The supervised IBP: neighbourhood preserving infinite latent feature models

We propose a probabilistic model to infer supervised latent variables in the Hamming space from observed data. Our model allows simultaneous inference of the number of binary latent variables, and their values. The latent variables preserve neighbourhood structure of the data in a sense that objects in the same semantic concept have similar latent values, and objects in different concepts have dissimilar latent values. We formulate the supervised infinite latent variable problem based on an intuitive principle of pulling objects together if they are of the same type, and pushing them apart if they are not. We then combine this principle with a flexible Indian Buffet Process prior on the latent variables. We show that the inferred supervised latent variables can be directly used to perform a nearest neighbour search for the purpose of retrieval. We introduce a new application of dynamically extending hash codes, and show how to effectively couple the structure of the hash codes with continuously growing structure of the neighbourhood preserving infinite latent feature space

A Transaction cost Perspective on the Influence of Standards on Product Development Examples from the Fruit and Vegetable Market

In this paper I argue that quality standards, products standards, and quality classes influence the priority that firms give to different product developments. These standards may be viewed as institutions in the sense of shared rules of behavior or codes. They have become shared because there are increasing returns to their use. These increasing returns apply both to their functions as means of reducing the costs of specifying and communicating product quality and to their functions as means of reducing buyers' costs of comparing the quality of different products - both of which are part of transaction costs. When reliable and extensively used standards exist, transaction costs are reduced. But these positive consequences to individual firms of adhering to the same standards create a sort of inertia in product development. This is because developments which are in line with existing standards will not introduce new transaction costs, while developments which break with the conformity of the standards will. In order for the latter kinds of product developments to be profitable, both development costs and transaction costs have to be overcome.Transaction costs, product development standards

The Moral Economy and Research on Projects: neglect and relevance to social capital and competencies

This paper makes a theoretical contribution to the understanding of management and of projects. The paper adopts an analysis of the moral economy, which poses a conceptual challenge to the way in which management generally, and specifically concerning projects, is understood. The paper also poses an indirect methodological challenge, particularly to positivism, empiricism and some interpretative analysis.Project management and the management of projects have tended to focus upon task and function respectively, which has relegated or excluded the role of morality in relationships in both research and practice. A similar position is adopted in economics with a focus upon closed systems. The combined result is an exclusion of the moral economy. This paper argues for a theoretical reappraisal of management generally, and specifically with regard to projects, to include the moral economy. The moral economy is not only foundational to the operation of the market economy, but also contributes to its performance.The conclusion summaries the main points and makes recommendations concerning theoretical development, methodology and practice

Coordinating Sectoral Policymaking: Searching for Countervailing Mechanisms in the EU Legislative Process

In contrast to parliamentary systems, the Council of Ministers, the main legislative body of the European Union, consists of different formations in which national ministers with similar sectoral portfolios participate. This decision-making structure has led to a ‘loss of coherence’. In this paper I analyze several ways to strengthen policy coordination in the Union, including current coordination by the General Affairs Council and further involvement of the European Council. The analysis shows that ex ante-coordination, which is possible when drafting a proposal (for instance, in the case of Coreper) is more effective than ex post-coordination. In addition, imposing a hierarchical structure in which the European Council may review policy initiatives is also rather effective. However, this arrangement raises the question whether such a structure is suitable for a democratic system in which Parliament is not the principal decision-making body.

Agent Technology in Supply Chains and Networks: An exploration of high potential future applications

This paper reports on an ongoing research project that\ud is aimed at evaluating how software agents can improve\ud performance of supply chains and networks. To conduct\ud this evaluation, first a framework is developed to classify\ud potential applications of software agents to supply\ud networks. The framework was used in workshop sessions\ud with logistics and information systems experts from\ud industry, software/consultancy and academia to identify\ud promising areas for agents. Based on the framework and\ud the outcome of the workshop sessions, this paper presents\ud promising application areas for the near future and\ud beyond

Harmful Freedom of Choice: Lessons from the Cellphone Market

This article focuses on the relationship between provider and customer, specifically on the complexity of available contracts in the cellphone market and the ways this complexity might be harmful to consumers. This article aims to elucidate the issues, fleshing them out both as a general phenomenon and as a specific implementation in the cellphone context. The aim is not to provide ultimate solutions, but to show the directions these solutions might take and the difficulties involved

Learning Ordinal Preferences on Multiattribute Domains: the Case of CP-nets

International audienceA recurrent issue in decision making is to extract a preference structure by observing the user's behavior in different situations. In this paper, we investigate the problem of learning ordinal preference orderings over discrete multi-attribute, or combinatorial, domains. Specifically, we focus on the learnability issue of conditional preference networks, or CP- nets, that have recently emerged as a popular graphical language for representing ordinal preferences in a concise and intuitive manner. This paper provides results in both passive and active learning. In the passive setting, the learner aims at finding a CP-net compatible with a supplied set of examples, while in the active setting the learner searches for the cheapest interaction policy with the user for acquiring the target CP-net

The Botswana National Migration Study: a conceptual framework

African Studies Center Working Paper No. 4

Factors that influence the choice of first jobs of the students and recent graduated students: information technology area vs socio-humanistic and economic area

Classifications according to the JEL Classification System: A2 Economic Education and Teaching of Economics: A22.Undergraduate, A23.Graduate O1 Economic Development: 015 Human Resources • Human Development • Income Distribution • MigrationThe present master dissertation was a result of the interest in investigate about which kind of determinant characteristics will influence the choice of first job by students and recent graduated students, especially the ones that belong to the Informatics and technology area and socio-economic/ socio-humanistic area. This empirical research was just applied to a national context. Going on with this study, firstly were structured a literature review where was described and analysed as an influent dimensions organisational characteristics and characteristics according to wished function or task. Afterwards these specific dimensions were tested and analysed using a questionnaire answered by two hundred and four students. Making this empirical study was possible to take some conclusions in terms of type of influent characteristics by academic graduation area, testing also if the same dimensions depend on factors such as gender or age. The interest and convenience of this study relies on the actuality of the topic. In general and according to the valid sample of this study we can conclude that there are effective differences in terms how students and recent graduated students value the importance of function and organisational characteristics, mainly considering dimensions as work context and task characteristics and on the other side when making a correlation between the ten dimensions and age variable.A presente dissertação de mestrado resultou do interesse em investigar as determinantes influenciadoras da escolha do primeiro emprego por parte de estudantes recém-graduados, principalmente os estudantes das áreas de Informática e Tecnologia e Ciências Sociais e Económicas. Este estudo empírico foi aplicado apenas num contexto nacional. Para este efeito, numa primeira fase procedeu-se a uma revisão de literatura na qual se consideraram como dimensões influenciadoras características organizacionais e características de acordo com a função a desempenhar. Posteriormente estas foram testadas e analisadas através de um questionário submetido a duzentos e quatro alunos. A partir deste estudo empírico foi possível retirar algumas conclusões relativas ao tipo de características influenciadoras por área de formação, testando também se as mesmas dependem de outros fatores como é exemplo género ou idade. O interesse e conveniência deste estudo prendem-se principalmente pela atualidade do tópico. De maneira geral e segundo a amostra válida neste estudo conclui-se que efetivamente há diferenças na valoração de importância de caraterísticas funcionais e organizacionais, por parte de estudantes e recém graduados, principalmente considerando dimensões como contexto de trabalho e características da tarefa ou por outro lado a correlação entre as dez dimensões testadas, com a variável idade