Proximal policy optimization with model-based methods

Model-free reinforcement learning methods have successfully been applied to practical applications such as decision-making problems in Atari games. However, these methods have inherent shortcomings, such as a high variance and low sample efficiency. To improve the policy performance and sample efficiency of model-free reinforcement learning, we propose proximal policy optimization with model-based methods (PPOMM), a fusion method of both model-based and model-free reinforcement learning. PPOMM not only considers the information of past experience but also the prediction information of the future state. PPOMM adds the information of the next state to the objective function of the proximal policy optimization (PPO) algorithm through a model-based method. This method uses two components to optimize the policy: the error of PPO and the error of model-based reinforcement learning. We use the latter to optimize a latent transition model and predict the information of the next state. For most games, this method outperforms the state-of-the-art PPO algorithm when we evaluate across 49 Atari games in the Arcade Learning Environment (ALE). The experimental results show that PPOMM performs better or the same as the original algorithm in 33 games.

Efficiency of the primary health care policy in Brazilian municipalities: an application of the Pearl’s Structural Causal Model

ABSTRACT Background In recent years, public health policies and their effects on improving health outcomes have been gaining prominence in the economic literature and on the agenda of international organizations. Objective This study aims to evaluate the causal effect of the “Pacto pela Saúde” (Pact for Health) program on health policy performance in terms of a Health Vulnerability Index (HVI) of Brazilian municipalities from 2006 to 2013. The “Pacto pela Saúde” program is the current operational standard of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS). One of the main guidelines of this program was to improve health policy governance. Method The effect resulting from efficiency gains of the participation of municipalities in the health policy on the HVI was estimated by the Pearl’s Structural Causal Model. Results The results indicate a positive and significant impact of efficiency management on the reduction of health vulnerability in the municipalities. The Pearl’s Causal Model and the back-door criterion of causal identification were employed to calculate the effects of the “Pacto pela Saúde” program on the HVI. Conclusion The use of Pearl’s method in this study contributed to a more comprehensive analysis of the effects of the “Pacto pela Saúde” program on health outcomes and, therefore, its use in future research on the analysis of public policies is recommended.

South Africa’s Economic Role in Africa

South Africa’s expansion into Africa since the dawn of democracy has mostly been a product of a series of deliberate domestic and foreign policy decisions implemented by successive post-apartheid governments. By prioritizing the ‘African Agenda’, South Africa has sought to harness its representation at the helm of continental institutions into meaningful foreign policy outcomes, including economic diplomacy objectives. South Africa has largely succeeded in fulfilling the goals outlined in its foreign policy and in the ‘African Agenda’. Nonetheless its actions, especially in the context of the enactment of the Protocol on Trade in the Southern African region, has also undermined the economic interests of its regional neighbours. The extent to which South Africa will be able to sustain its foreign policy performance in Africa in the future will depend on how far it weighs its domestic policy pressures with its continental obligations, on how it responds to and accommodates the economic concerns of its regional neighbours, and on how it manages African perceptions of the country.

8. Industrial Society and Beyond

Countries such as Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland have apparently turned in some of the most successful environmental policy performance in recent decades. The reason has much to do with their adoption of ecological modernization discourse. This discourse is most at home in prosperous consensual democracies, though it has spread to many countries, including developing ones, as well as to global governance. Ecological modernization sees environmental protection and conservation implemented by government as good for business, and so economic growth. The slogan “pollution prevention pays” is prominent. Ecological modernization is largely a moderate technocratic discourses that stresses green re-tooling of the capitalist economy, though more radical “strong” versions exist that would contemplate thoroughgoing structural change that moves beyond the liberal capitalist status quo.

Determinants of Political Trust during the Early Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Putting Policy Performance into Evidence

Basing on the previous and early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, this article analysis the main determinants of citizens’ trust in the prime minister over that period. Prior research on the political effects of the pandemic has mostly focused on identifying a rally around the flag effect, and little is known about other reasons behind the increase in trust after the outbreak of the pandemic. Based on survey data from February to July 2020 for Spanish citizens, we argue that the reasons for the increased trust in the prime minister following the pandemic outbreak are due more to performance evaluations than to emotional-related factors regarding COVID-19 health issues. We also argue that among performance evaluations, the assessment of policy performance in fighting the COVID-19 crisis is of preeminent relevance in explaining trust in the prime minister during the pandemic period. Findings widely support our argument. By comparing the effects of conventional to emotional-related factors, we extend scholarship on political trust in the context of an exogenous crisis.

Leadership and City Waste Politics: A Case Study on the Waste Management in Depok City, West Java Province 2014 – 2017

This article aims to ascertain the role of a local leader in the transformation of waste management in Depok City, West Java, between 2014 and 2017. In 2005, Depok was identified as one of the dirtiest cities in Indonesia; by 2017, it had successfully transformed itself and received the Adipura Award for Indonesia's cleanest city. Based on qualitative fieldwork, we argue that Depok's waste management was transformed through a series of policies made by the mayor in conjunction with the Government of Depok City between 2006 and 2016. The example of Depok shows that formal leadership plays an important role in encouraging the emergence of innovative policies to address public problems. In this case, the vision of the leader was translated into policy and implemented by bureaucratic institutions, thereby driving important changes in the region. Further contributing factors included credibility, protection from opposition, and access to resources. We also emphasize the importance of leadership in giving direct examples to local communities on how we understand waste; how we reduce, reuse, recycle, and participate. The leader's ability to consolidate his ideas within the broader community, as well as his commitment to sustainable change, become the main driver of his policy performance.

Lessons from abroad for funding long-term care in England: a prospective policy transfer perspective on official documents

PurposeMany governments stress the importance of “learning from abroad”. An analysis of official documents over a period of some 20 years examines learning from abroad in the case of funding long-term care in England through the lens of prospective policy transfer.Design/methodology/approachThe paper analyses the eight “official” documents in England that examined funding LTC from 1999 to 2019. It uses interpretive content analysis in a deductive approach that focuses on both manifest and latent content.FindingsOnly four of the eight documents gave more than a token level of attention to other nations, and of the remaining four, none fully satisfied the criteria or followed the recommendations of prospective policy transfer. Moreover, a rather limited pool of lessons from other nations is examined. Much of the material is rather descriptive, with limited explicit attention towards goals, problems, settings and policy performance, and a clear recommendation explicitly associated with a clear lesson or policy recommendation is rare.Originality/valueThis is the first analysis of the eight official documents that have discussed funding long-term care in England.

Target Group Behavior for Policy Performance Impact: Study on Poverty Reduction Implementation in Makassar, Indonesia

The implementation of poverty reduction policies in Makassar City is still reaping many problems. Various poverty reduction programs launched by the government have not been able to eradicate poverty effectively. In the implementation of these various poverty reduction programs, the response of the target group tends to be negative, causing fragmentation at the level of implementation. Therefore, this study aims to identify and analyze the process of implementing poverty reduction policies in Makassar City from the perspective of group behavior. The research method used is a qualitative method with data collection techniques through in-depth interviews, field observations, and review of poverty documents. The research data were analyzed by qualitative analysis. The results show that the community is basically very responsive to the existence of poverty reduction policies in the form of multi-purpose social security assistance distributed by the Makassar City Social Service because some of them feel helped by the assistance, but some also feel that the policies are not well targeted due to incomplete data collection. equitable and fair. The inaccuracy of policy targets (assistance for beneficiaries) for the poor causes social jealousy in the community which has an impact on street level publicity and policy performance so that it does not significantly reduce poverty in Makassar City.