Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Audit fees, non-audit fees, and auditor reporting on UK stressed companies

The SEC and legislators have expressed concerns that independence may be negatively impacted if auditors perform significant nonaudit services for their audit clients, and that providing lucrative nonaudit services to clients may make it more likely that auditors will “see things the client's way. ” Such concerns are particularly salient in the context of issues that involve significant auditor judgment, as in the case of reporting decisions related to going‐concern uncertainties for financially stressed clients. In this study we examine the association between the magnitude of audit and nonaudit fees and auditor report modification decisions for financially stressed manufacturing companies. In our analysis we control for financial stress, company size, reporting lag, default status, audit committee effectiveness, and management plans. The results indicate a significant positive association between the magnitude of audit fees and the likelihood of receiving a going‐concern modified audit opinion, but we fi.
The Puzzling Effects of Delaying Schooling on Canadian Wages

We compare the returns on education for graduates of postsecondary institutions who delayed their tertiary education for some time and those who proceeded with no delays. Using a unique survey that collects information on a representative cohort of graduates, we are able to estimate the effects of delaying school among successful graduates abstracting from specific macroeconomic conditions at the time of graduation. We show that graduates who delayed their education enjoy a premium relative to graduates who completed their education with no interruptions even after considering other factors such as experience or labour market connections. These estimates are robust to the possibility of selection in the decision to delay school. The results unveil a puzzle about the returns on education that calls for further research to investigate the effect of delay on earnings.
Impact of coastal construction on coral reefs in the U.S.‐affiliated pacific Islands

Abstract During the past century, traditional ownership, control, and use of coral reef habitats in the U.S.‐affiliated islands in the Pacific have declined, exposing them to increased construction for plantation, transportation, military, urban, aquaculture, fisheries, mineral, and resort development. Dredging, filling, and other construction in coral reef and related ecosystems are expected to continue at high levels. Collectively, these activities have resulted in major adverse ecological impacts, many of which can be avoided or reduced to minor levels. Improvements in the design, siting, and construction of coastal projects can be accomplished by early integration of environmental objectives. Ecological baseline surveys; environmental impact assessments; regulatory conditions; guidelines and standards during construction; monitoring of construction; post‐construction evaluation; and long‐range research, planning, and management are among the most useful of the environmental tools to describe reefs and.
Individual and Cooperative Management of Invasive Species in Human‐Mediated Landscapes

As a bioinvasion spreads across a landscape from its point of introduction, damages rise roughly with the square of the distance from the original invasion. It is thus generally beneficial, at the landscape scale, to apply eradication or containment controls early if not immediately upon discovery. However, an individual property owner only has incentives to consider the costs and benefits of control on his/her own property rather than potential landscape-scale damages. Bioinvasions will therefore generally be under-controlled in a landscape of independent owners operating under a laissez-faire system. A mechanism is thus needed to induce early cooperative contributions to control costs from beneficiaries who would, without them, be invaded later. We develop a spatially-explicit, integrated model of invasion spread and human behavior to examine how different degrees of spatial cooperation affect patterns of invasion spread and the total costs and damages imposed. We compare individual laissez-faire, cooperative control by adjacent neighbors, and cooperative control by groups including more distant but nearby neighbors. As expected, private laissez-faire control decisions tend to under-control the invasion relative to socially optimal control under most circumstances. But a reasonably high fraction of first best payoffs can be achieved with only a modest geographical reach of cooperation. We also find that less extensive cooperation is needed to control invasions whose costs and damages otherwise lead to the largest externalities (circumstances with costs that are relatively low compared with damages). This suggests that even small amounts of cooperation to control bioinvasions can provide large social benefits.
Permanent and transitory wages of British men, 1975–2001: year, age and cohort effects

We examine the mean and variance-covariance structure of log-wages over calendar time and the life cycle of British men, hereby controlling for birth cohort effects. We attribute the strong increase in mean log-wage during the 1980s and 1990s to a rise in mean log-wage with the year of birth. This rise is diminishing with the year of birth, which implies lower wage inequality between cohorts with the year of birth. Wage inequality has increased during the 1980s and early 1990s and remained fairly stable in the second half of the 1990s. The year effects, however, show increasing wage inequality up to 2001, mainly due to a strong rise in transitory wage inequality. Transitory wages are strongly correlated over time and an increase in transitory wage inequality therefore has highly persistent inequality consequences. The stable wage inequality in the second half of the 1990s is attributed to lower within-cohort wage inequality for the younger cohorts. The age effects show that permanent wage inequality increases with age, in particular up to age 30 and over age 50. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Fair value accounting choice: Empirical evidence from Portuguese real estate investment funds

Purpose – Profiting from a unique research opportunity in the Portuguese REIFs market, this paper aims to investigate the impact of fund managers ' accounting choice on funds ' returns distribution and analyses the relationship between fair value accounting choice and conditional accounting conservatism. Design/methodology/approach – According to Portuguese securities market regulation, fund managers of REIFs can fix the value of the fund properties between the acquisition cost and the average of the appraisal values assigned periodically by two independent appraisers. Therefore, through the analysis of fund managers’ actual choice to value REIF net asset value in comparison with a mandatory adoption of a pure fair value method (appraisers’ valuations), the paper investigates the impact of accounting choice on funds’ return series. On the other hand, an analysis at fund level is also conducted to determine the consequences of fair value accounting choice on the ability of fund managers in delaying the rec.
Liquid‐based cytology and conventional cervical smears

I read with some interest the report by Cheung et al. comparing the diagnostic results obtained using the ThinPrep test (Cytyc Corp., Boxborough, MA) with the results obtained using conventional cervical cytologic methods. The authors noted that the incidence of high-grade squamous intraepithelial or more severe lesions was not significantly increased among women for whom the ThinPrep test was performed. In fact, fewer cases of high-grade squamous intraepithelial or more severe lesions were detected during the 2-year period in which the ThinPrep test was performed compared with the period in which conventional methods were used (469 of 190,667 [0.246%] vs. 508 of 191,581 [0.265%]). Nonetheless, diagnoses of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance, atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance, and low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions all increased, and the authors considered this finding to be indicative of a significant enhancement in efficiency relative to cervical cytologic screening. Assuming that the two populations examined actually were identical and that cytologic interpretations of the cells present were equally accurate, one would be forced to conclude that some high-grade lesions were not adequately detected by the ThinPrep technique.
GROWING INEQUALITIES AND THEIR IMPACTS IN THE NETHERLANDS

Inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient of net equivalised household incomes has risen substantially (+14%) in the Netherlands. Most of the rise is concentrated in a short episode, the late 1980s, and came about in the wake of deep recession of the early 1980s. Over the 1990s and 2000s a new plateau seems to be reached with little further change. In accordance with the GINI project, these outcomes are used below when considering impacts of inequality. However, as an important caveat, further scrutiny reveals that the Gini coefficient misses out on important changes at the tails of the distribution and therewith significant further increases in inequality over the 1990s and 2000s. The changes have been very drastic for the bottom decile, where average real income is still 30 per cent below the level reached at the end of the 1970s. This has greatly widened the lower half of the income distribution while dispersion in the upper half has hardly changed. Top income shares basically show stability – in spite of some recent growth for the Top 10% after long years of stability. However, underneath that stability top incomes shares from labour earnings show a secular and strong increase, from 19 per cent to almost 27 per cent of total gross income. The shares of top incomes from enterprise and wealth declined correspondingly. The rising role of earnings can be attributed entirely to the growing role of second earners. Nevertheless, the combination of earnings into household incomes in general halves the inequality of individual (annual) earnings in the labour market. That inequality has increased significantly as a result of a widening of hourly wage inequality (+40%) combined with an increased dispersion of annual hours worked because of growing part-time and temporary employment. In spite of these increases the inequality of net equivalised income of labour household has remained strikingly stable. An important implication is that the focus on net equivalised incomes misses the picture of growing inequality of primary, gross and disposable income and the equalising effect of changing household formation on net equivalised incomes.
Democratic Synergy and Victory in War, 1816–1992

This study investigates the question of why democracies are more likely to win wars than non-democracies. I argue that due to the transparency of the polities, and the stability of their preferences, once determined, democracies are better able to cooperate with their partners in the conduct of wars, and thereby are more likely to win wars. In support of my argument, the main findings in this study show that, other things being equal, the larger the number of democratic partners a state has, the more likely it is to win; moreover, democratic states are more likely to have democratic partners during wars. These results are in contrast with those in current literature about the high likelihood of prevailing by democracies in wars, which emphasize, on the one hand, the superior capacity of democratic states to strengthen military capabilities and, on the other hand, to select wars in which they have a high chance of winning.
Multivariate Cointegration Analysis and the Long-Run Validity of PPP

This paper tests the long-run validity of PPP using Johansen's multivariate cointegration methodology on exchange rates and domestic and foreign price levels. Monthly data covering the recent flexible exchange rate period of the DM vis a vis 15 currencies le ad to the following conclusion: PPP seems to hold in the long run for s ix European currencies: the Pound, Lira, Norwegian Krone, Schilling, Escudo, and Peseta. However, PPP has to be rejected.for the United States and the Canadian Dollar as well as for the Belgian Franc and the Danish Krone. Nevertheless, the authors' analysis is more favorable to PPP as a long-run property of exchange rates than the recent work applying the Engle/Granger regression methodology. Copyright 1993 by MIT Press.
Lifetime exposure to traumatic and other stressful life events and hair cortisol in a multi-racial/ethnic sample of pregnant women

Abstract We examined whether lifetime exposure to stressful and traumatic events alters hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning, as indexed by hair cortisol, regardless of associated psychopathology, among pregnant women of different racial/ethnic backgrounds. 180 women provided hair samples for measurement of integrated cortisol levels throughout pregnancy and information regarding their lifetime exposure to stressful and traumatic life events. Results indicate that increased lifetime exposure to traumatic events was associated with significantly greater hair cortisol over the course of pregnancy. Similarly, greater lifetime exposure to stressful and traumatic events weighted by reported negative impact (over the previous 12 months) was associated with significantly greater hair cortisol during pregnancy. All analyses controlled for maternal age, education, body mass index (BMI), use of inhaled corticosteroids, race/ethnicity, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms. Following stratification by race/ethnicity, associations between stressful and traumatic life events and hair cortisol were found among Black women only. This is the first study to consider associations between lifetime stress exposures and hair cortisol in a sociodemographically diverse sample of pregnant women. Increased exposure to stressful and traumatic events, independent of PTSD and depressive symptoms, was associated with higher cortisol production, particularly in Black women. Future research should investigate the influence of such increased cortisol exposure on developmental outcomes among offspring.
The Effect of Leadership Style on Satisfaction Levels of Tour Quality

The effect of authoritarian versus democratic leadership styles on tour members'satisfaction with tour quality was investigated. The final sample consisted of 24 high school teacher-leaders and 287 student-followers. It was found that at the initial stage of the tour the members under authoritarian leadership are the most satisfied, but that at the later stage the members under democratic leadership are the most satisfied. In addition, a significant relationship was found between satisfaction with tour quality and leadership style at the initial and latter stages of the tour. The implication of these results for a formulation of the group process with travelers is discussed.
Disability and Social Safety Nets in Developing Countries

This paper deals with how social safety nets may reach the poor with disabilities in developing countries. It presents a framework for analyzing the inclusion of disability in social safety nets. The paper first reviews evidence on the relation between disability and poverty, and, discusses the roles that safety nets may play with regard to disability. Safety nets can reach persons with disabilities through inclusive mainstream programs, as well as disability targeted programs. The advantages and challenges of disability targeting are then discussed. The paper proceeds to analyze different ways that can be used to include disability considerations in the implementation of mainstream safety nets, through the reduction of physical, communication, and social barriers surrounding such programs, and through the careful design and evaluation of safety nets. The use of disability targeting versus, or in combination with disability mainstreaming is then discussed.
The Long Road to Long-Term Care Insurance in Germany

ABSTRACT This paper represents a case study in welfare state expansion. It takes an actor-centered point of view and reconstructs the long process which has ultimately led to a compromise solution to the problem of providing long-term care, especially for the elderly. It describes the previously means-tested arrangement of long-term care provision and its shortcomings. Furthermore, it sketches the different stages through which the political debate on this issue has passed during the last twenty years: from the initial phase of defining the “social problem”, to the final stage when the approval of the compromise package became a question of “all or nothing”. The analysis of the politics of long-term care insurance reveals that the difficulties of reaching an agreement mainly resulted from the complex decision-making situation. It was in essence a problem of decision-making under conditions of general uncertainty.
Right-wing populism in Europe & USA:contesting politics & discourse beyond ‘Orbanism’ and ‘Trumpism’

In recent years and months, new information about the rise of right-wing populist parties (RWPs) in Europe and the USA has dominated the news and caused an election scare among mainstream institutions and politicians. The unpredictable successes of populists (e.g. Donald Trump in the USA in 2016) have by now transformed anxieties into legitimate apprehension and fear. This Special Issue addresses the recent sudden upsurge of right-wing populism. It responds to many recent challenges and a variety of 'discursive shifts' and wider dynamics of media and public discourses that have taken place as a result of the upswing of right-wing populism (RWP) across Europe and beyond. We examine not only the nature or the state-of-the-art of contemporary RWP but also point to its ontology within and beyond the field of politics and argue that the rise and success of RWP is certainly not a recent or a momentary phenomenon.
Distance to Frontier and New Import Growth

In a panel‐data study involving product‐level import data for 48 developing countries that underwent substantial trade liberalization between 1989 and 2001, this study finds that the growth of trade in new goods imported following major trade liberalization is related to the state of technology that existed just before liberalization. The study develops two new measures of the extensive margin. Findings indicate that greater is the distance of a country from the world technology frontier, the faster is its growth of new goods imports. This indicates a higher cost of trade protection for countries further away from the world technology frontier.
Elongation and Structural Properties of Meniscal Repair Using Suture Techniques in Distraction and Shear Force Scenarios

Background Most biomechanical studies on meniscal repairs have focused on testing distraction scenarios to evaluate structural properties of the repaired meniscus. An application of shear forces might replicate the in vivo situation more closely. Hypothesis In the shear force scenario, meniscal repair using a vertical suture technique will result in significantly less elongation when subjected to a cyclic loading protocol than that resulting from a horizontal suture technique. Study Design Controlled laboratory study. Methods In fresh-frozen porcine menisci (n = 10 in each group), horizontal and vertical 2.0 Ethibond suturing techniques were tested in distraction and shear force scenarios. Elongation after 1000 cycles between 5 and 20 N and the structural properties such as stiffness, yield load, maximum load to failure, and failure mode were evaluated using a testing machine at a rate of 12.5 mm/s. Results In the distraction force scenario, no statistically significant difference in elongation after cyclic loading was found between specimens repaired with vertical or horizontal suture techniques. After 1000 cycles of cyclic loading in the shear force scenario, the horizontal suturing revealed significantly less elongation (2.8 ± 1.1 mm) than did the vertical suture technique (4.6 ± 2.0 mm). No statistically significant difference in yield and maximum load was found (P > .05). Conclusion The results of the present study do not support the authors’ hypothesis. In the shear force test, horizontal sutures were superior to vertical suture techniques. Clinical Relevance Meniscal repair with horizontal suture techniques can withstand elongation due to shear forces more effectively than can vertical mattress sutures.
Managerial Entrenchment and Payout Policy

Abstract Building on the managerial entrenchment literature, we develop and test a novel perspective on payout policy that integrates the influence of internal governance mechanisms, investment opportunities, management compensation, and monitoring by large shareholders. Our study incorporates both dividend payments and share repurchases, and examines the determinants of the likelihood and the level of payouts. Our model performs well in both in-sample and out-of-sample predictions on a sample of 2,081 firms during 1992–2000. We find that both the likelihood and the level of payouts are significantly and positively (negatively) related to factors that increase (decrease) executive entrenchment levels, even when controlling for size, leverage, and the proportion of tangible to total assets. We identify factors that significantly affect the likelihood but not the level of payouts (or vice versa), and show that entrenchment has an asymmetric influence on dividend vs. shares repurchase policy.
A Comparison of the Effects of Two Resistance Training Programs on Upper and Lower Body Muscle Strength and Endurance in Untrained Women

The purpose of this research was to compare the effects of an 8-week 1-set and 3-set resistance training program on upper and lower body muscle strength and endurance in untrained women. 19 untrained women with no history of strength training were selected as the sample using accidental sampling and were divided into homogenous 1-set (N = 10; 26.7 ± 1.88 yrs.; 160.3 ± 6.53 cm; 56.82 ± 6.9 kg) and 3-set groups (N = 9; 27.6 ± 2.06 yrs.; 162.8 ± 4.98 cm; 59.56 ± 6.7 kg) based on their personal characteristics (age, BMI, and fat percentage) and pretest scores (upper and lower body muscle strength and endurance). The subjects performed their exercises for eight weeks and three sessions per week. Exercise intensity was the same for both groups (80% of one-repetition maximum). At the beginning and end of the training period muscle strength was measured by 1RM bench press and squat and muscle endurance was measured by 75% of pretest 1RM performance. Data were analyzed in SPSS 21 using t-tests for dependent and independent samples at the 0.05 significance level. The results showed significantly increase in upper and lower body muscle strength and endurance after 8 weeks of resistance training in both 1-set and 3-set groups (P < 0.05). Moreover, no significant difference between training groups was observed in the maximum muscle strength and muscular endurance. The results demonstrate that there was no significant difference between the performance of 1-set and 3-set resistance training in untrained women.
What makes a good citizen in service settings?

As service firms face intense pressure to improve service quality, contact employees have been asked to do more with less. It is important that managers understand the concept of organisational citizenship behaviours and attempt to motivate employees to exhibit such behaviours. This study developed and tested a model of how employees' perception of organisational support affects affective commitment (AC), which contributes to their citizenship behaviours in service settings. Questionnaire data from matched pairs of 318 contact employees and their supervisors demonstrated that both perceived organisational support (POS) and AC play strong, central roles in determining contact employees' exhibition of citizenship behaviours. In addition, AC was found to be an effective mediator linking contact employees' perception of organisational support to their citizenship behaviours.