Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Repeated Games With Present-Biased Preferences, Hector Chade, Pavlo Prokopovych, Lones Smith

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We study infinitely repeated games with observable actions, where players have present-biased (so-called beta-delta) preferences. We give a two-step procedure to characterize Strotz–Pollak equilibrium payoffs: compute the continuation payoff set using recursive techniques, and then use this set to characterize the equilibrium payoff set U(beta,delta). While Strotz–Pollak equilibrium and subgame perfection differ here, the generated paths and payoffs nonetheless coincide. We then explore the cost of the present-time bias. Fixing the total present value of 1 util flow, lower beta or higher delta shrinks the payoff set. Surprisingly, unless the minimax outcome is a Nash equilibrium of the stage game, …

Bandit Problems, Dirk Bergemann, Juuso Välimäki

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We survey the literature on multi-armed bandit models and their applications in economics. The multi-armed bandit problem is a statistical decision model of an agent trying to optimize his decisions while improving his information at the same time. This classic problem has received much attention in economics as it concisely models the trade-off between exploration (trying out each arm to find the best one) and exploitation (playing the arm believed to give the best payoff).

Optimal Estimation Of Cointegrated Systems With Irrelevant Instruments, Peter C.B. Phillips

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

It has been know since Phillips and Hansen (1990) that cointegrated systems can be consistently estimated using stochastic trend instruments that are independent of the system variables. A similar phenomenon occurs with deterministically trending instruments. The present work shows that such “irrelevant” deterministic trend instruments may be systematically used to produce asymptotically efficient estimates of a cointegrated system. The approach is convenient in practice, involves only linear instrumental variables estimation, and is a straightforward one step procedure with no loss of degrees of freedom in estimation. Simulations reveal that the procedure works well in practice, having little finite sample bias …

Understanding Overbidding In Second Price Auctions: An Experimental Study, David J. Cooper, Hanming Fang

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper presents results from a series of second price private value auction (SPA) experiments in which bidders are either given for free, or are allowed to purchase, noisy signals about their opponents’ value. Even though theoretically such information about opponents’ value has no strategic use in the SPA, it provides us with a convenient instrument to change bidders’ perception about the “strength” (i.e., the value) of their opponent. We argue that the empirical relationship between the incidence and magnitude of overbidding and bidders’ perception of the strength of their opponent provides the key to understand whether overbidding in second …

Caller Number Five: Timing Games That Morph From One Form To Another, Andreas Park, Lones Smith

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

There are two varieties of timing games in economics: In a war of attrition, more predecessors helps; in a pre-emption game, more predecessors hurts. In this paper, we introduce and explore a spanning class with rank-order payoffs that subsumes both as special cases. In this environment with unobserved actions and complete information, there are endogenously-timed phase transition moments. We identify equilibria with a rich enough structure to capture a wide array of economic and social timing phenomena — shifting between phases of smooth and explosive entry. We introduce a tractable general theory of this class of timing games based on …

Assortative Matching And Repubation, Axel Anderson, Lones Smith

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Consider Becker’s classic 1963 matching model, with unobserved fixed types and stochastic publicly observed output. If types are complementary, then matching is assortative in the known Bayesian posteriors (the ‘reputations’). We discover a robust failure of Becker’s result in the simplest dynamic two type version of this world. Assortative matching is generally neither efficient nor an equilibrium for high discount factors. In a labor theoretic rationale, we show that assortative matching fails around the highest (lowest) reputation agents for ‘low-skill (high-skill) concealing’ technologies. We then find that as the number of production outcomes grows, almost all technologies are of either …

What Acl Means To Me, Bob Triplett

The Christian Librarian

What can one say about an organization that has played such a vital role in promoting the professional development of Christian academic librarians? Ever since my first conference in 1984 at Houghton College in Houghton, New York, I have experienced a growing love and appreciation for this wonderful organization called the Association of Christian Librarians and for its many fine members.

Promoting Gender Equity Among Young Brazilian Men As An Hiv Prevention Strategy, Julie Pulerwitz, Gary Barker, Marcio Segundo, Marcos Nascimento

HIV and AIDS

There is growing evidence that social norms that promote unequal gender roles increase young men and women’s risk of HIV/STIs and partner violence. Thus, changing gender norms is increasingly recognized as an important strategy to prevent the spread of HIV infection. Few interventions to promote gender-equitable norms and behaviors among young men have been systematically implemented or evaluated, and little is known about how best to measure changes in gender norms and their effect on HIV/STI protective and risk behaviors. To address these gaps, the Horizons Program and Instituto Promundo examined the effectiveness of interventions designed to improve young men’s …

Understanding The Hiv/Sti Prevention Needs Of Men Who Have Sex With Men In Kenya, Washington Onyango-Ouma, Harriet Birungi, Scott Geibel

HIV and AIDS

Understanding the sexual behaviors of populations who are vulnerable to HIV is an important component in the battle against AIDS. Yet policymakers in developing countries, particularly in Africa, have often overlooked men who have sex with men (MSM) as a vulnerable group because of stigmatization of homosexual behavior and denial of the existence of MSM and the role they may play in HIV transmission. A growing body of literature not only documents the presence of this population in Africa but also the importance of reaching them with information and services to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In …

Participatory Watershed Management For Sustainable Rural Livelihoods In India, Budumuru Yoganand, Tesfa Gebremedhin

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

International development goals moved beyond increasing food production to include poverty reduction and protecting the environment in a sustainable way. Degradation of natural resources due to exploitation coupled with population pressure in developing countries causing food insecurity and environmental degradation further. Participatory watershed management approach is proposed to address this problem effectively.

Examining And Evaluating Aggregation Scale Effects On Interregional Commodity By Industry Trade Flow Estimates, Walter R. Schwarm, Randall Jackson

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

This study tests the implementation of interindustry transaction flows in a national system of economic regions derived from an interregional accounting framework and initial information on interregional shipments. The interregional flows connecting states are estimated using a method based on the Commodity Flow Survey data published by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, which adjusts the estimated interregional SAM to insure the integrity of intraregional and system-wide, national accounts. The resulting US interregional framework describes flows within and among the 51 regions We examine results of a series of trials testing the validity of the resulting interregional trade-flow data versus other …

Friends' Religiosity And First Sex, Amy Adamczyk, Jacob Felson

Publications and Research

Researchers have established that individual religiosity influences sexual behavior and that religious support can increase consistency between personal religiosity and behavior. Researchers are less certain, however, of the effect that religious friendship networks have on sexual behavior. In addition, the effects of network characteristics such as density and one’s position in a social network have not been established. This paper uses a network subsample of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine the effect of friends’ religiosity on the probability of first sex. We find that friends’ religiosity has an independent influence on adolescent sexual behavior …

Gambling For Certainty: Luck, Chance, And Uncertainty In Politics, Mindy Peden, Nicole M. Elias

Publications and Research

How much of what we do is the result of our will, and how much the result of chance or luck or fortune? This is a decidedly un-decidable question, but one that needs to be asked. The general assumption seems to be that a person's "lot" in life is physically, morally, politically, even romantically linked to choice. But the use of the term "lot" betrays the underlying uncertainty of what "causes" our "lot", laying bare questions of responsibility, burden, and even explanation. Much (perhaps at the very least 50% according to Machiavelli) of what happens in our lives can be …

Housing Affordability: One-Third Of A Nation Shelter-Poor, Michael E. Stone

Community Studies Faculty Publication Series

The chapter examines the housing affordability problem in the U.S. through the lens of the shelter poverty concept. "Shelter poverty" challenges the conventional view that a household can reasonably afford up to a certain percent of income -- currently thirty percent -- for housing without hardship. It offers instead a sliding scale that takes into account differences in household composition and income in determining how much reasonably can be afforded for housing without compromising non-shelter necessities. Following a discussion of conceptual and methodological issues around housing affordability, the chapter summarizes the contours of housing affordability in the U.S. at the …

Social Ownership, Michael E. Stone

Community Studies Faculty Publication Series

The chapter begins with an overview of the social dimensions of all housing. This is followed by a definition of the more particular concept of social ownership and explanation of how the housing tenure available to residents of socially owned housing differs from both conventional renting and conventional homeownership. The bulk of the chapter then examines the nature and scope of existing models of social ownership, grouped into two major categories: socially owned rental housing, consisting of public housing, nonprofit rental housing, and mutual housing associations; and nonspeculative homeownership, consisting of limited-equity cooperatives, ownership with community land trusts, and some …

Frontmatter (The Christian Librarian 49:1)

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Cut-And-Paste Plagiarism: Teaching Student Researchers Boundaries, Tami Echavarria Robinson

The Christian Librarian

Librarians affiliated with educational institutions, as members of an academic community, participate in teaching students and future scholars how they share in the responsibility of upholding ethical standards of scholarship and values of academic honesty. Academic honesty, in its variant forms,was part of issues in education long before the introduction of computers. Two forms, plagiarism and copyright infringement, were chronic problems in the print realm and present additional dimensions in today’s electronic environment. The causes of copyright infringement and plagiarism are extensive and complex. Divergent positions are represented in the literature on how to deal with these issues. They are …

From Achievements To New Possibilities, Clyde R. Root

The Christian Librarian

It’s the year of Jubilation.The ACL has been in existence for fifty years now. The first meeting of the Christian Librarians’ Fellowship was held at Columbia Bible College (now Columbia International University) in 1956. There were only five librarians in attendance.The organization has come a long way from its humble beginnings to its present permanent headquarters in Cedarville, Ohio. I wrote an article on the 25th anniversary back in 1982. It is time to reflect on ACL’s past successes and achievements since 1982 and look to what possibilities the future holds.

What Acl Means To Me, Alan Cappella

The Christian Librarian

I joined the Association of Christian Librarians (ACL) in 1997, at a time when I was seeking God’s will for my future in library work.The previous year, I had been unexpectedly let go after eight years in a Bible college library position due to downsizing, and my heart was still in academic library work.

I found ACL to be far more than a facilitator for library job searching. This association is foremost a Christian one, and provided something far better than networking just to advance oneself. Attending my first ACL conference in 1997, I was greatly encouraged by a group …

The Impact Of The Christian Faith On Library Service, Stanford Terhune

The Christian Librarian

The library profession is in flux and uncertainty due to its lack of a well-founded philosophy of service. The Christian faith provides the necessary philosophical framework. Three implications follow from the application of a Christian worldview to library practice. First, Christian librarians should provide access to collections that will allow students to integrate faith and learning. Second, they should demonstrate love and concern for library users by offering diligent, humble service.Third, they should teach students the ethical use of information resources. Christianity has an impact on “library service” in three areas. First, the word library presumes a collection of library …

What Acl Means To Me, Edythe Feazel

The Christian Librarian

The first time I ever heard of the Association of Christian Librarians was in 1983.After just completing my MLS, I took a position as Reference Librarian at Olivet Nazarene College.A group of us drove up for the day for the Wheaton conference. I heard a speaker that day – I have forgotten most of the details – but she said that women were “the crown of creation.” I had been laboring under the impression that women were second-class since Eve sinned and brought the curse on mankind.This speaker told of God’s progressive creation. I’ve felt better ever since! After all, …

A Landscape Approach To Bighorn Sheep Rock Art In The Dolores River Valley, Amanda M. Davey

Nebraska Anthropologist

This paper attempts to analyze the location of bighorn sheep rock art in the Dolores River Valley in relation to projected areas of bighorn sheep habitat. A landscape approach is applied in order to gain a better understanding of the reasons behind the placement of bighorn rock art presently found on the current landscape. Twenty six rock art sites recorded by Gay Ives in the Dolores River Valley of Southwestern Colorado will be analyzed in the current study. Eleven bighorn sheep elements were identified by Ives at four separate rock art sites. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is employed to conduct …

Frontier Impressions: The Role Of Daub At The Beaver Creek Trail Crossing Site, Brennan J. Dolan

Nebraska Anthropologist

In the summer of 2005 the University of Nebraska-Lincoln archaeological field school excavated at the Beaver Creek Trail Crossing Site (25SW49). Early on the excavations at this historic site began to reveal a high amount of material salvaging by site occupants. This paper takes a systematic look at daub as an investigative substance. This piece discusses what archaeologists can learn by examining daub similarly to the analyses of more traditional archaeological materials (e.g. lithics). Additionally, this manuscript addresses frontier building practices with specific consideration to salvaging activity.

Changes In Post-Marital Residence Rules In An Era Of National Reform: The Urban To Rural Disjunction In Contemporary China, Michaela S. Clemens

Nebraska Anthropologist

Alternatives to the traditional practice of patrilocal postmarital residence exist in modern day China and vary from urban to rural areas. Social and economic reforms that were instituted in postMao China had an influence on post-marital residence rules. These reforms include marriage laws, reproduction restrictions, the return to family farms, and greater access to employment. Government reforms had different impacts on urban and rural families, creating different family structures and compositions. Family customs, like post-marital residence, also diverged along rural and urban lines. In rural areas, patrilocality persists, but matrilocal marriage arrangements are increasing. In urban areas, a strong preference …

There Is No Alternative To Tribalism, Denny Gayton

Nebraska Anthropologist

Tribal traditions and the western scientific tradition are not investigated for congruency or correspondences. The tribal order of the universe concerns itself with wholeness while the western order, in comparison, is fragmented The tribal order is introduced first through correspondences alluding to physics. The feature that both the tribal order and the western order, through modern physics, will speak to is reductionistic-externalistic mechanism The relativity and quantum theories illustrate inadequacy with mechanism; a feature central to the tribal Lakota order, wakan, is used to bring both theories together through its internal, qualitative nature. The tribal order clearly has no issues …

An Understanding Of The Relationship Between Maquiladoras And Women's Rights In Central America, Mara D. Giles

Nebraska Anthropologist

The impacts of globalization, deregulation, and free trade on Central American women, whether married or single, are numerous. On either side of the political borders, individual lives and cultures are impacted, often with dire results. Because of traditional gendered roles in these cultures, women's entrance into the formal economic sector has been slow and difficult. Maquiladoras created by globalization provide jobs for poor and undereducated women with few other options of employment. Because of the natures of the global economic system and issues of gender, the positions of these women of poverty are easily exploited. Though the consequences can be …

Lakota Struggles For Cultural Survival: History, Health, And Reservation Life, Benjamin Jewell

Nebraska Anthropologist

The effects of alcohol use on Pine Ridge are epidemic and have had a devastating impact on the current status of the residents. The historic effect of u.s. colonial relations with the Lakota has engendered a system of dependency, making the transition from an independent trading economy to capitalism difficult. This paper is an attempt to investigate the current life of Pine Ridge residents and relate how the past has shaped the present through a successful attempt by the u.s. to bring an end to the life-ways of the Lakota. This analysis will include a detailed statement of the economic …

You Can Take It With You: Archaeology At The Beaver Creek Trail Crossing, Nolan Johnson

Nebraska Anthropologist

The Beaver Creek Trail Crossing Site was a fording location along the Nebraska City Cut-Off of the Oregon and California Trail, occupied from 1862 through 1871. The site was situated on both creek banks and contained a road ranch. saloon, store, and post office. Geophysical data showed anomalies corresponding to irregularities in the ground surface. While excavation units placed at these locations revealed few remnants of in situ foundations, generalized scatters of mortar, nails, and chinking or filler stones were recorded. Given the lack of timber or stone near the site, this pattern suggests most of building materials were salvaged. …

Concept-Demand Theory And The Evolution Of Human Language, Rory M. Larson

Nebraska Anthropologist

A model of language and its evolution is proposed, based on the theory of concept and demand as essential features of human language. A continuous and plausible series of evolutionary stages from the origins of communication to modern human languages is suggested. It is argued that the differentiation of concept from demand is the crucial step which bridges the gap between animal communication systems and human language.

Homosexuals In The Periphery: Gay And Lesbian Rights In Developing Africa, Brett Kennedy

Nebraska Anthropologist

Slowly but surely American and Western European culture is being eased into an approximate acceptance of homosexuality and other non-heterosexual orientations. Great leaps have been taken in the past four decades to improve the quality of life for non-heterosexuals in almost all parts of the developed world However, in those countries which lie on the outside of this small core group of economic power, the issue of gay rights is often not even considered In this analysis, I will be looking at the attitudes and treatment of homosexuals in developing Africa. Primarily, the focus will rest on South Africa and …