Modelling socioeconomic and health determinants of health care use: A semiparametric approach

This paper suggests bivariate semiparametric index models as a tool for modelling the interplay of socioeconomic and health characteristics in determining health care utilisation. These models allow for a fully nonparametric relationship between socioeconomic status, health care need and care utilisation. The only parametric restriction imposed is that multiple socioeconomic and health indicators can be aggregated into two distinct indices that measure the broader concepts of socioeconomic status and health care need, respectively. We demonstrate the usefulness of this class of models based on an illustrative empirical example. The estimations highlight complex interactions of socioeconomic status and health care need in determining care use, which may be difficult to grasp via standard parametric modelling approaches.

Identification and Identifiability of non-linear IV/GMM Estimators

In this article, the identi¯cation of instrumental variables and generalised method of moment (GMM) estimators is discussed. It is common that representations of such models are derived from the solution to linear quadratic optimisation problems. Here, it is shown that even though the rank condition on the Jacobian and the instrument set is valid, that the transversality condition may not be satis¯ed by the estimated model. Further, acceptance of the transversality condition does occur when identi ¯cation fails or the forward model vanishes. As a result the parameters of such models irrespective of any correction for serial correlation may not be identi¯ed in a fundamental sense. This suggests that either forward looking models should be estimated directly or more complex non-linear restrictions should be imposed

Curricular orientations to real-world contexts in mathematics

A common claim about mathematics education is that it should equip students to use mathematics in the ‘real world’. In this paper, we examine how relationships between mathematics education and the real world are materialised in the curriculum across a sample of eleven jurisdictions. In particular, we address the orientation of the curriculum towards application of mathematics, the ways that real-world contexts are positioned within the curriculum content, the ways in which different groups of students are expected to engage with real-world contexts, and the extent to which high-stakes assessments include real-world problem solving. The analysis reveals variation across jurisdictions and some lack of coherence between official orientations towards use of mathematics in the real world and the ways that this is materialised in the organisation of the content for students

Expectational coordination failures and Market outcomes' volatility

The first part of this text reviews the standard economic viewpoint on expectational coordination, a viewpoint that the recent events have challenged. The second part reviews different existing directions assessments of the rational expectations hypothesis that have been made to-date. The third part shows how such a critical assessment, along the lines of the so-called "eductive" learning approach, radically modifies our view of three key problems : the economic role of speculation, the informational efficiency of markets and, last but not least, the ability of agents with long horizon to anticipate the future. The fourth part stresses what has been achieved so far well as the future challenges of the approaches advocated in this paper.expectational coordination ; rational expectations hypothesis

Unemployment Duration, Schooling and Property Crime

It is well known that there is no consensus with respect to the relationship between unemployment and crime. As well, there is very little research on the linkages between crime and the educational experiences of young people. In this paper we show a very strong positive relationship between criminal activity and the extent of youth male long-term unemployment. We also show that criminal activity is negatively associated high school completions, and positively associated with high school non-completion rates. The analysis suggests that labour market and education policies have the potential to significantly reduce property crime. However, increased high school participation of the targeted group only decreases crime if it results in graduation. This suggests that the effectiveness of education policy is a critical influence on crime activity, a unique finding for the literature

Identifying asymmetric, multi-period Euler equations estimated by non-linear IV/GMM

In this article, the identification of instrumental variables and generalized method of moment (GMM) estimators with multi-period perceptions is discussed. The state space representation delivers a conventional first order condition that is solved for expectations when the Generalized Bézout Theorem holds. Here, it is shown that although weak instruments may be enough to identify the parameters of a linearized version of the Quasi-Reduced Form (Q-RF), their existence is not sufficient for the identification of the structural model. Necessary and sufficient conditions for local identification of the Quasi-Structural Form (Q-SF) derive from the product of the data moments and the Jacobian. Satisfaction of the moment condition alone is only necessary for local and global identification of the Q-SF parameters. While the conditions necessary and sufficient for local identification of the Q-SF parameters are only necessary to identify the expectational model that satisfies the regular solution. If the conditions required for the decomposition associated with the Generalized Bézout Theorem are not satisfied, then limited information estimates of the Q-SF are not consistent with the full solution. The Structural Form (SF) is not identified in the fundamental sense that the Q-SF parameters are not based on a forward looking expectational model. This suggests that expectations are derived from a forward looking model or survey data used to replace estimated expectations