POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP IN STATISTICS
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A one year post-doctoral position in Statistics at the Department of
Economics, Finance and Statistics of the University of Perugia is
available. Extension is likely, depending on outcome and achievement.
TITLE
Statistical Analysis of Large Firm Indicators of Sustainable Development
with Graphical Models.
QUALIFICATIONS AND ASSESSMENT GROUNDS FOR APPOINTMENT
The candidate should have completed, or be near to completion of,
a PhD in Statistics. Knowledge of structural equation models and graphical
models will be an advantage.
LANGUAGE
Knowledge of English language is necessary, while knowledge of Italian is
not required.
JOB DESCRIPTION
For large companies, the link between sustainable performance and stock
returns has been analysed by a multitude of researchers and evidence for
positive, negative as well as neutral relationship has been provided. The
aim of the project is to develop a
quantitative analysis of the relationship between sustainable development
performance criteria and some measures of their business success by means
of multivariate statistical models.
Sustainable development is a multidimensional construct which involves
different aspects, stemming from social responsibility, corporate
governance, environment responsibility. These three concepts are
difficult to measure and are captured by the so called Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) scores. The multidimensional nature of the
sustainable investment can be summarized by means of latent variables
which are measured with errors by the CSR scores. The latent variables
affect, in turn, the performance criteria.
Statistical methods which deal with latent constructs exist, for the
continuous case,
since a long time under the name of structural equation models
(Jöreskog and Sörbom, 1989). Most recent contributions on the topics
involve the so called graphical models (Lauritzen, 1996), a class of
probabilistic models that describe the conditional independence structure
between random variables by a graph. In the first part of the project,
application of graphical models to investigate the relationships between
the different indicators will be illustrated on data sets provided by KLD,
which is the most widely recognized rating agency both in the academic
community and in the investor community in US.
Since the KLD dataset provides, for each company, measurements of the
observable variables repeated on consecutive years, it will then be
possible to explore also the dynamic underlying the process. Although
dynamic
applications of graphical models with latent variables exist, this part of
the literature is not
well-established. The second part of the project will involve a
theoretical investigation of the properties of the dynamic formulation of
model, such as a the identificability conditions, together with the
development of suitable techniques for estimating and validating the model.
The research is financed by MISTRA Project on Sustainable Investments
(http://www.hgu.gu.se/item.aspx?id=12251) and is a part of a larger
project that aims at finding a systematic way to answer the important
issues linking Sustainable Investment to Sustainable Development.
SALARY
Successful applicant will receive a net annual salary in accordance with
standard
salary levels for equivalent positions in Italy (approx. Euros 15,600).
HOW TO APPLY
Applicants should download the application form available at the web page
http://www-b.unipg.it/~contric/scripts/listaassegni.php
after clicking on BANDO DI CONCORSO N. 2841. Relevant documents are:
(a) certificate of the Bachelor degree
(b) certificate of Ph.D., if available
(c) publications and other certificates attesting relevant experiences and
other educational activities (i.e. courses, seminars, stages)
(d) list of the above mentioned publications and certificates
(e) if available, certificate released by the Italian consulate attesting
the equivalence of the degree held to analogous Italian degrees
(f) photocopy of the passport.
On the envelop the name and the address of the applicant should be clearly
written, with capital letters.
Applications should be delivered to:
Università degli Studi di Perugia - Ufficio Dottorato e Assegni di Ricerca
– Via Innamorati, 6 - 06123 Perugia –ITALY
before JANUARY, 16th 2010, 12.00 a.m. Please note that the deadline refers
to the arrival time.
INFORMATION
For any information including assistance in filling the application form,
please contact Prof. Elena Stanghellini at the email address:
[log in to unmask]
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Prof. Elena Stanghellini
Dipartimento di Economia Finanza e Statistica
Sez. Statistica - Via A. Pascoli - C.P. 1315 Succ. 1
06100 Perugia (Italy)
Tel +39 075 5855229 or 5855242
Fax +39 075 5855950
email: [log in to unmask]
home page: http://www.stat.unipg.it/stanghellini
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