Probabilistic spatial power indexes

In this study, we present a generalization of spatial power indexes able to overcome their main limitations, namely (i) the excessive concentration of power measures; (ii) the too high sensitivity to players’ location in the ideological space. Voters’ propensity to support an issue is modeled via a random utility function with two additive terms: the deterministic term accounts for voters’ preference-driven/predictable behavior; the random one is a catch-all term that accounts for all the idiosyncratic/unpredictable factors. The relative strength of the two terms gives rise to a continuum of cases ranging from the Shapley value, where all aggregation patterns are equally probable, to a standard spatial value, like the Owen–Shapley index, where instead the conditional order is fully deterministic. As an illustrative application, we analyze the distribution of power in the Council of Ministers under three different scenarios: (i) EU15 Pre-Nice; (ii) EU27 Nice Treaty; (iii) EU27 Lisbon Treaty.     

Effects of tadalafil treatment combined with physical activity in patients with low onset hypogonadism: results from a not-randomized single arm phase 2 study

Purpose: To investigate a possible relation between penile Doppler ultrasound examination (PDUE) parameters and efficacy of chronic therapy with tadalafil (TAD) combined with a protocol of aerobic physical activity (PA) in patients with late onset hypogonadism (LOH). Methods: The study evaluated 30 patients consecutively enrolled with LOH and erectile dysfunction which present contraindication to hormonal replacement therapy for concomitant prostate disease. These patients were subjected to a combined protocol with phosphodiesterase V selective inhibitors (TAD 5?mg daily) and aerobic PA.

Results: After three months, we observed significant improvements in erectile function [IIEF-5, median (IQR)?=?13.0 (7.0–18.0) versus 6.0 (5.0–6.75); p?p?Conclusion: PA in association with phosphodiesterase V inhibitors could compensate the effects of hypogonadism on erectile function and facilitate the clinical response to these drugs even in the absence of adequate serum concentrations of total testosterone.     

Unit Root Tests under Time-Varying Variances

The paper provides a general framework for investigating the effects of permanent changes in the variance of the errors of an autoregressive process on unit root tests. Such a framework - which is based on a novel asymptotic theory for integrated and near integrated processes with heteroskedastic errors - allows to evaluate how the variance dynamics affect the size and the power function of unit root tests. Contrary to previous studies, it is shown that non-constant variances can both inflate and deflate the rejection frequency of the commonly used unit root tests, both under the null and under the alternative, with early negative and late positive variance changes having the strongest impact on size and power. It is also shown that shifts smoothed across the sample have smaller impacts than shifts occurring as a single abrupt jump, while periodic variances have a negligible effect even when a small number of cycles take place over a given sample. Finally, it is proved that the locally best invariant (LBI) test of a unit root against level stationarity is robust to heteroskedasticity of any form under the null hypothesis.     

Correlates of internal audit function involvement in sustainability audits

Journal of Management and Governance - While an increasing number of organizations are engaging in sustainability activities, assurance of these activities is relatively new. We investigate the...     

Inhabitants' and Experts' Assessments of Environmental Quality for Urban Sustainability

In the context of sustainable urban development, we discuss the assessment of residential environmental quality and the importance of considering inhabitants' perceptions of natural resources in urban areas. Two series of studies, conducted in Guildford (United Kingdom) and in Rome (Italy), addressed the correspondence, or contrast, between inhabitants' and experts' assessment of urban quality concerning two crucial natural resources: air quality and biodiversity. The Guildford study emphasized the accuracy of the assessment of urban air quality by experts and the public. The Rome study focused on the evaluative criteria employed by scientists and the public in assessing the quality of urban green spaces. The results from both studies shed more, albeit complex, light on the simple conventional wisdom about public versus expert understanding and assessment of environmental quality. Study implications are discussed for the support of programs, methods, and tools for urban development, particularly with regard to effective communication and better structuring of residents' participation in urban environmental decision making.     

The management of firms’ alliance network positioning: Implications for innovation

In spite of the frequent calls for a much more integrated approach, the field of management still faces the ever continuing challenges in attempting to bridge the gap between academic research and managerial actions and practices. The field of strategic alliances and firms’ networks are those among which research and practice are more diverging. Trying to cover this separation, the article presents an empirical research on automotive industry that investigates the effects on innovation performance of the position that firms occupy in the network of alliances. The hypothesis that guides this research is that innovation is generated not only from the resources that a company is able to develop internally, but also through access to resources and capabilities owned by the external companies and organizations that the firm itself is tied to through alliances and cooperation agreements. Beyond this broad argument, the paper links tightly research and practice showing way and how the quality of access to resources owned by partners is influenced by the position occupied in the network of alliances and not only by the existence of single collaborative ties. Assuming a managerial approach which relies on the milestones of network research, different types of positioning in the network of alliances are discussed and tested on their impact on innovation.     

Minimum Divergence,Generalized Empirical Likelihoods,and Higher Order Expansions

This article studies the minimum divergence (MD) class of estimators for econometric models specified through moment restrictions. We show that MD estimators can be obtained as solutions to a tractable lower dimensional optimization problem. This problem is similar to the one solved by the generalized empirical likelihood estimators of Newey and Smith (2004 Newey , W. K. , Smith , R. J. ( 2004 ). Higher order properties of GMM and Generalized Empirical Likelihood estimators . Econometrica 72 : 219 – 255 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), but it is equivalent to it only for a subclass of divergences. The MD framework provides a coherent testing theory: tests for overidentification and parametric restrictions in this framework can be interpreted as semiparametric versions of Pearson-type goodness of fit tests. The higher order properties of MD estimators are also studied and it is shown that MD estimators that have the same higher order bias as the empirical likelihood (EL) estimator also share the same higher order mean square error and are all higher order efficient. We identify members of the MD class that are not only higher order efficient, but also, unlike the EL estimator, well behaved when the moment restrictions are misspecified.