Combining preference ordering and contingent valuation methods to assess non market benefit of alternative afforestation projects

The application of the contingent valuation method (CVM) in this paper incorporates a prior preference ordering of several alternative future afforestation programmes which could be implemented in Ireland over the next decade. This particular experimental design is thereby shown to reveal the potentially conflicting preferences of different groups within society. These findings are used to devise appropriate CVM scenarios to take account, not only of the efficiency gains of choosing a single policy alternative over others, but also the effects on the distribution of non market benefit between different groups within society, arising from choice between alternatives. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rangsorolás páros összehasonlításokkal. Kiegészítések a felvételizői preferencia-sorrendek módszertanához (Paired comparisons ranking. A supplement to the methodology of application-based preference ordering)

A Közgazdasági Szemle márciusi számában Telcs és szerzőtársai [2013] a felvételizők preferenciái alapján új megközelítést javasolt a felsőoktatási intézmények rangsorolására. Az alábbi írás új szempontokat biztosít ezen alapötlet gyakorlati megvalósításához. Megmutatja, hogy az alkalmazott modell ekvivalens az alternatívák egy aggregált páros összehasonlítási mátrix révén végzett rangsorolásával, ami rávilágít a szerzők kiinduló hipotéziseinek vitatható pontjaira. A szerző röviden áttekinti a hasonló feladatok megoldására javasolt módszereket, különös tekintettel azok axiomatikus megalapozására, majd megvizsgálja a Telcs és szerzőtársai [2013] által alkalmazott eljárásokat. Végül említést tesz egy hasonló megközelítéssel élő cikkről, és megfogalmaz néhány, a vizsgálat továbbfejlesztésére vonatkozó javaslatot. _____ In the March issue of Közgazdasági Szemle, Telcs et al. suggested a new approach to university ranking through preference ordering of applicants. The paper proposes new aspects to the implementation of this idea. It is shown that the model of these is equivalent to the ranking of alternatives based on paired comparisons, which reveals the debatable points in their hypotheses. The author reviews briefly the methods proposed in the literature, focusing on their axiomatic properties, and thoroughly examines the procedures of Telcs et al. [2013]. The paper presents an article which applied a similar approach and suggests some improvements to it.

Constructions of aggregation operators that preserve ordering of the data

We address the issue of identifying various classes of aggregation operators from empirical data, which also preserves the ordering of the outputs. It is argued that the ordering of the outputs is more important than the numerical values, however the usual data fitting methods are only concerned with fitting the values. We will formulate preservation of the ordering problem as a standard mathematical programming problem, solved by standard numerical methods.

An endogenous rate of time preference, the Penrose effect, and dynamic optimality of environmental quality.

In the present paper, the endogenous theory of time preference is extended to analyze those processes of capital accumulation and changes in environmental quality that are dynamically optimum with respect to the intertemporal preference ordering of the representative individual of the society in question. The analysis is carried out within the conceptual framework of the dynamic analysis of environmental quality, as has been developed by a number of economists for specific cases of the fisheries and forestry commons. The duality principles on intertemporal preference ordering and capital accumulation are extended to the situation where processes of capital accumulation are subject to the Penrose effect, which exhibit the marginal decrease in the effect of investment in private and social overhead capital upon the rate at which capital is accumulated. The dynamically optimum time-path of economic activities is characterized by the proportionality of two systems of imputed, or efficient, prices, one associated with the given intertemporal ordering and another associated with processes of accumulation of private and social overhead capital. It is particularly shown that the dynamically optimality of the processes of capital accumulation involving both private and social overhead capital is characterized by the conditions that are identical with those involving private capital, with the role of social overhead capital only indirectly exhibited.

Determination of rational strategies for players in two-target games

This paper addresses some of the basic issues involved in the determination of rational strategies for players in two-target games. We show that unlike single-target games where the task of role assignment and selection of strategies is conceptually straightforward, in two-target games, many factors like the preference ordering of outcomes by players, the relative configuration of the target sets and secured outcome regions, the uncertainty about the parameters of the game, etc., also influence the rational selection of strategies by players. The importance of these issues is illustrated through appropriate examples.

Non-manipulable domains for the Borda count

We characterize the preference domains on which the Borda count satises Arrow's "independence of irrelevant alternatives" condition. Under a weak richness condition, these domains are obtained by xing one preference ordering and including all its cyclic permutations ("Condorcet cycles"). We then ask on which domains the Borda count is non-manipulable. It turns out that it is non-manipulable on a broader class of domains when combined with appropriately chosen tie-breaking rules. On the other hand, we also prove that the rich domains on which the Borda count is non-manipulable for all possible tie-breaking rules are again the cyclic permutation domains.

Ordering effects and choice set awareness in repeat-response stated preference studies

We present an experiment designed to investigate the presence and nature of ordering effects within repeat-response stated preference (SP) studies. Our experiment takes the form of a large sample, full-factorial, discrete choice SP exercise investigating preferences for tap water quality improvements. Our study simultaneously investigates a variety of different forms of position-dependent and precedent-dependent ordering effect in preferences for attributes and options and in response randomness. We also examine whether advanced disclosure of the choice tasks impacts on the probability of exhibiting ordering effects of those different types. We analyze our data both non-parametrically and parametrically and find robust evidence for ordering effects. We also find that the patterns of order effect in respondents' preferences are significantly changed but not eradicated by the advanced disclosure of choice tasks a finding that offers insights into the choice behaviors underpinning order effects. © 2011 Elsevier Inc.

The Possibility of Ordering Infinite Utility Streams

This paper revisits Diamond’s classical impossibility result regarding the ordering of infinite utility streams. We show that if no representability condition is imposed, there do exist strongly Paretian and finitely anonymous orderings of intertemporal utility streams with attractive additional properties. We extend a possibility theorem due to Svensson to a characterization theorem and we provide characterizations of all strongly Paretian and finitely anonymous rankings satisfying the strict transfer principle. In addition, infinite horizon extensions of leximin and of utilitarianism are characterized by adding an equity preference axiom and finite translation-scale measurability, respectively, to strong Pareto and finite anonymity.

Strategy-proof preference aggregation

An aggregation rule maps each profile of individual strict preference orderings over a set of alternatives into a social ordering over that set. We call such a rule strategyproof if misreporting one’s preference never produces a social ordering that is strictly between the original ordering and one’s own preference. After describing a few examples of manipulable rules, we study in some detail three classes of strategy-proof rules: (i)rules based on a monotonic alteration of the majority relation generated by the preference profile; (ii)rules improving upon a fixed status-quo; and (iii) rules generalizing the Condorcet-Kemeny aggregation method.

A new fuzzy ranking method using fuzzy preference relations

In this paper, a new fuzzy ranking method for both type-1 and interval type-2 fuzzy sets (FSs) using fuzzy preference relations is proposed. The use of fuzzy preference relations to rank FSs with vertices has been introduced, and successfully implemented to undertake fuzzy multiple criteria hierarchical group decision-making problems. The proposed fuzzy ranking method is an extension of the results published in [1], and it is able to rank FSs with and without vertices. Besides that, it is important for a fuzzy ranking method to satisfy six reasonable fuzzy ordering properties as discussed in [6]-[8]. As a result, the capability of the proposed fuzzy ranking method in fulfilling these properties is analyzed and discussed. Issues related to time complexity of the proposed method are also examined.

Bactrocera dorsalis Preference for and performance on two mango varieties at three stages of ripeness

Most tropical fruit flies only lay into mature fruit, but a small number can also oviposit into unripe fruit. Little is known about the link between adult oviposition preference and offspring performance in such situations. In this study we examine the influence of different ripening stages of two mango Mangifera indica L. (Anacardiaceae) varieties on the preference and performance of the Oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae), a fly known to be able to develop in unripe fruit. Work was carried out as a series of laboratory-based choice and no-choice oviposition experiments and larval growth trials. In oviposition choice trials, female B. dorsalis demonstrated a preference for ripe fruit of mango variety Namdorkmai over variety Oakrong, but generally the dependent variable most influencing oviposition results was fruit ripening stage. Ripe and fully-ripe mangoes were most preferred for oviposition by B. dorsalis. In contrast, unripe mango was infrequently used by ovipositing females, particularly in choice trials. Consistent with the results of oviposition preference, ripe and fully-ripe mangoes were also best for offspring survival, with a higher percentage of larval survival to pupation and shorter development times in comparison to unripe mango. Changes in Total Soluble Solids, TSS, and skin toughness correlate with changing host use across the ripening stages. Regardless of the mango variety or ripeness stage, B. dorsalis had difficulty penetrating the pericarp of our experimental fruit. Larval survival was also often poor. We discuss the possibility that there may be differences in the ability of laboratory and wild flies to penetrate fruit for oviposition, or that in the field flies more regularly utilize natural fruit wounds as oviposition sites.

Health, endogenous time preference, and inequality : a political economy perspective

We study an overlapping-generations model in which agents' mortality risks, and consequently impatience, are endogenously determined by private and public investment in health care. Revenues allocated for public health care arc determined by a voting process. We find that the degree of substitutability between public and private health expenditures matters for macroeconomic outcomes of the model. Higher substitutability implies a “crowding-out" effect, which in turn impacts adversely on morality risks and impatience leading to lower public expenditures on health care in the political equilibrium. Consequently, higher substitutability is associated with greater polarization in wealth, and long-run distributions that are bimodal.