Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rural Women, Displacement and the Three Gorges Project

Based on empirical research this article examines the status situations and development issues of rural women displaced by the monumental Three Gorges Project (TGP) in China. The study reveals that TGP resettlement is leaving women worse off as family members as well as worse off than male members. Woman resettlers are more likely to become impoverished than men partly because women make up the main labour force in agricultural sectors. Most women are unable to achieve occupational mobility in the process of resettlement. Fewer employment opportunities a gender-segregated labour market low level of human capital and social prejudice are principal causes. Land provision for resettlers is inadequate with a lower quality of productivity. Marriage is a means for some women to remain in or move to the reservoir area to improve their socio-economic status but bias against granting of ‘resettler’ status to married women and their generally low levels of education and lack of occupational skills work against them. It is imperative that the authorities integrate a gender perspective into policymaking and design of resettlement schemes. (authors)
Sustaining Economic Development of West African Countries: A System GMM Panel Approach

The paper investigates the relationship between foreign direct investment and economic growth in ECOWAS using the System-GMM panel estimation technique covering the period 1970-2011.The study adopted System-GMM in order to overcome the weaknesses perceived in the empirical works of earlier studies; majority of these studies failed to control for the presumed challenges of endogeneity inherent in the FDI-Growth argument. The study likewise interacted human capital and institutions indicators with other explanatory variables in explaining the variability of FDI. The results of the System-GMM appears contrary to earlier studies, as the contribution of FDI was insignificant and impacts negatively on growth in ECOWAS despite the controlling for the role of human capital and quality of institutions in the model. Following this outcome, policy makers in developing Africa needs to exercise cautions in adopting the recommendation from earlier studies; most of which advocates more openness, advancing human capital development and strengthening institutions. This might not be completely helpful considering the pattern of FDI inflow into ECOWAS, which is absolutely resource-seeking. There is need to curtail excessive openness in the extractive industries, encouraging more manufacturing FDI and domestic investment of repatriated capital by ensuring more economic stability and raising domestic interest rate.
Jeffrey's divergence between moving-average and autoregressive models

This paper deals with model comparison based on the Jeffrey's divergence (JD). More particularly, after providing the JD between the joint distributions of k consecutive values of a white noise and the ones of a real moving-average or autoregressive model, the JD between real 1st-order MA and real 1st-order AR models is studied. Except when the 1st MA parameter is equal to 1, we show that, after a transient period, the JD between both models is incremented by a constant value that depends on the model parameters while k is incremented by 1. The JD is hence characterized by this increment and it is not necessary to consider a lot of samples.
Measuring Irish housing quality

Reviews the development of Irish housing policy from the eighteenth century to the present. Emphasizes the importance of measuring quality in housing, where housing may be described by a vector of measured characteristics. Undertakes a detailed price determination of these various characteristics using a hedonic model. Explains observed house prices in terms of the various housing characteristics using a hedonic model, from which a set of implicit or “hedonic” prices emerges. Reviews the theoretical basis of such an approach and develops a model specifically for aggregated data, as other studies in this area used disaggregated models. Obtains quantitative estimates of the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the housing bundle before and after a series of model transformations. The results indicate the premium associated with certain housing characteristics. They emphasize, in particular, the importance of floor area and location in determining new Irish estate house prices.
A fuzzy decision support method for customer preferences analysis based on Choquet Integral

The explosion of the Web 2:0 platforms, with massive volume of user generated data, has presented many new opportunities as well as challenges for organizations in understanding consumer's behavior to support for business planning process. Feature based sentiment mining has been an emerging area in providing tools for automated opinion discovery and summarization to help business managers with achieving such goals. However, the current feature based sentiment mining systems were only able to provide some forms of sentiments summary with respect to product features, but impossible to provide insight into the decision making process of consumers. In this paper, we will present a relatively new decision support method based on Choquet Integral aggregation function, Shapley value and Interaction Index which is able to address such requirements of business managers. Using a study case of Hotel industry, we will demonstrate how this technique can be applied to effectively model the user's preference of (hotel) features. The presented method has potential to extend the practical capability of sentiment mining area, while, research findings and analysis are useful in helping business managers to define new target customers and to plan more effective marketing strategies.
Institutional differences in EU countries and their relationship with earnings management differences

Purpose – The paper seeks to highlight the differences among EU countries in a series of institutional factors (e.g. enforcement, securities regulation, investor protection and ownership concentration) in order to test whether these differences are associated with the European variability in earnings management practices and, as a result, in the quality of financial information.Design/methodology/approach – The approach is to use cluster analysis and regression analysis.Findings – The results of the study confirm the main hypothesis in that earnings management practices are significantly lower in those EU countries with an institutional framework more favourable to a high quality of financial reporting (i.e. in those countries with a higher level of enforcement of the rules, stricter securities regulation, lower ownership concentration and a higher degree of investor protection). Research limitations/implications – The study presents the limitations typical from cross‐country studies. Moreover, the results.
Computing the sparse matrix vector product using block-based kernels without zero padding on processors with AVX-512 instructions

The sparse matrix-vector product (SpMV) is a fundamental operation in many scientific applications from various fields. The High Performance Computing (HPC) community has therefore continuously invested a lot of effort to provide an efficient SpMV kernel on modern CPU architectures. Although it has been shown that block-based kernels help to achieve high performance, they are difficult to use in practice because of the zero padding they require. In the current paper, we propose new kernels using the AVX-512 instruction set, which makes it possible to use a blocking scheme without any zero padding in the matrix memory storage. We describe mask-based sparse matrix formats and their corresponding SpMV kernels highly optimized in assembly language. Considering that the optimal blocking size depends on the matrix, we also provide a method to predict the best kernel to be used utilizing a simple interpolation of results from previous executions. We compare the performance of our approach to that of the Intel MKL CSR kernel and the CSR5 open-source package on a set of standard benchmark matrices. We show that we can achieve significant improvements in many cases, both for sequential and for parallel executions. Finally, we provide the corresponding code in an open source library, called SPC5.
Fractional Integration in Agricultural Futures Price Volatilities

This article tests whether the volatility of agricultural futures prices exhibits fractional integration. Volatility series were constructed for fourteen agricultural futures price series with over 5,300 observations per series. The volatility series exhibit strong long-term dependence, which is an indicator of fractional integration. A fractional integration model, FIGARCH(1, d, 1), performs significantly better than a traditional volatility model, GARCH(1,1), in modeling agricultural futures price volatility. Copyright 2004, Oxford University Press.
Development of Selective Inhibitors for Human Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 3A1 (ALDH3A1) for the Enhancement of Cyclophosphamide Cytotoxicity

Aldehyde dehydrogenase 3A1 (ALDH3A1) plays an important role in many cellular oxidative processes, including cancer chemoresistance, by metabolizing activated forms of oxazaphosphorine drugs such as cyclophosphamide (CP) and its analogues, such as mafosfamide (MF), ifosfamide (IFM), and 4‐hydroperoxycyclophosphamide (4‐HPCP). Compounds that can selectively target ALDH3A1 could permit delineation of its roles in these processes and could restore chemosensitivity in cancer cells that express this isoenzyme. Here we report the detailed kinetic and structural characterization of an ALDH3A1‐selective inhibitor, CB29, previously identified in a high‐throughput screen. Kinetic and crystallographic studies demonstrate that CB29 binds within the aldehyde substrate‐binding site of ALDH3A1. Cellular proliferation of ALDH3A1‐expressing lung adenocarcinoma (A549) and glioblastoma (SF767) cell lines, as well as ALDH3A1 non‐expressing lung fibroblast (CCD‐13Lu) cells, is unaffected by treatment with CB29 and its analogues alone. However, sensitivity toward the anti‐proliferative effects of mafosfamide is enhanced by treatment with CB29 and its analogue in the tumor cells. In contrast, the sensitivity of CCD‐13Lu cells toward mafosfamide was unaffected by the addition of these same compounds. CB29 is chemically distinct from the previously reported small‐molecule inhibitors of ALDH isoenzymes and does not inhibit ALDH1A1, ALDH1A2, ALDH1A3, ALDH1B1, or ALDH2 isoenzymes at concentrations up to 250 μM. Thus, CB29 is a novel small molecule inhibitor of ALDH3A1, which might be useful as a chemical tool to delineate the role of ALDH3A1 in numerous metabolic pathways, including sensitizing ALDH3A1‐positive cancer cells to oxazaphosphorines.
Institutional Conflict of Interest: The Role of Interlocking Directorates in the Scientific Relationships between Universities and the Corporate Sector

We examined the potential for institutional conflict of interest between the 26 private universities belonging to the Association of American Universities and the corporations to which they are tied through their boards of trustees. We were interested in the degree to which interlocks may have tightened over three points across an 11-year period (1994–2005). Our examination relies on a set of patenting profiles estimated from the universities and corporations in our sample. These were derived through a set of organization-event networks that were compared in terms of their structural similarity. We generated these profiles at each of the three time periods. We then measured the degree to which interlocks existed within and between the profiles with the hypothesis that systematically tighter interlocks within profiles may suggest the greater potential for institutional conflict of interest.
ON THE LINKAGE BETWEEN FINANCIAL RISK TOLERANCE AND RISK AVERSION

We explore the linkage between financial risk tolerance (FRT) and risk aversion. To do this, we obtain FRT scores from a psychometrically validated survey and conduct a battery of online lottery choice experiments involving the same nonstudent participants. We contrast: real and hypothetical payoffs, low and high stakes, decisions involving gains and losses, and order effects. Our key finding is that the two approaches to analyzing decision making under uncertainty are strongly aligned. We present evidence that this is particularly the case for the female participants in our sample and when high-stake gambles are employed.
The impact of trade and structural changes on sectoral employment in South Africa

This article describes formal employment trends in the South African economy since 1970, using both survey and time–series data. In addition, the study attempts to understand the forces that have shaped these employment trends. Descriptive statistics reveal that the primary sectors have shed close to 1,5 million jobs in the period 1970–95. The marginal net employment growth that occurred was to be found primarily in the services sectors. Noticeably, net employment creation in manufacturing was 400 000 jobs over this period. These sectoral trends are matched by occupational trends, which show a signi cant rise in the demand for highly skilled workers at the expense of unskilled workers. The racial dimension to this is that non-African workers have gained from these labour demand trends, while African workers have lost out signi cantly. Utilising and established methodology, the second component of the article is to try to assess what factors have caused these employment trends which have disproportionately favoured skilled workers. The results of the analysis show that the key cause of the shift toward high-end workers has, by and large, been technological change within the individual sectors. The rising capital intensity in sectors, coupled with greater computerisation, has meant the need for more high-end workers. Interestingly, however, the results suggest that when examining lower-skilled workers the importance of technological factors remains, but diminishes. Instead, for those at the bottom end, the altering shares in national output of different sectors had a more signi cant role in understanding relative employment shifts. The third and  nal segment of the paper attempts to estimate the impact of trade  ows on labour demand, using both survey and time–series data. The results illustrate that the correlation between international trade and employment has been positive. The employment of all workers, by occupation, race and education level grew as a result of the  ows of exports and imports in the economy between 1970 and 1995. However, these gains were not skills, race and education-neutral. Speci cally, employment expansion for skilled individuals, or those who had high educational quali cations or workers who were non-African, was appreciably greater than for individuals who did not  t into either of these cohorts. In short, workers at the bottom end gained from international trade but gained signi cantly less than their counterparts at the top end. The time–series evidence for manufacturing yields slightly different outcomes. The results here suggest that, in the period 1970–88, unskilled workers gained more than skilled employees from international trade. However, in the subsequent period, and particularly in the 1993–7 period, the reverse effect occurs. In these later years, therefore, there were high job losses for those in unskilled categories, while skilled workers gained signi cantly.
Negotiating cultures of work in transnational law firms

The geographical strategies of transnational corporations have received extensive attention from economic geographers. A particularly important line of study has focused upon the diverse national institutions that create geographically heterogeneous cultures of work. Yet, none of these studies place questions about how global firms act as cultural entrepreneurs at the centre of their analysis. This article, therefore, uses the case of transnational law firms to extend theoretical debates about the geographies of learning and best practice through new micro-scale consideration of the way managers in TNCs act as cultural entrepreneurs, driving change in institutionalized cultures of work through strategies that alter the cognitive frames of workers. Drawing primarily on data from interviews, the article reveals how the strategies used by influential partners in transnational law firms to drive changes in cultures of work do not lead to forms of global strong convergence in practice, but converging divergences as cultures change in subtle, often unpredicted ways. It is argued that economic geographers need to pay more attention to the mechanisms of such changes in culture, and the processes of change in national business systems more widely, so as not only to contribute to debates about corporate culture but also the varieties of capitalism.
Regulating traditional justice in South Africa: a comparative analysis of selected aspects of the traditional courts bill

Traditional justice systems have been in place for a very long time in South Africa and in Africa in general. They are characterised by informal systems that are not beset by the normal technicalities prevalent in formal justice systems. In recent times South Africa has sought to do away with the Black Administration Act, which was the regulating legislation on traditional justice systems, by introducing the Traditional Courts Bill. Initially introduced in Parliament in 2008 and withdrawn for another tabling in 2012, the Bill has been met with much criticism. Instead of venturing on a clause by clause analysis of the provisions of the Bill this note considers selected aspects of it which are perceived to be significant and which have courted controversy. These are ascertainment, legal representation, jurisdiction, gender, and the hierarchy of courts. The essential arguments are that the Bill has not been properly aligned with the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act 41 of 2003 (as amended in 2009) or the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 and that the above issues have not been addressed adequately or are at times only vaguely addressed. The note also considers various provisions from other African countries with similar legislation and which also regulate on the same issues, for the purposes of identifying better ways of addressing the selected issues. In the final analysis, the recommendations are not that the South African legislature must transpose the provisions of other countries, but that the framers of the Bill must reconsider these issues along the lines in which they are addressed in the countries with which comparisons are drawn here. Without a reconsideration of the issues, the Bill will still be met with criticism even from those it is meant to regulate, and could potentially result in various constitutional challenges and litigations. KEYWORDS : Traditional Courts Bill; traditional justice systems; customary law; ascertainment; legal representation; hierarchy of courts; gender
The Exchange-Rate Exposure of U.S. Multinationals

This article examines the exposure of U.S multinationals to foreign currency risk. Evidence is presented that the relationship between stock returns and exchange rates differs systematically across multinationals. Given these results, the study focuses on the determinants of exchange-rate exposure. The comovements between stock returns and the value of the dollar is found to be positively related to the percentage of foreign operations of U.S. multinationals. Copyright 1990 by the University of Chicago.
The Determination of Sterling M3, 1963-88: An Evolutionary Macroeconomic Approach

An evolutionary approach, which focuses upon the behavior of banks and their institutional links with the Bank of England, is used to understand the process of Sterling M3 determination over 1963-88. It is argued, on several grounds, that this supply-side approach is more fruitful than one that applies money demand theory. Furthermore, the econometric methodology adopted is different to that generally found in the money-demand literature. In addition to the discovery of a stable evolutionary model of Sterling M3, an important finding is that property prices are influential in its determination. Copyright 1992 by Royal Economic Society.
Female Managers in Britain – A Comparative Perspective

The aim of this article is to present the current position of female managers in Britain and examine the similarities and differences between male and female managers. In terms of managerial efficiency and performance per se, the evidence strongly suggests that there are far more similarities than differences between the way men and women ‘manage’. However, there are some major sex differences in relation to demographic profiles, job status and employment factors, career development, occupational stress levels, and attitudes towards female managers compared to their male counterparts. One in nine managers in Britain are women and less than one per cent occupy senior management positions. Women managers tend to have to be more highly qualified than men managers, are more likely to be single or divorced, and encounter more prejudice and discrimination in the work environment. In addition, compared to male managers female managers have to cope with additional stresors stemming both from their work and home lives. It is suggested that many of these differences are hampering the career prospects of women in management and contributing towards the difficulties they have in reaching the higher levels of management compared to men. Finally, recommendations for changes in corporate and legislative policies are also proposed.
Determinants of Corporate Dividend Policy: A Tobit Model Approach

Dividend is the return that a shareholder gets from a company, out of its profits, on his shareholding. Equity investors receive returns in two forms—dividends and capital gains. The factors that drive dividend policy of a company have been topic of extensive research for a long time now with various, sometimes even conflicting, theories trying to find some pattern in the behaviour vis-à-vis dividend payouts. The objective of the article is to find the validity of the different views on determinants of dividend policy in India and empirically prove their significance using Tobit regression model. We develop framework based on major theories on corporate dividends available in literature so as to examine the determinants of dividends comprehensively. The firm-level panel data of National Stock Exchange (Nifty 50) companies from 1999–2000 to 2009–2010 is taken for this purpose. Accuracy and validity of the results is ensured using various diagnostic tests and test procedures to find the best-fit models. The findings suggest that firm’s size (market capitalization) and firm’s growth and investment opportunity are significant determinants of corporate dividend policy in India. The firm’s debt structure, profitability and experience are found to be not significant in the Indian scenario and in this way the results do negate some theories. The results of the study can be used by investors to take informed decision while deciding on investments based on dividend yield for Nifty 50 Index companies and to predict dividend yields in future using the significant determinants.