The Hedonic Price Structure of Faculty Compensation at U.S. Colleges and Universities

Economic theory suggests that the variation in academic salaries across institutions in part reflects compensating differences associated with variation in the levels of local quality of life factors such as environmental quality and the provision of local public services. This paper presents an econometric analysis of the hedonic, or implicit price structure, of faculty compensation at U.S. colleges and universities using data from AAUP merged with data on a host of location-specific characteristics. Quality of life factors are found to be important, accounting for between 7 percent and 12.8 percent of total compensation

Some Reflections On Significance Testing

This essay presents a variation on a theme from my article “The use of tests of statistical significance”, which appeared in the Spring, 1999, issue of Mid-Western Educational Researcher

Was Monte Carlo Necessary?

In the critique that follows, I have attempted to summarize the principal disagreements between Sawilowsky and Roberts & Henson regarding the reporting and interpreting of statistically non-significant effect sizes, and to provide my own personal evaluations of their respective arguments

Bimodality Revisited

Degree of bimodality is an important feature of a frequency distribution, because it could suggest heterogeneity, such as polarization or two underlying distributions combined into one. The literature contains several measures of bimodality. This article attempts to summarize most of those measures, with their attendant advantages and disadvantages

Economic Issues of Invasive Pests and Diseases and Food Safety

The problem of invasive pests and diseases has become more urgent and far more complex today than in the recent past. Increased trade and movement of people, and the opening up of new trade routes have increased opportunities for the spread of invasive species. In addition, mono-cropping systems of cultivation; globalization; increased resistance of pests to pesticides and food safety and environmental concerns have all contributed to the growing complexity of the problem on hand. The economic dimensions of the problem can be viewed from at least two perspectives. First, with regard to the spread and impact of invasive species, particularly how best to provide more comprehensive assessments of impacts of invasions, so as to improve the cost effectiveness and efficiency of publicly funded programs aimed at eradication, control or mitigation of invasive pests and diseases. Second, from the perspective of incorporating more economic analysis and use of economic instruments in designing sanitary and phytosanitary measures. The paper explores some of these issues from an economic perspective. It concludes that incorporating more economic analysis in matters related to biological invasions is desirable, but presents a challenge to economists. Measurement requires data, and success in measurement will require that economists and biological scientists work closer together than they have in the past.sanitary and phytosanitary measures, SPS, invasive species, WTO, economic impact of invasive species, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade,

Almost All Missing Data Are MNAR

Rubin (1976, and elsewhere) claimed that there are three kinds of “missingness”: missing completely at random; missing at random; and missing not at random. He gave examples of each. The article that now follows takes an opposing view by arguing that almost all missing data are missing not at random

The Use of Tests of Statistical Significance

This article summarizes the author’s views regarding the appropriate use of significance tests, especially in the context of regression analysis, which is the most commonly-encountered statistical technique in education and related disciplines. The article also includes a brief discussion of the use of power analysis after a study has been carried out

In (Partial) Defense of .05

Researchers are frequently chided for choosing the .05 alpha level as the determiner of statistical significance (or non-significance). A partial justification is provided

A primer on statistical inferences for finite populations

This primer is intended to provide the basic information for sampling without replacement from finite populations

Semi-Partial Correlations: I Don\u27t Need Them; You Can Have Them

I have been teaching statistics and associated topics (measurement, research design) for 37 years and have contributed to the methodological literature on such matters. During that time I have managed to get along without knowing or caring very much about a variety of techniques, most notably exploratory data analysis, Bayesian inference, expected values of mean squares, and item response theory. In the essay that follows I talk about another one: semi-partial correlations