Tanzanian ruling party tightens its grip with new laws

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Political Freedoms ◽  
The Government ◽  
Civic Space ◽  
Ruling Party ◽  
Do So

Subject Political freedoms in Tanzania. Significance Tanzania’s parliament passed a bill in late June to amend eight laws under the Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act No. 3. Despite their innocuous title, these amendments, once signed into law, will further solidify the government’s control over the economy and civil society, contributing to a deteriorating business environment and increasingly restricted civic space for religious and civil organisations. Impacts Some NGOs required to re-register may miss the two-month deadline to do so under the amended law. Potential investors may be put off by additional bureaucracy and increased risk. Civil society’s influence on public policy will be constrained by fear of being targeted under the legislation. The government will gain more leverage to put pressure on NGOs on policies, sources of income and spending.

South Africa's banks could face further political push

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Deputy Minister ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
The Government ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Ruling Party ◽  
Opposition Parties

Significance Mkhwebane's proposal that the SARB should promote broad-based economic growth, rather than focus on inflation and the currency, dominated debates ahead of the ANC's policy conference between June 30-July 5. Subsequently, the ruling party determined that the SARB should be nationalised, while re-affirming its constitutionally guaranteed independence and also demanding the government set up a state bank within six months. Impacts Damaging financial revelations at state-owned enterprises such as Eskom could undermine the impetus for a state-owned bank. Opposition parties could mobilise with civil society groups to try force Mkhwebane’s resignation. Ongoing corruption allegations surrounding the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) could implicate the deputy minister of finance.

Role of public policies in promoting CSR: empirical evidence from business and civil society of UAE

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 1107-1123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saeed Almatrooshi ◽  
Matloub Hussain ◽  
Mian Ajmal ◽  
Muhammad Tehsin
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Important Approach ◽  
The Government ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Hierarchy Process

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the intermediary roles that public policies play in stimulating government agencies, businesses and civil society to engage in a corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda.Design/methodology/approachIssues related to decision-making of public policies are increasingly complex. Therefore, analytical hierarchy process has been used to prioritize public policy practices for CSR in the UAE. Data were collected from experts working in businesses and civil society organizations.FindingsFindings suggest that businesses and the civil society confirm the importance of standardization and law enforcement public policy practices in issues related to CSR in developing countries. The endorsing style of public policies was the least important approach to encouraging CSR implementation in the UAE.Research limitations/implicationsResults are derived from a limited amount of empirical data only in one country; therefore, these cannot be generalized. Future research from other countries is needed.Practical implicationsOutcomes from this study will help the government enhance its role as mediator among all agents and help with designing public policies that encourage adoption of CSR by business firms while maintaining competitiveness in the economy.Originality/valueA framework consisting of five public policy categories – mandating, facilitating, partnering, endorsing and empowering roles – and 29 sub-policy practices is introduced. This study provides an important technique for analyzing the importance of public policies in promoting CSR. It offers insights into a population that shapes a CSR agenda.

scholarly journals Monopoly behavior of China’s manufacturing enterprises

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-179
Author(s):  
Guidong Wang
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Rent Seeking ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Manufacturing Enterprises ◽  
Slow Decline ◽  
State Capital ◽  
The Government ◽  
Do So ◽  
Initial Jump

Purpose With the increase of state capital, corporate total factor productivity (TFP) has a tendency to jump up at first and then slowly decrease. Generally, no significant “productivity paradox” can be observed in China’s manufacturing industry. With the increase of export density, corporate TFP also shows a trend of initial jump growth and subsequent slow decline. This paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Using the 1996–2013 China Industrial Enterprise Database, this paper studies the monopolistic behavior of Chinese manufacturing enterprises through the measurement of TFP and corporate monopoly power. Findings Results show that China’s manufacturing monopoly enterprises are generally innovation-oriented rather than rent-seeking. However, there are certain differences between diversified types of monopoly enterprises: the ones with state capital are more inclined to innovate than those without, whereas the ones with export delivery value are more inclined to seek rent than those without. Originality/value Therefore, the government should implement differentiated policies for diversified types of monopoly enterprises, and do so in a targeted manner fully reflecting the containment of rent-seeking and the encouragement of innovation.

South African government’s GBV plans may disappoint

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
South African ◽  
Foreign Investment ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Management Structure ◽  
National Strategic Plan ◽  
The Government ◽  
Gender Based

Significance Although President Cyril Ramaphosa has publicly committed to increase funding to combat what he calls South Africa’s “second pandemic”, there is a lack of transparency in how the government disburses funds linked to its National Strategic Plan (NSP) on Gender-based Violence and Femicide. Impacts Civil society groups will increase pressure on the government to make expenditure on GBV programmes more transparent. A new private-sector fund to contribute to the NSP has received strong early support, but its management structure is opaque. High levels of GBV will not only have significant humanitarian and social costs but may deter much-needed foreign investment.

Guatemala’s economy on the way to recovery

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Violent Crime ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Containment Measures ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Way

Significance National GDP nevertheless contracted by just 1.5% in 2020 -- less than almost any other country in Latin America. Resilient remittances and exports, coupled with unprecedented policy support, have mitigated the effects of the pandemic and subsequent containment measures, leaving the country better placed for recovery than its neighbours. Impacts Enduring poverty, inequality and violent crime, and the impacts of accelerating climate change, will drive further migration from Guatemala. The government will pursue banking law reforms, to reduce risks to financial activities in the post-pandemic business environment. Infighting and corruption scandals will hinder the opposition's ability to benefit from the decline of the president's popularity.

Is bribing a good strategy? Imbalanced interdependence and hazard of opportunism in bribery

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ho Wook Shin ◽  
Jinsil Kim ◽  
Seung-hyun Lee
Keyword(s):  
Instrumental Variable ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Resource Dependence ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Relational Contract ◽  
Current Resource ◽  
The Government ◽  
A Current

PurposeIn fragile institutional environments, firms often have no choice but bribery as the means to access the services monopolized by the government. Corrupt government officials whose resources are valuable to many different firms can easily find other firms willing to offer bribes. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether and how this imbalanced interdependence exposes the bribing firm to the hazard of opportunism from the bribed officials.Design/methodology/approachThis study draws on World Business Environment Survey (WBES) data and the instrumental variable (IV) Probit estimator with Heckman correction for the potential selection bias.FindingsThe authors find that the more firms depend on bribery to acquire governmental resources, the severer the level of opportunism they encounter from the government officials. In addition, the authors find that although the presence of a legal alternative to bribery reduces the level of a corrupt government official's opportunism that a bribing firm experiences, the more firms depend on bribery despite the presence of a legal alternative, the higher the level of the corrupt official's opportunism that the firm will experience. Finally, the authors find that establishing a relational contract with government officials reduces the hazard of opportunism.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the resource dependence literature by finding that a greater imbalance in the interdependence between two parties in bribery exposes the more dependent party to a larger hazard of opportunism. The finding that an ineffective alternative to a current resource provider would not strengthen but weaken a resource seeker's bargaining power expands the literature. The authors also contribute to the corruption research by showing the significant strategic, not legal, risk to bribing firms of engaging in bribery, which to date has not been sufficiently discussed.

Alternative tourism and civil society in Athens

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-62
Author(s):  
Hecate Vergopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Alternative Tourism ◽  
Political Perspective ◽  
Web Forum ◽  
Guided Tours ◽  
Do So

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to tackle the issue of the meaning of tourism as it is being crippled by the economic crisis in Greece. Design/methodology/approach To do so, it brings together the findings of three different fieldworks related to tourism in Athens in times of crisis. Each one of these focuses on a specific player of tourism: a linguistic and semiological analysis led mainly on travel guides and ad campaigns deals with the industry of tourism; a linguistic analysis of tourists’ posts on a French web forum deals with the tourists themselves; and an ethnographical approach of alternative guided tours of Athens focuses on local players (associations and cooperatives offering out of the beaten tracks tours). Findings The whole study reveals that there is a misunderstanding between the industry and the consumers toward what the tourist practice should mean: whereas the tourists are in search of an ethical meaning, the industry claims there is no room for such issues. The alternative players, however, offer a political perspective that embraces the ethical issues raised by tourists. Originality/value They thus might, in the end, show us the way a so-called “civil society” could also have its own role to perform in tourism.

New Romanian coalition will retreat from reform

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Liberal Party ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Government

Significance This autumn, bitter conflict between the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Save Romania Union (USR) ended a brief period of centre-right rule, after years of domination by the Social Democrats (PSD). Former army chief Nicolae Ciuca heads the government, which the PSD dominates alongside a much-weakened PNL. Impacts The government may struggle to persuade a suspicious populace to back vaccination, given previous PSD reluctance for anti-COVID-19 measures. The pandemic may deter civil society from mobilising against abuses of power to the extent it did during the last PSD government. The government's dilemma will be curbing the justice system's independence without provoking a strong EU reaction.

The supply-side of corruption: a review of scenario, causes and prevention measure

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nurfarizan Mazhani Mahmud ◽  
Intan Salwani Mohamed ◽  
Roshayani Arshad
Keyword(s):  
Private Sector ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Supply Side ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Preventative Measures ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
The Government ◽  
High Level

Purpose This paper aims to provide a proper understanding of corruption in the private sector, also known as the supply-side of corruption. It also presents the causes of corrupt practices and points out the corporations’ actions to mitigate corrupt behaviour in the business environment. Design/methodology/approach This study reviews the prior literature on the phenomenon of corruption in the private sector, its causes and the preventive measures that should be implemented. Findings Corruption in the private sector was associated with a firm’s interaction with the public sector, and the most common corruption in the private sector is grand corruption, which is improper contribution made to high-level public officials and politicians. The causes of corruption in the private sector can be explained from several dimensions: economy, psychosocial and legal and regulation. Preventative measures encompass both internal strategies, which are endogenous to business and external strategies like exogenous legislation and restrictions enforced by the government or outside organizations. Originality/value The efficient strategies in combating corruption need active cooperation and participation from the supply-side of corruption. Thus, this study contributes to the literature on the theoretical understanding of the corruption problem from the supply-side and responsibility play by the private sector in global anti-corruption initiatives.

Societal institutions and control system characteristics: empirical evidence from the UAE

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 268-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mayada Abd El-Aziz Youssef ◽  
Essam Moustafa
Keyword(s):  
Performance Evaluation ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government ◽  
Business Entities ◽  
And Performance ◽  
And Control

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the existence of two sets of factors societal institutions and management control systems’ (MCS) characteristics in the UAE business entities. Subsequently, this paper empirically examines the bilateral and the multivariate associations between the two sets. The societal institutions include six factors categorised in three main groups: cultural conventions, state structures and policies and skill development and control. The MCS characteristics consist of four factors which are: reliance on formal rules, control over the behaviour of employees, involvement of subordinates in target setting and performance evaluation and scope of information used in performance evaluation. Design/methodology/approach – Whitley’s model (1999) is adopted in the UAE business environment and the analyses are performed at the organisational level. Qualified accounting officials and managers are surveyed. The Kruskal-Wallis test, Spearman’s partial correlation and multiple regression are used for data analyses. Findings – Findings reveal the characteristics of the UAE societal institutions and the MCS in UAE organisations. They also reveal significant associations among four of the societal institution factors and most of the MCS characteristics. The results highlight the role played by the government structures and policies group in influencing the MCS characteristics in the UAE organisations. However, these results do not entirely agree with Whitley’s model. Research limitations/implications – The results of this study are restricted by the typical constraints associated with the survey method. The obtained results have implications for researchers and managers in facilitating the understanding of the relations among the various societal institutions and the MCS characteristics. Originality/value – This research, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, provides significant new empirical evidence into the relation between societal institutions and MCS characteristics in a non-Western economy.

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