Fluctuating capacity of policy advice in Russia: testing theory in developing country context

ABSTRACT

Theories and concepts developed and empirically tested in the context of North American and Western European countries do not always easily transfer to another political landscape. The concept of “policy advisory system” is not an exception. On the one hand, policy processes and policy styles are not unique for each country; therefore, some generalizations can be made. On the other hand, studding particularities of policy process in a specific country can enrich theories, developed for general cases. Applying existing theories to a new context also goes a long way in verification and potential falsification – the fundamental requirement for a scientific process. This article aims to contribute to the debate on the topic of policy advisory system by comparing the development of three policies in Russia, each involving policy advisors to some extent. Based on this analysis, lessons are drawn regarding the conditions under which policy advisors can impact policy changes in an environment, alternative to “western.”     

Can Carbon Nanomaterials Improve CZTS Photovoltaic Devices? Evaluation of Performance and Impacts Using Integrated Life‐Cycle Assessment and Decision Analysis

In emergent photovoltaics, nanoscale materials hold promise for optimizing device characteristics; however, the related impacts remain uncertain, resulting in challenges to decisions on strategic investment in technology innovation. We integrate multi‐criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and life‐cycle assessment (LCA) results (LCA‐MCDA) as a method of incorporating values of a hypothetical federal acquisition manager into the assessment of risks and benefits of emerging photovoltaic materials. Specifically, we compare adoption of copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) devices with molybdenum back contacts to alternative devices employing graphite or graphene instead of molybdenum. LCA impact results are interpreted alongside benefits of substitution including cost reductions and performance improvements through application of multi‐attribute utility theory. To assess the role of uncertainty we apply Monte Carlo simulation and sensitivity analysis. We find that graphene or graphite back contacts outperform molybdenum under most scenarios and assumptions. The use of decision analysis clarifies potential advantages of adopting graphite as a back contact while emphasizing the importance of mitigating conventional impacts of graphene production processes if graphene is used in emerging CZTS devices. Our research further demonstrates that a combination of LCA and MCDA increases the usability of LCA in assessing product sustainability. In particular, this approach identifies the most influential assumptions and data gaps in the analysis and the areas in which either engineering controls or further data collection may be necessary.     

A comparative study of confidence intervals for negative binomial proportion

In this paper, we investigate four existing and three new confidence interval estimators for the negative binomial proportion (i.e., proportion under inverse/negative binomial sampling). An extensive and systematic comparative study among these confidence interval estimators through Monte Carlo simulations is presented. The performance of these confidence intervals are evaluated in terms of their coverage probabilities and expected interval widths. Our simulation studies suggest that the confidence interval estimator based on saddlepoint approximation is more appealing for large coverage levels (e.g., nominal level≤1% ) whereas the score confidence interval estimator is more desirable for those commonly used coverage levels (e.g., nominal level>1% ). We illustrate these confidence interval construction methods with a real data set from a maternal congenital heart disease study.     

Phase-II monitoring and diagnosing of multivariate categorical processes using generalized linear test-based control charts

In this paper, two control charts based on the generalized linear test (GLT) and contingency table are proposed for Phase-II monitoring of multivariate categorical processes. The performances of the proposed methods are compared with the exponentially weighted moving average-generalized likelihood ratio test (EWMA-GLRT) control chart proposed in the literature. The results show the better performance of the proposed control charts under moderate and large shifts. Moreover, a new scheme is proposed to identify the parameter responsible for an out-of-control signal. The performance of the proposed diagnosing procedure is evaluated through some simulation experiments.     

The economic design of multivariate binomial EWMA VSSI control charts

Since multi-attribute control charts have received little attention compared with multivariate variable control charts, this research is concerned with developing a new methodology to employ the multivariate exponentially weighted moving average (MEWMA) charts for m-attribute binomial processes; the attributes being the number of nonconforming items. Moreover, since the variable sample size and sampling interval (VSSI) MEWMA charts detect small process mean shifts faster than the traditional MEWMA, an economic design of the VSSI MEWMA chart is proposed to obtain the optimum design parameters of the chart. The sample size, the sampling interval, and the warning/action limit coefficients are obtained using a genetic algorithm such that the expected total cost per hour is minimized. At the end, a sensitivity analysis has been carried out to investigate the effects of the cost and the model parameters on the solution of the economic design of the VSSI MEWMA chart.     

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。     

不同阶段研发投资对企业绩效的动态效应研究:基于中国上市公司的面板数据分析

研发投资是提高企业绩效的重要途径,不同阶段的的研发投资对于企业绩效的改善存在着差异化作用。本文构建了不同阶段研发投资对企业绩效影响效应的理论模型,并以我国103家上市公司2010-2016年的相关数据为样本,从动态效应的实证分析阶段和开发阶段两个阶段的投资强度对企业绩效影响的异同,结果发现:研究阶段和开发阶段的投资对企业绩效影响均具有正向的积极影响作用,开发阶段的投资在当期对企业绩效的影响较强但不可持续,研究阶段的投资具有滞后效应并且对企业绩效的提升有比较长远的影响。因此过多关注开发阶段的投资并不能有效提高企业绩效,企业应加大研究阶段的投资,以更好地实现其在提高企业绩效中的长效作用。     

A股上市公司变相财务操纵对行业估值的影响

关于上市公司利润操控的相关研究主要是将净利润作为一个事关操控的敏感指标,但在监管与被监管双方努力的博弈下,其可被操纵的潜力已被充分挖掘。从实证角度关注上市公司财务操纵的其他可操作途径,其中就包括一些看似合理的变相财务操纵手段。按照2001年中国证监会公布的《上市公司行业分类指引》,把我国上市企业分为13个行业,对不同行业内企业2003—2013年部分主观可操控的财务指标与其所在行业的平均市盈率进行格兰杰因果检验和回归分析,结果表明,一些行业内企业的部分财务指标与其所在行业的平均市盈率存在领先与滞后关系,并且影响作用显著。     

我国居民文化消费影响因素探析

运用我国1983—2012年的数据,通过实证分析考察了可支配收入、教育水平、金融发展和政府文化事业支出对我国居民文化消费的影响。长期均衡分析结果表明,教育水平和金融发展对我国居民文化消费具有显著的促进作用;教育水平提高1%,居民文化消费增加0.454%;金融机构信贷提高1%,居民文化消费增加0.363%;可支配收入和政府文化事业支出对居民文化消费的影响不显著。脉冲响应分析结果表明,可支配收入冲击对居民文化消费的影响在短期由正向转为负向,教育水平冲击和金融发展冲击对居民文化消费短期具有正向影响,政府文化事业支出冲击对居民文化消费短期具有负面影响。根据实证分析的结论,文章提出了扩大我国居民文化消费的政策建议。