Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Advantages of Using Excess Returns to Model the Term Structure

We adapt the Meiselman (1962) OLS forward rate revision framework to obtain the discrete time analogue of the Heath, Jarrow and Morton (1992) specification and use it for estimating and testing term structure models. Our framework is based upon the Wold representation of the factor dynamics and combines the flexibility of the 'no arbitrage' approach used by practitioners for pricing with the time series domain econometrics used in the 'equilibrium approach' by academic researchers. It allows us to estimate the no-arbitrage term structure under the risk-neutral measure without adopting any specific model of the factor dynamics. Using three different datasets we find that our discrete time Heath et al (1992) no-arbitrage model is not rejected against the unrestricted OLS model of Meiselman (1962). We then develop a dynamic term structure model by specifying a model of a risk premium to link the risk neutral dynamics of the cross section to the real-world factor dynamics. We analyse several different models of the dynamics from the ARFIMA class and find that the more flexible models allowing for long memory outperform short memory models and are not rejected against the Heath et al and Meiselman specifications.
Asset Pricing and Ambiguity: A Cross-Sectional Approach

We use textual analysis to quantify how familiar investors are with any company’s business model. Our main result is that a portfolio that buys unfamiliar companies and sells familiar companies earns an annual premium of 5.3 %. Further, we find that unfamiliar companies have higher discount rates and lower listing prices in Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) than that of familiar companies. In particular, unfamiliar companies have about 50 % higher one-day returns after the IPO than firms with familiar business models. Overall, our results are consistent with previous empirical evidence on ambiguity premium. The data rejects investor recognition as an alternative explanation.
Cross-Cultural Behavioral Experiments: Potential and Challenges

Experimental economics offers useful tools for cross-cultural research. Experimental games are well-defined environments characterized by a set of players, strategies and incentives. Conducting identical experiments with subjects from different cultures offers unprecedented control over the environment in which behavior is observed. Nevertheless, cross-cultural experimentation poses a number of methodological challenges, because culture cannot be randomly assigned to participants. This chapter provides an outline of how experimental games may be used to measure culture, followed by a review and discussion of the methods used in cross-cultural behavioral experiments. The chapter surveys the literature on cross-cultural experiments and offers a reanalysis of cross-cultural data sets to quantify the importance of cultural variation relative to subject pool variation.
Influence of Drought Stress on Corky Tissue Formation, a Physiological Disorder in Sapota Fruit cv. Cricket Ball

Corky tissue incidence in sapota fruit during the summer months increased in direct proportion to the intensity and duration of stress showing a possible link between drought stress and corky tissue development. Corky tissue incidence was enhanced when the growth of newly initiated shoot buds was promoted by the application of gibberellic acid and reduced when it was inhibited by paclobutrazol, indicating that newly initiated shoots were competing with developing fruits for water and assimilates. An enhanced reverse flow of water and nutrients from fruit to newly initiated shoot buds was found to be the principal contributing factor for the increased incidence of corky tissue in sapota under drought stress.
Lending Relationships and the Pricing of Syndicated Loans

Using a dataset on syndicated loan primary market pricing adjustments, we examine whether relationship banks’ information advantage facilitates price discovery in loan issuances. We find that the lead bank makes fewer adjustments to the initial pricing terms of a syndicated loan and shortens the syndication time when it has a stronger relationship with the borrower. A stronger relationship also reduces loan underpricing. A relationship lead bank relies less on information from syndicate members. Exogenous shocks to relationships caused by bank mergers and closures confirm our findings. We contribute to the literature by showing that relationship lending improves loan pricing efficiency. This paper was accepted by Victoria Ivashina, finance. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023. 4730 .
Economic Growth, Inequality, and Poverty: Findings from a New Data Set

Adams uses new data from 50 developing countries and 101 intervals to examine the impact of economic growth on poverty and inequality. He finds that growth represents an important means for reducing poverty in the developing world. When economic growth is measured by survey mean income (consumption), there is a strong, statistical link between growth and poverty reduction. When economic growth is measured by GDP per capita, the statistical relationship between growth and poverty reduction is still present, albeit not quite as strong. Economic growth reduces poverty because growth has little impact on income inequality. In the data set income inequality rises on average less than 1.0 percent a year. Since income distributions are relatively stable over time, economic growth tends to raise incomes for all members of society, including the poor. When growth is measured by survey mean income (consumption), the elasticity of poverty with respect to growth is -2.59. In other words, on average, a 10 percentage point increase in economic growth (measured by survey mean income) will produce a 25.9 percent decrease in the proportion of people living in poverty ($1 a person a day). This paper - a product of the Poverty Reduction Group, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network - is part of a larger effort in the network to better inform policy debates about economic growth, poverty, and inequality.
Debt-Deflation: Concepts and a Stylised Model

This paper proposes a model of how agents adjust their asset holdings in response to losses in general equilibrium. By emphasising the relation between deflation and financial distress, we capture some original features of the early debt-deflation literature, such as distress selling, instability, and endogenous monetary contraction. The agents affected by a shock sell off assets to prevent their debt from crowding out consumption. But their distress-selling causes a decline in equilibrium prices, and the resulting losses elicit reactions by all agents. This activates several channels of debt-deflation. Yet we show that this process remains stable, even in the presence of large shocks, high indebtedness, and wide-spread default. What keeps the asset market stable is the presence of agents without prior debt or losses, who borrow to exploit the expected asset price recovery. By contrast, debt-deflation becomes unstable when agents try to contain their indebtedness, or when a credit crunch interferes with the accommodation necessary for stability.
Crescimento de mudas de maracujazeiro em função de adubação á base de boro e material de cupinzeiro

For producing passion fruit seedlings, it is necessary to pay attention to the plant nutritional status, whose information about fertilizing with micronutrients such as boron are still scarce for tropical regions where fruit growing is increasing. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of boron (B) rates and termites mound nest material on growth components and concentration of B on yellow passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims f. flavicarpa Deg.) shoots, in a Red Distrophic Latosol. The experimental design was completely randomized, in a 5x4 factorial scheme, with five B doses (0 mg dm-3, 0.25 mg dm-3, 0.50 mg dm-3, 0.75 mg dm-3, and 1.00 mg dm-3) and four termites mound nest material rates (0 g dm-3, 25 g dm-3, 50 g dm-3, and 75 g dm-3), with four replications, totaling 80 experimental units. The experimental unit was composed of pots with up to 700 cm3 samples. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse, in Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil. The highest values for shoot dry matter yield, plant height, leaf area, stem diameter, and SPAD reading are obtained by a joint application of the maximum termites mound nest material dose and between the two highest B rates. The termites mound nest material was little effective as a B source to influence upon the growth components of passion fruit plants. The B concentrations on the yellow passion fruit shoots, for all termites mound nest material rates, decreased with the increases in the B rates applied. KEY-WORDS: Passiflora edulis; borate fertilizing; organic fertilizing.
Volatility-Managing International Equity Risk Factors

Recent research (see Moreira and Muir, 2017) suggests that volatility-managed portfolios take less risk when volatility is high produce large alphas, increase Sharpe ratios, and produce large utility gains for mean-variance investors. We extend this literature by investigating the profitability of volatility-managing the Fama and French (2017) local risk factors in international equity markets. Our general findings indicate that volatility-managing adds value for local risk factors in Europe and Asia, whereas in Japan we find no such evidence. Confirming earlier studies, we find that a risk-based story is unlikely to explain our results.
Leverage and Investment under a State-Owned Bank Lending Environment: Evidence from China

This study examines the relations between leverage and investment in China's listed firms, where corporate debt is principally provided by state-owned banks. We obtain three major findings. First, there is a negative relation between leverage and investment. Second, the negative relation between leverage and investment is weaker in firms with low growth opportunities and poor operating performance than in firms with high growth opportunities and good operating performance. Third, the negative relation between leverage and investment is weaker in firms with a higher level of state shareholding than in firms with a lower level of state shareholding. Overall, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that the state-owned banks in China impose fewer restrictions on the capital expenditures of low growth and poorly performing firms and also firms with greater state ownership. This creates an over-investment bias in these firms.
Studies On the Larval Development of Met Anephrops Challengeri (Balss, 1914) (Decapoda, Nephropidae )

[La larve zoe de la langoustine Metanephrops challengeri (Balss) des eaux profondes de Nouvelle Zelande incubee au laboratoire est representee et decrite, quelques uns des caracteres postlarvaires ont ete observes sur une larve qui allait muer. Le developpement est abrege avec un seul stade zoe nageur d'un duree d'environ trois ou quatre jours. La larve est comparee a celle de M. andamanicus (Wood-Mason) avec laquelle il y a de proches affinites, et aux larves de Nephrops norvegicus (Linne). L'etude des larves confirme la separation par Jenkins (1972) du genre Metanephrops (13 especes indo-ouest-pacifiques et americaines existantes) de l'espece type europeenne Nephrops norvegicus. , La larve zoe de la langoustine Metanephrops challengeri (Balss) des eaux profondes de Nouvelle Zelande incubee au laboratoire est representee et decrite, quelques uns des caracteres postlarvaires ont ete observes sur une larve qui allait muer. Le developpement est abrege avec un seul stade zoe nageur d'un duree d'environ trois ou quatre jours. La larve est comparee a celle de M. andamanicus (Wood-Mason) avec laquelle il y a de proches affinites, et aux larves de Nephrops norvegicus (Linne). L'etude des larves confirme la separation par Jenkins (1972) du genre Metanephrops (13 especes indo-ouest-pacifiques et americaines existantes) de l'espece type europeenne Nephrops norvegicus. ]
Measuring Energy Poverty Via Energy Service Usage: The Japanese Case

The purpose of this paper is to present a new approach to evaluating energy or fuel poverty via direct measurement of energy service usage. This measure is a kind of relative poverty measure in calorific value, and is constructed in a multidimensional setting. The paper applies the measure to examine the regional characteristics of energy poverty in Japan. The result suggests the important role of kerosene (heating oil) in securing warmth in winter, especially in the northern regions, and points to an “energy poverty premium�? in Japan on the unit cost of energy (per amount of heat). The paper suggests that the ongoing energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables should be promoted carefully with due consideration to the impact on the energy poor.
Impact of Monetary Policy on Stock Market Development: Implications for the Nigerian Economy

The unsustainable and decreasing contribution of the Nigeria stock market to economic growth and development is the rationale for this study. Previous studies were unable to fully address the core developmental problems of the stock market in terms of its contribution to economic growth. These studies focused on how the monetary authorities can stabilize the stock market and reduce its volatility but ignored issues bordering on the contribution of the stock market to economic growth, which of course is the essence of any stock market and as such characterize its development. Consequently, the objective of this study is to investigate the impact of monetary policy on the development of the stock market in Nigeria. The study period covered from 1981 to 2015. Cointegration and vector error correction modelling (VECM) were employed for the analysis. The cointegration test indicates that there exist long run equilibrium relationship among the variables of the model. VECM result indicated that monetary policy, through the growth rate of money supply has impacted positively and significantly on the development of the stock market in Nigeria. Also, findings further indicated that prime lending rate has had a negative impact on the development of the stock market in Nigeria. The study recommended among others, that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should use its growth rate of money supply to further boost the development of the stock market but must however be mindful of the channeling of the increase in money supply in order to curtail the possible negative impact of inflation.
Googling SIFIs

We propose a simple network–based methodology for ranking systemically important financial institutions. We view the risks of firms –including both the financial sector and the real economy– as a network with nodes representing the volatility shocks. The metric for the connections of the nodes is the correlation between these shocks. Daily dynamic centrality measures allow us to rank firms in terms of risk connectedness and firm characteristics. We present a general systemic risk index for the financial sector. Results from applying this approach to all firms in the S&P500 for 2003–2011 are twofold. First, Bank of America, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo are consistently in the top 10 throughout the sample. Citigroup and Lehman Brothers also were consistently in the top 10 up to late 2008. At the end of the sample, insurance firms emerge as systemic. Second, the systemic risk in the financial sector built–up from early 2005, peaked in September 2008, and greatly reduced after the introduction of TARP and the rescue of AIG. Anxiety about European debt markets saw the systemic risk begin to rise again from April 2010. We further decompose these results to find that the systemic risk of insurance and deposit– taking institutions differs importantly, the latter experienced a decline from late 2007, in line with the burst of the housing price bubble, while the former continued to climb up to the rescue of AIG.
How to Pay Non-Family Managers in Large Family Firms: A Principal-Agent Model

A large number of family firms employ non-family managers. This paper analyzes the optimal compensation contracts of non-family managers employed by family firms using principal-agent analysis. The model shows that the contracts should have low incentive levels in terms of short-term performance measures. This finding is moderated by non-family managers’ responsiveness to incentives, their level of risk aversion, and measurement errors of effort related to short-term performance. The model allows a comparison between the contracts of family and non-family managers. This comparison shows that the contracts of family managers should include relatively greater incentives in terms of short-term performance measures. A number of propositions regarding the compensation of non-family managers employed by family firms are formulated. The implications of the model for family business research and practice are discussed.
Fungi associated with soybean seedling disease in Iowa.

Surveys were conducted over a 2-year period to identify fungi associated with soybean seedling disease in Iowa. Fungi were isolated from diseased soybean seedlings collected from 52 and 66 locations in 1993 and 1994, respectively. The percentages of major fungal taxa isolated from soybean seedlings in the 2 years were Rhizoctonia solani, 27.5% in 1993 and 27.3% in 1994; Fusarium spp. , 11.9% in 1993 and 13.7% in 1994; and Pythium spp. and Phytophthora sojae, cumulatively 60.5% in 1993, and 31.7% and 24.3% in 1994 respectively. Other isolated fungi were the seed decay pathogen Phomopsis longicolla, and the nonpathogenic Rhizopus stolonifer and Trichoderma viride. Species of Fusarium and Pythium were identified as F. acuminatum, F. equiseti, F. oxysporum, P. aphanidermatum, P. irregulare, P. myriotylum, P. sylvaticum, P. ultimum var. sporangiiferum, and P. ultimum var. ultimum. Repeated tests of pathogenicity confirmed that Pythium spp. , Phytophthora sojae, and R. solani were the major causal fungi associated with the seedling disease complex of soybeans in Iowa.
Mandatory Disclosure and Firm Behavior: Evidence from Share Repurchases

This paper examines changes in corporate behavior around the 2003 modification to SEC Rule 10b-18, which mandates enhanced disclosure of repurchase transactions. Firms announce significantly fewer and slightly smaller open market repurchase plans in the enhanced disclosure environment. However, completion rates (the amount of stock repurchased as a percentage of the announced amount) significantly increase. More conservative announcement strategies and more aggressive completion rates are consistent with a decline in false signaling. Indeed, open market repurchase announcements are viewed as more credible on average in the enhanced disclosure environment; after controlling for firm characteristics, cumulative abnormal announcement returns are significantly greater in the high disclosure period. As with any analysis based on a regulatory change affecting all firms simultaneously, other unobservable, macroeconomic trends could have affected repurchase behavior. Nonetheless, these results are consistent with significant changes in corporate behavior around new mandatory disclosures.
Regional Specialization and Universities: The New Versus the Old

This paper analyzes whether there is a correspondence between a university's research specialization and industrial specialization in the region hosting the university, and to what extent universities influence regional productivity. Moreover, the analysis seeks to answer if a difference can be detected between the influences of old and new universities on regional performance. To achieve this end we utilize a unique data set on spatially disaggregated data for Sweden in the period 1975–99. A two‐step Heckman regression analysis is implemented to examine whether universities' research specialization matches regional specialization in production as compared to the average region. The results suggest a correspondence in specialization, as well as positive productivity effects. However, there are also considerable differences across regions, albeit primarily unrelated to the age of the universities.
Impact of Employee Training on Employee Job Satisfaction and Achievement: A Case of Turkish Manufacturing Industry

This study analyzes how the formal training services that companies offer affect their employees’ job satisfaction and achievement levels that consequently increase organizations’ productivity-based gains. Training is distinguished between organizational support for training, employee enthusiasm in training and employee satisfaction with training while achievement motivation and perceived job satisfaction respectively refer to direct and indirect contributions of training. Survey-based data sets were collected from a semi-randomized sample covering 307 employees from various departments of 34 private businesses operating in Turkey’ manufacturing sectors. Findings from regression analysis, strongly support the validity of ‘train to gain’ strategy that as businesses invest in employee training activities, their trained employees’ job satisfaction and achievement motivation levels increase. The study underscores that, as a human resource management practice, employee training is an efficient way for businesses to accomplish their purposes.
Anti-Money Laundering Enforcement, Banks, and the Real Economy

We exploit a tightening of anti-money laundering (AML) enforcement that imposed disproportionate costs on small banks to examine the effects of a change in bank composition towards larger banks on real economic outcomes. In response to intensified AML enforcement at the end of 2012, counties prone to high levels of criminal activity in the form of money laundering experience a withdrawal of small banks and increased activity by large banks. This change in bank composition results in an increase in the number of small establishments and real estate prices. Wages and employment increase in the non-tradable sector, consistent with a household demand channel. Increased secured lending through mortgages is one potential driver of this result, whereas lending through the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) are not.
Keeping growing cattle outside during winter: behaviour, production and climatic demand

Keeping cattle inside on concrete slatted floors can be detrimental to their health and behaviour and is also costly. Therefore, 22 steers of the Swedish Red and White Dairy breed were used to investigate the effect of wintering outdoors on growing cattle. The steers had a mean weight of 310 kg at the onset of the study. During winter, 11 ‘indoor’ steers were housed in pens with concrete slatted floors and 11 ‘outdoor’ steers were kept in a field with access to a shelter and trees. From the end of April until slaughter in September, both groups grazed together. During winter, all steers were given clover silage ad libitum . They were weighed every month. The behaviour of the outdoor steers was recorded from November to the end of March. Outdoor temperature, wind speed and solar radiation were measured continuously. A heated model was used in order to calculate the climatic energy demand. The steers were never observed to shiver. They were not observed to use the shelter during daytime. The most frequently observed behaviour was ‘eating’, followed by ‘standing’. The lower the temperature, the more time the steers were observed lying down (P