NETWORK STRUCTURE IN A LINK FORMATION GAME: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

In this article, we use an experiment to evaluate the performance of alternative refinements in a Myersonian link formation game with a supermodular payoff function. Our results show that a non‐cooperative refinement, the global games (GG) approach, outperforms alternative cooperative refinements (strong Nash equilibrium, coalition‐proof Nash equilibrium, and pairwise stable Nash equilibrium) in explaining the observed experimental behavior in the static game of complete information with three players. The results are robust to some comparative statics and the GG approach shows a high predictive power under incomplete information. However, under repeated interaction or with a greater number of players, the GG approach loses predictive power, but so do the cooperative refinements. The results illustrate the importance of coordination failure in practice and the need to design mechanisms to reduce this effect in practical decision‐making problems. (JEL C70, C92, D20, D44, D82)     

Production scheduling in SMT electronic boards assembly

This paper tackles the problem of scheduling in the assembly of SMT electronic boards. In particular, it focuses on a new scheduling method developed within the framework of an industry-university joint research project. The scheduling system aims at minimizing the makespan; this goal is achieved by reducing setup times and idle times of the machines. As an example, the outcome of a test carried out on a production mix made up of 10 board types is presented and analyzed in a summarized form.     

LOSS AVERSION AND MANAGERIAL DECISIONS: EVIDENCE FROM MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Previous research indicates that management changes are important events for organizations, partly because they lead to reversals of poor prior decisions. An unanswered question is why replacing the manager seems to be necessary for reversing poor decisions. One explanation is that managers have an irrational behavioral aversion to admitting mistakes (loss aversion). We test this hypothesis with a research design that mitigates many of the measurement problems associated with investment decisions in traditional corporate settings, and that allows us to distinguish agency cost from loss aversion as explanations. Using Major League Baseball data, we find that new managers, compared to continuing managers, are more likely to divest low‐performing players. Moreover, when the manager is new and the previous manager was responsible for acquiring a player who is underperforming, the likelihood of player divestiture is significantly higher relative to low performers acquired by earlier managers. Experience of the acquiring manager does not affect the likelihood that the manager retains a low performer, suggesting that it is loss aversion, and not career concerns, that motivates acquiring managers to retain low performers. The findings suggest that loss aversion plays a significant role in managerial decisions and managerial turnover. (JEL J6, L8, D8)     

New directions in formalization and historical analysis

Theory and Society -     

Détermination et dominance

La thèse marxiste de la détermination de l'économique est examinée sous deux angles: en tant qu'énonce d'une position philosophique de type matérialiste dans le domaine socio-culturel, et en tant qu'idée directrice théorique et méthodologique. Sous cet angle particulier, le texte se propose d'élucider la question de la forme de cette détermination d'abord, de sa définition ensuite. Le texte explore la signification et la portée d'une définition de la détermination de l'économique comme détermination de la forme dominante dans le processus d'appropriation du surproduit social. Une typologie de sociétés en découle qui traverse aussi le cadre conceptuel d'une bonne partie de la discipline sociologique. Le texte examine le fonctionnement d'une de ces typologies afin de repérer le point nodal où la théorie marxiste se sépare radicalement de ces constructions sociologiques.
In this paper we argue that the Marxist economic determination thesis is both a materialist philosophical statement of the socio-cultural field and a theoretical-methodological guiding principle. In developing this interpretation we examine the form and significance of the economic determination as determination of the dominant form in the process of appropriation of the social product. From this we derive a typology of societies that cuts across the conceptual framework of a large part of the sociological discipline. We then examine the functioning of one of these typologies in order to locate the radical point of departure of Marxist theory from such sociological constructions.     

EMPIRICAL UTILITY FUNCTIONS AND RANDOM DEVICES: AN EXPERIMENT

The primary purpose of the present experiment was to examine the effects on the empirical derivation of executive's utility functions caused by the use of random device analogues. The results indicate that utility functions obtained using a random device analogue imply more risk aversion than when these functions are determined by simulating actual decision situations. Furthermore, there is also evidence that the bias is directly related to the monetary amounts involved.     

A technique for uncertainty reduction based on order commonality

The use of commonality is widely diffused as a criterion to reduce uncertainty in demand forecasts for the master production schedule (MPS). Nevertheless, studies have mostly focused on exploiting component commonality in make to stock and assemble to order manufacturing. This paper refers to planning environments with two specific characteristics. First, the degree of certainty of the demand is extremely low, due to product complexity, with poor modularization and standardization, and to the presence of few customers of large dimensions. Second, the delivery lead time is less than the total lead time. In this situation, demand for MPS planning units is extremely uncertain and sporadic. It is therefore necessary to formulate in advance forecasts of customer orders with a redundant configuration. In this paper a technique for the reduction of demand uncertainty is introduced, based on the exploitation of order commonalities. In particular, relations between order commonality and uncertainty reduction in a planning environment with such complex features are illustrated. Then, guidelines for the implementation of the technique in order to reduce over-planning in the master production schedule are provided. Finally, the performances of the technique are empirically analysed by means of both a simulation model and experimental application in a telecommunication systems manufacturer     

Mobilization and counter-mobilization processes: From the “red years” (1919–20) to the “black years” (1921–22) in Italy

Theory and Society -     

A Sociologist Meets History Critical Reflections upon Practice

Abstract ‘Why be quantitative?’Harold D. Lasswell asked that question several decades ago. His answer was: to take advantage of the rigor and precision that comes with quantification. Since then, quantification has spread across social science disciplines, putting qualitative approaches on the defensive. This paper examines the practices of quantitative sociologists in their study of historical processes. Much ritualism is found in those practices; much rhetoric in quantification. Alas, Lasswell's good intentions seem to have gone lost in a ritual called ‘hypothesis testing.’The author reflects critically upon his own practices and on the forms of quantification and the strategies of explanations that he has adopted.