Correction: Speaking Truth to Power: Twitter Reactions to the Panama Papers

Journal of Business Ethics -     

Replicating Text: The Cumulation of Knowledge in Social Science

Obtaining a statistically significant result does not necessarily tell us whether we would obtain significant results in other, similar studies, particularly if the original sample sizes were small. This is why we are supposed to replicate experiments. The present study concerns social science events that cannot be repeated by virtue of their being historically situated. Among social science events, many textual data are datable and, by definition, unrepeatable. One solution to this quandary lies in bootstrap replications, which are based on the original data. A case in point is that of founding political speeches such as those that buoy the European construction. We analyze and compare 82 speeches made by President Delors over the period 1988–1994, and 28 by President Santer over the period 1995–1997. We have all these speeches (N = 110) concorded as to which words are used, how often, where, and when, with the help of a computer-aided content analysis package. We then test various hypotheses using replication bootstrap estimates, that is, by replicating the original sample a large number of times and recreating several thousand samples from the population so created.     

From pushchairs to wheelchairs: understanding tensions in family decision making through the experiences of adult children caring for ageing parents

Abstract

Within a modern family life, roles have changed significantly; however, relatively little attention has been given to the increased health and longevity of parents. This article focuses on the tensions relating to the transitional role of parent as ‘carer of the child’ to child as ‘carer of the parent’ as parents age. This article focuses on the experiences of adult children as they care for their parents and the related tensions that emerge and coping strategies that are adopted. Adopting an interpretive approach we shed light on the decision-making practices around shopping, residential arrangements and other consumer choices and how they take place in complex arenas of intricate family interactions, influence and power. Key themes that emerged were strategies adopted by both the adult child and ageing parent to attain or retain control in an increasingly sensitive environment where there is no roadmap to guide either party.     

League Structure and Match Attendances in English Rugby League

This paper investigates the effects of actual and hypothetical changes in league structure on match attendances for English rugby league. An empirical match attendance model is used to generate simulated attendances under various alternative structural regimes.The simulations are used to compare the effects on attendances of having larger and smaller divisions, and of having regionalised lower divisions or divisions whose membership is determined solely by playing quality. A limited form of regionalisation emerges as a positive recommendation. The model is also used to decompose the changes in average attendance, following the 1996 reorganisation, into components attributable to the change of structure, changes in team performance, and other factors.     

An Evaluation of Alternative Methods of Forecasting Australian Inflation

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the forecast of Australian inflation based on four alternative procedures: a univariate time series model, an interest rate model, an error correction model and a public survey of inflation forecasts. We derive estimates of expected and unexpected inflation from each of the methods and compare the out-of-sample forecasting results. Based on a range of evaluation criteria, the time series model dominates the other models, with the interest rate model, the error correction model and the survey forecasts following in that order.     

Conditions for invariance of the multivariate versions of grubbs’ test and bartlett’s test under a general dependency structure

Summary This paper generalizes a result by Stadje (1984) by deriving conditions for which a general dependency structure for multivariate observations, given in Pavur (1987), yields a positive definite covariance structure. This general dependency structure allows the sample covariance matrix to be distributed as a constant times a Wishart random matrix. It is then demonstrated that the maximum squared-radii test and a test for equal population covariance matrices have null distributions which remain unchanged when the new general dependency structure, rather than the usual independence structure, for the vector observations, is assumed. Moreover, under a general dependency structure for which the population covariance matrices are unequal, it is shown that the distribution of the test statistic for testing equal covariance matrices is identical to the distribution of the same test statistic when the population covariance matrices are equal and the observations are independent.     

Integrating the disabled into the work force: A survey of fortune 500 company attitudes and practices

Full participation in the work force continues to be an elusive goal for disabled individuals. One common explanation for this state of affairs is that employers tend to have negative attitudes about what the handicapped have to offer as employees and what is required to integrate them into the work force. Unfortunately, relatively little recent data is available about such attitudes. Thus, a survey of Fortune 500 companies was conducted to examine employers' attitudes toward the disabled. Employers' hiring and accommodation practices were also examined. Results were encouraging for the handicapped in some areas (e.g., performance perceptions) and a cause for concern in others (e.g., the perceived cost of making workplace accommodations). Level of exposure to the handicapped was also related to attitudes and practices. Limitations, research directions, and implications for corporations are discussed.     

The Determinants of the Cost Efficiency of Electric Generating Plants: A Stochastic Frontier Approach

This article provides a detailed analysis of generation plant operating cost efficiency over the period 1988-1997. I estimate a stochastic frontier cost function together with a model of plant inefficiencies to measure the operating efficiencies of individual plants and identify factors that are associated with variations in plant efficiencies. I find evidence that plant efficiencies are associated with capacity utilization of the plant, the number of plants under utility management, and ownership form. I also find that regulatory restructuring activity in certain states is associated with improvements in plant operating performance.     

A random walk through the Gibson paradox

Evidence to support the Gibson paradox is often given in the form of a simple correlation between the nominal interest rate and the log of price level, or in the form of a simple linear regression between these two variables. Authors then show, using standard procedures of statistical inference, that the price level possesses a significant coefficient. We argue that this class of evidence is spurious since the nominal interest rate and the price level (both integrated variables) do not form a cointegrated system.