Corporate Social Responsibility in the work place - Experimental evidence on CSR from a gift-exchange game

We analyze the effect of investments in corporate social responsibility (CSR) on workers' motivation. In our experiment, a gift exchange game variant, CSR is captured by donating a certain share of profits to a charity. We are testing for CSR effects by varying the possible share of profits given away. Additionally, we investigate the effect of a mission match, i.e., a worker prefering the same charity the firm is actually donating to. Our results show that on average workers reciprocate investments into CSR with increased effort. A mission match does result in higher effort, but only when investment into CSR is high.Corporate Social Responsibility, gift-exchange game, experiment, labor market, incentives, moral hazard, principal agent

Detecting directional coupling in the human epileptic brain: Limitations and potential pitfalls

We study directional relationships—in the driver-responder sense—in networks of coupled nonlinear oscillators using a phase modeling approach. Specifically, we focus on the identification of drivers in clusters with varying levels of synchrony, mimicking dynamical interactions between the seizure generating region (epileptic focus) and other brain structures. We demonstrate numerically that such an identification is not always possible in a reliable manner. Using the same analysis techniques as in model systems, we study multichannel electroencephalographic recordings from two patients suffering from focal epilepsy. Our findings demonstrate that—depending on the degree of intracluster synchrony—certain subsystems can spuriously appear to be driving others, which should be taken into account when analyzing field data with unknown underlying dynamics

What drives motivated agents? The "right" mission or sharing it with the principal

Motivated agents are characterized by increasing their effort if their work generates not only a monetary return for them but also a benefit for a mission they support. While their motivation may stem from working for their preferred (i.e., the `right') mission, it may also be the principal's choice of the right mission (i.e., a mission preference match) that motivates them. We investigate experimentally to what extent these two motivations are driving the effect of a mission on agent effort. We find that agents care not only about the mission as such but also whether the principal shares this mission. Our analysis estimates the additional effect of a mission preference match to be as big as the effect of just working for the right mission. It seems that the full potential of `motivation by mission' is realized only when principals share as well as support the agents' mission, stressing the importance of the economics of identity in labor market settings

Time-dependent parameter identification in a Fokker-Planck equation based magnetization model of large ensembles of nanoparticles

In this article, we consider a model motivated by large ensembles of nanoparticles' magnetization dynamics using the Fokker-Planck equation and analyze the underlying parabolic PDE being defined on a smooth, compact manifold without boundary with respect to time-dependent parameter identification using regularization schemes. In the context of magnetic particle imaging, possible fields of application can be found including calibration procedures improved by time-dependent particle parameters and dynamic tracking of nanoparticle orientation. This results in reconstructing different parameters of interest, such as the applied magnetic field and the particles' easy axis. These problems are in particular addressed in the accompanied numerical study

Chapter 16 The Role of Validation in Integrating Multiple Perspectives

The internet is the primary source of information about a broad range of topics, which may range from consumer and medical decisions to political and socio-scientific issues. The relevant information is often available in the form of written texts that convey divergent perspectives, such as different opinions, competing theoretical assumptions, arguments and counterarguments, and evidence and counterevidence. What are the challenges and potential problems associated with comprehending texts that convey multiple perspectives? How can students be supported to make the most of this obviously complicated reading situation? This chapter attempts to answer these questions from a particular theoretical perspective that revolves around the notion that readers routinely validate text information against pertinent and accessible knowledge and beliefs. We will discuss how validation acts in concert with the two other major component processes of text comprehension, activation and integration. This discussion will be followed by an outline of the Two-step Model of Validation, a model that makes predictions about circumstances that enable or hinder readers to form a coherent and consistent mental representation out of multiple perspectives