Approximate reference priors for Gaussian random fields

Reference priors are theoretically attractive for the analysis of geostatistical data since they enable automatic Bayesian analysis and have desirable Bayesian and frequentist properties. But their use is hindered by computational hurdles that make their application in practice challenging. In this work, we derive a new class of default priors that approximate reference priors for the parameters of some Gaussian random fields. It is based on an approximation to the integrated likelihood of the covariance parameters derived from the spectral approximation of stationary random fields. This prior depends on the structure of the mean function and the spectral density of the model evaluated at a set of spectral points associated with an auxiliary regular grid. In addition to preserving the desirable Bayesian and frequentist properties, these approximate reference priors are more stable, and their computations are much less onerous than those of exact reference priors. Unlike exact reference priors, the marginal approximate reference prior of correlation parameter is always proper, regardless of the mean function or the smoothness of the correlation function. This property has important consequences for covariance model selection. An illustration comparing default Bayesian analyses is provided with a dataset of lead pollution in Galicia, Spain.     

Supporting the agency of cities as climate migration destinations

As climate migration has garnered the interest of research and policy communities over the last two decades, the focus has been on whether, how and where climate stresses might precipitate out-migration, and how to assist and protect those affected. Less attention has gone to the places that receive climate migrants, and how their arrival might affect adaptation at destination. Against the backdrop of increasingly severe climate disruptions, this paper examines the likelihood of climate-related movements going into urban areas, and the challenges that this may entail for those who move and for urban governance. With much of climate migration projected to feed into existing urbanization trends, we see the need for data and research to help bolster the agency of communities and cities to plan and act locally, and across geographies, for inclusion and resilience, and to advocate collectively for enabling policy frameworks and increased national and international support.     

Book review

How to Conduct Self‐administered and Mail Surveys, L. B. Bourque and E. P. Fielder, London, Sage Publications, 1995, 223 pp, £17.50     

Women’s Tertiary Education Masks the Gender Wage Gap in Turkey

This paper investigates the gender wage gap for full-time formal sector employees, disaggregated by education level. The gap between the labor force participation rate of women with tertiary education and those with lower levels of education is substantial. There is no such gap for men. Hence, existing gender wage gap studies for Turkey, where we observe lopsided labor force participation rates by education levels, compare two very different populations. We disaggregate the whole sample by education level to create more homogenous sub-groups. For Turkey, without disaggregation, the gender wage gap was 13% in 2011, and women are significantly over-qualified relative to men on observed characteristics. Once we disaggregate the sample by education level, we show that the gender wage gap is 24% for less educated women and 9% for women with tertiary education in full-time formal employment. Observed characteristics only explain 1 % of this gap in absolute terms. We further disaggregate the data by public and private employment. The gender gap is higher in the private sector. However, women with tertiary education in the public sector are significantly better qualified compared to men, and consequently the adjusted gender wage gap is higher for women with tertiary education in the public sector. Our estimates also indicate a rise in the gender wage gap between 2004 and 2011.     

AGE,TIME, VINTAGE,AND PRICE INDEXES: MEASURING THE DEPRECIATION PATTERN OF HOUSES

Age, time, and vintage are key determinants of house prices, yet they cannot be included together linearly or as dichotomous variables in hedonic regressions as construction time + age of house = sale time. We introduce a method where the estimates of the age, time, and vintage effects on prices are obtained in a flexible manner, without requiring us to specify a pre‐determined functional form for any of these variables. Applying our method to Dutch data, we find that the estimated depreciation pattern over the life of houses does not follow the functional forms typically specified for the age of houses in hedonic regressions. (JEL C43, E01, E31, R31)     

The Employment Experience of Refugees in the Netherlands1

This study focuses on the economically disadvantaged position of refugees. We use survey data of refugees from Somalia, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, and the former Yugoslavia in the Netherlands, to analyze refugees’ odds of employment and their occupational status. In line with human capital and social capital theory, we find that host country specific education, work experience, language proficiency, and contacts with natives are positively related to the chances of employment and occupational status. The study shows that health problems, integration courses, and the time spent in refugee reception centers form important additional explanations of the economic integration of refugees.     

Deaf and disabled? (Un)Employment of deaf people in Belgium: a comparison of eighteenth-century and nineteenth-century cohorts

In this article, the employment characteristics of pre-industrial and industrial cohorts of deaf men and women are compared with each other, as well as with a cohort of non-disabled siblings. The aim is to determine the extent to which the employment patterns of deaf persons lined up with those of non-disabled people and to see how nineteenth-century industrialization processes influenced their employment opportunities. This article challenges the widely held assumption that the nineteenth century constituted a definitive break by arguing that the professional lives of deaf people were not necessarily better before industrialization. Moreover, I demonstrate that the development of deaf schools in the course of the nineteenth century opened a new range of career opportunities for deaf individuals.     

Gender gaps in skills and labor market outcomes: evidence from the PIAAC

Review of Economics of the Household - Our paper makes the first attempt to address the empirical relationRicship between cognitive skills and gender gaps in labor market performance. We do so in a...     

压电悬臂梁驱动传感共位特性研究

为了探究压电陶瓷悬臂梁结构的驱动传感共位特性,笔者研究了以压电耦合悬臂梁样机分别作为传感器、驱动器和驱动传感共位时电流的变化规律,分析了压电悬臂梁被限位工作条件下其共位信号与空载状态信号的差异性,通过检测压电悬臂梁内部电流的变化来实现对压电悬臂梁驱动状态的共位检测。实验结果表明：在电压的激励下,压电悬臂梁在未被限位工作条件下,仅存在频率大小约为230 Hz的响应信号;压电悬臂梁在限位条件工作时,其采样信号在230 Hz和1 640 Hz附近处有明显响应,且仿真结果与实验结果误差均在4%以内。该实验结果证明了可将压电陶瓷悬臂梁内部电流变化所对应的特征频率作为其工作状态的判定。