6,137 research outputs found
Egalitarianism in the rank aggregation problem: a new dimension for democracy
Winner selection by majority, in an election between two candidates, is the
only rule compatible with democratic principles. Instead, when the candidates
are three or more and the voters rank candidates in order of preference, there
are no univocal criteria for the selection of the winning (consensus) ranking
and the outcome is known to depend sensibly on the adopted rule. Building upon
XVIII century Condorcet theory, whose idea was to maximize total voter
satisfaction, we propose here the addition of a new basic principle (dimension)
to guide the selection: satisfaction should be distributed among voters as
equally as possible. With this new criterion we identify an optimal set of
rankings. They range from the Condorcet solution to the one which is the most
egalitarian with respect to the voters. We show that highly egalitarian
rankings have the important property to be more stable with respect to
fluctuations and that classical consensus rankings (Copeland, Tideman, Schulze)
often turn out to be non optimal. The new dimension we have introduced
provides, when used together with that of Condorcet, a clear classification of
all the possible rankings. By increasing awareness in selecting a consensus
ranking our method may lead to social choices which are more egalitarian
compared to those achieved by presently available voting systems.Comment: 18 pages, 14 page appendix, RateIt Web Tool:
http://www.sapienzaapps.it/rateit.php, RankIt Android mobile application:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=sapienza.informatica.rankit.
Appears in Quality & Quantity, 10 Apr 2015, Online Firs
Are Condorcet and minimax voting systems the best?
For decades, the minimax voting system was well known to experts on voting
systems, but was not widely considered to be one of the best systems. But in
recent years, two important experts, Nicolaus Tideman and Andrew Myers, have
both recognized minimax as one of the best systems. I agree with that. This
paper presents my own reasons for preferring minimax. The paper explicitly
discusses about 20 systems, though over 50 are known to exist.Comment: 41 pages, no figures. The Introduction has been changed. Also fixed
some version 6 errors in referencing subsection numbers in section
Fine-Grained Complexity and Algorithms for the Schulze Voting Method
We study computational aspects of a well-known single-winner voting rule
called the Schulze method [Schulze, 2003] which is used broadly in practice. In
this method the voters give (weak) ordinal preference ballots which are used to
define the weighted majority graph (WMG) of direct comparisons between pairs of
candidates. The choice of the winner comes from indirect comparisons in the
graph, and more specifically from considering directed paths instead of direct
comparisons between candidates.
When the input is the WMG, to our knowledge, the fastest algorithm for
computing all winners in the Schulze method uses a folklore reduction to the
All-Pairs Bottleneck Paths problem and runs in time, where is
the number of candidates. It is an interesting open question whether this can
be improved. Our first result is a combinatorial algorithm with a nearly
quadratic running time for computing all winners. This running time is
essentially optimal. If the input to the Schulze winners problem is not the WMG
but the preference profile, then constructing the WMG is a bottleneck that
increases the running time significantly; in the special case when there are
candidates and voters, the running time is , or
if there is a nearly-linear time algorithm for multiplying dense
square matrices. To address this bottleneck, we prove a formal equivalence
between the well-studied Dominance Product problem and the problem of computing
the WMG. We prove a similar connection between the so called Dominating Pairs
problem and the problem of finding a winner in the Schulze method.
Our paper is the first to bring fine-grained complexity into the field of
computational social choice. Using it we can identify voting protocols that are
unlikely to be practical for large numbers of candidates and/or voters, as
their complexity is likely, say at least cubic.Comment: 19 pages, 2 algorithms, 2 tables. A previous version of this work
appears in EC 2021. In this version we strengthen Theorem 6.2 which now holds
also for the problem of finding a Schulze winne
A continuous rating method for preferential voting. The complete case
A method is given for quantitatively rating the social acceptance of
different options which are the matter of a complete preferential vote.
Completeness means that every voter expresses a comparison (a preference or a
tie) about each pair of options. The proposed method is proved to have certain
desirable properties, which include: the continuity of the rates with respect
to the data, a decomposition property that characterizes certain situations
opposite to a tie, the Condorcet-Smith principle, and a property of clone
consistency. One can view this rating method as a complement for the ranking
method introduced in 1997 by Markus Schulze. It is also related to certain
methods of one-dimensional scaling or cluster analysis.Comment: This is part one of a revised version of arxiv:0810.2263. Version 3
is the result of certain modifications, both in the statement of the problem
and in the concluding remarks, that enhance the results of the paper; the
results themselves remain unchange
Co-operatives as an Aid to Small Business in Germany
Tridiagonal parametrizations of linear state-space models are proposed for multivariable system identification. The parametrizations are surjective, i.e. all systems up to a given order can be described. The parametrization is based on the fact that any real square matrix is similar to a real tridiagonal form as well as a compact tridiagonal form. These parametrizations has significantly fewer parameters compared to a full parametrization of the state-space matrices
Analysis of a Voting Method for Ranking Network Centrality Measures on a Node-aligned Multiplex Network
Identifying relevant actors using information gleaned from multiple networks is a key goal within the context of human aspects of military operations. The application of a voting theory methodology for determining nodes of critical importance—in ranked order of importance—for a node-aligned multiplex network is demonstrated. Both statistical and qualitative analyses on the differences of ranking outcomes under this methodology is provided. As a corollary, a multilayer network reduction algorithm is investigated within the context of the proposed ranking methodology. The application of the methodology detailed in this thesis will allow meaningful rankings of relevant actors to be produced on a multiplex network
Coupled dynamics of node and link states in complex networks: A model for language competition
Inspired by language competition processes, we present a model of coupled
evolution of node and link states. In particular, we focus on the interplay
between the use of a language and the preference or attitude of the speakers
towards it, which we model, respectively, as a property of the interactions
between speakers (a link state) and as a property of the speakers themselves (a
node state). Furthermore, we restrict our attention to the case of two socially
equivalent languages and to socially inspired network topologies based on a
mechanism of triadic closure. As opposed to most of the previous literature,
where language extinction is an inevitable outcome of the dynamics, we find a
broad range of possible asymptotic configurations, which we classify as: frozen
extinction states, frozen coexistence states, and dynamically trapped
coexistence states. Moreover, metastable coexistence states with very long
survival times and displaying a non-trivial dynamics are found to be abundant.
Interestingly, a system size scaling analysis shows, on the one hand, that the
probability of language extinction vanishes exponentially for increasing system
sizes and, on the other hand, that the time scale of survival of the
non-trivial dynamical metastable states increases linearly with the size of the
system. Thus, non-trivial dynamical coexistence is the only possible outcome
for large enough systems. Finally, we show how this coexistence is
characterized by one of the languages becoming clearly predominant while the
other one becomes increasingly confined to "ghetto-like" structures: small
groups of bilingual speakers arranged in triangles, with a strong preference
for the minority language, and using it for their intra-group interactions
while they switch to the predominant language for communications with the rest
of the population.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figure
Combining Revealed and Stated Preference Data to Estimate the Nonmarket Value of Ecological Services: An Assessment of the State of the Science
This paper reviews the marketing, transportation, and environmental economics literature on the joint estimation of revealed and stated preference data. The revealed preference and stated preference approaches are first described with a focus on the strengths and weaknesses of each. Recognizing these strengths and weaknesses, the potential gains from combining data are described. A classification system for combined data that emphasizes the type of data combination and the econometric models used is proposed. A methodological review of the literature is pursued based on this classification system. Examples from the environmental economics literature are highlighted. A discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of each type of jointly estimated model is then presented. Suggestions for future research, in particular opportunities for application of these models to environmental quality valuation, are presented.Nonmarket Valuation, Revealed Preference, Stated Preference
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