LIQUIDITY CONSTRAINTS AND THE SUBSTITUTABILITY BETWEEN PRIVATE AND GOVERNMENT CONSUMPTION: THE ROLE OF MILITARY AND NON-MILITARY SPENDING

Using data from 66 economies, we examine (i) the substitutability between private consumption and military and non-military government spending, and (ii) the severity of liquidity constraints. Although the estimated substitutability parameters are fragile, private consumption and non-military government spending are shown to be generally substitutes, whereas private consumption and military spending are better described as complements. The fraction of income that accrues to liquidity constrained households is typically positive, and the severity of liquidity constraints (which is robust and precisely estimated) is shown to be negatively related to saving rates, and positively related to the variability of transitory income. (JEL E62, E21)     

Family and nation: Brazilian national ideology as contested transnational practice in Japan

Studies of Brazilian Nikkeis (Japanese emigrants and their descendants) living in Japan tend to conceptualize ‘family’ and ‘nation’ as two distinct entities. Such distinctions are filtered through mutually exclusive discourses and understandings of national and ethnic identity. In this article, however, I view national attachments and migrant experiences in Japan through the lens of ideology, embodied experience and kinship relations. Treating national ideology as lived process sheds fresh light on the dynamics of state—society relations in transnational social spaces. I suggest that the ability of Brazilian state actors to impose social, moral and economic regulation on its citizens in Japan is compromised by the extent to which such discourses are ontologically grounded in the social relations of migrant family life. It is through these kin ties, I argue, that people set the tone and rules of play for state interests to encroach or otherwise on their everyday lives in these transnational social spaces.     

Estimating the Basic Reproductive Number in the General Epidemic Model with an Unknown Initial Number of Susceptible Individuals

Abstract. In any epidemic, there may exist an unidentified subpopulation which might be naturally immune or isolated and who will not be involved in the transmission of the disease. Estimation of key parameters, for example, the basic reproductive number, without accounting for this possibility would underestimate the severity of the epidemics. Here, we propose a procedure to estimate the basic reproductive number ( R ₀ ) in an epidemic model with an unknown initial number of susceptibles. The infection process is usually not completely observed, but is reconstructed by a kernel‐smoothing method under a counting process framework. Simulation is used to evaluate the performance of the estimators for major epidemics. We illustrate the procedure using the Abakaliki smallpox data.     

A Bayesian Non-parametric Comparison of Two Treatments

In this paper we present a Bayesian non-parametric analysis of survival time data, involving information from two types of treatment. We present an easy to compute Bayes factor comparing two model assumptions: no treatment difference and treatment difference and use this to model summaries for each of the two treatments, in particular predictive distributions.     

Computations via Auxiliary Random Functions for Survival Models

Abstract.  A new simulation method, auxiliary random functions is introduced. When used within a Gibbs sampler, this method enables a unified treatment of exact, right-censored, left-censored, left-truncated and interval censored data, with and without covariates in survival models. The models and methods are exemplified via illustrative analysis.     

Violence,Police and Riots in New Orleans Political Culture: 1854–18741

Abstract Through an analysis of four major riots in New Orleans between 1854 and 1874, this paper examines the central role of local police forces in the violent New Orleans political culture. Through this analysis, the paper questions the extent to which not just exclusion, but political violence, is embedded in American republicanism. From the re-integration of the city in 1852 well into the Jim Crow era, police forces served as party operatives in New Orleans, insuring through violence that their party won majority on the city council or losing their positions, en masse, if they did not. These patterns of mob violence highlight the remarkable extent to which majority approval figured over rule of law in mid-nineteenth century republicanism.     

Stress and Coping in Social Workers: A Preliminary Investigation

Correspondence to Dr Paul Bennett, School of Psychology, University of Wales College of Cardiff, P.O. Box 901, Cardiff CF1 3YG. Summary Three groups of social workers (child, adult mental health orhandicap, elderly or physical handicap) completed a questionnaireexamining sources of stress, coping strategies, and stress outcomes(e.g. anxiety, depression). All respondents reported high levelsof stress, although stress resulting from factors intrinsicto the job, relationships with other people, and from the organizationalstructure were greatest among childcare workers. In addition,these workers reported greater emotional involvement with theirclients and higher levels of general anxiety and depression,as well as job related mental distress. The implications ofthese findings are discussed in relation to training, job designand support of social workers.