Experimente unter dem Milgram-Paradigma

This paper discusses the origins of Stanley Milgram’s experiments and presents an overview of the results of all experiments which were either carried out by Milgram himself or in replications done in accordance with Milgram’s paradigm between 1960 and 1985. After determining the general obedience rate of destructive commands, the impact of the following situational factors on behavior is examined: a) the proximity of the victim, b) the institutional and the personal power of the authority exercising an influence, c) the influence of groups in the framework of which the test subjects act and/or of behavioral models with which he or she are confronted. It is demonstrated that a) the victim’s proximity represents the strongest determinant of behavior, b) the power of the institutional authority has hardly any influence and that the power of the personal authority has only little, c) pressure to conform that is exerted by groups or behavioral models co-determines behavior under authoritative influence independently of the pressure type. Finally, an assessment is made analyzing whether personal factors can be identified distinguishing obedient from disobedient persons. It is shown that the experiments do not give any indication showing that factors such as sex or age have a significant influence on obedience.     

Curriculare und fachsystematische Aspekte einer universit?ren Wirtschafts– und Sozialstatistik

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Convergence rates of Gaussian ODE filters

Statistics and Computing - A recently introduced class of probabilistic (uncertainty-aware) solvers for ordinary differential equations (ODEs) applies Gaussian (Kalman) filtering to initial value...     

Job insecurity and emotional exhaustion: Testing psychological contract breach versus distributive injustice as indicators of lack of reciprocity

This study examines the processes underlying the association between job insecurity and emotional exhaustion, proposing that lack of reciprocity in the organizational exchange relationship is a main theoretical explanation for this association. Specifically, based on the social exchange perspective, we compared and tested two distinct mediating mechanisms: psychological contract breach and distributive injustice. These two indicators of lack of reciprocity constitute the explanatory process through which job insecurity relates to emotional exhaustion, the primary component of burnout. Data analyses from a sample of 322 blue-collar workers in Italy confirmed the mediational hypotheses. A contrast test revealed that distributive injustice was the indicator with more explanatory strength. The results contribute to research on the theoretical explanations of the adverse consequences of job insecurity, considering the nature and antecedents of psychological distress from an organizational exchange perspective.     

A Tiered Approach for Risk‐Benefit Assessment of Foods

Risk‐benefit analyses are introduced as a new paradigm for old problems. However, in many cases it is not always necessary to perform a full comprehensive and expensive quantitative risk‐benefit assessment to solve the problem, nor is it always possible, given the lack of required date. The choice to continue from a more qualitative to a full quantitative risk‐benefit assessment can be made using a tiered approach. In this article, this tiered approach for risk‐benefit assessment will be addressed using a decision tree. The tiered approach described uses the same four steps as the risk assessment paradigm: hazard and benefit identification, hazard and benefit characterization, exposure assessment, and risk‐benefit characterization, albeit in a different order. For the purpose of this approach, the exposure assessment has been moved upward and the dose‐response modeling (part of hazard and benefit characterization) is moved to a later stage. The decision tree includes several stop moments, depending on the situation where the gathered information is sufficient to answer the initial risk‐benefit question. The approach has been tested for two food ingredients. The decision tree presented in this article is useful to assist on a case‐by‐case basis a risk‐benefit assessor and policymaker in making informed choices when to stop or continue with a risk‐benefit assessment.     

“I don’t want to be selling my soul”: Two experiments in environmental economics

We conducted two experiments in the context of environmental protection. We found that profit considerations and personality traits are among the essential determinants of individual contributions to the solution of environmental problems. The results show that environmental considerations are powerful motivators and subjects are willing to forgo pecuniary profits for the sake of “doing-the-right-thing”. The study shows that the environmental groups can purchase carbon offsets directly from the providers at a lower-than market price and still obtain a relatively large market share.     

A small sample estimator for a polynomial regression with errors in the variables

An adjusted least squares estimator, introduced by Cheng and Schneeweiss for consistently estimating a polynomial regression of any degree with errors in the variables, is modified such that it shows good results in small samples without losing its asymptotic properties for large samples. Simulation studies corroborate the theoretical findings.     

Optimality of the quasi-score estimator in a mean–variance model with applications to measurement error models

We consider a regression of y$y$ on x$x$ given by a pair of mean and variance functions with a parameter vector θ$\theta$ to be estimated that also appears in the distribution of the regressor variable x$x$. The estimation of θ$\theta$ is based on an extended quasi-score (QS) function. We show that the QS estimator is optimal within a wide class of estimators based on linear-in-y$y$ unbiased estimating functions. Of special interest is the case where the distribution of x$x$ depends only on a subvector α$\alpha$ of θ$\theta$, which may be considered a nuisance parameter. In general, α$\alpha$ must be estimated simultaneously together with the rest of θ$\theta$, but there are cases where α$\alpha$ can be pre-estimated. A major application of this model is the classical measurement error model, where the corrected score (CS) estimator is an alternative to the QS estimator. We derive conditions under which the QS estimator is strictly more efficient than the CS estimator.