Understanding voluntary program performance: Introducing the diffusion network perspective

Voluntary programs have rapidly become a means for the public, private, and third sectors to regulate and govern complex societal problems. Following the rapid and widespread emergence of these programs, scholars have been active in mapping, exploring, and interrogating their design and performance. Considerable advances have been made in describing program design and context conditions, and the actors involved in the voluntary program that relate to program performance. Less is known, however, about how these conditions affect program performance. Starting with one of the dominant theories on voluntary programs, the club theory perspective, this article seeks to understand how different program design conditions interact to affect the performance of 26 voluntary programs for low carbon building and city development in Australia, the Netherlands, and the United States. Applying qualitative comparative analysis, the study finds that the club theory perspective has limited explanatory power for this specific set of cases. Iterative rounds of analysis indicate that a diffusion network perspective is the best complementary perspective for explaining the performance of this set of programs. The article concludes that, in situations of a non‐homogeneous market of voluntary program participants, a focus on the programs’ diffusion networks helps to explain their performance. This has implications for the design and implementation of such programs.     

A Gender Perspective on Teachers as Crisis Managers

Stressful conditions affect communities at different levels and may involve occupational groups not normally associated with issues of crisis and security. Teachers in the compulsory school system are members of such a group. The purpose of this study is to examine teachers’ view of their own role as crisis management actors in a female-dominated occupation. A Grounded Theory approach applying a gender perspective was used as an analytical tool for data processing. In total, 16 informants from four different schools in two different municipalities in Sweden were interviewed. The analysis of these interviews shows that teachers’ perceptions of risk, crisis, and security are influenced and characterized by social and emotional regulation aimed at (a) reducing vulnerability, (b) increasing the sense of security, and (c) regaining or restoring a sense of order and control. These strategies have been discussed from a gender perspective as teachers do not regard themselves as legitimate crisis management actors.     

Task Environment Matters for Intra-ministerial Change: The Interaction of International Environment,Organizational and Opportunity Factors

Why, how, and when does intra-ministerial change take place? Previous answers to these questions suggest that political factors, such as cabinet reshuffling, are the most decisive drivers of inter-ministerial change. By contrast, this article begins with a distinction between the mechanism responsible for intra-ministerial and inter-ministerial change of ministries, the latter discusses which of these has been given more attention in previous research. Data covering the intra-ministerial change of 11 ministries in Germany between 1949 and 2006 can demonstrate that environmental as well as organizational factors are decisive in order to explain the timing and type of intra-ministerial change. The main finding is that a clearly definable threshold of tasks, organizational units, and a horizontal dispersion of jurisdictions – all of which react to the international environment – can explain intra-ministerial change in German ministries.     

稳就业背景下的新就业形态发展研究

当前我国就业形势较以往更加严峻,就业压力既来自突发疫情的冲击,也来自我国一直存在的总量压力和结构性矛盾。尽管“新就业形态”引发越来越多的关注,在稳定和增加就业方面也被寄予厚望,但我国新就业形态的发展仍存在着相关的法律法规亟须完善、新就业人员的社会保障不足、适应新职业发展需要的公共服务体系亟待完善、平台经济发展面临诸多制度障碍等问题。为发挥好“新就业形态”的稳就业作用,本研究建议：以“鼓励创新、包容审慎”为原则,以制度创新为抓手,在深化改革和创新发展中为新就业形态的发展创造更加成熟的市场环境和更加亲民的营商环境。     

Tariffs and Carbon Emissions

International trade and the environment are uneasy partners. Both environmentalists and free traders worry that the pursuit of one goal may obstruct the other. Nowhere is this tension more evident than in the area of climate change. Does trade liberalization increase carbon emissions? Do efforts to reduce carbon emissions lead to protectionist pressures? This paper addresses these questions by examining the relationship between CO2 emissions and tariffs in 109 to 153 countries from 1988 to 2013. Using instrumental-variable regressions to address reciprocal causation, I find that emissions reductions led to higher tariffs on manufactured goods. This suggests that carbon-intensive industries responded to carbon restrictions by lobbying against trade liberalization. In contrast, emissions did not affect tariffs on less carbon-intensive primary products, and neither type of tariff affected CO2 emissions. My results imply that efforts to combat climate change may obstruct trade liberalization, but the latter should not hinder climate change mitigation.     

Factors Driving the Promotion of Hydroelectricity: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis

In the wake of the COP21 conference in Paris, the transition to a low‐carbon energy supply remains a central issue on the political agenda. The deployment of renewable energies is often challenged by multiple issues (e.g., public acceptance, landscape protection, and so forth). Political actors try to overcome such challenges with various measures; however, the policy instruments used vary greatly in their strength. This article questions what factors lead to the adoption of strong policy instruments promoting hydroelectricity. Explanatory factors are derived from Kingdon's multiple streams framework and are analyzed with fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis within the Swiss cantons. The findings show that the strength of policy promoting hydroelectricity depends on the conjunction of mainly two factors: ambitious climate targets and an already well‐established hydroelectricity sector that generates large tax revenues for the cantons. Depending on the context, the strength of left‐wing and green parties as well as the current level of exploitation play an important role with the aforementioned factors.     

The Dynamic Process Tracing Environment (DPTE) as a Tool for Studying Political Communication

The dynamic process tracing environment (DPTE) is a unique and flexible tool permitting researchers to study information search and decision making in various manners. This article describes the rationale behind the system, some history of how it has revolutionized the study of voter decision making in elections, and some of the principles of design within the system.     

西部旅游开发中生态思维范式的选择与应用

文章分析了生态思维的概念、特征和西部地区自然人文生态环境的特殊性,提出生态思维应成为西部旅游开发的主体思维模式,并从效益权衡、开发评估、绿色GDP、绿色技术、生态管理、文化保护和生态教育等方面,对生态思维在西部旅游开发中的应用进行了探讨。     

论环境公益权--兼论环境公益诉讼建立之实体权利基础

由于环境法上之权利(权力)的性质长期以来没有得到澄清,环境法上的权利(权力)不明晰及其司法实现手段的不足相互作用,使得环境治理缺乏有效的法律规制。因此,应当明确环境公益权的概念,通过环境立法,合理地配置权力和权利,并由此建立起环境公益诉讼制度,实现环境法权的可司法化。     

中蒙经贸关系现状及前景

目前,中蒙睦邻互信伙伴关系已进入了全面发展的新阶段,中蒙关系处在历史最好时期。特别是在双方的共同努力下,两国的经贸关系发展迅速,连创新高。中国是蒙古国第一大贸易伙伴和第一大投资国。今后还应完善法律环境,继续发挥两国的地缘优势和互补优势,重视环境保护,还要充分发挥内蒙古自治区在中蒙关系中的桥梁和纽带作用。以此,保障两国经贸合作的长期、健康、稳定的发展,进而推动中蒙睦邻互信伙伴关系的全面深入发展。