Simulated classical tests in multinomial probit models

This paper compares the application of different versions of the simulated counterparts of the Wald test, the score test, and the likelihood ratio test in one- and multiperiod multinomial probit models. Monte Carlo experiments show that the use of the simple form of the simulated likelihood ratio test delivers relatively robust results regarding the testing of several multinomial probit model specifications. In contrast, the inclusion of the Hessian matrix of the simulated loglikelihood function into the simulated score test and (in the multiperiod multinomial probit model) particularly the inclusion of the quasi-maximum likelihood theory into the simulated likelihood ratio test leads to substantial computational problems. The combined application of the quasi-maximum likelihood theory with the simulated Wald test or the simulated score test is not systematically superior to the application of the other versions of these two simulated classical tests either. Neither an increase in the number of observations nor in the number of random draws in the incorporated Geweke-Hajivassiliou-Keane simulator systematically lead to more precise conformities between the frequencies of type I errors and the basic significance levels. An increase in the number of observations only decreases the frequencies of type II errors, particularly regarding the simulated classical testing of multiperiod multinomial probit model specifications.     

FOLK MODELS OF DYADIC MALE BONDS IN ISRAELI CULTURE

This article explores the phenomenology of dyadic male bonds in Israeli culture, based on a secondary analysis of friendship narratives derived from a sample of Israeli-Jewish men. Two folk models of male friendships are delineated, situated in local images of hegemonic masculinity in Zionist ideology. The first model is the hevreman style of relatedness, underscoring sociability and adventure seeking. It endorses "cool" sharing involving nonverbal modes of communication and physical support. The countermodel is "intellectual" relatedness, stressing the exchange of ideas and "soul talk." It endorses psychologistic support and the verbal articulation of emotions. These tropes are discussed in comparative context. Against the dominant psychological-feminist paradigm of "being" versus "doing," it is argued that experiences of male intimacy are richer than overriding stereotypes of male inexpressivity suggest. The article calls for an attentive use of folk models in the sociology of emotions, taking into account the effect of hegemonic meaning systems. Rather than viewing emotional behavior, gender stereotypes, and ideology as separate features in the study of emotions, it underscores how emotional experience is dependent on cultural-interpretative processes nested in local and global social norms, collective history, and gendered ideology.     

TAX POLICY AND INCOME INEQUALITY IN THE UNITED STATES, 1979–2007

This paper assesses the effects of U.S. tax policy reforms on inequality over around three decades, from 1979 to 2007. It applies a new method for decomposing changes in government redistribution into (1) a direct policy effect resulting from policy changes and (2) the effects of changing market incomes. Over the period as a whole, the tax policy changes increased income inequality by pushing up the income share of high‐income earners (the top 20%). (JEL H23, H31, H53, P16)     

Outward bound: a treatment modality unexplored by the social work profession.

The Outward Bound Experience has a strong yet time-limited impact on delinquent youths. Social workers could help maintain the impact by establishing community-based followup programs that would reinforce and sustain the positive attitudes and behaviors developed.     

Estimation in an empirical bayes model for longitudinal and cross‐sectionally clustered binary data

Some studies generate data that can be grouped into clusters in more than one way. Consider for instance a smoking prevention study in which responses on smoking status are collected over several years in a cohort of students from a number of different schools. This yields longitudinal data, also cross‐sectionaliy clustered in schools. The authors present a model for analyzing binary data of this type, combining generalized estimating equations and estimation of random effects to address the longitudinal and cross‐sectional dependence, respectively. The estimation procedure for this model is discussed, as are the results of a simulation study used to investigate the properties of its estimates. An illustration using data from a smoking prevention trial is given.     

The Jewish Exodus from the New South Africa: Realities and Implications

In the 1990s, the Jewish population of South Africa declined at an unprecedented rate in marked contrast to Jewish populations in other English-speaking countries.
Possible explanations include fear of political instability and political violence, deteriorating economic conditions and prospects, fear of directly discriminatory government policies, rising violent crime rates, and more permissive immigration policies in desirable destination countries.
All but the last of these factors appear to have played some role. However, only changes in violent crime rates provide an explanation for the unprecedented surge in net emigration, persisting even after a successful political and economic transition to majority black rule under moderate African National Congress governments.
Changes in crime rates also provide the most satisfactory explanation for related changes in internal migration patterns.