Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Examination of Partner Perceptions of Partner Rotation: Direct and Indirect Consequences to Audit Quality

SUMMARY: Using structured interviews and surveys of practicing audit partners, this study examines their perceptions with regard to mandatory partner rotation and cooling-off periods, and how recently enacted, more stringent rules, may negatively impact auditors' quality of life to the detriment of audit quality. Results suggest rotation, in general, increases partners' workloads and the likelihood of relocation. Additionally, results suggest that in response to accelerated rotation (and an extended cooling-off period), partners would rather learn a new industry than relocate. Importantly, partners perceive audit quality suffers from retraining, but not from relocating. Thus these results suggest an indirect, negative impact, and unintended consequence, of accelerated rotation/extended cooling-off periods on audit quality. Data Availability: The survey instrument is available upon request. Individual audit partner responses are confidential.
Association between Medicare Advantage plan star ratings and enrollment.

IMPORTANCE The US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services publishes star ratings reflecting Medicare Advantage plan quality to inform enrollment decisions. OBJECTIVE To assess the association between publicly reported Medicare Advantage plan quality ratings and enrollment. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Cross-sectional study of 2011 Medicare Advantage enrollments among 952,352 first-time enrollees and 322,699 enrollees switching plans. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Association between star ratings and enrollment was modeled using conditional logit regression, controlling for beneficiary and plan characteristics. RESULTS Among the 952,352 included first-time enrollees, a 1-star higher rating was associated with a 9.5 (95% CI, 9.3-9.6) percentage-point increase in likelihood to enroll. The highest rating available to a beneficiary was associated with a 1.9 (95% CI, 1.8-2.1) percentage-point increase in likelihood to enroll. Among the 322,699 enrollees switching plans, a 1-star higher rating was associated with a 4.4 (95% CI, 4.2-4.7) percentage-point increase in likelihood to enroll. A rating at least as high as a beneficiary's prior plan was associated with a 6.3 (95% CI, 6.0-6.6) percentage-point increase in likelihood to enroll. Star ratings were less strongly associated with enrollment for black, rural, low-income, and the youngest beneficiaries. CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE Medicare's 5-star rating program for Medicare Advantage is associated with beneficiaries' enrollment decisions.
Measurement of the market power of firms: The Japanese case in the 1990s

This article presents a new simple econometric framework for the estimation of individual firms' markup over their marginal cost, taking account of firm heterogeneity, demand-driven cyclical price changes, and the limited availability of firm-level information. The framework is applied to study markup of Japanese firms in manufacturing and wholesale/retail trade for 1994--2002. The results indicate that, on average, the Japanese markets become more competitive in the 1990s than before even in non-manufacturing industries. We also find sizable heterogeneity and non-negligible pro-cyclicality in the markup of the Japanese firms. Copyright 2009 The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Associazione ICC. All rights reserved. , Oxford University Press.
Separatist Wars, Partition, and World Order

Should ethnonationalist wars be resolved by formally partitioning states? The answer can’t be decided case by case, because two incentive problems imply that ad hoc partitions have effects that extend across cases. First, if the implicit criterion for major power intervention in support of partition is some level of violence, this encourages violent movements seeking to mobilize cultural difference in order to claim statehood. The Wilsonian diagnosis is wrong. Perpetual civil peace cannot be had by properly sorting “true” nations into states, because nations are not born but made, partially in response to international incentives and major power policies. Second, an international order in which major powers go around carving up lesser powers on an ad hoc basis would make all states significantly less secure. Ad hoc use of partition to solve civil wars would undermine a relatively stable implicit bargain among the major powers in place since the 1950s – “If you don’t seek to change interstate borders by force, neither will we. ” I argue that this norm has been valuable, functioning in some respects like an arms control agreement. It would be irresponsible to undermine it without a thought to what might replace it, as the advocates of ad hoc partition are effectively urging. If the major powers want to start redesigning “sovereign” states, they need a political and legal framework that mitigates these two incentive effects. The best feasible solutions may be: (1) strengthening and making more precise international legal standards on human (and perhaps group) rights; (2) threatening to sanction states that do not observe these standards in regard to minorities, possibly including some forms of support for agents of the oppressed group; (3) holding to the norm of partition only by mutual consent, but providing carrots and sticks when the state in question refuses to abide by minimal standards of nondiscrimination.
Performance-Comparison Projects in Local Government: Participants' Perspectives

How do officials of participating local governments assess the value of their involvement in performance-comparison projects, including related costs and benefits? In this article, three prominent projects involving city and county governments are examined from the perspective of the participants themselves, revealing gaps between high expectations and subsequent results, but nevertheless suggesting an array of benefits for participants.
Environmental, clinical, and immunological study of house dust mite in childhood asthma.

We have developed a technique to assess overall neuropsychiatric disability in phenylketonuria taking account of factors other than intelligence quotient, which is a poor discriminant in severely retarded patients. Numerical 'ability scores' were thus derived for a large group of retarded and nonretarded phenylketonurics in whom plasma and intracellular levels of phenylalanine were measured after an overnight fast. Intracellular levels were determined fluorimetrically in granulocytes isolated from venous blood. Granulocyte levels of phenylalanine correlated significantly with ability score, being considerably higher in the more severely affected patients. No such correlation was found between ability score and plasma phenylalanine. These results suggest that the extent of brain damage in phenylketonuria is more closely related to intracellular than to plasma phenylalanine concentration, and that measurements of granulocyte phenylalanine levels, both fasting and during phenylalanine loading tests, might be helpful prognostically in the control of dietary therapy and in identifying variant forms of the disease.
The Limitations of Microcredit for Promoting Microenterprises in Bangladesh

Microcredit is regarded as a tool for poverty alleviation. A stereotyped delivery system is designed and used for promoting and serving survival- and subsistencelevel economic activities, particularly for poor female clients. In Bangladesh its success has raised social expectations as to its potential as also a promoter of microenterprises, which are growth-yielding small businesses beyond subsistencelevel economic activity. The field survey shows that about 11.7% of the microcredit borrowers are this kind of potential or growing microentrepreneur. It also shows that microcredit’s standardised delivery system, particularly in respect of gender preference, loan size, loan disbursement, and repayment schedules, is a strong limiting factor in effectively serving the microenterprises, which require a more flexible credit package. Therefore a methodological modification is necessary to accommodate flexibility in the microcredit delivery system.
Central Role of Calcium-Dependent Tyrosine Kinase PYK2 in Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase–Mediated Angiogenic Response and Vascular Function

Background— The involvement of Ca2+-dependent tyrosine kinase PYK2 in the Akt/endothelial NO synthase pathway remains to be determined. Methods and Results— Blood flow recovery and neovessel formation after hind-limb ischemia were impaired in PYK2−/− mice with reduced mobilization of endothelial progenitors. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)–mediated cytoplasmic Ca2+ mobilization and Ca2+-independent Akt activation were markedly decreased in the PYK2-deficient aortic endothelial cells, whereas the Ca2+-independent AMP-activated protein kinase/protein kinase-A pathway that phosphorylates endothelial NO synthase was not impaired. Acetylcholine-mediated aortic vasorelaxation and cGMP production were significantly decreased. Vascular endothelial growth factor–dependent migration, tube formation, and actin cytoskeletal reorganization associated with Rac1 activation were inhibited in PYK2-deficient endothelial cells. PI3-kinase is associated with vascular endothelial growth factor–induced PYK2/Src complex, and inhibition of Src blocked Akt activation. The vascular endothelial growth factor–mediated Src association with PLC&ggr;1 and phosphorylation of 783Tyr-PLC&ggr;1 also were abolished by PYK2 deficiency. Conclusion— These findings demonstrate that PYK2 is closely involved in receptor- or ischemia-activated signaling events via Src/PLC&ggr;1 and Src/PI3-kinase/Akt pathways, leading to endothelial NO synthase phosphorylation, and thus modulates endothelial NO synthase–mediated vasoactive function and angiogenic response.
On Marx's Analysis of Money Hoarding in the Turnover of Capital

The formation of money hoards, which underpins the demand for money, is typically treated by mainstream monetary theory as originating in the motives of the rational individual. In contrast, Marx's discussion of money hoarding treats hoard formation as a necessary tendency of capitalist production and circulation rather than as a result of the individual's predilections. Based on Marx's analysis, this article identifies several structural reasons for money hoard formation in the circuit of capital. It is also shown that Marx's discussion, despite its insight, suffers from a technical error in analysing the overlapping of production and circulation time in the circuit, and in drawing the implications for hoarding. Finally, it is argued that the broader significance of capitalist money hoarding lies in the foundations it provides for the emergence of the credit system.
Low-Energy Multistage Atrial Defibrillation Therapy Terminates Atrial Fibrillation With Less Energy Than a Single Shock

Background— Implantable device therapy of atrial fibrillation (AF) is limited by pain from high-energy shocks. We developed a low-energy multistage defibrillation therapy and tested it in a canine model of AF. Methods and Results— AF was induced by burst pacing during vagus nerve stimulation. Our novel defibrillation therapy consisted of 3 stages: stage (ST) 1 (1–4 low-energy biphasic [BP] shocks), ST2 (6–10 ultralow-energy monophasic [MP] shocks), and ST3 (antitachycardia pacing). First, ST1 testing compared single or multiple MP and BP shocks. Second, several multistage therapies were tested: ST1 versus ST1+ST3 versus ST1+ST2+ST3. Third, 3 shock vectors were compared: superior vena cava to distal coronary sinus, proximal coronary sinus to left atrial appendage, and right atrial appendage to left atrial appendage. The atrial defibrillation threshold (DFT) of 1 BP shock was <1 MP shock (0.55±0.1 versus 1.38±0.31 J, P=0.003). Two to 3 BP shocks terminated AF with lower peak voltage than 1 BP or 1 MP shock and with lower atrial DFT than 4 BP shocks. Compared with ST1 therapy alone, ST1+ST3 lowered the atrial DFT moderately (0.51±0.46 versus 0.95±0.32 J, P=0.036), whereas 3-stage therapy (ST1+ST2+ST3) dramatically lowered the atrial DFT (0.19±0.12 versus 0.95±0.32 J for ST1 alone, P=0.0012). Finally, the 3-stage therapy was equally effective for all studied vectors. Conclusions— Three-stage electrotherapy significantly reduces the AF DFT and opens the door to low-energy atrial defibrillation at or below the pain threshold.
The Value Spread

We decompose the cross-sectional variance of firms' book-to-market ratios using both a long U.S. panel and a shorter international panel. In contrast to typical aggregate time-series results, transitory cross-sectional variation in expected 15-year stock returns causes only a relatively small fraction (20 to 25 percent) of the total cross-sectional variance. The remaining dispersion can be explained by expected 15-year profitability and persistence of valuation levels. Furthermore, this fraction appears stable across time and across types of stocks. We also show that the expected return on value-minus-growth strategies is atypically high at times when their spread in book-to-market ratios is wide.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TOP MANAGEMENT TEAM INNOVATION ORIENTATION AND FIRM GROWTH: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF FIRM INNOVATIVENESS

Upper echelon theory and research on innovation have considered top management teams and their behaviour and characteristics as important factors that positively influence innovativeness and organizational outcomes. Yet, innovation research has mostly focused on individual new product projects, and their performance and impact on firm performance. Recent research has started to apply a more holistic view in terms of innovation, by considering firm-wide innovation instead of single new products. Upper echelon research has concentrated on direct relationships between top management team characteristics and organizational outcomes. But recent research calls for mediating effects of the relationship between top management team characteristics and organizational outcomes. Hence, this study introduces firm innovativeness as a mediator between top management team innovation orientation and firm growth. Focusing on small and medium-sized firms, which often represent highly innovative firms, results show that firm innovativeness fully mediates the relationship between top management team innovation orientation and firm growth. Implications and future research are discussed.
Tipping Practices and Policies in Zimbabwe's Hotel Industry: Impacts on Restaurant Waiters' Service Delivery and Work Relationships

This study analyzes tipping practices and policies in Zimbabwe's hotel industry from the perspective of restaurant waiters. The majority of respondents reported that discretionary tipping, as opposed to service charges, is the norm and that most hotels have a tip-pooling system. The findings show that guests who are expected to tip well, based largely on stereotypes as well as past tipping behavior, get better service treatment from waiters. Among themselves, waiters said that the culture of tipping has a huge impact on their work relationships. Most waiters presumed the pooling of tips to be an unfair practice.
Multi-objective adaptive intelligent water drops algorithm for optimization & vehicle guidance in road graph network

In this paper we have applied Multi-Objective Intelligent Water Drops Algorithm (MO-IWDA) for optimized route determination of the vehicle through all the underutilized paths available in a road graph exploiting optimization of dynamic parameter based path planning for the vehicle users. Due to the tendency of all the vehicles to follow the same path and also the shortest distance being the implied choice, there occurs tremendous increase in waiting time and high congestion which leads to pollution and stress. Hence it becomes necessary to revise the traffic management system and with the emergence of advanced smart gadgets it is now possible to locally investigate the network information and provide the best decisions for the users so that there is not only enhancement of time factor but also there is optimal usage of fuel and power. IWDA has emerged as a successful graph based meta-heuristics and has been used in NP-hard combinatorial problems like travelling salesman problem, knapsack problems etc. The success of IWDA lies more on probabilistic exploration as there is time linked cooperation and communication between the droplets in terms of its velocity and carried sand. Here we have involved multiobjective optimization of distance and waiting time minimization and used non-weighted fitness function for decision making and evaluation of the best combinations. Here another problem has been resolved of whether there is requirement of keeping different sand quality for both distance and waiting time or the same sand can be dealt with both. A comparative study of the two schemes will clearly reveal the individuality of the IWDA in handling multi-parameter optimization or there is requirement of different types of sand types for each kind of optimization. Analysis of results shows that the optimization level depends on sand investigation criteria which are dependent on how the parameter scaling is done. For multi-objective optimization the relative ratio of scaling is the prime factor. However due to the introduction of the exploration and adaptive parameters the algorithm will sought out the explored path and lead to global optimization.
Procedural Instructions, Principles, and Examples

Objective: The goal of this article is to investigate how instructions can be constructed to enhance performance and learning of procedural tasks. Background: Important determinants of the effectiveness of instructions are type of instructions (procedural information, principles, and examples) and pedagogical goal (initial performance, learning, and transfer). Method: Procedural instructions describe how to complete tasks in a stepwise manner, principles describe rules governing the tasks, and examples demonstrate how instances of the task are carried out. The authors review the research literature associated with each type of instruction to identify factors determining effectiveness for different pedagogical goals. Results: The results suggest a trade-off between usability and learnability. Specific instructions help initial performance, whereas more general instructions, requiring problem solving, help learning and transfer. Learning from instructions takes cognitive effort, and research suggests that learners typically opt for low effort. However, it is possible to meet both goals of good initial performance and learning with methods such as fading and by combining different types of instructions. Conclusion: How instructions are constructed influences their effectiveness for the goals of good initial performance, learning, and transfer, and it is therefore important for researchers and practitioners alike to define the pedagogical goal of instructions. Application: If the goal is good initial performance, then instructions should highly resemble the task at hand (e.g., in the form of detailed procedural instructions and examples), but if the goal is good learning and transfer, then instructions should be more abstract, inducing learners to expend the necessary cognitive effort for learning.
Market Definition in Banking: Recent Evidence

Antitrust analysis of bank mergers defines banking markets to be geographically local and to consist of the cluster of financial products supplied by commercial banks. This definition is based on assumptions about households' and small businesses' behavior in purchasing banking services. This article utilizes data from the Survey of Consumer Finances to examine how households' use of financial services and institutions changed between 1989 and 1998. We investigate the extent to which households still focus their purchases of financial services at local depository institutions, as opposed to non-depository or distant institutions, and examine the extent to which purchases are clustered at a single institution. Overall, the results indicate that households continue, to a substantial degree, to obtain certain key asset services, notably checking accounts, at local depository institutions.
Does economic reform harm the environment? A review of structural adjustment in Malawi

The authors propose a simple structured approach to analysing the environmental effects of economic reform, which they believe offers a more powerful analytic framework to researchers and policy-makers in this important area. The case study is Malawi, which during the last decade has implemented several Structural Adjustment Programmes and related reforms. Focusing on the estate sector and small farmers, the authors describe essential features of Malawi and its environment, review the relevant exogenous and structural problems, and assess the environmental impact of the various reform measures undertaken. By focusing on four dimensions—spatial extent (extensive frontier), scale of production, product mix and technique of production— the authors are able to come to rather more sharply-focused conclusions than previous similar studies.
Exit from Declining Industries and the Case of Steel Castings

Because of conflicts between owners, managers and creditors, closure of unprofitable plants may be more difficult for an undiversified firm than a diversified firm. An examination of qualitative and quantitative evidence on plant closures in the U.K. steel castings industry between 1979 and 1983 supports the view that firm effects matter and suggests that closure patterns may have been inefficient. Copyright 1989 by Royal Economic Society.
Returns-Chasing Behavior, Mutual Funds, and Beta's Death

Abstract I develop an agency model where returns-chasing behavior by mutual fund investors causes beta not to be priced to the degree predicted by the standard CAPM. Mutual fund investors chase returns through time, precipitating unusually large aggregate cash inflows into mutual funds just after dramatic market runups. Mutual fund investors also chase returns cross-sectionally across funds so that the highest-performing funds capture the largest fraction of the aggregate inflows into the mutu al fund sector. The interaction of these two flow-performance relationships induces an asymmetry in payoffs to mutual funds where fund managers care most about outperforming peers during bull markets. Since high-beta stocks tend to outperform in up markets, active fund managers tilt their portfolios toward high-beta stocks, reducing the beta risk premium in equilibrium. To support the model's time-series flow-performance assumption, I show empirically that market returns have a large economic impact on subsequent aggregate mutual fund flows. In addition, data on mutual fund holdings suggest that the aggregate stock portfolio held by equity funds is overweighted in high-beta stocks relative to the overall market, though this does not include the cash held by mutual funds. Fama-MacBeth tests indicate that the equity premium falls only slightly as the relative size of mutual funds increases, and the relation is not statistically significant.