Complex Adaptive Systems Perspective Research Articles

Designing circular supply chains in start-up companies: evidence from Italian fashion and construction start-ups

PurposeThe theory of complex adaptive systems (CASs) represents an interesting perspective to study the characteristics of circular supply chains (CSCs). In this regard, the current literature lacks evidence regarding coordination and integration mechanisms, characteristics of the environment and emerging system properties of CSCs. This paper aims to fill this gap and focuses on how and why companies design (i.e. configure and coordinate) their CSCs and what value these design choices help to create across different industries.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a multiple case study approach and analyze data collected from a sample of five sustainable start-ups operating in the fashion and construction industries in Italy to better understand how these companies design (i.e. configure and coordinate) their CSCs.FindingsResults reveal that in the two industries under investigation, the design of CSCs built around open and closed–loop logic is triggered by the intention to solve a negative sustainability impact. The sustainability impact determines whether the value is restored within the same supply chain, in another, or inside or outside the same industry. Interestingly, start-ups appear to coordinate other CSC actors with three leading roles: (1) orchestrator, (2) integrated orchestrator and (3) circular manufacturer. The coordination role of the start-ups differs in each supply chain configuration based on the level of vertical integration of manufacturing activities.Originality/valueFrom a theoretical perspective, the authors' results expand previous supply chain management (SCM) literature by presenting an empirical analysis of the configuration and coordination of CSCs, and discussing the drivers for creating such circularity from a CAS perspective. From a managerial perspective, the authors offer a practical experience to entrepreneurs on how to transform circular and sustainable business model aspirations into CSC practices.

The role of power-based behaviours on pharmaceutical supply chain resilience

PurposeThis study aims to explore the effect of power-based behaviours on pharmaceutical supply chain (PSC) resilience.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a mixed-method approach to explore the role of power-based behaviours in PSC resilience. Qualitative interviews from 23 key PSC stakeholders, followed by thematic analysis, revealed the underlying perceptions regarding PSC resilience. Quantitative propositions were then developed based on the themes adopted from PSC resilience literature and the qualitative findings. These were tested via a survey questionnaire administered to 106 key stakeholders across the various levels in the PSC. Structural equation modelling with partial least squares was used to analyse the data.FindingsThe data analysed identified proactive and reactive strategies as resilience strategies in the PSC. However, power-based behaviours represented by quota systems, information and price control influenced these resilience strategies. From a complex adaptive system (CAS) perspective, the authors found that when power-based behaviours were exhibited, the interactions between PSC actors were mixed. There was a negative influence on reactive strategies and a positive influence on proactive strategies. The analysis also showed that PSC complexities measured by stringent regulations, long lead times and complex production moderated the effect of power-based behaviour on reactive strategies. Thus, the negative impact of power-based behaviours on reactive strategies stemmed from PSC complexities.Research limitations/implicationsThis research particularly reveals the role of power-based behaviours in building PSC resilience. By evaluating the nexus from a CAS perspective, the analysis considered power-based behaviours and the moderating role of PSC complexities in developing resilience strategies. This study considers the interactions of PSC actors. This study shows that power asymmetry is a relational concept that inhibits the efficacy of reactive strategies. This study thus advocates the importance of power in achieving a more resilient PSC from a holistic perspective by highlighting the importance of the decision-making process among supply chain (SC) partners. The findings are particularly relevant if PSC resilience is viewed as a CAS. All the interactions and decision-making processes affect outcomes because of their inherent complexities. Although this study focused on the PSC, its implications could be extended to other SCs.Practical implicationsThe authors identified that power-based behaviours influenced resilience strategies. It was detrimental to reactive strategies because of the complexities of the PSC but beneficial to proactive strategies through resource-sharing. PSC actors are therefore encouraged to pursue proactive strategies as this may aid in mitigating the impact of disruptions. However, power-based behaviours bred partner dissatisfaction. This dissatisfaction may occur even within strategic alliances indicating that power could be detrimental to proactive strategies. Therefore, it is pertinent to identify conditions that lead to dissatisfaction when pursuing strategic partnerships. This study provides insight into actual behaviours influencing resilience and quantifies their effects on the PSC. These insights will be valuable for all SC partners wanting to improve their resilience strategies.Originality/valuePrevious PSC management and resilience studies have not examined the role of power in building resilience in the PSC. This paper thus provides a unique contribution by identifying the role of power in PSC resilience, offers empirical evidence and a novel theoretical perspective for future practice and research in building PSC resilience strategies.

Modeling supply chain viability and adaptation against underload cascading failure during the COVID-19 pandemic

Supply chain viability concerns the entire supply system rather than one company or one single chain to survive COVID-19 disruptions. Mobility restriction and overall demand decline lead to systematically cascading disruptions that are more severe and longer lasting than those caused by natural disasters and political conflicts. In the present study, the authors find that large companies and manufacturers with traditional advantages suffer greater losses than small ones, which is conceptualized as the “Hub Paradox” by empirically investigating one Warp Knitting Industrial Zone of China. An underload cascading failure model is employed to simulate supply chain viability under disruptions. Numerical simulations demonstrate that when the load decreases beyond a threshold, the viability will drop down critically. Besides, supply chain viability depends on two aspects: the adaptive capability of the manufacturers themselves and the adaptive capability of the connections of the supply network. The comparison study demonstrates that enhancing cooperative relations between hub and non-hub manufacturers will facilitate the entire supply network viability. The present study sheds light on viable supply chain management. Compared with conventionally linear or resilient supply chains, intertwined supply networks can leverage viability with higher adaptation of redistributing production capacities among manufacturers to re-establish overall scale advantages. Finally, the present study also suggests solving the “Hub Paradox” from the perspective of complex adaptive system.

Toward a non‐organizational theory of human resource management? A complex adaptive systems perspective on the human resource management ecosystem in (con)temporary organizing

AbstractThe emergence of the temporary organization has ushered in a new logic of organizing accompanied by paradigm‐shifting challenges with respect to how the evolving nature of work, workers, and collective effort are to be understood. To capture the complexity inherent in this new order, and to broaden our focus from the organization to the enfolding ecosystem within which temporary organizing must be situated and understood, we engage in problematization to develop a multi‐level framework for theorizing the contemporary human resource management ecosystem. Curating insights from complexity science, we conceptualize this ecosystem as a complex adaptive one and we propose a framework that integrates key structural (open boundaries and relational constitution), emergent (contextual and complex causality), and temporal (dynamic and adaptive) properties. To deepen lines of inquiry around these defining elements, we advance a series of propositions for testing, and we outline a range of theoretical, methodological, and practical implications that arise from our work.

Death and entrepreneuring in family businesses: a complexity and stewardship perspective

ABSTRACT Based on the works of Alistair Anderson, this article explores entrepreneuring in the context of entrepreneurial families prior to, and following, the death of a leading family member in business. Until now, literature has suggested that the loss of a leading family member may bring complexity and chaos to ongoing entrepreneurial efforts. Drawing on a complex adaptive system and stewardship perspective, this study examines the role of death in entrepreneuring in four entrepreneurial families. With the loss of a leading family member in business, social processes of adaptation in entrepreneurial trajectories are revealed. Our analysis shows that these processes allow members to reorganize, recalibrate, and reconnect aspects of family and business. Our study contributes to understanding social processes in entrepreneuring by capturing how death can influence entrepreneurial choices and progression over time, focusing on what family entrepreneurs do. Conceptualizing the family as a complex adaptive system contributes to a theoretical perspective of stewardship as fluid and collective.

Towards circular manufacturing systems implementation: A complex adaptive systems perspective using modelling and simulation as a quantitative analysis tool

A transition towards circular manufacturing systems (CMS) has brought awareness of untapped economic and environmental benefits for the manufacturing industry. Conventional manufacturing systems already present a high level of complexity in terms of physical flows of materials and products as well as information and financial flows linked to them. Closing the loop of materials and products through multiple lifecycles, as proposed in CMS, increases this complexity manifold. To support practitioners in implementing CMS through enhanced decision-making, this research studies CMS from a complex adaptive systems (CAS) perspective and proposes to exploit methods and tools used in the study of CAS to characterise, model and analyse CMS. By viewing CMS as CAS composed of autonomous, interacting agents, this research proposes a multi-method model architecture for modelling and simulating CMS. The different CMS stakeholders are modelled individually as autonomous agents by integrating agent-based, discrete-event, and/or system dynamics modules within each agent to capture their diverse and heterogeneous nature. The applicability of the proposed multi-method approach is illustrated through a case study of a white goods manufacturing company implementing CMS in practice. This case study shows the relevance and feasibility of the proposed multi-method approach as a decision support tool for the systemic exploration and quantification of CMS. It also shows how a transition towards CMS necessitates a lifecycle approach in terms of costs, revenues and environmental impacts to identify hotspots and, therefore, design circular systems that are viable in both economic and environmental terms. In fact, the analyses of the simulation results indicate how decisions in terms of business models, product design, and supply chain might affect the CMS performance of the case company. For instance, implementing a service-based model led to a high number of usecycles (on average six usecycles per washing machine), which, in turn, led to high lifecycle costs and emissions due to more frequent transportation and recovery operations. Similarly, the deployment of long-lasting washing machines, which is a core principle of CMS, led to high manufacturing costs. Due to the high initial costs and a time mismatch between revenues and costs in the service-based model, it required a longer time for the company to reach the break-even point (approximately 23 months). Overall, the case study shows that multi-method simulation modelling can provide decision-making support for a successful implementation of CMS.

Explicating the effects of big data analytics capabilities on supply chain resilience dimensions: dynamic capabilities approach and complex adaptive system perspective

In an uncertain business environment, industries need to be resilient in their supply chains to be able to face the possible changes, identify them, and react to the real ones. This study aims at presenting a general approach to evaluate big data analytics (BDA) potential regarding supply chain resilience. The effects of three enablers of BDA capabilities, namely BDA management ability, BDA infrastructure flexibility, and BDA personnel expertise ability on supply chain resilience dimensions, namely efficiency-based capabilities, adaptive capability, and collaborative capability were studied in a conceptual framework. Evaluation of the research measurement as well as structural model validity was performed via partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The results show that BDA capabilities have a positive and meaningful effect on supply chain resiliency. Moreover, according to the findings, capabilities of BDA personnel along with BDA infrastructure flexibility had a greater impact on supply chain resilience.

Resilience in Global Value Chains: A Systemic Risk Approach

Global value chains (GVCs) have increased efficiencies, accelerated production, reduced costs, and increased wealth and opportunities for workers, firms, nations, and the global economy as a whole. However, the benefits and efficiencies provided by these GVCs come at the cost of increasing risks. This is largely because the emergence and evolution of GVCs have been enabled by advancements in globalization, complexity, and technology, as well as the development of critical global systems that underpin these industries—such as communication, transportation, financial systems, and others. GVCs are thus only as stable as these underlying global systems upon which they depend, and are vulnerable to potential shocks to these systems. The COVID-19 pandemic and other recent global interruptions in GVCs have demonstrated the importance of applying a systems theory approach, which allows us to identify—and eventually begin managing for—the multidimensional risks that these global industries face. Studying the stability and reliability of these global industries requires not only an understanding of risks within just the GVCs but also an awareness of vulnerabilities in numerous critical underlying systems that form the infrastructure of GVCs and the global economy. As examples, we examine six such underlying systems: health care and public health, supply chain and logistics, technology and cyber, finance, sociopolitical, and the environment. Each of these examples illustrates that disruptions, fragilities, or failures in critical underlying systems can dramatically impact GVCs as a whole and make the geographic regions in which these systems are vulnerable less attractive to industry investment and expansion. Introducing methodologies and concepts from systems theory, we illustrate that these underlying global systems that expose GVCs to vulnerabilities are complex adaptive systems (CAS). As systems of systems composed of CAS, these GVCs consequently also can be modeled as CAS. We argue that not only does this CAS perspective help to mitigate the multilayered GVC risks through better understanding and the application of CAS tools like “adaptive management,” but it also empowers policymakers to better attract GVCs to their borders by prioritizing the creation of more resilient underlying systems.

Destination governance in times of change: a complex adaptive systems perspective to improve tourism destination development

PurposeThis paper brings together the literature on theories of complexity adaptive systems (CAS), develops an analytical framework, applies this framework to the development of tourism destinations and critically reflects on the use of this perspective.Design/methodology/approachThis paper elaborates on a CAS perspective on destination development, to further develop complexity thinking in tourism studies. This approach enables to identify policy avenues geared towards improving destination governance and contributing to sustainable tourism development.FindingsTheories of CAS offer an analytical lens to better understand destination development, drawing explicit attention to (1) the levels of the individual, (emergent) structures, the structure-agency interface and the system level, (2) the steps related to the process of adaptation that is critical for systems to survive and thrive in times of change and (3) the undervalued importance of considering the factor of time.Originality/valueApplying CAS theories help to address a range of (policy) avenues to improve destination governance, contributing to a shift in focus from reactively fixing problems to proactively addressing the structural issue of adaptive capacity building. It shows that managing tourism destination as complex systems involves a set of conditions that are critical as well as difficult to meet in tourism practice.

Irrational use of antibiotics in Iran from the perspective of complex adaptive systems: redefining the challenge

BackgroundIrrational use of antibiotics is proving to be a major concern to the health systems globally. This results in antibiotics resistance and increases health care costs. In Iran, despite many years of research, appreciable efforts, and policymaking to avoid irrational use of antibiotics, yet indicators show suboptimal use of antibiotics, pointing to an urgent need for adopting alternative approaches to further understand the problem and to offer new solutions. Applying the Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) theory, to explore and research health systems and their challenges has become popular. Therefore, this study aimed to better understand the complexity of the irrational use of antibiotics in Iran and to propose potential solutions.MethodThis research utilized a CAS observatory tool to qualitatively collect and analyse data. Twenty interviews and two Focus Group discussions were conducted. The data was enriched with policy document reviews to fully understand the system. MAXQDA software was used to organize and analyze the data.ResultWe could identify several diverse and heterogeneous, yet highly interdependent agents operating at different levels in the antibiotics use system in Iran. The network structure and its adaptive emergent behavior, information flow, governing rules, feedback and values of the system, and the way they interact were identified. The findings described antibiotics use as emergent behavior that is formed by an interplay of many factors and agents over time. According to this study, insufficient and ineffective interaction and information flow regarding antibiotics between agents are among key causes of irrational antibiotics use in Iran. Results showed that effective rules to minimize irrational use of antibiotics are missing or can be easily disobeyed. The gaps and weaknesses of the system which need redesigning or modification were recognized as well.ConclusionThe study suggests re-engineering the system by implementing several system-level changes including establishing strong, timely, and effective interactions between identified stakeholders, which facilitate information flow and provision of on-time feedback, and create win-win rules in a participatory manner with stakeholders and the distributed control system.

Examining resilience of disaster response system in response to COVID-19

We examine the COVID-19 response in China by conceptualizing resilience from the complex adaptive system perspective, including a discussion of the factors contributing to the resilience of the disaster response system. Methodologically, a network-based model was employed to describe the disaster response system. In addition to a traditional network analysis, the dynamics network analysis was conducted to assess the evolution of the disaster response system with a time slice analysis. This study presents theoretical and practical contributions to the field of disaster management by utilizing the complex adaptive system perspective and investigating context-specific resilience of a disaster response system.

A solution for the chicken and egg paradox in taxi e-hailing platforms: some evidence from the MyTaxi – FreeNow case

PurposeThis study aims to explore the chicken and egg paradox in the taxi e-hailing business contributing to define a condition of system emergence. This paradox is a meaningful one as these platforms represent a system where the passengers systems have no reason to participate if they have no drivers-systems to answer their call, but, at the same time, the platform is not useful to the drivers-system if there are no passengers-systems using the platform.Design/methodology/approachTo understand how this paradox has been dealt with in the taxi e-hailing business, this study focused on a case study on a best practice in Italian taxi e-hailing industry (i.e. MyTaxi/FreeNow). This study wants to comprehend which actions have been implemented to solve this paradox and has tried to identify the interconnections between the various strategies to create a closed loop diagram for further testing.FindingsThis study has found that the company did not choose a single “subsystem” (passenger or driver), but it has stimulated the creation of several mutually reinforcing motivation for have both subsystems interact to help the company grow.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paradox has never been studied using the complex adaptive system perspective. This perspective is particularly useful in this case and in the similar ones with several different interacting factors that cannot be really studied without using a higher order perspective.

Sustain(able) urban (eco)systems: Stakeholder-related success factors in urban innovation projects

Urban areas are centers of financial and industrial activities and social life. Therefore, they are high consumers of resources and energy. Consequently, the relevance of sustainable urban transformation as a mean to counter climate change is increasing. However, because cities are complex and adaptive (eco)systems characterized by constant change, established innovation management approaches are not necessarily compatible with them. Therefore, this study aims to shed light on the underlying mechanisms, innovation barriers, and drivers of urban innovation development in urban ecosystems. It adopts the complex adaptive system perspective that allows an exploratory analysis of intricate stakeholder interactions, being a means to achieve urban transformation. Based on a qualitative content analysis of data obtained through 20 semi-structured interviews, the author shows that urban innovation implementation relies on the interaction between stakeholders in the urban district and from the near and distant urban environment. However, individual, organizational, and ecosystem innovation resistance in the urban district hinder innovation implementation, innovation drivers instead focus on the core of the urban ecosystem. In addition, based on a crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis using data from 33 German urban innovation projects, the author identifies and proffers combinations of specific innovation drivers that result in urban innovation implementation.

Crafting actionable knowledge on ecological intensification: Lessons from co-innovation approaches in Uruguay and Europe

ContextDespite a wealth of analytical knowledge on factors and processes that operate to slow down or impede sustainability transitions in various sectors of society, design-oriented researchers face a lack of guidance on the ‘how to’ question for developing knowledge to support sustainability changes. From 2007, we crafted co-innovation as an approach for governance and management of change-oriented projects, combining three domains; a complex adaptive systems perspective, a social learning setting, and dynamic monitoring and evaluation. ObjectiveThis paper sets out to describe the co-innovation approach and draw lessons from its application in projects on ecological intensification in Uruguay and the European Union. MethodsWe used an analytical framework for evaluating sustainability transition experiments, which considers project features that provide insights into the contribution to sustainability transformations by project outputs, outcomes, processes and inputs, and their interactions. Empirical information on 6 cases from 3 projects was collected through in-depth interviews with former project staff, group discussion, and project documentation. This enabled a reflexive evaluation of co-innovation. Results and conclusionsOutputs showed substantial variation among the cases despite a similar approach to project governance and management. More significant contributions to sustainability transitions were associated with in-depth project preparation, a focus at the farm-level instead of the crop or field level, connections during the project's lifetime with regional innovation system actors, and frequent facilitated interactions among project actors to reflect on results, wider system implications, and project direction. We discuss the results in relation to the three domains of co-innovation. To enhance the role of projects in destabilizing currently unsustainable systems we highlight: reconsidering the role of projects as a business model; stimulating institutional learning from previous change-oriented projects; and making funding more adaptive to evolving project needs. SignificanceWith most of the budget for agricultural research-for-change spent through projects, how projects are conducted is a critical determinant of the rate of sustainability transitions. Effective disruption of unsustainable practices through project interventions requires rethinking linear cause-effect relations to include project governance and management approaches based on complex adaptive systems thinking, social learning settings, and monitoring geared to adaptation and learning.

Implementing recovery-oriented practice in older people’s mental health services: the NSW experience.

Personal recovery is central to Australian mental health standards, but promoting recovery-oriented practice remains a wicked problem (ie complex, with definitions and appropriate interventions impacted upon by context and values), with limited evidence regarding effective implementation. This case study re-examines a statewide initiative to enhance recovery-oriented practice in older people's mental health services in New South Wales from the perspective of complex adaptive systems. The initiative consisted of three key strategies: (1) statewide collaborative leadership and practice resources; (2) locally determined and led improvement projects; and (3) evaluating, disseminating and sustaining initiative outcomes. Published outcomes of the initiative, related policy and benchmarking materials and author reflections are used to propose lessons for other services and policy makers. From a systems perspective, a relatively small investment from a state policy unit to enhance a facilitating environment resulted in the emergence of local leaders and voluntary participation of services within 80% of local health districts without funding incentives. Local leaders and activities informed statewide policies and models of care to sustain practice change. Limitations included variability in project scopes and the involvement of people with lived experience, as well as the level of refinement in change management approach. Self-audit and consumer-rated experience suggest resilience of practice and culture change. The outcomes are consistent with conceptualisations of mental health services being complex adaptive systems requiring distributive leadership. Established mechanisms encouraging statewide cooperation between clinicians, service managers and policy makers may have been significant facilitators of engagement in practice change. What is known about this topic? Recovery remains an important concept for older people with mental ill health, with implementation of recovery-oriented practice a wicked problem. What does this paper add? Central policy investment in a collaborative facilitatory environment can stimulate the emergence of local leadership and investment in actions to enhance recovery orientation. As predicted by complex adaptive systems theory, the impact of the leaders developed may be broader than the sum of individual project outcomes. What are the implications for practitioners? A start where you can message can engage and enable leaders in feasible and locally relevant changes consistent with a statewide strategy. This may be a feasible approach to improving recovery orientation in mental health care services for and beyond older people, with potential implications for addressing other wicked problems in health care.

Tracing resilience, social dynamics and behavioral change: a review of agent-based flood risk models

Climate change and rapid urbanization exacerbate flood risks worldwide. The recognition of the crucial role that human actors play in altering risks and resilience of flood-prone cities triggers a paradigm shift in climate risks assessments and drives the proliferation of computational models that include societal dynamics. Yet, replacing a representative rational actor dominant in climate policy models with a variety of behaviorally-rich agents that interact, learn, and adapt is not straightforward. Focusing on the costliest climate-exacerbated hazard, flooding, we review computational agent-based models that include behavioral change and societal dynamics. We distinguish between two streams of literature: one stemming from economics & behavioral sciences and another from hydrology. Our findings show that most studies focus on households while representing decisions of other agents (government, insurance, urban developers) simplistically and entirely overlooking firms' choices in the face of risks. The two communities vary in the extent they ground agents' rules in social theories and behavioral data when modeling boundedly-rational decisions. While both aspire to trace feedbacks that agents collectively instigate, they employ different learning and interactions when computing societal dynamics in the face of climate risks. Dynamics of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability components of flood risks driven by incremental adaptation of agents are well represented. We highlight that applying a complex adaptive system perspective to trace the evolution of resilience can lead to a better understanding of transformational adaptation. The methodological advances in computational models with heterogeneous behaviorally-rich adaptive agents are relevant for adaptation to different climate-driven hazards beyond flooding.

Open government data platforms – A complex adaptive sociomaterial systems perspective

In this paper we focus on the emerging phenomenon of Open Government Data Platforms (OGDPs), in particular those that provide open performance data to general public. Governments world-wide continue to implement these platforms, aiming to increase transparency and accountability. However, in spite of their positive intentions, ODGPs that provide performance data (e.g. about schools or hospitals) are reported to create serious harmful social effects. While the related literature has reported numerous cases of these unintended effects, the questions regarding why and how they emerge remain open. This is not surprising, given the complexity and dynamics of processes instigated through the use of ODGPs by a very large number of known and unknowable actors. Through a diffractive reading of complexity theories, in particular Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) and sociomateriality, in this paper we propose a Complex Adaptive Sociomaterial Systems (CASS) theorization of OGDPs. Drawing from a case of OGDP in Australia called My School, which provides open performance data for more than 10.000 schools, we demonstrate how the proposed theoretical lens of CASS enables us to reveal and explain why and how these platforms perform unintended, yet serious social harm. Given that OGDPs are rapidly emerging around the world, our research opens a pathway for a research-informed public discourse about their harmful effects and responsibilities of different stakeholders.

Decentralized markets and the emergence of housing wealth inequality

Recent studies suggest that the traditional determinants of housing wealth are insufficient to explain its current inequality levels. Thus, they argue that efforts should focus on understanding institutional factors. From the perspective of complex adaptive systems, institutions are more than the ‘the rules of the game’, they also consider the interaction protocols or the ‘algorithm’ through which agents engage in socioeconomic activities. By viewing markets as complex adaptive systems, I develop a model that allows estimating how much housing wealth inequality is attributable to the market institution. It combines virtues from two different modeling traditions: (1) the microeconomic foundations from overlapping-generation models and (2) the explicit interaction protocols of agent-based models. Overall, the model generates prices and housing inequality endogenously and from bottom-up; without needing to impose assumptions about the aggregate behavior of the market (such as market equilibrium). It accounts for economic and institutional factors that are important to housing consumption decisions (e.g., wages, consumption of goods, non-labor income, government transfers, taxes, etc.). I calibrate the model with the British Wealth and Assets Survey at the level of each individual household (i.e., ~25 million agents). By performing counter-factual simulations that control for data heterogeneity, I estimate that, in the United Kingdom, the decentralized protocol interaction of the housing market contributes with one to two thirds of the Gini coefficient. I perform policy experiments and compare the outcomes between an expansion in the housing stock, a sales tax, and an inheritance tax. The results raise concerns about the limitations of traditional policies and call for a careful re-examination of housing wealth inequality.

Towards an Explanation of the Social Value of Health Systems: An Interpretive Synthesis.

Background: Health systems are complex social systems, and values constitute a central dimension of their complexity. Values are commonly understood as key drivers of health system change, operating across all health systems components and functions. Moreover, health systems are understood to influence and generate social values, presenting an opportunity to harness health systems to build stronger, more cohesive societies. However, there is little investigation (theoretical, conceptual, or empirical) on social values in health policy and systems research (HPSR), particularly regarding the capacity of health systems to influence and generate social values. This study develops an explanatory theory for the ‘social value of health systems.’ Methods: We present the results of an interpretive synthesis of HPSR literature on social values, drawing on a qualitative systematic review, focusing on claims about the relationship between ‘health systems’ and ‘social values.’ We combined relational claims extracted from the literature under a common framework in order to generate new explanatory theory. Results: We identify four mechanisms by which health systems are considered to contribute social value to society: Health systems can: (1) offer a unifying national ideal and build social cohesion, (2) influence and legitimise popular attitudes about rights and entitlements with regard to healthcare and inform citizen’s understanding of state responsibilities, (3) strengthen trust in the state and legitimise state authority, and (4) communicate the extent to which the state values various population groups. Conclusion: We conclude that, using a systems-thinking and complex adaptive systems perspective, the above mechanisms can be explained as emergent properties of the dynamic network of values-based connections operating within health systems. We also demonstrate that this theory accounts for how HPSR authors write about the relationship between health systems and social values. Finally, we offer lessons for researchers and policy-makers seeking to bring about values-based change in health systems.

Sustainability in Community Building: Framing Design Thinking Using a Complex Adaptive Systems Perspective

Complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory is acquiring mainstream recognition in sustainable community building. In this paper, we bring the applicability of CAS theory into sharper focus, highlighting its potential for integrating complexity and adaptivity of community into a structured body of knowledge while also providing a thought pattern for generating, implementing and validating new design ideas. Therefore, this paper aims to propose a framework of design thinking that uses a CAS perspective to aid designers in conceiving new community building design ideas efficiently. Next, this paper presents the results of a cognitive design experiment where functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and extended protocol analysis methods were combined to examine the validities of the proposed design thinking framework in community building. The results show that the Agent-Interaction-Adaptation (AIA) design thinking framework has the ability to promote designers’ extension of idea space, brain activation and idea quality in contrast to a traditional design thinking framework, but it did not significantly increase the designers’ idea quantity.