Uncertainty, Identification, And Privacy: Experiments In Individual Decision-making

The alleged privacy paradox states that individuals report high values for personal privacy, while at the same time they report behavior that contradicts a high privacy value. This is a misconception. Reported privacy behaviors are explained by asymmetric subjective beliefs. Beliefs may or may not be uncertain, and non-neutral attitudes towards uncertainty are not necessary to explain behavior. This research was conducted in three related parts. Part one presents an experiment in individual decision making under uncertainty. Ellsberg\u27s canonical two-color choice problem was used to estimate attitudes towards uncertainty. Subjects believed bets on the color ball drawn from Ellsberg\u27s ambiguous urn were equally likely to pay. Estimated attitudes towards uncertainty were insignificant. Subjective expected utility explained subjects\u27 choices better than uncertainty aversion and the uncertain priors model. A second treatment tested Vernon Smith\u27s conjecture that preferences in Ellsberg\u27s problem would be unchanged when the ambiguous lottery is replaced by a compound objective lottery. The use of an objective compound lottery to induce uncertainty did not affect subjects\u27 choices. The second part of this dissertation extended the concept of uncertainty to commodities where quality and accuracy of a quality report were potentially ambiguous. The uncertain priors model is naturally extended to allow for potentially different attitudes towards these two sources of uncertainty, quality and accuracy. As they relate to privacy, quality and accuracy of a quality report are seen as metaphors for online security and consumer trust in e-commerce, respectively. The results of parametric structural tests were mixed. Subjects made choices consistent with neutral attitudes towards uncertainty in both the quality and accuracy domains. However, allowing for uncertainty aversion in the quality domain and not the accuracy domain outperformed the alternative which only allowed for uncertainty aversion in the accuracy domain. Finally, part three integrated a public-goods game and punishment opportunities with the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak mechanism to elicit privacy values, replicating previously reported privacy behaviors. The procedures developed elicited punishment (consequence) beliefs and information confidentiality beliefs in the context of individual privacy decisions. Three contributions are made to the literature. First, by using cash rewards as a mechanism to map actions to consequences, the study eliminated hypothetical bias as a confounding behavioral factor which is pervasive in the privacy literature. Econometric results support the \u27privacy paradox\u27 at levels greater than 10 percent. Second, the roles of asymmetric beliefs and attitudes towards uncertainty were identified using parametric structural likelihood methods. Subjects were, in general, uncertainty neutral and believed \u27bad\u27 events were more likely to occur when their private information was not confidential. A third contribution is a partial test to determine which uncertain process, loss of privacy or the resolution of consequences, is of primary importance to individual decision-makers. Choices were consistent with uncertainty neutral preferences in both the privacy and consequences domains

From Death to Depravity: How Missing the Mark Became Original Sin

This reception history of “original sin” displays how the theological conception developed as an idea throughout Western Christianity. This paper performs a critical and in-depth reading of the creation story from Genesis 3 and provides six thematic questions that are discussed through the various interpretations of four major thinkers: Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, and Friedrich Nietzsche. These four thinkers show how “original sin” has never been as established or canonical within Western Christianity as many have characterized it

Nietzsche as Interpreter: Against the Religious and Secular Appropriations

Best known if not equally understood for having a madman proclaim the demise of God, Friedrich Nietzsche’s thought has served as a fecund resource for disparate groups advancing diverse agendas. This paper critically examines the phenomenon of invoking Nietzsche as the final word. This paper argues that, far from being a conversation-stopper, Nietzsche can be understood as enhancing dialogue, across disciplines and between groups such as philosophers and theologians more prone to militant rhetoric than fruitful dialogue. In order to validate this claim it will be necessary to examine in detail the two aspects of Nietzsche’s thought most often invoked as conversation stoppers: the madman’s proclamation of the death of God; and Nietzsche’s devastating critique of Christian morality. Ultimately, this thesis will conclude that when properly understood Nietzsche serves as a unique interpreter locating himself between modernity and postmodernity, as well as between philosophy and religious thought

Performance Management in Local Government: The Application of System Dynamics to Promote Data Use

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how system dynamics can be used to enrich performance management in local government, focusing specifically on how the development of conceptual and simulation system dynamic models can foster a shared view of the relevant system among stakeholders to overcome factors that limit data use. Responding to this purpose, we present a normative case study on how key drivers can be used to foster a shared view of the residential refuse collection system for supporting policy and process changes. A major finding from our research, however, is that performance management cannot overlook the broader forces of citizenship outcomes that impact the community

Alla ricerca dei fattori rilevanti nell’adozione dei sistemi di gestione della performance nelle amministrazioni pubbliche territoriali. L’analisi di due casi di studio.

La ricerca scientifica ha dimostrato che la gestione della performance nelle amministrazioni pubbliche sta oggi spostando il proprio focus dalla mera attività di raccolta e rendicontazione di dati alla generazione di informazioni atte a supportare la formulazione di decisioni. L’analisi comparativa dei casi di studio analizzati in questo articolo mira ad identificare i fattori critici sottostanti alla progettazione e all’utilizzo dei sistemi di gestione della performance nelle amministrazioni regionali. Da questa analisi emerge che alcune variabili risultano essenziali ai fini di un’efficace adozione dei sistemi di performance management. Tra queste variabili sono annoverabili: il ruolo della legislazione, le doti di leadership degli amministratori, e le caratteristiche degli indicatori di performance adottati. Con questo lavoro ci si auspica di poter suscitare nel management delle amministrazioni regionali la consapevolezza che la leadership e le competenze professionali sono fattori decisivi per supportare una progettazione e adozione dei sistemi di gestione della performance, che vada oltre la ricerca dell’adempimento formale di prescrizioni normative.The literature has shown that the focus on performance management is shifting from collecting and reporting data to actually using them for decision making. The comparative case-study analysis presented in this article aims to identify the critical factors for adopting and implementing relevant performance management systems in regional governments. The evidence emerging from this casestudy analysis finds that certain variables are essential to advancing our progress in performance management, including the role of legislation, the need for leadership, and the characteristics of performance indicators. The hope of this research is to encourage regional administrators to embrace leadership roles in interpreting and applying legal frameworks for realizing the benefits of performance management

Teaching Public Administration Abroad through the Fulbright Specialist Program

The purpose of this article is to promote the benefits of the Fulbright Specialist Program—which was created in 2001 as a short-term complement to the Fulbright Scholar Program—and to encourage more public administration scholars to consider teaching abroad. After providing an overview of the Fulbright Specialist Program and the collaborative teaching approach we used for the preparation and delivery of instructional materials, it presents a number of lessons learned from the perspective of the Fulbright Specialist and the host institution for maximizing the experience of teaching abroad. This article also is dedicated to the work of Fulbright, which has pursued its mission to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries for 65 years.The purpose of this article is to promote the benefits of the Fulbright Specialist Program—which was created in 2001 as a short-term complement to the Fulbright Scholar Program—and to encourage more public administration scholars to consider teaching abroad. After providing an overview of the Fulbright Specialist Program and the collaborative teaching approach we used for the preparation and delivery of instructional materials, it presents a number of lessons learned from the perspective of the Fulbright Specialist and the host institution for maximizing the experience of teaching abroad. This article also is dedicated to the work of Fulbright, which has pursued its mission to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries for 65 years

Introduction to a Symposium on Broadening the Application of Performance Management

The Italian Academy of Management (Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA)), which was founded in Bologna during July 1813, is one of the oldest academic societies in the world. On the occasion of celebrating its bicentenary, the AIDEA held a conference in Lecce, Italy, during September 2013 for AIDEA members and international scholars to present their research within six major areas: Economia Aziendale, Ragioneria ed Economia Aziendale in Italia, Accounting, Management & Organization, Public Management, and Banking & Finance. The theme of the conference—The Firm’s Role in the Economy: Does a Growth-Oriented Business Model Exist?—was in response to the global crisis that has raised new questions and challenges that scholars are trying to resolve, including how academic and professional studies can provide strategies on helping firms and markets contribute to economic growth. In order to support the conference theme, the performance management track focused in part on how organizational and interinstitutional performance management within the context of public administration can support sustainable economic and community growth