Events
Past Event
WED@NICO SEMINAR: Ned Smith, Northwestern University "How 'Market Value' Can Increase Discrimination Even When Most Firms Are Fair"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
//
Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Title:
Can One Bad Apple Spoil the Bushel? How "Market Value" Can Increase Discrimination Even When Most Firms Are Fair.
Speaker:
Ned Smith, Associate Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
Talk Abstract:
In 1957 economist Gary Becker first published "The Economics of Discrimination." In it Becker argued that efficient and competitive markets should eliminate discrimination in hiring and wage setting over the long run. Becker's argument was as profound as the logic underlying it was straightforward; because discriminating firms are willing to pay a premium to hire only those workers who fit a desired profile, competition should drive discriminating firms out of business and any wage gaps resulting from discrimination should be eliminated away over time. For Becker, this process lends to a remarkable outcome: the presence of even a single non-discriminating employer in a market otherwise composed of discriminators will reduce average discrimination to zero in equilibrium.
We begin with a contrary proposition: the presence of even a single discriminating employer in a market otherwise composed of non-discriminators can, under certain circumstances, increase average discrimination in the market to the level of the single discriminator (or greater) over the long run. Our model turns on what we view to be an increasingly common practice in professional hiring and wage setting; that is, looking to "the market" for guidance in evaluating a given job candidate. To be more specific, we endogenize the price setting process by allowing for interdependence between a given job candidate's "market value" and her valuation as determined by individual hiring firms.
Our adjustment to Becker's model is both theoretically significant and empirically justified. As "financial thinking" (Davis 2009) increasingly dominates contemporary economic and social spheres of life, and "market logics" continue to permeate labor markets in particular (Nelson and Bridges 1999), it is well time to consider the effects and potential consequence of over-weighting market-based methods of valuation at the detriment of other methods of valuation. We build explicitly on Becker's model, itself a promising testament to the power of markets for eliminating prejudice and discrimination under certain conditions, to demonstrate how an overreliance on markets can spread prejudicial and discriminatory behaviors under other conditions. For all the promise of Becker's original model we demonstrate an equally remarkable, but also very plausible, consequence. Discriminatory hiring practices and wage setting can spread through a market like an invisible virus, infecting even those who believe themselves immune.
Speaker Bio:
Ned Smith is an Associate Professor of Management and Organizations at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, and a core faculty member of the Northwestern Institute for Complexity (NICO). Professor Smith has two main areas of research. First, he studies the effects of social structure on the behavior and decision-making of individuals and organizations. His research in this area was awarded a Kauffman Foundation Fellowship in 2009. More recently, Ned's articles on investor decision-making in the hedge fund industry ("Identities as Lenses," Administrative Science Quarterly), and market responses to new executive appointments ("Better in the Shadows", with Kevin Gaughan) were awarded the (2012) Best Published Paper Award by the Academy of Management and the (2016) Best Paper Award by the Academy of Management, respectively. Second, Ned works to connect research on cognitive processes and network theories of social capital to better understand how people utilize (and squander) the resources available to them in their social networks. This research analyzes how people mentally construct their social worlds, i.e., their social networks, according to various psychological and situational factors.
Live Stream:
Time
Wednesday, November 1, 2017 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
Fall classes begin 8 a.m.
University Academic Calendar
All Day
Details
Fall classes begin 8 a.m.
Time
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Contact
Calendar
University Academic Calendar
WED@NICO SEMINAR: Michael Macy, Cornell University "The Unpredictability of Partisan Alignments"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
//
Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Speaker:
Michael W. Macy - Goldwin Smith Professor of Arts and Sciences, and Director, Social Dynamics Laboratory, Cornell University.
Title:
Which Side Are You On: The Unpredictability of Partisan Alignments
Abstract:
TBA
Speaker Bio:
Michael Macy (B.A., Ph.D Harvard; M.A. Stanford) is Goldwin Smith Professor of Arts and Sciences at Cornell and Director of the Social Dynamics Lab, with a dual appointment in the Departments of Sociology and Information Science. With support from the U.S. National Science Foundation, Minerva Initiative, DARPA, and the National Research Foundation of Korea, his research team has used computational models, online laboratory experiments, and digital traces of device-mediated interaction to explore familiar but enigmatic social patterns, such as circadian rhythms, network topology and economic opportunity, lifestyle politics, the willingness to “pay it forward,” the mesh of civilizations, the spread of complex contagions, the polarization of opinion, segregation of neighborhoods, the emergence and collapse of fads, the spread of self-destructive behaviors, and the critical mass in collective action. His research has been published in leading journals, including Science, PNAS, Science Advances, Nature Human Behaviour, American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, and Annual Review of Sociology.
Live Stream:
Time
Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
Data Science Nights - FALL 2019 KICKOFF Meeting
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
6:30 PM
//
Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
FALL KICKOFF MEETING: Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at 6:30pm in Chambers Hall, Evanston
DATA SCIENCE NIGHTS are monthly hack nights on popular data science topics, organized by Northwestern University graduate students and scholars. Aspiring, beginning, and advanced data scientists are welcome!
LECTURE: "Open standards for machine learning model deployment" with IBM Developer Advocate Svetlana Levitan.
This year, for the fall kickoff of Data Science Nights we are excited to host a representative of IBM Cognitive Applications for Chicago, Svetlana Levitan. Svetlana is a Developer Advocate of IBM with many years of experience with IBM statistical Software SPSS, and Predictive Model Markup Language (PMML). She is the Chicagoland Technical Experts Community Chairperson, a Meetup organizer for Big Data Developers, Open Source Analytics, and Chicago Cloud Developers, and is also part of the Center for Open-Source Data and AI Technologies (CODAIT). This is an excellent opportunity to connect with IBM representatives!
AGENDA:
6:15pm - Refreshments
6:30pm - Presentation by Svetlana Levitan, IBM Developer Advocate, IBM Cognitive Applications.
7pm - Discussion about topics and working groups for future hacking night sessions
For more info: data-science-nights.org
Supporting Groups:
This event is supported by the Northwestern Institute for Complex Systems and the Northwestern Data Science Initiative, in collaboration with ACiDS.
Time
Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO SEMINAR: Joshua Becker, Northwestern "Network Structures of Collective Intelligence"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
//
Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Speaker:
Joshua Becker - Postdoctoral Fellow, Kellogg School of Management and NICO
Title:
Network Structures of Collective Intelligence: The Contingent Benefits of Group Discussion
Abstract:
Research on the “wisdom of crowds” has found that the average belief in a group can be remarkably accurate even when individual group members are wildly inaccurate. This phenomenon has been observed for domains ranging from financial forecasting to medical diagnoses, and a common theoretical claim is that group beliefs are most accurate when they are collected from individuals who are socially and statistically independent. However, the requirement for independence poses a challenge in many social and organizational settings where interaction and communication are an intrinsic part of decision-making. In contrast, I show that social information processing can produce beliefs that are even more accurate than the collected beliefs of independent individuals—under the right conditions. This talk will present formal models and behavioral laboratory experiments to identify when, and why, group interaction can help (or hurt) numeric belief accuracy. The main focus of this talk compares mediated information exchange (i.e., the “Delphi method”) with unstructured discussion, showing how network theory can resolve longstanding contradictions in previous research. All discussed data is available on GitHub and my website.
Working Paper: https://bit.ly/2lZ6zHF
Speaker Bio:
Joshua Becker is a postdoctoral fellow at Kellogg School of Management and a researcher-in-residence at NICO. Joshua completed his PhD at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, with a focus on the network dynamics of collective intelligence. Their research has been published in venues including Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Harvard Business Review. Prior to grad school Joshua worked professionally in conflict mediation (now serving pro bono) an experience that inspires their research on communication and decision-making.
Live Stream:
Time
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO SEMINAR: TBA "Title TBA"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
//
Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Speaker:
TBA
Title:
TBA
Abstract:
TBA
Speaker Bio:
TBA
Live Stream:
Time
Wednesday, October 9, 2019 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO SEMINAR: TBA "Title TBA"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
//
Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Speaker:
TBA
Title:
TBA
Abstract:
TBA
Speaker Bio:
TBA
Live Stream:
Time
Wednesday, October 16, 2019 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO SEMINAR: TBA "Title TBA"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
//
Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Speaker:
TBA
Title:
TBA
Abstract:
TBA
Speaker Bio:
TBA
Live Stream:
Time
Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO SEMINAR: TBA "Title TBA"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
//
Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Speaker:
TBA
Title:
TBA
Abstract:
TBA
Speaker Bio:
TBA
Live Stream:
Time
Wednesday, October 30, 2019 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO SEMINAR: TBA "Title TBA"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
//
Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Speaker:
TBA
Title:
TBA
Abstract:
TBA
Speaker Bio:
TBA
Live Stream:
Time
Wednesday, November 6, 2019 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO SEMINAR: TBA "Title TBA"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
//
Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Speaker:
TBA
Title:
TBA
Abstract:
TBA
Speaker Bio:
TBA
Live Stream:
Time
Wednesday, November 20, 2019 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)