Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Limits to ‘The Learning Region’: What University-centered Economic Development Can (and Cannot) do to Create Knowledge-based Regional Economies

Proponents of the learning region assert that investments should be made in the infrastructure that supports regionally-located innovative firms and that both institutional and governmental resources should be directed to drive the success of the regional innovation system. In this paper, we look at critical limitations to the realization of the learning region and at potential conflicts arising from the relative power of private and public interests in determining the learning region agenda. We draw on examples from Europe and the US, but pay special attention to the US case where the divide between regional economic development goals and the incentives driving the research university are particularly dramatic.
News Events, Information Acquisition, and Serial Correlation

Prior research finds that momentum strategies (buying past losers and selling past winners) generate abnormal returns over medium-term (3- to 12-month) horizons. The Fama and French factors are unable to account for this effect, though they account for long-term reversals in asset returns. We develop a model which accounts for the medium-term continuation (momentum) by analyzing information acquisition about news events (such as earnings announcements) in a multiperiod setting. As more and more agents become informed about news events, temporal uncertainty is resolved endogenously through market prices over time, which leads to positive autocorrelations in asset returns. We empirically estimate serial correlations over medium-term horizons for portfolios sorted by firm size and past stock performance, and find that calibration of serial correlations in our model spans the range of empirically estimated correlations.
Political Clientelism in Mexico: Bridging the Gap between Citizens and the State

Abstract This article explores practices of political clientelism in a native village in Mexico City during recent elections (2006, 2012), aiming to create more conceptual clarity and to demonstrate the usefulness of ethnographic approaches. Seen from the clients' and the brokers' perspective, political clientelism and vote buying are two different practices, carried out in different ways, with different degrees of legitimacy. The problem-solving network studied here bridges the gap between the citizen and the state, while the political operators hope to be rewarded with public employment. In this case, one candidate-patron changed parties a few months before the 2012 elections, and the electoral statistics provide indications of the numerical effectiveness of his clientelist network. Multiparty competition, instead of undermining clientelist practices, appears to “democratize” them.
Stakeholder Performance Measurement in Nonprofit Organizations. Case Study of a Donor Satisfaction Barometer.

According to recent findings, nonprofit organizations should address the relationships of nonprofit service quality, satisfaction, loyalty, and organizational identification when planning and evaluating donor surveys. This article presents a donor satisfaction barometer that can be used to gain insights into the strength of these key relationships and thereby establish a basis for calculated relevant indices. With such indices, nonprofit organizations can compare stakeholder performance over time and benchmark themselves against other organizations. Data from 2,599 blood donors to one section of the German Red Cross, collected through the proposed donor satisfaction barometer, show that service quality drives satisfaction, and donor satisfaction and organizational identification both exert significant positive effects on donor loyalty. Therefore, nonprofit organizations should use a combined strategic approach that improves both donor satisfaction and organizational identification to increase donor loyalty. The successful application of the donor satisfaction barometer also suggests its value for other nonprofit industries and offers important insights for managers.
Devaluation and the trade balance: estimating the long run effect

This study tests the effectiveness of devaluation on the trade balance in eight developing countries from Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America. A unique and new methodology is used to estimate the long run effect of devaluation on the trade balance. The estimated results suggest that devaluation, in general, does not improve the trade balance in the long run. In some cases it even had a perverse effect.
Resistance to Social Entrepreneurship: How Context Shapes Innovation

Abstract Social entrepreneurship emerges from social and historical contexts. These contexts also bring the institutional norms, routines, and conventions that challenge and constrain innovation processes. This article contributes to the emerging theoretical discourse of social entrepreneurship by explicating the Schumpeterian notion of resistance. It discusses the context-dependent manifestation of opportunity in, and resistance to, social entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship opportunities are the constructed outcomes of entrepreneurial alertness and motivation, and the organizational, societal, institutional, and market contexts in which the entrepreneur is embedded. Likewise, these contextual forces resist and refine social innovations such that they become the products of the financial, social, cultural, and political expectations of stakeholders of social entrepreneurship ventures. A deeper understanding of how context shapes social innovation will give scholars and practitioners a greater appreciation for the ways in which innovations can succeed because of resistance, not in spite of it.
Cloning of the Bacillus subtilis DLG beta-1,4-glucanase gene and its expression in Escherichia coli and B. subtilis

The gene encoding beta-1,4-glucanase in Bacillus subtilis DLG was cloned into both Escherichia coli C600SF8 and B. subtilis PSL1, which does not naturally produce beta-1,4-glucanase, with the shuttle vector pPL1202. This enzyme is capable of degrading both carboxymethyl cellulose and trinitrophenyl carboxymethyl cellulose, but not more crystalline cellulosic substrates (L. M. Robson and G. H. Chambliss, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 47:1039-1046, 1984). The beta-1,4-glucanase gene was localized to a 2-kilobase (kb) EcoRI-HindIII fragment contained within a 3-kb EcoRI chromosomal DNA fragment of B. subtilis DLG. Recombinant plasmids pLG4000, pLG4001a, pLG4001b, and pLG4002, carrying this 2-kb DNA fragment, were stably maintained in both hosts, and the beta-1,4-glucanase gene was expressed in both. The 3-kb EcoRI fragment apparently contained the beta-1,4-glucanase gene promoter, since transformed strains of B. subtilis PSL1 produced the enzyme in the same temporal fashion as the natural host B. subtilis DLG. B. subtilis DLG produced a 35,200-dalton exocellular beta-1,4-glucanase; intracellular beta-1,4-glucanase was undetectable. E. coli C600SF8 transformants carrying any of the four recombinant plasmids produced two active forms of beta-1,4-glucanase, an intracellular form (51,000 +/- 900 daltons) and a cell-associated form (39,000 +/- 400 daltons). Free exocellular enzyme was negligible. In contrast, B. subtilis PSL1 transformed with recombinant plasmid pLG4001b produced three distinct sizes of active exocellular beta-1,4-glucanase: approximately 36,000, approximately 35,200, and approximately 33,500 daltons. Additionally, B. subtilis PSL1(pLG4001b) transformants contained a small amount (5% or less) of active intracellular beta-1,4-glucanase of three distinct sizes: approximately 50,500, approximately 38,500 and approximately 36,000 daltons. The largest form of beta-1,4-glucanase seen in both transformants may be the primary, unprocessed translation product of the gene.
Food Price Volatility and Vulnerability in the Global South: considering the global economic context

Abstract Most official analyses of the recent food price crisis have focused on the market fundamentals of supply and demand for food as key explanatory factors. As a result, most of the policy recommendations emanating from the major international institutions include measures to boost supply and temper demand. In this paper I argue that international macroeconomic factors played a key role in fostering both price volatility and vulnerability, and as such they need to be recognised. With respect to the recent price volatility, the weak US dollar and speculation on agricultural commodities futures markets greatly influenced agricultural prices. With respect to price vulnerability, global economic forces played an important role in dampening production incentives in the world's poorest countries over the past 30 years, leading to a situation of food import dependence. Policy responses to the food crisis must consider the role of these broader international macroeconomic forces—both in the immediate context and their longer term impact.
A preliminary assessment of external support policy to new Japanese founders

We examine whether the new Japanese founder's economic performance is positively related to the use of external support agencies. The empirical evidence shows that new founders who have prior related business experience and are provided the financial assistance by public agencies and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) managers at the time of start-up achieve higher sales than those who are not so. This finding suggests that the new founder does not succeed by the assistance of merely a fund. When offering the fund to the new founder, it is necessary for external supporters to enquire about his or her prior related business experience closely.
ICAM‐1 and B7‐1 provide similar but distinct costimulation for CD8+ T cells, while CD4+ T cells are poorly costimulated by ICAM‐1

The function of purified ICAM‐1 in costimulating CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses has been directly compared to that of B7‐1 in a model system that minimizes contributions of other receptor‐ligand interactions. While B7‐1 costimulates both subsets of T cells, ICAM‐1 is much more effective in the costimulation of CD8+ cells. ICAM‐1 also synergizes with B7‐1 for the induction of IL‐2 production in CD8+ but not CD4+ T cells. These differences are not explained by differences in LFA‐1 receptor expression on the two subsets of T cells. The CD8+ T cell response to ICAM‐1 costimulation is associated with increased proliferation and IL‐2 production at levels similar to those seen with B7‐1 costimulation, but clonal expansion in response to ICAM‐1 is not as great due to decreased cell survival. ICAM‐1‐mediated costimulation is effective for both naive and memory CT8+ T cells, is independent of CD28 engagement, and does not appear to be due solely to effects on adhesion. These results suggest that ICAM‐1‐dependent, B7‐independent costimulation may be important in initiating a CTL response to class I antigen presented by cells that are not professional APC.
Eking a living: Women entrepreneurship and poverty reduction strategies: The case of palm kernel oil processing in the Central Region of Ghana

In the previous four decades there have been changes in both the structure of, and employment opportunities in, Ghana's economy. Responding to the conditions, women have become involved in various economic activities, including the processing of agricultural products. Using the livelihood concept, the paper examines the conditions of women involved in palm kernel oil processing as they eke a living in the face of poverty. Based on a survey of 185 women in two districts in the Central Region of Ghana, the authors analyse the women's entry into the trade, working conditions and earnings. The labour-intensive activity is characterized by low capital outlay, irregular supply of inputs and long working hours. However, the women earn very little due to poor marketing strategies, lack of linkages with the modern economy, and lack of support. These factors make the women vulnerable to external environmental shocks. Nonetheless, the work provides them with some personal income, which is important for self-esteem. Such women are at the margins of survival and represent one of the faces of poverty in the country, yet do not appear in any national accounting system.
Villein rents in thirteenth–century England: an analysis of the Hundred Rolls of 1279–1280

in kind, and in labour. An examination of these rents is crucial to any inquiry into the features of medieval society; almost all research into medieval economic history has contained some analysis of villein rents. However, there is little agreement as to what were the principal factors in determining the level of these rents. Historians have so far assumed three factors: economic and demographic forces, seigneurial power, and custom. As regards the first, Postan stated that the ratio between land and population determined the value of land: 'all available evidence, especially for France and England, shows land rents, land prices, and entry fines rising on a scale fully consistent with the hypothesis of "pressure of population" '. 2 He argued that demographic pressures, i.e. excess demand for land, pushed up the value of land in the thirteenth century. Marxist historians put forward the alternative view that the crucial element in determining the level of rents is not economic and demographic forces, but the political relationship between landlords and tenants, i.e. seigneurial power. Through 'non-economic compulsion', some lords were able to exact high rent, including labour services on their demesnes.3 Although it is difficult to decide whether or not noneconomic compulsion prevailed over economic and demographic forces, almost all historians, not only marxists, admit that tenants were burdened with heavier rents on large ecclesiastical estates consisting of classical manors: 'the power of the lord, especially power applied continuously over many generations, enabled large and ancient churches to make greater demands on their tenants than did the gentry'. 4 A third group of historians suggests that villein rents were the product of a long evolution of custom. Feudal institutions did not always raise the level of rents; the custom under which unfree tenants held their lands might have protected them against the chill wind of market forces. In opposition to the marxist view, Hatcher argues that unfree tenants did not suffer from an excess
The impact of employees’ positive psychological capital on job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behaviors in the hotel

Purpose – This paper aims to explain the relationships among employees’ positive psychological capital (PPC) (hope, self-efficacy, resilience and optimism), job satisfaction (JS) and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) in deluxe hotels. This study also seeks to analyze the effect of JS on the employees’ OCBs. In an era of global competition when the speed of change is increasing, companies’ competitiveness depends on how well they adapt. To respond flexibly to changes, knowing how to use intangible resources is crucial. Design/methodology/approach – This study was administered to 324 deluxe hotel employees using a self-administered questionnaire. Following Anderson and Gerbing’s (1988) two-step approach, confirmatory factor analysis was first undertaken to assess the overall fit of the three-factor model, structural equation model which was used to examine the hypothesized relationships between the constructs. Findings – The findings showed that employees’ hope and optimism among PPC have a signif.
Operational Fiscal and Monetary Policy with Staggered Wage and Price Dynamics

I consider the optimal setup of simple rules for monetary and tax policy in a model with distortionary taxes, wage and price stickiness. The rules maximize a measure of households’ intertemporal utility. The model is solved through the second-order approximation method of Schmitt-Grohe and Uribe (2004). When both prices and wages are indexed to steady-state inflation, the average tax rate responds little to government liabilities. This arises from the need to minimize the inefficient distortions arising from fluctuations in the price level for fiscal reasons. Optimal monetary policy responds strongly to changes in wages. In an economy with only wage rigidity, fiscal considerations prevail over the need to stabilize wage fluctuations, and the policy mix produces a large variability of inflation. Finally, with indexation of wages and prices to lagged inflation, the dynamic behavior of the economy is closer to the frictionless equilibrium, and the optimal policy mix resembles the one under flexible prices and sticky wages.
A new non‐isolated free ripple input current bidirectional DC‐DC converter with capability of zero voltage switching

In this paper, a new nonisolated free ripple input current bidirectional dc‐dc converter with capability of zero voltage switching (ZVS) is proposed. The free ripple input current condition at low voltage side is achieved by using third winding of a coupled inductor and a capacitor for the whole range of duty cycles. In the proposed structure, the voltage conversion ratio can be more increased by adding the turn ratio of the second winding of the coupled inductor for the whole range of duty cycles. By adjusting the value of an auxiliary inductor in the topology of the converter, according to the power, the ZVS operation of the implemented 2 switches can be achieved throughout the whole power range. The mentioned features of proposed converter are validated theoretically for both boost and buck operations. In this paper, the proposed converter is analyzed for all operating modes. Moreover, all equations of the voltages and currents of all components, voltage conversion ratio, the required conditions for ZVS operation of switches, and also required conditions for canceling input current ripple at low voltage side are obtained. Finally, the performance of the proposed converter is reconfirmed through experimental and EMTDC/PSCAD simulation results.
Union Firm Efficient Bargaining and Test of Oligopolistic Conduct

This paper applies a production function approach to the analysis of imperfection in product and factor markets and develops a test of Efficient Bargaining for wage and employment determination. Based on a translog function defined at the firm level, estimates for the Belgian chemical industry are consistent with the existence of product market power which is significantly eroded by union wage rents.
Employment Probation as a Sorting Mechanism

Using data from the 1982 National Center for Research in Vocational Education employer survey, the author finds evidence strongly supporting the hypothesis that employment probation induces self-selection by workers. Those who accepted jobs with probationary employment tended to be more efficient workers and less likely to quit than those who took jobs without probation. The author hypothesizes that workers who fear they will not last through the probationary period, either because they are not sure their performance will be adequate or they think they may quit, will not apply for jobs with probation, whereas those who are more confident that their work will be acceptable and that they will not quit will apply for such jobs in order to obtain the higher wages that commonly attach to jobs with probation.
ALWAYS THE LITTLE BROTHER? DIGITAL-PRODUCT INNOVATION IN THE MEDIA SECTOR

This article concerns digital-product innovation within the media sector. From previous literature we identify eight factors affecting innovation work. Using material from narratives collected from experts within the media industry, we then present a specific framework that summarizes the factors affecting digital innovations either negatively or positively. We identify three underlying phenomena in the Finnish media sector that explain its specific features: First, it is a small market with a long history, second, digital innovations are in the underdog position and thirdly, the brand positions are strong.
A synthetic random basic copolymer with promiscuous binding to class II major histocompatibility complex molecules inhibits T-cell proliferative responses to major and minor histocompatibility antigens in vitro and confers the capacity to prevent murine graft-versus-host disease in vivo.

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a T-cell-mediated disease of transplanted donor T cells recognizing host alloantigens. Data presented in this report show, to our knowledge, for the first time that a synthetic copolymer of the amino acids L-Glu, L-Lys, L-Ala, and L-Tyr (molecular ratio, 1.9:6.0:4.7:1.0; Mr, 6000-8500) [corrected], termed GLAT, with promiscuous binding to multiple major histocompatibility complex class II alleles is capable of preventing lethal GVHD in the B10.D2 --> BALB/c model (both H-2d) across minor histocompatibility barriers. Administration of GLAT over a limited time after transplant significantly reduced the incidence, onset, and severity of disease. GLAT also improved long-term survival from lethal GVHD: 14/25 (56%) of experimental mice survived > 140 days after transplant compared to 2/26 of saline-treated or to 1/10 of hen egg lysozyme-treated control mice (P < 0.01). Long-term survivors were documented to be fully chimeric by PCR analysis of a polymorphic microsatellite region in the interleukin 1beta gene. In vitro, GLAT inhibited the mixed lymphocyte culture in a dose-dependent fashion across a variety of major barriers tested. Furthermore, GLAT inhibited the response of nylon wool-enriched T cells to syngeneic antigen-presenting cells presenting minor histocompatibility antigens. Prepulsing of the antigen-presenting cells with GLAT reduced the proliferative response, suggesting that GLAT inhibits antigen presentation.
The Efficiency of Administrative Governance: The Experience of the Pre-reform British National Health Service

Abstract An assumption in the British[fn12] Government white paper, Working for Patients, introducing the concept of internal markets for a publicly funded service, is that resources employed in the National Health Service had been inefficiently allocated. We find, on the contrary, consistent evidence that, first, resources went where the benefits to patients were greatest and, second, resources were appropriately allocated in terms of their opportunity cost once provision exceeded certain thresholds. These conclusions for nine consultant specialties reinforce similar conclusions for two other services, whose allocations were made by central government (the Scottish Home and Health Department) and general medical practitioners. J. Comp. Econom. April 1997, 24 (2), pp. 161–180. Department of Political Economy, University of Glasgow; and Department of Statistics, University of Glasgow.
Variables affecting creative contributions across the adult life span.

The purpose of this study was to explore possible explanations of the decline in old age of highly creative contributions. This present study examined whether two explanations were more important than decrements in intelligence. These were (1) decrements in specific divergent thinking abilities and (2) a decline in preference for complexity. Specific creative abilities (divergent thinking) were measured by Guilford tests of redefinition, originality, adaptive flexibility, and ideational fluency. Preference for complexity was measured by the Barron-Welsh Art Scale. These tests were given to 111 teachers ranging in age from 20 to 83 years. The results showed that older subjects were as intelligent as younger subjects but that they performed less well on the Guilford tests and had a lower preference for complexity. Hence, the age differences on Guilford’s tests and the Barron-Welsh Art Scale are more plausible explanations for the age changes in creative contributions. Furthermore, scores on the Guilford tests and those on the Barron-Welsh Art Scale were not correlated. Therefore, it was suggested that the Guilford tests measured ability components of creativity whereas the Barron-Welsh Art Scale measures a motivational component of creativity.