Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Australian construction industry: is the shadow economy distorting productivity?

Estimates of the size and change in the Australian construction industry shadow economy value over time are provided and applied as a quality adjustment to Australian construction industry productivity growth from 1985 to 2012. The results indicate that the Australian construction industry shadow economy is growing and that by adjusting for the shadow economy, distortion is removed from construction industry productivity growth estimates. The findings create significant scope for future research into the estimation and the effect of shadow economic activity on productivity growth, not just in Australia but in other countries as well.
Education, Health And Economic Development: A Survey Of Quantitative Economic Studies, 2001-2009

We analyse the relationships of health, education and income per capita in developed and developing countries in year 2005, as well as the main conclusions of more than sixty studies published by our Association for the period 2001-2009, applied to OECD countries, Latin America, Africa, Asia and World comparisons. We analyse the relationship between Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL) and health expenditure per capita in OECD countries and the conclusions show that the initiatives to increase coverage of health care to all the population in the United States is an important step to lower the relatively high value of YPLL in this country in comparison with other developed countries of Europe and other areas. Regarding developing countries we call attention to the role education to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and thus recommend to increase international cooperation.
Executive compensation and the performance of the firm

A sample of large industrial corporations is examined to determine whether there is a relationship between the levels of compensation received by the senior executives of those firms and the firms' economic performances. We find consistent evidence of such a relationship, with differences across firms in the total compensation of their three highest-paid officers being positively related to differences in both the common stock returns and operating profitability of the firms. The implication is that compensation packages are designed to reduce agency costs.
How recreation involvement, place attachment and conservation commitment affect environmentally responsible behavior

This study examines a behavioral model using latent variables of place attachment, recreation involvement, conservation commitment and environmentally responsible behavior among tourists visiting wetlands. In total, 928 usable questionnaires were collected. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were applied to the data by using LISREL 8.70 for Windows. Analytical results, which further elucidate the behavioral models of nature-based tourism, suggest that place attachment, recreation involvement and conservation commitment critically impact environmentally responsible behavior. In this behavioral model, conservation commitment simultaneously and partially mediates the relationships between place attachment and environmentally responsible behavior and between recreation involvement and environmentally responsible behavior. A series of management implications are drawn, including the need to use this information via a visitor interpretation strategy, greater use of partnerships with local communities and businesses to spread the importance of wetlands and of environmentally friendly behavior, and the need to work with other wetlands to share the type of visitor motivations best suited to encourage environmentally friendly behavior.
LCA of integrated orange production in the Comunidad Valenciana (Spain)

In order to perform an LCA of integrated orange production in the Comunidad Valenciana two representative areas were studied. The functional unit was 1 kg oranges at the farm gate. Eight scenarios were considered according to type of irrigation, the origin of water and the tillage practice. The production of agrochemicals, the production and use of energy in agriculture (for irrigation and machinery), and the agricultural practices were included in the study. Hot spots were detected. Although differences were found between scenarios, it was difficult to establish which one is the best because some practices, such as tillage, are more advisable when considering herbicide production, but the herbicides used are more toxic. The lack of environmental information for agricultural LCA in Spain and the need to adapt some aspects of impact methodology to the Spanish soil and climate characteristics have also been pointed out.
Varying Femoral Tunnels between the Anatomical Footprint and Isometric Positions

Background Knee kinematics and in situ forces resulting from anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions with 2 femoral tunnel positions were evaluated. Hypothesis A graft placed inside the anatomical footprint of the anterior cruciate ligament will restore knee function better than a graft placed at a position for best graft isometry. Study Design Controlled laboratory study. Methods Ten cadaveric knees were tested in response to a 134-N anterior load and a combined 10-N·m valgus and 5-N·m internal rotation load. A robotic universal force-moment sensor testing system was used to apply loads, and resulting kinematics were recorded. An active surgical robot system was used for positioning tunnels in 2 locations in the femoral notch: inside the anatomical footprint of the anterior cruciate ligament and a position for best graft isometry. The same quadrupled hamstring tendon graft was used for both tunnel positions. The 2 loading conditions were applied. Results At 30° of knee flexion, anterior tibial translation in response to the anterior load for the intact knee was 9.8 ± 3.1 mm. Both femoral tunnel positions resulted in significantly higher anterior tibial translation (position 1: 13.8 ± 4.6 mm; position 2: 16.6 ± 3.7 mm; P <. 05). There was a significant difference between the 2 tunnel positions. At the same flexion angle, the anterior tibial translation in response to the combined load for the intact knee was 7.7 ± 4.0 mm. Both femoral tunnel positions resulted in significantly higher anterior tibial translation (position 1: 10.4 ± 5.5 mm; position 2: 12.0 ± 5.2 mm; P <. 05), with a significant difference between the tunnel positions. Conclusion Neither femoral tunnel position restores normal kinematics of the intact knee. A femoral tunnel position inside the anatomical footprint of the anterior cruciate ligament results in knee kinematics closer to the intact knee than does a tunnel position located for best graft isometry. Clinical Relevance Anatomical femoral tunnel position is important in reproducing function of the anterior cruciate ligament.
Human Papillomavirus Types 16 and 18 mRNA Levels and Not DNA Levels May be Associated With Advancing Stages of Cervical Cancer

Objective: Human papillomavirus (HPV) contributes to the development of cervical cancer. We hypothesize that HPV DNA and messenger RNA (mRNA) levels may be associated with increasing stages of cervical cancer. Materials and Methods: In this study, we measured DNA and mRNA viral loads of the most common high-risk HPV-16 and HPV-18 in cervical biopsy tissue of women with cervical neoplasia using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: Median HPV-16 and HPV-18 DNA viral loads were 58,342 copies and 71,367 per 5000 cells, respectively. We found that HPV-16 and HPV-18 DNA levels did not correlate with advancing tumor stage (P = 0.977 and P = 0.263). Messenger RNA transcripts were detected in 81 (86%) of HPV-16 DNA-positive women and in 16 (84.2%) of HPV-18-positive women. Median HPV-16 and HPV-18 transcript copy numbers were 5964 and 6158, respectively. In women with squamous cell carcinoma, HPV-16 mRNA loads showed an increasing but not statistically significant trend with advancing disease stage (&rgr; = 0.231, P = 0.058). Conclusions: We conclude that HPV mRNA levels and not DNA levels may be associated with advancing stages of cervical cancer.
A Framework for Modeling 'Real-Life' Airline Networks

This paper develops a new model, which allows for the co-existence of hub-and-spoke and point-to-point networks in the airline industry. Passengers are segmented between the non-stop and one-stop services. In the baseline model, the monopoly airlines ability to segment the market and effectively set up the mixed network depends on the cost savings due to the through-hub service relative to exogenous quality difference between the one-stop and non-stop flights. Socially inefficient entry with the new non-stop service where an incumbent is operating the hub-and-spoke network is possible.
Classifying reanalysis surface temperature probability density functions (PDFs) over North America with cluster analysis

An important step in projecting future climate change impacts on extremes involves quantifying the underlying probability distribution functions (PDFs) of climate variables. However, doing so can prove challenging when multiple models and large domains are considered. Here an approach to PDF quantification using k‐means clustering is considered. A standard clustering algorithm (with k = 5 clusters) is applied to 33 years of daily January surface temperature from two state‐of‐the‐art reanalysis products, the North American Regional Reanalysis and the Modern Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications. The resulting cluster assignments yield spatially coherent patterns that can be broadly related to distinct climate regimes over North America, e.g., low variability over the tropical oceans or temperature advection across stronger or weaker gradients. This technique has the potential to be a useful and intuitive tool for evaluation of model‐simulated PDF structure and could provide insight into projections of future changes in temperature.
DEMOCRACY IN REFORMING COLLAPSED COMMUNIST ECONOMIES: BLESSING OR CURSE?

From a political standpoint, post‐communists systems include both democratic and non‐democratic nations. From an economic standpoint, they include both collapsing and expanding economies. All four logical possibilities exist for post‐communist political and economic systems. The Czech Republic is an example of a democratic political system and an expanding economic system. Russia is an example of a democratic political system and a collapsing economic system. China is an example of a non‐democratic political system and an expanding economic system. North Korea is an example of a non‐democratic political system and a collapsing economic system. The fact that all four logical possibilities exist suggests that democracy is neither necessary nor sufficient for good economic performance. However, democracy is certainly a value in itself that requires certain basic institutions, including free and fair elections, the orderly transfer of power to those elected, the rule of law and the separation of powers, and the protection of individual freedoms and basic liberties, including those of speech, press, religion, assembly, property, and economic opportunity. Economic policies, rather than the form of government, determine the results for an economy. Russia and China, the two largest socialist economies, followed very different economic policies and experienced radically different outcomes. The failure of “shock therapy” economic policies for transition to a market economy in Russia is related to its use of the Washington Consensus SLP package of stabilization, liberalization, and privatization, as recommended by the World Bank and the IMF. The success of Deng's economic policies for transition to a market economy in China is related to its rejection of the SLP in favor of the ICG approach of institutions, competition, and government. Other interesting cases are those of the Czech Republic and North Korea. Those nations in which both political and economic reforms have been simultaneously successful, such as the Czech Republic, are generally small, homogeneous European nations with a historic work ethic, with a relatively short period of socialism, and with support from neighboring advanced industrialized nations. There is great difficulty in simultaneously establishing both democracy and a market economy without a very special set of circumstances. Thus, it is necessary to determine a sequence for political and economic reform. Ultimately, however, the ideal of both democracy and a market economy may be attained even in nations without special circumstances and external assistance, with Russia eventually turning its economy around and with China eventually reforming politically into a democratic nation.
Time varying country risk: an assessment of alternative modelling techniques

Three different techniques for the estimation of a time-varying beta are investigated: a bivariate GARCH model, the Schwert and Seguin approach, and the Kalman filter method. These approaches are applied to a set of monthly Morgan Stanley country index data over the period 1970 to 1995 and their relative performances compared. In-sample forecast tests of the performance of each of these methods for generating conditional beta suggest that the GARCH-based estimates of risk generate the lowest forecast error although these are not necessarily significantly less than those generated by the other techniques considered.
Essays in International Finance and the Global Financial Crisis

Essays in International Finance and the Global Financial Crisis David Grad Chapter one links the foreign exchange risk premium to macroeconomic risk by studying the options market around macroeconomic news releases. Using a unique data set of overnight currency option prices, I study the reaction of the entire state price density to both anticipated and recently occurring macroeconomic news releases for both US and foreign announcements. I then use intraday data to compare the behavior of the physical pdf around these news releases over the same tenor as the option. I nd signi cant movements in the implied distribution that can be linked to macroeconomic news both ex-ante and ex-post. The volatility risk premium in the overnight options market is large across all currencies, and a strategy that sells insurance through the form of overnight straddles around US non-farm payroll releases earns signi cant pro ts. Nonetheless, a signi cant portion of the volatility risk premium remains that cannot be explained through macroeconomic news despite the short lifespan of these options. Chapter two studies the evolution of last-resort operations in the recent credit crisis of 2007-2008. The nancial crisis that began in 2007 took place in the context of a secular shift from a bank-loan nancial system to a capital-markets nancial system; that is, from one based on nontradable nancial assets, with banks playing the key intermediary role, to one based on tradable securities, with dealers playing the key intermediary role. We argue that the system's response to the crisis can be viewed as moving from a private lender of last resort, through a public lender of last resort, to a dealer of last resort. It was the last that was nally able to stabilize the system, because it is the response suited to a liquidity crisis in the capital-markets nancial system where the problem arose. We use a balance-sheet approach to trace out the breakdown of the so-called shadow banking system and the measures taken rst in the private money markets and then by the Federal Reserve to restore liquidity to the nancial system. Chapter three studies the e ect of hedging imbalances in the foreign exchange market as a possible explanation for deviations from Uncovered Interest Parity. Speculators, becoming weary of holding excess demand for forward hedges, hedge their own exposure in the currency options market. The subsequent increase in option prices is a consequence of this market overhang and is re ected in the implied volatility of currency options. Separating out implied from forecast volatility, we construct a measure of hedging imbalances and add this to the standard UIP regression. For some currencies, a partial rehabilitation of UIP is found.
A Utility-Based Reputation Model for Grid Resource Management System

In this paper we propose extensions to the existing utility-based reputation model for virtual organizations (VOs) in grids, and present a novel approach for integrating reputation into grid resource management system. The proposed extensions include: incorporation of statistical model of user behaviour (SMUB) to assess user reputation; a new approach for assigning initial reputation to a new entity in a VO; capturing alliance between consumer and resource; time decay and score functions. The addition of the SMUB model provides robustness and dynamics to the user reputation model comparing to the policy-based user reputation model in terms of adapting to user actions. We consider a problem of integrating reputation into grid scheduler as a multi-criteria optimization problem. A non-linear trade-off scheme is applied to form a composition of partial criteria to provide a single objective function. The advantage of using such a scheme is that it provides a Pareto-optimal solution partially satisfying criteria with corresponding weights. Experiments were run to evaluate performance of the model in terms of resource management using data collected within the EGEE Grid-Observatory project. Results of simulations showed that on average a 45 % gain in performance can be achieved when using a reputation-based resource scheduling algorithm.
The effect of lifestyle modification and cardiovascular risk factor reduction on erectile dysfunction: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND Erectile dysfunction (ED) shares similar modifiable risks factors with coronary artery disease (CAD). Lifestyle modification that targets CAD risk factors may also lead to improvement in ED. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials evaluating the effect of lifestyle interventions and pharmacotherapy for cardiovascular (CV) risk factors on the severity of ED. METHODS A comprehensive search of multiple electronic databases through August 2010 was conducted using predefined criteria. We included randomized controlled clinical trials with follow-up of at least 6 weeks of lifestyle modification intervention or pharmacotherapy for CV risk factor reduction. Studies were selected by 2 independent reviewers. The main outcome measure of the study is the weighted mean differences in the International Index of Erectile Dysfunction (IIEF-5) score with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using a random effects model. RESULTS A total of 740 participants from 6 clinical trials in 4 countries were identified. Lifestyle modifications and pharmacotherapy for CV risk factors were associated with statistically significant improvement in sexual function (IIEF-5 score): weighted mean difference, 2.66 (95% CI, 1.86-3.47). If the trials with statin intervention (n = 143) are excluded, the remaining 4 trials of lifestyle modification interventions (n = 597) demonstrate statistically significant improvement in sexual function: weighted mean difference, 2.40 (95% CI, 1.19-3.61). CONCLUSION The results of our study further strengthen the evidence that lifestyle modification and pharmacotherapy for CV risk factors are effective in improving sexual function in men with ED.
A Political Theory of Corporate Taxation

This paper examines why the United States persists in taxing corporate income twice -- once at the corporate level and again at the shareholder level. The continued imposition of double taxation is puzzling: the double tax is widely recognized as being but unfair and inefficient, and it places a substantial burden on a powerful interest group, publicly-held corporations. Nevertheless, proposals to eliminate the double tax by integrating the corporate and individual tax invariably die a quiet death. We argue that the resilience of the corporate tax is a manifestation of the most enduring source of problems in corporate law, the separation of ownership and control in publicly-held corporations. As a result of this separation, shareholders and managers often have divergent objectives: in particular, managers are more concerned with promoting new investments. Accordingly, managers do not lobby in favor of integration because it creates a windfall for old capital; rather they lobby for benefits to new capital such as Accelerated Depreciation and Investment Tax Credits. Moreover, some managers will actively oppose integration because they benefit from the retained earnings trap created in certain circumstances by the double tax.
On the Link between Exchange-Rate Regimes, Capital Controls and Monetary Policy Autonomy in Small European Countries, 1979-2000

We investigate international monetary-policy transmission under different exchange-rate and capital-account regimes in eleven small, open economies during the 1980s and 1990s. We find no systematic link between ex-post monetary-policy autonomy and exchange-rate regimes. Capital controls appear to have provided a degree of temporal insulation from foreign monetary policy shocks, though not strict autonomy. The results are consistent both with short-term autonomy for small countries even under fixed exchange rates and an open capital account, and with long-term dependence under flexible exchange rates and an independent stability target. Results also indicate that euro-area market interest rates are significantly more responsive to the development of the corresponding US rate than were the previous national rates.
Pessimism Shocks in a Model of Global Macroeconomic Interdependence

Insights into the four-region strategic behaviour that drives global economic performance can be derived from applications of the elemental multi-region, macroeconomic simulation model introduced in this paper. It has a global general equilibrium structure that embodies bilateral linkages between represented regions via both trade and investment. Its behaviour is illustrated with an application to strategic monetary policy during the post-GFC period, which has been characterised by pessimistic expectations over prices, disposable income levels and capital returns in the US, the EU and Japan. The retention of full employment in the pessimistic regions is shown to require very considerable monetary expansions and these tend to flood the other regions with liquidity, temporarily raising their terms of trade, real consumption and investment while appreciating their real exchange rates. The results further suggest elements of coordination game structure amongst the big four economies in which equilibria are characterised by collective monetary responses, at least when subjected to pessimism shocks.
Physical and social atmospheric effects in hedonic service consumption: customers' roles at sporting events

This study examines the comparative effects of physical and social atmospherics in a hedonic service context. This article focuses on other customers as the social factors in the service environment and distinguishes three dimensions: density, appearance, and behaviour. The main purpose of this article is to highlight the relevance of other customers as the atmospheric factors of the servicescape. The findings of our empirical study suggest that in addition to the perceived physical properties, favourable perceptions of other customers – particularly, their behavioural patterns – exert a strong positive influence on favourable overall affective responses. These responses, in turn, have a positive impact on customers' on-site spending and positive word-of-mouth behaviours.