Consumer boycott, household heterogeneity, and child labor

Consumer boycott campaigns against goods that are produced using child labor are becoming increasingly popular. Yet there is still no consensus on which are the effects of such type of activism on child labor in developing countries. In fact, if some agreement is to be found in the recent economic literature, it is that the boycott does not reduce child labor. We contribute to this discussion presenting a simple model which shows that there are conditions under which a consumer boycott reduces child labor. We consider a small country two-factor economy populated by heterogeneous households. The boycott affects both the adult and the child labor markets. We show that the effects are heterogeneous and depend on household characteristics and on the income distribution. We derive the conditions under which the consumer boycott reduces child labor not only for nonpoor households but also for some of the households whose’ income is—before the boycott—under the subsistence level.     

A note on nonparametric estimation of circular conditional densities

ABSTRACT

The conditional density offers the most informative summary of the relationship between explanatory and response variables. We need to estimate it in place of the simple conditional mean when its shape is not well-behaved. A motivation for estimating conditional densities, specific to the circular setting, lies in the fact that a natural alternative of it, like quantile regression, could be considered problematic because circular quantiles are not rotationally equivariant. We treat conditional density estimation as a local polynomial fitting problem as proposed by Fan et al. [Estimation of conditional densities and sensitivity measures in nonlinear dynamical systems. Biometrika. 1996;83:189–206] in the Euclidean setting, and discuss a class of estimators in the cases when the conditioning variable is either circular or linear. Asymptotic properties for some members of the proposed class are derived. The effectiveness of the methods for finite sample sizes is illustrated by simulation experiments and an example using real data.     

Practical performance of local likelihood for circular density estimation

ABSTRACT

Local likelihood has been mainly developed from an asymptotic point of view, with little attention to finite sample size issues. The present paper provides simulation evidence of how likelihood density estimation practically performs from two points of view. First, we explore the impact of the normalization step of the final estimate, second we show the effectiveness of higher order fits in identifying modes present in the population when small sample sizes are available. We refer to circular data, nevertheless it is easily seen that our findings straightforwardly extend to the Euclidean setting, where they appear to be somehow new.     

Varying levels of anomie in Europe: a multilevel analysis based on multidimensional IRT models

Recent years have seen increased attention paid to monitoring social anomie and its dependency on micro- and macro-factors. In this paper, we endorse the theorisation of social anomie as a complex, multidimensional and multilevel phenomenon. To ensure a rigorous measurement of the varying levels of social anomie in the European countries, the current study relies on a multilevel multidimensional item response theory model which explicitly accounts for the presence of a non-ignorable missing data mechanism. This unified approach makes it possible to specify an analytical model of links between anomie features and their determinants and to explore how the latent traits of interest are influenced by individual-level factors, as well as by country-level indicators. Additionally, to avoid misleading inferential conclusions, the proposed model takes into account the respondent’s omitting behaviour, assuming that the missingness mechanism is driven by a latent propensity to respond. Data used in this study have been collected in the 2010 wave of the European Social Survey. To reduce the computational complexities, a Bayesian specification of the MIRT model is provided and the parameter model estimates are obtained through MCMC algorithms.     

孤独的探寻——论贾克梅蒂的艺术转向

In Giacometti’s early hyper-realist artworks, the content was mostly represented by symbolic expression of the painter’s surreal fantasy. After the artistic transformation of Giacometti, on the basis of respecting visual sketch, he started to integrate his inner spirit into the process of creation and balance material features against inherent qualities of objects, through which the existence of objects can be eventually captured and recorded by art works.     

Do media play a role in promoting vocational education and training? The case of MasterChef

It is often suggested that vocational education and training (VET) could be key to cut youth unemployment. VET programmes may provide young people with specific professional qualifications that enable them to successfully compete in the labour market. However, despite the great emphasis placed by governments and other institutions on these programmes, VET appears to be far from reaching its full potential in many countries. One barrier preventing students from pursuing this type of education is the stigma associated with VET. This paper looks at the role of media in changing the negative social perceptions of VET. Specifically, it examines whether in Italy the growing popularity of the cooking television reality show MasterChef has led to an increase in the number of students willing to study for a vocational qualification in hospitality and catering. The empirical results show that an increase in the number of MasterChef's viewers is associated with a higher proportion of students willing to attend hospitality and catering schools. This finding suggests that popular television cooking series like MasterChef may be a vehicle through which the image and the attractiveness of VET can be improved.     

中国区域间农村居民消费过度敏感性研究

文章运用Campbell和Mankiw消费过度敏感性模型,选择1985~2007年中国农村居民的纯收入和生活消费支出的资料构建了面板数据,分析中国东部、中部和西部地区的农村居民的消费过度敏感性,并进行相应的解释。结果表明:东部、中部、西部地区的农村居民消费存在过度敏感性,其过度敏感性系数分别为0.699 5、0.439 6和0.492 1。其次,实际利率与三大地区的农村居民消费成负相关,利率的替代效用大于收入效应,但是估计得到的数值很小。这一结果进一步解释了中央政府在1996~2002年多次降息的政策对居民消费影响甚微的事实。     

信息理论与戏剧翻译

从戏剧语言的特点出发,通过对戏剧翻译中一些实例的分析,认为戏剧语言的特点、文化差异的客观存在以及戏剧对舞台直接效果的追求,使得传统的翻译标准和翻译方法有时会在戏剧翻译中失效,而编译则在此领域有一定的用武之地。