Advances in Joint Modelling: A Review of Recent Developments with Application to the Survival of End Stage Renal Disease Patients

The use of joint modelling approaches is becoming increasingly popular when an association exists between survival and longitudinal processes. Widely recognized for their gain in efficiency, joint models also offer a reduction in bias compared with naïve methods. With the increasing popularity comes a constantly expanding literature on joint modelling approaches. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of recent literature relating to joint models, in particular those that focus on the time‐to‐event survival process. A discussion is provided on the range of survival submodels that have been implemented in a joint modelling framework. A particular focus is given to the recent advancements in software used to build these models. Illustrated through the use of two different real‐life data examples that focus on the survival of end‐stage renal disease patients, the use of the JM and joineR packages within R are demonstrated. The possible future direction for this field of research is also discussed.     

How important is improving food availability for reducing child malnutrition in developing countries?

Do increases in the food supply per person in a country, i.e., national food availability, contribute substantially to reductions in malnutrition among its children? This paper sets out to answer this controversial question using panel data from 63 developing countries over 1970–1996. This paper gives evidence in support of a statistically significant and strong positive impact of national food availability on child nutrition, finding that increased food supplies have resulted in significant reductions in malnutrition since the 1970s despite population increases over the period. However, per‐capita food supplies have a declining marginal impact: their effect is quite strong for countries with very low food availability (e.g., most countries in sub‐Saharan Africa and South Asia), but weak or non‐existent for those with high levels (e.g., most countries in the Near East and North Africa). Further, non‐food factors, such as women's education and status and the quality of health environments, are also important determinants of children's nutritional status. Depending on the state of food availability in any particular geographic area and relative costs, these factors may merit greater priority in policies to reduce malnutrition.     

史蒂夫·乔布斯：用一只“苹果”改变世界

当“苹果”推出Macintosh（Mac机、苹果机）的时候，他要求用户手册写得非常易懂。他的团队说：“我们尽力了，手册只需要高中三年级水平的英语。”他的回答是：“不行，要小学一年级水平的也能读懂。”     

Cannabis, Alcohol and Cigarettes: Substitutes or Complements?

This paper uses individual level data from the National Drug Strategy Household Surveys to estimate the price responsiveness of participation in cannabis, alcohol and cigarette use. In addition to own price effects, we estimate cross price effects and the impact of decriminalizing cannabis use. We find that participation is responsive to own prices. There is some evidence that cannabis is a substitute for alcohol and a complement to cigarettes, and that alcohol and cigarettes are complements. The liberalization of cannabis laws in South Australia may have led to a temporary increase in cannabis use among the over-30 age group.     

The effect of commute time on racial earnings inequality: a case study of the Houston metropolitan statistical area

Data from the United States Census confirm a substantial increase in the racial earnings gap between 1980 and 1990. This paper examines data on whites and non-white wage and salary incomes in Houston TX for 1980 and 1990. Data on time travelled to work is used to simulate what would be the impact of shorter commute times on earnings inequality. The central finding is that a reduction in travel time from residence to work would cause a very small reduction in racial earnings and income inequality. This suggests that advances in urban transportation policy alone are not sufficient to solve the problem of racial earnings inequality.     

The mediated effect of SAS No. 99 and Sarbanes–Oxley officer certification on jurors’ evaluation of auditor liability

This study experimentally examines the impact of implementing Statement on Auditing Standard (SAS) No. 99, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit and the financial statement and internal control certification requirement by key corporate officers under the Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX). The study investigates the prediction that the new regulations affect jurors’ assessment of guilt for failing to discover fraud, and also whether the regulations affect jurors’ perceptions of the appropriateness of auditors’ actions regarding fraud detection and of auditors’ and officers’ responsibility for the fraudulent financial statements. The study tests whether these perceptions mediate the association between the regulations and mock jurors’ guilt assessments. Results show that jurors assess auditors as less guilty under SAS No. 99 and in the presence of the officer certification requirement. SAS No. 99 decreases guilt assessments indirectly through jurors’ perception that auditors acted more appropriately under the new standard. Although jurors did view auditors as more responsible under SAS No. 99, their responsibility perceptions had no effect on guilt assessments. An additional finding is that the officer certification requirement has an indirect effect on guilt assessments via jurors’ perceptions of the officers’ responsibility for the fraudulent financial statements.     

The influence of guarantees,active requests to voice and failure severity on customer complaint behavior

Anecdotal evidence suggests that service guarantees and requests by service workers to complain encourage customers to voice following failure, while holding negative word of mouth and exit at bay. However, empirical support for these tactics is limited. To address this deficiency, we conducted an experiment examining the influence of these devices on customer complaint behavior (CCB) across restaurant failures of varying severity. Findings suggest that offering a guarantee, regardless of it being unconditional or combined, encourages voice. Failure severity had the strongest influence on CCB, and it interacted with both active request and guarantee type in influencing exit. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.     

Low price conspiracy: Trade regulation and the case of Japanese electronics

Conclusion The analysis of low price conspiracy suggests that even if it were legal, it requires very special and uncommon conditions. Such conditions were not present in the U.S. television industry, and the Supreme Court correctly concluded that the evidence did not support the existence of a low price conspiracy involving Japanese television manufacturers. The Court indicated that persuasive actual cost evidence must be presented to overcome economic logic that predation is very unlikely. Predation can still be shown but the standard of proof is high. After all allegations of low price conspiracy may be more likely to limit competition than any actual low price conspiracy itself.     

A data set on international trade in armaments for the major western industrialized and developing countries for 1980: Sources and methodological issues

Zusammenfassung Eine Datensammlung über den internationalen Waffenhandel der bedeutenden westlichen Industrie- und Entwicklungsl?nder im Jahre 1980: Quellen und methodische Fragen. — Dieser Aufsatz liefert eine Sammlung von Daten über den internationalen Waffenhandel nach Herkunfts- und Bestimmungsl?ndern (-regionen) für die bedeutenden westlichen Industrie- und Entwicklungsl?nder im Jahre 1980. Die Sammlung enth?lt Sch?tzungen über die Aufteilung des internationalen Waffenhandels nach den vier Sektoren: Kriegsschiffe, Milit?rflugzeuge, milit?rische Nachrichtenausrüstungen und milit?rische Güter. Sie ist st?rker disaggregiert als die Quellen, die zur Zeit verfügbar sind, und enth?lt, wo immer m?glich, Sch?tzungen des Umfanges und der Richtung von Waffenlieferungen.

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Résumé Quelques données sur le commerce international d’armes des principaux pays industriels de l’ouest et des pays en voie de développement en 1980: sources et méthodes. — L’intention de l’étude est de représenter des données sur le commerce international d’armes par pays/région d’origine et de destination parmi les principaux pays industriels de l’ouest et les pays en voie de développement en 1980. Les données contiennent des estimations de la répartition du commerce militaire en quatre secteurs: les navires de guerre, les avions de combat, l’équipement de communication militaire et les biens militaires. Les données sont plus désagrégées que celles qui sont disponibles jusqu’à présent et contiennent, s’il est possible, des estimations du volume et de la direction du commerce international d’armes.

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Resumen Datos sobre el comercio international de armas de los países occidentales industrializados y en desarrollo más importantes para 1980: fuentes y problemas metodológicos. — El objetivo de nuestro trabajo es presentar datos sobre el comercio internacional de armas según países/regiones de origen y destinatarios correspondientes a los países occidentales industrializados y en desarrollo más importantes para 1980. Estos datos incluyen estimaciones de cuatro sectores de comercio: buques miliares aviones militares, equipo de comunicaciones militares y bienes militares. Nuestros datos son más desagregados que los datos actualmente disponibles de otras fuentes e incluyen, siempre que haya sido posible, estimaciones de la magnitud y directión de los flujos comerciales de armas.

     

Continued decline for ethnic minorities in the transition?

Using three Bulgarian cross‐sectional household surveys from 1986, 1993 and 1997, this essay shows that the mean log wage differential between ethnic Bulgarians and Turks increased from 0.1615 in 1986 to 0.2874 in 1993 and again to 0.4075 by 1997. Bulgarian gains over ethnic Turks in the early transition are related to both changes in the relative returns to skill and changes in the composition of demand for goods and services as the country moved toward a market economy. The Turks began the transition with fewer years of education than the Bulgarians, and began to close the education gap over this time. The Bulgarians, however, were more likely to have obtained more general secondary and university degrees than the ethnic Turks – degrees that, in contrast to technical or vocational degrees, are experiencing increased remuneration in the transition. With more of an asset that has become more valuable, the ethnic Bulgarians improved their relative position.