Effectiveness in Voluntary Organizations: An Empirical Assessment

Abstract

In the tradition of Knoke and Wood (1981) the effects of resources mobilization, employee commitment, and bureaucratization on the effectiveness of voluntary organizations were explored. The respondents consisted of ninety-five percent of the volunteers and all the administrators of a food distribution center and its satellites in the most economically depressed area of Texas. It was found that organizational effectiveness is a result of commitment (involvement). Effective service to the client is increased by member autonomy and participation in decision making, by identification with and loyalty to the organization, and by resource mobilization. As autonomy, participation in decision-making, involvement, and resource mobilization decline, unmet needs of clients increase.     

Modeling uncertainty in macroeconomic growth determinants using Gaussian graphical models

Model uncertainty has become a central focus of policy discussion surrounding the determinants of economic growth. Over 140 regressors have been employed in growth empirics due to the proliferation of several new growth theories in the past two decades. Recently Bayesian model averaging (BMA) has been employed to address model uncertainty and to provide clear policy implications by identifying robust growth determinants. The BMA approaches were, however, limited to linear regression models that abstract from possible dependencies embedded in the covariance structures of growth determinants. The recent empirical growth literature has developed jointness measures to highlight such dependencies. We address model uncertainty and covariate dependencies in a comprehensive Bayesian framework that allows for structural learning in linear regressions and Gaussian graphical models. A common prior specification across the entire comprehensive framework provides consistency. Gaussian graphical models allow for a principled analysis of dependency structures, which allows us to generate a much more parsimonious set of fundamental growth determinants. Our empirics are based on a prominent growth dataset with 41 potential economic factors that has been utilized in numerous previous analyses to account for model uncertainty as well as jointness.     

Generalized Self-Consistency: Multinomial logit model and Poisson likelihood

A generalized self-consistency approach to maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) and model building was developed in Tsodikov [2003. Semiparametric models: a generalized self-consistency approach. J. Roy. Statist. Soc. Ser. B Statist. Methodology 65(3), 759–774] and applied to a survival analysis problem. We extend the framework to obtain second-order results such as information matrix and properties of the variance. Multinomial model motivates the paper and is used throughout as an example. Computational challenges with the multinomial likelihood motivated Baker [1994. The Multinomial–Poisson transformation. The Statist. 43, 495–504] to develop the Multinomial–Poisson (MP) transformation for a large variety of regression models with multinomial likelihood kernel. Multinomial regression is transformed into a Poisson regression at the cost of augmenting model parameters and restricting the problem to discrete covariates. Imposing normalization restrictions by means of Lagrange multipliers [Lang, J., 1996. On the comparison of multinomial and Poisson log-linear models. J. Roy. Statist. Soc. Ser. B Statist. Methodology 58, 253–266] justifies the approach. Using the self-consistency framework we develop an alternative solution to multinomial model fitting that does not require augmenting parameters while allowing for a Poisson likelihood and arbitrary covariate structures. Normalization restrictions are imposed by averaging over artificial “missing data” (fake mixture). Lack of probabilistic interpretation at the “complete-data” level makes the use of the generalized self-consistency machinery essential.     

企业政策因素对灰色采购行为倾向的影响

以营销道德理论为基础,使用情境法从137位专业采购人员采集数据,本文探讨了在灰色营销中买方企业的相关政策对其采购人员灰色采购行为倾向的影响. 研究结果显示:企业政策对采购人员的灰色采购行为倾向既有直接影响,也有通过采购人员的道德判断和同情而中介的间接影响. 具体而言,第一,企业在采购政策中约束采购人员接收礼品和回扣的政策越模糊,在销售政策中越是默许自己的推销人员进行灰色营销,其采购人员越是会低估灰色采购的不道德性和给企业造成的伤害,从而直接和间接地增强其灰色采购的行为倾向;第二,企业鼓励采购人员与合作伙伴建立良好私人关系的政策,既会提高采购人员对灰色采购行为的不道德性评价,也会增强采购人员对灰色采购行为的同情,从而提高或降低(依以上两种影响的相对强度而定)其采购人员灰色采购的行为倾向. 最后,讨论了研究结果的应用.     

Establishing Mobility Measures to Assess the Effectiveness of Night Vision Devices: Results of a Pilot Study

In preparation for an evaluation of night vision devices, an exploratory study was conducted to gain initial experience with the sensitivity of chosen mobility measures under night conditions. The measures included cane contacts and object recognition distances. Results provide preliminary evidence that these two measures may be sensitive to the effects of a night vision device.     

Politics and Growth

Theories of growth have made progress in understanding the mechanisms of growth in economic terms. However, there is less understanding of the political processes that enable or obstruct these mechanisms. This article provides a four‐stage framework to clarify and analyse the connections between politics and growth: (i) discussing the basic conditions essential for growth; (ii) suggesting that whether or not these conditions emerge depends on specific forms of public‐private interaction; (iii) linking these relationships to the incentives facing those in political power and investors; and (iv) considering the factors at country level that may help to push incentives in a pro‐growth direction.     

A wavelet Whittle estimator of generalized long-memory stochastic volatility

We consider a k-GARMA generalization of the long-memory stochastic volatility model, discuss the properties of the model and propose a wavelet-based Whittle estimator for its parameters. Its consistency is shown. Monte Carlo experiments show that the small sample properties are essentially indistinguishable from those of the Whittle estimator, but are favorable with respect to a wavelet-based approximate maximum likelihood estimator. An application is given for the Microsoft Corporation stock, modeling the intraday seasonal patterns of its realized volatility.     

The Structural Adjustment Experiment

Book reviewed in this article: Stabilization and Structural Adjustment: Macro-economic Frameworks for Analysing the Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa. By Finn Tarp Structural Adjustment and Beyond in Sub-Saharan Africa: Research and Policy Issues. Edited by Rolph van der Hoeven and Fred van der Kraaij Hemmed In: Responses to Africa's Economic Decline. Edited by Thomas M. Callaghy and John Ravenhill