Do environmental and task characteristics matter in the control of externalized local public services? Unveiling the relevance of party characteristics and citizens’ offstage voice

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanisms adopted by cities to control the provision of externalized public services and to explore the determinants of such control choices.

Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents the results of a multiple case study based on the experiences of three cities and three public services (transport, solid waste collection and home care services for the elderly), where control mechanisms and their possible antecedents were analyzed.

Findings: The results show that the control models found in the cases analyzed do not correspond to the "pure" patterns described in the private sector literature and that the factors identified by management control contributions do not seem to be exhaustive in explaining the configuration of control systems in the public sector. While environmental and task characteristics only partially explain the adoption of certain configurations of control, the features of the control systems seem to be rather influenced by variables that are related to party characteristics.

Originality/value: The paper shows that the combinations of control mechanisms are more multifaceted than those presented in the literature, and that the factors identified in the private sector literature do not seem to explain comprehensively the configuration of control systems in the public sector. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Local network-based measures to assess the inferability of different regulatory networks

The purpose of this study is to compare the inferability of various synthetic as well as real biological regulatory networks. In order to assess differences we apply local network-based measures. That means, instead of applying global measures, we investigate and assess an inference algorithm locally, on the level of individual edges and subnetworks. We demonstrate the behaviour of our local network-based measures with respect to different regulatory networks by conducting large-scale simulations. As inference algorithm we use exemplarily ARACNE. The results from our exploratory analysis allow us not only to gain new insights into the strength and weakness of an inference algorithm with respect to characteristics of different regulatory networks, but also to obtain information that could be used to design novel problem-specific statistical estimators.

Understanding Everyday Homes of Urban Communities: The Case of Local Streets (Hawari) of Old Cairo

This paper aims at investigating architectural and urban heritage from the socio-cultural point of view, which stands on the human asset of traditional sites such as the hawari of old Cairo. It analyzes the social practice of everyday life in one of the oldest Cairene hawari, Haret al-Darb al-Asfar. The focus is on architectural and spatial organization of outdoor and indoor spaces that coordinate the spatial practices of local community. A daily monitoring of people’s activities and interviews was conducted in an investigation of how local people perceive their built environment between the house’s interior and the outdoor shared space. It emerges that people construct their own field of private spheres according to complex patterns of daily activities that are not in line with the classical segregation between private and public in Islamic cities. This paper reports that the harah is basically a construct of social spheres that are organized spatially by the flexible development of individual buildings over time and in response to changes in individuals’ needs and capabilities. In order to achieve sustainability in old urban quarters, the paper concludes, the focus should be directed towards the local organization of activities and a comprehensive upgrading of deteriorating buildings to match the changing needs of current population.

Local, European and global: An exploration of migration patterns of social workers into Ireland

Whilst the project to increase workforce mobility is part of a common labour force policy across the European Union, for some social workers, it has also been coupled with an aspiration to develop a pan-European identity within the profession (Lorenz, 1994, 2000; Frost, 2008). In this article, taking the island of Ireland as an example, we examine empirical data on the movement of social workers in recent years, both within Ireland and inward from outside the island, and consider the challenges and opportunities this has presented for the profession, also drawing on the British experience. From this analysis, some tentative conclusions are drawn about what is happening, what is possible and what is desirable in balancing aspirations for increased mobility within the European Union and a pan-European social work identity against the needs and interests of local, European and global communities.

Local differences, perceptions and IB claimants: implications for policy delivery

Geographical unevenness in labour market and social conditions is one reason why the 'local' has been emphasised increasingly in the delivery of labour market policy in the UK. This article explores the extent to which there are local differences in labour market conditions using the characteristics and experiences of Incapacity Benefit (IB) claimants in Northern Ireland as an example. It then offers some comments on the potential for policy initiatives to cope with these spatial variations. Evidence from a survey of 803 IB claimants is used, supplemented by focus group material derived from discussions with Personal Advisers (PAs). The article shows that whilst there are important variations between areas, largely in the quantity and quality of jobs, and the perceptions that IB claimants hold of their local labour markets, there are also similarities in the general types of labour market barriers they face across areas. There is some evidence, however, to conclude that these barriers in urban areas are particularly pronounced and that some IB claimants in these places face severer obstacles to re-integration in the labour market than those in rural areas. The article also suggests that policy delivery to cope with these geographical differences faces two problems. First, capacity to respond to local differences is limited by strong systemic impulses towards centralisation. Secondly, and paradoxically, local differences erode capacity to respond to severer urban problems because social/institutional capacity within providers and policy-deliverers in these places is limited by high staff turnover and a crowded institutional landscape.

A experiência barroca e a identidade local na Semana Santa de Campanha, Minas Gerais

Este trabalho analisa a formação de uma sensibilidade barroca em Minas Gerais a partir da orientação participativa e altamente emotiva das festas coloniais, cujo legado se mantem presente nas festas religiosas de muitas antigas cidades mineradoras do estado. Enfocando as celebrações da Semana Santa na cidade sul-mineira de Campanha, o texto mostra como este evento anual era organizado pela Irmandade do Santíssimo Sacramento, passando então às mãos de uma comissão local após a extinção da irmandade. Se até meados do século XIX, havia músicos semi-profissionais contratados para tocar e cantar nas celebrações, a música foi assumida progressivamente por grupos de amadores. Assim, a festa passou a ser entendida como uma produção local e a cada ano a população renova o seu orgulho campanhense, ao contemplar sua capacidade de produzir um evento tão ‘maravilhoso’.

This paper analyses the formation of a baroque sensibility in the State of Minas Gerais (Brazil) that derives from the participatory and highly emotive orientation of the colonial festivals, the legacy of which is still present in many former mining towns in the region. By focusing upon the Holy Week celebrations in Campanha, a small town in southern Minas Gerais, the text shows how this annual event was organized by the Confraternity of the Holy Sacrament, but was then transferred to a local committee after the confraternity was made extinct. If up to the mid 19th century there were semi-professional musicians to perform for the celebrations, responsibility for the music was slowly taken over by amateur groups. In this way the festival came to be understood as a local affair, and each year the population renews its pride in itself for its capacity to stage such a ‘marvelous’ event.