Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Single-Channel Algorithm for Land-Surface Temperature Retrieval From ASTER Data

This letter presents an adaptation to Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data of the generalized single-channel (SC) algorithm developed by JimE¿nez-MuN¿oz and Sobrino, also adapted to the Landsat thermal-infrared (TIR) channel (band 6) later by JimE¿nez-MuN¿oz The SC algorithm relies on the concept of atmospheric functions (AFs), which are dependent on atmospheric transmissivity, upwelling, and downwelling atmospheric radiances. These AFs are fitted versus the atmospheric water-vapor content for operational purposes, despite the fact that other computation options are also possible. The SC algorithm has been adapted to ASTER TIR bands 13 (10.659 ¿m) and 14 (11.289 ¿m), located in the typical split-window region (10.5-12 ¿m), where transmission through the atmosphere is higher and surface emissivity variations are lower in comparison with the ones in the 8-9.4 ¿m spectral region. Land-surface temperature retrieved with the SC algorithm has been tested over five different samples (including vegetated plots and bare soil) in an agricultural area using one single image. The comparison with ground-truth data provided a bias near to zero and standard deviations of around 2 K, with bands 13 and 14 providing similar results.
Product market competition, R&D, and welfare

Summary We compare the subgame perfect equilibrium emerging in four regimes of research and development (R&D) competition between duopolists: (i) full competition, (ii) coordination of research strategies, (iii) joint venture with cross licensing of patents, and (iv) full collusion in R&D and the product market. The outcome of the firms’ interaction depends on the interplay of the degree of product market competition, the similarity of the research strategies, and the cost of R&D, relatively to market size. Our main result is that each of the four regimes can, for plausible parameter combinations, yield the highest level of welfare. Therefore it is problematic to draw general rules applicable to all proposed research joint ventures. # 2002 University of Venice
Testing for Pollution Havens Inside and Outside of Regional Trading Blocs

Abstract This paper examines the composition of bilateral manufacturing trade in terms of its pollution intensity. A growing share of world trade takes place between nations who are members of the same regional trade agreement (RTA). We analyze how the formation of RTAs affects the composition of trade. We focus on whether richer or poorer nations specialize in exporting dirty goods. Using bilateral trade data over the years 1980 to 1997 for 128 nations for 34 manufacturing industries, we document that low-, middle-, and high-income nations differ with respect to their income elasticity in exporting dirty goods. Outside of RTA blocs, we find general support for the pollution haven hypothesis. As a nations income rises, its exports of dirty goods decrease relative to its exports of clean goods. When we compare, low-income, middle-income and high-income nations, we find that middle-income nations have the largest dirty trade income elasticity. Participation in a RTA slightly weakens the pollution haven effect observed outside of regional trading blocs. We also document cross-RTA heterogeneity in the composition of trade across 13 major RTAs in our sample.
Inflation, capital accumulation and economic growth in import-dependent developing countries

The analytical framework of this paper makes use of a hexa-variate panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) approach on balanced annual panel data from 30 sampled import-dependent developing economies for the period, 1970-2006. The variables included in the empirical PVAR model are inflation, capital accumulation, output growth rate, interest rate, exchange rate, terms of trade and import dependence. Our empirical results suggest that the long-run static impact of capital accumulation and economic growth on inflation is negative. Besides, inflation and economic growth had dampening effects on capital accumulation contemporaneously in the long run. The short-run dynamics also indicate that while it is possible for any previous disequilibrium in inflation, capital accumulation and economic growth relationship to be corrected overtime, the speed of adjustment to equilibrium is so sluggish that it will take a very long time for this to manifest. Exchange rate and money supply produce short-run dynamics that drive price levels in import-dependent developing economies. It is, therefore, recommended that in order to reduce inflation in import-dependent economies, demand management policies should be used in the short run, while macroeconomic policies should be directed at enhancing economic growth and capital accumulation in the long run.
Eurodac: A Solution Looking for a Problem?

This study accounts for the emergence of a supranational biometric control regime in Europe. The empirical focus lies on the institutionalization of Eurodac, an automated fingerprint identification system covering asylum seekers and "illegal" immigrants. Who promoted the idea of setting up an automated biometric system in the European Community? Which behavioral logics were underlying the negotiation of the Eurodac Regulations in the Justice and Home Affairs Council? And how did the European Commission get involved in policing the so-called "Area of Freedom, Security and Justice"?
Total Factor Productivity, Per Capita Income and Social Divergence

The paper introduces the concept of social divergence, defined as the social barriers to communication and exchange between individuals and groups within a society, and analyses its impact on total factor productivity and per capita income. Using a cross section of 27 developing countries, total factor productivity and per capita income are separately regressed on measures of social divergence that include the distribution of personal expenditures, ethnolinguistic diversity, religious diversity and an educational Gini coefficient. The results indicate that higher levels of social divergence are associated with both statistically and economically significantly lower levels of total factor productivity and per capita income.
Rising Inequality in China and the Move to a Balanced Economy

China faces serious external (i.e. trade) and internal (i.e. structural) imbalances. Both are related to income inequality, reduction of which will help to increase domestic demand. This paper discusses how income inequality has evolved over time. This is followed by an exploration of the consequences of high inequality. Driving forces underlying the rising inequality are analyzed before providing concrete policy recommendations. It is found that inequality declined in the early period of reform, until the mid to late 1980s, and then began a rising trend up to 2010. Major determinants of inequality include: location, institutional and policy factors, trade and globalization, and education inequality and human capital gaps along rural–urban and spatial divisions. To achieve a balanced economy and a harmonious society, development policies in China must shift from emphasizing growth to prioritizing equality. In addition, government interventions can target rural–urban disparity through rapid urbanization, and tackle regional inequality by developing financial markets, ensuring progressive allocation of fiscal resources, promoting trade and foreign direct investment in inland China, creating more formal jobs and supporting the service sector.
Bivalent Attributes of the Family Firm

Although family-owned and managed firms are the predominant form of business organization in the world today, little systematic research exists on these companies. This paper builds upon insights found in the emerging literature on these enterprises and upon our own observations to provide a conceptual framework to better understand these complex organizations. We introduce the concept of the Bivalent Attributes—a unique, inherent feature of an organization that is the source of both advantages and disadvantages— to explain the dynamics of the family firm.
Envisaging new educational provision: innovative organisation in the age of New Modernism

In the ‘age of austerity’, educational institutions in many countries are under pressure from a variety of sources to work more closely, reduce costs and raise educational performance. There are a number of possible outcomes that follow on from developing closer institutional ties: sharing of professional expertise through best practice networks, developing greater coherence within the local curriculum and opportunity for students' progression within the education system, and of course, ultimately merger and take‐over. The environment within which institutions operate is in a state of flux but is moving clearly towards meeting the challenges presented by Central Government. There has been a shift in British Government policy during the past three decades which has been influenced by ideas drawn from economic instrumentalism, New Public Management and Public Choice theory. Colleges are increasingly viewed by Central Government as a convenient vehicle for local, economic and social regeneration, as they are able to act both independently or as part of a local hub of diverse educational providers. This research project investigated the nature of change, focusing on four case studies of new organisational forms. The findings are contextualised within a wider discussion of organisation theory. Is there a future for British colleges beyond their once traditional educational remit, and what is the future balance between state and private sector providers, are questions at the heart of this investigation. Although there was some opportunity for targeted interviews, the research was primarily desk‐based and involved the analysis of documentary material.
Network Diversity and the Ability of Public Managers to Influence Performance

Much research has focused on characterizing network management in recent years, yet very few studies have addressed how changes in the organization’s demographic composition might influence public managers’ networking activities. This study uses data from over 500 school districts in Texas to explore the effects of student body diversity on the time superintendents spend networking outside of the organization and the joint effect of diversity and networking on aggregate student performance. Using a series of regression models, the authors find that organizational (district) diversity has a positive influence on the amount of time a public manager (superintendent) spends on networking. They also find that organizational diversity has a negative effect on the performance outcome for Latino/a and Low Income students, but this influence can be mitigated by increased networking activities.
Edelta: A Word-Enlarging Based Fast Delta Compression Approach

Delta compression, a promising data reduction approach capable of finding the small differences (i.e., delta) among very similar files and chunks, is widely used for optimizing replicate synchronization, backup/archival storage, cache compression, etc. However, delta compression is costly because of its time-consuming word matching operations for delta calculation. Our indepth examination suggests that there exists strong word content locality for delta compression, which means that contiguous duplicate words appear in approximately the same order in their similar versions. This observation motivates us to propose Edelta, a fast delta compression approach based on a word-enlarging process that exploits word-content locality. Specifically, Edelta will first tentatively find a matched (duplicate) word, and then greedily stretch the matched word boundary to find a likely much longer (enlarged) duplicate word. Hence, Edelta effectively reduces a potentially large number of the traditional time-consuming word-matching operations to a single word-enlarging operation, which significantly accelerates the delta compression process. Our evaluation based on two case studies shows that Edelta achieves an encoding speedup of 3X ∼10X over the state-of-the-art Ddelta, Xdelta, and Zdelta approaches
Effects of Socio-Economic Status and Food Consumption Pattern on Household Energy uses: Implications for Forest Resource Degradation and Reforestation around Wondo Genet Catchments, South-Central Ethiopia

Past studies on household energy use paid less attention to the effect of socio-economic status and food consumption pattern on household energy consumption. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of socio-economic status and food consumption on households’ fuel energy consumption, and implications on forest resource depletion. Household interview and detailed energy consumption measurement were carried out. Four top end use types – consuming more wood fuel equivalent energy in their order of importance included: Qocho-bread (food prepared from Ensete ventricosum) > bread (Maize) > roasting grain (Qolo) > local cabbage. The amount of wood equivalent energy needed per household per year was highest for rich households, followed by middle and poor households. The majority of rich households preferred wood and BLT (branch, leaves, twigs) whereas poor households prioritized BLT and cow dung as major sources of energy. The forest in the nearby catchments has served as the source of fuel wood across all wealth categories. Ninety per cent of the wood collectors, in particular the poor, were also dependent on the forest catchments as a source of income. The study concluded that household energy consumption pattern is affected by socio-economic status, type of food, fuel, stoves, and amount and frequency of baking and cooking. Hence, these factors should be considered in household energy saving interventions and in efforts to reduce its impact on forest degradation.
An empirical study of the spin-off effects of military spending

The article explores the spin-off effect controversy surrounding the role of military spending in economic development by investigating its impact on output in six industries linked to the military. The article's econometric investigation does not support the case for spin-off effects. The results suggest that military spending's direct impact on output in each industry is negative or insignificant depending on whether adjustments for trade in armaments are made. The results also fail to substantiate physical and human capital spin-off effects. Based on these results, the article concludes that the case for spin-off effects has been exaggerated.
The market structure–performance relationship applied to the Canadian wine industry

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between market structure and performance in the wine sector using data from two Canadian provinces. Investigation is conducted on alternative hypothesis defined as the Structure–Conduct–Performance hypothesis, the Relative–Market–Power hypothesis and the Efficiency Structure (ES) hypothesis. The measure of performance is related to the reputation of wineries and expert ratings. Using regression analysis, we find support to the ES hypothesis. The empirical findings suggest that more research should be done on the ES of wineries in their respective markets.
An Observed Trend in Central South American Precipitation

Abstract Seasonal linear trends of precipitation from South American station data, which have been averaged onto grids, are examined, with emphasis on the central continent. In the period 1976–99, the largest trend south of 20°S occurs during the January–March season, is positive, and is centered over southern Brazil. From 1948 to 1975 the trend is also positive, but with less than half the slope. The trend is not due to a systematic change in the timing of the rainy season, which almost always starts before January and usually ends after March, but rather results from an increase in the percent of rainy days, and an increase in the rainy day average. The dynamic causes of the trend are not obvious. It does not appear to be accounted for by an increase in synoptic wave activity in the region. The precipitation trend is related to a positive sea surface temperature trend in the nearby Atlantic Ocean, but apparently not causally. The trend in the Atlantic seems to result from a decrease in mechanical stirri.
How close can we dance? Labour–management partnership on a borderline

Recent studies have examined whether labour unions will benefit from stepping out of their traditional role and into labour–management partnership. This article discusses the limits of such partnership, exploring the negotiations prevailing as the union representatives go so far into cooperation that it turns out to be controversial among their members. In order to understand this conflict, there is a need to clarify the content of the labour–management partnership. This article contributes first by presenting novel empirical material from an in-depth qualitative case study. This material indicates that controversies occur when the union representatives start acting like managers, are responsible for decisions that reduce the members’ benefits and distance themselves from the rank-and-file’s point of view. In addition, this article contributes by exposing that close cooperation in long-term development issues need not be controversial. Quite the contrary – this is mentioned as the most positive outcome of the partnership.
Patterns in Strategy Formation

The literature on strategy formation is in large part theoretical but not empirical, and the usual definition of “strategy” encourages the notion that strategies, as we recognize them ex post facto, are deliberate plans conceived in advance of the making of specific decisions. By defining a strategy as “a pattern in a stream of decisions,” we are able to research strategy formation in a broad descriptive context. Specifically, we can study both strategies that were intended and those that were, realized.despite intentions. A research program suggested by this definition is outlined, and two of the completed studies are then reviewed---the strategies of Volkswagenwerk from 1934 to 1974 and of the United States government in Vietnam from 1950 to 1973. Some general conclusions suggested by these studies are then presented in terms of three central themes: that strategy formation can fruitfully be viewed as the interplay between a dynamic environment and bureaucratic momentum, with leadership mediating between the two forces; that strategy formation over time appears to follow some important patterns in organizations, notably life cycles and distinct change-continuity cycles within these; and that the study of the interplay between intended and realized strategies may lead us to the heart of this, complex organizational process.
Performative Cultures: changing professional roles, responsibilities and relationships of teachers and teaching assistants

This chapter explores the extent to which teacher and teaching assistant (TA) roles and identities have been 'formed' through performativity discourse and practices with reference to an ethnographic study of two primary schools in the North of England. Against the backdrop of school workforce reform policy in England, we attempt to explain both accommodation and resistance to performativity cultures in relation to externally imposed restructuring of professional roles. Empirical data is drawn from a study (Garland, 2008) of the roles of teachers and TAs in primary school settings with observed practices analysed in relation to policy discourse . Our view is that Foucauldian analysis of policy discourse is metaphorically powerful but can mask the 'varied and chaotic nature of the actual experience and outcomes' (Dwyer, 1995: 475). Ball (1994) distinguishes between policy as text (drawing attention to the agency of individuals to contest, change, negotiate policy) and policy as discourse (emphasising structural, external influences or determinants). Similarly, Holstein and Gubrium (2005) distinguish between ‘discourse-in-practice’ (Foucault's 'regimes of truth' – 1979) and discursive practice (with its emphasis on the interactive processes in real time that produce the ‘structures’). Likewise we are interested in the tension between structuring forces (policy interventions, discourses, performativity regimes) and local practices indicating space for agency (local solutions, accommodations, compromises). We also draw upon Bourdieu's notion of habitus and his discussion of the structuring force of social constructions such as the family (Bourdieu, 1990) to consider how actors can both absorb performativity but also be a source of resistance to such externally imposed discursive practices when these conflict with other practices that seem more ‘natural’ to those actors.
Research Note Observations of Non-Compliance Behaviour by Tourists to a Voluntary Code of Conduct: A Pilot Study of Turtle Tourism in the Exmouth Region, Western Australia

This paper reports on the results of a pilot study of observations of non-compliance behaviour by tourists to a voluntary code of conduct based on marine turtles attempting to nest in the Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia. The study used focal-animal sampling to record the response of marine turtles to non compliance behaviour of tourist groups. Results of observations indicated that 77% of tourist groups breached the code of conduct, with 51% of these breaches resulting in a disturbance to marine turtles attempting to nest. The key aspects of the code of conduct that were breached included: shining light on the turtle; being closer than three metres from a turtle; and not staying behind the turtle at all times. The greatest disturbance to marine turtles was from tourists groups shining their torches on the turtles. This work demonstrates the need for further research into disturbance of turtles by tourists and the effectiveness of voluntary codes of conduct
Is There Reciprocity in a Reciprocal-Exchange Economy? Evidence from a Slum in Nairobi, Kenya

Norms of reciprocity contribute to the enforcement of cooperative agreements in bilateral sequential exchange. This paper examines the norms that apply in a reciprocal-exchange economy and what effect on trust, trustworthiness and efficiency they have. In our one-shot investment game experiments with Nairobi slum dwellers, people generally adhered to the norm of “balanced reciprocity”, which obligates quid-pro-quo returns for any level of trust. This norm differs from “conditional reciprocity,” prevalent in developed countries, according to which higher trust levels are rewarded with proportionally larger returns. Which norms prevail has implications for the gains from trade realized in bilateral exchange.