Effects of Alternative Policies on Income Redistribution: Evidence from Brazil

Despite recent successes, Brazilian income (cash) transfer policies remain controversial, and alternative approaches to income redistribution are being actively considered. This article contributes to this debate, analysing the effects of several alternative policies for income redistribution in the Brazilian economy using a computable general equilibrium model. Simulations were conducted consistent with the following policies: direct transfer of income, reduction of taxes, and incentives to agricultural exports. The results suggest that transfer of income is the most effective in promoting redistribution of income, with a positive impact on the level of welfare of the poorest households.     

Analysis of all-zero binomial outcomes with borderline and equilibrium priors

This article is concerned with the analysis of a random sample from a binomial distribution when all the outcomes are zero (or unity). We discuss how elicitation of the prior can be reduced to asking the expert whether (and which of) the so-called borderline or equilibrium priors are plausible.     

德沃金的建构性解释与反思平衡

“反思平衡”是一种道德原则或道德理论的证立方法,其具体过程可以分为四个阶段.反思平衡包括狭窄的反思平衡和宽泛的反思平衡,二者追求的目标分别是局部融贯和整体融贯.德沃金的“建构性解释”方法是反思平衡在法理学中的应用.建构性解释中的“符合”和“最佳”维度分别体现了狭窄的反思平衡和宽泛的反思平衡的要求.     

Investigating the Structural Validity of Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scales Across Two Samples

Ryff’s (1989b) Psychological Well-Being (PWB) scales measure six related constructs of human functioning. The present paper examined the validity of Ryff’s 6-factor PWB model, using data from a life events study (N = 401) and an organisational climate study (N = 679). Previous validation studies, using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), have identified alternative PWB models, but limitations include the use of shorter scale versions with items relating to a number of life domains within the same PWB factor, and failure to examine the influence of participants’ socio-demographic characteristics on PWB. In this study, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) mostly found consistency in the PWB items and structure between the two studies whereby a 3-factor model delineated between items relating to Autonomy, Positive Relations and a super-ordinate factor comprising the other PWB factors. Using CFA, Goodness of Fit indices reached acceptable levels for the adjusted PWB model identified by the EFA, whilst differences between adjusted models of PWB previously identified in the literature were hardly evident. Post-hoc analysis by gender demonstrated socio-demographic effects on the structure and items that comprise PWB. Further development of PWB measures is needed to reflect its hierarchical and multi-dimensional nature. In the scales’ current form, the construct validation of the PWB factors will continue to be problematic and will fail to adequately evaluate the nature and impact of PWB.     

COMPARATIVE CALIBRATION WITH SUBGROUPS

The main object of this paper is to consider structural comparative calibration models under the assumption that the unknown quantity being measured is not identically distributed for all units. We consider the situation where the mean of the unknown quantity being measured is different within subgroups of the population. Method of moments and maximum likelihood estimators are considered for estimating the parameters in the model. Large sample inference is facilitated by the derivation of the asymptotic variances. An application to a data set which indeed motivated the consideration of such general model and was obtained by measuring the heights of a group of trees with five different instruments is considered.     

个人选择与政府选择的制度平衡

中国近几十年的经济发展与个人选择权的增加和政府控制的减少有很大关系,而目前两者之间相互调整的不到位是一些深层次社会结构性矛盾产生的主要原因。在全球化背景下,如何立足中国的现实环境,探讨中国长治久安、和谐发展的社会制度安排,尤其是个人选择与政府选择之间的制度平衡,是一个重要的理论和实践课题。     

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This article develops a new identification procedure to estimate the contemporaneous relation between monetary policy and the stock market within a vector autoregression (VAR) framework. The approach combines high-frequency data from the futures market with the VAR methodology to circumvent exclusion restrictions and achieve identification. Our analysis casts doubt on VAR models imposing a recursive structure between innovations in policy rates and stock returns. We find that a tightening in policy rates has a negative impact on stock prices and that the Federal Reserve (Fed) has responded significantly to movements in the stock market. Estimates are robust to various model specifications.     

Case–control genome-wide joint association study using semiparametric empirical model and approximate Bayes factor

We propose a semiparametric approach for the analysis of case–control genome-wide association study. Parametric components are used to model both the conditional distribution of the case status given the covariates and the distribution of genotype counts, whereas the distribution of the covariates are modelled nonparametrically. This yields a direct and joint modelling of the case status, covariates and genotype counts, and gives a better understanding of the disease mechanism and results in more reliable conclusions. Side information, such as the disease prevalence, can be conveniently incorporated into the model by an empirical likelihood approach and leads to more efficient estimates and a powerful test in the detection of disease-associated SNPs. Profiling is used to eliminate a nuisance nonparametric component, and the resulting profile empirical likelihood estimates are shown to be consistent and asymptotically normal. For the hypothesis test on disease association, we apply the approximate Bayes factor (ABF) which is computationally simple and most desirable in genome-wide association studies where hundreds of thousands to a million genetic markers are tested. We treat the approximate Bayes factor as a hybrid Bayes factor which replaces the full data by the maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters of interest in the full model and derive it under a general setting. The deviation from Hardy–Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) is also taken into account and the ABF for HWE using cases is shown to provide evidence of association between a disease and a genetic marker. Simulation studies and an application are further provided to illustrate the utility of the proposed methodology.     

Max-min DEA模型及效率讨价还价均衡解

建立一类新的DEA模型,即Max-min DEA模型.该模型通过最大化最小效率单元的效率,结合了自评与互评的思路,在一定程度上克服了仅仅采用自评思想的经典DEA模型的缺陷.文中Max-min均衡模型问题在于保护“弱小”单元的同时,有可能损害其它单元的效率.为克服该问题,文章通过Nash讨价还价模型求解Max-min均衡模型与CCR模型的讨价均衡解.最后用算例进行了演示计算.     

光度法同时测定磷和硅的研究

用钼蓝法分别测定磷和硅的含量多有报导［１］［２］［３］，但用该法对其进行同时测定未见报导．本文探讨了用钼蓝法同时测定磷和硅，确定了其测定条件．本法具有简便、快速、不需特殊试剂等特点，可用于水等试样中磷和硅的同时测定．