Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Recent Developments in African Financial Markets: Agenda for Further Research

Despite the massive expansion in global financial markets in the 1990s, this development was felt only marginally in Africa. The lack of comparable expansion and impact in the African financial markets was observed after several years of financial sector reforms in many countries. Following these developments, several questions can be raised about what the most appropriate reforms should be. It is obvious that while the taking over of the financial markets by the state, as happened before reforms, cannot be the best means to make finance respond to the developmental needs of poor economies, outright liberalisation of markets with significant institutional and structural inadequacies also cannot lead to the desired outcomes. This is clearly shown by the African experience of the 1980s and 1990s. Are there alternatives to these two approaches of managing financial systems and markets? Clearly, greater research needs to be undertaken into what the peculiar policy and institutional needs of these financial markets are, taking into account the structures of economies, and learning from recent developments in theory. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
The Political—Technical Divide and Collaborative Management in Brazil’s Taquari Basin

Elected officials and managers are both integral players in natural resource management. Politicians and technicians recognize that interdependencies exist, but finding organizational models that effectively integrate the distinct political and technical aspects of these endeavors remains a challenge. In Brazil’s Taquari Basin, leaders formed a watershed-based intermunicipal consortium in an attempt to achieve such integration. The experience of this consortium shows that organizing management around watersheds does not naturally lead to political—technical integration. The institutional separation of political and technical activities within this consortium’s structure generated divergent beliefs about appropriate functions for a watershed-based organization, ultimately impeding collaboration. Efforts to overcome these differences were largely unsuccessful, as the communication strategies employed were based on flawed understandings of the interests and objectives of politicians and technicians, respectively. This study draws on conceptual frameworks from organizational sociology to uncover the social forces that both facilitate and impede collaboration across the political—technical divide.
Warming/cooling effects of cropland greenness changes during 1982–2006 in the North China Plain

This study analysed the changes in cropland greenness during 1982–2006 in the North China Plain (NCP) and investigated the warming/cooling effects of the greenness changes. The results show that while spring cropland greenness increased, early summer cropland greenness substantially decreased from 1982 to 2006. In contrast to the cooling and wetting effects of the greenness increase in spring, the greenness reduction in early summer had warming and drying effects. The cooling/warming effects of cropland greenness changes accounted for ∼47% of the spatial variance of daily maximum temperature (Tmax) change in spring and ∼44% in early summer. The wetting/drying effects of cropland greenness changes accounted for ∼48% of the spatial variance of daily minimum specific humidity (SPHmin) change in spring and ∼19% in early summer. The cooling–wetting/warming–drying effects mainly resulted from the distinct partitioning of surface net radiation between surface latent heat flux and sensible heat flux over cropland with different greenness. Canopy transpiration plays a dominant role. The increased (decreased) cropland greenness corresponds to high (low) transpiration rate, less (more) sensible heat flux and high (low) humidity, and consequently cooling–wetting (warming–drying) effects. In comparison, there was little change in surface net radiation, although surface albedo and emissivity had changed with greenness change.
The effects of tax and expenditure limitation (TEL) stringency on the level of state expenditure and revenue

This article employs a state and local tax and expenditure limitation (TEL) stringency (restrictiveness) index to examine the effects of TEL stringency on the levels of total expenditure, direct general expenditure, total own source revenue, and general own source revenue by analyzing a panel dataset of the 48 contiguous US states for 1977–2006. The findings indicate that a more stringent state TEL results in a reduction in total state spending. However, it does not reduce direct general spending. The findings also show that a more stringent state TEL does not lead to a reduction of state revenue collection. The findings suggest that the level of stringency of a state TEL has little or no effect on the level of either state expenditure or revenue, confirming results from previous literature that state TELs are largely ineffective in controlling state budgets. Points for practitioners The findings of this study provide important policy implications for professionals working in public management and administration. Politicians and state government officials need to reconsider enacting state TELs to use as a tool for the reduction of the size of state government because the findings in this study clearly indicate that a more stringent state TEL does not result in a reduction of state expenditure or revenue. This study and others suggest that state TELs are largely ineffective in controlling expenditure and revenue levels. However, local TELs are quite effective, and thus, policy coordination must follow in designing appropriate state and local TELs.
Earmarking and Partitioning: Increasing Saving by Low-Income Households

This research examines the effects of earmarking money on savings by low-income consumers. In particular, the authors test two interventions that are designed to enhance the effects of earmarking: (1) using a visual reminder of the savings goal and (2) dividing the earmarked money into two parts. Consistent with prior research suggesting that partitioning increases self-control, people save more when earmarked money is partitioned into two accounts than when it is pooled into one account. In addition, the presence of the visual reminder increases the savings rate. The authors conclude with implications for consumer welfare and directions for further research.
Does “dividend investing” have value for the South African investor?

A number of portfolio strategies have been proposed, based on the dividend yield of a small number of large companies. It has been suggested that, by following any one of these strategies, a return that is superior to that of the market can be obtained. In this paper, these portfolio strategies are tested for investors on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. However, not only are strategies based on dividend yield scrutinized, but also comparable strategies based on earnings yield. The average return of various portfolios, selected in accordance with four methods of ranking, are compared. The major finding is that earnings yield is a better ranking method than the dividend yield method.
The Impact of Government Funding on Private Contributions to Nonprofit Performing Arts Organizations

This paper tests the crowding-out hypothesis for a balanced panel of nonprofit performing arts organizations between 1998 and 2003. This research uses a number of model specifications and estimating techniques to appropriately capture the relationship between government grants and private donations. Under alternative specifications, the relationship between government grants and private donations suggests crowding-in between $0.14 and $1.15. The crowd-in relationship does change according to art type: symphony orchestras and music companies experience a modest crowd-in while dance and ballet companies experience a small crowd-out. Although the crowd-in falls to zero under the strictest condition, there is a lack of evidence of crowd-out for nonprofit performing arts organizations as a group. Copyright 2007 The Authors Journal compilation © CIRIEC 2007.
New Place-to-Place Housing Price Indexes for U.S. Metropolitan Areas, and Their Determinants

Housing prices vary widely from market to market in the United States. The purpose of this study is to (1) construct new place-to-place indexes of the price of housing, using the 1990 Census, and (2) analyze the determinants of housing prices, with a particular focus on the supply side determinants-regulatory and natural constraint-as well as the usual demand determinants. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.
Immigration as a political issue in Denmark and Sweden

Abstract. Studies of party politics and party competition in West European democracies all point to diversification. Non-economic issues such as the environment, refugees and immigrants or law and order have become increasingly central to party politics. However, there has been surprisingly little interest in explaining variation across time and countries concerning which issues actually become central to party competition. From the sparse literature, two general answers can be discerned. One is societal, focusing on mass media coverage, public opinion and the development of the policy problems related to the issue. The other focuses on the structure of party competition itself – more precisely on the incentives for different parties in drawing attention to different issues. This study stresses the importance of the latter based on a study of the immigration issue in Denmark and Sweden. Party political attention to this issue in the 1990s has been considerably stronger in Denmark than in Sweden. This can be explained by the different strategic situation of the main stream right-wing parties in the two countries. Focusing on the immigrant issue easily leads to a conflict with the centre-right, especially social liberal parties. In Sweden, such a conflict would undermine mainstream right-wing attempts at winning government power. In Denmark, the Social Liberals governed with the Social Democrats in the 1990s, which made it attractive for the main stream right-wing parties to focus on the issue in order to win government power based on the support of radical right-wing parties.
Asymmetric Information, Signaling, and Optimal Corporate Financial Decisions

As is shown in the financial literature, the assumption of perfect and costless information often leads to the conclusion that corporate financial decisions are inconsequential to the value of the firm (e.g., Stiglitz [20] and Fama [6]). This conclusion seems to be in direct contradiction with the observed behavior of corporations that allocate real resources to implement financial policies. The gap between theory and observed behavior is bridged by introducing various frictions and market imperfections. A growing number of studies examine the optiraality of financial decisions when the assumption of perfect and costless information is replaced by allowing for informational asymmetry. The asymmetry is assumed to exist between corporate insiders who possess superior information about the firm's future earnings prospects and outside investors. The emphasis in this literature is on the ability of financial instruments to serve as signaling devices through which the true value of the firm can be revealed to the market without moral hazard or disclosure of confidential information. Although the signaling process is typically considered to be costly, it is advocated that firms may be better off if they employ this mechanism rather than reveal reliable, but confidential information, or not disclose at all.
Environmental policy-making in New South Wales 1979–2010: a quantitative analysis

This article presents a quantitative analysis of the environmental policy agenda in New South Wales between 1979 and 2010, using 505 policies. Analysis of the number of environmental policies made during that time shows a three-fold increase in activity from 1995 to 2010 under Labor. During this time, the Carr government (1995–2005) made 235 environmental policies, but the Iemma government (2005–2008) provided the most intense period of environmental policy-making, making 99 policies in three years. This is likely to be the result of a high level of capacity at the ministerial and agency level, the success of policy entrepreneurs, public opinion and new venues for policy. Prior to 1995, Liberal governments (1988–1995) made fewer environmental policies on an annual basis, but at a similar rate to the Wran-Unsworth Labor government (based on 1979–1988 data). Elections had a small negative impact on the making of environmental policy, decreasing the number of policies made during election years. It is argued that large-scale quantitative policy research, such as comparing policy counts over time, can lead to a fuller understanding of the policy agenda.
Performance evaluation of women farmer cooperative societies in Owerri Agricultural Zone of Imo State, Nigeria

The study assessed the performance of women farmer cooperatives in Owerri Agricultural Zone of Imo State. Data were collected from 50 women farmer cooperators studied in four local governments within the Zone. Factors such as age of cooperators, family size, farm size, input costs and labour costs were identified to have significant influence on output level of women cooperators while factors such as level of education and membership strength were found to have no significant influence on the output level of women farmer cooperators. Based on the findings, the study recommended among others improvement in practice of channeling loans to rural women through cooperatives, adequate and timely provision of agricultural inputs to cooperatives, adequate supervision of cooperatives and creation of effective link between local government agricultural extension and state cooperative office as strategies to improve the efficiency and performance of women farmer cooperatives in the zone. (J Agric & Soc Res:2003 3(2): 97-107)
From Community Forest Management to Polycentric Governance: Assessing Evidence from the Bottom Up

Decentralization of governance is an emerging trend in many natural resource sectors in both developed and developing countries. Despite the normative agenda of community-based natural resource management for social and ecological outcomes, a shift to multilevel or polycentric theorizing is warranted. Polycentric governance recognizes the importance of cross-scale interactions, as well as the horizontal and vertical institutional linkages of authority, networks, and markets in which community institutions are embedded. Based on qualitative community forestry research in Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada, this article explores the themes of livelihood and local economy, collaborative forest planning and participation, and environmental governance. Bottom-up empirical evidence suggests that viewing community forestry through a polycentric governance network is necessary for theorizing complex cross-scale dynamics. Incentivizing policies that encourage the development of polycentric systems for natural resource governance is important for maintaining local benefits, while increasing adaptive capacity to deal with complex social–ecological challenges.
The Effects of Pre-Issue Information Releases on Seasoned Equity Offerings

Because of information asymmetry, managers tend to make pre-issue disclosures to reduce the costs of seasoned equity offerings. This paper discusses whether pre-issue information releases of major investments, financial forecast revisions and dividends help the investors to anticipate seasoned equity offerings and assist in reducing the information asymmetry when the managers announce equity issues. We analyze price and trading volume reactions to equity issue announcements to infer the degree of information asymmetry. Consistent with our expectations, we find that these three types of pre-issue disclosures can help investors to anticipate equity issues. However, after controlling for anticipation and cross-sectional variation in uncertainty, we find none of the disclosures are capable of reducing the price drop at issue announcement, and only the disclosures of increased cash dividends have the effect of reducing the negative trading volume reactions. In addition, both the price and trading volume reactions are not related to the intervals between the disclosures and the issue announcements. Copyright (c) 2008 The Authors Journal compilation (c) 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Prehistoric human impacts on Rapa, French Polynesia

New excavations and survey on the island of Rapa have shown that a rockshelter was occupied by early settlers around AD 1200 and the first hill forts were erected about 300 years later. Refortification occurred up to the contact period and proliferated around AD 1700. Taro cultivation in terraced pond-fields kept pace with the construction of forts. The authors make a connection between fort-building and making pond-fields, demonstrating that the pressure on resources provoked both the intensification of agriculture and hostility between the communities of the small island.
Disparity in neural and subjective responses to food images in women with obesity and normal‐weight women

Self‐reports tend to differ from objective measurements of food intake, particularly in adults with obesity; however, no studies have examined how neural responses to food (an objective measure) and subjective ratings of food differ by BMI status. This study tested normal‐weight women (NWW) and women with obesity (OBW) for group differences in neural indices of attention towards food pictures, subjective ratings of these pictures, and the disparity between objective and subjective measurements.
Bacterial adhesion of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans serotypes to titanium implants: SEM evaluation. A preliminary report.

BACKGROUND In this study, the adherence ability of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans serotypes to titanium implant surfaces was evaluated to demonstrate if any selective adherence occurs according to the serotypes of the microorganism. METHODS The study material included 3 reference strains of A. actinomycetemcomitans serotypes a, b, and c (ATCC 29523, ATCC 43718, ATCC 33384) and 2 clinical isolates of A. actinomycetemcomitans serotypes d and e (IDH 781, IDH 1705), together with commercially available titanium blade implants. For each strain, bacterial suspensions with identical concentrations (5 x 10(7) cells/ml) were prepared and 0.5 ml of each was added on to the implant surfaces, which had been precoated with glycine-bovine serum albumin (BSA). After incubation at 37 degrees C for 60 minutes in 5% CO2 in air, the implants with attached bacteria were prepared for scanning electron microscopic (SEM) observations. Bacterial adhesion was quantified on the textured body surfaces of the implants, and results were statistically analyzed with analysis of variance followed by Duncan's test. The surface ultrastructure of the bacterial cells was also evaluated descriptively. RESULTS The tested strains adhered to implant surfaces in different quantities. Serotype a (ATCC 29523) showed the highest adherence affinity (statistically significant, P <0.01). When compared with each other, serotypes b, c, and d (ATCC 43718, ATCC 33384, and IDH 781) attached equally well, whereas serotype e (IDH 1705) had a statistically significant low adherence capability. CONCLUSIONS It is suggested that in vitro A. actinomycetemcomitans adhesion to implant surfaces is strain dependent.
The Anatomy of the Mortgage Securitization Crisis

The current crisis in the mortgage securitization industry highlights significant failures in our models of how markets work and our political will, organizational capability, and ideological desire to intervene in markets. This paper shows that one of the main sources of failure has been the lack of a coherent understanding of how these markets came into existence, how tactics and strategies of the principal firms in these markets have evolved over time, and how we ended up with the economic collapse of the main firms. It seeks to provide some insight into these processes by compiling both historical and quantitative data on the emergence and spread of these tactics across the largest investment banks and their principal competitors from the mortgage origination industry. It ends by offering some policy proscriptions based on the analysis.
I thought this was Social Studies, not English, Miss! Improving students' attitudes to reading and writing in Year 9 and 10 Social Studies

Low levels of literacy engagement by Y ears 9 and 10 students impact on their achievement in curriculum subjects such as Social Studies in New Zealand secondary schools. The majority of students entering secondary school possess sufficient foundation skills for further scaffolded subject literacy instruction, but some consistently resist or refuse to engage with text. Faced with this, the teacher works increasingly harder to compensate for reluctant readers and writers. This is the story of one teacher’s changing practice as the result of professional learning in The Secondary Literacy Project (Ministry of Education, 2009-11) which has resulted in a substantive change in her Social Studies classrooms, with “resistive” (Tovani, 2000, p. 14) readers now significantly more motivated and engaged in negotiating and responding to challenging texts.
New estimates of overseas U.S. currency holdings, the Underground economy and the "Tax Gap"

This paper examines the ‘currency enigma” which arises because despite financial innovation that has created important new substitutes for cash usage, U.S. per capita currency holdings now amount to $2700. American households and businesses admit to holding only 15 percent of the stock of currency outside of the banking system. Some fraction of unaccounted for currency is held overseas (the dollarization hypothesis) and some is held domestically undeclared, as a store of value and a medium of exchange for transactions involving the production and distribution of illegal goods and services, and for transactions involving incomes that are not reported to the IRS (the underground economy hypothesis). We first revisit the longstanding controversy concerning the fraction of U.S. currency held abroad and find that newly revised estimates of U.S. overseas currency stocks estimates the fraction overseas at 37 percent, rather than the widely cited figure of 65 percent. A more refined proxy places the fraction abroad closer to 30 percent. New estimates of overseas holdings permit calculation of domestic currency holdings, as well as narrow and broad measures of domestic monetary aggregates. These are tested to determine their ability to predict fluctuations in real output and prices. The domestic currency figures are then used to estimate the current amount of “unreported income” which approaches $2 trillion, implying a “tax gap” in 2008 of between $446- $490 billion.
The Dependence of Tourism SMEs on NTOs

This article reports on a study to explore the level of dependence of small and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMEs) in Finland on the resources of the Finnish Tourist Board (FTB). A tool to measure resource dependence was developed. The overall importance of specified resources, the level of exchange of these resources acquired from the FTB, the existence of alternative sources for similar resources, and access to them were assessed. The level of dependence of Finnish tourism SMEs on the FTB was reported to be moderate. Differences were, however, identified among different types of enterprises. The size of enterprises, their proportion of foreign guests, their marketing planning, and their cooperation with others affected the level of resource dependence. The FTB resources on which tourism SMEs were most dependent were destination marketing and marketing knowledge. Results contribute to an understanding of the role of national tourism organizations.