Participation arrangements in Ghent: 'searching for the underlying story: a dynamic approach'

There are two dominant but seemingly contradictory narratives about the reasons for the dynamics of local participation arrangements. On the one hand, we have the traditional perspective focusing on the link between psychological characteristics and participation on the one side and on the other side on the barriers to participation (Hooghe 1999; Verba, Scholzman & Brady 1995). On the other hand we have the studies that examine participation arrangements from a sociological point of view: they point out that institutions have an impact on the participation arrangements (see for example Lowndes et al. 2001, 2006). This paper wants to detect the relevant variables that influence participation arrangements over time. In how far are these two stories compatible at the Flemish local level? If not, which one is more correct? The paper starts by reviewing the international literature on local participation in order to detect a list of relevant influencing variables. By means of a historical longitudinal analysis in the Flemish city Ghent a number of participation arrangements are identified over six legislative periods. With participation arrangement we refer to the tools and trajectories initiated and implemented by local government in order to organize citizen participation On the basis of an extensive documentary analysis and on interviews we come a set of factors that are influencing the functioning of Flemish local participation arrangements. The importance of this kind of research is twofold. First, a dynamic and longitudinal analysis on local participation is rather innovating. Most researches have a rather static view. The impact of variables on one instrument is researched at a certain point in time. However, participation arrangements evolve over time and a dynamic approach is more fitting. Second, it may provide some insight in the factors stimulating people to participate. Understanding what drives people’s participation at the local level is an important issue, especially in the light of the declining levels of engagement as well as current political commitments to promote active citizenship (Lowndes et al. 2006)

Goodness-of-fit testing in high dimensional generalized linear models

We propose a family of tests to assess the goodness-of-fit of a high-dimensional generalized linear model. Our framework is flexible and may be used to construct an omnibus test or directed against testing specific non-linearities and interaction effects, or for testing the significance of groups of variables. The methodology is based on extracting left-over signal in the residuals from an initial fit of a generalized linear model. This can be achieved by predicting this signal from the residuals using modern flexible regression or machine learning methods such as random forests or boosted trees. Under the null hypothesis that the generalized linear model is correct, no signal is left in the residuals and our test statistic has a Gaussian limiting distribution, translating to asymptotic control of type I error. Under a local alternative, we establish a guarantee on the power of the test. We illustrate the effectiveness of the methodology on simulated and real data examples by testing goodness-of-fit in logistic regression models. Software implementing the methodology is available in the R package `GRPtests'

Developmental transitions in body color in chacma baboon infants: Implications to estimate age and developmental pace

OBJECTIVES: In many primates, one of the most noticeable morphological developmental traits is the transition from natal fur and skin color to adult coloration. Studying the chronology and average age at such color transitions can be an easy and noninvasive method to (a) estimate the age of infants whose dates of birth were not observed, and (b) detect interindividual differences in the pace of development for infants with known birth dates. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using a combination of photographs and field observations from 73 infant chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) of known ages, we (a) scored the skin color of six different body parts from pink to gray, as well as the color of the fur from black to gray; (b) validated our method of age estimation using photographic and field observations on an independent subset of 22 infants with known date of birth; and (c) investigated ecological, social, and individual determinants of age-related variation in skin and fur color. RESULTS: Our results show that transitions in skin color can be used to age infant chacma baboons less than 7 months old with accuracy (median number of days between actual and estimated age = 10, range = 0-86). We also reveal that food availability during the mother's pregnancy, but not during lactation, affects infant color-for-age and therefore acts as a predictor of developmental pace. DISCUSSION: This study highlights the potential of monitoring within- and between-infant variation in color to estimate age when age is unknown, and developmental pace when age is known

Developmental transitions in body color in chacma baboon infants: Implications to estimate age and developmental pace

International audienc

New Evidence on Export Price Elasticity from China and Six OECD Countries

This paper provides new evidence on export price elasticities by analyzing the cases of China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and the USA over the period 1990 \u20132012. Estimates have been made using panel data techniques for non-stationary data. After demonstrating that long-run relationships are stable to any structural break, it is found that exports are significantly determined by foreign demand, with long-run income elasticity significantly higher than unity for China, Japan,Germany, the UK and the USA. Conversely, exports are price inelastic for most of the countries in the sample, in both the long run and the short run. The exception is France, whose export price elasticity is lower (higher) than unity in the short run (long run)