Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Financial System, Financial Inclusion and Economic development in Nigeria

The possibility exists that a financial system may leave out the less-privileged in benefiting from the synergy created by the bridging of the financial gap between providers and users of finance in an economy. The importance of financial systems and by extension, financial inclusion to economic growth has become even more pronounced in recent years because the development of a financial system is determined by the extent to which it improves access to financial services for poorer sections of the population. It is against this backdrop that the research has been carried out, using empirical data, to study the link between financial system, financial inclusion and economic development in Nigeria. Correlation and regression analyses were applied to explore relationships among study variables. The research found out that financial inclusion has a positive impact on economic development. It is the recommendation of this research that more financial institutions should be established in rural areas. Financial products that address the peculiarities of the financially disadvantaged should also be introduced in order to further reach the unbanked public. The study also makes a case for financial inclusion as an important corporate social responsibility and sustainable development perspective that financial institutions should embrace.
Revisiting industrial democracy and pension trusteeship: The case of Canada

This article examines the extent to which industrial democracy theory may be applied to the operation of Canadian pension fund boards by analysing the balance of power between employers, employees and unions on joint consultative private and public sector pension boards in Ontario and Quebec. The article focuses on three indicators of industrial democracy: shareholder activism; involvement in fund investment policies (including socially responsible investment); and forms of collective action to invest pension funds in support of union objectives. It concludes that industrial democracy is stronger where it is supported by traditions of tripartism and concertation and by statutory employee rights to representation on private sector funds. Its conclusions also question whether Canada can be classed unequivocally as a ‘liberal market economy’, on the grounds that the economic regulatory regime in Quebec differs substantially from the rest of the country.
Art and the Economy: A First Look at the Market for Paintings in Turkey

We investigate the relationships between the return on investments in paintings and other financial investments in Turkey. To this aim, we estimate a hedonic price index for a portfolio of Turkish painters. We find that investing in the market for paintings is a viable alternative even in an environment of high inflation and large macroeconomic volatility. The portfolio under investigation yielded a small but positive real return. Still, stock market returns are higher than the returns in the art market. Furthermore, we find a rather high correlation between stock returns and art market returns. However, the returns to investing in paintings are negatively correlated with the returns on traditional investment alternatives in a developing country context, such as foreign exchange, gold, and bank deposits. Hence, there might exist some room for portfolio diversification. Nevertheless, the time horizon of the investments is a key factor especially in portfolios involving art objects.
The Impact Of Economic Reforms On Growth: A Case Study Of Bangladesh

This study makes a brief assessment of the consequences of economic reforms that included a series of liberalization measures on Bangladesh's growth process by analyzing the 1974-2007 data with the help of cointegration, error correction, and Granger causality tests. The results suggest that long-run economic growth in Bangladesh is largely explained by investments in both physical and human capital, trade openness, and financial as well as capital account liberalization. While the causality runs in both ways between capital account liberalization and economic growth, it runs only in one direction from physical capital and financial liberalization to economic growth in the short-run. Interestingly, growth is not affected by trade openness in the short-run. While trade liberalization and capital account liberalization have had significant positive impacts on economic growth in the long-run, the effects of financial liberalization were found to be significantly negative. This emphasizes the need for ensuring real sector development as a prerequisite for the success of financial liberalization.
Inheritance: A Gendered and Intergenerational Dimension of Poverty

This collection of articles contains new and important findings concerning the scale and significance of asset transfers through inheritance among different populations, as well as the ways in which inheritance affects economic and social status and mobility. Evidence exists of women commonly losing access to assets when properties are redistributed following a spouse's death. This and the household effects of gaining or losing access to heritable property highlight the gendered and intergenerational dimensions of inheritance. As an introduction to the collection, this article provides an overview of how inheritance has been understood in poverty‐related policy and research up to now. We then synthesise what the new findings presented in this collection tell us about inheritance as a crucial factor in women's poverty and the intergenerational transmission of poverty, highlighting what other researchers and policy‐makers can take from this research to address the gendered and intergenerational dimensions of inheritance in different contexts.
The Effects of Maternity Leave Legislation on Mothers' Labor Supply after Childbirth

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, 12 states and the District of Columbia passed maternity leave legislation (MLL) allowing mothers a period of leave from work after childbirth. In 1993, President Clinton signed the first piece of federal MLL, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Similar to state legislation, the FMLA guarantees 12 weeks of unpaid leave for eligible mothers. I evaluate the effect of MLL on the incidence of leave taking, the probability that mothers will eventually return to work at their prechildbirth jobs, and the timing of their return. The results indicate that the legislation increases the number of mothers who eventually return to their prechildbirth jobs but that MLL does not have a statistically significant effect on the incidence of leave taking. The results also indicate that MLL allows mothers to delay their return to work at their prechildbirth jobs.
Tighter Contracts or More Trust? Outsourcing in Finnish Water Utilities

This article discusses the outsourcing of water utility operations and the prerequisites for successful partnerships between water utilities and external service providers. A questionnaire survey in Finland indicated that the outsourcing of various water utility operations will increase in the future. This trend includes great opportunities to utilize the best features of external service providers and efficiently develop the water services sector. However, the outsourcing also includes risks because there is a lack of trust between water utilities and private companies. Therefore, “hard,” rigid contracts are preferred to reduce the uncertainty in outsourcing such undertakings. In uncertain conditions, this approach may not be an effective and fruitful development path in the long term. If relationships are more trust based, uncertainty can actually strengthen these relationships. Thus, more attention should be paid to building trust instead of intensively attempting to reduce uncertainty.
Governance and Globalisation

Unlike the large literature on ‘democracy and trade’, there is a much smaller literature on the effect of the level of democracy in a nation on the level of its foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow. These few studies reveal mixed empirical results, and surprisingly only one study has examined bilateral FDI flows. Moreover, few of these studies use multiple governance indicators separating the ‘pluralism’ effect of democratic institutions from the ‘good governance’ effect, there are no studies on democratic institutions’ various effects on the level of FDI relative to trade, and there are no studies of democratic institutions’ various effects on the selection of countries into FDI. We focus on three contributions. First, we examine the simultaneous effects of the World Bank's (six) Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGIs) – which allow separating the effects of pluralism from those of five other good governance measures – on bilateral trade, FDI and FDI relative to trade using state-of-the-art gravity specifications. Second, we find strong evidence that – after accounting for host governments’ effectiveness in various roles of good governance – a higher level of pluralism as measured by the WGIs’ Voice and Accountability Index reduces trade levels, likely by increasing the ‘voice’ of more protectionist less-skilled workers, but not FDI levels. Moreover, we find qualitatively different effects of other WGIs – such as political stability – on trade versus FDI flows. Third, we account for firm heterogeneity alongside a large number of zeros in bilateral FDI flows using recent advances in gravity modelling. We distinguish between the (country) intensive and extensive margins and show that pluralism affects FDI inflows negatively at the intensive margin, but positively at the extensive margin.
Temporal Flexibility: Management Strategies and Employee Preferences in the Retail Industry

The introduction of more flexible working time arrangements has become an important managerial objective in Australia. This is particularly the case in the retail services sector where management has sought to obtain greater freedom to match staffing levels more closely to fluctuations in the volume of customer demand. Such arrangements may not, however, be in accordance with employee preferences. The aim of this paper is to examine the issue of temporal flexibility by looking at the employment policies of a large retailing firm as well as the attitudes of its employees to the introduction of flexible working hours. Contradictions are identified in the company's labour utilization strategy, which have attendant costs for both the employees and the organization.
Homogenization of a Wire Photonic Crystal: The Case of Small Volume Fraction

We consider the diffraction of a monochromatic incident electromagnetic field by a bounded obstacle made of parallel high conducting metallic fibers of finite length which are periodically disposed. Our goal is to study the asymptotics of this three-dimensional Maxwell problem as the period, the thickness of the rods, and the resistivity are simultaneously small. We solve this problem in the case where the filling ratio of fibers vanishes but their capacity remains positive. We find a limit volumic density of current which results in a nonlocal constitutive relation between the electric and displacement fields. This extends previous results obtained in the polarized case where a two-dimensional effective local equation was found with a possibly negative effective permittivity.
Correction of Protruding Ears (Weerda Grade I Deformity) Using Knotless Bidirectional Barbed Absorbable Sutures

Objective To introduce a variant of the Furnas technique using a knotless bidirectional barbed absorbable suture for the correction of Weerda grade I prominent ears. Study Design Comparative study between groups of patients and literature review. Setting Tertiary care teaching hospital. Subjects and Methods Review of 25 patients who underwent otoplasty by the technique described by Furnas and 23 patients who underwent otoplasty by this modified technique using knotless bidirectional barbed absorbable sutures. Postoperative complications and level of satisfaction were measured. Results The postoperative complication rate was low regardless of the suture technique used. We observed statistical significance in relation to the pain caused by the suture knots (P < .001). The reoperation rate was on the limit of statistical significance (P = .051). In the group with bidirectional barbed absorbable sutures, no reoperation was required. In the group with classic sutures, reoperation was necessary in 5 cases to correct recurrence and in 1 case to correct asymmetry. Furthermore, in 4 cases of this group, sutures were removed due to pain or extrusion. The overall long-term satisfaction rate was 91.6% in the group operated with classic suture techniques and 95.7% in the group operated with knotless bidirectional barbed absorbable sutures. Conclusion The use of knotless bidirectional barbed absorbable sutures in the Furnas technique is simple and fast and presents few complications. The major advantages that we obtained with the use of this technique were the absence of discomfort caused by the type of suture and the fact that no reoperation was required to correct relapses.
Households' Decisions on Savings Accounts After Negative Experiences with Banks During the Financial Crisis

During the 20072008 financial crisis, consumers in many countries were suddenly confronted with the fact that their bank needed government support or had even failed. Using a detailed survey among households in the Netherlands, we show how these unexpected negative experiences have changed consumers' handling of their savings accounts. Our findings suggest that respondents who were customers of troubled banking institutions were subsequently more likely to spread their savings across accounts at several banks. They were also more likely to move funds across banks. Our results also suggest that the size of the shock is important as the strongest effects are found for respondents who experienced both a bank bailout and a bankruptcy.
Comparative analysis of the NF2, TP53, PTEN, KRAS, NRAS and HRAS genes in sporadic and radiation‐induced human meningiomas

Irradiation to the head is associated with a significantly increased incidence of meningiomas. Radiation‐induced meningiomas morphologically resemble their sporadically arising counterparts; however, they frequently exhibit a more malignant phenotype. Several genes have been shown to carry mutations in meningiomas, with the NF2 gene being most frequently affected. To examine whether the NF2 gene also plays a role in the development of radiation‐induced meningiomas, we compiled a series of meningiomas from 25 patients with a history of previous cranial radiation. This series was compared with 21 atypical WHO grade II meningiomas and 15 anaplastic WHO grade III meningiomas, all from patients without a history of prior irradiation. NF2 mutations occurred significantly more often in sporadic atypical and anaplastic than in radiation‐induced meningiomas (p < 0.02). In addition, all meningiomas were examined for mutations in the PTEN, TP53, HRAS, KRAS and NRAS genes. Two mutations in the TP53 gene in a sporadic and a radiation‐induced tumor were detected. PTEN mutations were observed in 1 anaplastic and 1 radiation‐induced meningioma. No structural alterations were seen in the RAS genes. Our data suggest that, while there is a certain overlap in the mutational spectrum, NF2 mutations may not play such a prominent role in the pathogenesis of radiation‐induced compared to sporadic meningiomas. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
On Lumpiness in the Replacement and Expansion of Capital

We estimate a model of homogeneous capital investment with two installation possibilities – replacement and expansion using observations at the establishment level. We find that regime switches identified by ad hoc measures of lumpy investment do not adequately distinguish expansionary from replacement activities. In fact, during periods of expansion, firms spend just as much on replacement capital. Also, using the common 20% rule would not assign a spike to almost 65% of all observations that include expansionary investment in this dataset. Finally, replacement although less responsive to fundamentals than expansions cannot be regarded as an autonomous part of investment.
Regional self-reliance of the Northeast food system

Abstract Farms producing similar products have become increasingly concentrated geographically over the past century in the United States (US). Due to the concentration of food production, a disruption in key production areas may reduce the availability of certain foods nationwide. For example, climate change poses such a threat, with projections of altered precipitation patterns, increased temperature and pest outbreaks, which may result in reduced crop yields and geographic shifts in crop adaptation. Analyses of the degree to which US regions can satisfy the food needs of their resident populations—a concept we refer to as regional self-reliance (RSR)—are therefore warranted. We focus on the Northeast region because of its high population density and declining agricultural landbase. Our objectives are to: (1) determine how agricultural land is used in the Northeast region; (2) determine the variety and amount of foods produced; and (3) analyze the relationship between food consumption and agricultural output. Annual (2001–2010) data on land area, yield and output of all crops and major livestock categories, as well as seafood landings, were catalogued. National annual (2001–2009) data on food availability were used as a proxy for estimates of food consumption, and these data were downscaled to a regional level and compared with regional production data in order to estimate RSR. In the Northeast region, approximately 65% of land in farms contributed directly to the food supply from 2001 to 2010, although this varied significantly across states. Just over one-half of all land in farms in the region was devoted to the production of livestock feed. The region produced >100 food crops annually from 2001 to 2009, and vegetables represented the majority of food crop production by weight. Chicken accounted for the largest weight of meat products produced. Compared to the Northeast region's share (~6%) of total land in farms in the nation, it accounted for disproportionately higher amounts of the national production of dairy (16%), eggs (13%), chicken (9%), lamb (7%) and vegetables (7%). However, the region accounted for ~22% of the national population and therefore produced a disproportionately low share of food on a per capita basis. RSR for plant-based foods was lowest for pulses (7%) and highest for vegetables (26%). There are four specific factors in the RSR in our analysis, each of which could result in substantial shifts (upward or downward) of the RSR in the future: land used for agriculture, crop (or animal) productivity, population and dietary preferences.
Does Worksharing Work? Some Empirical Evidence from the Iab-Establishment Panel

Recent policy debate in Europe suggests that a shorter workweek will lead to more jobs (worksharing). We derive and estimate a model where the firm employs two types of workers, some working overtime, the rest standard hours. Worksharing is not always a prediction of the theory. Using German establishment-level panel data (the IAB-ESTABLISHMENT panel), 1993-1999, we find no evidence of pro-worksharing effects except in small plants in the East German non-service sector. There is evidence that a cut in standard hours lowers the proportion of overtime workers in a plant, as predicted by the theory, and increases the proportion of standard-time plants. Copyright (c) Scottish Economic Society 2005.
The Polemics and Empirics of the Sustainability of Australia's Current Account Deficit - Revisited

In this paper the polemics and empirics on the sustainability of Australia’s high current account deficits and foreign debt that prevailed during the period 1959q3-2007q1 is revisited. The paper contends that the forces of globalization brought about a policy regime shift culminating in the floating of the Australian dollar in 1983q4. However, the policymakers failed to abandon the static old paradigm, the Keynesian-Mundell-Fleming model, which had been rendered obsolete by the policy regime shift. The policymakers continued to distill their activist policies to reduce the high current account deficits from an outmoded paradigm. The proponents of the rival new paradigm argued that the current account imbalances were the residual outcome of rational optimizing decisions of private sector agents and therefore the use of activist policies to target the reduction of the current account deficits as proposed by the adherents of the old paradigm were misconceived. The ensuing clash between the proponents of rival paradigms fuelled the policy polemics during almost a decade after the paradigm shift that occurred at the same time as the floating of the exchange rate. The activist policies failed to halt the rise in the current account deficits and foreign debt and the predicted dire economic consequences from the failure to rein in the current account deficit never materialized. Today, the current deficits and the foreign debt are at record high levels by historical standards, but they do not seem to grab the attention of the policymakers or make media headlines as in the past. The empirical results offer qualified support for prevalence of consumption smoothing during both the pre and post-float periods. The finding in favour of consumption-smoothing during the pre-float era is at odds with the findings of other studies. There appears to be evidence supporting the hypothesis that a regime-shift due to globalization and it occurred at the same time as the float and was reflected in an increase in consumption-tilting. Post-float and during the entire study period Australia, appears to have satisfied the intertemporal budget constraint and remained solvent. Furthermore, both over the whole sample period and post float period Australia appears to have engaged in effective consumption-smoothing notwithstanding the polemics and some empirics to the contrary. The solvency and consumption smoothing dynamics observed for Australia during the study period supports the new paradigm’s non-activist policy stance towards high current account deficits. However, it should be noted that this passive policy stance that is intertemporally optimal for achieving current account sustainability in Australia may not be applicable in other countries with high current account deficits because they may idiosyncratic features that differ widely from those prevalent in Australia. JEL classification: C32, E13, E21, E60, F32, N10
Keynes versus the Post Keynesians on the Principle of Effective Demand

The American Post Keynesians - those who attach importance to the 'Big P' and the absence of a dash between 'post' and 'Keynesian' - claim to be Keynes's most literal interpreters, or the 'truest' Keynesians (HOLT ET AL., 1998, p. 17). This paper compares the Post Keynesian interpretation of the Principle of Effective Demand, i.e. the D/Z-model, with Keynes's own presentation in Chapter 3 of the General Theory - and finds substantial differences. A reinterpretation of the D/Z-model is offered that would bring it into line with Chapter 3.