2,107 research outputs found
Monopoly quality degradation and regulation in cable television
Using an empirical framework based on the Mussa-Rosen model of monopoly quality choice, we calculate the degree of quality degradation in cable television markets and the impact of regulation on those choices. We find lower bounds of quality degradation ranging from 11 to 45 percent of offered service qualities. Furthermore, cable operators in markets with local regulatory oversight offer significantly higher quality, less degradation, and greater quality per dollar, despite higher prices
Recommended from our members
Narrative, Sensemaking, and Improvisation in Participatory Hypermedia Construction
In this paper we describe research into a form of practitioner sensemaking in the context of participatory hypermedia construction sessions, in which groups of people build knowledge maps. We discuss how constructs from narrative theory and improvisation have helped us understand what happens at the moments when practitioners encounter dilemmas and obstacles. We provide brief examples from case studies and discuss possible contributions to broader themes in sensemaking research
Recommended from our members
A short survey of discourse representation models
With the advancement of technology and the wide adoption of ontologies as knowledge representation formats, in the last decade, a handful of models were proposed for the externalization of the rhetoric and argumentation captured within scientific publications. Conceptually, most of these models share a similar representation form of the scientific publication, i.e. as a series of interconnected elementary knowledge items. The main differences are given by the terminology used, the types of rhetorical and/or argumentation relations connecting the knowledge items and the foundational theories supporting these relations. This paper analyzes the state of the art and provides a concise comparative overview of the ļ¬ve most prominent discourse representation models, with the goal of sketching an uniļ¬ed model for discourse representation
Giant Antiferromagnetically Coupled Moments in a Molecule-Based Magnet with Interpenetrating Lattices
The molecule-based magnet [Ru(OCMe)][Cr(CN)] contains two
weakly-coupled, interpenetrating sublattices in a body-centered cubic
structure. Although the field-dependent magnetization indicates a metamagnetic
transition from an antiferromagnet to a paramagnet, the hysteresis loop also
exhibits a substantial magnetic remanance and coercive field uncharacteristic
of a typical metamagnet. We demonstrate that this material behaves like two
giant moments with a weak antiferromagnetic coupling and a large energy barrier
between the orientations of each moment. Because the sublattice moments only
weakly depend on field in the transition region, the magnetic correlation
length can be directly estimated from the magnetization.Comment: 3 figure
Hypotheses, evidence and relationships: The HypER approach for representing scientific knowledge claims
Biological knowledge is increasingly represented as a collection of (entity-relationship-entity) triplets. These are queried, mined, appended to papers, and published. However, this representation ignores the argumentation contained within a paper and the relationships between hypotheses, claims and evidence put forth in the article. In this paper, we propose an alternate view of the research article as a network of 'hypotheses and evidence'. Our knowledge representation focuses on scientific discourse as a rhetorical activity, which leads to a different direction in the development of tools and processes for modeling this discourse. We propose to extract knowledge from the article to allow the construction of a system where a specific scientific claim is connected, through trails of meaningful relationships, to experimental evidence. We discuss some current efforts and future plans in this area
Evidence-Based Dialogue Maps as a research tool to evaluate the quality of school pupilsā scientific argumentation
This pilot study focuses on the potential of Evidence-based Dialogue Mapping as a participatory action research tool to investigate young teenagersā scientific argumentation. Evidence-based Dialogue Mapping is a technique for representing graphically an argumentative dialogue through Questions, Ideas, Pros, Cons and Data. Our research objective is to better understand the usage of Compendium, a Dialogue Mapping software tool, as both (1) a learning strategy to scaffold school pupilsā argumentation and (2) as a method to investigate the quality of their argumentative essays. The participants were a science teacher-researcher, a knowledge mapping researcher and 20 pupils, 12-13 years old, in a summer science course for āgifted and talentedā children in the UK. This study draws on multiple data sources: discussion forum, science teacher-researcherās and pupilsā Dialogue Maps, pupil essays, and reflective comments about the uses of mapping for writing. Through qualitative analysis of two case studies, we examine the role of Evidence-based Dialogue Maps as a mediating tool in scientific reasoning: as conceptual bridges for linking and making knowledge intelligible; as support for the linearisation task of generating a coherent document outline; as a reflective aid to rethinking reasoning in response to teacher feedback; and as a visual language for making arguments tangible via cartographic conventions
Abstract Tensor Systems as Monoidal Categories
The primary contribution of this paper is to give a formal, categorical
treatment to Penrose's abstract tensor notation, in the context of traced
symmetric monoidal categories. To do so, we introduce a typed, sum-free version
of an abstract tensor system and demonstrate the construction of its associated
category. We then show that the associated category of the free abstract tensor
system is in fact the free traced symmetric monoidal category on a monoidal
signature. A notable consequence of this result is a simple proof for the
soundness and completeness of the diagrammatic language for traced symmetric
monoidal categories.Comment: Dedicated to Joachim Lambek on the occasion of his 90th birthda
Quality Overprovision in Cable Television Markets
We measure the welfare distortions from endogenous quality choice in imperfectly competitive markets. For US cable television markets between 1997ā2006, prices are 33 percent to 74 percent higher and qualities 23 percent to 55 percent higher than socially optimal. Such quality overprovision contradicts classic results in the literature and our analysis shows that it results from the presence of competition from high-end satellite TV providers: without the competitive pressure from satellite companies, cable TV monopolists would instead engage in quality degradation. For welfare, quality overprovision implies cable customers would prefer smaller, lower-quality cable bundles at a lower price, amounting to a twofold increase in consumer surplus for the average consumer
Engaging Citizens with Televised Election Debates through Online Interactive Replays
In this paper we tackle the crisis of political trust and public engagement with politics by investigating new methods and tools to watch and take part in televised political debates. The paper presents relevant research at the intersection of citizenship, technologies and government/democracy, and describes the motivation, requirements and design of Democratic Replay, an online interactive video replay platform that offers a persistent, customisable digital space for: (a) members of the public to express their views as they watch online videos of political events; and (b) enabling for a richer collective understanding of what goes on in these complex media events
- ā¦