The conservative equal costs rule, the serial cost sharing rule and the pivotal mechanism: asymptotic welfare loss comparisons for the case of an excludable public project

We examine the asymptotic behavior of two strategyproof mechanisms discussed by Moulin for public goods – the conservative equal costs rule (CER) and the serial cost sharing rule (SCSR) – and compare their performance to that of the pivotal mechanism (PM) from the Clarke–Groves family. Allowing the individuals’ valuations for an excludable public project to be random variables, we show under very general assumptions that expected welfare loss generated by the CER, as the size of the population increases, becomes arbitrarily large. However, all moments of the SCSR’s random welfare loss asymptotically converge to zero. The PM does better than the SCSR, with its welfare loss converging even more rapidly to zero.     

Social support among heterogeneous partners: an experimental test

This paper studies how dyadic social support is affected by heterogeneity of the partners. We distinguish heterogeneity with respect to three parameters the likelihood of needing support; the benefits from receiving support; and the costs of providing support. Hypotheses are based on a game-theoretic analysis of an iterated support game. First, we predict that heterogeneity in one of the parameters hampers social support. Second, we predict that under heterogeneity with respect to two of the parameters, support is most likely if there is a specific heterogeneous distribution such that heterogeneity in one parameter ‘compensates’ for heterogeneity in the other parameter. If there is no compensation social support is even more hampered. The hypotheses have been tested by experimental data with a mixed within-subject, between-subject design. The data gives support to the hypotheses.     

Paradigm Shifts in Social Housing after Welfare-State Transformation: Learning from the German Experience

Welfare-state transformation and entrepreneurial urban politics in Western welfare states since the late 1970s have yielded converging trends in the transformation of the dominant Fordist paradigm of social housing in terms of its societal function and institutional and spatial form. In this article I draw from a comparative case study on two cities in Germany to show that the resulting new paradigm is simultaneously shaped by the idiosyncrasies of the country's national housing regime and local housing policies. While German governments have successively limited the societal function of social housing as a legitimate instrument only for addressing exceptional housing crises, local policies on providing and organizing social housing within this framework display significant variation. However, planning and design principles dominating the spatial forms of social housing have been congruent. They may be interpreted as both an expression of the marginalization of social housing within the restructured welfare housing regime and a tool of its implementation according to the logics of entrepreneurial urban politics.     

A Q-Analysis of Census Data: Intra-Household Income Allocation and School Attendance in Chiapas, Mexico

Q-analysis, introduced by a mathematician Ron Atkin, is a useful tool to explore social structures. I introduce essential concepts and techniques of q-analysis to show q-analysis’s potential ability to analyze and extract information from census data – the work that most researchers have done mainly with statistical methods. Using Mexican census and q-analysis, I examine whether children of female-headed household aged 15–19 were more likely to attend school than male-headed household children in Chiapas, Mexico in 2000. My findings are consistent with the large body of previous research, many of which were conducted with statistical methods: women’s control of income tends to results in a better welfare for their children, defined as children’s school attendance by the sex of heads of household in my study. I evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of a-analysis of census data. I conclude that while it has some weaknesses, q-analysis is a complimentary method to statistical methods for analysis of census data that may overcome some limitations that statistical methods often face such as an incapability of handling a small sample.     

Drivers of entrepreneurial aspirations at the country level: the role of start-up motivations and social security

This paper investigates whether various start-up motivations and a country’s level of social security can explain the prevalence of entrepreneurial aspirations. For entrepreneurial aspirations and motivations we use country-level data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) for the year 2005. We distinguish between the necessity motive, independence motive and increase wealth motive and between aspirations in terms of innovativeness, job growth and export orientation. Our findings indicate that social security negatively affects a country’s supply of ambitious entrepreneurship. Our results also suggest that entrepreneurial aspirations in terms of job growth and export relate positively to the increase wealth motive.     

Social networks and labour productivity in Europe: an empirical investigation

This paper uses firm-level data recorded in the Amadeus database to investigate the distribution of labour productivity in different European countries. We find that the upper tail of the empirical productivity distributions follows a decaying power-law, whose exponent α is obtained by a semi-parametric estimation technique recently developed by Clementi et al. [Physica A 370(1):49–53, 2006]. The emergence of “fat tails” in productivity distribution has already been detected in Di Matteo et al. [Eur Phys J B 47(3):459–466, 2005] and explained by means of a model of social network. Here we show that this model is tested on a broader sample of countries having different patterns of social network structure. These different social attitudes, measured using a social capital indicator, reflect in the power-law exponent estimates, verifying in this way the existence of linkages among firms’ productivity performance and social network.     

Two ge neral classes of search designs for factor screening experiments with factors at three levels

In this paper, we are presenting general classes of factor screening designs for identifying a few important factors from a list of m (≥ 3) factors each at three levels. A design is a subset of 3^m possible runs. The problem of finding designs with small number of runs is considered here. A main effect plan requires at least (2m + 1) runs for estimating the general mean, linear and quadratic effects of m factors. An orthogonal main effect plan requires, in addition, the number of runs as a multiple of 9. For example, when m=5, a main effect plan requires at least 11 runs and an orthogonal main effect plan requires 18 runs. Two general factor screening designs presented here are nonorthogonal designs with (2m− 1) runs. These designs, called search designs permit us to search for and identify at most two important factors out of m factors under the search linear model introduced in Srivastava (1975). For example, when m=5, the two new plans given in this paper have 9 runs, which is a significant improvement over an orthogonal main effect plan with 18 runs in terms of the number of runs and an improvement over a main effect plan with at least 11 runs. We compare these designs, for 4≤m≤ 10, using arithmetic and geometric means of the determinants, traces, and maximum characteristic roots of certain matrices. Two designs D1 and D2 are identical for m=3 and this design is an optimal design in the class of all search designs under the six criteria discussed above. Designs D1 and D2 are also identical for m=4 under some row and column permutations. Consequently, D1 and D2 are equally good for searching and identifying one important factor out of m factors when m=4. The design D1 is marginally better than the design D2 for searching and identifying one important factor out of m factors when m=5, … , 10. The design D1 is marginally better than the D2 for searching and identifying two important factors out of m factors when m=5, 7, 9. The design D2 is somewhat better than the design D1 for m=6, 8. For m=10, D1 is marginally better than D2 w.r.t. the geometric mean and D2 is marginally better than D1 w.r.t. the arithmetic mean of the maximum characteristic roots.     

Bayesian U-type design for nonparametric response surface prediction

This paper deals with Bayesian design over U-type designs of n runs and s factors with q levels for nonparametric response surface prediction. The criterion is developed in terms of the asymptotic approach of Mitchell et al. (Ann Statist 22: 634–651, 1994) for a specific covariance kernel. An optimal design is given in approximate design theory over the all level combinations. A connection with orthogonality and aberration is established. A lower bound for the criterion is provided, and numerical results show that this lower bound is tight.     

Optimal block designs for diallel crosses

Dey and Midha (Biometrika 83(2):484–489, 1996) constructed optimal block designs for complete diallel cross experiment using triangular partially balanced incomplete block designs with two associate classes. They listed optimal block designs for the lines in the range from 5 ≤ v ≤ 10. In this paper, we are also proposing additional optimal block designs for complete diallel cross experiment using two associate class partially balanced block designs for some additional values of v. Our method yields designs for proper and non-proper settings for complete diallel cross experiments. The proper and non proper designs are optimal in the sense of Kempthorne (Genetics 41:451–459, 1956) and non-proper designs are universally optimal in the sense of Kiefer (A survey of statistical design and linear models, North Holland, Amsterdam, 1975). The list of practically important designs is also given.     

Social identity,inequality, and conflict: correction and extension

This paper corrects and extends the analysis in Social Identity, Inequality, and Conflict by James Robinson (Economics of Governance, 2(1), 2001). For conflict along class lines, Robinson finds the total impact of mobility on conflict to be ambiguous. Contrary to his result, I show that, under his assumptions, the effect of social mobility on class conflict is unambiguous. Higher mobility always decreases conflict. In my extension to Robinsons model, I explore mobilitys impact on class conflict in a society where the tax rate is not fixed. I demonstrate that if the tax rate is proportional to the population of the group in power relative to the total population of the society, then the effects of social mobility on class conflict are indeed ambiguous.Submitted: February 2002, Accepted: July 2003,I am grateful to an anonymous referee and Amihai Glazer for their comments. I would also like to thank Herschel Grossman for his help along the way.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Anderson Jeffrey J. 1992: The territorial imperative: pluralism, corporatism and economic crisis. Dossal, Mariam 1991: Imperial designs and Indian realities: the planning of Bombay City 1845–1875. Hamel, Pierre 1991: Action collective et démocratie locale: les mouvements urbains Montréalais. Könen, Ralf 1990: Wohnungsnot und Obdachlosigkeit im Sozialstaat. Lundqvist, Lennart J. 1991: Dislodging the welfare state? Housing and privatization in four European nations. Lundqvist, Lennart J. (ed.) 1991: Policy, organization, tenure. A comparative history of housing in small welfare states. Marsden, Terry, Philip Lowe and Sarah Whatmore (eds) 1992: Labour and locality: uneven development and the rural labour process. Taylor-Gooby, Peter 1991: Social change, social welfare and social science.     

The cost of Corporate Social Responsibility: the case of the Community Reinvestment Act

A Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) cost minimization model is employed to estimate the cost to thrift institutions of achieving a rating of ‘outstanding’ under the anti-redlining Community Reinvestment Act, which is viewed as an act of voluntary Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). There is no difference in overall cost efficiency between ‘outstanding’ and minimally compliant ‘satisfactory’ thrifts. However, the sources of cost inefficiency do differ, and an ‘outstanding’ rating involves annual extra cost of $6.547 million or, 1.2% of total costs. This added cost is the shadow price of CSR since it is not an explicit output or input in the DEA cost model. Before and after-tax rates of return are the same for the ‘outstanding’ and ‘satisfactory’ thrifts, which implies a recoupment of the extra cost. The findings are consistent with CSR as a management choice based on balancing marginal cost and marginal revenue. An incidental finding is that larger thrifts are less efficient.

Is Strategic Human Resource Management Socially Responsible? The Case of Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.

In 2005, Wegmans Food Markets Inc., the family-owned supermarket chain, was awarded the number one spot on the Fortune “100 Best Companies To Work For.” Wegmans’ recognition illustrates an exemplary case of strategic human resource management embedded in an overall culture of social responsibility, amidst a highly competitive and low margin industry. We detail Wegmans’ human resource practices and its overall stakeholder orientation, arguing that the treatment of employees as strategic assets constitutes an effective approach to social responsibility. In other words, strategic human resource management can help organizations reconcile the often cited conflict between profits and principles. We therefore begin with an overview of the contemporary supermarket industry, provide a brief history of Wegmans, and showcase the supermarket chain’s human resource practices. In closing, we discuss Wegmans’ stakeholder orientation and comment on the divide between strategic human resource management and social responsibility research.     

Criterion-robust optimal product designs for discrimination between nested response surface models

Consider the problem of discriminating between two rival response surface models and estimating parameters in the identified model. To construct designs serving for both model discrimination and parameter estimation, the M _γ-optimality criterion, which puts weight γ (0≤γ≤1) for model discrimination and 1 − γ for parameter estimation, is adopted. The corresponding M _γ-optimal product design is explicitly derived in terms of canonical moments. With the application of the maximin principle on the M _γ-efficiency of any M _γ'-optimal product design, a criterion-robust optimal product design is proposed.     

GenD An Evolutionary System for Resampling in Survey Research

The paper is a preliminary research report and presents a method for generating new records using an evolutionary algorithm (close to but different from a genetic algorithm). This method, called Pseudo-Inverse Function (in short P-I Function), was designed and implemented at Semeion Research Centre (Rome). P-I Function is a method to generate new (virtual) data from a small set of observed data. P-I Function can be of aid when budget constraints limit the number of interviewees, or in case of a population that shows some sociologically interesting trait, but whose small size can seriously affect the reliability of estimates, or in case of secondary analysis on small samples. The applicative ground is given by research design with one or more dependent and a set of independent variables. The estimation of new cases takes place according to the maximization of a fitness function and outcomes a number as large as needed of ‘virtual’ cases, which reproduce the statistical traits of the original population. The algorithm used by P-I Function is known as Genetic Doping Algorithm (GenD), designed and implemented by Semeion Research Centre; among its features there is an innovative crossover procedure, which tends to select individuals with average fitness values, rather than those who show best values at each ‘generation’. A particularly thorough research design has been put on: (1) the observed sample is half-split to obtain a training and a testing set, which are analysed by means of a back propagation neural network; (2) testing is performed to find out how good the parameter estimates are; (3) a 10% sample is randomly extracted from the training set and used as a reduced training set; (4) on this narrow basis, GenD calculates the pseudo-inverse of the estimated parameter matrix; (5) ‘virtual’ data are tested against the testing data set (which has never been used for training). The algorithm has been proved on a particularly difficult ground, since the data set used as a basis for generating ‘virtual’ cases counts only 44 respondents, randomly sampled from a broader data set taken from the General Social Survey 2002. The major result is that networks trained on the ‘virtual’ resample show a model fit as good as the one of the observed data, though ‘virtual’ and observed data differ on some features. It can be seen that GenD ‘refills’ the joint distribution of the independent variables, conditioned by the dependent one. This paper is the result of deep collaboration among all authors. Cinzia Meraviglia wrote § 1, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8; Giulia Massini wrote §5; Daria Croce performed some elaborations with neural networks and linear regression; Massimo Buscema wrote §2.     

Transferability and Naturalistic Generalization: New Generalizability Concepts for Social Science or Old Wine in New Bottles?

Interpretative qualitative social science has attempted to distinguish itself from quantitative social science by rejecting traditional or ‘received’ notions of generalization. Traditional concepts of scientific generalization it is claimed are based on a misguided objectivism as to the mechanisms operating in the social world, and particularly the ability of statements to capture such mechanisms in any abstract sense. Instead they propose new versions of the generalizability concept e.g. ‘transferability’, which relies on the context dependent judgement of ‘fit’ between two or more cases instances made by a researcher. This paper argues that the transferability concept, as outlined and argued by interpretativist methodologists, is thoroughly coextensive with notions of generalizability formalized for natural science and naturalistic social science by philosophers and methodologists of science. Therefore, it may be concluded that the interpretativist claim to a break with received scientific traditions is a premature one, at least with regard to the issue of generalization.     

Cultural Values and Social Planning: A Control Theory Approach to Satisfying a Social Welfare Criterion

A bstract . A method of social planning is presented which can be used to fulfill a social welfare criterion with normative values. The purpose is to show how a social welfare model which includes cultural norms can be optimized using classical control theory. Current literature stresses the importance of incorporating social indicators in welfare economics. Given a social welfare function which actively includes a hierarchy of cultural values , control theory can be used to set social policy to reach social goals. The approach is to define a set of desired cultural norms at some future time and then determine the social policy necessary to reach this state. Control theory is used to find the social plan consistent with attaining the set of desired values.     

Social Distance,Respondent Cooperation and Item Nonresponse in Sex Survey

This paper examines the ways in which the number of item nonresponses is determined by social distance and/or interview rapport, with a focus on responses of “refusal” and “don’t know”, implying the respondent’s lack of willingness and ability to provide substantive responses to sensitive questions. The data analyzed were from 39 self- administered questions concerning sexual attitudes and behaviors in the 2002 Taiwan Social Change Survey for module “Family and Changing Gender Role”. Poisson Regression in 2-level Hierarchical Linear Model was employed to enhance the accuracy of the analysis of the accumulation of “don’t know” and “refusal” responses. The results showed that respondent cooperation significantly decreased the number of both “don’t know” and “refusal” replies. The decrease was not conditioned by any kind of social distance. Age and education distances have respectively negative and positive effect on the number of “don’t know” and “refusal” answers. The married–married interview produced more “don’t know” and “refusal” than other paired interview types. The larger the ethnicity distance is, the more “refusal” appears. The substantial findings imply that the effects of social-distance and rapport (respondent cooperation) on the number of item nonresponses deserve more attention in research on survey methodology. The divergent findings on gender-distance effect and marital-status effect, however, call for replication studies in the future.     

Investigating design for survival models

The aim of this paper is to derive methodology for designing ‘time to event’ type experiments. In comparison to estimation, design aspects of ‘time to event’ experiments have received relatively little attention. We show that gains in efficiency of estimators of parameters and use of experimental material can be made using optimal design theory. The types of models considered include classical failure data and accelerated testing situations, and frailty models, each involving covariates which influence the outcome. The objective is to construct an optimal design based of the values of the covariates and associated model or indeed a candidate set of models. We consider D-optimality and create compound optimality criteria to derive optimal designs for multi-objective situations which, for example, focus on the number of failures as well as the estimation of parameters. The approach is motivated and demonstrated using common failure/survival models, for example, the Weibull distribution, product assessment and frailty models.     

Assessment of Interjudge Reliability in the Open-Ended Questions Coding Process

In the process of coding open-ended questions, the evaluation of interjudge reliability is a critical issue. In this paper, using real data, the behavior of three coefficients of reliability among coders, Cohen’s K, Krippendorff’s α and Perreault and Leigh’s I _r are patterned, in terms of the number of judges involved and the categories of answer defined. The outcome underlines the importance of both variables in the valuations of interjudge reliability, as well as the higher adequacy of Perreault and Leigh’s I _r and Krippendorff’s α for marketing and opinion research.