Using remarkability to define coastal flooding thresholds.

Coastal flooding is increasingly common in many areas. However, the degree of inundation and associated disruption depend on local topography as well as the distribution of people, infrastructure and economic activity along the coast. Local measures of flooding that are comparable over large areas are difficult to obtain. Here we use the remarkability of flood events, measured by flood-related posts on social media, to estimate county-specific flood thresholds for shoreline counties along the east coast of the United States. While thresholds in most counties are statistically-indistinguishable from minor flood thresholds of nearby tide gauges, we find evidence that several areas experience noticeable flooding at tide heights lower than existing flood thresholds. These 22 counties include several major cities such as Miami, New York, and Boston, with a total population over 13 million. Our analysis implies that large populations might currently be exposed to nuisance flooding not identified via standard measures

Romantic conflict: A problematic integration

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Promoter Ownership and Working Capital Management Efficiency of Indian Manufacturing Firms

Poor cash flow leads to insolvency of the firm. One of the most important factors that lead to poor cash flow is the inefficiency of working capital management. This study investigates relationships between promoter ownership and working capital management efficiency of Indian manufacturing firms. A sample of 151 manufacturing firms was selected from Top 500 Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) for a period of five years (from 2010-2014). Results indicate that changes in promoter ownership play a role in changing working capital management efficiency of Indian manufacturing firms by reducing their cash conversion cycle and by improving cash conversion efficiency. This study contributes to the literature on the factors that cause changes in working capital management efficiency. The findings may be useful for financial managers, operations managers, investors, financial management consultants, and other stakeholders

Harnessing policy windows : using lessons from the post 9 11 GI Bill passage to garner congressional support for US military requirements

The goal of this dissertation is to examine how stakeholders adjusted their narrative strategies to develop support for transferability of veterans' educational benefits to their spouses and dependent children, which was eventually established in the Post9/11 GI Bill. Prior studies have not examined this particular topic, and this dissertation presents an exploratory study that contributes to various hypotheses present in the Narrative Policy Framework. This dissertation demonstrates that stakeholder groups use narrative strategies to expand or constrain the policy issue to support their desired end states and that changes in policy discussion help explain policy changes and revised outcomes.Includes bibliographical reference

Measuring an artificial intelligence agent's trust in humans using machine incentives

Scientists and philosophers have debated whether humans can trust advanced artificial intelligence (AI) agents to respect humanity's best interests. Yet what about the reverse? Will advanced AI agents trust humans? Gauging an AI agent's trust in humans is challenging because--absent costs for dishonesty--such agents might respond falsely about their trust in humans. Here we present a method for incentivizing machine decisions without altering an AI agent's underlying algorithms or goal orientation. In two separate experiments, we then employ this method in hundreds of trust games between an AI agent (a Large Language Model (LLM) from OpenAI) and a human experimenter (author TJ). In our first experiment, we find that the AI agent decides to trust humans at higher rates when facing actual incentives than when making hypothetical decisions. Our second experiment replicates and extends these findings by automating game play and by homogenizing question wording. We again observe higher rates of trust when the AI agent faces real incentives. Across both experiments, the AI agent's trust decisions appear unrelated to the magnitude of stakes. Furthermore, to address the possibility that the AI agent's trust decisions reflect a preference for uncertainty, the experiments include two conditions that present the AI agent with a non-social decision task that provides the opportunity to choose a certain or uncertain option; in those conditions, the AI agent consistently chooses the certain option. Our experiments suggest that one of the most advanced AI language models to date alters its social behavior in response to incentives and displays behavior consistent with trust toward a human interlocutor when incentivized

Non-Resident Family Members and the Financial Performance of Small Businesses in India

Recent literature in small business management suggests that small businesses are financially constrained. They also face challenges of poor financial performance, which leads to their failure. Literature also shows that family involvement improves small business performance. We asked research participants consisting of small business owners from India about their beliefs and perceptions regarding the relationship between non-resident Indian family members (NRIs), financial support from NRIs, internal financing sources, and the financial performance of small businesses. Results indicate that the involvement of NRIs as foreign directors, financial support from NRIs, and internal financing sources improve the financial performance of small businesses in India. Firms with NRIs are more likely to perform better than without NRIs. Moreover, the influence of NRIs on the financial performance of small businesses is higher in the service industry than the manufacturing industry

Influence of Mediation on Estate Planning Decisions: Evidence from Indian Survey Data

Background: Intestate death can lead to the distribution of assets against the personal wishes of the deceased and is a problem in India, as 80% of Indians die without making a last will. Following the concepts of decision theory (i.e., the theory of choice), stewardship theory, agency theory, and signaling theory, the purpose of this study is to examine the influence of meditation on estate planning decisions. This study also seeks to extend previous findings on the influence of religious beliefs on the estate planning decisions of Canadians to that of Indians. Methods: Employed and self-employed individuals from India were surveyed regarding their perceptions of meditation and estate planning decisions. Results: The survey indicates that mediation positively influences the estate planning decisions while individuals who practice meditation have greater preferences for estate planning compared with those who do not. The findings suggest that individual assets, family size, and education positively influence the estate planning decisions of Indians. Conclusion: Reported meditation, individual assets, family size, location, education, and gender are positively correlated with the estate planning decisions of Indians