Smooth inequality measurement: Approximation theorems

The main purpose of this paper is to prove that smoothness is not a restrictive assumption in inequality measurement as any inequality measure (preorder) can be approximated in a well defined sense by a smooth inequality measure (preorder).     

Forest and water: The value of native temperate forests in supplying water for human consumption: A comment

In a recent paper in this journal Nuñez et al. [Nuñez, D., L. Nahuelhual, and C. Oyarzun, 2005. Forest and water: the value of native temperate forests in supplying water for human consumption. Ecological Economics 58: 606-616] presented a model to estimate the economic value of Chilean temperate forests in their function to contribute to maintain fresh water supply. We discuss and correct the estimated values of ecosystem services per household and per hectare.     

Sul ruolo dei riassunti esaustivi ai fini della previsione in contesto Bayesiano (2a parte)

Proseguendo nella ricerca, la cui prima parte è stata pubblicata nel precedente numero di questa Rivista, trattiamo delle successioni di riassunti esaustivi a fini preditivi (r.e.f.p.) ed affrontiamo i seguenti problemi:

1. assegnata una distribuzione predittiva per cui esiste un r.e.f.p. è possibile individuare un modello ipotetico con essa compatibile?
2. in caso affermativo, qual è il collegamento tra tale r.e.f.p. e gli eventuali r.e. in senso classico relativi al modello ipotetico individuato?

Infine analizzeremo, in modo piuttosto informale e perciò ulteriormente sviluppabile, il problema dell'espressione analitica di un r.e.f.p.     

Rethinking the relationship between local government and financial markets

In the past 20 years local governments have increasingly looked to financial markets for capital financing. The markets want local governments to change their accounting systems and become more transparent, in order to offer information that is more appropriate to private sector investors. The authors argue that this approach is only a partial solution, and that local government and financial institutions would both benefit from changes in their relationships. The article identifies a double knowledge gap that needs to be filled if the public and private sectors want to work together as long-term financial partners.     

A comparison of qualitatively and quantitatively driven analytic procedures of psychotherapeutic group sessions with deviant adolescents

The present paper deals with the therapy-related change in a group of deviant adolescents attending a therapeutic facility. The main issue of two studies reported here is to identify pattern of changes through different methods. The paper describes how the mixing of two different types of analysis may yield a more complex and complete view of the data. The analyses were performed at the same time: the first part (study 1), which was of a clinical–quantitative nature, involved picking out changerelated features through the analysis of the frequency of lemmas in the content of the sessions; the second part (study 2) had a qualitative orientation and traced the pattern of narrative themes in the sessions during the course of time. In both studies, the same data were analyzed at the same times, though each study adopted a different approach. While both approaches focused on change, the results brought out different aspects: the study that adopted the quantitative/clinical approach highlighted changerelated problems and proposed an explanation in terms of the “deviant peer effect”; by contrast, the qualitative study underlined the possibilities offered by change and viewed therapeutic change in terms of the shift in narrative themes from the detachment and lack of responsibility initially shown by the youths towards progressive maturation that may have been due to the efficacy of the therapy. The discussion of results brings us to consider the fuzzy set approach for future research into the field of criminology and group therapy. In conclusion, the paper shows that looking at the same data through two different methodological “lenses” yields different, and only apparently contradictory, conclusions.     

New challenges for services quality evaluation

Quality & Quantity -     

New development: Where there's a will,there's a way—acting beyond cutbacks

A sustainable solution to the recent financial crisis requires a sea-change in governments' thinking, rather than just cutting expenses. Governments need to re-examine the managerial and cultural factors that lie beyond the crisis: the way budgets are prepared, the (lack of) strategic management, the limited room left for innovation, and excessive reliance on public entities for the solution of social problems.     

Procedural fairness in lotteries assigning initial roles in a dynamic setting

We extend the study of procedural fairness in three new directions. Firstly, we focus on lotteries determining the initial roles in a two-person game. One of the roles carries a potential advantage over the other. All the experimental literature has thus far focused on lotteries determining the final payoffs of a game. Secondly, we modify procedural fairness in a dynamic—i.e. over several repetitions of a game—as well as in a static—i.e. within a single game-sense. Thirdly, we analyse whether assigning individuals a minimal chance of achieving an advantaged position is enough to make them willing to accept substantially more inequality. We find that procedural fairness matters under all of these accounts. Individuals clearly respond to the degree of fairness in assigning initial roles, appraise contexts that are dynamically fair more positively than contexts that are not, and are generally more willing to accept unequal outcomes when they are granted a minimal opportunity to acquire the advantaged position. Unexpectedly, granting full equality of opportunity does not lead to the highest efficiency.     

Considerazioni generali sull’impostazione bayesiana di problemi non parametrici

Si fanno alcune considerazioni di natura generale sui problemi statistici non parametrici e sulla loro risoluzione dal punto di vista bayesiano. Dopo aver posto in evidenza l’importanza delle medie associative come strumenti di analisi statistica dei suddetti problemi, ci si propone di determinare la distribuzione iniziale e finale di una generica media associativa nell’ipotesi che le misure di probabilità assegnabili al fenomeno in esame siano rette da un processo di Dirichlet. Ricordate le proprietà fondamentali di tale processo, si rinvia la risoluzione del problema posto alla seconda parte del lavoro.