Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modern Trade Theory for CGE Modelling: the Armington, Krugman and Melitz Models

This paper is for CGE modelers and others interested in modern trade theory. The Armington specification of trade, assuming country-level product differentiation, has been central to CGE modelling for 40 years. Starting in the 1980s with Krugman and more recently Melitz, trade theorists have preferred specifications with firm-level product differentiation. We draw out the connections between the Armington, Krugman and Melitz models, deriving them as successively less restrictive special cases of an encompassing model. We then investigate optimality properties of the Melitz model, demonstrating that a Melitz general equilibrium is the solution to a global, cost-minimizing problem. This suggests that envelope theorems can be used in interpreting results from a Melitz model. Next we explain the Balistreri-Rutherford decomposition in which a Melitz general equilibrium model is broken into Melitz sectoral models combined with an Armington general equilibrium model. Balistreri and Rutherford see their decomposition as a basis of an iterative approach for solving Melitz general equilibrium models. We see it as a means for interpreting Melitz results as the outcome of an Armington simulation with additional shocks to productivity and preferences variables. With CGE modelers in mind, we report computational experience in solving a Melitz general equilibrium model using GEMPACK. Key words: Armington, Krugman and Melitz; CGE modelling; international trade. JEL codes: F12; D40; D58; C6
Genetic factors associated with thrombosis in pregnancy in a United States population.

OBJECTIVE Polymorphisms in the genes for factor V (factor V Leiden), prothrombin, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, and angiotensin-converting enzyme have been associated with the occurrence of venous thrombosis. The objective of this study was to determine the relationships of these polymorphisms to thrombosis during pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN This case-control study included 41 case patients with venous thrombosis during pregnancy and 76 control subjects matched for hospital and for race (white vs black) who had a normal pregnancy. RESULTS Among white subjects, mutations in the genes for factor V and prothrombin were associated with increased risks of venous thrombosis during pregnancy (factor V: odds ratio, 18.3; 95% confidence interval, 2.7-432; P =.001; prothrombin: odds ratio infinity; 95% lower confidence limit, 1.7; P =.01). No black subject had either of these two mutations. For both black and white subjects the D/D genotype of the gene for angiotensin-converting enzyme entailed increased risk compared with the other genotypes (odds ratio, 2.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.2-6.3; P =.02). The polymorphism in the gene for methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase was unrelated to thrombosis during pregnancy among both blacks and whites. CONCLUSION Women who had thrombotic complications during pregnancy demonstrated an increased prevalence of genetic mutations related to coagulation. The additional risk of thrombosis during pregnancy associated with such genetic mutations can be substantial.
Foreign Direct Investment and Growth in EP and IS Countries

This paper examines, within a new growth theory framework, the role that foreign direct investment plays in the growth process in the context of developing countries characterized by differing trade policy regimes. The paper tests, using cross-section data relating to a sample of forty-six developing countries, the hypothesis advanced by Jagdish Bhagwati, according to which the beneficial effect of foreign direct investment, in terms of enhanced economic growth, is stronger in those countries that pursue all outwardly oriented trade policy than it is in those countries adopting an inwardly oriented policy. Copyright 1996 by Royal Economic Society.
Information, Learning, and Wage Rates in Low-Income Rural Areas

In this essay, we present evidence that employers in rural areas of developing countries have imperfect information with regard to the productivity of heterogeneous workers. In addition to obtaining direct measures of the completeness of employer information we consider the implications of information asymmetries for the structure of casual labor markets. We then evaluate the extent to which casual labor markets do, in fact, exhibit these attributes. We find that: (1) there is adverse selection out of the time-rate labor market; (2) employers discriminate statistically: given two workers with different observed characteristics but the same actual productivity, the worker from the group with the higher average productivity will have a higher wage; (3) employers exhibit learning over time: the extent of employer ignorance is negatively related to labor-market exposure on the part of the workers; and (4) calorie consumption affects productivity but is not rewarded in the time-rate labor market. In concluding we argue that an analysis of wage and employment patterns and the implications of these patterns for human capital investment in rural areas of developing countries that ignored the role of information problems could yield misleading conclusions.
Quantum dot–induced phase stabilization of α-CsPbI3 perovskite for high-efficiency photovoltaics

Maintaining a stable phase For solar cell applications, all-inorganic perovskite phases could be more stable than those containing organic cations. But the band gaps of the former, which determine the electrical conductivity of these materials, are not well matched to the solar spectrum. The cubic structure of CsPbI3 is an exception, but it is stable in bulk only at high temperatures. Swarnkar et al. show that surfactant-coated α-CsPbI3 quantum dots are stable at ambient conditions and have tunable band gaps in the visible range. Thin films of these materials can be made by spin coating with an antisolvent technique to minimize surfactant loss. When used in solar cells, these films have efficiencies exceeding 10%, making them promising for light harvesting or for LEDs. Science, this issue p. 92 The cubic crystalline phase of CsPbI3, which has a more favorable band gap for solar cells, is stabilized as a nanomaterial. We show nanoscale phase stabilization of CsPbI3 quantum dots (QDs) to low temperatures that can be used as the active component of efficient optoelectronic devices. CsPbI3 is an all-inorganic analog to the hybrid organic cation halide perovskites, but the cubic phase of bulk CsPbI3 (α-CsPbI3)—the variant with desirable band gap—is only stable at high temperatures. We describe the formation of α-CsPbI3 QD films that are phase-stable for months in ambient air. The films exhibit long-range electronic transport and were used to fabricate colloidal perovskite QD photovoltaic cells with an open-circuit voltage of 1.23 volts and efficiency of 10.77%. These devices also function as light-emitting diodes with low turn-on voltage and tunable emission.
Consumer Confidence and Rational Expectations: Are Agents' Beliefs Consistent with the Theory?

Consumer confidence is found to have predictive content for a wide range of macroeconomic variables including consumption growth, contrary to standard REPIH. We find that on UK data the REPIH is rejected due to the predictive content of consumer confidence, and not labour income. We explain this finding in terms of precautionary behaviour. Extending the Hansen and Singleton Consumption CAPM model to allow a conditional variance we find a high level of confidence is associated with both greater optimism about the level of consumption and greater uncertainty about the forecaster variance. Once allowance is made for time aggregation the over identifying restrictions implied by this model are accepted. We estimate a small but statistically significant intertemporal elasticity of substitution.
European Veterinary Education: Structuring Future Development Observations of Veterinary Medicine Students' Approaches to Study in Pre-clinical Years

Rationale for this study – This study has two purposes. The first is to explore an instrument of evaluation of the approaches to study (deep, strategic, and surface) adopted by students in the pre-clinical years of their veterinary degree program. The second is to examine relationships between these approaches and a broad range of further factors deemed relevant to the veterinary medicine context. We envisage that a greater knowledge of how these students learn will aid curriculum reform in a way that will enrich the learning experience of veterinary students. Methodology – A questionnaire consisting of the 52-question Approaches to Study Inventory (ASI) and an additional 49 questions relating mainly to teaching, assessment, and study skills was distributed to 215 veterinary medicine (MVB) students in their pre-clinical years of study. Factor analysis was used to ensure that the ASI section of the questionnaire maintained previously reported structure. The internal reliability of the approaches measured was tested using Cronbach alpha analysis. The approaches were described as frequency distributions. Associations between the parameters (deep, strategic, and surface) and 49 additional context-specific factors were investigated using loglinear analysis. Results – (1) Factor analysis revealed that the integrity and structure of the instrument in this context was generally comparable to previous studies. (2) The impact of a high workload was evident in the surface approach, with fear of failure becoming a strong motivating factor and syllabus boundness a widely used strategy. (3) Associations made between the approaches and 49 context-specific factors showed strong associations between both workload and lack of prior knowledge with the surface approach. (4) Grades were associated positively with both the deep and strategic approaches but negatively with the surface approach. (5) A range of learning and study skills were associated positively with the deep and strategic approaches and negatively with the surface approach. Conclusion – The ASI proved to be a reliable and insightful instrument, highlighting specific surface learning tendencies present in the group as well as a deep learning approach, the pattern of which deviates from previous studies on this subject. This study also confirms the value of some teaching practices as a means of supporting deep learning and perhaps challenging surface learning strategies. The prevalent perception of a high workload is notable, as is its positive association with surface learning.
An Efficient Student Loan System: Case Study of Hungary

The Hungarian student loan system was introduced in 2001. It has four main attributes: universal access and universal conditions; income contingent repayment; private funding; and self‐sustaining (zero‐profit) operation without direct state subsidy. This latter characteristic makes the scheme quite unique in international practice. Empirical facts support the original idea: default rate is relatively low (1–2 per cent), administration costs per year are around 1 per cent of the portfolio value. This paper focuses on three issues: how the Hungarian model works; why a ‘specialized institution’ model is superior to a ‘retail bank’ model; and finally, why adverse selection is not as menacing as the literature may suggest.
Internal Governance in the Nonprofit Boardroom: A Participant Observer Study

This paper presents the results of a longitudinal complete member researcher participant observer study of two nonprofit association boards with particular reference to their internal corporate governance processes. In doing so, it offers one of the very few available insider observational studies of boardroom behaviour currently available in the management literature. Its inductive analysis reveals boards that proactively manage director recruitment and selection, board member terms and rotation, with a strong emphasis on board membership diversity and representation. A clear progression from informal to formal processes of board and director performance evaluation are observed, and a variability in board-CEO relationships is explored. Agenda structuring changes are observed to directly impact upon strategy and policy focus, while informality and humour emerge as key weapons in the maintenance of cohesion in an increasingly business-oriented environment. Boardroom culture emerges as a potent ingredient in the governance process, thereby signalling its future importance for both researchers and board chairs. Copyright (c) 2007 The Author; Journal compilation (c) 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
An Increase in the Number of Tornado Reports in Brazil

AbstractThis paper presents the development of tornado reports in Brazil since the middle of the twentieth century, both for the country as a whole and for the five regions of Brazil: the south, southeast, central-west, northeast, and north. No official tornado registry exists in Brazil so the reports come from various sources. Most of the tornadoes reported are from the south and southeast regions. The low number of reports for the central-west regions suggests, in view of the literature on intense storms and mesoscale convective complexes, that most tornadoes cases go unreported. The increase in tornado reports is compared to the evolution of population density and communications, with the latter represented by the evolution of local television stations and the popularization of the Internet. One particular event is a new Web site for volunteer tornado reports, which has completely changed the trends of tornado reports. Another possible cause for an increase in the number of tornado reports in the south.
Selecting Data Transmission Method for Sensor Networks With Deterministic Spatial Channel Properties

Wireless sensor radios are particularly prone to a radio channel impairment due to a simple communication circuitry. Persistent impairment can cause serious problems to sensors that must continuously or repeatedly reside in locations with deterministic channel properties caused by the surrounding spatial structure. Capturing such channel properties with traditional statistical models alone is cumbersome and ineffective. A new modeling framework based on receiver-measured packet error rates expressed using two surface roughness parameters, namely the amplitude and spacing parameters, is proposed to represent the key properties of a channel error profile. A case study on a rotating machine environment is presented. Experimental results confirmed the adequacy of the proposed model and the resulting improved transmission performance.
Greenhouse Facility Management Experts Identification of Competencies and Teaching Methods to Support Secondary Agricultural Education Instructors: A Modified Delphi Study.

In this study the Delphi technique has been used to develop a list of educational competencies for preparing secondary agricultural education instructors to effectively manage their school greenhouse facilities. The use of specialized facilities in agricultural education requires appropriate preparation of agricultural education teachers. The Delphi technique uses an anonymous panel of experts for suggestions and assessments aiming at consensus. Thirteen experts from multiple schools and universities took part in the investigation. The study used a series of three web–based questionnaires to determine competencies that teachers need to know, to be able to perform, and to identify effective teaching methods for teachers to obtain these competencies. The first round instrument consisted of three open–ended questions, and a series of questions to validate the background of the members of the panel. In the second round, respondents were asked to rate each competency and teaching method using a seven–point Likert– type scale. Median scores and interquartile values were calculated. Panel members were sent a copy of their individual responses as well as the group responses for review. In the third round, panel members were requested to indicate their level of agreement with each item using a five–point Likert–type scale.
Linking Smallholders to the New Agricultural Economy: The Case of the Plataformas de Concertación in Ecuador

Abstract This article examines the challenges of linking smallholders to high-value food markets by looking at the experience of the Plataformas programme in the Ecuadorian Sierra. Multiple evaluation methods are employed to ensure identification of program impact. The findings suggest that the programme successfully improved the welfare of beneficiary farmers, as measured by yields and gross margins. These benefits are achieved through improving the efficiency of agricultural production and through selling at higher prices. No significant secondary health or environmental effects were found. Overall, the programme provides clear evidence that combining production support with facilitating market access can be successful.
A system model for corporate entrepreneurship

Purpose – To measure the factors contributing to corporate entrepreneurship cultivation and examine the relation between corporate entrepreneurship and innovation performance.Design/methodology/approach – With interviews and questionnaires, 58 large‐middle size enterprises in China were randomly surveyed to test the hypotheses. Factor analysis is used to corporate entrepreneurship cultivation factors, corporate entrepreneurship and innovation performance. And then, a series of multiple linear regression analyzes have been conducted to test the causality between the above three aspects.Findings – It is found that there are four factors contributing to corporate entrepreneurship, and it is suggested that corporations can cultivate corporate entrepreneurship to enhance corporate innovation performance.Research limitations/implications – It's not an exhaustive list of corporate entrepreneurship cultivation factors. And the size of samples is not large enough which perhaps limits its usefulness.Practical impli.
Ownership structure and dividend policy: Evidence from Italian firms

Abstract This paper reports on empirical investigations into the relationship between dividend policy and ownership structure of firms, using a sample of 139 listed Italian companies. Ownership structure in Italy is highly concentrated and hence the relevant agency problem to analyse seems to be the one that arises from the conflicting interests of large shareholders and minority shareholders. This paper therefore attempts to test the rent extraction hypothesis by relating the firm’s dividend payout ratio to various ownership variables, which measure the degree of concentration in terms of the voting rights of large shareholders. The hypothesis that other non-controlling large shareholders may have incentives to monitor the largest shareholder is also tested. The results of the empirical analysis reveal that firms make lower dividend payouts as the voting rights of the largest shareholder increase. Results also suggest that the presence of agreements among large shareholders might explain the limited monitoring power of other ‘strong’ non-controlling shareholders.
The case for process approaches in loyalty research in tourism

The article reviews the literature on loyalty in consumer behaviour with particular emphasis on the difficulties of interpreting repeat purchasing in terms of loyalty. Problems of conceptual definition and measurement are examined in the context of tourism. A case is made for seeing the concept of loyalty as a process rather than as a state. In this respect two approaches related to information processing are suggested as possible research approaches. Psychological cost-benefit technique and methods associated with optimum stimulation level are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Liquidity Preference of Commercial Banks . By George R. Morrison. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966. $7.50.

This work started as the author's thesis, which must have been of exceptional quality, and has made the difficult transition to a monograph in a superior manner. The book must be top priority reading for anyone interested in monetary theory or policy, not only for the main analysis and empirical results, but also for the many suggestions, insights, and, in general, fresh ideas thrown out as sidelights to the main issues. Anyone connected with the conduct of monetary policy should be forced to read the major parts of the work on the debacle of Federal Reserve policy during 1936-7 to pay delayed penance as well as to better understand the proper conduct of policy and the consequences of bad policy decisions. In addition, those interested in statistics and econometric model building will find much of use. This is not to say, however, that the book is faultless or without ambiguities or difficulties in places. The major purpose of the book is to explain the behavior of commercial banks during depression and panic periods; in particular, to explain the existence of large excess reserves during these periods. The, by now, standard explanation is, of course, the liquidity trap hypothesis developed through the use of the Keynesian speculative demand for money as applied to the demand of banks for liquidity. Morrison's main conclusion is that this explanation is at best incomplete and at worst totally incorrect. He suggests that the abnormally large excess reserves were held by the banks for precautionary reasons. Since bank liquidity crises are apt to result in changes in the precautionary demand, Morrison describes his hypothesis as involving shifts in the liquidity preference function rather than movements down a given function. Probably a better description would be that certain crucial variables are excluded from the usual liquidity preference function, such that the function appears to shift when defined in terms of one variable (the interest rate).
A joint active/passive physical model of sea surface microwave signatures

Historically, models of microwave signatures of the sea surface have assumed that all waves on the surface are freely propagating wind-generated waves that might be modulated by longer waves [Wright, 1968; Bass et al., 1968; Durden and Vesecky, 1985; Yueh, 1997; Irisov, 2000; Plant, 2002]. Furthermore, the signatures of active microwave systems (radars and scatterometers) have been modeled independently of those of passive systems (radiometers). This has led to an impossible situation where brightness temperatures, Tb, measured by radiometers were explained by surface wave spectra that were very different from those used to model normalized radar cross sections, σo, measured by scatterometers. For instance, Yueh et al., [1997] find agreement between Tb data and a model based on the spectrum of Durden and Vesecky [1985] while Plant [2002] finds agreement between VV (vertical transmit and receive) σo data and a model based on the spectrum of Elfouhaily et al. [1997]. But the spectrum of Durden and Vesecky is much more isotropic than that of Elfouhaily, yields curvature spectra that peak at higher wavenumbers than Elfouhaily's, and predicts mean square slopes that are nearly twice as large as Elfouhaily's, whose values agree with those measured by Cox and Munk [1954].