School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences

About: School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences is a facility organization based out in Villejuif, France. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Politics & Context (language use). The organization has 1230 authors who have published 2084 publications receiving 57740 citations. The organization is also known as: Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales & EHESS.

Do People Always Pay Less than They Say? Testbed Laboratory Experiments with IV and HG Values

Abstract: Hypothetical bias is a long-standing issue in stated preference and contingent valuation studies - people tend to overstate their preferences when they do not experience the real monetary consequences of their decision. This view, however, has been challenged by recent evidence based on the elicitation of induced values (IV) in the lab and homegrown (HG) demand function from different countries. This paper uses an experimental design to assess the extent and relevance of hypothetical bias in demand elicitation exercises for both IV and HG values. For testbed purpose, we use a classic second-price auction to elicit preferences. Comparing the demand curve we elicit in both, hypothetical bias unambiguously (i) vanishes in an induced-value, private good context, and (ii) persists in homegrown values elicitation context. This suggests hypothetical bias in preference elicitation appears to be driven by “preference formation” rather than "preference elicitation". In addition, companion treatments highlight two sources of the discrepancy observed in the HG setting: the hypothetical context leads bidders to underestimate the constraints imposed by their budget limitations, whereas the real context creates pressure leading them to bid "zero" to opt out from the elicitation mechanism. As a result, there is a need for a demand elicitation procedure that helps subjects take the valuation exercise sincerely, but without putting extra pressure on them.

Technological Fix or Divisible Object of Collective Concern? Histories of Conflict over the Geological Disposal of Nuclear Waste in Sweden and France

Abstract: Science and technology studies (STS) has cultivated a positive vision of technological controversies. By raising new issues to address, controversies are seen as generating more thorough and exhaus...

Economic Macrojustice: Fair Optimum Income Distribution, Taxation and Transfers

Abstract: The basic, core theory of overall distributive justice in macrojustice is presented in this chapter. The basic facts are the following. (1) General opinion rejects differences in tastes and hedonic capacities as relevant for macrojustice in a society in a normal situation. (2) Experience shows the possibility of transfers based on given capacities with practically no disincentive effect (exemption of overtime labour earnings from the income tax). (3) Pareto efficiency is desired and a condition of stability. (4) Social liberty from given resources is desired and necessary. (5) Equal real liberty (for different domains of choice) is a priori desired and rational. The result is a simple distributive scheme rich of some twenty meaningful equivalent properties, including free exchange and labour from a given equal-labour income equalisation; general balanced labour reciprocity; basic income financed by an equal labour of each (or according to capacity); a “concentration” of total income; etc. The issues of the determination of the degree of redistribution and equalisation, and the relations with the rest of public finance are briefly recalled.

Metacognition and metarepresentation: is a self-directed theory of mind a precondition for metacognition?

Abstract: Metacognition is often defined as thinking about thinking. It is exempli fied in all the activities through which one tries to predict and evaluate one's own mental dispositions, states and properties for their cognitive adequacy. This article discusses the view that metacognition has metarepresentational structure. Properties such as causal contiguity, epistemic transparency and procedural reflexivity are pres ent in metacognition but missing in metarepresentation, while open-ended recursivity and inferential promiscuity only occur in metarepresentation. It is concluded that, although metarepresentations can redescribe metacognitive contents, metacognition and metarepresentation are functionally distinct.