Green Public Administration: A Mixed-Method Conceptual and Comparative Framework for Sustainability-Oriented States

Institutional Legitimacy and Sustainable Nuclear Energy Governance: A Comparative Sociotechnical Analysis

As nuclear energy re-emerges as a key component of global decarbonization, its long-term sustainability increasingly depends on institutional legitimacy alongside technical performance. Drawing on institutional theory, sociotechnical systems theory, and energy justice scholarship, this study conceptualizes regulatory compliance as a governance-mediated outcome shaped by trust, equity, transparency, and inclusion (TETI). Building on the Q-NPT (Qudrat-Ullah Nuclear Peace and Trust) framework, a sequential explanatory mixed-method design develops a composite TETI Governance Index using structured coding of regulatory documents, international peer-review findings, and participatory governance practices across ten advanced and emerging nuclear programs. The index enables comparative assessment of governance quality through standardized indicators and aggregation of the four governance dimensions. Comparative analysis across the ten programs reveals systematic governance differences between advanced and emerging nuclear systems, with more institutionally mature programs generally exhibiting higher TETI scores and stronger regulatory compliance. Results suggest that governance systems characterized by greater transparency, equity, stakeholder inclusion, and institutional trust are associated with stronger regulatory compliance and institutional resilience. Regression analysis indicates a positive relationship between the TETI Governance Index and compliance performance, although the small comparative sample and proxy measures preclude causal inference. By reframing regulatory compliance as a governance-mediated sociotechnical outcome, this study advances a theoretically grounded framework for strengthening safe, equitable, and sustainable civilian nuclear energy governance.

Inclusive and Sustainable Local Development: A Systematic Review of Environmental Sustainability, Municipal Governance, and Stakeholder-Oriented Reporting

This study conducts a systematic literature review to examine how inclusive and sustainable local development is conceptualized and operationalized in relation to local governments and municipalities. Guided by PRISMA 2020, the review draws on academic, institutional, and standards-based sources retrieved from Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and selected official portals, and organizes the evidence through three analytical pillars: conceptual and theoretical approaches; governance and policy frameworks; and operational tools, standards, indicators, and reporting practices. The findings show that the literature provides strong justice- and inclusion-oriented conceptual foundations, while governance studies emphasize the importance of multilevel arrangements, institutional capacity, and policy translation at municipal level. The review also finds that sustainability reporting, ESG-related practices, and indicator frameworks offer operational tools through which municipalities respond to accountability and stakeholder expectations, although these remain unevenly institutionalized and only partly connected to decision-making. Overall, the review identifies a persistent implementation gap between justice-oriented development objectives, municipal governance arrangements, and operational accountability mechanisms. While municipalities increasingly adopt sustainability-oriented tools, reporting practices, and indicator frameworks, the integration of normative inclusion principles into governance structures and measurable outcomes remains uneven. The study contributes a three-pillar analytical framework that helps explain how conceptual, governance, and operational dimensions interact within municipal sustainability practice.

University Governance for Sustainability: Overcoming Structural Fragmentation to Enable Institutional Transformation

Against the global imperative to advance higher education for sustainable development and institutional transformation in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), coherent governance architectures have been recognized as a foundational prerequisite for enabling universities to embed sustainability into values into core operations, teaching, research, and community engagement. Drawing on socio-technical systems theory and complex adaptive systems thinking, this study analyzes 167 central-level policy documents (2015–2023) related to China’s Higher Education “Delegation, Regulation, and Service” reform to examine how governance intentions are translated into organizational control mechanisms. A dual-dimensional analytical framework is developed that conceptualizes policy objectives as system goals and policy instruments as control levers, combining content analysis with fuzzy systems methodology to quantify system coupling. The findings reveal distinct emergent patterns: governance objectives exhibit structural differentiation with functional complementarity, whereas the synergy of control levers is shaped by their functional roles and organizational adaptability. More importantly, a selective pattern of structural–functional decoupling is identified. Coupling between Improving Quality and its supporting levers declines substantially over the study period, while coupling involving Stimulating Vitality exhibits marked volatility and an overall decline. By contrast, coupling associated with Breaking Down Institutional Barriers and Improving the Modern University System remains consistently high. These differentiated patterns suggest that governance misalignment is concentrated in quality- and vitality-related objectives rather than occurring uniformly across the governance system. The study provides a diagnostic framework for assessing governance coherence as a prerequisite for organizational capacity-building, contributing to both sustainability governance research and the design of more coherent institutional governance systems.

Institutional Capacity Building of Social Organizations: A Framework for Sustainable Governance

This research investigates the complex relationship between institutional capacity and social governance innovation within the sustainable development framework, employing a comprehensive panel data analysis of 3,416 organizations from 2015 to 2022. Purpose: To examine how institutional capacity influences social governance innovation and explore the moderating role of sustainable development in this relationship. Methodology: The study utilizes multiple econometric approaches, including panel regression, instrumental variables estimation, and system GMM, to address potential endogeneity concerns. A rigorous heterogeneity analysis explores variation across organizational and contextual dimensions. Findings: The results reveal a non-linear relationship between institutional capacity and social governance innovation, characterized by an inverted U-shaped curve (β = 0.418, p < 0.01; β2 = -0.132, p < 0.01). Sustainable development significantly moderates this relationship (β = 0.174, p < 0.01), with stronger effects observed in organizations with robust sustainable development frameworks. Heterogeneity analysis indicates varying impacts across regional development levels and organizational characteristics. Implications: These findings advance theoretical understanding of institutional capacity deployment while providing practical insights for organizational governance enhancement. The research demonstrates the critical role of sustainable development in maximizing institutional effectiveness and governance innovation outcomes. Originality/Value: This study contributes to institutional theory by establishing the non-linear nature of capacity-innovation relationships and identifying crucial boundary conditions affecting institutional effectiveness.

From Policy to Practice: Green Procurement and Sustainable Governance in Indonesia

The increasing global focus on sustainability has encouraged governments and public institutions to adopt environmentally responsible practices within public sector management. Green procurement has emerged as a strategic approach to supporting sustainable governance by integrating environmental, social, and economic considerations into procurement systems and public decision-making processes. In developing countries such as Indonesia, the implementation of sustainability-oriented procurement practices remains a significant challenge due to institutional readiness, policy alignment, governance capability, and digital transformation issues. This paper aims to propose a conceptual framework that connects green procurement practices with sustainable governance within the Indonesian public sector context. The study explores how sustainability principles can be translated from policy formulation into practical governance mechanisms that promote transparency, accountability, efficiency, and long-term public value creation. The framework integrates perspectives from sustainable management, digital governance, public procurement, and organizational transformation to develop a comprehensive sustainability governance model. The proposed framework highlights the strategic role of green procurement as a catalyst for institutional sustainability transformation and governance improvement. In addition, the paper emphasizes the importance of stakeholder collaboration, policy integration, organizational commitment, and digital governance systems in supporting sustainable public sector practices. This study contributes to the growing discussion on sustainability governance by offering a conceptual foundation for future empirical investigation in emerging economies. Future studies may further validate the proposed framework through mixed-methods approaches involving quantitative and qualitative analysis across public sector institutions in Indonesia. JEL Codes: Keywords: Green Procurement, Sustainable Governance, Sustainability Framework, Digital Governance, Public Sector Management

Public Management and Policy