Contract curve or implicit contract: Which will a union choose?

While much has been written about implicit and efficient (contract curve) contracts, little has been written about which contract a union will choose. This study examines how a democratic union chooses between these contracts. Under most conditions, unions reject an efficient contract and are more likely to choose an implicit contract, but a type of contract new to the economic literature could predominate over either.     

Concordance of Carcinogenic Response between Rodent Species: Potency Dependence and Potential Underestimation

The use of average qualitative concordance between two bioassay endpoints is considered, with emphasis directed at agreement between rats and mice from results of long-term carcinogenicity studies. It is noted that concordance varies as a function of the underlying potency or toxicity of the chemicals over which the averaging is performed. Thus, the averaging process dilutes large observed concordances from potent chemicals, and possibly inflates lower observed concordances from weakly active chemicals. Stratification over some measure of potency is suggested as a method for taking these effects into account. Statistical simulations of concordance analyses limited to low-potency ranges are employed to examine the concordance measure in greater detail. It is seen that at low potencies, observed concordance is consistently underestimated, reaching maximum levels of only about 80%.     

The timing of motherhood: The challenge to social workers

The timing of the first birth has become a critical issue, to be addressed by the social work profession. This paper suggests that women who have timed the birth of their first child at two different stages in adulthood have responded to the challenges of motherhood in divergent ways. In order to work as effectively as possible with mothers and children, social workers need to understand these differences related to the timing of motherhood.Dr. Walter is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at Widener University and is in private practice.     

Evaluation of Developmental Toxicity Data: A Discussion of Some Pertinent Factors and a Proposal

There is currently no well-accepted standard method for evaluation of developmental toxicity data. This paper presents one approach to the evaluation of developmental toxicity data. We initially identify some pertinent factors that influence the interpretation of animal data and summarize the literature pertaining to these factors. Such factors include the quality and quantity of data and the relationship between maternal and developmental toxicity. We proceed with a discussion of quantitative assessment of data and propose schemes for qualitative and quantitative developmental hazard assessments.     

Transfers in Kind: Why They Can Be Efficient and Nonpaternalistic – Comment

Bruce and Waldman make an important contribution regarding the Samaritan dilemma: the expectations of inheritance motivates the younger generation at the margin in the direction of welfare reducing behavior. However, these authors misinterpret the standard analysis on this matter as prediction instead of explanation; confuse governmental subsidies with private charitable giving, and uncritically examine Headstart and statist job training programs.     

Redistribution and compensation

In a model where individual incomes depend on the agents' characteristics, we provide characterizations of several redistribution mechanisms. These mechanisms are designed to eliminate the effects of characteristics that are to be considered irrelevant, while preserving the influence of relevant characteristics on individual incomes. The mechanisms discussed here are egalitarian-equivalent and conditionally egalitarian mechanisms, as well as averaging versions of these rules.An earlier version of the paper was presented at the 1994 Canadian Economic Theory Conference in Toronto. We thank John Roemer and a referee for their comments. Financial support through a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada is gratefully acknowledged.     

Forecasting Macroeconomic Variables Using Neural Network Models and Three Automated Model Selection Techniques

When forecasting with neural network models one faces several problems, all of which influence the accuracy of the forecasts. First, neural networks are often hard to estimate due to their highly nonlinear structure. To alleviate the problem, White (2006 White, H. (2006). Approximate nonlinear forecasting methods. In: Elliott, G. Granger, C. W. J. Timmermann, A. eds. Handbook of Economic Forecasting, volume 1, Amsterdam:Elsevier, pp. 459–512.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) presented a solution (QuickNet) that converts the specification and nonlinear estimation problem into a linear model selection and estimation problem. We shall compare its performance to that of two other procedures building on the linearization idea: the Marginal Bridge Estimator and Autometrics. Second, one must decide whether forecasting should be carried out recursively or directly. This choice is investigated in this work. The economic time series used in this study are the consumer price indices for the G7 and the Scandinavian countries. In addition, a number of simulations are carried out and results reported in the article.     

Quality out-of-school care in Aotearoa/New Zealand

The out-of-school-care sector, a reasonably unregulated industry, has grown quickly despite minimal government investment in comparison to early childhood care. In 2006, the New Zealand government released a draft five-year strategic plan committing an extra $17.4 million per year to this area. This article examines the impact on providers, recipients, and quality standards with the influx of resources and attention.