ENFORCEMENT COSTS and THE CHOICE OF POLICY INSTRUMENTS FOR CONTROLLING POLLUTION

Economic incentive based policies have long been advocated for controlling pollution because they can minimize firms' abatement costs. However, the social costs of controlling pollution consist not only of abatement costs but also enforcement costs. I show that the conditions for minimizing abatement costs and minimizing enforcement costs differ. As a result, enforcement costs can be higher for incentive based policies than for policies based on direct controls. A complete evaluation of alternative policies requires a comparison of both abatement and enforcement costs.     

Choice of link and variance function for generalized linear mixed models: a case study with binomial response in proteomics

Abstract

Non-normality is a common phenomenon in data from agricultural and biological research, especially in molecular data (for example; -omics, RNAseq, flow cytometric data, etc.). For over half a century, the leading paradigm called for using analysis of variance (ANOVA) after applying a data transformation. The introduction of generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) provides a new way of analyzing non-normal data. Selecting an apt link function in GLMM can be quite influential, however, and is as critical as selecting an appropriate transformation for ANOVA. In this paper, we assess the performance of different parametric link families available in literature. Then, we propose a new estimation method for selecting an appropriate link function with a suitable variance function in a quasi-likelihood framework. We apply these methods to a proteomics data set, showing that GLMMs provide a very flexible framework for analyzing these kinds of data.     

Colonial hangover? A case of multiple cross-cultural influences on Indian Railways

Employing a reflexive-ethnographic design involving past experiences and analysing qualitative data contained in 73 interviews with senior managers from the Indian Railways (IR), this study argues for the remnants of colonial influence on the management, governance aspects and culture in IR. Findings from the study further ratify and confirm aspects of our four scenarios and indicate that the interaction between colonial culture with both national and organisational culture collides to create a complex and conflicting culture in this extremely large and diverse organisation. Such organisational culture, despite the resilient presence of Indianness, paradoxically retains strong elements of the colonial influences as this is seen at times a legitimate and dominant way of governing the world’s largest commercial employer – The IR.     

Examining the efficacy of an mHealth media literacy education program for sexual health promotion in older adolescents attending community college

Objective: To determine the feasibility of a mobile health (mHealth), media literacy education program, Media Aware, for improving sexual health outcomes in older adolescent community college students. Participants: 184 community college students (ages 18–19) participated in the study from April–December 2015. Methods: Eight community college campuses were randomly assigned to either the intervention or a wait-list control group. Student participants from each campus completed web-based pretest and posttest questionnaires. Intervention group students received Media Aware in between questionnaires. Results: Several intervention effects of the Media Aware program were significant, including reducing older adolescents' self-reported risky sexual behaviors; positively affecting knowledge, attitudes, normative beliefs, and intentions related to sexual health; and increasing media skepticism. Some gender differences in the findings were revealed. Conclusions: The results from this study suggest that Media Aware is a promising means of delivering comprehensive sexual health education to older adolescents attending community college.     

Macroeconomic consequences of terrorism in Pakistan

The objective of the study examines the macroeconomic consequences of terrorism in Pakistan. The study evaluates the short- and long-run relationship between terrorism and economic factors over a period of 1975–2011. Both objectives have been achieved with the sophisticated econometrics techniques including cointegration theory, Granger causality test and variance decomposition, etc. The result reveals that macroeconomic factors, i.e., population growth, price level, poverty and political instability cause the terrorism incidence in Pakistan. However, income inequality, unemployment and trade openness have no long-run relationship with the terrorism incidence in Pakistan. The study may conclude that, for some how, Pakistan's macroeconomic indicators have significant long-run equilibrium with terrorism incidence. The result of Granger causality indicates that except unemployment, all other macroeconomic indicators have unidirectional causality with terrorism incidence. Unemployment has a bi-directional causality with the terrorism incidence in Pakistan. The results of variance decomposition indicate that there exists statistically significant cointegration among macroeconomic factors and terrorism incidence in Pakistan. Among macroeconomic factors, changes in price level exert the largest influence on terrorism in Pakistan. Contrary, the influence of poverty seems relatively the least contribution level for changes in terrorism incidence in Pakistan.     

The demographic impact of Partition in the Punjab in 1947

We use data from the 1931, 1941, and 1951 censuses of India and the 1951 census of Pakistan to examine the demographic consequences of Partition in the Punjab in 1947. Had growth rates for the period 1931–41 for the Punjab as a whole continued to 1951, the population of the Punjab would have been 2.9 million larger than that recorded in 1951. Population losses from migration and mortality above age 20 were approximately 2.7 million greater between 1941 and 1951 than would have been predicted by loss rates between 1931 and 1941. We estimate a net Partition-related population movement out of the combined Punjab of about 400,000. We conclude from several lines of analysis that Partition-related population losses in the Punjab, either from deaths or unrecorded migration, were in the range 2.3–3.2 million. Partition was also marked by a dramatic religious homogenization at the district level.     

Future Plans of Iraqi Physicians in Jordan: Predictors of Migration

The continuing violence in Iraq has led to further damage to the health sector in a country already affected by sanctions, war and harsh rule. As a consequence some doctors have been killed and others have migrated, both within Iraq and from Iraq to neighbouring countries. In this article we report patterns of migration of Iraqi physicians, identify perceived future plans, and assess factors behind physicians' decisions. Respondent driven sampling in 2007 was used to interview 401 Iraqi medical doctors who migrated to Jordan after the 2003 invasion of Iraq The main outcome measure for this study was the future plans of physicians, which included permanently residing outside Iraq or returning to Iraq. Physicians who planned to return to Iraq differed from those who planned to reside permanently outside Iraq in the following factors: age categories (relative odds comparing age 50 plus to those under 30 = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.21–0.97), years spent outside of Iraq (RO = 2.03, 95% CI = 1.28–3.21), no difficulties in Jordan (RO = 0.53, 95% CI = 0.31–0.93), and household members residing in Iraq (RO = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.05 – 1.31). Many doctors who fled Iraq after the 2003 invasion do not plan to return, which must be considered in future training strategies for the Iraqi health sector.     

Recurrence relations mid identities for moments of order statistics,i: arbitrary continuous distribution

In this paper, we review several recurrence relations and identities established for the single and product moments of order statistics from an arbitrary continuous distribution. We point out the interrelationships between many of these recurrence relations. We discuss the results giving the bounds for the number of single and double integrals needed to be evaluated in order to compute the first, second and product moments of order statistics in a sample of size n from an arbitrary continuous distribution, given these moments in samples of sizes n-1 and less. Improvements of these bounds for the case of symmetric continuous distributions are also discussed     

Structural Decomposition of Exchange Rate Shocks in Pakistan: An Empirical Investigation using SVAR Methodology

This study is an attempt to decompose nominal and real exchange rate movements in Pakistan into components induced by real and nominal shocks. Using the Blanchard and Quah (1989), famously known as B-Q, methodology for the period 2000:1–2009:12, the study finds that real shocks affect both nominal and real exchange rate. Similarly, the nominal shocks have a permanent effect on nominal exchange rate but have temporary effect on real exchange rate. Moreover, speed of convergence is different between the two rates affected by the same shock. These results put forward that nominal devaluation is not followed by real devaluation and resultantly will not improve trade balance situation. The policy makers, therefore, need to be careful while taking any decision regarding nominal devaluation as it may also lead to worsening of, instead of improvement in, trade balance.     

Some improved estimators for a measures of dispersion of an inverse gaussian distribution

In this paper some improved estimators for the measure of dispersion of an inverse Gaussian distribution have been obtained. If some guessed value of λ is available in the form of a point esitmate λ₀ the shrikage technique has been applied and an estimator has been proposed which has smaller mean squared error than the usual estimator. Since the shrinkage estimator has better performance if the guessed value is in the vicinity of the true value, a shrinkage testimator has also been proposed and compared with the usual estimator.