COMPETING AUCTIONS

This paper shows that larger auctions are more efficient than smaller ones, but that despite this scale effect, two competing and otherwise identical markets or auction sites of different sizes can coexist in equilibrium. We find that the range of equilibrium market sizes depends on the aggregate buyer‐seller ratio, and also whether the markets are especially thin. (JEL: D44, L11)     

A reconceptualization of authentic leadership: Leader legitimation via follower-centered assessment of the moral dimension

We explore some challenges that face authentic leadership scholarship including problems related to how the construct is understood and measured. We present a model of authentic leadership that looks at it, not as a leadership style, but as an outcome of a legitimation process. Authentic leadership represents legitimated follower perceptions of a leader's authenticity which are activated by moral judgments. We explain how a follower-centered assessment of the moral component helps explain leadership dynamics in situations involving ethical relativism, thus alleviating concerns regarding the presumed moral component of the construct. The overlap between leaders' and followers' value systems leads to impressions of authenticity, even in cases in which there are no clear universal moral standards. An authentic person's behavior cannot be labeled as “leadership” unless it is embraced by a follower who grants moral legitimacy to the leader. We then discuss the implications of our study for scholars and practitioners.     

Living with a Psychiatric Diagnosis — Interviews with Experts

Four people share their experiences of being a ‘psychiatric patient’, provide some commonsense advice and offer some philosophic points of view.     

A nonparametric test to compare survival distributions with covariate adjustment

Summary.  The analysis of covariance is a technique that is used to improve the power of a k -sample test by adjusting for concomitant variables. If the end point is the time of survival, and some observations are right censored, the score statistic from the Cox proportional hazards model is the method that is most commonly used to test the equality of conditional hazard functions. In many situations, however, the proportional hazards model assumptions are not satisfied. Specifically, the relative risk function is not time invariant or represented as a log-linear function of the covariates. We propose an asymptotically valid k -sample test statistic to compare conditional hazard functions which does not require the assumption of proportional hazards, a parametric specification of the relative risk function or randomization of group assignment. Simulation results indicate that the performance of this statistic is satisfactory. The methodology is demonstrated on a data set in prostate cancer.     

Tools for Comparative Analysis of Alternatives: Competing or Complementary Perspectives?

A third generation of environmental policy making and risk management will increasingly impose environmental measures, which may give rise to analyzing countervailing risks. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of all risks associated with the decision alternatives will aid decision-makers in prioritizing alternatives that effectively reduce both target and countervailing risks. Starting with the metaphor of the ripples caused by a stone that is thrown into a pond, we identify 10 types of ripples that symbolize, in our case, risks that deserve closer examination: direct, upstream, downstream, accidental risks, occupational risks, risks due to offsetting behavior, change in disposable income, macro-economic changes, depletion of natural resources, and risks to the manmade environment. Tools to analyze these risks were developed independently and recently have been applied to overlapping fields of application. This suggests that either the tools should be linked in a unified framework for comparative analysis or that the appropriate field of application for single tools should be better understood. The goals of this article are to create a better foundation for the understanding of the nature and coverage of available tools and to identify the remaining gaps. None of the tools is designed to deal with all 10 types of risk. Provided data suggest that, of the 10 types of identified risks, those associated with changes in disposable income may be particularly significant when decision alternatives differ with respect to their effects on disposable income. Finally, the present analysis was limited to analytical questions and did not capture the important role of the decision-making process itself.     

Violence and hostility among families of Vietnam veterans with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder

The current study provides a portrait of emotional-behavioral functioning within a small sample of Vietnam veterans with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), their partners, and older adolescent and adult children. Veterans, their partners and children reported moderate-low to moderate-high levels of violent behavior. In addition, partner and veteran hostility scores were elevated relative to gender and age matched norms. Partners also reported heightened levels of psychological maltreatment by veterans. Veterans' combat exposure was positively correlated with hostility and violent behavior among children but unrelated to partner variables. Veterans' reports of PTSD symptoms were positively associated with reports of hostility and violence among children, and hostility and general psychological distress among partners. Veterans' violent behavior was also positively correlated with children's violent behavior, but did not yield significant correlations with other child or partner variables. Findings are discussed in relation to prior work and directions for future research are addressed.     

Behavior Genetic Research on Gambling and Problem Gambling: A Preliminary Meta-Analysis of Available Data

A meta-analysis of family and twin studies on gambling and problem gambling was initiated in an effort to determine the probable role of genetic factors in high risk wagering. Two twin studies and 17 investigations employing the family history or family study method were included in this meta-analysis. A summation of the 19 studies produced a small but significant overall effect size (weighted = .10, unweighted = .13), with both family (weighted = .12, unweighted = .14) and twin (weighted = .06, unweighted = .05) studies achieving significant individual mean effects. Given the paucity of twin data, further analysis was confined to family studies and revealed a stronger familial effect for the sons of problem gambling fathers than for the daughters of problem gambling mothers and for more severe forms of problem gambling than for less severe forms of problem wagering, and was strongest for high severity problem gambling in males. The implications of these results are discussed.