Partial Identification of Economic Mobility: With an Application to the United States

Abstract

The economic mobility of individuals and households is of fundamental interest. While many measures of economic mobility exist, reliance on transition matrices remains pervasive due to simplicity and ease of interpretation. However, estimation of transition matrices is complicated by the well-acknowledged problem of measurement error in self-reported and even administrative data. Existing methods of addressing measurement error are complex, rely on numerous strong assumptions, and often require data from more than two periods. In this article, we investigate what can be learned about economic mobility as measured via transition matrices while formally accounting for measurement error in a reasonably transparent manner. To do so, we develop a nonparametric partial identification approach to bound transition probabilities under various assumptions on the measurement error and mobility processes. This approach is applied to panel data from the United States to explore short-run mobility before and after the Great Recession.     

A Bayesian Analysis of Abundance,Trend, and Population Viability for Harbor Seals in Iliamna Lake,Alaska

Harbor seals in Iliamna Lake, Alaska, are a small, isolated population, and one of only two freshwater populations of harbor seals in the world, yet little is known about their abundance or risk for extinction. Bayesian hierarchical models were used to estimate abundance and trend of this population. Observational models were developed from aerial survey and harvest data, and they included effects for time of year and time of day on survey counts. Underlying models of abundance and trend were based on a Leslie matrix model that used prior information on vital rates from the literature. We developed three scenarios for variability in the priors and used them as part of a sensitivity analysis. The models were fitted using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. The population production rate implied by the vital rate estimates was about 5% per year, very similar to the average annual harvest rate. After a period of growth in the 1980s, the population appears to be relatively stable at around 400 individuals. A population viability analysis assessing the risk of quasi‐extinction, defined as any reduction to 50 animals or below in the next 100 years, ranged from 1% to 3%, depending on the prior scenario. Although this is moderately low risk, it does not include genetic or catastrophic environmental events, which may have occurred to the population in the past, so our results should be applied cautiously.     

Restricted minimax estimation in semiparametric linear models

Abstract

In this article we develop the minimax estimation approach of general linear models to the semiparametric linear models when the parameters are simultaneously constrained by an ellipsoid and linear restrictions. Combining sample information and prior constraints the minimax estimator is obtained and compared with partially least square estimator by theoretical and simulation methods.     

Visualization of generalized mean estimators using auxiliary information in survey sampling

Abstract

The mean estimators with ratio depend on multiple auxiliary variables and unknown parameters in a finite population setting. We propose a new generalized approach with matrices for modeling the mutivariate mean estimators with two auxiliary variables. Our approach brings naturally a graphical analysis for comparing mean estimators.     

复亚半正定矩阵

给出了复亚半正定矩阵的概念，研究了它的基本性质及行列式理论，将Hermite阵的Schur定理，华罗庚定理，Minkowski不等式，凸性不等式，Ostrowski-Taussky不等式推广到了较广泛的复矩阵类，扩大了Minkowski不等式的指数范围，削弱了华罗庚不等式的条件。     

大学英语作文非语法错误分析及纠错策略

通过深入分析非英语专业大学生英语作文中出现的内容、篇章结构、语言表达等方面的非语法错误,提出了写前阶段构思、审题技巧训练及寓写作于精读课教学等相应的纠错策略。     

关于第二类级联构造Bent序列的讨论(英文)

考虑用 4个长为 2 n - 2 的Bent序列或线性序列级联构造Bent序列的问题 ,给出了第二类线性基Bent序列的类型以及级联序列为第二类Bent基Bent序列的一个充分条件 .     

增长曲线模型非齐次线性估计的可容许性

讨论增长曲线模型Y =X1BX2 +ε中回归矩阵B的函数C1BC2 的估计L1YL2 +A ,在矩阵损失 (LT2 L1)Y +A - (ST2 XT2 S1X1)B (LT2 L1)Y +A - (ST2 XT2 S1X1)B T 下 ,我们得到了非齐次线性估计L1YL2 +A在非齐次线性估计类Г ={L1YL2 +A|L1:t×p ,L2 ;n×n ,A :t×s均为已知实阵 }中可容许的充要条件 :L1YL2在Г0 ={L1YL2 |L1:t×p ,L2 :n×s均为已知实阵 }中容许且当LT2 XT2 L1X1=ST2 XT2 S1X1时有A =0。     

Examples of the use of an equivalence theorem in constructing optimum experimental designs for random-effects nonlinear regression models

The problem considered is that of finding an optimum measurement schedule to estimate population parameters in a nonlinear model when the patient effects are random. The paper presents examples of the use of sensitivity functions, derived from the General Equivalence Theorem for D-optimality, in the construction of optimum population designs for such schedules. With independent observations, the theorem applies to the potential inclusion of a single observation. However, in population designs the observations are correlated and the theorem applies to the inclusion of an additional measurement schedule. In one example, three groups of patients of differing size are subject to distinct schedules. Numerical, as opposed to analytical, calculation of the sensitivity function is advocated. The required covariances of the observations are found by simulation.     

Robustness of a Class of Partial Diallel Cross Designs to the Unavailability of a Complete Block of Observations

Complete and partial diallel cross designs are examined as to their construction and robustness against the loss of a block of observations. A simple generalized inverse is found for the information matrix of the line effects, which allows evaluation of expressions for the variances of the line-effect differences with and without the missing block. A-efficiencies, based on average variances of the elementary contrasts of the line-effects, suggest that these designs are fairly robust. The loss of efficiency is generally less than 10%, but it is shown that specific comparisons might suffer a loss of efficiency of as much as 40%.