Allow assisted suicide for those with less than a year to live
"The independent Commission on Assisted Dying, whose members include several prominent peers and medics, wants GPs to be able to prescribe lethal doses of medication for dying people to take themselves."
Even the name of the Commission makes clear why assisted suicide is often regarded as a repugnant transaction, and why the discussion of how doctors may reasonably treat terminally ill patients is so fraught.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Peter Singer on suicide
Suicide, and doctor-assisted suicide, remains a subject of (repugnant transaction) controversy. Here's Princeton's Peter Singer: A Death of One's Own
"A friend told Clendinen that he needed to buy a gun. In the United States, you can buy a gun and put a bullet through your brain without breaking any laws. But if you are a law-abiding person who is already too ill to buy a gun, or to use one, or if shooting yourself doesn’t strike you as a peaceful and dignified way to end your life, or if you just don’t want to leave a mess for others to clean up, what are you to do? You can’t ask someone else to shoot you, and, in most countries, if you tell your doctor that you have had enough, and that you would like his or her assistance in dying, you are asking your doctor to commit a crime.
"Last month, an expert panel of the Royal Society of Canada, chaired by Udo Schüklenk, a professor of bioethics at Queens University, released a report on decision-making at the end of life. The report provides a strong argument for allowing doctors to help their patients to die, provided that the patients are competent and freely request such assistance.
"The ethical basis of the panel’s argument is not so much the avoidance of unnecessary suffering in terminally ill patients, but rather the core value of individual autonomy or self-determination. “The manner of our dying,” the panel concludes, “reflects our sense of what is important just as much as do the other central decisions in our lives.” In a state that protects individual rights, therefore, deciding how to die ought to be recognized as such a right.
"The report also offers an up-to-date review of how assistance by physicians in ending life is working in the “living laboratories” – the jurisdictions where it is legal. In Switzerland, as well as in the US states of Oregon, Washington, and Montana, the law now permits physicians, on request, to supply a terminally ill patient with a prescription for a drug that will bring about a peaceful death. In The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, doctors have the additional option of responding to the patient’s request by giving the patient a lethal injection.
"The panel examined reports from each of these jurisdictions, with the exception of Montana (where legalization of assistance in dying occurred only in 2009, and reliable data are not yet available). In The Netherlands, voluntary euthanasia accounted for 1.7% of all deaths in 2005 – exactly the same level as in 1990. Moreover, the frequency of ending a patient’s life without an explicit request from the patient fell by half during the same period, from 0.8% to 0.4%."
"A friend told Clendinen that he needed to buy a gun. In the United States, you can buy a gun and put a bullet through your brain without breaking any laws. But if you are a law-abiding person who is already too ill to buy a gun, or to use one, or if shooting yourself doesn’t strike you as a peaceful and dignified way to end your life, or if you just don’t want to leave a mess for others to clean up, what are you to do? You can’t ask someone else to shoot you, and, in most countries, if you tell your doctor that you have had enough, and that you would like his or her assistance in dying, you are asking your doctor to commit a crime.
"Last month, an expert panel of the Royal Society of Canada, chaired by Udo Schüklenk, a professor of bioethics at Queens University, released a report on decision-making at the end of life. The report provides a strong argument for allowing doctors to help their patients to die, provided that the patients are competent and freely request such assistance.
"The ethical basis of the panel’s argument is not so much the avoidance of unnecessary suffering in terminally ill patients, but rather the core value of individual autonomy or self-determination. “The manner of our dying,” the panel concludes, “reflects our sense of what is important just as much as do the other central decisions in our lives.” In a state that protects individual rights, therefore, deciding how to die ought to be recognized as such a right.
"The report also offers an up-to-date review of how assistance by physicians in ending life is working in the “living laboratories” – the jurisdictions where it is legal. In Switzerland, as well as in the US states of Oregon, Washington, and Montana, the law now permits physicians, on request, to supply a terminally ill patient with a prescription for a drug that will bring about a peaceful death. In The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, doctors have the additional option of responding to the patient’s request by giving the patient a lethal injection.
"The panel examined reports from each of these jurisdictions, with the exception of Montana (where legalization of assistance in dying occurred only in 2009, and reliable data are not yet available). In The Netherlands, voluntary euthanasia accounted for 1.7% of all deaths in 2005 – exactly the same level as in 1990. Moreover, the frequency of ending a patient’s life without an explicit request from the patient fell by half during the same period, from 0.8% to 0.4%."
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Economics of the dark side...
Karim Sadrieh is hosting a conference on the dark side of the (economic) force:
Magdeburg Workshop on Anti-Social Economic Behavior 2012
January 13, 2012
Faculty Center
Faculty of Economics and Management
University of Magdeburg
Germany
The M-WASEB 2012 is a gathering of experimental
economists pioneering the new field of anti-social economic behavior. The
workshop intends to stimulate and to coordinate the research in this young
field with exciting academic presentations and discussions on a relaxed
schedule.
Many of the scholars in the small and internationally
dispersed group of experimental economists, who are active in the field of
anti- social economic behavior and motivation, will present their newest
research on the "Dark Side" of human nature. The list of the speakers
includes Klaus Abbink, Monash University Michèle Belot, Oxford University
Enrique Fatas, University of East Anglia Sascha Füllbrunn, Luxembourg School of
Finance Benedikt Herrmann, European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra
Henrik Orzen, University of Mannheim Yoshi Saijo, University of Osaka Marina
Schröder, University of Madgeburg Christiane Schwieren, University of
Heidelberg Daniel Zizzo, University of East Anglia
The workshop will take place at our faculty center at the
University of Magdeburg on Friday, Jan
13, 2012, with arrivals on the evening before (Jan 12, 2012) and departures on
the day after (Jan 14, 2012).
If you are interested in participating, please, contact
Marina Schröder (marina.schroeder@ovgu.de)
as soon as possible. Note, however, that due to the very limited capacity of
our venue, we unfortunately can only offer very few seats for additional
audience.
Looking forward to the advancement of research on
anti-social behavior, yet sincerely wishing you all the best for the year
2012,
karim
-----------------------------------------
Prof. Dr. Abdolkarim Sadrieh
Chair in E-Business
Faculty of Economics and Management
University of Magdeburg
Postbox 4120, 39016 Magdeburg, Germany
+49 391 67-18492
(fax: -11355)
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Denver's new school choice plan: communication is paramount
One of the challenges of introducing a new market design is communicating effectively with participants. Even a strategy-proof system that makes it safe to list your preferences straightforwardly may cause parents to worry whether this is the case. The new school choice system in Denver is dealing with this:
Denver Public Schools' new school choice system stressing out some parents
"Denver Public Schools is rolling out a new school-choice process that centralizes school enrollment, and parents are feeling the stress of learning the new ropes.
...
"The process is still not entirely clear to me," said Tracy Edwards- Konkol, a parent of a fifth-grade daughter in the market for a middle school.
...
"Edwards-Konkol has delayed her return of the new four-page application — due Jan. 31 — that requires parents to submit a list of their top five school choices in order of preference.
...
"A line in the application that states that enrolling at a school other than the neighborhood school means forefeiting that guaranteed seat — has some parents thinking twice about choice.
"Fearing that not getting into the first- or second-pick school would place her child at the end of the line to get into their own — likely full — neighborhood school, Edwards-Konkol considered not even applying at Denver School of the Arts, her daughter's first choice.
"When I downloaded the form and saw that line, I panicked," Edwards-Konkol said. "Several parents I've talked to in fact are now looking at this new school in Stapleton because there might be more room at that school. Parents are looking for a safe school."
"But DPS director of choice and enrollment Shannon Fitzgerald said that understanding is incorrect.
"Even if the neighborhood school is not included in the list of top-five choices, if there was no room to enroll the child at the five preferred schools, the child would still have a guaranteed spot at their home school.
"Every student is allowed to hold a spot at one school at any given time," Fitzgerald said.
"It's only when a student is actually placed or enrolled at another school of choice that the neighborhood seat would be offered to a student from outside the neighborhood, she said."
"Denver Public Schools is rolling out a new school-choice process that centralizes school enrollment, and parents are feeling the stress of learning the new ropes.
...
"The process is still not entirely clear to me," said Tracy Edwards- Konkol, a parent of a fifth-grade daughter in the market for a middle school.
...
"Edwards-Konkol has delayed her return of the new four-page application — due Jan. 31 — that requires parents to submit a list of their top five school choices in order of preference.
...
"A line in the application that states that enrolling at a school other than the neighborhood school means forefeiting that guaranteed seat — has some parents thinking twice about choice.
"Fearing that not getting into the first- or second-pick school would place her child at the end of the line to get into their own — likely full — neighborhood school, Edwards-Konkol considered not even applying at Denver School of the Arts, her daughter's first choice.
"When I downloaded the form and saw that line, I panicked," Edwards-Konkol said. "Several parents I've talked to in fact are now looking at this new school in Stapleton because there might be more room at that school. Parents are looking for a safe school."
"But DPS director of choice and enrollment Shannon Fitzgerald said that understanding is incorrect.
"Even if the neighborhood school is not included in the list of top-five choices, if there was no room to enroll the child at the five preferred schools, the child would still have a guaranteed spot at their home school.
"Every student is allowed to hold a spot at one school at any given time," Fitzgerald said.
"It's only when a student is actually placed or enrolled at another school of choice that the neighborhood seat would be offered to a student from outside the neighborhood, she said."
Monday, January 9, 2012
Revising the size of Boston school choice districts?
School choice in Boston mostly focuses on allowing families to choose a school in the school zone that they live in. The Globe reports that the city is thinking of having more, smaller zones.
Boston careful in school-assignment overhaul: Prior 2 attempts faced heated public opposition
"The city is currently divided into three regions, providing parents and students a choice of roughly two dozen elementary, middle, and kindergarten-through-eighth-grade schools. (High schools are open to students across the city.)
"When the three zones were implemented in 1989, replacing a court-ordered forced-busing plan to desegregate the city’s schools, the creators anticipated that as schools improved academically the three zones would be replaced in a few years with nine smaller assignment areas.
"But every attempt to create smaller zones over the last two decades has failed because there have not been enough high-quality schools to go around. Some neighborhoods, such as West Roxbury, have a strong selection of solid-performing schools, while Roxbury and some other areas have a concentration of the worst-performing schools in the state.
That reality will loom over the process as the School Department again assesses the feasibility of creating smaller zones."
Boston careful in school-assignment overhaul: Prior 2 attempts faced heated public opposition
"The city is currently divided into three regions, providing parents and students a choice of roughly two dozen elementary, middle, and kindergarten-through-eighth-grade schools. (High schools are open to students across the city.)
"When the three zones were implemented in 1989, replacing a court-ordered forced-busing plan to desegregate the city’s schools, the creators anticipated that as schools improved academically the three zones would be replaced in a few years with nine smaller assignment areas.
"But every attempt to create smaller zones over the last two decades has failed because there have not been enough high-quality schools to go around. Some neighborhoods, such as West Roxbury, have a strong selection of solid-performing schools, while Roxbury and some other areas have a concentration of the worst-performing schools in the state.
That reality will loom over the process as the School Department again assesses the feasibility of creating smaller zones."
Sunday, January 8, 2012
New AEA conflict of interest disclosure rules
Economics becomes a bit more like medicine. Let's hope these rules work better in Economics...
PRESS RELEASE
January 5, 2012
American Economic Association Adopts Extensions to Principles for Author
Disclosure of Conflict of Interest
At its meeting today, the Executive Committee of the American Economic Association adopted extensions to its principles for authors’ disclosures of potential conflicts of interest in the AEA’s publications. The added principles are:
(1) Every submitted article should state the sources of financial support for the particular
research it describes. If none, that fact should be stated.
(2) Each author of a submitted article should identify each interested party from whom he or she has received significant financial support, summing to at least $10,000 in the past three years, in the form of consultant fees, retainers, grants and the like. The disclosure requirement also includes in-kind support, such as providing access to data. If the support in question comes with a non-disclosure obligation, that fact should be stated, along with as much information as the obligation permits. If there are no such sources of funds, that fact should be stated explicitly. An “interested” party is any individual, group, or organization that has a financial, ideological, or political stake related to the article.
(3) Each author should disclose any paid or unpaid positions as officer, director, or board member of relevant non-profit advocacy organizations or profit-making entities. A "relevant” organization is one whose policy positions, goals, or financial interests relate to the article.
(4) The disclosures required above apply to any close relative or partner of any author.
(5) Each author must disclose if another party had the right to review the paper prior to its circulation.
(6) For published articles, information on relevant potential conflicts of interest will be made available to the public.
(7) The AEA urges its members and other economists to apply the above principles in other publications: scholarly journals, op-ed pieces, newspaper and magazine columns, radio and television commentaries, as well as in testimony before federal and state legislative committees and other agencies.
PRESS RELEASE
January 5, 2012
American Economic Association Adopts Extensions to Principles for Author
Disclosure of Conflict of Interest
At its meeting today, the Executive Committee of the American Economic Association adopted extensions to its principles for authors’ disclosures of potential conflicts of interest in the AEA’s publications. The added principles are:
(1) Every submitted article should state the sources of financial support for the particular
research it describes. If none, that fact should be stated.
(2) Each author of a submitted article should identify each interested party from whom he or she has received significant financial support, summing to at least $10,000 in the past three years, in the form of consultant fees, retainers, grants and the like. The disclosure requirement also includes in-kind support, such as providing access to data. If the support in question comes with a non-disclosure obligation, that fact should be stated, along with as much information as the obligation permits. If there are no such sources of funds, that fact should be stated explicitly. An “interested” party is any individual, group, or organization that has a financial, ideological, or political stake related to the article.
(3) Each author should disclose any paid or unpaid positions as officer, director, or board member of relevant non-profit advocacy organizations or profit-making entities. A "relevant” organization is one whose policy positions, goals, or financial interests relate to the article.
(4) The disclosures required above apply to any close relative or partner of any author.
(5) Each author must disclose if another party had the right to review the paper prior to its circulation.
(6) For published articles, information on relevant potential conflicts of interest will be made available to the public.
(7) The AEA urges its members and other economists to apply the above principles in other publications: scholarly journals, op-ed pieces, newspaper and magazine columns, radio and television commentaries, as well as in testimony before federal and state legislative committees and other agencies.
School choice: what makes schools popular in Boston
One of the benefits of a strategy-proof school choice mechanism is that it yields meaningful data on parent preferences. The Boston Globe has a story describing some of those preferences, as revealed through the rankings of schools submitted for the school choice algorithm. (The reporter, Akilah Johnson, thinks that some good schools are being missed, and that the poorest families often fail to participate in the school choice system.)
Popularity matters in school lottery: The district’s hidden gems struggle to gain attention from parents.
""The principal of Higginson-Lewis K-8 School and one of her first-grade teachers stood amid a swirl of school-shopping families at the Showcase of Schools, waiting to deliver their sales pitch.
...
"It’s like being a Hilton Hotel in between two Ritzes,’’ Simmons, the first-grade teacher, said of the schools to her right and left, Hernandez K-8 and Kilmer K-8, both with more applicants than prekindergarten seats. The inverse is true at Higginson-Lewis, making it one of the least sought-after schools in Boston - at least according to a school district tally akin to a judge’s score sheet.
"The city uses a lottery system that was intended to give all students access to high-achieving classrooms, regardless of neighborhood or life circumstance. But families fixate on a collection of well-known, fiercely sought-after schools, largely ignoring those with lesser reputations. And over the past two decades, popularity has often become a proxy for quality, making it even harder for schools to get off that second rung.
"Popularity is driven by parents with time, inclination, and sometimes the means to enter the school lottery early, armed with information and expectations. Their preferences create a system of prized schools, and those in low demand - schools whose reputations have suffered because they are in higher-crime neighborhoods, serve predominantly poor students, and have, in some cases, test scores lower than average.
...
"Each year, the district creates a “demand report’’ to help inform parents’ decisions. It shows how many parents listed a school among their top three picks. Parents look at the list and seize on schools they like, but also immediately see the schools they want to avoid, schools they often know little about.
...
"The answer lies in who is, and who is not, choosing a school and when they choose. Popular schools have become synonymous with the choices of white middle-class families, principals and families say. And the demand report reflects the choices of families who choose early.
"Oliver said parents of color and those in low-income communities “don’t always go in to make choices when the lottery starts. We have a lot of people who can’t make a commitment until June or even Labor Day.’’
...
"The lottery system was created in the name of giving parents more choice. Still, Boston’s dreams of equal access to quality remain deferred, with many of the least-selected schools lacking racial and economic diversity. The Higginson-Lewis has only 10 white students in a school of about 425, and Marshall has just eight white students in a school of 713.
“People will come to visit and they will say: ‘How many white students are in the class? I don’t want my child to be the only one,’ ’’ said Oliver, the Higginson principal.
...
"Middle-class parents often aren’t willing to send their children to a school next to Malcolm X Park in Roxbury or on a street sandwiched between Geneva Avenue and Bowdoin Street in Dorchester, where neighborhood violence has, at times, landed on the school’s doorstep.
...
"School choice is “pretty complicated stuff, and people are always eager to come up with pretty simple solutions,’’ said Curt Dudley-Marling, a Boston College professor who studies patterns of school failure and success. “It always seems to me that it’s rigged for parents who have the most resources.’’
"Not all families have the benefit of active parent groups that organize school tours to help families vet their options, which in Boston could mean as many as 20 public school options, not including charters. Single parents, families new to the country, parents of disabled children, or families struggling with the demands of life often are unable to investigate every option.
“I can’t imagine they have time, much less the resources, to go to fairs and all these things,’’ Dudley-Marling said. Instead, they, like most people, default to what they have heard within their circle of influence."
Popularity matters in school lottery: The district’s hidden gems struggle to gain attention from parents.
""The principal of Higginson-Lewis K-8 School and one of her first-grade teachers stood amid a swirl of school-shopping families at the Showcase of Schools, waiting to deliver their sales pitch.
...
"It’s like being a Hilton Hotel in between two Ritzes,’’ Simmons, the first-grade teacher, said of the schools to her right and left, Hernandez K-8 and Kilmer K-8, both with more applicants than prekindergarten seats. The inverse is true at Higginson-Lewis, making it one of the least sought-after schools in Boston - at least according to a school district tally akin to a judge’s score sheet.
"The city uses a lottery system that was intended to give all students access to high-achieving classrooms, regardless of neighborhood or life circumstance. But families fixate on a collection of well-known, fiercely sought-after schools, largely ignoring those with lesser reputations. And over the past two decades, popularity has often become a proxy for quality, making it even harder for schools to get off that second rung.
"Popularity is driven by parents with time, inclination, and sometimes the means to enter the school lottery early, armed with information and expectations. Their preferences create a system of prized schools, and those in low demand - schools whose reputations have suffered because they are in higher-crime neighborhoods, serve predominantly poor students, and have, in some cases, test scores lower than average.
...
"Each year, the district creates a “demand report’’ to help inform parents’ decisions. It shows how many parents listed a school among their top three picks. Parents look at the list and seize on schools they like, but also immediately see the schools they want to avoid, schools they often know little about.
...
"The answer lies in who is, and who is not, choosing a school and when they choose. Popular schools have become synonymous with the choices of white middle-class families, principals and families say. And the demand report reflects the choices of families who choose early.
"Oliver said parents of color and those in low-income communities “don’t always go in to make choices when the lottery starts. We have a lot of people who can’t make a commitment until June or even Labor Day.’’
...
"The lottery system was created in the name of giving parents more choice. Still, Boston’s dreams of equal access to quality remain deferred, with many of the least-selected schools lacking racial and economic diversity. The Higginson-Lewis has only 10 white students in a school of about 425, and Marshall has just eight white students in a school of 713.
“People will come to visit and they will say: ‘How many white students are in the class? I don’t want my child to be the only one,’ ’’ said Oliver, the Higginson principal.
...
"Middle-class parents often aren’t willing to send their children to a school next to Malcolm X Park in Roxbury or on a street sandwiched between Geneva Avenue and Bowdoin Street in Dorchester, where neighborhood violence has, at times, landed on the school’s doorstep.
...
"School choice is “pretty complicated stuff, and people are always eager to come up with pretty simple solutions,’’ said Curt Dudley-Marling, a Boston College professor who studies patterns of school failure and success. “It always seems to me that it’s rigged for parents who have the most resources.’’
"Not all families have the benefit of active parent groups that organize school tours to help families vet their options, which in Boston could mean as many as 20 public school options, not including charters. Single parents, families new to the country, parents of disabled children, or families struggling with the demands of life often are unable to investigate every option.
“I can’t imagine they have time, much less the resources, to go to fairs and all these things,’’ Dudley-Marling said. Instead, they, like most people, default to what they have heard within their circle of influence."
Saturday, January 7, 2012
A quarter century since the founding of the Economic Science Association
At the ASSA meetings in Chicago:
Jan 07, 2012 10:15 am, Hyatt Regency, Skyway 260
History of Economics Society/Economic Science Association
Jan 07, 2012 10:15 am, Hyatt Regency, Skyway 260
History of Economics Society/Economic Science Association
Presiding: HARRO MAAS (University of Utrecht)
Historical Perspective on ESA's First Quarter Century
The Prologue to ESA from Today's Perspective
Structural Changes to ESA in 1995-1997: The Journal and International Meetings
Making ESA International
Discussants:
VERNON SMITH (Chapman University)
STEVEN MEDEMA (University of Colorado-Denver)
Friday, January 6, 2012
Market design at the ASSA meetings in Chicago
First, good luck to all those on the job market at the ASSA meetings going on in Chicago now.
The ASSA meetings aren't only a job market, however, and there are a number of sessions in which papers on matching and market design are being presented . These are the ones I noticed on scanning the program:
Jan 06, 2012 12:30 pm, Hyatt Regency, New Orleans
Transportation & Public Utilities Group
***********
Jan 06, 2012 2:30 pm, Hyatt Regency, Columbus EF
American Economic Association
************
Jan 06, 2012 2:30 pm, Hyatt Regency, Regency D
American Economic Association
The ASSA meetings aren't only a job market, however, and there are a number of sessions in which papers on matching and market design are being presented . These are the ones I noticed on scanning the program:
Jan 06, 2012 12:30 pm, Hyatt Regency, New Orleans
Transportation & Public Utilities Group
Auction Design (L9)
Presiding: ERIC RALPH (Federal Communications Commission)
Auction Design for Universal Service
Procurement auctions to supply broadband over differing regions with quality differentiation
Distributing Universal Service Subsidies by Competitive Bidding
Discussants:
GREG ROSSTON (Stanford University)
***********
Jan 06, 2012 2:30 pm, Hyatt Regency, Columbus EF
American Economic Association
Incentives and Matching in Marriage and Dating Markets (J1)
Presiding: GARY BECKER (University of Chicago)
Matching with a Handicap: The Economics of Marital Smoking
Peer Effects in Sexual Initiation: Separating Demand from Supply
[Download Preview]
Terms of Endearment: An Equilibrium Model Of Sex and Matching
[Download Preview]
Dating Market Incentives to Improve Physical Appearance
Discussants:
SCOTT CUNNINGHAM (Baylor University)
JEREMY FOX (University of Michigan)
ALOYSIUS SIOW (University of Toronto)
JOHN CAWLEY (Cornell University)
************
Jan 06, 2012 2:30 pm, Hyatt Regency, Regency D
American Economic Association
New Challenges for Market Design (A1)
Presiding: MURIEL NIEDERLE (Stanford University)
Individual Rationality and Participation in Large Scale, Multi-Hospital Kidney Exchange
Holdout in the Assembly of Complements: A Problem for Market Design
[Download Preview]
Improving Efficiency in Matching Markets with Regional Caps: The Case of the Japan Residency Matching Program
[Download Preview]
Price Controls, Non-Price Quality Competition, and the Nonexistence of Competitive Equilibrium
[Download Preview]
Discussants:
PARAG PATHAK (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
THOMAS PALFREY (California Institute of Technology)
PAUL MILGROM (Stanford University)
MURIEL NIEDERLE (Stanford University)
********
Jan 07, 2012 8:00 am, Hyatt Regency, Columbus KL
American Economic Association
Jan 07, 2012 8:00 am, Hyatt Regency, Columbus KL
American Economic Association
Price Theory and Market Design (D4)
Presiding: ERIC BUDISH (University of chicago)
Market Power Screens Willingness-to-Pay
[Download Preview]
The Form of Incentive Contracts: Agency with Moral Hazard, Risk Neutrality, and Limited Liability
[Download Preview]
A Supply and Demand Framework for Two-Sided Matching Markets
[Download Preview]
Multilateral Matching
[Download Preview]
Discussants:
PIERRE-ANDRE CHIAPPORI (Columbia University)
DAVID SRAER (Princeton University)
THEODORE BERGSTROM (University of California-Santa Barbara)
ALI HORTACSU (University of Chicago)
**********
Jan 08, 2012 8:00 am, Hyatt Regency, Atlanta
American Economic Association
**********
Jan 08, 2012 10:15 am, Hyatt Regency, Wrigley
Econometric Society
**********
Jan 08, 2012 1:00 pm, Hyatt Regency, Columbus CD
American Economic Association
Jan 08, 2012 8:00 am, Hyatt Regency, Atlanta
American Economic Association
Advance in the Theory of Contests and Tournaments (C7)
Presiding: RON SIEGEL (Northwestern University)
Head Starts in Contests
[Download Preview]
Contests with Endogenous and Stochastic Entry
[Download Preview]
Sequential All-Pay Auctions with Head Starts and Noisy Outputs
[Download Preview]
The Optimal Design of Rewards in Contests
[Download Preview]
Discussants:
RON SIEGEL (Northwestern University)
QIANG FU (National University of Singapore)
ELLA SEGEV (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)
TODD R. KAPLAN (University of Exeter and University of Haifa)
**********
Jan 08, 2012 10:15 am, Hyatt Regency, Wrigley
Econometric Society
Economics of Internet Markets (L1)
Presiding: JONATHAN LEVIN (Stanford University)
Multidimensional Heterogeneity and Platform Design
Price Discrimination in Many-to-Many Matching Markets
Social Advertising
Sales Mechanisms in Online Markets: What Happened to Internet Auctions?
Discussants:
PRESTON MCAFEE (Research Yahoo!)
JONATHAN BAKER (American Universityi)
**********
Jan 08, 2012 1:00 pm, Hyatt Regency, Columbus CD
American Economic Association
Designing Effective School Choice Mechanisms (I2)
Presiding: DIANE SCHANZENBACH (Northwestern University)
School Choice, School Quality and College Attendance
[Download Preview]
Charter School Entry and Student Choice: The Case of Washington, D.C.
[Download Preview]
Promoting School Competition through School Choice: A Market Design Approach
[Download Preview]
From Boston to Shanghai to Deferred Acceptance: Theory and Experiments on A Family of School Choice Mechanisms
Discussants:
KEVIN STANGE (University of Michigan)
JUSTINE HASTINGS (Brown University)
ONUR KESTEN (Carnegie Mellon University)
FUHITO KOJIMA (Stanford University)
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Philosophy job market
Inside Higher Ed reports that a social reception called "the smoker" at the Philosophy job market meetings plays a semi-official role in hiring, with some interviews continuing there in the evening: Something’s Smoking. The story records that aspects of this make some women candidates uncomfortable.
Lest economists feel smug, this paragraph caught my eye, and reminded me of interviews in the hotel suites (and sometimes simple hotel rooms when those run out) at the ASSA meetings:
"Rebecca Kukla, a philosophy professor at Georgetown University, said the event was socially problematic for women, not unlike another former practice at some APA conferences (and those of other disciplinary meetings) where job candidates were interviewed in hotel rooms and sometimes had to sit on a hotel bed while being interviewed. That practice was stopped a few years ago, and interviews are now held in suites or in ballrooms."
Lest economists feel smug, this paragraph caught my eye, and reminded me of interviews in the hotel suites (and sometimes simple hotel rooms when those run out) at the ASSA meetings:
"Rebecca Kukla, a philosophy professor at Georgetown University, said the event was socially problematic for women, not unlike another former practice at some APA conferences (and those of other disciplinary meetings) where job candidates were interviewed in hotel rooms and sometimes had to sit on a hotel bed while being interviewed. That practice was stopped a few years ago, and interviews are now held in suites or in ballrooms."
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Scientific misconduct: fraud, plagiarism and all that
A good article on scientific fraud and plagiarism by Charles Gross in The Nation (of all places), focusing on the case of Marc Hauser, but looking at the phenomenon much more widely: Disgrace: On Marc Hauser
"The first formal discussion of scientific misconduct was published in 1830 by Charles Babbage, who held Newton’s chair at Cambridge and made major contributions to astronomy, mathematics and the development of computers. In Reflections on the Decline of Science in England and on Some of Its Causes, Babbage distinguished “several species of impositions that have been practised in science…hoaxing, forging, trimming, and cooking.” An example of “hoaxing” would be the Piltdown man, discovered in 1911 and discredited in 1953; parts of an ape and human skull were combined, supposedly to represent a “missing link” in human evolution. Hoaxes are intended to expose naïveté and credulousness and to mock pseudo wisdom. Unlike most hoaxes, Babbage’s other “impositions” are carried out to advance the perpetrator’s scientific career. “Forging,” which he thought rare, is the counterfeiting of results, today called fabrication. “Trimming” consists of eliminating outliers to make results look more accurate, while keeping the average the same. “Cooking” is the selection of data. Trimming and cooking fall under the modern rubric of “falsification.” Scholarly conventions and standards of scientific probity were probably different in the distant past, yet the feuds, priority disputes and porous notions of scientific truthfulness from previous centuries seem contemporary.
...
"Scientists guilty of misconduct are found in every field, at every kind of research institution and with a variety of social and educational backgrounds. Yet a survey of the excellent coverage of fraud in Science and recent books on the subject—ranging from Horace Freeland Judson’s The Great Betrayal: Fraud in Science (2004) to David Goodstein’s On Fact and Fraud: Cautionary Tales From the Front Lines of Science (2010)—reveals a pattern of the most common, or modal, scientific miscreant. He is a bright and ambitious young man working in an elite institution in a rapidly moving and highly competitive branch of modern biology or medicine, where results have important theoretical, clinical or financial implications. He has been mentored and supported by a senior and respected establishment figure who is often the co-author of many of his papers but may have not been closely involved in the research.
...
"The serious involvement of the government in policing scientific misconduct began only in 1981, when hearings were convened by Al Gore, then a Congressman and chair of the investigations and oversight subcommittee of the House Science and Technology Committee, after an outbreak of egregious scandals. One was the case of John Long, a promising associate professor at Massachusetts General Hospital who was found to have faked cell lines in his research on Hodgkin’s disease. Another case involved Vijay Soman, an assistant professor at Yale Medical School. Soman plagiarized the research findings of Helena Wachslicht-Rodbard, who worked at the NIH. A paper Wachslicht-Rodbard had written about anorexia nervosa and insulin receptors had been sent for publication review to Soman’s mentor, Philip Felig, the vice chair of medicine at Yale. Felig gave it to Soman, who ghostwrote a rejection for Felig. Soman then stole the idea of Wachslicht-Rodbard’s paper and some of its words, fabricated his own supporting “data” and published his results with Felig as co-author.
...
"the section on Plagiarism in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association says, ‘The key element of this principle is that an author does not present the work of another author as if it were his own. This can extend to ideas as well as written words.’
"The first formal discussion of scientific misconduct was published in 1830 by Charles Babbage, who held Newton’s chair at Cambridge and made major contributions to astronomy, mathematics and the development of computers. In Reflections on the Decline of Science in England and on Some of Its Causes, Babbage distinguished “several species of impositions that have been practised in science…hoaxing, forging, trimming, and cooking.” An example of “hoaxing” would be the Piltdown man, discovered in 1911 and discredited in 1953; parts of an ape and human skull were combined, supposedly to represent a “missing link” in human evolution. Hoaxes are intended to expose naïveté and credulousness and to mock pseudo wisdom. Unlike most hoaxes, Babbage’s other “impositions” are carried out to advance the perpetrator’s scientific career. “Forging,” which he thought rare, is the counterfeiting of results, today called fabrication. “Trimming” consists of eliminating outliers to make results look more accurate, while keeping the average the same. “Cooking” is the selection of data. Trimming and cooking fall under the modern rubric of “falsification.” Scholarly conventions and standards of scientific probity were probably different in the distant past, yet the feuds, priority disputes and porous notions of scientific truthfulness from previous centuries seem contemporary.
...
"Scientists guilty of misconduct are found in every field, at every kind of research institution and with a variety of social and educational backgrounds. Yet a survey of the excellent coverage of fraud in Science and recent books on the subject—ranging from Horace Freeland Judson’s The Great Betrayal: Fraud in Science (2004) to David Goodstein’s On Fact and Fraud: Cautionary Tales From the Front Lines of Science (2010)—reveals a pattern of the most common, or modal, scientific miscreant. He is a bright and ambitious young man working in an elite institution in a rapidly moving and highly competitive branch of modern biology or medicine, where results have important theoretical, clinical or financial implications. He has been mentored and supported by a senior and respected establishment figure who is often the co-author of many of his papers but may have not been closely involved in the research.
...
"The serious involvement of the government in policing scientific misconduct began only in 1981, when hearings were convened by Al Gore, then a Congressman and chair of the investigations and oversight subcommittee of the House Science and Technology Committee, after an outbreak of egregious scandals. One was the case of John Long, a promising associate professor at Massachusetts General Hospital who was found to have faked cell lines in his research on Hodgkin’s disease. Another case involved Vijay Soman, an assistant professor at Yale Medical School. Soman plagiarized the research findings of Helena Wachslicht-Rodbard, who worked at the NIH. A paper Wachslicht-Rodbard had written about anorexia nervosa and insulin receptors had been sent for publication review to Soman’s mentor, Philip Felig, the vice chair of medicine at Yale. Felig gave it to Soman, who ghostwrote a rejection for Felig. Soman then stole the idea of Wachslicht-Rodbard’s paper and some of its words, fabricated his own supporting “data” and published his results with Felig as co-author.
...
"the section on Plagiarism in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association says, ‘The key element of this principle is that an author does not present the work of another author as if it were his own. This can extend to ideas as well as written words.’
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Salaries and perks in academic hiring
In Texas, a law school dean has recently resigned amidst issues of pay equity: Univ. of Texas law school dean resigns after pay battle.
Earlier, he wrote a very illuminating letter about how competitive offers involve housing loans as well as salary.
"Common to the compensation packages offered by other schools to the candidates that we have undertaken to recruit have been non-salary commitments with substantial financial entailments. We, too, have frequently included non-salary commitments, in the form of one-time loans. These have been accompanied with a promise on our part to defray the costs of repaying the loan in annual installments of five or seven years, provided that the recipient of the loan remains on our faculty. Typically, these loans are aimed at the purchase of a home, and have helped to settle our new colleagues and their families in Austin. In exchange for these loans, I have asked and received from the recipients a moral commitment to remain members of our community for at least five years. "
I've written before about how money often factors into whether a transaction is viewed as repugnant. That discussion is often about whether money is explicitly part of the transaction or not. But pay equity is an issue that touches on repugnance as it relates to income inequality, etc.
HT: Kim Krawiec at FL
Earlier, he wrote a very illuminating letter about how competitive offers involve housing loans as well as salary.
"Common to the compensation packages offered by other schools to the candidates that we have undertaken to recruit have been non-salary commitments with substantial financial entailments. We, too, have frequently included non-salary commitments, in the form of one-time loans. These have been accompanied with a promise on our part to defray the costs of repaying the loan in annual installments of five or seven years, provided that the recipient of the loan remains on our faculty. Typically, these loans are aimed at the purchase of a home, and have helped to settle our new colleagues and their families in Austin. In exchange for these loans, I have asked and received from the recipients a moral commitment to remain members of our community for at least five years. "
I've written before about how money often factors into whether a transaction is viewed as repugnant. That discussion is often about whether money is explicitly part of the transaction or not. But pay equity is an issue that touches on repugnance as it relates to income inequality, etc.
HT: Kim Krawiec at FL
Monday, January 2, 2012
Frontiers of Market Design conference in Switzerland in May
Frontiers of Market Design: Matching Markets Conference (note the Jan 10 submission deadline...)
During the registration process you can upload a paper or extended abstract if you wish to present it during the conference. Alternatively, you can send your paper or extended abstract to this conference e-mail address. Organizers
May, 20-23, 2012
(Sunday 3 p.m. - Wednesday 12 a.m.)
Centro Stefano Franscini
Monte Verita, Ascona, Switzerland
Centro Stefano Franscini
Monte Verita, Ascona, Switzerland
You can find the registration link here, and more details at the conference web site above.
During the registration process you can upload a paper or extended abstract if you wish to present it during the conference. Alternatively, you can send your paper or extended abstract to this conference e-mail address.
The submission deadline is January 10, 2012. Acceptance decisions will be communicated by the end of January.
- Itai Ashlagi
- Péter Biró
- Federico Echenique
- Bettina Klaus
- Flip Klijn
- Alvin Roth
- Markus Walzl
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Conference pictures from Jerusalem: Bob Aumann, Hilary Putnam, Eyal Winter, Avishai Margalit, Abraham Neyman, Sergiu Hart, Danny Kahneman, Ehud Kalai, Ed Lazear, and Manny Yaari
Pictures from the conference in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Rationality Center in Jerusalem. (Click to enlarge...)
Bob Aumann and Hilary Putnam
Bob Aumann and Hilary Putnam
 |
| Abraham Neyman |
 |
| Avishai remembering Edna Margalit |
 |
| Eyal Winter |
 |
| Danny Kahneman |
 |
| Sergiu Hart |
 |
| Ed Lazear |
 |
| Ehud Kalai |
 |
| Manny Yaari and Eyal Winter |
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Marriage markets in transition
There was a time when the generalization that husbands tended to be older, taller, more educated and higher earning than their wives covered more of the marriage market than it does today, as the educational and earnings attainments of women are rising, along with ages of first marriage. There's some academic work on this, and also discussion in the press, of which this is an example:
They Call It the Reverse Gender Gap
"The emergence of this cohort of high-earning young women and the increasing number of female breadwinners are transforming gender relationships, upending patterns of matchmaking, marriage and motherhood, creating a new conflict between the sexes, redefining the word “breadwinner” and inspiring tracts on the leveling of men’s roles.
...
“Some of these women had learned the hard way that when they went to bars, they were better off lying about what they did — saying that they were a cosmetologist or music teacher rather than a software consultant or lawyer,” Ms. Mundy said.
"Faced with a shrinking pool of men on their level, some young women are settling and marrying “down,” but others will jump on planes for “dating excursions” to cities like New York, San Francisco and Boston where the male market is more promising.
...
"This state of affairs is not confined to the United States. The trend is global. Japanese and South Korean men are importing brides from poorer Asian countries with traditional attitudes about marriage. In Spain, Ms. Mundy said, she found high-achieving women marrying men from progressive Northern European countries like Sweden, while Spanish men seek out immigrant wives from more conventional Spanish-speaking countries."
They Call It the Reverse Gender Gap
"The emergence of this cohort of high-earning young women and the increasing number of female breadwinners are transforming gender relationships, upending patterns of matchmaking, marriage and motherhood, creating a new conflict between the sexes, redefining the word “breadwinner” and inspiring tracts on the leveling of men’s roles.
...
“Some of these women had learned the hard way that when they went to bars, they were better off lying about what they did — saying that they were a cosmetologist or music teacher rather than a software consultant or lawyer,” Ms. Mundy said.
"Faced with a shrinking pool of men on their level, some young women are settling and marrying “down,” but others will jump on planes for “dating excursions” to cities like New York, San Francisco and Boston where the male market is more promising.
...
"This state of affairs is not confined to the United States. The trend is global. Japanese and South Korean men are importing brides from poorer Asian countries with traditional attitudes about marriage. In Spain, Ms. Mundy said, she found high-achieving women marrying men from progressive Northern European countries like Sweden, while Spanish men seek out immigrant wives from more conventional Spanish-speaking countries."
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Matchmaking on a plane
On those long overseas flights, picking a seatmate is a bit like picking a roommate, and KLM is on the case: Mile-high matchmaking: airline to let you choose your neighbour via Facebook
"The "meet and seat" service would allow passengers to see the Facebook or LinkedIn profiles of other flyers, who are also using the opt-in service, when selecting their seat."
HT: Ben Greiner
"The "meet and seat" service would allow passengers to see the Facebook or LinkedIn profiles of other flyers, who are also using the opt-in service, when selecting their seat."
HT: Ben Greiner
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Three-way kidney exchange makes it to more hospitals
Innovations diffuse, and the ability to do three-way kidney exchanges is showing up at more hospitals, as this story from North Carolina shows: Three given the gift of life for Christmas
"GREENVILLE, N.C. - Three people in the east were given the gift of life this Christmas.
"Doctors from Pitt County Memorial Hospital announced today what is believed to be the first successful six-person kidney exchange in the Carolinas.
"Chief of Transplant Surgery, Dr. Robert Harland says its the culmination of a process that has taken more than a year.
"Each of the recipients had a willing donor who was not a match, so by swapping donors they were all able to get the transplant."
More details of the three way exchange are given in this story.
For background papers, see
"GREENVILLE, N.C. - Three people in the east were given the gift of life this Christmas.
"Doctors from Pitt County Memorial Hospital announced today what is believed to be the first successful six-person kidney exchange in the Carolinas.
"Chief of Transplant Surgery, Dr. Robert Harland says its the culmination of a process that has taken more than a year.
"Each of the recipients had a willing donor who was not a match, so by swapping donors they were all able to get the transplant."
For background papers, see
- Saidman, Susan L., Alvin E. Roth, Tayfun Sönmez, M. Utku Ünver, and Francis L. Delmonico, " Increasing the Opportunity of Live Kidney Donation By Matching for Two and Three Way Exchanges," Transplantation, ,81, 5, March 15, 2006, 773-782.
- Roth, Alvin E., Tayfun Sonmez , and M. Utku Unver, "Efficient Kidney Exchange: Coincidence of Wants in Markets with Compatibility-Based Preferences," (May, 2005. NBER Paper w11402), American Economic Review, 97, 3, June 2007, 828-851.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Couples on the job market
Some blogospheric debate about hiring couples (centered on law schools, but generally applicable) is flagged by Dan Filler at the Faculty Lounge: here is an argument that it's a bad thing ("cronyism") to make special efforts to hire couples (and also to promote your students, incidentally). And here is a counterargument.
While I'm on the subject, the newsletter of the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP) published a set of interviews (in Fall 09) on Navigating the Job Market as Dual Career Economists
While I'm on the subject, the newsletter of the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP) published a set of interviews (in Fall 09) on Navigating the Job Market as Dual Career Economists
Progress in the national kidney exchange pilot program
There is recent modest but welcome progress in the effort to organize a Federally sponsored kidney exchange on the national level in the United States.
Ruthanne Hanto, who moved from NEPKE to UNOS this summer writes:
"15 transplants from sept 2011-dec 2011
Here's the most recent UNOS press release dated Dec. 6:
"From September to mid-November, 10 transplants took place through the OPTN's national kidney paired donation (KPD) pilot program. Five more transplants are scheduled to occur by the end of 2011.
Ruthanne Hanto, who moved from NEPKE to UNOS this summer writes:
"15 transplants from sept 2011-dec 2011
Compared to 2 transplants oct 2010 - aug 2011
Progress
Happy New year!"
Here's the most recent UNOS press release dated Dec. 6:
"From September to mid-November, 10 transplants took place through the OPTN's national kidney paired donation (KPD) pilot program. Five more transplants are scheduled to occur by the end of 2011.
A six-way, non-directed donor chain was identified in August. Four of the transplants occurred between September and mid-November. The remaining two transplants are scheduled to take place by early December.
A non-directed donor chain resulted in three transplants in September, and a separate three-way exchange also was completed in September. An additional three-way exchange is scheduled to occur in December.
A free informational brochure has been developed to provide basic information to potential donors and recipients about the national program. Order printed copies of the brochure now >
Currently there are 86 transplant centers participating in the pilot program. For additional information about the program, or to seek information about participating, please consult the KPD page on the OPTN Web site or contact Ruthanne Hanto, RN, MPH, Program Manager, at kidneypaireddonation@unos.org. "
A non-directed donor chain resulted in three transplants in September, and a separate three-way exchange also was completed in September. An additional three-way exchange is scheduled to occur in December.
A free informational brochure has been developed to provide basic information to potential donors and recipients about the national program. Order printed copies of the brochure now >
Currently there are 86 transplant centers participating in the pilot program. For additional information about the program, or to seek information about participating, please consult the KPD page on the OPTN Web site or contact Ruthanne Hanto, RN, MPH, Program Manager, at kidneypaireddonation@unos.org. "
Monday, December 26, 2011
Rationality in Jerusalem
CONFERENCE
The 20th Anniversary of the Center for the Study of Rationality
December 28-30, 2011
Program
Wednesday, December 28
Wise Auditorium, Edmond J. Safra Campus
9:30 – 10:00 Menahem Ben-Sasson, President – Opening Remarks
10:00 – 10:30 Menahem Yaari – Welcome
10:30 – 11:30 Ehud Kalai – “Learning and Stability in Small and in Large Games”
11:30 – 11:45 Break
11:45 – 12:45 Edward Lazear – “Rationality in Policy Making”
12:45 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 15:00 Alvin Roth – “Rationality and Irrationality in Market Design”
15:00 – 15:15 Break
Alumni Lectures in Elath Hall, Feldman Building, 2nd floor, Edmond J. Safra Campus
15:15 – 15:45 Florian Biermann – "Task Assignment with Autonomous and Controlled Agents"
15:45 – 16:15 Igal Milchtaich – "Representation of Finite Games as Network Congestion Games"
16:15 – 16:30 Break
16:30 – 17:00 Ro'i Zultan – "My Rational Journey from Psychology to Economics"
17:00 – 17:30 Nir Dagan – "A Coalitional Theory of Oligopoly" Thursday, December 29
Wise Auditorium, Edmond J. Safra Campus
10:00 – 10:15 Sarah Stroumsa , Rector – Opening Remarks
10:15 – 10:30 Avishai Margalit – "Edna Ullmann-Margalit's Contribution to the Study of Rationality"
10:30 – 11:30 Daniel Kahneman – "Cognitive Limitations and the Psychology of Science"
(talk in memory of Edna Ullmann-Margalit)
11:30 – 11:45 Break
11:45 – 12:45 Sergiu Hart– "Risk and Rationality"
12:45 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 15:00 Avi Wigderson – "Randomness"
15:00 – 15:15 Break
Alumni Lectures in Elath Hall, Feldman Building, 2nd floor, Edmond J. Safra Campus
15:15 – 15:45 Eilon Solan – "Attainability in Repeated Games with Vector Payoffs"
15:45 – 16:00 Oscar Volij – "Some Memories"
16:00 – 16:15 Break
16:15 – 16:45 Uri Resnick – "Rationality and Foreign Policy Planning"
16:45 – 17:15 Motty Amar – "Reputable Brand Names Can Improve Product Efficacy"
Friday, December 30
Wise Auditorium, Edmond J. Safra Campus
10:00 – 11:00 Hilary Putnam – "Naive Realism and Qualia"
11:00 – 11:15 Break
11:15 – 12:15 Robert J. Aumann – "Who Are the Players?"
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