This paper asks why startups in the blockchain industry are exiting to Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), an outstanding phenomena in the wider digital economy which has tended to retain centralized ownership and governance rights of many platforms, products and protocols. Drawing on a narrative analysis of three case studies, I find three possible drivers: (1) exit to DAO is motivated by both financial and stewardship goals which it simultaneously promises to realize via the issuance of tokens; (2) exit to DAO adds an additional layer of ownership and governance rights via tokens, without requiring existing rights to be relinquished, thus making it a lucrative strategy; and (3) markets, laws and social norms underpinning the broader environment in which exits to DAO occur, seem to play an important role in driving the decision. This paper contributes to the academic literature by situating DAOs as a hybrid (and perhaps incomplete) entrepreneurial exit strategy and identifying plausible drivers of the phenomenon which warrant further dedicated research.
This article explores the potential of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), with a focus on blockchain, to address key challenges related to the security, ownership, and management of personal data. We trace the foundational work of Haber and Stornetta, who introduced the core principles of blockchain to secure digital records within the real economy. Building on this, Nakamoto’s innovations in blockchain technology introduced a native crypto-asset, which not only aligns and concentrates the interests of network participants but also resolves the previously unsolved “double-spending problem.” This breakthrough decentralizes the verification and control of recorded information, enhancing security in monetary transactions Migrants often face challenges related to rights protection, identity management, and limited access to financial services. Blockchain applications, with their strengths in secure data storage, transparent transactions, and reliable identity verification, offer promising solutions. In this article, we examine real-world blockchain applications that enhance identity management and foster financial inclusion for migrants. Blockchain provides an infrastructure that empowers individuals with greater control over their financial and personal data, particularly through self-sovereign identity (SSI) and the use of stablecoins as global currencies. These innovations are becoming foundational components of a new digital ecosystem for information and finance.
This dissertation critically analyzes Jamaica's educational policy responses to the alleged needs and promises of the current globalization era. The research focuses on policies being developed and implemented in the areas of educational governance, management, and financing. I argue that the emerging policy approaches, though intended to achieve liberatory goals, are generally having the unintended consequence of perpetuating disempowerment of low income Jamaicans. I use qualitative content analysis of policy documents as the primary analytic method. I employ postcolonial theory to historicize and contextualize Jamaica's turbulent educational policy experience. I also draw on Foucauldian discourse theory in order to frame policy as discourse, which I define as an institutionalized way of thinking that governs and is reflected in both state policy rhetoric and practice. Here, I explicitly identify Jamaica's emergent policy discourses as <em>decentralized governance</em> and <em>education as investment</em> and explore the internationalized norms and national economic constraints within which they develop. I analyze the ways in which neoliberal ideology partly drives these discourses and note their inconsistencies with much of the post-war/post-independence social welfare approaches that Jamaica used to address social asymmetries of colonialism. The contradictions are brought out by examining the changing relationship between the citizen and the state that the new policy approaches engender. In this regard, I interrogate the institutionalized practices and the newly proposed roles of educational stakeholders--the nation-state, the citizens, and institution--that the emerging discourses prescribe. The results show that the discourse of<em>decentralized governance</em> primarily fractures accountability, and <em>education as investment</em> increasingly predicates educational opportunity on capacity to pay. However, the intensity of these effects varies based on educational level, becoming more pronounced at the later stages. <em>Key words</em> : Jamaica, educational policy, policy discourse, post-colonialism, educational governance, educational management, educational financing, developing country.
Since the 1980s, ongoing reforms in China’s hukou system have drawn increasing attention from various parties, and a consensus generated during the reform period refers to decentralization practices. This research, with reference to new class and social class theories, investigates how social policies alongside decentralization of administration within the hukou system in Beijing and Shenzhen impact on educational opportunities for migrant students. Based on a total of 29 in-depth interviews conducted in these two cities, this research details the differentiation of decentralization practices and influences from two perspectives: 1) financing in private education; and 2) regulation in public education. In terms of financing, the paucity of subsidy policies and additional sponsorship expenses worsen the educational context and prospect for migrant students in Beijing. Comparatively, the Shenzhen government has made and implemented a set of welcomed subsidy policies for migrant students who receive private education, which financially dismantles separation between public and private education and equalizes educational opportunities for migrant students in the megacity. In terms of regulation, accessing public education through hukou conversion is more practicable for migrant students in Shenzhen than Beijing. Nonetheless, homeownership has emerged as an increasingly overweight reference metric in public education access in Shenzhen, which undermines egalitarian policy intentions and effects in hukou conversion practices. With reference to the analysis of the interview transcripts, this research concludes that migrant students are confronted with different inequality of educational opportunities in these two cities, despite the fact that both subnational governments have fully carried through hukou decentralization that has been deemed as an effectively administrative approach to equalize public services delivery, such as basic education.
Local government units (LGUs) in the Philippines are authorized to borrow or incur debts to finance development, but with certain limitations provided by the Local Government Code of 1991. The main controlling statutory requirement is for provinces, cities, municipalities, and villages not to exceed 20% of their annual regular income going into debt servicing. The range of purposes for which local governments are allowed to borrow are tied up with their expenditure responsibilities, and this varies according to the type and level of LGU, and their capacity to access financing. These commonly include capital investment projects, socioeconomic enterprises, and self-liquidating and income-generating projects. This paper describes the experiences of the Philippines after close to three decades of fiscal decentralization in the country, presents trends and patterns of local debt management practices, highlights the roles of national government agencies and regulatory policies, and proposes emerging ideas and recommendations on how to improve debt management as an important pillar in local finance and decentralization.
Labor force is very important to drive urban development. Labor contributes skills and generate positive knowledge spillovers to urban economy, especially high-skilled labor. Labor also constitutes the tax base that determines the fiscal wellness of the city. Moreover, the major source of urban and regional population change is through internal migration. Given the importance of labor in urban economy, there has been long-lasting research interests in factors that drive inter-city migration. Jobs, amenities and living costs are regarded as the main determinants of labor migration. Recent research also points to the importance of local informal institution, such as culture and attitude to migration, in urban development. However, labor mobility within the national border can face formal policy barriers as well. In China, due to the household registration system, many migrants cannot access local social services in host cities due to the lack of local Hukou, especially social insurances and housing provident funds. Due to the decentralized financing and governance of these social services, cities vary greatly in their coverages of social services among urban migrants. Using this cross-city variations, I define local inclusiveness as the extent to which a city government allows migrants to access local social insurances and housing provident funds and construct an urban inclusiveness index to measure it. I examine how local inclusiveness affects urban development via the quantity and quality of labor supply. Specifically, I study three inter-related questions. First, at the individual level, how does local inclusiveness affect migrantsâ choices of destination cities? Second, at the city level, how does local inclusiveness impact urban development through aggregate urban labor supply? Third, what factors may explain a cityâs inclusion for migrants? Using a conditional discrete choice model to examine the role of local inclusiveness in migrantsâ choices of destinations, I find inclusive cities attract more migrants, controlling for expected wage, housing costs, and a host of urban characteristics that affect quality of life. I then construct a two-sector structural model to estimate how urban inclusiveness affects urban productivity through the quantity and the composition of labor supply. I use historical cultural openness to instrument for urban inclusiveness. I find more inclusive cities perform better economically through higher labor supply, especially high-skilled migrants. Using spatial statistics to correct for spatial error dependence, I find a cityâs inclusiveness towards migrants largely depends on its fiscal capacity and labor demand, instead of cultural factors. This research reveals the connection among local inclusion, internal migration, and urban development in China. Evidence suggests the importance of attracting and retaining migrant labor through an inclusive local policy agenda.