Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aspiration Level Theory and Stock Returns: An Empirical Test Preliminary version Please, do not cite or circulate it

According to aspiration level theory, stocks achieving an aspiration level return in the recent past more frequently earn a lower subsequent excess monthly return on average. To test this hypothesis in the cross-section of stock returns, I construct a measure for each stock as the probability of achieving the aspiration level return. I investigate several specifications for the aspiration level returns such as the zero return, the risk-free rate, the market return, and the industry average return. I find supporting evidence for the role of an aspiration level even after controlling for several known factors including size, book-to-market ratio, momentum, and short-term reversal. The results remain significant even among stocks with large market capitalization, with high liquidity, with high institutional ownership, and in both high and low sentiment time periods. Additional tests show that these results are not driven by microstructure effects.
INFLUENCE OF TOURISTS’

Cheetahs are considered “Vulnerable” by the IUCN and are listed in CITES Appendix I (Nowell & Jackson 1996). One of the largest natural populations lives in Kenya (Marker 2002). However, even on protected land the cheetah is increasingly affected by anthropogenic factors including poaching and disturbance by tourists (Burney 1980). The Masai-Mara National Reserve, home to the members of this family of felines, is one of the most-visited parks in the world, with the number of visitors growing each year. In recent years, the negative impact of tourism on rare species—the cheetah, in particular—has been widely discussed. Various studies have demonstrated that factors of tourism such as the number of cars, their location (on or off the road) and distance from animals, their speed and manner of approach, the noise of tourists, and more have a substantial influence on cheetah behavior (Burney 1980; Karanja 2003; Henry 1980; Caro 1994; Rönn 2002 and others). However, up to this point the question as to which of the factors listed is most disturbing has remained open. The purpose of this work was to assess the simultaneous effect on cheetah behavior of several aspects of the presence of tourists.
An Age-Adjusted Trend Test for the Tumor Incidence Rate for Single-Sacrifice Experiments

The nonparametric age-adjusted test proposed by Kodell and Ahn (1) for assessing doserelated trend with respect to the tumor incidence rate in animal experiments is extended from the case of multiple sacrifices to the case of a single (terminal) sacrifice. The tumor incidence rate is made identifiable for time intervals preceding the final time interval by assuming constant proportionality of the tumor prevalences in live and dead animals. Information on cause of death is not required. A Monte Carlo simulation study is conducted to assess size and power of the test.
Is Ureteral Stenting after Ureteroscopy Really Necessary

Objective: To evaluate the use of a Double J stent catheter after uncomplicated ureteroscopy regarding the need for pain killers, lower urinary tract symptoms, fever and the recurrence of stones. Methods: Over a period of one year from January 2007 through January 2008, all patients who underwent uncomplicated ureteroscopies at Prince Hussein Urology Center, King Hussein Medical Center were studied. Group A were not stented and group B were stented. The need for pain killers, lower urinary tract symptoms, onset of fever and recurrence of stones were analyzed. Results: A total of 187 patients had uncomplicated ureteroscopies. Seventy-eight (41.7%) patients were stented (Group A) and 109 (58.3%) patients were not stented (Group B). In the recovery room there was no difference in the need for pain killers but there was a great difference in the first four weeks postoperatively where only 20.2% needed pain killers in group B compared to 62.8% in group A. Only 14.6% of patients in group B had lower urinary tract symptoms while 79.5% in group A were symptomatic. The onset of urinary tract related fever was lower in group B compared to group A (0.91% compared to 3.8%). There was no difference in stone recurrence at three months between the two groups. Conclusion: Stent placement after uncomplicated ureteroscopy is unnecessary, has no added benefit and is associated with increased morbidities. Good clinical judgment is needed for intraoperative patient evaluation and the decision for the need of ureteric stent.
Relative Performance Evaluation and CEO Risk-Taking

Relative performance evaluation (RPE) affects CEO risk-taking; it is associated with higher idiosyncratic and lower systematic risk. RPE may also have unintended negative consequences; it is associated with higher future firm-specific stock crash risk. Using accounting performance metrics and/or cash payouts dampens RPE’s effect on risk-taking and crash risk. Risk-taking associated with RPE is concentrated in up market years, firms with operating flexibility, and firms setting low performance targets. Consistent with risk-taking results, RPE is associated with investment policies that increase corporate focus. Consistent with crash risk results, RPE firms have relatively positive accounting accruals, suggesting they avoid disclosing bad news.
Firm Generated Content in Social Media Marketing and its impact on Brand Image, Purchase Intention and eWOM for Complex Decisión Making Track: Marketing Management

The objective of the study was to evaluate how Social Media Marketing and Brand Image influence eWOM and the intention of students to enroll in a university. This research is pioneer in examine the relationship among these concepts for complex decision making. Results indicate that Firm-Generated-Content by a University in social media, which is Informative and Entertaining and does not propagate Anti-values influence purchase intention double mediated by Perceived Quality, Brand Associations and eWOM. These finding can enable complex decision making brands to explain their customers purchasing behavior and provide a guide to managing their marketing resources as well
THE EFFECT OF PERCEIVED VALUE, TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE, AND E-SERVICE QUALITY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND SERVICE LOYALTY FOR INSTANT MESSAGE PROVIDERS BUSINESS by

Thailand is the second-fastest growing smartphone market in the ASEAN region, mobile instant message (MIM) services have been widely adopted in Thailand. Although previous research are extensive on the adoption of mobile services industry, only few focus on customer satisfaction and loyalty to MIM in Thailand. This research use simple random sampling to choose four places (Si Lom, Sutthisan, Phahon Yothin and Lardprao) in Bangkok, and use accidental sampling to choose the respondents who use the MIM. A total of 430 respondents answered the questionnaires. Data analysis was using descriptive statistic, multiple regressions and factor analysis. This research found that perceived value, technology acceptance, and e-service quality has the positive significant effect on customer satisfaction and service loyalty; functional value is seen to be a major driver of customer satisfaction. Additionally, this research find that nationality and behavioral of MIM usage, have difference in the objective of use. The result of this research showed that MIM provider should develop and provide more functional value in MIM, to let customers got more value from the function through use them product and service. Consider the finds of behavior and nationality of respondents, most of Chinese respondent use MIM for social communication, and Thai respondent use MIM for both social communication and work. MIM provider should pay more attention on different nationality customer’s needs.
Margie Polden Memorial Lecture: The psychology of incontinence - why successful treatments fail

Over the past 20 years, treatments for incontinence have undergone a revolution. However, the results for some patients remain disappointing. There are two possible explanations for this: first, whilst a treatment may address a symptom, it does not always treat the impact of that symptom; and secondly, there can be a mismatch between physicians’ and patients’ expectations of what a treatment will achieve. The present authors discuss some of the issues surrounding patient perceptions of the impact of incontinence, and also recent research undertaken to investigate the differences in perception between doctors and their patients. George Kelly outlined the theory of personal constructs, which highlighted how individual expectations can be based on experience. The present authors’ research utilized repertory grids to identify themes that may be important in decisionmaking. The results highlight the diversity of options required to meet all expectations. A further study in the present authors’ unit demonstrated the potential impact of urodynamics on patients’ subsequent compliance with therapy. It is interesting that, at a time when there is an increasing focus on treating the whole patient, the Government has highlighted behavioural therapy as an important area to develop in managing patients with anxiety and depression.
EARLY CHILDHOOD CARIES AMONGST PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN AND THEIR CAREGIVERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF ORAL HEALTH IN A KENYAN RURAL SETTING

Objective: To evaluate the oral health knowledge and attitudes among caregivers of three to five year old children in a rural setting in Kenya. Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study. Setting: Kiamba Division of Kiambu County, Kenya. Subjects: Three hundred and forty three caregivers participated in the study. A pretested self-administered questionnaire on the causes of dental caries was sent to the caregivers, and 67% of them were returned. Results: Slightly over half (59.5%) of the children had dental caries. The majority of the caregivers (96.1%) reported that consumption of sugary foods causes tooth decay. Approximately 85% of the caregivers reported that deciduous teeth were important but 57% preferred extraction of carious deciduous tooth. Conclusion: Whereas the knowledge of and attitude towards oral health among caregivers was relatively high, the role of infant feeding practices on dental caries was reportedly low. Although the majority of the children brushed their teeth, less than half of them received assistance from their caregivers.
Secrecy by Design With Applications to Privacy and Compression

Secrecy by design is examined as an approach to information-theoretic secrecy. The main idea behind this approach is to design an information processing system from the ground up to be perfectly secure with respect to an explicit secrecy constraint. The principal technical contributions are decomposition bounds that allow the representation of a random variable <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$X$ </tex-math></inline-formula> as a deterministic function of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$({S},{Z})$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, where <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$S$ </tex-math></inline-formula> is a given fixed random variable and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Z$ </tex-math></inline-formula> is constructed to be independent of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$S$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. Using the problems of privacy and lossless compression as examples, the utility cost of applying secrecy by design is investigated. Privacy is studied in the setting of the privacy funnel function previously introduced in the literature and new bounds for the regime of zero information leakage are derived. For the problem of lossless compression, it is shown that strong information-theoretic guarantees can be achieved using a reduced secret key size and a quantifiable penalty on the compression rate. The fundamental limits for both problems are characterized with matching lower and upper bounds when the secret <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$S$ </tex-math></inline-formula> is a deterministic function of the information source <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$X$ </tex-math></inline-formula>.
Social Network Structure, Human Capital and Business Performance of Malaysian SMEs

The purpose of this study is to investigate the moderating impact of human capital on the relationship between social network and business performance in the Malaysian manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The research data were collected through mail and self-administered questionnaire sent to owner-manager around Malaysia. A stratified random sampling was used which elicited 226 useable responses to be used for data analysis. The hierarchical moderated regression was used to analyse the moderator effect. Results have shown that (1) age of entrepreneur as a moderator on the relationship between network centrality and non-financial business performance but not to financial business performance, (2) gender as a moderator on the relationship between network size and financial business performance but not to non-financial business performance (3) no moderating effect of age of entrepreneur on the relationship between network size and financial and non-financial business performance and (4) no moderating effect of gender on the relationship between network centrality and financial and non-financial business performance. The discussions on results, the contribution as well as limitations are also presented.
Connectors and Influencers

The theory of network formation yields sharp predictions on network structure. Existing experiments on network formation generally reject these predictions. These findings raise a question mark about the validity of an economic approach to understanding networks. The present paper develops a new experimental platform to study network formation. The platform integrates a network visualization tool with interactive asynchronous choices in continuous time. The platform allows for large groups of up to 100 subjects in the laboratory. The platform is used to test a model of linking formation and efforts. This model predicts that equilibrium networks have a ‘star’ like structure and that individual efforts are highly specialized. Our experiments offer robust evidence in support of these predictions.
Lymphoma with cutaneous involvement in three domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

Three domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) with cutaneous lymphoma are described. Two rabbits were young (7 weeks and 1 years) and were euthanized within 1 week of showing clinical signs. Lymphoma was found in the skin and internal organs. The third rabbit was 9.5 years of age, and lived for more than 1 year after diagnosis. No response was seen to either 2 months of alpha-interferon administration or a 2.5-week course of isotretinoin treatment. After 1 year the rabbit died suddenly; the owner refused necropsy. Immunologic stains of the tumour in all three rabbits showed T cells to be the lymphoma cell type.
Bank Competition, Firm Risk-Taking and Investment

We investigate the effect of increased bank competition on corporate risk taking and investment, by exploiting the staggered deregulation of interstate bank branching in the United States during 1990s and early 2000s. We find that banking competition reduces firms risktaking headquartered in the deregulated states. Our results are stronger for firms with higher opacity, external finance dependence and prior bank relationships. We also show that the reduction in risk-taking is motivated by a reduction in firms’ risk-taking incentive, as a result of more favorable bank loan terms after the deregulation, that includes lower interest rates, longer maturities and higher amounts. We document that firms investments increase after deregulation, implying that reduction in risk is a result of investments in more, and lessrisky projects. Our results are robust to a variety of falsification tests, alternative dependent variables and a battery of robustness studies.
Peer Information Comparability and Corporate Voting: Evidence from Voting on Shareholder Proposals

Voting on shareholder proposals is a corporate governance mechanism integral to shareholder democracy. Information about peers is important in attracting voter turnout because relative performance comparison is a key factor when shareholders decide on the need for changes and because campaigns use peer comparisons to advocate their positions and solicit votes. Consistent with comparable peer information enhancing corporate democracy, we document that firms with more comparable peer information have higher voter participation. This relation is stronger when shareholders have a long-run focus and less private information about peers. Furthermore, the relation is stronger when there is less information about the firm per se. In the short term, comparability is associated with a higher chance of passing and implementing a shareholder proposal. In the long term, comparability is associated with a greater improvement in operating performance after a shareholder proposal is passed.
THE ROLE OF EVALUATION AT THE STAGES OF POLICY FORMULATION, IMPLEMENTATION, AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Public policy evaluation is a sine qua non and unavoidable exercise for any nation states in the world. This paper discusses three major stages of policy evaluation i.e. evaluation at the formulation, implementation and post-implementation or impact assessment. In every stage evaluation must follow appropriate standard and criteria. For the sake of greater public interest and maintaining real worth or value for money, subjectivity should be avoided in doing evaluation studies rather proper objectivity should be maintained through choosing of right professionals or experts for doing right evaluation. In doing evaluation, evaluators should try to choose proper sampling, produce unbiased interpretation and analysis, and maintain reliability and validity with ethical manners. The evaluator or decisionmakers should never hide and distort the research findings and the competent authority should ventilate the findings and try to utilize the results and recommendations with no time.
An Investigation of Lean Manufacturing Implementation in Textile Industries of Pakistan

This survey based study explored the implementation of lean manufacturing practices in textile industries of Pakistan. A total of 76 responses were received. The results of the study showed that the textile sector is at the beginning stage of lean implementation – more than half of the surveyed companies were intransition to implement lean. The most important driver to implement lean was found to be organization’s continuous improvement program followed by the drive to focus on customers, and desire to use best practices. The respondents perceived cost reduction to be the biggest benefit that can be achieved by implementing lean, followed by customer satisfaction, and improved delivery time. Among tools and techniques 5S, quality control circles, kaizen and SMED were used extensively. Manufacturing planning and control was not formally implemented. Human resource related factors were perceived to be crucial to effectively implement lean. Level of implementation was found to have a significant relationship with the size and the type of company and not with the age of the company. Lack of awareness to implement lean, company culture, lack of communication, and employee resistance were the main barriers faced by the sample companies during the implementation of lean.
Asset-Intensity and the Cross-Section of Stock Returns

This paper tests the hypothesis that many investors overlook persistent firm differences in the amount of investment required to grow sales and profits. I focus on asset-intensity (operating assets/sales) as a proxy for the net investment a firm needs to attain a given growth rate and show that firms with heavy (light) asset-intensity have lower (higher) subsequent stock returns. A long/short portfolio based on this effect yields abnormal returns around 0.4% per month. Asset-heavy stocks miss consensus analyst earnings forecasts 16% more often than asset-light stocks, suggesting investor forecast error is the source of the return difference. Consistent with the hypothesis that investors make a mistake about the investment required to grow, asset-intensity is a stronger predictor when expected or ex-post investment is high. ∗Raife Giovinazzo is at the University of Chicago. For their valuable advice and support, I thank my committee: Gene Fama, Andrea Frazzini, Toby Moskowitz (co-chair), Abbie Smith, and Dick Thaler (cochair). I also thank Lynn Barney, Ola Bengtsson, Hui Chen, George Constantinides, Chris Giovinazzo, Vincent Giovinazzo, Anil Kashyap, Richard Leftwich, Gregor Matvos, Adair Morse, Rob Novy-Marx, Lubos Pastor, Monika Piazzesi, Josh Rauh, Berk Sensoy, Amit Seru, Doug Skinner, David Solomon, Amir Sufi, Luke Taylor, Pietro Veronesi and seminar participants at the University of Chicago, Notre Dame, and the London Business School TransAtlantic Doctoral Conference. All errors and opinions are mine. Comments and suggestions requested at rgiovina@ChicagoGSB.edu.
Relative financial leverage, wealth effects of product quality failures, and product market effects

We study whether relative financial leverage impacts the wealth effects of severe product quality failures that result in product recalls for product market participants. Consistent with the view that taking on high debt relative to rivals makes the firm a weaker competitor, we find that recalling firms with high relativeleverage experience more negative wealth effects to recalls while their industry rivals experience more positive wealth effects. These effects are, however, confined to the sub-sample of recalls in oligopolistic industries. Key suppliers’ losses are exacerbated when they have more leverage or have committed larger relationship-specific investments. Finally, we find that product recalls have both horizontal (industry-wide) and vertical (supplier) contagion effects.
Managerial Scientific Expertise, Innovation, and Firm Performance

We propose that CEOs with doctorate degrees (Ph.D. CEOs) pursue long-term objectives and are patient at managing innovation because they are intrinsically motivated to explore scientific unknowns. Indeed, companies managed by Ph.D. CEOs produce more patents with greater novelty, generality and originality. Ph.D. CEOs have low incentives to manipulate short-term financials, and exert persistent long-term effort on research and development, learning and value creation. Firms with Ph.D. CEOs are undervalued and subsequently achieve high abnormal returns. With PhDs’ long-term vision, firm value and operating performance slowly improve in the long-run. Our results imply that patience will eventually be paid off.
How does website quality and trust towards website influence online purchase intention

Online shopping is gaining popularity in Pakistan but the research on its determinants is scarce. The main purpose of this study is to explore what factors are important in developing online purchase intention of Pakistani youth interested in shopping through the internet. The data were collected through questionnaires using convenience sampling technique from 502 mainly young respondents of Pakistan. The theoretical model of the current study is developed on the theory of planned behavior (TPB). To test hypotheses, structural equation modeling (with maximum likelihood approach) has been used through AMOS software. The results suggest that website quality and trust in e-commerce social websites are positively related to online purchase intention. Users’ attitude towards online shopping partially mediated the links. This study has important implication for new evendors such that in order to promote online shopping, they need to improve quality features of website and enhance users’ trust.