Hayek's Theory of Cultural Evolution Revisited: Rules, Morality, and the Sensory Order

One of the most controversial parts of F. A. Hayek's work is his theory of cultural evolution. By starting with current discussions on biological and cultural selection theories we bring individual, kin and group selection aspects together and shed some light on Hayek's thoughts on the Theory of Mind. We find that these thoughts traced out from his work on the "Sensory Order", need to be combined with his thoughts on cultural evolution. Both works can be backed by kin selection arguments and extended by a theory of cultural learning in which individual selection plays an important role. In doing so, we offer a more integrated view on Hayek's theory of cultural selection with respect to moral rules and collective choice processes in societies.Cultural Evolution, Morality, Theory of Mind, Learning, Kin selection

Little Firms and Big Patents: The Incentives To Disclose Competencies

This paper offers a theoretical treatment of information disclosure through patenting. We consider a signaling model in which two domestic firms disclose their competencies to a foreign firm. Conditions are discussed under which separating and pooling equilibria occur, together with a domination-based re-finement. Depending on the payoff situation of the foreign firm, separating and semi-separating equilibria occur in which the firm with the higher competencies discloses. We show that subsidizing the costs of patent applications has no impact on the outcome.Patenting, Disclosure, R&D Cooperations, Asymmetric Information.

Optimal Auditing Under Intermediated Contracting

This paper builds on Faure-Grimaud and Martimort’s [Economics Letters 71 (2001) 75-82] analysis of intermediated contracting. I argue that intermediated contracting permits one form of auditing, in which the sub-contract offered to the firm is examined, contingent on the intermediary’s report. Auditing reduces the intermediary’s rent and increases allocative efficiency.Intermediated Contracting, Grand Contract, Optimal Auditing.

Creating a Tool to Explore Intergenerational Understandings: Through the use of Virtual Reality in Malaysia

This paper provides an introduction to a research-creation project, focusing on developing a prototype Virtual Reality (VR) educational tool. Younger people in Malaysia have limited exposure to or interest in information relating to the elderly, resulting in an intergenerational disconnect. The wider project aims to develop a VR teaching tool inspired by an existing role-playing simulation game (Aging Game). As a storytelling-based experience, VR can be used to share the discomfort faced by older people when using information and communications technology (ICT) such as computers/cell phones, internet and social media.The project is to explore the potential VR has to act as a bridge between the generations and to raise awareness in younger people about intergenerationalissues. The primary focus of this discussion paper is to discuss design and modification of the VR tool for creating interactive experiences that inhabit both the real and the unreal (virtual) world

Vertikale Integration und informations- und kommunikationsintensive Dienstleistungen

The ongoing debate on the ``service gap'' in Germany has lead to empirical findings bolstering the argument of a lack of outsourcing activities.Hence, there is still a need to back these findings from an organisational point of view. After a short overview on empirical findings, the present paper focuses on the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) inside organizations providing ICT-related services. Starting with the organizational literature it shows that ICTs may lower the monitoring costs within incentive contracts. In addition, the paper tries to develop a viewpoint on the degree of applicability of hierarchies as a sefeguard against risks stemming from the outsourcing of ICT-related activities. Thus it tries to shed some light on the explanations for an in-house production of ICT-related services.Organisationstheorie, Transaktionskosten, Anreizvertraege, IuK-Technologien.

Theoretical Modeling for Curious Leadership and Instrument Development and Validation for Measuring Curious Leader Capacity

When curious, we admit we do not know. With the contemporary workplace emerging through increased complexity, leaders are compelled to shift mindsets and practices from more traditional methods to those more in service to the uncertainty of the day. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to generate an integrated theoretical framework for curious leadership, a validated scale for its measurement, and practical methods for engaging differently in the context and practice of leading. Drawing from the literature review of relational leadership, adaptive leadership, complexity leadership, growth mindsets, and curious behavior, and from my practice, 12 sub-constructs were identified as possible scale components of curious leader behavior. A mixed-methods approach was taken with three differently composed focus groups who reviewed the 12 sub-constructs and honed them to four based on their intersections in Phase 1 of the study. In Phase 2, a survey was thereby developed identifying 66 items for further subsequent appraisal. A finalized survey was undertaken with 274 respondents. From principal and confirmatory factor analysis, four sub-scales were eventually identified: Encourage Emergence, Enable Openness, Engage Experiments, and Honor Humanness resulting in the development of the Gick Curious Leader Capacity Scale. The scale\u27s application and future implications for research and practice are discussed. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, https://aura.antioch.edu/, and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu

German and Israeli Innovation: The Best of Two Worlds

This study reviews – through desk research and expert interviews with Mittelstand companies, startups and ecosystem experts – the current status of the Israeli startup ecosystem and the Mittelstand region of North Rhine- Westphalia (NRW), Germany. As a case study, it highlights potential opportunities for collaboration and analyzes different engagement modes that might serve to connect the two regions. The potential synergies between the two economies are based on a high degree of complementarity. A comparison of NRW’s key verticals and Israel’s primary areas of innovation indicates that there is significant overlap in verticals, such as artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), sensors and cybersecurity. Israeli startups can offer speed, agility and new ideas, while German Mittelstand companies can contribute expertise in production and scaling, access to markets, capital and support. The differences between Mittelstand companies and startups are less pronounced than those between startups and big corporations. However, three current barriers to fruitful collaboration have been identified: 1) a lack of access, 2) a lack of transparency regarding relevant players in the market, and 3) a lack of the internal resources needed to select the right partners, often due to time constraints or a lack of internal expertise on this issue. To ensure that positive business opportunities ensue, Mittelstand companies and startups alike have to be proactive in their search for cooperation partners and draw on a range of existing engagement modes (e.g., events, communities, accelerators). The interviews and the research conducted for this study made clear that no single mode of engagement can address all the needs and challenges associated with German-Israeli collaboration

Blackfoot Final Vowels: What Variation and its Absence can Tell us about Communicative Goals

This paper investigates variation in the production of word-final vowels in Blackfoot, an Algonquian language spoken by approximately 3350 people in Southern Alberta and Northern Montana. The Blackfoot community perceives the language as partitioning into varieties, based on the age of the speaker; ‘old Blackfoot’ is richly polysynthetic and spoken by people born in the 1930s and earlier, whereas ‘new Blackfoot’ is thought to be missing certain inflections, and is spoken by people born in the 1940s or later. Final vowels, which encode a morphosyntactic distinction referred to as obviation, are thought to be particularly susceptible to language loss. Gick et al. (2012) document the phonetic properties of one Blackfoot speaker’s final vowels, demonstrating that, for her, final vowels are not absent but instead soundless in some environments, in that there are distinct articulator positions for -a and -i vowels without any corresponding acoustic distinction. We investigate the articulatory, acoustic, and phonological properties of the final vowels of four additional speakers cross-cutting age, dialect, and gender. Using ultrasound, video, and audio recordings, we found that while there is phonetic variation across speakers in the realization of final vowels, not one speaker altogether omits them. In short, there is variation, but of a limited nature. The robustness of the final vowels reflects the fact that they serve an important communicative function in the grammar by encoding obviation