Nurses as Street Level Bureaucrats: Experiences from Diabetes Care Nurses in Kuwait

Street-level bureaucrats are described as public service workers who interact directly with citizens in the course of their work and who have substantial discretion in the execution of their work. This article is a reflection of the primary author’s doctoral research experience, which investigated the role of nurses in caring for long-term diabetes patients in two selected hospitals in Kuwait. Nurses working in diabetes care in Kuwait were reported to operate under difficult conditions and utilized the tool of discretion to provide patient care, hence were exemplary street-level bureaucrats.

Between Two Cultures:Civil Service Reform in Thailand and Indonesia

In many Asian countries,public administration is in the process of considerable change and reform.Citizens in these countries have demanded faster,better,and cheaper public service.They have also demanded for more effective and efficient government.In order to meet these demands,the nation has to change its public management into more democratic,efficient,and citizen-oriented government.A civil service reform is needed in those countries with respect to their own social cultures.

Bureaucratic Factors Impeding the Delivery of Infrastructure at the Metropolitan Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in Ghana

Decentralisation of infrastructure delivery to sub-national governments has become commonplace in governments worldwide especially in developing countries such as Ghana. This is due to the benefits of decentralisation in improving public service delivery. However, decentralised infrastructure delivery is marred with numerous challenges that render most local governments incapable of providing infrastructure within their localities. This paper explored the bureaucratic factors that impede infrastructure delivery at the MMDAs in Ghana. A questionnaire survey with 121 construction professionals in the Departments of Works (DoWs) of the MMDAs within the Ashanti and Greater Accra Regions of Ghana was conducted. The results indicated six (6) major components of the bureaucratic factors that impede the delivery of infrastructure at the MMDAs: Central government bureaucracy;Minimal control of MMDAs;Political influence;MMDA project funding;Lack of capacity of MMDAs;and Political interference. This paper calls for a more committed central government to the establishment of adequate decentralised structures and implementation of major reforms that would remove the bureaucratic obstacles in the delivery of infrastructure at the MMDAs, to ensure effective infrastructure delivery at the MMDAs.

Bureaucratic Culture and Innovation

This study explores the effects of bureaucratic culture on innovation.We define bureaucratic culture as a culture in which power and officials are held in the highest regard.Using panel data of publicly listed Chinese manufacturing firms from 2007 to 2015,we found that bureaucratic culture negatively correlated with firms'patent output.A mechanism analysis shows that bureaucratic culture hindered corporate innovation by reducing firms'research and development inputs and decreasing innovation efficiency.Furthermore,we provided evidence that anti-corruption campaigns and the development of formal institutions could neutralize the negative impact of bureaucratic culture on corporate innovation.This study is the first to investigate quantitatively the causal effect of bureaucratic culture on corporate innovation and it can deepen the understanding of the relationship between culture and innovation in China.We speculate that promoting a creative culture,particularly one that fosters entrepreneurial spirit,is of utmost importance.

West meets east: Understanding managerial incentives in Chinese SOEs

State-owned enterprises(SOE) are essentially extensions of the government and are therefore responsible for multi-task objectives. The incentive system for SOE managers consists of both monetary compensation and promotion within the bureaucratic system. Political promotion is key to understanding the incentives of SOE managers. In the reform and opening up era, SOEs have been reformed and exposed to political and market forces. The design of incentive systems for SOE managers has thus become complicated and challenging.Our study provides important implications for this key issue of SOE reform.

Emergence and Development of Health Risk Communication Networks Among Street-Level Health Bureaucrats During the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis in Myanmar

Street-level health bureaucrats have actively contributed to implementing the COVID-19 prevention,control,and treatment policies of the Myanmar government.However,the need for bureaucrats on the frontlines of policy implementation to maintain a safe distance from others to prevent the spread of COVID-19 has posed challenges for the sharing and exchange of information related to health risks.In this context,this study examined what health risk communication patterns have emerged and developed among streetlevel health bureaucrats during the COVID-19 pandemic,and how this risk communication has been affected by streetlevel health bureaucrats'perceptions of client meaningfulness and willingness to implement COVID-19 policies.The results reveal that street-level health bureaucrats in the health risk communication network are embedded in reciprocally or transitively connected discussion relationships that sustain their health risk communication over time.Moreover,when specific healthcare staffmembers perceive more benefits of COVID-19 policies for their patients and are more willing to care for patients,other healthcare staffavoid them to protect themselves from COVID-19 infection.Due to their higher level of understanding of the adopted measures,healthcare staffmembers who are highly willing to implement COVID-19 policies are frequently approached by other staffmembers to communicate about COVID-19 issues.This study empirically contributes to the literature on street-level bureaucrats in times of pandemic crisis by examining the formation of health risk communications in the context of street-level health bureaucrats'responses to and participation in public healthcare policy implementation processes.

Corruption and economic growth:an absolute obstacle or some efficient grease?

The relationship between bureaucratic corruption and economic growth has been a much debated topic in the studies of economics and political science in the past decades.However,no theoretical consensus has been reached in this field.Corresponding to the divergence in theoretical perspectives,empirical evidence is mixed as well.As a fundamental step to examine the correlation between corruption and economic growth,this review provides a systematic review of the existing theoretical and empirical research on corruption’s growth effects.Meanwhile,the definition and statistical measurement of corruption is also discussed.This review makes new contributions to the extant corruption literature since it not only incorporates the latest scholarship on the topic but highlights corruption’s differential growth effects in different organisational,institutional and geographical contexts.

Decision Making and Ability： An Explanation of Elitism in China＇s Government

This article tries to explain elitism in China＇s governmental decision making. Our model shows that the governments＇ expected utility increases with a bureaucrat＇s ability to make decisions under the flexible framework of delegation and communication （with separated reporting strategy）. In the early of 1950s, China＇s government choose a flexible decision making framework in order to efficiently manage many affairs in a complex environment. This initial choice started the process of a self-reinforcing demand for ability inside of the flexible decision making framework. With the current reforms of streamlining administrations and retreating from the market, the elitism of China＇s government might reverse.