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1 – 3 of 3Anna Hallberg, Ulrika Winblad and Mio Fredriksson
The build-up of large-scale COVID-19 testing required an unprecedented effort of coordination within decentralized healthcare systems around the world. The aim of the study was to…
Abstract
Purpose
The build-up of large-scale COVID-19 testing required an unprecedented effort of coordination within decentralized healthcare systems around the world. The aim of the study was to elucidate the challenges of vertical policy coordination between non-political actors at the national and regional levels regarding this policy issue, using Sweden as our case.
Design/methodology/approach
Interviews with key actors at the national and regional levels were analyzed using an adapted version of a conceptualization by Adam et al. (2019), depicting barriers to vertical policy coordination.
Findings
Our results show that the main issues in the Swedish context were related to parallel sovereignty and a vagueness regarding responsibilities and mandates as well as complex governmental structures and that this was exacerbated by the unfamiliarity and uncertainty of the policy issue. We conclude that understanding the interaction between the comprehensiveness and complexity of the policy issue and the institutional context is crucial to achieving effective vertical policy coordination.
Originality/value
Many studies have focused on countries’ overall pandemic responses, but in order to improve the outcome of future pandemics, it is also important to learn from more specific response measures.
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Barbara Da Roit and Maurizio Busacca
The paper aims to analyse the meaning and extension of discretionary power of social service professionals within network-based interventions.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to analyse the meaning and extension of discretionary power of social service professionals within network-based interventions.
Design/methodology/approach
Empirically, the paper is based on a case study of a network-based policy involving private and public organisations in the Northeast of Italy (Province of Trento).
Findings
The paper identifies netocracy as a social policy logic distinct from bureaucracy and professionalism. What legitimises netocracy is neither authority nor expertise but cooperation, the activation of connections and involvement, considered “good” per se. In this framework, professionalism and discretion acquire new and problematic meanings compared to street-level bureaucracy processes.
Research limitations/implications
Based on a case study, the research results cannot be generalised but pave the way to further comparative investigations.
Practical implications
The paper reveals that the position of professionals in netocracy is to some extent trickier than that in a bureaucracy because netocracy seems to have the power to encapsulate them and make it less likely for them to deviate from expected courses of action.
Originality/value
Combining different literature streams – street level bureaucracy, professionalism, network organisations and welfare governance – and building on an original case study, the paper contribute to understanding professionalism in welfare contexts increasingly characterised by the combination of bureaucratic, professional and network logics.
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Hani Alkayed, Ibrahim Yousef, Khaled Hussainey and Esam Shehadeh
This article provides the first empirical study on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on sustainability reporting in US financial institutions using institutional, stakeholder…
Abstract
Purpose
This article provides the first empirical study on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on sustainability reporting in US financial institutions using institutional, stakeholder and legitimacy theories.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used the independent sample t-test and Mann–Whitney U test throughout as well as OLS, random effects, fixed effects and heteroskedasticity corrected model to test the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sustainability reporting in the US financial sector. A sample from all listed US financial firms was used after controlling for both the Refinitiv Eikon sector classification and the NAICS sector classification.
Findings
Using U Mann–Whitney test and independent sample t-test the study revealed that the average ESG score for the pre-COVID19 period is 53% compared with 62.3% for the COVID-19 period, indicating that the sustainability reporting during COVID-19 is much higher compared with the pre-pandemic period. The findings of regression analysis also confirm that the US financial companies increased their sustainability reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Research limitations/implications
This study is an early attempt to look at how the COVID-19 epidemic has affected financial reporting procedures, although it is focused only on one area and other entity-related factors like stock market implications, company governance, internal audit practice, etc could have been considered.
Practical implications
This research offers useful recommendations for policymakers to create standards for regulators on the significance of raising sustainability awareness. The findings are crucial for accounting regulators as they work to implement COVID-19 and enforce required integrated reporting rules and regulations.
Originality/value
The study provides the first empirical evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sustainability reporting, by examining how US financial institutions approach the topic of sustainability during the COVID-19 pandemic and assessing the pandemic's current consequences on sustainability.
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