bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Drama in the Classroom
Authors: Gilbert Steven J. , Conway Paul
Published: December 2005

The performance of live drama by teachers in the classroom is advocated as a way of promoting immediacy and involvement. Our experiences with one such performance and the responses of our students are described.
An Equitable Method of Assigning Term Papers
Authors: Chao Eugene T.
Published: December 2005

Auctions are presented as a method for assigning term paper topics. Based on the work-credit system in Skinner's Walden Two (1948), the method provides for perceived equity in the difficulty and desirability of the available topics. The technique's logistical problems and their solutions are also presented.
“The Psychology of Mass Communication” Course
Authors: Harris Richard Jackson , Bechtold John I.
Published: December 2005

Psychology curricula rarely include issues concerning the effects of television and other media. In response to this deficiency, the rationale for, and description of, a new undergraduate course, “The Psychology of Mass Communication,” are discussed. The reading materials, course topics, class format, and requirements are described. The course has sustained considerable interest and a large enrollment for several years.
The Nature and Role of Comparative Psychology in the Teaching of Psychology
Authors: Thompson Roger K. R.
Published: December 2005

This article describes a comparative psychology course that attempts to demonstrate the power of the comparative method for a complete understanding of psychological phenomena typically taught from a human-oriented perspective. A description of methodological goals and the traditional roles of comparative psychology precede the course description. These include research strategies for relating group differences to specific processes and for inferring the evolutionary and developmental histories of behavior.
A Model for Curriculum Evaluation and Revision in Undergraduate Psychology Programs
Authors: Walker William E. , Newcomb Andrew F. , Hopkins Warren P.
Published: December 2005

This article outlines the response of the psychology department at a small liberal arts university to the need for curricular revision. A three-phase process began with the identification of the logic for establishing the new curriculum. Next, a structural model for a new curriculum was developed from information obtained by studying the institutional expectations/constraints, the ideal knowledge/skill base generated by interviewing former students and officials in various postgraduation settings, and the curricula of peer institutions. Four developmental features in the model were delineated and unified by emphasizing method of inquiry as the essential objective for the psychology major. This structural model was then used to specify a hierarchical set of course groups. Implementation of the model is also discussed.
Effects of Student Confidence and Item Difficulty on Test Score Gains Due to Answer Changing
Authors: Ramsey Philip H. , Ramsey Patricia P. , Barnes Michael J.
Published: December 2005

Two undergraduate and two graduate classes in statistics were given multiple-choice tests with subsequent evaluation of answer changes. The 95 students tested had an answer change rate of 6.6%. In evaluating the number of answer changes, no significant effect was found for ability, gender, nor the interaction between ability and gender. An analysis of gain scores due to answer changing showed a significant main effect for item difficulty, student change confidence, and their interaction. No significant effect on gain score was found for ability or any interaction with ability. Significant gains, even for changes based on low confidence, were interpreted as suggesting that previous cautions about answer changing are not warranted.
Defining Learning: Two Classroom Activities
Authors: Rocklin Thomas
Published: December 2005

This article describes two activities designed to help students evaluate potential definitions of learning and arrive at a useful one. The first activity involves discussion of 10 events, ranging from clear cases of learning, through ambiguous cases, to cases that are clearly not learning. The second activity involves interacting with a computer program that simulates problem solving and appears to fit most published definitions of learning. The two activities seem to help students evaluate proposed definitions of learning.
Objective Features of Introductory Psychology Textbooks as Related to Professors' Impressions
Authors: Weiten Wayne
Published: December 2005

A sample of 43 introductory psychology texts was identified and 29 objective features were measured (e.g., manuscript length and number of references), yielding normative and comparative data. These text variables were regressed on professors' ratings of the books' level of discourse, scholarship, capacity to engage student interest, and pedagogical quality. The predictors accounted for substantial portions of the variance. The comparative data may help professors make better informed decisions about textbook selection. The regression analyses shed light on how professors' perceptions of texts may be shaped.
Using a Film as a Personality Case Study
Authors: Logan Richard D.
Published: December 2005

This article describes how I use the well-known film series, Three Approaches to Psychotherapy, which was created to demonstrate different approaches to psychotherapy, as a case study for interpreting the filmed client's personality from various theoretical perspectives.
Some Retention, but Not Enough
Authors: Rickard Henry C. , Rogers Ronald , Ellis Norman R. , Beidleman William B.
Published: December 2005

The retention of introductory psychology course content 4 months after the end of a semester was compared to the performance of a group of undergraduates who had not taken a psychology course. Instructed students performed significantly better on a multiple-choice test of general psychology content than those who received no instruction, but the differences were disappointingly small in educational terms. Similar retention scores were obtained for both a traditional lecture approach and a teaching strategy that focused on concept learning. Further research preceded by the development of a more adequate test to measure retention is needed to clarify and expand these tentative findings.
Overcoming Misunderstanding about the Concept of Negative Reinforcement
Authors: Tauber Robert T.
Published: December 2005

Negative reinforcement is a misunderstood concept. This article describes a quiz that helps students ascertain whether they understand the concept. Six remedies for alleviating their misunderstanding are also described. The first three remedies pertain to teaching the concept of negative reinforcement. The remaining remedies alert students to the problems associated with the connotative meaning of the word negative and to the relative paucity of literature citations and textbook coverage of negative reinforcement.
The Number of Neurons in the Brain: How We Report What We Do Not Know
Authors: Soper Barlow , Rosenthal Gary
Published: December 2005

Physiological chapters from 31 introductory psychology textbooks were examined for information concerning the number of neurons in the human brain and how many neurons die each day. Almost all text authors reported definite answers to these complex and, as yet, unanswered questions. The answers differed with respect to the number of neurons, but there was uniform agreement about how many die. We comment on the importance of the problem of false certainty and discuss how misinformation may be reported and passed from text to text. We also suggest possible solutions to the problem.
Perceptions of Teacher Characteristics and Student Judgments of Teacher Effectiveness
Authors: Freeman Harvey R.
Published: December 2005

This study examined the relationship between perceived teacher attractiveness, expertness, and trustworthiness and student judgment of teacher effectiveness. Three teachers who taught both an introductory and an advanced psychology course participated in the study. Students completed the Counselor Rating Form–Short version (CRF–S) and rated the teacher on effectiveness. Results indicated that each of the subscales of the CRF–S was positively related to perceived teacher effectiveness. The results also suggested that it may be useful to conceptualize teaching as a social influence process. Factors extensively researched by social and counseling psychologists may be important in understanding the classroom situation.
Staffing the Introductory Psychology Course in Graduate Departments
Authors: Griggs Richard A. , Lange Stephen K. , Meyer Merle E.
Published: December 2005

Psychology departments with graduate programs were surveyed to examine how large, research-oriented programs are handling the introductory course in psychology. Particular interest was paid to differences between master's-only and doctoral programs and to staffing difficulties and solutions to such problems.
Strict and Lenient Grading Scales: How Do They Affect the Performance of College Students with High and Low SAT Scores?
Authors: Johnson Basil G. , Beck Hall P.
Published: December 2005

This study examined the relationship between strict and lenient grading scales, Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores, and performance on tests administered in an undergraduate Educational Psychology class. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that students with relatively higher SATs obtained better test scores than students with lower SATs and that students evaluated with the strict scale earned higher test scores than students graded with the lenient scale. The Grading Scale × SAT interaction was also significant. The lenient scale impaired the performance of students with low SAT scores but did not significantly affect the performance of students with moderate or high SAT scores. Other Educational Psychology students were administered the LOGO II Scale to determine why the grading scale variable had its greatest impact on the achievement of students with low SAT scores. A significant negative correlation was found, indicating that students with lower SAT scores are more grade-oriented than students with higher SAT scores.
Devising Relevant and Topical Undergraduate Laboratory Projects: The Core Article Approach
Authors: Chamberlain Kerry
Published: December 2005

This article describes an approach to devising realistic laboratory projects to enhance research training for undergraduates. An appropriate core article serves as the basis for each project, which invoices full or partial replication of an experiment from the core article. Advantages and limitations of the method are discussed.
A Decision Tree for Psychology Majors: Supplying Questions as Well as Answers
Authors: Poe Retta E.
Published: December 2005

This article describes the development of a psychology careers decision tree. Especially in departments with heavy advising loads, using a psychology careers decision tree can be an effective time-management technique for advisers. In addition, students who use the decision tree may benefit by learning more about their career options and by acquiring better question-asking skills.
A System of Thesis and Dissertation Supervision: Helping Graduate Students Succeed
Authors: Garcia Maria Emma , Malott Richard W. , Brethower Dale
Published: December 2005

Twenty-nine psychology graduate students participated in a thesis and dissertation supervisory system. The system included weekly meetings, task specification, feedback, and incentives. Regular participants completed significantly more tasks when academic credit depended on task completion than when it did not. In comparison with a college-wide control group, a higher percentage of the participants in the supervisory group defined the topic, read relevant articles, collected data, wrote a draft, and completed their projects. In comparison with a psychology control group, the graduating participants completed MA theses of similar quality.
The time to ruin for a class of Markov additive risk process with two-sided jumps
Authors: Jacobsen Martin
Published: December 2005

We consider risk processes that locally behave like Brownian motion with some drift and variance, these both depending on an underlying Markov chain that is also used to generate the claims arrival process. Thus, claims arrive according to a renewal process with waiting times of phase type. Positive claims (downward jumps) are always possible but negative claims (upward jumps) are also allowed. The claims are assumed to form an independent, identically distributed sequence, independent of everything else. As main results, the joint Laplace transform of the time to ruin and the undershoot at ruin, as well as the probability of ruin, are explicitly determined under the assumption that the Laplace transform of the positive claims is a rational function. Both the joint Laplace transform and the ruin probability are decomposed according to the type of ruin: ruin by jump or ruin by continuity. The methods used involve finding certain martingales by first finding partial eigenfunctions for the generator of the Markov process composed of the risk process and the underlying Markov chain. We also use certain results from complex function theory as important tools.
A critical branching process model for biodiversity
Authors: Aldous David , Popovic Lea
Published: December 2005

We study the following model for a phylogenetic tree on n extant species: the origin of the clade is a random time in the past whose (improper) distribution is uniform on (0,∞); thereafter, the process of extinctions and speciations is a continuous-time critical branching process of constant rate, conditioned on there being the prescribed number n of species at the present time. We study various mathematical properties of this model as n→∞: namely the time of origin and of the most recent common ancestor, the pattern of divergence times within lineage trees, the time series of the number of species, the total number of extinct species, the total number of species ancestral to the extant ones, and the ‘local’ structure of the tree itself. We emphasize several mathematical techniques: the association of walks with trees; a point process representation of lineage trees; and Brownian limits.
Nonstationarity and randomization in the Reed-Frost epidemic model
Authors: Lefèvre Claude , Picard Philippe
Published: December 2005

The purpose of this paper is to determine the exact distribution of the final size of an epidemic for a wide class of models of susceptible–infective–removed type. First, a nonstationary version of the classical Reed–Frost model is constructed that allows us to incorporate, in particular, random levels of resistance to infection in the susceptibles. Then, a randomized version of this nonstationary model is considered in order to take into account random levels of infectiousness in the infectives. It is shown that, in both cases, the distribution of the final number of infected individuals can be obtained in terms of Abel–Gontcharoff polynomials. The new methodology followed also provides a unified approach to a number of recent works in the literature.
Cut-off and hitting times of a sample of Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes and its average
Authors: Lachaud B.
Published: December 2005

A cut-off phenomenon is shown to occur in a sample of n independent, identically distributed Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes and its average. Their distributions stay far from equilibrium before a certain O(log(n)) time, and converge exponentially fast after. Precise estimates show that the total variation distance drops from almost 1 to almost 0 over an interval of time of length O(1) around log(n)/(2α), where α is the viscosity coefficient of the sampled process. The distribution of the hitting time of 0 by the average of the sample is computed. As n tends to infinity, the hitting time becomes concentrated around the cut-off instant, and its tails match the estimates given for the total variation distance.
The endocytic pathway and formation of the Wingless morphogen gradient
Authors: Marois Eric , Mahmoud Ali , Eaton Suzanne
Published: December 2005

Controlling the spread of morphogens is crucial for pattern formation during development. In the Drosophila wing disc, Wingless secreted at the dorsal-ventral compartment boundary forms a concentration gradient in receiving tissue, where it activates short- and long-range target genes. The glypican Dally-like promotes Wingless spreading by unknown mechanisms, while Dynamin-dependent endocytosis is thought to restrict Wingless spread. We have utilized short-term expression of dominant negative Rab proteins to examine the polarity of endocytic trafficking of Wingless and its receptors and to determine the relative contributions of endocytosis, degradation and recycling to the establishment of the Wingless gradient. Our results show that Wingless is internalized via two spatially distinct routes: one on the apical, and one on the basal, side of the disc. Both restrict the spread of Wingless, with little contribution from subsequent degradation or recycling. As previously shown for Frizzled receptors, depleting Arrow does not prevent Wingless from entering endosomes. We find that both Frizzled and Arrow are internalized mainly from the apical membrane. Thus, the basal Wingless internalization route must be independent of these proteins. We find that Dally-like is not required for Wingless spread when endocytosis is blocked, and propose that Dally-like promotes the spread of Wingless by directing it to lateral membranes, where its endocytosis is less efficient. Thus, subcellular localization of Wingless along the apical-basal axis of receiving cells may be instrumental in shaping the Wingless gradient.
Functional analysis of SIRPα in the growth cone
Authors: Wang Xiaoxin X. , Pfenninger Karl H.
Published: December 2005

The `signal regulatory protein' SIRPα is an Ig superfamily, transmembrane glycoprotein with a pair of cytoplasmic domains that can bind the phosphatase SHP-2 when phosphorylated on tyrosine. SIRPα is prominent in growth cones of rat cortical neurons and located, together with the tetraspanin CD81, in the growth cone periphery. SIRPα is dynamically associated with Triton-X-100-sensitive, but Brij-98-resistant, lipid microdomains, which also contain CD81. Challenge of growth cones with the integrin-binding extracellular-matrix (ECM) protein, laminin, or with the growth factors, IGF-1 or BDNF, increases SIRPα phosphorylation and SHP-2 binding rapidly and transiently, via Src family kinase activation; phosphorylated SIRPα dissociates from the lipid microdomains. A cytoplasmic tail fragment of SIRPα (cSIRPα), when expressed in primary cortical neurons, also is phosphorylated and binds SHP-2. Expression of wild-type cSIRPα, but not of a phosphorylation-deficient mutant, substantially decreases IGF-1-stimulated axonal growth on laminin. On poly-D-lysine and in control conditions, axonal growth is slower than on laminin, but there is no further reduction in growth rate induced by the expression of cSIRPα. Thus, the effect of cSIRPα on axon growth is dependent upon integrin activation by laminin. These results suggest that SIRPα functions in the modulation of axonal growth by ECM molecules, such as laminin.
Non-snRNP U1A levels decrease during mammalian B-cell differentiation and release the IgM secretory poly(A) site from repression
Authors: MA JIANGLIN , GUNDERSON SAMUEL I. , PHILLIPS CATHERINE
Published: December 2005

A regulated shift from the production of membrane to secretory forms of Immunoglobulin M (IgM) mRNA occurs during B cell differentiation due to the activation of an upstream secretory poly(A) site. U1A plays a key role in inhibiting the expression of the secretory poly(A) site by inhibiting both cleavage at the poly(A) site and subsequent poly(A) tail addition. However, how the inhibitory effect of U1A is alleviated in differentiated cells, which express the secretory poly(A) site, is not known. Using B cell lines representing different stages of B cell differentiation, we show that the amount of U1A available to inhibit the secretory poly(A) site is reduced in differentiated cells. Undifferentiated B cells have more total U1A than differentiated cells and a greater proportion of this is not associated with the U1snRNP. We show that this is available to inhibit poly(A) addition at the secretory poly(A) site using cold competitor RNA oligos to de-repress poly(A) addition in nuclear extracts from the respective cell lines. In addition, endogenous non-snRNP associated U1A—immunopurified from the different cell lines—inhibits poly(A) polymerase activity proportional to U1A recovered, suggesting that available U1A level alone is responsible for changes in its inhibitory effect at the secretory IgM poly (A) site.
A computational screen for mammalian pseudouridylation guide H/ACA RNAs
Authors: SCHATTNER PETER , BARBERAN-SOLER SERGIO , LOWE TODD M.
Published: December 2005

The box H/ACA RNA gene family is one of the largest non-protein-coding gene families in eukaryotes and archaea. Recently, we developed snoGPS, a computational screening program for H/ACA snoRNAs, and applied it to Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We report here results of extending our method to screen for H/ACA RNAs in multiple large genomes of related species, and apply it to the human, mouse, and rat genomes. Because of the 250-fold larger search space compared to S. cerevisiae, significant enhancements to our algorithms were required. Complementing extensive cloning experiments performed by others, our findings include the detection and experimental verification of seven new mammalian H/ACA RNAs and the prediction of 23 new H/ACA RNA pseudouridine guide assignments. These assignments include four for H/ACA RNAs previously classified as orphan H/ACA RNAs with no known targets. We also determined systematic syntenic conservation among human and mouse H/ACA RNAs. With this work, 82 of 97 ribosomal RNA pseudouridines and 18 of 32 spliceosomal RNA pseudouridines in mammals have been linked to H/ACA guide RNAs.
The interaction between C75 of tRNA and the A loop of the ribosome stimulates peptidyl transferase activity
Authors: BRUNELLE JULIE L. , YOUNGMAN ELAINE M. , SHARMA DIVYA , GREEN RACHEL
Published: December 2005

Ribosomal variants carrying mutations in active site nucleotides are severely compromised in their ability to catalyze peptide bond formation (PT) with minimal aminoacyl tRNA substrates such as puromycin. However, catalysis of PT by these same ribosomes with intact aminoacyl tRNA substrates is uncompromised. These data suggest that these active site nucleotides play an important role in the positioning of minimal aminoacyl tRNA substrates but are not essential for catalysis per se when aminoacyl tRNAs are positioned by more remote interactions with the ribosome. Previously reported biochemical studies and atomic resolution X-ray structures identified a direct Watson–Crick interaction between C75 of the A-site substrate and G2553 of the 23S rRNA. Here we show that the addition of this single cytidine residue (the C75 equivalent) to puromycin is sufficient to suppress the deficiencies of active site ribosomal variants, thus restoring “tRNA-like” behavior to this minimal substrate. Studies of the binding parameters and the pH-dependence of catalysis with this minimal substrate indicate that the interaction between C75 and the ribosomal A loop is an essential feature for robust catalysis and further suggest that the observed effects of C75 on peptidyl transfer activity reflect previously reported conformational rearrangements in this active site.
A Model of the Effects of Reputational Rankings on Organizational Change
Authors: Martins Luis L.
Published: December 2005

Reputational rankings published by the media have emerged as important sources of institutional isomorphic pressures on organizations. However, organizations vary in the extent to which they respond to the pressures exerted by the rankings, and research to date has not examined why some organizations change in response to the rankings and others do not. This study develops and tests a model that examines how top managers’ sensemaking of rankings affects organizational change. Specifically, the model proposes direct and moderated effects of a perceived discrepancy between the position assigned to an organization in the rankings and the position implied by the organization’s identity in the minds of its top managers (referred to here as a “perceived identity-reputation discrepancy”), on the extent of change undertaken by the organization. The research context used for the study was U.S. graduate schools of business. The results show that, as expected, schools whose top managers believed that their rankings were discrepant from their own perceptions of their school’s standing in the industry, were more likely to undertake organizational change. This relationship was moderated by top managers’ perceptions of the strategic impact of the rankings, and by the strength and external orientation of organizational identity; the relationship was not moderated by the perceived validity of the rankings. Overall, the results suggest that managerial interpretations and organizational identity work in concert to explain variation across organizations in the extent to which rankings motivate organizational change.
Three-Year Analysis of Tapered Screw-Vent Implants Placed into Extraction Sockets Grafted With Mineralized Bone Allograft
Authors: Minichetti John C. , D'Amore Joseph C. , Hong Anna Y. J.
Published: December 2005

With clinicians placing more dental implants, it is becoming increasingly important to maintain bone volume after tooth extraction. This article reports the results of implants placed into extraction sites grafted with particulate mineralized bone allograft (Puros). A total of 313 extraction sites were grafted with mineralized bone graft during a 36-month period. A total of 252 Tapered Screw-Vent dental implants were placed into the grafted extraction sites after a 4- to 7-month healing period. All reentries revealed a bony hard structure acceptable for osteotomy preparation. A total of 244 of these implants have been restored with fixed prosthesis and 6 with removable overdentures for a total of 250 loaded implants. A total of 6 implants failed, which required their removal (2 implants before load and 4 after loading), resulting in a 97.6% implant success rate. We conclude that mineralized human allograft placed into extraction sites is clinically useful to maintain bone volume. This material provided a bony hard structure acceptable for implant placement with good success rates.
House Mental Classification System of Denture Patients: The Contribution of Milus M. House
Authors: Winkler Sheldon
Published: December 2005

Although Dr Milus M. House is credited with devising a method to describe the mental classification of complete denture patients, a review of the literature raises questions regarding the origin of the system. Dr Ewell Neil should have received credit for developing the classification system attributed to Dr House. The contribution of Dr House appears to be a detailed expansion of the classification and the subsequent popularization of the system.
Scale effects on tension capacity for rough piles buried in dense sand
Authors: Lehane B. M. , Gaudin C. , Schneider J. A.
Published: December 2005

This paper examines the effect of pile diameter on the unit shaft friction that can develop on a pile in sand. The study is based on a series of tension tests conducted on centrifuge model piles with a range of pile diameters and average initial stress levels. The inferred significant increases in lateral effective stresses on the shafts of these piles at peak capacity are shown to be consistent with the normal displacement (dilation)–stiffness relationship measured in appropriate constant normal stiffness (CNS) interface tests. The determination of the lateral stress increases (and hence shaft capacity) also requires measurement or prediction of the non-linear cavity expansion stiffness of the sand surrounding the pile shaft. Predictions obtained for this stiffness using a numerical technique indicate that the operational stiffness surrounding a model pile is well below that assuming the very small strain (elastic) stiffness, and that the degree of normal displacement (and hence the lateral stress increase) depends significantly on the sand's non-linear stiffness characteristics. A predictive approach, which combines the CNS interface data with cavity expansion stiffness, is shown to perform well against an independent test series of model pile tests and to be potentially suitable for the evaluation of lateral stress changes that take place during loading of full-scale piles.
Linear matching method for limit load problems using the Drucker–Prager yield condition
Authors: Boulbibane M. , Ponter A. R. S.
Published: December 2005

The paper discusses the application of the linear matching method to the evaluation of the limit load for the Drucker–Prager yield condition. The method involves the sequential matching of an appropriate linear material to the yield condition. This results in a programming method where the linear solution required for each iteration can be interpreted as a standard problem of the type for which finite element codes are designed. Convergence may be proven for a wide range of yield conditions. For the Drucker–Prager condition, however, the existing sufficient condition for convergence is not satisfied, but convergent iterative methods may still be derived. In this paper, solutions for both an associated and a non-associated flow rule are discussed for indentation problems. Comparisons with analytical solutions and step-by-step finite element calculations demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the method.
Y2K: The Bug That Failed to Bite
Authors: Story Jonathan , Crawford Robert J.
Published: December 2005

This case, and the accompanying teaching note, is based on extensive interviews in the early months of the year 2000 with many of the participants involved in Global 2000—an organization set up to preempt a possible global business meltdown as a result of the “Millenium Bug.” Global 2000 emerged between November 1997 and April 1998 as a coordinated project among managers at various international banks to monitor suspicious private and public organizations from around the world, engage national and multilateral regulators, and develop and implement a workable strategy to forestall the worst potential consequences of the Year 2000 (Y2K) bug. This project involved maintaining control over a rapidly expanding network, establishing readily implementable procedures, setting incentives for a diverse community of players, and agreeing on effective country assessment charts. If they succeeded, they ran the risk of being criticized for crying wolf; if they failed, the world financial system would be at stake. This article tells the story of Global 2000's efforts to squash the Y2K bug and discusses the lessons of this story for our understanding of issues of collective action, network dynamics, and voluntary compliance.
Incentives and Coordination in Hierarchies
Authors: Mookherjee Dilip , Reichelstein Stefan
Published: December 2005

The internal organization of large firms as well as procurement and regulation contexts frequently involve a hierarchical nexus of contracts, with substantial delegation of decision making across layers. Such hierarchical delegation of decision making creates problems of aligning incentives of vertically related agents, and coordinating the actions of different branches of the hierarchy. In a principal-agent setting with private information, it is shown that under certain assumptions (top-down contracting, observability of subcontracting outcomes, absence of limited liability constraints) the hierarchy can implement second-best allocations. Incentive problems are overcome via compensations that are linear in a measure of performance of the concerned department, defined as the difference between a measure of imputed revenues and procurement costs. The coordination problem is overcome by conditioning output targets and payments on cost reports submitted by other branches; despite this, agents' strategies are dominant with respect to the behavior of members of other branches. The result provides conditions for the lack of a `control loss' from hierarchical decentralization of decision making, owing to incentive or coordination problems.
Equilibrium Departures from Common Knowledge in Games with Non-Additive Expected Utility
Authors: Mukerji Sujoy , Shin Hyun Song
Published: December 2005

This paper concerns the interpretation of equilibrium in non-additive beliefs in two-player normal form games. We argue that such equilibria involve beliefs and actions which are consistent with a lack of common knowledge of the game. Our argument rests on representation results which show that different notions of equilibrium in games with non-additive beliefs may be reinterpreted as equilibrium in associated games of incomplete information with additive (Bayesian) beliefs where common knowledge of the (original) game does not apply. The representation results show one way of comparing and understanding the various notions of equilibrium, for games with non-additive beliefs, advanced in the literature.
The Generalized Linear Production Model: Solvability, Nonsubstitution and Productivity Measurement
Authors: Villar Antonio
Published: December 2005

This paper presents a very general linear production model which nevertheless shows an extremely regular behaviour. We can ensure the solvability of the associated equilibrium systems for quantities and prices and the nonsubstitution property, allowing for joint production and non-square systems. We also discuss the application of this model to the measurement of productivity differences. The assumptions we use are intuitive and very mild (e.g. they are necessary for the type of solvability we require). Proofs are simple and rely on geometrical arguments (the separation theorems), rather than on the use of the theory of determinants.
Contagion and State Dependent Mutations
Authors: Lee In Ho , Szeidl Adam , Valentinyi Akos
Published: December 2005

Early results of evolutionary game theory showed that the risk dominant equilibrium is uniquely selected in the long run under the best-response dynamics with mutation. Bergin and Lipman (1996) qualified this result by showing that for a given population size, the evolutionary process can select any strict Nash equilibrium if the probability of choosing a nonbest response is state-dependent. This paper shows that the unique selection of the risk dominant equilibrium is robust with respect to state dependent mutation in local interaction games. More precisely, for any given mutation structure there exists a minimum population size beyond which the risk dominant equilibrium is uniquely selected. Our result is driven by contagion and cohesion among players, which exist only in local interaction settings and favor the risk dominant strategy. Our result strengthens the equilibrium selection result of evolutionary game theory.
Identification of Preferences from Market Data
Authors: Carvajal Andrés , Riascos Alvaro
Published: December 2005

We offer a new proof that the equilibrium manifold (under complete markets) identifies individual demands globally. Moreover, under observation of only a subset of the equilibrium manifold, we find domains on which aggregate and individual demands are identifiable. Our argument avoids the assumption of Balasko (2004) requiring the observation of the complete manifold.
Bilateral Trade and Opportunism in a Matching Market
Authors: Ramey Garey , Watson Joel
Published: December 2005

We develop a model of bilateral contracting in a dynamic market setting. Asset owners must be paired via a matching process in order to form productive relationships involving long-term investments and ongoing effort. Market frictions shape the owners' incentives to invest in the absence of complete contracts. We identify cases in which there exists an optimal positive level of market friction implementing first-best investment levels. We also endogenize the choice between integrated and nonintegrated organizational forms. Changes in structural variables can induce crashes by disrupting existing relationships.
Bargaining over Risky Assets
Authors: Yildiz Muhamet
Published: December 2005

We analyze the subgame-perfect equilibria of a game where two agents bargain in order to share the risk in their assets that will pay dividends once at some fixed date. The uncertainty about the size of the dividends is resolved gradually by the payment date and each agent has his own view about how the uncertainty will be resolved. As agents become less uncertain about the dividends, some contracts become unacceptable to some party to such an extent that at the payment date no trade is possible. The set of contracts is assumed to be rich enough to generate all the Pareto-optimal allocations. We show that there exists a unique equilibrium allocation, and it is Pareto-optimal. Immediate agreement is always an equilibrium outcome; under certain conditions, we further show that in equilibrium there cannot be a delay. In this model, the equilibrium shares depend on how the uncertainty is resolved, and an agent can lose when his opponent becomes more risk-averse. Finally, we characterize the conditions under which every Pareto-optimal and individually rational allocation is obtainable via some bargaining procedure as the unique equilibrium outcome.
The Noisy Duopolist
Authors: Spector David
Published: December 2005

This paper provides an explanation for noisy pricing based on the strategic interaction of two firms competing in prices. When a firm adds noise to its prices, undercutting it becomes harder. Therefore, noisy pricing allows a firm to either exclude a competitor while charging supracompetitive prices, or to soften competition and have both firms earn supracompetitive profits. Such behavior leads to prices lying between competitive and monopolistic levels, and harms consumers and social welfare. It occurs in equilibrium if firms set prices sequentially, and in some equilibria of a repeated game of simultaneous price-setting if one firm is patient.
Limited Attention as the Bound on Rationality
Authors: Gifford Sharon
Published: December 2005

A utility maximizing model of allocating limited attention between adopting new behaviors and adapting current behaviors generates an optimal policy that resembles commonly observed, and apparently irrational, behavioral rules. The ability to update current behaviors implies an endogenous opportunity cost of adopting a new behavior. If this cost is sufficiently high, then behaviors are less than substantively rational. However, if this high cost of attention is ignored, then behaviors are less rational than if this cost is considered. This is because more rational behaviors are updated less frequently and so economize on attention in the future.
To Make or Buy: An Allocation of Attention
Authors: Gifford Sharon
Published: December 2005

This paper presents a novel explanation of the decision by a firm to make an input within the firm rather than to out-source the production to another firm. Due to the limited attention of the manager/entrepreneur, time spent overseeing production in-house has an opportunity cost: the neglect of potential new products/markets. Outsourcing production economizes on attention, but writing and negotiating contracts also has an opportunity cost: the neglect of current operations. This paper derives the endogenous transaction costs of writing a contract with another party and shows that positive transaction costs are not sufficient for the optimal internalization of transactions. However, positive net transaction costs results in the optimal decision to produce the input internally. In addition, although there are larger firm sizes of higher value than obtainable under the optimal policy, the optimal policy maximizes the social value of each individual transaction.
Inefficiency of Collusion at English Auctions
Authors: Lopomo Giuseppe , Marshall Robert C. , Marx Leslie M
Published: December 2005

In its attempts to deter and prosecute big rigging, U.S. antitrust authorities have focused on sealed-bid procurements, rather than on ascending-bid auctions. One possible justification for this focus is the idea, supported by the existing theoretical literature, that collusion creates inefficiency at sealed-bid auctions, but not at ascending-bid auctions. We show when there is no pre-auction communication and the collusive mechanism satisfies ex-post budget balance, collusion does affect efficiency. In particular, any collusive mechanism that increases cartel members' expected payoffs relative to non-cooperative play results in inefficiency either in the allocation among cartel members or in the allocation between cartel and non-cartel bidders, or both.
Optimal Auctions with Endogenous Entry
Authors: Ye Lixin
Published: December 2005

We consider a single object, independent private value auction model with entry. Potential bidders are ex ante symmetric and randomize about entry. After entry, each bidder incurs a cost, then learns her private value and a set of signals that may lead to updated beliefs about other entrants' valuations. It is shown that the Vickrey auction with free entry maximizes the expected revenue. Furthermore, if the information potentially available to bidders after entry is sufficiently rich, then the Vickrey auction, up to its equivalent class, is also the only optimal sealed-bid auction.
Regulation by Negotiation: the Private Benefit Bias
Authors: Lambert-Mogiliansky Ariane , Picard Pierre
Published: December 2005

This paper analyses the role of the managers' non-pecuniary private benefits in an incomplete contract approach to the regulation of utilities. Private benefits may take various forms: excessive job security, perks, overstaffing, feeling of power. The model describes the relationship between a government and the manager of a firm which produces a pure public good, under private or public ownership. The firm's production is characterized by its quantity and its flexibility, the latter corresponding to adaptability to changes in consumers' tastes or to new technologies. A larger output quantity entails larger private benefits to the manager, while increasing flexibility runs counter to the managers' private benefits. The manager decides upon non-verifiable investment in human and non-human capital so as to facilitate an increase in the output quantity (capacity investment) or to improve the firm's flexibility (investment in organizational adaptability). We compare the effects of the ownership regime on the manager's incentives to invest and on the aggregate welfare. The private firm under-invests in capacity and organizational flexibility. This is because the government holds up a part of the gains through ex post renegotiation of the initial (incomplete) contract. Our analysis also highlights a fundamental bias in the investment behavior of the state-owned firm: the manager of the public firm only invests in capacity (he may even invest more than under private ownership) but he never invests in organizational adaptability. The model shows that an increase in the government's bargaining power exacerbates the hold up problem when the firm is privately owned, but that this result may be reversed for capacity investment under public ownership. Finally, we show that the superiority of private or public ownership depends simultaneously on three factors: the respective bargaining power of the manager and of the government, the degree of specificity of investments and the relative weight of quantity and flexibility concerns in the social welfare.
A Simple Linear Programming Approach to Gain, Loss and Asset Pricing
Authors: Rodríguez Longarela Iñaki
Published: December 2005

Bernardo and Ledoit (2000) develop a very appealing framework to compute pricing bounds based on what they call gain-loss ratio. Their method has many advantages and very interesting properties and so far one important drawback: the complexity of the numerical computation of the pricing bounds. In this note we provide a simple procedure for their computation which only entails solving a linear optimization program.
A Sequential Signaling Model of the Sale of an Invention to an Oligopolist
Authors: King John T
Published: December 2005

I consider the problem of an independent inventor attempting to sell a cost-reducing innovation in an oligopoly setting. There are N potential buyers and the inventor possesses private information regarding the value of the invention. A revealing equilibrium is characterized in which the inventors demand signals the value of the invention to each potential buyer. I find that both the inventors demand and his continuation value increase as the number of firms left in the sequence of potential buyers increases. I also find that a firms probability of rejecting the inventors demand is higher the sooner the firm is approached in the sequence.
Multiple-Object Auctions Around a Circle
Authors: Zhang Qinghua
Published: December 2005

This paper explores a multiple-object auction with the following three features: First, there is a capacity constraint, as each bidder can win at most one object from the auction. Second, the objects for sale and the bidders are located around the unit circle. A bidder's valuation of a certain object depends solely on the location of the object relative to the bidder; that is, on the distance between the object and the bidder. Third, instead of turning in separate bids on different objects, each bidder just states his location on the unit circle. His bids on different objects can then be derived from his stated location.The paper demonstrates that the Groves-Clarke logic applies to this particular setting, and it designs an auction mechanism that is ex-post efficient, under the capacity constraint, and incentive compatible. The paper also extends the Revenue Equivalence Theorem to this particular setting, using a proof different from Engelbrecht-Wiggans'(1988), by imposing less strict regularity conditions. Based on the circle setting, the paper shows that, with symmetric bidders, for any two different auction mechanisms applying the same allocation rule, the locations on the circle at which a bidder obtains the lowest expected payoff from either of these two mechanisms are the same. This location serves as the benchmark location to the circle version of the Revenue Equivalence Theorem in this paper.
U.S. Regional Income and Technology: A Unit-Root and Cointegration Study
Authors: Alvi Eskander , Rahman Habibur
Published: December 2005

This paper examines income convergence across U.S. regions for the period 1929-2002 using unit root and cointegration techniques. The findings suggest it is difficult to reject non-convergence in per capita incomes across regions even when endogenous breakpoints are included. Interestingly, we also find evidence of cointegration among technology and incomes in the leading regions, but not in the lagging ones, identifying technology as a factor that contributes to the lack of convergence.
Creative Destruction and Policy in a Model of Endogenous Growth
Authors: Mateos-Planas Xavier
Published: December 2005

This paper extends a model of endogenous growth through the introduction of a component of knowledge that makes new technologies more productive than older vintages. Creative destruction or obsolescence of technologies underlies the growth process. In this setup, the growth effects of various policies are analyzed. These policies include selective subsidies to firms that produce final output, a general lump-sum tax on final-output firms, and openness to trade with a less developed country. The results show the existence of growth effects that have not been studied in the previous literature.