De opmerkelijke terugkeer van de kostenbaten-analyse in het centrum van de bestuurspraktijk: hoe het succes van O(E)EI lacunes in de

Decision-making on transport infrastucture projects in the Netherlands has been facing a remarkable wind of change in recent years. After a period of about a decade in the 1990s in which both academics and practitiones in policy analysis, public policy and planning have claimed that the traditional policy analysis methods were obsolete (be they CBA or MCA) because of their assumed one sidedness and lack of adaptability to the requirements of multi-actor settings, they experience a sudden resurgence since the year 2000 in the form of OEEI (Overview of Economic Effects of Infrastructure), a refined application of the wellknown CBA method. Astonishingly and despite all political and administrative theory on the types of information policy actors can process, the need for transparancy and active actor involvement in the evaluation and decision process, all at odds with traditional policy analysis, OEEI has become highly successful. This paper delves into the issue of why this new version of Cost Benefit Analysis has become so politically successful despite predictions made to the contrary. In addition, it will focus on the question if this resurgence may lead to 'econocracy' (concpetual hegemony by economists and thier ideologies and methods over other approaches) or not, and if so, how can this be prevented

Institutional Transplantation and the Rule of Law: How this Interdisciplinary Method can enhance the Legitimacy of International Organisations

Although the infl uence of various Western countries, especially that of the United States, is still substantial, the stars of China, India, Russia, Brazil and other large developing states are rising. Within international organisations this trend has become visible through a growing reluctance of non-Western states to accept and go along with the political, legal and economic diktats of European and American-fl avoured recipes and policies. This trend also has an impact on the compliance of international organisations with rule-of-law conceptions, which are not universal but depart from the cultural and national assumptions embraced mostly in Western countries. Even though the legality of international organisations may not be disputed as such in non-Western countries, the administrative and cultural acceptance of these organisations often remains questionable. This undermines the conception and the functioning of the rule of law at the international level. One of the ways in which acceptance of the rule of law can be enhanced at the international level is by utilising a method known as ‘institutional transplantation’. This method aims to facilitate new legal and policy initiatives through an adoption process in which the chances of achieving political and cultural congruence and desirability are maximised. After presenting the six principles underlying this approach, this article examines the case of the World Bank’s Inspection Panel, in order to show how these principles can be applied in practice

Implementing evidence based policy in a network-setting. Dutch Road Safety Policy in a shift from a Home to an Away Match

Abstract In order to improve road safety in the Netherlands, in 1992 the Institute for Road Safety Research (SWOV) developed the evidence-based ‘Sustainable Safety’ concept. Dutch road safety policy, based on this concept, was quite successful and seen as a best practice in Europe. Recently the p

Explaining the variety in smart eco city development in China-What policy network theory can teach us about overcoming barriers in implementation?

The Pearl River Delta (PRD) is one of the largest and fastest growing urbanized deltas in China and the world. Its municipalities hope to attract investors, firms, high-quality labour force and residents in line with ecological modernization. They do so by using a variety of attractive city labels, such as eco city, low carbon city, and smart city. The physical shape th

The introduction of public-private partnerships in the Netherlands as a case of institutional bricolage: The evolution of an Anglo-Saxon transplant in a Rhineland context

In this contribution, the introduction of contractual public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the Netherlands, more specifically the use of Design, Build, Finance, Maintenance, and Operations (DBFMO) contracts in Dutch infrastructure management, is analysed using a specific strand within the policy transfer and institutional transplantation literature: that of 'institutional bricolage'. This perspective states that policy transplants come to fit their new institutional context stepwise. This contribution reconstructs the adoption process by which the Anglo-Saxon-inspired PPP practice is incorporated into the traditional 'Rhinelandic' practice of infrastructure management in the Netherlands, identifying four waves of PPP initiatives. It concludes that these waves and the difficulties that emerge in them stem from an ongoing struggle between actor coalitions, one aiming to preserve the transplant in its original shape, and others making attempts at bricolage. Shifts in power relations explain the progress and outcomes of the process of institutional transplantation

Perverse incentives and invisible tradeoffs in subway construction in China: a case study of Hangzhou subway collapse

Abstract—Hangzhou subway collapse is the most serious subway construction disaster to date in China. In this article, the management and regulatory questions the collapse raised are focused and a case study of Hangzhou subway collapse is given. By regarding the contractual arrangement as an outcome of a power game of principal-agent, the social causes and the perverse incentives to strategic behaviors of the key players are investigated to explain the particular project outcomes. In the end, some policy suggestions are given for improving the safety performance of subway construction

City branding in China's Northeastern region

The past decade has seen a surge in the use of city branding, which is used to attract specific target groups of investors, high-tech green firms and talented workforce and reflects a desired shift from old, polluting manufacturing industries to new, clean service industries. Previous studies in the Chinese mega-city regions Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta a

Tracing the origins of place branding research: A bibliometric study of concepts in use (1980-2018)

Place branding is seriously studied in various academic disciplines. Its impact on strategic development plays a vital role in processes of sustainable urban transformation. Place branding originated in tourism management and over time its research focus spilled over and evolved in environmental science, urban studies and public administration. Scholars and policy makers are currently faced with a myriad of concepts in place branding research, which show considerable overlap but shoul