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AbstractThis article breaks new ground by revisiting the Multiple Streams Framework as central public policy theory and modifying it to take into account multilevel reinforcing dynamics. This is important as it allows policy change to be explained more accurately given the empirical interdependencies between policy‐making on the national, regional (e.g., European) and international levels, which so far have not been sufficiently taken into account by traditional public policy theories. It process‐traces how EU‐level policies motivated by energy security considerations and global climate leadership ambitions influenced international‐level agenda‐setting. Global climate change commitments in turn influenced European renewable energy and climate policy. Such multilevel reinforcing dynamics were central for the 2009 European Renewable Energy Directive, the 2030 Climate and Energy Framework and the 2050 European Green Deal proposal to emerge and subsequently facilitated the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which in turn motivated developed and developing countries to legislate and implement climate and renewable energy policies.

Abstract
As global material consumption rests on the large-scale production of commodities for food, energy, and raw materials, the governance of natural resources—from national legislation to international trade, investment, and human rights law—has long provided policy arenas for deepening economic integration. Concerns about 'resource nationalism' and critiques of investor–state dispute settlement have raised questions as to whether the world might be entering a phase of economic dis-integration. To problematize linear accounts of (dis)integration, this article explores the legal arrangements that integrate resource-dependent countries into the global economy. It argues that natural resource extraction is facilitated by a legal regime that sustains dis-integration patterns in global resource governance—including relations between state-based and traditional governance systems; between extractive enclaves and national territories; and between different spheres of international regulation. Some of the recent contestation, then, reflects efforts to (re)integrate dis-integrated legal and social realities, by more fully recognizing local systems of practice and belief and more effectively considering human rights in investment processes.

Chilean publicly listed companies are required by law to pay out a minimum 30% of distributable earnings after taxes as dividends on common stock. The study extends Lintner's [Lintner, J (1956). Distribution of incomes of corporations among dividend retained earnings and taxes. American Economic Review, 46, 97–113.] model of dividend smoothing and Banerjee [Banerjee, S, VA Gatchev and PA Spindt (2007). Stock market liquidity and firm dividend policy. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 42(2), 369–398.] logistic model of the likelihood of a firm paying a dividend to investigate the signaling, liquidity, corporate governance, and information risk-based theories of dividends. The results show that Chilean firms' excess dividends are smoothed in relation to the prior period level of excess dividends, and lagged earnings do not drive excess dividends even though the mandatory minimum dividend is defined in terms of lagged earnings. This insight establishes that dividend decisions regarding the size of the excess dividend and the likelihood of paying an excess dividend are distinct from the mandatory dividend payment. Additionally, the size of excess dividends and their likelihood are higher at firms with higher growth opportunities, a result consistent with the use of excess dividends as a signaling device. Results also demonstrate that greater transparency is associated with a greater likelihood of paying an excess dividend, but transparency does not drive policy regarding the size of the excess dividend. Moreover, the corporate governance mechanism creditor monitoring influences the size of excess dividends but not the likelihood of paying excess dividends. These results have implications for securities regulators evaluating the pros and cons of a mandatory dividend policy to protect minority shareholders in emerging markets.

The complexities of platforms are increasingly at odds with the narrow legal and economic concepts in which their governance is grounded. This article aims to analyze platformization through the metaphorical lens of a tree to make sense of information ecosystems as hierarchical and interdependent structures. The layered shape of the tree draws attention to the dynamics of power concentration: vertical integration, infrastructuralization, and cross-sectorization. Next, the metaphor helps to revision the current patchwork of European regulatory frameworks, addressing the power asymmetry between citizens and the data-driven systems through which their daily practices are governed. Finally, the platformization tree serves to identify points of intervention that may inform European regulatory bodies and policy-makers to act as agents of change. Taking a holistic approach to platformization, this visual metaphor may inspire a set of principles that reshapes the platform ecosystem in the interest of society and the common good.

Research on conflict processes has recently highlighted the myriad of tactics rebels use which are not violent in nature (cf. Petrova 2019; Ryckman 2020; Cunningham, Dahl, and Frugé 2017). Concurrently, rebel governance has drawn increasing attention from scholars and peacebuilding practitioners. In-depth historical studies of rebel groups highlight the activities and behaviors that rebels engage in beyond making war—such as providing social services and building local political institutions (Mampilly 2011; Arjona 2016a; Arjona, Kasfir, and Mampilly 2015). Complementing these works, studies have sought to provide cross-national examination of trends in these governance behaviors (Huang 2016; Heger and Jung 2017; Stewart 2018). Despite this work, quantitative and formal research in conflict processes often ignores the insights that the rebel governance literature has generated, frequently focusing exclusively on violent tactics or considering governance issues primarily as part of conflict settlement processes. In this special feature, we work to integrate the study of rebel governance with the conflict processes literature, providing a conceptual link between the two while offering novel contributions to advance our understanding of the dynamic processes of rebel governance.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the relationship between intellectual capital and corporate governance of Oman's financial sector companies. Intellectual capital has been found to successfully contribute to the economic wealth creation of firms in germane literature. Unfortunately, financial statements do not necessarily capture and reflect the contributions of intellectual capital, thereby leading to an information asymmetry between companies and users of financial statements. The research also investigates the relationship between corporate governance and intellectual capital efficiency across various financial subsectors.Design/methodology/approachData are collected from annual reports available on Muscat Securities Market for 31 listed financial sector companies for the period 2012 to 2016 and analyzed using a multiple regression model. Intellectual capital is measured using Pulic's efficiency measure of value-added intellectual coefficient (VAIC). Corporate governance individual components such as board characteristics, audit committee characteristics and ownership structure are presented as independent variables.FindingsThe findings suggest that board size and frequency of audit committee meetings have a significant association with the intellectual capital efficiency of Oman's financial sector. VAIC and human capital efficiency of banks are also significantly influenced by most of the corporate governance mechanisms; however, other subsectors do not report such findings. Corporate governance of banks in comparison to other subsectors effectively engages in utilizing the potential of intellectual capital efficiency. Agency theory and resource dependency theory find limited support as a result of this study. The GMM results are not robust to the alternative instruments.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size is small as the study is limited to the listed financial sector of Oman. Future studies can be extended to include all of Oman's or GCC's listed companies. Additionally, the intellectual capital is measured using the construct of VAIC which suffers some limitations and can be overcome using other tools such as content analysis.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that Oman's regulators can create an awareness strategy on highlighting the importance of intellectual capital for companies (board of directors and managers), investors, debtors and creditors. Further, Oman's Capital Market Authority and Muscat Securities Market need to strengthen the regulations related to intellectual capital.Originality/valueThis study extends intellectual capital and corporate governance literature by presenting the research outcome for Oman's financial sector. It is useful for Oman's financial sector companies to direct corporate governance measures for driving value creation of firms through the management of intellectual capital efficiency.

This study identifies three types of legitimation from the literature that can be applied within metropolitan governance in the contested sphere of spatial planning: input legitimation, throughput legitimation, and output legitimation. The reason for discussing different forms of legitimation within metropolitan governance is that, globally, only a relatively few metropolitan regions are governed directly through a single elected tier of government such as a regional council. Thus, governance mechanisms in most metropolitan regions involve some form of joint working or cross border governance initiatives that have to be legitimized in the absence of a single overarching elected council covering the whole metropolitan area. The main question discussed in this paper is, therefore, whether all three types of legitimation identified are utilized to legitimize governance mechanisms at the metropolitan scale with a specific focus—as a core part of metropolitan governance—on spatial planning processes and projects. In conceptual terms, our typology structures fuzzy lines of legitimation across the three (the "how", "who" and "what") suggested aspects of metropolitan governance in the literature. From this point, we draw on cross-case reviews of variables involved in the design, application, and outcome of input, throughput, and output legitimation in Germany and England, chosen because neither has a formal tier of metropolitan-wide government despite their differences in terms of their highly regionalised and highly centralised national government contexts respectively. This relational methodology helps us to learn about the contextual dynamics of how the three types of legitimation might reinforce one another in different international settings, leading to the overall conclusion that they will work best in combination, although output legitimation has a distinctive capacity to work in less formal settings.

Purpose
This paper aims to analyze the relationship between public health spending and health outcome using time series data in Nigeria over the period 1980 to 2017, taking into account the role of governance by assessing how the quality of governance directly affects health status and indirectly as a mediator for the effectiveness of public health spending.


Design/methodology/approach
Using the Hausman statistical tests to check for the existence of endogeneity, the proper method for estimating the model for this study is the two-stage least square regression model. The two-stage least squares regression model addresses the problem of endogeneity using instrumental variables. The mediating role of governance on the effectiveness of public health spending on health was considered by an interaction of governance indicators with public health spending.


Findings
The results showed that public health spending had no significant effect on health outcome except when interacted with governance quality. The interaction of government health spending with governance effectiveness as well as that for control of corruption improved health by inducing a fall in maternal deaths, whereas government health expenditure interacted with rule of law raised maternal mortality. Public health spending interacted with regulatory quality improved life expectancy while that for political stability with public health spending induced a fall in life expectancy, poor maternal and infant health. Political stability and the control of corruption had direct influence on maternal health.


Practical implications
Given the predominance of public health spending in promoting access to health care and population health status for developing economies, the effectiveness of such spending should be top priority in policy makers' agenda. This again is important because for developing economies, government revenue is generated from a small tax base due to their highly informal nature. To improve health status from public intervention in the health sector, there is indeed need for improvement in the overall state of governance in Nigeria.


Originality/value
This paper is one of the few country case studies which uses time series data to examine the role of governance on the efficacy of public health spending with extension of findings to maternal health and covering more measures of governance quality. The results fundamentally illuminate the importance of governance in fostering development in health and consequently enhancing economic development and growth.

AbstractThe collection of data, its analysis, and the publication of insights from data promise a range of benefits, but can carry risks for individuals and organizations. This paper sets out considerations regarding the potential role for technologies in governance of data use, and some key limitations. The paper examines the potential of Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) to support organizations and institutions that handle data in governing data use, and considers their role based on their current state of development and the trajectory of technological development. This involves consideration both of how these technologies can potentially enable governments and others to unlock the value of data, and also recognition of both contingent and in principle limitations on the role of PETs in ensuring well-governed use of data.