Aggression in delinquent adolescents versus controls: the role of parental rearing

The role of social factors in the aetiology of aggression is still very unclear. To examine the interrelations between aggression and parental rearing factors, 133 delinquent adolescents and 108 same-aged schoolchildren from north western Russia were studied by means of the Aggression Questionnaire and the own memories of parental rearing questionnaire on parental rearing. Delinquent adolescents significantly differed from non-delinquents on aggression scores, as well as on parental rearing factors. Furthermore, the aggression scores in both groups under investigation were related with rejecting rearing practices. Our results point to the aetiological significance of parental rearing in the development of aggression among adolescents.     

A Stochastic Volatility Model With Conditional Skewness

We develop a discrete-time affine stochastic volatility model with time-varying conditional skewness (SVS). Importantly, we disentangle the dynamics of conditional volatility and conditional skewness in a coherent way. Our approach allows current asset returns to be asymmetric conditional on current factors and past information, which we term contemporaneous asymmetry. Conditional skewness is an explicit combination of the conditional leverage effect and contemporaneous asymmetry. We derive analytical formulas for various return moments that are used for generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation. Applying our approach to S&P500 index daily returns and option data, we show that one- and two-factor SVS models provide a better fit for both the historical and the risk-neutral distribution of returns, compared to existing affine generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH), and stochastic volatility with jumps (SVJ) models. Our results are not due to an overparameterization of the model: the one-factor SVS models have the same number of parameters as their one-factor GARCH competitors and less than the SVJ benchmark.     

Experimental designs with dependent observations: New results and comments on previous results

We present a new sufficient condition on the covariance matrix of the normality distributed observations of an ANOVA model (with orthogonal decomposition of the total sum of squares) under which the F-statictics are distributed proportionally to Fisher F-random variables variables. A new proof of a previous result, a necessary and sufficient condition for applicability of Barlett’s test to the observations of a one-way ANOVA models, and comments on recent results are also given.     

SEARCH INTENSITY,DIRECTED SEARCH,AND THE WAGE DISTRIBUTION

We propose a search equilibrium model in which homogeneous firms post wages along with a vacancy to attract job seekers while homogeneous unemployed workers invest in costly job seeking. The key innovation relies on the organization of the search market and the search behavior of the job seekers. The search market is continuously segmented by wage level, individuals can spread their search investment over the different submarkets, and search intensity has marginal decreasing returns in each submarket. We demonstrate the existence of a nondegenerate equilibrium wage distribution. The density of this wage distribution is increasing at low wages and decreasing at high wages. The distribution can be right‐tailed, and, under additional restrictions, is hump‐shaped. Our results are illustrated by an example generating a Beta wage distribution.     

Index of Authors Volume 51

Authors Index

Index of Authors Volume 51     

Laws of the iterated logarithm and large deviations for a class of diffusionl processes

We use the martingale approach to study large deviations and laws of the iterated logarithm for certain multidimensional diffusion processes. The criteria for the validity of these properties are expressed in terms of averaging properties of the coefficients of the infinitesimal generator. In particular we apply our results to diffusion processes with random coefficients.     

From airy-fairy ideas to concrete realities: The case of shared farming

This article provides a case study of environmental and social change leadership. Dan Wiens has been the key leader of the widely acclaimed Shared Farming movement, introducing an alternative agrifood system that is environmentally friendly and socially just. Key attributes that characterize Dan's leadership include: a deep-rooted sense of mission, an ability to articulate a philosophy espoused by others, a need to empower others, and a sense of integrity that comes from putting values into action.     

The Effect of Gender Policies on Fertility: The Moderating Role of Education and Normative Context

In this paper, we aim to assess the extent to which individual-level completed fertility varies across contexts characterized by policies supporting different gender division of labor models. We examine key labor market and care policies that shape gender relations in households and in the public domain. We also consider the role of gender norms, which can act as both a moderator and a confounding factor for policy effects. We hypothesize that, by facilitating role compatibility and reducing the gendered costs of childrearing, policies that support gender equality lead to an increase in fertility levels and to a reduction in fertility differentials by the level of education. Using individual-level data from the European Union Survey on Income and Living Conditions for 16 countries, combined with country-level data, we analyze completed fertility through multilevel Poisson’s models. We find that the national level of childcare coverage is positively associated with fertility. Family allowances, prevalence of women’s part-time employment and length of paid leaves were also found to be positively associated with completed fertility, though the associations were not statistically significant. These variables show a significant positive pattern according to education. A high number of average working hours for men are negatively associated with completed fertility and show a strong negative pattern by educational level. The prevalence of gender-egalitarian norms is highly predictive of fertility levels, yet we found no consistent evidence of a weaker association of gender-equality policies in countries where egalitarian values are less prevalent.     

Formal and Informal Risk Sharing in LDCs: Theory and Empirical Evidence

We develop and estimate a model of dynamic interactions in which commitment is limited and contracts are incomplete to explain the patterns of income and consumption growth in village economies of less developed countries. Households can insure each other through both formal contracts and informal agreements, that is, self‐enforcing agreements specifying voluntary transfers. This theoretical setting nests the case of complete markets and the case where only informal agreements are available. We derive a system of nonlinear equations for income and consumption growth. A key prediction of our model is that both variables are affected by lagged consumption as a consequence of the interplay of formal and informal contracting possibilities. In a semiparametric setting, we prove identification, derive testable restrictions, and estimate the model with the use of data from Pakistani villages. Empirical results are consistent with the economic arguments. Incentive constraints due to self‐enforcement bind with positive probability and formal contracts are used to reduce this probability.