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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202305.1548.v1

Achieving Sustainable Development Goals through Financial Inclusion: Collaborative Approaches to Fin-tech Adoption in Developing Countries

Sagir Danladi, Umar Muhammad Modibbo, M. S. V. Prasad

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: Fin-tech; Financial Inclusion; Maximizing Finance; Digital Financial Inclusion; The Better Than Cash Alliance; mSTAR; Developing countries; Sustainable Development Goals

Online: 23 May 2023 (03:35:22 CEST)

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This research suggests a multi-stakeholder framework to increase the use of fintech in Africa, which would help the continent boost its financial inclusion and reach its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The study evaluates previous research and frameworks that have been created to aid in the adoption of fintech by several stakeholders in developing nations, some of which have been tested in African nations with limited success. To begin with, the study suggests the use of the World Bank’s Maximising Finance for Development (MFD) approach through the prioritization of national ownership, creation of an enabling environment for private sector investment, partnering with multilateral development banks and other stakeholders, fostering innovation and digital literacy, and focusing on cost-effective, non-government guaranteed financing. In the same vein, in line with the G20’s High-Level Principles for Digital Financial Inclusion, the adoption of financial technologies and digital financial services in Africa can be promoted through the creation of a country-specific strategy. Each government can create a regulatory environment that encourages innovation and competition, improve its digital infrastructure, increase its digital literacy and awareness, and collaborate with private sector stakeholders to expand financial inclusion. Furthermore, The Better Than Cash Alliance’s strategy to increase fintech adoption can also be implemented through partnership with businesses, international organizations, and other nations. By joining the Alliance, countries can enact rules and regulations that facilitate fintech adoption, promote awareness and education, and design and execute national digital payment infrastructure with the help of fintech companies. Finally, the mSTAR initiative suggests collaborating with USAID, in order to provide support to underrepresented populations, incorporate digital financial services, increase public-private collaboration, and educate and train policymakers, practitioners, and technologists. By implementing these strategies, African nations can accelerate the adoption of fintech solutions and increase financial inclusion.

Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202305.0040.v1

The Roots of First-Generation Farmers: The Role of Inspiration in Starting an Organic Farm

Alia DeLong, Marilyn E. Swisher, Carlene A. Chase, Tracy Irani, Jorge Ruiz-Menjivar

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: farmers; first-generation; decision-making; young farmers; beginning farmers

Online: 2 May 2023 (02:07:33 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202304.1042.v1

Improved Model for Predicting Food Safety Risks at Taiwan Border Using the Voting-Based Ensemble Method

Liya Wu, Fangming Liu, Songshun Weng, Wenchou Lin

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: machine learning; ensemble learning; border management; food safety; risk prediction

Online: 27 April 2023 (04:45:20 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202303.0022.v1

Decision-Making Underlying Support-Searching in Pea Plants

Qiuran Wang, Silvia Guerra, Bianca Bonato, Valentina Simonetti, Maria Bulgheroni, Umberto Castiello

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: decision-making; plant movement; kinematics; plant behavior

Online: 1 March 2023 (11:04:12 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202210.0395.v2

What Motivates Companies to Take the Decision to Decarbonise?

Stefan M. Buettner, Werner König, Frederick Vierhub-Lorenz, Marina Gilles

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: decarb-efficiency; decarbonisation; industrial energy saving; cost effectiveness; strategic decision-making; climate neutrality; net-zero; drivers; motivators; resilience

Online: 30 November 2022 (03:36:29 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202210.0395.v1

What Motivates Companies to Take the Decision to Decarbonise?

Stefan M. Buettner, Werner König, Frederick Vierhub-Lorenz, Marina Gilles

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: decarb-efficiency; decarbonisation; industrial energy saving; cost effectiveness; strategic decision-making; climate neutrality; net-zero; drivers; motivators; resilience

Online: 26 October 2022 (03:41:44 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202209.0341.v1

Performance Evaluation of Machine Learning Regressors for Estimating Real Estate House Prices

Marzieh Khosravi, Sadman Bin Arif, Ali Ghaseminejad, Hamed Tohidi, Hanieh Shabanian

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: Real State; Regressors; Artificial Intelligence; Machine Learning; Data-informed; Boston

Online: 22 September 2022 (10:33:09 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202107.0004.v3

A Conceptual Framework for Constructing Decision Policies by Processing the Possibilities in Mental Models of Dynamic Systems with the Cognitive Theory of Mental Models

Martin FG. Schaffernicht, Miguel López-Astorga, Cristian A. Rojas-Barahona, Ramón D. Castillo

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: Mental Models; Dynamic Decision Making; Systems Thinking; Learning

Online: 24 August 2022 (03:49:41 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202208.0146.v1

International Online Shopping: Countries Development Level Matter in Marketing Chinese Brands?

Karamoko K.E.H. N'da, Jiaoju Ge, Ren Ji Fan, Jia Wang

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: International Online Shopping; Countries' Level of Economic Development; International Online Consumers; Chinese mobile brands

Online: 8 August 2022 (10:23:07 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202206.0231.v1

Study on the Expansion of Flower and Seedling Industrial Cluster in Taobao Village Driven by Multi-Factors—Cases of the Shuyang County in China

Chenglong Guo

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: industrial cluster; Taobao Village; expansion mechanism

Online: 16 June 2022 (05:20:09 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202202.0043.v1

Core Elements Affecting Sharing Evidence From The European Union

Olga Lingaitienė, Virginija Grybaitė, Aurelija Burinskienė

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: sharing activity; Covid-19 impact; core elements; sustainable development

Online: 3 February 2022 (09:58:24 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202201.0083.v1

Modeling of Risk Aversion Linked to Renewable Energy Policy and Decision-Maker Behavior

Dieudonné Dieudo Ecike Ewanga

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: Modeling; risk averse; decision maker; choice; strategy; utility

Online: 6 January 2022 (11:55:01 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202112.0098.v1

The Selection of the Best Deal for Sweet Potato Contract Farming under Directing of Multinomial Logit Model: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior

Ke-Fen Chang, Pei-Ing Wu, Je-Liang Liou, Shou-Lin Yang

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: Theory of planned behavior; Psychological factors; Sociodemographic factors; Behavior; Broker; Professional farmer; Cooperative farm; Probit model; Multinomial logit model; Marginal effect

Online: 7 December 2021 (11:12:22 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202111.0434.v1

Investigation of the Participatory Approach to Decision Making for Urban Regeneration Intervention

Sumana - Jayaprakash, Vimala Swamy

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: Investigation; citizens; urban context; Participation; regeneration

Online: 23 November 2021 (15:29:15 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202111.0029.v1

Estimation of Real-world Fuel Consumption Rate of Light-duty Vehicles Based on Big Data

Isabella Yunfei Zeng, Shiqi Tan, Jianliang Xiong, Xuesong Ding, Yawen Li, Tian Wu

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: Real-world fuel consumption rate; machine learning; big data; light-duty vehicle; China

Online: 2 November 2021 (09:40:05 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202109.0433.v1

Leveraging Japanese Sado Island Farmers’ GIAHS Inclusivity by Understanding Their Perceived Involvement

Keshav Lall Maharjan, Clarisse Gonzalvo, Wilson Jr. Aala

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: GIAHS; farmer involvement; youth inclusivity; tourism management; Tokimai branding

Online: 24 September 2021 (12:48:06 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202108.0275.v1

Healthcare Priority-Setting in Essential Health Packages for Sexual Reproductive Health: Going Beyond the Commonly Prioritised Services

Warren Simangolwa, Kaymarlin Govender

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: Healthcare Priority-setting; Health Technology Assessment; Essential Health Packages, Low to Middle Income Countries; Equity; Efficiency; Evidence-Informed Decision Making

Online: 12 August 2021 (13:14:51 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202012.0786.v1

A Path Model of the Intention to Adopt Variable Rate Irrigation in Northeast Italy

Maurizio Canavari, Marco Medici, Rungsaran Wongprawmas, Vilma Xhakollari, Silvia Russo

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: Precision agriculture; Intention to adopt a technology; Attitudes towards the use of technology; Technology acceptance model; Variable rate irrigation; Fruit production; Grapevine production

Online: 31 December 2020 (10:10:50 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202012.0065.v1

A Pre-aggregation Fuzzy Collaborative Intelligence-based Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process Approach for Selecting Alternative Suppliers amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

Toly Chen, Hsin-Chieh Wu

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: group decision-making; fuzzy analytic hierarchy process; consensus; wafer foundry; COVID-19 pandemic

Online: 2 December 2020 (14:10:13 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202011.0036.v1

A Creative Living Lab for the Adaptive Re-use of the Morticelli Church: the SSMOLL project

Maria Cerreta, Ludovica La Rocca, Alessia Elefante

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: Cultural Heritage; Adaptive Reuse; Urban Regeneration; Community-Based Approach; Decision-Making Process, Intrinsic Value

Online: 2 November 2020 (11:36:31 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202009.0193.v1

The Questions of Who, What, and How in the Science - Policy Dialogue: Experiences from the Pan - Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change

Ha Pham

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: Science and policy - making; Environmental communication; Pan - Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change

Online: 9 September 2020 (03:13:14 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202008.0047.v2

Design Is How We Change the World! Can We Do It in Socially, Environmentally and Economically Acceptable Ways? Synthesizing Design Tools for This Utopian Concept

Kumaraswamy Ponnambalam, Abbas Seifi, Jamshid Mousavi

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: design for society; design for sustainability; design under uncertainty; circular design; donut economics; life cycle analysis

Online: 5 August 2020 (04:50:02 CEST)

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Since the beginning, humans advanced their civilization by making better tools to improve their lives. Tools and products were designed for better living considering manufacturing issues, cost and time as predominant criteria. It has become clear that not considering environment and society, both at local/global levels, has now become a major impediment affecting living conditions on a large portion of the Earth and in many societies. Design methodologies should lead to creative solutions with consideration to engineering and economics for practicality but also to environmental and social constraints for sustainability. We propose a comprehensive design methodology based on multidisciplinary design to include the knowledge of humanities, environmentalists, science and engineering, and allowing for experts’ inputs from these areas to provide a holistic approach to engineering design . For example, experts in humanities are expected to interact with stakeholders to evaluate their value systems to provide guidance for the design. The methodology that we synthesize is new and combines (i) Societal level impacts at all scales, (ii) Environmental impacts and (iii) Engineering design with economic impacts, including uncertainty considerations. The proposed design methodology is called Social-Environmental-Economical-Engineering Framework (SEEEF). It can utilize concepts and tools such as Circular Design, Doughnut Economics, design based on environmental life cycle analysis, among others. SEEEF is quantity based and provides steps for evaluating any project or product in an objective manner and will help train engineers in design for sustainability. It also provides non-engineers with a significant role in design to increase their understanding of the hard constraints of engineering. Ultimately, SEEEF allows society to take an informed decision considering short/long term and local/global impacts of the design and the pertinent uncertainties.

Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202008.0086.v1

Syntropic Criterion for Removing Restrictions During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Viktor Vyatkin

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: COVID-19; removing restrictions; syntropy; proportionality; number of diseases

Online: 4 August 2020 (11:04:29 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202008.0047.v1

Design Is How We Change the World! Can We Do It in Socially, Environmentally and Economically Acceptable Ways? Synthesizing Design Tools for This Utopian Concept

Kumaraswamy Ponnambalam, Abbas Seifi, Jamshid Mousavi

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: design for society; design for sustainability; design under uncertainty; circular design; donut economics; life cycle analysis

Online: 2 August 2020 (16:58:27 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202004.0550.v1

Strategic Assessment of COVID-19 Pandemic in Bangladesh: Comparative Lockdown Scenario Analysis, Public Perception, and Management Perspectives

Md. Bodrud-Doza, Mashura Shammi, Abu Islam, Md. Rahman

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: COVID-19; strategic management; scenario analysis; response plans; lockdown

Online: 30 April 2020 (22:47:23 CEST)

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Global pandemic COVID-19 is in stage 4 of widespread local transmission in Bangladesh- the country which did not have a noteworthy health policy and legislative structures to combat COVID-19 like a pandemic. Early strategic planning and groundwork for evolving and established challenges are crucial to assemble resources and react in an appropriate timely manner. This article, therefore, focuses on the public perception of comparative lockdown scenario analysis and how they may affect the sustainable development and the strategic management regime of COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh socioeconomically. Response from 159 respondents was collected via a purposive sampling survey method through a questionnaire, and 54 statements were collected for scenario analysis. Datasets were analyzed through a set of statistical techniques including Principal Component Analysis (PCA), hierarchical Cluster Analysis (CA), Pearson’s correlation matrix (PCM), Linear regression analysis (LRA), and psychometric characteristics were included in the Classical Test Theory (CTT) analysis. There were good associations among the lockdown scenarios and response strategies to be formulated. A strong significant positive relationship was observed between people who will start moving towards regular life and the formal and informal economic activities will be started in lockdown scenario 1(r=0.671, p<0.01). The scenario one describes how the death and infection rate will increase if Govt withdraw the partial lockdown before 40 to 50 days. Scenario 2 outlines people’s movement will enable low-level community transmission of COVID-19 with the infection and death rate will increase slowly (r=0.540, p<0.01). Moreover, there will be less supply of necessities of daily use with a price hike (r= 0.680, p<0.01). Scenario 3, full lock down will reduce the community transmission and death from COVID-19 (r=0.545, p<0.01). Moreover, along with the other problems gender discrimination and gender-based violence will increase rapidly (r=0.661, p<0.01). Form regression analysis, due to full lockdown, the formal and informal business, economy and education sector will be hampered severely (R=0.695), there was a strong association between the loss of livelihood and unemployment rate will increase due to business shutdown (p<0.01) and poor communities both in urban and rural areas will be affected severely (p<0.01).All these will further aggravate the humanitarian needs of the most vulnerable groups in the country in the coming months to be followed which needs to be dealt with proper response plans. It will undoubtedly affect the targets of global sustainable development goals (SDGs) of 2030 and all other development targets.

Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202003.0009.v1

Assessing Sustainability Performance at the Farm Level: Examples from Greek Agricultural Systems

Irene Tzouramani, Stamatis Mantziaris, Pavlos Karanikolas

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: sustainability assessment; farm level; AHP methodology; Greece

Online: 1 March 2020 (11:40:37 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202002.0101.v1

Accessibility to Food Retailers: The Case of Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Camila Soares Henrique Fontanele Garcia, Renata Lúcia Magalhães de Oliveira, Paulo Henrique Góes Pinto

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: accessibility; food service facilities; grocery retailers; city logistics; last-mile delivery

Online: 8 February 2020 (05:48:17 CET)

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Preprint CONCEPT PAPER | doi:10.20944/preprints202001.0339.v1

Choices We Make: Rethinking Decision-making in the Context of Climate Crisis

Patrick Waeber, Natasha Stoudmann, Jaboury Ghazoul, Lucienne Wilmé, Jeffrey Sayer, Carlos Nobre, John Innes, Claude Garcia

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: decision-making; change; behavior; climate change; deforestation; social norms; lobbyist, climate denier

Online: 28 January 2020 (10:44:27 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0124.v1

Improving Irrigation Water Use Efficiency of Robusta Coffee (Coffea canephora) Production in Lam Dong Province, Vietnam

Nguyen Dinh Tien, Tran Nhat Lam Duyen, Pham Thu Thuy, Roberto F. Rañola Jr., Nguyen An Thinh

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: Data Envelopment Analysis; efficiency; irrigation water; Robusta coffee; Vietnam

Online: 10 December 2019 (03:43:13 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201906.0072.v1

Quantile Regression with Telematics Information to Assess the Risk of Driving Above the Posted Speed Limit

Ana M. Pérez-Marin, Montserrat Guillen, Manuela Alcañiz, Lluís Bermúdez

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: telematics; motor insurance; speed control; accident prevention

Online: 10 June 2019 (09:08:04 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201906.0018.v1

The role of women in production and management of RTB crops in Rwanda and Burundi: Do men decide, and women work?

Joshua Okonya, Netsayi Mudege, Anne Rietveld, Anastase Nduwayezu, Deo Kantungeko, Bernadette Hakizimana, John Nyaga, Guy Blomme, James Legg, Juergen Kroschel

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: banana; cassava; potato; sweet potato; gender division-of-labour; decision-making

Online: 3 June 2019 (10:14:15 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201810.0740.v2

Exploring how Homophily and Accessibility can Facilitate Polarization in Social Networks

Cameron Taylor, Alexander V. Mantzaris, Ivan Garibay

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: political polarization; echo-chambers; social networks; binary voter model; discussion dynamics; opinion dynamics model

Online: 17 December 2018 (10:11:31 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201810.0740.v1

Exploring how Homophily and Accessibility can Facilitate Polarization in Social Networks

Cameron E. Taylor, Alexander V. Mantzaris, Ivan Garibay

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: political polarization; echo-chambers; social networks; binary voter model; discussion dynamics; opinion dynamics model

Online: 31 October 2018 (08:18:52 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201807.0563.v1

Optimum Technology Product Life Cycle Technology Innovation Investment—Using Compound Binomial Options

Chuan-Chuan Ko, Tyrone T. Lin, Fu-Min Zeng, Chien-Yu Liu

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: technological innovation; cloud computing; compound binomial options; investment risk; uncertainty

Online: 30 July 2018 (07:40:39 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201806.0494.v1

The Determinants of Optional Insurance Coverage with FlexibleSpending Accounts in Post-Affordable Care Act-USA

Ibrahim Niankara

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: Aordable Care Act, Flexible Spending Accounts, Insurance Coverage, Multiple Service Plans

Online: 29 June 2018 (16:10:38 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201805.0010.v3

Sustainability as Source of Competitive Advantages in Mature Sectors: The Case of Ceramic District of Sassuolo (Italy)

Davide Settembre-Blundo, Fernando E. García-Muiña, Martina Pini, Lucrezia Volpi, Cristina Siligardi, Anna Maria Ferrari

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: sustainability; competitive advantage, Sassuolo tile ceramic district; Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA); Italian ceramic industry; meso-economic level; interpretative method

Online: 13 June 2018 (09:49:25 CEST)

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Talking about sustainable development refers mainly to the environmental sphere, but the concept is much broader and also takes into account the social and economic conditions. The concept of sustainability, in this sense, is linked to the compatibility between the development of economic activities, the related social phenomena, and the protection of the environment. Therefore, the ability to balance social, economic and environmental sustainability is the very meaning of the concept of sustainable development. Firms that choose to develop policies and strategies to enhance and pursue sustainable development in the medium to long term have the burden of having to quantitatively document the improvements in production processes with the aim of sustainable development. As a result, one of the biggest challenges for European industry is to introduce sustainability principles into business models leading to competitive advantage. This is particularly important in raw material and energy intensive manufacturing sectors such as the ceramic industry. The present state of knowledge lacks a comprehensive operational tool for industry to support decision-making processes geared towards sustainability. In the ceramic sector, the economic and social dimensions of the product and processes have not yet been given sufficient importance. Moreover, the traditional research on industrial districts lacks an analysis of the relations between firms and the territory with a view to sustainability. Finally, the attention of scholars in the field of economic and social sustainability, has not yet turned to the analysis of the Sassuolo district. Therefore, in this paper we introduce the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), as a method that can be a suitable tool to fill this gap, because through a mathematical model it is possible to obtain the information useful for decision makers to integrate the principles of sustainability both at the microeconomic level in enterprises, and at the meso-economic level for the definition of economic policies and territorial governance. Environmental and socio-economic analysis was performed from the extraction of raw materials to the packaging of the product on different product categories manufactured by the Italian ceramic industries of the Sassuolo district (northern Italy). For the first time the LCSA model, usually applied to unitary processes, is extended to the economic and industrial activities of the entire district, extending the prospect of investigation from the enterprise and its value chain to the integrated network of district enterprises.

Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201805.0306.v1

Farmers’ Net Income Distribution and Regional Vulnerability to Climate Change: An Empirical Study of Bangladesh

Md. Shah Alamgir, Jun Furuya, Shintaro Kobayashi, Mostafiz Rubaiya Binte, Md. Abdus Salam

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: income distribution; cost distribution; vulnerable region; adaptation measures; Bangladesh

Online: 22 May 2018 (12:54:33 CEST)

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Widespread poverty is the most serious threat and social problem that Bangladesh faces. Regional vulnerability to climate change threatens to escalate the magnitude of this poverty. It is essential that projections of poverty be made while bearing in mind the effects of climate change. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the agrarian sub-national regional analysis of climate change vulnerability in Bangladesh under various climate change scenarios and its potential impact on poverty. This study is relevant to socio-economic research on climate change vulnerability and agriculture risk management and has the potential to contribute new insights to the complex interactions in household income and climate change risks to agricultural communities in Bangladesh and South Asia. The current study uses analysis of variance, cluster analysis, decomposition of variance and log-normal distribution to estimate the parameters of income variability that ascertain vulnerability levels and help us to understand the poverty levels that climate change could potentially incur. It is found that the income share in income sources revealed that income category shares across the various regions of Bangladesh are far from uniform. The variance decomposition of income showed that agricultural income in Mymensingh and Rangpur is the main cause of income difference. Moreover, large variance of agricultural income in the regions is induced by gross income from rice production. Additionally, constant reduction of rice yield due to climate change in Bangladesh is not such a severe problem for farmers, however, the extreme events like flood, flash flood, drought, sea level rise, and greenhouse gas emission based on RCPs could increase the poverty rates in Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Barisal, and Khulna regions that would be highly affected by unexpected yield loss due to extreme climatic events. Therefore, research and development of adaptation measures to climate change for regions where farmers are largely dependent on agricultural income is important.

Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201805.0010.v1

Territorial Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (T-LCSA) of Sassuolo Industrial District (Italy)

Davide Settembre-Blundo, Fernando E. García-Muiña, Martina Pini, Lucrezia Volpi, Cristina Siligardi, Anna Maria Ferrari

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: sustainability; Territorial Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (T-LCSA); Sassuolo industrial district; Italian ceramic industry; meso-economic level; interpretative method

Online: 1 May 2018 (12:04:34 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201804.0314.v1

Application of AHP and DEMATEL Methods in Choosing and Analysing the Measures for the Distribution of Goods in Szczecin Region

Kinga Kijewska, Witold Torbacki, Stanisław Iwan

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: urban freight transport; city logistics; decision making process; multi-actor decision support; Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis; MCDA; Analytic Hierarchy Process; AHP; Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory Method; DEMATEL

Online: 24 April 2018 (09:19:37 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201804.0062.v1

Transdisciplinary Research: Collaborative Leadership and Empowerment towards the Sustainability of Push-Pull Technology

Isaac Mbeche Nyang'au, Girma Kelboro, Anna-Katharina Hornidge, Charles A.O. Midega, Christian Borgemeister

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: collaboration; leadership; push-pull technology; sustainability; transdisciplinary research; Ethiopia

Online: 5 April 2018 (04:47:49 CEST)

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Transdisciplinary research approach requires that different scientists with their discipline-specific theories, concepts and methods find ways to work together with other societal players to solve a real-life problem. In order to put this into practice, Trans-disciplinary Action Research (TDR) approach was applied in this study using Push pull technology (PPT) as a boundary object. The study was conducted in Bako Tibe, Jimma arjo and Yayu Woredas (Districts) in the Oromia region of Ethiopia from August 2014 to April 2015. PPT is a biological based mechanism developed by researchers for stemborer pest control in maize. It involves inter-cropping maize with a stemborer moth-repellent silverleaf or Greenleaf Desmodium (push), and planting an attractive trap crop, Napier or Brachiaria grass (pull), around the maize crop. On farm PPT implementation was used to provide an opportunity for collaboration, interaction and learning among heterogeneous set of stakeholders comprising of researchers from Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural research and the practitioners from the ministry of agriculture and smallholder farmers/traders. The data was collected using mixed methods approach comprising of key informant interviews, Focus Group discussions, workshops, on-farm practical demonstrations and participant observations. The findings shows that; collaborative leadership provides a chance for the stakeholders to participate in the technology learning and decision making by enabling them to jointly contribute skills towards development, refinement and adaptation of PPT. In situations where there are conflicts, they are embraced and become opportunities for in-depth learning, finding solutions and adaptation rather than being sources of contradictions or misunderstandings. Leadership roles taken by farmers play a key role in terms of ability to reflect on their own practices and drawing on scientific explanations from researchers. It also enables them take lead in new technology implementation and information sharing in free and easy manner with fellow farmers and other stakeholders. Although PPT perennial nature of cropping provides opportunities for continuous stakeholder interaction and learning, it requires a personally committed leadership and formal institutional engagements for the sustainability of its activities spanning over several cropping seasons. Market forces and the involvement of private sector players also has a role to achieve this as shown from the involvement of individual farmers and traders in Desmodium and Brachiaria seed production, collection and distribution.

Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201709.0111.v1

Proposing a Framework for Airline Service Quality Evaluation Using Type-2 Fuzzy TOPSIS and Non-parametric Analysis

Navid Haghighat

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: airline service quality; passenger satisfaction; non-parametric analysis; Type-2 Fuzzy Set; Fuzzy TOPSIS

Online: 22 September 2017 (16:34:11 CEST)

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This paper focuses on evaluating airline service quality from the perspective of passengers view. Until now a lot of researches has performed in airline service quality evaluation in the world but a little research has been conducted in Iran, yet. In this research a framework for measuring airline service quality in Iran is proposed. After reviewing airline service quality criteria, SSQAI model was selected because of its comprehensiveness in covering airline service quality dimensions. SSQAI questionnaire items were redesigned to adopt with Iranian airlines requirements and environmental circumstances in the Iran's economic and cultural context. This study includes fuzzy decision-making theory, considering the possible fuzzy subjective judgment of the evaluators during airline service quality evaluation. Fuzzy TOPSIS have been applied for ranking airlines service quality performances. Three major Iranian airlines which have the most passenger transfer volumes in domestic and foreign flights, were chosen for evaluation in this research. Results demonstrated Mahan airline has got the best service quality performance rank in gaining passengers' satisfaction with delivery of high quality services to its passengers, among the three major Iranian airlines. IranAir and Aseman airlines placed in the second and third rank, respectively, according to passenger's evaluation.Statistical analysis have been used in analyzing passenger responses. Due to abnormality of data, Non-parametric tests were applied. To demonstrate airline ranks in every criterion separately, Friedman test was performed. Variance analysis and Tukey test were applied to study the influence of increasing in age and educational level of passengers' on degree of their satisfaction from airline's service quality. Results showed that age has not significant relation with passenger satisfaction of airlines, however increasing in educational level demonstrated a negative impact on passengers' satisfaction from airline's service quality.

Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201708.0053.v1

Determinants of the Acceptance of Sustainable Production Strategies in Conventional and Organic Dairying in Europe: An Empirical Analysis

Simona Naspetti, Serena Mandolesi, Jeroen Buysse, Terhi Latvala, Philippa Nicholas, Susanne Padel, Ellen J. Van Loo, Raffaele Zanoli

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: dairy farming; sustainability; organic farming; technology acceptance model; structural equation modeling

Online: 14 August 2017 (06:27:08 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201703.0035.v1

Models of Automation Surprise: Results of a Field Survey in Aviation

Robert J. de Boer, Sidney W. A. Dekker

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: aviation automation; automation surprise; cognition; complacency; bias

Online: 6 March 2017 (17:59:48 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201609.0030.v1

Decision and Coordination of Carbon Emissions Reduction Strategy in a Two-Echelon Supply Chain Considering Vertical Technology Spillovers

Lang XU, Chuanxu WANG, Hui LI

Subject: Social Sciences, Decision Sciences Keywords: carbon emissions reduction; technology spillover; game theory; supply chain coordination

Online: 8 September 2016 (11:39:40 CEST)

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