A new class of ratio-type estimators for improving mean estimation of nonsensitive and sensitive variables by using supplementary information

ABSTRACT

Motivated by some recent improvements for mean estimation in finite sampling theory, we propose, in a design-based approach, a new class of ratio-type estimators. The class is initially discussed on the assumption that the study variable has a nonsensitive nature, meaning that it deals with topics that do not generate embarrassment when respondents are directly questioned about them. Under this standard setting, some estimators belonging to the class are shown and the bias, mean square error and minimum mean square error are determined up to the first-order of approximation. The class is subsequently extended to the case where the study variable refers to sensitive issues which produce measurement errors due to nonresponses and/or untruthful reporting. These errors may be reduced by enhancing respondent cooperation through scrambled response methods that mask the true value of the sensitive variable. Hence, four methods (say the additive, multiplicative, mixed and combined additive-multiplicative methods) are discussed for the purposes of the article. Finally, a simulation study is carried out to assess the performance of the proposed class by comparing a number of competing estimators, both in the sensitive and the nonsensitive setting.     

Asymmetric impact of inflation and unemployment on poverty in Pakistan: new evidence from asymmetric ARDL cointegration

The current study is intended to examine the asymmetric impact of inflation and unemployment on the poverty of Pakistan over the period of 1970 to 2016 by applying asymmetric Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) cointegration approach. The results revealed the presence of long-run asymmetries among inflation, unemployment and poverty. These findings also confirmed the atypical reaction of poverty to negative and positive shocks in unemployment and inflation. Furthermore, findings also confirmed negative and significant association among health expenditures (HE), population growth and poverty. The findings of the study have relevant implications for policymakers interested in the asymmetric relationship among inflation, unemployment and poverty in Pakistan.     

Ignoring Leaders who Break Promises or Following God: How Depersonalization and Religious Faith Inform Employees’ Timely Work Efforts

This study investigates the relationship between employees’ perceptions of psychological contract breaches and their failure to meet work-related deadlines, with a particular focus on the mediating role of the depersonalization they assign to organizational authorities and the moderating role of their religious faith. Results based on multisource data, collected among employees and their supervisors in Pakistani organizations, show that an important factor that underpins the connection between beliefs about broken organizational promises and a diminished propensity to finish work on time is that employees depersonalize organizational leaders. This mediating effect is mitigated by employees’ religious faith. For organizations, this study thus identifies a key mechanism – exhibiting indifference to the people in charge – by which employees’ frustrations about resource-depleting contract breaches may inadvertently escalate into ineffective time management, and it identifies some workers among whom this counterproductive dynamic is less likely, namely, employees who can draw from their religious faith.