Item Response Modeling of Multivariate Count Data With Zero Inflation, Maximum Inflation, and Heaping

Questionnaires that include items eliciting count responses are becoming increasingly common in psychology. This study proposes methodological techniques to overcome some of the challenges associated with analyzing multivariate item response data that exhibit zero inflation, maximum inflation, and heaping at preferred digits. The modeling framework combines approaches from three literatures: item response theory (IRT) models for multivariate count data, latent variable models for heaping and extreme responding, and mixture IRT models. Data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System are used as a motivating example. Practical implications are discussed, and recommendations are provided for researchers who may wish to use count items on questionnaires

Two decades of CGE modelling lessons from models for Egypt

Egypt's exceptional experience of two decades of CGE modelling is used to derive lessons for comparable analysis for other countries, give important issues for CGE modelling in general and give future modellers a guide to build on the older modelling experience. It can be derived from the CGE studies of the Egyptian economy that the model closure and the parameters to a large extent determine the results. However, there is no agreement on the closure rule one should use to describe the Egyptian economy while the parameters are generally not very reliable if compared to parameters used in econometric models. the small contribution of these models to actual policy making in Egypt may be explained by the unreliability of the parameters, the absence of financial markets and the short-term focus of most models. It is therefore concluded that improvement of the reliability of the parameters, the adaptation of the model to changes in the economic structure and the introduction of financial markets are important issues for future research.

Can Labour Market Institutions Explain Unemployment Rates in New EU Member States?. CEPS ENEPRI Working Papers No. 27, 1 July 2004

This study poses the question about whether labour market institutions can explain unemployment rates in the ten new European Union member states. In five out of the ten new member states, unemployment rates lie above the average in the 15 member states of the European Union (EU-15) that comprised the EU prior to May 2004. The study finds that labour market institutions in the acceding countries are less rigid than in the EU-15. Moreover, labour market institutions explain only a minor part of unemployment in the new EU member states. This does not mean that these countries have no labour market problems. Just as in the EU-15, a great deal of heterogeneity exists among the acceding countries. In some of them, labour market reforms could prove a key issue in improving employment performance. The main worry is the poor labour market performance in Poland and the Slovak Republic, where unemployment has risen to almost 20%. The main reasons for this growth are i) postponed restructuring in combination with tight monetary policy, ii) poor governance, and iii) an increasing labour force

Higher education; time for coordination on a European level?

Education has always been regarded as a national matter. According to the subsidiarity principle power may only be shifted to a higher level of coordination when solid arguments exist that this will improve welfare. This paper aims at answering the question if these arguments exist. We find no support for economies of scale, i.e. larger countries do not necessarily provide higher quality education; nor do larger schools. Empirical evidence for human capital externalities through student mobility is scarce. Concluding, we find little support for European coordination of higher education. However, there is evidence that student mobility is a precursor for labour migration. Uniformizing the structure of higher education in the EU, and making educational programs more transparent, may therefore be defended from this perspective. Quality does matter for students, and student mobility is increasing. This may be beneficial to labour mobility.

Labour migration in Europe and the New Economic Geography

This paper addresses consequences of increased labour migration in Europe due to productivity effects in a core-periphery model. Traditional trade and growth models predict an overall beneficial impact of the accession of the current candidate states to the European Union. However, models incorporating imperfect competition warn that peripheral countries may realise only a small portion of this beneficial impact of the accession. In this chapter we go a step further: On the domestic level the countries accession may have negative effects while on the nationals level the effect will be positive. An empirical indication that benefits of accession may be low is the marginal benefits during the early phases of EU membership for Greece and Ireland and the Neue Länder of Germany. The following main questions are addressed in this chapter. What is the consequence of increased migration within the European Union due to deregulation in the context of the creation of a common market, and what will be the consequence of the extension of the European union with central and eastern European countries?

Exchange Reactions at Mineral Interfaces

Exchange reactions are a family of chemical reactions that appear when mineral surfaces come into contact with protic solvents. Exchange reactions can also be understood as a unique interaction at mineral interfaces. Particularly significant interactions occurring at mineral surfaces are those with water and CO$_{2}$. The rather complex process occurring when minerals such as calcium silicate hydrate (C–S–H) phases come into contact with aqueous environments is referred to as a metal–proton exchange reaction (MPER). This process leads to the leaching of calcium ions from the near-surface region, the first step in the corrosion of cement-bound materials. Among the various corrosion reactions of C–S–H phases, the MPER appears to be the most important one. A promising approach to bridging certain problems caused by MPER and carbonation is the passivation of C–S–H surfaces. Today, such passivation is reached, for instance, by the functionalization of C–S–H surfaces with water-repelling organic films. Unfortunately, these organic films are weak against temperature and especially weak against abrasion. Exchange reactions at mineral interfaces allow the preparation of intrinsic, hydrophobic surfaces of C–S–H phases just at room temperature via a metal–metal exchange reaction

Buitenplaatslandschappen in Gelderland: Interventies van overheden in verleden en heden

The Province of Gelderland has long boasted a large number of country houses and landed estates, which over time coalesced into estate landscapes around the historical capitals of the Duchy of Guelders quarters of Nijmegen, Arnhem and Zutphen. Rapidly increasing urbanization from the end of the nineteenth century onwards threatened the coherence and accessibility of these landscapes. Gelderland’s largest cities, Arnhem and Nijmegen, watched in dismay as many country houses and landed estates fell victim to subdivision and development. In response they started to buy up portions of that estate landscape to ensure that they would remain available to city dwellers. In addition, the ‘safety net’ provided by newly established nature and landscape organizations, in particular Natuurmonumenten and Geldersch Landschap & Kasteelen, also contributed to preservation and permanent accessibility by offering landed families the opportunity to keep their estate intact, albeit no longer under their ownership. Similar motives – the need to preserve attractive, accessible walking areas for the increasingly urbanized society – underpinned the government’s introduction of the Nature Conservation Act in 1928. The Act was invoked more frequently in Gelderland than in any other province. It promoted the opening up of private properties as well as the preservation of the cultural value of the kind of ‘natural beauty’ to be found on landed estates. After the Second World War, in addition to resorting to the Nature Conservation Act, the owners of country houses and landed estates could avail themselves of an increasing variety of grants aimed at preserving (publicly accessible) nature, landscape and heritage, although the emphasis was firmly on nature. Estate landscapes like the Veluwezoom and the County of Zutphen were eventually safeguarded by a patchwork of different government regulations. In the twenty-first century, government policy shifted towards providing financial support for both public and private contributions to nature, landscape and heritage by country houses and landed estates. This in turn has stimulated interest in estate landscapes. Instead of individual heritage-listed estates, the focus is now on areas with multiple country house and landed estates where there are spatial tasks waiting to be fulfilled: not just the preservation of natural beauty for outdoor recreation, but also spatial articulation, climate change adaptation, increased biodiversity and sustainable agriculture. Interest in design, both past and present, has burgeoned thanks to this development.De provincie Gelderland (NL) is van oudsher een provincie met een groot aantal buitenplaatsen en landgoederen, die zich bij de oude hoofdsteden van de Gelderse kwartieren Nijmegen, Arnhem en Zutphen tot buitenplaatslandschappen aan elkaar regen. De verstedelijking die vanaf het eind van de negentiende eeuw sterk toenam, bedreigde de samenhang en toegankelijkheid van deze landschappen. De grootste Gelderse steden Arnhem en Nijmegen constateerden tot hun spijt hoe door opdeling en bebouwing veel buitenplaatsen en landgoederen teloorgingen. Ze verwierven daarom delen van het buitenplaatsenlandschap, zodat die beschikbaar bleven voor de stedeling. Ook het ‘vangnet’ dat geboden werd door nieuw opgerichte natuur- en landschapsorganisaties, met name Natuurmonumenten en Geldersch Landschap & Kasteelen, heeft geleid tot behoud en blijvende openstelling. Dit vangnet bood families een mogelijkheid om het landgoed onverdeeld te laten voortbestaan, hoewel niet onder hun eigendom. Uit vergelijkbare motieven – het belang van behoud van aantrekkelijke toegankelijke wandelgebieden voor de verstedelijkende samenleving – stelde het Rijk in 1928 de Natuurschoonwet in werking. Deze werd in Gelderland meer dan in enig andere provincie toegepast. De wet bevorderde de openstelling van particulier bezit sterk, evenals behoud van de culturele waarde van ‘natuurschoon’ zoals die op landgoederen voorkomt. Na de oorlog konden buitenplaatsen en landgoederen niet alleen gebruikmaken van de Natuurschoonwet, maar ook van een steeds verder vertakkend subsidienetwerk voor de instandhouding van (openbaar toegankelijke) natuur, landschap en erfgoed. Natuur kreeg een sterk accent. Buitenplaatslandschappen zoals de Veluwezoom en de Graafschap bij Zutphen kwamen onder een lappendeken van verschillende overheidsregelingen te liggen. In de eenentwintigste eeuw verschoof de benadering van overheden naar de betaling van de prestaties die, al dan niet particuliere, buitenplaatsen en landgoederen leveren voor natuur, landschap en erfgoed. Daarmee is de aandacht voor de buitenplaatslandschappen gegroeid. Het gaat immers niet om dat ene monumentale landgoed, maar om het gebied met buitenplaatsen en landgoederen waar ruimtelijke opgaven te vervullen zijn. Niet alleen het behoud van natuurschoon omwille van de openluchtrecreatie, maar ook ruimtelijke geleding, het bijdragen aan klimaatadaptatie, het verhoging van de biodiversiteit en duurzame landbouw. De aandacht voor ontwerp, zowel uit het verleden als hedendaags, nam door deze ontwikkeling sterk toe