Poverty and Self‐Control

We argue that poverty can perpetuate itself by undermining the capacity for self‐control. In line with a distinguished psychological literature, we consider modes of self‐control that involve the self‐imposed use of contingent punishments and rewards. We study settings in which consumers with quasi‐hyperbolic preferences confront an otherwise standard intertemporal allocation problem with credit constraints. Our main result demonstrates that low initial assets can limit self‐control, trapping people in poverty, while individuals with high initial assets can accumulate indefinitely. Thus, even temporary policies that initiate accumulation among the poor may be effective. We examine implications concerning the effect of access to credit on saving, the demand for commitment devices, the design of financial accounts to promote accumulation, and the variation of the marginal propensity to consume across income from different sources. We also explore the nature of optimal self‐control, demonstrating that it has a simple and behaviorally plausible structure that is immune to self‐renegotiation.     

The Effects of Multitasking on Operations Scheduling

This study considers a typical scheduling environment that is influenced by the behavioral phenomenon of multitasking. Under multitasking, the processing of a selected job suffers from interruption by other jobs that are available but unfinished. This situation arises in a wide variety of applications; for example, administration, manufacturing, and process and project management. Several classical solution methods for scheduling problems no longer apply in the presence of multitasking. The solvability of any scheduling problem under multitasking is no easier than that of the corresponding classical problem. We develop optimal algorithms for some fundamental and practical single machine scheduling problems with multitasking. For other problems, we show that they are computationally intractable, even though in some cases the corresponding problem in classical scheduling is efficiently solvable. We also study the cost increase and value gained due to multitasking. This analysis informs companies about how much it would be worthwhile to invest in measures to reduce or encourage multitasking.     

On evaluating how well a biomarker can predict treatment response with survival data

One of the objectives of personalized medicine is to take treatment decisions based on a biomarker measurement. Therefore, it is often interesting to evaluate how well a biomarker can predict the response to a treatment. To do so, a popular methodology consists of using a regression model and testing for an interaction between treatment assignment and biomarker. However, the existence of an interaction is not sufficient for a biomarker to be predictive. It is only necessary. Hence, the use of the marker‐by‐treatment predictiveness curve has been recommended. In addition to evaluate how well a single continuous biomarker predicts treatment response, it can further help to define an optimal threshold. This curve displays the risk of a binary outcome as a function of the quantiles of the biomarker, for each treatment group. Methods that assume a binary outcome or rely on a proportional hazard model for a time‐to‐event outcome have been proposed to estimate this curve. In this work, we propose some extensions for censored data. They rely on a time‐dependent logistic model, and we propose to estimate this model via inverse probability of censoring weighting. We present simulations results and three applications to prostate cancer, liver cirrhosis, and lung cancer data. They suggest that a large number of events need to be observed to define a threshold with sufficient accuracy for clinical usefulness. They also illustrate that when the treatment effect varies with the time horizon which defines the outcome, then the optimal threshold also depends on this time horizon.     

不确定环境下的Supply-hub协同补货决策

个性化需求与零部件创新使得产品需求和补货提前期不确定,对供应链补货决策和运行成本产生重要影响。将提前期不确定因素引入Supply-hub协同补货研究中,探讨提前期随机和需求不确定情况下,考虑零部件配套性的三供应商单制造商生产两定制产品的Supply-hub协同补货决策问题;提出了三种补货策略,以供应链运行成本最小化为目标,建立不同策略下的供应链补货模型并求解最优补货批量和供应链最小运行成本;发现三种补货策略均存在唯一最优补货批量,基于Supply-hub的两种协同补货策略和基于分散决策的供应商独立补货策略各有优势,但基于Supply-hub的批量及时间协同的补货策略恒优于基于Supply-hub的集中补货策略。最后,通过MATLAB进行算例分析验证结论,发现基于Supply-hub的批量及时间协同的补货策略能有效降低需求不确定性带来的成本增加风险;通用件的提前期波动对于供应链期望运行成本的影响要高于定制件提前期波动的影响,因此在进行供应链补货策略选择时更加关注通用件提前期。     

政府创新过程研究的现状与展望

运用系统科学、过程方法研究具有时间与空间双重维度的政府创新过程,该过程由政府创新时间流程、空间要素两部分组成。研究发现:当前理论界与实务界通常将时间维度下的政府创新过程误读为一个简单线性过程,对空间维度下的政府创过程新缺乏系统整体性的深入探讨,而且没有对时间与空间维度进行整合。为此,从时间维度深化政府创新动态循环过程研究,从空间维度深化政府创新生态系统研究,从时空维度深化政府创新旅途的研究,是未来破解政府创新黑箱之谜,是深化政府创新过程研究的重要方向。     

Analysis of some ruin-related quantities in a Markov-modulated risk model

In this paper, we study the joint Laplace transform and probability generating function of some random quantities that occur in each environment state by the time of ruin in a Markov-modulated risk process. These quantities include the duration spent in each state, the number of claims and the aggregate amount of claims that occurred in each state by the time of ruin. Explicit formulae for the joint transforms, given the initial surplus, and the initial and terminal environment states, are expressed in terms of a matrix version of the scale function. Moments and covariances of these ruin-related quantities are obtained and numerical illustrations are presented. The joint transform of the duration spent in each state, the number of claims, and the aggregate amount of claims that occurred in each state by the time the surplus attains a certain level are also investigated.     

论现代汉语中的“T1+（的）+T2”结构

现代汉语中存在着这样一种特殊的复合时间结构——T1+（的）+T2,T1、T2均是具有指示性的时点。在言语交际过程中, 人们常使用“T1+（的）+T2”这类复合时间结构的语言表达式,将原来具有一定距离的“事件”（包括已然事件和未然事件）拉回 到现时,从而产生加强现场感的语用效果,且站在说话人角度,具有积极的交际效果。     

平稳性检验方法的有效性研究

平稳性检验是时间序列分析的重要研究内容,现有检验方法的性能缺乏系统的比较分析。文章从样本长度的视角研究平稳性检验方法的性能,采用ADF检验、PP检验、KPSS检验和LMC检验四种方法展开实证研究。仿真实验结果表明:时间序列数据长度会对检验方法的准确率产生明显的影响,数据长度较小时检验准确率偏低;数据长度增大时可以提升检验方法的准确率,但仍未能达到100%的上限值。当样本长度较小时,这些方法的检验统计量的渐进分布难以满足,因此其实际检验效果值得探究。样本长度是有限的,因此渐进分布检验方式的改进空间有限,新的检验方式值得探究。     

The Comparison of Performances of Widely Used Cointegration Tests

The aim of this study is to compare performances of commonly cointegration tests used in literature in terms of their empirical power and type I error probabilty for various sample sizes. As a result of the study, it has been found that some tests are not appropriate in testing cointegration in terms of empirical power and type I error probability. As a result of simulation study, λ_max test for any values of ρ and sample sizes have been found most appropriate test in conclusion.     

Robust Smoothed Rank Estimation Methods for Accelerated Failure Time Model Allowing Clusters

Smoothed Gehan rank estimation methods are widely used in accelerated failure time (AFT) models with/without clusters. However, most methods are sensitive to outliers in the covariates. In order to solve this problem, we propose robust approaches based on the smoothed Gehan rank estimation methods for the AFT model, allowing for clusters by employing two different weight functions. Simulation studies show that the proposed methods outperform existing smoothed rank estimation methods regarding their biases and standard deviations when there are outliers in the covariates. The proposed methods are also applied to a real dataset from the “Major cardiovascular interventions” study.