Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non-compliance, board structures and the performance of financial firms during crisis: UK Evidence

This paper examines the effectiveness of internal corporate governance mechanisms for improving the performance of financial firms in the UK. The research is first of its kind to look into the relationship between corporate governance and performance of financial firms in the UK before and during the financial crisis. Using Generalised Methods of Moments (GMM) estimates that control for dynamic endogeneity, this study shows that firm performance as measured by Total Shareholder Returns (TSR) and Return on Equity (ROE) is negatively associated with the level of non-compliance with the UK Corporate Governance Code. The study also finds that having higher number of internal controls is most effective monitoring mechanism and is positively associated with firm performance. However, board independence represented by the number of non-executive directs (NEDs) is the least effective monitoring mechanism and is negatively associated with the performance of firms. The study also shows that directors’ share ownership is an effective incentive mechanism for aligning their interests with shareholders as it is positively associated with firm performance. However, the findings suggest that remuneration is negatively associated with performance. Finally, the study provides evidence which indicates that board size impact the performance of firms differently in different time periods. As proposed by agency theory the study provides evidence that shows the positive impact of effective monitoring and incentive alignment for performance. It also provides support for the resource dependence view that directors are a critical resource during difficult economic times.
The moduli of compact continuations of an open Riemann surface of genus one

Let (R, {A, B}) be a marked open Riemann surface of genus one. Denote by (T, (AT, BT}, i) a pair of a marked torus (T, {AT, BT}) and a conformal embedding i of R into T with i(A) and i(B) homotopic respectively to AT and BTWe say that (T, (AT, BT}, i) and (T', {AT', BT'}, i') are equivalent if i' o i1 extends to a conformal mapping of T onto T'. The equivalence classes are called compact continuations of (R, {A, B}) and the set of moduli of cormpact continuations of (R, (A, B}) is denoted by M = M(R, (A, B}). Then M is a closed disk in the upper half plane. The radius of M represents the size of the ideal boundary of R and gives a generalization of Schiffer's span for planar domains; in particular, it vanishes if and only if R belongs to the class OAD. On the other hand, any holomorphic differential on R with distinguished imaginary part produces in a canonical manner a compact continuation of (R, (A, B}). Such a compact continuation is referred to as a hydrodynamic continuation of (R, (A, B}). The boundary of M parametrizes in a natural way the space of hydrodynamic continuations; i.e., the hydrodynamic continuations have extremal properties. Introduction. A Riemann surface Ro is called a continuation (or prolongation, extension) of another Riemann surface R, if there exists a conformal injection of R into Ro. See Bochner [3] and Sario-Oikawa [22], for example. We are specifically interested in the case where R is an open Riemann surface of finite genus and Ro is a closed Riemann surface of the same genus. The existence of such Ro (for a given R) is a classical result, and the totality of those Ro's for a fixed R is also studied by many authors in the framework of Teichmuiller space theory. Cf. Heins [9], Ioffe [11, 12], Oikawa [15, 16], Renggli [19], and Timmann [31]. In the present paper we shall restrict ourselves, as in [9], only to the case of genus one. Then, we obtain a refinement of Heins' result; we give a complete description of the moduli set of compact continuations of a fixed open Riemann surface of genus one. (In [9] Heins considered the moduli space rather than the Teichmfiller space. But here we are concerned with the latter.) Received by the editors March 11, 1986. 1980 Mathematics Suject Clwsification (1985 Revisio). Primary 30Fxx, 32G15; Secondary 14H15, 30C75, 76B99.
Maturity Structure and Debt Renegotiation in Sovereign Bonds

This paper develops a model of endogenous default with debt renegotiation for emerging economies. A small open economy faces a stochastic stream of income. The government can issue short and long term bonds and makes decision on behalf of the residents of the borrowing country. Lenders are risk-neutral and operate in a perfectly competitive financial market. Upon default, the borrowing country loses access to the financial markets and will not be able to borrow any longer. The defaulted country has to pay off the principal and interest of the restructured debt to regain access to the credit market. Debt restructuring is modeled by a Nash bargaining game. The resulted equilibrium haircut is directly related to the debt level. This feature results in a default value function that flattens out after an endogenous threshold; consequently default happens at higher debt levels compared to models without debt renegotiation. The model is calibrated to capture the default episodes in Argentina. The proposed model has several advantages over extant literature. First, the model statistics closely match the observed values. This is particularly the case for the resulted interest rate distributions for short and long term bonds, compared to previous literature. Providing a precise interest rate distribution is crucial as finding the optimal maturity structure relies on it. Furthermore, interest rates can be an indicative of financial crisis. The paper finds that endogenous debt renegotiation is an important mechanism in generating more realistic fluctuations of the interest rate. The proposed model can be used as a policy tool to predict and understand dynamics of financial crises related to debt default.
Lending channels and financial shocks : the case of SME trade credit and the Japanese banking crisis

We offer a new paradigm for understanding the impact of financial shocks on the flow of credit to SMEs. Drawing from research on the lending view of monetary policy and research on SME financial contracting, we introduce the concept of “lending channels”. A lending channel is a two dimensional conduit through which SMEs obtain financing. In particular a lending channel consists of a specific lending technology provided by a specific type of institution. We hypothesize that during financial shocks some lending channels may close and other channels may expand to absorb the slack. We empirically test a possible implication of this hypothesis by examining whether one lending channel, trade credit, played a significant role as a substitute to other lending channels in offsetting a contraction in SME lending of other lending channels during the Japanese financial crisis. We find little evidence that trade credit played such a role. To the contrary, we find some evidence that trade credit and financial institution lending are complements, rather than substitutes, during the Japanese financial crisis periods. This does not preclude the possibility that other lending channels may have behaved in a manner consistent with this hypothesis.
External Fixator versus Pin and Plaster: The Approach to Distal Radius Fractures

distal radius fracture is the most common fracture of the long bones in adults and is quite prevalent amongst orthopedic patients.Methods: This is a randomized clinical trial conducted with recruiting 70 patients suffered from comminuted distal radius fractures. The study was carried out in Imam Khomeini Hospital, Sari, Iran, in 2011 and 2012.Results: All patients in the external fixator group (37 patients) showed the radiographic features of the union while only 29 patients in the pin & plaster group (93.5%) manifested evidence of union (p= 0.117). Only 4 patients (10.8%) in the external fixator group and 7 patients in the pin and plaster group had mal-union (p= 0.189). Eight patients (11.8%) had infection of the pin site, 2 patients (5.4%) in the external fixator and 6 patients (19.4%) in the pin and plaster group.Conclusion: According to the results of this study, external fixator had fewer side effects in comparison to the pin and plasters surgery and is a preferred treatment for comminuted distal radius fractures. Moreover, this technique is associated with better clinical and functional outcome.
Financial Intermediaries, Ownership Structure and Monitored Finance : Evidence from Japan

This paper introduces new and unique data from 127 Japanese private equity funds that enable a first-ever direct comparison of individual owner-manager structures versus financial intermediation structures in terms of the governance provided to investee companies through private equity funds. The data indicate individual owner-manager structures (financial disintermediation) give rise to much smaller portfolios of entrepreneurial firms and more advice to entrepreneurs. Across the scope of different financial intermediation structures including banks, life insurance companies, securities firms, corporations and government bodies, there are further differences in the provision of governance and value-added advice provided to investees. The data further indicate US-affiliated funds in Japan are more likely to have smaller portfolios and provide more advice to entrepreneurial companies, possibly due to a greater skill set in providing advice to facilitate the development of small entrepreneurial firms.
he moderating effect of relationships on intergenerational isk for infant neglect by young mothers essica

Infant neglect is the form of child maltreatment that occurs most often, yet has been least amenable to prevention. A maternal history of childhood maltreatment is a potent risk factor for child neglect, yet most maltreated mothers break intergenerational cycles of child abuse and neglect. Little is known about what protective factors support discontinuity in intergenerational transmission. This study examined whether certain factors (positive childhood care, older maternal age, social support) buffer intergenerational risk for neglect among the infants of young mothers, a population at high risk of being victimized. For young mothers in the sample (<21 years at birth; n = 447), the effect of a maternal history was assessed separately for different maltreatment types according to data on substantiated reports from Child Protective Services. Early risk for neglect was assessed using maternal self-report of parenting empathy. The results revealed that both infants and their mothers experienced neglect more often than any other maltreatment type. However, approximately 77% of maltreated mothers broke the cycle with their infants (<30 months). Maternal age moderated the relation between a maternal history of neglect and infant neglect, and social support moderated the relation between childhood neglect and maternal empathy. Neglected mothers had considerably higher levels of parenting empathy when they had frequent access to social support than when they had less frequent support, whereas the protective effect of social support was not nearly as strong for nonmaltreated mothers. Study findings highlight resilience in parenting despite risk for infant neglect, but underscore the context specificity of protective processes. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Observations of the Eyewall Structure of Typhoon Sinlaku (2008) during the Transformation Stage of Extratropical Transition

AbstractA unique dataset observing the life cycle of Typhoon Sinlaku was collected during The Observing System Research and Predictability Experiment (THORPEX) Pacific Asian Regional Campaign (T-PARC) in 2008. In this study observations of the transformation stage of the extratropical transition of Sinlaku are analyzed. Research flights with the Naval Research Laboratory P-3 and the U.S. Air Force WC-130 aircraft were conducted in the core region of Sinlaku. Data from the Electra Doppler Radar (ELDORA), dropsondes, aircraft flight level, and satellite atmospheric motion vectors were analyzed with the recently developed Spline Analysis at Mesoscale Utilizing Radar and Aircraft Instrumentation (SAMURAI) software with a 1-km horizontal- and 0.5-km vertical-node spacing. The SAMURAI analysis shows marked asymmetries in the structure of the core region in the radar reflectivity and three-dimensional wind field. The highest radar reflectivities were found in the left of shear semicircle, and maximum ascent was .
Norms of basic elementary operators on algebras of regular operators

The Banach algebra of all bounded linear operators on a Banach space is reasonably well understood, even though many unanswered questions about it remain. By contrast the space of all regular operators, even on a Dedekind complete Banach lattice, remains rather mysterious. We illustrate this by looking at basic elementary operators. These are operators, on an algebra of operators, of the form MA,B : T 7→ ATB for fixed operators A and B. It is difficult to imagine simpler operators. In the Banach space setting, it is a simple consequence of the Hahn-Banach theorem that ‖MA,B‖ = ‖A‖‖B‖. It is rather more difficult to compute the norm of a more general elementary operator, of the form ∑n k=1 MAk,Bk but several people in QUB have obtained significant results in that setting. By contrast even the norms of basic elementary operators on spaces of regular operators remain puzzling. I will give enough definitions so that the audience can make sense of the problem, and try to give some flavour of the methods used in proofs.
Mechanisms of Tidal Oscillatory Salt Transport in a Partially Stratified Estuary

AbstractTidal oscillatory salt transport, induced by the correlation between tidal variations in salinity and velocity, is an important term for the subtidal salt balance under the commonly used Eulerian method of salt transport decomposition. In this paper, its mechanisms in a partially stratified estuary are investigated with a numerical model of the Hudson estuary. During neap tides, when the estuary is strongly stratified, the tidal oscillatory salt transport is mainly due to the hydraulic response of the halocline to the longitudinal variation of topography. This mechanism does not involve vertical mixing, so it should not be regarded as oscillatory shear dispersion, but instead it should be regarded as advective transport of salt, which results from the vertical distortion of exchange flow obtained in the Eulerian decomposition by vertical fluctuations of the halocline. During spring tides, the estuary is weakly stratified, and vertical mixing plays a significant role in the tidal variation of salin.
The religious correlates of death anxiety: a systematic review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT Various theories of religion hypothesize a connection between death anxiety and religiosity. In particular, Terror Management Theory’s worldview defence hypothesis predicts that death anxiety is lowest among very religious and irreligious individuals, and highest among uncertain individuals. Likewise, the supposition that death anxiety motivates religious belief, which in turn mitigates death anxiety, predicts that religiosity increases with death anxiety among non-believers, and that death anxiety decreases as religiosity increases among believers. In both cases, a curvilinear relationship – specifically, an inverted-U curve – is predicted. We extracted 202 effect sizes from 100 studies for an “omnibus” religiosity meta-analysis, and six meta-analyses that examine particular dimensions of religiosity. We found high heterogeneity and a weak negative association between death anxiety and religiosity. A closer examination revealed that 10 of the 11 studies that directly tested for curvilinearity provided some support for an inverted-U pattern. The curvilinearity hypothesis cannot be ruled out, but more evidence – particularly on non-religious individuals, and in non-Western, non-Abrahamic contexts – is needed.
Signed fundamental domains for totally real number fields

We give a signed fundamental domain for the action on ℝn+ of the totally positive units E+ of a totally real number field k of degree n. The domain {(Cσ, wσ)}σ is signed since the net number of its intersections with any E+‐orbit is 1, that is, for any x ∈ ℝn+, ∑σ∈Sn−1 ∑ε∈E+wσχCσ(εx)=1. Here, χCσ is the characteristic function of Cσ, wσ = ± 1 is a natural orientation of the n‐dimensional k‐rational cone Cσ ⊂ ℝn+, and the inner sum is actually finite.
Does Crop Diversification Pay Off? An Empirical Study in Home Gardens of the Iberian Peninsula

Because of its potential role in providing ecosystem services and private benefits (food security), the concern about the loss of agrobiodiversity has grown. We explore the links between agrobiodiversity and farm financial benefits in small-scale agroecosystems. We measured crop diversity in a subsistence-oriented agricultural production system: home gardens (n = 250) in the Iberian Peninsula. We calculated the imputed market value of home gardens' edible crops and estimated the association between agrobiodiversity and home gardens' gross financial value. Temperate home gardens harbor levels of agrobiodiversity comparable to those of tropical home gardens. Data suggest that an increase in crop diversity is associated with an increase in the gross financial value generated by home gardens. Our findings suggest that in non-commercially oriented agricultural systems, there is a positive link between agrobiodiversity and financial benefits, highlighting the contribution of agrobiodiversity to the provision of private benefits.
“They talk to us like children”: language and intergenerational discourse in first-time encounters in an African township

This paper analyses language discourse in first-time encounters between young and old women in an African township. Forms of address, stories and complaints are analysed in terms of generational differences and similarities in identity ascription. Young women identify themselves on the basis of their ethnic membership and class, while old women do so on the basis of family relations and implied ethnic membership, which can be gleaned from their name and place of birth or origin. The discourse is marked by frequent complaints by old women to young women about the youth. Some complaints may be interpreted as masked forms of bragging. Old women complain that “they [the youth] talk to us like children,” but their words were initially used by the youth to describe old people. Within their use of language old women try to reinforce traditional power to withstand youth power and to retain some influence, even within non-familial intergenerational encounters.
The variation of microfibril angle in South African grown Pinus patula and its influence on the stiffness of structural lumber

Reduction in the rotation ages of softwood saw-log plantations in South Africa is causing increased proportions of low stiffness sawn lumber at final harvest. It has been shown for some species that the microfibril angle (MFA) of the S2 layer of tracheids is strongly related to the modulus of elasticity (MOE) of wood, even more so than wood density, especially in wood formed during juvenile growth. The objectives of this study were to describe the variation in MFA in young Pinus patula trees and to determine the relationship between MFA and the dynamic MOE of sawn P. patula lumber. Thirty 16- to 20-year-old trees from six compartments from the Mpumalanga escarpment were processed into discs and lumber. The MFA, density and ring width were measured at two height levels using Silviscan 3. The average annual ring MFA varied between 7° and 29°; the pattern of variation depended mainly on height level and the ring number from the pith. The MFA in P. patula followed the same within-tree variation trends as in New Zealand-grown Pinus radiata but the average MFA was lower in absolute terms and differences between height levels were less pronounced. The MFA and density exhibited highly significant Pearson correlations of 0.73 and 0.70, respectively, with board dynamic MOE. A multiple regression model, which included MFA, density and ring width, explained 71% of the variation in the dynamic MOE of boards. A sensitivity analysis on the model showed that MFA and density had approximately similar influences on predicting the dynamic MOE of Pinus patula boards.
Compatibility of children and work preferences: two European cases

Nowadays female participation in the labor market and motherhood are competing and the conciliation between them can be solved in different ways. In this paper we analyze children and work preferences in two European countries with very different behaviour: Italy and France. Italy shares with Spain the lowest fertility level (the TFR is around 1.25) whereas French TFR reaches the highest level (1.89) among the European Community countries. Moreover female employment rate in Italy is about 40% whereas in France reaches 70%. In these two contexts, using data from the European Community Household Panel, we model jointly fertility and female participation in the labor market, taking into account the potential correlation across unobserved heterogeneity in children and work preferences.
Transport and storage of anthropogenic C in the North Atlantic Subpolar Ocean

Abstract. The North Atlantic Ocean is a major sink region for atmospheric CO2 and contributes to the storage of anthropogenic carbon (Cant). While there is general agreement that the intensity of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) modulates uptake, transport and storage of Cant in the North Atlantic Subpolar Ocean, processes controlling their recent variability and evolution over the 21st century remain uncertain. This study investigates the relationship between transport, air–sea flux and storage rate of Cant in the North Atlantic Subpolar Ocean over the past 53 years. Its relies on the combined analysis of a multiannual in situ data set and outputs from a global biogeochemical ocean general circulation model (NEMO–PISCES) at 1∕2∘ spatial resolution forced by an atmospheric reanalysis. Despite an underestimation of Cant transport and an overestimation of anthropogenic air–sea CO2 flux in the model, the interannual variability of the regional Cant storage rate and its driving processes were well simulated by the model. Analysis of the multi-decadal simulation revealed that the MOC intensity variability was the major driver of the Cant transport variability at 25 and 36∘ N, but not at OVIDE. At the subpolar OVIDE section, the interannual variability of Cant transport was controlled by the accumulation of Cant in the MOC upper limb. At multi-decadal timescales, long-term changes in the North Atlantic storage rate of Cant were driven by the increase in air–sea fluxes of anthropogenic CO2. North Atlantic Central Water played a key role for storing Cant in the upper layer of the subtropical region and for supplying Cant to Intermediate Water and North Atlantic Deep Water. The transfer of Cant from surface to deep waters occurred mainly north of the OVIDE section. Most of the Cant transferred to the deep ocean was stored in the subpolar region, while the remainder was exported to the subtropical gyre within the lower MOC.