Turkish health professional's attitude toward euthanasia

The cross-sectional study was administrated between April and September 2006. Participants are doctors, nurses, and midwives. Between these dates we met only 750 health staff (doctor, nurse, and midwife). Six hundred thirty-two of them responded to our questionnaire, 122 of them were in Manisa city, and 510 of them in Erciyes. We sought to identify variables that contribute to euthanasia attitude, including demographics, in order to demonstrate Turkish doctors', nurses', and midwives' attitudes toward euthanasia and to compare their attitudes in this regard. The data was collected by a two-part questionnaire. The first part included questions about the health personnel; the second part comprised the euthanasia (Medical Staffs Attitude toward Euthanasia) scale. The scale was developed by the researcher to measure the attitude of healthy staff euthanasia. The SPSS was used to analyze the data. Student t-test, ANOVA, Mann Whitney U, and Kruskal Wallis were used to evaluate the data. Thep value 0.05 (95% confidence interval) was accepted as significant. In our study, professional groups are compared with all the factors but there is a significant difference only between social cost and professional groups.     

Health professionals' attitude toward euthanasia: a cross-sectional study from Turkey

There is an ongoing debate on the definition of euthanasia and attempts to change laws about euthanasia and its practice in many countries. It is the medical doctors and the other health professionals who will elucidate the issue. Therefore, we performed this study to reveal attitude of Turkish health professionals toward euthanasia. This is an observational and cross-sectional study and data were collected with a questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed to 545 health professionals in Samsun, a city in the Black Sea Region in Turkey. Data were analyzed with SPSS package programs. Of all health professionals included in the study, 43.5% were medical doctors and 45.5% auxiliary health professionals. Of all participants, 33.6% did not object to euthanasia and 7.9% were asked to perform euthanasia. Eighty point seven percent of the participants noted that euthanasia could be abused even if a euthanasia law were passed. It can be concluded that the health professionals should have a chance to discuss euthanasia and that their attitude toward and their expectations and worries about euthanasia should be taken into account when a euthanasia law is drafted.     

Turkey's physicians' attitudes toward euthanasia: a brief research report

Euthanasia and assisted suicide are subject to an ongoing debate and discussed with various aspects. Because physicians are in a profession closely related to euthanasia, their attitudes toward this subject are significant. Thus, research intending to explore their opinions is carried out in many countries. In this study, opinions of the physicians regarding euthanasia's definition, contents, legal aspects, and acceptable conditions for its application are addressed. The questionnaire was given to 949 physicians, more than 1% of the total working in Turkey. Of the physicians who participated in the study, 49.9% agreed with the opinion that euthanasia should be legal in certain circumstances. In addition, 19% had come across a euthanasia request and the majority of physicians (55.9%) believed that euthanasia is applied secretly in the country despite the prohibitory legislation. In conclusion, the authors infer from the study itself and believe that euthanasia should be legal in certain circumstances and that the subject, which is not in the agenda of the Turkish population, should continue to be examined.     

Context‐Specific,Scenario‐Based Risk Scales

Reacting to an emergency requires quick decisions under stressful and dynamic conditions. To react effectively, responders need to know the right actions to take given the risks posed by the emergency. While existing research on risk scales focuses primarily on decision making in static environments with known risks, these scales may be inappropriate for conditions where the decision maker's time and mental resources are limited and may be infeasible if the actual risk probabilities are unknown. In this article, we propose a method to develop context‐specific, scenario‐based risk scales designed for emergency response training. Emergency scenarios are used as scale points, reducing our dependence on known probabilities; these are drawn from the targeted emergency context, reducing the mental resources required to interpret the scale. The scale is developed by asking trainers/trainees to rank order a range of risk scenarios and then aggregating these orderings using a Kemeny ranking. We propose measures to assess this aggregated scale's internal consistency, reliability, and validity, and we discuss how to use the scale effectively. We demonstrate our process by developing a risk scale for subsurface coal mine emergencies and test the reliability of the scale by repeating the process, with some methodological variations, several months later.     

How can perceived consistency in marketing communications influence customer–brand relationship outcomes?

This paper examines the impact of perceived consistency in marketing communications on customer–brand relationship outcomes. The perception of consistent message and image through different marketing communication tools is one of the basic principles of the integrated marketing communications (IMC) approach. Although literature suggests that IMC might have an influence on customer–brand relationship outcomes, empirical evidence that supports this assumption is still weak and inconclusive. Three main brand relationship outcomes are established for the purpose of the study, i.e. trust, commitment, and loyalty. The relationships between perceived communication consistency and brand outcomes are examined in a hospitality context on a sample of 452 respondents who had to evaluate fast-food brands. Structural Equation Modelling was employed as the main technique for data analysis using Partial Least Squares (PLS). Results reveal that communication consistency has a strong direct impact on brand trust and brand loyalty. Although its influence on affective brand commitment is found to be positive, it is not statistically significant. The interrelationship between three brand relationship outcomes is also corroborated. The study contributes to our understanding of the role of IMC in the relationship marketing paradigm and provides deeper insights into the impact of communication consistency on different relationship outcomes with fast-food brands.     

Dispensing death,desiring death: an exploration of medical roles and patient motivation during the period of legalized euthanasia in Australia

A qualitative case study was conducted to explore the clinical decision making processes that underpinned the practice of euthanasia under the Rights of the Terminally Ill (ROTI) Act. The key informant for this research was Philip Nitschke, the general practitioner responsible for the legal cases of euthanasia. His information was supported by extensive document analysis based on the public texts created by patients in the form of letters and documentaries. Further collaborating sources were those texts generated by the media, rights groups, politicians, the coroner's cort, and the literature on euthanasia and assisted suicide. A key study finding was that the ROTI legislation did not adequately provide for the specific medical situation in the Northern Territory, Australia. The medical roles, as proscribed by the legislation, carried many inherent assumptions about the health care context and the availability of appropriately qualified medical staff committed to providing euthanasia. These assumptions translated into difficulties in establishing clinical practices for the provision of euthanasia. A further finding concerned the motivations of those who requested euthanasia. This article addresses the medical roles and the motivations of those seeking euthanasia.     

Net Neutrality,Broadband Market Coverage,and Innovation at the Edge*

Net neutrality (NN) is a widely debated policy issue that has the potential to alter the dynamics of accessing online content. The focal point of the debate lies in whether broadband service providers (BSPs) should be allowed to charge content providers for the preferential delivery of their digital content. This decision will affect broadband market coverage for end consumers as well as the issues of long‐term competition and innovation in the market of digital content. Our research aims to analyze and address these issues. We propose a game theoretical model with three players—the BSP, the content providers, and the consumers—where the BSP, in its capacity as a gatekeeper between the content providers and the consumers, is modeled as a two‐sided market platform. We find that while abandoning the principle of NN might sometimes result in increased consumer surplus and broadband market coverage, it can also hinder the ability of startups to compete against established rivals and thus reduce innovation at the edge. The results should be of great interest to policymakers as they debate on this very crucial issue.     

The construct validity of an alternative measure of burnout: Investigating the English translation of the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory

While the most commonly employed burnout measure has been the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), researchers have been troubled by some of the psychometric limitations of that scale (e.g. wording of the scale items) as well as the limited conceptualization of burnout upon which it is based. As a result, Demerouti et al. have developed an alternative measure of burnout, the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI). The purpose of this paper is to develop evidence for the validity and reliability of an English-language translation of the OLBI. As such, this study is among the first validation studies of the OLBI, and the first to assess the characteristics of the OLBI an English-speaking sample. Using data from 2599 employees across two samples from the United States (a generalized sample of working adults and a sample of fire department employees), our preliminary multi-trait, multi-method (MTMM) and confirmatory factor analyses suggested that the OLBI may be a viable alternative to the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS). It demonstrates acceptable reliability (test-retest reliability and internal consistency) as well as factorial, convergent, and discriminant validity. We discuss the implications of this study for the measurement and conceptualization of burnout and suggest a variety of research directions that stem from our findings. Our findings suggest that the OLBI offers researchers an alternative measure of burnout that offers balanced wording, that can also be used to measure the opposite phenomenon (engagement), and provides an expanded conceptualization of the exhaustion component of burnout.     

Strongly Consistent Self‐Confirming Equilibrium

Fudenberg and Levine (1993a) introduced the notion of self‐confirming equilibrium, which is generally less restrictive than Nash equilibrium. Fudenberg and Levine also defined a concept of consistency, and claimed in their Theorem 4 that with consistency and other conditions on beliefs, a self‐confirming equilibrium has a Nash equilibrium outcome. We provide a counterexample that disproves Theorem 4 and prove an alternative by replacing consistency with a more restrictive concept, which we call strong consistency. In games with observed deviators, self‐confirming equilibria are strongly consistent self‐confirming equilibria. Hence, our alternative theorem ensures that despite the counterexample, the corollary of Theorem 4 is still valid.     

Large Sample Properties of Matching Estimators for Average Treatment Effects

Matching estimators for average treatment effects are widely used in evaluation research despite the fact that their large sample properties have not been established in many cases. The absence of formal results in this area may be partly due to the fact that standard asymptotic expansions do not apply to matching estimators with a fixed number of matches because such estimators are highly nonsmooth functionals of the data. In this article we develop new methods for analyzing the large sample properties of matching estimators and establish a number of new results. We focus on matching with replacement with a fixed number of matches. First, we show that matching estimators are not N^1/2‐consistent in general and describe conditions under which matching estimators do attain N^1/2‐consistency. Second, we show that even in settings where matching estimators are N^1/2‐consistent, simple matching estimators with a fixed number of matches do not attain the semiparametric efficiency bound. Third, we provide a consistent estimator for the large sample variance that does not require consistent nonparametric estimation of unknown functions. Software for implementing these methods is available in Matlab, Stata, and R.     

Wavelet‐Based Testing for Serial Correlation of Unknown Form in Panel Models

Wavelet analysis is a new mathematical method developed as a unified field of science over the last decade or so. As a spatially adaptive analytic tool, wavelets are useful for capturing serial correlation where the spectrum has peaks or kinks, as can arise from persistent dependence, seasonality, and other kinds of periodicity. This paper proposes a new class of generally applicable wavelet‐based tests for serial correlation of unknown form in the estimated residuals of a panel regression model, where error components can be one‐way or two‐way, individual and time effects can be fixed or random, and regressors may contain lagged dependent variables or deterministic/stochastic trending variables. Our tests are applicable to unbalanced heterogenous panel data. They have a convenient null limit N(0,1) distribution. No formulation of an alternative model is required, and our tests are consistent against serial correlation of unknown form even in the presence of substantial inhomogeneity in serial correlation across individuals. This is in contrast to existing serial correlation tests for panel models, which ignore inhomogeneity in serial correlation across individuals by assuming a common alternative, and thus have no power against the alternatives where the average of serial correlations among individuals is close to zero. We propose and justify a data‐driven method to choose the smoothing parameter—the finest scale in wavelet spectral estimation, making the tests completely operational in practice. The data‐driven finest scale automatically converges to zero under the null hypothesis of no serial correlation and diverges to infinity as the sample size increases under the alternative, ensuring the consistency of our tests. Simulation shows that our tests perform well in small and finite samples relative to some existing tests.     

Return predictability and social dynamics

The ability to predict stock returns from financial ratios is a long-standing but still controversial topic. There is ongoing debate about the empirical evidence as well as about appropriate theoretical explanations. We provide evidence from a simulated economy that local, social interaction among agents is remarkably successful in matching several established empirical facts. We find significant return predictability at various forecast horizons, absence of dividend growth predictability, high persistence in dividend yields, and absence of significant return autocorrelations. Our results suggest that social dynamics are a simple, intuitively appealing and successful way to explain predictability.     

Strategic sustainability and financial performance: exploring abnormal returns

The ongoing empirical debate about whether SRI is associated, if anything, with subpar or surpassing financial performance is characterized by a somewhat indistinct focus and the infeasibility of tapping the full potential of existing models. By indistinct focus, we mean an analysis based on an aggregation of a myriad of SRI factors that potentially affect a firm’s financial performance. The inability of taking full advantage of existing models is reflected by the fact that studies with European data have not been able to comprehensively account for systematic risk tilts. This paper presents a portfolio analysis that overcomes these issues by analyzing a distinct selection of small and innovative firms. We argue that both their strategic implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility and the general growth in socially responsible investments (SRI) lend themselves to an explanation for positive abnormal returns of this portfolio. We account for the idiosyncratic investment style of SRI by introducing a comprehensive pan-European risk-adjusted portfolio analysis based on the Carhart four-factor model. A novel propensity score matching method in conjunction with the estimation of structural models completes the conventional robustness checks in the literature.     

基于门限双幂变差的资产价格时点波动非参数估计

估计带跳资产价格的时点波动时,需要用门限过滤方法消除跳的影响。在有限样本下,门限过滤会产生错滤偏误和漏虑偏误,降低估计精度。跳错滤产生的偏误可通过对错滤样本进行补足的方法进行纠偏,但由于发生时点未知,跳漏滤产生的偏误无法纠正,只能通过估计量设计来减少漏滤偏误。本文首次提出基于门限双幂变差的时点波动估计量,采用核平滑方法对资产价格时点波动进行非参数估计,有效减少跳错滤导致的偏误。采用随机阵列极限理论,本文证明了估计量的一致性和渐进正态性,在分析有限样本偏误的基础上,给出估计量的纠偏方法。蒙特卡洛模拟表明,本文给出的估计量,漏滤偏误明显小于基于二次变差构造的估计量,对时点波动估计的性质具有实质改进。采用Kupiec动态VaR精度检验对沪深300指数的实证分析表明,本文给出的时点波动估计更能描述资产收益的波动特征。     

The ethics of health care system reform

The United States is now engaged in a momentous national debate about health care. How can we provide the best care possible while simultaneously containing cost (to promote the general economic integrity of society) and somehow maintain a semblance of a free health care marketplace. This is not just a political question; it is also a question of ethics. It is an ethical consideration because the current debate is not just about designing or promoting health care systems that can best address our concerns for costs, quality, and accessibility. It appears that at least some participants in the debate would not stop at arguing their beliefs as valid; they would make their beliefs law. Some urge the creation of the right to health care as a matter of law. There are significant differences between beliefs and rights, however, and they need to be considered carefully in the ongoing debate over the future of this country's health care delivery and financing system.     

Advancing Gendered Analyses of Entrepreneurship: A Critical Exploration of Entrepreneurial Activity among Gay Men and Lesbian Women

This paper advances contemporary gendered analyses of entrepreneurial activity by exploring self‐employment amongst gay men and lesbian women. Within current entrepreneurial debate, heterosexual women have become the visible embodiment of the gendered subject. Our contribution is to queer this assumption when focusing upon the entrepreneurial activity of gays and lesbians. Our core question investigates if ‘there is evidence of differences between homosexuals and heterosexuals in their likelihood of being entrepreneurially active’. To address this question, we contrast competing notions of gender stereotypes and discrimination whilst drawing on findings from a large‐scale population‐based study of 163,000 UK adults. We find few differences between homosexuals and heterosexuals; this persists after examining intersectional patterns and considering if gay and lesbian entrepreneurs choose particular sectors, geographies or forms of self‐employment. As our discussion highlights, the value of this study lies within its critique of contemporary analyses of gender which assume it is an end‐point rather than a foundation for analysing gender as a multiplicity.     

Risk Analysis, Life Cycle Assessment—The Common Challenge of Dealing with the Precautionary Frame (Based on the Toxicity Controversy in Sweden and the Netherlands)

Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) and comparative risk assessment (RA) use the same building blocks for analyzing fate and potential effects of toxic substances. It is tacitly assumed that emission-effect calculations can give uniform and decisive answers in debates on toxicity problems. For several decades, mainstream policy sciences have taken a different starting point when analyzing decision making on complex, controversial societal issues. Such controversies in essence are thought to be caused by the fact that different actor coalitions adhere to a different, but in scientific terms equally reasonable, conceptualization or "framing" of the problem. A historical, argumentative analysis of the Dutch chlorine debate and the Swedish PVC debate shows that this is also true in the discussions on toxic substances. Three frames have been identified, which were coined the "risk assessment frame," "the strict control frame," and the "precautionary frame." These frames tacitly disagree about the extent of knowledge/ignorance about the impacts of substances, the robustness/fallibility of emission-reduction schemes, and the robustness/vulnerability of nature. The latter frame, adhered to by environmentalists, seeks to judge substances mainly on their inherent safety. Under the current institutional arrangements and practices, RA and LCIA are executed mainly in line with the philosophy expressed by the risk assessment frame. This article gives various suggestions for dealing with framing in debates on toxic substances. One of the options is elaborated in somewhat more detail, i.e., the development of multiple indicators and calculation schemes for RA and LCIA that reflect the different frames. An outline is given for a possible indicator system reflecting the precautionary principle.     

非参数计量经济联立模型的局部线性广义矩估计

联立方程模型在经济政策制定、经济结构分析和经济预测方面起重要作用。本文在随机设计(模型中所有变量为随机变量)下,提出了非参数计量经济联立模型的局部线性广义矩估计并利用概率论中大数定理和中心极限定理在内点处研究了它的大样本性质,证明了它的一致性和渐近正态性。它在内点处的收敛速度达到了非参数函数估计的最优收敛速度。     

Testing for Regime Switching: A Comment

An autoregressive model with Markov regime‐switching is analyzed that reflects on the properties of the quasi‐likelihood ratio test developed by Cho and White (2007). For such a model, we show that consistency of the quasi‐maximum likelihood estimator for the population parameter values, on which consistency of the test is based, does not hold. We describe a condition that ensures consistency of the estimator and discuss the consistency of the test in the absence of consistency of the estimator.