Preferred State Research Articles

The impact of the EU enlargement on the speed of decision-making

This paper presents a quantitative empirical study of the impact of the EU enlargements in 1995 and 2004 on the speed of the decision-making process (legislative process). The research is based on two methods: interrupted time series analysis and survival analysis (Cox model). The use of these methods increases the validity of the present study. The empirical data consists of the EU secondary law directives and regulations. The methodology and research design allow to distinguish between the impact of enlargement and the impact of changes of the institutional parameters of the decision-making process. The findings demonstrate that the legislative process significantly accelerated at the time of the 2004 enlargement. Most likely this was because 1) the preferences of the new member states were generally within the range of preferences of the old members and a new axis of conflict (Western versus Eastern member states) emerged only in a limited number of EU areas of activity; 2) the Council adopted new Rules of Procedure immediately before the entry of new members, which significantly increased the effectiveness of the Council. As for the 1995 enlargement, due to the low reliability of estimations, it can only be cautiously concluded that it did not have a visible slowing effect on the decision-making process. The conclusion that the 2004 enlargement did not entail a slowdown of the EU legislative process is of fundamental importance for understanding the specifics of the functioning of the EU.

The Socialization of Primary School Pupils through Motor Games

This paper aims to bring to the forefront the most important connecting element of society, namely socialization. Improving socialization through motor games is, perhaps, a solution to many problems, as children align emotionally, emotionally, volitionally, physically, cognitively, etc. The study was conducted on a sample of 59 students aged 6 to 9 years. The sociometric technique was used to determine negative, positive, and neutral interpersonal relationships by age level before and after the use of the chosen motor games. The index of preferred status, cohesion index, arithmetic mean and progress rate were used for statistical interpretation.

Foreign Investors of the World, Unite! The International Association for the Promotion and Protection of Private Foreign Investments (APPI) 1958–1968

Abstract This article studies lobbying efforts by the actors that investment treaties protect – namely, foreign investors. It uses a legal-historical approach to analyse the activities of the International Association for the Promotion and Protection of Private Foreign Investments (Association internationale pour la promotion et la protection des investissements privés en territoires étrangers or APPI), a transnational business interest association that lobbied for better protection of private foreign investment under international law. The article considers the role of this group in lobbying for three multilateral investment treaties (an investment code, investor-state arbitration and investment insurance) during the 1950s and 1960s, using unexplored archival sources. The article makes three substantive contributions to the literature. First, it shows that the key actors involved in APPI were a transnational advocacy network of businessmen and lawyers at multinational companies, mainly in the oil and banking sector. Second, it shows how these two types of actors (businessmen and lawyers) acted symbiotically. The businessmen provided access to policy-makers and introduced company lawyers into the policy-making cycle. The company lawyers provided expertise and specific legal texts with which civil servants could work. Third, it argues that, despite the group members’ common goal to improve foreign investment security, competing individual initiatives and institutional competition, next to state preferences, often impeded more effective lobbying.

PCR191 A Review of the Influence of Stakeholder Preference Research on the EtR Framework

The Evidence to Recommendation (EtR) framework was adopted by the Center for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in 2018 to supplement the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach for developing evidence-based vaccination recommendation. While preference information is not required, two domains (values and acceptability) allow for the incorporation of quantitative stated preference (SP) information in the framework. We reviewed published EtR frameworks to describe how often and what type of SP information is included.

Leveraging a community-academic partnership to evaluate the needs of Latinx AYA cancer survivors.

10060 Background: Adult survivors of childhood cancer have an increased risk of late death and treatment-related comorbidities, yet < 20% of survivors receive guideline concordant risk-based care. Individual-level disadvantages and population-level measures of deprivation contribute to unequal health outcomes among survivors. We aimed to explore the experiences of adolescent/young adult (AYA) cancer survivors and their parents in a region in California with low socioeconomic status and high rates of non-English language preference. Methods: We formed a community-academic partnership with Jacob’s Heart, a nonprofit organization that provides material/psychosocial support to predominantly Hispanic/Latino (Latinx) families of children with cancer. Between Feb-July 2022, we conducted semi-structured interviews in-person or by video or phone with English- or Spanish-speaking AYA survivors of childhood cancer (age ≥15 years, ≥5 years post-diagnosis), parents, and Jacob’s Heart staff members, with assistance from certified medical interpreters. Data were analyzed qualitatively using reflexive thematic analysis based on grounded theory and the constant comparative method. Themes were refined through team discussions with our community partners. Results: We interviewed 12 AYAs (11 Latinx and bilingual), 11 parents (8 Latinx, 7 non-English preferred), and 7 organization staff (5 Latinx and bilingual). AYAs (5 female, 7 male) were median age (min-max) 20 (16-32) and 9 (5-19) years post-diagnosis; parents (9 female, 2 male) were median age 48 (40-60) and 14 (6-23) years post-child’s diagnosis. Cancer types were leukemia (6 AYAs, 9 parents), CNS tumors (1 AYA, 2 parents), other solid tumors (3 AYAs), lymphoma (2 AYAs). Key themes across interviews included gratitude and trust in the pediatric cancer care team and Jacob’s Heart staff, challenges obtaining healthcare outside of the pediatric cancer setting, lasting effects of cancer on the family (e.g., parental job loss, financial strain, impact on siblings, prolonged fear of recurrence in parents, unmet mental health needs in parents and AYAs), and communication barriers between Latinx families and clinicians (e.g., hesitancy to ask questions, overwhelmed by medical information) and between AYAs and parents (e.g., avoidance of talking about cancer history, cancer-related stigma, differing language preferences of AYAs and parents). Conclusions: Childhood cancer has long-lasting effects on families and those with fewer socioeconomic resources face additional burdens. Communication gaps experienced by Latinx families may be a target for intervention to improve AYA survivorship care. Future steps include sharing results with participants and partnering with the community to co-design interventions to facilitate triadic communication among Latinx AYAs, parents, and clinicians.

‘My doctor should decide’ – Predictors for healthcare users’ stated preferences regarding medical decision-making

ObjectivesTo investigate predictors for healthcare users’ declared decision control preferences and test their association with satisfaction in vignettes detailing various decision-making. MethodsCross-sectional vignette survey within a representative general male population aged 45–70 years (response rate 30%). Survey vignettes illustrated different levels of patient involvement. Participants rated their satisfaction with healthcare illustrated and separately rated their ‘control preferences’. Comparisons were conducted with linear regression. ResultsPreferring the doctor to predominantly or exclusively decide (1588/6755 respondents) was associated with older age, being single, lower education, having chronic illness, and living in low-income and less populated areas, with fewer non-western immigrants. Following adjustment, lower education and chronic illness remained statistically significant. Personalities with less openness had preference for least control. When presented with specific clinical scenarios, respondents preferring active or passive roles were equally satisfied with scenarios demonstrating shared decision-making. DiscussionSome groups of healthcare users were more likely to say that they preferred their doctor to decide. However, findings suggest that control preference statements, prior to facing a decision, should be interpreted with caution. Practical valueStudy findings highlight that patients vary regarding their expressed wish for control in medical decision-making but they seem equally satisfied with shared decision-making scenarios.

Analysis of mode choice affects from the introduction of Doha Metro using machine learning and statistical analysis

The aim of this study was to investigate the possible influences of the operation of the new Doha Metro on the travel mode choice behavior in Doha City, Qatar. Revealed preference (RP) and stated preference (SP) survey questionnaires were designed to collect the necessary data. The questions considered different trip conditions and socioeconomic factors of travelers. Three different mode choices were considered in this study: private cars, taxi services, and metro. Two statistical models and one machine learning model were used to analyze the current and future mode choices: discrete choice binary logit (BL) and multinomial logit (MNL) models as well as extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost). Furthermore, the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) method was used to rank the input features based on their importance according to the mean SHAP value. The results showed that the XGBoost model outperforms the other two models in terms of predicting the travel mode choice as well as in terms of its accuracy. The results showed that various trip characteristics are significant in determining the mode choice, including the number of travelers and bags, journey time, and reimbursement of parking fees. Furthermore, different socioeconomic characteristics proved to be significant for the current and future mode choices, including nationality, income, age, employment status, and vehicle ownership.

Engaging Sexual and Gender Minority Older Adults to Elicit Concerns and Recommendations for Communicating Care Preferences in Long-Term Care: Focus Group Findings

ABSTRACT Objectives 1) Describe sexual and gender minority (SGM) older adults’ current practices and concerns for communicating end-of-life (EOL) and daily care preferences in long-term care (LTC); 2) Elicit ideas about adapting a video-based intervention to facilitate communication. Methods After consulting a community advisory board, we conducted two focus groups with SGM older adults ≥55 years of age recruited from a community-based service organization (n = 4) and a continuing care retirement community (n = 9). We audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded data using directed content analysis methods and summarized results descriptively. Results Most participants were cisgender (n = 12), female (n = 11), lesbian (n = 10), White and non-Hispanic (n = 13); mean age was 70.62. Participants’ concerns included discrimination, autonomy, chosen family, and community; they linked daily care preferences with personhood and quality of life. They advocated for building intentional community-based support networks to help peers discuss preferences and produce videos before LTC transition and ensure compliance after. Conclusions For SGM older adults, asserting and protecting their full personhood, through daily care preferences, is essential to quality of life in LTC. Clinical Implications Video-recorded statements of daily preferences, facilitated and supported by a peer network, could promote culturally competent, person- and community-centered care for SGM older adults in LTC settings.

Over-Application and Interviewing in the 2021 United States Primary Care Virtual Recruitment Season.

Importance Over-application and interviewing are believed to be widespread in residency recruitment. These may have increased during the 2021 virtual recruitment season. The increase does not correspond to an increase in available residency positions and likely results in more interviews with low probabilities of yielding matches. Prior work demonstrates that such marginal interviews are identifiable ‑ from key explanatory factors like same-state for interviewee and program ‑ in sufficient volume to allow programs to substantially decrease interviews. Objective To evaluate the importance of same-state relationships in primary care and to determine the extent of over-interviewing in the 2021 virtual recruitment season. Design The National Resident Matching Program and Thalamus merged match (outcomes) and interview (explanatory variables) data from primary care specialties (family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics). Data were analyzed by logistic regression, trained on the 2017-2020 seasons, and projected on the 2021 season for testing. Setting The setting was the 2017-2021 main residency matches. Participants This comprised 4,442 interviewees applying to 167 residency programs in primary care. Intervention This included the transition to virtual recruitment from in-person recruitment in the 2021 residency recruitment season. Measurements A total of 20,415 interviews and 20,791 preferred programs with program and interviewee characteristics and match outcomes were included. Results Same-state geographic relations predicted match probability in primary care residency interviews better than medical school/residency affiliation, with 86.0% of interviewees matching consistently with their preferences for the same state. Same-state was more effective than medical school affiliations with programs in predicting matching. Eliminating interviews with less than a 5% probability of matching (upper 95% prediction limit) removed 31.5% of interviews. Conclusions and relevance The large number of low-match probability interviews demonstrates over-interviewing in primary care. We suggest that programs eliminate interview offers to applications falling below their chosen match probability threshold.

The preferences of transport mode of certain travelers in the age of autonomous vehicle

Individuals choose transport modes to travel based on their preferences and journey characteristics. The availability of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on the market will affect the traditional mode choice models. In this regard, this research studies three transport modes: conventional car, privately-owned autonomous vehicle (PAV), and shared autonomous vehicle (SAV). The potential changes in transport mode choice are evaluated, where the impact of changes of some sociodemographic and travel variables on choices are estimated. A discrete choice modeling approach is applied in this study to develop a transport choice model. A stated preference (SP) approach is used, where 306 answers are collected in Hungary. A discrete choice experiment (DCE) is designed to collect the choices of people. Multinomial Logit (MNL) model is applied to the data to develop a transport mode choice model, where differentiations between some parameters across transport modes are presented. People are varied in their willingness to use a transport mode across groups, such as the income, the family size, and the current transport mode. The results demonstrate that people are more likely to use a conventional car than PAV, while they are more likely to use PAV than SAV. The output of this study can be used to support policy implications in the AV era.

Understanding preferences for night trains and their potential to replace flights in Europe. The case of Sweden

Possible strategies to mitigate the climate impact of tourism transport include encouraging tourism to closer destinations and supporting more sustainable modes of transport, including trains. Today international trips by railways only have a small market share but night trains are considered an important part of a future green Europe. However, little is known about travelers' preferences for night trains for long-distance travel in Europe. The results of an integrated choice and latent variable model (ICLV) applied to stated preference (SP) data collected from 1691 residents of Sweden show that, depending on place of origin in Sweden, in response to a set of innovations, including reduced travel time emanating from ongoing infrastructure investments, and the introduction of new, more comfortable trains, the share of plane users willing to switch to night trains to Central Europe could reach 20–30% and to Southern Europe, 6–10%.

Estimating the impact of behavior heterogeneity on airfare choices

Previous studies on airfare choices have discussed various types of heterogeneity. Based on these findings, this study investigated a type of non-trading behavior observed in the context of airfare booking. Required by the pricing and revenue management decisions, airline often offers hierarchical airfares subject to capacity constraints. This presents challenges in identifying the heterogeneous choice behaviors among air travelers and in the consequent demand estimation. To differentiate the trading and non-trading behavior of respondents, a stated preference (SP) experiment that allows variation of choice set composition was applied. Among the data, over 40% of respondents were observed to choose only from the non-flexible fare class. Identifying such heterogeneity can improve choice modelling and help better understand airfare choice behaviors. In addition, taking into account behavior heterogeneity may produce significantly different demand forecasts, according to which airlines may devise distinctive marketing strategies. Despite the managerial implications, there are some potential privacy and safety issues that may raise the awareness of policy-makers, and this has also been discussed in this research.

In every crisis an opportunity? European Union integration in defence and the War on Ukraine

ABSTRACT Russia’s war on Ukraine has upended the European security order. Ukraine has requested EU membership, unprecedented sanctions have been imposed on Russia, European countries have shipped weapons and munitions to Ukraine and NATO has shored up its military presence. Despite such action, is it possible to speak of a transformative moment or ‘Zeitenwende’ for EU security and defence? This article analyses the state of EU integration in defence since the war on Ukraine. Drawing on hypotheses developed under ‘new intergovernmentalism’, this article analyses how EU Member State preferences in defence and intergovernmental-supranational dynamics are being shaped by the war. In particular, the article probes how supranational and intergovernmental institutions have reacted to the war and how domestic preferences have fed into recent EU defence efforts. In doing so, the article provides a preliminary assessment of the state of EU integration in defence since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The interplay between spin states, geometries and biological activity of Fe(III) and Mn(II) complexes with thiosemicarbazone

Fe(III) and Mn(II) complexes with condensation product of thiosemicarbazide and 2-acetylthiazole (HL1, (E)-2-(1-(thiazol-2-yl)ethylidene)hydrazine-1-carbothioamide) have been synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, IR spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. In both complexes, the thiosemicarbazone ligand is coordinated in deprotonated form through the NNS donor set of atoms. However, while Fe(III) complex is in the doublet ground state with distorted octahedral geometry, the coordination environment around Mn(II) is distorted trigonal-prismatic, and the sextet state is found to be the ground state. DFT calculations were performed to rationalize spin state preferences, and continuous shape measure describes the deviation from ideal six-coordinated polyhedral geometries in the ground and excited states. Antimicrobial activity (against a panel of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, two yeast, and one fungal strain), brine shrimp assay, and DPPH radical scavenging activity of both complexes were evaluated, and these results relate to the electronic structure of the complexes.

Understanding Influencing Factors of Travel Mode Choice in Urban-Suburban Travel: A Case Study in Shanghai

After the rapid expansion of the subway system over the past two decades, some cities are preparing to build more suburban railways. The emergence of suburban railways is bound to change the choice of suburban passenger transportation. This paper studies the factors that affect the choice of travel mode at the construction stage of suburban railways, aiming to design a more rational suburban railway network and urban public transport service system. Taking Shanghai as an example, this study first surveyed revealed preference (RP) and stated preference (SP) among urban-suburban travelers. Then, we used discrete choice models (DCM) and machine learning algorithms to build a travel mode choice model based on data collection and analysis. Furthermore, the importance of each factor was analyzed, and the effects were predicted under several traffic demand management schemes. Finally, this study proposed some strategies for increasing the share of public transport. On the one hand, it is suggested that Shanghai should continue to develop suburban railways and maintain low pricing of public transport services. Considering the construction and operation costs, the government needs to provide certain subsidies to stabilize prices. On the other hand, as passengers are very sensitive to the “last mile” trips in their suburban railway travel, transport planners should strengthen the connection from and to the suburban railway stations by developing services such as shared bikes and shuttle buses. In addition, the results indicated that some traffic demand management measures can also contribute to a larger share of public transport.

Simultaneous Capturing of a Flexible Substitution Pattern and the Complementary/Supplementary Relationship in a Consideration Set in Mode Choice Modeling by Using Stated Preference Data

This paper investigates the use of an elicited consideration set in a mathematical model of choice and consideration set formation. It proposes an econometric formulation by allowing unrestricted correlations among alternatives in the consideration set formation and a flexible substitution pattern in the choice model. Data from a stated preference (SP) survey is used where the SP choice tasks were followed by an elicitation of the consideration set while responding to the SP experiments. As opposed to the latent choice set formation approach, the elicited consideration set reduces the computational burden for model estimation. Empirical models reveal the benefit of modeling choice in conjunction with consideration of the set formation. It is evident that overlooking the probabilistic consideration set results in the over-estimation of the effects of key choice attributes, for example, travel time and generalized cost. Estimated correlations among alternatives in the consideration set formation revealed rich patterns of complementary and supplementary relationships among the alternatives that would not be possible to observe otherwise. However, it is also clear that the relationship in the consideration set formation may not be fully translated into substitution patterns in the choice model; that is explained by the error-component mixed logit model.

Urban/rural differences in preferences for EQ-5D-5L health states: a study of a multi-ethnic region in China.

This study aimed to compare health preferences for EQ-5D-5L health states between urban and rural populations in China. This study used pooled secondary data from two EQ-5D-5L valuation studies. Participants were recruited from Guizhou province and Chongqing municipality, China using quota sampling. Each participant was interviewed face-to-face to value a set of 15 or 16 out of 30 EQ-5D-5L health states using time trade-off (TTO) methods including composite TTO and other two variants. Regression analysis was used to compare health state preferences between urban and rural participants. A total of 597 participants (urban: 55.44%; rural: 44.56%) completed the valuation interviews. Both univariate and multivariable linear regression analyses showed that rural participants tended to value health states lower than urban participants regardless of severity of health states. The unadjusted and adjusted overall mean differences between the two groups were -0.041 (95% confidence interval [CI] -0.077, -0.004, p-value = 0.031) and -0.040 (95% CI -0.078, -0.002, p-value = 0.038), respectively. Predictions for the 3125 health states based on rural participants' health preferences were lower than those based on urban participants' health preferences. There were small, yet statistically significant, differences in EQ-5D-5L health states preferences between urban and rural populations in China. Future study aiming at establishing a national value set should pay more attention to the sample representativeness.

Optimization of Differential Pricing and Seat Allocation in High-Speed Railways for Multi-Class Demands: A Chinese Case Study

There are many options for passengers choosing to travel by train. In order to maximize price revenue requests, railway companies must consider the differences between passenger types in the process of formulating ticket strategies. This study firstly subdivides passenger demand according to the latent class model based on Stated Preference (SP) and Revealed Preference (RP) survey data, then the passenger’s preference for train service attributes is identified. Based on the prospect theory, logit model and passenger flow transfer model, the final passenger flow assignment result is obtained. A differential pricing and seat allocation model aiming at maximizing price revenue is established, and a simulated annealing (SA) algorithm is designed to solve it. The results of the case show that the proposed model can increase revenue by 3.52% and by 1.02% compared with the result under single fares and without demand division.

How do expected changes in life affect young people's stated ownership of privately-owned autonomous vehicles: A comparative study

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are expected to bring various changes in people's lives. Such expected changes in life may affect people's decisions on the ownership of privately-owned AVs (PAVs) and even future travel demand structure. However, such effects remained unclear due to the lack of relevant studies. By targeting young people, this study fills this research gap by implementing a nation-wide expectation and stated preference (SP) survey in Japan, by comparing with older people. In the survey, respondents first reported their expected changes in life caused by AVs and then chose the most preferred vehicle from a choice set with three types of PAVs (conditional, high, and full automation) and a conventional car. The survey was implemented in 2016 and 3,006 valid SP responses were collected from 1,002 respondents (417 are young people). It is found that young people expected more changes in life and are more likely to choose PAVs with high and full automation than older people, which is consistent with the reported willingness-to-pay. By estimating a mixed logit model with panel data, it is revealed that expected changes in life affect the two age groups' choices of PAVs. There are more inconsistent influences of expected changes in life between the two groups than consistent influences, suggesting the presence of age-related structural differences of responses to future expectations. Diverse responses to future expectations are revealed, which policy implications are discussed. The findings support a life-oriented paradigm shift of travel behavior research and cross-sectoral transport policymaking and future sustainable society design.

A national survey of Iranian general population to estimate a value set for the EQ-5D-5L.

The main aim of this study is to estimate a national value set of the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire for Iran. The composite time trade-off (cTTO) and discrete choice experiment (DCE) methods; and the protocol for EuroQol Portable Valuation Technology (EQ-PVT) were used to estimate the Iran national value set. 1179 face-to-face computer-assisted interviews were conducted with adults that were recruited from five Iran major cities in 2021. Generalized least squares, Tobit, heteroskedastic, logit, and hybrid models were used to analyze the data and to identify the best fitting model. According to the logical consistency of the parameters, significance levels and prediction accuracy indices of the MAE; a heteroscedastic censored Tobit hybrid model combining cTTO and DCE responses was considered as the best fitting model to estimate the final value set. The predicted values ranged from -1.19 for the worst health state (55555) to 1 for full health (11111), with 53.6% of the predicted values being negative. Mobility was the most influential dimension on health state preference values. The present study estimated a national EQ-5D-5L value set for Iranian policy makers and researchers. The value set enables the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire to use to calculate QALYs to assist the priority setting and efficient allocation of limited healthcare resources.