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Arbitrary Inequality in Reputation Systems.

ABSTRACT: Trust is an essential condition for exchange. Large societies must substitute the trust traditionally provided through kinship and sanctions in small groups to make exchange possible. The rise of internet-supported reputation systems has been celebrated for providing trust at a global scale, enabling the massive volumes of transactions between distant strangers that are characteristic of modern human societies. Here we problematize an overlooked side-effect of reputation systems: Equally trustworthy individuals may realize highly unequal exchange volumes. We report the results of a laboratory experiment that shows emergent differentiation between ex ante equivalent individuals when information on performance in past exchanges is shared. This arbitrary inequality results from cumulative advantage in the reputation-building process: Random initial distinctions grow as parties of good repute are chosen over those lacking a reputation. We conjecture that reputation systems produce artificial concentration in a wide range of markets and leave superior but untried exchange alternatives unexploited.

SUBMITTER: Frey V

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5171920 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Arbitrary Inequality in Reputation Systems.

Frey Vincenz V van de Rijt Arnout A

Scientific reports 20161220

Trust is an essential condition for exchange. Large societies must substitute the trust traditionally provided through kinship and sanctions in small groups to make exchange possible. The rise of internet-supported reputation systems has been celebrated for providing trust at a global scale, enabling the massive volumes of transactions between distant strangers that are characteristic of modern human societies. Here we problematize an overlooked side-effect of reputation systems: Equally trustwo ...[more]

PMID: 27995957

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Project description:BackgroundHistorically, the receipt of prescription opioids has differed among racial groups in the United States. Research has not sufficiently explored the contribution of individual health systems to these differences by examining within-system prescription opioid receipt according to race.MethodsWe used 2016 and 2017 Medicare claims data from a random 40% national sample of fee-for-service, Black and White beneficiaries 18 to 64 years of age who were attributed to health systems. We identified 310 racially diverse systems (defined as systems with ≥200 person-years each for Black and White patients). To test representativeness, we compared patient characteristics and opioid receipt among the patients in these 310 systems with those in the national sample. Within the 310 systems, regression models were used to explore the difference between Black and White patients in the following annual opioid measures: any prescription filled, short-term receipt of opioids, long-term receipt of opioids (one or more filled opioid prescriptions in all four calendar quarters of a year), and the opioid dose in morphine milligram equivalents (MME); models controlled for patient characteristics, state, and system.ResultsThe national sample included 2,197,153 person-years, and the sample served by 310 racially diverse systems included 896,807 person-years (representing 47.4% of all patients and 56.1% of Black patients in the national sample). The national sample and 310-systems sample differed meaningfully only in the percent of person-years contributed by Black patients (21.3% vs. 25.9%). In the 310-systems sample, the crude annual prevalence of any opioid receipt differed slightly between Black and White patients (50.2% vs. 52.2%), whereas the mean annual dose was 36% lower among Black patients than among White patients (5190 MME vs. 8082 MME). Within systems, the adjusted race differences in measures paralleled the population trends: the annual prevalence of opioid receipt differed little, but the mean annual dose was higher among White patients than among Black patients in 91% of the systems, and at least 15% higher in 75% of the systems.ConclusionsWithin individual health systems, Black and White patients received markedly different opioid doses. These system-specific findings could facilitate exploration of the causes and consequences of these differences. (Funded by the National Institute on Aging and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.).

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Arbitrary Inequality in Reputation Systems.

Publications

Arbitrary Inequality in Reputation Systems.

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