Compliance and confirmation bias on the emergence of cultural conventions

In the present study we develop a co-evolutionary model of cardinal preferences and institutions to explore how the dynamics of cultural diversity in populations with different levels of compliance and confirmation bias evolve. This is the first attempt to formalise these two types of bias in a single learning algorithm for agents learning in iterative chains without access to completeinformation. Results show that, in some regions of the parameter space, institutional influence facilitates the emergence of shared cultural conventions when compliance biases increase. In general, a compliance bias pushes diversity up when institutions are diverse, and pushes diversity down when institutions convey value systems with strong dominance of one or few cultural variants. Interestingly, in some scenarios, a decrease in institutional influence and compliance bias allows theemergence of cultural conventions from the mutual reinforcement of local interactions and institutional values. We asses the robustness of these results by examining how sensitively they depend on different initial conditions of variant assignment, population sizes and alpha diversity indexes.

c) Cuba: A Sui Generis Case Study (Communist Proxy)

The anti-clerical elements of the Revolution helped Cuba succeed in various indicators (e.g. education quality and coverage, equality, health). The Cuban regime seized, dismantled, and limited the institutional influence of Roman Catholicism on these areas of public life. However, a strong cultural influence of a highly syncretised Roman Catholicism persists in Cuba even if its institutional influence has been curbed. Also, the Communist regime, by adopting Marxism, “threw the baby out with the bathwater” through persecuting all types of religion, including Protestant liberals. Finally, the Cuban regime conveniently turned to Rome to legitimise itself after the collapse of the Soviet Union and to silence Protestantism with a corporatist strategy. The socialist legal tradition had an effect opposite to its claims (e.g. lack of freedom, corruption), even if its anti-clerical element was an advantage. Comparing the Cuban experience to other Latin American countries with leftist dictatorships (e.g. Venezuela) helps understand their failure to achieve the Cuban indicators (e.g. education). The crucial factor in this regard is whether or not the power and influence of the Roman Church-State are reduced.

Prosperity and Religion (A), (B), (1)

This chapter discusses the prosperity–religion link and reviews some prominent empirical studies refuting and confirming Weber’s thesis and balancing the evidence gathered. It also emphasises the importance of seriously considering the institutional (and hegemonic) influence of religion in addition to the cultural influence (of religious adherents). The historical institutional influence of religion has been the crucial factor with regard to prosperity/transparency (more than the current proportion of adherents).The relationships of prosperity vis-à-vis religion as a predictor (independent) variable (e.g. Weber) or as a criterion (dependent) variable (e.g. Marx) reinforce each other and produced a vast body of theories and empirical studies. In the first causal arrow, Weber’s explanations and findings in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism has attracted much criticism over the last century. The debate remains polarised.The second causal arrow (religion as a dependent variable vis-à-vis prosperity) resulted in, among others, secularisation theories focusing on either the supply or demand-side of religion. The theory of existential security is an influential model that empirically focuses on the variations of the demand-side and revises the secularisation theory.

Why did Pope John Paul II visit Ireland? The 1979 papal visit in context

Pope John Paul II’s visit to Ireland in 1979 was an iconic moment in the history of twentieth-century Irish Catholicism. It has, however, received little detailed historical scrutiny. Based on state archival and hitherto unavailable diocesan material, this article contextualizes the visit by explaining the pastoral and leadership challenges that confronted the Irish hierarchy. Second, this article discusses how close the pope came to visiting Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles. This was of concern not just to the hierarchy but to the Irish and British governments. Third, the organization of the visit, which was closely tied to the pastoral concerns of the Irish bishops, is surveyed. Lastly, the pastoral impact of the visit is considered. If the Catholic hierarchy hoped that the papal visit might arrest the declining institutional influence of the Catholic Church, reverse a quiet but growing faith crisis, or hasten a cessation of violence in Northern Ireland, then those expectations were misplaced. Ultimately, the pastoral impulse of the 1979 papal visit to Ireland was to preserve rather than renew the Irish Catholic tradition at a time when Irish Catholics were fixed on future material advancement rather than fidelity to their spiritual past.

Synchronising institutions and value systems: A model of opinion dynamics mediated by proportional representation

Individuals increasingly participate in online platforms where they copy, share and form they opinions. Social interactions in these platforms are mediated by digital institutions, which dictate algorithms that in turn affect how users form and evolve their opinions. In this work, we examine the conditions under which convergence on shared opinions can be obtained in a social network where connected agents repeatedly update their normalised cardinal preferences (i.e. value systems) under the influence of a non-constant reflexive signal (i.e. institution) that aggregates populations’ information using a proportional representation rule. We analyse the impact of institutions that aggregate (i) expressed opinions (i.e. opinion-aggregation institutions), and (ii) cardinal preferences (i.e. value-aggregation institutions). We find that, in certain regions of the parameter space, moderate institutional influence can lead to moderate consensus and strong institutional influence can lead to polarisation. In our randomised network, local coordination alone in the total absence of institutions does not lead to convergence on shared opinions, but very low levels of institutional influence are sufficient to generate a feedback loop that favours global conventions. We also show that opinion-aggregation may act as a catalyst for value change and convergence. When applied to digital institutions, we show that the best mechanism to avoid extremism is to increase the initial diversity of the value systems in the population.

Institutional Influence of Academics in Argentinean Public Universities in a Context of External Control

The paper studies the institutional influence of academics in Argentina within a context of increasing external control as a consequence of deep public reforms in the Higher Education system. Drawing on data from the Academic Profession in the Knowledge-Based Society (APIKS) survey, the aim is to analyse how much and in what sense the recent changes on the public policy level and the intermediate level of the state agencies have affected the academic profession in Argentina over teaching, research and social engagement activities, and its effects over the perception of institutional influence. Although we assume that academic power has been reduced within the new scenario, we believe that not all academics have responded in the same manner.

Analysis of Compliance with the Mandatory Sustainability Report in Peruvian Listed Companies

Research on institutional influence on sustainability information indicates that organisations prepare reports voluntarily, following international standards. On the other hand, some countries’ regulation has requested the presentation of mandatory sustainability reporting for listed companies. In Peru, stock market regulations have established the mandatory sustainability report since 2016. The aim of this study is to analyse the nature and the level of compliance of listed Peruvian companies with the sustainability mandatory report at 2017 and 2018. Further, the study seeks to analyse whether company size, profitability, indebtedness, sector, voluntary report, and transnational nature determine the level of compliance with mandatory reporting. The results indicate that the level of reporting compliance is not high; the greatest incidence of fulfilment occurs with respect to reporting labour performance, with suppliers and clients, with a high regulatory and sectoral institutional influence. Likewise, size, profitability, sector, and the companies’ voluntary reporting experience are determinants of the compliance level of mandatory sustainability reporting.

Competition and collaboration: Title IX Coordinators and the barriers to achieving educational equity

How do compliance occupations successfully navigate complex institutional environments characterized by changing policy initiatives, managerial logics, unclear expectations, and competition from other occupational groups? This article examines the work of Title IX Coordinators at U.S. Colleges and Universities, who often hold dual roles, operate at lower levels within the institution, and lack the necessary resources to do their work. Using interviews, surveys, professional association materials, and Title IX job ads, this paper describes how Title IX Coordinators adapt to a complex institutional environment and overcome these obstacles in their efforts to enforce Title IX. Title IX Coordinators develop and create collaborative networks of expertise that develop and build shared institutional influence. Using pre-existing relationships and sharing information and expertise, Title IX Coordinators partner with legal counsel, campus police, human resources, ombuds, student affairs, and other occupations to co-produce Title IX compliance.

Synchronising institutions and value systems: a model of opinion dynamics mediated by proportional representation

Individuals increasingly participate in online platforms where they copy, share and form they opinions. Social interactions in these platforms are mediated by digital institutions, which dictate algorithms that in turn affect how users form and evolve their opinions. In this work, we examine the conditions under which convergence on shared opinions can be obtained in a social network where connected agents repeatedly update their normalised cardinal preferences (i.e. value systems) under the influence of a non-constant reflexive signal (i.e. institution) that aggregates populations' information using a proportional representation rule. We analyse the impact of institutions that aggregate (i) expressed opinions (i.e. opinion-aggregation institutions), and (ii) cardinal preferences (i.e. value-aggregation institutions). We find that, in certain regions of the parameter space, moderate institutional influence can lead to moderate consensus and strong institutional influence can lead to polarisation. In our randomised network, local coordination alone in the total absence of institutions does not lead to convergence on shared opinions, but very low levels of institutional influence are sufficient to generate a feedback loop that favours global conventions. We also show that opinion-aggregation may act as a catalyst for value change and convergence. When applied to digital institutions, we show that the best mechanism to avoid extremism is to increase the initial diversity of the value systems in the population.