Hierarchically penalized quantile regression with multiple responses

We study variable selection in quantile regression with multiple responses. Instead of applying conventional penalized quantile regression to each response separately, it is desired to solve them simultaneously when the sparsity patterns of the regression coefficients for different responses are similar, which is often the case in practice. In this paper, we propose employing a hierarchical penalty that enables us to detect a common sparsity pattern shared between different responses as well as additional sparsity patterns within the selected variables. We establish the oracle property of the proposed method and demonstrate it offers better performance than existing approaches.     

The quality of municipal service: Concept,measure and results

This article presents a systematic discussion of the concept of the quality of municipal services. Based upon the argument that service quality is a subjective and collective experience of the citizenry, the quality of municipal service is conceptualized is the interaction of two components: (1) the level of citizen satisfaction with the service and (2) the extent of variation in the distribution of service satisfaction across neighbornoods within a community. To measure these two components, Indices of Service Adequacy and Service Equality are constructed. The indices are employed in the analysis of survey data collected from three Illinois middle-size cities in order to assess and compare their service qualities in the areas of police protection, street maintenance and public education. The findings suggest that citizens of the three cities are less than highly satisfied with the quality of these public services.     

Assessing point forecast accuracy by stochastic error distance

ABSTRACT

We propose point forecast accuracy measures based directly on distance of the forecast-error c.d.f. from the unit step function at 0 (“stochastic error distance,” or SED). We provide a precise characterization of the relationship between SED and standard predictive loss functions, and we show that all such loss functions can be written as weighted SEDs. The leading case is absolute error loss. Among other things, this suggests shifting attention away from conditional-mean forecasts and toward conditional-median forecasts.     

How Can we Achieve a Sustainable Redistributive Policy? Rethinking the Relationship Between Civic Engagement,Neighborhood Relationship and Labor Market Status

Social Indicators Research - The aim of this article is to examine the effect of social relations on support for redistribution and to explore desirable forms of redistribution based on mutual...     

From FOB to cool: Transnational migrant students in Toronto and the styling of global linguistic capital

Globalization and the rise of ‘Korean cool’ provide middle‐class Korean yuhaksaeng (visa students) in Toronto with resources they can mobilize as strategies of distinction. In their construction of themselves as new transnational subjects with hybrid identities that are simultaneously global and Korean, yuhaksaeng deploy re‐valued varieties of Korean language and culture as stylistic resources in the globalized new economy. In this process, yuhaksaeng contest their marginal positions as ‘FOBs’ (Fresh‐Off‐the‐Boats) and ‘Nerds’ in dominant Western racial discourse, and construct themselves as wealthy, modern, and cosmopolitan ‘Cools’vis‐à‐vis long‐term immigrants in local Korean diasporic communities as well as Canadians. The stories of yuhaksaeng illustrate how notions of ‘global’ and ‘local’ linguistic resources are transformed under the material conditions of globalization and its structures of inequality. ???? ‘??? ?’? ??? ???? ???? ??? ?? ????? ???? ?? ???? ?? ??? ????. ????? ???? ?? ??? ?????? ??? ????? ?? ??? ???, ???? ??????? ??? ???? ??? ???? ?? ??? ???? ??? ?????? ?? ???? ????. ? ???? ????? ??? ??? ?? ?????? ‘FOBs’ (Fresh‐Off‐the‐Boats) ? ‘Nerds’ ? ?? ??? ???? ????, ???? ???? ???? ?????? ??? ??? ??????? ????, ???? ???? ???????? ‘?’? ???? ????. ? ?? ??? ????? ???? ???? ??? ??? ? ???? ?? ??? ????? ???? ???? ??? ?????? ??? ????. [Korean]     

Avowed Happiness in Confucian Asia: Ascertaining its Distribution,Patterns, and Sources

This study reviewed three philosophical accounts of happiness, and then tested those accounts with the Asiabarometer surveys conducted in six Confucian societies during the summer of 2006. Statistical analyses of these surveys reveal that East Asians tend to experience happiness to a greater extent when they experience enjoyment together with achievement and/or satisfaction. The preponderance of such multi-dimensional conceptions in all those societies poses a direct challenge to a single dimensional account of happiness in the West. The analyses also reveal that positive assessments of interpersonal relationships matter more than the amount of knowledge or wealth in living a happy life in Confucian societies.

---

Bayesian tests for unit root and multiple breaks

A Bayesian approach is considered for identifying sources of nonstationarity for models with a unit root and breaks. Different types of multiple breaks are allowed through crash models, changing growth models, and mixed models. All possible nonstationary models are represented by combinations of zero or nonzero parameters associated with time trends, dummy for breaks, or previous levels, for which Bayesian posterior probabilities are computed. Multiple tests based on Markov chain Monte Carlo procedures are implemented. The proposed method is applied to a real data set, the Korean GDP data set, showing a strong evidence for two breaks rather than the usual unit root or one break.     

Vector error correction heterogeneous autoregressive forecast model of realized volatility and implied volatility

A vector error correction model is proposed for forecasting realized volatility which takes advantage of the cointegration relation between realized volatility and implied volatility. The model is constructed by adding a cointegration error term to a vector-and-unit-root version of the heterogeneous autoregressive (HAR) model of Corsi (2009 Corsi, F. 2009. A simple approximate long-memory model of realized volatility. Journal of Financial Econometrics 7 (2):174–96. [Google Scholar]). The proposed model is easier to implement, extend, and interpret than fractional cointegration models. A Monte Carlo simulation and real data analysis reveal advantages of the proposed model over other existing models of Corsi (2009 Corsi, F. 2009. A simple approximate long-memory model of realized volatility. Journal of Financial Econometrics 7 (2):174–96. [Google Scholar]), Busch Christensen and Nielsen (2011 Busch, T., B. J. Christensen, and M. Nielsen. 2011. The role of implied volatility in forecasting future realized volatility and jumps in foreign exchange, stock, and bond markets. Journal of Econometrics 160 (1):48–57. [Google Scholar]), Cho and Shin (2016 Cho, S. J. and D. W. Shin. 2016. An integrated heteroscedastic autoregressive model for forecasting long-memory volatilities. Journal of the Korean Statistical Society, 45:371–380. [Google Scholar]), and Bollerslev Patton, and Quaedvlieg (2016 Bollerslev, T., A. J. Patton, and R. Quaedvlieg. 2016. Exploiting the errors:A simple approach for improved volatility forecasting. Journal of Econometrics 192:1-18. [Google Scholar]).     

A practical extension of the generalized estimating equation approach for longitudinal data

Liang and Zeger (1986) proposed an extension of generalized linear models to the analysis of longitudinal data. In their formulation, a common dispersion parameter assumption across observation times is required. However, this assumption is not expected to hold in most situations. Park (1993) proposed a simple extension of Liang and Zeger's formulation to allow for different dispersion parameters for each time point. The proposed model is easy to apply without heavy computations and useful to handle the cases when variations in over-dispersion over time exist. In this paper, we focus on evaluating the effect of additional dispersion parameters on the estimators of model parameters. Through a Monte Carlo simulation study, efficiency of Park's method is compared with the Liang and Zeger's method.