Adult obesity prevalence and state policymaking in the United States: Is problem severity associated with more policies?

This study explores the relationship between adult obesity prevalence and obesity-related state policymaking in the United States. We examine whether 2009 obesity prevalence and the change in prevalence between 2000 and 2009 are associated with obesity-related state laws and regulations introduced or enacted between 2009 and 2011. Policies that exclusively target youth are eliminated from our analysis. Adult obesity prevalence increased in all 50 states over the decade studied, with a slight decrease in Washington, DC. Increases in prevalence are significantly associated with fewer policies in the South and Midwest Census regions and the East North Central and South Atlantic Census divisions. Findings suggest the need for greater advocacy and an opportunity for obesity to rise on state policy agendas.     

Intrahousehold Resource Allocation: Do Parents Reduce or Reinforce Child Ability Gaps?

Do parents invest more or less in their high-ability children? We provide new evidence on this question by comparing observed ability differences and observed investment differences between siblings living in the United States. To overcome endogeneity issues, we use sibling differences in handedness as an instrument for cognitive ability differences. We find that parents invest more in high-ability children, with a 1 standard deviation increase in child cognitive ability increasing parental investments by approximately one-third of a standard deviation. Consequently, differences in child cognitive ability are enhanced by differential parental investments.     

Bayes Estimation of Shift Point in Normal Sequence and Its Application to Statistical Process Control

A sequence of independent observations X ₁, X ₂, …, X _m , X _m+1, …, X _n was observed on some measurable characteristic X in statistical process control. The shift in process mean is reflected in the sequence after X _m . The Bayes estimators of shift point m, and past and future process means, μ₁ and μ₂, are derived using various priors and loss functions. An application in statistical process control is given and a simulation study of the estimators is carried out.     

Key Issues in Women’s Representation in Bureaucracy: Lessons from South Asia

This paper discusses the position of women in the civil services in South Asia (India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh). The majority of women are in lower level positions. It is rare to find women in higher and mid-level positions and in professional and administrative occupations. Despite constitutional guarantees and other governmental initiatives to remove gender discrimination from the civil services of these countries, women continue to fight against a variety of odds to attain career success. The objective of this paper is to make a comparative analysis of the factors accounting for the successful advancement of women in top positions in the civil services of these three countries, and to analyse factors that may impede women from making more progress. A cultural approach has been adopted in this study, emphasizing that the social contexts within which institutions operate shape the manner in which institutions behave and act. Based on extensive field work, the study maps female civil servants’ opinions on a number of factors that impede their career prospects in the civil service. In the conclusion, some policy recommendations are made as a way to address the issue.