Virtual organizations tend to play an ever more part in electronic commerce, as well as software agents, here understood as the building blocks of the methodology for problem solving that is being subscribed. Indeed, one of the issues that have to be addressed is the capability of such entities to rationally and autonomously “think” and decide. The behavior of these agents may go more and more ...

A key institutional setting is the set of rules balancing the use of coercion to the one of markets for transferring property rights. Even if all legal systems forbid theft ex ante, different societies provide different ex post solutions to the conflict arising between the original owner and the good-faith buyer of a good with defective title. These rules range from the full protection of the o...

This Vaccines issue on "Confidence in Vaccines" provides sound evidence through multiple perspectives of life-saving impacts when vaccination programs are effectively implemented in a population. Yet there remain challenges to achieving this impact, including scientific, medical, manufacturing, policy-related and logistical issues. Additionally, socio-cultural, religious and political agendas c...

In this paper I have the pleasure of responding to three insightful commentaries to my paper, Bridging the gap between politics and techniques: On the next practices of participatory design (Kyng 2010). The commentaries are by Ellen Balka (2010), Helena Karasti (2010) and Dan Shapiro (2010). They deserve more in depth consideration than time and space allow. Hopefully the authors and I, as well...