Final Position Arbitration and Intertemporal Compromise

La plus récente critique de l'arbitrage des propositions finales, exposée par Swimmer, allègue que les arbitres, au lieu de recourir à une solution de compromis au cours d'une ronde de négociations font des compromis entre deux ou plusieurs rondes de négociations. En d'autres termes, étant donné qu'ils sont forcés par le système de choisir l'offre finale de l'employeur ou celle du syndicat dans chaque ronde de négociations, leur choix « saute » d'une partie à l'autre d'une ronde de négociations à l'autre. Si ce qui précède est vrai, il nous faut considérer cette façon d'agir comme si les arbitres cherchaient à atténuer l'effet d'aliénation et à s'assurer la probabilité d'être choisis de nouveau à l'avenir. Pour justifier son opinion, Swimmer se fonde sur l'expérience de l'université de l'Alberta où, pendant trois années consécutives, on a eu recours à l'arbitrage des propositions finales pour résoudre un conflit relatif à l'ajustement des traitements en regard de la hausse du coût de la vie. À l'appui de l'hypothèse de Swimmer, les décisions arbitrales ont ainsi « sauté » de la position d'une partie à celle de l'autre partie d'une ronde de négociations à l'autre. S'appuyant sur ces trois observations, Swimmer tire la conclusion que de telles situations se produisant, il peut s'ensuivre une interprétation fausse des avantages de l'arbitrage des propositions finales.Le but de l'article précédent est de soumettre cette hypothèse de Swimmer à une investigation plus approfondie tirée de l'expérience de l'arbitrage des propositions finales dans le domaine du baseball professionnel. Les statistiques permettent d'en arriver aux conclusions suivantes :1° La démonstration tirée du baseball ne semble pas indiquer une forte probabilité que l'on recourra à l'arbitrage des propositions finales dans les rondes suivantes de négociation après qu'on a utilisé ce mécanisme une première fois. Six joueurs seulement (dont cinq faisaient partie des Athlétiques d'Oakland) sur vingt-huit qui avaient choisi ce mécanisme d'arbitrage en 1974 y ont eu recours de nouveau en 1975. Les vingt-deux autres (soit neuf qui avaient eu gain de cause en 1974 et treize qui avaient été déboutés) furent en mesure de conclure un accord en 1975. Ces statistiques indiquent que l'arbitrage des propositions finales n'a pas eu un effet « narcotique » sur les négociations dans le baseball professionnel.2° En outre, la conception de Swimmer selon laquelle la partie perdante dans une année donnée sera celle qui recherchera l'arbitrage à la ronde suivante n'a que peude valeur dans le baseball professionnel. Même si l'une et l'autre parties pouvaient recourir à l'arbitrage, dans chacun des cas, c'est le joueur qui a exercé cette option. Il faut se rappeler que cinq des six joueurs qui ont eu recours à l'arbitrage deux fois n'avaient pas eu gain de cause en 1974. Ainsi, à l'exception d'un cas, ce fut la partie qui avait eu gain l'année précédente qui a choisi de recourir de nouveau à l'arbitrage.3° L'effet de « saut » s'est produit pour cinq des six joueurs qui avaient opté pour l'arbitrage à la fois en 1974 et en 1975. Cependant, l'étude des données permet de se rendre compte que les arbitres ont fondé leur décision sur l'offre finale la plus raisonnable et non de façon à mitiger l'aliénation des parties et à maximaliser leurs chances d'être choisis de nouveau comme arbitres dans l'avenir.4° L'expérience de l'Université de l'Alberta peut être considérée comme un exemple du fonctionnement heureux du mécanisme de l'arbitrage des propositions finales. Même si on a eu recours à ce processus pendant trois années consécutives, le but principal qui est de forcer les parties à faire des compromis, fut bien servi. Les deux parties ont présenté des réclamations sérieuses et l'arbitre a pénalisé la partie qui s'était montrée le moins raisonnable en optant pour la proposition finale de l'autre partie.L'idée que les arbitres entretiennent certaines réserves relativement à l'efficacité de la formule de l'arbitrage des propositions finales ressort nettement de ce qui s'est écrit sur le sujet. Il semble que les arbitres préféreraient une formule qui puisse leur permettre de rendre une décision de compromis plutôt qu'une sentence où l'on peut les identifier à l'une ou à l'autre des parties. Compte tenu des contraintes qu'exerce sur eux la formule d'arbitrage des propositions finales, Swimmer en déduit que ce désir de ne pas s'aliéner les parties est atteint au moyen du compromis d'une ronde de négociations à l'autre, un phénomène qui ne pourrait qu'avoir pour effet de détourner de sa fin même la formule de l'arbitrage des propositions finales. Ce serait là en réalité un défaut qu'il importe d'évaluer sérieusement. Les résultats de l'étude précédente tendent à démontrer qu'il ne s'agit pas là d'un problème grave et que le régime d'arbitrage des propositions finales a atteint le but qu'on voulait lui voir atteindre, c'est-à-dire des ententes négociées sans qu'il soit besoin de recourir sans cesse à l'arbitrage.This paper seeks to present further evidence from the realm of professional baseball in regard to Swimmer's criticism of final offer procecure

The Great Recession: Impacts on Indiana and Beyond

This speech was given by Dr. James Dworkin at the Annual Meeting of the Indiana Academy of Social Scientists held in Indianapolis, Indiana, on October 15, 2010. Based on a recent study conducted by the Pew Research Center and on statistics gathered from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the speech focuses on how the current recession has affected all aspects of society. It highlights such things as unemployment, spending habits, family dynamics, home ownership, education, and labor unions. The recession continues to affect all of these with many consequences. It may take several years before the economy and joblessness return to more normal levels

Tests for the replication of an association between Egfr and natural variation in Drosophila melanogaster wing morphology

Background Quantitative differences between individuals stem from a combination of genetic and environmental factors, with the heritable variation being shaped by evolutionary forces. Drosophila wing shape has emerged as an attractive system for genetic dissection of multi-dimensional traits. We utilize several experimental genetic methods to validation of the contribution of several polymorphisms in the Epidermal growth factor receptor (Egfr) gene to wing shape and size, that were previously mapped in populations of Drosophila melanogaster from North Carolina (NC) and California (CA). This re-evaluation utilized different genetic testcrosses to generate heterozygous individuals with a variety of genetic backgrounds as well as sampling of new alleles from Kenyan stocks. Results Only one variant, in the Egfr promoter, had replicable effects in all new experiments. However, expanded genotyping of the initial sample of inbred lines rendered the association non-significant in the CA population, while it persisted in the NC sample, suggesting population specific modification of the quantitative trait nucleotide QTN effect. Conclusion Dissection of quantitative trait variation to the nucleotide level can identify sites with replicable effects as small as one percent of the segregating genetic variation. However, the testcross approach to validate QTNs is both labor intensive and time-cThe project was funded by grants to G.G. from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation and the National Institutes of Health (R01 GM61600).Peer Reviewe

Limits of Principal Components Analysis for Producing a Common Trait Space: Implications for Inferring Selection, Contingency, and Chance in Evolution

<b>Background</b> Comparing patterns of divergence among separate lineages or groups has posed an especially difficult challenge for biologists. Recently a new, conceptually simple methodology called the “ordered-axis plot” approach was introduced for the purpose of comparing patterns of diversity in a common morphospace. This technique involves a combination of principal components analysis (PCA) and linear regression. Given the common use of these statistics the potential for the widespread use of the ordered axis approach is high. However, there are a number of drawbacks to this approach, most notably that lineages with the greatest amount of variance will largely bias interpretations from analyses involving a common morphospace. Therefore, without meeting a set of a priori requirements regarding data structure the ordered-axis plot approach will likely produce misleading results.<p></p> <b>Methodology/Principal Findings</b> Morphological data sets from cichlid fishes endemic to Lakes Tanganyika, Malawi, and Victoria were used to statistically demonstrate how separate groups can have differing contributions to a common morphospace produced by a PCA. Through a matrix superimposition of eigenvectors (scale-free trajectories of variation identified by PCA) we show that some groups contribute more to the trajectories of variation identified in a common morphospace. Furthermore, through a set of randomization tests we show that a common morphospace model partitions variation differently than group-specific models. Finally, we demonstrate how these limitations may influence an ordered-axis plot approach by performing a comparison on data sets with known alterations in covariance structure. Using these results we provide a set of criteria that must be met before a common morphospace can be reliably used.<p></p> <b>Conclusions/Significance</b> Our results suggest that a common morphospace produced by PCA would not be useful for producing biologically meaningful results unless a restrictive set of criteria are met. We therefore suggest biologists be aware of the limitations of the ordered-axis plot approach before employing it on their own data, and possibly consider other, less restrictive methods for addressing the same question

Putting willpower into decision theory: the person as a team over time and intrapersonal team reasoning

In decision-theory, problems of self-control can be modelled as problems of intrapersonal cooperation, between a series of transient agents who each make choices at particular times. Early agents in the series can try to influence the actions of later agents, but there is no rational way to exert willpower. I show how willpower can be introduced into decision theory by applying the theory of team reasoning, which was originally developed to understand cooperation between individuals in groups and allows that there can be multiple levels of agency, the individual and the team. In the case of intertemporal choice, the levels are the transient agent and the person over time. Intra-personal team reasoning, understood as a psychological process of identifying with the person over time, can generate a plausible theory of rational control if the intertemporal problem is structured as a threshold public goods game. In this framework, willpower is the ability to align one’s present self with one’s extended interests by identifying with the person over time. I show how intra-personal team reasoning creates a space for resolutions in decision theory and how it resolves a puzzle that exists in accounts that understand willpower as making and then not reconsidering resolutions

Amino Acids Generated from Hydrated Titan Tholins: Comparison with Miller-Urey Electric Discharge Products

Various analogues of Titan haze particles (termed tholins) have been made in the laboratory. In certain geologic environments on Titan, these haze particles may come into contact with aqueous ammonia (NH3) solutions, hydrolyzing them into molecules of astrobiological interest. A Titan tholin analogue hydrolyzed in aqueous NH3 at room temperature for 2.5 years was analyzed for amino acids using highly sensitive ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence detection and time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-FDToF-MS) analysis after derivatization with a fluorescent tag. We compare here the amino acids produced from this reaction sequence with those generated from room temperature Miller-Urey (MU) type electric discharge reactions. We find that most of the amino acids detected in low temperature MU CH4N2H2O electric discharge reactions are generated in Titan simulation reactions, as well as in previous simulations of Triton chemistry. This argues that many processes provide very similar mixtures of amino acids, and possibly other types of organic compounds, in disparate environments, regardless of the order of hydration. Although it is unknown how life began, it is likely that given reducing conditions, similar materials were available throughout the early Solar System and throughout the universe to facilitate chemical evolution

Prebiotic Synthesis of Methionine and Other Sulfur-Containing Organic Compounds on the Primitive Earth: A Contemporary Reassessment Based on an Unpublished 1958 Stanley Miller Experiment

Original extracts from an unpublished 1958 experiment conducted by the late Stanley L. Miller were recently found and analyzed using modern state-of-the-art analytical methods. The extracts were produced by the action of an electric discharge on a mixture of methane (CH4), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), ammonia (NH3), and carbon dioxide (CO2). Racemic methionine was formed in significant yields, together with other sulfur-bearing organic compounds. The formation of methionine and other compounds from a model prebiotic atmosphere that contained H2S suggests that this type of synthesis is robust under reducing conditions, which may have existed either in the global primitive atmosphere or in localized volcanic environments on the early Earth. The presence of a wide array of sulfur-containing organic compounds produced by the decomposition of methionine and cysteine indicates that in addition to abiotic synthetic processes, degradation of organic compounds on the primordial Earth could have been important in diversifying the inventory of molecules of biochemical significance not readily formed from other abiotic reactions, or derived from extraterrestrial delivery

Insights into the Development and Evolution of Exaggerated Traits Using \u3ci\u3e De Novo \u3c/i\u3e Transcriptomes of Two Species of Horned Scarab Beetles

Scarab beetles exhibit an astonishing variety of rigid exo-skeletal outgrowths, known as ‘‘horns’’. These traits are often sexually dimorphic and vary dramatically across species in size, shape, location, and allometry with body size. In many species, the horn exhibits disproportionate growth resulting in an exaggerated allometric relationship with body size, as compared to other traits, such as wings, that grow proportionately with body size. Depending on the species, the smallest males either do not produce a horn at all, or they produce a disproportionately small horn for their body size. While the diversity of horn shapes and their behavioural ecology have been reasonably well studied, we know far less about the proximate mechanisms that regulate horn growth. Thus, using 454 pyrosequencing, we generated transcriptome profiles, during horn growth and development, in two different scarab beetle species: the Asian rhinoceros beetle, Trypoxylus dichotomus, and the dung beetle, Onthophagus nigriventris. We obtained over half a million reads for each species that were assembled into over 6,000 and 16,000 contigs respectively. We combined these data with previously published studies to look for signatures of molecular evolution. We found a small subset of genes with horn-biased expression showing evidence for recent positive selection, as is expected with sexual selection on horn size. We also found evidence of relaxed selection present in genes that demonstrated biased expression between horned and horn-less morphs, consistent with the theory of developmental decoupling of phenotypically plastic traits