Voluntary Environmental Governance Arrangements

Voluntary environmental governance arrangements have focal attention in studies on environmental policy, regulation and governance. The four major debates in the contemporary literature on voluntary environmental governance arrangements are studied. The literature falls short of sufficiently specifying whether or not voluntary environmental governance arrangements are successful in addressing environmental risks. This is due to the narrow focus of many contemporary studies and a tendency to study the form and content of voluntary environmental governance arrangements in isolation from their contextual settings. In order to gain a better understanding of voluntary environmental governance arrangements, scholars are challenged to study differently structured voluntary environmental governance arrangements in different contextual settings, to move beyond single country or single voluntary environmental governance arrangements studies, and to combine quantitative and qualitative data in studying these arrangements

Different but equally plausible narratives of policy transformation: A plea for theoretical pluralism

Theories of institutional change help us to understand policy transformation, and provide us with a framework for presenting transformation narratives retrospectively. By telling the transformation narrative of a single case through the lenses of three different institutional change theories, this article highlights the potential shortcomings of a single lens, and the value of using complementary lenses. It argues for a pluralist approach to provide a richer understanding of policy transformation

Smart Privatization: Lessons from Private Sector Involvement in Australian and Canadian Building Regulatory Enforcement Regimes

Various scholars stress that traditional regulatory regimes will benefit from greater private sector involvement. There has been little empirical study, however, on the impact of the "amount" of privatization on certain policy goals. This paper aims at filling that knowledge gap. Based on an analysis of private sector involvement in the enforcement of Australian and Canadian building codes, it argues that a certain threshold exists after which more privatization no longer results in effectiveness and efficiency gains. It furthermore discovers that the relationship between the public and private sector within a regime matters in reaching certain policy goals

Analysing divergent logistic networks with local (R, S) inventory control

This paper deals with divergent logistic networks where the inventory at each node is controlled using a periodic review strategy with order-up-to level. An approximate method is presented to analyse the network performance (service levels, mean physical stock). The method is tested on a range of 2-echelon and 3-echelon networks by comparison to results from Monte Carlo simulation. We conclude that the approximation accuracy is sufficient for global network design in many practical situation

Edge and Line Feature Extraction Based on Covariance Models

age segmentation based on contour extraction usually involves three stages of image operations: feature extraction, edge detection and edge linking. This paper is devoted to the first stage: a method to design feature extractors used to detect edges from noisy and/or blurred images. The method relies on a model that describes the existence of image discontinuities (e.g. edges) in terms of covariance functions. The feature extractor transforms the input image into a “log-likelihood ratio” image. Such an image is a good starting point of the edge detection stage since it represents a balanced trade-off between signal-to-noise ratio and the ability to resolve detailed structures. For 1-D signals, the performance of the edge detector based on this feature extractor is quantitatively assessed by the so called “average risk measure”. The results are compared with the performances of 1-D edge detectors known from literature. Generalizations to 2-D operators are given. Applications on real world images are presented showing the capability of the covariance model to build edge and line feature extractors. Finally it is shown that the covariance model can be coupled to a MRF-model of edge configurations so as to arrive at a maximum a posteriori estimate of the edges or lines in the image

Consistency checks for particle filters

An "inconsistent" particle filter produces - in a statistical sense - larger estimation errors than predicted by the model on which the filter is based. Two test variables are introduced that allow the detection of inconsistent behavior. The statistical properties of the variables are analyzed. Experiments confirm their suitability for inconsistency detection

Priming system 1 influences user acceptance

The study examines an alternative conceptualization of user acceptance, where acceptance is a function of two modes of thinking: one that is fast, intuitive, and automatic (known as System 1), and one that is slow, more deliberate, and voluntary (known as System 2). Such a conceptualization can accommodate cases of affect substitution, where users rely on System 1 only, without activating System 2. An experiment is conducted (N = 250) in which users are primed for System 1 or System 2. The headline contribution is that, in the context of an unattractive but potentially useful software application, users primed for System 1 show weaker intentions to download the application than those who are primed for System 2 (mean score 5.25 versus 6.30, on a scale of 1 to 7). The difficulty of reconciling this result with traditional frameworks illustrates the relevance of the dual processing model

Effects of diagram format and user numeracy on understanding cash flow data

An issue of longstanding concern in accounting information systems is the effective presentation and communication of financial data to users with little accounting background. Cash flow statements in particular have been singled out as difficult to interpret. To increase user understanding of cash flow data, this study explores the potential merits of diagram formats, as well as possible effects of the user’s numeracy skills. The study covers an experiment (N = 100) in which users were queried on their understanding of the cash flows of a real-world company, and in which type of format was either a cash flow statement or a cash flow diagram. Understanding was measured by three different concepts: interpretation accuracy, company diagnosis, and clarity of presentation. The study confirms that, on those measures, diagrams do not necessarily outperform cash flow statements, and that format familiarity (irrespective of the type of format) is a key driver in understanding cash flows. In addition, the study finds that numeric preference, but not numeric ability, helps in understanding cash flow data. The study discusses the sobering implications for designers of accounting information systems

Consistency checks for particle filters with application to image stabilization

An ‘inconsistent’ particle filter produces – in a statistical sense – larger estimation errors than predicted by the model on which the filter is based. Inconsistent behavior of a particle filter can be detected online by checking whether the predicted measurements (derived from the particles that represent the one-step-ahead prediction pdf) comply in a statistical sense with the observed measurements. This principle is demonstrated in an image stabilization application. We consider an image sequence of a scene consisting of a dynamic foreground and a static background. The motion of the camera (slow rotations and zooming) is modeled with an 8-dim state vector describing a projective geometrical transformation that, inversely applied to the current frame, compensates the camera motion. The dynamics of the state vector is modeled as a first order AR process. The measurements of the system are corner points\ud (detected in the first frame) that are tracked. The particle filtering estimates the state vector using the measurements. However, the filter behaves inconsistently because a few corner points belong to the foreground. Using inconsistency checks these foreground points are detected and removed from the list of measurements