47,700 research outputs found
Negotiating Socially Optimal Allocations of Resources
A multiagent system may be thought of as an artificial society of autonomous
software agents and we can apply concepts borrowed from welfare economics and
social choice theory to assess the social welfare of such an agent society. In
this paper, we study an abstract negotiation framework where agents can agree
on multilateral deals to exchange bundles of indivisible resources. We then
analyse how these deals affect social welfare for different instances of the
basic framework and different interpretations of the concept of social welfare
itself. In particular, we show how certain classes of deals are both sufficient
and necessary to guarantee that a socially optimal allocation of resources will
be reached eventually
Adapting Human Rights
Governmental leaders, scholars, and activists have advocated for human rights to food, water, education, health care, and energy. Such rights, also called positive rights, place an affirmative duty upon the state to provide a minimum quantity and quality of these goods and services to all citizens. But food, education, water, and health care are so differentâin how they are produced, consumed, and financedâthat the implementation of a positive right must be adapted to the distinctive characteristics of the good or service it guarantees. The primary aims of this adaptive implementation are transparency, enforceability and sustainability in the provision of positive rights. Only by adapting a positive right to its policy environment can such a right function as a viable means of protecting disadvantaged members of society. This article uses the example of positive rights to public utilities, such as water and energy, to illustrate adaptive implementation of positive rights. In doing so, this article explains why and how a positive right must be adapted to the unique policy environment of a given public utility
Biocultural Community Protocols: Dialogues on the Space Within
This paper starts by explaining "the space within" -- the ethical grammar and code by which indigenous peoples use and steward nature. It then explains the inextricable links with nature demonstrated by a number of communities with which we have worked, and their experiences in the ABS context. It discusses the importance of processes of prior informed consent, before then discussing the possibility of "tools of conviviality" that may act as bridges between the fundamental ecological principals of indigenous peoples, and the researchers and companies that seek to utilize biodiversity and knowledge within community control.In the final sections, we explore the use of both community protocols and Ethical BioTrade, with some examples, and their potential role as tools of conviviality -- opening up dialogues between actors from vastly different worldviews. While we do not see community protocols as a panacea for the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, we have seen them act as an important step towards the protection of indigenous knowledge and the recognition of legal pluralism
âItâs Just Not Rightâ: The Ethics of Insider Trading
The Supreme Court doctrine defining insider trading and a competing theory called the misappropriation theory are criticized, focusing on the case of United States vs Chestman. A counter-argument is presented
Design Matters : CBNRM and Democratic Innovation
Community-based natural resource management (CBRNM) aims to realize sustainable management of resources and improvements in livelihood. A central focus is the empowerment of indigenous and local communities through customary or devolved rights to common pool resources. Less attention is given to the extent to which inclusive forms of governance are realized in CBNRM. Democratic innovations are institutions designed explicitly to increase and deepen citizen participation in political decision-making. A number of exemplary cases around the world provide evidence that it is possible to empower citizens in ways that are inclusive and achieve desirable outcomes such as redistribution, recognition of marginalized groups, and improved livelihoods. By clarifying elements of the design of democratic innovations - in particular goods, tasks, mechanisms, and co-design - it is possible to understand how effective forms of participatory governance can be crafted. With careful attention to the endogenous practices of indigenous and local communities and the governance structures imposed by public authorities, CBNRM practitioners can draw on these elements of democratic design to craft forms of inclusive participatory governance that promote sustainable management of resources and improve livelihoods. A program of collaboration between CBNRM and democratic innovations practitioners will contribute to improvements amongst both communities of practice and the communities they serve
The Potential for Joint Farming Ventures in Irish Agriculture: A Sociological Review
peer-reviewedJoint farming ventures (JFVs) are promoted within Irish and EU policy discourses as
strategies that can enhance the economic and social sustainability of family farming.
Research has shown that JFVs, including arrangements such as farm partnerships,
contract rearing and share farming, can potentially enable farmers to work
cooperatively to improve farm productivity, reduce working hours, facilitate
succession, develop skills and improve relationships within the farm household. In
the context of increasing policy promotion of JFVs, there is a need to make some
attempt at understanding the macro socio-cultural disposition of family farming to
cooperation. Reviewing sociological studies of agricultural cooperation and taking
a specific focus on the Irish contextual backdrop, this paper draws the readerâs
attention to the importance of historical legacy, pragmatic economic and social
concerns, communicative norms, inter-personal relationships, individualism and,
policy and extension stimuli, all of which shape farmersâ dispositions to cooperation
and to JFVs specifically.This work was funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Ireland under the Research Stimulus Fund (RSF), Project Number: 11/S/151
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