Practical usage of O'Brien's OLS and GLS statistics in clinical trials

Multivariate techniques of O'Brien's OLS and GLS statistics are discussed in the context of their application in clinical trials. We introduce the concept of an operational effect size and illustrate its use to evaluate power. An extension describing how to handle covariates and missing data is developed in the context of Mixed models. This extension allowing adjustment for covariates is easily programmed in any statistical package including SAS. Monte Carlo simulation is used for a number of different sample sizes to compare the actual size and power of the tests based on O'Brien's OLS and GLS statistics.     

The “Question of the Ethnic Russians” in the Context of Ethnic Relations in the Russian Federation

The author examines the current and likely future position of the Russian ethnic group within Russia's systems of interethnic and ethnofederal relations. He also examines the meaning of the term nationalism as used in Russian politics and warns about the danger of growing imbalances in state regulation of federal and ethnic relations. He proposes a new federalism that would eliminate asymmetries in relations between ethnic Russians and other ethnic groups inhabiting the Russian Federation.     

The Content of Education in Kazakh Schools

Most of the national schools in Kazakhstan are rural ones (3, 252), and basically staffed with one teacher or partially understaffed [odnokomplektnye, malokomplektnye] [in the odnokomplektnaia shkola one teacher teaches all four grades] (2, 532). The difficulties of conducting teaching-upbringing work in such schools are well known. It is economically unfeasible to open classes for the intensive study of subjects by three to five students, as too much is spent on training one student. The one-teacher rural school is not in a position to provide youngsters with the necessary labor training, given the inadequate technical capabilities of the training-production combines. In many rural localities the training-production combine's function is performed by a repair shop or a livestock section, and in low-population districts where there are no preschool institutions or schools, children when they reach the age of seven are sent without preparation to distant boarding schools or to live with relatives. This has an impact on the development of the psychology and personal qualities of the child and on the teaching-upbringing process as a whole.     

中国人口的不确定性研究

文章对2000年人口普查所反映的生育水平、出生性别比和人口年龄结构等主要人口指标存在的不确定性进行了梳理,并运用概率人口预测方法系统讨论了中国未来人口变动趋势过程中相关人口变量的不确定性问题。结果显示,当前对中国生育率水平、出生性别比和低龄儿童人口数量的估计都存在很大的差异。这些差异直接影响中国人口目前和未来的不确定性。     

Correlated equilibrium in a nutshell

We analyze the concept of correlated equilibrium in the framework of two-player two-strategy games. This simple framework makes it possible to clearly demonstrate the characteristic features of this concept. We develop an intuitive and easily memorizable test for equilibrium conditions and provide a complete classification of symmetric correlated equilibria in symmetric games.     

SMUGGLING HUMANS: A THEORY OF DEBT‐FINANCED MIGRATION

We introduce financial constraints in a theoretical analysis of illegal immigration. Intermediaries finance the migration costs of wealth‐constrained migrants, who enter temporary servitude contracts to repay the debt. These debt/labor contracts are easier to enforce in the illegal than in the legal sector of the host country. Hence, when moving from the illegal to the legal sector becomes more costly—for instance, because of stricter deportation policies—fewer immigrants default on debt. This reduces the risks for intermediaries, who are then more willing to finance illegal migration. Stricter deportation policies may thus, ex ante, increase rather than decrease the flow of illegal migrants. Furthermore, stricter deportation policies worsen the skill composition of immigrants. While stricter border controls decrease overall immigration, they may result in an increase of debt‐financed migration. We also show that there are complementarities between employer sanctions and deportation policies. We use available evidence to check the empirical consistency of the theory. (JEL: J61, K42, O17)     

The Characteristics Approach to the Measurement of Population Aging

Conventional measures of population aging, such as proportions over age 65, can present a misleading picture of the aging process by not taking account of changes in people's characteristics beyond their chronological age—for example, changes in remaining life expectancy, health and morbidity, disability rates, and cognitive functioning. The “characteristics approach” set out in this article encompasses multiple features of population aging, yielding new measures that can better inform both demographic analysis and public policy debate. We relate the brief history of this approach, examine its basic mathematical structure, and give empirical examples of the insights it offers, drawing on data from West Germany, Japan, Russia, and the United States.