An Agent-Based Modeling Approach for Clean Technologies Adoption Using Theory of Planned Behavior Based Decision-Making

Author(s):  
Mohammad H. Pakravan ◽  
Nordica MacCarty

Abstract Technology adoption in low-income regions is among the key challenges facing international development projects. Nearly 40% of the world’s population relies on open fires and rudimentary cooking devices exacerbating health outcomes, deforestation, and climatic impacts of inefficient biomass burning. Clean technology alternatives such as clean cookstoves are among the most challenging technologies to approach their target goals through sustainable adoption due to lack of systematic market-driven design for adoption. Thus, a method is needed to provide insight regarding how target customers evaluate and perceive causes for adopting a clean technology. The holistic approach of this study captures the three main aspects of technology adoption through lenses of social networks, individual and society scale beliefs, and rational decision-making behavior. Based on data collected in the Apac region in Northern Uganda, an Agent-Based Model is developed to simulate emerging adoption behavior in a community. Then, four different scenarios investigate how adoption patterns change due to potential changes in technology or intervention strategy. These scenarios include influence of stove malfunctions, price elasticity, information campaigns, and strength of social network. Results suggest that higher adoption rates are achievable if designed technologies are more durable, information campaigns provide realistic expectations for users, policy makers and education programs work toward women’s empowerment, and communal social ties are recognized for influence maximization. Application of this study provides insight for technology designers, project implementers, and policy makers to update their practices for achieving sustainable and to the scale clean technology adoption rates.

2020 ◽  
Vol 143 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad H. Pakravan ◽  
Nordica MacCarty

Abstract Technology adoption in low-income regions is among the key challenges facing international development projects. Nearly 40% of the world's population relies on open fires and rudimentary cooking devices exacerbating health outcomes, deforestation, and climatic impacts of inefficient biomass burning. Clean technology alternatives such as clean cookstoves are among the most challenging technologies to approach their target goals through sustainable adoption due to a lack of systematic market-driven design for adoption. Thus, a method is needed to provide insight regarding how target customers evaluate and perceive causes for adopting a clean technology. The holistic approach of this study captures technology adoption through lenses of social networks, individual and society scale beliefs, and rational decision-making behavior. Based on the data collected in the Apac region in Northern Uganda, an agent-based model is developed to simulate emerging adoption behavior in a community. Then, four different scenarios investigate how adoption patterns change due to the potential changes in technology or intervention strategy. These scenarios include influence of stove malfunctions, price elasticity, information campaigns, and strength of a social network. Results suggest that higher adoption rates are achievable if designed technologies are more durable, information campaigns provide realistic expectations for users, policymakers, and education programs work toward women's empowerment, and communal social ties are recognized for influence maximization. The application of this study provides insight for technology designers, project implementers, and policymakers to update their practices for achieving sustainable and to the scale clean technology adoption rates.


Author(s):  
V. P. Bongolan ◽  
K. K. Ang ◽  
J. J. Celeste ◽  
J. M. Minoza ◽  
S. Caoili ◽  
...  

Abstract. COVID-19 vaccines are rolling out in the Philippines but the supply remains limited; there is a need to optimize the distribution. In this study, we developed a COVID-19 agent-based model for Quezon City, a COVID-19 hotspot in the country. This model, in conjunction with a multi-objective linear programming model for equitable vaccine distribution, was then used to simulate four vaccination scenarios. Experiments were conducted with the front-line workers always added to the groups: mobile workers, elderly and low-income. Main results are: prioritizing the mobile workers minimizes infections the most (by 4.34%), while prioritizing the low-income groups minimizes deaths the most (by 1.93%). These results demonstrate that protecting the population with the most interactions (mobile workers) effectively reduces future infections. On the other hand, protecting the most vulnerable population (low income and elderly) decreases the likelihood of death. These results may guide the policy-makers in Quezon City.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 365-382
Author(s):  
Shankar G. ◽  
Srinivas K.

The role of microfinance growing because it addresses the financial needs of the low-income population and it is also regarded by the policy-makers as an important instrument for financial inclusion. Microfinance brings credit, loan, savings and other essential financial services 60-90% of the global population who are too poor to be served by regular banks. The specific objectives of the present study are to examine the patterns of income, expenditure and savings of members before and subsequent to joining of SHGs in select constituencies, to assess the perceptions of the SHG members on women empowerment before and subsequent to joining SHGs in select constituencies and to compare the perceptions of the SHG members on women empowerment of scheduled caste Women in scheduled caste Reserved and Unreserved Constituencies. The primary data was collected by administering a structured questionnaire to the primary members of SHGs sample of 200-member beneficiaries from Manakondur constituency, a reserved constituency for SC and 200 members from Karimnagar constituency an unreserved constituency were selected as respondents for the purpose of this study. The data collected is processed and analyzed by using statistical test i.e., paired t-test was adopted. The mean score of the decision-making regarding income generation sample respondents in Manakondur stood at 3.60 and in Karimnagar stood at 4.19. This shows that the involvement in decision making regarding income generation has been improved more in Karimanagar constituency when compared to Manakondur constituency. The mean score of the repayment of credit by the sample respondents subsequent to joining SHGs in Manakondur stood at 3.46and in Karimnagar stood at 4.03. This shows that the repayment of credit has been improved more in Karimanagar constituency when compared to Manakondur constituency. Few members of a group should not be allowed to monopolize all loans. Large loans for a single borrower should be avoided. SHGs should enable the poor to decide the purpose of credit, size of the loan and repayment schedule based on viability of activity instead of leader’s choice. It should also monitor the end use of credit taken by the members.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-86
Author(s):  
Amin Wibowo

Up to now, organizational buying is still interesting topic discussed. There are divergences among the findings in organizational buying researches. Different perspectives, fenomena observed, research domains and methods caused the divergences. This paper will discusse organizational buying behavior based on literature review, focused on behavior of decision making unit mainly on equipment buying. From this review literatures, it would be theoritical foundation that is valid and reliable to develop propositions in organizational buying behavior. Based on review literature refferences, variables are classified into: purchase situation, member of decision making unit perception, conflict among the members, information search, influences among members of decision making unit. Integrated approach is used to develop propositions relating to: purchasing complexity, sharing responsibility among the members, conflict in decision making unit, information search, time pressure as moderating variable between sharing responsibility and conflict in decision making unit, the influence among the members inside decision making unit and decision making outcome


Author(s):  
Alexander J. Rothman ◽  
Austin S. Baldwin

This chapter suggests that an integration of perspectives from personality and social psychology (i.e., a Person × Intervention strategy framework) provides a rich context to explore precise specifications of the mediators and moderators that guide health behavior and decision-making. First discussed is how conceptualizations of moderated mediation and mediated moderation can enrich theory and serve to enumerate specific principles to guide the development and dissemination of more effective health behavior interventions. Second, research is reviewed from four different literatures that rely on a similar Person × Intervention strategy framework (i.e., the effectiveness of an intervention strategy depends on the degree to which it matches features of the target person) to examine evidence for the processes that mediate the effect of this moderated intervention approach. Finally described is how a more systematic analysis of the interplay between mediating and moderating processes can stimulate advances in theory, intervention research, and practice of health behavior.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 5367
Author(s):  
Amirarsalan Rajabi ◽  
Alexander V. Mantzaris ◽  
Ece C. Mutlu ◽  
Ozlem O. Garibay

Governments, policy makers, and officials around the globe are working to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by making decisions that strive to save the most lives and impose the least economic costs. Making these decisions require comprehensive understanding of the dynamics by which the disease spreads. In traditional epidemiological models, individuals do not adapt their contact behavior during an epidemic, yet adaptive behavior is well documented (i.e., fear-induced social distancing). In this work we revisit Epstein’s “coupled contagion dynamics of fear and disease” model in order to extend and adapt it to explore fear-driven behavioral adaptations and their impact on efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The inclusion of contact behavior adaptation endows the resulting model with a rich dynamics that under certain conditions reproduce endogenously multiple waves of infection. We show that the model provides an appropriate test bed for different containment strategies such as: testing with contact tracing and travel restrictions. The results show that while both strategies could result in flattening the epidemic curve and a significant reduction of the maximum number of infected individuals; testing should be applied along with tracing previous contacts of the tested individuals to be effective. The results show how the curve is flattened with testing partnered with contact tracing, and the imposition of travel restrictions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Hollingworth ◽  
Ama Pokuaa Fenny ◽  
Su-Yeon Yu ◽  
Francis Ruiz ◽  
Kalipso Chalkidou

Abstract Background Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are moving towards universal health coverage. The process of Health Technology Assessment (HTA) can support decisions relating to benefit package design and service coverage. HTA involves institutional cooperation with agreed methods and procedural standards. We systematically reviewed the literature on policies and capacity building to support HTA institutionalisation in SSA. Methods We systematically reviewed the literature by searching major databases (PubMed, Embase, etc.) until June 2019 using terms considering three aspects: HTA; health policy, decision making; and SSA. We quantitatively extracted and descriptively analysed content and conducted a narrative synthesis eliciting themes from the selected literature, which varied in study type and apporach. Results Half of the 49 papers identified were primary research studies and mostly qualitative. Five countries were represented in six of ten studies; South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, Cameroon, and Ethiopia. Half of first authors were from SSA. Most informants were policy makers. Five themes emerged: (1) use of HTA; (2) decision-making in HTA; (3) values and criteria for setting priority areas in HTA; (4) involving stakeholders in HTA; and (5) specific examples of progress in HTA in SSA. The first one was the main theme where there was little use of evidence and research in making policy. The awareness of HTA and economic evaluation was low, with inadequate expertise and a lack of local data and tools. Conclusions Despite growing interest in HTA in SSA countries, awareness remains low and HTA-related activities are uncoordinated and often disconnected from policy. Further training and skills development are needed, firmly linked to a strategy focusing on strengthening within-country partnerships, particularly among researchers and policy makers. The international community has an important role here by supporting policy- relevant technical assistance, highlighting that sustainable financing demands evidence-based processes for effective resource allocation, and catalysing knowledge-sharing opportunities among countries facing similar challenges.


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