Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Equity Risk Premiums: Determinants, Estimation and Implications - The 2020 Edition

The equity risk premium is the price of risk in equity markets, and it is a key input in estimating costs of equity and capital in both corporate finance and valuation. Given its importance, it is surprising how haphazard the estimation of equity risk premiums remains in practice. We begin this paper by looking at the economic determinants of equity risk premiums, including investor risk aversion, information uncertainty and perceptions of macroeconomic risk. In the standard approach to estimating the equity risk premium, historical returns are used, with the difference in annual returns on stocks versus bonds, over a long period, comprising the expected risk premium. We note the limitations of this approach, even in markets like the United States, which have long periods of historical data available, and its complete failure in emerging markets, where the historical data tends to be limited and volatile. We look at two other approaches to estimating equity risk premiums – the survey approach, where investors and managers are asked to assess the risk premium and the implied approach, where a forward-looking estimate of the premium is estimated using either current equity prices or risk premiums in non-equity markets. In the next section, we look at the relationship between the equity risk premium and risk premiums in the bond market (default spreads) and in real estate (cap rates) and how that relationship can be mined to generated expected equity risk premiums. We close the paper by examining why different approaches yield different values for the equity risk premium, and how to choose the “right” number to use in analysis.
Automation and the Future of Work: Assessing the Role of Labor Flexibility

Abstract We study the economic incentives for automation when labor and machines are perfect substitutes. Labor may still be employed in production, even when it is a costlier input than robots on a productivity-adjusted basis. This occurs if firms face idiosyncratic risk, adjusting the stock of machines is costly, and workers can be hired and fired quickly enough. Even though labor survives, jobs become less stable, as workers are hired in short-lived bursts to cope with shocks. We calibrate a general equilibrium, multi-industry version of our model to match data on robot adoption in US manufacturing sectors, and use it to compute the employment and labor share consequences of progress in automation technology. A fall in the relative price of robots leads to relatively few jobs losses, while reductions in adjustment costs, or improvements in relative robot productivity, can be far more disruptive. The model-implied semi-elasticity of aggregate employment to robot penetration (number of robots per thousand employees) ranges between 0.01% and 0.12%, depending on the underlying source of increased robot adoption, consistent with findings in the empirical literature. In an extension, we show that reduced-form hiring and firing costs unambiguously depress long-run employment.
Oxygen consumption and swim speed of the harbor porpoise Phocoena phocoena

: The rate of oxygen consumption and energetic cost of locomotion of captive harbor porpoises Phocoena phocoena were studied in Hokkaido, Japan, using respirometry together with externally attached devices (a data logger) that recorded swim speed and dive depth. Harbor porpoises swam freely in a tank at a swim speed ranging 0.5–4.2 m/s. Swimming during most dives was relatively slow with mean swim speed being 0.76–0.91 m/s. Oxygen consumption rate of the swimming harbor porpoise increased with swim speed according to a cubed function. The minimum cost of transport during underwater swimming in the harbor porpoise was 2.39–2.43 J/kg per m at an average swim speed of 1.3–1.5 m/s. However, porpoises usually swam slower to conserve energy and dived aerobically. This explains why harbor porpoises can dive repeatedly and continuously without extended rest at the sea surface.
Survey of the market diseases and aflatoxin contamination of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum MILL) fruits in Sokoto, northwestern Nigeria

A survey of the market diseases and aflatoxin contamination of tomato fruits was conducted in Sokoto in northwestern Nigeria in 2001 and 2002, respectively. Rotten tomato fruits sold at five different markets in Sokoto town, located at Central market, Kasuwar daji, Mabera, Minanata and Arkilla were heavily contaminated with moulds. Eight different fungi were found associated with the rotten tomato fruits sold in the five different markets. The associated fungi were Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus ochraceous, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Penicillium citrinum and Helminthosporim fulvum, Curvularia lunata and Sclerotium rolfsii. A. flavus and A. niger have the highest rate of occurrence among the isolated fungi, while S. rolfsii was the least encountered. Pathogenicity tests revealed that of all the isolated fungi, A. ochraceous, A. flavus, Sclerotium rolfsii and P. citrinum were highly pathogenic with the first three leading to rapid disintegration of treated fruits in 3‐5 days. A. niger was moderately pathogenic, while H. fulvum was least pathogenic on tomato fruits. Aflatoxins were detected from the sampled diseased‐marketed tomato fruits and also from the marketed rotten tomato fruits after autoclaving for 15 minutes at 121°C.
Stock Price Response to Earnings Announcements in a Major Emerging Economy

The aim of this study is to evaluate the relevance and usefulness of accounting information, specifically earnings announcements, as the key determinant for stock price changes. The main objective is to investigate whether ERC behavior could explain more fully the stock price changes, as to the reason why the stock price change is not equal to the amount of announced earnings. The study reports significant findings from applying portfolio method, which shows major stock price reactions and very large earnings response coefficients to accounting earnings disclosed to the stock exchange markets of Mexico as a major emerging economy, for the period 2001-2014. The abnormal returns to disclosed events are significantly positive when earnings increase and negative when earnings decrease. Two measures of abnormal returns are regressed against the size of the announced earnings. The first regression uses measures from individual events. The second regression uses a new measure; that is, from portfolios made of all observations sorted by size of earnings into ten portfolios. The portfolio method used was aimed at controlling possible idiosyncratic-errors-in-variables problem using individual event measures. The findings using individual-event measures resulted in reasonable-size earnings response coefficient with high R2 explanatory power, a little higher than those reported in prior studies on other countries. Meanwhile, the portfolio method led to a much bigger size of earnings response coefficient that strongly support the value relevance accounting theory. This finding is new to this literature.
Measuring neck collar loss of Pink-footed Geese Anser brachyrhynchus

Capsule The ability to estimate mark loss of ringed animals is important to assess demographic parameters from mark-recapture studies correctly. Based on 23 years of neck collar recovery data from the Svalbard breeding population of Pink-footed Geese, we estimate an overall average annual loss rate of 3.2%. Neck collar loss was similar between males and females, and did not (based on currently available data) differ significantly between two types of collars used.
Queens

Do states experience more peace under female leadership? We examine this question in the context of Europe over the fifteenth to twentieth centuries. We use gender of the firstborn and presence of a sister among previous monarchs as instruments for queenly rule. We find that polities led by queens engaged in war more than polities led by kings. While single queens were more likely to be attacked than single kings, married queens were more likely to attack than married kings. These results suggest asymmetries in the division of labor: married queens were more inclined to enlist their spouses in helping them rule, which enabled them ultimately to pursue more aggressive war policies.
Credit Market Spillovers in a Financial Network

A large theoretical literature emphasizes the importance of financial networks, but empirical studies remain scarce. We exploit the overlapping bank portfolio structure of syndicated loans to construct a financial network and characterize quantitatively its evolution over time. This network is then used to estimate a linear interaction function, a frequently used building block of theoretical network models. We provide evidence of economically large spillovers in loan rates from peers' decisions during normal times, but the spillovers vanish in a large recession. These findings are consistent with learning externality models, where reliance on private signals rises during recessions. Simulation experiments confirm the quantitative importance of spillovers on lending rates.
Causal Relationship Model of Disclosure of CSR Information Affecting the Cost of Capital of Listed Companies in the Stock Exchange of Thailand

The objective of this study was to investigate the causal relationship model of disclosure of corporate social responsibility information affecting the cost of capital of listed companies in the Stock Exchange of Thailand. This study focused on exploring CSR information disclosure through disclosure of environmental, economic and social information meanwhile studying the cost of capital through the cost of debt measured by interest rates on investment loans and cost of equity and valued with the expected return of the investor. The results of this study indicated that companies with greater environmental information disclosure had higher cost of debt. However, when they disclosed greater economic and social information, their cost of debt would be lower. More disclosure of environmental and social information would lower cost of equity. This implied that companies with more disclosure of environmental information are more likely to obtain higher interest rates on investment loans. If companies disclosed economic and social information, they tend to obtain lower interest rate on investment loan than normal rate. Companies disclosing environmental and social information could reduce the pressure from the expectation of investors.
Does Release Time of Firm-Specific Announcements Influence Trade Initiation Motives?

This paper examines the impact of release time of earnings and take over announcements on motives of trade initiation. We find that investors’ initiate buy and sell (buy or sell) trades immediately before (after) earnings and takeover announcements ‘day’ announcements. High volatility and more prominent effective spread before overnight announcements indicate active informed trading, showing evidence of potential information leakage. Similarly, high volatility and less prominent effective spread before day announcements exhibit more active uninformed trading. Overall, private information (Differential information) is the likely motive for trade initiation before overnight announcements (day announcements). We suggest that day announcements are more effective than overnight announcements in controlling information leakage. Our results complement prior literature on effectiveness of continuous disclosure on the ASX.
Cost of Collaboration in Open Innovation: The Mediating Role of Search Strategy

This paper responds to the lack of research investigating procedural differences in open innovation collaboration. Based upon a sample of intermediaries, we analyze the costs of different setups for open collaboration. Our focus is on the mechanism of search initiating the collaboration. Differentiating direct search, i.e. actively scanning information sources for relevant knowledge, and indirect search, i.e. revealing an innovation problem to a potential pool of contributors, we find that variations in search behavior lead to different coordination cost. Our analysis allows us to derive implication for the theory and management of open innovation.
INHIBITION OF DNA SYNTHESIS BY EDTA AND ITS CANCELLATION BY ZINC IN PRIMARY CULTURES OF ADULT RAT HEPATOCYTES

Calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaM-kinase) II and IV are Ca 2+ -responsive multifunctional protein kinases which occur particularly abundantly in the brain, and therefore the two protein kinases are thought to be involved in regulating a variety of neuronal functions in response to Ca 2+ . The activity of CaM-kinase II is known to be regulated by autophosphorylation. In contrast, the activity of CaM-kinase IV was stimulated by autophosphorylation, and suppressed by the action of cAMP-dependent protein kinase
Market Contestability and Bank Payout Policy

We analyze the impact of market contestability on the payout policy of banks by exploiting plausibly exogenous changes in interstate geographical restrictions on branch expansion of banks. Leveraging branch-level data on bank deposits, we provide evidence of a negative impact of branching restrictions on payout ratios, which occurs only for banks with a low degree of market power. Our results are valid when we use different proxies for market contestability, and bootstrap simulations suggest that our results are not due to confounding factors. These findings support the view that banks might respond to a change in charter values due to market contestability.
Aluminum tolerance measured by root growth and mucilage protection in Urochloa brizantha and Urochloa decumbens

Aluminum toxicity on root systems was analyzed through comparing root growth and evaluating the protective function of mucilage in Urochloa decumbens and Urochloa brizantha. Seedlings were grown in a solution with different concentrations of AlCl3 and with mucilage removed or present. The root elongation rate, total length, number of roots and presence of aluminum at the root apex were measured. Root development was inhibited by aluminum and the elongation rate was maintained without any difference between the two species. A significant reduction in root length was found in U. brizantha. Aluminum did not influence root branching in either species and accumulated mostly in the rhizosphere of U. brizantha, where the mucilage has less of a protective function. The greatest aluminum tolerance was found in U. decumbens, observed through maintenance of total root system growth from lower to higher aluminum toxicity.
On cross-border bank credit and the U.S. financial crisis transmission to equity markets

This paper examines the role played by cross-border equity, bond and bank credit flows versus international trade in the transmission of the U.S. financial crisis to equity markets worldwide. We estimate vector autoregressive models with exogenous global factors using monthly data on 36 emerging and developed countries. The results from an eclectic methodology that includes causality tests, generalized impulse responses and forecast error variance decompositions indicate that the crisis is mostly transmitted through bank credit rather than portfolio flows and international trade. The results are robust to altering the exogenous versus endogenous vectors of variables, to measuring equity prices in U.S. dollars or local currency, to averaging the data across countries versus averaging the parameters from individual country estimation, and to redefining the start date of the crisis. The findings endorse the use of banking regulation and capital controls as part of the policy toolkit to limit financial vulnerability.
"Superstitious" Investors

We consider an economy in which investors believe dividend growth is predictable, when in reality it is not. We show that these beliefs lead to excess volatility and return predictability. We also show that these beliefs are rational in the face of evidence on dividend growth. We apply this framework to explaining the value premium, predictability of bond returns, and the violation of uncovered interest rate parity.
Real Effects of Peer-to-Peer Rental: Evidence from Airbnb

We study how a pioneer of peer-to-peer rental, Airbnb, affects the local economy. Using venture capital infusions as plausibly exogenous shocks to Airbnb’s expansion into a new county, we find that Airbnb expansion leads to poorer hotel performance in the local county. Meanwhile, Airbnb expansion appears to increase local employment and household income. Further analysis suggests that increased employment is concentrated in industries that are complementary to Airbnb’s business and in employee groups with a lower level of skills. Our study highlights the impact of peer-to-peer rental marketplaces on the local economy and provides important policy implications.
Fimbriae and infectivity in Salmonella typhimurium (Plate XXIX)

Summary A genotypically non-fimbriate (Fim−) strain of Salmonella typhimurium and a genotypically fimbriate (Fim+) strain derived from it by spontaneous mutation were compared for pathogenicity in mice. The two strains caused similar numbers of infections and deaths in groups of mice challenged by intraperitoneal inoculation, and nearly similar numbers in groups challenged by inoculation on to the conjunctiva, but the Fim+ strain caused many more infections (plus 26%) and deaths (plus 40%) than the Fim− strain when the inoculation was by mouth. Faecal cultures were made at intervals up to 120 days in the mice surviving after oral or conjunctival challenge and S. typhimurium was isolated more commonly from the animals challenged with the Fim+ strain (906 isolations from 384 animals infected out of 877 challenged) than from those challenged with the Fim− strain (614 isolations from 341 animals infected out of 877 challenged). The greater opportunity for faecal dissemination enjoyed by Fim+ bacteria may account for the preponderance of Fim+ over Fim− strains of S. typhimurium found in mammalian sources.
Does Female Representation in Top Management Affect Cost of Debt? A Study of Australian CEO Gender Perspective

This paper provides evidence that firms with female chief executive officer (FCEO) enjoy a lower interest cost of issuing debt. Results of this paper suggest that gender diversity in top-level management has a significant impact on cost of raising capital from external sources. I also investigate whether the reduction of cost of debt can be attributed to only because of having female CEO or because of earnings management/accounting conservatisms. My results confirm the argument that the inverse relation between female CEO and cost of debt is direct and not moderated by accounting conservatism. Since debt financing is an important source of external funding, the results have important implications on our understanding about the role of gender diversity on top-level management, more specifically for raising capital from external sources.
Hydrolysis of 4-Nitrophenyl Diphenyl Phosphate Assisted by Tetraminecobalt(III) in Microemulsion Media

Reactions of hydroxoaquatetraminecobalt(III) in microemulsion media towards hydrolysis of 4-nitrophenyl diphenyl phosphate (NPDPP) were investigated at 10 - 4 M concentration in several oil-in-water microemulsions. The reactions were monitored by measuring the absorbance of the nitrophenolate ion produced in the reaction aliquots with time. The amount of nitrophenolate ion was then determined from a calibration curve and the percentage hydrolysis calculated. The order of effectiveness of the N 4 ligand in Co(III)(N 4 )(aq) complexes at pH 6.5 towards hydrolysis of NPDPP was found to be trpn > (tn) 2 > (en) 2 (where trpn is tris(3-aminopropyl)amine, tn is trimethylenediamine, and en is ethylenediamine). The possible application of the above systems to environmental clean-up problems is discussed.
Competition and Implementation Cycles

This paper studies how innovating firms’ timing decisions on implementing new ideas affect macroeconomic fluctuations with the presence of two sources of competition: imperfect substitutability across products and imitations within products. In order to take advantage of a higher aggregate demand, firms may strategically choose to implement innovative ideas simultaneously with other firms. As a result, implementation cycles emerge endogenously in equilibrium. Using U.S. IPO and Venture-backed companies data, I first provide some empirical evidence on the existence of implementation cycles with an average frequency of 3.7 years. Second, a stylized model shows that smaller substitutability across products and longer imitation processes can contribute to a longer and lower frequent implementation cycle; it, however, has a larger impact on driving the fluctuations of macro variables. Third, when firms can only observe noisy private sunspot signals on others’ implementation decisions, the equilibrium can feature no, short, and long cycles depending on the realization of the sunspots.
The Influence of Financing Mix on Corporate Performance in Nigeria

This paper investigates the influence of Financing Mix (Capital Structure) on Corporate Performance in Nigeria using a disaggregated approach. To carry out this research we employed a disaggregated approach using sample of twenty-seven firms listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange during the seventeen-year period, 1996- 2013 and a model with the necessary policy variables was constructed. Panel data for the selected firms are generated and analyzed using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) as a method of estimation. Our result reveals that a firm’s capital structure represented by Debt Ratio, DR has a significantly negative impact on the Return on Asset (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) (firm’s performance proxies). Also the relationship between ROA and firm’s asset tangibility is negative and significant at 1% level being wrongly signed, against a priori expectations. This shows that firms with high ratio of tangibility have a lower financial performance ratio. The results also show that the size and growth of firm are correctly signed consistent with Myers and Majluf (1984). The study by these findings indicate consistency with previous empirical studies and provide evidence in support of Agency cost theory. The author recommended among others that firms should identify other relevant factors that influence corporate performance other than debt. Such factors as Corporate governance, quality management, Size of the firm, Tangibility, growth etc. It is also necessary that firms understand their conditions, analyze their debt capacities, look at the need to maintain comparability with firms in the same industry before making the final decision regarding their capital structure; and especially when presented with attractive new growth opportunities.
When Is the Client King? Evidence from Affiliated-Analyst Recommendations in China’s Split-Share Reform

China’s split-share reform of 2005 (the Reform) converts the previously restricted shares held by founding shareholders to shares tradable on the open market. Against this backdrop, we study how underwriter-affiliated analysts and firms’ large shareholders interact in the event of the latter’s sales of restricted shares. We document that recommendations made by affiliated analysts are significantly more optimistic when firms’ large shareholders plan to sell their restricted shares. This optimism, however, is associated with negative post-sale stock returns, suggesting that large shareholders profit from share sales but at the cost of public investors. Furthermore, large shareholders sell more restricted shares through the affiliated brokerages with analysts issuing more optimistic recommendations and firms under their control are more likely to appoint such brokerages as lead underwriters when they refinance in the future. For the affiliated analysts, they conduct more site visits to the firms after the share sales, thereby improving their earnings forecast accuracy. Our analysis shows how conflicts of interest by financial intermediaries arise following the Reform and leads to large shareholders’ extraction of rents from public investors. These findings have regulatory implications.