Finding the adequate location scenario after the merger of fire brigades thanks to Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis Methods

Aldabbas, Mohammad ; Venteicher, Francesca ; Gerber, Lenna ; Widmer, Marino

(Internal working papers DIUF ; 18-01)

This paper addresses the issue of selecting a suitable location for a fire station in canton of Fribourg, as a result of a fire brigades’merger, by applying Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) methods. Solving the problem of determining fire station locations through various methods has been analyzed in-­‐depth by researchers. However, a different approach, based on application of...

Complementing Büchi automata with a subset-tuple construction

Allred, Joel ; Ultes-Nitsche, Ulrich

(Internal working papers DIUF ; 15-01)

Complementation of Büchi automata is well known for being difficult. In the worst case, a state-space growth of (0:76n)n is unavoidable. Recent studies suggest that “simpler” algorithms perform better than more involved ones on practical cases. In this paper, we present a simple “direct” algorithm for complementing Büchi automata. It involves a structured subset construction (using...

Returns to farm child labor in Tanzania

André, Pierre ; Delesalle, Esther ; Dumas, Christelle

(Working Papers SES ; 502)

In developing countries, the opportunity costs of children’s time can significantly hinder universal education. This paper studies one of these opportunity costs: we estimate the agricultural productivity of children aged 10 to 15 years old using the LSMS-ISA panel survey in Tanzania. Since child labor can be endogenous, we exploit the panel structure of the data and instrument child labor...

Instrument-based estimation with binarized treatments : issues and tests for the exclusion restriction

Andresen, Martin Eckhoff ; Huber, Martin

(Working Papers SES ; 492)

When estimating local average and marginal treatment effects using instrumental variables (IV), multivalued endogenous treatments are frequently binarized based on a specific threshold in treatment support. However, such binarization introduces a violation of the IV exclusion if (i) the IV affects the multivalued treatment within support areas below and/or above the threshold and (ii) such...

Gesturing on the steering wheel, a comparison with speech and touch interaction modalities

Angelini, Leonardo ; Baumgartner, Jürgen ; Carrino, Francisco ; Carrino, Stefano ; Caon, Maurizio ; Abou Khaled, Omar ; Sauer, Jürgen ; Lalanne, Denis ; Mugellini, Elena ; Sonderegger, Andreas

(Internal working papers DIUF ; 15-03)

This paper compares an emergent interaction modality for the In-Vehicle Infotainment System (IVIS), i.e., gesturing on the steering wheel, with two more popular modalities in modern cars: touch and speech. We conducted a betweensubjects experiment with 20 participants for each modality to assess the interaction performance with the IVIS and the impact on the driving performance. Moreover, we...

Multi-brand loyalty in consumer markets : a qualitatively-driven mixed methods approach

Arifine, Ghizlane ; Felix, Reto ; Furrer, Olivier

(Working Papers SES ; 501)

Purpose—Although multi-brand loyalty (MBL) in consumer markets has been identified in previous brand loyalty research, empirical studies have not yet explored the facets of its different types. This article seeks a deeper understanding of MBL by investigating its different types and facets. Design/methodology/approach—This study uses a sequential, qualitatively-driven mixed method design...

Birth weight and long-term outcomes in a developing country

Baguet, Marie ; Dumas, Christelle

(Working Papers SES ; 465)

This paper analyzes the empirical relationship between endowment at birth and long-term outcomes. Birth weight has been shown to influence outcomes later in life, suggesting that in-utero shocks have long lasting consequences. However, traditional measures of human capital at birth (i.e. birth weight) are potentially measured with error and endogenous. We deal with such issues thanks to the use...

Le Japon en transition : une société et une culture entre clichés et réalités : Le regard de Fernand Gigon

Bianco, Morgane

(Working Papers Histoire Contemporaine ; 1)

Privatisation des Industries de Réseaux et développement durable: le cas du Cameroun

Biwolé Fouda, Jean

(Working Papers SES ; 410)

L'objectif de cet article est de décrire les réformes engagées dans les industries de réseaux au Cameroun et de les analyser par rapport à l'approche néo-institutionnelle. Il apparait que ces mutations ont connu des formes spécifiques dans ce contexte, au point de faire courir un risque sur le développement durable de ces industries, notamment dans les segments non concurrentiels. Nous...

The finite sample performance of inference methods for propensity score matching and weighting estimators

Bodory, Hugo ; Huber, Martin ; Camponovo, Lorenzo ; Lechner, Michael

(Working Papers SES ; 466)

This paper investigates the finite sample properties of a range of inference methods for propensity score-based matching and weighting estimators frequently applied to evaluate the average treatment effect on the treated. We analyse both asymptotic approximations and bootstrap methods for computing variances and confidence intervals in our simulation design, which is based on large scale labor...