Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Classroom Games on the Acquisition of Second Language Grammar

Abstract While games are a common classroom activity, not much empirical evidence supports the use of games in L2 grammar classrooms for late teens and adults. This intervention study focused on 34 Turkish learners of English as a second language. The intervention group was exposed to three class period of games, while the comparison group had three class periods of traditional instruction (e.g. worksheets and whiteboard explanations). A pre-test, a post-test, and a delayed post-test were given. T-tests were performed on the scores from each test and a mixed (with-subject and between group) ANOVA was conducted. Additionally a survey was conducted to determine the experience of the students. Results of the statistical analyses were not significant, but the students reported being motivated by the games. It is recommended that teachers use games in their grammar classrooms about once a week.
An Automated Test for Telepathy in Connection with Emails

Can people sense telepathically who is sending them an email before they receive it? Subjects, aged from 12 to 66 years, registered online with the names and email addresses of 3 senders. A computer selected a sender at random, and asked him to send an email message to the subject via the computer. The computer then asked the subject to guess the sender's name, and delivered the message after receiving the guess. A test consisted of 6 or 9 trials. In a total of 419 trials, including data from incomplete tests, there were 175 hits (41.8%), signifi cantly above the 33.3% chance level (p = .0001). Hit rates in incomplete tests were higher than in complete tests. There was no signifi cant difference between hit rates with male and female subjects. The highest hit rates were with subjects in the 20-29-year age group. The effect size in these tests was lower than in previous telephone and email telepathy tests, in spite of the fact that they were unsupervised. One reason may be that subjects were being asked to guess who had sent them a message several minutes earlier, rather than thinking about them simultaneously.
The Pension Protection Fund

We develop a model of the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), a defined benefit pension guarantee system for the UK, based on an analogy between pension liabilities and corporate debt obligations. We show that the PPF is likely to face many years of low claims interspersed irregularly with periods of very large claims. There is a significant chance that these claims will be so large that the PPF will default on its liabilities, leaving the government with no option but to bail it out. The cause of this problem is the double impact of a fall in equity prices on the PPF: it makes sponsor firms more likely to default and it makes defaulted plans more likely to be underfunded. We use our model to derive a fair premium for PPF insurance under different circumstances, to estimate the extent of cross-subsidies in the PPF between strong and weak sponsors, and to show that risk-rated premiums are unlikely to have a substantial effect on either the size or the lumpiness of claims. We argue that for the PPF to operate effectively, it should be introduced in tandem with strong minimum funding requirements and a lower level of benefit guarantee than at present.
Empresas de Auditoria e o Compliance com o Nível de Evidenciação Obrigatório Durante o Processo de Convergência às Normas Internacionais de Contabilidade no Brasil

The aim of this study was to establish the variables that influence the level of minimal disclosure of open Brazilian companies during the initial period of harmonization with international accounting standards in Brazil. Under the methodological aspect, the study is qualitative-quantitative, of a descriptive type. The target population included non-financial Brazilian companies that are listed on Bovespa's IBRX index. The final sample consisted of 78 companies. Data were obtained from the financial statements and notes issued by the companies in 2008 and 2009 through the Economatica database and the CVM website. We used a minimal disclosure index that was made up of 72 items related to pronouncements and technical guidelines issued by the Accounting Pronouncements Committee (APC) to define the level of minimal disclosure of each sample company. Qualitative data was processed by means of a content and quantitative analysis using the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) technique and the Generalized Linear Models (GLM) technique. The main results show that the size of audit firms, internationalization, the level of corporate governance and the debt levels influence significantly the level of minimal disclosure of the companies. That finding suggests that public companies of the sample audited by the big four feature better quality in the disclosure of accounting information that those companies audited by other independent audit firms. Key words: Accounting harmonization. External audit. Accounting information. Disclosure.
Informational Linkages Between Dark and Lit Trading Venues

We examine the linkages between dark and lit venues using a proprietary data set. We find that algorithmic trades for less liquid stocks are correlated with higher spreads and price impact, as well as contemporaneous trading on the lit venues. Also, signed trades for these stocks predict future returns over the next 15–120 minutes. Trades for liquid stocks, trades by the dark venue brokerage desk, and trades of large blocks transmit less information to lit venues. The results suggest informed agents split orders using algorithms across dark and lit trading venues, with lit orders providing some price discovery.
EXTERNAL DEBT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: NEW EVIDENCE FOR AN OLD DEBATE

This study aims to contribute to the understanding of the impact of external debt on economic growth by using the data for moderately indebted middle-income countries over the period of 1985-2013. The paper employs a relatively recent panel analysis technique, the common correlated effects (CCE) framework, which considers cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity implications in the data. Our overall findings suggest a negative linear effect of external debt for the panel despite some exceptions in the country-specific results. In the panel results, the impact of external indebtedness occurs through the debt stock rather than a direct impact of liquidity constraint represented by a debt service variable.
Cost Savings from Generation and Distribution with an Application to Italian Electric Utilities

In the last decade a new regulatory framework for electric utilities, aiming at a gradual liberalization of the sector, has been set in Europe. The promotion of competition among generators implies the need to separate power generation from downstream transmission and distribution activities. However, if cost savings can be reached by operating at different stages, vertical separation is accompanied with a lost of efficiency. This paper investigates the latter issue by testing for the presence of economies from vertical integration on a sample of 25 Italian local electric utilities, observed in the years 1994-2000. The estimates of a Composite Cost Function model show for the average firm (300 million Kwhs of generation and 600 million Kwhs of distribution) that both multi-stage economies of scale and vertical economies are present. These measures increase with firm size, with the cost savings of vertical integration rising from 3% up to 40% for large operators. Furthermore, fully integrated utilities, for which the ratio of generated over distributed electricity is unity, enjoy higher cost synergies with respect to firms characterized by lower own-generation ratios. Overall, our findings suggest caution in pursuing a systematic breakdown of vertically integrated electric utilities.
Staff training and development programmes and work performance in the university libraries in Ghana

This paper investigated the relationship between staff development and job performance of the library staff of five selected universities in Ghana. The paper examined the effectiveness of staff training and development policies, programmes, methods, training needs analysis and the monitoring and evaluation methods of the university libraries in order to establish the effectiveness of staff development initiatives in library and information services. The study adopted survey design and mixed methods approach combining qualitative and quantitative approaches in a single study. Data was largely collected with a questionnaire, while interviews were used to collect data from head librarians and heads of departments. The observation instrument was also used to confirm some information provided by the respondents. The findings of the study established that there is a positive relationship between staff training and development and work performance of library staff in the selected university libraries in Ghana. The results also revealed that even though staff development contributes greatly to effective provision of library and information services, staff training alone did not contribute to staff effectiveness. Staff development must be complemented with other human resource management strategies such as reward, promotion, retooling, etc. The paper makes recommendations on how staff development can help improve upon library staff effectiveness.
Disclosure Practices, Enforcement of Accounting Standards and Analysts' Forecast Accuracy: An International Study

Using a sample from 22 countries, I investigate the relations between the accuracy of analysts' earnings forecasts and the level of annual report disclosure, and between forecast accuracy and the degree of enforcement of accounting standards. I document that firm-level disclosures are positively related to forecast accuracy, suggesting that such disclosures provide useful information to analysts. I construct a comprehensive measure of enforcement and find that strong enforcement is associated with higher forecast accuracy. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that enforcement encourages managers to follow prescribed accounting rules, which, in turn, reduces analysts' uncertainty about future earnings. I also find evidence consistent with disclosures being more important when analyst following is low and with enforcement being more important when more choice among accounting methods is allowed. Copyright University of Chicago on behalf of the Institute of Professional Accounting, 2003.
Happiness and economics, how the economy and institutions affect well-being

Preface vii PART I: Setting the Stage CHAPTER 1: Happiness 3 CHAPTER 2: Well-Being and Economics 19 CHAPTER 3: Personality and Socio-Demograohic Influences on happiness 49 PART II: Economic Effects on Happiness CHAPTER 4: Income 73 CHAPTER 5: Employment 95 CHAPTER 6: Inflation 111 PART III: Political Effects on Happiness CHAPTER 7: The Current Politico-Economic Process 121 CHAPTER 8: Constitution: Popular Referenda and Federalism 133 CHAPTER 9: Outcome and Process 153 PART IV: Conclusions CHAPTER 10: Happiness Inspires Economics 171 APPENDIX A 185 APPENDIX B 191 References 195 Data Sources 215 Index 217
Negotiating the Single European Act: national interests and conventional statecraft in the European Community

The unexpected approval in 1986 of the Single European Act and its program for completing the European Community's internal market by 1992 did not, according to the historical data presented in this article, result from an elite alliance of the European Community Commission, European Parliament, and pan-European business groups. Instead, it rested on interstate bargains involving Britain, France, and Germany, for which the two essential preconditions were the convergence of European economic policy prescriptions following the French turnaround in 1983 and the bargaining leverage that France and Germany gained by threatening to create a “two-track” Europe and exclude Britain. This suggests that theories stressing supranational factors, including certain variants of neofunctionalism, should be supplanted by an “intergovernmental institutionalise” approach combining a realist emphasis on state power and national interests with a proper appreciation of the important role of domestic factors in determining the goals that governments pursue.
The Impact of Government Intervention in Banks on Corporate Borrowers’ Stock Returns

Abstract We investigate whether and how government interventions in the U.S. banking sector influence the stock market performance of corporate borrowers during the financial crisis of 2007–2009. We measure firms’ exposures to government interventions with an intervention score that is based on combined information on the firms’ structure of bank relationships and their banks’ participation in government capital support programs. We find that government capital infusions in banks have a significantly positive impact on borrowing firms’ stock returns. The effect is more pronounced for riskier and bank-dependent firms and for those that borrow from banks that are less capitalized and smaller.
A Voice of the US Southwestern Border: The 2012 “We the Border: Envisioning a Narrative for Our Future” Conference

In July 2012, a diverse group of US residents living near the US-Mexico border met in El Paso, Texas for a conference entitled, We the Border: Envisioning a Narrative for Our Future. This paper describes their vision for the US-Mexico border that is at odds with the widespread view of the border as a threat to the United States. These border residents viewed their region as a set of human communities with rights, capacities, and valuable insights and knowledge. They embraced an alternative vision of border enforcement that would focus on “quality” (dangerous entrants and contraband) over “quantity” (mass migration enforcement). They called for investments in the functionality and security of ports of entry, rather than in between ports of entry. They noted the low crime rate in US border cities, and examined how policies of not mixing local law enforcement with federal immigration enforcement contributed to this achievement. They saw the border region as the key transportation and brokerage zone of the emerging, integrated North American economy. In their view, the bilingual, bicultural, and binational skills that characterize border residents form part of a wider border culture that embraces diversity and engenders creativity. Under this vision the border region is not an empty enforcement zone, but is part of the national community and its residents should enjoy the same constitutional and human rights as other US residents. The conference participants emphasized the necessity and value of accountability and oversight of central government enforcement operations, and the need for border communities to participate in federal decision-making that affects their lives.
Predictable Dynamics in Higher-Order Risk-Neutral Moments: Evidence from the S&P 500 Options

Abstract We investigate whether there are predictable patterns in the dynamics of higher-order risk-neutral moments (RNMs) extracted from the market prices of Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 index options. To this end, we conduct a horse race among alternative forecasting models within an out-of-sample context over various forecasting horizons. We consider both a statistical and an economic setting. We find that higher RNMs can be statistically forecasted. However, only the 1-day-ahead skewness forecasts can be economically exploited. This economic significance vanishes once we incorporate transaction costs. The results have implications for the dynamics of implied volatility surfaces.
The Role of Analysts in Intra-Industry Information Transfer

ABSTRACT : When a firm issues a management forecast, analysts who have observed more forecasts from this firm since covering it (i.e., have more MF-Experience) subsequently improve their own accuracy more and provide timelier earnings forecasts for other (non-issuing) firms in the same industry. We also find that, subsequent to a management forecast, investors are more responsive to forecast revisions for non-issuing firms made by analysts with more MF-Experience. Further tests suggest that our results are not explained by endogeneity in firm coverage. Data Availability: Data are commercially available.
State-dominant and non-state-dominant ownership concentration and firm performance: Evidence from China

Purpose - This paper aims to investigate the relationship between ownership structure and performance for a comprehensive sample of Chinese listed firms for the years 2000-2004. In particular, the paper seeks to explore the effect of the dominance of state and private blockholders and control on firm performance. It aims to use a more differentiated approach than previous research on the subject, which has mainly focused on the effects of the pervasive state ownership on firm values. Accordingly, the main theme of the paper intends to relate to the analysis of the effects of private blockholders on firm value. Design/methodology/approach - The paper tests the ownership-performance relationship for the state and for sub-samples with predominantly private shareholders. The paper uses both an ordinary least squares and a two-stage least squares analysis, which treats ownership concentration as endogenous. Findings - The paper finds evidence that large private blockholdings are to the benefit of firm value for the full sample. Conversely, for smaller samples of companies without or with very low shareholdings by the various state players, there is some evidence that large private block shareholdings might be to the detriment of firm value. Originality/value - The study contributes to the literature by presenting a more comprehensive treatment of the ownership-performance relationship of listed firms in China. The main theme of the paper relates to ownership concentration and the effects of private blockholders on the performance of firms, in addition to the endogeneity of ownership. It also contributes by utilising the alternative ownership classification system developed by the National University of Singapore.
Textual Analysis and International Financial Reporting: Large Sample Evidence

We examine annual report text for over 15,000 non-US companies from 42 countries over the period 1998-2011, focusing on the length of disclosure, presence of boilerplate, comparability with US and non-US firms and complexity. We find that textual attributes are predictably associated with regulation and incentives for more transparent disclosure, and are correlated with economic outcomes such as liquidity, institutional ownership and analyst following. Using mandatory IFRS adoption as an exogenous shock, annual report disclosure improved in the sense that quantity of disclosure increased, boilerplate was reduced and comparability increased relative to both US and non-US firms. Firms with the greatest improvements in financial reporting experienced the greatest improvements in economic outcomes around IFRS adoption.
End-User Surveys: A Practical Approach to Evaluating Fisheries Research Performance

Expenditure on fisheries research is big business in Australia, with over $A20 million spent annually by the Federal Government through its Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. There is little published international literature evaluating the performance of fisheries research. Australian-based evaluations are similarly rare, while the topic of research management relating to fisheries, or environmental research more broadly, is largely absent from the literature. This is surprising given the importance of research in informing natural resource decision-making, particularly within fisheries management agencies. The results of our study show that Australian fisheries research undertaken between 1990 and 1998 has performed well, averaging a score of 70 per cent when evaluated by end-users. However, areas where improvements may be required were identified, as were the most critical points in the life-cycle of a project. The results also show that end-user surveys are a practical technique for portfolio or program-level evaluations as an augmentation to, but not replacing, traditional benefit-cost analysis.
The Effect of Credit Guarantees on Credit Availability and Delinquency Rates

We use new data to examine whether credit guarantees affect economic incentives and whether they affect the credit available to small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). We find that firms that have both guaranteed and non-guaranteed loans are 1.67% more likely to miss payments on their guaranteed loans, but are not more likely to default on these loans. These findings suggest that guarantees affect firms’ incentives to repay loans but not their long-term performance. We also find that firms selected into the guarantee programs are 1.17% more likely to default on their loans compared with similar firms that borrow without guarantees. Since we find evidence that long-term performance is not affected by guarantees, the higher default rates among firms selected into the guarantee programs must be the consequence of adverse selection. We also find that credit guarantees increase the aggregated amount of credit; in particular, one additional dollar of guarantees increases the total credit for SMEs by US$ 0.65.
The Three Forms of Governance

This second in a series of articles focuses on elements of family business governance that are critical to family asset protection and proliferation, but which the author believes are largely overlooked by both families and their advisors. The article highlights the fact that the usual emphasis on the family business and family wealth management, in general, addresses only 25% of the family's wealth, leaving the other 75% vulnerable to less obvious risk factors. By approaching business governance from the perspective of the family governance component, essential aspects of business governance and its role in asset protection may be considered in an entirely new light, which offers revealing insights. Such an approach can empower families and their enterprises, providing them greater control over their assets and built-in protection mechanisms that can span generations. The article presents models of appropriate relationships between business governance and the other forms of governance discussed in the series, ending with a case study which illustrates the consequences of inappropriate governance exacerbated by both competing and passive family owners. Building on the premise that generational perspectives and family dynamics directly influence family office structure and wealth management decisions, this series of articles goes beyond the boundaries of the family office to explore the validity of the "three forms of governance" approach and how the three forms integrate in order to foster, transfer, and protect the wealth of the family.
Auditors' Governance Functions and Legal Environments: An International Investigation

This paper uses a set of firm-level data across 39 countries to study whether national legal environments increase or decrease auditors' governance functions in serving the bonding and signaling role. On the one hand, Big Five auditors may play a stronger governance role in weaker legal environments because they are good substitutes for legal protection of outside investors and risky firms find Big Five auditors more affordable due to lower litigation costs. On the other hand, a country's poor legal environment may significantly weaken the demand and supply of quality audits, lessening their role as a bonding mechanism and a credible signal. Our empirical results provide support to the former view that Big Five auditors fulfill a stronger governance function in weaker legal environments.