Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Surge Pricing and Short-term Wage Elasticity of Labor Supply in Real-Time Ridesharing Markets

The prominence of real-time ridesharing services, such as Uber and Lyft, has dramatically changed the landscape of traditional industries. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the short-term wage elasticity of labor supply in real-time ridesharing markets using data from a major ridesharing platform in China. By exploiting an exogenous shock from uneven driving restrictions as an instrumental variable, we find a negative labor supply elasticity for ridesharing drivers, suggesting that drivers tend to drive less during days with a higher average hourly wage. Specifically, a percent increase in hourly wage will lead to a 0.931 percent decrease in daily working hours. This surprising finding is consistent with the behavioral income-targeting model based on the theory of reference-dependent preferences: Drivers have heuristic daily targets for total earnings and are more motivated to supply labor when they are below their income target than when they are above it. Therefore, they work less on days when earnings per hour are high and quit the market once their income target is reached. In addition, we find that taxi drivers are more rational and have positive labor supply elasticity, which implies that drivers are more rational when they have repeated opportunities for learning. Estimating labor supply elasticity is critical to understanding the economic efficiency of various surge pricing algorithms and driver subsidization programs for ridesharing platforms and policymakers. Our research suggests that a uniform price surging or driver subsidization approach for all ridesharing drivers may not incentivize the labor supply of drivers effectively.
Specialist Audit Quality Differentiation in Banks: The Case of Hong Kong Incorporated Institutions

This study uses simultaneous equations to examine specialist audit quality differentiation. I examine the supply and demand of specialist quality audit services in the market for audit services in banks. On the demand side, I examine if higher demand for specialist quality audit services is associated with higher bank specific: (1) regulatory capital discretion associated with loan loss provisions and miscellaneous gains and losses, (2) uncertainty arising from market risk exposures, and (3) debt related contracting costs. On the supply side, I examine if higher marginal fee for specialist quality audit services is associated with higher auditor liability loss exposures and loss-sharing risk. Three year (1995 to 1997) pooled cross-sectional data for all Hong Kong incorporated institutions are used in two analyses. Two-stage least-squares procedures are used to examine jointly the continuous specialist quality demand and marginal fee function. Indirect generalized least-squares procedures are used to examine the joint determination of the specialist reputation (market leader identity) demand and audit fee function. Results indicate that: (1) regulatory capital discretion, market risk exposures, and debt related contracting cost increase specialist quality demand which is downward sloping in fee, and (2) marginal specialist fee is a positive function of specialist quality demand, client business complexity, and bankruptcy risk.
Employment Non-Discrimination Acts and Corporate Innovation

We identify a positive causal effect of workplace diversity on corporate innovation, using the staggered adoption of U.S. state-level Employment Non-Discrimination Acts (ENDAs) that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. We find a significant increase in patents and patent citations for firms headquartered in states that have passed ENDAs relative to firms headquartered in states that have not. This result is more pronounced for firms that previously have not implemented progay non-discrimination policies, for firms in states with a large homosexual population, and for firms in human capital-intensive industries. Lastly, we provide evidence that ENDAs affect innovation through the mechanism of matching firms with certain types of employees: following the enactment of ENDAs, more pro-gay (anti-gay) employees, who are generally more (less) creative, relocate into (out of) the adopting states. Overall, our findings support the view that inclusion inspires innovation.
Stock‐Bond Return Co‐Movement and Accounting Information

I examine how an important attribute of financial reporting quality, i.e., accounting conservatism, affects the sensitivity of corporate bond returns to changes in the value of equity (i.e., the hedge ratio). The correlation between stock and bond returns (co&#8208;movement) is a fundamental input for asset allocation decisions as it determines the diversification benefits of bonds relative to equities within an investment portfolio. According to structural models of credit risk, co&#8208;movement should be generally positive, but lower when the risk of wealth transfers from bondholders to shareholders is severe. I find that firms that report conservative earnings and use covenants in their bond contracts exhibit on average stronger co&#8208;movement. This result is consistent with conservatism providing bondholders with a credible and contractible signal that improves monitoring, thus preventing wealth transfers.
Volatility Momentum

High idiosyncratic volatility (IV) stocks follow predictable return pattern after exhibiting large ex ante returns: a period of underreaction and low returns is superseded by persistent high returns. This pattern is robust and economically significant: it may be interpreted as informationally inefficient arrival of risk premia. Short-term negative IV-return relation is explained by profit taking by informed investors. Initial underreaction is linked to boundedly rational asset pricing story: uninformed investors hold on to underperforming high IV stocks in anticipation of recovering losses in turn-of-the-year trading. Consistently with the information hypothesis of the January effect, returns of stocks high in lagged IV are shown to be an important driver of this anomaly. Stocks void of ones high in lagged IV yield attenuated small firm effect. Returns to high momentum stocks are shown to be related to lagged IV rather than IV as previously postulated.
Intra-Firm Knowledge Sharing in the Investment Research Industry

We study interdepartment knowledge sharing in an investment research setting where the benefits are potentially significant for the brokerage and the capital market, but so are the frictions impeding it. Using hand-collected data on equity analyst access to in-house debt research expertise, we find significant benefits to equity analysts in the form of improved ability to forecast cash flows and to anticipate credit rating downgrades. Moreover, we find evidence that access to management and research expertise underlie in-house debt analysts’ capacity to generate information beneficial to equity analysts. Finally, these benefits exist only in the presence of a collaborative brokerage culture or debt-equity analyst collocation, consistent with these factors promoting knowledge sharing in the investment research industry. This paper was accepted by Brian Bushee, accounting. Supplemental Material: The data files and online appendix are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023. 4809 .
Infinite dilution activity coefficient measurements of organic solutes in fluorinated ionic liquids by gas-liquid chromatography and the inert gas stripping method

Environmental and safety concerns have prompted an active quest for ―green‖ alternatives to molecular solvents currently used in industrial chemical processes. In recent years, ionic liquids have been reported as potentially good replacements for conventional solvents. Activity coefficients at infinite dilution, ∞ i  of various organic solutes have been measured in the temperature range from 313.15 to 373.15 K by gas-liquid chromatography and the inert gas stripping techniques in seven fluorinated ionic liquids (FILs). Partial molar excess enthalpies at infinite dilution of the solutes in the ionic liquids have been derived from the temperaturedependence of experimental ∞ i  values. Selectivities and capacities have been calculated for various separation problems and compared to literature values for other ionic liquids, as well as conventional solvents. The effect of structure on the selectivity has been investigated. The present work, initiated in the context of South Africa‘s Fluorochemical Expansion Initiative is a contribution to the understanding of how structure influences FILs selectivity and capacity in different separation problems. FILs are interesting for South Africa as its geology contains large amounts of fluorine ores. For the n-hexane/benzene, and n-hexane/hex-1-ene systems which represent the aliphatics/aromatics and paraffins/olefins separation problems, higher selectivities at infinite dilution were obtained with FILs consisting of short-chained cations and small anions. The opposite trend was observed for the methanol/acetone and the ethanol/butan-2-one systems as representatives of the alcohols/ketones separation problem as well as the methanol/benzene system which refers to the alcohols/aliphatics mixtures. FILs with long cation alkyl chains and large anions tend to be the most selective for the benzene/ butan-2-one system, indicative of the aliphatics/ketones separation problem. The natural logarithm of ∞ i  has been found to vary linearly with the carbon number of the alkyl chain attached to the methylpyrrolidinium or methylimidazolium group. On this ground, a simple equation correlating ∞ i  as well as selectivity with the cation alkyl chain length has been proposed. It has been successfully tested using experimental data related to pyrrolidinium and imidazolium-based ionic liquids. Additionally, an inert gas stripping apparatus suitable for ∞ i  measurements in ionic liquids has been constructed. Results obtained with the two different methods showed a good agreement. Abstract
SME vs. Large Enterprise Leverage: Determinants and Structural Relations

The aim of this paper is to examine the importance of the different theoretical proposals that explain a firm's capital structure in relation to the existence of an optimal debt ratio, the preference of the firm for internal financing and the consideration of financial constraints. The contrast of the relative importance of these theoretical proposals is carried out from a structural equation model on the database of the Encuesta de Estrategias Empresariales (Business Strategies Survey) for Spanish firms in 1998. The results of the contrast from the structural equation model reveal a greater importance in financial constraints as determinants of capital structure, in the sense that SMEs together with firms not belonging to any business group, recently created firms and those with a smaller market share have less possibility of deferring required investments and leverage. With a similar importance between them, the preference for internal financing and the average debt ratio of the sector are also capital structure determinants.
Costly long-short strategies under short-sale constraints: Chinese Evidence

Long-short portfolios based on market anomalies are subject to ubiquitous short-sale constraints. Few studies directly quantify the impact of shorting on long-short strategies, largely due to the complexity of the shorting practice. We examine the Chinese market, in which the scope of the short-sale constraint and the shorting cost are clearly specified. Among size, value, and momentum strategies, we find that only size earns significant profits before short-sale constraints are considered. Imposing the scope of short-sale constraint by selling only shortable stocks does not materially change the profits. Deducting shorting costs, however, essentially wipes off all the profits of long-short portfolios.
Does practitioner research help auditors to provide higher audit quality and generate higher audit fees?

This paper investigates whether auditors engaging in practitioner research by writing professional articles and books subsequently provide higher audit quality and generate higher audit fees. Based on theories of constructivist learning and evidence-based management, we argue that engaging in practitioner research helps auditors to acquire expertise relevant for performing the audit. Further, we predict that this engagement also contributes to the development of auditors’ reputation, enabling the auditor to negotiate higher audit fees. We use the German setting for our empirical study as it is common for German auditors to write professional articles and books for historical reasons. Our results are consistent with our expectations. They remain robust when controlling for innate lead auditor abilities and the match between the lead auditor and the client.
Acquisition-Related Provision-Taking and Post-Acquisition Performance in the UK Prior to Frs 7

Until 1998, UK accounting standards allowed firms to write off goodwill directly against shareholders' equity, bypassing the income statement altogether. Many critics contended that this accounting practice allowed firms to inflate profits in the post-acquisition period by taking unwarranted write-downs and provisions when adjusting the book value of the acquiree's separable net assets to fair value. Although the write-downs and provisions were initially excluded from income under the direct write-off method, the subsequent expiry of the resulting lower net asset base depressed expenses in future periods. Concern over this practice led UK standard setters to enhance provision-related disclosures in 1989 and eventually ban most acquisition-related provisions in 1995. This paper examines the association between acquisition-related provision-taking behavior and post-acquisition performance for a sample of UK firms that undertook large acquisitions between 1989 and 1995. We find evidence that provision-taking was associated with declining accounting and market-adjusted stock price performance over the three-year period following the fiscal year of the acquisition. This relationship exists after controlling for a variety of factors, including method of payment in the acquisition and post-acquisition cash flow performance. By implication, post-acquisition abnormal returns appear to have been predictable based on publicly available information about the magnitude of the provisions. These findings are consistent with the following scenario: The management of the high provisioners used the provisions to insulate accounting earnings from the effects of declining cash flows. The market belatedly reacted to these firms' declining fortunes when net income was no longer inflated by provision reversals. Key Words: Acquisitions; Earnings management; Long-run abnormal returns; Market inefficiency
Illiberal Communication and Election Intervention during the Refugee Crisis in Germany

Populist discourse—which tends to benefit anti-systemic parties—has been on the rise in the world’s democratic states. Powerful non-democratic states have both the means and the incentive to spread such discourse to democratic states. We clarify the incentives illiberal states have to produce such communication, and delineate how this type of political communication fuses traditional state-to-state propaganda with election interventions. We draw on the case of Kremlin-sponsored communication on the issue of refugees in Germany to illustrate the mechanisms through which the discourse operates in target countries. We create a corpus of over a million news stories to identify the prevalence of illiberal discourse and its timing relative to Germany’s elections. We show that the Kremlin intervened in the 2017 federal elections by promoting refugee stories over and above the rate at which German outlets did. We discuss the broader implications for the use of directed political communication as a form of election intervention.
The influence of freezing and storage on the characteristics and functions of human mesenchymal stromal cells isolated for clinical use.

BACKGROUND Studies have shown that stem cell therapy could be a novel option for improving neovascularization and cardiac function in patients with ischemic heart disease. Human mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) have generated wide interest in the clinical setting because of their ability to regenerate tissue. The aim of the study was to test whether freezing and storage of human BM mononuclear cells (BM-MNC) and ex vivo-expanded MSC influenced their phenotypic and functional characteristics as well as proliferation capacity. METHODS MNC were isolated from BM and divided into two portions: one part was immediately cultured (MSC P0) whereas the second part was frozen for a week before cultivation and analysis (F-MSC P1). Confluent MSC (P0) were harvested and divided: one was analyzed as MSC P1 and the other was frozen for a week before further cultivation and analysis as F-MSC P2. RESULTS MSC P1, F-MSC P1 and F-MSC P2 had similar proliferation capacities and demonstrated almost identical expression levels of markers characteristic for MSC. The capacity to form endothelial vascular structures was independent of freezing. DISCUSSION The proliferation and differentiation capacity as well as the cellular characteristics were identical in cultivated MSC derived from freshly isolated BM-MNC and MSC derived after freezing and storage of either freshly isolated BM-MNC or ex vivo-cultivated MSC. This highlights the potential clinical use of MSC in patients with cardiac and degenerative diseases, as it would be possible to inject MSC obtained from the same BM aspiration at different time points.
Forms of Acidity in Some Acid Inceptisols under Different Land Use in Manipur

The electrostatically bonded (EB)-H+ and EB-Al3+ acidities constituted 39.3 and 60.7 per cent of exchangeable acidity while pH dependent and exchange acidities comprised 92.2 and 7.8 per cent of total acidity, respectively. Various forms of acidities are significantly related to pH, organic carbon, exchangeable and extractable A13+ and exchangeable Ca3+ and Mg2+. Land use pattern also affect the various forms of acidities considerably. Shifting cultivation increased all forms of acidities whereas the terrace cultivation brought them to the lowest magnitude.
Intolerant Directors: Evidence from the Appointments of Outside Directors Who Have Fired CEOs

By examining board appointments of outside directors who have previously fired a CEO, we study how directors’ intolerance of failure influences firm performance and risk-taking. Such directors appear to benefit firms with weak monitoring, but hurt firms in innovative industries. Firms appointing an intolerant director subsequently exhibit lower idiosyncratic risk and lower leverage, make less risky acquisitions, experience higher acquisition returns, and are more likely to withdraw bad acquisitions and to replace poorly performing CEOs. They, however, tend to manage earnings when performance deteriorates. Overall, directors’ intolerance of failure appears to influence managerial behavior and shareholder wealth.
Revising the Tom Effect Study: Why Does It Fade and Reappear? Practical Policy Implications and Thoughts for Further Study

The purpose of this paper is to examine in detail the Turn of the Month (TOM) effect and to offer a detailed explanation for the controversial empirical findings that have been documented in the literature. Using data from the USA stock market, the results suggest that returns during the TOM period outperform the returns during the rest of the month period (non - turn of the month days - NTOM). However, the statistical significance of the TOM and the NTOM returns is significantly influenced by: (i) the definitely - selected TOM time span, (ii) the capitalization, (iii) the econometric modeling, (iv) the applied mean equation, (v) the examined time period, and (vi) the financial trend. Therefore, the existence or fade of the TOM effect should be examined by taking into consideration all the aforementioned factors. Moreover, the empirical findings suggest that when the TOM returns are positive and statistically significant there is a positively growing financial trend, while when the NTOM is negative and statistically significant the NTOM days coincide with a financial crisis (or negative financial trend). The latter results could pave the way for further TOM studies which would examine whether the TOM period could be an indicator of the upcoming financial conditions. Finally, the paper suggests how these findings could be practically useful for investors, traders and financial advisors.
Court-Appointed Experts and Accuracy in Adversarial Litigation

Concerned about evidence distortion arising from litigants' strong incentive to misrepresent information to fact-finders, legal scholars and commentators have long suggested that the court appoint its own advisor for a neutral piece of information about the dispute. This paper studies the incentive problem faced by the litigants when the judge seeks advice from the court-appointed expert. Within a standard litigation game framework, we find a trade-off in utilizing the court-appointed expert: although it helps the judge obtain more information overall, thereby reducing the number of mistakes at trial, it hampers the litigants' incentive to supply expert information, which undermines the adversarial nature of the current American legal system.
Towards a Universal “Baseline” Characterisation of Air Masses for High- and Low-Altitude Observing Stations Using Radon-222

We demonstrate the ability of atmospheric radon concentrations to reliably and unambiguously identify local and remote terrestrial influences on an air mass, and thereby the potential for alteration of trace gas composition by anthropogenic and biogenic processes. Based on high accuracy (lower limit of detection 10-40 mBq m^(-3)), high temporal resolution (hourly) measurements of atmospheric radon concentration we describe, apply and evaluate a simple two-step method for identifying and characterising constituent mole fractions in baseline air. The technique involves selecting a radon-based threshold concentration to identify the ＂cleanest＂ (least terrestrially influenced) air masses, and then performing an outlier removal step based on the distribution of constituent mole fractions in the identified clean air masses. The efficacy of this baseline selection technique is tested at three contrasting WMO GAW stations: Cape Grim (a coastal low-altitude site), Mauna Loa (a remote high-altitude island site), and Jungfraujoch (a continental high-altitude site). At Cape Grim and Mauna Loa the two-step method is at least as effective as more complicated methods employed to characterise baseline conditions, some involving up to nine steps. While it is demonstrated that Jungfraujoch air masses rarely meet the baseline criteria of the more remote sites, a selection method based on a variable monthly radon threshold is shown to produce credible ＂near baseline＂ characteristics. The seasonal peak-to-peak amplitude of recent monthly baseline CO_2 mole fraction deviations from the long-term trend at Cape Grim, Mauna Loa and Jungfraujoch are estimated to be 1.1, 6.0 and 8.1 ppm, respectively.