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: Population & Politics. 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.

French future: Exploring the future ratification hypothesis

Abstract: The paper proposes a unified account of the systematic polysemy of French future (FUT) that does not uniquely rely on Aktionsart. It explains the predominant preference for the temporal interpretation of FUT, appealing to the ‘future ratification hypothesis’. This is a felicity condition that can be satisfied to different degrees and among competing interpretations the one that satisfies it to the highest degree is preferred. The paper also shows that FUT does not convey uncertainty at utterance time (tu), and can be used when the attitude holder knows at tu that the embedded proposition is true.

Self and Body Part Localization in Virtual Reality: Comparing a Headset and a Large-Screen Immersive Display.

Abstract: It is currently not fully understood where people precisely locate themselves in their bodies, particularly in virtual reality. To investigate this, we asked participants to point directly at themselves and to several of their body parts with a virtual pointer, in two virtual reality (VR) setups, a VR headset and a large-screen immersive display (LSID). There was a difference in distance error in pointing to body parts depending on VR setup. Participants pointed relatively accurately to many of their body parts (i.e. eyes, nose, chin, shoulders and waist). However, in both VR setups when pointing to the feet and the knees they pointed too low, and for the top of the head too high (to larger extents in the VR headset). Taking these distortions into account, the locations found for pointing to self were considered in terms of perceived bodies, based on where the participants had pointed to their body parts in the two VR setups. Pointing to self in terms of the perceived body was mostly to the face, the upper followed by the lower, as well as some to the torso regions. There was no significant overall effect of VR condition for pointing to self in terms of the perceived body (but there was a significant effect of VR if only the physical body (as measured) was considered). In a paper-and-pencil task outside of VR, performed by pointing on a picture of a simple body outline (body template task), participants pointed most to the upper torso. Possible explanations for the differences between pointing to self in the VR setups and the body template task are discussed. The main finding of this study is that the VR setup influences where people point to their body parts, but not to themselves, when perceived and not physical body parts are considered.

Rethinking the Political: The Sacred, Aesthetic Politics, and the Collège de Sociologie:

Abstract: Despite the many strengths of the book, a point of weakness involves a lack of theoretical development of the international context informing the development of the social funds. The author often points to the importance of each nation-state’s historical and political contexts in not only contributing to the bureaucratic culture of the funds, but also their relative successes and failures. The application of Gramscian civil society is predominantly inward-looking, and rings insular, particularly given the different geostrategic and political economic positions of nation-states throughout the global south. Egypt’s geo-strategic importance, for example, is referenced multiple times, making the weaker theorizing of how international contexts influence the construction and execution of the social funds all the more pronounced. Given that the World Bank is a strong proponent of developing emancipatory political institutions and was a strong backer of the social funds in each state, a more detailed theoretical discussion of how international factors shaped the development of the funds as well as expectations about how they would operate would have made a welcome addition. This point of criticism aside, El-Mahdi provides a needed critical assessment of social funds as vehicles for development. The book is rich in its historical detail, yet is written accessibly to those without expertise in either Bolivia or Egypt. It will be of interest to scholars of development, globalization, political economy, and civil society.

Assessing the extent of strategic manipulation: the average vote example

Abstract: The average voting procedure reflects the weighted average of expressed opinions in [0,1]. Participants typically behave strategically. We evaluate the discrepancy between the average taste and the average vote. If the population is sufficiently large, it is possible to construct approximations of both the average vote and the average taste which may be readily compared. We construct upper and lower bounds for the limit average vote that depend on the limit average taste. If the average taste is central enough, the range of possible values for the average voting outcome is narrower than the corresponding range for majority voting. For instance, if the average taste is at 1/2, the limit equilibrium outcome is this value plus or minus roughly .2, whereas the weighted median maybe anywhere in the [0,1] interval.

Wage and Productivity Differentials in Japan: The Role of Labor Market Mechanisms

Abstract: This paper aims at explaining two stylized facts of the Lost Decade in Japan: rising wage inequalities and increasing firm-level productivity differentials. We build a model where firms can choose between efficiency wages with endogenous effort and competitive wages, and show that it can replicate those facts. Using Japanese microeconomic data, we find support for the existence of efficiency wages in one group of firms and competitive wages in the other group. Based on those results, a simulation shows that the share of firms using efficiency wages has declined, within sectors, during the Lost Decade, as predicted by the model.