Capacity constraints and the dynamics of underwriting profits

The presence of an underwriting profit cycle in property/liability insurance has become a stylized fact. Models of this'underwriting cycle'imply that the insurance market is governed by two regimes, as capacity is constrained or not. We apply the smooth transition regression model to insurance industry data for 1934–1993 to test for a regime shift. We find a rapid shift between two distinct regimes with different dynamics. When capacity is not restricted, we find no evidence of a cycle. The cycle is present in periods when capacity is restricted, immediately following World War II and after 1968. The underwriting cycle appears to be a recent phenomenon.     

REGRESSION METHODOLOGY WITH GROSS OBSERVATION ERRORS IN THE EXPLANATORY VARIABLES***

The robustness of linear programming regression estimators is examined where the disturbance terms are normally distributed and there are observation errors in the explanatory variables. These errors are occasional gross biases between one set of observations and another. The simulation of short series data offers preliminary evidence that when these biases have a non-zero mean, MSAE estimation is more robust than least squares.     

The effects of smoking laws on seating allocations of restaurants, bars, and taverns

Supporters of smoking laws often argue that they do not harm restaurants, bars, and taverns and may even raise their profits. Opponents argue that owners cater to customer preferences regarding smoking and that laws mandating specific smoking policies will therefore negatively impact profits of some firms. This article tests hypotheses regarding how smoking laws affect seating allocations, using data from a nationwide survey of restaurant and bar owners. The empirical evidence indicates that smoking laws exert no significant effect on seating allocations. Firms are shown to allocate greater shares of seating to nonsmoking use when customers exhibit stronger preferences for such seating.     

自动往返电动小汽车的设计原理与制作方法

本文介绍了采用脉冲主动采集、计数程序控制、虚拟脉冲复位、撞击转向的方式完成自动往返电动小汽车的构思、设计及制作的方法。     

Longitudinal HIV risk behavior among the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Studies (DATOS) adult sample

Longitudinal trajectories for HIV risk were examined over 5 years following treatment among 1,393 patients who participated in the nationwide Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Studies. Both injection drug use and sexual risk behavior declined over time, with most of the decline occurring between intake and the first-year follow-up. However, results of the application of growth mixture models for both sets of trajectories indicated that a subgroup of individuals reverted to a high-risk behavior over time, with a higher level of risk at the 5-year follow-up than their original risk level at intake. Of clients who were engaged in regular injection drug use at intake, 76% continued to inject drug at a moderate-stable or increased rate during the 5-year follow-up.     

Lost in Transitions? Feudalism,Colonialism, and Egypt's Blocked Road to Capitalism (1800–1920)

We revisit the transition debate to capitalism through the historical case of nineteenth century Egypt and the theoretical lens of uneven and combined development. We argue that the twin concepts of formal and real subsumption of labor under capital offer a necessary methodological device to study capitalist transitions. We conclude that nineteenth century Egypt was not a society experiencing an ‘indigenous’ transition to capitalism that was blocked by colonial intervention. Instead, colonialism warped the ongoing formation of a commercial-absolutist state, which led to a combination of feudal and capitalist social forms that lingered well into the middle of the twentieth century. Through a long-term historical analysis of the Egyptian social formation as a complex ensemble of political power relations and ongoing cycles of articulations of multiple mode of productions we problematize the dominant ‘modernization’ thesis. The modernization paradigm presupposes that economic growth will take place due to globalized markets, transforming, in turn, existing social and political practices and institutions along modern lines. This idea has been reiterated by neoclassical and neo-institutionalist economists who understand economic backwardness as a simple lack of market-efficient behavior of local economic agents. As such, we also emphasize that the gradual integration of the Egyptian social formation into the capitalist world market did not automatically lead to the establishment of a dominant capitalist mode of production within this formation.     

Use of a case study in sequencing/scheduling research

This paper describes a study of an industrial sequencing/scheduling problem. The study contains the definition of the problem, data requirements and examination of solution technique. Definition of the problem is discussed from the aspect of uniqueness of the specific system. Discussion of data requirements includes availability and accuracy, while examination of solution technique considers limitation of time, computer capacity, etc., as well as the possibility of imbedding available algorithms into the solution procedure. Conclusions are presented relative to the use of the case study approach in sequencing/scheduling research.     

Time-discrete nonparametric hazard model using panel data

In this contribution a nonparametric estimator for the hazard function will be presented for time-discrete survival analysis. The estimator is derived from a likelihood function based upon time-discrete counting processes. With martingale techniques asymptotic properties of the estimator of the cumulative hazard function are shown. Since we consider a nonparametric approach no exploratory variables are considered in the empirical example. For analyzing the remigrant behavior of different foreign nations (Italy, Yugoslavia, Greece, Spain and Turkey) the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) is used as a data basis. The estimations are carried out with a module of PRODISA, a program package developed for the analysis of time-discrete duration and panel data for the nonparametric and (semi)parametric case.     

Problem and Pathological Gambling in a Sample of Casino Patrons

Relatively few studies have examined gambling problems among individuals in a casino setting. The current study sought to examine the prevalence of gambling problems among a sample of casino patrons and examine alcohol and tobacco use, health status, and quality of life by gambling problem status. To these ends, 176 casino patrons were recruited by going to a Southern California casino and requesting that they complete an anonymous survey. Results indicated the following lifetime rates for at-risk, problem, and pathological gambling: 29.2, 10.7, and 29.8%. Differences were found with regards to gambling behavior, and results indicated higher rates of smoking among individuals with gambling problems, but not higher rates of alcohol use. Self-rated quality of life was lower among pathological gamblers relative to non-problem gamblers, but did not differ from at-risk or problem gamblers. Although subject to some limitations, our data support the notion of higher frequency of gambling problems among casino patrons and may suggest the need for increased interventions for gambling problems on-site at casinos.     

Egyptian Workers and “Their” Intellectuals: The Dialectical Pedagogy of the Mahalla Strike Movement

This article analyzes the development of the Egyptian workers' movement in the face of the 25 January Revolution through the notion of dialectical pedagogy. This Gramscian concept is extended by a Vygotskyan analysis of the reciprocal learning processes, which stimulate a proletarian activity system to overcome its economic-corporate predicament. The concrete case study of the Mahalla strike movement (2006–2008) elucidates the transformative-instructive dynamics of autoprolepsis and heterolepsis and the importance of solidarity in developing the worker Subject. The 25 January Revolution expanded the proletarian Zone of Proximal Development and created new possibilities and constraints for the development of the workers' movement.