Digital product piracy and competition

This thesis studies the optimal copyright protection level for a single firm. We consider two market settings: monopoly and duopoly under Cournot competition. We also analyze the optimal level in Cournot setting in two subsections: with and without a cost of implementing protection. The optimal level for the monopolist without any potential competitors is full protection. Under competition, for sufficiently high fixed cost values, the monopolist firm chooses a level which is below the monopoly setting. We also show that with implementation costs, competition is stronger

The prevalence of nutritional anemia in pregnancy in an east Anatolian province, Turkey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Anemia is considered a severe public health problem by World Health Organization when anemia prevalence is equal to or greater than 40% in the population. The purpose of this study was to determine the anemia prevalence with the associated factors in pregnant women and to determine the serum iron, folate and B12 vitamin status in anaemic pregnants in Malatya province.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This is a cross-sectional survey. A multi-sage stratified probability-proportional-to-size cluster sampling methodology was used. A total of 823 pregnant women from sixty clusters were studied. Women were administered a questionnaire related with the subject and blood samples were drawn. Total blood count was performed within four hours and serum iron, folate and B12 vitamin were studied after storing sera at -20 C for six months.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Anemia prevalence was 27.1% (Hb < 11.0 gr/dl). Having four or more living children (OR = 2.2), being at the third trimester (OR = 2.3) and having a low family income (OR = 1.6) were determined as the independent predictors of anemia in pregnancy. Anemia was also associated with soil eating (PICA) in the univariate analysis (p < 0.05). Of anaemic women, 50.0% had a transferrin saturation less than 10% indicating iron deficiency, 34.5% were deficient in B12 vitamin and 71.7% were deficient in folate. Most of the anemias were normocytic-normochromic (56.5%) indicating mixed anemia.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In Malatya, for pregnant women anemia was a moderate public health problem. Coexisting of iron, folate and B vitamin deficiencies was observed among anaemics. To continue anemia control strategies with reasonable care and diligence was recommended.</p

Essays on social pressure: choice and dis(honesty)

Human behavior is strongly affected by social factors such as norms or social pressure, and economic decision making is not an exception. The impact of self and social image considerations is well documented in decisions ranging from contract enforcement to labor productivity. Therefore, understanding the social and moral dimensions of decisions remains an important topic in economic research. This dissertation includes different approaches, theoretical models and experimental designs, to provide insights regarding the impact of such concerns on both individual and collective choice. In the first chapter, we are interested in the micro-foundations of such concerns, and we explore it by extending the standard choice model to incorporate the social environment in decision making. We define different social environments, each with different social pressure levels a decision maker may feel while deciding. As proposed by experimental findings from different fields of research, the model assumes that individuals are more likely to comply with the norms when the social pressure is higher. We provide an axiomatization of the model and suggest a general form of utility representation. The key point of our representation is characterized by a monotone function which captures the intuition of this compromise in the following way: as social pressure increases the decision maker, if not more, cannot exhibit less concern for social image. Thus, the best option should move towards the norm. This choice data allows us to identify, although partially, the norm that applies to the decision problem at hand. The second chapter, takes the analysis of the previous one, one step further and let us reveal the norm to the full extent. We investigate the behavior of many individuals who have image concerns and have to make decisions in different social contexts. Moreover, by releasing the strict assumption on the alternative set, we provide a simple and natural measure of compromise rate. The final chapter complements the dissertation with experimental data that confirms that people are indeed take into account image considerations. Particularly, we are interested in the impact of advice on the lying behavior of the individuals. Although we don’t find any evidence that advice is used to manage one’s social image, it can be utilized to ease the psychological cost of dishonest behavior

Imagining Public Space in Smart Cities: a Visual Inquiry on the Quayside Project by Sidewalk Toronto

Recently, the ‘Smart City’ label has emerged as a popular umbrella term for numerous projects around the world that claim to offer an enhanced urban experience, often provided in collaboration with international companies through private-public partnerships. As smart cities pledge to create long-term economic sustainability and progressive form of urban entrepreneurialism, it is getting important to highlight risks such as the reduced role of the public sector, technological dominance and data privacy.In contrast to more a conventional, long-term, holistic master planning, a technologically pre-determined form of Smart City endangers the emancipator usage of public spaces as spaces of diversity, creativity, inclusive citizen participation and urban sustainability.This research approaches the concept of Smart Cities as a future category and, thus, targets to develop a comprehensive visual analysis based on architectural representations in the form of computer-generated images (CGI’s). The Quayside project, a notable and widely criticized urban development project, by Sidewalk Toronto, a cooperation between Waterfront Toronto and Sidewalk Labs which is a sister subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., has been selected as Smart City case study as. Visual analysis was conducted by using the theoretical frame advocating ‘Coordinating Smart Cities’ in contrast to ‘Prescriptive Smart Cities’ by Richard Sennett. In addition to Sennett’s concept of ‘Incomplete Form’, Jan Gehl’s ‘Twelve Quality Criteria’ was used as coding categories to elaborate the content analysis which was followed by semiological and compositional interpretations. Visuals have been investigated in three sequential sets and analyzed focusing on time-based comparative frequency counts for sets of visuals. Concentrating on how future public spaces are illustrated, the study aims to uncover and to discuss how Smart Cities are being imagined and advertised

Imagining Public Space in Smart Cities: a Visual Inquiry on the Quayside Project by Sidewalk Toronto

Recently, the ‘Smart City’ label has emerged as a popular umbrella term for numerous projects around the world that claim to offer an enhanced urban experience, often provided in collaboration with international companies through private-public partnerships. As smart cities pledge to create long-term economic sustainability and progressive form of urban entrepreneurialism, it is getting important to highlight risks such as the reduced role of the public sector, technological dominance and data privacy.In contrast to more a conventional, long-term, holistic master planning, a technologically pre-determined form of Smart City endangers the emancipator usage of public spaces as spaces of diversity, creativity, inclusive citizen participation and urban sustainability.This research approaches the concept of Smart Cities as a future category and, thus, targets to develop a comprehensive visual analysis based on architectural representations in the form of computer-generated images (CGI’s). The Quayside project, a notable and widely criticized urban development project, by Sidewalk Toronto, a cooperation between Waterfront Toronto and Sidewalk Labs which is a sister subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., has been selected as Smart City case study as. Visual analysis was conducted by using the theoretical frame advocating ‘Coordinating Smart Cities’ in contrast to ‘Prescriptive Smart Cities’ by Richard Sennett. In addition to Sennett’s concept of ‘Incomplete Form’, Jan Gehl’s ‘Twelve Quality Criteria’ was used as coding categories to elaborate the content analysis which was followed by semiological and compositional interpretations. Visuals have been investigated in three sequential sets and analyzed focusing on time-based comparative frequency counts for sets of visuals. Concentrating on how future public spaces are illustrated, the study aims to uncover and to discuss how Smart Cities are being imagined and advertised

Essays on Social Pressure: Choice and Dis(honesty) /

Human behavior is strongly affected by social factors such as norms or social pressure, and economic decision making is not an exception. The impact of self and social image considerations is well documented in decisions ranging from contract enforcement to labor productivity. Therefore, understanding the social and moral dimensions of decisions remains an important topic in economic research. This dissertation includes different approaches, theoretical models and experimental designs, to provide insights regarding the impact of such concerns on both individual and collective choice. In the first chapter, we are interested in the micro-foundations of such concerns, and we explore it by extending the standard choice model to incorporate the social environment in decision making. We define different social environments, each with different social pressure levels a decision maker may feel while deciding. As proposed by experimental findings from different fields of research, the model assumes that individuals are more likely to comply with the norms when the social pressure is higher. We provide an axiomatization of the model and suggest a general form of utility representation. The key point of our representation is characterized by a monotone function which captures the intuition of this compromise in the following way: as social pressure increases the decision maker, if not more, cannot exhibit less concern for social image. Thus, the best option should move towards the norm. This choice data allows us to identify, although partially, the norm that applies to the decision problem at hand. The second chapter, takes the analysis of the previous one, one step further and let us reveal the norm to the full extent. We investigate the behavior of many individuals who have image concerns and have to make decisions in different social contexts. Moreover, by releasing the strict assumption on the alternative set, we provide a simple and natural measure of compromise rate. The final chapter complements the dissertation with experimental data that confirms that people are indeed take into account image considerations. Particularly, we are interested in the impact of advice on the lying behavior of the individuals. Although we don't find any evidence that advice is used to manage one's social image, it can be utilized to ease the psychological cost of dishonest behavior

COMPARAISON OF ITALIAN MAIOLICA AND IZNIK CERAMICS IN THE CONTEXT OF TECHNICAL, DESIGN AND STYLE (XV. -XVII. CENTURIES)

The Ottoman Empire and Italy spent the most brillant years of the ceramic art between 15th and 17th centuries. The production of ceramic started as of the end of 15th century in Iznik with a new and aesthetical understanding besides the ceramic produced so far. Multicentric production had been initiated also in the Italian territory at the same century and the ceramics called maiolica, reflecting a new technique and aesthetic, took its place in the art diversity of Renaissance's Italy. Iznik ceramics and Italian maiolicas had been the subject of many studies seperately. However, studies, examining the relationship between these two ceramic traditions, are relatively scarce. This study aims to contribute to the literature in this area by comparing these two ceramic traditions. It primarily analyzes the history of these two traditions and their techniques, motifs and styles. The relationship and interactions of Iznik ceramics and Italian maiolicas constitute the core of the study. Medici porcelains which are closely related to maiolica ceramics are integrated into the study because of their relation with Iznik ceramics. These two ceramic tradions share similarities on the basis of their historical pattern, their differences from their forerunners, and their interest in Chinese porcelain. However, they differ in terms of main production techniques. The interaction of the traditions is observed in the areas of technique, motif and style