Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prioritising disclosures in the annual report

Drawing upon information economics, this paper presents a relative assessment of 24 of the most common disclosure items in the management commentary and notes sections of the annual report. We design and conduct an Internet survey using a large representative sample of users with an investment focus (n = 288) and preparers of annual reports (n = 89). Using cost-effectiveness analysis, an evaluation method widely used in healthcare economics, the balance between preparation costs and user satisfaction, relative to user demand is assessed. Our main findings show that corporate social responsibility and corporate governance, the least demanded disclosure items in the management commentary, are also costly items to prepare. Further, preparers do not consider indirect costs (i.e. competitive position costs and potential litigation costs) of information provided in the management commentary to be a major concern. With regard to the notes, we find that business combinations (IFRS 3), financial instruments (IFRS 7) and impairment tests (IAS 36) are highly demanded but are also among the items most costly to prepare, and users are less satisfied with these notes. The findings have important implications for practitioners and policy-makers and can be used for setting priorities.
Equity in Regional Service Provision

Most transportation agencies stipulate that an important planning goal is to provide equitable and just public transport services. However, who is to be served and the type of service that should be provided has been ambiguous. This paper develops a methodology for examining equity in the provision of public transportation services. An approach for identifying areas in need of public transport is developed based upon the use of socio-demographic and economic information. Public transport need is then related to levels of access to service. This approach makes it possible to establish the degree to which public transport services may be considered equitable in relation to need and suitable access. A detailed analysis of the southeast Queensland region of Australia illustrates how this approach may be used to inform public transport decision making. Copyright 2001 Blackwell Publishers
ON THE EXISTENCE OF AN OPTIMAL CAPITAL STRUCTURE: THEORY AND EVIDENCE

ONE OF THE MOST contentious issues in the theory of finance during the past quarter century has been the theory of capital structure. The geneses of this controversy were the seminal contributions by Modigliani and Miller [18, 19]. The general academic view by the mid-1970s, although not a consensus, was that the optimal capital structure involves balancing the tax advantage of debt against the present value of bankruptcy costs. No sooner did this general view become prevalent in the profession than Miller [16] presented a new challenge by showing that under certain conditions the tax advantage of debt financing at the firm level is exactly offset by the tax disadvantage of debt at the personal level. Since then there has developed a burgeoning theoretical literature attempting to reconcile Miller's model with the balancing theory of optimal capital structure [e.g., DeAngelo and Masulis [5], Kim [12], and Modigliani [17]. The general result of this work is that if there are significant "leverage-related" costs, such as bankruptcy costs, agency costs of debt, and loss of non-debt tax shields, and if the income from equity is untaxed, then the marginal bondholder's tax rate will be less than the corporate rate and there will be a positive net tax advantage to corporate debt financing. The firm's optimal capital structure will involve the trade off between the tax advantage of debt and various leverage-related costs. The upshot of these extensions of Miller's model is the recognition that the existence of an optimal capital structure is essentially an empirical issue as to whether or not the various leverage-related costs are economically significant enough to influence the costs of corporate borrowing. The Miller model and its theoretical extensions have inspired several timeseries studies which provide evidence on the existence of leverage-related costs. Trczinka [28] reports that from examining differences in average yields between taxable corporate bonds and tax-exempt municipal bonds, one cannot reject the Miller hypothesis that the marginal bondholder's tax rate is not different from the corporate tax rate. However, Trczinka is careful to point out that this finding does not necessarily imply that there is no tax advantage of corporate debt if the personal tax rate on equity is positive. Indeed, Buser and Hess [1], using a longer time series of data and more sophisticated econometric techniques, estimate that the average effective personal tax rate on equity is statistically positive and is not of a trivial magnitude. More importantly, they document evidence that is consistent with the existence of significant leverage-related costs in the economy.
IMPROVEMENT OF VISUAL ACUITY OVER TIME IN PATIENTS WITH BILATERAL GEOGRAPHIC ATROPHY FROM AGE‐RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION

Purpose: To study the improvement in visual acuity over time in patients with central scotomas. Methods: In a prospective natural history study of geographic atrophy (GA) from age‐related macular degeneration (ARMD) with annual follow‐up, 36 patients with bilateral GA completed 3 years of follow‐up. Protocol visual acuity (VA) measurements were performed. Scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO) was performed, and the areas of GA were measured from fundus photographs. Results: Six eyes of six patients with VA ranging from 20/80 to 20/500 had a VA improvement of two or more lines (mean, 3.2 lines). This was found only in the worse‐seeing eyes of the patients and was contemporaneous with the deterioration in VA of the better‐seeing eyes. Four of six eyes that improved in acuity had an improvement in the ability to find and hold the fixation target in an area of seeing retina, as assessed by SLO at follow‐up, and a fifth eye changed from one fixation site that had little functional retina to another site. Conclusions: Spontaneous improvement in VA in eyes with bilateral GA and central scotomas may occur. It appears to be related to deterioration in VA of the better‐seeing fellow eye and is associated with improvement of fixation in the worse‐seeing eye. The worse‐seeing eye of a patient with bilateral ARMD may have the potential for better vision than measured VA indicates. This finding may have implications for the choice of patients in treatment trials, for interpretation of long‐term results, and for planning and assessment of low vision intervention.
A model for calculating the within-subject biological variation and likelihood ratios for analytes with a time-dependent change in concentrations; exemplified with the use of D-dimer in suspected venous thromboembolism in healthy pregnant women

Background Within-subject biological variation and reference change value (RCV) are difficult to calculate for an analyte with a changing concentration. The aim of this study was to develop a model to examine if it was possible to transform an analyte with a time-dependent change in concentration into a ‘steady-state’ situation by the use of ‘multiples of the median’ (MoM) and its natural logarithm (lnMoM). In addition, we wanted to extend the RCV concept, using likelihood and odds ratios, to calculate the post-test probabilities for disease. D-dimer in pregnancy is used as an example. Methods Blood samples from 18 healthy pregnant and 18 healthy non-pregnant women were collected every fourth week. MoM of the D-dimer concentrations was calculated for each four-week interval to obtain a ‘steady-state’ situation for the D-dimer concentrations. The ‘normalized’ values were then transformed to the lnMoM to obtain a Gaussian distribution, used for the estimation of biological variation. Results Median D-dimer concentrations increased six-fold during pregnancy. Within-subject variation (SD) of lnMoM D-dimer was 0.27 during pregnancy and 0.23 in non-pregnant women, with RCVs of 0.72 and 0.90, respectively. Conclusions By using the lnMoM model, an increasing concentration of an analyte can be transformed to a steady-state situation and the within-subject biological variation and its derived parameters can be calculated.
Spatial Econometric Analysis of Determinants and Strategies of FDI in Russian Regions in Pre- and Post-1998 Financial Crisis Periods

Using a spatial autoregressive model of cross-sectional and panel data, we study the determinants and dominant strategies of FDI inflows into Russia before and after the 1998 financial crisis. The important determinants of FDI inflows into Russian regions since transition began appear to be market size, the presence of large cities and sea ports, oil and gas availability, and political and legislative risks. Since 1998, it appears the importance of big cities, the Sakhalin region, oil and gas resources and legislation risk has increased, while the importance of political risk and port availability has decreased. Our results also reveal a shift from horizontal FDI strategy to a regional trade-platform FDI strategy. While theory anticipates combined vertical and horizontal motives for regional trade-platform strategies, the lack of evidence of a vertical motive in the Russian case suggests import substitution presently plays a significant role in regional trade-platform FDI. Using a multiple spatial lags approach, we show that neighbouring regions with ports have emerged post-crisis as competitors for FDI and identify agglomeration effects in FDI between adjacent regions with and without ports during the period 1999-2002.
Conceptualizing Service Innovation Architecture: A Service-Strategic Framework

Firms carrying innovative business architecture reap substantial benefits by differentiating from competitors and getting competitive advantage in terms of technology, knowledge, and networks. The authors investigate various strategic marketing frameworks by reviewing the existing literature on service innovation architecture. In order to drive efficiency in services marketing, the article puts forward service shell paradigm to investigate the role of various actors of market competitiveness and address how service firms can effectively harmonize various drivers of innovativeness with firm sustainability. The article contributes to the marketing literature by delivering new insights on services management through the shell paradigm and proposing strategic guidelines in the emerging business context.
Towards power reduction through improved software design

As the use of computers has grown, so too has concern about the amount of power that they consume. Data centers, for example, are limited in scalability as they struggle with soaring energy costs as many large companies rely on fast, reliable, and round-the-clock computing services. On large-scale computing clusters, like data centers, even a small drop in power consumption can have large effects. Across computing contexts, reducing power consumed by computers has become a major focus. In this paper, we present a new approach and tool for mapping software design to power consumption and describe how such mappings can provide software designers and developers useful information about the power behavior of the software they are developing. The goal is for software engineers to use this information in designing and developing more energy efficient solutions.
The Association of Board Independence and Ownership Concentration with Voluntary Disclosure: A Meta-analysis

In this paper we apply meta-analysis to a sample of 27 empirical studies to clarify the association of board independence and ownership concentration with voluntary disclosure. We examine whether variations in results are attributable to the differences in the corporate governance system, the investor protection rights and the measurement of the governance variables. The findings show that the positive association between board independence and voluntary disclosure only occurs in those countries with high investor protection rights. The findings emphasize the need to consider the legal and institutional setting explicitly when analysing the effect of corporate governance on voluntary disclosure.
TWEAK causes myotube atrophy through coordinated activation of ubiquitin‐proteasome system, autophagy, and caspases

Proinflammatory cytokine TWEAK has now emerged as a key mediator of skeletal muscle‐wasting in many catabolic conditions. However, the mechanisms by which TWEAK induces muscle proteolysis remain poorly understood. Here, we have investigated the role of ubiquitin‐proteasome system, autophagy, and caspases in TWEAK‐induced muscle wasting. Addition of TWEAK to C2C12 myotubes stimulated the ubiquitination of myosin heavy chain (MyHC) and augmented the expression of E3 ubiquitin ligase MuRF1. Pretreatment of myotubes with proteasome inhibitors MG132 or lactacystin or knockdown of MuRF1 by RNAi blocked the TWEAK‐induced degradation of MyHC and myotube atrophy. TWEAK increased the expression of several autophagy‐related molecules. Moreover, the inhibitors of autophagy improved the levels of MyHC in TWEAK‐treated myotubes. TWEAK also increased activity of caspases in C2C12 myotubes. Pan‐caspase or caspase 3 inhibitory peptide inhibited the TWEAK‐induced loss of MyHC and myotube diameter. Our study demonstrates that nuclear factor‐kappa B (NF‐κB) transcription factor is essential for TWEAK‐induced expression of MuRF1 and Beclin1. Furthermore, our results suggest that caspases contribute, at least in part, to the activation of NF‐κB in response to TWEAK treatment. Collectively, the present study provides novel insight into the mechanisms of action of TWEAK in skeletal muscle. J. Cell. Physiol. 227: 1042–1051, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
On the Class of Elliptical Distributions and Their Applications to the Theory of Portfolio Choice

It is shown that the class of elliptical distributions extend the Tobin [14] separation theorem, Bawa's [2] rules of ordering uncertain prospects, Ross's [12] mutual fund separation theorems, and the results of the CAPM to non-normal distributions, which are not necessarily stable. Further, the mean-covariance matrix framework is generalized to a mean-characteristic matrix framework in which the characteristic matrix is the basis for a spread or risk measure, and a generalized equilibrium pricing equation is arrived at. The implications to empirical testing of the CAPM and modeling the empirical distribution of speculative prices are discussed. THE PURPOSE OF THIS paper is to describe the class of elliptical distributions and delineate their relevance to portfolio theory and its empirical applications. The class of elliptical distributions contains the multivariate normal (multinormal, henceforth) distribution as a special case; as well as many non-normal multivariate distributions including the multivariate Cauchy, the multivariate exponential, a multivariate elliptical analog of Student's t-distribution (the multivariate t, henceforth1), and non-normal variance mixtures of multinormal distributions. We show that some of the general characteristics of all members in the class of elliptical distributions make them admissible candidates for generalizing the theory of portfolio choice and equilibrium in capital asset markets, as well as attractive alternatives for use in empirical studies. More specifically, elliptical distributions are characterized by two parameters and extend the Tobin's [14] separation theorem, Bawa's [2] rules of ordering uncertain prospects, Ross's [13] mutual fund separation theorems, and the results of the CAPM to non-normal distributions, which are not necessarily stable. The definitions and properties of elliptical distributions are in Section I. The main results are in Section II and the importance of elliptical distributions in empirical works is discussed in Section III.
Health Care Use Among Elderly Mexicans in the United States and Mexico

The authors sought to contribute to public policy on U.S. immigrants by comparing patterns of health care use among the Mexican-origin population aged 70 and older in the United States and Mexico. They studied the role of health insurance in the propensity to have doctor visits and hospitalizations, controlling for aspects of health and the economic and sociodemographic characteristics of individuals. The authors found that the elderly of Mexican origin in the United States were more likely to be hospitalized than those in Mexico, regardless of health insurance. However, in the absence of health insurance, visits to doctors were more likely in Mexico than in the United States. The results indicate that although in both countries, the availability of health insurance is associated with a higher propensity to use any health care services, a lack of health insurance may have more negative consequences for primary health care in the United States than in Mexico.
Permanent Layoffs in Canada: Overview and Longitudinal Analysis

Canadians are increasingly concerned about permanent layoffs since many feel job instability has increased in the 1990s. This paper uses a new longitudinal data source on worker separations to address three issues. First, what are the underlying causes of most permanent layoffs? Second, has there been an increase in the permanent layoff rate in the 1990s? Third, are most permanent layoffs rare events for workers or are they a continuation of a pattern of repeated layoffs? The type of postdisplacement adjustment assistance required depends on whether layoffs are rare or frequent events for most workers. Ordered logistic analysis is used to address this third issue.
Catholic School Effectiveness in Australia: A Reassessment Using Selection on Observed and Unobserved Variables

This paper provides new estimates of the effect of Catholic school attendance on high school completion and university commencement and completion for Australian students. Without a set of robust instruments to deal with any potential selection bias, we place bounds on the Catholic school effect using the assumption of equality between selection on observables and unobservables. The effect of Catholic school attendance is found to be smaller than previous results and negative treatment effects cannot be ruled out. A number of explanations for the decline in the Catholic school effect are considered. These include resource differences, growth in disadvantaged student enrolments in Catholic schools and changes in the school and university sectors in Australia.
The Impact of Personality on Symptom Expression in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Previous research conducted on the five-factor model of personality (FFM) in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has demonstrated that community and clinical participants score significantly higher than controls on the domains and facets of neuroticism and extraversion and selective facets of agreeableness and conscientiousness. However, studies have yet to examine the extent to which personality traits, as assessed by the FFM, are associated with the specific symptoms of OCD. The purpose of this study was to examine further the personality predictors of obsessive-compulsive symptoms in clinical participants using the facets of the FFM. Patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of OCD (N = 56) completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, the Yale Brown Obsession Compulsion Scale, and the Beck Depression Inventory. Lower scores on openness to ideas were uniquely associated with greater obsession severity, whereas lower openness to actions was uniquely associated with greater compulsive severity. In contrast with past research that has emphasized the association between neuroticism and extraversion and dimensionally rated obsessive-compulsive symptoms, this study demonstrates the specific associations between selective facet traits of openness and clinical obsessions and compulsions. Whereas tendencies toward negative affectivity may confer a nonspecific vulnerability to the development of OCD, facets of openness may impact on the particular expression and severity of obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
Write-offs and Profitability in Private Firms: Disentangling the Impact of Tax-Minimisation Incentives

Private firms are likely to use the financial reporting process more for other objectives, such as tax savings, than for communicating performance. However, observing firms choosing accounting policies for tax-minimisation purposes is not straightforward due to (i) tax and non-tax costs of reporting lower income (ii) accounting policies that result in lower reported income and no tax savings but generate non-tax benefits (iii) preparers' multiple incentives and (iv) econometric issues. We observe a large sample of 20,505 private firms writing off assets in two separate regimes, one that generates tax savings and one that does not. Firms significantly decrease, but continue to use, write-offs after the adverse change in tax treatment of write-offs. The exogenous tax change should not affect other reporting incentives. This allows us to disentangle the tax-minimisation incentive from other (un-observable) incentives, including debt contracting, dividends and employee relations that contribute to the observed anomalous positive relationship between write-offs and profitability. We show that for private firms (i) obtaining tax savings is important overall (ii) non-tax costs and benefits are probably also important and (iii) earnings informativeness for future cash flows increases after the adverse tax legislation change.
Entrepreneurial Moral Hazard in Income Insurance

We study entrepreneurs’ behavioral responses of effort (moral hazard) to avoid business failure.This is done in the context of an unemployment insurance scheme for self-employed, wherewe estimate how much of the transition probability to unemployment can be causally attributedto being insured. To disentangle moral hazard from adverse selection we use an institutional featureof the Danish unemployment system that provides an additional motive to choose insurance(an early retirement option). We estimate a bivariate random effects probit on a self-employmentsample drawn from register data. We find that those who are insured are 2 percentage pointsmore likely to subsequently become unemployed compared to the uninsured, however only 0.6percentage points can be attributed to behavioral responses.