Pub Date : 2024-11-05DOI: 10.1016/j.seps.2024.102101
Sepideh Sedghi , Shima Azizi , Katherine Canada , Vincent Charles , Andrew C. Trapp
Public child welfare agencies play a pivotal role in safeguarding the well-being of children and thus, the future of our society. While the performance of child welfare agencies is of critical importance, limited previous research relying on operations research and advanced analytics appears to exist in the analysis of their performance. We conduct a multi-criteria analysis for benchmarking the performance of the United States child welfare system, using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to evaluate the performance of public child welfare agencies across different US states. We select as outputs various statewide data indicators from the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR), while our inputs include the total annual expenditure by each state on the child welfare system. We use clustering to differentiate agencies based on the presence of the “Alternative Response” policy, which provides for preventive and support options for families, and apply DEA to each homogeneous cluster. We identify best-practice agencies and provide benchmarks for the remaining agencies to enhance their performance. Our study offers data-driven directions for child welfare agencies to improve safety and permanency outcomes for children.
{"title":"Performance evaluation of child welfare departments using Data Envelopment Analysis: A comparative study across US states","authors":"Sepideh Sedghi , Shima Azizi , Katherine Canada , Vincent Charles , Andrew C. Trapp","doi":"10.1016/j.seps.2024.102101","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.seps.2024.102101","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Public child welfare agencies play a pivotal role in safeguarding the well-being of children and thus, the future of our society. While the performance of child welfare agencies is of critical importance, limited previous research relying on operations research and advanced analytics appears to exist in the analysis of their performance. We conduct a multi-criteria analysis for benchmarking the performance of the United States child welfare system, using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to evaluate the performance of public child welfare agencies across different US states. We select as outputs various statewide data indicators from the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR), while our inputs include the total annual expenditure by each state on the child welfare system. We use clustering to differentiate agencies based on the presence of the “Alternative Response” policy, which provides for preventive and support options for families, and apply DEA to each homogeneous cluster. We identify best-practice agencies and provide benchmarks for the remaining agencies to enhance their performance. Our study offers data-driven directions for child welfare agencies to improve safety and permanency outcomes for children.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":22033,"journal":{"name":"Socio-economic Planning Sciences","volume":"97 ","pages":"Article 102101"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2024-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142700839","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-11-01DOI: 10.1016/j.seps.2024.102100
Yujia Liu , Xinru Ren , Feixia Ji , Changyong Liang , Jian Wu
The evaluation of doctors’ offline medical service quality plays a vital role in evaluating hospital performance. There are two challenges that need to be addressed: (1) Currently, telephone follow-up and questionnaire surveys are the main methods for evaluating the quality of offline (mainly outpatient and inpatient) medical services in hospitals. However, these methods suffer from drawbacks such as low efficiency and resource consumption. (2) There are certain limitations to determining attribute dimensions and weighting patient evaluation attributes based solely on word frequency. To this end, this study proposes a Kansei engineering-based decision-making method for offline medical service quality evaluation with multidimensional attributes. First, this study constructs a medical Kansei lexicon based on speed and cosine similarity. Second, a concept of Kansei utility values is been defined to represent attribute values in medical service quality evaluation. Additionally, this study builds upon the Kano model to obtain the Kano classification of each attribute. On that basis, a novel approach to obtaining the implicit importance of the attributes is proposed. Thus, the weight vector of the attributes can be calculated as the combination of explicit and implicit importance. Finally, the evaluation result is obtained by using the multiattribute decision-making method. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified through an analysis of online reviews from Haodf.com. The case study reveals that offline patients consider medical ethics and communication skills as the ”must-be” dimension of attributes, medical competence as a one-dimensional attribute, and medical advice and prescriptions as the attractive dimension of attributes. A comparative analysis with the traditional method is conducted to demonstrate the importance of dimensional analysis for offline medical service quality evaluation. The main contributions of this study include the following: (1) A medical Kansei lexicon is constructed based on Kansei engineering, and (2) a novel decision-making framework for medical service evaluation based on both appearance and implicit importance is constructed.
{"title":"A Kansei engineering-based decision-making method for offline medical service quality evaluation with multidimensional attributes","authors":"Yujia Liu , Xinru Ren , Feixia Ji , Changyong Liang , Jian Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.seps.2024.102100","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.seps.2024.102100","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The evaluation of doctors’ offline medical service quality plays a vital role in evaluating hospital performance. There are two challenges that need to be addressed: (1) Currently, telephone follow-up and questionnaire surveys are the main methods for evaluating the quality of offline (mainly outpatient and inpatient) medical services in hospitals. However, these methods suffer from drawbacks such as low efficiency and resource consumption. (2) There are certain limitations to determining attribute dimensions and weighting patient evaluation attributes based solely on word frequency. To this end, this study proposes a Kansei engineering-based decision-making method for offline medical service quality evaluation with multidimensional attributes. First, this study constructs a medical Kansei lexicon based on speed and cosine similarity. Second, a concept of Kansei utility values is been defined to represent attribute values in medical service quality evaluation. Additionally, this study builds upon the Kano model to obtain the Kano classification of each attribute. On that basis, a novel approach to obtaining the implicit importance of the attributes is proposed. Thus, the weight vector of the attributes can be calculated as the combination of explicit and implicit importance. Finally, the evaluation result is obtained by using the multiattribute decision-making method. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified through an analysis of online reviews from Haodf.com. The case study reveals that offline patients consider medical ethics and communication skills as the ”must-be” dimension of attributes, medical competence as a one-dimensional attribute, and medical advice and prescriptions as the attractive dimension of attributes. A comparative analysis with the traditional method is conducted to demonstrate the importance of dimensional analysis for offline medical service quality evaluation. The main contributions of this study include the following: (1) A medical Kansei lexicon is constructed based on Kansei engineering, and (2) a novel decision-making framework for medical service evaluation based on both appearance and implicit importance is constructed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":22033,"journal":{"name":"Socio-economic Planning Sciences","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 102100"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142592770","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-28DOI: 10.1016/j.seps.2024.102102
Riccardo Ievoli , Rosa Vinciguerra , Adriana Bruno
This paper contributes to the academic debate on the construction of synthetic indices with respect to water-based sustainability analysis. In this regard, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.4 specifically considers the progress on water-use efficiency within the target of ensuring access to water and sanitation (SDG 6). Our contribution investigates the levels of water sustainability reached by countries around the world considering a suitable measure of the goal obtained by aggregating variables available at the national level, i.e. water efficiency (SDG 6.4.1) and stress (SDG 6.4.2).
The construction of a composite index for SDG 6.4 is discussed through the usual steps of normalization, aggregation, and weighting, also highlighting the pros, cons and issues encountered in each step. Fundamental issues faced in the construction of synthetic indices are also discussed: different methods for performing the above steps are compared, and uncertainty analysis is carried out to understand which methods could be reasonably suitable to measure the synthetic indicator of the entire target. As a further theoretical contribution, we illustrate some arguments in favor of the application of categorical scales for normalization, even if the results of some countries seem to be particularly sensitive to the choice of weights in the aggregation phase.
Results, obtained after examining univariate and multivariate descriptive statistics, show that the best performances can be observed in small and medium European countries and sub-Saharan African nations (such as Congo, Gabon, and Angola), while the lowest levels appear to be located in Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.
A natural implication of this research is its contribution to valorizing the social capital of a regional area, stimulating new approaches to environmental issues, informing public debate, and influencing policy-making.
{"title":"Investigating water sustainability towards indicators: An empirical illustration using country-level data","authors":"Riccardo Ievoli , Rosa Vinciguerra , Adriana Bruno","doi":"10.1016/j.seps.2024.102102","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.seps.2024.102102","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper contributes to the academic debate on the construction of synthetic indices with respect to water-based sustainability analysis. In this regard, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.4 specifically considers the progress on water-use efficiency within the target of ensuring access to water and sanitation (SDG 6). Our contribution investigates the levels of water sustainability reached by countries around the world considering a suitable measure of the goal obtained by aggregating variables available at the national level, i.e. water efficiency (SDG 6.4.1) and stress (SDG 6.4.2).</div><div>The construction of a composite index for SDG 6.4 is discussed through the usual steps of normalization, aggregation, and weighting, also highlighting the pros, cons and issues encountered in each step. Fundamental issues faced in the construction of synthetic indices are also discussed: different methods for performing the above steps are compared, and uncertainty analysis is carried out to understand which methods could be reasonably suitable to measure the synthetic indicator of the entire target. As a further theoretical contribution, we illustrate some arguments in favor of the application of categorical scales for normalization, even if the results of some countries seem to be particularly sensitive to the choice of weights in the aggregation phase.</div><div>Results, obtained after examining univariate and multivariate descriptive statistics, show that the best performances can be observed in small and medium European countries and sub-Saharan African nations (such as Congo, Gabon, and Angola), while the lowest levels appear to be located in Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.</div><div>A natural implication of this research is its contribution to valorizing the social capital of a regional area, stimulating new approaches to environmental issues, informing public debate, and influencing policy-making.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":22033,"journal":{"name":"Socio-economic Planning Sciences","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 102102"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2024-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142651418","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The growing significance of information availability about products for consumers represents a pivotal dimension in contemporary consumer behavior and decision-making processes. In the context of an ever-evolving global marketplace characterized by a huge number of choices, rapid technological advancements and increased consumer awareness, access to comprehensive product information has emerged as a fundamental factor affecting consumers' preferences, choices, and satisfaction levels. There is a significant scientific gap on Italian wine consumers' readiness to adopt emerging technologies. Therefore, the research objective is to investigate whether Italian wine consumers trust and are willing to use emerging technologies such as Quick Response (QR) code and Blockchain Technology (BCT) and to identify the factors influencing their acceptance. By examining and evaluating several crucial aspects in the context of wine purchases in Italy using an online survey, this work seeks to fill the gap in the literature. These crucial elements include customers' propensity for novelty, information-seeking behaviors, faith in new technology, and the intention to use them during wine purchasing. What can be derived is the positive interconnection between consumers novelty-seeking, information-seeking, intention to use the QR code and trust in emerging technologies. With other words, consumers' information-seeking and novelty-seeking is interconnected and they positively determine consumers trust in technologies and their adoption. The implications of this study are twofold. Firstly, it enriches consumer behavior theory by providing new insights into how information availability and emerging technologies influence consumers’ decision-making processes, particularly in the context of the Italian wine market. Secondly, businesses can leverage these insights to enhance consumer trust and satisfaction, enabling them to make more effective marketing strategies, improve product transparency, and gain a competitive edge in the increasingly competitive wine market.
{"title":"What about QR codes on wine bottles? A statistical analysis of technology's influence on purchase decisions among Italian wine consumers","authors":"Nino Adamashvili, Alessia Spada, Mariantonietta Fiore, Caterina Tricase","doi":"10.1016/j.seps.2024.102088","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.seps.2024.102088","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The growing significance of information availability about products for consumers represents a pivotal dimension in contemporary consumer behavior and decision-making processes. In the context of an ever-evolving global marketplace characterized by a huge number of choices, rapid technological advancements and increased consumer awareness, access to comprehensive product information has emerged as a fundamental factor affecting consumers' preferences, choices, and satisfaction levels. There is a significant scientific gap on Italian wine consumers' readiness to adopt emerging technologies. Therefore, the research objective is to investigate whether Italian wine consumers trust and are willing to use emerging technologies such as Quick Response (QR) code and Blockchain Technology (BCT) and to identify the factors influencing their acceptance. By examining and evaluating several crucial aspects in the context of wine purchases in Italy using an online survey, this work seeks to fill the gap in the literature. These crucial elements include customers' propensity for novelty, information-seeking behaviors, faith in new technology, and the intention to use them during wine purchasing. What can be derived is the positive interconnection between consumers novelty-seeking, information-seeking, intention to use the QR code and trust in emerging technologies. With other words, consumers' information-seeking and novelty-seeking is interconnected and they positively determine consumers trust in technologies and their adoption. The implications of this study are twofold. Firstly, it enriches consumer behavior theory by providing new insights into how information availability and emerging technologies influence consumers’ decision-making processes, particularly in the context of the Italian wine market. Secondly, businesses can leverage these insights to enhance consumer trust and satisfaction, enabling them to make more effective marketing strategies, improve product transparency, and gain a competitive edge in the increasingly competitive wine market.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":22033,"journal":{"name":"Socio-economic Planning Sciences","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 102088"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2024-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142553088","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The equity of a country is commonly assessed by examining the distribution of economic resources, access to higher education, and positions of societal influence relative to family socio-economic background. This study investigates the mechanisms perpetuating inequalities in the Italian labour market by analysing how family background influences educational attainment and subsequent labour market outcomes. Using the innovative AdSilc database, which integrates administrative and survey data on socio-economic backgrounds, we employed Generalized Path Analysis to explore complex relationships among exogenous, mediating, and endogenous variables. Incorporating the Heckman selection model addressed potential biases related to labour market participation. Additionally, we utilized generalized latent variable models for ordinal data to define family socio-economic status. Our findings underscore a pronounced intergenerational transmission of inequalities and a persistent wage gap across all cohorts analysed. Growing up in an advantaged family not only enhances educational attainment but also influences divergent labour market outcomes observed upon entry and after ten years of career progression.
{"title":"Intergenerational transmission of disadvantages in the Italian labour market","authors":"Elena Fabrizi , Isabella Sulis , Annalisa Busetta , Giancarlo Ragozini","doi":"10.1016/j.seps.2024.102097","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.seps.2024.102097","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The equity of a country is commonly assessed by examining the distribution of economic resources, access to higher education, and positions of societal influence relative to family socio-economic background. This study investigates the mechanisms perpetuating inequalities in the Italian labour market by analysing how family background influences educational attainment and subsequent labour market outcomes. Using the innovative AdSilc database, which integrates administrative and survey data on socio-economic backgrounds, we employed Generalized Path Analysis to explore complex relationships among exogenous, mediating, and endogenous variables. Incorporating the Heckman selection model addressed potential biases related to labour market participation. Additionally, we utilized generalized latent variable models for ordinal data to define family socio-economic status. Our findings underscore a pronounced intergenerational transmission of inequalities and a persistent wage gap across all cohorts analysed. Growing up in an advantaged family not only enhances educational attainment but also influences divergent labour market outcomes observed upon entry and after ten years of career progression.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":22033,"journal":{"name":"Socio-economic Planning Sciences","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 102097"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2024-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142561377","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-22DOI: 10.1016/j.seps.2024.102099
Zhimin Duan , Fangjie Yuan , Zhengjie Tian
This study examines the impact of digital financial services development on urban poverty. Utilizing the vicious cycle of poverty theory, we established a multidimensional poverty measurement index to assess the poverty status of urban households and propose strategies for leveraging digital finance to address urban poverty. Through empirical research based on a comprehensive dataset from China covering the period from 2012 to 2020, we evaluated the moderating effect of digital financial growth on urban poverty. Our analysis, which categorized poor urban households into five groups—laid-off workers, unemployed individuals, migrants, the elderly, and disabled persons—revealed that only the unemployed and migrants experience significant benefits from digital financial development. Lastly, we explore the underlying mechanisms and emphasize the role of investment, financing, and entrepreneurship in utilizing digital finance for poverty alleviation.
{"title":"Evaluating the effects of digital finance on urban poverty","authors":"Zhimin Duan , Fangjie Yuan , Zhengjie Tian","doi":"10.1016/j.seps.2024.102099","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.seps.2024.102099","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines the impact of digital financial services development on urban poverty. Utilizing the vicious cycle of poverty theory, we established a multidimensional poverty measurement index to assess the poverty status of urban households and propose strategies for leveraging digital finance to address urban poverty. Through empirical research based on a comprehensive dataset from China covering the period from 2012 to 2020, we evaluated the moderating effect of digital financial growth on urban poverty. Our analysis, which categorized poor urban households into five groups—laid-off workers, unemployed individuals, migrants, the elderly, and disabled persons—revealed that only the unemployed and migrants experience significant benefits from digital financial development. Lastly, we explore the underlying mechanisms and emphasize the role of investment, financing, and entrepreneurship in utilizing digital finance for poverty alleviation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":22033,"journal":{"name":"Socio-economic Planning Sciences","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 102099"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2024-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142537870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-18DOI: 10.1016/j.seps.2024.102098
Paolo Coccorese , Roberto Dell’Anno , Marialuisa Restaino
We investigate the research-teaching relationship within a medium-sized department of an Italian university. Relying on a large number of student questionnaires over the period from 2017 to 2022, we find that instructors who are active in publishing journal articles are deemed by students to be more clear during lectures, but this perception worsens when professors achieve higher research quality (as measured via international journal rankings) and are used to publishing with many coauthors. Overall, our results point to a positive association between research productivity and teaching quality but also show that teachers pursuing greater research quality may be compelled to neglect teaching, thus highlighting a trade-off between them.
{"title":"Are outstanding researchers also top teachers? Exploring the link between research quality and teaching quality","authors":"Paolo Coccorese , Roberto Dell’Anno , Marialuisa Restaino","doi":"10.1016/j.seps.2024.102098","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.seps.2024.102098","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We investigate the research-teaching relationship within a medium-sized department of an Italian university. Relying on a large number of student questionnaires over the period from 2017 to 2022, we find that instructors who are active in publishing journal articles are deemed by students to be more clear during lectures, but this perception worsens when professors achieve higher research quality (as measured via international journal rankings) and are used to publishing with many coauthors. Overall, our results point to a positive association between research productivity and teaching quality but also show that teachers pursuing greater research quality may be compelled to neglect teaching, thus highlighting a trade-off between them.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":22033,"journal":{"name":"Socio-economic Planning Sciences","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 102098"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2024-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142536126","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-18DOI: 10.1016/j.seps.2024.102095
Milan Preet Kaur , Jennifer A. Pazour , Rosemonde Ausseil
Nonprofit Organizations (NPOs) rely on volunteers to support community needs but struggle with making strategic volunteer-to-task assignments to enable volunteer satisfaction, and completion of complex tasks. Creation of volunteer groups and their assignment to NPO tasks can help achieve these goals by providing volunteers with opportunity for networking, collaboration, and peer learning. However, strategically creating ideal assignments is challenging because (i) there are exponentially many ways a set of volunteers can be assigned in groups; and (ii) NPOs tend to have limited and uncertain data concerning volunteers' personal preferences, availabilities, and motivations to participate. To address these challenges, this research contributes by introducing an integer programming framework to offer volunteers a menu of tasks to choose from and then based on volunteers' willingness information, creates ideal homogenous volunteer group assignments. These groups are created such that the group collectively meet a task's skill requirements and groups of volunteers of similar skill and affinity levels are prioritized. We apply the developed methodology to a case study based on a partner NPO that works with remote volunteers from multiple countries to produce online educational content. The menu creation method can improve NPO and volunteer-based performance metrics, where the most improvement is observed when a NPO is faced with very picky volunteers. Presenting volunteers with larger menus of tasks also leads to an improvement in ideal group creations. Implementing the group creation methodology helps obtain a statistically significant increase in ideal group creations but results in a tradeoff of decreased benefits to volunteers and the NPO. Finally, implementing a minimum desired group size does not severely impact most KPIs and would be beneficial for an NPO to implement as it encourages the creation and assignment of volunteer groups to tasks.
{"title":"An optimization framework to provide volunteers with task selection autonomy and group opportunities","authors":"Milan Preet Kaur , Jennifer A. Pazour , Rosemonde Ausseil","doi":"10.1016/j.seps.2024.102095","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.seps.2024.102095","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nonprofit Organizations (NPOs) rely on volunteers to support community needs but struggle with making strategic volunteer-to-task assignments to enable volunteer satisfaction, and completion of complex tasks. Creation of volunteer groups and their assignment to NPO tasks can help achieve these goals by providing volunteers with opportunity for networking, collaboration, and peer learning. However, strategically creating ideal assignments is challenging because (i) there are exponentially many ways a set of volunteers can be assigned in groups; and (ii) NPOs tend to have limited and uncertain data concerning volunteers' personal preferences, availabilities, and motivations to participate. To address these challenges, this research contributes by introducing an integer programming framework to offer volunteers a menu of tasks to choose from and then based on volunteers' willingness information, creates ideal homogenous volunteer group assignments. These groups are created such that the group collectively meet a task's skill requirements and groups of volunteers of similar skill and affinity levels are prioritized. We apply the developed methodology to a case study based on a partner NPO that works with remote volunteers from multiple countries to produce online educational content. The menu creation method can improve NPO and volunteer-based performance metrics, where the most improvement is observed when a NPO is faced with very picky volunteers. Presenting volunteers with larger menus of tasks also leads to an improvement in ideal group creations. Implementing the group creation methodology helps obtain a statistically significant increase in ideal group creations but results in a tradeoff of decreased benefits to volunteers and the NPO. Finally, implementing a minimum desired group size does not severely impact most KPIs and would be beneficial for an NPO to implement as it encourages the creation and assignment of volunteer groups to tasks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":22033,"journal":{"name":"Socio-economic Planning Sciences","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 102095"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2024-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142578841","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-18DOI: 10.1016/j.seps.2024.102096
Dong Peng , Umar Farooq , Mohammad Mahtab Alam , Khurshid Khudoykulov
The energy sector plays a pivotal role in driving economic growth and enhancing social welfare. However, the mobilization of sufficient investment including public and private remains crucial for advancing energy infrastructure development. Against this backdrop, this study aims to explore the role of governance in determining public-private investment in energy (PPE). The empirical analysis leverages a comprehensive dataset spanning 25 years from 1998 to 2022 and covering ASEAN nations. The study employs the CS-ARDL (cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag) model for regression analysis to assess governance dimensions' long-term and short-term effects on PPE. Additionally, the study conducts robustness analysis by using the FMOLS (fully modified ordinary least square) model and an alternative proxy of governance i.e. EFI (economic freedom index) to validate the findings. The analysis reveals that governance exerts a significant and positive effect on PPE. Specifically, the dimensions of governance such as corruption control (COC), government effectiveness, political stability (POS), regulatory quality, etc. demonstrate robust positive associations with PPE. This positive relationship indicates that stronger governance institutions foster transparency, efficiency, and stability in the energy sector, attracting private-sector investments. The findings of this study have significant policy implications for policymakers, investors, and stakeholders seeking to promote sustainable energy transitions and socio-economic development within the ASEAN region. Specifically, it is essential to strengthen governance institutions, enhance regulatory frameworks, and foster public-private partnerships for energy investment. This study contributes to the existing literature by providing novel insights into the governance-energy investment nexus within the ASEAN region.
能源部门在推动经济增长和提高社会福利方面发挥着举足轻重的作用。然而，调动足够的投资（包括公共投资和私人投资）对于推动能源基础设施的发展仍然至关重要。在此背景下，本研究旨在探讨治理在决定能源领域公共-私人投资（PPE）中的作用。实证分析利用的是 1998 年至 2022 年 25 年间的综合数据集，涵盖东盟国家。研究采用 CS-ARDL（横截面增强自回归分布滞后）模型进行回归分析，以评估治理维度对 PPE 的长期和短期影响。此外，研究还使用 FMOLS（完全修正的普通最小二乘法）模型和治理的替代指标 EFI（经济自由度指数）进行稳健性分析，以验证研究结果。分析表明，治理对 PPE 有显著的积极影响。具体而言，治理的各个维度，如腐败控制（COC）、政府效率、政治稳定性（POS）、监管质量等，都与 PPE 呈稳健的正相关关系。这种正相关关系表明，更强有力的治理机构能够提高能源行业的透明度、效率和稳定性，从而吸引私营部门的投资。本研究的结论对政策制定者、投资者和利益相关者促进东盟地区可持续能源转型和社会经济发展具有重要的政策意义。具体而言，必须加强治理机构、强化监管框架并促进公私合作，以促进能源投资。本研究通过对东盟地区治理与能源投资关系的新见解，为现有文献做出了贡献。
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Pub Date : 2024-10-17DOI: 10.1016/j.seps.2024.102094
Sheng-Wei Lin , Wen-Min Lu
This study presents a novel centralized Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model with shared inputs to optimize the allocation of public sector resources and enhance management efficiency. Recognizing the need for a comprehensive approach to public sector performance evaluation, the study integrates the strengths of the centralized DEA framework and the two-stage DEA model with shared inputs. The centralized DEA model shifts the focus from individual decision-making units to optimizing resources across the entire public sector system. This allows for the reallocation of shared inputs among decision making units, leading to potential efficiency gains and improved overall performance. Incorporating shared inputs within the centralized structure enables a more nuanced understanding of the interdependencies and interactions between distinct functions and stages within the public sector. The empirical application of the proposed model in the context of public sector management and cultural subsidies provides valuable insights. The findings highlight inefficiency and offer guidance for policymakers and administrators on optimizing shared resource use. The centralized DEA model with shared inputs serves as a practical decision-support tool, informing the development of targeted policies and strategies to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of public service delivery, particularly in resource-constrained environments. This research contributes to public sector performance evaluation's theoretical and methodological advancement, offering a comprehensive framework for resource optimization and improved management practices.
本研究提出了一种具有共享投入的新型集中式数据包络分析（DEA）模型，以优化公共部门的资源配置，提高管理效率。考虑到公共部门绩效评估需要一种全面的方法，本研究整合了集中式数据包络分析框架和共享投入的两阶段数据包络分析模型的优势。集中式 DEA 模型将重点从单个决策单位转移到优化整个公共部门系统的资源。这样就可以在决策单位之间重新分配共享投入，从而提高潜在效率，改善整体绩效。将共享投入纳入集中式结构，可以更细致地了解公共部门内部不同职能和阶段之间的相互依存和相互作用。在公共部门管理和文化补贴的背景下，对拟议模型的实证应用提供了宝贵的见解。研究结果凸显了低效率问题，并为政策制定者和管理者优化共享资源的使用提供了指导。具有共享投入的集中式 DEA 模型可作为实用的决策支持工具，为制定有针对性的政策和战略提供信息，以提高公共服务提供的效率和效果，尤其是在资源有限的环境中。这项研究为公共部门绩效评估的理论和方法进步做出了贡献，为资源优化和改进管理实践提供了一个全面的框架。
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