Risk aversion plays a central role in the decisions made in the face of uncertainties, and climate-change mitigation should be no exception. However, the interlinkage of risk aversion and climate-change uncertainties has hardly been investigated numerically, in part because of the computational difficulties of stochastic optimization. In this paper, we apply the numerical techniques of stochastic optimization to the economic modeling of climate change, with the aim of modeling the decision preferences of a risk-conscious agent in the face of unpredictable climate change. The model underlines the critical role played by the risk-aversion parameter in determining the effects of uncertainties on mitigation, not only in level but also in sign.
Firms are increasingly seeking to harness the potential of social networks for marketing purposes. Marketers are therefore interested in understanding the antecedents and consequences of relationship formation within networks and in predicting interactivity among users. In this paper we develop an integrated statistical framework for simultaneously modeling the connectivity structure of multiple relationships of different types on a common set of actors. Our modeling approach incorporates a number of distinct facets to capture both the determinants of relationships and the structural characteristics of multiplex and sequential networks. We develop hierarchical Bayesian methods for estimation and illustrate our model via two applications. The first application uses a sequential network of communications among managers involved in new product development activities and the second uses an online collaborative social network of musicians. Our applications demonstrate the benefits of modeling multiple relations jointly for both substantive and predictive purposes. We also illustrate how information in one relationship can be leveraged to predict connectivity in another relation.
Accreditation and quality assurance at universities have gained new meaning in Switzerland - as in other European nations - through the concurrent increase in autonomy, new educational institutions offering international courses and the implementation of the Bologna Declaration. With respect to these developments the Swiss government together with the university cantons agreed to jointly establish an Accreditation and Quality Assurance Board which would be responsible not only for accreditation questions, but also for quality assurance and quality promotion at the universities.
The discussions surrounding the creation of an institution, which critically examines quality in the area of higher education, provoked a controversial debate in Switzerland. However, after several months of intensive discussions between universities and political bodies (government and administration) the different points of view eventually led to a model that today enjoys the broad support of all of the parties involved. This model has the following advantages: It focuses not only on accreditation i.e. fulfilling of minimum standards, but also on implementation of quality assurance mechanisms to guarantee sustainable quality development at universities and it provides accreditation for institutions as well as programs.
