Intergovernmental organizations, institutional schisms, and business environments

AbstractSince 2012, the European Commission has embarked on the ambitious project to harmonize public sector accounting rules on all levels of government within Europe, mainly to improve the quality as well as the comparability of financial data. Although International Public Sector Accounting Standards were deemed not to be suitable for a simple take-over because of various reasons, they nevertheless shall function as a primary reference point for developing European Public Sector Accounting Standards. A total of 21 out of 28 central governments have already reformed their accounting standards to accrual accounting, and some of them have also relied on IPSAS in this exercise. Apart from governments, various international and supranational governmental organizations have also since the end of the 2000’s been reforming their accounting system to accrual accounting, and have in the same way relied on existing IPSAS. This paper explores accounting practices found in ten intergovernmental organizations (Commonwealth Secretariat, Council of Europe, European Commission, IAEA, INTERPOL, ITER, NAPMA, OECD, International Criminal Court, WFP) whose statements are prepared in compliance with IPSAS. It analyzes how overt and covert options contained in IPSAS with relevance to the activities of intergovernmental organizations are exercised and evaluates in which areas of accounting material differences in accounting practices can be found, which may hinder the comparability of financial statements prepared on the basis of IPSAS.

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Conclusion

10.1093/oso/9780190699512.003.0007 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Jaroslav Tir ◽

Johannes Karreth

Keyword(s):

Civil War ◽

Conflict Management ◽

Political Violence ◽

Economic Incentives ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Intergovernmental Organizations ◽

State Fragility ◽

International Environment

After summarizing the theoretical arguments and findings of this book, we discuss key lessons learned from our study. The international environment has a significant influence on civil war development and prevention. Amplifying their conflict-preventing influence on member-states, highly structured intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) often coordinate their activities, especially in the area of political violence and state fragility. We then identify a number of tangible, economic incentives as the main pathways of this influence. Overall, this book suggests that the economic benefits of peace provide a potent temptation—for both governments and rebels—to settle low-level armed conflict before it can escalate to full-scale civil war. With these lessons learned, we also identify suggestions for both the research into and practice of conflict management. The chapter closes by pointing to opportunities for making use of our findings to further capitalize on the role of highly structured IGOs in civil war prevention.

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Case Evidence: Conflict Trajectories in Indonesia, Ivory Coast, and Syria

10.1093/oso/9780190699512.003.0006 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Jaroslav Tir ◽

Johannes Karreth

Keyword(s):

Civil War ◽

Ivory Coast ◽

Armed Conflicts ◽

East Timor ◽

Intergovernmental Organizations ◽

Crisis Resolution ◽

Low Level ◽

Qualitative Evidence ◽

The Government

Two low-level armed conflicts, Indonesia’s East Timor and Ivory Coast’s post-2010 election crises, provide detailed qualitative evidence of highly structured intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) engaging in effective civil warpreventing activities in member-states. Highly structured IGOs threatened and sanctioned each of these states and offered (long-term) benefits conditional on successful crisis resolution. The governments were aware of and responded to these IGOs’ concerns, as did the rebels in these respective cases. The early stages of the conflict in Syria in 2011 provide a counterpoint. With Syria’s limited engagement in only few highly structured IGOs, the Syrian government ignored international calls for peace. And, without highly structured IGOs’ counterweight to curtail the government, the rebels saw little reason to stop their armed resistance. The result was a brutal and deadly civil war that continues today.

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Big data for climate action or climate action for big data?

Big Data & Society ◽

10.1177/2053951720982032 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 205395172098203

Author(s):

Maria I Espinoza ◽

Melissa Aronczyk

Keyword(s):

Big Data ◽

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Global Climate ◽

Intergovernmental Organizations ◽

Address Climate Change ◽

Data Practices ◽

Climate Action ◽

User Data ◽

Climate Crisis ◽

Depth Interviews

Under the banner of “data for good,” companies in the technology, finance, and retail sectors supply their proprietary datasets to development agencies, NGOs, and intergovernmental organizations to help solve an array of social problems. We focus on the activities and implications of the Data for Climate Action campaign, a set of public–private collaborations that wield user data to design innovative responses to the global climate crisis. Drawing on in-depth interviews, first-hand observations at “data for good” events, intergovernmental and international organizational reports, and media publicity, we evaluate the logic driving Data for Climate Action initiatives, examining the implications of applying commercial datasets and expertise to environmental problems. Despite the increasing adoption of Data for Climate Action paradigms in government and public sector efforts to address climate change, we argue Data for Climate Action is better seen as a strategy to legitimate extractive, profit-oriented data practices by companies than a means to achieve global goals for environmental sustainability.

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SERVICE CREATION FOR RE-NORMALISING ESSENTIAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT: A PREVENTION BASED DIGITAL TECH APPROACH

Proceedings of the Design Society ◽

10.1017/pds.2021.524 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 1 ◽

pp. 2631-2640

Author(s):

Santosh Maurya ◽

Tezuka Shin ◽

Kentaro Watanabe ◽

Hiroshi Nakagoe

Keyword(s):

Work Environment ◽

Digital Technology ◽

Business Environment ◽

Business Owners ◽

Proof Of Concept ◽

Business Environments ◽

Digital Services ◽

Service Creation ◽

Prevention Through Design ◽

After Effect

AbstractThis research investigates service creation in/after effect of coronavirus pandemic targeting the essential business environment. It follows prevention through design approach to facilitate business owners to maintain their business environments at low COVID contraction risks, for both customers and staff. The effectiveness of recommended prevention practices (like social distancing and hand-sanitising) is uncertain at public workplaces, simply due to inevitable workers and customers interactions. Such uncertainty, especially in cases of retail stores and hospitals, raises a need for the design of services and support systems for common/necessary public business activities to reduce the burden on people involved. This research investigates the risk-related metrics to realise such digital services, focussing on three types: congestion at the work environment, disinfection of store area/objects, and sanitisation of people and staffs involved. Based on this, a digital technology-based service COVSAFE was created and tested through a proof-of-concept implementation for a supermarket business environment. This implementation and its evaluations highlight the bottlenecks/challenges for realising this system in everyday scenarios.

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Hybrid institutional complexes in global governance

The Review of International Organizations ◽

10.1007/s11558-021-09431-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Kenneth W. Abbott ◽

Benjamin Faude

Keyword(s):

Global Governance ◽

Research Agenda ◽

Structural Difference ◽

Functional Differentiation ◽

World Politics ◽

Intergovernmental Organizations ◽

The Core ◽

Institutional Strategies

AbstractMost issue areas in world politics today are governed neither by individual institutions nor by regime complexes composed of formal interstate institutions. Rather, they are governed by “hybrid institutional complexes” (HICs) comprising heterogeneous interstate, infra-state, public–private and private transnational institutions, formal and informal. We develop the concept of the HIC as a novel descriptive and analytical lens for the study of contemporary global governance. The core structural difference between HICs and regime complexes is the greater diversity of institutional forms within HICs. Because of that diversity, HICs operate differently than regime complexes in two significant ways: (1) HICs exhibit relatively greater functional differentiation among their component institutions, and hence suffer from relatively fewer overlapping claims to authority; and (2) HICs exhibit greater informal hierarchy among their component institutions, and hence benefit from greater ordering. Both are systemic features. HICs have characteristic governance benefits: they offer good “substantive fit” for multi-faceted governance problems and good “political fit” for the preferences of diverse constituents; constrain conflictive cross-institutional strategies; and are conducive to mechanisms of coordination, which enhance substantive coherence. Yet HICs also pose characteristic governance risks: individual institutions may take on aspects of problems for which they are ill-suited; multiple institutions may create confusion; HICs can amplify conflict and contestation rather than constraining them; and the “soft” institutions within HICs can reduce the focality of incumbent treaties and intergovernmental organizations and forestall the establishment of new ones. We outline a continuing research agenda for exploring the structures, operations and governance implications of HICs.

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International Trade Organization (Interim Commission)

International Organization ◽

10.1017/s0020818300016295 ◽

1952 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 127-128

Keyword(s):

International Trade ◽

Intergovernmental Organizations ◽

Sixth Session ◽

International Trade Organization

The sixth session of the Contracting Parties to GATT met at Geneva, Switzerland, from September 17 to October 26, 1951 under the chairmanship of Johan Melander (Norway). Participating were delegates of the 34 countries which were contracting parties and observers from other governments and intergovernmental organizations.

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United States Recognizes the Opposition Government in Venezuela and Imposes Sanctions as Tensions Escalate

The American Journal of International Law ◽

10.1017/ajil.2019.41 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 113 (3) ◽

pp. 601-609

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Economic Sanctions ◽

The United States ◽

First Nation ◽

Intergovernmental Organizations ◽

Foreign Governments ◽

Trump Administration

The Trump administration formally recognized Juan Guaidó as the interim president of Venezuela on January 23, 2019, making the United States the first nation to officially accept the legitimacy of Guaidó’s government and reject incumbent President Nicolás Maduro's claim to the presidency. In a campaign designed to oust Maduro from power, the United States has encouraged foreign governments and intergovernmental organizations to recognize Guaidó and has imposed a series of targeted economic sanctions to weaken Maduro's regime. As of June 2019, however, Maduro remained in power within Venezuela.

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The Role and Importance of Brand in the Marketing of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Kosovo

International Journal of Marketing Studies ◽

10.5539/ijms.v8n6p52 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 8 (6) ◽

pp. 52

Author(s):

Fatos Ukaj

Keyword(s):

Influential Factors ◽

Economic Activities ◽

New Markets ◽

Competitive Position ◽

Good Image ◽

Business Environments ◽

Physical Product ◽

Increasing Trend ◽

The Creation ◽

Selection Of

<p>Nowadays, every branch of economic activities is a subject of the various influences in which they cannot have an impact. The capabilities of an enterprise to have a significant impact on business environments can be done through the creation of their own brand. Hence, this has become a tool for the identification of its products and enterprises. Enterprises have exploited brand as a means by which businesses have improved their own turnover, competitive position in the market, and winning the loyalty of their consumers. In Kosovo, there is an increasing trend of enterprises in creating a brand for their own products. Thus, this gives them a higher possibility for identification by the consumers, fosters the development of marketing policies, and provides them the opportunity to break through new markets. The scope of this paper is to determine the importance and rationale for the creation of certain brands. It was able to achieve this through a research of perception for the brands by consumers, as well as finding out grounds and influential factors during their selection of certain brands. The data acquired have proved that there are some advantages of enterprises that have a well-known brand. Also, the various factors which influence customer’s decision include physical product handling features, good experiences, packaging, warranty, etc. The data presented will help in the future for an increase in awareness on the importance of branding in the practice of enterprises. Therefore, this is with the aim of creating a good image for the products as well as enterprises.</p>

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