Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Large Share Price Movements, the Disclosure of News and Corporate Governance: Implications for Disclosure Rules

Purpose – The paper aims to examine the link between firm-level large share price movements, firm-specific company announcements and corporate governance. Stock market regulation in the UK requires firms to disclose new price-sensitive information immediately via official news providers. The paper investigates whether large share price movements are accompanied by firm disclosure. It also investigates whether corporate governance attributes influence the degree of disclosure by firms. Design/methodology/approach – The disclosure measure is constructed by identifying the largest abnormal daily stock returns for sample firms, and then firm-specific announcements in the three-day window centred on the abnormal return day are searched. Corporate governance variables known to influence disclosure practice are then collected and tested to ascertain whether they influence disclosure for positive and negative (good and bad announcements) abnormal returns. Findings – Large share price movements are accompanied by an official share price movement in 45.2 per cent of cases. This rises to 62.9 per cent when new analyst or newspaper articles are included as potential drivers of the abnormal share price return. The higher the proportion of non-executive directors and CEO/chair duality lead to a higher incidence of bad news disclosure, suggesting increased scrutiny works. The higher the level of CEO and board ownership the lower the level of disclosure. Finally, institutional ownership concentration appears to negatively influence the level of disclosure. Originality/value – Higher levels of corporate governance are shown to lead to better firm disclosure. At the same time, the authors find that in almost 40 per cent of large abnormal share price returns no information has come to the market to drive the share price. Thus, the paper has important messages for regulators, who need to investigate why prices often move a long way without accompanying news. Shareholders, particularly institutions, should ensure high levels of disclosure by company directors.
Regional development and regional networks: The role of regional development officers in Finland

People responsible for regional development often understand fairly well the need to construct regional advantage and build clusters. They also know the importance of industry—university interaction and they have been taught to respect innovation systems and to build them. But what they have not been given much advice on is how to do it — how to create networks for these purposes, how to direct and maintain them, how to lead complex policy networks. Network management, or leadership in networks, in the context of regional economic development is a black box not only for practitioners but for academics too. The research questions discussed here are: a) what do regional development officers actually do in the early 21st century to gain influence in policy networks, and hence in their efforts to promote regional development, and b), related to the first question, what are the key processes in their efforts to mobilize policy networks and guide them. The empirical research is based on data gathered through 41 interviews with Finnish actors responsible for the promotion of regional development at different levels of regional development activity.
The Appeal of Neoclassical Economics: Some Insights from Keynes's Epistemology

Neoclassical economics continues to hold a particularly strong appeal for economists, in spite of concerns about its internal logic and applicability to policy issues. This appeal can be understood in terms of Keynes's system of logic which established grounds for rational belief when knowledge is, in general, uncertain. Mainstream methodology limits economic theory to those elements of the economic process which can, in practice, be represented by a closed, formal system; a high degree of certainty can be achieved within those limits. Keynes's more general epistemology supports a methodology which can increase knowledge beyond those limits, and thus extend the applicability of economics. If this approach is to be pursued, economics education needs to be broadened. (c) 1995 Academic Press Limited Copyright 1995 by Oxford University Press.
Sensitivity to prosperity and adversity: What would a Smithian function of happiness look like?

Abstract Like many authors of his time, Smith assumes a greater sensitivity to adverse than to prosperous events. Though neglected by commentators, with the exception of Ashraf et al. (2005), the influence that he attaches to prosperity and adversity on happiness deserves special attention, particularly from an analytical point of view. This paper aims at bringing out the implications of such an asymmetry for his work and for current developments concerning decision and welfare. Since the argument that comes to justify this asymmetry, in the Theory of Moral sentiments, is not clear, both in its structure and in its content, the first step consists in a clarification of Smith's position resting, principally, on the History of Astronomy, which introduces the concepts of ‘custom’ and ‘surprise’. Next, Smith's argument is discussed in a more formal framework, through alternative approaches of what might be considered a Smithian happiness function: reference-dependent models with loss aversion or standard cardinal utility-like functions. Textual evidences leads to favour the last alternative. This also leads to non-trivial conclusions concerning the way Smith views individual happiness.
The effects of regulations on land transactions: The case of Korea

This paper examines the relationship between government regulations and land transactions using Korean data for 1994. The results indicate that a heavy burden put on land ownership does not affect the frequency and amount of land transacted, nor does it accelerate the urbanization process. However, regulations of the sale and acquisition of land are important influences on the decisions of market players.
'Smear-negative' pulmonary tuberculosis in a DOTS programme: poor outcomes in an area of high HIV seroprevalence.

SETTING Lilongwe Central Hospital, Malawi. OBJECTIVES To investigate 1) treatment outcome of a cohort of smear-negative pulmonary TB (snPTB) patients in an area of high human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seroprevalence, and 2) whether poor treatment outcomes are due to non-TB patients being mistakenly treated for TB due to lack of diagnostic facilities. DESIGN Patients about to be registered for snPTB treatment by the National TB Programme underwent further assessment including TB culture, bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage. All patients were followed up for 8 months. Standard TB control treatment outcomes were recorded. RESULTS Of 352 snPTB patients assessed, 137 patients had bacteriologically confirmed TB, 136 had possible TB, and 79 had other non-TB diagnoses. The HIV seroprevalence rate was 89%. Outcomes were known for 325 (92%) patients: 129 (40%) died within 8 months. Death rates on TB treatment were 31% for bacteriologically confirmed TB patients and 35% for patients with possible TB but no bacteriological diagnosis. The death rate among patients with non-TB diagnoses was 53%. HIV infection significantly increased the risk of death (OR 3.9; P = 0.01). CONCLUSION SnPTB is strongly associated with HIV infection in Malawi, where patients treated for snPTB have a poor prognosis. The high mortality is not fully explained by non-TB patients being mistakenly treated for TB.
The Effect of the Leadership Perception and Organizational Justice on Organizational Commitment: A Research in a State University

Each individual is directly or indirectly in the position of being a member of the organization. At this point, carrying on their activities successfully and reaching their determined goals will probably bring about some gains both for the organizations and the employees. It is stated that employees’ high level of organizational commitment is related to the managers who take people into consideration, have a supportive and participative leadership approach, agree with the decisions taken and who is fair in the distribution of gains. The purpose of this study is to determine the interaction between leadership perception, organizational justice and commitment. Questionnaire method was used for data collection. The collected data was analyzed with the statistical methods. The sample of this study consists of 683 academic and administrative staff personel.
From product innovation to solutions innovation: a new paradigm for competitive advantage

Organisations have traditionally employed new product development frameworks to increase the effectiveness of their innovation programmes. These strategies have worked in the past but are increasingly being challenged by developments in the marketplace and technologies. This has led firms in some sectors to move to a new paradigm of competitiveness, namely solutions innovation. This paper examines the challenges facing the computer and electronic equipment sector and the movement to a solutions innovation paradigm.
CEO Compensation in a Regulatory Environment: An Analysis of the Electric Utility Industry

Prior studies argue that a firm's investment opportunity set affects the level of information asymmetry and thereby the structure of CEO compensation. We test whether the political constraints imposed in a regulatory environment incrementally affect both the level and the structure of CEO compensation, while controlling for the effects of investment opportunity set and other firm characteristics. We hypothesize that increased political constraints reduce the need and the opportunity to pay management bonuses, stock options, and other incentive-based compensation, in addition to a base salary. We test our hypothesis using CEO compensation data from electric utility companies during 1990–1995. We develop refined measures for different levels of regulation and monitoring within the electric utility industry. Our results provide evidence that increased political constraints affect both the level and structure of CEO compensation, after controlling for investment opportunity set and other firm characteristics, such as firm size, systematic risk, and performance.
Project Appraisal and Foreign Exchange Constraints: A Comment

A paper in this JOURNAL by Blitzer, Dasgupta and Stiglitz (I98I), hereinafter BDS, entitled 'Project Appraisal and Foreign Exchange Constraints', examines the implications of various non-optimal macroeconomic adjustment policies for project evaluation. ' The discussion is presented in terms of a simple two good, one consumer economy with price distortions which lead the ratio of the domestic price of the exported good (E) to the domestic price of the imported good (I) to be greater than the internati-onal price ratio. It is argued that the resulting trade gap will force the government to pursue an adjustment policy which may take the form of taxation of income or commodities, rationing or foreign borrowing; and it is shown that the choice of policy will determine the appropriate shadow price formulae to be used in project appraisal. The view that world prices provide shadow prices for traded goods is argued to be correct for some but not all of the macroeconomic policies considered. This comment argues that the BDS analysis fails to specify how tax revenue is to be incorporated in the model. As a result, the various policy options open to the government are not clearly brought out. We set out below, in Section I, an amplified version of the BDS general equilibrium model which includes tax revenue, and use it to show how the different adjustment mechanisms have to be related to the public sector budget constraint. In Section II we reconsider their analysis and show that if either an income or a commodity tax on the importable is used to ensure public sector balance, then world prices remain shadow prices for traded goods. In Section III we make the point that the presence of import tariffs does not imply, in the context of a real general equilibrium model, that the balance of payments constraint will be violated. The conclusion is drawn that 'endogenous foreign borrowing' cannot be analysed without respecifying the basic BDS model. Our comment is confined to the problem of shadow pricing traded goods in the BDS model; we do not consider rationing as a means of macroeconomic adjustment policy, nor do we comment on their Section III where they analyse the additional problems which follow from introducing a non-traded commodity into the model.
A new approach for high-yield metal–molecule–metal junctions by direct metal transfer method

The realization of high-yield, stable molecular junctions has been a long-standing challenge in the field of molecular electronics research, and it is an essential prerequisite for characterizing and understanding the charge transport properties of molecular junctions prior to their device applications. Here, we introduce a new approach for obtaining high-yield, vertically structured metal–molecule–metal junctions in which the top metal electrodes are formed on alkanethiolate self-assembled monolayers by a direct metal transfer method without the use of any additional protecting interlayers in the junctions. The fabricated alkanethiolate molecular devices exhibited considerably improved device yields (∼70%) in comparison to the typical low device yields (less than a few %) of molecular junctions in which the top metal electrodes are fabricated using the conventional evaporation method. We compared our method with other molecular device fabrication methods in terms of charge transport parameters. This study suggests a potential new device platform for realizing robust, high-yield molecular junctions and investigating the electronic properties of devices.
The Swaption Cube

We infer conditional swap rate moments model independently from swaption cubes. Conditional volatility and skewness exhibit systematic variation across swap maturities and option expiries (conditional kurtosis less so), with conditional skewness sometimes changing sign. Conditional skewness displays some relation to the level and volatility of swap rates but is most consistently related to the conditional correlation between swap rates and swap rate variances. From realized excess returns on synthetic variance and skewness swap contracts, we infer that variance and (to a lesser extent) skewness risk premia are negative and time varying. For the most part, results hold true in both the USD and EUR markets and in both precrisis and crisis subsamples. We design and estimate a dynamic term structure model that captures much of the dynamics of conditional swap rate moments.
How do People Play Against Nash Opponents?

We examine experimentally how humans behave when they play against a computer which implements its part of a mixed strategy Nash equilibrium. We consider two games, one zero-sum and another unprofitable with a pure minimax strategy. A minority of subjects' play was consistent with their Nash equilibrium strategy, while a larger percentage of subjects' play was more consistent with different models of play: equiprobable play for the zero-sum game, and the minimax strategy in the unprofitable game. We estimate the heterogeneity and dynamics of the subjects' latent mixed strategy sequences via a hidden Markov model. This provides clear results on the identification of the use of pure and mixed strategies and the limiting distribution over strategies. The mixed strategy Nash equilibrium is not self-enforcing except when it coincides with the equal probability mixed strategy, and there is surprising amounts of pure strategy play and clear cycling between the pure strategy states.
Do Corruption and Social Trust Affect Economic Growth? A Review

Abstract Two separate literatures suggest that corruption and social trust, respectively, are related to economic growth, although the strengths of the relationships, and the direction of causality, are still debated. This paper reviews these literatures and evaluates the evidence for causal effects of corruption and trust on economic growth, and discusses how corruption and trust are interrelated. The reviews show that absence of corruption and high levels of social trust foster economic growth. The literatures also indicate that corruption has a causal effect on social trust, while the opposite effect is more uncertain. The conclusion offers the suggestion that fighting corruption may yield a “double dividend”, as reduced corruption is likely to have both direct and indirect effects on growth.
Impact of Trade and Human Capital on Economic Growth of India: An Empirical Analysis

Trade is the principal channel through which the flow of ideas, knowledge and technology will take place. But it is not clear to what extent the recipient country can take advantage of these variables. Adoption, imitation and production process, by and large, depend on human capital in the recipient country, and also on how the different components of human capital (e.g. on-the-job-training versus academic training) are distributed. This paper uses Ordinary Least Square to investigate relationship between trade, human capital and economic growth. The empirical result shows that there is a significant relationship between trade, human capital and economic growth. The study shows that any progress in human capital will positively affect economic growth. In turn, higher economic growth will lead to more employment, higher income and profit, which means more investment in human capital.
Knowledge of heart disease risk factors among workers in a Nigerian University: A call for concern

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease is the commonest cause of mortality worldwide. Many risk factors predate the development of cardiovascular diseases. Adequate knowledge of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases is the first step towards effective preventive strategies to combat the cardiovascular diseases burden in any population. This study aims to determine the knowledge of workers in a Nigerian University on risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 206 academic and non-academic staff of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria using the Heart Disease Fact Questionnaire (HDFQ). Demographic data were taken. The lipid profile and random blood sugar were taken. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 17.0. Results: The mean age of the study participants was 45.3 ΁ 7.9 years. There were 96 males (46.6%). The mean HDFQ score was 48.6%. Only 41 (19.9%) of participants were assessed to have good knowledge of heart disease risk factors. Majority, 101 (49.0%) had poor knowledge while 64 (31.2%) had fair knowledge of heart disease risk factors. There was no significant difference between prevalence of CV risk factors between those with good or fair or low level of knowledge. Most participants did not have a good level of knowledge about risk factors, prevention, treatment and association with diabetes as it relates to heart diseases. Conclusion: Knowledge of heart disease risk factors is low among University workers in Nigeria. Effective education on heart disease risk factors and appropriate preventive strategies are indeed important to reduce cardiovascular disease burden in Nigerian University communities.
Depressive-Like Behavior in Adolescents after Maternal Separation: Sex Differences, Controllability, and GABA

Exposure to adversity during development is an identified risk factor for depression later in life. In humans, early adversity accelerates the onset of depressive symptoms, which manifest during adolescence. Animal studies have used maternal separation as a model of early adversity to produce adult depressive-like behaviors, but have yet to examine these behaviors during adolescence. Moreover, the nature of depressive-like behaviors has not been well characterized in this model. Here, we used the triadic model of learned helplessness to understand controllability, helplessness, and motivational factors following maternal separation in male and female adolescent rats. We found sex-dependent changes in the effects of separation, with males demonstrating loss of controllability in an escapable shock condition, whereas females demonstrated motivational impairment in a no-shock condition. The effect, however, did not endure as adult females were no longer helpless. Reductions in parvalbumin, a GABAergic marker, in the prefrontal cortex of separated subjects relative to age-matched controls were evident and paralleled depressive-like behavior. Understanding the risk factors for depression, the nature of depressive-like behaviors, and their unique sex dependency may ultimately provide insight into improved treatments.
Internal Control Weaknesses and Client Risk Management

We study auditors' client risk management in the first year of the Sarbanes-Act Oxley (SOX) 404 implementation, and find that a pecking order exists among auditors' strategies to manage control risk resulting from internal control weaknesses. We first examine the relation between internal control weaknesses and audit fees, modified opinions, and auditor resignations, respectively, and establish that these are viable strategies to manage control risk on a stand-alone basis. We also find that changes in audit fees and changes in modified opinions are positively associated with changes in reported internal control weaknesses. When we investigate these strategies simultaneously, descriptive evidence suggests that a pecking order exists among auditors' client risk management strategies. Ordered logit analyses further confirm that, as clients' control risk increases, auditors are likely to respond in the order of audit fee adjustments, modified opinions, and auditor resignations. Our comprehensive evidence suggests that auditors use an array of ordered strategies to manage client-related control risk.
Refinement of Tissue-Engineering Chamber Implantation in the Rat

ABSTRACT Purpose: Rodent in vivo models that successfully generate new adipose, muscle, or vascular tissue in a tissue-engineering chamber (TEC) has advanced in the last decade. In this article, technical refinements in these operative foreign body implantations have been described to improve the execution of animal models in a way so that they can reduce wastage of time and resources. Materials & Methods: Male Sprague–Dawley rats were studied and randomly divided into two equal sized groups. In each group, a different operative procedure was used for implanting the TEC. Twenty animals were operated with diagonal incisions in the groin region, followed by staples for wound closure after TEC implantation. The remaining 20 animals received longitudinal incisions in the abdominal region followed by wound closure with ongoing intradermal nonresorbable sutures and skin glue. The outcome of both procedures with regard to complications, animal growth, and experimental failure was compared. Statistical analysis was performed using the nonparametric chi-squared (χ2) test. Results: Significant difference in wound dehiscence was recorded in Group I as compared to Group II (p = 0.0001). Consequently, 55% of the experiments had to be aborted in Group I and the animals were removed from the experiment. On the contrary, in Group II, all the animals could be kept. Conclusion: Median longitudinal incisions and thorough wound closure with ongoing intradermal nonresorbable sutures, followed by application of skin glue, are strongly recommended to prevent surgical site complications, such as wound dehiscence, animal harm, and failure of the individual experiment.