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"This book is designed to help researchers better design and analyze observational data from quasi-experimental studies and improve the validity of research on causal claims. It provides clear guidance on the use of different propensity score analysis (PSA) methods, from the fundamentals to complex, cutting-edge techniques. Experts in the field introduce underlying concepts and current issues and review relevant software programs for PSA. The book addresses the steps in propensity score estimation, including the use of generalized boosted models, how to identify which matching methods work best with specific types of data, and the evaluation of balance results on key background covariates after matching. Also covered are applications of PSA with complex data, working with missing data, controlling for unobserved confounding, and the extension of PSA to prognostic score analysis for causal inference. User-friendly features include statistical program codes and application examples"--

Why has China not embraced democracy? This essay provides a three-part explanation. (1) By discussing the conceptual and functional differences between democracy and rule of law, it shows a theoretical alternative for China's political option, which is legalist instead of democratic. (2) By reviewing China's particular social setting and the related political culture, it argues that China's tendency towards the assumed alternative is strong, historical, and logical. (3) Inspired by the experiments of Hong Kong and Singapore polities, it specifies six pillars of the assumed political alternative - a "consultative rule of law regime", which is a rule of law regime supplemented by democracy rather than a democracy supplemented by rule of law. This essay ends with a brief discussion of the feasibility of the suggested regime, with regard to the conditions of current Chinese politics. (...) (J Contemp China/DÜI)

Examines prospects for establishment of the rule of law in light of widespread corruption resulting from a market economy combined with the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) exertion of monopolistic control over the government, challenges CCP General Secretary Hu Jintao faces from party factions, and US policy options.

""Pan and Bai have assembled a comprehensive volume on all aspects of propensity score methods. Both the user and the statistician will find something to like in this book. I recommend it.""--William R. Shadish, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, University of California, Merced ""This book effectively synthesizes general principles of PSA with recent developments regarding complex issues such as estimation techniques, covariate balance, weighting, complex datasets, and sensitivity analysis. The discussion of statistical software and examples of computer code are helpful additions. Th