Expanding the Role of Synthetic Data at the U.S. Census Bureau

National Statistical offices (NSOs) create official statistics from data collected directly from survey respondents, from government administrative records and from other third party sources. The raw source data, regardless of origin, is usually considered to be confidential. In the case of the U.S. Census Bureau, confidentiality of survey and administrative records microdata is mandated by statute, and this mandate to protect confidentiality is often at odds with the needs of data users to extract as much information as possible from rich microdata. Traditional disclosure protection techniques applied to resolve this tension have resulted in official data products that come no where close to fully utilizing the information content of the underlying microdata. Typically, these products take for the form of basic, aggregate tabulations. In a few cases anonymized public-use micro samples are made available, but these are increasingly under risk of re-identification by the ever larger amounts of information about individuals and firms that is available in the public domain. One potential approach for overcoming these risks is to release products based on synthetic or partially synthetic data where values are simulated from statistical models designed to mimic the (joint) distributions of the underlying microdata rather than making the actual underlying microdata available. We discuss recent Census Bureau work to develop and deploy such products. We also discuss the benefits and challenges involved with extending the scope of synthetic data products in official statistics

Class 2 design update for the family of commuter airplanes

This is the final report of seven on the design of a family of commuter airplanes. This design effort was performed in fulfillment of NASA/USRA grant NGT-8001. Its contents are as follows: (1) the class 1 baseline designs for the commuter airplane family; (2) a study of takeoff weight penalties imposed on the commuter family due to implementing commonality objectives; (3) component structural designs common to the commuter family; (4) details of the acquisition and operating economics of the commuter family, i.e., savings due to production commonality and handling qualities commonality are determined; (5) discussion of the selection of an advanced turboprop propulsion system for the family of commuter airplanes, and (6) a proposed design for an SSSA controller design to achieve similar handling for all airplanes. Final class 2 commuter airplane designs are also presented

Self-Organization for Collective Action: An Experimental Study of Voting on Formal, Informal, and No Sanction Regimes

Entrusting the power to punish to a central authority is a hallmark of civilization. We study a collective action dilemma in which self-interest should produce a sub-optimal outcome absent sanctions for non-cooperation. We then test experimentally whether subjects make the theoretically optimal choice of a formal sanction scheme that costs less than the surplus it makes possible, or instead opt for the use of informal sanctions or no sanctions. Most groups adopt formal sanctions when they are of deterrent magnitude and cost a small fraction (10%) of the potential surplus. Contrary to the standard theoretical prediction, however, most groups choose informal sanctions when formal sanctions are more costly (40% of the surplus). Being adopted by voting appears to enhance the efficiency of both informal sanctions and non-deterrent formal sanctions.