Extracting facial feature points such as eyes, mouth and nose plays an important role in many applications. Most of the proposed methods are base on the geometrical features of images. In this paper, a novel method based on Partial Least Square Regression (PLSR) model is introduced to extract the relationship between the feature point coordinates and gray value distribution in the image. The pr...

Microaggregation is a set of procedures that distort empirical data in order to guarantee the factual anonymity of the data. At the same time the information content of data sets should not be reduced too much and should still be useful for scientific research. This paper investigates the effect of microaggregation on the estimation of a linear regression by ordinary least squares. It studies, ...

This paper addresses the effects of economic transition policies on forestry in China. The effects of de-collectivization and market liberalization on the forest land area and timber harvest are studied using panel data from four provinces covering the period 1978]1995. Fixed effects ordinary least squares models for forest land cover and annual harvests per hectare are estimated, allowing for ...

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is an axiomatic, mathematical programming approach to productive efficiency analysis and performance measurement. This paper shows that DEA can be interpreted as a nonparametric least squares regression subject to shape constraints on production frontier and sign constraints on residuals. Thus, DEA can be seen as a nonparametric counter-part of the corrected ordi...

A serious practical problem with the ordinary least squares regression estimator is that it can have a relatively large standard error when the error term is heteroscedastic, even under normality. In practical terms, power can be poor relative to other regression estimators that might be used. This article illustrates the problem and summarizes strategies for dealing with it. Included are new r...

When using derivative instruments such as futures in order to hedge a portfolio of risky assets, the primary objective is to estimate the optimal hedge ratio (OHR). When agents have mean-variance utility and the futures price follows a martingale, the OHR is equivalent to the minimum variance hedge ratio, which can be estimated by regressing the spot market return on the futures market return u...

The method of Instrumental Variables is suggested as an alternative to traditional methods for estimating the reliability of mental test scores which avoids certain drawbacks of these methods. The consistency and efficiency of the instrumental variable method are examined empirically using data from the British National Child Development Study in an analysis of 16 year, 11 year and 7 year old s...

An eight-equation model embodies the hypothesis that cultural differences among ethnic-religious groups give rise to differences in psychological dispositions, which, though not directly observable, influence occupational achievement, directly or via educational attainment, while being subject to feedback from one or the other of these endogenous variables. Dispositions are reflected in three f...

Statistical literature has several methods for coping with multicollinearity. This paper introduces a new shrinkage estimator, called modified unbiased ridge (MUR). This estimator is obtained from unbiased ridge regression (URR) in the same way that ordinary ridge regression (ORR) is obtained from ordinary least squares (OLS). Properties of MUR are derived. Results on its matrix mean squared er...

Studies of intensive mothering suggest that fulfilling societal expectations of the “good mother” diminishes maternal psychological well-being; however, studies tend to focus on young mothers. We examine the association between intensive mothering and psychological well-being using a sample of mothers in midlife (n = 1,388) drawn from the 2004-2006 National Survey of Midlife Development in the ...