Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Federal Investments and Economic Stimulus at the End of the Cold War: The Influence of Federal Installations on Employment Growth, 1970–1990

A growing body of evidence points toward the distinctiveness of the state's political and military policies and of the impact of these policies on economic processes. Regional scientists have been stressing the importance of new industrial districts, with an emphasis on interfirm relationships and the regional economy in which firms are embedded. In this paper, we document the state's role in regional growth and offer a reminder of the external and political actors which have influenced growth of industrial districts. We have acquired information from the US General Services Administration on each piece of property owned by the United States, including data on the agency controlling the installation and the functions performed at this location. Our examination of employment growth from 1970 to 1990 provides evidence that federal installations did stimulate growth in the regions in which they were located. More specifically, we find that NASA installations and the military's industrial facilities exerted a positive influence on employment growth over the period. However, despite the large budgets commanded by Department of Energy installations and their highly educated labor force, we found that the Department of Energy installations inhibited employment growth.
Initial Public Offerings on the Unlisted Securities Market: The Impact of Professional Advisers

Abstract This paper tests two hypotheses developed in the context of information asymmetry between companies making initial public offerings (IPO) on the Unlisted Securities Market and potential investors. It is argued that the status of the sponsor and audit firm are interpreted by potential investors as signals of an IPO's quality. The results indicate that for IPOs made during 1986–87 the level of discount and the status of the associated auditing firm are significantly related. Higher quality auditing firms are associated with lower levels of discount. A similar relationship for IPOs made during the period 1988–89 is not detected. The paper suggests that there were significant changes in the IPO market between these two periods. No relationship in either period is detected between the level of discount and the status of the sponsor.
‘Lower leverage puzzle’ in China’s listed firms: an empirical study based on firm efficiency

This paper attempts to interpret 'lower leverage puzzle' in China's listed firms from the perspective of firm efficiency. It investigates the relationship between firm efficiency and capital structure based on a sample study of 1,000 firm-year panel data of public firms in Shanghai Stock Exchange from 2004-2008. The findings show that between them two there exists a significant reversal exponential relationship, and also indicate that the 'lower leverage' is practically a natural choice of higher efficiency firms. Furthermore, it is suggested that the development stage of security market should be taken into consideration of the capital structure theory.
The geopolitics of dependent development in Central Africa: race, class and the reciprocal blockade

This paper explores dependent development, industrialisation and transitions to the semiperiphery, examining tensions between geopolitics, racial and class conflict that evolved into a ‘reciprocal blockade’ in the Central African Federation (CAF), comprising Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and Nyasaland (Malawi). The 1923 transfer of power from the chartered British South Africa Company to a semi-autonomous, settler-dominated government in Southern Rhodesia provided the foundations upon which an asymmetrical relationship between capital, white settlers, Africans and other groups was built. Incipient African nationalism arose in the 1950s in the shadow of an introverted apartheid South Africa and British decolonisation. Industry, commerce and the professions embraced the idea of a multiracial CAF, but recent white immigrants believed their privileged positions to be threatened, setting the stage for the 1962 election of the white supremacist Rhodesian Front and its unlawful 1965 Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the UK, despite profound misgivings in the security forces. An examination of the geopolitical, economic, ideological and institutional dynamics and ultimate failure of Rhodesian state-building from 1923 to 1963 places the reciprocal blockade in context.
Long-term outcome and predictor variables in the treatment of acquired esotropia with botulinum toxin.

PURPOSE To determine the long-term results of botulinum therapy in acquired esotropia and to identify predictors of a satisfactory outcome. METHODS Sixty-eight children (age range, 8-64 months) with acquired esotropia were enrolled in a prospective study. Botulinum toxin A was injected in the two medial recti. Motor and sensory statuses were evaluated at 1 and 2 weeks; 3, 6, and 12 months; and every year after the last injection. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to relate motor and sensory outcome to variables recorded as potential predictors. RESULTS After an average follow-up of 4.8 years since the last injection, motor success was obtained in 36 children with one injection (52.9%), increasing to 48 (70.6%) and 60 (88.2%) children after two and three injections, respectively. Forty-eight (70.6%) patients had at least peripheral fusion (category 1 binocularity) and 32 (47.1%) had stereoacuity of at least 400 seconds of arc (category 2 binocularity). Higher hypermetropia, less severe amblyopia, and a smaller angle of esotropia were the best predictors of motor success. Minimal amblyopia and favorable motor alignment were associated with better binocularity outcome. CONCLUSIONS Botulinum is an effective long-term treatment of acquired esotropia. It is especially useful in children with high hypermetropia, minimal amblyopia, and small esotropic deviation.
Comparison of the Seasonal Variations of Synechococcus Assemblage Structures in Estuarine Waters and Coastal Waters of Hong Kong

ABSTRACT Seasonal variation in the phylogenetic composition of Synechococcus assemblages in estuarine and coastal waters of Hong Kong was examined through pyrosequencing of the rpoC1 gene. Sixteen samples were collected in 2009 from two stations representing estuarine and ocean-influenced coastal waters, respectively. Synechococcus abundance in coastal waters gradually increased from 3.6 × 103 cells ml−1 in March, reaching a peak value of 5.7 × 105 cells ml−1 in July, and then gradually decreased to 9.3 × 103 cells ml−1 in December. The changes in Synechococcus abundance in estuarine waters followed a pattern similar to that in coastal waters, whereas its composition shifted from being dominated by phycoerythrin-rich (PE-type) strains in winter to phycocyanin-only (PC-type) strains in summer owing to the increase in freshwater discharge from the Pearl River and higher water temperature. The high abundance of PC-type Synechococcus was composed of subcluster 5.2 marine Synechococcus, freshwater Synechococcus (F-PC), and Cyanobium. The Synechococcus assemblage in the coastal waters, on the other hand, was dominated by marine PE-type Synechococcus, with subcluster 5.1 clades II and VI as the major lineages from April to September, when the summer monsoon prevailed. Besides these two clades, clade III cooccurred with clade V at relatively high abundance in summer. During winter, the Synechococcus assemblage compositions at the two sites were similar and were dominated by subcluster 5.1 clades II and IX and an undescribed clade (represented by Synechococcus sp. strain miyav). Clade IX Synechococcus was a relatively ubiquitous PE-type Synechococcus found at both sites, and our study demonstrates that some strains of the clade have the ability to deal with large variation of salinity in subtropical estuarine environments. Our study suggests that changes in seawater temperature and salinity caused by the seasonal variation of monsoonal forcing are two major determinants of the community composition and abundance of Synechococcus assemblages in Hong Kong waters.
Receptor and post-receptor abnormalities contribute to insulin resistance in myotonic dystrophy type 1 and type 2 skeletal muscle

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) and type 2 (DM2) are autosomal dominant multisystemic disorders caused by expansion of microsatellite repeats. In both forms, the mutant transcripts accumulate in nuclear foci altering the function of alternative splicing regulators which are necessary for the physiological mRNA processing. Missplicing of insulin receptor (IR) gene (INSR) has been associated with insulin resistance, however, it cannot be excluded that post-receptor signalling abnormalities could also contribute to this feature in DM. We have analysed the insulin pathway in skeletal muscle biopsies and in myotube cultures from DM patients to assess whether downstream metabolism might be dysregulated and to better characterize the mechanism inducing insulin resistance. DM skeletal muscle exhibits alterations of basal phosphorylation levels of Akt/PKB, p70S6K, GSK3β and ERK1/2, suggesting that these changes might be accompanied by a lack of further insulin stimulation. Alterations of insulin pathway have been confirmed on control and DM myotubes expressing fetal INSR isoform (INSR-A). The results indicate that insulin action appears to be lower in DM than in control myotubes in terms of protein activation and glucose uptake. Our data indicate that post-receptor signalling abnormalities might contribute to DM insulin resistance regardless the alteration of INSR splicing.
An Econometric Analysis of Income Tax Evasion and its Detection

This article presents an econometric analysis of income tax evasion and its detection based on individual-level data drawn from the Internal Revenue Service 1982 and 1985 Taxpayer Compliance Measurement Programs. I specify a model consisting of two equations: the first measures the extent of evasion; the second, the fraction of evasion detected. The empirical analysis explores the effects of income, the marginal tax rate, and various socioeconomic characteristics on filer evasion behavior, and it assesses the variability in detection rates among IRS examiners. Finally, I use the empirical estimates to construct new estimates of the income tax gap; the new estimates are very close to the previous IRS estimates.
Dynamic Analysis and the Economics of Happiness: Rationale, Results and Rules

This paper provides a sustained introduction for the use of dynamic panel methods when analysing life satisfaction. As well as being able to address the issue of serial correlation, dynamic panel analysis also has the advantage of being able to treat variables as exogenous or endogenous, important for happiness, and can generate both contemporaneous and long run estimates for independent variables. A key result found initially for young people, but which is robust to different age ranges and countries, is that happiness is largely contemporaneous although there is a small, persistent effect of the past on current happiness. Additionally, decision rules are provided for the analysis of happiness using dynamic panel analysis.
Organic Brain Dysfunction and Child Psychiatric Disorder

The total population of 11,865 children of compulsory school age resident on the Isle of Wight was studied to determine the prevalence of epilepsy, cerebral palsy, and other neurological disorders. With the use of reliable methods, children selected from screening of the total population were individually studied by means of parental interviews and questionaries, neurological examination and psychiatric assessment of each child, information from school teachers, and perusal of the records of hospitals and other agencies. The association between organic brain dysfunction and psychiatric disorder was studied by comparing the findings in the children with epilepsy or with lesions above the brain stem (cerebral palsy and similar disorders) with those in (1) a random sample of the general population, (2) children with lesions below the brain stem (for example, muscular dystrophy or paralyses following poliomyelitis), and (3) children with other chronic physical handicaps not involving the nervous system (for example, asthma, heart disease, or diabetes). Psychiatric disorders in children with neuro-epileptic conditions were five times as common as in the general population and three times as common as in children with chronic physical handicaps not involving the brain. It was concluded, on the basis of a study of factors associated with psychiatric disorder, that the high rate of psychiatric disorder in the neuro-epileptic children was due to the presence of organic brain dysfunction rather than just the existence of a physical handicap (though this also played a part). However, organic brain dysfunction was not associated with any specific type of disorder. Within the neuro-epileptic group the neurological features and the type of fit, intellectual/educational factors, and socio-familial factors all interacted in the development of psychiatric disorder.
Internal audit independence and objectivity: emerging research opportunities

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the recent literature on internal audit independence and objectivity and discuss opportunities for future research. The topics examined are the organizational status of internal audit, the internal auditor's dual role as a provider of assurance and consulting activities, internal audit's involvement in risk management, outsourcing and co-sourcing of internal audit activities, and the use of internal audit as a training ground for managers. Design/methodology/approach - The approach used in this paper is a review of the literature followed by an identification of further research opportunities. Findings - The paper summarizes the existing body of knowledge relating to internal audit independence and objectivity and identifies gaps in the literature where further research is needed. Originality/value - The paper provides researchers with a useful summary of the literature on internal audit independence and objectivity and stimulates them to engage in further research in the area.
The Impact of Recombination Hotspots on Genome Evolution of a Fungal Plant Pathogen

Recombination has an impact on genome evolution by maintaining chromosomal integrity, affecting the efficacy of selection, and increasing genetic variability in populations. Recombination rates are a key determinant of the coevolutionary dynamics between hosts and their pathogens. Historic recombination events created devastating new pathogens, but the impact of ongoing recombination in sexual pathogens is poorly understood. Many fungal pathogens of plants undergo regular sexual cycles, and sex is considered to be a major factor contributing to virulence. We generated a recombination map at kilobase-scale resolution for the haploid plant pathogenic fungus Zymoseptoria tritici. To account for intraspecific variation in recombination rates, we constructed genetic maps from two independent crosses. We localized a total of 10,287 crossover events in 441 progeny and found that recombination rates were highly heterogeneous within and among chromosomes. Recombination rates on large chromosomes were inversely correlated with chromosome length. Short accessory chromosomes often lacked evidence for crossovers between parental chromosomes. Recombination was concentrated in narrow hotspots that were preferentially located close to telomeres. Hotspots were only partially conserved between the two crosses, suggesting that hotspots are short-lived and may vary according to genomic background. Genes located in hotspot regions were enriched in genes encoding secreted proteins. Population resequencing showed that chromosomal regions with high recombination rates were strongly correlated with regions of low linkage disequilibrium. Hence, genes in pathogen recombination hotspots are likely to evolve faster in natural populations and may represent a greater threat to the host.
The development of position-specific performance indicators in professional rugby union

The aim of this study was to construct a valid and reliable methodology for the analysis of performance profiles of individual playing positions within rugby union. Twenty-two matches were sampled from the domestic season of a professional male rugby union team. Key performance indicators for individual positions were developed and notated using a computerized behavioural analysis system. Performance profiles of playing positions containing data from one or more individuals were then constructed to compare intra-positional differences. Significant differences (chi-square) were observed between individuals within all the tested playing positions for the principal performance indicators (passing, carrying and tackling for the forward positions, and passing, carrying, tackling and kicking for the backs). For example, the difference between the two outside-halves in the study (P < 0.001) was illustrated by one of the players having a median of 6 successful carries for the season (95% confidence limits of 13 and 3), whereas the other had a median of 2 successful carries (95% confidence limits of 5 and 1). The findings suggest that while general positional performance profiles appear to exist, intra-positional differences may occur due to variations in an individual's style of play, the decision-making demands of the position and the effects of potential confounding variables. Multiple profiles may therefore be necessary for some playing positions to account for variation in factors such as playing conditions and the strength of the opposition.
Exploring the impact of shared leadership on management team member job outcomes

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore the extent to which working in a management team in which leadership functions are shared impacts the role clarity, job overload, stress and job satisfaction of team members. It also aims to explore the moderating influence of organizational encouragement for team work.Design/methodology/approach – The study uses data obtained from 200 top management team members working in Christian church organizations in the USA. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationship of shared leadership with the role conflict, role ambiguity, job stress, and job satisfaction of the management team members. These relationships were also evaluated for team members in organizations with both higher and lower levels of encouragement for team work.Findings – A model in which role conflict and ambiguity mediate the relationship between shared leadership and job stress and job satisfaction provides the best fit with the data. Shared leadership within a management t.
Institutional image: a case study

Examines the concept of institutional (university) image from a cultural studies approach and from a quantitative perspective. Building on these and other research findings, posits that multiple changing images exist within each individual and that these images are affected by certain factors. Examines university image from an external stakeholder perspective, based on a telephone survey study of respondents from across the university’s home state. The results confirm multi‐image conceptualization of the university setting and, importantly, examine the factors – personal, environmental, and organizational – that give rise to the multiple image concept. Complementing much corporate image research that views image(s) as primarily controlled by the organization, these findings suggest that corporate image, considered also as a receiver‐oriented and audience‐specific construct, can vary as a function of other, external, determining factors but that organizational factors are, nevertheless, very influential factors for one’s decision making about image.
Hedging and Value in the U.S. Airline Industry

This article discusses the findings and practical import of the authors' study of the fuel hedging activity of 28 U.S. airlines during the period 1992-2003. The aim of the study was to answer the following question: Does fuel hedging add value to the airlines and, if so, how? The airline industry provides a natural experiment for investigating the relation between hedging and value for a number of reasons: (1) the industry is by and large competitive and remarkably homogeneous; (2) airlines are exposed to a single, volatile input commodity - jet fuel - that represents a major economic expense for all competitors; and (3) fuel price increases cannot be easily passed through to customers because of competitive pressures in the industry. The results of the study show that jet fuel hedging is positively related to airline firm value. Those airlines that hedged their fuel costs had Tobin's Q ratios that were 5-10% higher, on average, than those of airlines that did not hedge. What's more, the higher the proportion of future fuel requirements hedged, the larger the valuation premium. The authors' results also suggest that the main source of value added by hedging in the airline industry is its role in preserving the firm's ability to take advantage of investment opportunities that arise when fuel prices are high and airline operating cash flows and values are down. Consistent with this argument, the study finds that the value premium associated with hedging increases with the level of the firm's capital spending. The authors also report that the most active hedgers of fuel costs among the airlines are the larger firms with the least debt and highest credit ratings. This result is somewhat surprising, at least to the extent that smaller airlines are expected to have larger financial distress costs (as a percentage of firm value) and hence greater motive to hedge. One explanation is that the smaller airlines have lacked either sufficient resources or the strategic foresight to acquire a derivatives hedging capability. A second possibility - one that is consistent with the study's main findings - is that the largest airlines also have the highest costs of financial distress (even as a percentage of firm value) in the form of larger growth opportunities that could be lost as a result of high leverage and financial risk. In other words, only the largest airlines are typically able to buy distressed assets during periods of industry weakness; to the extent this is so, such firms may also have the most to gain from hedging.
Economics of Sugar-Based Ethanol Production and Related Policy Issues

The feasibility of integrating ethanol production into an existing sugar mill was analyzed by a stochastic spreadsheet model. As the price of corn continues to rise, ethanol producers will eventually need to look at other feedstock alternatives. Sugarcane has been proven to work well in the production of ethanol in Brazil. The results indicated existing U.S. sugar mills could economically switch to ethanol production. As imports into the United States threaten to undermine the U.S. sugar program, sugarcane producers have a viable alternative. At the very least, the alternative exists to diversify their income streams with ethanol production.