Marie Lalanne (p)

Enrique Lopez-Bazo

This paper uses the R&I collaborations networks created by the EU Framework Programmes to
demonstrate the causal impact of a region’s network characteristics on its
patenting activity.

Daria Denti (p), Martina Dal Molin

Marie Lalanne

While pioneer research on smart city mainly focused on the specific application of ICTs, more recent research acknowledges the need to align the smart city framework with sustainable development. While this change of focus has given traction to research on the link between smart cities and sustainable development, still many questions remain under investigated. This paper aims at addressing one of these underexplored questions, by advancing a set of criteria for the assessment of municipal Open Data Platforms (ODPs) as enablers towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Operationally, we advance the SDG ODP Implementation Score, which is a synthetic measure designed by considering 7 pillars from the SDG framework and by relating these pillars to the smart city framework when appropriate. While some SDG pillars align to requirements from the smart city framework, others impose new challenges to ODP design and implementation. Hence, the resulting SDG ODP Implementation Score represents a composite measure containing criteria that related to both the smart city framework and the SDG framework and criteria that relate to the SDG framework only.
We then apply the SDG ODP Implementation Score to the Italian regional capitals engaged with SDGs. Findings highlight a variegated picture. ODPs of the considered regional capitals are advanced in dimensions which are relevant for both the smart city framework and the SDG one. However, several regional capitals lag behind in one or more of the dimensions that are introduced by the SDG framework. Enabling crucial users such as NGOs, researchers, practitioners and journalist is scarcely addressed in the considered ODPs. The same applies for availability of data which allow comparison with regional and national outlooks.
Many reasons could explain the remarkable heterogeneity in the local approach to these dimensions, ranging from the lack of guidelines to limited institutional capacity. Through a dedicated survey, we will investigate what shapes the local approach and which limitations are preventing ODP implementation capable of matching SDG requirements.
Policy-wise, the SDG ODP Implementation Score could be a useful tool for local policy makers to progress towards SDGs.

Margarita Barer (p), Yotam Luria, Fany Yuval

Daria Denti

Democratic countries recognize transparency as an essential aspect of governmental accountability. Members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have adopted regulations or legislation to promote transparency at various levels. Even though transparency is very popular in public discussions, the research is rather limited, mainly in the municipal area.
This study aims at fulfilling this lacuna by examining transparency in local governments from different angles. This research’s main goal is to evaluate local governments’ multi-member decision-making transparency and create a model that addresses the relationship between decision-making transparency and informed decisions. There is not a single decision-maker in local government authorities; rather, the entire team participates in the decision-making process. Therefore, in the current context, decision-making is multi-member decision-making.
The importance of decision transparency is discussed in the literature. If a decision is transparent, affected parties, specialists, and future decision-makers can reconstruct decision processes and the intended outcomes (Drew, Nyerges, and Leschine, 2004). The ability to access information about local government public decision-making allows people to judge the organization based on their knowledge of this process and not based on their general perception of government at the national level (Grimmelikhuijsen, 2010). Access to information brings citizens and stakeholders closer to authority, promotes trust, and encourages more informed and involved decisions (Lodge, 1994). Transparent decisions are foreseen to be more effective (Florini, 1999) and lead to more informed decisions (Lodge, 1994; Brown, 1995; Buiter, 1999).
The main research questions are: Does decision-making transparency contribute to obtaining informed decisions? What moderating factors affect decision-making transparency?
Two possible moderating factors in this model are the number of participants in the decision-making process and the need for technology during the decision-making process.
The research employs a mixed methodology, with elements of both quantitative and qualitative research. Namely, semi-structured, in-depth interviews, document analysis, and the conduction of an electronic survey.
There are three theoretical contributions and applied potential contributions. First, this study advances knowledge of the concept of transparency and its influence on local government authority’s decision-making process. Second, the study deepens theoretical understanding of multi-member decision-making transparency at the local government level. Finally, this study creates practical tools and implications for the local government authority’s practice regarding transparency in multi-member decision-making transparency.
The results and the discussion section are still in progress; there are preliminary results only.

Enrique Lopez-Bazo (p), Elisabet Motellon

Margarita Barer

This study analyzes the effect of individuals' concern about the risk that the Covid-19 pandemic posed to their health and financial situation on their perception of the quality of local institutions. For this purpose, individual data on the perception of the quality of institutions and on the attitude of individuals towards the Covid-19 pandemic, contained in the 2021 wave of the Quality of Government Survey, are used.
The analysis assumes that i) part of the regional variability in the aggregate indicators of perception of institutional quality may be due to a composition effect, ii) the estimation of the effect of the pandemic on institutional quality must take into account that what matters is the perception of individuals regarding the risk to personal and family health and finances and, iii) the degree of objective incidence of the pandemic in a region (measured through the infection rate or excess mortality) influences the perception of personal risk, although its effect is modulated by individual characteristics. Bearing this in mind, the main hypothesis of this paper is that, according to the so-called rally 'round the flag effect (Bol et al 2021; Kritzinger et al 2021; Schraff 2021; van der Meer et al 2023), citizens who perceived a greater personal risk of being affected by the pandemic would have had a better perception of the quality of public services, especially those of the health system, as well as greater confidence in local institutions. In a complementary way, as pointed out in Charron et al (2022), it is possible that confinement and other non-pharmacological interventions affected the frequency and intensity of citizen interactions with the administration and altered the use of public services. If this were the case, they indicate that in that period citizens would have had fewer “negative” experiences (for example, less exposure to petty corruption), which would have contributed to a better evaluation of local institutions.
After controlling for demographic characteristics, personal traits, factors of the local context, and for the potential endogeneity of the perceived risk indicators (using a measure of the local incidence of the pandemic), the results are contrary to the so-called rally effect. In fact, the evidence even suggests that individuals who were most concerned about the effects of the pandemic, especially on their personal and family finances, rated the quality of institutions, including the public health system, to a lesser extent.