Understanding preferences for mobility-on-demand services through a context-aware survey and non-compensatory strategy

The potential lack of realism in stated-preference surveys is particularly acute in contexts where disaggregate real-world data is challenging to obtain. Mobility-on-Demand (MOD) services present one such context. The MOD context is unique due to factors such as service reliability (difference in stated vs. actual travel and waiting time) and...

Engineered biochemical cues of regenerative biomaterials to enhance endogenous stem/progenitor cells (ESPCs)-mediated articular cartilage repair

As a highly specialized shock-absorbing connective tissue, articular cartilage (AC) has very limited self-repair capacity after traumatic injuries, posing a heavy socioeconomic burden. Common clinical therapies for small- to medium-size focal AC defects are well-developed endogenous repair and cell-based strategies, including microfracture,...

Investigating the effects of sleepiness in truck drivers on their headway: An instrumental variable model with grouped random parameters and heterogeneity in their means

Sleepiness is a common human factor among truck drivers resulting from sleep loss or time of day and causing impairment in vigilance, attention, and driving performance. While driver sleepiness may be associated with increased risk on the road, sleepy drivers may drive more cautiously as a result of risk-compensating behaviour. This endogeneity...

Endogeneity in water use behaviour across case studies of household water treatment adoption in developing countries

Endogeneity or reverse causality in regression analysis results in biased estimation of the effects of independent variables on the dependent variable and leads to inaccurate interpretations. However, the biased estimation of the effects of psychological factors on water–related behaviours are rarely discussed. This study investigated the...

Institutional form (blueprints) and institutional function (process): Theoretical reflections on property rights and land

This paper is concerned with the question how we should understand cases on property rights in general, and on land economics in particular, in which a remarkable level of growth (or other measures of institutional performance) is combined with so-called ‘perverse’ institutions. That is to say institutions that are not proposed by the neoliberal...

Reinventing rurality: Exploring ways to revitalize Mastorochoria of Konitsa, Greece

The thesis deals with the possibilities of spatial planning in a non-urbanized<br/>context. The case study, examined, is the municipal unit of Mastorochoria of<br/>Konitsa, Greece. The first chapter focuses on the spatial and socio-economic<br/>agglomeration taking place in Greece, as Athens and -less- Thessaloniki concentate<br/>the largest...

Institutional form versus function in a common property context: The credibility thesis tested through an agent-based model

A key debate in the study on land, housing and natural resources revolves around the notion that general institutional forms (such as private, common, public, and likewise formal property rights) lead to a certain institutional performance (as may be expressed in terms of prices, transaction costs or sustainability). However, a modest, yet,...

Disentangling the effects of unobserved factors on seatbelt use choices in multi-occupant vehicles

Despite the proven effectiveness of seatbelt use in reducing traffic casualties, not wearing a seatbelt still contributes to a substantial proportion of fatal crashes worldwide. This problem has raised the need to better understand factors contributing to seatbelt use, particularly in multi-occupant vehicles. Among these factors, behavioural...

Asymmetries of Power: Adaptive spatial planning in the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico

Unbalanced decision making processes, lack of planning scope and a market-driven development lead by high power interests have shaped the emergent Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico (MAVM) with an increasing spatial fragmentation and social segregation. To counteract the problematisation an adaptive planning framework is proposed linking...

Exploring the Endogenous Development Model of Rural Areas Based on Tourism Background, take Wuyuan as an example

The question explored in this thesis is how to use the cultural dimension of the countryside with a community-based approach to help the rural endogenous development under the background of the urban-rural dual economic differentiation caused by China’s rapid urbanization. Giving an alternative possibility to the current top-down tourism model...

Endogeneity in adaptive choice contexts: Choice-based recommender systems and adaptive stated preferences surveys

Endogeneity arises in discrete choice models due to several factors and results in inconsistent estimates of the model parameters. In adaptive choice contexts such as choice-based recommender systems and adaptive stated preferences (ASP) surveys, endogeneity is expected because the attributes presented to an individual in a specific menu (or...

Mechanical stress inhibits early stages of endogenous cell migration: A pilot study in an ex vivo osteochondral model

Cell migration has a central role in osteochondral defect repair initiation and biomaterial-mediated regeneration. New advancements to reestablish tissue function include biomaterials and factors promoting cell recruitment, differentiation and tissue integration, but little is known about responses to mechanical stimuli. In the present pilot...

Contesting metropolization by Neoliberalism: Activating vulnerable areas through inter-municipal spatial planning in Santiago de Chile

Metropolization process in Santiago de Chile has been strongly influenced by neoliberal rationale in the field of urban planning. A diffuse interaction between the forces of the urban land market, national-global trends of capital agglomeration and fragmented governance have led to a highly segregated socio-spatial structure. These processes...

Overcoming the Paradox of Plenty: Resource Extraction and Urbanism in the Venezuelan Guayana

The ‘resource curse’, a term coined by Richard Auty in 1993, refers to the paradox that the abundance of natural resources tends to have adverse effects in a country’s economic, social and political well-being (Ross, 2015). This correlation has also led many to refer to this phenomenon as the ‘paradox of plenty’. When a country depends...

The wrong track also leads someplace: Milton Friedman’s presidential address at 50

Milton Friedman’s presidential address to the American Economic Association holds a mythical status as the harbinger of the supply-side counter-revolution in macroeconomics – centred on the rejection of the long-run Phillips-curve inflation–unemployment trade-off. Friedman (seconded by Edmund Phelps) argued that the long run is determined by ...

The role of intermediaries in supporting local low-carbon energy initiatives

Recent scholarly attention shows that grassroots civil society low-carbon energy initiatives increasingly become part of the subnational climate change governance landscape. Despite their potency in view of consumer-owned distributed generation and enhanced citizen influence in the organization of the energy infrastructure, local low-carbon...

Tra-digital Hybrids: Using digital fabrication to create a hybrid design for developing countries

Can improved technology make a difference in under-served communities to improve the existing build environment in a cultural sustainable way and make possible endogenous solutions? The technical research paper highlights the technical research done to answer this particular question. The research, that focuses on technical solutions to serve...

Land of plenty: A sustainable planning strategy for post-disaster Haiti, focused by the introduction of endogenous production

In Haiti, the January 2010 earthquake has put extra strain on the urban development of the rapidly growing Port au Prince metropolitan region. Even before the earthquake, the city was failing to aptly accommodate the growing population, resulting in marginalised areas on locations at risk of natural hazards and a congested infrastructural...