Sustainability when capital management has stochastic consequences

Sustainability is usually defined as a requirement of each generation to manage its stocks of man-made and natural capital such that the utility that it ensures itself can be shared by all future generations. Here we extend this definition to the case where capital management does not have deterministic consequences. A characterization is offered where the sustainability of one generation's behavior can be determined by comparing its utility with the utility of the succeeding generation, provided that the latter behaves in a sustainable manner. The properties of the definition are investigated and illustrated. Received: 26 April 1994/Accepted: 15 April 2002     

Symptoms of Eating Disorders Among Females in Drug Addiction Treatment

The aim of this study is to measure and describe symptoms of eating disorders among females in treatment for drug addiction in Norway. Previous clinical and epidemiological studies have revealed coprevalence between eating disorders and substance use or abuse. However, few studies have measured eating disorders in drug-using samples and even fewer within the context of drug treatment. In this study, 29 females with drug use disorder in residential treatment were tested with the Eating Disorder Inventory–2. A subgroup of 9 females (31%) with significant symptoms of eating disorders was identified. The characteristics of this group and possible clinical consequences are discussed.     

Effects of Parental Divorce on Teenage Children’s Risk Behaviors: Incidence and Persistence

It is generally difficult to separate the effects of divorce from selection when analyzing the effects of parental divorce on children’s risk behaviors. We used propensity score matching and longitudinal data methods to estimate the effects of parents’ divorce on their children’s binge drinking, alcohol consumption, tobacco use, marijuana use, and hard drug use. The children were between 12 and 18 years old in the first survey and between 18 and 24 years old in the second survey. Our results suggest that parental divorce significantly increased the probability of risk behaviors in their children. Moreover, many of these adverse impacts persisted over time, especially among teenage girls.     

The Relationship Between Aversive Conditioning and Risk-avoidance in Gambling

This study investigated the relationship between aversive conditioning, heart rate variability suppression, behavioral activation system/behavioral inhibition system and risk-avoidance on the Iowa gambling task (IGT) in a nonclinical sample (29 male, 29 female, mean age = 20.7). A laboratory based Pavlovian aversive conditioning paradigm was used where a 1500 Hz tone (CS+) was followed by a burst of loud white noise (US), and a 850 Hz (CS−) tone was never followed by the US. In a subsequent extinction phase where the CS+ and CS− were presented without the US, conditioned skin conductance responses to the CS+ indicated aversive conditioning. The results showed that the participants who did not show aversive conditioning (N = 26) exhibited significantly less risk-avoidance compared to participants who did show aversive conditioning (N = 32). Regression analysis showed that among the study variables, only aversive conditioning contributed significantly to explaining variance in risk-avoidance. These results may have implications for understanding risk-taking in gambling in general, and may be a starting point understanding the role of aversive conditioning in the development and maintenance of gambling problems.     

Recognizing and visualizing departures from independence in bivariate data using local Gaussian correlation

It is well known that the traditional Pearson correlation in many cases fails to capture non-linear dependence structures in bivariate data. Other scalar measures capable of capturing non-linear dependence exist. A common disadvantage of such measures, however, is that they cannot distinguish between negative and positive dependence, and typically the alternative hypothesis of the accompanying test of independence is simply “dependence”. This paper discusses how a newly developed local dependence measure, the local Gaussian correlation, can be used to construct local and global tests of independence. A global measure of dependence is constructed by aggregating local Gaussian correlation on subsets of \(\mathbb{R}^{2}\) , and an accompanying test of independence is proposed. Choice of bandwidth is based on likelihood cross-validation. Properties of this measure and asymptotics of the corresponding estimate are discussed. A bootstrap version of the test is implemented and tried out on both real and simulated data. The performance of the proposed test is compared to the Brownian distance covariance test. Finally, when the hypothesis of independence is rejected, local independence tests are used to investigate the cause of the rejection.     

Situational leadership theory: A test of three versions

Three versions of the leadership dynamics derived from Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership Theory were identified: (1) the original, 1972, statement of the theory; (2) the revised, 2007, theory; and (3) an alternative statement of the theory's essential principle of differential follower response to “autonomy afforded by the leader” in conjunction with “follower developmental level” (as indexed by employee job experience). Survey data collected from 357 banking employees and 80 supervisors, sampled from 10 Norwegian financial institutions, were analyzed for predicted interactions. Results indicated that the 2007 revised theory was a poorer predictor of subordinate performance and attitudes than the original version. The third, alternative, version (which predicted an autonomy × job experience interaction) offered promise for further exploration of the theory's essential principle that employee outcomes are associated with prescribed leader behaviors in combination with follower developmental level, although this version also did not add substantially to accounting for criterion variance.     

The Within‐Job Motherhood Wage Penalty in Norway, 1979–1996

The motherhood wage penalty is a substantial obstacle to progress in gender equality at work. Using matched employer–employee data from Norway (1979–1996, N = 236,857 individuals, N = 1,027,462 individual‐years), a country with public policies that promote combining family and career, we investigate (a) whether the penalty arises from differential pay by employers or from the sorting of employees on occupations and establishments and (b) changes in the penalties during a period with major changes in family policies. We find that (a) the penalty to motherhood was mostly due to sorting on occupations and occupation‐establishment units (mothers and nonmothers working in the same occupation and establishment received similar pay), and (b) the wage penalties to motherhood declined substantially over the 18‐year period.     

Differences in Cognitive Distortions Between Pathological and Non-Pathological Gamblers with Preferences for Chance or Skill Games

Cognitive distortions have been thought to play an important role in the development and maintenance of pathological gambling. The present study investigated whether severity of gambling problems and gamblers’ preference for chance or skill games were related to two sub-factors of cognitive distortions as measured by the Gamblers Belief Questionnaire: Luck/Perseverance, which reflects an individual’s perception that chance is favorable to him/her, and Illusion of Control, which reflects an individual’s perception that his/her behavior influences chance occurrences. Participants (N = 166) were recruited from a race track (n = 79), off-course betting facilities (n = 50) and from an online treatment program for problem gamblers (n = 49). Gambling severity was measured by the South Oaks Gambling Screen, and 73 were classified as pathological gamblers whereas 93 were classified as non-pathological gamblers. The present study supports previous proposals that cognitive distortions are core processes related to gambling behavior as pathological gamblers reported more cognitive distortions than did non-pathological gamblers. A preference for skill games was also associated with greater Illusion of Control compared to a preference for chance games. For gamblers preferring skill games there were no differences in Luck/Perseverance or Illusion of Control between pathological and non-pathological gamblers.     

Description and pre-post evaluation of a telephone and Internet based treatment programme for pathological gambling in Norway: a pilot study

Although the effectiveness of treatments for pathological gamblers is gaining support, only 10% of pathological gamblers seek treatment. Providing treatment via the Internet may lower the thresholds for treatment seeking. A new telephone and Internet based treatment programme for pathological gamblers is presented in this article, along with a pre-post evaluation of the programme. The participants (N = 112) were problem gamblers who were either self-referred or referred by their general practitioner. Data from post-treatment and 3-month follow-up are evaluated. The results suggest that using Internet and telephone-assisted treatment interventions can significantly reduce symptoms of pathological gambling (measured by the South Oaks Gambling Screen – Revised). The intervention was also associated with improvement on cognitive distortions, measured by the Gamblers Belief Questionnaire, and general psychological distress and psychopathology as measured by the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised. Although Internet-based treatment programmes have been suggested to have advantages compared to traditional face-to-face therapy, research in this area is scarce. This pilot study contributes to the growing literature in this area, and provides tentative support for the effectiveness of Internet based treatment interventions for pathological gamblers.     

A complete and strongly anonymous leximin relation on infinite streams

Various extensions of the leximin order to the infinite dimensional setting have been suggested. They relax completeness and strong anonymity. Instead, by removing sensitivity to generations at infinite rank this paper defines a complete and strongly anonymous leximin relation on infinite streams. The order is axiomatized, and it is shown to be the limit of extended rank-discounted utilitarianism for any utility function, as the discount factor approaches zero.