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Explanatory Capacity (explanatory + capacity)
Selected AbstractsThe Limits of Rational Choice: New Institutionalism in the Test Bed of Central Banking Politics in AustraliaPOLITICAL STUDIES, Issue 3 2002Stephen Bell This paper tests the explanatory capacities of different versions of new institutionalism by examining the Australian case of a general transition in central banking practice and monetary politics: namely, the increased emphasis on low inflation and central bank independence. Standard versions of rational choice institutionalism largely dominate the literature on the politics of central banking, but this approach (here termed RC1) fails to account for Australian empirics. RC1 has a tendency to establish actor preferences exogenously to the analysis; actors'motives are also assumed a priori; actor's preferences are depicted in relatively static, ahistorical terms. And there is the tendency, even a methodological requirement, to assume relatively simple motives and preference sets among actors, in part because of the game theoretic nature of RC1 reasoning. It is possible to build a more accurate rational choice model by re-specifying and essentially updating the context, incentives and choice sets that have driven rational choice in this case. Enter RC2. However, this move subtly introduces methodological shifts and new theoretical challenges. By contrast, historical institutionalism uses an inductive methodology. Compared with deduction, it is arguably better able to deal with complexity and nuance. It also utilises a dynamic, historical approach, and specifies (dynamically) endogenous preference formation by interpretive actors. Historical institutionalism is also able to more easily incorporate a wider set of key explanatory variables and incorporate wider social aggregates. Hence, it is argued that historical institutionalism is the preferred explanatory theory and methodology in this case. [source] Real Estate Brokerage, Homebuyer Training, and Homeownership Sustainability for Housing Assistance ProgramsFAMILY & CONSUMER SCIENCES RESEARCH JOURNAL, Issue 4 2009Wayne Archer This study examines a previously overlooked factor in the rate of default on home loans by marginal first-time homebuyers; namely, the purchase transaction process. In particular, the study examines the potential for the type of initial contact in a homebuyer assistance program to affect the likelihood of default on a subsequent home loan. Using data from 41 state funded local assistance programs in Florida, the study is able to examine the relationship of program default rates to the source of applicant for assistance. Specifically, it examines the explanatory capacity of the percentage of applicants who had a contract to purchase prior to applying for assistance, indicated that the applicant already has engaged with a broker or lender. It finds that the percentage of applicants for assistance who already have engaged with a broker or lender is very significantly and positively relate to the program default rate. [source] Factors controlling the spatial species richness pattern of four groups of terrestrial vertebrates in an area between two different biogeographic regions in northern SpainJOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 4 2004David Nogués-Bravo Abstract Aim, To examine the influence of environmental variables on species richness patterns of amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds and to assess the general usefulness of regional atlases of fauna. Location, Navarra (10,421 km2) is located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, in a territory shared by Mediterranean and Eurosiberian biogeographic regions. Important ecological patterns, climate, topography and land-cover vary significantly from north to south. Methods, Maps of vertebrate distribution and climatological and environmental data bases were used in a geographic information systems framework. Generalized additive models and partial regression analysis were used as statistical tools to differentiate (A) the purely spatial fraction, (B) the spatially structured environmental fraction and (C) the purely environmental fraction. In this way, we can evaluate the explanatory capacity of each variable, avoiding false correlations and assessing true causality. Final models were obtained through a stepwise procedure. Results, Energy-related features of climate, aridity and land-cover variables show significant correlation with the species richness of reptiles, mammals and birds. Mammals and birds exhibit a spatial pattern correlated with variables such as aridity index and vegetation land-cover. However, the high values of the spatially structured environmental fraction B and the low values of the purely environmental fraction A suggest that these predictor variables have a limited causal relationship with species richness for these vertebrate groups. An increment in land-cover diversity is correlated with an increment of specific richness in reptiles, mammals and birds. No variables were found to be statistically correlated with amphibian species richness. Main conclusions, Although aridity and land-cover are the best predictor variables, their causal relationship with species richness must be considered with caution. Historical factors exhibiting a similar spatial pattern may be considered equally important in explaining the patterns of species richness. Also, land-cover diversity appears as an important factor for maintaining biological diversity. Partial regression analysis has proved a useful technique in dealing with spatial autocorrelation. These results highlight the usefulness of coarsely sampled data and cartography at regional scales to predict and explain species richness patterns for mammals and birds. The accuracy of models appears to be related to the range perception of each group and the scale of the information. [source] The Incidence and Structure of Conflict on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal CircuitLAW & POLICY, Issue 1 2001Isaac Unah In 1982, Congress established the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, a specialized court, with the objective of reducing judicial conflict and harmonizing circuit law in specific policy areas of special complexity. This article examines the incidence and determinants of judicial conflict on the U.S. courts of appeals, focusing specifically on the Federal Circuit. Using international trade and customs regulation cases decided during the 1982 to 1995 terms, the analysis reviews three possible explanations of judicial conflict: policy-oriented, sociolegal, and organizational. The analysis shows that conflict appears in 8.4 percent of the trade and customs regulation decisions rendered by the Federal Circuit during the period of study. The policy direction of Federal Circuit decisions and the court's hierarchical relationship with lower specialized courts provide the strongest explanation for the emergence of conflict on the court. Organizational factors such as panel composition evinced rather anemic explanatory capacity. The results raise an important functional similarity between the Federal Circuit and the generalist courts of appeals. Contrary to the laments of legal practitioners that conflict on the Federal Circuit is excessive relative to conflict on the generalist circuit courts, this analysis finds little support for that claim. Rather, the level of overt conflict on the court is actually low and corroborates conflict levels that have been reported for other U.S. courts of appeals. [source] Asthma prediction in school children; the value of combined IgE-antibodies and obstructive airways disease severity score,ALLERGY, Issue 9 2010K. C. Lødrup Carlsen To cite this article: Lødrup Carlsen KC, Söderström L, Mowinckel P, Håland G, Pettersen M, Munthe Kaas MC, Devulapalli CS, Buchmann M, Ahlstedt S, Carlsen K-H. Asthma prediction in school children; the value of combined IgE-antibodies and obstructive airways disease severity score. Allergy 2010; 65: 1134,1140. Abstract Background:, Allergic sensitisation increases the risk for asthma development. In this prospective birth cohort (Environment and Childhood Asthma) study, we hypothesized that combining quantitative measures of IgE antibodies (,-IgE) and Severity score of obstructive airways disease (OAD) at 2 years of age (Severity score) is superior to predict current asthma (CA) at 10 years than either measure alone. Secondarily, we assessed if gender modified the prediction of CA. Methods:, A follow-up study at 10 years of age was performed in 371 2-year-old children with recurrent (n = 219) or no (n = 152) bronchial obstruction with available serum analysed for ,-IgE to common food and inhalant allergens through a panel test, Phadiatop Infant® (Phadia, Uppsala, Sweden). Clinical variables included allergic sensitisation and exercise testing to characterise children with CA vs not CA at 10 years and the Severity score (0,12, 0 indicating no OAD) was used to assess risk modification. Results:, Severity score alone explained 24% (Nagelkerke R2 = 0.24) of the variation in CA, whereas ,-IgE explained only 6% (R2 = 0.06). Combining the two increased the explanatory capacity to R2 = 0.30. Gender interacted significantly with ,-IgE; whereas Severity score predicted CA in both genders, the predictive capacity of ,-IgE for CA at 10 years was significant in boys only. Conclusion:, Combining ,-IgE to inhalant allergens and Severity score at 2 years was superior to predict asthma at 10 years than either alone. Severity score predicted CA in both genders, whereas ,-IgE significantly predicted CA in boys only. [source] | ||||||||||