Model Respecification Research Articles

Investment Pricing and Social Protection: A Proposal for an ICESCR-adjusted Capital Asset Pricing Model

This note proposes an adjusted re-specification of the standard Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)—a valuation model increasingly being used in estimating compensation awards in international investment arbitrations—to take into account host States’ continuing social protection obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). This note does not intend to add further normative and interpretive claims to the universe of scholarly arguments that has already put forward first-order defenses to insulate public interest-driven regulatory actions of host States from engaging international responsibility under investment treaties. Rather, we purposely focus on a second-order alternative defense, by means of scrutinizing the compensation valuation process within international investment arbitrations. Our objective is to establish a functional model that concretely accommodates a host State’s social protection or public interest defense. The core premise behind our proposal is that...

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Purchaser Style Inventory for Sport Products (PSISP)

Consumers are bombarded every day by numerous promotion messages, and their decision making in purchasing sport goods or services is frequently confused by these advertised information (Lysonski, Durvasula, & Zotos, 1996). For this reason, research in consumer decision-making styles has become increasingly popular. In 2009, Bae, Lam, and Jackson developed the Purchaser Style Inventory for Sport Products (PSISP) to identify consumers’ shopping behaviors. However, the PSISP was exploratory in nature. The purpose of this study was to validate the PSISP using confirmatory factor analysis. Participants (N=455) were college students in the southern region of the United States. Fit indices (e.g., CFI=.92, SRMR=.068, RMSEA=.065: 90% CI=.062; .068) indicated the model provided reasonable fit to the data. After model respecification, the 37-item PSISP-II model significantly (p<.001) improved and included nine latent factors: Quality, Brand, Fashion, Recreation, Price, Impulse, Confusion, Habit, and Endorsement. It was concluded that the PSISP-II was a reliable scale in measuring consumer decision-making styles in purchasing sport products.

Analyzing Partially Nested Designs with Irregular Nesting: A Cautionary Case Study

Models with partially nested fixed effect structures arise when two‐way structures include a factor that can be partitioned according to a nested structure. In such cases, it is likely that the nesting will have an irregular structure with unequal numbers of nested factor levels among nesting factor levels. If a priori hypotheses correspond to the nested structure, these might be tested using the two‐way model and writing contrast statements. Alternatively, a more complex partially nested model might be used in an attempt to obtain the desired tests via model respecification. Comparing analyses based on the two‐way model and on the partially nested model established that the partially nested model correctly partitions sums of squares for the nested structure but that Type III non‐nested factor main effect hypotheses and sums of squares differed. Additionally non‐nested factor least squares means differed between the two models, and the partially nested model Type III non‐nested factor main effect hypothesis coefficients did not correspond to a comparison of the least squares means from either model. For the equal replications case, Type I hypotheses from the partially nested model produced the desired analysis but Type III hypotheses did not. For the unequal replications case, researchers might avoid writing contrast statements by running both models and selecting appropriate Type III tests and estimates from each analysis.

Validation of the Chinese Version of the Epistemic Beliefs Inventory Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis

The Epistemic Beliefs Inventory (EBI), as a theory-based and empirically validated instrument, was originally developed and widely used in the North American context. Through a strict translation procedure the authors translated the EBI into Chinese, and then administered it to 451 students in 7 universities in mainland China. The construct validity of scores on the Chinese version of the EBI (EBI-C) was examined with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The results confirmed the original 5 factors: Simple Knowledge (SK), Certain Knowledge (CK), Innate Ability (IA), Omniscient Authority (OA), and Quick Learning (QL). Yet the overall model fit was unsatisfactory, ? 2 (449) = 1167.32, GFI= .85, and RMSEA = .06. After two model respecifications with interpretable solutions, the overall model fit was substantially improved with ?2 (265) = 510.81, GFI= .92, RMSEA = .04. The EBI-C can be used in China and other Chinese-speaking regions and communities. Cross-cultural research in the area of epistemic beliefs becomes more feasible because of the presence of the parallel instrument.

Validity and reliability assessment of health belief scales for mammography screening in Greek asymptomatic women

The purpose was to assess the validity and reliability of health belief model variables (perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and self-efficacy beliefs) that are often the target of mammography screening interventions. Based on Champion's health belief model scales, questionnaire data were obtained from a nationally representative sample of 408 Greek women, 40 years of age or older and with no personal history of cancer. Using confirmatory factor analysis, we found all items to load significantly on their respective factors. Standardized factor loadings ranged from 0.55 to 0.88. An analysis of localized areas of respecification of a three-factor model revealed that measurement error correlations between a few items existed. Known-groups and criterion-related validity was supported for all scales, while internal consistency reliability of the scales was satisfactory, with Cronbach's alpha ranging from 0.71 to 0.88. The Greek version of the scales measuring perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and self-efficacy beliefs is a reliable and valid tool when used to assess health beliefs for mammography screening among women. Implications for intervention strategies aimed at increasing the likelihood of mammography utilization are considered.

The Total Marital Fertility Rate and Its Extensions

What we will call the age-based TMFR is computed conventionally by adding up age-specific marital fertility rates in the hope of estimating the number of children ever born to a woman who is married throughout her childbearing years. Demographers have long been strongly skeptical about this quantity because it normally indicates implausibly many children. Our analysis of data from the Romanian GGS confirms this finding, and we propose an alternative duration-based TMFR computed in the spirit of parity-progression ratios. At the same time, we extend the method to cover any type of living arrangement (cohabitation, marriage, non-partnered arrangement, and so on). Because each resulting total union-type fertility rate (TUFR) explicitly accounts for the living arrangement, it improves on the conventional total fertility rate (TFR), which does not. We embed the investigation in an event-history analysis with fixed and time-varying control covariates and find patterns of relative risks for such variables that reveal interesting features of childbearing behavior in the Romanian data, which we use to illustrate the method. In most cases, these patterns are quite robust against model re-specification, including the shift from the age-based to the duration-based approach. Since, the number of female respondents is “only” about 6,000 (minus records that cannot be used for the current purpose) in a normal single-round GGS, there is considerable inherent random variation in the data set, but we show that simple few-term moving average graduation suffices to overcome this problem.

International interdependence and regulatory power: Authority, mobility, and markets

This article revisits a fundamental question of international political economy: when does cross-border economic interdependence become a source of power. The view that economic interdependence is a source of potential power, not just mutual benefits, has a long lineage traceable to political realism, organizational economics, Ricardian trade theory, and structural Marxism, and researchers typically focus on preferred causal variables in isolation. Despite important contributions, little attention has been paid to understanding the interactions of multiple perspectives on asymmetric interdependence, or to making sense of contradictory expectations of the various models. As a consequence scholars engaged in globalization debates, such as those about policy convergence or private actor governance, frequently talk past one another. To deduce expectations about the relationship between power and interdependence, we build a model synthesizing standard approaches that analyze the effects of market size and market scope separately, and then add the critical variable of jurisdictional boundaries. By decoupling geography and authority, our analysis produces a respecification of classic interdependence models and advances core international political economy debates concerning power dynamics in a globalized economy.

Development of a decisional balance scale for young adult marijuana use.

This study describes the development and validation of a decisional balance scale for marijuana use in young adults. Scale development was accomplished in four phases. First, 53 participants (70% female, 68% freshman) provided qualitative data that yielded content for an initial set of 47 items. In the second phase, an exploratory factor analysis on the responses of 260 participants (52% female, 68% freshman) revealed two factors, corresponding to pros and cons. Items that did not load well on the factors were omitted, resulting in a reduced set of 36 items. In the third phase, 182 participants (49% female, 37% freshmen) completed the revised scale and an evaluation of factor structure led to scale revisions and model respecification to create a good-fitting model. The final scales consisted of 8 pros (α = 0.91) and 16 cons (α = 0.93), and showed evidence of validity. In the fourth phase (N = 248, 66% female, 70% freshman), we confirmed the factor structure, and provided further evidence for reliability and validity. The Marijuana Decisional Balance Scale enhances our ability to study motivational factors associated with marijuana use among young adults.

Visualizing analytical spatial autocorrelation components latent in spatial interaction data: An eigenvector spatial filter approach

Four decades ago, Curry (1972) argued that spatial autocorrelation (i.e., local distance and configuration effects) and distance decay (i.e., global distance effects) intermingle in the estimation of spatial interaction model specifications. Today, massive computer power available with a desktop PC offers the necessary resources to account for these spatial autocorrelation effects within spatial interaction. Simple gravity model respecifications have been analyzed by Griffith (2007) and by Fischer and Griffith (2008). These results have been extended to a doubly-constrained gravity model respecification by Griffith (2009a, 2009b). This paper summarizes results from a further refinement of this doubly-constrained respecification, namely differentiating within and between areal unit flows. In doing so, an eigenfunction-based spatial filter description of spatial autocorrelation is constructed, which lends itself to visualization of analytical spatial autocorrelation components. Results are illustrated with the 2000 journey-to-work dataset for the extended state of Pennsylvania, USA.

Identity maintenance and cognitive test performance

Identity maintenance processes can affect performance when that performance is relevant to an important self-identity, including performance on standardized tests of mental ability. Affect control theory proposes that individuals’ performances are motivated to maintain concordance between fundamental sentiments about identities and contextually driven transient meanings. An experimental test used the college major identity and randomly assigned participants to different instruction sets that made an aptitude test either relevant to their major or a contrasting major (All participants took the Raven advanced progressive matrices test.). Participants who took a test of mental ability that they expected would verify their identity scored two and a half points higher than did participants who took a test of mental ability expected to verify a contrasting identity. Results strongly support the fundamental validity of affect control theory’s predictions about situational meaning maintenance [Heise, David R., 1979. Understanding Events: Affect and the Construction of Social Action. Cambridge University Press, New York; Heise, David R., 1985. Affect control theory: respecification, estimation and tests of the formal model. Journal of Mathematical Sociology 11, 191–222; Heise, David R., 2007. Expressive Order: Confirming Sentiments in Social Actions. Springer Science + Business Media, LLC, New York; Heise, David R., MacKinnon, Neil J., 1988. Affective bases of likelihood judgments. In: Smith-Lovin, Lynn, Heise, David R. (Eds.), Analyzing Social Interaction: Advances in Affect Control Theory. Gordon and Breach, New York, pp. 133–152].

The Effects of Social Support on Pain or Injury Treatment Help-Seeking in Collegiate Athletes

Some athletes are willing, while some are reluctant to seek treatment for pain or injury from their athletic trainer. PURPOSE: Using Self-Determination Theory (SDT) as a framework, this study investigated how athletes' perceptions of social support, basic needs satisfaction, and motivational orientation predicted their willingness to seek treatment for pain or injury. METHODS: A total of 240 NCAA Div. I & II athletes provided data regarding their injury/pain history. They completed questionnaires measuring their treatment-related motivation, their perceptions of social support, and need satisfaction related to athlete peers, coaches, and trainers. Data analyses tested a theoretical model that was based on the tenets of SDT. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analyses supported the structural validity of three a priori measurement models and raised concerns regarding the measurement of perceived psychological need satisfaction from the athletic trainer and treatment motivation. Subsequent item reduction and model re-specification resulted in a satisfactory fit between the observed data and the measurement models for each instrument comprising the investigation. Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that perceived autonomy support from coaches (γ = 0.35) and athletic peers (γ = 0.25) predicted autonomous motivation for treatment (R2 = 0.24) which in turn contributed to willingness of athletes to seek treatment for injuries (0.43; R2 = 0.44) along with contributions from perceived psychological need satisfaction (γ = 0.28), controlled motivation for treatment (γ = −0.13) and perceived competence in athletic trainers (γ= 0.16). CONCLUSIONS: The results substantially support the SDT-derived view that satisfaction of athletes' basic needs, and autonomy support from coaches and athlete peers will enhance their willingness, and reduce their reluctance to seek treatment for pain or injuries.

Bayesian Analysis of DSGE Models by S. An and F. Schorfheide

The paper that An and Schorfheide have written is an excellent piece of work and will become a useful reference for teaching and consultation purposes. The paper discusses in an articulate and convincing manner almost everything that one could think of covering in such a review. This makes the task of the commentator difficult. Nevertheless, I will attempt to add few insights on three issues which, in my opinion, play an important role in applied work and in the interpretation of the estimation result. In particular, I will discuss a) the sensitivity of posterior distributions to prior spreads; b) the effects of model misspecification and an approach to model respecification; c) parameter identification and its consequences for posterior inference.

Quality of Life and Menopause in Women with Physical Disabilities

The goal of this cross-sectional study was to explore quality of life (QOL) in a sample of postmenopausal women with physical disabilities due to polio contracted in childhood. A structural equation model was used to confirm that menopause symptoms will have a minimal effect on QOL when disability-related variables are taken into account. A sample of 752 women who were postmenopausal completed a written survey. The structural equation model contained two measured predictors (age, severity of postpolio sequelae) and one latent predictor (menopause symptoms defined by four measured indicators). Functional status (defined by two measured indicators) was included as a mediator, with QOL (defined by three measured indicators) as the outcome. The original model yielded acceptable fit indices (CFI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.055) but resulted in a number of unexpected relationships that proved to be artifacts after model respecification. The respecified model yielded a nonsignificant chi-square value, which indicated no significant discrepancy between the proposed model and the observed data (chisquare = 18.5, df = 13, p = 0.138). All fit indices indicated a good fit: CFI = 0.997, NNFI = 0.987, chi-square/df = 1.43, and RMSEA = 0.024. When the effects of postpolio sequelae and functional status are included in the structural equation model, only the psychological symptoms of menopause play a prominent role in explaining QOL in this sample. The clinical implications of these findings suggest that attention to psychological symptoms and an exclusive focus on the physical aspects of menopause to the exclusion of other midlife life stressors and influences on a woman's psychological well-being ignore the larger context of life in which they live. In particular, many women with disabilities may contend with additional or exacerbated stressors related to their disability.

Impact of Post Hoc Measurement Model Overspecification on Structural Parameter Integrity

In the common two-step structural equation modeling process, modifications are routinely made to the measurement portion of the model prior to assessing structural relations. The effect of such measurement model modifications on the structural parameter estimates, however, is not well known and is the subject of the current investigation. For a five-factor confirmatory factor model, Monte Carlo simulation was used to compare interfactor correlations before and after measurement model respecifications (crossloadings, intrafactor error covariances, and interfactor error covariances) under conditions varying number of indicators per factor, loading magnitude, and sample size. Although results indicate some effect on structural parameter estimates arising under conditions of overspecification in the measurement model, in general, the impact is seen to be quite negligible.

The relationship among tourists’ involvement, place attachment and interpretation satisfaction in Taiwan’s national parks

The interpretation service in national parks plays an important role in the overall quality of the parks. It can assist in explaining services provided by the parks, the eco-system of the area and management regulations emanating from the national parks’ headquarters. Bricker and Kerstetter (Leisure Sci. 22 (2000) 233) point out that there is a relationship between tourists’ involvement and place attachment. Therefore, this study uses the interpretation service of five National Parks in Taiwan as an empirical study to create a relationship model for tourists’ involvement, interpretation service quality and place attachment. Data from over 2400 tourists attending the reserved interpretation were collected from January to December 2002. The response rate was almost 70%. In this study, a structural equation model is used for theory testing and development. We present a comprehensive two-step modeling approach that employs sequential χ 2 difference tests in specification, assessment of fit and respecification of measure model using confirmatory factor analysis. The results show tourists’ involvement has a positive significant effect on perceived interpretation service quality, as does place attachment. Also, there is an indirect positive significant effect from place attachment to interpretation satisfaction. Additionally, the study provides some strategic management suggestions for the Taiwan national park service to improve the personal interpretation design of the parks.

Small area variations in infant mortality in England and Wales in the inter-war period and their link with socio-economic factors

This paper considers the changing spatial pattern of infant mortality during the inter-war years (1921–1936) at Local Government District level in England and Wales. As well as vital statistics data for these areas, also available are 1921 and 1931 Census data on unemployment, housing, occupational structure and population density, with additional data on unemployment from 1927 to 1936 for the 62 counties in which Districts are located. The statistical analysis relating changing District mortality to these characteristics derives mortality gradients across categorical forms of the social indicators, and assesses impacts of model re-specification to allow for spatio-temporal correlation. Time varying gradients across unemployment, housing and policy status are then investigated with a view to assessing whether there was a widening in mortality inequalities in the regionalized economic depression of the 1930s.

Validity, Reliability, and Invariance of the Situational Motivation Scale (SIMS) across Diverse Physical Activity Contexts

This research assessed the reliability, presence of a proposed simplex pattern (construct validity), factorial validity, and multisample invariance of the Situational Motivation Scale (SIMS; Guay, Vallerand, &amp; Blanchard, 2000). In Study 1, data were collected from three physical activity samples. After establishing internal consistencies for all scales, bivariate and interfactor correlations were calculated and the results supported a simplex pattern across samples. The SIMS factorial validity across the three samples was tested via confirmatory factor analysis. Based on modification indices and theoretical justification, the SIMS was reduced to a 14-item model and the multisample invariance of this solution was examined. Results supported partial invariance. In Study 2, a total of 1,008 female PE students responded to the SIMS under two experimental conditions. Internal consistency and the assumed simplex pattern was again supported. Finally, the results of multisample CFA were consistent with the proposed post hoc model respecifications suggested in Study 1, supporting partial invariance.

Structural Analysis of the Consumer-Directed Theory of Empowerment

This investigation tested the hypothesized structural model of the consumer-directed theory of empowerment (CDTE). Participants were 159 consumers with disabilities who were receiving services at a Clubhouse Model community rehabilitation program (CRP) in a large midwestern city. Data were gathered through participant completion of a self-report questionnaire designed to assess the level of consumer direction in the CRP service provision process, as well as the level of participant community integration, empowerment, and quality of life. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to test the structure of the CDTE. Although model respecification was necessary to obtain adequate fit, results provided support for the hypothesized CDTE structure. Additional longitudinal data on larger samples are required to further assess the structure of the CDTE and enhance its usefulness to rehabilitation counselors for service delivery, program evaluation, and policy analysis applications.

Examination of the psychometric properties of the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire - 2 in a sample of female athletes

We undertook two studies to determine the validity and reliability of the revised Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire (PMCSQ-2). In Study 1, 201 female athletes (mean age 16.4 years) were administered the initial version of the PMCSQ-2 and a measure of reported tension and pressure experienced in sport. Exploratory principal component analysis suggested that the PMCSQ-2 contained two higher-order scales (Task-Involving and Ego-Involving climates), each with three subscales (Task: Cooperative Learning, Effort/Improvement, Important Role; Ego: Intra-Team Member Rivalry, Unequal Recognition, Punishment for Mistakes). In Study 2, 385 female volleyball players (mean age 15.2 years) completed the PMCSQ-2, the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory and a measure of Team Satisfaction. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to six competing models. The oblique six-factor model and oblique hierarchical model provided comparable fit to the data. Acceptable fit was reached based on model respecification. Across Studies 1 and 2, internal consistency was found to be acceptable for the higher-order scales and subscales (with the exception of the Intra-Team Member Rivalry subscale). We found evidence for the concurrent validity of the instrument.

Seasonal unit roots and forecasts of two-digit European industrial production

Monthly industrial production in important sectors of the German, French and UK economies are shown to exhibit very strong seasonality, such that typically 80% or more of the variation in monthly growth can be attributed to seasonal effects. Seasonal unit root test results imply that most of these series should be modelled using conventional first differences with the inclusion of monthly dummy variables, rather than as specifications involving other levels of differencing. However, when the post-sample forecast accuracy is compared for various models, annual difference specifications often produce the most accurate forecasts at horizons of up to a year. First difference models appear to be most accurate at short forecast horizons for series where seasonality is particularly marked. The study also examines the impact of updating coefficient estimates and model respecification within the forecast period.