Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Social Responsibility in the Time of Uncertainty: A Natural Experiment

This paper studies social responsibility in the financial market under uncertainty. Using the COVID-19 induced stock market crash as a natural experiment, we present causal evidence for a significant market-wide increase in sentiment for and attention to socially responsible investments. An artefactual field experiment suggests three behavioral channels for this shift in preferences. First, investors view socially responsible assets as less risky and uncertain. Second, the crisis triggered an increase in prosocial preferences in general. Third, the affect heuristic, in which the emotional response acts as a mental shortcut in relation to a stimulus, triggers favorable expectations of socially responsible investment performance. Our insights provide evidence for the time varying nature of morality in the market, and may explain the recently documented resilience of socially responsible stocks in times of market turmoil.
OLLI NYKÄNEN MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING OF THE OSTEOCHONDRAL UNIT: STUDIES USING QUANTITATIVE SUSCEPTIBILITY MAPPING AND SWEEP IMAGING WITH FOURIER TRANSFORM PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN FINLAND

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common disease that causes degeneration of articular cartilage and other joint tissues. The progression of OA can lead to severe pain and immobility. Unfortunately, clinical imaging techniques are more suited to diagnosing the late stages of the disease rather than detecting the early signs of degeneration. Therefore, new non-invasive imaging methods are urgently needed that could assess the compositional changes related to incipient OA in joint connective tissues. Quantitative MRI parameters, such as relaxation time constants or diffusion, are among the most promising methods for the non-invasive assessment of early changes evoked by OA. However, many of these quantitative parameters have significant shortcomings, such as long imaging times, very low sensitivity or requirement of special hardware, which mean that they are inapplicable for clinical imaging. Furthermore, a significant issue limiting the use of quantitative MRI for OA diagnostics is the rapid transversal relaxation often observed in the musculoskeletal tissues, reducing the signal available from these tissues. This issue can be overcome by applying the ultra-short or zero echo time methods. Interestingly, when using these methods, a previously unseen hyperintense signal has been observed at the osteochondral junction. However, the exact origin of this signal has not been comprehensively studied, and even its location in the osteochondral unit has remained debatable as both deep uncalcified cartilage and calcified cartilage have been proposed. The hypotheses of this thesis were that quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) could overcome at least most of the problems regarding quantitative MRI assessment of articular cartilage and more specifically, that it would be sensitive to the changes in the properties of the extracellular matrix of articular cartilage. Regarding the hyperintense signal at the osteochondral junction, it was hypothesized that this signal is located in the deep uncalcified cartilage instead of the calcified cartilage. Moreover, it was hypothesized that the hyperintense signal would be in part generated by and dependent on the susceptibility differences between the uncalcified and calcified cartilage. All experiments were performed by imaging ex vivo osteochondral samples of animal and human origin in a preclinical 9.4T MRI scanner. When evaluating QSM in the assessment of articular cartilage, it was compared to T∗ 2 relaxation time mapping and also correlated with reference parameters, such as biomechanical properties or collagen network organization in articular cartilage. Furthermore, the poten-
The Relevance of Good Corporate Governance Practices to Bank Performance

The purpose of this paper is to examine how corporate governance instruments impact firm value in the context of Cambodian banks. This paper considers foreign and domestic-owned banks in Cambodia. This study opts for a balanced sample of foreign and domestic owned banks for the period 2014-2018. Panel data regression is adopted for estimation of main results. The suitable model, i.e. fixed and random effect model is selected using the Hausman specification test where the result shows that the random effect model using generalized least square (GLS) regression is more suitable for the analysis. The findings show that Cambodian banks are having a substantially higher percentage of NEDs on their board, high implementation of governance procedures on board committees where on average the banks are having more than the required two board committees (audit and risk committees) as required by the Prakas on the governance of banks by National Bank of Cambodia. The average board size is around 8 members of which at least 3 members are having a postgraduate degree or a professional qualification. Policymakers need to improve on their supervisory function as the majority of the domestic and some foreign banks do not disclose their annual reports on their company website as required by the Prakas on Corporate Governance of Banks operating in Cambodia. Moreover, amendments should be made to the current corporate governance code for financial institutions as there are no explanatory notes that guide companies and therefore, the current guideline is open to individual and subjective interpretation.
Pressure-induced H bonding; neutron diffraction study of brucite, Mg(OD) 2 , to 9.3 GPa

The structure of deuterated brucite has been refined using Rietveld analysis of neutron powder diffraction data collected in an opposed-anvil high-pressure (Paris-Edinburgh) cell from 0.4 to 9 GPa. On the basis of bond length changes obtained from the structure refinements, H bonding between the octahedral layers becomes more significant as the unit cell contracts. The c axis is approximately two times as compressible as the a axis in this pressure range, and the compression along c is largely taken up by a 13% reduction of the interlayer spacing. The O-D bond length, on the other hand, remains nearly constant or increases slightly over the pressure range. The position ofD was modeled as a threefold split site of one-third occupancy each. The splitting between these sites increases with pressure, as does the O-D. 0 angle, whereas the interlayer D.O distance decreases, indicating a strengthening of the H bonding between the layers.
Optimal Credit, Monetary, and Fiscal Policy Under Occasional Financial Frictions and the Zero Lower Bound

I study optimal credit, monetary, and ﬁscal policy under commitment in a model where ﬁnancial intermediaries face an occasionally binding ﬁnancial constraint; the monetary authority faces a zero lower bound (ZLB); and the ﬁscal authority faces a budget constraint. Despite being inactive in the deterministic steady state, the credit policy is permanent in the risky steady state. Financial and productivity shocks can generate a tradeoﬀ between inﬂation stability and ﬁnancial stability, which is resolved in favour of the latter with the credit spread being virtually equal to zero under a reasonable calibration. As the ZLB prevents full-scale monetary easing when ﬁnancial distress weighs on aggregate demand, monetary policy should be relatively tighter in normal times for a precautionary reason. Moreover, the optimal nominal interest rate is a bell-shaped function of productivity around the stochastic steady state, although it is sensitive to how much the central bank is constrained by its past commitments. Notwithstanding the mentioned policy tradeoﬀ, the optimal Taylor type rule is strictly inﬂation targeting. However, the rule-based policy features too aggressive a credit intervention but insuﬃcient monetary easing.
Convertible Bond Underpricing: Renegotiable Covenants, Seasoning and Convergence

We investigate the long-standing puzzle on the underpricings of convertible bonds. We hypothesize that the observed underpricing is induced by the possibility that a convertible bond might renegotiate on some of its covenants, e.g., an imbedded put option, in financial difficulties. Consistent with our hypothesis, we find that the initial underpricing is larger for lower rated bonds. The underpricing worsens if the issuer experiences subsequent financial difficulties. However, conditional on no rating downgrades, our main empirical result shows that convertible bond prices do converge to their theoretical prices within two years. This seasoning period is shorter for higher rated convertible bonds.
The Balanced Scorecard's Evolution as a Strategic Mechanism at Banking Sectors

As the current study has an empirical and impartial nature, a quantitative method was considered<br>the best method for achieving the research objectives of the study. A quantitative technique applied in order to analyze the current study. Sample design refers to the procedure or method the researcher is willing to accept in choosing items for the sample. Research sample was selected using a procedure of random sampling and it was carried out in different banks. A total of 140 questionnaires were distributed, however 128 participants properly filled out the questionnaires. The study applied multiple regression analysis to measure the current study. The results show that internal process as balanced scored card has significant positive influence on strategic mechanism at 5% level. The results show that internal process as balanced scored card has significant positive influence on strategic mechanism at 5% level. The results show that organizational capacity as balanced scored card has significant positive influence on strategic mechanism at 5% level. The results show that customer as balanced scored card has significant positive influence on strategic mechanism at 5% level. Moreover, all beta value is higher than . 001. The results show that nonfinancial incentives have a better impact on employee success because they encourage them to be more environmentally conscious. As a result, it is proposed that, in order to ensure environmental protection, nonfinancial initiatives be used in accordance with financial measures to enhance internal company processes. For example, rather than conventional initiatives that would persuade sustainable change, it is recommended that measures related to waste and utilization of specific resources be taken. The methodological results further highlight the importance of learning and development as a constant phase rather than a seasonal operation.
Effect of functionalization of multi-walled carbon nanotube on mechanical and viscoelastic properties of polysulfide-modified epoxy nanocomposites

In order to obtain epoxy compounds with excellent mechanical properties without compromising other desired properties, pristine- or carboxyl-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotube (p-MWCNT or f-MWCNT) along with polysulfide were incorporated into an amine-cured epoxy resin. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses proved the existence of carboxyl groups on the surface of f-MWCNT. Adding 0.1 wt% f-MWCNT significantly improved the tensile strength and impact strength of the epoxy nanocomposites by 104% and 47%, respectively. However, adding p-MWCNT had little effect on the mechanical properties of the nanocomposites. The glass transition temperature of the f-MWCNT/epoxy nanocomposites were also much higher than neat epoxy matrix and p-MWCNT/epoxy nanocomposites. The fracture surface morphology and dynamic mechanical analysis results indicated that the interfacial interactions between f-MWCNT and the epoxy matrix were much stronger than that of p-MWCNT, which ensured the much-improved mechanical properties.
Investors’ Reactions to CSR News in Family Versus Nonfamily Firms: A Study on Signal (In)credibility

We study family firm status as an important condition in signaling theory; specifically, we propose that the market reacts more positively to positive, and more negatively to negative, CSR news (i.e., signals) from family firms than to similar news from nonfamily firms. Moreover, we propose that during recessions, the direction of these relationships reverses. Based on an event study of 1247 positive and negative changes in the CSR ratings for all firms listed on the French SFB120 stock market index (2003-2013), we find support for our hypotheses. Moreover, a post hoc analysis reveals that the relationships are contingent on whether a family CEO leads the firm.
Assessing the Role of Price Promotion in the Association between Income and Sugar- Sweetened Beverage Purchases

Background: In the U.S., there are income disparities in SSB consumption where lower incomes consume more SSBs. Evidence is limited on whether controlling for price promotions and shopping behaviors would help explain / attenuate the relationship between income and SSB consumption. Alternately, it is possible that SSB price promotions serves as an effect modifier and widens income disparities in SSB consumption due to lower income price sensitivity. The objective of this study is to assess whether the income gradient in SSB purchases is explained by the exposure to price promotion and/or different price promotion-related shopping behaviors, and assess the presence of an interaction between price promotion and income on the association with SSB purchases, while controlling for shopping behaviors. <br><br>Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using a large nationally representative sample from the NielsenIQ Consumer Panel (analytic sample N=11,299) in 2016. Annual promotion frequency (defined as percent of the time experiencing SSBs discounts) for each household were derived using weekly store prices in the NielsenIQ Retailer Scanner Database. A stockpiling index was generated for each household to describe bulk shopping behavior. We compared the association between household income per capita and annual per capita SSB purchase with and without adjusting for price promotion and/or the stockpiling index to determine whether the income gradient in SSB purchase can be explained by the exposure to price promotion, or promotion-related shopping behaviors. <br><br>Results: Nearly 40% of SSBs were purchased with a price discount. More frequent price promotions were linked to higher SSB purchase. Overall, lower income households purchased substantially more SSBs (i.e., household income per capita ≤$15,000, $15,000 to $30,000, $30,000 to $50,000 categories purchased 54%, 22% and 10% more SSBs than household income per capita ≥$50,000, respectively). However, the association between income and purchase of SSBs was strong regardless of adjustment for price promotion and there was no evidence that the association varied by exposure to price promotions. SSB shopping behaviors were different by income. Lower income households made more frequent trips to purchase SSBs and smaller purchases (i.e., made 12 trips per year, purchased 58 oz. per capita on each trip) while higher income households the opposite (i.e., made 5 trips per year, purchased 72 oz. per capita on each trip). After adjusting for covariates and the stockpiling index, the income gradient in SSB purchase was slightly attenuated but still significant (i.e., households in income per capita ≤$15,000, $15,000 to $30,000, $30,000 to $50,000 categories purchased 32%, 17% and 4% more SSBs than households with income per capita ≥$50,000, respectively). <br><br>Conclusions: Income disparities in SSB consumption remained after covariate adjustment and after accounting for exposure to price promotion and different shopping behaviors.
Is There a Symmetric Nonlinear Causal Relationship between Large and Small Firms?

This paper uses both linear and nonlinear causality tests to reexamine the cross-autocorrelation between the returns on large and small firms. Consistent with previous results, we find that large firms lead small firms, but small firm autocorrelation, nonsynchronous trading, or a differential response to a large set of economy-wide information cannot explain this finding. More important, in contrast to the received literature, we find significant nonlinear causality that is bidirectional and of the same duration in either direction. After controlling for possible sources of nonlinearities, such as information flow as proxied by volatility, macroeconomic information, business cycle effects, and nonsynchronous trading, we continue to find strong evidence of equal duration, bi-directional nonlinear causality.
Macroeconomic Expectations and Credit Card Spending

How do macroeconomic expectations affect consumer decisions? We examine this question using a natural field experiment with 2,872 credit card customers from a large commercial bank. We conduct a survey to measure consumer expectations about future inflation and the nominal exchange rate and combine this with an information-provision experiment that generates exogenous variation in these expectations. We merge the survey and experimental data with detailed administrative data on the subjects' credit card transactions and balances. The experiment is designed to test three standard predictions from models of intertemporal consumption choice: inflation expectations should affect spending on durables; exchange rate expectations should affect spending on tradables; and, holding constant the nominal interest rate, inflation expectations should affect borrowing. We find that the information provided to participants strongly affects subjective expectations. However, we do not find any significant effects on actual consumer behavior (as measured in administrative data) or self-reported consumption plans (as measured in survey data). Our preferred interpretation is that consumers are not sophisticated enough to factor inflation and exchange rate expectations into their consumption decisions. The absence of a link between consumer expectations and behavior has potentially important implications for macroeconomic policies such as forward guidance. Institutional subscribers to the NBER working paper series, and residents of developing countries may download this paper without additional charge at www.nber. org.
Fintech and Banking Efficiency: Evidence from Chinese Commercial Banks

Will the development of FinTech improve the efficiency of commercial banks in China? In recent years, FinTech has been continuously developing and applying to the financial industry which has brought opportunities and challenges to the operation and management of commercial banks in China. We focus on the empirical analysis of the impact of FinTech on the operating efficiency of commercial banks. By examining Chinese commercial banks as an empirical sample, we find that the development of FinTech has a significant role in promoting the efficiency of Chinese commercial banks. On this basis, we further compared the feedback of changes in the efficiency of different Chinese commercial banks to the development of FinTech. Accordingly, the efficiency changes of city commercial banks in China have been most significantly affected by the development of FinTech. Based on the empirical results, the financial development elements are further added to explore the geographical characteristics of city commercial banks. We find that the development of FinTech has a stronger effect on the efficiency change of city commercial banks in areas with higher levels of financial development.
Internationalization in Auditing Research

We explore the range and dynamics of international collaboration among auditing scholars. Our sample spans the period from 1997 to 2014 and includes all research papers in the field of auditing which were published in six auditing journals and six journals of broader accounting readership. We find that auditing research is largely collaborative. However, international collaborations account only for 25.04% of collaborative work in auditing. The majority of publishing scholars are affiliated with USA-based institutions, even though at a declining rate. Practitioners also engage in collaborative auditing research, but their participation in published research output has gradually declined.
Effects of Green Marketing Strategies on Sales Volume of Green Cars

This empirical study aims to investigate the influence of green marketing strategy on sales growth of green cars in Jordan. The study analyses the data of 332 car dealers during 2010-2014. The results reveal both positive (green product, green promotion and green process) and negative (green price, green physical evidence, green people, green distribution on sales growth) influence of green marketing strategy on sales growth. The study further finds that adoption of green marketing strategy may significantly increase the sales volume of green cars. However, the adoption of marketing strategies may decline the sales volume of non-green cars comparing with the green cars.
Covenant-lite Deals and Financial Reporting Quality

We examine how covlite deals, which are debt contracts that lack systematic covenant compliance requirements, affect financial reporting quality. Examining publicly traded U.S. issuers, we show that firms significantly reduce conservative financial reporting but increase the quality of voluntary non-GAAP earnings information in the postissue-period. Moreover, covlite issuers tend to reduce accruals-based management incentives, are less likely to receive SEC’s key issue comment letters and are no more likely to have internal control weakness flagged by their auditors in the post-issue-period. We argue that covenant/monitoring quality erosion, often associated with covlite deal structures, does not necessarily result in subordinate financial reporting quality. Instead, we conjecture that firms alter their reporting incentives due to major shifts in their debt market investor profile from traditional banking institutions towards non-bank institutional investors with different financial reporting needs. Our results are robust to alternative data construct and modelling settings that address variable omission and self-selection problems.
How Did the Asset Markets Change after the Global Financial Crisis?

The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) changes the relative economic riskiness and risk-adjusted-performance of different asset markets. While the empirical distribution for stock return shifted to the right and became more concentrated around the mean after the GFC, the real estate market counterparts moved to the left and became more spread out. The economic risk of the OFHEO and Case-Shiller housing indices was smaller than the counterpart of the equity REIT (EREITs) market before the financial crisis, it substantially increased. Also, the economic performance of the OFHEO and Case-Shiller housing indices decreased after the financial crisis. They are below the performance indices of the stock and EREITs markets. The ex-post real estate premium vanishes. If we presume the "best model" to be the same before and after the GFC, we could severely misestimate the risk after the GFC.
Credit Default Swaps Around the World

We analyze the impact of the introduction of credit default swaps (CDSs) on real decision-making within the firm. Our structural model predicts that CDS introduction increases debt capacity more when uncertainty about the credit events that trigger CDS payment is lower. Using a sample of more than 56,000 firms across 51 countries, we find that CDSs increase leverage more in legal and market environments where uncertainty about CDS obligations is reduced and when property rights are weaker. Our results highlight the importance of legal uncertainty in the interpretation of the underlying trigger events of global credit derivatives.