Search Results (618)

The logistics industry faces challenges from evolving consumer expectations, technological advances, sustainability demands, and market disruptions. Logistics collaboration is in theory perceived as one of the most promising solutions to solve these issues, but here are still a lot of challenges that needs to be better understood and addressed. While vertical collaboration among supply chain actors is well advanced, horizontal collaboration among competing service providers remains under-explored. This study developed a novel methodology based on the COM-B behaviour-change framework to better understand the main challenges, opportunities, capabilities and drivers that would motivate competing companies to exploit the potential of horizontal logistics collaboration. A survey was designed and conducted among 71 logistics service providers in Slovenia, chosen for its fragmented market and low willingness to collaborate. Statistical analysis reveals cost reduction (M = 4.21/5) and improved vehicle utilization (M = 4.29/5) as the primary motivators. On the other hand, maintaining company reputation (M = 4.64/5), fair resource sharing (M = 4.20/5), and transparency of logistics processes (M = 4.17/5) all persist as key enabling conditions. These findings underscore the pivotal role of behavioural drivers and suggest strategies that combine economic incentives with targeted trust-building measures. Future research should employ experimental designs in diverse national contexts and integrate vertical–horizontal approaches to validate causal pathways and advance theory. Full article

Society’s adaptation to shared mobility services is a growing topic that requires detailed understanding of the local circumstances of potential and current users. This paper focuses on analyzing barriers to the adoption of urban bike-sharing systems in post-industrial cities, using a case study of the Silesian agglomeration in Poland. Methodologically, the article integrates quantitative survey methods with multivariate statistical analysis to analyze the demographic, socioeconomic, and motivational factors that underline the adoption of shared micromobility. The study highlights a detailed segmentation of users by income, age, professional status, and gender, as well as the observation of profound disparities in access and perceived usefulness. Of note is the study’s identification of a highly concentrated segment of young, low-income users (mostly students), which largely accounts for the general perception of economic and infrastructural barriers. These include the use of factor analysis and regression to plot the interaction patterns between individual user characteristics and certain system-level constraints, such as cost, infrastructure coverage, weather, and health. The study’s findings prioritize problem-specific interventions in urban mobility planning: bridging equity gaps between user groups. This research contributes to the current literature by providing detailed insights into the heterogeneity of user mobility behavior, offering evidence-based recommendations for inclusive and adaptive options for shared transportation infrastructure in a changing urban context. Full article

Ride-pooling, as a sustainable mode of ride-hailing services, enables different riders to share a vehicle while traveling along similar routes. The COVID-19 pandemic led to the suspension of this service, but Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) such as Uber and Lyft resumed it after a significant delay following the lockdown. This raises the question of what determinants shape ride-pooling in the post-pandemic era and how they spatially influence shared ride-hailing compared to the pre-pandemic period. To address this gap, this study employs geospatial analysis and machine learning to examine the factors affecting ride-pooling trips in pre- and post-pandemic periods. Using over 66 million trip records from 2019 and 43 million from 2023, we observe a significant decline in shared trip adoption, from 16% to 2.91%. The results of an extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) model indicate a robust capture of non-linear relationships. The SHAP analysis reveals that the percentage of the non-white population is the dominant predictor in both years, although its influence weakened post-pandemic, with a breakpoint shift from 78% to 90%, suggesting reduced sharing in mid-range minority areas. Crime density and lower car ownership consistently correlate with higher sharing rates, while dense, transit-rich areas exhibit diminished reliance on shared trips. Our findings underscore the critical need to enhance transportation integration in underserved communities. Concurrently, they highlight the importance of encouraging shared ride adoption in well-served, high-demand areas where solo ride-hailing is prevalent. We believe these results can directly inform policies that foster more equitable, cost-effective, and sustainable shared mobility systems in the post-pandemic landscape. Full article

In the face of economic, social, and environmental pressures, the issue of sustainable development has garnered widespread attention in the Logistics Service Supply Chain (LSSC) with risk attitudes under Technical Output Uncertainty. In this regard, this paper first constructs an optimal emission reduction investment game model for an LSSC composed of Logistics Service Integrators (LSIs) and Logistics Service Providers (LSPs) against the backdrop of Technical Output Uncertainty. To this end, it quantifies the participants’ risk attitudes using a mean-variance model to analyze optimal emission reduction investment decisions for centralized and decentralized LSSC under different levels of risk tolerance. Subsequently, it designs a joint contract with altruistic preferences for sharing emission reduction costs in the LSSC. This contract analyzes the parameter constraints for achieving Pareto optimization within the supply chain. Finally, the study employs a case simulation to analyze the changes in expected revenues for centralized LSSC and joint contracts under different risk tolerance levels. The study reveals that (1) in a centralized LSSC, under risk-neutral attitudes, there exists a unique optimal emission reduction investment, which yields the highest expected return from emission reduction. However, under risk-averse attitudes, the expected return is always lower than the optimal expected return under risk neutrality. (2) In a decentralized LSSC, the emission reduction investment decisions of the Logistics Service Providers are similar to those in a centralized LSSC. (3) Under risk-neutral attitudes, the cost-sharing and altruistic preference-based joint contract can also coordinate the risk-averse LSSC under certain constraints, and by adjusting the cost-sharing and altruistic preference parameters, the expected returns can be reasonably allocated. Full article

Amid growing environmental concerns and an increasing push for sustainable development, countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have taken proactive steps toward green growth, energy transition, and technological innovation. As a result, this study examines the effects of green growth, energy transition, technological innovation, financial inclusion, and urbanization on environmental sustainability in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Moreover, this study breaks new ground by exposing the hidden environmental costs of financial inclusion, urbanization, and technological innovation in the MENA region’s development trajectory, thereby providing compelling evidence for rethinking sustainability through an integrated approach that aligns economic ambition with ecological responsibility. Data for the studied variables were sourced from the World Bank database covering the period 1990 to 2021. The results show that green growth and energy transition significantly reduce CO₂ emissions, supporting the idea that economic expansion aligned with environmental priorities can contribute to ecological improvement. However, the impact of technological innovation is statistically insignificant, indicating that innovation in the region has not yet translated into meaningful environmental gains, possibly due to the dominance of non-green or industrial-focused innovation. Financial inclusion is found to increase CO₂ emissions, likely by facilitating greater access to credit and financial services that fuel energy-intensive consumption and production activities. Similarly, urbanization also contributes to rising emissions, reflecting the unsustainable nature of urban growth in many MENA region. Based on this study, we advocate for a coordinated regional approach to climate and energy policy, underpinned by shared governance and collective action. Full article

Ride-pooling (RP) services, in which passengers with similar destinations share a ride, offer considerable potential for enhancing urban mobility by bridging gaps in public transportation (PT) networks and providing a convenient alternative to private car use. For the effective design and operation of such services, a detailed understanding of user preferences and usage patterns is essential. This study investigates differences in RP preferences and usage between day and night (with nighttime defined as 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.), drawing on both a stated choice experiment (SCE) and revealed preference data collected in Mannheim, Germany. The focus lies on the local RP service fips, which is integrated into the PT system. The SCE, conducted in 2024 with 566 participants, was analyzed using a nested logit model. The analysis of the SCE reveals that nighttime preferences for RP are characterized by reduced sensitivity to travel time and cost, creating an opportunity for RP operators to optimize stop network designs during nighttime hours by increasing pooling rates. In addition, it indicates a greater likelihood of private car usage at night, especially among women, likely due to safety concerns and limited PT availability. The analysis of revealed preference data provides a complementary perspective. It shows that the RP nighttime service primarily attracts younger users, while many respondents report not being active on weekend nights. However, the combination of low public awareness and limited service availability, evidenced by rejected booking requests, suggests that existing demand is not being fully captured. This implies that low usage is not merely the result of low demand, but also of structural barriers on both the supply and information side. Overcoming these barriers through targeted information campaigns and expansion of nighttime service capacity could substantially enhance sustainable urban travel options during nighttime. Full article

This paper investigates the optimal planning of high-speed rail (HSR) freight operations, pricing strategies, and government carbon tax policies. The primary objective is to enhance the market share of HSR freight, thereby reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions associated with freight activities. The modal shift problem is formulated as a bi-level multi-objective model and solved using a specifically designed hybrid algorithm. The upper-level model integrates multiple objectives of the government (minimizing tax while maximizing the emission reduction rate) and HSR operators (maximizing profits). The lower-level model represents shippers’ transportation mode choices through network equilibrium modeling, aiming to minimize their costs. Numerical analysis is conducted using a transportation network that includes seven major central cities in China. The results indicate that optimizing HSR freight services with carbon tax policies can achieve a 56.97% reduction in CO₂ emissions compared to air freight only. The effectiveness of the government’s carbon tax policy in reducing CO₂ emissions depends on shippers’ emphasis on carbon reduction and the intensity of the carbon tax. Full article

Background/Objectives: Reducing waiting times for elective surgeries remains a critical global healthcare challenge that negatively impacts patient outcomes and economic productivity. This study develops an adaptable cost-utility modeling framework for assessing the cost-effectiveness (CE) of reducing waiting time for elective surgeries in data-limited environments. Methods: We evaluated the economic and health impacts of Egypt’s recent initiative aimed at decreasing surgical waiting lists. The study conducts a CE analysis of the initiative by estimating incremental costs (expressed in Egyptian Pounds—EGP) and outcomes (expressed in quality-adjusted life years—QALYs) before and after its implementation, performs a benefit–cost analysis to quantify the initiative’s return on investment, and employs a budget share method to evaluate catastrophic health expenditure (CHE). The analysis included five elective surgical interventions: open-heart surgery, cardiac catheterization, cochlear implantation, ophthalmic surgery, and orthopedic (joint replacement) surgery. Results: The main research outcomes of the study are as follows. The initiative resulted in incremental cost-effectiveness ratios of EGP 46,795 (societal perspective) and EGP 56,094 (payer perspective) per QALY, both within acceptable CE thresholds. Most of the evaluated interventions demonstrated substantial returns on the investment. Without public funding, more than 90% of patients faced CHE, indicating considerable financial barriers to elective surgeries. Conclusions: Egypt’s initiative to reduce waiting times was deemed cost-effective. Our adaptable modeling framework could be practical for similar evaluations in low/middle-income countries, especially where data is limited. Scaling up the initiative to include additional curative and preventive services and integrating it with broader health system reforms in Egypt is strongly recommended. Full article

Healthy peatlands provide valuable ecosystem services. Peat extraction damages peatlands, leading to carbon emissions. One of the main reasons for peat extraction is for use in horticulture. Replacing peat with recycled organic materials in horticulture is critical to preserve the valuable ecosystems provided by peatlands and to establish more circular supply chains that are reliant on recycling rather than extraction. Despite the strong policy commitment and budget allocation to restore peatlands, the demand for peat-based growing media remains high and drives most of the peat demand. In our research, we mapped the growing media supply chain, held semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders representing different interests, and surveyed amateur gardeners in the UK to understand the bottlenecks experienced by each profile in ending peat use and how to overcome them. We employed semi-structured key expert surveys to understand the supply chain dynamics and consumer demand, informed by these early interviews and the previous literature, we prepared and distributed an online consumer survey and interviewed supply-side stakeholders to understand their perspectives. The findings indicate that the barriers of availability, cost, and performance are shared between the supply-and-demand-side stakeholders. A portfolio of financial, educational and logistic interventions is required to simultaneously support the supply side to accelerate the transformation of production and supply patterns and to aid the demand side to adapt to growing with compost of recycled organic materials. The policies promoting recycled organic material use in horticulture must be coordinated within the UK and with other parts of Europe focusing on the elimination of the peat content in products rather than peat extraction to avoid extraction and the associated destruction of peat stocks elsewhere. Full article

Improper stakeholder practices are considered a primary driver of food loss. This study aims to investigate the consequences of pre- and post-harvest practices on extending the shelf life of agro-food products, identifying which practices yield the highest marginal returns for quality. Using Fractional Regression Models (FRM) and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), the research analyzed data from 343 Egyptian grape farmers and intermediaries. Key findings at the farmer level include significant food loss reductions through drip irrigation (13.9%), avoiding maturity-accelerating chemicals (24%), increased farmer-cultivated area (6.1%), early morning harvesting (8.7%), and improved packing (13.7%), but delayed harvesting increased losses (21.6%). For intermediaries, longer distances to market increased losses by 0.15%, while using proper storage, marketing in the formal markets, and using an appropriate transportation mode reduced losses by 65.9%, 13.8%, and 7.9%, respectively. Furthermore, the interaction between these practices significantly reduced the share of losses. The study emphasizes the need for increased public–private partnerships in agro-food logistics and improved knowledge dissemination through agricultural extension services and agri-cooperatives to achieve sustainable food production and consumption. This framework ensures robust, policy-actionable insights into how stakeholders’ behaviors influence postharvest losses (PHL). The findings can inform policymakers and agribusiness managers in designing cost-efficient strategies for reducing PHL and promoting sustainable food systems. Full article

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), implemented in 2010, aimed to expand healthcare access, reduce costs, and address long-standing disparities in the U.S. healthcare system, particularly among racial and ethnic minorities. This paper reviews the ACA’s impact on healthcare utilization for these populations, with a focus on insurance coverage, preventive services, and health outcomes. While Medicaid expansion significantly reduced uninsured rates and increased access to care in states that adopted the expansion, millions of low-income individuals, many of whom are racial and ethnic minorities, remain uninsured in non-expansion states. The elimination of cost-sharing for preventive services under the ACA contributed to increased utilization of cancer screenings, vaccinations, and other preventive measures among minority groups. However, challenges persist, including affordability barriers, geographic disparities, and cultural and linguistic obstacles. This review also highlights the ongoing need for policy interventions, such as nationwide Medicaid expansion, and future research on the long-term effects of the ACA on health outcomes for minority populations. Full article

Given the increasing energy demand and the environmental consequences of fossil fuel consumption, the shift toward sustainable energy sources has become a global priority. Renewable Energy Communities (RECs)—comprising citizens, businesses, and legal entities—are emerging to democratise access to renewable energy. These communities allow members to produce their own energy, sharing or selling any surplus, thus promoting sustainability and generating economic value. However, scaling RECs while ensuring profitability is challenging due to renewable energy intermittency, price volatility, and heterogeneous consumption patterns. To address these issues, this paper presents a Machine Learning as a Service (MLaaS) framework, where each REC microgrid has a customised Reinforcement Learning (RL) agent and electricity price forecasts are included to support decision-making. All the conducted experiments, using the open-source simulator Pymgrid, demonstrate that the proposed agents reduced operational costs by up to 96.41% compared to a robust baseline heuristic. Moreover, this study also introduces two cost-saving features: Peer-to-Peer (P2P) energy trading between communities and internal energy pools, allowing microgrids to draw local energy before using the main grid. Combined with the best-performing agents, these features achieved trading cost reductions of up to 45.58%. Finally, in terms of deployment, the system relies on an MLOps-compliant infrastructure that enables parallel training pipelines and an autoscalable inference service. Overall, this work provides significant contributions to energy management, fostering the development of more sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective solutions. Full article

Water resources have become a critical factor limiting agricultural development and ecological health in arid regions. The ecological efficiency of agricultural water use (EEAWU) serves as an indicator of the sustainable utilization of agricultural water resources, taking into account both economic output and environmental impact. This paper, grounded in the social–ecological system (SES) framework, integrates multidimensional variables related to social behavior, economic decision-making, and ecological constraints to construct an analytical system that examines the impact mechanism of farmers’ part-time employment on the EEAWU. Utilizing survey data from 448 farmers in the western Tarim River Basin, and employing the super-efficiency SBM model alongside Tobit regression for empirical analysis, the study reveals the following findings: (1) the degree of farmers’ part-time employment is significantly negatively correlated with EEAWU (β = −0.041, p < 0.05); (2) as the extent of part-time employment increases, farmers adversely affect EEAWU by altering agricultural labor allocation, adjusting crop structures, and inadequately adopting water-saving measures; (3) farm size plays a negative moderating role in the relationship between farmers’ part-time engagement and the EEAWU, where scale expansion can alleviate the EEAWU losses associated with part-time employment through cost-sharing and factor substitution mechanisms. Based on these findings, it is recommended to enhance the land transfer mechanism, promote agricultural social services, implement tiered water pricing and water-saving subsidy policies, optimize crop structures, and strengthen environmental regulations to improve EEAWU in arid regions. Full article

The integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) into mobile agent technology has fundamentally transformed the landscape of e-commerce by enabling intelligent, adaptive, and energy-efficient solutions. In this paper, we present a new system for integrating the information-sharing capability of IoT-enabled devices with the advanced abilities of mobile agents for the optimal utilization of energy when conducting e-commerce activity. The mobile agents are used as a mediating agent in the transaction and will capture operation data to share with stakeholders (not in the transaction) who might be able to provide services in association with that transaction. The operational data is collected, stored, and analyzed in real-time via IoT devices, facilitating adaptive decision-making while providing continuous monitoring of the system and servicing to improve energy management, efficiency, and operational performance. The combined IoT and energy capacity will enhance data sharing and provide more energy-efficient activities. The evaluation of the system was completed through simulations, as well as through real-world scenarios, achieving a decrease of approximately 27.8% in total energy consumption and savings of over 30% on operational costs. Moreover, the proposed architecture achieved a reduction of up to 38.9% for response times for resource management, under load, while also demonstrating a 50% reduction in response time for real-time event handling. Therefore, the effects of the proposed approach have been proven to be effective through simulations and real-world case studies, showing improvements in energy consumption and costs, as well as flexibility and adaptability. The findings of this study show that this framework not only minimizes energy consumption but also maximizes scalability, responsiveness to user demands, and robustness against variability in an e-commerce workload. This effort illustrates the potential for extending the lifetimes of e-commerce infrastructures and developing sustainable e-commerce models, demonstrating how IoT-based architectures can facilitate better resource allocation while achieving sustainability goals. Full article

The circular economy (CE) is increasingly important in ensuring sustainable development. Although interactions among stakeholders are essential to achieving the CE, existing methods associated with life cycle design do not fully consider the synergies between multiple product life cycles (PLCs). Therefore, this paper proposes a platform-aggregated life cycle ecosystem (PF-LCE). The PF-LCE consists of multiple PLCs along with a platform that enables the exchange of goods and data among different PLCs. We also propose a method for supporting the conceptual design of the PF-LCE. Our method includes a four-step process to help exploit the interactions and synergistic effects occurring across PLCs at the design stage. We then use a simulated case study of PLCs sharing goods and data in the shoe industry, considering scenarios ranging from business-as-usual to full integration of the platform with four service providers. The results demonstrate that the designed PF-LCE delivers an increase in profits to service providers alongside reduced costs for consumers. CO₂ emissions also decrease. Therefore, the design method that we propose has the potential to enhance current implementations of the CE in terms of business revenues, consumer satisfaction, and environmental sustainability. Full article