Entrepreneurial Boldness and Excessive Investment

We analyze investment by a population of hyperbolic discounting entrepreneurs. In order to avoid inefficient procrastination, agents with good prospects about their chances of success may choose to forego free information and to invest boldly. This explains an excessive level of investment in the economy. Building on this observation, we show that low risk-free interest rates favor bold entrepreneurship and entry mistakes. Furthermore, public intervention can be socially desirable: Forcing agents to acquire information before deciding whether to invest may reduce competitive interest rates and may be beneficial for all individuals in the economy .

And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pith and moment With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action.                      Hamlet , Act 3: Scene 1.

     

Generalized two-sample U-statistics for clustered data

In this paper we investigate two-sample U -statistics in the case of clusters of repeated measurements observed on individuals from independent populations. The observations on the i -th individual in the first population are denoted by     , 1 ≤  i  ≤  m , and those on the k -th individual in the second population are denoted by     , 1 ≤  k  ≤  n . Given the kernel φ ( x ,  y ), we define the generalized two-sample U -statistic by
We derive the asymptotic distribution of U _{m , n} for large sample sizes. As an application we study the generalized Mann–Whitney–Wilcoxon rank sum test for clustered data.     

Estimation of a k-monotone density: characterizations, consistency and minimax lower bounds

The classes of monotone or convex (and necessarily monotone) densities on     can be viewed as special cases of the classes of k - monotone densities on     . These classes bridge the gap between the classes of monotone (1-monotone) and convex decreasing (2-monotone) densities for which asymptotic results are known, and the class of completely monotone (∞-monotone) densities on     . In this paper we consider non-parametric maximum likelihood and least squares estimators of a k -monotone density g ₀. We prove existence of the estimators and give characterizations. We also establish consistency properties, and show that the estimators are splines of degree k −1 with simple knots. We further provide asymptotic minimax risk lower bounds for estimating the derivatives     , at a fixed point x ₀ under the assumption that     .     

A General Algorithm for Univariate Stratification

This paper presents a general algorithm for constructing strata in a population using  X , a univariate stratification variable known for all the units in the population. Stratum  h  consists of all the units with an  X  value in the interval   [ b _{h −1},  b_h )   . The stratum boundaries   { b_h }   are obtained by minimizing the anticipated sample size for estimating the population total of a survey variable  Y  with a given level of precision. The stratification criterion allows the presence of a take-none and of a take-all stratum. The sample is allocated to the strata using a general rule that features proportional allocation, Neyman allocation, and power allocation as special cases. The optimization can take into account a stratum-specific anticipated non-response and a model for the relationship between the stratification variable  X  and the survey variable  Y . A loglinear model with stratum-specific mortality for  Y  given  X  is presented in detail. Two numerical algorithms for determining the optimal stratum boundaries, attributable to Sethi and Kozak, are compared in a numerical study. Several examples illustrate the stratified designs that can be constructed with the proposed methodology. All the calculations presented in this paper were carried out with stratification , an R package that will be available on CRAN (Comprehensive R Archive Network).     

Entropy concentration and the empirical coding game

We give a characterization of maximum entropy/minimum relative entropy inference by providing two 'strong entropy concentration' theorems. These theorems unify and generalize Jaynes'concentration phenomenon' and Van Campenhout and Cover's 'conditional limit theorem'. The theorems characterize exactly in what sense a prior distribution Q conditioned on a given constraint and the distribution      minimizing D(P  ‖  Q ) over all P satisfying the constraint are 'close' to each other. We then apply our theorems to establish the relationship between entropy concentration and a game-theoretic characterization of maximum entropy inference of Topsøe and others.     

MUSLIM WOMEN AND PROPERTY RIGHTS

This paper examines rights to property accorded to women in Islam under direct     injunctions and compares it with the state of these rights in present Muslim societies. It argues that the correct application of     law will not only materially improve the status of women in Muslim societies and guarantee them economic security, it will also bring economic prosperity to such societies directly.     

A CONFLICT OF INTEREST: ISLAMIC HOME FINANCING IN AMERICA

The rising Muslim population in the USA has fuelled an increase in the domestic demand for '     ' finance. One of the prominent restrictions that     imposes on financial practices is a prohibition on the payment and collection of riba , interest on loans. This paper examines the home financing models of three prominent Islamic financial institutions. It identifies the transaction models that these institutions use, explains the differences among these models and illustrates how each institution 'sells' its chosen approach to the public.     

Does unemployment hysteresis falsify the natural rate hypothesis? a meta‐regression analysis

Abstract.  A quantitative survey of 24 studies containing 99 national estimates of unemployment persistence reinstates unemployment hysteresis as a viable falsifying hypothesis to the natural rate hypothesis. Empirical evidence to the contrary may be attributed to small-sample, misspecification and publication biases. Larger estimates of unemployment persistence are produced by models that use more information ( t  = 9.03; P  < 0.0001) and are better specified. A theme of bias and misspecification among studies that are more supportive of natural rate hypothesis emerges in several independent ways. The nonstationarity of the unemployment rate is confirmed both by the observed rate of convergence of persistence estimates across the empirical literature and by the point towards which they converge. The natural rate hypothesis may be regarded as 'falsified' should we choose to do so.     

Calculating Cumulants of a Taylor Expansion of a Multivariate Function

A method, which we believe is simpler and more transparent than the one due to McCullagh (1984) , is described for obtaining the cumulants of a scalar multivariate stochastic Taylor expansion. Its generalisation is also suggested. An important feature, previously not reported, is that the expansion of every cumulant of order ≥ 2 is made up of separate subseries.
In order to handle certain frequently occurring sums over permutations of members of compound index sets, we introduce a new notation  [ m ]_*,  where   m   is a positive integer.     

Noneconomic Objectives in the History of Economic Thought

A bstract .   Noneconomic objectives were a significant part of the international economics subspecialty in economics.     

Mill Versus Liberty

A bstract .   Professor Waterman now reviews Linda C. Raeder's John Stuart Mill and the Religion of Humanity (2002 ).     

Stable Prices, Money, and the Cost of Living

A bstract .   An analysis of indexed units of account such as that proposed by Robert Hall.     

Comments on William D. Nordhaus's, "Irving Fisher and the Contribution of Improved Longevity to Living Standards"

A bstract    This essay discusses Fisher's contributions to life extension and to human capital theory.     

Reply to Ahiakpor

A bstract .   Professor Reisman responds to Professor James C. W. Ahiakpor's criticisms pp. 715–717.     

Comment on Robert Hall's "Controlling the Price Level"

A bstract .   James Tobin discusses Fisher's compensated dollar plan and Robert Hall's proposal for controlling the price level.     

Does “Health Promotion” Really Promote Health?

A bstract    In his comment on Victor Fuch's essay, the late Alvan Feinstein raised the question of whether government-sponsored programs of "health promotion" are always good for well-being.     

Finding Deficiency

A bstract .   In these comments, Professor Smith discusses the preceding group of symposium papers and reminds us that eugenic ideas are still part of the society in which we live.     

Comment on William C. Brainard and Herbert E. Scarf''s "How to Compute Equilibrium Prices in 1891"

A bstract .   In commenting on Brainard and Scarf's essay, the engineer and physicist K. R. Sreenivasan considers why Fisher resorted to hydraulic machines in the first place.     

Comments on "Echoes of Henry George in Modern Analysis"

A bstract .   These comments were presented at a session entitled "Echoes of Henry George in Modern Analysis" held at the 2002 meetings of the Southern Economic Association.