Deriving Behavior Model Parameters from Survey Data: Self‐Protective Behavior Adoption During the 2009–2010 Influenza A(H1N1) Pandemic

In this paper, we demonstrate how public opinion surveys can be designed to collect information pertinent to computational behavior modeling, and we present the results of a public opinion and behavior survey conducted during the 2009–2010 H1N1 influenza pandemic. The results are used to parameterize the Health Belief Model of individual health‐protective decision making. Survey subjects were asked questions about their perceptions of the then‐circulating influenza and attitudes towards two personal protective behaviors: vaccination and avoidance of crowds. We empirically address two important issues in applying the Health Belief Model of behavior to computational infectious disease simulation: (1) the factors dynamically influencing the states of the Health Belief Model variables and (2) the appropriateness of the Health Belief Model in describing self‐protective behavior in the context of pandemic influenza.     

Bounding Optimal Expected Revenues for Assortment Optimization under Mixtures of Multinomial Logits

We consider assortment problems under a mixture of multinomial logit models. There is a fixed revenue associated with each product. There are multiple customer types. Customers of different types choose according to different multinomial logit models whose parameters depend on the type of the customer. The goal is to find a set of products to offer so as to maximize the expected revenue obtained over all customer types. This assortment problem under the multinomial logit model with multiple customer types is NP‐complete. Although there are heuristics to find good assortments, it is difficult to verify the optimality gap of the heuristics. In this study, motivated by the difficulty of finding optimal solutions and verifying the optimality gap of heuristics, we develop an approach to construct an upper bound on the optimal expected revenue. Our approach can quickly provide upper bounds and these upper bounds can be quite tight. In our computational experiments, over a large set of randomly generated problem instances, the upper bounds provided by our approach deviate from the optimal expected revenues by 0.15% on average and by less than one percent in the worst case. By using our upper bounds, we are able to verify the optimality gaps of a greedy heuristic accurately, even when optimal solutions are not available.     

Relationships among JIT practices: an interpretive modeling approach

Abstract

This research develops a model of relationships among components of Total-JIT, including JIT-information, JIT-manufacturing, JIT-purchasing, and JIT-selling, to establish an implementation hierarchy based on relative importance. The data collected relates to the relationships among JIT components and two performance measures, supply chain competency and organizational performance. Two groups are used in the research, one group of five operations management academics and another group of 30 practicing operations managers working in U.S. manufacturing firms. An interpretive structural modelling methodology is used to develop alternative structural models. The academics’ data show JIT-information emerging as lynchpin of relationships, directly impacting all other JIT practices and both performance measures. The practitioners’ data indicates that all JIT practices and performance measures are interactive as components and outcomes. This study is the first to apply interpretive structural modelling to investigate the interplay among total-JIT components and the performance measures of supply chain competency and organizational performance.     

舆论领袖传播影响力的阶段式建模分析

在网络社会,无论是网络推手炒作谣言,还是官方微博积极应对,都可视作舆论领袖在舆情演化过程中发挥传播影响力。本文将舆情演化过程分为两个阶段,在两个阶段分别应用不同的仿真模型对不同作用舆论领袖的传播影响力进行分析。第一个阶段是舆情危机爆发阶段,即舆情危机"从无到有",分析网络推手在该阶段的扩散影响力,以SIR经典传染病模型为基础,构建包含有网络推手作用的扩散影响力模型;第二个阶段是舆情危机平息阶段,即舆情危机"从有到无",分析官方微博在该阶段的证伪影响力,以Lotka-Volterra竞争关系模型为基础,研究官方微博如何发挥证伪影响力与网络推手进行博弈。结合具体舆情实例对阶段式模型进行验证分析,并提出如何根据舆论领袖不同传播作用应对舆情危机相关政策建议,以期帮助决策者打击网络谣言、平息舆情危机。     

一基于SEM的经济发展与社会发展关系——以济南市为例

利用济南市2001—2013年的数据,构建济南市经济与社会发展关系的结构方程模型(SEM),考量经济发展的4个潜变量(经济水平、经济结构、经济增速、经济物耗)与社会发展的4个潜变量(居民的生活质量、社会稳定、人口素质、生态环境)间的相互影响,结果表明,居民生活质量正相关于人口素质和经济水平,人口素质正相关于经济水平;居民生活质量作用于社会稳定,而社会稳定是生活质量的固有要求;生态环境负相关于经济增速和经济物耗。     

Influence diagnostics for the Weibull-Negative-Binomial regression model with cure rate under latent failure causes

In this paper, we propose a flexible cure rate survival model by assuming that the number of competing causes of the event of interest follows the Negative Binomial distribution and the time to event follows a Weibull distribution. Indeed, we introduce the Weibull-Negative-Binomial (WNB) distribution, which can be used in order to model survival data when the hazard rate function is increasing, decreasing and some non-monotonous shaped. Another advantage of the proposed model is that it has some distributions commonly used in lifetime analysis as particular cases. Moreover, the proposed model includes as special cases some of the well-know cure rate models discussed in the literature. We consider a frequentist analysis for parameter estimation of a WNB model with cure rate. Then, we derive the appropriate matrices for assessing local influence on the parameter estimates under different perturbation schemes and present some ways to perform global influence analysis. Finally, the methodology is illustrated on a medical data.     

曲线分类建模方法及其在GDP预测中的应用

传统方法解决大规模时序曲线的预测建模问题,需要对每条曲线逐一建模,使得建模工作量相当庞大,在实际应用中缺乏可操作性。文章提出一种解决此问题的新方法——曲线分类建模方法。该方法先减少曲线的模型种类,再进行曲线分类和分类建模,在尽可能保留原始信息的前提下较大程度地降低了建模的工作量。文章阐述了该方法的原理和计算过程,并以应用于多地区GDP曲线的预测案例说明该方法的实用性和有效性。     

Migration Decisions of Dual-earner Families: An Application of Multilevel Modeling

A comprehensive framework for guiding analyses of internal migration is lacking. This study contributes to the family migration literature in three important ways. We develop a multilevel theoretical framework emphasizing an integration of individual-, family-, and neighborhood-level effects; introduce multilevel statistical modeling; and explicitly assess how effects of economic-based explanatory variables vary by gender. Our data are from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). We find that the likelihood of a family migrating is affected by economic and non-economic factors, some of which vary by gender. We add to the dual-earner migration literature by finding that wives are not likely to be tied-movers, but husbands are likely to be tied-stayers. Neighborhood factors also are important to the decision to migrate.

基于过程划分的可再生能源技术扩散模型

把握技术扩散的机理和主要特征是可再生能源发展规划和管理优化的基础。本文基于信息扩散、技术经济、社会认可度等因素对可再生能源技术的影响及其作用机理分析,根据投资者状态变化,将技术扩散过程划分为技术获悉、效益计算和技术认可三个阶段,构建了可再生能源技术扩散(即潜在投资者转变为最终投资者)过程的数理模型。探讨了可再生能源技术扩散的速度有限性、政策效率递减性以及区域差异性三个关键特征,结合算例验证模型并进一步分析了技术扩散的不同驱动力,从而为可再生能源技术扩散机理政策制定提供理论支持和意见建议。     

Macro-Economic Factors in Credit Risk Calculations: Including Time-Varying Covariates in Mixture Cure Models

The prediction of the time of default in a credit risk setting via survival analysis needs to take a high censoring rate into account. This rate is because default does not occur for the majority of debtors. Mixture cure models allow the part of the loan population that is unsusceptible to default to be modeled, distinct from time of default for the susceptible population. In this article, we extend the mixture cure model to include time-varying covariates. We illustrate the method via simulations and by incorporating macro-economic factors as predictors for an actual bank dataset.