Comparing group and individual decision-making in risky environments

This dissertation completes salient group and individual experiments in two environments that differ as to whether or not an evaluative criterion exists to judge subject performance. The first environment is lottery-choice. No such criterion exists in a lottery-choice environment. Subjects base their decisions on their preference for risk. A lottery-choice experiment consists of a menu of paired lottery choices structured so that the crossover point to the high-risk lottery can be used to infer the degree of risk aversion. The results show a significant interaction exists between subject composition and lottery winning-percentage. Groups are more likely than individuals to choose the “safe” lottery in the lowest winning-percentages, but less likely to choose the “safe” lottery in the highest winning-percentages. This effect is also present in the sequenced experiment. Further, the sequenced experiment shows that group discussion results in a significant increase in the group’s risk aversion from the average risk preference of its members. Finally, the sequenced experiment shows making a decision in the group phase has an immediate impact on subsequent individual decisions compared to the subject’s initial decisions. The second environment is resource allocation. A resource allocation experiment consists of subjects making repeated decisions of how to divide an endowment into two assets, one of which the payoff is unknown. An evaluative criterion to the resource allocation problem exists, as there is a specific allocation that maximizes payoffs. However, subjects must learn the solution through search. Experimental results show: 1) group performance in the resource allocation experiment is not significantly different than individuals; 2) the predictions from a local search model are more consistent with group decisions than the predictions from a global search model; and 3) group risk preferences elicited through a separate lottery-choice experiment are not indicative of their performance in the resource allocation experiment. Ph.D. Dissertation, Completed at Indiana University, Bloomington Dissertation Committee: Chair–Professor Arlington W. Williams, Indiana University, Bloomington Assistant Professor Hugh Kelley, Indiana University, Bloomington Associate Professor Susan K. Laury, Georgia State University Professor James M. Walker, Indiana University, Bloomington     

Technology and Design, at Key Stage 3, within the Northern Ireland curriculum: teachers’ perceptions

Technology and Design was introduced at Key Stage 3 for all pupils in Northern Ireland, as a result of the Education Reform (NI) Order in 1989. Central to the process of introducing this new and compulsory subject, the government spent in excess of ￡167M to make provision for the subject in all post-primary schools. This paper explores the perceptions of teachers of Technology and Design (known as Design and Technology in GB) in post-primary schools throughout Northern Ireland to the introduction and implementation of the subject. The methods involved a questionnaire survey to all teachers of Technology and Design throughout Northern Ireland (n = 587) and one-to-one interviews with 24. Findings suggest that teachers consider Technology and Design to be a worthwhile subject and believe that it adds much to the educational experience of the pupils involved. Nonetheless, there is general acceptance that difficulties surround the whole issue of subject definition and content delineation. As a consequence, significant demands are placed upon these teachers as they work to ensure that all pupils are given a worthwhile and valuable learning experience. These findings are discussed in terms of teachers’ perceptions of subject definition, delineation of subject content, the nature of the work involved and issues related to academic ability.     

我国住房抵押贷款证券定价研究

在我国房地产业的迅猛发展下,住房抵押贷款规模不断扩大,住房抵押贷款证券化也随着“建元2005-1”的上市而破局,住房抵押贷款证券的定价问题研究也成为我国资本市场证券化领域的热点。本文在总结了国外定价方法和国内相关研究的基础上,从分析影响我国住房抵押贷款证券价格的主要因素入手,阐述了借款人可支配收入和房款这两个主要因素决定的借款人提前还款的模型,并根据我国住房抵押贷款证券的特点建立了住房抵押贷款转付证券的静态利差定价框架。采用此定价框架,本文对“建元2005-1”资产池进行了定价分析,结果显示,相对于建元发行说明书里假设的CPR,在基于收入和房款的提前还款模型下,资产池的提前还款风险更大,对利率变动更加敏感,要求的收益率也更高。     

浙商的义利观研究——传化集团以社会责任感为统领的案例分析

浙商在完成了马克思所说的"资本的原始积累都是血淋淋的"阶段之后普遍性的以社会责任感为统领,即"义"字当先.在众多的浙商群体中,传化集团在义利观的认识、理解与把握上更具代表性、典型性.通过研究发现,传化集团"义"字当先的深层理念却蕴含着"义利并举",传化集团在义利关系上坚持了"执两用中"的中庸哲学--"义"与"利"的结合恰到好处.从汉字文化角度看,"义"(义)字本身就包含:我把从善良的、利于人民的象征"羊"高高地举起,为民所用.这表明"义"的根本是善,"义"的核心是利.虽然表面上是"义"字当先,实质上是"义利并举",浙商从根本上坚持的是传统文化中的非主流义利观,用南宋时期永嘉学派的代表人物叶适的话说就是"以利和义".     

荷兰BAM皇家集团的成功之道

介绍了作为ENR前225家国际建筑承包商之一的荷兰BAM皇家集团的总体情况。简要分析了其经营业绩，阐述了BAM公司管理制度和使命、愿景与长期目标。从其独特经营之道中总结出，国内建筑企业可以从重视公司社会责任；进行严格而透明的公司管理；向整条价值链发展；注重经营员工、社会大众和客户关系4个方面进行借鉴。     

Performance Evaluation of Enterprise Knowledge Management based on Multiple Attribute Group Decision Making

Given that the classical performance evaluation models can not deal with the group decision making problems since they simply average the index, we propose an enterprise knowledge management evaluation model based on multiple attribute group decision making （ MAGDM ）. Find the differences between Ordered Weighted Averaging （ OWA ） and methods for uncertain decision making. Also, analyze the multiple attribute group decision making process and implement the algorithm. Finally, apply the method on performance evaluation of four enterprises and make sensitivity analysis towards the evaluation results.     

饭店管理市场主体心理动机分析

通过对饭店集团内部结构对饭店中所涉及的各个行为主体的心理动机进行分析，以期提出恰当的饭店经营管理制度。     

电视大学英语精读课的改革与探索

本就电视大学英语精读课的教学状况结合电大学生的特点作了一些粗浅的分析，并提出了一些教学改革的措施，旨在提高教学质量和学生学习英语的兴趣。     

公共决策中的信息披露与利益集团游说

公共政策影响到各方面人群的利益，而有组织的利益集团可以通过游说来影响公共政策，在政策制定过程中他们可以提供相关的信息，也可以与提供决策相关信息的部门形成某种利益纽带。合理的公共决策机制需要同时激励信息披露和控制政策偏向。