Academic literature on the topic 'Lead local authority'

The new constitution links the duties of local governments to development,implying that the financial dilemma of local authorities caused by theculture of non~payment for municipal services, should be seen in the lightof the deve/opment~rientated situation in South Africa. As the failures ofthe authoritarian top-down development approach became evident, it is not'8 solution to remove the electricity cables of non-payers, neither is it asolution to modify behaviour only. The motivation behind a campaignaiming at correcting the situation should focus on the capacity building inthe community, which is in line with participatory development and DSCthinking. This can only be· done in a participatory situation, whereinformation is released about the operations of the local authority, and thecommunity is educated about the functions and processes taking place inthe local authority. In a workshop situation, the needs of the communityshould be prioritised, in order to address those needs. It is believed that byunderstanding the various functions and operations of the local authority,attitudes of the community will change towards the local authority, and thatsuch change might lead to a change in the culture of non~payment.

This article discusses the impact of a leadership development programme that attempted to develop leaders and leadership amongst actual and prospective managers within a large local authority social work service. It concentrates on empirical findings that illustrate the forms of change that took place at the level of the individual and those that extended beyond leader development and into leadership behaviours that involved collective and collaborative action. It sets the discussion in the context of previous studies into leadership development activities before briefly discussing the methods of evaluating training and education activities. The evaluation aimed to assess the impact the programme had on individual leadership practice, the participants’ teams and on the provision of services through attempting to evidence observable performance outcomes. The findings suggest that there were elements of the programme that had sustainable impact at the level of the individual and in wider operational terms within the service.

Abstract Globally, there is a strong trend among local authority offices towards focusing on energy sustainability. This movement is vital as they faced challenges in managing their assets due to financial constraints and declining resources. This study aims to investigate the commitments of the local authority offices in Malaysia towards sustainable energy practices. The objective of this study was to identify the sustainable energy initiatives implemented within the selected local authorities in Malaysia as a case study. For this research context, ‘the commitment’ refers to the extent of information found concerning sustainable energy initiatives undertaken to manage their assets. Eight (8) semi-structured interviews with FM practitioners representing the eight local authorities from the City Hall and Municipal Council categories were conducted. Generally, the commitment of the local authority offices in Malaysia towards sustainable energy implementation was still at an initial stage, with seven (7) related initiatives identified. However, the introduction of energy-saving techniques, energy-saving technology, energy-saving equipment, and encouraging the involvement of officers and staff in energy-saving was the most significant initiatives identified. Therefore, given this perspective, the proactive role of local authorities is needed towards sustainable energy implementation. Indeed, this organisation have to take the lead in achieving sustainability goal.

The Law On Heat Supply grants local governments the authority to organize reliable heat supply. The problematic aspect of the implementation of this authority is, first of all, the fact that currently there is no uniform approach to the implementation of the authority of local governments to organize reliable heat supply in the legislation and law enforcement practice. The legislator does not specify what actions should be taken by the local government to ensure reliable heat supply. This article suggests to consider, on the basis of examples from court practice, the ways of implementing the local government’s authority to organize reliable heat supply, which are not mentioned in the Law On Heat Supply: the practice of the local government to subsidize heat supply organizations and heat consumers; the practice of the local government to establish legal entities, commercial organizations, which are engaged in activities on heat supply to consumers, and to exercise subsequent control; the practice of withdrawing and granting the status of a unified heat supply organization without observing the procedure established by law with reference to a man-made emergency. The identified problems lead to the conclusion that it is necessary to improve the current regulation. Formalization of the ways of implementation of the local government’s authority to organize reliable heat supply will significantly reduce the use of controversial practices of implementation of this authority by local governments, will make it impossible for law enforcers to interpret Article 6 of the Law On Heat Supply in a broad way, as well as to exclude the interference of the local government in the economic activities of heat supply organizations. All conclusions drawn by the author in this article are the subjective opinion of the author and do not reflect the official position of her employer.

Local authorities are well placed to realise co-benefits of integrated local energy systems; however, in the UK they have no statutory energy mandate. Planning and developing clean energy are discretionary, and persistent budget reductions, combined with the lack of strategic direction from the UK government for more localised energy provision, limit local capacity, expertise and resources. Nevertheless, some local authorities have led energy initiatives but have been unable to stimulate investment at the pace and scale required to align with net zero greenhouse gas targets. Using evidence from such initiatives, this paper discusses the institutional changes needed to enable local authorities to act. It examines existing climate and local energy plans, and their integral socio-economic value. Using this evidence, investment opportunities from locally led net zero programmes are identified. EU technical assistance funds provided a particularly successful route to local energy developments: based on value of investment secured against initial funding, it is estimated that GBP 1 million technical assistance funding to every local authority would lead to GBP 15 billion investment in local energy. Other potential funding innovations are assessed and the paper concludes with recommendations for policy and resource measures needed to convert local ambition into clean energy and energy saving investment at scale.

AbstractThis article takes as its focus the place of ethics within the profession of educational psychology. It argues that ethics within educational psychology is very much an embryonic field of inquiry, even though in their distinctive ways, ethics and educational psychology have much in common as critiques of human behaviour. Generic “at risk” situations which may lead to ethical complications are identified – unforeseen dilemmas, inadequate anticipation, unavoidable dilemmas, unclear dilemmas, inadequate sources of guidance and loyalty clashes. Drawing upon the literature and professional experiences it is then suggested that there are common ethically troubling issues and situations which educational psychologists have to confront – confidentiality, questionable interventions, competence, testing and assessment, resource allocation, collusive practice, conduct of colleagues and provision. Ways and means to promote greater ethical mindfulness among individual educational psychologists (EPs) and within local education authority (LEA) psychology services are suggested. These include planned continuing professional development (CPD) which takes as its foci the importance of ethical insight, ethical principles and ethical decision-making. It is also proposed that psychology services consider a range of organisational arrangements to heighten ethical mindfulness – the formal adoption of professional codes of conduct, ethics education during induction, the establishment of an ethics committee, a charter of users’ rights, the use of an ethical ombudsman and mentors, and the establishment of ethical case conferences along with the elevation of professional supervision to increase the opportunities for conscious consideration of ethical issues.

The role of traditional authorities in local governance has evolved steadily in different parts of Africa. It is assumed that, in most parts of the continent, traditional authorities’ legitimacy enables them to play a lead role in local governance and development. This study scrutinizes the trajectory of traditional authority in contemporary governance. The objective is to review how social construction rooted in tradition is made to fit into contemporary society. Accordingly, an interpretive approach was adopted within a qualitative methodological framework which informed a case study as the research design type. Respondents were purposefully selected from the traditional council and local government functionaries in Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Suhum, and Cape Coast Municipalities in Ghana’s eastern and central regions. Data were obtained through one-on-one interviews, non-participant observation, documents, and material culture analysis. The findings of this study revealed that even though the role of traditional authorities in the community has evolved, post-colonial governments have not fully incorporated it into the local governance structure thereby restricting them to mere advisors and consultants on customs and traditions. Notwithstanding, traditional authorities are highly revered within the Ghanaian society with strong social bonds providing support as partners in development at the local level. Given that, this study recommends an operative institutional framework that not only involves traditional authority in local governance but duly involves and aptly defines their mandate in the community.

AbstractDiscretion is particularly vulnerable to the misuse of authority by officials which could lead to collusion, corruption and nepotism and made the administration of government no longer aims for public’s benefit and interest but for the advantage of a few and conflict interest of corrupt people. Therefore, the clear procedures related to the implementation for supervision of the discretion, especially on local government in the the Republic of Indonesia.This study aims to provide a more in-depth understanding of the issues of implementation and supervision of discretion of government officials. The form of legal research used in this study is juridical-normative research. Juridical-normative legal research consists of research on principles, systematics, and legal synchronization. This study also based on laws and regulations related to the implementation and supervision of discretion by officials. This study shows that every official of the state administration in performing their duties shall be based on legitimate authority, which is provided by laws and regulations. Governance should be based on law (wet matigheid van bestuur = legality principle = le rincile de la egalite de'l administration). The supervision of the discretion of government officials is prohibited to the abuse of authority. Government Officials are prohibited from misusing authority. Supervision is carried out by internal control apparatus. The results of supervision are: no errors; there are administrative errors; or there are administrative errors with a financial loss to the state.Keywords: Discretion, Supervision, Local Government.

Fiscal decentralization gives authority to the head of region and regional parliament to manage the local budget. The outcomes of the research indicate that the Good Financial Governance principle has been subject to frequent study in its understanding as a new paradigm for local financial management. As it turns out in practice, however, it has certain weaknesses, particularly in view of the accountability and legitimacy aspects of its establishment. In fact, the local budget has become a vehicle for corruption by the state administration is in the center of power, local autonomy shift some corruptor from the center to the local. The issue is how to manage the local budget in order to minimize corruption. If the commitment of the management of local budget is based on new principles in the local financial management, it believed that the local budget is governed annually by the local government will lead to the people’s welfare in the region. Based on such view, the Good Financial Governance principles appears to be the ideal approach to be applied in managing the local budgeting system.

Purpose: There are two key governance forms in Ghana, specifically traditional governance and democratic governance. Accelerating development in the local communities requires effective collaboration and the fusion of the two governances divide to harness the unique capabilities and opportunities embedded within each paradigm. The perceptions hold by local and traditional leaders about each other is fundamental to collaborative efforts. Such perceptions speak to the psychosocial, convictional and behaviour of local leaders. Methodology: This study through a field survey samples the views of two leadership divide about each other in terms of their ability to drive positive change in the community to drive accelerated community development. The study was conducted among three select districts specifically, the Accra Metropolis, Kumasi Metropolis and the Tamale Metropolis using key informant interviews, and focus group discussions to gather the data. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. Findings: The findings of the study indicated that there are shared perceptions of strengths of both systems of governance for developing local communities. The traditional leaders are seen to be strong on cultural legitimacy, moral authority, communication competence, and historical knowledge, all of which helps in social mobilization within the local communities. The local government leaders were found to exercise strength in the areas of access to money and resources, legal authority, and enforcement authority. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: We conclude that there are opportunities to harness each of these strengths such that a successful fusion of local and traditional systems of government will lead transformative leadership for sustainable local development.

The research comprises a suite of studies that examines and develops the Lead Authority Partnership Scheme (LAPS) as a central intervention strategy for health and safety by local authority (LA) enforcers. Partnership working is a regulatory concept that in recent years has become more popular but there has been little research conducted to investigate, explore and evaluate its practical application. The study reviewed two contrasting approaches to partnership working between LAs and businesses, both of which were intended to secure improvements in the consistency of enforcement by the regulators and in the health and safety management systems of the participating businesses. The first was a well-established and highly prescriptive approach that required a substantial resource commitment on the part of the LA responsible for conducting a safety management review (SMR) of the business. As a result of his evaluation of the existing ‘full SMR’ scheme, the author developed a second, more flexible approach to partnership working. The research framework was based upon a primarily qualitative methodology intended to investigate and explore the impact of the new flexible arrangements for partnership working. The findings from this study of the flexible development of the scheme were compared and contrasted with those from studies of the established ‘full SMR’ scheme. A substantial degree of triangulation was applied in an attempt to strengthen validity and broaden applicability of the research findings. Key informant interviews, participant observation, document/archive reviews, questionnaires and surveys all their particular part to play in the overall study. The findings from this research revealed that LAPS failed to deliver consistency of LA enforcement across multiple-outlet businesses and the LA enforced business sectors. Improvement was however apparent in the safety management systems of the businesses participating in LAPS. Trust between LA inspector and safety professional was key to the success of the partnerships as was the commitment of these key individuals. Competition for precious LA resources, the priority afforded to food safety over health and safety, the perceived high resource demands of LAPS, and the structure and culture of LAs were identified as significant barriers to LA participation. Flexible approaches, whilst addressing the resource issues, introduced some fresh concerns relating to credibility and delivery. Over and above the stated aims of the scheme, LAs and businesses had their own reasons for participation, notably the personal development of individuals and kudos for the organisation. The research has explored the wider implications for partnership working with the overall conclusion it is most appropriately seen as a strategic level element within a broader structured intervention strategy.

La lecture de l’article 72 de la Constitution témoigne d’une organisation territoriale décentralisée reposant sur l’absence de hiérarchisation formelle des collectivités territoriales. La décentralisation française repose, d’une part, sur la reconnaissance d’une autonomie garantie aux collectivités territoriales, avec le principe de libre administration des collectivités territoriales et, d’autre part, sur un refus de hiérarchisation des collectivités territoriales qui se traduit notamment par le principe d’interdiction de tutelle entre collectivités territoriales. Pourtant, certaines collectivités territoriales apparaissent susceptibles de déterminer le contenu des décisions des autres collectivités territoriales. Pour dépasser ce paradoxe, notre thèse se propose d’interroger les rapports entre collectivités territoriales à travers le concept de domination. Une telle approche permet de constater que les rapports de domination entre collectivités territoriales sont consubstantiels à la décentralisation. Le premier temps de l’étude démontre que la domination entre collectivités territoriales est induite de la législation. En effet, le législateur organise par différents procédés une domination fonctionnelle des collectivités territoriales. La domination entre collectivités territoriales connaît aussi une forme spontanée qui se révèle permise par la loi. Or, cela n’apparaît finalement possible qu’en raison de la libre administration des collectivités territoriales. Le second temps de temps de l’étude révèle que la domination entre collectivités territoriales est induite de la libre administration des collectivités territoriales. L’étude du principe de libre administration permet de démontrer que son contenu influence de façon latente ce que peut être la domination entre collectivités territoriales. Les rapports de domination entre collectivités territoriales apparaissent alors comme une manifestation originale de la libre administration des collectivités territoriales
A reading of Article 72 of the French Constitution reveals a decentralized territorial organization based on the absence of a formal hierarchy of local authorities. French decentralization is based, on the one hand, on the recognition of a guaranteed autonomy for local authorities, with the principle of free administration of local authorities, and, on the other hand, on the rejection on the refusal to establish a hierarchy among local authorities, which is reflected, in particular, by the principe of the prohibition of supervision between local authorities. However, some local authorities appear likely to determine the content of the decisions of other local authorities. To overcome this paradox, our thesis aimes to examine relations between local authorities through the concept of domination. Such an approach reveals that relations of domination between local authorities are consubstantial with decentralization. The first part of the study demonstrates that domination between local authorities is induces by legislation. Indeed, throught various mechnisms, the legislator organizes the functional domination of local authorities. Domination between local authorities also takes a spontaneous form that is allowed by law. However, this is only possible because of the free administration of local authorities. The second part of the study reveals that domination between local authorities is induced by the free administration of local authorities. An examination of the principle of free administration demonstrates that its content latently influences what domination between local authorities can be. Thus, relations of domination between local authorities appear as an original manifestation of the free administration of local authorities

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Geography and Environmental Studies. October 2017.
In general, studies on development concur that participatory practice at the local level is influenced by local power relations. The structures of power in local communities are important in the way they determine the extent to which citizens participate in decision-making and development activities. However, there are a few empirical studies examining the impacts of power relations on youth participation in peripheral areas experiencing the rapid expansion of large-scale mining activities. Drawing on detailed ethnographic research conducted in two villages that host Ivanplats’s Platreef Mining Project, this study examines how the structures of power in Mokopane Traditional Authority Area in Limpopo Province shape and influence the character of youth participation in mining-led community development decisions and activities. The study adopts Gaventa’s Power Cube as its primary theoretical tool of analysis. The study shows how the youth, as a social category, hardly participate in mining-led community development because the model of participation adopted by local powerholders encourages the marginalisation of young people. Instead of reducing the power imbalances, the model is used to enhance the power of traditional elites over young people. The study also shows that the youth have not passively endured marginalization from decision making processes. Instead, the youth in the study area have actively sought to create alternative networks and spaces of associational life to counter their marginalization from local decision making structures. Young people at local level are resisting their continued exclusion from mining-led community development. They are mobilizing their identity and power to challenge the power of traditional elites over decision-making and demand attention on issues that affect them. The findings of the study provide insights into the emerging power shifts that take place at local level in communities coexisting with large-scale extractive industries. Power imbalances along social divisions like gender, generation and patriarchy fuel social conflicts and struggles for mineral resources in mining communities in various parts of the world. Insights from the research also shed light on local power configurations and contestations around the distribution of mining benefits. These insights are important for policy makers. Evidence on the socio-economic impacts of mining on different social groups and their access to participatory processes can enhance the efficacy of policy interventions meant to create more inclusive mining regimes. Overall, inclusive mining economies ensure that large-scale investments in this sector uplift local communities through, among other things, the reduction various forms of exclusions and related social conflicts.
LG2018

How is black and Latino representation affected by state takeovers of local government? Since racial minorities have had a complex history in the struggle between local autonomy and centralized authority, when does state centralization lead to increased political empowerment for racial minorities? Conversely, when does centralized authority negatively affect political empowerment among racial minorities? To answer these questions, the chapter examines how state takeovers of local school districts affect black and Latino descriptive representation on local school boards. Relying on a case study of Newark, New Jersey, and analysis of every state takeover of a local school district, the chapter shows that contrary to conventional wisdom, takeovers and centralization can increase descriptive representation among marginalized populations. On the other hand, the chapter also shows that under other conditions, takeovers are even more disempowering than the scholarship has previously imagined and understood.

This chapter analyses the single point of entry (SPOE) approach to bank resolution. The strategy involves the application of resolution powers at the level of the top holding or parent company by a single resolution authority. This resolution authority would probably be located in the jurisdiction responsible for the global consolidated supervision of the banking group. The assets and the continuity of operations of subsidiaries are preserved, which avoids the need to commence distinct resolution proceedings at lower levels within the group. Although a resolution led by the home resolution authority may require assistance from a host authority, in terms of the application of resolution tools locally to support the top level resolution, or to bail-in intra-group debt claims, the principle is that no distinct, independent resolution proceedings should be required, as regards local subsidiaries of the group. The chapter addresses both the UK and US approach to SPOE.

As many social inequalities widen, this is a crucial survey of local authorities' evolving role in health, social care, and wellbeing. The book reviews structural changes in provision and procurement, and explores social determinants of health including intergenerational needs and housing. The book begins with an overview of the relationship between health and housing, regional disparities and responses across England, Wales, and Scotland in the provision of health and social care, and local authority commissioning. It considers how the Municipal Corporations Act (1835) led to the establishment of elected town councils. In the mid- to late 20th century, municipalisation gave way to centralised government, which subverted the autonomy of local authorities. Currently, social care is provided and funded by local authorities and private funders. The main objective of social care is to help people to live well and happily, and live as long as they can. This person-centred approach is in contrast to the systems that have been developed to support the health care needs of people. In 2020, poverty still remains a key driver of poor health and wellbeing. With detailed assessments of regional disparities and case studies of effective strategies and interventions from local authorities, the book addresses complex issues (Wicked Issues), considers where responsibility for wellbeing lies and points the way to future policy-making. The Centre for Partnering (CfP), a network of universities working with the private and third sectors, is a key outcome of this innovative review.

In this chapter we discuss the implementation of prostitution policy in Austria and the Netherlands. It introduces three key analytic concepts: policy implementation, policy design and policy instruments. Both Austria and the Netherlands initially had pragmatic, and in the case of the latter, progressive, national laws. Through analysis of the design and instruments by which these laws were put into effect at the local level, we observed a gradual change towards a more punitive, regressive approach. In the Netherlands this occurred through a process of regulatory drift, a gradual change in the focus and goals of a policy as the result of a succession of small decisions at the implementation level, without any formal decision at higher levels of political authority. In Vienna the mechanism was agency capture, the appropriation of the implementation process by one agency, the police, that imposes its own goals and operating procedures on the policy process. In both cases, the implementation process was driven by a logic of combatting trafficking that led to ever more intrusive measures to incapacitate and control an opponent that was perceived as powerful and devious.

Memory in early modern Europe closely related to the knowledge of what was ‘customary’. The term ‘custom’ was used to describe both cultural, often local, habits, and usages that had acquired legal power, and its status derived from its being ancient and its being common knowledge. Custom was both an elite tool to keep the poor in place, and the best strategy for poor people to defend themselves against unwanted changes. In the course of the early modern period the status of custom changed. First, codification of custom rendered it less flexible than it had once been. Secondly, the emergence of new intellectual tools led to more scepticism about the past as a stable source of authority. Finally, as a consequence of contact with non-Europeans, there emerged new ideas on the development of human culture, in which the abandoning of custom came to be seen as a hallmark of civility.

AbstractThe magnitude and effects of Climate Change (CC) such as floods and storms are projected to increase in the future. There is also a consensus among scholars that rich CC knowledge in urban planning can lead to better Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Mitigation (CCM) outcomes. However, generally the role of planners and plans in responding to Climate Change (CC) challenges has been disappointing and increasingly questioned. This chapter analyses the role of planning education, experience and/or practice among professional planners in addressing climate adaptation and mitigation issues. Field studies involving face to face interviews were conducted in Arusha Municipality in 2019. Questionnaires were completed by practitioners and policymakers. The findings highlight the gaps in CC knowledge and capacity among planners and policymakers. Also, the extent of informality, the major force transforming urban land use and development is overlooked. Most importantly, there is insensitivity, lack of accountability and political commitment by the Local Government Authority (LGA) on CC issues in planning, budgeting, and management. We argue that improving the role of urban planning in CCA and CCM requires: a recognition of the indispensable role of LGAs; substantive engagement of stakeholders; acknowledgement of socio-cultural and economic barriers to CCA/CCM at the local level; guidance on informality; and adaption of multi-level governance and integration of spatial and economic planning at city and community levels.

The paper describes URBE’s journey towards cataloguing uniformity. Starting with the recognition of the state of the art of cataloguing in URBE and the analysis of the document List of Local Variants to the AACR2/RDA Cataloguing Rules admitted in the catalogues of the URBE network, it narrates the circumstances that led to the appointment of the Commission for the Revision of Local Variants and to the approval of the document Model for authority data for the URBE network 2022, which provides the indications for the compilation of access points and authority data. Finally, the highlights of the model and the tasks of the new Commission on Local Variants and Cataloguing in URBE are presented.

AbstractUrgent public health problems often compel Public health professionals into situations where individual rights and population health are seemingly in conflict. Legal actions that impact an individual’s behavior may be ethically justified, but the exercise of authority alone, despite being legal, may not always be the best option. Public health interventions are more effective when practitioners have gained an individual’s trust and compliance becomes voluntary. Cooperation, not confrontation, at the individual and at the community levels, is as necessary as authority. Applying an ethical framework in the case of partner notification (PN) for sexually transmitted disease intervention supports the process of relationship-building between the practitioner and the client and leads to more successful disease intervention and prevention, promoting public health, and improving trust between local health departments and the communities they serve.

AbstractParticipation in the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia from 1992 to 1993 was the landmark case in the history of Japan’s peacekeeping policy as the first military contribution based on the Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) Act, established in June 1992. However, lingering hostility in the field seriously troubled the deployment because it generated various problems, such as a serious gap between official policy and actual situation on the ground. The contradictions led to the shocking loss of two Japanese personnel on duty. Harsh reality of Cambodia generated the Self-Defense Forces’ (SDF’s) informal adaptation of “robustness”—that is, de facto patrols—in the absence of formal legal authority. These bitter experiences sowed the seeds of the Government of Japan (GoJ) eventual pursuit of “robustness” 23 years later by the second Abe administration as part of the 2015 Peace and Security Legislation. The experience in Cambodia also led to the development of “integration” in Japan’s peacekeeping efforts, especially in terms of direct Japan Engineering Groups (JEG) support to local community through civil construction works. The local people appreciated both the JEG’s skills and their friendly attitude. This was a successful experience not only for the JEG, but also for the GoJ, which was laying the foundation for Japan’s pursuit of greater “integration.”

AbstractThere are numerous initiatives at the European level that are aimed at increasing the capacity of cities with regard to sustainable mobility planning by developing guidelines and various forms of training materials. An important prerequisite for systematic capacity building is to understand what capacity actually means in the context of mobility planning and which concrete factors influence the ability to shape and deliver sustainable mobility solutions. In the SUITS EU project, a tool for capacity assessment was developed and tested with six participant cities. Through interviews and workshops with mobility stakeholders in the participating cities, 15 challenges that the cities face while planning and implementing mobility plans were identified and led to the design of a set of 54 indicators that assess the capacity of an authority to develop and implement a mobility plan. The presented methodology enables authorities to self-assess their performance and capacity and identify the sources of the problems they face and that are impeding their effectiveness in developing and implementing mobility plans. The application in the six participating cities demonstrated that the evaluation tool here introduced is comprehensive, encompasses all the aspects of the environment in which a local authority (LA) operates and effectively highlights the areas where interventions are required so that the LAs can systematically increase their capacity.

AbstractTolive well in a world worth living in for all Australians, Aboriginal voices should be central to Australian schooling. This is a radical shift from the current education policy, where Aboriginal-informed knowledge, leadership, and practices are peripheral. Through the lens of the theory of practice architectures, this chapter proposes that Aboriginal leading practices differ from many taken-for-granted Western leadership practices. Aboriginal leading practices—founded on deep listening, reciprocity, and respect are key to creating a world worth living in for all in Australian schools. Our findings are supported by the Aboriginal Voices Project systematic review that discovered that intercultural, collective approaches to leading in schools are more effective than transformational leadership models, bringing shared power and authority through trusting collaborations with local Aboriginal communities. The Culturally Nourishing Schooling Project, emerging from this research, prioritises relationship-building practices grounded in Aboriginal community-led practices that support cultural identity, curriculum, pedagogy, and whole-school reform.

The Palmwag Tourism Concession comprises more than 550,000 hectares of the Damaraland Communal Land Area in Kunene Region. To the west lies the Skeleton Coast National Park. Otherwise, the Concession is situated within a mosaic of differently designated communal lands to which diverse qualifying Namibians have access, habitation and use rights: namely, Sesfontein, Anabeb and Torra communal area conservancies on the Concession’s north, north-east and southern boundaries, with Etendeka Tourism Concession to the east. Established under the pre-Independence Damaraland Regional Authority led by Justus ǁGaroëb, Palmwag Concession lies fully north of the vet fence/“Red Line” that marches east to west across Namibia. In the 1950s, however, the Red Line was positioned further north with part of the current concession comprised of a former commercial farming area for white settler farmers, the expansion of which was associated with evictions of peoples Indigenous to this area. The iterative clearance of people from this area also helped make possible the 1962 western expansion of Etosha Game Park, and followed by the establishment of a large trophy hunting concession between the Hoanib and Ugab rivers in the 1970s. Drawing on archive research, interviews with key actors linked with the Concession’s history, and on-site oral history with local elders through much of the Concession’s terrain, this chapter places the Concession more fully within the historical circumstances and effects of its making. In doing so, competing and overlapping colonial, Indigenous and conservation visions of the landscape are explored for their roles in empowering different types of access and exclusion.

This chapter is devoted to understanding the way in which authoritarianism was upgraded in the Egyptian system of local governance. It starts by clarifying the shortcomings that could emerge if analysis were restricted merely to addressing the overcentralized structure of local government. Such a weakness could lead to overlooking the structural bifurcation in the system, that allows authoritarianism to substitute informal political decentralization for the formal one. To avoid this angle, the chapter introduces a dual interpretive approach that utilizes a process-tracing method to understand the Egyptian regime’s strategies in decentralizing its system of local governance, most importantly with regards to the role of elections. The decentralization process under Mubarak, however, did not significantly affect the legal structure of authority but rather the regime networks of power, which led to a fundamental change in the role of the regime’s grassroots networks and leadership.

This chapter flashes back to the early 1930s, when liberal and socialist leaders of Local 5 brought charges against young communist activists for disrupting the union and challenging the authority and judgment of its leadership. The “trial” of six communist union members, in preparation for their expulsion, was led by liberal philosopher and educational reformer, John Dewey, a friend and supporter of Local 5 president Henry Linville. In pushing the so-called “Dewey Trial” in spring 1933, Linville and Dewey set the persecution of communist teachers on a track that would eventually lead to the Coudert inquisition, by exploiting accusations of bad faith and misrepresentation against radical union members. Linville, a conservative socialist, joined in emerging efforts to isolate and defeat the growing communist activism of the Popular Front.

Public health studies issues and policies implemented and often governed by local-level public health departments. Yet public health policy research emphasizes state and federal relations. Obscuring the role of local politics and in designing and implementing public health policies inaccurately portrays the functioning of public health systems and may lead to incomplete assumptions about the effects of health politics on public health. Homelessness is no exception, with a long history of expanded governing authority for communities and local governments. To understand homeless policy governance, we must draw from theories of urban politics and intergovernmental relations that have been developed to explain social policy. Chapter 2 develops the main theoretical argument of the book: limited coordination between policy interests governing homeless policy and trends of decentralization in homeless policy governance contribute to fewer publicly funded policy alternatives for solutions to chronic homelessness and increases the policy alternatives for private actors.

The ports of the world are operated by port authorities. The systems for establishing port facilities are roughly classified into two types depending on their sources of revenue. In the first type of system (used mainly for channels, breakwaters, berths, etc.), the national/local government and the port authority share the cost of construction. In the second type of system (used for cargo handling facilities, reclaimed lands, etc.), the port authority alone raises funds through a port-related bond-financed project and issues bonds. One characteristic of such bond-financed projects is that the costs of operating the facility and redeeming the bonds are funded through usage fees for the ground and profit from the sale of reclaimed land. Port authorities now require a smooth redemption policy for bonds issued in the past. However, port authorities have found it difficult to choose between having to raise usage fees and land prices high enough to enable smooth redemption in bond-financed projects on the one hand and having to reduce usage fees and land prices to reinforce international competitiveness in port logistics on the other. Unless a solution to this problem is found quickly, the finances of port authorities may become even more constrained, given the rising trend in port construction costs due to the risks of disasters such as earthquakes and due to growing interest rates. This is because prior investments are required for the construction of port facilities that takes a long time (between 5 and 10 years) and usage fees and profits from the sale of land must be suppressed to low levels because of political pressure. This will lead to larger bond issues and therefore a greater necessity for a smooth redemption policy of port facilities in the case of ocean space utilization. The authors first describe the structure of port management in the world, and analyze the financial situation of port authorities. Next, the authors point out that as the capital, maintenance, and management costs of port facilities grow in response to large-scale natural disasters, which exceed existing assumptions, and other factors, port authorities are being forced to take measures to address this. Lastly, the authors argue that public incentive assistance to shipping companies and logistics companies can effectively address the conflicting demands of reinforcing international competitiveness, strengthening disaster restoration capabilities, and enabling the smooth redemption of bonds in bond-financed projects.

A port logistics is classified into two kinds, a container logistics and a bulk logistics. In the field of a container logistics, a terminal operator pursues large-scale management of its container terminals by global M&A corresponding to the global growth of the container handling number, which resulted in container terminal operators’ oligopolization. In the field of a bulk freight logistics, the private enterprises, which invest in and improve port equipment by themselves, are changing in the direction to reduce number of handling ports and to invest in port equipment intensively corresponding to the vigorous resource demand of the world. The economic activities of the private enterprises are progressing on the basis of the management strategy which differs between “oligopolization” of a container logistics and “selection and concentration” of a bulk freight logistics. On the other hand, since management of ports is the basis supporting a national logistics, each country of the world carries out various public participations, such as a legal support and a financial support. For example, in Japan, although ‘a port authority system’ was brought to Japan almost 60 years ago by U.S.A. and the management right of main ports were transferred to local governments from national government, Japanese government has been taking the lead in implementation of many policies to strength global competitiveness of industry reflecting the flow of global privatization and concession. Recently, many countries have been changing their public participation policies. A country has established the system which increases private investment and reduces public financial support since capital investment remaining power has decreased according to aggravation of the finances of national government and local governments. The other country has established the system which backs up logistics activity with public support. This paper, to utilize ocean space, will show a port logistics policy of Japanese government, particularly the historical flow and the prospective view of the public participation to a port logistics based on the logistics trend of the world.

In recent years, the threat of cyber-attacks has been increasing yearly. Various organizations should take countermeasures for it. In the face of increasing threats, organizations need to take not only technical measures but also human countermeasures. However, cyber-attacks themselves are becoming more sophisticated, so it is important for organizations to prepare countermeasures and organizational structures based on the assumption that incidents due to cyber-attacks will occur. Moreover organizations are required to minimize the damage caused by cyber-attack incidents and continue their business operations.This study focused on human countermeasures especially organizational structures, designed an incident response exercise, and conducted it with approximately 60 members of a critical infrastructure company in Japan. Based on the records of the exercise and the results of the post-exercise questionnaire, these results examine organizational and human barriers that organizations may face in incident response and the organizational structure that minimizes the damage from incidents. The incident response exercise was based on a scenario in which a hypothetical local infrastructure company was infected with ransomware and could not fulfill its role as a local infrastructure. The roles of management, IT department, and upper-level managers and personnel in the field departments were defined, and how incident response would be conducted from each position was examined. The exercise was recorded chronologically using the chronology used in disaster recovery, and the instructions given by whom and to whom were organized in chronological order so that the participants could look back on the details of their responses after the exercise. A questionnaire survey was conducted after the exercise, and the exercise itself received a high evaluation, with an average score of 4 or higher out of 5. In addition, information on important items in incident response, including changes before and after the exercise, was collected through free-response statements. Context-based evaluation and analysis of the collected results revealed what members of the Japanese critical infrastructure community consider important in incident response. Furthermore, from the contents recorded in chronology during the exercise, the process of escalation and decision-making to management and upper management was analyzed to identify barriers such as delays in reporting and decision-making that may lead to the expansion of incident damage. In addition, based on the results of these analyses, we will deepen our thinking and make recommendations on the organizational structure and transfer of authority for rapid incident response.

The energy community, as a new mode of citizen participation in the European renewable energy market, highlights the close connection between energy decentralisation, territorial development, and the crucial role of local authorities in doing so. In the context of territorial development and keeping within the ongoing decentralisation processes, participation and sustainability is particularly important. Also, the very idea of promoting community energy, leads to the affirmation of an innovative system of energy governance, based on horizontal subsidiarity identifying these actors as the protagonists of a new local development, favouring forms of selfgovernment of particularly fragile territories and the most marginal areas. Since there is a common ground between the local authority and the energy community, this paper will also specifically highlight how local authorities are called upon to play an active role on the one hand, to pursue the public interest and the promotion of the common good. While on the other, the energy communities who have objectives and a juridical nature, makes them interests of the public authority. In fact, it can-t be argued that from the perspective of the energy community being a non-profit organization, it is aimed at promoting the protection of the economic interest of its members, as well as promoting a wider environmental and social benefit, which also generally extends to the entire local community.

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Due to increase in complexity of vehicle functionality and involvement of electronic components, the use of complex electronic control units is prevalent in today’s vehicles. This has led to increased amount of Electronic Control Unit (ECU) data, and in turn increased Diagnostic data. This Diagnostic data is described in the Automotive Open System Architecture Diagnostic Exchange Template (AUTOSAR DEXT), which is a standard diagnostic data format specified in AUTOSAR 4.2.1 for Unified Diagnostic Services and fault memory. It enables consistent exchange of Diagnostic information across Original Equipment manufacturer OEMs and between OEM and Suppliers, thereby aiding uniformity in configuration of basic software modules described in Automotive Open System Architecture (AUTOSAR) Layered Architecture across enterprise boundaries. DEXT provides the possibility to describe the data to be transported, using respective protocol, along with origin of data in ECU’s application software. When there is availability of both information and data, the configuration of diagnostic basic software becomes possible. This Paper explains the steps which are necessary to process diagnostic data which is being populated in DEXT file, and further tailor it for a production ECU.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph"><i>Index Terms</i></div><div class="htmlview paragraph">—Automotive Open System Architecture, Autosar Extensiable markup language, Basic Software, Controller Area Network, Communication Manager, Diagnostic Communication Manager, Diagnostic Event Manager, Diagnostic Extract Template, Diagnostic Data Identifier, Diagnostic Trouble Code, Electronic Unit Control, Function Inhibition Manager, Local Interconnect Network, Onboard Diagnostics, Open Diagnostic Extract, Original Equipment Manager, Diagnostic Extract Template, Electronic Control Unit, Original Equipment Manufacturer, Unified Diagnostic Services.</div></div>

The article discusses modern legal regulation of land monitoring and necessary changes in appropriate legislation. Land monitoring is divided into monitoring of land use and monitoring of land quality. The problem of land abandonment or non-use of land resources on the example of Samara region, where more than 75 % of territory is agricultural land has been studied. Inverse relationship between remoteness of local municipality from centre of the Samara-Togliatti agglomeration and area of unfarmed agricultural land has been analysed. Since the start of land reform, large areas of abandoned land have appeared in Samara region. The information on unfarmed agricultural land on municipal level of Samara region has been presented and the changes in their quality conditions are characterized. At federal level the program for prevention and elimination of land abandonment has been developed and implemented, the results of this program have been analysed. However, there are significant problems in monitoring of land conditions. It is proved that absence of single authority for land management on national level and fragmentation of this function across different federal ministries leads to uncoordinated actions and lack of reliable information about land quality. As result, land quality continues to deteriorate, degradation processes are going on. At municipal level there are no possibilities and necessary investigation materials for land management and monitoring. The following measures are proposed as main recommendations for solving land use and land abandonment problems: creation of single authority for land stock management, implementation of comprehensive inventory of land on municipal level, improvement of cadastral valuation system according updated materials and technologies, as well as certification of agricultural land for soil quality and properties. The purpose of the research was the study of results of land monitoring in Samara region for analysis of dynamics of land stock and identification of main reasons for formation of unused (abandoned) agricultural land in the region. It is proved that land stock of Samara region mainly consists of agricultural lands, and most part of them (60 %) are owned by citizens. Significant problem of land use is the availability of unused arable land, which is 8 % on average in the region, but in local municipalities it ranges from 0 % to 29 %. The highest proportion of unused arable land is located in areas closer to Samara-Togliatti agglomeration, where most of the land has been privatized by individuals for conversion to other land categories and further resale, as well as problems with uncontrolled urbanization there have been observed.

<p>The remaining life of steel bridges is often governed by fatigue cracking in the orthotropic steel deck (OSD). Since the design and construction of many of the steel bridges in Europe’s motorway system, the number and weight of the trucks they must carry has significantly increased. This has led to many bridges being deemed understrength, compared to contemporary design guidance, and experiencing local fatigue damage. This is a problem facing the Dutch national bridge authority, Rijkswaterstaat (RWS), and many other governments globally as decades old steel bridges need renewing, strengthening or sometimes, in the case of OSD, an inspection and repair program.</p><p>Rotterdam’s Van Brienenoord bridge [1] is the busiest in the Netherlands, and renewing the twin- tied arch bridge requires a newly designed OSD. The key challenges were to sustainably extend the life of the bridge to its 100-year design life whilst minimising hindrance to traffic and maintaining the aesthetic of what is a national icon. Given the extreme sensitivity of fatigue calculations to stress magnitude, the aim of the work was to develop a state-of-the-art accurate method for predicting the design, or remaining, life of OSD. Traditional methods tend to underestimate fatigue demand.</p>

This paper describes the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority’s experience in regulatory cooperation projects in Russia and elsewhere, with special focus on legacy issues. These legacies include many different kinds of objects and activities, including: obsolete large waste sources, such as those used in radioisotope thermoelectric generators; remediation of former military sites used for storage of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste; and wastes from uranium mining and ore processing. The objectives of these bi-lateral cooperation programmes are to promote effective and efficient regulatory supervision, taking into account international recommendations and good practice in other countries. Individual projects organised within the programme address specific challenges which require practical local interpretation of ICRP recommendations, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Basic Safety Standards and other IAEA requirements and guidance documents. In some cases, new regulatory documentation has been required, as well as new regulatory procedures. In the long term, the program is intended to lead to an enhanced and enduring safety culture. Positive experience in Russia encouraged the Norwegian government to extend the regulatory collaboration programme to countries in central Asia, using experience gained with Russian regulatory authorities as well as support from Russian Technical Support Organisations. The programmes are effectively evolving into a regional regulatory support group. Noting this experience, the paper includes suggestions for how international cooperation could be effective in addressing common radiation safety objectives while addressing local differences in technical, geographical, economic and cultural matters in each country. The continuing results from the cooperation will be used to provide input to the International Forum for Regulatory Supervision of Legacy Sites (RSLS) which was recently set up by the IAEA. The RSLS objectives mirror those of the bilateral activities described above and an outline is provided of the preliminary RSLS Work Plan.

As a result of numerous infrastructure projects which have taken place in Qatar in the last decade, there has been an unprecedented increase in demand for construction materials. In addition, the huge program of infrastructure development has led to production of massive quantities of construction waste. Consequently, the Public Works Authority of Qatar (Ashghal) launched an initiative to use recycled materials in projects in line with Qatar National Vision 2030 and Qatar National Development Strategy 2018 - 2022. A roadmap was developed in 2018 considering the available resources and experiences. Recyclable materials which can be used in Ashghal projects were identified. Excavation waste, demolition waste, Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP), Wadi Aggregate, Crumb Rubber and Steel Slag were selected for reuse. Controlled logistic areas to store, manage and process recyclable materials were established. Moreover, guidelines and prequalification procedures were developed for both materials sources and recycled materials producers. Testing programs were carried out on these materials to identify their basic characteristics. Laboratory trials and field trials were carried out at selected projects. Field trials were monitored and assessed using the local construction specifications QCS 2014. Based on lab and field trials, customized specifications were developed for the utilization of the selected recyclable materials in Ashghal projects. These specifications establish the baseline for construction using the selected recycled materials and determine the criteria and methods needed for quality control. Furthermore, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), were established for Ashghal project departments to monitor their performance in relation to recycling. Ashghal's phenomenal performance in utilization of recycled materials in the last three years is presented.

Tax registration drives have become an increasingly popular intervention to expand the coverage of tax nets across sub-Saharan Africa. However, doubts have recently been casted on their impact, as there is increasing evidence that they do not lead to a substantial increase in revenue, and might skew the tax registry so that towards vulnerable groups are overrepresented. There is little explanation available for these outcomes, as the literature focuses on the outcomes of these exercises – rather than on their processes and premises. We seek to fill this gap through an evaluation of a tax registration exercise of small- and medium-sized enterprises in Freetown, Sierra Leone, implemented by the National Revenue Authority. We argue that the conflicting objectives between national and international stakeholders, as well as between street- and higher-level officials, combined with a technocratic view of the exercise that underestimated its political nature, led to its likely unsatisfactory outcome in revenue terms. However, we also identify non-revenue outcomes that may still be seen as positive from the perspective of policymakers, such as familiarising many businesses with a revenue authority that they previously had very little engagement with. While this outcome of registration exercises is frequently overlooked by similar evaluations, it is one that local officials recognise as important in ‘building future taxpayers’.

Decentralisation, or devolving authority to the third tier of government to prioritise specific policy reforms and manage their implementation, is argued to lead to pro-poor development for a number of reasons: local bureaucrats can better gauge the local needs, be responsive to community demands, and, due to physical proximity, can be more easily held accountable by community members. In the education sector, devolving authority to district government has thus been seen as critical to introducing reforms aimed at increasing access and improving learning outcomes. Based on fieldwork with district-level education bureaucracies, schools, and communities in two districts in the state of West Java in Indonesia, this article shows that decentralisation has indeed led to community-responsive policy-development in Indonesia. The district-level education bureaucracies in both districts did appear to prioritise community preferences when choosing to prioritise specific educational reforms from among many introduced by the national government. However, the optimality of these preferences could be questioned. The prioritised policies are reflective of cultural and religious values or immediate employment considerations of the communities in the two districts, rather than being explicitly focused on improving learning outcomes: the urban district prioritised degree completion, while the rural district prioritised moral education. These preferences might appear sub-optimal if the preference is for education bureaucracies to focus directly on improving literacy and numeracy outcomes. Yet, taking into account the socio-economic context of each district, it becomes easy to see the logic dictating these preferences: the communities and the district government officials are consciously prioritising those education policies for which they foresee direct payoffs. Since improving learning outcomes requires long-term commitment, it appears rational to focus on policies promising more immediate gains, especially when they aim, indirectly and implicitly, to improve actual learning outcomes. Thus, more effective community mobilisation campaigns can be developed if the donor agencies funding them recognise that it is not necessarily the lack of information but the nature of the local incentive structures that shapes communities’ expectations of education. Overall, decentralisation is leading to more context-specific educational policy prioritisation in Indonesia, resulting in the possibility of significant district-level variation in outcomes. Further, looking at the school-level variation in each district, the paper shows that public schools ranked as high performing had students from more privileged socio-economic backgrounds and were catering for communities that had more financial resources to support activities in the school, compared with schools ranked as low performing. Thus, there is a gap to bridge within public schools and not just between public and private schools.

Research Objectives 1) Reviewing the rich economic literature on contracting and agricultural contracting; 2) Conducting a descriptive comparative study of actual contracting patterns in the U.S. and Israeli agricultural sectors; 3) Theoretical analysis of division of assets ownership, authority allocation and incentives in agricultural production contracts; 4) Theoretical analysis of strategic noncompetitive choice of agricultural production and marketing contracts, 5) Empirical studies of contracting in agricultural sectors of US and Israel, among them the broiler industry, the citrus industry and sugar beet sector. Background Recent decades have witnessed a world-wide increase in the use of agricultural contracts. In both the U.S. and Israel, contracts have become an integral part of production and marketing of many crops, fruits, vegetables and livestock commodities. The increased use of agricultural contracts raises a number of important economic policy questions regarding the optimal design of contracts and their determinants. Even though economists have made a substantial progress in understanding these issues, the theory of contracts and an empirical methodology to analyze contracts are still evolving. Moreover, there is an enormous need for empirical research of contractual relationships. Conclusions In both U.S. and Israel, contracts have become an integral part of production and marketing of many agricultural commodities. In the U.S. more than 40% of the value of agricultural production occurred under either marketing or production contracts. The use of agricultural contracts in Israel is also ubiquitous and reaches close to 60% of the value of agricultural production. In Israel we have found strategic considerations to play a dominant role in the choice of agricultural contracts and may lead to noncompetitive conduct and reduced welfare. In particular, the driving force, leading to consignment based contracts is the strategic effect. Moreover, an increase in the number of contractors will lead to changes in the terms of the contract, an increased competition and payment to farmers and economic surplus. We found that while large integrations lead to more efficient production, they also exploit local monopsonistic power. For the U.S, we have studied in more detail the choice of contract type and factors that affect contracts such as the level of informational asymmetry, the authority structure, and the available quality measurement technology. We have found that assets ownership and decision rights are complements of high-powered incentives. We have also found that the optimal allocation of decision rights, asset ownership and incentives is influenced by: variance of systemic and idiosyncratic shocks, importance (variance) of the parties’ private information, parameters of the production technology, the extent of competition in the upstream and downstream industries. Implications The primary implication of this project is that the use of agricultural production and marketing contracts is growing in both the US and Israeli agricultural sectors, while many important economic policy questions are still open and require further theoretical and empirical research. Moreover, actual contracts that are prevailing in various agricultural sectors seems to be less than optimal and, hence, additional efforts are required to transfer the huge academic know-how in this area to the practitioners. We also found evidence for exploitation of market powers by contactors in various agricultural sectors. This may call for government regulations in the anti-trust area. Another important implication of this project is that in addition to explicit contracts economic outcomes resulting from the interactions between growers and agricultural intermediaries depend on a number of other factors including allocation of decision and ownership rights and implicit contracting. We have developed models to study the interactions between explicit contracts, decision rights, ownership structure, and implicit contracts. These models have been applied to study contractual arrangements in California agriculture and the North American sugarbeet industry.

While it is the jurisdiction with the highest per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in Argentina, there are historically marked differences in socioeconomic levels and socio-environmental conditions between the north and the south of the city of Buenos Aires. The effects of climate change are intertwined with those of economic globalization, a process of “double exposure” that disproportionately affects particular social groups and areas in the city. Slums and informal settlements in Buenos Aires are growing in size. Most face significant resource and infrastructure deficits, as well as high flood risk, and are thus highly vulnerable to the effects of a changing climate. Tackling climate change in Buenos Aires requires integrated adaptation and mitigation approaches that put the most vulnerable at the centre. The ongoing socio-urban integration processes in informal settlements represent opportunities to rethink and territorialize climate action from an integrated habitat perspective. Since the early 2000s, Buenos Aires has built a robust track record of climate policy, including a climate change law and three Climate Action Plans (PACs). The city has also long been a hotbed for social movements, with a recent resurgence of “the right to the city,” defined as the right of urban dwellers to build, decide and create the city. This provides fertile ground for climate justice narratives and transformative climate action to take root. More than half of the city’s GHG emissions come from the consumption of grid electricity and fuels in buildings, mostly natural gas. Multilevel and intersectoral articulation of public policies are key to advance the climate agenda at the city level, particularly in light of limited urban authority over the electricity sector. Sustainability transformations in Buenos Aires could also be enabled by strengthening the existing capacity development efforts of particular local actors to raise climate awareness; connecting and amplifying emerging community-led initiatives that showcase transformative climate action; and clarifying financial flows as a way to stimulate climate financing.

Banco de la República is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2023. This is a very significant anniversary and one that provides an opportunity to highlight the contribution the Bank has made to the country’s development. Its track record as guarantor of monetary stability has established it as the one independent state institution that generates the greatest confidence among Colombians due to its transparency, management capabilities, and effective compliance with the central banking and cultural responsibilities entrusted to it by the Constitution and the Law. On a date as important as this, the Board of Directors of Banco de la República (BDBR) pays tribute to the generations of governors and officers whose commitment and dedication have contributed to the growth of this institution.1 Banco de la República’s mandate was confirmed in the National Constitutional Assembly of 1991 where the citizens had the opportunity to elect the seventy people who would have the task of drafting a new constitution. The leaders of the three political movements with the most votes were elected as chairs to the Assembly, and this tripartite presidency reflected the plurality and the need for consensus among the different political groups to move the reform forward. Among the issues considered, the National Constitutional Assembly gave special importance to monetary stability. That is why they decided to include central banking and to provide Banco de la República with the necessary autonomy to use the instruments for which they are responsible without interference from other authorities. The constituent members understood that ensuring price stability is a state duty and that the entity responsible for this task must be enshrined in the Constitution and have the technical capability and institutional autonomy necessary to adopt the decisions they deem appropriate to achieve this fundamental objective in coordination with the general economic policy. In particular, Article 373 established that “the State, through Banco de la República, shall ensure the maintenance of the purchasing power of the currency,” a provision that coincided with the central banking system adopted by countries that have been successful in controlling inflation. In 1999, in Ruling 481, the Constitutional Court stated that “the duty to maintain the purchasing power of the currency applies to not only the monetary, credit, and exchange authority, i.e., the Board of Banco de la República, but also those who have responsibilities in the formulation and implementation of the general economic policy of the country” and that “the basic constitutional purpose of Banco de la República is the protection of a sound currency. However, this authority must take the other economic objectives of state intervention such as full employment into consideration in their decisions since these functions must be coordinated with the general economic policy.” The reforms to Banco de la República agreed upon in the Constitutional Assembly of 1991 and in Act 31/1992 can be summarized in the following aspects: i) the Bank was assigned a specific mandate: to maintain the purchasing power of the currency in coordination with the general economic policy; ii) the BDBR was designatedas the monetary, foreign exchange, and credit authority; iii) the Bank and its Board of Directors were granted a significant degree of independence from the government; iv) the Bank was prohibited from granting credit to the private sector except in the case of the financial sector; v) established that in order to grant credit to the government, the unanimous vote of its Board of Directors was required except in the case of open market transactions; vi) determined that the legislature may, in no case, order credit quotas in favor of the State or individuals; vii) Congress was appointed, on behalf of society, as the main addressee of the Bank’s reporting exercise; and viii) the responsibility for inspection, surveillance, and control over Banco de la República was delegated to the President of the Republic. The members of the National Constitutional Assembly clearly understood that the benefits of low and stable inflation extend to the whole of society and contribute mto the smooth functioning of the economic system. Among the most important of these is that low inflation promotes the efficient use of productive resources by allowing relative prices to better guide the allocation of resources since this promotes economic growth and increases the welfare of the population. Likewise, low inflation reduces uncertainty about the expected return on investment and future asset prices. This increases the confidence of economic agents, facilitates long-term financing, and stimulates investment. Since the low-income population is unable to protect itself from inflation by diversifying its assets, and a high proportion of its income is concentrated in the purchase of food and other basic goods that are generally the most affected by inflationary shocks, low inflation avoids arbitrary redistribution of income and wealth.2 Moreover, low inflation facilitates wage negotiations, creates a good labor climate, and reduces the volatility of employment levels. Finally, low inflation helps to make the tax system more transparent and equitable by avoiding the distortions that inflation introduces into the value of assets and income that make up the tax base. From the monetary authority’s point of view, one of the most relevant benefits of low inflation is the credibility that economic agents acquire in inflation targeting, which turns it into an effective nominal anchor on price levels. Upon receiving its mandate, and using its autonomy, Banco de la República began to announce specific annual inflation targets as of 1992. Although the proposed inflation targets were not met precisely during this first stage, a downward trend in inflation was achieved that took it from 32.4% in 1990 to 16.7% in 1998. At that time, the exchange rate was kept within a band. This limited the effectiveness of monetary policy, which simultaneously sought to meet an inflation target and an exchange rate target. The Asian crisis spread to emerging economies and significantly affected the Colombian economy. The exchange rate came under strong pressure to depreciate as access to foreign financing was cut off under conditions of a high foreign imbalance. This, together with the lack of exchange rate flexibility, prevented a countercyclical monetary policy and led to a 4.2% contraction in GDP that year. In this context of economic slowdown, annual inflation fell to 9.2% at the end of 1999, thus falling below the 15% target set for that year. This episode fully revealed how costly it could be, in terms of economic activity, to have inflation and exchange rate targets simultaneously. Towards the end of 1999, Banco de la República announced the adoption of a new monetary policy regime called the Inflation Targeting Plan. This regime, known internationally as ‘Inflation Targeting,’ has been gaining increasing acceptance in developed countries, having been adopted in 1991 by New Zealand, Canada, and England, among others, and has achieved significant advances in the management of inflation without incurring costs in terms of economic activity. In Latin America, Brazil and Chile also adopted it in 1999. In the case of Colombia, the last remaining requirement to be fulfilled in order to adopt said policy was exchange rate flexibility. This was realized around September 1999, when the BDBR decided to abandon the exchange-rate bands to allow the exchange rate to be freely determined in the market.Consistent with the constitutional mandate, the fundamental objective of this new policy approach was “the achievement of an inflation target that contributes to maintaining output growth around its potential.”3 This potential capacity was understood as the GDP growth that the economy can obtain if it fully utilizes its productive resources. To meet this objective, monetary policy must of necessity play a countercyclical role in the economy. This is because when economic activity is below its potential and there are idle resources, the monetary authority can reduce the interest rate in the absence of inflationary pressure to stimulate the economy and, when output exceeds its potential capacity, raise it. This policy principle, which is immersed in the models for guiding the monetary policy stance, makes the following two objectives fully compatible in the medium term: meeting the inflation target and achieving a level of economic activity that is consistent with its productive capacity. To achieve this purpose, the inflation targeting system uses the money market interest rate (at which the central bank supplies primary liquidity to commercial banks) as the primary policy instrument. This replaced the quantity of money as an intermediate monetary policy target that Banco de la República, like several other central banks, had used for a long time. In the case of Colombia, the objective of the new monetary policy approach implied, in practical terms, that the recovery of the economy after the 1999 contraction should be achieved while complying with the decreasing inflation targets established by the BDBR. The accomplishment of this purpose was remarkable. In the first half of the first decade of the 2000s, economic activity recovered significantly and reached a growth rate of 6.8% in 2006. Meanwhile, inflation gradually declined in line with inflation targets. That was how the inflation rate went from 9.2% in 1999 to 4.5% in 2006, thus meeting the inflation target established for that year while GDP reached its potential level. After this balance was achieved in 2006, inflation rebounded to 5.7% in 2007, above the 4.0% target for that year due to the fact that the 7.5% GDP growth exceeded the potential capacity of the economy.4 After proving the effectiveness of the inflation targeting system in its first years of operation, this policy regime continued to consolidate as the BDBR and the technical staff gained experience in its management and state-of-the-art economic models were incorporated to diagnose the present and future state of the economy and to assess the persistence of inflation deviations and expectations with respect to the inflation target. Beginning in 2010, the BDBR established the long-term 3.0% annual inflation target, which remains in effect today. Lower inflation has contributed to making the macroeconomic environment more stable, and this has favored sustained economic growth, financial stability, capital market development, and the functioning of payment systems. As a result, reductions in the inflationary risk premia and lower TES and credit interest rates were achieved. At the same time, the duration of public domestic debt increased significantly going from 2.27 years in December 2002 to 5.86 years in December 2022, and financial deepening, measured as the level of the portfolio as a percentage of GDP, went from around 20% in the mid-1990s to values above 45% in recent years in a healthy context for credit institutions.Having been granted autonomy by the Constitution to fulfill the mandate of preserving the purchasing power of the currency, the tangible achievements made by Banco de la República in managing inflation together with the significant benefits derived from the process of bringing inflation to its long-term target, make the BDBR’s current challenge to return inflation to the 3.0% target even more demanding and pressing. As is well known, starting in 2021, and especially in 2022, inflation in Colombia once again became a serious economic problem with high welfare costs. The inflationary phenomenon has not been exclusive to Colombia and many other developed and emerging countries have seen their inflation rates move away from the targets proposed by their central banks.5 The reasons for this phenomenon have been analyzed in recent Reports to Congress, and this new edition delves deeper into the subject with updated information. The solid institutional and technical base that supports the inflation targeting approach under which the monetary policy strategy operates gives the BDBR the necessary elements to face this difficult challenge with confidence. In this regard, the BDBR reiterated its commitment to the 3.0% inflation target in its November 25 communiqué and expects it to be reached by the end of 2024.6 Monetary policy will continue to focus on meeting this objective while ensuring the sustainability of economic activity, as mandated by the Constitution. Analyst surveys done in March showed a significant increase (from 32.3% in January to 48.5% in March) in the percentage of responses placing inflation expectations two years or more ahead in a range between 3.0% and 4.0%. This is a clear indication of the recovery of credibility in the medium-term inflation target and is consistent with the BDBR’s announcement made in November 2022. The moderation of the upward trend in inflation seen in January, and especially in February, will help to reinforce this revision of inflation expectations and will help to meet the proposed targets. After reaching 5.6% at the end of 2021, inflation maintained an upward trend throughout 2022 due to inflationary pressures from both external sources, associated with the aftermath of the pandemic and the consequences of the war in Ukraine, and domestic sources, resulting from: strengthening of local demand; price indexation processes stimulated by the increase in inflation expectations; the impact on food production caused by the mid-2021 strike; and the pass-through of depreciation to prices. The 10% increase in the minimum wage in 2021 and the 16% increase in 2022, both of which exceeded the actual inflation and the increase in productivity, accentuated the indexation processes by establishing a high nominal adjustment benchmark. Thus, total inflation went to 13.1% by the end of 2022. The annual change in food prices, which went from 17.2% to 27.8% between those two years, was the most influential factor in the surge in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Another segment that contributed significantly to price increases was regulated products, which saw the annual change go from 7.1% in December 2021 to 11.8% by the end of 2022. The measure of core inflation excluding food and regulated items, in turn, went from 2.5% to 9.5% between the end of 2021 and the end of 2022. The substantial increase in core inflation shows that inflationary pressure has spread to most of the items in the household basket, which is characteristic of inflationary processes with generalized price indexation as is the case in Colombia. Monetary policy began to react early to this inflationary pressure. Thus, starting with its September 2021 session, the BDBR began a progressive change in the monetary policy stance moving away from the historical low of a 1.75% policy rate that had intended to stimulate the recovery of the economy. This adjustment process continued without interruption throughout 2022 and into the beginning of 2023 when the monetary policy rate reached 12.75% last January, thus accumulating an increase of 11 percentage points (pp). The public and the markets have been surprised that inflation continued to rise despite significant interest rate increases. However, as the BDBR has explained in its various communiqués, monetary policy works with a lag. Just as in 2022 economic activity recovered to a level above the pre-pandemic level, driven, along with other factors, by the monetary stimulus granted during the pandemic period and subsequent months, so too the effects of the current restrictive monetary policy will gradually take effect. This will allow us to expect the inflation rate to converge to 3.0% by the end of 2024 as is the BDBR’s purpose.Inflation results for January and February of this year showed declining marginal increases (13 bp and 3 bp respectively) compared to the change seen in December (59 bp). This suggests that a turning point in the inflation trend is approaching. In other Latin American countries such as Chile, Brazil, Perú, and Mexico, inflation has peaked and has begun to decline slowly, albeit with some ups and downs. It is to be expected that a similar process will take place in Colombia in the coming months. The expected decline in inflation in 2023 will be due, along with other factors, to lower cost pressure from abroad as a result of the gradual normalization of supply chains, the overcoming of supply shocks caused by the weather, and road blockades in previous years. This will be reflected in lower adjustments in food prices, as has already been seen in the first two months of the year and, of course, the lagged effect of monetary policy. The process of inflation convergence to the target will be gradual and will extend beyond 2023. This process will be facilitated if devaluation pressure is reversed. To this end, it is essential to continue consolidating fiscal sustainability and avoid messages on different public policy fronts that generate uncertainty and distrust. 1 This Report to Congress includes Box 1, which summarizes the trajectory of Banco de la República over the past 100 years. In addition, under the Bank’s auspices, several books that delve into various aspects of the history of this institution have been published in recent years. See, for example: Historia del Banco de la República 1923-2015; Tres banqueros centrales; Junta Directiva del Banco de la República: grandes episodios en 30 años de historia; Banco de la República: 90 años de la banca central en Colombia. 2 This is why lower inflation has been reflected in a reduction of income inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient that went from 58.7 in 1998 to 51.3 in the year prior to the pandemic. 3 See Gómez Javier, Uribe José Darío, Vargas Hernando (2002). “The Implementation of Inflation Targeting in Colombia”. Borradores de Economía, No. 202, March, available at: https://repositorio.banrep.gov.co/handle/20.500.12134/5220 4 See López-Enciso Enrique A.; Vargas-Herrera Hernando and Rodríguez-Niño Norberto (2016). “The inflation targeting strategy in Colombia. An historical view.” Borradores de Economía, No. 952. https://repositorio.banrep.gov.co/handle/20.500.12134/6263 5 According to the IMF, the percentage change in consumer prices between 2021 and 2022 went from 3.1% to 7.3% for advanced economies, and from 5.9% to 9.9% for emerging market and developing economies. 6 https://www.banrep.gov.co/es/noticias/junta-directiva-banco-republica-reitera-meta-inflacion-3