Monotonizing empirical Bayes estimators for a class of of discrete distributions with monotone likelihood ratio

A procedure is given for the construction of a monotone estimator that dominates a given estimator for a class of discrete distributions with monotone likelihood ratio. This procedure is applied to some empirical Bayes estimators. Monte Carlo results are given that demonstrate the usefulness of monotonizing.     

Extraction of an Exhaustible Resource: The Effects on Investment of Several Parameters Being Subject to Uncertainty*

This article shows that the effect on investment of the introduction of uncertainty about the size of one parameter depends on what other parameters are simultaneously uncertain. Further, two parameters may be linked with positive or negative covariances. The covariances are here shown to have important effects on the investor, whether risk neutral or risk averse. Governments are advked to consider policies that affect the covariances of those parameters that are key influences on in vestment.     

Climate Change Policy Options for Asian Economies: Findings from an Integrated Assessment Model

This study outlines potential futures for the global economy through the 2050 with a specific focus on the countries of Asia. With underlying assumptions about population and output growth, a baseline scenario assesses the growth of greenhouse gas emissions and the ensuing impacts on the climate. Under the baseline scenario, Asia's high growth leads to a strong rotation in global output and emissions by the year 2050. The analytical framework traces back the changes in temperature to economic damages – limited to the agricultural sectors. Parts of Asia are likely to see much higher dependence on food imports as a consequence of these damages. Various carbon tax scenarios are implemented to assess the potential for reducing carbon emissions. Because of the structure of their economies, Asian countries are likely to bear the greatest burden in reducing emissions in an efficient global tax scheme, but there is significant scope to ease this burden through financial transfers.     

Dichotomous decisions based on dichotomously scored items: a case study

In a course in elementary statistics for psychology students using criterion-referenced achievement tests, the total test score, based on dichotomously scored items, was used for classifying students into those who passed and those who failed. The score on a test is considered as depending on a latent variable; it is assumed that the students can be dichotomized into the categories “mastery” (with scores on the latent variable above a cutting score), and “no mastery” (with scores below the cutting score on the latent variable). Two problems are considered: (a) How many students are classified incorrectly? Using the binomial error model a procedure is described for computing the classification proportions: p(mastery, passed), p(mastery, failed), p(no mastery, passed), and p(no mastery, failed), (b) What is the optimal cutting score on a test? Using a loss function a procedure for computing the optimal curring score is described.     

发展生物燃料乙醇对我国区域农业发展的影响分析

本文利用"中国农业可持续发展决策支持系统"分析了不同燃料乙醇发展政策可能对我国农产品价格、整体和各区域农业生产及净产值等的影响。研究结果表明:燃料乙醇发展将显著提高能源作物的农产品价格,对农业发展和农民增收将起到积极的促进作用,但对稻谷和小麦等粮食安全有一些负面影响;燃料乙醇发展对不同区域及不同农户的影响有较大差异;多数地区的农业部门都将从中受益,获益的大小主要取决于各地区在种植能源作物上的比较优势。研究也指出,未来的重点应放在非粮作物以及第二代生物燃料乙醇技术上(即用纤维素生产乙醇),并且应该提高在这些方面的科研投资水平。     

The rise and decline of European parliaments, 1188–17891

This article quantifies the activities of medieval and early modern parliaments. It traces the long‐term evolution of this European institution, and offers a first pass at analysing its impact on long‐term economic development. Starting in Spain in the twelfth century, parliaments gradually spread over the Latin west between 1200 and 1500. In the early modern period, parliaments declined in influence in southern and central Europe and further gained in importance in the Netherlands and Britain, resulting in an institutional ‘Little Divergence’ between 1500 and 1800. We discuss the background of this phenomenon in detail. Moreover, by analysing the effects of parliamentary activity on city growth we find that these differences in institutional development help to explain the economic divergence between north‐western and southern and central Europe.