In December 1998, the Howard Government released Australia’s Oceans Policy, a major initiative focused at providing a framework for implementing integrated ecosystem based management of Australia’s vast marine domain. This thesis utilises a policy community approach to review the processes and institutions that led to the development of Australia’s Oceans Policy. It argues that despite significant policy change affected by both external and domestic policy drivers, a key element in shaping responses to the policy has been stability within the policy community shaped paradoxically by ‘offshore federalism’ that has made it difficult to implement a fully integrated oceans policy. Analysis of the development and implementation of the Australia’s Oceans Policy indicates that change to ocean related policies embodied in the policy framework have been driven by several interrelated factors. These include debates over appropriate management of resources within and between sectoral groups; coordination of marine resource management between state and Commonwealth governments; and Commonwealth commitments to international instruments. New institutional arrangements established by Australia’s Oceans Policy such as the National Oceans Office, National Oceans Ministerial Board, National Oceans Advisory Group and Regional Marine Plan Steering Committees, reflect a commitment towards integrated ocean management but at the same time confront the legal and jurisdictional framework established following a quarter century of ‘offshore federalism’.

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No description available.

In the Australian context policies impacting on economic development have traditionally been the preserve of Commonwealth and state governments. Economic restructuring, particularly since the early 1980’s, has seen the rise of local government as a more active participant in promoting economic development at the local level. What emerged was a highly competitive environment where local governments established their own policies to attract and promote private sector investment and employment growth. Policy makers were faced with the difficult task of identifying the most appropriate policy levers and frameworks that covered a diverse and often competitive range of issues. Australian local governments that established economic development policies were placing themselves in a scenario that was outside the statutory parameters of their legislative frameworks and often well beyond their resource capacity. A prerequisite for effectiveness in this complex area of public policy would be a clear understanding of economic development and the ability of councils to participate in the process. The aim of this research is to establish a model which can explain the role that local government can play in achieving local economic development. By examining the international and Australian literature a broad-based multi-disciplinary model is developed to facilitate interpretation of the concept of economic development in a manner suitable for policy makers in the local government context. This model is tested against in depth case studies of three Australian local governments which have embarked on strong economic development policies. The conclusions focus on the relevance of the model through determining its ‘fit’ with the established policies, and its potential contribution to concept and practice.

The thesis describes and analyses the Thai alcohol policy process in the period 1997 - 2006, in order to investigate the characteristics and areas for potential improvement of the Thai alcohol policy process. The analysis used several extant public policy models. The models covered three aspects of the process at the macro leve l : stages of development, the characteristics and behaviours of maj or policy players, and the policy context. At the micro level the analysis employs concepts of agenda setting, policy formulation, policy implementation, monitoring and evaluation, stakeholder relationships and policy context. Information on Thai alcohol policy was collected from two sources: secondary data included official documents, literature, technical publications and mass media; pnmary data was collected through stakeholder interviews. Thai alcohol policy, during this period became more comprehensive and more oriented to public health. Problem-reduction values gained momentum while economic values remained significant. Thai policy stakeholders focused on the formulation process, while implementation, monitoring and evaluation were neglected. Limited resources, human capacity and ineffective management exacerbated this situation. Incrementalism characterised Thai alcohol policy formulation; existing policy or the policy precursor was very important to the decisions made. Limitations in the availability, accuracy and utilisation of knowledge about alcohol consumption, related problems and alcohol policy also affected the process. The Thai alcohol policy process became a more open public policy sphere for stakeholders. Many new players made major contributions to the process. The mechanisms stakeholders use to influence policy have become more complex and included: technical knowledge, the use of mass media and civil movements, and coordination among stakeholders. A centralised bureaucratic administration and personal and institutional interests are critical features for official stakeholders, while connection to high ranking officials and representation in the process are significant for interest groups. The Thai cultural context had a crucial impact on the alcohol policy process; cultural features which are not explicitly covered in the Western policy models utilised include cronyism, relationships, representation, commitment, negligence, and compromise. These characteristics make the Thai alcohol policy process difficult to fully explain in terms of the available public policy theories.

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The main achievement of this thesis has been the development of an operational system dynamics model of the Indonesian energy system. This model attempts to integrate a wide range of data so that policy-makers can understand the connections between economic, environmental and energy policy objectives. This is the first such model to be developed for Indonesia, building on previous modelling efforts that have been restricted to regression-based forecasting and optimisation modelling. The first part of the thesis provides a systematic analysis of background data, information and the context for the model development. These chapters review the historical and political context of energy developments in Indonesia; review past energy policies as well as emerging energy policy objectives; analyse the determinants of energy demand (by regression and divisia decomposition methods) and review energy supply options. The regression analysis concluded that GDP and household income had the most significant effect on energy demand. The effect of fuel price rises, on the other hand, did not exert a significant effect on energy demand. The divisia decomposition method found that, over the entire Indonesian economy, technical change was found to give a greater contribution to energy efficiency improvements (as measured by the energy:GDP ratio) than structural changes. The system dynamics model was developed and validated using the extensive data collected, refined and analysed in the first part of the thesis. The model consisted of an economic module (17 sector input-output model), energy demand module, electric power module, heat and transport fuel module, primary energy supply module and an environmental module. Five scenarios were developed from this model in order to analyse possible energy development pathways for Indonesia, over the 1998-2020 period. These scenarios reflected five themes Business-as-Usual, Environmentally Beneficial, Economic Efficiency, Self-Sufficiency and Balancing Trade-Offs. These scenarios were assessed using a number of policy evaluation criteria to measure various energy, economic and environmental policy objectives. All of these scenarios indicated that Indonesia's energy demand and hence CO2 emissions will grow significantly over the scenario period, even if Indonesia introduces some quite stringent polices to restrict these trends - eg, CO2 emissions are expected to increase by 189% under the 'Business-as-Usual' scenario; and even though they can be reduced to a 85% increase under the 'Environmentally Beneficial' scenario, this is still a significant and somewhat alarming increase in CO2 emissions. The scenarios also highlighted the trade-offs between different sets of policy objectives as an aid to energy planning and policy-making. Finally, further areas of research that could improve the model and its use were identified: improving the data on energy supply and demand (particularly the end-use characterisation), endogenise the economic growth dynamics into the model rather than depending on regression analysis, possibly converting the input-output structure into a computable general equilibrium model, including more sectoral detail, making the model at least partly spatially-specific, and investigating more participatory approaches for further developing the model so as to enhance its uptake.

This study explores the importance of the minimum wage policy in West Java, Indonesia, within the overall framework of development and in the face of globalisation and decentralisation. A holistic approach to the minimum wage policy is applied. Generally, the study assesses the impact of decentralized minimum wage fixing processes on employment and participation of trade unions. In addition, it explores whether the minimum wage policy assists workers in coping with the negative effects of globalisation. It also explores the link between minimum wages and decent work. This study reveals that while there is some evidence of employment losses due to increases in wage levels in West Java, it did not find conclusive evidence that minimum wage levels were the main factor responsible for the employment decline. It is likely that a combination of factors such as a decrease in global demand for Indonesian manufacturing products and the current macro-economic conditions in the country, are also responsible for the employment decline. This study finds that the process of minimum wage fixing at local level has a positive impact on trade union participation in wage bargaining. The empowerment of trade unions through new legislation has enabled independent trade unions to flourish, which allows workers to join any trade unions. Consequently, minimum wage bargaining at district/city level is more dynamic than the centralized system of minimum wage bargaining in the past. Trade unions are able to express their views on what the minimum wage levels should be. Moreover, the minimum wage fixing processes at local level have the potential to promote decent work. The minimum wage fixing processes are an alternative to wage bargaining and can accommodate even sectors where trade unions are least active or non-existent. The minimum wage processes at district/city level are already established and they are in position to expand to a wider framework of providing welfare for workers. However, decent work objectives will not be achieved without the full cooperation of both central and local governments. Under the current decentralisation process, where central and local government views are still not in agreement, it is difficult to see how decent work can be applied nationally. Thus, the minimum wage policy and trade union development are important in the overall development paradigm. Both ensure the existence of a rights based approach to development where workers are given rights to organize as well as earn a basic living. Nevertheless, the development of trade unions in developing countries is under threat from flexibilisation of the workplace in which jobs have become less and less secure. The minimum wage policy, however, is still viable because it covers all types of workers. At the very least, minimum wages provide a safety net wage that can prevent real wages from falling. The writer suggests that more studies should be conducted on the extent and effectiveness of trade union participation in minimum wage bargaining. In addition, further studies should be conducted on the effect of minimum wages and trade unions on non-standard or flexible workers. Flexible workers, whether they are fixed-term contract and outsourced workers, are becoming an important part of the global labour market and increasingly pose a challenge to the increasingly important role of trade unions in developing countries.

Republic Act No. 9173, or the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002 enunciates a bevy of incentives under its Health Human Resource Production, Utilization and Development provisions, intended to stem the rising tide of Filipino nurses leaving the country to work overseas. Under Sections 30 to 34 of the Nursing Act, these incentives include the following: (1) upgrading the minimum base salary of nurses from salary grade 10 to 15; (2) establishing a nurse specialty program in government hospitals to upgrade the nurses’ skills whereby recipients of the program are required to work in government hospitals for two years; and (3) the provision of other benefits such as scholarship grants, free medical care, etc. These provisions are the government’s policy response to mitigate the impact of nurses’ migration and retain an adequate supply of skilled Filipino nurses in the country: This research is a qualitative study that seeks to assess the health human resource development provisions and their implementation and aims to help improve them. This study examines the responsiveness of the provisions to the needs of nurses, and identifies the deficiencies of the provisions by looking into the working conditions of nurses in two Philippine government hospitals. It also examines the processes and the factors affecting the implementation of the provisions. This study employed a combination of four data collection methods: (1) focus group interviews of nurses working in two Philippine government hospitals, (2) key informant interviews of officials of government agencies and private organizations tasked to implement the health human resource development provisions, (3) document analyses, and (4) researcher’s field notes/journal. The researcher conducted five focus group interviews with a total of 15 nurse participants and 12 key informant interviews. The nurses are working under conditions of low salaries and heavy workload, that is characterized by low nurse-to-patient ratios in the National and LGU Hospitals. The problems of inadequate nurse staffing, large number iii of patients and inadequate supplies in the two government hospitals are identified as causes for the heavy workload of nurses. The nurses want a salary increase that is commensurate to their heavy workload, their professional qualifications and long years of service. For the nurses, a salary increase signifies the government’s recognition of their dedication, hard work, and commitment to provide health care to Filipinos despite working under dire circumstances. The nurse specialty training program in areas such as oncology, nephrology, critical care, etc. has not been implemented because of the limited capacities of government hospitals to provide this kind of training and the lack of regulatory framework for the practice of nurse specialists in the Philippines. The other benefits have not been implemented as well. The provisions of the Nursing Act are deficient because they do not address the causes of the heavy workload of nurses. To improve the work conditions of nurses, the Philippine government needs to prioritize to the long neglected health sector by increasing the budgetary allocation in order to create more nurse positions in government hospitals, to provide adequate supplies and equipment for government hospitals and to improve the facilities for nurses.

Policy makers in the Southeast Asian region are faced with many challenges in national policy taxation from globalization, in particular the increasing cross-border mobility of capital. One of the challenges is the competition to attract a mobile capital base which leads to a trend towards declining statutory corporate taxation rates and a pressure to harmonize taxation policy. This study explores taxation literature and uses empirical evidence from the period of 1996-2006 to examine tax competition and tax harmonization in the region. The study seeks evidence for the existence of tax competition by analyzing recent trends in two groups of measures of taxation: tax rates and tax revenues. This begins with looking at the trends of statutory corporate tax rate. Evidence is found for a decline in statutory corporate tax rates, developments commensurate with the existence of tax competition. On the contrary, the tax revenue data presented here, show that the expected decline in total tax revenues has not occurred; indeed, a significant increase has been recorded. It is also supported by empirical evidence of the ratio of corporate tax revenue either relative to GDP or to total tax revenue. The strengthening of these revenues has meant that the expected shift in the tax burden away from mobile to immobile factors has also failed to materialize. The two groups of measures of taxation thus provide apparently inconsistent views of the impact of tax competition. There follows an analysis of the elements of tax competition according to literature, in an attempt to draw out its implications for the experience within the Southeast Asian region. This study also examines the case for tax harmonisation and the Southeast Asian experience and it is concluded that the progress of tax harmonisation between countries has tended to be difficult to achieve because of the differences among the countries in terms of the tax structures and level of economies.