Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rational Expectations and Pro Sports Leagues

We put a new set of shoes on that old workhorse, the competitive talent market (CTM) model in sports economics. There exist unique rational expectations equilibria for both national football league (NFL-type leagues) and major league baseball (MLB-type leagues) under the CTM model. A cursory statistical test fails to reject the empirical implications for the NFL-type league. The model also suggests empirical tests of whether or not talent demand (marginal revenues from talent), including induced effects, actually slopes down. But like all models, the competitive talent model should be applied in its context. It describes highly cooperative North American sports leagues that have a wealth of common information. But it may not do the same for other leagues if they lack this common information.
Explaining Modes of Participation An Evaluation of Alternative Theoretical Models

This paper evaluates two alternative explanations to political participation – the idea that collective interests motivate individuals to take part in political action, and the notion that selective incentives motivate political activity. These two solutions to “the paradox of participation” are evaluated across three different modes of political participation, party activity, contacting and manifestations, using a nationally representative 1997–1999 panel study of the Swedish population. The results indicate that individuals who take part in contacting and manifestations are motivated by both collective incentives and the goal to influence policy, and selective incentives, such as expressive incentives and the entertainment value of participation. We also find that individuals who are active in parties are not mainly driven by the goal to influence policy. Instead, such activity seems to be motivated by selective incentives, more specifically, expressive incentives.
Price Drift as an Outcome of Differences in Higher Order Beliefs

Motivated by the insight of Keynes (1936) on the importance of higher-order beliefs in financial markets, we examine the role of such beliefs in generating drift in asset prices. We show that in a dynamic setting, a higher-order difference of opinions is necessary for heterogeneous beliefs to generate price drift. Such drift does not arise in standard difference of opinion models, since investors' beliefs are assumed to be common knowledge. Our results stand in contrast to those of Allen, Morris, and Shin (2006) and others, as we argue that in rational expectation equilibria, heterogeneous beliefs do not lead to price drift.
Does congruence between espoused and enacted organizational values predict affective commitment in Australian organizations?

This article examines the fit between employee perceptions of espoused and enacted organizational values and their relationship with affective commitment. Drawing upon a survey of 343 employees in Australian organizations, our findings demonstrate that sensitivity to the distinction between espoused and enacted organizational values provides a more comprehensive account of the values construct and a better understanding of the relationship between values and organizational commitment. Polynomial regression modelling and response surface methodology revealed that affective commitment is higher when espoused and enacted organizational values are congruent. These findings suggest that when employees perceive organizational integrity is maintained, commitment to the organization is enhanced.
Catastrophe Pricing: Making Sense of the Alternatives

This paper examines different ways of pricing catastrophe (CAT) coverage for reinsurance treaties and large insurance accounts. While all the methods use CAT loss simulation model statistics, they use different statistics and different algorithms to arrive at indicated prices. This paper will provide the reader with the conceptual foundations and practical insights for understanding alternative approaches.
Corporate Governance and Entrepreneurial Firms

Although topics in corporate governance have been present in literature for almost a century, most of the theoretical and empirical work has focused on large and public companies, or the " Berle-Means-Corporation " in which fragmented ownership, caused by the separation of ownership and control, shifts power in the firm toward managers. While this research has improved our understanding of how large corporations are governed, corporate governance in small and medium sized enterprises, and in particular in entrepreneurial firms, has rarely been studied. While academia, managers, and policy makers are deeply concerned with how many jobs are created by new ventures, how much they should invest, and how much wealth they generate. In particular they are concerned in their local and national economy, for there is only scarce evidence on how entrepreneurial firms can and should organize their factors of production in a way that promotes success, and how they are governed. With the emergence of the "New Economy" that is step-by-step replacing the "Managed Economy," governance problems in these entrepreneurial firms appear. This essay offers a reflective overview of corporate governance mechanisms in entrepreneurial firms and offers an explanation on how and why they may differ from those mechanisms in large and publicly traded corporations.
Mechanism and Modeling of PMOS NBTI Degradation with Drain Bias

A new mechanism for PMOS NBTI (negative biased temperature instability) with drain bias is presented. The turnaround behavior of device degradation is explained. While drain bias reduces gate oxide voltage and causes less NBTI, the channel-hot-hole enhances the NBTI degradation. For the first time, a semi-empirical model is proposed that fits well with the experimental data, including various parameters, such as temperature, voltage, channel length, and drive current.
Recasting the Sovereign Wealth Fund Debate: Trust, Legitimacy, and Governance

Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) are the subject of intense debate. While these financial institutions are hard to define in precise terms, all agree they are government-owned investment funds operating in private financial markets. Their relevance to the evolving economic, political and financial landscape cannot be overstated, as they challenge the received notions of practice and governance embodied in traditional, Western financial institutions. This has resulted in distrust-more accurately labeled as illegitimacy-by Western policymakers about SWF intentions. Indeed, several countries are considering new, protectionist policies designed to minimize perceived SWF threats. In this article, I seek to evaluate the SWF phenomenon by making three contributions: clarifying what a SWF is and is not; analyzing the concerns of policymakers; and examining the role of governance in these concerns. This paper's theoretical contribution is a conceptualization of the interplay between organizational legitimacy and institutional governance. This is done through an interrogation of available literatures, reference to close-dialogue interviews with elites, and two brief case studies.
INVESTIGATING INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN THE FURTHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING ECONOMICS CURRICULUM AND GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORKS - IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING

iii OPSOMMING iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi CHAPTER 1: CONTEXTUALISING THE STUDY OF THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORKS AND THE FURTHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING (FET) ECONOMICS CURRICULUM IN SCHOOLS 1 1.
LONG RUN RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SECTOR SHARES AND ECONOMIC GROWTH A Panel Data Analysis of the Schengen Region

The structural change of economy entails that in long run the dynamics of sector shares (industry, service, and agricultural) are related to each other and to economic growth. For this purpose co-integration, error correction (EC), and Granger non-causality test (GC) models were estimated in panel setting. The panel data consists of 15 Schengen countries in period 1970-2004. The co-integration analysis confirmed long run relationships between the sector shares. EC-model estimates based on different presentations of sector share co-integration relations indicated that long run structural adjustments between all sector share pairs existed. Shocks in industry sector share cause turbulence in sector share relationships which slowly correct to equilibrium. The results of GC-tests suggested that unidirectional causality runs from the growth rate of GDP per capita (GDPc) to agriculture share growth, but a two-way causality runs between industry share growth and growth rate of GDPc. The relationship between services share growth and growth rate of GDPc is also bi-directional. Therefore, feedback impacts are found between sector shares and the growth rate of GDP per capita. The links between GDPc growth, service, and agriculture shares are complex but industry sector is still the “engine” of economic growth.
Small‐Firm Performance: Modeling the Role of Product and Process Improvements

Entrepreneurial and small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) firm performance is a complex, multifaceted construct that should be examined with an eye toward its complexity. Our research study seeks to accomplish this examination by proposing a conceptual model of SME performance with two distinct but related outcome dimensions—growth as one dimension and profitability as another. We propose hypotheses for relationships between four antecedent factor conditions— environmental hostility, firm size, innovation capability, and internationalization—and an SME's likelihood to pursue either product improvement or process improvement as their primary strategic orientation. Furthermore, we propose that an SME product improvement orientation likely has greater influence on growth and profit performance than will a process improvement orientation. The findings of the study suggest that internationalization and innovator position have a positive impact on new product and process improvements, while environmental hostility, internationalization, and product improvement have positive influences on growth as a performance dimension. In addition and as hypothesized, the product improvement orientation is positively associated with growth and in turn profitability, whereas the process improvement orientation showed no statistical relationship to growth and ultimately profitability.
Adenoviruses and acute respiratory infections in children living in an equatorial area of Brazil

SUMMARY Human adenoviruses (HAdVs) are important respiratory pathogens, found in 2–27% of acute respiratory infection (ARI) cases. Few studies have analysed the diversity of species and types of HAdVs associated with ARI in Brazil. The purpose of this study was to determine the circulation patterns of the different HAdV species and respective types associated with ARI in children in the city of Fortaleza, northeastern Brazil. HAdVs were screened by an indirect immunofluorescence assay, and subsequently identified as species and types by PCR and sequencing of the hexon gene (HVR1–HVR6). Between 2001 and 2013, a total of 290 HAdV strains were detected, 190 of which were identified as belonging to the HAdV-B, -C and -E species. Seven types of HAdVs circulated in the studied population during the analysed period, with HAdV-3 being predominant.
Earnings Management and Investor's Stock Return

This study investigates the effect of window dressing by Taiwanese firms on investors' stock returns. The second digit of the earnings reported as earnings before interest and tax, earnings after interest and tax, or earnings per share is found to occasionally serve as the reference point. In addition, the manipulation of earnings management shows a negative relationship between earnings management and investor stock returns. Such findings have important implications for investing decisions made by Taiwanese stockholders, who traditionally have concerns about the quality of a firm's financial statements.
Mitigating Moral Hazard in Entrepreneurial Networks: Examining Structural and Relational Social Capital in East Africa

Entrepreneurial networks and family firm researchers are testing the limits of current understanding by investigating relationships in a variety of non–Western contexts. We extend Khayesi, George, and Antonakis's model of resource accumulation to include the relational dimension of an entrepreneur's social capital network to elaborate more fully entrepreneurial kinship network types. The propensity for moral hazard associated with each network type is explicated, and mechanisms for mitigating the cost/benefit of such dysfunctions are addressed.
A Theory of Elections and Voting Blocs

I study how a group of agents with incomplete information about their conflicting preferences make a collective decision by means of voting. I present a model of representative democracy with citizen candidates in which the set of agents who runs for office is endogenously determined. I show that if the electorate is large enough and agents are not able to perfectly anticipate the electoral outcome, elections are always contested and an equilibrium with two candidates exists. In the last two chapters of this dissertation, I introduce a model of voting bloc formation in which groups of agents choose to coalesce to vote together in an assembly. Looking first at one coalition, then at two coalitions, and finally at an arbitrary number of coalitions emerging in a fully endogenous model of voting bloc formation, I analyze the incentives to join a voting bloc, the stability of different voting blocs and how the incentives and stable outcomes change with the size of the blocs, the internal voting rule that each bloc uses and the heterogeneity in the preferences of the agents. This model provides a new explanation of the formation of political parties in legislatures.
Balance-related efficacy compared with balance function in patients with acute stroke

It is well known that patients who have suffered a stroke have problems with balance and have feelings of unsteadiness. The aim of this study was to analyse the correlation between how patients estimate their perceived confidence in task performance without falling and the objective assessment of balance made by a physiotherapist, and whether the Falls Efficacy Scale (FES(S)) is to be recommended for use in patients in the acute phase of stroke. Sixty patients divided into two groups assessed their belief to perform daily life activities without fear of falling using the FES(S) and were assessed by using the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and Timed Up and Go (TUG) by a physiotherapist. Group 1 assessed themselves before, whereas Group 2 assessed themselves after the objective assessment. The correlation between the FES(S) and the TUG was moderate to good, but these two scales consider different aspects and dimensions of balance, ability, and belief and are therefore not interchangeable. The correlation between FES(S) and BBS was low to moderate. The conclusion of this study was that the FES(S) is not to be recommended as a single measurement in the acute phase of stroke because it does not measure actual balance function.
Women's employment, intra-household bargaining, and distribution: a two-sector analysis

This paper investigates the intra-household impact of an expansion in employment opportunities for women in a dual labor market, when the informal sector functions as a gateway to the formal sector. We us a variant of the Harris-Todaro framework with two-period overlapping generations to model this economy. Labor allocation decisions and distribution of household consumption are determined according to the generalized Nash cooperative bargaining solution, and agents have perfect foresight. It is shown that an increase in demand for women's labor can shift intrahousehold distribution in favor of men and thereby reduce women's welfare. Copyright 2000 by Oxford University Press.
Strategic Process Effects on the Entrepreneurial Orientation–Sales Growth Rate Relationship

This research examined the effects of three strategic process variables—strategic decision–making participativeness, strategy formation mode, and strategic learning from failure—on the entrepreneurial orientation (EO)–firm sales growth rate relationship. Results based on a sample of 110 manufacturing firms indicated a positive effect of EO on sales growth rate. Moreover, the relationship between EO and sales growth rate was more positive among firms that employ autocratic decision making and that exhibit an emergent strategy formation process. Perceptions of proficiency at learning from strategic mistakes differentially affected the growth rates of firms at different ends of the EO continuum, but in manners inconsistent with the hypothesized relationship.
Output Movements in East Asia: Is There a Regional Factor?

Using Lumsdaine and Prasad's (2003 ) methodology to construct a measure of the common component of industrial output fluctuations with time-varying weights, this study finds that there is a significant regional factor that explains the movement in industrial production output across countries in East Asia (ASEAN 5 p 3). The cumulated common component for East Asia has very distinct peaks and troughs, with turning points occurring about every three years. Shocks in 2000-2001, coinciding with the bursting of the IT bubble, appear to be very important as there is a very large decline in the common component of industrial production output, larger than that experienced during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. Similar to McKinnon and Schnabl's (2003 ) findings, the Japanese economy is important for the region as its industrial production output cycle has the largest weight in the construction of the cumulated common component for the region and appears to be the most similar to it. Nevertheless, China's asymmetry with the cumulated component for the region appears to have been beneficial for the region, especially in the most recent period. Copyright 2007 The Author. Journal compilation 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Modeling of Three Phase Electric Arc Furnaces

Abstract. In this paper are study the modeling of a three phase electric arc furnace installation. It is well know that the electric arc is a nonlinear element. Thus, for modeling his behavior, the authors are using a model which parameters like of a real electric arc. For simulation it was use the PSCAD EMTDC program. The simulations results are comparing with the measurements made of a 100t electric installation publish by the authors in a previous paper [15].
Which computational mechanisms operate in the hippocampus during novelty detection?

A fundamental property of adaptive behavior is the ability to rapidly distinguish what is novel from what is familiar in our environment. Empirical evidence and computational work have provided biologically plausible models of the neural substrate and mechanisms underlying the coding of stimulus novelty in the perirhinal cortex. In this article, we highlight the importance of a different category of novelty, namely associative novelty, which has received relatively little attention, despite its clear ecological importance. While previous studies in both animals and humans have documented hippocampal responses in relation to associative novelty, a key issue concerning the computations underlying these novelty signals has not been previously addressed. We argue that this question has importance not only for our understanding of novelty processing, but also for advancing our knowledge of the fundamental computational operations performed by the hippocampus. We suggest a different approach to this problem, and discuss recent evidence supporting the hypothesis that the hippocampus operates as a comparator during the processing of associative novelty, generating mismatch/novelty signals when prior predictions are violated by sensory reality. We also draw on conceptual similarities between associative novelty and contextual novelty to suggest that empirical findings from these two seemingly distant research fields accord with the operation of a comparator mechanism during novelty detection more generally. We therefore conclude that a comparator mechanism may underlie the role of the hippocampus not only in detecting occurrences that are unexpected given specific associatively retrieved predictions, but also events that violate more abstract properties of the experimental context. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Tests of an American Option Pricing Model on the Foreign Currency Options Market

Abstract This paper tests the ability of the American option pricing model proposed by Parkinson [18] or Mason [14] to explain the pricing of the foreign currency options traded on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange from February 28, 1983 to March 26, 1985. We find that the model underprices out-of-the-money options relative to at-the-money and in-the-money options. This relative underpricing is driven by an underpricing of out-of-the-money call options of short maturity. In addition, the degree of relative mispricing for most categories of options is shown to be a decreasing function of the time to maturity of the options. Longer maturity options appear to trade at similar levels of implied volatility whether they are in, at, or out of the money. Most of these biases appear consistent with the fact that the underlying spot currency rate follows a mixed jump diffusion process as described in [17].
Minimal Access Spine Surgery (MASS) for Decompression and Stabilization Performed as an Out-Patient Procedure for Metastatic Spinal Tumours Followed by Spine Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT): First Report of Technique and Preliminary Outcomes

We report a novel approach in the treatment of spinal metastases with epidural disease and mechanical instability using a combined minimal access spine surgery (MASS) technique followed by spine stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). This study was performed as a retrospective review of the first ten consecutive patients treated with this combined approach. The MASS technique was based on a tubular retraction system to gain access for decompression and mechanical stabilization achieved using methyl-methacrylate (MMA) applied under direct visualization. SBRT consisted of one to five image-guided high dose per fraction treatments. Eight patients were symptomatic at baseline. Pain, disability, and quality of life (QOL) were prospectively determined using the visual analogue score (VAS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), and Short-Form-36 version 2, respectively. The median follow-up was 13 months (range, 3–18). MASS successfully decompressed each patient. The median blood loss was 335 ml. Following MASS, the median time to SBRT treatment planning was 6.5 days and subsequent median time to treatment was 7 days. Local control was observed in 7 of the 10 patients. Improvements in VAS, ODI and QOL were observed post-SBRT. We report preliminary efficacy for our MASS-SBRT combined approach for patients with spinal metastases, mechanical pain and epidural disease.
Introduction: approaches to explaining American foreign economic policy

Despite its relative economic decline, the United States remains the dominant power in the world economy. The foreign economic actions taken by American officials, whether they involve trade, technology transfer, or the value of the dollar, continue to have profound consequences for other states in the international system, as well as for American domestic politics and economics. Thus, it is not surprising that the study of American foreign economic policy attracts considerable scholarly attention, and presently constitutes a major portion of the subfield of international political economy.