Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of Dividend Smoothing: Empirical Evidence

We document the cross-sectional properties of corporate dividend-smoothing policies and relate them to extant theories. We find that younger, smaller firms, firms with low dividend yields and more volatile earnings and returns, and firms with fewer and more disperse analyst forecasts smooth less. Firms that are cash cows, with low growth prospects, weaker governance, and greater institutional holdings, smooth more. We also document that dividend smoothing has steadily increased over the past 80 years, even before firms began using share repurchases in the mid-1980s. Taken together, our results suggest that dividend smoothing is most common among firms that are not financially constrained, face low levels of asymmetric information, and are most susceptible to agency conflicts. These findings provide challenges and guidance for the developing theoretical literature. The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Society for Financial Studies. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com. , Oxford University Press.
Light and Electron Microscopic Observations of Gametogenesis in Hastigerina pelagica (Foraminifera)

SYNOPSIS. During gametogenesis mother individuals of Hastigerina pelagica (d'Orbigny) undergo significant morphological changes. Thirty h before gamete release, the cytoplasm changes from pale orange to bright red, possibly due to transport of stored lipids from the inner region to more peripheral parts of the cytoplasm. During the next 10 to 15 h the bubble capsule which surounds the calcareous shell is discarded. After all bubbles have disappeared, the individual sheds its spines by resorbing the spine bases close to the shell surface. A single mother nucleus divides into some hundreds of thousands of gamete nuclei within a span of ∼ 20 h. A bulge of cytoplasm is extruded from the aperture and increases in size during the next 5 to 10 h. This bulge consists of cytoplasmic strands in which gametes and spherical bodies are embedded. The gametes and spherical bodies mature and are released during the afternoon and early evening. The gametes have 2 unequal acronematic flagella. A previously undescribed structure in foraminiferal reproduction is the spherical body which consists of a large vacuole surrounded by a thin cytoplasmic layer in which several nuclei, various typical cell organelles and multiple flagella are present. The spherical bodies are believed to play a role as receptacles of waste material, possibly including residual digestive enzymes, thereby protecting the gametes from lysis during the reproductive process. Fusion of gametes and further development into the next generation have not been observed.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid Relatedness Among Erwiniae and Other Enterobacteriaceae: the Gall, Wilt, and Dry-Necrosis Organisms (Genus Erwinia Winslow et al., sensu stricto)

Species representing the genus Erwinia (sensu stricto, the gall-, wilt-, and dry-necrosis-producing phytopathogens) were examined for relatedness to each other, to pectobacteria, and to other members of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The technique employed to show relatedness was deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) hybridization and hydroxyapatite chromatography. The results indicate that all erwiniae are significantly related to Pectobacterium and to other enterobacteria. DNA relatedness reveals six species of Erwinia: E. amylovora, E. nigrifluens, E. quercina, E. rubrifaciens, E. salicis, and E. tracheiphila. E. nigrifluens, E. rubrifaciens, and E. salicis show close intrageneric relatedness, whereas the other species exhibit as much relatedness to members of other genera as to the other Erwinia species. The data support the two-genus concept of Erwinia and Pectobacterium.
Bribes and Audit Fees

We exploit the UK Bribery Act of 2010 to test whether the pricing of audit changes with the level of corruption/bribery in the firm’s business environment. Adopting a triple difference design, we show that affected firms operating in countries perceived as more corrupt, where bribery may be necessary to get contracts, pay higher audit fees after the law enforcement. Moreover, we show that the increase in audit fees (i) is not the result of changes in the financial reporting quality of these firms; and (ii) is not due to higher compliance costs for companies that have a larger number of subsidiaries in corrupt countries. The results are consistent with understanding this increase in audit fees mainly as a form of compensation for the higher perceived litigation and reputation costs for the auditors, rather than as an additional price paid for significant increases in the compliance and monitoring costs. Moreover, subject firms that operate in countries with low corruption indexes and low bribery risk experience no change in audit fees.
Corporate Governance and Stock Market Liquidity

The purpose of this paper is to examine the capital market effects of corporate governance (CG) practices of “comply or explain” on stock market liquidity in a frontier market. <br><br>Using secondary data from Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) liquidity position is analyzed using panel data random effects regression against CG guidelines. <br><br>The results show a negative and significant relationship between CG compliance and stock market liquidity suggesting that regulated CG practices improves market liquidity in Kenya. The results are remarkably robust to different measures of liquidity and supports agency and signaling theory. <br><br>We provide evidence that security regulation improves stock market liquidity in a frontier market whose characteristics are thought not to favor regulation. Therefore the regulators and stakeholders could be motivated by the benefits of regulation and this could lead to renewed effort to improve the current compliance from the current 61.4%, to higher levels. <br><br>Our finding shows that security market regulation through CG guidelines can improve stock market liquidity in frontier markets. This offers regulators and policy makers a strong motivation to enhance security regulation to strengthen capital market confidence.
Modeling Credit Spreads Under Multifactor Stochastic Volatility

The empirical tests of traditional structural models of credit risk tend to indicate that such models have been unsuccessful in the modeling of credit spreads. To address these negative findings some authors introduce single-factor stochastic volatility specifications and/or jumps. In the yield curve literature it is widely accepted that one-factor is not sufficient to capture the time variation and cross-sectional variation in the term structure. This article introduces a two-factor stochastic volatility specification within the structural model of credit risk. One of the factors determines the correlation between short-term firms' assets returns and variance, whereas the other factor determines the correlation between long-term returns and variance. The numerical tests reveal how the introduction of two volatility factors can generate a wide range of combinations associated with short-term and long-term patters corresponding to credit spreads. In this sense, multi-factor stochastic volatility specifications provide more flexibility than single-factor models to capture a wide range of shapes associated with the term structure of credit spreads consistent with the empirical evidence.
New Tests of QALYs When Health Varies Over Time

This paper performs new tests of the QALY model when health varies over time. Our tests do not involve confounding assumptions and are robust to violations of expected utility. The results support the use of QALYs at the aggregate level, i.e. in economic evaluations of health care. At the individual level, there is less support for QALYs. The individual data are, however, largely consistent with a more general QALY-type model that remains tractable for applications.
Empirical Option Pricing Using High Frequency Data

In this paper we derive option prices using realized variation measures constructed from high-frequency intraday returns. Asset return dynamics are modeled using a discrete-time daily stochastic volatility model in which the daily log-returns volatility is approximated by realized volatility. In order to model realized volatility, we study two specifications based on the Heterogeneous Autoregressive model with a Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity component in the residuals proposed by Corsi et al. (2005). First, we model the realized volatility assuming the equation innovations are normally distributed. Then, we use a specification that disentangles the continuous and jumps components in the price variation process and, as in Bollerslev et al. (2007), we model the log-Bipower variation and relative jump separately assuming the innovations in each equation come from a Normal Inverse Gaussian distribution. We perform an empirical analysis using Dax index future contracts traded on Eurex, and analyze the qualitative properties of the price trajectories and return distributions simulated using the models under study. Finally, we derive option prices for different exercise prices and maturities, and assess their empirical performance relative to prices calculated using the Black-Scholes model.
Private Equity Acquisitions of Continental European Firms - The Impact of Ownership and Control on the Likelihood of Being Taken Private

This paper studies the motives behind private equity acquisitions of publicly listed firms in continental Europe. As corporate control and ownership in continental Europe tend to be highly concentrated, we argue that it is important to take into account the incentives of the incumbent large shareholder to monitor the management and the private benefits of control the latter may derive from the firm when measuring the likelihood of the firm being taken over by a private equity investor. We find strong and consistent evidence that both have a significant impact on the likelihood of a private equity acquisition.
Self-Exciting Jumps in the Oil Market: Bayesian Estimation and Dynamic Hedging

Abstract In this paper we propose a novel self-exciting jump-diffusion model for oil price dynamics based on a Hawkes-type process. In particular, the jump intensity is stochastic and path dependent, implying that the occurrence of a jump will increase the probability of observing a new jump and this feature of the model aims at explaining the jumps clustering effect. Moreover, volatility is described by a stochastic process, which can jump simultaneously with prices. The model specification is completed by a stochastic convenience yield. In order to estimate the model we apply the two-stage Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) sampler ( Fulop and Li, 2019 ) to both spot and futures quotations. From the estimation results we find evidence of self-excitation in the oil market, which leads to an improved fit and a better out of sample futures forecasting performance with respect to jump-diffusion models with constant intensity. Furthermore, we compute and discuss two optimal hedging strategies based on futures trading. The optimality of the first hedging strategy proposed is based on the variance minimization, while the second strategy takes into account also the third-order moment contribution in considering the investors attitudes. A comparison between the two strategies in terms of hedging effectiveness is provided.
Investigating the Effect of Convenience, Accessibility and Reliability on Customer Satisfaction in the Nigeria Banking Industry

This study investigates the effect of convenience, accessibility and reliability on customer satisfaction in the Nigeria banking industry. The target populations of the study are customers of Jaiz Bank, BUK Road Branch in Kano State, Nigeria and the stated bank branch serves as the scope of the study. The population of the study consists of 10,580 customers of the focused bank in question, and 371 respondents make up the study sample size and it was captured out of the stated population which was obtain through research advisors table of sample size determination. Structured questionnaire was employed as the method of data collection, while regression analysis was employed as the method of data analysis that tests the hypothesized hypotheses of the study. The result indicates that electronic accessibility and convenience has significant and positive effect on customer satisfaction. The result of the study also found that electronic reliability has negative effect on customer satisfaction. This study recommends that banks should enlighten and educate customers judiciously on the use of electronic services such as SMS (Mobile) banking, web/internet banking and e-switch, POS banking services that are not well patronized. Internet banking should be well developed in other to face competition in the banking industry and maintain profit.
Firm Size and Debt: Evidence From the Uruguayan Manufacturing Sector Using Panel Data

This work researches the link between a company’s size and its debt level. The study was conducted over 816 uruguayan manufacturing firms with 6 or more employees for the period between 2010 and 2016. In addition to the company’s size, its debt level is affected by other variables. Because of this, in conjunction with a company’s size and debt level, the impact that other variables which may influence debt level was also researched. As a debt level indicator, the study considered the ratio between Total Liabilities to Total Assets, plus two proxies to the company’s size: number of employees (SIZE 1) and asset level (SIZE 2). Both variables considered as proxies to SIZE, were of significance and positively related with the debt level. The methodological strategy followed was of modeling utilizing panel data with estimates related to fixed effects.
Effect of Phosphates on the Growth, Photosynthesis, and P Content of Oil Tea in Acidic Red Soils

Phosphorus (P) is a limiting factor in Camelia oleifera production as P is easily fixed by iron and aluminium oxides in acidic red soils. To better understand sparingly soluble and organic P utilization by oil tea in these soils, the growth and physiological responses of C. oleifera seedlings and P contents in soil and plants were investigated under Al-P, Ca-P, Fe-P, and O-P treatments. Plant growth was increased significantly when Ca-P was added, followed by Al-P and Fe-P. Net photosynthetic rate (Pn) was increased for all P-treated seedlings, and P treatments except for Fe-P also increased SPAD values. Ca-P, Al-P, and Fe-P treatments increased Fv/Fm, Fv'/Fm', yield, and qP (photochemical quenching). Ca-P and Al-P increased available P the most, while Fe-P increased TP the most in both rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soils. Available P level in rhizosphere soil was significantly higher than that in non-rhizosphere soil. P treatments significantly increased P content in all plant samples. These results demonstrated that Al-P and Ca-P can be effectively utilized by oil tea seedlings in acidic red soils, suggesting that sparingly soluble inorganic P is the main source of plant P in unfertilized soil.
Habitat use patterns in relation to escape terrain : are alpine ungulate females trading off better foraging sites for safety?

Predation risk often forces prey to trade off good foraging sites for safety, and compromises are expected to be greater in females with vulnerable offspring than in barren females. To determine whether adult females of large herbivores traded off forage for safety, we assessed habitat use and estimated vegetation abundance and quality in relation to distance to escape terrain in marked mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus de Blainville, 1816). We found that all females spent more time foraging near escape terrain than away from them. Females with young foraged on average 20 m closer to escape terrain than barren females in June, a time when offspring were particularly vulnerable to predation. Plant biomass did not vary with distance to escape terrain in June, but was lower closer than away from escape terrain during all other months. The abundance of forbs and shrubs increased with distance to escape terrain, but their quality did not vary. For grasses and sedges, plant digestible content decreased closer.
Reply to Beatriz Vicoso and Brian Charlesworth

IN their letter to the editors, [Vicoso and Charlesworth (2009][1], this issue) reanalyze our data set of X -linked and autosomal loci obtained from an African population of Drosophila melanogaster ([Hutter et al. 2007][2]) with regard to different estimators of recombination rate ([Singh et al.
CFO Effort and Public Firms' Financial Information Environment

We test the association between CFO effort and the quality of public firms’ financial information environments. We evaluate this relation using a measure of CFO leisure consumption – specifically, the amount of golf played – as an inverse proxy for effort. We find that CFOs consume more leisure (play more golf) when they have weaker equity-based incentives, and that high CFO leisure consumption is associated with lower earnings quality. This result holds with firm or CFO fixed effects and when using local weather quality to instrument for golf play, in support of a causal interpretation of the results. Higher CFO leisure consumption is also negatively associated with the informativeness of earnings calls and the accuracy of management guidance. Additionally, external monitors appear to be affected by the level of CFO effort as higher CFO leisure consumption is associated with greater analyst forecast dispersion and increased audit fees. Overall, the results suggest that CFOs respond to equity-based economic incentives, and that lower CFO effort weakens public firms’ financial information environment. <br><br>
Does Manager Turnover Improve Firm Performance? New Evidence Using Information from Dutch Soccer, 1986-2004

This research examines the impact of manager turnover on firm performance using information from the Dutch soccer league in the period 1986-2004. The advantage of using sports data is that both manager characteristics and decisions and firm outcomes are directly observable. Both difference-in-difference and 2SLS estimates suggest no improvements in firm performance after manager turnover, whereas previous research based on publicly traded firm data has found positive but very small effects of manager turnover on firm performance. In addition, manager quality does not seem to matter in predicting turnover. These estimates are compared and contrasted with studies using publicly traded firm data.
Differential influence of the degree of processing on immunogenicity following proteolysis of casein and β-lactoglobulin

Abstract Simulated gastric fluid digestion was used to investigate how heat processing and fat content influence effects of proteolytic digestion on milk protein immunogenicity in milk with varying fat content and degree of processing. Changes in antigenicity and allergenicity of casein and β-lactoglobulin (β-LG) were demonstrated, using polyclonal antibodies and milk-allergic patient sera in immunoblot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) inhibition. Heat-induced changes in ultra-high temperature processed (UHT) milk increased stability of IgE and IgG casein epitopes to digestive proteolysis, but had little effect on specific IgE or IgG binding. Native κ-casein may be more resistant to digestion, but this was abrogated by heat treatment. Although β-LG's digestive stability decreased in UHT milk, immunogenicity was retained after hydrolysis in both processed (UHT) and non-processed (semi-skimmed) milks. Differences in fat levels in three milk matrices which had been processed similarly did not appear to influence digestibility. The possible clinical significance of these findings remains is discussed.
Controls over Nutrient Resorption from Leaves of Evergreen Mediterranean Species

Nutrient resorption from senescent leaves, by minimizing nutrient losses, could be just as important as uptake in determining nutrient balance, especially in low- nutrient environments. To examine the relative importance of phenotypic and genotypic factors in controlling nutrient resorption, we sampled several Mediterranean trees and shrubs growing in serpentine and nonserpentine soils in northern California. Plants growing in serpentine soils had smaller, thicker leaves than those growing in richer sites and had lower N and P concentrations and pools on a unit-area basis. Pools of nutrients resorbed and nutrients left in litter in rich-site leaves were larger than pools in poor-site leaves, but N resorption efficiency (percent of total leaf N resorbed) was higher in less fertile sites (65 vs. 46%). Differences in efficiency may be due to the ratio of soluble/nonsoluble proteins, which is higher at low-N sites. Trends for phosphorus resorption efficiency were not sig- nificant (47 vs. 46% in poor and rich sites, respectively). There were no significant differences among species adapted to poor vs. rich soils, nor between needle vs. broad-leaved species. We conclude that a high nutrient resorption efficiency is a phenotypic response to low- nutrient environments.
Seasonal occurrence and food resource use of an assemblage of nearshore fish species in the Bothnian Sea, Sweden

Temporal distribution, food selection, body size and growth periodicity of the fishes Pungitius pungitius, Gasterosteus aculeatus, Pomatoschistus rnicrops, Pornatoschistus minutus, Gobius niger and Phoxinus phoxinus were studied in southern Bothnian Sea ( ~ 5 % S; > 15°C during 1.5 mo). The hypothesis was tested that competition for food acts a s important structuring factor of nearshore fish assemblages. In spite of fluctuations in species numbers and relative abundances during the season, species diversity remained relatively stable No differences in mean food-niche widths were detectable between adults of each species; however, between juveniles such differences occurred. No correlations were found between mean food overlaps and food-n~che widths or species diversity No evidence could be found that would identify food competition as important structuring factor. In contrast, for a nearshore fish assemblage on the Swed~sh west coast, con~petitive interactions for food played, at least temporarily, an important role. Extreme abiotic conditions appear to keep the Bothnian fish populations below the abundance level at which food shortage could become an important selective force.
Do Audit Committees Reduce the Agency Costs of Ownership Structure?

We investigate the agency costs of corporate ownership structure and the role of audit committees in mitigating their effect. Using China as a laboratory, where audit committees are voluntary, we study the demand for and value relevance of audit committees conditional on the various agency costs of corporate ownership. Audit committees are shown to complement existing internal governance systems by reducing the agency conflicts embedded in ownership structure. They are always value relevant, the magnitude of which depends upon the level and complexity of the ownership lattice. Finally, audit committees substitute for inefficient external regulatory environments, particularly where weak legal institutions predominate. Our results are robust to firm size, investment level and financial leverage.
Do Bank Regulation and Supervision Increase or Decrease Systemic Risk: Cross Country Evidence

We investigate whether banks in more heavily regulated markets are more likely to suffer from capital shortfall and thus contribute more to systemic (in)stability. Our cross-country empirical findings show that bank activity restriction, initial capital stringency and prompt corrective action are all positively related to systemic risk, measured by Marginal Expected Shortfall (MES). Our results hold for the instrumental variable analysis and other robustness test. We also find that the level of equity banks have can alleviate such effect, while bank size is likely to enhance the effect. Our results do not argue against bank regulation, but rather focus on the design and implementation of regulation.