Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Underwriter Quality and Long-Run IPO Performance

We analyze the relationship between the quality of underwriters and the long-run performance of initial public offerings (IPOs) in light of underwriter marketing, certification and screening, and information production. We find that higher underwriter quality (measured by the number of managing underwriters, underwriter reputation, and absolute price adjustment) predicts better long-run performance, even when returns are value weighted. We compare underwriter quality measures and find that the effects of the number of managing underwriters and underwriter reputation are mutually complementary and are especially strong among IPOs with high uncertainty, while absolute price adjustment, which is more likely to be associated with information production than marketing or certification/screening, loses significance. Our findings are consistent with the marketing and certification and screening roles of investment banks but lend little support for the information production role of underwriters.
Corporate social responsibility in Romania: trends, drivers, challenges and opportunities

Awareness of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices is relatively new in emerging markets such as Romania. However, with the intensifying integration of markets and the increasing investment from multinational companies, supply of and demand for corporate socially responsible behaviour are increasing in these economies. We aim to investigate the trends, drivers, challenges and opportunities of implementing a corporate social responsible behaviour in Romania. We use qualitative analysis based on company case studies and an extensive research of policy documents and newspaper articles. We find that CSR behaviour is driven both by multinationals and local companies, with civil society and legislation playing an increasing role in Romania at present.
Environmental management system certification and its influence on corporate practices

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the existence of differences in the implementation of environmental practices between companies that possess some form of certified environmental management system (ISO 14001 or EMS) and those that do not have any such system. This study also investigates whether companies with a certified EMS are also making additional environmental demands on their suppliers.Design/methodology/approach – An empirical study utilizing survey data from automotive supplier organizations was completed. A total of 157 in‐person interviews were conducted with managers of Spanish companies which are automotive supplier organizations. Logistic regressions and non‐parametric tests are used to evaluate hypotheses.Findings – A positive relation was found to exist between the possession of certified EMS, specifically ISO 14001 and eco‐management and audit scheme, and the environmental demands that these organizations impose on their suppliers. This finding implies that environmental .
Labor Specialization and the Extent of the Market

This paper presents an analytical model of labor specialization. Workers make human capital investment decisions on the depth and the breadth of their skill. Given that firms have diverse job requirements and increasing returns to scale, workers invest more for the depth of their human capital and less for the breadth as the size of the labor market increases. Also, the larger the size of the market, the more varieties of job requirements are used so that the average match between a worker and a firm improves.
The Devil Lies in Details! How Crises Build Up within Organizations

In this paper, we show that crises result from the combination of two parallel cumulative processes: first, an undercurrent accumulation of organizational imperfections that lay a favourable ground for crises to occur and second, the development of a growing ignorance that keeps managers blind to the presence of these imperfections. The central idea is to demonstrate that organizational imperfections are allowed to build up and grow into vulnerabilities because they are not noticed or taken into consideration. This managerial ignorance is described as a self-nourishing retreat from reality that decreases leaders' ability to pay sufficient attention to the increasing process of accumulation of imperfections and vulnerabilities. A case study in a French chain of supermarket is used to illustrate this process of crisis.
Penetration of ertapenem into skeletal muscle and subcutaneous adipose tissue in healthy volunteers measured by in vivo microdialysis.

OBJECTIVES Ertapenem is FDA approved for the treatment of skin and skin-structure infections (SSSI), but its in vivo penetration into the interstitial space of soft tissues is unknown. The present microdialysis study was conducted to measure free, protein-unbound ertapenem concentrations in muscle and subcutaneous tissue. VOLUNTEERS AND METHODS In a single-centre, prospective, open-label study six healthy volunteers (three females, 22-37 years) were treated with 1 g ertapenem given as a single intravenous dose. Microdialysis and plasma samples were collected before and at different time points up to 12 h after medication. Drug concentrations were determined by a validated LC-MS-MS method. RESULTS No serious or microdialysis-associated adverse events were observed. Ertapenem concentrations in plasma reached a maximum (C(max)) of 103.3 +/- 26.3 mg/L, a terminal elimination half-life (t(1/2)) of 3.8 +/- 0.6 h and an AUC(0-infinity) of 359.7 +/- 66.5 mg.h/L. Mean peak concentrations of free, protein-unbound ertapenem in interstitial space fluid of skeletal muscle and subcutaneous adipose tissue were much lower (C(max) = 6.7 +/- 4.1 and 4.0 +/- 1.6 mg/L, respectively). This degree of tissue distribution is consistent with high concentration-dependent plasma protein binding of ertapenem (84-96%). AUC(0-infinity) values for both muscle and adipose tissue were lower as well (39.7 +/- 24.8 and 18.6 +/- 4.6 mg.h/L). However, unbound interstitial fluid concentrations exceeded MIC(90) values for the important SSSI pathogens for 7 (subcutis) and 10 h (muscle) after dosing. CONCLUSIONS These results support the previously observed clinical efficacy of ertapenem in the treatment of SSSI.
The Diffusion of New Agricultural Technologies: The Case of Crossbred‐Cow Technology in Tanzania

The recent literature on agricultural technology adoption shows that diffusion of new technologies varies significantly across space and time. Furthermore, puzzles exist about why some seemingly profitable technologies are not adopted, especially in livestock production. We employ a hazard or duration function to explain diffusion of crossbred-cow technology in a unique sample of Tanzania farmers. A farmer's adoption of crossbred technology depends positively on the proximity of his farm to other users, on his schooling, and on his access to credit and contact with extension agents.
Testing the Time-Variancy of Explanatory Factors of Strategic Change

The article proposes an empirical framework able to: (1) assess the relative validity of both adaptive and inertial views of strategic change and (2) verify the potential time- or context-dependency by testing the structural stability of the empirical model, in Spanish banks, 1983-1997. Results offer inconclusive findings regarding (1) but strong evidence to answer (2). The assumption of structural stability is rejected and the effect of many explanatory factors considered in the empirical model varies over time as some factors show different effects and/or significance levels depending on the period considered. These findings suggest that explanatory models of strategic change should be viewed as time- or context-dependent. The article provides a conceptual model in which alternative explanations operate in a sequential way. The results highlight, first, that inconclusive past findings about adaptive versus inertial views should be reviewed under this new evidence, and future empirical research must assure that its methods and interpretations are robust to potential structural breakdowns; and second, the limitations raised by the static approach offered by the available theories/models when approaching the dynamic and complex nature of strategic change. Theoretical developments and implications for managerial practice are suggested.
Accrued capital gains and ex‐dividend day pricing

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to show how recent capital gains affect ex-dividend stock pricing. Traditional models assume that investors are motivated to sell a stock before its ex-date to avoid paying higher taxes on dividends. However, if a stock has appreciated significantly, stockholders have an offsetting incentive to delay the realization of capital gains by continuing to hold the stock in spite of the higher dividend tax rate. Design/methodology/approach - This paper develops a model showing that ex-dividend price drops should be greater in the presence of larger accrued capital gains. The model was tested by regressing ex-day pricing measures on the relative size of the recently accrued gain, along with other control variables. Findings - Empirical tests confirm that accrued gains reduce the magnitude of the ex-day effect, increasing the price drop ratio (? Research limitations/implications - This paper's findings suggest that the results of existing empirical investigations of ex-day pricing should be interpreted with some caution, and that future studies should control for gains that occur prior to the ex-date. Originality/value - While the tax clientele explanation of ex-day pricing has been investigated extensively, this is the first study to show how accrued gains and losses impact ex-dividend price changes.
Diversification of Escherichia coliExpressing an SHV-Type Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase (ESBL) during a Hospital Outbreak: Emergence of an ESBL-Hyperproducing Strain Resistant to Expanded-Spectrum Cephalosporins

ABSTRACT Twelve SHV-type extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producingEscherichia coli lac mutant isolates were recovered in October 1997 from 11 patients of the neonatal ward in a Warsaw hospital. The outbreak was clonal; however, some of the isolates expressed a much higher level of resistance to several β-lactam antibiotics, including expanded-spectrum cephalosporins. This phenotype has been attributed to β-lactamase hyperproduction correlating with the multiplication of ESBL gene copies, as was demonstrated for representative isolates.
Oh, it's you again: Memory interference from irrelevant emotional and neutral faces

In two experiments, repeated runs of a continuous recognition task were employed to assess healthy participants' ability to handle interference from irrelevant emotional and neutral memories. Presumably, such interference can be due to salience from either emotional or mnemonic processing. In both experiments, participants made more false alarms to emotional faces that were familiar from preceding runs (i.e., emotion-induced temporal-context confusion). Participants performed well for neutral faces in the first experiment including only two runs. However, increasing the number of runs to four in the second experiment induced temporal context confusion also for neutral faces. The findings suggest that memory interference can be induced when the salience of irrelevant information is erroneously considered diagnostic for memory judgements.
Significance of the serum carcinoembryonic antigen level during the follow-up of patients with completely resected non-small-cell lung cancer.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to elucidate the detectability of recurrence and the prognostic significance of the serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels in patients with completely resected non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS Five hundred and eighteen NSCLC patients who underwent complete resection at Aichi Cancer Center between April 2001 and March 2006 were enrolled in this study. The patient characteristics were as follows: the median age was 63 years; 331 tumours were classified as pathological stage I, 88 tumours were pathological stage II and 99 tumours were pathological stage III; 140 tumours were adenocarcinomas with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, 268 tumours were adenocarcinomas with EGFR wild-type mutations and 110 tumours were other NSCLCs. The patients were divided into three groups: those with a normal CEA level before and 1-3 months after surgery (N group, n = 380), those with an elevated CEA level before surgery and a normal CEA level 1-3 months after surgery (HN group, n = 105) and those with an elevated CEA level 1-3 months after surgery regardless of the preoperative CEA level (H group, n = 33). The correlations between the changes in the serum CEA levels and the clinical outcomes were analysed. RESULTS Recurrence developed in 122 patients (32%) in the N group, 49 patients (47%) in the HN group and 19 patients (58%) in the H group (P = 0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of an elevated serum CEA level during the follow-up period for detecting recurrence were 30 and 98% in the N group and 82 and 73% in the HN group, respectively. Twenty-seven asymptomatic recurrent tumours combined with an elevated serum CEA level were detected in the HN group. In the multivariate Cox regression analysis, the serum CEA level 1-3 months after surgery had prognostic value for overall survival. CONCLUSIONS In completely resected NSCLC patients, measuring the serum CEA level during the follow-up period is useful in patients in whom an elevated level normalizes after surgery, and the serum CEA level 1-3 months after surgery is considered to have prognostic significance regarding survival.
A new propensity to trust scale and its relationship with individual well‐being: implications for HRM policies and practices

In the on-going debate around HRM and performance there is an argument that greater attention should be paid to understanding the role that employee attitudes, attributes and behaviours play. Emerging research suggests that trust and well-being are two aspects that could contribute to this debate. Research has shown some relationships between trust and well-being. However, this has tended to omit consideration of an individual’s propensity to trust due to lack of suitable measures. This paper explores the relationships between propensity to trust and well-being by means of a study of 458 managers using a newly developed instrument to assess propensity and established well-being scales. Analyses of the results demonstrated a reliable measure of propensity and a range of positive relationships. The potential implications for HR policies and practices of a measure of propensity are discussed. In particular application in the areas of selection and development are highlighted.
Policy support for rural economic development based on Holling’s ecological concept of panarchy

Globally, rural regions are searching for innovative growth opportunities to reinvigorate their economies. This paper examines the redevelopment of rural communities through an ecological lens – based on the notion of continuous cycles of adaptive change within complex systems as first identified within Holling’s concept of panarchy. Panarchy suggests that complex systems have more than a single equilibrium point and, instead, have some inherent resiliency based on the notion of multiple stable regimes. As such, panarchy provides a conceptual model that describes the ways in which complex social and ecological systems are organized and structured both spatially and temporally. By drawing parallels between the characteristics of ecological communities and rural economic systems, a novel framework is developed to assist policy-makers reflect on a rural community’s position along its own adaptive change cycle and, then, implement appropriate inventions to improve system resiliency – which in this case is linked with economic resiliency through development and/or growth. Supported by empirical data emerging from both key informant interviews and content analysis of current rural development policy, this work also identifies leverage points where policy intervention may be most advantageous by specifying the timing of policy instruments on the cycle. Specifically, this framework describes four leverage points, three major and one minor, to help push or pull rural regions into an area of higher resilience.
Systematic Variation in Willingness to Pay for Aquatic Resource Improvements and Implications for Benefit Transfer: A Meta-Analysis

Researchers are increasingly considering benefit transfer approaches that allow welfare measures to be adjusted for characteristics of the policy context. The validity and reliability of such adjustments, however, depends on the presence of systematic variation in underlying WTP. This paper describes a meta-analysis conducted to identify systematic components of WTP for aquatic resource improvements. Model results reveal systematic patterns in WTP unapparent from stated preference models considered in isolation, and suggest that observable attributes account for a substantial proportion of the variance in WTP estimates across studies. The analysis also exposes challenges faced in development, estimation, and interpretation of meta-models for benefit transfer and welfare guidance. These challenges remain salient even in cases where the statistical performance of meta-models is satisfactory. Les chercheurs examinent de plus en plus les methodes de transfert des valeurs qui permettent le rajustement des mesures du bien-etre selon les caracteristiques du contexte politique. Toutefois, la validite et la fiabilite de ce genre de rajustements dependent de la presence de la variation systematique de la volonte de payer (VDP) sous-jacente. Le present article decrit une meta-analyse realisee dans le but d'identifier les composantes systematiques de la VDP pour l'amelioration des ressources aquatiques. Les resultats du modele ont revele des profils systematiques de la VDP non apparents dans les modeles de preference declaree examines isolement et ils ont semble indiquer que les caracteristiques observables ont represente une partie substantielle de la variance des estimes de la VDP dans les etudes. Cette analyse a egalement mis en lumiere les difficultes a surmonter quant a l'elaboration, a l'estimation et a l'interpretation des meta-modeles pour le transfert des valeurs et l'orientation du bien-etre. Ces difficultes demeurent meme dans les cas ou la performance statistique des meta-modeles est satisfaisante.
Coping strategies in patients after treatment for functioning or nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas.

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE Coping strategies may affect quality of life, which is decreased in patients after treatment for Cushing's disease, acromegaly, or nonfunctioning pituitary macroadenomas (NFMA). We aimed to explore coping strategies in these patients because this has never been done before. DESIGN We conducted a cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS We included patients treated for Cushing's disease (n = 42), for acromegaly (n = 80), and for NFMA (n = 61). These patients were compared with three reference populations: an a-select sample from the Dutch population (n = 712), patients with chronic pain (n = 59), and patients receiving primary care psychology services (n = 525). Furthermore, the three patient groups were compared with each other. Coping strategies were assessed by the Utrecht Coping List. RESULTS Compared with the a-select sample, patients with pituitary adenomas reported less active coping (P < 0.0001), sought less social support (P < 0.0001), and reported more avoidant coping (P = 0.008). In contrast, patients treated for pituitary adenomas reported somewhat better coping strategies than patients with chronic pain and those with psychological disease. When patients with different pituitary adenomas were compared, patients treated for Cushing's disease sought more social support than patients treated for NFMA (P = 0.035). CONCLUSIONS Patients treated for pituitary adenomas display different and less effective coping strategies compared with healthy controls. A targeted intervention might help to stimulate patients to use a more active coping strategy and to seek social support instead of an avoiding coping strategy. This might, in turn, improve their quality of life.
Insurance, Protection from Risk, and Risk-Bearing

By extending Ehrlich and Becker's analysis of the demand for insurance we derive several new propositions concerning the demand for self-insurance, self-protection, and market insurance under alternative market conditions. A key behavioural prediction is that if the price of market insurance were responsive to self-protection, then the latter would induce a substitution away from self-insurance and towards market insurance, regardless of the fairness of insurance terms, as long as the utility function exhibits constant or decreasing absolute risk aversion. We compare two of our results to earlier results recently published in this journal by Boyer and Dionne.
Increasing Productivity Growth in Middle Income Countries

Many small middle-income countries (SMICs) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have experienced a moderation in growth in recent years. Although factor accumulation, most notably capital deepening, was crucial to the success of many SMICs historically, this growth model appears to have run its course. The analysis in this paper suggests that the decline in the contribution of total factor productivity (TFP) to growth is largely responsible for the slowdown in trend growth in many SMICs, which highlights the need for policy actions to reinvigorate productivity growth. This paper explores the question of what kind of structural policies could boost productivity growth in SMICs and the political economy factors that may be contributing to the slow implementation of these critical reforms in these countries. The findings suggest that although macroeconomic stability and trade openness are necessary for productivity growth, they are not sufficient. SMICs need to improve the quality of their public spending, most notably in education to minimize the skill mismatch in the labor market, reduce the regulatory burden on firms, improve access to finance by small and medium-sized enterprises and create the enabling environment to facilitate structural transformation in these economies.
Clonal Population Structure and Specific Genotypes of Multidrug-Resistant Campylobacter coli from Turkeys

ABSTRACT Commercial turkey flocks in North Carolina have been found to be colonized frequently with Campylobacter coli strains that are resistant to several antimicrobials (tetracycline, streptomycin, erythromycin, kanamycin, and ciprofloxacin/nalidixic acid). Such strains have been designated multidrug resistant (MDR). However, the population structure of MDR C. coli from turkeys remains poorly characterized. In this study, an analysis of multilocus sequence typing (MLST)-based sequence types (STs) of 59 MDR strains from turkeys revealed that the majority of these strains corresponded to one of 14 different STs, with three STs accounting for 41 (69%) of the strains. The major STs were turkey specific, and most (87%) of the strains with these STs were resistant to the entire panel of antibiotics mentioned above. Some (13%) of the strains with these STs were susceptible to just one or two of the antibiotics in this panel. Further subtyping using fla typing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis with SmaI and KpnI revealed that the major MDR STs corresponded to strains of related but distinct subtypes, providing evidence for genomic diversification within these STs. These findings suggest that MDR strains of C. coli from turkeys have a clonal population structure characterized by the presence of a relatively small number of clonal groups that appear to be disseminated in the turkey production system. In addition, the observed correlation between STs and the MDR profiles of the microbes indicates that MLST-based typing holds potential for source-tracking applications specific to the animal source (turkeys) and the antimicrobial resistance profile (MDR status) of C. coli.