Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Consumption and Living Standards in China

The future of the reforms in China ultimately depends on whether, and if so to what extent, reforms introduced in the recent past have improved the consumption and the standard of living of the Chinese people. It also depends on whether any such gains in the standard of living have been widely spread among the whole population. Since 1978 real per capita consumption in China has risen at an average annual rate of 7 per cent which is more than three and a half times that of the preceding 21 years. As a result, the standard of living of the average Chinese citizen in 1990 was more than double that of 1978. However, the growth of consumption and the living standard was rather uneven during the reform period. During the first phase of the reforms (1978–85) the consumption standard increased rapidly without widening existing income disparity. During the second phase (1985–90), however, improvements in consumption standards slowed significantly amidst rising inflation and growing income inequality. The question is whether the recent trend of a relatively slow rise in the standard of living and greater income disparity will continue in the 1990s. The purpose of this article is to examine the recent trends and changes in the level, structure and differentials of Chinese consumption and living standards, and to assess their prospects for the 1990s
A noise-robust estimator of volatility based on interquantile ranges

This paper proposes a new class of estimators based on the interquantile range of intraday returns, referred to as interquantile range based volatility (IQRBV), to estimate the integrated daily volatility. More importantly and intuitively, it is shown that a properly chosen IQRBV is jump-free for its trimming of the intraday extreme two tails that utilize the range between symmetric quantiles. We exploit its approximation optimality by examining a general class of distributions from the Pearson type IV family and recommend using IQRBV.04 as the integrated variance estimate. Both our simulation and the empirical results highlight interesting features of the easy-to-implement and model-free IQRBV over the other competing estimators that are seen in the literature.
Effects of Classifying Equity or Debt on the Value of the Firm under Tax Asymmetry

Abstract This paper examines the effect of classifying a firm's equity or debt into subclasses of unequal seniority on the total expected tax burden of the firm and its security holders in a world with no agency and no bankruptcy costs. It is shown that, when positive income is taxed at a higher rate than that allowed on realized capital losses, expected taxes are minimized and the value of the firm is maximized if the firm has only one class of equity and, at most, one class of debt. This result helps to explain the common practice of issuing corporate bonds under open indentures. In fact, our empirical results indicate that before the advent of a differentiated capital gains tax in 1921, a great majority of publicly traded long-term industrial bonds were issued under closed indentures. By 1951, nearly all such debt was issued under single indentures (i.e., there was only one class of creditor).
The perception of small and micro enterprises in the city of Durban Central Business District (CBD), (Kwazulu- Natal) (KZN) towards financial planning

Poverty reduction and employment creation are some of the top United Nations Millennium Development goals. This can best be achieved through increasing employers. Many small and micro businesses are started every year but fail in their infancy due to lack of financial planning knowledge hence the purpose of this study which was to investigate and evaluate the perception of small and micro enterprises towards financial planning. This was a quantitative research method and a structured questionnaire was used to gather data. The research was carried out in Durban, South Africa and the results revealed that most of the small and micro enterprises do not understand what financial planning is, hence their inability to plan and manage their finances accordingly. Those who got advice from financial experts implemented it but in accordance with their particular businesses. It can be concluded that small and micro enterprises owner-managers in the Durban CBD working on their own or with the assistance of their accountants need to develop their financial planning knowledge skills if they are to succeed, grow and reap business benefits from the financial information they record. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014. v5n6p153
Building a Corporate Governance Index from the Perspectives of Ownership and Leadership for Firms in Taiwan

This paper tests the relationship between ownership/leadership structures and stock returns for firms listed in Taiwan. A “Governance Index” is built based on four different aspects of the company’s governance structure: 1. CEO duality, 2. Size of the board of directors, 3. Managements’ holdings and 4. Block shareholders’ holding. This index is used as a proxy measure of the effectiveness of the corporate governance mechanism. We propose that firms under good governance should outperform those under poor governance. We find a striking relationship between our governance index and stock performance of firms. The results imply that our corporate governance index is successful in evaluating the effectiveness of the governance mechanism of firms in Taiwan.
Determinants of Longevity and Success in Lebanese Family Businesses: An Exploratory Study

This article explores the characteristics of Lebanese family businesses using a sample of 114 firms and tests various propositions regarding the relationships between correlates of effective succession planning and longevity. Successful family businesses in Lebanon exhibit a variety of responses to the variables that are conducive to success. The findings indicate that older firms are more inclined to use a participatory decision-making process, as evidenced by more reliance on advisory boards. A significantly larger proportion of older firms relative to younger ones holds family meetings and has formal redemption and liquidity plans. Firms in our sample are characterized by liberal attitudes: more than 75% consider female ownership acceptable and more than two-thirds of the firms respond positively to potential female CEOs.
Balanced versus Unbalanced Psychological Contracts in Temporary and Permanent Employment: Associations with Employee Attitudes

This study concerns balance in exchange relationships as described in the psychological contract literature about employees’ and employers’ promises and fulfilment of these promises. Balance is investigated, firstly, in relation to temporary versus permanent employment and, secondly, in relation to employees’ attitudes (fairness, job satisfaction, and intention to quit). Analyses were based on a Dutch sample of 290 temporary and 489 permanent workers. Regarding balance in mutual promises, we found that temporary workers were more likely to have psychological contracts with few mutual promises than permanent workers, while permanent workers were more likely to have psychological contracts with many mutual promises compared to temporary workers. Regarding balance in the fulfilment of promises, we found the opposite pattern, namely, that fulfilment was higher in temporary workers compared to permanent workers. Furthermore, only mutual high fulfilment of promises was associated with higher job satisfaction and fairness and with lower intentions to quit.
The Conflictive Relationship between Satisfaction and Income

Using the 2006 Gallup World Survey of life satisfaction in 130 countries, this paper finds a very solid relationship between satisfaction and income (both across and within countries) and uncovers the unhappy growth paradox, whereby faster growth rates are accompanied by lower levels of satisfaction. The losses of satisfaction associated with growth are more pronounced in the material domains of life and are greater in richer and more urban societies. At the individual level, although higher incomes tend to be reflected in greater satisfaction, an increase in the income of the social group to which an individual belongs has the opposite effect. The conflictive relationship between satisfaction and income has implications for political economy and may help explain various characteristics of economic and social populism.
Overexpression of Arabidopsis ESR1 Induces Initiation of Shoot Regeneration Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at www.plantcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1105/tpc.010234.

Functional screening of an Arabidopsis cDNA library enabled the identification of a novel cDNA, ESR1 (for Enhancer of Shoot Regeneration), that can confer cytokinin-independent shoot formation when overexpressed in Arabidopsis root explants. Neither callus induction nor root formation was affected by ESR1 overexpression. ESR1 encodes a putative transcription factor with an AP2/EREBP domain. Surprisingly, ESR1 overexpression also greatly increased the efficiency of shoot regeneration from root explants in the presence of cytokinin, with a shift in the optimal cytokinin concentration required for this process. The effects of ESR1 overexpression on shoot regeneration are synergistic with those of cytokinin. Overexpression of ESR1 cannot induce callus formation or root formation, suggesting that its effects are specific to shoot formation. In wild-type Arabidopsis plants, ESR1 expression was induced by cytokinin. ESR1 transcript levels also increased transiently during shoot regeneration from root explants, most probably in response to cytokinin in the shoot-inducing medium. This transient increase occurred after the acquisition of competence for regeneration and before shoot formation, which is consistent with the physiological effects of ESR1 overexpression. Our results suggest that ESR1 may regulate the induction of shoot regeneration after the acquisition of competence for organogenesis.
Spillovers in Health Care Markets : Implications for Current Law Projections

This paper reviews theory and evidence on how changes in one health care sector (e.g., the private sector) may affect outcomes in other sectors (e.g., the public sector). Evidence suggests that these cross-sector “spillovers” may be substantial in both the shortand long-term. This has important implications for projections of future Medicare spending in the Trustees report: the spillovers observed in the past suggest that while some divergences in public and private spending trajectories may occur in the short-run, persistent, substantial, long-run divergences between sectors are unlikely. That said, the conclusions we can draw from the literature are limited. Evidence drawn from past years, when many policy changes were occurring, may not adequately capture what would occur in the future in a current-law setting. Furthermore, while the existing literature is clear about the existence of spillovers between markets in the short run, it fails to provide a narrow range of magnitudes to be used in projections. Moreover, the conclusions concerning spillovers in the long run are based on a smaller literature that examines spillover effects on infrastructure, which should affect long run spending, as opposed to being based on direct investigation of spillovers on spending over long periods of time. Lastly, most evidence focuses on the effects of HMO penetration on care in non-HMO markets or on the impact of public fee reductions on private markets, with limited evidence on broader spillovers. Despite these limitations, incorporating cross-market spillovers into projection models is likely to generate a more complete picture of future Medicare spending.
Protonation States of the Tryptophan Synthase Internal Aldimine Active Site from Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy: Direct Observation of the Protonated Schiff Base Linkage to Pyridoxal-5′-Phosphate

The acid–base chemistry that drives catalysis in pyridoxal-5′-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzymes has been the subject of intense interest and investigation since the initial identification of PLP’s role as a coenzyme in this extensive class of enzymes. It was first proposed over 50 years ago that the initial step in the catalytic cycle is facilitated by a protonated Schiff base form of the holoenzyme in which the linking lysine ε-imine nitrogen, which covalently binds the coenzyme, is protonated. Here we provide the first 15N NMR chemical shift measurements of such a Schiff base linkage in the resting holoenzyme form, the internal aldimine state of tryptophan synthase. Double-resonance experiments confirm the assignment of the Schiff base nitrogen, and additional 13C, 15N, and 31P chemical shift measurements of sites on the PLP coenzyme allow a detailed model of coenzyme protonation states to be established.
INTERESTS AND THE PROFESSION-STATE DYNAMIC: EXPLAINING THE EMERGENCE OF THE AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC SECTOR ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD

This paper seeks to understand the professionalisation project of accountants by historically ‘following’ the organised, contingent interests of state agencies, professional elites, business and community organisations. Drawing upon recent research on the accounting profession that is grounded in the work of Weber, Marx and Foucault, professions are seen as self-interested transnational collec-tives whose internal modes of membership control and external relationships with other organised interests are both structured and subject to continual renegotiation and change. This particular framing of professional associations is illustrated by documenting the emergence of the Australian Public Sector Accounting Standards Board in 1983.
General Practice and Mental Health Care: Determinants of Outpatient Service Use

Objective: To examine the determinants that lead Canadian adults to consult family physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists, and other health professionals for mental health reasons and to compare the determinants of service use across provider types. Method: Data from the Canadian Community Health Survey: Mental Health and Well-Being were used for people aged 18 years and older (n = 35 236). A multivariate logistic regression was used to model outpatient consultations with different providers as a function of predictive determinants. Result: Three types of variables were examined: need, enabling, and predisposing factors. Among need, the most common predictors of service use for mental health reasons were self-rated mental health, the presence of chronic conditions, depression and panic attacks, unmet mental health needs, psychological well-being, and the ability to handle daily demands. Among enabling factors, emotional and informational support and income were important predictors. Among predisposing factors, men were less likely to consult with a family physician and other resources but not with psychiatrists; and people with less education were less likely to consult psychologists and other health providers. Conclusion: Need factors were the most important predictors of both psychiatrist and combined family physician and psychiatrist consultation in the previous year. However, sex barriers remain and promotion campaigns in seeking mental health care should be aimed toward men. Further, education and income barriers exist in the use of specialty providers of psychotherapy and policies should thus focus on rendering these services more accessible to disadvantaged people.
The Role of Participatory Governance in the EMES Approach to Social Enterprise

This paper emphasizes the importance of participative governance in the EMES approach to social enterprise. The EMES approach is based on three dimensions, rather than a single one, as is common in most Anglo-American definitions of social enterprise. The latter often see social enterprise as a simple phenomenon that can be arranged along a continuum, ranging from economic to social, where more of one means less of the other. Alternatively, a “unified theory”, based on key elements from a single academic discipline, is proposed; but it fails to acknowledge the multi-disciplinary nature of the EMES approach. The multi-dimensional approach of EMES combines economic, social and political elements and, therefore, can more readily promote a truly multi-disciplinary understanding of this complex phenomenon. However, EMES needs to devote greater attention to exploring the interactive and interrelated nature of these three dimensions of social enterprise in Europe.
Economic Growth and Electricity Consumption: MS‐VAR and MS‐Granger Causality Analysis

This study estimates the causality relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth by Markov Switching VAR (MS‐VAR) method for some emerging countries: Argentina, China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Turkey and South Africa. Knowledge of the direction of causality between electricity consumption and economic growth is of primary importance if appropriate energy policies and energy conservation measures are to be devised. The results from MS‐VAR models show that in first, second and third regime, electricity consumption is the Granger cause of the economic growth and economic growth is the Granger cause of the electricity consumption. In sum, we found some evidence of bidirectional Granger causality between the electricity consumption and the economic growth.
Nuclear Parameters as Prognostic Indicators in Glioblastoma Patients

The objective of this study was to determine whether nuclear parameters were associated with prognosis in glioblastoma multiforme. DNA indices, cell cycle parameters, and nuclear population densities were compared with patient survival. Selection criteria included the pathologic diagnosis of a cerebral glioblastoma multiforme, absence of therapy before surgery, and adequate tissue to measure each nuclear parameter studied. Nine cases accrued over a two year period. The amount of DNA per nucleus was quantified in fresh tissue specimens by nuclear-isolation flow cytometry in Vindelov's solution. One particular association was significant when tested by Cox models: The percentage of nuclei with S-phase amounts of nuclear DNA was a significant predictor of decreased survival (regression coefficient=0.20, p=0.04). The percentage of nuclei in the Go/G, peak was marginally associated with longer survival. These data are evidence of an association between nuclei in certain phases of the DNA cell cycle and postoperative survival.
Does the Colour of the Cat Matter? The Red Hat Strategy in China's Private Enterprises

The proliferation of new property rights regimes in transitional economies provided an opportunity to examine the interaction between institutions and organizations. Some private enterprises in China developed the Red Hat strategy whereby they disguised their private ownership by registering as a public-owned organization. Drawing on a national survey, this study investigated how institutional variations, transaction costs and social embeddedness affected the firms’ Red Hat strategy. The findings suggest that private firms preferred a fuzzy property rights arrangement in the early years of market transition. The temporal and regional variation of the institutional environment contributed to the adoption of the Red Hat strategy. High transaction costs — networking cost and resource constraints — were positively related to the adoption of the Red Hat strategy. Social embeddedness also played an important role. The reliance on transaction partners in the public sector increased the pressure to adopt the Red Hat, while connections with high-ranking cadres facilitated the process. However, private firms opted for clearly delineated property rights as the institutional environment improved. In turn, the decisions of individual firms affected the institutional environment at the aggregate level. The Red Hat strategy exemplifies the co-evolution of institutional change and organizational dynamics.
Review of Epidemiology of Foodborne Listeriosis

Introduction . 2 Human Illness . 2 Outbreaks and Cases . 2 Economic Costs . 3 Important Species and Strains of Listeria . 3 Food Attribution . 3 Outbreak Data . 3 Sporadic Cases . 4 Surveillance of Foods . 4 Food Contamination . 4 Contamination Pathways . 4 Animals, abattoirs, and raw meat processing . 5 Deli meats . 6 Dairy products . 6 Seafood . 7 Eggs . 7 Produce . 7 Survival and Growth in Foods . 7 Meat . 8 Cheese . 8 Fish . 8 Fresh produce and salads . 8 Other foods . 9 Strategies for Controlling Listeria . 9 Human Factors—Education, Monitoring . 9 Physical Factors . 10 Heat . 10 Irradiation . 10 High pressure . 10 Electrolyzed water . 10 Ultraviolet light and pulsed light . 11 Carbon dioxide . 11 Ozone . 11 Antimicrobial Compounds . 11 Competitive Cultures . 12 Packaging . 12 Cleaning and Sanitation . 13 Figures . 14 Tables . 15 References . 17
Banking System Concentration and Labor Market Performance in Industrial Countries

Using data on 21 industrial countries from the period 1987 to 2009 and a large number of controls, this paper finds that a more concentrated banking sector is likely to raise the unemployment rate and reduce the employment rate. The magnitude of these effects appears to be moderate. The results are robust to potential endogeneity of the bank concentration variable as well as to numerous variations in specification. They are important because, as a consequence of the recent global financial crisis, many industrial countries have experienced both an increase in banking system concentration and a deterioration in labor market performance.
Estrogenic endpoints in fish early life‐stage tests: Luciferase and vitellogenin induction in estrogen‐responsive transgenic zebrafish

This study incorporated specific endpoints for estrogenic activity in the early life‐stage (ELS) test, as described in Guideline 210 of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and traditionally used for toxicity screening of chemicals. A transgenic zebrafish model expressing an estrogen receptor–mediated luciferase reporter gene was exposed to ethi‐nylestradiol (EE2), and luciferase activity as well as vitellogenin (VTG) was measured. Concentrations of EE2 were tested at 1, 3, or 10 ng/L for 30 d from fertilization or during only the last 4 d with dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) as presolvent (0.01%). Exposure to EE2 induced no toxic effects. Mean body weights were significantly higher in groups exposed for 30 d in the presence of DMSO, but condition factors were not affected. Significant luciferase and VTG induction occurred following 30‐d exposure (3 and 10 ng EE2/L), while only VTG levels were affected in the 4‐d exposure (10 ng EE2/L). This study demonstrated the usefulness of incorporating estrogenic endpoints in the OECD ELS test, fitting the requirements for screening estrogenic activity of chemicals. Quantitative measurement of both VTG and luciferase activity proved to be rapid and sensitive. Additional value of using transgenic zebrafish lies in combining VTG measurement with the more mechanistic approach of luciferase induction in one experiment.