Motivational and nonmotivational determinants of child-number desires

The number of children desired by individuals—often referred to as family size desires or preferences—is a central construct in much research designed to understand and predict fertility. It is often used as a proxy for the construct of childbearing motivation. This paper presents a theoretical framework that organizes and elucidates the relationship between these two constructs. That relationship is examined using a reliable, valid measure of childbearing motivation and data from 195 husbands and 196 wives with no children and 196 husbands and 196 wives with one child. The results indicate that childbearing motivation has a complex relationship with child-number desires, characterized by curvilinearity and a failure to distinguish among those desiring more than two children. We discuss the implications of this pattern.     

Migrant Remittances and Household Division: The Case of Nang Rong,Thailand

Using data from the Nang Rong Projects social survey (N = 4,989), this work examines the effect of migrant remittances on household splits in an agrarian district of Thailand, a developing country experiencing tremendous economic, demographic, and social transformations. Results show that remittances sent from migrants (especially female migrants) to their origin households affect changes in household affiliation. Findings are consistent with a household allocation model, whereby money sent by migrant siblings significantly affects the movement of the migrant’s sisters and their husbands into a new household. Results suggest that remittances are a significant determinant of household nucleation, especially in the latter stages of the Thai household life cycle. Results also suggest that rural Thais still follow traditional postnuptial residence patterns.     

The Governance of Directors' Pay: Evidence from UK Companies

We examine the determination of directors' compensation in UK quoted companies between 1985 and 1994. The primary innovation contained in the paper is the focus on the governance mechanisms that determine pay outcomes. Our results indicate that: (i) directors' compensation is positively related to pre-dated shareholder returns and company size with the quantitative effect of the latter dominating the former. (ii) We find that the pay-for-performance link has become quantitatively stronger over our sample period. (iii) There has been positive adherence to the principles of the Cadbury report, but these variables play little statistical role in shaping the direct compensation of top directors.     

A model for estimating point sources in spatial data

We introduce a point source model which may be useful for estimating point sources in spatial data. It may also be useful for modelling general spatial data, and providing a simple explanatory model for some data, whilst in other cases it may give a parsimonious representation. The model assumes that there are point sources (or sinks), usually at unknown positions, and that the mean value at a site depends on the distance from these sources. We discuss the general form of the model, and some methods for estimating the sources and the regression parameters. We demonstrate the methodology using a simulation study, and apply the model to two real data sets. Some possibilities for further research are outlined.     

Bounding Estimates for Critical Events When Directly Disposing Highly Enriched Spent Nuclear Fuel in Unsaturated Tuff

This paper examines the possibility of criticality in a nuclear waste repository. The estimated probabilities are rough bounds and do not entirely dismiss the possibility of a critical condition; however, they do point to the difficulty of creating conditions under which a critical mass could be assembled (i.e., corrosion of containers, separation of neutron absorbers from the fissile material, and collapse or precipitation of the fissile material). In addition, should a criticality occur in or near a container, the bounding consequence calculations showed that fissions from one critical event are quite small (<˜10²⁰ fissions, if similar to aqueous and metal accidents and experiments). Furthermore, a reasonable upper bound of total critical events of 10²⁸ fissions corresponds to only 0.1% of the number of fissions represented by the spent nuclear fuel inventory in a repository containing 70,000 metric tons of heavy metal (MTHM) (the expected size for the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada).     

The Historical Context of the Evolution of National Research Systems and International RTD Collaboration

A historical overview of European science and technology suggests the existence of two parallel trends: those of nationalization and de-nationalization. Since the Enlightenment, besides the modernist universalist perspective on science we find nationalist pressures pushing the idea of socially constructed technology, thus generating scientific results determined by national (cultural) factors. Nationalization and de-nationalization thrive together in certain circumstances--for instance, in disciplines such as geology, meteorology, botany or even physics and chemistry. The entry into the scene of commercial interests gives rise to national interests, in turn hampering efficiency and progress from the scientific perspective. Through national research policies these differential development patterns have tended to create an often unnecessary conflict between basic and applied research. The EU RTD framework has still to resolve these contradictions.     

Indirect estimation of (latent) linear models with ordinal regressors A Monte Carlo study and some empirical illustrations

Summary This paper investigates the effects of ordinal regressors in linear regression models and in limited dependent variable models. Each ordered categorical variable is interpreted as a rough measurement of an underlying continuous variable as it is often done in microeconometrics for the dependent variable. It is shown that using ordinal indicators only leads to correct answers in a few special cases. In most situations, the usual estimators are biased. In order to estimate the parameters of the model consistently, the indirect estimation procedure suggested by Gourieroux et al. (1993) is applied. To demonstrate this method, first a simulation study is performed and then in a second step, two real data sets are used. In the latter case, continuous regressors are transformed into categorical variables to study the behavior of the estimation procedure. The method is extended to the case of limited dependent variable models. In general, the indirect estimators lead to adequate results. Received: March 27, 2000; revised version: March 6, 2001