Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does Trade Credit Substitute Bank Credit? Evidence from Firm-level Data

The paper examines micro data on Italian manufacturing firms' inventory behaviour to test the Meltzer (1960) hypothesis according to which firms substitute bank credit with trade credit (TC) during money tightening. We find that inventory investment of Italian manufacturing firms is constrained by their availability of TC and that this effect more than doubles during monetary restrictions. As for the magnitude of the substitution effect, however, we find that it is not sizeable. This is in line with the micro theories of TC and the evidence on actual firm practices, according to which credit terms display modest variations over time. Copyright Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, 2005
Financial markets in the laboratory: an experimental analysis of some stylized facts

This paper provides experimental evidence explaining a number of stylized facts associated with the behaviour of financial returns, in particular the fat tailed nature of their distribution and the persistence in their volatility. By means of a laboratory experiment, we investigate the effect of the quantity and quality of information present in a financial market upon its stylized facts, showing how both the quality and quantity of information might have an impact on volatility clustering and the emergence of fat tail returns.
Themes and Issues in the Recognition of Family Businesses in the United Kingdom

This article identifies the core themes and issues associated with ownership preferences in United Kingdom family firms. These themes and issues are then tested against the evidence from a variety of data collection methods used to assess the responsiveness of family enterprises to the new United Kingdom public equity market, the Alternative Investment Market, or AIM. Evidence suggests that a recognition process is emerging of family firms as a potential market segment in the United Kingdom. The introduction of AIM, as an example of this recognition process, demonstrated the need for a strong local presence on the part of service providers, and the willingness to invest time to thoroughly understand this new type of client.
Tax Evasion in Armenia: Causes, Cure and Policy Implications

Tax evasion has probably existed ever since the first tax was imposed. But tax evasion - the illegal nonpayment of taxes - is not equally widespread. It is more prevalent in some countries than others. There are several reasons for this lack of homogeneity across time and cultures. Many studies have been done on tax evasion over the years. The vast majority of these studies have taken an economic or public finance perspective. Very few studies have looked at the underlying ethical issues. But these issues are important, since they do much to explain why tax evasion is more rampant in some cultures and countries than others. After a brief introduction the paper reviews the literature on tax evasion that was written from an ethical perspective. One of the most comprehensive twentieth century works in this area was undertaken by Martin Crowe, who published a doctoral dissertation on this subject in 1944. More recent comprehensive works on the philosophy of taxation and public finance were published by McGee in 1998 and 2004. This paper reviews the literature that has been published on tax evasion in Armenia. Special attention is paid to a study by McGee (1999e), which consisted of a series of interviews with Armenian taxpayers. The paper then presents the results of a survey of Armenian theology and business students that was conducted in 2005. The statements in the survey synthesize 500 years of theological and philosophical debate on the ethics of tax evasion. A seven-point Likert scale was used and participants were asked to insert a number in the space provided to indicate the extent of their agreement or disagreement with each statement. The statements were derived partly from the Crowe thesis (1944), which identified the most prevalent arguments that have been made for ethically evading taxes. Crowe's research looked mostly at the Christian literature of the past 500 years. Crowe's research was supplemented by some more recent research.
The stress of anonymous online reviews: a conceptual model and research agenda

Purpose – The paper aims to examine the impact of customer-generated negative online reviews on hospitality employees and businesses. It introduces the concept of negative online review stress, or NOR_Stress (occupational stress due to being targeted by negative online reviews), and present strategies for researching and managing the impact of negative online reviews. Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper sets forth a framework, based on the stress, services and hospitality literature, within which negative online reviews, NOR_Stress, and their impact on individuals and businesses can be understood. Aspects of the framework are illustrated by application of online archival material. Findings – The paper demonstrates how negative online reviews can have adverse and diverse effects on restaurant industry employees and businesses. Research limitations/implications – The paper sets out a research agenda relating to negative online reviews and NOR_Stress causes, consequences and countermeasures.
The G1246A Polymorphism in the Hypocretin Receptor 2 Gene is not Associated with Treatment Response in Cluster Headache

The risk of cluster headache (CH) is associated with the G-allele of the G1246A polymorphism in the hypocretin receptor 2 (HCRTR2) gene. First-line medication is effective in only about 70-80% of CH patients. We hypothesized that the HCRTR2 G1246A polymorphism is also of pharmacogenetic relevance in CH and may affect treatment response. We performed a prospective cohort study among 184 unrelated White CH patients. While the HCRTR2 1246G allele was significantly associated with CH in this group, treatment outcomes with triptans, oxygen, verapamil and corticosteroids remained unaffected. Our results do not support a role of the HCRTR2 G1246A polymorphism in drug responses in CH.
Inflation and Real Stock Returns Revisited

The article uses the (unbalanced) panel data to revisit the effects of expected inflation, unexpected inflation, and inflation uncertainty on real stock returns. The empirical results are obtained via the pooled mean group estimator, which can be applied to I(1) and/or I(0) variables, and can distinguish long- and short-run effects. Using a panel of 16 industrialized Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries over the 1957:Q1 to 2000:Q1 period, we find that anticipated inflation and inflation uncertainty tend to have insignificant short-run effects, while they appear to have negative long-run impacts on real stock returns. Moreover, we find coexistence of a negative long-run effect and a positive short-run effect of unanticipated inflation on real stock returns. These findings help clarify the conflicting conclusions of both empirical and theoretical studies on this issue. (JEL C23, E31, G12)
Sustainability reporting in Norway – an assessment of performance in the context of legal demands and socio‐political drivers

This article explores the influence of societal, political and regulatory characteristics and developments on the quality of corporate sustainability disclosures in Norway. The paper presents an assessment both of mandatory reporting under the Norwegian Accounting Act, and of voluntary reporting in annual and separate non-financial reports, by the 100 largest firms in Norway. Our results reveal that only 10% of the companies comply with the legal requirements on environmental reporting, while only half of the firms comply with the legal reporting provisions on working environment and gender equality. The vast majority of firms also report unsatisfactorily on non-financial issues in the voluntary disclosures assessed. Analysing the causes of these results, we contend that the situation is characterized by (1) an apparent lack of political and social drivers for sustainability reporting in Norway and (2) an absence of sufficient monitoring and enforcement of the environmental reporting legislation on the part of Norwegian authorities. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Geographical Differences in the Prevalence of Mental Deficiency

Like other mental disorders, mental deficiency presents great problems in diagnosis. These diagnostic problems derive ultimately from the fact that a medical diagnosis can be made only in exceptional cases. Mental retardation is not a disease in itself, but only a symptom which may be found in a number of different conditions. It is true that there are a great number of oligophrenia syndromes with known aetiology, but together they represent a numerically small group. When one considers, in addition, that no clear cut distinction between the normally intelligent and the mentally retarded can be made, since the difference is merely quantitative, the difficulties of diagnosis become manifest.
The Operating Performance of Newly Privatised Firms in Central European Transition Economies

This study examines the operating performance of privatised firms in three Central European Transition Economies between 1990 and 1998. Overall, we find no evidence of a significant improvement in operating performance for the first six years after privatisation. Contrary to the increasing empirical evidence for non-transition economies, our privatised firms experience no improvement in profitability, capital investments, efficiency, and output, a significant drop in employment, as well as a significant increase in leverage. The most important determinants of the performance changes following privatisation were country effects, timing of the privatisation sales, industry classification, and state ownership after privatisation. Our findings are consistent with the empirical evidence that the transition process proved to be more difficult than expected and that, although necessary, privatisations do not necessarily produce equal efficiency gains in transition economies (Megginson, 2005; Havrylyshyn and McGettigan, 1999).
Advertising and Competitive Behaviour of Selected Australian Firms

IN spite of the interest in advertising, research in the field has not been very impressive. The reason for this is simply that problems presented in marketing and advertising are often unique, and their satisfactory solutions require the development and synthesis of their own body of theory. This body is lacking.1 In Australia, in particular, advertising has not attracted a large amount of research. This is mainly because of the slowness with which marketing has been accepted as a separate subject of study in our universities, the lack of official statistical information on advertising, and the reluctance of Australian companies to disclose information on their marketing promotion efforts and expenses. The aim of this study is to analyse the marketing competitive behaviour of eight consumer goods producers, which economists and marketing analysts claim to be advertising heavily in Australia (Metwally, 1973a). In particular we estimate the magnitude of advertising expenditure consistent with the object of profit maximisation, and compare it with the actual expenditure of some dominant firms producing those commodities. In section I, we develop a mathematical model of demand similar to that of Dorfman and Steiner (1961). Section II considers the form of functional relationship that exists between sales, price and advertising. In section III different econometric models of competitive interdependence are compared and evaluated. Finally in section IV, the findings and their main implications on promotional competition are discussed. I
Development of Novel Polycrystalline Ceramic Scintillators

For several decades most of the efforts to develop new scintillator materials have concentrated on high-light-yield inorganic single-crystals while polycrystalline ceramic scintillators, since their inception in the early 1980's, have received relatively little attention. Nevertheless, transparent ceramics offer a promising approach to the fabrication of relatively inexpensive scintillators via a simple mechanical compaction and annealing process that eliminates single-crystal growth. Until recently, commonly accepted concepts restricted the polycrystalline ceramic approach to materials exhibiting a cubic crystal structure. Here, we report our results on the development of two novel ceramic scintillators based on the non-cubic crystalline materials: Lu2SiO5:Ce (LSO:Ce) and LaBr3:Ce. While no evidence for texturing has been found in their ceramic microstructures, our LSO:Ce ceramics exhibit a surprisingly high level of transparency/translucency and very good scintillation characteristics. The LSO:Ce ceramic scintillation reaches a light yield level of about 86% of that of a good LSO:Ce single crystal, and its decay time is even faster than in single crystals. Research on LaBr:Ce shows that translucent ceramics of the high-light-yield rare-earth halides can also be synthesized. Our LaBr3:Ce ceramics have light yields above 42000 photons/MeV (i.e., >70%of the single-crystal light yield).
Usefulness of 3-dimensional Measurement of Ossification of the Posterior Longitudinal Ligament (OPLL) in Patients With OPLL-induced Myelopathy

Study Design. Retrospective study. Objective. To evaluate the usefulness of 3-dimensional (3D) measurement of ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL), and identify the reliability of a novel 3D method of measurement. Summary of Background data. OPLL is not a 2-dimensional (2D) disease, but rather a 3D disease. Therefore, conventional measurement of parameters using radiography may not be suitable for evaluating OPLL. However, there is no study that investigated the correlation between 3D parameters of OPLL and clinical outcomes. Methods. 50 patients (40 males and 10 females; mean age 57.2 yr) with symptomatic OPLL were enrolled. Neurological and clinical outcome scales were measured using the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score, visual analogue scale, short-form health survey (SF-36) and neck disability index. A 3D model was reconstructed with digital imaging and communications in medicine files from axial computed tomographic images using software (MIMICS; Materialise, Leuven, Belgium) to obtain the following parameters: 3D volume of OPLL, 3D volume of the spinal canal (confined to the vertebral level involving OPLL), spinal canal diameter, thickness of OPLL, and length of OPLL. All patients were divided into 2 different groups, the mild myelopathy group (JOA score ≥18, n = 11) and the severe myelopathy group (JOA score ⩽17, n = 23). Results. The 3D OPLL volume did not correlate with clinical outcomes (r =−0.275, P = 0.116). 3D OPLL ratio and OPLL thickness had a significant negative relationship with JOA score (r =−0.502, P < 0.005 and r =−0.437, P < 0.05, respectively). In particular, 3D OPLL ratio was an independent risk factor for increased severity of myelopathy (B =−29.71, P < 0.05). The mild myelopathy group showed lower 3D OPLL ratio than the severe myelopathy group (0.092 vs. 0.148, P < 0.05). Conclusion. 3D method of measurement is superior to the conventional method in terms of evaluating the clinical state of symptomatic patients with OPLL. Higher 3D OPLL ratio has an adverse effect on the spinal cord. Level of Evidence: 3
THE EVOLUTION OF INTRATETRAD MATING RATES

Abstract Intratetrad mating, the fusion of gametes formed in a single meiosis, has unusual consequences for genetic diversity, especially in genome regions linked to mating type loci. Here we investigate the fate of modifier alleles that alter the rate of intratetrad mating, under models of heterozygote advantage and of genetic load resulting from recurrent mutation. In both cases, intratetrad mating is favored if the recombination rate between the selected locus and mating type is less than the frequency of lethal recessive alleles at that locus in the population. Positive feedback often accelerates the invasion of modifiers to the intratetrad mating rate. Recombination rate and intratetrad mating rate exert indirect selection on one another, resulting in a cascading decline in outcrossing, even in the absence of any cost of sex. However, under recurrent mutation, alleles for obligate intratetrad mating invade only very slowly, perhaps explaining why outcrossing can persist at low frequencies in a largely intratetrad mating population.
Need for achievement, business goals, and entrepreneurial persistence

Purpose – The purpose of the study is to employ the need theory to investigate whether a need for achievement has an effect on persistence behavior among entrepreneurs, and whether a need for achievement and business goals interact to influence such persistence.Design/methodology/approach – A longitudinal study of nascent entrepreneurs was conducted by a field survey in a metropolitan area of a mid‐western state in the USA. Logistic regression was used to test the hypotheses.Findings – Need for achievement is found to be positively related to entrepreneurial persistence. Business goals are found to moderate the relationship between need for achievement and persistence.Research limitations/implications – The time span between the two waves of data collection in the longitudinal study might have been too short.Practical implications – This study highlights the importance of matching need for achievement and business goals. For complex tasks, a strong need for achievement should be accompanied with moderate .
BAYESIAN MODEL SELECTION VIA FILTERING FOR A CLASS OF MICRO-MOVEMENT MODELS OF ASSET PRICE

This paper develops the Bayesian model selection based on Bayes factor for a rich class of partially-observed micro-movement models of asset price. We focus on one recursive algorithm to calculate the Bayes factors, first deriving the system of SDEs for them and then applying the Markov chain approximation method to yield a recursive algorithm. We prove the consistency (or robustness) of the recursive algorithm. To illustrate the construction of such a recursive algorithm, we consider a model selection problem for two micro-movement models with and without stochastic volatility, and provide simulation and real-data examples to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Bayes factor in the model selection for this class of models.
Dynamics of social auditing in corporate enterprises: a study of the Indian corporate sector

Argues that social auditing has a key importance as there is a growing awareness among corporate sector enterprises that every such enterprise should contribute towards social goals. Attempts to assess the social performance of a corporate enterprise (Steel Authority of India Limited) in terms of costs incurred by the enterprise considered against the benefits to the recipients. There is need to have regular audit of the social accounts on the basis of which the comparative social performance of the corporate sector can be studied. The concept of social audit should be extended to the activities relating to the employees, the environment, the society and the products. There is need to develop a useful social reporting framework to ensure the effectiveness of the social audit programme in the corporate sector which in turn can contribute positively to society at large.
Increased Temperature and Intensification of the Urban Heat Island: Implications for Human Comfort and Urban Design

The predicted rise in air temperatures due to climate change is exacerbated in urban areas by the heat island effect, which is also predicted to increase. The combined effect, in a temperate climate, will have some benefits in the cooler seasons but in the summertime will increase heat stress and the energy used for cooling. This paper refers to research results showing how changes to urban design can improve thermal comfort. It also shows how changing the albedo of the surfaces of the buildings can reduce the impact of solar radiation by reducing the radiant temperature of the environment. The benefits of increased vegetation within the urban environment are shown from measurements in the context of the urban London environment.
Beyond Agency Conceptions of the Work of the Non-Executive Director: Creating Accountability in the Boardroom

This paper examines board effectiveness through an examination of the work and relationships of non-executive directors. It is based on 40 in-depth interviews with company directors, commissioned for the Higgs Review. The paper observes that research on corporate governance lacks understanding of the behavioural processes and effects of boards of directors. Whilst board structure, composition and independence condition board effectiveness it is the actual conduct of the non-executive vis-a-vis the executive that determines board effectiveness. Data about behaviour and relationships on boards suggest that traditional theoretical divisions between agency and stewardship theory, and control versus collaboration models of the board do not adequately reflect the lived experience of non-executive directors and other directors on the board. Developing accountability as a central concept in the explanation of how boards operate effectively enables the paper to both challenge the dominant grip of agency theory on governance research and support the search for theoretical pluralism and greater understanding of board processes and dynamics. Practically, the work suggests that corporate governance reform will be undermined by prescription that supports distant perceptions of board effectiveness but not the actual effectiveness of boards.
The Exile Mission: The Polish Political Diaspora and Polish Americans, 1939–1956.

and counter-espionage activities, her argument might have been strengthened by a fuller examination of the political context. It was not only the FBI and the military intelligence agencies that took a highly critical view of the Soviet Union. Throughout the war there were patriotic Catholics, fundamentalist Protestants, democratic Socialists and much of organized labor that were unrelenting in their suspicions of the Soviet Union and its activities, and, if they were not in a position to know much about espionage as such, their views anticipated those that became pervasive in American society during the Cold War. J. Edgar Hoover and the like were not exactly alone. While the author makes, valid points about wartime experience, the theme of its continuing impact seems a bit strained at times. Eventually she does concede that with the Cold War ‘‘a far more comprehensive counterintelligence and counterespionage program’’ (246) was undertaken, which smacks slightly of having things both ways. Was the Cold War transformative or not? But if the argument does not wholly convince, the research remains impressive, and it is larded with interesting detail. One intriguing point is that the British authorities did not allow the FBI to interrogate Klaus Fuchs until after his trial in 1950, which suggests that the Attlee government may have been more resistant to US pressure on security issues than that of Tony Blair!