Relative deprivation, relative satisfaction, and attitudes towards immigrants: Evidence from Ukraine

This paper applies the concept of relative deprivation/satisfaction to studying the formation of attitudes towards immigrants. It finds that the feeling of group relative deprivation, as opposed to individual relative deprivation or satisfaction, adversely affects the attitudes of native-born, even when its potential endogeneity is taken into account. Furthermore, relative deprivation matters only for native-born who subjectively underestimate their well-being, but not for those who overestimate it. When considering other forms of native-born individuals’ perceived disadvantage, such as in terms of employment, access to education or medical facilities, there is weak evidence that only a perceived disadvantage in obtaining medical aid negatively affects attitudes.     

Relative income,absolute income and the life satisfaction of older adults: do retirees differ from the non‐retired?

We examine life‐satisfaction of older adults using a representative sample of Canadian individuals aged 45+. Our findings confirm a long line of employment relations research on the importance of ‘relational concerns’ in that: (i) income relative to the average for a given person's gender, age, region and marital status (relative income) matters more in improving life satisfaction as a whole than does absolute personal income; (ii) the relationship between relative income and happiness is much stronger for the non‐retired than retired persons, likely reflecting the importance of comparisons among peers at the workplace; and (3) absolute personal income does have a small positive relationship with life satisfaction but only for retirees and not for the non‐retired.     

税收累进性测度的改进：方法、比较和应用

提出判断税收累进性的边际效应方法：当总收入基尼系数的税收边际效应大于0时,该税收具有累进性特征;并将税收边际效应作为测度指数。边际效应指数与K指数具有完全相同的符号,不同税种具有可加性,它比K指数更为稳健,且赋予了税收累进性新的经济含义：税收对总收入基尼系数贡献率大于平均税率。同时还着重讨论几种测度税收累进性指数的关系,对各种测度指数进行了实证,发现S指数存在一定程度的缺陷。     

Direct Estimation of Equivalence Scales and More Evidence on Independence of Base

We explore a direct approach to estimating household equivalence scales from income satisfaction data. Our method differs from previous approaches to using satisfaction data for this purpose in that it can be used to directly fit and evaluate closed‐form and non‐parametric equivalence scales of any desired form. Its flexibility makes it easy to consider specific aspects such as income dependence or more specific information on household composition (such as whether household members live in a partner relationship). We estimate and evaluate a number of scales used in the literature. If the equivalence scale is assumed to be independent of income and to depend only on household size, we do not reject the validity of the widely used square‐root scale at conventional significance levels. We also test GESE and GAESE restrictions (Donaldson and Pendakur, 2003, 2006) and investigate in detail to what extent household economies of scale depend on income. Our results suggest that the income dependence differs fundamentally across household types (rising economies of scale for ‘family’ households, falling economies of scale for multi‐adult households without children and no income dependence for other households).     

Met expectations and supplies–values fit of Dutch young adults as determinants of work outcomes

Many studies have shown that work outcomes, such as job satisfaction and turnover intentions, are affected by met expectations and the fit between the work values of an employee and the supplies offered by the organization. However, research that investigates their simultaneous effects on work outcomes is absent in the literature. This study examined the concurrent effects of met expectations and supplies–values (S–V) fit of Dutch young adults on job satisfaction and intention to leave. It was hypothesized that met expectations as an outcome of a cognitive evaluation process would explain variance in affective work outcomes beyond and above that predicted by measures of S–V fit and main effects of job supplies and work values. Results supported this hypothesis. Theoretical and practical implications of these results directions for future research are discussed.     

The Estimation of Pareto Distribution by a Weighted Least Square Method

The two-parameter Pareto distribution provides reasonably good fit to the distributions of income and property value, and explains many empirical phenomena. For the censored data, the two parameters are regularly estimated by the maximum likelihood estimator, which is complicated in computation process. This investigation proposes a weighted least square estimator to estimate the parameters. Such a method is comparatively concise and easy to perceive, and could be applied to either complete or truncated data. Simulation studies are conducted in this investigation to show the feasibility of the proposed method. This report will demonstrate that the weighted least square estimator gives better performance than unweighted least square estimators with simulation cases. We also illustrate that the weighted least square estimator is very close to maximum likelihood estimator with simulation studies.     

Testing structural equation models: the impact of error variances in the data generating process

Yet another paper on fit measures? To our knowledge, very few papers discuss how fit measures are affected by error variance in the Data Generating Process (DGP). The present paper deals with this. Based upon an extensive simulation study, this paper shows that the effects of increased error variance differ significantly for various fit measures. In addition to error variance the effects depend on sample size and severity of misspecification. The findings confirm the general notion that good fit as measured by the chi-square, RMSEA and GFI etc. does not necessarily mean that the model is correctly specified and reliable. One finding is that the chi square test may give support to misspecified models in situations with a high level of error variance in the DGP, for small sample sizes. Another finding is that the chi-square test looses power also for large sample sizes when the model is negligible misspecified. Other results include incremental fit indices as NFI and RFI which prove to be more informative indicators under these circumstances. At the end of the paper we formulate some guidelines for use of different fit measures.     

Deprivation and Incidence of Urban Public Services: A Tale of Three Cities

We approach the problem of deprivation and incidence of urban public services by quantifying the extent of deprivation of different income groups in relation to both desired and minimum levels. Three types of deprivation are clearly established. First, deprivation in both Bombay and Calcutta is higher than that of Delhi. Second, there is a serious concern for primary health and education because it is established that the lack of these local services is the major source of deprivation among urban settlers. Finally, we report how well different income classes are served in these cities: the rich are worst-off in Calcutta and best-off in Bombay. Middle income and poor citizens are best-off and worst-off in Delhi and Bombay, respectively.     

Intercultural competence and expatriates

This study examines the simultaneous effects of employees' fit with their organization, job and supervisor on their job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intention in Turkish banks by paying special attention to the moderating role of perceived organizational support (POS) in these relationships. Survey data collected from 213 employees who work in five different banks operating in Istanbul, Turkey, show that employees' value fit with their organization increases their job satisfaction and organizational commitment significantly while having no direct effect on their turnover intention. The results also suggest a positive association between employees' fit with their job (needs–supplies fit) and their job satisfaction along with the negative, direct impact of job fit on turnover intention. The hypothesized relationships between employees' value fit with their supervisor and selected employee outcomes are not supported. With respect to the moderating role of POS, the overall findings indicate that a high level of organizational support suppresses the effects of employees' value fit with their organization on their job satisfaction and organizational commitment as well as reducing the relationship between their job fit and job satisfaction and turnover intention.     

Goodness of fit in confirmatory factor analysis: The effects of sample size and model parsimony

The purpose of the present investigation is to examine the influence of sample size (N) and model parsimony on a set of 22 goodness-of-fit indices including those typically used in confirmatory factor analysis and some recently developed indices. For sample data simulated from two known population data structures, values for 6 of 22 fit indices were reasonably independent ofN and were not significantly affected by estimating parameters known to have zero values in the population: two indices based on noncentrality described by McDonald (1989; McDonald and Marsh, 1990), a relative (incremental) index based on noncentrality (Bentler, 1990; McDonald & Marsh, 1990), unbiased estimates of LISREL's GFI and AGFI (Joreskog & Sorbom, 1981) presented by Steiger (1989, 1990) that are based on noncentrality, and the widely known relative index developed by Tucker and Lewis (1973). Penalties for model complexity designed to control for sampling fluctuations and to address the inevitable compromise between goodness of fit and model parsimony were evaluated.     

战略匹配对合资企业绩效的影响研究——基于中美合资企业的实证研究

关于合资企业的研究从不同学者分别论述了合资企业的战略、组织和文化的匹配性对合资企业绩效的影响。本文通过研究合资企业在合资运营之前战略匹配对中外合资企业四类绩效指标的影响研究。研究结果发现,目标一致(战略匹配)对合资企业满意度和总体竞争力有显著影响,而资源互补(战略匹配)对合资企业绩效无显著影响。     

Extremal properties of the Theil and Gini measures of inequality

Quality & Quantity - Two popular inequality measures used in the study of income and wealth distributions are the Gini (G) and Theil (T) indices. Several bounds on these inequality measures are...     

The life satisfaction of teachers at work place,research of structural equation modelling regarding general and organized cynicism

This research aims to determine both the predictive role and level of teachers’ life satisfaction, as well as general and organizational cynic perceptions in their workplace. The study sample was composed of 457 teachers who worked in the middle schools in the center and districts of Konya in 2016, who were randomly selected by group sampling. Analysis of the research data was conducted using the statistical program AMOS 18.0, according to structural equation modeling. In the research, loneliness in teachers’ professional lives was considered in two dimensions: as “emotional deprivation” and “social friendship.” According to the research findings, it is evident that organizational cynicism is the most important variable affecting teachers’ emotional deprivation and social companionship levels. The second most important variable affecting teachers' levels of emotional deprivation is general cynicism, while social companionship levels are more affected by life satisfaction. It is also seen that there is a negative relationship between the emotional deprivation and social friendship and life satisfaction variables. The results also demonstrate a slight but statistically significant relationship between the general cynicism and the social friendship levels of teachers.     

Spatial differences in the cost of living

A method is described for constructing spatial indices of the cost of a basket of basic “requirements” of food and nonfood categories. The proposed index for nonfood items is built up from household expenditure, since their prices are unavailable in most developing countries. Using Peru as a case study, it is shown that the cost differences have significant implications for measures of real income and poverty across regions and between urban and rural areas.     

A multi-process second-order latent growth curve model for subjective well-being

This article proposes a new approach to modelling longitudinal perceptions of subjective well-being (SWB). Several measures have been proposed in the literature to assess SWB and its determinants. Statistical approaches adopted include ordered probit models, fixed and random effects models and cross-lagged structural equation models. The British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) is a longitudinal national representative survey and contains several measures of SWB. Using BHPS data from 2002 to 2005, this article considers two main latent dimensions of life satisfaction: satisfaction with leisure and satisfaction with material issues. The latent trajectories of these two latent life satisfaction dimensions are simultaneously modeled in Mplus, using a multi-process, second-order latent growth curve model. Significant determinants of leisure and material satisfaction growth trajectories include socio-demographic characteristics, number of children in the household, number of hours worked per week, income and perceived health status.     

Has Federal Student Aid Contributed to Equality in Higher Education?

ABSTRACT. TO analyze the effect of federal student aid on the structure of the higher educational system, an index of inequality of access is developed It measures the differences in the distribution of income of entering students , as compared to the U S distribution of income at thirteen different categories of institutions Its application shows that structural inequality exists in the nation's system of higher education and that while some improvements occurred in the 1970s, especially at the bottom of the system, by 1986 most of these gains had been eliminated When these indices were regressed against per capita federal student financial aid , relative student costs , and variables reflecting changes in the larger economy, using time series data, the aid variables show little or no statistical effect on the structural inequality of the nation's system of higher education, as measured by the index of inequality On the other hand, the cost variable generally has strong effect The general economic variables occasionally have significant effect     

The income redistribution effects of Medicaid: Application in New York State

The efficacy of Medicaid as an income redistribution mechanism among New York State counties was examined to determine tthe degree of income shifting from higher to lower income counties. A sample of 21 counties, grouped into four discrete income classes according to 1970 per capita income was taken.Costs and expenditures (attributed to Medicaid) were allocated over all counties, adjusting for federal and state aid transfers. The data were tabulated for each of the 21 counties and six key ratios (including: Medicaid expenditures per authorized recipient, etc.) were developed as measures of income distribution.The impact of Medicaid was tested using two independent statistical techniques, goodness of fit and pooled comparisons between each pair of means for each ratio. Results indicated that no appreciable shift in income from high to low counties existed. Medicaid failed 45 of 72 mean difference tests, and the true distribution of costs and expenditures across income classes did not differ significantly from a uniform distribution in 77.7% of the cases.The results indicate that the mandated funding structure of Medicaid impinges more severely on poorer counties. Lack of an adequate health care infra-structure may seriously limit the ability of lower income counties to provide care even with Medicaid covering a large share of medical costs.     

Income mobility in Russia (2000–2005)

Using the data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS), this paper investigates income mobility in Russia during the period of rapid economic growth (2000–2005). Employing a broad set of mobility indices, we show that there is much mobility in household incomes from one year to the next and over longer periods in Russia. Both relative and absolute mobility in Russia are significantly higher than in Western countries. We demonstrate that income growth in Russia was strongly pro-poor in 2000–2005. Incomes of the relatively poor were growing faster than incomes of the relatively rich. However, this inequality-reducing effect was almost exactly offset by changes in the relative positions of individuals and the overall reduction in cross-sectional inequality was merely modest.     

Estimation of a model containing unobservable variables using grouped observations: An application to the permanent income hypothesis

The method of estimating relationships in a model containing unobservable variables is combined with the technique of estimation from a sample of grouped observations to analyse the permanent income hypothesis. From a sample of group means the paper measures the relative importance of such factors as wealth, occupation, age and family-size as determinants of permanent income in the United Kingdom, and also considers the mechanism by which transitory receipts influence total consumption expenditure.     

Optimal comparison of misspecified moment restriction models under a chosen measure of fit

Suppose that the econometrician is interested in comparing two misspecified moment restriction models, where the comparison is performed in terms of some chosen measure of fit. This paper is concerned with describing an optimal test of the Vuong (1989) and Rivers and Vuong (2002) type null hypothesis that the two models are equivalent under the given measure of fit (the ranking may vary for different measures). We adopt the generalized Neyman–Pearson optimality criterion, which focuses on the decay rates of the type I and II error probabilities under fixed non-local alternatives, and derive an optimal but practically infeasible test. Then, as an illustration, by considering the model comparison hypothesis defined by the weighted Euclidean norm of moment restrictions, we propose a feasible approximate test statistic to the optimal one and study its asymptotic properties. Local power properties, one-sided test, and comparison under the generalized empirical likelihood-based measure of fit are also investigated. A simulation study illustrates that our approximate test is more powerful than the Rivers–Vuong test.