Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
“The impact of mediation on resolution of disagreements around special educational needs: Effectiveness and cost effectiveness”

ABSTRACT Under England’s Children and Families Act 2014, local authorities (LAs) have a statutory responsibility to provide an independent mediation service for cases of disagreement between parents or young people and the LAs where parents or the young person are considering an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal Special Educational Needs (SEN) and DisabilityWe examined the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of mediation in resolving such disagreements without recourse to an appeal to the Tribunal. Our data comprised three national surveys, two supplementary surveys and individual interviews with LA staff and parents to explore implementation of the new mediation system and the impact on appeals and costs over 2014–16 from 109 English LAs who provided data. Our findings indicate that families who took up mediation were significantly less likely to appeal to the Tribunal, absolute risk reduction 13.58% (95% CI: 10.20%, 16.97%). The cost saving across all cases, of different complexity, was £636,462 overall, approximately £500 per case. Overall, mediation was found to be a promising method of disagreement resolution, reducing appeals and producing savings in both financial and human well-being costs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of both the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of mediation as a means of resolution of disputes about meeting children's SEN.
Socioeconomic Representation: Expanding the Theory of Representative Bureaucracy

To date, representative bureaucracy scholarship has primarily focused on the potential for increased racial/ethnic and gender representation in the public-sector workforce to improve outcomes for minority and female clients. However, the potential for socioeconomic representation to benefit those from a lower socioeconomic background has not been thoroughly explored. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Cohort 2011 and a student fixed-effects approach, I begin to fill this gap in the literature by investigating whether socioeconomic representation—above and beyond and intersecting with racial and ethnic representation—affects teachers' perceptions of their relationships with students. Heterogeneity by an organizational context likely to affect the saliency of SES is also explored. Overall results show no evidence that SES match between teachers and students influences teachers' rating of relationship quality with students. For low-SES black students, racial representation persists as an important factor in better teacher–student relationships, even controlling for socioeconomic representation. However, for low-SES white students in contexts where SES is likely to be particularly salient, socioeconomic representation has a significant positive effect on teacher–student relationship quality. Results exploring the interaction of racial and socioeconomic representation are also presented. Finally, theoretical and practical implications, as well as directions for future research, are discussed.
Are governmental expenditures also sticky? Evidence from the operating expenditures of public schools

ABSTRACT Existing research on cost stickiness focuses primarily on for-profit companies. This study investigates cost behaviour in the public sector, a new setting that deserves more research attention. Using unique data from public schools in Taiwan, we find that operating expenditures of public schools are sticky. Moreover, the stickiness is more prominent for schools whose principals facing higher enrolment pressure. These results support the public choice theory, suggesting that bureaucratic power may serve as a key driver leading to a sticky cost behaviour for governmental organizations. The government auditors and congressional representatives monitoring governmental budgets should thus notice that bureaucrats might keep the level of expenditures just for their self-interests when demand declines, a manifestation of distortion in allocation of social resources.
Are Perceptions of Local Conditions Rooted in Reality? Evidence From Two Large-Scale Local Surveys

In this research note, we test an assumption that is often made in the literature on local retrospective voting—that peoples’ perceptions of local conditions are well-grounded in reality. To do so, we examine the relationship between objective measures of local conditions and aggregated survey measures of perceptions of those conditions. We focus on three different conditions that have been shown to influence vote choice and approval at the local level—the state of the local economy, the quality of local public schools, and levels of local crime—and find strong evidence that perceptions of these conditions reflect actual local conditions. This important and previously unreported finding helps bolster the connections some scholars have found between objective indicators and election outcomes at the local level, as those indicators are tied to mass perceptions of related local conditions, which are connected to evaluations of incumbents. Overall, our results indicate that local electorates are well-positioned to hold local officials responsible. Given the general conception of the local electorate as disengaged, the strength and consistency of our findings are somewhat unexpected.
The role of e-skills in technological diversification in European regions

ABSTRACT This paper argues that e-skills – capabilities associated with the use and development of digital technologies – enhance regions’ ability to draw on existing know-how and create new industrial paths. The empirical analysis focuses on the relationship between e-skills and technological diversification for a panel of European regions in the period 2000–12. It constructs novel indices of regional e-skill endowment distinguishing between basic users, professional users and expert developers of information and communication technologies. The econometric results show that e-skills foster technological diversification dynamics in European regions, and that this effect is particularly strong for less-developed regions, and for low levels of relatedness.
Struktur modal, profitabilitas, dan nilai perusahaan: Efek moderasi Good Corporate Governance

The research aims to investigate the effects of capital structure and profitability on firm value with Good Corporate Governance (GCG) as its moderating variable. This study uses annual financial report data obtained from 27 companies listed in the Index Business 27 for years 2014-2016. Data collection techniques using purpose sampling method with a sample of 23 companies. Analysis of this study using with STATA 11 program. The results show that the capital structure does not significantly affect the value of the company with Good Corporate Governance as a moderating variable, while profitability significantly influences the value of the company with GCG as its moderating variable.
Three essays on CEO career concerns, management forecasts, and regulatory scrutiny on disclosure practices

OF THE DISSERTATION . II LIST OF TABLES . VII LIST OF FIGURES . VIII CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION . 1 CHAPTER 2: CEOS’ CAREER CONCERNS AND MANAGEMENT EARNINGS FORECAST PRECISION . 5 INTRODUCTION . 5 LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT . 11 DATA AND DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS . 21 RESULTS . 24 ADDITIONAL TESTS . 35 CONCLUSIONS . 38 CHAPTER 3: THE EFFECT OF SEC COMMENT LETTERS ON MANAGEMENT EARNINGS FORECASTS . 40 INTRODUCTION . 40 HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT . 44 RESEARCH DESIGN . 50 DATA . 53 RESULTS . 54 ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS . 57 CONCLUSIONS . 61 CHAPTER 4: THE IMPACT OF REGULATORY MONITORING ON CORPORATE HEDGING ACTIVITIES . 62 INTRODUCTION . 62 BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT . 67 RESEARCH DESIGN . 71 DATA . 74 RESULTS . 75 CONCLUSIONS . 81 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH . 82 DISCUSSION . 82 -
DOES CAPITAL ASSET PRICING MODEL APPLY IN A VARYING MARKET CONDITIONS?

Purpose: Capital asset pricing model (CAPM) has been one of the major asset pricing tools applied on the capital market to price listed securities. Several researchers have challenged the overall efficiency and validity of the model in terms of its ability to explain the behavior of the average returns on the basis of a single variable. The debate is now taking a new trend which aimed at assessing the robustness of the model in varying market conditions and this has been the main focus of the study; that is to determine whether or not CAPM applies to securities on Ghana Stock Exchange at different market conditions.Methodology: Data on monthly returns of 29 shares were selected from the Ghana Stock Exchange spanning from 2010 to 2018 and analyzed using regression analysis on the assumption of constant risk and varying risk situations.Findings: The study evidenced that the systematic risks differ between bulls, tranquil and bear periods. Market conditions therefore have impact on the CAPM model. CAPM is not robust with changes in market conditions after all especially in an emerging market such as the Ghana Stock Exchange.Contribution to theory, practice and policy: The result of this study implies that, the widely accepted CAPM for asset pricing model is not robust to changes in market conditions. It is therefore essential to predict future market conditions when formulating investment strategy as an investor. Again, investors should vary their risk premium depending on their expectation of the market conditions at the time of investment.
The Activation of Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 Expression by IL-1β Is Attenuated by Estrogen in Hepatoblastoma HepG2 Cells Expressing Estrogen Receptor α

Summary A low estrogen status in postmenopausal women is associated with elevated plasma levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). In this study, the ability of estrogen compounds to regulate PAI-1 expression was determined in a hepatocyte HepG2 cell line made to stably express estrogen receptor α (ERα). In both the wild type and ER expressing HepG2 cells, estrogen had no effect on basal PAI-1 expression. However, in the ER expressing cells the ability of IL-1β to increase PAI-1 mRNA and protein levels was attenuated by 17β-estradiol, tamoxifen and twelve estrogen components of Premarin. In contrast, the mixed agonist/antagonist raloxifene had weak agonist activity and like the pure antagonist ICI 182780, it dose dependently blocked the effect of 17β-estradiol on IL-1β stimulated PAI-1 levels. These results suggest that estrogen agonists may lower PAI-1 levels in vivo by inhibiting cytokine activated PAI-1 expression by an ER dependent mechanism.
Attitudes and beliefs of consumers towards pig welfare and pork quality

The aim of this study is to provide an overview of consumer attitudes and beliefs regarding pig welfare and quality of pork meat. Regarding animal welfare, several aspects of farm management and practice were considered, with an emphasis on alternatives to surgical castration without pain control, such as entire male production, castration with anaesthesia and immunocastration. Organic production was also considered. For meat quality, aspects of sensory quality were studied, specifically those related to boar taint, again including organically produced meat. A wide variety of consumer attitudes and beliefs are revealed in these studies as being strongly dependent on culture and influenced by information provided. These insights can be used when producing and commercializing pork and pork products as well as when developing marketing strategies to reach various consumers and satisfy market demands.
Active backers, product commercialisation and product quality after a crowdfunding campaign: A comparison between first-time and repeated entrepreneurs

Building on the theories of social capital and social obligation, we study how the attraction of active backers, that is, backers who participate in the co-design of the product is associated with product commercialisation and product quality after a reward-based crowdfunding campaign. We argue theoretically and show empirically that this association varies when the entrepreneur’s experience in conducting crowdfunding campaign is taken into account. Through a quantitative analysis of 1406 board games campaigns posted on Kickstarter, we show that for entrepreneurs who are novice to crowdfunding, attracting a large crowd of active backers increases the chances to commercialise the product after the campaign, while it reduces its final quality. On the contrary, for entrepreneurs who already relied on crowdfunding in the past, the attraction of a large crowd of active backers is associated with increasing product quality.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Blue Water Use of Dutch Diets and Its Association with Health

Food consumption patterns affect the environment as well as public health, and monitoring is needed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the Dutch food consumption patterns for environmental (greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and blue water use) and health aspects (Dutch Healthy Diet index 2015), according to age, gender, and consumption moments. Food consumption data for 4313 Dutch participants aged 1 to 79 years were assessed in 2012 to 2016, by two non-consecutive 24-h recalls. The environmental impact of foods was quantified using a life cycle assessment for, e.g., indicators of GHG emissions and blue water use. The healthiness of diet, operationalized by the Dutch Healthy Diet index 2015, was assessed for 2078 adults aged ≥19 years. The average daily diet in the Netherlands was associated with 5.0 ± 2.0 kg CO2-equivalents of GHG emissions and 0.14 ± 0.08 m3 of blue water use. Meat, dairy and non-alcoholic beverages contributed most to GHG emissions, and non-alcoholic beverages, fruits, and meat to blue water use. More healthy diets were associated with a lower GHG emission and higher blue water use. Different associations of environmental indicators (GHG emissions and blue water use) with health aspects of diets need to be considered when aligning diets for health and sustainability.
Implied Asset Value Volatility from a New Structural Model of Credit Risk

Well-known structural models of credit risk have been shown to underpredict credit spreads, and these models all assume a lognormal firm value diffusion process (FVDP). In this article, I present the formula for pricing corporate liabilities using a normal FVDP that allows negative firm value scenarios that are plausible in real life but are not considered by the lognormal FVDP. And I further show that model-implied asset value volatility from the normal FVDP, unlike those from lognormal structural models, are very close to the empirically estimated asset value volatility for investment-grade companies of different leverage ratios. The same pattern of model-implied asset volatility versus estimates of historical asset volatility is observed from both credit default swap spread and historical default-loss data. Thus, the normal model, by incorporating the economic consideration of negative firm value, is able to explain both observed level of credit spreads and historical default experience with estimates of realized asset value volatility. TOPICS: Fixed income and structured finance, fixed income portfolio management, credit risk management Key Findings • By considering the full range of firm value, the new structural model of credit risk can relate traded credit spreads to empirically estimated asset value volatility. • Thus, real-time readings of model-implied asset volatility may be used to quantify the difference between an issuer’s credit quality and its credit spreads. • The new model also demonstrates that investment-grade (IG) credit ratings correctly predicting IG companies’ expected default risk, because for IG companies their historical default rate-implied asset value volatility agrees well with estimated historical asset value volatility.
Evidence on the costs of changes in financial reporting frameworks in the public sector

ABSTRACT This paper examines the impact of changes in reporting frameworks on New Zealand public sector audit costs in terms of both audit fees and effort. Audit costs increased with the adoption of both International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) reporting frameworks. The costs of auditing across various financial reporting frameworks in the public sector is shown to be significantly influenced by auditors’ specialization.
Ocena jakosci zdrowotnej szarlatu [Amarantusa]

: The work contains results of determination of protein, fat, carbohydrates, water, ash, energy value, B group vitamins (B1, B2, PP, B6) and minerals (Ca, P, Mg, Fe, Na, K, Cu, Mn, Zn, Co, Ni, Cr, Cd, Pb) in three products of amaranth. The nutrients components were determined by general approved analytical methods. Vitamins group B were determined using microbiological methods. Minerals like Ca, Mg, Fe, Na, K, Cu, Mn, Zn, Co, Ni, Cr, Cd and Pb were determined using the flame AAS method. Phosphorus was determined spectrophotometrically as phosphates with ammonium molybdate. Mean percentage content of protein, fat, caborhydrates, water and ash in products of amaranth examined (seeds, meal, expanded seeds "popping") were: 13.5-14.4; 7.1-7.6; 63.8-71.7; 3.0-12.3; 3.1-3.4 respectively; there energy value expressed in Kcal/100 g were 373-412. Vitamins content in products of amaranth (mg/100 g) were: 0.019-0.029 thiamin; 0.100-0.143 riboflavin; 1.02-1.20 niacinamide and 0.563-0.615 pyridoxin. The levels (mg/100 g) of minerals were as follow: 204-223 Ca; 712-792 P; 8.3-9.7 Fe; 200-235 Mg; 2.9-3.1 Zn; 1.03-1.38 Cu; 3.78-4.54 Mn; 6.30-8.42 Na; 318-337 K; 0.040-0.055 Cr; 0.185-0.292 Ni and 0.045-0.051 Co. Mean contents of cadmium ranged 5-9 micrograms/100 g and lead 27-35 micrograms/100 g in examined products of amaranth.
Aid, policies and growth: a nonlinear reassessment

ABSTRACT The association between foreign aid and growth has been controversial for decades and the evidence is quite mixed with results sensitive to data samples and modelling approaches. We reassess the relationship between aid, policy and growth implementing a novel semiparametric estimation method that allows for nonlinearities and controls for endogeneity. The results show that the aid-policy-growth relationship is complex. Aid inflows do not seem growth-enhancing, except at very high levels (above 7% of Aid/GDP), whereas the effect may arrive with a lag at lower levels. Policy improvements are positively correlated with growth at high policy levels (above the median value) but better policies do not increase aid effectiveness.
The Efficacy of 38 mg Low Dose Capsule-Based 13C-urea Breath Test for the Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori Infection.

Background/Aims: Urea breath test (UBT), the noninvasive test for diagnosing Helicobacter pylori infection, was developed in 1987 and had advanced in accuracy and convenience by improvement of analytic device, or urea regimen, expiration sampling protocol and test meal. However, conventional UBT using 75 mg or 100mg of -urea is expensive and time consuming. The objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of UBT using capsulated 38 mg low dose -urea () developed by Medichems Co., Ltd. Methods: A total of one hundred forty seven volunteers were enrolled and examined at Catholic University, Korea University, and Soon Chun Hyang University hospital. UBT was performed using 38 mg urea capsule and compared with the gold standard methods (rapid urease test and histology). Baseline and 20 min breath samples were collected. We used 2.0 as the cut-off value suggested by the manufacturer. Results: Of the 147 subjects, 142 cases were available for analysis. The sensitivity and specificity of UBT using the 38 mg urea capsule at 20 min were 98.7% and 100% respectively. Conclusions: A 20 min, 38 mg capsule based 13C urea breath test protocol is more efficient, cost effective, and convenient than conventional protocol.
The Economic Legacy of General Velasco: Long-Term Consequences of Interventionism

We apply synthetic control methods to study the long-term consequences of the interventionist and collectivist reforms implemented by the Peruvian military junta of 1968–1975. We compare long-term outcomes for the Peruvian economy following the radical reforms of the early 1970s with those of two controls made of similar countries, one chosen in the Latin American region and another one chosen from the world at large. We find that the economic legacy of the junta includes sizable loses in GDP along two decades, beyond those that can be attributed to adverse international circumstances. The evidence suggests that those loses can be attributed both to a decline in capital accumulation and to a fall in productivity.
NCEP-ATP III and IDF criteria for metabolic syndrome predict type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background Subjects with metabolic syndrome (MetS) have a greater risk for acquiring type 2 diabetes mellitus (type 2 DM). The MetS criteria usually used are those of the National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel (NCEP) and Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) and of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). This study aimed to evaluate the modified NCEP-ATP III and IDF criteria as predictor of type 2 DM among subjects with MetS. Methods A cohort study was conducted among 4240 subjects with MetS. MetS was determined according to the modified NCEP-ATP III and IDF criteria. The study followed up 3324 non-diabetic subjects of the cohort study of non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors (NCD study) during a 2-year period. Type 2 DM was determined from the diagnosis by health personnel or from fasting blood glucose of ≥126 mg/dL or blood glucose of ≥200 mg/dL, 2 hours after 75g glucose loading. Results The MetS prevalence based on modified NCEP ATP III and IDF criteria in non-DM subjects was 17.1% and 15.6%, respectively. The risk for DM in subjects with MetS using modified NCEP ATP III and IDF criteria was 4.7 (CI 95%: 3.4-6.5) and 4.1 (CI 95%: 3.0-5.7), respectively. Conclusions Both MetS criteria can be used as predictors of the occurrence of DM type 2, but the modified NCEP-ATP III is more properly applied than the IDF criteria in subjects with MetS. Screening programs and routine monitoring of MetS components are required for early detection of type 2 DM.
Capital Allocation in Developing Countries

This paper investigates the sources of capital misallocation across a group of developing and developed countries, using the empirical methodology developed in David and Venkateswaran (2019. “The Sources of Capital Misallocation.” American Economic Review 109 (7): 2531–67). The main findings are: (i) technological frictions—namely, adjustment costs and uncertainty—account for only a modest share of the observed misallocation; (ii) heterogeneity in firm-level technologies potentially explains between one-quarter and one-half, but (iii) dispersion in markups is much smaller; (iv) after accounting for these factors, on average, at least 50 percent of misallocation within each country remains unexplained, suggesting a large role for additional—potentially distortionary—factors. These factors are largely attributable to a component that is correlated with firm size/productivity and one that is essentially permanent to the firm. They exhibit strong negative correlations with income per capita and direct measures of the quality of the business environment from the World Bank Doing Business Report. The paper reports a broad set of moments describing firm-level investment dynamics and detailed parameter estimates on a country-by-country basis with an eye towards future work in this area.