Alternative Approaches to Multilevel Modelling of Survey Non‐Contact and Refusal

We review three alternative approaches to modelling survey non‐contact and refusal: multinomial, sequential, and sample selection (bivariate probit) models. We then propose a multilevel extension of the sample selection model to allow for both interviewer effects and dependency between non‐contact and refusal rates at the household and interviewer level. All methods are applied and compared in an analysis of household non‐response in the United Kingdom, using a data set with unusually rich information on both respondents and non‐respondents from six major surveys. After controlling for household characteristics, there is little evidence of residual correlation between the unobserved characteristics affecting non‐contact and refusal propensities at either the household or the interviewer level. We also find that the estimated coefficients of the multinomial and sequential models are surprisingly similar, which further investigation via a simulation study suggests is due to non‐contact and refusal having largely different predictors.     

BRITAIN'S FISCAL POLICY NIGHTMARE

What should the Chancellor do about the burgeoning budget deficit or Public Sector Borrowing Requirement. Brian Durrant, of the futures brokers GNI Ltd, outlines the problems posed by a PSBR that could exceed £50bn.     

Human resource management implications of dual-career couples

The dual-career couple is a contemporary phenomenon in Western industrialized nations. This Australian qualitative investigation explored the organizational issues associated with dual-career couples from the perspective of both dual-carrer couple members and their employing organizations. Overall, it was found that organizational responsiveness to dual-career issues was limited, and consequently dual-carrer couples themselves were forced to make most of the necessary accommodations. Human resource management implications of the dual-career couple are discussed. To date, however, such implications have been largely ignored by organizations. The findings of this study suggest that the failure of organizations to respond to dual-career issues results in costs, not only to the couple, but also to their employing organizations. Predictions for continued growth of the dual-career phenomenon mean that an organization s willingness to address dual-career issues may become an important element in achieving and retaining competitive advantage.     

云南松茸采集制度及其经济收益的比较研究——滇西北三村案例

基于滇西北3个村的开放、集体、私人三种松茸采集制度的形成原因、实施特点、生计影响的比较分析,通过三种不同采集制度下所采1254个松茸的长度、重量、生长天数以及经济收益的实地测量和比较分析,并建立采集特征模型,从经济层面得到云南松茸被过度使用的证据和结论,探讨了公共产权资源私人化采集的可行性,并提出云南松茸采集管理的长效机制和途径。     

Accounting for Varying Setting Preferences Among Moose Hunters

Recreation planners and managers realize the importance of different tastes and preferences among recreationists. This fact is explicit in recreational planning efforts and in the theories developed to understand recreational behaviors. While market segmentation approaches steeped in behavioral theory provide a rich source of information to planners and managers, we argue that such exogenous market segmentation approaches alone are insufficient to understand the degree of variability in tastes and preferences among recreationists. In this paper we employ a random parameters logit model to account for both the extent and sources of heterogeneity in preferences among recreationists. We illustrate the random parameters logit choice model with an application to the stated choices for hunting sites by moose hunters from northwestern Ontario. The application shows that the random parameters logit represents a considerable improvement over multinomial logit models based on market segmentation approaches.