'New Public Management' (NPM) ideas gained widespread acceptance all over the world in the 1980s and 1990s. In developing countries, notable examples of its influence include the Brazilian 'Master Plan for Reforming Public Administration', launched in 1995 by president Cardoso, and the Mexican 'Federal Public Administration Modernisation Programme' created in the same year by president Zedillo. Both reflected NPM doctrine and advanced changes for the organisation of the Executive. This article explores the evolution of these two countries' managerial reforms and the extent to which they eventually continued converging (or not) around similar principles, such as those often referred to as 'Post-New Public Management' (Post-NPM). By applying quantitative textual analysis of official documents and an analysis of self-reported institutional changes, the article concludes that despite their governing parties' strong political differences Mexico and Brazil did converge during the 2000s, improving controls from the centre, and prioritising the adoption of transparency and participation tools. The comparison of the trajectories of the administrative reforms of these countries between 1995 and 2016 contributes to international debates on policy convergence and Post-NPM reforms.

Apesar de sua disseminação, o entendimento das motivações e resultados da adoção de mecanismos privados de regulação está longe de ser consolidado. Poucos estudos observaram seu processo de implementação e a efetividade de tais mecanismos em produzir bens públicos, principalmente nos países em desenvolvimento. Nesse sentido, o objetivo deste artigo é investigar as motivações para a adoção e efetivos resultados de mecanismos privados de regulação em termos de produção de bens públicos. O caso da cadeia de valor do alpha-bilabolol (uma substância extraída da árvore brasileira Candeia - Eremanthus erythropappus) foi analisado por meio de entrevistas, visitas de campo e revisão da literatura. As principais conclusões do trabalho, que se focou essencialmente no FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), são: (1) a importância de valores corporativos, rigidez das políticas públicas e controvérsia como estímulos à adesão a certificação e (2) a indicação, ao menos para esse caso, de que o FSC pode ser efetivo para a elevação de padrões de proteção ambiental.
Apesar de su diseminación, la comprensión de las motivaciones y de los resultados de la adopción de mecanismos de regulación privada está lejos de estar consolidada. Pocos estudios han observado el proceso de implementación y la eficacia de estos mecanismos en la producción de bienes públicos, especialmente en los países en desarrollo. En consecuencia, el propósito de este artículo es investigar las motivaciones de la adopción y los resultados efectivos de estos mecanismos en cuanto a la producción de bienes públicos. El caso específico de la cadena de valor del alfa-bisabolol (una sustancia extraída de árbol brasileño Candeia - Eremanthus erythropappus) fue analizado, con entrevistas, visitas de campo y revisión de la literatura. Las principales conclusiones del estudio, que se centró en el FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), son (1) los valores corporativos, la rigidez de las políticas públicas y la existencia de controversia son elementos favorables para el proceso de adhesión a la certificación y (2) la evidencia, al menos en este caso, de que el FSC puede ser efectivo para elevar el nivel de protección del medio ambiente.
Despite the dissemination of private regulatory mechanisms, the understanding of the motivation and the results of their adoption. is far from consolidated. Few studies have observed the process of implementation and the effectiveness of such mechanisms in producing public goods, especially in developing countries. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the rationale for adoption and the concrete results of private regulatory mechanisms in producing public goods. The case of the alpha-bisabolol (a substance extracted from the Brazilian Candeia tree - Eremanthus erythropappus) value chain has been analyzed through interviews, field visits and a literature review. Among the main conclusions of this work, which focused primarily on the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) are (1) the importance of corporate values, the inflexibility o...

It is generally accepted in public policy debate that expert knowledge tends to contribute to more effective formulation and implementation of policy. Most of the literature, however, has tended to be exclusively focused on the science–policy interface, ignoring the necessary pre-conditions of the broader national and institutional context for the effective use of scientific evidence. This shortcoming becomes particularly pronounced in analysis of developing in less pluralist countries. This article analyses two cases of Brazilian environmental policy-making and discusses the institutional pre-conditions for learning from science. By textually coding instances of direct and indirect participation of scientists in congressional debates and assessing the extent of their influence in final decisions, this article shows that despite being largely consensual to the scientific community, clearly communicated, and relevant, scientific information had no influence on the policy-decisions taken in two highly-technical areas of environmental policy in Brazil: forestry and pesticides. This article engages with the literature on the necessary institutional structures for learning from science and provides support for the hypothesis that countries with lower levels of political openness, and medium-to-low consensus requirements for decision-making, will tend to have considerable barriers to effectively producing evidence-based policy-making.

PurposeThe overall objective of this study is to holistically analyse the complexities involved in the adoption of sustainable wood supply chain in the Amazon and to develop strategic interventions to improve the system.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses the systems thinking and modelling framework that included problem structuring followed by the development of a systems model. Tumbira and Santa Helena do Inglês, two Amazonian communities, were used as a case. Data were collected by staying inside the Amazon, observing the community members and interacting with them during their activities, including logging inside the forest.FindingsA behaviour over time (BOT) graph developed as a part of problem structuring showed that deforestation of the Amazon is still increasing, despite the creation of protected areas and NGO activities in the region. Developing a sustainable wood supply chain is considered as one of the approaches for sustainable forestry in the Amazon, but its adoption is slow. The systems model captured the underlying structure of this system and explained this counterintuitive behaviour using eleven interacting feedback loops.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is confined to two Amazonian communities and recognises the limitations of generalisations.Practical implicationsThis paper illustrates the development of three strategic interventions to improve the adoption of sustainable wood supply chain in the Amazon.Originality/valueThis study highlights the real issues faced by real communities living in the Amazon for adopting sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices. It contributes to the literature on sustainable wood supply chain by systemically analysing the challenges in its adoption, not sufficiently discussed in the literature.

This article debates the importance and the current state of environmental policy integration among the areas of climate change and biodiversity in Brazil. It presents and critically evaluates the theoretical assumption that differences in bureaucratic cultures will necessarily result in policy integration difficulties. Based on the theoretical framework of grid-group cultural theory, it argues that the dominant egalitarian style developed within the context of biodiversity policies diverges, and sometimes hampers integration with climate change policies, which were found to present a predominantly hierarchical approach. Finally, the role of political leadership in overcoming the institutional barriers represented by bureaucratic cultures is also presented as an important factor relativizing and qualifying the predictions of cultural theory. Keywords: cultural theory; policy integration; climate change; biodiversity. Integração de políticas ambientais no Brasil: uma análise de políticas de mudanças climáticas e biodiversidadeEste trabalho discute a importância e o estado atual da integração de políticas ambientais das áreas de mudança do clima e da biodiversidade no Brasil. Ele apresenta e avalia criticamente o pressuposto teórico de que diferenças em termos de culturas burocráticas resultarão em dificuldades de integração de políticas. Com base no arcabouço teórico da teoria cultural (grid-group), argumenta-se que a tendência igualitária desenvolvida na implementação de políticas de biodiversidade diverge e potencialmente prejudica a integração dessa área com a de mudanças climáticas, cuja tendência cultural predominante observada foi hierárquica. Por fim o papel das lideranças políticas em superar barreiras institucionais representadas por culturas burocráticas é também apresentado como um fator importante, relativizando e qualificando as previsões da teoria cultural.Palavras-chave: teoria cultural; integração de políticas; mudanças climáticas; biodiversidade.Integración de políticas ambientales en Brasil: un análisis de políticas sobre el clima y la biodiversidad Este artículo discute la importancia y el estado actual de la integración de las políticas ambientales de las áreas de cambio climático y biodiversidad en Brasil. En este sentido, se presenta y se evalúa críticamente el supuesto teórico según el cual diferencias en culturas burocráticas darán lugar a dificultades de integración política. Con base en el marco teórico de la teoría cultural (grid-group), se plantea que la tendencia igualitaria verificada en la implementación de políticas de biodiversidad diverge de la tendencia cultural predominantemente jerárquica de las políticas del sector de cambio climático, debilitando el potencial de integración de las políticas de estas das áreas. Por último, el rol de los liderazgos políticos para superar las barreras institucionales representadas por las culturas burocráticas también se presenta como un factor importante, relativizando y calificando las predicciones de la teoría cultural. Palabras clave: teorí...