We investigate the class of school choice mechanisms that are first-choice maximal (FCM) (i.e., they match a maximal number of students to their reported first choices) and first-choice stable (FCS) (i.e., no students form blocking pairs with their reported first choices). FCM is a ubiquitous desideratum in school choice, and we show that FCS is the only rank-based relaxation of stability that ...

In economics and political science, the theoretical literature on social choice routinely highlights worst-case scenarios and emphasizes the nonexistence of a universally best voting method. Behavioral social choice is grounded in psychology and tackles consensus methods descriptively and empirically. We analyzed four elections of the American Psychological Association using a state-of-the-art ...

We ask whether the absence of information about other voters’ preferences allows optimal voting to be interpreted as sincere. We start by classifying voting mechanisms as simple and complex according to the number of message types voters can use to elect alternatives. We show that while the elimination of information about other voters’ preferences allows optimal voting to be interpreted as sin...

We report on an experiment comparing compulsory and voluntary voting institutions in a voting game with common preferences. Rational choice theory predicts sharp differences in voter behavior between these two institutions. If voting is compulsory, then voters may find it rational to vote insincerely, i.e., against their private information. If voting is voluntary so that abstention is allowed,...

We report on an experiment comparing compulsory and voluntary voting institutions. Rational choice theory predicts sharp differences in voter behavior between these two institutions. If voting is compulsory, then voters may find it rational to vote insincerely, i.e., against their private information. If voting is voluntary so that abstention is allowed, then sincere voting in accordance with a...

Nitric oxide (NO) is improbable as a conventional neurotransmitter. It is not an amine, amino acid, or peptide; it is not stored in synaptic vesicles or released by exocytosis; and it does not interact with specific receptor subtypes in neuronal membranes. However, NO is synthesized upon demand in the brain, diffuses to receptor sites within the enzyme guanylyl cyclase, and has neurotransmitter...

The recent popularity of legal pluralism has now reached the area of European private law. In this paper I scrutinize the concepts of legal pluralism used by three of its most prominent proponents: Pierre Legrand, Jan Smits, and Thomas Wilhelmsson. I do not offer fully-fledged criticism of their theories (each of which are among the most fascinating and helpful in the European private law debat...

Think about any characteristic of people around you and you will immediately notice that they differ from each other. They differ not only in bodily features like height, skin colour, weight, vision and hearing ability etc. but also in the psychological attributes. In our everyday experience we find that people differ in their motivation, approach to problems, interest and ability to learn. The...