Inference for a Class of Stochastic Volatility Models Using Option and Spot Prices: Application of a Bivariate Kalman Filter

In this paper Bayesian methods are applied to a stochastic volatility model using both the prices of the asset and the prices of options written on the asset. Posterior densities for all model parameters, latent volatilities and the market price of volatility risk are produced via a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling algorithm. Candidate draws for the unobserved volatilities are obtained in blocks by applying the Kalman filter and simulation smoother to a linearization of a nonlinear state space representation of the model. Crucially, information from both the spot and option prices affects the draws via the specification of a bivariate measurement equation, with implied Black-Scholes volatilities used to proxy observed option prices in the candidate model. Alternative models nested within the Heston (1993) framework are ranked via posterior odds ratios, as well as via fit, predictive and hedging performance. The method is illustrated using Australian News Corporation spot and option price data.     

Slipping Into and Out of Underemployment: Another Disadvantage for Nonmetropolitan Workers?1

Abstract Underemployment, which goes beyond unemployment to include the working poor, discouraged workers, and involuntary part-time workers, is a useful measure of employment hardship. We argue that underemployment should be included with other conventional indicators of the disadvantaged circumstances of nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) labor, in terms not only of prevalence, but also of the likelihood of transitions into and out of underemployment. We take advantage of the quasi-longitudinal nature of the U.S. Current Population Surveys to estimate models of year-to-year employment transitions for the quarter century 1968 to 1993. We find that (1) adequately employed nonmetro workers are more likely than their more urban counterparts to become underemployed; (2) the nonmetro underemployed are less likely to become adequately employed; (3) statistical controls only strengthen these nonmetro disadvantages; (4) the employment transitions of nonmetro workers are less affected by shifts in the direction of the national economy than are those of metro workers; and (5) nonmetro women are more disadvantaged than women residing elsewhere.     

Women's sexual desire: a feminist critique

This paper offers a critical feminist analysis of the biomedical conceptualization of women's sexual desire. The five major features of the biomedical model of female sexual desire examined and critiqued are: 1) use of the male model as the standard, 2) use of a linear model of sexual response, 3) biological reductionism, 4) depoliticalization, and 5) medicalization of variation. A "New View", an alternative to the biomedical model, is offered for reconceptualizing women's sexual problems. This analysis concludes with recommendations for feminist-based biopsychosocial research.     

Research perspectives on culturally sensitive science education

Issues of culture and world view, and their impact on students' learning of science, have become increasingly important to science teachers. This paper provides a review of the development of science education research perspectives on culture and multiculturalism within the science classroom. The review draws on cross-disciplinary sources for its understanding and examines the work of Western and non-Western science education researchers. Reflections on the literature provide an insight into the Australian cross-cultural situation as the author considers the effect of culture on her own practices as a science educator and in a multicultural classroom.     

Prosecuting Pay Equity: Evolving Strategies in Britain and Australia

Some thirty years after the introduction of pay equity provisions in Australia and Britain, continued encroachments on the gender pay gap seem inordinately difficult to deliver. This article provides some reflection on the prosecution of pay equity cases in the two countries over this period, and seeks to identify lessons that can be drawn by contrasting the different approaches that have evolved. We are concerned in particular with the impact of decentralizing trends, and the potential to develop strategies that can operate effectively in these circumstances. We show that while Britain began with relatively narrow provisions, these have gradually been extended through case law. However, job evaluation processes have proved tortuous and time‐consuming, and the main successes have been in the more regulated sectors of the economy, particularly the public sector. In contrast, while Australia has enjoyed significant advantages associated with its more centralized industrial relations framework, this has not been without costs, and Australia has little of the case experience acquired in Britain to rely on as the benefits of centralization are eroded.     

Time for justice: safeguarding the rights of disabled children

This article reviews two core strategies for safeguarding the rights of disabled children and examines the extent to which these processes advance justice for children in accessing an inclusive and equitable education. The article evaluates the adequacy of the legal system in the face of increased evidence of exclusionary practices of schools, and the low uptake of the disability tribunal as a vehicle for redressing discriminatory practices. It reviews the work undertaken with schools to develop procedures and processes to support them in identifying disabled pupils in order to monitor the impact of their policies and practices. Although there were some limitations, this work provided a platform from which to ensure that schools engaged with their responsibilities and understood more about the ways in which a child’s impairment impacted on their participation in school life. Instead we are dependent on the work of voluntary associations to safeguard children’s rights.     

“That's so gay”: Language Use and Antigay Bias Among Heterosexual College Students

Using the word “gay” to refer to something that is “boring” is part of American slang, and heterosexual males commonly call one another a “fag.” The responses of 767 college students were analyzed to explore how this language relates to antigay bias. Results of multiple regression explained 14.8% of the variance for believing that “it's no big deal” to call someone a fag, and age, sex, major, and attitudes toward gay men were significant predictors. For the frequency of saying “that's so gay,” 17.5% of the variance was explained by age, sex, major, and friends’ attitudes toward sexual minorities. Implications for social work education and future research are discussed.     

Self–organization and trade union democracy

This article is an offshoot of a three year study into the self–organized groups for women, black members, disabled members and lesbians and gay men which have been enshrined in the constitution of the UK’s public sector union UNISON. The argument is that self–organization has become a significant axis around which trade union democracy is being reconstituted in the late twentieth century. However, our understanding of this phenomenon has been obscured by the ascendancy of mainstream union perspectives over self–organized perspectives, which has unfortunately been compounded by academic researchers. A re–conceptualization of self–organization proceeds in three stages. First, it is contextualized politically and theoretically in terms of trade union histories, new social movements and models of a diversified democratic polity. Second, it is re–signified by attending to its actual unfolding over the past two decades and the self–understandings of its activists. Third, is problematized with reference to exogenous pressures towards bureaucracy and oligarchy, and endogenous pressures towards essentialisms and exclusions.     

Women's sexual desire: A feminist critique

This article offers a critical feminist analysis of the biomédical conceptualization of women's sexual desire. The five major features of the biomedical model of female sexual desire examined and critiqued are (a) use of the male model as the standard, (b) use of a linear model of sexual response, (c) biological reductionism, (d) depoliticalization, and (e) medicalization of variation. A “New View,” an alternative to the biomédical model, is offered for reconceptualizing women's sexual problems. This analysis concludes with recommendations for feminist‐based biopsychosocial research.