Applying the Consensual Method of Estimating Poverty in a Low Income African Setting

Social Indicators Research - We present the first study of multidimensional poverty in Benin using the consensual or socially perceived necessities approach. There is a remarkable level consensus...     

Re-randomization tests as sensitivity analyses to confirm immunological noninferiority of an investigational vaccine: Case study

Here we present as case study how re-randomization tests were performed in two randomized, controlled clinical trials as sensitivity analyses, as recommended by the United States Food and Drug Administration in the context of adaptive randomization. This was done to confirm primary conclusions on immunological noninferiority of an investigational new fully liquid presentation of a quadrivalent cross-reacting material conjugate meningococcal vaccine (MenACWY-CRM), over its licensed lyophilized/liquid presentation. In two phase 2b studies (Study #1: NCT03652610; Study #2: NCT03433482), noninferiority of the fully liquid presentation of MenACWY-CRM to the licensed presentation was assessed and demonstrated for immune responses against meningococcal serogroup A (MenA), the only vaccine component modified from lyophilized to liquid in the new presentation. The original vaccine assignment algorithm, with a minimization procedure accounting for center or center within age strata, was used to re-randomize participants belonging to the fully liquid and licensed vaccine groups while keeping antibody responses, covariates and entry order as observed. Test statistics under re-randomization were generated according to the ANCOVA model used in the primary analysis. To confirm immunological noninferiority following re-randomization, the corresponding p-values had to be <0.025. For both studies and all primary objective evaluations, the re-randomization p-values were well below 0.025 (0.0004 for Study #1; 0.0001 for the two co-primary endpoints in Study #2). Re-randomization tests performed to comply with a regulatory request confirmed the primary conclusions of immunological noninferiority for the MenA of the fully liquid compared to the licensed vaccine presentation.     

The determinants of transnational entrepreneurship and transnational ties’ dynamics among immigrant entrepreneurs in ICT sector in Italy

This article contributes to the rapidly growing literature on transnational immigrant entrepreneurship by analyzing the determinants of transnational entrepreneurial engagement among immigrants in the ICT sector in Italy. We investigate which factors influence the rise or decline of transnational entrepreneurial involvement with a home country. Our results indicate that longer residence in Italy is associated with smaller propensity to become a transnational entrepreneur. Moreover, we find that the type of transnational ties and the network size have a substantial impact on the dynamics of transnational entrepreneurial engagement.     

The policies of unemployment protection in Europe

The abundant literature on welfare state policies, regimes or ‘worlds’ has been only limitedly interested in unemployment protection, and even less in youth unemployment protection. What is clearly lacking in the literature is an updated analysis of the most recent policies developed in European countries targeting youth. This mini‐symposium aims to fill in this gap by presenting findings from an EU‐funded research project entitled ‘Youth, Unemployment and Exclusion in Europe: A Multidimensional Approach to Understanding the Conditions and Prospects for Social and Political Integration of Young Unemployed’ (YOUNEX). The main aim of the research endeavour was to develop theory and contribute to empirical knowledge concerning the social and political exclusion of unemployed youth in Europe.     

Umgang mit Jugenddelinquenz

For the German Juvenile Delinquency Court Association (Deutsche Vereinigung für Jugendgerichte und Jugendgerichtshilfen e.V.), which comprises researchers and practitioners in the field alike, the Lower Saxony Crime Research Institute (Kriminologisches Forschungsinstitut Niedersachsen e.V.), one of the most important institutions in Germany, in 1998 has compiled a detailed study ?Exclusion, Violence and Delinquency in the Life of young people — children and adolescents as victims and perpetrators“, comprising an extensive review of the literature with extensive own research results. The study takes a politically clear position: juvenile delinquency declines in quantity and intensity. Contradictory findings are based on statistical bias. Consequently, the policy of decriminalization — putting educational before correctional measures — has to be vigorously continued. The study displays a wealth of statistical material — and a wealth of serious, sometimes unforgivable methodological mistakes. At several occasions the authors explicitly dump unwanted findings. The considerable discrepancies between the main text body and the executive summary for the hurried reader further undermines confidence in the professionalism of the authors.     

Maximal symmetry and the Nash solution

The Nash Bargaining Solution is characterised by using the new axiom of Maximal Symmetry in place of Nash's Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives and Symmetry. This axiom expresses the idea that a fair arbitrator should treat symmetric alternatives in the same way, subject to the feasibility constraint. An advantage of the proposed characterisations is that they are valid on a wide set of domains, in particular domains including, or consisting of, non-convex problems. Received: 16 March 1998/Accepted: 13 October 1998     

Netzwerkberatung in Clustern

Inter-organizational networks increasingly become clients in consulting processes. At the same time inter-organizational relations and networks are essential components of regional clusters. On the basis of the differences between consulting organizations and consulting networks, it will be argued that network consulting in clusters requires at least a two level process approach that focuses on the level of inter-organizational networks in a cluster context and the level of the regional cluster itself. Based on a long-term and intensive involvement in researching and consulting an emergent regional cluster in the field of optics, we gained insights into the particularities of consulting networks in clusters. The paper contributes to the emergent research on network consulting in general and on consulting such networks in regional clusters in particular.