Sun, 01 Mar 2026 07:52:25 +0800WeeblyThu, 21 Jun 2018 07:57:52 GMThttp://www.eropa.co/2017-volume-28-nos-1--2/sustainable-housing-for-the-worlds-urban-masses-incrementalism-and-the-policy-innovation-imperativeHaydee Jacklyn Q. Malubay
University of the Philippines

Proof of the global urban housing challenge is glaringly manifest in the data indicating that one-seventh of the world population visibly lives in slums unfit for human habitation. From the Philippine experience, the housing sector narrative is about the institution that traces its history back to the postwar period. Many contend this is why most of its programs fail to deliver the committed results. Is a whole new law necessary to reinvent the housing council? Or is policy innovation enough? This research reviews incrementalism with a new perspective, specifically on how it can ensure modest gains for sustainable housing when there is almost very little in proportion to the magnitude of the challenge. This paper essentially digs deep into the author’s involvement as a member of the General Assembly of Partners, in the (1) United Nations Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador in October 2016, (2) at the Preparatory Committee for UN Habitat III in Surabaya, Indonesia in July of 2016, and (3) the Urban Thinkers Campus in Geneva, Switzerland in October 2015. Therefore, as a general direction towards policy innovation, it can make real the vision to start making a dent into the debilitating and ever-growing urban challenge in a dynamically-urbanizing world now more than half of humanity call home.
]]>Thu, 21 Jun 2018 07:56:33 GMThttp://www.eropa.co/2017-volume-28-nos-1--2/poverty-and-climate-change-an-assessment-of-the-administrative-responses-of-10-poor-provinces-in-the-philippinesJocelyn C. Cuaresma
University of the Philippines

This paper evaluates the public administration responses to poverty and climate change of 10 poor provinces of the Philippines with the most number of poor individuals. Poverty in the provinces is heightened by the vulnerability of the area to natural calamities. The geographic location and the archipelagic make-up of the country render many provinces unnecessarily susceptible to the vagaries of natural calamities and disasters. Typhoons, earthquakes, volcanic eruption and their associated effects such as storm surge and landslides eclipse the capability of poor provinces to respond to devastation. The provincial governments must take the lead in addressing climate change adaptation and mitigation in their respective jurisdictions. The paper examines policies, programs and projects, partnerships and linkages instituted by 10 provinces with the most number of poor individuals in addressing climate change issues.
]]>Thu, 21 Jun 2018 07:54:53 GMThttp://www.eropa.co/2017-volume-28-nos-1--2/empirical-evidence-on-determinants-of-biofuels-production-implications-for-developing-and-developed-economiesJohn Paul D. Antes
Sugar Regulatory Administration, Philippines

Brazil and the United States continue to lead the movement towards the development and utilization of biofuels in the global market. Other countries in Asia were also among the most attractive economies for investment in biologically renewable sources of energy such as bioethanol and biodiesel, namely, China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and to some extent, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Utilizing 10 years (from 2000 to 2009) of macro data from these top biofuel producing countries provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the World Bank, and United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, this research attempts to determine the interaction of existing macro-level determinants vis-à-vis the countries’ levels of development, and to assess Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and Research and Development (R&D) as additional determinants of biofuel production through empirical evidence. This study concentrates on the top 17 biofuel-producing nations leading the 2007 and 2008 Biofuels Country Attractiveness Indices commissioned by Ernst & Young. Apparently, these countries have existing markets, infrastructures and legal framework to support the development and utilization of renewable biomass energy particularly the bioethanol and biodiesel. A discussion on the implications for developed and developing economies is provided as part of the conclusion and recommendations. 
]]>Thu, 21 Jun 2018 07:53:38 GMThttp://www.eropa.co/2017-volume-28-nos-1--2/reducing-the-effect-of-bureaucratization-on-business-licensing-service-in-indonesiaMuhammad Syafiq and Naufal Sabda Auliya
National Institute of Public Administration, Indonesia

Excessive bureaucracy has caused some bureaucratic pathologies that have impacted on the low performance of licensing services to start a business in Indonesia. The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the problems in the business licensing process for starting a business, the barriers to simplify the process in business licensing service for starting business, and the strategy to optimize the business licensing process. Mixed methods of a qualitative nature have been used. Data shows that the problems in the business licensing process for starting a business are the number of required documents, the number of agencies involved, the emergence of unofficial fees, and the length of time. The barriers to simplifying the licensing process for starting a business are insufficient delegation of authority, lack of professional human resources, overlapping rules, less than optimal utilization of IT, and non-centralized population data. Some strategies that can be used in optimizing the simplification process of licensing service are synchronizing policies and regulations, delegating authority, optimizing the utilization of IT and capacity building of HR.
]]>Thu, 21 Jun 2018 07:52:35 GMThttp://www.eropa.co/2017-volume-28-nos-1--2/what-makes-domestic-cities-connected-sisterfriend-city-relationships-of-korean-local-governmentsNara Park
University of Chicago, United States

This article examines factors affecting Korean local governments to be connected through sister/friend city agreements. I argue that cities strive to have a cooperative relationship primarily because “sisterhood” and “friendship” among cities have become a trend that has become hardly inevitable. Using a combination of event history analysis and network analysis, this study finds empirical support for that claim. The pursuit of interdependence among cities gets reinforced when their neighbors join the bandwagon, while they look for twinning partners afar. In adopting a sister/friend city program, these regional pressures from neighborhood have a greater effect on local governments than other substantive factors such as their own capacity and urban development. Ultimately, this article raises questions about organizational susceptibility to peer pressure and its influences on policy effectiveness of the sibling relationships among local governments.
]]>