A marketization process in dispute: An analysis of serviced housing for the elderly in Finland, 2000–14

Marketization can be viewed as a potential response to the economic challenges of the public sector. The present study is focused on the development of marketization in serviced housing for the elderly in municipalities within Finland. Marketization is approached by asking the question: What kind of municipality‐level factors are associated with marketization and its development? The data consist of 290 municipalities and cover the years 2000–14. According to the study, the size of the municipality, the political distribution of the municipality council, and the economic situation of the municipality are found to be associated with marketization. More preciesly, the municipality size was found to be a kind of prism, which creates two different realities when it is linked with political distribution and transfers. In the case of big municipalities, the big share of Green‐Left council members on municipality councils has been associated with a low level of marketization. However, in the case of small‐ and medium‐sized municipalities, the low level of marketization has been associated with the government statutory transfers between the state and municipalities, which has helped smaller municipalities to avoid fiscal stress. In a policy context, the present study suggests that the marketization process can be slowed down by supporting the economically weakest municipalities to avoid fiscal stress. On the other hand, the marketization process can be supported by creating bigger municipalities which are then attractive enough to create an effective market mechanism.     

Testing linearity against nonlinear moving average models

Lagrange multiplier (LM) test statistics are derived for testing a linear moving average model against an asymmetric moving average model and an LM type test against an additive smooth transition moving average model. The latter model is introduced in the paper. The small sample performance of the proposed tests are evaluated in a Monte Carlo study and compared to Wald and likelihood ratio statistics. The size properties of the Lagrange multiplier test are better than those of other tests.     

A comparison of mixed and minimax estimators of linear models

In this paper the stochastic properties of two estimators of linear models, mixed and minimax, based on different types of prior information, are compared using quadratic risk as the criterion for superiority. A necessary and sufficient condition for the minimax estimator to be superior to the comparable mixed estimator is derived as well as a simpler necessary but not sufficient condition.     

Superiority comparisons of heterogeneous linear estimators

In this paper conditions for strong and weak superiority of a heterogeneous linear estimator over another are derived. The general results are applied to some special cases: in particular, two restricted least squares estimators are compared using the superiority conditions obtained. The weak superiority criterion is used as a basis in forming a generalization of an optimal se-quence of tests (Anderson, 1962) for searching for the best estimator when the alternative linear restrictions form a nested se-quence of hypotheses. An application of this is the determination of the correct length of lag and appropriate degree of polynomial in the estimation of polynomial distributed lag models.     

Theory of integer-valued data envelopment analysis under alternative returns to scale axioms

Kuosmanen and Kazemi Matin [Theory of integer valued data envelopment analysis. European Journal of Operational Research 2009;192:658–67] developed an axiomatic foundation for a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model that assumes subsets of input and output variables to be integer valued. In this paper we extend and generalize the axiomatic foundation for the integer DEA under variable, non-decreasing and non-increasing returns to scale. These model variants are achieved by introducing new axioms of natural convexity and natural augmentability. We also develop mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulations for computing efficiency scores in these environments. An empirical example illustrates the approach.     

Structural Change and the Kaldor Facts in a Growth Model With Relative Price Effects and Non‐Gorman Preferences

U.S. data reveal three facts: (1) the share of goods in total expenditure declines at a constant rate over time, (2) the price of goods relative to services declines at a constant rate over time, and (3) poor households spend a larger fraction of their budget on goods than do rich households. I provide a macroeconomic model with non‐Gorman preferences that rationalizes these facts, along with the aggregate Kaldor facts. The model is parsimonious and admits an analytical solution. Its functional form allows a decomposition of U.S. structural change into an income and substitution effect. Estimates from micro data show each of these effects to be of roughly equal importance.     

CHILDREN OF A (POLICY) REVOLUTION: THE INTRODUCTION OF UNIVERSAL CHILD CARE AND ITS EFFECT ON FERTILITY

What role does affordable and widely available public child care play for fertility? We exploit a major German reform generating large temporal and spatial variation in child care coverage for children under the age of three. Our precise and robust estimates on birth register data reveal that increases in public child care have significant positive effects on fertility. The fertility effects are more pronounced at the intensive than at the extensive margin, and are not driven by changes in the timing of births or selective migration. Our findings inform policy makers concerned about low fertility by suggesting that universal early child care holds the promise of being an effective means of increasing birth rates.