285,657 research outputs found
Strategy-proof allocation mechanisms for economies with public goods
This paper provides a characterization of the class of incentive compatible (i.e., strategy-proof) allocation mechanisms for decision problems associated with classical economic environments. It is shown that when at least one public good is provided, then only dictatorial allocation mechanisms are incentive compatible. Dictatorial mechanisms are very unsatisfactory, as any conflict of interest is always resolved in favor of a single individual (the dictator). This result reveals a basic incompatibility between incentive compatibility and any other desirable property (e.g., any kind of efficiency, fairness, etc.) of an allocation mechanism. In particular, incentive compatible allocation mechanisms typically produce inefficient outcomes
Strategy-proof allocation mechanisms for pure public goods economies when preferences are monotonic
A fundamental problem in public finance is that of allocating a␣given budget to financing the provision of public goods (education, transportation, police, etc.). In this paper it is established that when␣admissible preferences are those representable by continuous and increasing utility functions, then strategy-proof allocation mechanisms whose (undominated) range contains three or more outcomes are dictatorial on the set of profiles of strictly increasing utility functions, a dense subset of the domain in the topologies commonly used in this context. If admissible utility functions are further restricted to be strictly increasing, or if mechanisms are required to be non-wasteful, then strategy-profness leads to (full) dictatorship.Publicad
Quantitative Analysis of the Italian National Scientific Qualification
The Italian National Scientific Qualification (ASN) was introduced in 2010 as
part of a major reform of the national university system. Under the new
regulation, the scientific qualification for a specific role (associate or full
professor) and field of study is required to apply to a permanent professor
position. The ASN is peculiar since it makes use of bibliometric indicators
with associated thresholds as one of the parameters used to assess applicants.
Overall, more than 59000 applications were submitted, and the results have been
made publicly available for a short period of time, including the values of the
quantitative indicators for each applicant. The availability of this wealth of
information provides an opportunity to draw a fairly detailed picture of a
nation-wide evaluation exercise, and to study the impact of the bibliometric
indicators on the qualification results. In this paper we provide a first
account of the Italian ASN from a quantitative point of view. We show that
significant differences exist among scientific disciplines, in particular with
respect to the fraction of qualified applicants, that can not be easily
explained. Furthermore, we describe some issues related to the definition and
use of the bibliometric indicators and thresholds. Our analysis aims at drawing
attention to potential problems that should be addressed by decision-makers in
future ASN rounds.Comment: ISSN 1751-157
The Bianchi variety
The totality Lie(V) of all Lie algebra structures on a vector space V over a
field F is an algebraic variety over F on which the group GL(V) acts naturally.
We give an explicit description of Lie(V) for dim V=3 which is based on the
notion of compatibility of Lie algebra structures.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures, to appear on Diff. Geom. App
On the canonical connection for smooth envelopes
A notion known as smooth envelope, or superposition closure, appears
naturally in several approaches to generalized smooth manifolds which were
proposed in the last decades. Such an operation is indispensable in order to
perform differential calculus. A derivation of the enveloping algebra can be
restricted to the original one, but it is a delicate question if the the
vice-versa can be done as well. In a physical language, this would corresponds
to the existence of a canonical connection. In this paper we show an example of
an algebra which always possesses such a connection.Comment: 5 pages. Accepted for publication on Demonstratio Mathematica
(19-3-2013
Assessing evaluation procedures for individual researchers: the case of the Italian National Scientific Qualification
The Italian National Scientific Qualification (ASN) was introduced as a
prerequisite for applying for tenured associate or full professor positions at
state-recognized universities. The ASN is meant to attest that an individual
has reached a suitable level of scientific maturity to apply for professorship
positions. A five member panel, appointed for each scientific discipline, is in
charge of evaluating applicants by means of quantitative indicators of impact
and productivity, and through an assessment of their research profile. Many
concerns were raised on the appropriateness of the evaluation criteria, and in
particular on the use of bibliometrics for the evaluation of individual
researchers. Additional concerns were related to the perceived poor quality of
the final evaluation reports. In this paper we assess the ASN in terms of
appropriateness of the applied methodology, and the quality of the feedback
provided to the applicants. We argue that the ASN is not fully compliant with
the best practices for the use of bibliometric indicators for the evaluation of
individual researchers; moreover, the quality of final reports varies
considerably across the panels, suggesting that measures should be put in place
to prevent sloppy practices in future ASN rounds
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