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Feedback tools have become ubiquitous in the service industry and social development programs alike. This study designed a field experiment to test whether eliciting feedback can empower users and increase demand for a service. The study randomly assigned different feedback tools in the context of an agricultural service to document their impact on clients' demand and shed light on the underlying mechanisms. The analysis shows large demand effects, in the current and following growing periods. It also documents large demand effect spillovers, as other non-client farmers in the vicinity of treated groups are more likely to sign up for the service. To disentangle pure supply-side monitoring from demand-side accountability effects, additional monitoring was randomly announced to extension workers across treatment and control communities. Extension workers do not exert significantly more effort in villages where additional monitoring takes place. The study concludes that farmers' taste for "respect" leads their higher demand for the service.

Agriculture --- Agriculture Extension --- Citizen Engagement --- Fee for Service

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The world is constantly adapting and our way of consuming is changing. Our environment has become globalized over the last two centuries. Food production is mainly carried out using techniques that do not respect biodiversity and the health of the population, all managed by multinational companies. Indeed, we know less and less about the components of our plates. This leads to a loss of quality and confidence when buying food.

Faced with these observations, some actors are becoming more and more aware that we must change our way of consuming and farming. Therefore, in recent years, some have decided to create alternative production methods and sell their products through a more direct marketing channel. By reducing intermediaries, these initiatives allow for greater transparency in both food and economic terms. Social and territorial ties are thus reconsidered. And above all, the added value goes directly to producers or farmers and no longer to large companies. 

It is in this context that this research is part of. It aims to understand why the current food market is not optimal and whether the theory of Market Failure can be fully validated by showing the interest of these short food supply chains initiatives. After further defining the concept of short food supply chains, we will show that they are the obstacles that exist for the population to embark on this food transition. We will discover what key factors need to be strengthened to encourage consumers to use these initiatives. 

Then, through a survey and observations over a month, this study aims to understand by which factors to engage the consumer in these short foods supply chains initiatives? What is their current purchasing behavior? What are their obstacles and motivations to consume locally? What would increase confidence in the purchase transaction? What effort should be made by these alternatives to encourage the citizen? Are they legitimate and sustainable concerning marketing?

Short food supply chains, Food transition, Citizen engagement, Social marketing, Agriculture, Market failures, Confidence, Belgium --- Sciences économiques & de gestion > Economie sociale

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Donors increasingly fund interventions to counteract inequality in developing countries, where they fear it can foment instability and undermine nation-building efforts. To succeed, aid relies on the principle of upward accountability to donors. But federalism shifts the accountability of subnational officials downward to regional and local voters. What happens when aid agencies fund anti-inequality programs in federal countries? Does federalism undermine aid? Does aid undermine federalism? Or can the political and fiscal relations that define a federal system resolve the contradiction internally? This study explores this paradox via the Promotion of Basic Services program in Ethiopia, the largest donor-financed investment program in the world. Using an original panel database comprising the universe of Ethiopian woredas (districts), the study finds that horizontal (geographic) inequality decreased substantially. Donor-financed block grants to woredas increased the availability of primary education and health care services in the bottom 20 percent of woredas. Weaker evidence from household surveys suggests that vertical inequality across wealth groups (within woredas) also declined, implying that individuals from the poorest households benefit disproportionately from increasing access to and utilization of such services. The evidence suggests that by combining strong upward accountability over public investment with extensive citizen engagement on local issues, Ethiopia's federal system resolves the instrumental dissonance posed by aid-funded programs to combat inequality in a federation.

Access to finance --- Accountability --- Aid --- Banks and banking reform --- Citizen engagement --- Federalism --- Finance and financial sector development --- Health, nutrition and population --- Inequality --- Local government --- Macroeconomics and economic growth --- Population policies --- Public sector corruption and anticorruption measures --- Public sector development --- Public services

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Donors increasingly fund interventions to counteract inequality in developing countries, where they fear it can foment instability and undermine nation-building efforts. To succeed, aid relies on the principle of upward accountability to donors. But federalism shifts the accountability of subnational officials downward to regional and local voters. What happens when aid agencies fund anti-inequality programs in federal countries? Does federalism undermine aid? Does aid undermine federalism? Or can the political and fiscal relations that define a federal system resolve the contradiction internally? This study explores this paradox via the Promotion of Basic Services program in Ethiopia, the largest donor-financed investment program in the world. Using an original panel database comprising the universe of Ethiopian woredas (districts), the study finds that horizontal (geographic) inequality decreased substantially. Donor-financed block grants to woredas increased the availability of primary education and health care services in the bottom 20 percent of woredas. Weaker evidence from household surveys suggests that vertical inequality across wealth groups (within woredas) also declined, implying that individuals from the poorest households benefit disproportionately from increasing access to and utilization of such services. The evidence suggests that by combining strong upward accountability over public investment with extensive citizen engagement on local issues, Ethiopia's federal system resolves the instrumental dissonance posed by aid-funded programs to combat inequality in a federation.

Access to finance --- Accountability --- Aid --- Banks and banking reform --- Citizen engagement --- Federalism --- Finance and financial sector development --- Health, nutrition and population --- Inequality --- Local government --- Macroeconomics and economic growth --- Population policies --- Public sector corruption and anticorruption measures --- Public sector development --- Public services

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Over the last two decades, the literature on political participation has flourished, reflecting the increasing use of diverse modes of citizen involvement. These include established modes of participation, such as voting, protests, mass demonstrations, and petition signing, but also newer modes specific to the online environment (ICT-related), participation in referendums, public consultations, or engagement in political deliberation. The importance and intensity of these modes is reflected both in the number of people getting involved and in the increasing number of policies that are subject to various modes of participation on a regular basis. There is extensive literature about how these modes of participation function, why people get involved, and the consequences of their participation. However, limited attention is paid to the relationship between political participation and the pursuit of sustainability at a local, regional, or central level. Existing studies indicate that citizen engagement can be a cost-effective method to characterize changes of local environments; however, not much is known beyond this process. This Special Issue aims to address this void in the literature and brings together contributions that analyze how participation can be associated with sustainability and local development in various settings. It explores the relationship between political participation and the management of their local environment. This Special Issue enhances the existing knowledge and understanding about how modes of participation can be reflected in stronger sustainability. The Special Issue provides the space for an academic debate that addresses issues such as climate change, resource allocation, or the pursuit of sustainability programs and policies. The contributions include a mix of single-case studies and comparative analyses across European countries.

Technology: general issues --- deliberation --- future generations --- future design --- political participation --- citizen engagement --- political institutions --- sustainability --- participation --- digitalization --- local government --- innovation --- mixed deliberation --- referendums --- municipal mergers --- democratic sustainability --- social trust --- political trust --- political efficacy --- citizens’ juries --- natural experiment --- opinion change --- windfarms --- Scotland --- deliberative mini-publics --- democratic innovations --- public opinion --- participatory budgeting --- ecology --- local level --- citizens --- support --- Romania --- citizens’ assemblies --- climate change --- decarbonization --- agenda setting --- deliberative democracy --- mini-publics --- environmental politics --- deliberation --- future generations --- future design --- political participation --- citizen engagement --- political institutions --- sustainability --- participation --- digitalization --- local government --- innovation --- mixed deliberation --- referendums --- municipal mergers --- democratic sustainability --- social trust --- political trust --- political efficacy --- citizens’ juries --- natural experiment --- opinion change --- windfarms --- Scotland --- deliberative mini-publics --- democratic innovations --- public opinion --- participatory budgeting --- ecology --- local level --- citizens --- support --- Romania --- citizens’ assemblies --- climate change --- decarbonization --- agenda setting --- deliberative democracy --- mini-publics --- environmental politics