A Construction of Lancaster Probabilities with Margins in the Multidimensional Meixner Class

The well-known Meixner class (Meixner, 1934) of probabilities on R has been extended recently to R ^d (Pommeret, 1996). This generalized Meixner class corresponds to the simple quadratic natural exponential families characterized by Casalis (1996). Following Lancaster (1975), the present paper offers a characterization of the joint probability of a randomvector ( X, Y ) such that the two variables X and Y on R ^d belong to the multidimensional Meixner class and fulfil a bi-orthogonality condition involving orthogonal polynomials. The joint probabilities, called Lancaster probabilities, are characterized by two sequences of orthogonal polynomials with respect to the margins and a sequence of expectations of products. Some multivariate probabilities are studied, namely the Poisson-Gaussian and the gamma-Gaussian.     

Female crime in the United States, 1963–1998: An update

This article is an update of the data compiled by Simon and Landis (1991) in The Crimes Women Commit: The Punishments They Receive. I examine current data on female labor, education, arrest and prison statistics to further evaluate the arguments expressed by Simon and Landis in 1991. Based on the demographic data, women have increased their opportunity to commit crimes, and their taking advantage of these opportunities is reflected in the increased female crime rate. Overall, these data show that women are committing crime at a steady rate. When compared to men, women seem to be committing the crimes of embezzlement, fraud, forgery, and larceny at a rate comparable to men. Thus, the arguments expressed by Simon and Landis in 1991 are further supported.     

早期酋长制群体的聚落形态比较研究——以内蒙古东部、安第斯山北部和美洲中部三个地区为例

对内蒙古东部、安第斯山北部和美洲中部三个地区的早期酋长制群体的聚落形态进 行的比较研究表明,尽管这三个地区的发展过程大致相当,但在这三个地区中,大体类似的转变 却以不同的方式发生,从而导致了三个各具特色的等级社会的出现。最初的、大规模的、以等级 制度原则组织起来的酋长制群体出现后,其发展轨道的早期阶段明显地为后来的、较大的、更复 杂的政治实体即国家的出现创造了条件。通过地域性聚落分析,可以发现这三个地区在不同规模 层次上的人口和社会组织的异同,其中在赤峰和奥哈卡(Oaxaca)地区都存在的小型群体却不见 于马格达雷那高地(AltoMagdalena)的现象,需要进行更深入的研究,才能进一步揭示出在马 格达雷那高地是什么样的社会交流把这些家庭联合成更大的社会团体。     

风险社会背景下大学生的信仰危机

当今,世界正由工业社会向风险社会过渡,信仰危机是当代人类面临的全球性问题,信仰危机的出现要求我们关注信仰教育。受全球化的影响,中国也处于风险社会之中。大学生作为我国社会主义事业的接班人,其信仰状况直接关系到国家的前途和命运。本文首先阐述了信仰以及信仰危机的含义,然后分析了我国大学生当前存在的信仰危机及其产生的原因,最后对于解决我国大学生的信仰危机提出了几点建议。     

Labor Market and Socioeconomic Effects on Marital Stability

This paper reports an investigation of the effects of socioeconomic and labor market factors on the dissolution of marriages since the mid 1960s. We examine the effects of possible sources of marital disruption, including poor labor market opportunities for young adults; the economic independence and improved labor market opportunities of women; and changes in the labor market roles and expectations of women within marriage. Using the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Men, Young Women, and Youth, we estimate the effects on marital stability of husbands′ and wives′ levels, differences and changes in educational attainment, income, and annual weeks worked. Our results suggest that average levels of couples′ educational attainment and recent work experiences positively affect marital stability. The degree to which husbands and wives differ on educational attainment and income does not affect marital stability, but the more that wives work relative to their husbands, the greater the chances of disruption. Positive changes in wives′ socioeconomic and labor force characteristics over the course of their marriages increase the odds of marital disruption.     

创业投资:德国和美国的比较研究

在对美国和德国的创业投资的调查研究中,对照美国的研究结果,向德国的创业投资家调查了以下两个问题:1)在评估一项投资的时候创业投资家更看重创业者什么?2)根据一项创业投资计划,他们怎样与创业企业合作。调查结果显示,在创业的早期阶段和扩张阶段,德国创业投资家评估一项商业计划时,比较关注创业企业的发展潜力。他们强调,创业者所表现出的领导才能和对市场的熟悉程度是决定创业投资的必要条件。晚期阶段的创业投资家与早期阶段的创业投资家相比,不太容易和创业者成为亲密伙伴;他们对创业企业所提供的管理帮助也比较少。创业投资公司的规模在很大程度上影响创业投资的某些投资特征。与美国的研究结果相似,大规模的创业投资公司和小规模的创业投资公司运作的差异主要在于平均投资规模。在德国,随着创业投资公司规模的扩大,其投资的地域范围也在扩大。至于投资过程,当创业投资公司是主要投资者时,投资公司的规模与其所花费的评估和沟通时间(从开始与创业者接洽到进行融资之间)负相关。融资的准备时间与创业投资公司的员工数之间的关系,小规模的创业投资公司更有效率。     

Analytical approach for determining the cost optimum raw material quality level

In this paper, the expected cost of a raw

material quality characteristic is determined and

the cost optimum quality level is found. A series

of piecewise linear functions is used torepresent a general cost function. Examples are given in

which the distributions of quality characteristics are treated as being either

uniform or normal. The relationship between a raw

material characteristic and manufacturing cost is

assumed to be known

Determining cost optimum quality level Manitoba     

Racial Disparities in Early Criminal Justice Involvement

Criminologists have long reported the existence of racial disparity in the criminal justice system, but the important question is why. While some argue that observed differences are a consequence of more criminal behavior among minorities, the weight of the evidence indicates that this is but a partial explanation. In this paper, we study data from a sample of juveniles to examine how racial differences in early police contact, and important social environments—family, school, and neighborhoods—affect later contact and arrests, controlling for self-reported delinquency. We find that early (in middle school) contact with police is an important predictor of later (high school) arrests. Also we found that, in addition to being male and living in a low-income family, children who have parents who have a history of arrest, who have experienced school disciplinary actions, who have delinquent peers, and who are in networks with deviant adults are more likely to have problems with law enforcement. These factors help to explain racial differences in police contacts and arrests.