Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Macromomentum: Returns Predictability in International Equity Indices

This study examines momentum and reversals in international stock market indices. We find that country stock indices exhibit momentum during the first year after the portfolio formation date and reversals during the subsequent 2 years. Positive currency momentum predicts low stock index returns in the future, thereby weakening momentum and strengthening reversals in U.S. dollar-denominated stock index returns. Cross-sectional regression tests involving individual stock indices confirm the portfolio findings. Our results are consistent with a key prediction of recent behavioral theories, that initial momentum should be accompanied by subsequent reversals.
Measuring user perceived service quality of online auction sites

This study proposes a measure for online auction sites' service quality (OA-SQ). The conceptualisation is based on a literature review of service quality research and an analysis of the unique characteristics of online auctions. A pilot study refined the initial scale. A second survey data set tests the final scale. Results of both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis show high construct validity of the scale. The scale includes 24 items for seven dimensions: efficiency, system availability, privacy/security, compensation, personalisation, playfulness, and reputation.
Are International Financial Reporting Standards–Based and U.S. GAAP–Based Accounting Amounts Comparable? Evidence From U.S. ADRs

This article examines whether accounting amounts reported under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by firms cross-listed in the United States (American Depositary Receipts [ADRs]) are comparable with those reported under U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). We compare the two samples on the basis of explanatory power of price, return, and cash flow models, timeliness in reporting, accrual quality, and predictive power of accounting. Value relevance, timeliness, and accrual quality of accounting numbers under U.S. GAAP are not significantly different than those under IFRS. The two systems are comparable in predictive power after 2007. Overall, the evidence does not indicate significant differences in accounting quality between reporting under U.S. GAAP and IFRS. Our findings provide evidence to support the policy of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in allowing foreign firms listing in the United States to use IFRS for their financial reports without reconciliation to U.S. GAAP.
Welfare Reform's Chilling Effects on Noncitizens: Changes in Noncitizen Welfare Recipiency or Shifts in Citizenship Status?*

In the mid-1990s, welfare usage declined disproportionately among noncitizens, prompting some policy analysts to argue that the 1996 Welfare Reform Act (PRWORA) had a "chilling" effect on welfare receipt among eligible non-citizens. However, naturalization among noncitizen welfare recipients could account for the disproportionate decline. This article evaluates the role of naturalizations in producing the so-called chilling effect. Copyright (c) 2003 by the Southwestern Social Science Association.
People Who Run Europe

In the minds of many, Brussels is very closely associated with bureaucracy. Yet we know little about the character of the European Union's bureaucracy. Professor Page draws upon a wide range of empirical sources to present a picture of the administrative system of the EU. He discusses the complexities of its internal organization and goes on to explore the people who work in it. As a multinational organization its procedures for appointment and promotion reflect in part the need to maintain a professional career civil service and in part the desire to secure a fair mix of nationalities among top officials. People who Run Europe looks at the distinctive features of the administrative system which these two principles help to produce as well as at the nature of the people - their backgrounds, careers and skills - who are attracted to it. The author also examines the role of top officials in the decision making process, above all in their dealings with politicians and interest groups.
Motivations for HR outsourcing in Australia

The aims of this research are twofold; first, to determine which human resource (HR) functions are most commonly outsourced in Australian organisations and second, to explore the motivation to outsource these HR functions. Results from a nationwide survey identified recruitment and selection, training, occupational health and safety, payroll and employee benefits as the top five outsourced HR functions. The three common reasons to outsource these functions were to acquire specialised HR capabilities, improve quality and efficiency, and to free resources to concentrate on the strategic role of HR. Four main outsourcing drivers–resources, learning, cost saving and political–were identified, which offer explanations for the most commonly outsourced HR functions. Apart from the learning factor, these are consistent with motivations for outsourcing in non-HR areas.
Patient anxiety about prostate cancer independently predicts early initiation of androgen deprivation therapy for biochemical cancer recurrence in older men: a prospective cohort study.

PURPOSE Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is first-line therapy for patients with prostate cancer (PCA) who experience biochemical recurrence (BCR). However, the optimal timing of ADT initiation is uncertain, and earlier ADT initiation can cause toxicities that lower quality of life (QOL). We tested the hypothesis that elevated cancer anxiety leads to earlier ADT initiation for BCR in older men. PATIENTS AND METHODS We conducted a prospective cohort study of older patients with BCR of PCA (n = 67). Patients completed questionnaires at presentation and each follow-up visit until initiation of ADT. PCA-specific anxiety was measured with the Memorial Anxiety Scale for Prostate Cancer (MAX-PC). Other collected data included demographics, clinical information, and general anxiety information. Treating oncologists were surveyed about their recommendations for ADT initiation. The primary outcome was the time to ADT initiation. Univariate, multivariate logistic regression, and time-to-event analyses were conducted to evaluate whether cancer anxiety was a predictor of earlier initiation of ADT. RESULTS Thirty-three percent of patients initiated ADT at the first or second clinic visit. Elevated PCA anxiety (MAX-PC > 16) was the most robust predictor in multivariate analyses of early initiation (odds ratio [OR], 9.19; P = .01). PSA also independently correlated with early initiation (OR, 1.31; P = .01). PSA did not correlate with MAX-PC. CONCLUSION Cancer anxiety independently and robustly predicts earlier ADT initiation in older men with BCR. For older patients with PCA, earlier ADT initiation may not change life expectancy and can negatively impact QOL. PCA-specific anxiety is a potential target for a decision-making intervention in this setting.
Assessing Competition in The Market for Corporate Control: Australian Evidence

Ruback (1983) proposed a novel test of competition in the market for corporate control. He argued the market would be competitive if, in the context of two or more bidders, it did not pay an unsuccessful offeror to lift his bid to the successful offeror's price. Ruback's evidence was consistent with the American corporate acquisitions market being competitive, in this sense. We use Australian data to replicate Ruback's test. Our results mirror Ruback's, in that 58 out of 72 takeovers were consistent with a competitive Australian market. The 14 inconsistencies could have been due to bidder collusion, strategic behaviour, legal impediments, or quite possibly, confounding events.
Rural‐Urban Relations, Household Income Diversification and Agricultural Productivity

Does rising income from agriculture drive the growth of nonfarm activities, or does increased income from nonfarm activities spur the growth of agriculture? This paper looks at the role of nonfarm income in enabling smallholders to raise agricultural output and productivity. Based on data from a sample of farm households near Kutus town in the Kirinyaga district of Kenya, it examines these issues by looking at the use of resources for farm production, the risks attached to alternative ways of raising output and productivity, and the household's propensity to accept risk as a function of the extent to which it is able to draw on liquid assets or diversified sources of income. The authors argue that nonfarm income provides households with a form of insurance against the risks of farming, and thus enables them to adopt new production methods and raise output. They argue further that a key factor in creating opportunities for rural households to earn nonfarm income is the presence of vibrant small towns nearby.
A New Volatility Forecasting Framework: Panel-ARCH

This paper introduces the newly developed Panel-ARCH model for forecasting common volatility in individual entities, and compares volatility forecasts of Panel-ARCH models with those of various models. Using monthly value-weighted stock index returns from 1954 to 2013, I evaluate the volatility forecasting performance based on popular loss functions with realized variance as a proxy for latent volatility. While conrming good in-sample forecasting ability of TGARCH, I nd
International Listings and Stock Returns: Some Empirical Evidence

Abstract Segmentation of capital markets produces incentives for firms to adopt countermeasures, one of which is dually listing their stocks on foreign capital markets. In this paper, the behavior of stock returns surrounding such international listings is examined for a sample of firms. Assuming that the capital markets are either completely or “mildly” segmented beforehand, it is hypothesized that the international listing of a security should, in general, accompany a reduction in its expected return. The sample reveals evidence consistent with this hypothesis.
The switch from continuous to call auction trading in response to a large intraday price movement

Some European exchanges (e.g. Euronext, Frankfurt and Madrid) make use of a mechanism to moderate price volatility that was proposed by Madhavan (1992) as preferable to a trading halt in times of market stress. It consists of a temporary switch from continuous to call auction trading in an individual security whenever its price moves beyond predetermined limits. This article studies whether this mechanism sharpens the information content of prices, dampens volatility and normalizes trading volume and intensity. Taking intraday data for the Madrid order driven continuous market, I find post switch improvements in the information content of prices and reductions in volatility, especially for thinly traded stocks. Trading volume and intensity peaked around auctions, but soon returned to preevent levels.
Association of Putative Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli Virulence Genes and Biofilm Production in Isolates from Travelers to Developing Countries

ABSTRACT Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) is an emerging enteric pathogen that causes acute and chronic diarrhea among children, human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients, and travelers to developing regions of the world. The pathogenesis of EAEC strains involves the production of biofilm. In this study, we determined the association between presence of putative EAEC virulence genes and biofilm formation in 57 EAEC isolates (as defined by HEp-2 adherence) from travelers with diarrhea and in 18 EAEC isolates from travelers without diarrhea. Twelve nondiarrheagenic E. coli isolates from healthy travelers were used as controls. Biofilm formation was measured by using a microtiter plate assay with the crystal violet staining method, and the presence of the putative EAEC virulence genes aap, aatA, aggR, astA, irp2, pet, set1A, and shf was determined by PCR. EAEC isolates were more likely to produce biofilm than nondiarrheagenic E. coli isolates (P = 0.027), and the production of biofilm was associated with the virulence genes aggR, set1A, aatA, and irp2, which were found in 16 (40%), 17 (43%), 10 (25%), and 27 (68%) of the biofilm producers versus only 4 (11%), 6 (6%), 2 (6%), and 15 (43%) in non-biofilm producers (P = 0.008 for aggR, P = 0.0004 for set1A, P = 0.029 for aatA, and P = 0.04 for irp2). Although the proportion of EAEC isolates producing biofilm in patients with diarrhea (51%) was similar to that in patients without diarrhea (61%), biofilm production was related to the carriage of aggR (P = 0.015), set1A (P = 0.001), and aatA (P = 0.025). Since aggR is a master regulator of EAEC, the presence of aap (P = 0.004), astA (P = 0.001), irp2 (P = 0.0006), pet (P = 0.002), and set1A (P = 0.014) in an aggR versus an aggR-lacking background was investigated and was also found to be associated with biofilm production. This study suggests that biofilm formation is a common phenomenon among EAEC isolates derived from travelers with or without diarrhea and that multiple genes associated with biofilm formation are regulated by aggR.
Effects of E-Tailer and Product Type on Risk Handling in Online Shopping

Abstract Franchising is emerging as a highly effective strategy for growth, job creation, and economic development and is spreading rapidly around the globe. However, the pursuit of global markets by franchisors has traditionally relied on employing just three generic franchising options (i.e., direct franchising, master franchising, area development). This paper presents a more expansive view of strategic choice for franchisors by presenting first-mover, platform, and conversion strategies as additional strategic approaches that may be utilized to meet the challenge of expanding into international markets. Propositions are advanced to first suggest which strategic approaches aremost appropriate under varied foreign market conditions and then how these approaches should be linked to the three generic licensing options to create combination strategies based on franchisor experience/capabilities and similar/dissimilar markets. A contingency model of global franchising is presented, which depicts the above relationships and provides an overall framework that can assist franchisors in solving the foreign expansion and distribution question. Managerial and research implications are then provided.
Optimal Incentive Schemes When Only the Agents' "Best" Output Matters to the Principal

Standard principal-agent models assume that the principal's payoff is a function of the total output of all agents. In many real-world situations, however, the principal's payoff is based solely on the "best" of the agents' outputs (e.g., the first agent to make an innovation, the most creative advertising campaign, or the cheapest product design). The results obtained from such a model differ from the standard results in a number of respects. For instance, even when identical agents perform identical tasks, the optimal incentive scheme will often differ across agents. Also, the principal may want to increase the variance of the agents' output or reduce the correlation of output across agents, even when the agents are risk averse.
Regional and Global Emissions of Air Pollutants: Recent Trends and Future Scenarios

New scientific understanding could increase the cost-effectiveness of local and regional air quality management policies, enhance the acceptance of mitigation measures for long-lived greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and reveal win-win portfolios of controls for short-lived substances that yield immediate health and crop benefits while limiting temperature increase in the near term. However, although substantial efforts have been devoted to global analyses of the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other long-lived GHGs, air pollutant emissions have received only limited attention in the global context. Past and likely future trends in air pollutant emissions evolve rather differently from those of long-lived GHGs, so that superficial extrapolations of GHG trends would lead to misleading conclusions. In many world regions, the evolution of air pollutant emissions has effectively decoupled from economic growth. Since 1990, air pollutant emissions declined (sulfur dioxide, SO2), stabilized (nitrogen oxides,.
Prospects for Developing Country Exports of Services to the Year 2010: Projections and Public Policy Implications

Internationalization of services has gained a great momentum in recent years. This article examines the prospects for developing countries in the international marketing of services. It analyzes past trends of service exports of developing countries and projects these to the year 2010. The projection was based on dynamic shift share analysis. The results show that the market share of developing countries will increase steadily up to the year 2010 in travel, financial, and communications services but will tend to decrease in transport services. A major policy implication of these findings is that developing countries need to change their priorities—from exports of primary commodities and soft manufactures to those of services—if they are to compete effectively in the international market and thrive economically in the twenty-first century. Specific policy initiatives that are required to achieve this goal are discussed.
Achieving Superior Financial Performance in China: Differentiation, Cost Leadership, or Both?

Firms operating in emerging economies must make appropriate marketing strategy choices to address the idiosyncratic challenges of rapid changes and institutional voids. The authors investigate when various types of marketing strategies work by examining the effects of both pure and dual strategies on financial performance for domestic versus foreign firms and across different market concentration levels in China's emerging economy. According to a survey of 249 firms, the effectiveness of specific strategy choices varies depending on domesticity and the level of market concentration. In particular, the impacts of both cost and dual strategies on financial performance are stronger for foreign firms than for domestic firms. Although cost-leadership and dual strategies are less effective in less concentrated markets than in more concentrated ones, the effect of a differentiation strategy is stronger when the level of market concentration is low rather than high.
Country-Specific Factors Related to Financial Reporting and the Value Relevance of Accounting Data

Using financial accounting data from manufacturing firms in 16 countries for 1986-1995, we demonstrate that the value relevance of financial reports is lower for countries where the financial systems are bank-oriented rather than market-oriented; where private sector bodies are not involved in standard setting process; where accounting practices follow the Continental model as opposed to the British-American model; where tax rules have a greater influence on financial accounting measurements; and where spending on auditing services is relatively low. Results are robust to alternative measures of value relevance of financial accounting data, including measures based on earnings (using a regression and a hedge-portfolio approach), accruals, and earnings and book value of equity combined. We show that the extent to which earnings information is reflected in leading-period returns as compared to contemporaneous returns is greater for bank-oriented than for market-oriented countries. This feature potentially induces spurious associations between value relevance measures and financial system characteristics. Our results are robust to using value relevance measures adjusted for this confounding effect.
Inequality in income and mortality in the United States: analysis of mortality and potential pathways

Abstract Objective: To examine the relation between health outcomes and the equality with which income is distributed in the United States. Design: The degree of income inequality, defined as the percentage of total household income received by the less well off 50% of households, and changes in income inequality were calculated for the 50 states in 1980 and 1990. These measures were then examined in relation to all cause mortality adjusted for age for each state, age specific deaths, changes in mortalities, and other health outcomes and potential pathways for 1980, 1990, and 1989-91. Main outcome measure: Age adjusted mortality from all causes. Results: There was a significant correlation (r=0.62, P<0.001) between the percentage of total household income received by the less well off 50% in each state and all cause mortality, unaffected by adjustment for state median incomes. Income inequality was also significantly associated with age specific mortalities and rates of low birth weight, homicide, violent crime, work disability, expenditures on medical care and police protection, smoking, and sedentary activity. Rates of unemployment, imprisonment, recipients of income assistance and food stamps, lack of medical insurance, and educational outcomes were also worse as income inequality increased. Income inequality was also associated with mortality trends, and there was a suggestion of an impact of inequality trends on mortality trends. Conclusions: Variations between states in the inequality of the distribution of income are significantly associated with variations between states in a large number of health outcomes and social indicators and with mortality trends. These differences parallel relative investments in human and social capital. Economic policies that influence income and wealth inequality may have an important impact on the health of countries. Key messages There was a significant correlation (r=0.62) between the proportion of total household income received by the less well off 50% of households and variation between states in death rates for the United States Income inequality was also significantly related to changes in mortality with smaller declines between 1980-90 in those states with greater income inequality Income inequality was associated with a large number of other health outcomes and with measures related to investments in human and social capital Economic policies that increase income inequality may also have a deleterious effect on population health
Place ratings, shifting neoliberalism and quality of life in communities

The publication of place ratings on the basis of their competitive attractiveness and quality of life has been one element of place marketing and promotion agenda associated with the onset of neoliberalism. The Places Rated Almanac in the US has epitomised and led the development of such guides, and after a quarter of a century appears on the basis of sales to continue to offer currency and utility. This paper explores the relevance of this particular almanach and its offsprings within the context of recent accounts of the periodisation of neoliberalism. In particular it considers the extent to which such guides have continued to have resonance through the shift from economic-focussed roll back neoliberalism to more socially-oriented roll out neoliberalism.