Conspicuous conservatism in risk choice

We analyze the risk levels chosen by agents who have private information regarding their quality, and whose performance will be judged and rewarded by outsiders. Assume that risk choice is observable. Agents will choose risk strategically to enhance their expected reputations. We show that conspicuous conservatism results: agents of different qualities choose levels below those that would be chosen if quality were observable. This happens because bad agents must cloak their identity by choosing the same risk level as good agents, and good agents are more likely to distinguish themselves if they reduce the risk level. Our results contrast starkly with those for the case when risk choice cannot be observed.

Variance estimation when donor imputation is used to fill in missing values

Donor imputation is frequently used in surveys. However, very few variance estimation methods that take into account donor imputation have been developed in the literature. This is particularly true for surveys with high sampling fractions using nearest donor imputation, often called nearest‐neighbour imputation. In this paper, the authors develop a variance estimator for donor imputation based on the assumption that the imputed estimator of a domain total is approximately unbiased under an imputation model; that is, a model for the variable requiring imputation. Their variance estimator is valid, irrespective of the magnitude of the sampling fractions and the complexity of the donor imputation method, provided that the imputation model mean and variance are accurately estimated. They evaluate its performance in a simulation study and show that nonparametric estimation of the model mean and variance via smoothing splines brings robustness with respect to imputation model misspecifications. They also apply their variance estimator to real survey data when nearest‐neighbour imputation has been used to fill in the missing values. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 37: 400–416; 2009 © 2009 Statistical Society of Canada     

Methodology for the Calculation of Annualized Incremental Risks in Systems of Dams

In the past few years, the field of dam safety has approached risk informed methodologies throughout the world and several methodologies and programs are appearing to aid in the systematization of the calculations. The most common way of implementing these calculations is through the use of event trees, computing event probabilities, and incremental consequences. This methodology is flexible enough for several situations, but its generalization to the case of systems of several dams is complex and its implementation in a completely general calculation methodology presents some problems. Retaining the event tree framework, a new methodology is proposed to calculate incremental risks. The main advantage of this proposed methodology is the ease with which it can be applied to systems of several dams: with a single risk model that describes the complete system and with a single calculation the incremental risks of the system can be obtained, being able to allocate the risk of each dam and of each failure mode. The article shows how both methodologies are equivalent and also applies them to a case study.     

农村村级组织财务管理存在的问题与对策——对贵州省农村的实地调研分析

村级组织财务管理是社会主义新农村建设的重要内容,是完善农村公共产品融资机制的制度基础。对贵州省7个地州市9个县31个行政村的实地调研结果显示,贵州农村村级组织财务管理存在的主要问题是:会计基础工作薄弱,财务管理制度不规范;会计人员选聘机制不合理,人员素质亟待提高;民主监督职能弱化,审计监督乏力;村级债务较为严重等。为了切实提高农村村级组织财务管理水平,必须扎实推进"村财乡代管"制度,改革村级财务人员选任模式,健全民主理财监督制度,加强村级财务审计监督,并努力化解村级债务问题。     

Influence analysis in multivariate linear general models

In this paper we obtain several influence measures for the multivariate linear general model through the approach proposed by Muñoz-Pichardo et al. (1995), which is based on the concept of conditional bias. An interesting charasteristic of this approach is that it does not require any distributional hypothesis. Appling the obtained results to the multivariate regression model, we obtain some measures proposed by other authors. Nevertheless, on the results obtained in this paper, we emphasize two aspects. First, they provide a theoretical foundation for measures proposed by other authors for the mul¬tivariate regression model. Second, they can be applied to any linear model that can be formulated as a particular case of the multivariate linear general model. In particular, we carry out an application to the multivariate analysis of covariance.     

On the almost unbiased generalized liu estimator and unbiased estimation of the bias and mse

In this paper, we derive the almost unbiased generalized Liu estimator and examine an exact unbiased estimator of the bias and mean squared error of the feasible generalized Liu estimator . We compare the almost unbiased generalized Liu estimator (AUGLE) with the generalized Liu estimator (GLE) and with the ordinary least squares estimator (OLSE).     

盐岩在库车拗陷中的作用

库车拗陷的勘探实践表明，盐层与油气密切相关。通过对2条地震测线的分析发现，盐层、盐上地层、盐下地层变形看似孤立，实际相互影响。盐层构造变形一般发育在古隆起上部，盐上构造变形主要发生在盐枕构造的翼部，无盐地区主要发育基底卷入式构造。膏盐层可以延缓盐下地层烃源岩的热演化程度，可以改善盐下储层的储集性能；膏盐层本身也有可能成为油气储集层；膏盐层具有形成超压封闭和物性封闭的双重封闭机制，对盐下油气藏的保存极为有利；膏盐层的塑性流动特性，使得盐下构造圈闭在强烈的构造挤压中得以保存。     

Child custody issues and co‐occurrence of intimate partner violence and child maltreatment: controversies and points of agreement amongst practitioners

The situation of families undergoing separation in a context of co‐occurrence of intimate partner violence (IPV) and child maltreatment raises certain issues related to child custody. The results presented in this paper were collected and analysed within the framework of a qualitative study aiming to identify the principal points of agreement and the main controversies amongst practitioners in several different types of organizations. Focus groups were held with a total of 43 practitioners from six different settings concerned with child custody in cases of co‐occurrence of IPV and child maltreatment. Although they agreed on the importance of ensuring the safety of victims of violence, their views diverged on three points: (1) the importance of preserving the father–child relationship; (2) collaboration between voluntary organizations and semi‐voluntary or legal agencies; and (3) consideration of cultural differences.