The enabling role of institutional entrepreneurs in the adoption of IPSAS within a transitional economy: The case of Estonia

In the light of neoinstitutional theory and by adopting case study research methodology, this article explains the adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards for modernizing public sector accounting in Estonia. This article reveals that the smooth—yet gradual—adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards‐compliant accounting systems was enabled by the involvement of powerful actors (i.e., institutional entrepreneurs) with foreign and/or business backgrounds. In addition, the change in public sector accounting in Estonia was facilitated by the developments in its international positioning, characterized by the transition from a Soviet communist to a market economy and subsequent European Union membership and by the absence of past accounting practices, which could potentially hinder the change.     

论国有企业创先争优与提升企业竞争力的同构性

创先争优是国有企业党组织保持先进性和纯洁性的根本要求,是巩固党的基层组织建设的重要目标,也是提升企业核心竞争力、创建一流企业的有效载体。基于国有企业党的建设和经营发展两个系统中创先争优与提升竞争力的同构性,以及打造世界一流企业的主题,把创先争优内化为企业文化和人的品质,必将形成创建一流企业、推动企业科学发展的持久的强大的动力。     

我国高校趋同化现象的理论解释——新制度主义的视角

在我国高等教育大众化进程中,出现了较严重的高校趋同化现象。虽然目前对这种趋同化现象所带来的后果还不能作出最终判决,但作为一种已经出现并在不断强化着的现象,则需要我们从理论上作出解释。组织社会学的新制度主义认为,在不确定的环境中,组织为了生存和发展,其外部形态、内部结构、运行模式等会在环境的逼迫和诱导下走向趋同,这是组织追求合法性的表现。我国高等教育大众化阶段出现的高校趋同化现象,正是高校在竞争激烈、环境不确定的情况下寻求合法性的本能反应。深刻认识和正确分析高校这种趋同性,对优化高等教育生态环境具有重要意义。     

ASEAN and human rights: resisting Western pressure or emulating the West?

Abstract

Observers of Southeast Asian affairs commonly assume that the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are reluctant to pursue liberal agendas, and that their main concern is to resist pressure from Western powers to improve their human rights practice. This article, however, argues that such a conventional view is too simplistic. The Southeast Asian countries have voluntarily been pursuing liberal agendas, and their main concern here is to be identified as ‘Western’ countries – advanced countries with legitimate international status. They have ‘mimetically’ been adopting the norm of human rights which is championed by the advanced industrialized democracies, with the intention of securing ASEAN's identity as a legitimate institution in the community of modern states. Ultimately, they have been pursuing liberal agendas, for the same reason as cash-strapped developing countries have luxurious national airlines and newly-independent countries institute national flags. Yet it should be noted that the progress of ASEAN's liberal reform has been modest. A conventional strategy for facilitating this reform would be to put more pressure on the members of ASEAN; however, the usefulness of such a strategy is diminishing. The development of an East Asian community, the core component of which is the ASEAN–China concord, makes it difficult for the Western powers to exercise influence over the Southeast Asian countries. Hence, as an alternative strategy, this article proposes that ASEAN's external partners should ‘globalize’ the issue of its liberal reform, by openly assessing its human rights record in global settings, with the aim of boosting the concern of its members for ASEAN's international standing.     

Institutional and Economic Factors Affecting the Adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards

This article investigates the environmental factors associated with countries’ decision to adopt International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). Based on a sample of 110 countries, the results reveal a positive influence of external public funding (coercive isomorphic pressure), the degree of external openness (mimetic isomorphic pressure), and public sector organizations’ importance on IPSAS adoption. They show a negative effect of the availability of local GAAP on this decision, whereas education level (normative isomorphic pressure) is a nonsignificant factor.

This research contributes to the international accounting literature in the public sector. The results are relevant to standard-setters, regulators, researchers, international financial organizations, and non-adopting countries.     

Greening Constitutions with Environmental Rights: Testing the Isomorphism Thesis

Why do some countries have constitutional environmental rights while others do not? In this paper, I conduct statistical analyses to respond to this inquiry. Through studying the impact of intraregional constitutional design, I aim to understand why states adopt environmental rights. I argue that regional isomorphism—i.e., the tendency among states within a region to converge on certain policies—may explain the trend toward constitutionalization of environmental rights. In this paper I (1) define and provide historical background on environmental rights, (2) describe theories which support regional isomorphism as a means of explaining the adoption of constitutional environmental rights, and (3) conduct statistical tests to determine the validity of the regional isomorphism thesis. I find that the enactment of constitutional environmental rights within a region does not increase the likelihood that another state within the same region will include environmental rights within its constitution.     

审视与评析：人民调解的十年复兴——新制度主义视角

在新制度主义看来,人民调解的复兴是各级司法行政机关在强烈扩张冲动影响下所进行的自下而上的改革。改革的核心是为了获取人民调解组织在当下中国制度环境中的正当性。在此过程中人民调解不断改变组织结构以适应制度环境对正当性的定义,因此人民调解组织的结构就日益同构化。同时,由于不同位阶的制度环境型塑了多样的正当性需求,人民调解组织的行为和结构就势必会发生断藕。新制度主义为我们评析人民调解的发展提供了全新的视角。     

The Rationale Behind the Creation and Diffusion of Independent Regulatory Agencies: The Case of the Telecommunications Sector in Egypt

The creation and diffusion of Independent ^{1 1}Three different meanings of the regulatory state have been identified by Jordana and Levi-Faur (2004): the minimal, the prudent, and the overambitious meaning. The minimal meaning refers to the regulatory state as a field of study grouping scholars from different disciplines. The prudent meaning emphasises the tendency of modern states to use power and authority. An overambitious notion, the regulatory state developed to replace other state forms such as the welfare, developmental, and stabilisation state. Regulatory Agencies (IRAs) was greatly investigated in the context of the developed countries, particularly in Europe. Many scholars have provided different theories to explain the logic behind the formation and the spread of such agencies. These theories are important but not sufficient to explain the same phenomenon in the context of the developing countries wherein socio-economic and political environments are different. Adopting an institutional framework of analysis, and based on an in-depth qualitative documentary analysis and interviews with different stakeholders, this article investigates the creation and diffusion of the IRAs in Egypt particularly in the telecommunication sector. The findings show that the creation of the IRAs in the Egyptian telecommunications sector represents a rational response to the external isomorphic pressures exerted by international agency and can be explained on functional and practical grounds rather than any other factors of democratic governance or political uncertainties.     

One size does not fit all: an analysis of the corruption preventative approach of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

This paper argues that the global citizens’ engagement movement against corruption does not always succeed in developing countries, such as Bangladesh. Drawing on the case of the preventative strategies of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in Bangladesh, this paper shows that government-driven citizens’ engagement processes through community-based organisations (CBOs) are a ceremonial adaptation in response to isomorphic pressure from the donors. The outcomes from isomorphic pressure suggest that such donor-funded actions produce ‘isomorphic mimicry’ of successful corruption prevention programmes from other countries that do not succeed in the recipient country. A micro-level analysis based on interviews with stakeholders in Bangladesh demonstrates why isomorphic mimicry has failed to produce a robust anti-corruption prevention approach in Bangladesh.     

Comments on Welzel,Inglehart and Deutsch

Abstract

This article looks at the strategies religious non-governmental organizations (RNGOs) with strong transnational linkages use to maintain a continued presence in mainland China. It does so by utilizing neo-institutional theory as an instrument for analysis, with an emphasis on outlining the coercive, mimetic, and normative pressures RNGOs face. One of the key findings of the study is that there is creative circumvention of isomorphic pressures by working with local agents, fostering trust with the local government, and keeping a low profile. Moreover, RNGOs dealt with the uncertain institutional environment in China through staff exchanges, denominational supervision, tapping into global platforms, and undergoing a professionalization process.