The Ultimatum Game Revisited

The starting point of this article is the result of one ultimatum game experiment - one of many showing a huge deviation from the predictions of micro theory. However, further analysis gives an explanation of subject behavior that deserves to be seen as rational, if assumptions, such as a total secrecy resulting in no effects on reputation, are questioned. Responders' actual behavior can be understood as adjusted to generally realistic reputation effects, and the choices of the Proposers are surprisingly attuned to actual Responder demands. If seen in this light, the subjects seem to understand the situation and behave accordingly.Ultimatum; buffer; reputation; spite; altruism

Planters and their Components: Types, attributes, functional requirements, classification and description

Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management,

Deep Learning for Frame Error Probability Prediction in BICM-OFDM Systems

In the context of wireless communications, we propose a deep learning approach to learn the mapping from the instantaneous state of a frequency selective fading channel to the corresponding frame error probability (FEP) for an arbitrary set of transmission parameters. We propose an abstract model of a bit interleaved coded modulation (BICM) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) link chain and show that the maximum likelihood (ML) estimator of the model parameters estimates the true FEP distribution. Further, we exploit deep neural networks as a general purpose tool to implement our model and propose a training scheme for which, even while training with the binary frame error events (i.e., ACKs / NACKs), the network outputs converge to the FEP conditioned on the input channel state. We provide simulation results that demonstrate gains in the FEP prediction accuracy with our approach as compared to the traditional effective exponential SIR metric (EESM) approach for a range of channel code rates, and show that these gains can be exploited to increase the link throughput.Comment: Submitted to 2018 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processin

The Golden Rule of Benevolence versus the Silver Rule of Reciprocity

The Golden Rule from the Sermon on the Mount in the Bible instructs: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. This is generally acclaimed as a rule of great wisdom and significant social impact. But the widespread popularity of the rule is accompanied by vagueness concerning its interpretations. Given the authority of Jesus, there is one interpretation of particular interest. The Golden Rule differs from what has been called the silver rule, the principle of reciprocal balance advocated by Confucius, Cicero and others. The Golden Rule does not advocate reciprocity, but generosity also toward persons who behave egoistically without restraint. Is this a good social rule? How should we explain the rationale behind such a radical suggestion? The article concludes that the Golden Rule loses its rationale without religious assumptions about a life after death, and is a destructive thesis for business ethics

Modern values: content and contributors

"Zwischen der Marktwirtschaft und allgemeineren Werten europäischer Gesellschaften gibt es eine Reihe von Interdependenzen. In diesem Beitrag werden die Einflüsse sowohl theoretischer als auch praktischer Vorstellungen einer Moral des Marktes diskutiert. Eine der Einflussquellen für Werte ist der Altruismus, der von Religionen gefordert und von den meisten Philosophen geachtet wird. Es wird untersucht, ob diese Forderung positiv beurteilt werden kann. Es besteht die Gefahr der Trivialisierung der Ethik in 'public-relation'-Diskursen, welche Ethik lediglich auf eine Hilfsfunktion in Dilemmasituationen oder auf Verhaltensrestriktionen reduzieren. Häufig wird in solchen Diskursen ein agentenneutraler Universalismus vorgeschlagen, aber für Unternehmen, die normsetzend wirken wollen, ist eine partikularistischere Ethik von größerem Interesse. Eine angemessene Theorie hierfür fehlt noch weitestgehend und viele wichtige Fragen werden eher juristisch als ethisch behandelt. Es gibt daher gute Gründe für die Wirtschafts- und Unternehmensethik, den Nutzen konventioneller Ethiken zu überdenken, da diese weniger ein Teil der Lösung denn ein Teil der Probleme in Bezug auf Wertfragen moderner Gesellschaften sein könnten." (Autorenreferat)"There are interdependences between the market economy and more general values in modern European societies. In this article, I will discuss the contribution of both theory and more practical morals of the market. Another source of influence on values is the unselfishness demanded by religion and honored by most philosophers. I will discuss whether this demand is positive. There is a danger of trivialization of ethics into a public-relations discourse, which reduces its function as an aid in dilemmas and as a serious constraint on behavior. An agent-neutral universalism is often suggested, but for companies with ambitions of setting norms, a more particularistic ethics is of interest. An appropriate theory to this is largely missing and many important issues are treated as juridical rather than ethical matters. There are reasons for business and economic ethics to reconsider the usefulness of conventional ethics, as it might be less a part of the solution than a part of value problems of modern societies." (author's abstract

Wind and Wood : Affordances of Musical Instruments: The Example of the Simple-System Flute

The aim of this doctoral dissertation is to explore and describe the relationship and interaction between musicians and their instruments. In order to achieve a high level of detail, a certain instrument is in focus: the simple-system flute. Although primarily developed as a product of 19th-century Western art music, this instrument has since become established in other genres and traditions.Empirical data is generated through two qualitative studies. Study A consists of interviews with six flute players, including one flute maker. Together they represent a variety of European music traditions, and hence, the simple-system flute is perceived and used in different ways. In the cooperative inquiry of Study B, six flute players came together to investigate their own musical practice and approach towards their instruments.The central analytical concept is affordances, as coined by ecological psychologist James J. Gibson. The concept of affordances is combined with ideas from the emerging research paradigm of 4E cognition, in particular ideas from the extended and enactive dimensions.Through the analysis, affordances of musical instruments are defined as: perceived opportunities for actions arising from the sensorimotor relationship of the interaction with the instrument, as these unfold in the flow of musical practice.The analysis also shows that the cross-modal perceptual experience of the instrument varies between musicians. Viewed through the lens of affordances, this variation entails qualitatively different ways of playing.The perspective on musical learning that emerges through the analysis is discussed in terms of self-organization in which the development of the relationship between musician and instrument allows for an increasing capacity to perceive and act upon affordances of the instrument.This perspective on musical learning implies an understanding of music education as a form of eduction, where the learner is given appropriate space for self-organization and the educator assumes to role of sense-maker of the learning process, and facilitator and moderator of new musical experiences. The dynamic relationship between the individual learner and the educational environment is articulated as an ecological responsibility

Reciprocitet i marknad och politik

Utgångspunkten för artikeln är en analys av reciprocitetens etiska och psykologiska kärna. Därefter diskuteras denna princips betydelse och utveckling i det moderna samhället. Marknadens utbyte är ur etiskt synpunkt att se som en form av reciprocitet; den sker simultant istället för i sekvens. En del marknadstransaktioner är personliga och momentana, men det förekommer också en hel del av den lojalitet och kontinuitet som förknippas med sekventiell reciprocitet. Detta indikeras av att företag ofta tillskrivs goodwillvärden. I staten har reciprocitet traditionellt hyllats som princip, men respekteras till lägre grad i praktiken. Den moderna staten introducerar två förändringar. Den framväxande paternalismen i välfärdsstaten är en utmaning mot liberal individualism, men inte nödvändigtvis mot reciprocitet. Ett centralt moraliskt skifte sker dock med en omfördelningsideologi där ¹distributiv rättvisa¹ blir något som är avskilt från personens bidrag. Det band mellan plikt och rättighet som förespråkades också av socialister försvagas nu och ersätts av en behovsprincip. Detta är en utveckling som det är motiverat att uppmärksamma och ifrågasätta.reciprocitet; utbyte; omfördelning; paternalism

A Comparative Emigration Analysis of Swedish County Specific Responses to Socio-Economic Push-and Pull Factors 1870-1900

The aim of the thesis is to establish what impact the selected push- and pull factors had on the total number of emigrants and three chosen professional groups, farmers, factory workers and maids, who emigrated from five different Swedish counties between the years of 1870 and 1900. Analysis will also cover responses of the professional subgroups, such as the rural/urban- and female/male professionals within each county. Among the collected demographic and economic push- and pull factors it will be decided what their specific impact was on the total emigration in each county and how the emigration differed between these counties. The ordinary least square technique was applied and the regression results indicated there were differences between the subgroups, regarding their responses to the economic and demographic push- and pull factors, and different emigration patterns were displayed between the separate counties

Police witness identification images: a geometric morphometric analysis

Research into witness identification images typically occurs within the laboratory and involves subjective likeness and recognizability judgments. This study analyzed whether actual witness identification images systematically alter the facial shapes of the suspects described. The shape analysis tool, geometric morphometrics, was applied to 46 homologous facial landmarks displayed on 50 witness identification images and their corresponding arrest photographs, using principal component analysis and multivariate regressions. The results indicate that compared with arrest photographs, witness identification images systematically depict suspects with lowered and medially located eyebrows (p

Overregulation of Health Care: Musings on Disruptive Innovation Theory

Disruptive innovation theory provides one lens through which to describe how regulations may stifle innovation and increase costs. Basing their discussion on this theory, Curtis and Schulman consider some of the effects that regulatory controls may have on innovation in the health sector