Axiomatic foundations for fairness-motivated preferences

Much work in social choice theory takes individual preferences as uninvestigated inputs into aggregation functions designed to reflect considerations of fairness. Advances in experimental and behavioural economics show that fairness can also be an important motivation in the preferences of individuals themselves. A proper characterisation of how fairness concerns enter such preferences can enrich the informational basis of many social choice exercises. This paper proposes axiomatic foundations for individual fairness-motivated preferences that cover most of the models developed to rationalise observed behaviour in experiments. These models fall into two classes: Outcome-based models, which see preferences as defined only over distributive outcomes, and context-dependent models, which allow rankings over distributive outcomes to change systematically with non-outcome factors. I accommodate outcome-based and context-sensitive fairness concerns by modelling fairness-motivated preferences as a reference-dependent preference structure. I first present a set of axioms and two theorems that generate commonly used outcome-based models as special cases. I then generalise the axiomatic basis to allow for reference-dependence, and derive a simple functional form in which the weight on each person’s payoff depends on a reference vector of how much each person deserves.     

Child care outcomes: economic perspectives and issues

Economics starts with the observation of widespread scarcity and the consequent need for choices about resource allocation. Common criteria for such choices are economy, effectiveness, efficiency and equity. This paper defines these criteria and locates them within a conceptual framework (the ‘production of welfare’). It also examines some of the reasons for the growth in interest in them. The main modes of evaluation—cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness, cost-utility and cost-consequences analyses—are described and illustrated. Few such evaluations have been conducted in child care, and the paper ends with speculation as to why this is so.     

Land-Grant University-Industry Relationships in Biotechnology: A Comparison with the Non-Land-Grant Research Universities1

Abstract The results of a 1986 survey of 185 biotechnology faculty in the land-grant colleges of agriculture are presented. Comparisons are made to a previous survey of biotechnology faculty in nonagricultural research universities. The survey investigates issues raised by industrial involvement in university biotechnology research and the impact of the new biosciences on the agricultural colleges. It was found that college of agriculture biotechnologists have more recently received their highest degrees, show more industrial involvement, and are more positive about the possible benefits of that involvement than their nonagricultural university counterparts. Industrial funding proved to be a significant exogenous variable affecting the activities and attitudes of agricultural college biotechnology faculty. Those with higher levels of industrial funding appear to have lower university productivity.     

Inference in hybrid Bayesian networks using dynamic discretization

We consider approximate inference in hybrid Bayesian Networks (BNs) and present a new iterative algorithm that efficiently combines dynamic discretization with robust propagation algorithms on junction trees. Our approach offers a significant extension to Bayesian Network theory and practice by offering a flexible way of modeling continuous nodes in BNs conditioned on complex configurations of evidence and intermixed with discrete nodes as both parents and children of continuous nodes. Our algorithm is implemented in a commercial Bayesian Network software package, AgenaRisk, which allows model construction and testing to be carried out easily. The results from the empirical trials clearly show how our software can deal effectively with different type of hybrid models containing elements of expert judgment as well as statistical inference. In particular, we show how the rapid convergence of the algorithm towards zones of high probability density, make robust inference analysis possible even in situations where, due to the lack of information in both prior and data, robust sampling becomes unfeasible.     

The market for construction wood in Mopti, Mali

This paper investigates the supply networks, the structure and operation of the markets and the increasing scarcity of good quality construction poles and hewn construction timber in Mopti, Mali. Using a variety of rapid appraisal methods the research identified separate groups of agents performing retailing, transporting and wood cutting functions within the supply network. A survey of the retail sector of the open or organised wood market in Mopti found the market to involve lower than expected volumes of timber and higher than expected mark-up variability across retailers and products. It was found that some users of construction wood do not buy their wood in the open market. The paper discusses one alternative method of obtaining wood involving the formation of a rural–urban solidarity network in which wood is ‘traded’ for various forms of help and assistance. The paper concludes that the re-empowerment of local communities so that they can manage and benefit from natural resources under their jurisdiction is probably a necessary condition for sustainable improvements in the supply of construction wood to Mopti. However, additional measures may be needed to replenish the stock of trees and human and institutional capital in the wood supply areas.     

Transitional appreciation of equilibrium exchange rates and the ERM II

A suitable parity for exchange rate fixing can be derived from an analysis of the equilibrium exchange rate. As the equilibrium exchange rates of the new EU 5 countries, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, and the Slovak Republic, tend to exhibit appreciation trends, credibility of the potential commitment to fixed exchange rate parity with respect to the euro can be undermined. In order to investigate this issue, we estimate a behavioral model of real exchange rates for EU 5 countries and derive the respective equilibrium real exchange rates. Using the linear-quadratic filter we estimate permanent equilibrium exchange rates and their stationary points. We find that as of 2004 fixing of the national currencies to the euro should not be undermined by further significant trend appreciation in the equilibrium exchange rates of the EU 5 countries, in aggregate.