Open Policy Research Articles

An hourly-resolution capacity sharing market for generation-side clustered renewable-storage plants

With the increasing penetration of renewable energy on the generation side, their volatility greatly challenges power balancing in the power grids. Deploying energy storage in wind farms, solar stations, and collection stations allow renewable plants to sell energy guided by the electricity price signal and increase their market revenues. This paper considers a representative scenario on the generation side. Wind farms and solar stations managed by different entities sell energy to a market through a collection station, aiming to maximize individual profits. Each renewable plant is equipped with a local battery in order to store energy and wait for a higher price. They can also rent some capacity from a shared energy storage unit at the collection station for better profitability. This paper designs a day-ahead hourly-resolution capacity rental market for the shared energy storage in the collection station and proposes an online operation policy for individual renewable plants. In the day-ahead market, renewable plants bid their needs of storage capacity in each time period based on the rental price and a batch of renewable power scenarios in the next day, and then the market is cleared at the Stackelberg equilibrium where the shared storage acts as the leader. Given the capacity obtained from the day-ahead market, each renewable plant obtains reference storage level trajectories in the pre-specified scenarios as experiences. In the real-time stage, the dispatch of local and shared storage units is determined from the conditional expectation of experiences, where the conditional distribution is generated by kernel regression using dynamic time warping as the distance measure. This proposed method does not rely on renewable power forecasts and is easy to implement. Numerical results validate the economy of the proposed method. Compared to the autarky mode, the profit of a renewable plant is increased by 40.6% on average. Compared to the ideal optimum, the optimality gap of the proposed method is 1.4% on average.

A Cross-Country Comparative Study: The Impact of Open Banking Policies on SME Financing Efficiency

With the development of global fintech, open banking policies, as a model that improves the efficiency of financial services through data sharing and technological innovation, have gradually been widely adopted in financial systems around the world. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as key pillars of economic growth, benefit significantly from improvements in financing efficiency. However, the effects of open banking policies differ across countries, especially in terms of their impact on the financing efficiency of SMEs, which still requires further exploration. This study conducts a cross-country comparative analysis to examine the impact of open banking policies on SME financing efficiency. It selects five representative countries— the United Kingdom, Germany (representing the European Union), Singapore, Brazil, and India— to analyze the heterogeneous performances in the implementation of open banking. Using regression analysis, the study investigates the impact of key quantitative indicators of open banking policies, such as the volume of data shared, API response time, and API uptime, on loan approval speed, loan cost, rejection rate, and loan default rate. The results show that open banking policies significantly enhance SME financing efficiency in all countries, though the effects vary considerably. The UK and Germany have shown significant improvements in reducing loan default rates, while Singapore, Brazil, and India have enhanced financing efficiency through data sharing and API technologies. This study provides valuable insights for global policymakers, suggesting specific pathways to further optimize the open banking framework to boost SME financing efficiency

Nexus of Green Finance Environment in G-7 Countries: A fresh insights from EKC using GHG Emissions and Ecological Footprint

The main intention of the study is to investigate the trade openness, economic development and greenhouse gases which make their influence on environmental quality regarding G-7 countries. The study employed the Panel Ordinary Least Squares (POLS), Grangers causality test and panel ARDL model for data analysis. This study analyzes the robustness of Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis by investigating the extent to which trade openness whose have their influence on quality of environment through various environmental indicators for the period of 1970 to 2018. On the basis of empirical findings, there is long-run association exist among GHG emissions and economic development of G-7 economies. The estimated consequences present that GDP exists in bidirectional causality with the combination of green finance in long-run. Meanwhile, there is unidirectional association exist among GDP and energy consumption. This study found that trade openness among these seven economies increased the environmental degradation and disturb the environmental quality. Various safety measures are adopted to control the environment and make over the different agreements among G-7 economies to increase the trade openness and control the GHG emissions. This has shown significant effects for maximizing the GDP wealth of G-7 economies. There is a significant association exist between trade and environmental degradation with respect to these seven countries. The consequences reveal the positive relationship of trade openness with N2O and environmental quality while the positive association with the ecological footprint in overall G-7 economies. The findings make sure the inverted U-shaped EKC exists in all economies when N2O and ecological footprint are used as environmental indicators. However, this U-shaped EKC exist in all G-7 countries who have acme income level when greenhouse gases indicators are applied for the evaluation. Eventually, it recommended, if G-7 countries continue trade openness policies with energy sector reforms and maintains sustainable use of bio- capacity, then they will be able to combat environment issues with increase their development. This might increase more GDP of these economies which make stronger and development in long-run. In such a way, more financial development take over these economies make beneficial.

Implementing Sustainable Development Goals into Operational Policies: A Case Study of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

This research aims to investigate how Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) implementation into operational policies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) of Pakistan can address climate-related challenges that are deforestation, water scarcity, and extreme weather conditions. Drawing on the Earth System Governance (ESG) framework, the research focuses on how governance structures and policies of KP comply with SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), and SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy). A qualitative methodology using academic literature from 2020 to 2024, policy reviews, and secondary data are used. We present results showing that important gaps exist in interdepartmental coordination, the prioritization of resources, and stakeholder participation during the localization of the SDGs. The ESG framework identifies adaptive governance and participatory approaches as necessary to deal with these barriers. The study offers the following recommendations: Project output includes a provincial SDG strategy, increased stakeholder collaboration, and resource appropriation.

The Growth of Korea Soka Gakkai International (KSGI) and Its Civic Engagement in the Socio-Historical Context

This paper examines how and why Korea Soka Gakkai International (KSGI) has grown rapidly in the Korean religious market. Although Soka Gakkai was introduced to Korea as a Nichiren Shoshu lay community in the 1960s, KSGI has achieved remarkable growth without the structurally covert and organizationally authoritative control typical of traditional elite Buddhism. This fact is significant in both theory and practice, as lay movements have historically not been very successful in Korean religions. Focusing on the paradoxical affinity between secular civic movements and religious lay movements, this paper explains why and how KSGI had to combine the two movements in a socio-historical context different from that of its Japanese partner, which established a public political party, the Komeito, and formed a coalition government with other parties. As a result, this paper reveals the following findings: first, KSGI’s nonpolitical civic engagement led to a more effective growth strategy tailored to the Korean socio-historical context. Second, the Korean government’s policy of opening up to Japanese culture since the 2000s played a significant role in the growth of KSGI. Third, the spread of civil movements in Korea contributed to enhancing KSGI’s social adaptability and credibility.

Integrating Autonomous Shuttles: Insights, Challenges, and Strategic Solutions from Practitioners and Industry Experts’ Perceptions

Integrating autonomous shuttles into public transportation systems holds immense potential to revolutionize urban mobility and enhance accessibility. This paper focuses on a comprehensive analysis of the perceptions of practitioners and industry experts and proposes best practices for effectively integrating autonomous shuttles into public transportation systems. Perceptions of stakeholders have been collected, and a two-fold analysis was performed. Critical barriers for the adoption of autonomous shuttles were identified using the Garette ranking method and principal component analysis (PCA). Recommendations covering different aspects, including underutilization, safety concerns, seating arrangements, reliability, data security, operational aspects, sensor technology, and lane use, are provided. They encompass operational adjustments, infrastructure enhancements, safety measures, policy considerations, and economic foresight. The findings emphasize the importance of extending pilot deployment trial periods, improving autonomy, strategically positioning sensors, enhancing road signage, and providing dedicated lanes for autonomous shuttles. Data-security policies, operator training, and stakeholder responsibilities are also highlighted to build trust and facilitate a seamless transition to autonomous shuttles. This paper concludes by providing recommendations to ensure the successful integration of autonomous shuttles, fostering widespread acceptance and shaping the future of urban transportation.

Operational and Financial Efficiency in Private Basic Education in The North and Northeast Regions of Brazil

Objective: The objective of this study is to understand the strategic drivers and commercial methodologies that Private Basic Education institutions located in the North and Northeast Regions of Brazil adopt to attract, retain and retain students, as well as investigate the applied guidelines that generate added value, contributing to operational and financial growth in an efficient and sustainable way. Theoretical Framework: The theme is based on different literary approaches, from the contextualization of Basic Education in Brazil, Educational Management Models, Strategic Directions and Commercial Methodologies for attracting, building loyalty and retaining students. Method: Research of a descriptive nature, with a qualitative and quantitative approach with objective and subjective questions. Data collection took place through an online questionnaire generated on the Survio platform, to which institutions received a link via email and WhatsApp. Results and Discussion: The results obtained revealed the different forms of educational management and it is clear that the same structural size and with the same pedagogical modalities, have a discrepancy in the number of active students. In this context, there are opportunities for growth with technological investments. Implications of the Research: The research makes it possible to understand different models of educational management that can improve the operational and financial performance of private educational institutions, even considering the complexity of the North and Northeast regions, as they are different realities, both structural and pedagogical. Originality/Value: Research contributes to the sustainable growth of an educational institution through applications of structured operational processes, policies and guidelines, in addition to participatory strategic planning.

The Mandate of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development: A Case of Kabwe District, Zambia

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) in Zambia plays a pivotal role in enhancing local governance, facilitating rural development, and promoting sustainable socioeconomic progress. This study examines the implementation of the Ministry’s mandate in Kabwe District, focusing on its governance structures, institutional dynamics, and decentralization practices. Using Public Administration, Decentralization, Good Governance, Institutional, Development, and Political Ecology theories as analytical frameworks, the research investigates how effectively the MLGRD fulfills its responsibilities. The study employs literature review of other scholars to assess the Ministry's operational efficiency, policy implementation, and community impact. Key findings reveal challenges such as limited institutional capacity, resource constraints, and the influence of political dynamics, which hinder effective service delivery and rural development initiatives. The review highlights the need for enhanced institutional frameworks, participatory governance mechanisms, and strategic resource allocation to strengthen the Ministry’s performance. The findings contribute to the broader discourse on decentralization and local governance in Zambia, offering actionable recommendations for improving policy and practice. This study underscores the critical role of the MLGRD in driving equitable and sustainable development at the local level, with Kabwe District serving as a microcosm of broader national challenges and opportunities.

Open Data Hackathons and Open Innovation Policies: The Case of OpenTusk

ABSTRACTThe paper aims to contribute to the debate on open data and public open innovation policies by focusing on hackathons as initiatives supporting value creation, innovation, and regional development. The paper refers to open data hackathons as a powerful open innovation tool to activate mechanisms of collaboration and collective intelligence within a regional ecosystem populated with data and a plurality of stakeholders. Despite the actuality of the issues and the large consensus around them, their integration in a consolidated theoretical framework is still far from a full achievement and requires additional contributions. Therefore, a theoretical framework has been developed for defining the research gap and addressing the development of an exploratory qualitative study carried out on OpenTusk, an open data hackathon promoted by the Department of Economic Development of the Apulia Region (south Italy) in the frame of a participatory public policy aimed at exploiting the value of regional open data. Findings demonstrate that the hackathon can create positive conditions for the preliminary exploration of the entrepreneurial value of open data by shaping several thematic areas of interest for the regional agenda of smart specialization. Furthermore, the case suggests that the effectiveness of an open data hackathon derives from an articulated strategy consisting of sensitization campaigns and preparation activities useful to stimulate the development of entrepreneurial ideas. Implications for theory and practice have been synthesized in the conclusion in terms of areas for future investigation and practical contexts of applications.

New evidence finds young people in Mainland China are now bicultural.

This study reports new evidence that young people in Mainland China are now bicultural. We followed the established method of testing biculturalism by priming participants with images from two different cultures and measuring whether those images activate different thought styles. First, we replicated findings from 25 years ago that college students in Hong Kong are bicultural (Study 1). Next, we found that priming Mainland Chinese college students with Chinese culture increased external attributions (which are more common in China), whereas priming American culture increased internal attributions (which are more common in the US; Study 2). Next, we tested a "negative control" group that we expected should not respond to bicultural primes. Older adults who were born before China's Reform and Opening policy in 1978 showed no evidence of biculturalism (Study 3). This new evidence extends biculturalism to Mainland China, and it provides a crucial negative control test for biculturalism research.

Older people’s social work safe staffing supply and workforce demands analysis: A case study from Northern Ireland

Abstract In the UK, a range of operational tools and policy guidelines regulate staffing in various Health and Social Care sectors. Nonetheless, frameworks to ensure safe staffing in social work remain less advanced. This study focuses on older people’s social work community teams in Northern Ireland due to the high volume of cases and vacancies within these teams. Our findings provide evidence based on actual caseloads (direct work with service users) and workloads at individual, team, and regional levels within this programme of care. The analysis revealed systemic issues that require systemic solutions in relation to staffing supply and service demands. Frontline social workers and managers frequently faced overwhelming worker-to-caseload ratios, routine use of waiting lists, and team vacancies. These findings lay the groundwork for evidence-based strategic planning, guiding the development and enactment of safer and more effective social work policies and legislation in the years ahead. The project was commissioned by the Department of Health, Northern Ireland in preparation for policy and legislative developments expected between 2025 and 2028.

The Belt and Road Initiative and Urban Entrepreneurship: Evidence From the Opening Policy From China

ABSTRACTEntrepreneurship is a vital source of high‐quality employment in China and is crucial in advancing Chinese‐style modernization. Using panel data from 281 prefecture‐level cities in China from 2003 to 2021, this study employs difference‐in‐differences and double machine learning models to examine the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on entrepreneurship. The research findings are as follows: The BRI implementation significantly enhances entrepreneurship at city and provincial levels, with results remaining robust across various tests. The BRI promotes entrepreneurship through industrial innovation, digital trade development, and economic agglomeration. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the BRI's positive effects on entrepreneurship are more pronounced in small and medium‐sized cities and central and western regions. Furthermore, the BRI exhibits significant spatial spillover effects, stimulating entrepreneurship in neighboring cities. The initiative also effectively reduces relative disparities in entrepreneurship across regions, particularly between eastern, central, and western areas, thus promoting coordinated regional development. Additionally, triple‐difference results indicate that the BRI's positive effects on urban industrial innovation are mainly concentrated in manufacturing sectors such as energy, equipment, and information technology. This study complements the BRI's effects and provides policy implications for narrowing regional entrepreneurship gaps and promoting high‐quality full employment in China.

Contextual Analyses of Open and Distance Learning Policies in Malawi: Towards the Reconstruction of Distance Education Policies in Public Universities

Contextual Analyses of Open and Distance Learning Policies in Malawi: Towards the Reconstruction of Distance Education Policies in Public Universities

Evaluating the progress and impact of Shodhganga: enhancements, challenges and future directions for India’s centralized ETD repository

PurposeThis paper critically evaluates Shodhganga, India’s centralized digital repository for electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs). It explores the repository’s impact, open access policy and the roles of participating universities and the implementing agency.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a comprehensive analysis of Shodhganga’s features, including advancements in its user interface, participation rates and infrastructure. It reviews the repository’s progress and contributions from various institutions and compares Shodhganga with prominent international ETD repositories.FindingsSignificant enhancements have been observed in Shodhganga’s user interface and infrastructure. The repository has experienced increased contributions from universities, Centrally Funded Technical Institutes and Institutions of National Importance, with the highest number of theses submitted in 2023. Social science theses constitute a substantial portion of these submissions.Research limitations/implicationsThe research underscores the necessity for improvements in Shodhganga’s software and hardware infrastructure. It offers recommendations to address identified issues and suggests technological advancements to align with modern user needs and sustainable development goals.Originality/valueThis paper provides unique insights into Shodhganga’s current challenges and offers actionable recommendations for future enhancements. It contributes to the understanding of digital repository management and its impact on academic research accessibility.

The association of state policies and opioid analgesic amount dispensed from retail pharmacies.

States have implemented multiple policies likely to influence opioid prescribing; few national general population studies examine those policies' effects on per-capita opioid morphine milligram equivalents (MME) dispensed. To examine state policies' effects on opioids per-capita MMEs dispensed at retail pharmacies. A longitudinal study of associations between MME per capita and implementation of policy interventions at different times across states. United States, 2006-2018 PATIENTS: Data representing approximately 90 % of prescriptions filled at retail pharmacies in the United States. States implementing (1) Pain management clinic laws, (2) operational Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMP), (3) mandatory PDMP use, (4) required continuing medical education for opioid prescribers, (5) medical cannabis dispensary laws, and (6) initial prescription duration limit laws. Monthly county-level opioid MME per-capita. Pain management clinic policies' effects were modest, not significantly associated with MME per-capita in the year following implementation, but negatively associated in subsequent years. Operational PDMP policies were negatively associated with MME per-capita in all five years following implementation. We found no evidence of significant effects of mandatory PDMP requirements, mandatory continuing medical education policies, or medical cannabis dispensary policies in any of the five years following policy implementation. Initial prescription duration limits were associated with increased per-capita MME dispensed in years 3-5 following implementation. Several state policies are associated with reductions in the total amount of opioid analgesic dispensed. Additional research should examine the policies' effects on clinical outcomes in both general and high-risk populations.

Improved Aircraft Environmental Impact Segmentation via Metric Learning

Accurate modeling of aircraft environmental impact is pivotal to the design of operational procedures and policies to mitigate negative aviation environmental impact. Aircraft environmental impact segmentation is a process that clusters aircraft types that have similar environmental impact characteristics based on a set of aircraft features. This practice helps model a large population of aircraft types with insufficient aircraft noise and performance models and contributes to better understanding of aviation environmental impact. Through measuring the similarity between aircraft types, a distance metric forms the kernel of aircraft segmentation. Traditional ways of aircraft segmentation use plain distance metrics and assign equal weight to all features in an unsupervised clustering process. In this work, we utilize weakly supervised metric learning and partial information on aircraft fuel burn, emissions, and noise to learn weighted distance metrics for aircraft environmental impact segmentation. We show in a comprehensive case study that the tailored distance metrics can indeed make aircraft segmentation better reflect the actual environmental impact of aircraft. The metric learning approach can help refine a number of similar data-driven analytical studies in aviation.

A decade of open access policy at the Gates Foundation based on experimentation, evidence and evolution

A decade of open access policy at the Gates Foundation based on experimentation, evidence and evolution

Proposing a Financial Reporting Transparency Model for the Development of Health Insurance from the Perspective of Experts in the Ministry of Health and Medical Education

Objective: The objective of this study is to identify the factors influencing financial reporting transparency in the health insurance sector. Methodology: This research employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. In the qualitative section, the statistical population consisted of managers and experts in the healthcare field from the Zahedan University of Medical Sciences. Data collection was conducted through semi-structured interviews, and theoretical saturation was achieved after 11 interviews. The data were then analyzed using grounded theory coding. In the quantitative section, 384 questionnaires were distributed randomly among employees in the health insurance sector. The SmartPLS software was used to estimate and evaluate the relationships in the financial reporting transparency model for the health insurance sector. Findings: Based on the proposed model, 12 main codes were extracted, including: "implementation of accounting standards, establishment of accounting laws and regulations, need for financial reporting transparency, economic development in health insurance, evaluation of financial reporting quality, meritocracy in the hiring of managers, internal political and economic communications, control over financial and operational policies of the company, market pressure, and capital market competition." Conclusion: The model and concepts extracted from participants' responses indicate that there are various reasons and motivations for adopting financial reporting transparency in the health insurance sector. Moreover, the designed model clearly demonstrates that the motivations and reasons for adopting this system are fulfilled as a result of its implementation.

Determining a manufacturing-delivery policy for a multi-item EPQ system with multi-shipment, quality assurance, overtime, postponement, and external source

Facing current client expectations for high quality, timely order response, and multiple shipments of various needed merchandise, today’s producers must simultaneously satisfy external requirements and operate internally with minimum overall expenses and capacity constrained. Aiming to help present-day producers achieve the operational goals mentioned above, this work develops a decisional scheme to determine the best manufacturing-delivery policy for a multi-item economic production quantity (EPQ) system with multi-shipment, quality assurance, overtime, postponement, and external source. Combining a production postponement strategy in our multi-item batch fabricating procedures intends to first make all required standard/common parts for various client-needed merchandise and make finished goods in the 2nd phase. Two fabricating-uptime-shortening strategies are adopted: contracting out a proportion of the standard part’s batch and overtime-making of finished goods. We include screening and rework tasks in fabricating procedures to help us remove the identified scraps and correct the repairable faulty items. The quality-assured finished batches are divided into multiple equal-amount shipments transported to meet client requests. The overall manufacturing-transportation relevant expenses, including quality and uptime-expedited costs, are mathematically modeled and minimized using optimization methodology to help derive the best manufacturing-delivery operating policy. Moreover, we offer an illustration to validate the results and our research scheme’s capability numerically. This work mainly contributes to the literature by presenting a practical decision-making model. It enables the producers to expose numerous crucial problem-related managerial insights to facilitate producers in deciding the most appropriate manufacturing-delivery policy to meet clients’ multi-criteria demands.

How does data sharing affect the sustainable development of agribusiness? Evidence from public data openness

Agriculture is an important production sector in Chinese national economy, and sustainable development of agribusiness is related to the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. At the same time, public data openness policy is continuously injecting new power into development. However, no study focused on the relationship between public data openness policy (OPEN) and the sustainable development of agribusiness (SDA). Based on the data of A-share listed agribusiness firms from 2012 to 2021, we uses the public data open platform as a quasi-natural experiment and uses a difference-in-differences model to examine the impact of public data openness on the sustainable development of agribusiness. The findings of this paper are as follows. First, public data openness significantly contributes to the sustainable development of agribusiness. After a series of robustness tests, the above conclusion still holds. Second, the results of the mechanistic tests show that public data openness contributes to sustainable development mainly by improving the operational capacity and innovation capacity of enterprises. Third, the positive impact of public data openness on the sustainable development performance of non-state-owned and small-scale agribusinesses is more significant than that of state-owned and large-scale agribusinesses. Fourth, good innovation environments help to enhance the positive impact of public data openness. This paper has theoretical value for the development of agribusiness in the context of the public data openness and can also guide policymakers in further improving related policies.