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1 – 10 of over 5000Khandakar Al Farid Uddin, Abdur Rahman, Md. Robiul Islam and Mohashina Parvin
Decentralised administrative arrangements and the active function of local government organisations are essential to tackle crisis effectively. Using Bangladesh as a case study…
Abstract
Purpose
Decentralised administrative arrangements and the active function of local government organisations are essential to tackle crisis effectively. Using Bangladesh as a case study, this paper examines the central and local government administrative arrangements during COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
This study applies qualitative content analysis and interviews to explore the local government’s role in Bangladesh’s COVID-19 management by interviews of 18 participants including government officials, experts, non-government organisations (NGOs) representatives, and the general public. This paper also analysed academic papers, policy documents and other publicly available documents, including newspaper reports.
Findings
The Constitution of Bangladesh intensified the active participation of local government in each administrative unit through decentralised administrative management. This paper however reveals that the administrative arrangement during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh was primarily a centrally led system. The local government was not sufficiently involved, nor had it integrated into the planning and coordination process. This indicated the absence of active decentralised administration.
Originality/value
This study fills the research gap of the administrative pattern and local relations in COVID-19 management by exploring the local government’s role during the catastrophic situation and highlights the importance of decentralised administrative actions in managing the crisis.
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Tasnim Murad Mamun and Sajib Chowdhury
Status of fiscal health of local governments helps in determining planned budget and realistic action plan for citizens’ wellbeing. This paper aims to assess the fiscal health of…
Abstract
Purpose
Status of fiscal health of local governments helps in determining planned budget and realistic action plan for citizens’ wellbeing. This paper aims to assess the fiscal health of local governments in Bangladesh.
Design/methodology
Using data from 18 south-western municipalities of Bangladesh during the fiscal year 2018–19, this research measures fiscal health by applying Wang, Dennis and Tu’s solvency test and Brown’s Ten-Point Test.
Findings
The result shows that one-tenth of the entire municipalities are endowed with better position, whereas almost 39 percent of municipalities are in the worst situation and nearly 50 percent of municipalities are in the average category. Because of having limited liabilities, the municipalities are endowed with more than enough cash solvency and reasonable level of long-run solvency. The key problems are that budgetary solvency of all municipalities is not satisfactory, and service expenses are more than their revenue generation. This study suggests improving the financial capabilities of the municipalities through properly using their resources, generating loans, and claiming a need-based budget from the central government.
Originality
The paper investigates the status of fiscal solvency of local governments in Bangladesh in a new dimension. The findings might be helpful to policymakers in budgeting for development initiatives of local governments in Bangladesh so that citizens’ better wellbeing is ensured.
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Shiyi Chen and Wang Li
With China’s economic growth slowing down and the growth rate of fiscal revenue decreasing, the pressure on local government debts is further increasing. Under this background, it…
Abstract
Purpose
With China’s economic growth slowing down and the growth rate of fiscal revenue decreasing, the pressure on local government debts is further increasing. Under this background, it is of great significance to clarify the relation between local government debts and China’s economic growth in order to give full play to the positive role of local debts in stabling growth. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
Therefore, this paper explores the impact of Chinese local government debt on economic growth from theoretical and empirical aspects, respectively, and compares the regional differences between different debts and economic growth dynamics.
Findings
In the theoretical model part, this paper constructs a three-sector dynamic game model, under the two circumstances of whether local government is subject to debt constraints, and examines the relation between local government debt and economic growth and other variables through numerical simulation. Research shows that when the government is not constrained by debt, there is an inverted “U” relation between government debt and economic growth. When the government is constrained by debt, the economic growth rate gradually decreases as the government debt increases.
Originality/value
In the theoretical analysis part, this paper tries to estimate the amount of local debts under different calibers and examines the impact of different types of local government debts on China’s economic growth and their regional differences. The results show that excessive accumulation of government hidden debts in the eastern region is not conducive to economic growth, while explicit debts in the central and western regions significantly contribute to local economic growth. The results of empirical analysis are basically consistent with the predictions of the theoretical model.
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Stephen Gong, Liwei Shan and Li Yu
To examine whether and how the different levels of regional economic incentives would have an effect on underwriters' market share in general.
Abstract
Purpose
To examine whether and how the different levels of regional economic incentives would have an effect on underwriters' market share in general.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on Chinese IPO firms during the period 2006-2016, this study examines the impact of different levels of regional economic incentives on underwriters' market share.
Findings
The authors find that regional economic incentives have a positive impact on underwriters' market share and that local economic incentives have a significantly stronger impact than central economic incentives. Furthermore, the authors find that IPO firms with underwriters driven by regional economic incentives experience worse post-IPO performance than firms with underwriters driven by central economic incentives, which do not experience a significant decline in post-IPO performance.
Originality/value
Taken together, the authors’ findings are consistent with the notion that performance assessment motivates officials at various levels of government to bring companies in their jurisdiction to the IPO market prematurely. In addition, the results indicate that central economic incentives play a significant role in driving China's macroeconomic development and market-oriented system reforms. As such, they are one of the major driving forces behind China's market-oriented system reforms.
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Ge Yang and Shutian Cen
Over the past 20 years, China's infrastructure has developed at an extraordinary speed. The current literature mainly focuses on the effects of political incentives on the…
Abstract
Purpose
Over the past 20 years, China's infrastructure has developed at an extraordinary speed. The current literature mainly focuses on the effects of political incentives on the infrastructure. However, this paper indicates that the structural change of China's land regime is an important clue and that the supernormal development of China's infrastructure is an explicable result for that.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper theoretically proves that in a politically centralized and economically decentralized economic entity with a public land-ownership regime, the self-financing mechanism formed by local officials through regulation of the land-grant price is the primary factor that influences the optimal supply volume of infrastructure in a region, in addition to political and economic incentives, and whether the self-financing mechanism can be formed or not depends on the structure of a country's land regime, which can help to explain the difference between the development of infrastructure in China and that in other developing countries from a theoretical angle.
Findings
The paper suggests that the mode is facing an important transformation toward land reform and new-type urbanization construction, and the replication and promotion of China's experience in infrastructure construction are of further significance under the Belt and Road Initiative as it provides a method for helping developing countries to eliminate infrastructure bottlenecks.
Originality/value
Through the test of multinational panel data, the paper indicates that the structural change of China's land regime around 1990 had an overall effect on the supernormal development of infrastructure in China. The paper indicates that the “land-based development mode” of China's infrastructure indeed contributed to the supernormal development of infrastructure in China, but there are still some shortcomings in this mode.
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David Adade and Walter Timo de Vries
This study aims to understand and explain factors that influence how, when and under which conditions local governments adopt digital technologies for citizen collaboration. It…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand and explain factors that influence how, when and under which conditions local governments adopt digital technologies for citizen collaboration. It discusses what these findings mean for city digital twin adoption.
Design/methodology/approach
This research uses the systematic literature review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) process to collect and evaluate evidence needed to answer the research questions. It uses the technology–organisation–environment (TOE) framework and proposes an additional dimension: “stakeholders” as the analytical framework.
Findings
Critical influential factors identified include the technology dimension: security and privacy; organisation dimension: top management support; environment dimension: political influence; and stakeholders’ dimension: technological experience.
Research limitations/implications
This research extends the TOE framework and comprehensively analyses those factors which relate to citizens but significantly impact local government’s decision to adopt digital tools for collaboration purposes. This research posits that in the context of local government technology adoption for collaboration, both the organisation and stakeholders’ dimensions are critical.
Social implications
This research contributes to the government-citizen discourse and provides a constructive understanding of technological transformation in collaborative planning. The findings are helpful for local governments, researchers and geospatial industries as they offer a critical understanding of digital technology adoption, particularly city digital twins, for collaborative planning.
Originality/value
This study extends the TOE framework to include aspects relating to citizens. It provides a nuanced understanding of the influential factors and intricacies of technology adoption by local governments for citizen collaboration. It also discusses relevant issues of city digital twins’ adoption by local governments for citizen participation.
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This paper analyses the degree of political decentralisation and its relation to the local councils in Tanzania. It explores the institutional and political set-up of the local…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper analyses the degree of political decentralisation and its relation to the local councils in Tanzania. It explores the institutional and political set-up of the local councils originating from the degree of political decentralisation and how it influences the tension between the bureaucrats and local politicians.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative approach by a comparative case study is adopted to investigate the phenomenon in two local governments in Tanzania. The data were collected through interviews with 37 senior local government officials and eight focus group discussions with 48 administrators and councillors.
Findings
The findings indicate that the two local governments are subjected to a similar political system guided by similar rules and guidelines from the central government bureaucracy for implementing the party manifesto and central government priorities. Thus, the local politicians have little room for negotiation in adopting local agenda to reflect the preferences of the local community. Any attempt to challenge this status quo creates political tensions between bureaucrats and the administrators.
Originality/value
The findings provide invaluable insights to different stakeholders such as political scientists, government officials, and policymakers with interests in research or practice of political decentralization and political-administrative relation.
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Redeemer Krah and Gerard Mertens
The study investigates the influence of financial transparency on citizens' trust and revenue paying behaviour of citizens of local governments in sub-Saharan Africa. It relies on…
Abstract
Purpose
The study investigates the influence of financial transparency on citizens' trust and revenue paying behaviour of citizens of local governments in sub-Saharan Africa. It relies on the theories of stewardship and public choice in explaining the relationship between financial transparency, trust and willingness to pay.
Design/methodology/approach
The study applied a Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) to survey data of 404 respondents selected from four Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies of Ghana to test the hypotheses of the study.
Findings
It establishes the fact that financial transparency positively influences trust of citizens in local government and their willingness to pay taxes and levies. The study also found that both financial transparency and trust are low in the local governments of Ghana.
Practical implications
The study emphasises the importance of financial transparency in improving trust and willingness to pay. Thus, local governments are encouraged to seek innovative ways to enhance the quality and access to financial information by the citizens.
Originality/value
While prior studies focus on the measurement and determinant of financial transparency, this study links financial transparency to revenue mobilisation in the local government of sub-Saharan Africa.
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Keshav Kumar Acharya and Habib Zafarullah
The purpose of this paper is to explore how local government bodies in Nepal are empowered to play their constitutional roles and engage in activities to deliver public services…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how local government bodies in Nepal are empowered to play their constitutional roles and engage in activities to deliver public services at the doorsteps of the people effectively. The focus is on the institutionalisation of federalism, its implications for local governance, and capacity development of local authorities.
Design/methodology/approach
Ideas of decentralisation, governance and public management have been used to interpret findings based on qualitative research methods by key informant interviews, focus group discussions and personal observations conducted in five selected municipalities in Nepal.
Findings
The process of operationalising the power of local government bodies is more conventional and hierarchic. At the same time, the formulation and implementation of inclusive plans and budgeting are confined with certain formalities that do not necessarily allow citizens the space for voices. Federal government grants constrain fiscal jurisdiction and control over resource mobilisation. The mere preparation and administration of local government legislation and relevant by-laws have weakened the capacity of local government bodies.
Originality/value
From interpretation of first-hand data, this paper has identified the pitfalls of the federalisation process, the constraints deter the devolution of power to local bodies as well as the transformation of local governments into autonomous institutions in Nepal.
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Wahyudin Nor, Muhammad Hudaya and Rifqi Novriyandana
The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which audit opinion, audit findings, follow-up audit recommendations, level of education, level of welfare and heads of local…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which audit opinion, audit findings, follow-up audit recommendations, level of education, level of welfare and heads of local governments’ commitment influence the disclosure of financial statements on the official website of local government.
Design/methodology/approach
The data of this research comprise 68 financial statements during the period 2015–2016 collected from 34 local governments across Indonesia by employing the census method. The data then are analyzed using logistic regression.
Findings
The results of this study show that audit opinion has a positive significant influence on the disclosure of financial statements on local government websites in Indonesia, while the audit findings, follow-up audit recommendations, level of education, level of welfare and heads of local governments’ commitment have no significant influences on the disclosure of financial statements local governments’ websites across Indonesia.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the public sector accounting research by enhancing our understanding to the disclosure of financial statements on local government websites.
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