Sample bias in contingent valuation: A comparison of the correction methods

Abstract

This article compares various methods for correcting contingent valuation aggregate benefits when the sample is known to be biased. A sample is defined as the population, and response rates are simulated on the basis of a measure of salience. The simulated response rates suffer from nonresponse bias and selection bias. Coefficient and benefit estimates that result from weighting and self‐selection correction approaches are compared with the true coefficient and benefit estimates. Our results indicate that at both low and high response rates the standard approach leads to bias, and either correction approach will reduce the bias in coefficient and benefit estimates.     

Mapping the antecedents of telework diffusion: firm‐level evidence from Italy

Previous literature has studied telework practices predominantly from the employees' perspective rather than exploring its use at the firm level. With the objective of contributing to reducing this research gap, the relationship between firms' adoption of telework and the firms' technological, organisational and environmental contexts is explored. Data were obtained from a survey conducted between 2005 and 2009 on a sample of 1,134 Italian firms in the Piedmont region. The results show an overall increase in the diffusion of telework primarily attributable to a rise in the adoption of ‘mobile’ work rather than home‐based forms of telework. The results also show that firms that had previously adopted information systems supporting core business processes and knowledge management were more inclined to adopt telework. Telework arrangements were more widely diffused among firms facing a growing and geographically dispersed market demand, and also in the contexts of higher levels of human capital and lower capital intensity.     

The High‐Rise Home: Verticality as Practice in London

This article investigates the relationship between verticality and home. It develops the idea of ‘verticality as practice'. This appreciates verticality not as something that takes place in three‐dimensional landscapes, but as the outcome of everyday practical activity. Examining a modernist high‐rise estate, the Aylesbury Estate in London, the article identifies and examines a range of vertical practices, illustrating how they are intertwined with home. Vertical practices, such as those associated with the view, help to make a unique and special home, becoming intensely meaningful to residents. However, they also unmake dimensions of home when they interact with the estate's marginality.     

Is cognitive bias really present in analyst forecasts? The role of investor sentiment

This paper analyses four key markets within the European context. In this context, where the level of analyst coverage is lower than in the US setting, we aim to ascertain whether the origin of optimism in analyst forecasts in these markets is mainly strategic or whether it also contains an element of cognitive bias. Despite the fact that forecast errors lack the explanatory power to account for a significant percentage of the relationship between market sentiment and future stock returns, our new tests based on selection bias (SB1 and SB2), in conjunction with an analysis of abnormal trading volume, confirm the presence of both cognitive bias and strategic behaviour in analyst forecasts. This shows that, although regulation can reduce analyst optimism bias, the benefits are constrained by the fact that optimism bias is partly associated with cognitive bias.     

传统家居陈设艺术的当代转换——以屏风为例

＂实用为本＂与＂道器相宜＂是中国传统造物思想中与现代设计理念相切合的部分。以传统家居陈设艺术中的屏风为例,阐明屏风的当代转换设计应营造适于当下生活方式之＂用＂,合乎当下思想文化之＂道＂。     

基于社会保障理论的孤残儿童福利研究

目前社会救助保障制度已基本覆盖浙江省孤残儿童,大部分孤残儿童享受养育、医疗、康复、教育等方面的优惠政策,基本权益得到有效保障。但是,孤残儿童保障政策制定和实施、儿童福利机构的建设也存在一些问题。应加强各部门之间的组织协调,合力推进儿童福利事业发展;出台儿童福利保障政策,建立完善新型孤残儿童福利体系;加强儿童福利机构自身建设,提升可持续发展能力;积极稳妥推行家庭寄养工作;加强舆论宣传,弘扬爱心助残助孤义举,推动孤儿福利事业与慈善事业共同发展。     

国内外饭店职业经理人研究综述

我国对饭店职业经理人的研究从理论到实践两个方面都滞后于市场经济发达国家。中外职业经理人出现的经济背景和社会条件不同,研究的关注点差别较多。国外的研究最早关注于经理人角色、继而关注总经理的管理能力、经理人职业路径、经理人与雇主关系、经理人薪酬体系和经理人胜任力模型等。国内的研究则关注于饭店职业经理人界定、能力与素质、市场化问题、队伍建设与发展,近两年才出现饭店职业经理人角色研究。同时,在研究方法上还存在着以宏观研究为主,微观研究不足,定性研究较多,定量研究不够,研究方法单一,缺少对相关理论的系统研究和集合的问题。国内外研究者在研究内容、层次、视角上的差异,其实质反映了饭店职业经理人生存与发展的环境差异,即市场经济成熟度的差异。     

黑龙江省农民工返乡创业政策支持研究

现阶段,黑龙江省已经面临返乡农民工转移就业的严峻形势。在这些返乡的农民工群体中不乏一些具备一定技术和管理经验的人才,想凭借自己的一技之长开创一番事业。但在创业过程中遇到了许多自身难以克服的困难。为促进农民工返乡创业,黑龙江省应提供创业教育培训、创业融资支持和创业环境优化等政策支持。     

青少年体质下降的社会因素分析

青少年的体魄强健,既是一个民族生命力旺盛的表征、社会文明进步的标志,更是一个国家综合实力的体现,所以青少年体质健康与否的影响远远超出了青少年个体本身。尽管青少年体质下降的影响因素是多方面,但本文旨在从社会学的角度来分析青少年体质下降的影响因素,重点分析了家庭住宅,社会意识,以及生活方式等方面与青少年体质的相关性。