Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Can Prior Offers and Arbitration Outcomes Be Used to Predict the Winners of Subsequent Final-Offer Arbitration Cases?

The purpose of interest arbitration is to encourage bargainers to negotiate their own mutually agreeable settlement. In final-offer arbitration (FOA), the bargainers exchange final offers. If a settlement is not reached, an independent arbitrator selects one of the final offers as the award. At the beginning of each arbitration period, the only information available to bargainers relating to arbitrator preferences is past outcomes. Given its goal of driving negotiated settlements, an effective FOA process requires bargainers to infer useful information about arbitrator preferences from past outcomes. Using data from major league baseball, this article provides evidence that past FOA decisions are positively correlated with the outcomes of future FOA cases.
Inflation versus Public Expenditure Growth in the U.S.: An Empirical Investigation

This paper investigates the relationship between public expenditure growth and inflation in the United States of America using the co-integration analysis and Granger Causality Model applied to Time Series Annual Data from 1970-2002. The results indicate that public expenditure and inflation are co-integrated and thus there exist a long-run equilibrium relation between the two variables. There is also a bi-causational relationship between public expenditure growth and inflation in the United States of America. Inflation significantly influences public expenditure decisions in the United States of America. Public expenditure growth was seen to aggravate inflationary pressures in the country, where reduction in public expenditure tends to reduce inflation. Thus, as in previous studies, the efficacy of Keynesian's fiscal policy as a veritable tool to combating inflation in the developed countries is not falsified
Time-of-Day Pricing in the U.S. Electric Power Industry at the Turn of the Century

Around the turn of the century, a debate occurred within the infant U.S. electric power industry on the issue of electricity rate structures. We describe those discussions and consider the views of some of the economists who first addressed the issue. Although they were ultimately unsuccessful, there were sophisticated advocates of time-of-day rates among the first engineers, utility executives, and economists to study electricity rates.
Privatizing prisons : rhetoric and reality

Private Prisons Rediscovered International Developments in the Twentieth Century Evaluating Private Prisons Contemporary Developments in British Penal Politics Contracting-out at Wolds Responding to the Challenge in the Public Sector Legitimacy and Consent Ethical Issues in Contracting-out Privatizing Prisons Current Issues and Future Prospects
Who Made Peak Car, and How? A Breakdown of Trends over Four Decades in Four Countries

This paper investigates the contribution of underlying trends to per-capita car travel development since the 1970s in France, Germany, Great Britain, and the USA. In these countries, after a long period of growth, car travel began to show signs of stagnation — or even decrease — after the 1990s. Our paper breaks down underlying demographic and travel trends for two study periods: first, a period of per-capita car travel growth (until the mid-1990s); second, a period of stagnation or decrease in car travel (beginning around the turn of the millennium). Two patterns of development emerge: (1) in France and the USA, the reversal in the trend in car travel per capita was due mainly to trend changes in total travel demand by drivers; (2) in Germany and Great Britain, the levelling off of motorisation, and shifts to other modes, played a much larger role. Ageing has in recent years gained weight in shaping per-capita car travel trends. In Europe, the continued increase of car availability for seniors has had a damping effect on peak car. Even though all age classes have contributed to peak car, young adults stand out in this regard and therefore deserve special attention.
Controls of Soil Spatial Variability in a Dry Tropical Forest

We examined the roles of lithology, topography, vegetation and fire in generating local-scale (<1 km2) soil spatial variability in a seasonally dry tropical forest (SDTF) in southern India. For this, we mapped soil (available nutrients, Al, total C, pH, moisture and texture in the top 10cm), rock outcrops, topography, all native woody plants ≥1 cm diameter at breast height (DBH), and spatial variation in fire frequency (times burnt during the 17 years preceding soil sampling) in a permanent 50-ha plot. Unlike classic catenas, lower elevation soils had lesser moisture, plant-available Ca, Cu, Mn, Mg, Zn, B, clay and total C. The distribution of plant-available Ca, Cu, Mn and Mg appeared to largely be determined by the whole-rock chemical composition differences between amphibolites and hornblende-biotite gneisses. Amphibolites were associated with summit positions, while gneisses dominated lower elevations, an observation that concurs with other studies in the region which suggest that hillslope-scale topography has been shaped by differential weathering of lithologies. Neither NO3−-N nor NH4+-N was explained by the basal area of trees belonging to Fabaceae, a family associated with N-fixing species, and no long-term effects of fire on soil parameters were detected. Local-scale lithological variation is an important first-order control over soil variability at the hillslope scale in this SDTF, by both direct influence on nutrient stocks and indirect influence via control of local relief.
Dealing with Poverty and Income Distribution Issues in Developing Countries: Cross-Regional Experiences

The paper deals with the major empirical poverty and income distribution issues in the context of developing countries. To focus attention it starts with a simple poverty decomposition framework where a change in poverty is shown to be the sum of a change due to economic growth and a change due to income distribution. It is shown that when the poverty line is a function of mean income, the elasticity of the poverty line with respect to income plays an important role in determining the size of the change due to growth. Using a recent set of data on income distribution for developing countries, the paper then looks at income inequality and poverty in three developing regions (Latin America, Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa). Empirical results on the Kuznets curve, initial inequality, and growth and adjustment and poverty are reported and policy implications are drawn. Copyright 1998 by Oxford University Press.
Cyclical impact of business cycle co- movements on public property market correlations: an empirical exploration

Globalization and the emergence of China in the world economy have been two major events in the international economic literature over the last two decades. The key research question addressed in this paper is whether and to what extent the co-movement of business-cycle fluctuations affects public property market correlations and integration within the three GC economies and with their five regional and global partners over the period 1995 Q1 to 2012Q3. Since public property market is a component part of domestic stock market, we control for the influence of stock market cycle correlations. In order to capture dynamic comovement, our main methodology appeals to an alternative measure of business cycle synchronization – dynamic correlation proposed by Croux et al. (2001). We find the cyclical co-movement and interdependence dynamics between public property market correlations, business-cycle correlations and stock market correlations have been quite different at three time horizons (long-run frequencies, traditional business-cycle frequencies and short-run frequencies) although the pro-cyclical links between the respective correlation-types are generally statistically significant at the aggregate frequency level. We also found evidence that the detected pro-cyclical co-movement dynamics are different within and across the GC regions. Finally, our results using the GC dataset should be regarded as indicative and implies that the cyclical variations in quarterly public property market cycle correlations could be highly dependent on the business-cycle co-movement dynamics at different time horizons and corresponding stock market cycle correlations, and is hence more complex than what is normally expected.
Conspiracy Beliefs About HIV Are Related to Antiretroviral Treatment Nonadherence Among African American Men With HIV

Background:Medical mistrust is prevalent among African Americans and may influence health care behaviors such as treatment adherence. We examined whether a specific form of medical mistrust-HIV conspiracy beliefs (eg, HIV is genocide against African Americans)-was associated with antiretroviral treatment nonadherence among African American men with HIV. Methods:On baseline surveys, 214 African American men with HIV reported their agreement with 9 conspiracy beliefs, sociodemographic characteristics, depression symptoms, substance use, disease characteristics, medical mistrust, and health care barriers. Antiretroviral medication adherence was monitored electronically for one month postbaseline among 177 men in the baseline sample. Results:Confirmatory factor analysis revealed 2 distinct conspiracy belief subscales: genocidal beliefs (eg, HIV is manmade) and treatment-related beliefs (eg, people who take antiretroviral treatments are human guinea pigs for the government). Both subscales were related to nonadherence in bivariate tests. In a multivariate logistic regression, only treatment-related conspiracies were associated with a lower likelihood of optimal adherence at one-month follow-up (odds ratio = 0.60, 95% confidence interval = 0.37 to 0.96, P < 0.05). Conclusions:HIV conspiracy beliefs, especially those related to treatment mistrust, can contribute to health disparities by discouraging appropriate treatment behavior. Adherence-promoting interventions targeting African Americans should openly address such beliefs.
The Performance of the PedsQL Generic Core Scales in Children With Sickle Cell Disease

The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility, reliability, and validity of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory generic core scales (PedsQL questionnaire) in children with sickle cell disease. This was a cross-sectional study of children from an urban hospital-based sickle cell disease clinic and an urban primary care clinic. The study participants were children of ages 2 to 18 years who presented to clinic for a routine visit. Health-related quality of life (HRQL) was the main outcome. HRQL of children with sickle cell disease were compared with children without disease to test validity. Missing items were used to determine feasibility and Cronbach's α was used to determine reliability. Parents of 178 children (104 with sickle cell disease and 74 without disease) and 118 children (78 with sickle cell disease and 40 without disease) completed HRQL questionnaires. The PedsQL questionnaire was feasible and reliable. The parent proxy and child self-report questionnaire differentiated between children with and without sickle cell disease. The parent proxy-report differentiated well between children with mild and severe sickle cell disease. The questionnaire performed well in children with sickle cell disease and is a feasible, reliable, and valid tool to measure HRQL in children with sickle cell disease.
Dose and dose intensity as determinants of outcome in the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer. The Cancer and Leukemia Group B.

BACKGROUND Both total dose and dose intensity of adjuvant chemotherapy are postulated to be important variables in the outcome for patients with operable breast cancer. The Cancer and Leukemia Group B study 8541 examined the effects of adjuvant treatment using conventional-range dose and dose intensity in female patients with stage II (axillary lymph node-positive) breast cancer. METHODS Within 6 weeks of surgery (radical mastectomy, modified radical mastectomy, or lumpectomy), 1550 patients with unilateral breast cancer were randomly assigned to one of three treatment arms: high-, moderate-, or low-dose intensity. The patients received cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and 5-fluorouracil on day 1 of each chemotherapy cycle, with 5-fluorouracil administration repeated on day 8. The high-dose arm had twice the dose intensity and twice the drug dose as the low-dose arm. The moderate-dose arm had two thirds the dose intensity as the high-dose arm but the same total drug dose. Disease-free survival and overall survival were primary end points of the study. RESULTS At a median follow-up of 9 years, disease-free survival and overall survival for patients on the moderate- and high-dose arms are superior to the corresponding survival measures for patients on the low-dose arm (two-sided P<.0001 and two-sided P = .004, respectively), with no difference in disease-free or overall survival between the moderate- and the high-dose arms. At 5 years, overall survival (average +/- standard error) is 79% +/- 2% for patients on the high-dose arm, 77% +/- 2% for the patients on the moderate-dose arm, and 72% +/- 2% for patients on the low-dose arm; disease-free survival is 66% +/- 2%, 61% +/- 2%, and 56% +/- 2%, respectively. CONCLUSION Within the conventional dose range for this chemotherapy regimen, a higher dose is associated with better disease-free survival and overall survival.
Corporate cash holding and firm value

This study contrasts the effect of cash holding on firm value for a sample of US industrial firms during 2001–2007. The study tests empirically for the existence of an optimal cash level that maximizes firm value. Second, the study analyses whether or not deviations from the optimum cash level reduce firm value. The results show a concave relation between cash holding and firm value, verifying the existence of an optimum level of cash holding. Additionally consistent with the initial analysis, deviations above and below optimal cash holding decreases the firm value.
PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS AND CRISES IN WORLD FISHERIES: TURNING THE TIDE?

This paper addresses the crises in the world's fisheries involving dwindling stocks, overcapitalization, and jurisdiction disputes from a property rights perspective. In particular, it examines the causes of the problems fishers face and explores the potential of privatizing the right to catch fish as a means to address the crises. The analysis assesses experiences of private harvesting rights with reference to monitoring and enforcement, allocating rights, economic benefits, adjustments in the fishery, and resource rents. It also examines issues such as fluctuating fish stocks, straddling stocks and high seas fisheries, and the endemic poverty of many artisanal fisheries in the context of current fisheries practice. Copyright 1996 Western Economic Association International.
Biochemical Analysis of Hypermutational Targeting by Wild Type and Mutant Activation-induced Cytidine Deaminase*

The synthesis of high affinity antibodies requires activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) to initiate somatic hypermutation and class-switch recombination. Here we investigate AID-catalyzed deamination of C → U on single-stranded DNA and on actively transcribed closed circular double-stranded DNA. Mutations are initially favored at canonical WRC (W = A or T, R = A or G) somatic hypermutation hot spot motifs, but over time mutations at neighboring non-hot spot sites increase creating random clusters of mutated regions in a seemingly processive manner. N-terminal AID mutants R35E and R35E/R36D appear less processive and have altered mutational specificity compared with wild type AID. In contrast, a C-terminal deletion mutant defective in CSR in vivo closely resembles wild type AID. A mutational spectrum generated during transcription of closed circular double-stranded DNA indicates that wild type AID retains its specificity for WRC hot spot motifs within the confines of a moving transcription bubble while introducing clusters of multiple deaminations predominantly on the nontranscribed strand.
Insider Trading Controversies: A Literature Review

Using the artifice of a hypothetical trial, this article presents the cases for and against insider trading. Both sides in the trial produce as evidence the salient points made in more than 100 years of literature on insider trading. The initial days of the trial focus on the issues raised in the law literature such as fiduciary responsibility, the misappropriation theory, and the fairness and integrity of markets; however, the trial soon transfers focus to issues such as Pareto optimality, efficient contracting, market efficiency, and predictability raised in the financial economics literature. Open issues are then brought up. A jury finally hands down its verdict.
Industrial and Commercial Demand for Electricity by Time-of-Day: A California Case Study

Recently there has been much interest in time-of-use (TOU) pricing structures for electric utilities. TOU pricing reflects more closely than conventional pricing the cost components of supplying electricity, which vary over the course of a single day as well as over days of the week and seasons of the year. Although such pricing structures have long been used in Europe, they did not receive much attention in the United States prior to 1974.
FDIs in life cycle stages: firm-level evidence from Taiwan

This study aims to examine how attainment discrepancy and financial slack affect risk-taking behaviour across a Firm's Life Cycle (FLC) stages. The empirical results show that the investment behaviour of the firms is deeply affected by the industry's investment behaviour in all FLC stages. Especially in the mature stage, slack search can appropriately explain Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) behaviour, and long-run resource is an essential factor. In the growth stage, financial soundness is a prerequisite for firms to launch FDIs. In the recession stage, firms seem to be insensitive to performance or slack resources.
Shock and Law: Fin 48 Report Card, IFRS, and Beyond

The accounting for income taxes has, and will continue to, undergo significant changes. FASB Interpretation (FIN) 48 significantly revised the financial accounting for income taxes in 2007. In our sample, 87% of firms were immediately affected in terms of a restatement of beginning 2007 retained earnings. After enactment, discretionary accruals significantly decreased as firms apparently did not find other methods (other than through income tax accounts) to manage earnings. On the other hand, FIN 48 appears to have caused disruption in the reporting standards for income taxes, insofar as an increase in variability in effective tax rates across firms both the year before adoption, and the year of adoption. International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) will also make significant changes in 2012. We comment on the likely effects of IFRS adoption on US firms. Then, we examine the less volatile effects of IFRS on effective tax rates for European companies after 2004 as an example of what might happen in the US.
An application of the variable-r method to subpopulation growth rates in a 19th century agricultural population

This paper presents an analysis of the differential growth rates of the farming and non-farming segments of a rural Scottish community during the 19th and early 20th centuries using the variable-r method allowing for net migration. Using this method, I find that the farming population of Orkney, Scotland, showed less variability in their reproduction and growth rates than the non-farming population during a period of net population decline. I conclude by suggesting that the variable-r method can be used in general cases where the relative growth of subpopulations or subpopulation reproduction is of interest.
The Response of Labour Taxation to Changes in Government Debt

This paper investigates the relationship between government debt and labour taxation for a panel of 18 EU countries over the period 1979-2008. The econometric estimates point to a statistically significant and economically relevant positive response of labour taxation to changes in the general government debt and interest expenditure-to-GDP ratios. The results are robust across a range of econometric specifications and labour tax indicators. JEL Classification: H2, H24, H63, J22
Enhanced Energy Output From a PV System Under Partial Shaded Conditions Through Artificial Bee Colony

For the maximum utilization of solar energy, photovoltaic (PV) power generation systems are operated at the maximum power point (MPP) under varying atmospheric conditions, and MPP tracking (MPPT) is generally achieved using several conventional methods. However, when partial shading occurs in a PV system, the resultant power-voltage (P-V) curve exhibits multiple peaks and traditional methods that need not guarantee convergence to true MPP always. This paper proposes an artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm for global MPP (GMPP) tracking under conditions of in-homogenous insolation. The formulation of the problem, application of the ABC algorithm, and the results are analyzed in this paper. The numerical simulations carried out on two different PV configurations under different shading patterns strongly suggest that the proposed method is far superior to existing MPPT alternatives. Experimental results are also provided to validate the new dispensation.
Is the oil currency – oil price nexus affected by dollar swings?

This paper investigates to which extent dollar real exchange rate movements affect the relationship between oil prices and oil currencies. Estimating a panel cointegrating model between the real exchange rate and its drivers for a sample of 11 OPEC countries and 8 major oil-exporting economies over the 1980-2013 period, we find evidence to support the existence of oil currencies. To analyze how dollar movements may affect the oil price – oil currency nexus, we then estimate a panel smooth transition regression model. Results show that beyond a certain threshold for the dollar depreciation, the sign of the relationship between oil prices and oil countries’ exchange rate switches from positive to negative. In fact, when the dollar depreciation is higher than 2.45%, an increase in oil price has a negative impact on oil exporters’ exchange rate. We also re-explore the causality between the USD real exchange rate and the oil price, showing that the causality between the two variables has changed over the period under study. Finally, we investigate how the Fed monetary policy may impact the oil currency – oil price relationship, and find evidence to support that the US policy rate is a key to understand oil currencies movements.
A Pursuit Theory Account for the Perception of Common Motion in Motion Parallax

The visual system uses an extraretinal pursuit eye movement signal to disambiguate the perception of depth from motion parallax. Visual motion in the same direction as the pursuit is perceived nearer in depth while visual motion in the opposite direction as pursuit is perceived farther in depth. This explanation of depth sign applies to either an allocentric frame of reference centered on the fixation point or an egocentric frame of reference centered on the observer. A related problem is that of depth order when two stimuli have a common direction of motion. The first psychophysical study determined whether perception of egocentric depth order is adequately explained by a model employing an allocentric framework, especially when the motion parallax stimuli have common rather than divergent motion. A second study determined whether a reversal in perceived depth order, produced by a reduction in pursuit velocity, is also explained by this model employing this allocentric framework. The results show than an allocentric model can explain both the egocentric perception of depth order with common motion and the perceptual depth order reversal created by a reduction in pursuit velocity. We conclude that an egocentric model is not the only explanation for perceived depth order in these common motion conditions.