A special issue of the International Journal of Public Sector Management will focus on public policy advocacy, private/public dialogue and how the private sector can influence sustainable improvements in the enabling environment.

There is much encouragement these days for governments to improve the investment climate and, particularly, the regulatory framework for business on the basis that this will lead to increased growth in economic activity – and thus enhanced wealth generation, job creation and poverty alleviation. The evidence, and the wording, are repeated more strongly in Doing Business 2008 in which the World Bank asserts that ``higher rankings on the ease of doing business are associated with more growth, more jobs and a smaller share of the economy in the informal sector''. It is not just the World Bank making these arguments: there is a growing body of evidence which demonstrates that investment climate improvements make a difference to economic growth and that it can achieve far more than any number of NGO-promoted poverty alleviation projects. So business membership organisations (BMO) engage in dialogue and advocacy in an attempt to influence those making public policy.

Public/private dialogue implies regular contact between the public and private sectors, to ensure that each party understands the other and that neither is taken by surprise when issues arise. Private sector advocacy describes attempts by the private sector to influence the development and implementation of public policies in an effort to improve the business environment.

Papers, either theoretical or empirical, are invited from both academic and practitioner authors. Papers will be especially welcome from authors in developing countries. Suggested, but not exclusive, themes include:

• Effectiveness of public/private dialogue and advocacy
• Innovative approaches to dialogue and advocacy
• Appropriateness, role and effectiveness of business
• Impacts of reforms in the enabling environment on investment, job creation or economic growth
• Public/private partnerships in policy development and implementation
• Achieving Inclusive advocacy
• Collaborative advocacy
• Cultural issues in advocacy
• Developing institutional advocacy competence
• Using the media as an advocacy strategy
• Supporting advocacy in developing countries.

Submission of abstracts

Initial abstracts should be submitted to the Guest Editor for this Issue at the Guest Editor e-mail address below. Following positive feedback complete articles should be submitted via ScholarOne manuscripts and information on how to do this as well as general guidelines for submissions can be found in the Author Guidelines.

Important date

Submission of abstracts 28 February 2011
Feedback to authors 28 March 2011
Submission of articles 30 June 2011
Completion of peer review 31 October 2011
Issue publication date April 2012

Note to prospective authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere.

David Irwin, Partner, Irwin Grayson Associates, UK
Tel: +44 0191 645 2370
E-mail: david@irwin.org

Guest Editor