Bayesian MCMC Mapping of Quantitative Trait Loci in a Half-sib Design: a Graphical Model Perspective

Graphical models provide a powerful and flexible approach to the analysis of complex problems in genetics. While task-specific software may be extremely efficient for any particular analysis, it is often difficult to adapt to new computational challenges. By viewing these genetic applications in a more general framework, many problems can be handled by essentially the same software. This is advantageous in an area where fast methodological development is essential. Once a method has been fully developed and tested, problem-specific software may then be required. The aim of this paper is to illustrate the potential use of a graphical model approach to genetic analyses by taking a very simple and well-understood problem by way of example.     

Can Capital Income Taxes Survive? And Should They?

The article surveys some main results in the theory of capitalincome taxation in the open economy; reviews recent trends ininternational taxation and discusses alternative blueprintsfor fundamental capital income tax reform from the perspectiveof an open economy faced with growing mobility of capital incometax bases. (JEL code: H21, H25)     

Pricing, price dispersion, and information: The discount brokerage industry

The paper provides an empirical analysis of the pricing behavior of firms within the discount brokerage industry, with emphasis on testing the role of costly information in affecting prices. Several empirical tests are performed that indicate that prices in this industry respond in ways hypothesized by theoretical models of markets operating under conditions of imperfect information. The industry is characterized by a wide degree of price dispersion that does not appear to simply reflect quality differences among firms. In addition, the variance of prices across geographic markets is associated with variables that theoretically should affect the levels of consumer information in those markets.     

Integrating expected coverage and local reliability for emergency medical services location problems

Daskin's MEXCLP model [Daskin M. A maximum expected covering location model: formulation, properties, and heuristic solution. Transportation Science 1983;17:48-70] was one of the first efforts to capture the stochastic nature of emergency medical services (EMS) location problems within a mixed-integer formulation. With their subsequent introduction of MALP, ReVelle and Hogan [The maximum availability location problem. Transportation Science 1989;23:192-200] offered two key advances, local vehicle busyness estimates and the α-reliability objective. While these constructs have influenced many subsequent EMS location models, they have been subjected to relatively little empirical analysis. To address this, we introduce the LR-MEXCLP, a hybrid model combining the local busyness estimates of MALP with the maximum coverage objective of MEXCLP. We then solve a series of problems with all three models and employ simulation to estimate aggregate service levels. We find that LR-MEXCLP leads to modest but consistent service gains over both MALP and MEXCLP. These results support the merits of local busyness estimates, but they also suggest that the α-reliability objective may be inappropriate when seeking to maximize aggregate system response capabilities. More generally, our research underscores the utility of (a) linking modeling assumptions and goals with real-world application contexts, and (b) employing simulation or other techniques to validate theoretical results.     

Developing and Measuring the Impact of an Accounting Ethics Course that is Based on the Moral Philosophy of Adam Smith

Accounting ethics failures have seized headlines and cost investors billions of dollars. Improvement of the ethical reasoning and behavior of accountants has become a key concern for the accounting profession and for higher education in accounting. Researchers have asked a number of questions, including what type of accounting ethics education intervention would be most effective for accounting students. Some researchers have proposed virtue ethics as an appropriate moral framework for accounting. This research tested whether Smithian virtue ethics training, based on Adam Smith’s “The Theory of Moral Sentiments” (1790/1976), is effective in improving accounting student’s cognitive moral development (CMD). This research used a pre-test, treatment, post-test, quasi-experimental design utilizing the Defining Issues Test 2 (DIT-2) instrument to measure students’ CMD. Analysis of DIT-2 gain scores did show a significant improvement in subjects’ personal interest scores and a significant improvement in an overall measure of CMD, the DIT N2 index, whereas their DIT-2 post-conventional scores did not improve significantly. This research supports the proposition that the concepts contained in Smithian virtue ethics can contribute to an effective accounting ethics education intervention. However, further research is required to determine what concepts should be included to improve accounting students’ post-conventional moral reasoning.     

Arenas of Development - A Space Populated by Actor-worlds, Artefacts, and Surprises

In this paper the notion 'development arena' is presented and discussed. The notion is suggested to function as a cognitive space for research. It seeks to catch and describe the relational, unstable and heterogeneous character of the development process. It should sensitize both researchers and managers towards processes of technology development that are poorly accounted for in economic and management theory. Thereby, we wish to contribute to critical discussions about the role of management and the directions it chooses for development of technologies and products. The elements and transformations involved in shaping and restructuring activities in a development arena are described and discussed based on a case study of the development of HDTV as the next generation television. It exemplifies different moments and aspects of technology development. A number of configurations of specific processes in a development arena are used to exemplify the strengths of this notion. The notion is compared with other theoretical concepts that have been proposed to explain and model the processes that structure industries, markets, and products.     

The integrated impact of credit and interest rate risk on banks: A dynamic framework and stress testing application

Credit and interest rate risk are the two most important risks faced by commercial banks in their banking book. In this paper we derive a consistent and comprehensive framework to measure the integrated impact of both risks. By taking account of the repricing characteristics of assets, liabilities and off balance sheet items, we assess the integrated impact of credit and interest rate risk on banks’ economic value and capital adequacy. We then stress test a hypothetical but realistic bank using our framework and show that it is fundamental to measure the impact of credit and interest rate risk jointly.     

Private Equity and Investment in Innovation: Evidence from Patents

The authors' analysis of the patenting activity of 472 companies that received private equity investments between 1986 and 2005 provides suggestive evidence of an increase in the effectiveness (though not necessarily the quantity) of their innovative activities. After such companies received private equity backing, the patents they applied for received more frequent citations than patents awarded before the involvement of PE firms. Companies acquired by private equity also show no sign of deterioration in patent “originality” and “generality,” which have been shown to be fairly reliable indicators of the fundamental nature of the research. And while there is no clear pattern of change in the level of patenting activity, corporate patent portfolios become more focused in the years after the private equity investments. The increases in our measure of patent “impact” are greatest in the areas that constitute the companies' historical core strengths. These findings are likely to prove increasingly important as private equity continues its incursions into growth areas of the economy.     

A Tutorial on Reversible Jump MCMC with a View toward Applications in QTL-mapping

A tutorial derivation of the reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm is given. Various examples illustrate how reversible jump MCMC is a general framework for Metropolis-Hastings algorithms where the proposal and the target distribution may have densities on spaces of varying dimension. It is finally discussed how reversible jump MCMC can be applied in genetics to compute the posterior distribution of the number, locations, effects, and genotypes of putative quantitative trait loci.