Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Public Observability of Decisions and Voluntary Contributions in a Multiperiod Context

The authors conduct an experiment to explore whether contributions to a public good increase when public observation of contribution decisions is possible and whether any such increase is durable and transferable. Rege and Telle (2004) find that in one-shot games, public observation of all individuals' contribution decisions leads to higher contributions than would occur in the absence of such observation. In this study, the authors argue that public observation is ineffective in increasing contributions in a repeated game. Indeed, it actually reduces contribution rates relative to a treatment in which contribution decisions are not observable. Furthermore, prior experience with public observability reduces cooperative behavior in subsequent interaction in which decisions cannot be observed. The authors conjecture that approval incentives are more effective in leading to cooperative behavior when sanctioned parties are unable to avoid the expressions of disapproval they receive.
Linkage and Referral to HIV and Other Medical and Social Services: A Focused Literature Review for Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention and Control Programs

Background Sexually transmitted disease (STD) program and clinic staff play an important role in providing linkage and referrals to programs and services that address the complex medical and psychosocial needs of their clients. We synthesized recent published literature related to effective practices for linkage to care for HIV and referral to other medical and social services. Methods Three PubMed searches were conducted to identify relevant studies published since 2004 on (1) linkage to HIV care, (2) referral within STD clinical contexts, and (3) (review articles only) referral practices among all medical specialties. Systematic review procedures were not used. Results Thirty-three studies were included in this review. Studies highlight the limited value of passive referral practices and the increased effectiveness of active referral and linkage practices. Numerous studies on linkage to HIV care suggest that case management approaches, cultural-linguistic concordance between linkage staff and clients, and structural features such as colocation facilitate timely linkage to care. Integration of other medical and social services such as family planning and alcohol screening services into STD settings may be optimal but resource-intensive. Active referral practices such as having a written referral protocols and agreements, using information technology to help transfer information between providers, and making appointments for clients may offer some benefit. Few studies included information on program costs associated with linkage and referral. Conclusions Recent literature provides some guideposts for STD program and clinical staff to use in determining their approach to helping link and refer clients to needed care. Much experience with these issues within STD services remains unpublished, and key gaps in the literature remain.
Randomised clinical trial of comparing effects of acupuncture and varicocelectomy on sperm parameters in infertile varicocele patients

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of the acupuncture treatment on sperm parameters and pregnancy rates in patients with primary infertility. Between January 2008 and May 2010, 30 men with the primary infertility (one year of unprotected intercourse, healthy wife) and varicocele with normal hormone levels and abnormal semen analysis were randomised into two groups. Group 1 underwent subinguinal microscopic varicocelectomy, and Group 2 underwent acupuncture treatment twice a week for 2 months. Both groups were evaluated with semen analysis at 6 months after the treatment. Patients in both groups evaluated with telephone calls and e‐mail in terms of pregnancy. The mean age of the patients was 27.2, and groups were comparable regarding the age (P = 0.542). The pre‐treatment sperm concentration, motility and morphological characteristics were similar in both groups. Sperm concentration and motility improved significantly in both groups after the treatment. Increase in sperm concentration was higher in the acupuncture group compared to the varicocelectomy group (P = 0.039). The average follow‐up was 42 months, and pregnancy rates were emphasised 33% in both groups. Acupuncture treatment in primary infertile varicocele patients with semen abnormalities seems to be effective and has comparable results with the varicocelectomy treatment.
Public pension reform in the United Kingdom: what effect on the financial well-being of current and future pensioners?

Unlike many tax and benefit changes, reforms to public pension programmes take many years to have their full effect. This paper examines the effect of reforms to the public pension programme in the United Kingdom on the state retirement incomes of current generations of pensioners and on the prospective state incomes of future generations of pensioners. We show that, for an individual with lifetime earnings close to male average earnings, the UK pension system is at its most generous to those reaching the state pension age around the year 2000, but that the introduction of the state second pension and the pension credit postpones this peak for individuals on lower incomes and for those with substantial periods out of paid employment spent with caring responsibilities. We also consider how the 'mix' of benefits, particularly between the contributory and income-tested sectors, could change over time, and the impact that this would have on incentives to save for retirement.
Evolution over a 10 year period of the epidemiological profile of 1,726 newly diagnosed HCV patients in Belgium

In order to evaluate the future burden of hepatitis C, there is a need to quantify the evolution with time of some crucial parameters such as disease frequency and age, modes of infection and infecting genotypes of patients presenting for the first time at consultation. The yearly evolution of these parameters was analyzed retrospectively in a cohort of 1,726 patients living in Belgium, who were diagnosed as hepatitis C virus (HCV) carriers by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) between 1992 and 2002. The epidemiological profile of HCV patients showed significant changes during this period. The number of new patients increased with time. The proportion of patients under 50 increased linearly at a rate of 3% per year. The rate of newly presenting patients infected by transfusion before 1990 decreased, but only by 2.7% per year. The proportion of intravenous (IV) drug users increased by 2.5% per year. Patients presenting “undefined” risk factors increased by 2.1% per year. Nosocomial acquisition of HCV infection exhibited a disturbing relative stability in time whereas dialysis tended to disappear as a cause of infection. There was a significant linear annual decrease of 2.3% in the frequency of genotype 1b, which was counterbalanced by a significant increase of 0.7% for genotype 1a and 1.1% for genotype 4. Genotypes 2 and 3 did not vary significantly with time. Such figures are useful for evaluating the epidemiological changes of C virus infection and for anticipating the future economical cost of hepatitis C treatment in the next few years. J. Med. Virol. 76:503–510, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Regional Representation of Federal Reserve Bank Presidents

Recent litigation has questioned the constitutionality of having Federal Reserve Bank presidents serve on the Federal Open Market Committee. Inherent, but undocumented, in these lawsuits is the belief that district bank presidents vote differently than Federal Reserve Governors at Federal Open Market Committee meetings. This paper analyzes the voting behavior of Federal Reserve Bank presidents and uncovers a regional bias in their monetary policy preferences. Presidents representing regions with higher unemployment rates or with larger percentages of democratic voters tend to vote for more expansionary monetary policy. This study provides yet another clue to the monetary policymaking behavior of Federal Reserve officials. Copyright 1992 by Ohio State University Press.
Marketing Destinations with Prolonged Negative Images: Towards a Theoretical Model

Abstract While there is a great deal of research on destination branding in general, the study of tourism marketing that deals specifically with destinations suffering from prolonged image problems is less well developed. We integrated theories from crisis communication, image restoration and destination marketing to examine media strategies used by such destinations to attract tourism, and then classified them. We utilized qualitative content analysis of tourism campaigns for destinations – primarily in problematic areas such as the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe – that appeared in international tourism magazines, destinations’ websites and video-sharing websites. We classified two approaches of media strategies: the ‘cosmetic approach’, relating to strategies that focus mainly on altering the destination's image and the ‘strategic approach’, relating to strategies that take comprehensive action, changing both the negative image and the problems causing it.
Disentangling the effects of reputation and network position on the evolution of alliance networks

This study uses the panel data social network analysis program SIENA to estimate the effect of actor reputation derived from past performance on alliance formation, while controlling for other constant actor attributes and network position. The authors distinguish between individual reputation based on the past performance of the organizations the individual actor has been involved in, and composite reputation that takes into account reputation spillover effects from the similarly constituted reputations of past alliance partners. The empirical setting is the project-based film industry, which can be regarded as a constantly changing network of alliances. The study focuses on artistic reputation, based on the reviews of earlier films, and finds that the strength of that reputation and closeness in the network of past alliances are strong predictors of alliance formation. The study finds weak evidence of actors with similar reputations being more likely to form alliances with each other.
Corporate PACs and the Stock Market

The 2004 U.S. presidential election was very close. Rumors from exit polls on Election Day showed that John Kerry would likely win, but the actual vote counts revealed on Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning showed that George Bush had been re-elected. This sets up a natural experiment for studying the shareholder-wealth impact of rumor and eventual outcome of election on firms which made an investment in public policy through PAC donations. The authors find that the stock of companies whose PAC contributions favored Democrats performed better on Tuesday and those that favored Republicans performed better on Wednesday. In general, most S&P 500 companies appear to have favored the Republican victory with both their PAC donations and by the reaction of their stock price to election results.
The Impact of the 1962 Repatriates from Algeria on the French Labor Market

This paper uses census data to examine the impact on the French labor market of the 900,000 people repatriated from Algeria in 1962. Repatriates settled in regions culturally and climatically similar to Algeria, and represented 1.6% of the total French labor force in 1968. Estimates indicate that the repatriates increased the 1968 unemployment of non-repatriates by at most 0.3 percentage points. Average annual salaries were lower by at most 1.3% in 1967 due to their arrival. No evidence is found that potential immigrants from abroad and migrants within France were discouraged from moving to areas with many repatriates.
Can Capital Income Taxes Survive in Open Economies?

Optimal-tax theory forecasts that small open economies should not tax capital income. Yet, countries do tax capital income. Why the inconsistency? This paper shows that use of the double-taxation convention, whereby governments credit taxes paid abroad against domestic taxes, helps explain this inconsistency. In particular, capital income will be taxed if a dominant capital exporter acts as a Stackelberg leader when setting its tax policy. Due to the convention, other countries will then tax capital imports, making it attractive for the dominant capital exporter to tax capital income. Without a dominant capital exporter, however, the model still forecasts no capital-income taxes. Copyright 1992 by American Finance Association.
Warming Seas in the Coral Triangle: Coral Reef Vulnerability and Management Implications

The highest diversity coral reefs in the world, located in the Coral Triangle, are threatened by a variety of local stresses including pollution, overfishing, and destructive fishing in addition to climate change impacts, such as increasing sea surface temperatures (SSTs), and ocean acidification. As climate change impacts increase, coral reef vulnerability at the ecoregional scale will have an increasingly important influence on conservation management decisions. This project provides the first detailed assessment of past and future climatic stress, thermal variability, and anthropogenic impacts in the Coral Triangle at the ecoregional level, thus incorporating both local (e.g., pollution, development, and overfishing) and global threats (increasing SSTs). The development of marine protected area (MPA) networks across the Coral Triangle is critical for the region to address these threats. Specific management recommendations are defined for MPA networks based on the levels of vulnerability to thermal and local stress. For example, coral reef regions with potentially low vulnerability to thermal stress may be priorities for establishment of MPA networks, whereas high vulnerability regions may require selection and design principles aimed at building resilience to climate change. The identification of climate and other human threats to coral reef systems and ecoregions can help conservation practitioners prioritize management responses to address these threats and identify gaps in MPA networks or other management mechanisms (e.g., integrated coastal management).
Adelman's Rule and the Petroleum Firm

Observing that net prices do not rise as predicted and that resource stocks are not fixed, Adelman questions Hotelling's model of an exhaustible resource. He cites a rule of thumb for valuing oil reserves which is about one-half that given by the Hotelling valuation principle. We apply an optimization model to a stylized characterization of an oil reservoir. Adelman's valuation rule is confirmed. An r-percent rule emerges as well, but it is not Hotelling's rule. We end the paper with our interpretation of Hotelling's rule. We also consider the role of investment in augmenting the quantities of a resource currently extracted.
Increased use of antimicrobial medication in bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder prior to the eating disorder treatment.

OBJECTIVE We examined the use of antimicrobial medication as a proxy for infections in large patient cohort treated for binge-eating disorder (BED), bulimia nervosa (BN), and anorexia nervosa (AN) over the five-year period preceding eating disorder treatment. METHOD Patients (N = 1592) at the Eating Disorder Unit of Helsinki University Central Hospital between 2000 and 2010 were compared with matched general population controls (N = 6368). The study population was linked to the prescription data of antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral medication from the Register on Reimbursed Prescription Medicine. Data were analyzed using regression models. RESULTS Individuals with BN and BED had received more often antimicrobial medication prescriptions compared to their controls (OR: 1.7, 95% CI: 1.3-2.1; OR: 2.6, 95% CI: 1.4-4.6, respectively), while no significant difference emerged in AN (OR: 0.9, 95% CI: 0.7-1.0, p = 0.10). Of the main drug categories, the respective pattern was seen in antibacterial and antifungal medication, while increased use for antivirals appeared only in BN (OR: 1.6, 95% CI: 1.1-2.3). Measured with the mean number of prescriptions or mean Defined Daily Doses per individual, patients with BN, BED and males with AN had also higher total antimicrobial medication use. DISCUSSION Indicating increased infections, we found elevated use of antimicrobial medication in BN, BED and in males with AN. Infections may be consequence of hyperglycemia, weight gain, or dysregulation of intestinal microbiota associated with core eating disorder behaviors. Or the other way round; changes in intestinal microbiota due to infections, inflammation, or antibacterial medications might contribute to eating disorders in multiple ways. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Int J Eat Disord 2016; 49:542-552).
An analysis of decisions by European general practitioners to admit to hospital patients with lower respiratory tract infections. The European Study Group of Community Acquired Pneumonia (ESOCAP) of the European Respiratory Society.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to identify factors on which European general practitioners (GPs) base their decisions to admit to hospital patients with lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI). METHODS: A survey was carried out from December 1993 to January 1994 to identify factors that affect GPs' decisions to admit to hospital patients with LRTI by collecting data on 2056 patients from 605 GPs in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK. RESULTS: Only 93 (4.5%) of the patients included in the study were admitted to hospital. Univariate analysis showed that age > 60 years, institutionalisation of the patient, concomitant diseases, cardiac insufficiency, asthma, a diagnosis of pneumonia, and clinical signs such as chest pain, cyanosis, tachypnoea and hypotension significantly (odds ratio (OR) > 2.0, p < 0.002) influenced the decision to admit to hospital. No influence could be shown for sex, smoking habits, history of bronchiectasis or chronic bronchitis, the presence of fever, chills, myalgia, cough or purulent sputum, and the diagnoses of acute bronchitis, influenza or exacerbation of chronic bronchitis. In the multivariate analysis only the presence of chest pain (OR 2.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.5 to 3.5), cyanosis (OR 4.1, 95% CI 2.4 to 7.1), dyspnoea (OR 4.9, 95% CI 3.1 to 7.9), and hypotension (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.6 to 5.2), as well as a diagnosis of pneumonia (OR 6.6, 95% CI 4.3 to 10) (all p < 0.00001) remained as factors that significantly affected the decision to admit to hospital. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical signs of severe infection and a diagnosis of pneumonia are the main factors that induce GPs to admit patients with LRTI to hospital in Europe.
Insider Trading, Earnings Management and Corporate Governance: Empirical Evidence Based on Hong Kong Firms

We document positive association between earnings management and insider selling after the fiscal year-end for Hong Kong firms. This positive association is especially evident before the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. Our findings suggest that Hong Kong executives manage reported earnings to maximize their private benefits from insider selling. Additionally, we find that a higher proportion of independent directors (INED) on corporate boards moderate the positive association between insider selling and earnings management. Stricter monitoring of earnings management by INED is especially evident when no member of the family with majority ownership is present on corporate boards as a director. This suggests that the presence of family members with majority ownership on corporate boards significantly reduces INED's monitoring effectiveness. Our findings suggest that strict regulations are needed to control insider trading, and independence of corporate boards is important for monitoring of earnings management associated with insider trading. Furthermore, appointment of family members with majority shareholdings should be avoided to enhance independence and to monitor effectiveness of corporate boards.
Management Control Systems in Early‐Stage Startup Companies

This paper uses a multi‐method, multi‐case field research design to study the evolving portfolio of the management control systems (MCSs) of 78 early‐stage startup companies. We examine 46 individual systems from eight different MCS categories—financial planning, financial evaluation, human resource planning, human resource evaluation, strategic planning, product development, sales/marketing, and partnerships. We report analysis of the following: (1) The speed of adoption of financial planning and financial evaluation systems in relation to six other MCS categories. These systems are considered key MCSs associated with management accounting. We find financial planning to be the most widely adopted MCS category at an early stage, followed by the human resource planning and strategic planning categories. Financial evaluation systems are typically adopted at a later stage. (2) Variables associated with the rate of adoption of MCSs. Our results indicate that number of employees, presence of venture capital, i.
A New Family of Equity Style Indices

In this paper we propose a new family of European style indices (ESI). While our indices nest the well-known Fama and French (1992) and Carhart (1997) equity styles, they include two additional styles, namely idiosyncratic risk as well as illiquidity. We emphasize the importance of those additional equity styles by pointing out results of the recent empirical literature. We then define six major equity style indices, which include beta, size, valuation, momentum, idiosyncratic risk and illiquidity. The style index results are presented for the European equity market using the well-known Dow Jones Stoxx 600 universe.
Do NHS cost pressures follow long-term patterns?

The pressure to achieve targets and balance budgets leaves most within the NHS with little time to explore fundamental issues, such as the very long-term patterns behind demand and cost. For example, during 2009 most primary care trusts (PCTs) experienced huge and totally unexpected pressure on budgets. Did this really come from nowhere or could it be that our hidden/unarticulated assumptions with regard to the basis for movement in costs is flawed?