Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trade-offs in the allocation of prosecution resources: an opportunity cost of overcriminalization

One in every five citizens has a criminal record in Korea. Scarce prosecution resources have been severely skewed toward prosecuting more ‘legislated crime’ than ‘conventional crime’. We estimate the opportunity cost of this prosecutory pattern in terms of spillovers to conventional crimes. The cost was found to be substantial. For example, in 2003, the total spillovers accounted for approximately 25% of the increase in conventional crimes for 3 years from 2000 because of the disproportionate prosecutory focus on legislated crimes compared with that of the 1990s. This article has relevance to those countries with an overcriminalizing trend for legislated crimes.
Efficient and Inefficient Sales of Corporate Control

This paper develops a framework for analyzing transactions that transfer a company's controlling block from an existing controller to a new controller. This framework is used to compare the market rule, which is followed in the United States, with the equal opportunity rule, which prevails in some other countries. The market rule is superior to the equal opportunity rule in facilitating efficient transfers of control but inferior to it in discouraging inefficient transfers. Conditions under which one of the two rules is overall superior are identified; for example, the market rule is superior if existing and new controllers draw their characteristics from the same distributions. Finally, the rules' effects on surplus division are analyzed and this examination reveals a rationale for mandatory rules.
The Impact of the Rating Agencies' Through-the-Cycle Methodology on Rating Dynamics

Surveys on the use of agency credit ratings reveal that some investors believe that credit-rating agencies are relatively slow in adjusting their ratings. A well-accepted explanation for this perception on rating timeliness is the through-the-cycle methodology that agencies use. Through-the-cycle ratings are intended to measure default risk over long investment horizons and to respond only to changes in the permanent component of credit quality. A second aspect of the through-the-cycle methodology is the prudent migration policy. In a benchmark study with a financial ratio-based credit-scoring models - an agency-rating prediction model and default-prediction models with various time horizons - we confirm the exclusive focus of agencies on the permanent component of credit quality and we model and quantify the agencies' prudent migration policy. A rating migration is triggered only when the rating predicted by the agency-rating prediction model differs by at least a threshold level of 1.8 notch steps from the actual agency rating. If triggered, ratings are only partly adjusted by 70 per cent at the downside and 60 per cent at the upside. From a 1-year point-in-time perspective, weighting temporary fluctuations in credit quality, the through-the-cycle methodology lowers the rating-migration probability by a factor of 3.5. Both aspects of the through-the-cycle methodology contribute equally to this factor. The partial adjustment of ratings lowers the rating-reversal probabilities on short term and introduces rating drift, the known serial correlation in agency-rating migrations. Copyright Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, 2005
Work-related perks, agency problems, and optimal incentive contracts

This paper examines the effects of work-related perks, such as corporate jets and limousines, nice offices, secretarial staff, etc., on the optimal incentive contract. In a linear contracting framework, perks characterized by complementarities between production and consumption improve the trade-off between incentives and insurance that determines the optimal contract for a risk-averse agent. We show that (i) the perk may be offered even if its direct consumption and productivity benefits are offset by its cost; (ii) the perk will be offered for free; (iii) agents in more uncertain production environments will receive more perks; (iv) senior executives should receive both more perks and stronger explicit incentives; and (v) better corporate governance can lead firms to award their CEOs more perks. Our analysis also offers insights into the firms’decisions about how much autonomy they should grant to their employees and about optimal perk provision when managers and workers are organized in teams.
Stock return dynamics and stock market interdependencies

This article compares stock return behaviour in mature and emerging stock markets. The role of leading markets and the impact of the October 1997 East Asian financial crisis are examined in the context of stock market interdependencies. An extended AR(1)-GARCH-M (autoregressive generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity) model is used. Potential price and volatility transmission mechanisms stemming from leading markets and potential structural breaks in mean and variance caused by the above crisis are discussed. Daily data covering the 16 April 1991 to 29 November 2001 period are used. The results reveal significant differences in stock return behaviour between mature and emerging markets and confirm substantial interdependencies among stock markets, originating from both leading and emerging markets.
Motivational Interviewing as a Prelude to Coaching in Healthcare Settings

Motivational interviewing is a unique counseling technique that was developed to help individuals give up addictive behaviors and learn new behavioral skills. This counseling technique relies on using communication skills to understand an individual's motivation for change. Motivational interviewing uses techniques such as open-ended questions, reflective listening, affirmation, and summarization to help individuals express their concerns about change. For those willing to change, motivational interviewing provides an opportunity for coaching including helping individuals set goals and arrive at a change plan. A 3-step approach to coaching may simplify the process of change and offer techniques for healthcare professionals to better equip them facilitate the change process.
Intergenerational Transfers Between Parents and Their Multiple Adult Children in South Korea

Abstract Guided by the exchange model, altruistic model, intergenerational solidarity theory, and cultural contexts, this study explored the determinants of financial intergenerational transfers between older parents and adult children in South Korea. We examined 18,820 parent-child dyads by using random-effects models on the first wave of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA) data. Findings showed that downward financial intergenerational transfers were consistent with the self-interest exchange model but upward transfers did not support microeconomic theories. Family solidarity theory was generally supported by downward transfers but geographical proximity was not positively associated with upward transfers. Lastly, cultural contextual variables such as marital status, birth order, and sex of a child were found to be significant. Parents tended to both provide and receive more financial support from unmarried children than from married children. Within the same marital status, the hierarchy existed in order of the first-born son, the second or later sons, and daughters when it came to downward financial transfers. Regarding upward financial transfers, the preference in order was more complicated. The findings of this study help in understanding the intergenerational financial transfers in the Korean context.
Identification of the Critical Factors of TQM

Current concepts in the field of Total Quality Management (TQM) are largely based upon case studies, anecdotal evidence and the prescriptions of leading “gurus. ” Consequently, there is little consensus on which factors are critical to the success of the approach. Few attempts have been made to scientifically synthesise frameworks for measuring quality management practices, and a methodology for examining the issue has yet to be established. This has meant that current TQM models, such as the Malcolm Baldrige Award, have not been constructed or validated by empirical means. This paper presents a research methodology that can be used to improve self-assessment frameworks, such as the Baldrige Award, to better inform organisations in the development of Total Quality Systems. The research extracts a series of items from the Baldrige model and established literature. These items formed the basis of a questionnaire sent to over 200 managers. Data was examined using several well-established analytical techniques that identified 10 critical factors of TQM. These factors were shown to be reliable and valid, and offer new insights into our understanding of TQM.
Differentiated Markets: Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong in China’s Financial Centre Network

This paper examines the roles of Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong as financial centres by utilising interview and secondary data to analyse the decision-making of financial and regulatory actors, and the different functional roles of foreign banks in those cities. Their intercity relations demonstrate a complex mix of competition and collaboration that embeds them in evolving networks of interdependence. Empirical findings indicate differentiated markets leading to the distinctive development of Shanghai as a commercial centre, Beijing as a political centre and Hong Kong as an offshore financial centre, with all three financial centres performing distinctive and complementary roles within the regional banking strategies of foreign banks. The analysis first explains Hong Kong’s continued dominance in the region and, secondly, reveals insights into changing intercity relationships between these prominent Chinese cities that contribute to their distinctive development as financial centres.
Placebo‐controlled, double‐blind, randomized study of aerosolized tobramycin for early treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonization in cystic fibrosis

In chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa pulmonary infection of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), antibiotic therapy generally fails to eradicate the bacterial pathogen. The mucoid bacterial phenotype, high sputum production by the host, and low airway levels of antibiotics seem to be responsible for the observed decrease in antibiotic efficacy. We hypothesized that early antibiotic treatment by inhalation in CF patients may be able to prevent or at least delay airway infection. In a prospective placebo‐controlled, double‐blind, randomized multicenter study, 22 CF patients received either 80 mg b.i. d. of aerosolized tobramycin or placebo for a period of 12 months shortly after the onset of P. aeruginosa pulmonary colonization.
The Emerging Role of Atypical Pathogens in Community‐Acquired Pneumonia

Community‐acquired pneumonia (CAP) constitutes a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Although Streptococcus pneumoniae remains the bacterium most commonly implicated in CAP, the atypical respiratory pathogens Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Legionella species, and Chlamydia pneumoniae are being isolated with increasing frequency. Contrary to previous beliefs, these agents are capable of causing severe as well as mild‐to‐moderate illness. Moreover, they can affect all age groups. Indeed, atypical pathogens are implicated in up to 40% of CAP cases and commonly occur as copathogens in mixed‐infection CAP, an etiology associated with particularly high mortality (up to 25%). Laboratory methods for detecting atypical pathogens are slow, and there is significant overlap between atypical and typical CAP manifestations. For these reasons, accurate prediction of etiology cannot be made purely on clinical or radiologic grounds. Consequently, empiric antimicrobial therapy for atypical pathogens (with agents such as macrolides, fluoroquinolones, in some cases tetracyclines, or the new ketolides) warrants careful consideration and now is recommended for the treatment of CAP.
Job satisfaction and motivation of public employees in Spain

Our purpose is to analyze job satisfaction and motivation of public employees in Spain to respond two questions. First, whether there is divergence between different public occupations and, second, what are the distinguishing features of that diversity? Using data from the Spanish Survey of Labor Conditions (ECVT, Encuesta de Condiciones y Vida en el Trabajo) 2006-2010, we estimate regressions for each of the 17 public occupations, with job satisfaction and motivation as the dependent variables, and a number of economic and socio-demographic determinants as exogenous variables. Our results, which can be considered contributions to the study of public management, reveal that the importance that public employees assign to the performance of their work, that is to say, to the idea of public service, is clearly a source of job satisfaction. These results do not fully support certain criticisms that require management philosophies to be closer to the private model, assuming that this can be more efficient for public employees.
Inhaled corticosteroid treatment and growth of asthmatic children seen at outpatient clinics.

OBJECTIVE To ascertain the effect of inhaled corticosteroid use on gain in height and weight of asthmatic pediatric outpatients. METHODS A one-year prospective cohort study was carried out with 124 asthmatic children aged 3 to 16 years who were prescribed inhaled corticosteroids for at least 12 months, evaluating z-scores for height/age, weight/age, body mass index and parental target height for current age. Exclusion criteria were: birth weight less than 2,500 g, malnutrition, chronic diseases and systemic corticoid use for more than 7 consecutive days. RESULTS The mean +/- standard deviation for z-scores for initial and final height/age were 0.06+/-1.2 and 0.01+/-1.2 (95%CI 0.05-0.11), respectively; for initial and final weight/age z-scores they were 0.6+/-1.5 and 0.5+/-1.5 (95%CI 1.84-6.6), respectively. These figures did not differ significantly (p = 0.199 and p = 0.808). There was also no loss in stature when children were stratified into well and poorly controlled asthma or into pubescent and non-pubescent groups. CONCLUSIONS In comparison with the NCHS (National Center for Health Statistics) growth curves, there was no compromise to the height or body weight of children/adolescents using inhaled corticosteroids for more than 1 year at the doses recommended for asthma prevention.
A Test of the Persistence in the Performance of UK Managed Funds

We employ a United Kingdom data set of weekly returns from a sample of investment trust companies available on the Datastream database. We analyse the relative performance of the funds and determine whether a 'good' (above-median), past-performance is indicative of future performance. Our study focuses on within sample relative performance. We examine persistence in performance in the short and long run based on a number of tests. Overall we find that both raw and risk-adjusted returns exhibit evidence of persistence in performance in the long run but not in the very short run. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1999.
Problem solving in small firms: an interpretive study

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to present the results of a recent interpretive study of 11 small Central Vancouver Island firms in British Columbia, Canada, which yield new interpretations of the nature of problem‐solving processes within the wider context of managerial capability as a critical contributor to small business survival.Design/methodology/approach – The methodological approach taken is positioned within an emergent body of research in the field of small business and entrepreneurship that applies an interpretive paradigm to uncover the complex facets of how individuals develop their capabilities and management practices with a particular emphasis on the small business owner‐manager. More specifically, the critical incident technique method, along with an approach to data analysis and coding that draws from grounded theory, is combined and applied as a qualitative research strategy to yield new understandings of problem solving in small firms.Findings – Research findings reveal the i.
Measuring dependence in joint distributions of yield and weather variables

Purpose - The design and pricing of weather-based insurance instruments is strongly based on an implicit assumption that the dependence structure between crop yields and weather variables remains unchanged over time. The purpose of this paper is to verify this critical assumption by employing historical time series of weather and farm yields from a semi-arid region. Design/methodology/approach - The analysis employs two different approaches to measure dependence in multivariate distributions – the regression analysis and copula approach. The estimations are done by employing Bayesian hierarchical model. Findings - The paper reveals statistically significant temporal changes in the joint distribution of weather variables and wheat yields for grain-producing farms in Kazakhstan over the period from 1961 to 2003. Research limitations/implications - By questioning its basic assumption the paper draws attention to serious limitations in the current methodology of the weather-based insurance design. Practical implications - The empirical results obtained indicate that the relationship between weather and crop yields is not fixed and can change over time. Accordingly, greater effort is required to capture potential temporal changes in the weather-yield-relationship and to consider them while developing and rating weather-based insurance instruments. Originality/value - The estimation of selected copula and regression models has been done by employing Bayesian hierarchical models.
Does tighter environmental policy lead to a comparative advantage in less polluting goods

A two-factor model is developed to analyze the effects of environmental policy on patterns of comparative advantage. A pollution tax affects goods' prices via: (1) the tax burdens on each good, which depend on their respective polluting tendencies; and (2) changes in factor returns due to increased abatement activity. The good intensive in the factor whose returns have risen will tend to face a price increase, ceteris paribus. The net outcome depends on both effects. A higher tax will not always raise (lower) the autarky price of the more (less) polluting good. Therefore a country with the higher (lower) tax does not always have a comparative advantage in the less (more) polluting good. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
Dissecting home regionalization: how large does the region loom?

Purpose – The paper aims to motivate more rigorous theoretical and empirical specification of the home regionalization phenomenon, in particular the dynamics of shifting advantage over time within a multinational enterprise. It aims to improve dialogue among regionalization researchers.Design/methodology/approach – Contrasting the economizing and behavioral perspectives on internationalization, the paper presents five different archetypes of the home‐regionalization phenomenon. These archetypes are predicated on strategic management stylizations of competitive advantage.Findings – The paper demonstrates that the notion of home regionalization as a dominant and superior model for firm internationalization remains a promising yet under‐explained and inconsistently articulated thesis. By introducing and exploring the archetypes, it shows the diversity of home‐regionalization theses, and the prospect that multiple forms of regionalization may be at play for different firms, industries and locations.Originalit.
Building a barrier-to-imitation strategy model in the travel agency industry

This study explores travel agency industry-specific barriers to imitation by first reviewing the literature on the barriers to imitation and the effects of barrier reductions on travel markets. This is the first attempt to explore and identify the external and internal barriers to imitation in the travel agency industry. It is also the first to examine the development of competitive advantages through the building of a barrier-to-imitation strategy, which is the conceptual model from the perspective of travel agency practitioners. A three-round Delphi research design was adopted to look into the present barrier-to-imitation strategy performance measures of travel agencies. Qualitative interviews with the chief executive officers of the top 15 large-scale travel agencies provided additional insights. The results show that Taiwanese travel agencies consider five external barriers, six internal barriers, and six developing barriers-to-imitation advantages, and four performance indicators of barrier strategies. This study is quite innovative in that no one else so far has analysed or tried to discern the issues of barriers to imitation, towards proposing an optimal strategic model for enforcing barriers to imitation. Finally, the construct of developing competitive advantages by building a barrier strategies model for travel agencies can help address practical and theoretical needs.
Experimental and Monte Carlo studies on the response of CR-39 detectors to Am-Be neutron spectrum

*Corresponding author: Dr. Parviz Abdolmaleki, Department of Biophysics, Tarbiat Modares University, P. O. Box 14155-6446, Tehran, Iran. Fax: +98 21 82884717 E-mail: parviz@modares.ac. ir Background: The Poly-Allyl Diglycol Carbonate (PADC) detector is of particular interest for development of a fast neutron dosimeter. Fast neutrons interact with the constituents of the CR-39 detector and produce H, C and O recoils, as well as (n, α) reaction. These neutroninduced charged particles contribute towards the response of CR-39 detectors. Material and Methods: Electrochemical etching was used to enlarge track diameter which was made by low energy recoil protons. Before electrochemical etching, a chemical etching was performed for 1 hour. The responses were also calculated by Monte Carlo simulations, using MCNPX code in different energy bins considering H, C and O recoils. The total registered efficiency and partial contributions of the efficiency, due to interactions with each constituent of CR-39, were calculated. Results: The optimized condition of etchant was obtained to be 6N KOH 15kV.cm-1, and 6 hours etching time. The obtained results show that track efficiency of CR-39 was a function of incident neutron energy. The tracks caused by O and C recoil nuclei were negligible for neutron energies lower than 1 MeV. At neutron energies lower than 1 MeV, only recoil protons would have sufficient energy to leave visible tracks. But, O and C recoils had important contributions in overall response of PADC at neutron energies of few MeV. Conclusion: The efficiency of a CR-39 based dosemeter could be calculated by MCNPX code and the results were in a good agreement with experimental results in energy range of 241Am – Be bare source and 241Am-Be was softened with a spherical polyethylene moderator of radius of 20 cm. Iran. J. Radiat. Res., 2011; 9(2): 95­102
On the influence of high-pass filtering on ICA-based artifact reduction in EEG-ERP

Standard artifact removal methods for electroencephalographic (EEG) signals are either based on Independent Component Analysis (ICA) or they regress out ocular activity measured at electrooculogram (EOG) channels. Successful ICA-based artifact reduction relies on suitable pre-processing. Here we systematically evaluate the effects of high-pass filtering at different frequencies. Offline analyses were based on event-related potential data from 21 participants performing a standard auditory oddball task and an automatic artifactual component classifier method (MARA). As a pre-processing step for ICA, high-pass filtering between 1-2 Hz consistently produced good results in terms of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), single-trial classification accuracy and the percentage of `near-dipolar' ICA components. Relative to no artifact reduction, ICA-based artifact removal significantly improved SNR and classification accuracy. This was not the case for a regression-based approach to remove EOG artifacts.