Joint modelling of longitudinal binary data and survival data

The medical costs in an ageing society substantially increase when the incidences of chronic diseases, disabilities and inability to live independently are high. Healthy lifestyles not only affect elderly individuals but also influence the entire community. When assessing treatment efficacy, survival and quality of life should be considered simultaneously. This paper proposes the joint likelihood approach for modelling survival and longitudinal binary covariates simultaneously. Because some unobservable information is present in the model, the Monte Carlo EM algorithm and Metropolis-Hastings algorithm are used to find the estimators. Monte Carlo simulations are performed to evaluate the performance of the proposed model based on the accuracy and precision of the estimates. Real data are used to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed model.     

Optimal investment and life insurance strategies in a mixed jump-diffusion framework

Abstract

This article investigates an optimal investment and life insurance strategies in a mixed jump-diffusion framework. The individual life insurance policyholder who has CRRA preferences. The market consists of riskless asset, a zero-coupon bond, a stock and life insurance. The instantaneous interest rate is modeled as the O-U model, while a zero-coupon bond with credit risk follows a BSDE and a risky asset be driven by MJD-fBm model. The problem is solved by the mixed jump diffusion fractional HJB SDE which satisfied the admissible strategy, then the closed form solution and optimal strategies are derived and the simulation of the various parameters are also given.     

Student Veteran Career Transition Readiness,Career Adaptability,and Academic and Life Satisfaction

Student military veterans pursuing higher education present with unique career development needs. To better understand these needs, the authors conducted an exploratory study to examine career transition readiness, career adaptability, academic satisfaction, and satisfaction with life among 134 student military veterans (34 women, 100 men). Results indicated statistically significant positive correlations between satisfaction with life scores and scores on measures of career transition readiness and career adaptability. Regression results demonstrated that career transition readiness and career adaptability predicted satisfaction with life, but not academic satisfaction. The findings suggest a need to understand the complexity of student veterans’ career and academic development in both research and practice.     

The color of corrections: Racial politics and prison privatization

Privatizing the administration of American prisons represents a popular tool of correctional governance. In turn, policy and public administration researchers are routinely studying the consequences of prison privatization on criminal justice outcomes such as recidivism rates and prisoner complaints. However, much less attention has been paid to the antecedents of privatization decisions occurring across states, in particular how racial determinants might be influencing privatization outcomes. Building upon existing policy research with theories of social construction and negative racial classification, we argue that privatization debates over corrections management become more racialized when Black prisoners comprise a larger share of the state prison population, predicting higher overall levels of privatization usage. We further argue that this Black prisoner presence-privatization relationship is context-specific and conditioned by two additional variables: (1) levels of mass racial stereotyping and (2) partisan composition of state government. The statistical analysis demonstrates that racial determinants do significantly influence state prison privatization decisions and in complex ways as theorized. In states where Blacks make up a larger share of the prison population, privatization usage is found to be higher. Additionally, in line with theoretical expectations, Black prisoner presence is associated with increased privatization levels most strongly in states where citizenries hold heightened levels of racial fear and Republicans have increased legislative presence. This research is of keen interest to scholars of public policy and management, who could pay more heed to the ways in which race influences decisions around administrative structuring and outcomes for taxpayers and clients.     

社会网络对生活满意度的影响研究——基于京、沪、粤三地的分析

本研究以2008年和2009年在北京市、上海市和广东省进行的“中国家庭追踪调查”的数据为基础，运用多层线性模型和协方差模型探讨了社会网络对生活满意度的影响程度。研究表明，拜年网中朋友的比例、邻里互动频率和非正式社会参与都对生活满意度有积极影响，生活满意度与拜年网规模之间则呈现出“∩”型的相关关系。协方差分析结果表明，社会网络规模的扩大、朋友比例的上升和非正式社会参与频率的增加都有助于提高个人的生活满意度，但邻里互动频率的变化对个人生活满意度的提升作用还有待进一步的研究。     

福柯的生命政治与生命概念辨析

“生命政治”是福柯最复杂的概念之一，涉及福柯的权力分析及其后期的一系列主题。通过辨析福柯的生命政治、生命权力概念，并借助对福柯的“生命”概念在规范和审美两个维度上的延伸讨论，发现对于福柯而言，与康吉莱姆的“否定性生命价值”相对应，生命政治的核心仍然是在生命的肯定性层面，自由、反抗或者新的主体性的生成，均与这一肯定性的生命政治理解密切相关。     

Political and economic determinants of expenditure on day services for persons with intellectual disabilities or autism

This study investigates whether the Swedish national entitlement legislation, which is known to be one of the most developed in Europe for persons with intellectual disabilities or autism, accomplishes its aim to provide equal quality of day services independent of location. We estimated a reduced-form model of demand and supply-side determinants of a latent quality variable for day-service programmes using panel data on expenditure per attendee for the 290 Swedish municipalities 2004–2012. We found that expenditure per attendee is among others affected by changes of the local tax base and outcome in elections to the local assemblies. These results imply that rights of persons with intellectual disabilities with regard to equal quality of day services independent of where they live are not fully honoured in budget allocation decisions made by local governments.     

《论语》之“仁”

孔子的学术风格是坚定保留古已有之的华夏文化精神。华夏文化精神的价值指向是血族的“生生”,即指向血族的生存繁衍。“仁”深刻反映这价值指向。后世往往只从道德哲学角度理解仁,肯定大大缩小其意义。“仁”即“生生”,“生生”即“仁”,可从易学求得证明。《论语》中有关“仁”的重要命题都应从“仁即生生”的角度予以诠释     

Nonparametric estimator for mean residual life and vitality function

In this paper, we study the estimation of the vitality function(v(x)=E(X|X>x) and mean residual life function(e(x)=E(X-x|X>x) from a sample ofX using the empirical estimator and kernel estimator. Under suitable conditions of regularity, the asymptotic normality of the kernel estimator is obtained. Partially supported by Consejeria de Cultura y Ed. (C.A.R.M.), under Grant PIB 95/90.     

政府、雇主和家庭共担生育责任的探讨

人口再生产是社会生产的必要前提,为社会经济发展做出巨大贡献,为雇主/社会提供了充足劳动力,满足了家庭情感需求和家族延续的需要,政府、社会和家庭需要共担责任。我国经历了从国家和家庭共担到雇主和家庭分担主要生育责任的过程,目前政府分担生育责任依然不足,雇主服务支持不够,家庭中男性未充分发挥作用。要确立生育的社会价值,增强政府责任,建立全面覆盖的生育保障制度,不断提高保障水平;建立平衡工作—家庭的支持体系,男性分担更多责任。