Statistical Inference Based on Pooled Data: A Moment-Based Estimating Equation Approach

We consider statistical inference on parameters of a distribution when only pooled data are observed. A moment-based estimating equation approach is proposed to deal with situations where likelihood functions based on pooled data are difficult to work with. We outline the method to obtain estimates and test statistics of the parameters of interest in the general setting. We demonstrate the approach on the family of distributions generated by the Box-Cox transformation model, and, in the process, construct tests for goodness of fit based on the pooled data.     

NEGOTIATING CONTINUITY: Family and Religious Socialization for Second-Generation Asian Americans

This article examines second-generation Asian Americans' explanations of the significant influences on their own religious identities. Data include interviews (N = 73) with college-aged Asian Americans from different religious traditions and ethnic backgrounds. Respondents viewed families as the most significant influence on current religiosity. Mothers and fathers were mentioned most often, followed by extended kin, siblings, and relatives, who acted as what we call "reinforcers,""substitutes," or "contrasts" to the roles that parents played in religious socialization. These roles occurred along two religious configurations within families: heterogeneous or homogeneous degrees of religious commitment and religious affiliation. Directions for future research and contributions to the religious transmission literature follow.     

基于小样本的安全第一投资组合优化模型

为了解决小样本情况下安全第一投资组合选择问题,将结构风险最小化原则引入投资组合选择过程中。根据结构风险最小化原则的直接实现,构建了含有范数约束的安全第一投资组合优化模型,并研究了模型参数的选取方法。实验结果验证了本模型的有效性。     

‘I’m not really sure but I hope it’s better’: early thoughts of parents and carers in a regional trial site for the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is one of the most significant initiatives in Australian social policy history. Its complexity has been compounded by a fast-paced introduction and ongoing refinement throughout the initial trial phase. Parents and carers of very young disabled children face particular challenges accessing and navigating NDIS systems. This article presents findings from a mixed-method pilot study examining the perspectives of parents and carers of disabled children in one NDIS trial site – the Hunter Region of New South Wales. The research highlights a number of policy assumptions potentially impacting on NDIS take up for young disabled children and their families in regional contexts. Based on research findings a number of policy suggestions and improvements for disabled children and their families entering the NDIS and other individualised funding schemes are outlined.     

俄罗斯行政诉讼制度的历时性审视

俄罗斯的行政诉讼不是其本土化法制。它经历了从“权力本位”向“权利本位”的历时性转变,通过对传统与西方现代法制思想的反思,以宪政基础为基石,强化了整个制度体系设计的逻辑性,从对诉讼价值的准确定位、适当扩大适用范围、明确举证责任和检察官的参诉制度,全新地设计了行政诉讼制度。关注俄罗斯行政诉讼制度是如何从传统走到现代,反思其面临的困境,对于构建我国的行政诉讼制度将是有益的借鉴。     

Insurer ambiguity and market failure

A series of studies investigate the decision processes of actuaries, underwriters, and reinsurers in setting premiums for ambiguous and uncertain risks. Survey data on prices reveal that all three types of these insurance decision makers are risk averse and ambiguity averse. In addition, groups appear to be influenced in their premium-setting decisions by specific reference points such as expected loss and the concern with insolvency. This behavior is consistent with a growing analytical and empirical literature in economics and decision processes that investigates the role that uncertainty plays on managerial choices. Improved risk-assessment procedures and government involvement in providing protection against catastrophic losses may induce insurers to reduce premiums and broaden available coverage.This article is part of a larger effort supported by the National Science Foundation on The Role of Insurance, Compensation, Regulation, and Protective Behavior in Decision Making about Risk and Misfortune. We greatly appreciate the many helpful comments and suggestions by our colleagues on the project: Jon Baron, Colin Camerer, Neil Doherty, Jack Hershey, Eric Johnson, and Paul Kleindorfer. Support from NSF Grant #SES8809299 is gratefully acknowledged.     

Two-person sequential bargaining behavior with exogenous breakdown

We examine bargaining behavior in a noncooperative game in which players alternate in making and responding to proposals over the division of a given surplus. Although the number of bargaining periods is unlimited and time is not discounted, the bargaining is subject to exogenous breakdown at each period with a fixed probability which is common knowledge. We manipulate three probabilities of break-down in a between-subjects design that allows comparison with previous studies of two-person bargaining with time discounting. Assuming that subjects maximize expected utility, and this utility is measured by monetary payoffs, our results reject both the subgame perfect equilibrium and equal split solutions. Data analyses reveal that a substantial percentage of subjects behave adaptively in that they systematically search for the highest acceptable demands.     

Teaching social research methods after the critical turn: challenges and benefits of a constructivist pedagogy

An increasing challenge for teaching methods courses in the social sciences is the ‘critical turn’, which has encouraged some students to adopt an anti-empirical orientation. We present a case study of a compulsory undergraduate methods course in a political science department strongly influenced by post-structuralist philosophies. The first author redesigned the course to implement four constructivist pedagogical principles: (1) develop a full understanding of students’ pre-existing perceptions of political science research methods; (2) encourage students to see methodology as an inevitably contested field; (3) provide space for students to choose a methodological approach that best aligns with their personal stance on knowledge; and (4) encourage students to view research as an ongoing ‘conversation’. We critically reflect on the implementation of these constructivist pedagogical strategies and argue they improve students’ critical engagement with course material, increase linkages between methods teaching and other disciplinary subject matter, and accommodate diverse student perspectives and needs.     

What circles look like

Over the past decade, under the influence of the Catholic charismatic movement, the Ambonwari people of East Sepik Province in Papua New Guinea have radically altered their relationships with bush spirits and, simultaneously, their attitudes towards their landscape. During the current process of abolishing prohibitions pertaining to taboo places, the Ambonwari have also abolished a set of cultural activities that were characteristic of ancestral placemaking and have weakened the effect these places and their spirits have on the Ambonwari's contemporary life world. By abandoning their relationships with bush spirits and embracing God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit and by moving their eyes, thoughts and feelings from earth to heaven, the Ambonwari want to transcend their familiar landscape and the life world that it sustains.