Red Tape, Rule Legitimacy, and Public Service Motivation: Experimental Evidence From Korean Citizens

While legitimacy plays a key role in determining if a public sector rule or process objectively qualifies as red tape, it is unclear if legitimacy shapes subjective red tape judgments. We use a sample of South Korean citizens and a vignette-based survey experiment describing applying for a small business COVID-19 relief fund to test the relevance of rule legitimacy for perceived red tape. We find that obtaining a favorable outcome (receiving the fund) reduces perceived red tape, but that neither input nor output legitimacy plays a consistent role. Second, we find that public service motivation moderates the role of both input and output legitimacy on perceived red tape, though in different directions. For those with high levels of public service motivation, output legitimacy reduces perceived red tape. However, for the same group, input legitimacy increases it. We provide a detailed discussion of the contributions of our study.

How the state legitimizes national development projects: The Third Development Axis case study, Slovenia

We analyzed planning mechanisms and evaluated their performance in achieving legitimacy in infrastructure planning in Slovenia. Planning mechanisms were divided according to the concept of input, throughput and output legitimacy. We conducted a document analysis and interviews to assess their effectiveness in achieving legitimate decisions. Although the analyzed decision-making process declaratively promoted democratic principles, the mechanisms failed to satisfactorily enhance the legitimacy of decisions. The study revealed inadequate communication approaches, both in the decision-makers' relationship with the public and within the expert discourse. Accordingly, the study argues for more genuine communication with the public and within academia to address legitimacy challenges in increasingly conflictual decision-making processes.

Peaceful Use of Lasers in Space: Context-Based Legitimacy in Global Governance of Large Technical Systems

Technology offers unique sets of opportunities, from human flourishing to civilization survival, but also challenges, from partial misuse to global apocalypse. Yet technology is shaped by the social environment in which it is developed and used, prompting questions about its desirable governance format. In this context, we look at governance challenges of large technical systems, specifically the peaceful use of high-power lasers in space, in order to propose a conceptual framework for legitimate global governance. Specifically, we adopt a context-based approach to legitimacy to address the trade-offs between effectiveness (output legitimacy) and inclusivity (input legitimacy) in the governance of large technical systems. We show that distinguishing two basic phases of space laser policy which call for different legitimacy criteria helps balance out the trade-offs without sacrificing either effectiveness or inclusivity. Finally, we construe LTSs’ governance as a tool for creating globally networked spaces which may enable coordinated global democratic governance.

Practical expedients and theoretical flaws: the IASB's legitimacy strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic

PurposeGrounded in the legitimacy theory and framed within the context of European Union’s (EU's) endorsement process, this paper analyses the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB's) response to the COVID-19 crisis and the impact of its practical expedient COVID-19-Related Rent Concession on the IASB's output legitimacy.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a qualitative process-tracing approach and combines inductive historical narratives and deductive reasoning to draw theoretical implications concerning the COVID-19 crisis' impact on the standard-setting process.FindingsThe paper shows a growing reliance on practical expedients in International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) to maintain the IASB's output legitimacy. While introducing some theoretical flaws, practical expedients increase the standards' flexibility and strengthen the IASB's ability to respond to the European political bodies' concerns. Indeed, an analysis of the IASB's response to the COVID-19 outbreak reveals the role practical expedients might play not only in reducing (ex ante) new IFRS transition costs but also in dealing (ex-post) with the broader economic impact of unexpected systemic crises to limit criticisms and controversies surrounding IFRS.Originality/valueThis study reveals a causal relationship between the rise of the European public good criterion in the EU endorsement process and the wider use of practical expedients in IFRS. An analysis of the latest amendment to IFRS 16 in response to the COVID-19 crisis also confirms the role of practical expedients in strengthening the acceptance of IFRS in an increasingly complex economic reality and sheds some light on the new strategies adopted by the IASB to preserve its legitimacy in the EU.

How to Produce and Measure Throughput Legitimacy? Lessons from a Systematic Literature Review

After two decades of research on throughput legitimacy, making sense of the stock of accumulated knowledge remains a challenge. How can relevant publications on throughput legitimacy be collected and analysed? How can the level of throughput legitimacy be measured? Which policy activities contribute to the production of throughput legitimacy? To answer these questions, we designed and implemented an original systematic literature review. We find that the measurement of the level of throughput legitimacy introduces a number of problems that call for the systematic and rigorous use of a more complete set of precise, specific indicators to advance the theory of throughput legitimacy. A number of participatory decision-making activities contribute to the production of throughput legitimacy. Engaging in these activities is not without risk, as variations in throughput legitimacy affect input and output legitimacy. To prevent vicious circles, lessons can be drawn from the literature on collaborative governance and decision-makers’ strategies to support effective collaboration between stakeholders.

Assessing the Legitimacy of Technological Innovation in the Public Sphere: Recovering Raw Materials from Waste Water

This paper researches legitimacy creation in a publicly-funded trajectory of innovative technological development. It develops a framework of input, throughput and output legitimacy. The framework is developed based on a review of the literature on the creation of legitimacy in innovative technological development. The framework assists in further exploring the potential of the integrated assessment of the legitimacy of technological innovation trajectories in the public sphere, in terms of (1) public accountability (ensuring input legitimacy); (2) science, technology and innovation policy (ensuring throughput legitimacy); and (3) the potential for the implementation of the technology itself in practical contexts (ensuring output legitimacy). The framework is used to analyze a case study about the publicly-funded development of innovative technology for the retrieval of raw materials from waste water. Theoretically, the value of a more processual approach to the conceptualization of legitimacy becomes apparent. Furthermore, the framework assists in the development of practical recommendations on the ways in which to optimize the legitimacy in an earlier stage in the innovation’s trajectory. However, due attention should also be paid to the role of regulatory arrangements in the optimization of the legitimacy of publicly-funded technological innovation. This is an avenue for further research.