Nonparametric-likelihood inference based on cost-effectively-sampled-data

Costs associated with the evaluation of biomarkers can restrict the number of relevant biological samples to be measured. This common problem has been dealt with extensively in the epidemiologic and biostatistical literature that proposes to apply different cost-efficient procedures, including pooling and random sampling strategies. The pooling design has been widely addressed as a very efficient sampling method under certain parametric assumptions regarding data distribution. When cost is not a main factor in the evaluation of biomarkers but measurement is subject to a limit of detection, a common instrument limitation on the measurement process, the pooling design can partially overcome this instrumental limitation. In certain situations, the pooling design can provide data that is less informative than a simple random sample; however this is not always the case. Pooled-data-based nonparametric inferences have not been well addressed in the literature. In this article, a distribution-free method based on the empirical likelihood technique is proposed to substitute the traditional parametric-likelihood approach, providing the true coverage, confidence interval estimation and powerful tests based on data obtained after the cost-efficient designs. We also consider several nonparametric tests to compare with the proposed procedure. We examine the proposed methodology via a broad Monte Carlo study and a real data example.     

中国环境与规划（一）

中国人常说：“良药苦口,忠言逆耳”。在中国做了十年规划,我看到了一些不是简单的问题。有些问题不知道是否应该说出来,但是如果不说出来,我认为有愧领导的爱护。有一次,我与好朋友前纽约环境保护局局长、世界上一流的水处理专家ALAPPLETON交谈这些问题。没想到,他与我有许多共同的看法。后来,我告诉他我正在写一本有关对中国规划建议的书,不如他来个“友情演出”,替我写—篇我们对环境保护共同看法的文章。为了得到更多“外脑”的意见和支持,我要求编辑必须将原文登出。     

How and Why Do Social and Sustainable Initiatives Scale? A Systematic Review of the Literature on Social Entrepreneurship and Grassroots Innovation

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Social and sustainable initiatives generally start small and need to scale to create substantial impact. Our systematic...     

A Cross-National Study on the Antecedents of Work–Life Balance from the Fit and Balance Perspective

Drawing on the perceived work–family fit and balance perspective, this study investigates demands and resources as antecedents of work–life balance (WLB) across four countries (New Zealand, France, Italy and Spain), so as to provide empirical cross-national evidence. Using structural equation modelling analysis on a sample of 870 full time employees, we found that work demands, hours worked and family demands were negatively related to WLB, while job autonomy and supervisor support were positively related to WLB. We also found evidence that resources (job autonomy and supervisor support) moderated the relationships between demands and work–life balance, with high resources consistently buffering any detrimental influence of demands on WLB. Furthermore, our study identified additional predictors of WLB that were unique to some national contexts. For example, in France and Italy, overtime hours worked were negatively associated with WLB, while parental status was positively associated with WLB. Overall, the implications for theory and practice are discussed.

     

Fair and easy: the effect of perceived fairness,effort expectancy and user experience on online slot machine gambling intention

The growth of online gambling necessitates that both marketers and regulators have a better understanding of the gambling intention of players. Perceived fairness of customers towards operators has often been raised as a concern in the industry, but it has received limited attention in research on gambling intention. Theories that seek to explain purchase intention are considered and a model is proposed that investigates the role and impact that perceived fairness and system effort expectancy have on online gambling intention together with the moderating influence of user experience. Data from 255 online gambling customers are gathered and analysed using Hayes PROCESS analyses. Results indicate that perceived fairness impacts gambling intention directly, and indirectly strengthening the effect of effort expectancy on gambling intention. However, user experience weakens both these impacts. The research provides support for the inclusion of perceived fairness in theories that consider drivers of online gambling intention. In addition, the important role that perceived fairness plays offers support for gambling regulators who in recent years have sought to promote a fairer and more transparent deal to players. Firms in the online gambling industry can also look positively at activities enhancing fairness as its promotion can also enhance their performance.     

Co-production in an Information Age: Individual and Community Engagement Supported by New Media

Social interactions in every domain of human activity are transformed through the use of new media. This study provides a preliminary assessment of the value of new media for co-production between government and (communities of) citizens. This article analyzes innovative practices in the Netherlands of new media usage to support the coproduction of safety and to facilitate the coproduction public service support. The results of the qualitative research show that both forms of coproduction provide value to governments and citizens but they differ in their value for strengthening citizen communities. Individualized and community coproduction are identified as different outcomes of socio-technological trajectories.     

An Institutional Contingency Perspective of Interlocking Directorates

Interlocking directorates, in which companies are linked by the directors that serve on their boards, exist globally. It is an expression of hegemonic power exercised by the elites of a society, and has been studied with great interest by organizational sociologists, management scholars and financial economists. The interest emanates from the effect that interlocks have on wealth creation and distribution, and from the perspective that interlocks can tell us how elites in a society are networked. Although diverse theoretical perspectives have informed the research on interlocking directorates, this review shows that the Anglo‐American perspective dominates. This dominance is notable not only in the volume of Anglo‐American studies, but also in theories employed by international studies. For example, most international studies use agency theory to investigate the welfare implications of interlocks, but many countries do not use the Anglo‐American legal regime, which is the basis for agency theory. This paper expands the theoretical basis of the review to include class hegemony and resource dependence, to articulate better the causes and consequences of interlocks in the international context. The paper also extends theory by showing that institutions have an important influence on interlocks, so that the latter can be welfare‐depleting in one institutional setting, while welfare‐enhancing in another. The review concludes by discussing the implication for future research.     

Parental duties,labor market behavior,and single fatherhood in America

Longitudinal analysis using samples from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics suggests that men’s income and wages decrease after entering into single fatherhood by marital separation. This loss exceeds what can be explained by marital separation alone. Using a difference in difference approach, I estimate that single fatherhood suppresses men’s annual income by more than $8,000 per year, putting these men and their children at increased economic risk. Similar labor market changes are experienced by widower fathers, a subset of exogenous single fathers. The apparent effects show persistence after single fathers remarry, but mostly diminish after children mature and leave the household. These results stand at odds with previous research suggesting that fatherhood increases men’s wages and hours, and that male labor market outcomes are not significantly influenced by housework.     

A hierarchical point process with application to storm cell modelling

In environmetrics, interest often centres around the development of models and methods for making inference on observed point patterns assumed to be generated by latent spatial or spatio‐temporal processes, which may have a hierarchical structure. In this research, motivated by the analysis of spatio‐temporal storm cell data, we generalize the Neyman–Scott parent–child process to account for hierarchical clustering. This is accomplished by allowing the parents to follow a log‐Gaussian Cox process thereby incorporating correlation and facilitating inference at all levels of the hierarchy. This approach is applied to monthly storm cell data from the Bismarck, North Dakota radar station from April through August 2003 and we compare these results to simpler cluster processes to demonstrate the advantages of accounting for both levels of correlation present in these hierarchically clustered point patterns. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 47: 46–64; 2019 © 2019 Statistical Society of Canada     

Ethical Considerations in Adoption Research: Navigating Confidentiality and Privacy Across the Adoption Kinship Network

Abstract

Adoption research often includes multiple members of the adoption network, each of whom has distinctive perspectives. Participants may include adopted individuals and their siblings as well as adoptive parents, birth parents, and adoption professionals. Due to these multiple informants and the sensitivity of the topics explored in adoption research, researchers encounter several unique ethical concerns when working with populations impacted by adoption. The current article addresses confidentiality and privacy issues that arise when conducting adoption research. Examples from a longitudinal study on openness in adoption are provided to highlight strategies that can be used to address these issues.