Valuing mortality risk reductions from environmental, transport, and health policies: a global meta-analysis of stated preference studies

We conduct, to our knowledge, the first global meta-analysis (MA) of stated preference (SP) surveys of mortality risk valuation. The surveys ask adults their willingness to pay (WTP) for small reductions in mortality risks, deriving estimates of the sample mean value of statistical life (VSL) for environmental, health, and transport policies. We explain the variation in VSL estimates by differences in the characteristics of the SP methodologies applied, the population affected, and the characteristics of the mortality risks valued, including the magnitude of the risk change. The mean (median) VSL in our full data set of VSL sample means was found to be around $7.4 million (2.4 million) (2005 U.S. dollars). The most important variables explaining the variation in VSL are gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and the magnitude of the risk change valued. According to theory, however, VSL should be independent of the risk change. We discuss and test a range of quality screening criteria in order to investigate the effect of limiting the MA to high-quality studies. When limiting the MA to studies that find statistically significant differences in WTP using external or internal scope tests (without requiring strict proportionality), we find that mean VSL from studies that pass both tests tend to be less sensitive to the magnitude of the risk change. Mean VSL also tends to decrease when stricter screening criteria are applied. For many of our screened models, we find a VSL income elasticity of 0.7-0.9, which is reduced to 0.3-0.4 for some subsets of the data that satisfy scope tests or use the same high-quality survey.     

Religious Participation and Civic Engagement in a Secular Context: Evidence from Sweden on the Correlates of Attending Religious Services

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - The aim of the present study is to investigate the potential link between religious participation and civic engagement in...     

Opportunities in the Hungarian Financial Services Sector as Part of the Single European Market

As Hungary became a member of the European Union, much of the legislatory environment for providing financial services has changed, although most of the integration, at least on the legislatory level, was already carried out before the accession. In my study I try to look at the developments this new status quo has brought about, even if we are quite sure that the adoption of the common currency will cause bigger steps forward in the integration process. I also have a look at another factor influencing the financial services almost as much as the European integration, namely, the development of e-finance. Finally, I make an attempt to draw a picture of the Hungarian financial services sector a few years from now.     

Explaining differences in unemployment benefit takeup between labour migrants and Dutch native workers

The large increase in Eastern European migrants entering the Dutch labour market has led to concerns about their potential claim on Dutch unemployment benefits. We use a decomposition analysis to investigate differences in uptake of unemployment benefits between migrants and native Dutch employees by analysing register data for all employees in the Netherlands in 2015. The results show that Eastern European migrants, similar to other migrants, receive unemployment benefit more often than native Dutch employees. This difference can be largely ascribed to job characteristics. The inclusion of unemployment risk in the analysis reveals that non-working migrants are much less likely to receive unemployment benefits than Dutch natives.     

The Role of Pubertal Timing in What Adolescent Boys Do Online

The aim of this study was to investigate associations between pubertal timing and boys' Internet use, particularly their viewing of pornography. We used a sample comprising of 97 boys in grade 8 (M age, 14.22 years) from two schools in a medium‐sized Swedish town. This age should be optimal for differentiating early, on‐time, and later‐maturing boys. Boys responded to self‐report questionnaires on their Internet use and pubertal timing. Early, on‐time, and late‐maturing boys did not differ in terms of most Internet activities. However, early maturers reported downloading and viewing pornography more often than the other boys did (p<.001). The findings build on previous research on the link between pubertal timing and sexual behavior in adolescence. Moreover, they help further understanding of the behavioral implications of boys' pubertal timing.     

Parent presence and gender‐typicalness of educational choice1

Given parental influence on children's educational choices, new family constellations may impact on sex segregation in school and thus in the labour market. This paper addresses the question of what consequence father absence and stepfather presence may have for choice of the male‐dominated natural science/technology (NT) programme in Swedish upper secondary school. The data include register information on all pupils who attended the ninth grade of the Swedish compulsory school in 1998 and 1999 and their parents (n = 73,824). While children in mother‐only households are less likely to choose the NT programme compared with children residing with two original parents, this is accounted for by differences in socioeconomic conditions and in grade sum. Fathers, like mothers, also have a more direct influence on children's educational choices of field of study via their own education and occupation. However, what has not been noted in previous research is that this also applies to ‘absent’ fathers and, for boys, to stepfathers as well.     

The use of ‘empowerment’ among organisations supporting victims of domestic violence in Sweden

The aim of this paper is to investigate the prevalence and character of ‘empowerment’ as an approach used by women's shelters, crime victim support groups and municipal crisis centres that provide support for battered women in Sweden. The study was based on a mail survey distributed among representatives of local crime victim support groups and women's shelters run by non-governmental organisations and the public sector (N = 207). The survey showed that empowerment was perceived as similar to the already established ‘help to self-help’ approach. Empowerment was described as a tool for individual change rather than collective action, although links to power-sensitivity and social change did appear in some answers. Contrary to expectations, the use of empowerment was not accompanied by comments on problematic power relations and difficulties in merging a non-directive approach with professional responsibilities. Using neo-institutional theory, results were interpreted in relation to established work-patterns and problems that empowerment was perceived to solve.     

Fully Bayesian Binary Markov Random Field Models: Prior Specification and Posterior Simulation

We propose a flexible prior model for the parameters of binary Markov random fields (MRF), defined on rectangular lattices and with maximal cliques defined from a template maximal clique. The prior model allows higher‐order interactions to be included. We also define a reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm to sample from the associated posterior distribution. The number of possible parameters for a higher‐order MRF becomes high, even for small template maximal cliques. We define a flexible parametric form where the parameters have interpretation as potentials for clique configurations, and limit the effective number of parameters by assigning apriori discrete probabilities for events where groups of parameter values are equal. To cope with the computationally intractable normalising constant of MRFs, we adopt a previously defined approximation of binary MRFs. We demonstrate the flexibility of our prior formulation with simulated and real data examples.     

On the exact distribution of the likelihood ratio criterion for testing

The exact null distribution of the likelihood ratio criter- 2 ion for testing the hypothesis H: y = y~; z = a I, a unknown and UQ a given known vector against the alternative A =f H in a p-vari- ate normal population N (y,z) has been derived in the form of Meijer's G-function using mellin integral transform and also in a chisquare series form. Asymptotic behavior of the distribution of -2 log L has also been discussed. Percentage points for p=2(l)10for various level of significance and various degrees of freedom have been computed, but only selected tables have been presented in this paper.