ALBERT

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 44〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hye Soo Suh, Daeung Danny Kim〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The study demonstrated a systematic approach to achieve the nearly zero energy community building through the assessment of energy performance of the combined passive and active design solutions and renewable energy systems. Among 16 community buildings, four buildings were selected and the parameters that had an impact on energy consumption were identified through the analysis of electricity and gas consumption. After the validation with the measured data of electricity and gas, the energy simulation was used to model the newly constructed community building. A combined passive and active design strategy was applied to improve the energy performance. To offset the energy use for the domestic hot water, possible renewable energy systems such as the PV system, the solar thermal system, and the geothermal heat pump system were reviewed and their efficiency was analyzed. As a result, the combination of the PV system with additional PV modules and the geothermal system was chosen for the achievement of the nearly zero energy target.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 44〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zhiqiang John Zhai, Jacob Michael Helman〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Climate change is a widely acknowledged major environmental problem whose impacts on building energy use however are not fully understood. Various climate models have been developed and used to project climate changes; however most of existing studies on climate change impacts only use few model outcomes, providing narrow predictions on the influences. This study analyzed a large number (i.e., 56) of models and scenarios. The obtained future climate data showed a wider range of potential changes and thus impacts on building energy. Four reference climate models were identified to cover the full range of the 56 models for three time periods and seven climate zones. The accuracy of model projections was validated using historical data. The study predicted the potential energy implications of climate changes to a campus building stock. Influences of these changes on utility and economics were analyzed. The study further explored the potential impacts of climate change to the current climate zones that directly relate to building energy consumption.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 44〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jorge Navarro-Rubio, Paloma Pineda, Antonio García-Martínez〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Eco-efficiency and building optimization potential of prefabricated structures to be used in new buildings are studied, focusing on the analysis of a novel dry precast beam-column connection under different durability and re-using scenarios. The analyses include structural response (via numerical models), optimization potential (material take off, building schedule and economic cost) and environmental impact (via Life Cycle Assessment, LCA). The connection is applied to a case study which is representative of common buildings: a seven-story concrete structure with frames and deck slabs. The structural response of the connection accomplishes the Eurocode safety prescriptions. Man-hours and task duration decrease around 80%, and the global schedule undergoes 60% diminution. Focusing on economic issues, when the prefabricated structural elements are reused the accumulated economic cost significantly decreases. LCA shows that durability, in terms of service life, is directly related to the environmental impact. However, other design options, such us re-using, have less repercussion in the impact categories (i.e. Global Warming Potential and Embodied Energy), and in the global cost. Results from this research could contribute to the implementation of prefabricated elements in the building stock promoting eco-efficiency.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 138〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jae-Woong Min, Nicholas S. Vonortas, YoungJun Kim〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This study explores the factors that contribute to the commercialization of technologies transferred from universities and public research institutes (U&PRIs) to companies. We take a step further than the established literature focusing on technology transfer to examine factors that also affect the chances of the successful commercialization of the transferred technologies through an empirical analysis of 669 technology transfer cases in Korea. The study shows that the intensity of market competition is a key factor in moderating the effects of partnership and absorptive capacity on the successful commercialization of transferred technologies. While collaboration with U&PRIs exerts a positive effect on commercialization success, this effect is weakened by the intensity of market competition. The intensity of market competition boosts the importance of company absorptive capacity for the commercialization success of the transferred technology. We conclude that strategic management of the absorptive capacities of companies and their partnership with U&PRIs are necessary ingredients of the success of technology transfer in concordance with the intensity of competition that the company faces in the market.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 30 October 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Sonal Choudhary, Rakesh Nayak, Sushma Kumari, Homagni Choudhury〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Drawing on theories of acculturation and information diffusion, this paper examines whether social media usage, intergroup contacts and information dissemination influence the cultural adaptation of three ethnic groups, and its implications on sustainable consumption behaviour. Twenty-four semi-structured interviews containing multiple dimensions of social media uses, acculturation, food consumption behaviour, and information diffusion were administered to a sample of Indians (living in the home country), British Indians (living in the host country for more than 10 years) and White British (natives of Britain) users of social media. Our findings suggest that there is a clear link between the integrated strategy of acculturation and information diffusion on social media, which influences acculturation to sustainable food consumption behaviour among social media users. Managerial implications of this research finding are that intervention in information diffusion aids acculturation through the social media, which serves to infuse social media and sustainability strategist with knowledge to best influence the consumers in developing sustainable food consumption behaviour. This research also identifies opportunities to expand this academic research and contribute further to the theories of remote acculturation on which limited research has been done.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 44〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Fabiana Silvero, Fernanda Rodrigues, Sergio Montelpare, Enrico Spacone, Humberto Varum〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Nowadays, energy efficiency (EE) is presented as a reliable strategy towards sustainable development, but its application has not been developed equitably worldwide, since most EE policies have been implemented in industrialised nations, and developing countries are still in the process of improving their EE levels. This paper provides a contextual framework to analyse the EE situation in countries of Latin American Southern Cone, such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay, with the objective of describing the policies and projects implemented, highlighting the results achieved and outlining the path followed towards EE. A focus was placed on the building sector, where thermal performance standards and the programs to achieve EE in this sector were briefly described. Furthermore, a comparison between these standards was developed, to identify the country with the most demanding standard. As a result, it was found that all the countries are implementing several EE programs and recognising the importance of this issue within their policies. Through this paper, energy policy implications of the region can be identified, which can be useful for energy policymakers of other countries, who are beginning to consider EE policies and can take as an example the path followed by the countries analysed.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 45〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jinsoo Park, Dong Ho Shin, Seung Joo Lee, Youhwan Shin, Sarng Woo Karng〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Thermal energy storage is an essential technology for using renewable energy to reduce building energy consumption. Among the various energy technologies, much attention has been paid to latent thermal energy storage system using phase change materials because of its large capacity of thermal energy. However, due to the low thermal conductivity of the phase change materials, the system has disadvantages at low charging and discharging rates. To address this issue, a new latent heat thermal energy storage system using a flexible and thin pouch is proposed. The effectively designed pouch arrangement and thin pouch shape provide better heat transfer performance. The real product is tested at various flow rates of heat transfer fluids and the thermal and fluid characteristics of the system are analyzed by the computational fluid dynamics model. As a result, the proposed system has 1.4 times larger amount of discharged energy than that of the water storage system. Moreover, the system can reduce charging, discharging, and total process times by 1.7, 2.5, and 2.2 times, respectively, compared with the conventional sphere capsule piling system.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 44〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Logaraj Ramakreshnan, Nasrin Aghamohammadi, Chng Saun Fong, Amirhosein Ghaffarianhoseini, Li Ping Wong, Nik Meriam Sulaiman〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A very few studies have evaluated and understood the temporal dynamics of UHI in many expanding tropical cities. Hence, this study investigated the temporal variations of canopy-level UHI in selected urban stations, namely Petaling Jaya (PJ) and Subang (SUB), of Greater Kuala Lumpur (GKL) using 2016’s hourly data set obtained from meteorological observatories. The association between meteorological factors and UHI Intensity (UHII) is evaluated using linear regression models and Pearson correlation analysis. The findings revealed positive thermal contrasts between urban and sub-urban stations with maximum UHII during dry, southwest monsoon season in PJ (June: 1.68 °C) and SUB (August: 1.29 °C) stations respectively. PJ station exhibited a distinct diurnal cycle with the maximum nocturnal UHII of 1.71 °C at about 8 p.m. after sunset under ideal meteorological conditions. The results also demonstrated that UHI events occurred more frequently at nights in urban stations in the magnitude range of 0–2 °C. Cooling at all urban sites starts around 2–3 p.m. with the highest rate of 0.73 °C/h and 0.96 °C/h in PJ and SUB stations. Meanwhile, relative humidity displayed a low positive correlation (r = 0.37, p ≥ 0.05) and a high negative correlation (r = −0.79, p 〈 0.05) with UHII in PJ and SUB stations respectively. The influence of wind speed on UHII is weak (r = −0.44, p 〈 0.05) in PJ station and strong (r = 0.83, p 〈 0.05) in SUB station. Overall, this study can be regarded as one of the comprehensive observational investigations of canopy-level UHI in a tropical city that provide vital inputs to enrich the tropical urban climate literacy.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 44〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Bao-Jie He, Zi-Qi Zhao, Li-Du Shen, Hong-Bo Wang, Li-Guang Li〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Numerous studies on urban heat island (UHI) effects have examined relationships between land use/land cover (LULC) and land surface temperature (LST), while impacts of environmental temperatures on these relationships have received little attention. This paper has investigated how background temperature affects performances of cool/hot sources in either enhancing or mitigating LST in Shenyang, China based on Landsat 8 image. In specific, according to the method of standard classification method with an interval of 1.0 standard deviation, LST was classified into seven temperature levels: highest, higher, high, medium, low, lower and lowest. Afterwards, the seven levels were merged into three temperature zones (TZ), namely cold TZ (CTZ, highest, higher and high), neutral TZ (NTZ, medium) and hot TZ (HTZ, low, lower and lowest), for investigating relationships between LST and LULC (including building (BU), road (RO), bare land (BA), green land (GR), agricultural land (AG) and water bodies (WA)). LST generally follows the order of BU 〉 RO 〉 BA 〉 AR 〉 GR 〉 WA, but temperature differences between cool/hot sources reduce as background temperature increases. LULC-LST relationships vary greatly with background temperature. Overall, BU and RO have significant positive relationships with LST, while negative relationships are found among GR, AR, WA and LST. However, in CTZ, RO is in negative relationships with LST, GR and WA are no longer significant in NTZ, and GR and BA play significant positive roles in aggravating LST in HTZ. Generally, this study can help orientate scientific decisions in urban environmental governance.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 44〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xiaojun Liu, Wei Hu〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Energy conservation and consumption reduction in the field of construction are the keys to achieving the target global temperature growth of the Paris Agreement. However, the current promotion of 〈strong〉green〈/strong〉 buildings is still stuck in the rut of government excessive intervention, market less participation. In order to explore the status of the Chinese public’s attention, changing trends, sentiment orientation, and focus toward 〈strong〉green〈/strong〉 buildings, this paper collected and analyzed information of Weibo users and posts and comments of popular posts related to 〈strong〉green〈/strong〉 buildings. We used the Sina Weibo platform with web crawler technology and a text mining method. The results showed that: the public’s attention toward 〈strong〉green〈/strong〉 buildings has enhanced significantly with the change of government governance ideas, but still needs to be improved. Although vertical greening houses possess good heat preservation and thermal insulation, 46.32% of the Chinese public has negative sentiments toward vertical greening houses mainly due to worries about the increase in snakes, and mosquitoes and other insects caused by the increased vegetation cover. Price is not the main reason why the public has negative sentiments toward vertical greening houses.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 44〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Charles Peprah, Owusu Amponsah, Charles Oduro〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Urbanisation in the cities of Sub-Saharan Africa has been associated with urban sprawl and increased vehicular traffic, which undermine the agglomeration effects of the cities on socioeconomic development. These adverse effects will exacerbate as the human population of the region continues to increase. Some scholars argue that making the cities mobility-smart could mitigate the adverse effects of urbanisation in the region. However, the conventional literature on smart mobility in Sub-Saharan Africa does little to demonstrate how the concept can be applied. In this regard, the purpose of this study is two pronged: a) to assess the mobility smartness of Ghanaian cities and b) to demonstrate how the concept can be operationalised to mitigate some of the adverse effects of urbanisation in the cities. The research process began with a review of relevant literature to conceptualise smart mobility. The conceptual framework was then used to assess the mobility-smartness of Ghanaian cities, which was followed by a discussion of how the concept of smart cities can be operationalised in Ghanaian cities. The results show that the cities in Ghana, like many cities in Sub-Saharan Africa, depend mainly on the road sub-sector for the movement of people and freight. The rapid increases in vehicular population without a commensurate expansion in road infrastructure have undermined the cities’ productivity. The conclusion from this is that the cities are not mobility-smart and for this to change, the paper argues that efforts should be made to improve people mobility, information logistic mobility and information mobility. These require technological literate and receptive population and investments in transport infrastructure.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 44〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ning Wang, Linhao Tang, Huizhong Pan〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Environmental issues and energy security have led governments to introduce lots of incentive policies on electric vehicle promotion. Benefiting from policy dividend, the global threshold of 1 million electric cars on the road had been exceeded in 2015, closing at 1.26 million. Among these incentive policies, subsidy scheme was regarded as the most important and effective. However, many governments intend to abrogate subsidy for electric vehicle, such as China, America and Germany. It`s worth finding out the key factors including incentive measures and additional socio-economic factors that promote electric vehicle adoption. Utilizing multiple linear regression method, we explore the relationship between those variables and 30 national electric vehicle market shares for the year 2015. The results show that chargers` density, fuel price and road priority are significantly positive factors correlated with a country`s electric vehicle market share. Nevertheless, fiscal incentives are no longer the reasons for the huge differences of electric vehicle promotion over countries. This paper is helpful for policymakers to adjust and improve their policy for electric mobility.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 44〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Reza Sedaghati, Mahmoud Reza Shakarami〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper proposes a new control and power management strategy for a grid-connected microgrid, which includes a hybrid renewable energy sources (HRES) system and a three-phase load. The HRES system consists of a photovoltaic (PV), a battery storage system (BSS), a super-capacitor (SC) and a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). The dynamic model of each of these units is described. The PV is the main energy source, while the SC and the BSS due to their various power densities are considered to provide a steady and transient load demand, respectively. For increasing the reliability of the system, SOFC source is selected to keep the BSS completely charged. All these units with different DC-DC converters are connected in parallel to a common DC bus. Then, a three-phase voltage source inverter (VSI) is employed to convert the DC voltage to AC. To maintain the power balance and appropriate load-sharing, an adaptive fractional fuzzy sliding mode control (AFFSMC) strategy for VSI-based HRES system is presented. The controller is able to track the pre-defined instruction precisely and quickly in the microgrid. For stable performance of the control strategy under load variation, a fractional order-based sliding surface is considered. Moreover, fractional adaptive rules-based fuzzy sets are employed to accurately estimate the uncertain parameters in the microgrid. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and capability of an AFFSMC strategy under various faults and different loading conditions. Moreover, the proposed control strategy is compared with the conventional PI controller.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 45〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Rupali Zope, N. Vasudevan, Shriniwas S. Arkatkar, Gaurang Joshi〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Increasing number of issues related to transport system around the world has raised concern about sustainable development. For developing country like India, the role of transportation sector has become critical in creating supporting growth of diverse sectors of its urban economy. The key issues of present state of transport system are higher level of motorization with dismally low share of public transport. Both of these issues are intertwined with number of social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainable development. Hence, there is a need for an evaluation approach which will help to analyze ‘macro-level’ system to give ‘micro-level’ analysis of the transport system. Benchmarking is one such method of comparing performances and practices and to learn from best. This paper is an attempt to study the use of benchmarking in performance improvement of the transport system. Results obtained through the study shows that the cities having a better modal share of sustainable modes occupy a higher rank with greater values of the sustainability index. In the current study, a software tool for monitoring the sensitivity of composite index of transport system towards performance indicators of sustainability is also developed. The comparative analysis of current study facilitates city-to-city learning.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 115〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Charisma Acey, Joyce Kisiangani, Patrick Ronoh, Caroline Delaire, Evelyn Makena, Guy Norman, David Levine, Ranjiv Khush, Rachel Peletz〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Most residents of the developing world do not have access to safely managed sanitation services, and large financial investments are required to address this need. Here we evaluate surcharges on water/sewerage tariffs as an option for supporting these investments in low-income neighborhoods. We investigated willingness-to-pay (WTP) for a pro-poor sanitation surcharge among customers of two urban water utilities in Kenya. Applying qualitative and quantitative methods, we conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews, focus-group discussions, and a double-bounded contingent valuation method for measuring WTP. We varied scenarios quasi-experimentally to study the effects of messaging and surcharge characteristics and evaluated factors associated with WTP. Our study finds that mean WTP was 290 KES (USD 2.9) per month, about 8% of the average water bill; median WTP was 100 KES (USD 1). In a multivariate analysis, WTP was significantly higher among customers that were younger, wealthier, shared toilets, and had higher water bills. WTP was also higher among customers that trusted the utility and distrusted the county government. Of our randomized scenarios, only the bill type was found to significantly influence WTP; WTP was higher if the surcharge was presented as a proportion of the customers’ last water bill vs a flat amount. Our findings suggest that in a sector that struggles to provide universal access to sanitation services, cross-subsidies may offer a means to support financing of safe sanitation for low-income households. These results indicate there are opportunities for cross-subsidies in urban Kenya that may be relevant for a wider understanding of surcharge payments that support basic services for low-income citizens.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 44〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xueqin Chen, Hehua Zhu, Xiaojun Li, Xiaodong Lin, Xiuzhi Wang〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉To investigate the inherent uncertain and dynamic deterioration of metro shield tunnels in operation, the Bayesian ordered probit model, a data mining method, was used in this study. Through Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation, the uncertainty in parameter estimation was significantly reduced, and the confidence in the results was improved. The effects of influencing variables on the deterioration process were evaluated. It was found that the tunnel sections with greater burial depths were more likely to deteriorate than the shallow ones. Crossing below a river or near a station or cross passage accelerated the deterioration rate. The deterioration probability increased as the tunnel became older. Finally, the model was applied to a tunnel section. It was shown that the probability of the best state decreased while that of the worst state increased with age. For states between the best and the worst, the probability would first increase, reach a peak, and then decrease. This study found that the ordered probit model with MCMC was a valuable probabilistic method for performance prediction, which is crucial for cost-effective decision-making in future work.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 44〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Muhammad Waseem Khan, Jie Wang, Meiling Ma, Linyun Xiong, Penghan Li, Fei Wu〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉At present, energy generation is evolving into a smart distribution system that assimilates several green energy resources at a distributed level assuring to generate clean energy without producing any harmful gases, to have consistent operational procedures, and to improve energy management and supervision arrangements. The renewable energy resources (RERs) are considered the best suitable approach to generate electrical power at the distributed level since they offer benefits to the power systems as well as to the environment. Therefore, this paper presents the recent research work on multi-agents-based coordination for the optimal management of electrical energy and its proper controlling at the distributed level exploiting RERs. The multi-agent system (MAS) technique is discussed in detail along with the storage and protection system that solve the microgrid (MG) control and management issues efficiently. Several platforms to develop the MASs are addressed including those that empower the MG to control its configuration, generation capacity, power flow, and fault control. There are several controlling approaches used on distributed generation systems to efficiently operate the whole system comprising of centralized, distributed, and hybrid control techniques are discussed. A comprehensive description about different optimization techniques applied to the energy system have also been highlighted, particularly to identify the most common and effective technique that is currently applied to hybrid energy system at the distributed level. The analysis shows that the particle swarm optimization (PSO) is the most useful and effective technique that has been applied since it can minimize the interruption costs, maximize the reliability, and optimize the operational schedules at the MG level.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 44〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yi Yang, Guanfei Meng〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉China plans to pursue low-carbon development in its western megacities to control greenhouse gas emissions. Using the 〈em〉“〈/em〉2006 IPCC and the 〈em〉Chinese Guidelines”〈/em〉, the carbon footprint (CF), carbon carrying capacity, carbon deficit and carbon deficit pressure index of Xi’an were measured from 2007 to 2016. Then, the decoupling indicator was used to analyse the dynamic relationship between the urban CF and economic growth using partial least squares to explore the driving factors of CF. The results show that: (1) the CF increased from 23.34 million t CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉eq to 32.25 million t CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉eq, with average annual growth being 4.01%. The energy consumption accounts contributed 69.51%, far exceeding other accounts. (2) The carbon carrying capacity of Xi’an decreased from 7.78 million t CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉eq to 7.45 million t CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉eq, with an average annual reduction of 0.47%. The carbon deficit index fluctuated in the interval [−2.57%, 17.09%], indicating that Xi’an was in the ecological stress relief and the mildly enhanced zone. The total CF and the CF of each account exhibit a relationship of “connecting-decoupling-re-hook-re-decoupling” with economic growth. (3) The most important driver of CF growth is the per capita residential building area, while the urbanization rate restrains the growth of the CF.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 138〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Patrik Söderholm, Hans Hellsmark, Johan Frishammar, Julia Hansson, Johanna Mossberg, Annica Sandström〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Despite the key role of actor networks in progressing new sustainable technologies, there is a shortage of conceptual knowledge on how policy can help strengthen collaborative practices in such networks. The objective of this paper is to analyze the roles of such policies – so-called network management – throughout the entire technological development processes. The analysis draws on the public management and sustainability transitions literatures, and discusses how various network characteristics could affect the development of sustainable technologies, including how different categories of network management strategies could be deployed to influence actor collaborations. The paper's main contribution is an analytical framework that addresses the changing roles of network management at the interface between various phases of the technological development process, illustrated with the empirical case of advanced biorefinery technology development in Sweden. Furthermore, the analysis also addresses some challenges that policy makers are likely to encounter when pursuing network management strategies, and identifies a number of negative consequences of ignoring such instruments in the innovation policy mix. The latter include inefficient actor role-taking, the emergence of small, ineffective and competing actor networks in similar technological fields, and a shortage of interpretative knowledge.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 14 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Steven M. Miller〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 139〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Vanessa S. Tchamyou, Guido Erreygers, Danny Cassimon〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This study investigates the role of information and communication technology (ICT) on income inequality through financial development dynamics of depth (money supply and liquid liabilities), efficiency (at banking and financial system levels), activity (from banking and financial system perspectives) and size, in 48 African countries for the period 1996 to 2014. The empirical evidence is based on Generalised Method of Moments. While both financial depth and size are established to reduce inequality contingent on ICT, only the effect of financial depth in reducing inequality is robust to the inclusion of time invariant variables to the set of strictly exogenous variables. We extend the analysis by decomposing financial depth into its components, namely: formal, informal, semi-formal and non-formal financial sectors. The findings based on this extension show that ICT reduces income inequality through formal financial sector development and financial sector formalization as opposed to informal financial sector development and financial sector informalization. The study contributes at the same time to the macroeconomic literature on measuring financial development and responds to the growing field of addressing post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) inequality challenges by means of ICT and financial access.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 139〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jermain Kaminski, Christian Hopp, Tereza Tykvová〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Crowdfunding is a relatively new gateway for entrepreneurs to access capital for creative and innovative ideas. It allows individuals to start experiments with new products and technologies where the outcome is distant. Yet predicting the success of hitherto unseen products and technologies is fraught with ambiguity and uncertainty. Early stage product experimentation and market access through reward-based crowdfunding, where potential customers provide funds for new unproven products, can therefore provide quality signals to subsequent financiers of new technologies. Our study investigates whether there is a long-run relationship between crowdfunding and VC investments on the aggregate and the industry level. We draw on a dataset covering 77,654 projects that successfully raised funds on Kickstarter and 3260 VC investments in the US between 2012 and 2017. The results suggest that crowdfunding Granger causes VC investments. Moreover, the monthly crowdfunding and VC investment time series are cointegrated. We therefore conclude that successful crowdfunding campaigns lead to a subsequent increase in VC investments. This holds at the aggregate level and particularly for hardware and consumer electronics, as well as fashion. These results enhance our understanding of the co-development between crowdfunding and VC investments. Reward-based crowdfunding helps VC investors in assessing future trends rather than crowding them out of the market.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 139〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Edurne A. Inigo, Laura Albareda〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this article, we build on dynamic capabilities theory to explore the organizational dynamics for sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI). We carried out a multiple case study of seven leading companies fostering SOI, searching for common patterns in their adaptation. We found three different levels of dynamic capabilities (adapting, expanding, and transforming) interconnected to strategic sustainability dimensions. We thus propose an evolving framework that explains how the generative variation of innovative change and adaption follow two interconnected logics that explain the SOI dynamics. First, we study the time-evolving transformation that encourages companies to transform dynamic capabilities following a path-dependent logic. Second, we study organizational transformations that enhance self-reinforcement among strategic sustainability dimensions. This conceptualization contributes to the theoretical underpinnings of SOI, providing new insights on how SOI transforms dynamic capabilities for innovation and adapts companies' strategic sustainability.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 11 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jiang Yu, Yating Wen, Jing Jin, Yue Zhang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Providing, integrating and improving efficient public service in the construction of ‘smart cities’ in metropolitan areas have been showed to be difficult to achieve. In this article, we propose a strategy for developing service-dominant platforms with the advancement of ICT and more internet enterprises initiatives. We use the concept of SDP (service dominant platform) as a key contributor in a smart city's construction to explain how value can be co-created during the formation and evolution of the platform. Drawing on case materials from a Business-oriented platform named WeChat in Guangzhou and a government-oriented one in Shanghai, an analytic framework on platform and service innovation-relevant theories are built around the dynamic cyclical value co-creation, and three elements are identified in this process defined as value proposition, value in exchange and value in use, which consist of ten sub-elements on different SDPs along four dimensions, namely openness, services innovation, governance and resource. The study makes three contributions. First, it provides new evidence that pursuing smart city construction is not a mere technological architecture but a value co-creation oriented strategy. While facing persistent problems, China's paths exhibit significant and rapidly improving readiness for it. Second, the study provides new insights into, by positively bridging the linkage between platform governance and service innovation and proposing the service dominant platform (SDP) as a clear sustainable strategy. Finally, the study proposes two different resources-based models for guiding smart city initiatives in developing countries. By providing theoretical concepts to support public service innovation, identifying some implications for smart city developed in emerging countries, and suggesting some operational approaches to co-creating value against the local context, this paper has made a meaningful theoretical and practical significance about smart city.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 139〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Lado Kurdgelashvili, Cheng-Hao Shih, Fan Yang, Mehul Garg〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉To understand long term PV deployment, it is important to explore the underlying mechanisms that drive PV market diffusion. This paper examines the relationships between several social and economic factors and residential PV market diffusion on a county level. The Bass diffusion model was used to estimate diffusion parameters for 46 counties in California. Regression analysis was then applied to find associations between these parameters and several socio-demographic, economic, and political variables in each county. Finally, a Generalized Bass Model was employed to explore the price effect on PV diffusion. We have found supporting evidence of the inverse relationship between attainment of higher education and the coefficient of imitation. We have clearly shown evidence for heterogeneity between counties in one or more of our observed dimensions, or unobserved and possibly confounding factors. Although not significant at the conventional 5% and 10% levels, our Generalized Bass Model nonetheless supports the presence of price-based fluctuations in adoption rates.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 115〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Johanna Choumert-Nkolo, Pascale Combes Motel, Leonard Le Roux〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Energy-use statistics in Tanzania reflect the country’s low level of industrialization and development. In 2016, only 16.9% of rural and 65.3% of urban inhabitants in mainland Tanzania were connected to some form of electricity. We use a nationally representative three-wave panel dataset (2008–2013) to contribute to the literature on household energy use decisions in Tanzania in the context of the stacking and energy ladder hypotheses. We firstly adopt a panel multinomial-logit approach to model the determinants of household cooking- and lighting-fuel choices, using night time lights data to proxy for electricity access. Secondly, we focus explicitly on energy stacking behaviour, proposing various ways of measuring what is inferred when stacking behaviour is thought of in the context of the energy transition and presenting household level correlates of energy stacking behaviour. Thirdly, since fuel uses have gender-differentiated impacts, we investigate the relevance of common proxies of women’s intra-household bargaining power in the decision-making process of household fuel choices. We find that whilst higher household incomes are strongly associated with a transition towards the adoption of more modern fuels, especially for lighting, this transition takes place in a context of significant fuel stacking. In Tanzania, government policy has been aimed mostly at connecting households to the electricity grid. However, the public health, environmental and social benefits of access to modern energy sources are likely to be diminished in a context of significant fuel stacking. Our analysis using proxies of women’s intra-household bargaining power suggests that the level of education of the spouse is also a major factor in the transition towards the use of modern fuels.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 115〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ben Ma, Zhen Cai, Jie Zheng, Yali Wen〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The impacts of nature reserves (NRs) and ecotourism on local economies are considered controversial. By surveying households residing inside and outside of six giant panda NRs in the Qinling Mountains from 2015 to 2017, this study evaluates the impacts of NRs and ecotourism on the poverty and income inequality of local communities in China. Our results suggest that the local communities of NRs show higher poverty and lower income levels compared to the national average. NRs significantly reduced the net income of households residing within the NRs, and most of these reductions are caused by converting cropland to conservation land. NRs also aggravated the income inequality of local communities, and the level of inequality inside NRs was significantly higher than that outside. In terms of the impacts from ecotourism, ecotourism can reduce poverty, but it increases income inequality, especially for those households residing within NRs.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 2 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Nuno D. Cortiços〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The building sector — following tech's development — favor buildings' short-term replacement. This demands substantial construction operations, especially if implies the demolition of superstructures, before reaching their potential lifespan: up to 120 years for modern solutions. With high costs for societies, due to the complex logistics and the risks involved: public health, GHG emissions, energy waste, noise, light particles pollution, excessive water consumption, urban restrictions, delays in traffic, et cetera. This research aims to extend building’s life with desirable gains in performance, considering the superstructure longevity, supported by technologies on renovation to meet the requirements set for new buildings, as nZEBs. Supported by maintenance methodology to assess actual performance and a Tool to simulate each underperforming system renovation, limited to passive solutions of the building envelope, quantifying the energy savings to favor the shortest investment reimbursement in decennial periods. Buildings were assessed, and a renovation plan simulated, concluding that the rehabilitation is only justified if under 10% (decennial period) of renovation cost, and if able to recover the initial performance. Renovation showed the potential to increase building performance 〉10% and energy savings 〈45% or 811 kWh/m〈sup〉2〈/sup〉.year for acclimatization only, under 9,6 kWh/m〈sup〉2〈/sup〉.year, set for Lisbon’s nZEBs.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 115〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Martin Ravallion〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The paper critically reviews the arguments for and against both employment guarantees and income guarantees when viewed as rights-based policy instruments for poverty reduction in a developing economy. Decentralized implementation of the right-to-work poses serious challenges in poor places. Evidence on India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act does not suggest that the potential for either providing work when needed or reducing current poverty is realized, despite pro-poor targeting. Instead, work is often rationed by local leaders, and the poverty impact is small when all the costs are considered. The option of income support using cash transfers also has both pros and cons. Widely-used methods for finely targeting cash transfers tend to miss many poor people, and can discourage those reached from earning extra income. Yet it cannot be presumed that switching to a universal basic income will reduce poverty more than workfare or finely-targeted transfers. That is an empirical question and the answer will undoubtedly vary across settings, belying the generalizations often heard from advocates. Nonetheless, more incentive-neutral, universal and/or state-contingent transfer schemes merit consideration in settings in which existing public spending is skewed against poor people and/or there is scope for raising taxes on the rich.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 138〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): 〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 139〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Francisco Liébana-Cabanillas, Sebastian Molinillo, Miguel Ruiz-Montañez〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉There is growing interest in our society in making payments using mobile phones as an alternative to using cash, checks or credit cards. The objective of this study is to analyze the status of Near Field Communication (NFC) mobile payment systems in public transportation, as well as the factors that affect users' intentions to continue using said systems. To meet this objective, a personal survey was conducted on a sample of 180 users with experience using this type of system. A comprehensive review of the scientific literature justifies the development of a behavioral model that explains the continuance intention of NFC mobile payments through a structural equation model. The results show that satisfaction, service quality, effort expectancy, and perceived risk are determining factors of the continuance intention to use this technology. Finally, the managerial conclusions and implications offer the companies that manage these public services new business opportunities based on user behaviors.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 29 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Richard Damania, Anupam Joshi, Jason Russ〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This article investigates the links between forests and poverty in India. We use original data from a household survey in two states of India (Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh) to provide new insights into this relationship. The poorest are found to receive about 30% of their incomes from forests – an amount that is higher than the income that they obtain from agriculture. We identify the correlates of greater environmental and forest income in the sample and also seek to examine whether environmental incomes are used only as a safety net during disasters, or for basic consumption purposes too. Our results show that when negative shocks occur there is a higher relative dependence on environmental incomes. The results also suggest that those who are better-off obtain higher levels of environmental income that the poorer. Overall the findings are consistent with environmental incomes and other sources of incomes being complements. In sum, the results suggest that forest income is used for basic consumption, is not a substitute for other sources of income, and is not treated as an “inferior good” that is eschewed by richer groups in the survey.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 115〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Maia Call, Clark Gray, Pamela Jagger〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Recent research suggests that sub-Saharan Africa will be among the regions most affected by the negative social and biophysical ramifications of climate change. Smallholders are expected to respond to rising temperatures and precipitation anomalies through on-farm management strategies and diversification into off-farm activities. However, few studies have empirically examined the relationship between climate anomalies and rural livelihoods. Our research explores the impact of climate anomalies on farmers’ on and off-farm livelihood strategies, considering both annual and decadal climate exposures, the relationship between on and off-farm livelihoods, and the implications of these livelihood strategies for agricultural productivity. To examine these issues, we link gridded climate data to survey data collected in 120 communities from 850 Ugandan households and 2000 agricultural plots in 2003 and 2013. We find that smallholder livelihoods are responsive to climate exposure over both short and long time scales. Droughts decrease agricultural productivity in the short term and reduce individual livelihood diversification in the long term. Smallholders cope with higher temperatures in the short term, but in the long run, farmers struggle to adapt to above-average temperatures, which lower agricultural productivity and reduce opportunities for diversification. On and off-farm livelihood strategies also appear to operate in parallel, rather than by substituting for one another. These observations suggest that new strategies will be necessary if rural smallholders are to successfully adapt to climate change.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 45〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Wangtu (Ato) Xu, Linchuan Yang〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This study proposes a measure to evaluate the urban land use plan with transit accessibility, more specifically, the spatial accessibility of transit stations. The spatial accessibility of transit stations is measured with the number of effective reachable grids, and the influence of transfer on reduction in spatial accessibility is considered. A geographically weighted regression model is used to determine the correlation between transit accessibility and urban land use characteristics. Moreover, the methodology is applied to Xiamen, China and the corresponding results demonstrate the usefulness and effectiveness of the proposed methodology. Researchers can adopt the proposed approach to evaluate urban land use plan, particularly in transit-dominated and car-lite contexts.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 139〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Barbara Ribeiro, Philip Shapira〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper advances an anticipatory governance framework to investigate and prepare for the potential implications of an emerging technology. Within the growing domain of synthetic biology, we draw on an end-to-end assessment of biosynthetic menthol that incorporates consideration of multiple dimensions of production and use. Based on documentary analysis, available data, and interviews, our approach unfolds in three steps. First, we map the sociotechnical transition in menthol production, comparing existing agricultural and chemical production methods with new biosynthetic processes – or what we call the biological (bio) turn. Second, we explore the rationales, promises and expectations of menthol's bio-turn and explore the drivers of transition so as to clarify which goals and values innovation is addressing. Third, we reflect on the opportunities and challenges of such a transition to put forward an agenda for responsible innovation and anticipatory governance. The bio-turn in menthol is analysed through five responsible innovation dimensions: the potential distribution of benefits and burdens; social resilience; environmental sustainability; infrastructure and business models; and public perception and public interest. We consider the implications of our analysis both for the responsible development and application of synthetic biology for menthol and for the broader assessment and sociotechnical construction of emerging technologies.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 139〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Rinie van Est〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper aims to clarify the political nature of parliamentary technology assessment (PTA) by reflecting on PTA's relationship with democratic policy making. This issue is raised in a political climate that is regularly portrayed as a ‘post-truth era’ and influenced by the rise of radical right populism. Democratic policy making is described in terms of problem structuring that depends on powering, scientific puzzling, participation and deliberation. Regulative democratic ideals, like political equality, truth, citizen participation, and ideal communication, are identified that drive these processes. These concepts are used to clarify the political nature of PTA in two ways. First the kind of political support for PTA within countries where PTA is or was institutionalized is explored. A typology of seven levels of political support to PTA is discerned. These degrees of support depend on whether PTA is performed by MPs or by TA experts, and to what extent MPs allow PTA to play a role in the scientific puzzling process and/or organize participation-cum-deliberation processes. To further clarify the political nature of PTA, three political attitudes towards the regulative democratic ideals are distinguished: affirmative, indifferent, and adverse. It is shown that processes of powering, scientific puzzling and participation-cum-deliberation can be used in ways that are guided by regulative democratic ideals (affirmative), ignore those ideals (indifferent) or undermine them (adverse). In political contexts in which indifferent or adverse attitudes prevail political support for PTA of any kind is very unlikely. It is argued that PTA can strengthen democratic policy making, when it fully acknowledges the political nature, and strengths and weaknesses of both scientific puzzling and participation-cum-deliberation. In this way PTA can connect to democratic forms of populism, and is well-positioned to counteract anti-scientism, anti-intellectualism, and anti-democratic forms of populism.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 21 July 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Lorenzo Ardito, Alberto Ferraris, Antonio Messeni Petruzzelli, Stefano Bresciani, Manlio Del Giudice〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The development of smart cities is becoming more and more based on knowledge management (KM) frameworks. This leads to new managerial challenges, which reflect the complexity of KM governance and processes issues of smart city projects as well as the need to manage knowledge that originates both within and beyond projects' boundaries. However, in-depth research on the development of smart cities from a managerial and KM perspective has remained scant. In detail, although universities are deemed to be responsible for the competitiveness and superiority of knowledge-based ecosystems, like smart city projects, the different roles they play in such projects when dealing with KM governance and processes issues are still understudied. Therefore, by conducting an exploratory case study of 20 smart city projects, this paper aims to scrutinize how universities manage the KM governance issue when internal knowledge is used, the KM governance issue when external knowledge is used, the KM processes issue when internal knowledge is used, and the KM processes issue when external knowledge is used. Results reveal that universities act as knowledge intermediaries, knowledge gatekeepers, knowledge providers, and knowledge evaluators.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 139〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jia Xu, Xiujie Tan, Gang He, Yu Liu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Excessive price fluctuations would affect the effectiveness of Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) and low-carbon investment. Therefore, the drivers of carbon prices need to be disentangled to analyze the price formation process, which is important for both policy makers and investors. By applying the Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD) method, we decompose the historical carbon price data of the five ETS pilots in China into five groups of the independent Intrinsic Mode Function (IMF) sequences and the residue, respectively. Then, the IMFs and the residue in each pilot are reconstructed into a high frequency component, a low frequency component and a trend component, thus disentangling the effects of short-term market fluctuations, significant events, and the long-term trend. The main findings are as follows. First, the IMF with a period around one year is the most influential factor, which reflects that pilots are characterized by the yearly cycle. Second, significant events have greater impacts than short-term market fluctuations, and are the dominant driver in Shanghai and Beijing pilots. Third, the long-term trend plays a decisive role in Shenzhen, Guangdong and Hubei pilots. The price stabilization mechanism is critical to avoid a severe imbalance between demand and supply in the long run.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 115〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Cassandra Sweet, Dalibor Eterovic〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Does the rigorous protection of patents advance or retard economic development? Two decades ago, a new global standard of intellectual property swept across developing and industrialized nations through the implementation of the WTO’s TRIPS Agreement. Many years later, the issue of patent rights remains contentious. In this paper, we focus on the effects of patent rights systems on total factor productivity growth, using dynamic panel regression analysis for 70 countries from 1965 to 2009. We show that the effects of stronger or more rigorous patent systems are insignificant for productivity growth in both developing and industrialized countries. Why does the strength of patents appear to have no impact on productivity? Classic economic theory suggests that stronger patent systems incentive innovative output with important spill-over effects for productivity and growth. We offer an alternative explanation using data from the Economic Complexity Index. We find that while patents rights are increasingly irrelevant to productivity, the relationship between economic complexity and productivity is highly positive and significant. Our results are consistent with the contributions of the absorptive capacity theory in that they suggest it is not the discovery and ownership of novel products and processes at the innovative frontier that induces productive growth, but the ability to adapt, replicate and diffuse along the international productive chain.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 115〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Kelvin Mashisia Shikuku〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Direct training of selected individuals as disseminating farmers (DFs) can help to implement a farmer to farmer extension approach. This study systematically examines the relationship between social distance and the likelihood of information exchange, subsequently evaluating effects on awareness, knowledge, and adoption of drought-tolerant (DT) varieties of maize, disease-resistant varieties of groundnuts and conservation farming. Using a panel dataset from northern Uganda, the study combines matching techniques with difference-in-difference (DID) approach and employs two-stage least squares regression (2SLS) to identify causal effects. The study finds an increased likelihood of information exchange when the DF is female, regardless of the sex of the neighbour. The likelihood of information exchange increased when distance in farm size cultivated with maize was larger than the median in the sub-village. In terms of non-agricultural assets index, there was an increased likelihood of information exchange both when the distance was smaller and greater than the village median. Information exchange links improved awareness and knowledge for all of the technologies, but only increased adoption of maize varieties. Together, these findings suggest that social distance shapes the diffusion of agricultural knowledge even when DFs are selected by the community to be “representative” and reinforces that social learning can help to address informational constraints to adoption of agricultural technologies.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 116〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Daniel Mason-D'Croz, Timothy B. Sulser, Keith Wiebe, Mark W. Rosegrant, Sarah K. Lowder, Alejandro Nin-Pratt, Dirk Willenbockel, Sherman Robinson, Tingju Zhu, Nicola Cenacchi, Shahnila Dunston, Richard D. Robertson〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We use IFPRI’s IMPACT framework of linked biophysical and structural economic models to examine developments in global agricultural production systems, climate change, and food security. Building on related work on how increased investment in agricultural research, resource management, and infrastructure can address the challenges of meeting future food demand, we explore the costs and implications of these investments for reducing hunger in Africa by 2030. This analysis is coupled with a new investment estimation model, based on the perpetual inventory methodology (PIM), which allows for a better assessment of the costs of achieving projected agricultural improvements. We find that climate change will continue to slow projected reductions in hunger in the coming decades—increasing the number of people at risk of hunger in 2030 by 16 million in Africa compared to a scenario without climate change. Investments to increase agricultural productivity can offset the adverse impacts of climate change and help reduce the share of people at risk of hunger in 2030 to five percent or less in Northern, Western, and Southern Africa, but the share is projected to remain at ten percent or more in Eastern and Central Africa. Investments in Africa to achieve these results are estimated to cost about 15 billion USD per year between 2015 and 2030, as part of a larger package of investments costing around 52 billion USD in developing countries.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 45〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Eduard Oró, Paolo Taddeo, Jaume Salom〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The heating and cooling sector in Europe aims to increase the share of thermal energy provided by district heating (DH) and cooling networks, from the current 13% to 50% by 2050. To reach this ambitious goal, it is needed to create the scientific evidence required to support the decarbonisation of the sector in Europe by combining energy efficiency and local waste heat. A vast amount of waste heat is produced in urban areas from a range of local sources such as data centres. These unique infrastructures are a rapidly growing industry generating heat that could potentially be recovered for heating applications, and in particular for DH networks. This manuscript evaluates numerically the energy and economic feasibility of the implementation of heat reuse solutions in air-cooled data centres to increase the energy efficiency of DH networks. Even though the primary energy reused in such installations can be above 50%, the economic analysis performed for a specific 1000 kW data centre located in Barcelona (Spain) demonstrates the non-viability of heat recovery integration in most of the conventional air-cooled data centres. However, for some cooling configurations, in particular in rear door cooling technology, the results prove the economic viability of heat reuse options.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 139〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Gloria Rose, André Gazsó〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉New and emerging technologies such as nanotechnology and advanced materials are characterized by manifold areas of application and high uncertainty, making the anticipation of effects difficult. Since 2007, the Austrian technology assessment project “NanoTrust” is dedicated to assisting policy-makers in issues surrounding the safety of nanotechnology applications. The choice was made early on to build and maintain a governance network and to take a more active role in contributing to pre-emptive risk management and the initiation of new processes. Characterized by a dominant risk frame and a broad scope, the Austrian nanotechnology discourse places a distinct focus on scientific expertise and strong interdisciplinary efforts. Ten years into the project, the Austrian nano governance network has shown signs of undergoing an institutionalisation process and we reflect on how we have sought to maintain our neutrality and independence as TA practitioners. This exercise in reflection seeks to gain insights on the strategies employed in practice when shaping technologies at stages of high uncertainty and engaging closely with actors in governance networks over longer periods of time.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 139〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Anja Bauer, Karen Kastenhofer〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Over past decades, the notion of policy advice in technology assessment (TA) has widened, going beyond traditional advice in the form of expert opinions by adding a broad range of brokerage activities. Concomitantly, the roles of scientific policy advisors have diversified.〈/p〉 〈p〉Based on an empirical study of advisory practices at the Institute of Technology Assessment (ITA) at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, we ask which advisory roles TA practitioners adopt. Our study shows that practitioners take up multiple roles: the decisionist advisor, the deliberative practitioner, the governance facilitator, the engaged academic, and the agenda-setter. These roles vary, inter alia, in the dominant modes of policy advice and the aspired function in politics and society and correlate with specific project and advisory constellations but also with paradigmatic beliefs of TA practitioners. Our analysis further exemplifies how these roles differ in a) the reference to and interpretation of core principles such as scientificity, neutrality and relevance and b) their strategies of managing the boundary between science and politics. Thus, the article goes beyond the mere statement “TA has politics” by illustrating how the politics of TA manifests in distinct ways in different roles of TA practitioners in policy advice.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 22 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Francesco Paolo Appio, Marcos Lima, Sotirios Paroutis〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Smart Cities initiatives are spreading all around the globe at a phenomenal pace. Their bold ambition is to increase the competitiveness of local communities through innovation while increasing the quality of life for its citizens through better public services and a cleaner environment. Prior research has shown contrasting views and a multitude of dimensions and approaches to look at this phenomenon. In spite of the fact that this can stimulate the debate, it lacks a systematic assessment and an integrative view. The papers in the special issue on “Understanding Smart Cities: Innovation Ecosystems, Technological Advancements, and Societal Challenges” take stock of past work and provide new insights through the lenses of a hybrid framework. Moving from these premises, we offer an overview of the topic by featuring possible linkages and thematic clusters. Then, we sketch a novel research agenda for scholars, practitioners, and policy makers who wish to engage in – and build – a critical, constructive, and conducive discourse on Smart Cities.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 19 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Brita Fladvad Nielsen, Daniela Baer, Carmel Lindkvist〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The planning of energy ambitious neighborhood pilots in Norway typically begin with the creation of holistic and socially ambitious visions based on extensive stakeholder collaboration, citizen insight generation and vision setting. However, as projects move from planning to implementation, the exploratory innovation methods are replaced by exploitative approaches. ‘The holistic vision and in particular, citizens’ described needs, fail to transfer into the implementation phase. This paper identifies four main challenges as to why this happens and link these to theory on ambidextrous organizations that need to exploit existing knowledge while reaching into the future with its rapidly changing goals and technological opportunities. Implementing stakeholders are familiar with exploitative tools, which build on earlier experience and capabilities of the selected implementing stakeholders, and the implementation stage leaves little time and resources for innovation on a lower hierarchical level. While extensive research on smart and integrated planning focus on ‘breaking down the silos’ meaning sectors and disciplines, our findings argue that the need to manage ambidextrous organizations and support both exploratory and exploitative innovation is equally important. An ambidextrous organization is one that has the ability to be efficient in its management of today's business while being adaptable for coping with the changing demand of tomorrow. We propose a model in which the organizational style and management style of innovative neighborhood pilots focus more on how to transfer knowledge and learn from the bottom-up and horizontally through management that foster both innovation models.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 116〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Nathan Clay, Brian King〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Development programs and policies can influence smallholder producers’ abilities to adapt to climate change. However, gaps remain in understanding how households’ adaptive capacities can become uneven. This paper investigates how development transitions—such as the recent adoption of ‘green revolution’ agricultural policies throughout sub-Saharan Africa—intersect with cross-scale social-environmental processes to unevenly shape smallholders’ adaptive capacities and adaptation pathways. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative material from a multi-season study in Rwanda, we investigate smallholder adaptation processes amid a suite of rural development interventions. Our study finds that adaptive capacities arise differentially across livelihood groups in the context of evolving environmental, social, and political economic processes. We show how social institutions play key roles in shaping differential adaptation pathways by enabling and/or constraining opportunities for smallholders to adapt livelihood and land use strategies. Specifically, Rwanda’s Crop Intensification Program enables some wealthier households to adapt livelihoods by generating income through commercial agriculture. At the same time, deactivation of local risk management institutions has diminished climate risk management options for most households. To build and employ alternate livelihood practices such as commercial agriculture and planting woodlots for charcoal production, smallholders must negotiate new institutions, a prerequisite for which is access to capitals (land, labor, and nonfarm income). Those without entitlements to these are pulled deeper into poverty with each successive climatic shock. This illustrates that adaptive capacity is not a static, quantifiable entity that exists in households. We argue that reconceptualizing adaptive capacity as a dynamic, social-environmental process that emerges in places can help clarify complex linkages among development policies, livelihoods, and adaptation pathways. To ensure more equitable and climate-resilient agricultural development, we stress the need to reformulate policies with careful attention to how power structures and entrenched social inequalities can lead to smallholders’ uneven capacities to adapt to climate change.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 116〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Sara A. Wong〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Minimum-wage policy aims to raise the real income of low-wage workers. Low-wage individuals may be adversely affected by minimum wages, however, although the empirical evidence on this point is not without controversy. We analyzed the effects of the January 2012 increase in monthly minimum wages on the wages and hours worked of low-wage workers in Ecuador. Individuals could have chosen to enter occupations covered by minimum-wage legislation or those that were not. We applied a difference-in-differences estimation to account for potential self-selection bias. We also relied on exogenous variations in minimum wages by sector, industry, and occupation. We constructed individual panel data from a household panel and performed estimates that also accounted for potential sample-selection bias. The results suggest a significant and positive effect on the wages of treated workers, increasing them by 0.41–0.48% for each 1% increase in minimum wages, relative to the earnings of control workers. Our results also suggest that effects varied by type of worker: (i) women workers received lower wage increases, and their hours worked were significantly and negatively affected, both of which may suggest a failure of the minimum wage to reduce the gender wage gap at the bottom of the distribution, and (ii) the hours worked by young workers were significantly and positively affected, a result that is in agreement with results found elsewhere in the literature. These results persisted after applying robustness checks to account for different control groups, full- vs. part-time jobs, separate regressions for heterogeneous groups, and tests for potential attrition and sample-selection bias. The range of effects observed across disparate groups of workers suggests areas in which policy change could be useful. The income-compression effect we found suggests that further studies should address the effects of minimum wage on the drop in income inequality observed in the data.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 45〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Pritam Bhowmik, Sheetal Chandak, Pravat Kumar Rout〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A conventional microgrid comprising both ac and dc components undergoes a significant power loss during the multistage conversion process. To overcome the problem of reduced efficiency in a conventional microgrid, a significant attention has been drawn towards the structure of the hybrid ac/dc microgrid. The precise power management in a hybrid microgrid is relatively complicated due to the presence of the dc sub-grids in the architecture. In dc sub-grids, the converter power can only be controlled by regulating the output voltage. However, the computation of the reference voltage turns out to be a challenging task due to the system resistance. The complexity further increases as the line resistances associated with the interlinking converter differs. Addressing this issue, to implement an efficient power management strategy in a dc sub-grid, a superimposed virtual frequency based control variable is proposed in this work. The proposed control variable remains unaffected by the system impedance which helps to attain an efficient power bifurcation. The study extensively evaluates the maximum exchanged power, storage utilisation factor, and circulating power among the multiple interlinking converters. The proposed strategy efficiently manages the bidirectional power flow between the ac and dc sub-grids.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 45〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Triluck Koossalapeerom, Thaned Satiennam, Wichuda Satiennam, Watis Leelapatra, Atthapol Seedam, Thana Rakpukdee〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This study compared the real-world driving patterns of electric and gasoline motorcycles. The developed onboard system was installed on test motorcycles to collect real-world driving patterns in a mixed traffic and congested urban corridor. The driving cycles of both electric and gasoline motorcycles were developed, and their driving parameters, energy consumption, CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 emissions, and energy cost were compared. The results reveal that under the same driving behaviors and traffic conditions, certain driving parameters of the electric motorcycle, including average speed, average running speed, and proportion of time spent idling, were close to those of the gasoline motorcycle. However, the maximum speed and proportion of time spent in acceleration and deceleration were lower for the electric motorcycle than those of the gasoline motorcycle. In contrast, average acceleration, average deceleration, and proportion of time spent cruising were higher for the electric motorcycle than the gasoline motorcycle. The energy consumption, CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 equivalent emissions, and energy cost of the electric motorcycle was approximately eight, two, and six times lower than those of the gasoline motorcycle, respectively, when driving in a congested urban corridor.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 27 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zhinan Wang, Alan L. Porter, Xuefeng Wang, Stephen Carley〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Technological Convergence (TC) reflects developmental processes that overlap different technological fields. It holds promise to yield outcomes that exceed the sum of its subparts. Measuring emergence for a TC environment can inform innovation management. This paper suggests a novel approach to identify Emergent Topics (ETopics) of the TC environment within a target technology domain using patent information. A non-TC environment is constructed as a comparison group. First, TC is operationalized as a co-classification of a given patent into multiple 4-digit IPC codes (≥2-IPC). We take a set of patents and parse those into three sub-datasets based on the number of IPC codes assigned 1-IPC (Non-TC), 2-IPC and ≥3-IPC. Second, a method is applied to identify emergent terms (ETs) and calculate emergence score for each term in each sub-dataset. Finally, we cluster those ETs using Principal Components Analysis (PCA) to generate a factor map with ETopics. A convergent domain – 3D printing – is selected to present the illustrative results. Results affirm that for 3D printing, emergent topics in TC patents are distinctly different from those in non-TC patents. The number of ETs in the TC environment is increasing annually.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 45〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Li Li, Xin Li, Yuan Yang, Jia Dong〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Building energy consumption is influenced not merely by the energy-saving performance of hardware but also by the occupants’ indoor behaviours. Advances in indoor positioning technologies can generate large volumes of spatial trajectory data on the occupants, which can reveal the distribution of the occupants or be interpreted to reflect the occupants’ behaviours. This calls for systematic research on new computing technologies to identify information from trajectory data rather than from visualizations or statistics. Due to the imperfections and complexities of trajectory data, few robust techniques are available for similarity comparisons, which are critical for further clustering and pattern mining. In this work, we propose a novel means of evaluating similarities in occupant trajectory data based on the use of a convolutional autoencoder (CAE). Trajectory data can be compared and their feature vectors extracted with the CAE in an unsupervised manner. We applied this approach to high-precision tracking data collected from an ultra-wide band (UWB) indoor positioning system (IPS) installed in an exhibition hall. The calculated results show that our approach offers great advantages in terms of its application, robustness, and flexibility.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 45〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Amir Hossein Sharifi, Pouria Maghouli〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The construction of smart homes under the infrastructure of smart grids (or micro grids) is currently one of the most important topics in the field of smart energy systems. Demand-side management confers many benefits on both users and utility companies. This paper proposes a novel scheduling procedure for power consumption in homes equipped with energy storage devices. The proposed optimal power scheduling method can reduce electricity bills and improve peak-to-average ratio (PAR) while taking into account the comfort of residents. Real-time pricing combined with an inclining block rate (IBR) tariff is used to prevent high power consumption at times of low cost, and to simultaneously improve the PAR index. Because erroneous determination of the state of the charge of storage systems can have deleterious effects on PAR, a revised formulation is therefore applied to attain the best solution of the problem. Home devices and batteries are modelled in a practical and efficient manner. The proposed multi-objective optimization problem is solved with non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) using MATLAB software. Then fuzzy decision is applied to obtain the most preferred solution.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 140〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Shih-Chih Chen, Chieh-Peng Lin〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉With the prevalence of Internet, social media has become an important means for online marketing events. Individuals and companies both create fan pages on online platforms and develop business opportunities using social media. While many past studies have investigated social media, few have mentioned the effects of social media marketing activities. This study proposed the effects of social media marketing activities on continuance intention, participation intention and purchase intention via the mediation of social identification, perceived value, and satisfaction. To empirically test the effects of social media marketing activities, this study conducted an online survey on 502 social media users for data analysis. The analytical results indicated that social media marketing activities indirectly affect satisfaction through social identification and perceived value. At the same time, social identification and perceived value directly affect satisfaction that then influences continuance intention, participation intention and purchase intention. Finally, the academic and management implications based on the empirical results of this study are provided as references for the improvement of social media marketing.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 139〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): 〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 139〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jianwei Dang, Byeongwoo Kang, Ke Ding〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Technical standards in the mobile communications industry have been developed from national to regional and from regional to global. In the current era, global standards in the industry have enabled the formation of a single global market. However, because standard essential patents (SEPs) are territorial given the nature of the patent system, they can function as an opportunity or a threat depending on whether or not they are protected in countries of interest. This paper investigates how W-CDMA and LTE SEPs are globally distributed. From the analysis, the current study discovers SEP owners' strategies, future opportunities, and threats in their international businesses.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 139〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jooyoung Kwak, Yue Zhang, Jiang Yu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Although existing studies have connected the emergence and development of e-commerce with infrastructure, culture, and regulations, we approach technological and platform acceptance from the perspective of legitimacy building. In our study, legitimacy is categorized into market, relational, and social legitimacy, and the link between each type of legitimacy and acceptance is explored. We select the case of Alibaba and argue that Alibaba was especially competent in building legitimacy. Alibaba's continuous efforts to build legitimacy facilitated platform evolution despite its exposed weakness in intellectual property rights. These efforts rendered Alibaba as a de facto standard e-business model. This research suggests that any firm that wants market acceptance for its platform or e-commerce technology should focus more on building legitimacy among stakeholders than on anything else.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 116〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Chris de Bont, Hans C. Komakech, Gert Jan Veldwisch〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The debate around what kind of irrigation, large- or small-scale, modern or traditional, best contributes to food security and rural development continues to shape irrigation policies and development in the Global South. In Tanzania, the irrigation categories of ‘modern’ and ‘traditional’ are dominating irrigation policies and are shaping interventions. In this paper, we explore what these concepts really entail in the Tanzanian context and how they relate to a case of farmer-led groundwater irrigation development in Kahe ward, Kilimanjaro Region. For our analysis, we rely on three months of qualitative fieldwork in 2016, a household questionnaire, secondary data such as policy documents and the results of a mapping exercise in 2014–2015. In the early 2000s, smallholders in Kahe started developing groundwater. This has led to a new, differentiated landscape in which different forms of agricultural production co-exist. The same set of groundwater irrigation technologies has facilitated the emergence of different classes of farmers, ranging from those engaging with subsistence farming to those doing capitalist farming. The level of inputs and integration with markets vary, as does crop choice. As such, some farms emulate the ‘modern’ ideal of commercial farming promoted by the government, while others do not, or to a lesser extent. We also find that national policy discourses on irrigation are not necessarily repeated at the local level, where interventions are strongly driven by prioritization based on conflict and funding. We conclude that the policy concepts of traditional and modern irrigation do not do justice to the complexity of actual irrigation development in the Kahe case, and obfuscate its contribution to rural development and food security. We argue that a single irrigation technology does not lead to a single agricultural mode of production, and that irrigation policies and interventions should take into account the differentiation among irrigators.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 13 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Marine Tanguy, Vishal Kumar〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Contemporary research into future cities tends to focus on technology, architecture and infrastructure. However, this study highlights the importance of public art projects for our future cities. Very little empirical evidence and academic studies exist to determine whether or not public art is core to the life and demand of citizens. Using a hybrid 〈strong〉contingent valuation〈/strong〉 (CV) and 〈strong〉wellbeing valuation〈/strong〉 (WV) survey approach (Bakhshi et al., 2015), we collected data at two public art initiatives organised by MTArt Agency. 60% of our sample audience were willing to pay at least £5 for the implementation of more public art in their local area, with 84% willing to pay at least £2, and 84% of our sample said regular public art initiatives would increase their wellbeing. A binary logistic regression model was then used to measure the extent to which Londoners are willing to pay for public art and which factors influenced their decision. This paper evaluates the potential financial support and desire from citizens towards public art in their cities. We find evidence to suggest that Londoners are willing to pay for more public art in their local area and discover a range of explanatory variables which influenced their decisions. We hope to add to the existing academic research by demonstrating a core need from the audience towards public art, particularly, a willingness to pay for public art projects to become an integral part of their city experience. It is important to understand the economic value of public art initiatives within smart cities context because it will allow policy makers, urban planners and developers to implement such initiatives in the future. With this innovative multi-disciplinary approach, we hope to enable arts projects to engage wider demographics, obtain stronger financial support and become a more meaningful integration into our urban realm.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 45〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Kasra Saberi, Hamed Pashaei-Didani, Ramin Nourollahi, Kazem Zare, Sayyad Nojavan〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this article, an improved system in micro energy grid is investigated composing of energy hub system as combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) based microgrid integrated with renewable energies like photovoltaic (PV) and wind turbine (WT). The main goal is to solve a multi-objective model that includes reducing carbon emission and operation cost in the presence of real time demand response program (DRP). The flexibility of suggested energy hub system is the result of utilizing three hubs, storage devices and optimal energy flow. The multi-objective model has been solved using weighted sum approach and max-min fuzzy to make the optimal Pareto solutions and select the trade-off solution, respectively. This paper implemented the priced based real time DRP to flatten the load curve by shifting some amounts of loads from peak periods to off-peak periods. Two cases studied in the article that indicates the effects of real time DRP on optimization of energy hub systems. Finally, the energy hub system model is formulated and solved using CPLEX solver in GAMS optimization software. The results show that the operation cost and carbon emission are reduced 3.97% and 2.26%, respectively due to implementation of real time DRP.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 140〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hanwei Liang, Jingzheng Ren, Ruojue Lin, Yue Liu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The development of alternative-fuel vehicles has been recognized as a promising way for emissions reduction from transportation. This study aims to develop a fuzzy group decision supporting framework for sustainability prioritization of alternative-fuel based vehicles. A criteria system which consists of thirteen evaluation criteria in environmental, economic, technological and social aspects was developed for sustainability assessment of alternative-fuel vehicles. The linear goal programming priority based Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process was employed to determine the weights of the evaluation criteria for sustainability assessment of alternative-fuel vehicles, and Fuzzy Group Multi-Attribute Decision Analysis which allows multiple groups of stakeholders to participate in the decision-making process for rating the alternative-fuel vehicles with respect to the evaluation criteria was developed for sustainability prioritization of alternative-fuel vehicles. Three alternative-fuel based vehicles including compressed natural gas based, liquid petroleum gas based, and biodiesel based vehicles were studied by the developed method, and the sustainability sequence of these three scenarios from the most sustainable to the least is biodiesel based vehicle, compressed natural gas based vehicle and liquid petroleum gas based vehicle, thus, China's administration should give the first priority to biodiesel based vehicle under the current context of China. The results were validated by the fuzzy TOPSIS method, and sensitivity analysis was also carried out to test the effects of the weights of the evaluation criteria on the sustainability order of the three alternative-fuel based vehicles.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 116〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Philip Lowe, Jeremy Phillipson, Amy Proctor, Menelaos Gkartzios〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Understandings of socially distributed 〈em〉expertise〈/em〉 as being key to living, interpreting and intervening in the world, are increasingly used in development narratives, referring usually to knowledge sharing across multi-stakeholder partnerships. This movement towards the democratisation of expertise challenges the ideological claim of science to be the exclusive source of objective information, evidence and discovery on which informed decisions and technological developments should be based. But if we reject that claim, what are the implications for the way stakeholders learn, organise and transmit knowledge and skills, and resolve problems? And how do science and expertise come together in development narratives and practices? We address these questions through an examination of the changing relationship between scientific, professional and non-professional expertise in rural development. Firstly, we examine the evolution of models of rural development and knowledge generation over past decades and introduce the concept of 〈em〉vernacular expertise〈/em〉 – the expertise that people have and develop that is place-based but crucially nourished by outside sources and agents and which underpins neo-endogenous development models. Secondly, by drawing empirically on qualitative research with rural advisory professionals who support farmer decision making we unpack the composition of vernacular expertise as a fusion of field/place generated and field/place focused knowledge, and consider how it may be better recognised and enhanced in development processes and policy agendas.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 45〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yong-Kang Qiao, Fang-Le Peng, Soheil Sabri, Abbas Rajabifard〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Urbanization is progressing rapidly, while problems raised by climate change are occurring across the globe. Cities are at the center of both of the two tendencies therefore, low carbon or zero carbon cities are being promoted. Urban underground space (UUS) is a key component in the process of urbanization and plays a significant role in creating low carbon cities, as highlighted in this paper. Meanwhile, UUS also involves unavoidable drawbacks regarding energy consumption in terms of lighting, ventilation and dehumidification. In this paper, the advantages of UUS in creating low carbon cities are analyzed, and a framework for calculating the positive low carbon effects derived from UUS use is established. Additionally, some alleviating measures in response to the potential low carbon disadvantages of UUS are proposed. Based on the analysis, some planning and design implications for the development of urban underground space in order to fulfill its role as a contributor to urban sustainability are discussed.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 45〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Tanveer Ahmad, Huanxin Chen〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The capability to forecast how differences in patterns of utilization in various kinds of loads can influence energy usage is an essential effort to decrease carbon emissions and demand-side energy management. The difference in weather change starts as the first step to change the energy consumption pattern in the domestic, commercial and industrial sector. To find the change in climate and their impact on energy usage, this study examines the medium-term (MT) and long-term (LT) energy prediction for utilities, independent power producers and industrial customers to estimate the energy usage requirement of large-scale city-wide by means of using the nonlinear autoregressive model (NARM), linear model using stepwise regression (LMSR) and random forest (least square boosting) (LSBoost) approaches, based on actual environmental as well as energy consumption data. The irregular load pattern recognition to remove the abnormal trend in actual energy usage is performed by applying the outlier detection and clustering analysis. The coefficient of variation (CV) of LSBoost model is 5.019%, 3.159%, 3.292% and 3.184% in summer, autumn, winter and spring season respectively. The machine learning (ML) techniques are validated and compared based on performance and accuracy with the previously existing Gaussian process regression (GPR) model. The optimal modeling of city-wide energy demand prediction using ML-based models are guaranteed the accurate operation and design of distributed energy systems.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 45〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Qingwu Hu, Guikai Bai, Shaohua Wang, Mingyao Ai〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Urban hot spot detection and commercial area analysis for city economic planning and dynamic urban planning is of vital importance. However, it is difficult to obtain a more accurate commercial area boundary in the past. Check-in data obtained by a social networking service (SNS) and/or a location-based service (LBS) is a type of crowd-sourced geographic data that can reveal mass daily life activities, which provides a new big data source for urban hot spot detection and commercial area analysis. In this paper, a dynamic urban commercial area extraction and monitoring approach is proposed using SINA Weibo (a social network) check-in data. First, a check-in data pre-process model is proposed to simplify the amount of check-in data and improve the efficiency of cluster analysis. The spatial autocorrelation validation is implemented to validate the significant patterns of the spatial clustering of check-in data. Then, an exploratory spatial analysis and hot spot clustering method based on check-in data is proposed to detect urban hot spots and extract commercial areas using a geographic distribution metric with urban commercial hot spots. Second, the hot spot cluster analysis results are taken to determine the center of the commercial area and calculate the distribution of an ellipse, which is adopted to obtain the rough boundary of the commercial area. A planar Delaunay iterative triangulation algorithm is presented to determine the exact boundary of the commercial area. Then, the time sequence extraction result of the commercial area is presented to analyze the evolutionary trend in the city business space. Finally, the Weibo check-in data from 2012 to 2014 of Wuhan city are taken as an example dataset for the commercial area extraction and detection with the proposed approach. The results show that the method can accurately determine the boundary of and changes within the commercial area in Wuhan city. This study provides a new method for the monitoring of hot spots and the geographical situations of city commercial areas.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 45〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Mostafa Sedighizadeh, Amirhosein Mohammadpour, Seyed Mohammad Mahdi Alavi〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The design of optimal energy management systems has been an important problem, in particular for daytime plug-in electric vehicles’ (PEVs’) parking lots at workplaces and commercial buildings, where the number of vehicles, their arrival and departure times are typically unknown and time-varying. The paper addresses this problem by introducing a two-stage optimization based on Approximate Dynamic Programing (ADP) and Hybrid Big Bang Big Crunch (HBB-BC) algorithm considering a Multi-Layer Perceptron Artificial Neural Network (MLP-ANN) which predicts the electricity price. The proposed optimal energy management minimizes the cost of parking lot owner with respect to the Time of Use (TOU) Demand Response (DR) program without reducing the welfare of EV owners. The two-stage optimization manages the charge scheduling subject to short and long term data coming from the MLP-ANN and intelligent transportation system. The stochastic features of the commercial parking are fully addressed into the problem. The effectiveness of the proposed charging technology is assessed and discussed by using real electricity data from ERCOT, under various stochastic conditions. The results demonstrate optimal energy management during peak and off time periods at the minimum cost.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 45〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Prateek Jain, Ashutosh Das, Trapti Jain〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The objective of this paper is to present a mechanism to determine the two-way energy storage capacity of a large pool of electric vehicles (EV) which can be contracted in ancillary services market on a long-term basis to provide the regulation up (RU) and regulation down (RD) to the grid. The proposed mechanism uses a scheme which delivers the schedule of power supplied to or drawn from the grid by treating the mobility attributes dependent electrical parameters. Two operational places, the workplace, and the home were identified as per driving pattern of customers for the provision of regulation ancillary service. An illustrative model considering a fleet of representative battery electric vehicle (BEV) is presented based on the mechanism, to obtain the minute-wise storage capacity that can be contracted in the market to provide frequency regulation to the grid. Results demonstrate that two major mobility traits namely, driven distance and arrival pattern, as well as the charging and discharging power standards directly influences the regulation schedule. Further, it has been realized that even though the charging cost is associated with energy consumption, the regulation provision will yield a notable revenue stream on a long-term capacity commitment basis. This supplements the concept of EVs participation in power markets by virtue of their high ramp up ramp down speed capabilities.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 140〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yu Cui, Yamin Zhang, Jingjing Guo, Hao Hu, Hua Meng〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Based on upper echelon theory, this study investigates the relationship between the knowledge heterogeneity of top management teams and the financial performance of Chinese IT-listed companies. Moreover, we explore the moderating role of the ownership structure on the above relationship. The results indicate that overseas background heterogeneity, functional experience heterogeneity and financial performance are significantly and positively correlated, while academic background heterogeneity is significantly and negatively correlated with financial performance. However, the effects of management experience heterogeneity, financial background heterogeneity, and political background heterogeneity on financial performance are not significant. Moreover, ownership as a moderating variable improved the significance level among overseas background heterogeneity, functional experience heterogeneity and financial performance. Based on these findings, the implications for how to optimize the knowledge structure of top management teams are discussed.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 140〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yuandong Gu, Hong Zhang, Wenli Zhou, Weiguo Zhong〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This study linked top executives' values to firm charitable donation behaviors. Based on a unique database which combined native place of chairmen of listed companies in China and provincial level regional culture data in China, we find that: firms with chairmen from provinces with stronger humane orientation and collectivism orientation will be more likely to donate, and the donation amount will be greater; while firms with chairmen from provinces with stronger assertiveness will be less likely to donate and the donation amount will be less. Further analysis indicates that top executives' hometown identity, which is the consistency between the chairman's native place and the listed company's registration place will significantly moderate the relationship between top executives' values and firm donation. The higher hometown identity of top executives, the positive correlations between collectivism and firm donation will be stronger, while the negative correlation between assertiveness and firm donation will be weaker. This paper has implications for upper echelons theory, research on top managers' value and firm social responsibility research.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 45〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xiaofang Shan, Wei Xu, Yi-Kuen Lee, Wei-Zhen Lu〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉HVAC systems are utilized to construct a thermally comfortable environment for occupants. As people spend more than 90% of time indoors, thermal conditions of indoor environment constructed by HVAC systems demand precise assessment. Predicted mean vote (PMV), a synthesized index, can reveal thermal conditions by evaluating occupants’ thermal sensations. Four environmental parameters affecting PMV: air temperature, air speed, radiant temperature and relative humidity. This study integrates CFD simulations and wireless-sensor measurements to assess distributions of PMV considering radiation models. The distributions of environmental parameters: velocity, temperature, radiant temperature, inside an office room with fan coil unit (FCU) are firstly presented. Based on these distributions, spatial profiles of PMV are obtained to intuitively illustrate thermal conditions. Combined with experimental database collected by thermal-flow wireless-sensors, CFD simulations offer detailed predictions of indoor airflow and thermal parameters. The mean temperature at occupied zone is 23.3 °C agreeing well with set-point temperature 23 °C. Furthermore, velocity values are below draft sensation limitations. The distribution of PMV indicates the cooling system is capable to construct thermally comfortable environment for occupants as well as the draft sensation conforming the satisfactory status. The research outputs provide useful information for designers of cooling system to build a comfortable indoor environment.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S2210670718322455-ga1.jpg" width="215" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 115〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Sudipa Sarkar, Soham Sahoo, Stephan Klasen〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This study analyses employment transitions of working-age women in India. The puzzling issue of low labour force participation despite substantial economic growth, strong fertility decline and expanding female education in India has been studied in the recent literature. However, no study so far has looked into the dynamics of employment in terms of labour force entry and exit in this context. Using a nationally representative panel dataset, we show that women are not only participating less in the labour force, but also dropping out at an alarming rate. We estimate an endogenous switching model that corrects for selection bias due to initial employment and panel attrition, to investigate the determinants of women’s entry into and exit from employment. We find that an increase in wealth and income of other members of the household leads to lower entry and higher exit probabilities of women. Along with the effects of caste and religion, this result reveals the importance of cultural and economic factors in explaining the low workforce participation of women in India. We also explore other individual and household level determinants of women’s employment transitions. Moreover, we find that a large public workfare program significantly reduces women’s exit from the labour force. Our study indicates that women’s entry and exit decisions are not necessarily symmetric, and it is important to consider the inter-temporal dependence of labour supply decisions.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 115〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Chukwumerije Okereke, Alexia Coke, Mulu Geebreyesus, Tsegaye Ginbo, Jeremy J. Wakeford, Yacob Mulugetta〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The concept of ‘sustainable industrialisation’ is now integral to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. However, there are no historical examples or current models to emulate. Scholarly analyses of putative initiatives to green industrialisation, especially in developing countries, are few and limited. This article explores the conception and implementation of green industrialisation in Ethiopia, one of the world’s poorest nations, where an ambitious Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) strategy has been created, alongside a multi-sectoral Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP), to leapfrog environmentally unsustainable development and bring the country to middle-income status by 2025. Using the socio-technical transition (STT) perspective and in particular Smith, Stirling, and Berkhout (2005) framework for assessing sustainable transition programmes, it analyzes the ‘selection pressures’ on the industrial ‘regime’ and its ‘adaptive capacity’. It finds: (i) clear articulation of the imperative for climate change mitigation and economic growth; (ii) strong high-level government commitment to a greening agenda within the context of accelerated industrialisation; and (iii) a nascent innovation system that is beginning to evolve according to these priorities. However, the analysis also identifies important challenges, including: coordination mechanisms between different stakeholders; framing issues; availability of resources; and ongoing tension between addressing climate change and promoting economic growth. It also highlights the importance of the availability of cross-border resources for purposive sustainability transition within low-income countries.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 115〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ervin Prifti, Silvio Daidone, Benjamin Davis〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper has the double aim to study whether unconditional cash transfers have an impact on farm production and to look into the causal mechanisms through which government transfers produce productive impacts. We use mediation analysis to identify the total effect of transfers on farm production and to isolate the influence of the labour channel from other transmission channels. In particular, we analyze whether changes in farm production are caused by transfer-induced changes in the use of farm labour – either by reallocating family labour between off- and on-farm work or by changes in the demand for hired labour – or if other transmission channels are at work. We find that cash transfers have a sizable impact on farm production but they do not lead to increased use of family or hired labour on the farm, which implies that the productive impacts of cash transfers flow through other channels, different from the labour one.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 139〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Nooree Kim, Yuri Park, Daeho Lee〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉It is important to examine the factors whereby consumers adopt on-demand services, particularly the factors related to consumer safety, to obtain the sustainable growth of on-demand services. Because consumers face physical risks as they confront service providers in person when using these on-demand services, unlike with traditional online services. This paper analyzed the effect of the level of face-to-face interaction between consumer and service provider with the adoption of on-demand services using an extended technology acceptance model. The result shows that the effects of the factors including perceived safety on adoption of on-demand services was different according to the type of on-demand services classified by the level of face-to-face interaction.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 3 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Katrina Kosec, Leonard Wantchekon〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In the context of an exponential rise in access to information in the last two decades, this special issue explores when and how information might be harnessed to improve governance and public service delivery in rural areas. Information is a critical component of government and citizens’ decision-making; therefore, improvements in its availability and reliability stand to benefit many dimensions of governance, including service delivery. Service delivery is especially difficult in rural areas which contain the majority of the world’s poor but face unique logistical challenges due to their remoteness. We review the features of the recent information revolution, including increased access to information due to both technological and institutional innovations. We then raise the question of why information often fails to support the goals of improved governance and service delivery. We argue that information alone is insufficient. To be impactful, the information must be deemed relevant, in the sense of being salient and having a high perceived signal-to-noise ratio, and individuals must have both the power and incentives to act on it. Bringing all three of these factors together in any setting is challenging, particularly for rural areas, where capacity to receive, understand, and act on information is relatively low. Research failing to find significant effects of greater access to information on rural governance and service delivery has largely failed due to one of these three factors not being in place. This interpretation is broadly supported by our review of 48 empirical studies on the impacts of information on governance and service delivery. We conclude by discussing broader lessons for both development research, including randomized control trials, and the development process itself. The goals of interventions to provide information may need to be more modest, and their design may merit more scrutiny.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 45〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Gareth Davies, Nicholas Boot-Handford, Daniel Curry, William Dennis, Abayomi Ajileye, Akos Revesz, Graeme Maidment〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The paper concerns the recovery and use of secondary/waste heat and identifies secondary heat sources in London of 71 TWh i.e. c10% more than demand. London Underground (LU) railway tunnels generate significant quantities of low grade heat. There is also a requirement for active cooling to reverse the long term trend of rising tunnel temperatures. A novel combined cooling and heat recovery scheme for LU tunnels, utilising existing ventilation shafts, was proposed. Recovered heat was upgraded using a heat pump, for reuse in a local district heating network (DHN). A new model was developed to investigate the thermodynamic performance, economic feasibility and potential carbon savings available. It was concluded that the system could simultaneously provide 900 kW of cooling to the tunnel, and after upgrading to 70 °C, approximately 1.1 MW of heat, which could be used as a source for a DHN. The model predicted that this could be carried out economically and could deliver massive carbon and cost savings. With 200 ventilation shafts in London, 〉360,000 tonnes of carbon could be saved annually, while generating revenues of £40,000,000. Applying this technology to 50% of 150 metro systems worldwide would enable more than 27 million tonnes of carbon savings.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 45〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ming Hu〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Developers, building owners, and design teams often point to initial capital costs as the primary obstacle hindering the uptake of net-zero buildings. In-depth research and an understanding of whether net-zero buildings cost more to design and construct are still scattered and non-systemic. Accordingly, this study provides the first comprehensive investigation into actual net-zero building construction costs in the United States, based on qualitative and quantitative research. The aims of this research are to: (1) provide a comprehensive survey of the existing body of literature to aggregate the findings and identify the consensus and pattern, (2) compare the results and analyze the evidence with a focus on quantitative studies, and (3) conduct a quantitative comparative analysis of twelve built zero energy buildings (ZEB) in order to understand whether there is enough evidence of cost differences between ZEB, conventional building (CB) and green building (GB). Statistical tests were performed, with the results showing no significant differences between actual ZEB costs and modeled CB costs. Further details investigated the cost difference between actual ZEB and modeled GB. The findings of this research provide initial detailed insights into net-zero building costs in the United States, which may benefit the promotion of ZEB practices.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 45〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Adeel Anjum, Nayma Farooq, Saif Ur Rehman Malik, Abid Khan, Mansoor Ahmed, Moneeb Gohar〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Privacy-preserving data publishing (PPDP) aims at providing an anonymized view of a private microdata to the recipients, e.g., researchers, pharmaceutical companies etc. This private data contains sensitive information about individuals that needs to be protected. In the literature, it is generally assumed that there exists a single record for one individual in any given microdata (1:1 dataset). However, more practically, there are many instances in which an individual can have multiple records in microdata (termed as 1: M datasets). Several techniques have been proposed for the 1:1 microdata but, a few researchers paid attention towards 1:M microdata problems, that perhaps led to new privacy disclosures. A novel privacy model (〈em〉k, l〈/em〉)-diversity was proposed to cater such disclosure risks and based on this model, an algorithm named 1: M generalization was proposed. Although it was efficient than several other techniques; still has a drawback of huge information loss. In this paper, we propose a hybrid approach named as 〈em〉l〈/em〉-anatomy for 1: M microdata and prove that 〈em〉l〈/em〉-anatomy ensures the privacy of given individuals. Also, experiments performed on two real-world datasets (〈em〉namely INFORMS and YOUTUBE〈/em〉) reveal that the proposed scheme exhibits higher efficiency and effectiveness as compared to its counterpart.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 139〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hidemichi Fujii, Shunsuke Managi〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Sustainable green technology is an important contributor to creating a sustainable society by simultaneously promoting environmental protection and economic development. This study examines the determinants of sustainable green technology invention in China, with a focus on the differences in green technology development priorities in each five-year plan period. This study uses patent publication data in a patent decomposition analysis framework. We find that sustainable green patent publications increased due to efficiency improvements, the prioritization of sustainable green patents, an increased R&D expenditure share and economic growth, especially during periods of gradual economic development in China. Additionally, we find that the relative priority of R&D shifted from renewable energy technology to pollution abatement and other sustainable green technology in the 12th five-year plan. The different R&D priority trends for sustainable green technologies among the five-year plans can be used to formulate effective policies that promote sustainable green technology invention.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 45〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yang Zhou, Yang Yang, Zhanli Mao, Rongwei Bu, Junhui Gong, Yixiao Wang, Liang Yi〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Natural ventilation plays an important role in reducing air pollution caused by idle automobile exhaust in traffic-blocking city tunnels, especially in sloping ones. In order to investigate the effects of natural ventilation in both single- and gable-slope city tunnels, a set of simplified analytical models was proposed in this work based on the equations of continuity, energy, and pressure, and the theoretical values of airflow temperature and velocity were obtained by iterative calculations. The influences of thermal pressure, tunnel slope, tunnel geometry, and shaft on tunnel ventilation performance were discussed. In the single-slope-shaftless, single-slope-single-shaft, and gable-slope-single-shaft tunnels, the calculated ranges of average temperature and velocity of airflow were obtained and analyzed, respectively. Moreover, the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) method employing the software FLUENT was selected to simulate the temperature and airflow velocity distributions in different types of tilted city tunnels. The variation tendencies of both analytical and CFD results were consistent. The iterated values of airflow temperature and velocity fitted the simulation results well. Results in this work can provide a reference for the optimal design and management of natural ventilation system and contribute to improving the air quality and controlling the pollutant concentration in single and gable sloping city tunnels.〈/p〉〈/div〉