Non‐Take Up of Social Benefits in Greece and Spain

Even though interest in non‐take up of social benefits is considerable in many European countries, the topic is under‐researched in southern Europe. This article provides preliminary estimates of the extent of non‐take up of two pairs of means‐tested retirement benefits in Greece and Spain. The benefits examined are: (1) the minimum pension supplements pensioner social solidarity benefit EKAΣ and complementos por mínimos; and (2) the social pensions pension to uninsured elderly and pensión de jubilación no contributiva. The article finds that non‐take up of social benefits in the two countries is rather extensive, examines the methodological difficulties inherent in the analysis of non‐take up, and concludes with a discussion of the results and their implications.     

A maximum likelihood prediction function for the linear model with consistency results

An alternative technique to current methods for constructing a prediction function for the normal linear regression model is proposed based on the concept of maximum likelihood. The form of this prediction function is evaluated and normalized to produce a multivariate Student's t-density. Consistency properties are established under regularity conditions, and an empirical comparison, based on the Kullback-Leibler information divergence, is made with some other prediction functions.     

A Note on Nonunique MLE's and Sufficient Statistics

A simple classroom example is presented that illustrates nonunique maximum likelihood estimates and the fact that such estimates need not be functions of sufficient statistics.     

Order restricted inference for multivariate binary data with application to toxicology

In many applications researchers collect multivariate binary response data under two or more, naturally ordered, experimental conditions. In such situations one is often interested in using all binary outcomes simultaneously to detect an ordering among the experimental conditions. To make such comparisons we develop a general methodology for testing for the multivariate stochastic order between K ≥ 2 multivariate binary distributions. The proposed test uses order restricted estimators which, according to our simulation study, are more efficient than the unrestricted estimators in terms of mean squared error. The power of the proposed test was compared with several alternative tests. These included procedures which combine individual univariate tests for order, such as union intersection tests and a Bonferroni based test. We also compared the proposed test with unrestricted Hotelling's T(2) type test. Our simulations suggest that the proposed method competes well with these alternatives. The gain in power is often substantial. The proposed methodology is illustrated by applying it to a two-year rodent cancer bioassay data obtained from the US National Toxicology Program (NTP). Supplemental materials are available online.     

Street children in Russia: steps to prevention

This article examines the historical evolution of the development of social policy toward street children in Russia and makes recommendations for prevention. The historical examination begins with the Soviet period, when statistics on social problems were not publicly known. It continues through the post-Soviet period when there was an emerging awareness about the increasing number of abused, abandoned children and children living on the streets. Etiological factors, such as child maltreatment and parental substance abuse, are then discussed. Based on these etiological factors, the article then proposes a model in which existing institutions and professionals are supported in facilitating an integrated system of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. This includes improving child protection services and interventions to prevent children leaving their homes, early identification of children who are becoming involved in street life and a continuum of care for children who cannot return home.     

Maximizing Health Benefits and Minimizing Inequality: Incorporating Local‐Scale Data in the Design and Evaluation of Air Quality Policies

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency undertook a case study in the Detroit metropolitan area to test the viability of a new multipollutant risk‐based (MP/RB) approach to air quality management, informed by spatially resolved air quality, population, and baseline health data. The case study demonstrated that the MP/RB approach approximately doubled the human health benefits achieved by the traditional approach while increasing cost less than 20%—moving closer to the objective of Executive Order 12866 to maximize net benefits. Less well understood is how the distribution of health benefits from the MP/RB and traditional strategies affect the existing inequalities in air‐pollution‐related risks in Detroit. In this article, we identify Detroit populations that may be both most susceptible to air pollution health impacts (based on local‐scale baseline health data) and most vulnerable to air pollution (based on fine‐scale PM_2.5 air quality modeling and socioeconomic characteristics). Using these susceptible/vulnerable subpopulation profiles, we assess the relative impacts of each control strategy on risk inequality, applying the Atkinson Index (AI) to quantify health risk inequality at baseline and with either risk management approach. We find that the MP/RB approach delivers greater air quality improvements among these subpopulations while also generating substantial benefits among lower‐risk populations. Applying the AI, we confirm that the MP/RB strategy yields less PM_2.5 mortality and asthma hospitalization risk inequality than the traditional approach. We demonstrate the value of this approach to policymakers as they develop cost‐effective air quality management plans that maximize risk reduction while minimizing health inequality.     

Nonparametric Applications of Shaffer's Extension of Dennett's Procedure

Shaffer's extensions and generalization of Dunnett's procedure are shown to be applicable in several nonparametric data analyses. Applications are considered within the context of the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test for ranked data, Friedman's two-way ANOVA test for ranked data, and Cochran's test of change for dichotomous data.     

Welfare Rights Advocacy in a Specialist Health and Social Care Setting: A Service Audit

Is a specialized welfare rights service, thought important insocial services departments, a valid element of social careservices in multi-professional settings in which social workis increasingly incorporated, where social workers often helpservice users with benefits? An audit of a specialized welfarerights advocacy service, part of social work provision in alarge UK hospice, demonstrated inconsistent referral by nursingstaff, the main referrers, a large workload including frequentcomplex cases and achievement of benefits and grants for patients,carers and families substantially in excess of the cost of theservice. Annual workload for a forty-eight-bed hospice with1,600 home care patients was estimated at 976 typical caseswith nearly 2,928 contacts; about sixty complex cases annuallygenerated a similar workload in themselves. Provision of specializedwelfare benefits advocacy for palliative care patients is foundlikely to meet a substantial need and to require specialistprovision. This may be true of other multi-professional servicesincorporating social workers.     

When self-interest and age sterotypes collide: elders opposing increased funds for programs benefiting themselves

Elders tend to be portrayed by the media as selfishly promoting programs that benefit the old. We predicted, however, that older individuals who choose positive stereotypes about the young over positive stereotypes about the old would oppose an increase in spending on these programs. By analyzing the responses of 1656 individuals, we found: (1) older participants were more likely than younger participants to oppose increased funding of Social Security, Meals on Wheels, and Medicare; and (2) this opposition to increased funding for Social Security and Meals on Wheels was predicted by a stereotype of aging based on a more favorable perception of the capabilities of the young than of the old. Our findings suggest that elders' evaluation of programs that benefit their age group may be more influenced by stereotypes internalized decades earlier than by their current group interests.