Showing papers on "Government published in 2021"

A global panel database of pandemic policies (Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker).

Abstract: COVID-19 has prompted unprecedented government action around the world. We introduce the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT), a dataset that addresses the need for continuously updated, readily usable and comparable information on policy measures. From 1 January 2020, the data capture government policies related to closure and containment, health and economic policy for more than 180 countries, plus several countries' subnational jurisdictions. Policy responses are recorded on ordinal or continuous scales for 19 policy areas, capturing variation in degree of response. We present two motivating applications of the data, highlighting patterns in the timing of policy adoption and subsequent policy easing and reimposition, and illustrating how the data can be combined with behavioural and epidemiological indicators. This database enables researchers and policymakers to explore the empirical effects of policy responses on the spread of COVID-19 cases and deaths, as well as on economic and social welfare.

And the Band Played On : Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic

Abstract: Why was AIDS allowed to spread unchecked during the early 1980s while our most trusted institutions ignored or denied the threat? In this expose of one of the most important issues of our time, the author answers this question - revealing how the federal government put its budgetary concerns ahead of the nation's welfare, how health authorities placed political expediency before public health, and how some scientists valued national prestige more than saving lives.

The effect of COVID-19 lockdowns on political support: Some good news for democracy?

Abstract: Major crises can act as critical junctures or reinforce the political status quo, depending on how citizens view the performance of central institutions. We use an interrupted time series to study the political effect of the enforcement of a strict confinement policy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we take advantage of a unique representative web-based survey that was fielded in March and April 2020 in Western Europe to compare the political support of those who took the survey right before and right after the start of the lockdown in their country. We find that lockdowns have increased vote intentions for the party of the Prime Minister/President, trust in government and satisfaction with democracy. Furthermore, we find that, while rallying individuals around current leaders and institutions, they have had no effect on traditional left–right attitudes.

Health systems resilience in managing the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons from 28 countries.

Abstract: Health systems resilience is key to learning lessons from country responses to crises such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this perspective, we review COVID-19 responses in 28 countries using a new health systems resilience framework. Through a combination of literature review, national government submissions and interviews with experts, we conducted a comparative analysis of national responses. We report on domains addressing governance and financing, health workforce, medical products and technologies, public health functions, health service delivery and community engagement to prevent and mitigate the spread of COVID-19. We then synthesize four salient elements that underlie highly effective national responses and offer recommendations toward strengthening health systems resilience globally.

Political Beliefs affect Compliance with Government Mandates

Abstract: We use the state-mandated stay-at-home orders during the coronavirus pandemic as a setting to study whether political beliefs inhibit compliance with government orders. Using geolocation data sourced from smartphones, we find residents in Republican counties are less likely to completely stay at home after a state order has been implemented relative to those in Democratic counties. Debit card transaction data shows that Democrats are more likely to switch to remote spending after state orders are implemented. Heterogeneity in factors such as Covid-19 risk exposure, geography, and county characteristics do not completely rule out our findings, suggesting political beliefs are an important determinant in the effectiveness of government mandates. Political alignment with officials giving orders may partially explain these partisan differences.

Israel's rapid rollout of vaccinations for COVID-19.

Abstract: As of the end of 2020, the State of Israel, with a population of 9.3 million, had administered more COVID-19 vaccine doses than all countries aside from China, the US, and the UK. Moreover, Israel had administered almost 11.0 doses per 100 population, while the next highest rates were 3.5 (in Bahrain) and 1.4 (in the United Kingdom). All other countries had administered less than 1 dose per 100 population.While Israel's rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations was not problem-free, its initial phase had clearly been rapid and effective. A large number of factors contributed to this early success, and they can be divided into three major groups.The first group of factors consists of long-standing characteristics of Israel which are extrinsic to health care. They include: Israel's small size (in terms of both area and population), a relatively young population, relatively warm weather in December 2020, a centralized national system of government, and well-developed infrastructure for implementing prompt responses to large-scale national emergencies.The second group of factors are also long-standing, but they are health-system specific. They include: the organizational, IT and logistical capacities of Israel's community-based health care providers, the availability of a cadre of well-trained, salaried, community-based nurses who are directly employed by those providers, a tradition of effective cooperation between government, health plans, hospitals, and emergency care providers - particularly during national emergencies; and support tools and decisionmaking frameworks to support vaccination campaigns.The third group consists of factors that are more recent and are specific to the COVID-19 vaccination effort. They include: the mobilization of special government funding for vaccine purchase and distribution, timely contracting for a large amount of vaccines relative to Israel's population, the use of simple, clear and easily implementable criteria for determining who had priority for receiving vaccines in the early phases of the distribution process, a creative technical response that addressed the demanding cold storage requirements of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, and well-tailored outreach efforts to encourage Israelis to sign up for vaccinations and then show up to get vaccinated.While many of these facilitating factors are not unique to Israel, part of what made the Israeli rollout successful was its combination of facilitating factors (as opposed to each factor being unique separately) and the synergies it created among them. Moreover, some high-income countries (including the US, the UK, and Canada) are lacking several of these facilitating factors, apparently contributing to the slower pace of the rollout in those countries.

"I'm not against online teaching, but what about us?": ICT in Ghana post Covid-19.

Abstract: Globally, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is regarded as a dependable vehicle for facilitating educational reform and development, a platform for communication, and as a means to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal Four (SDG 4). Since the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and declaration of the SDG 4, many countries have opted to embrace the lifelong education for all by integrating ICT in teaching and learning at all school levels. The Ghanaian Government's initiative to ensure "education anytime anywhere for everyone" by revolutionizing teaching and learning through ICT has faced a lot of challenges and criticisms. The main mission of the Ghana ICT for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD) in 2003 was to transform Ghana into an information and technology-driven high-income economy through education, but this goal is yet to be realized. In the wake of the COVID-19 which has forced many countries and educational sectors to adopt online learning, there is a need to discuss the effectiveness of online learning and barriers to online learning in the developing contexts, and how to successfully integrate ICT in schools for online learning, especially rural schools where students' educational careers are in jeopardy because they benefit less from online learning. The paper identifies critical factors that affect online learning, recommends post COVID-19 strategies to promote e-learning for policymakers in education and the government, and concludes with a conceptual model for emergency transition to e-learning.

Trust in government regarding COVID-19 and its associations with preventive health behaviour and prosocial behaviour during the pandemic: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The effective implementation of government policies and measures for controlling the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic requires compliance from the public. This study aimed to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of trust in government regarding COVID-19 control with the adoption of recommended health behaviours and prosocial behaviours, and potential determinants of trust in government during the pandemic. METHODS: This study analysed data from the PsyCorona Survey, an international project on COVID-19 that included 23 733 participants from 23 countries (representative in age and gender distributions by country) at baseline survey and 7785 participants who also completed follow-up surveys. Specification curve analysis was used to examine concurrent associations between trust in government and self-reported behaviours. We further used structural equation model to explore potential determinants of trust in government. Multilevel linear regressions were used to examine associations between baseline trust and longitudinal behavioural changes. RESULTS: Higher trust in government regarding COVID-19 control was significantly associated with higher adoption of health behaviours (handwashing, avoiding crowded space, self-quarantine) and prosocial behaviours in specification curve analyses (median standardised s = 0.173 and 0.229, p < 0.001). Government perceived as well organised, disseminating clear messages and knowledge on COVID-19, and perceived fairness were positively associated with trust in government (standardised s = 0.358, 0.230, 0.056, and 0.249, p < 0.01). Higher trust at baseline survey was significantly associated with lower rate of decline in health behaviours over time (p for interaction = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: These results highlighted the importance of trust in government in the control of COVID-19.

Toward effective government communication strategies in the era of COVID-19

Abstract: Several countries have successfully reduced their COVID-19 infection rate early, while others have been overwhelmed. The reasons for the differences are complex, but response efficacy has in part depended on the speed and scale of governmental intervention and how communities have received, perceived, and acted on the information provided by governments and other agencies. While there is no ‘one size fits all’ communications strategy to deliver information during a prolonged crisis, in this article, we draw on key findings from scholarship in multiple social science disciplines to highlight some fundamental characteristics of effective governmental crisis communication. We then present ten recommendations for effective communication strategies to engender maximum support and participation. We argue that an effective communication strategy is a two-way process that involves clear messages, delivered via appropriate platforms, tailored for diverse audiences, and shared by trusted people. Ultimately, the long-term success depends on developing and maintaining public trust. We outline how government policymakers can engender widespread public support and participation through increased and ongoing community engagement. We argue that a diversity of community groups must be included in engagement activities. We also highlight the implications of emerging digital technologies in communication and engagement activities.

Circular economy and the policy: A framework for improving the corporate environmental management in supply chains

Abstract: The transition to the circular economy (CE) creates value through the closed‐loop systems, reverse logistics, product life cycle management, and clean production in terms of corporate environmental management. During this transition process, the organization faces many barriers such as financial, organizational, technology‐based, social, policy‐related, market‐based, and logistics‐based barriers. The objectives of this study are to propose a framework highlighting policy‐related barriers for a supply chain in the transition to CE and finally discuss potential implications on enhancing corporate environmental performance of a business. Further, this study evaluates the causal relationships between the policy‐related barriers using fuzzy Decision‐Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method. The application was conducted in an apparel firm in Turkey. From findings, lack of legislation for efficient CE (C4), lack of mandatory requirements and responsibilities for manufacturers/suppliers for the CE (C17), and lack of government support for environmentally friendly policies (C2) are revealed as the most important barriers, respectively. It is found that lack of attitude and awareness about CE in government institutions (C19) is the most influencing factor, whereas lack of effective recycling policies to achieve quality in waste management (C8) is the most influenced factor. The recommendations were developed for enhancing the corporate environmental performance of businesses through incentives and unique rewards, improving communication among stakeholders, the government's perception of CE and current linear economy, cooperation with nongovernmental organization (NGOs) and civil actions, the vision of government towards circular principles, the circular public procurement, the local governments in circular policymaking, and awareness of bureaucracy and government officials.

Federal Government in Nigeria

Abstract: This submission was prepared as an input to the report of the UN Secretary-General on "Progress made in the implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society at the regional and international levels" (to the 15 session of the CSTD), in response to the request by the Economic and Social Council, in its resolution 2006/46, to the UN Secretary-General to inform the Commission on Science and Technology for Development on the implementation of the outcomes of the WSIS as part of his annual reporting to the Commission.

Rally round the flag’: the COVID-19 crisis and trust in the national government

Abstract: During international crises, trust in government is expected to increase irrespective of the wisdom of the policies it pursues. This has been called a ‘rally-round-the-flag’ effect. This article ex...

Government capacity, societal trust or party preferences: what accounts for the variety of national policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe?

Abstract: European states responded to the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 with a variety of public policy measures. In this article we ask what can account for this variation in policy respons...

Learning experiences of women entrepreneurs amidst COVID-19

Abstract: Purpose COVID-19 pandemic triggered unexpected crises, which were beyond the imaginations of a common man. It changed the order of routine life and the business world. In this challenging condition, the survival of the small business was at high risk. Following experiential learning theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore women's entrepreneurial learning obtained during the COVID-19 pandemic, the challenges experienced by them and strategies undertaken to transform businesses. Design/methodology/approach To explore Pakistani women entrepreneurs' lived experiences and learning during the COVID-19, researchers used a qualitative interview design. The interviewees reported their experiences about the effects of COVID-19 on their business and entrepreneurial learning from such a crisis. Findings The findings of the study indicate new fractions of knowledge from the novel learning of the female entrepreneurs throughout the experience of the COVID-19. The transformation from manual business dealings and financial transactions to virtual dealing and the online transaction was the addition of novel learning. Furthermore, the analysis provides insights into the challenges experienced by women entrepreneurs, strategies undertaken and lessons learned from COVID-19. The life lessons learned showed the importance of technical skills and their business operations during the crisis. Research limitations/implications This study is very specific in its context and limitations of this study offers new avenue for research to extend study in different perspectives. First, interviews were conducted from women entrepreneurs running businesses in sub-urban cities of Pakistan, where study can be extended to include both male and female in a comparative study which can expose new dimensions. Second, this study is conducted in the sub-urban areas of the Sindh province of Pakistan, which can be extended to other areas of the country because Pakistan is multicultural and multilingual, which offer different gender specific factors for entrepreneurial activities in general terms but in case of the Covid-19 situation, there exists great variations and social stratifications. Third, this study can be extended to other developing or developed countries or comparative study can provide a new flavor of knowledge. Practical implications The study's finding offers few implications for the entrepreneurs, societies and government at large. Although the pandemic crisis has had devastating effects on health and lifestyle activities, there is always a ray of coming to innovative approaches to fulfill the entrepreneurial desires and serve the community. Thus, entrepreneurs are encouraged to contribute to the economy as a part of society through their sustainable products and services for the greater good. There is also a need for some social policies to find entrepreneurial ways to deal with the COVID-19 crisis that integrates value co-creation for society (Ratten, 2020b). Government and society should also intervene and play their role to encourage women entrepreneurs to feel a sense of empowerment, contribute to family income, alleviate poverty, create jobs and help in economic growth. Originality/value This study's unique contribution and origin are to explore the COVID-19-related entrepreneurial learning experiences of women entrepreneurs in a developing country (Pakistan). Moreover, this study theoretically contributes to the development of experiential learning theory by expanding its insights during COVID-19.

The impact of Human resource management practice on Organizational performance

Abstract: The present research studies the impact of human resource management on the performance of government institutions. In a rapidly changing economic environment, characterized by trends such as, globalization, rising demands of investors and customers, along with increasing products in the market competition, the Government institutions continuously try to progress their performance by minimizing expenses, renewing products and procedures, and improving quality in order to compete and continue in the environment. A quantitative research method utilized to analyze the current study. The Sample Size selected for this study is 240 respondents. The findings revealed that all hypotheses were rejected except fifth hypothesis which stated that ‘’Decentralization is positively associated with organizational performance’’. Thus, it was concluded that decentralization have a positive association with the organizational performance.

Evolutionary game analysis on the recycling strategy of household medical device enterprises under government dynamic rewards and punishments.

Abstract: Under the background of the aging population and the improvement of people's quality of life, the demand for household medical devices is expanding, which has huge market potential. However, the recycling of waste household medical devices has become a problem that must be faced by the market expansion. In order to reduce the environmental pollution caused by abandoned household medical devices, based on the dynamic punishment and dynamic subsidy measures adopted by the government, the evolutionary game model between the government and the household medical device enterprises is constructed. The strategic choice of the government and the domestic medical equipment enterprises is studied from the perspective of system dynamics. It is found that when the government adopts static measures, there is no stable equilibrium point in the game between the government and enterprises, while when the government adopts dynamic punishment or subsidies, there is a stable equilibrium point in the evolutionary game. In addition, the government can increase the penalty or reduce the subsidy to promote the probability of household medical device enterprises to choose recycling strategy and reduce environmental pollution.

Does High Public Trust Amplify Compliance with Stringent COVID-19 Government Health Guidelines? A Multi-country Analysis Using Data from 102,627 Individuals

Abstract: Purpose To examine how public trust mediates the people’s adherence to levels of stringent government health policies and to establish if these effects vary across the political regimes. Methods This study utilizes data from two large-scale surveys: the global behaviors and perceptions at the onset of COVID-19 pandemic and the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT). Linear regression models were used to estimate the effects of public trust and strictness of restriction measures on people’s compliance level. The model accounted for individual and daily variations in country-level stringency of preventative measures. Differences in the dynamics between public trust, the stringent level of government health guidelines and policy compliance were also examined among countries based on political regimes. Results We find strong evidence of the increase in compliance due to the imposition of stricter government restrictions. The examination of heterogeneous effects suggests that high public trust in government and the perception of its truthfulness double the impact of policy restrictions on public compliance. Among political regimes, higher levels of public trust significantly increase the predicted compliance as stringency level rises in authoritarian and democratic countries. Conclusion This study highlights the importance of public trust in government and its institutions during public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results are relevant and help understand why governments need to address the risks of non-compliance among low trusting individuals to achieve the success of the containment policies.

Political beliefs affect compliance with government mandates

Abstract: We use the state-mandated stay-at-home orders during the coronavirus pandemic as a setting to study whether political beliefs inhibit compliance with government orders. Using geolocation data sourced from smartphones, we find residents in Republican counties are less likely to completely stay at home after a state order has been implemented relative to those in Democratic counties. Debit card transaction data shows that Democrats are more likely to switch to remote spending after state orders are implemented. Heterogeneity in factors such as Covid-19 risk exposure, geography, and county characteristics do not completely rule out our findings, suggesting political beliefs are an important determinant in the effectiveness of government mandates. Political alignment with officials giving orders may partially explain these partisan differences.

Trust and transparency in times of crisis: Results from an online survey during the first wave (April 2020) of the COVID-19 epidemic in the UK.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The success of a government's COVID-19 control strategy relies on public trust and broad acceptance of response measures. We investigated public perceptions of the UK government's COVID-19 response, focusing on the relationship between trust and perceived transparency, during the first wave (April 2020) of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. METHODS: Anonymous survey data were collected (2020-04-06 to 2020-04-22) from 9,322 respondents, aged 20+ using an online questionnaire shared primarily through Facebook. We took an embedded-mixed-methods approach to data analysis. Missing data were imputed via multiple imputation. Binomial & multinomial logistic regression were used to detect associations between demographic characteristics and perceptions or opinions of the UK government's response to COVID-19. Structural topic modelling (STM), qualitative thematic coding of sub-sets of responses were then used to perform a thematic analysis of topics that were of interest to key demographic groups. RESULTS: Most respondents (95.1%) supported government enforcement of behaviour change. While 52.1% of respondents thought the government was making good decisions, differences were apparent across demographic groups, for example respondents from Scotland had lower odds of responding positively than respondents in London. Higher educational levels saw decreasing odds of having a positive opinion of the government response and decreasing household income associated with decreasing positive opinion. Of respondents who thought the government was not making good decisions 60% believed the economy was being prioritised over people and their health. Positive views on government decision-making were associated with positive views on government transparency about the COVID-19 response. Qualitative analysis about perceptions of government transparency highlighted five key themes: (1) the justification of opacity due to the condition of crisis, (2) generalised mistrust of politics, (3) concerns about the role of scientific evidence, (4) quality of government communication and (5) questions about political decision-making processes. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that trust is not homogenous across communities, and that generalised mistrust, concerns about the transparent use and communication of evidence and insights into decision-making processes can affect perceptions of the government's pandemic response. We recommend targeted community engagement, tailored to the experiences of different groups and a new focus on accountability and openness around how decisions are made in the response to the UK COVID-19 pandemic.

Trust in government increased during the Covid-19 pandemic in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract: Using an online panel, we surveyed a representative sample of 500 each in Australia and New Zealand during July 2020, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic We find trust in government has increased dramatically, with around 80% of respondents agreeing government was generally trustworthy Around three quarters agreed management of the pandemic had increased their trust in government Over 85% of respondents have confidence that public health scientists work in the public interest Testing four hypotheses, we find that income and education predict trust in government and confidence in public health scientists, as does voting for the political party in government Trust in government and confidence in public health scientists strongly predict Covid-19 phone application use, largely through convincing people the App is beneficial Trust in government then is both an outcome and antecedent of government effectiveness Building trust is important for governments implementing difficult policy responses during a crisis