Nonholonomic Research Articles

Impact of initial business model on the growth trajectory of new technology-based firms: a path dependency perspective

Impact of initial business model on the growth trajectory of new technology-based firms: a path dependency perspective

The natural resource management in Nunavut and Greenland – a perspective through historical institutionalism

ABSTRACT This article compares the self-government system in Greenland in Denmark and territorial governance in Nunavut, Canada in relation to the management of natural resources through the perspective of historical institutionalism. Both territories have undergone processes of re-empowerment, and possess major assets of natural resources, and the struggle for self-determination has triggered their metropolitan states (Denmark and Finland) and regional governments to consider some form of self-government. However, two different solutions have appeared due to gradual development through path dependency as legislation and form of government. Nunavut is a territory within the Canadian federal construction, based on Indigenous claims, while Greenland is a self-governing territory within the Danish unitary state. The land claims in Canada have given Nunavut some influence in the management of its natural resources, while Greenland has taken control of its subterranean resources through extended self-government implemented in 2009. This article will highlight the resource policy similarities and differences of the two territories via three potential explanatory factors: historical background, self-government, and the management of natural resources as a point of departure. The findings show that both regions have similarities in historical background and the management of natural resources, but there are also significant differences in how local authorities have addressed mining projects.

Family Management and Historical Origins: The Italian Experience

ABSTRACTResearch Question/IssueThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the long‐run determinants of the corporate structure of Italian firms to explain the persistent role of a long‐run tradition of civic capital that has favored interpersonal trust, fostered cooperation outside of the narrow ties of family members and limited the diffusion of family businesses managed predominantly by family members.Research Findings/InsightsWe examined a large sample of Italian listed and not listed firms and identified those that operate in current municipalities that in the past used to be independent communes. Such firms featuring experiences of civic engagement are today less likely to be owned by a family and run by family management.Theoretical/Academic ImplicationsOur findings highlight the role of institutions as drivers of corporate governance and signal that long forgotten institutions, by modifying local social capital, may interact with family social capital and have important persistent effects on current corporate governance arrangements. Therefore, significant elements of path dependency may explain current patterns of unbundling of ownership and management.Practitioner/Policy ImplicationsPersistent corporate governance structures are difficult even for policymakers to modify. Our findings suggest that political measures should favor the accumulation of social capital at the local level when aiming to change ownership and management arrangements and limit the misallocation of resources due to family management.

An Adaptive Robust EKF Based on Mahalanobis Distance and Non-Holonomic Constraints for Enhancing Vehicle Positioning Accuracy

An Adaptive Robust EKF Based on Mahalanobis Distance and Non-Holonomic Constraints for Enhancing Vehicle Positioning Accuracy

Stabilization Controller of an Extended Chained Nonholonomic System With Disturbance: An FAS Approach

Stabilization Controller of an Extended Chained Nonholonomic System With Disturbance: An FAS Approach

Trust-induced cooperation under the complex interaction of networks and emotions

Numerous studies have explored the relationship between cooperation and inter-individual trust. However, the understanding of the dynamic interaction process of trust among networked agents with bounded rationality remains limited. To bridge this gap, this paper develops an evolutionary game model that incorporates a trust perspective considering emotional scaling. Trust is quantified based on individuals’ limited memory of interaction experiences, acting as a perturbation factor that influences cooperative strategies. The role of emotional factors, particularly guilt and anger, in trust formation is emphasized. Extensive numerical simulations reveal that introducing trust greatly enhances cooperation in the system, especially in networks with lower randomness. Trust-based cooperative decision-making demonstrates evident historical path dependence characteristics. Notably, the effects of emotions differ. Guilt effectively motivates defectors to switch strategies, thereby enhancing cooperation. In contrast, the influence of anger on cooperation diminishes as it becomes intertwined with other factors during the trust-building process. The empirical results of higher returns for low-trust groups have also been validated in this paper. Overall, this work contributes to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying cooperation formation.

History Matters: The Institutionalization and Innovation Paradox in the Judiciary

The judiciary is a field lacking research in relation to its administration and innovation; however, different theoretical perspectives can be followed. This work reviews this trend while adding to it. An institutional perspective is presented, as is its explanatory potential. This perspective captures the context of the public sector; however, when analyzing its interpretation in terms of innovation, it is revealed to be doubly paradoxical. From the theoretical point of view, institutionalization focuses on the maintenance of processes, while innovation, gradually or abruptly, investigates their disruptions. Nevertheless, institutionalization can be observed as part of the sedimentation of innovation. Institutionalization is presented, in the context of innovation, as a selection mechanism that shapes such innovation. This paradox is presented under the review of organizational institutionalism vis-à-vis innovation and, for its unfolding, considers the adoption of innovation as an adaptation to the prevalent rationalized elements. This presentation is paralleled with the interpretation that innovation is limited by a structure that, sometimes rationalized, forms its trajectory. Considering the social function of the judiciary that is anchored in institutionalism, historical institutionalism is thus added, centrally placing the judiciary in the current institutional matrix and associating its path dependence with the dimensions of its innovation. Based on these outlines, propositions and a suggested agenda for future research are presented.

Policy Capacity for Urban Village Redevelopment in China: A Two-Case Case Study

Policy capacity is described as a determinant for effective policy implementation. Its contents vary according to modes of governance. Based on available academic studies, grey literature, and semi-structured interviews, this study empirically explores how urban village redevelopment has been carried out in two cities, Hangzhou and Guangzhou, through the lens of policy capacity. By contrasting policy outcomes and the manifestation of policy capacity at different levels in these two cities, we develop three arguments that contribute to our understanding of urban renewal and policy capacity. Firstly, the performance of any policy action is affected by the capacity of the central actor to develop and implement policies. Secondly, understanding the interactive logical between analytical, operational, and political capacities under different governance modes is the key to understanding the strengths and weaknesses of policy capacity in a specific sector. Shaped by local contexts and past experience, local governments are predisposed to path dependence in developing and deploying policy capacity in urban village redevelopment. Thirdly, the capabilities and resources needed to support policies are largely determined by policy problematization at the analytical level: the technique-based approach of policy capacity theory needs to complete the missing link between policy framing and ethical issues.

A variational approach to deriving Hamiltonian functions under non-holonomic constraints — the case of the Gaussian thermostats

The Hamiltonian function (H), if it exists, provides a powerful platform for studying the dynamics of constrained many-particle systems. For systems under holonomic constraints, H can be derived from the principle of least action (PLA) formulated in terms of a suitable set of generalized coordinates. In molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, where the system temperature often prescribes a non-holonomic constraint, the challenge is to find the system’s Hamiltonian. The Gaussian Isokinetic (GIK) thermostat, the first deterministic physics-preserving thermostat in MD, was derived from the principle of least constraint (PLC) in the early 1980s: its H, interestingly, was discovered almost 15 years later. A mathematically rigorous connection of the GIK Hamiltonian with PLA, however, has been missing until now. In this article, we adopt a variational approach to establish the equivalence of PLC with PLA for a class of non-holonomically constrained many-particle systems, and present the general formulation of the Euler–Lagrange equations of motion through time rescaling. Making use of the particular forms of the Lagrange multiplier obtained from the principle of least constraint, we derive H for the GIK and the Gaussian Isoenergetic thermostats.

Human resources in dentistry geographical distribution in Brazil and Colombia: Comparative analysis from the perspective of historical institutionalism

The Human Resource in Health constitutes one of the six core components of health systems, playing a crucial role in realizing the right to health and ensuring access and service quality. Additionally, institutional frameworks within each country, encompassing laws, decrees, political systems, and health system characteristics, exert a significant influence on HRH and, specifically, in Human Resources in Dentistry (HRD). Both Brazil and Colombia experienced neoliberal reforms in the 1990s, introducing new institutions within the existing model and altering the social, political, and economic dynamics of each country. This study aims to examine the impact of institutional arrangements stemming from the 1990s neoliberal reforms in Brazil and Colombia on HRDs, focusing on geographic distribution. Employing a comparative analysis and adopting a historical institutionalism perspective, the research relies on a methodology involving multiple case studies with embedded units. Results reveal that the neoliberal reforms represented critical junctures reshaping the social and economic policies of both nations. In this context, the reforms influenced wealth distribution in both countries, subsequently impacting the unequal geographical distribution of HRD. These effects were closely tied to factors such as labor flexibility and the unregulated, unplanned expansion of dentistry courses. These elements initiated positive feedback loops, characterized by path dependence and increasing returns, which have contributed to the institutionalization and persistence of these phenomena within the state and have become entrenched in HRDs over time.

Event-triggered prescribed-time consensus for nonholonomic multi-agent systems with external disturbances

This paper considers the prescribed-time event-triggered consensus for a class of nonholonomic multi-agent systems (MASs) with external disturbances. Firstly, the nonholonomic chained MASs are divided into two subsystems, and a switching control scheme is introduced. Secondly, a distributed prescribed-time continuous protocol is proposed to ensure that all agents reach average consensus within a prescribed finite-time. Moreover, to reduce the communication costs, an event-triggered consensus protocol is further established and some related theorems are given. In addition, the Zeno behaviour can be excluded by choosing parameters appropriately. Finally, two numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed protocols.

Adaptive formation control of nonholonomic multirobot systems with collision avoidance and connectivity maintenance

In this paper, an adaptive cooperative formation controller is developed to force a swarm of nonholonomic mobile robots with limited sensing ranges to move along the desired reference trajectory in a predetermined formation, while maintaining communication connectivity among the initial user-specified connected robots and guaranteeing no collision between the robots. Both kinematic models and dynamic systems with parametric uncertainties are discussed. The presence of parametric uncertainties is handled by adaptive control technique. A novel artificial potential function, which is based on a 4 times differential pseudo bump function, is constructed to achieve collision avoidance and connectivity maintenance. The control design is based on a fusion of potential function, adaptive backstepping technique, and Lyapunov synthesis. The cooperative formation controller is proven to be stable and can guarantee that there is no collision between any robots and the initial connectivity of the communication network can be always maintained. The proposed formation control approach is decentralized in the sense that the control action on each robot depends only on information from its neighbours and the desired trajectory of the group. Comparative simulation and experiment studies are performed to show the effectiveness of the proposed formation controller.

Manufacturing intelligentization and technological innovation: Perspectives on intra-industry impacts and inter-industry technology spillovers

This study empirically analyzes the impacts of manufacturing intelligentization on technological innovation using panel data from 29 manufacturing industries in China for the period 2012–2019. The research findings indicate that manufacturing intelligentization has significantly positive impacts on intra-industry technological innovation. Moreover, technological innovation exhibits path dependence, in which prior innovation accumulation is advantageous for current technological innovation. Furthermore, the spatial Durbin model indicates that intelligentization has both horizontal and vertical technology spillover effects on technological innovation. Specifically, the intelligentization of horizontal- and forward-linked industries has positive impacts on technological innovation in the focal industry. Additionally, technological innovation exhibits significant spatiotemporal dependence, as manifested by the negative spillover effects of prior technological achievements in other industries on current technological innovation in the focal industry.

Is economic growth enough to propel rehabilitation expenditures? An empirical analysis of country panel data and policy implications

PurposeRehabilitation is a set of services designed to increase functioning and improve wellbeing across the life course. Despite being a core part of Universal Health Coverage, rehabilitation services often receive limited public expenditure, especially in lower income countries. This leads to limited service availability and high out of pocket payments for populations in need of care. The purpose of this research was to assess the association between macroeconomic conditions and rehabilitation expenditures across low-, middle-, and high-income countries and to understand its implications for overall rehabilitation expenditure trajectory across countries.Materials and methodsWe utilized a panel data set from the World Health Organization’s Global Health Expenditure Database comprising the total rehabilitation expenditure for 88 countries from 2016 to 2018. Basic macroeconomic and population data served as control variables. Multiple regression models were implemented to measure the relationship between macroeconomic conditions and rehabilitation expenditures. We used four different model specifications to check the robustness of our estimates: pooled data models (or naïve model) without control, pooled data models with controls (or expanded naïve model), fixed effect models with all controls, and lag models with all controls. Log-log specifications using fixed effects and lag-dependent variable models were deemed the most appropriate and controlled for time-invariant differences.ResultsOur regression models indicate that, with a 1% increase in economic growth, rehabilitation expenditure would be associated with a 0.9% and 1.3% increase in expenditure. Given low baseline levels of existing rehabilitation expenditure, we anticipate that predicted increases in rehabilitation expenditure due to economic growth may be insufficient to meet the growing demand for rehabilitation services. Existing expenditures may also be vulnerable during periods of economic recession.ConclusionThis is the first known estimation of the association between rehabilitation expenditure and macroeconomic conditions. Our findings demonstrate that rehabilitation is sensitive to macroeconomic fluctuations and the path dependency of past expenditures. This would suggest the importance of increased financial prioritization of rehabilitation services and improved institutional strengthening to expand access to rehabilitation services for populations.

Faroese self-government: development over time and effects of critical junctures

ABSTRACT The Faroe Islands is receiving increased international attention due to the political changes in the Arctic region. This is causing challenges for the Home Rule model and the Danish Realm. The Faroe Islands have previous experiences with critical junctures that have led to change in self-government settings. Based on historical institutionalism, this article conducts a comparative case study of two previous critical juncture events and time-periods for the Faroe Islands. The first is the Second World War followed by the implementation of the new Home Rule model in 1948, and the second is the severe economic crisis in the 1990s followed by path dependency institutional adaptations to the Home Rule model in 2005. The investigation resembles a different-outcomes comparison and focuses on identifying the contextual political factors of importance and how these factors varied for the two cases. The findings show shifts in the within-case political power balance in opposite directions, changes in the policy space, differences in the Danish state´s position and third-party actor roles as well as differences in terms of international salience of national self-determination norms.

Is Green Transition in Europe Fostered by Energy and Environmental Efficiency Feedback Loops? The Role of Eco-Innovation, Renewable Energy and Green Taxation

AbstractGreen transition is in the core of the European policy agenda to achieve the ambitious goal of climate neutrality following the launch of the European Green Deal. The cornerstone of the new growth strategy of Europe is resource efficiency which focuses on shifting to a more sustainable production paradigm by conserving scarce resources and by prioritizing enhanced environmental performance. Scattered efforts to investigate the drivers of resource efficiency measures have shed light on the key drivers, however, those consider resource efficiency measures in isolation neglecting for feedback loops influencing green transition. Therefore, we develop a conceptual framework to study green transition as a system of resource efficiency measures affected by feedback loops, path dependence, green technologies, and green policy tools. We mobilize the analysis by devising a unique balanced panel covering the EU-28 from 2010 through 2019, including policy efforts paving the way for green transition. Econometric results based on a system of fractional probit models, indicate that resource efficiency measures are intertwined via feedback loops, especially in the case of environmental efficiency. Green technologies affect green transition, however, rebound effects emerge in the case of energy efficiency. Past performance affects current levels pushing towards divergence. Evidence suggests that green taxation fosters energy efficiency whereas hinders environmental efficiency. The asymmetric operation of feedback loops and green taxation on energy and environmental efficiency highlights that horizontal policies hinder rather than foster green transition. This study contributes to SDGs 7, 12, 13 and 16.

The development of Greenland’s self-government and independence in the shadow of the unitary state

ABSTRACT The article investigates whether the development of Greenland’s autonomy over the past 40 years can be fruitfully understood as a case of path dependency or, alternatively, as a series of changing equilibriums marked by critical junctures. The article addresses the following questions: 1) What were the drivers behind the establishment of Greenlandic home rule in 1979? 2) What were the drivers behind the establishment of Self Government in 2009? 3) What are the implications for today’s constitutional debate in Greenland? It is shown that the 1979 Greenland Home Rule Act followed from a critical juncture triggered by the Greenlandic ‘no’-vote on EU membership. The subsequent 2009 Greenland Self Government Act was, to a large extent, a consequence of endogenous change within a path dependency flowing from the Home Rule Act. The logic from home rule was carried over into self-government: the gradual transfer of policy areas to Greenlandic self-government when Greenland was willing and able to take over the policy areas. It is suggested that there is a potential tension between path dependency arising from the GSGA and intensified Greenlandic expressions of political identity which may challenge the GSGA logic, while there are still dynamics which pull towards the GSGA logic.

Partial‐state feedback adaptive stabilization for a class of uncertain nonholonomic systems

Partial‐state feedback adaptive stabilization for a class of uncertain nonholonomic systems

Hierarchical path planner combining probabilistic roadmap and deep deterministic policy gradient for unmanned ground vehicles with non-holonomic constraints

Path planning plays a vital role in autonomous driving as it needs to guide the vehicle to achieve the target position without collision while satisfying the vehicle's non-holonomic constraints. A good path planner should be able to cope with sophisticated environments and try to make the planned path as short as possible. Traditional path planning methods when being applied on four-wheel vehicles may suffer from one of the following disadvantages including conflicting with non-holonomic constraints, far from close-optimal length solution, or easy to get stuck in specific environments. In this paper, a hierarchical path planning method for a four-wheel vehicle combining probabilistic roadmap (PRM) and deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) is proposed to address existing problems. In the upper level, PRM is used to generate a guidance path quickly, which doesn't consider the vehicle's non-holonomic constraints but gives the sketch of the path that helps the vehicle to jump out of some dilemmas in specific environments while maintaining a relatively short path distance. In the lower level, reinforcement learning, specifically DDPG, is used to optimize the guidance path generated by PRM considering multiple factors including non-holonomic constraints and obstacle avoidance. The proposed method is validated in four different environments including a simple map, an easy-to-stuck specific map, a maze-like complex map and an office-like complex map. Results show that the proposed method could generate a smooth path satisfying non-holonomic constraints while demonstrating desirable obstacle avoidance performance. The planned path of the proposed method is superior to that of both traditional and state-of-the-art methods in terms of path length and smoothness, which could be 1.3–12.9 % shorter and 2.6–52.1 % smoother in different environments.

What is quality in long covid care? Lessons from a national quality improvement collaborative and multi-site ethnography

BackgroundLong covid (post covid-19 condition) is a complex condition with diverse manifestations, uncertain prognosis and wide variation in current approaches to management. There have been calls for formal quality standards to reduce a so-called “postcode lottery” of care. The original aim of this study—to examine the nature of quality in long covid care and reduce unwarranted variation in services—evolved to focus on examining the reasons why standardizing care was so challenging in this condition.MethodsIn 2021–2023, we ran a quality improvement collaborative across 10 UK sites. The dataset reported here was mostly but not entirely qualitative. It included data on the origins and current context of each clinic, interviews with staff and patients, and ethnographic observations at 13 clinics (50 consultations) and 45 multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings (244 patient cases). Data collection and analysis were informed by relevant lenses from clinical care (e.g. evidence-based guidelines), improvement science (e.g. quality improvement cycles) and philosophy of knowledge.ResultsParticipating clinics made progress towards standardizing assessment and management in some topics; some variation remained but this could usually be explained. Clinics had different histories and path dependencies, occupied a different place in their healthcare ecosystem and served a varied caseload including a high proportion of patients with comorbidities. A key mechanism for achieving high-quality long covid care was when local MDTs deliberated on unusual, complex or challenging cases for which evidence-based guidelines provided no easy answers. In such cases, collective learning occurred through idiographic (case-based) reasoning, in which practitioners build lessons from the particular to the general. This contrasts with the nomothetic reasoning implicit in evidence-based guidelines, in which reasoning is assumed to go from the general (e.g. findings of clinical trials) to the particular (management of individual patients).ConclusionNot all variation in long covid services is unwarranted. Largely because long covid’s manifestations are so varied and comorbidities common, generic “evidence-based” standards require much individual adaptation. In this complex condition, quality improvement resources may be productively spent supporting MDTs to optimise their case-based learning through interdisciplinary discussion. Quality assessment of a long covid service should include review of a sample of individual cases to assess how guidelines have been interpreted and personalized to meet patients’ unique needs.Study registrationNCT05057260, ISRCTN15022307.