Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exporter Firms Behaviour, Evidence from Portuguese Firms using Microdata

The combination of a high quality and universal firm level database for Portugal allows the detailed study of firm's behaviour. We use BPlim’s harmonized Central Balance Sheet panel for the period of 2006 to 2015 to evaluate the different behaviour of exporters and non-exporters in Portugal. We follow on the self-selection and learning-by-exporting literature, estimating several exporter productivity premiums. After finding solid evidence of a productivity advantage of exporters compared to non-exporters, which seems to emerge several years before firms start to export, we expand our study in order to explore the causality of the previous findings. Thus, we estimate a logit fixed effects model to assess the impact of several variables in the export propensity of a firm. We corroborate the self-selection theory, given the significance of labour productivity in probability of a firm exporting, as well, as significant effects of firm absolute size, relative market share, sector concentration and investment.
Are Employee Option Proceeds a Source of Finance for Investment?

This paper investigates whether employee stock option proceeds, both executive and non-executive are employed by firms to finance investment by exploiting a quasi-natural experiment which mandated option expensing, SFAS 123R. We find that despite a fall in both executive and non-executive option grants and proceeds, investment has increased post-SFAS 123R. The investment’s sensitivity to option proceeds remains constant or even decreases for non-executive option proceeds post-SFAS 123R implying that option proceeds are not an integral source of finance. Our results are not driven by the recent financial crisis as well as the changes in corporate governance and financial constraints over the sample period.
The credit rating industry under new regulatory regimes : the case of financial institutions

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Metacognitive Instruction and Students’ Achievement in Solving Mathematical Word Problems

Mathematics is considered as an important subject of elementary curriculum throughout the world due to its use in different fields of life. The compulsory component of mathematics is mathematical word problems. Word problems are considered as the difficult part of mathematics not only by students but mathematics teachers as well. Special teaching strategies are required to teach mathematical word problems to cope with the recent educational standards. Metacognitive instruction for teaching word problems has been proved affective by different educationists and researchers of world. Metacognitive instruction uses the hypothetical definition of metacognition, metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive skills and practicing of self addressed questions. Students are practiced to ask a series of self addressed questions while solving word problems about: understanding, connection, strategies, and reflection. The present study was an attempt to experiment metacognitive instruction for teaching mathematical word problems on sixth class students at Govt. High School Abbottabad and to check its effectiveness as compared to traditional method of teaching. The study used true experimental research design; specifically the pretest-posttest control group design with 80 subjects (40 + 40) and data was collected and analyzed by t-test and descriptive analysis. The finding of study proved metacognitive instruction as an effective method for teaching mathematical word problems at elementary level.
Stakeholder Orientation and Firm Value

We analyze the relation between enhanced director discretion to consider stakeholder interests (“stakeholder orientation”) and firm value by exploiting the adoption of directors’ duties laws (DDLs) as a quasi-natural experiment. We find that DDLs result in significant increases in shareholder value, especially in more innovative firms and those with stronger stakeholder relationships. DDLs also improve employees’ job security, financial soundness and innovation. These benefits, however, are offset in firms with more severe agency problems. Our results suggest that stakeholder orientation improves the commitment toward stakeholders and reduces contracting costs in many firms, but one size does not fit all.
The Effect of Board Diversity on Real Earnings Management: Empirical Evidence From Jordan

This study considers the effect of foreign board members and age diversity on real earnings management (REM), by controlling the firm size, leverage and growth. This study employed quantitative methodology and longitudinal data for non-financial business firms, quoted on the Amman Stock Exchange from 2011 to 2015. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Panel Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE) regression. This study found that foreign boards member, age diversity, leverage and growth had negative and significant associations with REM. Based on the results, a firm should appoint young members to the board in addition to older members to pave the way to cross-ideology that can deter REM activities. At least one foreign director should exist within the board of directors because a foreign board member has different qualifications and experiences that may help to deter REM practices.
Predicting the risk of illegal activity and evaluating law enforcement interventions in the western Serengeti

Illegal activity within protected areas is a primary driver of species decline and threatens conservation efforts. In the western corridor of the Serengeti Ecosystem of northern Tanzania, the Grumeti and Ikorongo Game Reserves and Ikona Wildlife Management Area provide an important buffer between permanent settlements and Serengeti National Park, while simultaneously maintaining critical wildlife habitat. Understanding the spatial distribution and environmental drivers of illegal activity is critical to optimize biodiversity protection efforts in this important ecosystem. We examined a rare dataset containing detailed records of reserve game scout patrol effort and occurrences of illegal activity between 2013 and 2016. We used presence only data to construct predictive models of five categories of illegal activity. We derived spatial predictions of the likelihood of different activities and identified the environmental variables predictive of risk for each activity. The highest risk areas were located along reserve edges, further from roads and scout camps, suggesting avoidance of enforcement presence. Activities associated with wildlife offtake were the most widely distributed in the study area and extended into the national park. Permanent scout camps were more effective deterrents of all illegal activities than observation posts, but their limited spatial influence demonstrated additional enforcement strategies are required.
Empirical Analysis of Farmers’ Intention to Adopt Sustainable Agricultural Practices

The present research aims to study the farmers' intention to adopt sustainable agriculture practices. The sample size of 283 respondents has been considered and responses have been recorded from different areas of Punjab state (India) using a research schedule. The study considered six dimensions namely perceived usefulness; self efficacy; extension services; social capital; facilitating conditions and compatibility have been taken from the existing literature. The data thus collected, has been analysed using exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and multiple regression analysis. The results of the study confirmed that perceived usefulness, self efficacy and extension services play a significant role whereas social capital, facilitating conditions, and compatibility have no significant impact on the decisions to implement sustainable Agricultural practices.
Pengaruh Intangible Asset, Arus Kas Operasi dan Leverage terhadap Financial Distress

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh intangible asset, arus kasoperasi dan leverage terhadap financial distress pada Perusahaan jasa sektor infrastruktur,utilitas dan transportasi yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia (BEI) periode 2013-2017.Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah 62 Perusahaan dan pemilihan sampel denganmetode purposive sampling diperoleh16 Perusahaan.Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkanbahwa dengan uji t membuktikan intangible asset berpengaruh negatif terhadap financialdistress, arus kas operasi berpengaruh positif terhadap financial distress, sedangkanleverage tidak berpengaruh terhadap financial distress. Penelitian dengan uji Fmembuktikan bahwa intangible asset, arus kas operasi dan leverage secara bersama-samaberpengaruh terhadap financial distress. Uji koefisien determinasi menunjukkanintangible asset, arus kas operasi dan leverage menjelaskan variabel financial distresssebesar 89.05%, sedangkan sisanya 10.95% merupakan kontribusi faktor lain.
FACTORS AFFECTING STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION AMONG LOCAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN KENYA: A SURVEY OF NGOS IN NAIROBI COUNTY

Globally, many organizations have slowly embraced strategic planning but the implementation process remains a challenge, resulting in well-formulated strategies that fail at the implementation stage. No known study has been done on factors affecting strategy implementation among local Non-Governmental Organizations in Kenya, Nairobi County. This study therefore sought to fill this gap by investigating the factors affecting the implementation of strategic plans in non-governmental organizations. The study also sought to establish the effect of management styles, communication, organizational culture and organizational resources on the implementation of strategic plans in non-governmental organizations. The study used cross sectional survey research design and the target population of the study was the local NGOs in Nairobi in sectors of health, youth, welfare, micro-finance and relief registered in Nairobi County. The study used stratified random sampling technique to select a sample of 163 local NGOs in Nairobi County. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaire while data analysis was done using frequencies and descriptive statistics. The results indicated that the most common management style used by most NGO was democratic style chosen by majority of the respondents while bureaucratic style was the least used. The findings also show that flow of communication in most NGOs used a top-down approach. However, this is a concern for this study since lack of clear multi-directional flow of communication may be a hindering factor affecting implementing of strategic plans. The study also established that employees in the various NGOs widely use meetings and newsletters as a means of communicating their strategic implementation plans meaning that meetings and newsletters form the main channels of communication. The results further indicate that organizational culture influences the implementation of strategic plans. In addition, all goals in organizational resources had a positive mean showing that they all had an effect in strategy implementation. It can be concluded that all the five independent variables had a positive effects of the dependent variable, data collection instruments has been proved to be valid for this study. The study recommends that various NGOs should use better management styles that incorporate all employees like the democratic style where all employees are associated in achieving set strategic objectives. In addition, NGOs should have a more defined culture that allows training and professionalism and rewarding of more performing employees to motivate them to implement and attain the strategic objectives easily.
The Dynamic Application of Effectual and Causal Decision-making in Low-Uncertainty New Venture Creation

The theory of effectuation would benefit greatly from more empirical studies researching the application of effectual and causal decision-making in new venture creation. Furthermore, the theory would benefit from research identifying what conditions drive entrepreneurs to apply causal or effectual decision-making. This current study makes a contribution here by exploring the role of effectuation in new venture creation with low-uncertainty, focusing on what dimensions of effectuation and causation play a role in the decision-making of entrepreneurs across separate stages of new venture creation. A qualitative analysis on the decision-making of both novice and expert entrepreneurs provides new insights in how effectuation and causation are dynamically applied in the process of new venture creation. The theory of effectuation would benefit greatly from more empirical studies researching the application of effectual and causal decision-making in new venture creation. Furthermore, the theory would benefit from research identifying what conditions drive entrepreneurs to apply causal or effectual decision-making. This current study makes a contribution here by exploring the role of effectuation in new venture creation with low-uncertainty, focusing on what dimensions of effectuation and causation play a role in the decision-making of entrepreneurs across separate stages of new venture creation. A qualitative analysis on the decision-making of both novice and expert entrepreneurs provides new insights in how effectuation and causation are dynamically applied in the process of new venture creation. The results yield the following three insights: 1) entrepreneurs apply both effectuation and causation when creating their venture in an environment that has low-uncertainty. 2) Novice entrepreneurs apply more effectual decision-making in the beginning of new venture creation but shift to more causal decision-making as their venture mature, whereas expert entrepreneurs apply a mix of effectual and causal methods throughout the new venture creation process. 3) The need to attract additional finance during new venture development forces entrepreneurs to apply more causal decision-making.
Adopsi E-commerce Pada Usaha Mikro Dan Kecil Di Bandung (studi Kasus Subsektor Fesyen)

Munculnya usaha mikro, kecil dan menengah (UMKM) di Indonesia dan terus meningkatnya jumlah pengguna internet sehingga memicu berkembangnya e-commerce di Indonesia. Selain itu, UMKM dengan sektor industri kreatif semakin bertambah khususnya di Bandung. Di Bandung subsektor industri kreatif paling banyak jumlahnya adalah subsektor fesyen sebesar 842 (Dinas Perindustrian dan Perdagangan Provinsi Jawa Barat, 2015). Karena itu penelitian ini ingin mengetahui faktor-faktor pendorong usaha mikro dan kecil dalam mengadopsi e-. commerce dengan subsektor fesyen dan faktor yang paling dominan. Jumlah sampel dalam penelitian ini adalah 90 usaha mikro atau kecil. Metode yang digunakan yaitu kuantitatif dengan analisis faktor. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian terdapat tiga faktor pendorong dalam mengadopsi e-commerce di Bandung yaitu faktor kesiapan teknologi, faktor eksternal perusahaan dan faktor internal perusahaan. Faktor yang paling dominan adalah faktor kesiapan teknologi. Kata kunci : UMKM, e-commerce, industri kreatif, fesyen, analisis faktor
Disclosure Policies for the Issuer Estimated Value — Facts and Fiction

In 2014, the German Derivatives Association introduced the policy of disclosing an Issuer Estimated Value (IEV) for structured retail investment products. The IEV is supposed to reflect the fair value of the product. As an act of self-regulation, issuers intended this measure to meet criticism regarding their intransparent profit margins. We analyze the objectivity of the IEV for a large sample of discount certificates on the German major stock market index DAX. We find that margins based on issuerdisclosed IEVs are substantially lower than fair value margins. While deviations might be explained to some degree by a lack of precision in the definition of the IEV, most issuers seem to ignore their own bankruptcy risk in their IEV estimations.
Type II seesaw mechanism with scalar dark matter in light of AMS-02, DAMPE, and Fermi-LAT data

The Standard Model (SM) supplemented by Type II Seesaw and a SM gauge-singlet scalar dark matter (DM) is a very simple framework to incorporate the observed neutrino oscillations and provide a plausible DM candidate. In this framework, the scalar DM naturally has a leptophilic nature with a pair annihilating mainly into the SM SU(2)$_L$ triplet Higgs scalar of Type II Seesaw which, in turn, decay into leptons. In this work, we consider indirect signatures of this leptophilic DM and examine the spectrum of the cosmic ray electron/positron flux from DM pair annihilations in the Galactic halo. Given an astrophysical background spectrum of the cosmic ray electron/positron flux, we find that the contributions from DM annihilations can nicely fit the observed data from the AMS-02, DAMPE and Fermi-LAT collaborations, with a multi-TeV range of DM mass and a boost factor for the DM annihilation cross section of ${\cal O}(1000)$. The boost factor has a slight tension with the Fermi-LAT data for gamma-ray from dwarf spheroidal galaxies, which can be ameliorated with an enhanced local DM density by a factor of about 2.
The Geometry of the Sagittarius Stream from Pan-STARRS1 3π RR Lyrae

We present a comprehensive and precise description of the Sagittarius (Sgr) stellar stream’s 3D geometry as traced by its old stellar population. This analysis draws on the sample of ∼44,000 RR Lyrae (RRab) stars from the Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) 3π survey, which is complete and pure within 80 kpc, and extends to with a distance precision of . A projection of RR Lyrae stars within of the Sgr stream’s orbital plane reveals the morphology of both the leading and the trailing arms at very high contrast across much of the sky. In particular, the map traces the stream near-contiguously through the distant apocenters. We fit a simple model for the mean distance and line-of-sight depth of the Sgr stream as a function of the orbital plane angle , along with a power-law background model for the field stars. This modeling results in estimates of the mean stream distance precise to and it resolves the stream’s line-of-sight depth. These improved geometric constraints can serve as new constraints for dynamical stream models.
Scanning probe imaging of coexistent ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity at room temperature

Room temperature coexistence of ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity in a thin film of nominal composition PbTi0.5Fe0. 5O3−δ is probed by standard ferroelectric and ferromagnetic hysteresis loop measurements and by scanning probe microscopy. Both magnetic domains and ferroelectric domains are observed in the same spatial region of the material, implying phase coexistence in this system. Sample morphology strongly affects the roughness of the domain walls for both order parameters.
Universal Relations for Innermost Stable Circular Orbits around Rapidly Rotating Neutron Stars

We study the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) of a test particle around rapidly rotating neutron stars. Based on 12 different nuclear-matter equations of state (EOS), we find numerically two approximately EOS-insensitive universal relations that connect the radius and orbital frequency of the ISCO to the spin frequency f and mass M of rotating neutron stars. The relations are EOS-insensitive to about the 2% level for a large range of Mf. We also find that the universal relation for the ISCO radius agrees with the corresponding relation for the Kerr black hole to within 6% up to Mf = 5000 M⊙ Hz. Our relations can be applied to accreting neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries. Using the spin frequency f = 414 Hz and the highest kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillations (kHz QPOs) at 1220 Hz observed in the system 4U 0614+09, we determine the mass of the neutron star to be 2.0 M⊙. Our conclusion only makes a minimal assumption that the highest kHz QPO frequency is the ISCO frequency, bypassing the assumption of slow rotation and the uncertainty related to the dimensionless spin parameter, which are commonly required in the literature.
Analysis of the Evolution of the Adhesion of Firms to the Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE)

Under the frameworks of the Voluntary Disclosure and Stakeholder Theoriesy this work aims to analyze the evolution, the adherence and the continuity of firms in the Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE) of B3. Methodology is based on content analyses of the ISE questionnaire, descriptive analysis, and tests for the difference in proportions. The analysis was based on all 72 firms that have already composed the ISE portfolio. Results show a growing interest of firms to integrate the ISE index given the annual increase in the number of companies. The findings indicate a significant proportion of firms that remain in ISE portfolio in consecutive years. Similarly, the proportion of firms that allow making public the content of their questionnaire is also significant. In addition, it is important to highlight the dimensions of the ISE questionnaire which inquires about firm policies beyond the typical social dimension of Corporate Social Responsibility, i.e. the social dimension. In fact, the ISE index comprises strongly the Corporate Governance and Economic dimensions of CSR.
Circumnuclear star formation in Mrk 42 mapped with Gemini Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph

We present Gemini Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) observations of the inner $1.5\times1.5$ kpc$^2$ of the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 42 at a spatial resolution of 60 pc and spectral resolution of 40 km s$^{-1}$. The emission-line flux and equivalent width maps clearly show a ring of circumnuclear star formation regions (CNSFRs) surrounding the nucleus with radius of $\sim$500 pc. The spectra of some of these regions show molecular absorption features which are probably of CN, TiO or VO, indicating the presence of massive evolved stars in the thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) phase. The gas kinematics of the ring is dominated by rotation in the plane of the galaxy, following the large scale disk geometry, while at the nucleus an additional outflowing component is detected blueshifted by 300-500 kms$^{-1}$, relative to the systemic velocity of the galaxy. Based on the equivalent width of Br$\gamma$, we find evidences of gradients in the age of HII regions along the ring of Mrk 42, favoring the pearls on a string scenario of star formation. The broad component of Pa$\beta$ emission line presents a Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) of $\sim$1480 kms$^{-1}$, implying in a mass of $\sim\,2.5\times10^{6}$~M$_{\odot}$ for the central supermassive black hole. Based on emission-line ratios we conclude that besides the active galactic nucleus, Mrk 42 presents nuclear Starburst activity.