Neuropsychological Profiles of Victims of Financial Elder Exploitation at the Los Angeles County Elder Abuse Forensic Center

The current article examines neuropsychological correlates of financial elder exploitation in a sample of older adults who have been documented victims of financial elder exploitation. The purpose of this exploratory study was twofold. First, a subsample of the referrals at the Los Angeles County Elder Abuse Forensic Center (LACEAFC) was compared to community dwelling adults in terms of the specific cognitive domains linked to financial capacity including memory, calculation, and executive functioning. Next, the correlation between presence of neuropsychological data and the likelihood of filing a case with the LA County’s District Attorney office was examined. Twenty-seven LACEAFC cases and 32 controls were assessed. Overall, the forensic center group performed worse than a community-based age-matched control group on the MMSE, calculation, and executive functioning (ps < .01). The presence of neuropsychological data was significantly correlated to an increased likelihood of a case being filed.     

Deprivation using satisfaction measures in Spain: An evaluation of unemployment benefits

The evaluation of social programs constitutes an important aspect in the modeling of economic policies. On the basis that the measurement of well being through subjective measures provides a broader perspective than through objective economic variables, this paper first identifies the determinants of deprivation in Spain, in monetary terms, and in non-monetary terms using satisfaction variables. In addition to establishing that the more unequal the income distribution within a group, the less income-satisfied is the individual, we find that unemployment is one of the main determinants of deprivation and satisfaction. Accordingly, we propose a reform of unemployment benefit policy that maintains individuals at the same utility level as when employed, rather than applying the current benefit system. Our policy conclusions reveal that the public budget dedicated to paying benefits to restore satisfaction levels, during the period 1994-1999, would have increased by €2,536,165.13 thousand on an average annually. It could be a desirable policy in good times but, since it increases public spending and thus public deficit, economic policy makers should decide whether it is adequate in rainy days.     

DISTRIBUTIONAL CHARACTERIZATIONS THROUGH SCALING RELATIONS

Investigated here are aspects of the relation between the laws of X and Y where X is represented as a randomly scaled version of Y. In the case that the scaling has a beta law, the law of Y is expressed in terms of the law of X. Common continuous distributions are characterized using this beta scaling law, and choosing the distribution function of Y as a weighted version of the distribution function of X, where the weight is a power function. It is shown, without any restriction on the law of the scaling, but using a one‐parameter family of weights which includes the power weights, that characterizations can be expressed in terms of known results for the power weights. Characterizations in the case where the distribution function of Y is a positive power of the distribution function of X are examined in two special cases. Finally, conditions are given for existence of inverses of the length‐bias and stationary‐excess operators.     

Employment Relationships and Firm Innovation: The Double Role of Human Capital

We examine how employment relationships and human capital influence innovation in a sample of Spanish firms. Previous research has indicated that human capital directly affects innovation, but few studies have considered human capital as a variable that mediates or moderates the effects of other variables on innovation. We tested our hypotheses using a sample of 150 innovative Spanish firms and confirmed that, while human capital favours innovations, employment relationships are not directly associated with innovation unless they take human capital into account. Specifically, our analyses suggest that human capital mediates the relationship between a mutual investment employment relationship and innovation, which is characterized by high levels of incentives and expectations. However, we also found that human capital plays a moderating role when organizations develop an employment relationship characterized by low investments in personnel but high expectations from their work (the underinvestment model). We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these results.     

Distortion representations of multivariate distributions

Statistical Methods & Applications - The univariate distorted distributions were introduced in risk theory to represent changes (distortions) in the expected distributions of some risks. Later,...     

Some characterizations of multivariate distributions using products of the hazard gradient and mean residual life components

We give a general procedure to characterize multivariate distributions by using products of the hazard gradient and mean residual life components. This procedure is applied to characterize multivariate distributions as Gumbel exponential, Lomax, Burr, Pareto and generalized Pareto multivariate distributions. Our results extend the results of several authors and can be used to study how to extend univariate models to the multivariate set-up.     

A very simple proof of the multivariate Chebyshev's inequality

Abstract

In this short note, a very simple proof of the Chebyshev's inequality for random vectors is given. This inequality provides a lower bound for the percentage of the population of an arbitrary random vector X with finite mean μ = E(X) and a positive definite covariance matrix V = Cov(X) whose Mahalanobis distance with respect to V to the mean μ is less than a fixed value. The main advantage of the proof is that it is a simple exercise for a first year probability course. An alternative proof based on principal components is also provided. This proof can be used to study the case of a singular covariance matrix V.     

Some Relationships Between Skew-Normal Distributions and Order Statistics from Exchangeable Normal Random Vectors

The article explores the relationship between distributions of order statistics from random vectors with exchangeable normal distributions and several skewed generalizations of the normal distribution. In particular, we show that the order statistics of exchangeable normal observations have closed skew-normal distributions, and that the corresponding density function is log-concave when the order statistic is extreme. Special attention is given to the bivariate case, which is related to the univariate skew-normal distribution. The applications discussed focus on the lifetimes of coherent systems.