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Using recent data on a cross-section of Swedish chemical and pulp and paper firms, this paper provides novel empirical insights into the Porter hypothesis. Well-designed environmental regulation can stimulate firms' innovative capabilities, while at the same time generating innovation offsets that may both offset net compliance costs and yield a competitive edge over those firms that are not affected by such regulations. In doing so, we also test the alleged effectiveness of regulatory time strategies in stimulating innovation activities of regulated firms. We find evidence for the effectiveness of such well-designed regulations: announced rather than existing regulation induces innovation and some innovation offsets. Our results imply that empirical tests of the Porter hypothesis that do not account for its dynamic nature, and that do not measure well-designed regulations, might provide misleading conclusions as to its validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the Law Commission's consultation paper on administrative redress in Great Britain. It states that the focus of the Law Commission's project has been to consider the liability of public bodies. It notes that there is a genuine concern that the country could be moving towards a compensation culture that would force public bodies to be on the defensive in their relationship with citizens and expose them to the risk of excessive financial liability. It points out that through the consultation paper, the Law Commission has gone a long way towards providing a broad overview of the administrative justice sector and has made a number of very important proposals for reform.

This paper highlights the contribution of archival data and historical methods to impactful research in industrial relations, the sociology of work, management studies and Human Resource Management. Whilst archival methods are widely used in some of these fields of research, there has also been considerable debate in these fields over the challenges of conducting impactful research using archival data. The paper draws on archival records from the National Archives in the UK to explore the evolving relationship between private temporary employment agencies and the state over the 1980s. The paper highlights how the actions of specific labour market actors, particularly lobbying activities by private agencies, and the changing economic and political climate over the 1980s, impacted on perceptions and attitudes within government towards temporary employment agencies. In doing so, the paper sheds new light on the early evolution of what are now recognised as important dynamics shaping the contemporary employment agency industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyzed a process for the annual selection of a Federal agency's best peer-reviewed, scientific papers with the goal to develop a relatively simple method that would use publicly available data to assess the presence of factors, other than scientific excellence and merit, in an award-making process that is to recognize scientific excellence and merit. Our specific goals were (a) to determine if journal, disease category, or major paper topics affected the scientific-review outcome by (b) developing design and analytic approaches to detect potential bias in the scientific review process. While indeed journal, disease category, and major paper topics were unrelated to winning, our methodology was sensitive enough to detect differences between the ranks of journals for winners and non-winners. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Public Money & Management 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.)

In governance theory, there is a crucial theoretical conundrum of meta-governance: how can meta-governors simultaneously stay outside of the governed network while also being embedded within it, and appropriately apply hands-off and hands-on strategies? The heterogeneous experiences of governance practices in non-Western contexts may help to explore this issue. The paper examines the 'Starfish Project'(haixing jihua), a volunteer action aimed at improving the incomes of rural residents in mountainous areas of H District in N City, China, against the backdrop of promoting common prosperity. This initiative involves non-profit organizations, market actors, and government agencies, forming a multi-order meta-governance system. In this system, the government acts as a second-order meta-governor. It provides shared values, norms, and objectives, for the social network, thereby conferring institutional legitimacy upon the social network and its activities. Meanwhile, a non-profit organization operates as a first-order meta-governor within the network, and leverages market-based mechanisms to continuously incentivize network members, foster network interaction, and facilitate conflict resolution. The multi-order meta-governance model provides a potential solution to the dilemma. However, it is important to note that this may not yet be a definitive solution to the conundrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to highlight the role that perceived cost, computer self-efficacy and the technology acceptance model (TAM) constructs have in e-training adoption in the Nigerian civil service. With the use of the SmartPLS 2.0 M3 software, a framework that included perceived cost, computer self-efficacy and TAM constructs (perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU)) was tested on 450 heads of departments. Scales on perceived cost, computer self-efficacy, PU and PEOU developed by previous studies were modified accordingly and used. This paper found perceived cost to have a significant effect on e-training adoption. Computer self-efficacy was statistically insignificant through PEOU. In addition, PEOU had an indirect effect through PU. Therefore, only PU of the TAM constructs indicated strong predictive strength in e-training adoption. This paper showed that with e-training adoption, facilities such as computers can be put in place, which can improve the outlook of the civil service. In addition, the cost that is usually associated with traditional training can be reduced, increasing the opportunity to invest in other aspects of the civil service which can help in adding to the overall performance. Relationships were examined in this paper, which were shown to be favourable to e-training adoption in the Nigerian civil service. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The use of non-state actors as channels of aid allocation has been increasingly favoured over the use of government and state agencies. This paper makes use of anecdotal evidence from interviews, focus groups, and surveys in the South-East and South-South regions of Nigeria to explore aid allocation processes with the aim of enhancing the effectiveness of aid, particularly in conflict-affected societies. The findings show that the participants generally prefer bypassing the government in the survey. However, a deeper examination of the interviews and focus groups indicates that bypassing government may not necessarily be the most effective aid allocation process. A hybrid system that essentially involves the government, non-state actors, and particularly the end-users of the aid is encouraged. The findings also indicate that regions with higher levels of instability such as conflict may prefer the allocation of aid via non-state actors than other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines how corruption-induced inhibitions influence business-related corruption from the perspectives of business leaders in Ghana. Data were collected through focus group discussion with Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of multi-national and local companies operating in Ghana. The findings show that business leaders encounter multiple regulatory agencies with duplicated and overlapping functions, multiple charges for virtually the same and duplicated services, multiple law enforcement agencies also performing regulatory functions at the Ports of entry, inadequate information on processes and costs of services, and inadequate channels for reporting corrupt activities in Ghana. The paper argues that these challenges trigger corruption-induced inhibitors which in turn, negatively affect the growth of the private-sector in Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the US federal government distributed US$800 billion in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to small businesses to preserve employment. Since PPP funding was transmitted through private banks, the characteristics of the regional banking market may have unevenly affected the programme's reach. This paper examines how variations in market concentration and the presence of community banks contributed to PPP disbursement in US counties. It finds that greater regional banking market concentration correlates with fewer PPP loans, but this negative relationship is mitigated by a greater presence of community banks in highly concentrated markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to provide a history of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA's) extensive efforts of incorporating advanced airbag technology capability beyond that available in first-generation airbag systems into FMVSS No. 208. In the paper, NHTSA's actions and their collaborative efforts with automakers, automaker suppliers, insurance industry, academia, and other Federal agencies were reviewed, and the key efforts have been highlighted. Through their efforts, NHTSA developed its strategy by first undertaking near term actions and then undertaking the strategy for longer term actions. Rulemaking was undertaken in three steps. Then, as sufficient data became available, NHTSA documented the effectiveness of the rulemakings. The approach taken by NHTSA with the goal of preserving the safety benefits of the first-generation of frontal airbags while minimizing their danger to children and at-risk adults paved the way for the advanced airbags final rule and an interim final rule issued on May 12, 2000 (see Federal Register Notice 65 FR 30680). A follow-up final rule was issued on August 31, 2006, to change the test speed of the belted 5th percentile female dummy from 48 km/h to 56 km/h (30 mph to 35 mph). The final rule was updated on November 2, 2007, to permit manufacturers to earn advance credits for vehicles that are certified in compliance with the new higher speed requirement one year in advance of the regulatory requirements. NHTSA engagement in efforts with multiple partners toward identifying the safety issues, was an integral part of NHTSA's strategy in addressing the problem, arriving at immediate actions that NHTSA took, and detailing a comprehensive look at the longer-term approach required to resolve the safety issues. The approach taken by NHTSA paved the way for the advanced airbags final rule and an interim final rule issued on May 12, 2000 (Federal Register Notice 65 FR 30680). NHTSA had undertaken a successful collaboration of the Federal Government, the automobile industry, equipment suppliers, insurance companies, traffic safety advocates, law enforcement agencies from across the country, and the media to solve the airbag related safety issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When disasters happen in the world, government departments and NGOs collaborate to support survivors through various interventions. Whether these interventions respond to the gendered impacts of these disasters is an area that has not been given adequate research attention. This paper provides a gendered analysis of the interventions targeted at Cyclone Idai survivors in Zimbabwe's Chimanimani District. It draws from data generated through focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and key-informant interviews with cyclone survivors and representatives from government agencies and NGOs that provided humanitarian assistance in Chimanimani District. The study revealed that the interventions were implemented without comprehensively integrating gendered issues due to the absence of a clear gender responsive national policy framework for disaster management in Zimbabwe. The study recommends gender sensitive training to those who assist in distributing humanitarian assistance and the need to address gender-skewed responses caused by treating gender as synonymous with women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the formal instruments of design governance and the urban design decision-making environment in Chinese cities. It identifies Shenzhen, Shanghai and Nanjing as three cities pioneering in design-led planning in China and critically evaluates their approaches using a series of 'best practice' principles for design review and development management. The findings are based on 20 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, a review of their design portfolios, and an analysis of urban design policies and plans. The paper identifies the progress made with design governance in the three 'pioneer' cities as well as the challenges associated with adopting more design-sensitive planning practice. It concludes with four recommendations for Chinese cities. These focus on foregrounding sense of place in city-wide urban design visions, raising the quality of design guidance and codes, more effectively coordinating regulations produced by different government departments and agencies, and widening opportunities for public participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: As the volume and complexity of research have increased, the amount of time spent on Institutional Review Board (IRB) review has decreased. The complexity of research has expanded, requiring increasingly specialized knowledge to review it. Dilemma: Under the current system, increasing numbers of research studies requiring expertise in ethics, new technologies or diverse study designs place a substantial burden upon local IRBs and often result in substantial variability among their reviews. This lack of uniformity in the review process creates uneven human subjects’ protection thus undermining the intent of the Common Rule. Objectives: To outline a scenario for expert centralized IRB review via implementation of a national virtual IRB review system overseen by the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP). Conclusions: The complicated ethical issues and science involved in much of current research warrant an expert review panel. Centralized review would enable expert review specific to the research at hand, ensure consistency in human subjects protection, reduce the burden on local IRBs, and may reduce time spent obtaining approval. A centralized virtual system would allow IRB members to remain at their institutions while providing unprecedented expert review through currently available technology, and make information regarding monitoring and adverse event reporting available online in real-time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to assess the level of awareness of safety precautions in the use of extension cords in Ho Municipality in Ghana. The relevance of this study is to provide an understanding of the awareness level of safety measures likely to lead to a significant reduction in incidents of domestic fire outbreaks when using an extension cord. A cross-sectional research was carried out in the Ho Municipality between February and April 2022. Six hundred and one (601) individuals were chosen from houses using a random selection method. A standardised questionnaire was used to gather data, and then entered and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) V.16. Descriptive statistics, Binary logistic regression analysis with a 0.05 p-value and the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI), Relative Importance Index (RII), and the Sample T-test were used to examine the significance of connections. Among the participants, there is a low level of awareness of extension cord ratings and standard labels from autonomous testing facilities. The participants' knowledge of awareness was significantly related to gender; [0.722 (95% (CI): 1.476 - 2.869), p = 0.001 < (0.05)]. Again, most participants overload the extension cord during usage and practice poor safety measures that could result in a fire outbreak. The study suggests that users should purchase extension cords that have been endorsed by an autonomous testing laboratory and fully be educated on the safety procedures that will aid in safeguarding lives and property by both government and non-governmental agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology & Society is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd 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 seeks to address the changing image and identity of the aerial adventure industry as it becomes increasingly commercialized, which has led to uncertainty over its positioning within either adventure tourism or amusement rides. Such a positioning is critical in order to mitigate the problems caused by an inappropriate identification and image that contributes to poor inspections, poor procedures and policies, and ultimately, poor perceived risks and safety. In an industry where one serious injury impacts all operators, it is essential for all stakeholders to have collective "buy in" to effective policies that are standardized across the entire industry. The current identity confusion has merely led to misconceptions from public stakeholders. Through a qualitative case-study, this paper finds that aerial adventure parks share characteristics with adventure tourism and amusement rides and so resembles a hybrid. This is largely due to the presence of inherent risk and the role of the participant, both of which are less present on amusement rides. The paper therefore calls for state agencies to identify the activity as a stand-alone activity and for the subsequent regulations and policies to reflect this hybrid status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surveillance of injuries in production agriculture is necessary to inform stakeholders about workplace hazards and risks in order to improve and advance injury prevention policies and practices for this dangerous industry. The most comprehensive fatal injury surveillance effort currently in the United States is the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), which covers occupational fatalities in all U.S. industries, including production agriculture. However, this surveillance does not include many categories of fatalities that occur during agricultural work or on production agriculture worksites. To better capture the human cost of production agriculture, the authors of this paper call for the collection of additional data with a broader scope that supplements, not replaces, the current CFOI. This paper describes challenges in surveillance, highlights key procedural gaps, and offers recommendations for advancing national surveillance of fatal traumatic injuries associated with production agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the Russian experience with explicit deposit guarantee. Some of its effects, such as moral hazard, adverse selection, and erosion of discipline, are typical and well-researched by previous authors. The social cost of having this institution in Russia turned out to be abnormally high, while the results in terms of bank stability are questionable. More than half of the insurance system members have gone out of business in a matter of just fifteen years. I examine the inception of deposit insurance in Russia, its design, implementation and political economy, using various theoretical approaches and combining qualitative with quantitative evidence. I argue that explicit deposit guarantee by a government agency was a priori redundant, in view of the extraordinary role of state-owned banks. The new institution was used as a tool for structural change and competition enhancement, which I regard as misuse. Deposit guarantee was enacted prematurely, before other essential institutions of bank regulation were in place. The political economy of deposit insurance reveals the political system's vulnerability to uncontained pressure from private special interests demanding public protection. The new institution was captured by interest groups and exploited for private benefit. The evidence from Russia might be relevant to other emerging market countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of two Miami newspapers (one daily, one weekly) reveals that both relied heavily on individuals rather than institutions as news sources in the aftermath of civil disturbances during January, 1989. While the daily used relatively similar proportions of commercial and nongovernment personnel, more than a third of the weekly paper's sources were either residents or administrative personnel and staff in government agencies. Of the 181 different sources identified, the two papers shared 27. Most of the papers' reporter information channels were through interviews. Suggestions are made regarding further analysis of both newspapers' stake in the business community and maintenance of the area's economic status quo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological investment aims to improve research innovation with involving many aspects, resulting in various networks. Previous studies mainly focused on collaboration relationships. In fact, research innovation can also be affected by research content. In this paper, a content perspective is proposed to construct network and analyse network structure's effect on research innovation. Furthermore, networks are divided into high and low groups to test whether network structure's effects are consistent in networks with different research innovation. Using R&D funding, the results indicate that in networks constructed from a content perspective, centralisation and density negatively affect research innovation. Average distance has a significantly positive effect on research innovation, while structural holes have a U-shaped effect on research innovation. Furthermore, it shows that in networks constructed from a content perspective, network structure's effect on research innovation in high innovation networks is larger than that in low innovation networks. We offer recommendations for government agencies regarding the design of investment schemes and for scholars regarding how to select appropriate content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The volume of Turkish aid and its geographic coverage have undergone a process of change following the Arab Uprisings and the foiled coup d'état of July 15. This article primarily addresses the latter event, as with the former's influence foreign aid relations became more tight-knit with Turkey's immediate neighbours yet fell apart in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa. Considering the period between 2013 and 2018, this paper seeks the key determinants behind Turkish foreign aid behaviour in sub-Saharan Africa by asking whether the (non)existence of Gülenist schools in recipient states exerted agency in the disbursement of Turkey's aid flow. Based on bilateral foreign aid disbursement and the Turkish Maarif Foundation's educational landscape in sub-Saharan Africa, this paper has found that although the recipient state's cooperation with Turkey on the matter of Gülenist schools is a variable of moderate importance in gauging the volume of Turkish aid, there is no monolithic Turkish foreign aid orientation towards the countries collaborating with Turkish authorities to transfer the management of these schools and those that do not. This orientation has been firmly motivated by humanitarianism and has thus assured continuity in the context of humanitarian aid following July 15. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns accountability and agency concepts in governance reforms in Indonesia. The country's economic crisis in 1997, which snowballed into social and political crisis, triggered the country to reform the governance of the ministries by transferring government functions from ministries to agency-type organizations. However, this reform has led to rising questions about the accountability arrangements of the newly formed organisations which are oriented to agency-based governance. In addition, there are several different arrangements for these agencies. This study aims to analyse the extent to which accountability is accorded in various types of agencies. In doing so, the study uses typology of the government agencies as a tool to understand the accountability through its autonomies. The results indicate that the variety of agencies' forms requires a different accountability setting, which is not being met in the current regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy and practice implementation is an issue of enduring importance to scholars, public managers, and citizens alike. The expansion and maturation of literature bring in a discussion on whether government agencies can effectively improve policy and practice implementation by delegating employees with certain authority, discretion, and responsibility. To provide some insights for the debate and fill the lacuna, the present paper leverages a contingency approach to explore how the impact of responsibility delegation on implementation effectiveness is conditioned on the government's internal arrangement. Using the implementation of sustainable procurement policy and practice as an empirical example and drawing on a nationwide survey data of more than 400 cities, the study finds that the strategy of responsibility delegation can reach its full potential when the government's structure or culture encourages employee initiative. The finding implies an aspect for fruitful future research in public management seeking to explain the impact of managerial strategies on implementation effectiveness. The study also contributes to the growing evidence that provides public managers with a basis for developing or selecting their managerial choices of policy and practice implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital identity platforms are a recent e-governance innovation for improving social assistance programming in the development context, the most well-known of which is India's Aadhaar. While a significant number of studies have accumulated on Aadhaar, so far under-researched is the importance of local government practices and processes in shaping usage of the platform to support social assistance programming. In this paper we theorize how local government intermediation on digital identity platforms can improve social assistance programming through a case study of the Aadhaar-enabled Fertilizer Distribution System (AeFDS) in Andhra Pradesh. Our findings show how the relevance of the platform for low-income farmers depends crucially on the proactive adaptation of the technology by key local government intermediaries. From a policy perspective, this result emphasizes the importance of supporting efforts to acknowledge the role of responsive local government agencies in ensuring that centralized digital identity platforms remain relevant for implementing social assistance programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how Philippine state agencies sustain its labour-exporting strategies by encouraging aspiring migrants to invest in their own training and education, taking on the responsibility of turning themselves into desirable workers for employers overseas. Based on a document analysis of newspaper articles and Philippine government reports, this paper uses the case of Philippine nursing education to show how the Philippine state alters these discourses of skill when overseas opportunities decline, channelling aspiring migrants sideways to other sectors of the labour market. Discourses of employability justified these career detours to aspiring migrants by assuring them that such experiences will still contribute to their overseas employability and eventually lead to future emigration. This paper shows how the employability agenda allows the migrant-sending state to avoid accountability in a volatile global labour market, thus serving as an ideal tool in the neoliberal production of migrant labour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Establishing effective pharmaceutical governance is a challenge for government agencies, private enterprises, and professionals working on the ground, demanding complex ethical decisions from the actors involved, especially in a lower-middle-income country like Ghana. This letter aims to share the author's perspectives and additional considerations on the analyses of the reports in the paper "It is very difficult in this business if you want to have a good conscience": pharmaceutical governance and on-the-ground ethical labor in Ghana by Hampshire et al. The letter's authors discuss the need to advance universal health coverage in Ghana, the everyday ethics, and the disparities between the collective and individual moral consciousness of the participants, as well as other aspects of governance in the pharmaceutical sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During 2001–2002, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, collaborated with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) at the United States Department of Labor to conduct a voluntary survey of U.S. employers regarding the use of respiratory protective devices. In 2003, the survey results were jointly published by NIOSH and BLS. This study highlights and evaluates the scientific impact of the 2001–2002 survey by using the Science Impact Framework which provides a historical tracking method with five domains of influence. The authors conducted interviews with original project management as well as a thorough document review and qualitative content analysis of published papers, books, presentations, and other relevant print media. A semi-structured and cross-vetted coding was applied across the five domains: Disseminating Science, Creating Awareness, Catalyzing Action, Effecting Change, and Shaping the Future. The 2001–2002 survey findings greatly enhanced understanding and awareness of respirator use in occupational settings within the United States. It also led to similar surveys in other countries, regulatory initiatives by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Mine Safety and Health Administration, and ultimately to a renewed partnership between NIOSH and BLS to collect contemporary estimates of respirator use in the workplace within the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Independent regulatory agency has become the standard institutional choice in Western Europe. Little is known, however, about the involvement of legislators in their design and in their monitoring. In this paper, we analyse ex-ante and ex-post legislative involvement for 48 regulatory agencies enacted in France. We show that legislators debate and design more substantially agencies for which the government bill has already granted them more powers to appoint members to their board, or to be appointed as board members themselves. Once enacted, agencies that allow greater participation by legislators in their decision-making are subject to greater scrutiny, and this even after controlling for routine oversight activities. Regulatory domains matter, though only for ex-post legislative oversight. These results suggest that legislative involvement is selective and driven by strategic considerations. More fundamentally, they imply that legislative involvement could be more important in regulatory agency activities than usually assumed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are substantial differences in the entrepreneurship levels of different regions. Recent studies have shown that supply- and demand-side determinants fall short of explaining the level and type of entrepreneurship of a region, and have emphasized the critical role of region-specific institutional factors in regional entrepreneurship. This paper aims to contribute to understanding how region-specific institutions encourage or inhibit regional innovative entrepreneurship, concentrating particularly on the less studied normative and cultural-cognitive institutions. The study, based on face-to-face semi-structured in-depth interview data from four regions of Turkey with different innovative entrepreneurship patterns, reveals the significant role of normative institutions in defining different regional innovative entrepreneurship pathways, as well as those of some regulative and cultural-cognitive institutions. It highlights further that policies and regulations that alleviate bureaucratic procedures facilitate access to financial resources and strengthen coordination between local government agencies are encouraging regional entrepreneurship in general, while policies aimed at eliminating discrimination in society, supporting tolerance and openness, encouraging individual freedom and enhancing the skills and experience of entrepreneurs through new role models are critical for alleviating the disadvantages of regions and supporting innovative entrepreneurship. We contend that these policies are essential for improving the entrepreneurship environment and altering the perception of society regarding entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mental health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersexual (LGBTQI) individuals is significantly influenced by many factors such as difficulties in coming-out, poor acceptance, isolation and discrimination as well as minority-related stress. LGBTQI individuals, in fact, show a significant higher risk of mental health conditions, substance- use disorders and suicide. In addition, mental health services access may be difficult for personal and social barriers as well as a lack of adequate and specific mental health support. This review aims to assess and describe international policies, guidelines, position statements and recommendations regarding the promotion and protection of mental health rights for LGBTQI people. The search has been focussed on peer-reviewed papers, Governmental and Mental Health Association- Guidelines and Position Statements, Health Agencies - Guidelines and Position Statements (with a specific focus on mental health), LGBTQI Alliances and Foundations Publishing (with a specific focus on mental health). In addition, relevant international initiatives, and projects in the field of LGBTQI mental health will be described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public consultations are used by regulatory agencies for input into their decisions and provide an opportunity for interest groups to voice their concerns. However, researchers emphasised that interest groups are also active before consultations, when drafting regulatory rules. Public consultations might be the tip of the iceberg, with influence during early rule drafting stages looming beneath the surface. This paper looks into interest group behaviour during rulemaking by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Combining datasets on interest group access to rule drafting workshops (N = 538) and interest group behaviour in consultations (N = 42,595), the paper assesses what those that help draft rules do during public consultations. Strikingly, only a minority of these groups participate in consultations afterwards. Those that do participate, however, make active attempts to change regulation. These findings do not differ for different interest group types or at different levels of salience. Public consultations are therefore actively used by insiders, emphasising their importance for providing input in the rulemaking process. However, as many of those that draft rules do not participate in public consultations, the impact of many vital interest groups exists beneath the surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will first discuss how legal materials are considered to fall into two categories: primary and secondary sources. Primary sources consist of the law as produced by the three branches of government at the state and federal levels: statutes (enacted by legislatures and Congress), judicial opinions (issued by courts), and regulations (issued by administrative agencies of the executive branch). Secondary sources explain or analyze the law. Examples of secondary sources include treatises, law journal articles, and legal practice aids such as form books and checklists. The paper will then discuss the place of grey literature in the realm of legal materials, within the context of grey literature as defined by Taryn L. Rucinski in her 2015 Law Library Journal article "The Elephant in the Room: Toward a Definition of Grey Legal Literature," and, to a lesser extent, less scholarly writings. The third part of the paper will discuss the challenges of discoverability of various types of grey legal materials. The paper will conclude by considering potential options for enabling discoverability of grey legal literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes a case of environmental activism after one of the largest oil spills in Peruvian Amazonia, the 2014 Cuninico oil spill. A relatively more independent judiciary, environmental legislation, and weak though autonomous regulatory agencies led to a shift in institutional opportunity structure over the previous 20 years. The embryonic environmental state produced evidence of environmental harm and sanctioned state-owned oil enterprise Petroperú. However, that was not enough to produce timely measures to protect the affected communities. Indigenous peoples affected by the spill worked with human rights lawyers and civil society coalitions to bring the company to court. Almost a decade of high court activism has meant a burdensome process of 'lawfare' with important legal triumphs for plaintiffs. In 2020, a historic ruling mandated financial compensation for affected communities. Despite these triumphs, the long wait for the restitution of justice hints at an uncertain future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union's Recovery and Resilience Facility is an unprecedented investment opportunity for economic modernisation. However, while the supranational European Commission assumes considerable influence over the design of national Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs), there is substantial diversity among RRPs. This paper analyses the interaction between national governments and the Commission in the coordinative RRP design process. We argue that national policy preferences, rooted in the partisan profiles of governing coalitions, ultimately explain variation in RRP content. We analyse the policymaking process in three semi-peripheral economies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) – Estonia, Romania, and Slovakia. CEE countries are especially suitable because as expected rule-takers, they function as least likely cases for the relevance of government agency, i.e., national partisanship. Through elite interviews, we trace various elements of each RRP to specific positions of governing coalitions and, with national variation, the Commission's ability to impose its own policy preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the regulatory policies surrounding foreign investments in the Chinese tourism industry. It describes the key regulatory agencies involved in the policy-making and looks at how foreign investors have adapted to these policies since the late 1990s. The paper describes how the VIE structure and the free trade zones were used to attract foreign investments into the Chinese travel industry. Moreover, the paper argues that the current joint venture structure available to foreign investors is problematic seen from a foreign travel investors perspective. The author uses a hermeneutical interpretation of the topic. In addition, the social science model of fragmented authoritarianism is used to describe how the mentioned regulatory agencies interact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a plethora of emerging alternatives under the broad rubric of agroecology, sustainable transitions in Indian agriculture are caught between institutional inertia and lock-ins of its vast agricultural establishment on the one hand and a pro-active state promoting a natural farming. This push for Zero-Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), while welcome as an alternative, also raises several questions on the nature of knowledge production and dissemination. This paper explores the knowledge politics around top-down "skilling regimes" and the principles and paradigms that emphasize social learning. We explore the multiple practices, meanings of agroecology among farmers, government agencies, and civil society organizations in the state of Gujarat. The action research included a survey of practices of 250 farmers in 12 districts, interviews, and stakeholder workshops. Insufficient investments in community-based extension mechanisms and lack of collaboration between state and civil society were features of the policy implementation. The absence of innovative platforms to facilitate knowledge dialogs and learning among actors to advance agroecology increases the gap between policy goals and its actual realization in practice. Programs for upscaling agroecology, we suggest, need to embed the diversity of technical and institutional processes through creating learning alliances to facilitate knowledge dialogs across dissimilar actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improper processing of sensitive personal data concerning disabled people in government information disclosure not only violates their privacy rights but also leads to discrimination, stigmatization, and other serious secondary harm, that have long been overlooked. China's procurator-led public-interest litigation system is a powerful tool for protecting the privacy rights of vulnerable groups. This paper contends that procurator-led public-interest litigation, as a supplement to and support for private-interest litigation, assists the Chinese government in fulfilling its international obligations to protect the right to privacy of disabled people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 23 June 2021, after months of deliberations, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) approved the establishment of the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) in response to escalating violent extremism and insurgency by an Islamist armed group, Al-Shabaab or Al-Sunnah wa Jama'ah (ASWJ), in Mozambique's northern Cabo Delgado province, which posed the risk of regional contagion. SAMIM was deployed under scenario 6 of the African Standby Force (ASF) with a mandate focused on supporting the Mozambican government to combat terrorism and violent extremism in Cabo Delgado. Its mandate also centred on strengthening and maintaining peace and security; restoring law and order; and assisting the government and humanitarian agencies to provide humanitarian relief to the affected population. This paper contributes to raising public understanding of the regional and continental policies and principles underpinning the SADC decision-making process regarding the deployment of peace missions and the effectiveness of SAMIM in fulfilling its mandated tasks until its first anniversary. It identified the relative pacification of Cabo Delgado as a crucial strategic and operational impact of SAMIM's exceptional military intervention, which facilitated its segue into a multidimensional peacebuilding mission. Six principal constraints-cum-opportunities of SAMIM, which had a significant bearing on its effectiveness, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are more than 2,000 interest groups in Ireland that play a key role in policy development. This paper explores which of these groups have access to Irish policymaking across various political arenas. It does so by examining original data from 2018, gained through large-N survey research on over 300 active interest groups, including business groups, firms, professional organisations, NGOs, citizen groups and consultancies. The analysis focusses on four key venues of policymaking which lobbyists seek to influence: the media, government departments, the Dáil and state agencies. We find that lobbying access in Ireland is similar to other West European countries, but also different. Organisations with higher organisational capacity and that hire revolving door lobbyists are more likely to be frequent visitors of almost all arenas compared to other groups. This is similar to existing accounts of bias in lobbying access reported in other countries. However, in contrast to scholarship focussing on other European political systems, access is not biased in favour of economic groups. The analysis fills an important empirical gap in the quantitative study of lobbying and adds an otherwise understudied perspective of non-state actor engagement in Irish politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted shortfalls in the U.S. food system, exposing how regulatory processes shape access to the market. This paper builds on ongoing research following the impact of shut-down orders on alcohol retail via small restaurants and breweries in Arizona and examines the impacts of regulatory shifts on the ability of these food enterprises to pivot. We highlight how the concept of the pivot creates expectations of individual businesses ability to be resilient to shocks. Responses within Arizona to COVID-19 induced systemic failures, demonstrate that bottom-up pivots from small businesses can creatively and quickly meet local community needs. However, those efforts were stymied by state government and top-down approaches that proved incapable of pivoting to meet local needs. Through this case study, we highlight the need and opportunity for further examination of the interplay between regulatory agencies and small businesses in times of crisis. We invite others into the work of creating guidelines for pivoting that facilitate bottom-up and top-down collaboration while ensuring the voice and agency of different players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many water scientists aim for their work to inform water policy and management, and in pursuit of this objective, they often work alongside government water agencies to ensure their research is relevant, timely and communicated effectively. A paper in this issue, examining 'Science integrity, public policy and water governance in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia', suggests that a large group of scientists, who work on water management in the Murray- Darling Basin (MDB) including the Basin Plan, have been subject to possible 'administrative capture'. Specifically, it is suggested that they have advocated for policies favoured by government agencies with the objective of gaining personal benefit, such as increased research funding. We examine evidence for this claim and conclude that it is not justified. The efforts of scientists working alongside government water agencies appear to have been misinterpreted as possible administrative capture. Although unsubstantiated, this claim does indicate that the science used in basin water planning is increasingly caught up in the politics of water management. We suggest actions to improve science-policy engagement in basin planning, to promote constructive debate over contested views and avoid the over-politicisation of basin science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper highlights the menace of building collapse incidences in Nigeria, the causes and the need to enforce laws to reduce these. It examines the postulations of scholars; applicable laws such as nigerian urban and regional planning act 1992 (NURPA); urban and regional planning and development law of Lagos state 2010 (URPDL) and the effectiveness of regulatory bodies such as town planners registration council (TOPREC) among others in curbing these incidences. Enabling planning laws in Japan is discussed. The paper concludes that the law is adequate in Nigeria but there is the need to enforce the provisions of these laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on case studies in Dublin, Ireland, this paper examines the motives for individuals to establish community gardens therein. The paper also outlines the capacities required for community groups to successfully establish and sustain community gardens in Ireland. These capacities include the involvement of individuals with a range of expertise, the presence of supportive community groups/organisations and state agencies, and access to resources, including land. The research findings, detailed in this paper, indicate that community gardens in urban settings encounter a number of challenges, including the absence of a mechanism for community groups to access land. The article provides a framework for community groups and community organisations to develop community gardens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: To discuss studies conducted in Brazil relating to PrEP, from 2012 to 2022, based on a narrative review. METHODOLOGY: The databases of the Virtual Health Library/PAHO, portals from Scielo, Scopus, and PubMed, and the descriptors in English and Portuguese 'Pre-exposure to HIV' and 'Brazil' were used, as well as a list of planned/in-progress demonstrative studies. Inclusion criteria consists of articles with fieldwork in Brazil coupled with PrEP in the Brazilian scenario; and articles in English or Portuguese. Articles in which PrEP was not the central theme and the participating Brazilian population did not reside in Brazil were excluded. RESULTS: 107 papers have been reviewed, 80 articles met the inclusion criteria. The majority participating population was men who have sex with men. 61 studies preceded the implementation of PrEP in Brazil. Studies carried out after implementation (n = 19) deal primarily with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: There was an incipient number of studies on the injectable form of PrEP. Fewer studies included segments with greater difficulties in access, use, and adherence. Despite the issues that circumscribe this prevention technology, literature is consensual on the importance of Brazilian leadership for implementing PrEP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the function and meaning of Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms (CDR Leading Group) and Central Comprehensively Deepening Reforms Commission (CDR Commission), created in the Xi Jinping administration, and discusses on their roles in policy making. This paper positions the CDR Leading Group and the CDR Commission as policy adjustment vehicles, analyzes them in terms of policy integration and administrative coordination, and examines whether they were created for organizational or policy purposes. Another perspective is how government agency coordination existing before the Xi Jinping administration changed. This study reveals the following. First, the CDR Group and the CDR Commission are organizations aimed at tackling new issues. Their activities demonstrate the leadership of Xi Jinping, who is at the top, and significantly contribute to establishing his own authority and strengthening his power base. Second, both the CDR Group and the CDR Commission have a multi-layered organizational structure, with the offices of the main body, special groups, and their offices playing a substantive role. In the economic field, for example, there is no change to the conventional coordination led by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance. Third, these are merely "ad hoc" mechanisms for advancing comprehensively deepening reforms that were the decision of the third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The governance of pharmaceutical medicines entails complex ethical decisions that should, in theory, be the responsibility of democratically accountable government agencies. However, in many Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), regulatory and health systems constraints mean that many people still lack access to safe, appropriate and affordable medication, posing significant ethical challenges for those working on the "front line". Drawing on 18 months of fieldwork in Ghana, we present three detailed case studies of individuals in this position: an urban retail pharmacist, a rural over-the-counter medicine retailer, and a local inspector. Through these case studies, we consider the significant burden of "ethical labour" borne by those operating "on the ground", who navigate complex moral, legal and business imperatives in real time and with very real consequences for those they serve. The paper ends with a reflection on the tensions between abstract, generalised ethical frameworks based on high-level principles, and a pragmatic, contingent ethics-in-practice that foregrounds immediate individual needs – a tension rooted in the gap between the theory and the reality of pharmaceutical governance that shifts the burden of ethical labour downwards and perpetuates long-term public health risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past several decades, the use of genetically engineered microorganisms (GEMs, often referred to as Genetically Modified Microorganisms or GMMs) has become widespread in the production of food processing aids and other food ingredients. GEMs are advancing food production by increasing efficiency, reducing waste and resource requirements, and ultimately enabling beneficial innovations such as the cost-effective fortification of food with essential nutrients, vitamins, and amino acids, and delivery of tailored enzymes to achieve unique food processing capabilities. Regulatory agencies, including those in the European Union, United States, and Canada review the safety of GEMs when evaluating food substances produced using GEMs to ensure that both the microorganism and the resulting food substance are safe. This paper provides a summary of historical and current use of GEMs in food manufacture, an overview of frameworks that regulate their use, and a description of the safety assessment of both GEMs and food substances produced with GEMs. The paper encourages regulatory agencies around the globe to take a more aligned approach to the safety evaluation and regulatory oversight of GEM-produced food ingredients and enzymes, a category of food substances that enables more sustainable consumer food choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regulatory governance literature has shown a rising interest in the development of the regulatory agencies in developing countries. We now have a relatively good number of studies on Latin America and Asia. However, there is, to date, very scarce knowledge about regulatory governance in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA countries), where regulatory agencies diffused less systematically and more slowly. This paper makes a first step towards filling this gap and, in doing so, it raises a general question about the role of oil and gas revenues in restraining the propensity for agency creation by national states. Making use of a cross-sectoral database about the creation of regulatory agencies in MENA countries, we discuss the relevance of states' oil and gas revenue to explain their lower levels of agencification compared to other regions. A case study focused on electricity regulation in Algeria is also included for this purpose. We place several hypotheses considering variations in agencification over time and across countries, in order to strengthen our argument about the constraining impact of oil and gas rent on the process of regulatory agency diffusion that occurred worldwide in the previous decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nation states need effective, accessible, and broadly engaged provisions of continuing education and training (CET) to develop the capacities of their working-age populations. Understanding what constitutes accessible and effective CET provisions, is needed to enable informed decision-making about realising governmental goals of securing a skilled, employable, and adaptive workforce. To understand what comprises that efficacy, it is necessary to capture, analyse, and reconcile the perspectives of stakeholders including government agencies, education institutions, CET educators and, most importantly, working-age adults. Reconciliation of these perspectives is essential for establishing what constitutes an effective CET ecosystem, including what kinds of CET provisions can best meet the needs of working-age Singaporeans and their workplaces. Drawing on an investigation of CET provisions in the island nation, this paper seeks to illuminate and advance how CET provisions might be enacted through an ecosystem perspective to promote employability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]