Assessing the market values of soccer players – a robust analysis of data from German 1. and 2. Bundesliga

The paper examines to what extent a player's market value depends on his skills. Therefore, a data set covering 28 performance measures and the market values of about 493 players from 1. and 2. German Bundesliga is analysed. Applying robust analysis techniques, we are able to robustly estimate market values of soccer players. The results show (1) that there are significantly underrated and overrated players and (2) that a player's affiliation to a certain team may contribute to his market value. We conclude that a club's reputation affects the market values of its players and that star players are in tendency overrated.     

‘Unfit for reform or punishment’: mental disorder and discipline in Liverpool Borough Prison in the late nineteenth century

This article examines how Liverpool Borough Prison, opened in 1855 as one of the largest local prisons in England to adopt the separate system, categorized and dealt with mental distress and disorder amongst its prison population in the late nineteenth century. High prison committal rates in Liverpool, alongside high levels of recidivism, especially among female prisoners, led to severe overcrowding and encouraged a harsh disciplinary regime. Exacerbated by the poor physical and mental condition of the prisoners, this produced a challenging environment for maintaining the separate system of confinement and prisoners’ mental well-being. While official figures for the rates of mental disorder in local prisons are not readily available, Liverpool Prison’s diverse and under-exploited archives and official reports indicate that insanity caused prison officials and visiting justices great concern, and many prisoners were declared unfit for the rigours of prison discipline. Our article explores the implications of the ever more punitive, deterrent and physically taxing penal policy implemented in the late nineteenth century on the minds of prisoners. Despite the heavy toll on prisoners’ mental well-being, such cases were often retained by prison medical officers reluctant to acknowledge the failure of the prison to deter, reform and redeem.     

Eliciting children’s recall regarding home life and relationships

Abstract

Child interviews form an important component of custody evaluations. Yet, research on children’s responses to questions about home life and relationships is lacking. In the present study, children (N?=?47) aged 6 to 10?years were interviewed about their daily routines and family relationships. Responses to four categories of questions were compared: open and specific questions about routines, and negative and positive aspects of family relationships. Responses were coded for amount of information, informativeness, topic pertinence, and refusals to answer. Results suggested that questions about everyday routines and relationships elicit relevant and informative responses from children. It is suggested that interviewers begin with open-ended questions regarding daily routines to structure family law interviews with children.     

Estimation and diagnostic analysis in skew-generalized-normal regression models

The skew-generalized-normal distribution [Arellano-Valle, RB, Gómez, HW, Quintana, FA. A new class of skew-normal distributions. Comm Statist Theory Methods 2004;33(7):1465–1480] is a class of asymmetric normal distributions, which contains the normal and skew-normal distributions as special cases. The main virtues of this distribution is that it is easy to simulate from and it also supplies a genuine expectation–maximization (EM) algorithm for maximum likelihood estimation. In this paper, we extend the EM algorithm for linear regression models assuming skew-generalized-normal random errors and we develop a diagnostics analyses via local influence and generalized leverage, following Zhu and Lee's approach. This is because Cook's well-known approach would be more complicated to use to obtain measures of local influence. Finally, results obtained for a real data set are reported, illustrating the usefulness of the proposed method.     

Spatially Balanced Sampling of Continuous Populations

When sampling from a continuous population (or distribution), we often want a rather small sample due to some cost attached to processing the sample or to collecting information in the field. Moreover, a probability sample that allows for design‐based statistical inference is often desired. Given these requirements, we want to reduce the sampling variance of the Horvitz–Thompson estimator as much as possible. To achieve this, we introduce different approaches to using the local pivotal method for selecting well‐spread samples from multidimensional continuous populations. The results of a simulation study clearly indicate that we succeed in selecting spatially balanced samples and improve the efficiency of the Horvitz–Thompson estimator.     

Deaf access to justice in Northern Ireland: rethinking ‘Reasonable Adjustment’ in the Disability Discrimination Act

Abstract

This article provides findings of a qualitative study exploring the interactions of eight Deaf participants and one hearing ally with the justice system in Northern Ireland, where the Disability Discrimination Act requires solicitors to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ in order to provide effective access to Deaf clients. Three thematic categories emerged: (a) barriers to accessing justice, (b) work Deaf people do for access, and (c) the need to educate solicitors about access. A central strain ran through these themes: the idea that ‘reasonable adjustment’ must reflect the value of sign language interpreters in facilitating effective communication access for all the parties.     

Center–periphery relations,local governance and conflicts in Ethiopia: the experience of Metekel province

In Ethiopia, the study and issue of center–periphery relations is not an easy task. It has remained complex and dynamics as it has been dictated and shaped by ever changing socio-economic relations, state ideology and structure. A case in point is Metekel region, which had been characterized by under development, lowland, hot climate and traditional way of life. Until post-1991developments, Metekel was peripheral in relation to the central state. It was an area of confrontation and conflict. Owing to the structural weakness of the centre, successive rulers of the area did not command effective control over it. Focusing on Gumuz, a Nilo-Saharan family, on one hand, and highlanders and new settlers, on the other, this essay examined the main features and dynamics of center–periphery relations, governance and conflicts in Metekel area. The sources, both primary and secondary, have been carefully examined based on the objectives of the study.     

土地流转中为什么会形成大量小农复制

土地流转是实现规模化经营的前提之一,然而土地流转中却出现大量小农复制,从而影响土地流转的质量和效果。运用12省(自治区)2 553份农户问卷,详细分析土地流转中小农复制的现状及其形成原因。研究发现：(1)农户流转耕地面积不大,转入户流转面积20亩及以下的约占总转入户数的60.3％,转出户流转面积5亩及以下的约占总转出户数的74.38％,转出户中仍然经营土地的约占总转出户数的74％。(2)农业分工发达使生产更加方便、文化传统形成路径依赖、禀赋效应产生“价值幻觉”以及公共服务不健全使未来存在不确定性导致转出户流转部分土地。乡土社会限制土地流转范围和经营风险增加风险感知导致转入户流转小规模土地。     

市场分割、政企关系与异地市场拓展

中国的市场仍旧存在某种程度的分割，如何突破这种市场分割到异地拓展市场是企业要考虑的现实问题。以前的研究主要是从省级层面或国家层面进行宏观分析。文章创新地从政企关系视角入手来考察市场分割情形下微观层面的企业异地市场拓展，也是首先把市场分割（和异地市场）分为省内（本市外）市场、省外市场和海外市场三个不同层面来研究的论文。用世界银行的调查数据从微观企业个体层面检验了企业异地市场拓展的可能。实证研究结果发现，市场分割确实阻碍了企业异地市场拓展，但这仅限于省内市场而不是省外市场。此外，市场分割是有方向性的，从地方保护主义严重的市场里走出来的企业更容易拓展异地市场，但此结论仅适用于国内市场拓展而不适用于海外市场拓展。良好的政企关系是有利于企业异地市场拓展的，但仅限于省外市场，对省内市场以及海外市场是无效的。文章解释了其中的原因，并分析了对于企业实践的启示。     

论数字货币的私法性质——以日本Bitcoin.Cafe数字货币交易所破产案为中心

数字货币，是一种具有财产性价值属性的电磁记录型数据。数字货币在其依存的区块链体系中所彰显的与不特定者之间的支付对价性、与法定货币之间的互换性、使用电子信息处理系统进行转移的在线转移性等特点，得以从数据说的角度，将其作为一种数据性财产权在现行法律框架内对其私法性质进行讨论。有鉴于我国民法总则已将数据纳入保护客体的范畴，数字货币作为数据之一种，理应成为一种新型法律客体，在得到法律理论支撑的基础上获得保护。