The architecture of school governance: Rebuilding democratic legitimacy within an academized system

Successive governments, in embracing a neoliberalist ideology of decentralization and privatization, have radically reformed the nature of community-based, comprehensive state education. The transition from ‘government to governance’ (Rhodes, 1997) combined with the ideology of academization (DfE, 2010a) has created a democratic deficit 1 (Corbett, 1977). Academies are placed outside of local elected scrutiny or community-based accountability systems and governance legitimacy is in crisis (Glatter, 2013). This article explores the problematization of academized governance (Allen and Gann, 2017) with respect to the democratic deficit and the consequential lack of stakeholder engagement – argued as unethical within a democratic society and a system that frequently leads to failings of accountability (Wilkins, 2016). Utilizing the conceptual lens of Empowered Participatory Governance (EPG) (Fung and Wright, 2003), the authors seek to present a new architecture of governance that seeks to restore democratic legitimacy. Democratic governance innovations, the micro-governance network (Allen, 2017) and a refreshed local education board (Gann, 2021) provide a new architecture for a post new governance environment and, in so doing, a counter-narrative to the rhetoric of academization.

The Impact of Trade Facilitation on Cross-Border E-Commerce Transactions: Analysis Based on the Marine and Land Cross-Border Logistical Practices between China and Countries along the “Belt and Road”

In the post-epidemic era, cross-border e-commerce has become a new growth point for global foreign trade. Unlike traditional trade, which is dominated by marine transport, cross-border e-commerce transactions have high requirements for both marine and land transport, and the scale of their trade is accordingly limited by the level of trade facilitation i.e., the convenience of cross-border logistics in bilateral trading countries. Based on transaction cost theory, this article takes cross-border e-commerce transactions between China and countries along “The Belt and Road” as the core of the study. From the perspective of marine and land transport timeliness, the theoretical framework is constructed using the marine and land logistics infrastructure, customs clearance environment, government–governance environment, and cross-border logistics services as the main influencing paths; the GMM method is then applied in order to conduct a study on the impact of trade facilitation on the scale effect of cross-border e-commerce. The study finds that marine and land transport infrastructure has the strongest impact, with customs clearance environment and government–governance environment having the second strongest and comparable impact. The findings of the study further clarify the differences in the application of different cross-border logistics facilitation measures, and provide a theoretical basis for improving the timeliness of cross-border e-commerce transactions and reducing trade costs as well as a reference for the realization of land–sea integration and land–sea interconnection under “The Belt and Road” initiative.

CEO pay slice and acquisitions in Australia: the role of tournament incentives

PurposeThis paper investigates the influence of tournament incentives, measured by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) pay slice (CPS), on the acquisition decisions of Australian firms.Design/methodology/approachThis study applies ordinary least squares regression analyses to a sample of 1,429 acquisition observations announced by 986 unique Australian firms spanning the 2001–2015 period. Event study methodology was employed to capture the market reaction to acquisition announcements. Multinomial logit models, a two-stage least squares instrumental variable (IV) approach and propensity score matching (PSM) technique were performed for robustness and endogeneity correction purposes.FindingsThe results suggest that CPS has a positive and significant relationship with the announcement period abnormal return realised by acquirers, implying that executives are motivated to exert best efforts and support the CEO in making value-creating acquisitions. Further analyses reveal that management teams of high CPS firms demonstrate efficiencies in executing acquisitions. The positive relationship between the CPS and abnormal return is more pronounced in acquisitions of private targets, domestic targets and bidders with high-quality CEOs. These acquisitions make a significant contribution to the long-run performance of the firm, which provides support for the effort inducement hypothesis.Practical implicationsThe study's empirical evidence implies that the strong governance environment in Australia and a highly monitored acquisition market and compensation contracts motivates executives to exert their efforts to make value-enhancing acquisitions.Originality/valueThis paper appears to be the first investigation that makes a link between CPS in different components (i.e. short-term, long-term and total pay) as proxy for tournament incentives and the outcomes of both public and non-public acquisitions in the Australian setting.

Board monitoring and capital structure dynamics: evidence from bank-based economies

We examine the impact of board characteristics on the speed of adjustment and the capital structure dynamics of firms in bank-based economies. Using 3927 firm-year observations over a 10-year (2009–2019), we find that board characteristic influences firms' speed of adjustment in a bank-based (stakeholder-oriented) system. We also find some evidence that board characteristics have varying impacts on the capital structure of Japanese, French and German firms. We conclude that firms' capital structure reflects the corporate governance environment they operate. Our results are robust to accounting for endogeneity and alternative leverage measure.

Infrastructure Public–Private Partnership (PPP) Investment and Government Fiscal Expenditure on Science and Technology from the Perspective of Sustainability

In the environment of the continuous development of the Public–Private Partnership (PPP) model, China’s “dual circulation” development pattern orientation and “new normal” economic development reform provide the foundation for the development of the PPP model in the field of infrastructure. A good government investment structure and governance environment will help to improve the financial sustainability of infrastructure investment. This paper studies the mechanism of the relationship between fiscal expenditure on science and technology and the development of infrastructure PPP models based on the data of provincial PPP projects in the World Bank database and carries out an empirical analysis. The results show that the positive effect of government fiscal expenditure on science and technology and the development of the infrastructure PPP model in local regions is significant. In addition, intergovernmental competition within the political system of China will have a restraining effect on this relationship. This has certain theoretical and practical significance for the construction and implementation of the mechanism underlying intergovernmental behavior and the infrastructure PPP model.

Analysis of the Negative Relationship between Blockchain Application and Corporate Performance

Blockchain technology is one of the most critical emerging technologies. Countries are promoting the development of blockchain technology vigorously. Theoretically, blockchain technology improves the trust between enterprises, reduces information asymmetry, and promotes efficiency. It should promote corporate performance, but analyzing the actual data of Chinese listed companies, contrary to expectation, blockchain technology makes corporate performance decline. We found that this is mainly due to the effect of adverse selection through analysis and empirical tests. The enterprises that use blockchain technology are not accompanied by the increase in R&D expenditure, investment expenditure, and patents. The companies’ abnormal stock return and stock turnover rate have increased. The enterprises with worse performance are more likely to use blockchain to the hype. They can gain a short-term stock return. However, in the long run, the market-to-book ratio of government subsidies and the growth rate of corporate income are declining. Furthermore, the financial constraints are not alleviated as adverse selection only plays a role in the short term. Besides, the heterogeneity tests find that from the prospects of internal governance environment, the higher proportion of the largest shareholder, the better earning quality of the company. The enterprises with state-owned property rights have lower motivations of using blockchain to make an adverse selection. The study also found that the external environment prospects of enterprises with a lower degree of marketization and law environment are more likely to use the blockchain.

Ranking Veterinary Dispensaries in Odisha Using DEA and PCA

The idea of measuring efficiencies of service delivery of veterinary dispensaries (VDs) and ranking them is an unexplored territory. However, since governments spend considerable amounts of money on promoting service delivery of VDs to enable animal production and productivity, and thereby promote rural livelihoods, efficiency measurement and ranking of VDs based on efficiency are necessary in a futuristic ‘transparency in governance’ environment apart from guiding in better performance. Given the non-quantifiable nature of the production function of veterinary service delivery, a non-parametric method like data envelopment analysis (DEA) can be an answer. Hence, this study measures the efficiencies of 101 VDs belonging to 2 ecosystems in Odisha, India, using DEA and ranks them using principal component analysis (PCA) along with average efficiency based on multiple data models. Analysis of various variables in models revealed that the presence or absence of variables—institutions; vaccination; a weighted variable combining castration, insurance and training (CIT); large animals’ population; and breedable animals’ population—lead to differences in average efficiencies. PCA of efficiency scores reveals that vaccination, CIT and large animal population are significant in factor loadings on first principal component (PC). The study finds high correlation between ranking based on average efficiency and ranking based on PCA, suggesting that the two methods are comparable. Both the efficiency measures and ranking reveal that VDs of the coastal ecosystem performed better than those of the western ecosystem.

The costs and benefits of duality: Colombia’s decentralization and the response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Colombia’s duality between the relative strength of the central government and the broad process of decentralization towards subnational and local governments has shaped the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Substantial tensions have arisen between the national and subnational governments in the handling of the crisis. Thus, blurred policy boundaries challenge multi-level government coordination. Yet, intergovernmental relations and multi-level governance have worked at some extent. Meanwhile, leadership styles, the level of political support, the local governance environment and the level of local institutional capacity have affected the strategies of local government leaders and their success to tackle the pandemic. Moreover, uneven healthcare capacity across the Colombian territory posits further challenges for a national response to the pandemic that ensures both effectiveness and equity.