Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Analysis of the Association between Firms' Investment Opportunities, Board Composition, and Firm Performance

According to agency theory the corporate board is an important internal governance mechanism. Critics of corporate governance suggest that board monitoring will be more effective if boards consist primarily of independent outside directors and from increased shareholdings of directors (Kren and Kerr, 1997). However, the results of previous studies testing board effectiveness have been mixed. The purpose of this paper is to identify the variables that influence the board structure adopted by firms and the subsequent relationship to the firm's performance. The results of this study of 229 Australian firms show that firms' investment opportunities are strongly associated with a higher proportion of executive directors on the board. When testing the efficiency of the board the results show that the negative relationship between a firm's investment opportunity set and firm performance is weakened at higher levels of non-executive director board domination. The results of this study have implications for policy setters and managers of firms with investment opportunities.
Top executives’ compensation, industrial competition, and corporate environmental performance: Evidence from China

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate how top executives’ compensation is associated with environmental performance in the Chinese context and how this association varies with differing levels of industrial competition. Design/methodology/approach – Combining agency and institutional theories, the empirical study is based on a sample of 698 publicly listed firms in China’s manufacturing sector. Findings – The authors find that top executives’ cash pay has a positive association, and equity ownership a negative association, with corporate environmental performance. Furthermore, in more competitive industries, both pay and ownership are more strongly associated with environmental performance, indicating that industrial competition plays a moderating role in these relationships. Practical implications – The findings imply that different incentive schemes can motivate executives toward environmental management in the Chinese context in opposite directions. They highlight the import.
Optimization of Bid-Winning Potential and Capital Structure for Build-Operate-Transfer Road Projects in India

Build/Operate/Transfer (BOT) arrangement has gained wide acceptance across the world for providing public infrastructure. Such arrangements, which reallocate risks and rewards between public and private sectors, present complex issues for the prospective concessionaires. During the bidding stage, the prime concerns of the private investors are the bid-winning probability and financial profitability of the project. In Indian BOT highway projects, the grant sought from the government is the sole bid variable that determines the successful concessionaire. A higher grant, although ensuring increased chances of winning the concession, would also lead to significant cash outflows adversely affecting the profitability of the project. The profitability of the project is also a function of debt-equity structure, which is determined by using financial engineering techniques. Hence, from the private investors’ point of view, a systematic model for optimizing the bid-winning potential and capital structure is needed, which would assist the project sponsors in bidding and financing decisions. Prior researches in this area have considered these optimization issues in a fragmented manner. This paper presents a genetic-algorithm-based model that yields a set of optimal solutions for the key decision variables: grant, debt, and equity. The proposed model, demonstrated through a real life BOT highway project, can aid the private investors in fast and efficient decision-making.
Output-Capacitor-Free Adaptively Biased Low-Dropout Regulator for System-on-Chips

A high-precision low-voltage adaptively biased (AB) low-dropout regulator (LDR) with extended loop bandwidth is proposed. The multistage output-capacitor-free LDR is stabilized by Miller compensation and Q-reduction techniques to reduce the required minimum load current. Adaptive biasing is achieved by using direct current feedback from a simple current mirror. The dynamics of both the main feedback loop (MFL) and the adaptive biasing loop are thoroughly analyzed. Tradeoffs between the adaptive biasing factor and the MFL stability are discussed. The AB LDR is designed using a standard 0.35- ¿m CMOS technology ( Vtn ¿ 0.52 V and Vtp ¿ -0.72 V). The output is 1.0 V, which delivers a maximum current of 100 mA. The minimum input voltage is 1.2 V, and the minimum load current required is reduced to 50 ¿A . Extensive simulation results verify that the proposed LDR achieves high loop bandwidth, fast line and load transient responses, high power supply rejection, and low output impedance.
Oxidant and antioxidant activities of different anesthetic techniques. Propofol versus desflurane.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the correlation between propofol and desflurane in terms of lipid peroxidation and antioxidant activity and to search the possible antioxidant anesthesia technique. METHODS The study was performed in the Department of Anesthesia and Reanimation, Medical Faculty, Suleyman Demirel University, Isparta, Turkey, between January 2006 and July 2006. Thirty, ASA I-II patients, with an age range of 19-55 years, undergoing elective surgery under general anesthesia were randomized to receive either propofol infusion (Group P) or desflurane inhalation (Group D) following standard induction. Malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase (GSH), super oxide dismutase (SOD) and alpha-tocopherol (Vitamin E) were measured preoperatively, at peroperatively first hour and postoperatively 12-hour. RESULTS Malondialdehyde was found lower peroperatively in Group P compared to Group D (p<0.05). In Group D, Vitamin E levels were decreased significantly peroperatively compared to preoperative period (p=0.001). CONCLUSION We observed a systemic oxidative stress increment with desflurane by terms of MDA; a lipid peroxidation product and endogenous antioxidant activity suppression by terms of Vitamin E at only peroperative period. This study may be defined to support the fact that free oxygen radicals were released more by desflurane than propofol.
Agencies between two worlds: information asymmetry in multilevel policy-making

ABSTRACT European co-ordination is pivotal for an effective regulation of the common market, and European administrative networks are currently mushrooming. Recent quantitative empirical research reveals that national agencies are gaining policy autonomy from their parent ministries when they become involved in European networks. However, the quantitative approach has only partially elucidated the causal mechanisms of this effect. To close this gap, this article examines two fields with dense European administrative networks: financial market regulation and energy regulation. It demonstrates that involvement in European networks exacerbates information asymmetries (particularly those regarding so-called negotiation knowledge) between agencies and their parent ministries. These information asymmetries aggravate ministries’ control problems and can even be strategically exploited by agencies, which has far-reaching consequences for the process of multilevel co-ordination.
of curriculum development in one Canadian preschool 'we got our heads together and came up with a plan' : young children's perceptions

This study investigated young children’s perceptions of their role in curriculum development in one Canadian preschool. There is no consensus that children have a role to play in developing curriculum. However, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) confi rms children’s right to be listened to about all aspects of their lives. Based on interviews with 34 children and three teachers, this study demonstrates the children feel they play an active role in curriculum development and implementation, but teachers make the fi nal decisions about curriculum content. The children expressed a desire to infl uence the curriculum in new ways, but their ability to do so may be constrained by structural factors within and beyond the preschool. K E Y W O R D S children’s perceptions, curriculum development, intergenerational inequality, participation rights, young children
An Empirical Investigation of the Debt Maturity of Italian Family Firms

This study examines, through a dynamic panel data methodology (GMM-SYS) applied on a sample of 1,224 Italian family firms, whether and how the debt maturity structure of Italian family firms is determined by asset maturity, taxes, agency conflicts between managers and shareholders and between shareholders and creditors, liquidity risk, asymmetric information, the recent crisis, and the past dynamics of the debt maturity structure itself. Firstly, Italian family firms do not immediately adjust their maturity structure to its target and this adjustment is costly. There is no evidence of the maturity matching principle, nor of taxes influencing the debt maturity of Italian family firms. Conflicts of interests between managers and shareholders increase as Italian family firms get older, hence older Italian family firms use more long-term debt. Moreover, the scarce presence of conflicts of interest between shareholders and creditors causes long-term debt to augment, as it is used to properly exploit growth opportunities and thus, finance long-term investments. Both low-quality and high-quality Italian family-owned businesses tend to use short-term debt, since the former are screened out of the long-term debt market and the latter employ short-term debt to signal their quality when new positive information becomes available. Finally, lower asymmetric information increases the amount of long-term debt Italian family firms can get, whereas the crisis has had a negative impact on their debt maturity and this is linked to a reduced need for long-term debt to finance the permanent assets of Italian family firms. My empirical research represents an attempt to interpret the main determinants influencing the debt maturity structure of Italian family firms, by using an advanced econometric model which can better explain the financial behaviour of the firms being surveyed. Because the work deals with Italian family firms, no comparison based on country-specific aspects has been made among family firms belonging to different countries. Moreover, the absence of detailed yearly information on the ownership, board of directors, and managers prevented me from further enhancing the knowledge of the relationship between agency conflicts and debt maturity of Italian family firms. However, these two limitations may constitute further streams of future applied research.
Effects of video-feedback on the communication, clinical competence and motivational interviewing skills of practice nurses: a pre-test posttest control group study.

AIMS To examine the effects of individual video-feedback on the generic communication skills, clinical competence (i.e. adherence to practice guidelines) and motivational interviewing skills of experienced practice nurses working in primary care. BACKGROUND Continuing professional education may be necessary to refresh and reflect on the communication and motivational interviewing skills of experienced primary care practice nurses. A video-feedback method was designed to improve these skills. DESIGN Pre-test/posttest control group design. METHODS Seventeen Dutch practice nurses and 325 patients participated between June 2010-June 2011. Nurse-patient consultations were videotaped at two moments (T0 and T1), with an interval of 3-6 months. The videotaped consultations were rated using two protocols: the Maastrichtse Anamnese en Advies Scorelijst met globale items (MAAS-global) and the Behaviour Change Counselling Index. Before the recordings, nurses were allocated to a control or video-feedback group. Nurses allocated to the video-feedback group received video-feedback between T0 and T1. Data were analysed using multilevel linear or logistic regression. RESULTS Nurses who received video-feedback appeared to pay significantly more attention to patients' request for help, their physical examination and gave significantly more understandable information. With respect to motivational interviewing, nurses who received video-feedback appeared to pay more attention to 'agenda setting and permission seeking' during their consultations. CONCLUSION Video-feedback is a potentially effective method to improve practice nurses' generic communication skills. Although a single video-feedback session does not seem sufficient to increase all motivational interviewing skills, significant improvement in some specific skills was found. Nurses' clinical competences were not altered after feedback due to already high standards.
Sectoral herding behavior in the aftermarket of Malaysian IPOs

The Malaysian initial public offering (IPO) market is characterized by substantial uncertainties due to limited disclosure of information, ‘fixed-price pricing mechanism’, and cognitive biases of Asian investors. Together, these characteristics might induce investors to engage in herding behavior in the aftermarket of an IPO. This study investigates investors' herding behavior in the IPO aftermarket from 2001 to 2011 using Christie and Huang's [Christie, W. G. , and R. D. Huang. 1995. “Following the Pied Piper: Do Individual Returns Herd Around the Market? ” Financial Analysts Journal 51 (4): 31–37] method. The findings of this study show that for non-private placements, a negative and insignificant β1 coefficient, as an indication of herding, is reported for Technology sector. The herding behavior that is only constrained to technological firms during down market may be due to the risky nature of the new issues in the down market, rather than the uninformed characteristic of the individual investors. The findings of this study also show that for the private placement category, negative and insignificant coefficients of β1 and β2 are reported for Consumer Product and Technology sectors, respectively. Since the negative coefficients are not limited to the down market, with risky and uncertain shares, the results could be an indication of the herding of informed investors in the two mentioned sectors.
Humans Anesthetized with Sevoflurane or Isoflurane Have Similar Arrhythmic Response to Epinephrine

BackgroundAnesthetics can alter the dose of exogenously administered epinephrine that causes cardiac arrhythmias. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that in humans anesthetized with sevoflurane, the arrhythmic response to epinephrine is not different from the response in humans anesthetized with isoflurane. MethodsWe determined the arrhythmogenicity of submucosally administered epinephrine in 40 ASA physical status 1 or 2 patients who were to undergo transsphenoidal surgery. Patients were assigned randomly to be given 1.0–1.3 minimum alveolar concentration sevoflurane or isoflurane. A surgeon, blinded to the anesthetic and the concentration of epinephrine, injected into the nasal submucosa epinephrine 10, 13.3, or 20 μg/ml in saline of volume sufficient for surgical need. We defined a “positive” response as three or more premature ventricular contractions within 5 min after initiation of injection. Responses between anesthetic groups within each dose range of epinephrine were compared by chi-squared analysis. ResultsNo patient given either anesthetic developed premature ventricular contractions with doses of epinephrine less than 5 μg/kg. At larger doses of epinephrine (5–9.9 and 10–14.9 μg/kg), the frequency of arrhythmias did not differ between patients given sevoflurane and patients given isoflurane. Patients anesthetized with 1.2 minimum alveolar concentration sevoflurane had blood pressure similar to and heart rate less than those of patients anesthetized with similar concentrations of isoflurane. Blood pressure and heart rate were increased similarly in both groups after laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation and after epinephrine injection. ConclusionsSevoflurane and isoflurane do not differ in their sensitization of the human myocardium to the arrhythmogenic effect of exogenously administered epinephrine.
Innovation and Industry Evolution

The theoretical literature on innovation has been concerned with a single innovation produced by a number of identical agents. By contrast, we consider a market in which one firm is the current incumbent, while the remaining firms are challengers. Moreover, we consider a sequence of innovations, so that success does not imply that the successful firm reaps monopoly profits forever after, but only until the next, better innovation is developed. We begin with a fully optimizing behavioral model and derive the equivalent of the Schumpeterian "process of creative destruction. " That is, a firm enjoys temporary monopoly power but is soon overthrown by a more inventive challenger. The essential point to grasp is that in dealing with capitalism we are dealing with an evolutionary process…The fundamental impulse that sets and keeps the capitalist engine in motion comes from the new consumers' goods, the new methods of production or transportation, the new markets, the new forms of industrial organization that capitalist enterprise creates [Schumpeter, 1942, pp. 82–83].
Towards the 4th generation - an essay on innovations in residential property value modelling expertise

This essay discusses a variety of possibilities for improving current residential property valuation methodology. At present the inertia is unfavourable for innovative research within this field. It could, however, be argued that sustainability and other goals justify the effort to improve this state of affairs. With the focus on a relatively undeveloped European residential valuation academia in terms of innovations in modelling expertize, the proposition is to accommodate some of the following approaches: strict quantitative methods based on parametric hedonic regression; flexible (i.e. non/semiparametric) quantitative methods, that are still formally accommodated within mainstream economic modelling; flexible quantitative methods based on machine learning; rule-based expert systems of valuation; and methods, that use judgemental data (4th generation). Each of the techniques is evaluated in order to identify problems and subsequently appropriate directions for research are proposed. While having its obvious limitations, a method based on interviewing may serve a purpose in certain well-specified problem settings.
The Credit Channel of Monetary Policy Transmission: Evidence from Stock Returns

This paper offers a novel test of the credit view of the monetary policy transmission mechanism using stock market returns. We identify Fed policy shocks using newspaper accounts and track daily stock prices immediately following the shocks. If the credit channel is important, then firms that are dependent on bank credit and internal funds should receive a relatively greater benefit (loss) from a Fed easing (tightening) than firms with access to nonbank credit at favorable terms. We identify ten policy shocks during the expansion of 1993-94 and the "credit crunch" period of the 1990-91 recession and find little evidence supportive of an operative credit channel. Copyright 2001 by Oxford University Press.
Competitive Strategy and Performance of Exporting SMEs: An Empirical Investigation of the Impact of Their Export Information Search and Competencies

The SMEs’ limited capacity to acquire information and use sources is a major factor explaining their low level of involvement and performance on export markets. Nonetheless, a small amount of applied research has been undertaken on this subject. We present the results of an inquiry into the impact of information search and competencies on the competitive strategy and export performance of 346 exporting manufacturing SMEs. The research model postulates that the performance of these SMEs is determined by their general competitive strategy, which in turn is explained by the ability of the business to acquire and manage foreign market information. The results of an analysis using a PLS method confirm three of the four hypotheses.
Challenges and recommendations for fault location in series compensated transmission lines

Various fault location algorithms have been proposed recently for series capacitor compensated transmission lines (SCCTLs). In most of the proposed techniques, the role of series capacitor protection unit (SCPU) and its impact on current signal characteristics and fault location has not been fully considered. In this paper, the functionality and operating modes of SCPU are described along with the procedure to properly size MOV for use in SCPU. First, a brief introduction to phasor-based fault location algorithm is presented. Then the impacts of SCPU operation and series capacitor location on fault location are investigated along with the analysis. Various challenges and considerations are discussed and solutions are recommended to improve the performance of fault location algorithms. The presented analysis has been verified through comprehensive simulations in PSCAD and Matlab.
The Role of Cultural and Symbolic Capital in Entrepreneurs' Ability to Meet Expectations about Conformity and Innovation

We conceptualize entrepreneurs' success in acquiring resources as the outcome of a socially embedded process of pursuing legitimacy, which in turn encompasses their ability to meet field incumbents' expectations about conformity and innovation. Drawing from Bourdieu's theory of practice, we specifically discuss entrepreneurs' ability, when entering a business field, to simultaneously conform to existing field arrangements (i.e., to “fit in”) and to be perceived as innovators (i.e., to “stand out”). A possible paradoxical relationship marks entrepreneurs' ability to meet both of these expectations; we discuss the role of entrepreneurs' cultural and symbolic capital in this process. In addition, two contingency factors may influence how entrepreneurs' ability to fit in and stand out affects their resource acquisition. First, the contribution of the two facets of legitimacy to resource acquisition is influenced by the maturity of the field the entrepreneur enters. Second, entrepreneurs' resource acquisition may be enhanced by their ability to artfully navigate the possible conflicting demands to fit in versus stand out through impression management.
Challenges Facing Enterprise Architects: A South African Perspective

The relationship between enterprise architecture and its service delivery process in an organizational context suggests an interesting view on the role of the enterprise architect. Literature reveals that many of the challenges that enterprise architects encounter, are largely non-technical in nature. This points to the need for a non-technical perspective on the role of an enterprise architect in the overall enterprise architecting process but also in the social, organizational context. Interviews were conducted with enterprise architects in South Africa to understand the challenges currently facing them. This study explores the fundamental understanding of the role of the enterprise architect particularly in the South African organizational context which is characterized by complex cultural and other differences. It suggests that for any enterprise architect - but particularly in South Africa - should strongly consider the non-technical perspectives in order to effectively architect the enterprise.