scholarly journals The role of inequity aversion in microloan defaults

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
MATTHEW R. JORDAN ◽  
WILLIAM T. DICKENS ◽  
OLIVER P. HAUSER ◽  
DAVID G. RAND
Keyword(s):  
Ultimatum Game ◽  
Free Riding ◽  
Laboratory Model ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Joint Liability ◽  
Free Rider Problem ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Default Rates ◽  
Group Members ◽  
The Difference

AbstractMicrocredit – joint-liability loans to the poorest of the poor – has been touted as a powerful approach for combatting global poverty, but sustainability varies dramatically across banks. Efforts to improve the sustainability of microcredit have assumed defaults are caused by free-riding. Here, we point out that the response of other group members to delinquent groupmates also plays an important role in defaults. Even in the absence of any free-rider problem, some people will be unable to make their payments due to bad luck. It is other group members’ unwillingness to pitch in extra – due to, among other things, not wanting to have less than other group members – that leads to default. To support this argument, we utilize the Ultimatum Game (UG), a standard paradigm from behavioral economics for measuring one's aversion to inequitable outcomes. First, we show that country-level variation in microloan default rates is strongly correlated (overall r = 0.81) with country-level UG rejection rates, but not free-riding measures. We then introduce a laboratory model ‘Microloan Game’ and present evidence that defaults arise from inequity-averse individuals refusing to make up the difference when others fail to pay their fair share. This perspective suggests a suite of new approaches for combatting defaults that leverage findings on reducing UG rejections.

Joint Liability and Peer Monitoring under Group Lending

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yeon-Koo Che
Keyword(s):  
Liquidity Risk ◽  
Free Riding ◽  
Group Lending ◽  
Joint Liability ◽  
Peer Monitoring ◽  
Risk Effect ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Plausible Condition

This paper studies an incentive rationale for the use of group lending as a method of financing liquidity-constrained entrepreneurs. The joint liability feature associated with group lending lowers the liquidity risk of default but creates a free-riding problem. In the static setting, the free-riding problem dominates the liquidity risk effect under a plausible condition, thus making group lending unattractive. When the projects are repeated infinitely many times, however, the joint liability feature provides the group members with a credible means of exercising peer sanction, which can make the group lending attractive, relative to individual lending.

How do Optimistic Individuals Affect Insurance Advertisements?

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoichiro Fujii ◽  
Michiko Ogaku ◽  
Mahito Okura ◽  
Yusuke Osaki
Keyword(s):  
Maximum Level ◽  
Optimal Level ◽  
Insurance Premium ◽  
Free Rider ◽  
Free Rider Problem ◽  
Accident Probability ◽  
Insurance Firms ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Accident Probabilities ◽  
Equilibrium Number

AbstractSome people have optimistic expectations regarding their accident probability, and thus, refrain from purchasing adequate insurance. This study investigates how insurance firms use advertisements to lower the ratio of optimistic individuals in the market. The main results are as follows: first, the optimal level of advertisements is maximized when the insurance premium is moderate. Second, the maximum level of advertisement varies according to the degree of optimism, which is measured by the difference between accurate and optimistic accident probabilities. Third, the advertisement decision is affected by the free-rider problem, and the equilibrium number of insurance firms with advertisement is always larger than that of firms without advertisement in a competitive insurance market.

How Much Time Before Attempting Compulsory Licensing of Pharmaceuticals? A Non-parametric Event History Model With P-splines

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-84
Author(s):  
Kyung-Bok Son
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Global Justice ◽  
Learning By Doing ◽  
Event History ◽  
Global Marketing ◽  
Compulsory Licensing ◽  
Country Level ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Justice Movements ◽  
Doha Declaration

Compulsory licensing (CL), provided by the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, enables countries, including high-income countries, to ensure the protection of public health in the context of stringent intellectual property regimes. This study investigated associations between the time to attempted CL and a series of factors at the drug and country level. We used a dataset of all attempted CL that occurred from 1995 to 2014, calculated the duration as the difference in years between the year of global marketing of a certain drug and the year of attempted CL in a certain country, and applied a nonparametric event history model. We found that the Doha Declaration was quite effective in shortening the time to attempted CL. Additionally, even though global justice movements have encouraged some countries to attempt CL for various medicines since 2012, the time to CL attempts in this period became significantly longer compared to those that occurred immediately after the Doha Declaration. Our findings show that the subject of CL has not successfully expanded to oncology medicines from HIV/AIDS medicines and that recently approved medicines are not yet subjects of CL. Furthermore, our duration model suggests a learning-by-doing effect in attempting CL: previous experience of CL not only triggers CL for the same drugs in other countries but also accelerates CL for other drugs within the country.

scholarly journals Törnqvist Formula for Сalculating a Consumer Price Index in Russia: Theory and Practice

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 87-94
Author(s):  
М. A. Kozlova
Keyword(s):  
Price Index ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Consumer Price Index ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Consumer Market ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Consumer Prices ◽  
Realistic Description ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Main Consumer

The article reflects the author’s position on the adjustment of the so-called substitution bias, which affects the value of the consumer price index, currently calculated using the Laspeyres formula. The author proposes a solution to the problem of the adequacy of statistical measurements of the dynamics of consumer prices in the case when, as a result of changing cost of the consumer basket, a buyer replaces a relatively expensive product with a relatively cheaper one. This solution is based on the existing index construction methodology (axiomatic, economic and stochastic approaches). The article substantiates the use of the Törnqvist formula, which has better properties in comparison with other formulae used in the construction of superlative indices. The authors calculated the Törnqvist price index for Russia based on Rosstat methodology and data using country-level quarterly group price indices and shares of consumer spending. To evaluate the results of empirical testing Laspeyres price index was compiled using the same quarterly data as the Törnqvist index. The values of the Törnqvist price index in most cases are less than the price dynamics obtained according to the Laspeyres formula. This conclusion is proved both theoretically and empirically, and it is confirmed for Russia as well. However, due to the non-observance of the conditions of smooth trends in consumer prices, the difference between the values of the Törnqvist and Laspeyres indices is significantly larger in certain quarters than that presented in empirical studies in other countries. Consumer price index, calculated using the Törnqvist formula, in the system of indicators of price statistics in Russia can be defined as an indicator that specifies the main consumer price index. Calculation of its value is necessary for a more realistic description of the processes taking place in the consumer market.

scholarly journals The infection-tolerant mammalian reservoir of Lyme disease and other zoonoses broadly counters the inflammatory effects of endotoxin

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Balderrama-Gutierrez ◽  
Ana Milovic ◽  
Vanessa J. Cook ◽  
M. Nurul Islam ◽  
Youwen Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Expression Profiles ◽  
Laboratory Model ◽  
Infection Model ◽  
Rna Seq ◽  
Acute Phase Reactants ◽  
Macrophage Response ◽  
Reactive Protein ◽  
Arginase 1 ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Cost

ABSTRACTAnimals that are competent natural reservoirs of zoonotic diseases commonly suffer little morbidity from the pathogens they persistently harbor. The mechanisms of this infection tolerance and the trade-off costs are poorly understood. We used exposure to a single dose of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) endotoxin as an experimental model of inflammation to compare the responses of the cricentine rodent Peromyscus leucopus, the white-footed deermouse, to that of Mus musculus, the standard laboratory model for pathogenesis studies. Four hours after injection with either LPS or saline, blood and spleen and liver tissues were collected postmortem and subjected to RNA-seq, untargeted metabolomics, and specific RT-qPCR. This was followed by analysis of differential expression at the gene, pathway, and empirical network levels. The deermice showed the same signs of sickness as the mice with LPS exposure, and in addition demonstrated comparable increases in levels of corticosterone and expression of interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor, IL-1β, and acute phase reactants, including C-reactive protein. But whereas the M. musculus response to LPS was best-characterized by network analysis as cytokine-associated, the P. leucopus response was dominated by pathway terms associated with neutrophil activity. Dichotomies between the species in expression profiles of arginase 1 and nitric oxide synthase 2, as well as the ratios of IL-10 to IL-12, were consistent with a type M1 polarized macrophage response in the mice and a type M2 or alternatively-activated response in the deermice. Analysis of metabolites in the plasma and RNA in the tissues revealed differences between the two species in tryptophan metabolism during response to LPS. Two up-regulated genes in particular signified the difference between the species: Slpi (secretory leukocyte proteinase inhibitor) and Ibsp (integrin-binding protein sialoprotein). The latter was previously unrecognized in the context of inflammation or infection. Key RNA-seq findings in P. leucopus were replicated in a second LPS experiment with older animals, in a systemic bacterial infection model, and with cultivated fibroblasts. Taken together, the results indicate that the deermouse possesses several adaptive traits to moderate effects of inflammation and oxidative stress ensuing from infection. This seems to be at the cost of infection persistence and that is to the benefit of the pathogen.

Individual vs Group Learning: Note on Two Task Variables

1968 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 757-758 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herman S. Napier
Keyword(s):  
Present Experiment ◽  
Group Formation ◽  
Group Learning ◽  
Nominal Groups ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Task Variables ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Time Required ◽  
Puzzle Task

The pooling of abilities or nominal groups technique was used in the present experiment to compare individuals with two-person groups on a picture-puzzle task. When size of the task was limited to a part (one-fourth) of the puzzle or the duration of the task was restricted to a few (four) trials, no difference between individuals and groups was evident. However, as task size and number of trials increased, groups performed at a significantly higher level than individuals. The difference was discussed in terms of information available to group members and the time required for group formation.

scholarly journals A Practical Comparison of Regionalized Land Use and Biodiversity Life Cycle Impact Assessment Models Using Livestock Production as a Case Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 4089 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Teixeira ◽  
Tiago Morais ◽  
Tiago Domingos
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle Impact Assessment ◽  
Spatial Differentiation ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Land Occupation ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Life Cycle Impact

Land use is increasingly important for impact assessment in life cycle assessment (LCA). Its impacts on biodiversity and provision of ecosystem services are crucial to depict the environmental performance of products. Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) models are commonly selected by consensus through processes frequently misinformed by the absence of practical application studies. Here, we performed an assessment of all free and peer-reviewed LCIA models for land use. We started with spatial correlation analysis at the country scale. Models that use the same indicators are strongly correlated, suggesting that regionalization is no longer a decisive issue in model selection. We applied these models in a case study for cattle production where feeds are replaced by sown biodiverse pastures (SBP). We tested (1) a non-regionalized inventory from an LCA database and, (2) a regionalized inventory that explicit considered the locations of land occupation and transformation. We found the same qualitative result: the installation of SBP avoids impacts due to feed substitution. Each hectare of SBP installed avoids the occupation of 0.5 hectares per year for feed ingredient production. Adding inventory regionalization for 70% of land use flows leads to a change of 15% in results, suggesting limited spatial differentiation between country-level characterization factors.

Comparison of Serum Calcium Measurements Obtained with the SMA 12/60 and by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry

1971 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 1047-1049 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Raymond Gambino ◽  
Ivelice Fonseca
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Absorption ◽  
Serum Calcium ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Colorimetric Assay ◽  
Internal Standard ◽  
Reference Method ◽  
Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry ◽  
Laboratory Model ◽  
Absorption Spectrophotometry ◽  
The Difference

Abstract Comparable results are obtained when serum calcium is measured by a colorimetric cresolpthalein method on the Technicon SMA 12/60 and by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (Instrumentation Laboratory Model 153 instrument), with strontium as an internal standard. Sera from 250 patients with abnormal calcium concentrations, ranging from 4.9 mg/100 ml to 9.0 mg/100 ml, were measured by each method; the difference between the means for each method was only 0.04 mg/100 ml. The standard deviation of the difference between paired results was ±0.16 mg/100 ml. We were unable to discover any effect of drug or disease on the colorimetric assay, which therefore is suitable for use in large-scale surveys. On the other hand, the more precise atomic absorption spectrophotometry is suitable for use as a reference method. In addition, with an internal standard it is fast and simple, making it suitable for emergency assays of calcium 24 h a day.

Do Large Shared Displays Facilitate Group Effort?

1965 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidney L. Smith ◽  
Benjamin C. Duggar
Keyword(s):  
Visual Angle ◽  
Group Performance ◽  
Group Interaction ◽  
Small Individual ◽  
Performance Time ◽  
Large Display ◽  
Error Frequency ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Group Members ◽  
The Difference

Twelve four-man groups searched and counted visually displayed items. In one session, they used a large display shared in common by the group members; in another session, separate smaller displays were viewed individually. Information was presented under conditions of equal visual angle, so that these two display modes were logically equivalent. Performance was 15 percent faster with the large group display than with the small individual displays. There was no significant difference in error frequency. Some subjects preferred the large display, some the small. In a supplementary study, running individual subjects rather than groups, there were no differences in speed or accuracy between the display modes. This suggests that the difference in group performance time resulted from some facilitating effect of the shared display on the process of group interaction.

scholarly journals Cross-Cultural Variations in Extreme Rejecting and Extreme Affirming Response Styles

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (8) ◽  
pp. 955-971 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tieyuan Guo ◽  
Roy Spina
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Response Style ◽  
Response Styles ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Cultural Variations ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Country Level ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Individual

Previous research has discussed cultural differences in moderacy vs extremity response styles. The present research found that cultural differences in response styles were more complex than previously speculated. We investigated cross-cultural variations in extreme rejecting versus affirming response biases. Although research has indicated that overall Chinese have less extreme responses than Westerners, the difference may be mainly driven by extreme rejecting responses because respondents consider answering survey questions as a way of interacting with researchers, and extreme rejecting responses may disrupt harmony in relationships, which is valued more in Chinese collectivistic culture than in Western individualistic cultures. Studies 1 and 2 revealed that Chinese had less extreme rejecting response style than did British, whereas they did not differ in extreme affirming response style. Study 2 further revealed that the cross-cultural asymmetry in extreme rejecting versus affirming response styles was partially accounted for by individualism orientation at the individual level. Consistently, Study 3 revealed that at the country level, individualism was positively associated with extreme rejecting response style, but was not associated with extreme affirming response style, suggesting that individualism accounted for the asymmetric cultural variation in extreme rejecting versus affirming response styles.

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