Book Reviews

Books reviewed: Charles Antaki and Sue Widdicombe (eds.)., Identities in Talk Tove Skutnab‐Kangas, Linguistic Genocide in Education–or Worldwide Diversity and Human Rights? Marnie Holborow, The Politics of English: A Marxist View of Language Clare Mar‐Molinero, The Spanish Speaking World: A Practical Introduction to Sociolinguistic Issues Gail E. Hawisher and Cynthia L. Selfe (eds.), Global Literacies and the World‐Wide‐Web Justine Coupland (ed.), Small Talk Francesca Bargiela‐Chiappini and Catherine Nickerson (eds.)., Writing Business: Genres, Media and Discourses Geoffrey Lewis, The Turkish Language Reform: A Catastrophic Success Kenneth J. Gergen, An Invitation to Social Construction James Milroy and Lesley Milroy, Authority in Language: Investigating Standard English Linda Thomas and Sha¨n Wareing, Language, Society and Power: An Introduction     

The Extremal Dependence Measure and Asymptotic Independence

Abstract

Extremal dependence analysis assesses the tendency of large values of components of a random vector to occur simultaneously. This kind of dependence information can be qualitatively different than what is given by correlation which averages over the total body of the joint distribution. Also, correlation may be completely inappropriate for heavy tailed data. We study the extremal dependence measure (EDM), a measure of the tendency of large values of components of a random vector to occur simultaneously and show consistency of an estimator of the EDM. We also show asymptotic normality of an idealized estimator in a restricted case of multivariate regular variation where scaling functions do not have to be estimated.     

Some Asymptotic Formulas for a Brownian Motion With a Regular Variation From a Parabolic Domain

Consider a Brownian motion with a regular variation starting at an interior point of a domain D in R^{d + 1}, d ? 1 and let τ_D denote the first time the Brownian motion exits from D. Estimates with exact constants for the asymptotics of log?P(τ_D > T) are given for T → ∞, depending on the shape of the domain D and the order of the regular variation. Furthermore, the asymptotically equivalence are obtained. The problem is motivated by the early results of Lifshits and Shi, Li in the first exit time, and Karamata in the regular variation. The methods of proof are based on their results and the calculus of variations.     

On Locating and Characterizing Parameter Variation by the Mosumsq Test Statistic

In modelling a system structure it is often important to test the constancy of the structural parameters. If the hypothesis of constant parameters is rejected we wish to characterize the parameter variation. In this paper we examine the usefulness of the MOSUMSQ test statistics for locating and characterizing the parameter variation in linear regression models. The means and the variances of the test statistics are given for non-random parameter variation. The observed path of the MOSUMSQ test statistics provides valuable knowledge about the time of the onset of the parameter change and whether it is instantaneous or gradual.     

A Generalized Class of Ratio Type Exponential Estimators of Population Mean Under Linear Transformation of Auxiliary Variable

Recently, Shabbir and Gupta [Shabbir, J. and Gupta, S. (2011). On estimating finite population mean in simple and stratified random sampling. Communications in Statistics-Theory and Methods, 40(2), 199–212] defined a class of ratio type exponential estimators of population mean under a very specific linear transformation of auxiliary variable. In the present article, we propose a generalized class of ratio type exponential estimators of population mean in simple random sampling under a very general linear transformation of auxiliary variable. Shabbir and Gupta's [Shabbir, J. and Gupta, S. (2011). On estimating finite population mean in simple and stratified random sampling. Communications in Statistics-Theory and Methods, 40(2), 199–212] class of estimators is a particular member of our proposed class of estimators. It has been found that the optimal estimator of our proposed generalized class of estimators is always more efficient than almost all the existing estimators defined under the same situations. Moreover, in comparison to a few existing estimators, our proposed estimator becomes more efficient under some simple conditions. Theoretical results obtained in the article have been verified by taking a numerical illustration. Finally, a simulation study has been carried out to see the relative performance of our proposed estimator with respect to some existing estimators which are less efficient under certain conditions as compared to the proposed estimator.     

Parallel tempering for dynamic generalized linear models

ABSTRACT

Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods can be used for statistical inference. The methods are time-consuming due to time-vary. To resolve these problems, parallel tempering (PT), as a parallel MCMC method, is tried, for dynamic generalized linear models (DGLMs), as well as the several optimal properties of our proposed method. In PT, two or more samples are drawn at the same time, and samples can exchange information with each other. We also present some simulations of the DGLMs in the case and provide two applications of Poisson-type DGLMs in financial research.     

世界遗产门票价格变动的经济学分析——以辽宁为例

世界遗产门票价格变动是近几年理论研究和社会实践的热点问题。对辽宁世界遗产门票价恪的变动，从旅游者和旅游经营者的角度对这一现象进行经济学分析，说明价格上涨对旅游者的决策影响不大，为门票价格变动提供了理论依据；通过分析门票价格的供给、需求和环境容量等价格决定因素，制定出门票的均衡价格，为门票价格的制定提供了可操作实践依据。     

中国地区金融差距变动趋势研究：1978—2004年

在金融发展地区差距是否趋同问题的研究上存在两种截然相反的观点,文章在对已有研究比较分析的基础上,通过两种指标、两种衡量方法对中国1978-2004各地区的金融发展差距进行了研究,各种统计结果互相印证,由此,我们得出了一个较为可靠的结论:中国地区金融发展差距呈现U形变化,东部、中部、西部三大区域间差距自20世纪90年代中期以来有上升趋势。     

语际差异及语内变异之优选论分析

优选论通过制约条件的排列顺序,不仅可以说明不同语言之间的差异,同时还可以说明同一语言内不同环境中所产生的变异现象。舌尖音的标记性比唇音和软腭音的标记性低,因此,英语中舌尖音经常被脱落的现象,也可以在优选论框架中用标记性层级关系来说明。     

中共指导思想的演进过程及启示

中国共产党的指导思想,历经党的十六次代表大会的丰富,日趋成熟和完善。从中可以看出,中国共产党指导思想的演进过程是马克思主义中国化在中国的演进过程,是对走中国特色的革命与建设道路认识深化的过程,也是中国革命从失败走向胜利,社会主义由挫折走向辉煌的过程。