Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
What is a Foreign Firm? Implications for Productivity Spillovers

When searching for productivity spillovers from foreign firms, a firm is typically classified as foreign using a low threshold of direct foreign ownership. Instead, we advocate an `ultimate owner' definition because (i) ultimate ownership includes indirect ownership links that are prevalent in our complex, interdependent world; and (ii) it confers control. Control brings greater willingness to transfer knowledge to foreign affiliates but, paradoxically, also greater potential for spillovers. Adopting this alternate definition of what is foreign turns out to be pivotal for identifying spillovers: while we find no horizontal productivity effects using the low threshold direct ownership definition, we find positive and significant effects under the ultimate-owner definition. Moreover, we find evidence that indirectly controlled foreign firms exert the most persistent horizontal spillovers to domestic firms.
The Impact of Digital Social Responsibility on Customer Trust and Brand Equity: An Evidence from Social Commerce in Thailand

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of digital social responsibility (DSR) on customer trust and brand equity in the context of social commerce. A total of 324 respondents who have experienced in shopping through social commerce participated in this study through an online survey. Design/Methodology/Approach: Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the empirical data derived from surveys with the proposed hypotheses. Findings: The results showed that digital social responsibility (DSR) initiatives have significantly and positively effects on customer trust (CT) and brand equity (BE). DSR also has an indirect and positive influence on BE via CT as mediating in social commerce context. Practical Implications: The research is one of first attempts to provide valuable insight for studying the relationship between DSR, CT and BE in the context of social commerce. Companies should be aware that implementing DSR helps them to gain benefits in enhancing customer trust and brand equity. Originality/Value: The study provides a better understanding of the role of digital social responsibility in customers’ attitudes and brand equity in a social commerce platform.
Internal migration in Russia during the economic transition.

"A World Bank demographer analyzes patterns of migration among Russia's regions from shortly before the break-up of the Soviet Union and the onset of economic reforms through the first five years of independence. The analysis focuses on two large migration streams currently occurring in Russia--the return migration of Russians, as well as Russian speakers, to Russia from the other republics of the former Soviet Union and massive out-migration from the Russian North to the western and southern portions of the country. These migration streams are assessed in terms of both their impacts on current population numbers in Russia's regions and as a basis for projections of population change into the early 21st century. "
Managing Gigabytes: Compressing and Indexing Documents and Images

PREFACE 1. OVERVIEW 2. TEXT COMPRESSION 3. INDEXING 4. QUERYING 5. INDEX CONSTRUCTION 6. IMAGE COMPRESSION 7. TEXTUAL IMAGES 8. MIXED TEXT AND IMAGES 9. IMPLEMENTATION 10. THE INFORMATION EXPLOSION A. GUIDE TO THE MG SYSTEM B. GUIDE TO THE NZDL REFERENCES INDEX
Innovation and Productivity in the service sector of emerging and developing countries

This paper conducts a large cross-country study of innovation decisions and its effect on the productivity of the firms in the service sectors in developing countries. A structural model relating innovation and productivity is fitted with data from 97 emerging and developing countries. We find that R&D generates gains in labor productivity as well as in terms of an aggregate measure of capital and total factor productivity. However, the introduction of new products does not seem to have relevant impact on productivity measures. From a policy perspective, we find that tax burden and difficulties to access credit are significant obstacles to innovation in services. Considering the positive relationship between service innovation and productivity, these obstacles should be on top of policy agenda in the countries under study. Finally, competition from the international market and from the informal sector are both fostering innovation in services.
Public finances and natural resources in Bolivia, 1883–2010 : Is there a fiscal curse? 1

Mining and oil exploitation have been the most dynamic sector of the Bolivian economy from independence onwards. This paper aims at analysing if this natural resources dependence has affected the long-term evolution (1883-2010) of Bolivian public finances through the so-called rentier state hypothesis (Ross, 1999). Two main conclusions arise from the analysis: a) the increase of natural resources revenues has not always been correlated with a decrease of the domestic tax effort; b) natural and non-natural resources revenues have allowed increasing human capital spending which, however, has not necessarily benefited the vast majorities of the country.
VSM: the flexibility and versatility use in the field of Sustainability

Companies are under strong pressure to improve and maintain product quality, meet emerging environmental impact reduction requirements and the stakeholders demands. In this scenario, finding tools that facilitate your efforts to improve the management of your operations has become vital. Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is an important technique used in Lean Manufacturing (LM) to identify and visualize waste. Several VSM proposals that incorporate sustainability metrics are available in the literature, which increases their usefulness as a tool to identify possible areas for improvement. Accepting the hypothesis that tools play a fundamental role in the success of LM considering aspects of sustainability, this study analyzed 14 models of VSM found in the literature of the last 10 years (2007 to 2017), identifying the indicators considered, as well as the triple bottom line of sustainability. It can be concluded that the VSM tool is adequate to analyze aspects of sustainability in productive operations, being a tool that, despite a simple approach, presents potential to involve environmental, economic and social aspects of the organizations.
Insight into the evolution and origin of leprosy bacilli from the genome sequence of Mycobacterium lepromatosis

Significance Leprosy was thought to be exclusively caused by infection of humans by Mycobacterium leprae. In 2008, Han et al. proposed that Mycobacterium lepromatosis, a separate unculturable species, might be responsible for a rare yet severe form of the disease called diffuse lepromatous leprosy. Here, by using comparative genomics, we show that the two species are very closely related and derived from a common ancestor that underwent genome downsizing and gene decay. Since their separation 13.9 Mya, the two species have continued to lose genes, but from different regions of the genome, and M. leprae appears to be more recent. In a phylogeographic survey, by using differential PCR, we found that M. lepromatosis was scarce and restricted to patients from Mexico. Mycobacterium lepromatosis is an uncultured human pathogen associated with diffuse lepromatous leprosy and a reactional state known as Lucio's phenomenon. By using deep sequencing with and without DNA enrichment, we obtained the near-complete genome sequence of M. lepromatosis present in a skin biopsy from a Mexican patient, and compared it with that of Mycobacterium leprae, which has undergone extensive reductive evolution. The genomes display extensive synteny and are similar in size (∼3.27 Mb). Protein-coding genes share 93% nucleotide sequence identity, whereas pseudogenes are only 82% identical. The events that led to pseudogenization of 50% of the genome likely occurred before divergence from their most recent common ancestor (MRCA), and both M. lepromatosis and M. leprae have since accumulated new pseudogenes or acquired specific deletions. Functional comparisons suggest that M. lepromatosis has lost several enzymes required for amino acid synthesis whereas M. leprae has a defective heme pathway. M. lepromatosis has retained all functions required to infect the Schwann cells of the peripheral nervous system and therefore may also be neuropathogenic. A phylogeographic survey of 227 leprosy biopsies by differential PCR revealed that 221 contained M. leprae whereas only six, all from Mexico, harbored M. lepromatosis. Phylogenetic comparisons indicate that M. lepromatosis is closer than M. leprae to the MRCA, and a Bayesian dating analysis suggests that they diverged from their MRCA approximately 13.9 Mya. Thus, despite their ancient separation, the two leprosy bacilli are remarkably conserved and still cause similar pathologic conditions.
The IFRS Adoption's Effect on Accounting Quality in Sweden

I examine whether the quality of financial reporting has increased in Sweden after the adoption of IFRS in 2005. My results suggest that there has been no increase in financial reporting quality over the two first years after the adoption. On the contrary, I find some indications of a decrease in financial reporting quality measured as smoothing of earnings, timely loss recognition, and value relevance. Moreover, In order to establish whether the unexpected results were driven by less committed or less skilled adopters of IFRS, I also replicate the analysis using only committed adopters. Interestingly enough, the results from this analysis suggest stronger evidence that the quality of financial reporting has decreased after the adoption of IFRS in Sweden.
Are geriatric units needed for elderly patients with hip fractures?

To assess the need for a multidisciplinary geriatric unit in the treatment of elderly patients with hip fractures, we reviewed the charts of all patients aged 60 years or older who were treated for hip fractures in five hospitals in Hamilton, Ont. , between August 1982 and September 1983. We hypothesized that discharge to a different location from that before admission would indicate reduced functional status and classified the reasons for a change in residence as poor patient motivation, need for rehabilitation, compromised ambulation, postoperative complications and inevitable deterioration. We believed that geriatric care would be most beneficial to those in the first three groups. Of the 327 patients with hip fractures 40 (12%) died before discharge. Of the 287 surviving patients 149 (52%) had been discharged by 4 weeks, and only 29 (10%) remained in hospital by 12 weeks. Of the 287, 44 (15%) were discharged to a different location from that before admission: in 75% the cause appeared to be inevitable deterioration (57%) or postoperative complications (18%). The remaining 25% needed rehabilitation and were all sent to appropriate facilities. None of the patients with ambulation problems or poor motivation required an increased level of care. We could not show a need for geriatric care in our population; possible explanations are discussed.
BOLICH PEER TUTORING PEER TUTORING AND SOCIAL BEHAVIORS : A REVIEW

Children with disabilities often need social skill interventions. Regular classrooms rarely provide training or maintenance programs for social skills to meet the needs of children who are mainstreamed. Educators who work with these children need effective and easily implemented interventions that provide increased practice and opportunities to participate in social interactions with typical peers. Peer tutoring interventions were examined as a means of increasing appropriate social behavior in the classroom. Peer tutoring studies have taken various forms (e.g., cross-age, classwide, reciprocal) and evaluated many different aspects of social behavior. This paper examines such studies and proposes guidelines for future peer tutoring programs. Such guides should improve our knowledge of effective tutoring programs, and their effects on the social behavior of children with disabilities.
Managing product innovation diffusion within multinational corporations: leveraging global scale and local responsiveness

How multinational corporations (MNCs) manage knowledge and engage in product innovation diffusion is a central theme of study within international management, and it raises the tension of balancing global integration and local responsiveness, which is the subject of this paper. It uses a qualitative research methodology based on a case study of a MNC from the pharmaceutical industry. We demonstrate the value of a funnel and network structure for diffusion which capitalises upon the global resources and scale within the MNC but which leverages resources within subsidiaries for both reverse and horizontal diffusion. We unpack an innovation diffusion funnel framework and demonstrate how a MNC can effectively utilise the extensive inputs within its ecosystem and transform them into product innovation through a production function process. We contribute by providing an understanding of what is required within the “transformation box” with its associated implications for how innovation is managed through both formal and informal mechanisms.
Disordered Cold Regulated 15 Proteins Protect Chloroplast Membranes during Freezing through Binding and Folding , But Do Not Stabilize Chloroplast Enzymes in Vivo 1 [ W ] [ OPEN ]

Freezing can severely damage plants, limiting geographical distribution of natural populations and leading to major agronomical losses. Plants native to cold climates acquire increased freezing tolerance during exposure to low nonfreezing temperatures in a process termed cold acclimation. This involves many adaptative responses, including global changes in metabolite content and gene expression, and the accumulation of cold-regulated (COR) proteins, whose functions are largely unknown. Here we report that the chloroplast proteins COR15A and COR15B are necessary for full cold acclimation in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). They protect cell membranes, as indicated by electrolyte leakage and chlorophyll fluorescence measurements. Recombinant COR15 proteins stabilize lactate dehydrogenase during freezing in vitro. However, a transgenic approach shows that they have no influence on the stability of selected plastidic enzymes in vivo, although cold acclimation results in increased enzyme stability. This indicates that enzymes are stabilized by other mechanisms. Recombinant COR15 proteins are disordered in water, but fold into amphipathic a-helices at high osmolyte concentrations in the presence of membranes, a condition mimicking molecular crowding induced by dehydration during freezing. X-ray scattering experiments indicate protein-membrane interactions specifically under such crowding conditions. The COR15-membrane interactions lead to liposome stabilization during freezing. Collectively, our data demonstrate the requirement for COR15 accumulation for full cold acclimation of Arabidopsis. The function of these intrinsically disordered proteins is the stabilization of chloroplast membranes during freezing through a folding and binding mechanism, but not the stabilization of chloroplastic enzymes. This indicates a high functional specificity of these disordered plant proteins.
Corporate Governance and Equity Prices: The Effect of Board of Directors and Audit Committee Independence

This paper investigates the effect of board and audit committee independence on firm market performance. Using a sample of French listed firms, we find a negative and significant relation between board independence and equity returns. This suggests that appointing more independent directors fails in enhancing firm stock returns. Furthermore, we show that firms with independent audit committees exhibit higher equity returns. We analyze three portfolios sorted by the percentage of independent directors on boards and audit committees using Carhart’s model and find that the portfolio of firms with low board independence and high audit committee independence exhibits the highest abnormal returns. JEL Classification: G34, G11
Loyalty: From Single-Stage Loyalty to Four-Stage Loyalty

In todayrsquos competitive world, customers are at the center of companiesrsquo attention. Customer loyalty is a pivotal element of gaining competitive advantage. The creation of customer loyalty is a concept that contemporary businesses have paid significant attention to it.nbspDespite the abundant of studies done on one-dimensional loyalty and two-dimensional loyalty (behavioral and attitudinal), there unfortunately exist few number of studies on loyalty with three or four dimensions. As a result, there is insufficient amount of literature in this regard. In this study, therefore, an investigation of the evolution of loyalty throughout time, from one dimension to four dimensions, is carried out together with a definition of the concept.
Chinese Consumers’ Purchase Intentions for Luxury Clothing: A Comparison between Luxury Consumers and Non-Luxury Consumers

ABSTRACT This study fills the literature gap by examining whether there are significant differences between the luxury clothing purchase intentions of luxury vs. non-luxury Chinese consumers and comparing the influence of the major factors that influence luxury clothing purchase intentions for luxury and non-luxury Chinese consumers. A total of 452 Chinese luxury clothing consumers and 236 Chinese non-luxury clothing consumers participated in the survey of this study. Using t-test, ANCOVA, and regression analyses, this study finds that there are significant distinctions between Chinese luxury consumers’ and non-luxury consumers’ purchase intentions for luxury clothing. The findings also show that significant distinctions exist between the factors that influence Chinese luxury consumers’ and non-luxury consumers’ purchase intentions. This study not only provides researchers with a better understanding of luxury consumers and non-luxury consumers in their purchase intentions for luxury goods but also provides luxury goods manufacturers and retailers with important implications to develop effective marketing strategies in the Chinese luxury goods market.
Selection bias and treatment heterogeneity in clinical trials.

A common perception about many commercially available medical treatments is that they are effective for every patient having the relevant indication and that developers have provided the regulatory authorities with evidence of such a property. We show that the standard of evidence is much lower and that the standard is appropriate only when the treatment effects are almost constant. We discuss the implications on the design and analysis of clinical trials if the standards were made to correspond with the common perception. We conclude that the evidence of positive mean treatment effect should be accompanied by evidence of limited dispersion of the effects and by a sensitivity analysis that explores the impact of the selection bias in recruitment.
Vitamin D Receptor Activators

The fields for clinical employment of vitamin D analogs are growing and under active evaluation in different medical specialties, ranging from dermatology to immunology and oncology. In this review we provide a brief description of the drugs that have been developed more specifically for the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism (SH) associated with uremia.
Immunocytochemical localization of estrogen receptors in spontaneous and experimentally induced canine benign prostatic hyperplasia

Estrogens are believed to play a critical role in the etiology of canine benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH); however, the mechanism has not been elucidated. To gain insight into this problem, we investigated the immunocytochemical localization of estrogen receptors (ER) in normal prostates, spontaneous BPH, and experimentally induced BPH by using a monoclonal ER antibody (H222). In all canine prostates the majority of ER was localized in nuclei of the same histological components: (1) transitional epithelium and subjacent stroma of the prostatic urethra, (2)periurethral prostatic ductal epithelium, and (3) prostatic stroma. ER content in the stroma was highest in the periurethral region of the prostate. Among the different groups of dogs, differences in ER location were seen only in the glandular epithelium. No ER was found in the glandular epithelium of normal prostates of young untreated dogs. In striking contrast, glandular epithelium of spontaneous BPH contained specific nuclear ER staining, though this staining was heterogeneous and was observed in only a minority (<10%) of the acinar epithelial cells. ER‐positive acini in BPH were located predominantly in the periurethral region. These data demonstrate anatomical and biochemical heterogeneity of prostatic components and indicate that the estrogen sensitivity of prostatic cells is heterogeneous. If estrogen does play a role in BPH, it appears to act selectively rather than uniformly throughout the prostate. We reasoned that if glandular epithelial ER are involved in the development of spontaneous BPH, one might expect to find the same location of ER in BPH that was induced experimentally by specific types of treatment with androgens ± estradiol. However, among hormone‐treated dogs the presence of ER‐positive prostatic glandular epithelium varied with the type of hormonal treatment but did not correlate with the experimental induction of glandular BPH. Some treatment groups with induced BPH had ER‐positive prostatic glandular epithelial nuclei (with the same extent and pattern of ER localization as in spontaneous BPH); however, other treatment groups with induced BPH had ER‐negative glandular epithelium. These data indicate either that glandular epithelial ER may not be involved in the pathogenesis of canine BPH or that there may be different types of BPH that have different etiologies. Possible mechanisms by which estrogen may affect the canine prostate are discussed in light of these new data on ER location.
Financial performance, corporate governance, and financial distress

This study aims to analyze the effect of financial ratios and corporate governance on financial distress by making a prediction model of bankruptcy using data from non-financial sector companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). This research used the quantitative approach with a logistic regression model. The samples used in this study were 310 companies from the non-financial sector with 1550 observations. The research findings suggested that the variables included in the model are current liabilities to total assets, total liabilities to total assets, book-to-market value, blockholder ownership, sales to total assets, earnings before interest, and taxes to total assets. While the audit opinion variable has no significant effect. Although not all the variables which have been incorporated into the model were significant, the insignificant variables still remained in the model to improve the accuracy of the prediction model. The results suggested that the accuracy of this bankruptcy prediction model was 98.1%.