In the absence of large income effects, a neoclassical model of labor supply predicts a positive wage elasticity of hours. However, Camerer et al. (1997) collected data on the daily labor supply of New York City cab drivers who, unlike most workers in modern economies, are free to choose their own hours, and found a strongly negative elasticity of hours with respect to their closest analog of a wage, realized earnings per hour. In Camerer et al.'s dataset, realized earnings per hour (which they call the "wage") is uncorrelated across days but positively serially correlated within a day, so that high earnings early in a day signal higher earnings later that day, and a neoclassical model predicts a positive elasticity even though realized earnings per hour is not precisely a wage. If instead realized earnings per hour is serially uncorrelated within a day, as Farber (2005) shows is roughly true in his dataset (see, however, our analysis in Section IIC), then a driver with high early earnings experiences a small change in income but no change in expected wage, and a neoclassical model predicts an elasticity near zero.

This paper developed a practical split-window (SW) algorithm to estimate land surface temperature (LST) from Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) aboard Landsat 8. The coefficients of the SW algorithm were determined based on atmospheric water vapor sub-ranges, which were obtained through a modified split-window covariance-variance ratio method. The channel emissivities were acquired from newly released global land cover products at 30 m and from a fraction of the vegetation cover calculated from visible and near-infrared images aboard Landsat 8. Simulation results showed that the new algorithm can obtain LST with an accuracy of better than 1.0 K. The model consistency to the noise of the brightness temperature, emissivity and water vapor was conducted, which indicated the robustness of the new algorithm in LST retrieval. Furthermore, based on comparisons, the new algorithm performed better than the existing algorithms in retrieving LST from TIRS data. Finally, the SW algorithm was proven to be reliable through application in different regions. To further confirm the credibility of the SW algorithm, the LST will be validated in the future.

China has high rates of antibiotic abuse and antibiotic resistance but the causes are still a matter for debate. Strong physician financial incentives to prescribe are likely to be an important cause. However, patient demand (or physician beliefs about patient demand) is often cited and may also play a role. We use an audit study to examine the effect of removing financial incentives, and to try to separate out the effects of patient demand. We implement a number of different experimental treatments designed to try to rule out other possible explanations for our findings. Together, our results suggest that financial incentives are the main driver of antibiotic abuse in China, at least in the young and healthy population we draw on in our study.

This paper reconsiders whether cabdrivers' labor supply decisions reflect reference-dependent preferences. Following Botond Koszegi and Matthew Rabin (2006), we construct a model with targets for hours as well as income, both determined by rational expectations. Estimating using Henry S. Farber's (2005Farber's ( , 2008 data, we show that the reference-dependent model can reconcile his 2005 finding that drivers' stopping probabilities are significantly related to hours but not income with the negative wage elasticity of hours found by Colin Camerer et al. (1997( ) and Farber (2005( , 2008. The model yields sensible estimates that avoid Farber's (2008) criticism that drivers' income targets are too unstable to allow a useful reference-dependent model of labor supply.Abstract: This paper reconsiders whether cabdrivers' labor supply decisions reflect reference-dependent preferences. Following Botond Kıszegi and Matthew Rabin (2006), we construct a model with targets for hours as well as income, both determined by rational expectations. Estimating using Henry S. Farber's (2005Farber's ( , 2008 data, we show that the reference-dependent model can reconcile his 2005 finding that drivers' stopping probabilities are significantly related to hours but not income with the negative wage elasticity of hours found by Colin Camerer et al. (1997( ) and Farber (2005( , 2008. The model yields sensible estimates that avoid Farber's (2008) criticism that drivers' income targets are too unstable to allow a useful reference-dependent model of labor supply.

There has been recent debate about whether prospect theory can explain the disposition effect. Using both theory and simulation, this paper shows that prospect theory often predicts the disposition effect when lagged expected final wealth is the reference point under the principle of preferred personal equilibrium, regardless of whether the reference point is updated or not. When initial wealth is the reference point, however, there is often no disposition effect. Models that use a reference point with no lag under the principle of preferred personal equilibrium or that determine the reference point using the principle of disappointment aversion cannot explain why the investor bought a stock in the first place. Reference point adjustment weakens the disposition effect, leads to more aggressive initial stock purchase strategies, and predicts history dependence in stock holding. This paper was accepted by John List, behavioral economics.

BackgroundThe study of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors is now mired in controversy. We performed a meta-analysis to assess the efficacy and safety profile of COX-2 inhibitors in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Patients and methodsA literature search of PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central databases, and ClinicalTrials.gov, up until March 26, 2017, identified relevant randomized controlled trials. Data analysis was performed using Stata 12.0.ResultsSix eligible trials (1,794 patients) were selected from the 407 studies that were identified initially. A significant difference, favoring COX-2 inhibitors plus chemotherapy over chemotherapy alone, was observed in the overall response rate (relative risk [RR] =1.25, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.06–1.48). Further, we conducted two subgroup analyses according to the type of COX-2 inhibitors (celecoxib, rofecoxib, or apricoxib) and treatment line (first or second chemotherapy). The first-line treatment includes: NP (changchun red bean + cisplatin or carboplatin), GP (double fluorine cytidine + cisplatin or carboplatin), or TP (paclitaxel + cisplatin or carboplatin, docetaxel + cisplatin or carboplatin). The second-line treatment includes two internationally recognized compounds, one is docetaxel and the other is the pemetrexed, both of which are individually selected. In subgroup analysis, significantly increased overall response rate (ORR) results were found for rofecoxib plus chemotherapy (RR =1.56, 95% CI: 1.08–2.25) and COX-2 inhibitor given with first-line chemotherapy (RR =1.27, 95% CI: 1.07–1.50). However, there was no difference between COX-2 inhibitors plus chemotherapy and chemotherapy alone in overall survival (hazard ratio [HR] =1.04, 95% CI: 0.91–1.18), progression-free survival (HR =0.97, 95% CI: 0.86–1.10), and 1-year survival rate (RR =1.03, 95% CI: 0.89–1.20). Toxicity did not differ significantly between COX-2 inhibitors plus chemotherapy and chemotherapy alone with the exception of leukopenia (RR =1.21, 95% CI: 1.03–1.42), thrombocytopenia (RR =1.32, 95% CI: 1.04–1.67), and cardiovascular events (RR =2.39, 95% CI: 1.06–5.42). The results of the Egger’s test indicated no significant difference in primary outcomes.ConclusionCOX-2 inhibitors improved ORR of advanced NSCLC with chemotherapy, but had no effect on survival indices. Moreover, COX-2 inhibitors may lead to higher rates of hematologic toxicities and cardiovascular events.

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Atmospheric water vapor (wv) is required for the accurate retrieval of the land surface temperature from remote sensing data and other applications. This work aims to estimate wv from Landsat 8 Thermal InfraRed Sensor (TIRS) images using a new modified split‐window covariance‐variance ratio (MSWCVR) method on the basis of the brightness temperatures of two thermal infrared bands. Results show that the MSWCVR method can theoretically retrieve wv with an accuracy better than 0.3 g/cm2 for dry atmosphere (wv <2 g/cm2) conditions and better than 0.5 g/cm2 for wet atmosphere conditions. The method was applied at different locations with dry and moist atmospheres and was validated at 42 ground sites using AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network) ground‐measured data and MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) products. The results show that the retrieved wv from the TIRS data is highly correlated with the wv of AERONET and MODIS but is generally larger. This difference was probably attributed to the uncertainty of radiometric calibration and stray light coming outside from field of view of TIRS instrument in the current images. Consequently, the data quality and radiometric calibration of the TIRS data should be improved in the future.