Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Shifting Patterns of Sectoral Labor Allocation during Development: Developed Versus Developing Countries

Abstract The change in the partition of a country's labor force among the agricultural, manufacturing, and service sectors during the course of economic development has attained a quasi-law status in the development literature. Recent evidence suggests that the pattern unfolding in the developing countries has been increasingly different from that established in the past in Western Europe and North America. This paper first discusses how and why current trends have been deviating from the historically observed ones. Labor allocation and GNP per capita data from 95 countries over a twenty-year time span are then examined for temporal drift using the expansion method. Our analysis confirms the existence of temporal variation in the relationship, and yields a mathematical portrait of this drift. The temporally specific model obtained is capable of producing very plausible longitudinal patterns for a “typical”less developed and more developed country. We suggest that it is inadvisable, if not incorrect, to as.
State Autonomy and Political Regulation: The Case of Neo-Liberal Restructuring in New Zealand

The key role played by a social democratic government in New Zealand in constructing and executing a rapid and comprehensive neo-liberal restructuring project provides an interesting case study which is "'different' but not 'exceptional. '" Left governments and parties in advanced capitalist countries around the world have been compromised to varying degrees by the ascendancy of neoliberalism, the imperative of international competitiveness and the decreased viability of "Keynesianism in one country. " However, in New Zealand a "Left" government went even further by positively embracing the neo-liberal project.
Wealth Distribution, the Financial Crisis and Entrepreneurship

Globally, wealth is very unequally distributed, both within countries and between countries. The UNUWIDER project on Personal Assets from a Global Perspective has found for instance that the richest 10 percent of adults in the world own 85 percent of global household wealth. Of these individuals, almost half live in the US and Japan. The common measure of inequality, the Gini.coefficient, ranges between 0.65 to 0.75 for the distribution of within country wealth. Another feature of the distribution of wealth is that the rich (advanced countries) hold greater proportions of wealth in financial assets than poorer or middle income households (countries) where wealth is predominantly held in real assets such as land, houses and farm assets (see the article by Davies, Sandstrom, Shorrocks and Wolff in the WIDER Angle 2006. 2 (1.4 megabytes).
Fault, Settlement, and Negligence Law

State tort laws that govern the apportionment of damages from accidents often bar potential plaintiffs who played even a minor causal role in the accident from recovering damages from other culpable parties. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that judges and juries fail to enforce the letter of the law, which leads to a weaker relationship between fault in an accident and recovery for injuries than the laws would predict. Data from insurance settlements arising out of auto accidents are consistent with the anecdotal evidence. This indicates that the letter of the law may be less important in shaping individuals' behavior than scholars have supposed.
Household finance and income inequality in the euro area

The size and composition of assets and liabilities of households differ vastly across the income distribution in euro area countries. This paper shows that differences between income groups in household finance on both sides of the balance sheet contribute to income inequality. The distribution of household credit is two times as unequal and the distribution of stock market wealth four times as unequal as the distribution of household income. Larger credit and stock markets may thus widen income inequality by providing people with high incomes with better investment opportunities and raising the returns on their savings. In addition, financial institutions help people protect their consumption against temporary changes in their income. But they do so unevenly across the distribution, as a household is more likely to be denied credit if it has a low income. No evidence is found of discrimination in credit provision against women or immigrants. Financement des menages et inegalites de revenu dans la zone euro La taille et la composition de l’actif et du passif des menages sont tres variables sur la distribution des revenus dans les pays de la zone euro. Ce document montre que les differences entre quintiles de revenu dans le financement des menages, de part et d’autre du bilan, contribuent aux inegalites de revenu. La distribution du credit aux menages est deux fois plus inegale et la distribution du patrimoine boursier quatre fois plus inegale que la distribution des revenus des menages. L’expansion des marches du credit et d’actions pourrait ainsi contribuer aux inegalites de revenu en offrant aux plus hauts revenus de meilleures possibilites d’investissement et une meilleure rentabilite de leur epargne. Par ailleurs, les etablissements financiers aident les menages a proteger leur consommation en periode de fluctuations temporaires de leur revenu. Or, ils le font de maniere inegale sur la distribution des revenus puisqu’un menage a plus de risques de se voir opposer un refus si ses revenus sont faibles. Aucun element ne vient corroborer l’idee d’une discrimination de l’offre de credit a l’encontre des femmes ou des personnes issues de l’immigration.
Post-&Apos;87 Crash Fears in S&P 500 Futures Options

This paper shows that post-crash implicit distributions have been strongly negatively skewed, and examines two competing explanations: stochastic volatility models with negative correlations between market levels and volatilities, and negative-mean jump models with time-varying jump frequencies. The two models are nested using a Fourier inversion European option pricing methodology, and fitted to S&P 500 futures options data over 1988-1993 using a nonlinear generalized least squares/Kalman filtration methodology. While volatility and level shocks are substantially negatively correlated, the stochastic volatility model can explain the implicit negative skewness only under extreme parameters (e.g., high volatility of volatility) that are implausible given the time series properties of option prices. By contrast, the stochastic volatility/jump-diffusion model generates substantially more plausible parameter" estimates. Evidence is also presented against the hypothesis that volatility follows a diffusion.
100 B in schizophrenia : an update

Recent research has supported a potential role of immune pathology in the etiopathogenesis of schizophrenic. In the CNS various viruses were identified in the brains of schizophrenic patients. Pro-inflammatory cytokines were found to be associated with the stage of disease. Microglial cells were reported to be activated in a subgroup of schizophrenic patients in post mortem as well as imaging studies. New research has demonstrated that astrocytes together with microglial cells are the major immunocompetent cells of the brain and play an important role in the regulation of neuronal proliferation and differentiation. S100B, a calcium binding astrocyte-specific cytokine, presents a marker of astrocytic activation. Scientific evidence for increased S100B in acute schizophrenia is very consistent. The picture is not as clear regarding schizophrenia subtypes in acute states but patients with persistent negative symptoms or deficit syndrome show constant high S100B concentrations. There is an association between high S100B and poor therapeutic response. The increased S100B concentrations appear to be functionally relevant since they are reflected by poor cognitive performance and cross validation with other methods make it unlikely that the findings are merely an epiphenomenon. These findings suggest that the activation of astrocytes might be an important pathogenic factor for the development of schizophrenia.
Characterization of Trpm1 desensitization in ON bipolar cells and its role in downstream signalling

Non‐technical summary The retina can process over 10 log‐units of changes in light intensity allowing us to see in dim starlight to bright daylight. These changes in luminosity are detected first by photoreceptors, rods and cones, and then relayed to second‐order neurons, ON and OFF bipolar cells (BCs), before finally being encoded as spikes by ganglion cells (GCs). We found that ON BCs process light signals differently depending on the luminosity of the signal. In response to bright light, ON BCs undergo Ca2+‐dependent depression, referred to as desensitization, producing a transient response to a sustained light stimulus; however, no such transformation occurred in dim light. Furthermore, every ON BC was capable of producing desensitization. This desensitization was passed to GCs, resulting in transient spike trains. In conclusion, ON BCs play an important role in retinal processing by converting a sustained light signal into a transient one, in order to prevent saturation.
Unprivatizing the pension system: the case of Poland

In many countries, the fiscal tension associated with the global financial crisis brings about the discussion about unprivatizing the social security system. This article employs an Overlapping Generations model to assess ex ante the effects of such changes to the pension reform in Poland from 1999 as implemented in 2011 and in 2013. We simulate the behaviour of the economy without the implemented/proposed changes and compare it to a status quo defined by the reform from 1999. We find that the changes implemented in 2011 and in 2013 are detrimental to welfare. The effects on capital and output are small and depend on the selected fiscal closure. Implied effective replacement rates are lower. These findings are robust to time inconsistency. The shortsightedness of the governments imposes welfare costs.
Focal Adhesion Kinase Activated by β4 Integrin Ligation to mCLCA1 Mediates Early Metastatic Growth*

Early metastatic growth occurs at sites of vascular arrest of blood-borne cancer cells and is entirely intravascular. Here we show that lung colonization by B16-F10 cells is licensed by β4 integrin adhesion to the mouse lung endothelial Ca2+-activated chloride channel protein mCLCA1. In a manner independent of Met, β4integrin-mCLCA1-ligation leads to complexing with and activation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and downstream signaling to extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). FAK/ERK signaling is Src-dependent and is interrupted by adhesion blocking antibodies and by dominant-negative (dn)-FAK mutants. Levels of ERK activation in B16-F10 cells transfected with wild-type or mutant FAK are closely associated with rates of proliferation and bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) incorporation of tumor cells grown in mCLCA1-coated dishes, the ability to form tumor cell colonies on CLCA-expressing endothelial cell monolayers, and the extent of pulmonary metastatic growth. Parallel with the transfection rates, B16-F10 cells transfected with dn-FAK mutants and injected intravenously into syngeneic mice generate approximately half the number and size of lung colonies that vector-transfected B16-F10 cells produce. For the first time, β4 integrin ligation to its novel CLCA-adhesion partner is shown to be associated with FAK complexing, activation, and signaling to promote early, intravascular, metastatic growth.
Earnings Conservatism, Litigation and Contracting: The Case of Cross-Listed Firms

We compare earnings conservatism of UK companies cross-listed in the US to that of UK companies without a US-listing. We expect that conservatism will be more pronounced for cross-listed firms than for firms with a UK listing only, because the cross-listed firms face a stricter enforcement regime. Furthermore, cross-listed firms may use a listing on a US exchange to signal high-quality reporting to investors. Using a matched-pairs research design, we find that earnings of UK cross-listed firms are significantly more conservative than earnings of UK firms without a US listing. Moreover, cross listed firms display particularly high levels of conservatism during the early years of their cross-listing. This indicates that firms use earnings conservatism to commit to highly demanding reporting requirements and in doing so communicate a perception of investor care.
Response and Recovery after the Joplin Tornado: Lessons Applied and Lessons Learned

An EF-5 Tornado struck Joplin, MO on May 22, 2011, leaving a twenty mile long path of destruction in its wake. An estimated 7,500 homes and over 500 businesses were damaged or destroyed, with damage estimated at up to $3 billion. Joplin has seen a rapid recovery despite the extensive damage. The Joplin tornado provides a valuable opportunity to determine if findings from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina apply to other major natural disasters. This study uses interviews with various government officials, church leaders, charities, business owners, and homeowners, as well as conventional data, to examine the response and recovery efforts in Joplin. We argue that Joplin’s rapid recovery is a result of Federal, state and local officials letting the voluntary sector, including businesses, national charities, churches, and local community groups, lead the response and recovery.
Predictive value of urinary interleukin-8 cutoff point for recurrences after transurethral resection plus induction bacillus Calmette-Guérin treatment in non-muscle-invasive bladder tumors.

BACKGROUND This study was designed to investigate whether there is a correlation between interleukin (IL)-8 secretion rate and recurrences in induction bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunotherapy following transurethral resection (TUR) in cases of primary non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 41 patients with NMIBC were randomized to receive a 6-week course with a standard dose of 81 mg intravesical BCG. Voided urine samples were collected immediately before and after (at 2 and 4 hours) BCG instillation. IL-8 was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Patients were monitored according to European Association of Urology Guidelines. RESULTS Patients were monitored for a mean duration of 21.0 +/- 13.86 months. The mean time to recurrence for the 15 patients who had recurrences was 11.2 months. After adjusting for risk factors, the change in IL-8 levels at 2 hours after the first BCG compared with the levels before BCG instillation was found to be significantly predictive of recurrence (P = .047), and the best cutoff point was estimated as 112 pg/mL. The sensitivity of this measure for prediction of recurrences was 53.3%, specificity was 88.5%, positive predictive value was 72.7%, and negative predictive value was 76.7%. Comparison of patients who had values below and above this cutoff point revealed that the recurrence-free survival rate was 76.7% versus 27.3%, and the expected recurrence-free survival time was 34.9 months versus 18.8 months (P = .006). CONCLUSION Besides numerous other prognostic factors that have been suggested so far, a cutoff point of 112 pg/mL for IL-8 levels measured 2 hours after the first BCG instillation appears to be a good predictive factor for successful outcome in BCG treatment following TUR.
Do Holding Exercises or Antimuscarinics Increase Maximum Voided Volume in Monosymptomatic Nocturnal Enuresis ? A Randomized Controlled Trial in Children

Purpose: We assessed prospectively the efficacy of holding exercises and/or antimuscarinics (oxybutynin chloride and placebo) for increasing maximum voided volume in prepubertal children with monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis. Materials and Methods: We randomly allocated 149 children to 5 groups, namely holding exercises with placebo (group A), holding exercises with oxybutynin (group B), placebo alone (group C), oxybutynin alone (group D) and alarm treatment (controls, group E). Maximum voided volume was the greatest voided volume from a 48-hour bladder diary, and holding exercise volume was the greatest volume produced with postponement of voiding after a fluid load, once daily for 4 days. Study medication, holding exercise procedures and alarm treatment were administered for 12 weeks. Results: Holding exercises combined with placebo or oxybutynin significantly increased holding exercise volume and maximum voided volume, by 25% (p 0.001) and 21% (p 0.01), respectively, in group A, and by 43% (p 0.001) and 41% (p 0.001), respectively, in group B. Medication without holding exercises (groups C and D) did not increase holding exercise volume or maximum voided volume, and in these groups oxybutynin was not significantly superior to placebo. A borderline increase in holding exercise volume did not affect maximum voided volume in group E. Monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis response was significantly lower with all 4 holding exercise volume modulating treatments (7%) compared to alarm therapy (73%). Conclusions: In the treatment of children with monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis maximum voided volume can be increased significantly through holding exercises, but not with oxybutynin chloride alone. Compared to controls, increasing maximum voided volume had a minimal effect on monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis.
‘Right to Buy’: The Development of a Conservative Housing Policy, 1945–1980

The idea of a ‘Right to Buy’ for council house tenants originated after 1945 as part of the Conservative attempt to build a ‘property-owning democracy’; however, it was deemed inappropriate and of doubtful political value by party elites until Conservative councils enacted profitable local sales schemes during the late 1960s. This article argues that the success of the ‘Right to Buy’ was contingent on the changing socio-economic context of the post-war decades, and determined by the specific nature of the British housing market. The expansion of working-class owner-occupation, and changes to the public and private rental sectors, created the conditions in which the ‘Right to Buy’ idea was liberated from its immediate post-war constraints. The article provides evidence of the deeper origins of ‘Thatcherite’ policies within the post-war Conservative Party, and suggests that the post-war ‘consensus’ was a soft set of political parameters that were easily discarded once new political possibilities arose out of a changing electorate.
No association of defined variability in leptin, leptin receptor, adiponectin, proopiomelanocortin and ghrelin gene with food preferences in the Czech population

Abstract Background: Previously, it has been reported that mutations in the genes encoding for adipokines may be associated with impaired food intake and may serve as potential obesity biomarkers. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible associations of defined variability in leptin, leptin receptor, adiponectin, proopiomelanocortin and ghrelin genes with food preferences in the obese and non-obese Czech population and evaluate their potential as the obesity susceptibility genes. Patients and Methods: Using PCR followed by restriction analysis, we studied 185 volunteers. Basic anthropometrical characteristics associated to obesity were measured and the food intake was monitored using a 7-day record method. In the group of obese individuals, a subset of 34 morbidly obese patients was studied for plasma leptin and soluble leptin receptor levels. Results: None of the examined polymorphisms was associated to anthropometrical or demographic characteristics of the study subjects. The Gln223Arg polymorphism within the leptin receptor gene was significantly associated with lower plasma leptin levels (the RR genotype being more frequent in patients with lower plasma leptin levels; P = 0.001). No associations of the examined polymorphisms with food preferences was observed. Conclusions: Based on our results, the examined polymorphisms in the adipokine genes do not seem to be the major risk factor for obesity development in the Czech population nor significantly affect food preferences.
Audit Committee Financial Literacy: A Work in Progress

We develop a classification to score the potential of corporate audit committees to be financially literate, as defined in this paper, based on listing requirements of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), as promulgated late in 1999. We score audit committees of approximately 300 large companies in 2000 and 2004, and of a subsample in 1996 as well. We find that scores did not change between 1996 and 2000 but have improved significantly since that time. The audit committees have room for improved financial literacy in the sense that we define. We find evidence of superior stock market returns to companies who have improved the potential for financial literacy, as we measure it, of their audit committees over the last four years. The improvers in our sample enjoyed annualized abnormal, excess returns of 4.6 percent per year more than those who did not improve.
Investment Property Diversification Over Different Economic Phases in New Zealand

Abstract This study empirically investigates the enhancement of cross-sector diversification for investment properties in a small economy, where there are only a few regional choices. It also examines the distinct effects of optional diversification strategies over different economic phases. The study constructs investment property return indices using a unique listed investment property database in New Zealand, which compares the Sharpe ratio of optional investment portfolios under different diversification strategies. It is found that a portfolio of industrial properties in Auckland is preferable to any other property portfolios over the entire sample period in New Zealand. The findings support a prior strategy to prudently select properties in a major city in this small economy. The findings recommend direct or indirect property investors prioritize the locational choice in a small economy. The findings imply that the best diversification strategy may not be consistent over different economic phases. This study is one of the few to explicitly compare diversification strategies over different economic phases. It also provides additional new insights towards the importance of cross-sector diversification in a small economy.
Is China Uniform? Intra-Country Differences in the Takeoff of New Products

Multi-national corporations (wrongly) introduce new products in China rather late. Such a strategy arises because research treats all of China as one monolithic country, thus, finding that takeoff occurs quite late. However, for large or multi-ethnic countries, intra-country diversity may be quite high, rivaling or exceeding that among inter country differences of some continents (e.g., Europe). This study examines the takeoff of new products among provinces of China based on data of 30 Chinese provinces on 10 categories over 34 years. Rooted in the theory of institutions and product network externalities, this study tests the drivers of new product takeoff using a discrete time hazard model. The major results are as follows: First, time to takeoff varies dramatically across provinces in China. Second, the average time to takeoff varies substantially between products with strong and weak network externalities. Third, time to takeoff is converging across provinces. Fourth, the intra-country differences in time-to-takeoff are explained by economic institutional variables: economic wealth, trade openness, education, media and transportation infrastructure; and product characteristics: network externalities and year of introduction. Fifth, the vast differences in takeoff of new products across provinces suggest that a waterfall strategy within China might be more profitable.