scholarly journals Supporting Policy Design for the Diffusion of Cleaner Technologies: A Spatial Empirical Agent-Based Model

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caterina Caprioli ◽  
Marta Bottero ◽  
Elena De Angelis

Renewable energy resources and energy-efficient technologies, as well as building retrofitting, are only some of the possible strategies that can achieve more sustainable cities and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Subsidies and incentives are often provided by governments to increase the number of people adopting these sustainable energy efficiency actions. However, actual sales of green products are currently not as high as would be desired. The present paper applies a hybrid agent-based model (ABM) integrated with a Geographic Information System (GIS) to simulate a complex socio-economic-architectural adaptive system to study the temporal diffusion and the willingness of inhabitants to adopt photovoltaic (PV) systems. The San Salvario neighborhood in Turin (Italy) is used as an exemplary case study for testing consumer behavior associated with this technology, integrating social network theories, opinion formation dynamics and an adaptation of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Data/characteristics for both buildings and people are explicitly spatialized with the level of detail at the block scale. Particular attention is given to the comparison of the policy mix for supporting decision-makers and policymakers in the definition of the most efficient strategies for achieving a long-term vision of sustainable development. Both variables and outcomes accuracy of the model are validated with historical real-world data.

Author(s):  
Jonathan A Veale

This article examines the emerging application of systemic design methodology within government as practiced by the Alberta Public Service in Edmonton, Canada. A case study, from a practitioner’s perspective, for systemic policy design is presented as an innovation facing approach useful for cultural change and decision-support.  Lessons about applying systemic design within government and essential capabilities and qualities of practitioners are outlined. For some systemic designers, government might be the best place to effect systemic change especially those particularly concerned about advancing stewardship and innovation within the culture of government. This article is useful to public sector practitioners interested in applying systemic methodology to complex and long-term policy predicaments.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sachiko Ozawa ◽  
Daniel R. Evans ◽  
Colleen R. Higgins ◽  
Sarah K. Laing ◽  
Phyllis Awor

Author(s):  
Amanda Hashimoto ◽  
Nicole Abaid

Abstract In this paper, we introduce an agent-based model of lost person behavior that may be used to improve current methods for wilderness search and rescue (SAR). The model defines agents moving on a landscape with behavior considered as a random variable. The behavior uses a distribution of four known lost person behavior strategies in order to simulate possible trajectories for the agent. We simulate all possible distributions of behaviors in the model and compute distributions of horizontal distances traveled in a fixed time. By comparing these results to analogous data from a database of lost person cases, we explore the model’s validity with respect to real-world data.


2019 ◽  
pp. 1-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Harting

Do fiscal stabilization policies affect the long-term growth of the economy? If so, are the long-term effects growth enhancing or growth reducing? When addressing these questions from a theoretical perspective, the literature has typically emphasized the importance of structural aspects such as the modeling approach of endogenous technological change while paying less attention to an elaborate design of the considered fiscal stabilization policies. This paper uses an agent-based macroeconomic model that generates endogenous business cycles to emphasize the role of the policy design for long-term growth effects of stabilization policies. By comparing a demand-oriented consumption policy and two different investment subsidizing policies, it can be shown that these policies are successful in smoothing the business cycle but differ in terms of their effects on economic long-term growth. This highlights the importance of policy design for the analysis of long-term effects of stabilization policies.


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