Productivity,efficiency, and non-performing loans in the Chinese banking industry

In this paper, the directional distance function and the metafrontier-Luenberger productivity indicator are used to measure the efficiency and the total factor productivity in 25 Chinese commercial banks over the period between 2004 and 2010. It is found that the pure technical efficiency of the state-owned commercial banks is better than that of the joint-stock commercial banks and the city commercial banks, while non-interest income is the major source of inefficiency. In total, the Chinese banking industry performs well in terms of overall productivity. The technological scale change indicating the change of return to scale in technology is the driving force for overall productivity growth. However, the pure technical efficiency change and the pure technologic change are not significant, and the scale efficiency change has a negative effect to productivity. The potential technological relative change for the three groups is greater than zero.     

关于美国马里兰学院大学课程开发模式的思考

马里兰学院大学是全美范围内第一所实现网上教学的院校,正是基于网上教学,马里兰学院大学积累了丰富的课程开发经验,并经过多年的探索形成了一套独具特色的工作模式。本文在对马里兰学院大学的课程开发模式介绍的基础上,提出我们对远程课程建设相关问题的思考。     

The minimum L2 distance estimator for Poisson mixture models

A robust estimator is developed for Poisson mixture models with a known number of components. The proposed estimator minimizes the L₂ distance between a sample of data and the model. When the component distributions are completely known, the estimators for the mixing proportions are in closed form. When the parameters for the component Poisson distributions are unknown, numerical methods are needed to calculate the estimators. Compared to the minimum Hellinger distance estimator, the minimum L₂ estimator can be less robust to extreme outliers, and often more robust to moderate outliers.     

Modified minimum covariance determinant estimator and its application to outlier detection of chemical process data

To overcome the main flaw of minimum covariance determinant (MCD) estimator, i.e. difficulty to determine its main parameter h, a modified-MCD (M-MCD) algorithm is proposed. In M-MCD, the self-adaptive iteration is proposed to minimize the deflection between the standard deviation of robust mahalanobis distance square, which is calculated by MCD with the parameter h based on the sample, and the standard deviation of theoretical mahalanobis distance square by adjusting the parameter h of MCD. Thus, the optimal parameter h of M-MCD is determined when the minimum deflection is obtained. The results of convergence analysis demonstrate that M-MCD has good convergence property. Further, M-MCD and MCD were applied to detect outliers for two typical data and chemical process data, respectively. The results show that M-MCD can get the optimal parameter h by using the self-adaptive iteration and thus its performances of outlier detection are better than MCD.     

Discriminating among Weibull,log-normal,and log-logistic distributions

In this article, we consider the problem of the model selection/discrimination among three different positively skewed lifetime distributions. All these three distributions, namely; the Weibull, log-normal, and log-logistic, have been used quite effectively to analyze positively skewed lifetime data. In this article, we have used three different methods to discriminate among these three distributions. We have used the maximized likelihood method to choose the correct model and computed the asymptotic probability of correct selection. We have further obtained the Fisher information matrices of these three different distributions and compare them for complete and censored observations. These measures can be used to discriminate among these three distributions. We have also proposed to use the Kolmogorov–Smirnov distance to choose the correct model. Extensive simulations have been performed to compare the performances of the three different methods. It is observed that each method performs better than the other two for some distributions and for certain range of parameters. Further, the loss of information due to censoring are compared for these three distributions. The analysis of a real dataset has been performed for illustrative purposes.     

The Narcissism of Minor Differences as Distance Regulators in Core Intimacy Problems

Freud's narcissism of minor differences is explored in the context of couple therapy. The paper attempts to highlight how these minor differences manifest themselves in the development of major relationship crises. In particular an attempt is made to illustrate how these minor differences come to act as distance regulators in the delicate intimacy dance of the too‐near, too‐far dynamic.     

Assessing attitudes of college students toward cross-cultural relationships: Implications for social work practice,research, and education

Higher education in America is a major social institution and an incubator of intellectual thought, holding an important and transformative place in the public domain, but it has also been implicated in the perpetuation of inequality, and the feeding of racial animus. The research question guiding this quantitative study explored predictors of college students’ perceptions of interracial relationships, which led to the querying of factors likely to impact social distance regarding interracial relationships at a mid-sized, diverse, rural university in the south. Two instruments were utilized to test the variables; the Bogardus Social Distance scale and the Social Dominance Orientation scale. The findings indicate statistical significance among two of the three variables examined, when controlling for socioeconomic and demographic variables; positive interracial experiences (p = < .002) and, greater amounts of interracial social contact (p = < .046) predict lower social distances regarding interracial relationships. Implications for higher education involve greater efforts toward social inclusion, increased cultural sensitivity, and an acknowledgment of the current and past structural and systemic inequities that have hindered positive race relations, and a vow to rectify those.     

Outlier detection with Mahalanobis square distance: incorporating small sample correction factor

Mahalanobis square distances (MSDs) based on robust estimators improves outlier detection performance in multivariate data. However, the unbiasedness of robust estimators are not guaranteed when the sample size is small and this reduces their performance in outlier detection. In this study, we propose a framework that uses MSDs with incorporated small sample correction factor (c) and show its impact on performance when the sample size is small. This is achieved by using two prototypes, minimum covariance determinant estimator and S-estimators with bi-weight and t-biweight functions. The results from simulations show that distribution of MSDs for non-extreme observations are more likely to fit to chi-square with p degrees of freedom and MSDs of the extreme observations fit to F distribution, when c is incorporated into the model. However, without c, the distributions deviate significantly from chi-square and F observed for the case with incorporated c. These results are even more prominent for S-estimators. We present seven distinct comparison methods with robust estimators and various cut-off values and test their outlier detection performance with simulated data. We also present an application of some of these methods to the real data.     

组织邻近和组织背景对组织合作创新地理距离的影响

地理邻近与创新的关系是多年来学术界一直关注的热点,但地理邻近对创新影响机理的研究仍存在不足。基于组织合作视角,在分析地理邻近对组织合作创新直接作用机理的基础上,选取2006年至2011年中国钢铁产业的发明专利作为研究样本,采用最小二乘法和序列逻辑回归方法实证研究组织邻近和组织背景对组织合作创新所跨越的地理距离的影响,分析组织合作创新的地理邻近程度与组织邻近和组织背景之间的关系,探讨地理邻近对组织合作创新的间接作用机理。研究结果表明,组织合作创新的地理邻近程度随组织邻近程度和组织背景的变化而变化。组织邻近程度越高,组织合作创新的地理邻近程度越低,组织合作创新跨越距离越大。3种组织背景不同的合作创新类型中,学术机构合作创新的地理邻近程度最高,合作创新跨越的距离最小;产学研合作创新次之,距离居中;企业合作创新最低,距离最大。     

Coresidence With Elderly Parents: A Comparative Study of Southeast China and Taiwan

Using recent survey data from the Panel Study of Family Dynamics (PSFD) on 1,655 married persons born in 1964-1976 in southeastern China and Taiwan, we studied coresidence with elderly parents using a multinomial probit model for coresidence type and an ordered probit model for residential distance. The study yielded four findings: (a) Patrilocal coresidence was more prevalent in Taiwan than in China; (b) matrilocal coresidence was more prevalent in China; (c) practical factors mattered in both places; (d) in Taiwan only, a couple's economic resources facilitated breaking away from patrilocal coresidence. The findings suggest that, although economic development does not necessarily result in less traditional familial culture, personal economic resources may enable individual couples to deviate from tradition.