How to Measure Public Quality of Life

Annotated Bibliography

Aknin, L. B., & Whillans, A. V. (2021). Helping and happiness: A review and guide for public

policy. Social Issues and Policy Review, 15(1), 3-34. https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/Helping%20and%20Happiness_41d48a88-0cd1-48ce-8428-4988f6f2ce0c.pdf

The article discusses how helping behavior can lead to positive emotions for the giver. The authors argue that humans have evolved a unique proclivity to care for and cooperate with one another, and that the strength of our social relationships is facilitated by prosocial actions. They also suggest that people not only routinely help others but a growing body of research indicates that they can derive pleasure from doing so. It is relevant to my research as the authors propose that helping is most likely to increase happiness when prosocial activities satisfy the fundamental motivations identified by Self-Determination Theory (SDT), which are autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

Ansell, C., Sørensen, E., & Torfing, J. (2021). The COVID-19 pandemic as a game changer for

public administration and leadership? The need for robust governance responses to turbulent problems. Public Management Review, 23(7), 949-960. https://forskning.ruc.dk/files/78671525/PMR_COVID_19_master_revised_JT_CA_ES.pdf

The authors argue that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for robust governance strategies in public administration and leadership to effectively respond to turbulent problems. The authors support their thesis by discussing various robust governance strategies that can be flexibly used and combined to fashion workable solutions in the face of turbulence. These strategies include modularization, bounded autonomy, bricolage, and strategic polyvalence. This source is relevant to my research as it directly addresses the effectiveness of public administration in responding to problems and gives valuable insight on strategy.

Bauer, M. W., & Becker, S. (2020). Democratic backsliding, populism, and public

administration. Perspectives on public management and governance, 3(1), 19-31. https://academic.oup.com/ppmg/article-pdf/3/1/19/32741245/gvz026.pdf

The authors central argument is that when populists are elected into government, they seek to realize an anti-pluralist reform agenda, which fuels trends of democratic backsliding.

The authors support their thesis by introducing examples of how populists sought to capture (Orbán in Hungary), dismantle (Fujimori in Peru), sabotage (Trump in the United States), and reform (Blocher in Switzerland) the state bureaucracy. This source is relevant to my research as it provides a critical perspective on the impact of populism on public administration.

Bullock, J. B. (2019). Artificial intelligence, discretion, and bureaucracy. The American Review

of Public Administration, 49(7), 751-761. https://justinbullock.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Bullock-2019-Artificial-Intelligence-Discretion-and-Bureaucracy.pdf

This article explores the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) for discretion and bureaucracy in public administration. The author argues that AI has the potential to significantly reduce the discretion of bureaucrats and to change the nature of bureaucracy. However, he also warns that the use of AI in public administration raises important ethical and practical issues that need to be addressed. This article is relevant to my research as it presents how new technology might impact this field.

Chater, N., & Loewenstein, G. (2022). The i-frame and the s-frame: How focusing on individual-

level solutions has led behavioral public policy astray. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1-60. https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/168582/1/WRAP-i-frame-s-frame-how-focusing-individual-level-solutions-led-behavioral-public-policy-astray-22.pdf

This paper argues that behavioral public policy has been overly focused on individual-level solutions (the 'i-frame') and has neglected the importance of social and systemic factors (the 's-frame'). The authors suggest that the i-frame has led to an overemphasis on 'nudges' and other interventions aimed at changing individual behavior, while the s-frame would lead to a broader range of policy interventions, including changes to the social and physical environment. It is relevant to my research as it provides evidence of how public policy can fail.

Chen, J., Walker, R. M., & Sawhney, M. (2020). Public service innovation: a typology. Public

Management Review, 22(11), 1674-1695. Public-service-innovation-a-typology.pdf (researchgate.net)

The central thesis of this paper is the development of a typology for defining and classifying innovation in public service organizations. The authors propose a two-dimensional typology: "innovation focus" (strategy, capacity, and operations) and "innovation locus" (internal and external). These dimensions result in six types of innovation: mission, policy, management, partner, service, and citizen. The authors support their thesis by presenting a preliminary assessment of the typology. This source is relevant to my research as it offers a comprehensive framework for understanding and evaluating innovation in public service, which is a crucial aspect of public administration's effectiveness in enhancing life quality and standards.

Frijters, P., Clark, A. E., Krekel, C., & Layard, R. (2020). A happy choice: wellbeing as the goal

of government. Behavioural Public Policy, 4(2), 126-165. https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/215116/1/dp12720.pdf

The authors argue that the goal of government should be the wellbeing of its citizens, a concept that traces back to the ancient Greeks and the Enlightenment. They discuss the history of happiness economics, tracing its roots back to Adam Smith and the utilitarians. They also present a preliminary list of factors that contribute to wellbeing, generated within the What Works Centre for Wellbeing in the UK. They suggest that these factors should be used to guide policy decisions, with the aim of maximizing happiness. This source is relevant to my research on public administration and policy-making as it could lead to more effective and citizen-centric policies.

Helander, N., Jussila, J., Bal, A. S., Sillanpää, V., Paunu, A., Lehtonen, T., ... & Felicetti, A.

(2020). Co-creating digital government service: An activity theory perspective. Journal of Applied Business and Economics, 22(6).

https://articlearchives.co/index.php/JABE/article/view/1001

The authors argue that the development of digital government services is a complex task that requires smooth cooperation between various actors. They support their thesis by analyzing an empirical study of a co-creation project of a digital government service in Finland through the lens of activity theory. This source is relevant to my research as it provides a detailed analysis of the process of co-creating digital government service and the effectiveness of public administration in enhancing life quality and standards.

Kokhanovskaya, I. I., Fatykhova, A. L., Khachaturyan, A. A., & Khachaturyan, K. S. (2019).

Questions of the estimation of efficiency of public administration in modern conditions. In SHS Web of Conferences (Vol. 62, p. 02002). EDP Sciences. Questions of the Estimation of Efficiency of Public Administration in Modern Conditions (shs-conferences.org)

The main thesis of this paper is the exploration of the efficiency of public administration in the modern era, with a focus on the Russian Federation. The authors support their thesis by analyzing the existing system of public administration, identifying its problems, and proposing solutions. They use a combination of theoretical analysis and practical examples to illustrate their points. This source is relevant to my research as it provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges and potential improvements in public administration, which can be applied to the evaluation of life quality and standards in separate states.

Lai, C. S., Jia, Y., Dong, Z., Wang, D., Tao, Y., Lai, Q. H., ... & Lai, L. L. (2020). A review of

technical standards for smart cities. Clean Technologies, 2(3), 290-310. https://www.mdpi.com/2571-8797/2/3/19/pdf

The point of this article is that the development of smart cities is closely related to the application of various technical standards. These standards are essential for the interoperability, compatibility, and safety of smart city systems. The paper provides a comprehensive review of the technical standards related to smart cities, including those for the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, big data, and cybersecurity. It is relevant to my research as it discusses the challenges and future trends in the standardization and governance of cities.

Lapuente, V., & Van de Walle, S. (2020). The effects of new public management on the quality

of public services. Governance, 33(3), 461-475. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gove.12502

This paper investigates the effects of New Public Management (NPM) reforms on the quality of public services. The authors find that NPM reforms have a negative effect on the quality of public services. They argue that this is because NPM reforms often lead to a focus on efficiency at the expense of other important aspects of public service quality, such as equity and responsiveness. It has relevance to my research as it shows how public managers can prevent decline in public service.