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Transnational Mobilities And The Making Of Creative Cities, Lily Kong Dec 2014

Transnational Mobilities And The Making Of Creative Cities, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This review essay on the literature on creative cities pays particular attention to the ways in which transnational mobilities contribute significantly to the making of such cities. The paper reviews critically both the literature and phenomena of creative cities and their transnational flows by framing the discussion around the mobility of ideas (creative economy/creative city discourse), the mobility of people (the migration of the creative class), the mobility of technology (the travel of the creative cluster and architectural iconism phenomena), the mobility of finances (capital and investment flows), and the mobility of images (transnational artistic collaborations and products).


Policy Design And Non-Design: Towards A Spectrum Of Policy Formulation Types, Michael Howlett, Ishani Mukherjee Nov 2014

Policy Design And Non-Design: Towards A Spectrum Of Policy Formulation Types, Michael Howlett, Ishani Mukherjee

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Public policies are the result of efforts made by governments to alter aspects of behaviour—both that of their ownagents and of society at large—in order to carry out some end or purpose. They are comprised of arrangements of policygoals and policy means matched through some decision-making process. These policy-making efforts can be more,or less, systematic in attempting to match ends and means in a logical fashion or can result from much less systematicprocesses. “Policy design” implies a knowledge-based process in which the choice of means or mechanisms throughwhich policy goals are given effect follows a logical process of inference from …


From Cultural Industries To Creative Industries And Back? Towards Clarifying Theory And Rethinking Policy, Lily Kong Oct 2014

From Cultural Industries To Creative Industries And Back? Towards Clarifying Theory And Rethinking Policy, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In this paper, I draw attention to the complexities and confusions in the shift in discourse and praxis from "culture industry" to "cultural industries" and then "creative industries." I examine how this "creative turn" is fraught with challenges, highlighting seven issues in particular: (i) the difficulties in defining and scoping the creative industries; (ii) the challenges in measuring the economic benefits creative industries bring; (iii) the risk that creative industries neglect genuine creativity/culture; (iv) the utopianization of "creative labour"; (v) the risk of valorizing and promoting external expertise over local small- and medium-scale enterprises in the building of "creative industries"; …


Experiments On Crowdsourcing Policy Assessment, John Prpić, Araz Taeihagh, James Melton Sep 2014

Experiments On Crowdsourcing Policy Assessment, John Prpić, Araz Taeihagh, James Melton

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Can Crowds serve as useful allies in policy design? How do non-expert Crowds perform relative to experts in the assessment of policy measures? Does the geographic location of non-expert Crowds, with relevance to the policy context, alter the performance of non-experts Crowds in the assessment of policy measures? In this work, we investigate these questions by undertaking experiments designed to replicate expert policy assessments with non-expert Crowds recruited from Virtual Labor Markets. We use a set of ninety-six climate change adaptation policy measures previously evaluated by experts in the Netherlands as our control condition to conduct experiments using two discrete …


A Framework For Policy Crowdsourcing, John Prpić, Araz Taeihagh, James Melton Sep 2014

A Framework For Policy Crowdsourcing, John Prpić, Araz Taeihagh, James Melton

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

What is the state of the literature in respect to Crowdsourcing for policy making? This work attempts to answer this question by collecting, categorizing, and situating the extant research investigating Crowdsourcing for policy, within the broader Crowdsourcing literature. To do so, the work first extends the Crowdsourcing literature by introducing, defining, explaining, and using seven universal characteristics of all general Crowdsourcing techniques, to vividly draw-out the relative trade-offs of each mode of Crowdsourcing. From this beginning, the work systematically and explicitly weds the three types of Crowdsourcing to the stages of the Policy cycle as a method of situating the …


Palm Oil-Based Biofuels And Sustainability In Southeast Asia: A Review Of Indonesia, Malaysia, And Thailand, Ishani Mukherjee, Benjamin K. Sovacool Sep 2014

Palm Oil-Based Biofuels And Sustainability In Southeast Asia: A Review Of Indonesia, Malaysia, And Thailand, Ishani Mukherjee, Benjamin K. Sovacool

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

By extensively reviewing the current state of knowledge, this paper explores the sustainability implications of palm oil biodiesel in Southeast Asia, with a focus on Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Both ecological and environmental vitality as well as socio-economic equity are emphasized in the authors' exploration of sustainability in the three country cases. The article observes that the main environmental sustainability considerations of palm oil biodiesel include its capacity to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, its carbon debt and its repercussions on forestry, biodiversity, and soil and water quality. Issues surrounding socio-economic sustainability encompass how palm oil biodiesel affects food security in …


How To Boost Spain’S Business Presence In Singapore: Opportunities In The Wake Of The Free Trade Agreement With The Eu, Maria Garcia, Clara Portela Aug 2014

How To Boost Spain’S Business Presence In Singapore: Opportunities In The Wake Of The Free Trade Agreement With The Eu, Maria Garcia, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The recently signed Free Trade Agreement between the EU and Singapore opens up new business opportunities for Spanish companies on the island, which is already Spain’s top trading partner in South-East Asia. One highlight of the accord is the elimination of restrictions on the percentage of foreign investment in financial services and sectors such telecommunications, engineering and shipping. At the same time, the possibility of being able to bid on more government contracts can help companies involved in environmental protection and construction firms. The food industry will benefit from the novel creation of a registry of geographical indications.


A Paradoxical Approach To Policymaking, David Chan Aug 2014

A Paradoxical Approach To Policymaking, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In an invited commentary, SMU Behavioural Sciences Institute Director Professor David Chan discussed the tensions between Singapore’s goals to become a global city and maintain national solidarity. Building on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s recent speech in London which emphasised that Singapore “must get the balance just right”, Professor Chan noted the limitations of adopting a “give-and-take” mindset to the city-country paradox. He suggested several strategic principles for dynamic balancing between city and country goals. He provided the example of building Singapore’s cultural capital and policy adaptations to illustrate the issues.


Crowdsourcing The Policy Cycle, John Prpić, Araz Taeihagh, James Melton Jun 2014

Crowdsourcing The Policy Cycle, John Prpić, Araz Taeihagh, James Melton

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Crowdsourcing is beginning to be used for policymaking. The “wisdom of crowds” [Surowiecki 2005], and crowdsourcing [Brabham 2008], are seen as new avenues that can shape all kinds of policy, from transportation policy [Nash 2009] to urban planning [Seltzer and Mahmoudi 2013], to climate policy. In general, many have high expectations for positive outcomes with crowdsourcing, and based on both anecdotal and empirical evidence, some of these expectations seem justified [Majchrzak and Malhotra 2013]. Yet, to our knowledge, research has yet to emerge that unpacks the different forms of crowdsourcing in light of each stage of the well-established policy cycle. …


The Elements Of Effective Program Design: A Two-Level Analysis, Michael Howlett, Ishani Mukherjee, Jeremy Rayner Jun 2014

The Elements Of Effective Program Design: A Two-Level Analysis, Michael Howlett, Ishani Mukherjee, Jeremy Rayner

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Policy and program design is a major theme of contemporary policy research, aimed at improving the understanding of how the processes, methods and tools of policy-making are employed to better formulate effective policies and pro-grams, and to understand the reasons why such designs are not forthcoming. However while many efforts have been made to evaluate policy design, less work has focused on program designs. This article sets out to fill this gap in knowledge of design practices in policy-making. It outlines the nature of the study of policy design with a particular focus on the nature of programs and the …


The New Capitalism: Asia And The Future Of Business, Government, And Society, Ann Florini, Bindu Sharma May 2014

The New Capitalism: Asia And The Future Of Business, Government, And Society, Ann Florini, Bindu Sharma

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

To have a conversation, the appropriate language is needed. The language is just starting to emerge in both Asia and the West for one of the most important conversations the world is now having—the discussion about the future of business and capitalism. Thailand’s King Bhumibol refers to the sufficiency economy. Harvard’s Michael Porter speaks of shared value. Ellen MacArthur’s eponymous foundation supports the transition to the circular economy. John Elkington proposes breakthrough capitalism. Bhutan’s call to measure progress by gross national happiness (GNH), rather than the narrow metric of gross domestic product (GDP), is now attracting attention around the globe. …


Strike The Right Balance To Make Singapore A "City In A Country", David Chan Apr 2014

Strike The Right Balance To Make Singapore A "City In A Country", David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In an invited commentary, SMU Behavioural Sciences Institute Director Professor David Chan discussed the tensions between Singapore’s goals to become a global city and maintain national solidarity. Building on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s recent speech in London which emphasised that Singapore “must get the balance just right”, Professor Chan noted the limitations of adopting a “give-and-take” mindset to the city-country paradox. He suggested several strategic principles for dynamic balancing between city and country goals. He provided the example of building Singapore’s cultural capital and policy adaptations to illustrate the issues.


Moving Forward With Great Expectations, David Chan Feb 2014

Moving Forward With Great Expectations, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In an invited commentary article, SMU Behavioural Sciences Institute Director Professor David Chan discussed issues of public expectations. He explained the power of unmet expectations and two popular myths about public expectations. He then suggested several attitudes and approaches that help prevent or mitigate negative public reactions. Professor Chan concluded that both people and Government should and can improve the ways they calibrate, frame and manage public expectations.


Social Innovation In Development: A Call To Break Down Silos, John A. Donaldson, Victoria Gerrard, Sanushka Mudaliar Jan 2014

Social Innovation In Development: A Call To Break Down Silos, John A. Donaldson, Victoria Gerrard, Sanushka Mudaliar

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

What distinguishes “social innovation” from other efforts to address social problems? And why should the answer matter to anyone genuinely interested in social change? The authors offer an in-depth discussion of the possibilities and pitfalls of pursuing social innovation in the context of international development.


When Three Is Not A Crowd: New Trends In Governance, Ann Florini Jan 2014

When Three Is Not A Crowd: New Trends In Governance, Ann Florini

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The critical challenges in today’s world call for nothing short of a collective effort across business, government and civil society. The author delves into the complexities beneath tri-sector collaborations and explains why rigorous leadership training for cross-sector work is needed.


The Public Roles Of The Private Sector In Asia: The Emerging Research Agenda, Ann Florini Jan 2014

The Public Roles Of The Private Sector In Asia: The Emerging Research Agenda, Ann Florini

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

It is no longer possible to understand public policy without focusing intensively on the public roles of the business sector. The world is awash in experimental private governance, from corporate codes of conduct, to demands for disclosure of private sector environmental and social impacts, to ‘social enterprises’ that aim to save the world the profitable way. Such experiments are emerging within Asia, changing the terms of the social licence to operate as society becomes more adept at making demands for good corporate citizenship and as the natural resource crisis begins to hit home. And as Asian corporations go global, they …


Towards Proactive And Flexible Agent-Based Generation Of Policy Packages For Active Transportation, Araz Taeihagh, Rene Bañares-Alcántara Jan 2014

Towards Proactive And Flexible Agent-Based Generation Of Policy Packages For Active Transportation, Araz Taeihagh, Rene Bañares-Alcántara

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

One of the approaches gaining ground in policy design is the implementation of combinations of policy measures as policy packages with the aim of increasing efficiency and effectiveness of the designed policies. In this paper, we describe the recent advancements in the developments of a virtual environment for the exploration and analysis of policy packages. The virtual environment uses an agent-based modelling approach for the generation of different configurations of policy measures in the policy packages. The benefit of using the approach is the proactive and flexible generation of policy packages as the agents can react to the changes that …