Knowledge and beliefs about national development and developmental hierarchies: The viewpoints of ordinary people in thirteen countries

Scholars and policy makers have for centuries constructed and used developmental hierarchies to characterize different countries. The hypotheses motivating this paper are that such social constructions have been circulated internationally, are constructed similarly in various countries, and follow the social constructions of elite international organizations, such as the United Nations. This paper uses data from 15 surveys in 13 diverse countries to study how developmental hierarchies are understood in everyday life. Our research shows that most people have constructions of developmental hierarchies that are similar across countries and are similar to the developmental hierarchies constructed by the United Nations. These findings suggest that developmental hierarchies are widely understood around the world and are widely available to ordinary people as they make decisions about many aspects of life.     

Relationships between psychological capital,job satisfaction,and organizational commitment in the Saudi oil and petrochemical industries

During the past decade, Saudi Arabia experienced a significant social, economic, and organizational change. The rapid economic growth created a need for seasoned management professionals and necessitated the development of human capital. Psychological capital, a newly developed construct by academics and practitioners, is defined as the extent to which an individual operates in a positive psychological state, and this state is characterized by high self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and resiliency. By measuring the positive psychological constructs, an organization can learn about employees’ positive psychological states and how training and support can promote positive psychological states. Improving the positive psychological capital can lead to better organizational commitment, favorable organizational citizenship behaviors, lower employee absenteeism, and higher job satisfaction. This quantitative study examined the relationship among psychological capital, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment through a sample of managers in the Saudi Arabian oil and petrochemical industries.     

A fuzzy robust regression approach applied to bedload transport data

Fuzzy least-square regression can be very sensitive to unusual data (e.g., outliers). In this article, we describe how to fit an alternative robust-regression estimator in fuzzy environment, which attempts to identify and ignore unusual data. The proposed approach concerns classical robust regression and estimation methods that are insensitive to outliers. In this regard, based on the least trimmed square estimation method, an estimation procedure is proposed for determining the coefficients of the fuzzy regression model for crisp input-fuzzy output data. The investigated fuzzy regression model is applied to bedload transport data forecasting suspended load by discharge based on a real world data. The accuracy of the proposed method is compared with the well-known fuzzy least-square regression model. The comparison results reveal that the fuzzy robust regression model performs better than the other models in suspended load estimation for the particular dataset. This comparison is done based on a similarity measure between fuzzy sets. The proposed model is general and can be used for modeling natural phenomena whose available observations are reported as imprecise rather than crisp.     

Monitoring two-stage processes with a profile at the second stage

In the multistage processes, quality of a process or a product at each stage is related to the previous stage(s). This property is referred to as a cascade property. Sometimes, quality of a process is characterized by a profile. In this paper, we consider a two-stage process with a normal quality characteristic in the first stage and a simple linear regression profile in the second stage. Then we propose two methods to monitor quality characteristics in both stages. The performance of the proposed two methods is evaluated through a numerical example in terms of average run length criterion.     

Designing optimal double-sampling plan based on process capability index

Process capability analysis is applied to monitor the process quality. Process capability can be quantified by process capability index. These indices have wide application in quality control methods and acceptance sampling plans. In this paper, we introduce a double-sampling plan based on process capability index. In this type of scheme, under a decision rule and with the specified rejection and acceptance numbers, the second sample is selected and the decision of rejection or acceptance is made based on the information obtained from two samples. The purpose of this scheme is to reduce the average sample number in order to reduce the time and cost of sampling. A comparison study has been conducted in order to evaluate the performance of proposed method in comparison with classical single sampling plans.     

Restricted ridge estimator in the logistic regression model

It is known that when the multicollinearity exists in the logistic regression model, variance of maximum likelihood estimator is unstable. As a remedy, Schaefer et al. presented a ridge estimator in the logistic regression model. Making use of the ridge estimator, when some linear restrictions are also present, we introduce a restricted ridge estimator in the logistic regression model. Statistical properties of this newly defined estimator will be studied and comparisons are done in the simulation study in the sense of mean squared error criterion. A real-data example and a simulation study are introduced to discuss the performance of this estimator.     

Understanding the Financial Knowledge Gap: A New Dimension of Inequality in Later Life

ABSTRACT

To understand individuals’ financial behaviors, it is important to understand the financial knowledge gap – the distance between one’s objective and subjective financial knowledge. Overestimating one’s financial knowledge can lead to risky financial behaviors. To date, limited empirical work has examined how financial knowledge gap varies across age groups. We analyze the size and nature of the financial knowledge gap and its variation across age groups. Using nationally representative data, we find robust evidence that older adults overestimate their financial knowledge. Social workers can assess the financial knowledge gap and educate their clients to protect from financial fraud, exploitation, and abuse.     

Long-term effects of back extensor strengthening exercises on quality of life in women with osteoporosis

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the long-term effect of back extensor strengthening exercises on health-related quality of life (QOL) in women with osteoporosis. In this randomized clinical trial, 183 women with osteoporosis were treated with pharmacotherapy and weight-bearing and balance-training exercises. The case group additionally performed back extensor exercises at home. Patients filled out the Persian version of the Short Form (SF-36) QOL questionnaire at baseline and 6 months post treatment. At the end, all physical and mental parameters of the SF-36 questionnaire improved significantly in the case group, except for one subscale of mental health, compared to the control group. In the control group, only some physical health dimensions (bodily pain, role limitation, physical function, vitality), and mental health status as a mental health subscale improved. In conclusion, considering a major impact of back extensor exercises on improving QOL in women with osteoporosis over the long term, these exercises should be prescribed in routine management of these patients.     

Equity Ownership in Cross‐border Mergers and Acquisitions by British Firms: An Analysis of Real Options and Transaction Cost Factors

The authors investigate the factors influencing the share of equity ownership sought in cross‐border mergers and acquisitions (CBM&As). Drawing on real options theory and transaction cost economics (TCE), they address and hypothesize key factors linked to commitment under exogenous uncertainty and the separation of desired and non‐desired assets’ influence on share of equity sought by acquiring firms in CBM&As. Empirical analysis based on 1872 CBM&As undertaken by British firms in both developed and emerging economies shows that British MNEs are more likely to pursue a partial acquisition in a target foreign firm when those foreign firms are from culturally distant countries. Further, findings support the view that the high cost of separating desired assets from non‐desired assets motivates firms to make a partial acquisition rather than acquire the target completely. This is one of the first studies to use real options theory to address the cost of commitment under exogenous uncertainty, as well as TCE logic to address the separation of desired and non‐desired assets in the target firm while analysing equity ownership sought in CBM&As. Empirically, this paper contributes by examining CBM&As by British firms in both developed and emerging markets.     

Factors related to the intention to have additional children in the United States: A reanalysis of data from the 1965 and 1970 national fertility studies

Reproductive intentions of white mothers with no more than three children in 1965 and in 1970 were analyzed for their stability and change with respect to such factors as parity, age of the youngest child, wife’s employment, and husband’s education. Parity and age of the youngest child were found to have a much more important effect on the intent to have additional children than were such socioeconomic variables as wife’s employment and husband’s education. Parity and the interval since the latest birth (or the age of the youngest child) were found to have a nonlinear effect and to interact in affecting the reproductive intention. This suggests a convergence to a twochild family as the threshold size and that the length of childspacing is contingent on the parity. Change during 1965–1970 in this direction was found to be greater among mothers with husbands having college or higher educations.