Policy Innovation, Convergence and Divergence: Considering the Policy Transfer Regulating Privacy and Data Protection in Three European Countries

This article examines policy activity surrounding the implementation of privacy regulations in three European countries, Denmark, Sweden and the UK, following the ratification of the 1995 European Union Directive on Data Protection. It highlights the convergence and divergence of policy embedded in the policy transfer process and stresses not only the complexity of policy transfer, but also the degree to which policy innovation is shaped by existing institutional settings and the processes associated with policy implementation. The article uses Dolowitz and Marsh’s ‘Policy Transfer Model’ as an analytical tool to unpack the regulatory environment surrounding the governance of privacy. This illuminates the main features of the policy process in each of the three case study countries and also the tendency to focus on policy formation at the expense of policy implementation. In the case of the 1995 European Union Directive on Data Protection the three cases examined here demonstrate that multiple regulatory regimes and policy divergence are embedded in the harmonisation (or convergence) process, and that different countries approach the regulation of privacy and data protection in quite different ways

The policy worker and the professor: understanding how New Zealand policy workers utilise academic research

How do policy workers actually use academic research and advice? While there are several recent studies regarding this question from other Westminster jurisdictions (e.g. Talbot and Talbot, 2014, for the UK; Head et al., 2014, for Australia; Amara, Ouimet and Landry, 2004 and Ouimet et al., 2010, Canada), similar academic studies have been rare in New Zealand. So far, most of the local research in this field has been conducted by the prime minister’s chief science advisor and the Office of the Prime Minister’s Science Advisory Committee, with the particular instrumental purpose of improving the government’s ministries and agencies’ ‘use of evidence in both the formation and evaluation of policy’. However, none of these studies have asked how, and to what extent, policy workers in government are utilising academic research  in their everyday work.&nbsp

Policy-workers utilization of academic output

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Towards a multi-stakeholder framework for evaluating digital government success

In this paper, we develop an inclusive framework for identifying the direct and indirect stakeholders in digital government projects. Using a public value lens, we develop a systems view of digital government initiatives. We use an illustrative case study to show how stakeholders, especially indirect stakeholders, can exert influence on digital government projects, including what projects are perceived as legitimate, what factors are considered as important for success, and what stakeholders are involved in post-implementation evaluation. We also review several lenses commonly used for evaluation of digital government projects and illustrate how they fit into our framework

Policy practice in New Zealand: balancing between scientific evidence and captivating narratives.

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Emission Standards and Stochastic Waste Load

Empirical work regarding the impact of environmental regulations on firm behavior has been developed under the assumption that emissions of pollutants are deterministic. The implication is that the regulation is effective only when the constraint is exactly satisfied. In real life, however, it is seldom the case that emission constraints are exactly satisfied. The purpose of this paper is to find out whether regulation schemes are ineffective, or whether the structure is an optimal reaction to random fluctuations in emissions. The Swedish pulp and paper industry is used as an empirical illustration.