Moral hazard,monitoring costs,and optimal government intervention

When insurance firms can monitor with non-prohibitive costs the consumption of risk-influencing goods by an insured, they have incentives to tax-subsidize the insured's consumption of the goods. If the government cannot monitor at a lower cost than private insurers, intervention is neither needed nor desirable. Where the government does have a monitoring-cost advantage, it cannot achieve a constrained optimum by commodity tax-subsidies alone. It must also augment the level of insurance and, in some cases, prohibit private tax-subsidies by insurers. Such “invasive” intervention can be avoided if the government regulates the consumption of the risk-influencing goods.     

Shareholder Value and the Transformation of the U.S. Economy, 1984–20001

Using data from 62 U.S. industries for 1984–2000, this article explores the connections between shareholder value strategies, such as mergers and layoffs, and related industry‐level changes, such as de‐unionization, computer technology, and profitability. In line with shareholder value arguments, mergers occurred in industries with low profits, and industries where mergers were active subsequently saw an increase in layoffs. Industries with a high level of mergers increased investment in computer technology. This technology displaced workers through layoffs and was focused on reducing unionized workforces. Contrary to shareholder value arguments, there is no evidence that mergers or layoffs returned industries to profitability.     

Computation of the estimated parameters and wald statistic for the generalized growth curve model

Multivariate analysis is difficult when there are missing observations in the response vectors. Kleinbaum (1973) proposed a Wald statistic useful in the analysis of incomplete multivariate data. SUBROUTINE C0EF calculates the estimated parameter matrix g in the generalization of the Potthoff-Roy (1964) growth curve model proposed by Kleinbaum (1973). SUBROUTINE WALD calculates the Wald statistic for hypotheses of the form Hn: H 5 D = 0 as proposed by Kleinbaum (1973).     

Testing for genetic susceptibility: What you see is not what you get

Media reports of advances in human genetic research often make exaggerated claims and generate expectations of practical benefits, particularly the imminence of genetic testing. After the discovery of a disease‐related gene, which attracts media attention, additional research is needed to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of genetic tests. Even more work is needed to develop interventions to prevent or reduce the burden of genetic disease and to demonstrate their safety and effectiveness. Clinical laboratories sometimes offer genetic tests before the tests, or ensuing interventions, have been adequately assessed. Exaggerated reporting is not entirely the fault of the mass media; research institutions and scientists themselves contribute. The need to justify scientific research by exaggerating its effects has increased in recent years as government funding for research (in the U.S.) has become problematic and universities turn to the private sector. If the exaggerations continue unchecked, and if unvalidated tests reach the public, a backlash against science could result. More critical reporting by the media and university public relations offices, more stringent oversight of genetic test development and delivery, and greater awareness of the benefits and risks of tests by health care providers can reduce the problem.     

The attraction to sexual aggression scale: Part two

In this second article of a two‐part series, data from three separate studies are presented supporting the reliability, discriminant, and construct validity of the Attraction to Sexual Aggression (ASA) scale. Higher scores on this scale were associated with attitudes supporting aggression against women, affective reactions to media portrayals of forced sex, physiological and self‐reported sexual arousal, hostility toward women, dominance motives, and antisocial personality characteristics. Based on data with low sexual aggressors, higher ASA scores were associated with greater similarity (on relevant dimensions) to high sexual aggressors, suggesting that ASA may help identify potentially sexually aggressive men at “risk” for future sexual coercion. However, caution in the use of such identification is urged. Finally, it is concluded that although the data support the usefulness of earlier work with self‐reported likelihood measures, the use of ASA is an improvement in this line of research. Directions for future development of this scale and research are also discussed.     

Charles Tilly and American Pragmatism

Charles Tilly’s work on repertoires of contention and social mechanisms was pathbreaking. In this article, I argue that his understanding of both concepts overlaps with social-theoretical work informed by the philosophical tradition of classical American pragmatism. There is no evidence that Tilly was influenced by pragmatism, but I argue that the overlap is substantial enough that large portions of his oeuvre can serve as illustrations of the explanatory power of pragmatist social science—and that Tilly’s theorization of mechanisms in particular would have been even stronger had he engaged pragmatism directly.     

Pragmatism and the study of large-scale social phenomena

Pragmatism has recently gained ground as a theoretical perspective in sociology. The approach is not without its critics, however. One common charge is that pragmatism is oriented toward the micro and not well suited for the explanation of meso- or macro-level events, processes, or outcomes. In this paper—a review essay—I consider whether the charge has merit. I examine four studies that draw heavily on pragmatism and give some indication of its explanatory potential. Taken together, these studies suggest that pragmatism has much to offer analysts of large-scale social phenomena. At the same time, key issues remain to be worked out.     

Multilevel estimation of normalization constants using ensemble Kalman–Bucy filters

Statistics and Computing - This paper presents tests to formally choose between regression models using different derivatives of a functional covariate in scalar-on-function regression. We...