Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Planned abandonment: The neighborhood life‐cycle theory and national urban policy

Abstract This article discusses the history and political economy of the neighborhood life‐cycle or “stage” theory, an evolving real estate appraisal concept used as a basis for urban planning decisions in the United States. The life‐cycle theory was revived by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development after the urban riots of the 1960s and used by local planners to encourage the “deliberate dispersal” of low‐income and African‐American urban neighborhoods, followed by the eventual reuse of abandoned areas. Postriot urban policy can be understood as a dialectical process of social change. “Triage” planning was used to depopulate areas of social unrest. Conflict over the neighborhood life‐cycle theory changed the politics of urban renewal, leading to a greater focus on redlining. Community‐based development became an alternative to planned abandonment, directing public and private resources into redlined areas.
34dB gain at 1500nm in S-band EDFA with distributed ASE suppression

S-band amplification from 1480-1530 nm with a peak gain of 34 dB and 6.5 dB noise figure is demonstrated in depressed-cladding Er:Al/Ge/SiO2 fiber. A fundamental mode cutoff near 1530 nm provides distributed suppression of C-band amplified spontaneous emission
The Complexity Effects on Choice with Uncertainty - Experimental Evidence

We present experimental evidence suggesting that human subjects dislike complexity in choice with uncertainty. Our results suggest that the probability of choosing a given alternative decreases with the relative complexity of that alternative. Complexity increases the noise in the choice process and the chances that the (otherwise) inferior alternative will be selected. Our results contradict the predictions of (discounted) expected utility theory and intuitively appealing axioms like "stochastic dominance" and "convexity". These "complexity effects" may lead to inefficient portfolio selection. The perceived complexity of a given lottery may depend on editing procedures and be subjected to framing effects. Copyright Royal Economic Society 2002
Market Discipline in the Individual Annuity Market

Theoretical expectations related to market discipline generally suggest a positive relationship between firm financial strength and price. We examine market discipline in the individual annuity market by measuring annuity contract yields during the accumulation phase and find that, among other results, firm financial strength is positively related to yield (i.e., negatively related to price). We argue that this apparent anomaly can be viewed as a form of market discipline itself, for at least four related reasons, the foremost reason being that in order to compete in the asset accumulation market, an insurer has an incentive to provide a track record of historically strong credited interest rates within the annuity. In addition, the credited interest rates within an annuity are only revealed ex-post over time, thus diminishing consumer ability to impose traditional market discipline relating firm financial strength and price, and also enabling financially weaker insurers to impose higher ex-post prices in the form of lower realized annuity yields.
Oil carbon entered the coastal planktonic food web during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was unprecedented in total loading of petroleum hydrocarbons accidentally released to a marine ecosystem. Controversial application of chemical dispersants presumably accelerated microbial consumption of oil components, especially in warm Gulf of Mexico surface waters. We employed δ13C as a tracer of oil-derived carbon to resolve two periods of isotopic carbon depletion in two plankton size classes. Carbon depletion was coincident with the arrival of surface oil slicks in the far northern Gulf, and demonstrated that subsurface oil carbon was incorporated into the plankton food web.
Variance-Constrained Canonical Least-Squares Monte Carlo: An Accurate Method for Pricing American Options

The pricing accuracy of the canonical least-squares Monte Carlo (CLM) method can be improved significantly by incorporating innovatively a variance constraint in the derivation of the canonical risk-neutral distribution. This new approach is called the variance-constrained CLM (vCLM) in the paper. Operationally, the forward variance is set to be the square of the volatility implied under vCLM by the option's market price from a previous trading day. For 16,249 American-style S&P 100 index puts, vCLM produced an average absolute pricing error of 5.94%, easily outperforming CLM, a competing nonparametric approach, and a GARCH-based benchmark.
Historic Preservation and Neighbourhood Change

Historical designation has become an important tool in efforts to revitalise central-city neighbourhoods. Yet designation has also come under scrutiny because of its presumed association with gentrification and displacement of lower-income residents. Using Fort Worth, Texas, as a case study, the paper asks whether historical designation is associated with demographic change in neighbourhoods. It is found that historically designated areas started out with slightly worse neighbourhood indicators than those without designation—a finding that is consistent with the idea that preservation efforts are targeted to areas in 'need' of revitalisation. However, we find no evidence that preservation efforts altered the demographic composition of neighbourhoods. This finding runs counter to the notion that historic preservation is a precursor to gentrification.
The effectiveness of hospitality service operations: measurement and implementation concerns

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a systematic approach to measuring, tracking, monitoring and continuously improving service efficiency, availability and quality in hospitality operational settings.Design/methodology/approach – The proposed measure of service operational effectiveness (SOE) consists of three indicators. They include the availability indicator, the quality indicator, and the efficiency indicator.Findings – The paper finds that the proposed operational performance approach based on the SOE is consistent with the themes of performance measures and measurement reported in the literature.Research limitations/implications – In this paper, the proposed service operational effectiveness approach represents a serious attempt at quantifying the key facets of service effectiveness in hospitality operational settings. The validation of this performance assessment and measurement approach is worthy of future research.Practical implications – The paper sees that the approach advocated .
Regulatory Response to Market Volatility and Manipulation: A Case Study of Mumbai and Karachi Stock Exchanges

This study examines the regulatory intervention in India and Pakistan in response to episodes of excessive market volatility and manipulation and its effectiveness in achieving declared objectives. Our empirical analysis indicates that while the Indian regulatory agencies seem to have achieved their objectives in curtailing manipulative and speculative behavior, there appears to be little impact on such behavior in the case of the Karachi Stock Exchange. Significant differences in the regulatory effectiveness and industry structure may explain the difference in the market behavior outcomes following regulatory interventions. A stronger competitive environment in India, because of the existence of multiple organized exchanges, seems to facilitate effective enforcement of public policy.
The Canadian Tax Reform and Its Effect on Stock Prices: A Note

THE EFFECT OF personal taxation on stock prices remains controversial. While some researchers have found evidence of a tax effect in the stock market, others have found evidence to the contrary. ' This paper provides additional empirical evidence on the effect of the differential taxation of dividends and capital gains on stock prices by analyzing stock price changes around the 1971 Canadian Tax Reform and its subsequent amendments in 1977. The results show that changes in the taxation of cash dividends and capital gains affected high-yield and lowyield stocks listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) differently. Section I of the paper describes the tax changes. The method used to analyze the tax effect is described in Section II. Section III reports the results, and conclusions are presented in Section IV.
A Modern Statistical Infrastructure for Excellent Research an Policy Advice: Report on the German Council for Social and Economic Data during its First Period in Offi ce (2004 – 2006)

In this article, the two chairpersons of the German Council for Social and Economic Data (RatSWD: Rat fuer Sozial- und Wirtschaftsdaten) give a summary of the council’s work in the years 2004 to 2006 and its future plans for improving the statistical infrastructure for economic and social research.
Stock Market Development and Financing Choices of Firms

In many developing countries with emerging stock markets, banks are fearful of stock market development because they think that stock markets will reduce the volume of their business. This article empirically analyzes the effects of stock market development on firms' financing choices using data from thirty developing and industrial countries from 1980 to 1991. The results imply that initial improvements in the functioning of a developing stock market produce a higher debt-equity ratio for firms and thus more business for banks. In stock markets that are already developed, further development leads to a substitution of equity for debt financing. By contrast, in developing stock markets, large firms become more levered as the stock market develops, whereas small firms do not appear to be significantly affected by stock market development. Copyright 1996 by Oxford University Press.
Audit Committees, Boards of Directors, and Remediation of Material Weaknesses in Internal Control

This study examines whether the effectiveness of the audit committee and the board of directors is associated with firms' timeliness in the remediation of material weaknesses (MWs) in internal control. The sample comprises accelerated filers that disclosed at least one MW from July 2003 to December 2004 under Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). Using logistic regression analyses, I find that firms with larger audit committees, audit committees with greater nonaccounting financial expertise, and more independent boards are more likely to remediate MWs in a timely manner. These results suggest that the audit committee and the board play an important role in monitoring the remediation of MWs. Overall, the study contributes to our understanding of the effectiveness of the audit committee and the board under the SOX regime. The study also identifies important determinants of firms' timeliness in the remediation of MWs, which is key to improving financial reporting quality and restoring investor confidence.
Adenocarcinoma of the cervix and vagina in pediatric patients

Here we report our combined analysis of vaginal mesonephric adenocarcinoma (MA) in a 13 years old treated at our institution and of reported vaginal or cervical MA and clear‐cell adenocarcinoma in 37 patients 18 years old or younger. Tumors in 27 patients arose in the vagina; 8 (21%) had metastases at diagnosis. The predominant symptom was vaginal bleeding; 62% of patients were exposed to diethylstilbestrol in utero. The 3‐year survival estimate was 71% ± 11%. Surgical treatment and metastasis at diagnosis were significant predictors of survival. The association between tumor excision and excellent outcome suggests that radical hysterectomy or pelvic exenteration is unnecessary. Radiotherapy as an adjunct may have contributed to this outcome. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Optimal Portfolio Choice with Parameter Uncertainty

Abstract In this paper, we analytically derive the expected loss function associated with using sample means and the covariance matrix of returns to estimate the optimal portfolio. Our analytical results show that the standard plug-in approach that replaces the population parameters by their sample estimates can lead to very poor out-of-sample performance. We further show that with parameter uncertainty, holding the sample tangency portfolio and the riskless asset is never optimal. An investor can benefit by holding some other risky portfolios that help reduce the estimation risk. In particular, we show that a portfolio that optimally combines the riskless asset, the sample tangency portfolio, and the sample global minimum-variance portfolio dominates a portfolio with just the riskless asset and the sample tangency portfolio, suggesting that the presence of estimation risk completely alters the theoretical recommendation of a two-fund portfolio.
A Re-Examination of Financial Analysts' Differential Earnings Forecast Accuracy

This research re-examines whether there are differences in the forecast accuracy of financial analysts by comparing their annual earnings per share forecasts. The comparison of analyst forecast accuracy is made on both an ex post (within sample) and an ex ante (out of sample) basis. Early examinations of this issue by O'Brien (1990), Richards (1976), Brown and Rozeff (1980), O'Brien (1987), Coggin and Hunter (1989), Butler and Lang (1991) were ex post and suggest the absence of analysts who can provide relatively more accurate forecasts over multiple years. Contrary to the results of prior research, and consistent with the belief in the popular press, we document that differences do exist in financial analysts' ex post forecast accuracy. We show that the previous studies failed to find differences in forecast accuracy due to inadequate (or no) control for differences in the recency of forecasts issued by the analysts. It has been well documented in the literature that forecast recency is positively related to forecast accuracy (Crichfield, et al, 1978; O'Brien, 1988; Brown, 1991). Thus, failure to control for forecast recency may reduce the power of tests, making it difficult to reject the null hypothesis of no differences in forecast accuracy even if they do exist.
Behind the scenes: an examination of the importance of the informal processes at work in conciliation

The intergovernmental conference which was completed in 1991, the result of which was the Treaty on European Union, introduced the codecision procedure. This procedure gives the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament equal legislative powers in adopting legislation in certain policy areas. The article examines this procedure, from a European Parliament perspective. Through an examination of conciliation negotiations on the Packaging Directive and three public health programmes, it highlights how the adoption of informal working procedures has contributed to the successful operation of codecision-making.
Frequency-dependent physiological trade-offs between competing colour morphs

Evolutionary theory suggests that alternative colour morphs (i.e. genetically controlled phenotypes) may derive similar fitness under frequency-dependent selection. Here we experimentally demonstrate opposing effects of frequency-dependent social environments on plasma hormone levels (testosterone and corticosterone) and immune function between red- and black-headed male morphs of the Gouldian finch (Erythrura gouldiae). Red-headed males are highly sensitive to changes in the social environment, especially towards the relative density of their own aggressive morph, exhibiting high stress responses and immunosuppression in socially competitive environments. In contrast, the non-aggressive black-headed males follow a more passive strategy that appears to buffer them against social stresses. The differential effect of hormones on aggressive behaviour and immune performance reinforces the contrasting behavioural strategies employed by these colour morphs, and highlights the importance of the social environment in determining the individual basis of behavioural and physiological responses.
Familiness and Innovation: Resource Bundling as the Missing Link

Using resource–based logic, we integrate and extend theory and research on familiness and innovation in family firms. Supporting our efforts to do this is the suggestion that recent mixed results regarding the ability of family firms to innovate are at least partially accounted for by the failure to fully consider the importance of resource bundling processes as a mediator of the relationship between familiness as a unique organizational resource and innovation. Specifically, we suggest that the individual components of the resource bundling process—stabilizing, enriching, and pioneering—each mediate the relationship between familiness and innovation, and that these mediation effects account for at least part of the previously reported inconsistent results. Using theory and by integrating insights about familiness, innovation, and resource bundling, we seek to provide a more complete model of conditions affecting family firms’ ability to innovate.
Do Individual Auditors Affect Audit Quality? Evidence from Archival Data

ABSTRACT: We examine whether and how individual auditors affect audit outcomes using a large set of archival Chinese data. We analyze approximately 800 individual auditors and find that they exhibit significant variation in audit quality. The effects that individual auditors have on audit quality are both economically and statistically significant, and are pronounced in both large and small audit firms. We also find that the individual auditor effects on audit quality can be partially explained by auditor characteristics, such as educational background, Big N audit firm experience, rank in the audit firm, and political affiliation. Our findings highlight the importance of scrutinizing and understanding audit quality at the individual auditor level. Data Availability: Data used in this study are publicly available from the sources described herein.
Beyond greed, fear and the iron curtain

We examine 13 of the new markets of Eastern Europe from the time of their inception to the end of 2001. In six of those markets – Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Russia and Estonia – we find behaviour consistent with investors following ‘quasi-rational’ strategies in the years following market inception. The results are robust to the suggestion that they are driven by market microstructure. The heuristically driven price behaviour diminishes as these markets mature and is replaced by an increasing association with market movements in major financial centres. We suggest that we have captured the way investors in new markets learn to invest.
Political Mobility and Political Reproduction from Generation to Generation

The American creed stresses political equality and political involvement, but substantial political inequality still persists from one generation to the next. Despite the importance of political inequality, not enough is known about the mechanisms that reproduce it. Political socialization research has focused on the transmission of political attitudes and culture across generations, but it has paid scant attention to how family transfers of economic resources, human capital, and social capital reproduce and perpetuate unequal patterns of political involvement and political authority. This article argues that more attention should be paid to measuring the persistence of political identity, political participation, civic engagement, and political influence networks over time and across generations. Special attention should be devoted to learning more about how the passage of family resources (economic resources, human capital, social capital, and cultural capital) from parents to children reproduces political inequality and reduces the opportunity for political mobility. Current data sources fall far short of what is needed to answer these questions, but linking the proposed American Opportunity Study with public voting records and with the American National Election Studies would provide a rich and powerful dataset for studying them.
Classification of intervertebral disk degeneration with axial T2 mapping.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to establish an MRI classification system for intervertebral disks using axial T2 mapping, with a special focus on evaluating early degenerative intervertebral disks. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-nine healthy volunteers (19 men, 10 women; age range, 20-44 years; mean age, 31.8 years) were studied, and axial T2 mapping was performed for the L3-L4, L4-L5, and L5-S1 intervertebral disks. Grading was performed using three classification systems for degenerative disks: our system using axial T2 mapping and two other conventional classification systems that focused on the signal intensity of the nucleus pulposus or the structural morphology in sagittal T2-weighted MR images. We analyzed the relationship between T2, which is known to correlate with change in composition of intervertebral disks, and degenerative grade determined using the three classification systems. RESULTS With axial T2 mapping, differences in T2 between grades I and II were smaller and those between grades II and III, and between grades III and IV, were larger than those with the other grading systems. The ratio of intervertebral disks classified as grade I was higher with the conventional classification systems than that with axial T2 mapping. In contrast, the ratio of intervertebral disks classified as grade II or III was higher with axial T2 mapping than that with the conventional classification systems. CONCLUSION Axial T2 mapping provides a more T2-based classification. The new system may be able to detect early degenerative changes before the conventional classification systems can.
Monkeys Reared in Isolation with Pictures as Visual Input: Evidence for an Innate Releasing Mechanism

Monkeys reared in isolation from birth to 9 months received varied visual input solely from colored slides of monkeys in various activities and from nonmonkey pictures. Exploration, play, vocalization, and disturbance occurred most frequently with pictures of monkeys threatening and pictures of infants.From 2.5 to 4 months threat pictures yielded a high frequency of disturbance.Lever-touching to turn threat pictures on was very low during this period. Pictures of infants and of threat thus appear to have prepotent general activating properties, while pictures of threat appear to release a developmentally determined, inborn fear response.