Loss-based optimal control statistics for control charts

This work proposes a means for interconnecting optimal sample statistics with parameters of the process output distribution irrespective of the specific way in which these parameters change during transition to the out-of-control state (jumps, trends, cycles, etc). The approach, based on minimization of the loss incurred by the two types of decision errors, leads to a unique sample statistic and, therefore, to a single control chart. The optimal sample statistics are obtained as a solution of the developed optional boundary equation. The paper demonstrates that, for particular conditions, this equation leads to the same statistics as are obtained through the Neyman-Pearson fundamental lemma. Application examples of the approach when the process output distribution is Gamma and Weibull are given. A special loss function representing out-of-control state detection as a pattern recognition problem is presented.     

Less social health insurance, more private supplementary insurance? Empirical evidence from Germany

Based on individual level data from Germany, we analyze the effect of changes in the compulsory benefit package of the social health insurance on the demand for supplementary private insurance, employing a difference-in-differences approach. The focus is on the exclusion of dental prostheses from the benefit package in 1997 and its re-inclusion in 1999. Individuals born prior to 1979 serve as control group because only the young were affected by the reform. No significant effect on the demand for supplementary health insurance is found. Thus, the notion of clients making informed choices about their health insurances’ coverage is not supported.     

Empirical Bayes models of Poisson clinical trials and sample size determination

Bayesian methods are often used to reduce the sample sizes and/or increase the power of clinical trials. The right choice of the prior distribution is a critical step in Bayesian modeling. If the prior not completely specified, historical data may be used to estimate it. In the empirical Bayesian analysis, the resulting prior can be used to produce the posterior distribution. In this paper, we describe a Bayesian Poisson model with a conjugate Gamma prior. The parameters of Gamma distribution are estimated in the empirical Bayesian framework under two estimation schemes. The straightforward numerical search for the maximum likelihood (ML) solution using the marginal negative binomial distribution is unfeasible occasionally. We propose a simplification to the maximization procedure. The Markov Chain Monte Carlo method is used to create a set of Poisson parameters from the historical count data. These Poisson parameters are used to uniquely define the Gamma likelihood function. Easily computable approximation formulae may be used to find the ML estimations for the parameters of gamma distribution. For the sample size calculations, the ML solution is replaced by its upper confidence limit to reflect an incomplete exchangeability of historical trials as opposed to current studies. The exchangeability is measured by the confidence interval for the historical rate of the events. With this prior, the formula for the sample size calculation is completely defined. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Konfliktcoaching in der Gruppe Trainingskonzept und Erfahrungsbericht

Conflict coaching in groups. A training concept and a case study The following article lines out and discusses the main contents of a workshop on conflict coaching in groups: focussing on conflict and conflict related issues, relaxation training, forms of targeting, solving strategies, cognitive restructuring and personal change processes. The experience shows, that conflict coaching can be very well practised in a group setting.     

Employment‐Housing Paradigm of Internal Migration: Evidence from Norway

In a previous article (Portnov, 1999), the employment‐housing paradigm of interregional migration was introduced. According to this paradigm, different patterns of employment‐housing change in various geographic areas are likely to result in three different migration events – predominant in migration, out‐migration or “migration neutrality”. The latter is considered as a state of equilibrium in which a region or community neither gains nor loses its population in migration exchanges with other areas. Using preconditions for such migration neutrality as a “reference line”, planners and decision‐makers can determine regional policies aimed at a more balanced distribution of a country's population through generating a “migration push” in overpopulated regions and encouraging inward migration to development areas in which population growth is desirable. In the present article, the validity of this concept is tested using 1970‐89 statistical data for 430 municipalities in Norway. It appeared feasible to separate the band of migration neutrality from other migration cases and establish the quantitative thresholds of employment‐housing change that are conducive to the occurrence of different migration events – migration neutrality, in‐migration and out‐migration.     

The financial structure of innovative SMEs in Germany

In politics and business the special role of innovative businesses whose research and development activities expedite technological progress has received steady attention. Especially small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) have initiated promising innovation projects. However, when analysing these projects our research must take into account that SMEs cannot be viewed as a homogeneous business category. Moreover, financing their innovations, SMEs are subject to unique issues. To shed light on these problems, this study will develop an index measuring degrees of innovation. It allows the 171 sample companies to be categorised into three groups: non-innovative, moderately innovative or highly innovative. A multinomial logistic regression is used to examine the quality of this typology. In addition, group-specific differences in the financing mix are demonstrated. Finally, from a theoretical point of view, the implications of the pecking order theory are basically validated. On the other hand, the concept of the financial growth cycle does not deliver satisfactory results.     

Towards a theorisation of diversity. Configurations of person-related differences in the context of youth welfare practices

ABSTRACT

The article proposes a pathway towards a theorisation of diversity. It is argued that diversity can be understood as referring to the complex outcomes of multifaceted processes in which various schemes of classifications are applied to persons and segments of populations. A growing interest in individuals and their qualities, combined with the development of information technologies, has stimulated a proliferation of person-related categories. Diversity offers an analytical lens for studying the relational qualities of various person-related differences, the interaction between categories of different scale and scope and their situational organisation. Thereby, it goes beyond notions of identity, on the one hand, and intersectionality, on the other. In the second part of the article, the outlined framework is applied to the cases of youth welfare practice in Stuttgart and Frankfurt. The focus of the case analysis is migration-related categories and how they relate to larger configurations of person-related differences in the field of youth welfare practice. It is argued that a diversity perspective, as suggested here, allows us to capture an element of opaqueness and ambiguity concerning migration-related differentiations that has implications for the understanding of ongoing debates about discrimination and racialisation.     

Return to Education and the Changing Role of Credentials in the Croatian Labor Market

The countries of Central and Eastern Europe experienced a rapid increase of return to education with the advent of the transition. We look at the dynamics of wage premiums in Croatia and estimate how much the return to education has changed between 1996 and 2004 on the basis of labor force survey data. We also extend the paper in order to address additional features of the wage structure, such as non-linearities in the return to education associated with attainment of credentials. We find that contrary to most transition countries, premiums for education in Croatia began to grow only after the mid 1990s. However, by 2004, they reached the levels of premiums found in other transition countries and advanced market economies, thus creating market incentives for investment in education. We also find that major part of this higher rate of return came through higher return to credentials.

Immigrant life satisfaction in Europe: the role of social and symbolic boundaries

The cross-national investigation of immigrant subjective well-being remains an understudied field, especially with regard to the link between institutional settings and individual outcomes. We approach this gap by investigating the role of policies regulating immigrant integration for life satisfaction. Immigrants’ status and life chances depend on the inclusiveness of integration policies in forms of rights given to immigrants in the receiving country. These policies differentiate immigrants from natives: exclusionary integration policies understood as social boundaries should result in lower levels of well-being. We also consider an alternative policy type (i.e. multicultural policies) as well as symbolic boundaries (i.e. natives’ attitudes towards immigrants). We distinguish between national citizens, EU citizens and third-country nationals (TCNs). Results based on up to five rounds of data from the European Social Survey indicate that in terms of life satisfaction only TCNs profit from inclusive integration policies. Furthermore, while political multiculturalism does not play a role, we find that EU migrants appear more susceptible to the negative impact of natives’ anti-immigrant attitudes. Policy-making is more important for TCNs, while a migrant-friendly opinion climate is more important for EU migrants. These findings are robust to controlling for unobserved time-constant country heterogeneity via country fixed effects.     

Differences in sexual guilt and desire in East asian and euro-canadian men

Differences in sexual desire between individuals of East Asian and European descent are well-documented, with East Asian individuals reporting lower sexual desire. The mechanisms that underlie this disparity have received little empirical attention. Recent research has found that sex guilt, "a generalized expectancy for self-mediated punishment for violating or for anticipating violating standards of proper sexual conduct" (Mosher & Cross, 1971 , p. 27), mediates the relationship between culture and sexual desire in East Asian and Euro-Canadian women. The goal of this study was to explore this role of sex guilt in men. Male Euro-Canadian (n?=?38) and East Asian (n?=?45) university students completed online questionnaires. The East Asian men reported significantly lower sexual desire and significantly higher sex guilt. Sex guilt was a significant mediator of the relationship between ethnicity and sexual desire, as well as a significant mediator between mainstream acculturation and sexual desire. Among the East Asian men, mainstream acculturation was significantly and negatively correlated with sex guilt such that increasing mainstream acculturation was associated with less sex guilt. The diagnostic and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.