A test of normality using nonparametrlic residuals

In this paper, we develop a test of the normality assumption of the errors using the residuals from a nonparametric kernel regression. Contrary to the existing tests based on the residuals from a parametric regression, our test is thus robust to misspecification of the regression function. The test statistic proposed here is a Bera-Jarque type test of skewness and kurtosis. We show that the test statistic has the usual x²(2) limit distribution under the null hypothesis. In contrast to the results of Rilstone (1992), we provide a set of primitive assumptions that allow weakly dependent observations and data dependent bandwidth parameters. We also establish consistency property of the test. Monte Carlo experiments show that our test has reasonably good size and power performance in small samples and perfornu better than some of the alternative tests in various situations.     

RFID and Operations Management: Technology,Value, and Incentives

As RFID technology matures and organizations seek to deploy it in their business operations, a basic objective in the endeavor is that of extracting business value from the technology. This paper examines three dimensions of the value proposition of RFID and attempts to identify areas for further investigation. The first dimension consists of the generic architecture of RFID implementations and the drivers of value that can result from its components. The second consists of measurement issues associated with quantification of value. Since the complete benefits of RFID will only result when multiple independent organizations deploy the technology and coordinate the resulting information flows, the third dimension addresses incentives for achieving that diffusion. The collection of issues identified through this exercise offers an initial roadmap to view ongoing research and recognize additional problems for further investigation.     

US foreign aid and economic policy concessions*

Why do donors continue to provide foreign aid despite its failure to help poor countries over the past several decades? While some scholars argue that foreign aid is purely for humanitarian purposes, others assert that such aid serves as a tool to pressure recipient countries into accepting policy concessions. In this study, we subject these arguments to empirical testing using a dataset that integrates the amount of US aid and economic policies of recipient countries for 1995–2012. The findings suggest that aid decisions correspond to the interests of the United States, such as policy concessions in economic and business liberalization. However, an increase in US aid is not directly associated with further economic reforms in recipient countries. We conclude that US foreign aid programmes are strategic in nature and successful not in alleviating economic problems in recipient countries but, at the very least, in buying their policy compliance.     

Testing for Stochastic Monotonicity

We propose a test of the hypothesis of stochastic monotonicity. This hypothesis is of interest in many applications in economics. Our test is based on the supremum of a rescaled U‐statistic. We show that its asymptotic distribution is Gumbel. The proof is difficult because the approximating Gaussian stochastic process contains both a stationary and a nonstationary part, and so we have to extend existing results that only apply to either one or the other case. We also propose a refinement to the asymptotic approximation that we show works much better in finite samples. We apply our test to the study of intergenerational income mobility.     

A test of normality using nonparametrlic residuals

In this paper, we develop a test of the normality assumption of the errors using the residuals from a nonparametric kernel regression. Contrary to the existing tests based on the residuals from a parametric regression, our test is thus robust to misspecification of the regression function. The test statistic proposed here is a Bera-Jarque type test of skewness and kurtosis. We show that the test statistic has the usual x ²(2) limit distribution under the null hypothesis. In contrast to the results of Rilstone (1992), we provide a set of primitive assumptions that allow weakly dependent observations and data dependent bandwidth parameters. We also establish consistency property of the test. Monte Carlo experiments show that our test has reasonably good size and power performance in small samples and perfornu better than some of the alternative tests in various situations.     

The Internet,Social Capital,and Civic Engagement in Asia

In this paper, we seek to explain (1) how the rise of Internet communication is related to the level of social capital and (2) the role of internet and social capital in shaping civic engagement in Asia. We use cross-national public opinion data of thirteen Asian countries from 2010 to 2012 to investigate these questions. Our results show that social capital is still measured best by traditional membership in social organizations. While the Internet increases social contacts, we could not find evidence that social capital is directly increased by the Internet. We also find that social capital developed through voluntary participation in social organizations most effectively promotes civic engagement activities, except for non-electoral actions that involve joining a demonstration or using violence. Internet usage turns out to be the most effective means of civic engagement for these cases.     

建设科学理论与寻求“活的人生”——李安宅的人生轨迹与学术历程

作为人类学家的李安宅,早期致力于科学理论的建设,而后则着眼于中国边疆地区尤其是藏族地区的实地研究,对中国边疆建设及边政改良多有论述,以其理论知识服务于"活的人生"。民国时期的李安宅党派关系及社会交游非常复杂,学术历经多次转型;其1949年后的人生遭际,基本上也是那一代知识分子的共同经历。李安宅的学术人生形态,既有时代的规约,也有其自身的设计。     

Baghdadi Jews in Hong Kong: converting cultural,social and economic capital among three transregional networks

This article is an analysis of the attempts of Baghdadi Jewish traders in Hong Kong in the second half of the nineteenth century to construct and convert cultural, social and economic capital within and between the transregional networks of the Baghdadi diaspora, the Jewish diaspora and the British colonial elite. The analysis of the multiple and multi‐directional intersections between the cultural, social and economic characteristics of the three networks shows that Baghdadi social capital accounted for significant ruptures and disjunctures between the increasing cosmopolitanization, deterritorialization and hybridization of the Baghdadi traders' cultural identities and the definition of Baghdadi cultural capital. An understanding of the role of Baghdadi social capital in accounting for the construction and convertibility of cultural, social and economic capital among these three transregional networks helps to explain the reproduction of social inequalities under increasing conditions of globalization, that is, under conditions that potentially augmented the number of sources defining cultural capital.