A characterization of the uniform rule with several commodities and agents

We consider a problem of allocating infinitely divisible commodities among a group of agents. More specifically, there are several commodities to be allocated and agents have continuous, strictly convex, and separable preferences. We establish that a rule satisfies strategy-proofness, unanimity, weak symmetry, and nonbossiness if and only if it is the uniform rule. This result extends to the class of continuous, strictly convex, and multidimensional single-peaked preferences.     

A characterization of the Walras rule

This paper has three purposes. First, we refine the characterization of the Walras rule proposed by Nagahisa (JET 1991) over a more natural and simple domain than the one he employed. We show that the Walras rule is the only social choice rule defined over the domain and satisfying Individual Rationality, Pareto Efficiency, and Local Independence. Second, assuming endowments to be collectively owned, we show that the Walras rule operated from equal division is the only social choice rule satisfying No Envy, Pareto Efficiency, and Local Independence. Third, we show that for every social choice rule satisfying Individual Rationality and Pareto Efficiency, Local Independence is equivalent to a condition of Nash implementation with a game form satisfying convexity.This article is a revised version of Toyama University Working Paper No. 141. We are grateful to Professors William Thomson, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomoichi Shinotsuka and two anonymous referees for their detailed comments. Nagahisa is grateful for hospitality of the economics department of the University of Rochester.     

Telephone therapy: An alternative to isolation

While a fair amount has been written on the use of the telephone for crisis intervention and management of medical and psychosocial problems, little has been written about the telephone as the primary modality for ongoing therapy. This paper presents the author's experience in providing weekly telephone therapy for two women for over one and one half years. Questions related to the meaning of the telephone therapy for each of the clients and the social worker are discussed. It is concluded that the creative use of the telephone may make supportive therapy possible for some clients who would not otherwise pursue therapy.     

An alternative proof of Gibbard's random dictatorship result

By using a line of reasoning similar to the one used by Gibbard (Gibbard A (1973) Econometrica 41: 587–601) in the deterministic framework, we provide a more transparent and intuitive proof of the following random dictatorship result in the probabilistic framework, which is a corollary credited to H.␣Sonnenschein of the more general result of Gibbard (Gibbard A (1977) Econometrica 45: 665–681): A decision scheme is Pareto optimific ex post and strategy proof if and only if it is a random dictatorship. Received: 13 February 1996 / Accepted: 14 April 1997     

Polynesian child rearing: An alternative model

Literature on child-rearing practices and family style in Polynesia is reviewed. The five following themes common to Polynesian cultures are identified: community responsibility for the care of children, multiple parenting, early indulgence, early independence, and caretaking by siblings and peers. The persistence of, and changes in, the behavior patterns which flow from these themes are then described. Finally, the implications for Western child-rearing practices of Polynesian child-rearing patterns are discussed.     

An extension of Bowen’s dynamic voting rule to many dimensions

 We ask in this paper about the effect on social decisions of limiting the size of changes that voters may propose each time in an otherwise standard dynamic social choice model. The voting rule we study can be seen as an extension of Bowen’s dynamic “majority voting” rule, and is closely related to the dynamic procedures for public good allocation in the literature (Drèze and de la Vallée Poussin 1971; Malinvaud 1971; Laffont and Maskin 1983; Chander 1993). Under general assumptions we prove existence and Pareto efficiency of equilibrium, and show that our rule motivates voters not to misrepresent preferences (more precisely, the rule is Strongly Locally Individually Incentive Compatible). Under Euclidean preferences we find that electoral cycles do not arise (i.e., the rule is convergent), that there is a unique equilibrium, and that the equilibrium coincides with the solution to an old problem of geometry, first addressed by Fermat, Torricelli, and Cavallieri. Received: 20 September 1994/Accepted: 6 August 1996     

Dyadic regression in the presence of heteroscedasticity—An assessment of alternative approaches

Although the problem of heteroscedasticity has been the subject of much discussion in other areas of applied statistics the problem has received scant attention in the social network literature. This study attempts to remedy this situation by considering how traditional methods for significance testing in dyadic regression models, such as standard QAP tests, perform under conditions of heteroscedasticity. Moreover, the article presents two alternative methods to deal with heteroscedasticity that are both shown to perform rather well with typical social network data under conditions of both heteroscedasticity and homoscedasticity. Overall, the results of the study suggest that applied researchers using regression techniques to study dyadic data are well advised to correct for heteroscedasticity, by either of the two methods discussed here, whenever there is a reason to suspect heteroscedasticity.     

Jealousy in sexual and emotional infidelity: An alternative to the evolutionary explanation

In an effort to make unequivocal the boundaries of infidelity, the present study used three infidelity scenarios (sexual infidelity, emotional infidelity, and the combination of sexual and emotional infidelity). Two other variables, gender of the participants and the extent to which they reported either few or several jealous tendencies, were included to generate a 3 × 2 × 2 independent groups design. Reactions of 317 undergraduate college students (165 women and 152 men) to the scenarios were assessed using both Smith and Ellsworth's (1985) six cognitive dimensions of emotion and a measure of emotional upset. A multivariate analysis of variance yielded significance for two of the main effects, the nature of the infidelity scenario and the gender of the participant. Univariate analyses indicated that women experienced more emotional distress over all of the conditions of infidelity, and, for women and men alike, conditions of infidelity involving a sexual component, whether alone or together with emotional infidelity, proved to be more upsetting than those involving only an emotional component.     

Core/periphery structure models: An alternative methodological proposal

The idea of a structure made up of a core and periphery is a common, classic paradigm in many fields of science. Following this line, in 1999, researchers Stephen Borgatti and Martin Everett developed a model of structural analysis based on the delimitation of a core formed by a group of densely connected actors, in contrast to a class of actors, more loosely connected and forming the periphery of the system.The original approach of these authors is modified, employing measures that, in our opinion, show a larger degree of coherence and accuracy in the proposed objectives.     

An axiomatic characterization of Borda's k-choice function

This paper presents an extension of Borda's choice function to k-choice function (the k-choice set may be understood as the set of equally best elites of k alternatives). Young's axiomatic conditions are then generalized to k-choice functions and a simple combinatorial proof is exposed for the axiomatic characterization of Borda's k-choice function.     

Measuring freedom of choice: An alternative view of a recent literature

A recent literature has emerged in social choice theory which attributes intrinsic importance to freedom in the evaluation of states of affairs. The literatures philosophical basis lies in Berlins notion of positive liberty. Accordingly, axiomatic measures of availability of choices are developed and the information they convey used for ranking states on the basis of the extent of liberty they offer to individuals. I am grateful to Nancy Cartwright, Dan Hausman and Marco Del Seta for their suggestions to previous drafts of this paper. The usual caveat applies. The support of the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science at the London School of Economics is also acknowledged.     

Farm business and the development of alternative farm enterprises: An empirical analysis in Greece

The objective of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework and an empirical evidence of farm business change in relation to the adoption and development of alternative farm enterprises (AFE). The present paper adopts a business typology and looks at the various paths of development. A range of factors condition which path of farm business development will be selected. Some factors relate to the farms' physical characteristics, its business and its human capital. A sample of 200 farmers in the prefecture of Etolia-Akarnania in Greece is analysed in order to identify the factors influencing the choice of farm business development. Three main paths of farm business development are identified in this lagging region of Greece. Conventional (mainstream) farming, alternative farm enterprise development and conventional farming with off-farm employment. Appropriate statistical modelling revealed that both economic and social factors exert an independent effect on the choice of farm business development. Proposals concerning the formulation of future rural policy in the lagging regions of Greece are drawn, based on the results derived from the analysis of the present sample.     

An alternative evaluation approach for the problem-solving training program: A utilization-focused evaluation process

A utilization-focused approach in evaluating this program would have placed more emphasis on clearly identifying evaluation users, their information needs, and likely use of findings. With the advantages of hindsight, it appears that such an approach might have led to greater focus on critical implementation issues that affected the eventual decision not to continue the program despite seemingly positive outcomes evaluation findings. Other methods options are also discussed, including the potential usefulness of critical case studies. Finally, there is discussion of how to prepare decision makers for utilization and work with them to interpret and apply findings.     

An alternative ethics for research: Levinas and the unheard voices and unseen faces

Abstract

Some social scientists have criticised the workings of research-ethics committees on the grounds that their biomedical model is ill-suited to some social-science research in both practical and philosophical terms. In this paper we review these criticisms and propose an alternative approach to pre-research ethical review that is based on the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas.     

Getting grey hairs in the labour market. An alternative experiment on age discrimination

This study presents a new field experimental approach for measuring age discrimination in hiring. In addition to the classical approach in which candidates’ ages are randomly assigned within pairs of fictitious résumés that are sent to real vacancies, we randomly assign between these pairs the activities undertaken by the older candidates during their additional post-educational years. When applying this design to the case of Belgium, we find that age discrimination depends fundamentally on the older candidates’ career patterns. Older age only robustly affects call-back if the older candidate was employed in an out-of-field job during his or her extra post-educational years.     

An exploration of the robustness of alternative laboratory methodologies: Matching funds and the provision of public goods

The voluntary provision of a pure public good is studied in the presence of an anonymous external donor. New data generated using experimental procedures employing both extra-credit and cash incentives, as well as asynchronous access to real-time decision rounds lasting several days, are compared to previous data generated using traditional cash-only, synchronous-access laboratory procedures. The effect on resource allocations to the public good of introducing external matching funds is examined in two different settings, lump-sum matching and one-to-one matching. The new data confirm the robustness of results previously reported in Baker et al. (2009) to the change in laboratory procedures and incentives. The new data are then used to extend the parameter space in which the two matching mechanisms are studied, including: varying within-round information regarding the current level of public-good allocations and varying group size from four to twenty group members. Allocations in lump-sum matching are no worse, and sometimes better, than one-to-one matching in these new treatments.     

Multilateral bargaining with subjective claims under majority vs. unanimity rule: An experiment

We experimentally investigate the effects of subjective claims in a multilateral bargaining game. Claims are induced by having subjects ‘produce’ the surplus to be divided by earning points in a quiz task. We use a Baron–Ferejohn framework. Our main treatment variable is the majority required to pass a proposal. Under unanimity rule, all proposals and agreements constitute convex combinations of the equal split and a division that is proportional to points earned in the productive task. Contrary to our predictions, this pattern largely persists under majority rule. In sharp contrast to prior experiments in which an exogenous surplus is divided using majority rule, few subjects attempt to build minimum winning coalitions in the presence of claims from production.     

An alternative football club in a liquid modernity: FC United of Manchester

Critical management studies have taken an interest in ‘utopian’ models of management, especially within alternative organizations. This article focuses on FC United of Manchester, a small football club with 5000 members, whose principles of inclusion, affordability, community, and friendship evoke ideas of utopianism and collectivism. About 30 fan-owned football clubs exist in the UK, each with their own raison d’être, but all discontented with the commodification of the game. Bauman’s concept of ‘liquid modernity’, in which individuals find self-realization through consumption, is used to analyse how FC United reacts to the individualization and commercialization of football. This analysis employs CMS concepts to evaluate whether FC United is a genuine alternative to standard business models, and gives an empirical and critical dimension to liquid modernity as a framework for understanding society.