Europeanization and Multilevel Governance： Trying to Make Sense of International Activities of European Local Governments

This paper analyzes the links among Europeanization, multilevel governance, and international activities of local governments. To do so, a revision of the literature on these three areas is provided, with a special emphasis on the effects that the Europeanization process （hierarchical and horizontal） and multilevel governance （type I and type II） have had over the internationalization of local governments. Thus, local governments＇ international activities have evolved and adapted to a complex system of governance. Furthermore, the paper offers a reflection on current trends such as European Union （EU） and national programmes aimed at fostering International initiatives of local governments, and the impact of the economic crisis on these activities.

Good Local Government for Better Governance and Sustainable Human Development

The purpose of this article is to raise the question of how important decentralisation and local governments are for the successful transition and eventually for sustainable human development of a state. The paper focuses on the gap between development or transition and decentralisation within academic and international policy discourse. In article, the author tries to answer such questions as how local government can contribute to SHD （sustainable human development）. And how should the international community contribute to and support the transition and development process of the developing countries？ Article shows that local self-government can be a school of democracy and responsibility for the wealth of the state and citizens. By sharing the Polish decentralisation experience, the author shows how important decentralisation might be for successful transition, democratization and sustainable development. The paper also includes a short introduction to the European Charter, recent African efforts like AMCOD or UCLGA and European Union development assistance policy. The purpose of this is to show how little attention is paid to local governments and decentralisation within international policy and how huge is the gap between Europe＇s （developed） states and Africa＇s （developing） states related to their decentralisation policy, law and practice.

The E-Government in Local Governance and Its Contribution to the Regional Development: A Comparative Study

The purpose of this article is to designate the impact of the implementation of e-governance in municipalities and to suggest some proposals for further growth. More specific, in the first chapter, there is a theoretical approach of e-governance by presenting its definition and describing the current situation of the progression of e-governance to these municipalities. In the second chapter, it is presented a comparison between these municipalities about the implementation and progress of e-governance among them. Finally, in the third and last chapter, there are the conclusions and some proposals for future growth of e-governance to these municipalities.

The Politics of Local Regulation in Tanzania:The Quest for Multilevel Regulatory Governance

Regulation is currently perceived as an art and craft of governance where the regulatory processes are an outcome of interdependences between political actors,bureaucrats,business community,and the public at large.However,it is now extensively recognized that this interdependency is beyond one level of government particularly in the era of decentralization where regulatory outcomes are a result of a complex set of interacting levels.This study concedes that regulatory processes are intrinsically political endeavor.Principally,local government regulatory processes are characterized by multiple actors at different levels of governance,i.e.,the local government itself and stakeholders within its jurisdiction and the central government.In fact power dispersion has a vertical direction consisting of actors stemming from different governmental levels as a consequence of decentralization.The complexities of the relationships of multiple actors at different levels of government and across the same level of government create a number of risks that jeopardize quality local regulation that need to be managed calling for multilevel regulatory governance anchored on effective stakeholder engagement and coordination.Particularly,engagement with local government during the design of new regulations is largely poor resulting in a missed opportunity to have informed decisions that enhance quality local regulation.To augment multilevel governance,it is imperative to improve the interface between central and local government with local authorities recognized as“co-producers”of regulatory outcomes.Effective implementation of Regulatory Impact Assessment(RIA)that safeguards proper analysis of proposed and existing regulation is of paramount importance to ensure evidenced based regulations,analysis of cost implications for the local government,the capacity of LGAs in to implement as well as legitimacy of regulations.Therefore this study examines the political tradeoffs between the central and local government and among other stakeholders.

Analysis on the Development Trend of Contemporary Local Governance Mode from the perspective of Economic Policy and Environmental Capacity Optimization

As the basic level of national governance, local governance is deeply influenced by administrative tradition, political system and economic development level of a country. With more than thirty years of reform and opening up, the pattern of local governance has become diversified. The diversity of governance model cannot be managed in the same way, however, it cannot affect the government’s ability to play the initiative role of governance. We need to innovate and improve the existing local governance models.

ALGORITHM FOR ACOUSTIC PASSIVE LOCALIZATION WITH DUAL ARRAYS

Aiming at the problem of 3D target localization by time delay estimation, this paper proposes a new acoustic passive localization method, which can provide high precision localization estimation. The first step of the two-stage algorithm is to measure the azimuth angle and pitch angle at each single array, which can obtain high precision angle estimation but low precision range estimation. And in the second step, the location of acoustic source is calculated from the angles measured above and geometry position of the two arrays. Then the accuracy of localization estimation is discussed in theory, and the influence factors and localization error are analyzed by simulation. The simulation results validate the performance of the proposed algorithm, and show the precision of localization estimation with dual arrays is superior to single array.

Local Government Debt Management Solutions

Two rounds of leveraging-up have led to a high debt ratio in the Chinese economy, triggered liquidity mismatch and increased systemic financial risks. The key causes of local government liabilities are soft budget constraints and non-market-based factor allocation. Currently, the risks of local government liabilities are generally controllable. This paper concludes that the long-term solution to managing local government liabilities is to enhance budget constraint and institutional assurance and proposes countermeasures in the reform of urban construction investment and ftnancing mechanisms.

Transfer payments from the central government to the local governments and the local governments' efforts on taxation: taking China as an example

The influence of the transfer payments from the central government to the local governments on the local governments＇ efforts on taxation must be taken into consideration by every country for the design of the transfer payments. Based on the theoretical analysis on the influence of the transfer payments from the central government to the local governments＇ on the local governments＇ payments＇, this paper indicates that the local governments＇ efforts on taxation depends on the demand elasticity of the district for public goods, It increases with the increase of the elasticity. Judge the degree of the local govet：nment＇s efforts on taxation by measure 2. After an empirical analysis on the transJer payments from the central government to the local governments＇from 2000 to 2004, this paper gets the con- clusion that the local governments＇ effbrts on taxation ctbates with the increase of supporting payments or with the increase of the ratio of transfer payments to local wiliing public paymentS. Under speCific Circumstances, the higher the ratio of transfer payments to the local fiscal expenditure is. the smaller the local governments＇ efforts＇ on taxation is＂ under the central payments, whereas＇ the higher the local income is, the higher the efforts is under the central pav- ments. Based on this＇, this paper gives the meaning of its eOrresponding pofiCieS. ＂

Analysis on Local Government's Illegal Occupation of Cultivated Land Using Game Theory

In order to find out reasons for local government illegally occupying cultivated land and reduce such acts to ensure China's grain security,this paper made an analysis through building the single person game model for local government's legal or illegal occupation of cultivation land.It reached the conclusion that the benefit obtained by local government from illegal occupation of cultivated land is far greater than cost and punishment of such illegal acts.Illegal act is an optimal choice of local government to maximize its benefits,which is also the major reason for its illegal occupation of cultivated land.Thus,to reduce these illegal acts of local government,it should reduce benefits of local government obtained from illegal occupation of cultivated land,and increase costs for illegal occupation of cultivated land.

“Scrambling”: Logic of horizontal competition between local governments based on three cases of interprovincial disaster counterpart support

Interprovincial counterpart support is a cooperative system used by local governments to achieve horizontal flow of resources based on cross-regional cooperation.Existing research has mainly focused on governance ef‐ficiency,institutional advantages,and ranking incentives while ignoring the scrambling behavior and opera‐tional mechanisms of local governments formed by ranking incentives and territorial responsibilities.This study selected the Wenchuan earthquake,Yushu earthquake,and COVID-19 as three typical cases.We con‐structed a theoretical framework for competition among provincial local governments and found that competi‐tion in interprovincial disaster counterpart support followed a dual behavioral logic of“striving to be first”and“fear of being last”.Specifically,local governments will choose striving to be first under the logic of time coercion,content games,and territorial responsibility;they will choose fear of being last under the logic of re‐sponsibility avoidance and moral pressure.This type of scrambling-based horizontal competition reflects the logic of local government competition tournaments.This study further revealed the specific processes,mecha‐nisms,and results of horizontal local government competition,which can provide inspiration for cross regional and provincial cooperation.

The Transformation of Environmental Governance from the Point of the Interaction between Government and National People's Congress

Taking cadmium pollution in X River as an example, the interaction between National People＇s Congress and local government was de- scribed. How the local government transforms its role in environment protection with the help of several deputies to National People＇s Congress was expounded from the angle of social construction, which also enlightened the way to build an environment protection road with Chinese characteristics.

Analytical Framework Model for Capacity Needs Assessment and Strategic Capacity Development within the Local Government Structure in Tanzania

This is a methodological paper prepared by senior academicians, researchers and consultants from renowned universities in Tanzania. The paper provides insights as to how best development agents can approach the challenge of capacity needs assessment and development of capacity building programs in the context of the local government structure in Tanzania. The paper is of original nature and is based on author’s accumulated knowledge and practice in conducting capacity assessments and developing capacity building programs in Tanzania. The paper describes what can be considered to be best practices in conducting participatory capacity assessment through consultative processes which involves most of the key actors who would be engaged in implementing proposed interventions. The paper puts forward an analytical model for capacity assessment and program development in the Tanzanian context. The main features of the model can be summarized as participatory capacity assessment, strategic capacity building program development and complementarity through synergy building with like-minded stakeholders. The operational modality for utilizing the model in developing capacity building programs which among other components has monitoring and evaluation aspects is included. It is recommended that practitioners and development agents should test the model in their working environments to realize its potential benefits including program ownership by stakeholders.

A Precise Localization Method for a High Speed Mobile Robot Using iGS and Dual Compass

This paper proposes a precise localization algorithm for a quickly moving mobile robot.In order to localize a mobile robot with active beacon sensors,a relatively long time is needed,since the distance to the beacon is measured by transmitting time of the ultrasonic signal.The measurement time does not cause a high error rate when the mobile robot moves slowly.However,with an increase of the mobile robot’s speed,the localization error becomes too high to use for accurate mobile robot navigation.Therefore,in this research into high speed mobile robot operations,instead of using two active beacons for localization,an active beacon and dual compass are utilized to localize the mobile robot.This new approach resolves the high localization error caused by the speed of the mobile robot.The performance of the precise localization algorithm is verified by comparing it to the conventional method through real-world experiments.

Local Government Behavior behind China's Excessive Investment under Decentralization——Theoretical and Empirical Analysis Based on Manufacturing Sector

This paper investigates the effect of local government intervention on capital deepening of manufacturing sector by using interprovincial panel data sets of 28 Chinese provinces,municipalities and autonomous regions between 1994 and 2011.Theoretical research indicates that as a transitional economy,China's local government intervention in corporate investment behaviors will cause excessive investment,thus bringing about a long-term and sustained tendency of capital deepening in manufacturing sector.Empirical test further discovers that in a certain range,the phenomenon of capital deepening in manufacturing sector is not an inevitable result endogenous to economic development and technology progress,and that investment behaviors of manufacturing sector are largely subject to the external institutional environment.Fiscal decentralization has indeed promoted capital deepening of manufacturing sector.Financial credit expansion and interventions in SOEs are major instruments for local governments to intervene in the capital deepening of manufacturing sector and such an influence is particularly significant for China's central,western and northeast regions.Therefore,clarifying government functions and improving local government performance review mechanism are of great significance to the healthy development of China's manufacturing sector.

Grand Strategies for Dealing With Chinese Local Government Debts

Local governmental debts in China seem to be in a more precarious position than local government debts in the USA. The scale of Chinese local government debts far surpasses that of the USA. Further, Chinese local government debts appear to be expanding at an alarming rate in the past decade or so. This research focuses on grand strategies for dealing with Chinese local government debts. There are five research questions for this paper： 1） What is the size of the Chinese government debts？ 2） Are Chinese local government debts controllable？ 3） Who or what caused the rapid increase of the Chinese local government debts？ 4） Is it possible to have individual accountability for increasing local government debts in the future？ and 5） Will it be helpful to create a local government debt management organization in the Chinese central government？ Based on the available literature, this analysis also utilizes in death interviews with 13 government officials, policy analyst, and scholars. First, this paper identifies the size and categories of debts related to Chinese local governments. Then this paper illustrates various ways and methods of Chinese local governments to obtain leverage. After analyzing the causes and origins of these debts, the research demonstrates a potential local systematic risk. By contrast to its advantages and disadvantages, the paper suggests that the local governmental debts need to be constrained. It is important to restrict debt growth in terms of issuing, buying, repurchasing, collateralizing, etc. within a legal framework. With the consideration of political mechanisms in China, the research suggests that the central government establishes a specific organization to help normalize the local governmental debts with the function of supervision and management. The research also believes that it will be an effective way to control the growth of local debts if the central government can hold the relevant top leaders/officials of local governments to be accountable for their performances related to debt accumulation.

Reforms on China＇s Fiscal System and Its Impact on Local Government Behavior

The fiscal system is an important part of national economic management and deals with the division of financial responsibility and power, regulates and defines the fiscal activities among different levels of governments. The changes in economic system and economic structure decide the changes of fiscal function and fiscal structure, which results in the changes in intergovernmental distribution form and local government behavior. This paper takes a look at the stages of China＇s fiscal reform process and the impacts on local government behavior, and tries to find measures for perfecting the fiscal system reform to optimize local government behavior and guarantee a healthy national economy.

Review of China’s neighborhood center planning from the perspective of innovative social governance

The neighborhood center provides an implementation case for centralizing community service facilities and organizing service provision effectively,and has achieved community service improvement,which provides innovative methods for governance innovation.This paper summarizes the development process of neighborhood center planning in China,and analyzes related planning cases in Suzhou,Tianjin,Hangzhou,and Chengdu focusing on planning characteristics and operating mechanisms.Based on the case of Chongqing,it gives answer to key issues of the local application of neighborhood center planning concept.

Financial Reporting Dilemmas for the Maltese Local Government

Maltese Local Councils are required to prepare financial reports compliant with International Financial Reporting Standards （IFRS）. Through documentary research, this study examined the suitability of this requirement and implications for institutional relationships. This study showed that IFRS statements are problematic to produce and interpret at the local level of government, and that, on their own, they are undermining the control needs of the Central Government. This study highlighted the important role of financial reporting for accountability by showing that the use of financial reporting systems that do not fit the reporting entity may actually lead to avoidance of accountability by mystifying reality.

Alternative policy implementation: Theoretical explanation and case analysis of local government's action logic

Since the reform and opening up, the local government has played a key role in promoting the economic and social development of our country, and the effective implementation of the local government has become an important research topic. Therefore, based on the literature, the observation method of in-depth interviews, practice investigation and participation is adopted in this paper, which focuses on the implementation of special groups of social assistance policy. The theoretical framework of government' rational choice reveals the status of local government implementation policies and behavior behind the mechanism and organizational structure. The study found that:(1) the local government is easy to choose a quantifiable policy to implement;(2) there is a coexistence between the local government departments;(3) the local government selectively meets the needs of special personnel;(4) the local government's seeking political promotion and power leads to its behavior alienation.

Local Government-owner Bidder and Corporate Control Transfer

In this study, we discuss the financial constraints and the behavior of local governments. We expect that governments in relative wealthy region will act as a helping hand for companies trader its control on average, while those in relative poor region will be a grabbing hand. By dividing local governments into 3 categories according to its GDP per capita and Fiscal Revenue per capita, we test the relationship between government attributes and the long-term performance of listed companies in corporate control market. We find that target companies who are later controlled by the wealthiest government achieve better performance, while those who were later controlled by the poorest governments also achieve significant better long-term performance.