Does Good Governance Enhance Happiness: A Cross Nation Study

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the efficiency of the countries over the period of 10 years by applying data envelopment analysis (DEA). Based on rational and factual parameters such as freedom of press, freedom of religion, percentage of export in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), index of globalization, life expectancy at birth, gender ratio etc., this paper attempts to measure the efficiency of happiness. A combination of social and economic factors has been used to measure technical efficiency. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, it measures the relative efficiency of all the countries included in the study. The nations have been ranked as per their relative efficiency and the peer group has been formed. Second a comparison between the rich and the poor countries have been done to test empirically whether the economic growth enhances the happiness among people. Presently, more than 3,000 studies have been published on happiness and Veenhoven in 2004 created a database called World Database of Happiness. The World Database of Happiness has attempted to present the available research findings on happiness. Part of the findings on happiness in nations is available in ‘States of nations’. For the research purpose, States of Nations and the data published by have been considered. Although happiness has been quantified and the existing literature has sufficient empirical evidences of the same, in the present context, the relative efficiency has been calculated for the countries on basis of objective and subjective happiness parameters. As per the literature, happiness has two aspects (1) objective and (2) subjective. Objective parameters are external to the individuals and covers material living parameters viz. GDP growth, income, nutrition, mortality rate, literacy etc. However, Subjective indicators measure the quality of life of the individuals. These are summarized as ‘‘subjective well-being’’. The various parameters considered in the study capture different aspects of happiness. The result shows how the government can increase the happiness of the people by analyzing the behavior and expectations. People express their preference explicitly about political parties, religion believes, law and order situation, trust in official institutions etc. Although, the behavior of people largely depends upon availability of goods and services in the market, the government can make budgets according to priority or preferences of people. Another way to increase happiness can be done by analyzing the peer group, which is an outcome of DEA. This shows the nations which are similar in terms of their economic and social conditions. The government can compare the prevailing conditions in different countries that improve the condition in their respective country. This could be an effective method as some of the parameters can be replicable in order to make people happier. The limitation of this study is lack of availability of data for many countries. As the number of countries increases, a change in the relative efficiency can be observed. Therefore, a future study can be conducted where the relevant data can be collected and a more global result can be obtained.     

Analysis of a two-echelon inventory system with returns

Product take-back and recovery activities have grown in recent times as a consequence of stringent government regulations and increased customer awareness of environmental pollution. Inventory management in the context of product returns has drawn the attention of many researchers. However, the inherent complexity of the system with uncertain returns makes the analysis of the system extremely difficult. So far, the literature on this type of system is mostly limited to single echelons. The few papers available in literature on multi-echelon systems with returns base their analyses on simplified assumptions such as non-existence or non-relevance of set-up and holding costs at different levels. In this paper, we relax these assumptions and consider a two-echelon system with returns under more generalized conditions. We develop a deterministic model as well as a stochastic model under continuous review for the system, and provide numerical examples for illustration.     

Pearsonian Type I curve and its fertility projection potentials

New procedures are developed in this article for estimating parameters of the Pearsonian Type I curve which are particularly adaptive to factors influencing the pattern of age-specific fertility rates. It is shown that with this model the number of parameters required for the graduation and simulation of these rates can be reduced to only three—total fertility rate, mean and modal ages of fertility. The reduction in the number of fertility parameters offers considerable operational and analytical advantages, and makes the Pearsonian Type I curve particularly appropriate for the construction of a parametric model for fertility projections. In light of the results of empirical tests based on fertility data for Canada, the model’s potential for birth projections appears quite promising.     

Date fighting experiences among college students: are they associated with other health-risk behaviors?

OBJECTIVE: The authors examined the clustering of health-risk behaviors among college students who reported date fight involvement. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: The authors administered a Web-based survey to a stratified random sample of 3,920 college students from 10 universities in North Carolina. RESULTS: Among men, 5.6% reported date fight victimization, and 1% reported date fight perpetration. Victimization among men was associated with (1) first drink at age 15 years or younger, (2) a recent threat of violence by someone who had been drinking, (3) smoking, (4) amphetamine use, and (5) older age. Among women, 6.7% reported date fight victimization, which was associated with (1) older age, (2) assault from a student who had been drinking, (3) sex with 2 or more persons, (4) consumption of alcohol in high school, (5) illegal drug use, (6) nonsexual assault requiring medical treatment, and (7) living off campus. Of the women, 4.2% reported date fight perpetration, which was associated with (1) minority race/ethnicity, (2) older age, (3) frequency of sexual intercourse, and (4) alcohol and marijuana use. CONCLUSIONS: Date fight experiences were associated with multiple health-risk behaviors among this sample of college students.     

Sequential estimation of the sum of sinusoidal model parameters

Estimating the parameters of the sum of a sinusoidal model in presence of additive noise is a classical problem. It is well known to be a difficult problem when the two adjacent frequencies are not well separated or when the number of components is very large. In this paper we propose a simple sequential procedure to estimate the unknown frequencies and amplitudes of the sinusoidal signals. It is observed that if there are p components in the signal then at the k  th (k?p)$(k?p)$ stage our procedure produces strongly consistent estimators of the k   dominant sinusoids. For k>p$k>p$, the amplitude estimators converge to zero almost surely. Asymptotic distribution of the proposed estimators is also established and it is observed that it coincides with the asymptotic distribution of the least squares estimators. Numerical simulations are performed to observe the performance of the proposed estimators for different sample sizes and for different models. One ECG data and one synthesized data are analyzed for illustrative purpose.     

Youth Participation in U.S. Contexts: Student Voice Without a National Mandate

Unlike the United Kingdom and other nations that mandate youth participation to some degree, U.S. policies instead tend to inhibit child participation rather than encourage it. Given these policy contexts, it can be challenging to locate spaces where robust opportunities for democratic participation and student voice exist. We use this article as an opportunity to examine the disciplinary, philosophical and methodological approaches that have framed youth participation in youth contexts. We conclude by identifying critical issues of citizenship and belonging that must be considered in participatory research.     

Merchandizing the Sacred: Commodifying Hindu Religion,Gods/Goddesses,and Festivals in the United States

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 opened the gates for immigrants from India, who have come to the United States for various reasons other than religion. Their religious consciousness has grown along with the age of their children who are born in the United States. They have felt the need to retain and hand down their tradition and culture. In the process, sustaining their tradition and culture has become equivalent with religion, so they express it through rituals and festivals. With these festive observances has developed an intimate connection between commerce and religion, fashion and festival, celebration and consumption. In this scholarly essay, I analyze how Hindu religion has succumbed to the world of advertisements, mass production, and marketing in the United States. This aspect is significant because it gives an opportunity to conceptualize a larger transnational space that deals with Hindu religious practices and sees the participation of retailers and businesses located in various Hindu diasporic spaces using various marketing media strategically.     

Multidimensional Poverty: Measurement,Estimation, and Inference

Calibration in macroeconomics involves choosing fre parameters by matching certain moments of simulted models with those of data. We formally examine this method by treating the process of calibration as an econometric estimator. A numerical version of the Mehra-Prescott (1985) economy is the setting for an evaluation of calibration estimators via Monte Carlo methods. While these estimators sometimes have reasonable finite-sample properties they are not robust to mistakes in setting non-free parameters. In contrast, generalized method-of-moments (GMM) estimators have satisfactory finite-sample characteristics, quick convergence, and informational requirements less stringent than those of calibration estimators. In dynamic equilibrium models in which GMM is infeasible we offer some suggestions for improving estimates based on calibration methodology.     

Pedagogy and Activism – Do the Two Mix? A Dialogue on Social Justice and Its Place in The Classroom

In this introductory essay, I reflect on the connection between pedagogy and activism and introduce the three contributors to this special section on the topic. More specifically, I chart key points in the history of sociology in the West asking readers to consider whether sociology has ever been value-free. In the process, I invoke sociologists who thought it essential for integration of sociological thought and practice (albeit not necessarily in the form of activism), ponder the meaning of science and think about the meaning of an education in sociology. As part of the discussion, I also present my position on sociology, pedagogy, and activism.     

Cultural adaptations in psychosocial interventions for post-traumatic stress disorder among refugees: A systematic review

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to systematically review randomized controlled trials on non-pharmaceutical interventions for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among adult refugees with a focus on identifying common cultural adaptations and reviewing possible effects of such adaptations on outcomes. The conducted systematic search yielded 11 studies. The strongest support was for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). Commonly used cultural adaptations in the reviewed studies included modifications in personnel and setting context, changes in content, and translation or adaptation of evaluation tools.