Giving Advice Versus Making Decisions: Transparency, Information, and Delegation

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 471-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Gailmard ◽  
John W. Patty
Keyword(s):  
Private Information ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Equilibrium Amount ◽  
Multiple Actors

We generalize standard delegation models to consider policymaking when both information and authority are dispersed among multiple actors. In our theory, the principal may delegate partial authority to a privately informed agent while also reserving some authority for the principal’s use after observing the agent’s decision. Counterintuitively, the equilibrium amount of authority delegated to the agent is increasing in the preference divergence between the principal and agent. We also show that the amount of authority delegated depends upon whether the agent can observe the principal’s own private information (a condition we refer to as “top-down transparency”): this form of transparency increases the authority that must be delegated to the agent to obtain truthful policymaking. Accordingly, such transparency can result in less-informed policymaking. Nonetheless, the principal will sometimes but not always voluntarily choose such transparency.

A Theory of Participative Budgeting

2013 ◽  
Vol 89 (3) ◽  
pp. 1025-1050 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirko S. Heinle ◽  
Nicholas Ross ◽  
Richard E. Saouma
Keyword(s):  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Private Information ◽  
Agency Costs ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Maximal Level ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Budgetary Slack ◽  
Participative Budgeting ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Budgeting Process

ABSTRACT This paper complements the ongoing empirical discussion surrounding participative budgeting by comparing its economic merits relative to a top-down budgeting alternative. In both budgeting regimes, private information is communicated vertically between a principal and a manager. We show that top-down budgeting incurs fewer agency costs than bottom-up budgeting whenever the level of information asymmetry is relatively low. Although the choice between top-down and bottom-up budgeting ultimately determines who receives private information within the firm, we find that both the principal and manager's preferences over the allocation of private information remain qualitatively similar across the two budgeting paradigms. Specifically, while the principal always prefers either minimal or maximal private information, the manager prefers an interim or maximal level of private information regardless of who is privately informed. Last, we use our model to address empirical inconsistencies relating the firm's choice of budgeting process, the resulting budgetary slack, and performance.

scholarly journals Territorialization of Public Action and Mountain Pastoral Areas—Case Study of the Territorial Pastoral Plans of the Rhône-Alpes Region, France

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 8014
Author(s):  
Carine Pachoud
Keyword(s):  
Rural Development ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Wolf Predation ◽  
Public Action ◽  
Local Contexts ◽  
Awareness Raising ◽  
Sustainability Challenges ◽  
Multiple Actors

Territorialization aims at improving the effectiveness of public action by adapting to local contexts and including a wide diversity of actors. In the 2000s, the French local authorities, with the support of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), launched more transversal and bottom-up policies on the development of mountain pastoral territories in order to counter national and European sectoral and top-down policies. This article focuses on the Territorial Pastoral Plans (TPPs), a policy of the Rhône-Alpes region, which funds projects defined collaboratively between multiple actors in pastoral territories. The objective is to shed the light on the implementation modalities of the TPPs, and to understand the strengths and weaknesses of this policy in terms of governance to respond to the sustainability challenges of the Rhône-Alpine pastoral territories. A document analysis was achieved and interviews were conducted with nine key actors from four pastoral territories. Results showed that awareness-raising and mediation projects are becoming increasingly important because of the growing conflicts linked to the multi-purpose use of these lands and to wolf predation. Moreover, the integration of environmental actors allows better consideration of ecology in projects. However, the current budgetary restrictions limit their capacity of action within the policy.

scholarly journals Religious Revival among the Zhuang People in China: Practising “Superstition” and Standardizing a Zhuang Religion

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ya-ning Kao
Keyword(s):  
Religious Practice ◽  
Institutional Framework ◽  
Government Policies ◽  
Modern Concept ◽  
Religious Revival ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Multiple Actors

This paper examines two cases of Zhuang religious revival involving multiple actors. It shows how consideration of “superstition” ([Formula: see text], mixin) places some religious practice outside the institutional framework when discussing the modern concept of religion in China. In this paper, I particularly focus on two main dimensions of religious revival among the Zhuang people. The first is a grassroots dimension that involves the revival of a so-called “superstitious” cult in which Zhuang people along the Sino-Vietnamese border carry out shamanic rituals to make offerings to a powerful chief-turned-deity, Nong Zhigao, and his wife. The second dimension is a top-down dynamic and involves a series of projects conducted by Zhuang officials, scholars and business persons, which aim to standardize a Zhuang religion, known as Mo religion. These two cases of religious revival demonstrate the varied strategies utilized by different actors in response to government policies regarding religion in China.

The Strategic Effects of Auditing Standard No. 5 in a Multi-Location Setting

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyn R. Patterson ◽  
J. Reed Smith
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Private Information ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Control Strength ◽  
Financial Statement Audit ◽  
Financial Misstatement ◽  
Strategic Effects

SUMMARY Auditing Standard No. (AS) 5 provides guidance in the required audit of internal control over financial reporting and its integration into the financial statement audit. AS 5 advocates a “top-down” approach, in which control testing helps the auditor assess the risk of financial misstatement across multiple locations. We consider a manager who oversees two locations and who has private information about internal control strength in each location. Only when controls are weak can the manager commit fraud. We show how the manager's opportunity to commit fraud and informational characteristics of internal control tests impact the manager's probability choice of fraud and the auditor's choice of substantive test effort.

The Effectiveness of Human Rights

2021 ◽  
pp. 9-48
Author(s):  
Gráinne de Búrca
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Crucial Importance ◽  
Top Down ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
External Intervention ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Multiple Actors

This chapter surveys existing theories of the effectiveness of human rights, and notes that several prominent accounts have adopted either a ‘top down’ or a ‘bottom up’ theory of effectiveness, emphasizing either external intervention or grassroots mobilization as the primary motor of change. The experimentalist theory advanced in this chapter and throughout the book, however, argues that the effectiveness of much human rights law and advocacy comes neither primarily from top-down intervention nor primarily from bottom-up action but through the iterative interaction between multiple actors, norms and institutions situated at different levels within and outside the state. Building on an emerging scholarship from political scientists, anthropologists, and human rights practitioners, the chapter advances an experimentalist account of international human rights law and advocacy, and introduces the three case studies of human rights campaigns which will be discussed in subsequent chapters. The experimentalist account emphasizes the crucial importance of social mobilization and civil society activism, but argues that the interaction of domestic activism with international accountability institutions is particularly effective in promoting human rights.

scholarly journals Interveillance: A New Culture of Recognition and Mediatization

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 81-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Jansson
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Private Information ◽  
Classical Model ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Critical Perspective ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Emerging Culture

The everyday uses of networked media technologies, especially social media, have revolutionized the classical model of top-down surveillance. This article sketches the contours of an emerging culture of interveillance where non-hierarchical and non-systematic monitoring practices are part of everyday life. It also introduces a critical perspective on how the industrial logics of dominant social media, through which interveillance practices are normalized, resonate with social forces already at play in individualized societies. The argument is developed in three steps. Firstly, it is argued that the concept of interveillance is needed, and must be distinguished from surveillance, in order to critically assess the everyday mutual sharing and disclosure of private information (of many different kinds). Secondly, it is argued that the culture of interveillance responds to the social deficit of recognition<em> </em>that characterizes highly individualized societies. Finally, it is argued that the culture of interveillance constitutes a defining instance and even represents a new stage of the meta-process of mediatization. The dialectical nature of interveillance integrates <em>and</em> reinforces the overarching ambiguities of mediatization, whereby the opportunities for individuals and groups to achieve growing freedom and autonomy are paralleled by limitations and dependences vis-à-vis media.

Top-Down Processing and Visual Reorientation Illusions in a Virtual Reality Environment

2004 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred W. Mast ◽  
Charles M. Oman
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Line Length ◽  
Perceptual Cues ◽  
Virtual Reality Environment ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Test Conditions ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Processing Mechanisms

The role of top-down processing on the horizontal-vertical line length illusion was examined by means of an ambiguous room with dual visual verticals. In one of the test conditions, the subjects were cued to one of the two verticals and were instructed to cognitively reassign the apparent vertical to the cued orientation. When they have mentally adjusted their perception, two lines in a plus sign configuration appeared and the subjects had to evaluate which line was longer. The results showed that the line length appeared longer when it was aligned with the direction of the vertical currently perceived by the subject. This study provides a demonstration that top-down processing influences lower level visual processing mechanisms. In another test condition, the subjects had all perceptual cues available and the influence was even stronger.

Functional Anatomy of Intensity Aspects of Attention

2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Sturm
Keyword(s):  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Functional Anatomy ◽  
Fmri Data ◽  
Functional Networks ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Stimulus Modality ◽  
Spatial Orienting ◽  
Phasic Alertness ◽  
Co Activation ◽  
Attention System

Abstract: Behavioral and PET/fMRI-data are presented to delineate the functional networks subserving alertness, sustained attention, and vigilance as different aspects of attention intensity. The data suggest that a mostly right-hemisphere frontal, parietal, thalamic, and brainstem network plays an important role in the regulation of attention intensity, irrespective of stimulus modality. Under conditions of phasic alertness there is less right frontal activation reflecting a diminished need for top-down regulation with phasic extrinsic stimulation. Furthermore, a high overlap between the functional networks for alerting and spatial orienting of attention is demonstrated. These findings support the hypothesis of a co-activation of the posterior attention system involved in spatial orienting by the anterior alerting network. Possible implications of these findings for the therapy of neglect are proposed.

Auswirkungen eines Aufmerksamkeitstrainings auf die aphasische Symptomatik bei Schlaganfallpatienten

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Graf ◽  
Hartwig Kulke ◽  
Christa Sous-Kulke ◽  
Wilfried Schupp ◽  
Stefan Lautenbacher
Keyword(s):  
Top Down

Aufmerksamkeit kann als Kontrollsystem neuronaler Aktivität verstanden werden, welches Neuroplastizität top-down modulieren hilft. Bisher wurde selten versucht, durch deren gezielte Förderung Funktionswiederherstellungen nach Hirnschädigung zu begünstigen. In vorliegender Studie wurde dies am Beispiel der Aphasie erprobt. 15 Schlaganfallpatienten erhielten ein dreiwöchiges Training der selektiven Aufmerksamkeit mit den PC-Programmen CogniPlus und „Konzentration“ bei fünf Sitzungen pro Woche zusätzlich zur Standardtherapie, 13 weitere bildeten eine Kontrollgruppe ohne Aufmerksamkeitstraining. Zur Effektivitätskontrolle dienten zwei Versionen des Untertests Go/Nogo (Testbatterie zur Aufmerksamkeitsprüfung) und die Kurze Aphasieprüfung. Nach dem Training manifestierte sich zwischen den Untersuchungsgruppen kein Unterschied in Aufmerksamkeits- und Sprachfunktionen; das zusätzliche Aufmerksamkeitstraining war also wirkungslos. Allerdings zeigten Patienten mit deutlichen Aufmerksamkeitsverbesserungen tendenziell weniger Aphasie-Symptome, was die Hypothese aufmerksamkeitsvermittelter Plastizitätsmodulation nach Hirnschädigung partiell stützt.

Aufmerksamkeitswechsel und Konzentration: Von den Funktionen zum Mechanismus

2001 ◽  
Vol 209 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rainer Bösel
Keyword(s):  
Top Down ◽  
Eeg Alpha

Zusammenfassung. Aufmerksamkeit wird sowohl als Selektivität in der bewußter Verarbeitung oder auch als selektive neuronale Aktivierung verstanden. Die neuronalen Strukturen, die Objektdiskrimination ermöglichen, erlauben eine Interaktion von datengetriebenen und endogenen top-down Prozessen, die zu einer selektiven Bereitstellung von Verarbeitungs-Ressourcen führen. Zielgerichtetes Verhalten erfordert manchmal einen Wechsel in der Ressourcen-Bereitstellung und eine Konzentration von mentaler Aktivität. Aufmerksamkeitswechsel kann als ein zweiphasiger Prozeß verstanden werden, der aus einer breiten Mobilisierung von Gedächtnis-Ressourcen besteht (angezeigt durch EEG-Theta), gefolgt von einer re-organisierenden Einengung neuronaler Aktivität (angezeigt durch langsames EEG-Alpha). Dieser Beitrag unterstützt die Annahme, daß die Analyse des gekoppelten Wechselspiels aus Mobilisierung und Konzentration in bestimmten Teilen der posterioren und anterioren Rindenregionen ein Schlüssel für das Verständnis von Aufmerksamkeitswechsel sein könnte.

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