Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On Limits to Seed Production

The question is often posed whether seed production islimited by pollen supply or by resources available to the mother plant for maturing seeds (see, e.g., reviews in Bierzychudek 1981; Stephenson 1981; Willson and Burley 1983). Here we offer a simple model showing that natural selection may often act to bring the female's allocation of her reproductive effort to a point where seed production is limited by both pollen supply and provisioning resources. Further, the model indicates that seed production could be expected to respond to a decrease in pollen supply but not to an increase. Suppose a female allocates an amount a of reproductive effort o attracting pollen and producing immature ovules. The number of ovules that can be fertilized increases with a. Assume further that a is taken from a limited total reproductive effort, such that the number of seeds that the mother can provision to maturity decreases with a (fig. 1). For any given value of a, the number of seeds that can be produced is the lesser of these two functions. The greatest number of seeds can be produced at a*, where the functions cross. Below a*, seed production is pollen-limited, and increased allocation to attracting pollen increases eed set. Above a*, seed production is resource-limited, and reduced allocation to attracting pollen increases the resources available for provisioning seeds. The model illustrates the economic principle that internal resources are optimally allocated among competing processes when each resource limits all processes to the same degree (Bloom et al. 1985). Here we consider only two processes, pollen attraction and ovule provisioning, but the principle would still apply if other processes such as pollen production and vegetative reproduction were included. The model is best understood on an evolutionary time scale. If seed production of a species is consistently pollen-limited, natural selection should favor individuals that allocate more resources to pollen attraction. If seed production is consistently provisioning-limited, in ividuals that allocate less to pollen attraction are favored. Of course, the precise position of the two functions will not be the same for all individuals in all years. The allocation to pollen attraction that is selected, a', should give higher seed yields on the average than alternative allocations, but, for a particular individual in a particular year, the functions might intersect o one side or the other of a'. In this sense, the individual could be limited either by pollen acquisition or by resources available for provisioning.
Valoración del uso recreativo del parque natural de los Calares del Mundo y de la Sima (Albacete, Castilla-La Mancha)

The economic evaluation of wealth without markets, such as protected natural areas, contributes valuable information that can be useful to management when making decisions on policies to protect and preserve the environment, as well as those concerning recreational use by visitors. With the aim of determining the value of the recreational use to visitors of Calares del Mundo and Sima Natural Park, 410 surveys were conducted in August, 2009. The contingent valuation method was used and the park entrance fee was taken as the vehicle for payment. Analysis of the results shows that maximum visitor willingness to pay for park entrance was 4.02 € and that the value of the park recreational use was 1,108,358.22 €. These amounts are found along the same lines as results obtained in other papers on natural areas in Spain.
Treatment of the Banking Holiday of March 1933 in Growth Regressions

Government intervention during the banking holiday of March 1933 resolved the uncertainty usually created by bank suspensions. Including banking holiday suspensions in growth regressions therefore biases downwards the estimates of the real effects of bank suspensions. In this paper, I propose a way to correct for this bias by adjusting the size of banking holiday suspensions before using them in growth regressions. I also demonstrate that the recovery of the banking sector after the holiday was more expressed in those states that experienced more suspensions, which affects the size of the proposed adjustment.
Gains from Domestic versus International Trade: Evidence from the U.S.

Using varieties of a rich model that considers sectoral heterogeneity and input-output linkages, this paper shows that the overall welfare gains of a region within a country can be decomposed into domestic versus international welfare gains from trade. Empirical results based on sector- and state-level data from the U.S. suggest that about 94 percent of the overall welfare gains of a state is due to domestic trade with other states. The ocean states gain from international trade about two times the Great Lake states and about three times the landlocked states.
Diversidad de ácaros (Acari: Prostigmata, Mesotigmata, Astigmata) asociados a la hojarasca de formaciones vegetales del Parque Universitario de la UCLA, Venezuela

Soil mite diversity (Prostigmata, Mesostigmata, Astigmata) inhabiting in litter-soil layer from a Shrubland and a Deciduous Forest was estimated from December 2000 to November 2001 in the University Park of UCLA (Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado), state of Lara, Venezuela. Samplings were made by using pitfall traps along an 1,800 m-transect in both areas. All morfotypes were mounted in microscope slides using Hoyer's medium. A total of 51 mite morfotypes were collected with higher abundance in Prostigmata (2,528) as compared to Mesostigmata (926) and Astigmata (12). Eupodidae (Prostigmata) and Macrochelidae (Mesotigmata) showed higher abundance in both locations. Higher morfotype richness (S= 43), diversity (H'= 2.67) and evenness (E= 0.69) were found in Deciduous Forest compared to values from Shrubland (S= 36, H'= 2.12 and E= 0.52). Both areas showed a similarity index (J') of 0.59. Although more individuals were found in Shrubland, the diversity-dominance curves indicated that this is a more disturbed habitat than Deciduous Forest. Further detailed studies are required to determine acarofauna role in trophic web maintenance in soils from tropical areas.
Multi-Period Contracting and Salesperson Effort Profiles: The Optimality of 'Hockey Stick,' 'Giving Up' and 'Resting on Laurels'

We study multi-period sales-force incentive contracting where salespeople can engage in effort gaming, a phenomenon that has extensive empirical support. Focusing on a repeated moral hazard scenario with two independent periods and a risk-neutral agent with limited liability, we conduct a theoretical investigation to understand which effort profiles the firm can expect under the optimal contract. We show that various effort profiles that may give the appearance of being sub-optimal, such as postponing effort exertion (“hockey stick”) and not exerting effort after a bad or a good initial demand outcome (“giving up” and “resting on laurels,” respectively) may indeed be induced optimally by the firm. The reason is that, under certain conditions that depend on how severe the contracting frictions are and how effective effort exertion is in increasing demand, the firm wants to concentrate rewards on extreme demand outcomes; this induces gaming and reduces expected demand, but also makes motivating effort cheaper thus saving on incentive payments. On introducing dependence between time periods, such as when the agent can transfer demands between periods, this insight continues to hold and, furthermore, “hockey stick,” “giving up” and “resting on laurels” can be optimal for the firm even under repeated short time horizon contracting. Our results imply that one must carefully consider the setting and environmental factors when making inferences about contract effectiveness from dynamic effort profiles of agents. <br>
Glycoarray: A savior in an arduous sea?

Glycoarray is a dot‐blot assay for screening up to 300 antibodies against glycolipids. This powerful technique can identify anti‐glycolipid antibodies as biomarkers from candidate pools, and help discover new ones. In this issue of the journal, Delmont et al. compare glycoarrays with enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay for routine neuroimmunological diagnostic testing.
Effects of delayed mating on reproductive output of female oriental beetle Anomala orientalis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

1 Although management of the oriental beetle Anomala orientalis (Waterhouse) by mating disruption shows promise across a range of agricultural systems, relatively little is known about aspects of the reproductive biology of this species relevant to its management. We studied the effects of delayed mating on several aspects of the oviposition behaviour and biology of the oriental beetle using females mated in the laboratory at 4–13 days posteclosion.
Information frictions and entrepreneurship

Why do individuals become entrepreneurs? When do they succeed? We develop a model in which individuals use pedigree (e.g., educational qualifications) as a signal to convince employers of their unobserved ability. However, this signal is imperfect, and individuals who correctly believe their ability is greater than their pedigree conveys to employers, choose entrepreneurship. Since ability, not pedigree, matters for productivity, entrepreneurs earn more than employees of the same pedigree. Our empirical analysis of two separate nationally representative longitudinal samples of individuals residing in the US and the UK supports the model’s predictions that (A) Entrepreneurs have higher ability than employees of the same pedigree, (B) Employees have better pedigree than entrepreneurs of the same ability, and (C) Entrepreneurs earn more, on average, than employees of the same pedigree, and their earnings display higher variance. We discuss the implications of our findings for entrepreneurship, education, and public policy.
Portfolio Choice with Stochastic Interest Rates and Learning About Stock Return Predictability

The problem of optimal wealth allocation is solved under the assumptions that interest rates are stochastic and stock returns are predictable with observed and unobserved factors. The stock risk premium is taken to be an affine function of the predictive variables and the stock return volatility is assumed to depend on the observed factor. The latent factor is estimated based on the observations. It is shown that the stock return predictability can significantly impact the optimal bond portfolio. The welfare loss from ignoring learning can be considerable.
Are US Firms Becoming More Short-Term Oriented? Evidence of Shifting Firm Time Horizons from Implied Discount Rates, 1980-2013

We provide evidence that investors in US public markets are increasingly discounting firms’ expected future cash flows during 1980-2013. This trend is shown not only on average across firms, but also within firms over time after alternative explanations are accounted for. To corroborate a link with firm time horizons, we estimate the relationship between an implied discount rate (‘IDR’) and factors relevant to firm long-term strategy. We find that IDR is correlated in expected ways with firm investments, management incentives, financial health, ownership and external pressures - measures that have been argued to correlate with firm time horizons. This paper represents one of the first attempts to document market-wide evidence of shortening firm time horizons. These changing horizons bear important implications for firm strategy.
On Historical Volatility in Emerging Markets Using Advanced GARCH Models

This paper models the volatility present in the historical returns in the stock of the two major national indices of India. Sensitive Index or Sensex related to Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and Nifty associated with National Stock Exchange (NSE). The objective is to model the phenomena of volatility clustering and persistence of shock using asymmetric GARCH family of models. Research showed that EGARCH model successfully models the Sensex (BSE) data whereas it is GJR-GARCH which was able to explain conditional variance in the returns from Nifty (NSE).
A Review on Human Development Index

Human development index is considered as very important for economy as by looking on it, development level of any country can be seen. It is based on education Index, health index and on GDP so for the purpose of analyzing the developing level of a country in different years, it is important to consider its HDI. In literature, Different authors have worked on HDI. The current paper summarizes the work by different authors so from this review paper the work that had been done on HDI can be seen.
Carbon Intensity and the Cost of Equity Capital

The transition from high- to lower-carbon production systems increasingly creates regulatory and market risks for high-emitting firms. We test to what extent equity market investors demand a premium to compensate for such risks and thus might raise firms’ cost of equity capital (CoE). Using data for 1,897 firms spanning 50 countries over the years 2008-2016, we find a distinct and robust positive impact of carbon intensity (carbon emissions per unit of output) on CoE: On average, a standard deviation higher (sector-adjusted) carbon intensity is associated with a CoE premium of 6 (9) basis points or 1.7% (2.6%). This effect is primarily explained by systematic risk factors: high-emitting assets are significantly more sensitive to economy-wide fluctuations than low-emitting ones. The CoE impact of carbon intensity is more pronounced in high-emitting sectors, EU countries, and firms subject to carbon pricing regulation. Our results suggest that carbon emission reduction might serve as a valuable risk mitigation strategy.
Using Cost Minimization to Estimate Markups

De Loecker & Warzynski's (2012) method for recovering markups from cost-minimization conditions and estimated input elasticities yields either larger or smaller markups for exporters than for non-exporters depending on the input (labor or materials) employed. We point out two difficulties. First, under imperfect competition, an Olley & Pakes (1996) style estimator for input elasticities has to account for markups. Second, with commonly used specifications of the production function, the cost-minimization conditions do not match the variation in the data. We discuss how to address these difficulties. According to our estimates, the markups of exporters and non-exporters are essentially the same.
Growth and Productivity of Tapioca (Manihot utilissima) IV. Devlopment and Yield of Tubers

SUMMARY Root measurements on three Malayan varieties of tapioca (high, medium and low-yielding clones) showed that the onset of tuberization brings about a slowing-down or cessation of growth in root length, but no changes in stem growth rate were associated with the onset of tuber growth. High yield was associated with high tuber weight rather than with tuber number, which could be related to the size of storage tissue cells formed by the root cambium. The process of tuberization in tapioca is discussed generally.
The Nonlinear Iterative Least Squares (NL-ILS) Estimator: An Application to Volatility Models

The paper proposes a new robust estimator for GARCH-type models: the nonlinear iterative least squares (NL-ILS). This estimator is especially useful on specifications where errors have some degree of dependence over time (weak-GARCH) or when the conditional variance is misspecified. I illustrate the NL-ILS estimator by providing algorithms that consider the GARCH(1,1), weak-GARCH(1,1), and GARCH(1,1)-in-mean models. I establish the consistency and asymptotic distribution of the NL-ILS estimator for the GARCH(1,1) and weak-GARCH(1,1) models. A Monte Carlo study provides evidences that the NL-ILS estimator is consistent and outperforms the MLE benchmark in a variety of specifications. Moreover, when the conditional variance is misspecified, the MLE estimator delivers biased estimates of the parameters in the mean equation, whereas the NL-ILS estimator does not. The empirical application investigates the risk premium on the CRSP, S&P500 and S\&P100 indices. I document the risk premium parameter is significant and positive only for the CRSP index when using the robust NL-ILS estimator. This finding holds on daily, weekly and monthly frequencies and it is corroborated by a series of robustness checks.
Subcellular Localization of α-Subunits of Trimeric G-Proteins in Human Platelets

Following subcellular fractionation of platelet homogenates and Western blotting, two groups of alpha-subunits of trimeric G-proteins could be distinguished. Group 1 consisted of alpha(i)-2, alpha(i)-3, alpha(z), alpha(s), and alpha(q) and was predominantly localized in membranes. Group 2 consisted of alpha16 and alph12 and was predominantly localized in the cytosol. Plasma membranes and dense tubular system (DTS)-membranes showed the same distribution of Group 1 alpha-subunits. An exception was alpha(q), which was virtually absent in the DTS as were Group 2 subunits. In addition, this compartment showed a doublet for alpha(z). Group 1 alpha-subunits were also found in fractions with the combined secretory granules and in separate dense granules. In addition, alpha16 was found in these granule fractions, but secretion granules were devoid of alpha12. These data reveal a heterogeneous distribution of alpha-subunits in platelet compartments and may indicate that G12 and G16 play different roles in platelets than members of the G(i) and G(s) classes and other members of the G(q) class.
What Causes Differences in Cash Holdings between Listed and Unlisted Firms Around the World?

The main body of literature on firms’ cash holdings focuses on listed firms. This paper extends the scope by comparing the cash holdings of both listed and unlisted firms and assessing the causes for differences between the two types of firms. The listing of a firm can have major effects on cash holdings. First, a listing improves the firm’s financing opportunities and this may reduce the need for cash. Second, the listing may improve asset opportunities for a firm, which means that listed firms may hold more cash for transaction and precautionary motives. Third, agency costs may influence listed firms to under-hoard or over-hoard cash in comparison to unlisted firms. With over-hoarding managers like the flexibility of cash, while with under-hoarding they do not dare to show excess cash holdings. This paper finds that listed firms have cash ratios that are significantly higher than those of unlisted firms. This means that improved asset opportunities dominate the effects of improved financing opportunities, or that managers hoard excessively. Because the marginal contribution of cash to net income is on average larger in listed firms, over-hoarding can be ruled out. Therefore, improved asset opportunities are the major reason for higher cash ratios in listed firms.
Mergers and acquisitions with conditional and unconditional offers

This paper proposes a dynamic model for the process of industry consolidation by sequences of mergers and acquisitions that create synergy gains to merging firms and may impose positive or negative externalities on the remaining firms in the industry. We allow firms to make acquisition offers that are conditional and unconditional on acceptances of target firms, instead of the usual conditional offers. We show that this expansion of the offer set results in faster and more economically efficient industry consolidations, as acquirers do not have to trade-off surplus extraction and efficiency. The acquirer can make surplus maximizing merger offers conditional to acceptances, and simultaneously capture efficiency gains by making unconditional offers to the remaining firms. We characterize the Markov perfect equilibrium and show that equilibrium always exists and is Pareto efficient. Finally, to illustrate the model and our main findings, we show that the equilibrium is unique in industries with three firms, and we derive the closed-form solution for the equilibrium value and the merger dynamics.
Impact of CPEC on Social Welfare in Pakistan: A District Level Analysis

The main objective of this study is to forecast the short run net impact of CPEC projects on social welfare for all provinces and districts of Pakistan related to its three dimensions of welfare; education, health and housing. The development vitality of this mega project indicates that there will be 5.21 percent growth in social welfare in Pakistan, up till 2020. At provincial level highest growth in social welfare impact can be ranked as; in Balochistan (6.4 percent), Sindh (6.31 percent), KP (5.19 percent), and Punjab (3.5 percent), respectively. The net impact can also be depicted by its three dimensions of social welfare; education 3.85 percent, health 4.74 percent and housing 8.6 percent, also indicating high growth in terms of living standards. Districts which have high level of poverty and unemployment will significantly improve quality of life relative to other districts. Furthermore, districts which are located on its three routes also depict substantial growth in its welfare dimensions. Finally, the realization of CPEC is a manifestation of the shared dream of unprecedented prosperity for the region.
Efficiency of Nigeria's Electricity Market: Emerging Issues, Prospects and Challenges

The overwhelming objective of the electricity power policy strategy is to ensure that Nigerian has an electricity supply market (ESM) that can meet the needs of its citizens in the 21st century. This paper examines the efficiency of the Nigeria electricity market under the current framework. The priority is to create efficient market structures, within clear regulatory frameworks, that encourage more competitive market for electricity distribution and sales (marketing) which, at the same time, is able to attract private investors and ensure economically sound development of the system. The technique of analysis is purely descriptive (statistical). And a major factor is the distribution losses that are in double digits and which are extremely large by international standards, being among the highest in the world and a situation that are symptomatic of the technical inefficiency in the market. Reducing the losses to single digit is a major challenge facing the Nigerian electricity market. Cost reflective tariff is recommended.
Salient Peers and Consumption: Evidence from the Warranty Claims of Neighbors

We provide novel evidence that peer induced saliency bias acts as a mechanism to explain consumption peer effects. This bias occurs when consumers overweight the influence of a single, salient peer when assessing brand quality, and underweight more objective, aggregate quality data. We exploit data on durable good warranty claims, as an indicator of poor brand quality. We find that a warranty claim from a single neighbor, causes other neighbors to reduce their subsequent purchases of that brand. These peer induced biases are more likely to generate brand switching away from objectively higher quality brands, thus making consumers worse off.
Labor Market Flexibility and the Impact of the Financial Crisis

The impact of the global financial crisis varies across countries. We examine whether cross-country differences in output loss and speed of recovery are affected by differences in labor market flexibility. By employing cross-country regressions and including control variables like trade and capital market integration, fiscal balance, financial vulnerability, and institutional differences, we find that lower hiring costs reduce the output loss, notably so in high-income countries. However, the duration of the crisis is longer in case of low dismissal costs, notably so in low-income countries.