Human-Machine Cooperative Decision Making

Diese Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit der gemeinsamen Entscheidungsfindung in der Mensch-Maschine-Kooperation und liefert neue Erkenntnisse, welche von der theoretischen Modellierung bis zu experimentellen Untersuchungen reichen. Zunächst wird eine methodische Klassifikation bestehender Forschung zur Mensch-Maschine-Kooperation vorgenommen und der Forschungsfokus dieser Dissertation mithilfe eines vorgestellten Taxonomiemodells der Mensch-Maschine-Kooperation, dem Butterfly-Modell, abgegrenzt. Darauffolgend stellt die Dissertation zwei mathematische Verhaltensmodelle der gemeinsamen Entscheidungsfindung von Mensch und Maschine vor: das Adaptive Verhandlungsmodell und den n-stufigen War of Attrition. Beide modellieren den Einigungsprozess zweier emanzipierter Kooperationspartner und unterscheiden sich hinsichtlich ihrer Ursprünge, welche in der Verhandlungs- beziehungsweise Spieltheorie liegen. Zusätzlich wird eine Studie vorgestellt, die die Eignung der vorgeschlagenen mathematischen Modelle zur Beschreibung des menschlichen Nachgebeverhaltens in kooperativen Entscheidungsfindungs-Prozessen nachweist. Darauf aufbauend werden zwei modellbasierte Automationsdesigns bereitgestellt, welche die Entwicklung von Maschinen ermöglichen, die an einem Einigungsprozess mit einem Menschen teilnehmen können. Zuletzt werden zwei experimentelle Untersuchungen der vorgeschlagenen Automationsdesigns im Kontext von teleoperierten mobilen Robotern in Such- und Rettungsszenarien und anhand einer Anwendung in einem hochautomatisierten Fahrzeug präsentiert. Die experimentellen Ergebnisse liefern empirische Evidenz für die Überlegenheit der vorgestellten modellbasierten Automationsdesigns gegenüber den bisherigen Ansätzen in den Aspekten der objektiven kooperativen Performanz, des menschlichen Vertrauens in die Interaktion mit der Maschine und der Nutzerzufriedenheit. So zeigt diese Dissertation, dass Menschen eine emanzipierte Interaktion mit Bezug auf die Entscheidungsfindung bevorzugen, und leistet einen wertvollen Beitrag zur vollumfänglichen Betrachtung und Verwirklichung von Mensch-Maschine-Kooperationen

Human-Machine Cooperative Decision Making

The research reported in this thesis focuses on the decision making aspect of human-machine cooperation and reveals new insights from theoretical modeling to experimental evaluations: Two mathematical behavior models of two emancipated cooperation partners in a cooperative decision making process are introduced. The model-based automation designs are experimentally evaluated and thereby demonstrate their benefits compared to state-of-the-art approaches

Human-Machine Cooperative Decision Making

The research reported in this thesis focuses on the decision making aspect of human-machine cooperation and reveals new insights from theoretical modeling to experimental evaluations: Two mathematical behavior models of two emancipated cooperation partners in a cooperative decision making process are introduced. The model-based automation designs are experimentally evaluated and thereby demonstrate their benefits compared to state-of-the-art approaches

International trade in services and services co-production: An investigation into the nature of services and their political economy consequences on international trade.

Goods and services are bundled together in economic analysis, which largely considers them to be similar despite contrary empirical evidence. Services have been largely absent from international political economy literature, so current explanations of international trade in services liberalisation and integration leave a lot to be desired. Using the WTO framework of the four modes of service supply, this thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of international trade in both healthcare and accountancy services. This empirical investigation sheds light on services' patterns of internationalisation and the relationships between different modes of trade. It finds that services differing from each other in many aspects are nevertheless intemationahsing following similar patterns and particularly through commercial presence. The empirical findings of this study are supported by an enquiry into the nature of services. They form the basis of the development of the theory of services coproduction, whereby the services output is jointly created by producers and consumers and/ or goods under their control. Co-production creates an inherent proximity constraint between producers and consumers, which is explained through the Services Production Trap (SPT). Co-production and the SPT have significant consequences for international political economy. Examination of firms' response to the SPT shows that accountancy firms developed a particular organisational model based on a network of partnerships that has been highly successful for internationalisation. In addition, this model furthered accountancy firms' economic and political influence in shaping and leading the exceptional case of an international private governance regime in financial and reporting standards. Further political economy implications which are considered in this study include international trade in services liberalisation and protection, multilateralism and preferential trade, as well as European integration

Characterisation framework of key policy, regulatory and governance dynamics and impacts upon European food value chains: Fairer trading practices, food integrity, and sustainability collaborations. : VALUMICS project “Understanding Food Value Chains and Network Dynamics” funded by EU Horizon 2020 G.A. No 727243. Deliverable D3.3

The report provides a framework that categorises the different European Union (EU) policies, laws and governance actions identified as impacting upon food value chains in the defined areas of: fairer trading practices, food integrity (food safety and authenticity), and sustainability collaborations along food value chains. A four-stage framework is presented and illustrated with examples. The evidence shows that European Union policy activity impacting upon food value chain dynamics is increasing, both in terms of the impacts of policies upon the chains, and, in terms of addressing some of the more contentious outcomes of these dynamics. A number of policy priorities are at play in addressing the outcomes of food value chain dynamics. unevenness of the distribution of profit within food value chains, notably to farmers. Regulation of food safety and aspects of authenticity has been a key focus for two decades to ensure a functioning single market while ensuring consumer health and wellbeing. A food chain length perspective has been attempted, notably through regulations such as the General Food Law, and the rationalisation of the Official Controls on food and feed safety. However, there are still gaps in the effective monitoring and transparency of food safety and of food integrity along value chains, as exemplified by misleading claims and criminal fraud. This has led to renewed policy actions over food fraud, in particular. EU regulations, policies and related governance initiatives provide an important framework for national-level actions for EU member states and for EEA members. The more tightly EU-regulated areas, such as food safety, see fewer extra initiatives, but where there is a more general strategic policy and governance push, such as food waste reduction or food fraud, there is greater independent state-level activity. Likewise, there is much more variation in the application of both national and European (Competition) law to govern unfair trading practices impacting upon food value chains. This report presents the findings of a survey of members from the VALUMICS stakeholder platform, that were policy facing food value chain stakeholders across selected European countries, including both EU and EEA Member States. The survey was conducted to check the significance of the main policies identified in the mapping exercise at EU and national levels and so to incorporate the views of stakeholders in the research. The responses suggest the policy concerns identified in EU and national-level research resonate with food value chain stakeholders in participating nations. The report concludes by exploring in more detail how the themes of fairness and of transparency are being handled in the policy activities presented. Highlighted are the ways that both fairness and transparency can be extended within the existing frameworks of EU policy activity. The findings in this report provide an important context for further and detailed research analysis of the workings and dynamics of European food value chains under the VALUMICS project

Global water: issues and insights

This book brings together some of the world’s leading water researchers with an especially written collection of chapters on: water economics; transboundary water; water and development; water and energy; and water concepts. Introduction Freshwater governance holds a prominent position in the global policy agenda. Burgeoning water demand due to population growth and rising incomes is combining with supply-side pressures, such as environmental pollution and climate change, to create acute conditions of global water scarcity. This is a major concern because water is a primary input for agriculture, manufacturing, environmental health, human health, energy production and just about every economic sector and ecosystem. In addition to its importance, the management of freshwater resources is a complex, multidisciplinary topic. Encompassing a range of fields in the physical and social sciences, the task of sustainably meeting human and environmental water needs requires a depth and breadth of understanding unparalleled by most other policy problems. Our objective in this volume is to provide knowledge and insights into major issues and concepts related to freshwater governance. The book is divided into five themed parts: Economics, Transboundary governance, Development, Energy and Water Concepts. A part addresses each theme and opens with an introduction that provides an overview of key topics. For example, the introduction to the economics section presents two main foci: measuring the value of water and managing trade-offs between different water uses. The thematic case studies discuss issues such as water pricing in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, finance of water supply and irrigation infrastructure and improving agricultural production with enhanced water management. The aim of the volume is to accessibly communicate academic research from the many fields of freshwater governance. Too often, academic research is paywalled and/or written in a style that caters to colleagues in the same field, rather than a broader audience from other disciplines, the policy-making community and the general public. This open-access book presents the research of a range of global experts on freshwater governance in brief, insightful chapters that do not presume a high level of pre-existing knowledge of their respective subjects. This format is intended to present knowledge on the key problems of and solutions to global freshwater challenges. The final part presents research from several United Nations Educational, Social, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) supported water research Chairs and Centres. Support and coordination of the insititutions highlighted in this part of the book is provided by UNESCO. One water research Chair is The Australian National University – UNESCO Chair in Water Economics and Transboundary Governance, which was established in April 2010 and works with partners in southern Africa, UNESCO, the Global Water Partnership and other organisations to: (1) increase the skills, capacity, networks and potential of leaders and prospective water managers and policy-makers; (2) sustain and strengthen institutional capacity (especially in southern Africa) by providing a platform for collaboration and institutional development; and, (3) develop innovative research, tools, case-studies, and insights on water economics, water governance and equity. Established by the ANU–UNESCO Chair, the Global Water Forum (GWF) seeks to disseminate knowledge regarding freshwater governance and build the capacity of students, policy-makers and the general public to respond to local and global water issues. The GWF publishes accessible, subscription-free articles highlighing the latest research and practice concerning freshwater governance. A broad range of water-related topics are discussed in a non-technical manner, including water security, development, agriculture, energy and environment. In addition to publishing articles, reports and books, the GWF is engaged in a range of activities, such as the annual Emerging Scholars Award and hosting a portal to educational resources on freshwater. We hope that you enjoy reading this book and, more importantly, gain an improved understanding of the complex freshwater-governance challenges facing us all on a global scale and at a local level

Governing tropical deforestation from beyond the tropics? Limitations and possibilities

International trade connects environmental problems in a given location to consumption patterns elsewhere. Relatively few of these connections, however, have prompted 'downstream' actors - located at the consumption end of supply chains - to respond to the upstream environmental problems in which they are implicated. Contemporary tropical deforestation, a problem substantially driven by production of beef, palm oil, timber and soya, provides a prominent exception. In the last two decades, downstream actors - primarily Western companies and governments, often in conjunction with NGOs - have enacted an array of policy, regulatory and institutional responses that target international supply chains for these four commodities. Yet significant uncertainty lingers over the contribution these responses can make to slowing tropical deforestation. Drawing on intensive analysis of current responses and more than twenty interviews and correspondences with practitioners and experts, this study gathers together this array of supply chain responses to interrogate their potential contribution to slowing deforestation. It asks what limitations exist on this contribution, both conceptually (deriving from responses' nature) and empirically (deriving from responses' behaviour) and finds that current responses face significant limitations in both categories. Some of these limitations are inescapable, given the structural features of the underlying problem, but interestingly, others emerge instead from the parameters for responding set by downstream actors. In effect, some limitations are chosen by actors through their framing of the problem of deforestation in such a way that protects, inter alia, consumption patterns and continuing globalisation. Additional limitations derive from the behaviour of actors, whether through counter-productive competition within the dynamics of private sector and civil society or deference to some of the sensitivities confronting governments. In the course of its broad analysis of this newly coherent field, this study also recognises the importance of balancing these limitations with an exploration of the pathways and theories of change through which current responses might be able to overcome them. Multiple of these pathways and theories of change offer promise, though they are nonetheless subject to limitations of their own. Responses may yet be capable of spear-heading deforestation's slowing, even if by themselves their direct effects prove minimal. In short, there is no silver bullet, but greater traction on deforestation is possible by recognising the implications of alternative, deeper framings of that problem, as well as cultivating both an awareness of and willingness to act in ways that go beyond actors' rational interests as narrowly-defined. Against a backdrop of continuing globalisation, this study clarifies the limitations of downstream actors' current responses to a major environmental problem. As international trade acts increasingly to connect these actors to upstream problems, an understanding of these limitations is a platform on which future policy, regulatory and institutional responses can draw

State Ownership and the United Nations Business and Human Rights Agenda: Three Instruments, Three Narratives

The rise of globally-oriented state ownership has emerged as a crucial issue across political, economic, and legal planes during the past decade. Contrary to the traditional approach where state ownership is viewed primarily through trade law, antitrust law, and corporate law, this article discusses the proliferating state shareholder power in relation to international human rights law. In particular, the article interrogates three recent U.N. human rights governance instruments by using narratives that highlight perils, potential, and specialty of state ownership in the emerging business and human rights agenda. It is argued that the U.N. instruments realize the changes in the architecture of globalized state ownership, portray it as a regulatory space, and seek to utilize this space by recalibrating states\u27 private shareholder identities with public ends. At the same time, however, the nascent human rights-based regulation of state ownership exposes a deeper market contingency underpinning the techniques of contemporary human rights governance

International trade in agricultural commodities: liberalization and its implications for development and poverty reduction in the ACP states (NRI Policy Series 5)

This publication concerns developing countries and agricultural trade. It aims to provide guidance on ways to make trade policy more pro-poor. It addresses four key questions: Does international trade liberalization in agriculture benefit poor countries? Does liberalized trade stimulate growth in the agricultural sector, and what are the developmental impacts – on poverty, livelihoods, gender, and the environment? Is there coherence between European Union (EU) trade and development policies? How can developing countries be more effectively integrated into the world economy, participate more fully in trade, and how could the results benefit the poor