This dissertation consists of three essays that apply both economic theory and econometric methods to understand design and dynamics of institutions. In particular, it studies how institutions aggregate information and deal with uncertainty and attempts to derive implications for optimal institution design. Here is a brief summary of the essays. In many economic, political and social situations where the environment changes in a random fashion necessitating costly action we face a choice of both the timing of the action as well as choosing the optimal action. In particular, if the stochastic environment possesses the property that the next environmental change becomes either more or less likely as more time passes since the last change (in other words the hazard rate of environmental change is not constant over time), then the timing of the action takes on special importance. In the first essay, joint with Maxwell B Stinchcombe, we model and solve a dynamic decision problem in a semi-Markov environment. We find that if the arrival times for state changes do not follow a memoryless process, time since the last observed change of state, in addition to the current state, becomes a crucial variable in the decision. We characterize the optimal policy and the optimal timing of executing that policy in the differentiable case by a set of first order conditions of a relatively simple form. They show that both in the case of increasing and decreasing hazard rates, the optimal response may be to wait before executing a policy change. The intuitive explanation of the result has to do with the fact that waiting reveals information about the likelihood of the next change occurring, hence waiting is valuable when actions are costly. This result helps shed new light on the structure of optimal decisions in many interesting problems of institution design, including the fact that constitutions often have built-in delay mechanisms to slow the pace of legislative change. Our model results could be used to characterize optimal timing rules for constitutional amendments. The paper also contributes to generalize the methodology of semi-Markov decision theory by formulating a dynamic programming set-up that looks to solve the timing-of-action problem whereas the existing literature looks to optimize over a much more limited set of policies where the action can only be taken at the instant when the state changes. In the second essay, we extend our research to situations, where the current choice of action influences the future path of the stochastic process, and apply it to the legal framework surrounding environmental issues, particularly to the ‘Precautionary Principle' as applied to climate change legislation. We represent scientific uncertainty about environmental degradation using the concept of 'ambiguity' and show that ambiguity aversion generates a 'precautionary effect'. As a result, justification is provided for the Precautionary Principle that is different from the ones provided by expected utility theory. This essay serves both as an application of the general theoretical results derived in the first essay and also stands alone as an analysis of a substantive question about environmental law. Prediction markets have attracted public attention in recent years for making accurate predictions about election outcomes, product sales, film box office and myriad other variables of interest and many believe that they will soon become a very important decision support system in a wide variety of areas including governance, law and industry. For successful design of these markets, a thorough understanding of the theoretical and empirical foundations of such markets is necessary. But the information aggregation process in these markets is not fully understood yet. There remains a number of open questions. The third essay, joint with Robert Lieli, attempts to analyze the direction and timing of information flow between prices, polls, and media coverage of events traded on prediction markets. Specifically, we examine the race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic primaries for presidential nomination. Substantively, we ask the following question: (i) Do prediction market prices have information that is not reflected in viii contemporaneous polls and media stories? (ii) Conversely, do prices react to information that appears to be news for pollsters or is prominently featured by the media? Quantitatively, we construct time series variables that reflect the "pollster's surprise" in each primary election, measured as the difference between actual vote share and vote share predicted by the latest poll before the primary, as well as indices that describe the extent of media coverage received by the candidates. We carry out Granger Causality tests between the day-to-day percentage change in the price of the "Obama wins nomination" security and these information variables. Some key results from our exercise can be summarized as follows. There seems to be mutual (two-way) Granger causality between prediction market prices and the surprise element in the primaries. There is also evidence of one-way Granger causality in the short run from price changes towards media news indices. These results suggest that prediction market prices anticipate at least some of the discrepancy between the actual outcome and the latest round of polls before the election. Nevertheless, prices also seem to be driven partly by election results, suggesting that there is an element of the pollster’s surprise that is genuine news for the market as well. / text

Global spread of infectious disease threatens the well-being of human, domestic, and wildlife health. A proper understanding of global distribution of these diseases is an important part of disease management and policy making. However, data are subject to complexities by heterogeneity across host classes and space-time epidemic processes [Waller et al., 1997, Hosseini et al., 2006]. The use of frequentist methods in Biostatistics and epidemiology are common and are therefore extensively utilized in answering varied research questions. In this thesis, we proposed the Hierarchical Bayesian approach to study the spatial and the spatio-temporal pattern of tuberculosis in Kenya [Knorr-Held et al., 1998, Knorr-Held, 1999, L opez-Qu lez and Munoz, 2009, Waller et al., 1997, Julian Besag, 1991]. Space and time interaction of risk (ψ[ij]) is an important factor considered in this thesis. The Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method via WinBUGS and R packages were used for simulations [Ntzoufras, 2011, Congdon, 2010, David et al., 1995, Gimenez et al., 2009, Brian, 2003], and the Deviance Information Criterion (DIC), proposed by [Spiegelhalter et al., 2002], used for models comparison and selection. Variation in TB risk is observed among Kenya counties and clustering among counties with high TB relative risk (RR). HIV prevalence is identified as the dominant determinant of TB. We found clustering and heterogeneity of risk among high rate counties and the overall TB risk is slightly decreasing from 2002-2009. Interaction of TB relative risk in space and time is found to be increasing among rural counties that share boundaries with urban counties with high TB risk. This is as a result of the ability of models to borrow strength from neighbouring counties, such that near by counties have similar risk. Although the approaches are less than ideal, we hope that our formulations provide a useful stepping stone in the development of spatial and spatio-temporal methodology for the statistical analysis of risk from TB in Kenya. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

Mit der Liberalisierung des Strommarkts, den unsicheren Aussichten in der Klimapolitik und stark schwankenden Preisen bei Brennstoffen, Emissionsrechten und Kraftwerkskomponenten hat bei Kraftwerksinvestitionen das Risikomanagement an Bedeutung gewonnen. Dies äußert sich im vermehrten Einsatz probabilistischer Verfahren. Insbesondere bei regulativen Risiken liefert der klassische, häufigkeitsbasierte Wahrscheinlichkeitsbegriff aber keine Handhabe zur Risikoquantifizierung. In dieser Arbeit werden Kraftwerksinvestitionen und -portfolien in Deutschland mit Methoden des Bayes'schen Risikomanagements bewertet. Die Bayes'sche Denkschule begreift Wahrscheinlichkeit als persönliches Maß für Unsicherheit. Wahrscheinlichkeiten können auch ohne statistische Datenanalyse allein mit Expertenbefragungen gewonnen werden. Das Zusammenwirken unsicherer Werttreiber wurde mit einem probabilistischen DCF-Modell (Discounted Cash Flow-Modell) spezifiziert und in ein Einflussdiagramm mit etwa 1200 Objekten umgesetzt. Da der Überwälzungsgrad von Brennstoff- und CO2-Kosten und damit die Höhe der von den Kraftwerken erwirtschafteten Deckungsbeiträge im Wettbewerb bestimmt werden, reicht eine einzelwirtschaftliche Betrachtung der Kraftwerke nicht aus. Strompreise und Auslastungen werden mit Heuristiken anhand der individuellen Position der Kraftwerke in der Merit Order bestimmt, d.h. anhand der nach kurzfristigen Grenzkosten gestaffelten Einsatzreihenfolge. Dazu wurden 113 thermische Großkraftwerke aus Deutschland in einer Merit Order vereinigt. Das Modell liefert Wahrscheinlichkeitsverteilungen für zentrale Größen wie Kapitalwerte von Bestandsportfolien sowie Stromgestehungskosten und Kapitalwerte von Einzelinvestitionen (Steinkohle- und Braunkohlekraftwerke mit und ohne CO2-Abscheidung sowie GuD-Kraftwerke). Der Wert der Bestandsportfolien von RWE, E.ON, EnBW und Vattenfall wird primär durch die Beiträge der Braunkohle- und Atomkraftwerke bestimmt. Erstaunlicherweise schlägt sich der Emissionshandel nicht in Verlusten nieder. Dies liegt einerseits an den Zusatzgewinnen der Atomkraftwerke, andererseits an den bis 2012 gratis zugeteilten Emissionsrechten, welche hohe Windfall-Profite generieren. Dadurch erweist sich der Emissionshandel in seiner konkreten Ausgestaltung insgesamt als gewinnbringendes Geschäft. Über die Restlaufzeit der Bestandskraftwerke resultiert ab 2008 aus der Einführung des Emissionshandels ein Barwertvorteil von insgesamt 8,6 Mrd. €. In ähnlicher Dimension liegen die Barwertvorteile aus der 2009 von der Bundesregierung in Aussicht gestellten Laufzeitverlängerung für Atomkraftwerke. Bei einer achtjährigen Laufzeitverlängerung ergäben sich je nach CO2-Preisniveau Barwertvorteile von 8 bis 15 Mrd. €. Mit höheren CO2-Preisen und Laufzeitverlängerungen von bis zu 28 Jahren würden 25 Mrd. € oder mehr zusätzlich anfallen. Langfristig erscheint fraglich, ob unter dem gegenwärtigen Marktdesign noch Anreize für Investitionen in fossile Kraftwerke gegeben sind. Zu Beginn der NAP 2-Periode noch rentable Investitionen in Braunkohle- und GuD-Kraftwerke werden mit der auslaufenden Gratiszuteilung von Emissionsrechten zunehmend unrentabler. Die Rentabilität wird durch Strommarkteffekte der erneuerbaren Energien und ausscheidender alter Gas- und Ölkraftwerke stetig weiter untergraben. Steinkohlekraftwerke erweisen sich selbst mit anfänglicher Gratiszuteilung als riskante Investition. Die festgestellten Anreizprobleme für Neuinvestitionen sollten jedoch nicht dem Emissionshandel zugeschrieben werden, sondern resultieren aus den an Grenzkosten orientierten Strompreisen. Das Anreizproblem ist allerdings bei moderaten CO2-Preisen am größten. Es gilt auch für Kraftwerke mit CO2-Abscheidung: Obwohl die erwarteten Vermeidungskosten für CCS-Kraftwerke gegenüber konventionellen Kohlekraftwerken im Jahr 2025 auf 25 €/t CO2 (Braunkohle) bzw. 38,5 €/t CO2 (Steinkohle) geschätzt werden, wird ihr Bau erst ab CO2-Preisen von 50 bzw. 77 €/t CO2 rentabel. Ob und welche Kraftwerksinvestitionen sich langfristig rechnen, wird letztlich aber politisch entschieden und ist selbst unter stark idealisierten Bedingungen kaum vorhersagbar. / Power plant investors face large uncertainties due to ongoing liberalization, climate policy, and long investment horizons. This study provides a probabilistic appraisal of power plant investments within the framework of Bayesian decision theory. A Bayesian influence diagram is used for setting up a discounted cash flow model and analysing the profitability of power plants. As the study explicitly models merit order pricing, the pass-through of random fuel and carbon costs may be analysed. The study derives probabilistic statements about net present values of single investments and company portfolios and explores the sensitivity of profits to variations of select input variables. In the majority of cases, an increase in the price of emission allowances also increases the net present value of existing power plant portfolios. A substantially increased carbon prices also is the prerequisite to diversify power plant portfolios by gas and CCS plants. For the currently prevailing German electricity market, we argue that investors may lack incentives for new investments in fossil generation, a finding that holds true also with implementation of CCS. Our estimates are conservative, as profitability will further deteriorate with the build-up of renewables.

No description available.

South Africa is at the southern fringe of sub-Saharan African countries which persist in experiencing malaria transmission. The purpose of the study is to analyse the geographical and temporal patterns of malaria transmission from 2000 to 2011 using Bayesian geostatistical modelling in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Hereafter, develop malaria case data-driven spatio-temporal models to assess malaria transmission in Limpopo Province. Malaria case data was acquired from the South African Medical Research Council (MRC). Population data was acquired from AfriPopo; and Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Land Surface Temperature (LST) and Land Cover data were acquired from MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS). Rainfall, Altitude and distance to water bodies’ data were acquired from African Data Dissemination Service (ADDS), United States Geological Survey (USGS) and Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), respectively. Bayesian spatio-temporal incidence models were formulated for Gibbs variable selection and models were fitted using the best set of environmental factors. Modelbased predictions were obtained over a regular grid of 1 x 1km. spatial resolution covering the entire province and expressed as rates of per 1 000 inhabitants for the year 2010. To assess the performance of the predicted malaria incidence risk maps, the predictions and field observations were compared. The best set of environmental factors selected by variable selection was Altitude and the night temperature of two months before the case was reported. The environmental factors were then used for model fitting and all of the covariates were important on malaria risk. Predictions were done using all the environmental factors. The predictions showed that Vhembe and Mopani district municipalities have high malaria transmission as compared to other district municipalities in Limpopo Province. Assessment of predictive performance showed scatter plots with the coefficient of determination ( R² ). The values representing the statistical correlation represented by the coefficient of determination ( R² ) were 0.9798 (January), 0.8736 (February), 0.8152 (March), 0.8861 (April), 0.9949 (May), 0.3838 (June), 0.7794 (July), 0.9235 (September), 0.8966 (October), 0.9834 (November) and 0.8958 (December). August had two values reported and predicted which resulted in R² of 1. The numbers of the The produced malaria incidence maps can possibly be considered as one of the baselines for future malaria control programmes. The results highlighted the risk factors of malaria in Limpopo Province which are the most important characteristics of malaria transmission. / M.Sc. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

Bayesian principle is conceptually simple and intuitively plausible to carry out but its numerical implementation is not always straightforward. Most of the times we have posterior distributions in terms of complicated analytical funs ions and be known only up to a multiplicative constant. Hence it becomes computationally difficult to attain the marginal densities and the moments of the posterior distributions in closed form. In the present study the leading methods, both analytical and numerical, for implementing Bayesian inference has been explored. In particular, the non-iterative Monte Carlo method known as Importance Sampling has been applied to approximate the posterior expectations of the Lognormal and Cauchy distributions, belonging to the Exponential family and the non-Exponential family of distributions respectively. Sample values from these distributions have been simulated through computer programming. Calculations are done mostly by C++ programming language and Mathematica. / Department of Mathematical Sciences

Denna kvalitativa studies syfte är att undersöka, kartlägga och analysera sociala interaktionsmönster kring beslutsprocessen på Migrationsverkets asylprövning utifrån asylbeslutsfattares perspektiv. Genom att luta sig mot teori om beslut inom ramen för administrativt beteende samt teori om ansvarfördelning analyseras empirisk data insamlat med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer med beslutsfattare från olika asylprövningsenheter.Studiens resultat visar att det finns invecklade sociala interaktionsmönster i asylbeslutsfattandet samt att tre kommunikationstyper kunde identifieras; informella, formella och semiformella. Beslutsfattare växlar mellan dessa typer i beslutsprocessens olika steg. Med hjälp av utvecklade sociala kommunikationsmönster, omsätts en tidspressad beslutsplan i handling. Sammantaget påvisar studien den administrativa människans begränsade rationalitet. På grund av ringa sociologiska forskning inom området är studien ett bidrag till disciplinen. / This qualitative study aims to investigate, identify and analyze social interaction patterns regarding the decision-making process at the Migration board’s asylum processing unit from the perspective of the asylum officer. Empirical data, which is collected through semi-structured interviews with asylum officers from different Migration board entities, is analyzed by employing different theories on decision-making in the context of administrative behavior and diffusion of responsibility. The outcome of the study shows that there is an intricate social interaction pattern in the asylum decision process and three communication types have been identified: informal, formal and semi-formal. The asylum officer switches between these types in the various stages of the decision-making process. Through developed social communication patterns, a time-pressured decision-making plan is put in action. Generally, the study demonstrates the bounded rationality of the administrative person. Due to lack of sociological research in this area, this study is a contribution to the field.

Zugl.: Fribourg, Univ., Diss., 2008 u.d.T.: Ardia, David: Bayesian estimation of single regime and regime switching GARCH models

Thesis (M.S.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science, Department of Computer Science, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xiv, 155 p.; also includes graphics (some col.). Includes bibliographical references (p. 147-155). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center