materiały: Spectrum (novel)

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

Spectrum is a science fiction novel by Russian writer Sergei Lukyanenko, taking place in the near future. Contact with aliens allowed humanity to travel between planets through portals. The Keymaster civilization not only provides new technologies to the world but also makes sure that their conditions are fulfilled to the letter: unrestricted access to the Gates for all who are willing. Payment for their use is an unusual story told to a Keymaster by the traveler. The main character of the novel is a private investigator who solves his clients' problems on other planets. His main strength is his ability to make up the necessary stories needed to gain passage to alien worlds. This earned him…

Evidence: 45 • authority: 88

Monopsony Makes Firms Not Only Small But Also Unproductive: Why East-Germany Has Not Converged. When employers face a trade-off between growing large and paying low wages—that is, when they have monopsony power—some productive employers will decide to acquire fewer customers, forgo sales, and remain small. These decisions have adverse consequences for aggregate labor productivity. Using high-quality administrative data from Germany, we document that East German plants (compared to West German ones) face a steeper size-wage curve, invest less into marketing, and remain smaller. A model with labor market monopsony, product market power, and customer acquisition matching these features of the…

Evidence: 45 • authority: 88

Monopsony Makes Firms Not Only Small But Also Unproductive: Why East Germany Has Not Converged. When employers face a trade-off between growing large and paying low wages—that is, when they have monopsony power—some productive employers will decide to acquire fewer customers, forgo sales, and remain small. These decisions have adverse consequences for aggregate labor productivity. Using high-quality administrative data from Germany, we document that East German plants (compared to West German ones) face a steeper size-wage curve, invest less into marketing, and remain smaller. A model with labor market monopsony, product market power, and customer acquisition matching these features of the…

Evidence: 45 • authority: 88

Are you sure? A pop-up makes people reconsider sharing false news, but also slows true news. Interventions based on accuracy salience can reduce the spread of misinformation on social media. We conducted three pre-registered studies testing whether a pop-up asking “Are you sure you want to share this news? It could be fake”, after people choose to share a headline, changes their intention. Participants were more likely to reconsider sharing false than true news. Additionally, the less accurate a headline was perceived to be, the more likely they were to change their sharing intention. Yet, this intervention also reduced the diffusion of true news, although to a lesser extent than false ones.