Can Supply and Demand Parameters Be Recovered From Data Generated by Market Institutions?

The relative accuracy of estimators in recovering supply and demand parameters can depend on the market institutions that generate the data. The parameters of known supply and demand functions are estimated with data from laboratory market experiments with human buyers and sellers. Single-equation estimators dominate simultaneous-equations estimators in recovering supply and demand parameters from posted-offer market data. The inaccuracy of simultaneous-equations estimators with posted-offer data can be explained by the implications for error distributions of the inherent properties of this market institution. Simultaneous-equations estimators perform better with closing-price data from double-auction markets.     

Effects of the Chernobyl Accident on Public Perceptions of Nuclear Plant Accident Risks

Assessments of public perceptions of the characteristics of a nuclear power plant accident and affective responses to its likelihood were conducted 5 months before and 1 month after the Chernobyl accident. Analyses of data from 69 residents of southwestern Washington showed significant test-retest correlations for only 10 of 18 variables--accident likelihood, three measures of impact characteristics, three measures of affective reactions, and hazard knowledge by governmental sources. Of these variables, only two had significant changes in mean ratings; frequency of thought and frequency of discussion about a nearby nuclear power plant both increased. While there were significant changes only for two personal consequences (expectations of cancer and genetic effects), both of these decreased. The results of this study indicate that more attention should be given to assessing the stability of risk perceptions over time. Moreover, the data demonstrate that experience with a major accident can actually decrease rather than increase perceptions of threat.     

Toward A Sociology of Nuclear Weapons*

This article serves as an introduction to the issue's special feature on “The Nuclear Threat.” The early sociological literature on nuclear war related issues is reviewed and the dearth of sociological work in this area since the early 1960s is documented. A new call for sociological theory and research on the nuclear threat is issued and possible topics are outlined. The paper concludes with a brief review of the papers that make up the special feature.     

A Risk Assessment for Selected Lead-Induced Health Effects: An Example of a General Methodology

The research described here is part of a larger risk assessment project to aid the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in its review of the primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard for lead. The methodology can be applied to many situations in which a policy decision about a toxic substance is required in the face of incomplete data. Numerical results are presented for three potentially adverse lead-induced effects of interest to EPA: elevated erythrocyte protoporphyrin (EP), hemoglobin (Hb) decrement, and intelligence quotient (IQ) decrement.     

Evaluating a human service program: Employing the judicial evaluation model

The emergence of adversarial models as an approach to formative and summative evaluations is gaining recognition among educational research professionals. The implementation of the Judicial Evaluation Model (JEM), as described in this article, is the first application to a human service employment and training program. Evaluation questions raised within the study were designed to assess the efficacy of linkage arrangements between the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) prime sponsors and education service providers in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The four stages of the JEM and its application to CETA are discussed, the panel findings are reported along with noted pitfalls and strengths, suggested guidelines for implementation, and a few recommendations.     

Major capital decisions and technological change

This paper reviews a wide array of the analytical approaches to major capital decision-making available in the literature; indicates some of their weaknesses, especially when major technological changes are involved; suggests some modifications to improve their usefulness; and illustrates some of the additional benefits offered by such redesigned models The approaches examined are: neo-classical, including certainty and uncertainty models; behavioral, including organizational and simulation models; and financial, including evaluative and resource allocation models.After reviewing some of the practical issues confronted in the decision making process a modified general framework is presented to help strengthen the analysis of proposed capital projects Finally, bases are suggested for integrating evaluative investment criteria with the production capabilities embodied in major capital facilities and engendered by major technological innovations.     

Moving beyond aid: Research co‐operation with central and Eastern Europe

The events surrounding the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 represented a watershed for the research and technological development (RTD) co‐operation activities of the European Union/ European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries with the Central and Eastern European and Baltic states (CEBS).

In a first phase one could find some non‐targeted and exploratory type of RTD co‐operation activities, quite often in line with strategies aiming at keeping the transition process alive. These were gradual and at different paces, depending on the country under consideration, being superseded by a more targeted set of programmes increasingly featuring a distinct set of priorities and target areas which also display interesting national differences. This second phase, which has not yet been completed, is the main concern of the present study.