Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Immigration, Trade and Productivity in Services: Evidence from U.K. Firms

This paper explores the impact of immigrants on the imports, exports and productivity of service-producing firms in the U.K. Immigrants may substitute for imported intermediate inputs (offshore production) and they may impact the productivity of the firm as well as its export behavior. The first effect can be understood as the re-assignment of offshore productive tasks to immigrant workers. The second can be seen as a productivity or cost cutting effect due to immigration, and the third as the effect of immigrants on specific bilateral trade costs. We test the predictions of our model using differences in immigrant inflows across U.K. labor markets, instrumented with an enclave-based instrument that distinguishes between aggregate and bilateral immigration, as well as immigrant diversity. We find that immigrants increase overall productivity in service-producing firms, revealing a cost cutting impact on these firms. Immigrants also reduce the extent of country-specific offshoring, consistent with a reallocation of tasks and, finally, they increase country-specific exports, implying an important role in reducing communication and trade costs for services.
The relationship between motivation, gender, L1 and possible selves in English-medium instruction

ABSTRACT English-medium instruction (EMI) is considered to be one of the main instruments to internationalize universities all over the world. Due to its recent implementation, research on linguistic outcomes is on the increase, whereas non-linguistic outcomes have been neglected. In fact, research on motivation in traditional English as a foreign language contexts is abundant but it is remarkably scant in EMI settings, that is, studies focused on motivation when English is used to teach content are much less habitual than when English is taught as a foreign language (language subject). To fill this gap, this article focuses on the relationship between EMI, motivation and possible selves, and how they are mediated by variables such as gender and students’ L1. Thus, this study elicits aspects overlooked by motivational self-system research such as students’ motivation towards English as an L3 in an EMI context, as in previous studies English (L2) was taught as a foreign language. The participants in this study were 189 students enrolled in EMI courses at a Spanish university. The results indicated that students’ ideal L2 self, their attitudes to EMI and family influence were the best predictors of their intended learning effort. The gender variable and the participants’ L1 exerted no significant influence.
Comorbidity among female detainees in drug treatment: an exploration of internalizing and externalizing disorders.

OBJECTIVE The current study explored the prevalence and comorbidity of major internalizing and externalizing psychiatric disorders in a sample of female detainees participating in drug treatment programs in the nation's largest single-site jail, the Cook County (Chicago) Department of Corrections. METHODS A total of 253 women participated in a Needs Inventory. The study incorporated an extensive combination of measures, which captured the women's demographic characteristics and psychological problems as well as their substance use and drug treatment histories and their criminal thinking tendencies. For the purpose of analyses, women were combined into 3 groups: women with substance use problems but no comorbid psychiatric disorders, women with 1 comorbid psychiatric disorder (either internalizing or externalizing), and women with both internalizing and externalizing disorders. RESULTS More than 3/4 of the women were comorbid for another psychiatric (an internalizing or externalizing) disorder. Comorbid disorders were related to lower self-esteem, greater drug use severity, and higher levels of criminal thinking. For example, measures of reported histories of criminal activities and trauma exposure increased with comorbidity. The most critical variables in differentiating between female detainees with no and both internalizing and externalizing disorders were criminal thinking and exposure to trauma. CONCLUSIONS The women in the present investigation and other female detainees in drug treatment programs require interventions that focus on both criminal and psychiatric recidivism. These interventions are most effectively delivered in a person-focused recovery framework that provides integrated modules of services. (PsycINFO Database Record
Financial Shocks and the Macroeconomy: Heterogeneity and Non-Linearities

This paper analyses the transmission of financial shocks to the macroeconomy. The role of macro-financial linkages is investigated from an empirical perspective for the euro area as a whole, for individual euro area member countries and for other EU and OECD countries. The following key economic questions are addressed: 1) Which financial shocks have the largest impact on output over the full sample on average? 2) Are financial developments leading real activity? 3) Is there heterogeneity or a common pattern in macro-financial linkages across the euro area and do these linkages vary over time? 4) Do cross-country spillovers matter? 5) Is the transmission of financial shocks different during episodes of high stress than it is in normal times, i.e. is there evidence of non-linearities? In summary, it is found that real asset prices are significant leading indicators of real activity whereas the latter leads loan developments. Furthermore, evidence is presented that macro-financial linkages are heterogeneous across countries – despite persistent commonalities – and time-varying. Moreover, they differ between euro area and other countries. Results also indicate that cross-country spillovers matter. Finally, important non-linearities in the transmission of financial shocks are documented, as the evidence suggests that the transmission differs in episodes of high stress compared with normal times. JEL Classification: C43, D11
The Power of One or Power in Numbers?

This study analyzes the impact of racial/ethnic minority leaders on equity and diversity policies. Previous research finds that minority leaders are associated with reduced inequality, yet the ways in which these leaders impact organizational policies are understudied. Our analysis relies on a unique dataset of corporate practices, CEO race/ethnicity, and board member race/ethnicity in Fortune 500 firms from 2001 to 2010. The authors find that while minority CEOs have minimal impact on equity policies, diverse boards are significantly associated with equitable practices. They conclude that board diversity is critical for shaping corporate practice related to equity and diversity.
Adverse Selection, Seller Effort, and Selection Bias

Several studies (Genesove 1993; Chezum and Wimmer 1997) use evidence of a correlation between seller characteristics and prices as evidence of adverse selection. This approach ignores the effect seller effort might have on the quality of goods sold. We develop a theoretical framework that accounts for both adverse selection and seller effort and provide a set of conditions under which sellers, who more likely adversely select the goods they sell, produce higher quality goods. Empirically, adverse selection emerges as a special case of selection bias. To disentangle the effects of adverse selection from seller effort, we employ a unique data set that allows us to model the selection decision explicitly. The evidence suggests that both adverse selection and hidden effort play important roles in the market for thoroughbred racehorse prospects.
Stochastic Block Model Reveals the Map of Citation Patterns and Their Evolution in Time

In this study we map out the large-scale structure of citation networks of science journals and follow their evolution in time by using stochastic block models (SBMs). The SBM fitting procedures are principled methods that can be used to find hierarchical grouping of journals into blocks that show similar incoming and outgoing citations patterns. These methods work directly on the citation network without the need to construct auxiliary networks based on similarity of nodes. We fit the SBMs to the networks of journals we have constructed from the data set of around 630 million citations and find a variety of different types of blocks, such as clusters, bridges, sources, and sinks. In addition we use a recent generalization of SBMs to determine how much a manually curated classification of journals into subfields of science is related to the block structure of the journal network and how this relationship changes in time. The SBM method tries to find a network of blocks that is the best high-level representation of the network of journals, and we illustrate how these block networks (at various levels of resolution) can be used as maps of science.
Cause-specific mortality in Finnish forensic psychiatric patients

Abstract Purpose: To analyze the causes of mortality among patients committed to compulsory forensic psychiatric hospital treatment in Finland during 1980–2009 by categorizing the causes of mortality into somatic diseases, suicides and other unnatural deaths. Materials and methods: The causes of mortality were analyzed among 351 patients who died during the follow-up. Standardized mortality ratio (SMR) was calculated as the ratio of observed and expected number of deaths by using the subject-years methods with 95% confidence intervals, assuming a Poisson distribution. The expected number of deaths was calculated on the basis of sex-, age- and calendar-period-specific mortality rates for the Finnish population. Results: The vast majority (249/351) of deaths were due to a somatic disease with SMR of 2.6 (mean age at death 61 years). Fifty nine patients committed suicide with a SMR of 7.1 (mean age at death 40 years). Four patients were homicide victims (mean age at death 40 years) and 32 deaths were accidental (mean age at death 52 years). The combined homicides and accidental deaths resulted in a SMR of 1.7. Conclusions: The results of this study point out that the high risk for suicide should receive attention when the hospital treatment and the outpatient care is being organized for forensic psychiatric patients. In addition, the risk of accidents should be evaluated and it should be assured that the patients receive proper somatic healthcare during the forensic psychiatric treatment and that it continues also in the outpatient setting.
Clinical activity of trastuzumab and vinorelbine in women with HER2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer.

PURPOSE To determine the response rate and toxicity profile of trastuzumab administered concurrently with weekly vinorelbine in women with HER2-overexpressing advanced breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS Forty women with HER2-positive (+3 by immunohistochemistry, n = 30; +2 or positive, n = 10) breast cancer were enrolled onto a study of trastuzumab (4 mg/kg x 1, 2 mg/kg weekly thereafter) and vinorelbine (25 mg/m2 weekly, with dose adjusted each week for neutrophil count). Eighty-two percent of women had received prior chemotherapy as part of adjuvant (30%), metastatic (25%), or both (28%) treatment, including substantial portions of patients who had previously received either anthracyclines (20%), taxanes (15%), or both types (38%) of chemotherapy. RESULTS Responses were observed in 30 of 40 patients (overall response rate, 75%, conditional corrected 95% confidence interval, 57% to 89%). The response rate was 84% in patients treated with trastuzumab and vinorelbine as first-line therapy for metastatic disease, and 80% among HER2 +3 positive patients. High response rates were also seen in women treated with second- or third-line therapy, and among patients previously treated with anthracyclines and/or taxanes. Combination therapy was feasible; patients received concurrent trastuzumab and vinorelbine in 93% of treatment weeks. Neutropenia was the only grade 4 toxicity. No patients had symptomatic heart failure. Grade 2 cardiac toxicity was observed in three patients. Prior cumulative doxorubicin dose in excess of 240 mg/m2 and borderline pre-existing cardiac function were associated with grade 2 cardiac toxicity. CONCLUSION Trastuzumab in combination with vinorelbine is highly active in women with HER2-overexpressing advanced breast cancer and is well tolerated.
"Globalization" and Vertical Structure

This paper analyzes the effects of international openness on vertical integration. Vertical integration can confer a negative externality, by thinning the market for inputs and thus worsening opportunism problems; this induces strategic complementarity and multiple equilibria in the integration decision, thus providing a theory of different "industrial systems" or "industrial cultures" in ex ante identical countries. International openness thickens the market, facilitating leaner, less integrated firms, thus providing gains from international openness quite different from those that are familiar from trade theory. This may be taken as one theory of "outsourcing," "downsizing," and "Japanization" as consequences of "globalization. "
Poverty impacts of agricultural trade liberalisation in Sri Lanka

Any policy reform will bring positive impacts as well as adverse impacts to the society, depending on the economy and on the characteristics of the population group. The impacts of trade liberalisation, particularly the impact of trade policies in developed countries and inequality in developing economies, is strongly debated in the international trade and development arena. Objective of this paper is to present a comprehensive review of the theoretical and empirical literature on the effect of agricultural trade liberalisation on poverty, in particular, focusing in Sri Lanka. Methods used for analysing the complex poverty impacts of trade liberalisation include partial equilibrium models, econometric analysis, general equilibrium models, and micro/macro simulation models, which combine macro-level simulation with micro-level household models. Agricultural trade liberalisation in particular tends to adversely affect small farmers in developing countries while large scale farmers/producers and the farmers from developed countries gain through agricultural trade liberalisation. Therefore, agricultural trade liberalisation tends to supports consumers while adversely affecting rural producers. However, country-specific studies are needed to explore the outcomes for particular groups in particular countries. Each and every policy reform will bring positive impact as well as adverse impact to society, depending on the economy and on the characteristics of the population group.
Processing of Electronic Medical Records for Health Services Research in an Academic Medical Center: Methods and Validation

Background Electronic medical records (EMRs) contain a wealth of information that can support data-driven decision making in health care policy design and service planning. Although research using EMRs has become increasingly prevalent, challenges such as coding inconsistency, data validity, and lack of suitable measures in important domains still hinder the progress. Objective The objective of this study was to design a structured way to process records in administrative EMR systems for health services research and assess validity in selected areas. Methods On the basis of a local hospital EMR system in Singapore, we developed a structured framework for EMR data processing, including standardization and phenotyping of diagnosis codes, construction of cohort with multilevel views, and generation of variables and proxy measures to supplement primary data. Disease complexity was estimated by Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and Polypharmacy Score (PPS), whereas socioeconomic status (SES) was estimated by housing type. Validity of modified diagnosis codes and derived measures were investigated. Results Visit-level (N=7,778,761) and patient-level records (n=549,109) were generated. The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM) codes were standardized to the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) with a mapping rate of 87.1%. In all, 97.4% of the ICD-9-CM codes were phenotyped successfully using Clinical Classification Software by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Diagnosis codes that underwent modification (truncation or zero addition) in standardization and phenotyping procedures had the modification validated by physicians, with validity rates of more than 90%. Disease complexity measures (CCI and PPS) and SES were found to be valid and robust after a correlation analysis and a multivariate regression analysis. CCI and PPS were correlated with each other and positively correlated with health care utilization measures. Larger housing type was associated with lower government subsidies received, suggesting association with higher SES. Profile of constructed cohorts showed differences in disease prevalence, disease complexity, and health care utilization in those aged above 65 years and those aged 65 years or younger. Conclusions The framework proposed in this study would be useful for other researchers working with EMR data for health services research. Further analyses would be needed to better understand differences observed in the cohorts.
Japan's Big 3 Firms' Response to Clients' Business Risk: Greater Audit Effort or Higher Audit Fees?

This study examines whether and how the Big 3 audit firms in Japan respond to clients' business risk and whether their responses vary. Two possible approaches to addressing clients' higher business risk are increasing audit effort (e.g., increasing total audit hours or assigning more experienced staff to the audit team) and charging a risk premium to cover possible future losses without increasing audit effort. Although the auditing standards and audit fee determination guidelines issued by the Japanese audit profession apparently assume that an auditor chooses the first approach to respond to clients' high business risk, the approach adopted by each Big 3 firm is an empirical issue. By analyzing data on audits conducted by the Big 3 Japanese firms using structural equation modeling and ordinary least squares regression, we find that responses to clients' higher business risk vary among the firms. While two of the firms increase audit effort and charge a risk premium for audits with higher business risk, the third firm responds to clients' business risk only by increasing audit effort. In addition, the strength of the relationships between clients' business risk and audit effort/fees varies among the firms.
Industrial Concentration and the Rate of Profit: Some Neglected Theory

FOR many years, economists, lawyers, revolutionaries, Presidential speech writers, corporate promoters and no doubt other groups as well have been concerned with the possible connections between industrial concentration and profit rates. The persistence of this concern is not surprising. Nor is the acrimonious debate that it has often inspired. After all, if concentration and profitability are not positively correlated, certain fundamental assumptions of classical Marxism, most varieties of nonclassical Marxism, American populism (especially as manifested in antitrust policy) and the modern Schumpeterians are simply wrong. Conversely, if these two variables are positively correlated, libertarian economists and others who place their faith in contractual freedom as a force that will finally erode any above average rate of return must needs re-think their position. Over the years many empirical studies have probed for association between industrial concentration and profitability. ' But these efforts have employed no standardized methodology or set of definitions and, inevitably, have covered different time spans. It is understandable that their results provide no definitive answer to the question: What is the correlation between industry concentration and industry rate of return on capital? In this writer's
A Cointegration Model of Age-Specific Fertility and Female Labor Supply in the United States

Cointegration methods suitable for estimation and testing with nonstationary data are applied to U.S. time-series data on age-specific fertility rates, female labor force participation rates, women's wages, unemployment rates and educational attainment, and male relative incomes. Likelihood ratio tests indicate the existence of two cointegrating relations that are identified as a fertility equation and a labor supply equation, respectively. Estimated long-run relations are consistent with economic models of fertility and female labor market behavior, and these results are robust across both age-groups and several alternative model specifications.
Toxicity of Mount St. Helens ash leachate to a blue-green alga

This report describes laboratory studies with volcanic ash intended to aid the assessment of the possible effects of ash presence on the blue-green algal populations in lakes. Bioassays using leachate from volcanic ash of the May 18, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens, Wash. , indicate that leachate derived from ash collected at Richland, Washington, is toxic to the blue-green alga Anabaena flos-aquae, whereas leachate from ash collected at Moses Lake, Wash. , is not. The difference in the toxicity of the two leachates may be attributable to differences in concentration of cationic-exchangeable, dissolved, organic compounds. Seventeen percent of the dissolved organic carbon from the leachate from ash collected at Richland was retained on a cationexchange column, whereas only six percent of the dissolved organic carbon from the leachate from ash collected at Moses Lake was retained. Anabaena flos-aquae cultures spiked with dilutions as large as 1 to 250 of leachate derived from volcanic ash collected at Richland showed toxic effects, whereas cultures spiked with a 1 to 25 dilution of leachate derived from ash collected at Moses Lake showed no toxic effects. The toxic components of the volcanic ash are nonuniformly distributed over the ash fall area. Preliminary data indicate that the toxic components may belong to one or more of the following classes of substances: (1) cationic organic compounds such as amines; (2) highly hydrophobic (sparingly soluble) organic compounds such as phenols that interact with and are retained by the cation-exchange-resin matrix; or (3) metal-organic complexes that are retained by interaction of the metal with the cation-exchange resin.
Former Foreign Affiliates: Cast Out and Outperformed?

The literature has documented a positive effect of foreign ownership on firm performance. But is this effect due to a one-time knowledge transfer or does it rely on continuous injections of knowledge? To shed light on this question we focus on divestments, that is, foreign affiliates that are sold to local owners. To establish a causal effect of the ownership change we combine a difference-in-differences approach with propensity score matching. We use plant-level panel data from the Indonesian Census of Manufacturing covering the period 1990-2009. We consider 157 cases of divestment, where a large set of plant characteristics is available two years before and three years after the ownership change and for which observationally similar control plants exist. The results indicate that divestment is associated with a drop in total factor productivity accompanied by a decline in output, markups as well as export and import intensity. The findings are consistent with the benefits of foreign ownership being driven by continuous supply of headquarter services from the foreign parent.