Over the last few decades society has lost significant trust in the work of the scientific community and debated the trustworthiness of scientific findings and (policy) implications. In response, an open science framework has been proposed based on accessibility and transparency of data and...

Decentralised Finance (DeFi) emerged in 2021 as a fast-growing crypto segment, attracting policymakers' attention due to its innovative approach of delivering financial services without relying on centralised intermediaries. This paper assesses DeFi governance arrangements for regulating and...

We assessed whether health spending of local government units in the Philippines is sufficient to deliver mandated primary health care (PHC) services under a devolved system, how PHC spending varies with fiscal capacity, and whether increased intergovernmental transfers following the...

Environmental challenges increasingly shape political discourses across Europe, yet their influence on actual environmental governance remains unclear. This paper examines the political economy mechanisms linking environmental change, party platforms, and the decentralisation of environmental...

Natural hazards are an increasing concern, placing disaster preparedness and mitigation at the forefront of policy agendas. In this context, Italy’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) has allocated €3 billion for explicit disaster prevention, with a primary focus on hydrogeological risks...

The increasing deployment of agentic artificial intelligence (AI) systems and decentralized digital infrastructures has challenged traditional assumptions about organizational administration, control, and governance. While AI has advanced task-level optimization and decision support,...

Against the backdrop of China's "dual-carbon" goals, the complex interplay between fiscal decentralization and green taxation presents significant challenges for climate governance. This study examines the impact of green taxation on carbon emissions within the context of fiscal...

Decentralised Finance applications aim to replicate existing financial products and services from the highly regulated Traditional Finance (TradFi) system using the distributed ledger technology and smart contracts. An open, multi-layered and composable architecture has facilitated the...

In response to the critical need to balance fiscal expenditure governance with sustainable development, this study identifies the optimal level of fiscal expenditure decentralization that enhances sustainable outcomes. The study aims to determine the optimal expenditure decentralization that...

Decentralised Finance applications aim to replicate existing financial products and services from the highly regulated Traditional Finance (TradFi) system using the distributed ledger technology and smart contracts. An open, multi-layered and composable architecture has facilitated the...

The integration of artificial intelligence and human decision-making within blockchain systems has raised complex ethical considerations, necessitating the development of comprehensive theoretical frameworks. This research develops a multi-paradigm ethical framework addressing the ethical...

What instruments can governments deploy to prevent fiscal crises in decentralized fiscal systems? This analysis reveals that good public sector institutions, controls by the central government over local fiscal balances and borrowing, and intergovernmental transfers could be effective...

Peru's mining wealth holds the promise to substantially accelerate potential growth. However, many mining projects have been stalled for several years due to conflicts with local communities that feel excluded from the benefits. Although local governments receive nearly 2 percent of GDP in...

The study examined the effect of fiscal decentralization on healthcare availability outcomes from 23 Kenyan counties during the 2013-2022 devolution period. The results from different robust non-endogeneity econometric methods indicate a significant deleterious effect of fiscal decentralization...