It's not how you play the game, it's winning that matters: an experimental investigation of asymmetric contests

This paper reports an experimental test of asymmetric Tullock contests. Both the simultaneous-move and sequential-move frameworks are considered. The introduction of asymmetries in the contest function generates experimental behavior qualitatively consistent with the theoretical predictions. However, especially in the simultaneous-move framework, average bidding levels are in excess of the risk-neutral predictions. We conjecture that the reason behind this behavior lies in subjects attaching positive utility to victory in the contest.Laboratory experiments, contests, asymmetries

Social identity, group composition and public good provision: an experimental study

Social fragmentation has been identified as a potential cause for the under-provision of public goods in developing nations, as well as in urban communities in developed countries such as the U.S. We study the effect of social fragmentation on public good provision using laboratory experiments. We create two artificial social groups in the lab and we assign subjects belonging to both groups to a public good game. The treatment variable is the relative size of each social group, which is a proxy for social fragmentation. We find that while higher social fragmentation leads to lower public good provision, this effect is short-lived. Furthermore, social homogeneity does not lead to higher levels of contributions.Social Identity, Public Goods, Social Fragmentation, Experiments.

Systems and strategies for a low cost sense and avoid implementation in small unmanned aircraft

Supervisors: Dr. Rodrigo Martins de Matos Ventura, Major ENGEL João Manuel Moreira Simões Examination Committee: Chairperson: MGEN ENGEL Luís Filipe Basto Damásio; Supervisor: Dr. Rodrigo Martins de Matos Ventura, Major ENGEL João Manuel Moreira Simões; Member of the Committee: TCOR ENGEL Maria de Fátima Alves NunesAvanços na tecnologia introduziram novas aeronaves não-tripuladas no mercado, que são capazes de operar numa vasta variedade de cenários e que oferecem excelentes capacidades, como por exemplo, o aumento da carga útil e do tempo de operação. Além disto, a crescente disponibilização de small Unmanned Aircraft (sUA) financeiramente acessíveis mas que conseguem oferecer capacidades semelhantes às de aeronaves topo de gama com acrescida simplicidade de operação, promoveram um aumento do interesse do público em geral para a aviação. Esta simplicidade significa que qualquer pessoa consegue operar um sUA mesmo sem qualquer conhecimento das regras do ar, apesar deste conhecimento ser fundamental. A introdução deste tipo de utilizador num mundo tão regulado como a aviação aumenta significativamente o risco de colisõoes aéreas. Assim, o objectivo desta dissertação é estudar e desenvolver estratégias e sistemas que permitam a incorporação low cost da capacidade Sense and Avoid em sUA. Com isto em mente, duas soluções foram exploradas: adaptação de um sistema de luzes de posição e anti colisão num sUA, e o desenvolvimento de um protótipo Infrared Sense and Avoid, que permite a detecçãoo de intrusos, fornecendo a sua posição relativa e o tipo de aeronave, para que possam ser planeadas manobras de forma a evitar a colisão. Além disto, foi desenvolvido um método para identificação do tipo de aeronave utilizando código Morse. O primeiro protótipo desenvolvido aumenta a probabilidade de uma aeronave ser detectada, enquanto o segundo possibilita a detecção de aeronaves que utilizem o mesmo equipamento.Advances in technology have introduced new Unmanned Aircraft (UA) into the market that are able of operating in a wide variety of scenes and offer great capabilities, such as increased payload and time of operation. Adding to this, the fast growing availability of cheap small unmanned aircraft (sUA), which can offer similar features with added simplicity of operation, has brought an increased interest of the general public to aviation. This simplicity means that an operator may not possess any knowledge of the rules of the air to be able to fly an sUA, even though this knowledge is fundamental. The introduction of this kind of user into such a highly regulated world, as is aviation, highly increases the risk of air collision. Thus, the objective of this dissertation is to study and develop strategies and systems that allow the low cost incorporation of Sense and Avoid capabilities in small unmanned aircraft. Accordingly, two solutions were explored: adaptation of a position and anti-collision lights system to an sUA, and development of an Infrared Sense and Avoid prototype which enables the detection of an intruder, providing its relative position and type of aircraft, so that possible avoidance maneuvers may be planned. A relevant contribution is the creation of a method to identify the type of aircraft using Morse code. Results show that the first prototype increases detectability while the second provides detection of aircraft with the same equipment.N/

Fiscal Consolidations: Welfare Effects of the Adjustment Speed

This work studies the response of social welfare to fiscal consolidations, by focusing on a less debated characteristic of fiscal plans: the speed of deleveraging. A neoclassical overlapping generations model is calibrated to the German economy, and a sequence of reductions of the same size in the debt-to-GDP ratio are simulated considering different adjustment periods. Welfare gains are found to be larger in slow, delayed fiscal consolidations, due to the presence of incomplete markets. It is also found that the aggregate welfare response depends on the distribution of wealth and the type of fiscal instrument used

ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems through the Lens of Organizational Culture

Both managers and scholars have convictions about the organizational approaches that best support organizational performance of the respective organizations and its Quality Management Systems. After a literature review of ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems (including the changes introduced by the 2015 edition), Organizational Culture theories are addressed and input from a CEO´s focus group was gathered. The importance of organizational culture for the success of Quality Management Systems and the achievement of the organizational desired results is highlighted. The article advances a proposal to analyze ISO 9001 International Standard through the lens of organizational culture theories identifying a stronger open systems approach (influence of the environment, dynamic perspective, need for survival) of the 2015 ISO 9001 edition when compared with the 2008 one. This provides additional knowledge both to scholars and practitioners for a better understanding of the culture issues that can maximize ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems 2015 edition contributions to organizational enduring success

The digital and multilingual competences. A good teaching practice for the EFL classroom of Secondary Education

In the context of modern education, the European Commission has recommended 8 key competences for lifelong learning. When considering the enhancement role played by the digital competence in the development of the all other ones, nurturing this competence becomes paramount. From the perspective of EFL education, the usage of ICTs in the classroom is directly linked to an improvement of communication skills. This is due to the fact that technology affords numerous opportunities in the form of digital resources and platforms available for educators to experiment with. On the other side, students seem more engaged and motivated to take part in class lessons. They want to actively interact in group activities and let their creative voices be heard. With that in mind, the paper presents a 10 session proposal, conceived as a good teaching practice directed at 4th of ESO EFL students.En el contexto de la educación moderna, la Comisión Europea ha recomendado 8 competencias clave para el aprendizaje permanente. Al considerar el papel potenciador que desempeña la competencia digital en el desarrollo de todas las demás, cultivar esta competencia se convierte en algo primordial. Con respecto a la enseñanza del inglés como lengua extranjera, el uso de las TIC en el aula está directamente relacionado con la mejora de las competencias comunicativas. La razón es que la tecnología ofrece numerosas oportunidades en forma de recursos y plataformas digitales disponibles para que los educadores experimenten. Por otro lado, los alumnos parecen más comprometidos y motivados para participar en las clases. Quieren interactuar activamente en las actividades de grupo y dejar oír su voz creativa. Así pues, se presenta una propuesta de 10 sesiones, concebidas como una buena práctica docente dirigida a alumnos de inglés de 4º de la ESO.Máster en Profesor de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria y Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanzas de Idioma

Electricity Spot Price Forecast by Modelling Supply and Demand Curve

Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This research received no external fundingElectricity price forecasting has been a booming field over the years, with many methods and techniques being applied with different degrees of success. It is of great interest to the industry sector, becoming a must-have tool for risk management. Most methods forecast the electricity price itself; this paper gives a new perspective to the field by trying to forecast the dynamics behind the electricity price: the supply and demand curves originating from the auction. Given the complexity of the data involved which include many block bids/offers per hour, we propose a technique for market curve modeling and forecasting that incorporates multiple seasonal effects and known market variables, such as wind generation or load. It is shown that this model outperforms the benchmarked ones and increases the performance of ensemble models, highlighting the importance of the use of market bids in electricity price forecasting.publishersversionpublishe

21st century quality: Looking into the “Crystal ball”

The discussion of possible scenarios for the future of Quality is on the priority list of major Quality Practitioners Societies. EOQ – European Organization for Quality (EOQ, 2014) main team for its 58th EOQ-Congress held June 2014 in Göteborg was “Managing Challenges in Quality Leadership” and ASQ - American Society for Quality (ASQ, 2015) appointed “the Future of Quality” for Quality Progress Magazine November 2015 issue. In addition, the ISO 9001:2008 revision process carried by ISO/TC 176 aims to assure that ISO 9001:2015 International Standard remains stable for the next 10 years (ISO, 2014) contributing to an increased discussion on the future of quality. The purpose of this research is to review available Quality Management approaches and outline, adding an academic perspective, expected developments for Quality within the 21st Century. This paper follows a qualitative approach, although data from international organizations is used. A literature review has been undertaken on quality management past and potential future trends. Based on these findings a model is proposed for organization quality management development and propositions for the future of quality management are advanced. Firstly, a state of the art of existing Quality Management approaches is presented, for example, like Total Quality Management (TQM) and Quality Gurus, ISO 9000 International Standards Series (with an outline of the expected changes for ISO 9001:2015), Six Sigma and Business Excellence Models.Secondly, building on theoretical and managerial approaches, a two dimensional matrix – Quality Engineering (QE - technical aspects of quality) and Quality Management (QM: soft aspects of quality) - is presented, outlining five proposed characterizations of Quality maturity levels and giving insights for applications and future developments. Literature review highlights that QM and QE may be addressing similar quality issues but their approaches are different in terms of scope breadth and intensity and they ought to complement and reciprocally reinforce one another. The challenges organizations face within the 21st century have stronger uncertainty, complexity, and differentiation. Two main propositions are advanced as relevant for 21st Century Quality: - QM importance for the sustainable success of organizations will increase and they should be aware of the larger ecosystem to be managed for improvement, possibly leading to the emergence of a new Quality paradigm, The Civilizacional Excellence paradigm. - QE should get more attention from QM and the Quality professionals will have to: a) Master and apply in wider contexts and in additional depth the Quality Tools (basic, intermediate and advanced); b) Have the soft skills needed for its success; c) Be results oriented and better understand and demonstrate the relationships between approaches and results These propositions challenge both scholars and practitioners for a sustained and supported discussion on the future of Quality. “All things are ready, if our mind be so.” (Shakespeare, Henry V, circa 1599)