Testing hypotheses in truncated samples by means of divergence statistics

In this paper we consider the problem of testing hypotheses in parametric models, when only the first r (of n) ordered observations are known.Using divergence measures, a procedure to test statistical hypotheses is proposed, Replacing the parameters by suitable estimators in the expresion of the divergence measure, the test statistics are obtained.Asymptotic distributions for these statistics are given in several cases when maximum likelihood estimators for truncated samples are considered.Applications of these results in testing statistical hypotheses, on the basis of truncated data, are presented.The small sample behavior of the proposed test statistics is analyzed in particular cases.A comparative study of power values is carried out by computer simulation.     

Confidence Intervals on Regression Models with Censored Data

Stute (1993, Consistent estimation under random censorship when covariables are present. Journal of Multivariate Analysis 45, 89–103) proposed a new method to estimate regression models with a censored response variable using least squares and showed the consistency and asymptotic normality for his estimator. This article proposes a new bootstrap-based methodology that improves the performance of the asymptotic interval estimation for the small sample size case. Therefore, we compare the behavior of Stute's asymptotic confidence interval with that of several confidence intervals that are based on resampling bootstrap techniques. In order to build these confidence intervals, we propose a new bootstrap resampling method that has been adapted for the case of censored regression models. We use simulations to study the improvement the performance of the proposed bootstrap-based confidence intervals show when compared to the asymptotic proposal. Simulation results indicate that, for the new proposals, coverage percentages are closer to the nominal values and, in addition, intervals are narrower.     

Is Football an Indicator of Development at the International Level?

The aim of this paper is to examine whether football can be considered an indicator of development at the international level. An empirical econometric model is designed in order to analyse development in terms of GDP per capita as well as in terms of the Human Development Index. Cross-sectional and time-series information are used. The results suggest that FIFA rankings of national teams can be used to complement our understanding of multidimensional development, in particular, in those countries where the availability of information is not as good as researchers would like.     

Constituents of Quality of Life and Urban Size

Do cities have an optimal size? In seeking to answer this question, various theories, including Optimal City Size Theory, the supply-oriented dynamic approach and the city network paradigm, have been forwarded that considered a city’s population size as a determinant of location costs and benefits. However, the generalised growth in wealth that has been experienced over the last 50 years in developed countries has changed what have traditionally been seen as man’s needs. Thus, Inglehart’s post-materialist approach and Maslow’s theory of human needs force us to re-examine the traditional costs and benefits of cities. Here, we assume that costs and benefits enter the utility function of households through the quality of life concept. The relation between the constituents of quality of life and traditional and new theories of city size are considered here. Finally, we test these relations empirically in a specific dynamic, local framework: the city of Barcelona (Spain) in the period 1991–2000.     

On the theory and measurement of the determinants of mortality

This article develops a model of mortality that shows how biological, demographic, and environmental factors interact to affect an individual's probability of dying. To illustrate the usefulness of the model, we derive from it (as special cases) the Brass system of model life tables and the proportional-hazard mortality model and apply a logit version of the model to analyze the determinants of child mortality in Sri Lanka.     

Child Spacing in the Philippines: The Effect of Current Characteristics and Rural Development

In this study the effects of characteristics current at the beginning of the birth interval on the time elapsing before the next birth are examined. The child-spacing process is viewed as affected by time-varying and fixed characteristics of the community, household, and individual. In the model on which the empirical research is based sociological and economic antecedents are used. The study is based on data from two panels of the Bicol Multipurpose Survey collected in 1978 and 1983. These furnish detailed histories of pregnancy and contraception, together with an extensive set of socio-economic data. Detailed information on services and facilities available in each of the 100 sample communities is also available. Because of the large rural development programme introduced in various sub-areas of the Bicol region, substantial changes in the rural infrastructure and in availability of health and family planning facilities and services occurred between 1976 and 1980, the period on which the analysis is focused. Our results clearly show that current characteristics at the individual, household, and community levels have significant and interpretable effects on the lengths of birth intervals.     

Sterilization: the barriers are being crossed

The sterilization program begun in the Philippines by Presidential Decree in 1974 is described. The goals of the program are: 1) training of program practitioners, to equip a corps of physicians with needed skills; 2) recruitment of acceptors to test the acceptability and viability of the approach among eligible groups; and 3) "professionalization" of medical practice in sterilization. The training of program physicians has been taken over by Popcom as part of its 1-year sterilization training program. The institutionalization of the surgical sterilization in medical schools and family planning organizations has been undertaken by the Study and Training Center for Surgical Sterilization. Various types of sterilization clinics are described. The reaction of the population and methods of handling potential acceptors are described. Sterilization techniques and side effects are presented for male and female sterilization. 3 models for information-education-communication in sterilization are reported. The number of births averted by this sterilization program is estimated. Problems encountered are revealed.     

Estimation and influence diagnostics for zero-inflated hyper-Poisson regression model: full Bayesian analysis

The purpose of this paper is to develop a Bayesian analysis for the zero-inflated hyper-Poisson model. Markov chain Monte Carlo methods are used to develop a Bayesian procedure for the model and the Bayes estimators are compared by simulation with the maximum-likelihood estimators. Regression modeling and model selection are also discussed and case deletion influence diagnostics are developed for the joint posterior distribution based on the functional Bregman divergence, which includes ψ-divergence and several others, divergence measures, such as the Itakura–Saito, Kullback–Leibler, and χ² divergence measures. Performance of our approach is illustrated in artificial, real apple cultivation experiment data, related to apple cultivation.     

Political Influence and the Performance of Nonprofit Spanish Banks

This article presents empirical evidence about factors that influence the solvency of Spanish savings banks. It also studies whether the presence of politicians in their governance has led to lower solvency ratios and, consequently, to the current economic situation in the Spanish banking sector. We use multivariate regressions, taking the solvency ratio as the dependent variable; and efficiency, the coverage ratio, political influence, CEOs’ political influence, size, growth, and age as independent variables. Our results confirm that banking entities controlled by politicians resulted in poor performance, and political influence on the boards of savings banks led them to insolvency. The findings show that the non‐ownership structure of savings banks, the lack of best practice corporate governance mechanisms, and political presence have weakened them.