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The use of modern robust regression analysis with graphics: an example from marketing
No full textRoutine least squares regression analyses may sometimes miss important aspects of data. To exemplify this point we analyse a set of 1171 observations from a questionnaire intended to illuminate the relationship between customer loyalty and perceptions of such factors as price and community outreach. Our analysis makes much use of graphics and data monitoring to provide a paradigmatic example of the use of modern robust statistical tools based on graphical interaction with data. We start with regression. We perform such an analysis and find significant regression on all factors. However, a variety of plots show that there are some unexplained features, which are not eliminated by response transformation. Accordingly, we turn to robust analyses, intended to give answers unaffected by the presence of data contamination. A robust analysis using a non-parametric model leads to the increased significance of transformations of the explanatory variables. These transformations provide improved insight into consumer behaviour. We provide suggestions for a structured approach to modern robust regression and give links to the software used for our data analyses
Dementia is a neglected noncommunicable disease and leading cause of death
No full textDementia is largely excluded from discussion of noncommunicable diseases, which limits its inclusion in health policies and allocation of resources — yet it is already a leading cause of mortality and its effects are set to increase. Alzheimer’s Disease International calls for changes in policies to address the effects of dementia now and in the futur
The platform's glitch: workers, algorithms and resistance
No full textBonini Tiziano and Treré Emiliano, Algorithms of Resistance: The Everyday Fight Against Platform Power. The MIT Press, 2024, ePub, 9780262377492
Timing complex news to target attention
No full textInvestors have limited and time-varying attention. These constraints are heterogeneous across investors, which can create asymmetric information and adverse selection problems. We show how firms take these constraints into account: They release harder-to-process news in periods when investor attention is higher. We use an institutional discontinuity within the U.S. corporate filing system to measure these effects. Filings before 5:30 p.m. become available immediately, whereas filings after 5:30 p.m. only become visible the next morning and attract less attention. Firms release longer and more complex news just before the cutoff, giving investors the longest possible period to absorb the information before markets open. Firms experience faster price convergence and more liquidity after precutoff news despite their complexity, which is consistent with the additional attention that they attract. We outline a framework in which the need for investors to spread their attention across different ideas induces firms to file their more complex filings at times when investor attention is higher. Our results are consistent with an equilibrium in which investors pay more attention to complex news and in which firms with complex news time them to target investor attention. This paper was accepted by David Sraer, finance. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2021.03722
A theory of socially responsible investment
No full textWe characterize the conditions under which a socially responsible (SR) fund induces firms to reduce externalities, even when profit-seeking capital is in perfectly elastic supply. Such impact requires that the SR fund’s mandate permits the fund to trade off financial performance against reductions in social costs—relative to the counterfactual in which the fund does not invest in a given firm. Based on such an impact mandate, we derive the social profitability index, an investment criterion that characterizes the optimal ranking of impact investments when SR capital is scarce. If firms face binding financial constraints, the optimal way to achieve impact is by enabling a scale increase for clean production. In this case, SR and profit-seeking capital are complementary: Surplus is higher when both investor types are present
The shadow bodies of mice: invisible work in translational medicine
No full textThe clinician-scientist is often viewed as the crucial nexus in the translational processes that turn scientific research into medical technologies, including but not limited to pharmaceuticals. To create a point of contrast, and to consider the theme of invisible labor, this paper foregrounds an alternative actant who has also been deemed a vital nexus in translational medicine within Science and Technology Studies: the laboratory animal as model organism. Based on observational research conducted in an animal facility that was caring for laboratory mice as well as the immunological laboratory that was conducting research regarding ageing and vaccine uptake using those mice, this paper explores how mouse bodies and animal technicians’ knowledge of those mouse bodies are rendered invisible through the everyday flows of translation. I draw on Balka and Star's concept of “shadow bodies” to consider variations in how mouse bodies are understood across the translational process and probe the consequences this has for what knowledge is legitimately produced and by whom. By making the invisible work of mice and of technicians visible, I argue that the organizational filters of translational medicine may inadvertently make the work of animal technicians all the harder, in a manner that reproduces social inequalities
Elite cues and noncompliance
No full textPolitical leaders increasingly use social media to speak directly to voters, but the extent to which elite cues shape offline political behavior remains unclear. In this article, we study the effects of elite cues on noncompliant behavior, focusing on a series of controversial tweets sent by US President Donald Trump calling for the “liberation” of Minnesota, Virginia, and Michigan from state and local government COVID-19 restrictions. Leveraging the fact that Trump’s messages exclusively referred to three specific US states, we adopt a generalized difference-in-differences design relying on spatial variation to identify the causal effects of the targeted cues. Our analysis shows that the President’s messages led to an increase in movement, a decrease in adherence to stay-at-home restrictions, and an increase in arrests of white Americans for crimes related to civil disobedience and rebellion. These findings demonstrate the consequences of elite cues in polarized environments
To chain or not to chain? measuring real GDP in the US and the choice of index number
No full textNational Statistical Institutes (NSIs) in advanced countries have generally adopted chain-linking in their national accounts. The United States uses a chained Fisher, an example of a superlative index number, in its national accounts. However the Fisher is only one of an infinite number of superlative index numbers. So an important issue is how sensitive are the estimates of output growth to the choice of index number. This issue is analysed by examining data from the BEA/BLS industry-level integrated production account, 1987–2020. Estimates of superlative and other index numbers are presented for this dataset. The sensitivity of real GDP growth to the value of the crucial parameter in a superlative index number is tested. The extent to which the desirable characteristics of value consistency and aggregation consistency are satisfied for different superlative index numbers is also analysed. The desirability of chain-linking does not follow automatically just from the use of superlative indices. So I also compare chained and unchained versions of these same index numbers. Finally, Europe uses a different approach to output measurement to the US, chained Laspeyres versus chained Fisher. I look at how different US estimates would be if they employed European methodology
The potential for media literacy to combat misinformation: results of a rapid evidence assessment
No full textAcademics, policy makers, and social media platforms have engaged with media literacy responses to misinformation. To examine the effectiveness of specific strategies, we conducted a rapid evidence assessment of research conducted between 2011 and 2021, focusing on the intersection of media literacy and misinformation. The analysis revealed the effectiveness of certain types of media literacy intervention, notably strategies that prompt conscious and rational engagement with content and develop critical thinking skills. The effects of interventions varied over time, and the complexity of media and information environments suggests that this variability will persist. The literature contained multiple definitions of misinformation and media literacy, making it hard to draw wider conclusions or comparative insights across studies. We conclude that future research should employ more robust methodologies, including a wider variety of platforms and more inclusive sampling of vulnerable and marginalized populations, as well as extending research into global majority countries
Where law meets data: a practical guide to expert coding in legal research
No full textThe rise of empirical methods has had a polarising effect on legal studies in Europe. On the one hand, quantitative empiricists have frequently dismissed traditional doctrinal scholarship as unscientific and its insights as unreliable. On the other hand, many doctrinal scholars are apprehensive about the perceived displacement of domain expertise from legal research caused by the empirical turn. To bridge the gap between the two camps and address their respective concerns, we propose a wider adoption of expert coding as a methodology for legal research. Expert coding is a method for systematic parsing and representation of phenomena such as legal principles in a structured form, using researchers' subject matter expertise. To facilitate the uptake of expert coding, we provide a step-by-step guide that addresses not only the coding process but also fundamental prerequisites such as conceptualisation, operationalisation and document selection. We argue that this methodological framework leverages legal scholars' expertise in a more impactful way than traditional doctrinal analyses. We illustrate each step and methodological principle with examples from European Union law