Does Good Governance Enhance Happiness: A Cross Nation Study

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the efficiency of the countries over the period of 10 years by applying data envelopment analysis (DEA). Based on rational and factual parameters such as freedom of press, freedom of religion, percentage of export in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), index of globalization, life expectancy at birth, gender ratio etc., this paper attempts to measure the efficiency of happiness. A combination of social and economic factors has been used to measure technical efficiency. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, it measures the relative efficiency of all the countries included in the study. The nations have been ranked as per their relative efficiency and the peer group has been formed. Second a comparison between the rich and the poor countries have been done to test empirically whether the economic growth enhances the happiness among people. Presently, more than 3,000 studies have been published on happiness and Veenhoven in 2004 created a database called World Database of Happiness. The World Database of Happiness has attempted to present the available research findings on happiness. Part of the findings on happiness in nations is available in ‘States of nations’. For the research purpose, States of Nations and the data published by have been considered. Although happiness has been quantified and the existing literature has sufficient empirical evidences of the same, in the present context, the relative efficiency has been calculated for the countries on basis of objective and subjective happiness parameters. As per the literature, happiness has two aspects (1) objective and (2) subjective. Objective parameters are external to the individuals and covers material living parameters viz. GDP growth, income, nutrition, mortality rate, literacy etc. However, Subjective indicators measure the quality of life of the individuals. These are summarized as ‘‘subjective well-being’’. The various parameters considered in the study capture different aspects of happiness. The result shows how the government can increase the happiness of the people by analyzing the behavior and expectations. People express their preference explicitly about political parties, religion believes, law and order situation, trust in official institutions etc. Although, the behavior of people largely depends upon availability of goods and services in the market, the government can make budgets according to priority or preferences of people. Another way to increase happiness can be done by analyzing the peer group, which is an outcome of DEA. This shows the nations which are similar in terms of their economic and social conditions. The government can compare the prevailing conditions in different countries that improve the condition in their respective country. This could be an effective method as some of the parameters can be replicable in order to make people happier. The limitation of this study is lack of availability of data for many countries. As the number of countries increases, a change in the relative efficiency can be observed. Therefore, a future study can be conducted where the relevant data can be collected and a more global result can be obtained.     

Children’s Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence: A Qualitative Interpretive Meta-synthesis

The negative consequences of children’s exposure to parental intimate partner violence (IPV) are well documented in the literature; however, few studies examine the experience from the child’s perspective. This qualitative interpretive meta-synthesis (QIMS) explores the lived experience of children’s exposure to parental IPV. We conducted a QIMS of nine studies from the United States and Europe. The QIMS method was developed specifically for social work and involves synthesizing the results of multiple qualitative studies on a specific topic into a new synergetic understanding. We identified four themes: context of the abuse, immediate reactions to the abuse, sequelae reactions, and coping. Further reduction indicated that coping with exposure to parental intimate partner violence exists on a spectrum ranging from integration to distancing. Social workers are critical in helping children learn strategies for managing their emotions. The results of this study inform social workers about the context and purposes of the behaviors that children exposed to parental intimate partner violence may display.     

Micro‐pensions in India: Issues and challenges

This article aims to fill a gap in the social security literature on India by examining the role of micro‐pensions. The analysis suggests that because of the heterogeneity of the target population, micro‐pension products — with microfinance institutions (MFIs) as the main, but not only sponsors — should be voluntary and portable and permit experimentation in their design and in the delivery of services. Accordingly, decentralized micro‐pension schemes that operate within an appropriate regulatory framework and according to sound governance practices are deemed more fitting for the Indian context than centralized schemes with limited flexibility. The article discusses two case studies of recently‐initiated micro‐pension schemes in India, which reveal the need for rigorous analytical research on the micro‐pension sector, particularly concerning the structuring of pay‐out options and innovative delivery mechanisms. The article concludes that micro‐pensions have the potential to be one of the most useful components in India's multi‐tiered social security system, and should be encouraged.     

Diagnostic plots for identifying max domains of attraction under power normalization

Diagnostic plots for determining the max domains of attraction of power normalized partial maxima are proposed. A test to ascertain the veracity of the claim that data distribution belongs to a max domain of attraction under power normalization is given. The performance of this test is demonstrated using data simulated from many well-known distributions. Furthermore, two real-world datasets are analysed using the proposed procedure.     

Effects of Uncertainties on Exposure Estimates to Methylmercury: A Monte Carlo Analysis of Exposure Biomarkers versus Dietary Recall Estimation

This article presents a general model for estimating population heterogeneity and "lack of knowledge" uncertainty in methylmercury (MeHg) exposure assessments using two-dimensional Monte Carlo analysis. Using data from fish-consuming populations in Bangladesh, Brazil, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, predictive model estimates of dietary MeHg exposures were compared against those derived from biomarkers (i.e., [Hg]hair and [Hg]blood). By disaggregating parameter uncertainty into components (i.e., population heterogeneity, measurement error, recall error, and sampling error) estimates were obtained of the contribution of each component to the overall uncertainty. Steady-state diet:hair and diet:blood MeHg exposure ratios were estimated for each population and were used to develop distributions useful for conducting biomarker-based probabilistic assessments of MeHg exposure. The 5th and 95th percentile modeled MeHg exposure estimates around mean population exposure from each of the four study populations are presented to demonstrate lack of knowledge uncertainty about a best estimate for a true mean. Results from a U.K. study population showed that a predictive dietary model resulted in a 74% lower lack of knowledge uncertainty around a central mean estimate relative to a hair biomarker model, and also in a 31% lower lack of knowledge uncertainty around central mean estimate relative to a blood biomarker model. Similar results were obtained for the Brazil and Bangladesh populations. Such analyses, used here to evaluate alternative models of dietary MeHg exposure, can be used to refine exposure instruments, improve information used in site management and remediation decision making, and identify sources of uncertainty in risk estimates.     

Managing Enterprise Risks of Technological Systems: An Exploratory Empirical Analysis of Vulnerability Characteristics as Drivers of Exploit Publication*

Enterprises experience opportunistic exploits targeted at vulnerable technology. Vulnerabilities in software‐based applications, service systems, enterprise platforms, and supply chains are discovered and disclosed on an alarmingly regular basis. A necessary enterprise risk management task concerns identifying and patching vulnerabilities. Yet it is a costly affair to develop and deploy patches to alleviate risk and prevent damage from exploit attacks. Given the limited resources available, technology producers and users must identify priorities for such tasks. When not overlooked, vulnerability‐patching tasks often are prioritized based on vulnerability disclosure dates, thus vulnerabilities disclosed earlier usually have patches developed and deployed earlier. We suggest priorities also should focus on time‐dependent likelihoods of exploits getting published. We analyze data on software exploits to identify factors associated with the duration between a vulnerability discovery date and the date when an exploit is publicly available, a time window for patching before exploit attack levels may escalate. Actively prioritizing vulnerability patching based on likelihoods of exploit publication may help lessen losses due to exploit attacks. Technology managers might apply the insights to better estimate relative risk levels, and better prioritize protection efforts toward vulnerabilities having higher risk of earlier exploitation.     

Optimal Design of the Online Auction Channel: Analytical,Empirical, and Computational Insights*

The focus of this study is on business‐to‐consumer (B2C) online auctions made possible by the advent of electronic commerce over an open‐source, ubiquitous Internet Protocol (IP) computer network. This work presents an analytical model that characterizes the revenue generation process for a popular B2C online auction, namely, Yankee auctions. Such auctions sell multiple identical units of a good to multiple buyers using an ascending and open auction mechanism. The methodologies used to validate the analytical model range from empirical analysis to simulation. A key contribution of this study is the design of a partitioning scheme of the discrete valuation space of the bidders such that equilibrium points with higher revenue structures become identifiable and feasible. Our analysis indicates that the auctioneers are, most of the time, far away from the optimal choice of key control factors such as the bid increment, resulting in substantial losses in a market with already tight margins. With this in mind, we put forward a portfolio of tools, varying in their level of abstraction and information intensity requirements, which help auctioneers maximize their revenues.     

Linking IT Applications with Manufacturing Strategy: An Intelligent Decision Support System Approach

Research has indicated the importance of matching Information Technology (IT) applications or manufacturing systems with the competitive strategy of a company. Selection of the right type of IT application is, however, a challenging task. When a company with a given dominant process structure emphasizes two or more competitive priorities, such as quality, product flexibility, etc., an unaided manager faces a complex decision problem in choosing from alternative IT applications available in the areas of product design through distribution. In this paper, we develop an Intelligent Decision Support System (IDSS) to assist managers with assessment of the relative importance of competitive priorities in their organization, evaluation of the fit between the competitive priorities and their dominant process structure, and identification of the IT applications that are consistent with both the competitive priorities and the process structure. The IDSS is comprised of an interactive user interface, a knowledge database, a decision model, and a Knowledge-Based System (KBS) that was developed using the 1st Class KBS shell. Validation of the system illustrates that its performance is as good as the human expert, and it has the potential to facilitate effective and swift decision making in the selection of appropriate IT applications that best match an organization's manufacturing strategy. The choice and use of the right type of IT application should provide a company with a competitive edge.     

Compliance Strategies under Permits for Emissions

We characterize the trade‐offs among firms' compliance strategies in a market‐based program where a regulator interested in controlling emissions from a given set of sources auctions off a fixed number of emissions permits. We model a three‐stage game in which firms invest in emissions abatement, participate in a share auction for permits, and produce output. We develop a methodology for a profit‐maximizing firm to derive its marginal value function for permits and translate this value function into an optimal bidding strategy in the auction. We analyze two end‐product market scenarios independent demands and Cournot competition. In both scenarios we find that changing the number of available permits influences abatement to a lesser extent in a dirty industry than in a cleaner one. In addition, abatement levels taper off with increasing industry dirtiness levels. In the presence of competition, firms in a relatively clean industry can, in fact, benefit from a reduction in the number of available permits. Our findings are robust to changes in certain modeling assumptions.     

Enforcement matters: The effective regulation of labour

The distinction between de jure and de facto regulation is well understood in theory, but has rarely been applied to cross‐country empirical work on the impact of labour regulation on labour market outcomes for lack of data. Policy debate has been based on measures of stringency of law, suggesting a negative correlation between labour regulation and labour market outcomes. This article provides new cross‐country measures of labour law enforcement and evidence of a negative correlation between stringency and intensity of enforcement. Previous results concerning the consequences of labour regulation and the legal origins theory no longer hold when a measure of effective labour regulation is used.