The Social Epistemology of Experimental Economics

Ana Cristina Cordeiro dos Santos was born in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1971. She received her B.Sc. degree in Economics from Technical University of Lisbon, in Portugal, in 1994, and a MA degree in Social Policy from Roskilde University, in Denmark, in 1995. Since 1996 she has been a teaching assistant at Instituto Superior de Ciências do Trabalho e da Empresa (ISCTE), in Lisbon. She obtained a MPhil degree in Philosophy of Economics at the Erasmus Institute for Philosophy of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, in 2001. She completed her Ph.D. in Philosophy of Economics at the same institute.This thesis analysed the experimental process of knowledge production. It investigated how scientists build their confidence in knowledge generated by a process in which both the means and the outcomes of knowledge production are re-constructed. The study of experimental practice in the natural and human sciences supports the view that scientists are convinced that they have produced the phenomenon of interest when they achieve a three-way coherence between the three components of the experimental system: the experimental procedure, the instrumental model and the phenomenal model. When the three-way coherence is achieved, experimenters believe that they have created an experimental system that succeeded in producing the phenomenon of interest. The relation of coherence among the three components of the experimental system justifies belief in the experimental results because the threeway alignment supports each one of them and thus the experimental result conveyed by the phenomenal model. This was the underlying principle of the argument from coherence that justifies the way by which experimenters form belief in experimental results. However, it was also noted that the three-way alignment is not sufficient to justify belief in experimentally generated knowledge. Two additional arguments were presented that reinforced the epistemic value of the three-way coherence. The argument from materiality asserts that the direct engagement of the subject matter in knowledge production (both in the natural and human domains) renders experimental results and the coherences supporting them non-trivial achievements. The coherent problem-solutions arrived at carry knowledge about the subject under scrutiny because scientists cannot fully control it to meet their prior expectations. However, the argument from materiality does not satisfactorily account for experimenters’ confidence in experimental results. The participation of the subject matter might still be severely constrained by the problem-situation at hand or by the plasticity of the experimental systems. The argument from sociality asserts that the social dimension of knowledge production encourages the generation of fruitful problem-situations and reliable problem-solutions by bringing to the production process a vast number of resources of practice. The three arguments in conjunction lead to a broader conclusion: the greater the number and the greater the heterogeneity of the resources (material, conceptual and social) involved in knowledge production, the higher the epistemic status of the relations of coherence established given that they are the result of practices that have explored relevant courses of action to the resolution of interesting problem-situations

The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Economics

The most fundamental questions of economics are often philosophical in nature, and philosophers have, since the very beginning of Western philosophy, asked many questions that current observers would identify as economic. The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Economics is an outstanding reference source for the key topics, problems, and debates at the intersection of philosophical and economic inquiry. It captures this field of countless exciting interconnections, affinities, and opportunities for cross-fertilization. Comprising 35 chapters by a diverse team of contributors from all over the globe, the Handbook is divided into eight sections: I. Rationality II. Cooperation and Interaction III. Methodology IV. Values V. Causality and Explanation VI. Experimentation and Simulation VII. Evidence VIII. Policy The volume is essential reading for students and researchers in economics and philosophy who are interested in exploring the interconnections between the two disciplines. It is also a valuable resource for those in related fields like political science, sociology, and the humanities.</p

An empirical analysis of top management team strategic cognition, managerial attributes, audit committee effectiveness and their implications for corporate risk and performance

The events of the global financial crisis have hastened the refinement of existing corporate governance regulations and the development of new ones to strengthen corporate governance mechanisms. However, critics of this approach argue that strengthening the corporate governance system by itself cannot guarantee better organizational outcomes. Rather, understanding the cognitive footprints of the top management team (top management strategic cognition) and its implications on organizational outcomes represent a better alternative. Currently, empirical research that examines the effects of top management team (TMT) strategic cognition on firm outcomes is scarce and sparse. Therefore, our knowledge and understanding of how TMT cognitive structures (mental models) influence organizational outcomes is limited and scattered. This study uses a sample of balanced panel data from 311 UK FTSE companies from 2007 to 2016 to examine the effects of TMT strategic cognition on organizational outcomes. Since TMT members differ in their cognitive structures, both researchers and policy makers find it difficult to identify specific cognitive elements that can secure optimum organizational outcomes. The motivation for this thesis is to contribute to the corporate governance literature by presenting a unique decision making framework that examines six different top management strategic cognition pathways and how the elements in each pathway influences firm outcomes. This thesis uses the partial least squares- structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and fixed effects estimation methods. The findings based on this thesis provide three original contributions to the literature. First, the results show that a TMT strategic cognition that combines innovativeness and high risk preference can secure better organizational outcomes. Second, the analyses further show that firms that have experienced accounting and finance experts and communicate more about their corporate sustainability to their stakeholders perform better in both crisis periods and stable periods. Third, a bankruptcy model that combines managerial attributes, accounting data and market data can provide a better prediction of a firm’s bankruptcy probability and the variability in its market returns

Technology and regulation 2021

Technology and Regulation (TechReg) is an international journal of law, technology and society, with an interdisciplinary identity. TechReg provides an online platform for disseminating original research on the legal and regulatory challenges posed by existing and emerging technologies (and their applications) including, but by no means limited to, the Internet and digital technology, artificial intelligence and machine learning, robotics, neurotechnology, nanotechnology, biotechnology, energy and climate change technology, and health and food technology. This book contains Volume 3 (2021) of the journal

Transnational Standards of Social Protection: Contrasting European and International Governance

The Report presents insights which illuminates the intertwinements of European regulatory policies and global governance arrangements. By pinning down the exact nature of the interaction between these two levels, the EU’s dilemma becomes obvious: On the one hand, stronger global governance can be a chance, through which the EU can clarify its own raison d’être of increased integration to the wider world. On the other hand, the design of the European project is being challenged by more assertive global structures. This is especially the case in relation to the WTO regime, which is constraining the decisional autonomy of the EU, regarding the appropriateness of its content and its external effects. Thus, the regulation of services in the EU and the WTO are discussed in the first section of this report. Section two focuses on labour standards, which are analysed from different angles in order to clarify the functions of the WTO and the ILO, multinational companies as well as other private actors within this specific field. The final section deals with the legitimacy problematic of transnational governance. Table of contents: Introduction Christian Joerges and Poul F. Kjaer Section One: Freedom of Services Chapter 1 The Multiple Understandings of Conflict between Trade in Services and Labour Protection Alexia Herwig Chapter 2 Competing in Markets, not Rules: The Conflict over the Single Services Market Susanne K. Schmidt Chapter 3 Competitiveness and Labour Protection: A Comment Markus Krajewski Section Two: Labour Standards Chapter 4 WTO and ILO: Can Social Responsibility be maintained in International Trade? Josef Falke Chapter 5 Reframing RECON: Perspectives on Transnationalisation and Post-national Democracy from Labour Law Claire Methven O’Brien Chapter 6 Transnational Governance and Human Rights: The Obligations of Private Actors in the Global Context Regina Kreide Section Three: The Legitimacy of Transnational Governance Chapter 7 Legitimacy through Precaution in European Regulation of GMOs? From the Standpoint of Governance as Analytical Perspective Maria Weimer Chapter 8 The Justice Deficit of the EU and other International Organisations Jürgen Neyer Chapter 9 Towards Normative Legitimacy of the World Trade Order Alexia Herwig and Thorsten Hüller Chapter 10 From Utopia to Apology – The Return to Inter-state Justice in Normative IR Scholarship: Comments on Neyer and Herwig & Hüller Jens Steffe

The Small Matter of Suing Chevron

Suzana Sawyer traces Ecuador’s lawsuit against the Chevron corporation for the environmental devastation resulting from its oil drilling practices, showing how distinct legal truths were relationally composed of, with, and through crude oil

The Small Matter of Suing Chevron

Suzana Sawyer traces Ecuador’s lawsuit against the Chevron corporation for the environmental devastation resulting from its oil drilling practices, showing how distinct legal truths were relationally composed of, with, and through crude oil