Interview Costs in the Secretary Problem

The effect of interview costs on the optimal selection strategy and on the chance of success in secretary problems with order k selection rules, both for a finite number of applicants and in the limiting case, is examined. Probabilistic reasoning is used and numerical examples given.     

Home and Where the Heart Is: Marriage Timing and Joint Home Purchase

This article evaluates the relationship between the timing of marriage and the purchase of a jointly owned home among Swedish cohabiting couples. Data for this analysis come from the Swedish Housing and Life Course Cohort Study (N = 1,596 couples; 2,006 cohabiting spells). The author develops models to proxy for simultaneity and intentions and test hypotheses about positive and negative and long- and short-run relationships between the two life-course events. The author uses a novel modeling approach, allowing for differences in the risk before, concurrently and after the conditioning event. Results indicate a positive relationship between marriage and joint home purchase and suggest the possibility of an ordering of events: For some couples, formalizing their union through marriage may be a prerequisite for a joint home purchase.     

On the Average Minimum Size of a Manipulating Coalition

We study the asymptotic average minimum manipulating coalition size as a characteristic of quality of a voting rule and show its serious drawback. We suggest using the asymptotic average threshold coalition size instead. We prove that, in large electorates, the asymptotic average threshold coalition size is maximised among all scoring rules by the Borda rule when the number m of alternatives is 3 or 4, and by -approval voting when m ≥ 5.     

Reputational Capital and Academic Pay

This article examines how research productivity, administrative service, and teaching affect reputational capital in the market for academic economists. Also, we investigate the issue of the durability of reputational capital, estimating the penalties associated with gaps in research output. Our results reveal that (1) the market makes a distinction between the quantity and the quality of an individual's research output, (2) a smaller number of frequently cited papers enhances reputational capital more than a greater number of less frequently cited papers, (3) reputational capital does not depreciate rapidly during research breaks, and (4) the market does not discount co-authored papers.     

Minority Stress in the Lives of Men Who Have Sex With Men in Cape Town,South Africa

The mental health outcomes of men who have sex with men (MSM) living in sub-Saharan Africa are understudied, despite evidence that discrimination and stigma are widespread. This article examines the occurrence and mental health effects of minority stress in a sample of diverse South African MSM. Twenty-two MSM living in Cape Town took part in exploratory qualitative in-depth interviews and completed mental health questionnaires. Results indicate that the majority of participants experienced minority stress, which affected their sexual relationships and coping strategies. Concealment behaviors and perceived discrimination levels were high and were associated with race, religion, SES, and geographical location.     

A bivariate space-time downscaler under space and time misalignment

Ozone and particulate matter PM(2.5) are co-pollutants that have long been associated with increased public health risks. Information on concentration levels for both pollutants come from two sources: monitoring sites and output from complex numerical models that produce concentration surfaces over large spatial regions. In this paper, we offer a fully-model based approach for fusing these two sources of information for the pair of co-pollutants which is computationally feasible over large spatial regions and long periods of time. Due to the association between concentration levels of the two environmental contaminants, it is expected that information regarding one will help to improve prediction of the other. Misalignment is an obvious issue since the monitoring networks for the two contaminants only partly intersect and because the collection rate for PM(2.5) is typically less frequent than that for ozone.Extending previous work in Berrocal et al. (2009), we introduce a bivariate downscaler that provides a flexible class of bivariate space-time assimilation models. We discuss computational issues for model fitting and analyze a dataset for ozone and PM(2.5) for the ozone season during year 2002. We show a modest improvement in predictive performance, not surprising in a setting where we can anticipate only a small gain.     

When elevators were for pianos: an oral history account of the civilian experience of using wheelchairs in Canadian society. The first twenty-five years: 1945-1970

In 1945 Canadian World War II veterans with spinal cord injury were among the first Canadians to have access to medical rehabilitation programs, the Everest and Jennings folding, self-propelled wheelchair and automobiles with hand-controls. A previous paper, Going back to Civvy Street (Tremblay, 1996) described how the veteran pioneers used these new opportunities to return to full participation in civilian life. Drawing on oral history and archival research, this paper examines the experiences of Canadian civilians with spinal cord injury as they tried to follow the veterans' example. It discusses the strategies these pioneers used to overcome obstacles, such as stairs and curbs, as well as providing examples of their experiences in finding housing, education and employment. The paper reviews the responses individuals received from their fellow citizens and highlights the limited recognition of architectural barriers in an era when elevators were for pianos!     

Hormesis: A Highly Generalizable and Reproducible Phenomenon With Important Implications for Risk Assessment

From a comprehensive search of the literature, the hormesis phenomenon was found to occur over a wide range of chemicals, taxonomic groups, and endpoints. By use of computer searches and extensive cross-referencing, nearly 3000 potentially relevant articles were identified. Evidence of chemical and radiation hormesis was judged to have occurred in approximately 1000 of these by use of a priori criteria. These criteria included study design features (e.g., number of doses, dose range), dose–response relationship, statistical analysis, and reproducibility of results. Numerous biological endpoints were assessed, with growth responses the most prevalent, followed by metabolic effects, reproductive responses, longevity, and cancer. Hormetic responses were generally observed to be of limited magnitude with an average maximum stimulation of 30 to 60 percent over that of the controls. This maximum usually occurred 4- to 5-fold below the NOAEL for a particular endpoint. The present analysis suggests that hormesis is a reproducible and generalizable biological phenomenon and is a fundamental component of many, if not most, dose–response relationships. The relatively infrequent observation of hormesis in the literature is believed to be due primarily to experimental design considerations, especially with respect to the number and range of doses and endpoint selection. Because of regulatory considerations, most toxicologic studies have been carried out at high doses above the low-dose region where the hormesis phenomenon occurs.     

Cash flow models: A review

Cash flow management is concerned with the efficient use of the company's cash and short-term investments. Under stable economic conditions, this is a matter of deciding when to transfer assets and how much. The development of models designed to answer these questions is reviewed. More recently, emphasis has been placed on decisions concerned with operating conditions with the object of maintaining a level of cash flow in accordance with unstable conditions, in particular with a high rate of inflation.