The Value of Safety as Revealed in the Swedish Car Market: An Application of the Hedonic Pricing Approach

In this article the hedonic regression technique is used to estimate the value of traffic safety, using information from the Swedish market for automobiles. The results from the study show that the market price of an automobile is negatively correlated with its inherent risk level, i.e. Swedish car consumers pay a safety premium for safer cars. In comparison to previous Swedish stated-preference studies, this study reveals a lower willingness to pay for additional car safety, which might be a result of the interaction between government interventions and individual self-insurance and self-protection.JEL Classification: C51, D61, J28     

The mutual determination of wants and benefits

The degree to which I want something often affects the amount of pleasure or other benefit it will bring me if I get it. This, in turn, should affect the degree to which I want it. In theJournal of Philosophy,89 (1992) 10–29, Anna Kusser and Wolfgang Spohn argue that decision theory cannot cope with this mutual determination of wants and benefits. This paper argues, to the contrary, that decision theory can cope with it easily.     

文化与效用极大化的方向——20世纪30年代一个内地村庄的生活方式及其经济学意义

人类效用极大化的方向至少有两个:一个方向是欲望满足的最大化,对应于西方文化里的生活态度与人生目标;另一个方向是身心痛苦的最小化,对应于中国传统文化里的生活态度与人生目标.在费孝通早年研究的云南禄村,小地主们过着一种整天闲混的生活,他们依靠雇工种田,自己尽可能不工作.这是一条追求身心痛苦最小化的人生道路,与资本主义精神格格不入.因此,解释人类行为及社会现象的经济学理论,需要与当事人的生活态度及文化传统相契合,故具有本土特征.     

非英语专业大学生感知学习风格研究

文章通过问卷调查,运用定量分析的方法研究了非英语专业本科生英语学习的感知风格的总体趋势以及文科生与理工科生的风格差异,通过实验的方法了解网络教学与传统教学背景下的学习风格的差异,旨在发现教学手段对学习风格的影响程度,并且对目前的大学英语教学改革提出了建设性的意见。     

Ratio-Scale Measurement with Intransitivity or Incompleteness: The Homogeneous Case

In the homogeneous case of one-dimensional objects, we show that any relation that is positive and homothetic can be represented by a ratio-scale and a unique and constant biasing factor. This factor may favor or disfavor the preference for an object over another. In the first case, preferences are complete but not transitive and an object may be preferred even when its value is lower. In the second case, preferences are asymmetric and transitive but not negatively transitive and it may not be sufficient for an object to have a greater value to be preferred. In this manner, the biasing factor reflects the extent to which preferences may depart from a maximization process.     

Ordinal preference representations

Ordinal preferences have several advantages over the traditional cardinal expressions of preference. Three different representations of ordinal preferences useful in multi-participant modelling are presented, and their features compared. One approach is thepayoff representation that is based on an ordinal normal form game. A second representation of ordinal preferences is thepreference vector, based on the option form of the game. The option form consists of a list of players, with each player followed by the options under its control. The third representation of ordinal preferences is thepreference tree. A preference tree is an implied binary tree that captures the information of preference vector in a more compact manner by making use of its lexicographic structure. The preference tree offers considerable compactness and computational efficiency over the other two approaches.     

On the nonexistence of Blackwell's theorem-type results with general preference relations

A well-known theorem of Blackwell states that, when quantity of information is properly defined, every expected utility decision maker prefers more information to less; for more general preferences, however, the theorem is no longer true. In this article, we investigate the extent to which Blackwell's Theorem does not hold and describe conditions, and situations, under which information is still valuable. We also show that, for many types of additions of information, there exists a decision maker who will reject this information.We thank Niv Ahituv, Larry Epstein, Uzi Segal, and an anonymous referee for their helpful comments. This article was partially financed by the Israel Institute of Business Research.     

女性择偶偏好的周期转换效应：三种解释视角

进化心理学的研究显示,女性更喜欢那些拥有男性化面孔及特定体味、身体对称、外表健康的男性,并且这种偏好会随着女性的月经周期而发生转变。在排卵期表现出明显的男性化偏好,而在其他时段偏好不明显,该效应被称为＂周期转换效应＂。通过梳理三种主流的解释视角,即基因选择假设、激素刺激假设和排卵引起知觉偏差的假设,结合＂周期转换效应＂遇到的挑战,从而指出未来的研究方向。     

Shorter hours wanted? A systematic review of working-time preferences and outcomes

Changes in working time have important economic, social and environmental implications. However, research on workers' preferences is highly fragmented across disciplines and journals. To overcome this, the present article provides a systematic review of the literature, analysing 173 studies. The study shows that working-time outcomes and mismatches are mostly studied in a small group of OECD countries, using survey data and statistical methods. The most clear and consistent results are about gender, care responsibilities and current working hours. Among professions, only the medical workforce receives substantial attention. Norms and preference formation are poorly understood, and more qualitative research is essential to understand how working-time reductions could spread.     

Giving birth after caesarean: Identifying shared preferences among pregnant women using Q methodology

BackgroundCaesarean rates are rising worldwide, the main contributor being the elective repeat caesarean. During the past decades, rates of vaginal birth after caesarean dropped considerably. This requires insight in women’s preferences regarding giving birth following a previous caesarean.AimTo gain a better understanding of women’s values and preferences regarding the upcoming birth following a previous caesarean. Using Q methodology, this study systematically explores and categorises their preferences.MethodsQ methodology is an innovative research approach to explore and compare a variety of viewpoints on a certain subject. Thirty-one statements on birth after caesarean were developed based on the health belief model. Thirty-six purposively sampled pregnant women with a history of caesarean ranked these statements from least to most important. By-person factor analysis was used to identify patterns which, supplemented with interview data, were interpreted as preferences.FindingsThree distinct preferences for giving birth after a caesarean were found; (a) “Minimise the risks for me and my child”, giving priority to professional advice and risk of adverse events, (b) “Seek the benefits of normal birth”, desiring to give birth as normal as possible for both emotional and practical reasons, (c) “Opt for repeat caesarean”, expressing the belief that a planned caesarean brings comfort.ConclusionsPreferences for birth after caesarean vary considerably among pregnant women. The findings help to understand the different types of information valued by women who need to decide on their mode of birth after a first caesarean.