Proxy (statistics)

About: Proxy (statistics) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5257 publications have been published within this topic receiving 94504 citations. The topic is also known as: proxy variable & proxy measurement.

The Investment opportunity set and its proxy variables : theory and evidence

Abstract: We use a real options approach to evaluate the performance of proxy variables for a firm’s investment opportunity set. The results show that the market-to-book assets ratio is the best variable to proxy for investment opportunities. It has the highest information content with respect to investment opportunities and it is least affected by other factors. Although both the market-to-book equity and the earnings-price ratios are related to investment opportunities, they do not contain information that is not already contained in the market-to-book assets ratio. Consistent with this finding, a common factor constructed from several proxy variables does not improve the performance of the market-to-book assets ratio. Firm’s capital expenditures appear to be a poor proxy for the investment opportunity set. JEL Classification: G31, D92, L72, C52

Night-time light data: A good proxy measure for economic activity?

Abstract: Much research has suggested that night-time light (NTL) can be used as a proxy for a number of variables, including urbanization, density, and economic growth. As governments around the world either collect census data infrequently or are scaling back the amount of detail collected, alternate sources of population and economic information like NTL are being considered. But, just how close is the statistical relationship between NTL and economic activity at a fine-grained geographical level? This paper uses a combination of correlation analysis and geographically weighted regressions in order to examine if light can function as a proxy for economic activities at a finer level. We use a fine-grained geo-coded residential and industrial full sample micro-data set for Sweden, and match it with both radiance and saturated light emissions. We find that the correlation between NTL and economic activity is strong enough to make it a relatively good proxy for population and establishment density, but the correlation is weaker in relation to wages. In general, we find a stronger relation between light and density values, than with light and total values. We also find a closer connection between radiance light and economic activity, than with saturated light. Further, we find the link between light and economic activity, especially estimated by wages, to be slightly overestimated in large urban areas and underestimated in rural areas.

Strong Proxy Signature and its Applications

Abstract: Proxy signature is a signature scheme that an original signer delegates his/her signing capability to a proxy signer, and then the proxy signer creates a signature on behalf of the original signer. In this paper we show various attack scenarios against previous proxy signature schemes, which shows that proxy signature schemes should be designed very carefully. Based on these weaknesses, we provide new classifications of proxy signatures; strong vs. weak proxy signatures, designated vs. non-designated proxy signatures, and self-proxy signatures. We construct a simple and efficient strong non-designated proxy signature scheme and apply it to multi-proxy signature when plural delegations of multiple original signers exist. We also show that self-proxy signature can be applied to partially blind signatures.

The Wage Effects of Marital Status and Children

Abstract: Using data from the ninth wave of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, changes in the wage effects of marital status and number-of-children for workers of the same race and sex are analyzed as more refined measures of work experience, training, and labor force attachment are substituted for conventional measures of these factors. The results indicate that number-of-children is a good proxy variable for differential work history and labor market attachment among white women, and that marital status is not a proxy for such differences among any of the four major race/sex subgroups of workers, including white women. Overall, the findings suggest that, controlling for numerous aspects of worker qualifications, workers with greater financial responsibilities to their families receive higher wages.