IS ECONOMICS A HOUSE DIVIDED? ANALYSIS OF CITATION NETWORKS

We investigate divisions within the citation network in economics using citation data between 1990 and 2010. We consider all partitions of top institutions into two equal‐sized clusters and pick the one that minimizes cross‐cluster citations. The strongest division is much stronger than could be expected to be found under idiosyncratic citation patterns and is consistent with the reputed freshwater/saltwater division in macroeconomics. The division is stable over time but varies across the fields of economics. (JEL A11, D85, I23)     

Social Protection Spending in Context of Structural and Institutional Performance: A Global Empirical Analysis

Social Indicators Research - An understanding about the dynamics of social protection spending is made in the context of structural and institutional performances. A dataset of 134 countries for...     

Distributionally robust maximum probability shortest path problem

In this study, we discuss and develop a distributionally robust joint chance-constrained optimization model and apply it for the shortest path problem under resource uncertainty. In sch a case, robust chance constraints are approximated by constraints that can be reformulated using convex programming. Since the issue we are discussing here is of the multi-resource type, the resource related to cost is deterministic; however, we consider a robust set for other resources where covariance and mean are known. Thus, the chance-constrained problem can be expressed in terms of a cone constraint. In addition, since our problem is joint chance-constrained optimization, we can use Bonferroni approximation to divide the problem into L separate problems in order to build convex approximations of distributionally robust joint chance constraints. Finally, numerical results are presented to illustrate the rigidity of the bounds and the value of the distributionally robust approach.

     

Refugees and Elections: The Effects of Syrians on Voting Behavior in Turkey

In the wake of the Syrian civil war, more than three million people have fled to Turkey, which now hosts the largest refugee population on earth. Making up 4.42 per cent of the total population in Turkey as of February 2018, Syrian refugees are nevertheless spread unevenly within its borders. The ratio of refugees to the local population ranges from as high as 99per cent in the city of Kilis to as low as 0.05per cent in Sinop. This article presents findings from the empirical study of the effect of this geographical variation on election outcomes in Turkey, after the arrival of major refugee populations in 2012. Drawing on a unique subnational dataset and ordinary least squares (OLS), generalized least squares (GLS), and difference‐in‐differences (DiD) regressions, the study compares cities hosting few refugees (control group) with cities with large refugee populations (treatment group) to determine whether significant differences in voting patterns emerged. Our findings show a negative, but insignificant, impact on the incumbent party. The findings have policy implications for Turkey as well as any country that experiences a considerable flow of refugees.     

Sexual orientation and full-time monthly earnings, by public and private sector: evidence from Swedish register data

In this paper we explore annual earnings as well as full-time monthly earnings differentials resulting from sexual orientation. We observe that gay males are at an earnings disadvantage compared to male heterosexuals regardless of which earnings measure we use. This earnings disadvantage is found to be larger when we compare gay and heterosexual males who are working full-time. In addition, the disadvantage is larger in the private than in the public sector. Lesbians, however, earn more than heterosexual females. This earnings advantage is considerably smaller when we study full-time monthly rather than annual earnings but an earnings advantage for lesbians at the top of the earnings distribution is documented regardless of which earnings measure we use. In addition, lesbians are doing better than female heterosexuals in the public sector. To sum up, the results indicate that gay males face obstacles on the labor market that hinder them from reaching top-level positions and high earnings. The earnings advantage observed for lesbians is likely to stem from the fact that lesbians devote more time to market work than heterosexual females do.     

Minimization of model inadequacy when observations subject to shift in means and variances

In this article optimality of experimental design for fitting a lower-order polynomial to a higher order response function for the situation in which observations may be subject to shift in means as well as in variances is considered. It is found that Karson, Manson and Hader‘s (1969) optimum designs provide pro-tection, in some sense, against model inadequacies even when observations are subject to shift in means and variances.     

Selective Maintenance in System Reliability with Random Costs of Repairing and Replacing the Components

In this paper we consider the problem of determining the optimum number of repairable and replaceable components to maximize a system's reliability when both, the cost of repairing the components and the cost of replacement of components by new ones, are random. We formulate it as a problem of non-linear stochastic programming. The solution is obtained through Chance Constrained programming. We also consider the problem of finding the optimal maintenance cost for a given reliability requirement of the system. The solution is then obtained by using Modified E-model. A numerical example is solved for both the formulations.     

Distribution of linear combination of exponential variates

The exact distribution of a linear combination of n independent negative exponential random variables, when the coefficients of the linear combination are distinct and positive quantities, is well-known. This paper extends the above result to the general case, namely when the coefficients are arbitrary real numbers, positive or negative, distinct or coincident.