TITLE:
 An approximation problem in computing electoral volatility

AUTHOR:
 Francisco A. Ocana

REFERENCE:
  Applied Mathematics and Computation, Vol. 192, No. 2, pp. 299-310, 2007.

LINK:  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amc.2007.03.032

ABSTRACT :
 This paper is focused on an approximation problem which often arises
when  volatility is computed from electoral databases. Volatility
is a key dimension in studies on electoral change or stability in
party systems (Pedersen, 1979). Though the volatility formula offers no
mathematical complexity, its application to real data often presents
several
problems. The present paper is inspired by the guidelines proposed by
Bartolini and Mair (1990) for the approximation problem of volatility.

 Once a general formulation for this problem is provided,
Bartolini and Mair's (BM) approach  is justified through the analysis of
its approximation error. This  leads to suggest a class of
approximations of volatility whose errors are also analyzed.
One of the goals of this paper is to prove  that these new approximations
are an improvement of the BM approximation. Finally, the performance
analysis of the considered  approximations is illustrated through examples
with data.

A BRIEF SUMMARY:
http://www.ugr.es/local/focana/djss/proapro.pdf

BibTeX entry:
 @ARTICLE{Ocana07:aproxVolat,
  author={Oca{\~n}a, Francisco A.},
  year={2007},
  title={An approximation problem in computing electoral volatility},
  journal={Applied Mathematics and Computation},
  volume={192},
  number={2},
  pages={299--310},
  doi ={10.1016/j.amc.2007.03.032},
 }


Feel free to circulate this information along your lists.

Best regards,

Francisco Antonio Ocaña
Department of Statistics and Operations Research
University of Granada

Postal address              |  URL: http://www.ugr.es/~focana
Facultad de Farmacia        | e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Campus de Cartuja, s.n.     | Tel: +34- 958 249 047
18071-Granada (Spain)       | Fax: +34- 958 249 046

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