Catching a draft: on the process of selecting quarterbacks in the National Football League amateur draft

The reverse order college draft gives the worst teams in the National Football League (NFL) the opportunity to hire the best amateur talent. For it to work effectively, teams must be able to identify the “best” talent. Our study of NFL quarterbacks highlights problems with the draft process. We find only a weak correlation between teams’ evaluations on draft day and subsequent quarterback performance in the NFL. Moreover, many of the factors that enhance a quarterback’s draft position are unrelated to future NFL performance. Our analysis highlights the difficulties in evaluating workers in the uncertain environment of professional sports.     

Manufacturing Resistance: Rationalizing the Irrationality of Managerial Control on the Shop Floor in a US Medical Electronics Factory

Juravich (1985) asserts that the organization of US industrial manufacturing is irrational as well as appearing chaotic from the workers’ viewpoint because of management’s refusal to integrate the workers’ knowledge into the production process. Because of this, Juravich argues, if and when the workers’ knowledge is integrated into the production system, the workers no longer will experience “chaos on the shop floor.” Extending Devinatz’s (1993) analysis in response to Juravich, this article argues that workers use resistance as a logical strategy for rationalizing what they perceive to be the irrationality of the shop floor. Utilizing Kusterer’s (1978) work, I argue that the use of many, but not all, resistance strategies constitutes a type of “survival knowledge” acquired and used by workers in response to managerial control. I maintain that these strategies constitute a special type of workplace resistance which I refer to as “pure and simple resistance.”     

Variance estimation in the change analysis of a linear regression model

We study a “direct test” of Chu and White (1992) proposed for detecting changes in the trend of a linear regression model. The power of this test strongly depends on a suitable estimation of the variance of the error variables involved. We discuss various types of variance estimators and derive their asymptotic properties under the null-hypothesis of “no change” as well as under the alternative of “a change in linear trend”. A small simulation study illustrates the estimators' finite sample behaviour.     

Determining of threat perceptions affecting direction of the US defense expenditures by using ordinal regression models

The article examines whether the US threat perceptions defined in terms of federal government national defense outlays in billions of constant (FY 2000) dollars change along with periodical changes in international politics between 1945 and 2007. Three different models affecting direction of the US defense expenditures are developed. The first model are estimated by using five link functions even though results of only two of them, complementary log–log and cauchit, are presented. As complementary log–log produced the best results, others models are predicted by using only this function. The parameter estimates of complementary log–log function for the first model indicate that four of these variables (Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush Sr.) out of eleven are significant in the category of presidents. “Truman Docrtrine/Cominform”, “Korean War”, “Vietnam War”, and “Invasion of Iraq” also seem to be the important independent variables on empirical grounds for the first model. While “Party”, “Invasion of Iraq”, “Vietnam War”, “Korean War”, and “Cuban Missile Crisis” constitute the important independent variables on empirical grounds for the second model, “Korean War”, “Vietnam War”, “Invasion of Iraq”, “Truman Docrtrine/Cominform”, “The Cold War and New World Order”, and “Cuban Missile Crisis” are important independent variables on empirical grounds for the third model. Estimations based on these three models therefore suggest that aforementioned independent variables do indeed have effect on the US defense expenditures.     

Organizational governance and the grievance process: In need of a new model for resolving workplace issues

This article begins by providing insights from the research literature on the union and nonunion grievance processes in the United States. We then take a look at the status of “voice” in the American workplace and identify both inherent and practical implementation problems in providing employee “voice” regarding workplace rules. Finally, we lay out the elements of a viable system that would best meet the criteria for procedural and substantive due process in the employment relationship.     

On the identification of the significant independent variables in linear models

Summary Methods for the identification of the significant independent variables in multiple linear regression and in the multiple regression approach to non-orthogonal analysis of variance and covariance are discussed. “Forward Ranking” and “Backward Ranking” (by order of importance) of the independent variables are defined, and the backward method is shown to avoid the disadvantageous effects of “Compounds” upon the ranking. For non-orthogonal analysis of variance, a unique orthogonal decomposition of the regression sum of squares (due to all ANOVA effects) is shown to be possible when the groups of independent variables (representing the effects) are ranked by the criterion of “Non-Significance” and under “Restricted Admissibility.” A computer program is outlined which incorporates the proposed methods.

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Zusammenfassung Methoden für die Identifizierung der signifikanten unabh?ngigen Ver?nderlichen in der mehrfachen linearen Regressionsrechnung und im Regressionsverfahren für nichtorthogonale Varianz- und Kovarianzanalyse werden besprochen. „Vorw?rtsgerichtetes“ und „rückw?rtsgerichtetes“ Rangordnen (nach Bedeutung) der unabh?ngigen Ver?nderlichen werden definiert, und es wird gezeigt, da? beim rückw?rtsgerichteten Rangordnen die nachteiligen Wirkungen von „Verb?nden“ auf das Ordnen vermieden werden. Für den Fall der nichtorthogonalen Varianzanalyse wird gezeigt, da? eine eindeutige orthogonale Zerlegung der Quadratsumme für die Regression (erkl?rt durch die Gesamtheit der Haupt- und Wechselwirkungen in der Varianzanalyse) erreicht werden kann, wenn die Gruppen der unabh?ngigen Ver?nderlichen, die die Haupt- und Wechselwirkungen repr?sentieren, nach dem Rangordnungskriterium „Nicht-Signifikanz“ und unter „Beschr?nkter Zul?ssigkeit“ geordnet werden. Ein Rechenprogramm wird erl?utert, welches auf den vorgeschlagenen Methoden basiert.

     

Conditional nonparametric frontier models for convex and nonconvex technologies: a unifying approach

The explanation of productivity differentials is very important to identify the economic conditions that create inefficiency and to improve managerial performance. In the literature two main approaches have been developed: one-stage approaches and two-stage approaches. Daraio and Simar (2005, J Prod Anal 24(1):93–121) propose a fully nonparametric methodology based on conditional FDH and conditional order-m frontiers without any convexity assumption on the technology. However, convexity has always been assumed in mainstream production theory and general equilibrium. In addition, in many empirical applications, the convexity assumption can be reasonable and sometimes natural. Lead by these considerations, in this paper we propose a unifying approach to introduce external-environmental variables in nonparametric frontier models for convex and nonconvex technologies. Extending earlier contributions by Daraio and Simar (2005, J Prod Anal 24(1):93–121) as well as Cazals et al. (2002, J Econometrics 106:1–25), we introduce a conditional DEA estimator, i.e., an estimator of production frontier of DEA type conditioned to some external-environmental variables which are neither inputs nor outputs under the control of the producer. A robust version of this conditional estimator is proposed too. These various measures of efficiency provide also indicators of convexity which we illustrate using simulated and real data. Cinzia Daraio received Research support from the Italian Ministry of Education Research on Innovation Systems Project (iRis) “The reorganization of the public system of research for the technological transfer: governance, tools and interventions” and from the Italian Ministry of Educational Research Project (MIUR 40% 2004) “System spillovers on the competitiveness of Italian economy: quantitative analysis for sectoral policies” which are acknowledged. Léopold Simar received Research support from the “Interuniversity Attraction Pole”, Phase V (No. P5/24) from the Belgian Government (Belgian Science Policy) is acknowledged.     

The Use of Mixed Methods Models and Designs in the Human Sciences: Problems and Prospects

The article explores some of the emerging issues in the newly developing area of Mixed Methods (MM) research. Two of these issues concern the possibility of whether MM can provide for both “diverse” and “severe” testing. Based on a model of Placeholder Effects and utilizing an example of current empirical research, it is concluded that certain varieties of MM are potentially more robust than others in fulfilling the diverse and severe criteria. It is also argued that MM must concern itself with formulating “procedural rules” which guide the researcher in choosing and applying appropriate strategies for specific research problems.     

The emigrant entrepreneur: a theoretical framework and empirical approximation

The present paper examines the concept of emigrant entrepreneur in relation to level of training and language skills. The study focuses on the relationship of both variables with business activity, motivation and the process followed by entrepreneur. The results show a trend in the relationship between the variable language skills and the type of activity developed. The variable “level of training” is revealed as the most influential factor affecting the business sector of activity, the level of turnover and the attitude towards entrepreneurship.     

A family of measures of uncertainty involving utilities: Definition,properties, applications and statistical inferences

Consider an experiment involving the observation of a discrete random variable, or quantitative classification process. When, in addition to the probability of each value or class we know its “utility” (or, more precisely, we can quantify the “nature” of each value or class), the “uncertainty corresponding to the utilities” may be evaluated. In this paper, we are first going to introduce a family of Measures of Uncertainty involving Utilities and several properties of this family are studied. Then, some immediate applications are discussed: the definition of criteria for Comparing Experiments in Statistical Decision problems, and the quantification of the Inequality with respect to an economical attribute or the Industrial Concentration. Finally, we will analyze the asymptotic behaviour of the measures in simple random sampling, and some related problems. This work was partially supported by the Comisión Asesora de Investigación Científica Técnica (CAICYT) under the contract PB85-0401.     

Social Distance,Respondent Cooperation and Item Nonresponse in Sex Survey

This paper examines the ways in which the number of item nonresponses is determined by social distance and/or interview rapport, with a focus on responses of “refusal” and “don’t know”, implying the respondent’s lack of willingness and ability to provide substantive responses to sensitive questions. The data analyzed were from 39 self- administered questions concerning sexual attitudes and behaviors in the 2002 Taiwan Social Change Survey for module “Family and Changing Gender Role”. Poisson Regression in 2-level Hierarchical Linear Model was employed to enhance the accuracy of the analysis of the accumulation of “don’t know” and “refusal” responses. The results showed that respondent cooperation significantly decreased the number of both “don’t know” and “refusal” replies. The decrease was not conditioned by any kind of social distance. Age and education distances have respectively negative and positive effect on the number of “don’t know” and “refusal” answers. The married–married interview produced more “don’t know” and “refusal” than other paired interview types. The larger the ethnicity distance is, the more “refusal” appears. The substantial findings imply that the effects of social-distance and rapport (respondent cooperation) on the number of item nonresponses deserve more attention in research on survey methodology. The divergent findings on gender-distance effect and marital-status effect, however, call for replication studies in the future.     

Networks and geography in the economics of knowledge flows

This paper reviews the literature dealing with the economic geography of knowledge flows by summarising the most relevant problems and open questions that, according to the authors’ view, have been dealt in the past and should be dealt in the future by network analysis in order to model, understand and measure the structure and dynamics of knowledge flows. The interaction between “networks” and “geography” elements within a theoretical, methodological and empirical perspective is discussed throughout the paper by making reference to previous works by the authors and to the established literature. Thus, these references, far from being complete and exhaustive, are instrumental to the achievement of the paper’s goal: to demonstrate that “networks” and “geography” are the necessary ingredients for every study of the innovative process at any level of analysis, from individual agent to institution/organization, from the regional to the national and international level.     

“Your Job No Longer Exists!”: From Experiences of Alienation to Expectations of Resilience—A Phenomenological Study

We have entered the age of the contingent or temporary worker, the consultant and the subcontractor. Workers are expected to be pliable and tractable; to “fit in.” Being made redundant is also an area where modern workers are expected to be flexible and resilient. However, when these so-called “flexible” workers are told their job no longer exists, the accompanying sense of rejection and alienation can be excruciating. Stories of being made redundant were collected during an exploratory, qualitative study, using Heideggerian phenomenology as the methodological vehicle to capture the lived experiences of those affected. Focused, in-depth interviews were conducted with the ten respondents; nine men and one woman. The stories shared suggest that being made redundant is an alienating experience with respondents sharing feelings of powerlessness, shock, betrayal, shame and social isolation. Unfortunately, those having experienced redundancy were also not as resilient as is routinely assumed. They did not “bounce back” unchanged, but reported significant negative outcomes including fear for the future, underemployment, family disruptions and an erosion of trust. Recommendations are made orienting organisations towards a more human process of redundancy.     

Queueing with reneging

Summary In this paper we consider a queue in which a person, having joined, may decide to leave and give up service if it appears that the time consumed will exceed some maximum which he has available. Specifically, three problems are treated: a) How to make a rational (sequential) decision while waiting in the queue, b) the probable effect of this decision, and c) the behavior of a queue in which all persons are employing such a procedure.

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Zusammenfassung Dieser Bericht behandelt eine “Schlange”, in der ein sich dieser “Schlange” angeschlossener Mensch entschlie?t, seinen Platz und die Bedienung aufzugeben wenn es ihm scheint, da? die notwendige Zeit ein ihm zur Verfügung stehendes Maximum überschreiten wird. Insbesondere werden drei Probleme diskutiert: a) Wie man eine rationale (sequentielle) Entscheidung trifft, w?hrend man in einer “Schlange” wartet, b) der wahrscheinliche Effekt einer solchen Entscheidung, c) das Benehmen einer “Schlange”, in dem alle Menschen ein solches Verfahren gebrauchen würden.

     

The equal pay act: Responsibilities and rights

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA) requires that men and women receive equal pay for equal work. Plaintiffs who claim discrimination on the basis of the EPA may settle out of court, or may bring legal action in the courts. Employers possess specific rights under the law, and can defend themselves against charges of discrimination through a number of “employer defenses.” These defenses involve providing that pay differences are based on seniority systems, merit systems, production systems, or “any other factor other than sex.” This article will also discuss the impact of court decisions that have further honed the responsibilities and rights of both employees and employers under the EPA.     

Putting a Big Chill on a “Big Hurt:” Genuine Interest in Employment of Salts in Assessing Protection Under the National Labor Relations Act

As union membership has continued to decline steadily in the US, union organizers have become more creative and vigilant with their organizing strategies. Chief among these strategies has been “salting,” a process by which unions attempt to organize employees from the inside rather than the outside. The Supreme Court has ruled that, under the National Labor Relations Act, “salts” cannot be discriminated against solely on the basis of their status as salts. This paper examines employer responses to resist salting efforts, including a recent decision by the National Labor Relations Board, which redefines the landscape under which salting activities can be conducted and considered protected activity.     

Verbesserung des nicht-randomisierten exakten Testes von R.A. Fisher

Summary The so-called Exact Test of R. A. Fisher for comparing two probabilitiesp ₁ andp ₂ in a Fourfold-Table with small cell frequencies is known as a UMPU-Test. But in practice the test is used in a nonrandomized, often tabulated version. Given a certain level of significanceα it is shown: the critical region of this nonrandomized test, referred to as “Fisher 1”, can be enlarged considerably. For instance for all sample-size-sums up to 20 andα=0.01 the total number of points in the critical regions of “Fisher 1” is 552 whereas the analogous number of the new version “Fisher 2” is 788. The size of tables for “Fisher 2” can be reduced considerably because the main parts of the critical regions can be described by the aid of some Chi-square-test versions. In particular Yates’ continuity-correction turns out to be always conservative in the above mentioned region relative to “Fisher 2” whereas this is not strictly true relative to “Fisher 1”.      

Causality in qualitative and quantitative research

We are flooded with a wave of writings on causality in the social sciences during the last decades. The same holds for the relationship between quantitative and qualitative research in the social sciences. An enormous amount of texts appears on (causality in) qualitative research, mostly in a controversy with quantitative research. These writings induced us to develop the thesis of “unity in diversity”, i.e., that there is no difference “in principle” between causality in qualitative and quantitative research, because both are supported by what I will call an “experimental logic”. In developing this thesis a plea is being made for going back to the sources. A historical overview of theories of causality is presented, which develops into two prominent views: INUS-causation and causal realism. A historical framework is also outlined for the opposition between quantitative and qualitative research, in which French positivism and British empiricism are opposed to German neo-kantianism and neo-hegelianism. After having developed the thesis of “unity in diversity” for this historical framework, the same is being done for the recent literature: “mixed methods research”, the book DSI of KKV, the reactions of David Collier and “QCA” of Charles Ragin. At the end the question of small-n research and the case n = 1 is examined.     

Regional information and market efficiency: the case of spread betting in United States college football

Using game results over a seven year span (1999–2006), we find that United States college football teams in arid regions “win” against the spread in 56.64% of games in which they host a team from a humid region. This result provides statistically significant evidence for both weak and strong form inefficiency in the spread betting markets of such games. By examining other cases of intraregional and interregional competition within the sport, we conclude that this inefficiency does not arise from the effects of travel or home field advantage. Rather, the result indicates that climate aridity is an observed characteristic for which college football betting markets do not accurately control. It is quite rare to find strong form market inefficiency arise from a single variable rather than from an elaborate, multivariable betting strategy. Therefore, the effect of climate aridity upon college football spread betting market efficiency can be characterized as dramatic. It is conjectured that remote market participants may need to “experience” certain types of relevant regional information, such as climate, to act in a market efficient manner.     

An empirical likelihood method for spatial regression

Properties of a “blockwise”empirical likelihood for spatial regression with non-stochastic regressors are investigated for spatial data on a lattice. The method enables nonparametric confidence regions for spatial trend parameters to be calibrated, even though non-random regressors introduce non-stationary forms of spatial dependence into the “blockwise” construction. Additionally, the regression results are valid in a general framework allowing for a variety of behavior in regressor variables as well as the underlying spatial error process. The same regression method also applies when the regressors are stochastic.