Understanding Estimators of Treatment Effects in Regression Discontinuity Designs

In this paper, we propose two new estimators of treatment effects in regression discontinuity designs. These estimators can aid understanding of the existing estimators such as the local polynomial estimator and the partially linear estimator. The first estimator is the partially polynomial estimator which extends the partially linear estimator by further incorporating derivative differences of the conditional mean of the outcome on the two sides of the discontinuity point. This estimator is related to the local polynomial estimator by a relocalization effect. Unlike the partially linear estimator, this estimator can achieve the optimal rate of convergence even under broader regularity conditions. The second estimator is an instrumental variable estimator in the fuzzy design. This estimator will reduce to the local polynomial estimator if higher order endogeneities are neglected. We study the asymptotic properties of these two estimators and conduct simulation studies to confirm the theoretical analysis.     

On the Joint Estimation of Heterogeneous Technologies,Technical, and Allocative Inefficiency

In this article, we provide a semiparametric approach to the joint measurement of technical and allocative inefficiency in a way that the internal consistency of the specification of allocative errors in the objective function (e.g., cost function) and the derivative equations (e.g., share or input demand functions) is assured. We start from the Cobb–Douglas production and shadow cost system. We show that the shadow cost system has a closed-form likelihood function contrary to what was previously thought. In turn, we use the method of local maximum likelihood applied to a system of equations to obtain firm-specific parameter estimates (which reveal heterogeneity in production) as well as measures of technical and allocative inefficiency and its cost. We illustrate its practical application using data on U.S. electric utilities.     

The Local Power of the CADF and CIPS Panel Unit Root Tests

Very little is known about the local power of second generation panel unit root tests that are robust to cross-section dependence. This article derives the local asymptotic power functions of the cross-section argumented Dickey–Fuller Cross-section Augmented Dickey-Fuller (CADF) and CIPS tests of Pesaran (2007), which are among the most popular tests around.     

A Seemingly Unrelated Nonparametric Additive Model with Autoregressive Errors

This article considers a nonparametric additive seemingly unrelated regression model with autoregressive errors, and develops estimation and inference procedures for this model. Our proposed method first estimates the unknown functions by combining polynomial spline series approximations with least squares, and then uses the fitted residuals together with the smoothly clipped absolute deviation (SCAD) penalty to identify the error structure and estimate the unknown autoregressive coefficients. Based on the polynomial spline series estimator and the fitted error structure, a two-stage local polynomial improved estimator for the unknown functions of the mean is further developed. Our procedure applies a prewhitening transformation of the dependent variable, and also takes into account the contemporaneous correlations across equations. We show that the resulting estimator possesses an oracle property, and is asymptotically more efficient than estimators that neglect the autocorrelation and/or contemporaneous correlations of errors. We investigate the small sample properties of the proposed procedure in a simulation study.     

基于LW估计的中国证券市场长记忆性实证研究

针对国内研究证券市场长记忆性主要采用的是时域方法,文章采用基于频域的半参数Local Whittle估计方法研究了中国证券市场的长记忆特性,并且和对数周期图回归(GPH)方法进行了比较。结果表明,LW方法具有不受时间频率的影响,能够有效消除时间序列中短期记忆和周期性对估计结果的影响等优点,明显优于GPH方法。实证结果表明,中国证券市场存在明显的长记忆性,并且长记忆行为在重大突发事件发生期间更加明显。文章还从长记忆的角度探讨了“政策市”的存在性和相关特点。     

Ethnic Identities under the Tourist Gaze

This paper examines the construction of Bai ethnicity and Bai identity on the tourist market in Dali, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, China. Focusing on how the social landscape of Dali has changed in response to the development of tourism, this paper explores how Bai ethnicity is advocated as a product loaded with potential economic values. The author discovers that ‘commerce of authenticity’ (T. Oakes, Tourism and modernity in China. London, Routledge, 1998 Oakes, T. 1998. Tourism and modernity in China, London: Routledge.  [Google Scholar]), and different forms of ethnicity and artefacts promoted in the tourist market have not drowned out the sense of being ethnically Bai. Instead, the tourist industry has become a daily reminder of ethnicity to both insiders and outsiders by making people more self-conscious and reflexive about the ‘cultural stuff’ that they may have previously taken for granted, or may have left unattended. This paper demonstrates how locals actively appropriate state-defined categories and reshape them into the repertoire they desire.     

Bayesian nonparametric modelling of the link function in the single-index model using a Bernstein–Dirichlet process prior

This paper proposes the use of the Bernstein–Dirichlet process prior for a new nonparametric approach to estimating the link function in the single-index model (SIM). The Bernstein–Dirichlet process prior has so far mainly been used for nonparametric density estimation. Here we modify this approach to allow for an approximation of the unknown link function. Instead of the usual Gaussian distribution, the error term is assumed to be asymmetric Laplace distributed which increases the flexibility and robustness of the SIM. To automatically identify truly active predictors, spike-and-slab priors are used for Bayesian variable selection. Posterior computations are performed via a Metropolis-Hastings-within-Gibbs sampler using a truncation-based algorithm for stick-breaking priors. We compare the efficiency of the proposed approach with well-established techniques in an extensive simulation study and illustrate its practical performance by an application to nonparametric modelling of the power consumption in a sewage treatment plant.     

本土品牌逆袭与消费者偏好逆转的纵向扎根研究

  如今的中国市场,诸多行业本土品牌崛起甚至逆袭,消费者对全球品牌与本土品牌的偏好相应逆转。已有研究较为全面地揭示了全球品牌和本土品牌偏好的驱动因素,但本土品牌逆袭过程中全球品牌与本土品牌偏好的驱动因素是否相同、本土品牌逆袭与消费者偏好逆转的互动影响路径是怎样的,对这些问题缺乏探讨。         在梳理相关研究的基础上,以手机行业为研究对象,采用扎根理论的研究方法,通过对网络讨论数据的初始编码、聚焦编码和理论编码,首先研究全球品牌与本土品牌偏好的驱动因素的异同,然后结合对讨论数据的纵向统计结果,研究本土品牌逆袭过程中品牌逆袭与消费者偏好逆转的互动影响路径。         研究结果表明,本土品牌逆袭中,全球品牌与本土品牌偏好的驱动因素模型具有相似的结构,功能价值和社会价值的测量受个人因素调节而影响消费者偏好,但测量功能价值或社会价值的具体因素在全球品牌与本土品牌中存在差异。品牌逆袭有助于提升综合国力、促进消费者成熟,进而驱动消费者偏好逆转;消费者偏好逆转则通过反馈路径帮助品牌进一步逆袭。具体的,消费者对产品特质更加重视,全球品牌的原产国效应和符号价值表现力减弱,本土品牌的口碑效应和符号价值表现力增强,同时消费者的民族主义增强而爱国绑架感减弱,这些因素通过感知价值带来消费者偏好逆转。综合而言,本土品牌逆袭和消费者偏好逆转是互动提升的关系。         研究结果丰富了全球品牌和本土品牌的相关研究,为全球品牌和本土品牌的建设提供了实践启示。产品特质是影响消费者偏好的主要因素,并对其他驱动因素有支撑作用。所以全球品牌和本土品牌都要重视产品的创新和研发,还要根据各驱动因素的变化调整其营销策略。     

Changing symbolic and geographical boundaries between penal zones and rural communities in the Russian Federation

The article examines the processes involved in the integration of the USSR's secret places into mainstream rural society in the Russian Federation. Taking the example of one rural district in the Volga-Ural region that has been the site of a large prison complex over a period of ninety years, the article examines how economic changes and local government and penal reforms have eroded the boundary that marked off the penal region from the rural district in which it was located. Using interviews and social surveys conducted among the local population, the article examines the extent to which the opening of the penal sub-region has led to changes in the symbolic boundary between the communities in the rural raion. The article concludes that although new spaces of active government are being produced in rural Russia, these are not necessarily the basis for the emergence of new common identities among the people living in them.     

The triggers of local and distant search: Relative magnitude and persistence in explaining acquisition relatedness

Research on problemistic search has assumed negative attainment discrepancy to be the trigger of both local and distant search. Extending this research, we present and compare two additional triggers: (1) relative attainment discrepancy, which reflects how much a firm's attainment discrepancy deviates from its past negative attainment discrepancies; and (2) persistent attainment discrepancy, which reflects how often the firm experiences below-aspirations performance. Our triggers for distant search model a behavioral explanation for the timing and relatedness of acquisitions. We find support for baseline arguments of problemistic search whereby firms increase both industry- and skill-related acquisitions when they perform below aspirations. When they persistently perform below aspirations, however, this likelihood is reduced and firms engage in acquisitions that are more unrelated, thereby providing support for the notion of expanding search boundaries from local to distant search. Of the two triggers of distant search proposed, relative attainment discrepancy does not induce firms to expand search boundaries. Our results indicate that persistent attainment discrepancy is a key construct to consider when studying the expansion of search boundaries.