Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cash Crop Production, Food Price Volatility, and Rural Market Integration in the Third World

Large farmers in the Third World often devote to cash crops a larger share of their land than do small farmers. This paper suggests a possible explanation: even in the presence of food markets, Third World farmers' food security is best assured by food self-sufficiency. A model of crop portfolio choice under multivariate risk is used to show that reasonable assumptions regarding risk and preferences reproduce the observed pattern. Simulations further indicate that food market integration reduces the need for food self-sufficiency. Policy implications are drawn regarding domestic trade liberalization and agricultural technology.
Political Finance in Comparative Perspective

▪ Abstract This article reviews efforts to study the impact of money in politics in democracies outside of the United States. In recent years, democracies around the world have begun to publish increasing amounts of data on candidate and party finance. Although much of this information is partial, and some of it is even deliberately misleading, it has nevertheless opened up many new opportunities for researchers to systematically examine the role of money in politics. The development of theories about the origins and impact of political finance regimes and regulations has not kept pace with the newly emerging data. As a result, the field offers increasing scope for researchers to make policy-relevant contributions. Much of the recent research in this area asks how much, and in what ways, the amounts and sources of funding matter. Do either or both of these influence elections or other political outcomes? This article begins by reviewing attempts to answer these questions, then considers some of the promis.
Realizing Logistics Opportunities in a Public–Private Collaborative Setting: The Story of Skaraborg

Abstract This paper gives insight into a process of regional logistics collaboration as it progressed in the peripheral region of Skaraborg, western Sweden, between 2000 and 2007. The region underwent a transformation in the way public and private actors collaborate in logistics. The focus of the collaboration was to develop the logistics competitiveness in the region, mainly through the establishment of an intermodal terminal for rail and road transport. By means of action‐based research, the paper accounts for some interesting course of events and tries to identify some important aspects of regional logistics collaboration. Empirical observations in relation to existing theory are the platform for theoretical reflection and some proposed theoretical modifications and extensions concerning regional logistics collaboration.
Institutional Investors and Shareholder Litigation

"We examine whether institutional investors are able to avoid future litigation. Our results show that institutions provide a fiduciary role by decreasing or eliminating their positions in sued firms well before litigation begins. We also find that institutional groups with high monitoring ability (independent investment advisors and mutual funds) are more proactive in their trading behavior than are institutions with low monitoring ability (banks, insurance companies, and unclassified institutions such as endowments, foundations, and self-managed pension funds). We find that percentage changes in institutional ownership are correlated with public information available more than two quarters before litigation. " Copyright (c) 2008 Financial Management Association International.
Multigenerational Transition in Family Businesses: A New Explanatory Model

This article presents an explanatory model for transfer of family businesses to following generations. Our research using 10 case studies shows that transfer of family businesses is a lifelong, continuous process, in which the family must address and foster the soft elements of the transfer process: enterpreneurship, freedom, values, outside experience, upbringing, and education. Furthermore, a business family can develop into a family dynasty only when it embraces sound governance as a fundamental principle; that is, the individual family member belongs to the family, which belongs to the business.
Understanding impoverishment : the consequences of development-induced displacement

Infrastructure development projects are set to continue into the next century as developing country governments seek to manage population growth, urbanization and industrialization. The contributions in this volume raise many questions about 'development' and 'progress' in the late twentieth century. What is revealed are the enormous problems and disastrous affects which continue to accompany displacement operations in many countries, which raise the ever more urgent question of whether the benefits of infrastructure development justify or outweigh the pain of the radical disruption of peoples lives, exacerbated by the fact that, with some notable exceptions, there has been a lack of official recognition on the part of governments and international agencies that development-induced displacement is a problem at all. This important volume addresses the issues and shows just how serious the situation is.
Banking panics, information, and rational expectations equilibrium

This paper shows that bank runs can be modeled as an equilibrium phenomenon. We demonstrate that some aspects of the intuitive “story” that bank runs start with fears of insolvency of banks can be rigorously modeled. If individuals observe long “lines” at the bank, they correctly infer that there is a possibility that the bank is about to fail and precipitate a bank run. However, bank runs occur even when no one has any adverse information. Extra market constraints such as suspension of convertibility can prevent bank runs and result in superior allocations.
An association study between the Clara cell secretory protein CC16 A38G polymorphism and asthma phenotypes

Background Previously, an association has been reported between an increased risk of asthma and a polymorphism in the Clara cell secretory protein (CC16) gene [namely, an adenine to guanine substitution in the CC16 gene at position 38 (A38G) downstream from the transcription initiation site within the noncoding region of exon 1]. Homozygous individuals for the polymorphic sequence (AA genotype) were reported to have a significant (6.9 fold) increased risk of developing asthma. This finding has not been confirmed independently.
The Challenge of the South

The rise of the South poses three broad challenges. The first challenge is for developing countries to seize the momentum for accelerating human development. Nearly all of the fastest-growing economies in this century are in the South, and many have an opportunity to rise from their low rankings on human development. The second challenge is to ensure that South-South trade does not replicate the traditional asymmetric pattern of North-South trade. Trade based on the import of commodities and export of manufactures can set back the industrial ambitions of Africa. The pitfalls of commodity dependence can be avoided through smart government and proven industrial policy - fostering linkages, entrepreneurship and productive capabilities - and a developmental state supportive of human development. The third challenge involves development cooperation. South-South cooperation should expand and complement North-South cooperation. The United Nations can and should make a special effort to enlist the South as a leader on development cooperation.
Sources of variation in linking corporate social responsibility and financial performance

Purpose - This purpose of this paper is to identify the possible sources of variation of results in prior studies linking corporate social responsibility (CSR) with corporate financial performance (CFP). Design/methodology/approach - A meta-analysis was performed on 51 prior studies included in Orlitzky Findings - The major finding of the study is that sample size and methodology are significant sources of variation in measuring the link between CSR and CFP. Research limitations/implications - The findings are likely to help develop a structural framework towards broadening and deepening our understanding of the debate regarding the sources of variation in the measurement of CSR and CFP link. This research is limited to papers published up to 1999 as included in Orlitzky Originality/value - This paper can be considered an advance on the previous research as it contributes to broadening our understanding of the possible source of causes of variation in results of studies linking CSR with CFP.
[A Survey and Analysis of Exercise Among Pregnant Women Conducted Using the Theory of Reasoned Action].

BACKGROUND Prior research has highlighted the significant relationship between gestational weight gain and pregnancy outcomes. Exercise is one of the main factors that affects body weight. Therefore, exercising appropriately during pregnancy is an important activity for promoting healthy pregnancy outcomes. PURPOSE To explore the status and features of maternal exercise during pregnancy and to analyze the related influence factors using the "theory of reasoned action" in order to provide evidence-based guidance on exercise during pregnancy. METHODS Convenience sampling was used to recruit pregnant women from four hospitals of different administrative levels in Chengdu, China. A self-developed questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were input using Epidata and analyzed using SPSS 21.0. RESULTS Data provided by 587 pregnant women in their first trimester, 522 in their second trimester, and 522 in their third trimester were used in analysis. Significant differences were found between the three groups in terms of housework loading and lifting. Further, participants in the third trimester were significantly more likely to exercise less than 3 times per week and less than 30 minutes per session than their first and second trimester peers (p < .001). Structural equation modeling identified that: behavior intention had a significant effect on level of physical activity; attitudes and norms affected behavior by affecting intention; monthly income and educational background affected behavior by influencing attitude; and educational background affected behavior by influencing perceived norms. CONCLUSIONS The findings of the present study support that personal situation, the family, and social norms impact the behavior of women significantly more during pregnancy than before pregnancy.
Autogenous bone graft in conjunction with enamel matrix derivative in the treatment of deep periodontal intra-osseous defects: a report of 13 consecutively treated patients.

AIM The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of a regenerative procedure based on supra-crestal soft tissue preservation in association with combined autogenous bone (AB) graft/enamel matrix derivative (EMD) application in the treatment of deep periodontal intra-osseous defects. METHODS Thirteen consecutively treated patients, seven females and six males, aged 30-65 years, three smokers, were included. A total of 15 deep, one- to two-wall intra-osseous defects were selected. Immediately before surgery and 6 months after surgery, pocket probing depth (PPD), clinical attachment level (CAL), and gingival recession (REC) were recorded. RESULTS PPD amounted to 9.4+/-1.8 mm before surgery, and decreased to 4.7+/-1.2 mm post-surgery (p<0.0000). CAL varied from 10.5+/-2.0 mm pre-surgery to 6.2+/-1.7 mm post-surgery (p<0.0000), with CAL gain averaging 4.3+/-1.4 mm. Fourteen (93.3%) defects presented CAL gain >/=3 mm. REC change was 0.4+/-0.7 mm. CONCLUSIONS Results from the present study indicated that a regenerative procedure based on supra-crestal soft tissue preservation and combined AB/EMD treatment leads to a clinically and statistically significant improvement of soft tissue conditions of deep periodontal intra-osseous defects.
Opportunistic attachment assembles plant-pollinator networks.

Species and interactions are being lost at alarming rates and it is imperative to understand how communities assemble if we have to prevent their collapse and restore lost interactions. Using an 8-year dataset comprising nearly 20 000 pollinator visitation records, we explore the assembly of plant-pollinator communities at native plant restoration sites in an agricultural landscape. We find that species occupy highly dynamic network positions through time, causing the assembly process to be punctuated by major network reorganisations. The most persistent pollinator species are also the most variable in their network positions, contrary to what preferential attachment - the most widely studied theory of ecological network assembly - predicts. Instead, we suggest assembly occurs via an opportunistic attachment process. Our results contribute to our understanding of how communities assembly and how species interactions change through time while helping to inform efforts to reassemble robust communities.
Minimum Wages and Schooling: Evidence from the UK's Introduction of a National Minimum Wage

This paper uses the introduction of the national minimum wage in the UK in April 1999 as a ‘natural experiment’ to analyse the impact of minimum wages on enrolment in schooling. At the time of its introduction, only workers aged 18 years or more were covered by the legislation. The paper uses panel data for a sample of young people in a given school-year cohort, some of whom were aged 18 years in spring 1999 and therefore eligible to receive the national minimum wage, and others who were aged only 17 years. We compare participation in post-compulsory schooling for the two groups, both before and after the enactment of the legislation and find robust evidence that eligibility for the national minimum wage significantly reduces the probability of participation in post-compulsory schooling for young people living in areas where the national minimum is high relative to local earnings.
Wage and Earnings Profiles at Older Ages

The inverted U shape of the lifetime real wage profile is frequently taken to be a stylized fact. This implies a smooth decline in wages as workers approach retirement. Instead, this paper shows that the hourly wage of the typical older worker increases slightly with age for as long as he is employed full time. It declines discretely only when he enters partial retirement, a transitional period characterized by the prevalence of part-time work, and remains mostly at thereafter. That is, the wage path at older ages is best represented by a step function. The smoothly-declining profile often found in the literature is the result of aggregation over individuals who enter partial retirement at different ages. This conclusion is robust to controlling for self-selection into partial and full retirement. More importantly, the transition out of full time work is a choice for most workers, and the subsequent wage change is endogenously determined. While standard labor supply models would rationalize the reduction in hours worked upon partial retirement as a response to an exogenously declining wage trajectory, the evidence presented in the paper indicates instead that workers choose to trade more leisure for a lower hourly wage in a context in which a better paid, full-time job is available. In other words, wages and hours are jointly determined at older ages. These findings have important implications for the analysis of saving and labor supply decisions over the life cycle.
UK Stock Returns and the Impact of Domestic Monetary Policy Shocks

We investigate the influence of changes in UK monetary policy on UK stock returns and the possible reasons behind such a response. Firstly, we conduct an event study to assess the impact of unexpected changes in monetary policy on aggregate and sectoral stock returns. The decomposition of unexpected changes in the policy rate is based on futures markets data. Secondly, using a variance decomposition in the spirit of Campbell (1991) we attempt to identity the channels behind the response of stock returns to monetary policy surprises. The variance decomposition results indicate that the monetary policy shock leads to a persistent negative response in terms of future excess returns for a number of sectors.
Threats to Auditor Independence: The Impact of Relationship and Economic Bonds

SUMMARY: This study examines the association of a comprehensive set of auditor-client relationship bonds (audit firm tenure, audit engagement partner tenure, long duration director-auditor relationships, and alumni affiliation) with the level of economic bonds provided to an audit client (nonaudit services [NAS]). We further examine the effect of these economic and relationship bonds on auditor independence in the context of nonaudit services fees and the propensity to issue going-concern opinions. It is these economic and relationship bonds that have attracted the interest of regulators in their consideration of audit quality. This study was undertaken in Australia in 2002, which provided a context in which all these relationships could be examined before new regulations were introduced. Results show that audit firm tenure and alumni affiliation are associated with clients purchasing auditor-provided NAS, with stronger associations for clients with low agency costs. We further find that long audit engage.
Impact of Human Resource Factors on Perceived Environmental Performance: an Empirical Analysis of a Sample of ISO 14001 EMS Companies in Malaysia

Increasing employee motivation for environmental endeavors continues to be poorly understood. The literature suggests that management commitment, employee empowerment, feedback and review, and rewards may be significant predictors of environmental performance and hence successful environmental management system (EMS) implementation. This paper aims to ascertain the relationships between the aforementioned human resource factors with perceived environmental performance using a sample of middle and lower level employees in five manufacturing companies. All five companies are currently certified to ISO 14001 EMS and moreover four are recipients of the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Hibiscus Award (PMHA). A total of two hundred and twenty three survey responses were analyzed using the SPSS computer program version 16. The results of the regression analysis suggest that management commitment, feedback and review, and empowerment have a significant positive relationship to perceived environmental performance. However, the relationship between rewards and perceived environmental performance was statistically insignificant.
Crowding and Urban Crime Rates

Of the numerous studies attempting to explain the incidence of crime, only a handful have examined crowding as a source of such deviant behavior. Galle and his associates (Galle, Gore, and McPherson, 1972), in a comparison of areas within Chicago having many crowded households with areas having few high density dwellings, show crowding to be positively related to juvenile court appearances. Schmidt (1957) found juvenile offenders known to social agencies and prison inmates were
An Investigation into the Order of the Brand Choice Process

This paper investigates the order of the brand choice process at the individual family level using a variety of tests: t, likelihood ratio, binomial runs, and multinomial runs tests. The test of stationarity developed permits separate analyses for stationary and nonstationary purchase sequences. Our analyses indicate that the purchase sequences of a majority of stationary consumers are consistent with the zero-order assumption. This result is observed for all the nine frequently-bought packaged goods studied with the use of panel data and for a product category soft drinks using experimental data.
Global Financial Crisis and Contagion: Evidence for the ‘BRIC’ Economies*

The present study examined the effects of contagion from the developed markets (The US, the UK, and Japan) to the BRIC stock markets during the period of Jan 1996 to July 2011 using daily data. It applied Dynamic Condition Correlations (DCC) model and Asymmetric Generalized Dynamic Conditional Correlation (AG-DCC) approach to capture the effects of contagion originated from developed countries. Stock market indices are observed to display a persistent and high correlation between them during and after high volatility periods. Evidence on contagion implies that diversification sought by investing in multiple markets from different regional blocks is likely to be lower when it is most desirable. As a result, an investment strategy focused solely on international diversification seems not to work in practice during turmoil periods. Since countries and financial markets react differently to sovereign shocks, stocks from different emerging economies could provide advantages over debt-only or equity-only portfolios.
Challenges in enhancing enterprise resource planning systems for compliance with Sarbanes‐Oxley Act and analogous Canadian legislation

Purpose – This paper aims to examine major challenges faced by companies in enhancing their enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems for compliance with regulatory internal control requirements, specifically those imposed by the Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002 and analogous Canadian legislation.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through case studies of four medium‐sized and large companies that use ERP systems and that have operations in the USA and Canada, thus being subject to SOX and/or similar Canadian regulations.Findings – The companies faced some technical, process and cultural challenges in implementing regulatory control compliance. In all companies, existing ERP systems were not able to meet all control requirements without some modifications or add‐on applications. Control implementations have been long, complicated and costly processes, which are not fully completed. Detailed analyses and documentation of existing systems, controls and processes were required in all companies.
Temporal relationships between physical symptoms and psychiatric disorder

Background Physical symptoms and psychiatric disorder are associated. We aimed to investigate which comes first. Methods Data from the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development, a population-based birth cohort study were used at two time points: 36 and 43 years. Six physical symptoms were reported at both time points. The Present State Examination and Psychiatric Symptom Frequency interviews were administered at 36 and 43 years respectively. Odds ratios corrected for a variety of confounders were used to describe the associations between physical symptoms and psychiatric disorder across these two time points. Results Psychiatric disorder increased the odds of reporting symptoms 3–7-fold. The relationship strengthened when the outcome was defined as suffering from multiple symptoms. Population attributable risk of psychiatric disorder and subsyndromal disorder in causing multiple somatic symptoms was 40.3%. Prospectively, psychiatric disorder at 36 years was a predictor for five of the six physical symptoms. Three physical symptoms at 36 years predicted new onset of psychiatric symptoms at 43 years. Conclusions Psychiatric disorder is strongly related to physical symptoms. The direction of causality may operate in both directions. Assuming a causal relationship, psychiatric disorder (including subthreshold disorders) could account for at most 40% of cases of multiple physical symptoms.