Bargaining and Negotiations What should experimentalists explore more thoroughly?

A long time ago most economists would have limited themselves to stating that agreements should be individually rational and efficient and that selecting a specific agreement from that set depends on bargaining and negotiation power whatever that may be. Nowadays hardly any economist will argue that way. The change has been brought about by the strategic approach to bargaining and cooperation and the parallel experimental studies of bargaining and negotiation. When arguing what should be explored more thoroughly, we will point out directions where previous efforts may have been misdirected, where importing new methods may be helpful or even needed, and where new research questions need to be asked and answered.(un)bounded rationality, (non-)cooperative game theory, bargaining and negotiation (theory and experiments)

Low fertility and long run growth in an economy with a large public sector

There is plenty of evidence that growth has a negative relation to fertility and dependency ratios. Recently it has been suggested that low fertility countries may be caught in a trap that is hard to get out of. One important mechanism in such a trap would be social interaction and its effect on the ideal family size. Such social interaction mechanisms are hard to capture in formal models, therefore we use an agent based simulation model to investigate the issue. In our experimental setup a stable growth and population path is provoked into a fertility trap by rising relative child costs linked to positive growth. Even rather large increases in child benefits are then insufficient to get out of the trap. However, the small number of children temporarily enables the economy to grow faster for several decades. Removing the adaptation of social norms turns out to disarm the trap.low fertility trap; social norms relative income; economic growth

Low fertility and long-run growth in an economy with a large public sector

Recently it has been suggested that low fertility countries may be caught in a trap that is hard to get out of. One important mechanism in such a trap would be social interaction and its effect on the ideal family size. Such social interaction mechanisms are hard to capture in formal models, therefore we use an agent-based simulation model to investigate the issue. In our experimental setup a stable growth and population path is calibrated to Swedish data using the Swedish social policy setup. The model is provoked into a fertility trap by increasing relative child costs linked to positive growth. Even rather large increases in child benefits are then insufficient to get out of the trap. However, the small number of children temporarily enables the economy to grow faster for several decades. Removing the adaptation of social norms turns out to disarm the trap.Il a été suggéré récemment que les pays à basse fécondité pourraient être victimes d’un piège dont ils auraient du mal à se dégager. Un mécanisme essentiel dans ce piège serait l’interaction sociale et son effet sur la taille idéale de famille. Des mécanismes de ce type sont difficiles à représenter dans un modèle formel, et c’est pourquoi nous avons eu recours à un modèle de simulation multi-agents pour explorer le processus. Dans notre dispositif expérimental, un modèle de croissance et de population stable est calibré aux données suédoises, en utilisant la configuration suédoise de politique sociale. Le modèle est entraîné dans un piège de fécondité en élevant les coûts relatifs de l’enfant en lien avec la croissance positive. Dans ce cas, même des augmentations importantes des prestations familiales sont insuffisantes pour sortir du piège. Toutefois, le petit nombre d’enfants permet temporairement à l’économie de croître plus rapidement pendant quelques décennies. L’arrêt de l’adaptation aux normes sociales conduit à une neutralisation du piège

Advances in infrastructures and tools for multiagent systems

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A model of social influence on body mass index

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109867/1/nyas12344.pd

Modelling social norms: an integration of the norm-utility approach with beliefs dynamics

We review theoretical approaches for modelling the origin, persistence and change of social norms. The most comprehensive models describe the coevolution of behaviours, personal, descriptive and injunctive norms while considering influences of various authorities and accounting for cognitive processes and between-individual differences. Models show that social norms can improve individual and group well-being. Under some conditions though, deleterious norms can persist in the population through conformity, preference falsification and pluralistic ignorance. Polarization in behaviour and beliefs can be maintained, even when societal advantages of particular behaviours or belief systems over alternatives are clear. Attempts to change social norms can backfire through cognitive processes including cognitive dissonance and psychological reactance. Under some conditions social norms can change rapidly via tipping point dynamics. Norms can be highly susceptible to manipulation, and network structure influences their propagation. Future models should incorporate network structure more thoroughly, explicitly study online norms, consider cultural variations and be applied to real-world processes

The Impact of Social Impact Bond Financing

Social impact bonds (SIBs), also known as Pay for Success, are an innovation in Payment by Results contracting. Investors finance programs and are repaid based on the “SIB effect,” which includes changes in outcomes attributable to financing. We generate a quantitative estimate of this part of the SIB effect for two active labor market programs in the Netherlands and Switzerland. Comparing program impacts within providers using SIB and non-SIB contracts suggests financing has positive impacts on public benefit receipt, employment, and income. Qualitative research suggests this is because SIB contracts increased pressure for all involved parties, leading to the institutionalization of selection and greater resources for SIB-financed services. Contracts with high pressure, like SIBs, may compromise both performance requirements and the potential to measure performance. We examine the implications of these findings in relation to agency and stewardship theories and highlight the significance of SIBs as multilateral as opposed to bilateral contracts

Online customer satisfaction about sharing bike market in China

Sharing bike, which makes the replacement of private car travel possible, solved the “last mile” problem and changed people’s travel idea from individual ownership to sharing service. It is an environmentally friendly way of travel, which is quite popular in China. Users' satisfaction with sharing bicycles is essential in determining whether users continue to use these bicycles. The Internet is an important place for users to evaluate sharing bicycles. It is significant for developing public transportation in China to study sharing bike satisfaction by collecting online public opinion data. This paper takes the satisfaction of sharing bicycles in China as the research object, collects the public opinion information about sharing bicycles on the Internet, and obtains the satisfaction data of sharing bicycles by using text mining. In addition, the descriptive statistical analysis and comparative study were carried out on four major brands in China (Didi, Meituan, Hello, and Ofo). It is found that Didi's satisfaction with sharing bicycles is the highest, and Ofo is the lowest. The price increase of sharing bicycles does not affect its satisfaction in most cases, and only a few cases will reduce the satisfaction. This paper also studies the correlation between weather and sharing bicycles satisfaction using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and factor analysis. Chengdu and Beijing were the two cities that selected to analyze the correlation between the weather conditions and sharing bikes satisfaction. In the research on the satisfaction of sharing bicycles in Beijing, it is found that there is a specific correlation between weather conditions, air temperature, and air pressure and the satisfaction. The satisfaction on sunny days is higher than that on cloudy days. In the research on the satisfaction of shared bicycles in Chengdu, it is found that the weather conditions do not affect user satisfaction of sharing bikes, and the public opinions, maximum temperature, and wind speed are related to the satisfaction.Bicicletas compartilhadas, que representam uma substituição da viagem em carro privado, resolveram o problema da "última milha" e mudou meios de transporte de propriedade individual para serviço de compartilhamento. É uma forma de viajar amigável ao ambiente, bastante popular na China. A satisfação dos usuários com bicicletas compartilhadas é essencial para determinar se os usuários continuam a usar essas bicicletas. A Internet trata-se de um lugar onde os usuários avaliam bicicletas compartilhadas. É significativo para o desenvolvimento do transporte público na China estudar a satisfação com bicicletas compartilhadas por meio da coleta de dados online da opinião pública. Esta dissertação tem como objeto de investigação a satisfação de bicicletas compartilhadas na China, coletando informações da opinião pública sobre bicicletas compartilhadas na Internet e usando mineração de texto. Além disso, a análise estatística descritiva e o estudo comparativo foram realizados em quatro grandes marcas na China (“Didi”, “Meituan”, “Hello” e “Ofo”). Verificou-se que a satisfação para a Didi é a mais alta e para Ofo é a mais baixa. O aumento do preço de bicicletas compartilhadas não afeta o nível de satisfação na sua maioria, e apenas em alguns casos reduziram a satisfação. A dissertação também estuda a correlação entre o clima e a satisfação com bicicletas compartilhadas usando estatística descritiva, análise de correlação e análise fatorial. As cidades de Chengdu e de Pequim foram escolhidas para analisar a correlação. Na pesquisa sobre a satisfação de bicicletas compartilhadas em Pequim, verificou-se que existe uma correlação específica entre as condições meteorológicas, a temperatura do ar e a pressão do ar e a satisfação. A satisfação em dias de sol é maior do que em dias nublados. Na pesquisa em Chengdu, foi descobrido que as condições climáticas não afetam a satisfação do usuário em compartilhar bicicletas, e a opinião pública, temperatura máxima e velocidade do vento relacionam-se à satisfação

Experiences of coloured heroin users in Metro South area of Cape Town: A social work perspective

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW)Heroin usage is on the increase in the Western Cape province of South Africa owing to globalization and to increased access to the drug in this province. The goal of this study is to explore the experiences of coloured heroin users in the Metro South area of , which stretches from Simons Town and Muizenberg to Retreat, Lavender Hill, Grassy Park, Parkwood and Wynberg. These individuals have been found to congregate in the Wynberg CBD. The overarching theoretical framework for the purpose of this research is social constructionism and symbolic interactionism, using a qualitative means of inquiry. Snowball sampling was used to recruit prospective participants and data was collected by means of in-depth interviews, with a semi structures interviewing schedule. The questions informed the subsequent themes and categories that arise from the data collection process. Snowball sampling was employed in this case, a non-probability sample, in which participants were recruited via key informants. The sample distribution included 13 participants, 10 of which were heroin users (5 female, 5 male) and the remaining 3 were key informants which contributed to triangulation of the data. In terms of the findings, participants spoke of mostly being involved in intimate relationships, which according to participants had dual benefits. For female participants intimate relationships offered a form of protection on the often dangerous streets of Wynberg and for certain males, intimate relationships offered an opportunity to fund their habit, by trading their female partners to perform sexual favors for money to acquire heroin. While the study found females were mainly involved in trading sexual favors for money, heterosexual males were also implicated in having sexual relations with homosexual men for money. Furthermore, the study found that heroin users in Wynberg represented a surrogate family, where, because of their lifestyle, they were disconnected from their own family. This family surrogate was found to be supportive, caring to a large extent, shared a living space, protective of each other and shared a common language and understanding