As China has shifted from a planned to a market-oriented economy, it has adjusted its energy policies accordingly. As a result, the Chinese energy industry has now gone through more than seventy years of transformation. Yet to date no single work has sought to assess the key factors driving these
changes and their effects on China’s energy security, even though such questions have implications for assessments of the world’s energy security.
Energy Security in Times of Economic Transition addresses this gap. Juxtaposing a domestic perspective with a wider, pan-energy-industry view, Yao Lixia explores trends in the evolution of China’s energy policy since its inception in 1949 and discusses the relations between policy changes and
macroeconomic reforms. Then, by employing a new, ground-breaking quantitative framework for evaluating energy security, Yao crucially shows that macroeconomic reform did not improve China’s energy security over the first three decades of the reform period but in fact restricted China from
developing more effective energy policies. This insight ultimately suggests lines of inquiry that can be extended to research in other countries, especially those in the midst of economic transition.
For its detailed history of China’s energy policy and its novel, widely applicable methodology for evaluating energy security, this book is a must-read for researchers and postgraduate students in economics, security studies, political economy, and international political economy.
Despite different legal and constitutional arrangements, in many states across Europe, public leaders are forging new collaborative relationships with non-state and civic actors to seek innovative ways of providing public services. Leadership varies between situations and contexts, but is still seen
as central to good governance and includes individuals who will promote institutional adaptations in the public interest. There are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are writers on the subject, as it is a complex social phenomenon, lacking clear boundaries. This volume questions
'what are the changing dynamics of public leadership across different European settings?' Anglo-American models of leadership have dominated and influenced current thinking. Chapters in this volume highlight emergent thinking and discussions on the strengths and weaknesses of current understandings
and knowledge. Authors investigate the tensions between Anglo-American and economic focused models of leadership and emergent policy and management paradigms that may challenge received wisdom.
Complexities and dilemmas are evident in journalism in the digital and data age. Scarcity of audiences’ attention jeopardises the survival of information media in the market, technological penetration increasingly renders journalism a complex information system, and the rise of partisan
journalism accompanies the crisis of objective reporting.
Analysing the evolving industry as it turns to the help of digital technologies such as algorithms and cloud computing to reach and engage local and global audiences, Journalism, Economic Uncertainty and Political Irregularity in the Digital and Data Era explores the challenges journalism faces in
great depth and detail. Tong discusses the transformation of quality journalism that has become high-tech, interdisciplinary, saturated with human interest, and sometimes even fiercely partisan under the influence of multiple disruptions brought about by digital technology, economic uncertainty, and
political irregularity.
A timely and important contribution to the research of journalism, Journalism, Economic Uncertainty and Political Irregularity in the Digital and Data Era bridges media with the fields of sociology, politics, technology, and culture studies – central for academics, writers and researchers.
This volume reflects on the global dimension of the 2008 banking and financial crisis and point to a bigger and deeper crisis of authority and legitimacy for public managers. The peak of the crisis might be passing but the crisis for civil society and civic institutions of governance and leadership
is far from over. The long term implications of these crises for governance, political and civic institutions are hard to be precise about. However, we can observe how across a number of nation states and supra national relationships (from the European Union to the IMF) are institutions and those
who lead, manage or hold them to account in crisis too. The broad group of scholars and academics examine key conceptual and theoretical ideas in contemporary international public management and explore: What are the implications of these developments for city managers and local political leaders
(from elected mayors to NGO leaders and activists) ? Is coalition and consensus building possible in a time of uncertainty and change? And, finally, what are the implications for those who seek to manage or administer public services in this time of crisis?
There is growing recognition and awareness that nature can help provide viable solutions to reduce vulnerability and generate value deploying the properties of ecosystems and the services they provide. Investing in nature can lead to substantial environmental, social and economic benefits by
reducing pollution, decreasing energy costs, improving health and well-being and increasing resilience to climate change and natural disasters.
Nature-Based Solutions for More Sustainable Cities makes a clear case of performances, impacts, and benefits generated by NBS in cities providing a comprehensive framework approach to understand the real and full potential of NBS at the urban level taking into account several aspects, from design
and planning to socio-economic evaluation and financial issues. Given the multifunctionality of NBS, the book collects contributions from several international experts ensuring the interaction between different disciplines contributing to enrich and to disseminate knowledge about NBS.
Britain is one of the world's richest countries, and yet the divide between rich and poor has never been starker, with some reports suggesting that as many as one in five in the UK live in poverty. This book, written by leading expert in inequality issues, Tracy Shildrick, provides a clear and
up-to-date account of the causes of poverty in Britain today, examining the two principal causes: low paid and insecure employment, and an inadequate benefits system, particularly for those out of work.
Yet these simple facts fly in the face of conventional popular and political wisdom that currently dominates the debate on poverty. The media in particular reinforce simple and 'common-sense' explanations of poverty at the expense of a more complex, but more accurate account. They focus on
individuals and individual behaviours, rather than discussing poverty as a condition that affects significant swathes of the population, or as something brought about by factors beyond the individual's control.
This important and timely book gets to the core of Britain's poverty problem and shows how social structures, and political and policy decisions, not the behaviour of individuals, are at the heart of the problem.
New Zealand (NZ) is widely regarded as being at the frontier of public policy reforms and public governance innovations. Bringing together acclaimed scholars and practitioners from NZ, including those who have led reforms, this edited collection examines the evolution of public policy in NZ. Through
focusing on four areas of NZ's strength in public policy governance and management - managing and governing the economy, governing the natural environment, the effectiveness and management of the public service, and the advancement of minority populations - the authors highlight specific challenges,
contexts and responses, with an emphasis on contemporary matters such as wellbeing, sustainability and fiscal responsibility. The authors discuss practices for developing innovative public policy and governance, discuss public governance reforms in detail and examine the use of innovative public
management and e-government practices. Through the analysis of specific policies and management tools, this title offers an assessment of the impact of policies and their implementation. This book will appeal to scholars, practitioners, policy advisors and consultants in national and international
organizations who are interested in, or involved with, cutting-edge, innovative public policy and governance strategies.
Public Sector Reform in South Africa 1994-2021 is an examination of specific public sector reforms in three core Public Administration areas in the democratic South Africa: political-administrative relationships, the delegation of authority to senior managers and performance management.
Comprehensively spanning a critical period from 1994 to the current day, this collection constitutes the first systematic study of public sector reform in the gamut of the democratic era in the country. The author traces developments of policy following a rapid political shift, shedding light on
previously unexplored evolving structures and systems.
The Public Policy and Governance series brings together the best in international research on policy and governance issues. Books within the series are authored and edited by experts in the field and present new and insightful research on a range of policy and governance issues across the globe.
With the introduction of new market-oriented approaches to infrastructure finance policy decision-making in the national and subnational public sectors, there is a greater emphasis on the need for resource efficiency in the delivery of public services. There is also a critical need to evaluate and
assess the effectiveness of infrastructure finance policy implementation. Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) bring an agility and fresh perspective to the financing and delivery of public goods and services, and allow for a higher level of creativity, innovation, and flexibility during times of
dynamic change and high demand for responsive solutions.
By introducing a comprehensive new lens through which to view infrastructure finance policy as an instrument capable of achieving long-term national and subnational policy objectives, this study offers a unique insight into the potential benefits of the adoption of PPPs within the context of
long-term capital investment planning. Through the examination of case studies from the United States, Albania and Mauritius, the author presents a transparent and integrated analysis of the role of PPPs as a policy option within this context. By demonstrating how PPPs can be utilized as a means of
efficiently financing and delivering capital infrastructure projects within unified and comprehensive capital management and budgeting systems, this book is essential reading for researchers, policy decision-makers and students of public policy, capital budgeting and infrastructure finance.
In this latest volume of the Critical Perspectives on International Public Sector Management series, Professors John Diamond and Joyce Liddle have gathered leading scholars and new research to help discern some immediate areas of public policy making that have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
With this new profoundly different context, “business as normal” is seen as no longer viable.
Reimagining Public Sector Management delves into the crisis and emergency management of the pandemic, exploring the ways in which different agencies responded to the pandemic and the lessons learnt in terms of disaster planning and co-ordination. Chapters analyse the ways in which health services
and the associated work linked to vaccine development provided significant lessons for those involved in public policy making and analysis before highlighting the emergence of a new consensus on the role of public agencies and institutions could play in the post pandemic environment as captured in
the slogan “Build Back Better”.