Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Profits, Losses and the Non-Linear Pricing of Internet Stocks

This paper sheds light on the economics of Internet firms by extracting information on major value-drivers from their stock prices. Contrary to conventional Wall Street wisdom that there is little or no method in the pricing of Net stocks, I find that basic accounting data are highly value-relevant in a simple nonlinear manner. Using log-linear regression on quarterly data for 167 Net firms over the period 1997:Q1? 1999:Q2, I show that Net firms' market values are linear and increasing in book equity, but concave and increasing (decreasing) in positive (negative) net income. When Net firms' earnings are decomposed into revenues and expenses, revenues are found to be weakly positively priced. In contrast, and consistent with the argument that very large marketing costs are intangible assets, not period expenses, Net firms' market values are reliably positive and concave in selling and marketing expenses when net income is negative, particularly during the first two fiscal quarters after the IPO. R&D expenditures are priced in a similarly concave manner, although more durably beyond the IPO than are marketing costs. The concavity in the pricing of core net income, R&D costs, and selling and marketing expenses runs counter to the notion that Net firms are expected to benefit from extraordinary profitability stemming from large strategic operating options, or increasing returns-to-scale.
Effective Use of Survey Information in Estimating the Evolution of Expected Inflation

The evolution of the term structure of expected U.S. inflation is modeled using survey data to provide timely information on structural change not contained in lagged inflation data. To capture shifts in subjective perceptions, the model is adaptive to long-horizon survey expectations. However, even short-horizon survey expectations inform shifting-endpoint estimates that capture the lag between inflation and the perceived inflation target, which anchors inflation expectations. Results show movements of the perceived target are an important source of inflation persistence and suggest historical U.S. monetary policy was not fully credible for much of the postwar sample.
Effects of Institutions and Policies on Rural Population Growth with Application to China

The current emphasis in China on strictly limiting the number of births a family may have creates tensions between rural people and the government which may threaten the long-term viability of the population policy. The author presents this article to show that families fertility decisions are significantly influenced by institutions and policies affecting their lives and that the appropriate mix of policies and institutions can lead to rapid fertility declines. She also presents a set of institutions and policies capable of achieving and maintaining low levels of fertility in China while permitting families to have the number of children they desire. This approach would overcome an important defect of Chinas present policies which rely on the allocation of birth quotas. More precisely the paper presents a framework for understanding the factors which influence family fertility decisions and families ability to have the number of children that they desire compares fertility changes over the past four decades in China and in several other developing countries which have achieved similar rapid declines with a mixture of policies and institutions making it possible for families to have the number of children they desired summarizes evidence on major factors influencing family fertility decisions in a developing country discusses de facto pronatalist policies in China and their probable influence on rural fertility and suggests an effective alternative to Chinas current mix of such pronatalist policies and numerical controls on births. The author also provides evidence in support of the conclusion that the size of Chinas population will have little effect on per capita food supplies or real per capita incomes.
Earnings Functions, Rates of Return and Treatment Effects: The Mincer Equation and Beyond

This paper considers the interpretation of "Mincer rates of return. " We test and reject the Mincer model. It fails to track the time series of true returns. We show how repeated cross section and panel data improves the ability of analysts to estimate the ex ante and ex post marginal rate of returns. Accounting for sequential revelation of information calls into question the validity of the internal rate of return as a tool for policy analysis. The large estimated psychic costs of schooling found in recent work helps to explain why persons do not attend school even though the financial rewards for doing so are high. We present methods for computing distributions of ex post and ex ante returns.
Schooling the Discouraged Worker: Local-Labour-Market Effects on Educational Participation

This paper tests the hypothesis of a `discouraged worker' effect, whereby local unemployment discourages 16 year-olds from leaving school, among a recent sample of young people in Scotland. The analysis supports the hypothesis: ceteris paribus young people were more likely to stay on at school, the higher the local unemployment rate. Local unemployment was also associated with lower school attainment: its positive direct effect on staying on may have been partly offset by a negative indirect effect mediated by attainment, although the direct effect was stronger and the evidence for the indirect effect was more tentative. The discouraged worker effect applied to staying on at school but not to college, whose courses (in Scotland) tend to be vocationally specific. The discouraged worker effect was similar for girls and boys; it was strongest for 16 year-olds with attainments slightly above the average, who were typically on the margins of the decision to stay on or leave. Staying on tended also to be encouraged by high proportions of local employment in service industries and in higher-level occupations; controlling for these factors increased the observed discouraged worker effect. The paper suggests that the design of most area-based studies of education and the youth labour market is inadequate to explain area differences, given the multi-dimensionality of the effects revealed by the Scottish data. Given the economic `need' for higher levels of educational participation, the paper provides further evidence of the distorted market signals generated by the labour-market `context' of education.
Institutional Capacity Building for Water Sector Development

ABSTRACT Capacity building is foremost a global concept and a strategic element in the sustainable development of the water sector. This is a long-term continuing process that needs to permeate all activities in the sector. In developing countries, experience shows that institutional weakness and malfunctions are a major cause of ineffective and unsustainable water services. Urgent attention needs to be given to build institutional capacity at all levels. Pressure for improved local delivery of water services suggests that development of institutional capacity should be more demand-responsive. The need to better manage overall water resources coherently and to facilitate allocation of water among all users requires an expansion of national integrated planning. The critical institutional challenge is the development of policies, rules, organizations and management skills which address both needs simultaneously without constraining the major aims of each. It must be recognized that each country and region h.
Household Monies and Decision-Making

This review studies the literature on within household attitudes and behaviour vis-a-vis money, in order to understand the implications for the wellbeing of individual household members, particularly children.Three types of studies were reviewed: - Interview-based studies, - Economic studies, and - Studies into new family types.These studies probe couples' attitudes to money and analyse decision-making in terms of who manages the household's finances and who actually controls spending decisions.
Aggregate Wealth in Canada

This paper describes a comprehensive measure of aggregate private-sector wealth in Canada that includes both human and nonhuman wealth. Wealth and its components are measured at a quarterly frequency from 1963 to 1994. Human wealth is computed as the expected present value of aggregate labor income net of government expenditures using a finite-state Markov approximation to an estimated bivariate VAR for the real interest rate and net income growth. Nonhuman wealth is constructed by consolidating the assets and liabilities of the various sectors of the economy. To the extent possible, assets and liabilities are measured at market value.
A Reduced-Reference Video Quality Assessment Method Based on the Activity-Difference of DCT Coefficients

A simple and efficient reduced-reference video quality assessment method based on the activity-difference of DCT coefficients is proposed. The method provides better accuracy, monotonicity, and consistent predictions than the PSNR full-reference metric and comparable results with the full-reference SSIM. It also shows an improved performance to a similar VQ technique based on the calculation of the pixel luminance differences performed in the spatial-domain. key words: DCT, reduced-reference metric, video quality assessment
Attitude constraint and stability among elite and mass in Sweden

A panel of the Swedish electorate in 1985 and 1988, and a comparable panel comprised of members of the Swedish parliament, were analyzed for constraint and stability of attitudes. It was found that members of parliament showed considerably more constraint among attitudes and more attitude stability than the public. Among the public, members of political parties showed more constraint and stability than other voters who, in turn, showed more constraint and stability than nonvoters. A similar ordering was found in the link between specific issue attitudes and an abstract left-right dimension. Societal elites responding to the same questions showed more attitudinal constraint than the public but less than members of parliament. Thus, even at the elite level politics matters in the sense that involvement in politics enhances the degree of constraint between attitudes on contemporary issues.
Money, Liquidity, and the Structure of Production

We use a model in which media of exchange are essential to examine the role of liquidity and monetary policy on production and investment decisions in which time is an important element. Specifically, we consider the effects of monetary policy on the length of production time and entry and exit decisions for firms. We show that higher rates of inflation cause households to substitute away from money balances and increase the allocation of bonds in their portfolio thereby causing a decline in the real interest rate. The decline in the real interest rate causes the period of production to increase and the productivity thresholds for entry and exit to decline. This implies that when the real interest rate declines, prospective firms are more likely to enter the market and existing firms are more likely to stay in the market. Finally, we present reduced form empirical evidence consistent with the predictions of the model.
Age and comorbidity as risk factors for vocal cord paralysis associated with tracheal intubation.

BACKGROUND Vocal cord paralysis after tracheal intubation may be attributed to ageing and comorbidity. However, the relationship between patient characteristics and the risk of vocal cord paralysis is unknown. METHODS We prospectively analysed data representing 31 241 consecutive surgery patients who underwent tracheal intubation to determine whether duration of intubation, age, sex, and cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and metabolic diseases were risk factors for vocal cord paralysis associated with intubation. Patients with vocal cord paralysis from any other causes were excluded. RESULTS Twenty-four (0.077%) suffered vocal cord paralysis (left, 16 patients; right, 8 patients). The risk was increased when intubation lasted 3-6 h (odds ratio, 2.0; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-5.6; P = 0.002) or 6 h or more (odds ratio, 14.5; 95% confidence interval, 5.2-40.9; P < 0.0001). The risk was increased in patients aged 50-69 (odds ratio, 3.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.2-11.1; P = 0.02) and 70 yr or above (odds ratio, 3.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.2-12.8; P = 0.02). The risk was increased with diabetes mellitus (odds ratio, 2.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-7.3; P = 0.03) and hypertension (odds ratio, 2.1; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-6.0; P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS The risk of vocal cord paralysis was increased three-fold in patients aged 50 or above, two-fold in patients intubated 3-6 h, 15-fold in patients intubated 6 h or more, and two-fold in patients with a history of diabetes mellitus or hypertension. Our results are informative for informed consent, patient counselling, and intubation decision-making.
Incorporating GAN for Negative Sampling in Knowledge Representation Learning

Knowledge representation learning aims at modeling knowledge graph by encoding entities and relations into a low dimensional space. Most of the traditional works for knowledge embedding need negative sampling to minimize a margin-based ranking loss. However, those works construct negative samples through a random mode, by which the samples are often too trivial to fit the model efficiently. In this paper, we propose a novel knowledge representation learning framework based on Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN). In this GAN-based framework, we take advantage of a generator to obtain high-quality negative samples. Meanwhile, the discriminator in GAN learns the embeddings of the entities and relations in knowledge graph. Thus, we can incorporate the proposed GAN-based framework into various traditional models to improve the ability of knowledge representation learning. Experimental results show that our proposed GAN-based framework outperforms baselines on triplets classification and link prediction tasks.
Leverage and Mortgage Foreclosures

In this paper, we deduce the default and prepayment characteristics of mortgages by examining the actual behaviors of a large set of conforming fixed rate mortgages tracked over time. Employing reduced form pricing techniques, we are then able to fully value such mortgages, and so determine the cost as well as the probability of default for any particular mortgage. The analysis reveals the levels of foreclosures that can be expected when loans are leveraged at the high loan–to–value ratios characteristic of recent years.
Regional polarization in the European Union

Abstract This paper examines the level and evolution of polarization in regional per capita income in the European Union between 1977 and 1999. In this analysis, non-parametric estimation techniques are combined with the calculation of various polarization measures. The results obtained suggest a decrease in regional polarization in the European context during the period analysed, as a consequence of various factors, at times working in opposite directions. The findings also reveal the existence of discrepancies between the evolution of polarization and regional inequality. Finally, the analysis carried out highlights the importance of the role played by the national component and the spatial dimension in the formation of homogeneous groups of regions linked by similar development levels in the distribution under study.
A new surgical technique for excision of orbital cavernous hemangioma: a 15-year experience

ABSTRACT Purpose: To present a new surgical technique for excision of orbital cavernous hemangiomas (CHs). Methods: This retrospective case series study included patients with orbital CH who were operated from 2001 to 2016 at our referral center. Epidemiologic data, symptoms, signs, and images were reviewed from patients’ files with at least one year of follow-up. Surgical results and complications were documented. We used the “index finger dissection” technique without grasping the tumor for release of adhesions and its removal. Results: We included 60 patients with orbital CH consisting of 36 (60%) female and 24 (40%) male patients with mean age of 40 ± 12.1 (range 9–66) years. The main complaint was proptosis with average size of 5.3 ± 2 millimeters. The surgical approach was lateral orbitotomy in 49 (81.7%) patients, medial transcutaneous in seven (11.7%) patients, inferior transconjunctival in three (5%) patients, and simultaneous lateral and medial orbitotomy in one (1.6%) patient. All tumors were removed intact; complications included ptosis in one subject, lower lid retraction in one case, and diplopia in two patients, all of which improved before 2 months. No optic nerve damage occurred. Conclusion: The “index finger dissection” technique without grasping the tumor for excision of orbital CH, via any external approach to the tumor, is a safe technique with minimal complications.
Perception of Entrepreneurial Opportunity: A General Framework

Purpose – Previous research has predominantly approached the concept of entrepreneurial opportunities from either one of two perspectives: opportunities exist as objective phenomena in the environment waiting to be discovered by alert entrepreneurs, or opportunities are subjectively perceived and even created by individual entrepreneurs. This paper aims to put forward a framework of opportunity perception which demonstrates that all entrepreneurial opportunities possess both objective and subjective qualities, thus helping reconcile both perspectives.Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual framework is developed, based on previous literature and insights from entrepreneurship, economics, psychology and related disciplines.Findings – Various perspectives presented in previous research can be combined into a coherent framework that summarizes the components of entrepreneurial opportunity perception. Testable propositions are provided for future research.Originality/value – The authors show that elements .
Community capitals and disaster recovery: Northwood ND recovers from an EF 4 tornado

The literature on community response to disaster emphasizes the significance of pre-existing bridging social capital in determining successful responses. While the social infrastructure in the form of both bridging and bonding social capital facilitates the kind of community action and social organization that allows for successful community recovery from natural disasters, communities are more likely to take collective action in the long-term recovery process if they have the capacity to act. This capacity to act resides not only in a community's social capital, but also in its cultural capital, which determines how a community engages in collective action. The Community Capitals Framework is used in this research to analyze a rural community's disaster recovery efforts. The analysis indicates that cultural, social, and human capitals were keys to mobilizing the political capital necessary to acquire the financial capital, which in turn was required to restore built and natural infrastructure. Unlike previous research that emphasizes the role of social capital as the primary capital to be mobilized, however, this research adds cultural capital as a precursor to mobilizing social capital. Cultural capital determines how a community engages in collective action.
Reputation Effects of Information Sharing

This paper analyzes a model of investment and return in an economy characterized by information asymmetry between an investor and a manager. The realized value of the uncertain state of nature is the manager’s private information. The paper first considers an economy where the manager cannot share her private information with the investor. Therefore, dividend payment is the only reputation building tool available to the manager. If the investor’s prior beliefs about the manager’s trustworthiness are sufficiently high, then the manager will return a dividend consistent with the lower possible state of nature having occurred and the investor will revise such beliefs downwards. However, if the beliefs are not so high, then the equilibrium will be mixed strategies.
Matching provision to needs : the example of victim support

Lesley Simmonds Matching provision to needs: the example of Victim Support The current study is an evaluation of a voluntary sector service, Victim Support. The focal points of this work are the impact of crime upon victims and the extent to which they feel that Victim Support, as a service provider, has helped to restore their sense of equilibrium. In this way the success of a community response to crime is considered. The research was undertaken between 1998 and 2002 and was largely based upon the work of one local scheme; Victim Support, Plymouth. The study included the views of service users (victims of crime) and those of service providers (paid staff and volunteers). In contrast to earlier studies, my work looks at Victim Support at a much later date in its history, at a time when service provision has become increasingly professionalised and standardised. Furthermore my work examined Victim Support at a time when it is being charged, fairly overtly, with responsibilities alongside other voluntary and state agencies for the governance of crime. At the same time Victim Support is under pressure to provide a service that IS 'community' In nature, whilst meeting the stricter economic imperatives of managerialism. Previous studies do not appear to have considered the value of all types of service provision that Victim Support makes, nor have they directly included victims who, though quite badly affected, were not typically offered assistance. More recent studies of Victim Support have also been undertaken more as a by product of national victim surveys, with only vague references to the contact made with victims, and within which support is offered/provided. The work that I have undertaken seeks to address these gaps in knowledge, making a clear link between the needs of crime victims and the organisational response of Victim Support at the local level.
Contribution of forests to rural inequality reduction: present scope and future options for rural development and sustainable use of forests

Sustainable forest management initiatives in Pakistan have had poor outcomes, as the policy makers in the forest sector have rarely considered households' economic dependency on natural forest and its role in household welfare. This paper empirically analyses this issue using a dataset collected from interviews in three regions in northwestern Pakistan, with a total of 180 observations. Our findings reveal that 59% of households derive their income from the forests. Other factors, such as household size, alternative sources of income, literate adult males, distance to market, distance to forest and geographic location affect household economic dependence on the forest. Results from Gini coefficient and Lorenz curve analysis prove that supplemental forest income helps in reducing economic inequality among the sample households. The study suggests that forest income supplements total household income and reduces economic inequality. Thus sustainable management of natural forests is not only important for ecological but also for economic and social sustainability, especially in remote and marginal areas. Successful future forest policies for ensuring economic and ecological sustainability should target programmes that ameliorate current extraction pressure on natural forests, promote alternative income sources, build human capital, improve market access and ensure equitable access rights to forest resources for communities living in the uplands. This may improve socio-economic conditions of poor forest communities, thereby reducing income disparity. Overall, this would help in achieving sustainable forest utilization and management.