From Geneva to San José: The ILO standards and the Inter-American System for the protection of human rights

This article analyses how the Inter-American System for the protection of human rights has used ILO standards as a reference on matters relating to freedom of association and the rights of indigenous peoples. Having established the limits to their use, the authors also analyse how these standards have influenced recent Inter-American jurisprudence in relation to certain economic, social and cultural rights. They argue that such cross-referencing is both desirable and useful, since it allows the Inter-American bodies to base their arguments on the interpretation of specialized authorities, thereby reinforcing the credibility, normative legitimacy and universality of their decisions.     

Joint Estimation of Intersecting Context Tree Models

We study a problem of model selection for data produced by two different context tree sources. Motivated by linguistic questions, we consider the case where the probabilistic context trees corresponding to the two sources are finite and share many of their contexts. In order to understand the differences between the two sources, it is important to identify which contexts and which transition probabilities are specific to each source. We consider a class of probabilistic context tree models with three types of contexts: those which appear in one, the other, or both sources. We use a BIC penalized maximum likelihood procedure that jointly estimates the two sources. We propose a new algorithm which efficiently computes the estimated context trees. We prove that the procedure is strongly consistent. We also present a simulation study showing the practical advantage of our procedure over a procedure that works separately on each data set.     

The Well-Being of the Canadian Arctic Inuit: The Relevant Weight of Economy in the Happiness Equations

Which of the three dimensions of Allardt’s model, “having, loving, and being”, best predicts the incidence of subjective feeling of well-being among the Canadian Arctic Inuit adults? To answer this question, two logistic regression equations have been constructed, one based on a negative assessment of well-being (feeling of despair), and the other on a positive assessment (satisfaction with life in the community). Each of them took first the form of a global model, and then of three scale models, one for each dimension of the Allardt’s model. The equations are likely to be more effective for predicting the incidence of Inuit’s feeling of satisfaction than for anticipating their feeling of despair. Furthermore, the “being” scale model is the one that will have contributed most to the predictive performance of the global model. In other words, what the Inuit “ARE” contributes more to the incidence of their satisfaction with life than what they “HAVE” or what they “LOVE”.     

The economic sociology of markets,industries, and firms

Theory and Society -     

What Does it Take for a Canadian Political Scientist to be Cited?*

Objectives. The article examines the factors that influence the frequency whereby scholarly articles published by Canadian political scientists are cited. Method. We collected data on 1,860 journal articles published between 1985 and 2005 by 758 Canadian political scientists and listed in the Social Science Citation Index. Using these data, we performed OLS and tobit estimations to identify factors influencing citation frequency. Results. The regressions show that the reputation of the journal in which the article is published, though important, does not explain everything. The gender of the author(s), the number of authors, the geographical focus of the article, the field, and the methodology also matter. Conclusion. An article is more likely to be widely cited if it is published in a prestigious journal, if it is written by several authors, if it applies quantitative methods, if it compares countries, and if it deals with administration and public policy or elections and political parties. Faculty members who belong to larger departments and those who are women are more cited.     

Ordinal models and generalized estimating equations to evaluate disease severity

Many assays have been carried out in Capsicum spp. in order to evaluate its resistance to Phytophthora capsici , which causes blight and considerable yield loss. An assay aiming at the selection of resistant pepper and bell pepper genotypes to P. capsici was jointly performed in the laboratory of the Phytopathological Clinic of Entomology, Phytopathology and Agricultural Zoology and in the experimental area of the Plant Production Department, both located at ESALQ, University of São Paulo, Brazil. The data set for this assay comes from ordinal categorized random variables, whose analysis does not generally take into account the ordinal nature of the responses, but instead, builds indexes, among other measures, in order to evaluate the resistance of the studied genotypes. This work presents ordinal generalized linear fits in order to evaluate blight severity as well as to identify and select new resources to the pathogen. It also analyses the estimating equations proposed by Liang & Zeger (1986a, b) in order to obtain an infection pattern for the disease. From the fit of the cumulative logit models, valuable genotypes are identified for genetic breeding programs.     

Bounds for the Expected Time to Extinction and the Probability of Extinction in the Galton-Watson Process

Upper bounds for the expected time to extinction in the Galton-Watson process are obtained. We also found upper and lower bounds for the probability of extinction of this process. These bounds improve some bounds previously obtained by other authors.     

A heterarchical generic discrete manufacturing simulation model and its application in a world class manufacturing environment

Current factory design and evaluation is very primitive. Factory components are designed in many cases independently. Product and process design are not well integrated. An encompassing framework is needed for iterating through a series of total factory designs, searching for optimal performance. In addition, a vehicle is needed for predicting the performance of a proposed advanced manufacturing system, so that engineers may have a sound means for evaluating such proposals. A heterarchical discrete manufacturing SIMNET II simulation model (SIMCELLS) was developed as a comprehensive methodology for designing and evaluating discrete manufacturing systems. SIMCELLS allows manufacturing systems engineers to experiment with alternative system structures and control strategies while seeking that combination of design features that will produce the desired overall system performance. The model in combination with a modernization programme is enabling a firm to successfully manufacture and sell trucks meeting international standards. The SIMNET II model     

Optimizing lot size and setup time in a JIT environment: a multiple objective application

The just-in-time (JIT) system has been studied extensively and implemented by a number of US firms as an ell'ective production system. The core of JIT involves determination of lot size and setup time reduction so as to increase manufacturing flexibility while minimizing the inventory level. This decision problem usually involves multiple conflicting objectives and mixed-model production. In this paper, goal programming (GP) is applied to a real-world JIT problem involving fabrication of different automotive and industrial rubber composite belts. The model results provide new insights concerning the conflicting nature of several goals, especially between meeting demand and reducing setup or idle time. Also, the GP solution is superior to the current JIT practice of the company.