Characterization of an optimal matrix estimator under convex loss function

Characterization of an optimal vector estimator and an optimal matrix estimator are obtained. In each case appropriate convex loss functions are considered. The results are illustrated through the problems of simultaneous unbiased estimation, simultaneous equivariant estimation and simultaneous unbiased prediction. Further an optimality criterion is proposed for matrix unbiased estimation and it is shown that the matrix unbiased estimation of a matrix parametric function and the minimum variance unbiased estimation of its components are equivalent.     

Attitude towards a redistribution of income

This article reports on some data from a pilot study which surveyed the attitude of the active male Flemish population towards a redistribution of income. A simple linear regression model based upon the average ratings of actual and fair incomes of twelve occupations is presented. The model allows to calculate for each subject how much redistribution he favors, the extent to which he wants to alter the income structure, and the reference point he uses to determine which incomes have to moderate and which have not to. Some results are presented and discussed. Subjects tend to favor some degree of income leveling, however without affecting the income structure.     

Is the future of unionism in cyberspace?

V. Conclusions Cyber technology has been proposed as the panacea for the troubled Old Unionism, the expansion of the New Unionism, and to promote the political power of the Labor Movement. In furtherance of those objectives, the AFL-CIO created a web site on December 1, 2000, workingfamilies.com. The site is intended to provide 17 million union members and retirees access to the Internet; the Federation also offers them computers at low cost. The AFL-CIO’s web is intended to link the union’s members to each other, offer discussion forums, chat rooms, and e-mail networks which will allow workers to talk to each other regularly and mobilize their workplaces and communities for causes endorsed by the Federation (World Future Society, February, 2000). The new service is an extension of the Union Privilege Benefit Programs set up by the Federation during the 1980s as a way of reversing the unions’ faltering membership. Those programs include reduced attorney fees, lower cost life and accident insurance, participation in a motor-club, car-repair, and travel-club services, a Walt Disney World Hotel Discount, a parents’ college advisor, reduced cost for educational books and software, mortgage and real estate advice, and a dental program. The original package was offered to nonmembers for a small fee who become "associate members." It was hoped that the associate participants would become full members. A number of affiliated unions adopted similar programs. In 1995, the Federation added a credit card issued by Household International and for which it received $75 million each year for five years ending in 2000. The card has no annual fee and low monthly interest charges. How the Federation spent these sums is unknown.     

The Challenge of Political and Economic Change in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe

This article discusses political and economic changes in Poland, Central and Eastern Europe emerging since the demise of the ‘closed system’ in 1989. The presentation explores the range of change, the method and the sequence of change. General lessons in economic transition as identified by Polish Finance Minister Lezak Balcerowicz are discussed. The challenges involved in macroeconomic stabilization, radical liberalization, currency convertibility, subsidy reduction and conversion of state-owned enterprises are reviewed. Despite their complexity, economic and political reforms proved necessary and inevitable. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Developing technological initiatives for youth participation and local community engagement

Recent advances in technology are transforming our lives, but in many cases they are also limiting the way children are exposed to local communities and physical spaces. Technology can help young people actively connect with their neighborhoods, but doing that requires different methods and tools from the ones typically available in schools, homes, and youth centers. This article introduces a theoretical framework describing the technical and nontechnical elements that must be considered in the implementation of technology initiatives for youth participation and local community engagement. The article then describes the application of the framework in two multiyear initiatives.     

看张爱玲的《对照记》

张爱玲的《对照记》对照的是形象(照片)与个人身世的真实,因此她用文字来解释心得。《对照记》本身有很强的“后设性”,对《对照记》的解读,则是“后设”的“后设”。从《对照记》中所列的相当可观的张爱玲祖父祖母一代人的照片中,可以解读出她的怀古幽思,她所怀念的就是她祖父母这一代的人物和生活方式,这自觉或不自觉地展露了她的历史怀旧意识。《对照记》中没有张爱玲与父亲或母亲的合影,也没有她父母亲的合影,这些照片的缺失使《对照记》创设了一股幼时的失落感或被遗弃的情境,呈现出“褪了色”的苍凉。张爱玲自己的照片在全书中有30多幅,她的姿态在“镜花水月”式的美学意境中制造了一种神秘感。张爱玲“传奇”不仅是她的文字,也是她的形象造成的。     

Time-discrete nonparametric hazard model using panel data

In this contribution a nonparametric estimator for the hazard function will be presented for time-discrete survival analysis. The estimator is derived from a likelihood function based upon time-discrete counting processes. With martingale techniques asymptotic properties of the estimator of the cumulative hazard function are shown. Since we consider a nonparametric approach no exploratory variables are considered in the empirical example. For analyzing the remigrant behavior of different foreign nations (Italy, Yugoslavia, Greece, Spain and Turkey) the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) is used as a data basis. The estimations are carried out with a module of PRODISA, a program package developed for the analysis of time-discrete duration and panel data for the nonparametric and (semi)parametric case.