Journal of Public Affairs最新文献

{"title":"Do Environmental Regulatory Interventions Help Highly Polluting Firms Become Sustainable? Evidence From Quasi-Natural Experiment-Based Indian Manufacturing Firms","authors":"Anu Antony","doi":"10.1002/pa.70101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.70101","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The study investigated how environmental regulation, specifically India's National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and the subsequent Paris Agreement, affects the environmental and financial performance of Indian manufacturing firms. Employing a quasi-natural experiment approach, the analysis evaluates how these regulations influence compliance costs, access to external financing, and market valuation for highly polluting firms. The results demonstrate that stringent environmental regulations can incentivize firms to adopt sustainable practices through efficiency-oriented compliance strategies such as process upgradation, leading to reduced abatement expenses and improved access to finance at lower costs. These outcomes provide empirical evidence supporting the weak form of the Porter Hypothesis, showing that well-designed regulations can stimulate innovation and efficiency gains, even when formal research and development (R&amp;D)–led innovation remains limited. The findings further show that the Paris Agreement amplified these effects, facilitating long-term value creation and enhancing market legitimacy. Overall, the study contributes to environmental finance and policy discourse by highlighting how national and global environmental frameworks jointly influence firm adaptation, sustainability, and financial resilience.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47153,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Public Affairs","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145750705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Socioeconomic Impacts of India's Rural Job Guarantee Program: Evidence From MGNREGA","authors":"Muhammed Rafi,&nbsp;Salu Prasad,&nbsp;Mohemmad Naseef","doi":"10.1002/pa.70100","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.70100","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>As the world's largest employment guarantee scheme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) serves as a crucial policy experiment in addressing rural poverty and unemployment. While studies have examined its varied impacts on asset creation, financial inclusion, and women's empowerment, a comprehensive understanding of its socioeconomic effects at the household and community levels remains crucial for evaluating such large-scale public employment programs. This study aims to evaluate the socioeconomic impact of the MGNREGA, a large-scale government-sponsored job guarantee scheme. Specifically, we examine the effectiveness of the MGNREGA in alleviating poverty, enhancing consumption, and reducing income inequality. This study utilizes nationally representative longitudinal data from the Indian Human Development Survey (IHDS) to conduct the empirical analysis. We employ logit estimations with district fixed effects to examine the socioeconomic impact of the MGNREGA. The results of the study demonstrate that MGNREGA participation has a significant effect on poverty alleviation and improving household consumption. Furthermore, the results suggest that MGNREGA participation contributes to reducing income inequality at the community level. This study contributes empirical evidence to the broader discourse on government-sponsored large-scale job guarantee schemes as policy tools for addressing socioeconomic challenges at both the household and community levels. This is among the first studies that analyze the impact of MGNREGA at the community level using a dataset comprising over 1400 villages across 29 states in India.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47153,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Public Affairs","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145750586","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Does Financial Stability Withstand Economic Policy Uncertainty? Insights From Linear and Nonlinear Patterns","authors":"Muhammad Nadir Shabbir,&nbsp;Kainat Iftikhar,&nbsp;Tanveer Bagh,&nbsp;Mirza Muhammad Naseer","doi":"10.1002/pa.70098","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.70098","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This study examines the impact of Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) on Financial Stability (FS) in developed and emerging economies from 2003 to 2022. Using a balanced panel dataset and multiple statistical methods, the results reveal a nonlinear association between EPU and FS. At low to moderate levels, EPU reduces financial stability, but beyond a certain point, higher EPU improves FS. The findings suggest that rising EPU prompts regulators and institutions to respond in order to protect FS. Sub-sample analysis shows that this nonlinear effect becomes more pronounced in emerging economies, where financial systems remain more vulnerable and sensitive to shocks. Additional tests reveal that emerging markets respond more sharply to changes in uncertainty, while developed markets exhibit a weaker response, reflecting the strength of their financial systems. The study findings remain robust across a range of alternative measures and advanced estimators, including the generalized method of moments, spline regression, and panel-corrected standard errors. The study offers crucial policy insights by highlighting the need for tailored regulatory frameworks to mitigate the harmful effects of EPU on FS. By distinguishing between developed and emerging economies, this research enhances our understanding of financial resilience in the face of economic uncertainty and contributes to ongoing debates on macroeconomic stability.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47153,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Public Affairs","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145750611","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Critical Competencies for Government Affairs Managers: Insights From a Delphi Study","authors":"Sanghyun Lee,&nbsp;Sounman Hong","doi":"10.1002/pa.70091","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.70091","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Technology firms increasingly operate where public and private sectors intersect, heightening the importance of government affairs professionals who navigate complex regulations and relationships. This study uses a three-phase Delphi method, drawing on a final panel of 25 expert panelists from leading technology companies, to identify essential knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) for senior government affairs managers. High-consensus KSAs include Stakeholder Management, Ethics and Integrity, Political Acumen, and Networking and Diplomacy, underscoring the strategic nature of these roles. The resulting framework can guide professional development, recruitment, and training. It also highlights ethical responsibilities, emphasizing trust-building with regulators and society. Future work could explore how these KSAs vary by region or organizational context. Overall, the study offers a practical resource to support effective public-private collaboration and addresses a growing demand for more structured competency models in government relations.</p>","PeriodicalId":47153,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Public Affairs","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/pa.70091","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145686389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Digital Transformation as a Moderator of Institutional Quality, Economic Development, and Social Factors in Renewable Energy Adoption: Evidence From Major Economies (1999–2023)","authors":"Saqib Munir","doi":"10.1002/pa.70097","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.70097","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>A limited understanding of the role of digital transformation as a moderator in the interaction of institutional quality, economic development, and renewable energy adoption in major economies has significantly held back the progress of sustainable energy transitions. This research focuses on the direct and moderated effects of institutional quality, economic development, urbanization, energy imports dependency, and environmental policy stringency on renewable energy adoption, theoretically grounded in the extension of institutional theory and the resource-based view. The study utilizes Pooled Mean Group Autoregressive Distributed Lag (PMG-ARDL) and Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) techniques on a balanced panel of 15 major economies (1999–2023), with data drawn from the World Development Indicators and Worldwide Governance Indicators. The results reveal that institutional quality is a major factor in the increase of renewable energy adoption (<i>β</i> = 12.678, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001), and the relationship between them is moderated positively by digital transformation (<i>β</i> = 0.150, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001). In addition, economic development (<i>β</i> = 2.434, <i>p</i> = 0.005) and urbanization (<i>β</i> = 1.473, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001) are also responsible for the increase in adoption; however, the short-run urban effects are negative. Moreover, energy imports dependency (<i>β</i> = 0.077, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001) and environmental policy stringency (<i>β</i> = 0.617, <i>p</i> = 0.006) are the factors that lead to a further advancement of the transitions, while digital tools are the enablers of these effects. The results depict that digital infrastructure enables the effectiveness of governance and economic capacity. Such findings can be applied to theoretical frameworks that explain the role of digital transformation as a strategic enabler and enable purposeful policy focus. The scope of generalizability is hindered by data limitations including the heterogeneity of the region. Future research could contemplate analyzing the subnational processes or AI possibilities in energy systems.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47153,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Public Affairs","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145686209","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Spillover Effect of US-China Tension on India's Medium-High-Tech Manufacturing Exports: Exploring the Role of Export Market Diversification","authors":"Himanshu Sekhar Panda,&nbsp;Mantu Kumar Mahalik","doi":"10.1002/pa.70096","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.70096","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Rising US-China tensions can significantly reshape the worldwide trade dynamics by disrupting established supply chains. Addressing this, this study explores the impact of US-China tension on India's medium-high-tech manufacturing exports by obtaining time series data from India spanning 1997 to 2022. This study also examines the behavior of export market diversification on medium-high-tech manufacturing exports, in the presence of US-China tension. To measure these relationships, the Dynamic Autoregressive Distributed Lag (DARDL) method is employed. The findings reveal that the US-China tension exerts a positive impact on India's MHM exports, while export market diversification deteriorates it. Interestingly, this study discovers that export market diversification exerts a beneficial impact on India's medium-high-tech manufacturing exports in presence of the US-China tension. Additionally, this study shows a beneficial role of domestic bank credit, economic growth, total export demand, government effectiveness, and currency depreciation on India's medium-high-tech manufacturing exports. These findings are consistent with the results from Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS). The marginal plot and heatmap analysis provide robustness of the interaction effect. Results from the CUSUM and the CUSUM Square confirm the estimated model stability. These findings offer policy recommendations for Indian policymakers to maximize the MHM exports.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47153,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Public Affairs","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145646457","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Role of Foreign Aid in Promoting Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in Africa","authors":"Oseghale Ihayere,&nbsp;Oluwatoyin Matthew,&nbsp;Evans Osabuohien,&nbsp;Oluwayemisi Kadijat Adeleke,&nbsp;Romanus Osabohien,&nbsp;Karen Eberechukwu Onwuegbule","doi":"10.1002/pa.70092","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.70092","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This study investigates the impact of foreign aid on social inclusion in Africa using the system Generalised Method of Moments (S-GMM) estimation technique. The results reveal that net official development assistance (ODA) as a percentage of gross national income had an adverse effect on total vulnerable employment. Similarly, net official development assistance per capita, official and received and net official development assistance received only had a negating effect on male vulnerable employment. However, a positive impact exists between net official development assistance as a percentage of gross capital formation and female vulnerable employment. Trade openness has no significant effect across all the models. Therefore, African economies should completely implement social inclusion and enhance workers' rights and working conditions. Inclusive projects ranging from inclusive labour markets, better working conditions and greater social security need to be put in place for efficient delivery of official development assistance. Lastly, the unique challenges that females have in gaining access to resources, particularly as regard to reducing vulnerable employment through foreign aid should be identified and addressed.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47153,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Public Affairs","volume":"25 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145581126","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Artificial Intelligence and Employment Prospects: A Sentiment and Emotion Analysis in the Indian Context","authors":"Himanshu Gupta,&nbsp;Akshay Sharma,&nbsp;Rajib L. Dhar","doi":"10.1002/pa.70094","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.70094","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Artificial Intelligence (AI) has brought a significant transformation in the labor market, sparking mixed sentiments among individuals regarding their employment prospects. To determine a broader emotional response, individual comments posted on 26 YouTube videos discussing the impact of AI on employment within the Indian labor market were scraped and analyzed using pre-trained VADER and ROBERTA for sentiment analysis; NRCLex for emotion analysis; and topic modeling using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA). Findings indicate an increasing negative sentiment among individuals toward AI and employment from 2017 to 2023, with three dominant emotions being anticipation, trust, and fear. Further, the temporal analysis showcases the trend followed by sentiment and emotion from 2017 to 2023. Using LDA, three major focal points of discussion, namely AI Awareness, AI at workplace and AI and future employment, were identified. Based on our results, relevant managerial and policy implications are offered.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47153,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Public Affairs","volume":"25 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145580846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unlocking Positive Affect in Public Institutions: How Daily Recovery and Micro-Interruptions Shape Adaptive Performance in the Workplace","authors":"Ana Junça-Silva,&nbsp;António Caetano","doi":"10.1002/pa.70090","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.70090","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Based on the conservation of resources theory and the affective events theory, we have developed a framework to analyze how daily recovery enhances daily adaptive behaviors (adaptive performance), and how that improves daily positive affect. Moreover, we develop theoretical arguments for daily micro-interruptions as a boundary condition that buffers this relation and argue that the work context (i.e., telework, or at the office) can function as a protective factor. Using a diary design, our aim was to (1) explore the within-person effects of daily recovery on positive affect via adaptive performance, and (2) test the three-way interaction between daily micro-interruptions and the work context in the mediated relationship. We conducted a multilevel study in which 238 managers from public institutions participated. They filled out questionnaires at the end of the day for five consecutive working days (<i>N</i> = 238 × 5 = 1190). The results revealed that daily recovery positively influences employees' daily positive affect through their daily adaptive performance, but only on days with fewer daily micro-interruptions. They also showed that the employees' work context attenuates this interaction. Practical implications: this study provides insights into the role of daily micro-interruptions and their combined effect with the regimen of work practiced on that day. The findings deepen knowledge concerning how and when telework may be optimized, suggesting that telework is not always beneficial, nor detrimental, for performance: partially, it depends on the individuals' recovery and their daily micro-interruptions. We critically discuss the findings considering management practices that may allow employees to manage their daily life at work better, in particular, their recovery process and daily micro-interruptions.</p>","PeriodicalId":47153,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Public Affairs","volume":"25 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/pa.70090","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145529746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mapping the Linkage Between Financial Literacy and Financial Inclusion: Evaluating the Mediating Effect of Online Banking and the Moderating Effect of Income","authors":"Ravinder Kaur,&nbsp;Ajaypal Singh,&nbsp;Suyash Mishra","doi":"10.1002/pa.70089","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.70089","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>In the era of the digital world, the revitalization of poor households' responses to the availability and usage of financial services is essential. Deprived individuals who possess financial literacy are able to make better financial decisions by learning about and comprehending the different financial services that are offered in the market. This research is an attempt to investigate the mediating effect of online banking and the moderating effect of income while mapping linkages between financial literacy and financial inclusion in the context of PMJDY which is a national mission of financial inclusion in India. The primary data acquired from marginalized people having bank accounts under PMJDY via structured questionnaires in Himachal Pradesh (India) were analyzed using a structural equation model combined with bootstrap. The results of the current study shed valuable light on the crucial mediating role of online banking as a driver for financial inclusion through financial literacy for the beneficiaries of PMJDY. Additionally, this study emphasizes understanding the significance of household income in encouraging financial inclusion for marginalized groups. This study identifies crucial predictors of financial inclusion, especially through PMJDY and provides practical implications to assist policymakers in increasing financial services among marginalized populations by leveraging financial literacy and online banking, thereby contributing to broader financial inclusion in India.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47153,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Public Affairs","volume":"25 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145529818","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}