Directional mixture models and optimal estimation of the mixing density

The authors develop consistent nonparametric estimation techniques for the directional mixing density. Classical spherical harmonics are used to adapt Euclidean techniques to this directional environment. Minimax rates of convergence are obtained for rotation ally invariant densities verifying various smoothness conditions. It is found that the differences in smoothness between the Laplace, the Gaussian and the von Mises‐Fisher distributions lead to contrasting inferential conclusions.     

Interrelationships between fertility and marital dissolution: Results of a simultaneous logit model

Previous studies have failed to examine (a) the simultaneity of decisions to bear children and to dissolve a marriage and (b) the effects of the childbearing in the period just before dissolution on the likelihood of disruption. We attempted to resolve both problems by developing a simultaneous logit model of the interrelationship between the probability of separation and of having a birth during this period (when dissolution presumably is being considered). The model was estimated at successive durations of first marriage, using data for white women in the 1970 National Fertility Survey. The results indicate that childbearing patterns— number of children and age of youngest child at the beginning of the marital interval being studied and fertility during the interval—did not influence the likelihood of separation in simple or consistent ways over the marital life course, nor did marital strife (as indicated by separation) seem to affect childbearing throughout marriage.     

Leadership across hierarchical levels: Multiple levels of management and multiple levels of analysis

We examined differences in leadership influence processes, perceptions, and multiple levels-of-analysis effects between close and distant charismatic and contingent reward leadership across three hierarchical levels in 13 Korean companies. Multi-source data revealed that followers' commitment to the leader mediated relationships between leadership and followers' attitudinal, behavioral, and performance outcomes in close situations, but not in distant relationships. Leadership at higher levels of management was positively related to leadership at the next lower level, which in turn related to follower outcomes at the lowest echelon. Multivariate within and between analysis indicated multiple-level effects differing by leader–follower distance and for the variables of interest.     

A case study on the perception of aging and participation in physical activities of older Chinese immigrants in Australia

This qualitative study explores how older Hong Kong ChineseAustralians perceive aging and to what extent this perception affects their participation in physical activities. The main methods used were in-depth interviews with 22 participants ranging in age from 60 to 91 years. Interviews were translated from Chinese (Cantonese) and transcribed into English. Content analysis was used to find recurring themes from the interview data. The main findings indicate that the perception of aging is to some extent influenced by culture. Some participants defined aging as being measured in years, and others defined it by the state of one's physical health, appearance, and capacity to continue fulfilling one's social roles. These perceptions strongly influenced their preferences for and participation in physical activities. Acknowledging the fact that Chinese-speaking people are not culturally homogeneous, this article makes some recommendations to health service providers with regard to the development of appropriate physical activity programs.     

When should organizational change be implemented? The moderating effect of environmental dynamism between dynamic capabilities and new venture performance

The purpose of this study is to explore the moderating effect of environmental dynamism on the relationship between dynamic capabilities and new venture performance using the rapidly changing environment in China as a case. Using a sample of 115 firm observations, we applied the partial least squares structural equation modeling approach to model these relationships and found that opportunity-sensing capability and reconfiguration capability have significant impacts on new venture performance. Additionally, each of these capabilities has a stronger impact on new venture performance at higher levels of environmental dynamism. We conclude that dynamic capabilities are more effective in implementing organizational change at high degrees of environmental dynamism.     

Robustly Collusion‐Proof Implementation

A contract with multiple agents may be susceptible to collusion. We show that agents' collusion imposes no cost in a large class of circumstances with risk neutral agents, including both uncorrelated and correlated types. In those circumstances, any payoff the principal can attain in the absence of collusion, including the second‐best level, can be attained in the presence of collusion in a way robust to many aspects of collusion behavior. The collusion‐proof implementation generalizes to a setting in which only a subset of agents may collude, provided that noncollusive agents' incentives can be protected via an ex post incentive compatible and ex post individually rational mechanism. Our collusion‐proof implementation also sheds light on the extent to which hierarchical delegation of contracts can optimally respond to collusion.     

The effects of children on divorce and re-marriage: a multivariate analysis of life table probabilities

Summary Using proportional hazards models and multiple decrement life tables to analyse data from the 1973 National Survey of Family Growth, this study tests the hypotheses that, net of the effects of such factors as age at separation or divorce, the probabilities of divorce after separation and of re-marriage after divorce would be lower for women with larger numbers of children or younger children, and that these transitions would take longer than for women with fewer or older children or women who were childless; and that there would be an interaction between number of children and age of youngest child. Results included: (1) the probability that mothers of two or more children would divorce after separation was significantly lower than for childless women, or those with only one child; (2) among whites, mothers of three or more children were at a significant disadvantage regarding their chances of re-marriage, whereas the probability that a black mother of three or more children would re-marry was no smaller than that of a woman with fewer or no children; (3) among whites, the presence of a youngest child aged between two and five years at separation decreased the probability of divorce after separation; (4) there was no interaction effect between number and age of children; and (5) in each category of family size and age of youngest child, the probability that a black woman would divorce after separation or re-marry after divorce was lower than for white women. The results have important implications for the study of divorce and re-marriage, and for understanding of problems of single-parent families.     

Environmental effects on perceptions of life quality in Korea

Both in industrialized and industrializing countries environment is widely believed to be an important contributing source of the quality which people seek to bring to their lives. Yet, quality of life researchers have made little effort to determine the exact nature of environmental effects on perceptions of quality of life. This paper examines the individual and joint effects of community, housing and household on the levels of satisfaction, dissatisfaction, pleasure, and worry which Korean people experience.     

POSTMODERN CONSUMER CULTURE WITHOUT POSTMODERNITY: COPYING THE CRISIS OF SIGNIFICATION

The purpose of this study was to interpret the meaning of the postmodern discourse produced by Korean television advertisements, by categorizing postmodern television advertisements and describing their representations and images of reality in detail. Considering the production process of Korean postmodern advertisements, the study raised a question: How can we interpret the phenomena of imitating and assimilating the style of advertisements from the reservoir of postmodern signifiers, while not taking into account the values, ideas and ways of thinking implicit in such advertisements?

There are two ways of interpretation. First, it would be an effect of structural dependence, in which postmodern consumer cultural forms are replicated and replace local products with mass-produced goods. The narratives of postmodern advertisements serve as the catalyst to introduce these advertisements and to teach the grammar of international advertising. Second, the assimilation of postmodern advertisements in Korean television means a newly emergent hybrid culture. Because the target of postmodern advertisements is the young consumer, the producers adopt postmodern tastes and styles, inserting and translating their roots into local forms. The study concluded that it may be more appropriate not to choose one of these interpretations as a single correct theory; it is better to look at the articulation of different forces and processes within a field of interconnections among mediascape, financescape and technoscape.     

On the Use of Adaptive Nearest Neighbors for Missing Value Imputation

A popular nonparametric treatment of missing value imputation uses methods based on k-nearest neighbors, where the number k of nearest neighbors is fixed without any consideration of the local features of missing values. This article proposes an alternative imputation method based on adaptive nearest neighbors, which takes into account the local features of the data. The proposed method adapts the number of neighbors in imputing the missing values according to the location of the missing values. Efficiency evaluation is then gauged through simulation studies using both simulated and real data. It is shown that the proposed method has distinct advantages over the imputation method based on k-nearest neighbors.