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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

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2007

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Articles 1 - 30 of 544

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Trading Carbon Under Uncertainty: How Much Credit Should Be Given For Afforestation?, Ram Ranjan, James Shortle Dec 2007

Trading Carbon Under Uncertainty: How Much Credit Should Be Given For Afforestation?, Ram Ranjan, James Shortle

Ram Ranjan

This paper designs an optimal trading ratio between carbon abatement measures that are certain (such as curtailing carbon emissions) and those that have elements of uncertainty associated with them (such as sequestration through afforestation). Carbon sequestration through afforestation is prone to leak back into the atmosphere through loss of forestry caused by natural disasters or harvesting. When stock of carbon sequestered in plantations is uncertain its value should be discounted compared to measures that have a permanent impact on the atmospheric stock of carbon. An optimal trading mechanism would involve equating the ratio of the marginal costs of the two …

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Exit Timing Decisions Under Land Speculation And Resource Scarcity In Agriculture, Ram Ranjan, Sorada Tapsuwan Dec 2007

Exit Timing Decisions Under Land Speculation And Resource Scarcity In Agriculture, Ram Ranjan, Sorada Tapsuwan

Ram Ranjan

This paper models the impact of water scarcity in agriculture on the timing of exit decisions for farmers faced with the prospect of declining profitability in agriculture but increasing benefits from land rezoning in the future. The prospects of land rezoning are modeled as a Poisson process. The analysis highlights the role of speculative rewards in making farmers resilient to declining profitability in agriculture and also identifies the circumstances under which water prices may become an ineffective policy tool for allocating water. An empirical application is performed for the case of a drought prone region in Western Australia. Results indicate …

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Customizing Subject Guide Content For Different Disciplines: A User-Centered Approach, Shannon M. Staley Dec 2007

Customizing Subject Guide Content For Different Disciplines: A User-Centered Approach, Shannon M. Staley

Shannon M. Staley

Very few studies examine how campus communities actually make use of subject guides, which is key to informing how they should be created. Usability studies of subject page use often yield inconclusive results because the test sample is not representative of the actual campus population. Usability studies / focus groups are an excellent way of supplementing data already in existence. Survey data from a previous study, "Academic Subject Guides: A Case Study at San Jose State University," is examined to provide more rigorous guidance in developing user-centric models of online research guides.

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Subadditivity And The Unpacking Effect In Political Opinions, Renan Levine Dec 2007

Subadditivity And The Unpacking Effect In Political Opinions, Renan Levine

Renan Levine

To explain subadditivity in judgments of probabilities, support theory (Tversky and Koehler 1994) emphasizes the increased availability of information about component events. This paper demonstrates that similar processes occur in responses to public opinion questions. When a broad description of a policy is “unpacked” into more specific component policies, support for the component policies exceeds support for the original, broad policy. This effect is especially strong when one or more of the unpacked policies make information available to the decision-maker that was not accessible when the broad description was provided. This behavior violates Luce’s (1959) axiom of independence of irrelevant …

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Student & Faculty Perspective: Are We Engaged Yet?, Yuhfen Diana H. Wu Dec 2007

Student & Faculty Perspective: Are We Engaged Yet?, Yuhfen Diana H. Wu

Diana H. Wu

No abstract provided.

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Art As Politics: Re-Crafting Identities, Tourism, And Power In Tana Toraja, Indonesia By Kathleen M. Adams, Sandra Cate Dec 2007

Art As Politics: Re-Crafting Identities, Tourism, And Power In Tana Toraja, Indonesia By Kathleen M. Adams, Sandra Cate

Sandra Cate

No abstract provided.

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Offensive Realism And Central & Eastern Europe After The Cold War, Dylan Kissane Dec 2007

Offensive Realism And Central & Eastern Europe After The Cold War, Dylan Kissane

Dylan Kissane

At the end of the Cold War, John Mearsheimer published the article, “Back to the Future: Instability in Europe after the Cold War”. The widely-cited piece included four predictions for the post-Cold War European geopolitical landscape founded on the theory of offensive realism, the realpolitik approach that Mearsheimer had established and developed over more than a decade of scholarship. However, the emergence of a post-Cold War and pan-continental peace suggests that something was wrong with Mearsheimer’s predictions and, by implication, the theory that informed them. This article argues that Mearsheimer’s mistake was to rely on a theory that assumed the …

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Impuestos Y Justicia Distributiva. Una Revisión Normativa De La Propuesta De Murphy Y Nagel, Cristian Pérez Muñoz Dec 2007

Impuestos Y Justicia Distributiva. Una Revisión Normativa De La Propuesta De Murphy Y Nagel, Cristian Pérez Muñoz

Cristian Pérez Muñoz

Recently, Liam Murphy and Thomas Nagel have presented an interesting and controversial proposal to evaluate normatively a tax system (Murphy y Nagel 2001, 2002; Murphy 2005a, 2005b). Basically, they argue that a tax scheme will be just only if it finds its place in a just set of economic and legal institutions. In this work I analyze their proposal. Firstly, I review and present their main ideas. Secondly, I examine some institutional consequences that would suppose the application of their proposal in order to choose a specific tax system. Fundamentally, in this section I evaluate the proposal of Negative Income …

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Masking Identification Of Discrete Choice Models Under Simulation Methods, Lesley Chiou, Joan L. Walker Dec 2007

Masking Identification Of Discrete Choice Models Under Simulation Methods, Lesley Chiou, Joan L. Walker

Lesley Chiou

We present examples based on actual and synthetic datasets to illustrate how simulation methods can mask identification problems in the estimation of discrete choice models such as mixed logit. Simulation methods approximate an integral (without a closed form) by taking draws from the underlying distribution of the random variable of integration. Our examples reveal how a low number of draws can generate estimates that appear identified, but in fact, are either not theoretically identified by the model or not empirically identified by the data. For the particular case of maximum simulated likelihood estimation, we investigate the underlying source of the …

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The Role Of Religious Values In Politics, Darrin P. Dixon Dec 2007

The Role Of Religious Values In Politics, Darrin P. Dixon

Darrin P Dixon

No abstract provided.

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To Cross Or Not To Cross? Subjectivization And The Absent State In Cyprus, Olga Demetriou Dec 2007

To Cross Or Not To Cross? Subjectivization And The Absent State In Cyprus, Olga Demetriou

Olga Demetriou

This article is an ethnographic exploration of the process through which citizens come to conceptualize their identities as political subjects in rapidly changing contexts. The focus of the article is the lifting, in 2003, of a ban on crossing between the northern and southern parts of the island of Cyprus, which had been instituted in 1974. The article examines how this new political change affected state rhetoric, and concentrates on the reactions of Greek-Cypriot citizens to this shift. These data are related to the wider discussion on the political theory of subjectivity and the concept of ‘event’, where, it is …

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A Dynamic Model Of Sectoral Agglomeration Effects, Nicole Andréa Mathys Dec 2007

A Dynamic Model Of Sectoral Agglomeration Effects, Nicole Andréa Mathys

Nicole Andréa Mathys

This note derives a theoretical model that justifies the dynamic specification used in empirical works investigating the impact of agglomeration effects on regional industry-specific labour productivity. It extends the seminal multi-regional framework of Ciccone (2002) to allow for sectoral disaggregation and a temporal dimension. As a result, present productivity becomes a function of past productivity and other contemporaneous and lagged control variables.

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A Product-Market Theory Of Industry-Specific Training, Hans Gersbach, Armin Schmutzler Dec 2007

A Product-Market Theory Of Industry-Specific Training, Hans Gersbach, Armin Schmutzler

Armin Schmutzler

We develop a product market theory that explains why firms provide their workers with skills that are sufficiently general to be potentially useful for competitors. We consider a model where firms first decide whether to invest in industry-specific human capital, then make wage offers for each others' trained employees and finally engage in imperfect product market competition. Equilibria with and without training, and multiple equilibria can emerge. If competition is sufficiently soft, firms may invest in non-specific training if others do the same. Thereby, they avoid having to pay high wages in order to attract trained workers.

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The Simple Economics Of Risk-Sharing Agreements Between The Nhs And The Pharmaceutical Industry, Pedro P. Barros Dec 2007

The Simple Economics Of Risk-Sharing Agreements Between The Nhs And The Pharmaceutical Industry, Pedro P. Barros

Pedro P Barros

The Janssen-Cilag proposal for a risk-sharing agreement regarding bortezomib received a welcome signal from NICE. The Office of Fair Trading report included risk-sharing agreements as an available tool for the National Health Service. Nonetheless, recent discussions have somewhat neglected the economic fundamentals underlying risk-sharing agreements. We argue here that risk-sharing agreements, although attractive due to the principle of paying by results, also entail risks. Too many patients may be put under treatment even with a low success probability. Prices are likely to be adjusted upward, in anticipation of future risk-sharing agreements between the pharmaceutical company and the third-party payer. An …

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Lessons For Democratic Transitions: Case Studies From Asia, Tom Ginsburg Dec 2007

Lessons For Democratic Transitions: Case Studies From Asia, Tom Ginsburg

Tom Ginsburg

In an era when democratization is stalled or in retreat in many parts of the world, it is important to highlight the successful democratic experience of East and Southeast Asia in recent decades. Five consolidated democracies have emerged since the mid-1980s; only Thailand has seen some backsliding with the 2006 coup. The Asian cases provide insights into several major debates in the democratization literature, including the relative importance of culture, history, economic structure, and the optimal sequencing of political and economic reform. This article reviews these issues, with particular attention to the role of outside powers in underpinning democratization. Ultimately, …

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El Proceso De Selección Del Candidato Presidencial Del Pan En 2005, Flavia Freidenberg, Victor Alarcón-Olguín Dec 2007

El Proceso De Selección Del Candidato Presidencial Del Pan En 2005, Flavia Freidenberg, Victor Alarcón-Olguín

Flavia Freidenberg

No abstract provided.

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Introduction: Theorising Politics, Cillian Mcbride Dec 2007

Introduction: Theorising Politics, Cillian Mcbride

Cillian McBride

No abstract provided.

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An Overview Of Combinatorial Auctions, Peter Cramton, Yoav Shoham, Richard Steinberg Dec 2007

An Overview Of Combinatorial Auctions, Peter Cramton, Yoav Shoham, Richard Steinberg

Peter Cramton

No abstract provided.

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Disability Rights In Ireland: Chronicle Of A Missed Opportunity, Jurgen De Wispelaere, Judy Walsh Dec 2007

Disability Rights In Ireland: Chronicle Of A Missed Opportunity, Jurgen De Wispelaere, Judy Walsh

Jurgen De Wispelaere

This article critically examines the Disability Act 2005 which regulates access to public services for disabled people in Ireland. We examine the competing conceptions of disability rights advanced by the government and the disability sector during the debate on the legislation and offer an interpretation of disability rights as the justiciable right to challenge. The Disability Act 2005 is then evaluated in light of the proposed framework. We outline a number of ways in which the absence of a justiciable right to challenge fails to safeguard the dignity, empowerment and participation of disabled people. We contend that, despite protestations to …

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Introduction: Theorising Politics, Cillian Mcbride, Jurgen De Wispelaere, Shane O'Neill Dec 2007

Introduction: Theorising Politics, Cillian Mcbride, Jurgen De Wispelaere, Shane O'Neill

Jurgen De Wispelaere

This is the introduction to a special issue of Irish Political Studies on "Recognition, Equality, Democracy", to appear in December 2007 as a journal and sometime in 2008 as an edited collection published by Taylor & Francis.

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Why Bayes Rules: A Note On Bayesian Vs. Classical Inference In Regime Switching Models, Dennis L. Gärtner Dec 2007

Why Bayes Rules: A Note On Bayesian Vs. Classical Inference In Regime Switching Models, Dennis L. Gärtner

Dennis L Gärtner

By means of a very simple example, this note illustrates the appeal of using Bayesian rather than classical methods to produce inference on hidden states in models of Markovian regime switching.

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African Periodicals And Popular Culture, Charles Muiru Ngugi Dec 2007

African Periodicals And Popular Culture, Charles Muiru Ngugi

Charles Muiru Ngugi

No abstract provided.

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Voting, Wealth Heterogeneity, And Endogenous Labor Supply, Chetan Ghate Dec 2007

Voting, Wealth Heterogeneity, And Endogenous Labor Supply, Chetan Ghate

Chetan Ghate

We examine the link between voting outcomes, wealth heterogeneity, and endogenous labor leisure choice in the majority voting – endogenous growth frameworks of Alesina and Rodrik (1994) and Das and Ghate (2004). We augment these frameworks to incorporate leisure dependent utility and allow households to vote over factor specific income taxes. When agents vote over factor specific taxes, we show that the asymptotic convergence of factor holdings does not imply unanimity over the growth maximizing tax policy in the steady state. Unanimity over growth maximizing policies holds only when agents vote over a general income tax, and when agents vote …

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What Does Usage Tell Us About Our Users?, Carol Tenopir, Eleanor Read, Maribeth Manoff, Gayle Baker, David Nicholas, Donald W. King Dec 2007

What Does Usage Tell Us About Our Users?, Carol Tenopir, Eleanor Read, Maribeth Manoff, Gayle Baker, David Nicholas, Donald W. King

Carol Tenopir

No abstract provided.

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Do Polls Limit Wishful Thinking?, Valery Kisilevsky, Renan Levine Nov 2007

Do Polls Limit Wishful Thinking?, Valery Kisilevsky, Renan Levine

Renan Levine

Previous studies of election predictions have emphasized the effect wishful thinking has on predictions. Wishful thinking was evident in predictions made by partisan respondents to the 2006 Israel Election Study, but does not fully explain the observed variation even when controlling for levels of knowledge and political engagement. To test whether this wishful thinking is the result of a failure to recall the latest polls accurately, or an inability to use this information, we showed some people the latest polls before they make their predictions using a concurrent internet survey-experiment. Others were asked to recall each party’s polling numbers. We …

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Crime Prospects And Prospect Theory, Ram Ranjan Nov 2007

Crime Prospects And Prospect Theory, Ram Ranjan

Ram Ranjan

This paper models criminal behavior in a dynamic optimization setting where psychological factors such as subjective risk perception and time preferences play a key role in inducing illegal actions. When psychological perceptions over the actual magnitude of the reward and over the subjective risks of finding a victim or of being caught are dynamic, their influence on crime efforts could vary. Specifically, increasing punishment over rewards, ceteris paribus, deters crime, but increasing punishment and monitoring simultaneously, may encourage crime in the long term. It is also demonstrated that it may not be possible to distinguish between the impacts of hyperbolic …

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Comments On The Rggi Market Design, Peter Cramton Nov 2007

Comments On The Rggi Market Design, Peter Cramton

Peter Cramton

No abstract provided.

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The 700 Mhz Spectrum Auction: An Opportunity To Protect Competition In A Consolidating Industry, Peter Cramton, Andrzej Skrzypacz, Robert Wilson Nov 2007

The 700 Mhz Spectrum Auction: An Opportunity To Protect Competition In A Consolidating Industry, Peter Cramton, Andrzej Skrzypacz, Robert Wilson

Peter Cramton

This paper is provided in connection with the 2007 Telecommunications Symposium – Voice, Video and Broadband: The Changing Competitive Landscape and Its Impact on Consumers, sponsored by the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“the Division”). Our focus is on the state of competition in the wireless sector. Maintaining a competitive wireless sector is particularly critical if, as the Division’s agenda indicates, wireless services are to function as a competitive alternative to wireline technologies. Strengthening competition is especially important now after recent mergers that consolidated the wireless industry into a few dominant firms (two to four depending on …

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Implementing Endeca When You're Hip, Nora Gaskin Nov 2007

Implementing Endeca When You're Hip, Nora Gaskin

Nora Gaskin

Gives a user interface perspective on how McMaster University Library implemented an Endeca "front end", or discovery layer, for its Horizon-based catalogue -- from a cold start in October 2006 to a "soft launch" in March 2007, and beyond. Describes some of the decisions, issues and tradeoffs we had to consider, what worked and what we'd do differently, and how our users responded to the new interface.

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Born (Again) On The First Of July: Another Experiment In Birth Timing, Joshua S. Gans, Andrew Leigh Nov 2007

Born (Again) On The First Of July: Another Experiment In Birth Timing, Joshua S. Gans, Andrew Leigh

Joshua S Gans

In an earlier paper (Gans and Leigh, 2006a), we analysed the effect of the introduction of the $3,000 “Baby Bonus” for children born on or after July 1, 2004. We demonstrated that parents behaved strategically in order to receive this benefit, with over 1000 births being “moved” so as to ensure that their parents were eligible for the Baby Bonus. On July 1, 2006, the payment was increased by $834. In this paper, we analyse births in 2006, and find that again, a large number of births were moved. We estimate that over 600 births were moved from June 2006 …

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