The effect of non-normality on estimating the variance of the combined ratio estimate in complex surveys

The performance of the balanced half-sample, jackknife and linearization methods for estimating the variance of the combined ratio estimate is studied by means of a computer simulation using artificially generated non-normally distributed populations.

The results of this investigation demonstrate that the variance estimates for the combined ratio estimate may be highly biased and unstable when the underlying distributions are non-normal. This is particularly true when the number of observations available from each stratum is small. The jack-     

“邦达昌”在康定设立商号后的第二次复兴

十三世达赖喇嘛时期,"邦达昌"是较早开始经营中国西藏与英印贸易的藏族大商家之一,西藏地方政府把出口英印的西藏羊毛列为专卖商品,"邦达昌"家族成为当时西藏地方政府经营羊毛的代理商。十三世达赖喇嘛圆寂后,"邦达昌"开始转向中国内地与西藏之间的贸易,并于1940年由邦达.多吉在康定设立了"邦达昌"商号,原来的中国西藏与英印贸易扩大到中国西藏、内地、英印三地,使"邦达昌"的经营规模比原来大了很多。而且,最重要的是"邦达昌"为汉、藏之间建立起良好的经济联系,从而促使汉、藏之间政治、文化关系的进一步发展并充当战略性先导,在客观上为后来顺利和平解放西藏作出了巨大贡献。因此,此段历史对于"邦达昌"来讲是第二次复兴。     

Sign Restrictions,Structural Vector Autoregressions,and Useful Prior Information

This paper makes the following original contributions to the literature. (i) We develop a simpler analytical characterization and numerical algorithm for Bayesian inference in structural vector autoregressions (VARs) that can be used for models that are overidentified, just‐identified, or underidentified. (ii) We analyze the asymptotic properties of Bayesian inference and show that in the underidentified case, the asymptotic posterior distribution of contemporaneous coefficients in an n‐variable VAR is confined to the set of values that orthogonalize the population variance–covariance matrix of ordinary least squares residuals, with the height of the posterior proportional to the height of the prior at any point within that set. For example, in a bivariate VAR for supply and demand identified solely by sign restrictions, if the population correlation between the VAR residuals is positive, then even if one has available an infinite sample of data, any inference about the demand elasticity is coming exclusively from the prior distribution. (iii) We provide analytical characterizations of the informative prior distributions for impulse‐response functions that are implicit in the traditional sign‐restriction approach to VARs, and we note, as a special case of result (ii), that the influence of these priors does not vanish asymptotically. (iv) We illustrate how Bayesian inference with informative priors can be both a strict generalization and an unambiguous improvement over frequentist inference in just‐identified models. (v) We propose that researchers need to explicitly acknowledge and defend the role of prior beliefs in influencing structural conclusions and we illustrate how this could be done using a simple model of the U.S. labor market.     

Efficiency or Competition? A Structural Econometric Analysis of Canada's AWS Auction and the Set‐Aside Provision

In 2008, Industry Canada auctioned 105 MHz of spectrum to a group of bidders that included incumbents and potential new entrants into the Canadian mobile phone market, raising $4.25 billion. In an effort to promote new entry, 40 MHz of spectrum was set‐aside for new entrants. In order to estimate the implicit cost of the set‐aside provision, we estimate the parameters of the bidders' profit function via a maximum match estimator based on the notion of pairwise stability in matches. We find that all telecommunications firms valued both geographic complementarities across auction licenses as well as absolute spectrum. Under a reasonable alternative scenario, our results indicate that the set‐aside led to a total profit loss of approximately 10%.     

An Automatic Test for the Umbrella Alternatives

The paper proposes a new test for detecting the umbrella pattern under a general non‐parametric scheme. The alternative asserts that the umbrella ordering holds while the hypothesis is its complement. The main focus is put on controlling the power function of the test outside the alternative. As a result, the asymptotic error of the first kind of the constructed solution is smaller than or equal to the fixed significance level α on the whole set where the umbrella ordering does not hold. Also, under finite sample sizes, this error is controlled to a satisfactory extent. A simulation study shows, among other things, that the new test improves upon the solution widely recommended in the literature of the subject. A routine, written in R, is attached as the Supporting Information file.     

Estimation of Population Variance from Multi-ranker Ranked Set Sampling Designs

In this article, we develop an estimator for a population variance based on a multi-ranker ranked set sampling design. In a multi-ranker design, the units are ranked by more than one ranker allowing ties whenever the confidence level of the rankers is low. The ranking information of all rankers is then combined in a meaningful way to create a single measure. This measure is used to construct the sampling design and a new estimator for the population variance. The article investigates the bias and relative efficiency of the proposed variance estimator. It is shown that the new estimator performs as good as or better than its competitors in the literature.     

Indirect membership function assignment based on ordinal regression

In many fuzzy sets applications, fuzzy membership functions are commonly developed based on empirical or expert knowledge. The equation of a membership function is usually determined somewhat arbitrarily. This paper explores a novel membership function design method based on ordinal regression analysis. The estimated thresholds between ordinal measurement categories are applied to calculate the intersection points between fuzzy sets. These intersection points are further applied to determine the equations of the membership functions. Information distortion due to empirical guess can thus be reduced and more latent information in the fuzzy responses can therefore be captured. A case study investigating the relationship between foster mothers’ satisfaction and the foster time and information provided has been conducted in this research. The applicability and effectiveness of the proposed membership function assignment approach have been demonstrated through several case studies.     

资源禀赋、电商认知与家庭农场主电子商务采纳行为

基于河北、江西和云南3省893个家庭农场调研数据,研究了资源禀赋、电商认知、政府扶持对家庭农场主电子商务采纳行为的影响机理。结果表明:资源禀赋中的家庭农场主受教育程度、电商培训和农产品特色明显程度对其电子商务行为采纳及采纳程度有显著正向影响;年龄、注册品牌、绿色或有机认证、产品深加工对采纳程度有显著正向影响;组织化和电商认知对电子商务采纳行为有显著正向影响;政府扶持对电子商务行为采纳具有显著正向影响,且对资源禀赋、电商认知 电子商务行为采纳及采纳程度关系中有正向调节效应。在此基础上,提出培育农产品电商品牌,提升农场主电商运营能力,创新电商经营模式和提高家庭农场组织化程度等建议。     

由民间规则到国家制定法--析中国土地制度与地政管理的近代转型

在中国传统法律体系中,民事和经济法律关系主要由民间规则进行调整。近代以来,对于这些民间规则的改造成为法律转型的重要任务。就土地制度和地政管理而言,创立新的法律部门、制定切合实际的实施规则、改革民间陋习是国家制定法逐步取代旧有民间法的重要内容和手段,也是民事经济法律关系近代转型的重要特征。     

Finite mixture of regression models for a stratified sample

Despite the popularity and importance, there is limited work on modelling data which come from complex survey design using finite mixture models. In this work, we explored the use of finite mixture regression models when the samples were drawn using a complex survey design. In particular, we considered modelling data collected based on stratified sampling design. We developed a new design-based inference where we integrated sampling weights in the complete-data log-likelihood function. The expectation–maximisation algorithm was developed accordingly. A simulation study was conducted to compare the new methodology with the usual finite mixture of a regression model. The comparison was done using bias-variance components of mean square error. Additionally, a simulation study was conducted to assess the ability of the Bayesian information criterion to select the optimal number of components under the proposed modelling approach. The methodology was implemented on real data with good results.