Australian Journal of Public Administration最新文献

{"title":"Fiscal decentralisation and the attenuating effects of inter-governmental transfers and economic development on corruption in China","authors":"Minghui Yu,&nbsp;Chang Yee Kwan","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.12636","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1467-8500.12636","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The consensus in the literature is that fiscal decentralisation is a means to reduce corruption. For China, the attenuating effects of fiscal decentralisation are often enhanced by other factors. This paper argues that prior findings serve to facilitate the design of anti-corruption measures but they do not address why individuals may engage in corruption. This is especially as individual evidence suggests that engaging in corruption is against professional ethos in China. This paper suggests that intergovernmental transfers and the relative level of economic development of where a public servant is serving influence the decision of whether to engage in corruption. Specifically, intergovernmental transfers and a higher level of local economic development directly affect the resources that a local administration has. In turn, this affects the extent to which one may realise their motivations for a career in the public sector. Empirical estimates for 1998–2013 serve to support the hypothesis.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Points for practitioners</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <div>\u0000 <ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Fiscal decentralisation mitigates the prevalence of corruption in China in conjunction with other complimentary factors.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>But engaging in corruption is inconsistent with motivations for a public sector career which include engaging in work for society's greater benefit.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Corruption may emerge because public servants feel that they may be unable to achieve their aims for joining the public sector because of local resource constraints.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Empirical findings suggest that increased resources to local administrations from intergovernmental transfers and economic development may discourage public servants from deviating from their stated career motivations, that is, engaging in corruption.</li>\u0000 </ul>\u0000 </div>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"83 4","pages":"749-763"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140717688","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Religion and public administration at the micro level: The lens of street-level bureaucracy theory in democracies","authors":"Niva Golan-Nadir","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.12626","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1467-8500.12626","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The dynamics between religion and state in public administration implementation theories has garnered scholarly interest over the past decade. However, these two realms of study are rarely combined. In this research note, I explore religion and, more specifically, the implementation of religion-based policies by street-level bureaucrats, as a public service like any other. I point to the more commonly studied aspect of this realm, namely the influence of personal religious tendencies on the exercise of discretion by the individual street-level bureaucrat. Further, I discuss the supply of religion-based services by street-level bureaucrats in democracies, and the actions they are willing to take (such as promote co-production or policy entrepreneurship) when religion constraints them from supplying certain public services.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Points for practitioners</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <div>\u0000 <ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Street-level bureaucrats are influenced by their religious perceptions during policy implementation.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>These workers may also be constrained by religion-based policies during implementation, hence provide inadequate public services or not supplying them at all.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Citizens may be dissatisfied with the inadequate services and the burdens it imposes on their lives.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Street-level bureaucrats who cannot supply certain services due to religion-based constraints may take on co-production or policy entrepreneurship strategies outside the standard scope of their job description in order to supply them.</li>\u0000 </ul>\u0000 </div>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"83 4","pages":"736-748"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8500.12626","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140146705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Contractualism, Democracy and Ethics","authors":"Spencer Zifcak","doi":"10.1111/j.1467-8500.2001.tb00001.x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8500.2001.tb00001.x","url":null,"abstract":"Contractualism, as concept and practice, may be defined in different ways (Yeatman 1995, 1998). In this article I am concerned with contracting out or outsourcing as it is otherwise known. That is, I focus upon the process whereby functions undertaken formerly by government are now performed by private or voluntary organisations in a contractual relationship with public service departments and agencies. Whereas departments and agencies once provided a full panoply of services directly, government purchasers now select providers by tendering competitively for an expanding range of employment, education, health, social welfare and local government services. Contractualism, then, involves the recon‐figuation of public service provision to favour quasi‐commercial rather than bureaucratic forms.<jats:sup>*</jats:sup>","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139978956","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Facilitative State and the Symbolic Potency of Mutual Obligation","authors":"Michael Muetzelfeldt","doi":"10.1111/j.1467-8500.2001.tb00002.x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8500.2001.tb00002.x","url":null,"abstract":"This paper discusses ambiguities of mutual obligation at the levels of: defining the new political middle ground, policies for dealing with non‐compliance, the analytical frames that are used to support it, and discourses of contract. It concludes by locating these ambiguities within the cultural anthropological notion of symbol. As a symbol, mutual obligation has the power to confound its critics — criticism of the notion and its inconsistent policy prescriptions is generally not assessed as right or wrong, but rather is rendered irrelevant.","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"39 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139978957","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Doing wellbeing policy: A discussion on public policy making for integrative prosperity","authors":"James A. Gordon","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.12631","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1467-8500.12631","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Focusing on holistic wellbeing rather than solely economic prosperity is becoming ever more popular among policy makers, both in Australia and New Zealand, and elsewhere. And yet, turning a complex set of system-level indicators of wellbeing into actionable policy requires us to rethink how we develop, implement, and evaluate policy. In this article, I review the current trends in wellbeing, including developments in the measurement and tracking of wellbeing, and offer practical steps for integrating actionable wellbeing outcomes into future policymaking processes.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Points for practitioners</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <div>\u0000 <ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Focusing on wellbeing as part of the policy making process is becoming more popular among governments, including in Australia and New Zealand. The New Zealand Government has been doing wellbeing budgets since 2019 while the Australian Government released a new wellbeing framework in 2023.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Wellbeing policy represents an approach to policy making that aims to maximize the general health and happiness of a target population on both subjective and objective measures of wellbeing. This includes both economic and non-economic measures of prosperity and wellbeing.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>There are many ways of tracking the wellbeing effect of policy and so choosing the right framework is important for effective wellbeing policy making. This starts with a wellbeing purpose for the policy and a clear and concise definition of wellbeing.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Doing wellbeing policy requires a good understanding of what wellbeing represents and how it is measured. You need relevant and measurable indicators of wellbeing, an evaluation strategy, and the ability to reflect and innovate as part of an iterative policy making process.</li>\u0000 </ul>\u0000 </div>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"83 1","pages":"134-139"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8500.12631","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139968350","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Is ‘more’ better? Testing the assumption that larger local governments are more sustainable","authors":"Joseph Drew,&nbsp;Masato Miyazaki,&nbsp;Dana McQuestin","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.12627","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1467-8500.12627","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>It is commonly assumed that bigger local governments will be more financially sustainable. Indeed, public policymakers are often prompted to make boundary change decisions according to idealised structures that they assume will lead to stronger local governments. In addition, many local government regulators urge councillors to work for growth in order to become sustainable. However, the assumption that size is associated with financial sustainability has seldom been put to robust empirical test. In this work, we first explore the theoretical considerations relevant to the supposed association between size and sustainability. Following this, we employ a comprehensive 5-year panel of data to test the association. The evidence we derive stands in stark contrast to the assumptions of many policy architects. We conclude our work with an enumeration of the surprising implications that our results point to with respect to future public policy prescriptions.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Points for practitioners</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <div>\u0000 <ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Theoretical considerations are ambiguous with respect to the assumption that larger local governments might be more financially sustainable.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>A regression of a 5-year panel of data demonstrates that larger local governments are indeed <i>less</i> financially sustainable.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Our results suggest the need for a radical re-appraisal of policies surrounding amalgamation, de-amalgamation, and which local governments are most at risk of financial failure.</li>\u0000 </ul>\u0000 </div>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"83 1","pages":"106-122"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8500.12627","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139878994","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A ‘fair go’ values framework for public policy","authors":"Cosmo Howard,&nbsp;Pandanus Petter,&nbsp;Juliet Pietsch","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.12624","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1467-8500.12624","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>There is a growing interest in how policy processes can better incorporate the values of the communities they serve, yet policymakers face numerous challenges when they seek to embed values into policies. This paper builds on existing values research to develop a bespoke policy values framework for Australia, based on the popular notion of a ‘fair go’. While the fair go is often associated with a narrow set of equality and procedural justice values, we show that it has a much wider range of historical and contemporary meanings, which taken together provide a useful starting point for understanding policy values important to Australians. We apply our framework to two policy domains—housing and immigration—to show that it offers an effective heuristic to help policymakers understand key value priorities and conflicts in these policy areas. The paper provides theoretical insights regarding the role of values in policymaking and offers a practical tool for use when designing, implementing, and evaluating policies.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Points for practitioners</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <div>\u0000 <ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Community values should inform public policy decision-making in a democracy. However, incorporating values into policy is difficult because of the wide range of different values to consider, the need to manage tensions and conflicts between values, and the time pressures often faced by policymakers.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>The popular and enduring notion of the ‘fair go’ embodies multiple value positions, which cover a range of different values that matter to Australians, making it a good basis for an Australian policy values framework.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Our fair go values framework is designed to serve as a heuristic for policymakers when designing and evaluating public policies. It is not intended as a comprehensive guide to value debates in all policy areas, but offers a starting point for quickly appreciating the key value priorities and conflicts in relation to a policy issue. Policymakers should wherever possible follow up with detailed research to understand the complex value debates of different policy issue areas.</li>\u0000 </ul>\u0000 </div>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"83 1","pages":"88-105"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8500.12624","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139533424","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hybrid organisational form as a response to institutional complexity: The case of local municipally owned corporations in Lahore","authors":"Madiha Rehman Farooqi, Shabana Naveed, Shajara Ul-Durar, Marco De Sisto","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.12622","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8500.12622","url":null,"abstract":"This paper explores hybrid organisational forms that have emerged in response to institutional complexity. For this purpose, the paper studies organisational practices to explore hybrid characteristics in municipally owned corporations (MOCs) and differentiate between distinct manifestations of hybridity. Using a case study research design, three MOCs are selected as units of analysis, and 30 semi-structured interviews are conducted to explain why and how organisations emerge as hybrid organisations through the adoption of multiple institutional prescriptions that compete with their existing logic. The findings of the study reveal a practical approach to managing complexity where organisations tend to form different hybrids rather than simply accepting or rejecting institutional pressures. The study offers insights into the outcomes within organisational milieus as they navigate and assimilate these competing pressures, underscoring that the resultant ramifications may not invariably align with initial expectations.","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139064244","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How Green Banks can create multiple types of value in the transition to net zero emissions","authors":"Michelle Lyons, Lee Victoria White","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.12623","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8500.12623","url":null,"abstract":"Current levels of investment are insufficient to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, and private sector funding shortfalls are acute. Despite this, little research has been undertaken into Green Banks, a new form of institution which mixes public and private institutional logics to mobilise additional private investment in the net zero transition. This paper examines how hybridity manifests in Green Banks and the ways these institutions create value through their investments. We adopt a mixed method, case study approach, combining primary document study with interviews, to elicit information on different forms of hybrid governance and value creation in four Green Banks (located in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States). We find some commonalities in how hybridity manifests between cases (e.g. combining public knowledge sharing logics with private investment logics), but also significant differences (e.g. in investment focus), as policymakers adapt organisational governance to suit jurisdictional circumstances. Green Banks are perceived to create value beyond their core financial roles, including knowledge spillovers, social equity benefits, and enhanced energy security. Current evaluation approaches focus on financial metrics and often exclude these broader areas of value creation. Development of additional value capture metrics could make Green Bank contributions more visible.","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139064459","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Is there a role for hybrid service provision in place-based initiatives within the human services sector? Findings from an Australian exploratory study","authors":"Kerryn Drysdale,&nbsp;Shona Bates,&nbsp;Alison Ritter,&nbsp;Ciara Smyth,&nbsp;Evelyne de Leeuw,&nbsp;Ilan Katz","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.12621","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1467-8500.12621","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The value of place-based initiatives in the design and delivery of human services has long been recognised, but the need for hybrid service delivery to clients—that is any combination of online and in-person modalities—has become more apparent in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. At face value, there may be a perceived contradiction between the reliance on geographical place in place-based initiatives and online service delivery. Yet, it is inevitable that human services will increasingly be delivered in a hybrid form—even in the context of place-based initiatives. This exploratory study included a modified Delphi method and deliberative panels with policymakers, service providers, and academics with experience and/or knowledge of hybrid place-based initiatives. A central finding was the lack of respondents’ shared understanding and ability to link the three central intersecting ideas being examined in this research: ‘hybrid’ and ‘place-based’ and ‘human services’. The principles underpinning place-based initiatives need to be retained when incorporating online service delivery within place-based initiatives. This reflects the need to develop a shared lexicon on hybrid place-based initiatives and more creative understandings and interpretations of the relationship between people and place.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Points for practitioners</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <div>\u0000 <ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Increasingly, human services are being designed, implemented, and delivered through place-based initiatives, yet the success of place-based initiatives often relies on more than just face-to-face service delivery.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>The COVID-19 pandemic shifted many human services online, but how this has impacted on place-based initiatives and their defining features of co-location, collaboration, and co-design has not been explored to date.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Following the pandemic, both service providers and clients see the benefit in retaining and integrating face-to-face and online services, without understanding how best to achieve this with place-based initiatives.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>This study draws on practices developed during the pandemic to understand how to best provide hybrid services (integrating in-person and online services) and shows the relevance of hybrid services to place-based initiatives and considerations moving forward.</li>\u0000 </ul>\u0000 </div>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"83 4","pages":"584-602"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8500.12621","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138824059","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}