Business- and environment-related drivers of firms’ return on natural resources: A configurational approach

The sustainability challenges society faces call for firms to manage their use of natural resources wisely. Prior work on firm responses to sustainability challenges has largely focused on explaining and enhancing economic rather than environmental performance. We build on recent developments to extend resource dependence theory to include natural resources and seek to explain how business- and environment-related firm activities influence the use of natural resources. Using a configurational approach, we develop a conceptual model that explains the return on natural resources of firms based on four distinct sets of business- and environment-related comparative advantages. An illustrative application to the car-manufacturing sector demonstrates the practical applicability of our model and provides first insights into configurations we are likely to observe in practice. Our model and its application show that economic success is neither necessary nor sufficient to enhance a firm's return on natural resources.     

Drug prevention with high risk families and young children

The effects of a school and home-based drug prevention program on risk factors for subsequent alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use among children were studied. Data on parent and child risk factors for ATOD use were collected from fifty-six low-income parents and their children, ages four to six years, using a pretest-posttest design. The parent-child intervention was conducted over a two-month period. The intervention had no effect on parent or child risk factors. However, the program was favorably received by parents and children. Almost two-thirds of the parents at the experimental school were involved in the program. Almost half of the parents had high depressive symptoms. The high rates of ATOD use and depressive symptoms among these parents are cause for concern.     

Stabilities of infant behaviors and maternal responses to them

Consistency in the order of individuals in a group across substantial lengths of time—stability—is a central concept in developmental science for several reasons. Stability underscores the meaningfulness of individual differences in psychological phenomena; stability informs about the origins, nature, and overall developmental course of psychological phenomena; stability signals individual status and so affects the environment, experience, and development; stability has both theoretical and clinical implications for individual functioning; and stability helps to establish that a measure constitutes a consequential individual‐differences metric. In this three‐wave prospective longitudinal study (Ns = 40 infants and mothers), we examined stabilities of individual variation in multiple infant behaviors and maternal responses to them across infant ages 10, 14, and 21 months. Medium to large effect size stabilities in infant behaviors and maternal responses emerged, but both betray substantial amounts of unshared variance. Documenting the ontogenetic trajectories of infant behaviors and maternal responses helps to elucidate the nature and structure of early human development.     

Measuring Social Well-Being in People with Chronic Illness

Although social well-being (SWB) is recognized as an integral component of health, it is rarely included in health-related quality of life (HRQL) instruments. Two SWB dimensions were identified by literature review: social support (SWB-SS) and social function (SWB-SF). As part of a larger project to develop item response theory-derived item banks and computerized adaptive testing, we developed and tested items for the SWB banks. Item ratings of three large (n > 600) datasets were conducted by 15 reviewers. Rasch measurement analyses were conducted to initially define item hierarchies. Out of 83 total items, 8 were removed due to model misfit and 8 were removed because of overlapping item content. We then wrote 11 new SWB-SS and 16 new SWB-SF items to fill content gaps, and edited items to improve comprehension and consistency. A total of 94 items (65 SWB-SS, 29 SWB-SF) was administered by computer to 202 cancer patients. Confirmatory factor analyses, Rasch analyses, and evaluations of construct validity were performed. Patients commented favorably on the content of the items and expressed appreciation for attention to this aspect of their HRQL. Using current psychometric standards for unidimensionality, reliability, and content and construct validity, we derived six preliminary item banks for social support (instrumental support, informational support, positive and negative emotional support, positive and negative social companionship) and two for social function (limitations and satisfaction). The empirical construct hierarchy was consistent with clinical observations; e.g., hobbies and leisure activities tended to reflect more limitations, while meeting the needs of family and friends tended to reflect fewer limitations. Optimal care for patients with cancer or other chronic illnesses includes obtaining a complete picture of patients’ physical and psychosocial health status. SWB measures are important since diseases like cancer and their treatment can affect quality of relationships, parental responsibilities, work abilities and social activities. With properly calibrated item banks, it will be possible to precisely and efficiently measure and monitor multiple HRQL dimensions in individual patients, and use their responses to inform care. Qualitative patient feedback and quantitative analyses suggest that it is possible and desirable to include SWB measures in HRQL assessment.     

A New Specification Test for the Validity of Instrumental Variables

We develop a new specification test for IV estimators adopting a particular second order approximation of Bekker. The new specification test compares the difference of the forward (conventional) 2SLS estimator of the coefficient of the right‐hand side endogenous variable with the reverse 2SLS estimator of the same unknown parameter when the normalization is changed. Under the null hypothesis that conventional first order asymptotics provide a reliable guide to inference, the two estimates should be very similar. Our test sees whether the resulting difference in the two estimates satisfies the results of second order asymptotic theory. Essentially the same idea is applied to develop another new specification test using second‐order unbiased estimators of the type first proposed by Nagar. If the forward and reverse Nagar‐type estimators are not significantly different we recommend estimation by LIML, which we demonstrate is the optimal linear combination of the Nagar‐type estimators (to second order). We also demonstrate the high degree of similarity for k‐class estimators between the approach of Bekker and the Edgeworth expansion approach of Rothenberg. An empirical example and Monte Carlo evidence demonstrate the operation of the new specification test.     

The effect of female education on marital matches and child health in Bangladesh

This paper examines the effects of female education on marriage outcomes by exploiting the exogenous variation generated by the Female Secondary School Stipend Program in Bangladesh, which made secondary education free for rural girls. Our findings show that an additional year of female education leads to an increase in 0.72 years of husband’s education and that better educated women pair with spouses who have better occupations and are closer in age to their own, suggesting assortative mating. Those educated women appear to experience greater autonomy in making decisions on receiving their own health care and visiting their family. Furthermore, educated women have lower fertility and use more maternal health care, and their children have better health outcomes than those of less-educated women. Overall, our results suggest that the marriage market is one of the channels through which women’s education affects their life outcomes.     

Perceived personal immunity: Beliefs about susceptibility to AIDS

Subjects aged 18–25 were surveyed regarding their beliefs about susceptibility to getting AIDS. Males generally viewed their probability of contracting AIDS under conditions of risky sexual behavior to be significantly lower than did females. Subjects’ risk status was classified based on their recent self‐reported condom use and the number of different partners with whom they had sexual intercourse during the past year. High‐risk males perceived themselves to be at significantly lower risk than others who engaged in the same practices. High‐risk females perceived themselves to be at equal risk to others who engaged in unprotected sex with numerous partners. Condom use was significantly related to subjects’ socioeconomic status. These findings indicate that information about factors that augment risk for contracting HIV may, in and of itself, be insufficient to foster adequate preventive behaviors among many sexually active individuals.     

Hidden Second‐order Stationary Spatial Point Processes

In the existing statistical literature, the almost default choice for inference on inhomogeneous point processes is the most well‐known model class for inhomogeneous point processes: reweighted second‐order stationary processes. In particular, the K‐function related to this type of inhomogeneity is presented as the inhomogeneous K‐function. In the present paper, we put a number of inhomogeneous model classes (including the class of reweighted second‐order stationary processes) into the common general framework of hidden second‐order stationary processes, allowing for a transfer of statistical inference procedures for second‐order stationary processes based on summary statistics to each of these model classes for inhomogeneous point processes. In particular, a general method to test the hypothesis that a given point pattern can be ascribed to a specific inhomogeneous model class is developed. Using the new theoretical framework, we reanalyse three inhomogeneous point patterns that have earlier been analysed in the statistical literature and show that the conclusions concerning an appropriate model class must be revised for some of the point patterns.     

Optimal PPS Sampling with Vanishing Auxiliary Variables – with Applications in Microscopy

Recently, non‐uniform sampling has been suggested in microscopy to increase efficiency. More precisely, proportional to size (PPS) sampling has been introduced, where the probability of sampling a unit in the population is proportional to the value of an auxiliary variable. In the microscopy application, the sampling units are fields of view, and the auxiliary variables are easily observed approximations to the variables of interest. Unfortunately, often some auxiliary variables vanish, that is, are zero‐valued. Consequently, part of the population is inaccessible in PPS sampling. We propose a modification of the design based on a stratification idea, for which an optimal solution can be found, using a model‐assisted approach. The new optimal design also applies to the case where ‘vanish’ refers to missing auxiliary variables and has independent interest in sampling theory. We verify robustness of the new approach by numerical results, and we use real data to illustrate the applicability.     

Nailing One’s Colours: Tate Britain’s Artist and Empire

Taking the view that national art museums should represent the multifarious populations they serve, this article explores racial material in Tate Britain’s high-profile exhibition Artist and Empire: Facing Britain’s Imperial Past (2015). The exhibition gave extensive coverage to two aspects of empire: hybrid fusions and the myth of white heroism, but gave limited attention to colonization as a maximally coercive system built on racist imaginings and abuse. Through cross-examination of the exhibition’s content and absences, I explore whether Tate Britain is setting out the ‘building blocks’ for more diverse practice.