Society’s View on Autonomous Agriculture: Does Digitalization Lead to Alienation?

Digital and autonomous technologies enter the agricultural market at an increasing rate, yet little is known about society’s view on this development, although the public is an important stakeholder. By means of a discrete choice experiment (n = 645), societal preferences for different weed control technologies and tractor types of different degrees of autonomy are investigated. The model applied focuses on emotion-related covariates. The results indicate preferences for conventional or autonomous tractors and for methods of weed control that reduce the need for herbicides. Additionally, positive associations with images of robots correlate with the rejection of conventional tractors in the discrete choice experiment.

Economic Interests and Grand Strategy

Grand strategy and economic interests are tightly interconnected: a state’s economy affects its choice of strategy, and its choice of strategy affects its economy. A full account of this relationship must distinguish among three perspectives on state and societal preferences. Under most varieties of realism, the state is autonomous from society and motivated by survival. Wealth is a vital source of military power, and military power is necessary for survival; thus, the state seeks to increase its wealth relative to its rivals. This paradigm provides much insight into the dynamics of interstate competition, but its assumption that grand strategy is insulated from domestic politics sharply limits its analytic utility. Liberals, Marxists, and neoclassical realists go deeper. They do not ignore the survival motive, but they also consider how the state might be biased in favor of a particularist set of economic interests. When this bias is consistent, persisting across changes in government, it constitutes a national preference; when it varies across governments, it is a subnational preference. Research into the latter shows great promise for the development of new insights into the root causes of grand strategy.

Societal preferences for the treatment of impulsive-violent offenders: a discrete choice experiment

ObjectivesThe aim of this study is to quantify societal preferences for, and assess trade-offs between characteristics of treatment programmes for impulsive-violent offenders.SettingThe study was conducted in New South Wales, Australia’s largest state.ParticipantsThe study participants were income tax payers, aged over 18 and who were able to provide informed consent.MethodsA discrete choice experiment was used to assess the preferences for treatment programmes for impulsive violent offenders. The survey presented participants with six choice sets in which they chose between two unlabelled treatment scenarios and a ‘no treatment’ choice. A random parameters logistic (RPL) model and a latent class (LC) model were used to analyse the societal preferences for treatment and estimate willingness to pay values based on marginal rates of substitution. Respondents were asked to self-identify if they ever had experiences with violence and subgroup analysis was done.ResultsThe survey was completed by 1021 highly engaged participants. The RPL model showed that society had a preference for more effective programmes, programmes that provided full as opposed to partial treatment of all co-occurring health conditions, compulsory over voluntary programmes, those with flexibility in appointments and programmes that are provided with continuity of care postprison. Respondents were willing to pay an additional annual tax contribution for all significant attributes, particularly compulsory programmes, continuity of treatment and effectiveness.The LC model identified two classes of respondents with some differences in preferences which could be largely identified by whether they had experiences with violence or not.ConclusionThe results are important for future programme design and implementation. Programmes for impulsive violent offenders that are designed to encompass societal preferences are likely to be supported by public and tax payers.

Evolution or Revolution? Recommendations to Improve the Swiss Health Data Framework

Background: Facilitating access to health data for public health and research purposes is an important element in the health policy agenda of many countries. Improvements in this sense can only be achieved with the development of an appropriate data infrastructure and the implementations of policies that also respect societal preferences. Switzerland is a revealing example of a country that has been struggling to achieve this aim. The objective of the study is to reflect on stakeholders' recommendations on how to improve the health data framework of this country.Methods: We analysed the recommendations collected as part of a qualitative study including 48 expert stakeholders from Switzerland that have been working principally with health databases. Recommendations were divided in themes and subthemes according to applied thematic analysis.Results: Stakeholders recommended several potential improvements of the health data framework in Switzerland. At the general level of mind-set and attitude, they suggested to foster the development of an explicit health data strategy, better communication and the respect of societal preferences. In terms of infrastructure, there were calls for the creation of a national data center, the improvement of IT solutions and the use of a Unique Identifier for patient data. Lastly, they recommended harmonising procedures for data access and to clarify data protection and consent rules.Conclusion: Recommendations show several potential improvements of the health data framework, but they have to be reconciled with existing policies, infrastructures and ethico-legal limitations. Achieving a gradual implementation of the recommended solutions is the preferable way forward for Switzerland and a lesson for other countries that are also seeking to improve health data access for public health and research purposes.

Interdependence, Identity, and China–South Korea Political Relations

Research on the relationship between international economic and political relations has produced no consensus on the pacifying effects of trade. Rapid trade growth and enduring tensions characterize post–Cold War Asia’s paradox. This study assesses the political effects of China-centered interdependence based on the China–South Korea case since 1992. Although trade may inhibit conflict in line with liberal expectations, its coercive potential limits its pacifying effects. When disputes arise, asymmetric interdependence generates strategic leverage and vulnerability, and amplifies the identity dimensions of conflict that shape societal preferences. China’s combination of economic pressure and nationalist discourse induces accommodation primarily through coercion. By blending state-led and society-led retaliation, economic and accountability costs are minimized. China–South Korea political interactions have increased in quantity but not quality. The Asian case underscores qualitative changes in political relations (rather than just instances of conflict), the material and nonmaterial repercussions of asymmetric trade, and the regional security implications of China-led interdependence.

Predicting social tipping and norm change in controlled experiments

The ability to predict when societies will replace one social norm for another can have significant implications for welfare, especially when norms are detrimental. A popular theory poses that the pressure to conform to social norms creates tipping thresholds which, once passed, propel societies toward an alternative state. Predicting when societies will reach a tipping threshold, however, has been a major challenge because of the lack of experimental data for evaluating competing models. We present evidence from a large-scale laboratory experiment designed to test the theoretical predictions of a threshold model for social tipping and norm change. In our setting, societal preferences change gradually, forcing individuals to weigh the benefit from deviating from the norm against the cost from not conforming to the behavior of others. We show that the model correctly predicts in 96% of instances when a society will succeed or fail to abandon a detrimental norm. Strikingly, we observe widespread persistence of detrimental norms even when individuals determine the cost for nonconformity themselves as they set the latter too high. Interventions that facilitate a common understanding of the benefits from change help most societies abandon detrimental norms. We also show that instigators of change tend to be more risk tolerant and to dislike conformity more. Our findings demonstrate the value of threshold models for understanding social tipping in a broad range of social settings and for designing policies to promote welfare.