An overview of ethical and social issues in shared virtual environments

Shared virtual reality environments raise a number of ethical and social issues that have not so far received systematic attention. One reason is that virtual reality or shared virtual environments (SVEs) have not been clearly defined. This essay proposes that a strict definition of SVEs is necessary to be able to tackle these issues. It is also necessary, however, to put SVEs in the context of other new technologies and media—as well as identifying their unique features—in order to draw out their wider implications. The essay further argues that the discussion of ethical and social aspects of SVEs should be closely tied to current systems and uses, and it divides these into two groups: instrumental SVEs used mainly in research and as prototypes, and Internet-based SVEs for gaming and socializing. Different ethical and social considerations arise in relation to these two: guidelines for research and development for the former, and suggestions for appropriate and desirable uses for the latter. These two sides, it is argued, will increasingly overlap in the future, and the essay concludes with an outlook on the future development of SVEs.     

Liberty,equality, and efficiency J. E. Meade New York: New York university press, 1993, ix, 256 pp.

This is a review article of a book by J. E. Meade. The first part of the book is a reprint of a book published in 1964. This is not described. The remainder of the book, 164 pages, deals with a fictitious island-nation, Agathotopia, which is a good but not perfect place to live. The Agathotopian economy is based on a type of firm in which capitalists and laborers both hold shares which received equal dividends. Other matters described include taxes, the treatment of the environment, and the way in which Agathotopia might fit into an international union such as the European Community. The reviewer suggests that recent trends toward increased labor-management, profit sharing, and stock ownership plans may make the labor-capital partnership a serious alternative in the future.     

Residential spatial growth with perfect foresight and multiple income groups

This paper presents explicit solutions for expanding monocentric cities with two or more income groups. Housing is durable but deteriorates over time, and redevelopment cannot take place. Landlords have perfect foresight. The utility function and housing technology are Cobb-Douglas. Population, per capita income, and transportation costs per mile change at constant percentage rates. The model is solved analytically, using an infinite time horizon. As development proceeds outward, a constant fraction of land is developed with high-income housing, and the remaining land is reserved for future low-income development. At any time, housing is constructed at one distance for high-income consumers, and at a lesser distance for low-income consumers. High-income housing is first occupied by high-income consumers, then filters to low-income consumers, and is ultimately abandoned. Low-income housing is first occupied by low-income households, and ultimately abandoned.     

The gorbachev economic proposals and the U.S. economy

Invited address at the Twenty-Fourth Atlantic Economic Society Conference, September 3–5, 1987, New York, New York.     

Estimating the benefits of farm animal welfare legislation using the contingent valuation method

This paper presents the method and findings of a contingent valuation (CV) study that aimed to elicit United Kingdom citizens' willingness to pay to support legislation to phase out the use of battery cages for egg production in the European Union (EU). The method takes account of various biases associated with the CV technique, including ‘warm glow’, ‘part‐whole’ and sample response biases. Estimated mean willingness to pay to support the legislation is used to estimate the annual benefit of the legislation to UK citizens. This is compared with the estimated annual costs of the legislation over a 12‐year period, which allows for readjustment by the UK egg industry. The analysis shows that the estimated benefits of the legislation outweigh the costs. The study demonstrates that CV is a potentially useful technique for assessing the likely benefits associated with proposed legislation. However, estimates of CV studies must be treated with caution. It is important that they are derived from carefully designed surveys and that the willingness to pay estimation method allows for various biases.     

Five recent economic revolutions

In recent years, some changes in economic behavior and institutions are fundamental enough to be called revolutions. Five of these are discussed briefly. They are the increasing financial disintermediation in France, the U.K., and the U.S.; the rise of global firms; the increasing need for international economic regulation; diminishing brand loyalty on the part of consumers, especially in food items; and the growing tendency to admit labor representatives to managerial functions. These changes are described briefly in each case and some of their implications for economics are suggested. Questions about the implications are raised. President of the Atlantic Economic Society 1977–78.     

Optimal social security claiming behavior under lump sum incentives: Theory and evidence

Many Americans claim Social Security benefits early, though this leaves them with lower monthly payments throughout retirement. We build a lifecycle model that closely tracks claiming patterns under current rules, and we use it to predict claiming delays if, by delaying benefits, people were to receive a lump sum instead of an annuity. We predict that current early claimers would defer claiming by a year given actuarially fair lump sums, and the predictions conform with respondents' answers to a strategic survey about the lump sum. In other words, such a reform could provide an avenue for encouraging delayed retirement without benefit cuts or tax increases. Moreover, many people would still defer claiming even for smaller lump sums.     

The 1996 FAIR Act: Measuring the Impacts on Land Leasing

Using a 1997 survey of Arkansas farm operators, Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act impacts on changes in cropping mixes on leased land, operator attitudes concerning the sharing of FAIR Act benefits with landlords, and changes in leasing arrangements due to the FAIR Act are investigated. Operators indicated that the FAIR Act caused cropping-mix changes on 24% of surveyed leases. Although some operators believe that landlords disproportionately benefit from the FAIR Act, about three-quarters feel that there was no change or had no opinion. Similarly, we find little evidence that leasing arrangements changed as a result of the FAIR Act.