Alcohol Consumption, Smoking and Wages.

The good health of an individual is a combination of uncontrollable factors that includes genetics and random events and controllable factors through the regulation of activities such as smoking and drinking. Since the work of Grossman (1972) a significant relationship between health and earnings is predicted. In this paper, the 1995 Australian National Health Survey is used to simultaneously examine the effects of drinking and smoking on wages. To model the interaction of smoking with alcohol consumption separate models are fit for smokers and nonsmokers. These models account for potential selectivity bias resulting from the decision to smoke and endogeneity arising from a potential casual relationship between earnings and alcohol consumption.WAGES ; ALCOHOL ; CONSUMPTION ; MODELS

Two geometric representations of confidence intervals for ratios of linear combinations of regression parameters: An application to the NAIRU

We present two geometric representations of the Fieller confidence interval for the ratio of regression parameter estimates using standard statistics packages. These methods are used to interpret the estimation of the NAIRU for Australia.Fieller Method Confidence ellipse 1st derivative function Eviews Stata

Inferential methods for elasticity estimates

Elasticities are often estimated from the results of demand analysis. However, drawing inferences from them may involve assumptions that could influence the outcome. In this paper we investigate one of the most common forms of elasticity which is defined as a ratio of estimated relationships and demonstrate how the Fieller method for the construction of confidence intervals can be used to draw inferences. We estimate the elasticities of expenditure from Engel curves using a variety of estimation models. Parametric Engel curves are modelled using OLS, MM robust regression, and Tobit. Semiparametric Engel curves are estimated using a penalized spline regression. We demonstrate the construction of confidence intervals of the expenditure elasticities for a series of expenditure levels as well as the estimated cumulative density function for the elasticity evaluated for a particular household.Engel curves Fieller method Tobit Robust regression Semiparametric

Bivariate income distributions with lognormal conditionals

lognormal distribution, conditionally specified models, European community household panel,

Challenging the developmental state: Nature conservation in Singapore

10.1111/j.1467-8373.2007.00340.xAsia Pacific Viewpoint482186-19

Robust Artificial Neural Networks for Pricing of European Options

artificial neural networks, huber function, implied parameters, option pricing & trading, robust estimation,

Genome-wide association and longitudinal analyses reveal genetic loci linking pubertal height growth, pubertal timing and childhood adiposity.

The pubertal height growth spurt is a distinctive feature of childhood growth reflecting both the central onset of puberty and local growth factors. Although little is known about the underlying genetics, growth variability during puberty correlates with adult risks for hormone-dependent cancer and adverse cardiometabolic health. The only gene so far associated with pubertal height growth, LIN28B, pleiotropically influences childhood growth, puberty and cancer progression, pointing to shared underlying mechanisms. To discover genetic loci influencing pubertal height and growth and to place them in context of overall growth and maturation, we performed genome-wide association meta-analyses in 18 737 European samples utilizing longitudinally collected height measurements. We found significant associations (P < 1.67 × 10(-8)) at 10 loci, including LIN28B. Five loci associated with pubertal timing, all impacting multiple aspects of growth. In particular, a novel variant correlated with expression of MAPK3, and associated both with increased prepubertal growth and earlier menarche. Another variant near ADCY3-POMC associated with increased body mass index, reduced pubertal growth and earlier puberty. Whereas epidemiological correlations suggest that early puberty marks a pathway from rapid prepubertal growth to reduced final height and adult obesity, our study shows that individual loci associating with pubertal growth have variable longitudinal growth patterns that may differ from epidemiological observations. Overall, this study uncovers part of the complex genetic architecture linking pubertal height growth, the timing of puberty and childhood obesity and provides new information to pinpoint processes linking these traits