On a Dualization of Graphical Gaussian Models: A Correction Note

Abstract.  We correct two proofs concerning Markov properties for graphs representing marginal independence relations.     

On the Extension of the Utilitarian and Suppes–Sen Social Welfare Relations to Infinite Utility Streams

Extensions of a utilitarian and a Suppes–Sen grading principle defined on infinite utility streams are characterized with a stronger notion of Anonymity and without any consistency postulate. The relative merits of the Extended Utilitarian relation are discussed and its rankings are compared with those of the overtaking criterion and the Basu–Mitra Utilitarian relation.I am indebted to Tapan Mitra for several insightful discussions on the subject matter of this paper and on intertemporal social choice theory in general. I thank a Managing Editor for meticulously reading through two versions of the paper and two anonymous referees of this journal for providing detailed comments, pointing out errors and suggesting expositional changes. I also thank Kaushik Basu for his comments. I am responsible for any remaining errors.     

The behavioural and welfare implications of housing demand under rationing

This study examines on United Kingdom budget data the sensitivity of policy and welfare conclusions to the introduction of quantity constraint on Housing demand within a utility consistent framework. The paper proposes a rationed demographic demand system, based on extension of the idea of virtual price, and presents evidence that such a model could prove useful in the precise estimation of equivalence scales on budget data with limited price variation. The demand parameter estimates and their welfare implications are quite sensitive to the introduction of rationed demand. Unlike in previous studies, the rationed demand system fails to reject linear preferences.I am grateful to Arie Kapteyn and an anonymous referee for helpful written comments on an earlier version. I also thank seminar participants at the Second Annual Congress of the European Society of Population Economics at the University of Mannheim, West Germany in June 1988, at the University of NSW and Melbourne in Australia, and Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand for useful discussions. I retain responsibility for all errors that remain.     

Estimates of Spatial Prices in India and Their Sensitivity to Alternative Estimation Methods and Choice of Commodities

This paper provides Indian evidence on sub-national PPPs that point to considerable spatial price heterogeneity within the country, based on Indian National Sample Survey (NSS) data. The prices of various commodities have been generated from the household specific unit values obtained from the information on expenditures and quantities from the NSS unit records. This paper shows that the CPD model, proposed in the cross country context, can be adapted to the household context to estimate spatial prices in the intra country context. The proposed CPD based model is shown to be formally equivalent to certain well known fixed weight price indices under certain parametric configurations. The empirical contribution includes a systematic comparison between the spatial price indices from alternative models, namely the CPD and utility based models, and the result that the utility based methods point to a much greater extent of spatial price heterogeneity than is suggested by the CPD type models. The results also record the sensitivity of the spatial price indices to the choice of commodities in the utility based approach. The pairwise comparison of estimates suggests that commodity selection may be more important than model selection in its impact on the spatial price estimates, though the latter is important as well. The study provides estimates of rural–urban differentials in spatial price indices that suggest some interesting differences between the constituent states. The results make a strong case for further research on the topic of sub-national PPPs in the context of large heterogeneous countries.     

A decision support system for the selection of a casting process using analytic hierarchy process

This paper presents an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) based decision support system to select the most suitable casting process for a given product. The hierarchical structure of the proposed method allows the decision maker to compare the different casting processes using the material suitability and flexibility, geometrical complexity, dimensional tolerance and surface finish of the casting, and the cost as the criteria for selection. Judgemental inconsistency of the decision maker in selecting the casting process is taken care by ensuring that the value of consistency ratio is below (0.1). A numerical example is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology for selecting the suitable casting process.     

The Role of Social Goals in Bullies' and Victims' Social Information Processing in Response to Ambiguous and Overtly Hostile Provocation

Understanding what social goals are associated with bullying and victimization behaviours, even after allowing for biases in interpretation of and affective responses to social events, is critical for understanding the socio‐behavioural profile of bullies and victims. In the present study, 181 nine‐ to ten‐year‐olds' affective responses, attribution of intent, and social goals were assessed in the context of a series of ambiguous and overtly hostile provocation vignettes. Results showed that even after allowing for other social information processing biases, social goals were meaningfully associated with bullying and victimization scores. Bullying was inversely associated with relationship‐building goals, and positively associated with goals to be assertive over the provocateur when provocation was overtly hostile. Being victimized was associated with having submissive goals even when provocation was ambiguous and after accounting for attribution of hostile intent. Findings are discussed in light of theoretical and practical implications.     

Analysis of child labour in Peru and Pakistan: A comparative study

This paper analyses child labour participation and its key determinants using data sets from Peru and Pakistan. The results include tests of the ‘Luxury’ and ‘Substitution’ hypotheses that play key roles in recent studies on child labour and child schooling. The results reject both hypotheses in the context of child labour in Pakistan and suggest that income and related variables do not have the expected negative effect on children's work input. Rising wages of adult female labour in Pakistan, and falling adult male wage in Peru lead to increased participation of children in the labour market. The results on the combined country data formally establish the presence of strong individual country effects in the estimated regressions. For example, ceteris paribus, a Peruvian child is more likely to experience schooling than a Pakistani child. However, both countries agree on the positive role that adult female education and infrastructure investment in basic amenities can play in discouraging child labour and encouraging child schooling. Received: 24 August 1998/Accepted: 10 March 1999     

Popular and Rejected Children's Reasoning Regarding Negative Emotions in Social Situations: The Role of Gender

Two studies compared popular and rejected children's reasoning regarding social interactions involving negative emotions. The first study, with 23 rejected and 23 popular 10‐ to 11‐year‐olds, involved hypothetical social scenarios where a classmate ‘victim’ was likely to experience a negative emotion. Although popular and rejected children both recognized negative emotions and were equally likely to suggest helping behaviour to aid the victim, there were gender effects on the type of helping behaviour suggested. Specifically, popular girls were significantly more likely to offer comforting behaviour than advice whereas popular boys offered advice more than comfort; no such preferences were exhibited by the rejected children. Furthermore, popular girls were significantly more likely than other children to refer to emotional states when justifying their helping response. In the second study, 30 popular and 30 rejected eight‐ to 10‐year‐olds identified the motives behind story characters' efforts to mask negative emotions. Popular girls were more likely to identify the target motives than rejected girls, but no such difference was apparent for the boys. The results are discussed in the light of evidence regarding gender differences in peer interaction patterns.     

Approaches to implementing manufacturing information systems

Since computers lie behind almost all aspects of new technology, industry now has the chance to develop true integrated Manufacturing Information Systems. This paper examines the developments in this direction which new technology makes available, and why companies should embrace them. Case studies are presented in which the progress achieved and problems encountered by three companies in realising their manufacturing information system are discussed. General conclusions are drawn from them and recommendations for successful implementation are put forward.