Using Bid Design to Measure the Boundaries of WTP

We examine the extent to which bid design provides an informative anchor that influences the context in which individuals evaluate willingness to pay questions. We postulate that agents who are uncertain over possible states of nature that may arise when consuming a good use bid design as a means to resolve such uncertainty. Furthermore, we hypothesize that the impact of bid design on estimated WTP is less pronounced for experienced agents that have observed more draws from nature. We use three measure of bid design to evaluate our conjectures; (i) the mean of bid amounts, (ii) the absolute value of the difference between bid amounts, and (iii) the ratio of the mean to the spread. We interact proxies for individual experience with our measure of bid design to evaluate if such characteristics attenuate the impact of bid design on WTP estimates. We find the likelihood an individual says Yes to a given bid systematically varies with measures of bid design. This suggests that bid design provides an informative anchor and can be used to identify probabilistic boundaries for WTP.Demand and Price Analysis,

The geographical processes behind innovation: a Europe-United States comparative analysis

The United States and European Union differ significantly in terms of their innovative capacity: the former have been able to gain and maintain world leadership in innovation and technology while the latter continues to lag. Notwithstanding the magnitude of this innovation gap and the political emphasis placed upon it on both sides of the Atlantic, very little systematic comparative analysis has been carried out on its causes. The empirical literature has emphasised the structural differences between the two continents in the quantity and quality of the major ‘inputs’ to innovation: R&D investments and human capital. The very different spatial organisation of innovative activities in the EU and the US – as suggested by a variety of contributions in the field of economic geography – could also influence innovative output. This paper analyses and compares a wide set of territorial processes that influence innovation in Europe and the United States. The higher mobility of capital, population, and knowledge in the US not only promotes the agglomeration of research activity in specific areas of the country but also enables a variety of territorial mechanisms to fully exploit local innovative activities and (informational) synergies. In the European Union, in contrast, imperfect market integration, and institutional and cultural barriers across the continent prevent innovative agents from maximising the benefits from external economies and localised interactions, but compensatory forms of geographical process may be emerging in concert with further European integration.Innovation, Research and development, Regions, Spillovers, Agglomeration, Systems of innovation, European Union, United States

Learning Strategies Employed by College Aged Students with Disabilities: The Link Between Metacognition, Motivation, and Working Memory

The aim of this study is two-fold. First, we want to understand the levels of metacognitive awareness of learning strategies in undergraduates with learning disabilities. Previous research states that recall is the most effective method of studying, but most students prefer to reread their notes or textbook which is ineffective. Second, we want to explore the link between Working Memory and metacognitive awareness of learning strategies in undergraduates with learning disabilities. The learning strategies that college students with and without disabilities is examined, we found that students in both groups preferred the usage of the same strategies equally. The most preferred strategy was rereading notes/textbook, and least preferred was studying in groups. Interestingly, we found no differences between the groups with regards to their: motivation, metacognition, and working memory. Initially, it was found that the group of students with disabilities greatly differed in visual-spatial working memory, however, once we controlled for those who were visually-impaired or had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the results became non-significant. Gender differences in learning strategies was examined and we found that males preferred the usage of completing practice problems and the usage of mnemonic devices, whereas females preferred highlighting their notes or textbook

Worst Practices? Surviving the Pitfalls of License Negotiation

Do you negotiate vendor license agreements? Are you interested in doing so? Do you work with someone who does? Attend this session to learn about the “worst practices” of license negotiation. You’ll hear first-hand from a lead university negotiator about the pitfalls and temptations of negotiation and how to elude them or recover when you fall into them. Based on true stories! Emphasis will be on license negotiations that fell short, delivered mixed results, or might have ended badly due to either the vendor or the librarian exhibiting risky, careless, or improper negotiation behavior. We will be constructive. We’ll flip the script to look at agile win-win negotiating—rapprochement, relationship management, and more—and how to bounce back from your missteps and how to leverage (mis)cues from vendors. We will review and understand mistakes common to any level of negotiation experience (contradictory statements, inattention to context, etc.). We will also look at risky tactics and even at borderline or unethical tactics in which negotiators might engage (deception, half-truths, combative zero-sum approaches, taking undue advantage of the other party’s omissions or blunders, etc.). We will also look at actions by libraries that, while effective for one institution at one point in time, may make future negotiations more challenging for one’s successors, other libraries, or consortial partners. By drawing on real-world examples and encouraging audience participation, the presenter will attempt to show how librarians can walk the fine line between engaging in questionable tactics versus leveraging their situations, personas, and know-how to their organizations’ advantage. This session will benefit anyone seeking to improve their negotiation skills in any context