The Central European War of 2022: Economics, Public Governance and Administration During the Global Crisis

Christopher Koliba (University of Vermont, USA) Krzysztof Opolski (University of Warsaw, Poland)

Introduction

You are cordially invited to submit your manuscript(s) to the Central European Economic Journal. Authors are invited to submit papers for publication which may result from empirical or theoretical work on the impact of war or crisis on economics, public governance and administration, as well as governance networks of actors from the public, private and non-profit sectors. We aim to inform authors of the decision on their manuscript(s) within four weeks of submission.

Motivation

It is a time of dreaded uncertainty, a period of another dark modern war in Central Europe. Closed off Ukrainian harbors on the Black Sea, rising prices of food, fossil fuels, disappearing supplies from shelves and changes on the stock markets intensify the discussion on economic, and governance issues and challenges in the future. The Central European Economic Journal cannot fail to contribute to this discussion.

We kindly ask you to submit the papers in the following areas:

Macroeconomics,
Microeconomics,
Public policy, governance and administration,
Governance networks.

The papers may include international comparisons or analysis concerning a single country, but the “light motive” should be the impact of war crisis in Ukraine for any country in the World. We look forward to the discussions and mutual exchange of valuable experience and research perspectives.

In this context, the following questions have been formulated:

How do the economies of individual countries react to subsequent war or crisis situations?
What are the adjustments in the field of public governance and administration in the new political and economic situation?
What is the importance of trust, cooperation and collaboration in crisis management?
What are the effects of implementing new concepts of public governance (Osborne, 2010), collaborative governance (Ansell and Gash, 2008; Emerson and Nabatchi, 2015) and network governance (Koliba, Meek, Zia and Mills, 2018; Kapucu and Hu, 2020), and the resultant new models and tools of public service delivery during the global crisis? What are the economic barriers and challenges related to these new tools in the context of the specificity of individual types of services and specific conditions of public administration in the individual countries impacted?
What are the effects of war on implementation of the concepts of good governance, rule of law and the effects of public sector reforms at the level of both central and local government?
What is the experience of various actors from the public, non-governmental and private sectors regarding cooperation and collaboration in providing public services during the times of changes, adjustments and obstacles? What makes cooperation in service delivery networks produce positive effects? What are the barriers to this cooperation and what are the effects of possible conflicts?
What are the research and methodological challenges in individual countries when examining modern public governance systems during the crisis and in times of rapid changes?
What are the consequences of the implementation of new concepts of public governance with respect to behavioural, social, environmental, psychological, systemic or value systems, stimuli or work culture conditions? How is the phenomenon of bounded rationality of actors in governance networks taken into account (O’Toole Jr., 1996)? What roles are played by trust (Opolski, Modzelewski and Kocia, 2019), commitment, leadership, conflict management in networks (Kickert, Klijn and Koppenjan, 1997) and inclusiveness of citizens?
How are the challenges related to the so-called “wicked problems” addressed through the implementation of network governance or other concepts and tools? “Wicked problems” include homelessness, health care, climate change, waste management, circular economy, water shortages, the crumbling of transport and energy systems, efficiency and efficacy of justice systems, recurring crises in the housing market, infectious disease, illegal arms trade (Emerson & Nabatchi, 2015, p. 6) and emergency management (Koliba, Mills and Zia, 2011).

We invite you to submit an article using quantitative methods, qualitative methods (e.g., observations, interviews, narrative studies, etc.) and mixed methods (Tashakkori and Creswell, 2007). The article may present the results of research using a theoretical or empirical approach. It may cover social, administrative, technical public services, as well as crisis management, regulatory or other areas of public policy and public sector economics.

References

Ansell, C., & Gash, A. (2008). Collaborative governance in theory and practice. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 18(4), 543–571.

Emerson, K. & Nabatchi, T. (2015). Collaborative Governance Regimes. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press.

Kapucu, N. & Hu, Q. (2020). Network Governance: Concepts, Theories, and Applications. New York, NY: Routledge.

Kickert, W. J. M., Klijn, E.H. & Koppenjan, J. F. M. (1997), Managing Complex Networks. Strategies for the Public Sector, London: Sage Publications.

Koliba, C. J., Meek, J. W., Zia, A & Mills, R. (2018). Governance Networks in Public Administration and Public Policy, Second edition. London: Routledge Press

Koliba, C. J., Mills, R. M. & Zia, A. (2011). Accountability in Governance Networks: An Assessment of Public, Private, and Nonprofit Emergency Management Practices Following Hurricane Katrina. Public Administration Review, 71(2), 210-220.

Opolski, K., Modzelewski, P. & Kocia, A. (2019), Interorganizational Trust and Effectiveness Perception in Collaborative Service Delivery Network. Sustainability, 11(19), 5217.

Oborne, S. P. (ed.). (2010). The New Public Governance? Emerging perspectives on the theory and practice of public governance, Abingdon: Routledge.

O’Toole Jr., L. J. (1996). Rational Choice and Public Management of Interorganizational Networks. In The State of Public Management edited by D. F. Kettl, and H. Brinton Milward, USA: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Ropret, M., Aristovnik, A. & Kovac, P. (2018). A Content Analysis of the Rule of Law within Public Governance Models: Old vs. New EU Member States. Nispacee Journal of Public Administration and Policy, 11(2), 129-152.

Tashakkori, A. & Creswell, J.W. (2007). The New Era of Mixed Methods. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1, 3–7.