On risk aversion,classical demand theory,and KM preferences

Building on Kihlstrom and Mirman (Journal of Economic Theory, 8(3), 361–388, 1974)’s formulation of risk aversion in the case of multidimensional utility functions, we study the effect of risk aversion on optimal behavior in a general consumer’s maximization problem under uncertainty. We completely characterize the relationship between changes in risk aversion and classical demand theory. We show that the effect of risk aversion on optimal behavior depends on the income and substitution effects. Moreover, the effect of risk aversion is determined not by the riskiness of the risky good, but rather the riskiness of the utility gamble associated with each decision.     

On the Existence of Monotone Pure‐Strategy Equilibria in Bayesian Games

We generalize Athey's (2001) and McAdams' (2003) results on the existence of monotone pure‐strategy equilibria in Bayesian games. We allow action spaces to be compact locally complete metric semilattices and type spaces to be partially ordered probability spaces. Our proof is based on contractibility rather than convexity of best‐reply sets. Several examples illustrate the scope of the result, including new applications to multi‐unit auctions with risk‐averse bidders.     

Consumer discrimination in the NBA: An examination of the effect of race on the value of basketball trading cards

In this research we use sport trading cards to examine consumer discrimination in the NBA. Using a Tobit analysis, we test whether the race of a player affects the value (price) of his NBA trading card. We find that a player's race does not affect the value of NBA trading cards. We conclude that some forms of consumer discrimination are declining in the NBA.     

A grounded theory research approach to building and testing TQM theory in operations management

Total quality management (TQM) has continued to develop as a strategic business improvement approach in organisations and within the Operations Management literature. Strategic TQM is a dynamic phenomenon, reflecting the complexity and technology development in the business environment. Therefore, this conception of TQM has led to significant challenges with regards to developing suitable models and research methodology where traditional, and normative research data, includes survey responses associated with deductive theory and testing. Such data, and its use, is often premised on cause and effect rationality and fails to supply deep rich data to address meanings, phenomena and complex socio-political events, which is a feature of strategic TQM.     

A comparison study of nonparametric imputation methods

Consider estimation of a population mean of a response variable when the observations are missing at random with respect to the covariate. Two common approaches to imputing the missing values are the nonparametric regression weighting method and the Horvitz-Thompson (HT) inverse weighting approach. The regression approach includes the kernel regression imputation and the nearest neighbor imputation. The HT approach, employing inverse kernel-estimated weights, includes the basic estimator, the ratio estimator and the estimator using inverse kernel-weighted residuals. Asymptotic normality of the nearest neighbor imputation estimators is derived and compared to kernel regression imputation estimator under standard regularity conditions of the regression function and the missing pattern function. A comprehensive simulation study shows that the basic HT estimator is most sensitive to discontinuity in the missing data patterns, and the nearest neighbors estimators can be insensitive to missing data patterns unbalanced with respect to the distribution of the covariate. Empirical studies show that the nearest neighbor imputation method is most effective among these imputation methods for estimating a finite population mean and for classifying the species of the iris flower data.     

A Kantian-Style Critique of Person-in-Environment

This article provides a historical and philosophical analysis of the intellectual thought supporting ecological systems theory and the person-in-environment model. It offers a critique outlining both strengths and shortcomings by analyzing the claims to validity upon which the theory rests. These claims rest on an analogy with various theories empirically established in the natural sciences; as such, validity claims rest heavily upon the emphasis of humans' continuity with animals. Consequently, the claims' shortcomings arise from their inability to address adequately issues arising from qualities that make humans distinct from animals—such as language and its impact upon culture, history, human relationships, and our ability to construct our environment and thus do more than simply interact with the environment.     

Foster fathers performing gender: the negotiation and reproduction of parenting roles in families who foster

ABSTRACT

Foster care research and social work practice tend to focus on how women look after children living in foster care. This focus has limited our understanding of what it is that men do within foster caring families and they are automatically assigned secondary or breadwinning roles. Families who foster involve some form of renegotiation of roles to care for children they foster. While foster caring arrangements are internationally diverse, foster carers often work with social workers. It would therefore seem important for social workers to understand how foster carers negotiate their parenting roles. This paper reports findings from seven main caring foster-fathers who took part in a wider study involving twentythree foster-fathers. The evidence provided by these foster-fathers demonstrate they are highly motivated to care for children and, alongside delivering traditional parenting roles, they negotiate new, non-traditional parenting roles as foster-fathers. These new roles, taken on by foster-fathers, often challenge stereotyped masculinity while they also concurrently enact parenting norms. This study applied Judith Butler’s work on performing gender to foster caring families to theorise on the process whereby foster-fathers negotiate diverse masculinities and continue to reproduce gendered relations in foster caring families.