STRUCTURING LONG-TERM DECISIONS

1999 ◽  
Vol 01 (02) ◽  
pp. 213-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELIZABETH ATHERTON ◽  
SIMON FRENCH
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Discount Rate ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
The Public ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Alternative Methodology ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Societal Decision

The public is demanding more democratic decision making processes that take into account their opinions and views. In order to make large societal decision making processes inclusive, it is necessary to find a way of communicating the issues involved in a decision without becoming swamped with the technical aspects. Many of the societal decisions that have to be made, e.g., about the greenhouse effect and radiation, have very long-term impacts, which make them even more complex. One of the more controversial issues in evaluating long-term impacts is the choice of discount rate, or indeed whether discounting is appropriate. When the decision is societal and there are many stakeholders, the debate about the discount rate can become very heated. Using exponential discounting focuses attention on the discount rate and does not help stakeholders explore their opinions and beliefs. Atherton and French (1998) suggested an alternative methodology based upon a time-era structuring of attributes. By dividing time into distinct eras and weighting these rather than applying one discount rate over the whole lifetime of the project, a seemingly more transparent way of dealing with time preferences was developed. To further investigate the acceptability of the methodology to a broad range of people, an interactive World Wide Web page was set up. The page was not context specific and talked about an undefined project, not a particular decision situation. The subjects were asked to define the time eras themselves and to weight them. They were then asked to indicate what had motivated their weights and finally they were asked how their weights would change if the issues changed. Most subjects found the ideas easy to comprehend and commented positively about the experiment. Seventy-five per cent of the subjects divided time into increasing intervals in line with the suggestions made in Atherton and French (1998). Sixty-five per cent of them had decreasing time era weights, but their weights decreased more slowly than those prescribed by constant discounting. This paper describes the results of the experiment, indicating the implications they may have for societal decision making.

The move to Accrual Based Accounting: the challenges facing central governments

2006 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédéric Marty ◽  
Sylvie Trosa ◽  
Arnaud Voisin
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Implementation Strategy ◽  
Financial Information ◽  
Economic Rationality ◽  
Political Decision ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
The Public ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Political Decision Making

France’s decision to move to Accrual Based Accounting, triggered by the application of the Organic Law to the Finance Laws, has a tangible impact on political decision-making mechanisms. By adopting accounting and financial information standards derived from the private sector, it has the effect of reinforcing the economic rationality of public decisions. It makes it possible, in particular, to draw comparisons between public and private costs, comparisons that are necessary to set up any possible contract-based links with private suppliers. The move towards Accrual Based Accounting sets out to improve the information provided to the public operators. It also tends to limit the possibilities of arbitrations that are unfavourable to long-term investments and the maintenance of public assets. It gives parliaments, control bodies and citizens an appreciation of the policies being carried out, thus reinforcing the demands for the transparency of public accounts and the accountability of their managers. However, there is no getting away from the fact that it is a complex and costly reform, whose implementation requires a favourable political context and an appropriate implementation strategy.

scholarly journals Towards an improved decision-making process to better cope with uncertainties following a nuclear accident

2020 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. S135-S143 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Durand ◽  
M. Maître ◽  
P. Crouaïl ◽  
T. Schneider ◽  
R. Sala ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Emergency Situation ◽  
Nuclear Accident ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Recovery Management ◽  
Nuclear Crisis

An emergency situation is subject to multiple sources of uncertainties which should be identified in advance in order to improve the emergency and recovery management, and so optimally foster the living conditions of the population and the quality of their environment. In this context, the Work Package 4 of the European Research Project CONFIDENCE aimed at identifying and reducing uncertainties which could emerge in decision-making processes, in order to improve the preparedness and response after a nuclear accident. To that end, stakeholder panels have been set up in several European countries to collect their views and concerns regarding the decisions to be taken in the event of a nuclear crisis (e.g. evacuation, food restrictions, etc.). More particularly, the implementation of these panels allowed the researchers to (i) identify the main uncertainties that may hamper decision-making processes and to (ii) evaluate the influence of prior decisions made during the emergency phase over the medium to long-term evolution of the situation. Based on these discussions, the various types of uncertainties raised by the national panels have been analysed in order to suggest recommendations to better consider them and to improve the decision-making processes. This paper aims to detail the recommendations resulting from the panels discussions.

scholarly journals Application of the watershed sustainability index in the Piranhas-Açu watershed

Water Policy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 622-640
Author(s):  
D. D. Costa e Silva ◽  
H. M. L. Chaves ◽  
W. F. Curi ◽  
J. G. V. Baracuhy ◽  
T. P. S. Cunha
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sustainability Index ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Semi Arid Region ◽  
Brazilian Northeast

Abstract The current worldwide water resources issue is one of the crucial matters to overcome obstacles to sustainable development. This problem, formerly tackled in a sectored manner, is now pointing towards an analysis directed to treating the watershed as a management unit, with regards to all dimensions of knowledge and, especially, to the public participation in the decision-making processes. As an alternative to measure its performance, it has been sought out to develop indexes aimed to measure its sustainability, but there is still a lack of the use of composed efficient methodologies that also enable public participation in decision-making. This research presents a methodology comprising 15 indexes for the calculation of the Watershed Sustainability Index (WSI), followed by the application of the PROMETHEE multi-criteria analysis method and the COPELAND multi-decision-maker method. The methodology was applied to evaluate the performance of subwatersheds of the Piranhas-Açu watershed, located in the Brazilian northeast semi-arid region. The performance ordering, obtained through the application of the methods, emphasizes that subwatersheds' performances are uneven. It can be noticed that the subwatersheds' performances are still far from ideal in relation to water resources management, even in the ones that displayed satisfactory index levels.

Framing Information Technology Governance in the Public Sector: Opportunities and Challenges

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 89-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khalifa Al-Farsi ◽  
Ramzi EL Haddadeh
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Information Technology ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
It Governance ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Technology Governance ◽  
Support Organizations ◽  
Information Technology Governance ◽  
Decision Making Processes

Information technology governance is considered one of the innovative practices that can provide support for decision-makers. Interestingly, it has become increasingly a de facto for organizations in seeking to optimise their performance. In principle, information technology governance has emerged to support organizations in the integration of information technology (IT) infrastructures and the delivery of high-quality services. On the other hand, decision-making processes in public sector organisations can be multi-faceted and complex, and decision makers play an important role in implementing technology in the public sector. The aim of this paper is to shed some light on current opportunities and challenges that IT governance is experiencing in the context of public sector services. In this respect, this paper examines the factors influencing the decision-making process to fully appreciate IT governance. Furthermore, this study focuses on combining institutional and individual perspectives to explain how individuals can take decisions in response to institutional influences.

scholarly journals Exploitation Policy in the Aspect of Industry 4.0 Concept – Overview of Selected Research

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 353-359
Author(s):  
Anna Timofiejczuk ◽  
Jaroslaw Brodny ◽  
Andrzej Loska
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Product Development ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Maintenance Management ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Production Processes ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Technical Systems

Abstract The article is a review of completed research on developed and implemented innovative and technologically advanced technical systems. According to the Industry 4.0 concept they can have a significant impact on the efficiency of production processes and product development. In this perspective, the key aspect seems to be maintenance management of technical systems, realized both in the operate phase as well as during service and repair works. There were discussed research results of authors and developed application solutions supporting decision-making processes, in terms of three main periods of realization of exploitation processes: short, medium and long-term.

scholarly journals The Role of Public Participation in Governance towards Achieving Sustainable Development. Part 1

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-404
Author(s):  
Maurice S. Nyarangaa ◽  
Chen Hao ◽  
Duncan O. Hongo
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Political Class ◽  
The Public ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The Government

Public participation aimed at improving the effectiveness of governance by involving citizens in governance policy formulation and decision-making processes. It was designed to promote transparency, accountability and effectiveness of any modern government. Although Kenya has legally adopted public participation in day-to-day government activities, challenges still cripple its effectiveness as documented by several scholars. Instead of reducing conflicts between the government and the public, it has heightened witnessing so many petitions of government missing on priorities in terms of development and government policies. Results show that participation weakly relates with governance hence frictions sustainable development. Theoretically, public participation influences governance efficiency and development, directly and indirectly, thus sustainable development policy and implementation depends on Public participation and good governance. However, an effective public participation in governance is has been fractioned by the government. Instead of being a promoter/sponsor of public participation, the government of Kenya has failed to put structures that would spur participation of citizens in policy making and other days to activities. This has brought about wrong priority setting and misappropriation of public resources; The government officials and political class interference ultimately limit public opinion and input effects on decision-making and policy formulation, which might be an inner factor determining the failure of public participation in Kenya. The study suggests the need for strengthening public participation by establishing an independent institution to preside over public participation processes.

scholarly journals Decision Biases and Heuristics Among Emergency Managers: Just Like the Public They Manage For?

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 292-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick S. Roberts ◽  
Kris Wernstedt
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Structured Decision Making ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Managers ◽  
Emergency Managers ◽  
Decision Biases ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Outcome Bias ◽  
Attribution Bias

We present evidence that emergency managers exhibit some of the same decision biases, sensitivity to framing, and heuristics found in studies of the general public, even when making decisions in their area of expertise. Our national survey of county-level emergency managers finds that managers appear more risk averse when the outcomes of actions are framed as gains than when equivalent outcomes are framed as losses, a finding that is consistent with prospect theory. We also find evidence that the perceived actions of emergency managers in neighboring jurisdictions affect the choices a manager makes. In addition, our managers show evidence of attribution bias, outcome bias, and difficulties processing numerical information, particularly probabilities compared to frequencies. Each of these departures from perfect rationality points to potential shortfalls in public managers’ decision making. We suggest opportunities to improve decision making through reframing problems, providing training in structured decision-making processes, and employing different choice architectures to nudge behavior in a beneficial direction.

Getting to the Future

2021 ◽  
pp. 109-128
Author(s):  
Michael K. MacKenzie
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
The Political ◽  
Collective Decision Making ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
The Future ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Electoral Cycles ◽  
Shared Futures ◽  
Deliberative Processes

This chapter makes three arguments in support of the claim that we need inclusive deliberative processes to shape the future in collectively intentional, mutually accommodating ways. First, inclusive collective decision-making processes are needed to avoid futures that favour the interests of some groups of people over others. Second, deliberative processes are needed to shape our shared futures in collectively intentional ways: we need to be able to talk to ourselves about what we are doing and where we want to get to in the future. Third, deliberative exchanges are needed to help collectivities avoid the policy oscillations that are (or may be) associated with the political dynamics of short electoral cycles. Effective processes of reciprocal reason giving can help collectivities maintain policy continuity over the long term—when continuity is justified—even as governments and generations change.

The Long-Term Ecological Research Stimulus: Research, Education, and Leadership Development at Individual and Community Levels

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Gosz
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
Hubbard Brook ◽  
Research Education ◽  
The Public ◽  
Research Reporting ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research ◽  
Communication Needs ◽  
Set Up

Through the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program, I have learned to appreciate the complexity of environmental dynamics when they are analyzed at multiple time and space scales. My experience as a postdoctoral fellow and in the LTER program facilitated much of my understanding of interdisciplinary research because of access to multiple disciplinary approaches and accumulation of long-term and multiple- scale information. My teaching of science benefited through recognition of the need for a combination of a deep understanding of each discipline’s role in an issue (reductionist approach) and the collaborative need for integrating disciplines to fully understand complexity. No single discipline can answer the complexity in an environmental question. I have improved my communication with the public through the combination of teaching and research reporting. The challenge is to develop the information in ways that can be communicated: free of scientific jargon, containing only essential data, and developed in scenarios that are recognized as real-life situations. The public has many forms and levels of understanding—there are K to gray and ordinary citizens and policy-makers; consequently, communication needs to be targeted appropriately. I value the role of collaboration; there is tremendous satisfaction and reward from working in teams that can accomplish so much more than can an individual. This collaboration requires compromise, interaction, and time, but those that strive for this approach to science are well recognized. I am fortunate in being in positions that have created opportunities for sustaining a long career in stimulating interdisciplinary and collaborative science. I had a traditional forest management and soil science education (Michigan Technological University and the University of Idaho). However, my entrée into ecosystem science was set up by my very valuable postdoctoral fellowship at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest under the guidance of Gene Likens from 1969 to 1970, before the formation of the LTER program. The Hubbard Brook experience, quite literally, educated me about systems thinking, with the watershed approach to understanding integrated responses from complex, multifactor interactions and influences of forest management as disturbances.

Conclusion: SDO Decision-making and the Public Interest

2020 ◽  
pp. 210-237
Author(s):  
Alison Harcourt ◽  
George Christou ◽  
Seamus Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
International Level ◽  
Multiple Streams ◽  
Policy Entrepreneurship ◽  
Historical Representation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Decision Making Processes

The conclusion situates the book’s findings in academic debates on democracy and the Internet, global self-regulation, and civil society, and international decision-making processes in unstructured environments. It assesses whether current standards-developing organization (SDO) decision-making is able to bridge historical representation gaps and deficiencies. A nuanced pattern is emerging with increasing inclusion of a wider number of actors within SDO fora. The first part of the chapter returns to the Multiple Streams (MS) framework applied to the case studies on a comparative basis. It identifies key processes under which SDO rules of interaction are established at the international level and explains which interests have come to the fore within decision-making highlighting the occurrence of policy entrepreneurship, forum shopping, and coupling. The final part explores additional frameworks for SDO regulation where spaces for public interest consideration might occur in the future. These are opportunities for inserting public interest considerations into international and national Acts, certification programmes, and the move towards open source solutions for Internet management. The book concludes that, although the literature is expansive on the interaction of corporate sector actors within SDOs, the study of other actors, such as digital rights groups, civil society, academics, policy entrepreneurs and the technical community as a whole, has been underdressed in the literature on international self-regulatory fora to date. In this respect, the book raises important questions of representation of the public interest at the international level by having addressed the actions of actors within SDO fora who promote public interest goals.

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