Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 215-238 |
| Number of pages | 24 |
| Journal | Philosophy of the social sciences |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 19 Nov 2020 |
| Publication status | Published - Mar 2021 |
Abstract
How should institutions be designed that “work” in bringing about desirable social outcomes? I study a case of successful institutional design—the redesign of the National Resident Matching Program—and argue that economists assume three roles when designing an institution, each of which complements the other two: first, the designer combines positive and normative modeling to formalize policy goals and to design possible mechanisms for bringing them about. Second, the engineer refines the design by conducting experiments and computational analyses. Third, the plumber implements the design in the real world and mends it as needed.
Keywords
- algorithmic bias, economic design, engineering, normative modeling, plumbing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Arts and Humanities(all)
- Philosophy
- Social Sciences(all)
- Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
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In: Philosophy of the social sciences, Vol. 51, No. 2, 03.2021, p. 215-238.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - How to Build an Institution
AU - van Baßhuysen, Philippe Carl
N1 - Funding information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/ or publication of this article: This research was funded in part by the Volkswagen Foundation within the project ‘Bias and Discrimination in Big Data and Algorithmic Processing: Philosophical Assessments, Legal Dimensions, and Technical Solutions.’
PY - 2021/3
Y1 - 2021/3
N2 - How should institutions be designed that “work” in bringing about desirable social outcomes? I study a case of successful institutional design—the redesign of the National Resident Matching Program—and argue that economists assume three roles when designing an institution, each of which complements the other two: first, the designer combines positive and normative modeling to formalize policy goals and to design possible mechanisms for bringing them about. Second, the engineer refines the design by conducting experiments and computational analyses. Third, the plumber implements the design in the real world and mends it as needed.
AB - How should institutions be designed that “work” in bringing about desirable social outcomes? I study a case of successful institutional design—the redesign of the National Resident Matching Program—and argue that economists assume three roles when designing an institution, each of which complements the other two: first, the designer combines positive and normative modeling to formalize policy goals and to design possible mechanisms for bringing them about. Second, the engineer refines the design by conducting experiments and computational analyses. Third, the plumber implements the design in the real world and mends it as needed.
KW - algorithmic bias
KW - economic design
KW - engineering
KW - normative modeling
KW - plumbing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096338439&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0048393120971545
DO - 10.1177/0048393120971545
M3 - Article
VL - 51
SP - 215
EP - 238
JO - Philosophy of the social sciences
JF - Philosophy of the social sciences
SN - 0048-3931
IS - 2
ER -