We examine the effects of various political campaign activities on voter preferences in the domain of US Presidential elections. We construct a comprehensive data set that covers the three most recent elections, with detailed records of voter preferences at the state-week level over an election period. We include various types of the most frequently utilized marketing instruments: two forms of ...

In many interactive decision making scenarios there is often no solution that satisfies all of the user’s preferences. The decision process can be helped by providing explanations. Relaxations show sets of consistent preferences and, thus, indicate which preferences can be enforced, while exclusion sets show which preferences can be relaxed to obtain a solution. We propose a new approach to exp...

We study a model in which voters choose between two candidates on the basis of both ideology and competence. While the ideology of the candidates is commonly known, voters are imperfectly informed about competence. Voter preferences, however, are such that it is a dominant strategy to vote according to ideology alone. When voting is compulsory, the candidate of the majority ideology prevails an...

We prove that a universal preference type space exists under much more general conditions than those postulated by Epstein and Wang (1996). To wit, it is enough that preferences can be encoded by a countable collection of continuous functionals, while the preferences themselves need not necessarily be continuous or regular, like, e.g., in the case of lexicographic preferences. The proof relies ...

In most cases, patient preferences are crucial in making good health care decisions. For example, choices between chemotherapy and radiation treatment usually hinge on trade-offs that only patients can decide about. In recognition of the importance of patient preferences in clinical decisions, health services researchers have begun developing decision aids to help patients understand complex me...

We consider the online problem of scheduling patients with urgencies and preferences on hospital resources with limited capacity. To solve this complex scheduling problem effectively we have to address the following sub problems: determining the allocation of capacity to patient groups, setting dynamic rules for exceptions to the allocation, ordering timeslots based on scheduling efficiency, an...

A population’s level of terrorism depends on two factors: people’s preferences (would they like creating damage?) and the constraints under which people act (what damage could they create, and at what punishment?). Causerelated policies, e.g. improving social stability or education, aim at appeasing preferences, thereby reducing terrorism. Symptom-related policies, e.g. embargoes or wars, chang...

This paper presents a decision model based upon community preferences to hierachise activities that support the development of a rural area in Chile. Local government of the region has tried to stimulate economic development for many years without success. The goals surrounding incentive programs offered are complex and conflicting. Often inconsistencies exist between community preferences, inc...

It is shown that interim dynamically consistent trade may be supported among agents who have resolute (non-consequential) choice preferences.  2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. JEL classification: D81; D82; D84