scholarly journals UnderstandingThe Problem of Social Cost

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRETT M. FRISCHMANN ◽  
ALAIN MARCIANO

AbstractCoase always expressed dissatisfaction with neo-classical economics and advocated for a new approach. Rather than using toy mathematical models built from unrealistic, idealized assumptions, Coase preferred to study real-world contexts, including actual legal cases. He demonstrated the utility of his approach in ‘The Problem of Social Cost’. Yet almost all of Coase's contemporaries completely ignored, Coase's call for a new approach and his sustained use of legal cases to illustrate his arguments and to situate his analysis in reality. In this paper, we show that the profession interpreted Coase's seminal article exactly the opposite of what he had intended, and reduced his analytical contributions to a toy model of the exact sort he was criticizing. This ironic history of the most cited article both in law and in economics helps us understand the development of ideas within both fields and how disciplinary blinders shape intellectual progress.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl V. Phillips ◽  
Riccardo Polosa ◽  
Pasquale Caponnetto

It is clear that vaping (e-cigarette use) poses little if any health risk, and in particular is far less harmful than smoking. However, it is not clear whether there is some small health risk from vaping. Most research on health outcomes has involved people who formerly smoked, and thus who have residual health risks that are far greater than any plausible level of risk from vaping, making a sufficiently precise estimate impossible. Without studies of people who vape but who have smoked very little, it is unlikely there will ever be useful epidemiologic estimates. In addition, almost all published information about the characteristics and behaviors of people who vape focuses on people who used to smoke. The VERITAS (Vaping Effects: Real-World International Surveillance) Study, whose protocol is reported here, will begin to help address this missing information. This observational study will assemble an international cohort of 2000 or more people who vape regularly and have very little history of smoking. They will be followed over time and surveyed frequently to assess their health status, health events, behavioral choices, and motivations. Multimedia survey tools will capture more precise behavioral information than is normally measured. The assembled cohort will be available for, and is expected to be used for, embedded observational clinical research of subgroups of the study population.


Moreana ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 42 (Number 164) (4) ◽  
pp. 187-206
Author(s):  
Clare M. Murphy

The Thomas More Society of Buenos Aires begins or ends almost all its events by reciting in both English and Spanish a prayer written by More in the margins of his Book of Hours probably while he was a prisoner in the Tower of London. After a short history of what is called Thomas More’s Prayer Book, the author studies the prayer as a poem written in the form of a psalm according to the structure of Hebrew poetry, and looks at the poem’s content as a psalm of lament.


Author(s):  
Stephen Verderber

The interdisciplinary field of person-environment relations has, from its origins, addressed the transactional relationship between human behavior and the built environment. This body of knowledge has been based upon qualitative and quantitative assessment of phenomena in the “real world.” This knowledge base has been instrumental in advancing the quality of real, physical environments globally at various scales of inquiry and with myriad user/client constituencies. By contrast, scant attention has been devoted to using simulation as a means to examine and represent person-environment transactions and how what is learned can be applied. The present discussion posits that press-competency theory, with related aspects drawn from functionalist-evolutionary theory, can together function to help us learn of how the medium of film can yield further insights to person-environment (P-E) transactions in the real world. Sampling, combined with extemporary behavior setting analysis, provide the basis for this analysis of healthcare settings as expressed throughout the history of cinema. This method can be of significant aid in examining P-E transactions across diverse historical periods, building types and places, healthcare and otherwise, otherwise logistically, geographically, or temporally unattainable in real time and space.


2007 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-27
Author(s):  
Gerald Massey

Contending that the quest for a logic of scientific discovery was prematurely abandoned, the author lays down eight phenomena that such a logic or theory must explain: the banality of scientific discovery; the trainability of scientists; the high incidence of simultaneous discoveries; the ubiquity of relative novices; the fact of scientific genius; the barrenness of isolated workers; the incommensurability of concepts of successive theories; and the quasi-incorporation of old concepts, objects, and methods in successor theories, The author then presents a new theory or logic of discovery according to which discoveries are the termini of "tweak paths" generated when scientists "tinker" with the laws, concepts, methods, and instruments of a given theory. Tinkering and tweaking are illustrated by examples from many-valued and modal logic and from Darwinian biology. Through the history of planetary discovery, the accidental role played by luck or good fortune in some discoveries is explored, but the author emphasizes that in a deep sense serendipity is an in eliminable feature of all scientific discovery because scientists never know m advance whether their tweaks will lead to dead ends or to positive developments. The author's new theory of scientific discovery is shown to account for all eight explananda, ft also reveals science to be a more egalitarian enterprise than the traditional view of scientific discovery as ultimately inexplicable depicts it.


2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl S. McWatters ◽  
Yannick Lemarchand

The Guide du commerce occupies a distinctive place in the French-language literature on accounting. Passed over by most specialists in the history of maritime trade and the slave trade, the manual has never been the subject of a documented historical study. The apparent realism of the examples, the luxury of details and their precision, all bear witness to a deep concern to go beyond a simple apprenticeship in bookkeeping. Promoting itself essentially as “un guide du commerce,” the volume offers strategic examples for small local businesses, as well as for those engaged in international trade. Yet, the realism also demonstrated the expertise of the author in the eyes of potential purchasers. Inspired by the work of Bottin [2001], we investigate the extent to which the manual reflects real-world practices and provides a faithful glimpse into the socio-economic context of the period. Two additional questions are discussed briefly in our conclusion. First, can the work of Gaignat constitute a source document for the history of la traite négrière? The second entails our early deliberations about the place of this volume in the history of the slave trade itself.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 178
Author(s):  
Noah R. Delapaz ◽  
William K. Hor ◽  
Michael Gilbert ◽  
Andrew D. La ◽  
Feiran Liang ◽  
...  

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent mental disorder marked by psychological and behavioral changes. Currently, there is no consensus of preferred antipsychotics to be used for the treatment of PTSD. We aim to discover whether certain antipsychotics have decreased suicide risk in the PTSD population, as these patients may be at higher risk. A total of 38,807 patients were identified with a diagnosis of PTSD through the ICD9 or ICD10 codes from January 2004 to October 2019. An emulation of randomized clinical trials was conducted to compare the outcomes of suicide-related events (SREs) among PTSD patients who ever used one of eight individual antipsychotics after the diagnosis of PTSD. Exclusion criteria included patients with a history of SREs and a previous history of antipsychotic use within one year before enrollment. Eligible individuals were assigned to a treatment group according to the antipsychotic initiated and followed until stopping current treatment, switching to another same class of drugs, death, or loss to follow up. The primary outcome was to identify the frequency of SREs associated with each antipsychotic. SREs were defined as ideation, attempts, and death by suicide. Pooled logistic regression methods with the Firth option were conducted to compare two drugs for their outcomes using SAS version 9.4 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA). The results were adjusted for baseline characteristics and post-baseline, time-varying confounders. A total of 5294 patients were eligible for enrollment with an average follow up of 7.86 months. A total of 157 SREs were recorded throughout this study. Lurasidone showed a statistically significant decrease in SREs when compared head to head to almost all the other antipsychotics: aripiprazole, haloperidol, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, and ziprasidone (p < 0.0001 and false discovery rate-adjusted p value < 0.0004). In addition, olanzapine was associated with higher SREs than quetiapine and risperidone, and ziprasidone was associated with higher SREs than risperidone. The results of this study suggest that certain antipsychotics may put individuals within the PTSD population at an increased risk of SREs, and that careful consideration may need to be taken when prescribed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Haci Mehmet Baskonus ◽  
Luis Manuel Sánchez Ruiz ◽  
Armando Ciancio

Mathematical models have been frequently studied in recent decades in order to obtain the deeper properties of real-world problems [...]


2020 ◽  
Vol 154 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S163-S164
Author(s):  
K G Manjee ◽  
W G Watkin

Abstract Introduction/Objective Cervical biopsy is performed following an abnormal pap smear or positive HPV testing in an attempt to uncover clinically significant lesions [HSIL/invasive carcinoma (HSIL+)]. An excisional procedure is considered if biopsy confirms HSIL+. When preceded by pap smear of LSIL, ASCUS, NILM/HPV+ or persistent HPV, continued surveillance is recommended for biopsies showing no SIL or LSIL. In our laboratory, cervical biopsies are routinely sectioned at 3 levels. Deeper levels are often ordered when initial sections are non-diagnostic. p16 immunohistochemistry, with or without deeper levels, is often ordered to confirm HSIL, or to differentiate HSIL from mimics. In this study, we examine whether and in what clinical situations does obtaining additional levels uncover clinically significant lesions. Methods 430 cervical biopsies between January-May 2018, with recent cytology of LSIL, ASCUS or NILM/HPV+ were identified in the pathology database. HPV status (if known), final biopsy diagnosis and past history of LSIL/HSIL were recorded. For each biopsy, orders for additional levels and/or p16 immunohistochemistry were recorded resulting in 4 categories: C1-no additional levels or p16, C2-deeper only, C3-deeper+p16 and C4-p16 only. Final diagnoses were divided into HSIL+, LSIL and no SIL. Results There was no significant difference in prior history of LSIL/HSIL and HPV status between all categories. Biopsy results were as follows: HSIL+: 11/222 (5%) C1; 1/78 (1%) C2; 7/43 (16%) C3; 15/87 (17%) C4 LSIL: 91/222 (41%) C1; 7/78 (9%) C2; 16/43 (37%) C3; 35/87 (40%) C4 No SIL: 120/222 (54%) C1; 70/78 (90%) C2; 20/43 (46%) C3; 37/87 (42%) C4 The average number of additional levels in C2 and C3 was 3.8 and 1.8, respectively. Conclusion Deeper levels alone did not enhance the detection of HSIL+. Almost all LSIL/HSIL were detected when initial levels were diagnostic or suspicious and supported by p16 immunohistochemistry. 3 levels are adequate to detect clinically significant lesions.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Muhammad Shabir ◽  
Rimsha Mushtaq ◽  
Munazza Naz

In this paper, we focus on two main objectives. Firstly, we define some binary and unary operations on N-soft sets and study their algebraic properties. In unary operations, three different types of complements are studied. We prove De Morgan’s laws concerning top complements and for bottom complements for N-soft sets where N is fixed and provide a counterexample to show that De Morgan’s laws do not hold if we take different N. Then, we study different collections of N-soft sets which become idempotent commutative monoids and consequently show, that, these monoids give rise to hemirings of N-soft sets. Some of these hemirings are turned out as lattices. Finally, we show that the collection of all N-soft sets with full parameter set E and collection of all N-soft sets with parameter subset A are Stone Algebras. The second objective is to integrate the well-known technique of TOPSIS and N-soft set-based mathematical models from the real world. We discuss a hybrid model of multi-criteria decision-making combining the TOPSIS and N-soft sets and present an algorithm with implementation on the selection of the best model of laptop.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. e003126
Author(s):  
Ricardo Aguas ◽  
Lisa White ◽  
Nathaniel Hupert ◽  
Rima Shretta ◽  
Wirichada Pan-Ngum ◽  
...  

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on multiple levels of society. Not only has the pandemic completely overwhelmed some health systems but it has also changed how scientific evidence is shared and increased the pace at which such evidence is published and consumed, by scientists, policymakers and the wider public. More significantly, the pandemic has created tremendous challenges for decision-makers, who have had to implement highly disruptive containment measures with very little empirical scientific evidence to support their decision-making process. Given this lack of data, predictive mathematical models have played an increasingly prominent role. In high-income countries, there is a long-standing history of established research groups advising policymakers, whereas a general lack of translational capacity has meant that mathematical models frequently remain inaccessible to policymakers in low-income and middle-income countries. Here, we describe a participatory approach to modelling that aims to circumvent this gap. Our approach involved the creation of an international group of infectious disease modellers and other public health experts, which culminated in the establishment of the COVID-19 Modelling (CoMo) Consortium. Here, we describe how the consortium was formed, the way it functions, the mathematical model used and, crucially, the high degree of engagement fostered between CoMo Consortium members and their respective local policymakers and ministries of health.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document