Effects of omitting a covariate in poisson models when the data are balanced

The authors show that for balanced data, the estimates of effects of interest and of their standard errors are unaffected when a covariate is removed from a multiplicative Poisson model. As they point out, this is not verified in the analogous linear model, nor in the logistic model. In the first case, only the estimated coefficients remain the same, while in the second case, both the estimated effects and their standard errors can change.     

An Evaluation of Routing and Volume-based Storage Policies in an Order Picking Operation

Order picking, the assembly of a customer's order from items in storage, is an essential link in the supply chain and is the major cost component of warehousing. The critical issue is to simultaneously reduce the cost and increase the speed of the order picking activity. This study departs from the limited prior research that focused on either routing of workers or storage of warehoused items. The main objectives are to (1) evaluate various routing heuristics versus an optimal routine in a volume-based storage environment, (2) propose several methods of implementing volume-based storage, and (3) examine the interaction of the routing and storage policies under different operating conditions of pick list size and demand skewness. The experimental results show statistically significant differences in the mean route distance for the routing policies, storage policies, and their interactions. Further testing indicates that the choice of certain routing and storage policies in combination can result in increased picking efficiency.     

The relationship of assumption and knowledge of the homosexual orientation to the abridgment of civil liberties

This article is concerned with the relationship of assumption or knowledge of departure from the heterosexual orientation to the abridgment of civil liberties. The methodology for obtaining data on sexual orientation is described. The definitions for assumption and knowledge of sexual orientation is described. The definitions for assumption and knowledge of sexual orientation are provided. The results indicated that: (a) the most frequently violated civil liberties were equality and procedural due process; (b) there was more assumption than knowledge of sexual orientation; (c) patterns of violations of civil liberties were similar whether sexual orientation was known or assumed; and (d) there was much more use of avoidance than any other mode of resolution, both when the sexual orientation was known and when it was assumed.     

Does Relationship Lending Still Matter in the Consumer Banking Sector? Evidence from the Automobile Loan Market*

Objective. This article examines the role of relationship lending in the automobile loan market at a community development credit union (CDCU) and at a traditional community bank. Method. Data collected from actual car loan applications are used in a probit analysis to estimate the importance of selected demographic, financial, and loan‐specific variables on the probability of loan approval at the two types of financial institutions. Results. We first show that the community bank relies on credit scoring, not relationship lending. Relationship lending is, however, a critical factor in the loan decision at the CDCU. Low‐income households with strong ties to the CDCU are likely to receive loans, despite poor credit histories. Conclusions. If consolidation, deregulation, and technology move mainstream financial institutions away from relationship lending and toward credit scoring, CDCUs will occupy an increasingly critical niche for low‐income households.     

Adolescent Health and Well‐Being in the Twenty‐First Century: A Global Perspective

Adolescence is a critical developmental period with long‐term implications for the health and well‐being of the individual and for society as a whole. The most significant factors to adolescents' health are found in their environments, and in the choices and opportunities for health‐enhancing or health‐compromising behaviors that these contexts present (e.g., exposure to violence, supportive families). Inadequate contexts represent a failure to invest in and protect adolescents, a choice to alienate rather than integrate them into society. This article describes a number of societal trends, including growing poverty and income disparities, government instability, the changing health‐care system, the spread of HIV/AIDS, increased migration and urbanization, changing family and cultural contexts, and new information technology. The health implications of these trends for the well‐being of adolescents in the 21st century are contemplated.     

Spiritual development in adolescence: toward enriching theories, research, and professional practice

The author notes that she finds the case for making spiritual development a priority surprisingly compelling-"surprisingly" because although she is an expert on adolescent development, she has not done research or previously written about spiritual development. She suggests that a systems analysis occur first, before engaging frontline youth workers in this realm, to identify the interests of key stakeholder groups and ways to unleash creativity and engagement in each of them. The key will be framing engagement of spiritual development in ways that include rather than divide sectors and groups.     

Alcohol and Road Safety: Some Criticisms of Research and Policy

This paper exposes and criticises some basic assumptions that inform research and policy on alcohol and road safety. Numerous official enquiries on road safety have identified alcohol as the greatest single contributing factor to accidents involving death and injury. Policy-makers have, furthermore, given priority to removing the drink-driver from the road through a combination of enhanced detection and law enforcement procedures. Few researchers or policy-makers, however, have questioned the effectiveness of focussing on the individual driver while the structure of the transport system remains essentially unchanged. They have, in the main, adopted a managerial approach to the problem of road death and injury, and failed to examine the theories on accident causation that underpin current road safety strategy. The paper outlines a road safety strategy which aims to reduce the probability of collisions by redressing the chronic imbalance in the uses of the motor car and other (particularly public) means of transport.