A curtailed test for the shape parameter of the Weibull distribution

Summary A procedure is proposed in this paper for testing the shape parameter, of the Weibull distribution. The test statistic which is based on the extremal quotient, possesses a monotone property which makes it possible for rejection earlier than the last planned observation of the null hypothesis,H ₀: =₀ when the alternative hypothesis isH _a: <₀ and early acceptance ofH ₀ whenH _a: >₀. The test being scale-free, does not require the scale parameter to be known.     

Einige Bemerkungen zur statistischen Messung der Konzentration

Zusammenfassung Nach einer kritischen Analyse der Begriffe „absolute“ und „relative“ Konzentration werden einige Kriterien gegeben, die Ma?zahlen der absoluten oder der relativen Konzentration zu erfüllen haben. Hierauf wird untersucht, inwieweit die gebr?uchlichsten Ma?zahlen der Konzentration (Gini, Herfindahl, Münzner) diese Kriterien erfüllen. Dann wird gezeigt, da? sich eine vonAdam angegebene, sehr allgemeine Klasse von Ma?zahlen als Ma?zahlen der absoluten Konzentration qualifizieren; einige wichtige Spezialf?lle werden genauer untersucht. Im vorletzten Teil der Arbeit werden Ma?zahlen für die Ver?nderung der Konzentration diskutiert und schlie?lich an einem praktischen Beispiel erprobt.

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Summary After analysing the concepts of “absolute concentration” versus “relative concentration”, some criteria for coefficients of concentration are given to qualify them either as measures for absolute or for relative concentration. On the basis of these criteria, some well-known coefficients (Gini, Herfindahl, Münzner) are examined. Furthermore, it is shown that the measures of “predictivity” as given byAdam can be regarded as coefficients of absolute concentration; some important special cases (one of which the Herfindahl index) are investigated. Finally, measures for the change in concentration are developed and applied to a practical example.

     

Ein verallgemeinerter Geburten- und Todesprozeß zur Erklärung der Entwicklung des deutschen Volkseinkommens, 1851–1939

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS[1]

Human resource management (HRM) is a term which is now widely used but very loosely defined. In this paper it is argued that if the concept is to have any social scientific value, it should be defined in such a way as to differentiate it from traditional personnel management and to allow the development of testable hypotheses about its impact. Based on theoretical work in the field of organizational behaviour it is proposed that HRM comprises a set of policies designed to maximize organizational integration, employee commitment, flexibility and quality of work. Within this model, collective industrial relations have, at best, only a minor role. Despite the apparent attractions of HRM to managements, there is very little evidence of any quality about its impact. Furthermore very few UK organizations appear to practise a distinctive form of HRM, although many are moving slowly in that direction through, for example, policies of employee involvement.     

Are robust estimation methods useful in the structural errors-in-variables model?

Summary In this paper it is investigated whether robust estimation procedures for the parameters of a regression model are also applicable when the observations are generated by the errors-in-variables model. Specifically, attention is paid to bounded-influence estimators, i.e. estimators that are constructed in such a way that the influence of a single observation on the outcome of the estimator is bounded. Both the classical errors-in-variables model and models with contaminated observational errors are considered.The authors are indebted to a referee for his valuable comments on an earlier version of this paper.     

The occurrence of outliers in the explanatory variable considered in an errors-in-variables framework

Summary The problem of estimating the slope of a linear relationship between two jointly normally distributed random variables is considered when outliers may occur in the explanatory variable. It will be studied as a special case of an errors-in-variables problem where the explanatory variable is measured which a nonnormally distributed error. In this more general model and under certain conditions a consistent estimator can be given with a normal limiting distribution. Applications to cases of outliers in the explanatory variable will be presented.     

Health and development∗

The linkage between development and health is clearly spelt out in the definition of primary health care by the World Health Organisation. There is a widespread and growing disillusionment with the traditional Western approach to health care which fails to meet the real demands of the Third World situation.

This paper looks briefly at conditions in the developing world and the strategy proposed by the W H O to attempt to meet the objective of health for all by the year 2000 and refers to the South African situation.     

A model of the Dutch labour market (AMO-K)

Summary So far, the labour market has not received any special attention from macro-econometric model builders. In this article an attempt has been made to describe the labour market in detail, paying attention to such important phenomena as the friction between labour supply and demand, the heterogeneity of labour, the dependence of labour supply on the labour-market situation, the Phillips mechanism and the impact of real wages on labour demand. To make it suitable for policy simulations, the model has been extended to a complete macro-econometric model, taking account of the fact that both labour and capital limit the production possibilities.This paper summarises an extensive Dutch report on the construction of a model for the Netherlands labour market. The title of the original report is AMO-K: Een arbeidsmarktmodel met twee categorieën arbeid; (AMO-K, A labour-market model with two categories of labour) ; it was published by the Netherlands Economic Institute (NEI) in Rotterdam in the so-called Olive Series, 1982-2, pp. 403ff. Some details of the model presented in that report were changed after its publication; see G. den Broeder, AMO-K 81-12, Tussenrapport betreffende de verdere ontwikkeling van het arbeidsmarktmodel (Interim report on the further development of the labourmarket model), Rotterdam, September 1983. Since then, only minor changes have been carried through. The model reproduced in this paper is the modified version. The model was developed within the National Programme of Labour-Market Research (NPAO) (now defunct), the NPAO organisation having granted a commission to the NEI in Rotterdam.     

International migration versus foreign investment in the presence of unemployment

"This paper extends the standard (two-factor, one-good) model of international factor movements, to include unemployment due to a minimum-income guarantee within the capital-abundant country. From this country's perspective, we establish important departures from previous (full-employment) results. Most notably, our analysis shows that: (1) free factor mobility is worse than no mobility; (2) the optimal degree of labour migration is zero; and (3) national welfare can always be maximized by an optimal flow of capital. The analysis is then extended to examine: (1) illegal migration; (2) subsidization of employment; and (3) alternative views of unemployment."     

Income distribution,economic structure and employment in South Africa

This paper discusses the impact of a redistribution of current income from the White to the Black population on the distribution of sectoral output, and total employment by means of a semi‐closed input‐output model.

The results show that a redistribution of current income towards Black households — which no doubt will have positive social and political repercussions — has a non‐negative effect on GDP and a definite positive effect on the performance of sectors with a high private consumption expenditure component, as well as on total employment.