13,178 research outputs found
The Likelihood of Choosing the Borda-Winner With Partial Preference Rankings of the Electorate
Given that n voters report only the first r (1 †r \u3c m) ranks of their linear preference rankings over m alternatives, the likelihood of implementing Borda outcome is investigated. The information contained in the first r ranks is aggregated through a Borda-like method, namely the r-Borda rule. Monte-Carlo simulations are run to detect changes in the likelihood of r-Borda winner(s) to coincide with the original Borda winner(s) as a function of m, n and r. The votersâ preferences are generated through the Impartial Anonymous and Neutral Culture Model, where both the names of the alternatives and voters are immaterial. It is observed that, for a given r, the likelihood of choosing the Borda winner decreases down to zero independent of n as m increases within the computed range of parameter values, 1†m, n †30. For n = 30, this likelihood is given as an approximating function of r and m through least square fit method
Weakening organizational ties? A classification of styles of volunteering in the Flemish red cross
This article presents an initial empirical assessment of a new analytical framework of styles of volunteering (SOV). The framework suggests that volunteering can be categorized in terms of a multidimensional set of cultural and structural indicators that cohere in systematic and varying ways. With data drawn from a survey of 652 Flemish Red Cross volunteers, a multivariate analysis reveals ïŹve different SOV categories of volunteers: episodic contributors, established administrators, reliable coworkers, service-oriented core volunteers, and critical key ïŹgures. The research ïŹndings indicate that the volunteer reality is far more complex than suggested by conventional approaches to the study of volunteering
Impossibility theorems involving weakenings of expansion consistency and resoluteness in voting
A fundamental principle of individual rational choice is Sen's
axiom, also known as expansion consistency, stating that any alternative chosen
from each of two menus must be chosen from the union of the menus. Expansion
consistency can also be formulated in the setting of social choice. In voting
theory, it states that any candidate chosen from two fields of candidates must
be chosen from the combined field of candidates. An important special case of
the axiom is binary expansion consistency, which states that any candidate
chosen from an initial field of candidates and chosen in a head-to-head match
with a new candidate must also be chosen when the new candidate is added to the
field, thereby ruling out spoiler effects. In this paper, we study the tension
between this weakening of expansion consistency and weakenings of resoluteness,
an axiom demanding the choice of a single candidate in any election. As is well
known, resoluteness is inconsistent with basic fairness conditions on social
choice, namely anonymity and neutrality. Here we prove that even significant
weakenings of resoluteness, which are consistent with anonymity and neutrality,
are inconsistent with binary expansion consistency. The proofs make use of SAT
solving, with the correctness of a SAT encoding formally verified in the Lean
Theorem Prover, as well as a strategy for generalizing impossibility theorems
obtained for special types of voting methods (namely majoritarian and pairwise
voting methods) to impossibility theorems for arbitrary voting methods. This
proof strategy may be of independent interest for its potential applicability
to other impossibility theorems in social choice.Comment: Forthcoming in Mathematical Analyses of Decisions, Voting, and Games,
eds. M. A. Jones, D. McCune, and J. Wilson, Contemporary Mathematics,
American Mathematical Society, 202
Recommender systems in industrial contexts
This thesis consists of four parts: - An analysis of the core functions and
the prerequisites for recommender systems in an industrial context: we identify
four core functions for recommendation systems: Help do Decide, Help to
Compare, Help to Explore, Help to Discover. The implementation of these
functions has implications for the choices at the heart of algorithmic
recommender systems. - A state of the art, which deals with the main techniques
used in automated recommendation system: the two most commonly used algorithmic
methods, the K-Nearest-Neighbor methods (KNN) and the fast factorization
methods are detailed. The state of the art presents also purely content-based
methods, hybridization techniques, and the classical performance metrics used
to evaluate the recommender systems. This state of the art then gives an
overview of several systems, both from academia and industry (Amazon, Google
...). - An analysis of the performances and implications of a recommendation
system developed during this thesis: this system, Reperio, is a hybrid
recommender engine using KNN methods. We study the performance of the KNN
methods, including the impact of similarity functions used. Then we study the
performance of the KNN method in critical uses cases in cold start situation. -
A methodology for analyzing the performance of recommender systems in
industrial context: this methodology assesses the added value of algorithmic
strategies and recommendation systems according to its core functions.Comment: version 3.30, May 201
Micro simulations on the effects of ageing-related policy measures: The Social Affairs Department of the Netherlands Ageing and Pensions Model
his paper describes a newly extended version of the dynamic micro simulation model SADNAP (Social Affairs Department of the Netherlands Ageing and Pensions model). SADNAP is being developed for calculating the financial and economic implications of the ageing of the population and of the ageing-related policy measures that are being proposed to cope with ageing. The model uses administrative datasets of Dutch public pension payments and entitlements for both public and private pensions. SADNAP has already been in use since 2007 for forecasting the state pension expenditures and for analysing the budgetary effects of policy changes. The model has been extended in order to give a broader assessment of policy alternatives by providing insight into other important evaluation indicators like income redistribution and the retirement decision of workers. For the modelling of income redistribution a new micro data source with individual data on private pensions is combined with differentiation of mortality rates in order to gain a better insight in the income at the individual level within the population of pensioners. For the modelling of the retirement decision an option value model is developed in which key parameters vary at the individual level in order to benefit from the micro simulation approach. These extensions greatly enhance the performance of SADNAP. Besides the financial implications, additional insight can now be provided into the effects of policy measures on a set of key indicators. In this paper both extensions are described in detail and a complete baseline projection of all key indicators is discussed.Microsimulation, ageing, pensions, retirement
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