Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Competitive Cities in Europe

In a world in which national economies are increasingly being supplanted by multinational economic blocs, such as the Single European Market and the North American Free Trade Association, and the growth of multinational enterprises has led to globalisation, urban economies are often though t to be incapable of independence. Few cities command the resources or are managed in such a way as to give them power to shape their future economic trajectory. However, there is increasing evidence that cities are now seeking to identify their competitive and comparative advantage in order to compete for economic growth. The decentralisation of administrative power in countries such as France and Spain has offered an opportunity which some cities have been able to capitalise on, to advance their economies. Successes include cities such as Lille and Lyon in France and Barcelona in Spain. Studies indicate that cities compete for several target objectives. The most commonly cited object of competition between cities is mobile investmentÐ initially in manufacturing production, but more recently in any wealthor employm ent-creating sector including commercial development, property and information. The second objective of competition is a more widely de® ned economic growth, measured as gross value added or gross domestic product, a de® nition which includes in situ growth and new ® rm formation. The third, less often recognised, competition is for population, based on the assumption that population represents income, human capital, political power and demand. The fourth competition is competition for public funds at the level of the nation-state such as City Challenge in the UK or, at the level of Single European Market, the URBANNE programme. Lastly, often most visibly but least signi® cantly, is a competition for hallmark events and major pieces of infrastructure on a one-off basis. Success in these competitions, as for the Olympic Games and to act as European City of Culture, may have only short-term bene® ts but are often argued to have longer-term bene ® ts through their contribution to urban place marketing. The concept of place competition and competitiveness has two origins, neither of which is entirely appropriate to the urban context. On the one hand, urban competitiveness borrows ideas from the competition between nations for world market shares. National comparative advantage stresses differences in asset sets (natural resources, human skills, capital) and ef® ciency as the basis of trade. Deriving from this idea is the lesson that, for most cities, the probability of success lies in specialisation: only the truly `world’ cities are likely to succeed competitively across a broad range of dimensions. National trade theory, however, encompasses
A Protectionist Bias in Majoritarian Politics: An Empirical Investigation

Do politics affect trade policy? Despite an extensive literature examining the relationship between trade policy and some political factors, relatively few studies have explored the role of a country's electoral system, arguably one of the most fundamental characteristics of a nation's political landscape. This paper examines the empirical relationship between tariffs and electoral systems across countries and over time. The broad theoretical framework is provided by Grossman and Helpman, which predicts a bias towards a non-zero average tariff, i.e. a “protectionist bias”, in countries with majoritarian systems, since politicians in a majoritarian system aim to maximize the welfare of their home districts, as opposed to the welfare of the nation as a whole. I compare average tariffs of countries with majoritarian systems to those with proportional systems, using methods that address the omitted variables/sample selection problem inherent to this analysis. I find that countries with majoritarian systems do indeed appear to have higher average tariffs than do countries with proportional systems. This result holds after controlling for other country-specific characteristics, such as a country's legal origins, colonial history, and geographic location.
Tradeoffs between Internal and External Governance: Evidence from Exogenous Regulatory Shocks

type="main"> We use the 2002 NYSE and NASDAQ listing requirements mandating firms have a majority of independent directors on the board as an exogenous shock to examine the interaction between internal and external governance. Relative to compliant firms, noncompliant firms significantly reduced exposure to three external governance mechanisms: the market for corporate control, shareholder activism, and credit markets, by adding antitakeover provisions, adopting officer and director protection provisions, and reducing debt levels, respectively. The results are stronger in firms with greater exposure to the relevant external governance mechanism. The evidence suggests that firms treat internal and external governance as substitutes.
Combined Effect of CCR5-Δ32 Heterozygosity and the CCR5 Promoter Polymorphism −2459 A/G on CCR5 Expression and Resistance to Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Transmission

ABSTRACT Exposed seronegative individuals (ES) with persistent high-risk sexual behavior may be less susceptible to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection because they carry the chemokine receptor (CR) gene alleles CCR5 open reading frame (ORF) Δ32, CCR5 promoter −2459G, or CCR2 ORF 64I (CCR2-64I), all of which have been found to diminish HIV-1 infectivity and/or disease progression. To investigate this, we determined the haplotypes for these three genetic loci in 93 ES and 247 low-risk control individuals. To test if protective haplotypes exert their effect by modulating CR expression, we measured the protein expression of CCR5 and CXCR4 on circulating CD4+ T cells and CD14+ monocytes in 71 ES and 92 controls. To avoid investigator bias, the analysis was performed without knowledge of each subject's risk and genotype. The CCR5 −2459G allele was significantly enriched in ES Caucasian men, who constituted the majority (84%) of the ES cohort, compared to the control Caucasian men (P = 0.02). This increase was mostly attributable to a higher frequency of the −2459 A/G versus the −2459 A/A genotype in individuals heterozygous for the Δ32 allele (P = 0.012). No protective influence of the CCR2-64I allele was observed. The haplotypes CCR5 ORF Δ32/CCR5 −2459A (in complete linkage disequilibrium) and CCR5 ORF wt/CCR5 −2459G had a cumulative negative effect on the expression of CCR5, since we measured significantly reduced CCR5 densities on both T-helper cells and monocytes only when both haplotypes were present. Densities of CCR5 on lymphocytes and monocytes were correlated (r = 0.59; P < 0.0001), indicating concordance of CCR5 expression patterns across different cell types. We conclude that the CCR5 ORF Δ32/wt-CCR5 −2459 A/G genotype combination offers an advantage in resisting sexual HIV-1 transmission and that this effect is mediated by a relative paucity of CCR5 on potential target cells of HIV-1.
The Fiscal Capacity of New England

This policy brief summarizes the New England findings from the Center’s 2006 Working Paper: Measuring Fiscal Disparities Across U.S. States: A Representative Revenue System/Representative Expenditure System Approach. States and their local governments vary both in their needs to provide basic public services and in their abilities to raise revenues to pay for those services. This study uses the Representative Revenue System (RRS) and the Representative Expenditure System (RES) frameworks to quantify these disparities across states by comparing each state’s revenue capacity, revenue effort, and necessary expenditures to the average capacity, effort, and need in states across the country for fiscal year 2002.
Housing Canada's Oldest-Old: Correlates of Their Residential Status

ABSTRACT The authors examined determinants that contribute to keeping Canada's oldest-old (those 85 years and older) living in their own homes by focusing on determinants associated with living in certain types of homes. Multivariate logistic regression was done on a sample of 722 community dwellers aged 85 years and older from the 2001 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey. It was found that gender, marital status, and financial status determine residential status of the oldest-old and that high and low levels of mobility and instrumental activities of daily living foster community living. Previous findings suggest a trajectory of social exclusion (from house to apartment to facility). The current study shows the oldest old as socially stable, living in their homes. New policies to support their residential status and modifications to old policies are critical.
Staying well in an unstable world of work : Prospective cohort study of the determinants of employee well-being

Considering the time spent at work and the instability of work life, paying attention to employee well-being and its determinants over the long run and during the turbulence of work is a highly relevant. Although the associations between work-related and personal factors and employee well-being have been studied extensively, relatively little is known about the persistence of these associations over a longer period of time and whether the associations remain in the context of organizational restructuring, such as organizational expansion or downsizing, or what can be done within the organizations to manage the change process and employees reactions to it. The overarching aim of this thesis is to shed light on factors which help employees to stay well in an unstable world of work.
The Dynamics of Franchise Contracting: Evidence from Panel Data

This paper provides the first systematic evidence on how franchi‐sors adjust their royalty rates and franchise fees as they gain fran‐chising experience. This evidence comes from a unique panel data set that we assembled on these monetary contract terms for about 1,000 franchisors each year for the 1980–92 period. We find that there is much persistence, over time, in franchise contract terms within firms. We find this despite sizable across‐firm differences in royalty rates and franchise fees. In addition, franchisors do not systematically increase or decrease their royalty rates or franchise fees as they become better established, contrary to predictions from some specific theoretical models. We conclude that variation in contract terms is mostly determined by differences across firms, not by within‐firm changes over time. Finally, we find no negative relationship, within firms, between up‐front franchise fees and royalty rates.
Migration, Livelihoods and Institutions: Contrasting Patterns of Migration in Mali

Migration is a common and essential livelihood strategy in the risk-prone environment of Sahelian West Africa. But migration is not a passive reaction to economic and environmental forces. Patterns of movement are determined by context-specific and complex dynamics, mediated by social networks, gender relations and household structures. IDS-based research on sustainable livelihoods illustrated this in two locations in Mali: in a village in the Sahelian dryland with different and gendered migration patterns of various ethnic groups; and exceptional patterns in the Sudano-Sahelian cotton region with extensive and long-lasting engagement in small cocoa and coffee plantations in Côte d'Ivoire.
Quantitative study of the quadriceps muscles and trochlear groove geometry related to instability of the patellofemoral joint

This was a quantitative study of the major anatomical structures associated with instability of the patellofemoral joint: the quadriceps muscles and the femoral trochlear groove. The attachments of the muscles to the patella, their lines of action, and their relative sizes (physiological cross‐sectional areas) were found. On the basis of the physiological cross‐sectional areas, it was estimated that the central muscles—the rectus femoris and vastus intermedius—contributed 35% of the quadriceps strength, with 40% from the vastus lateralis and 25% from the vastus medialis. The vastus lateralis had the most variable results, with the ratio of the lateralis to the medialis ranging from 0.90 to 2.18; this may be associated with patellar instability. Both the long and oblique parts of the vastus medialis were more oblique than the corresponding parts of the vastus lateralis. Photographic “skyline” views of the trochlear groove produced data on the sulcus angle and ratio of depth to width. The data showed that the trochlear groove did not deepen in the area contacted by the patella with progressive knee flexion (p > 0.53). contrary to popular belief. These data are useful for objective analysis of patellofemoral stability and related surgical interventions.
Deriving competitive advantage from real exchange rate changes

Purpose – This paper seeks to argue that any competitive advantage realized by a firm that produces domestically and exports to a foreign market due to a real depreciation (appreciation) of the domestic (foreign) currency is purely transitory and thus not sustainable. Diversification of manufacturing operations across a number of countries and appropriate production rescheduling in light of real exchange rate changes are required to transform the character of this competitive advantage from merely transitory to sustainable.Design/methodology/approach – Analytic proof is provided of the dependence of an exporting firm's real profit margin on the real exchange rate. A simple contemporaneous and one‐period lagged model of the current account balance is then posited to argue that real exchange rates exhibit mean‐reversionary behavior.Findings – The Marshall‐Lerner condition, which is a mainstay of balance‐of‐payments models is shown to imply that real exchange rates exhibit mean‐reversionary behavior. Extensi.
Brain natriuretic peptide as a marker of left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with aortic stenosis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY In aortic stenosis (AS), serum levels of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) are elevated, but the relation of this elevation to the degree of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) remains unclear. The study aim was to assess the relationship between BNP and LVH (expressed as LV mass index, LVMI) and LV wall thickness index (WThI) in a group of patients. METHODS A total of 147 patients with AS (85 men, 62 women; mean age 61 +/- 12 years) each underwent echocardiography and serum BNP analysis. The correlation between serum BNP level and LVH was investigated, with patient gender, age, NYHA class, AS severity and presence of coronary artery disease also being taken into account. RESULTS Among AS patients, serum BNP levels ranged from 3 to 2010 pg/ml; mean BNP levels were similar in women and men (213 +/- 302 and 253 +/- 375 pg/ml, respectively). The BNP level also correlated directly with the LVMI (r = 0.55; p <0.0001), WThI (r = 0.26; p <0.001), end-diastolic dimension (r = 0.43; p <0.0001), mean aortic gradient (r = 0.25; p = 0.002), age (r = 0.27; p = 0.001); and correlated inversely with the LV ejection fraction (r = -0.52; p <0.0001). Eccentric LVH was associated with a significantly higher serum BNP level (506 +/- 558 pg/ml) than concentric-type hypertrophy (190 +/- 254 pg/ml; p = 0.002). CONCLUSION The measurement of serum BNP levels is of potential value when monitoring LVH in aortic stenosis patients.
Genotypic antiretroviral drug resistance testing at low viral loads in the UK

Antiretroviral drug resistance testing is recommended in HIV‐1 infected patients failing therapy in order to inform treatment selection. Although guidelines and test manufacturers recommend a viral load of at least 500–1000 HIV‐1 RNA copies/mL for genotypic resistance testing to be performed, prompt management of virological failure could benefit from testing at lower viral load levels.
Disclosure of Downside Risk and Investors' Use of Qualitative Information: Evidence from the IPO Prospectus's Risk Factor Section

I use the context of a company's initial public offering (IPO) of equity securities as a capital-market setting to empirically study the economic consequences of risk factor disclosures. Using data from Australian IPOs, I examine the relation of textual risk disclosures in the prospectus to initial underpricing. I find that the quantity of disclosures in the risk factor section itself has no significant impact on initial underpricing. However, an increase in the informativeness of risk factor disclosures is associated with lower IPO underpricing. My results suggest that IPOs that provide informative risk factor disclosures have less ex ante uncertainty, in the sense that the disclosures help investors estimate the dispersion of secondary market value. The effect of informative risk factor disclosures on IPO underpricing is more pronounced for IPOs with less prestigious lead underwriters and is mainly driven by younger firms, smaller firms, and firms with poorer operating performance prior to their IPOs. Collectively, my findings suggest that informative disclosures of downside risk are useful for investors to evaluate IPOs.
Enhancement of antiproliferative activity of gamma interferon by the specific inhibition of tyrosine dephosphorylation of Stat1

Gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) signals to the nucleus through the activation, by tyrosine phosphorylation, of the latent cytoplasmic transcription factor Stat1 (signal transducer and activator of transcription). It has been demonstrated that the activity of Stat1 is dependent on tyrosine phosphorylation which is regulated by Jak tyrosine kinases as well as by the as-yet-unidentified protein tyrosine phosphatase. We report that the N-terminal domain of Stat1, which is highly conserved among all STAT family members, is required for its tyrosine dephosphorylation. A single amino acid substitution (Arg-31 to Ala) in the Stat1 N-terminal domain inhibited Stat1 tyrosine dephosphorylation. The deletion of the Stat1 N-terminal domain resulted in a mutant Stat1 protein which was constitutively phosphorylated on Tyr-701. Upon IFN-gamma stimulation, the tyrosine phosphorylation of this mutant protein was further enhanced but was not down-regulated by protein tyrosine phosphatase in vivo. When expressed in NIH 3T3 cells, this mutant protein greatly enhanced the antiproliferative activity of IFN-gamma. We suggest that the N-terminal domains of STATs are crucial for modulating STAT activities through regulating the tyrosine dephosphorylation of STATs.
Analysts Get SAD Too: The Effect of Seasonal Affective Disorder on Stock Analysts' Earnings Estimates

Previous research finds that stock analysts exhibit both optimistic and pessimistic biases in their earnings forecasts, with the net result being a consistent but declining overestimation of forecasted earnings. We extend this research by examining the potential effect of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a documented psychological condition that produces heightened pessimism and risk aversion during the fall and winter months, on stock analysts' earnings estimates. Our results suggest that analysts are generally optimistic in their forecasts but significantly less so during SAD months. We also find this relation to be most pronounced for analysts located in northern states, who should be the ones most impacted by the disorder. We conclude that while the effect of SAD appears to be present, it actually seems to overcome an existing positive bent in earnings forecasts, thereby making estimates more accurate. Our findings add to the existing literature by identifying an additional psychological bias that could potentially influence stock analysts' earnings estimates.
Chinese Residents' Demand for Outbound Travel: Evidence from the Chinese Family Panel Studies

This paper investigates potential factors influencing Chinese residents' demand for outbound travel. Based on survey data from the Chinese Family Panel Studies project conducted in 2008, we utilize several discrete choice models to analyze (1) factors explaining Chinese residents' participation in outbound travel in the last five years and (2) factors explaining various types of outbound travel. We highlight the importance of age, hukou type, personal income, education level, domestic tourism participation, foreign language proficiency, life satisfaction, and Internet use to explain Chinese residents' outbound travel. We also observe regional differences and urban–rural differences by estimating the model using different sub-samples. Finally, implications are presented concerning marketing efforts in targeting potential Chinese outbound tourists.
The Instability of Korean Political Parties: Cue-givers and Cue-chasing Politicians

Abstract Korean political parties have been organizationally unstable for decades, even after 1987 when a democratic transition from authoritarian military-based politics was achieved. Many studies have argued that the instability has been caused by the Confucian culture of Korean politics. This paper suggests a different view of the political phenomenon: Korean party instability has been due to the ‘cue-chasing behaviors’ of self-interested politicians, rather than Confucian morality. This study examines the proposition with a historical exploration of Korean political parties between 1987 and 2012.
Poverty, Inequality, and Democracy: Postcommunist Welfare States

Abstract:Democracy is one of several factors that have determined welfare state spending in the postcommunist countries since the transition, together with geography, history, economic conditions, and international influences. While the more developed, democratic, and Western countries of Central and Eastern Europe have maintained a high level of social protection comparable to the rest of the European Union, the states of the former Soviet Union and Southeastern Europe have experienced a partial disintegration of their social safety nets. Still, most postcommunist states spend a higher proportion of their national product on their welfare states than other developing countries.
Sharing a Migrating Fish Stock

Abstract The sharing of a migrating fish stock between two players is considered. Data on the Northeast Atlantic mackerel are used to model the fishery. A growth function is estimated, and random fluctuations in growth and recruitment are used to simulate the fishery. Three different migration models are considered: i) deterministic, ii) stock-dependent, and iii) purely random. With deterministic migrations, the minor player has a disproportionate bargaining strength and must be offered a relatively large share of a cooperative solution. The minor player's bargaining strength is weak if the migrations into his economic zone are stock-dependent, but strong if they are purely random. The risk of extinction is shown to be high without stock-dependent unit cost of fish, and to get a viable Nash-Cournot equilibrium the major player's share must be well above one half. JEL Classification Codes: Q22, Q28, C72
On measuring group-differentials displayed by socioeconomic indicators

This is a very short and elementary note which points (in a continuation of a recent tradition in the literature) to the importance of taking account of the level of a socioeconomic indicator in comparing group-differentials displayed by it. The requirement of ‘level sensitivity’ is captured in a couple of axioms, and a measure of differential, which satisfies both these axioms, is advanced. An empirical illustration of the note's concerns is also provided.