Nicholls State University

About: Nicholls State University is a education organization based out in Thibodaux, Louisiana, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & The Internet. The organization has 456 authors who have published 795 publications receiving 20031 citations.

A biased estimate of proportion

Abstract: A simple method of finding a biased estimate of the population proportion is introduced. This biased estimate is derived by finding a confidence interval for the population proportion without using the concept of convergence in probability. While all existing biased estimates of the population proportion are based on specific prior distributions, the biased estimate discussed here does not require any prior distribution. The proposed biased estimate is asymptotically unbiased, has smaller variance and smaller maximum mean squared error than the sample proportion. Under certain conditions it also has a smaller margin of error and smaller mean squared error than the sample proportion.

Developing information systems outside the u.s.

Abstract: The literature is replete with normative models of system development methodologies. While these methodologies may be sound and workable in the United States, they may not be appropriate for other cultures. This paper proposes that system development methodologies must account for cultural considerations in the development and transfer of Information Systems (IS) outside the United States (US). Planning for overseas system development requires careful assessment and incorporation of cultural implications into the development methodology. How should IS be developed for use in other cultures? What should a system developer consider to be successful in an overseas environment?

Bank Loan Pricing in the Asia‐Pacific Region

Abstract: This study examines bank practices of corporate loan pricing in the Asia‐Pacific region. We find that the all‐in‐spread for loans (mostly term loans with longer maturities) in the Asia‐Pacific region are significantly smaller than those in the US. In addition, foreign banks tend to price their loans favorably in the Asia‐Pacific region, while foreign banks in the US have a higher loan spread. This finding indicates that foreign banks foster more competitive loan pricing in the Asia‐Pacific region, while foreign banks in the US seem to experience a competitive disadvantage compared to domestic lenders.

Cigarette Taxes and the Third Law of Demand

Abstract: Alchian and Allen's "Third Law of Demand" (1967) states that as a fixed cost increases by the same amount for low - and high-quality goods, the ratio of the prices of high - to low-quality goods will fall and the quantity demanded of high quality goods relative to low quality goods will increase. Barzel (1976) notes that the incidence of state cigarette taxes seem to be passed forward to smokers by more than 100%, suggesting that the quality composition of cigarettes in the market becomes more heavily weighted by high quality cigarettes as state taxes rise, as predicted by the Third Law. We examine Barzel's hypothesis using data from the contiguous 48 states and the District of Columbia from 1970-2010, examining the effects of state tax changes, federal tax changes and the Master Settlement Agreement on the degree to which state taxes are passed forward to smokers.

A teamwork approach to improving the downloading time in BitTorrent-like systems

Abstract: It is well known that the content distribution system based on peer-to-peer P2P networks has become the primary means for the majority of internet users to share their files, and that BitTorrent BT, as the most popular technology in P2P systems, generates a huge amount of traffic on the internet with a plethora of clients. Unfortunately, owing to the inadequate consideration on minimising the user downloading time in the design of BT, clients of BT may experience a substantially long downloading time during their file-sharing activities. Towards resolving this issue, a new teamwork mechanism to improve the overall downloading performance of BT clients is proposed in this paper. A team is formed by a group of nodes which possess similar bandwidths, have the same content interests, and collaborate with one another for common benefits. Our experiments show that a 20%-62% improvement in downloading time can be achieved by this teamwork strategy.