Public policy & environmental management books

Digital technology in the form of big data and data analytics is transforming the global economy. This book is the first to take an open innovation perspective to the study and practice of ecosystems, providing a novel way of understanding the impact data has on the way entrepreneurial firms develop. Governments are emphasising the use of open innovation ecosystems due to increased levels of digitalization in the global economy. This enables information and knowledge to be disseminated in a way that enables entrepreneurial projects to develop.  Written primarily for practitioners and academic researchers, A Guide to Planning and Managing Open Innovative Ecosystems focuses on the unique nature of open innovation by utilising a government and data perspective. This helps to understand the dynamic manner in which digital technology in the form of big data is changing society. The role of the government in influencing an open innovation culture in society is discussed through the use of different cultural examples, enabling a holistic perspective about how government and data are influencing entrepreneurial endeavours.

The corruption of public officials in the United States and its corrosive impact on public policy, political stability and democratic institutions, earns it a spot among the most critical public crises of the last decade. There have been scandals involving elected officials across the political spectrum from local elected officials up to the White House, involving conflicts of interest, campaign fundraising and political elections. At the heart of many scandals is the discretionary power of public officials to make decisions based on personal interest, often leading to corruption. Understanding the nature and etiology of corruption is important to drafting controls on discretion and rules for accountability. While strict regulation and oversight mechanisms have previously been designed to encourage ethical decision-making and punish violators, it is the media and citizens that have increasingly become modern mechanisms of accountability. Corruption of public governance not only undermines the effectiveness of the political system; it also results in corrupt public policymaking on the most pressing issues facing Americans today.  This timely and insightful book provides the key elements needed to understand the nature and prevalence of corruption in public governance, as well as the devastating public policy consequences. The chapters explore the implications of public governance corruption on political stability, public trust, and policymaking, as well as recommendations for how to establish controls on discretion and strict regulation to increase accountability and corruption control in public governance.

The complex and ever-evolving relationship between the public sector and civil society at large is high on the policy and political agenda for the transformation of administrative and socio-economic systems in most developed countries. In this context, citizen associations, private businesses and non-profit organizations play a crucial role as potential actors of collaborative governance arrangements for both the prioritization and direct provision of public interest services. These settings are increasingly seen as powerful policy tools by which States may not only address issues related to the expenditure constraints which, in the current public financial situation, contingently limit and condition the direct delivery of such services by public institutions. They are also viewed as an opportunity for a definitive shift from traditional models of public administration in the sense that policies may be better designed, articulated, and governed through a collaborative approach, while service provision could be enhanced in terms of proximity, representativeness and innovativeness.  This book assesses these cross-sectoral relations across the public sector from a variety of contexts. Chapters consider public service design, public governance systems, philanthropy, housing policies, performance management and a number of other issues across national and comparative settings.

This special issue of Studies in Law, Politics, and Society aims to foster a dialogue that is inclusive, constructive, and innovative in order to lay the basis for evaluating the usefulness and impact of cultural expertise in modern litigation. It investigates the scope of cultural expertise as a new socio-legal concept that broadly concerns the use of social sciences in connection with rights and the solution of conflicts. While the definition of cultural expertise is new, the conflicts it applies to are not, and these range from criminal law to civil law, including international human rights. In this special issue, socio-legal scientists with interdisciplinary backgrounds scrutinize the applicability of the notion of cultural expertise in Europe and the rest of the World. Cases include murder, female genital mutilation, earthquake claims, Islamic law, underage marriages, child custody, adoption, land rights, and asylum. The authors debate on a variety of themes, such as legal pluralism, ethnicity, causal determinism, reification of culture, and the "culturalization" of defendants. The volume concludes with an overview of the ethical implications of the definition of cultural expertise and suggestions for a way forward.

Disasters experienced by the hospitality industry have steadily increased over the past few decades, and the industry has emerged as one of the most vulnerable businesses to disasters and emergencies, with a wave of catastrophic events striking it in recent years. Disaster management has become a vital tool as key industry players seek ways to cope with these unexpected events.  Disaster Planning and Preparedness in the Hotel Industry reveals that a majority of hotels are not financially capable to prepare and train personnel, and unable to afford financing activities or disaster and emergency preparedness plans and programs. Furthermore, it finds that although emergencies bring about trauma and hardship in hotels, they are at the same time establishing a re-engineered life cycle. The book goes on to suggest that for hotels to be well managed and adequately prepared for emergency, all stakeholders should be engaged in removing setbacks and barriers to effective disaster and emergency management and planning. It concludes that Jordanian hotel managers and stakeholders should establish a well detailed emergency planning and preparedness schedule and outline details of the collaborative management plan for emergency cases.   By identifying major emergencies that have occurred in the hotel industry; investigating hotels’ preparation for emergencies in the past; and exploring how hotels manage and overcome such emergencies; this book will increase the awareness of emergency managers and scholars on how to read, manage, and overcome the impact of emergencies in the hospitality industry.

Ecosystem service mapping is a fundamental part of developing healthier cities and ensuring environmentally-oriented land use.  Ecologically-Compatible Urban Planning: Designing a Healthier Environment demonstrates that renewed collaboration between environmental scientists and urban planners is essential in reforming the traditional method of urban planning to meet the emerging issues posed by contemporary living in urban areas affected by climate change. The first part introduces the reader to the main challenges in urban planning by explaining how changing conditions require a new approach to spatial policies and a more ecological-oriented approach to the city. Part two demonstrates how the traditional approach to the ecological study of urban systems should be integrated with new competences to aid the decision-making phase during urban planning. Part three presents case studies that demonstrate how urban areas are vulnerable to climate conditions and how changing scenarios affect quality of life.  This book demonstrates how to bridge the gap between the theoretical assessment of ecosystem service and its real utilization for land use planning practices.

Following the 2008 financial crisis, the Eurozone faced a major challenge to many of its most widely held beliefs around both short- and long-term economic policy. Contrary to what had been the received wisdom, it suddenly became clear that financial institutions can fail, that low interest rates are often unable to stimulate the economy, that the unemployment gap is still very large, and that external and internal imbalances are becoming more entrenched. Such sudden revelations left economists grasping for answers.  Rosaria Rita Canale and Rajmund Mirdala outline the economic orthodoxies that led to such massive blind spots, and they shed light on the emerging paradigms that continue to struggle to offer convincing frameworks that address what happened and what to do next. They show how dominant economic theories led to a progressive devaluing of the idea that coordinated economic policy offers an effective way of maintaining macroeconomic equilibrium, and they illustrate how the new economic environment calls for a new role for economic policy, one that allows for a more maneuverable monetary policy and a more active fiscal policy. What they ultimately suggest is that this renewed framework of cooperation among policy instruments would require a general rethinking of the political equilibria within the Eurozone, as a stable economic environment cannot be maintained at the expense of particular countries.  For its systematic analyses of the economic policy framework of the Eurozone, and for the rigor of its critiques of current ideas about how to move forward, Fiscal and Monetary Policy in the Eurozone is essential reading for postgraduate students of economics, and it is of keen interest to researchers, policymakers, journalists, and financial strategists.

This volume explores the ways in which civil society and governments employ transformative tactics of direct engagement in coordinating efforts toward the common good. The chapters highlight alternatives that are philosophically and pragmatically different from neoliberal austerity measures, which reduce coproduction to a cost-saving tactic. Instead of simplistic load-shedding and unfunded partnerships, collaborative governance and coproduction increasingly take on characteristics of social movements, wherein direct citizen engagement in public policy making and administrative implementation are seen as the collective pursuit of human flourishing and abundance. These approaches counter the status quo - both in terms of power dynamics and standard operating procedures. Civil society is increasingly reclaiming its roots in the more informal mechanisms of social movements. As governments reach out to engage these groups, they must develop a new stance toward collaboration - one that sees power as a generative force when shared rather than held through hierarchical or competitive dominance. This book shows how, through this transformation, genuine public value can be produced.

Rapid changes are underway in mobility systems worldwide, including the introduction of shared mobility solutions, Mobility as a Service and the testing of automated vehicles. These changes are driven by the development and application of ‘smart’ technologies. Transition to these technologies present significant opportunities for countries, cities and rural areas alike, offering the tempting prospect of economic benefit whilst resolving today’s safety, congestion, and pollution problems.   Yet while there is a wealth of research considering how these new technologies may impact on travel behaviour, improve safety and help the environment, there is a dearth of research exploring the key governance questions that the transition to these technologies pose in their disruption of the status quo, and changes to governance that may be required for the achievement of positive social outcomes. This book aims to step into this void and in doing so presents an agenda for future research and policy action.  Bringing together a collection of internationally recognised scholars, drawing on case studies from around the world, authors critically reflect on three primary governance considerations. First, the changing role of the state both during and post-transition. Second, identifying the voices shaping the smart mobility discourse. And third, analysing the implications for the state’s capacity to steer networks and outcomes as a result of these transitions. The authors argue that at present there exists a critical window of opportunity for researchers and practitioners to shape transitions and that this opportunity must be seized upon before it is too late.

This volume provides a unique insight into the ways local governments have maintained financial resilience in the face of the significant challenges posed by the era of austerity. Taking an international perspective, it provides an enlightening and practical analysis of the different capacities and responses that local governments deploy to cope with financial shocks.Moving beyond traditional approaches dealing with financial stress, the financial resilience perspective reveals a wider range of organisational responses and enables consideration of the dynamic role played by internal and external contextual factors. The international case study approach allows for a comparative analysis of financial resilience in the context of different administrative and policy environments. By providing a unifying view of financial resilience, the importance of building resilience into organisational financial management is demonstrated, uncovering the relative effectiveness of different resilience building approaches. This edited volume is a valuable source for practitioners and academics, as well as students of public policy, public management and financial management.