Policy Cooperation Research Articles

Learning to cooperate for low-Reynolds-number swimming: a model problem for gait coordination

Biological microswimmers can coordinate their motions to exploit their fluid environment—and each other—to achieve global advantages in their locomotory performance. These cooperative locomotion require delicate adjustments of both individual swimming gaits and spatial arrangements of the swimmers. Here we probe the emergence of such cooperative behaviors among artificial microswimmers endowed with artificial intelligence. We present the first use of a deep reinforcement learning approach to empower the cooperative locomotion of a pair of reconfigurable microswimmers. The AI-advised cooperative policy comprises two stages: an approach stage where the swimmers get in close proximity to fully exploit hydrodynamic interactions, followed a synchronization stage where the swimmers synchronize their locomotory gaits to maximize their overall net propulsion. The synchronized motions allow the swimmer pair to move together coherently with an enhanced locomotion performance unattainable by a single swimmer alone. Our work constitutes a first step toward uncovering intriguing cooperative behaviors of smart artificial microswimmers, demonstrating the vast potential of reinforcement learning towards intelligent autonomous manipulations of multiple microswimmers for their future biomedical and environmental applications.

Sectarianizing the Politics in the Middle East


 day, many political regimes in the Middle East have been sectarianizing their internal and external policies, (i.e., given doctrinal features to these policies). This is what led to the emergence of new alignments and alliances that changed the political map of the region. With the help of the securitization theory, which was developed by the Copenhagen School of Security Studies, this research attempts to explain the phenomenon of sectarianism and its repercussions on the security and stability of the Middle East. The research also deals with the emergence of a security complex or dilemma on sectarian bases, such as the Iranian-Turkish-Saudi complex, and its role in creating hotbeds of tension and conflicts in the region.The research studies the phenomenon of securitization at the local and regional levels, and assumes that this phenomenon, despite its historical roots, is made by the regimes themselves, and is only intended to pass political projects that serve the regimes but not their peoples. The research concludes that there is no solution to sectarian dilemmas except with mutual understanding among the regimes that make them, and the resort to the policy of friendship and cooperation instead of the policy of conflict and rivalry.
 

The current trends of the development of the domestic crypto sector in the conditions of the martial law

The threats and challenges facing the digital economy is facing in wartime conditions have been updated. The priorities for the development of the domestic crypto sector have been determined. The place and role of the domestic crypto sector in the global financial system is outlined. The basical norms of the Law of Ukraine “On Virtual Assets” have been analyzed. Based on the analysis of this law, the conceptual approaches to cryptocurrencies, laid down in the current legislation, are revealed. The methodological principles of functional activity and achievements of domestic startups, their place in the system of digital economy are defined. The role, significance and possibilities of crypto-assets as systemic humanitarian aid and additional financing for the support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were detailed. The attention is focused on the provisions of the unified EU Law “Markets in cryptoassets” (MiCA) and its features are revealed through the prism of the functioning of the global digital market. The goal experience of France with the aim of strengthening regulatory requirements for crypto companies and crypto exchanges is detailed. The experience of the policy of cooperation and the construction of a criminal ecosystem of relations between the crypto exchange “Binance” and the Iranian “Nobitex” is summarized. The method of evasion of sanctions was revealed using the example of the Iranian crypto exchange “Nobitex” in 2022. The potential mechanisms of using virtual assets and cryptocurrencies in order to circumvent sanction pressure by the aggressor state are considered. The modern best practices of foreign regulatory experience in the sphere of virtual assets (UAE, USA) have been determined. A forecast of the future development of the global crypto industry is provided. The directions for further improvement of the national sphere of the crypto industry have been determined. The directions of the development of the national cryptosector are outlined, taking into account the novelties of domestic legislation in this area and the expediency of accelerating the implementation of EU regulatory requirements (the MiCA Law) into Ukrainian realities.

Cooperatives as Pillar of Economy to Improve Agriculture Production and Marketing

This paper focuses on the important role played by cooperatives in agriculture production and marketing in Nepal. The paper evaluates the role of cooperatives, their contribution to agriculture, current policies that have paved the way for development within the agriculture and cooperative sectors and recommendations for improving agriculture production and marketing. The methodology employed includes a review of existing literature on agriculture and cooperative policies, as well as discussions with key informants in the cooperative movement. The study highlights the need for support from government and non-government agencies to improve the service of agricultural cooperatives in various ways, particularly through policy intervention. The paper provides policy recommendations for the future, including the need for improved coordination between government agencies and cooperatives, capacity-building programs, commercialization of agro-products, ways of increasing agro-productivity and capacity-building for cooperative leaders, and better access to credit and markets. Overall, the study underscores the importance of cooperatives in the sustainable development of the agriculture sector in Nepal.

A Literature Review of Low-Carbon Urban Tourism Indicators and Policy

Low-carbon tourism (LCT) should be promoted in the development of the tourism sector, particularly in urban tourism, associated with the issue of high carbon dioxide emissions from human transportation-related activities and environmental pollution. Unfortunately, until today, there are still no specific guidelines for developing LCT in urban areas on the implementation or assessment criteria for determining the low carbon level. In consequence, the goal of this article is to discuss low-carbon indicators and policies used in the development of urban tourism. We identified 159 low-carbon indicators through content analysis, after reviewing reliable resources from four journal articles and a government policy paper validated using qualitative methods. Some suggested strategies and policies for LCT activities, actions and cooperation from the authorities and residents in implementing LCT as a new tourism development model. The results can be used globally as a basis for the formation of policies and studies related to LCT in urban areas.

Reinforcement Learning-Based Energy Trading and Management of Regional Interconnected Microgrids

In this paper, we present a Value-Decomposition Deep Deterministic Policy Gradients (V3DPG) based Reinforcement Learning (RL) method for energy trading and management of regional interconnected microgrids (MGs). In practice, the state of an MG is time-varying and the traded energy flows continuously, which is generally neglected in researches. To address this problem, an Actor-Critic framework is adopted. Each MG has to make energy trading decision based on local observation and has no access to any knowledge of other MGs. We bring in the idea of value-decomposition in the training process to ensure the generation of feasible cooperative policies while maintaining MGs’ privacy and autonomous decision-making ability. Furthermore, in light of the uncertainty and fluctuation of renewable energy generation and users’ demand, a recurrent neural network (RNN) with Burn-In initialization is combined with critic network to achieve implicit predictions. Meanwhile, we also take Energy Storage System (ESS) with operational constraints into consideration and deem it as a virtual market innovatively. Experiments have been carried out under real-world data to verify the merit of the proposed method, compared to existing RL-based works.

The Policy International Cooperation on Protection Sea and Island Environment in Viet Nam and Challenges in the Implementation Process

International cooperation in the field of seas and islands’ environmental protection is considered an inevitable choice in the current development trend. VietNam in recent years has constantly expanded cooperation with maritime countries in activities on integrated management of marine resources and environment. In order to meet the current cooperation needs, state management policies are also constantly changing to match the actual situation. Nowadays, the policies regulating international cooperation activities in our country's marine resources and environment are quite complete and systematic, perfect step by step. However, we need a lot of enthusiasm to be able to come up with optimal solutions because the implementation process is also facing many difficulties. This article aims to study the current status of international cooperation policies on marine environmental protection as well as the challenges in the practical implementation of this policy system.

Russian Corporations Implementation of State Policy in Cooperation with Republic of Iraq (Field Development Example)

Introduction. Oil fields in the Republic of Iraq have traditionally been the subject to intense scrutiny of international fuel and energy companies. Iraq is one of the world leaders in terms of oil reserves. According to the Organization of Petroleum ExportingCountries (OPEC), Iraq ranks 4th in 2021 (145,019 million barrels). Russian oil companies are firmly expanding their presence in the Iraqi oil fields. In condition of unprecedented sanctions against Russia from the collective West, our country has to look for ways to ensure its energy sovereignty. Oil development in Iraq can be an effective way for Russian companies to achieve their potential. This article examines the prospects for increasing the reach of Russian oil companies in the oil fields of Iraq taking into account the current geopolitical situation, and the global agenda includes the opportunity for Russia to promote interests both in the Middle East and beyond.Materials and methods. In this study, general and particular scientific methods are applied. The genetic method should be highlighted, as it allowed to trace the process of formation and development of the Russian-Iraqi interaction, and to draw conclusion on the prospects for its expansion. The study also analyzes the international legal framework of Russian-Iraqi cooperation, oil production statistics in Iraq, materials published in the media, official statements by the Russian and Iraqi authorities.The results of the study. The conducted research allowed to substantiate the conclusion that Iraq is the most promising area for extending the activities of Russian oil companies. Nowadays, Russia and Iraq are following the path of multifaceted cooperation, including the economic sphere. Also, the prerequisites that favor joint activities of Russia and Iraq in the fuel and energy field are the proximity of the countries in the scientific and technical sphere, the extreme economic feasibility of increasing the volume of joint economic operations and the compliance of Russian-Iraqi collaboration with the national interests of both states.Discussion and conclusions. Partnership with the Republic of Iraq is of strategic importance for Russia in the Middle East. This is almost a win-win direction of foreign economic activity, since it brings mutual political and economic benefits. Iraq may become a new springboard for the penetration of Russian business deep into the Middle East region. It is necessary to further develop this course in order to adapt Russian politics and economy to the new realities of the international geopolitical situation.

Economic Migration in the Early League of Nations

This article analyzes how economic migration was addressed in the technical institutions of the League of Nations and in the International Labor Organization (ILO), during the initial period of institutional genesis after the First World War. New archival material is used to integrate the fragmented scholarship on migration cooperation and establish dialogue with broader research on the development of international economic governance in the 1920s. This transversal analysis highlights commonalities and interactions that cut across institutional boundaries. Within the League system, different economic institutions carved out limited areas of cooperation in migration policy, while collectively reaffirming national sovereignty over borders and population.

Multi-Agent attention-based deep reinforcement learning for demand response in grid-responsive buildings

Integrating renewable energy resources and deploying energy management devices offer great opportunities to develop autonomous energy management systems in grid-responsive buildings. Demand response can promote enhancing demand flexibility and energy efficiency while reducing consumer costs. In this work, we propose a novel multi-agent deep reinforcement learning (MADRL) based approach with an agent assigned to individual buildings to facilitate demand response programs with diverse loads, including space heating/cooling and electrical equipment. Achieving real-time autonomous demand response in networks of buildings is challenging due to uncertain system parameters, the dynamic market price, and complex coupled operational constraints. To develop a scalable approach for automated demand response in networks of interconnected buildings, coordination between buildings is necessary to ensure demand flexibility and the grid's stability. We propose a MADRL technique that utilizes an actor-critic algorithm incorporating shared attention mechanism to enable effective and scalable real-time coordinated demand response in grid-responsive buildings. The presented case studies demonstrate the ability of the proposed approach to obtain decentralized cooperative policies for electricity costs minimization and efficient load shaping without knowledge of building energy systems. The viability of the proposed control approach is also demonstrated by a reduction of over 6% net load demand compared to standard reinforcement learning approaches, deep deterministic policy gradient, and soft actor-critic algorithm, as well as a tailored MADRL approach for demand response.

Government cooperation, market integration, and productivity: evidence from China

ABSTRACT This paper examines the causal effect of regional market integration on firm productivity through the use of 2001–2008 firm-level microdata in China. The research design relies on a regression discontinuity design based on China’s Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) regional cooperation policy. The results indicate that the PPRD regional cooperation policy increases the total factor productivity (TFP) of firms by 6% on average. The positive impact of the PPRD regional cooperation policy on TFP is greater for private firms, large firms, and labour-intensive firms. Exploring the mechanism through which regional cooperation increases firm TFP, we find that the PPRD regional cooperation policy improves firms’ productivity primarily by expanding the scale of firms, promoting technological innovation, and optimizing the allocation of factors. The study findings deepen our understanding of productivity improvement from the perspective of the market environment.

A dynamic game modeling on air pollution mitigation with regional cooperation and noncooperation.

Mitigating regional air pollution involves multifaceted trade-offs, including long-term versus short-term development versus emission-reduction among different regions. Considering the heterogeneity of levels of regional economic development and capacity for environmental governance as well as the spatial spillover effect of pollution, the game theory method can explore each region's dynamic emission-reduction path. In this article, the dynamic game mechanism (Regional Environment Economy Game Modeling model) is incorporated into the environment economy system to solve the Nash equilibrium under dynamic conditions and explore the game strategies of each region. Taking air pollution mitigation in North China as an example, this article compares the emission-reduction effect and social welfare under regional cooperative and noncooperative game scenarios and clarifies the abatement-sharing mechanism between provinces. The results show that a noncooperative policy is strictly inferior to a cooperative policy for achieving given emission-reduction goals and maximizing social welfare. Our findings offer evidence for strengthening regional cooperation in reducing carbon emissions and provide policy recommendations for synergistic pollution abatement and joint regional pollution mitigation. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;19:1555-1569. © 2023 SETAC.

가나 협동조합 활성화 정책과 개발협력 파트너의 역할

Purpose: Cooperatives in Ghana, despite the history since 1920s, have contributed minimally to the national economy and demonstrated only a few success cases as socioeconomic enterprises. This study aimed to identify policy factors which enable the promotion of cooperatives in Ghana, and suggested actions to be taken by the government of Ghana and development partners.
 Originality: Korean researchers have rarely studied African cooperatives. Cooperatives are a proven mechanism for the economic advancement of developing countries, while Korean cooperatives have been globally recognized as excellent business organizations. This study presents an implication to roles of development partners like KOICA in empowering Africa’s cooperatives as a development cooperation agenda.
 Methodology: An ordered Probit model was employed to identify determinants of effectiveness of Ghana’s cooperative policy. The data was collected from 94 public officers and 5 employees of private entities in the cooperative sector.
 Result: Public awareness of cooperative’s benefit and audit service influenced effectiveness of Ghana’s cooperative policy. The policy should prioritize support to cooperatives’ empowerment, and the most urgent resource required by the Department of Cooperatives (DOC) was budget allocation. As a means to measure performance of DOC, number of cooperatives which own a valid certificate was most preferred.
 Conclusion and Implication: DOC is recommended to strengthen officer’s audit service and consider running a public awareness campaign on cooperative’s benefits. The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR), as an overarching ministry of cooperative policy of Ghana, should quicken the revision of the Cooperative Societies Act and upgrade statistical reporting. Development partners such as KOICA are advised to identify a joint project with MELR/DOC to empower the cooperatives. Cooperative leaders and members should actively seek an opportunity for training and business transactions, and strengthen a partnership with their community.

Mayotte, a malaria-free island at last?

Mayotte is a French overseas department and one of the 4 islands of the Comoros archipelago in the Indian Ocean, located between Madagascar and the eastern coast of Africa. Malaria, mainly by Plasmodium falciparum, is endemic to the archipelago and remained a major public health problem until recent years. To control and then eliminate the disease, major strategies have been established in Mayotte since 2001. Preventive measures, diagnostic testing, treatment and disease surveillance were introduced or improved.From 2002 to 2021, 4819 autochthonous cases were reported in Mayotte where the annual incidence decreased from 10.3 per 1,000 population in 2002 (1649 cases) to less than 0.01 per 1,000 population in 2020 (2 cases). The incidence has been below 1 per 1,000 population since 2009. In 2013, WHO classified Mayotte as a territory in malaria elimination phase. In 2021, no locally acquired malaria cases were reported on the island. During this period 2002-2021, 1898 imported cases were observed. They mainly came from the Union of Comoros (85.8%), Madagascar (8.6%) and sub-Saharan Africa (5,6%). Since 2017, the annual number of locally acquired cases was less than 10 and decreased steadily (9 cases in 2017, 5 in 2018, 4 in 2019 and 2 in 2020). The distribution of these rare locally acquired cases both in time and space suggests that they were introduced and not indigenous cases. A study of the genotypic profile of the plasmodial strains of these cases observed from 2017 to 2020 (17 cases analysed out of 20 diagnosed) confirms that these were certainly introduced cases related to imported cases from the neighboring Comoros.Malaria indigenous transmission seems to be eliminated in Mayotte, but the island remains under threat of reintroduction via cases imported from neighbouring countries. It is time to develop a local plan to prevent reintroduction and to implement a proactive policy of regional cooperation in the fight against malaria.

Exploring the New Educational Policies of Foreign Exchange and Cooperation in the Epidemic Era: A Policy Mapping Perspective

Abstract International education is an important part of our country’s cause of reform and opening. It provides strong manpower and intellectual support for our country to implement the innovation-driven strategy, to rejuvenate our country through science and education, and to powerful person with talent strategy. Thus, this study explores Current education policies for China’s foreign exchanges and cooperation during the epidemic period, in-depth understanding of China’s foreign exchanges and cooperation during the epidemic period, and the problems and strategies of implementing the foreign exchange policy during the pandemic. The conclusion and implication have been offered in the last.

Investment of Green Technology in a Tourism Supply Chain Under Competition

This article considers a green tourism supply chain (GTSC) composed of one scenic spot (SS) and two travel agencies (TAs) and derives the optimal green technology investments of the SS and TAs in the noncooperation, unilateral cooperation, and bilateral cooperation scenarios by establishing Stackelberg differential games. In addition, we investigate how the green tourism preference of tourists and the competition intensities of the TAs affect the green technology investments of the GTSC members and the greenness levels of tourism products. Our study indicates that the green technology investments of the GTSC members and the greenness levels of tourism products increase with the increasing of tourists’ green tourism preference. We also find that the green technology investments of the TAs and the greenness levels of tourism products change along with the competition intensity of the TAs, but the green technology investment of the SS remains unchanged. Meanwhile, we propose a bilateral cooperation policy that can achieve Pareto improvement of the GTSC performance.

Evaluation of the Impact of Groundwater Management Policies Under Climate and Economic Changes in Tunisia

This study develops a hydro-economic model for the coastal aquifer Mahdia Ksour Essef in Tunisia in order to analyze how external shocks (climate change, energy price increase) and management policies can affect groundwater sustainability during the coming decades. Twenty-one scenarios covering three management policies (free market, partial cooperation, and full cooperation policy) under various potential climate and economic changes are evaluated. The results of scenario simulations show the potential impact of energy soaring prices and climate change on the aquifer’s water table level, groundwater extractions, cropland areas, and farmers’ benefits under each policy option in the future. They also show that the best scenario to address the effects of climate change would need to take into account environmental externalities and efficient energy prices. The findings of this study are very important in the context of climate change and uncertain global energy markets and provide feasible alternatives to preserve the regional economy and aquifer sustainability.

POTRAIT OF PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP POLICY SUBSTANCES IN REGIONAL HOSPITALS IN INDONESIA

Public Private Partnership (PPP) is a strategy of the Indonesian Government to deal with budget constraints and overcome gaps in infrastructure, access, and quality of health services. PPP on the operational cooperation (KSO) model is the oldest and most widely applied practice by regional hospitals in Indonesia. The implementation of KSO must refer to government policies in the form of laws and regulations. Since its initial implementation until today, the Ministry of Home Affairs, as the body that oversees the local government, has not carried out a comprehensive evaluation of the KSO policy. This study was carried out by conducting document analysis related to the operational cooperation policies of regional hospitals and reviewing the substance of operational cooperation policies at the national and regional levels. Study found that there are no articles governing service level agreements; no performance indicators of cooperation in monitoring and evaluation, limited autonomy; several regional head regulations are not accompanied by technical guidelines; and there are variations in the substance of the regional head regulations. This study concludes that the KSO policy framework for regional hospitals is inadequate, incomplete, and limits the autonomy of regional hospitals.

Indonesia's Interest in The South-South Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) Policy to Fiji during Joko Widodo’s 2014-2019 Government

This study was conducted to explain Indonesia's interests in the South-South Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) policy towards Fiji in the Joko Widodo administration in 2014-2019. This study uses the theory of national interest and foreign policy. The research method used is descriptive qualitative. The research method is used to explain and explore Indonesia's interests through the SSTC's policy towards Fiji with three interests, namely economic, political and security interests. The results showed that Indonesia chose Fiji as a country to implement the SSTC policy because Fiji is one of the south Pacific countries, especially Melanesian countries and Indonesia still failed to carry out diplomacy with Vanuatu. Fiji is a country that has an important role in the internal organization of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), Fiji's involvement is very large in making MSG policies, because Indonesia's goal of being included in the MSG requires a major country that has an important role in the MSG, Besides Indonesia having economic interests, Fiji provides opportunities big for economic development and new market share for Indonesia in the south Pacific region, considering that this region is very strategic, this region has become the location of a trade war between China and the United States. Indonesia's strategy to gain economic, political and security interests by providing through the implementation of the SSTC policy is a form of great concern for Fiji.

국내 산학협력 양상 연구

Objectives This study aims to review the aspects of domestic industry-academic cooperation by keyword network analysis of web data from 2018 to 2021, focusing on impacts of each performer-government, university, industry-on the industry-academia cooperation(IAC) system before and after the COVID-19 phenomenon.
 Methods Keyword network, keyword centrality, ego network, and topic modelling analysis were conducted to examine 1) each influence from the government, university, industry on IAC system, 2) changes its influence after the COVID-19 phenomenon, and 3) the degree to IAC policies were reflected in the aspects of IAC, analysing 5,000 documents collected from web news and blogs.
 Results As a result of keyword network analysis, university, industry, and support project were found to be the top frequent keywords and also at the center of keywords, showing the characteristics of IAC that industry and universities focus on jointly designing and operating government-supported IAC programs. Analysis of ego networks shows that since COVID-19, industry and government networks have grown in size, while recruitment and field practice networks have decreased in size. Keywords such as job creation, SME support, and new industrial talent training, which are major government industry-academic cooperation policies during the text collection period, were partially derived as major areas in topic modeling analysis, but showed different patterns before and after COVID-19.
 Conclusions Government, university, industry were found to be the key players in determining the aspects of the IAC system, and the most influential subject was university over the past four years, actively cooperating with companies in the educational field through government-led development projects. The government's IAC policy for job creation was also reflected in the IAC aspect, but it seems to be limited by the COVID-19 factor. Implications for the role of government, university, and industry in sustaining IAC are discussed.