The Politics of Energy Security

2019 ◽  
pp. 247-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Jewell ◽  
Elina Brutschin
Keyword(s):  
Energy Security ◽  
Energy Systems ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Academic Communities ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Main Driver ◽  
Productive Research

Energy security has long been a main driver of energy policies, but its meaning has been contested by policy makers and scholars. The concept incorporates both material and intersubjective aspects, finding different expressions in different contexts and attracting the interest of diverse social actors and academic communities. This chapter identifies, compares, and contrasts five major approaches for analyzing energy security rooted in different scholarly traditions. It argues that in order to facilitate a dialogue among these approaches as well as policy comparison and learning, it is useful to conceptualize energy security as “low vulnerability of vital energy systems.” This definition opens avenues for productive research, unpacking the interplay between material and intersubjective aspects of “vulnerability” and “vitality” of energy systems. Future research should investigate the role of material factors alongside power, values, and trust in defining energy security; explain the gap between energy securitization and action; and explore the interaction between energy security and other energy policy goals.

scholarly journals An inclusive and participatory approach to counter-radicalization? Examining the role of Muslim associations in the Swedish policy process

Ethnicities ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 146879682093228
Author(s):  
Markus Holdo
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Communication Networks ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Participatory Approach ◽  
Policy Area ◽  
Negative Stereotypes ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Special Responsibilities

Policies on preventing radicalization and recruitment to violent Islamist organizations have been widely criticized for reinforcing negative stereotypes of Muslims as a group. Sweden has stood out by international comparison by announcing an approach built on inclusion and participation, especially with regard to Muslim civil society. But what does it mean to make a policy process inclusive and participatory? How can values of inclusion and participation be combined with efficient implementation and realization of policy goals, especially in a policy area where discourse and practice have tended to reinforce patterns of exclusion and discrimination? This article develops a framework that puts the roles of participants at the center: what expectations, boundaries and capacities come with an invitation to participate? Based on interviews with actors involved in the Swedish policy process, including Muslim civil society leaders, the study suggests that participation, in this case, meant primarily being present, thereby confirming commitment and stakeholder status and contributing legitimacy, and providing instrumental knowledge and communication networks. While Muslim representatives were often not expected to be more involved, some indicated that they themselves hesitated to go beyond these roles for several reasons. They expressed a concern that merely having opinions or critique could be interpreted as ‘radical’ and as not accepting the idea that Muslims as a group should have special responsibilities for preventing radicalism. One way of overcoming such obstacles is through subtle, indirect exercises of influence that allow policy-makers and administrators to anticipate the concerns and interests of affected groups without requiring their direct participation.

scholarly journals The role of organizational capabilities on e-business successful implementation

2021 ◽  
pp. 417-432
Author(s):  
Rima Kabrilyants ◽  
Bader Yousef Obeidat ◽  
Muhammad Alshurideh ◽  
Ra'ed Masa'deh
Keyword(s):  
Strong Support ◽  
Organizational Capabilities ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Learning Capabilities ◽  
It Assimilation ◽  
Knowledge Management Capabilities ◽  
Management Capabilities

This study sought to investigate the role of organizational capabilities on e-business successful implementation. The proposed conceptual framework was tested on a sample of 16 Jordanian companies with an online involvement, and a total of 263 valid returns were obtained in a questionnaire based survey. The results provide quite a strong support for the hypothesized relations: organizational capabilities, namely learning organizational capabilities and IT capabilities have significant impact on e-business implementation success. However, no statistical support was found for the significant impact of the knowledge management capabilities on e-business successful implementation. This study implies that the policy-makers should focus on formulating policies and targeting appropriate organizational capabilities to ensure effective e-business implementation, which will eventually yield positive results for the company as a whole. An organization needs a well-designed IT infrastructure to create and maintain the organizational knowledge deriving from organizational learning capabilities and enabling IT assimilation. In light of these results, the research presented many recommendations for future research and a set of limitations.

An exposé of the realpolitik of trade negotiations: implications for population nutrition

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (16) ◽  
pp. 3083-3091 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Friel ◽  
Phillip Baker ◽  
Anne-Marie Thow ◽  
Deborah Gleeson ◽  
Belinda Townsend ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Interest ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Negotiations ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Government Organizations ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Key Informant ◽  
Political Dimensions

AbstractObjective:To explore the formal and informal ways in which different actors involved in shaping trade agreements pursue their interests and understand the interactions with nutrition, in order to improve coherence between trade and nutrition policy goals.Design:The paper draws on empirical evidence from Australian key informant interviews that explore the underlying political dimensions of trade agreements that act as barriers or facilitators to getting nutrition objectives on trade agendas.Setting:Countries experiencing greater availability and access to diets full of energy-dense and nutrient-poor foods through increased imports, greater foreign direct investment and increasing constraints on national health policy space as a result of trade agreements.Participants:Interviews took place with Australian government officials, industry, public-interest non-government organizations and academics.Results:The analysis reveals the formal and informal mechanisms and structures that different policy actors use both inside and outside trade negotiations to pursue their interests. The analysis also identifies the discourses used by the different actors, as they attempt to influence trade agreements in ways that support or undermine nutrition-related goals.Conclusions:Moving forward requires policy makers, researchers and health advocates to use various strategies including: reframing the role of trade agreements to include health outcomes; reforming the process to allow greater access and voice to health arguments and stakeholders; establishing cross-government partners through accountable committees; and building circles of consensus and coalitions of sympathetic public-interest actors.

scholarly journals The role of science, technology and innovation in increasing the share of renewable energy worldwide

2021 ◽  
Vol 250 ◽  
pp. 01006
Author(s):  
Anna Tarasova
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Emerging Markets ◽  
Energy Systems ◽  
Green Energy ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Global Companies ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Near Future

A number of countries in the emerging markets are becoming leaders in manufacturing solar photovoltaic products. Thus, global companies are urged to compete in all stages of the supply chain for producing most of the installed solar modules around the world. Meanwhile, production costs are at record lows. The decisions made in the emerging markets will affect the course for the solar and wind industry and their role towards de-carbonization of global energy systems in the near future. Renewable energy is set of miscellaneous natural resources, which preserves non-renewable sources for further use in other sectors of the economy, and saves green energy for future eras. The way a country employs its potential in renewables will safeguard the country’s energy security and the stability of electricity prices. Renewable energy is eco-friendly, as its operation does not produce any waste, or discharge pollutants into the atmosphere or water bodies. Our paper discusses the latest achievements of various scientific areas and industries, as well as it lists specific recommendations for national sustainable actions plans. These recommendations might be useful for policy-makers, working in adopting the transformation of their country’s energy systems.

scholarly journals Global perspectives on volunteerism

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 456-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Halsall ◽  
Ian Cook ◽  
Paresh Wankhade
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
The State ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Perspectives ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Role Of The State

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of volunteerism in three different case countries, namely, that of USA, UK and China while highlighting the role of the state, society and social capital. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the extant literature on the volunteering traditions in the chosen case study countries highlighting the idiosyncrasies while analysing implications for future research. Findings – The paper highlights the role of the state, society and social capital in the chosen countries, each deriving its origins from the specific traditions in those countries. Research limitations/implications – This paper provides a conceptual review focusing on the key literature in the field. The authors have examined various academic texts and published materials. Practical implications – This paper provided an update critically discussion on the concept of volunteerism in three different case countries. Social implications – This paper is highly relevant to academics and social policy makers. Moreover, this paper has been written from an international context. Originality/value – The paper makes an original contribution by comparing and contrasting three important countries with different histories and traditions of volunteerism highlighting diversity of type and application.

Social and spatial networks in labour markets

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 722-745 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgio Topa
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Social Connections ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Welfare Implications ◽  
Labour Market Outcomes

Abstract Social connections and referrals are ubiquitous in the labour market, both on the job-seeker side and on the employer side. This article reviews recent developments in the study of referrals, highlighting what we have learned regarding the use and impact of referrals on various labour market outcomes and pointing out the increasingly nuanced picture we are gaining on the effects of referrals. It then discusses directions for future research, emphasizing the importance of using newly available data (and combinations of datasets) and of making tighter connections with the burgeoning macro-labour research that is based on a search and matching framework. Finally, it evaluates the role of referrals from the point of view of policy-makers, discussing their social welfare implications and ways in which they could be explicitly incorporated into various labour market policies. The importance of tighter collaboration between policy-makers, researchers, employers and practitioners is stressed, to conduct more rigorous experimentation and evaluation of potential referral-based policies and programmes.

scholarly journals Exploring the effects of habit strength on scholarly publishing

2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 1393-1411
Author(s):  
Lars Moksness ◽  
Svein Ottar Olsen ◽  
Ho Huy Tuu
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Scholarly Publishing ◽  
Habit Strength ◽  
Management Policy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Modified Model ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThis study aims to explore the role of habit strength in explaining intention and open access (OA) and non-OA scholarly publishing.Design/methodology/approachA decomposed theory of planned behaviour (TPB) is used as the conceptual framework to investigate a sample of 1,588 researchers from the major universities in Norway. Different latent construct models are analysed with a structural equation modelling approach.FindingsThe results show that the effect of habit was non-significant in an extended TPB framework where attitude was most important, followed by norms and perceived behavioural control in explaining intention to submit OA. Habit was only found to have a significant impact on intention to submit OA when it played a role as a full mediator for the effects of the intentional antecedents. In this modified model, norms were found to have a stronger effect than attitudes in explaining the habit to submit OA. OA habit strength forms intentions to publish in OA journals and reduces the intention to publish and publishing behaviour in NOA journals.Research limitations/implicationsOther individual forces (e.g. personality and personal values) and the role of habit strength should be included for future research.Practical implicationsThe results provide empirical insights to management, policy makers and research on scholarly publishing.Originality/valueThis paper contributes not only to the understanding of OA scholarly publishing, but is also relevant for research on what drives (academic) data sharing, knowledge sharing, the sharing economy or the open source movement.

Understanding Consumer Reactions to Offshore Outsourcing of Customer Services

2011 ◽  
pp. 92-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piyush Sharma ◽  
Rajiv Mathur ◽  
Abhinav Dhawan
Keyword(s):  
Developed Countries ◽  
Offshore Outsourcing ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Repurchase Intentions ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
Customer Services ◽  
Complaint Behavior

Offshore outsourcing is a fast-growing aspect of the world economy today and it has drawn attention from policy makers as well as public at large in many developed countries. However, there is hardly any research on how outsourcing of customer services may influence individual consumers, their perceptions, attitudes and behaviors. In this chapter, the authors first review the extant literature in the country-of-origin and services marketing areas to highlight key concepts and theories relevant to this area. Next, they show how offshore outsourcing of customer services may influence consumer perceptions about service quality, brand image and brand loyalty on one hand and impact customer satisfaction, complaint behavior and repurchase intentions on the other. The role of several relevant demographic and psychographic variables is also discussed. Finally, the findings from a survey-based study among customers in three developed countries (U.S., UK and Australia) are reported along with a discussion of managerial implications and future research directions in this area.

Understanding Consumer Reactions to Offshore Outsourcing of Customer Services

2011 ◽  
pp. 326-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piyush Sharma ◽  
Rajiv Mathur ◽  
Abhinav Dhawan
Keyword(s):  
Developed Countries ◽  
Offshore Outsourcing ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Repurchase Intentions ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
Customer Services ◽  
Complaint Behavior

Offshore outsourcing is a fast-growing aspect of the world economy today and it has drawn attention from policy makers as well as public at large in many developed countries. However, there is hardly any research on how outsourcing of customer services may influence individual consumers, their perceptions, attitudes and behaviors. In this chapter, the authors first review the extant literature in the country-of-origin and services marketing areas to highlight key concepts and theories relevant to this area. Next, they show how offshore outsourcing of customer services may influence consumer perceptions about service quality, brand image and brand loyalty on one hand and impact customer satisfaction, complaint behavior and repurchase intentions on the other. The role of several relevant demographic and psychographic variables is also discussed. Finally, the findings from a survey-based study among customers in three developed countries (U.S., UK and Australia) are reported along with a discussion of managerial implications and future research directions in this area.

A Longitudinal Study of Factors Explaining Attitude of Organic Foods

10.31355/34 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 121-129
Author(s):  
Zul Ariff Abdul Latiff ◽  
Intan Zawani Othman ◽  
Nursalwani Muhamad
Keyword(s):  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Organic Food ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Consumer Attitude ◽  
Organic Foods ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Market Growth ◽  
The Government

NOTE: THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED WITH THE INFORMING SCIENCE INSTITUTE. Aim/Purpose................................................................................................................................................................................................. The objective of this study is, for a given set demographics, to investigate the effect of knowledge, awareness and perception of consumers on the attitude/preferences of consumers for organic product in Kelantan. Background................................................................................................................................................................................................. Organic foods are food products which are free from any chemicals and are safe to be consumed by consumers. The consumers are getting more health conscious and the awareness about the harmful effects of chemical is incrassating. However, the trend towards purchasing organic food is now growing among Malaysians. This leads to the decline of market growth and therefore there is a need to study consumer attitude towards organic food. Methodology................................................................................................................................................................................................. This study predicts consumer attitude based on their awareness, knowledge and perception. Data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire where 144 consumers where randomly selected in the supermarkets. The data were analyzed by using descriptive analysis and regression analysis to test the hypotheses. Contribution................................................................................................................................................................................................. This paper studies the effect of demographic factor, knowledge, perception, awareness on the attitude of consumers with respect to organic foods in Kelantan. This research demonstrates the critical role of knowledge and education in shaping the attitude towards organic food.This research is useful to fill the gaps in the Malaysian literature regarding the importance of the knowledge and its relationship with the attitude. Findings....................................................................................................................................................................................................... The findings suggested the significant and positive relationship between knowledge, education level, occupation sector and the respondents’ attitude towards organic food. Recommendations for Practitioners: The consumer knowledge about the benefits of organic foods in Malaysia should be promoted more through television and social media as this influences their attitude when purchasing organic foods at the market. The quantity and the availability of the organic foods should be based on the demand of the consumers. The government should promote the benefits of organic foods to consumers more often to change their perceptions about organic foods in Malaysia. Recommendation for Researchers............................................................................................................................................................... More studies can be done regarding the behavior and intention of consumers with respect to organic foods either in Kelantan or other states in Malaysia. Impact on Society.......................................................................................................................................................................................... The findings can help consumers in understanding the benefits and advantage of organic foods toward health. Hence, all parties, including the government, policy makers and manufacturers should encourage and grow consumer interest in organic food by making the food more accessible and available. Future Research.............................................................................................................................................................................................. This study focuses on Kelantan only and does not represent other states. Due to this, further research is required in order to generalize the findings of this study aimed at determining the effect of demographic factors on the behavior of consumers with respect to organic foods.

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