Using Laboratory Experiments to Design Efficient Market Institutions: The case of wholesale electricity markets

This paper assesses the contribution of laboratory experiments to the economics of design applied to the electricity industry. The analysis is dedicated to wholesale markets, and reviews the results accumulated to date concerning both the general architecture of power markets and the very details of the market rules or institution, that is the auction rule. We argue that these experimental results contribute to a better understanding of the performances properties and implementation features of competitive market designs and that experimental economics has proven very useful to public authorities to inform the restructuring of electricity industry. It thus confirms the role of experimental economics as a complement to theoretical approaches in the design effort.Experimental economics; market design; design economics; electricity auction;

Should Genetic Information be Used to Determine Special Education Eligibility and Other Educational Services?

Clinically, genetic testing is recommended for all children who have been diagnosed with autism. However, genetic testing is no longer being used solely as a medical tool and social uses of this are being introduced, such as in educational settings. But using this information to determine who is eligible for educational services introduces a litany of ethical, legal and social issues. We recruited 400 parents to complete an online survey to gauge their opinions on using genetic information to determine special education eligibility and other school services for children with autism. Overall, the 77.3% of parents were in support of special education services for a child with autism symptoms, even before genetic information was revealed. In most cases, neither genetic test results nor family history of autism influenced parents’ opinions on this topic. The results suggest that parents overwhelming support services for children on the basis of symptoms alone and do not support introducing this type of testing into eligibility decisions

Auction versus Negotiation in Public Procurement: Looking for Empirical Evidence

The relative efficiency of auctions and negotiations is still a puzzle in the literature. While auctions are the prescribed procedures and the most used ones for public procurement, in the private sector, where buyers are free to choose their purchasing method, competitive tendering is far from being their preferred option (Bajari et al. 2009). In addition, recent empirical studies (Estache et al. 2009, Bajari et al. 2009) highlight some failures of auction procedures and identify conditions under which negotiation is more efficient. In particular, they show that auctions perform poorly when projects are complex. In this paper, our aim is to contribute to this debate by providing an empirical analysis of how awarding mechanisms are chosen in public procurement in France. To this end, we examine a comprehensive database of 76,188 observations corresponding to the entire set of public procurement work contracts awarded between 2005 and 2007 in the construction sector. We find empirical regularities regarding the choice of awarding procedures by public buyers. However, most of these regularities do not coincide with what the theoretical literature considers as transaction-cost minimizing behaviours. In particular, the size of the construction projects as well as the length of contracts do not appear as key determinants of the choice of awarding procedures, which translates into costly renegotiations.Auctions; Public Procurement, Contract Theories

Ocena jakości w szkolnictwie wyższym - model francuski

The Author discusses the evaluation process in French higher education against the background of the changes which have taken place in that system and one being prepared for the future. In this context the Author asks a number of questions not only about the future of the French higher education system but even more of the education system of a united Europe. One of these questions is how to reconcile the national tradition embodied in the higher education system of a given country with elements of the systems of other countries. These differences manifest themselves in the evaluation systems of higher education institutions applied in individual countries, which the Author accents by discussing the quality characteristics of the French higher education model.Autor omawia rolę procesu oceny jakości w systemie francuskiego szkolnictwa wyższego na tle przemian, które się dokonały w tym systemie i które przygotowuje się na przyszłość W tym kontekście stawia pytania dotyczące nie tyle przyszłości francuskiego szkolnictwa wyższego, ile raczej szkolnictwa wspólnej Europy. Jedną z takich kwestii jest możliwość godzenia narodowej tradycji zawartej w systemie szkolnictwa wyższego danego kraju z elementami systemów innych państw. Różnice te uwidaczniają się m.in. w systemach ewaluacji szkół wyższych stosowanych w poszczególnych krajach, co Autor uwypukla omawiając cechy francuskiego modelu oceny jakości szkół wyższych

The Evolution of The Legend of King Arthur

In all versions of Arthurian legend, the content, while encompassing adventure, magic and politics, is mainly focused on the nature of human relationships. These relationships are nearly always complex and emotional, intended to elicit certain reactions from the audience. The reactions to Arthurian legend depend on the relationship being explored; for example, when explaining a story about knighthood, the author hopes to impress upon the audience the importance and admiration of chivalry, duty and honor. Whereas, when explaining a story about the love triangle of Guinevere, Arthur and Lancelot, the intent is not only to tell a captivating and enthralling love story, but also to show the pitfalls of lust and the loss of honor. Although Arthurian motifs have changed dramatically throughout history, as societal norms and political ideologies have evolved, Arthurian motifs have been applied to all ages. When Arthurian stories were first developed, they were not intended for just men, women or children, but for a mixed audience, which still holds true today. Arthurian motifs, regardless of their focus, have survived and will continue to survive because of the nostalgia their audience feels for them. When considering Arthurian motifs, the audience is reminded of magic, excitement, love, friendship and civic duty. All of which are pleasant concepts to be reminded. The chameleon-like aspect of Arthurian work can be revealed, which also explains how it has been able to stay alive and will likely remain alive for quite some time, through the close analysis of authentic Arthurian narratives that range from the eleventh to the twenty-first century and have appeared in academic journals, novels, television programs and films

An Analysis Of The Transformation Process Affecting The Stated Instructional Goals Of The West Virginia University School Of Nursing

The purpose of this study will be to identify and explain the conceptual syndrome operating in the transformation by which the stated instructional goals, as established by the School of Nursing at West Virginia University, become the real instructional goals as pursued by the teaching staff of the School of Nursing. This study will not establish that these concepts caused the transformation, but will only identify the concepts through inductive analysis of the data. The identification of these concepts and their subsequent operationalization is the necessary first step if productive experimental research into the causality of goal transformation is to be undertaken

Investment Incentives and Market Power: An Experimental Analysis

We examine investment incentives and market power in an experimental market. We characterize market power as the strategic interdependence of subjects' investment decisions and output decisions. The market is designed so that investment and output decisions can be jointly characterized as strategies within a game. A Nash-Cournot equilibrium of the game provides a way of characterizing how investment incentives and market power interact. Subjects could invest in two different production technologies and could produce output to serve as many as two different demand conditions. The technologies were analogous to "baseload" capacity and "peaking" capacity in wholesale electricity markets. The Nash-Cournot benchmark constituted a good indicator of subjects' output decisions in that output cycled around the Cournot benchmark. Thus, on average, consumers extracted the surplus available to them in the equilibrium. While we do not observe Edgeworth Cycles in prices or outputs, we do see them in the producer surplus series. Producers dissipated some of the surplus they could have extracted in the equilibrium by overinvesting in peaking capacity and underinvesting in baseload capacity. Inefficient investment diminished total system efficiency, but producers' investments in total production capacity tracked the Nash-Cournot benchmark. In contrast, monopoly explanations such as collusion do not characterize the data.capacity investment, Cournot, supply function equilibrium, Edgeworth Cycles, market power, electricity markets, investment incentives

3D and 4D printing of polypropylene having different content of copolymer

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Coordinating cross-border congestion management through auctions: An experimental approach to European solutions

International audienceCompetition among producers within an integrated electricity system is impeded by any limited transmission capacity there may be at its borders. Two alternative market mechanisms have recently been designed to organize the allocation of scarce transmission capacity at cross-border level: (i) the "implicit auction", already used in some countries, and (ii) the "coordinated explicit auction", proposed by the European Transmission System Operators (ETSO) but not implemented yet. The main advantage of the explicit auction is that it allows each country to keep its own power exchange running. In the European institutional context, this is seen as a factor of success of a market reform, although the explicit auction (not coordinated) is known to be less efficient than the implicit mechanism. The addition of a coordination dimension in the explicit auction is intended to solve problems of international flows. We use an experimental methodology to identify and compare in a laboratory setting the efficiency properties of these two market mechanisms, given a market structure similar to the existing one in continental Europe, i.e. a competitive oligopoly. Our main result highlights the inefficiency of the coordinated explicit auction compared to the performance of the implicit auction, measured in terms of both energy prices and transmission capacity allocation. We suggest that the poor performance of the coordinated explicit auction in the laboratory is due to the level of individual expectations about both energy and transmission prices that the mechanism demands. One solution to resolve this problem when the mechanism is implemented in the field would be to design an additional and secondary market for "used" transmission capacity

Gaps in Expectations for Paralegal Education: an Exploratory Qualitative Case Study

Gainful employment regulations are poised to irrevocably change the operating paradigm of for- profit education. Career colleges that fail to provide training that leads to gainful employment of graduates may face fines or even closure. This context makes meeting employers' expectations more critical than ever before. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify the gaps in expectations of the employers of paralegal graduates in order to increase educational related placements in that major at Career College A in Pennsylvania. The study was conducted in two phases. Phase one consisted of a content analysis to identify gaps between the standards and recommendations of two professional associations and Career College A's curriculum. Phase two consisted of qualitative interviews with employers of paralegal graduates from proprietary programs to identify gaps between the standards, employer expectations, and Career College A's curriculum. The study found the following gaps in employer expectations: lack of knowledge on how to use current research tools used by paralegals; lack of legal writing and drafting skills expected of paralegals; and lack of practical experiences as paralegals. Based on the findings, it is recommended that Career College A assess the writing of incoming students in order to provide support, provide paralegal students with real-life experiences, and seek programmatic accreditation from the American Bar Association. It is also recommended that future research includes a multi-site comparison and a full curriculum review, in order to explore areas on which this study did not focus.Ed.D., Educational Leadership and Management -- Drexel University, 201