Representing roommates’ preferences with symmetric utilities

In the context of the stable roommates problem, it is shown that acyclicity of preferences is equivalent to the existence of symmetric utility functions, i.e. the utility of agent i when matched with j is the same as j's utility when matched with i.     

Capabilities and utilities

This paper deals with the problem of looking for resource allocation mechanisms which would be accepted as just in Sen's capabilities framework. We start by suggesting a way of simplifying Sen's idea of capability by using acapability index which measures the ability of a person to function. Then we look for mechanisms providing allocations which could be deemedjust, in pure distribution problems. An allocation will be called just when its corresponding capabilities are leximin suprema. We provide a characterization result of this mechanism in a framework which mimics Roemer's bargaining in economic environments, in which the role of utility functions is now played by capability indices. When a positive relationship between capability indices and utilities exist, just allocations are optimal in utility terms.     

Gated Communities in Santiago: Wall or Frontier?

It is a widely held notion, disseminated in particular by the LA school of urban studies, that gated communities are enclaves, which not only maintain segregation but also help increase it. In Chile a more benevolent interpretation has arisen. Sabatini, C´ceres and Cerda argue that gated communities help out the poor communities that surround them. If the spatial scale of segregation is reduced — from city to local or neighborhood level — social disintegration should slow, according to their analysis. This article seeks to empirically complement and expand on Sabatini, Caceres and Cerda's position, which seems to be a better interpretation of Chilean reality than the grim picture presented by the LA school. The article is an ethnographic work based on in‐depth interviews in gated communities and a surrounding shantytown in the Huechuraba district, a lower socio‐economic class area in north‐west Santiago. The research concludes that, despite the existence of a wall that promotes community integration among so‐called equals, in conditions of spatial proximity sociability between inside and outside groups is not diminished. Thus, in Huechuraba there is no impenetrable wall separating poor and rich; equally, the walls do not seem to promote community integration within. Spatial proximity has encouraged relations mainly in the realm of functional exchange, making the creation of gated communities in poor neighborhoods a socially desirable experience, at least in the case of Santiago. En études urbaines, l'idée que les communautés privées sécurisées, gated communities, soient des enclaves qui entretiennent, et accentuent, la ségrégation est courante, notamment pour l'école de Los Angeles. Le Chili suscite une interprétation plus humaine. Selon Sabatini, Cáceres et Cerda, les communautés privées sécurisées sont un soutien pour les communautés pauvres avoisinantes. Si l'échelle spatiale de la ségrégation est réduite — de la ville au niveau local ou de quartier — la désintégration sociale devrait, d'après eux, ralentir. L'article vise à compléter et développer de façon empirique leur théorie, celle‐ci semblant traduire la réalité chilienne plus fidèlement que le sombre tableau de l'école de Los Angeles. Il s'agit ici d'un travail ethnographique qui s'appuie sur des entretiens poussés dans des communautés privées sécurisées et un bidonville du secteur de Huechuraba, zone socio‐économiquement pauvre du nord‐est de Santiago. Les recherches concluent que, malgré l'existence d'un mur qui favorise l'intégration communautaire entre soi‐disant égaux, la sociabilité entre les groupes intérieur et extérieur ne diminue pas en cas de proximité spatiale. Ainsi, à Huechuraba, il n'existe aucun mur impénétrable entre riches et pauvres; de même, les murs ne créent pas, semble‐t‐il, d'intégration communautaire dans leur enceinte. La proximité spatiale a encouragé les relations surtout dans le domaine des échanges fonctionnels, faisant de la création de communautés privées sécurisées dans les quartiers pauvres une expérience souhaitable au plan social, du moins dans le cas de Santiago.     

Human resource function strategic role and trade unions: exploring their impact on human resource management practices in Uruguayan firms

Organizations worldwide are confronted with different contextual constraints. Jackson and Schuler [1995, ‘Understanding Human Resource Management in the Context of Organizations and their Environments,' Annual Review of Psychology, 46, 237–264], in their classical review, highlight the importance of the impact of the internal and external organizational context on human resource management (HRM) practices. This paper uses data collected through a survey of firms located in Uruguay, in a context where HR function and trade unions have gone through significant changes, to determine their impact on the adoption of different HRM practices. The authors find that organizations with an HR function strategically involved and with higher degree of union presence have more person-centred HRM practices, while performance-centred HRM practices were positively influenced by HR function strategic role. However, the findings do not support the moderating role of trade union presence on the relationship between the HR function strategic role and HRM practices.     

State ownership and internationalization: The advantage and disadvantage of stateness

We critically review the literature on state-owned multinationals to clarify previous arguments and guide future studies. The content analysis of prior research reveals that state-owned firms differ from private firms in their internationalization: they are motivated by national strategic objectives, select more challenging countries, and use acquisitions more intensively despite adverse market reactions. The analysis also reveals conflicting predictions on the level of internationalization; some studies find that state-owned multinationals internationalize more while others find the contrary. We introduce one solution to these conflicts by classifying theories into two camps based on the balance between the costs and benefits of state ownership. One camp suggests a disadvantage of stateness (agency theory, resource dependence theory, and neo-institutional theory). Another camp promotes an advantage of stateness (economic development, resource-based view, and institutional economics). We conclude by outlining three promising relationships in the study of these firms: (1) relationships internal to state-owned multinationals and the balancing of stakeholder demands; (2)relationships between state-owned multinationals and government and the influence of the political system; and (3) relationships between home and host country governments and the impact of their dynamics on state-owned multinationals.     

Smartphone addiction: psychosocial correlates,risky attitudes,and smartphone harm

Smartphone use has brought convenience to users, although its excessive use and addiction might also have negative consequences. Using a representative sample of 526 smartphone users in Spain, the present study analyzes smartphone extensive use and addiction as well as its relationship to smartphone harm. Self-reported and scanned data were obtained from users and their smartphones. Multivariate linear regression analyses showed that higher levels of smartphone extensive use were found for female respondents, those high on general propensity to risk, neuroticism, and low on conscientiousness, openness, or social support. Multivariate binary logistic results showed that general propensity to risk and low social support were predictive of smartphone addiction. The combination of high smartphone extensive use and low social support was positively and significantly related to the existence of smartphone harm as well as higher levels of risk attitudes toward smartphone use. These results might indicate that when low social support is coupled with an extensive smartphone use, respondents not only show a more positive attitude toward risky behaviors while using their smartphone but, also, a greater level of harm is found in their terminals.     

The impacts of trade and self‐sufficiency policies on heterogeneous rice farms in Malaysia

This paper develops a farm household model of heterogeneous Malaysian rice farmers. The model determines the domestic price of milled rice in equilibrium. The model is simulated to analyze the effects of free trade, self‐sufficiency achieved through trade policy, and the impact of free trade and self‐sufficiency when rice productivity expands. The ex ante results for free trade predict that total rice supply rises as the increase in imports offsets the decrease in domestic production, causing the domestic price of milled rice to fall by 15.8 percent. While this price decrease generates negative income effects for rice farmers, it leads to an expansion of consumption of milled rice by both the farm and urban populations. The results for self‐sufficiency through heightened tariffs predict that production for domestic rice farmers increases. However, with fewer imports, total rice supply falls, causing the domestic price of rice to increase by 41.5 percent. Because free trade is politically unfeasible and trade‐driven self‐sufficiency policies contract total rice consumption, boosting rice production through research and development is an effective way for Malaysia to increase the total supply of rice while limiting its dependence on imports.     

Fundraising as organisational knowing in practice: Evidence from the arts and higher education in the UK

This paper argues for the centrality of organisational practices in occupational learning with a case study of fundraising in the non-profit UK's arts and higher education sectors. Despite the need to increase charitable giving to non-profit organisations, little is known about the work, fundraisers must do in order to carry out their jobs. We argue that fundraisers develop strategic understandings and competences within organisational environments, which they put into practice in their relationships with stakeholders within and outside the organisations where they work. Our findings suggest that one of the main ways in which fundraisers learn is by negotiating and surmounting obstacles both internally, within their organisational environments and externally, around the perception of fundraising as a profession. We thus argue for the importance of establishing a “fundraising culture” within organisational environments; a shared organisational competence where fundraising is practiced as a legitimate and strategic type of practice.     

Testing theories with learnable and predictive representations

We study the problem of testing an expert whose theory has a learnable and predictive parametric representation, as do standard processes used in statistics. We design a test in which the expert is required to submit a date T by which he will have learned enough to deliver a sharp, testable prediction about future frequencies. We show that this test passes an expert who knows the data-generating process and cannot be manipulated by a uninformed one. Such a test is not possible if the theory is unrestricted.