Competition as a Coordination Device. Experimental Evidence from a Minimum Effort Coordination Game

The problem of coordination failure, particularly in 'team production' situations, is central to a large number of mircroeconomic as well as macroeconomic models. As this type of inefficient coordination poses a severe economic problem, there is a need for institutions that foster efficient coordination of individual economic plans. In this paper, we introduce such a rather classical economic institution: competition. In a series of laboratory experiments, we reveal that the true reason for coordination failure is strategic uncertainty, which can be reduced almost completely by introducing a appropriately designed mechanism of (inter-group) competition.coordination failure, team production, competition

Selfish in the End?:An Investigation of Consistency and Stability of individual Behavior

This paper puts three of the most prominent specifications of ‘other-regarding’ preferences to the experimental test, namely the theories developed by Charness and Rabin, by Fehr and Schmidt, and by Andreoni and Miller. In a series of experiments based on various dictator and prisoner’s dilemma games, we try to uncover which of these concepts, or the classical selfishapproach, is able to explain most of our experimental findings. The experiments are special with regard to two aspects: First, we investigate the consistency of individual behavior within and across different classes of games. Second, we analyze the stability of individual behavior over time by running the same experiments on the same subjects at several points in time. Our results demonstrate that in the first wave of experiments, all theories of other-regarding preferences explain a high share of individual decisions. Other-regarding preferences seem to wash out over time, however. In the final wave, it is the classical theory of selfish behaviorthat delivers the best explanation. Stable behavior over time is observed only for subjects, who behave strictly selfish. Most subjects behave consistently with regard to at least one of the theories within the same class of games, but are much less consistent across games.individual preferences; consistency; stability; experimental economics

La couverture du crime par la presse : un portait fidèle ou déformé ?

The authors examined, through content analysis, some criticisms that have been levelled at the press in its coverage of crime. The propositions examined included the accusations that newspapers are preoccupied with violence and “street” crime, that they focus on the bizarre, are superficial in their reporting of crime, misinform the public about the characteristics of offenders and victims, and exhibit a conservative bias in their analysis. This study of a major Canadian daily newspaper revealed substantiation for some of these claims but failed to support others. Violent and street crimes received disproportionate coverage and very few articles contained an in-depth analysis of the roots of crime or the workings of the criminal justice system. The evidence was less clear or non-existent in relation to the claims that the press focus on nonroutine events, that they provide distorted images of offenders and victims and that they have a conservative bent. Commentant l'impact des masse-médias, Marshall McLuhan (1978) soulignait: To invade the private person, or to invade a group with teaching, with doctrines, with entertainment, all these are alike forms of violence. To assume the right to program the sensibilities or thoughts and fantasies of individuals or groups, has long been taken for granted as a viable form of personal or social action... Today, however, there is a new dimension in all of these activities. Electric media move information and people at the speed of light. It is this instant and total quality that constitutes the condition of mass man and the mass society (p. 212)

Laying off or Not? the Influence of Framing and Economics Education

This paper provides a critical re-examination of Rubinstein's survey (Rubinstein; Economic Journal 2006), in which he questions the way economics is taught. The observations obtained in our new survey cast some doubts on the original findings, and, in particular, question Rubinstein's conjecture that our students' views on economic issues are influenced by the way we teach economics.

Game or frame? Incentives in modified Dictator Games

We use modified dictator games in which the productivity of taking or giving is varied. Subjects have to decide which of the different games will be payoff relevant in the end. We can show that the behavior of dictators does not depend on the productivity of their gifts, but that their behavior is strongly influenced by the right to choose the relevant game. If the recipients have the right to choose, the dictators become more generous

Selfish in the end? An investigation of consistency and stability of individual behaviour

This paper puts three of the most prominent specifications of ‘other-regarding’ preferences to the experimental test, namely the theories developed by Charness and Rabin, by Fehr and Schmidt, and by Andreoni and Miller. In a series of experiments based on various dictator and prisoner’s dilemma games, we try to uncover which of these concepts, or the classical selfish approach, is able to explain most of our experimental findings. The experiments are special with regard to two aspects: First, we investigate the consistency of individual behavior within and across different classes of games. Second, we analyze the stability of individual behavior over time by running the same experiments on the same subjects at several points in time. Our results demonstrate that in the first wave of experiments, all theories of other-regarding preferences explain a high share of individual decisions. Other-regarding preferences seem to wash out over time, however. In the final wave, it is the classical theory of selfish behavior that delivers the best explanation. Stable behavior over time is observed only for subjects, who behave strictly selfish. Most subjects behave consistently with regard to at least one of the theories within the same class of games, but are much less consistent across games.individual preferences, consistency, stability, experimental economics

Breathing exercises for dysfunctional breathing/hyperventilation syndrome in adults

Copyright © 2013 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by JohnWiley & Sons, Ltd.Background: Dysfunctional breathing/hyperventilation syndrome (DB/HVS) is a respiratory disorder, psychologically or physiologically based, involving breathing too deeply and/or too rapidly (hyperventilation) or erratic breathing interspersed with breath-holding or sighing (DB). DB/HVS can result in significant patient morbidity and an array of symptoms including breathlessness, chest tightness, dizziness, tremor and paraesthesia.DB/HVS has an estimated prevalence of 9.5%in the general adult population, however, there is little consensus regarding the most effective management of this patient group. Objectives: 1) To determine whether breathing exercises in patients with DB/HVS have beneficial effects as measured by quality of life indices. 2) To determine whether there are any adverse effects of breathing exercises in patients with DB/HVS Search methods: We identified trials for consideration using both electronic and manual search strategies. We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and four other databases. The latest search was in February 2013. Selection criteria: We planned to include randomised, quasi-randomised or cluster randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in which breathing exercises, or a combined intervention including breathing exercises as a key component, were compared with either no treatment or another therapy that did not include breathing exercises in patients with DB/HVS. Observational studies, case studies and studies utilising a cross-over design were not eligible for inclusion. We considered any type of breathing exercise for inclusion in this review, such as breathing control, diaphragmatic breathing, yoga breathing, Buteyko breathing, biofeedback-guided breathingmodification, yawn/sigh suppression. Programs where exercises were either supervised or unsupervised were eligible as were relaxation techniques and acute-episode management, as long as it was clear that breathing exercises were a key component of the intervention. We excluded any intervention without breathing exercises or where breathing exercises were not key to the intervention