Computational Aspects of Multi-Winner Approval Voting

We study computational aspects of three prominent voting rules that use approval ballots to elect multiple winners. These rules are satisfaction approval voting, proportional approval voting, and reweighted approval voting. We first show that computing the winner for proportional approval voting is NP-hard, closing a long standing open problem. As none of the rules are strategyproof, even for dichotomous preferences, we study various strategic aspects of the rules. In particular, we examine the computational complexity of computing a best response for both a single agent and a group of agents. In many settings, we show that it is NP-hard for an agent or agents to compute how best to vote given a fixed set of approval ballots from the other agents

A multisite study of performance drivers among institutional review boards.

Introduction:The time required to obtain Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval is a frequent subject of efforts to reduce unnecessary delays in initiating clinical trials. This study was conducted by and for IRB directors to better understand factors affecting approval times as a first step in developing a quality improvement framework. Methods:807 IRB-approved clinical trials from 5 University of California campuses were analyzed to identify operational and clinical trial characteristics influencing IRB approval times. Results:High workloads, low staff ratios, limited training, and the number and types of ancillary reviews resulted in longer approval times. Biosafety reviews and the need for billing coverage analysis were ancillary reviews that contributed to the longest delays. Federally funded and multisite clinical trials had shorter approval times. Variability in between individual committees at each institution reviewing phase 3 multisite clinical trials also contributed to delays for some protocols. Accreditation was not associated with shorter approval times. Conclusions:Reducing unnecessary delays in obtaining IRB approval will require a quality improvement framework that considers operational and study characteristics as well as the larger institutional regulatory environment

Approval-Based Shortlisting

Shortlisting is the task of reducing a long list of alternatives to a (smaller) set of best or most suitable alternatives from which a final winner will be chosen. Shortlisting is often used in the nomination process of awards or in recommender systems to display featured objects. In this paper, we analyze shortlisting methods that are based on approval data, a common type of preferences. Furthermore, we assume that the size of the shortlist, i.e., the number of best or most suitable alternatives, is not fixed but determined by the shortlisting method. We axiomatically analyze established and new shortlisting methods and complement this analysis with an experimental evaluation based on biased voters and noisy quality estimates. Our results lead to recommendations which shortlisting methods to use, depending on the desired properties

Reporting ethics committee approval and patient consent by study design in five general medical journals.

BACKGROUND: Authors are required to describe in their manuscripts ethical approval from an appropriate committee and how consent was obtained from participants when research involves human participants. OBJECTIVE: To assess the reporting of these protections for several study designs in general medical journals. DESIGN: A consecutive series of research papers published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, BMJ, JAMA, Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine between February and May 2003 were reviewed for the reporting of ethical approval and patient consent. Ethical approval, name of approving committee, type of consent, data source and whether the study used data collected as part of a study reported elsewhere were recorded. Differences in failure to report approval and consent by study design, journal and vulnerable study population were evaluated using multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: Ethical approval and consent were not mentioned in 31% and 47% of manuscripts, respectively. 88 (27%) papers failed to report both approval and consent. Failure to mention ethical approval or consent was significantly more likely in all study designs (except case-control and qualitative studies) than in randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Failure to mention approval was most common in the BMJ and was significantly more likely than in The New England Journal of Medicine. Failure to mention consent was most common in the BMJ and was significantly more likely than in all other journals. No significant differences in approval or consent were found when comparing studies of vulnerable and non-vulnerable participants. CONCLUSION: The reporting of ethical approval and consent in RCTs has improved, but journals are less good at reporting this information for other study designs. Journals should publish this information for all research on human participants

When Managers Bypass Shareholder Approval of Board Appointments: Evidence from the Private Security Market

This paper investigates the influence of managerial entrenchment on private placements by examining the firm\u27s decision to appoint representatives of the private investors to the board without shareholder approval. By analyzing a sample of U.S. firms that appoint directors in combination with private offerings between 1995 and 2000, we find that firms with greater managerial entrenchment are more likely to bypass shareholder approval. Firms that bypass shareholders are less likely to appoint independent directors or to elect one of these directors as chairman. We also show that the market reacts more positively to the private offering announcement when the firm submits its board candidates for shareholder approval. Further, firms that bypass approval underperform compared to firms that obtain it. Overall our findings suggest that managers avoid shareholder approval to perpetuate entrenchment

Given Credit Management Behavior, what effect does educational debt have on mortgage approval timetables?

Educational debt in the United States is a major concern as many young people enroll in undergraduate institutions beyond their financial means and the gap between the cost of an education and family income widens. Research suggests that an individual’s level of educational debt will have an effect on their financial future, but measuring the extent of damage incurred is much more difficult and needs further examination. This paper analyzes the relationship between the level of educational debt at graduation and time between graduation and home mortgage approval. This paper also examines the relationship between credit management behavior and mortgage approval. This study finds that educational debt does not have a significant effect on mortgage approval timetables. This paper also reports that credit management behavior has a significant effect on a person’s approval timetable and that bad credit management behavior increases the period between graduation and mortgage approval

Shaheen Approval Steady 2/21/2002

Governor Jeanne Shaheen currently receives moderate job approval ratings from Granite Staters. Her approval ratings have remained unchanged since October

Perceived Parental Approval and Self-Esteem in College Students

This current study looked at whether college students’ self-esteem is related to their perceptions of how well they meet their parents’ approval, the type of contingencies of self-worth they have and the degree to which they incorporate important others into the self-concept. College students (N = 126) were asked to complete measures of global self-esteem, contingencies of self-worth, relational-interdependent self-construal, self-ratings on personal attributes, and parental approval and disapproval beliefs. There was no significant findings to suggest that college students’ self-esteem is related to parental approval or disapproval beliefs, suggesting that emerging adults are becoming more independent and autonomous during this time and do not base their feelings of self-worth on their parents’ approval