Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES RELATED TO THE ESTIMATION OF FINANCIAL DISTRESS PREDICTION MODELS

Researchers typically estimate financial distress prediction models on nonrandom samples. Estimating models on such samples can result in biased parameter and probability estimates if appropriate estimation techniques are not used. This paper examines conceptually and empirically two estimation biases which can result when financial distress models are estimated on nonrandom samples. The first bias results from "oversampling" distressed firms and falls within the topic of choice-based sample biases. The second results from using a "complete data" sample selection criterion and falls within the topic of sample selection biases. The two issues examined in this paper arise because of sample selection/data collection constraints typically faced by financial distress researchers. The first constraint is the extremely low frequency rate of firms exhibiting financial distress characteristics (e.g., petitioning for
A sectoral comparison of corporate environmental reporting and disclosure

The paper considers the results of a survey of companies in the automobile, banking, electronics, energy, food and drink and water sectors in the UK. Consideration is given as to whether or not a company discloses, or intends to disclose in the future, environmental information. For those companies who do disclose environmental information, details are presented of the various media that are used for such disclosures in addition to, or instead of, the use of annual reports and accounts and specialized environmental reports that have, typically, been the focus of previous research. For those companies producing separate environmental reports, details are also given of whether or not such reports are verified externally. Information is also provided on the sources of guidance used by companies in preparing environmental disclosures as well as the stakeholders that are consulted. Sectoral differences are reported, where appropriate, for all aspects that are considered. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment
Labor Market Returns to Two- and Four-Year Colleges: Is a Credit a Credit and Do Degrees Matter?

The paper examines labor-market returns to a two- and four-year college education. Analysis of the 1972 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth; Observation that the average person who attended a two-year college earned about 10-percent more than those without any college education; Comparison with the wages of those who attended a four-year college education.
The Financing Options for New Small and Medium Enterprises in South Africa

New SMEs are critical to the reduction of the high rates of poverty and unemployment in South Africa. The failure rate of new small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is very high. Access to finance is one of the major constraints to the survival of new SMEs in South Africa. The purpose of the study was to examine the traditional and innovative financing options available to new SMEs in South Africa. The study analysed the traditional sources of equity and debt such as business angels, venture capitalists, commercial banks, trade credit and government agencies. The study suggested that one of the innovative ways to improve access to finance by new SMEs is crowdfunding. There is the need to provide a regulatory environment that will support the growth of crowdfunding in South Africa. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014. v5n20p748
Emerging stock markets: a more realistic assessment of the gains from diversification

Over the last decade, a number of studies have examined the costs and benefits from investing in equities traded on emerging stock markets (ESMs). The general conclusion to emerge from these studies is that investors have been able to improve portfolio performance significantly by including an emerging equity market component in investment portfolios. However, the ex-post framework utilized in past analyses potentially overstates the true level of gains which can be obtained from an emerging market diversification strategy; they are computed on the assumption that, with respect to the inputs to the portfolio decision, investors are blessed with perfect foresight. This paper attempts to overcome this problem by estimating the ex-ante gains available from investing in emerging stock markets. In particular, the paper investigates whether, by using a simple strategy based on historical data to forecast portfolio inputs, all of the gains which are available from ex-post analyses of diversification can be achieved in practice. The results obtained point overwhelmingly to the inadvisability of relying on historical data to identify ex-ante optimal emerging market portfolios; the strategies examined in this paper achieved very few of the gains attained in ex-post analyses of diversification.
Conflict and inflation in industrial countries

This paper examines expirically the conflict theory of inflation, using a sample of pooled time-series, cross-section data over the period 1971–87 for 10 industrial countries: USA, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Sweden. To this end a wage-price adjustment model based on the ideas of distributional conflict in wage formation and mark-up pricing in goods markets is set out. The model provides a satisfactory explanation of the inflationary process in industrial countries. It is shown that conflict between workers and capitalists over the distribution of income exerts a significant influence on the pattern of inflation. Import prices, inflationary expectations and labour market conditions are also important, with the latter acting as a regulator of class conflict.
Sustainability of users' commitment to Living Labs: an exploratory research

This paper investigates why end-users sometimes find difficult to fully invest themselves in a Living Lab initiative, at least on the long run. The paper builds insights on the basis of users’ feedback about four projects currently managed by the Wallonia e-health Living Lab (WeLL) and pave the way for renewed models of collaboration that could lead to sustainable satisfaction and long-term commitment of end-users.
Deviations from Purchasing Power Parity in the Long Run

This paper demonstrates that deviations from purchasing power parity reveal a remarkable and possibly startling consistency with martingale behavior during both fixed and flexible rate periods, for a wide variety of countries, and in both monthly and annual data. Since this pattern appears to be much more general than one would expect on the basis of models founded on international commodity arbitrage, the paper proposes an alternative explanation which instead relies on financial arbitrage in bonds as the underlying mechanism. THIS PAPER WILL DEMONSTRATE that deviations from purchasing power parity (PPP) reveal a remarkable and possibly startling consistency with martingale behavior during both fixed and flexible exchange rate periods, for a wide variety of countries, and in both monthly and annual data. This pattern appears to be much more general than one would expect on the basis of models founded on international commodity arbitrage. The paper therefore proposes an alternative explanation which does not presuppose free trade in goods but which instead relies on financial arbitrage in bonds as the underlying mechanism. The major implication of the theory and the results is that PPP is as likely to be violated in the long as in the short run. As an empirical matter, deviations from PPP can be observed for most currencies at any instant: see Kravis et al. [21], Stockman [37] and Genberg [15] among others. These deviations are typically both cumulative and persistent. The real exchange rate can remain on either side of parity for lengthy but variable time-intervals of a year or more. As a consequence, the current consensus, shared
Which Bets Paid Off? Early Findings on the Impact of Private Management and K‐8 Conversion Reforms on the Achievement of Philadelphia Students

This article reports initial findings from a study of middle grades educational reforms in Philadelphia. We use multilevel change models to analyze the impact on student mathematics achievement of privatization through the use of educational management organizations (EMOs), taking account of the structural reforms (creation of new K-8 schools to replace selected middle schools) occurring simultaneously within the district. Overall, the longitudinal mathematics achievement gains for students in EMO-managed schools were not larger than those for students in schools managed by the district. Non-Edison EMO schools actually performed worse than district-managed schools. With the exception of one older K-8 school in one cohort, Edison schools did not significantly outperform district-managed counterparts. Students in long-established K-8 schools generally outgained students in middle schools, but gains were not as large in newly-established K-8 schools. Across all types of schools, the second cohort of students obtained greater gains than did the first. Copyright 2006 by The Policy Studies Organization.
Power Sharing and Reform Capacity

In this paper I argue that reform capacity, defined as the extent to which political institutions facilitate the adoption of socially efficient reforms, is not primarily determined by the number of veto players in the political system, but by the availability of institutional mechanisms that allow political agents to solve commitment problems associated with bargaining over reform. Specifically, I argue that power sharing is compatible with high reform capacity if policy areas involved in package deals are all controlled by the central government (or whatever level of government makes the reform), and if the ‘losers’ are confident that they will remain veto players in the future.
Determinants of the real effective exchange rate in the Russian Federation

This article examines the main determinants of the Russian real effective exchange rate (REX) movements over the transition period started in the early 1990s. To understand the forces that drive exchange rate dynamics, five strands of the empirical literature have been combined ina time series dimension. The results suggest a positive long-run cointegration relationship between the REX, oil price, productivity and government financial position and a negative relation with international reserves. Managing international reserves and fiscal policies have therefore, the effect of mitigating the impact of oil/terms of trade and productivity shocks on the REX.
Glass Cliffs are not so Easily Scaled: On the Precariousness of Female CEOs' Positions

Adams, Gupta and Leeth (British Journal of Management, 2008) question the universality of the glass cliff after finding no differences in US companies' financial performance either before or after the appointment of male and female CEOs. We agree that glass cliffs are neither universal nor ineluctable, but urge caution in interpreting this null result. This is because the nature and significance of women's precarious leadership positions becomes more apparent when one goes beyond archival financial data and compares the broad circumstances of male and female leaders. Here multiple strands of research suggest that above the glass ceiling the playing field for men and women is far from level.
The Outsiders: Power Differentials between Roma and Non-Roma in Europe

Abstract Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Romani/Gypsy political and social mobilization has intensified dramatically across Europe. Romani political parties have been created. A considerable number of Romani NGOs have been established. EU- and state-driven policies have been put in place to address ‘the Gypsy question’: meaning how to deal with the most discriminated ethnic minority of Europe. Yet, despite all these developments, the socio-economic situation of the Roma has remained very precarious, particularly in Eastern Europe, and a new wave of ‘anti-Gypsism’ has risen in Europe. This article seeks to answer the following question: why are the European Roma so discriminated against? I argue that discrimination against the Romani population is a function of power differentials between the Roma and the non-Roma majority. Historically, the balance of power between the two groups has been significantly tilted in the non-Roma's favor. Since the Roma's arrival in Europe, the non-Roma majority has held a considerable amount of political, economic, and social power over the Roma. The Roma have not been part of any kind of European power structure and therefore they have constituted what Norbert Elias and John Scotson called ‘the Outsiders’.
Consensus guidelines on anti-cardiolipin antibody testing and reporting.

UNLABELLED Consensus guidelines on anti-cardiolipin antibody (aCL) testing have been developed to help minimise laboratory variation in the performance and reporting of aCL assays. These guidelines include minimum, optimum and optional recommendations for the following aspects of aCL testing and reporting: (1) isotype of aCL tested; (2) specimen type; (3) controls and assay precision; (4) calibrators; (5) patient samples; (6) rheumatoid factors and IgM aCL testing; (7) reporting of results; (8) cut-off values; and (9) interpretative comments. ABBREVIATIONS aCL, anti-cardiolipin antibodies; APS, anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome; ASCIA, Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy; ASTH, Australasian Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis; beta2-GPI=beta2-glycoprotein I; ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; NCCLS, National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards; HSANZ, Haematology Society of Australia and New Zealand; QAP, Quality Assurance Program; RCPA, Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia; %CV, inter-assay inter-run coefficient of variation.
Comparability of GDP Estimates in Sub‐Saharan Africa: The Effect of Revisions in Sources and Methods Since Structural Adjustment

The unreliability of African income estimates was highlighted when Ghana announced that GDP estimates were revised upwards by 60.3 percent in November 2010. Similar revisions are to be expected in other countries. Many statistical offices are currently using outdated base years. It is argued that with the current uneven application of methods and poor availability of data, any ranking of countries according to GDP levels is misleading. The paper emphasizes the challenges for “data users” in light of these revisions. GDP data are disseminated through international organizations, but without any detailed data descriptions. It is argued that many statistical offices in Sub-Saharan Africa struggled to recover from the structural adjustment period, and the offices have not had the capacity to handle other challenges such as providing data to monitor the Millennium Development Goals. Currently, neither data users nor data producers are getting the assistance they need.
The Effect of Demographics on Job Satisfaction: A Study of Hotel Managers in Turkey

This study examined the relationship between selected demographic characteristics of middle-level hotel managers in Turkey and five selected job satisfaction dimensions (degree of satisfaction with the work, coworkers, supervision, financial compensation, and promotion opportunities). In addition, the relationship between job satisfaction dimensions and the middle-level hotel managers' overall job satisfaction level was analyzed. The study sample consists of 103 middle-level hotel managers (all Turkish nationals) in 17 rated four- and five-star hotels in Kusadasi, Turkey. Study findings indicate significant differences between managers in various demographic categories and their levels of job satisfaction. Overall, the data revealed that financial compensation, promotion opportunities, and supervision most significantly impacted middle-level hotel managers' overall job satisfaction levels.
Servitisation of European manufacturing: evidence from a large scale database

Manufacturing firms increasingly produce and provide services along with or instead of their traditional physical products. The goal of this paper is to provide new evidence for this servitisation of European manufacturing and test previous findings based on case studies with a large, firm-level data set. Empirical results indicate that service turnover of manufacturing firms is still small compared to the turnover with physical products. National differences play only a minor role in explaining the degree of servitisation. Firm size is of more relevance. Results reveal a U-shaped relationship between firm size and servitisation which points to advantages of both, small and large firms in servitisation. Moreover, servitisation is positively related to product complexity and the likelihood that the firm introduces product innovation.
Particle Flow Analysis

Several authors have highlighted the potential risks of nanoparticles (NPs). Still, little is known about the magnitude of emissions of NPs from society. Here, the method of explorative particle flow analysis (PFA), a modification of the more well‐known substance flow analysis (SFA), is suggested. In explorative PFA, particle number instead of mass is used as flow and stock metric and explorative scenarios are used to account for potential technology diffusion and, consequently, potentially higher emissions. The method has been applied in a case study of the use phase of titanium dioxide (TiO2) NPs in paint, sunscreen and self‐cleaning cement. The results indicate that the current largest emissions of TiO2 NPs originate from the use of sunscreen. One scenario implies that, in the future, the largest flows and stocks of TiO2 NPs could be related to self‐cleaning cement. Gaps in current knowledge are identified and suggestions for future research are given.
Innovation and Organizational Change: Developments Towards an Interactive Process Perspective

Since the 1980s researchers have gradually revised the assumptions and research methods guiding their investigation of innovation. The ascendancy of processual perspectives, and more recently interactive process perspectives, in place of normative-variance perspectives, represents a shift in opinion. Scholars now contend that innovation is best understood as a dynamic, ongoing process during which actions and institutional structures are inextricably linked. Scholars adopting an interactive process perspective have however, largely ignored how innovation influences the reproduction of organizations, in part, because the interactive process model is underdeveloped. This paper traces the demise and growth of different approaches in the study of innovation and develops an argument for why structuration theory would enable a significant advancement in the formation of an interactive process perspective. In doing so, a model of innovation as structuration process is developed illustrating how innovation can change the conditions governing the reproduction of an organizational repertoire. The modification of an organizational repertoire reflects the constraining and enabling aspects of the structural arrangements (stocks of knowledge, resources, interests) that simultaneously mediate and yet are an outcome of the actions of individuals involved in the innovation pose. This perspective is used to model the implementation of new products and processes in Alpha, a medium-sized enterprise involved in a Teaching Company Scheme Programme.
The roles of the insulin-like growth factor system and leptin as possible mediators of the effects of nutritional restriction on age at puberty and compensatory growth in dairy heifers.

The aim of this experiment was to determine to what extent changes in the blood concentrations of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs), leptin and glucose are associated with compensatory growth and age at puberty in Friesian heifers. Twelve heifers (6 months old; 179.8 kg body weight) were allocated to one of two dietary treatments for 30 weeks. Treatments were designed to result in two different growth rates during the first 13 weeks of the experiment, viz. 0.3 kg/d (restriction treatment) or 0.6 kg/d (control treatment). From week 14 to 30, the restricted group received the same amount of feed per kg bodyweight as was fed to the control group (compensatory phase). Heifers in the control treatment reached puberty four weeks earlier than the restricted group. Mean body weight at puberty was 256.3 kg and was not affected by treatment. During the compensatory phase, the growth rate of the previously restricted animals was greater, and feed conversion ratio superior, compared to that of the control group. Plasma IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 concentrations were higher in the restricted group than in the control group during the early compensatory phase. Concentrations of IGFBP-3 increased and peaked at puberty for both treatments, even though puberty occurred at different ages. In contrast, concentrations of IGF-1 peaked at the point of maximum growth rate in the previously restricted animals, and in neither treatment was there a clear relationship with the age of puberty. Plasma leptin concentrations increased until puberty in both treatments even though the date of puberty differed. Plasma glucose concentration did not change at puberty for either treatment; however, differences between treatments were found after the restriction period. There were no differences in IGFBP-2 concentrations between treatments or sampling periods. It is concluded that concentrations of glucose, IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 are affected by nutritional restriction and repletion, and may contribute in some measure to the endocrine regulation of compensatory growth. It is suggested that the increased concentrations of leptin and IGFBP-3 during pubertal development may act as physiological signals for the onset of puberty. (South African Journal of Animal Science, 2000, 30(2): 155-163)
Tenure Choice, Housing Demand and Residential Location

This paper incorporates location and tenure choice into a simultaneous equation model of housing demand. The estimation results reveal that an important asymmetry may exist between renters and homeowners in terms of their respective housing decisions. The most important finding in this paper is that for homeowners housing quality and locations are jointly determined. Equally important, the decision process for homeowners appears to be sequential in nature, with tenure choice independent of the housing demand and location decisions. However, this does not appear to be the case for renters. It may be that for tenants location and housing quality choices are more limited than for homeowners.
Factors affecting the birth and fund flows of CTAs

Our paper investigates the timing of the inception of commodity trading advisors and the relationship between their fund flows and performance. Our results show that commodity trading advisor industry performance has, over the long-run (short-run), a positive (negative) effect on new commodity trading advisors. The functional form of the flow-performance relation varies across commodity trading advisor subcategories. Also, we do not observe a ‘smart money’ effect, indicating that investors are generally unsuccessful in choosing subsequent high-performing commodity trading advisors.