International Cooperation over Green Taxes: On the Impossibility of Achieving a Probability-One Gain

This paper concerns international coordination of environmental taxation.The main contribution of the paper is to provide a frame-work for dynamiccost benefit analysis of environmental tax reforms in a global economy withtransboundary environmental problems. We show that the welfare effects ofgreen tax reform in a multi-country economy may differ substantially fromearlier results associated with representative agent models, where thetransboundary aspect of the environmental problems is neglected.environmental taxation, global external effects.

Understanding the Islamist Constituency:An Empirical Analysis of Turkey\u27s 2002 Parliamentary Elections

Since 2002, Turkey\u27s secular republic has been ruled by the Islamist politicians of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Confusing many observers, the AKP is simultaneously one of the most progressive parties to ever rule Turkey on issues like European Union membership and relations with the West, while also one of the most conservative parties to ever rule on issues related to the role of religion in public life, such as Islamic education in public schools. The goal of this project is to determine, through an empirical analysis of how the AKP came to power, whether the success of the AKP should be viewed as Islamist actors moving toward the center to accommodate a modernizing electorate, or as an electorate becoming more conservative and thereby choosing to vote for a conservative, Islamist party. Using provincial-level data, this project examines the 2002 parliamentary election in light of competing narratives to explain the AKP\u27s accession. This study finds that, contrary to many understandings, the AKP\u27s efforts to make the party appear more modern and forward-thinking had very little impact on the election. This study also finds that the effects of the 1999 earthquakes in northwestern Turkey, though positive and significant for the AKP, were significantly tapered by existing ideology. The AKP should not be viewed as an Islamist party becoming moderate, but as a party succeeding with a more conservative electorate

Evolving Models From Observed Human Performance

To create a realistic environment, many simulations require simulated agents with human behavior patterns. Manually creating such agents with realistic behavior is often a tedious and time-consuming task. This dissertation describes a new approach that automatically builds human behavior models for simulated agents by observing human performance. The research described in this dissertation synergistically combines Context-Based Reasoning, a paradigm especially developed to model tactical human performance within simulated agents, with Genetic Programming, a machine learning algorithm to construct the behavior knowledge in accordance to the paradigm. This synergistic combination of well-documented AI methodologies has resulted in a new algorithm that effectively and automatically builds simulated agents with human behavior. This algorithm was tested extensively with five different simulated agents created by observing the performance of five humans driving an automobile simulator. The agents show not only the ability/capability to automatically learn and generalize the behavior of the human observed, but they also capture some of the personal behavior patterns observed among the five humans. Furthermore, the agents exhibited a performance that was at least as good as agents developed manually by a knowledgeable engineer

International Cooperation over Green Taxes: On the Impossibility of Achieving a Probability-One Gain

This paper concerns international coordination of environmental taxation.The main contribution of the paper is to provide a frame-work for dynamiccost benefit analysis of environmental tax reforms in a global economy withtransboundary environmental problems. We show that the welfare effects ofgreen tax reform in a multi-country economy may differ substantially fromearlier results associated with representative agent models, where thetransboundary aspect of the environmental problems is neglected

Living with semantic indeterminacy: The teleosemanticist's guide

Teleosemantics has an indeterminacy problem. In an earlier publication, I argued that teleosemanticists may afford to be realists about indeterminacy, pointing to the phenomenon of vagueness as a case of really-existing semantic indeterminacy. Here, I continue that project by proposing two criteria of adequacy that a semantically indeterminate theory should meet: a criterion of theoretical adequacy and a criterion of extensional adequacy. I present reasons to think that indeterminate versions of teleosemantics can meet these criteria. I end by discussing vagueness, concluding that it most likely is not the same kind of phenomenon as the semantic indeterminacy afflicting teleosemantics

Eakate digipädevus – hoiakud ja probleemid nutitelefoni kasutamisel

Kuna Eesti eakate osakaal rahvastikus on kasvamas, tuleb tähelepanu pöörata nende digipädevuse tõstmisele ning selle õpetamiseks sobiva õppemeetodi loomisele. Minu bakalaureusetöö eesmärk oli välja selgitada, millest sõltub eakate nutitelefonide kasutamine ning millega eakaid õpetades arvestada. Soovisin teada saada, kuidas saavad eakad hakkama nutitelefoni kasutamisega – millised on peamised murekohad, hoiakud ja kui suurt rolli mängib nutitelefon nende igapäevaelus. Eesmärgini jõudmiseks kasutasin eakatele nutitelefoni õpetamiseks ühise õppimise meetodit, millele eelnes ja järgnes intervjuu. Intervjuu käigus uurisin eakate hoiakute ning oskuste kujunemist nutitelefonide kasutamisel. Valimi moodustasid kümme eakat, vanuses 67–81 aastat, kellest pooled olid juba varasemalt nutitelefoni omanikud. Minu bakalaureusetöö teoreetilise osa peamised seisukohad leidsid kinnitust empiirilises osas läbi viidud ühise õppimise vaatluse ning intervjuu tulemustele. Vaatluses osalenud nutitelefoni omavad eakad on küll nutitelefoni funktsionaalsusest ning erinevatest võimalustest teadlikud, kuid tunnistasid samas, et kasutavad seda peamiselt helistamiseks ja sõnumite saatmiseks. Kõige enam soovisid eakad õppida saatma e-kirja. Nutitelefoni kasutamisel oli probleemideks inglise keele oskus, sõnumite kirjutamise tegi raskeks ekraani tundlikkus, väike kiri ja eakate käeline kohmakus. Samuti pärsib nutitelefonide kasutust eakate seas selle kõrge hind. Eakad, kes ei pidanud vajalikuks nutitelefoni soetamist, leidsid, et olemasolevad vahendid (lauatelefon, nuppudega telefon, paberleht) täidavad oma rolli piisavalt hästi. Ühise õppimise käigus selgus, et juhul kui noor inimene õpetab eakat, ei pruugi eakas saada aru kõikidest terminitest ning samuti võib õpetamise tempo olla liiga kiire. Samas on aga noorel inimesel olemas vajalikud teadmised ja oskused, mistõttu on noore õpetus tulemusrikkam kui eaka oma. Eakat õpetama hakates on oluline teha selgeks, milline on eaka taust ning kes neid vajadusel toetab – see kõik on aluseks digipädevuse omandamisel. Nagu töös on välja toodud, sõltub eakate digipädevus haridusest, töökogemusest, kogemustest, väärtustest, suhtlusringkonnast ning tervisest. Kõikide aspektide arvestamine annab hea eelduse eakatele digioskuste õpetamiseks ja digipädevuse omandamiseks. Töö käigus läbi viidud vaatluste ja intervjuude põhjal võib öelda, et eakad on vaatamata teatud konservatiivsusele huvitatud nutiseadmete kasutamisest ning soovivad selleks uusi oskusi omandada