Showing papers on "Delegation published in 2022"

Accountability in an Algorithmic Society: Relationality, Responsibility, and Robustness in Machine Learning

Abstract: In 1996, Accountability in a Computerized Society [95] issued a clarion call concerning the erosion of accountability in society due to the ubiquitous delegation of consequential functions to computerized systems. Nissenbaum [95] described four barriers to accountability that computerization presented, which we revisit in relation to the ascendance of data-driven algorithmic systems—i.e., machine learning or artificial intelligence—to uncover new challenges for accountability that these systems present. Nissenbaum’s original paper grounded discussion of the barriers in moral philosophy; we bring this analysis together with recent scholarship on relational accountability frameworks and discuss how the barriers present difficulties for instantiating a unified moral, relational framework in practice for data-driven algorithmic systems. We conclude by discussing ways of weakening the barriers in order to do so.

Human-AI Collaboration via Conditional Delegation: A Case Study of Content Moderation

Abstract: Despite impressive performance in many benchmark datasets, AI models can still make mistakes, especially among out-of-distribution examples. It remains an open question how such imperfect models can be used effectively in collaboration with humans. Prior work has focused on AI assistance that helps people make individual high-stakes decisions, which is not scalable for a large amount of relatively low-stakes decisions, e.g., moderating social media comments. Instead, we propose conditional delegation as an alternative paradigm for human-AI collaboration where humans create rules to indicate trustworthy regions of a model. Using content moderation as a testbed, we develop novel interfaces to assist humans in creating conditional delegation rules and conduct a randomized experiment with two datasets to simulate in-distribution and out-of-distribution scenarios. Our study demonstrates the promise of conditional delegation in improving model performance and provides insights into design for this novel paradigm, including the effect of AI explanations.

Cognitive Challenges in Human–Artificial Intelligence Collaboration: Investigating the Path Toward Productive Delegation

Abstract: A consensus is beginning to emerge that the next phase of artificial intelligence (AI) induction in business organizations will require humans to work with AI in a variety of work arrangements. This article explores the issues related to human capabilities to work with AI. A key to working in many work arrangements is the ability to delegate work to entities that can do them most efficiently. Modern AI can do a remarkable job of efficient delegation to humans because it knows what it knows well and what it does not. Humans, on the other hand, are poor judges of their metaknowledge and are not good at delegating knowledge work to AI—this might prove to be a big stumbling block to create work environments where humans and AI work together. Humans have often created machines to serve them. The sentiment is perhaps exemplified by Oscar Wilde’s statement that “civilization requires slaves…. Human slavery is wrong, insecure and demoralizing. On mechanical slavery, on the slavery of the machine, the future of the world depends.” However, the time has come when humans might switch roles with machines. Our study highlights capabilities that humans need to effectively work with AI and still be in control rather than just being directed.

Delegation Mechanism-Based Large-Scale Group Decision Making With Heterogeneous Experts and Overlapping Communities

Abstract: The widespread utilization of novel technological and societal paradigms gave birth to the development large-scale group decision making. This study focuses on two issues regarding the structure of the large group. The first is about the overlapping clusters/communities (interdependent subgroups) of large-scale experts identified from the dimension reduction process. The second is regarding the situation in which internal and external experts (i.e., heterogeneous experts) exist in a large-scale group decision-making problem simultaneously. To manage the first issue, we propose to use an existing overlapping community detection method to cluster experts considering the independencies of communities. To address the second issue, a delegation mechanism is introduced to allocate the trust weights of external experts to internal experts. Furthermore, to reach a consensus for large-scale experts, a consensus measure based on two reference points (global collective preference and community preference) is given. Finally, an illustrative example regarding 5G technology investment is provided to verify the applicability of the proposed model.

Delegation or Collaboration: Understanding Different Construction Stakeholders’ Perceptions of Robotization

Abstract: Recent advances in robotic technologies have stimulated interest in bringing robots onto construction sites, which will in turn bring robots and humans into closer working proximity. Introd...

Delegation or Collaboration: Understanding Different Construction Stakeholders’ Perceptions of Robotization

Abstract: Recent advances in robotic technologies have stimulated interest in bringing robots onto construction sites, which will in turn bring robots and humans into closer working proximity. Introducing robots requires significant redesign of construction processes, crew compositions, and task allocations, and understanding potential end users’ perceptions and expectations of these robots is the critical first step in designing and implementing effective collaborative work between humans and robots. To this end, this study examines trade workers’ and managers’ perceptions and expectations of construction robots. This study undertook a qualitative content analysis of interviews with 36 construction professionals to examine how different stakeholders present their perceptions and expectations of robots, depending on their organizational position and specialized trade work. The analysis results indicate that job complexity and the perceived safety risk associated with the trade most significantly influence workers’ desired capabilities for robots as well as their perceptions of robots’ usefulness. Based on these findings, this study establishes workers’ fundamental conceptions of construction robots with respect to job characteristics, establishing the groundwork and direction for future construction robot development.

Regulating a monopolist with uncertain costs without transfers

Abstract: We analyze the Baron and Myerson (1982) model of regulation under the restriction that transfers are infeasible. Extending techniques from the delegation literature to incorporate an ex post participation constraint, we report sufficient conditions under which optimal regulation takes the form of price‐cap regulation. We establish conditions under which the optimal price cap is set at a level such that no types are excluded and show that exclusion of higher cost types can be optimal when these conditions fail. We also provide conditions for the optimality of price‐cap regulation when an ex post participation constraint is present and exclusion is infeasible.

The sense of agency in emerging technologies for human–computer integration: A review

Abstract: Human–computer integration is an emerging area in which the boundary between humans and technology is blurred as users and computers work collaboratively and share agency to execute tasks. The sense of agency (SoA) is an experience that arises by a combination of a voluntary motor action and sensory evidence whether the corresponding body movements have somehow influenced the course of external events. The SoA is not only a key part of our experiences in daily life but also in our interaction with technology as it gives us the feeling of “I did that” as opposed to “the system did that,” thus supporting a feeling of being in control. This feeling becomes critical with human–computer integration, wherein emerging technology directly influences people’s body, their actions, and the resulting outcomes. In this review, we analyse and classify current integration technologies based on what we currently know about agency in the literature, and propose a distinction between body augmentation, action augmentation, and outcome augmentation. For each category, we describe agency considerations and markers of differentiation that illustrate a relationship between assistance level (low, high), agency delegation (human, technology), and integration type (fusion, symbiosis). We conclude with a reflection on the opportunities and challenges of integrating humans with computers, and finalise with an expanded definition of human–computer integration including agency aspects which we consider to be particularly relevant. The aim this review is to provide researchers and practitioners with guidelines to situate their work within the integration research agenda and consider the implications of any technologies on SoA, and thus overall user experience when designing future technology.

Managing Social Responsibility in Multitier Supply Chains

Abstract: Problem definition: We study the management of social responsibility in a three-tier supply chain with a tier 2 supplier selling to a tier 1 supplier, in turn selling to a tier 0 buyer. The tier 2 supplier may violate social and environmental standards, resulting in harm to all firms in the supply chain; we analyze the equilibrium allocation of costly effort by each firm to improve responsibility in tier 2. We also examine how pressure from external stakeholders (consumers, nongovernmental organizations, and governments) influences the optimal level of responsibility. Academic/practical relevance: Recently, there have been numerous serious responsibility violations in tiers 2+ of multinational supply chains, leading to significant negative consequences for firms and society; understanding how best to manage such violations is of practical importance to multiple stakeholders. Methodology: We employ a game theoretic model wherein each firm in the supply chain optimizes its responsibility efforts to maximize its own profit and study the implications of this decentralized optimization for the overall supply chain. Results: Under the conditions of our model, the buyer’s optimal strategy is one of extremes, consisting of direct control (only tier 0 works with tier 2), delegation (only tier 1 works with tier 2), or no effort (neither firm works with tier 2); we determine when each is optimal and discuss key drivers of the optimality of these extreme strategies. We further find that increasing some types of external pressure can backfire, leading to a lower level of responsibility. Managerial implications: For firms using multitier supply chains, we show how to manage risk by choosing between different responsibility management strategies. For external stakeholders seeking to encourage responsibility, we provide insights on how to achieve this while avoiding “backfiring.” For researchers, we provide a modeling framework to study responsibility and risk management problems in multitier supply chains. History: This paper has been accepted for the Manufacturing & Service Operations Management Special Section on Responsible Research in Operations Management. Supplemental Material: The online supplement is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2021.1063 .

Corporate social responsibility focusing on consumer surplus and endogenous competition structure: A case of managerial delegation

Abstract: We suppose that firms care about corporate social responsibility (CSR) and revisit the endogenous choice between price and quantity. We consider that each owner can delegate the decision on market competition to their manager. We express the objective of each firm's owner as the weighted sum of their profit and consumer surplus. We find that the two types of symmetric competitions are observed in equilibrium regardless of the degree of importance of CSR within each firm. In contrast, which of their two competitions is chosen based on the risk domination strikingly depends on the degree of importance of CSR.

Where Have the Guardians Gone? Law Enforcement and the Politics of Supranational Forbearance in the European Union

Abstract: Why would a supranational law enforcer suddenly refrain from wielding its powers? We theorize the supranational politics of forbearance– the deliberate under-enforcement of the law– and distinguish them from domestic forbearance. We explain why an exemplary supranational enforcer– the European Commission– became reluctant to launch infringements against European Union member states. While the Commission’s legislative role as “engine of integration” has been controversial, its enforcement role as “guardian of the Treaties” has been viewed as less contentious. Yet after 2004, infringements launched by the Commission plummeted. Triangulating between infringement statistics and elite interviews, we trace how the Commission grew alarmed that aggressive enforcement was jeopardizing intergovernmental support for its policy proposals. By embracing dialogue with governments over robust enforcement, the Commission sacrificed its role as guardian of the Treaties to safeguard its role as engine of integration. Our analysis holds broader implications for the study of forbearance in international organizations.

Economic Development of the Iraqi Gas Sector in Conjunction with the Oil Industry

Abstract: The relevance of this article is due, on the one hand, to the importance of the oil and gas industry in the development of Iraq and, on the other hand, the inability to enhance the existing capacities of the gas industry due to both serious systemic internal causes and external problems. The objective of this article is to study the prospects of the gas industry in conjunction with the oil industry, and develop a strategy for their development based on the forecasting of future scenarios. In the article, the research methods used included a systematic analysis of economic, social and cultural conditions, considering the history of Iraq, including a review of statistical data and a variety of sources. The article proposes a method for choosing the industry development strategy on the basis of an analytical hierarchy process, based on an algorithm of iterative processes using an analysis of hierarchies. To clarify the actors’ policies and strategic goals and to find the optimal solution, repeated iterations of the choice of strategy have been proposed. The strategies were divided into alternative strategies for future scenarios, which were evaluated in actions as able to achieve the goals by determining the consistency ratio and the consistency index. As a result of the study, we can highlight the analysis of the centralized system of oil and gas resources’ management that has developed in Iraq, which has a complicated “top-down” delegation of decisions and responsibility, with decisions made at the political level and resources distributed from above, which precludes individual industries from performing their functions, and also limits the effective implementation of strategic development priorities. The development factors for the gas industry in Iraq were identified and systematized with a rationale for the direction of the industry’s strategic development. Groups of factors were identified: market-affecting determinants of the development of the gas industry, as well as other considerations that may, to a lesser extent, affect the development of Iraq’s gas industry and the oil and gas complex as a whole. The results, assessing the significance of the actors’ goals, can be taken as a basis for development strategies for the oil and gas industry, to improve the contract system of the gas industry in conjunction with the oil industry.

Wolf Pack Activism

Abstract: Blockholder monitoring is central to corporate governance, but blockholders large enough to exercise significant unilateral influence are rare. Mechanisms that enable moderately sized blockholders to exert collective influence are therefore important. Existing theory suggests that engagement by moderately sized blockholders is unlikely, especially when the blocks are held by delegated asset managers who have limited skin in the game. We present a model in which multiple delegated blockholders engage target management in parallel, that is, “wolf pack activism.” Delegation reduces skin in the game, which decreases incentives for engagement. However, it also induces competition over investor capital (i.e., competition for flow). We show that this increases engagement incentives and helps ameliorate the problem of insufficient engagement, although it can also foster excess engagement. Under competition for flow, the total amount of capital seeking skilled activist managers is relevant to engagement incentives, which helps to predict when and where wolf packs arise. Flow incentives are particularly valuable in incentivizing engagement by packs with smaller members. This paper was accepted by Gustavo Manso, finance.

Book Review: Discrimination and Delegation: Explaining State Responses to Refugees

Abstract: Nearly 6 million people have been displaced from Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion in February 2022, marking one of the largest and swiftest displacement crises in history. In major host countries like Poland and Romania, Ukrainian refugees have been met with open arms. Many observers have contrasted welcoming sentiments toward Ukrainian refugees with the much harsher response Central and Eastern European countries have staked against refugees from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and sub-Saharan Africa. What explains these divergent state responses toward refugees? This is the question that political scientist Lamis Elmy Abdelaaty grapples with in Discrimination and Delegation: Explaining State Responses to Refugees. The book begins by outlining two central puzzles overlooked in most extant scholarship, and which bear crucially on the question of how host countries react to forcibly displaced people. First, states respond in different ways to different groups of refugees, affording some extensive freedoms while restricting the rights enjoyed by others. Abdelaaty calls this the “discrimination puzzle.” Although a growing literature traces variation across countries in the liberality of displacement policies (Blair, Grossman, and Weinstein 2022a, b), much less attention has been paid to systematic variation within countries. Second, many states delegate responsibility for managing refugee affairs to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), despite jealously guarding their sovereignty in other domains. This is the “delegation puzzle.” The solution to these puzzles hinges on host countries’ considerations about international and domestic pressures. At the international level, interstate relations shape refugee reception. Host countries typically welcome refugees from rival states, since these flows are reputationally costly for sending countries, providing “evidence that people are ‘voting with their feet’” (p. 10). At the domestic level, policy makers have incentives to favor refugees with whom they share ethnic kinship ties. Combining Book Reviews

UAV-Based Privacy-Preserved Trustworthy Seamless Service Agility for NextG Cellular Networks

Abstract: Next Generation cellular networks are expected to offer better service quality, secure and reliable service provisioning, and more cooperative operation even in unexpected stressful situations. Service provider cooperation can facilitate reliable service provisioning and extended coverage in disasters situations or partial network failures. However, the current 4G and 5G standards do not offer security and privacy-friendly support for inter-operator agility and service mobility, a key enabler for such cooperation. The situation becomes more critical in presence of attackers, where establishing trust relationships becomes very complicated. This paper presents a novel UAV-assisted user-agility support framework that enables trustworthy seamless service migration in a zero-trust environment. The proposed framework facilitates temporal authentication-authority delegation and proxying to enable preservice, all-party mutual authentication. The framework is implemented and tested on top of the srsRAN open-source 4G/5G software stack. Experiments showed that the presented framework managed to facilitate effective and efficient trustworthy service migration between heterogeneous service provider networks.

Delegation to artificial agents fosters prosocial behaviors in the collective risk dilemma

Abstract: Abstract Home assistant chat-bots, self-driving cars, drones or automated negotiation systems are some of the several examples of autonomous (artificial) agents that have pervaded our society. These agents enable the automation of multiple tasks, saving time and (human) effort. However, their presence in social settings raises the need for a better understanding of their effect on social interactions and how they may be used to enhance cooperation towards the public good, instead of hindering it. To this end, we present an experimental study of human delegation to autonomous agents and hybrid human-agent interactions centered on a non-linear public goods dilemma with uncertain returns in which participants face a collective risk. Our aim is to understand experimentally whether the presence of autonomous agents has a positive or negative impact on social behaviour, equality and cooperation in such a dilemma. Our results show that cooperation and group success increases when participants delegate their actions to an artificial agent that plays on their behalf. Yet, this positive effect is less pronounced when humans interact in hybrid human-agent groups, where we mostly observe that humans in successful hybrid groups make higher contributions earlier in the game. Also, we show that participants wrongly believe that artificial agents will contribute less to the collective effort. In general, our results suggest that delegation to autonomous agents has the potential to work as commitment devices, which prevent both the temptation to deviate to an alternate (less collectively good) course of action, as well as limiting responses based on betrayal aversion.

Integrative review: Factors impacting effective delegation practices by registered nurses to assistants in nursing.

Abstract: AIM To identify the evidence on factors that impact delegation practices by Registered Nurses to Assistants in Nursing in acute care hospitals. DESIGN An integrative review. DATA SOURCES Database searches were conducted between July 2011 and July 2021. REVIEW METHODS We used the 12-step approach by Kable and colleagues to document the search strategy. The (Whittemore & Knafl. 2005. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 52(5), 546-553) integrative review framework method was adopted and the methodological quality of the studies was assessed using Joanna Briggs critical appraisal instruments. RESULTS Nine studies were included. Delegation between the Registered Nurse and the Assistant in Nursing is a complex but critical leadership skill which is impacted by the Registered Nurse's understanding of the Assistant in Nursing's role, scope of practice and job description. Newly qualified nurses lacked the necessary leadership skills to delegate. Further education on delegation is required in pre-registration studies and during nurses' careers to ensure Registered Nurses are equipped with the skills and knowledge to delegate effectively. CONCLUSION With increasing numbers of Assistants in Nursing working in the acute care environment, it is essential that Registered Nurses are equipped with the appropriate leadership skills to ensure safe delegation practice.

Democracy and Technocracy in Sweden's Experience of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract: Sweden's management of the coronavirus pandemic, beginning in early 2020, has been much discussed because it deviated from other countries' equivalents. Set in the context of scholarly debate about the balance between politicians and experts in political decision-making, we argue that a necessary condition for this case of Swedish exceptionalism was the manner of policy-making adopted by the Swedish authorities. In this article, we describe this policy-making procedure, which involved a radical form of delegation by elected politicians to appointed experts, and seek to explain how it came about. We focus on the 1st year of the pandemic, and use media reports and other public documents, including parts of a public inquiry, as our empirical material.

It’s a Performance, Not an Orchestra! Rethinking Soft Coordination in Global Climate Governance

Abstract: Abstract Global climate governance is in transition. As the focus shifts from negotiations to implementation, the quest for ways to effectively coordinate ambitious climate action has become a key concern. While existing studies frame this problem mostly in terms of institutional design (to “facilitate” state ambition) and strategic delegation of authority (to “orchestrate” nonstate action), this article builds on dramaturgical policy analysis to examine soft coordination in practice. Using ethnographic methods, we analyze public performances at the twenty-fifth Conference of the Parties (COP25) in Madrid. We find that these were shaped by preestablished governance scripts and social roles available to participants, but also by creative improvisations and interventions. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat and COP Presidency intervened to configure the physical setting of the conference, mold its narrative arch, and shape available roles. We conclude that performances and dramaturgical interventions are important tools of soft coordination in global climate governance. Their analysis constitutes a productive entry point for grasping contemporary transformations in global politics.

Delegation of Moral Tasks to Automated Agents—The Impact of Risk and Context on Trusting a Machine to Perform a Task

Abstract: The rapid development of automation has led to machines increasingly taking over tasks previously reserved for human operators, especially those involving high-risk settings and moral decision making. To best benefit from the advantages of automation, these systems must be integrated into work environments, and into the society as a whole. Successful integration requires understanding how users gain acceptance of technology by learning to trust in its reliability. It is, thus, essential to examine factors that influence the integration, acceptance, and use of automated technologies. As such, this study investigated the conditions under which human operators were willing to relinquish control, and delegate tasks to automated agents by examining risk and context factors experimentally. In a decision task, participants ( $N=43$ , 27 female) were placed in different situations in which they could choose to delegate a task to an automated agent or manual execution. The results of our experiment indicated that both, context and risk, significantly influenced people’s decisions. While it was unsurprising that the reliability of an automated agent seemed to strongly influence trust in automation, the different types of decision support systems did not appear to impact participant compliance. Our findings suggest that contextual factors should be considered when designing automated systems that navigate moral norms and individual preferences.