess sugar intake. However, prioritization by governments to improve population oral health has been limited and is typically excluded from the discourse of public health policy development. Therefore, interventions that target dental caries can have other co-benefits including obesity prevention. In Victoria, Australia, local government authorities have a regulatory requirement to develop their Municipal Health and Wellbeing Plans. The aim of this paper is to identify whether prioritization for oral health by local government authorities in Victoria has changed through the subsequent renewal of the Victorian Public Health and Wellbeing Plans 2011–2015 and 2019–2023. Three desktop audits for all publicly available Municipal Health and Wellbeing Plans by local government authorities in Victoria were conducted between 2014 and 2022. Key terms related to oral health was searched within these policy documents and categorized into six indicators: (i) included oral health as a priority, (ii) linked healthy eating and oral health, (iii) supported the Achievement Program, (iv) included the Smiles 4 Miles program, (v) advocated for fluoridated drinking water, and (vi) included other strategies related to oral health. Overall, there was statistically significant reduction in five of the six indicators, with the exception for prioritization of other strategies related to oral health such as targeting excess sugar intake and smoking. A multi-sectoral approach, that includes oral health would be advantageous to address the growing burden of non-communicable diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of COVID-19 has affected men and women worldwide. The gender dimension of COVID-19 has attracted the attention of researchers and policymakers: while women seem to be less severely hit by the virus and are more compliant with the restricting rules imposed to reduce the spread of the contagion, they risk to suffer more the economic consequences of the pandemic, because they are more vulnerable on the labor market and because they are carrying on most of the burden of housework and childcare which increased substantially during the lockdown. Public policies are required to address the emergency and to deal with its gender implications. Anecdotal evidence suggests that women leaders have performed better than men in dealing with the emergency. This paper explores the evidence on the gender dimension of the pandemic under a new perspective proposed by Profeta (2020) , focused on the double relationship between gender equality and public policy: on one side, I show which policies can support gender equality in times of COVID-19 and, on the other side, I explore whether women leadership can promote successful measures. While the evidence provided is only suggestive, future studies should assess causal relationships. (JEL codes: J16 and J18) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transnational corporations (TNCs) shape population health both positively and negatively through their national and international social, political and economic power and influence; and are a vital commercial determinant of health. Individual and group advocacy and activism in response to corporate products, practices or policy influences can mediate negative health impacts. This paper discusses the unequal power relations existing between TNCs that promote their own financial interests, and activists and advocates who support population and environmental health by challenging corporate power. It draws on interview data from 19 respondents who informed 2 health impact assessments conducted on TNCs; 1 from the fast food industry, and 1 from the extractive industries sector. It reveals the types of strategies that civil society organizations (CSOs) have used to encourage TNCs to act in more health promoting ways. It discusses the extent to which these strategies have been effective, and how TNCs have used their power to respond to civil society action. The paper highlights the rewards, and the very real challenges faced by CSOs trying to change TNC practices related to health, within a neoliberal policy environment. It aims to provide evidence for socially oriented actors to inform their advocacy for changes in public policy or corporate practices that can contribute to improving population health and equity and tackling commercial determinants of health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explains the role of policy-making for the promotion of population health. Topics covered include some of the medieval and renaissance approaches to policing disease outbreaks, the implication of the current challenges faced by the public health community in relation to the anti-vaxxers and the objective of the field of health political science.

The Department of Education and Science, led by then Secretary of State Margaret Thatcher, published a White Paper in December 1972 calling for a dramatic expansion of public nursery education, so that it might be available within a decade to all families with 3- and 4-year-old children who chose to utilize it. While this failed policy is seldom remembered today, and Thatcher's efforts to promote the care and education of young children are not considered part of her considerable legacy, the White Paper's policy propositions challenge understandings about the formation and consistency of both Britain's child care policy and 'Thatcherism'. During this period, Thatcher believed that extending the frontiers of the state was appropriate to promote child welfare during the crucial first years of life. She conceived of nursery education as serving a developmental and educational purpose for all children, quite separate from welfare provisions for poor families or work supports for women. It is this crucial, albeit arbitrary, distinction which explains how nursery education was envisaged as an exception to her advocacy of cutting welfare spending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the alignment of refugee aid interventions with Cameroon's national policy of emergence, shedding light on an authoritarian government's utilization of international assistance. Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, it investigates how international policies aiming at turning refugees into a development opportunity for their host states are managed by an aid-receiving country and strategically leveraged by Cameroonian authorities to strengthen their political apparatus. It explores how the government integrates humanitarian responses with large-scale development policies, while retaining control over strategic sectors. Implementing the emergence policy enables Cameroon to reappropriate international standards, navigating complex donor relations to establish new legitimacy. The analysis highlights the power dynamics and implications of aid interventions within an authoritarian context, demonstrating the state's capacity to transform internal crises into productive forces. This research contributes to a better understanding of the links between refugee aid, host states' domestic and international politics, and migration diplomacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on a recent innovation for one Departmental Select Committee. While government policy commitments are well publicised, little attention is paid to the quality of commitments made or to assessing progress against those commitments. In 2020, the Health and Social Care Select Committee commissioned an Expert Panel to conduct independent, in-depth evaluations of government progress on selected policy commitments. The first evaluations in 2021/22 assessed commitments in maternity, mental health and cancer services, and workforce and it was the first time a government department has been systematically graded against its own commitments. This is an important new method of scrutiny with the potential to complement and enhance the work of Select Committee inquiries. This paper reviews the development of select committees highlighting issues relating to their operation and, in particular, assessment of evidence. We describe the innovation of the Expert Panel and its role in reviewing policy commitments and discuss implications for parliamentary scrutiny, leadership and improvements to health service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a systematic review of 119 articles and working papers, we provide an overview of how administrative burdens in citizen–state interactions have been studied since the inception of the research agenda in 2012. We develop a new and comprehensive model of how key concepts in the framework are related, assess the evidence of the causal relationships proposed by the model, and discuss where more evidence is needed. Empirical research supports conventional claims that burdens are consequential, distributive, and constructed. However, the literature has moved further by (1) demonstrating that factors such as frontline service delivery and government communication influence experiences of burdens; (2) highlighting how factors beyond ideology influence constructions of burdens; (3) introducing the burden tolerance concept; (4) illustrating that experiences of burden influence policymakers' and members of the publics' burden tolerance. Based on the review, we propose an agenda for future administrative burden research. We call for studies linking experiences of burden to outcomes such as democratic behavior and take-up, and for studies connecting policymakers' burden tolerance to actual state actions. Moreover, we argue that future studies should use qualitative methods to further explore the nature of burdens from the perspective of citizens, rely on experimental methods to establish causal links between state actions and experiences of burden, and compare burdens across contexts. Further, empirical studies should examine the tradeoffs between legitimacy and experiences of burden, and how actors outside the citizen–state interaction may influence experiences of administrative burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the speed of rulemaking in American state governments. Drawing on a unique data set of over 250,000 individual rules issued by states from 1993 through 2009, we introduce new measures of the speed and breadth of rulemaking in American state bureaucracies, providing a new way of evaluating the incidence of rulemaking delay within and across governments. We focus specifically on how professionalism and oversight powers of state legislative and executive branches affect rulemaking speed and find that states with more professionalized legislatures and governments with extensive legislative/executive oversight powers experience greater delays in rule adoption. These findings provide important new insights into the politics of regulatory delay and suggest disparate ways in which sub-national governments approach regulatory policymaking in a federal system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The goal of our article was to systematise studies that investigated the impact of living conditions in large national regions on individual alcohol consumption. Methods: The objectives of the scoping review, the criteria and methods for selecting articles were defined in advance and recorded in the protocol PROSPERO CRD42021234874. We sought publications on the research topic in PubMed, Google Scholar, OpenGrey, Crossref and eLibrary databases from the moment they were created until December 31, 2021. The final sample included 81 publications. Results: The majority of ultimately selected papers were published after 2010 (62 articles), represented the USA (68 articles), and considered samples of children and youths, either the younger population or the general adult population (65 articles). High quality was characteristic for 19 studies, whereas satisfactory quality was exhibited by 46 publications. The most consistent associations with individual alcohol consumption were revealed for the legislative environment (especially for integral scales and indices), alcohol pricing policy, the prevalence of alcohol consumption and binge drinking in the population, and unemployment rate. Conclusion: The review made it possible to systematise the results of studies on the impact of the characteristics of large national regions on alcohol consumption, including a description of these characteristics and results, samples and designs of studies, their quality, as well as to summarise the results of these studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the significance of the Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland. The Act of Union between the two countries which come into force on January 1, 1800 was the outcome of immediate military necessity. It was also the outcome of decades of spasmodic thought by politicians on both sides of the Irish Sea concerning the relationship between the two islands. But while the overall intention was undoubtedly an integrative one, a failure to understand the nature of Irish politics and society together with the pressing imperatives of war with France generated a casual and shallow attitude towards administrative detail and undermined those master plans.

In this paper, we chronicle key US legislative initiatives during the post–World War II history of public policy related to the ownership of publicly funded research-based knowledge. Our motivation for recording this history is the observation that many scholars, who are appropriately concerned about taxpayer rights, have argued for the need for public policy to clarify ownership of the publicness or openness of publicly funded research results when in fact such public policies have long been in place. We conclude this historical trace with the proposition that if the past is prologue to the future, one might expect future administrations to continue to acknowledge the importance of public access to findings from publicly funded research, be that research having occurred in federal laboratories, universities, or private-sector organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the relationship between investments in five distributed generation technologies and hourly net withdrawals from over 2,000 electricity distribution networks in France between 2005 and 2018. We find that investments in distributed wind and solar generation have little or no impact on the annual peak of hourly net withdrawals from the distribution grid, while investments in hydroelectric and thermal distributed generation significantly reduce it. An optimistic analysis of the impact of investments in battery storage suggests that high levels are required for distributed wind and solar to deliver similar reductions in the annual peak of hourly net withdrawals. Our results imply that public policies favoring distributed wind and solar generation over utility-scale generation cannot be rationalized by savings in future grid investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) are biopharmaceuticals prescribed in oncology, rheumatology, and for other chronic and autoimmune diseases. Over the last decade, the demand for MAbs grew significantly in developing countries like Brazil, concomitant to the restructuring of the global biopharmaceutical industry, opening windows of opportunities for catching-up economies. This paper aims to analyze the capacity of a public policy, the so-called Production Development Partnership Program (PDPP), to encourage the generation of national capabilities to the local biopharmaceutical industry and technological upgrading in the biopharmaceutical sector in Brazil. It is a case study supported by qualitative data from twenty-three interviews. By focusing on technology transfer processes rather than on more complex strategies of technological learning and upgrading in domestic agents, the impact of PDPP has been marginal. We draw insights from this empirical appraisal to outline some lessons and challenges involved in the implementation of technology-upgrading policies in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subnational disparities in most health systems often defy 'one-size-fits-all' approach in policy implementation. When local authorities implement a national policy in a decentralized context, they behave as a strategic policy actor in specifying the central mandates, selecting appropriate tools and setting key implementation parameters. Local policy discretion leads to diverse policy mixes across regions, thus complicating evidence-based evaluations of policy impacts. When measuring complex policy reforms, mainstream policy evaluation methodologies have tended to adopt simplified policy proxies that often disguise distinct policy choices across localities, leaving the heterogeneous effects of the same generic policy largely unknown. Using the emerging 'text-as-data' methodology and drawing from subnational policy documents, this study developed a novel approach to policy measurement through analysing policy big data. We applied this approach to examine the impacts of China's Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI) on individuals' out-of-pocket (OOP) spending. We found substantial disparities in policy choices across prefectures when categorizing the UEBMI policy framework into benefit-expansion and cost-containment reforms. Overall, the UEBMI policies lowered enrollees' OOP spending in prefectures that embraced both benefit-expansion and cost-containment reforms. In contrast, the policies produced ill effects on OOP spending of UEBMI enrollees and uninsured workers in prefectures that carried out only benefit-expansion or cost-containment reforms. The micro-level impacts of UEBMI enrolment on OOP spending were conditional on whether prefectural benefit-expansion and cost-containment reforms were undertaken in concert. Only in prefectures that promulgated both types of reforms did UEBMI enrolment reduce OOP spending. These findings contribute to a comprehensive text-mining measurement approach to locally diverse policy efforts and an integration of macro-level policy analysis and micro-level individual analysis. Contextualizing policy measurements would improve the methodological rigour of health policy evaluations. This paper concludes with implications for health policymakers in China and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marks the 10th anniversary of China's comprehensive health system While health financing in China continues to reform and de- Papers in this collection demonstrate that health reform in China China: China's reform of public hospitals and trends from industrialized Lated competition in the health care system: what can China learn from. [Extracted from the article]

This paper examines how external governance pressure affects the type of debt that firms issue. Consistent with a governance mechanism substitution effect, we find that an exogenous increase (decrease) in governance pressure from the product (takeover) market has a significant negative (positive) impact on the use of bank (public debt) financing over public debt (bank loan) issuance. Tests using changes in the strictness of loan covenants provide corroborative evidence. These findings are consistent with the notion that firms endogenously substitute governance mechanisms and that demand for creditor governance depends on the relative strength of alternative external governance mechanisms. Received May 18, 2016; editorial decision November 11, 2017 by Editor David Denis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using an unexpected government regulation that restricted the ability of microfinance institutions to recover loans in one Indian state, I examine whether this intervention affected bank loan performance. The bank loan delinquency rate significantly increased as a result. In response, the ex post bank credit supply declined by more than half. For identification, I compare loans from branches located in regions subject to this intervention with loans from nearby branches of the same bank located in regions not subject to the intervention. I conclude that political interventions in credit markets could have significant spillover effects. Received October 29, 2016; editorial decision November 28, 2017 by Editor Philip Strahan. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This response to George Frederickson's retirement speech on the meaning of "public" in public administration highlights Frederickson's intellectual influence, both on this author and, especially, the entire field of public administration theory. The current paper argues that both the empirical and normative meanings of public are vital and that the interaction of the two helps frame not only public administration theory but also the practice of public administration. By treating "public" as little more than a sector label, a stereotype, it is easy to march in lockstep with those who misguidedly marginalize public administration as little more than a means of addressing market failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many coastal towns in England face a unique set of overlapping challenges: a longstanding socio-economic stagnation and environmental threats coming from the physical location. This paper examines coastal communities in the context of the left-behind debate. The consequences of de-industrialisation and failures in public policies recall other left-behind geographies. We look at a selection of case studies, apparently dealing with the decline of traditional coastal economic activities, but really affected by a decoupling of their socio-economic profile from their coastal specificity. More work is needed to nurture the existing coastal imaginaries, requiring regional coordination and a place-based approach to regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Special Issue and its seven contributions seek to shift the gaze of public policy scholarship toward the authorities, legitimacies, and influences of transnational actors on the creation and implementation of global policy and its transnational administration. It is, in large part, both a demonstration of the analytical and explanatory value of accounting for the influence of non-state actors on global issues as well as a normative reflection on what this means for already tenuous connections between publics and those that make decisions on their behalf in global forums. This Issue breaks with heterodox public policy approaches that center on the capabilities of states and international organizations to determine and to deliver global public policy and outcomes. Instead, we widen our gaze to capture the influence of transnational actors such as global commissions, transnational public–private partnerships, philanthropic foundations, non-government organization networks, domestic associations with global influence, quasi-judicial authorities, and global citizen activists. The articles discuss the impact of transnational actors on the policy and administrative spaces of global actors and states alike. By dispensing with the notion that the state and state-created international organizations are the primary locus for public policy and public administration scholarship, the included papers conclude with the implications for scholarship on transnational actor authorities and legitimacies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines policies and practices of inclusive education for young deaf children in Ghana. Though existing Government policy promotes the principles and implementation of educational inclusion of all children in Ghana, caregivers often encounter significant challenges ensuring access to early years' education for their deaf children. We used Bronfenbrenner's (2005) bioecological systems theory and interviewed 15 educators of deaf children and 9 hearing-health clinicians, to capture different knowledge, experience, and perspectives on policy, practice, and inclusive approaches to deaf children's education. We ask: (a) How do teachers, clinicians, and caregivers connect to promote early childhood care education (ECCE) for young deaf preschoolers in Ghana? and (b) What resources and precarities are available to educators of deaf children and hearing-health clinicians in sustaining inclusive educational practices across urban and rural contexts in Ghana? We address these unanswered questions about the potential pathway to bring about changes in policy and practice in promoting successful inclusive education for deaf children in Ghana. Implications for national and international policy and practice of ECCE for deaf children are discussed and recommendations are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]