Eliciting and estimating valid subjective probabilities: An experimental investigation of the Exchangeability Method.

Using a laboratory experiment, we investigate whether incentive compatibility affects subjective probabilities elicited via the exchangeability method (EM), an elicitation technique consisting of several chained questions. We hypothesize that subjects who are aware of the chaining strategically behave and provide invalid subjective probabilities, while subjects who are not aware of the chaining state their real beliefs and provide valid subjective probabilities. The validity of subjective probabilities is investigated using de Finetti's notion of coherence, under which probability estimates are valid if and only if they obey all axioms of probability theory.
Four experimental treatments are designed and implemented. Subjects are divided into two initial treatment groups: in the first, they are provided with real monetary incentives, and in the second, they are not. Each group is further sub-divided into two treatment groups, in the first, the chained structure of the experimental design is made clear to the subjects, while, in the second, the chained structure is hidden by randomizing the elicitation questions.
Our results suggest that subjects provided with monetary incentives and randomized questions provide valid subjective probabilities because they are not aware of the chaining which undermines the incentive compatibility of the exchangeability method.

Violation of Bell inequalities in larger Hilbert spaces: robustness and challenges

We explore the challenges posed by the violation of Bell-like inequalities by d-dimensional systems exposed to imperfect state-preparation and measurement settings. We address, in particular, the limit of high-dimensional systems, naturally arising when exploring the quantum-to-classical transition. We show that, although suitable Bell inequalities can be violated, in principle, for any dimension of given subsystems, it is in practice increasingly challenging to detect such violations, even if the system is prepared in a maximally entangled state. We characterize the effects of random perturbations on the state or on the measurement settings, also quantifying the efforts needed to certify the possible violations in case of complete ignorance on the system state at hand.

The obligation to provide information where valid consent is not needed

Accounts of consent in medical ethics typically assume that consent plays the same role irrespective of the type of treatment. In this paper I argue that this assumption is false. Because of this, obligations to provide information to patients that stem from the need for consent to be valid will not apply to all types of treatment. This does not mean that there are no reasons to provide such information. The second part of the paper maps out what these reasons are and argues that they are grounded in the obligation of beneficence and a duty to warn, not in considerations of respect for autonomy.

Progress and the Lack of Progress in Addressing Infant Health and Infant Health Inequalities in Ireland during the 20th Century

There is a growing literature which documents the importance of early life environment for outcomes across the life cycle. Research, including studies based on Irish data, demonstrates that those who experience better childhood conditions go on to be wealthier and healthier adults. Therefore, inequalities at birth and in childhood shape inequality in wellbeing in later life, and the historical evolution of the mortality and morbidity of children born in Ireland is important for understanding the current status of the Irish population. In this paper, I describe these patterns by reviewing the existing literature on infant health in Ireland over the course of the 20th century. Up to the 1950s, infant mortality in Ireland (both North and South) was substantially higher than in other developed countries, with a large penalty for those born in urban areas. The subsequent reduction in this penalty, and the sustained decline in infant death rates, occurred later than would be expected from the experience in other contexts. Using records from the Rotunda Lying-in Hospital in Dublin, I discuss sources of disparities in stillbirth in the early 1900s. Despite impressive improvements in death rates since that time, a comparison with those born at the end of the century reveals that Irish children continue to be born unequal. Evidence from studies which track people across the life course, for example research on the returns to birthweight, suggests that the economic cost of this early life inequality is substantial.

Routledge International Handbook of Rural Studies.:Understanding the association between rural ethnicity and inequalities

Rural areas are facing demographic transformation. Some localities have experienced significant levels of (internal and international) immigration in recent decades. In other rural places, a shifting minority: majority ratio (arising mainly from increased minority fertility and decreases in the majority population) is altering the rural landscape. It is this context of increasingly diverse rural societies that frames this chapter. It begins by examining inequalities arising from ethnicity in a rural context. The review proceeds by identifying how different factors, including recent patterns of international migration and historical legacies of ethnic diversity, intertwine to produce multi-cultural rural areas. First of all an overview of the significance of the ‘ethnic’ label is presented, recognizing its limitations and also its usefulness. Having established this context the chapter proceeds by highlighting the way in which rural ethnic inequalities are measured and also the particular challenges of measuring rural poverty. The processes that produce inequalities among ethnic groups are examined, with particular attention on migration and space and place, but mindful of historical legacies along with economic transformations and associated recent migration patterns. Finally, the conclusion of the chapter highlights gaps and identifies areas for future research agendas.