Inference for Multi‐dimensional High‐frequency Data with an Application to Conditional Independence Testing

We find the asymptotic distribution of the multi‐dimensional multi‐scale and kernel estimators for high‐frequency financial data with microstructure. Sampling times are allowed to be asynchronous and endogenous. In the process, we show that the classes of multi‐scale and kernel estimators for smoothing noise perturbation are asymptotically equivalent in the sense of having the same asymptotic distribution for corresponding kernel and weight functions. The theory leads to multi‐dimensional stable central limit theorems and feasible versions. Hence, they allow to draw statistical inference for a broad class of multivariate models, which paves the way to tests and confidence intervals in risk measurement for arbitrary portfolios composed of high‐frequently observed assets. As an application, we enhance the approach to construct a test for investigating hypotheses that correlated assets are independent conditional on a common factor.     

Childcare and work – exploring the views of Finnish mothers and fathers

In this study, meanings given to childcare and work by parents were explored. The aim was to shed light on what factors parents consider when they decide who is going to stay at home. Four mothers and four fathers, all of whom had been both working and stay-at-home parents, were interviewed. The data were analyzed qualitatively. Parents believed in gender equality; however, the decision who stays at home was not based on gender. Cultural beliefs in the primacy of the mother could also be seen. Expectations of good mothering contradicted the ones related to the idea of a good working citizen causing mothers to feel guilty. The mothers said that staying at home was not something they needed to make a ‘conscious decision’ about, whereas the fathers described the process of decision-making as ‘employing their tactics.’ Love for the child and a wish to be with him were talked about by both genders. Work was seen as important and being a stay-at-home parent was temporary for both mothers and fathers. When deciding how the childcare would be arranged, most spouses had discussed the issue with each other and also with significant others.     

A process evaluation of individual and organizational occupational stress and health interventions

There is reason to believe that many health and stress interventions fail due to inattention to the effects of intervention implementation processes, but evaluations of these processes are found only rarely in the literature. The objective of the present study was to explore the issue of obstacles to implementation that may occur when stress and health interventions are introduced in work organizations. The study was conducted as a process evaluation of seven different individual and organizational interventions. Interviews were conducted in 22 post offices, 12 organizational units (such as care homes and local administrative units) of a Norwegian municipality, and in 10 shops in a shopping mall. The interviews took place before and after the interventions. The following key process factors were identified: (1) the ability to learn from failure and to motivate participants; (2) multi-level participation and negotiation, and differences in organizational perception; (3) insight into tacit and informal organizational behaviour; (4) clarification of roles and responsibilities, especially the role of middle management; and (5) competing projects and reorganization. For improved studies of interventions in the future we recommend that qualitative and quantitative methods be combined, that researchers build more on natural interventions that occur naturally within the organization, and that a pilot study be undertaken in order to investigate the cultural maturity of the organization.     

Non-parametric inference for the effect of a treatment on survival times with application in the health and social sciences

In this paper we perform inference on the effect of a treatment on survival times in studies where the treatment assignment is not randomized and the assignment time is not known in advance. Two such studies are discussed: a heart transplant program and a study of Swedish unemployed eligible for employment subsidy. We estimate survival functions on a treated and a control group which are made comparable through matching on observed covariates. The inference is performed by conditioning on waiting time to treatment, that is, time between the entrance in the study and treatment. This can be done only when sufficient data are available. In other cases, averaging over waiting times is a possibility, although the classical interpretation of the estimated survival functions is lost unless hazards are not functions of waiting time. To show unbiasedness and to obtain an estimator of the variance, we build on the potential outcome framework, which was introduced by J. Neyman in the context of randomized experiments, and adapted to observational studies by D.B. Rubin. Our approach does not make parametric or distributional assumptions. In particular, we do not assume proportionality of the hazards compared. Small sample performance of the estimator and a derived test of no treatment effect are studied in a Monte Carlo study.     

Complexity and Hybrid Public Administration—Theoretical and Empirical Challenges

This article provides a greater understanding of hybrid public administration. Different generations of public sector reforms have accentuated hybrid and complex features of public organizations, resulting in multiple-layer structural and cultural features. The article covers the following research questions: 1) how can we interpret the increasing tendency towards hybrid administration in terms of a transformative approach; 2) how is hybrid administration developing out of attempts to balance NPM and post-NPM?; and 3) how can we understand the major mechanisms producing hybridity in a modern reform? The case we focus on is the reform of the Norwegian welfare administration.     

Developing criteria for healthy organizational change

Abstract

The objective of this study was to identify criteria for healthy change in organizations and to develop practical guidelines for intended change. We aimed to explore how change processes at the shop floor level can be better informed by consultants and labour inspectors. A total of 180 interviews were conducted with managers and employees in 90 units of public and private organizations in Norway. The interviews were analysed through four steps representing an expansion of grounded theory, and converted to qualitative analysis using QSR and N6 software. We found that organizational change processes were better managed by more attention to awareness of the local norms and diversity among employees in the perception and reactions to change efforts. An inspector or consultant should be aware of these phenomena in any change effort and tell the organization how to deal with them. The other three factors identified were early role clarification, manager availability, and using constructive conflicts to deal with change. They are all important coping mechanisms at the organizational level that will bring change processes onto a more optimal track if correctly managed. A healthy process empowers individuals instead of making them insecure and defensive in times of change. This will help them restore perceived control and promote job security, which benefits both them and the organization.     

On the foundation and early development of domestic and international new ventures

The founding and early development of Domestic New Ventures and International New Ventures is examined based upon a large scale survey of Danish manufacturing firms. The firms are classified into five different categories and compared with regard to their foundation and development within the first 3?years. The article contributes with a demonstration of differences between these categories of firms with regard to the number and mindset of founders, the growth of the firm, and the networks of firm.     

Emotional Empathy and Facial Feedback

We studied if emotional empathy is related to sensitivity to facial feedback. The participants, 112 students, rated themselves on the questionnaire measure of emotional empathy (QMEE) and were divided into one high and one low empathic group. Facial expressions were manipulated to produce a happy or a sulky expression. During the manipulation, participants rated humorous films with respect to funniness. These ratings were the dependent variable. No main effect of facial expression was found. However, a significant interaction between empathy and condition indicated that the high as compared to the low empathic group rated the films as being funnier in a happy condition and a tendency to be less funny in a sulky condition. On the basis of the present results we suggest emotional empathy to be one important and previously ignored factor to explain individual differences in effects of facial feedback.     

Modelling and simulation to improve decision‐making in clinical development

Modelling and simulation are buzz words in clinical drug development. But is clinical trial simulation (CTS) really a revolutionary technique? There is not much more to CTS than applying standard methods of modelling, statistics and decision theory. However, doing this in a systematic way can mean a significant improvement in pharmaceutical research. This paper describes in simple examples how modelling could be used in clinical development. Four steps are identified: gathering relevant information about a drug and the disease; building a mathematical model; predicting the results of potential future trials; and optimizing clinical trials and the entire clinical programme. We discuss these steps and give a number of examples of model components, demonstrating that relatively unsophisticated models may also prove useful. We stress that modelling and simulation are decision tools and point out the benefits of integrating them with decision analysis. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.