Strategic Interaction and Conventions

The scope of the paper is the literature that employs coordination games to study social norms and conventions from the viewpoint of game theory and cognitive psychology. We claim that those two alternative approaches are complementary, as they provide different insights to explain how people converge to a unique system of self-fulfilling expectations in presence of multiple, equally viable, conventions. While game theory explains the emergence of conventions relying on efficiency and risk considerations, the psychological view is more concerned with frame and labeling effects. The interaction between these alternative (and, sometimes, competing) effects leads to the result that coordination failures may well occur and, even when coordination takes place, there is no guarantee that the convention eventually established will be the most efficient.

The Supercore for Normal Form Games

We study the supercore of a system derived from a normal form game. For the case of a finite game with pure strategies, we define a sequence of games and show that the supercore of that system coincides with the set of Nash equilibrium strategy profiles of the last game in the sequence. This result is illustrated with the characterization of the supercore for the n-person prisoners’ dilemma. With regard to the mixed extension of a normal form game, we show that the set of Nash equilibrium profiles coincides with the supercore for games with a finite number of Nash equilibria. For games with an infinite number of Nash equilibria this need not be no longer the case. Yet, it is not difficult to find a binary relation which guarantees the coincidence of these two sets.

The New Keynesian Monetary Model: Does it Show the Comovement Between Output and Inflation in the U.S.?

Published as article in: Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control (2008), 32(May), pp. 1466-1488.

On the strategic equivalence of multiple-choice test scoring rules

A disadvantage of multiple-choice tests is that students have incentives to guess. To discourage guessing, it is common to use scoring rules that either penalize wrong answers or reward omissions. These scoring rules are considered equivalent in psychometrics, although experimental evidence has not always been consistent with this claim. We model students' decisions and show, first, that equivalence holds only under risk neutrality and, second, that the two rules can be modified so that they become equivalent even under risk aversion. This paper presents the results of a field experiment in which we analyze the decisions of subjects taking multiple-choice exams. The evidence suggests that differences between scoring rules are due to risk aversion as theory predicts. We also find that the number of omitted items depends on the scoring rule, knowledge, gender and other covariates.

Estudio empírico del endeudamiento, coste de la deuda y rentabilidades de la industria de calzado de La Rioja. Comparación por tamaño y sector

[ES] El presente trabajo tiene por objeto el estudio del nivel de endeudamiento, el coste de la deuda y las rentabilidades de la industria del calzado de la Comunidad Autónoma de La Rioja por sectores y tamaños. De acuerdo con la Economía Industrial, que considera el sector de actividad como el principal determinante de los resultados de las organizaciones, se analiza si las variables estudiadas son distintas en función de su pertenencia al sector del calzado en comparación con el de la industria agroalimentaria, por ser éste el más importante de la economía de la región. Por otro lado, de acuerdo con la Teoría de los Recursos y Capacidades, que considera que son los factores internos los que explican las diferentes rentabilidades, estudiaremos un recurso interno como es el tamaño, viendo su influencia sobre las variables comentadas. Por último, los resultados del estudio conjunto de la pertenencia a un sector de actividad por tamaños homogéneos nos permiten afirmar que el coste de la deuda de las pequeñas empresas es significativamente distinto en función de dicho sector de pertenencia.

¿Cómo influye la infraestructura de producción en el rendimiento de las empresas manufactureras?

[ES] Este artículo contribuye a adquirir un mayor conocimiento acerca del impacto estratégico de la infraestructura de producción en las empresas manufactureras españolas. La influencia de la infraestructura de producción en el rendimiento empresarial puede ser analizada desde dos perspectivas: la contingente y la proactiva. La perspectiva contingente sostiene que tal influencia depende de la postura estratégica de la empresa. Según el enfoque proactivo, el rendimiento empresarial viene determinado por la implantación de prácticas y políticas prometedoras por su contribución a crear capacidades de producción.

Irakurriaren ulermenaren zailtasunak bigarren hezkuntzan

(FR)Ce texte reprend la question de la compréhension de lecture et la faible note que nos étudiants du secondaire donnent à ce secteur, d’après PISA. De plus en plus de voix s’élèvent pour réclamer que la compréhension de lecture soit une des tâches de tous les professeurs et plus seulement des professeurs de langue et littérature. Lors de la préparation au métier d’enseignant, de plus en plus de cours sont organisés en rapport avec cette question de plus en plus préoccupante dans ce secteur. Les données sont celles-ci et toutes les tentatives pour résoudre ce problème semblent insuffisantes si on ne reprend pas la question au niveau du Curriculum et si on prépare les professeurs aux stratégies de lecture pour que les élèves parviennent à être des lecteurs compétents.

Gehiago Pierre Urteren gramatikaren iturriez: Lilyren gramatika

[EN] Pierre Urte wrote Grammaire cantabrique circa 1714, when he was exiled in England. In this article we want to prove that the main source for Urte’s work was the socalled “Lily’s grammar”, which was the oficial grammar to learn Latin language in England from the 16th to the 19th century. The indentification of that source allows us to support the claim that Urte’s grammar must be included in the tradition of language teaching, as was already pointed out by Oyharçabal (1989). In this article, we first offer a brief history of Lily’s grammar. Then, we provide some clues in order to identify the exact edition used by Urte. Finally, in the main section of the article, we confront the two grammatical works; our aim is to ensure Urte’s debt to Lily’s grammar, and to show in detail the principal parts which Urte took from his source (mainly grammatical clasifications and examples).

Ahozkotasunaren irakaskuntza bigarren hezkuntzako testuliburuetan

[EN]Traditionally writing skills have been given priority in language teaching and so, oral skills have been put aside. However, during the last years many voices have asserted the importance of oral skills. Therefore, they claim that oral language teaching must be emphasized at school. Also, the necessity of strengthening oral language is shown in the new curriculum. Nevertheless, those intentions are reflected in very different ways in textbooks. In this work we have looked into the treatment that oral language is given in teaching materials because, in our opinion, textbooks are one of the most important tools for teachers. The facts show that the importance given to oral language and the exercises and tools needed to work that skill are very different from one publishing house to another. Besides, we have confirmed that all the textbooks don’t satisfy the requirements proposed in the Basque official curriculum (e.g. didactic sequences) or that the approach to the text or the way to work with it are not always what they should be. Therefore, it is obvious that we have still a long way in the field of oral language and specially in the way of teaching oral skills

Basque nominalizations and the role of structural Case in the licensing of null arguments

[EN] This article investigates the question of the licensing of null arguments in the so-called pro-drop languages. By focusing on the licensing of null subjects in the different types of -T(Z)E nominalizations in Basque, it aims at defining in a precise way the crucial feature that makes pro-drop possible in a clause. The central claim is that what licenses subject-drop is the assignment of structural Case. That is, it is argued that a subject can be null if and only if it is assigned structural Case. Different aspects of T(Z)E nominalizations are also explored, which show that even if these clauses are similar in the surface, they can be syntactically very different and furthermore, that infinitive clauses marked with the same nominalizing morpheme can also have diverging structures.

Euskalaritzaren historiaren ikerketa-norabideak: zenbait proposamendu

[EN] The aim of this paper is to propose some lines of investigation and new methods that can be followed in order to increase our knowledge of the History of Basque Linguistics. The main claim put forward here is that we must profit from the new methodological innovations developed by the H istoriography of Linguistics since the 60's. In the first section, different aspects are mentioned of the relevance of the study of Basque Linguistic Historiography. The second section comments on the boom of the Historiography of Linguistics from the 60's, its causes and its consequences; furthermore, it reports on the methodological models emerged from the discussions since then (as shown in works by Koerner, Swiggers, and many others). The third section points out some difficulties and challenges of the study of the History of Basque Linguistics, and suggests both some priorities for that study and possible lines of investigation. In order to illustrate the different points made throughout the paper, the reader is referred, when possible, to examples chosen from recent investigations or from future topics of research.

On innate and specific aspects of human language

Mixel Aurnague, Kepa Korta and Jesus M. Larrazabal (eds.)

Activaciones patrimoniales e iniciativas museísticas: ¿por quién? y ¿para qué?

[ES] Se suele afirmar que hay dos tipos de patrimonio cultural. Uno, “eterno”, “riguroso”, “irremplazable” o “global”; otro, “contingente”, “flexible”; “sustituible” o “local”. El primero es de la “humanidad”; el segundo, de la “comunidad”. Los trabajos que se presentan en esta publicación, describen y analizan procesos de activación de ese segundo tipo de patrimonio: los intereses y las valorizaciones que han conducido a la patrimonialización o puesta en valor de unos bienes culturales; qué agentes han intervenido en ese proceso; por qué, para qué y cómo lo han llevado a cabo. Se interesan más por el modus operandi que por el opus operatum. Escritos por profesores, investigadores, especialistas y técnicos, los trabajos de esta publicación presentan un conjunto de experiencias europeas y americanas, mostrando un panorama diverso y complejo del campo patrimonial y museístico, así como distintas aproximaciones en función de la posición que ocupa el autor respecto a los bienes culturales.

Embedding quantum simulators

79 p.

Publicidad subliminal

[ES] La publicidad subliminal es un tipo de publicidad que utiliza estímulos que no son percibidos conscientemente, pero que influyen en nuestra conducta con la finalidad de lograr determinados objetivos. Su primera alusión se hizo en el año 400 a.C. y se ha mantenido viva hasta la actualidad. Hay quienes defienden su existencia mientras que otros aseguran que no existe, por lo tanto es un tema que genera gran controversia. Está prohibida y penada por la ley, pero a pesar de ello se utiliza a diario. La podemos encontrar principalmente en los medios de comunicación, pero también en canciones de moda, cintas de autoayuda, centros comerciales o en el trabajo. Tenemos que precisar que lo que está prohibido es la publicidad subliminal, pero no las técnicas subliminales que se utilizan para resolver problemas psicológicos, para vencer la tartamudez, dejar de fumar… La publicidad subliminal pretende llamar la atención del consumidor para incitarle a que actué de una determinada manera. Esto lo consigue mediante la utilización de mensajes ocultos. En este trabajo vamos a ver si en realidad existe o no la publicidad subliminal, y en caso afirmativo, si de verdad provoca un incremento de las ventas. También veremos que en nuestra vida diaria nos encontramos con la presencia de mensajes subliminales y su posible uso para manipular nuestra conducta.