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Studia Humana
|
2014
|
vol. 3
|
issue 1
27-37
EN
Modern microeconomic theory is based on a foundation of ordinal preference relations. Good textbooks stress that cardinal utility functions are artificial constructions of convenience, and that economics does not attribute any meaning to “utils.” However, we argue that despite this official position, in practice mainstream economists rely on techniques that assume the validity of cardinal utility. Doing so has turned mainstream economic theorizing into an exercise of reductionism of objects down to the preferences of ‘ideal type’ subjects.
EN
Alienated morality. Bernard Williams’ critique of utilitarianism: The paper aims at reconstructing Bernard Williams’ critique of utilitarianism, in order to show that it is primarily motivated by the British philosopher’s opposition to this theory’s understanding of the relationship between the agent and her actions. After discussing Williams’ arguments against what he sees as the oversimplified moral psychology of utilitarianism, and his doubts regarding the coherence between utilitarian objectives and utilitarian methods, the paper will focus on his “argument form integrity”. As we will see, it allows Williams to question utilitarianism’s ability to account for the relationship between the identity of the agent and her actions, and as a result, deny the effectiveness of the notion of utility as a source of moral motivation.
EN
First-year students usually ask whether they really need mathematics. This paper presents several simple examples applying differential calculus in microeconomics, which allow students to perceive that learning mathematics during their studies of economics does “pay off”.
EN
This paper is an expression of gratitude, remembrance and honour the jubilee of Prof. Tomasz Żylicz. As I have been invited to write a paper for a special issue of the CEEJ journal, I sincerely wanted to express regarding my friendship and my research that have been binding me with Tomasz in my more than 40-year work in the Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw. Our cooperation was varied and rich including joint articles, research projects and our work for the Ministry of the Environment. In this paper, after friendly acknowledgment, I decided to propose my polemical answer to the paper ‘Is reason valued now?’ written by Tomasz. The subject of my reply is primarily the rationality in general and in the institution of university in the context of teaching and practicing science, including first of all economics and ecological economics. The method applied in this paper is my descriptive and polemical reference to Tomasz's theses with the analytical use of literature, both classics and very current references. The basic topic of the paper focuses on the fact that modernity continues in an increasingly inertial movement towards mass culture and is dominated by three criteria in this mechanism namely usefulness, non-exclusion and accessibility. I analyse these three fetishes in our dynamic times and with particular emphasis on their negative role in academic education. In my conclusions I categorically state that scientific knowledge and education, perfectly represented by universities, were formed and developed in an alliance with usefulness and utility, but never only thanks to them and never only for them.
EN
The main goal of this paper is to present a modern axiomatic approach to financial arithmetic. An axiomatic theory of financial arithmetic was first proposed by Peccati, who introduced an axiomatic definition of future value. This theory has been extensively developed in recent years. The proposed approach to financial arithmetic is based on the concept of the utility of a financial flow. This utility function is defined as a linear extension of a multicriterion comparison determined by an individual’s time preference and capital preference. The present value is then defined to be the utility of the financial flow. Therefore, the law of the diminishing marginal utility of wealth has been considered as an additional feature of the present value. The future value is defined as the inverse of the utility function. This definition is a generalization of Peccati’s one. The net present value is given as the unique additive extension of the utility of the financial flow. Moreover, the synergy effect and the diversification effect will be discussed. At the end, the axiomatic definition of the present value will be specified in three ways.
EN
The topic of this paper is the foundation for individual rights proposed by David Gauthier in his seminal 1986 book Morals by Agreement, and particularly the role of conception of rationality in this foundation. The foundation of rights is a part of Gauthier’s broader enterprise: to ground morals in rationality – more specifically, in the economic conception of rationality. Because of the importance of this conception for the whole of Gauthier’s project, we reconstruct first the conception of rationality which can be found in decision theory and game theory, presenting simultaneously in a relatively non-technical way some basic concepts of the aforementioned disciplines. We proceed then to reconstruction of the foundation of rights itself – it turns on Gauthier’s interpretation of the so-called “Lockean proviso.” Lastly, we turn to the connection between rationality and foundation of rights. It is to be found in the narrow compliance – the disposition to enter only into cooperation which satisfies conditions of fairness set out in part by the Lockean proviso.
EN
The subject of the article is the Rothbardian criticism of state interventionism in economy — specifically its binary variant. We will describe taxation and its various kinds (e.g. sales tax, income tax, corporate income tax, consumption tax), idea of progressive taxation and the concept of a neutral tax, and also the vision of a so-called fair tax. Binary intervention also includes wealth distribution, such as public spending and transfer payments, affecting real and consumption spending, with all the effects associated with social and welfare state activity. Along the teachings of Rothbard we will consider whether binary intervention is justifi ed from the point of view of praxeology and utility.
EN
In this article we will present the mistakes made both by ordering and executing side in understanding and defining the evaluation criterion of utility. We will discuss the problems with final use of this criterion in the Polish evaluation reports of EU Operational Programmes. The analysis will eventually show how important it is to understand ex post evaluation as measuring the adequacy of the program effects in targeting the needs of final users.
PL
W niniejszym artykule zaprezentowane zostaną błędy w rozumieniu i definiowaniu kryterium ewaluacyjnego „użyteczność” w polskich raportach ewaluacyjnych, zarówno poprzez zamawiających badania, jak i je realizujących. Omówione zostaną problemy związane z badaniem i ostatecznym wykorzystaniem tego kryterium w ocenie końcowej. To wszystko ma uświadomić istotną rolę oceny ex post w świetle adekwatności efektów programów względem adresowanych potrzeb.
EN
The terms of reference for this study were to outline an inability of market principles to satisfy needs with a focus on natural determination of individuals. The author tries to define causes of market failures in satisfying of basic human needs and outlines a way how to overcome the problems stated. In the first part, evidence of elemental dissatisfaction is collected as the ground for improvements, namely an inequality as the highest hurdle on the way to satisfying of needs. The subsequent chapters analyze the role of market, especially in the context of four antagonistic relationships - macro and micro level; inequality and commonness. Chapters deal with the fact that profit maximization principally impedes satisfaction of fundamental human needs. Furthermore, mainstream development policies on macro-level are discussed. On the examples of foreign investments and market integration, the archetypal solutions for boosting economies, it is shown that in a strict economic sense, no investments principally cannot be measure to satisfy of basic human needs in a global scale. The paper indicates that general priorities of human beings are beyond the frame of contemporary economic configuration
EN
Generation-based approach to natural resource economics has been developed in the article. Based on sustainable development definition, generations can be categorized by present and future ones. An ecological classification of the global natural resources has been proposed, which is related to future generations. Economic issues of eco-futuristic classification have also been raised in the article. Classification of ecological values has been proposed and ecological values being incorporated into a form of ecological culture and exploited as a new factor of production have been analyzed. The effect of increasing marginal futuristic utility of ecological values has been revealed at the end of the article.
PL
Ograniczona liczba opracowań na temat konsumpcji kolaboratywnej, a także odmienne wyniki badań sugerują, że motywacja indywidualna uczestnictwa w zjawisku może być bardziej skomplikowana i różna od motywacji uczestnictwa w innych przejawach współdzielenia. Poza kilkoma badaniami odnoszącymi się do korzyści lokalnych społeczności i korzyści środowiskowych główne motywy postrzeganej użyteczności zjawiska dotyczyły przede wszystkim korzyści indywidualnych. Tym niemniej dostępne opracowania sugerują, że uwarunkowania uczestnictwa w konsumpcji kolaboratywnej mogą przyjmować znacznie szerszy zasięg, obejmując czynniki indywidualne, społeczne, a nawet polityczne. W niniejszym artykule autorzy, w oparciu o badania ilościowe, podejmują próbę określenia zależności pomiędzy tymi czynnikami a postrzeganą użytecznością konsumpcji kolaboratywnej.
EN
The limited amount of research on collaborative consumption and its' different results suggest that the individual motivations for consumers' engagement are likely to be more complex and quite dissimilar to the motivation for participation in other social sharing initiatives. Except few studies on local community or environmental benefits, key motivators generating perceived utility for participants engaging in collaborative consumption were mostly connected with intrinsic benefits. In fact, researchers suggest that drivers for collaborative consumption seem to be broad and wideranging, from individual to social or even political ones. This study is a quantitative research on the influence of foregoing factors as components of perceived utility on collaborative consumption propensity.
EN
The term value is commonly used to describe key economic processes and refers to objects, people, economy, and economics. Among the many issues relevant to the relationship of culture and economy the use of the term value in reference to the object — especially in the context of utility value and exchange value — is of particular interest. In cultural studies, a mark-to-market utility is combined with existential (i.e.biological and psychological) requirements and civilizational advance, which stand in opposition to culture. The author indicates, however, that the sources of the utility of merchandise purchased on a daily basis are manifold and are nowadays primarily related to cultural preferences. As a consequence, the possibility of replacing the current economic model with a more sustainable one is largely blocked by the hidden hand of culture.
13
Content available remote

Coping with Ethical Uncertainty

63%
Diametros
|
2017
|
issue 53
150-166
EN
Most ethical decisions are conditioned by formidable uncertainty. Decision makers may lack reliable information about relevant facts, the consequences of actions, and the reactions of other people. Resources for dealing with uncertainty are available from standard forms of decision theory, but successful application to decisions under risk requires a great deal of quantitative information: point-valued probabilities of states and point-valued utilities of outcomes. When this information is not available, this paper recommends the use of a form of decision theory that operates on a bare minimum of information inputs: comparative plausibilities of states and comparative utilities of outcomes. In addition, it proposes a comparative strategy for dealing with second-order uncertainty. The paper illustrates its proposal with reference to a well-known ethical dilemma: Kant’s life-saving lie.
EN
"In this paper I show that within expected utility large buying and selling price gap is possible and [R] paradox may be resolved if only initial wealth is allowed to be small. It implies giving up the doctrine of consequentialism which may be reduced to requiring initial wealth to be total lifetime wealth of the decision maker. Still, even when initial wealth is allowed to be small and interpreted narrowly as gambling wealth, classic preference reversal is not possible within expected utility. I show that only another kind of reversal which I call preference reversal B is possible within expected utility. Preference reversal B occurs when buying price for one lottery is higher than for another, but the latter lottery is chosen in a direct choice. I demonstrate that classic preference reversal is susceptible to arbitrage whereas preference reversal B is not which suggests that the latter reversal is more rational."
EN
In the paper, the utilitarian topics present in David Hume’s philosophy are analyzed, assuming that utilitarianism is more a form of moral reasoning than a moral theory. Hume is one of the most important thinkers in the history of Western philosophy and his ethics has been influential in modern day moral theory, especially in classic and contemporary utilitarianism. The basic ideas of his theory are explained and the relationships between them and the utilitarian position are shown. Typical characteristics of utilitarian thinking are: consequentialism, the principle of utility, and the recognition of the idea of common happiness (common welfare) as the ultimate goal of human activity. It is argued that Hume’s views are closer to the contemporary versions of utilitarianism (rule – utilitarianism, act – utilitarianism) than the positions of J. Bentham and J.S. Mill.
PL
Celem artykułu jest analiza utylitarystycznych wątków obecnych w etyce Hume’a. Utylitaryzm interpretowany jest jako etyczna teoria dotycząca zasad słusznego postępowania i oceniania. Jego podstawowymi wyznacznikami są: konsekwencjalizm, prymat użyteczności rozumianej jako wartość, zasada i kryterium moralnej wartościowości działań, idea powszechnego szczęścia oraz interpretacja ludzkiej natury w kategoriach hedonistycznych. Utylitarystyczne składniki humowskiej etyki to: preferowanie idei użyteczności, podkreślanie znaczenia życzliwości w kształtowaniu ludzkich postaw oraz uznanie rozumu za czynnik modyfikujący sferę pragnień i uczuć. W przekonaniu autorki artykułu, poglądy Hume’a są bliższe współczesnym wersjom utylitarystycznego myślenia, szczególnie utylitaryzmowi cnót, i wykraczają poza klasyczne wzorce wprowadzone do filozofii przez J. Benthama i J.S. Milla.
PL
Artykuł stanowi próbę usystematyzowania problematyki filozoficznej, która dotyczy interpersonalnych porównań użyteczności. Zagadnienie to ma istotne znaczenie zarówno dla teorii ekonomii, jak i praktyki gospodarczej. W ramach analizy wyróżniono cztery grupy problemów: problemy semantyczne, problemy epistemologiczne, problemy antropologiczne oraz problemy aksjologiczne. Zależności występujące między wymienionymi grupami problemów uprawniają do następujących wniosków: po pierwsze, najbardziej fundamentalne znaczenie mają rozstrzygnięcia semantyczne, po drugie, opisowe interpretacje interpersonalnych porównań użyteczności opierają się na wątpliwych przesłankach semantycznych i epistemologicznych oraz po trzecie, normatywne interpretacje interpersonalnych porównań użyteczności mogą być formułowane w ramach różnych założeń epistemologicznych.
EN
I attempt a systematic analysis of the philosophical problems related to interpersonal utility comparisons. The issue has importance both for economics theory and practice. There are four groups of such problems: semantic, epistemological, anthropological and axiological. My investigation of intergroup relationships led to the following conclusions: first, the most important problems are semantic ones; second, descriptive interpretations of interpersonal utility comparisons are based on doubtful semantic and epistemological premises; third, normative interpretations of interpersonal utility comparisons can be formulated upon different epistemological premises.
PL
Referat porusza zagadnienia dotyczące projektowania witryn internetowych zgodnych z zasadami użyteczności. Masowy dostęp do Internetu, coraz więcej kanałów komunikacji oraz szybki rozwój technologii mobilnych sprawiają, że przed twórcami witryn i aplikacji internetowych pojawiają się nowe wyzwania. Zapewnienie odbiorcom prostych, czytelnych, a zarazem funkcjonalnych interfejsów zapewniających wysoką użyteczność zarówno na ekranach monitorów, jak i na tabletach oraz telefonach, staje się biznesowym być albo nie być firmy.
EN
The paper discusses the issues relating to design websites compatible with the web-usability. The mass access to the Internet, more and more channels of communication and the rapid development of mobile technologies pose new challenges for web-developers. Providing high-usability applications to display on screens, tablets and mobile phones has become a key issue for the company and its designer.
PL
Cel: System sprawozdawczości budżetowej odgrywa istotną rolę w raportowaniu dokonań jednostek samorządu terytorialnego zorientowanym na komunikowanie się tych podmiotów z otoczeniem i różnymi grupami interesariuszy. Podstawowym celem artykułu jest ocena użyteczności informacji sprawozdawczej w zakresie zaangażowania wydatków budżeto-wych w powiatowych jednostkach samorządu terytorialnego. Autorki zainteresowała prze-de wszystkim istota zaangażowania wydatków budżetowych, jego funkcje oraz czy należy zaangażowanie wydatków budżetowych ujmować w systemie sprawozdawczości budżetowej jednostek samorządu terytorialnego. Metodyka/podejście badawcze badań: W artykule zastosowano analizę literatury przed-miotu oraz aktów prawnych. W części empirycznej przedmiotem badań były roczne spra-wozdania budżetowe RB-28S z wykonania planu finansowego wydatków budżetowych powiatowych jednostek samorządu terytorialnego za lata 2019–2021. Wykorzystano anali-zę korelacji liniowej r-Pearsona. Wyniki: Przeprowadzone wnioskowanie statystyczne potwierdziło małą użyteczność kate-gorii zaangażowania wydatków w sprawozdawczości budżetowej. Bardzo silna dodatnia korelacja z wykonanymi wydatkami pokazuje, że ujawnianie informacji o zaangażowaniu wydatków obok wydatków wykonanych powiela tylko wartość wydatków wykonanych. Ograniczenia badawcze: Artykuł może być inspiracją do dalszych badań, w tym porów-nawczych, dotyczących powiatowych jednostek samorządu terytorialnego lub rozszerzonych na gminne i wojewódzkie jednostki samorządu terytorialnego. Oryginalność/wartość: Autorki artykułu zwracają uwagę na deficyt badań dotyczących uży-teczności danych finansowych prezentowanych w systemie sprawozdawczości budżetowej.
EN
Purpose: The budget reporting system plays an important role in reporting the achieve-ments of local government units regarding how these entities communicate with the envi-ronment and various stakeholder groups. The main purpose of the study is to assess the usefulness of reporting information on budget expenditures by selected local government units. The authors were interested in the importance of budget expenditure commitments, their functions, and whether the commitment of budget expenditures should be presented in the reporting system of local government units. Methodology/approach: The article contains a review of the literature on the subject and legal acts. In the empirical part, the study covers annual budget reports RB-28S from the implementation of the financial plan of budgetary expenditures for the years 2019–2021 of local government units. r-Pearson’s linear correlation analysis was used. Findings: Statistical inference confirmed the low relevance of the expenditure commit-ment category in budget reporting. A very strong positive correlation with realized expend-itures shows that showing the involvement of expenditures next to the incurred expendi-tures only doubles the value of expenditures. Research limitations/implications: The article may be an inspiration for further research, including comparative research, on the same units or extended to other local government units. Originality/value: The authors draw attention to the lack of research on the usefulness of financial data presented in the budget reporting system.
EN
This article discusses the role of the dictionary user in meta/lexicographical research. The user, usability and utility are key concepts of modern lexicography that aim to create dictionaries as an informative and user-friendly digital environment. However, Czech lexicography has been limited by the tradition of printed dictionaries so far and the user-related issues have not been thoroughly investigated. We propose some of more ways to “let dictionary users into the dictionary” and to make for them available more advanced and highly specialized methods of searching and language data sorting.
PL
Wydatkowanie pieniędzy publicznych wiąże się każdorazowo z koniecznością oceny podejmowanych działań. Oceny te muszą być w pierwszej kolejności porównywalne, co implikuje konieczność tworzenia i adaptowania procedur jednolitych dla danego źródła finansowania. Komisja Europejska jako podstawowy schemat oceny skutków interwencji publicznej wybrała model produkt – rezultat – oddziaływanie, w którym natychmiastowe i oddalone w czasie efekty interwencji są oceniane za pomocą takich podstawowych kryteriów, jak: użyteczność, skuteczność, efektywność, adekwatność i trwałość. Pozornie prosty schemat oceny nastręcza w praktyce wielu trudności interpretacyjnych i aplikacyjnych, co w konsekwencji prowadzi do ograniczonej porównywalności uzyskiwanych ocen (wyników ewaluacji). W artykule przybliżono więc podstawowe zagadnienia związane z oceną interwencji publicznej według schematu produkt – rezultat – oddziaływanie, a w ramach tej analizy skupiono się zwłaszcza na skuteczności jako jednym z podstawowych kryteriów oceny podejmowanych działań współfinansowanych z budżetu Unii Europejskiej. Dokonano także przeglądu definicji tego terminu używanego w różnych wytycznych – zarówno unijnych, jak i pochodzących z innych międzynarodowych instytucji zajmujących się ewaluacją. Celem artykułu jest próba oceny, w jakim stopniu rozbieżności i nieścisłości w definiowaniu terminu „skuteczność” mogą wpływać na poprawność oceny skutków podejmowanych interwencji publicznych.
EN
Whenever public money is spent, it is necessary to evaluate the undertaken efforts. First of all, these assessments must be comparable, which implies the need to prepare and implement common procedures for each financing source. The European Commission uses a basic scheme for evaluating the effects of public intervention based on the product – result – impact model in which immediate and long-term intervention effects are assessed by selected criteria: utility, efficiency, effectiveness, relevance and sustainability. This seemingly simple evaluation scheme generates in practice a lot of interpretation and application difficulties, which, in its turn, limits the comparability of achieved assessment outcomes (evaluation outcomes). This paper aims to describe basic issues connected with public intervention assessment (based on the product-result-impact model). The author focuses on the effectiveness criterion as one of the basic criteria for the assessment of investments co-financed from the European Union budget and surveys its definitions present in European guidelines and used by other international institutions engaged in project evaluation. The paper primarily attempts to estimate the degree of difference and discrepancy in defining effectiveness and the impact of this on the reliability of public intervention assessment.
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