Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
What causes the hidden economy in Spain?

Estimating the size of the hidden economy continues to attract the interest of both researchers and politicians alike. However, and despite the recent increase in the technical sophistication of the two estimation methods most commonly employed in the empirical literature, namely the monetary approach and the multiple causes-indicators technique, it is necessary to continue making advances in our knowledge of the relationships between the hidden economy and its economic and institutional environment. Against this background, this paper sets out to provide empirical evidence on this question. Using the estimation made by Gadea and Serrano (2001) of hidden income in Spain during the period 1964–1998, a univariate and multivariate causality analysis is carried out between hidden income and the representative variables of the legal economy, taxation, the labour market and currency. The results allow one to draw a number of interesting conclusions on the complexity of these relationships.
Gasoline Prices, Government Support, and the Demand for Hybrid Vehicles in the United States

We analyze the determinants of hybrid vehicle demand, focusing on gasoline prices and income tax incentives. We find that hybrid vehicle sales in 2006 would have been 37% lower had gasoline prices stayed at the 1999 levels, and the effect of the federal income tax credit program is estimated at 20% in 2006. Under the program, the cost of reducing gasoline consumption was $75 per barrel in government revenue and that of COemission reduction was $177 per ton. We show that the cost effectiveness of federal tax programs can be improved by a flat rebate scheme.
An evaluation of ISO 9000 initiatives in Indian industry for enhanced manufacturing performance

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the contributions of ISO 9000 initiatives towards improving manufacturing performance in the Indian manufacturing industry. Design/methodology/approach - In this study, 96 manufacturing organizations have been extensively surveyed, to ascertain contributions made by ISO 9000 initiatives in the Indian manufacturing industries towards realizing manufacturing performance improvements. The correlations between various ISO 9000 implementation issues and manufacturing performance improvements have been evaluated and validated by employing various statistical tools. Findings - The research focuses on the significant contributions of ISO 9000 implementation success factors like top management contributions, continuous improvement practices and ISO 9000 implementation initiatives, towards affecting improvements in manufacturing performance in the Indian industry. The inter-relationships between various ISO 9000 implementation success factors with the manufacturing performance improvement parameters have been evaluated, to efficiently manage the ISO 9000 implementation program to realize organizational objectives of growth and sustainability. Research limitations/implications - The study establishes that focused ISO 9000 implementation over a reasonable time period can strategically contribute towards realization of significant manufacturing performance enhancements. Practical implications - The study stresses the need for improving the coordination between manufacturing function and other organizational quality improvement initiatives in the organizations, to establish manufacturing as a competitive strategy for meeting the challenges of highly competitive environments. Social implications - The findings suggest that effective ISO 9000 initiatives can significantly contribute towards realization of strategic manufacturing performance improvements for competing in the highly dynamic global marketplace. These interrelationships can be used to understand the effect of various ISO 9000 success factors towards realization of organization objectives of growth and sustainability. Originality/value - The study highlights the strong potential of ISO 9000 implementation initiatives in affecting organizational performance improvements. The achievements of Indian manufacturing organizations through proactive ISO 9000 initiatives have been evaluated and critical ISO 9000 success factors identified for enhancing the effectiveness of ISO 9000 implementation programs in the Indian context.
Agricultural Efficiency Gains in Centrally Planned Economies

Abstract This paper estimates the growth of agricultural production efficiency in nine centrally planned economics over two time periods, 1965-1977 and 1978-1989. The second time period was one of agricultural policy reform for most of the nine countries. Our major finding is that production efficiency improved in the second time period, helping to check a fall in growth of agricultural output. Gains in production efficiency were as large in Central and Eastern Europe as the gains in China, even though economic reforms were deeper in China, where production was privatized. The slowdown in growth of agricultural production in the 1980′s was not due to production inefficiencies, but rather due to slower growth of inputs, particularly fertilizer. The implication of our results is that privatization of farming may be unnecessary in order to achieve high production efficiency gains. J. Comp. Econom. , June 1994, 18 (3), pp. 000-000, University of California, Davis, California 95616.
Intensity of food deprivation: The integrative impacts of the world system, modernization, conflict, militarization and the environment

US and world military expenditures have increased dramatically in the last decade. Some cross-national treatments identify positive impacts of military spending on a range of domestic outcomes, while many others point to the converse. We review the literature and then focus on under examined relationships, including the impact of military expenditures on the intensity of food deprivation worldwide. We employ a structural equation modeling technique that permits synthetic analyses of direct and indirect impacts of a range of factors specified by the theories. We find world-system context indirectly matters a great deal to the intensity of food deprivation in nations, both in our sample of developed and developing nations, and of developing countries only. So do intra-national and international conflicts, especially insofar as they impact national modernization and military spending. While modernization is moderately enhanced by military spending for our cross-national sample of developed and developing countries, it is not for the sample of developing countries only. This may point to military technology’s spill over effects on other sectors of the economy, but solely for developed nations. For the world over, national modernization, itself a consequence of global power and dependency, directly reduces the intensity of food deprivation, while military expenditures directly heighten it. These differential relationships lead us to advocate for a more synthetic theorizing in studies of food security and hunger, while accounting for global circumstances that produce both similar and different consequences in richer and poorer countries.
The continuing evolution of Lean Six Sigma

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify upcoming challenges related to the implementation of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) principles and techniques. Particular emphasis is placed on the changes needed to ensure that LSS continues to support an organization's competitiveness.Design/methodology/approach – The methodology begins with a review of the projections of business experts as they relate to the practice of LSS. Then, the ASQ Six Sigma Body of Knowledge forms the basis of a reconciliation of these changes and the methods currently employed by LSS practitioners. Finally, four main modifications to standard LSS are proposed.Findings – In total, four implications to LSS practice are defined (rigorous value definition, vigorous accounting for risk, global workforce considerations, and international regulatory concerns); specifics are offered that explain how LSS practitioners need to respond. A construct is presented illustrating how the complexity of a LSS project will be affected by the four implicat.
Are all consumers the same? Choice in health, social care and education in England and elsewhere

The reliance on consumer choice to drive improvements in public services is at the centre of policy debates in the UK and elsewhere. However, the discourse of consumerism occurs in the midst of a quagmire as to whether users of public services can legitimately be considered as customers, citizens or co-producers, while the existing evidence on how far they assume the role of public service consumers is largely ignored. This article discusses research on users' attitudes to choice in health, education and social services in the UK, the European Union and the USA. Provision of public services is rarely about acquiring products for pure consumption, but more about providers and users jointly addressing essential social and human needs. The author argues for an alternative conception of public service provision going beyond the limitations of consumerism, although some users are more likely to choose certain public services over others (for example schools rather than health services). However, the evidence presented disproves the view that users of public services will act as discerning consumers in the market-place.
Exogenous Determinants for Renegotiating Public Infrastructure Concessions: Evidence from Portugal

AbstractRenegotiations are frequently perceived as the Achilles’ heel of concessions. After two decades of concessions development, empirical evidence suggests a recurrent need to renegotiate contracts. What drives renegotiation? Why does it occur? What are the results? The literature still lacks data on renegotiation patterns and on its main causes and results, thus not answering these questions. This paper intends to fulfill this gap by identifying some of the key determinants of renegotiations and presenting the main results. Using an econometric analysis on a real database of 87 Portuguese concessions, the research identified some variables that help explaining the high probability of renegotiation, such as the concession duration and investment, or the existence of a regulator when the contract was signed. The research also found empirical evidence of the high costs involved in renegotiations, as well as of poor control and poor management of concessions by the government.
SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN INDONESIA: Old Policy Challenges for a New Administration

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are an important subject of study and policy analysis, both in general and for the administration of Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, for a number of reasons.1 First, SMEs in any country play a pivotal role in economic development. They typically employ 60% or more of a country’s industrial workforce and generate up to half of the sector’s output. SMEs are therefore an important component to any understanding of the broader industrialization process. Secondly, SMEs are a clear and consistently enunciated Indonesian government priority. They feature prominently in key government documents, such as five-year plans (Repelita), the Broad Outlines of Government Policy (GBHN), and many official statements. This support has manifested itself in a separate ministry for SMEs (together with cooperatives) established in 1993. At Indonesia’s instigation, for example, they were introduced into the
Siloviki in Russian Regions: New Dogs, Old Tricks

This paper offers an analysis of elites changes in the spatial organisation of the power ministries as they were affected by the federal reform. The main hypothesis is that Federal okrug administrations were introduced to break the ties binding the regional and federal levels of siloviki and at the same time create bridgehead from which to establish supervision over all the levels.
Urban interactions and spatial structure

This article specifies and solves a model of endogenous spatial interactions where agents choose to visit a particular location to interact with others. Equilibrium fails to achieve first-best levels of visits and population density. A construction subsidy can restore second-best efficiency, but not first-best because it does not operate on the visit margin directly. A transportation subsidy can achieve first best. This result--which contrasts with earlier work--comes from treating interaction as a choice variable, rather than focusing on population density, a correlate. Developers are unable to implement even second-best efficiency because of their limited control over a city's land area. Copyright 2007, Oxford University Press.
The politics of social protection: social expenditure vs market regulation

It has been argued that the notion of a European social model is misleading and that there are in fact different European social models with different features and different performances in terms of efficiency and equity. In this paper, we look at the welfare state from a political economy point of view and interpret the different regimes as possible outcomes of a political process through which heterogeneous preferences of voters are aggregated. In our model, agents differ in two respects: income and socio‐economic vulnerability. Policy‐makers have to decide on two policies: a proportional income tax to finance a social transfer, providing equal benefits to all citizens, and a market regulation policy which benefits only vulnerable workers, providing them with additional protection against unemployment risk. Market regulation is inefficient because it decreases aggregate resources. Individuals' heterogeneity generates a conflict over policies. We feature the political process as a two‐party electoral competition in a citizen–candidate model with probabilistic voting. We show that an inefficient equilibrium exists and that this outcome is more likely as income inequality and the proportion of vulnerable workers become greater. Intuitively, greater inequality raises the level of redistributive spending desired by the poor, making, at the same time, the rich more adverse to the welfare state. In this framework, both the rich and the poor, in order to win the election and realise the fiscal gain, have an incentive to support market restrictions, in the attempt to capture the votes of the vulnerable minority, who benefit from these policies.
Gene transfer in tissue repair: status, challenges and future directions

Wound repair involves a complex interaction of various cell types, extracellular matrix molecules and soluble mediators. Details on signals controlling wound cell activities are beginning to emerge. In recent years this knowledge has been applied to a number of therapeutic strategies in soft tissue repair. Key challenges include re-adjusting the adult repair process in order to augment diseased healing processes, and providing the basis for a regenerative rather than a reparative wound environment. In particular, the local delivery of pluripotent growth factor molecules to the injured tissue has been intensively investigated over the past decade. Limited success of clinical trials indicates that an important aspect of the growth factor wound-healing paradigm is the effective delivery of these polypeptides to the wound site. A molecular genetic approach in which genetically modified cells synthesise and deliver the desired growth factor in a time-regulated manner is a powerful means to overcome the limitations associated with the (topical) application of recombinant growth factor proteins. This article summarises repair mechanisms and their failure, and gives an overview of techniques and studies applied to gene transfer in tissue repair. It also provides perspectives on potential targets for gene transfer technology.
South–South production and knowledge linkages – an exploratory study based on cases from Malaysia

This study explores linkages developed by firms from Malaysia when investing in other emerging or developing economies – also known as South–South Linkages. The interest is what production and knowledge networks that are emerging and how these links or networks developed help the firms in terms of capability development and innovation. In addition to linkages, we relook at what drives the firms and the organization forms to invest abroad. Findings from the cases indicate that while the drivers for internationalization or outward foreign direct investment by Malaysian firms are essentially market seeking, the role of supportive government policies is a critical external driver. There is also clear understanding by the organizations that the move to emerging/developing economies needs a long-term strategy for realization of benefits. In terms of South–South linkages, they can be seen in two phases – one is the linkages developed for the move into emerging/developing economies and second phase is the linkages developed for doing business in the new location. The study shows that the linkages are still vertical with suppliers and parent companies and there are very little horizontal linkages. What is interesting is the implications for innovation.
A noncompensatory choice experiment analysis of Japanese consumers' purchase preferences for beef

In this article, we consider the noncompensatory valuation of food safety among Japanese consumers with regard to the purchase of beef. Using a choice experiment with a wide range of choice rules, we examine the valuation of beef by Japanese consumers in terms of the country of origin and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)-test status of beef. The results reveal that a Random Parameters Logit (RPL) model along with the noncompensatory choice rules is more suitable than a compensatory model for measuring the valuation of food safety with regard to beef by consumers who are conscious of food safety. Further, the Willingness to Pay (WTP) for each BSE-tested type of beef reveals that Japanese consumers regard the BSE test as rather important for ensuring the food safety of beef.
West Virginia University Pediatric Stroke Registry

Purpose. To develop an institutional pediatric stroke database at West Virginia University to support the classification and description of clinical and radiographic characteristics of pediatric stroke in children living in rural areas. Methods. A custom-made database was developed using Microsoft Access to include specific query forms for data retrieval. Data were collected retrospectively from electronic medical record of pediatric patients with ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, with emphasis on clinical presentation, risk factors, and neuroimaging studies between 2000 and 2012. Results. In the children group, vasculitis and hypercoagulable disorders were identified less frequently than reported. In the neonate group, only extremely sick, symptomatic patents were acutely diagnosed with stroke. Conclusion. Patients with the most common risk factors for stroke (cardiac disease) were overrepresented. This suggests that in children receiving medical attention in rural areas less common risk factors for stroke might not be identified, increasing the risk recurrence. Increased index of suspicion is needed about pediatric stroke in rural areas, and early transfer to a tertiary care center for identification of risk factors is mandatory.
Disclosure and dividend signalling when sustained earnings growth declines

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine whether voluntary disclosure and dividends signal future earnings for decline earnings growth firms. It seeks to inform regulators (and managers) about the potential benefits of increased disclosure and increased dividends to investors for firms that suffer an earnings decline after a sustained period of annual earnings growth. Design/methodology/approach - The event study methodology is used to examine the behaviour of 33 non-financial UK firms after a decline of their sustained earnings growth. It also uses the computerised content analysis to count the number of forward-looking sentences in the annual report narratives. It calculates changes in disclosure and dividends in the year of earnings growth declines and examine their association with the abnormal future earnings. Findings - Consistent with prior research, it is found that increasing dividends does not convey value relevant information about future earnings for decline earnings growth firms. However, based on disclosure signalling theory, it is found that increasing levels of forward-looking information in annual report narratives is an important mechanism for signalling future earnings for these firms. Practical implications - For an effective communication with the stock market in the years of earnings decline after sustained period of growth, managers should give high priority to developing an appropriate and complete set of forward-looking information in their annual reports. This will enable investors to better anticipate firms' future prospects. The results suggest that if forward-looking statements in annual report narratives contain value relevant information for investors, then regulators should consider a compulsory narrative section (i.e. operating and financial review) in the annual report. Originality/value - This paper is the first to study the value relevance of voluntary disclosure for decline earnings growth firms.
A theoretical performance analysis of the Bayesian data reduction algorithm

The purpose of this paper is to analytically demonstrate the effect that the overall quantization, M, has on the relative performance of the BDRA (Bayesian Data Reduction Algorithm). In particular, it is of interest to show with a straightforward data model how the dimensionality reduction aspects of the BDRA improves overall classification performance on the training data. In other words, it is analytically shown the conditions under which the probability of error, as computed on the data, is lower after dimensionality reduction. Results are illustrated by plotting the analytical probability of error as a function of the number of data merged in the same discrete cell. An interesting result demonstrates that data merged under different classes in the same discrete cell can improve classification performance.
Adrenal maturation, nutritional status, and mucosal immunity in Bolivian youth

Humans—and several other apes—exhibit a unique pattern of post‐natal adrenal maturation; however, the causes and consequences of variation in adrenal development are not well understood. In this study, we examine developmental and age‐related maturation of the adrenal gland (measured via dehydroepiandrosterone‐sulfate [DHEA‐S]) for potential life‐history associations with growth and mucosal immunity in a rural population of immune‐challenged Bolivian juveniles and adolescents.
Sodium‐dependent accumulation of 5‐hydroxytryptamine by rat blood platelets

1 . The influence of sodium and potassium on the accumulation of 5‐hydroxytryptamine (5‐HT) by rat blood platelets was investigated. 2 . An absolute dependence of 5‐HT uptake on the sodium concentration in the medium was found. 3 . Removal of potassium reduced the uptake by about 60% High concentrations of potassium inhibited sodium‐dependent accumulation. 4 . The observations have been discussed in terms of a carrier‐mediated transport process for 5‐HT operating in the platelet membrane.