Decision Rules and Optimal Delegation of Information Acquisition

The paper analyzes the relationship between decision rules and information acquisition in decision-making processes. The setting under consideration is one where information acquisition and decision making are assigned to different agents and the decision-maker's preferences are not observable. The paper argues that the choice of the optimal organizational structure at the information acquisition stage depends on the degree of discretion granted to the decision-maker. High discretion ensures more flexibility but requires that information acquisition is assigned to the parties directly involved in the decision. Since they have conflicting interests, the parties provide a check against abusive decisions although at the cost of information manipulation. Low discretion introduces rigidity but allows the delegation of information acquisition to an unbiased agent who ensures truthful reports. Which of these two "optimal combinations" is preferable is then shown to depend on the probability of finding information when an agent searches. Our analysis sheds light on the stylized fact that Civil Law systems are generally associated with inquisitorial procedures whereas Common Law systems are combined with adversarial procedures.rules, control, manipulation, legal and judicial systems

Overoptimism and Lender Liability in the Consumer Credit Market

Credit purchases of consumer goods are commonly made upon terms governed by an agreement between the lender and the seller. This type of purchase is generally subject to a legal principle of joint responsibility under which the lender and the seller are jointly liable to the consumer for breach of the sale contract by the seller. We study the rationale for this principle in situations where market failure arises because consumers under estimate the risk of product failure - for example due to selle rmisrepresentation - and it is difficult to enforce seller responsibility. We show that joint responsibility increases welfare and reduces the incentives of sellers to misrepresent the quality of their products.consumer credit, lender liability, misrepresentation, overoptimism, product failure

Siting public facilities: a theoretical and empirical analysis of the Nimby syndrome in Italy

The paper discusses the economic problem and the institutional features underlying the Nimby syndrome, and illustrates preliminary empirical evidence for Italy. It argues that siting procedures taking local preferences into account should be preferred when the heterogeneity in preferences across communities is greater than the heterogeneity in constructing and operating costs across sites. The elicitation of preferences is better pursued through auction-like mechanisms rather than multilateral negotiations if: the characteristics of the facility and the institutional context are such that credible information about the risks associated with the facility are available; conflicting preferences at the local level can be preliminarily aggregated; and compensations are mainly monetary. Empirical results suggest that the intensity of local opposition is greater when the perceived risk associated with the facility is higher and more concentrated, and the communication between different levels of government poor. The conflict between highly centralized siting procedures and highly decentralized administrative institutions, the difficulty of providing credible information about the risks associated with the facility, and low political commitment are identified as the critical points.siting procedures, local preferences, constructing and operating costs, auction, negotiation

Renegotiation of Public Contracts: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract We exploit a large dataset of contracts for public works awarded in Italy between 2000 and 2007 to document two empirical facts about time and cost renegotiations. First, although both types of renegotiations are systematic, their correlation is nearly zero. Second, several factors typically suggested to explain renegotiations have different, and in certain cases opposite, effects on price and time renegotiations. Moreover, the estimates confirm that, as suggested by the literature, the type of awarding procedures and the complexity of the job are associated with renegotiations, but they also provide evidence in favor of an important role for the linkage between the project design stage and renegotiations during the project execution. JEL: L22, L74, D44, D82, H57

Evidence that autophagy, but not the unfolded protein response, regulates the expression of IL-23 in the gut of patients with ankylosing spondylitis and subclinical gut inflammation.

OBJECTIVES: Interleukin (IL)-23 has been implicated in the pathogenesis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). The aim of the study was to clarify the mechanisms underlying the increased IL-23 expression in the gut of AS patients. METHODS: Consecutive gut biopsies from 30 HLA-B27(+) AS patients, 15 Crohn's disease (CD) patients and 10 normal subjects were obtained. Evidence for HLA-B27 misfolding was studied. Unfolded protein response (UPR) and autophagy were assessed by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. The contribution of UPR and autophagy in the regulation of IL-23 expression was evaluated in in vitro experiments on isolated lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMCs). RESULTS: Intracellular colocalisation of SYVN1 and FHCs but not a significant overexpression of UPR genes was observed in the gut of AS patients. Conversely, upregulation of the genes involved in the autophagy pathway was observed in the gut of AS and CD patients. Immunohistochemistry showed an increased expression of LC3II, ATG5 and ATG12 but not of SQSTM1 in the ileum of AS and CD patients. LC3II was expressed among infiltrating mononuclear cells and epithelial cells resembling Paneth cells (PC) and colocalised with ATG5 in AS and CD. Autophagy but not UPR was required to modulate the expression of IL-23 in isolated LPMCs of AS patients with chronic gut inflammation, CD patients and controls. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that HLA-B27 misfolding occurs in the gut of AS patients and is accompanied by activation of autophagy rather than a UPR. Autophagy appears to be associated with intestinal modulation of IL-23 in AS

Macrophage phenotype in the subclinical gut inflammation of patients with ankylosing spondylitis

OBJECTIVE: Long-term evolution of subclinical gut inflammation to overt Crohn's disease (CD) has been described in AS patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate macrophage polarization occurring in the inflamed gut of patients with AS. METHODS: Twenty-seven HLA-B27(+) AS patients, 20 CD patients and 17 normal controls were consecutively enrolled. Classic M1 (iNOS(+)IL-10(-)), resolution phase (iNOS(+)IL-10(+)), M2 and CD14(+) macrophages were characterized by immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry. Quantitative gene expression analysis of IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-5, IL-33 and STAT6 was performed by real time PCR. RESULTS: Classic M1 macrophages were expanded in CD and AS, where resolution phase macrophages predominate. A large increase in CD163(+) (M2) macrophages was observed in AS strictly correlated with the expression of IL-33, a Th2 cytokine involved in M2 polarization. Unlike in CD, CD14(+) macrophages were virtually absent in the gut of AS patients and controls. CONCLUSION: The absence of CD14(+) macrophages together with the expansion of resolution phase and M2 macrophages is the immunological signature of subclinical ileal inflammation in AS

Interleukin-36α axis is modulated in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome.

The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of the interleukin (IL)-36 axis in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS). Blood and minor labial salivary glands (MSG) biopsies were obtained from 35 pSS and 20 non-Sjögren's syndrome patients (nSS) patients. Serum IL-36α was assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). IL-36α, IL-36R, IL-36RA, IL-38, IL-22, IL-17, IL-23p19 and expression in MSGs was assessed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and tissue IL-36α and IL-38 expression was also investigated by immunohistochemistry (IHC). αβ and γδ T cells and CD68(+) cells isolated from MSGs were also studied by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy analysis. IL-36α was over-expressed significantly in the serum and in the salivary glands of pSS. Salivary gland IL-36α expression was correlated with the expression levels of IL-17, IL-22 and IL-23p19. IL-38, that acts as inhibitor of IL-36α, was also up-regulated in pSS. αβ(+) CD3(+) T cells and CD68(+) cells were the major source of IL-36α in minor salivary glands of pSS. γδ T cells were not significantly expanded in the salivary glands of pSS but produced more IL-17, as their percentage correlated with the focus score. Higher expression of IL-36α and IL-36R was also demonstrated in γδ T cells isolated from pSS compared to controls. In this study we demonstrate that a significant increase in circulating and tissue levels of IL-36α occurs in pSS patients