Innovative Contract Research Articles

Classification and Structural Analysis of Value Chain Contracts for Biodiversity Conservation in the European Union

Enhancing biodiversity is crucial for ensuring food security and fostering sustainable agricultural practices. To this end, agri-environmental and climate schemes (AECS) and innovative contracts are implemented to promote biodiversity conservation and Ecosystem Services. Studying the implemented contracts and their characteristics can lead to improving their performance and efficiency. This paper examines the value chain contracts covered in three European projects and classifies them based on their contractual, financial, environmental and biodiversity characteristics. The design of the contracts was analyzed and seven categories were identified regarding the structure of the value chains and the interplay among stakeholders within these contracts. Our findings underscore the significant role of the private sector in preserving biodiversity and financing environmental practices, complemented by the public sector's contribution in motivating farmers and raising consumer awareness.

New pathways for improved delivery of public goods from agriculture and forestry

This special issue of Bio-based and Applied Economics (BAE) features a selection of five papers developed within the EU H2020 project ‘CONtract SOLutions for Effective and lasting delivery of agri-environmental-climate public goods by EU agriculture and forestry’ (CONSOLE) (H2020-RUR-2018-2, GA No. 817949). CONSOLE has been comprehensively investigating the effectiveness, efficiency and longevity of innovative contract solutions for the provision of Agri-Environmental Climate Public Goods (AECPGs), the acceptance of such contracts amongst European farmers and stakeholders, as well as the drivers and mechanisms influencing the implementation.

Intellectual Property Commercialization at Higher Education Institutions in the Context of Innovative Contracts Involving Interaction with Russian Industrial Enterprises

Intellectual Property Commercialization at Higher Education Institutions in the Context of Innovative Contracts Involving Interaction with Russian Industrial Enterprises

THE ROLE OF ISLAMIC BANKING INNOVATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPLEX FINANCIAL CONTRACTS IN ALGERIA

This study aims to highlight the role of Islamic banking innovation in the development of complex financial contracts, by conducting a field study at the level of Al Salam Bank -Algeria. In order to familiarize ourselves with the aspects of the study, the deductive approach was adopted by describing the concepts associated with both Islamic banking innovation and complex financial contracts. 30 forms were distributed to the workers of the bank under study and 25 valid forms were retrieved for analysis and processing using the SPSS program. After we addressed the subject of the study, the following results were reached: Islamic banking innovation contributes to the development of complex financial contracts effectively and positively by developing available contracts and submitting new innovative contracts that suit the conditions of the bank and in accordance with the provisions of Sharia.

Research on the Construction and Effectiveness of Teaching Resource Sharing Platform for Art and Design Majors

Abstract In the information society, the sharing characteristics of Internet information provide students with rich teaching resources. This study integrates Hadoop technology with the teaching resource sharing system for art and design majors in colleges and universities. It builds an open-source parallelised computing and distributed architecture based on the traditional B/S model, using the distributed file system HDFS to store massive teaching resources. On this basis, MapReduce, a parallelised programming model, is used to provide parallel computing retrieval functions, and the innovative contract technology of blockchain is introduced to store data-heavy shared teaching resources in the underlying IPFS to ensure the security and trustworthiness of shared data. The results show that under the blockchain environment, the retrieval time of teaching resources is as low as 12ms only, and the Gas value consumed by the operation of storing data totals 0.1385 ETH, which meets the performance requirements of the platform and provides a new practical solution for sharing teaching resources.

The use of innovative contracts to provide agri-environmental public goods: Comparing attitudes between Ireland and other European countries

Results-based, collective action, value chain, and land tenure contracts are means to improve the management of agri-environmental public goods. The objective of this paper is to assess the understandability, applicability, and perceived economic benefit of each of these contract types by land managers and stakeholders in twelve European countries, with a special emphasis on Ireland. Using survey data, we find that most land managers agree that results-based contracts are understandable, applicable to their farm, and economically beneficial. A lower portion of land managers in Ireland than other European countries agree that value chain and land tenure contracts are understandable or applicable to their farms. The results suggest that greater efforts are required to promote collective action contracts across Europe as they are paramount to the management of public goods. To increase the adoption of innovative contracts, providing financial certainty and autonomy should be prioritized by policymakers, particularly in Ireland.

Farmers in the transition toward sustainability: what is the role of their entrepreneurial identity?

IntroductionThe European Union has recently prompted a shift toward Ecological Intensification (EI) practices, aiming to harmonize agricultural productivity and environmental conservation. Despite the benefits of EI, its implementation has been limited, as farmers face challenges in business reorganization and supply chain adaptation. This paper investigates the role of contract farming (CF) in promoting the adoption of sustainable practices among Italian wheat producers. Specifically, it analyzes the influence of farmers’ entrepreneurial identity on their engagement in such initiatives.MethodsUsing the case study of Barilla Group’s Carta del Mulino initiative, an innovative contract farming scheme incentivizing sustainable EI practices, the study explores the relationship between entrepreneurial identity and participation in CF schemes supporting EI. Data from a sample of 314 soft wheat farmers in four regions of Northern Italy were collected to examine the role of entrepreneurial identity in the adoption of sustainable practices and participation in CF schemes. To evaluate the research hypotheses, two distinct econometric models were developed.Results and discussionThe findings reveal that farmers with a more developed entrepreneurial identity are more likely to adopt more sustainable agricultural practices and engage in contractual schemes involving EI practices. The study highlights the importance of fostering and supporting farmers’ entrepreneurial identity while increasing their knowledge of alternative agricultural techniques to address the challenges of the agricultural sector. This integration of individual perspectives (entrepreneurial identity) with a systems view (contract farming schemes) offers valuable insights for future research, policy, and practice in agri-food systems sustainability.

Legal design for indigenous communities: A case within the carbon credit market

Traditional contract architectures and structures do not address indigenous communities’ needs and can hinder them from accessing justice. As indigenous communities have a growing stake in current business deals and structures, they have been misrepresented in negotiation and contracting processes. Access to justice does not only mean the right to file a lawsuit or go to court, but for a person to effectively understand and exercise their own rights. Therefore, traditional standard contracts are not proper business instruments to deal with the growing business opportunities presented to indigenous communities today. Those standards have historically been created to cover corporate needs, generally comprising a homogeneous group of people. Therefore, such contracting instruments keep such communities from accessing justice. This article explores the resources that legal design techniques present to create more accessible documents as a tool for social justice. By using a different and innovative contract architecture, design features, and user experience (UX) principles, documents may increase empathy for their users, diminish sales cycles, and avoid conflicts during negotiations. Legal design techniques applied to a carbon credit generation agreement during a negotiation between a Colombian company and a Brazilian indigenous community led to the closing of a fair deal, respecting the community's interests. This article explores the resources used in the contract and its results. The analysis also explores a prior attempt to use a standard document version, which created resistance from the community's leaders to negotiate the deal due to its structure and language. The language and structure used in the traditional contract model led to misinterpretation, mistrust, and communication problems between the parties, hindering them from closing a deal. Such a case demonstrates that legal design can benefit any group in which legalese can represent a barrier to the full understanding of a document. By using UX and design principles to better organize content and make it clearer to a document's user such resources help them fully exercise their rights. In addition, this case advocates for the use of legal design for documents that aim at other minority groups as their end users.

Public procurement for innovation: Lessons and challenges of a COVID-19 vaccine contract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, which triggered a worldwide emergency call to pursue new drugs and devices to treat and cure the disease, vaccines began to be developed mid-2020, as a promising weapon and shield. Fiocruz, a Brazilian government science and technology institute, signed a public procurement for innovation contract with the foreign pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to purchase, at that time, vaccines still under development. It was the first public procurement for innovation contract in the Brazilian public health system (SUS). This paper analyzes how the Brazilian public procurement contracts for the COVID-19 vaccine dealt with technology and institutional risks and uncertainties. It also aims to describe how such agreements (and the legal apparatus behind them) relate to the Brazilian system of innovation and to the theoretical approach of contracting for innovation. A key question is: how does the public procurement for innovation vaccine contract signed by Fiocruz deal with the intrinsic nature of uncertainty that characterizes innovation, and what lessons and challenges can be drawn?

Innovative contract solutions for the AECPGs provision: Which features meet the farmers’ approval? Insights from Emilia-Romagna (Italy)

The agroecological transition promoted worldwide is supported by the European Union Common Agricultural Policy towards different strategies and policy tools. The agri-environmental schemes, offering farmers the possibility to adopt environment-friendly practices (thus mitigating negative externalities/providing positive ones) represent a straightforward example. However, there is dissatisfaction about their effectiveness and efficiency, while their improvement is envisaged through a flexible mix of new instruments: novel contract solutions fostering result-based payments, collective implementation, involving value chains and land tenure systems coupled to environmental conditionality. This paper investigates how farmers from Emilia-Romagna (Italy) perceive these innovative contract solutions as “easy to understand”, “applicable”, “economic beneficial”, and their willingness to enrol. The applied ordered logistic regression models include socio-demographic characteristics, structural features of the holdings, and the farmers’ preference(s) for 13 individual contract features. Farmers’ perceptions are driven by the previous experience acquired from similar measures, key socio-demographic characteristic/holding structural features, and peculiar contractual elements.

The prospects of innovative agri-environmental contracts in the European policy context: Results from a Delphi study

Innovative agri-environmental contracts are increasingly studied in the literature, but their adoption has been relatively slow and geographically scattered. Action-based agri-environmental measures remain the predominant policy mechanism across Europe. A three-round Policy Delphi study was conducted with policy makers, scientific experts, farmers’ representatives, and NGOs from across 15 different European countries, to investigate how and under which circumstances novel contractual solutions could be implemented more widely. The expert panel perceived result-based and collective contractual elements as the most promising. Although considered beneficial from several aspects, value chain contracts were perceived less relevant to the policy environment. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Pillar 2 measures were highlighted by the experts as the key policy area to implement novel contracts by national or regional authorities, but Pillar 1 eco-schemes, being launched in the CAP 2023–2027, were also considered as a potentially suitable framework for testing and implementation. The Delphi panel envisaged innovative contracts should be adopted by governments in iterative steps and not as a complete substitute for current payment schemes, but rather as an additional incentive to them. Such an incremental approach allows contractual innovations to capitalise on existing best practices. But it also implies the risk that innovative contracts could remain marginal and fail to substantially change farmers’ behaviour, resulting in a failure to improve environmental conditions.

Institutional analysis of actors involved in the governance of innovative contracts for agri-environmental and climate schemes

In this study, we used institutional analysis to investigate the design of innovative contracts for agri-environmental and climate schemes. The aim of such contracts is to better incentivize farmers for the provision of environmental public goods in comparison to current ‘mainstream’ contracts. For the analysis, we differentiated four contract types: result-based, collective, land tenure, and value chain contracts. To represent each type in the analysis, we selected 19 case examples from six European countries. Cases were identified through a mix of methods, combining literature review, web search, and expert consultation. After a structured data collection based on Ostrom’s institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework, we focused our analysis on the involved actors and their roles in contract governance. Our results highlight the great diversity of public, private, and civil actors involved from the local, regional, national or international governance level, each performing one or several critical roles in contract governance. We found that it is highly context-dependent which actors assume certain roles. We also discuss how provision of environmental public goods through the contracts might potentially be impacted by certain roles and their assignment to specific actors.

Innovative contract and compensation model in mechanised tunnelling – Calculation of the deviating construction time based on digital excavation and process data

AbstractThe handling of a tunnel construction project poses great challenges for all those involved. Variables that cannot be clearly quantified can arise during the entire process of the project. The subsoil in tunnelling is one of these parameters which is difficult to forecast. The geological and hydrogeological conditions must be assessed during the planning phase with the help of exploratory measures and from the experience from projects that have already been built.During the execution work, deviations from the documents on which the target determination is based occur in almost all underground construction projects. These changes can either cause a change in the construction process and/or lead to a different construction time in relation to the calculated duration.Based on this initial situation, the development of an innovative contract and remuneration model for machine tunnelling appears to be important. The main focus of the model is to generate a transparent and comprehensible method of how the remuneration‐worthy portion can be calculated in the case of a different construction time in mechanised tunnelling. In order to ensure this transparency and traceability of the system to be developed, the data records that can be digitally recorded during the tunnelling work are used as a fundamental basis for the created model.

Demonstrating proof of concept for value-based agreements in Europe: two real-world cases.

Value-based agreements (VBAs) link access, reimbursement, or price to the real-world usage and impact of a medicine, thereby enabling patient access while reducing clinical or financial uncertainty for the payer. VBAs have the potential to support improved patient outcomes, given the value-oriented approach to care, and lead to overall savings, while enabling payers to share risk and reduce uncertainty. This commentary outlines the key challenges, enablers, and a framework for successful implementation by comparing the experience of two VBAs for AstraZeneca medicines, aiming to increase confidence in their future use. Engagement by payers, manufacturers, physicians, and provider institutions, and robust data collection systems that are accessible, simple to use, and add little burden to physicians were key to successfully negotiating a VBA that worked for all stakeholders. In both country systems, a legal/policy framework enabled innovative contracting. These examples demonstrate proof of concept for VBA implementation in different settings, and may inform future VBAs.

INTERNATIONAL AND INTERDISCIPLINARY ∙ Policies to Stimulate Industrial Innovation by Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises:

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) have faced a heavy economic burden and uncertainty due to a contraction in resources and markets. As the world returns to normal conditions, we aim to synthesise key lessons from the pandemic and discuss which emergency actions should become routine to prevent or minimise the negative economic impact of future crises on SMEs and their innovation power. This paper reviews academic and non-academic literature on how governments can stimulate industrial innovation in SMEs based on experiences from public procurement of innovation during the pandemic. Our findings indicate that public procurement of innovation is a crucial tool to stimulate both the economy and new ideas. Against this backdrop, we propose the implementation of three related procurement policies: inter-agency and inter-governmental collaboration in the public procurement of innovation, cooperation partnerships between the government and firms, and the adoption of practices that encourage SME participation in the procurement of public innovation contracts. Keywords: small and medium-sized enterprises; innovation; emergency management; procurement of innovation

Connection Innovation and Development Bank Sharia as well as Evolution Development and Innovation Contract and Islamic Banking Products

In the increasingly fierce competition in Islamic banking, product innovation is becoming more and more important key in increasing competitiveness and spurring company growth, because it is important for Islamic banks to know what factors can influence development and innovation product banking sharia and build Micro small and Medium Enterprises for resolve poverty in Indonesia .factor which influence innovation products can come from internal or external, internal factors mean the organization of all something in inside like Human Resources, culture company, and strategy company, while factor external in cause by growth market, level competition, regulation bank Indonesia, OJK, and fatwa National Sharia Council.

The impact of an oncology-specific shared savings agreement.

1536 Background: In response to rising healthcare costs, several innovative payment strategies have emerged to improve the value and efficiency of healthcare spending. One of these strategies is a shift from volume-based to value-based care (VBC), resulting in the introduction of alternative payment models, innovative provider contracting and new value frameworks. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of a VBC arrangement on total cost of care for chemotherapy patients, specifically cancer-related drug costs, daily hospital inpatient admissions and emergency room visits. Methods: This is a cohort study of chemotherapy patients, in a single state, enrolled in a large national insurer from January 18, 2021, to September 30, 2021. Oncology patients were divided into two groups; the study group consisted of chemotherapy patients receiving care in a VBC arrangement; the control group consisted of chemotherapy patients receiving care at oncology practices not engaged with the insurer in a VBC agreement. The following levers were employed to improve value: digital symptom tracking, biosimilar or lower-cost drug options and NCCN regimen concordance. We defined cancer-related drug costs as the sum of allowed costs paid for medical and pharmacy claims during the study period. Additionally, we averaged the cost per hospital inpatient day and emergency room visit and compared these by group. Results: This study included 1,574 patients, 733 patients in the study group and 841 in the control group. A reduction of 5.1% (a difference of $441) in cancer-related drug costs per member per treatment month (PMPTM) was observed among patients in the study group. Patients in the study group reported 27.8% fewer inpatient days resulting in a savings of $194 PMPTM. Similarly, patients in the study group reported 70.0% fewer emergency room visits resulting in a savings of $59 PMPTM. Conclusions: In this study, chemotherapy patients participating in a shared savings VBC spent less on cancer-related drug costs, hospital inpatient days and emergency room visits through three value levers. Further studies are needed to assess if these results are similar all types of healthcare coverage and to what degree additional value levers further reduce costs. Additionally, the long-term health outcomes of these patients should be assessed.

POSB256 Innovative Contracting Schemes for Cell and Gene Therapies in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and UK

POSB256 Innovative Contracting Schemes for Cell and Gene Therapies in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and UK

A Review of Research on the Impact of Blockchain on Financial Reporting

With the rapid development of the Internet, blockchain technology is developing and maturing daily. This paper compares the positive impact of blockchain on three aspects: accounting bookkeeping, accounting information quality and digital financial information. Blockchain, with its distributed bookkeeping and timestamp technologies, can effectively improve accounting bookkeeping procedures and solve the problems of traditional bookkeeping, which is time-consuming and easy to tamper with. Its digital signature technology, timestamp, and real-time data transmission technology can enhance the timeliness, security, and reliability of enterprise financial information. Innovative contract technology can make inter-enterprise transaction procedures completed automatically and recorded in real-time to realize the digitization of financial data and achieve the goal of enterprise economic integration. This paper also finds that, due to the incomplete development of existing technologies, most of the scholars' research remains in the theoretical stage; they are mostly optimistic about the widespread application of blockchain in practice and less consider the problems that will arise during the practical application. This paper also presents some outlooks for the future of financial reporting based on existing literature and research, where enterprise financial management systems will be reshaped, and financial reporting will be more intelligent, secure, and personalized.

Secured Insurance Framework Using Blockchain and Smart Contract

Traditional insurance policy settlement is a manual process that is never hassle-free. There are many issues, such as hidden conditions from the insurer or fraud claims by the insured, making the settlement process rough. This process also consumes a significant amount of time that makes the process very inefficient. This whole scenario can be disrupted by the implementation of blockchain and smart contracts in insurance. Blockchain and innovative contract technology can provide immutable data storage, security, transparency, authenticity, and security while any transaction process is triggered. With the implementation of blockchain, the whole insurance process, from authentication to claim settlement, can be done with more transparency and security. A blockchain is a virtual chain of data blocks that is a decentralized technology. Any transaction or change in the blocks is done after the decentralized validator entity, not a single person. The smart contract is a unique facility stored on the blockchain that gets executed when the predetermined conditions are met. This paper presents a framework where smart contracts are used for insurance contracts and stored on blockchain. In the case of a claim, if all the predetermined conditions are met, the transaction happens; otherwise, it is discarded. The conditions are immutable. That means there is scope for alteration from either side. This blockchain and intelligent contract-based framework are hosted on a private Ethereum network. The Solidity programming language is used to create smart contracts. The framework uses the Proof of Authority (PoA) consensus algorithm to validate the transactions. In the case of any faulty transaction request, the consensus algorithm acts according to and cancels the claim. With blockchain and smart contract implementation, this framework can solve all the trust and security issues that rely on a standard insurance policy.