Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Some Cautions on the Use of Panel Methods for Integrated Series of Macro-Economic Data

We show how the use of panel data methods such as those proposed in single equations by Kao (1999) and Pedroni (1999) or in systems by Larsson and Lyhagen (1999) to investigate economic hypotheses such as purchasing power parity or the term structure of interest rates may be affected by the existence of cross-unit cointegrating relations. The existing literature assumes that such relations, that tie the units of the panel together, are not present. Using empirical examples from a panel of OECD countries we show that this assumption is very likely to be violated. Simulations of the properties of panel cointegration tests in the presence of cross-unit relations are then presented to demonstrate the serious cost of assuming away such relations. Some fixes are proposed as a way of dealing with these more general scenarios.
Capital Allocation à La Aumann-Shapley for Non Differentiable Risk Measures.

We introduce a family of Capital allocation rules (C.A.R) based on the dual representation for risk measures and inspired to the Aumann-Shapley allocation principle. These rules extend the one of Denault and Kalkbrener (for coherent risk measures) and the one of Tsanakas (convex case), to the case of non Gateaux differentiable risk measures. We also study their properties and discuss their suitability in the quasiconvex context.
Isochromophilone IX, a Novel GABA-Containing Metabolite Isolated from a Cultured Fungus, Penicillium sp.

Isochromophilone IX, a novel antibiotic active component was isolated from a penicillium species and investigated. Isochromophilone IX displays a specific rotation with the same sign as isochromophilone VI. It was found that isochromophilone represents the first occurrence of an γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) containing metabolite among only four naturally occuring members of this structure class.
Does Corporate Social Responsibility Reduce Information Asymmetry? New Empirical Evidence from Australia

In this article, we provide new empirical evidence of the association between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and information asymmetry (IA) within the Australian context. Utilising a novel firm-level dataset of Australian publicly listed firms from EIKON and Australian Securities Exchange, and spanning the period 2004-2014, we examine five key hypotheses based on stakeholder theory. We estimate the information asymmetry model using fixed effect estimator with robust standard errors. We find that CSR performance is negatively associated with information asymmetry. Moreover, we find that the influence of CSR on bid-ask spread is more pronounced for large-sized, strong market power and high debt-to-equity ratio firms. We also find that the negative association between CSR and information asymmetry decreases for firms with high level of equity risk. Overall, our results are robust to alternative measures of CSR and IA, model specification and accounting for endogeneity, thus supporting the stakeholder theory of the negative relationship between CSR and information asymmetry. The findings highlight yet the importance of CSR in firm performance and the need to implement regulatory frameworks that mitigate the negative impact of information asymmetry on investor decision making.
Study on Impact on Customer Satisfaction for E-Wallet Using Path Analysis Model

Using e-wallet for payment is trending in Indian payment pattern for a layman. This paper makes an attempt to study customer satisfaction in use of e- wallet as dependent variable and problems in e-wallets, risk and solution to boost the use of e-wallet as independent variables. 351 respondents were considered duly completing forms and AMOS graphic is used for further analysis to test the formulated null hypotheses and to check validity of the results. Findings include that there is positive relationship of customer satisfaction with solutions in e-wallets and negative relation with problems in using e-wallets.
Genetic Zoogeography of the Mysis relicta Species Group (Crustacea: Mysidacea) in Northern Europe and North America.

The zoogeography and systematics of the Mysis relicta species group were elucidated in an allozyme survey of populations across northern Europe and North America. The North American populations are here identified as an independent species (sp. IV), distinct from the three previously recognized European M. relicta group taxa (spp. I–III). The geographical pattern of gene frequency variation in North America supports a late-glacial colonization by separate eastern and western refugial stocks of sp. IV. In Europe, sp. III is known from a single subarctic lake, while both spp. I and II are widespread. They coexist in the Baltic Sea, but their lacustrine distributions are largely different. Species I accounts for most Fennoscandian populations and those in Poland and Germany whereas sp. II lives in Ireland, parts of southwestern Scandinavia, and Karelia. With the paleohydrographical reference, the distributions suggest that both species survived the last glaciation in proglacial lakes east of the Scandinavian Ice. Subsequent distributional differentiation was influenced by environmental variations; the dispersal of sp. II in southwestern Scandinavia was facilitated by a broader euryhalinity than that in sp. I and other stenohaline "glacial relief" crustaceans. The Irish populations may represent a distinct refugial stock within sp. II.
Corporate Governance and U.S. Firms Over the Last Three Decades

This paper provides a review, discussion, and analysis of research on the usefulness of corporate governance codes to U.S. firms based on the theories underlying corporate governance, anecdotal evidence, and practices. It reviews the concurrent corporate governance codes and theories in the U.S. business environment, and then classifies the extant literature on corporate governance and U.S. firms over the last three decades. The paper further discusses the association between corporate governance and organizational outcomes such as firm value, operating performance, and financial reporting quality in order to draw reliable conclusions regarding the overall effectiveness of corporate governance codes for U.S. firms and identifies gaps in prior literature. Based on this classification, the paper provides directions for future research regarding challenges and opportunities in order to maximize the benefits of corporate governance to U.S. firms.
Country Sustainable Development and Economic Growth: The International Evidence

This study documents a significant and positive impact of country-level ESG improvement on economic growth using a comprehensive sample across 109 countries. The economic benefits of country-level ESG improvement are robust after alleviating endogeneity concerns using instrumental variable regression, dynamic panel GMM approach and placebo tests. Further, according to the subsample analyses, we find that the positive influence of country-level ESG improvement on economic growth is more pronounced in countries with a stronger incentive to improve ESG performance, and more powerful CSR responsive and law enforcement. Our findings provide policy implications for promoting sustainable economic growth.
Modelling, Simulation and Inference for Multivariate Time Series of Counts Using Trawl Processes

This article presents a new continuous-time modelling framework for multivariate time series of counts which have an infinitely divisible marginal distribution. The model is based on a mixed moving average process driven by Levy noise - called a trawl process - where the serial correlation and the cross-sectional dependence are modelled independently of each other. Such processes can exhibit short or long memory. We derive a stochastic simulation algorithm and a statistical inference method for such processes. The new methodology is then applied to high frequency financial data, where we investigate the relationship between the number of limit order submissions and deletions in a limit order book.
Empirical Test for Weak Form Efficient Market Hypothesis of the Nigerian Stock Exchange

In recent years, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has witnessed an unprecedented growth in market capitalization, membership, value and volume traded. By December 2007, the All Share Index has grown massively to 57,990.2 from 1113.4 in January 1993. This rising interest in investment opportunities in the NSE raises questions about its efficiency. This paper, therefore, tests the Weak-form Efficient Market Hypothesis of the NSE by hypothesizing Normal distribution and Random walk of the return series. Monthly All Share Index of the NSE is examined from January 1993 to December 2007. Our Normality tests include Skewness, kurtosis, Jarque-Bera and Studentized Range tests; whereas Random walk is tested using the non-parametric Runs test. Results of the Normality tests show that returns from NSE do not follow normal distribution. Runs test results reject the randomness of the return series of the NSE. Overall results from the tests suggest that the NSE is not weak form efficient. Reduction of transaction cost so as to improve market activities and Minimizing institutional restrictions on trading of securities in the bourse were therefore recommended.
The Effect of Different Temperatures on the Viability of Metarhizium flavoviride Conidia Stored in Vegetable and Mineral Oils

The viability of freshly harvested conidia of Metarhizium flavoviride (Gams & Rozypal) stored in mineral, vegetable, or animal oils at 25°C was assessed over a period of 4 months. Viability was reduced to below 40% in all but two oils after 4 weeks storage; kerosene, soyabean (Sigma), and peanut were the only oils with a conidial viability of over 30% after 6 weeks storage. In a second experiment, storage at 5 and 15°C resulted in enhanced conidial viability of up to 71.9% with kerosene and 92.1% with soyabean after 14 weeks storage.
Comparative Evidence on the Performance of Institutional Investors in Online Business Lending

We provide new insights into the business lending decisions of institutional investors in online credit markets. We benchmark the lending performance of institutional investors against that of retail investors. Institutional investors generally screen loans better than retail investors, while gaining more on repaid loans. We find no evidence that the loan selection of institutional investors minimises loan default risk. Institutional investors are more (less) exposed to default risk on large (small) loan lending. Uniquely segmenting the retail investor base by crowd size, however, shows that institutional investors only outperform small and medium sized crowds. This evidence suggests that group heterogeneity may underlie the ability of larger sized crowds to manage information asymmetry. Institutional investors are shown to exploit the auction process to their advantage, with this evidence changing when the platform moved to a fixed rate system.
Activity Patterns of Young White‐Tailed Deer Fawns in South Texas

We studied the activity of 27 young white—tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawns on the Welder Wildlife Refuge in South Texas. we attached motion—sensitive radiotransmitters to 15 male and 12 female fawns, 3—12 day old,and monitored their activity for as long as 9 weeks. These fawns primarily were diurnal, although most were active for short periods once or twice a night. The amount and timing of activity of each fawn varied considerably; however, total activity increased with age as a fawn became stronger and more agile. Males were more active than females during daytime and in total at all ages, but females were more active at night. During their first two weeks of life, fawns were active an average of 8% of the time. By 1 month of age, males were active about 16% of the time, and females were active 12% of the time. The average number of daytime activity periods increased from two in fawns during their first week to five—six periods at 1 month of age. Most activity periods were less than 35 minutes long, but they increased in duration with fawn age. Two—hour activity periods were rare until fawns were more than a month old. The increase in fawn activity with age was related to the fawn's increasing ability to follow its dam, and its gradual integration into the adult deer social unit. Fawns were more active during midday hours in their first week of life, but they were most active in morning and evening thereafter.
Entrepreneurs for a Low Carbon World: how Environmental Knowledge and Policy Shape the Creation and Financing of Green Start-Ups

We investigate how different types of environmental policies and new regional environmental knowledge affect new venture creation in and financing of green (low carbon), brown (fossil fuel) and gray (unrelated to natural resources) technologies across 24 OECD countries and 293 regions over the period 2001-13. We find that new regional environmental knowledge positively impacts new venture creation in green technologies, and moderately in gray industries. Gray industries also benefit from enhanced start-up financing in regions where new environmental knowledge is created, confirming that environmental knowledge creation yields positive externalities beyond the green sector. We also find that a more stringent environmental policy regime negatively impacts the creation of new ventures across sectors, but most prominently, it discourages new fossil fuel ventures. However, once entrepreneurs decide to start a new business, stringent environmental policies have on aggregate a positive effect on new venture financing across sectors, particularly through feed-in-tariffs and emission standards.
Upper Cretaceous Zingiberalean fruits with in situ seeds from southeastern Coahuila, Mexico

In the southeastern region of Coahuila, Mexico, 1,844 fruits with characteristics that relate them to the order Zingiberales have been recovered from Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) sediments. They are tricarpellate and trilocular and have axial placentation and numerous anatropous, operculate, small seeds per locule. Two types of fruits are distinguishable. Striatornata sanantoniensis gen. et sp. nov. is closely related to Spirematospermum, and both are interpreted as members of the Musaceae based on the presence of a chalazal chamber and hilar cavity. Tricostatocarpon silvapinedae gen. et sp. nov. is difficult to accommodate within an extant family of the Zingiberales; however, the opercular structure, integumentary anatomy, and general fruit morphology strongly support its recognition as a member of the order, perhaps related to Musa cardiosperma. Comparison of integumentary anatomy reveals that while the integuments of the fossil seeds have a similar construction pattern, this is not comparable to any of.
Willingness to Pay for Status Signals in Online Luxury Markets

We study consumers’ valuation of status signals by estimating their willingness to pay for a luxury item with a quiet vs. a prominent logo. We collected data from two online markets on sales of two luxury handbags that differ principally in the prominence of their logo. We use these data to estimate the premium in consumers’ willingness to pay for the handbag with the quiet logo, and to estimate how the condition of the handbag affects that premium. We find consumers are willing to pay a sizeable premium of $161–$174, or 17%–18% of the retail price, for quiet handbags as compared to loud handbags. Furthermore, while consumers’ willingness to pay for both types of handbags is less for handbags in worse condition, it diminishes more rapidly with the worsening condition for quiet handbags. Our findings suggest that counter to conventional wisdom, consumers are willing to pay more for quietly marked luxury goods that allow them to signal a more targeted group of peers with similar cultural capital or social connectedness. Author Video
Bank Distress and Tail Risk

Guided by the Extreme Value Theory (EVT), this study empirically investigates the impact of tail risk measures on financial distress of publicly traded bank holding companies (BHCs) in the United States. Our results show that tail risk measures namely, value-at-risk (VaR) and expected shortfall (ES), are significantly and positively related to the banks distress risk. Implying that BHCs with more frequent extreme negative daily equity returns induce higher tail risks, thereby increasing their likelihood of experiencing financial distress. Our results also show that tail risk measures enhance the explanatory power of traditional models explaining banks distress risk based on accounting information. These results indicate that market discipline is generally beneficial in managing and regulating banks.
The effect of elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide levels on soil bacterial communities

The effect of elevated carbon dioxide levels on total bacterial communities was studied in a series of controlled and replicated model terrestrial ecosystems over a period of 38 weeks. The bacterial community was profiled using Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA gene fragments amplified by the Polymerase Chain Reaction from DNA extracted directly from soil. Bacterial community DGGE profiles provided three major findings: (i) there was a high degree of profile similarity after ≈ 12 weeks (one plant generation); (ii) whilst overall DGGE profile was maintained over the 38 weeks (three plant generations), the banding patterns became more diverse with time; (iii) DGGE data provided no evidence for a shift in bacterial community structure resulting from exposure of the ecosystem to an increased atmospheric CO2 level.
Comparison of TGF‐β/BMP Pathways Signaled by Demineralized Bone Powder and BMP‐2 in Human Dermal Fibroblasts

Demineralized bone induces chondrogenic differentiation of human dermal fibroblasts in vitro. Analyses of signaling gene expression showed that DBP and BMP‐2 regulate common and distinct pathways. Although BMP‐2 was originally isolated as a putative active factor in DBP, rhBMP‐2 and DBP do not affect all the same genes or in the same ways.
Non-Tradable Share Reform, Liquidity and Stock Returns in China

This paper studies the influence of the non-tradable share reform in the cross-section of stock returns in China. Prior research has generally neglected this important development in the Chinese stock market. We find that the firm-specific illiquidity measures that reflect direct transaction costs, price impact and difficulties in trading immediacy, exhibit a positive and significant relationship with stock returns. These effects are particularly pronounced after the non-tradable share reform. Furthermore, in the post-reform era portfolios with high illiquidity (i.e. high relative bid-ask spread, high Amihud illiquidity, low Amivest liquidity ratio) significantly outperform portfolios with low illiquidity, controlling for size and book-to-market effects.
The role of intercropping different cereal species in controlling lepidopteran stemborers on maize in Kenya

Abstract: The effects of mixed cropping systems containing maize, sorghum, millet and beans on infestations of cereals by lepidopteran stemborers and on associated parasitoids, as well as on yields and land equivalent ratios (LER) were assessed during four consecutive rainy seasons at two sites in the semi‐arid eastern region of Kenya. Systems containing the non‐host bean were more efficient in reducing pest densities than those with millet or sorghum only. Higher parasitism in diversified systems compared to monocrops was due to density‐dependent effects rather than superior suitability of such systems to parasitoids. The maize–bean system, which had the highest proportion of bean plants, had LERs >1.65 while most other systems had LERs <1. It is concluded that mixed cropping with several cereal species has little advantages in terms of yield loss abatement due to stemborers and land use efficiency. However, including the drought‐tolerant crops such as sorghum and millet in the system stabilizes food security in drought‐prone areas such as eastern Kenya.
Deciphering patterns of transoceanic dispersal: the evolutionary origin and biogeography of coastal lizards (Cryptoblepharus) in the Western Indian Ocean region

Aim Cryptoblepharus is a genus of small arboreal or rock‐dwelling scincid lizards, widespread through the Indo‐Pacific and Australian regions, with a disjunct outlier in the Malagasy region. The taxonomy within this genus is controversial, with different authors ranking the different forms (now some 36) at various levels, from different species to subspecies of a single species, Cryptoblepharus boutonii. We investigated the biogeography and genetic differentiation of the Cryptoblepharus from the Western Indian Ocean region, in order to understand their origin and history.
Cytogenetic Studies on Workers of the Neotropical Ant Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger 1863) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae)

Abstract Wasmannia auropunctata is known as one of the worst invasive ants in the World. A cytogenetic study was conducted on two native populations from southeastern Bahia, Brazil. The analysis of the chromosomes observed in mitotic metaphases was made by a combination of methods: Giemsa conventional staining, chromomycin A3 (CMA3) and 4-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) fluorochrome staining, and acridine orange banding. The workers have all the karyotype 2n=32, with ten pairs of metacentric and six pairs of acrocentric chromosomes. One chromosome arm of the pair ten was positive for CMA3 and acridine orange, suggesting the occurrence of a nucleolar organizing region. This region is an interesting marker because is very conservative and seems to constitute an interesting specific taxonomic character. The pericentromeric region of many chromosomes was stained with DAPI, evidencing the occurrence of AT bases rich heterochromatin.
Comparison between the Velocities of Escaped Savings with than of Financial Liquidity

This paper is about the comparison of the velocity of cycle of money with the velocity of financial liquidity. This analysis is based on the cycle of money in combination with the velocity of escaped savings with the velocity of financial liquidity. This means that used the escaped savings and the enforcement savings as are parts of these velocities. Thence, we compare the velocity of the financial liquidly with the velocity of the escaped savings. Then, we extract conclusions between these velocities. The method which used is the Q.E. method.