-Likelihood (EQL) framework allows for estimation of both the mean and the dispersion/variance as functions of covari- ates. As for … estimates for both the mean and the dispersion function. In this paper we obtain functional estimates for the mean and the … dispersion that are both robust and smooth. The performance of the proposed method is illustrated via a simulation study and some …

empirically tests a different hypothesis, which is that constitutions are also shaped by transnational influence, or “diffusion …”. Constitutional rights can diffuse through four mechanisms: coercion, competition, learning and acculturation. To test diffusion, we …, the same religion, the same former colonizer, and the same aid donor. We also find that diffusion explains only 3 percent …