Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Disclosure of proprietary information in the course of an acquisition

Abstract Proprietary information plays a crucial role in the process of selling a firm or an operation, particularly if the prospective buyer is a competitor. Favourable information increases the selling price, but increases competition in case the buyer does not buy, and vice versa. This paper explores equilibrium disclosure strategies in such a setting. If the information is verifiable then a high degree of uncertainty as to the buyer's intention or alternatives results in less disclosure. If the information is unverifiable then a high degree of uncertainty is necessary for any information transfer in equilibrium. If information can be verified by the seller, in equilibrium this will generally drive out unverified disclosure.
Deaustrification? The policy‐area‐specific evolution of Austrian social partnership

Recently, the functioning of Austrian Social Partnership has been increasingly called into question. The strains on the system, often traced to the internationalisation of the economy and the related shift to neoliberally inspired policies, might make Austria prone to disorganising pressures. However, case studies infields of social and economic policy‐making crucial for international competitiveness (working time, vocational training, industrial policy) suggest that many elements of interest intermediation, concertation, and conflict resolution have remained constant over the last 30 years, entailing both elements of concertation and of conflict as well as different trends across policy areas.
Fiscal federalism in monetary unions: hypothetical fiscal transfers within the Euro-zone

Net fiscal transfers are commonly seen as a possible means to ensure the well-functioning of a currency area. We show that US net fiscal transfers, measured as the difference between gross federal revenues and federal expenditures per state, are enormous. Moreover, we run panel regressions that suggest their dependence on relative GDP and relative GDP growth during crisis periods, evidence of net fiscal transfers from relatively rich to relatively poor states (redistributive effect) and to states with an underperforming economic development (stabilization effect). The Euro-zone (EZ) lacks a system of fiscal federalism, which raises the question of whether it should be established in the medium- and long-run. If so, which should be the magnitude of net fiscal transfers? We calculate these transfers hypothetically for 1999–2010, using a relative volume comparable to the one in the USA.
Protest or mainstream? How the European anti-immigrant parties developed into two separate groups by 19991

In their 1994 study of electoral preferences for anti-immigrant parties, Van der Brug et al. (2000) concluded that most voters consider anti-immigrant parties to be normal parties. In this replication using 1999 data, the main conclusions of the 1994 study are confirmed for FPO, Alleanza Nazionale, Dansk Folkeparti and Vlaams Blok. Preferences for these parties are largely determined by the same variables that determine preferences for other parties. Votes for these parties should not be interpreted as protest votes. Things turned out to be different for the Lega Nord, the Centrumdemocraten, the Fremskridtspartiet, the French Front national, the Republikaner and the Wallonian Front National. The motivations to vote for any of the latter parties turn out to be substantially different in 1999 than they were in 1994. In 1999, these parties attracted more protest votes, or rather they lost their ideological and pragmatic votes. This article ends with a discussion of the implications of these findings for our theoretical understanding of electoral support for these parties, as well as for the ongoing political debate about the appropriate strategy to fight them.
Transfers and Altruistic Punishments in Solomon's Game experiments

Our research is a variant of the third party punishment game that we call Solomon's Game. The main feature of this game is that players can not only punish unfair people but also help those individuals who are the victims of that unfairness. The aim of this experiment is to compare the human tendency to punish unfair behavior to the desire to help victims of that unfairness, in presence of a budget constraint and without the expectation of a long-run pecuniary gain.
Global Business Regulation

Across an amazing sweep of the critical areas of business regulation - from contract, intellectual property and corporations law, to trade, telecommunications, labour standards, drugs, food, transport and environment - this book confronts the question of how the regulation of business has shifted from national to global institutions. Based on interviews with 500 international leaders in business and government, this book examines the role played by global institutions such as the WTO, the OECD, IMF, Moody's and the World Bank, as well as various NGOs and significant individuals. The authors argue that effective and decent global regulation depends on the determination of individuals to engage with powerful agendas and decision-making bodies that would otherwise be dominated by concentrated economic interests. This book will become a standard reference for readers in business, law, politics and international relations.
Sensory and cognitive mechanisms for preattentive change detection in auditory cortex

In order to react adequately to potentially relevant information outside the focus of attention, our brain preattentively scans the acoustic environment for irregularities. Two different mechanisms are currently discussed: (i) a sensory one based on differential states of refractoriness of neurons sensitive to the features of a regular event and of neurons sensitive to features of an irregular event; (ii) a cognitive one based on a comparison of short‐lived memory representations encoding current stimulation and the invariance inherent in recent recurrent stimulation. Here, we identified regions that mediate either of the two mechanisms by combining functional magnetic resonance imaging with an experimental protocol controlling for refractoriness. The sensory mechanism was associated with activity in the primary auditory cortex, whereas the cognitive one revealed activity in nonprimary auditory areas in the anterior part of Heschl's Gyrus. Moreover, it turned out that in the traditional oddball paradigm both mechanisms contribute to irregularity detection.
Student Satisfaction Index in Portuguese Public Higher Education

This study intends to measure student's satisfaction with Portuguese higher education, through the estimation of an explicative model of the student's opinion formation process. In terms of conclusions, it was verified that the student satisfaction index of Portuguese public higher education is only of 54 on a scale from 1 to 100. This value constitutes a reference mark that universities in Portugal can use to compare with their own performance.
On the Relation between Forecast Precision and Trading Profitability of Financial Analysts

We analyze the relation between earnings forecast accuracy and the expected profitability of financial analysts. Modeling forecast errors with a multivariate normal distribution, a complete characterization of the payoff of each analyst is provided. In particular, closed-form expressions for the probability density function, for the expectation, and, more generally, for moments of all orders are obtained. Our analysis shows that the relationship between forecast precision and trading profitability needs not be monotonic, and that the impact of the correlation between the forecasts on the expected payoff of any single analyst depends on the relative accuracy of his signal.
The Welfare Implications of Unauthorized Reproduction of Intellectual Property in the Presence of Demand Network Externalities

This paper finds that unauthorized reproduction of intellectual property in the presence of demand network externalities can not only induce greater firm profits relative to the case where there is no copying, it can lead to a Pareto improvement in social welfare. Ceteris paribus, when network externalities are present, firms have a greater incentive to expand output because marginal revenue is higher and/or they may wish to create preemptive installed bases. This paper suggests that unauthorized copying can be a relatively efficient means of achieving this by allowing the firm, in effect, to 'price discriminate' among different classes of consumers. Copyright 1994 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Enhanced expression of mucin 6 glycoprotein in cholangiocarcinoma tissue from patients in Thailand as a prognostic marker for survival

Background and Aim: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a mucin‐producing cancer that has poor prognosis. Mucin 6 (MUC6) is a mucin that is normally co‐expressed with the trefoil factor family‐2 (TFF2) trefoil peptide. Both MUC6 and TFF2 have been reported to be involved in the progression of many types of cancers. The aim of this study was to determine the expression of MUC6 and TFF2 in CCA tissues and associate these results with clinical data.
Poverty Reduction with Growth and Redistribution

In the late 1990s the bilateral and multilateral development agencies placed increasing emphasis on poverty reduction in developing countries. This led to the establishment by the United Nations of the ‘International Development Targets’ for poverty reduction. The target of poverty reduction might be achieved through faster economic growth alone, through redistribution, or through a combination of the two. This article presents an analytical framework to assess the effectiveness of growth and redistribution for poverty reduction. It concludes that redistribution, either of current income or the growth increment of income, is more effective in reducing poverty for a majority of countries than growth alone.
Remains of the day: biliary complications related to single-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

AIM To assess the rate of bile duct injuries (BDI) and overall biliary complications during single-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy (SPLC) compared to conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy (CLC). METHODS SPLC has recently been proposed as an innovative surgical approach for gallbladder surgery. So far, its safety with respect to bile duct injuries has not been specifically evaluated. A systematic review of the literature published between January 1990 and November 2012 was performed. Randomized controlled trials (RCT) comparing SPLC versus CLC reporting BDI rate and overall biliary complications were included. The quality of RCT was assessed using the Jadad score. Analysis was made by performing a meta-analysis, using Review Manager 5.2. This study was based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. A retrospective study including all retrospective reports on SPLC was also performed alongside. RESULTS From 496 publications, 11 RCT including 898 patients were selected for meta-analysis. No studies were rated as high quality (Jadad score ≥ 4). Operative indications included benign gallbladder disease operated in an elective setting in all studies, excluding all emergency cases and acute cholecystitis. The median follow-up was 1 mo (range 0.03-18 mo). The incidence of BDI was 0.4% for SPLC and 0% for CLC; the difference was not statistically different (P = 0.36). The incidence of overall biliary complication was 1.6% for SPLC and 0.5% for CLC, the difference did not reached statistically significance (P = 0.21, 95%CI: 0.66-15). Sixty non-randomized trials including 3599 patients were also analysed. The incidence of BDI reported then was 0.7%. CONCLUSION The safety of SPLC cannot be assumed, based on the current evidence. Hence, this new technology cannot be recommended as standard technique for laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
Study of self-association of muscle glycogen phosphorylase b by sedimentation equilibrium methods.

Rabbit skeletal muscle glycogen phosphorylase b (EC 2.4.1.1) is an excellent subject for the study of the mechanisms of regulation of enzymic activity, including allosteric and dissociative mechanisms and regulation by covalent modification [1,2]. Phosphorylase b molecule is a dimer with molecular mass of 194.8 kDa capable of associating into tetramers in the presence of allosteric activator AMP. An increase in enzyme concentration, a decrease in temperature, or the presence of sulphate ions promotes the formation of the tetramer [2,3]. It has been shown that the conversion of dimers into the tetrameric form is accompanied by the loss of enzymic activity because of the steric screening of the active sites with respect to high-molecular-mass substrate glycogen [4,5]. The dimer-tetramer transition can be considered as a test of changing the conformation of the phosphorylase b molecule induced by the binding of the allosteric effectors [5-91. At neutral pH and low protein concentrations the phosphorylase b molecule exists in the dimeric form. The self-association of phosphorylase b has been well investigated by the sedimentation velocity method in an analytical ultracentrifuge [7-91. In the present study we have studied the association behaviour of phosphorylase b by sedimentation equilibrium methods. A dimer-tetramer model provides an appropriate description of the reversible association of phosphorylase 6. Analytical ultracentrifugation was performed with a Beckman Model E analytical ultracentrifuge equipped with a scanning absorption optical system. The 'low-speed' and 'high speed' meniscus-depletion sedimentation equilibrium experiments were run with a six-hole An-G Ti rotor with five double-sector, 12 mm cells and a counterbalance at rotor speeds of 7200 and 10000 r.p.m. respectively. The experimental time required for the attainment of equilibrium was established by running at a given rotor speed until the scans were invariant for 3 h. T o reduce the transient time to equilibrium at low-speed experiments we used solution column lengths of 1-1.5 mm and 2-2.5 mm. In
Barriers to effective HRM

In this study, scales were developed to measure the extent to which organisations exhibited “soft” or “hard” approaches to HRM, and the extent to which potential barriers to the effective operation of HRM were present. The sample comprised 549 employees, managers and HRM staff across a wide range of types of organisations in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, the UK and Canada. While the results supported the contention that HRM effectiveness can be achieved via both “soft” and “hard” approaches, several barriers to HRM take‐up were identified and there was little evidence that organisations generally operated HRM policies and practices that were seen as effective. Although very few differences between countries were found, the authors suggest the barriers identified and related ineffectiveness of HRM may be all the more detrimental to the competitiveness of Australian and New Zealand organisations in light of the recent economic downturn in the Asia‐Pacific region.
Comovements and Heterogeneity in the Euro Area Analyzed in a Non-Stationary Dynamic Factor Model

This paper establishes stylized facts on comovements and heterogeneity of individual euro area countries' output and price developments in the past two decades. For this purpose, a non-stationary structural dynamic factor model is fitted to a large dataset of euro area macroeconomic variables. The main results are as follows. Both common factors and idiosyncratic components are important in explaining individual countries' output and price developments in the euro area and are also both very persistent. Idiosyncratic shocks and adjustments to these shocks are mainly responsible for cross-country heterogeneity. The asymmetric transmission of common shocks plays a minor role. Finally, there is no strong evidence that some common shocks lead to greater heterogeneity than others. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The interplay between performance measurement, organizational culture and management styles

It is generally agreed that businesses perform better if they are managed through formalised, balanced and integrated performance measures. Reports on some case studies which were part of a study to explore the dynamics and relationships between performance measurement, organizational culture and management styles. A key finding of the work is that organisational culture and management style seems to be interdependent throughout the lifecycle of the performance measurement system.
Occupational job creation: Patterns and implications

This paper empirically investigates the matching process of job seekers and job vacancies, on different occupational labor markets, and reveals the relative importance of supply and demand factors, and frictions in the job creation process. Using data from German administrative records, we estimate matching functions both on the aggregate level, and for different occupational and educational groups. The data allow to avoid some of the usual problems in empirical matching studies; extensive robustness and stationarity tests are carried out. The results indicate substantial heterogeneity in the matching processes at disaggregate levels. This information can be useful for policymakers, since policy interventions that are effective in creating employment on some occupational labor markets might lead to unsatisfactory results for other occupations. Copyright 2004, Oxford University Press.
SURGICAL ANTIBIOTIC PROPHYLAXIS IN SMALLER HOSPITALS

Background: In 2004, The Victorian Hospital Acquired Infection Surveillance System Coordinating Centre established a smaller hospital (<100 beds) surveillance programme that included an optional ‘surgical antibiotic prophylaxis’ (SAP) module. Appropriate SAP is believed to be one of the most effective strategies to reduce surgical site infections after certain surgical procedures.
Unequal Pathways through American Universities

Student pathways through the American higher education system are complex and entail more than the choice between continuation and dropout. The four-year college system requires students seeking a bachelor’s degree to pass through a series of transitions that are marked by the achievement of credit thresholds in each year of study. At those junctures students make critical decisions about their progress: whether to enroll for sufficient credits to ensure timely completion, whether to enroll for fewer credits, or whether to leave school for a limited period of time. This project overcomes the simplistic view of discrete choices between enrollment and nonenrollment and takes a close look at the cumulative nature of the attainment of U.S. students at four-year colleges and the social inequalities arising in this process. Detailed transcript data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS-88) and multinomial transition models provide evidence on the shape of and social inequality in four-year college careers. We describe distinct trajectories through college and show that they strongly depend on students’ decisions at earlier stages of their college careers. Transitions through college are also found to be strongly related to students’ socioeconomic backgrounds. In addition, we show that the penalties incurred from unfavorable earlier choices is greater for disadvantaged students. By fully appreciating the cumulative nature of educational pathways through college we provide an important new view on the complex routes to college completion and trace an important source of the socioeconomic gap in college completion. The relatively rigid structure of the U.S. four-year college system appears to produce strong path-dependent and status dependent cumulative advantages for high-status students.
Gestion des ressources humaines et Nouveau Management Public: Opinions de gestionnaires federaux et québécois

Sommaire: Comme Ies gestionnaires jouent un role preponderant dans I'application et la rehissitc dcs programmes gouvernementaux, nous en avons interroge plusieurs wuvrant dans les fonctions publiques federale et quebecoise - tous situes au Quebec - pour connaitre leurs opinions sur le Nouveau Management Public (nmp). A priori, nous pensions qu'ils seraient favorables a I'introduction de cette nouvelle facon de gerer. Toutefois, une partie d'entre eux ne considerent pas les techniques de gestion du personnel deoulant du nmr aussi favorablement qu'escompte. Certains resukats surprennent: nous avons note des divergences d'opinion significatives entre Ics reponscs des gestionnaires du palier federal et du palier provincial. Nous observons ainsi que les gestionnaires federaux sont generalement plus cnclins que leurs homo-logues quebecois a approuver et a utiliser des techniques managerielles decoulant du nmp et nous avons tente de deouvrir pourquoi. Nous avons developpe une explication qui inclut un point de vue historico-institutionnel pour comprendre Ies differences observees entre les visions des gestionnaires des deux paliers gouvernementaux. Tandis que les gestionnaires federaux ont une longue experience dcs rbformes manageriellcs, I'csprit egalitaire des reformes bureaucratiques des annees 1960 et 1970 aurait pousseIes gestionnaires quebecois a rejeter I'individualisme com-petitif du nmp. Abstract: Since managers play a predominant role in the implementation and thus the success of government programs, the authors interviewed several in the Canadian and Quebec public services, all working in Quebec, to learn their opinions about the new public management (npm). It was expected that managers would be inclined to favour the introduction of this new form of state administration. However, a number of them did not view favourably some of the new techniques of personnel management stemming from the npm. Federal managers interviewed were generally more inclined to favour and to use such techniques. In an effort to explain the observtd differences, the authors have developed a historical-institutional argument. While federal administrators have a long experience of managerial reforms, the egalitarian bureaucratic ethos of the sixties and seventies may have led Quebec managers to resist the individualist and competitive techniques of the npm.
Equilibrium Pricing in the Presence of Cumulative Dividends Following a Diffusion

The paper presents some security market pricing results in the setting of a security market equilibrium in continuous time. The theme of the paper is financial valuation theory when the primitive assets pay out real dividends represented by processes of unbounded variation. In continuous time, when the models are also continuous, this is the most general representation of real dividends, and it can be of practical interest to analyze such models. Taking as the starting point an extension to continuous time of the Lucas consumption‐based model, we derive the equilibrium short‐term interest rate, present a new derivation of the consumption‐based capital asset pricing model, demonstrate how equilibrium forward and futures prices can be derived, including several examples, and finally we derive the equilibrium price of a European call option in a situation where the underlying asset pays dividends according to an Itô process of unbounded variation. In the latter case we demonstrate how this pricing formula simplifies to known results in special cases, among them the famous Black–Scholes formula and the Merton formula for a special dividend rate process.
Do Imf-Supported Programs Help Make Fiscal Adjustment More Durable?

This paper investigates fiscal developments in 112 countries during the 1990s. It finds that, while the overall fiscal balance improved in most of them, the composition of this improvement differed. In nonprogram countries, revenues increased modestly and expenditure declined sharply, while in program countries both revenue and expenditure declined. However, in countries with programs that included structural conditions the adjustment was effected primarily through sharp expenditure compression. We did not find evidence of a statistically significant impact of IMF conditionality. Morever, fiscal improvements are strongly influenced by cyclical factors