scholarly journals Decision under normative uncertainty

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Franz Dietrich ◽  
Brian Jabarian
Keyword(s):  
Decision Theory ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Original Position ◽  
Sufficient Condition ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient Condition ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient ◽  
Normative Uncertainty ◽  
Alternative Theories

Abstract While ordinary decision theory focuses on empirical uncertainty, real decision-makers also face normative uncertainty: uncertainty about value itself. From a purely formal perspective, normative uncertainty is comparable to (Harsanyian or Rawlsian) identity uncertainty in the ‘original position’, where one’s future values are unknown. A comprehensive decision theory must address twofold uncertainty – normative and empirical. We present a simple model of twofold uncertainty, and show that the most popular decision principle – maximizing expected value (‘Expectationalism’) – has different formulations, namely Ex-Ante Expectationalism, Ex-Post Expectationalism, and hybrid theories. These alternative theories recommend different decisions, reasoning modes, and attitudes to risk. But they converge under an interesting (necessary and sufficient) condition.

scholarly journals Strategy-Proof Compromises

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Postl
Keyword(s):  
Decision Rules ◽  
Dominant Strategy ◽  
Strategy Implementation ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Sufficient Condition ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient Condition ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Strategy Proof ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient ◽  
Dominant Strategy Implementation

We study strategy-proof decision rules in the variant of the canonical public good model proposed by Borgers and Postl (2009). In this setup, we fully characterize the set of budget-balanced strategy-proof deterministic mechanisms, which are simple threshold rules. For smooth probabilistic mechanisms, we provide a necessary and sufficient condition for dominant strategy implementation. When allowing for discontinuities in the mechanism, our necessary condition remains valid, but additional conditions must hold for sufficiency. We also show that, among ex post efficient decision rules, only dictatorial ones are strategy-proof. While familiar in spirit, this result is not the consequence of any known result in the literature.

A Proposed Framework Emphasizing Auditor Reliability over Auditor Independence

2003 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark H. Taylor ◽  
F. Todd DeZoort ◽  
Edward Munn ◽  
Martha Wetterhall Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Public Interest ◽  
Auditor Independence ◽  
Public Confidence ◽  
Sufficient Condition ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient Condition ◽  
Accounting Profession ◽  
The Public ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient

This paper introduces an auditor reliability framework that repositions the role of auditor independence in the accounting profession. The framework is motivated in part by widespread confusion about independence and the auditing profession's continuing problems with managing independence and inspiring public confidence. We use philosophical, theoretical, and professional arguments to argue that the public interest will be best served by reprioritizing professional and ethical objectives to establish reliability in fact and appearance as the cornerstone of the profession, rather than relationship-based independence in fact and appearance. This revised framework requires three foundation elements to control subjectivity in auditors' judgments and decisions: independence, integrity, and expertise. Each element is a necessary but not sufficient condition for maximizing objectivity. Objectivity, in turn, is a necessary and sufficient condition for achieving and maintaining reliability in fact and appearance.

The Power of Public Positions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Sinclair
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
The State ◽  
Sufficient Condition ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient Condition ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
State Of Nature ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient

The Kantian account of political authority holds that the state is a necessary and sufficient condition of our freedom. We cannot be free outside the state, Kantians argue, because any attempt to have the “acquired rights” necessary for our freedom implicates us in objectionable relations of dependence on private judgment. Only in the state can this problem be overcome. But it is not clear how mere institutions could make the necessary difference, and contemporary Kantians have not offered compelling explanations. A detailed analysis is presented of the problems Kantians identify with the state of nature and the objections they face in claiming that the state overcomes them. A response is sketched on behalf of Kantians. The key idea is that under state institutions, a person can make claims of acquired right without presupposing that she is by nature exceptional in her capacity to bind others.

scholarly journals Lorentz Boosts and Wigner Rotations: Self-Adjoint Complexified Quaternions

Physics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 352-366
Author(s):  
Thomas Berry ◽  
Matt Visser
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Sufficient Condition ◽  
Use Of Self ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient Condition ◽  
Wigner Rotation ◽  
Inertial Frames ◽  
Explicit Formulae ◽  
Specific Implementation ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient ◽  
Lorentz Boosts

In this paper, Lorentz boosts and Wigner rotations are considered from a (complexified) quaternionic point of view. It is demonstrated that, for a suitably defined self-adjoint complex quaternionic 4-velocity, pure Lorentz boosts can be phrased in terms of the quaternion square root of the relative 4-velocity connecting the two inertial frames. Straightforward computations then lead to quite explicit and relatively simple algebraic formulae for the composition of 4-velocities and the Wigner angle. The Wigner rotation is subsequently related to the generic non-associativity of the composition of three 4-velocities, and a necessary and sufficient condition is developed for the associativity to hold. Finally, the authors relate the composition of 4-velocities to a specific implementation of the Baker–Campbell–Hausdorff theorem. As compared to ordinary 4×4 Lorentz transformations, the use of self-adjoint complexified quaternions leads, from a computational view, to storage savings and more rapid computations, and from a pedagogical view to to relatively simple and explicit formulae.

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