Feasible Policy Research Articles

An appraisal of generic skills for Nigerian built environment professionals in workplace: the unexplored approach

PurposeResearch shows that employers are demanding generic skills from employees to complement disciplinary expertise. Evidence shows that majority of the higher institutions are struggling to meet this demand, especially in developing nations. Hence, these skills may be acquired while in the workplace through training and retraining. Studies concerning the Nigerian built environment professionals (BEP) generic skills in the workplace are scarce. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate Nigeria’s BEP generic skills in the workplace via an unexplored mechanism and proffer feasible policy solutions that can improve BEP generic skills development.Design/methodology/approachThe views of BEP were collated via a phenomenology type of qualitative research design across two major Nigerian cities where construction activities are soaring. Virtual interviews were conducted for 20 selected BEP. Data saturation was accomplished and the emerged three themes were analysed through a thematic analysis.FindingsFindings show that generic skills enhance value for money in construction project delivery. But many of these professionals do not possess these skills in their daily operations. This has raised concerns about the present curriculum for preparing the built environment graduates in today’s profession. Findings categorised the hindrances into employers related-hindrances and employees related-hindrances in Nigeria’s BEP context.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is confined to the relevance and hindrances of the generic skills for Nigerian BEP, and proffer feasible policies to promote generic skills in the workplace via a qualitative approach. Future study is needed to investigate the role of the various professional Institutes within Nigeria’s built environment in promoting generic skills.Practical implicationsThe paper advanced key stakeholders including BEP Institutes and regulatory bodies to redirect their continuing professional development towards developing professional values and identities as a trajectory to promote the growth of BEP generic skills in the workplace.Originality/valueThe proposed framework can be used to promote the implementation of generic skills for BEP across all levels. This would assist and stir up policymakers and other stakeholders in connection with the implementation of generic skills within the BEP.

How do demand-side policies contribute to the electrification and decarburization of private transportation in China? A CGE-based analysis

Deploying electric vehicles (EVs) is an important strategy for addressing local pollution and greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. However, EV purchase subsidies in China are being phased down, which could result in an oversupply of EVs. Therefore, based on a computable general equilibrium model with detailed transport and electricity technologies modules, this study focuses on establishing several feasible demand-side policies for private transport electrification and decarbonisation in China and analyses their environmental and socioeconomic effects. Results show that the effects of keeping subsidies are best for EV penetration in the short-term, and those of improving consumption preference are optimal in the long run. However, both measures show relatively limited effects on carbon abatement, energy savings, and electrification. Therefore, to improve overall EV penetration, we suggest a combination of keeping subsidies in the short-term and moderately improving EV consumption preference in the long run. Moreover, to improve the carbon abatement effect of EV deployment, a subsidy for renewable electricity should be implemented to promote the cost competitiveness of low-carbon electricity, which has positive effects on carbon abatement, fossil energy savings, electrification and smaller GDP loss. Meanwhile, targeted operations planning for EVs, petroleum-fuelled vehicles, electricity and petroleum enterprises were also proposed under different macro-control policy scenarios.

Tactics for carbon neutral office buildings in Hong Kong

This study evaluates strategies to achieve carbon neutrality in office buildings in Hong Kong and examines whether current energy efficiency standards and guidelines foster a 40% reduction of energy use intensity (EUI) by 2025. EnergyPlus was used to simulate energy efficient tactics for the envelope and systems in a reference office building under climate scenarios predicted for 2050 and 2080. Current standards help reduce the EUI by up to 19.23% in 2020 but the reduction shrinks to 10.47% in 2050 and 3.36% in 2080. Using daylight dimming control, extensive photovoltaic panels and advanced heating, ventilating and air-conditioning technologies will reduce carbon emissions by 31.99% in 2050 and 28.05% in 2080. Feasible carbon neutral policies proposed involve lowering carbon emission factors at the supply side, widening renewable energy applications to directly cut carbon emissions, and upgrading energy efficiency standards for building systems.

Empirical Research of Public Acceptance on Environmental Tax: A Systematic Literature Review

Several international organizations such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations (UN), and World Bank recommend that policymakers implement an environmental tax to reduce climate change, protect the environment and gain more income for governments. Effectiveness of the policy depends on a carefully designed framework, which essentially adopts the social and economic contextual of a country and public support. Researchers have been focusing on examining the factors that influence public acceptance of an environmental tax. This paper aims to systematically review the empirical studies using the RepOrting Standards for Systematic Evidence Syntheses (ROSES) protocol. The information is relevant for policy makers in designing a feasible and acceptable carbon tax policy. Furthermore, the paper provides suggestions for future research. Related articles were selected using two leading databases, namely Scopus and Science Direct, and one supporting database, namely Google Scholar. Thematic analysis was conducted on 60 articles and four main themes were derived with 32 subthemes. The analysis indicates that people are more supportive when they (i) are well informed about a policy’s effectiveness and the policy content, particularly the use of revenue, (ii) have high trust in the government, (iii) have a positive attitude toward protecting the environment, (iv) perceive the policy is fair in terms of costs distribution and social sharing, and (v) are concerned about the climate change issue.

Association of Acute Upper Respiratory Tract Infections with Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Case-Crossover, Nationwide, Population-Based Cohort Study.

The etiology of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) has been unclear until now. Understanding its potential etiology is crucial for the development of preventive medicine. In this study, we investigated the association between acute upper respiratory tract infections (URIs) and SSNHL risk. We conducted a case-crossover study by using the longitudinal health insurance database derived from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. Individual acute URI between the case and control periods was reviewed. Multivariable conditional logistic regression models were used to estimate the adjusted odds ratios (aORs) of SSNHL risk associated with acute URIs after adjustments for potential confounders. In total, 1131 patients with SSNHL between 2010 and 2013 fulfilled our inclusion criteria and were included. The aOR (95% confidence interval [CI]) for SSNHL was 1.57 (1.20–2.05) in relation to acute URIs one month before the index date. Moreover, the aORs (95% CIs) of the female and young to middle-aged (≤65 years) populations were 1.63 (1.13–2.36) and 1.76 (1.29–2.40), respectively. In addition, the association between SSNHL and acute URIs was decreased over time. The aOR for SSNHL was 1.25 (1.01–1.56) in relation to acute URIs three months before the index date. Acute URIs increase SSNHL risk and are a potential risk factor for SSNHL. The establishment of a feasible health policy for the prevention of acute URIs is crucial for SSNHL prevention, particularly in female, and young to middle-aged populations.

Vulnerable Older Adults' Identification, Geographic Distribution, and Policy Implications in China.

With the population aging and urbanization in China, vulnerable older adults tend to show more complex characteristics, bringing great challenges to public health policies. Using China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey data 2014, this paper builds a comprehensive index system for the identification of vulnerable older adults from three dimensions, including health, economy, and social support, then divides older adults into four support levels and six small classes by using the typological method. The results show that older adults in urgent need of assistance or priority are those poor in health and economic conditions, 1.46% of them are highly vulnerable because of the lack of social support; 12.76% of them obtain a certain social support are moderately vulnerable; and 34.72% of them are slightly vulnerable with disadvantage in only one dimension. The geographic distribution of different types of vulnerable older adults varies significantly. The paper provides evidence to design more feasible and specific policies with comprehensive considerations for different types of vulnerable older adults residing in different regions.

Fire safety management in public health-care buildings: issues and possible solutions

PurposeFrequent fire incidences in various hospitals across the globe with devastating effects on humans and other resources have multiplied. Stakeholders in the health-care sector are worried because of the yearly fire outbreak increase. However, fire safety management has been proved as a successful platform to mitigate fire in health-care facilities. How far regarding public health-care facilities is yet to receive in-depth studies in Malaysia. This paper aims to investigate the issues associated with fire safety management and proffers possible solutions to improve safety in public health-care facilities from the operators’ perception.Design/methodology/approachThe objectives were achieved through a combination of case studies of five selected Malaysia’s public hospitals and a qualitative approach. Thematic analysis with the assistance of MAXQDA (software program designed for computer-assisted qualitative and mixed methods data) 2018, a type of qualitative data analysis software was used to analyse the collated data which emerged from the knowledgeable participants.FindingsLax implementation of safety policy, inadequate water pressure, poor maintenance, inadequate communication system, amongst others, emerged as the issues. Findings proffer five main measures to possibly improve fire safety management in public health-care buildings. This includes a feasible institutional framework, improve the emergency response team, improve the occupational health and safety system and others.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is limited to exploring the issues associated with fire safety management and proffer possible solutions to improve safety in public health-care facilities from the operators’ perception. Future research is needed to engage useful information in advancing fire safety management in public hospital buildings and possibly developing a qualitative model using a generic fire response model. Also, to investigate the level of compliance with the requirements of a fire safety management plan and possibly develop a well-detailed fire safety plan in Malaysia’s public health-care buildings.Practical implicationsAs part of the paper implications, the paper concludes that improved fire protection systems via modern technologies and training of key staff members in accident response and recovery during fire emergencies should be encouraged. This can be achieved through the enforcement and implementation of a fire safety management plan. Thus, this study is encouraging the implementation and sustainability of a fire safety management plan for health-care buildings across Malaysia.Originality/valueTo the best of this paper’s knowledge, this is possibly the first comprehensive paper on fire safety management in public health-care facilities that engaged operators in Malaysia. Moreover, this paper proffers feasible policy solutions to improve the fire safety management plan in public health-care buildings.

Outlook of Present Organic Agriculture Policies and Future Needs in Sri Lanka

Many countries are formulating organic agriculture or organic farming policies aimed at sustainable agricultural development. Therefore, the objectives of this study were: to understand the present situation of organic agriculture policies in Sri Lanka and also in other countries where successful organic agriculture is operating; identify problems in the organic agriculture sector; and suggest potential policy measures to be implemented in Sri Lanka in future. The research was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, a thorough literature review was conducted to study the suitable policies available in other countries and also in Sri Lanka at present. In the second stage, two field surveys were carried out using pre-tested questionnaires, from December 2019 to May 2020, in order to gather farmers’ and extension officers’ information related to organic farming policy suggestions. According to the findings of the literature review, organic systems in some countries are more integrated with national strategic plans and visions. Those governments are more involved in new initiatives and farmers are encouraged to go organic through reliable and feasible policies. Although Sri Lanka has a high potential for organic agriculture, at present it is at an initial stage. While most organic products in Sri Lanka go to the export market, a small portion is kept at local markets. Demand for organic products in export as well as domestic markets is increasing. Even though there are seven international food certification agencies operating in the country as external inspection and certification bodies, a limited number of accredited certifications exist for products on the domestic market. Results of the farmers’ survey showed that even if farmers have a significant level of knowledge, few of them practice organic farming due to several existing problems. Moreover, extension officers have also identified similar types of problems that are faced by the farmers related to organic farming. Evaluation of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) related to organic agriculture in the country helped to identify key problems facing policy-makers when balancing the supply and demand sides of organic products. Also, in developing organic agriculture, an effective linkage and coordination among government and private participants is crucial. Therefore, in Sri Lanka in this context, strategic focus on policy support for organic agriculture is needed. Current organic farming programs need to be revised in order to formulate policies covering all areas related to production, handling, processing, certification, labeling and marketing, in order to bring the benefits of organic agriculture to farmers, marketers and consumers in a fair manner.

Spatiotemporal decomposition analysis of carbon emissions on Chinese residential central heating

Residential central heating (RCH) is an important part of residents’ well-being policy. However, it is accompanied by extensive energy consumption and carbon emissions. To identify and design efficient future clean heating strategies, we quantified the carbon emissions from RCH in China from 2000 to 2017. Notably, our study is the first to analyze the driving factors of RCH carbon emissions using decomposition analysis and introduce the climate parameter into the Kaya identity. The following results were obtained. 1) The RCH carbon emissions reached the flection point in 2016 (321.75 MtCO2). 2) Area-related energy intensity is the key driving factor to mitigate carbon emissions of RCH; the area-related carbon intensity in 2017 was one-third less than that in 2000. Conversely, per capita residential heating area and urban population increased carbon emissions from RCH. 3) At the provincial level, the recommended emission mitigation strategies were different. For example, Heilongjiang and Jilin should focus on decreasing the emission factors, whereas Shandong and Xinjiang need to focus on decreasing the area-related energy intensity. The results of this study can help governments to formulate more rational and feasible policies for the emission road map, and the targeted advice also offers a reference for future studies.

Subsidised water symbiosis of eco-industrial parks: A multi-stage game theory approach

Designing water symbiosis networks in an industrial site is aimed to solve the water quality and security problem by minimising freshwater consumption or pollutant discharge. However, implementing the symbiosis requires an expensive capital cost on the site and may need cost compensation by the authority to facilitate the operation. This work aims to identify the distribution of stable and fair profits to the plants from the government to each stakeholder with the Cooperative Game approach. This study considers the grand coalition of finite players (industrial plants/stakeholders) with authority to facilitate water recycling in an eco-industrial park. The first stage includes the determination of the park authority's objectives (i.e., to minimise cost, resource usage, or pollutants discharge) if the stakeholders cooperate. In the next stage, the park authority can then compensate the cost by providing incentives or subsidies for the stakeholders that participate in the symbiosis. The incentives can be a rewarding scheme for the recycling efforts, while the subsidies are the money required to build the facilities. The stakeholders are then allowed to decide the recycling amount that maximises their economic interests. A wastewater tax can be imposed by the authority to the stakeholders to stimulate them to take part in the symbiosis while generating the money source for subsidisation. Proper game analysis is provided to analyze the Nash Equilibrium solutions of the tax rate. A hypothetical case study is used to demonstrate how fair subsidisation can be identified and the implementation of taxation policy. The proposed framework demonstrates the potential benefits and guidelines for each industrial plant, as well as the government, to derive a feasible cooperative policy to achieve the goal of environmental emissions reduction and can be applied to analyze similar symbiosis.

Survey and Assessment of Covid-19 Pandemic on the Economy of Tra Vinh Province, Viet Nam and Policy Implications

This study aims to evaluate the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the business performance in Tra Vinh province, Viet Nam and suggests a feasible policy to overcome the challenges in the coming time. By collecting secondary data from the surveyed results report, the authors evaluate the impacts of Covid-19 on the business performance in Tra Vinh province via two surveys announced by Tra Vinh Statistical Office in April 2020 and September 2020; at the same time, by the method of evaluation, comparison and analysis, the current affairs and business activities of Tra Vinh province in the Covid-2019 pandemic period will also be effectively assessed; the effects of the epidemic on the business activities of the local enterprises. At the same time, we propose the implications of policies in the coming time, towards the dual goal of "Preventing of pandemic and ensuring the economic growth in Tra Vinh Province".

Financing coal-fired power plant to demonstrate CCS (carbon capture and storage) through an innovative policy incentive in China

Traditional policy incentives for carbon capture and storage (CCS) mainly rely on fiscal subsidies, which tend to put an inordinate strain on public finances. This study attempts to explore a non-fiscal incentive policy, granting a time extension (extra electricity quota), to finance early CCS demonstration projects in China. We find that coal-fired power plant (CFPP) operate at a loss even without CCS retrofitting under the current electricity quota (4000 h per year), while it can make profits with CCS retrofitting if extra electricity quotas are provided. Specifically, the electricity quota needs to be roughly 4709–7260 h per year with the CO2 capture level ranging from 0.1 to 1 Mt per year in the demonstration stage. In particular, the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of CFPP with a capture level of 1 Mt per year is estimated at 298.8 CNY/MWh if the electricity quota reaches 7000 h per year, which is approximately equal to that of CFPP without CCS retrofitting and extra electricity quota (292.2 CNY/MWh). Thus, the extra electricity quota can be considered as an economically feasible policy incentive, and related results are able to provide useful information for electric power enterprises and government decision-makers.

Effect of agricultural subsidies on the use of chemical fertilizer

Agricultural subsidies lead to changes in the use of chemical fertilizer by farmers. Using data from a household survey conducted annually by the Rural Economy Research Center of the Ministry of Agriculture of China from 2014 to 2018, Control Function (CF) approach and Heteroskedasticity-based identification strategy were employed to analyze the impact of agricultural subsidies on chemical fertilizer use by rice farmers. After addressing the problem of endogeneity, we found that agricultural subsidies have a significantly negative impact on the use of chemical fertilizer. Precisely, every 100% increase in agricultural subsidies would result in an average decrease of 3.4% in chemical fertilizer use. In addition, results of heterogeneity analysis showed that agricultural subsidies had a stronger negative impact on fertilizer use as rice-planting experience increases. But the ability of rice-planting management and off-farm labor within household could reduce this negative impact. We also found that the effect of arable land productivity conservation subsidies policy was short-lived. Furthermore, based on the frame of structural equation model (SEM), the results of mediation analysis showed that agricultural machine and rice-planting area had partial mediation of 5.3% and 41%, respectively. It implied that agricultural subsidies reduced fertilizer use by promoting the adoption of agricultural techniques and expanding the planting area. In brief, agricultural subsidies had both technical effect and scale effect. But the mediating effect of household income was not significant. This study is intended to assist the concerned authority and agriculture sector to understand the positive role of agricultural subsidies in sustainable production, and provides some feasible policy proposals.

Does the marginal child increase household debt? – Evidence from the new fertility policy in China

This paper investigates the effects of the number of children on household debt. Using data from the China Household Finance Survey in 2015 and 2017, this paper finds a positive relationship between the number of children in a family and household debt. To obtain a causal explanation via further analysis, this paper creates a natural experiment based on the new fertility policy implemented in China since 2016, and the results show that a marginal child significantly increases a family's household debt. Moreover, heterogeneous analysis reveals that the marginal child's effect on debt is larger both in households without a child before the marginal child's birth and in households located in urban areas. Finally, the results of this paper partly explain why the fertility rate has been low in China in recent years. The paper suggests feasible policies to raise the fertility rate.

Do pollutant discharge fees affect labor demand? evidence from china’s industrial enterprises

ABSTRACT The tradeoff between employment and the environment has become an increasingly important topic. By employing two enterprise-level datasets and a city-level dataset in China for the period 1999–2012, this study investigates the influence of pollutant discharge fees on the labour demand in manufacturing enterprises. Besides, considering the significant differences among cities, industries, and individuals in China, we perform a series of heterogeneity analysis. The study also explores the mediation impact mechanism from the manufacturing cost perspective, i.e. labour cost effect, energy cost effect, and equipment cost effect. The estimated results show that: (1) The more stringent pollutant discharge fees can significantly reduce the labour demand of Chinese manufacturing enterprises; for each 1% increase in the price of pollutant discharge fees, labour demand decreases by approximately 0.264%; (2) labour demand for cities with a low proportion of secondary industries, industries with low pollution intensity, and domestic private-owned enterprises tend to be influenced more by pollutant discharge fees; and (3) the labour cost effect and energy cost effect are both significant mediators, while the equipment cost effect is not significant. The above findings can provide feasible policy implications for improving environmental protection taxes.

Projections of carbon metabolism in 2035 and implications for demand-side controls under various scenarios

Carbon emission contributes significantly to environmental sustainability. There are overwhelming studies of how urbanization contributes to the increase of carbon emissions. However, it has been unclear how emission and economic change within urban systems evolve with social development in a long period. Therefore, feasible emission reduction policy for the near future is desired. Taking Guangdong province as a case study, Dynamic simulation model of carbon emission is developed to assess the stability of a metabolic system and simultaneously, explore potential changes of gross domestic products (GDP) and carbon emissions over a long period from 2000 to 2035, based on comprehensive applications of three-perspective stability and linkage analyses. Furthermore, eight simulated scenarios are developed to assess potential emissions and GDP changes of 2035 under the condition of reducing the final demand of key carbon emission sectors to varying degrees. We find that emission flows experience a remarkable increase during investigated years. Under the premise of minimizing economic losses and reduce emissions per unit GDP, emission reduction policies for final demand should be implemented on domestic products-reliant sectors rather than imported products-reliant sectors.

Peacebuilding conditionalities: An alternative to migration conditionalities for European Union development policy

SummaryMotivationThe European Union (EU) has securitized its development policy with migration conditionalities, resulting in the subordination of development objectives to the externalization of migration control. This has called into question the legitimacy and effectiveness of EU development policy while failing to provide a solution that prevents future refugee crises. How can these trends be reversed?PurposeThis article examines the feasibility and implications of peacebuilding conditionalities as an alternative to migration conditionalities with the aim of addressing the root causes of refugee crises, ensuring the effectiveness of EU development policy, and preserving its legitimacy.Methods and approachThe article outlines a theoretical framework to categorize development policy conditionalities and better understand their strengths and weaknesses. This is followed by an analysis of the EU’s financial, legal, and electoral framework in order to evaluate peacebuilding conditionalities as an alternative policy option.FindingsPeacebuilding conditionalities limit the ability of donor countries to influence migration behaviour while promoting capacity development by ensuring stability in migrants’ countries of origin. Replacing migration conditionalities with peacebuilding conditionalities is a feasible policy option in the current EU framework that can help prevent future refugee crises while encouraging synergy between Member States in development co‐operation—a promising policy area for European integration.Policy implicationsPeacebuilding conditionalities for development co‐operation would constitute a legitimate, effective, and integrating alternative to migration conditionalities at a time of crisis for the European project. With the prospect of a ceasefire in Libya, this would be especially suitable for a post‐conflict scenario.

Factors Affecting Hotel investment in Ethiopia: Evidence from South Gondar Administrative Zone, Ethiopia

The main objective of this study was to examine the factors affecting hotel investment in the case of South Gondar Administration Zone. Descriptive and Explanatory research design and mixed research approach were applied. The data was collected through structured questionnaire and semi- structured interviews. 220 sample respondents were selected for survey questionnaire and 9 informants were selected for interviews. The key informants were selected via purposive and multi-stage stratified sampling. The study was employed both descriptive statistics inferential statistics using SPSS Version 26. On the other hand, the five independent variables namely government policy, infrastructure, socio-cultural, location, and economic factors affect hotel investment. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher recommended that investment and land administration office could be make standard and feasible policy for hotel investor to minimize the complexity of policy. Keywords: Investment, Hotel, South Gondar Zone, Ethiopia, factors, DOI: 10.7176/JTHS/58-01 Publication date: August 31 st 2021

The political allocation of green pork and its implications for federal climate policy

This paper examines how the simultaneous choice of an emissions cap and the allocation of permits to secure key votes affects the ability for climate policy to pass the U.S. Congress and the conditional efficiency and equity of such feasible policies. When permits are politically allocated, Congress selects a cap both for the external benefits it provides as well as the private green pork, or value of permits, it generates. Legislative bargaining in contexts when public and private goods are co-produced, such as climate change, induces trade-offs between policy passage and conditional efficiency and equity. Moreover, lowering the vote threshold or originating climate policy in the Senate results in a policy that is more vulnerable to unanticipated deviations in the winning coalition.

Incorporating convex incidence rate and public awareness program in modelling drinking abuse and novel control strategies with time delay

In the recent past, a mathematical model has been formulated showing the impact of public health education campaigns and linear relapse on drinking abuse. The purpose of the present study is to provide a modified variant of this drinking abuse model. Hence, initially, our model incorporates a convex incidence rate, which will show the scenario that if an individual quits alcohol abuse and after a short interval he/she restarts alcohol use. In addition, it will examine the existence of Hopf bifurcation as well as study stability analysis and the time delay is used in the formulation of the delayed drinking model. Based on some auxiliary conditions, it is shown that the underlying model is globally asymptotically stable. Furthermore, to construct a controlled system, novel control variables have been introduced, and results related to controlling the abuse in society are carried out. Lastly, to show the authenticity of the obtained results, graphical representations are given for stability, instability and impact of the suggested control variables. In this research endeavour, we conclude that mathematical models are useful tools for knowing the dynamics of drinking abuse and for suggesting policy-makers towards more useful and feasible policies to contain this abuse.