This dissertation addresses the theorization of immigration policymaking from a perspective that encompasses all possible roles held in migration management. It discusses how simultaneous roles as a sending, receiving and transit country in the migration phenomenon can become intertwined and inherently affect policymaking on all fronts. Using Mexico as a case study, this dissertation finds that the most compelling variables in the construction of immigration policy are: consideration of the state’s relationship with its emigrant population; grievances expressed by civil society; and complaints of regional partners. Mexico combined emigration and immigration policy in order to produce an optimal situation for all aspects of migration management, which was done through the strategy of soft reciprocity. By utilizing international human rights norms in the construction of its new Migration Law, Mexico was able to secure legitimacy and moral authority to broaden emigration policy and enhance protection of Mexicans abroad. / acase@tulane.edu

Für Kooperation via direkte Reziprozität müssen Menschen das Handeln ihrer Partner nachverfolgen, um Ausbeutung zu verhindern. Störungen (d.h. Gedächtnis- oder Wahrnehmungs-/Entscheidungsfehler) beeinträchtigen aber das Nachverfolgen. In meiner Dissertation erkunde ich, ob Strategien zur Modellierung menschlichen Verhaltens kognitiv umsetzbar sind und wie sie mit Störungen umgehen und erforsche umsetzbare störrobuste Alternativen. Tit-For-Tat, berühmtestes Beispiel traditioneller 1-Schritt-Gedächtnis-Strategien, ist nicht störrobust, weil kleinste Störungen seinen Erfolg verringern. Da Störungen alltäglich sind, ist Tit-For-Tat kein ideales Modell menschlichen Verhaltens. Kapitel 1 zeigte hohe Gedächtnisfehlerraten, wenn Versuchspersonen die letzte Handlung ihrer Partner wiedergeben sollten (1-Schritt-Gedächtnis). In einer evolutionären Simulation ging Kooperation bei diesen Raten unter. Sich an die letzte Handlung zu erinnern, ist weder störrobust noch umsetzbar. In Kapitel 2 untersuchte ich, ob Menschen die kognitiv eher umsetzbare Strategie benutzen, ihre Partner in Typen einzuteilen und Kooperierer/Betrüger zu unterscheiden. Verglichen damit, sich die letzte Handlung jedes Partners zu merken, sollte das die Gedächtnisanforderungen senken. Die Ergebnisse deuten an, daß Menschen Partnertypen unterscheiden und ihre Strategie an die Typenverteilung in der Umgebung anpassen. Kapitel 3 erforschte Strategien, die den Vorgang der Einteilung von Partnertypen modellieren, indem sie einen Eindruck bilden. In einer Simulation waren eindrucksbasierte Strategien beim Aufrechterhalten von Kooperation störrobuster als traditionelle Strategien. Auch sagten eindrucksbasierte Strategien Versuchspersonenverhalten besser vorher als traditionelle Strategien. Gewinner von Simulation und Kreuzvalidierung waren jedoch partnerunabhängige Strategien. Menschen scheinen kognitiv noch einfacher umsetzbare störrobuste Strategien zu benutzen. / For cooperation to evolve via direct reciprocity, individuals must track their partners’ behaviour to avoid exploitation. Noise (i.e., memory errors or perception/decision errors) compromises tracking, however. In my thesis, I investigate whether strategies proposed to model human behaviour are cognitively feasible and how they cope with noise, and explore feasible noise-robust alternatives. Tit-For-Tat, the most prominent example of 1-step memory strategies, is not robust to noise, because even little noise decreases its success. Since noise is quite common in everyday life, Tit-For-Tat is not an ideal candidate to model human behaviour. Chapter 1 showed that participants, when asked to remember their partners’ previous behaviour (1-step memory), had high memory error rates. In an evolutionary simulation, these rates let cooperation vanish. Remembering a partners’ previous behaviour is neither noise-robust nor cognitively feasible. In Chapter 2, I investigated whether people use the cognitively more feasible strategy of categorizing partners into types, distinguishing cooperators and cheaters. Compared to remembering each partners’ previous behaviour, this would reduce memory effort. The results indicate that people differentiate partner types and adjust their strategy to the proportion of types in their environment. Chapter 3 explored strategies that model the process of categorizing partners into types by building an impression. In a simulation, impression-based strategies were more robust to noise in maintaining cooperation than 1-step memory strategies. A cross-validation of strategies on data from Chapter 2 confirmed that impression-based strategies better predict participants’ behaviour than 1-step memory strategies. The winner of the simulation and the cross-validation were non-contingent strategies, though, indicating that people use cognitively even simpler noise-robust strategies.

This dissertation examines the potential for two forms of corporate philanthropy, donations of time and money, to have differential effects on consumers' response to corporate giving. Drawing upon indirect-reciprocity theory I show that corporate donations of time compared to money elicit a greater desire to reciprocate on the part of consumers. It is found that the influence of corporate donations on consumers' desire to reciprocate occurs through serial mediation, whereby donations of time are perceived as being more effortful than monetary donations. This in turn leads to more altruistic motive attributions, and ultimately greater admiration towards the firm and a stronger desire to reciprocate on the part of consumers. I find that consumers' desire to reciprocate is strengthened when the relative cost to the firm for making a donation is higher. Additionally, this research advances the emotion gratitude as a mechanism through which corporate giving leads to a desire to reciprocate and more broadly, a catalyst through which indirect reciprocity occurs. Finally, the influence of consumers' personality traits on their response to corporate philanthropy is examined. Corporate donations of time and money lead to stronger feelings of gratitude and a greater approval of a company's philanthropic actions when consumers possess higher levels of empathetic concern. Conversely, consumers who embody narcissistic traits are significantly less inclined to experience feelings of gratitude or approve of a company's philanthropy.

<p>Hence, in this mini-thesis I argue that community participation does not automatically facilitate gains for the poor. My main assumption is that internal rigidities in communities, such as weak social capital, culture, trust and reciprocity, affect mutual cooperation towards collective community gains. I used two communities, where a community empowerment project is implemented, as a case study to demonstrate that the success of community participation is contingent on the stocks of social capital in the community. The results show that the responsiveness of the two communities to the project activities differs with the stocks of social capital. I found that trust among community members facilitates information flow in the community. The level of trust is also related to the sources of information of community members about development activities in the community. I also found that solidarity is an important dimension of social capital, which determines community members&rsquo / willingness to help one another and to participate in activities towards collective community gain. The research also demonstrated that perception of community members about target beneficiaries of projects&ndash / whether they represent the interest of the majority of the community or only the interest of community leaders &ndash / influences the level of confidence and ownership of the project. From my research findings, I concluded that, in order for community participation to work successfully, development managers need to identify the stocks of social capital in the community that will form the basis to determine the level of engagement with community members in the participatory process.</p>

Abstract The purpose of our thesis was to comprehend how organizations approach the Corporate Social Contract that exists between them and society. The empirical data was gathered to reflect a comprehension of the Corporate Social Contract as a whole and as the product of its components, i.e.: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reciprocity. Other concepts interconnected with our main topic were also used in order to better comprehend the concept of Corporate Social Contract as well as our interpretations of the collected empirical data. These interconnected concepts were Corporate Sustainability, Corporate Citizenship, Shared Value, and Willingness to Pay.   The research work was approached from the qualitative standpoint. Considering that the perspective of our thesis was an organizational one, we approached 5 organizations within which to conduct interviews on the stated topic. Our aim was merely to understand the organizational perspective and approach to the concept of Corporate Social Contract, not to compare these perspectives and approaches.   Each of the chosen organizations met certain basic criteria mentioned in our work that permitted us to include them in our sample. The thesis’ conclusion reflected various organizational approaches towards Corporate Social Contract from the angle of Corporate Social Responsibility as well as varying perspectives on, and expectations of, society’s reciprocity. The study has shown that our view of the equal importance of the concepts of CSR and Reciprocity, within the framework of CSC fulfillment, is an under investigated area in both academics and in the practical business world. This has also been supported by our interviewees’ view on expectations, placed on society, as an implicit area in their organizations’ policies. Through our study we have uncovered practical reasons as to why CSC cannot be fulfilled all the time, how expectations between both organizations and society differ from project to project, and the importance of societal reciprocity in the aim of CSC fulfillment. And thus, through our study, we endeavor to comprehend how organizations fulfill the CSC and how they view society’s attempts to fulfill its end of the contract.   As a result of our work, future students and researchers stand to gain insights into the mentalities of organizations that hail from different industries and are based in different parts of the world. Future students and researchers could also derive their own interpretations of our respondents words based on the culture prevalent in the country in which the respondents are based. Apart from this, one can note that the respondents were also from a range of departments and their professionally skewed perspective on our topic makes for an interesting contribution to those seeking insights into our topic and those interlinked.   Key Words: Corporate Social Contract, Corporate Social Responsibility, Reciprocity, Corporate Sustainability, Corporate Citizenship, Shared Value, and Willingness to Pay.

The chapters of this dissertation explore complementary areas of applied microeconomics, within the fields of experimental and environmental economics. In each case, preferences and institutions interact in ways that enhance or subvert efficiency. The first chapter, "The Girl Scout Cookie Phenomenon," uses a laboratory experiment to study favor trading in a public goods setting. The ability to practice targeted reciprocity increases contributions by 14%, which corresponds directly to increased efficiency. Subjects discriminate by rewarding group members who have been generous and withholding rewards from ungenerous group members. At least some reciprocal behavior is rooted in other-regarding preferences. When someone is outside the "circle of reciprocity," he gives less to the public good than in other settings. We find no evidence of indirect reciprocity. We find two behavioral types in each treatment, differing in baseline giving but not in tendency to reciprocate. The second chapter, "The Effects of Conservation Reserve Program Participation on Later Land Use," studies another public goods issue: conservation. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) pays farmers to retire farmland. We use a treatment effect framework to find that ex-CRP land is 21-28% more likely to be farmed than comparable non-CRP land. This implies that the CRP improves low-quality land, making it more attractive to farm. This could demonstrate inefficiency, since farmers gain private benefit from a program meant to provide a public good. On the other hand, farmed ex-CRP land is more likely to adopt conservation practices, although this may not be caused by CRP participation. The third chapter, "Learning from Mistakes," examines financial decisions by adult Rwandans in institutions inside and outside the lab. Over 50% of subjects make irrational choices over risk—choices that likely do not reflect their preferences, and are therefore likely inefficient—and these subjects share tendencies in their take-up of financial instruments. Risk-averse individuals are more likely to belong to a savings group and less likely to take out an informal loan. For those who make mistakes, however, as they become more risk averse, they are less likely to belong to a savings group and more likely to take up informal credit.

One of the goals of Electroencephalography (EEG) is to correctly localize brain activities by the help of voltage measurements taken on scalp. However, due to computational difficulties of the problem and technological limitations, the accuracy level of the activity localization is not perfect and should be improved. To increase accuracy level of the solution, realistic, i.e. patient dependent, head models should be created. Such head models are created via assigning realistic conductivity values of head tissues onto realistic tissue positions. This study initially focuses on obtaining patient dependent spatial information from T1-weighted Magnetic Resonance (MR) head images. Existing segmentation algorithms are modified according to our needs for classifying eye tissues, white matter, gray matter, cerebrospinal fluid, skull and scalp from volumetric MR head images. Determination of patient dependent conductivity values, on the other hand, is not considered as a part of this study, and isotropic conductivity values anticipated in literature are assigned to each segmented MR-voxel accordingly. Upon completion of the tissue classification, forward problem of EEG is solved using the Finite Difference (FD) method employing a realistic head model. Utilization of the FD method aims to lower computational complexity and to simplify the process of mesh creation for brain, which has a very complex boundary. Accuracy of the employed numerical method is investigated both on Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) and EEG forward problems, for which analytical solutions are available. The purpose of EIT forward problem integration into this study is to evaluate reciprocal solution of the EEG forward problem.

This study proposes biosocial reciprocity framework in environmental communication, which suggests the interdependent relationships between mass media, people's attitudes, and the physical environment. Biosocial reciprocity is applied to analyze the mass media's possible roles in giant panda conservation in China. The mass media's image construction of giant pandas is assessed through a content analysis of People's Daily (1995 to 2004); the conservation awareness, activities, and environment changes are assessed by a review of the country's giant panda conservation history and policies. The result suggests active interrelations among the media, Chinese attitudes toward wildlife, and the loss of wild panda population and habitat. The study urges that to positively influence the natural world, much needs to be done to improve the Chinese media's effectiveness in fostering grassroots environmental value and awareness. Biosocial reciprocity provides a practical conceptual framework for this study to sort out media-related linkages between the social and physical world of giant panda conservation.

Svart arbete, informal purchases of work, is a widely debated societal phenomenon in Sweden. It is often seen as detrimental to contemporary welfare society, eroding taxpaying morals, fair competition and solidarity with fellow citizens. Acknowledged as wrong, it is in many instances also an acceptable and commonplace exchange practice. This study addresses this incongruity and aims to show how these inconspicuous exchanges of work are distinguished in terms of legality and licitness. Methodologically, the study is based on ethnographic interviews with a group of people in all walks of life, who have their roots in a small town in southern Sweden. In the midst of life and work, they address situations where living in accordance with moral standards becomes difficult. The study aims to illuminate multifaceted reasonings about the illegal but licit purchases made and how people make sense and meaning of them in retrospect and in the larger context of societal economy. The ways in which these purchases of svart arbete are justified illustrate inherent tensions in contemporary welfare society. Purchases of svart arbete are often justified as rational economic decisions in terms of being cheap and simple. The study shows that purchasing work informally is not only a rational economic decision, but can also be the result of resolving necessities in daily life due to societal bottlenecks and/or probing tax legislation. As an economic phenomenon, these purchases are therefore not seen as set apart from the formal structures of the Swedish economy, but as co-existing with them. Justifying the illegal but licit svart arbete, purchasers are seen to emphasise a reciprocal relationship with the provider of the work and also with the state. In this way, a sense of balance and justice is achieved.

Let p be an odd prime, and define f(x) as follows: f(x) as the sum from 1 to k of a_i times x raised to the power of (p to the power of (alpha_i+1)) in F_(p to the power of n)[x] where 0 is less than or equal to alpha_1 < alpha_2 < ... < alpha_k where alpha_k is equal to alpha. We consider the exponential sum S(f, n) equal to the sum_(x as x runs over the finite field with (p to the n elements) of zeta_(p to the power of Tr_n (f(x))), where zeta_p equals e to the power of (2i times pi divided by p) and Tr_n is the trace from the finite field with p to the n elements to the finite field with p elements.We provide necessary background from number theory and review the basic facts about quadratic forms over a finite field with p elements through both the multivariable and single variable approach. Our main objective is to compute S(f, n) explicitly. The sum S(f, n) is determined by two quantities: the nullity and the type of the quadratic form Tr_n (f(x)). We give an effective algorithm for the computation of the nullity. Tables of numerical values of the nullity are included. However, the type is more subtle and more difficult to determine. Most of our investigation concerns the type. We obtain "relative formulas" for S(f, mn) in terms of S(f, n) when the p-adic order of m is less than or equal to the minimum p-adic order of the alphas. The formulas are obtained in three separate cases, using different methods: (i) m is q to the s power, where q is a prime different from 2 and p; (ii) m is 2 to the s power; and (iii) m is p. In case (i), we use a congruence relation resulting from a suitable Galios action. For case (ii), in addition to the congruence in case (i), a special partition of the finite field with p to the 2n elements is needed. In case (iii), the congruence method does not work. However, the Artin-Schreier Theorem allows us to compute the trace of the extension from the finite field with p to the pn elements to the fi nite field with p to the n elements rather explicitly.When the 2-adic order of each of the alphas is equal and it is less than the 2-adic order of n, we are able to determine S(f, n) explicitly. As a special case, we have explicit formulas for the sum of the monomial, S(ax to the power of (1+ (p to the power of alpha)).Most of the results of the thesis are new and generalize previous results by Carlitz, Baumert, McEliece, and Hou.