Testing for the significance of a subset of regression coefficients in a linear model, a staple of statistical analysis, goes back at least to the work of Fisher who introduced the analysis of variance (ANOVA). We study this problem under the assumption that the coefficient vector is sparse, a common situation in modern high-dimensional settings. Suppose we have p covariates and that under the ...

Testing for the significance of a subset of regression coefficients in a linear model, a staple of statistical analysis, goes back at least to the work of Fisher who introduced the analysis of variance (ANOVA). We study this problem under the assumption that the coefficient vector is sparse, a common situation in modern high-dimensional settings. Suppose we have p covariates and that under the ...

ABSTARCT The objective of this study was to analyze the effects of factors affecting reproductive traits in the Holstein population of the Isfahan dairy farms for subsequent compilation of the model for genetic evaluation as well as for herd management practice. A data set containing 99012 records were analyzed by a linear model with fixed effects of year , herd ,season, parity of dam, calving ...

Abstract. National statistical offices are often required to provide statistical information about characteristics of the population, such as mean income or unemployment rate, at several administrative or small area levels. Having good area level estimates is important because policies will often be based on this type of information. In this paper we describe how Bayesian hierarchical models ca...

An increasing number of sociolinguists are using mixed effects models, models which allow for the inclusion of both fixed and random predicting variables. In most analyses, random effect intercepts are treated as a by-product of the model; they are viewed simply as a way to fit a more accurate model. This paper presents additional uses for random effect intercepts within the context of two case...

Recent changes in higher education, especially associated with its massification, have led to calls for more accountability and to an increasing need to evaluate universities' performance. However, comparing universities with different subject mixes poses some significant problems. In this article, a linear mixed effect model methodology allowing for random effects at university level is used t...

Corruption, Shadow Economy and Income Inequality: Evidence from Asia A number of recent studies for Latin America show that as the size of the informal economy grows, corruption is less harmful to inequality. We investigate if this relationship is equally compelling for developing countries in Asia where corruption, inequality and shadow economies are considerably large. We use Panel Least Squa...

Every dictator dislikes free media. Yet, many non-democratic countries have partially free or almost free media. In this paper, we develop a theory of media freedom in dictatorships and provide systematic statistical evidence in support of this theory. In our model, free media allow a dictator to provide incentives to bureaucrats and therefore to improve the quality of government. The importanc...

This paper examines whether birth order can explain variation in financial household decisions. I document that firstborns are more likely to save, to participate in the stock market, and to hold higher conditional equity shares. Consistent with higher financial sophistication, firstborns gather more information when making financial decisions. But when they are optimistic, firstborns seem to a...

In this paper, we examine how orphanhood affects children’s educational and health outcomes in eleven sub-Saharan African countries. Our analysis is based on a comparison of orphans and non-orphaned children living under the same conditions. We also examine the impacts of various family structures and compare social orphans (non-orphaned children not living with a biological parent) to orphans....