Distance and consensus for preference relations corresponding to ordered partitions

Ranking is an important part of several areas of contemporary research, including social sciences, decision theory, data analysis and information retrieval. The goal of this paper is to align developments in quantitative social sciences and decision theory with the current thought in Computer Science, including a few novel results. Specifically, we consider binary preference relations, the so-called weak orders that are in one-to-one correspondence with rankings. We show that the conventional symmetric difference distance between weak orders, considered as sets of ordered pairs, coincides with the celebrated Kemeny distance between the corresponding rankings, despite the seemingly much simpler structure of the former. Based on this, we review several properties of the geometric space of weak orders involving the ternary relation “between”, and contingency tables for cross-partitions. Next, we reformulate the consensus ranking problem as a variant of finding an optimal linear ordering, given a correspondingly defined consensus matrix. The difference is in a subtracted term, the partition concentration, that depends only on the distribution of the objects in the individual parts. We apply our results to the conventional Likert scale to show that the Kemeny consensus rule is rather insensitive to the data under consideration and, therefore, should be supplemented with more sensitive consensus schemes

Voluntary environmental disclosure by Australian listed mineral mining companies : an application of stakeholder theory

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent of voluntary environmental disclosure in relation to firm-specific characteristics of listed mineral mining firms within the stakeholder theory framework developed by Ullmann (1985). Three indices, word index, unweighted index and weighted index, were applied to measure the extent of total environmental disclosure and categories of total disclosure, which were environmental policy and strategy, public recognition of environmental activities, prevention or repair of environmental damage and environmental liabilities. A sample of 104 mineral firms was selected from the Australian Graduate . School of Management Annual Report Microfiche File for 1993. The• relationships between the extent of environmental disclosure for the three indices, for total disclosure and each category of disclosure, and firm . characteristics for twelve models in the stakeholder theory were tested by using multivariate analysi

Attitudes towards old age and age of retirement across the world: findings from the future of retirement survey

The 21st century has been described as the first era in human history when the world will no longer be young and there will be drastic changes in many aspects of our lives including socio-demographics, financial and attitudes towards the old age and retirement. This talk will introduce briefly about the Global Ageing Survey (GLAS) 2004 and 2005 which is also popularly known as “The Future of Retirement”. These surveys provide us a unique data source collected in 21 countries and territories that allow researchers for better understanding the individual as well as societal changes as we age with regard to savings, retirement and healthcare. In 2004, approximately 10,000 people aged 18+ were surveyed in nine counties and one territory (Brazil, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Mexico, UK and USA). In 2005, the number was increased to twenty-one by adding Egypt, Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sweden, Turkey and South Korea). Moreover, an additional 6320 private sector employers was surveyed in 2005, some 300 in each country with a view to elucidating the attitudes of employers to issues relating to older workers. The paper aims to examine the attitudes towards the old age and retirement across the world and will indicate some policy implications

Eco-livelihood assessment of inland river dredging : the Kolo and Otuoke creeks, Nigeria, a case study

Conventionally environmental assessments (EAs) have been carried out to enhance the understanding of the environment and for the purpose of developing appropriate environmental management and protection strategies. There are, however, limitations to the application of traditional EA approaches, particularly in rural communities in the developing world, where livelihood is dependent on common pool resources (CPRs), and baseline data are inadequate or unavailable. Eco-livelihood assessment (EcLA) is an adaptive approach that integrates a people focused sustainable livelihood approach with ecological assessment, as well as exploring traditional eco-livelihood knowledge (TELK). EcLA is identified as a promising EA tool that could help environmental professionals in planning for equitable development. This approach has been used in the Kolo and Otuoke Creeks, Niger Delta, Nigeria to investigate the ecological impact of dredging that may impact on livelihoods in such a rural setting. Ecological and social surveys have been carried out in four communities in the Study Area; two Test communities and two Reference communities (two communities from each study creek). The information collected from the social survey includes TELK, and has been used to build up a baseline scenario of the Study Area. Abundance and diversity of fish are good indicators of the eco-livelihood impacts of inland river dredging. The research shows that livelihood characteristics, river use profile, fish species diversity and abundance are very similar among all four sample communities. In addition, all sample communities have been associated with similar natural and human induced environmental consequences except that the Test communities have had river sections dredged for the purpose of land reclamation representing the baseline scenario. The analysis of the results of the ecological survey shows a difference in fish catch per unit effort, catch per unit hour, and species diversity between the Test and Reference communities, this have been attributed to the impacts of inland river dredging. The study shows that TELK has a place in environmental assessment, and that eco-livelihood assessment is one promising environmental assessment approach that could be used in areas where livelihood is strongly dependent on common pool resources.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Non-linear univariate and multivariate spatial modelling and optimal design

This thesis developed a novel adaptive methodology for the optimal design of additional sampling based on a geostatistical model that can preserve both multivariate non-linearity and spatial non-linearity present in spatial variables. This methodology can be applied in mining or any other field that deals with spatial data. The results from the different environment case studies demonstrated the potential of the proposed design methodology