Economics - Research Publications

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    Systematic influences on teaching evaluations: The case for caution
    Davies, M ; Hirschberg, J ; Lye, J ; Johnston, C ; Mcdonald, I (WILEY, 2007-03)
    In this paper, we examine eight years of Quality of Teaching (QOT) responses from an Economics Department in an Australian University. This is done to determine what factors, besides the instructor, have an impact on the raw average student evaluation scores. Most of the previous research on student ratings has been conducted in the US. One significant difference between US and Australian tertiary education is that, on average, the number of foreign undergraduate students in Australia is ten times the number in US institutions. We find that cultural background significantly affects student evaluations. Other factors that have an influence on the average QOT score include: year level; enrolment size; the quantitative nature of the subject; the gender of the student; fee‐paying status by gender; course of study; the differences between the course mark and previous marks; the quality of workbooks; the quality of textbooks; and the QOT score relative to those in other subjects taught at the same time. In addition, average QOT scores for instructors who have taught in a mix of subjects are similar to those based on scores adjusted to account for subject and student characteristics.
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    Overcoming measurement error problems in the use of survey data on expectations
    Lee, K ; Shields, K (BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, 2007-09)
    Survey data frequently requires conversion from qualitative responses to quantitative series and it is often asserted that the conversion procedures introduce measurement errors that render the series unusable in structural modelling. We investigate the nature and treatment of the measurement error that arises when conversion procedures are used to obtain direct measures of expectations. We use simulation experiments to demonstrate the need for the adequate treatment of conversion errors and show that a procedure proposed to ‘purge’ the series of conversion error is extremely successful in circumventing the problems. We illustrate the procedures in empirical applications using business survey data.
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    Effective Implementation of Generic Market Models
    JOSHI, M. ; LIESCH, L. ( 2007)
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    Some Finite Time Ruin Problems
    Dickson, DCM (Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2007-09)
    ABSTRACT In the classical risk model, we use probabilistic arguments to write down expressions in terms of the density function of aggregate claims for joint density functions involving the time to ruin, the deficit at ruin and the surplus prior to ruin. We give some applications of these formulae in the cases when the individual claim amount distribution is exponential and Erlang(2).
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    Modelling the Claim Duration of Income Protection Insurance Policyholders using Parametric Mixture Models
    Pitt, DGW (Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2007-03)
    ABSTRACT This paper considers the modelling of claim durations for existing claimants under income protection insurance policies. A claim is considered to be terminated when the claimant returns to work. Data used in the analysis were provided by the Life and Risk Committee of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia. Initial analysis of the data suggests the presence of a long-run probability, of the order of 7%, that a claimant will never return to work. This phenomenon suggests the use of mixed parametric regression models as a description of claim duration which include the prediction of a long-run probability of not returning to work. A series of such parametric mixture models was investigated, and it was found that the generalised F mixture distribution provided a good fit to the data and also highlighted the impact of a number of statistically significant predictors of claim duration.
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    Unravelling financial market linkages during crises
    Dungey, M ; Martin, VL (JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD, 2007-01-01)
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