Descartes’s Correspondence and Correspondents

Descartes’s correspondence is an integral part of his work. Several important theories and doctrines can be known only from the correspondence, or, on the basis of the correspondence, must be qualified or can be rendered more precise. It is also through his letters that we learn about Descartes’s publishing strategies, his opinion on his contemporaries and their work, and his interest in experiments and observations. From time to time Descartes’s letters also allow us a glimpse of his daily business. In brief, the correspondence can be seen as an intellectual laboratory. This chapter examines Descartes’s voluminous correspondence and discusses a few of his correspondents. It also considers the epistolary form and content of his letters, and situates them in the context of other philosophical correspondences in this period

Descartes’s Correspondence and Correspondents

Descartes’s correspondence is an integral part of his work. Several important theories and doctrines can be known only from the correspondence, or, on the basis of the correspondence, must be qualified or can be rendered more precise. It is also through his letters that we learn about Descartes’s publishing strategies, his opinion on his contemporaries and their work, and his interest in experiments and observations. From time to time Descartes’s letters also allow us a glimpse of his daily business. In brief, the correspondence can be seen as an intellectual laboratory. This chapter examines Descartes’s voluminous correspondence and discusses a few of his correspondents. It also considers the epistolary form and content of his letters, and situates them in the context of other philosophical correspondences in this period

Une histoire néerlandaise du cogito ?

Étant donné les réserves de la théologie calviniste à l’égard du cogito cartésien – réserves inspirées surtout par l’aversion de l’enthousiasme – on peut présumer que parmi les cartésiens néerlandais le cogito ou bien n’a joué qu’un rôle très subordonné ou bien qu’il a subi une transformation profonde. Ceci est confirmé par une analyse d’écrits de deux cartésiens : Arnold Geulincx et Johannes de Raey.Given the reservations of Calvinist theology towards the Cartesian cogito – reservations inspired above all by an aversion for “enthusiasm” – one must presume that for Dutch Cartesians the cogito either merely played a minor role or it had undergone a profound transformation. This is confirmed by an analysis of the work of two Cartesians: Arnold Geulincx and Johannes de Raey

Minimum MSE estimation of a regression model with fixed effects from a series of cross-sections

If panel data are not available but repeated cross-sections are, the parameters in a regression model with fixed individual effects can be estimated consistently using the cohort approach proposed by Deaton (1985). In this paper we show that Deaton's estimator is inconsistent if the number of time periods is small, even if the number of cohorts tends to infinity. Moreover, we propose an alternative estimator which does not suffer from a bias due to a small number of sampling periods and we introduce a new class of estimators, containing both estimators mentioned above. We discuss minimum mean squared error estimation within this class. Our results show that it may be optimal to eliminate only part of the measurement error in the cohort averages, since the implied bias is offset by a smaller variance

The efficiency of rotating-panel designs in an analysis-of-variance model

In this paper we consider the relative efficiency of rotating-panel designs in analysis-of-variance models. Throughout we assume that the parameter of interest is a linear combination of period means in the analysis-of-variance model. Results from spectral theory are used to obtain manageable expressions for the variance of the BLUE of this parameter. Relative efficiencies of the BLUE for rotating panels with different rotation periods are presented, e.g., for the period means themselves, of differences, or of averages of means. Moreover we present bounds on the relative efficiency which are valid irrespective of the parameter of interest. The analysis shows that the gains from choosing an optimal rotation design can be quite substantial, even if the cost of a reinterview equals the cost of a first observation. In many cases either the smallest or the highest possible rotation period is optimal. The analysis is illustrated with an empirical example concerning monthly consumer expenditures on food and clothing

Do Countries or Industries Explain Momentum in Europe?

The driving force behind the well-documented medium term momentum effect in stock returns is subject of much debate. Empirical papers that aim to find the determinants of this return continuation, seem to be almost exclusively restricted to US stock markets. Consequently, regional effects have received little attention in these analyses. This paper contributes to the discussion by investigating the presence of country and industry momentum in Europe and addressing the question whether individual stock momentum is subsumed by country or industry momentum.We examine these issues by introducing a portfolio-based regression approach, which allows to test hypotheses about the existence and relative importance of multiple effects using standard statistical techniques. While the traditional sorting techniques are not suited to disentangle a multitude of possibly interrelated effects (e.g. momentum, value, and size), our method can be used even when only a moderate number of stocks are available. Our results suggest that the positive expected excess returns of momentum strategies in European stock markets are primarily driven by individual stocks effects, while industry momentum plays a less important role and country momentum is even weaker. These results are robust to the inclusion of value and size effects

Eliminating Biases in Evaluating Mutual Fund Performance from a Survivorship Free Sample

Poor performing mutual funds are less likely to be observed in the data sets that are typically available. This so-called survivor problem can induce a substantial bias in measures of the performance of the funds and the persistence of this performance. Many studies have recently argued that survivorship bias can be avoided by analyzing a sample that contains returns on each fund up to the period of disappearance using standard techniques. Such data sets are usually referred to as 'survivorship free'. In this paper we show that the use of standard methods of analysis on a 'survivorship free' data-set typically still suffers from a bias and we show how one can easily correct for this using weights based on probit regressions. Using a sample with quarterly returns on U.S. based equity funds, we first of all model how survival probabilities depend upon historical returns, the age of the fund and upon aggregate economy-wide shocks. Subsequently we employ a Monte Carlo study to analyze the size and shape of the survivorship bias in various performance measures that arise when a 'survivorship free database' is used with standard techniques. In particular, we show that survivorship bias induces a spurious U-shape pattern in performance persistence. Finally, we show how a weighting procedure based upon probit regressions can be used to correct for the bias. In this way, we obtain bias-corrected estimates of abnormal performance relative to a one-factor and the Carhart [1997] four-factor model, as well as its persistence. Our results are in accordance with the persistence pattern found by Carhart [1997], and do not support the existence of a hot hand phenomenon in mutual fund performance.

Estimation of time-dependent parameters in linear models using cross-sections, panels, or both

In this paper we consider the estimation of time-dependent parameters in linear models from panel data, cross-sections, or both. We determine the fraction of individuals that should be reinterviewed each period in order to minimize the variance of the most efficient estimator of linear combinations of the parameters. Moreover we derive simple sufficient conditions for the optimal fraction to be zero or one, respectively