Development and pollution in the Middle East and North Africa: Democracy matters

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries are among the world’s top emitters of CO₂ and SO₂ in per capita terms. The objective of this paper is to analyze whether investing in the democratic development of these countries is an effective tool to make the economic development in this region more environmentally compatible. Using panel data on the income-emission-democracy nexus in 17 MENA countries from 1980 to 2005, we find evidence that improvements in the democratic development of the MENA countries help to mitigate environmental problems. Our results clearly show that the quality of democratic institutions has a greater influence on local environmental problems than on global environmental issues in the MENA region.     

Comparing different propensity score estimation methods for estimating the marginal causal effect through standardization to propensity scores

Hernan and Robins proposed a method for calculating marginal causal effect of treatment using standardization to propensity scores.

?Data adaptive methods have been suggested as alternatives to logistic regression for the estimation of propensity scores. We examined the performance of various data mining methods using simulated data. The estimators' performance was evaluated in terms of relative bias, 95% CI coverage rate, and mean squared error.

?All methods (except CART and GBM) displayed generally acceptable performance. However, under the conditions of moderate non-additivity and moderate nonlinearity, ANN and SL outperformed logistic regression with better bias reduction and more consistent 95% CI coverage.     

Orderings for series and parallel systems comprising heterogeneous exponentiated Weibull-geometric components

Let X₁, …, X_n be independent random variables with X_i ～ EWG(α, β, λ_i, p_i), i = 1, …, n, and Y₁, …, Y_n be another set of independent random variables with Y_i ～ EWG(α, β, γ_i, q_i), i = 1, …, n. The results established here are developed in two directions. First, under conditions p₁ = ??? = p_n = q₁ = ??? = q_n = p, and based on the majorization and p-larger orders between the vectors of scale parameters, we establish the usual stochastic and reversed hazard rate orders between the series and parallel systems. Next, for the case λ₁ = ??? = λ_n = γ₁ = ??? = γ_n = λ, we obtain some results concerning the reversed hazard rate and hazard rate orders between series and parallel systems based on the weak submajorization between the vectors of (p₁, …, p_n) and (q₁, …, q_n). The results established here can be used to find various bounds for some important aging characteristics of these systems, and moreover extend some well-known results in the literature.     

Two-Piece location-scale distributions based on scale mixtures of normal family

In this work, we study the maximum likelihood (ML) estimation problem for the parameters of the two-piece (TP) distribution based on the scale mixtures of normal (SMN) distributions. This is a family of skewed distributions that also includes the scales mixtures of normal class, and is flexible enough for modeling symmetric and asymmetric data. The ML estimates of the proposed model parameters are obtained via an expectation-maximization (EM)-type algorithm.     

Enabling sustainable energy futures: factors influencing green supply chain collaboration

Abstract

To explore the relationship between sustainability strategies and future energy needs, supply chains need to reduce their CO2 emissions through developing their green credentials and improving performance. Knowledge management (KM) is an enabler to support collaboration efforts. The SCM and KM areas have largely focused on improving organisational performance. While the latter has yielded successful outcomes in different sectors, there is still a scarcity of research on identifying influential factors highlighting those aspects which may enable green supply chain collaboration (GrSCC), thus leading to sustainable energy futures and carbon-efficient production. This paper examines the role of KM in facilitating GrSCC. Through the identification of key factors extrapolated from the literature, a model for implementing GrSCC using a futures-based perspective is proposed. This paper inductively demonstrates the relationship between identified GrSCC factors through fuzzy cognitive mapping technique. Findings support a futures-based perspective that enhances understanding and refines forward-looking strategies for GrSCC.     

Sexual and Reproductive Health Knowledge Among Men and Women Aged 15 to 49 Years in Metropolitan Tehran

Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) knowledge is an important predictor of an individual’s sexual behavior; however, little is known regarding this issue among Iranians. This study assessed sexual and reproductive health knowledge among men and women aged 15 to 49 years in Tehran. A total of 755 men and women aged 15 to 49 years were recruited using multistage, random cluster sampling in June 2014. An illustrative anonymous questionnaire endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) was used to collect the data. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed. The results showed that men and women were moderately knowledgeable about sexual and reproductive health (mean score of SRH knowledge = 39, range: 26 to 52); however, myths and misperceptions prevailed in different aspects of SRH. For example, only 45% of women and 38.7% of men accurately knew that a person infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can look healthy. Friends were identified as the primary or secondary source of knowledge about puberty and sex-related issues. A multivariate analysis showed that being female (coefficient = 0.139, p < 0.001) and being married (coefficient = 0.180, p < 0.001) were significant predictors of better SRH knowledge, while being young (age group 15 to 24) was a significant determinant of poor SRH knowledge (coefficient = ?0.161, p < 0.001) when other influencing factors were controlled. Culturally appropriate and age-specific comprehensive education is recommended, particularly for men, the unmarried, and the younger generation in Iran.     

Language as a Tool of Minority Politics: Urdu,in Bihar,India, 1951–1989

This essay attempts to explore mass-based movement (munazzam awami tehreek) of democratic politics of the protagonists of Urdu, in post-independence Bihar, India. This politics clinched relatively greater success in persuading the provincial government to offer incentives of public employment for the Urdu-speaking population/Muslims. Compared to the adjacent province of Uttar Pradesh, apparently, the status of Urdu in Bihar is much less discouraging. A probable reason for a more assertive political movement for Urdu in Bihar is that the Muslim League's separatist politics in late-colonial Bihar was much weaker. In the post-Partition/Independence period, when it became taboo for the Muslims to express their demands on the basis of religion, language movement emerged as a convenient tool of minority politics. Essentially speaking, the “popular politics” of Urdu in its first phase (1951–1971) functioned more as a “political society”, whereas in the second phase (1971–1989), as a “civil society”, when Urdu became the second official language. This movement maintained effective links with the relevant common population. Priority was more on seeking support and patronage of the government for the language to survive rather than making efforts to see that it thrives self-reliantly, except the Madrasas.     

Phase II monitoring of binary profiles in the presence of within-profile autocorrelation based on Markov Model

This paper introduces a Markov model in Phase II profile monitoring with autocorrelated binary response variable. In the proposed approach, a logistic regression model is extended to describe the within-profile autocorrelation. The likelihood function is constructed and then a particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO) is tuned and utilized to estimate the model parameters. Furthermore, two control charts are extended in which the covariance matrix is derived based on the Fisher information matrix. Simulation studies are conducted to evaluate the detecting capability of the proposed control charts. A numerical example is also given to illustrate the application of the proposed method.     

Credibility premium for rate-making systems

Credibility formula has been developed in many fields of actuarial sciences. Based upon Payandeh (2010 Payandeh, A.T. (2010). A new approach to the credibility formula. Insur.: Math. Econ. 46(2):334–338.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), this article extends concept of credibility formula to relatively premium of a given rate-making system. More precisely, it calculates Payandeh’s (2010 Payandeh, A.T. (2010). A new approach to the credibility formula. Insur.: Math. Econ. 46(2):334–338.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) credibility factor for zero-inflated Poisson gamma distributions with respect to several loss functions. A comparison study has been given.     

Developing a restricted two-parameter Liu-type estimator: A comparison of restricted estimators in the binary logistic regression model

In the context of estimating regression coefficients of an ill-conditioned binary logistic regression model, we develop a new biased estimator having two parameters for estimating the regression vector parameter β when it is subjected to lie in the linear subspace restriction Hβ = h. The matrix mean squared error and mean squared error (MSE) functions of these newly defined estimators are derived. Moreover, a method to choose the two parameters is proposed. Then, the performance of the proposed estimator is compared to that of the restricted maximum likelihood estimator and some other existing estimators in the sense of MSE via a Monte Carlo simulation study. According to the simulation results, the performance of the estimators depends on the sample size, number of explanatory variables, and degree of correlation. The superiority region of our proposed estimator is identified based on the biasing parameters, numerically. It is concluded that the new estimator is superior to the others in most of the situations considered and it is recommended to the researchers.