Tariff structures for water and sanitation urban households: a primer

Water Policy ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 1108-1126 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Silva Pinto ◽  
R. Cunha Marques
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Literature Survey ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Demand And Supply ◽  
Urban Households ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Setting Process ◽  
Conflicting Objectives ◽  
Tariff Structures

Water tariffs are a powerful management tool. Indeed, they can be seen as a conceptually simple way to promote multiple, possibly conflicting, objectives. Those trade-offs cause discrepancies between stakeholders and may produce undesirable results. The residential urban domain is particularly sensible to those predicaments. To shed some light on the matter, this paper carries out a literature survey on empirical studies, with emphasis on different tariff structures. In total, 185 publications were identified concerning the importance of tariff structures in achieving specific local objectives, or perspectives, of those who demand and supply water. These studies examine, occasionally comparing: (1) the degree to which specific objectives are achieved; (2) how the desired outcomes of a particular structure depend on the customers' sensitivity when receiving a price signal; and (3) the drivers of the decision-makers in the tariff-setting process. A major result is the empirical evidence that the way prices are used matters almost as much as whether they are used or not.

Collective intelligence approaches in interactive evolutionary multi-objective optimization

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Cinalli ◽  
Luis Martí ◽  
Nayat Sanchez-Pi ◽  
Ana Cristina Bicharra Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Collective Intelligence ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Multi Objective Optimization ◽  
Multi Objective ◽  
Pareto Optimal Set ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Life Problems ◽  
Conflicting Objectives ◽  
Optimal Set

Abstract Evolutionary multi-objective optimization algorithms (EMOAs) have been successfully applied in many real-life problems. EMOAs approximate the set of trade-offs between multiple conflicting objectives, known as the Pareto optimal set. Reference point approaches can alleviate the optimization process by highlighting relevant areas of the Pareto set and support the decision makers to take the more confident evaluation. One important drawback of this approaches is that they require an in-depth knowledge of the problem being solved in order to function correctly. Collective intelligence has been put forward as an alternative to deal with situations like these. This paper extends some well-known EMOAs to incorporate collective preferences and interactive techniques. Similarly, two new preference-based multi-objective optimization performance indicators are introduced in order to analyze the results produced by the proposed algorithms in the comparative experiments carried out.

The Effects of Decision Time on Perceptions of Decisions and Decision Makers in (Moral) Trade-Off Scenarios

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Katharina Spälti ◽  
Mark John Brandt ◽  
Marcel Zeelenberg
Keyword(s):  
Decision Process ◽  
Decision Time ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Process Information ◽  
Total N ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Financial Gain ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Sacred Values ◽  
Moral Context

People often have to make trade-offs. We study three types of trade-offs: 1) "secular trade-offs" where no moral or sacred values are at stake, 2) "taboo trade-offs" where sacred values are pitted against financial gain, and 3) "tragic trade-offs" where sacred values are pitted against other sacred values. Previous research (Critcher et al., 2011; Tetlock et al., 2000) demonstrated that tragic and taboo trade-offs are not only evaluated by their outcomes, but are also evaluated based on the time it took to make the choice. We investigate two outstanding questions: 1) whether the effect of decision time differs for evaluations of decisions compared to decision makers and 2) whether moral contexts are unique in their ability to influence character evaluations through decision process information. In two experiments (total N = 1434) we find that decision time affects character evaluations, but not evaluations of the decision itself. There were no significant differences between tragic trade-offs and secular trade-offs, suggesting that the decisions structure may be more important in evaluations than moral context. Additionally, the magnitude of the effect of decision time shows us that decision time, may be of less practical use than expected. We thus urge, to take a closer examination of the processes underlying decision time and its perception.

A Soft Hierarchical Process Approach for Decision Making in A Supply Chain

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1and2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajeev Dhingra ◽  
Preetvanti Singh
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Process Approach ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
Conflicting Objectives ◽  
Realistic View ◽  
Hierarchy Process ◽  
Pair Wise Comparison ◽  
Supplier Selection Problem ◽  
Selection Of

Decision problems are usually complex and involve evaluation of several conflicting criteria (parameters). Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) is a promising field that considers the parallel influence of all criteria and aims at helping decision makers in expressing their preferences, over a set of predefined alternatives, on the basis of criteria (parameters) that are contradictory in nature. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a useful and widespread MCDM tool for solving such type of problems, as it allows the incorporation of conflicting objectives and decision makers preferences in the decision making. The AHP utilizes the concept of pair wise comparison to find the order of criteria (parameters) and alternatives. The comparison in a pairwise manner becomes quite tedious and complex for problems having eight alternatives or more, thereby, limiting the application of AHP. This paper presents a soft hierarchical process approach based on soft set decision making which eliminates the least promising candidate alternatives and selects the optimum(potential) ones that results in the significant reduction in the number of pairwise comparisons necessary for the selection of the best alternative using AHP, giving the approach a more realistic view. A supplier selection problem is used to illustrate the proposed approach.

scholarly journals From Bitcoin to Central Bank Digital Currencies: Making Sense of the Digital Money Revolution

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 165
Author(s):  
Paulo Rupino Cunha ◽  
Paulo Melo ◽  
Helder Sebastião
Keyword(s):  
Central Bank ◽  
Practical Implication ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Central Banks ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Extensive Search ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Digital Money ◽  
Open Issues

We analyze the path from cryptocurrencies to official Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), to shed some light on the ultimate dematerialization of money. To that end, we made an extensive search that resulted in a review of more than 100 academic and grey literature references, including official positions from central banks. We present and discuss the characteristics of the different CBDC variants being considered—namely, wholesale, retail, and, for the latter, the account-based, and token-based—as well as ongoing pilots, scenarios of interoperability, and open issues. Our contribution enables decision-makers and society at large to understand the potential advantages and risks of introducing CBDCs, and how these vary according to many technical and economic design choices. The practical implication is that a debate becomes possible about the trade-offs that the stakeholders are willing to accept.

scholarly journals Using Deliberative Democracy for Better Urban Decision-Making through Integrative Thinking

Urban Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Janette Hartz-Karp ◽  
Dora Marinova
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Capital City ◽  
City Region ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Urban Issues ◽  
Sustainability Challenges

This article expands the evidence about integrative thinking by analyzing two case studies that applied the collaborative decision-making method of deliberative democracy which encourages representative, deliberative and influential public participation. The four-year case studies took place in Western Australia, (1) in the capital city Perth and surrounds, and (2) in the city-region of Greater Geraldton. Both aimed at resolving complex and wicked urban sustainability challenges as they arose. The analysis suggests that a new way of thinking, namely integrative thinking, emerged during the deliberations to produce operative outcomes for decision-makers. Building on theory and research demonstrating that deliberative designs lead to improved reasoning about complex issues, the two case studies show that through discourse based on deliberative norms, participants developed different mindsets, remaining open-minded, intuitive and representative of ordinary people’s basic common sense. This spontaneous appearance of integrative thinking enabled sound decision-making about complex and wicked sustainability-related urban issues. In both case studies, the participants exhibited all characteristics of integrative thinking to produce outcomes for decision-makers: salience—grasping the problems’ multiple aspects; causality—identifying multiple sources of impacts; sequencing—keeping the whole in view while focusing on specific aspects; and resolution—discovering novel ways that avoided bad choice trade-offs.

scholarly journals Can Habitat Quality Index Measured Using the InVEST Model Explain Variations in Bird Diversity in an Urban Area?

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5747
Author(s):  
Dehuan Li ◽  
Wei Sun ◽  
Fan Xia ◽  
Yixuan Yang ◽  
Yujing Xie
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Quality ◽  
Quality Index ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Diversity Indices ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Bird Diversity ◽  
Invest Model ◽  
Trade Offs

Biodiversity maintenance is a crucial ecosystem service. Due to time limits and data availability, assessing biodiversity using indicators or models has become a hot topic in recent decades. However, whether some proposed indicators can explain biodiversity well at the local scale is still unclear. This study attempted to test whether the habitat quality index (HQI) as measured using the integrated valuation of ecosystem services and trade-offs (InVEST) model could explain variations in bird diversity in New Jiangwan Town, a rapidly urbanized region of Shanghai, China. The relationships from 2002 to 2013 among HQI and the two diversity indices, species richness and species abundance, were analyzed using Fisher’s exact test and gray correlation analysis. No significant association was found. Habitat connectivity was then integrated to develop a new combined indicator of habitat quality and connectivity index (HQCI). The associations between HQCI and the two diversity indices were improved significantly. The results indicated that connectivity may be an important factor explaining the diversity of certain species at a local scale. More empirical studies should be conducted to provide scientific evidence relating habitat quality to biodiversity.

scholarly journals A Comparison of Genetic Representations and Initialisation Methods for the Multi-objective Shortest Path Problem on Multigraphs

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lilla Beke ◽  
Michal Weiszer ◽  
Jun Chen
Keyword(s):  
Shortest Path ◽  
Time Budget ◽  
Exact Algorithm ◽  
Simple Graph ◽  
Shortest Path Problem ◽  
Future Application ◽  
Multi Objective ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Conflicting Objectives ◽  
Problem Instances

AbstractThis paper compares different solution approaches for the multi-objective shortest path problem (MSPP) on multigraphs. Multigraphs as a modelling tool are able to capture different available trade-offs between objectives for a given section of a route. For this reason, they are increasingly popular in modelling transportation problems with multiple conflicting objectives (e.g., travel time and fuel consumption), such as time-dependent vehicle routing, multi-modal transportation planning, energy-efficient driving, and airport operations. The multigraph MSPP is more complex than the NP-hard simple graph MSPP. Therefore, approximate solution methods are often needed to find a good approximation of the true Pareto front in a given time budget. Evolutionary algorithms have been successfully applied for the simple graph MSPP. However, there has been limited investigation of their applications to the multigraph MSPP. Here, we extend the most popular genetic representations to the multigraph case and compare the achieved solution qualities. Two heuristic initialisation methods are also considered to improve the convergence properties of the algorithms. The comparison is based on a diverse set of problem instances, including both bi-objective and triple objective problems. We found that the metaheuristic approach with heuristic initialisation provides good solutions in shorter running times compared to an exact algorithm. The representations were all found to be competitive. The results are encouraging for future application to the time-constrained multigraph MSPP.

scholarly journals Multiple biological mechanisms result in correlations between pre- and post-mating traits that differ among versus within individuals and genotypes

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1885) ◽  
pp. 20180951 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Tuni ◽  
Chang S. Han ◽  
Niels J. Dingemanse
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Fertilization Success ◽  
Male Quality ◽  
Biological Mechanisms ◽  
Environmental Correlations ◽  
Ejaculate Size ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Hierarchical Structure

Reproductive traits involved in mate acquisition (pre-mating traits) are predicted to covary with those involved in fertilization success (post-mating traits). Variation in male quality may give rise to positive, and resource allocation trade-offs to negative, covariances between pre- and post-mating traits. Empirical studies have yielded mixed results. Progress is hampered as researchers often fail to appreciate that mentioned biological mechanisms can act simultaneously but at different hierarchical levels of biological variation: genetic correlations may, for example, be negative due to genetic trade-offs but environmental correlations may instead be positive due to individual variation in resource acquisition. We measured pre-mating (aggression, body weight) and post-mating (ejaculate size) reproductive traits in a pedigreed population of southern field crickets ( Gryllus bimaculatus ). To create environmental variation, crickets were raised on either a low or a high nymphal density treatment. We estimated genetic and environmental sources of correlations between pre- and post-mating traits. We found positive genetic correlations between pre- and post-mating traits, implying the existence of genetic variation in male quality. Over repeated trials of the same individual (testing order), positive changes in one trait were matched with negative changes in other traits, suggesting energy allocating trade-offs within individuals among days. These findings demonstrate the need for research on pre- and post-mating traits to consider the hierarchical structure of trait correlations. Only by doing so was our study able to conclude that multiple mechanisms jointly shape phenotypic associations between pre- and post-mating traits in crickets.

scholarly journals Understanding Managers’ Trade-Offs Between Exploration and Exploitation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alina Ferecatu ◽  
Arnaud De Bruyn
Keyword(s):  
Learning Model ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Exploration And Exploitation ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Exploration Exploitation

This paper develops a learning model to describe decision makers' exploration/exploitation trade-offs and their link to psychometric traits.

scholarly journals Value-based provider payment: towards a theoretically preferred design

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniëlle Cattel ◽  
Frank Eijkenaar ◽  
Frederik T. Schut
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Pay For Performance ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Risk Profile ◽  
Provider Group ◽  
Payment Incentives ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Provider Payment ◽  
Group 2 ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractWorldwide, policymakers and purchasers are exploring innovative provider payment strategies promoting value in health care, known as value-based payments (VBP). What is meant by ‘value’, however, is often unclear and the relationship between value and the payment design is not explicated. This paper aims at: (1) identifying value dimensions that are ideally stimulated by VBP and (2) constructing a framework of a theoretically preferred VBP design. Based on a synthesis of both theoretical and empirical studies on payment incentives, we conclude that VBP should consist of two components: a relatively large base payment that implicitly stimulates value and a relatively small payment that explicitly rewards measurable aspects of value (pay-for-performance). Being the largest component, the base payment design is essential, but often neglected when it comes to VBP reform. We explain that this base payment ideally (1) is paid to a multidisciplinary provider group (2) for a cohesive set of care activities for a predefined population, (3) is fixed, (4) is adjusted for the population’s risk profile and (5) includes risk-mitigating measures. Finally, some important trade-offs in the practical operationalisation of VBP are discussed.

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