Model Selection and Regression t-Statistics

It is shown that dropping quantitative variables from a linear regression, based on t-statistics, is mathematically equivalent to dropping variables based on commonly used information criteria.     

Contextualizing Business Ethics: Anomie and Social Life

The objective of this paper is to explore howthe current interest in Business Ethics can be locatedwithin an analysis of contemporary society which takesinto account the prevalence of moral uncertainty along with the concomitant desire to(re)establish some form of normative order. As such,Business Ethics may be seen as a socially constructedfield of study which reflects broaderchanges and controversies within society. Yet as a body of knowledge,Business Ethics articulates epistemological doubts. Twodistinctive themes in Business Ethics discourse areconsidered — the modernist/rationalist and thepostmodernist/relativist. It is argued that in different ways, each canbe seen as both an expression of, and a reaction to, theincreasing incidence of anomie in society. Theimplications for organizational practices are thenconsidered through the example of Corporate Codes ofEthics and the problem of establishing consensus wherethe grounds for any claim to moral authority areproblematic.     

The Influence of Functional Experience on Perceptions of Strategic Priorities

This paper reviews three previous studies of functional bias (Dearborn and Simon, 1958; Walsh, 1988; Nystrom, 1991) which have produced conflicting evidence. The results of a study into functional bias in perceptions of strategic priorities are presented. These results, which provide evidence of functional bias, are discussed and some suggestions for future research are made.     

Differences in Managerial Cognitions of Competition1

It has been assumed that strategic decision making and implementation are both achieved through managers' sharing homogeneous cognitions of competition (e.g. Porac and Thomas, 1990). This paper tested the assumption of homogeneity of cognitions of competition, using a sample of 24 managers from the off-shore pumps industry. A variety of cognitive mapping techniques were used and maps were compared using a self-rating methodology. The results indicated that managers' mental models of competition are diverse, rather than homogeneous, but that this diversity increases as company boundaries are crossed and as functional boundaries are crossed. Therefore, it is concluded that future cognitive studies of competitive industry structures should assume diversity of cognitions rather than homogeneity. Specific propositions with regard to such research are drawn from the findings.     

The Science of Policy Analysis in a Political and Ethical Perspective

Public Organization Review -     

Investigating the Dynamics of Migration and Health in Australia: A Longitudinal Study

There have been few longitudinal studies investigating the immigrant health and changes in their health with longer residency in the host country. Additionally, the pathways and mechanisms by which transition of health over time occurs are poorly understood, limiting the ability to implement policies that will result in improved health for all, including immigrants. We assessed differences in health outcomes among foreign-born people from English speaking countries and non-English speaking countries relative to native-born Australians over a 10-year period using a large representative longitudinal dataset. We also explored English language proficiency, socio-economic factors and health behaviour factors as possible mechanisms through which health outcomes change over time post-migration. Conventional multilevel mixed and hybrid regression models were used to evaluate health outcomes in 9558 native-born and 3067 foreign-born people from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey. There were clear differences in physical health, mental health and self-assessed health between foreign-born subgroups in comparison with native-born Australians. Foreign-born people from English speaking countries typically had a health advantage relative to native-born people, and foreign-born people from non-English speaking countries had a health disadvantage with respect to native-born people for all health outcomes. There was no evidence that these differences changed by duration of residence except for self-assessed health amongst foreign-born people from non-English speaking countries when duration of residence exceeded 20 years. English language proficiency mediated the relationship between duration of residence and health for foreign-born people from non-English speaking countries.     

Second‐order bias‐corrected AIC in multivariate normal linear models under non‐normality

This paper deals with a bias correction of Akaike's information criterion (AIC) for selecting variables in multivariate normal linear regression models when the true distribution of observation is an unknown non‐normal distribution. It is well known that the bias of AIC is $O(1)$ , and there are a number of the first‐order bias‐corrected AICs which improve the bias to $O(n^{-1})$ , where $n$ is the sample size. A new information criterion is proposed by slightly adjusting the first‐order bias‐corrected AIC. Although the adjustment is achieved by merely using constant coefficients, the bias of the new criterion is reduced to $O(n^{-2})$ . Then, a variance of the new criterion is also improved. Through numerical experiments, we verify that our criterion is superior to others. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 39: 126–146; 2011 © 2011 Statistical Society of Canada