Assessing self-selection and endogeneity issues in the relation between activity-based costing and performance

Studies investigating the relation between ABC adoption and performance are inconclusive and plagued with econometric problems. This study extends prior research to investigate the association between ABC adoption and four manufacturing plant performance measures (cycle-time improvement, quality improvement, cost improvement, and profitability) and to assess selection bias and the endogenous nature of their relationship. I use the Heckman (1979) model to assess sample selection bias and the Wooldridge (2002) 2SLS-IV approach, to investigate endogeneity. After controlling for sample selection bias and endogeneity, the coefficient of ABC under the Heckman method and ABC_fit under the 2SLS-IV method becomes significantly higher compared to the coefficient of ABC under the OLS method. In addition, both the inverse Mills ratio, under the Heckman model, and Hausman F-test, under the Wooldridge 2SLS approach, are positive and significant, confirming the presence of both sample selection bias and endogeneity. Overall, I find that controlling for sample selection bias and endogeneity is essential in properly assessing the significance of ABC-performance association.     

我国能源战略选择的一些思考

党的十七大把能源战略提到了重要的议事日程。实现全面建设小康社会的目标,必须坚持把能源作为经济社会发展的战略重点,必须对中国能源发展战略的构建依据和基本构想做较为系统、深入和全面的研究。文章分析了我国能源面临的主要形势,从保证供应、节能优先、结构优化、环境友好、市场驱动5个方面,提出我国未来能源战略的选择和建议。     

中亚金融中心区位选择研究

近年来,基于对本地区经济、金融发展的考虑,全国30多个省市积极筹建不同层次的金融中心,特别是＂新丝绸之路经济带＂的建设更是掀起了新一轮中亚金融中心建设的热议。究竟什么样的城市具有国际金融中心的条件,本文通过对国内外有关国际金融中心研究现状的梳理及对著名的国际金融中心发展历史的归纳总结,认为经济实力、金融集聚、地理位置及政府支持是促成国际金融中心形成的最核心因素。在此基础上通过乌鲁木齐与西安的比较分析,认为乌鲁木齐更具有建设中亚金融中心的综合优势。为此,乌鲁木齐应利用＂新丝绸之路经济带＂建设的有利时机,通过建立中亚融资中心、中亚清算中心、中亚金融市场中心和中亚外汇交易中心来实现乌鲁木齐中亚金融中心的目标。     

中国如何赢得二十一世纪人才争夺战

进入21世纪，世界性的人才竞争更加激烈。中国面对人才流失的严峻局面，必须积极采取对策，否则将失去21世纪的发展机遇。     

TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY ESTIMATION: A PRACTICAL REVIEW

Abstract This paper aims to provide empirical researchers with an overview of the methodological issues that arise when estimating total factor productivity at the establishment level, as well as of the existing (parametric and semi‐parametric) techniques designed to overcome them. Apart from the well‐known simultaneity and selection bias, attention is given to methodological issues that have emerged more recently and that are related to the use of deflated values of inputs and outputs (as opposed to quantities) in estimating productivity at the firm level, as well as to the endogeneity of product choice. In discussing the estimation procedures applied in the literature, attention is given to recent developments in the field. Using data on single‐product firms active in the Belgian food and beverages sector, the most commonly applied estimators are illustrated, allowing for comparison of the obtained productivity estimates by way of a simple evaluation exercise.     

Corruption,workforce selection and mismatch in the public sector

We examine the impact of corruption on workforce selection and personnel allocation in the public sector. Using Italian data, we find that the selection of public employees in terms of human capital worsens in comparison to that of their private sector counterparts in areas with higher levels of corruption. Moreover, corruption is associated with educational mismatch in the allocation of human resources and, in particular, with an increase in the rate of under-qualification. These results are robust to several alternative indicators and specifications, including IV estimation using past dependence on public spending and the historical relevance of foreign domination as exogenous sources of variation for current corruption.     

浅谈科技研究选题的方法和技巧—以质量管理为例

在科技研究中,有时"提出问题"比"解决问题"更有意义,科技研究选题是科研工作中面临的一个重要问题。结合质量管理领域常见科学问题对科技研究选题的方法和技巧进行思考和总结,提出了科技研究选题中五种策略和思路:将现实问题提炼为科学问题;基于理论和现实的差距分析;将现有方法应用于新的领域;对现有研究成果进行拓展研究;将不同的思想方法进行融合。对不同的方法给出了相关研究实例和分析,最后简要指出了科技研究选题应避免出现的几种问题。     

The selection of migrants and returnees in Romania

This paper uses census and survey data to identify the wage earning ability and the selection of recent Romanian migrants and returnees on observable characteristics. We construct measures of selection across skill groups and estimate the average and the skill‐specific premium for migration and return for three typical destinations of Romanian migrants after 1990. Once we account for migration costs, we find evidence that the selection and sorting of migrants are driven by different returns to skills in countries of destination. Our identification strategy for the effects of work experience abroad permits a cautious causal interpretation of the premium to return migration. This premium increases with migrants' skills and drives the positive selection of returnees relative to non‐migrants. Based on the compatibility of the results with rationality in the migration decisions, we simulate a rational‐agent model of education, migration and return. Our results suggest that for a source country like Romania relatively high rates of temporary migration might have positive long‐run effects on average skills and wages.     

企业外派人员甄选的灰色关联度评价模型及实证研究

随着企业经营的全球化和国际化,外派人员管理已成为企业人力资源管理的关键问题,然而,外派人员管理目前仍然存在诸多问题,作为外派首要环节的人员甄选问题首当其冲,科学地选择外派人员,是目前外派管理亟待解决的问题。论文在文献研究的基础上筛选了外派人员甄选的评价标准,以灰色系统理论为基础构建了外派人员甄选的灰色关联度评价模型。实证结果表明,该评价模型可以较科学地对外派人员甄选进行评价。     

Including the effects of prior and recent contact effort in a customer scoring model for database marketing

Database marketers often use a scoring model to predict the likely value of contacting customers based on their purchase histories and demographics. However, when purchase history has been a partial result of the firm’s own contacting efforts, these contacts should also be accounted for in the scoring model. The current work extends the existing literature to account for the firm’s contacts by focusing on each customer’s most recent purchase. Contacts prior to that purchase are designated “prior contacts” and those after that purchase “recent contacts.” A new latent variables formulation of the customer’s propensity to respond is used to predict the likelihood and time of response as well as the relationship to the independent variables. The methodology also addresses the statistical problems of “selection bias” and “endogeneity,” which have been largely ignored in most customer scoring models. An application to the database of a charitable organization confirms that, in this case: (1) the effect of the firm’s customer contact efforts is associated with a stronger propensity to respond than is the case for the included demographics; (2) the firm’s “recent contact” efforts are associated with larger returns in customers’ propensity to respond than the “prior contact” efforts; and (3) the “recent contact” efforts are associated with an at-first increasing but then diminishing propensity to respond up to a point beyond which actual decreasing returns are observed with further contacts. Clearly, too much contacting can alienate would-be donors. The proposed model is general enough to calibrate such impacts in other database marketing applications where the relative effects might be different.