Kinship and friendship in a trust game with third party punishment

This paper reports on a set of trust games with third party punishment (TPP) where participants are either family members or friends or unrelated villagers. The experimental sessions were carried out in southern Namibia (Karas) and the bordering northern South Africa (Namaqualand). The aim was to test several hypotheses derived from kin selection theory as well as to assess the importance of third party punishment for encounters among family members and friends. Building on Hamilton, (1964) it was proposed by e.g. Madsen et al., (2007) that kinship is the baseline behaviour among humans. Thus, I use kinship as basis for comparison of how we treat friends and unrelated people and when there is the possibility to punish free-riding behaviour. It turns out that kinship is the baseline behaviour when no other features are available to humans. However, a personal exchange among friends that has a third party observer performs better than a personal exchange among family members without third party punishment. Contributions to family members can substantially be increased by third party punishment. Thus, human ability to sustain a norm by punishing freeriders at personal costs could also have played an important role in sustaining co-operation among kin.Trust, field experiment, third party punishment, kinship, friendship

Individual Heterogeneity, Group Interaction, and Co-operative Behaviour: Evidence from a Common-Pool Resource Experiment in South Africa and Namibia

We present econometric evidence on the influence of an individual’s sociodemographic characteristics, economic background, and dynamic personal and group interactions on co-operative behaviour in a social dilemma situation. The data are from a framed common-pool resource experiment conducted in Namibian and South African farming communities. Our paper helps to better understand the discrepancy between the fact that people seem to care about advancing their relative position in real life but tend to act to reduce inequality in a laboratory setting. We analyse the first move in the game, the cumulated amount of resources gained by the players and, by taking into account the temporal dimension of the game in a panel context, each individual move.Common-pool resources, field experiment, group interaction, relative income position, Southern Africa

Kinship and friendship in a trust game with third party punishment

This paper reports on a set of trust games with third party punishment (TPP) where participants are either family members or friends or unrelated villagers. The experimental sessions were carried out in southern Namibia (Karas) and the bordering northern South Africa (Namaqualand). The aim was to test several hypotheses derived from kin selection theory as well as to assess the importance of third party punishment for encounters among family members and friends. Building on Hamilton, (1964) it was proposed by e.g. Madsen et al., (2007) that kinship is the baseline behaviour among humans. Thus, I use kinship as basis for comparison of how we treat friends and unrelated people and when there is the possibility to punish free-riding behaviour. It turns out that kinship is the baseline behaviour when no other features are available to humans. However, a personal exchange among friends that has a third party observer performs better than a personal exchange among family members without third party punishment. Contributions to family members can substantially be increased by third party punishment. Thus, human ability to sustain a norm by punishing freeriders at personal costs could also have played an important role in sustaining co-operation among kin

Saving, Microinsurance: Why You Should Do Both or Nothing. A Behavioral Experiment on the Philippines

This paper analyzes data from a novel field experiment designed to test the impact of two different insurance products and a secret saving device on solidarity in risk-sharing groups among rural villagers in the Philippines. Risk is simulated by a lottery, risk-sharing is possible in solidarity groups of three and insurance is introduced via less risky lotteries. Our main hypothesis is that formal market-based products lead to lower transfers among network members. We also test for the persistence of this crowding-out of solidarity. We find evidence for a reduction of solidarity by insurance if shocks are observable. Depending on insurance design, there is also evidence for persistence of this effect even if insurance is removed. Simulations using our regression results show that the benefits of insurance are completely offset by the reduction in transfers. However, if secret saving is possible solidarity is very low in general and there is no crowding out effect of insurance. This suggests that introducing formal insurance is not as effective as it is hoped for when the monetary situation can be closely monitored, but that it might be a very important complement when savings inhibit observing financial resources. --

Review of \u3ci\u3eI\u27ll Be Here in the Morning: The Songwriting Legacy of Townes Van Zandt\u3c/i\u3e by Brian T. Atkinson

Texas\u27s Townes Van Zandtwas a musician\u27s musician whose fame grew after his 1996 death. Brian T. Atkinson, contributor to the Austin AmericanStatesman, Texas Music, Lone Star, American Songwriter, and No Depression, has woven together a collection of interviews from Van Zandt\u27s contemporaries and friends, as well as his musical heirs-singer-songwriters who grew up too late to have known the troubled author of Pancho and Lefty, Tecumseh Valley, and Lungs but who admired his dark, poetic lyrics

An investigation and analysis of Acergy's start-up in St. John's

Our research problem is to analyze Acergy’s start-up in St. John’s. To reduce the research problem down to a manageable task we have developed the following research question: “Have the Pro-Dive Acergy alliance been a beneficial part of the entrepreneurial process of setting up a new Acergy office in St. John’s?” We have found it necessary to use two different theoretical frameworks to answer this question: entrepreneurship and strategic alliances. The entrepreneurship part is used to define entrepreneurship, the intrapreneur, international entrepreneurship, the entrepreneurial process and what a new business is. We have also included a part on entrepreneurial networks and relationships. Theory on strategic alliances is starting with defining what an alliance is, before moving on to describing theory on generic motives and the four different archetypes of strategic alliances. The gathering of data has been made using mainly three sources of data. We have been using Acergy’s webpage to gather general information about the company, as well as to gather financial data and press releases. We have also used internal work documents presented to us when we visited Acergy Canada. However our main source of data has been semi-structured in-depth interviews with Simon Hume and other employees at Acergy Canada. To help us answer our research question we have used the entrepreneurial process to structure our thesis, and the thesis therefore contains four main parts. The first part is the case description were we have given a general introduction to the Atlantic Canada oil and gas industry, followed by an introduction of Acergy, Pro-Dive and the Pro-Dive Acergy alliance. One of the key findings in the case description is the fact that the market place is dominated by a few organizations, both on the supplier and customer side. The case description also points to a growing oil and gas market in Newfoundland, Labrador and Nova Scotia. Acergy have shown growing revenue and profit during the last years, both in Northern Europe and Canada, and in the rest of the Acergy organization. The case description will give the reader a better understanding of the opportunity that Acergy followed when they decided to establish an office in St. John’s. The second part of our thesis is using theory on entrepreneurship to describe the entrepreneurial aspect of the thesis. We have compared the various entrepreneurial definitions with the set-up process in St. John’s and concluded that the process can be seen as entrepreneurial. We have also included an introduction to the general set-up process were we have included some of the obstacles that Acergy have encountered during the process. In the end of the entrepreneurial chapter we have included a figure describing Acergy Canada’s networks and relationships. We have her discussed some of the key relationships and concluded that Acergy Canada have 6 main relationships; Pro-Dive, interest organizations, customers, suppliers and Acergy (the rest of the organization). Third part of our thesis is focusing on the strategic alliance with Pro-Dive. To help us with this part we have used theory developed by Lorange and Roos to determine the motives behind the alliance and what archetype this alliance belongs to. Using this information we have been able to define the Pro-Dive Acergy alliance as an Ad-hoc pool alliance. We have thereafter used theory on how to set-up an Ad-hoc pool alliance to see if the Pro-Dive Acergy alliance is functioning like theory predicts that it will. After evaluating the industry, the entrepreneurial aspects and the Pro-Dive Acergy alliance we have concluded that there are several positive aspects of the way that Acergy have chosen to enter the Canadian market. And as Simon Hume, general manager of Acergy Canada put it: “The office should be fully operational according to plan” We said in our research question that we were to find out if the Pro-Dive Acergy alliance has been a beneficial part of the entrepreneurial process. After studying the case for 4 months we have concluded that the alliance definitive have been beneficial for Acergy’s entry into the Canadian market. We have also been able to prove that there is a clear connection between entrepreneurship and strategic alliances, and that this is a theoretical area that needs more research

Pedagogical Application of Verb Error Correction in an L2 Composition

Using error analysis can be an effective tool by ESL teachers for discovering individual student’s difficulties with the English language. Controversies exist, however, over which of these errors should be used for focused instruction. In this study, a detailed inspection of grammatical errors was done with a sample essay written by an anonymous college-level ESL student. The results of the analysis found that out of the eight parts of speech, verbs were the most prevalent errors within this essay. In particular, four grammatical verb errors were noted. The first error included subject-verb agreement when an auxiliary verb was used. The second error showed confusion between tense verbs that are bound by time frames compared to infinitive forms - which are not bound by these frames. Third, there were misunderstandings between the correct usage of gerunds and the infinitive forms of non-finite model verbs. Finally, the student showed a lack of use of model verbs to correctly express mood in an opinion essay. It was therefore determined that this student, as well as other ESL students, could benefit from specific instruction on English verb peculiarities through the use of mini-lessons within a student’s own work

The breast cancer genome--a key for better oncology.

Molecular classification has added important knowledge to breast cancer biology, but has yet to be implemented as a clinical standard. Full sequencing of breast cancer genomes could potentially refine classification and give a more complete picture of the mutational profile of cancer and thus aid therapy decisions. Future treatment guidelines must be based on the knowledge derived from histopathological sub-classification of tumors, but with added information from genomic signatures when properly clinically validated. The objective of this article is to give some background on molecular classification, the potential of next generation sequencing, and to outline how this information could be implemented in the clinic.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

The shadow of the future and the shadow of the past: Studying the impact of climate change on human behaviour

There is consent among researchers that climate change results in increasing number of extreme weather events, migration and even the need to resettle entire populations. Understanding the behaviour of climate refugees and people exposed to extreme events are key in order to avoid emergency mass movements or even conflict over natural and social resources. I propose a research project with two related parts that identify the human reaction to the impacts of climate change by combining a comparative research design and the use of economic experiments, survey methods and modelling techniques. The first part of the project builds upon a unique sample of experimentally measured risk and solidarity preferences of 800 Filipinos taken in 2012 in. In order to assess the impact of the damages induced by typhoon 'Haiyan' and the following recovery aid we will carry out two follow-up studies with the same people in order to obtain panel data on solidarity and risk preferences for robust statistical inference.The second part of the project will focus on the effects of anticipated forced and permanent relocation. The major innovation offered by the proposed set-up is a sample of inhabitants from atoll and island communities where the communities only differ in the timing of the expected relocation due to sea level rise with additional use of priming techniques. The set-up allows studying how preferences and behavior of people change with the prospect of being severely affected by climate change and whether and how these affect short and medium-term adaptation strategies such as an increased extraction of natural resources and migration

Ei normeringshistorisk vandring i skogen

Denne artikkelen handler om genus i skriftlig og muntlig norsk. Førstpresenteres gjeldende rettskriving, deretter normeringshistoriske faktafor nynorsk og bokmål når det gjelder et mindre utvalg substantiv. Såfølger opplysninger om muntlig språkbruk, både slik den er omtalt iulike skriftlige kilder, og slik artikkelforfatteren har registrert dengjennom en mindre spørreundersøkelse. På bakgrunn av konkrete normeringshistoriskefakta og opplysninger om muntlig språkbruk stillesdet spørsmål ved ideen om “folkets virkelige talespråk” som normeringsgrunnlagog ved oppfølginga av den i arbeidet med genusnormering