Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A structural fit between states and markets? Public administration regimes and market economy models in the OECD

This article examines the relationship between public administration regulation and market economy models in 20 OECD countries. Building on Pollitt and Bouckaert's (2004) administrative dimension, we employ explorative statistical analysis to identify three distinct public administration regimes: an Anglo-American, a French/German and a Scandinavian regime. The regime structure, especially with regard to public employment regulation, shows a high degree of institutional coherence with the co-ordination rules applying to the market economy. Probing deeper, we construct an index of politico-administrative regulation, which is compared to Hall and Gingerich's (2009) index of market coordination. The empirical evidence leads us to presume that public administration reforms are likely to focus on the existing market economy model when introducing private sector instruments to public administrations.
Patterns of sleep quality during and after postacute rehabilitation in older adults: a latent class analysis approach

Sleep quality is related to emotional, physical, psychological and cognitive functioning and functional independence in later life. After acute health events, older adults are likely to utilize postacute rehabilitation services to improve functioning and facilitate return to independent living. Patterns of how sleep changes with postacute rehabilitation, and predictors of such patterns, are unknown. The current investigation employed latent class analysis (LCA) methods to classify older adults (n = 233) into groups based on patterns of self‐reported sleep quality pre‐illness, during postacute rehabilitation and up to 1 year following postacute rehabilitation. Using LCA, older adults were grouped into (1) consistently good sleepers (46%), (2) good sleepers who transitioned into poor sleepers (34%), (3) consistently poor sleepers (14%) and (4) poor sleepers who transitioned into good sleepers (6%). In three planned analyses, pain was an independent predictor of membership in classes 1 or 2 (good pre‐illness sleep quality) versus classes 3 or 4 (poor pre‐illness sleep quality), and of membership in class 1 (consistently good sleep) versus class 2 (good sleep that transitioned to poor sleep). A lower Mini‐Mental State Examination score was a predictor of membership in class 1 versus class 2. There were no statistically significant predictors of membership in class 3 versus class 4. Demographics, comorbidities and depressive symptoms were not significant predictors of class membership. These findings have implications for identification of older adults at risk for developing poor sleep associated with changes in health and postacute rehabilitation. The findings also suggest that pain symptoms should be targeted to improve sleep during postacute rehabilitation.
Exchange rate volatility and volatility asymmetries: an application to finding a natural dollar currency

Based on six daily spot nominal exchange rate returns denominated in the US dollar, viz-à-viz UK Pound, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar and Singapore dollar, this paper tries to find a natural Dollar currency by comparing the linear/nonlinear dynamics in the conditional variance of these bilateral exchange rate returns (time varying volatility vs. asymmetries). The characteristics of the unconditional distribution of the FX returns justified the use of the GARCH class of models of conditional volatility. Strong time varying symmetric effects are apparent in all the series examined, especially in the Australian dollar. Further asymmetric effects in unexpected appreciations and depreciations of currencies are examined based on the GJR model, the ST GARCH model and the ANST-GARCH model (which encompasses several asymmetric models). The estimates of asymmetric models show weak evidence of asymmetries in most of the currencies, except in the Japanese Yen and UK Pound. Further findings show that the Japanese Yen is a non-natural Dollar country. However, there may possibly exist some mild deterministic asymmetric effect in the UK Pound. Based on the symmetric GARCH model, a trader/investor may consider Australian dollar as the relatively most ‘likable’ currency, i.e. relatively the least volatile currency and relatively the most synchronized with the US dollar.
The architecture of employee attitudes to safety in the manufacturing sector

This study examines the relationships between components of organisational safety climate, including: employee attitudes to organisational and individual safety issues; perceptions of the physical work environment and perceptions of workplace hazards; and relates these to self‐reported levels of safety activity. It also attempts to replicate the explicative model derived by Cheyne et al. in a similar study within the manufacturing sector. Data were collected from a large manufacturing organisation using a questionnaire. A total of 708 valid questionnaires were returned and formed the basis for the subsequent analyses. These data showed that a common structure of attitudes to safety issues and perceptions of the work environment can be constructed in line with the previous model, with a few differences, providing some evidence of a sector‐wide safety culture. The strength of employees’ attitudes with regard to safety management and individual responsibility once again played central roles in the model and are consistent with earlier findings. Comparisons are made between the two organisations and mean scores on each of the model components show that there are differences between the two organisations in terms of individual responsibility and personal involvement, as well as levels of safety activity and perceived levels of workplace hazards. The results are discussed in terms of generating general models of attitudes to safety, which in turn may facilitate climate change.
The relationship between stock prices and exchange rates in South Africa and Nigeria: structural breaks analysis

The relationship between stock prices and exchange rates has continued to generate interest from both the academia and financial industry players for many years. This study conducts an empirical investigation into the relationship between stock prices and exchange rates for the two largest economies in Sub-Saharan Africa – South Africa and Nigeria. Our methodology accounts for structural breaks in the data and the long-run relationship between stock and foreign exchange markets. The results of multivariate causality tests with structural breaks showed that causality runs from exchange rates to domestic stock prices in Nigeria (flow channel) while in South Africa, no causality exists between domestic stock prices and exchange rates. The results also reveal that there is causality from the London stock market to both countries’ stock markets, thus showing that international stock markets are driving both the Nigerian and South African stock markets.
Capital Flows and Hedge Fund Regulation

This paper introduces a cross-country law and finance analysis of the regulatory impact on the level of capital flows and the sensitivity of capital flows in response to prior performance (that is, the ‘flow-performance’ relationship) in the hedge fund industry. The data indicate that distribution channels in the form of wrappers (securities that combine different products) mitigate flow-performance sensitivity. Distribution channels via investment managers and fund distribution companies enhance flow-performance sensitivity. Funds registered in countries which have larger minimum capitalization requirements have higher levels of capital flows. Funds registered in countries which restrict the location of key service providers have lower levels of capital flows. Further, offshore fund flows and calendar effects evidenced in the data are consistent with tax factors influencing capital flows. The findings are robust to selection effects for offshore registrants, among other robustness checks.
Does Manager Support Reduce the Effect of Work–Family Conflict on Emotional Exhaustion and Turnover Intentions?

The purpose of this study is to examine manager support as a moderator of the effects of three components of work–family conflict on emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions. Respondents were full-time frontline employees in the travel agency industry in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The results demonstrate that manager support mitigates the positive effects of time- and behavior-based work–family conflict on emotional exhaustion. The results further reveal that manager support reduces the positive effects of time- and strain-based work–family conflict on turnover intentions. Based on the results of the empirical investigation, this study offers management implications and future research directions.
Good Practices for Object-Based Accuracy Assessment

Thematic accuracy assessment of a map is a necessary condition for the comparison of research results and the appropriate use of geographic data analysis. Good practices of accuracy assessment already exist, but Geographic Object-Based Image Analysis (GEOBIA) is based on a partition of the spatial area of interest into polygons, which leads to specific issues. In this study, additional guidelines for the validation of object-based maps are provided. These guidelines include recommendations about sampling design, response design and analysis, as well as the evaluation of structural and positional quality. Different types of GEOBIA applications are considered with their specific issues. In particular, accuracy assessment could either focus on the count of spatial entities or on the area of the map that is correctly classified. Two practical examples are given at the end of the manuscript.
Studying Public Policy: Policy Cycles and Policy Subsystems Michael Howlett and M. Ramesh Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1995, pp. viii, 239

Some of the best chapters recount the intriguing tale about the political battles and the reforms that emerged from these confrontations. Hodgetts uses the tension between the legislature and the executive to underline the fact that there are serious contractions within a system where the political executive is fused with the legislature. In his prologue, Hodgetts notes that he regards this current work as a sequel to his earlier study, Pioneer Public Service: An Administrative History of the United Canadas, 1841-1867. While he makes no mention of a trilogy, he does offer a number of tantalizing hints in his epilogue as to what such a final study would entail. After reading this book, scholars with an interest in Canada's administrative history will certainly be left hoping that he will once again enter the archives and complete the important and fascinating story of the development and growth of our largest provincial bureaucracy.
Effect of reorganization actions on the financial performance of small entrepreneurial distressed firms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of different reorganization actions on long‐term financial performance of reorganizing small entrepreneurial firms in Finland.Design/methodology/approach – An structural equation model estimated by partial least squares is applied to survey data from 98 reorganizing very small firms to analyze the effect of organizational change (OC), financial reorganization, management control system change (MCSC), and management accounting change (MAC) on performance.Findings – Evidence supports three of the seven research hypotheses. Debt restructuring has a positive effect on performance. Liquidation of assets and OC do not show a significant direct effect but OC has a positive total effect. MCSC has a positive effect whereas the effect of MAC is negative. Compatibility of reorganization actions with the confirmed reorganization plan affects positively performance.Research limitations/implications – The sample is small. In further studies, larger samples sh.
Why Firms Want to Organize Efficiently and what Keeps Them from Doing So: Inappropriate Governance, Performance, and Adaptation in a Deregulated Industry

This paper integrates content-based predictions of transaction cost economics with process-based predictions of organizational change to understand adaptation to deregulation in the for-hire trucking industry. We predict and find that firms whose governance of a core transaction is poor (according to transaction cost reasoning) will realize lower profits than their better-aligned counterparts and that these firms will attempt to adapt so as to better align their transactions. Results show that several organizational features affect the rate of adaptation: (1) firms with large investments in specialized assets adapt less readily than firms that rely on generic assets, (2) firms with unions adapt less readily than firms without unions, (3) firms that must replace employee drivers with owner-operators adapt less readily than firms that must replace owner-operators with employee drivers, and (4) entrants adapt more quickly than incumbent carriers. There is evidence of institutional isomorphism in that although carriers move systematically to reduce misalignment, they do so less assiduously when this will make their governance of drivers look less like that of nearby, similar carriers. Finally, our results indicate that firms that ultimately exited adapted more quickly than firms that survived.
Factors Associated With Internal Hip Rotation Gait in Patients With Cerebral Palsy

Abstract: Internal rotation gait is common in children with cerebral palsy. Factors thought to contribute include femoral anteversion, hip flexor tightness, imbalance of hip rotators, and hamstring and adductor tightness. The exact cause of internal rotation must be defined before contemplating surgery. We investigated the prevalence of internal hip rotation and associated factors, which are considered to influence this walking pattern, in patients with cerebral palsy. Gait laboratory data of 222 patients with cerebral palsy were studied retrospectively. Two groups were selected; those with maximum dynamic hip internal rotation of more than 27 degrees and those with less than 20 degrees. Of 222 patients, 27.0% (diplegia, 61.7%; hemiplegia, 38.3%) had at least one hip with dynamic internal rotation of more than 27 degrees. This study suggests that dynamic hip internal rotation is multifactorial in origin. The most significant differences in clinical measures were found in values of passive hip external rotation range, femoral anteversion and hip flexor contracture. We discuss the role of early treatment of hip flexion contracture.
Inequality and Poverty in United States: The Effects of Rising Dispersion of Men's Earnings and Changing Family Behaviour

Using semiparametric density estimation techniques, we analyse the effect of rising dispersion of men's earnings and related changes in family behaviour on increasing inequality in the distribution of family income in the United States. For the period 1969-1989, the growing dispersion of men's earnings and changing family structure can account for most of the rise in family income inequality. By contrast, the increase in labour force participation by women offset this trend. Inequality grew at a slower rate in the 1990s than in earlier decades, largely because of stabilization in the relative earnings of men from low-income families.
The Organisation of Wage Bargaining in Divisionalised Firms

This paper analyses the organisation of wage bargaining in multiproduct firms since it affects the distribution of power between workers and firms. We assume that each firm has two plants and chooses who bargains the wage with the workers: either the head of the firm or the manager of each plant. Similarly, in each firm, its workers choose whether they set up plant unions or a single union.
School Effects and Labor Market Outcomes for Young Adults in the 1980s and 1990s

This study examines high school effects on the labor market success of young adults, above and beyond individual and family characteristics. We employ data from two longitudinal, nationally probability samples: the National Longitudinal Study and the High School and Beyond study and the 5th and 4th follow-up studies respectively. We employ multi-level models and adjust for selection into the labor force. Our findings reveal that there are differential, enduring school effects on future earnings for individuals attending different schools.
A theory of the firm in economic space

Part 1 Impacts of economic space on microeconomic theory: the economic man and uncertainty the relation between oligopoly, uncertainty and space impacts of space on economic markets a sketch of our theory. Part 2 Prices and resource allocation: unorganized spatial oligopoly organized spatial oligopoly product prices and efficiency factor prices and efficiency. Part 3 Spatial distribution: the urban setting (intra-urban spatial efficiency) the urban-regional setting (inter-urban efficiency) urban-regional concentration and dispersion the spatial equilibrium of the firm in economic space. Part 4 General equilibrium, welfare, and social policy: general equilibrium, welfare, and economic space the theory of the firm in economic space and social policy theory of the firm in economic space.
Expression of a wide range of fibrocartilage molecules at the entheses of the alar ligaments - possible antigenic targets for rheumatoid arthritis?

OBJECTIVE To provide evidence for the existence of a wide range of molecules characteristic of fibrocartilage at normal alar ligament entheses, that may have a bearing on the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis. The alar ligaments provide the mechanical restraint for head rotation and their integrity can be compromised in patients with RA and occasionally in those with spondyloarthropathy. METHODS Both alar ligaments from 6 cadavers were fixed in 90% methanol and cryosectioned longitudinally. Sections were immunolabelled with antibodies against collagens, glycosaminoglycans, and proteoglycans. The immunohistochemical data were related to estimates of insertional angle change at the entheses that were calculated from measurements of ligament length and dens diameter. RESULTS Molecules typical of fibrocartilage (including type II collagen, link protein, and aggrecan) were found at both entheses, but labelling was more prominent at the odontoid end. This correlated with a 3-fold greater insertional angle change during 40 degrees of head rotation at the attachment of the ligament to the dens. At the odontoid enthesis, fibrocartilage differentiation was most conspicuous posteriorly. CONCLUSION The changes in insertional angle mean that compressive forces are prominent at both entheses, but particularly at the odontoid end, where the ligament partly wraps around the dens during head rotation. Thus, mechanical conditions are created that lead to pronounced fibrocartilage development, hence the expression of type II collagen, link protein, and aggrecan. The prominence of these molecules at the entheses raises the possibility that they could be antigenic targets for an autoimmune response in rheumatic diseases.
Premium on Fields of Study: The Returns to Higher Education in Singapore

In summary, the returns to investment in education in Singapore tend to increase with years of schooling, with the returns to tertiary education generally higher than those for non-tertiary education. This is similar to the findings for other Asian newly industrialised economies like South Korea and Hong Kong. As the structure of Singapores economy shifts towards higher value-added and knowledge activities, there will continue to be an increase in the demand for skilled and educated human capital. We can thus expect the demand for workers with tertiary education to increase, which implies that the rate of returns to tertiary education is likely to remain high and above those for secondary and below education. Education will hence continue to be an attractive investment for individuals.
A permutation based simulated annealing algorithm to predict pseudoknotted RNA secondary structures

Pseudoknots are RNA tertiary structures which perform essential biological functions. This paper discusses SARNA-Predict-pk, a RNA pseudoknotted secondary structure prediction algorithm based on Simulated Annealing (SA). The research presented here extends previous work of SARNA-Predict and further examines the effect of the new algorithm to include prediction of RNA secondary structure with pseudoknots. An evaluation of the performance of SARNA-Predict-pk in terms of prediction accuracy is made via comparison with several state-of-the-art prediction algorithms using 20 individual known structures from seven RNA classes. We measured the sensitivity and specificity of nine prediction algorithms. Three of these are dynamic programming algorithms: Pseudoknot (pknotsRE), NUPACK, and pknotsRG-mfe. One is using the statistical clustering approach: Sfold and the other five are heuristic algorithms: SARNA-Predict-pk, ILM, STAR, IPknot and HotKnots algorithms. The results presented in this paper demonstrate that SARNA-Predict-pk can out-perform other state-of-the-art algorithms in terms of prediction accuracy. This supports the use of the proposed method on pseudoknotted RNA secondary structure prediction of other known structures.
Regional Culture in the Market Place: Place Branding and Product Branding as Cultural Exchange

In the modern consumer economy, the intangible or symbolic qualities of a product play a decisive role in its success or otherwise in the market place. Moreover, this applies to places as well as to physical products. This in turn poses a key research question—how can regions establish and maintain their distinctiveness in an ever more globalized and standardized world? Employing empirical data from the 6th framework project CURE, we observe three European regions (Györ, Styria and Wales) as taking different paths in response to comparable challenges that are economic but more specifically in relation to issues of branding and image. The rationale for this paper is then to investigate one of these regions in some detail—the case of Wales—in order to explore how the interaction between regional products and cultural manifestations of regional identity can play out in a specific European region (or nation in this case). We then speculate on the generalizability of these findings and suggest an agenda for further research.
Generation of highly site-specific DNA double-strand breaks in human cells by the homing endonucleases I-PpoI and I-CreI.

We have determined the ability of two well-characterized eukaryotic homing endonucleases, I-PpoI from the myxomycete Physarum polycephalum and I-CreI from the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, to generate site-specific DNA double-strand breaks in human cells. These 18-kDa proteins cleave highly conserved 15- or 24-bp rDNA homing sites in their respective hosts to generate homogeneous 4-base, 3' ends that initiate target intron transposition or "homing. " We show that both endonucleases can be expressed in human cells and can generate site-specific DNA double-strand breaks in 28S rDNA and homing site plasmids. These endonuclease-induced breaks can be repaired in vivo, although break repair is mutagenic with the frequent generation of short deletions or insertions. I-PpoI and I-CreI should be useful for analyzing DNA double-strand break repair in human cells and rDNA.