Reliable Offine Policy Evaluation for Individualized Mechanical Ventilation

Individualizing mechanical ventilation treatment regimes remains a challenge in the intensive care unit (ICU). Reinforcement Learning (RL) offers the potential to improve patient outcomes and reduce mortality risk, by optimizing ventilation treatment regimes. We focus on the Offline RL setting, using Offline Policy Evaluation (OPE), specifically...

Well-being Indicators for Car-Free Policies: A study into the selection and operationalisation of well-being indicators for representing local stakeholder interests in the ex-ante evaluation of car-free policies

Governments worldwide are planning car-free policies to increase the livability of cities. However, car-free policies often face opposition from local stakeholders, and policy-makers often lack relevant model indicators to represent all stakeholder interests in their ex-ante car-free policy evaluations. Well-being (Dutch: Brede Welvaart)...

Did it increase energy consumption? A difference-in-differences evaluation of a rural electrification policy in Gujarat, India using night-time lights data

Electricity access is an important issue and building capacity for it requires drawing relevant lessons from past policies. In this study, we evaluate the effect of the Jyotigram Yojana, or the lighted village scheme, a supply-side policy intervention during 2003–08 to increase rural electricity access in Gujarat, India. We hypothesize that...

Ex ante analysis of circular built environment policy coherence

As European governments adopt new circular built environment policies to cope with the socio-ecological crisis, the need for evaluating such policies gains in urgency. Ex post evaluation is, however, difficult as these policies have not been in place long enough to have had significant effects. Nonetheless, ex ante policy evaluation may be...

Hard-to-reach energy users: An ex-post cross-country assessment of behavioural-oriented interventions

Hard-to-reach (HTR) energy users encompass individuals who are physically difficult to reach, underserved, or challenging to engage and motivate in demand-side energy programmes. Given a mix of societal challenges (e.g. inequity, energy poverty, decarbonisation, the COVID-19 pandemic), HTR energy users are receiving increasing attention. However...

Monitoring cycling policy: Improved assessment of the effectiveness of cycling interventions

Promoting cycling is an effective way to realize a more sustainable transportation system and healthier living environment. Authorities have the means to play an important role in this with the formulation of policies and the implementation of cycling interventions. However, they lack the knowledge on how to determine the effectiveness of...

Using Agent-Based Simulation to Investigate Behavioral Interventions in a Pandemic Simulating Behavioral Interventions in a Pandemic

Simulation is a useful tool for evaluating behavioral interventions when the adoption rate among a population is uncertain. Individual agent models are often prohibitively expensive, but, unlike stochastic models, allow studying compliance heterogeneity. In this paper we demonstrate the feasibility of evaluating behavioral intervention...

Perceived accessibility: What it is and why it differs from calculated accessibility measures based on spatial data

Accessibility is usually evaluated using indicators calculated from spatial data. However, perceived accessibility, defined as the perceived potential to participate in spatially dispersed opportunities, is often poorly reflected by these calculated measures. This paper sets out to explain the mechanisms that lead to these mismatches. A...

The impact of Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards: Some evidence from the London office market

This paper provides a preliminary evaluation of staged introduction of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards in England and Wales in the period after announcement but before policy implementation. A process evaluation of the specific policy design focussing on potential sources of policy failure is provided. Drawing upon a database of all...

Evaluatie van prestaties van de politie: Deel 2 van de evaluatie van de Politiewet 2012

Met de invoering van de Politiewet 2012 (Pw2012) wilde de minister van Veiligheid en Justitie (VenJ) zorgen voor een effectieve, efficiënte en maatschappelijk gewaardeerde politieorganisatie, die zowel rechtstatelijk als democratisch goed is ingebed.<br/>Artikel 74 van de Pw2012 bepaalt dat de minister van VenJ binnen vijf jaar na...

Using the house to fund ageing in place: Benefits and dangers post recession

Increasingly governments of countries where homeownership is high are looking to housing assets to fund long-term care. Housing wealth can be viewed both as an asset for low-income older homeowners and by government as having potential as an asset base for purchasing support services or supplementing income. However, there are several key...

Greening Governance: An Evolutionary Approach to Policy Making for a Sustainable Built Environment

After twenty years of sustainable building policies, the issue of environmental impact of buildings and urban environments remains. Policy makers still have difficulties addressing the ambiguous, contested and dynamic goals encapsulated in the term ‘sustainable development’. How to decide between using zinc or PVC gutters, when knowledge and...

Expected effects of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) for the indoor climate