Mixture Models of Missing Data

This paper proposes a general framework for the analysis of survey data with missing observations. The approach presented here treats missing data as an unavoidable feature of any survey of the human population and aims at incorporating the unobserved part of the data into the analysis rather than trying to avoid it or make up for it. To handle coverage error and unit non-response, the true distribution is modeled as a mixture of an observable and of an unobservable component. Generally, for the unobserved component, its relative size (the no-observation rate) and its distribution are not known. It is assumed that the goal of the analysis is to assess the fit of a statistical model, and for this purpose the mixture index of fit is used. The mixture index of fit does not postulate that the statistical model of interest is able to account for the entire population rather, that it may only describe a fraction of it. This leads to another mixture representation of the true distribution, with one component from the statistical model of interest and another unrestricted one. Inference with respect to the fit of the model, with missing data taken into account, is obtained by equating these two mixtures and asking, for different no-observation rates, what is the largest fraction of the population where the statistical model may hold. A statistical model is deemed relevant for the population, if it may account for a large enough fraction of the population, assuming the true (if known) or a sufficiently small or a realistic no-observation rate.     

Does a free media protect labour rights?

Based on a sample of 47 developing economies considered over the period 1992–2012, we find that a free media reduces the legal protection of labour, taken as a whole. However, the impact differs over various aspects of labour regulation: while media freedom correlates with less stringent regulation of work time, less constraints to dismissal, and lower protection of employee representation rights, it also correlates with greater legal parity of part-time and fixed-term labour with full-time and permanent workers.     

Liquidity and asset pricing: Evidence from the Hong Kong stock market

This study investigates the role of liquidity in pricing stock returns in the Hong Kong stock market. Our results show that liquidity is an important factor for pricing returns in Hong Kong after taking well-documented asset pricing factors into consideration. The results are robust to adding portfolio residuals and higher moment factor in the factor models. The results are also robust to seasonality, and conditional-market tests. We also compare alternative factor models and find that the liquidity four-factor model (market excess return, size, book-to-market ratio, and liquidity) is the best model to explain stock returns in the Hong Kong stock market, while the momentum factor is not found to be priced.     

Disability Support Pension Recipients: Who Gets Off (and Stays Off) Payments?

We use Centrelink payment records on Disability Support Pension (DSP) recipients over the period 1995 to 2002 to investigate individual transitions off payments. Our findings are consistent with the existence of a close correspondence between disability benefit receipt and labour market outcomes: entry to DSP via unemployment benefits is associated with substantially reduced prospects of exiting DSP, while employment during the DSP spell is associated with not only an increased probability of exiting DSP, but also more success in staying off payments once an exit has been made. A further finding of our analysis is that persons who exit DSP due to take‐up of employment have a relatively high rate of return to payments compared with persons who exit for other reasons, and indeed exhibit a high propensity to cycle off and on payments.     

Ethical Issues in the Evolution ofCorporate Governance in China

China is establishing its corporate governance structures by emulating the stylized Anglo-American model. However, the country does not yet have the necessary formal and informal institutions, or the financial infrastructure to make these structures work effectively. Corruption, stock market manipulation, tax cheating, fraudulent dealing, all manners of plundering of state assets and the lack protection of shareholders' rights are some of the more conspicuous manifestations of the ethical issues that have emerged in this mismatch. This study shows how these issues arise in the context of the characteristics of country's economic and corporate governance development. It evaluates various potential policy responses that may be implemented to improve governance effectiveness and diminish the damage from those problems.     

南京港口凸现在物流链上的优势

南京地处长江中下游,是一座跨江城市,海陆空交通运输网发达。南京市"十一五"规划指出,大力实施"跨江发展战略"、加快"5个中心"的建设,把南京打造成为具有扩张力和充满经济活力的长江流域物流中心城市。     

A spatial–temporal analysis of East Asian equity market linkages

This paper examines East Asian equity market linkages in and out of the Asian and global financial crises using a novel econometric approach. The market dependence structure and shock transmission mechanism are explored spatially in the time domain, thus offering new insights into the dynamic regional market linkage patterns. Results show that East Asian equity markets are characterized by linkages through significant spatial effects, crises are conducive to increased cross-border linkages especially in the case of China, and Japan is a dominant driver of market linkages in the region.