Explaining Presidential Priorities: The Competing Aspiration Levels Model of Macrobudgetary Decision Making

1984 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 356-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory W. Fischer ◽  
Mark S. Kamlet
Keyword(s):  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Executive Branch ◽  
Aspiration Level ◽  
Budgetary Process ◽  
Fiscal Constraints ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Aspiration Levels ◽  
To Receive ◽  
A Share

This article develops a new statistical model of trade-offs among defense, nondefense, and fiscal policy concerns as they are reflected in the presidential budgetary process. The Competing Aspiration Levels Model (CALM) builds on Crecine's (1971) “Great Identity” argument. Unlike most previous attempts to model presidential budgeting, CALM explicitly represents the interdependence of decisions about defense, nondefense, and total federal expenditures. CALM models this interdependence as the result of the interaction of minimal aspirations for defense and nondefense expenditures with a maximum acceptable level of expenditures from a fiscal policy standpoint. Statistical analyses of presidential budgets for the fiscal years from 1955 through 1980 provide strong support for the CALM formulation. Substantively, the results indicate that fiscal constraints on total expenditures have progressively weakened, that the maximum acceptable expenditure level has generally exceeded the minimal expenditure aspiration level, and that when a potential “fiscal surplus” has existed, the nondefense sector has been more successful in capturing a share of this surplus than the defense sector. In keeping with traditional incrementalist arguments, the results indicate that previous year expenditure levels provide a relatively secure “budgetary base” for both the defense and nondefense sectors. Both sectors tend to receive their minimal aspiration levels plus a share of whatever fiscal surplus exists. The analysis also indicates that the executive branch has not been as strong a direct force for budgetary growth as Congress.

scholarly journals Effects of aspiration-induced adaptation and migration on the evolution of cooperation

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (07) ◽  
pp. 1450025 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Peng ◽  
Xu-Wen Wang ◽  
Qian Lu ◽  
Qing-Ke Zeng ◽  
Bing-Hong Wang
Keyword(s):  
Data Envelopment Analysis ◽  
Prospect Theory ◽  
Evolution Of Cooperation ◽  
Square Lattice ◽  
Data Envelopment ◽  
Aspiration Level ◽  
Aspiration Levels ◽  
Emergence Of Cooperation ◽  
And Migration ◽  
The Individual

In the light of the prospect theory (PT), we study the prisoner's dilemma game (PDG) on square lattice by integrating the deterministic and Data envelopment analysis (DEA) efficient rule into adaptive rules: the individual will change evolutionary rule and migrate if its payoff is lower than their aspiration levels. Whether the individual choose to change the evolutionary rule and migrate is determined by the relation between its payoff and aspiration level. The results show that the cooperation frequency can hold unchange with the increasing of temptation to defect. The individual chooses to adopt DEA efficient rule and to migrate that can induce the emergence of cooperation as the payoff is lower than its aspiration.

scholarly journals The role of performance feedback consistency in aspiration level adaptation: Evidence from a European grocery retailer

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-29
Author(s):  
Burak Cem Konduk
Keyword(s):  
Performance Feedback ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Aspiration Level ◽  
Performance Targets ◽  
Aspiration Levels ◽  
Organizational Attention ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact

This study investigates whether and how the impact of drivers of aspiration levels changes across the cases of consistent and inconsistent performance feedback within the context of a retailer. Analysis of internal corporate data shows that while past aspiration level and performance–aspiration gap positively influence the current aspiration level in the case of inconsistent feedback, performance feedback consistency changes only the impact of performance relative to peers. This study replicates past research in a different industry and country due to limited empirical evidence, introduces real-world complexity into aspiration theory, pinpoints performance–aspiration gap as the primary performance feedback, introduces a new sign for the impact of performance relative to peers, and reconciles its previously detected mixed impact. The findings suggest that organizational attention has an inward focus in the case of inconsistent feedback. The results also point out that leaders can trigger change through a performance outcome that lags behind the corresponding aspiration level rather than the performance of peers and eventually move their organizations toward high performance targets by starting with feasible rather than stretch goals.

Predicting the effect of immunocontraceptive recombinant murine cytomegalovirus on population outbreaks of house mice (Mus musculus domesticus) in mallee wheatlands

2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 631 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Arthur ◽  
R. P. Pech ◽  
G. R. Singleton
Keyword(s):  
Transmission Rate ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Murine Cytomegalovirus ◽  
House Mice ◽  
Single Strain ◽  
Mouse Population ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Population Outbreak ◽  
Successful Control

Virally vectored immunocontraception using a modified murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) is being developed for the control of house mice in Australia. In this paper, we develop disease–host models using a combination of laboratory and field data. We then combine these models with a model of a previous mouse population outbreak to explore the likely effectiveness of modified MCMV for controlling mice. Models of homogeneous mixing with and without vertical/pseudovertical transmission provided reasonable fits to field serological data collected during the onset and development of a mouse population outbreak in south-eastern Australia. Both models include the high transmission rate of MCMV suggested by the data. We found no strong support for non-linear contact rates or heterogeneous mixing. When applied to a past outbreak of mice both models gave similar results and suggested that immunocontraceptive MCMV could be effective at reducing agricultural damage to acceptable levels. Successful control was still possible when lags in the development of infertility of up to 10 weeks were added to the model, provided high levels of infertility were achieved. These lags were added because mice can become pregnant just before becoming infertile – the resultant litter would not emerge for 6–7 weeks. Trade-offs between two parameters that could be altered by engineering strains of MCMV – the level of infertility in infected mice and the virus transmission rate – were explored and suggest that a variety of parameter combinations could produce successful control. Our results are encouraging for the future development of virally vectored immunocontraception control of house mice, but future work will need to consider some of the assumptions of these single-strain models.

Australian customer willingness to pay and wait for mass-customised products

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Daronkola Kalantari ◽  
Lester Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Additional Time ◽  
Market Segments ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mass Customisation ◽  
Product Categories ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
To Receive

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to find out how consumers constantly trade off the potential extra cost of mass customisation with the additional time they have to wait to receive their customised products. Design/methodology/approach The authors examine this issue by using conjoint analysis to estimate the trade-offs using a sample of Australian consumers. The authors use cluster analysis to form market segments in the three product categories examined. Findings The segments demonstrate that there are groups of customers who are quite willing to trade-off price with waiting time. The results have significant implications for Australian manufacturers who are contemplating moving into mass customisation. Originality/value Many researchers have investigated the issue of a customer’s readiness to buy a customised product. In particular, they have examined whether customers are willing to pay extra for a mass-customised product, whether they would spend some time to design it, as well as wait to receive it. There has been no study that has examined all three factors simultaneously. The results of this study can help manufacturers form a better understanding of customer willingness for purchasing mass-customised products.

scholarly journals A Multi-Objective Optimization Approach towards a Proposed Smart Apartment with Demand-Response in Japan

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuta Susowake ◽  
Hasan Masrur ◽  
Tetsuya Yabiku ◽  
Tomonobu Senjyu ◽  
Abdul Motin Howlader ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Voltage ◽  
Demand Response ◽  
Low Voltage ◽  
Heat Pumps ◽  
Optimization Approach ◽  
Multi Objective Optimization ◽  
Pareto Solution ◽  
Multi Objective ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
To Receive

In Japan, residents of apartments are generally contracted to receive low voltage electricity from electric utilities. In recent years, there has been an increasing number of high voltage batch power receiving contracts for condominiums. In this research, a high voltage batch receiving contractor introduces a demand–response in a low voltage power receiving contract, which maximizes the profit of a high voltage batch receiving contractor and minimizes the electricity charge of residents by utilizing battery storage, electric vehicles (EV), and heat pumps. A multi-objective optimization algorithm calculates a Pareto solution for the relationship between two objective trade-offs in the MATLAB ® environment.

scholarly journals Keeping the euro at any cost? Explaining attitudes toward the euro-austerity trade-off in Greece

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-405
Author(s):  
Ignacio Jurado ◽  
Stefanie Walter ◽  
Nikitas Konstantinidis ◽  
Elias Dinas
Keyword(s):  
Strong Support ◽  
Economic Recession ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
The Public ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Theoretical Mechanism ◽  
The Common ◽  
Original Survey

Despite years of crisis, the euro has enjoyed strong popular support across the Eurozone periphery. In light of the high costs of internal devaluation strategies, this begs the question why the public has remained in favor of the common currency. In this article, we propose a theoretical mechanism that accounts for both voters’ pocketbook preferences and their sociotropic assessments over the noisy trade-offs associated with the outcomes of euro membership and euro exit. Using original survey data from three consecutive survey waves in Greece (conducted in July, September, and December 2015, respectively), we analyze the attitudes of Greek voters toward the euro in an environment of acute uncertainty, austerity, high unemployment, and economic recession. First, we juxtapose our uncertainty mechanism of popular euro attitudes against other explanations put forward in the literature and find strong support for our argument. Second, we conduct a survey experiment to tap into attitudes toward the euro-austerity trade-off and find that as uncertainty over policy outcomes diminishes, framing effects abate in significance, especially among those who voted No in the July 2015 referendum. Finally, we derive distinct sets of euro preferences for different ‘vulnerability profiles’. Over time, as the trade-offs of euro membership become more pronounced, we find a marked fall in euro support between July and December 2015.

Setting Financial Performance Thresholds, Targets, and Maximums in Bonus Plans

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 55-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth A. Merchant ◽  
Carolyn Stringer ◽  
Paul Shantapriyan
Keyword(s):  
Financial Performance ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Performance Standards ◽  
Normative Theory ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Actual Performance ◽  
Performance Targets ◽  
Field Evidence ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Aspiration Levels

ABSTRACT This study uses both archival and field evidence from one multidivisional firm to examine how the three commonly used financial performance standards used to calibrate short-term bonus payouts—thresholds, targets, and maximums—are set. The setting of the standards results from complex negotiating processes. Consistent with prior research, we find that performance targets—the middle parameter—are set to be exceeded by most organizational entities. Contrary to some existing normative theory, actual performance is often outside the incentive zone, which is defined by the range between the maximum and threshold. The reasons for this include desires to raise managers' aspiration levels, concerns about bonus payment affordability, and trade-offs in gaining manager commitment to the standards. Often the target is not in the middle of the incentive zone. We identify three additional factors that provide partial explanations of where and why these standards are set where they are: employee risk mitigation, desire for cross-entity equity, and manager operating style. Data Availability: Confidentiality agreements prevent the authors from distributing the data.

“Most Beautiful Sewer”

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Cumbler
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Industrial Wastes ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Clean Water ◽  
Running Water ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Health Gains ◽  
Major River ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Polluted Waters

The reforms of the late nineteenth century did help protect New England’s drinking water. The plague of water-borne diseases that made the region’s cities so infamously dangerous to live in seemed to be in retreat. For a moment, it looked as if the new century would bring a world in which there did not have to be trade-offs between economic development and environmental quality. The ideal articulated by Lyman and Mills—that professional expertise would transcend conflicts of interests between manufacturers and reformers—seemed at hand. Yet there were still problems that these optimists overlooked. And these problems broke into view again in the new century. Despite the health gains, New England’s rivers and streams continued to receive massive influxes of pollution of both industrial wastes and human sewage. The larger cities along the major river systems continued their practice of dumping raw sewage downstream, while manufacturers still saw running water as a natural disposal system for their wastes. Industrial wastes, although less central in the conversation around public health and the environment, were clearly polluting water systems, and reformers never completely gave up the struggle to clean water of industrial pollutants. In its 1896 report, the Massachusetts State Board of Health discussed possible solutions to the problems of “waste liquors or sewage from those manufacturing industries in the State which pollute or threaten to pollute our rivers and ponds.” The Lawrence station experimented with different methods of removing industrial wastes. Yet the “problem of successful and economical disposal of this sewage [remained].” As people began to look at clean water as an aesthetic as well as a health issue, the ability of water to sustain live fish, which had been dismissed twenty years earlier, now became a concern. Commissions on fisheries that had focused attention on fishways and fish cultivation in the nineteenth century began to revisit the issue of water pollution as they noticed their hatchery fish dying in polluted waters; oyster growers complained to the commissions that their oyster beds were being polluted.

Vigor and aspiration levels in neuroeconomics

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Mastrogiorgio
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Rationality ◽  
Aspiration Level ◽  
Economic Agents ◽  
Ecological Balance ◽  
Subjective Value ◽  
Aspiration Levels

Abstract In this contribution, we criticize the demanding assumption of vigor that economic agents are maximizers. We discuss the link between vigor and subjective value through the alternative notion of aspiration levels, arguing that vigor can help articulate the ecological balance – central in bounded and ecological rationality – between minimum expected reward (aspiration level) and the efforts made for its attainment.

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