Normative Innovationen und die Distinktion sozialen Handelns

Where do new norms come from in the social world? The existing theories do not provide a satisfactory answer to this question. The economic research program explains how the norms contribute to the problem of collective action. However, this applies only to norm standards which are used instrumentally to satisfy predetermined interests, but not to standards, for which there are no preferences at the time they of their emergence. This essay will explain the emergence of norms not by cooperation, but by distinction of the competitive players. Rational actors are normatively innovative if the existing criteria do not discriminate between them in the satisfactory way.     

Multi-level Monte Carlo methods for the approximation of invariant measures of stochastic differential equations

We develop a framework that allows the use of the multi-level Monte Carlo (MLMC) methodology (Giles in Acta Numer. 24:259–328, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1017/S096249291500001X) to calculate expectations with respect to the invariant measure of an ergodic SDE. In that context, we study the (over-damped) Langevin equations with a strongly concave potential. We show that when appropriate contracting couplings for the numerical integrators are available, one can obtain a uniform-in-time estimate of the MLMC variance in contrast to the majority of the results in the MLMC literature. As a consequence, a root mean square error of $$\mathcal {O}(\varepsilon )$$ is achieved with $$\mathcal {O}(\varepsilon ^{-2})$$ complexity on par with Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods, which, however, can be computationally intensive when applied to large datasets. Finally, we present a multi-level version of the recently introduced stochastic gradient Langevin dynamics method (Welling and Teh, in: Proceedings of the 28th ICML, 2011) built for large datasets applications. We show that this is the first stochastic gradient MCMC method with complexity $$\mathcal {O}(\varepsilon ^{-2}|\log {\varepsilon }|^{3})$$, in contrast to the complexity $$\mathcal {O}(\varepsilon ^{-3})$$ of currently available methods. Numerical experiments confirm our theoretical findings.     

Logik der Situationsdefinition und Logik der Handlungsselektion

This article presents a conception of “definition of situation” in reference to the theory of action of Max Weber which is an alternative to Hartmut Essers’ “theory of frame-selection” (TdFS). The basicdeficiency of the theory of Esser exists in the absence of the value-reference of the cultural frames what can be observed especially in Essers formalisations of the value-rational action. But the objec-tion is related to the whole TdSF. In order to overcome the utilitarian shortcoming of this model I propose to differentiate between the logic of the situation and the logic of the selection of action. The definition of the situation does not follow the principle of utility-maximizing, but the principle of value-reasoning. Both levels of selection-process are related to each other. But each of these levels has a specific principle of the selection, which cannot be violated without a decrease of the rationality of action.     

Tools of innovative public procurement in health care in Poland

This paper sets out to map the issues of innovation in public procurement in Poland with specific reference to health care and presents case studies of Polish hospitals using an innovative approach to public procurement. It is based on the analysis of secondary data collected using Internet search engines, introductory research conducted in hospitals which have recently used innovative procurement tools (e.g. technical dialogue and competitive dialogue) and the experience of two Polish hospitals involved in projects aimed at increasing the efficiency of procurement through innovations, described in a case study form. Although innovative procurement in Poland is at an early stage of development, it is also a topic of growing interest to both public authorities and hospitals and some hospitals are adopting new procurement methods such technical and competitive dialogue. However, barriers to the adoption of new procurement approaches are evident and these delay this process of adoption. Barriers encountered include the conservative organizational culture of hospitals, lack of awareness and know-how and a lack of trust and understanding of new procurement approaches.     

State-dependent swap strategies and automatic reduction of number of temperatures in adaptive parallel tempering algorithm

In this paper we present extensions to the original adaptive Parallel Tempering algorithm. Two different approaches are presented. In the first one we introduce state-dependent strategies using current information to perform a swap step. It encompasses a wide family of potential moves including the standard one and Equi-Energy type move, without any loss in tractability. In the second one, we introduce online trimming of the number of temperatures. Numerical experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Bewertungsspiele. Von der Handlungs- zur Koordinationstheorie

Unsolved problems in the theory of action spread at the level of the coordination social activities. If action theories work with shortened “models of man” also the answers to questions about the possibility of social order, of hierarchie and of the cooperation on the market fall short of requirements. Goal attainment and social recognition are two widely disparate theoretical cornerstones on which hitherto separate theoretical buildings were raised. By contrast, a concept of the social game, which should be introduce here, connects the both moments: Games are goal-oriented interactions in which people recognize themselves mutually. The game player can recognize each other only in the sense that the game is normative regulated. The goal-orientation is thus normative broken. The social recognition is, however, relateled to and relativized by the game success. The theorem of the social game offers solutions to the problem of action coordination in the hierarchy and on the market.     

Modeling the welfare impacts of agricultural policies in developing countries

This paper presents a new model incorporating features of developing country agriculture likely to shape the welfare outcomes of alternative agricultural policies. The model features heterogeneous households linked through markets in a rural economy-wide structure, with endogenous market participation for farmers facing transactions costs. We use it to simulate the impacts on rural welfare of market price supports, production subsidies, input subsidies, and the removal of transaction costs. Applications to six countries demonstrate the diversity of potential impacts, exhibit some systemic differences compared with impacts in developed countries, and identify specific circumstances under which market interventions may be only slightly less efficient than direct payments at transferring incomes to rural households.