In this paper, we propose a variable selection procedure based on the shrinkage estimation technique for a categorical varying-coefficient model. We apply the method to identify the relevant determinants for body mass index (BMI) from a large amount of potential factors proposed in the...

This paper employs a semi-parametric varying coefficient system approach to investigating the impact of environmental policy stringency on a nation's productivity growth using data for a panel of OECD countries over a period of two decades. A new cross-country proxy of environmental policy...

In this paper, we propose a panel data semiparametric varying-coefficient model in which covariates (variables affecting the coefficients) are purely categorical. This model has two features: first, fixed effects are included to allow for correlation between individual unobserved heterogeneity...

The 2013 World Trade Organization ministerial in Bali produced a comprehensive framework agreement on trade facilitation. If fully implemented, the agreement should increase the speed and reduce the cost of moving goods across international borders. But which reforms are most likely to improve...

Karst rocky desertification is one of the major ecological and environmental problems that threaten the sustainable development of southwestern China. This study focuses on a case study of the small watershed in Chenqi where karst rocky desertification is particularly severe. This paper...

Karst is widely distributed in the southwest of China, especially in Guizhou Province. The phenomenon of desertification in these areas is very serious. And soil erosion is the key link in the process of desertification. Through field monitoring, underground soil leakage is derived to the main...

In this paper, we propose a panel data semiparametric varying-coefficient model in which covariates (variables affecting the coefficients) are purely categorical. This model has two features: first, fixed effects are included to allow for correlation between individual unobserved heterogeneity...

We examine the impact of several chronic diseases on the probability of labour force participation using data from the Australian National Health Surveys. An endogenous multivariate probit model is used to account for the potential endogeneity of the incidence of chronic conditions such as...

Over the last 20 years, China's demand for and supply of livestock products has increased dramatically. Although, China's livestock production has changed, with the share of pork production declining, pork production remains the core of the country's livestock industry. China's hog industry is...

The stochastic frontier model used for continuous dependent variables is extended to accommodate output measured as a discrete ordinal outcome variable. Conditional on the inefficiency error, the assumptions of the ordered probit model are adopted for the log of output. Bayesian estimation...