The accountable governance of provincial governments of a Pacific island country

ABSTRACT

Using the theory of indigenous alternatives and a benchmark of indigenous financial reporting expectations, this paper examines the challenges to accountable governance of the nine provincial governments of the Solomon Islands for the years 1998 to 2017. Every provincial government consistently received disclaimed or qualified opinions from the state auditor. The author explains why the regional development of all provinces of the Solomon Islands could be improved if rudimentary forms of financial reporting were to be addressed.     

JOB MOBILITY IN BRITAIN: ARE THE SCOTS DIFFERENT? EVIDENCE FROM THE BHPS†

The Scottish extension‐sample of the British Household Panel Study (BHPS) is used to shed light on differences in job mobility patterns in England and Scotland for both men and women. Based on probit estimates of the overall mobility rate, a new decomposition technique is applied to distinguish between explained and unexplained differences. Furthermore, exploiting data on the number of job changes, a zero inflated Poisson model is estimated to provide information on possible differences in the expected number of job changes. Overall, there is evidence that suggests significant differences in mobility patterns south and north of the Borders; however, this is confined to men. Yet, whether this suffices to justify a heterogeneous regional labour market remains to be seen.     

Afforestation and forestry land allocation in northern Vietnam: Analysing the gap between policy intentions and outcomes

Many tropical countries have recently implemented similar forest policies including large-scale afforestation programmes and the devolution of land-use rights. Their success in enhancing livelihoods and contributing to improved environmental services has been widely questioned. This paper discusses the impacts of state afforestation efforts and forestry land allocation on farmers’ land-use decisions in northern Vietnam. It links policy outcomes with factors located beyond the local level by analysing the decision-making process at the policy implementation stage. Our study suggests that the current national afforestation campaign has not successfully involved households in the forestry sector and that forestry land allocation to households has often disrupted existing land-use systems with little impact on afforestation. These discrepancies between policy intentions and outcomes are partly linked to the relative freedom provinces have to interpret and adapt policies during the implementation stage. In this respect, the political and economic context has played a significant role in providing particular financial and bureaucratic incentives to the former State Forest Enterprises and to civil servants. However, we argue that these actors have been allowed or even encouraged to take advantage of these incentives by national policy-makers thanks to: (1) the lack of clarity or the poor adequacy of the policies designed at the central level, and (2) the blurred character of prevailing national discourses promoting afforestation and community-based forest management. We recommend that national policy-makers allow flexibility in policy implementation but develop mechanisms of accountability and control between the provincial and the central authorities.     

Explaining the performance of state–community joint forest management in India

This paper seeks to identify and analyze the factors that explain differential outcomes of joint forest management (JFM) in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Factors affecting the performances of JFM communities are analyzed using an ordered logit model. The results indicate that JFM communities are more likely to perform well when they are smaller in size and when forest resources in the JFM community are scarce. Presence of social capital and high value forests are also likely to promote good forest growth. Effective protection of forests is likely to contribute to the growth of forests. JFM communities that were initiated by NGOs are more likely to manage forests effectively than the one initiated by the Forest Department.     

Exclusive versus inclusive devolution in forest management: Insights from forest land allocation in Vietnam's Central Highlands

The devolution of forest management is high on the agenda in international forest policy. Devolution is generally conceived as a policy that aims to include a more diverse set of actors in forest management. One of the most problematic outcomes of devolution policies, therefore, is their tendency to exclude the claims of some local actors. This paper examines the exclusionary effects of devolutions in settings characterized by overlapping state and customary regulations and links these effects to exclusive notions of property and governance contained in particular devolution policies. The paper draws on insights gained in a pilot initiative of forest devolution in Vietnam's Central Highlands. Forest land allocation, as the initiative is called in Vietnam, took an exclusive approach to devolution by assigning ownership-type rights on forest to local actors, obliging those to protect the forest against encroachment by other actors, and centering governance in the state. In this particular case, exclusive devolution failed to diminish the gap between state and customary regulations, created conflicts among local actors, and contributed to forest loss. The unintended outcomes of exclusive devolution suggest the need for an inclusive approach to devolution that accommodates diverse kinds of overlapping claims made by multiple actors. The key elements of inclusive devolution are proprietary but not ownership rights granted to individual users and nested governance relations involving state and customary actors.     

我国城乡居民收入区域差异分析与对策

自1978年我国实行改革开放以来,城乡居民收入水平大幅度提高,但收入差距呈不断扩大的态势。以我国东中西部三大区域为分析对象,运用1997—2012年数据进行验证,结果表明:经营性收入差距、转移性收入差距、工资性收入差距等对城乡居民收入差距的影响程度相异,其形成原因有自然属性、政策偏向和制度等。因此,缩小我国城乡居民收入差距应从推进城乡一体化、积极改变政府财政职能、构建城乡居民公平的发展机制、推进农业产业化等方面进一步着手和完善。     

Port devolution revisited: the case of regional ports and the role of lower tier governments

Most models of port governance have been developed to fit the largest ports, and tend to simplify the devolution process as one involving the transfer of jurisdiction from the State to the private sector. The devolution of smaller ports has been largely ignored as have transfers involving transfers from upper levels of government to lower tiers of public administration. Yet in many countries this has been the experience of port governance, where complex structures have arisen, many of which involve public control, in contrast to the strongly privatised process covered in the literature. The objective of this paper is to examine the process and consequences of changing port governance involving small and medium size ports where lower tiers of government are involved. It examines the recent devolution process in Canada and the decentralization policy in France. It brings to light the diversity of actors, public and private, who have come into play. The paper goes on to examine the challenges that have come about as a result of devolution that face the new port administrations. The paper concludes that existing models of port governance are incomplete and that the role of public administration in port governance is greater, albeit in a different form, than claimed in the existing literature.     

Devolution or (de)centralization of HRM function in European organizations

This article deals with the condition and changes of the HRM function in various European states. These changes have shown a shift of HRM tasks from HRM departments to managers themselves, and are according to the literature, this shift is known as devolution or decentralization. Our attention is focused on important factors in this process (from organizational ones, such as HRM strategies and policies, to more environmental ones, such as the sector or the state). Analysis shows that the country (as an institutional environment) sets the limits or encourages development towards devolution. HRM policy within the individual institutional context is of only secondary importance. Results show that country is a factor that fosters divergent tendencies and HRM policy accelerates convergence in HRM practice.     

Welfare reform and devolution: issues of parity,discretion and divergence for the UK government and the devolved administrations

The impact of devolution in the UK on social security is examined in the context of the major powers in the area continuing to be exercised by the Westminster government. Developments and principles involved are described in three perspectives and phases. First, the established model of parity with minor adjustments. Second, parity with enhanced discretion associated with the introduction of welfare reforms. Third, the prospect of the future transformation of the parity principle with increased focus on greater fiscal responsibility and greater devolution and divergence in social security, and with the additional context of the referendum on independence for Scotland. Also discussed are the implications of either a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote in the Scottish referendum.