Delegation, Knowledge Integration, and Cooperation: How to Solve Problems of Coordination in Structural Fund Programs. Findings From Comparative Case Studies in the South of Italy

European cohesion policies are increasingly relying on grassroots networks tapping into tacit knowledge and participatory decision-making processes. Regional governments delegate their decision making power to local institutions with the assumption that local agents possess both contextual knowledge and political legitimacy to integrate different policy measures in a cooperative fashion. Delegation of decision making power is therefore presumed to minimize the unintended or conflicting outcomes emerging, for instance, when environmental protection and infrastructure building are not designed consistently to local contextual needs nor are these pursued through a cooperative effort of local networks of actors. Different agents, including resource users and government agencies try to work together to resolve shared dilemmas of coordination, as an increasingly common alternative to centralized institutions. Coordination consists of managing interdependencies among multiple individuals or organizations involved in the overall program or project management. Several studies classify different types of coordination mechanisms, including standards, hierarchy, targets or plans, slack resources, vertical information systems, direct contact, liaison roles, task forces, and integrating roles. Other ways of classifying coordination include formal impersonal, formal interpersonal, and informal interpersonal; non-coordination, standards, schedules and plans, mutual adjustment, and teams; task-task, task-resource, and resource-resource coordination; vertical and horizontal coordination; coordination by programming and by feedback; and coordination by standards, plans, and mutual adjustment. Building upon a current field research in four regions of the South of Italy, this paper examines how coordination occurs across local development programs, which are embedded within multilevel governance structures and relations. The paper presents a number of cases of local collaborations in which large numbers of local actors representing a wide range of contending groups have, with the help of mediating institutions, worked out agreements for integrating development programs. In some circumstances, specific coordination mechanisms encouraged consensus building offering all relevant groups the knowledge and skills needed to participate in these negotiations. In other circumstances, though, delegation of decision making power opened the door for opportunistic participation, lacking vision and trust for mutual cooperation.

Knowledge Partnerships for Development: What Challenges for Evaluation?

Building upon the case study evaluation of the training partnership between the World Bank and the University of Sao Paulo, the paper highlights the challenges to evaluate knowledge partnerships for institutional development. The paper reconstructs the underlying theory of the partnership policy vis-a`-vis the current literature on development and knowledge networks. The evaluation focuses on the organizational structure of partners, their institutional opportunities and constraints. The analysis explores different types of conflict of interest, risk, and accountabilities, considering partnership as a global management reform policy in the field of higher education, research and development. The evaluation shows that partnership favours organizational change through codified and tacit knowledge transfers, and that tangible and intangible benefits and costs reinforce with each other. Yet, global and national implications arise as to how to assure partnership management vis-a`-vis lack of formal authority and enduring asymmetries in power relations

What Coordination Mechanisms Work to Manage Regional Development Programs? Insights from Southern Italian Regions

The European Structural Fund programs are embedded in a multi-level governance system, which has grown in parallel with European integration. Decision making power is increasingly delegated to territorial authorities with the assumption that local agents possess both contextual knowledge and political legitimacy to integrate different policy measures in a cooperative fashion. Within contexts with structural socioeconomic constraints, problems of coordination are associated with policy co-formulation, governance network management, meta-governance processes, and performance management and evaluation use. This paper aims to examine the variety of coordination mechanisms, which regional government agencies adopt to collaborate with local authorities to stimulate economically lagging territories. The paper analyzes management techniques of local organizational capacity and network building, project development, monitoring and evaluation, highlighting the rationale of regional development policies and the role of institutions. Building upon a two-year long (2006-2008) field research on local development programs in four regions of the South of Italy, this paper shows that cooperation co-exists with opportunistic behavior during program design and implementation, while bureaucratic culture and organizational weaknesses hamper managerial leadership and administrative decentralization. Findings highlight that centrally guided decentralization is a more sustainable capacity building strategy. Furthermore, perceived efficiency, equity, uncertainty, and relational quality shape coordination and its evolution over time. Interpersonal relations may increase to reduce uncertainty, or higher procedural formalization may ensure efficiency, equity and fair dealings. The evolution of coordination mechanisms has a bearing upon administrative capacity of public spending absorption against corruption and waste as well as on the potential for economic development and social cohesion

Centralizzazione e innovazione tecnologica nella riforma degli acquisti della PA: un bilancio

A partire dal 2000, la riforma del sistema degli acquisti nella pubblica amministrazione (PA) ha seguito due approcci differenti che operano talora parallelamente talora in maniera contraddittoria. Un approccio orientato all’offerta rafforza i controlli sulla spesa pubblica e mira a sfruttare economie di scala. In tale contesto, CONSIP S.p.A. – una società per azione controllata dal Ministero dell’Economia – ha offerto pacchetti informatici standard per l’adozione del procurement elettronico (eprocurement), intermediando tra le amministrazioni pubbliche e i fornitori privati per il consolidamento della domanda della PA al livello nazionale alle migliori condizioni, in termini di qualità-prezzo, disponibili sul mercato. La trasformazione tecnologica del sistema degli acquisti è tuttavia associata anche a metodi innovativi di erogazione dei servizi pubblici che richiedono strategie e capacità gestionali in grado di far leva sulle economie di scopo. In tale prospettativa, CONSIP ha sviluppato tecniche innovative che facilitano la gestione dei contratti, attraverso il decentramento delle decisioni di acquisto e la valutazione della qualità delle forniture. Questo articolo discute gli approcci di coordinamento che centralmente orientano i processi di decentramento delle procedure di acquisto, evidenziando le implicazioni di policy per il futuro