Differentiating Between Dimensionality and Duration in Multidimensional Measures of Poverty: Methodology with an Application to China

We develop a multidimensional poverty measure that is sensitive to the within‐individual distribution of deprivations across dimensions and time. Our measure combines features from a static multidimensional measure (Alkire and Foster, 2011a ) and a time‐dependent unidimensional measure (Foster, 2009 ). The proposed measure separately identifies—and can therefore be decomposed according to—the proportion of the poverty score attributable to: (i) the concentration of deprivations within periods; (ii) the concentration of deprivations within dimensions. In doing so it allows for a poverty ranking that is robust to assumptions about the trade‐off between the two components. Previous measures have not allowed for the features proposed here due to the inability to calculate the exact contribution of each dimension to overall poverty. We overcome this by adapting to our measure the Shapley decomposition proposed in Shorrocks ( 2013 ) (based on Shapley, 1953 ). The measure is applied to data from China, 2000‐2011.     

Observations of supervisors and an actuarial research student on the qualitative research process

We report on lessons and insights concerning an interview-based, qualitative research thesis undertaken by an honours year university student in actuarial studies, who had no previous experience with qualitative research. Motivations and the need for research of this nature are provided in depth. Observations are presented on key areas of the research process, from the perspective of both research student and supervisors. This informs future students who may be considering qualitative research, who have not previously engaged in this approach. It also informs supervisors in predominantly quantitative disciplines who may be unfamiliar with some of the nuances of interview-based approaches.     

Bribery and inspection technology

The e-government movement advocates increased use of technology to improve government efficiency and reduce corruption by reducing the discretionary power of government officials. This paper studies the relationship between improvements in inspection technology within a Principal-Supervisor-Agent model, where the supervisor is an inspector who is hired by the principal to investigate the agent’s potentially illegal actions. We show that when technology increases the marginal or total productivity of the supervisor’s effort, improvements in inspection technology encourage some types of bribery. Although such technological improvements induce an equilibrium with bribery, compliance and social welfare can still rise. However, when technology and supervisory effort are sufficiently substitutable, improvements in technology may reduce compliance when bribery occurs in equilibrium even when those same technological improvements would have raised compliance in the absence of bribery. We also characterize the relationship between the principal’s socially optimal technology and the anti-corruption policy available to the principal and find that the socially optimal inspection technology may be a substitute for or a complement to the anti-corruption policy. Finally, we show that for any set of policies that optimally induces a no-bribe equilibrium, there exists another set of policies that induces an equilibrium with bribery that is pareto superior to it.     

The price of success: balancing the effects of entrepreneurial commitment,work-family conflict and emotional exhaustion on job satisfaction

This research explores job satisfaction among entrepreneurs to investigate two paths from entrepreneurial commitment to job satisfaction: the direct path and the family path that includes work-family conflict and emotional exhaustion. An empirical study of 232 small and micro firm business owners are used to test the hypotheses seeking to understand which path to job satisfaction has the greatest influence. The results indicate that although being committed to one’s own business increases job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion takes a greater toll. We conclude that negative aspects of entrepreneurship exert an important influence on entrepreneurs’ satisfaction with their job. These findings offer important theoretical and practical implications.

     

Take me to church: What ministries are of perceived value for attendees from a nonprofit marketing perspective?

Church can mean different things to different people. Whilst the opportunity to hear preaching within a conventional church building has traditionally represented the key driver of church value, other ministries such as contemporary worship music, fellowship with others, and small group bible studies are relevant for church attendance amongst certain church attendees. In addition, these church ministries of perceived value may vary on the basis of whether a church attendee is involved in a ministry role or not and if the church is located within an urban or a regional context. To identify the perceived value of church ministries as perceived by church attendees, data from 8,000 respondents of the Australian 2011 National Church Life Survey were analysed. Although sermons and communion represented the church items of perceived value for both leaders and nonleaders regardless of their location, respondents varied considerably in what they deemed as most important for their church in the future. This study provides theoretical and practical implications for religious nonprofit organisations (e.g., churches) relating to the perceived value of church experiences and provides future research opportunities. Specifically, through appropriate market segmentation, target marketing, and positioning, these organisers can design and promote specific ministries to precise church attendee segments.     

The stories groups tell: campaign finance reform and the narrative networks of cultural cognition

Quality & Quantity - The purpose of this study is to test whether groups with different cultural cognition orientations construct different stories about the same policy issue given the same...     

Health insurance generosity and conditional coverage: Evidence from medicaid managed care in Kentucky

This article estimates the impact of the introduction of Medicaid managed care (MMC) on the formal Medicaid participation of children. We employ a quasi‐experimental approach exploiting the location‐specific timing of MMC implementation in Kentucky. Using data from the March Current Population Survey from 1995 to 2003, our findings suggest that the introduction of MMC increases the likelihood of being uninsured and decreases formal Medicaid participation. This finding is consistent with an increase in “conditional coverage,” waiting until medical care is needed to sign up or re‐enroll in Medicaid. These effects are concentrated among low‐income children and absent for high‐income children. We find no evidence of “crowd‐in,” substituting private coverage for Medicaid. These results are robust to multiple placebo tests and imply the potential for less formal participation (i.e., more conditional coverage) among the Affordable Care Act‐Medicaid expansion population (which is likely to be primarily covered under MMC) than is typically predicted.     

Implications of a Discard Ban in Multispecies Quota Fisheries

We present an analysis of quota regulation and discarding in multispecies fisheries, explicitly taking into account the costs of non-compliance with quotas and a possible discard ban, as well as the costs of selective fishing (avoidance effort). We examine the impact of a discard ban on vessels’ profit maximising behaviour, in particular where species quotas are not set in proportion to their availability on the fishing grounds, considering both non-tradeable quotas and ITQs. We show the interdependence between penalty rates for both discards and over-quota landings in determining quota market outcomes. We find that quota prices are sensitive to penalty rates and to the presence of restrictive quotas for “choke” species.