A Four Country Comparision of Spite, Cooperation and Errors in Voluntary Contribution Mechanisms.

This paper presents data from experiments with a linear voluntary contributions mechanism for public goods conducted in Japan, the Netherlands, Spain and the USA. The same experimental design was used in the four countries.EXPERIMENTS ; VOLUNTARY SERVICES ; PUBLIC GOODS

The impact of relative position and returns on sacrifice and reciprocity: an experimental study using individual decisions

We present a comprehensive experimental design that makes it possible to characterize other-regarding preferences and their relationship to the decision maker’s relative position. Participants are faced with a large number of decisions involving variations in the trade-offs between own and other’s payoffs, as well as in other potentially important factors like the decision maker’s relative position. We find that: (1) choices are responsive to the cost of helping and hurting others; (2) The weight a decision maker places on others’ monetary payoffs depends on whether the decision maker is in an advantageous or disadvantageous relative position; and (3) We find no evidence of reciprocity of the type linked to menu-dependence. The results of a mixture-model estimation show considerable heterogeneity in subjects’ motivations and confirm the absence of reciprocal motives. Pure selfish behavior is the most frequently observed behavior. Among the subjects exhibiting social preferences, social-welfare maximization is the most frequent, followed by inequality-aversion and by competitiveness

Generalization of the Zlámal condition for simplicial finite elements in ℝ d

The famous Zlámal's minimum angle condition has been widely used for construction of a regular family of triangulations (containing nondegenerating triangles) as well as in convergence proofs for the finite element method in 2d. In this paper we present and discuss its generalization to simplicial partitions in any space dimension

Equal and unequal profit sharing in highly interdependent work groups: a laboratory experiment

We study behavior in a simplified representation of an organization with high task interdependence. The production process involves three stages such that output of earlier stages is the necessary input for subsequent stages. Work at earlier stages is easier than at later stages and the product is only final if it goes successfully through the highest stage. We compare the effects on the performance of the organization of a payment scheme in which profits are equally shared by all those involved in the production process with one where the participation in profits is strongly increasing in the production stage. The comparison is made for two ways of assigning individuals to the production stage: randomly or by merit. We find that initially there is no difference in the organization’s profit between the two sharing schemes, but over time profits increase more with the equal sharing scheme. Changes in profits over time can be explained by changes in production performance over time. After participants have gained experience in the tasks, the equal profit sharing scheme has positive performance effects both at the lowest and the highest production stages. There are only minor differences in the results depending on whether the payment scheme is exogenously imposed or chosen by the person at the highest stage

Herkomst - opplanting poinsettia 1994

Op twee praktijkbedrijven zijn drie belangrijke poinsettiarassen afkomstig van vijf of zes veredelaars/vermeerderaars opgezet. Beoordeeld zijn de planten van de verduisterde teelt tijdens het veilstadium op een aantal voor de kweker belangrijke plantkenmerken. De beoordeling is uitgevoerd door de deelnemers aan de sortimentsopplanting. Herkomst 5 werd als beste gewaardeerd, gevolgd door een middengroep met de herkomsten 2, 4 en 6. De herkomsten 1 en 3 kregen de laagste waardering. Het ras 'Ria' kreeg van de drie geselecteerde rassen de hoogste waardering

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging techniques in hypertension and diabetes

This thesis evaluates the relationship between structural and functional aortic vessel wall alterations and end-organ damage in cross-sectional patient studies with use of MRI. These studies show that aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) in DM1 patients is mainly determined by hypertension, whereas the effect of DM1 itself on aortic PWV is marginal. Increased aortic PWV in patients with hypertension is associated with aortic and carotid vessel wall alterations. Also, increased aortic PWV is associated with cardiac as well as cerebral damage both in hypertensive and DM1 patients. Furthermore, this thesis describes and evaluates the ability of more optimized cardiac MRI-techniques for assessment of cardiovascular disease. Right coronary artery flow can be accurately and reproducibly assessed using 3T VE MRI in healthy control subjects. Furthermore, the use of standardized 7T MRI protocols for assessment of LV volumes, function and flow provides similar quantitative results when compared to 1.5T MRI. Finally, 3D three-directional VE MRI better describes LV diastolic function as compared to 2D one-directional VE MRI in patients with ischemic heart failure.Financial support by the Netherlands Heart Foundation and the Dutch Diabetes Foundation for the publication of this thesis is gratefully acknowledged. Additional fi nancial support is provided by the J.E. Jurriaanse Foundation; Foundation Imago Oegstgeest; Division of Image Processing (LKEB); Philips Healthcare Nederland; Toshiba Medical Systems Nederland; Sectra Medical Systems; Servier Nederland Farma BV; Guerbet Nederland BV; Bayer Schering Pharma; Novo Nordisk BV; Boehringer Ingelheim BV; Sanofi Aventis BV.UBL - phd migration 201

The maximum angle condition is not necessary for convergence of the finite element method

We show that the famous maximum angle condition in the finite element analysis is not necessary to achieve the optimal convergence rate when simplicial finite elements are used to solve elliptic problems. This condition is only sufficient. In fact, finite element approximations may converge even though some dihedral angles of simplicial elements tend to π

Forward induction and entry deterrence: an experiment

The Dixit (Econ J 90:95–106, 1980) hypothesis that incumbents use investment in capacity to deter potential entrants has found little empirical support. Bagwell and Ramey (J Econ 27:660–680, 1996) propose a model where, in the unique game-theoretic prediction based on forward induction or iterated elimination of weakly-dominated strategies, the incumbent does not have the strategic advantage. We conduct an experiment with games inspired by these models. In the Dixit-style game, the incumbent monopolizes the market most of the time even without the investment in capacity. In our Bagwell-and-Ramey-style game, the incumbent also tends to keep the market, in contrast to the predictions of an entrant advantage. Nevertheless, we fin strong evidence that forward induction affects the behavior of most participants. The results of our games suggest that players perceive that the firs mover has an advantage without having to pre-commit capacity. In our Bagwell–Ramey game, evolution and learning do not drive out this perception. We back these claims with data analysis and a theoretical framework for dynamics.Publicad