Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Debt Covenant Renegotiations and Creditor Control Rights

Using a large sample of private debt renegotiations from 1996 to 2011, we report that, even in the absence of any covenant violation, debt covenants are frequently renegotiated. These renegotiations primarily relax existing restrictions and result in economically large changes in existing limits. Renegotiations of specific covenants are a response to both the distance the covenant variable is from its contractual limit and the firm׳s specific operating conditions and prospects. Moreover, the borrower׳s post-renegotiation investment and financial policies are strongly associated with the covenant changes resulting from the renegotiation. Overall, the findings imply that, even outside of default states, creditors have strong control rights over the borrower׳s operating and financial policies, and they exercise these rights in a state contingent manner through covenant renegotiations.
A dynamic technique for conducting online survey‐based research

Business research often requires use of survey‐based techniques for data acquisition. In the past, researchers had to rely on manual methodologies for survey distribution, data entry, and analysis. These approaches were generally characterized by uncertain (often low) response rates; batch processing of collected data; protracted time periods spanning survey distribution to processed statistical results; and inability to make “mid‐course corrections”. These deficiencies are exacerbated for research on global competitiveness issues which requires international data gathering activities; however, they can be mitigated, if not completely eliminated, by the use of dynamic web‐based survey methods. This paper discusses the advantages of web‐based survey technologies with direct back‐end database interfaces and analytical frameworks, and presents illustrative results from development and use of such a tool.
Development of cortical and subcortical brain structures in childhood and adolescence: a structural MRI study

The purpose of the present study was to describe in greater anatomical detail the changes in brain structure that occur during maturation between childhood and adolescence. High‐resolution MRI, tissue classification, and anatomical segmentation of cortical and subcortical regions were used in a sample of 35 normally developing children and adolescents between 7 and 16 years of age (mean age 11 years; 20 males, 15 females). Each cortical and subcortical measure was examined for age and sex effects on raw volumes and on the measures as proportions of total supratentorial cranial volume. Results indicate age‐related increases in total supratentorial cranial volume and raw and proportional increases in total cerebral white matter. Gray‐matter volume reductions were only observed once variance in total brain size was proportionally controlled. The change in total cerebral white‐matter proportion was significantly greater than the change in total cerebral gray‐matter proportion over this age range, suggesting that the relative gray‐matter reduction is probably due to significant increases in white matter. Total raw cerebral CSF volume increases were also observed. Within the cerebrum, regional patterns varied depending on the tissue (or CSF) assessed. Only frontal and parietal cortices showed changes in gray matter, white matter, and CSF measures. Once the approximately 7% larger brain volume in males was controlled, only mesial temporal cortex, caudate, thalamus, and basomesial diencephalic structures showed sex effects with the females having greater relative volumes in these regions than the males. Overall, these results are consistent with earlier reports and describe in greater detail the regional pattern of age‐related differences in gray and white matter in normally developing children and adolescents.
Status, the Distribution of Wealth, and Growth

We analyze a simple model of endogenous growth in which individuals care about both consumption and their rank in the distribution of wealth. We show that the steady-growth rate of the economy increases with both the strength of the status-seeking motive and the initial equality of the wealth distribution. Contrary to the basic model of endogenous growth, the equilibrium growth rate is not necessarily smaller than in the social optimum, and we identify the circumstances under which the two coincide. Copyright 2001 by The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics.
Are you experienced? SME use of and attitudes towards workplace mediation

Workplace mediation is high on the British policy agenda. To date, however, despite growing awareness, organisational experience in Britain remains limited and the evidence base accordingly underdeveloped. This paper contributes to the debate by undertaking secondary quantitative analysis of an Acas Omnibus Poll of 500 SMEs. Two substantive issues are explored: the characteristics associated with previous experience of mediation in resolving workplace conflict; and the extent to which prior knowledge and experience of mediation in this context impact on a range of attitudinal variables. In respect of the former we find firm size to be important, while for the latter the data suggest attitudes are typically more positive among experienced firms. This is most notably true in relation to the perceived cost of mediation and (subject to a qualification) to its suitability for smaller firms, both of which are crucial drivers of the uptake of mediation among smaller organisations.
The Equilibrium Approach to Fiscal Policy

This paper lays out a simple model for the purpose of bringing together the various strands of the analysis of fiscal policy in an optimizing , competitive equilibrium model. The discussion centers on the critic al assumptions lying behind the Ricardian equivalence proposition, th e role of the time profile and composition of public expenditure, and the timing of distortional taxation. Copyright 1988 by Ohio State University Press.
The Economic Value of Improved Wastewater Irrigation: A Contingent Valuation Study in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

In developing countries the use of wastewater for irrigation can cause considerable harm to public health and the environment. This paper uses contingent valuation to estimate the economic value of safe use of wastewater for crop production on farms within and around Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We estimate a surprisingly large welfare gain from policies for safe use of wastewater for irrigation. Our study highlights the potential and the possible pitfalls of using nonmarket valuation techniques as an input into public decision making where traditional resource use interacts with public health and environmental concerns in complex ways.
Learning Multimodal Word Representation via Dynamic Fusion Methods

Multimodal models have been proven to outperform text-based models on learning semantic word representations. Almost all previous multimodal models typically treat the representations from different modalities equally. However, it is obvious that information from different modalities contributes differently to the meaning of words. This motivates us to build a multimodal model that can dynamically fuse the semantic representations from different modalities according to different types of words. To that end, we propose three novel dynamic fusion methods to assign importance weights to each modality, in which weights are learned under the weak supervision of word association pairs. The extensive experiments have demonstrated that the proposed methods outperform strong unimodal baselines and state-of-the-art multimodal models.
Does Anticipated Monetary Policy Matter? An Econometric Investigation

A heated debate has arisen over the policy ineffectiveness proposition associate with the work of Lucas, Sargent, and Wallace. It postulates that anticipated aggregate demand policy will have no effect on business-cycle fluctuations, so that one deterministic, feedback policy rule is as good as any other from the point of view of stabilizing the economy. This paper develops a methodology for empirically analyzing rational-expectations models displaying this neutrality result and then applies it to the important question of whether anticipated monetary policy matters to the business cycle.
Playing for Your Own Audience: Extremism in Two-Party Elections

This paper considers a two-party election with a single-dimensional policy space. We assume that each voter has a higher probability of observing the position of the party he is affiliated with than the position of the other party, an assumption that is consistent with the National Election Studies (NES) electoral data set. In equilibrium, the two parties locate away from the median, because the voters who dislike a party's platform observe its policy choice with a lower probability, and its own audience like policy choices that cater to its taste. As the asymmetry in voter information or the cost of voting increases, the parties adopt more extreme platforms, while if there are fewer extreme voters the opposite effect occurs. Making voters more symmetrically informed about the two parties' platforms increases the welfare of society, while asymmetric information acquisition by the voters is worse than no information acquisition at all. Copyright © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)
Understanding employees' responses to corporate social responsibility: mediating roles of overall justice and organisational identification

Prior research has suggested that corporate social responsibility (CSR) contributes to organisations' competitive advantage by influencing stakeholders' attitudes. While existing research indicates that CSR relates to some employee outcomes, the mechanisms that drive employees' responses to CSR initiatives remain largely unexplored. This study relies on social identity theory to propose and test a model with 181 hospital employees that attempts to explain why and how CSR can positively influences employees' attitudes. Specifically, this study examines the impact of two aspects of an organisation's socially responsible behaviours, i.e. employees' perceptions of CSR initiatives directed at internal and external stakeholders, on employees' job satisfaction. The findings indicate that perceived CSR relates positively to job satisfaction through its effects on overall justice perceptions and organisational identification. These results suggest that employees appear to use CSR initiatives to assess their organisation's character and identify with it. Accordingly, CSR initiatives have particular importance as a mean to support organisational efforts to create strong relationships with their employees and thereby improve their attitudes at work.
The effect of n – 3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation on urine protein excretion and kidney function : meta-analysis of clinical trials 1 – 3

Background: Chronic kidney disease is a major worldwide problem. Although epidemiologic and experimental studies suggest that n–3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (n–3 LCPUFA) supplementation may prevent or slow the progression of kidney disease, evidence from clinical trials is inconsistent. Objective: The objective was to combine evidence from controlled clinical trials to assess the effect of n–3 LCPUFA supplementation on the change in urine protein excretion (UPE) and on glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Design: We performed a meta-analysis of clinical trials that tested the effect of n–3 LCPUFA supplementation on UPE, a marker of kidney damage, and on GFR, a marker of kidney function. A randomeffects model was used to pool SD effect size (Cohen’s d) across studies. Results: Seventeen trials with 626 participants were included in the meta-analysis. Most trials focused on patients with a single underlying diagnosis: IgA nephropathy (n 1⁄4 5), diabetes (n 1⁄4 7), or lupus nephritis (n 1⁄4 1). The dose of n–3 LCPUFAs ranged from 0.7 to 5.1 g/d, and the median follow-up was 9 mo. In the pooled analysis, there was a greater reduction in UPE in the n–3 LCPUFA group than in the control group: Cohen’s d for all trials was 20.19 (95% CI: 20.34, 20.04; P 1⁄4 0.01). In a patient with 1 g UPE/d , this corresponds to a reduction of 190 mg/d. Effects on GFR were reported in 12 trials. The decline in GFR was slower in the n–3 LCPUFA group than in the control group, but this effect was not significant (0.11; 95% CI: 20.07, 0.29; P 1⁄4 0.24). Conclusions: In our meta-analysis, use of n–3 LCPUFA supplements reduced UPE but not the decline in GFR. However, small numbers of participants in trials, different methods of assessing proteinuria and GFR, and inconsistent data reporting limit the strength of these conclusions. Large, high-quality trials with clinical outcomes are warranted. Am J Clin Nutr 2009;89:1937–45.
The Demographic Dividend: Retrospect and Prospect

The demographic transition, from high to low mortality and fertility, entails several decades during which a country's dependency ratio falls, bringing a demographic dividend to which a third of East Asia's late twentieth‐century economic growth ‘miracle’ has been attributed. Can a similar miracle be expected in sub‐Saharan Africa in the next few decades, or will relentless population pressure prevent this?
The Advanced Technology Program: A public-private partnership for early stage technology development

The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) supports early stage technology development efforts by US companies. The ATP provides funding support to high-risk R&D projects that have potential for broad-based economic benefits for the nation. The rationale for government support of R&D rests on theory and evidence that the social benefits of R&D are greater than the private returns. The ATP has been active in supporting entrepreneurial start-up firms. The role of ATP as a public-private partnering programme extends from providing critical funding to early stage technology projects, and also includes aspects of encouraging collaboration among firms and other organizations, fostering information exchange, and facilitating technology entrepreneurship activities.
Financing Choice and Liability Structure of Real Estate Investment Trusts

We conduct an analysis of public financial offerings of equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), with a focus on liability structure effects and whether or not firms target longer-run debt ratios. Our major findings are that (1) proceeds from equity offers are more likely to fund investment, whereas public debt offer proceeds are typically used to reconfigure the liability structure of the firm; (2) public debt issuers are often capital constrained and target total leverage ratios to retain an investment grade credit rating; and (3) the preoffer liability structure affects the issuance choice decision, in that firms with higher preoffer levels of secured (unsecured) debt tend to issue equity (public debt). Other notable findings are that the market for public REIT debt is integrated with the broader debt markets and that higher credit quality firms issue longer-maturing bonds. Copyright 2003 by the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association
Direct Tests on Individual Behaviour in Small Decision-Making Problems

This paper provides an empirical and experimental analysis of individual decision making in small decision-making problems with a series of laboratory experiments. Two experimental treatments with binary small decision-making problems are implemented: (1) the search treatment with the unknown payoff distribution to the decision makers and (2) the choice treatment with the known payoff distribution. A first observation is that in the search treatment the tendency to select best reply to the past performances, and misestimation of the payoff distribution can lead to robust deviations from expected value maximisation. A second observation is concerned with choice problems with two options with the same expected value: one option is more risky with larger payoff variability; the other option is moderate with less payoff variability. Experimental results show that it is likely that the more the decision makers choose a risky option, the higher they can achieve high points, ex post. Finally, I investigate the exploration tendency. Comparison of results between the search treatment and the choice treatment reveals that the additional information to the decision makers enhances expected value maximisation.
Nigeria Prisons and the Dispensation of Justice

Nigeria prison system was modeled by colonial prison administration with emphasis on punishment and deterrence. This contradicts the fundamental objective of prison establishment as a corrective institution, for reformation, rehabilitation and re-integration of inmates. The position of prison in criminal justice administration in Nigeria today can best be regarded as an endangered sub-sector, occupying an inferior position in government priorities. Poverty, socioeconomic and other constrains constitute bottlenecks to reformation effort. It is illogical that the difference between prison life and living in the 'free' Nigeria society today is fast closing up as the inmate in some instances feel better off in prison than outside prison. Ex-prisoners move from a life of hell typified by overcrowded cells, poor feeding, poor healthcare, maltreatment by prison officers, life full of denials to another life outside the prison walls that tend to have some semblance of what they had gone through in prison. As it stands today, the institution is generally inefficient and ineffective means of treating and rehabilitating offenders, especially for its use as an all-purpose repressive quarantine system.
Jobs or jails? The crime drop in Texas

Crime went down throughout the U.S. in the 1990s. Potential explanations include demographic shifts, improved economic opportunities, changes in drug markets, evolving police strategies, and an increasing prison population. Previous attempts to parcel out responsibility among these explanations are unpersuasive. Some do not consider all of the explanations, others rely on highly aggregated data, still others confuse cause and effect. An analysis of Texas counties that deals with these problems shows that the Texas crime drop was largely due to increases in the jail and prison populations property crime also dropped due to increases in real wages and wealth and in public order arrests. Further prison construction would not be cost-effective in Texas due to declining marginal returns, but direct interventions to improve economic opportunities or make police work more proactive may be. © 2005 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.
Effect of Governance Reforms on Corporate Ownership in Italy: Is it Still Pizza, Spaghetti, and Mandolino?

This paper describes the logic that guides the implementation of corporate governance reforms and investigates the extent to which the logic leads to an increase in investor protection.We use the example of Italy, where major governance reforms were passed in 1998 to protect minority shareholders from the risk of expropriation. Our two-stage mixed-methods longitudinal study (1995–2005) reveals that the reforms were only modestly effective in improving governance practices. On the one hand, we document a greater alignment of cash flow rights and voting rights of ultimate owners after 1998, suggesting that minority shareholders face lower risk of expropriation. Yet, on the other hand, we find that the percentage of firms where control is fully contestable continues to remain low. Our qualitative analysis reveals both facilitators such as institutional investor activism and mandatory provisions, and impediments such as discretionary provisions, weak enforcement, and an ingrained culture of high control. This study elaborates extant theory on the effectiveness of reforms by adopting a longitudinal design that describes both their underlying logic and their actual effects on business practices. It also offers conceptual clarity to this literature by bringing attention to factors that act as facilitators and impediments to reform efforts. This study prompts lawmakers in countries endeavoring reforms to encourage participation of institutional investors, as also urges them to consider mandatory provisions, especially those which enhance disclosure and representation.
Arab Gulf States : an assessment of nationalisation policies

Gaps in labour rights and labour prices between nationals and migrant workers are the main causes explaining the low participation of GCC citizens in the region’s private labour markets. Past policies of “Gulfization” have not directly addressed these structural constraints but have rather attempted to impose higher nationalization quotas by fiat, with limited success. More recently, some of the Gulf governments have started to use taxes and subsidies to try to narrow the labour price gap; at the same time, some have improved the labour mobility rights of foreigners. This paper provides a preliminary assessment of these “second generation” policies. It concludes with general observations on how the rights and price gaps could be closed more systematically and on the broader distributional reforms this might entail.
Body composition in Pan paniscus compared with Homo sapiens has implications for changes during human evolution

Significance During human evolution, the body changed in shape, partially to accommodate bipedal locomotion. Concurrently, brain size underwent a three-fold increase recorded in evidence from fossils and from comparative anatomy of chimpanzees, Homo sapiens’ closest living relatives. Because soft tissues like muscle, skin, and fat do not fossilize, and little information is available on these components for the genus Pan, reconstructing tissue changes has primarily relied on what is known about humans. This study presents unique quantitative data on major body components of muscle, bone, skin, and fat of 13 bonobos (Pan paniscus) for interpreting evolutionary forces that have shaped the human form for survival in a savanna mosaic environment. The human body has been shaped by natural selection during the past 4–5 million years. Fossils preserve bones and teeth but lack muscle, skin, fat, and organs. To understand the evolution of the human form, information about both soft and hard tissues of our ancestors is needed. Our closest living relatives of the genus Pan provide the best comparative model to those ancestors. Here, we present data on the body composition of 13 bonobos (Pan paniscus) measured during anatomical dissections and compare the data with Homo sapiens. These comparative data suggest that both females and males (i) increased body fat, (ii) decreased relative muscle mass, (iii) redistributed muscle mass to lower limbs, and (iv) decreased relative mass of skin during human evolution. Comparison of soft tissues between Pan and Homo provides new insights into the function and evolution of body composition.