Evolution & Voting: How Nature Makes us Public Spirited

If one assumes that voters are rational, the most plausible explanation for high voter turnouts seems to be that agents receive benefits from the act of voting itself. We show that public-spirited agents have an evolutionary advantage over those who are not as public-spirited for a range of situations. We also explore conditions under which this kind of altruistic behavior is disadvantageous to agents. The details depend on the costs of voting, the degree to which different types of agents have different preferences over public policies and the relative proportions of various preference types in the population. We conclude that evolution may often be a force that causes agents to internalize the benefits their actions confer on others.

Evolution & voting : how nature makes us public spirited

We reconsider the classic puzzle of why election turnouts are persistently so high even though formal analysis strongly suggests that rational agents should not vote. If we assume that voters are not making systematic mistakes, the most plausible explanation seems to be that agents receive benefits from the act of voting itself. This is very close to assuming the answer, however, and immediately begs the question of why agents feel a warm glow from participating in the electoral process. In this paper, we approach the question from an evolutionary standpoint. We show for a range of situations, that public-spirited agents have an evolutionary advantage over those who are not as public-spirited. We also explore conditions under which this kind of altruistic behavior is disadvantageous to agents. The details depend on the costs of voting, the degree to which different types of agents have different preferences over public policies and the relative proportions of various preference types in the population, but we conclude that evolution may often be a force that causes agents to internalize the benefits their actions

Evolution & voting: how nature makes us public spirited

We reconsider the classic puzzle of why election turnouts are persistently so high when formal analysis strongly suggests that rational agents should not vote. If we assume that voters are not making systematic mistakes,the most plausible explanation seems to be agents receive benefits, from the act of voting itself. This is very close to assuming the answer, however, and immediately begs the question of why agents feel a warm glow from participating in the electoral process. In this paper, we approach this question from an evolutionary standpoint. We show for a range of situations that public-spirited agents have an evolutionary advantage over those who are not as public-spirited. We also explore when this kind of altruistic behavior is disadvantageous to agents. The details depend on the costs of voting, the degree to which agents have different preferences over public policies and the ratio of various preference types in the population, but we conclude that evolution may often be a force that causes agents to internalize the benefits their actions confer on other

Essays in Political Economy and Public Policy

117 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2002.The third essay surveys the two prominent, theories that purport to explain the extent of public ownership. It then develops a model that puts these two theories into a common framework. The model is tested with a cross-country panel dataset. The results show that deficiencies in commitment and greater political pressure for control of employment are associated with larger public enterprise sectors. I also find that a higher opportunity cost of public funds tends to reduce the extent of state ownership except when commitment capability and pressure for employment control are low.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD

Essays in Political Economy and Public Policy

117 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2002.The third essay surveys the two prominent, theories that purport to explain the extent of public ownership. It then develops a model that puts these two theories into a common framework. The model is tested with a cross-country panel dataset. The results show that deficiencies in commitment and greater political pressure for control of employment are associated with larger public enterprise sectors. I also find that a higher opportunity cost of public funds tends to reduce the extent of state ownership except when commitment capability and pressure for employment control are low.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD

Evolution & Voting: How Nature Makes us Public Spirited

We reconsider the classic puzzle of why election turnouts are persistently so high even though formal analysis strongly suggests that rational agents should not vote. If we assume that voters are not making systematic mistakes, the most plausible explanation seems to be that agents receive benefits from the act of voting itself. This is very close to assuming the answer, however, and immediately begs the question of why agents feel a warm glow from participating in the electoral process. In this paper, we approach the question from an evolutionary standpoint. We show for a range of situations, that public-spirited agents have an evolutionary advantage over those who are not as public-spirited. We also explore conditions under which this kind of altruistic behavior is disadvantageous to agents. The details depend on the costs of voting, the degree to which different types of agents have different preferences over public policies and the relative proportions of various preference types in the population, but we conclude that evolution may often be a force that causes agents to internalize the benefits their actions confer on others

Quality Control Assessment of Conventional Radiology Devices in Iran

Introduction Quality control (QC) techniques are used in monitoring and maintenance of the components of an x-ray system. QC of radiology devices plays a significant role in reduction of medication dose and optimization of image quality. This study aimed to conduct QC tests on randomly selected radiology devices, installed in diagnostic imaging departments of Iran. Materials and Methods In total, quality control tests were conducted on 51 conventional radiology devices installed in 20 cities of Iran in order to assess the accuracy of peak kilovoltage  (kVp), exposure time, exposure linearity and reciprocity, reproducibility of exposure and determination of half-value layer (HVL) using a calibrated Mult-O-Meter. Results In this study, 38.6% of devices had intolerable variance of kVp accuracy. The results of 34.5% of devices were out of the acceptable limits in exposure time accuracy test. In 46.7% and 53.1% of devices, variance was greater than the acceptable range for exposure linearity and exposure reciprocity, respectively. In terms of reproducibility of exposure test, the reproducibility variance and percentage of tube output variations in 19.4% of devices exceeded the limits. Moreover, the thickness of first HVL was lower than the acceptable limit in 14.7% of devices. Conclusion According to the results of this study, there were wide variations in QC test results, perhaps mainly due to the fact that it is not an obligation to implement QC programs in Iran. The most important problems were non-reciprocity of exposure, nonlinearity of exposure with milliampere-second (mAs), kVp and timer inaccuracy. Involvement of medical physicists, radiologists and radiographers in the implementation of QC programs at various stages of development, installation and use of equipment should enable the gradual improvement in equipment performance

Quality Control Assessment of Conventional Radiology Devices in Iran

Abstract Introduction Quality control (QC) techniques are used in monitoring and maintenance of the components of an x-ray system. QC of radiology devices plays a significant role in reduction of medication dose and optimization of image quality. This study aimed to conduct QC tests on randomly selected radiology devices, installed in diagnostic imaging departments of Iran. Materials and Methods In total, quality control tests were conducted on 51 conventional radiology devices installed in 20 cities of Iran in order to assess the accuracy of peak kilovoltage (kVp), exposure time, exposure linearity and reciprocity, reproducibility of exposure and determination of half-value layer (HVL) using a calibrated Mult-O-Meter. Results In this study, 38.6% of devices had intolerable variance of kVp accuracy. The results of 34.5% of devices were out of the acceptable limits in exposure time accuracy test. In 46.7% and 53.1% of devices, variance was greater than the acceptable range for exposure linearity and exposure reciprocity, respectively. In terms of reproducibility of exposure test, the reproducibility variance and percentage of tube output variations in 19.4% of devices exceeded the limits. Moreover, the thickness of first HVL was lower than the acceptable limit in 14.7% of devices. Conclusion According to the results of this study, there were wide variations in QC test results, perhaps mainly due to the fact that it is not an obligation to implement QC programs in Iran. The most important problems were non-reciprocity of exposure, nonlinearity of exposure with milliampere-second (mAs), kVp and timer inaccuracy. Involvement of medical physicists, radiologists and radiographers in the implementation of QC programs at various stages of development, installation and use of equipment should enable the gradual improvement in equipment performance