Input-occupancy-output models of the non-competitive type and their application - an examination of the China-US trade surplus

本文构建了一种能够反映中国加工贸易特点的非竞争（进口）型投入占用产出模型,提出了一个国家全部出口与分部门、分大类商品的单位出口对国内增加值和就业的拉动效应的计算方法,从数学上证明了出口总值等于出口商品所包含的完全国内增加值与完全进口额之和,并据此编制了2002年中美两国的非竞争（进口）型投入占用产出表,测算和分析了中美两国出口对各自国内增加值和就业的影响。     

Covariance Matrix Formula for Exponential Family Nonlinear Models

This article gives a matrix formula for second-order covariances of maximum likelihood estimators in exponential family nonlinear models, thus generalizing the result of Cordeiro (2004 Cordeiro , G. M. ( 2004 ). Second-order covariance matrix of maximum likelihood estimates in generalized linear models . Statist. Probab. Lett. 66 : 153 – 160 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) valid for generalized linear models with known dispersion parameter. Some simulations show that the second-order covariances for exponential family nonlinear models can be quite pronounced in small to moderate sample sizes.     

Gender Differences in Competition: Evidence From a Matrilineal and a Patriarchal Society

We use a controlled experiment to explore whether there are gender differences in selecting into competitive environments across two distinct societies: the Maasai in Tanzania and the Khasi in India. One unique aspect of these societies is that the Maasai represent a textbook example of a patriarchal society, whereas the Khasi are matrilineal. Similar to the extant evidence drawn from experiments executed in Western cultures, Maasai men opt to compete at roughly twice the rate as Maasai women. Interestingly, this result is reversed among the Khasi, where women choose the competitive environment more often than Khasi men, and even choose to compete weakly more often than Maasai men. These results provide insights into the underpinnings of the factors hypothesized to be determinants of the observed gender differences in selecting into competitive environments.     

Optimal and efficient semi-Latin squares

An (n×n)/k$(n\times n)/k$semi-Latin square is an n×n square array in which nk distinct symbols (representing treatments) are placed in such a way that there are exactly k   symbols in each cell (row–column intersection) and each symbol occurs once in each row and once in each column. Semi-Latin squares form a class of row–column designs generalising Latin squares, and have applications in areas including the design of agricultural experiments, consumer testing, and via their duals, human–machine interaction. In the present paper, new theoretical and computational methods are developed to determine optimal or efficient (n×n)/k$(n\times n)/k$ semi-Latin squares for values of n and k for which such semi-Latin squares were previously unknown. The concept of subsquares of uniform semi-Latin squares is studied, new applications of the DESIGN package for GAP are developed, and exact algebraic computational techniques for comparing efficiency measures of binary equireplicate block designs are described. Applications include the complete enumeration of the (4×4)/k$(4\times 4)/k$ semi-Latin squares for k=2,…,10$k=2,\dots ,10$, and the determination of those that are A-, D-, and E-optimal, the construction of efficient (6×6)/k$(6\times 6)/k$ semi-Latin squares for k=4,5,6$k=4,5,6$, and counterexamples to a long-standing conjecture of R.A. Bailey and to a similar conjecture of D. Bedford and R.M. Whitaker.     

Local Labor Market Characteristics and the Occupational Concentration of Different Sociodemographic Groups1

Abstract This paper analyzes the extent to which employment opportunities for different sociodemographic groups are concentrated in a limited number of occupations within their local labor market areas. Data from the STF-4 file of the 1980 Census of Population and Housing are used to measure the occupational concentration of these groups in 318 labor market areas (LMAs) in the United States. Regression analysis demonstrates the significance of local labor market characteristics for the occupational concentration of women and men and of whites and blacks. Gender differences in occupational concentration are strongly related to the differential effects of the industrial composition of the local labor market. Racial differences in occupational concentration are affected by the fact that working in larger, more densely populated LMAs is more significant for blacks than for whites.     

Managers' uses of models

This paper argues that management scientists need to understand how models are used by managers and correspondingly apply appropriate criteria to their own efforts. Types of models used by managers are discussed. Then an example is presented of how such understanding can be used to evaluate the worth of formal analysis. The evidence points to patterns of quite different inquiry and response by managers than have typically been envisioned by management scientists.     

The Boundary Violations Scale: an empirical measure of intergenerational boundary violations in families

This article reviews the development of a new measure to assess children's perceptions of intergenerational boundary violations in families. The Boundary Violations Scale is a theoretically derived instrument consisting of 12 items. Principal components analysis using data from 119 young adolescents from diverse ethnic backgrounds (i.e., 56% Hispanic and 44% non-Hispanic) revealed three factors (promoting maturity, forming coalitions, and communicating as peers) that are consistent with the behavioral manifestations of this construct as posited by structural family theory. The validity of the measure was supported by significant correlations with theoretically relevant measures of family processes and child adjustment as reported by children and their mothers.     

Reliability and reactivity of three new functional assessment measures

This study of the reliability of three new tests of work performance considered the effect of test reactivity on measured performance. The tests are components of an employment screening battery designed for placement of applicants in automotive assembly jobs. Statistical measures of reliability were compared with a simple measure of test reactivity in a sample of 51 healthy adults. The effect of test reactivity on employment selection decisions using various cut scores was studied. Test reactivity is found to be a significant threat to reliability that must be considered when skill-based performance tests are used on a serial basis. When intended for use on a serial basis, such tests should be studied for both reliability and reactivity. In addition to reporting traditional statistical indices of reliability, an index of the reactivity should be reported.     

Performance Assessments of Nuclear Waste Repositories: A Dialogue on Their Value and Limitations

Performance Assessment (PA) is the use of mathematical models to simulate the long-term behavior of engineered and geologic barriers in a nuclear waste repository; methods of uncertainty analysis are used to assess effects of parametric and conceptual uncertainties associated with the model system upon the uncertainty in outcomes of the simulation. PA is required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as part of its certification process for geologic repositories for nuclear waste. This paper is a dialogue to explore the value and limitations of PA. Two skeptics acknowledge the utility of PA in organizing the scientific investigations that are necessary for confident siting and licensing of a repository; however, they maintain that the PA process, at least as it is currently implemented, is an essentially unscientific process with shortcomings that may provide results of limited use in evaluating actual effects on public health and safety. Conceptual uncertainties in a PA analysis can be so great that results can be confidently applied only over short time ranges, the antithesis of the purpose behind long-term, geologic disposal. Two proponents of PA agree that performance assessment is unscientific, but only in the sense that PA is an engineering analysis that uses existing scientific knowledge to support public policy decisions, rather than an investigation intended to increase fundamental knowledge of nature; PA has different goals and constraints than a typical scientific study. The proponents describe an ideal, six-step process for conducting generalized PA, here called probabilistic systems analysis (PSA); they note that virtually all scientific content of a PA is introduced during the model-building steps of a PSA; they contend that a PA based on simple but scientifically acceptable mathematical models can provide useful and objective input to regulatory decision makers. The value of the results of any PA must lie between these two views and will depend on the level of knowledge of the site, the degree to which models capture actual physical and chemical processes, the time over which extrapolations are made, and the proper evaluation of health risks attending implementation of the repository. The challenge is in evaluating whether the quality of the PA matches the needs of decision makers charged with protecting the health and safety of the public.