Game-theoretic modeling of pre-disaster relocation

Abstract

Sea-level rise due to climate change is clearly an important problem. This paper uses game theory in conjunction with discounting to explore strategies by which governments might encourage pre-disaster relocation by residents living in areas at high risk of flooding due to sea-level rise. We find that offering a subsidy (e.g., a partial buyout) can be effective if government has a significantly lower discount rate than residents. We also present extensions to our model, exploring the use of a fixed annual benefit after relocation (instead of a one-time subsidy), and hyperbolic instead of standard exponential discounting. Numerical sensitivity analysis elucidates many important factors affecting the timing of anticipatory relocation, since for example relocating too soon may be costly to both residents and government if flooding risk is increasing only gradually. This conceptual model also provides a foundation for future studies that quantify the model with more realistic parameter values (e.g., realistic estimates of flooding probabilities), and alternative behavioral models of resident decision making.     

Coda

Technology and globalization have the potential to make higher education more affordable and accessible. In practice, however, rising costs limit educational access, and competition threatens the sustainability of many colleges and universities (Grummon, 2009). With the relevance of traditional curricula in question and the demand for alternate delivery methods expanding, many higher learning institutions face a challenge to reinvent themselves (Barnatt, 2008; Grummon, 2009; Lee, Brennan, & Green, 2009). We asked four higher education leaders from demographically and structurally diverse institutions to address the question, “How will colleges and universities serve the global knowledge economy in the coming decades?” Our respondents represent perspectives from multiple educational paradigms—public and private, local and international, for‐profit and nonprofit, brick‐and‐mortar and online. George Mihel, president of Sauk Valley Community College in Illinois, offers a position paper on the need to transform some of higher education’s deep‐rooted institutional traditions. George Miller, chancellor of American InterContinental University, teams with Caroline Molina‐Ray, a University of Phoenix faculty member, to address how higher education can foster both technological competency and critically reflexive thinking. Naana J. S. Opoku‐Agyemang, vice chancellor of the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, offers insight into the unique challenges and accomplishments of higher education in Africa. Finally, Vicki T. Purslow, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Southern Oregon University, and Christine Cook Florence, a higher education marketing consultant, present a commentary synthesizing the symposium contributions and issuing a call to action for higher education leaders. Together, these diverse perspectives offer a glimpse into the higher education of the future.</     

Recognizing one-dimensional Euclidean preference profiles

A preference profile has a one-dimensional Euclidean representation if it can be derived from an arrangement of individuals and alternatives on a line, with each individual preferring the nearer of each pair of alternatives. We provide a polynomial-time algorithm that determines whether a given preference profile has a one-dimensional Euclidean representation and, if so, constructs one. This result has electoral and mechanism design applications.     

Effectiveness and safety of betrixaban extended prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism compared with standard-duration prophylaxis intervention in acute medically ill patients: a systematic literature review and network meta-analysis

Abstract

Aims: To determine the clinical effectiveness and safety of venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis using US- and Europe-approved anticoagulants relative to extended-duration VTE prophylaxis with betrixaban. Low molecular weight heparins (LMWHs), unfractionated heparin (UFH), fondaparinux sodium and placebo were each compared to betrixaban, as standard-duration VTE prophylaxis for hospitalized, non-surgical patients with acute medical illness at risk of VTE.

Materials and methods: A systematic literature review was conducted up to June 2019 to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of VTE prophylaxis in hospitalized, non-surgical patients with acute medical illness at risk of VTE. Studies that reported the occurrence of VTE events (including death) and, where possible, major bleeding, from treatment initiation to 20–50?days thereafter were retrieved and extracted. A Bayesian fixed effect network meta-analysis was used to estimate efficacy and safety of betrixaban compared with standard-duration VTE prophylaxis.

Results: Seven RCTs were analyzed which compared betrixaban, LMWHs, UFH, fondaparinux sodium, or placebo. There were significantly higher odds (median odds [95% credible interval]) of VTE with LMWHs (1.38 [1.12–1.70]), UFH (1.60 [1.05–2.46]), and placebo (2.37 [1.55–3.66]) compared with betrixaban. There were significantly higher odds of VTE-related death with placebo (7.76 [2.14–34.40]) compared with betrixaban. No significant differences were observed for the odds of major bleeding with all comparators, VTE-related death with any active standard-duration VTE prophylaxis, or of VTE with fondaparinux sodium, compared with betrixaban.

Limitations and conclusions: In this indirect comparison, betrixaban was shown to be an effective regimen with relative benefits compared with LMWHs and UFH. This indicates that betrixaban could reduce the burden of VTE in at-risk hospitalized patients with acute medical illness who need extended prophylaxis, though without direct comparative evidence, stronger conclusions cannot be drawn.     

"The Biggest Small-Town Store in America": Independent Retailers and the Rise of Consumer Culture

The case study of Bresee's Department Store in Oneonta, NewYork, suggests that small-town department stores were not necessarilyfully "modern" by the early twentieth century. This articledemonstrates how modern, big-store, business methods came laterand documents how earlier modes of trade, such as credit andbartering, persisted into the early twentieth century, evenin non-rural, northern contexts. Preliminary findings suggestthat eliminating the urban bias in much historiography by includingsmall-town retailing practices may lead to a later periodizationof American consumer society.     

A simple voting scheme generates all binary relations on finite sets

A simple head-to-head voting scheme in which voters hold complete and transitive preferences over alternatives generates all binary relations on finite sets. The minimal number of voters required to generate a binary relation provides a measure of complexity for binary relations. Complexity so defined tells us, by how much a given binary relation fails to qualify as a total preorder.     

Perceived assortment and consideration of customized products

Customization in the marketplace has become much more commonplace as information technology and flexible manufacturing systems continue to evolve. Consumer research into customization decisions has subsequently examined the implications of customization as compared to traditional assortment product offerings, finding that customization yields both positive implications for consumer preference matching as well as higher evaluations of retailers, chosen products, and even the process itself. The present research examines the implications that customization of products has on consumers’ decision processes, and on their perceptions of assortment and how they consider products. Two experimental studies suggest that customization decisions may negatively affect consumers’ perceptions of assortment, while also reducing the number of alternatives they consider, and that this in turn may have implications for their evaluation of, and willingness-to-pay for, customized products.     

Interventionist research in accounting: reflections on the good,the bad and the ugly

Our paper advances understanding of interventionist research (IVR) as a qualitative accounting research approach. It reflects on the potential value, challenges and key issues, as manifested by the good, the bad and the ugly. The reflection contributes towards clarifying the IVR landscape, thereby forging a future path for IVR as a legitimate qualitative methodology, to enthuse qualitative researchers to produce accounting research relevant to theory, practice and society. The primary contribution is synthesising the interventionist theory and practice literature encompassing a view of the good, the bad and the ugly in interventionist accounting research.