Bayesian structural equation modeling for the health index

There are many factors which could influence the level of health of an individual. These factors are interactive and their overall effects on health are usually measured by an index which is called as health index. The health index could also be used as an indicator to describe the health level of a community. Since the health index is important, many research have been done to study its determinant. The main purpose of this study is to model the health index of an individual based on classical structural equation modeling (SEM) and Bayesian SEM. For estimation of the parameters in the measurement and structural equation models, the classical SEM applies the robust-weighted least-square approach, while the Bayesian SEM implements the Gibbs sampler algorithm. The Bayesian SEM approach allows the user to use the prior information for updating the current information on the parameter. Both methods are applied to the data gathered from a survey conducted in Hulu Langat, a district in Malaysia. Based on the classical and the Bayesian SEM, it is found that demographic status and lifestyle are significantly related to the health index. However, mental health has no significant relation to the health index.     

Paired double-ranked set sampling

Abstract

In environmental monitoring and assessment, the main focus is to achieve observational economy and to collect data with unbiased, efficient and cost-effective sampling methods. Ranked set sampling (RSS) is one traditional method that is mostly used for accomplishing observational economy. In this article, we propose an unbiased sampling scheme, named paired double RSS (PDRSS) for estimating the population mean. We study the performance of the mean estimators under PDRSS based on perfect and imperfect rankings. It is shown that, for perfect ranking, the variance of the mean estimator under PDRSS is always less than the variance of mean estimator based on simple random sampling, paired RSS and RSS. The mean estimators under RSS, median RSS, PDRSS, and double RSS are also compared with the regression estimator of population mean based on SRS. The procedure is also illustrated with a case study using a real data set.     

ON EXTENSIONS OF PROBABILISTIC PROFIT BUDGETS: A COMMENT

Recognizing the potential importance of new uses of analysis, the author provides an alternative approach for constructing the confidence interval (C.I.) for the population coefficient of variation, V=α/μ. More specifically, the comment demonstrates the use of some of the existing percentage points of the sample coefficient of variation, v=s/x . The results of these approximations are then compared empirically with the results recently published by Hayya, Copeland and Chan [1, pp. 115–118]. The available approximations given by Iglewicz [2] and again by Iglewicz and Myers [3] of the practical range of V and of the sample size n are more accurate than those obtained using the method in [1].     

A Predictive Model for Financial Literacy among the Educated Youth in Kerala,India

ABSTRACT

The economic importance of financial literacy among individuals necessitates policy intervention. Estimation of financial literacy is a prerequisite for strategies to improve financial literacy. This paper, using data collected from the educated young adults in Kerala, the most literate state in India, builds a predictive model for financial literacy employing logistic regression. The study reveals the low level of financial literacy in the state. The model points to the significance of gender, age, religion, discipline of study, occupation, and personal income as determinants of financial literacy. The findings have implications for policies aimed at improving the financial literacy of young adults in India.     

A new adaptive EWMA control chart using auxiliary information for monitoring the process mean

The adaptive memory-type control charts, including the adaptive exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) and cumulative sum (CUSUM) charts, have gained considerable attention because of their excellent speed in providing overall good detection over a range of mean shift sizes. In this paper, we propose a new adaptive EWMA (AEWMA) chart using the auxiliary information for efficiently monitoring the infrequent changes in the process mean. The idea is to first estimate the unknown process mean shift using an auxiliary information based mean estimator, and then adaptively update the smoothing constant of the EWMA chart. Using extensive Monte Carlo simulations, the run length profiles of the AEWMA chart are computed and explored. The AEWMA chart is compared with the existing control charts, including the classical EWMA, CUSUM, synthetic EWMA and synthetic CUSUM charts, in terms of the run length characteristics. It turns out that the AEWMA chart performs uniformly better than these control charts when detecting a range of mean shift sizes. An illustrative example is also presented to demonstrate the working and implementation of the proposed and existing control charts.     

Town planning in Sweden: National officials versus local politicians

With strong central government traditions, Sweden has developed goal-oriented normative planning. At urban level, such planning raises many problems. This article discusses some of these problems from the three principal aspects of planning, namely the ideological, methodological and organizational aspect. The study is based on an extensive questionnaire and oral interviews among municipal planners in leadership positions in three middle-sized municipalities, namely Borås, Umeå and Västerås. The ideological aspect is discussed with reference to restrictions on urban planning arising as a result of decisions made by private enterprises and due to the interaction between the central and municipal government. The article goes on to describe the methods planners have developed to plan for land-use, resource allocation, housing and other sectoral activities and major defects in the planning system. Finally, the article discusses various problems faced by the municipal government whose departmental organization facilitates the administration of community services but cannot adequately deal with the increasing number of planning functions which are often interdepartmental in nature.     

Credit programs for the poor and reproductive behavior in low-income countries: Are the reported causal relationships the result of heterogeneity bias?

Group-based lending programs for the poor have drawn much attention recently. As many of these programs target women, an important research question is whether program participation significantly changes reproductive behavior and whether the gender of the participant matters. Using survey data from 87 Bangladeshi villages, we estimate the impact of female and male participation in group-based credit programs on reproductive behavior while attending to issues of self-selection and endogeneity. Wefind no evidence that women s participation in group-based credit programs increases contraceptive use or reduces fertility. Men So participation reduces fertility and may slightly increase contraceptive use.     

Regime-specific impact of financial reforms on economic growth in Pakistan

This study uses and proposes a new methodological approach to construct a financial liberalization index on the basis of the dynamic factor model technique. The resulting index is used to investigate the impact of the financial sector reforms in Pakistan on economic growth. Using the Markov regime-switching model over the period 1972–2015, the empirical results showed that the examined relationship is nonlinear, nonmonotonic, state-dependent, and better described by the two-state Markov switching model characterized by the high growth regime and low growth regime. Despite the positive impact of financial liberalization on economic growth in both the high and low growth regimes, financial liberalization relatively strongly affects real GDP growth in the high growth regime. The results further demonstrate that transition probabilities establish an inordinate episode of the low growth regime. Furthermore, the high growth regime is relatively short-lived than the low growth regime. Among the other variables, trade openness and physical capital stock have a positive impact on economic growth, while labor force and government expenditure exert a negative effect on economic growth. Several economic policies are proposed and discussed for better functioning of financial sector development in Pakistan.