Understanding Estimators of Treatment Effects in Regression Discontinuity Designs

In this paper, we propose two new estimators of treatment effects in regression discontinuity designs. These estimators can aid understanding of the existing estimators such as the local polynomial estimator and the partially linear estimator. The first estimator is the partially polynomial estimator which extends the partially linear estimator by further incorporating derivative differences of the conditional mean of the outcome on the two sides of the discontinuity point. This estimator is related to the local polynomial estimator by a relocalization effect. Unlike the partially linear estimator, this estimator can achieve the optimal rate of convergence even under broader regularity conditions. The second estimator is an instrumental variable estimator in the fuzzy design. This estimator will reduce to the local polynomial estimator if higher order endogeneities are neglected. We study the asymptotic properties of these two estimators and conduct simulation studies to confirm the theoretical analysis.     

西部地区农村老年贫困影响因素实证分析--基于西部地区106个村落的调查数据

基于西部地区106个村落1575位农村老年人的调查数据,对影响老年人贫困的因素进行实证分析。Probit模型显示：影响老年人贫困的因素有共性因素和特性因素,年龄、劳动、政府救济金、财产性收入、低保和子女生活费、子女经济状况是影响老年人贫困的共性因素;文化程度、健康程度、自理能力和是否有养老保险是影响不与子女同住的老年人贫困的特性因素;子女数、性别、婚姻状况是影响与子女同住的老年人贫困的特性因素。针对这一结论,应大力发展农村经济、完善农村社会保障体系,大力发展农村教育、基础医疗建设,弘扬社会主义新型“孝文化”,营造尊老爱幼的良好社会氛围,缓解西部地区老年贫困。     

中国农村民间借贷市场融资约束环境下利率定价模型分析——以广东农村实地调查数据为例

通过对广东农户民间借贷行为实地调查的问卷进行数据分析,了解农村民间借贷中的资金供求关系,发现存在的融资约束问题,进而对融资约束环境下民间借贷资金利率定价过程进行实证分析;着重考察农村民间借贷利率受公共信息和私人信息影响的程度,从借款人和贷款人的角度分别建立定价模型进行经验分析。结果显示,定价模型在F检验1%水平上显著,其他模型具有R2的统计显著性;反映借款用途的变量在10%水平上显著,其他变量均在5%水平上显著。这说明该市场利率能够反映公共信息的影响,借款人和贷款人的利率定价也反映了各自私人信息中相关风险和财务能力因素的影响,得到的经验结论主要是:第一,农村民间借贷市场是自主交易的金融市场;第二,其利率定价过程基本市场化。     

商业银行利率选择与信贷配给问题研究

目前我国经济高速发展,但融资难的问题一直阻碍中小企业的进一步发展,这是多方原因造成的.其中长期存在于信贷市场中的信贷配给(credit rationing)现象、银行利率选择问题一直为国内学术界所关注,但是对于形成信贷配给的银行与企业的决策过程关注得不多.笔者从传统的信贷市场均衡入手,着重分析了信贷市场的利率选择、最优利率形成原则以及信贷配给产生的原因,以期对我国进行宏观经济调整起到一定的借鉴作用.     

汇率对中国对韩直接投资影响的实证研究

利用1989-2003年年度数据对汇率水平和波动对中国对韩国直接投资的影响进行实证研究。研究表明,人民币对韩元升值对中国对韩国直接投资有不够显著的正影响,人民币对韩元波动程度增加对中国对韩国直接投资有显著的正影响。政策含义在于：2005年人民币汇率改革对中国企业实施“走出去”战略和缓解人民币升值压力有深远影响。     

上市公司债务重组财务效应研究

债务重组是很多企业在生产经营活动中遇到的重大问题,债务重组的结果如何,会对企业产生重大影响。在分析了中国深圳和上海证券交易所的上市公司的债务重组的相关数据之后,得出了债务重组能够显著改善企业业绩的相关结论,提出了要加强对债务重组信息披露等相关建议。     

Estimating the effectiveness of a misdemeanor drug diversion program using propensity score matching and survival analyses

This study analyzes three years of data on misdemeanor drug offenders in Winnebago County, Wisconsin. A portion of these offenders opted into a Misdemeanor Drug Diversion Program (MDDP) offered instead of traditional adjudication. Recidivism in the treatment and comparison groups is estimated using standard binary response techniques augmented with propensity score matching to address selection bias. Results show that the MDDP reduces the probability of re-offense by 16%, after adjusting for possible selection bias. Cox proportional hazard modeling is also used to assess time-to-re-offense differentials between the treatment and comparison groups. The survival analysis indicates that the hazard rate of re-offense is 60% lower per day among those treated with the MDDP program than those who did not complete the program. The average number of days to re-offense among those that do re-offend is 297 days in the treatment group and 203 days in the comparison group.     

Uniform Convergence of Compactly Supported Wavelet Expansions of Gaussian Random Processes

New results on uniform convergence in probability for expansions of Gaussian random processes using compactly supported wavelets are given. The main result is valid for general classes of non stationary processes. An application of the obtained results to stationary processes is also presented. It is shown that the convergence rate of the expansions is exponential.     

Keeping Surveys Valid,Reliable, and Useful: A Tutorial

This tutorial focuses on how to produce reliable and generalizable data from random‐digit‐dialing (RDD) landline and cell phone surveys. The article notes that RDD response rates have declined and explores the impact of this pronounced decline. The tutorial addresses order, response mode, and many other biases, sample size, cooperation and response rates, weighting, and hybrid designs‐all using examples from risk analysis to illustrate the key points. The article ends with a brief review of the advantages and disadvantages of major Internet and paper surveys tools, and how these can be molded and sometimes combined in repeated, longitudinal, and other designs to answer questions about risk preferences and perceptions.     

The Italian Labour Force Survey to estimate fertility

The own-children method (OCM) applied to the Italian Labour Force Survey (ILFS) is an alternative way to give information on fertility for the years before the survey. By deriving children information and the population at risk on the basis of parents’ characteristics, a large-scale dataset for fertility analysis in Italy becomes available, also to reconstruct event histories. The quality assessment provided by comparing the total fertility rate (TFR) calculated on ILFS with the official regional and national TFRs by ISTAT gives us usable outcomes.