Problems and Models in Strategic Air Traffic Flow Management

The thesis comprises of three essays. The first essay is titled "Do more US airports need slot controls? A welfare based approach to determine slot levels." It analyzes the welfare effects of slot controls on major US airports. We consider the fundamental trade-off between benefits from queuing delay reduction and costs due to simultaneous schedule delay increase to passengers while imposing slot limits at airports. A set of quantitative models and simulation procedures are developed to explore the possible airline scheduling responses through reallocating and trimming flights. We find that, of the 35 major US airports, a more widespread use of slot controls would improve travelers' welfare. The results from our analyses suggest that slot caps at the four airports that currently have slot controls (Washington Reagan, Newark, New York LaGuardia, New York John F. Kennedy) are set too high. Further slot reduction by removing some of the flights at these airports could generate additional benefits to passengers. Slot controls can potentially reduce two thirds of the total system delays caused by congestion. A number of implementation and design issues related to the use of slot controls are also discussed in the paper. The second essay is titled "Designing the Noah's Ark: A Multi-objective Multi-stakeholder Consensus Building Method." A significant challenge of effective air traffic flow management (ATFM) is to allow for various competing airlines to collaborate with an air navigation service provider (ANSP) in determining flow management initiatives. This challenge has led over the past 15 years to the development of a broad approach to ATFM known as collaborative decision making (CDM). A set of CDM principles has evolved to guide the development of specific tools that support ATFM resource allocation. However, these principles have not been extended to cover the problem of providing strategic advice to an ANSP in the initial planning stages of traffic management initiatives. In the second essay, we describe a mechanism whereby competing airlines provide ``consensus'' advice to an ANSP using a voting mechanism. It is based on the recently developed Majority Judgment voting procedure. The result of the procedure is a consensus real-valued vector that must satisfy a set of constraints imposed by the weather and traffic conditions of the day in question. While we developed and modeled this problem based on specific ATFM features, it appears to be highly generic and amenable to a much broader set of applications. Our analysis of this problem involves several interesting sub-problems, including a type of column generation process that creates candidate vectors for input to the voting process. The third essay is titled "Strategic Opportunity Analysis in COuNSEL -- A Consensus-Building Mechanism for Setting Service Level Expectations." The consensus-building mechanism described in the second essay has been accepted as a technically viable solution for the stated problem -- although many practical challenges still remain before it may be deployed in operations. A key issue worthy of further investigation is its strong strategy-resistance -- as claimed by the authors of Majority Judgment, the voting procedure embedded in COuNSEL. Using the broad ideas of Nash Equilibria, we characterize the necessary and sufficient conditions for an airline to benefit from unilaterally deviating from truthfully grading one or more candidates. The framework provides the airline with all the other airlines' grades on a set of candidates, and allows it an opportunity to present new grades. The analysis is repeated over multiple instances, and likelihood of beneficial strategic opportunity is presented

Multi-attribute value measurement and economic paradigms in environmental decision making

Bibliography: p. 219-228.The two environmental decision-making approaches of environmental economics (EE) valuation and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) differ fundamentally in their underlying philosophies and approach; hence they are characterised as paradigms. The EE paradigm includes the idea that, if appropriate prices can be found and implemented for goods not normally traded on the market, then the market mechanism will efficiently distribute resources and decisions are therefore based on the concepts of individual willingness to pay and consumer sovereignty. That an efficient market is not necessarily equitable or sustainable has long been acknowledged, but EE adjustments are subject to theoretical and methodological problems. The MCDA paradigm is based on the idea that values and preferences should be examined and constructed through interaction between workshop participants and the analyst, given basic measurement theory axioms. Various EE and MCDA methods have been devised for measuring value in different contexts, some of which were applied, in the context of environmental (particularly water resources) management, in six action research case studies. The EE methods were contingent behaviour valuation, the contingent valuation method, conjoint analysis and the travel cost method. The MCDA method was a version of the simple multi-attribute rating technique (called SMARTx). In the SMARTx cases, applying a group-value sharing model during a series of workshops, stakeholders rated the effect of alternatives on a number of environmental, social and economic attributes directly or using value functions and gave weights to criteria. Indirect compensatory values of one criterion in terms of another were determined. In the EE cases, survey respondents were asked their travel costs, preference for multi-attribute profiles and willingness to pay for alternatives. Total and average willingness to pay for an amenity, its attributes or changes in environmental quality were determined. The practical and theoretical implications of applying the different methods were examined and compared in terms of four metacriteria: resonance with and validity within the prevailing political and decision-context, general validity and reliability, ability to include equity and sustainability criteria and practicality

LIPIcs, Volume 244, ESA 2022, Complete Volume

LIPIcs, Volume 244, ESA 2022, Complete Volum

Boosting productivity in the services sector: 2nd interim report - competition and ICT topics

Contains questions, findings and recommendations important to raising services-sector productivity in New Zealand, focusing on the adoption of information and communications technology by service firms. Overview: This is the Productivity Commission’s 2nd interim report as part of its inquiry Boosting Productivity in the Services Sector. The report focuses on two topics that are significant to raising productivity in the services sector: stimulating a more competitive environment in the services sector; and the successful application of information and communications technology (ICT) by New Zealand service firms. The inquiry’s 1st interim report – released in July 2013 – focused on developing a better understanding of the services sector, its recent performance, and its role in the New Zealand economy. That report sets out the vital role that services play in the New Zealand economy. For example: services account for nearly three-quarters of GDP; and the competitiveness of exports depends critically on the performance of the services sector. This is because the services sector contributes more than half the country’s exports, primarily through embodiment in exported goods. Services-sector productivity, therefore, strongly affects the productivity of the economy as a whole and the wellbeing of New Zealanders. Yet the sector has underperformed relative to the best international performers. Productivity growth in the US services sector and that of some European countries has driven aggregate productivity growth in those countries. Most services industries in New Zealand have not experienced the same growth in productivity. Growth has been neither strong nor broad-based enough to achieve any significant productivity catch-up in the economy when compared with leading OECD countries. The productivity levels of most New Zealand services industries are below those in Australia and the United Kingdom

Die Integration der Patientenperspektive im Bereich seltener Erkrankungen aus Sicht der Gesundheitsökonomie

Bemühungen zur Integration der Patientenperspektive im Gesundheitswesen haben in Anbetracht des Spannungsfeldes zwischen medizinischer Kompetenzhoheit und der Rolle des Betroffenen als Koproduzent seiner Gesundheit eine Vorgeschichte, die so alt erscheint, wie die Medizin selbst. Jüngst wird die Integration der Patientenperspektive in Deutschland dem Jahr 2003 zugeordnet, in dem zum ersten Mal Informations-, Aufklärungs- und Integrationspflichten gegenüber Patienten gesetzlich vorgegeben wurden. So unterstützt die politische Verankerung der Patientenintegration die Effektivität des Gesundheitssystems im Sinne einer patientenorientierten Versorgung. Der Begriff der seltenen Erkrankungen subsumiert eine Vielzahl an Erkrankungen. Ausschlaggebend ist hier das Kriterium der teils landesspezifisch definierten Prävalenz. In der Europäischen Union spricht man von einer seltenen Erkrankung ab weniger als fünf Betroffenen je 10.000 Einwohner. In Deutschland sind demnach circa vier Millionen Menschen betroffen. Diese leiden meist unter chronischen Leiden mit genetischem Ursprung und schwerwiegendem Verlauf, deren Symptome und alltägliche Herausforderungen je nach Subpopulation variieren. Aus diesen Gründen wurden politische Maßnahmen implementiert, wie beispielsweise der Deutsche Nationale Aktionsplan für Menschen mit Seltenen Erkrankungen oder gesonderte Zulassungsverfahren für medizinische Interventionen, mit dem Ziel, der Unterdeckung wissenschaftlich belegter Versorgungsbedarfe entgegen zu wirken. Neue Versorgungsstrukturen bergen die Chance unter Berücksichtigung knapper Ressourcen eine besonders bedarfsgerechte Versorgung mit Hilfe der Integration der Patientenperspektive zu entwerfen. Gerade hier gilt es die Berücksichtigung der Patientenperspektive sowie die Verwendung angemessener Methoden wissenschaftlich zu begleiten und zu unterstützen. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist daher, aktuelle Entwicklungen zu untersuchen und fundierte, praxisorientierte Methoden der direkten und systematischen Integration von Patientenperspektiven aus Sicht der Gesundheitsökonomie exemplarisch für den Bereich der seltenen Erkrankungen aufzuzeigen. Diese kumulative Doktorarbeit umfasst neun Module. Modul 1 zeigt zunächst aktuelle Entwicklungen und methodische Alternativen der Integration der Patientenperspektive anhand des frühen Nutzenbewertungsverfahrens bei Arzneimitteln für seltene Erkrankungen. Im Anschluss werden Potentiale der Anwendung verschiedener Methoden der direkten und systematischen Integration der Patientenperspektive aus Sicht der drei gesundheitsökonomischen Ebenen, Mikro-, Meso- und Makroebene, vertiefend dargestellt. So zeigt Modul 2 zunächst auf Mikroebene die Bedeutung verschiedener Informationszugangswege für Betroffene seltener Erkrankungen und dass als erste Anlaufstelle die Internetinformation genutzt wird. Hier wird deutlich, dass die Berücksichtigung des in Modul 3 aufgezeigten Qualitätskriterienkataloges zur Einschätzung der Informationsqualität bei dürftiger Informationsbasis im Kontext seltener Erkrankungen als besonders relevant einzustufen ist. Im folgenden Schritt tritt die Interaktion mit dem Arzt in den Vordergrund. Mit Hilfe des Konzeptes der partizipativen Entscheidungsfindung können die durch Betroffene gesammelten Informationen im Versorgungskontext miteinfließen (Modul 4). Auf Mesoebene erweist sich das Analytic Hierarchy Process Konzept als besonders geeignet, um patientengetragene, transparente Entscheidungen im Versorgungskontext zu integrieren (Modul 5, 7). Bei der Wahl des Verfahrens ist insbesondere die Schwere der Krankheitslast zu berücksichtigen, da bei einem chronischen und schwerwiegenden Verlauf der seltenen Erkrankung die Zumutbarkeit des Verfahrens relevant ist (Modul 6). Auf Makroebene bestätigt sich am Beispiel eines Informationstelefons zu seltenen Erkrankungen der Nutzen qualitativer Verfahren zur Integration der Patientenperspektive bei der Konzeptionierung neuer Versorgungsstrukturen (Modul 8). Modul 9 zeigt wie quantitative Präferenzmessmethoden und qualitative Methoden ineinandergreifen können, um innovative Versorgungsstrukturen nahe am Bedarf der Betroffenen zu etablieren. Zusammenfassend lässt sich somit feststellen, dass bei der Integration der Patientenperspektive im Bereich der seltenen Erkrankungen gerade Patientenpräferenzen sowie die Patientenzufriedenheit bereits jetzt deutlicher Berücksichtigung finden könnten. Forschungsbemühungen können den politischen Verankerungsprozess weiter unterstützen. Bei der Zusammenfassung aufgezeigter Methoden als Teil von Methodenkatalogen gilt es, auch auf weitere Erhebungsmöglichkeiten und deren Vor- und Nachteile zu achten sowie prävalenzabhängiger Empfehlungen für den sinnvollen und zielorientierten Einsatz im Bereich seltener Erkrankungen zu etablieren. Die indikationsübergreifende Aktualität der Thematik der Integration der Patientenperspektive zeigt sich bei der Entwicklung und Implementierung neuer Versorgungsstrukturen unter Berücksichtigung steigender Finanzierungsbedarfe unter der Prämisse konstanter Beitragssätze. Im Rahmen einer wissenschaftlichen Begleitung und gesundheitsökonomischen Evaluation scheint es demnach von höchster Relevanz stets zu hinterfragen, ob die zielgerichtete Versorgungsstrukturausrichtung am Bedarf, der direkt am Patienten erhobenen wird, die Chance birgt, das Gesundheitssystem noch effizienter zu gestalten.Efforts to integrate patient perspectives into health care have a long history, seemingly as old as medicine itself, and include striking a balance between medical sovereignty and patients as co-producers of their own health. In Germany, a law was passed in 2003, requiring for the first time the integration of patient perspectives, including patient information, medical enlightenment and integration requirements. In this regard, the political anchorage of integrating the patient’s perspective seeks to endorse the affectivity of health care systems in the sense of patient-centred care. The terminology of rare diseases summarizes a variety of diseases. The decisive criterion is the prevalence rate, partly defined at a country level according to a set prevalence standard. In the European Union, a disease is defined as rare when it affects less than five in 10,000 people. Therefore, in Germany, approximately four million people are affected by a rare disease. Those affected predominately suffer from chronic and severe diseases with a genetic origin, whose symptoms and daily challenges vary depending on the subpopulation. Thus, policy measures have been implemented; for example, the German National Action Plan for Rare Diseases, or specific approval procedures for medical interventions, which aim to counteract the deficit in scientifically revealed health care service needs. For this very reason, new health care structures provide the opportunity to conceptualize a particularly needs-oriented health care system with the help of patient integration. As such, the integration of patient perspectives and the utilization of appropriate methods need to be scientifically monitored and endorsed. Therefore, the aim of the underlying thesis is to examine recent developments and to point out profound, practice-oriented methods for the direct and systematic integration of patient perspectives from the perspective of health economics exemplary in the field of rare diseases. This cumulative doctoral thesis comprises nine modules. Module 1 highlights the recent developments and methodological alternatives regarding the integration of patient perspectives based on the example of the early benefit assessment process for pharmaceuticals used in the treatment of rare diseases. Further, the potential of different methodologies for the direct and systematic integration of patient perspectives are outlined in-depth from the standpoint of the three health economic levels, micro, meso, and macro level. In this regard, Module 2 presents the different information-access points for people affected by rare diseases, with information from the Internet as the first point of contact. It is at this point that the rendered quality criteria catalogue for the assessment of information quality, presented in Module 3, proves to be of particular relevance in the context of rare diseases. In the next step interactions with physicians come to the fore. With the help of the shared decision-making concept, the information collected from patients can be fed into the context of health care services (Module 4). At a meso level, the concept of the analytic hierarchy process shows to be particularly suitable for the direct integration of patient-supported transparent decisions (Modules 5, 7). When choosing a methodology, it is of particular importance to consider the severity of the disease, as in the case of a chronic and severe course of the rare disease the reasonableness of the approach is of relevance (Module 6). At a macro level, the example of a helpline for rare diseases validates the benefits of qualitative methods for the integration of patient perspectives into the development of innovative health care concepts (Module 8). Module 9 demonstrates how quantitative preference measurement methods and qualitative methodologies can engage with each other to establish innovative health care structures that are close to the needs of patients. In conclusion, it can be determined, that patient preferences and patient satisfaction as part of the integration of patient perspectives within the field of rare diseases could be integrated already clearer. Comprising the shown methods during the development of best practice handbooks, further survey methods and their pros and cons shall be examined, as well as prevalence-related recommendations for reasonable and targeted application in the field of rare diseases. The actuality of the topic indications of patient perspectives integration across various indications can be observed in the development of innovative health care structures, such as for example the latest online health coaches or health apps, while also considering the increasing financial requirements under the premise of retaining constant health insurance contribution rates. Within the scope of scientific monitoring and health economic evaluation, it therefore seems to be of highest relevance to always challenge whether the targeted health care structure alignment with the needs directly expressed by patients bears the chance to organize the health care system even more efficiently

LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volume

LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volum