Ordering based decision making: a survey

Decision making is the crucial step in many real applications such as organization management, financial planning, products evaluation and recommendation. Rational decision making is to select an alternative from a set of different ones which has the best utility (i.e., maximally satisfies given criteria, objectives, or preferences). In many cases, decision making is to order alternatives and select one or a few among the top of the ranking. Orderings provide a natural and effective way for representing indeterminate situations which are pervasive in commonsense reasoning. Ordering based decision making is then to find the suitable method for evaluating candidates or ranking alternatives based on provided ordinal information and criteria, and this in many cases is to rank alternatives based on qualitative ordering information. In this paper, we discuss the importance and research aspects of ordering based decision making, and review the existing ordering based decision making theories and methods along with some future research directions

Novel Tsetlin Machine Mechanisms for Logic-based Regression and Classification with Support for Continuous Input, Clause Weighting, Confidence Assessment, Deterministic Learning, and Convolution

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"What did Morgan's Men really do?"

Before 1914, London, the financial centre of a country half the USA's size, had a stock exchange that was larger and qualitatively more developed than New York for both domestic and overseas financing needs. J. P. Morgan's higher profits in New York arose partly from conflicted deals that would later be illegal, as they already were in London. His contributions to the rapid catch-up process by New York are more plausibly seen in terms of successful emulation of European precedents than the information signalling alleged in over-determined, "Whig" models of American financial innovation.

Switching-Algebraic Calculation of Banzhaf Voting Indices

This paper employs switching-algebraic techniques for the calculation of a fundamental index of voting powers, namely, the total Banzhaf power. This calculation involves two distinct operations: (a) Boolean differencing or differentiation, and (b) computation of the weight (the number of true vectors or minterms) of a switching function. Both operations can be considerably simplified and facilitated if the pertinent switching function is symmetric or it is expressed in a disjoint sum-of-products form. We provide a tutorial exposition on how to implement these two operations, with a stress on situations in which partial symmetry is observed among certain subsets of a set of arguments. We introduce novel Boolean-based symmetry-aware techniques for computing the Banzhaf index by way of two prominent voting systems. These are scalar systems involving six variables and nine variables, respectively. The paper is a part of our ongoing effort for transforming the methodologies and concepts of voting systems to the switching-algebraic domain, and subsequently utilizing switching-algebraic tools in the calculation of pertinent quantities in voting theory

A Graph-Traversing Algorithm for Computing Some Stable Sets in Effectiveness Coalitional Games

We propose an algorithm for computing "main stable sets" recently introduced by Ciardiello, Di Liddo (2009) on effectiveness form coalitional games modeled through a directed pseudograph. The algorithm is based upon a graph traversing method exploring extended paths minimal in coalitions and we study some its interesting computational aspects for making these stability concepts as useful tools for decision theory.Algorithmic game theory; coalitional games; dominance relations; stable sets; graph theory.

Credible Communication in Dynastic Government

It has been suggested that ``horizontal accountability," i.e., a system of governance where auditing functions lie outside the executive branch, can ensure credible disclosure of information. This paper examines a model of intertemporal information provision in government that suggests a cautious approach to that view. Government consists of a succession of regimes, each ruling for one period before relinquishing power to a successor. Without external auditing, credible communication cannot be sustained. Hence, expenditure policies are suboptimal. Even with external auditing, credible communication requires ideological conflicts between the auditor and the regime. Moreover, because information transmission stops when the auditor's and the regime's biases coincide, effective deterrents even in the ``good" periods (when the auditor's and the regime's biases differ) are difficult to construct. As a result, in standard constructions of equilibrium, efficient policy choices are shown to be unsustainabledynastic government, dynamic policy bias, auditor neutrality, credible communication

Layout Optimization for Distributed Relational Databases Using Machine Learning

A common problem when running Web-based applications is how to scale-up the database. The solution to this problem usually involves having a smart Database Administrator determine how to spread the database tables out amongst computers that will work in parallel. Laying out database tables across multiple machines so they can act together as a single efficient database is hard. Automated methods are needed to help eliminate the time required for database administrators to create optimal configurations. There are four operators that we consider that can create a search space of possible database layouts: 1) denormalizing, 2) horizontally partitioning, 3) vertically partitioning, and 4) fully replicating. Textbooks offer general advice that is useful for dealing with extreme cases - for instance you should fully replicate a table if the level of insert to selects is close to zero. But even this seemingly obvious statement is not necessarily one that will lead to a speed up once you take into account that some nodes might be a bottle neck. There can be complex interactions between the 4 different operators which make it even more difficult to predict what the best thing to do is. Instead of using best practices to do database layout, we need a system that collects empirical data on when these 4 different operators are effective. We have implemented a state based search technique to try different operators, and then we used the empirically measured data to see if any speed up occurred. We recognized that the costs of creating the physical database layout are potentially large, but it is necessary since we want to know the Ground Truth about what is effective and under what conditions. After creating a dataset where these four different operators have been applied to make different databases, we can employ machine learning to induce rules to help govern the physical design of the database across an arbitrary number of computer nodes. This learning process, in turn, would allow the database placement algorithm to get better over time as it trains over a set of examples. What this algorithm calls for is that it will try to learn 1) What is a good database layout for a particular application given a query workload? and 2) Can this algorithm automatically improve itself in making recommendations by using machine learned rules to try to generalize when it makes sense to apply each of these operators? There has been considerable research done in parallelizing databases where large amounts of data are shipped from one node to another to answer a single query. Sometimes the costs of shipping the data back and forth might be high, so in this work we assume that it might be more efficient to create a database layout where each query can be answered by a single node. To make this assumption requires that all the incoming query templates are known beforehand. This requirement can easily be satisfied in the case of a Web-based application due to the characteristic that users typically interact with the system through a web interface such as web forms. In this case, unseen queries are not necessarily answerable, without first possibly reconstructing the data on a single machine. Prior knowledge of these exact query templates allows us to select the best possible database table placements across multiple nodes. But in the case of trying to improve the efficiency of a Web-based application, a web site provider might feel that they are willing to suffer the inconvenience of not being able to answer an arbitrary query, if they are in turn provided with a system that runs more efficiently

Participatory Environmental Valuation: A Comparative Analysis of Four Case Studies

The valuation of multiple ecosystem services requires the design of valuation processes able to integrate different dimensions of value and to cope with complexity. Following the “value-articulating institution” framework, we note that three core problems arise: the cognitive, normative and composition problems. Combining valuation methods, such as contingent valuation and multicriteria analysis, with participatory and deliberative techniques is increasingly promoted as a means to address those fundamental problems. However, the quality and legitimacy of the valuation process then becomes dependent on how participation is framed. We note that numerous issues need to be taken into account, such as the roles assumed by participants, the differences in contribution among participants, the level of participatory impact and the level of democratization of the decision-making process. This paper proposes a detailed qualitative analysis of four case studies, each of them having implemented a specific valuation method in a participatory process. We analyze how those cases were handled in each of the dimensions considered and offer our conclusions about the added values and remaining challenges related to participatory environmental valuation

The Political Participation and Government Size

Abstract: This paper analyzes the effect of political participation on government size. First, the paper extends the model proposed by Mueller and Stratmann, which considers relation of political participation and government size. Second, we estimate this model with another index like democracy, voice and accountability, and Civil liberties index as political participation index. This model points that any increase in political participation is generally found to raise government size; however this increasing effect is low. Also, other considered indicators have a significant effect on government size. Our case study is the Asia and Pacific Ocean countries in during 2000 to 2008. Findings showed that when participation rate, democracy index, and voice and accountability index increase one percent, government size increases 0.065, 1.30, and 3.19 percent, respectively. Additionally, when civil liberties increases one percent, government size declines 1.29 percent. The paper provides a small expansion of Mueller and Stratmann model that considers the effect of the overall concept of political participation on government size by using indexes like democracy, voice and accountability, and Civil liberties index. Key words: Government Size; Political participation; Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) Résumé: Cet article analyse l'effet de la participation politique sur la taille du gouvernement. Tout d'abord, l'article étend le modèle concernant la participation politique et la taille du gouvernement proposé par Mueller et Stratmann. Ensuite, il évalue ce modèle avec d’autres indices comme la démocratie, le droit de parler et la responsabilité, et des indices de libertés civiles en tant que l'indice de la participation politique. Ce modèle indique que toute augmentation de la participation politique contribue généralement à élargir la taille du gouvernement, mais cet effet est faible. En outre, d'autres indicateurs estimés ont un effet significatif sur la taille du gouvernement. Notre étude de cas est menée sur les pays en Asie et dans l’océan pacifique au cours de 2000 à 2008. Les résultats ont montré que lorsque le taux de participation, l'indice de démocratie et l’indice du droit de parler et de la responsabilité augmente de 1%, la taille du gouvernement élargit de 0.065%, 1.30%, et 3.19%t, respectivement. Par contre, lorsque les libertés civiles augmente de 1%, la taille du gouvernement baisse de 1,291%. L’article fait une légère expansion du modèle de Mueller et Stratmann qui évalue l'effet de la notion globale de la participation politique sur la taille du gouvernement à l'aide des indices comme la démocratie, le droit de parler et la responsabilité, et des indices de libertés civiles. Mots clés: Taille du gouvernement; Participation politique; Méthode des Moments Généralisée (MMG