Push Policy Research Articles

Grasp with push policy for multi-finger dexterity hand based on deep reinforcement learning

When interacting with the external environment, dexterous hands face various challenges, including interference in cluttered environments and difficulty in accurately locating target objects. We observe that the human hand is often at ease in the face of complex unstructured environments: pushing objects that can rearrange clutter, locating target objects, and creating space for fingers. In addition, the gripping action complements the push by achieving the precise movement of unrelated objects. Taking inspiration from this, to enable manipulators to perform accurate grasping tasks in complex environments, we propose a new data-driven grasping approach for robotic dexterous hands: the push-fit grasping approach. This method combines human grasping with model-free deep reinforcement learning to realize the robot's collaborative grasping ability. An end-to-end conditional converter grasping network is first trained, which takes the visual point cloud input to the action output. We use DQN algorithms for strategy training, further enhanced by fine-tuning methods for real-world learning. The experimental results show that the push strategy we learned significantly improves the grasping performance, and the success rate of cooperative grasping is increased by 8 %. It is worth noting that this fine-tuning method significantly reduces the actual training time, with the real world training taking up only one-fifth of the time in the simulated world. Even in demanding scenarios characterized by confusion and complexity, it facilitates rapid learning. This study provides new insights for effectively addressing complex challenges involving multi-fingered dexterous hands and human-computer interaction. Our code is available in the github repository.

Transportation demand management policy efficiency: An attempt to address the effectiveness and acceptability of policy packages

As private car usage has negative effects, such as traffic congestion and air pollution, the effectiveness of Transportation Demand Management (TDM) policies could be considered as any reduction in car usage. However, the efficiency of TDM policies could be addressed by a combination of their effectiveness and public acceptability. Policy packaging is treated as a way to get more benefits from a set of policies in form of a package. Therefore, to improve the efficiency of a package containing a push TDM policy, which is usually effective but not acceptable, introducing a pull policy that is generally acceptable could be of interest. This research aimed to evaluate the efficiency of two packages of TDM policies containing a push policy (either cordon or parking pricing) and a pull policy (transit system development). Therefore, 535 working-purpose car commuters were interviewed to examine the trade-offs between the acceptability and effectiveness of each package. According to the results, although the transit development policy causes a 1.52% reduction in car usage, it significantly affects the acceptability of cordon pricing and transit development package. Finally, a discussion is provided regarding how to use the policy packages to achieve the highest potential effectiveness at a specific level of acceptability.

Give citizens a task: An innovative tool to compose policy bundles that reach the climate goal

We analyse the preferences of citizens with respect to climate policies in the transport sector. More specifically, we examine the citizens' preference for mixing different policies, the preferences for and determinants of different types of policy bundles, as well as the CO2 reduction achieved with these bundles. To this end, we developed an innovative evaluation tool, in which respondents could mix 11 different policies at various intensity levels according to their preferences with the (non-binding) goal to reduce CO2 emissions of passenger transport in Austria from currently 13.19 to 4.22 mill. tons/year. Respondents interactively received detailed information on ecological, financial and social effects of their policy selection, and could adjust their choice accordingly. We find that respondents display a widespread aversion against highly restrictive policies, but a preference for broad and well-balanced bundles between pull and push and also between different push policies. With these broad bundles, almost 60% of respondents met the ambitious climate goal. We speculate that this surprisingly high level of ambition may be driven by putting citizens into the role of a task solver (achieve the climate goal) instead of a mere choice maker of policies. Our analysis suggests that car affinity (strongly confounded with urban/non-urban residence), self-concern, political trust, the importance of solidarity and fairness, and (most of all) the climate concern determine the participants’ selection (or rejection) of effective policy bundles. The paper provides relevant insights for policymakers, both regarding participatory decision-making tools and acceptable policy bundles.

An Effective Management Model for Data Caching in MANET Environment

A mobile ad-hoc (MANET) network has the main challenge to provide the needed data for the desired mobile nodes. An efficient on request routing protocol for MANET is Ad-hoc on-demand Distance Vector (AODV), which is based on two main methods: route discovery and route maintenance. Route discovery is the process used to detect a route to the destination from the packet source, while route maintenance is the process used to detect a link failure and repair it. Cooperative caching tends improving data availability in mobile ad-hoc networks, the coordination of cache discovery and cache management strategies is very significant in the cooperative caching of MANETs because requests for data and answers to requested data can be reduced simply due to interference, network congestion, or when a forwarding node is out of reach and the route breaks down. Cooperative cache management is much more complicated in cooperative caching because it also depends on neighbouring nodes to decide what to cache. In this paper, three algorithms were proposed: (1) a combination algorithm for cache admission control based on cache data and location of data to save space and reduce data redundancy, (2) a value-based policy for cache placement and replacement instead of the more common least recently used strategy, depending on metrics that describe cached items to increase the local cache hit ratio, and (3) a combined algorithm for cache consistency that includes time-to-live, pull, and push policies to enhance data availability and system scalability. The proposed algorithm implemented by the NS3 simulation program; which used to create a network using the AODV protocol in several parameters and achieve better system performance.

An Effective Management Model for Data Caching in MANET Environment

A mobile ad-hoc (MANET) network has the main challenge to provide the needed data for the desired mobile nodes. An efficient on request routing protocol for MANET is Ad-hoc on-demand Distance Vector (AODV), which is based on two main methods: route discovery and route maintenance. Route discovery is the process used to detect a route to the destination from the packet source, while route maintenance is the process used to detect a link failure and repair it. Cooperative caching tends improving data availability in mobile ad-hoc networks, the coordination of cache discovery and cache management strategies is very significant in the cooperative caching of MANETs because requests for data and answers to requested data can be reduced simply due to interference, network congestion, or when a forwarding node is out of reach and the route breaks down. Cooperative cache management is much more complicated in cooperative caching because it also depends on neighbouring nodes to decide what to cache. In this paper, three algorithms were proposed: (1) a combination algorithm for cache admission control based on cache data and location of data to save space and reduce data redundancy, (2) a value-based policy for cache placement and replacement instead of the more common least recently used strategy, depending on metrics that describe cached items to increase the local cache hit ratio, and (3) a combined algorithm for cache consistency that includes time-to-live, pull, and push policies to enhance data availability and system scalability. The proposed algorithm implemented by the NS3 simulation program; which used to create a network using the AODV protocol in several parameters and achieve better system performance.

Missing Women, Integration Costs, and Big Push Policies in the Saudi Labor Market

In settings where social norms promote gender segregation, firms may find it costly to employ both men and women. These integration costs may hinder women's employment. We develop a methodology to test for the presence of fixed integration costs and estimate counterfactual women's employment at all-male firms where these costs bind. We apply our approach in Saudi Arabia and find that integration costs bind for the majority of firms. We show that Nitaqat, a gender-neutral quota program that incentivized the hiring of Saudi nationals at private sector firms, induced firms to integrate and dramatically increased Saudi women's employment. (JEL J16, J23, J71, M52, O15, Z13)

Push, Pull, or Inform - an Empirical Taxonomy of Environmental Policy Support in Sweden

AbstractResearch on environmental policy support utilises different categorisations of policies, for example, differentiating between policies assumed to be perceived as rewarding or punishing. Do citizens’ perception of environmental policies also lend itself to this categorisation? Based on an exhaustive sample of active policies in Sweden, this study presents a taxonomy of environmental policy support in Sweden. A fairly representative Swedish sample (N = 2911) rated the acceptability of 44 environmental policies. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that participants’ acceptability of policies forms three categories: push policies consisting of regulatory and market-based disincentives, pull policies consisting mainly of market-based incentives, and informational policies, such as ecolabeling. Sociodemographics had small but consistent effects on attitudes towards the three categories, while political ideology had a larger effect across the categories. This study indicates that current academic categorisations may not adequately capture laypeople’s perceptions, and discusses the importance of research on driving mechanisms behind the current taxonomy.

Interview: the global challenge for unions

Interview:the global challenge for unions Interview: IUR's Daniel Blackburn spoke with Kemal Özkan, Assistant General Secretary of Industriall Global Union. At the Fifth Congress of the ITUC in November this year current General Secretary Sharan Burrow will be stepping down. Kemal Özkan is out on the campaign trail as a candidate at that election and took some moments to speak with IUR Hello Kemal, how are you? Welcome to IUR journal, where this time we are talking about union renewal, new forms of work and organising, and changing labour law. I wanted to ask you a few questions about the international trade union movement, particularly about ideas of change and modernisation: about what needs to change for the future if unions are going to remain effective, relevant and important in the coming years. ■ Thank you very much Daniel for the opportunity to discuss our ideas and programme for strengthening the international trade union movement that we all believe in. ICTUR is a high-quality union publication. The magazine is in pride of place in our Industriall Global Union office, and ICTUR has supported countless campaigns and actions around the world. Congratulations to you and the ICTUR team. There are so many changes and challenges in the world today, I wonder if we need to re-assess what are the goals, demands and objectives of trade unions, internationally? Have we been setting the agenda or following it? Have we been focusing on the right things? ■ All working people must have the right to a good wage, stable employment, to be healthy and safe at work, and to a union. These rights are hard-won and must be constantly defended. The vast majority of the world's workers live in countries where unions are either not permitted, or barely tolerated. The priorities of workers, or rank and file union members, must always be the focus of the union movement. We must grow our strength, in the Global South and Global North. Legislation is moving in response to public demand for due diligence for multinational companies and their supply chains. We must take this opportunity to put unions at the centre of a new system of global industrial relations and cross-border social dialogue that responds to the concept of 'human rights due diligence' throughout companies' own operations and supply chains. Bad employers and governments seek to set the agenda and so do we. We have the numbers; we have the power. It is up to us to use it. We are in the run-up to the Fifth Congress of the ITUC, when current General Secretary Sharan Burrow will be stepping down, and I understand that you are now out on the campaign trail as a candidate for that election. If you are the next ITUC General Secretary, where will the focus of international trade union work lie? Going forward, what are the major concerns and issues as you see them? ■ Workers and their families are now bearing the brunt of war, pandemic, climate crisis, over-mighty capital, and an ineffective or compromised political class. Workers everywhere are facing increasingly emboldened anti-democratic forces. The ITUC is their vehicle for change, ensuring that workers' priorities are central to the political debate responding to these crises. We will battle for the right to strike, for regulation on global supply chains and platform work, will promote industrial policy and just transition, struggle against any form of precarious work, particularly formalisation of the informal economy and push policies against inequality at the ILO. You know, Daniel, an enormous part of ITUC's power comes from the inspirational women leaders throughout the movement. ITUC will increase its focus and energy in the global march for women's empowerment. Our youth are motivated to take up the flag of struggle. ITUC will strengthen its work with developing and enabling young union leaders. They are the promise of the future of our movement. I think I first met you when our organisation was working on the height of the crisis of anti-union violence in Colombia, in the 2000s, so I know that you have long been concerned by these kind of really serious situations of...

What influences public acceptability of sustainable energy policies? The crucial role of funding and who benefits

Public acceptance of sustainable energy policies is critical for successfully transitioning towards a sustainable energy system. However, relatively little is known about when and why people find energy policies acceptable. We examined to what extent policy characteristics and individual motivational factors influence sustainable energy policy acceptability among a representative sample in the Netherlands. Using a within-participants experimental design, 261 respondents rated the acceptability of 24 energy policies which systematically varied based on the energy behaviour targeted by the policy, whether the policy was a push or pull design, and whether the policies indicated they would generate funds from or allocate funds to individuals, an environmental fund, or a general fund of pooled finances. We replicated previous findings that the stronger people's biospheric values, the more acceptable they find sustainable energy policies. Moreover, we found that a policy's target behaviour may influence acceptability, but that this is no longer the case when controlling for biospheric values. Lastly, we found push policies were considered more acceptable when revenues benefited individuals or the environment instead of general funds, and pull policies were more acceptable when they were paid for by general funds and to a lesser extent environmental funds, compared to being paid for by individuals, and that these results held when controlling for people's biospheric values. Overall, our findings suggest sustainable energy policy acceptability depends on the extent to which individuals benefit from the policy. However, importantly, acceptability also strongly depends on the extent to which the environment benefits.

Power and Rate Adaptive Pushing Over Fading Channels

Proactive caching is capable of reducing access latency and improving network throughput, thereby attracting attention from both industry and academia. However, the energy efficiency (EE) of proactive caching over fading channels has not been well studied yet. In this paper, we aim at presenting an energy-efficient content pushing policy by carefully adapting the transmit rate and power in pushing and on-demand delivery phases, while assuring delivery delay constraints. To this end, the average delay, delay-outage probability, and EE are analyzed for a general adaptive pushing policy based on the saddle point approximation. According to these results, we formulate EE maximization problems under average delay and delay-outage constraints, respectively, for two special types of adaptive pushing policies, namely, opportunistic pushing and water-filling-based pushing. Due to the high complexity of the grid search for solving the formulated problems, suboptimal algorithms are presented based on gradient descent and golden section search methods. Moreover, we mathematically derive the scaling property and numerically obtain request probability and delivery delay thresholds for content pushing. Simulations show that the presented pushing policies achieve higher EE than on-demand transmissions, especially when the content item is popular and the tolerable delivery delay is small.

FOR THE ISSUE OF IMPROVING THE AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

The modern world is facing very serious challenges. Our society has once again strongly felt all the challenges of a pandemic. Mankind is going through this ordeal and the economic crisis provoked by it. We have a need for global, fundamental macroeconomic change. The world is changing before our eyes and in these conditions there is a chance for the country to correctly assess the current situation. Despite the rich resource potential of the country, the share of food exports in the country's total exports is 7-9%, and imports - 10-12%. At the same time, according to the results of 2019, food imports exceeded exports by 3 times. Many factors need to be considered when formulating a state support policy, however, the strategy for action should be based on several important principles: 1. Information-analytical support of the state agrarian policy and management of the forecasting system; 2. Access to government support; 3. The consistency of the policy of the Ministry and its sustainable nature, because the long-term goals and objectives facing the field can not be questioned; 4. Competitive products and conditions of its production; 5. Public involvement and participation of industry associations in defining strategic tasks. We get a picture where all five principles are completely violated in both business practice and thought theory. Programs are fragmentary and less result-oriented, the information-analytical part is weak and vague, there is no forecasting system, unequal conditions are maintained in the market and there are no conditions for its protection and regulation, government actions are mostly inconsistent and inflexible, sectorial associations are virtually mixed. They not only dominate the formation of policies implemented by the state, but it also acts on their orders and often seriously damages the process. We believe that the current strategy of agriculture and rural development in Georgia, with its content, goals and objectives, does not meet the challenges facing the country and the sector. The agenda highlights the need to create a new strategic document with more involvement of scientists, experts, practitioners and farmers, which will be the subject of public discussion before adoption. The need for a "big push policy" is suggested by the authors in the paper. The proposed vision, where the territorial and sectoral principles complement each other, moreover their synergy creates a precondition for development, requires more attention from the state. At the modern stage, reasonable, scientifically substantiated and at the same time adapted in practice target-program action models are gaining special importance. They are part of a complex macroeconomic government vision in which all agencies, entities and individuals have explicit rights and responsibilities. All the above problems can be overcome if there is political will and we will replace evolutionary inertia with a policy of revolutionary big push, where the state will comprehensively understand all the problems and advantages, thus creating a Georgian model of crisis management and development. We need to address the challenges, create a new strategic document for overcoming the crisis and promising development, where, along with monetary and fiscal issues, we will play an important role in the regional and agrarian development of Georgia. We are not really in the reality to be satisfied and follow the state in the policy of "evolutionary self-flow", we need a new strategic vision, targeted programs, a new understanding of the food security problem, flexible stimulus and regulatory policies, fast, effective and responsible action by the government.

The politics of low-carbon innovation: Implementing the European Union’s strategic energy technology plan

The EU Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) was adopted in 2008 to steer the funding of low-carbon technology research and innovation in Europe and thus accelerate the development and deployment of such technologies. Examining how and why the Plan attained its objectives, we first find that research and innovation funding came to steer the development of the SET-Plan rather than the converse. Second, we find three main explanations, drawing on theories of EU integration and policymaking: 1) differing research and innovation priorities among state, non-state (industry and research community), and institutional actors within the EU, making the Plan contested and leading to the mobilization of actors whose priorities had not been included in the Plan; 2) weak EU-level authority to govern the Plan; 3) diverging alignment between the Plan, constituting EU’s low-carbon technology push policy, and EU market pull policies, such as carbon pricing. These observations have relevance to other international efforts, such as Mission Innovation linked to the Paris Agreement.

Push and pull disassembly quantity models in a reverse supply chain: the case of an automobile disassembly system in Korea

ABSTRACT This paper considers the problem of deciding disassembly order quantity in a disassembly system. Returned end-of-use/life (EOL) products are disassembled to retrieve reusable parts sold to secondary markets. For the problem, we suggest novel push and pull disassembly policy models by extending reverse economic order quantity models. The objective of the models is to minimise the costs of the disassembly setup, the disassembly operations and inventory holding, the scrapping of non-reusable parts, and backorder. We develop optimal equations and algorithms for the models and perform a case study of Korean automobile disassembly systems. We then conduct a series of sensitivity analyses based on real-world and reliable data and discuss possible applications of the push and pull policies. The results show that the pull policy gives better in terms of the total cost while the push policy is less insensitive to the disassembly setup cost.

Does the focus of renewable energy policy impact the nature of innovation? Evidence from emerging economies

Prior research has demonstrated the importance of government policy in fostering innovation in sectors that face market failures, such as renewable energy. We examine the impact of policy on renewable energy innovations in emerging economies, which face market as well as institutional failures. We investigate how differences in the focus of policies may drive technology development efforts in different directions. Specifically, we propose that demand pull policies foster innovations in mature technologies by encouraging exploitation of readily available technologies, while supply push policies foster innovations in novel technologies by encouraging exploration and alleviating resource constraints in research and development. Using information on policy initiatives and renewable energy patents, we develop comparative case studies of four emerging economies over the years 2000–2015 in the renewable energy sector – Turkey, India, Brazil, and China. Our case findings illustrate that countries with a focus on pull policies innovate primarily in mature technologies, whereas ones with a focus on push policies have substantial innovations in novel technologies. We present a typology of policy and innovation focus, informed by our conceptual framework and case studies.

Cross-National Complementarity of Technology Push, Demand Pull, and Manufacturing Push Policies: The Case of Photovoltaics

Researchers have debated the relative importance of technology push and demand pull policies in the adoption of environmental technologies. Here, we examine how internationally distributed technology push and demand pull policies interact to support the diffusion of a renewable energy technology. We analyze 40 years (1974–2013) of solar photovoltaic policies in three countries: USA, Germany, and China. We identify four phases of international policy interactions: in Phase 1 (1974–1990), the USA launched technology push policies; in Phase 2 (1991–2003), Germany pioneered demand pull policies; in Phase 3 (2004–2008), China responded to international market incentive programs with a scaling up of manufacturing; and in Phase 4 (2008–2013), Germany reduced whereas China increased demand policies. Our contributions are threefold: First, we demonstrate the importance of “manufacturing push” alongside the standard technology push and demand pull factors; second, we show how global adoption was spurred by the complementarity of policy efforts across national boundaries, while considering the tradeoffs in climate change policy between increasing global environmental welfare and improving national economic development; third, we demonstrate three generic patterns of cross-national policy complementarity.

Bounded rationality and the ineffectiveness of big push policies

Abstract If a poverty trap exists, can a big-push policy lift the economy out of it? This paper applies Sargent’s [Sargent, Thomas J. 1993. Bounded Rationality in Macroeconomics. New York: Oxford University Press] bounded rationality approach to study the post-policy transition of an economy from a low-income equilibrium to a high-income equilibrium. The effectiveness of the policy diminishes if individuals are adaptive learners who cannot make optimal decisions instantaneously. This paper contributes to the renewed discussion on the effectiveness of massive aid policies for developing countries from a theoretical perspective.

Trust and state intervention: Results from a Swedish survey on environmental policy support

The role of trust in supporting environmental policy instruments (EPIs) has attracted increased interest in recent years. Various trust measures have often been conflated, making it unclear whether trust or distrust drives demand for EPIs. Here we investigate how trust in various actors (i.e., citizens in general, business actors, and political institutions) affects attitudes to different kinds of state intervention (i.e., push vs. pull instruments). We hypothesize that distrust, through a willingness to punish, generates demand for push policies, while trust, through a willingness to reward, generates demand for pull policies. Using survey responses from approximately 1800 Swedish college students, different trust measures were found to have different links to attitudes to state intervention: trust in public administration is a stable predictor of EPI support, whereas distrust in business actors generates stronger support for punishing instruments. We also found that preferences for push policies are associated with a willingness to punish, whereas preferences for pull policies are associated with a willingness to reward. We conclude that different trust measures should not be conflated when discussing whether trust explains attitudes to state environmental intervention.

On optimization of a highly re-entrant production system

We discuss the optimal control problem stated as the minimization in the $L^2$-sense of the mismatch between the actual out-flux and a demand forecast for a hyperbolic conservation law that models a highly re-entrant production system. The output of the factory is described as a function of the work in progress and the position of the switch dispatch point (SDP) where we separate the beginning of the factory employing a push policy from the end of the factory, which uses a quasi-pull policy. The main question we discuss in this paper is about the optimal choice of the input in-flux, push and quasi-pull constituents, and the position of SDP.

Electric vehicles and India's low carbon passenger transport: a long-term co-benefits assessment

Electric vehicles have attracted the attention of India's policy makers as clean technology alternatives due to their multiple advantages like higher efficiency and lower air pollution in short to medium term and reduced CO2 emissions as electricity gets decarbonized in the long-run under low carbon scenarios. This paper uses an energy system model ANSWER-MARKAL to analyse the role of electric vehicles (EV) in India. The modelling assessment spans the period 2010 to 2050 and analyses future EV demand in India under three scenarios: i) a ‘Reference’ scenario which includes the continuation of existing EV policies as outlined in India's Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC); ii) a ‘EV policy’ scenario which, in line with India's INDCs, follows targeted supply-side push policies for EVs, but without the budget constraints; and iii) a ‘low carbon’ scenario which uses an exogenous price for CO2 in line with the global target of 2 °C temperature stabilization. The scenarios analysis delineates penetration of EVs and their co-benefits as well as co-costs. The co-benefits relate to local air quality, national energy security and CO2 emissions in India whereas the co-costs (risks) are related to sourcing of raw materials for batteries and battery reprocessing and disposal.The findings show that: i) in the reference scenario, the EVs 2-wheelers will achieve a significant share by 2050. Electric 4-wheelers though would have a small share even in 2050; ii) EV push policies though lead to significant diffusion of electric 2- wheelers in India by 2030. These policies enhance diffusion of electric 4-wheelers only if financial incentives are sustained in the long-term, iii) the application of global carbon price on the Indian economy in the 2° C stabilization scenario increases competitiveness of EVs and results in near total share of electric 2-wheelers by 2030 and a sizable share of electric 4-wheelers by 2050. The high and rising carbon price in low carbon scenario cause deep decarbonisation of electricity and enables EVs to deliver deep cut in CO2 emissions. The results show asymmetry in the impacts of national and global policies on co-benefits from EV. The EV supply-push policies deliver moderate benefits vis-à-vis air pollution and energy security indicators but make insignificant contribution CO2 emissions reduction. On the other hand, the global carbon price in the global 2° C stabilization scenario delivers sizable co-benefits vis-à-vis all three indicators. This asymmetry reveal important policy insights: i) the policy sequencing is vital to gain co-benefits, ii) EV technology push policies are good for creating early domestic market for a clean vehicle technology but they may not deliver sizable co-benefits vis-à-vis CO2 emissions which are global externalities, and iii) implementing strong climate policies early would lead to EVs delivering high co-benefits, in case of India, vis-à-vis all three indicators.

Varied Responsiveness to Immigrant Community Growth among Local Governments

Immigration policy remains a hotly debated issue nationally in the United States, but the interaction of legislative gridlock on comprehensive reform and the actions of policy entrepreneurs push policy innovation into the arena of state and local governments. This article examines the intersection of immigration and local policy making, examining basic patterns of local responsiveness and apparent factors driving the response. Using the insights of existing research, including Rubaii-Barrett and Brenner, this article highlights political incorporation (e.g., Ramakrishnan and Gulasekaram) and bureaucratic incorporation (e.g., Marrow) as competing explanations in the literature. As an exploratory effort to evaluate the relative claims, this article reports the results of a document analysis of the local government Web sites for seventeen localities in the Richmond, VA, Metropolitan Statistical Area looking first at how localities are responding, second at indications of why and finally assessing whether initiative for responses occurs more at a bureaucratic or elected official level.