Robust testing with generalized partial linear models for longitudinal data

By approximating the nonparametric component using a regression spline in generalized partial linear models (GPLM), robust generalized estimating equations (GEE), involving bounded score function and leverage-based weighting function, can be used to estimate the regression parameters in GPLM robustly for longitudinal data or clustered data. In this paper, score test statistics are proposed for testing the regression parameters with robustness, and their asymptotic distributions under the null hypothesis and a class of local alternative hypotheses are studied. The proposed score tests reply on the estimation of a smaller model without the testing parameters involved, and perform well in the simulation studies and real data analysis conducted in this paper.     

Quadratic estimators of covariance components in a multivariate mixed linear model

It is known that the Henderson Method III (Biometrics 9:226–252, 1953) is of special interest for the mixed linear models because the estimators of the variance components are unaffected by the parameters of the fixed factor (or factors). This article deals with generalizations and minor extensions of the results obtained for the univariate linear models. A MANOVA mixed model is presented in a convenient form and the covariance components estimators are given on finite dimensional linear spaces. The results use both the usual parametric representations and the coordinate-free approach of Kruskal (Ann Math Statist 39:70–75, 1968) and Eaton (Ann Math Statist 41:528–538, 1970). The normal equations are generalized and it is given a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of quadratic unbiased estimators for covariance components in the considered model.     

政治参与:政治文明和政治现代化的时代命题

政治参与、政治文明与政治现代化三者,存在着密切的逻辑关系。政治文明作为人类文明的一个进步状态和政治生活方式,希冀表达的是一种状态和目标;而政治现代化则重点显现的是一个政治的发展过程,试图完成从传统政治方式向现代的整体转换;公民的政治参与,则是实现政治现代化和政治文明的途径和方式。政治参与的意义,不仅仅在于它的工具理性,更在于它最终言明了政治文明与政治现代化的价值指向。     

近代上海地区游戏风俗与通俗小说的游戏观

近代上海地区由于欧风东渐,社会风俗与文化发生了明显的变化,但是本民族的民俗文化却依然保持其相对恒定的性质.游戏作为民俗事象,在近代上海社会风气变化中又呈现了新的特征,而通俗小说在反映世俗生活中所形成的游戏特征和游戏观念,既有对游戏之俗传统的继承,又呈现了风俗变异时期新的时代性与地域性特征.     

社会治安防范管理的学习型组织

根据学习型组织的特征,分析了社会转型期社会治安防范管理的特点,研究了建立学习型社会治安防范组织的原理,设计了学习型社会治安防范组织体系,提出了学习型社会治安防范组织的学习机制、运作原理和运行机制的设想。     

Wer das Stabilisieren vergisst: Warum eine schöne Abschlusspräsentation noch kein gutes Ende bedeutet

Many organizational change projects fail — despite a well thought out concept, professional project management and a binding implementation timetable. The reason why the expected success doesn’t materialize often lies with the missing maintenance. Once the project is officially completed and the client and project manager withdraw, the manner in which the organization will take up these changes is seldom systematically dealt with. Difficulties often arise when no discrete stabilizing measures are planned. We have derived four central action areas which will be clarified by way of practical examples. It will also be shown what is important to pay attention to in the stabilization phase so that a lasting success of the organizational change project can be ensured.     

Consumption and Saving Behavior of Older and Younger Baby Boomers in Korea

The 1998 Korean Survey of Family Income and Expenditures was used to examine the overall consumption and saving behavior of Korean baby boomers and compared the differences in consumption and saving behavior between older and younger boomers. The t -test results indicated that the younger boomers allocated a significantly higher percentage of their expenditures on food away from home, household appliances, transportation and communication than did the older boomers, whereas the older boomers spent higher amounts and allocated larger budget shares on their children's education than did the younger boomers. The results of Ordinary Least-Squares (OLS) regression analysis showed that, holding other factors constant, older boomers not only spent significantly more in the total consumption expenditures and education expenditures, but older boomers also saved significantly less than did younger boomers.     

Privatization of refuse removal and labor costs

We examine the labor-cost savings associated with privatization by comparing earnings and employment trends of public and private sector refuse workers. Findings suggest that high union earnings for workers in the public sector are a source of labor-cost savings in the refuse industry. Evidence on job changers does not indicate that earnings for this group of workers are a compensating differential. Metropolitan area employment findings suggest that municipalities are less likely to use union refuse workers in the public sector when a relatively small percentage of area residents belong to a union. The authors thank Jacqueline Agesa, Keith Bender, Maria Crawford, and Richard Perlman for valuable suggestions. Research assistance from Eric Blackburn is greatly appreciated.     

Deposit Insurance,Institutions, and Bank Interest Rates

Many recent institutional reforms of the financial system have relied on the introduction of an explicit scheme of deposit insurance. This instrument aims at two main targets, contributing to systemic stability and protecting depositors. However, it may also affect the interest rate spread in the banking system, which can be viewed as an indicator of either inefficiency or market power in this financial segment. This paper provides an empirical investigation of the effect of deposit insurance and other institutional and economic variables on bank interest rates across countries. We find that deposit insurance increases the lending–deposit spread in banking. The main effect seems to arise not from the deposit side though, but from an increase in the lending rate. We interpret this result as evidence of the presence of moral hazard problems related to this instrument. We also find that higher quality of institutions is associated with lower spreads, thus contributing to eroding sources of market power in the banking sector.