Suchergebnisse

Political elections exemplify complex decision processes in human populations. Data of proportional elections show a striking feature at different spatial scales, across years, and for several democracies: when ranking the parties according to their number of voters, the amount of votes grows exponentially with the party's rank. We develop a mechanistic mathematical model of birth and death of parties and voter grouping based only on word of mouth and not on political contents, close to neutral models used in evolutionary biology (Ewens sampling formula), or Hubbell's model of species biodiversity. Data and model agree strikingly well. The model explains, for instance, the steady loss of big-tent parties in France and Germany by the increasing number of parties standing for elections. A cannibalism effect (parties/candidates at a given rank systematically withdraw votes from others) can be identified. The interpretation and consequences of the rational or lack thereof of voters' choices for modern democracies are discussed.

PurposeThis paper describes research that has sought to create a formal and rational process that guides manufacturers through the strategic positioning decision.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology is based on a series of case studies to develop and test the decision process.FindingsA decision process that leads the practitioner through an analytical process to decide which manufacturing activities they should carryout themselves.Practical implicationsStrategic positioning is concerned with choosing those production related activities that an organisations should carry out internally, and those that should be external and under the ownership and control of suppliers, partners, distributors and customers.Originality/valueThis concept extends traditional decision paradigms, such as those associated with "make versus buy" and "outsourcing", by looking at the interactions between manufacturing operations and the wider supply chain networks associated with the organisation.

This work of imaginative splendour is the product, in the first place, of Israel Kirzner's magnificient effort in designing, directing and editing a symposium in honour of Ludwig von Mises. Its contents illustrate the presence still of giants in our profession: Lachmann with fifty years of fame; James Buchanan and Stephen Littlechild who lead the van of to‐day's subjectivism. The level of excellence is carried down the list by brilliant minds: Stephan Boehm, Mario Rizzo, Lawrence White, Brian Loasby and many others.

66 pages ; The distress and disruption caused by extreme natural events has stimulated considerable interest in understanding and improving the decision-making processes that determine a manager's adjustment to natural hazards. Technological solutions to the problem of coping with hazards have typically been justified by a computation of benefits and costs that assume the people involved will behave in what the policy maker considers to be an economically rational way. However, it has slowly become evident that technological solutions, by themselves, are inadequate without knowledge of how they will affect decision making. In reviewing the wide range of adjustments to Gangetic floods or Nigerian drought or Norwegian avalanche, it has been observed that attempts to control nature and determine government policy will not succeed without a better understanding of the interplay among psychological, economic, and environmental factors as they determine the adjustment process.