This paper gives a review on the theoretical foundation for fiscal decentralisation and a status quo analysis of the intergovernmental relations in Mongolia. It consists of two parts. Part I briefly reviews the theories of fiscal decentralisation and its impact on the nations’ welfare considering the major challenges for a transition economy. Part II of the paper describes the general structure and scope of the government and examines the current fiscal autonomy in Mongolia focusing on the four main areas of intergovernmental relations. This paper concludes that local governments in Mongolia are still far away from having the political, administrative and fiscal autonomy. New approaches for the assignments of expenditures and revenues in Mongolia are urgently needed.

This research was inspired by a particular business problem – the search for an optimal model of strategy-making process in Severstal, a major Russian metals and mining company going through a period of rapid growth and transformation. The research reports on the results of a longitudinal explorative case study based on two distinct empirical projects. The first project addressed strategy process nature, participants, roles of corporate centre, time perspective and impact of the external environment. Its results highlighted the importance of CEO leadership and personal traits, which became the principal focus of the second empirical project. The key empirical contribution of the research was definition of "leader-focused decentralisation" as a particular approach to strategy-making in a multi-business group. This approach combines decentralized, bottom-up, business units-led generation of strategic proposals and initiatives with a crucial role of a company leader as a deeply involved decision-maker, presiding over a small and lean corporate centre with minimal corporate rules and bureaucracy. In Severstal’s case, the "leader-focused decentralisation" approach to strategy was a good match to its volatile yet rewarding external environment. The suggested model can be seen as an empirically-derived step towards a theoretical synthesis of "activist" vs. "detached" views of corporate centre roles in relation to strategy process in multi-business firms. It exhibited some distinctive features which were not yet described in other contexts, including co-existence of strong entrepreneurial leadership and organisational decentralisation. From a practical standpoint, the research highlighted weaknesses and limitations of existing strategy-making model and offered a background for the discussion of ways to develop it in the future.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between work organisation and the labour market status of employees in Sweden, during the years 2008 to 2012. The main interest is to analyse the probability of staying employed or not, and staying employed after the general retirement age.To assess this relationship three different data sources are combined. Work organisation is approximated with the NU2012 survey, which was conducted by the Swedish Work Environment Authority. We use an empirical combination of the questions, and the work organisation is assumed constant throughout the years. Separate regressions are estimated for each possible labour market status. The regressions are estimated with cross section models and random effects panel data models.We find that there is a relationship between work organisation and employees’ labour market positions. Numerical flexibility is found to affect the work environment and the individuals’ labour market statuses negatively. Decentralisation’s and learning’s impact on the individuals’ labour market status is, however, incoherent with theories and previous research. These results are probably due to the reverse time causality of the study. Finally we propose that it is important to investigate this relationship further to be able to make policy changes.

Decentralisation and federalism are often said to mitigate conflict by better meeting the preferences of a heterogeneous population and demands for limited autonomy. But it is argued in this thesis that this perspective does not sufficiently address the ways in which conflict-ridden relations entangle processes across different scales ‒ local, regional as well as national. The aim of this thesis is to explain how it is that while decentralisation may contribute to national stability, it may simultaneously generate local conflict. This problem is analysed through a conflict in Kaduna State in north-central Nigeria where there have been outbreaks of violence between Hausa-Fulani Muslims and Christians of different ethnicities since the 1980s. Christian ethnic groups claim to be excluded from state benefits, while Muslim groups claim that Christians have undue influence over the state bureaucracy. The conflict feeds off ethnic and religious mobilisation. Expanded local political space further fuelled the conflict following the decentralisation that came with the shift from military to civilian rule in 1999. Decentralisation in Nigeria implies that the authorities should be associated with the majority ethnicity or religion in a specific territory. A localisation of politics accordingly raises the stakes in identity-based conflicts, especially as control of local institutions is necessary for inclusion in wider political processes. In Kaduna, this has led to demands for separating the state on a religious and ethnic basis. Actors make use of “scalar politics” to conform to or challenge boundaries set by the state. Social relations are associated with different boundaries.  Accordingly, decentralisation triggers conflicts on an identity basis, involving contestation over the hierarchy of scales. While national struggles between ethnic and religious groups may be subdued, conflicts play out locally as decentralisation in Nigeria makes religion and ethnicity a powerful tool for political mobilisation. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript.</p>

This thesis considers the extent to which decentralisation in the Republic of Macedonia between 2005 and 2012 has been effective in reducing ethnic inequalities that exacerbate social divisions and can lead to conflict. Guided by the concept of horizontal inequalities, it identifies the factors which influenced the decision to devolve responsibilities to the municipalities after 2001. It examines the particular institutional design that Macedonian decentralisation took, and demonstrates how its use of local power-sharing mechanisms was intended to address the concerns of the Albanian and Macedonian communities simultaneously. This thesis takes an integrative approach to studying the political, administrative, and fiscal dimensions of decentralisation's implementation, and considers whether the reform has indeed contributed to the reduction of inequalities between Macedonia's ethnic groups. Where decentralisation's potential has not been reached, obstacles to its successful implementation are identified. While decentralisation alone may be unable to address all of the grievances raised by the Albanian community prior to 2001, this thesis argues that the reform has the potential to address many of the horizontal inequalities that were responsible for raising inter-ethnic tensions during the 1990s. However, decentralisation in Macedonia between 2005 and 2012 has only been partial, and advances in the administrative and political aspects of the reform have been undermined by limited progress in its fiscal dimension. Attempts to solve self-determination conflicts through decentralisation will fail if local self-governance exists only in form but not in substance.

Background During the 1990s, Tanzania, like many other developing countries, adopted health sector reforms. The most common policy change under health sector reforms has been decentralisation, which involves the transfer of power and authority from the central levels to the local governments. However, while decentralisation of health care planning and priority-setting in Tanzania gained currency in the last decade, its performance has, so far, been less than satisfactory. In a five-year EU-supported project, which started in 2006, ways of strengthening fairness and accountability in priority-setting in district health management were studied through action research. As part of this overall project, this doctoral thesis aims to analyse the existing health care organisation and management systems, and explore the potential and challenges of implementing Accountability for Reasonableness approach to priority setting in Tanzania. Methods A qualitative case study in Mbarali district formed the basis of exploring the socio-political and institutional contexts within which health care decision-making takes place. The thesis also explores how the Accountability for Reasonableness intervention was shaped, enabled and constrained by the interaction between the contexts and mechanisms. Key informant interviews were conducted with the Council Health Management Team, local government officials, and other stakeholders, using a semi-structured interview guide. Relevant documents were also gathered and group priority-setting processes in the district were observed. Main findings The study revealed that, despite the obvious national rhetoric on decentralisation, actual practice in the district involved little community participation. The findings showed that decentralisation, in whatever form, does not automatically provide space for community engagement. The assumption that devolution to local government promotes transparency, accountability and community participation, is far from reality. In addition, the thesis found that while the Accountability for Reasonableness approach to priority setting was perceived to be helpful in strengthening transparency, accountability, stakeholder engagement and fairness, integrating the innovation into the current district health system was challenging.   Conclusion This thesis underscores the idea that greater involvement and accountability among local actors may increase the legitimacy and fairness of priority-setting decisions. A broader and more detailed analysis of health system elements, and socio-cultural context, can lead to better prediction of the effects of the innovation, pinpoint stakeholders’ concerns, and thereby illuminate areas requiring special attention in fostering sustainability. Additionally, the thesis stresses the need to recognise and deal with power asymmetries among various actors in priority-setting contexts.

The notion of accountability assumes different meanings and emphasis in different contexts depending on the purpose for which it is used. In essence, accountability has to do with the demand for improved services, operations and products. In the public sector in particular, the spread of democratization has led to growing public demand for improved and better services and standards. This demand led many governments to introduce administrative reforms to bring about the desired changes in the delivery of services to the general public. Education, as a public service, and against the backdrop ofpoor learning outcomes, has over the years been subjected to intensive public scrutiny leading to increased demand for education accountability. The huge expectations imposed on educational establishments have led to a significant change in the nature and scale of education accountability. Equally, the lack of confidence in public schools to meet the educational needs of society is a further justification for the demand for accountability in education. Education accountability, in the final analysis, has as its primary goal, the need to improve learning outcomes. This study is about the development of a conceptual framework to enhance accountability in public schooling. Existing accountability processes and practises fall far too short of making public education accountable. Partly because approaches to accountability are not grounded on fundamental values and principles. Accountability in general and education accountability in particular, must be underpinned by sound values and principles to be effective and developmental. This study takes as its point of departure, the view that education accountability is both necessary and desirable if the growing educational needs of communities, particularly the poor, are to be met. To that effect, the conceptual framework has to afford every learning institution, regardless of its unique characteristics and circumstances, the opportunity to meet its accountability obligations. In this study, the quantitative and qualitative designs were employed to gather information relating to accountability processes and practises in the N orth-West education system and schools in particular. A survey questionnaire (quantitative) was used to compile data regarding the views and perspectives of principals on education accountability. Focus group interviews (qualitative) were conducted with both district officials and teacher unions to solicit their views and perspectives on the processes and practises of accountability in the North-West education department. The sample involved 222 principals from both primary and secondary schools in the province. Nine (9) union representatives drawn from the three major unions in the province participated in the focused group interviews. In addition, 7 district officials, drawn from the four education districts in the province also participated in the focus group interviews. The research, as stipulated above, yielded the following results: • Most of the principals surveyed managed schools that are located in rural and generally poor areas. These demographic challenges imposed serious limitations on the capacity of principals to manage effectively since rural schools are often geographically dispersed and poorly resourced. Consequently, accountability processes and practises must be sensitive to the context within which these schools operate. • Most of the principals sampled have the requisite qualifications and managerial experience suggesting that they are reasonably equipped to do their work. There is also evidence that provision is made for in-service training in management. It could therefore be concluded that if experience and qualifications alone were taken as key determinants in securing effective management, many of the sampled schools would be performing reasonably well. This finding however, is inconsistent with the widespread school level dysfunctionality that characterise the North-West schooling system. Effective accountability would therefore go beyond the principal to find answers to this incongruecy. • Teacher quality and teacher professionalism were identified as key levers of educational quality and school level accountability • There is a clear and direct link between an accountable school and the role of the principal. The characteristic features of an accountable school tended to overlap with the roles and responsibilities of the principals. • The role ofstakeholders in enhancing education accountability was supported by most respondents, suggesting therefore that schools must strive to develop healthy relationships with all stakeholders, both internal and externaL • Collaboration and networking among principals were seen as important in providing principals with opportunities to share ideas and thereby enhance their own capabilities • Accountability was seen by most respondents in a positive light, however, participants maintained that accountability processes and practises were poorly understood and implemented in the North-West education system. • There was general concern that the various parties to the accountability relationship did not understand their respective roles and responsibilities and thus diluting instead ofenhancing accountability. • The views of participants on the importance of performance agreements as a way of enhancing accountability were generally negative. Fear was expressed that these agreements would be abused. This finding is consistent with the finding that accountability practises were poorly understood and implemented. The general conclusion from this study is that education accountability is both necessary and desirable. However, the complex contexts within which education is delivered must be fully appreciated if accountability practices and processes are to be effective. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011

The notion of accountability assumes different meanings and emphasis in different contexts depending on the purpose for which it is used. In essence, accountability has to do with the demand for improved services, operations and products. In the public sector in particular, the spread of democratization has led to growing public demand for improved and better services and standards. This demand led many governments to introduce administrative reforms to bring about the desired changes in the delivery of services to the general public. Education, as a public service, and against the backdrop ofpoor learning outcomes, has over the years been subjected to intensive public scrutiny leading to increased demand for education accountability. The huge expectations imposed on educational establishments have led to a significant change in the nature and scale of education accountability. Equally, the lack of confidence in public schools to meet the educational needs of society is a further justification for the demand for accountability in education. Education accountability, in the final analysis, has as its primary goal, the need to improve learning outcomes. This study is about the development of a conceptual framework to enhance accountability in public schooling. Existing accountability processes and practises fall far too short of making public education accountable. Partly because approaches to accountability are not grounded on fundamental values and principles. Accountability in general and education accountability in particular, must be underpinned by sound values and principles to be effective and developmental. This study takes as its point of departure, the view that education accountability is both necessary and desirable if the growing educational needs of communities, particularly the poor, are to be met. To that effect, the conceptual framework has to afford every learning institution, regardless of its unique characteristics and circumstances, the opportunity to meet its accountability obligations. In this study, the quantitative and qualitative designs were employed to gather information relating to accountability processes and practises in the N orth-West education system and schools in particular. A survey questionnaire (quantitative) was used to compile data regarding the views and perspectives of principals on education accountability. Focus group interviews (qualitative) were conducted with both district officials and teacher unions to solicit their views and perspectives on the processes and practises of accountability in the North-West education department. The sample involved 222 principals from both primary and secondary schools in the province. Nine (9) union representatives drawn from the three major unions in the province participated in the focused group interviews. In addition, 7 district officials, drawn from the four education districts in the province also participated in the focus group interviews. The research, as stipulated above, yielded the following results: • Most of the principals surveyed managed schools that are located in rural and generally poor areas. These demographic challenges imposed serious limitations on the capacity of principals to manage effectively since rural schools are often geographically dispersed and poorly resourced. Consequently, accountability processes and practises must be sensitive to the context within which these schools operate. • Most of the principals sampled have the requisite qualifications and managerial experience suggesting that they are reasonably equipped to do their work. There is also evidence that provision is made for in-service training in management. It could therefore be concluded that if experience and qualifications alone were taken as key determinants in securing effective management, many of the sampled schools would be performing reasonably well. This finding however, is inconsistent with the widespread school level dysfunctionality that characterise the North-West schooling system. Effective accountability would therefore go beyond the principal to find answers to this incongruecy. • Teacher quality and teacher professionalism were identified as key levers of educational quality and school level accountability • There is a clear and direct link between an accountable school and the role of the principal. The characteristic features of an accountable school tended to overlap with the roles and responsibilities of the principals. • The role ofstakeholders in enhancing education accountability was supported by most respondents, suggesting therefore that schools must strive to develop healthy relationships with all stakeholders, both internal and externaL • Collaboration and networking among principals were seen as important in providing principals with opportunities to share ideas and thereby enhance their own capabilities • Accountability was seen by most respondents in a positive light, however, participants maintained that accountability processes and practises were poorly understood and implemented in the North-West education system. • There was general concern that the various parties to the accountability relationship did not understand their respective roles and responsibilities and thus diluting instead ofenhancing accountability. • The views of participants on the importance of performance agreements as a way of enhancing accountability were generally negative. Fear was expressed that these agreements would be abused. This finding is consistent with the finding that accountability practises were poorly understood and implemented. The general conclusion from this study is that education accountability is both necessary and desirable. However, the complex contexts within which education is delivered must be fully appreciated if accountability practices and processes are to be effective. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011

Many modern single-player role-playing games offer the player a power fantasy where the experience is designed to make the players feel powerful right from the start, with enemies and challenges that scale to the player characters level and abilities. This study explores what happens with play when power fantasy is replaced with decentralization and especially how this decentralization affects the player’s experience of failure and death. To explore this, three experienced The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim-players played the game with the modification Requiem - The Roleplaying Overhaul. After the participants had played at home for at least 8 hours they each participated in individual semi-structured interviews about their experiences. The interviews were transcribed and a grounded theory coding was performed. Finally the results were analyzed to find common themes. The study found that there was initial frustration due to expecting a power fantasy experience but once players adapted, the increased difficulty of decentralization was enjoyable as long as the player’s agency was not taken away and the world and its difficulty was logical. While the scope of the study is too small to draw generalizable conclusions it nevertheless shows that decentralized, difficult games work well for certain players. Future research is required on how to mitigate the effects of the initial obstacle. / Många moderna single-player-rollspel erbjuder spelaren en maktfantasi där denne ska känna sig kraftfull direkt från spelets start genom att spelets fiender och utmaningar är baserade på spelarkaraktärens nivå och förmågor. Den här studien utforskar vad som händer när denna maktfantasi ersätts med en värld som inte anpassar sig efter spelaren, en så kallad decentraliserad värld. Specifikt undersöks hur decentraliseringen påverkar spelarens upplevelse av misslyckande och spelardöd. För att utforska detta spelade tre spelare The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim med modifikationen Requiem - The Roleplaying Overhaul i åtta timmar. Efter att deltagarna spelat utfördes individuella semistrukturerade intervjuer och intervjuerna transkriberades. Därefter genomfördes en grounded-theory kodning och analys för att finna gemensamma teman. Resultatet visar att det till en början uppstod frustration hos spelarna på grund av att de väntade sig en maktfantasi. Men när spelarna anpassade sin spelstil kom det fram att svårighetsgraden i en decentraliserad värld ökade underhållningsvärdet så länge spelaren kände att denne kunde påverka sin situation och att svårighetsgraden är grundad i spelvärldens logik. Emedan omfånget av studien är för liten för att dra några generella slutsatser visar den att decentraliserade spel med hög svårighetsgrad är underhållande för vissa spelare. Vidare forskning behövs på hur spelare lättare ska komma över den initiala tröskeln.

Magister Legum - LLM (Public Law and Jurisprudence) / With approximately 450 tribes and 250 ethnic groups in a territory of 2 345 095 km2,1the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is one of the world's largest, populous, and multiethnolinguistic countries. Since the departure of the Belgian coloniser in 1960, this Member State of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) is facing a myriad of institutional crises, bloody conflicts and wars, mainly caused by the design of political institutions and the side-lining of some ethnic groups from political institutions. For many decades, Congolese provinces have seen numerous violent ethnic-driven conflicts, which led to institutional instability, political crisis, secessions, massacres and wars. The bloodiest of them all were the first and second Congolese wars. From 1996 to 2002, these so-called "African first world war" cost the DRC the lives of millions of people, divided it into many small "republics" and destroyed the few political and economic infrastructures that survived four decades of institutional instability and dictatorship.