Showing papers in "Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice in 2006"
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors survey the existing fragmentary data on the growth of university-owned patents and university-invented patents in Europe and find evidence that university patenting is growing, but this phenomenon remains heterogeneous across countries and disciplines.
Abstract: This paper surveys the existing fragmentary data on the growth of university-owned patents and university-invented patents in Europe. We find evidence that university patenting is growing, but this phenomenon remains heterogeneous across countries and disciplines. We found some evidence that university licensing is not profitable for most universities, although some do succeed in attracting substantial additional revenues. This might be due to the fact that patents and publications tend to go hand in hand. In a dynamic setting however, we fear that the increase in university patenting exacerbates differences across universities in terms of financial resources and research outcome.
551 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the developments of family policies in four post-communist countries (the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary) and found that a general tendency has emerged of implementing familist, gendered policies that encourage women to leave the labor market to raise children.
Abstract: This article examines the developments of family policies in four post-communist countries (the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary). A general tendency has emerged of implementing familist, gendered policies that encourage women to leave the labor market to raise children. The interplay of the ideological, economic and institutional legacy of the communist past with new economic, social and political conditions coupled with shifts in values have greatly influenced these policies.
163 citations
TL;DR: Assessment of the capacity of typologies of health systems to capture the institutional context of health care and to contribute to explaining health policies across countries suggests the concept of the health care state holds as a set of ideal types.
Abstract: Typologies have been central to the comparative turn in public policy and this paper contributes to the debate by assessing the capacity of typologies of health systems to capture the institutional context of health care and to contribute to explaining health policies across countries. Using a recent comparative study of health policy and focusing on the concept of the health care state the paper suggests three things. First, the concept of the health care state holds as a set of ideal types. Second, as such the concept of the health care state provides a useful springboard for analyzing health policy, but one which needs to be complemented by more specific institutional explanations. Third, the concept of the health care state is less applicable to increasingly important, non-medical areas of health policy. Instead, different aspects of institutional context come into play and they can be combined as part of a looser “organizing framework”.
106 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyse four of these studies and indicators: the World Bank Governance Indicators, the European Central Bank's public sector efficiency study, the Global Competitiveness Report and the World Competitiveness Yearbook.
Abstract: Ranking countries is a popular exercise. Recently, we have seen attempts to internationally compare the performance of countries' public administrations. The number of available indicators and studies is increasing, yet their use has remained limited in the public administration research community. In this article, we critically analyse four of these studies and indicators. Evidence from the World Bank Governance Indicators, the European Central Bank's public sector efficiency study, the Global Competitiveness Report and the World Competitiveness Yearbook is used to assess data quality and conceptual validity. Generally, it is hard to determine what these indicators actually measure, and often they only give a partial and biased view of the public administration's role and functioning. Furthermore, several datasets are plagued by quality problems.
96 citations
TL;DR: The authors compared working time policies in eight European countries, Japan, and the US, specifically policies that embody three goals: reducing the full-time working week to less than the traditional standard of 40 hours, guaranteeing workers an adequate number of paid days, annually, away from the workplace; and raising the quality and availability of voluntary part-time work.
Abstract: This article compares working time policies in eight European countries, Japan, and the US, specifically policies that embody three goals: (1) reducing the full-time working week to less than the traditional standard of 40 hours; (2) guaranteeing workers an adequate number of paid days, annually, away from the workplace; and (3) raising the quality and availability of voluntary part-time work. While working time policies can help to free up parental caregiving time, they also have some potentially problematic consequences – including an associated rise in nonstandard-hour scheduling and the possibility of negative effects on gender equality.
70 citations
TL;DR: The issue of how to reconcile employment and care work has become much more prominent on the policy agenda over the last decade, often as a means of tackling a wide variety of problems ranging from low fertility to meeting the costs of aging societies and addressing child poverty as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The issue of how to reconcile employment and care work has become much more prominent on the policy agenda over the last decade, often as a means of tackling a wide variety of problems ranging from low fertility to meeting the costs of aging societies and addressing child poverty. This article prioritizes gender equality and argues that the issue of care is key to developing policies in this field. Family and labour market changes have been dramatic and have presented modern welfare states with new social risks. Policy makers have tended to promote women's employment and to assume that care work will increasingly be commodified. This article reviews the nature of care work and the existing models for providing for it, and then suggests that if the terms and conditions for the shift to an adult worker model family are to be more gender equal, then a variety of policies encompassing time, money and services are necessary if both women and men are to be able to choose to engage in paid and unpaid work.
68 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors address the impact of post-September 11 counter-terrorist legislation on human rights and civil liberties in a number of common law jurisdictions and argue in favour of a "balancing approach" towards reconciling such legislation with domestic, regional and international human rights obligations.
Abstract: In this article the authors address the impact which post-September 11 counter-terrorist legislation has had on human rights and civil liberties in a number of common law jurisdictions. The authors conclude that the counter-terrorist legislative regimes in the countries discussed in the article do impinge significantly upon human rights, and argue in favour of a ‘balancing approach’ towards reconciling such legislation with domestic, regional and international human rights obligations. The authors conclude with some general guidance for legal and policy decision-makers on how to balance the (frequently opposed) interests of national security and human rights protection.
58 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compared EU-15 members' public policies to help women have children while pursuing a career: public childcare, maternity/paternity leave, childcare benefits Parental leave is assessed from a very critical stance.
Abstract: This paper compares EU-15 members' public policies to help women have children while pursuing a career: public childcare, maternity/paternity leave, childcare benefits Parental leave is assessed from a very critical stance Based on existing theoretical and empirical findings on the effects of child policies on female employment and on previously built indicators summarizing quantitative and qualitative early childhood data (2003), the paper (1) assesses countries' relative positions in each of the policy fields; (2) draws up a new country typology by showing which type of policy is most promoted and whether countries choose either one policy or sequentially/simultaneously implement a bundle of policies Results suggest three groups of countries
48 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the emergence, roles, functions, and accomplishments of policy implementation and delivery units, as well as their prospects, and provide a framework for analyzing and assessing the work of these units to date.
Abstract: The leaders of governments in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Queensland recently created “implementation” or “delivery” units at the centre, ostensibly to advise, monitor, and ensure better implementation of policy initiatives. This collection of papers seeks to explore the emergence, roles, functions, and accomplishments of policy implementation and delivery units, as well as their prospects. This overview paper provides a framework for analyzing and assessing the work of these units to date, beginning with a synopsis of the evolution of thinking on implementation, and turning to the new environment for governance, policy development, and implementation. It casts policy implementation and delivery units as one of several “adhocracies” that populate the centre of government, which may take on quite different roles. The paper provides an overview of the case studies and key findings.
45 citations
TL;DR: The Prime Minister's Delivery Unit (PMDU) as discussed by the authors was created by the Labour government in 2001 to provide a degree of formal, direct control over policy implementation in the British political system.
Abstract: The election of Tony Blair's Labour government in 1997 led to a significant increase of institutionalisation in the Prime Minister's Office, but the creation of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit (PMDU) in 2001 has led to a degree of formal, direct control over policy implementation. This paper seeks to explain the development of this capability in the context of contradictory features of the British political system: the high level of prime ministerial personalism and the concentration of power at the centre by Westminster-style government, and new forms of governance have challenged Westminster's monopoly of power, including managerial and local autonomy. The paper examines conceptual issues crucial for understanding the emergence, role and success of the PMDU, and outlines the shift from personalism to institutionalism. The rest of the paper examines the development and functioning of the Delivery Unit, the instruments and tools it uses, and implications for the core executive.
35 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a general theory of immigration politics in federations is presented, and the authors illustrate this theory through discussion of two empirical cases: Canada and the United States, respectively.
Abstract: Why would immigration policy be centralized or decentralized in a federal system? What incentives do political actors at the central and sub-central levels of government possess vis-a-vis immigration policy? Taking account of the growing need to make sense of the unique features of immigration policy in a federal system (e.g. the mobility of labor, regional and national identities), and the unique challenges to federalism posed by immigration (e.g. public policy co-ordination, social cohesiveness), this paper advances a general theory of immigration politics in federations. It then illustrates this theory through discussion of two empirical cases: Canada and the United States.
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of central government in contributing to performance improvement where actual performance is delivered by dispersed subunits is examined, and the authors identify techniques the central government uses for performance management, and ask whether these techniques appear likely to have positive effects on performance.
Abstract: A noteworthy example of public sector performance management was launched by the UK's Labour government in 1997. Starting in 1998, departments established a central capacity to deal with “public service agreements” negotiated with Treasury and the performance of frontline units in its domain. In 2001 the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit (PMDU) was established to work on prime ministerial priorities involving 21 targets in four departments. This paper examines the role of central government in contributing to performance improvement where actual performance is delivered by dispersed subunits. It seeks to identify techniques the central government uses for performance management, and asks whether these techniques appear likely to have positive effects on performance. It develops a framework using concepts from organization theory and uses it to evaluate the activities and effectiveness of the PMDU in influencing frontline service delivery.
TL;DR: The authors examined labor codes and labor-related legislation for 178 countries available from the International Labor Organization and 160 individual country reports in Social Security Programs Throughout the World to determine the availability of paid sick leave globally and explore whether there is a correlation with four measures of macroeconomic status (unemployment, productivity, GDP, competitiveness).
Abstract: The ability of workers to take time off work when they are ill, and when their children or adult family members are ill, is critical to the health of workers and their families. In this study, we examine labor codes and labor-related legislation for 178 countries available from the International Labor Organization, and 160 individual country reports in Social Security Programs Throughout the World to determine the availability of paid sick leave globally and explore whether there is a correlation with four measures of macro-economic status (unemployment, productivity, GDP, competitiveness). We find that 145 nations from around the globe provide paid sick leave for working adults, 33 for care of children and 16 for care of adult family members' needs, and find no evidence of a negative relationship between paid leave for personal or family health needs and macro-economic status.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the uses and misuses of statistical analysis of cross-national data in addressing the question of what are the connections between social and political conditions and economic growth.
Abstract: What are the connections between social and political conditions and economic growth? This paper explores the uses and misuses of statistical analysis of cross-national data in addressing this question. It shows that social, political and economic indicators are linked by “webs of association”. Such webs of association suggest the possibility of distinct groupings of social indicators with differentiated impacts on economic growth. But such correlations also make it difficult to disentangle causal relationships, especially when theorizing is weak, data are badly behaved, and the number of observations is small. Although under such conditions statistical techniques can help preclude premature generalizations, they are easily overinterpreted. Nonetheless, data analysis can help identify countries that seem exceptions to the general patterns, where careful case studies may be especially valuable.
TL;DR: In late 2003, the Australian government under Prime Minister Howard introduced a Cabinet Implementation Unit, but rejected the approach taken with the UK's Prime Minister's Delivery Unit as mentioned in this paper, which traces the initial aspirations and decision pathways of key public executives at the centre of government.
Abstract: In late 2003 the Australian government under Prime Minister Howard introduced a Cabinet Implementation Unit, but rejected the approach taken with the UK's Prime Minister's Delivery Unit. This paper traces the initial aspirations and decision pathways of key public executives at the centre of government. The first two parts sketch the background and genesis of the CIU. The third examines in detail the internal decision making and politics that shaped its specific form, the fourth its charter and intended responsibilities, and the fifth section reviews its roles in ex ante scrutiny of intended cabinet decision and ex post reviews of decisions and policies. The final section evaluates the impact of the CIU and this greater interest in implementation, and considers why the Australian government has moved in this direction.
TL;DR: In this paper, the comparative analysis of gender and welfare states is shifted from a focus on differences to a search for common features, and the authors argue that the rise in women's labor force participation and resulting tensions between time allocated to work and to caregiving have led to policies to reconcile productive and reproductive roles and a quest for gender equality in work and family life.
Abstract: This paper shifts the comparative analysis of gender and welfare states from a focus on differences to a search for common features. The rise in women's labor force participation and resulting tensions between time allocated to work and to caregiving have led to a search for policies to reconcile productive and reproductive roles and a quest for gender equality in work and family life. Two questions result: first, why are structural changes in postindustrial society associated with efforts to increase the compatibility of domestic and market roles? And second, how and why are work and family restructuring and related social policies linked to a more egalitarian gender contract? Parsons' AGIL paradigm of evolutionary change suggests four functional exigencies that pull the various components of work-and-family policy in the direction of gender equality: (1) working-time policies promote adaptation to new demands; (2) equal employment opportunity and provision of child and elderly care promote role...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that citizenship education has been both enabled and constrained by a distinctive policy paradigm developed out of traditional Chinese moral education, a British ambivalence toward political education, and a reaction against Mainland Chinese Communist political education.
Abstract: This article offers a new explanation for considerable continuity in citizenship education policy in Hong Kong despite the change from British to Chinese sovereignty. Focusing on the form by which citizenship education is carried out and the instruments by which it has been promoted, the article argues that citizenship education has been both enabled and constrained by a distinctive policy paradigm developed out of traditional Chinese moral education, a British ambivalence toward political education, and a reaction against Mainland Chinese Communist political education. A comparison of citizenship education policy in China, Britain, and Hong Kong reveals that a key aspect of this paradigm is a fear of indoctrination, which has been made explicit in public sentiment, policy debates, and policy programs.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an explicitly normative metachoice framework to assist policy analysts and decision-makers in choosing a policy choice method based on goal orientation and breadth, and willingness to monetize efficiency impacts.
Abstract: Many national governments now mandate some form of ex ante evaluation of policy alternatives. But, evidence suggests that both policy analysts and their political and bureaucratic clients have difficulty doing this form of policy analysis evaluation. To conduct effective ex ante evaluation of alternatives, analysts and decision-makers must first choose the choice method class – metachoice. This paper presents an explicitly normative metachoice framework to assist them decide on a policy choice method. We propose that the metachoice decision depends on two factors: (1) goal orientation and breadth, and (2) willingness to monetize efficiency impacts. This results in four choice method classes: (comprehensive) Cost–Benefit Analysis, Efficiency Analysis, Embedded Cost–Benefit Analysis and Multi-Goal Analysis. These four method classes embrace a more extensive set of specific methods. Efficiency Analysis, which is the least well understood method class, is described in detail.
TL;DR: The Queensland Implementation Unit (IU) as discussed by the authors was established as part of a further restructuring of the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) following the re-election of Peter Beattie's Labor government for a third term.
Abstract: Queensland's Implementation Unit (IU) was established in March 2004, part of a further restructuring of the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) following the re-election of Peter Beattie's Labor government for a third term. The premier had identified implementation as a weakness during his second term and was frustrated by the performance of key ministers and agencies. This article describes the creation of IU; profiles its role, structure, functions and location in the Queensland core executive; and reports on significant developments since the unit's creation. The first section provides an overview of Queensland's political and administrative context. The second describes the IU's genesis and early achievements. The third section traces the evolving role of the Implementation Unit as it shifted from monitoring and reporting towards a more strategic focus. The final section explores how political crises have shaped its roles.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare approaches to reconcile work-life balance goals in the designs of earned and child tax credits in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Abstract: Efforts to reconcile work-life balance goals are at the heart of the design of tax-benefit programs. Yet this relationship between work-life balance and tax-benefit programs is relatively unexplored. To help address this lacuna this paper compares approaches to reconciling work-life balance goals in the designs of earned and child tax credits in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These designs indicate different approaches to reconciling work-life balance. In their design of earned and child tax credits the United States places emphasis upon targeting tax relief by paid employment (to breadwinners), Australia and Canada by family structures (to caregivers), and New Zealand and the United Kingdom by both paid employment and family structures, although in New Zealand assistance is provided on a more residual basis. Of these designs the dual objective approach, particularly of the United Kingdom, appears to offer greater opportunity for both directly addressin...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the success of Israeli farmers in retaining their political clout at a time when their sector was shrinking and showed that since the 1970s farmers' effective rent seeking explains their success in an ongoing political struggle against the Ministry of Finance to buy water at subsidized rates.
Abstract: The paper examines the success of Israeli farmers in retaining their political clout at a time when their sector was shrinking. Comparing differing explanations, it is shown that since the 1970s farmers' effective rent seeking explains their success in an ongoing political struggle – mainly against the Ministry of Finance – to buy water at subsidized rates. The characteristics of Israeli farmers' successful rent seeking are portrayed, and the logic behind success is analyzed. Finally its consequences – directly influencing income distribution, and indirectly contributing to aquifer depletion and desalination postponement – are examined.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compare and analyze recent case studies of initiatives of first ministers in the United Kingdom, Australia and Queensland to establish implementation and delivery units, and reflect on their implications for institutional design and theory.
Abstract: This paper compares and analyzes recent case studies of initiatives of first ministers in the United Kingdom, Australia and Queensland to establish implementation and delivery units, and reflects on their implications for institutional design and theory. The first section reviews the similarities and differences in the case studies. The second section considers whether these units in practice emphasized the strategic directions consistent with certain of the hypotheses outlined in this collection's introductory essay, and outlines explanations for similarities and differences. The third section considers the possibility of functional equivalents to implementation units, and the potential for competition and rivalry. Implementation units have survived a reasonably long time, so the fourth section identifies lessons for structuring and locating them, as well as building credibility. The paper concludes by identifying implications for the literature and future research.
TL;DR: In this paper, a comparative analysis of issue definition revealed heterogeneous experiences of modern public challenges demonstrating both dissonance and difference in national conceptions of risk, science and public health in even the most modern of public health challenges.
Abstract: Differential issue definition might be expected to be most prevalent in domestic policy such as health care, education and social welfare policy. However, in the context of globalization, there is rising concern that issue definition will become homogenized. A comparative analysis of whether nation-specific issue definition takes place is key to understanding the nature of policy transfer, convergence and divergence. In this article, issue definition of three issues drawn from the continuum of public health challenges is examined: West Nile Virus; the potential for mad cow disease to infect donated blood and blood products; and stem cell research. Our comparative analysis of issue definition revealed heterogeneous experiences of modern public challenges demonstrating both dissonance and difference in national conceptions of risk, science and public health in even the most modern of public health challenges.
TL;DR: In this paper, a theoretical model that provides the student of foreign policy with the necessary tools to determine the status of any given state in the international system and examine the nature and scope of its foreign policy is presented.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to identify the parameters within which foreign policy is formed and to explore the external behaviour of states. Considering that comparative foreign policy dictates a thorough analysis of a state's external affairs, the examination of dyadic case studies often becomes a rather intricate task. To this end, the present study produces a theoretical model that provides the student of foreign policy with the necessary tools to determine the status of any given state in the international system and examine the nature and scope of its foreign policy with effect. The efficacy of this model is illustrated through a brief account of the Greek-Turkish rivalry.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present, from a transaction cost approach, the economic reasons why pharmaceutical transactions need to be under public control in order to harmonize regulation for new drugs.
Abstract: Countries with distinct institutional endowments are trying to reach drug harmonization. The explanation given for the beginning of this process is that the rising health concerns governments have about patients transcend their different visions of social welfare and increasing bureaucratic costs, for both pharmaceutical companies and governments. The underlying reasons are, on the one hand, the high transaction costs between the pharmaceutical companies and the patients of medication and, on the other hand, the differing pharmaceutical regulations increase bureaucratic costs. This situation pushed Europe, Japan and the US into initiating a process of harmonization of regulation for new drugs. Even though harmonization is an on-going process, global and simultaneous medication product approval is not easy (the final objective of harmonization). In this paper we present, from a transaction cost approach, the economic reasons why pharmaceutical transactions need to be under public control. At the s...