Scoring rules for judgment aggregation

This paper introduces a new class of judgment aggregation rules, to be called ‘scoring rules’ after their famous counterparts in preference aggregation theory. A scoring rule generates the collective judgment set which reaches the highest total ‘score’ across the individuals, subject to the judgment set having to be rational. Depending on how we define ‘scores’, we obtain several (old and new) solutions to the judgment aggregation problem, such as distance-based aggregation, premise- and conclusion-based aggregation, truth-tracking rules, and a generalization of the Borda rule to judgment aggregation theory. Scoring rules are shown to generalize the classical scoring rules of preference aggregation theory.     

Die Unsichtbare Hand greift nach den Universitäten

The paper deals with the current efforts of the Austrian government to remodel the university sector. The Rectors’ Conference meddled in the discussion process and asked some experts to evaluate the outline which has been drawn up by the ministerial bureaucracy. Result is the voluminous report “Universitäten im Wettbewerb”. The report stands up for a radical change in the sense of neo-liberalism and centres the question how to make universities more efficient. Its suggestions refer to all aspects of universities: their funding and organisation, employment contracts of scientific staff, regulation of studies and access to university. The ideas presented in the report radicalize the outline the government developed. The analysis shows that a break with the targets of educational and research policy in the past is intended. Efficiency of universities and the interests of the economic sector are moved in the focus of policy at the expense of free access to universities, participation of lecturers and students, academic freedom and independent scientific work, diversity of research, generous furthering of junior staff.     

Child Mortality and Environment in Developing Countries

This paper studies child mortality and fertility in 61 developing countries including the Central Asian Republics (CARs). To control for simultaneity, an estimated value of fertility was used in the mortality equation and a final specification included only exogenous socio-economic, health and environmental variables. We confirm the importance of female literacy in explaining both fertility and mortality, and also find a measure of consumption for the poorest share of the population to be significant, while controlling for nutrition, health expenditure, and income distribution. Incidence of tuberculosis and female agricultural population proxy for environmental impacts, but in spite of these controls, approximately 41% additional mortality was estimated due to living in the CARs. The results fill gaps in the literature: we use a wider range of socio-economic and environmental health variables than previously in an encompassing analysis of mortality and fertility, and find evidence of excessive mortality in the CARs most likely linked to environmental degradation in the region.

Adoption and feasibility of a communication app to enhance social connectedness amongst frail institutionalized oldest old: an embedded case study

The risks of social isolation and loneliness are becoming emergent issues for older adults (aged 65+) in industrialized countries, particularly for oldest old people (80+) who are frail and institutionalized. Socially isolated and lonely older people are more likely to experience depression, social disengagement, cognitive and physical decline, morbidity, and early mortality. In response to these significant negative health and socioeconomic costs, research suggests using new technologies to enhance opportunities for social connectedness as a strategy to help alleviate both social isolation and loneliness. In this context, following a participatory design method, we developed an accessible communication app with and for frail institutionalized older adults. To test the adoption of this innovative technology and its feasibility to address social isolation and loneliness, we conducted a two-month deployment of the app in a long-term care home with five oldest old and their relatives. Due to access, recruitment, and ethical challenges, the oldest old are a specially understudied group. Using an embedded case study (based on interviews, psychometric scales, field observations, and usability and accessibility testing) and a recursive approach to technology studies, our findings show that technology adoption is based on a complex set of interrelated factors: social, attitudinal, physical, digital literacy, and usability. We also discuss the feasibility of the app to enhance perceived social connectedness amongst our target population, provided that at least one strong tie is involved and communication norms and expectations across generations are considered.     

Retracted: The Development of Willingness to Sacrifice and Unmitigated Communion in Intimate Partnerships

The above article, published online on December 27, 2017 in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ) has been retracted by agreement between the author, journal Editor in Chief Kristi Williams and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The retraction has been agreed due to discovery of a coding error by the author. The labeling for the willingness to sacrifice and unmitigated communion items was mistakenly reversed during the construction of the longitudinal dataset. The authors notified the editor immediately upon discovering the error. Although the central conclusions of the research are unchanged, a fully corrected version of the paper is forthcoming.     

More than just shopping: Ethnic majority consumers and cosmopolitanism in immigrant grocery shops

This paper explores ethnic majority consumption practices in immigrant economies. Drawing on recent debates on cosmopolitanism, we focus on the question of how the use of immigrant shops by members of the ethnic majority is intertwined with the erosion and/or the (re)production of symbolic boundaries. We conducted 31 in-depth interviews and 15 go-alongs with consumers in immigrant grocery shops in Vienna. Our findings show how consumption is based upon and shaped by the various ways consumers attribute meaning to the shops, the products on offer as well as their shopping experiences. We identified five different types of consumption: consuming nostalgia, consuming patronage, consuming change, consuming alterity and consuming diversity. However, we only consider the latter two as cosmopolitan consumption in a narrower sense. We show that within these types, the expression of openness towards ‘the other’ constitutes a form of cultural capital displayed by members of the privileged classes. The article argues in favour of a more comprehensive understanding of consumption practices in immigrant economies. This encompasses that not every act of shopping in immigrant businesses is cosmopolitan and that research is called to consider that the various types of consumption effect boundaries along ethnicity and class in manifold ways.