Journal of Policy and Development Studies

Governance and the energy transition in developing nations: Attaining sustainable development

2025-10-20T15:49:52+00:00

The global shift towards renewable energy is crucial for achieving sustainable development; however, developing nations encounter unique governance challenges in making this transition. This study explores the role of governance in promoting energy transitions in four developing countries: Nigeria, India, Brazil, and Morocco. These countries were selected from their various regions to provide comparative insights from the period 2010 to 2025. By employing a comparative qualitative case study design, the research utilizes governance theory, institutional theory, political economy theory, and perspectives on sustainable development to evaluate how governance structures, policy frameworks, and institutional capacity influence the adoption of renewable energy for sustainable development. Data were collected from policy documents, international agency reports, and peer-reviewed literature, and analyzed using thematic and comparative methods. The findings indicate that governance is a critical factor determining the pace and effectiveness of energy transitions. The comparative analysis demonstrates that while all four countries have articulated ambitious renewable energy policies, their progress has been uneven due to persistent governance and institutional barriers. The study concludes that effective governance is vital for moving from ambitious policies to actual renewable energy transformation. It recommends context-specific governance reforms aimed at enhancing institutional capacity, strengthening regulatory independence, and fostering inclusive stakeholder engagement. By emphasizing governance as the key to energy transition, this study contributes valuable insights for both academics and policymakers in developing contexts.

The dynamics of public policy and human resource management: A conceptual analysis

2025-10-20T15:56:16+00:00

The dynamics of public policy and human resource management (HRM) are intricately linked, with policy-practice gaps emerging as a significant challenge in public administration. This study examines the analytical factors influencing policy-practice gaps. The study reviewed 15 peer-reviewed articles and policy reports using content analysis to identify themes influencing policy-practice gaps. This helped in analyzing the complex relationships between institutional, organizational, and individual-level factors. One key finding of this study is that macro-level institutional factors, such as bureaucratic red tape, can significantly contribute to policy-practice gaps in public administration. Based on this finding, it is recommended that policymakers streamline bureaucratic procedures and reduce red tape to facilitate policy implementation and improve HRM outcomes. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the complex dynamics underlying policy-practice gaps and highlights the need for further research into the development of effective strategies for bridging these gaps.

Financial access and agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa

2025-12-28T12:46:43+00:00

The agricultural sector is one of the vital sectors in most developing countries. However, unfortunately, the sector is often less important in most of these developing countries, which has led to a continued decline in agricultural output. While the sector is faced with several challenges, it is believed that a major obstacle to agricultural productivity is the lack of access to credit. This study, therefore, assesses the impact of financial access on agricultural productivity in 17 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa for the period 2001 to 2023. The study employed the ARDL on agricultural productivity measured by the Food Production index, financial access, and technological innovation, among others. The result revealed that financial access through agricultural credit to farmers was found to have an inverse and substantial impact on agricultural productivity only in the long run and an insignificant impact in the short run. Therefore, the study advocates among others for government expansion of financial access to smallholder farmers at lower interest rates and flexible repayment scheme as well as the introduction of innovative financial packages such as green finance and value-chain finance.