Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Beyond the Formal–Informal Dichotomy of Small Firm Strategy‐Making in Stable and Dynamic Environments

Strategy-making assists small firms in managing change and uncertainty by developing suitable strategic options. We move beyond the conventional formal–informal dichotomy to show how three informal approaches—internal participation, external participation, and centralized strategy-making—help both entrepreneurial firms and conservative firms to navigate more or less dynamic environments. In an empirical study of 320 small firms, we find that participation during strategy-making relates positively to performance whereas centralization only matters for conservative firms in stable environments. In dynamic environments, better performance in entrepreneurial firms is associated with all three approaches. Our findings highlight the importance of viewing strategy-making in small firms as multifaceted and context specific.
Analysis of Neurocan Structures Interacting with the Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule N-CAM*

Neurocan is a brain-specific chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan, which has been shown to bind to the neural cell adhesion molecule N-CAM and to inhibit its homophilic interaction. To study in more detail the structures of neurocan responsible for this interaction, various recombinant neurocan fragments were generated. The ability of these fragments to interact with N-CAM was investigated in several different in vitro assay systems, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-type binding assays, Covasphere-aggregation assays, and assays based on an optical biosensor (BIAcore™) system. The analysis of the homophilic N-CAM interaction in the BIAcore system revealed a KD of 64 nM. This homophilic interaction could be reduced by preincubation of soluble N-CAM with neurocan. Direct binding of N-CAM to immobilized neurocan core protein and recombinant neurocan fragments could also be demonstrated, and KD values between 25 and 100 nM were obtained. In addition, direct binding of N-CAM to chondroitin sulfate could be demonstrated. Binding of N-CAM to the immobilized neurocan core protein could be inhibited with all recombinant fragments containing chondroitin sulfate or major parts of the mucin-like central region of neurocan. For the inhibition of homophilic N-CAM interactions, however, a combination of globular and extended structures was required.
An Empirical Investigation of the Rank Correlation between Different Risk Measures

The Value at Risk (VaR) is widely used to measure the risk of banks' trading books, but it also has been criticized in the previous academic literature due to some odd properties. Other risk measures have been suggested as potentially being superior from a theoretical perspective. This gives rise to the question whether or not it makes much difference in practical applications which index is being used. Certainly, the numbers indicating risk will be different. Whenever risk measures are ordinal, however, it only matters whether or not the ranking of risky alternatives (portfolios, say) coincides. Therefore, taking actual data from two trading books, we analyze the rank correlation of different measures. In most cases we observe high values of Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, indicating that the index choice might not be too important. But it also becomes apparent that the VaR could as well be replaced by indices with a more convincing theoretical basis which do not generate a very different ranking of risks and in fact seem to compromise better between competing risk judgements. On the basis of theoretical arguments, we modify the data in various ways and repeat the analysis. It turns out that the results do not vary much, i.e., they seem to be quite robust.
Rose effect versus border effect: the Euro's impact on trade

The purpose of this article is to test the common finding of a positive ‘Rose Effect’ (RE) in the case of the Euro through a comparison with an indicator of integration among the Euro Zone (EZ) countries: the ‘Border Effect’ (BE). This study of the Euro's impact using both the RE and the BE is a novelty in the literature. Our findings cast doubts about the supposed trade-costs reduction caused by the Euro, reduction which is the main explanation of the positive RE estimated in several works. Both indicators are estimated by means of a gravity model for bilateral trade flows using a panel of manufacture exports and production figures.
Conflicting dilemmas: economic growth, natural resources and indigenous populations in South America

South American countries have experienced impressive economic growth in the last two decades. This growth, based on natural resource exports and increasing natural resource extraction, is largely dependent on the expansion of the economies of Brazil and China. The cautious optimism that current economic growth may lead to more equitable development is haunted, however, by increasing social unrest that on several occasions has engendered violent responses both by the state and those who protest against extraction activities. The report discusses how ongoing social conflict relates to prevailing and contested ways of revenue redistribution and social investment that generate and enforce territorial inequalities and promote political patronage and clientelism. It sheds light on current debates about the limits to corporate social responsibility. It also suggests that ongoing social unrest must be seen in relation to the current reconstitution of the nation state and the redefinition of democratic political spaces brought about by the emergence of new local and transnational actors such as the indigenous movement and environmental organisations. In these processes indigenous livelihoods and rights, on the one hand, and environmental effects associated with natural resource extraction and rapid modernisation, on the other, have become issues around which social movements and civil society organisations have coalesced.
Image Restoration and Object Removal Using Prioritized Adaptive Patch-Based Inpainting in a Wavelet Domain

Image restoration has been carried out by texture synthesis mostly for large regions and inpainting algorithms for small cracks in images. In this paper, we propose a new approach that allows for the simultaneous fill-in of different structures and textures by processing in a wavelet domain. A combination of structure inpainting and patch-based texture synthesis is carried out, which is known as patch-based inpainting, for filling and updating the target region. The wavelet transform is used for its very good multiresolution capabilities. The proposed algorithm uses the wavelet domain subbands to resolve the structure and texture components in smooth approximation and high frequency structural details. The subbands are processed separately by the prioritized patch-based inpainting with isophote energy driven texture synthesis at the core. The algorithm automatically estimates the wavelet coefficients of the target regions of various subbands using optimized patches from the surrounding DWT coefficients. The suggested performance improvement drastically improves execution speed over the existing algorithm. The proposed patch optimization strategy improves the quality of the fill. The fill-in is done with higher priority to structures and isophotes arriving at target boundaries. The effectiveness of the algorithm is demonstrated with natural and textured images with varying textural complexions.
Corporate social responsibility in times of financial crisis

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of financial crisis on the number and extent of CSR projects. It is presumed that, during a financial crisis, as organizations act more conservatively and defensively (Cheney et al., 1990), they fail to balance the expectations of related parties. Therefore, organizations might choose not to engage in CSR projects. To study this, globally operating companies listed in Fortune 500 were examined by using paired sample t tests on 100 randomly-sampled global companies from the list of Fortune 500. Overall, it was found that there is significant drop in numbers and extent of CSR projects in times of financial crisis. The study contributes to the literature by initiating discussions on CSR and the ways they are affected by financial crisis. Key words: Corporate social responsibility, financial crisis, contract theory.
Short Psychodynamic Supportive Psychotherapy, antidepressants, and their combination in the treatment of major depression: a mega‐analysis based on three Randomized Clinical Trials

The efficacy of Short Psychodynamic Supportive Psychotherapy (SPSP) has not yet been compared with pharmacotherapy. A mega‐analysis based on three original Randomized Clinical Trials (RCTs) was performed. Patients with (mild to moderate) major depressive disorder were randomized in (24 weeks) SPSP (n = 97), pharmacotherapy (n = 45), or their combination (n = 171). Efficacy was assessed by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Clinical Global Impression of Severity and of Improvement (CGI‐S), the Symptom Checklist (SCL; depression subscale) and the Quality of Life Depression Scale (QLDS). Pearson χ2 calculations were used to compare success rates. Analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) were used to test inter‐group differences. Success rates indicated that independent observers (HDRS) found no differences in symptom reduction between SPSP and pharmacotherapy (P = 0.214), but therapists (CGI‐S, P = 0.026), and patients (SCL, P = 0.036) favored SPSP. Combined therapy was found superior to pharmacotherapy by all three (patients (P = 0.000), therapists (P = 0.024), independent observers (P = 0.024)). Independent observers (P = 0.062) and therapists (P = 0.430) found no differences between combined therapy and SPSP, but patients (P = 0.016) found combined therapy to be superior. As far as quality of life is concerned, success rates indicated that patients (QLDS) found no differences between SPSP and pharmacotherapy (P = 0.073) or between SPSP and combined therapy (P = 0.217). However, they found combined therapy superior to pharmacotherapy (P = 0.015). The results of the mega‐analysis suggest that combined therapy is more efficacious than pharmacotherapy. SPSP and pharmacotherapy seem equally efficacious, except for some indications that patients and therapists favor SPSP for symptom reduction. Combined therapy and SPSP also seem equally efficacious, except that patients think that the first is better in symptom reduction. Depression and Anxiety 0:1–10, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Hospital case volume and outcomes among patients hospitalized with severe sepsis.

RATIONALE Processes of care are potential determinants of outcomes in patients with severe sepsis. Whether hospitals with more experience caring for patients with severe sepsis also have improved outcomes is unclear. OBJECTIVES To determine associations between hospital severe sepsis caseload and outcomes. METHODS We analyzed data from U.S. academic hospitals provided through University HealthSystem Consortium. We used University HealthSystem Consortium's sepsis mortality model (c-statistic, 0.826) for risk adjustment. Validated International Classification of Disease, 9th Edition, Clinical Modification algorithms were used to identify hospital severe sepsis case volume. Associations between risk-adjusted severe sepsis case volume and mortality, length of stay, and costs were analyzed using spline regression and analysis of covariance. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS We identified 56,997 patients with severe sepsis admitted to 124 U.S. academic hospitals during 2011. Hospitals admitted 460 ± 216 patients with severe sepsis, with median length of stay 12.5 days (interquartile range, 11.1-14.2), median direct costs $26,304 (interquartile range, $21,900-$32,090), and average hospital mortality 25.6 ± 5.3%. Higher severe sepsis case volume was associated with lower unadjusted severe sepsis mortality (R2 = 0.10, P = 0.01) and risk-adjusted severe sepsis mortality (R2 = 0.21, P < 0.001). After further adjustment for geographic region, number of beds, and long-term acute care referrals, hospitals in the highest severe sepsis case volume quartile had an absolute 7% (95% confidence interval, 2.4-11.6%) lower hospital mortality than hospitals in the lowest quartile. We did not identify associations between case volume and resource use. CONCLUSIONS Academic hospitals with higher severe sepsis case volume have lower severe sepsis hospital mortality without higher costs.
Effect of board size and promoter ownership on firm value: some empirical findings from India

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of corporate board size and promoter ownership on firm value for selected Indian companies.Design/methodology/approach – The study analyses the corporate governance structure of 176 Indian firms listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange using linear regression analysis.Findings – The empirical findings show a negative relationship of board size with firm value and significant positive association of promoter ownership with corporate performance. The study suggests that only above a critical ownership level of 40 percent does promoter's interest become aligned with that of the company, resulting in positive effect on firm value.Research limitations/ implications – The research has been limited to some selected Indian companies, with focus only on board size and promoter ownership as predictor variables. The study suggests that corporate governance reforms in India and introduction of non‐executive independent directors to the board have resulted in dim.
Strategic Orientations in Export Pricing: A Clustering Approach to Create Firm Taxonomies

Changes in the global economy have made pricing strategy increasingly important for exporting manufacturers. However, relatively little empirical work exists on export pricing strategies to guide marketing managers. The authors use a firm's strategic orientations in export pricing to create firm typologies. They find that four clusters of firms differ across organizational, venture-related, export market, and performance variables. The findings suggest that managerial orientations in export pricing can be successfully used to group firms in how they approach pricing decisions.
Numerical Valuation of High Dimensional Multivariate American Securities

Abstract We consider the problem of pricing an American contingent claim whose payoff depends on several sources of uncertainty. Several efficient numerical lattice-based techniques exist for pricing American securities depending on one or few (up to three) risk sources. However, these methods cannot be used for high dimensional problems, since their memory requirement is exponential in the number of risk sources. We present an efficient numerical technique that combines Monte Carlo simulation with a particular partitioning method of the underlying assets space, which we call Stratified State Aggregation (SSA). Using this technique, we can compute accurate approximations of prices of American securities with an arbitrary number of underlying assets. Our numerical experiments show that the method is practical for pricing American claims depending on up to 400 risk sources.
Networks in Cultural, Economic and Evolutionary Perspective

Depending on the kind of literature networks in general, and Chinese networks in particular seem to be different phenomena, or are explained by different factors leaving the interested public puzzled. Whether Chinese networks resemble Clans, Clubs, or Mafia-kind of organizations is as much disputed as the effects of networking on the economy. While some argue that networks contribute to overall factor productivity in a situation in which neither the old planning system nor the nascent markets function, others insist on their counterproductive potential for the transformation of the Chinese economy. A third group dismisses networks as a transitory phenomena that will disappear with ongoing market reforms, in particular the wider use of the price mechanism for allocating resources and co-ordinating economic activities. The following attempts to shed some light into the confusing argumentation by grouping the different approaches according to what is explained, and the explaining items. The paper will systematically compare theories that are usually classified as taking a cultural, economic, and evolutionary perspective and which can be found in China-specific or social science literature. All these approaches claim to provide explanations for (Chinese) networks. Yet they differ with respect to the phenomena that they want to explain, namely networks and/or the explanatory factors they regard as crucial. Thus, for example cultural and economic, better: Transaction cost economics (TCE) approaches focus on networks as a given organizational form, while evolutionary economics or the capability approach in management science include a further dimension, namely time, subsequently regarding network as an activity that might lead to different network forms. The approaches differ also widely according to the factors singled out – or isolated -which are claimed to be the crucial items in any explanation for networks. As will be shown the two competing models in which networks are either based on co-ethnic groups or on expected functional value are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
Linguistic and Conceptual Control of Visual Spatial Attention

A theory of voluntary, top-down control of visual spatial attention is presented that explains how linguistic cues like "above," "below," "left," and "right" are used to direct attention from one object to another. The theory distinguishes between perceptual and conceptual representations of space and views attention as a set of mechanisms that establish correspondences between the representations. Spatial reference frames play an important part in this analysis. The theory interprets reference frames as mechanisms of attention, similar to spatial indices but with more computational power. The theory was tested in 11 experiments that assessed the importance of linguistic distinctions between classes of spatial relations (basic, deictic, and intrinsic) and examined the flexibility with which subjects manipulated spatial reference frames.
Transaction behaviour analysis of profit-earning investors in securities corporations

Analysing investor behaviour by information systems to increase the opportunity of earning profit for investors will enhance customer satisfaction of securities companies and will also be helpful for the management and development of such firms. Moreover, securities investment is also important for financial departments of other enterprises. The objective of this study is to adopt Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) analysis and data mining to analyse the transaction behaviour and rules of profit-earning investors. The results classified several transaction behaviour rules of profit-earning investors. In addition, trading method and stock category were found to be the key factors of determining profit-earning.
Total Risk Composition of BIST100 Index Manufacturing Companies

In this study, we examined the total risk composition of the manufacturing firms in the BIST100 Index during the period of October 1998 – June 2013. Although the total risk composition is generally stated as the sum of systematic and unsystematic risks, in this study, this structure has been analysed under internal (asset-liability) and external (market) risk factors. In order to define the total risk composition of the selected firms, we performed panel data analysis via Pooled OLS, Fixed Effect and Random Effect models in the first part of empirical section. Due to the fact that there have been assumptional problems in the Random Effect Panel Data Model, in the second part, we carried out the Fitting Generalized Least Square (FGLS) panel data analysis. According to our findings, external risk factors have relatively lower effects within the total risk composition of companies examined. These results are not consistent with the findings of studies concerning emerging markets.
Intertemporal Substitution, Exogeneity, and Surprises: Estimating Life Cycle Models for Canada

The authors estimate consumption and labor supply models for Canada using U.S. variables as instruments instead of lagged Canadian variables. The results suggest that the endogeneity of lagged variables has not been a serious problem in previous studies. They also develop estimation methods for use when the agents' information sets are unknown and the model contains the realization and the innovation of an endogenous variable. The authors use the approach to estimate a labor supply model combining intertemporal substitution and job search, and to estimate the labor supply and consumption responses to marginal utility of income changes induced by wage, price, and interest rate surprises.
Alienation from work: Marxist ideologies and twenty-first-century practice

This paper responds to calls for research that takes into consideration the broader ideologies underpinning the employment relationship within capitalist societies by building and testing a model of work alienation. We examine how three work-related factors identified originally by Karl Marx act as precursors of alienation, that is, a disconnection of oneself from work, that are experienced in the modern workplace, namely the extent to which voice behaviours are enacted, whether an individual perceives his or her skills to be used in the course of work, and a lack of perceived meaningfulness of work. Further, we investigate whether alienation leads to emotional exhaustion and stifles well-being. Data from 227 employees in a manufacturing organisation in the UK support this model, in that a lack of voice, person–job fit and meaningfulness lead to alienation at work, and emotional exhaustion and lower levels of well-being are its consequences. The present study demonstrates that alienation should be a focal point for human resource management scholars in the twenty-first century.
Infrastructure and Regional Economic Growth: The Spanish Case

CUTANDA A. and PARICIO J. (1994) Infrastructure and regional economic growth: the Spanish case, Reg. Studies 28, 69-77. This paper considers the measurement of infrastructure capital in the Spanish regions and examines the regional disparities found. The relationship between income and infrastructure is studied in order to determine the impact of public capital in accounting for regional disparities in incomes. The empirical evidence shows that infrastructure has a significant positive effect on the income disparities at regional level. CUTANDA A. et PARICIO J. (1994) L'equipement et la croissance economique regionale, Reg. Studies 28, 69-77. Cet article considere la mesure du capital affecte a l'equipement aux regions en Espagne et en examine les ecarts regionaux. On etudie le rapport entre le revenu et l'equipement afin de determiner l'impact des depenses publiques comme facteur explicatif des ecarts de revenu regionaux. Les preuves empiriques laissent voir que l'equipement a un effet positif non-neglig.
Housing policies and new construction. A study of chains of moves in Southwest Skåne

Which type of new construction is most congruent with Swedish housing policy goals? Are present policies affecting new construction in line with explicit aims? A study of chains of moves in Southwest Skane is employed to investigate these questions. The results show that the impact on the housing market via the chains of moves varies little between types of new construction. The immediate impact however varies considerably. Households moving into new owner‐occupied dwellings come from the upper income strata and had good room standard before moving. Households moving into new rental dwellings have an income distribution not unsimilar to that of the region, and many were crowded before moving. The implications are that state support to new construction and especially to the demand for new construction should be funneled more into the rental sector and less into the owner‐occupied sector than has hitherto been the case.