Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Timing of Voluntary Delisting

We develop a theoretical real options model that advises firms on the timing of voluntary delisting. We apply this model to 2,358 U.S. listed firms (1980-2016) and classify them as listed (delisted) firms that should be listed (delisted), good decision (GD), and listed (delisted) firms which should be delisted (listed), bad decision (BD). We perform a survival analysis using a discrete-time duration-dependent hazard model, so as to investigate the effect of the firm’s characteristics on the likelihood of delisting, and examine the mean differences between the GD and BD samples. Most of the mean differences are statistically significant, which attests the economic rationale underlying our model. We highlight that the turnover, turnover growth and turnover volatility are largely neglected by the delisting literature, and conclude that these variables are however key determinants of voluntary delisting.
A Stochastic Model of Mortality, Fertility and Human Capital Investment

This paper examines the relationship between fertility and human capital investment, and it’s implications for economic growth, focusing on the e ects of declining mortality. Unlike the existing literature, this paper stresses the role of uncertainty about the number of surviving children. If the marginal utility of a surviving child is convex then there will be a precautionary demand for children. As the mortality rate and thus uncertainty falls, this demand decreases. Furthermore, lower mortality encourages educational investment in children. The key result is that this empirically observed quality-quantity trade o is realized only if uncertainty is incorporated into individual’s optimization problem.
The Effect of Social Entitlement Programs on Private Transfers: New Evidence of Crowding Out

This paper exploits a natural policy experiment to directly identify the crowding out effects of public transfers on the incidence and level of private transfers. The introduction of a large social security program in Taiwan is used to estimate the effect of an exogenous increase in government transfer payments to the elderly on the private transfer behavior of their adult children. Using an instrumental variables (IV) strategy that accounts for the endogeneity of receiving public transfers, the empirical results show strong evidence of crowding out on the extensive margin (the probability of providing a positive transfer), and weaker evidence of crowding out on the intensive margin (the amount of the transfer conditional on it being positive).
Investigating the Relationship between the Financial and Real Economy

The papers in this volume were presented and discussed at the Autumn Central Bank Economists' Meeting held at the BIS in Basel on 9-10 October 2003. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss challenges that central banks have faced in the context of monitoring the performance of the financial sector and the interaction between the health of financial institutions and macroeconomic stability. These challenges can be broadly grouped into three distinct but interrelated themes. The first deals with the influence that financial conditions have on aggregate expenditure and overall economic developments. The second theme reverses the direction and looks at the impact of the macroeconomic environment on the financial health of different economic sectors. Finally, the third theme deals with the evolving nature of the measurement of financial risk both at the micro level of individual economic units and at the macro level of whole sectors or the overall economy.
Swift and Smart: The Moderating Effects of Technological Capabilities on the Market Pioneering - Firm Survival Relationship

We extend the concept of first mover advantage to the context of high-technology industries with multiple product generations, and propose that the notion of first mover advantage needs to be viewed not only through a dynamic lens, but also in conjunction with technological capability. Our main finding is that first mover advantages are contingent upon the magnitude of the firm's technological capabilities; early entry is beneficial only for pioneers that are technically strong. However, pioneers that are low on technological capabilities suffered from poor survival rates vis-à-vis market responders or non-entrants into new product generations.
Cucumber performance is improved by inoculation with plant growth-promoting microorganisms

We investigated the effects of inoculation of Rhodobacter sphaeroides, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae on cucumber plant growth promotion and on the contents of plant hormones, amino acids, and mineral nutrients. We showed that treatment with all three bio-inoculants significantly increased the shoot length, root length, shoot fresh weight, shoot dry weight, and chlorophyll content, via secretion of indole acetic acid and/or organic acids. Inoculation with R. sphaeroides had more favorable effect on plant growth than did inoculation with L. plantarum or S. cerevisiae, by significantly enhancing the gibberellin and reducing the abscisic acid contents. The results of amino acid analysis revealed that inoculation with R. sphaeroides, L. plantarum, and S. cerevisiae generally increased the contents of 17 amino acids, namely, aspartic acid, threonine, serine, glutamic acid, glycine, alanine, cysteine, valine, methionine, isoleucine, leucine, tyrosine, phenylalanine, lysine, histidine, arginine, and proline. With the exception of cysteine, all these amino acids were present in higher concentrations in plants inoculated with R. sphaeroides than in control plants or in plants inoculated with L. plantarum and S. cerevisiae. Furthermore, inoculation with R. sphaeroides significantly increased the calcium, potassium, magnesium, and phosphate contents. Our results suggest that the use of R. sphaeroides, L. plantarum, and S. cerevisiae in agricultural fields can improve plant growth. Moreover, inoculation of cucumber plants with R. sphaeroides regulates plant functional metabolites, thereby promoting plant growth.
Automation in dairy cattle milking: experimental results and considerations

Abstract The results of two experimental programs financed to the Istituto Sperimentale per la Zootecnia are presented. The objective of the two Italian programs was the verify if automatic milking is a suitable practice for Italian dairy system. Results are summarised and compared to those obtained in other international projects. Results refer to animal behaviour, milk yield, milk quality an animal welfare. In a trial comparing cows milked with an automatic milking system and cows milked in a milking parlour, we observed that when the temperature and humidity are very high cows reduce their activity, have lower milking frequency and milk yield than in cold seasons. In comparison to milking parlour, automatic milking system did not increase milk yield which was affected significantly by season, stage of lactation, parity, season per treatment and parity per treatment. The causes of the negative results obtained by this group and by other international groups are discussed. We also presented the results obtained in four trials thereby four appetizers or flavourings were tested to improve efficiency of automatic milking system. Comparing the two milking systems, automatic milking determined a worsening of milk quality, but from these data is not possible to exclude the possibility to use automatic milking for Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano-type cheeses. Animal welfare is not negatively influenced by automatic milking system, which has the potentiality to improve the control and care of cows.
Firm-Level Information Ambiguity and the Earnings Announcement Premium

We study the role of firm ambiguity on stock price reaction to earnings announcements. By using the firm’s variance risk premium (VRP) prior to earnings news arrivals as a proxy for firm-level information ambiguity, we provide evidence that this “micro�? form of ambiguity has a significant positive impact on the earnings announcement market reaction. On average, a unit standard deviation increase in the firm’s VRP is associated with 0.33% increase in the firm’s three-day cumulative abnormal returns. We further show that the firm ambiguity is more influential than the market-level ambiguity in affecting the earnings announcement premium. Finally, consistent with predictions of the behavioural and regime-switching models of Barberis et al. (1998) and Veronesi (1999), we find that the news asymmetric effect on stock price returns decreases with firm-level ambiguity.
Methanolic crude leaf extract of Ocimum gratissimum reverses phenylhydrazine-induced anemia in albino wistar rats

Background: The therapeutic and culinary applications of Ocimum gratissimum leaf have been practiced in Central and West Africa for decades. This study was designed and conducted to investigate the haematinic and haemopoietic activities of phenylhydrazine-induced anaemia in Albino wistar rats. Materials and Methods: Twenty-four (24) Albino wistar rats were grouped into four (A, B, C and D) with six rats per cage. Groups B, C and D served as the test groups, while group A was the control. The test groups were gavaged with graded doses (4, 8 and 12mg/kg body weight respectively) of Ocimum gratissimum methanolic crude leaf extract once daily for 9 days. Two (2) mls of venous blood was collected from the ocular plexus from each animal into tripotassium ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid anticoagulant bottle. This was used to determine complete blood count using automated haematology autoanalyzer (Sysmex KX-21N). Results: Red blood cell (RBC) mean value recorded a dose and duration-related statistically significant decrease (P 0.05). Furthermore, lymphocyte recorded both dose and duration-related statistically significant increase (P < 0.01). Conclusion: From the result of this study, it can be concluded that the methanolic crude leaf extract of Ocimum gratissimum possesses both haemopoetic and haematinic potentials which are dose and duration-related.
The nonsusceptibility of soil Collembola to insect pathogens and their potential as scavengers of microbial pesticides

Summary Collembola are very abundant soil insects which contribute to the decomposition of organic matter. This paper presents data on the interaction between Collembola and selected microbial agents being tested or used as biological pesticides. The Collembolan, Folsomia candida , was not susceptible to the entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, Hirsutella spp. , and Verticillium lecanii , or to the bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis , and its endotoxins. F. candida consumed and inactivated the insect pathogens without suffering mortality, reproductive disturbance or any other harmful effects. Consumption of insect pathogens demonstrates the potential of the Collembola as scavengers of biological insecticides artificially introduced into the environment.
The Increasing Cost of Ignoring Coase: Inefficient Electricity Tariffs, Welfare Loss and Distributed Energy Resources

I show that British electricity tariffs create substantial welfare loss, equivalent to between six and eighteen percent of domestic consumption value. Losses are greater than unpriced distributional and environmental counter effects. Expected technological change will increase this welfare loss. Deployment of distributed energy resources (e.g. solar) benefits adoptees at the expense of non-adoptees as tariffs are recalibrated to recover fixed costs. Reform on Coasian principles avoids these welfare losses and re-distributional effects. In providing these estimates, I combine household-level micro-data with information on utility cost and tariff structure to simulate the welfare effects of tariff reform and technological change.
Exports and Olympic Games: Is there a Signal Effect?

Rose & Spiegel (2011) find that Olympic Games host countries experience significant positive, lasting effects on exports. They interpret their results as an indication that countries use the hosting of such events to signal openness and competitiveness. We challenge these empirical findings on the grounds that a comparison of structurally different and non-matching groups of countries might suffer from a selection bias. We demonstrate that with an appropriate matching and treatment methodology, the significant Olympic effect disappears.
Sectoral and Products Wise Comparative Advantage in Nigeria-China Bilateral Trade Relations

This study seeks to identify commodities and sectors of comparative advantage between Nigeria and China and to determine the extent to which Nigeria’s export matches with China’s import demand. Applying the Revealed Sectorial Comparative Advantage Index and the Trade Complementarity index on data collected from the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics and accessed via World Integrated Trade Solution (2018), the study found that there is a scope for Nigeria to competitively export fuels to China, while China can competitively export textile and clothes, footwear, metals, machinery, electronics, and miscellaneous products to Nigeria; Nigeria has a long period comparative advantage in only raw materials with robust export competitiveness while China has comparative advantage in consumer and capital goods with low export competitiveness; Nigeria has comparative advantage in only the petroleum sector and China has comparative advantage in only the industrial sector; and Nigeria can only partially meets 32.61% of Chinese import demand from 1988-2017. While China moderately meets 57.40% of what Nigeria requires from its export supply. The study, therefore, recommends the need for government to initiate policies aimed at maintaining existing product comparative advantage and to strengthen the competitiveness of products and sectors having a comparative disadvantage.
Lack of agreement among models for estimating the photosynthetic parameters

Water motion can be an important variable affecting the recruitment, metabolism, growth rates, feeding efficiency, and distribution of aquatic organisms. Recent studies suggest that flow speed may be an important factor regulating primary productivity of reef algal turf communities. We meaAcknowledgments We acknowledge Eric Graham for his diligence with the flowmeter circuit and probe construction and assistance with flow measurements in the field. We also thank Hedy Carpenter who helped with each flow profile, and Michelle Woodbury and Shanti Archer who helped with the S4 deployment. The manuscript benefited from comments by M. Patterson. This research was facilitated by the West Indies Laboratory and funded by grants from the Biological Oceanography Program of the National Science Foundation (OCE 86-20308 and OCE 88-46622). This is contribution 195 from the West Indies Laboratory. sured profiles of flow speed over algal turfs with different canopy heights and over algal turfs growing on substrata that varied in microtopography. Profiles over sea urchin-grazed algal turfs with low canopy heights and algal turfs growing on topographical high points indicate that the boundary layer is dominated by turbulent eddies. In contrast, flow over algal turfs with higher canopy heights and those growing within depressions in the substratum is influenced more by viscous forces that may lead to diffusion-limited metabolism of these algal communities. These data demonstrate that flow speeds over coral reef algal turfs exhibit spatial variation over small spatial scales and temporal variation that is dependent on ambient flow speeds. Our results predict microscale variation in algal turf metabolism and suggest that photosynthetic rates of this component are likely to be below maximum capacity for a significant portion of the time. Aquatic organisms experience costs and benefits of living in a moving, relatively vis-
Species delimitation and distribution in Aporometra (Crinoidea : Echinodermata): endemic Australian featherstars

Aporometra Clark, 1938, which belongs to the monotypic Aporometridae, is a crinoid genus endemic to temperate Australian waters. It has been described as being ‘viviparous’ and is among the smallest of comatulids. The small size of specimens, and poor morphological justifications for specific diagnoses have created uncertainty over the number of species in the genus and their distributions. This study identified a suite of characters using data from scanning electron microscopy and mtDNA sequencing (CO1 and ND2) to assess the number of species of Aporometra. Specimens were obtained from museums and collected from Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. Type material was also examined when possible. Phylogenetic hypotheses were generated using maximum parsimony-based analyses of the separate and combined datasets. The results support the monophyly of Aporometra and the presence of two species, Aporometra wilsoni (Bell, 1888) and Aporometra occidentalis A. H. Clark, 1938, along the southern Australian coast. The status of the third nominal species, Aporometra paedophora (H. L. Clark, 1909), remains to be resolved, but it may be a junior synonym of A. wilsoni. Morphological diagnoses are reviewed. Aporometra occidentalis was only found in Western Australia, while A. wilsoni was found from Western Australia to Victoria. Phylogeographic differentiation between the western and southern populations of A. wilsoni is briefly discussed.
Effect of dietary glucose, dextrin and starch on growth and body composition of juvenile starry flounder Platichthys stellatus

: A 10 week feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary glucose, dextrin and starch on growth and body composition of juvenile starry flounder. Triplicate groups of fish (average weight, 9.7 g) were fed iso-nitrogenous (53% crude protein) and iso-caloric (16.1 kJ/g diet) diets containing 20% glucose, 20% dextrin and 5–25%α-potato starch with 5–14% lipid levels. Survival was not affected by dietary carbohydrate. Weight gain, feed efficiency and protein efficiency ratio of fish fed the diet containing 20% glucose were the lowest among all groups. The best weight gain was observed in fish fed the diets containing 20% dextrin. Growth and feed efficiency were not affected by dietary α-potato starch level. Lipid contents of the whole body and liver were not affected by dietary glucose, dextrin and starch at the same level. However, lipid content tended to decrease with increasing dietary starch level and those of fish fed the diets containing 5%α-potato starch were significantly higher than those of fish receiving 10–25%α-potato starch. Liver glycogen content and hepatosomatic index tended to increase with increasing dietary starch level. These results indicate that juvenile starry flounder are able to efficiently utilize dextrin and α-potato starch compared to glucose in diets and that up to 25%α-potato starch could be incorporated in the diet of juvenile starry flounder for optimum growth.
Protein precipitating capacity of crude canola tannins: effect of pH, tannin, and protein concentrations

The protein precipitating capacity of canola tannins was evaluated using the protein precipitation assay of Hagerman and Butler (J. Agric. Food Chem. 1978, 26, 809−812) and the dye-labeled bovine serum albumin (BSA) assay of Asquith and Butler (J. Chem. Ecol. 1985, 11, 1535−1543). Condensed tannins were isolated from hulls of Cyclone, Excel, and Westar canola cultivars. The tannin content in the hulls ranged from 98 to 1973 mg of catechin equivalents/100 g of hulls, as determined by the vanillin assay. The effect of pH on the affinities of dye-labeled and unlabeled BSA, fetuin, gelatin, lysozyme, and pepsin was monitored. The optimum pH for the precipitation of dye-labeled and unlabeled BSA was found to be 3.5 and 4.0, respectively. The optimum pH for the precipitation of proteins was found to be 0.3−3.1 pH units below the isoelectric points of the proteins. The crude tannin extracts contained about 20% proanthocyanidins, which were soluble in ethyl acetate as determined by the vanillin assay. Canola tann.
Do Merger Policies Increase University Efficiency? Evidence From A Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design

This paper studies the effect of merger policies in Russia on university efficiency. We consider the non-voluntary merger policy conducted by the Ministry of Education and Science based on university performance indicators. First, the efficiency scores of universities are estimated using a bootstrapped DEA non-parametric technique. The efficiency scores were evaluated for universities that were merged and for a control group formed through propensity score matching before and after the implementation of the policy. Then, a fuzzy regression discontinuity design was implemented in order to reveal the causal impact of mergers on efficiency levels. We find a positive, statistically significant effect of merger policy on university efficiency. The results of the analysis suggest that merged universities experience greater efficiency gains (or smaller efficiency declines) after mergers.
Firm Diversification and Performance: An Empirical Examination

This paper examines several dimensions of the relationship between diversification and performance. Specifically, we investigate the link between related and unrelated diversification and performance. We also study the effect of the potential redeployment of ‘plastic’ assets on unrelated diversification. To investigate this, we estimated a dynamic panel on a data set of 2,396 diversified firms from the euro area, over the 2010-2017 sampling period. Empirical results indicate that an increase in the level of unrelated diversification, is significantly associated with an 0.65 percent improvement in performance, and related diversification with an 0.98 percent increase in performance. Additionally, we found that the level of unrelated diversification is positively and significantly impacted, 1.32 percent, by changes in the level of asset plasticity. Overall, our findings contribute to the corporate diversification literature by documenting that both, related and unrelated diversification, impact positively performance. Moreover, providing evidence consistent with the intuition that asset plasticity may be a positive factor for unrelated diversification strategies.
Climate Policy and Carbon Leakage with Firm Heterogeneity

The possibility of carbon leakage arises when there is an asymmetry in climate policies across countries. A Border Carbon Adjustment (BCA) and a Border Tax Adjustment (BTA) are considered effective instruments to tackle this leakage. Using the Melitz trade model with firm heterogeneity, we study the effects of unilateral carbon tax, BTAs, and BCAs on leakage, competitiveness, and welfare. We analyze in particular how these policies affect firms across the productivity spectrum. Following Kreickemeier &amp; Richter (2014), we stress the importance of the correlation between productivity and emissions levels. When firm-specific emission intensity is weakly decreasing with its productivity level, we find that a carbon tax in one country reduces average profitability and increases the probability of successful entry of firms, leading paradoxically less productive firms to enter the market after the tax. We conclude that both border adjustments are effective in mitigating carbon leakage and restoring international competitiveness partially. Their efficiency however depends on the objectives of the implementing country.