SeMS and sensibility: Security management systems and the management of risk in the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority

Following International Air Transportation Association requirement for all member airlines and airports to have a security management system (SeMS) beginning 1 March 2007, many organizations are looking to learn from safety and quality management systems. Without specific guidelines or best practices, organizations are forced to imitate these processes designed for different goals. Since safety, quality, and security environments operate on radically different principles, SeMS implementation must take a different tack. The case of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority illustrates the importance of a custom-designed program that meets public and corporate needs. The Authority is responsible for security screening of passengers, non-passengers, and baggage within selected airports. As a crown corporation with a precise statutory mandate and regulatory environment, the development of a SeMS illustrates some of the key problems for the application of SeMS to larger organizations.     

Negative Libor rates in the swap market model

We apply Stroock and Varadhan’s support theorem to show that there is a positive probability that within the Swap Market Model the implied Libor rates become negative in finite time. Mataix-Pastor received support from the Instituto Credito Oficial (ICO), Spain, and Fundación Caja Madrid.     

On the effect of prior assumptions in Bayesian model averaging with applications to growth regression

We consider the problem of variable selection in linear regression models. Bayesian model averaging has become an important tool in empirical settings with large numbers of potential regressors and relatively limited numbers of observations. We examine the effect of a variety of prior assumptions on the inference concerning model size, posterior inclusion probabilities of regressors and on predictive performance. We illustrate these issues in the context of cross‐country growth regressions using three datasets with 41–67 potential drivers of growth and 72–93 observations. Finally, we recommend priors for use in this and related contexts. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Whose call is it? Targeting universal service programs to low-income households’ telecommunications preferences

Do universal service programs give customers what they want? This paper uses new survey data to study low-income households’ telecommunications choices in the United States and to consider the degree to which such households’ preferences are addressed by existing universal service programs. The research shows that households that choose only one form of telecommunications increasingly are choosing a mobile phone, while those that choose to have both modes of communications are shifting their usage towards their mobile phones. These trends are less pronounced among higher-income households. One implication for universal service policy is that traditional subsidies for landline phones are increasingly ineffective in reaching low-income households such subsidies are designed to help; subsidies for acquiring and using mobile phone services might be more beneficial to low-income households than traditional subsidies for landline phones.     

Comments on ‘Jointness of growth determinants’

We consider the measures of jointness proposed by Doppelhofer and Weeks ( 2009 ) and Strachan ( 2009 ) in the context of variable selection. Using the general criteria suggested in Ley and Steel ( 2007 ), we identify some shortcomings of these measures, which are illustrated with empirically relevant example cases. We argue that careful examination of the properties of any jointness measure is critical before using it to inform decisions, and favour the use of the measures proposed in Ley and Steel ( 2007 ). Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determinants of Government Aid to Katrina Survivors: Evidence from Survey Data

We analyze survey data from Mississippi coastal communities where Katrina made its final landfall. Logistic regressions indicate that government aid is helpful in dealing with one- to two-month economic disruption and long-term rebuilding but is less helpful with regard to short-term rebuilding and mitigating longer-term disruption. Our analysis (including a basic risk assessment) finds evidence that individuals receiving government aid and/or having a disability predisaster are likely to incur severe economic hardship postdisaster and that individuals with greater predisaster economic and/or social network capital seem to be less at risk. Our results underscore the importance of housing in the resumption of basic economic activity.