Art museums selling art: relaxing the repugnance against "deaccessioning"

 Here's an interesting look at the ways professional organizations can influence the behavior of their members by endorsing changes in social norms. In this case the association in question is the Association of Art Museum Directors.

The NY Times has the story:

Facing Deficit, Met Considers Selling Art to Help Pay the Bills. Like many museums, the Met is looking to take advantage of a relaxation of the rules governing art sales to care for collections.  By Robin Pogrebin

"Like many institutions, the Met is looking to take advantage of a two-year window in which the Association of Art Museum Directors — a professional organization that guides its members’ best practices — has relaxed the guidelines that govern how proceeds from sales of works in a collection (known as deaccessioning) can be directed.

"In the past, museums were permitted to use such funds only for future art purchases. But last spring, the association announced that, through April 10, 2022, it would not penalize museums that “use the proceeds from deaccessioned art to pay for expenses associated with the direct care of collections.”

Here's the AAMD announcement:

ASSOCIATION OF ART MUSEUM DIRECTORS’ BOARD OF TRUSTEES APPROVES RESOLUTION TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL FLEXIBILITY TO ART MUSEUMS DURING PANDEMIC CRISIS

It says in part:

"The resolutions state that AAMD will refrain from censuring or sanctioning any museum—or censuring, suspending or expelling any museum director—that decides to use restricted endowment funds, trusts, or donations for general operating expenses."

HT: Itay Fainmesser

Economics envy: signalling proposals for the radiation oncology match (to reduce congestion and coordination failure)

 Here's a call to introduce signaling into the resident match for radiation oncologists, explicitly modeled after the signaling used in the job market for economists.

I Need a Sign: The Growing Need for a Signaling Mechanism to Improve the Residency Match

Wesley J. Talcott, MD, MBA , Suzanne B. Evans, MD, MPH, 

Int J Radiation Oncol Biol Phys, Vol. 109, No. 2, pp. 329-331, FEBRUARY 01, 2021, DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2020.09.008

"Increased attention has been directed toward the radiation oncology interview application process, as the COVID19 crisis threatens to exacerbate its many longstanding inefficiencies.1,  2,  3 A signaling mechanism, by which applicants can send a signal indicating strong interest to a strictly limited number of programs, has been discussed in other specialties to remedy similar inefficiencies4,  5,  6 and will be implemented this application cycle by otolaryngology residency programs. We strongly believe our field should similarly take a leading role on this initiative this application cycle.

Such a system is not novel. A signaling mechanism was introduced in the Economics postdoctoral job market match, which has resembled the Radiation Oncology market in terms of applications submitted per applicant and interview invitations per application. Candidates submitting applications have the option to signal to employers with up to 2 “signals of interest.” These signals are sent through a secure portal associated with the American Economic Association,7 rather than through an extrinsic third party. The instructions for the portal encourage applicants not to send signals to their top 2 programs, but instead to programs who would be likely to factor the signal into their interview invitation decision. 

...

"To improve the interview application process, we recommend granting applicants a strictly limited supply of free virtual “signals of interest” that can be submitted via a monitored online portal. An applicant would be allowed to submit up to 2 signals from this portal to programs of interest. Signals must be limited, as value of these virtual signals comes from their scarcity; strict enforcement of a 2-signal limit means received signals convey credible interest, whereas the absence of an accompanying signal (the case with the vast majority of submitted applications) conveys essentially no information. This system should be free for applicants, to not introduce more financial inequities in this process. The cost to set up the online portal would be minimal given its simplicity, with little overhead once established, and could be shouldered by programs or radiation oncology organizations."

Kidney exchange needs to be conducted at scale, in the AER by Agarwal, Ashlagi, Azevedo, Featherstone and Karaduman

Market Failure in Kidney Exchange

• Nikhil Agarwal
• Itai Ashlagi
• Eduardo Azevedo
• Clayton R. Featherstone
• Ömer Karaduman


AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW (FORTHCOMING)


Abstract
We show that kidney exchange markets suffer from market failures whose remedy could increase transplants by 30%–63%. First, we document that the market is fragmented and inefficient: most transplants are arranged by hospitals instead of national platforms. Second, we propose a model to show two sources of inefficiency: hospitals only partly internalize their patients' benefits from exchange, and current platforms suboptimally reward hospitals for submitting patients and donors. Third, we calibrate a production function and show that individual hospitals operate below efficient scale. Eliminating this inefficiency requires either a mandate or a combination of new mechanisms and reimbursement reforms.
Forthcoming Article Downloads
• Preview (AEA members only) (966.12 KB)

Coordination devices: daylight savings time, and the international dateline

Daylight savings time is a coordination device that we think about twice a year. The international dateline is another...

The Border That Stole 500 Birthdays
"So how exactly does drawing a line across the Pacific solve this issue? Why isn’t it enough merely to change the date at the stroke of midnight in each successive time zone? Because, if you think about it, that’s logically impossible. With only a single line moving westward across the planet, what exactly is it separating? The same date from itself? No — it is precisely because midnight separates two dates from each other that we need two date lines to separate them, one moving and one fixed.

"Picture that movable date line — the stroke of midnight — racing across the earth at the speed of one time zone an hour. When the clock strikes 12  in the first zone west of the fixed date line, a new date is born in a sliver one time zone wide, stretching from pole to pole. As the hours tick away, that slice grows wider across the Earth’s circumference. The new date races ahead of the sunrise, lighting up the east as the day races west. Inexorably, as the date circles the Earth to rejoin the fixed line, the “new” date becomes the “old” one, to be replaced in turn by the next one as the midnight hour once again crosses the date line"

The true meaning of "fashion forward." Coordinating dates in NY, London, Paris, and Milan

The fashion forward among you will probably be as relieved as I am to know that New York Fashion Week Finally Has An Official Start Date: September 6th

The back story comes to me via Assaf Romm and Dvorah Marciano. They write as follows.

"So Fashion Week is a concept invented in NYC around 1943 (back then it was called "Press Week") when there was not enough French fashion coming from across the ocean due to the German occupation. Around 1993 it took its current form in which there are a lot of fashion people and media coming to one place to plan their Fall/Spring buys and so on. Furthermore, the Fashion Week was copied by many other cities. Specifically, the main events are the Fashion Weeks in NYC, London, Paris and Milan. These events take place consecutively twice a year (around February for the Fall collection, and around September for the Spring collection of next year): 

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/fashion/2006/02/how_the_runway_took_off.html

"It should be mentioned that these Fashion Weeks compete on fashion buyers, media coverage and even models. For example:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/20/london-fashion-week-losing-models-milan-_n_971347.html

"Apparently, scheduling the Fashion Weeks between the big four cities is an ongoing saga, with dates moving earlier and earlier (...I don't have specific data yet). That's why they signed a three-year agreement in 2008 to determine schedules. Obviously, recently there were some issues with Milan moving its dates to coincide with the NYC and London weeks in September 2012. And it seems like Paris also joined in to the fight:

http://fashionablyjust.com/2011/12/fashion-week-wars-volume-xxxxiiiiii/

"Finally, it looks like today a final agreement has been reached: [see top of post]. 

"To conclude, this looks like a great unraveling story, because you obviously cannot move Fashion Weeks too early (well, according to Dvorah, you just cannot introduce new fashion too early, or otherwise it wouldn't be fashionable by the time it reaches the consumers....). Also, it seems like fashion highly depends on information. That is, fashion is a form of art, and it is determined by current events ..."

And here's the International Fashion Week Dates Agreement of 2008

Rules of the road for cars and bikes

In many places where cars and bikes share a road, they customarily (if not legally) follow different rules. In England, a trial program will allow bikes to travel the wrong way down some one-way streets: Cyclists will be given green light to ignore one-way signs.

"Cyclists will be permitted to ride the wrong way along one-way streets under a change intended to encourage more people to give up their cars or use them less.
The Government will announce today that cyclists will be permitted to ignore no-entry signs: a practice already followed by many, including David Cameron, the Conservative leader.
The Department for Transport is authorising a trial in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, Mr Cameron’s home authority in West London, in which a small plate saying “Except cyclists” will be attached to poles carrying no-entry signs.
If the trial is successful, the department intends to extend the policy to the rest of Britain and permit thousands of one-way streets to become two-way for bikes. It believes that long diversions around one-way systems are a significant deterrent to new cyclists, who might be less confident about breaking the rules."

On this side of the pond, Brookline MA is trying something similar, although not on the roads that I ride to work: Right way or wrong way? Brookline tries out new bike lanes

Lynne Kiesling at KP has a nice post on whether cars and bikes should obey the same rules of the road: Roads and paths as common-pool resources, and the problem of governing them

The rules of the road are a relatively recent invention: 2009 marks the 100th anniversary of Boston’s first traffic regulations, as issued by the Board of Street Commissioners. Peter DeMarco of the Boston Globe reports A century ago, driving laws tamed Boston’s wild streets.

"Back then there were no street signs, no stop signs, no traffic lights, no double center lines, no traveling lanes, and no yield signs. Automobiles had to battle horse-drawn carriages and wagons, bicyclists, trolleys, and pedestrians for space on the road. And while we joke today about how infrequently we obey traffic laws in Massachusetts, a century ago, there were scarcely any laws to obey."

Of the new laws adopted in 1909 he says:"A number of the laws are still very much in use today. Boston got its first one-way streets, adopted a new rule requiring drivers to “signal if about to turn,’’ and began requiring drivers to pass on the left - all in 1909. Parking within 10 feet of a curb was prohibited, double parking was outlawed (well, at least on paper), and police, fire, and other emergency vehicles (including postal carriers and doctors) were given the right of way.
But the rules also show how little our state’s first motorists actually knew about driving, and how Boston streets were really a free-for-all. Drivers had to be told not to stop in the middle of the street, not to park on sidewalks, and not to drive in reverse. The regulations include basic diagrams, reprinted in newspapers for all to study, explaining how to properly make a right turn, a left turn, and a U-turn - revolutionary stuff in 1909, when license exams consisted of a paltry 12 questions."
...
"Most cars were rudimentary, lacking not only turn signals, brake lights, and treaded tires, but also speedometers, windshields (thus the need for driving goggles), roofs, shock absorbers, power steering, and heat (necessitating leather driving coats and gloves). Steam-engine cars could explode, while hand-crank starter rods could spin back and break your arm. To apply brakes, you pulled hard on a lever. Seat belts, alas, didn’t exist."

Update: a column in the London Times suggests that bike riders will have to become more law abiding if London is to become more like Amsterdam, with high volume bike traffic: Time’s up, bike bandits

Complementarities in markets and computers

One thing that makes it difficult for markets to clear efficiently is if goods are complements, so that you only want good A if you can also have good B (e.g. you need two licences of adjacent-frequency radio spectrum to carry out your broadband business plan, or you are willing to take job A only if your spouse can get an appropriate job in the same city). If the market isn't designed to take this into account, there might be coordination failures, in which some buyer ends up having paid good money but having gotten only part of what he needs, or in which you and your spouse end up with jobs in different cities. Combinatorial auctions, and labor clearinghouses that accomodate couples, are market designs that seek to avoid these kinds of coordination failures.

The same kind of thing can cause your computer to freeze. If program A needs parts X and Y of your computer memory, and so does program B, and they each lock up one of those components while they try to call the other, you may have to send the children out of the room and reboot. The programming solutions for avoiding this can involve some sort of clearinghouse. Here's an article on the subject from Dr. Dobb's Journal: Lock Options, A compile-time deadlock prevention scheme.

The introduction begins:
"The two major problems in concurrent programs are data races and deadlocks. Races occur when two or more threads are accessing shared memory without proper synchronization. Deadlocks occur when synchronization is based on locking and multiple threads block each other's progress. In a typical deadlock scenario, thread A locks the mutex X, and thread B locks the mutex Y. Now, in lockstep, thread A tries to lock Y and B tries to lock X. Neither can make progress, waiting forever for the other thread to release its lock. The program freezes.
In a sense, data races are the opposite of deadlocks. The former result from not enough synchronization, the latter usually happen when there's too much synchronization and it gets out of hand.
There are sophisticated schemes to prevent races and/or deadlocks, but they either require special language support or strict discipline on the part of programmers. Here I present a solution based on a well-known deadlock-avoidance protocol and show how it can be enforced by the compiler. It can be applied to programs in which the number of locks is fixed and known up front."
HT: Ted Roth

Coming of Road Rage in Samoa

Unless the government backs down, Samoa will change from driving on the right to driving on the left (British Commonwealth style) on September 7:

Shifting the Right of Way to the Left Leaves Some Samoans Feeling Wronged
Government Calls Traffic-Rule Switch 'Common Sense,' but It Sparks Road Rage.

This is one of those cases in which it clearly helps everyone to have a clear rule about which side of the road to drive on, and a little government regulation (and even inter-government coordination) can promote efficient traffic flow. (Think of the congestion at the borders at which you had to switch from driving on one side to driving on the other.)

But it isn't obvious that there's a "right" side, especially since Samoa is an island, and doesn't have to coordinate with anyone who can drive to Samoa from somewhere else. (The last country in continental Europe to switch sides--from driving on the left to driving on the right--was Sweden, in 1967.) Here's a nicely written historical account (whose accuracy I can't vouch for): Why do some countries drive on the right and others on the left ?

(I particularly liked their description of the decision in Pakistan: "Pakistan also considered changing to the right in the 1960s, but ultimately decided not to do it. The main argument against the shift was that camel trains often drove through the night while their drivers were dozing. The difficulty in teaching old camels new tricks was decisive in forcing Pakistan to reject the change.")

The government of Samoa believes that the benefits of switching will come from enabling Samoans to buy used cars from the left-driving Australians and New Zealanders.

But the proposal to switch sides is not without costs, since the current stock of cars has the driver sitting on the left, which will make some things (like passing) harder if traffic is switched to the left side of the road. (And of course the current stock of school buses will have to load and unload children from the middle of the street, instead of from the curb.)

It looks like September 7 might be a good day to avoid the roads, if you happen to be in Samoa. (And here's an earlier post on New Zealand traffic rules .)
*********

Update: Samoa switches smoothly to driving on the left
"Samoa is the first country in decades to change the direction of traffic. Iceland and Sweden did it in the 1960s, and Nigeria, Ghana and Yemen did it in the 1970s."

Rankings of universities: vintages and coordination of expectations

US News and World Report has published its annual ranking of American universities. One thing that the rankings make clear is that, while they may move around a bit from year to year (and the precise rankings are not so informative), it takes a long time to rise to the top.

This year the first place goes to the oldest American university, founded in 1636, and spots 2 and 3 go to universities established in 1746 (as the College of New Jersey), and 1701. Two universities that opened more than a century later, in 1861, and 1891 , are tied for 4th place. The two universities tied for 6th are of different vintages, 1891 and 1755, as are the three tied for 8th place, 1754, 1838, and 1892. The top dozen ranks are filled out by universities open for business since 1769, 1855, and 1856.

At number 17, Rice University, opened in 1912, seems to be the highest ranked university on the list to have begun in the 20th century.

So, while ranking is far from perfectly correlated with age (which is in turn correlated with wealth, among other things), a university that wants to rise to the top of these rankings must take a long view.

It would be good to know more about how rankings (and changes in rankings, especially changes of more than a few places) influence the success of universities in attracting students and faculty. Compared to fundamentals, the rankings themselves shouldn't do much (although they are correlated with features that make a university a desirable place to study and teach). But rankings may also serve as a coordination device for students. For example, if two otherwise similar universities have substantially different rankings, e.g. one is listed in the top 20 and the other in the top thirty, it may be that over time the top 20 university will attract better students, and become a better university. If so, universities that concern themselves with signaling their quality by trying to raise their ranking may not be misguided.

Rankings of international universities (for which the precise rankings are even harder to interpret as being deeply informative) reveal that age is less well correlated with ranking than might appear from looking at American universities alone. For example, in this ranking and in this one, Oxford and Cambridge Universities, both so old that no reliable founding dates are known (although 1096 and 1226 are mentioned in their histories) are both in the top 10. But the much younger American universities dominate the top of the lists, where the equally old universities in continental Europe are scarce.

Update: Here's a November 2009 article from across the pond, which suggests that independence of universities from government may play a role: The American lesson: How to be top

Industry standards: cell phone chargers

One way to increase the market for a technology is to make it more commodity like, by adopting an industry standard. So it is very welcome news that Universal cell phone chargers are coming 'soon'.

"On Tuesday, the GSMA trade association announced at its 2009 Mobile World Congress here that it has brokered a deal with the world's leading handset makers to come up with a standard for charging cell phones.
All the major handset makers, including, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson, have agreed to use the Micro-USB technology as the common universal charging interface, Rob Conway, GSMA CEO, said during the opening keynote speech Tuesday. By 2012, the GSMA promises, most cell phones will use the same kind of connector to charge their batteries.
Seventeen mobile operators, including Vodafone, Orange, and Telofonic, announced they are committed to implementing the standard for the universal mobile phone charger. "

Designer dresses: avoiding coordination failure

The Telegraph reports that "The anguish and embarrassment of arriving at an exclusive party only to find another woman wearing the same outfit could be banished forever thanks to a new website that allows partygoers to “register” their dresses before the event."

Apparently this is a serious problem, as the paper reports "The dress duplication problem has long caused anxiety among women. "

Here is the website at which you can register your dress and the event you intend to wear it to, or see if someone else has: http://dressregistry.com/ .

I'm planning to wear jeans to the office today, guys.