A state-contingent production approach to principal-agent problems with an application to point-source pollution control

Two basic representations of principal-agent relationships, the 'state-space' and 'parameterized distribution' formulations, have emerged. Although the state-space formulation appears more natural, analytical studies using this formulation have had limited success. This paper develops a state-space formulation of the moral-hazard problem using a general representation of production under uncertainty. A closed-form solution for the agency-cost problem is derived. Comparative-static results are deduced. Next we solve the principal's problem of selecting the optimal output given the agency-cost function. The analysis is applied to the problem of point-source pollution control. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

The state-contingent approach to production under uncertainty

The central claim of this paper is that the state-contingent approach provides the best way to think about all problems in the economics of uncertainty, including problems of consumer choice, the theory of the firm, and principal-agent relationships. This claim is illustrated by recent developments in, and applications of, the state-contingent approach.

The role of management incentives in successful information systems development and implementation

Because organizations are making large investments in Information systems (IS), efficient IS project management has been found critical to success. This study examines how the use of incentives can improve the project success. Agency theory is used to: identify motivational factors of project success, help the IS owners to understand to what extent management incentives can improve IS development and implementation (ISD/I). The outcomes will help practitioners and researchers to build on theoretical model of project management elements which lead to project success. Given the principal-agent nature of most significant scale of IS development, insights that will allow for greater alignment of the agent’s goals with those of the principal through incentive contracts, will serve to make ISD/I both more efficient and more effective, leading to more successful IS projects.

Linking Agentive Objects in Mandarin Chinese

This paper is concerned with the problem of argument-function mismatch observed in the apparent subject-object inversion in Chinese consumption verbs, e.g., chi 'eat' and he 'drink', and accommodation verbs, e.g., zhu 'live' and shui 'sleep'. These verbs seem to allow the linking of [agent-SUBJ theme-OBJ] as well as [agent-OBJ theme-SUBJ], but only when the agent is also the semantic role denoting the measure or extent of the action. The account offered is formulated within LFG's lexical mapping theory. Under the simplest and also the strictest interpretation of the one-to-one argument-function mapping principle (or the theta-criterion), a composite role such as ag-ext receives syntactic assignment via one composing role only. One-to-one linking thus entails the suppression of the other composing role. Apparent subject-object inversion occurs when the more prominent agent role is suppressed and thus allows the less prominent extent role to dictate the linking of the entire ag-ext composite role. This LMT account also potentially facilitates a natural explanation of markedness among the competing syntactic structures.

DR-NEGOTIATE - A system for automated agent negotiation with defeasible logic-based strategies

This paper reports on a system for automated agent negotiation, based on a formal and executable approach to capture the behavior of parties involved in a negotiation. It uses the JADE agent framework, and its major distinctive feature is the use of declarative negotiation strategies. The negotiation strategies are expressed in a declarative rules language, defeasible logic, and are applied using the implemented system DR-DEVICE. The key ideas and the overall system architecture are described, and a particular negotiation case is presented in detail.

Least energy solutions of a critical Neumann problem with a weight

We investigate the effect of the coefficient of the critical nonlinearity for the Neumann problem on the existence of least energy solutions. As a by-product we establish a Sobolev inequality with interior norm.

What is the Problem of Ad Hoc Hypotheses?

The received view of an ad hoc hypothesis is that it accounts for only the observation(s) it was designed to account for, and so non-adhocness is generally held to be necessary or important for an introduced hypothesis or modification to a theory. Attempts by Popper and several others to convincingly explicate this view, however, prove to be unsuccessful or of doubtful value, and familiar and firmer criteria for evaluating the hypotheses or modified theories so classified are characteristically available. These points are obscured largely because the received view fails to adequately separate psychology from methodology or to recognise ambiguities in the use of 'ad hoc'.

Watkins and the Pragmatic Problem of Induction

Watkins proposes a neo-Popperian solution to the pragmatic problem of induction. He asserts that evidence can be used non-inductively to prefer the principle that corroboration is more successful over all human history than that, say, counter-corroboration is more successful either over this same period or in the future. Watkins's argument for rejecting the first counter-corroborationist alternative is beside the point. However, as whatever is the best strategy over all human history is irrelevant to the pragmatic problem of induction since we are not required to act in the past, and his argument for rejecting the second presupposes induction.

On the nonlinear Neumann problem with critical and supercritical nonlinearities

We investigate the solvability of the Neumann problem (1.1) involving a critical Sobolev exponent. In the first part of this work it is assumed that the coeffcients Q and h are at least continuous. Moreover Q is positive on overline Omega and lambda > 0 is a parameter. We examine the common effect of the mean curvature and the shape of the graphs of the coeffcients Q and h on the existence of low energy solutions. In the second part of this work we consider the same problem with Q replaced by - Q. In this case the problem can be supercritical and the existence results depend on integrability conditions on Q and h.

(FAB11_2_003) Authentic Japanese architecture after Bruno Taut: the problem of eclecticism

This paper will examine attitudes to eclectic stylistic borrowing in Japan in the twentieth century in light of the concept of authenticity. I am particularly interested in how an earlier claim correlating European modernist and traditional Japanese architecture continues to colour conceptions about what is an 'authentic' response for Japanese architects to make to contemporary conditions. Non-Western and vernacular architectures generally have been the repository for touristic desires for regional authenticity and difference. Yet Japan's unique role in the development of modernist architecture has given a peculiar intensity to the demand for its architecture to resist a perceived postmodern decadence.

Analysis of heat transfer and entropy generation for a thermally developing Brinkman–Brinkman forced convection problem in a rectangular duct with isoflux walls

Heat transfer and entropy generation analysis of the thermally developing forced convection in a porous-saturated duct of rectangular cross-section, with walls maintained at a constant and uniform heat flux, is investigated based on the Brinkman flow model. The classical Galerkin method is used to obtain the fully developed velocity distribution. To solve the thermal energy equation, with the effects of viscous dissipation being included, the Extended Weighted Residuals Method (EWRM) is applied. The local (three dimensional) temperature field is solved by utilizing the Green’s function solution based on the EWRM where symbolic algebra is being used for convenience in presentation. Following the computation of the temperature field, expressions are presented for the local Nusselt number and the bulk temperature as a function of the dimensionless longitudinal coordinate, the aspect ratio, the Darcy number, the viscosity ratio, and the Brinkman number. With the velocity and temperature field being determined, the Second Law (of Thermodynamics) aspect of the problem is also investigated. Approximate closed form solutions are also presented for two limiting cases of MDa values. It is observed that decreasing the aspect ratio and MDa values increases the entropy generation rate.

Reducing problem behavior during care-giving in families of preschool-aged children with developmental disabilities

This study evaluated two variants of a behavioral parent training program known as Stepping Stones Triple P (SSTP) using 74 preschool-aged children with developmental disabilities. Families were randomly allocated to an enhanced parent training intervention that combined parenting skills and care-giving coping skills (SSTP-E), standard parent training intervention alone (SSTP-S) or waitlist control (WL) condition. At post-intervention, both programs were associated with lower levels of observed negative child behavior, reductions in the number of care-giving settings where children displayed problem behavior, and improved parental competence and satisfaction in the parenting role as compared with the waitlist condition. Gains attained at post-intervention were maintained at 1-year follow-up. Both interventions produced significant reductions in child problem behavior, with 67% of children in the SSTP-E and 77% of children in the SSTPS showing clinically reliable change from pre-intervention to follow-up. Parents reported a high level of satisfaction with both interventions.