Choice Variables Research Articles

Investigating correlates of personal and freight road transport energy consumption: A case study of England

In most countries worldwide, the transport sector is responsible for a large proportion of energy consumption, the emissions of which have adverse effects on the environment and human health. It is therefore important to understand the determinants of road transport energy consumption in an attempt to minimise these adverse effects. This paper examines the association which road transport energy consumption, for both personal and freight uses, has with a number of area-level factors, covering a host of socio-economic, built environment and travel mode choice variables. We considered England as our case study, using local authority level data. A random parameters multilevel regression model was utilised in order to accommodate the hierarchical structure of the data, with local authorities nested within major areas of England, and to address unobserved heterogeneity more fully. We paid a particular attention to understand the association between levels of active travel and road transport energy consumption, as this is less-understood. Most notably, gross disposable household income per capita had a positive association with personal road transport energy consumption, and the proportion of walking and cycling had a negative association with both personal and freight consumption. The analysis presented here may be useful in modelling the effect that anticipated changes might have on road transport energy consumption, for instance, new transport developments. In particular, local authorities may consider making a concerted effort at promoting active travel as this was found to be highly negatively associated with road transport energy consumption. As well as this, an insight into the disparity in transport energy consumption between geographical areas is provided, which may otherwise go unobserved.

Mengukur Citra Carrefour Bg Junction Di Kota Surabaya

This research aims to determine the image of Carrefour Bg Junction Surabaya from the perspective of consumers. The sample used was 35 people consisting of 35 hope questionnaires and 35 performance questionnaires. Determining the sample in this study used probability sampling with proportional sample strata. The results of the analysis using the Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) method show that the image of Carrefour Bg Junction Surabaya is quite good in the eyes of consumers. This can be seen in the results of the IPA map graph which consists of 6 variables, namely the service provided by employees, the quality of the products sold, the product choice variable, the retail atmosphere variable, the comfort variable and the value/price factor. Where the service variables provided by employees and the retail atmosphere variables are considered important and are expected to be supporting factors for consumer satisfaction, so that Carrefour Bg Junction Surabaya is obliged to ensure that the performance of the stores managed can continue to maintain the achievements that have been achieved. Apart from that, there are 4 other variables, namely the quality of the product sold, product choice, convenience and value/price factors which are considered to influence consumer perceptions which are less important but the implementation is excessive and considered less important but very satisfying.

The Role Of E-Commerce For MSMEs

The purpose of this research is to determine the determinants of choice variables for MSME companies in Cimahi when it comes to using e-commerce. In this study, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is used as a theoretical framework to construct research hypotheses. The earliest stages of the research began with the collection of primary data in the form of questionnaire responses from Cimahi chips SMEs, with a total of 148 respondents filling out the questionnaire. The acquired data will next be processed using various linear regression methods. According to the findings of the study, Cimahi chip SMEs have a favorable attitude toward e-commerce adoption. They also include the influence of social norms as a factor to consider when adopting e-commerce. Perceived behavioral control influences e-commerce adoption as well. Based on the findings of the research, footwear MSMEs that have not used e-commerce should analyze the benefits of e-commerce for business, while MSMEs that have used e-commerce can assess the benefits and restrictions of utilizing e-commerce. The government can also help MSMEs adopt e-commerce by giving training, constructing suitable infrastructure, and establishing applicable legislation.

The Influence Of Advertising And Sales Promotion On Purchasing Decisions At Gultik Stores In Balikpapan City

Individual Gultik Shop in Balikpapan City. This type of food is very popular among young people in Jakarta, and this food needs to be further developed and served among young people in the city of Balikpapan. How to introduce Gultik Rakyat is also simple. Gultik Rakyat is a food made from hamburger curry which is then made by boiling until cooked, then the meat is cut into small pieces then the meat is blended with gravy that is suitable for serving by buyers. The testing technique used is a quantitative method with important information taken using polls, the number of residents who are respondents are buyers who have bought groceries at Toko Gultik Rakyat. In the results of various straight relapse investigations, the direction of a positive relationship is seen from the value of a positive relationship coefficient, then the large value of the driving variable is SIG. 0.002 < 0.05 and tcount of 4.008 > ttable of 1.661. Promote variables to specific GIs. 0.004 < 0.05 and tcount of 3.884 > ttable of 1.661. In the F esteem test, it was found that Fcalculate esteem was 32.190 with an importance value of 0.000 and critical F esteem < 0.05. As a result, H0 is rejected and Ha is recognized. That is, the independent factors of publication (X1) and transaction progress (X2) act simultaneously or together on the dependent variable on the purchase option (Y). Meanwhile, judging from the results of the connection test, it was found that the relationship coefficient (R Square) is 0.425, and this means that the relationship between promotion and promotion factors on the purchase choice variable is strong.

The Influence Of Advertising And Sales Promotion On Purchasing Decisions At Gultik Stores In Balikpapan City

Individual Gultik Shop in Balikpapan City. This type of food is very popular among young people in Jakarta, and this food needs to be further developed and served among young people in the city of Balikpapan. How to introduce Gultik Rakyat is also simple. Gultik Rakyat is a food made from hamburger curry which is then made by boiling until cooked, then the meat is cut into small pieces then the meat is blended with gravy that is suitable for serving by buyers. The testing technique used is a quantitative method with important information taken using polls, the number of residents who are respondents are buyers who have bought groceries at Toko Gultik Rakyat. In the results of various straight relapse investigations, the direction of a positive relationship is seen from the value of a positive relationship coefficient, then the large value of the driving variable is SIG. 0.002 < 0.05 and tcount of 4.008 > ttable of 1.661. Promote variables to specific GIs. 0.004 < 0.05 and tcount of 3.884 > ttable of 1.661. In the F esteem test, it was found that Fcalculate esteem was 32.190 with an importance value of 0.000 and critical F esteem < 0.05. As a result, H0 is rejected and Ha is recognized. That is, the independent factors of publication (X1) and transaction progress (X2) act simultaneously or together on the dependent variable on the purchase option (Y). Meanwhile, judging from the results of the connection test, it was found that the relationship coefficient (R Square) is 0.425, and this means that the relationship between promotion and promotion factors on the purchase choice variable is strong.

Climate shocks, vulnerability, resilience and livelihoods in rural Zambia

ABSTRACT Climate and weather shocks pose risks to livelihoods in Southern Africa. We assess the extent to which smallholders are exposed to climate shocks in Zambia and how behavioural choices influence the negative effects of these shocks on vulnerability and resilience. We use household data from the nationally representative Rural Agricultural Livelihoods Survey and employ an instrumental variable probit regression model to control for the endogeneity of key choice variables. There are four main findings. First, droughts are the most prevalent climate shock faced by rural smallholder farmers in Zambia, but the extent of exposure differs spatially, with the Southern and Western Provinces being the hardest hit. Nationally, 76% of all smallholder farmers are vulnerable and only 24% are resilient, with female households most vulnerable. Second, increased climate shocks correlate with both increased vulnerability and reduced resilience, with short- and long-term deviations in seasonal rainfall worsening vulnerability and resilience. Third, higher asset endowments and education are correlated with reduced vulnerability and increased resilience. And last, climate-smart agricultural practices significantly improve household resilience. These findings imply a need to support scaling of climate-smart agricultural technologies and to invest in risk mitigation strategies such as weather-indexed insurance and targeted social cash transfers.

Does greenwashing obstruct sustainable environmental technologies and green financing from promoting environmental sustainability? Analytical evidence from the Indian economy

AbstractThis study aims at assessing the impacts of green growth, in the form of adopting sustainable energy technologies and financing green projects, on environmental conditions in India. Thus, this study is important from the point of view of India's efforts in formulating strategies linked with achieving the environmental development targets enlisted under United Nations SDG‐13 declaration. In this regard, it is assumed that strategies targeted at establishing green growth in India can fail in the presence of greenwashing. To test this hypothesis, a newly introduced econometric technique, namely the Augmented‐ARDL techniques of estimation is used. Accordingly, the results obtained firstly suggest the existence of long‐run and cointegrated relationship exists between the variables of choice. Secondly, it is very much striking to find out that the the there is an inverse relationship between use of sustainable environmental technologies and environmental sustainability across India. Hence, this particular finding points to the possibility of stimulating geenwashing in the context of technology adoption in order to improve the state of the environment in India. Lastly, financing of green projects is seen to promote environmental sustainability which, in turn, affirms the absence of greenwashing in the context of green financing initiatives.

Corporate reputation and shareholder investment: a study of Egypt's tourism listed companies

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the impact of corporate reputation on investors and whether it influences company investment returns. While previous research has focused on specific components of reputation, neglected risks associated with the analyzed firms, and relied on accounting performance metrics, this study takes into account both return and risk factors to examine how they affect corporate reputation and investment decision-making.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 300 active investors in the Egyptian exchange stock market, and the seven-paradigm RepTrak model was used to assess reputation structures and expected return and risk. Structural equation modeling was employed to confirm the theories.FindingsThe findings highlight that investors demonstrate a primary focus on the financial performance of organizations when making stock market decisions, while also considering non-financial factors such as products, innovation, citizenship, governance, and emotional appeal. Their prioritization of investment returns and risks takes precedence over evaluating workplace practices.Originality/valueThis study's originality lies in its incorporation of return and risk measurements as crucial investment choice variables, contributing to the financial markets’ research on corporate reputation. By managing their reputation, corporations can enhance investors’ demand for their stocks and optimize their investment opportunities.

Minimizing the impact of geographical basis risk on weather derivatives

AbstractIn the last decade, the index-based weather products (also called weather derivatives) have been gaining attention in the climate resilience discussion. Weather derivatives are designed to help companies hedging against climate variability. These products, that can be market-traded or over-the-counter, compensate individuals based on a pre-defined weather index. Thus, pay-offs of a weather derivative depend on a weather index and not, as with traditional types of insurance, on the actual amount of money lost due to adverse weather. One of the major drawbacks that may prevent weather derivatives to catch on is the impact of the Geographical Basis Risk (GBR), that is the deviation of weather conditions at different locations. In fact, when the reference weather station is not located in the immediate vicinity of the site of interest the hedging effectiveness may be reduced. In this paper, we contribute to the existing literature on GBR by proposing an optimization method that may help in offering a tailored solution, while at the same time keeping a standardized instrument as a reference. Using a historical record of Italian temperatures, strikes for temperatures are the choice variables of a penalty function containing pay-offs of a reference station and all other stations. Further, altitude and latitude of meteorological stations are shown to be relevant predictors to explain GBR. This can be an interesting starting point for the design of weather derivatives, since, from a unique station where the “reference” derivative is priced, all the other stations may be easily settled.

Neural Evidence for Boundary Updating as the Source of the Repulsive Bias in Classification.

Binary classification, an act of sorting items into two classes by setting a boundary, is biased by recent history. One common form of such bias is repulsive bias, a tendency to sort an item into the class opposite to its preceding items. Sensory-adaptation and boundary-updating are considered as two contending sources of the repulsive bias, yet no neural support has been provided for either source. Here, we explored human brains of both men and women, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), to find such support by relating the brain signals of sensory-adaptation and boundary-updating to human classification behavior. We found that the stimulus-encoding signal in the early visual cortex adapted to previous stimuli, yet its adaptation-related changes were dissociated from current choices. Contrastingly, the boundary-representing signals in the inferior-parietal and superior-temporal cortices shifted to previous stimuli and covaried with current choices. Our exploration points to boundary-updating, rather than sensory-adaptation, as the origin of the repulsive bias in binary classification.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Many animal and human studies on perceptual decision-making have reported an intriguing history effect called "repulsive bias," a tendency to classify an item as the opposite class of its previous item. Regarding the origin of repulsive bias, two contending ideas have been proposed: "bias in stimulus representation because of sensory adaptation" versus "bias in class-boundary setting because of belief updating." By conducting model-based neuroimaging experiments, we verified their predictions about which brain signal should contribute to the trial-to-trial variability in choice behavior. We found that the brain signal of class boundary, but not stimulus representation, contributed to the choice variability associated with repulsive bias. Our study provides the first neural evidence supporting the boundary-based hypothesis of repulsive bias.

A Survey of Infill Well Location Optimization Techniques

The maximization of the net present value of the investment in oil field improvements is greatly aided by the optimization of well location, which plays a significant role in the production of oil. However, using of optimization methods in well placement developments is exceedingly difficult since the well placement optimization scenario involves a large number of choice variables, objective functions, and restrictions. In addition, a wide variety of computational approaches, both traditional and unconventional, have been applied in order to maximize the efficiency of well installation operations. This research demonstrates how optimization approaches used in well placement have progressed since the last time they were examined. Following that, the research looked at a variety of different optimization strategies, and it demonstrated the limitations of each strategy as well as the scope of its application in order to achieve a suitable level of accuracy and simulation run time. In conclusion, this study presents an all-encompassing analysis of the well location optimization approaches that are applied in the petroleum engineering area, ranging from traditional methods to contemporary methods that make use of artificial intelligence.

Seeking the Bomb: Strategies of Nuclear Proliferation by Vipin Narang

How do states acquire the nuclear bomb? Vipin Narang’s Seeking the Bomb: Strategies of Nuclear Proliferation is a compelling new contribution that answers the question comprehensively and adds a new analytical toolkit to help us understand how states pursue the nuclear bomb. Narang proposes a pivot away from focusing on why questions to how questions. In doing so, he focuses on the choices of nuclear proliferation strategy that lie in front of states seeking to build a nuclear weapon. The book, thus, marks a welcome shift away from the previous focus of the literature on why states build the bomb to really examining the process of how they do it. Furthermore, by highlighting the role of domestic political variables in the ultimate choice of a proliferation strategy, the book moves away from the standard realist assumption of the state as a unitary actor in nuclear decision-making. Contrary to the common perception that states sprint toward making a nuclear weapon as soon as they decide to acquire them, this book posits that states pursue different types of proliferation strategies: hedging (developing to build a bomb if required), sprinting (building the bomb as quick as possible), sheltered pursuit (using the cover of a patron major power to build a bomb), and hiding (secretly building the bomb). These different strategies of proliferation disaggregate what it means to pursue a nuclear weapon by highlighting the different stages of nuclear development that states might be in on their way to becoming a nuclear-weapon state. Within these different strategies, the “varieties of hedging” highlight a rich spectrum of hedging behavior—from technical hedging to insurance hedging to hard hedging—that helps us understand the actions of potential proliferators that may sometimes not seek a bomb but just a “bomb option” (p. 125). Thus, states either simply may put the technological pieces in place to build a bomb (technical hedging), or be further along the way developing the ability to have an accelerated nuclear weapons program if required (insurance hedging), or have all the pieces in place to build a nuclear weapon without overtly crossing the threshold (hard hedging). This is a useful framework that adds considerable nuance to the study of nuclear latent states, like Japan and South Korea, that are considered to have the capacity to build the bomb if they so desired.

Temporal stability of shipment size decisions related to choice of truck type

The choice of shipment size is a vital decision in logistics and has a strong indirect influence on freight transport demand, via the choice of mode and truck type choice. Through time, shipment sizes can change as a result of new decisions in the logistics process or due to conditions external to the supply chain. This study investigates the temporal stability of shipment size choices, relating these to the choice of truck types. It uses repeated cross-sectional data for the years 2015, 2017, and 2019 collected from cordon and business establishment surveys in Addis Ababa city, Ethiopia. The integrated choice and latent variables (ICLV) and latent growth (LG) models were used to assess the time-dependent patterns of choosing shipment sizes, both at the level of the entire freight system as well as the specific truck types. The model results reveal that shipment size decisions are temporally unstable where, in our case, shipment sizes exhibited a declining trend.

Beyond the cancer slope factor: Broad application of Bayesian and probabilistic approaches for cancer dose-response assessment

Traditional cancer slope factors derived from linear low-dose extrapolation give little consideration to uncertainties in dose–response model choice, interspecies extrapolation, and human variability. As noted previously by the National Academies, probabilistic methods can address these limitations, but have only been demonstrated in a few case studies. Here, we applied probabilistic approaches for Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA), interspecies extrapolation, and human variability distributions to 255 animal cancer bioassay datasets previously used by governmental agencies. We then derived predictions for both population cancer incidence and individual cancer risk. For model uncertainty, we found that lower confidence limits from BMA and from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Benchmark Dose Software (BMDS) correlated highly, with 86% differing by <10-fold. Incorporating other uncertainties and human variability, the lower confidence limits of the probabilistic risk-specific dose (RSD) at 10−6 population incidence were typically 3- to 30-fold lower than traditional slope factors. However, in a small (<7%) number of cases of highly non-linear experimental dose–response, the probabilistic RSDs were >10-fold less stringent. Probabilistic RSDs were also protective of individual risks of 10−4 in >99% of the population. We conclude that implementing Bayesian and probabilistic methods provides a more scientifically rigorous basis for cancer dose–response assessment and thereby improves overall cancer risk characterization.

Automating NISQ Application Design with Meta Quantum Circuits with Constraints (MQCC)

Near-term intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) computers are likely to have very restricted hardware resources, where precisely controllable qubits are expensive, error-prone, and scarce. Programmers of such computers must therefore balance trade-offs among a large number of (potentially heterogeneous) factors specific to the targeted application and quantum hardware. To assist them, we propose Meta Quantum Circuits with Constraints (MQCC) , a meta-programming framework for quantum programs. Programmers express their application as a succinct collection of normal quantum circuits stitched together by a set of (manually or automatically) added meta-level choice variables, whose values are constrained according to a programmable set of quantitative optimization criteria. MQCC’s compiler generates the appropriate constraints and solves them via an SMT solver, producing an optimized, runnable program. We showcase a few MQCC’s applications for its generality including an automatic generation of efficient error syndrome extraction schemes for fault-tolerant quantum error correction with heterogeneous qubits and an approach to writing approximate quantum Fourier transformation and quantum phase estimation that smoothly trades off accuracy and resource use. We also illustrate that MQCC can easily encode prior one-off NISQ application designs- –multi-programming (MP) , crosstalk mitigation (CM) —as well as a combination of their optimization goals (i.e., a combined MP-CM).

21세기 한국영화, ‘가난 혐오’와 청년

This is an era in which people do not regard absolute poverty as their own problem. However, the low rates of poverty and the seeming ease of escaping from poverty mean that the poor have to bear a greater stigma. As evidenced by the emergence of various words that hate the poor, poverty has become a shame that must be thoroughly concealed. Poverty is becoming a disease of the mind, beyond just economic difficulties.BR This article focuses on contemporary Korean films that put poverty at the center of the narrative. Films after the 2010s, which focused on poverty as a problematic reality of young people, are the main subjects of research. Under the premise that cinema is essentially the story of a community belonging to the public realm, I will examine the way poor young people are being narrativised on the screen, and through it, I will try to reveal the main affect of this era. The Films that imagines poverty provide an opportunity to discuss the value systems that dominate this era and the psychological reality shared throughout society, along with the opportunity to face our inner desires and anxieties’.BR The current films, which put poor young people at the center of the narrative, erased the connection with the social reality of the times, unlike the past, when poverty was contextualized as closely related to the history of the nation. Poverty is represented as a very personal problem. Today’s young people have been living hard in high-intensity competition since childhood, but the reward for it is very small. As the difficulties of growth faced by the young generation and the variables of choice and responsibility intervene, a more complex and dark psychological landscape depicting poverty was created in the film.BR In these films, the young man is represented as a ‘homeless’ wandering in search of a place to sleep, in a situation of isolation in which all personal relationships are disintegrated. In addition, various hate speeches that distinguish and constantly stigmatize poor young people appear every time, and among them, the self-hatred that poor young people in the same situation spit out toward each other requires attention. Although the state of mind differs depending on gender, most films carefully depict the process by which the space occupied by the poor young people becomes narrower, the moment when the relationship is broken and they are stigmatized and insulted. These films, which end in destruction or isolation without any hope, bring to the fore a more gloomy affect than modern people’s sense of alienation. The image of a young man who chooses the path of subordination rather than bocoming a master forms a depressing self-portrait of a young generation with anxiety about a dead-end world and self-hatred.BR What lies behind this cinematic phenomenon is meritocracy that brings meritism to the fore. Meritocracy, a regime that dominates the minds of people of this era, is democratic compared to Aristocracy, but it causes continuous anxiety and produces hatred. Under meritocracy, which connects ability, performance and reward in a straight line, ordinary people are more likely to feel frustrated and have the feelings of losers and drive everyone into a state of psychological poverty. Furthermore, as neoliberal values are internalized, a very desperate perception of reality and self-hatred are prevalent. These problems cannot be overcome by individual will alone, but can be solved only when the entire community cooperates together. Cinema, a kind of public record, can be an affective way to reduce the wounds of the heart and prevent hatred by alleviating the pressures from meritocracy and performance.

How do accounting records affect corporate financial performance? Empirical evidence from the Indonesian public listed companies

Previous studies demonstrate that accounting choices could, directly and indirectly, affect firm performance. We investigate whether accounting choices and financial ratios could affect firm performance. We extend the financial ratio variables by adding accounting choice and interaction variables. Based on the panel random effect regression analysis of 100 Indonesian public listed firms, we report that activity ratio, leverage, and depreciation method choice tend to be associated with firm profitability. We conclude that higher assets and leverage tend to be associated with higher efficiency and fewer monitoring costs. However, there is a difference in direction between equity and asset for the leverage variable. This may be explained by the existence of premiums (or discounts) in the equity component, but not in the asset component.

What is the general population’s perception of smart motorways in the UK?

Motorway users have various opinions about the types of smart motorways. Motor-way utilization can be affected if road users have a negative perception towards certain types of smart motorway, particularly on the topic of safety. There are three types of smart motorways in the UK. These are Controlled, Dynamic and All-Lane Running. This study focuses on the comparison of ALR and DHS smart motorways as ALR smart motorways are aiming to replace and improve upon DHS smart motorways. The aim of this project is to understand how the general population perceive smart motorways in the UK. This aim will be achieved through answering a series of these research questions: (1) How does existing knowledge of smart motorways effect perception of smart motorways; (2) How does age effect perception of smart motorways; (3) How does car ownership affect perception of smart motorways? Data were collected using an online survey disseminated to the UK vehicle and non-vehicle drivers via social media and advertisements. Descriptive statistics and cluster analysis were used to analyse the dataset and find similarity clusters. The primary research shows that ~57% of the survey respondents had never heard of or did not know the meaning of the 3 different types of smart motorway and only ~13% of respondents fully understand the different types. Car owners in both cluster analysis models show substantial variation in the results of the comfort / smart motorway choice variables. Greater knowledge and awareness about smart motorways is required to improve the perception of smart motorways. It would seem that this is particularly true for all-lane running smart motorways which are both the newest and most physically different type of smart motorway with their removal of the hard shoulder.

Adaptive tuning of human learning and choice variability to unexpected uncertainty.

Human value-based decisions are notably variable under uncertainty. This variability is known to arise from two distinct sources: variable choices aimed at exploring available options and imprecise learning of option values due to limited cognitive resources. However, whether these two sources of decision variability are tuned to their specific costs and benefits remains unclear. To address this question, we compared the effects of expected and unexpected uncertainty on decision-making in the same reinforcement learning task. Across two large behavioral datasets, we found that humans choose more variably between options but simultaneously learn less imprecisely their values in response to unexpected uncertainty. Using simulations of learning agents, we demonstrate that these opposite adjustments reflect adaptive tuning of exploration and learning precision to the structure of uncertainty. Together, these findings indicate that humans regulate not only how much they explore uncertain options but also how precisely they learn the values of these options.

Travel Behaviour Analysis and Exploration of Mode Choice Variability of Short-Distance Travellers

Commuters tend to shift from public to private transport modes due to various reasons. This results in an increased traffic volume in the urban road network. The ultimate consequence is traffic congestion which creates massive economic losses and adverse environmental pollution. To provide a feasible solution for the above problems, this study is set to examine the factors affecting transport mode choice. Factor analysis was used to identify the factors influencing the mode choice variability of the commuters. Parameter estimation is done using the Multinomial Logit (MNL) model based on the utility maximization theory. The adjusted likelihood ratio index is used to show the model fits. Also, t-statistics and the respective sign of parameters are used to show the validity of estimated parameters. The outcome of the factor analysis shows that age and occupation significantly affect the public transport mode choice under personal characteristics. For private mode choice, the contributing factors are gender, age, occupation and monthly income. Trip distance, invehicle travel time, and travel cost are significantly influencing both public and private transport mode choices. Results of the estimated parameters and elasticity analysis suggest that more commuters can be attracted to public transport by reducing the total travel time of buses.