Relative Income and Happiness in Asia: Evidence from Nationwide Surveys in China, Japan, and Korea

This study attempts to examine relative income effects on perceived happiness in three major Asian countries—China, Japan, and Korea—in comparison with the United Sates, on the basis of largely comparable nationwide surveys in these countries. Consistent with the results from previous studies in Western countries, comparisons with an individual’s own income and average income of the reference group are significantly associated with the individual’s perceived happiness in Asia. The associations between relative income and happiness are stronger for individual income than family income in China, while the opposite is true in Japan and Korea. Even after controlling for the subjective assessment of family income or personal class identification within the society as a whole, income comparisons within the reference group matter for assessing happiness, especially when using family income for comparisons. Moreover, relative deprivation within the reference group, which is measured by the Yitzhaki index, is negatively related to happiness, providing more evidence for the validity of the relative income hypothesis.     

Sample size determination for clinical trials with co‐primary outcomes: exponential event times

Clinical trials with event‐time outcomes as co‐primary contrasts are common in many areas such as infectious disease, oncology, and cardiovascular disease. We discuss methods for calculating the sample size for randomized superiority clinical trials with two correlated time‐to‐event outcomes as co‐primary contrasts when the time‐to‐event outcomes are exponentially distributed. The approach is simple and easily applied in practice. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On Testing Sample Selection Bias Under the Multicollinearity Problem

ABSTRACT

This paper reviews and extends the literature on the finite sample behavior of tests for sample selection bias. Monte Carlo results show that, when the “multicollinearity problem” identified by Nawata (1993 Nawata , K. ( 1993 ). A note on the estimation of models with sample-selection biases . Economics Letters 42 : 15 – 24 . [CSA] [CROSSREF] [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) is severe, (i) the t-test based on the Heckman–Greene variance estimator can be unreliable, (ii) the Likelihood Ratio test remains powerful, and (iii) nonnormality can be interpreted as severe sample selection bias by Maximum Likelihood methods, leading to negative Wald statistics. We also confirm previous findings (Leung and Yu, 1996 Leung , S. F. , Yu , S. ( 1996 ). On the choice between sample selection and two-part models . Journal of Econometrics 72 : 197 – 229 . [CSA] [CROSSREF] [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) that the standard regression-based t-test (Heckman, 1979 Heckman , J. J. ( 1979 ). Sample selection bias as a specification error . Econometrica 47 : 153 – 161 . [CSA] [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and the asymptotically efficient Lagrange Multiplier test (Melino, 1982 Melino , A. ( 1982 ). Testing for sample selection bias . Review of Economic Studies 49 : 151 – 153 . [CSA] [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), are robust to nonnormality but have very little power.     

Value added distribution of parcels in Japan

Yamato Transport Corporation recently entered the parcels business and has been very successful, taking the largest share of the market, in competition with the Japanese Post Office. By the use of a computerized information system, the company provides a rapid high quality service. Yamoto offers a pick up and delivery service. It uses retail stores for receiving the parcels and every driver has a small ‘point of sale’ terminal. The company has built its transportation network systematically, one step at a time.     

Power-divergence-type measure of departure from symmetry for square contingency tables that have nominal categories

For square contingency tables that have nominal categories, Tomizawa considered two kinds of measure to represent the degree of departure from symmetry. This paper proposes a generalization of those measures. The proposed measure is expressed by using the average of the power divergence of Cressie and Read, or the average of the diversity index of Patil and Taillie. Special cases of the proposed measure include Tomizawa's measures. The proposed measure would be useful for comparing the degree of departure from symmetry in several tables.     

Frontiers in population ecology of microtine rodents: A pluralistic approach to the study of population ecology

Current challenges for the study of population ecology of microtine rodents are reviewed. Comparisons with other taxonomic groups (other mammals, birds and insects) are given throughout. A major challenge is to link patterns and processes (i.e. mechanisms) better than is the case today. Other major challenges include the furthering of our understanding of the interaction between deterministic and stochastic processes, and as part thereof, the interaction between density-dependent and density-independent processes. The applicability of comparative studies on populations exhibiting different temporal dynamical patterns is, in this connection, emphasized. Understanding spatiotemporal dynamical patterns is another major challenge, not the least from a methodological point of view. Long-term and large-scale ecological data on population dynamics (in space and time) are critical for this purpose. Looking for consistency between hypothesized mechanisms and observed patterns is emphasized as a good platform for further empirical and theoretical work. The intellectual feedback process between different approaches to the study of microtine population ecology (observational studies, experimental manipulative studies, statistical modeling and mathematical modeling) are discussed. We recommend a pluralistic approach (involving both observational and experimental as well as theoretical studies) to the study of small rodent ecology.     

Mapping the regional transition to cyclicity inClethrionomys rufocanus: Spectral densities and functional data analysis

We study the regional transitions in dynamics of the gray-sided vole,Clethrionomys rufocanus, within Hokkaido, Japan. The data-set consists of 225 time series of varying length (most from 23 to 31 years long) collected between 1962 and 1992 by the Forestry Agency of the Japanese Government. To see clearly how the periodic behavior changes geographically, we estimate the spectral density functions of the growth rates of all populations using a log-spline method. We subsequently apply functional data analysis to the estimated densities. The functional data analysis is, in this context, analogous to a principal component analysis applied to curves. We plot the results of the analysis on the map of Hokkaido, to reveal a clear transition from relatively stable populations in the southwest and west to populations undergoing 3–4 year cycles in the northeast and east. The degree of seasonality in the vegetation and the rodent demography appear to be strongest in the cyclic area. We briefly speculate that the destabilization of the rodent dynamics is linked to increased seasonalforcing on the trophic interactions in which the gray-sided voles are involved.     

Child Poverty as a Determinant of Life Outcomes: Evidence from Nationwide Surveys in Japan

We attempt to examine the extent to which poverty in childhood adversely affects success in adulthood, using micro data from nationwide surveys in Japan and taking into account the recursive structure of life outcomes. We use retrospective assessments of income class at the age of 15, because longitudinal data on household income are not available. After controlling for its endogeneity, we confirm that children from poor families tend to have lower educational attainment, face higher poverty risks, and assess themselves as being less happy and as suffering from poorer health.     

Inter-organizational collaborative research networks in semiconductor lasers 1975–1994

How does the development of collaborative research networks vary? This paper investigates how research networks have developed in the same technological fields in North America, Europe, and Asia. Exploring inter-organizational co-authored papers published in the Applied Physics Letters from 1975 to 1994, we first map the collaborative research networks and demonstrate that research networks were more developed in scale and scope in North America than in Europe and Asia in semiconductor laser technology. U.S. organizations played a nodal role in networking throughout this time period. Addressing how research networks were more developed in the U.S. than in Japan in particular, this paper concludes that engineer mobility, academic–industry relationships, and entrepreneurial startups were the key factors for the development of collaborative networks during the periods studied.