Dynamic models of residential segregation: brief review, analytical resolution and study of the introduction of coordination

In his 1971's Dynamic Models of Segregation paper, the economist Thomas C. Schelling showed that a small preference for one's neighbors to be of the same color could lead to total segregation, even if total segregation does not correspond to individual preferences and to a residential configuration maximizing the collective utility. The present work is aimed at deepening the understanding of the properties of dynamic models of segregation based on Schelling's hypotheses. Its main contributions are (i) to offer a comprehensive and up-to-date review of this family of models; (ii) to provide an analytical solution to the most general form of this model under rather general assumptions; to the best of our knowledge, such a solution did not exist so far; (iii) to analyse the effect of two devices aimed at decreasing segregation in such a model.Comment: 52 pages, 21 figures, working pape

Weighting must wait: incorporating equity concerns into cost effectiveness analysis may take longer than expected

Current practice in economic evaluation is to assign equal social value to a unit of health improvement (“a QALY is a QALY is a QALY”). Alternative views of equity are typically considered separately to efficiency. One proposal seeks to integrate these two sets of societal concerns by attaching equity weights to QALYs. To date, research in pursuit of this goal has focussed on candidate equity criteria and methods for estimating such weights. It has implicitly been assumed that should legitimate, valid, and reliable equity weights become available, it would be a straightforward task to incorporate them into as a separate simple calculation after estimating cost per unweighted QALY. This paper suggests that in many situations these simple approaches to incorporating equity weights will not appropriately reflect the preferences on which the weights are based and therefore equity weights must be incorporated directly into the cost effectiveness analysis. In addition to these technical issues, there are a number of practical challenges that arise from the movement from implicit to explicit consideration of equity. Equity weights should be incorporated in economic evaluation, but not until these challenges have been appropriately addressed

Introducing Preference Heterogeneity into a Monocentric Urban Model: an Agent-Based Land Market Model

This paper presents an agent-based urban land market model. We first replace the centralized price determination mechanism of the monocentric urban market model with a series of bilateral trades distributed in space and time. We then run the model for agents with heterogeneous preferences for location. Model output is analyzed using a series of macro-scale economic and landscape pattern measures, including land rent gradients estimated using simple regression. We demonstrate that heterogeneity in preference for proximity alone is sufficient to generate urban expansion and that information on agent heterogeneity is needed to fully explain land rent variation over space. Our agent-based land market model serves as computational laboratory that may improve our understanding of the processes generating patterns observed in real-world data

Agent-Based Urban Land Markets: Agent's Pricing Behavior, Land Prices and Urban Land Use Change

We present a new bilateral agent-based land market model, which moves beyond previous work by explicitly modeling behavioral drivers of land-market transactions on both the buyer and seller sides; formation of bid prices (of buyers) and ask prices (of sellers); and the relative division of the gains from trade from the market transactions. We analyze model output using a series of macro-scale economic and landscape pattern measures, including land rent gradients estimated using simple regression models. We first demonstrate that our model replicates relevant theoretical results of the traditional Alonso/Von Thünen model (structural validation). We then explore how urban morphology and land rents change as the relative market power of buyers and sellers changes (i.e., we move from a 'sellers' market' to a 'buyers' market'). We demonstrate that these strategic price dynamics have differential effects on land rents, but both lead to increased urban expansion

Changing family models in Spain: the impact of the sociodemographic factors

Abstract During the last few decades, there has been an increasing international recognition of the studies related to the analysis of the family models change, the focus being the determinants of the female employment and the problems related to the work family balance (Lewis, 2001; Petit & Hook, 2005Saraceno, Crompton & Lyonette, 20062008; Pfau-Effinger, 2012). The majority of these studies have been focused on the analysis of the work-family balance problems as well as the effectiveness of the family and gender policies in order to encourage female employment (Korpi et al., 2013). In Spain, special attention has been given to the family policies implemented, the employability of women and on the role of the father in the family (Flaquer et al., 2015; Meil, 2015); however, there has been far less emphasis on the analysis of the family cultural models (González and Jurado, 2012; Crespi and Moreno, 2016). The purpose of this paper is to present some of the first results on the influence of the socio-demographic factors on the expectations and attitudes about the family models. This study offers an analytical reflection upon the foundation of the determinants of the family ambivalence in Spain from the cultural and the institutional dimension. This study shows the Spanish family models of preferences following the Pfau-Effinger (2004) classification of the famiy living arrangements. The reason for this study is twofold; on the one hand, there is confirmed the scarcity of studies that have focused their attention on this objective in Spain; on the other hand, the studies carried out in the international context have confirmed the analytical effectiveness of researching on the attitude and value changes to explain the meaning and trends of the family changes. There is also presented some preliminary results that have been obtained from the multinomial analysis related to the influence of the socio-demographic factors on the family model chosen by the individuals in Spain (father and mother working full time; mother part-time father full-time; mother not at work father full-time; mother and father part-time). 3 The database used has been the International Social Survey Programme: Family and Changing Gender Roles IV- ISSP 2012-. Spain is the only country of South Europe that has participated in the survey. For this reason it has been considered as a representative case study.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Study protocol: developing a decision system for inclusive housing: applying a systematic, mixed-method quasi-experimental design

Background Identifying the housing preferences of people with complex disabilities is a much needed, but under-developed area of practice and scholarship. Despite the recognition that housing is a social determinant of health and quality of life, there is an absence of empirical methodologies that can practically and systematically involve consumers in this complex service delivery and housing design market. A rigorous process for making effective and consistent development decisions is needed to ensure resources are used effectively and the needs of consumers with complex disability are properly met. Methods/Design This 3-year project aims to identify how the public and private housing market in Australia can better respond to the needs of people with complex disabilities whilst simultaneously achieving key corporate objectives. First, using the Customer Relationship Management framework, qualitative (Nominal Group Technique) and quantitative (Discrete Choice Experiment) methods will be used to quantify the housing preferences of consumers and their carers. A systematic mixed-method, quasi-experimental design will then be used to quantify the development priorities of other key stakeholders (e.g., architects, developers, Government housing services etc.) in relation to inclusive housing for people with complex disabilities. Stakeholders randomly assigned to Group 1 (experimental group) will participate in a series of focus groups employing Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) methodology. Stakeholders randomly assigned to Group 2 (control group) will participate in focus groups employing existing decision making processes to inclusive housing development (e.g., Risk, Opportunity, Cost, Benefit considerations). Using comparative stakeholder analysis, this research design will enable the AHP methodology (a proposed tool to guide inclusive housing development decisions) to be tested. Discussion It is anticipated that the findings of this study will enable stakeholders to incorporate consumer housing preferences into commercial decisions. Housing designers and developers will benefit from the creation of a parsimonious set of consumer-led housing preferences by which to make informed investments in future housing and contribute to future housing policy. The research design has not been applied in the Australian research context or elsewhere, and will provide a much needed blueprint for market investment to develop viable, consumer directed inclusive housing options for people with complex disability

Matching Theory for Future Wireless Networks: Fundamentals and Applications

The emergence of novel wireless networking paradigms such as small cell and cognitive radio networks has forever transformed the way in which wireless systems are operated. In particular, the need for self-organizing solutions to manage the scarce spectral resources has become a prevalent theme in many emerging wireless systems. In this paper, the first comprehensive tutorial on the use of matching theory, a Nobelprize winning framework, for resource management in wireless networks is developed. To cater for the unique features of emerging wireless networks, a novel, wireless-oriented classification of matching theory is proposed. Then, the key solution concepts and algorithmic implementations of this framework are exposed. Then, the developed concepts are applied in three important wireless networking areas in order to demonstrate the usefulness of this analytical tool. Results show how matching theory can effectively improve the performance of resource allocation in all three applications discussed

Law for the Common Man: An Individual-Level Theory of Values, Expanded Rationality, and the Law

This article makes an admittedly bold attempt at outlining an analytical framework for addressing this question. Instead of looking at the legal implications of bounded rationality -- an exercise highly worthy in its own right -- this article advances a theory of expanded rationality. This theory retains the element of rationality in that people respond to incentives in an attempt to attain utility, and it does not question the observation that decision-making is often bounded due to various factors