An Experimental Analysis ofGroup Size and Risk Sharing

We study the relationship between group size and the extent of risk sharing in an insurance game played over a number of periods with random idiosyncratic and aggregate shocks to income in each period. Risk sharing is attained via agents that receive a high endowment in one period making unilateral transfers to agents that receive a low endowment in that period. The complete risk sharing allocation is for all agents to place their endowments in a common pool, which is then shared equally among members of the group in every period. Theoretically, the larger the group size, the smaller the per capita dispersion in consumption and greater is the potential value of insurance. Field evidence however suggests that smaller groups do better than larger groups as far as risk sharing is concerned. Results from our experiments show that the extent of mutual insurance is significantly higher in smaller groups, though contributions to the pool are never close to what complete risk sharing requires.Reciprocity, Risk Sharing, Group Size, Experiments

Investment Decisions and Emissions Reductions : Results from Experiments in Emissions Trading

Emissions trading is an important regulatory tool in environmental policy making. Unfortunately the effectiveness of these regulations is difficult to measure in the field due to the unavailability of appropriate data. In contrast, experiments in the laboratory can provide guidance to regulators and legislatures about the performance of different market features in emission trading programs. This paper reports on the implementation of three different institutional designs, and presents experimental results investigating important features of emissions trading regimes: the ability to make investments in emissions abatement, ability to bank allowances and a declining emissions cap, both with and without uncertainty. These features are observed in virtually all existing air pollution emissions trading programs currently in place and will almost certainly be part of future applications. Like previous experimental studies of emissions trading, this paper shows that the efficiency gains expected from economic theory emerge observationally. We also show reduced efficiency when permits are bankable due to over-banking and when investments in emissions abatement are possible due to overinvesting. These tendencies do not worsen, however, when emissions caps decline.Emissions Trading, Investment in Abatement, Banking, Laboratory Experiments

Do Attitudes Towards Corruption Differ Across Cultures? Experimental Evidence from Australia, India, Indonesia andSingapore

This paper examines cultural differences in attitudes towards corruption by analysing individual-decision making in a corrupt experimental environment. Attitudes towards corruption play a critical role in the persistence of corruption. Our experiments differentiate between the incentives to engage in corrupt behaviour and the incentives to punish corrupt behaviour and allow us to explore whether, in environments characterized by lower levels of corruption, there is both a lower propensity to engage in corrupt behaviour and a higher propensity to punish corrupt behaviour. Based on experiments run in Australia (Melbourne), India (Delhi), Indonesia (Jakarta) and Singapore, we find that there is more variation in the propensities to punish corrupt behaviour than in the propensities to engage in corrupt behaviour across cultures. The results reveal that the subjects in India exhibit a higher tolerance towards corruption than the subjects in Australia while the subjects in Indonesia behave similarly to those in Australia. The subjects in Singapore have a higher propensity to engage in corruption than the subjects in Australia. We also vary our experimental design to examine the impact of a more effective punishment system and the effect of the perceived cost of bribery.Corruption, Experiments, Punishment, Cultural Analysis

Effects of Employee Personality on the Relationships between Experienced Incivility, Emotional Exhaustion, and Perpetrated Incivility

Workplace incivility refers to low-intensity negative behaviors that violate workplace norms of respect. Incivility is known to be a type of stressor in the workplace, with recent research drawing attention to how it may differentially affect employees with varying personality traits. Drawing from a stressor–strain theoretical framework, we examined the moderating effects of four of the Big Five personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and extraversion) on the relationship between individuals’ experienced incivility and their subsequent emotional exhaustion and perpetrated incivility toward others in the organization. Results from a 2-wave survey of 252 working adults indicate that personality traits moderated the relationship between the stressor of experienced incivility and the examined strains. Agreeableness strengthened the relationship between experienced incivility and the strains examined here. On the other hand, highly conscientious employees were less likely (than employees scoring low on this trait) to perpetrate incivility toward others or become emotionally exhausted in response to experiencing incivility. No moderating effects were found for the personality traits of neuroticism and extraversion. Implications for research and practice are discussed

Conditional gene deletion reveals functional redundancy of GABAB receptors in peripheral nociceptors in vivo

Background Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is an important inhibitory neurotransmitter which mainly mediates its effects on neurons via ionotropic (GABAA) and metabotropic (GABAB) receptors. GABAB receptors are widely expressed in the central and the peripheral nervous system. Although there is evidence for a key function of GABAB receptors in the modulation of pain, the relative contribution of peripherally- versus centrally-expressed GABAB receptors is unclear. Results In order to elucidate the functional relevance of GABAB receptors expressed in peripheral nociceptive neurons in pain modulation we generated and analyzed conditional mouse mutants lacking functional GABAB(1) subunit specifically in nociceptors, preserving expression in the spinal cord and brain (SNS-GABAB(1)-/- mice). Lack of the GABAB(1) subunit precludes the assembly of functional GABAB receptor. We analyzed SNS-GABAB(1)-/- mice and their control littermates in several models of acute and neuropathic pain. Electrophysiological studies on peripheral afferents revealed higher firing frequencies in SNS-GABAB(1)-/- mice compared to corresponding control littermates. However no differences were seen in basal nociceptive sensitivity between these groups. The development of neuropathic and chronic inflammatory pain was similar across the two genotypes. The duration of nocifensive responses evoked by intraplantar formalin injection was prolonged in the SNS-GABAB(1)-/- animals as compared to their control littermates. Pharmacological experiments revealed that systemic baclofen-induced inhibition of formalin-induced nociceptive behaviors was not dependent upon GABAB(1) expression in nociceptors. Conclusion This study addressed contribution of GABAB receptors expressed on primary afferent nociceptive fibers to the modulation of pain. We observed that neither the development of acute and chronic pain nor the analgesic effects of a systematically-delivered GABAB agonist was significantly changed upon a specific deletion of GABAB receptors from peripheral nociceptive neurons in vivo. This lets us conclude that GABAB receptors in the peripheral nervous system play a less important role than those in the central nervous system in the regulation of pain

Active Vibration Control of a Smart Cantilever Beam on General Purpose Operating System

All mechanical systems suffer from undesirable vibrations during their operations. Their occurrence is uncontrollable as it depends on various factors. However, for efficient operation of the system, these vibrations have to be controlled within the specified limits. Light weight, rapid and multi-mode control of the vibrating structure is possible by the use of piezoelectric sensors and actuators and feedback control algorithms. In this paper, direct output feedback based active vibration control has been implemented on a cantilever beam using Lead Zirconate-Titanate (PZT) sensors and actuators. Three PZT patches were used, one as the sensor, one as the exciter providing the forced vibrations and the third acting as the actuator that provides an equal but opposite phase vibration/force signal to that of sensed so as to damp out the vibrations. The designed algorithm is implemented on Lab VIEW 2010 on Windows 7 Platform.Defence Science Journal, 2013, 63(4), pp.413-417, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.63.486

The Effectiveness of Augmented Reality as a Facilitator of Information Acquisition in Aviation Maintenance Applications

Until recently, in the field of Augmented Reality (AR) little research attention has been paid to the cognitive benefits of this emerging technology. AR, the synthesis of computer images and text in the real world, affords a supplement to normal information acquisition that has yet to be fully explored and exploited. AR achieves a more smooth and seamless interface by complementing human cognitive networks, and aiding information integration through multimodal sensory elaboration (visual, verbal, proprioceptive, and tactile memory) while the user is performing real world tasks. AR also incorporates visuo-spatial ability, which involves the representations of spatial information in memory. The use of this type of information is an extremely powerful form of elaboration. This study examined four learning paradigms: print (printed material) mode, observe (video tape) mode, interact (text annotations activated by mouse interaction) mode, and select (AR) mode. The results of the experiment indicated that the select (AR) mode resulted in better learning and recall when compared to the other three conventional learning modes

Discovery of Novel Biomarker Candidates for Liver Fibrosis in Hepatitis C Patients: A Preliminary Study

Background: Liver biopsy is the reference standard for assessing liver fibrosis and no reliable non-invasive diagnostic approach is available to discriminate between the intermediate stages of fibrosis. Therefore suitable serological biomarkers of liver fibrosis are urgently needed. We used proteomics to identify novel fibrosis biomarkers in hepatitis C patients with different degrees of liver fibrosis.Methodology/Principal Findings: Proteins in plasma samples from healthy control individuals and patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) induced cirrhosis were analysed using a proteomics technique: two dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE). This technique separated the proteins in plasma samples of control and cirrhotic patients and by visualizing the separated proteins we were able to identify proteins which were increasing or decreasing in hepatic cirrhosis. Identified markers were validated across all Ishak fibrosis stages and compared to the markers used in FibroTest, Enhanced Liver Fibrosis (ELF) test, Hepascore and FIBROSpect by Western blotting. Forty four candidate biomarkers for hepatic fibrosis were identified of which 20 were novel biomarkers of liver fibrosis. Western blot validation of all candidate markers using plasma samples from patients across all Ishak fibrosis scores showed that the markers which changed with increasing fibrosis most consistently included lipid transfer inhibitor protein, complement C3d, corticosteroid-binding globulin, apolipoprotein J and apolipoprotein L1. These five novel fibrosis markers which are secreted in blood showed a promising consistent change with increasing fibrosis stage when compared to the markers used for the FibroTest, ELF test, Hepascore and FIBROSpect. These markers will be further validated using a large clinical cohort.Conclusions/Significance: This study identifies 20 novel fibrosis biomarker candidates. The proteins identified may help to assess hepatic fibrosis and eliminate the need for invasive liver biopsies.</br

Leadership in agricultural machinery circles: experimental evidence from Tajikistan

Leadership is critical for the viability of rural groups. The way in which leadership is legitimised can mediate leader and group member behaviour in the face of social dilemmas. Yet there has been scant research on leader‐follower dynamics in naturally occurring groups. Highlighting the case of agricultural machinery circles in Tajikistan, the effect of leading by example on investments to a collective good is studied in a framed field experiment. To increase realism, and contrary to standard economic experiments, this investment is a voucher allowing the group to make a real‐world machinery purchase at reduced costs. Two treatments manipulate leaders’ legitimisation. Elected leaders achieve 30 per cent higher contributions to the collective investment against a baseline version without a leader. Contributions remain, on average, relatively stable over the course of the game. The results are discussed with reference to the debate on external intervention in agricultural producer organisations.Peer Reviewe