Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Revenue Sharing and Information Exchange Under Non-Discriminatory Taxation

The international exchange of tax information, and its merits compared to withholding taxes, is the central topic in current debates in international tax policy.The purpose of this paper is to characterize and compare the tax regimes that emerge with and without information exchange, under the assumption that countries are unable to differentiate between the taxes they apply to residents and non-residents.It focuses in particular on the role of asymmetries in country size (capturing a key feature of tax havens) and on the impact and potential desirability of schemes to share the revenue raised by withholding (as under the new EU savings tax arrangements) or (more innovatively) as a consequence of information exchange.It is shown that (irrespective of country size difference) Pareto efficiency requires that all revenue collected from nonresidents be transferred to the residence country which would require taking the EU practice even further from the norm, but is currently the norm in relation to information exchange.A withholding scheme with revenue fully reallocated in this way Pareto dominates information sharing, whatever the allocation under the latter. Comparing schemes in which there is no revenue sharing, however, shows that information exchange Pareto dominates simple withholding.
Corporate governance and its effect on the liquidity of a stock: evidence from the MENA region

What causes investors to trade in certain stocks more than the others? We answer this question by documenting significant relationship between various proxies of corporate governance mechanisms and liquidity in the MENA region. Our results show that higher analyst following, lower ownership concentration, and having Big-Four auditors as external auditors lead to higher liquidity. All of these factors are considered to be the proxies of better corporate governance mechanisms. We argue that better corporate governance mechanisms lower the extent of adverse selection problems and therefore lead to higher liquidity. Our results indicate that managers can improve information environment of a firm, if they want to increase tradability of their stocks. Interestingly, our results show a negative relationship between dividend payout ratio and liquidity. Consistent with Banerjee et al. (2007), we argue that frictions in the MENA region stock markets lead to high demand for dividends in less liquid stocks, thereby resulting in negative relationship between the two.
Government size and the stability of output: evidence from emerging market economies

Fatás and Mihov (2001a, b) reported a negative and statistically significant relation between government size and output variability in a cross-section of 20 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries and concluded that large governments stabilize output. This conclusion does not appear to be valid for Emerging Market Economies (EMEs). Results from cross-section and combined cross-section and time series regressions for a sample of 21 EMEs for the period 1970 to 2001 indicate that the relation between government size and output volatility is statistically significant and positive.
Investigating Sensitivity to Shared Information and Personal Experience in Children's Use of Majority Information

When learning from others, rather than simply following the majority’s opinion, we need to accurately evaluate the quality of the information both the majority and the minority provide, and integrate that information with our own personal experience. This is especially true when the majority’s opinion is based on lower quality information, because they shared the same evidence rather than collecting evidence independently. Previous work demonstrated that adults are sensitive to the quality of the majority’s information, consistent with the predictions of a Bayesian rational model (Whalen, Griffiths, & Buchsbaum, in press). In two behavioural experiments, we investigated how preschoolers combine testimony from a majority that conflicts with a minority or with the child’s own personal evidence. Unlike adults, children over-relied on the majority when given only testimony. However, when also given their own conflicting evidence, children relied significantly less on the majority and over-relied on their own evidence. These findings help explain why children may follow the majority at times, but in others trust their own judgements.
Spatial patterns of snow accumulation across Belcher Glacier, Devon Ice Cap, Nunavut, Canada

Abstract Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys at a center frequency of 500 MHz were used to determine winter (2007/08) and net annual (2005–07) snow water equivalent (SWE) patterns across the upper parts of Belcher Glacier, Devon Ice Cap, Nunavut, Canada. The GPR measurements were validated against snow depths determined from avalanche probe measurements, and converted to SWE values using densities measured with a down-borehole neutron density probe and in shallow snow pits. Distinct internal reflection horizons (IRHs) in the GPR record were formed during warm summers in 2007 and 2005, and a large rain event in summer 2006 which caused ice to accumulate above the 2005 melt surface. Elevation provides the dominant control on winter SWE distribution across the basin, with surface topography (e.g. gullies) also being locally important. Based on the location where IRHs intersected the ice-cap surface, the basin-wide firn line occurred at an altitude of 1260–1300 m over the period 2005–08. Net mass balance across the accumulation area of Belcher Glacier averaged 0.24 m w.e. a−1 over the period 2005–07, mainly dependent on altitude. This is a little higher than most previous estimates for the period since the 1960s, although the differences lie within error limits.
Evidence on the Mean‐Reverting Tendencies of Closed‐End Fund Discounts

Closed-end fund (CEF) discounts vary widely over time due to changes in share price, net asset value (NAV), or both. Prior studies suggest discounts are mean-reverting. We examine the mean-reversion issue by employing cointegration procedures. Specifically, we identify bond and equity CEFs that exhibit stationary time-series properties and find statistically significant error correction terms that quantify the speed of mean reversion. The results indicate that mean reversion is caused by changes in both share price and NAVs. However, CEFs can only provide excess returns when the discount narrows due to share price increases. Copyright 2003 by the Eastern Finance Association.
Neural structures involved in the genesis of preoptic pulmonary edema, gastric erosions and behavior changes.

Lung edema resulting from preoptic lesions in rats, previously described by Gamble and Patton, was further studied. Mid-line lesions dorsal to the chiasm cause lung edema more consistently than the lateral preoptic lesions described by Gamble and Patton. Vagotomy does not prevent development of lung edema following preoptic lesions. Cervical spinal transection, however, completely prevents development of preoptic lung edema. The evidence suggests that edemagenic impulses traverse the sympathetic outflow, but their effector organs are unknown. Hypothalamic transections dorsal to the chiasm cause lung edema and increased running. Similar transections 1–3 mm caudal to the chiasm are ineffective. Indeed, mid-line lesions in the caudal hypothalamus prevent development of lung edema and hyperactivity when preoptic lesions are inflicted. The evidence suggests that ‘preoptic pulmonary edema’ is a release phenomenon, and that the edemagenic impulses arise from postchiasmatic hypothalamic structures which are normally held in abeyance by the preoptic region. Hemorrhagic gastric erosions were sometimes observed in animals autopsied after preoptic lesions. Neither spinal transection nor caudal hypothalamic lesions diminish the incidence of gastric lesions. Vagotomy, however, prevents development of gastric lesions following preoptic lesions.
Increased Serum Levels of Inflammatory Markers in Chronic Institutionalized Patients with Schizophrenia

Activation of the cytokine systems may be involved in the neuropathological changes occurring in the central nervous systems of schizophrenic patients. However, associations between the levels of cytokines and the severity of symptoms have not been completely established. Objective: It was the aim of this study to evaluate serum levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and their soluble receptors (sTNFR) in schizophrenic patients and healthy controls. Methods: Forty male institutionalized schizophrenic patients (mean age ± SD, 52.3 ± 9.9 years) and 20 asymptomatic matched controls were recruited. The severity of symptoms was assessed using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale. Serum levels of cytokines were measured by ELISAs. Results: Serum levels of sTNFR1 and sTNFR2 were increased in schizophrenic patients when compared with controls (all p < 0.05), but there was no difference in TNF-α levels. There was no correlation between the length of disease/hospitalization or the severity of symptoms and the serum levels of these molecules. Conclusion: Inflammatory markers are increased in schizophrenia but they do not correlate with symptom severity.
Banks as Social Accountants and Screening Devices for the Allocation of Credit

This paper presents and alternative perspective on the role of banks. We emphasize the ways in which banks act as social accountants and screening devices. In this view monetary disturbances have their effects through the disturbances which they induce in society's accounting system and in the mechanisms by which it is ascertained who is credit worthy. Because of asymmetric information, giving rise to credit rationing, interest rates do not play the simple allocative role ascribed by the conventional paradigm, and as a result the equilibrating forces provided by market mechanisms may be weak or virtually absent. The paper provides a critique of the transactions based approach to monetary theory, and sketches a general equilibrium formulation of the theory. The paper traces out some of the policy implications of the theory. We show that certain financial innovations, such as allowing for the more rapid recording of transactions, may actually be welfare reducing.
Public Sector Collective Bargaining

The past decade offers a paradoxical forecast for the future of public sector collective bargaining. While the number of public employees covered by union contracts has increased, bargaining outcomes indicate that unions are on the defensive. The long-term viability ofpublic sector collective bargaining will depend on unions'ability to persuade the public and elected officials that unions are tied to vital public policy issues that go beyond their members'more narrow economic concerns.
Trading Costs and the Relative Rates of Price Discovery in Stock, Futures, and Option Markets

In frictionless and rational markets, perfect substitutes must have the same price. In markets with trading costs, however, price differences may be as large as the costs of executing the arbitrage between markets. Moreover, if trading costs differ, trading activity will tend to be concentrated in the lowest-cost market. This study tests the differential trading cost hypothesis by examining the rate at which new information is incorporated in stock, index futures, and index option prices. The lead/lag return relations among markets are consistent with their relative trading costs. Prices in the index derivative markets appear to lead prices in the stock market. At the same time, index futures prices tend to lead index option prices, and the prices of index calls and index puts move together. The trading cost hypothesis reconciles the disparity found between the temporal relation in the stock index/index derivative markets versus the stock/stock option markets.
Interfirm Tender Offers and the Market for Corporate Control

It is commonly believed that the interfirm cash tender offer is an attempt by the bidding firm to purchase the target shares and profit from their subsequent market appreciation. This belief is inconsistent with the available evidence. While acquiring firms earn a positive return from the tender offer, they do not realize a capital gain from the target shares that they purchase. In the 161 successful offers in this study, bidding firms paid target stockholdei-s an average premium of 49% for the shares they purchased. This premium is calculated relative to the closing price of a target share 2 months prior to the announceinent of the offer. The average appreciation of the target shares through I month subsequent to the execution of the offer was 36%, relative to this same benchmark. In sum, target This paper examines the nature of interfirm cash tender offers. The tender offer is viewed as a bid for the right to conitrol the resources of the target firm. A model based on this interpretation, efficient and competitive mar-kets, and rational expectations is developed and tested. The implications of this model are shown to be consistent with the following documented empirical facts concerning the average tender offer: the stockholders of both acquiring and acquired firms realize a significant capital gain; acquiring firms suffer a significant capital loss on the target shares they pul-chase; target stockholders realize a significant capital gain regardless of the outcome of the offer or whetheror not they tender their shar-es.
Potentiation of natural killer cell activity with myricetin.

BACKGROUND/AIM Myricetin is a flavanoid that can be found in a variety of food sources, including red wine. Several reports have indicated that flavonoids may reduce the disease risk of cancer. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of some flavonols on natural killer (NK) cell activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS A time-resolved fluorometric assay (TDA-labeled K562 target cells) was used for measuring the cytotoxic activity of NK-cells pre-treated with different flavonoids. RESULTS A limited number of flavanoids was tested for their ability to enhance the NK activity. Pre-treating NK cells with myricetin, could potentiate their ability to kill K562 erythroleukemia cells. This enhancement of the NK activity was observed in a dose-dependent manner. Similar treatments with the structurally similar molecule quercetin, that lacks one hydroxyl group, did not have any impact at all on NK activity. CONCLUSION The enhanced cytotoxic activity observed with myricetin-pretreated-NK cells might shed some light on human studies indicating a preventive role of flavonols against cancer.
Influence of alternative and conventional agricultural management on soil microbial processes and nitrogen availability

Microbial activities important to effects on crop productivity and nutrient cycling can be altered by agricultural management practices. This study was conducted to determine whether soil microbial populations and their N cycling activities differ between conventional and alternative management practices. Physical, chemical, and microbial soil properties were measured at soil depth intervals of 0 to 7.5, 7.5 to 15, and 15 to 30 cm at a site in southeastern Pennsylvania during the second and fifth years after conversion from a conventional, chemically intensive system to alternative systems utilizing legumes and animal manure as N sources. In the second year after conversion, populations of fungi and bacteria, dehydrogenase activity, and soil respiration in the surface soil layer were greatest with alternative systems planted to red clover (Trifolium pratense L.). Differences in soil biological factors between management systems were related primarily to crop characteristics and, to a lesser extent, to soil physical properties. Levels of microbial populations and activities with conventional management were the same as with alternative management systems when similar crops such as corn (Zea mays L.) or soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] were grown. Soil NO3-N contents, at most sampling depths, were markedly increased by application of fertilizer N or recent plow-down of red clover or hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth). The growth of red clover in the second year or hairy vetch in the fifth year was accompanied by significantly increased microbial biomass and potentially mineralizable N (PMN) reserves in the top 30-cm soil layer-these changes being most pronounced in the surface 0- to 7.5-cm layer. Nitrogen deficiency symptoms and lower corn grain yields in a legume/cash grain rotation as compared with conventional management in the second year were associated with lower soil NO3, levels and a greater proportion of N present as weed biomass and belowground microbial biomass. In 1985, management systems comparisons were limited to corn as the main crop; soil NO3 levels during the growing season were inversely related to soil microbial biomass and PMN levels where hairy vetch was overseeded and incorporated as green manure by plowing before corn planting. Under the conditions of this study, the use of chemicals had little effect on microbial populations, their activity, or the cycling of nitrogen. Cropping systems-in particular, the growth of red clover or hairy vetch—profoundly influenced soil microbial biomass levels and soil pools of organic and available NO3-N during the growing season. Competitiveness of alternative management systems employing legumes as? sources for grain crops may depend largely on the grower's ability to synchronize supplies of available soil N with periods of maximum uptake by grain crops.
Use of a computerized advanced cardiac life support simulator improves retention of advanced cardiac life support guidelines better than a textbook review.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether an advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) computer simulation program improves retention of ACLS guidelines more effectively than textbook review. DESIGN Randomized, controlled trial. SETTING Academic medical center. PARTICIPANTS Forty-five anesthesia residents and faculty tested 10 to 11 months after ACLS provider course training. INTERVENTION Participants were randomized and asked to prepare for a mock resuscitation (Mega Code) with either textbooks or a computerized ACLS simulation program. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Performance on a standardized Mega Code examination that required application of supraventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, and second-degree Type II atrioventricular block algorithms. Mega Code sessions were administered by an instructor who was blinded as to the subject group. The sessions were videotaped and scored by two evaluators who also were blinded as to the subject group. RESULTS Participants who used the ACLS simulation program scored significantly higher (mean 34.9 +/- 5.0 [SD] of 47 possible points) than participants who reviewed using a textbook (29.2 +/- 4.9); p < . 001. Pass-fail rates for the algorithms were also higher for the group that reviewed with the simulator (mean 2.5 +/- 0.5 of 3 possible passes) than the group that used the textbook (1.6 +/- 1.0); p = . 001. CONCLUSIONS Use of a computerized ACLS simulation program improves retention of ACLS guidelines better than textbook review.
The Development of Social Capital and Financing of Entrepreneurial Firms: From Financial Bootstrapping to Bank Funding

This paper uses a three–dimensional perspective on social capital to investigate how entrepreneurs develop their social capital when relying on bootstrapping strategies becomes insufficient and financing needs to be acquired from external debt and equity financiers. Findings from six case studies of entrepreneurs in the fashion industry show that to acquire funding, due to perceived deficiency in the existing network, entrepreneurs develop the structural dimension by adding relationships based on function. However, when seeking financial information that is perceived as sufficient in the existing network, they do so by developing cognitive and relational dimensions to preexisting network ties.
Elections and War: The Electoral Incentive in the Democratic Politics of War and Peace

List of figures 1. Democratic politics and international relations 2. Attitudes towards war in the democratic states 3. Electoral institutions and the democratic politics of war and peace 4. Electoral incentives and foreign-policy choices 5. Elections and war: the international connection 6. International outcomes 7. Conclusions Appendices Notes Bibliography Index.
The impact of attitude variables on the credit debt behavior

Purpose – The present research attempts to address what kinds of attitude variables influence individuals' debt behavior. Although credit card debt has been extensively documented recently, the main focus is on the pure amount of debt. Little research is concerned with the source of credit card debt. This research tries to investigate how different attitude variables affect revolving credit card use and petty installment use which are two main sources of credit card debt. It is generally accepted that attitude variables are one of the causes of credit card misuse. But there is no research to compare the differential effect of each factor in one model. The present research tries to use statistical method to find out the distinctive effect of each attitude factor.Design/methodology/approach – The study was conducted by using mail‐in questionnaires, which were sent to credit card holders who were using or had used either revolving credit or petty installment plans. After reliability and validity tests, stepw.
Information Technology and the Future of Cities

Will improvements in information technology eliminate face-to- face interactions and make cities obsolete? In this paper, we present a model where individuals make contacts and choose whether to use electronic or face-to-face meetings in their interactions. Cities are modeled as a means of reducing the fixed travel costs involved in face-to-face interactions. When telecommunications technology improves, there are two opposing effects on cities and face-to-face interactions: some relationships that used to be face-to-face will be done electronically (an intuitive substitution effect), and some individuals will choose to make more contacts, many of which result in face-to-face interactions. Our empirical work suggests that telecommunications may be a complement, or at least not a strong substitute for cities and face-to-face interactions. We also present simple models of learning in person, from a written source, or over the phone, and find that interactive communication dominates other forms of learning when ideas are complicated.