Economics Collection Development Policy

The economics collection supports the teaching, learning, research, needs for economic information, and other related service activities of the entire university community. Its primary users are faculty, staff, and students of the Economics Department in the College of Business Administration (CBA). Its essential focus is support for the undergraduate and graduate curricula for economics. The collection is supplemented through interlibrary loan services whenever special curriculum and research needs of economics faculty and students arise. Although the collection is not developed for the general public and community users, they may benefit from the collection for their information needs. The main focus of the collection are works classified in Library of Congress call numbers HB (Economic theory and demography), HC (Economic history and conditions), and HD (Economic development), however, curriculum and research needs of economics are substantially supported by works classified in statistics, finance, and other business related areas

Economics Collection Development Policy

The economics collection supports the teaching, learning, research, needs for economic information, and other related service activities of the entire university community. Its primary users are faculty, staff, and students of the Economics Department in the College of Business Administration (CBA). Its essential focus is support for the undergraduate and graduate curricula for economics. The collection is supplemented through interlibrary loan services whenever special curriculum and research needs of economics faculty and students arise. Although the collection is not developed for the general public and community users, they may benefit from the collection for their information needs. The main focus of the collection are works classified in Library of Congress call numbers HB (Economic theory and demography), HC (Economic history and conditions), and HD (Economic development), however, curriculum and research needs of economics are substantially supported by works classified in statistics, finance, and other business related areas

The Reproductive Value in Distributed Optimal Control Models

We show that in a large class of distributed optimal control models (DOCM), where population is described by a McKendrick type equation with an endogenous number of newborns, the reproductive value of Fisher shows up as part of the shadow price of the population. Depending on the objective function, the reproductive value may be negative. Moreover, we show results of the reproductive value for changing vital rates. To motivate and demonstrate the general framework, we provide examples in health economics, epidemiology, and population biology.Reproductive value, distributed optimal control theory, McKendrick, shadow price, indirect effect, health economics, epidemiology, population biology.

Luddites and the Demographic Transition

Technological change was unskilled-labor-biased during the early Industrial Revolution, but is skill-biased today. This is not embedded in extant unified growth models. We develop a model which can endogenously account for these facts, where factor bias reflects profit-maximizing decisions by innovators. Endowments dictate that the early Industrial Revolution be unskilled-labor-biased. Increasing basic knowledge causes a growth takeoff, an income-led demand for fewer educated children, and the transition to skill-biased technological change. The simulated model tracks British industrialization in the 18th and 19th centuries and generates a demographic transition without relying on either rising skill premia or exogenous educational supply shocks.

Requests of Brown by LC Classification: August 2009

Requests of Brown from other HELIN libraries - August 200

Asymptotic age structures and intergenerational trade

While demographers Lotka (1939) and Lopez (1961) proposed conditions on (exogenous) fertility and mortality laws under which populations with distinct initial age structures exhibit the same asymptotic age structure, this paper re-examines the issues of age structure stabilization and convergence, by considering a population whose fertility and mortality are endogenously determined in the economy. For that purpose, we develop a three-period OLG model where human capital accumulation and intergenerational trade affect fertility and longevity. It is shown that the age structure must converge asymptotically towards a stable structure, whose form depends on the structural parameters of the economy. Moreover, populations with distinct initial age structures will end up with the same long-run age structure when fertility and mortality laws are converging, which requires converging terms of trade between coexisting generations in the different populations under study.age structure ; OLG model ; fertility ; mortality ; demographic transition ; intergenerational trade

Minimal inference from incomplete 2x2-tables

Estimates based on 2x2 tables of frequencies are widely used in statistical applications. However, in many cases these tables are incomplete in the sense that the data required to compute the frequencies for a subset of the cells defining the table are unavailable. Minimal inference addresses those situations where this incompleteness leads to target parameters for these tables that are interval, rather than point, identifiable. In particular, we develop the concept of corroboration as a measure of the statistical evidence in the observed data that is not based on likelihoods. The corroboration function identifies the parameter values that are the hardest to refute, i.e., those values which, under repeated sampling, remain interval identified. This enables us to develop a general approach to inference from incomplete 2x2 tables when the additional assumptions required to support a likelihood-based approach cannot be sustained based on the data available. This minimal inference approach then provides a foundation for further analysis that aims at making sharper inference supported by plausible external beliefs

Approaches to canine health surveillance

Effective canine health surveillance systems can be used to monitor disease in the general population, prioritise disorders for strategic control and focus clinical research, and to evaluate the success of these measures. The key attributes for optimal data collection systems that support canine disease surveillance are representativeness of the general population, validity of disorder data and sustainability. Limitations in these areas present as selection bias, misclassification bias and discontinuation of the system respectively. Canine health data sources are reviewed to identify their strengths and weaknesses for supporting effective canine health surveillance. Insurance data benefit from large and well-defined denominator populations but are limited by selection bias relating to the clinical events claimed and animals covered. Veterinary referral clinical data offer good reliability for diagnoses but are limited by referral bias for the disorders and animals included. Primary-care practice data have the advantage of excellent representation of the general dog population and recording at the point of care by veterinary professionals but may encounter misclassification problems and technical difficulties related to management and analysis of large datasets. Questionnaire surveys offer speed and low cost but may suffer from low response rates, poor data validation, recall bias and ill-defined denominator population information. Canine health scheme data benefit from well-characterised disorder and animal data but reflect selection bias during the voluntary submissions process. Formal UK passive surveillance systems are limited by chronic under-reporting and selection bias. It is concluded that active collection systems using secondary health data provide the optimal resource for canine health surveillance