Better peers,better scores? A study of twin junior high school graduates in Taiwan

Using data of twin students graduating from junior high schools between 2002 and 2004 in Taiwan, we estimate the effects of peers on high school joint entrance examination performance. To alleviate the potential endogeneity of peer educational achievement, linear models with twin fixed effect and instrumental variables are estimated. Quantile, quantile with twin fixed effect and quantile with instrument variables regressions are also implemented to determine whether estimated peer effects differ at various locations of the testing scores’ conditional distributions. Positive and statistically significant peer effects are found to exist at the mean and at different quantile levels.     

High-quality bias in vertically differentiated oligopolies—a note on skills, trade, and welfare

In a vertically differentiated Cournot oligopoly where the high-quality variant of the good requires the use of high-quality labor, firms may either all supply the same quality or differentiate their product. In differentiated configurations the number of firms choosing to supply the high-quality variant is generally above the optimum. The opening of trade between symmetric countries entails a pro-competitive effect that raises welfare through a reduction in average quality. This result contrasts with previous findings concerning the opening of trade in vertically differentiated oligopolistic industries (Gabszewicz, Shaked, Sutton, and Thisse,International Economic Review 22 [1981]; Shaked and Sutton, in Kierzkowski, ed.,Monopolistic Competition and International Trade, Oxford 1984).     

跨国直接投资对东道国就业的影响

跨国直接投资在促进东道国经济发展的同时，在很大程度上对东道国的就业产生影响，特别是在发展中国家。论文分析了跨国直接投资对东道国就业的直接影响与间接影响，并对国内外学者的研究进行了阐述，最后，论文分析了该领域内存在的不足。     

Optimal designs for a mixed interference model

This paper generalizes Kunert and Martin’s (Ann Stat 28:1728–1742, 2000) method for finding optimal designs under a fixed interference model, to find optimal designs under a mixed interference model. The results are based on the properties of information matrices in fixed and mixed models given in Markiewicz (J Stat Plan Inference 59:127–137, 1997). The method is applied to find a design which is optimal for any given variances of random neighbor effects. Research partially supported by the KBN Grant Number 5 P03A 041 21.     

Experimental evidence of gender effects in arbitration decisions

The study investigates arbitrator gender and arbitrator-grievant gender effects on the decisions of 146 arbitrators rendered on a hypothetical sexual harassment case. Gender was not found to have a statistically significant effect on the decisions examined. However, other characteristics of the arbitrator—level of experience and level of education—were found to influence the arbitral decision.     

Repeated Dichotomous Choice Formats for Elicitation of Willingness to Pay: Simultaneous Estimation and Anchoring Effect

Repeated dichotomous choice contingent valuation data are generated from responses to a succession of binary questions regarding alternative prices for an environmental good. In this paper we propose a simultaneous equation model that allows for endogeneity and error correlation across the responses at each stage of the bidding process. The model allows us to study the evolution of anchoring effects after the second dichotomous choice question. Estimation involves the Bayesian techniques of Gibbs sampling and data augmentation, and the application focuses on the preservation value of a natural area. The results for a data set involving up to four successive dichotomous choice questions show that restricted multiple-bounded models are rejected by the data with the general model. In addition, willingness to pay tends to stabilize after the second stage in the elicitation process for the general unrestricted model. When taking anchoring effects into consideration, it is revealed that individuals’ responses in the latter stages are influenced by the sequence of bid prices offered in earlier questions. Nevertheless, they do not have a significant effect on welfare estimates.