Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The economics of timber and bioenergy production and carbon storage in Scots pine stands.

We optimize timber and bioenergy production combined with carbon storage in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands, using an ecological-economic model. Forest growth is specified with a highly detailed process-based growth specification, and optimization is based on an efficient generalized pattern search algorithm. The optimized variables are rotation length, initial stand density, and the number, intensity, timing, and type of thinnings. The carbon pool includes all aboveground biomass (including dead trees) and timber products. The analysis includes the comparison of different carbon subsidy systems. The results are presented for the most relevant site types and thermal zones in Finland. Carbon storage increases the optimal rotation length, number of thinnings, and initial density at all forest sites. Carbon storage effects on stand density and harvests are strongest at poor sites. Timber output increases with carbon price. High natural mortality in our results implies notable carbon storage in dead t.
Respect for Experts or Respect for Unanimity? The Liberal Paradox in Probabilistic Opinion Pooling

Amartya Sen (1970) has shown that three natural desiderata for social choice rules are inconsistent: universal domain, respect for unanimity, and respect for some minimal rights — which can be interpreted as either expert rights or liberal rights. Dietrich and List (2008) have generalised this result to the setting of binary judgement aggregation. This paper proves that the liberal paradox holds even in the framework of probabilistic opinion pooling and discusses options to circumvent this impossibility result: restricting the aggregator domain to profiles with no potential for conflicting rights, or considering agendas whose issues are not all mutually interdependent.
Updating Confidence in Beliefs

Abstract This paper develops a belief update rule under ambiguity, motivated by the maxim: in the face of new information, retain those conditional beliefs in which you are more confident, and relinquish only those in which you have less confidence. We provide a preference-based axiomatisation, drawing on the account of confidence in beliefs developed in Hill (2013) . The proposed rule constitutes a general framework of which several existing rules for multiple priors (Full Bayesian, Maximum Likelihood) are special cases, but avoids the problems that these rules have with updating on complete ignorance. Moreover, it can handle surprising and null events, such as crises or reasoning in games, recovering traditional approaches, such as conditional probability systems, as special cases.
Standardization and the E ffectiveness of Online Advertising

The technological transformation and automation of digital content delivery has revolutionized the media industry. Increased reliance on automation has also led to requirements for standardization of content-delivery formats. This paper examines how the memorability of banner advertising changed with the introduction of new standards regularizing its format. Using data from randomized field tests, we find evidence that for most ads, ad e ffectiveness falls as the use of standard formats rises. The decline is smaller when a standardized ad appears to be more original (such as ads created by an ad agency). Therefore, a likely explanation is that increased use of a standard format makes it harder for basic ads to distinguish themselves from their competition because the ad format commands less attention.
The Bright Side of Foreign Competition: Import Penetration and Default Risk

We examine the effect that foreign competition has on firms’ default risk, and document a strong and robust negative association. Utilizing a large sample of public U.S. manufacturing firms and industry-level import penetration data, we find that an increase in import penetration from the 25th to the 75th percentile leads to a reduction in corporate default risk of roughly 15.5%. These results hold after accounting for potential endogeneity concerns. We also document a negative association between import penetration and the incidence of bankruptcy as well as the incidence of covenant violations. Further tests reveal that the negative association between import penetration and default risk is most pronounced for firms that lax managerial oversight, suggesting that foreign competition is a substitute for effective corporate governance. Our paper contributes to the ongoing discourse on the costs and benefits of trade liberalization, documenting the ‘bright side’ of foreign competition.
When the Big One Came: A Natural Experiment on Demand Shocks and Market Structure in India’s Influenza Vaccine Markets

This paper examines the causal relationship between exogenous demand shocks and new product introductions in India’s vaccine markets. Using a novel dataset of detailed purchasing information forvaccines in the country and exploiting the occurrence of the 2009-10 global H1N1 pandemic as a causal demand shock, we provide evidence of heterogeneous responses to the shock by domestic and multinational vaccine manufacturers in the treated influenza vaccines market (used to remedy H1N1 influenza) relative to our control group of all other vaccine markets. Specifically, we find that such a shock results in reversal of market structure for influenza vaccines in India with a decline in sales of multinational vaccine manufacturers and significant gains in market share gains by domestic vaccine manufacturers. We further provide evidence that such a reversal of the market structure is driven by new product introductions by domestic vaccine manufacturers and their distinctive R&D strategies, whose effects persist even after the shock is over. Finally, we examine the efficacy of targeted policy instruments aimed at stimulating innovation in domestic manufacturers. Taken together, our results provide new evidence on how demand shocks create differential incentives for domestic and multinational manufacturers to innovate and contribute to the ongoing debate on the relationship between market size and innovation. In addition, our results offer useful insights into the role of policy on innovation and competition in the context of an emerging economy facing adverse welfare effects from pandemics.
The Role of Human Resource Management Practices in Promoting Good Governance in the Thai Civil Service

The main purpose of this study was to:<br><br>1) examine the influence of human resource management practices on good governance in the Thai civil service,<br><br> 2) examine human resource management practices that relate to good governance in the Thai civil service, <br><br>3) understand the casual relationship that HRM practices have towards good governance of government agencies an,<br><br>4) understand the mediation role of ethics management and ethical culture that pass the relationship from HRM practices to good governance in the Thai civil service. <br><br>The instrument for data collection was a 59-item structured questionnaire modeled on a 5-point rating scale. Cronbach Alpha was used to determine the internal consistency of the questionnaire items. The reliability index of the instrument was 0.98. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis, path analysis with AMOS, and PROCESS Macro for testing the serial multiple mediators were used in this research. The model of relationship between casual factors and good governance in Thai civil service could be able to explain 74% of variance of good governance. The highest direct effect variables were ethical culture, followed by training and development and law and discipline and the direct effects sizes were 0.55, 0.29 and 0.16 respectively. Recruitment and selection and compensation and rewards revealed no association with good governance. Ethics management and ethical culture were found to significantly and partially mediate the relationship between the training and development to good governance and they also partially mediate the relationship of laws and discipline towards good governance in the Thai civil service.
Papilio aegeus Donovan (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) host plant range evaluated experimentally on ancient angiosperms

Chemical similarities among ancient Angiosperms presumably played a role in the ecological and evolutionary diversification of the swallowtail butterflies (Papilionidae). The abilities of neonate larvae of the Citrus swallowtail, Papilio (=Princeps) aegeus (from Queensland, Australia), to eat, survive and grow on leaves (a choice of young and old) of 34 plant species from families of ancient Angiosperms; 8 Rutaceae, 3 Magnoliaceae, 13 Lauraceae, 3 Monimiaceae, 1 Aristolochiaceae, 2 Apiaceae, 1 Sapotaceae, 1 Winteraceae and 2 Annonaceae were tested. It was apparent that there is genetic variation in populations of Rutaceae-specialised Australian P. aegeus for acceptance, consumption and larval growth, reflecting differential suitability of some native Australian Lauraceae species as food plants (as well as certain Winteraceae, Monimiaceae and non-Australian Magnoliaceae, Lauraceae and Annonaceae). No consumption or survival of P. aegeus was seen on Aristolochia elegans (Aristolochiaceae) or Pouteria australis (Sapotaceae) despite literature records alluding to this possibility. The Rutaceae specialist P. aegeus appears to have the fundamental detoxification capabilities for processing many existing species of the basal Angiosperm families, without having direct ancestors that historically had fed on them.
Learning About Demand Abroad from Wholesalers: A B2B Analysis

This paper uses Business to Business (B2B) transaction level data. It shows that manufacturing firms that initially export via a wholesaler are much more likely to become direct exporters to the same destination in subsequent periods. Theoretically, we rationalize this finding by demonstrating how a connection to a wholesaler reduces uncertainty about the foreign demand. In the data we isolate the channel for demand learning from productivity spillovers. Non-exporting manufacturing firms, previously serving a foreign destination through an exporting wholesaler, have a much higher probability of becoming direct exporters to the same export market in subsequent periods. A connection to an exporting wholesaler results in a probability of exporting to the same destination that is six times higher than a comparable firm without any exposure to the foreign destination.
Differentiation of the effects of protein status and acid-base balance on the appetite of sheep for lucerne silage

SUMMARY Five cross-bred Suffolk lambs (liveweight 24–29 kg) were fed lucerne silage and made acidotic or offered supplemental protein with the objective of determining the effects of acidosis and amino acid undersupply on food intake from silage. In this study, at McGill University, Quebec, Canada in January 1989, lucerne silage (25% DM) was supplemented with equimolar amounts (450 mmol/kg DM) of ammonium chloride, ammonium bicarbonate and sodium bicarbonate; fishmeal was added at 100 g/kg silage DM. The lambs were fed ad libitum according to a 5 × 5 Latin square with 21-day periods. Digestibility of organic matter (OM) from silage ranged from 78 to 82% and was not significantly affected by diet (P > 0·05). Voluntary intake of digestible organic matter (DOM) from silage was . Fishmeal supplementation of lucerne silage improved nitrogen retention (P > 0·05) but not intake of DOM. The addition of ammonium chloride to silage reduced blood concentration (p < 0·05) and urinary output of HCO3, increased ammonia excretion in urine (P < 0·05), and depressed intake of DOM (P < 0·05). Ammonium bicarbonate also reduced voluntary intake of DOM (P < 0·05) but had no significant effect (P > 0·05) on the acid-base status of the lambs. Sodium bicarbonate depressed food intake but had no significant effect on measures of acid-base balance. The results suggest that metabolic acidosis is not an underlying mechanism restricting food intake by sheep and that neither acid-base imbalance nor inadequate protein status is likely to explain the limitation in food intake from ensiled lucerne.
Soil isolation and molecular identification of Coccidioides immitis.

The fungal pathogen Coccidioides immitis, causative agent of coccidioidomycosis or Valley Fever, was first isolated from the environment in 1932. It has been isolated on numerous occasions since then, but always with the use of a mammalian host. The mor- phology of C. immitis is indistinct from related species, thus, its identification hinges upon its ability to infect and produce spherules in a susceptible animal. In this study, four genetically distinct isolates of C. immitis were isolated from soil samples from the San Joaquin Valley without the use of a host. None of these sites
Selection, Leverage, and Default in the Mortgage Market

We ask whether the correlation between mortgage leverage and default is due to moral hazard (the causal effect of leverage) or adverse selection (ex ante risky borrowers choosing larger loans). We separate these information asymmetries using a natural experiment resulting from the contract structure of option adjustable-rate mortgages and unexpected 2008 divergence of indexes that determine rate adjustments. Our point estimates suggest that moral hazard is responsible for 40$\%$ of the correlation in our sample, while adverse selection explains 60$\%$. We calibrate a simple model to show that leverage regulation must weigh default prevention against distortions due to adverse selection.
Rating Agency Fees: Pay to Play or Pay for Work?

We document a significant relationship between ratings fees and credit rating levels in the municipal bond market. In contrast to prior evidence from the corporate bond and structured finance markets indicating a “pay to play” phenomenon, our results suggest that ratings fees in the municipal market are pay for work. We conclude that rating agency incentives differ across asset classes and that fee disclosure mitigates the conflict of interest inherent in an issuer-pays compensation structure. Our results also suggest a substitution effect between certification agents in the muni market. The strong positive relationship between fees and ratings is exclusive to the subset of now uninsured issuers who previously purchased AAA ratings from MBIA and AMBAC. Without the benefit of the AAA pricing provided by AAA insurers, these issuers have increased incentive to pay rating agencies for certification.
Central Bank Intervention and Exchange Rate Volatility, its Continuous and Jump Components

We analyze the relationship between interventions and volatility at daily and intra-daily frequencies for the two major exchange rate markets. Using recent econometric methods to estimate realized volatility, we employ bipower variation to decompose this volatility into a continuously varying and jump component. Analysis of the timing and direction of jumps and interventions imply that coordinated interventions tend to cause few, but large jumps. Most coordinated operations explain, statistically, an increase in the persistent (continuous) part of exchange rate volatility. This correlation is even stronger on days with jumps. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)
Employment Protection and Tax Aggressiveness: Evidence from Wrongful Discharge Laws

Abstract We examine whether labor market frictions affect firms’ tax aggressiveness. Exploiting the adoption of U.S. state-level Wrongful Discharge Laws as a quasi-exogenous shock to a firm's firing costs, we document a decline in tax aggressiveness for firms located in states that increase employment protection. We further show that greater employment protection increases distress risk. The decline in tax aggressiveness is more pronounced for firms that are more vulnerable to financial distress and constrained from external financial markets. Our results imply that firms avoid risky tax positions in order to mitigate increased distress risk due to more rigid labor costs.
Business Strategy, Executive Compensation, and Firm Performance

This study investigates the influence of business strategy on the relationship between executive compensation and firm performance. Using cluster analyzes to classify a firm's business strategy, we predict and find that performance-linked compensation and managerial share ownership are more effective for product differentiators than for cost leaders. The results are consistent with the view that managers of product differentiation firms are more willing to take risks and to make a trade-off between pay security and share ownership to benefit from anticipated future performance. We also find that, contrary to our prediction, current payment of a long-term incentive plan is less relevant for product differentiators than for cost leaders. One plausible explanation for this finding is that long-term incentive payouts reflect past performance that is less persistent for firms seeking innovation and differentiation. This study contributes to the existing literature on executive compensation by recognizing that the effects of executive compensation on performance vary systematically across business strategies.
The Impact of Investment Behavior for Individual Welfare

The industrialized world experiences a demographic shift that is straining public pension systems. Employer-sponsored pension plans change from defined benefit to defined contribution. More emphasis is put on individually managed retirement funds. One concern with this movement is the potential negative effect on individual welfare if households’ investment behavior is suboptimal. Using micro-level U.S. data, we compare the optimal utility computed using a life-cycle model with the actual utility as reflected in empirical asset allocation choices. Average estimated welfare costs estimated are below three percent of households’ endowment (assets and human capital); yet specific population groups experience higher welfare costs.
A Quarter Century of Inflation Targeting & Exchange Rate Pass-Through: Evidence from the First Three Movers

This study has analysed the implications of Inflation Targeting for the Exchange Rate Pass-Through (ERPT) to inflation and trade balance. In this endeavour, we have focused on the first three movers i.e. New Zealand, UK and Canada. Drawing on the monthly data from October 1976 to September 2017, we employed a Time-Varying Structural Vector Auto-regressive framework in which the sources of time variation were both the coefficients and variance-covariance matrix of the innovations. Our key findings suggest that there is significant evidence of time-variation in the ERPT to inflation and trade balance in all three countries. In specific to inflation, the results showed that contrary to the notion that the ERPT to inflation has decreased in the Inflation Targeting economies, in fact, there is strong evidence that if there is anything, it is the other way around. The results using the ADF unit root test with a structural break (with innovation and additive outliers) suggested that the coefficients for inflation showed a decrease in oscillations which corresponded with the start of inflation targeting. However, this coincident cannot lead to infer that the ERPT has lost its significance. There is also a considerable amount of heterogeneity in the ERPT in the under-analysis countries. Specifically, in response to the positive Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) shock, the inflation fell in the UK and New Zealand whereas, in Canada, it had the opposite effect. On the ERPT to the Trade Balance, the results on the UK showed a clear evidence of J-curve whereas in Canada, the impact was rather instantaneous and the trade balance quickly deteriorated. In New Zealand, the trade balance also showed deterioration in response to the REER shocks, although comparatively there was milder response than Canada and UK. Our findings have profound implications for monetary policy formulation under inflation targeting regimes and the influence of EPRT on price stability and external balance.
What’s on the Menu? Included Versus Excluded Investment Funds for Singapore’s Central Provident Fund Investors

As one of the oldest and largest national mandatory defined contribution pension systems, Singapore’s Central Provident Fund (CPF) permits employees to invest their retirement accumulations in a variety of investment instruments rather than leaving them in a government-managed investment fund. Many plan participants avail themselves of this opportunity, selecting from a menu of more than two hundred “included” funds that satisfy specific admission criteria set by the CPF Board. Nevertheless, many other funds are excluded from the list of eligible retirement system investments. This paper shows that the “included/non-included” screening criteria have been effective, in that included fund managers earned higher average returns, demonstrated better stock-picking, and displayed better market-timing skills, than their excluded fund counterparts. In addition, the included funds exhibited stronger persistence in performance, though they offered marginally lower diversification benefits to plan participants.
Plant life-form and germination in a Mexican inter-tropical desert: effects of soil water potential and temperature

Abstract We investigated the effects of soil water potential (SWP) and temperature on seed germination of six coexisting species of an inter-tropical desert. These species include three life-forms; the shrubs Cercidium praecox and Prosopis laevigata ; the columnar succulents Neobuxbaumia tetetzo and Pachycereus hollianus ; and the arborescent semi-succulents Beaucarnea gracilis and Yucca periculosa . In the six species germinability increased and germination time and speed of germination ( t 50 ) decreased as SWP decreased. The SWP treatments were 0 MPa, −0·12 MPa, −0·2 MPa, −0·41 MPa and −0·66 MPa. There was, however, a SWP threshold below which germination time and t 50 increased and germinability decreased. The shrubs had the highest germinability whereas the columnar succulents had the lowest. The shrubs also had shorter germination time and t 50 than arborescent semi-succulents whereas seeds of the columnar succulents were indeterminate. In all species except P. laevigata germinability increased and the germination time and t 50 decreased as temperature increased. The temperature treatments were 12°C, 20°C and 26°C. The shrubs had the shortest t 50 and germination time and the highest germinability at all temperatures. Arborescent semi-succulents had the lowest germinability and longest germination time and t 50 at the three temperatures treatments. Our results support the hypothesis that in desert environments different plant life-forms utilise different germination strategies to persist.
Regional Management as a System - A Longitudinal Study

We apply information processing theory and research on regional units to investigate the evolution of regional management. Based on a longitudinal case study of a European multinational we capture the overall structural development of the firm and within this context, we conduct an in-depth analysis of two regions and their regional management centres. We conceptualise regional management as a system of differentiated centres. The notion that headquarters can be found in a single location is replaced by the view that headquarters' activities are spatially distributed within a system. Over time, this multi-level system adapts to changing information processing requirements.