Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does Performance Commitment Protect M&A Bidders?

We evaluate whether performance commitment clauses in M&amp;A deals protect bidders from M&amp;A risks. Using a sample of Chinese M&amp;A deals from 2007 to 2019, we find that the adoption of performance commitment clauses is associated with higher corporate risk-taking. Such an effect is alleviated in related-party transactions. Performance commitment is generally related to aggressive bidding. It imposes negative long-term economic consequences to bidding firms on goodwill impairment, earning management, and firm valuation. However, it helps target firms achieve backdoor listing, gains bidding firms superior short-term performance, and promotes target-asset sellers to obtain career development. Overall, our findings highlight that performance commitment clauses fail to protect M&amp;A bidders and even increase the M&amp;A risk.
Do shareholders preferences affect share repurchases? Evidence from mutual funds short-termism

We study whether firms increase share repurchases when their shareholders have short-term preferences. We base our analysis on economic theory that establishes that greater transparency about an agent’s action increases the agent’s career concerns and short-termism. We use a difference-in-differences design around a regulatory change that increased the transparency of mutual funds’ managers portfolio choices (i.e., agent’s actions), leading to greater mutual funds’ short-termism. We find that firms with greater ownership by mutual funds affected by the regulation increase share repurchases following the regulatory change. Consistent with theory, this effect is stronger when mutual fund managers face high career concerns. We also implement a new simulation model to account for multiple hypotheses testing when reusing natural experiments. Overall, we document one important driver of share repurchases: the short-termism of active mutual funds.
Size, Book/Market Ratio and Risk Factor Returns: Evidence from China A-Share Market

This study investigates the risk factors for A-shares listed on both Shenzhen and Shanghai Stock Exchange in China using variables from Akgun and Gibson (2001). By rearranging these risk variables into several principle components, we have run the cross-sectional regression on the orthogonal components. The results produced strong evidence that size and BM ratio could be well explained by these alternative risk variables. Additionally, the variables are better at explaining returns in terms of adjusted R-squares. As such the size and BM effects could be replaced with the risk factors identified that could enable enhanced pricing of risk for investors as well as greater control of the risk factors management.
Understanding FICO Scores

David Simmons is a waiter at a struggling Italian restaurant located down the block from where he lives. Money is tight for him right now, as his limited income means he lives paycheck to paycheck. However, David knows things will look up for him soon because he was recently offered a job as a bank teller across town—his first desk job.This case helps students learn about building credit. The case addresses what a FICO score is, who computes it, how it is determined, and what it is used for. Excerpt UVA-F-1866 Aug. 6, 2019 Understanding FICO Scores Introduction Sitting in his tiny apartment, David Simmons sighed and rubbed his forehead after opening the last two bills in his mail pile—the ones hidden behind the new Sports Illustrated issue on his desk. Money was always tight with David, given his inconsistent income as a waiter at a struggling Italian restaurant down the block. He knew how to prioritize and avoid paying his bills as long as possible. He was not proud of being late on some bills, but he occasionally did it out of necessity to make ends meet. The most important bills came first. He had already paid his rent, electricity, water, gas, cell phone, and insurance bills for this month; however, there were two bills remaining to be paid. David unfolded the late warnings from Cox Cable and his Bank of America Visa credit card and laid them on his desk. Threats more than bills, David thought. He had never been this late on any bills before. Both letters claimed that not paying the required balance within a week would lower his credit score.
Range-Dependent Attribute Weighting in Consumer Choice: An Experimental Test

This paper investigates whether the range of an attribute’s outcomes in the choice set alters its relative importance. I derive distinguishing predictions of two prominent theories of range-dependent attribute weighting: the focusing model of Koszegi and Szeidl (2013) and the relative thinking model of Bushong, Rabin, and Schwartzstein (2021). I test these predictions in a laboratory experiment in which I vary the prices of high- and low-quality variants of multiple products. The data provide clear evidence of choice-set dependence consistent with relative thinking: price increases that expand the range of prices in the choice set lead to more purchases. Structural estimates imply economically meaningful effect sizes: the average participant was willing to pay around 17% more when a seemingly irrelevant option is added to their choice set.
Destination Image and Loyalty: Comparison between Asia Pacific and European Tourists in Sri Lanka

Destination Image (DI) and tourists’ Destination Loyalty (DL) have been attractive topics in tourism discourse though comparisons of different tourist groups are dearth. It is questionable whether DI and behavioral intentions remain same within different groups from different regions. Tourism is a booming industry and plays a crucial role in Sri Lankan economic growth. Western Europe has been the traditional source market for the post-colonial Sri Lankan tourism industry. The emerging trends display that tourists from Asia Pacific region overtake the traditional markets. Amidst this background, this study attempts to explore the difference between Sri Lankan Destination Loyalty among Asia Pacific and European tourists. It is expected to clarify the knowledge and empirical gaps in the destination loyalty discourse while providing recommendations to direct destination marketing efforts of post-war growing tourism industry in Sri Lanka. Study is based on primary data collected through a structured questionnaire using convenience sampling of 286 tourists; 143 from each region. Data was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling in Smart PLS3. Tourists were highly satisfied with the existing level of cognitive destination image and affective destination image though significant differences are observed in specific features between two regions. The study argues that the destination marketers have to customize their plans and approaches to be more effective in different tourist markets.
Creditor Governance

We provide evidence that large creditors exert a governing influence over corporate borrowers outside of covenant (technical) violation and payment default states. We show that, subsequent to syndicated loan origination, borrowers decrease capital inefficiencies, increase investments in productive assets, and improve operating performance relative to non-issuers. When firms are more opaque, syndicates are more concentrated in that lead arrangers hold a greater percentage of loan shares. We present evidence that creditor influence is increasing in the percentage of the deal retained by the lead arranger. Equity holders benefit from creditor influence subsequent to loan origination; cumulative abnormal stock returns around loan origination are positive and significant. These findings are robust to technical violations and shareholder governance. When creditor positions are more concentrated, creditor governance effects are of the same sign and magnitude as those provided by concentrated equity positions.
Endogenous Uncertainty and Monetary Policy

In this paper, we empirically explore the endogeneity of uncertainty and the interaction between different types of uncertainty and monetary policy using a shock-restricted vector-autoregression model. We find that a contractionary monetary policy shock reduces financial uncertainty, opposite to the findings in the previous literature, while at the same time it also heightens real uncertainty. This discrepancy arises because the model allows endogenous shifts in uncertainty. We also show that endogenous responses of uncertainty amplify the effects of monetary policy on real activity.
Inflation and Individual Investors' Behavior: Evidence from the German Hyperinflation

We analyze how individual investors respond to inflation. We introduce a unique data set containing information on local inflation and security portfolios of more than 2,000 clients of a German bank between 1920 and 1924, covering the German hyperinflation. We find that individual investors buy fewer (sell more) stocks when facing higher local inflation. This effect is more pronounced for less sophisticated investors. Moreover, we document a positive relation between local inflation and forgone returns following stock sales. Our findings are consistent with individual investors suffering from money illusion. Alternative explanations, such as consumption needs, are unlikely to drive our results.
Style Factors in Emerging Asian Government Bond Markets

This article is an abridged version of our working paper “Style Factors in Asian Government Bond Markets” (Lim &amp; Lioui, 2020), where we examine the yield curve dynamics and premia in the China, India and Indonesia local currency government debt markets through the lens of Value, Carry and Momentum.
THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION ASSESSMENT OF THE FETEASCĂ NEAGRĂ GRAPE POMACE AND ITS FRACTIONS OBTAINED FROM WINE INDUSTRY IN DIFFERENT YEARS

The aim of the hereby study was to analyze and to compare the chemical content of the grape pomace and its fractions: skins and seeds from the red grape variety Fetească neagră (from Iași area), obtained in different years 2013 and 2014 respectively, from the winemaking process. Measurements targeted the dry matter content (DM%), organic matter (OM%), crude ash (CA%), crude protein (CP%), crude fat (EE%), crude fiber (CF%), nitrogen-free extractive substances (NFES%), total polyphenols (TP%) and tannins (Ta%). The results obtained showed significant differences in the chemical composition in favour of the grape pomace obtained in the 2014 climatic conditions: in the case of the seed for the content of DM%, SEN%, TP% and Ta%, in the case of the skins for the content of DM%, OM%, CF%, TP%, Ta% and in the case of the grape pomace for the content of DM%, OM%, CF%, SEN%, TP%, and Ta%. Comparative analysis of the chemical composition showed an annual variation of the chemical components, which may be due to climatic conditions and winemaking process. Therefore, an annual chemical quality assessment of the grape pomace is necessary, for the efficient use in the animal feed.
Microcredit & Labor Allocation: Evidence from Rural Ethiopia

We investigate the impact of microcredit borrowing on the labor allocation of Rural Ethiopians using 3 waves of LSMS-ISA panel data. While microloans are often associated with moderate average effects on welfare, we show that another possible way to grasp this question is to study the interaction between labor allocation and credit constraints. We employ alternative specifications in order to overcome the substantial threat of endogeneity that overshadows the evaluation of microfinance. The main identification strategy uses a method based on conditional heteroskedasticity and does not require an external instrument. Our model finds a positive effect of loan take-up on farm labor. The impact on total labor supply is ambiguous on average, but our findings illustrate heterogeneous impacts across borrowing communities.
The Impact of the July 15 Coup D’etat Attempt on the Participation 30 Index in Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE)

This study examines the effect of the June 15th coup d’état attempts in Turkey on the abnormal returns of the participation-30 index. In the study, an event study method was used and the ISE 100 index was taken as the base index. The AR and CAR of the participation 30 index were calculated. As a result of the findings for the day of the coup d’état attempt the AR value is found to be - 1.08% and the CAR value (-3 +3) is found to be -2.69% showing negative abnormal returns of the participating index that are significantly higher than the ISE 100 index. On July 20th the state of emergency was announced. The effects of it began to appear on July 22nd. The effects of the results of the findings of the state of emergency was seen on 22.07. 2016 and on 25.07. 2016 when the AR value was found to be 1.44% and 1.2% and the CAR value (-3 +3) was found to be 1.9% resulting in a positive abnormal return of participating index which are significantly higher than the ISE 100 index. The power of the ruling party has an impact on the abnormal returns (AR) of the Participation-30 index. As the power of the ruling party increases so does the Participation-30 index.
Similar Investors

Consistent with theoretical predictions, we show that investors incorporate expected joint liquidation costs in their portfolio decisions. Using detailed security-level holdings of U.S. Money Market Mutual Funds (MMFs), we construct a new measure of portfolio similarity among investors and show that investors actively manage asset holdings as a function of how similar their portfolios are with those of other investors. They are less likely to roll over investments and they decrease funding when similarity increases. At the issuer level, average similarity also predicts her total funding in the next period. Importantly, issuers are unable to fully replace the loss in funding when similar investors withdraw.
Collective Brand Reputation

We develop a theory of collective brand reputation for markets in which product quality is jointly determined by local and global players. In a repeated game of imperfect public monitoring, we model collective branding as an aggregation of quality signals generated in different markets. Such aggregation yields a beneficial informativeness effect for incentivizing the global player. It however also induces harmful free-riding by local, market-specific players. The resulting trade-off yields a theory of optimal brand size and revenue sharing that applies to platform markets, franchising, licensing, umbrella branding, and firms with team production.
Fund Flows, Performance, and Exit Under Dynamic Unobservable Managing Ability

We introduce continuous-time learning models of dynamic unobservable fund manager abilities under a nonlinear framework, with risk-neutral or risk-averse investors. In equilibrium, sensitivities of inferred manager abilities to fund returns’ innovation shocks are time nonmonotonic, inducing time-nonmonotonic flow-performance sensitivities and convexities. Funds’ exit probabilities change with time and fund sizes at any fund age. Our empirical evidence of nonmonotonic flow-performance sensitivities and convexities, and old funds’ increasing exit probability with fund age support our nonlinear framework, which current linear frameworks cannot explain. We also offer insights into the current empirical controversy of whether flow-performance relations are linear or convex.
Exploring the Curvilinear Relationship between Green Innovation Complexity and Performance: The Moderating Role of Governance Mechanisms

Green innovation has been adopted widely by companies as a strategic tool to deal with the increasing pressure of environmental concerns as well as sustainability. Extra resources are required to reduce the uncertainties and risks involved in green innovation to improve innovation performance. Building on information-processing perspective and contingency theory, this study examines the impact of green innovation complexity on performance and how proper governance mechanisms can properly align with the complexity to improve innovation capability. Using survey data from 231 companies in China, we find the relationship between green innovation complexity and performance to be curvilinear in nature. More importantly, administrative governance mechanism does a better job in improving innovation performance for green innovation with low-level complexity. Relational governance mechanism performs well for innovation tasks with high-level complexity. Managerial implications are drawn from our study for practitioners regarding how to align proper governance mechanisms to deal with innovation tasks with different-level complexity so as to improve innovation performance.
Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) of amino acids

Surface Enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) of biomolecules N. B. C. Pfukwa Department of Physics Stellenbosch University Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa Thesis: MSc (Physics) March 2016 Raman spectroscopy (RS) is an invaluable technique for sample identification. This method requires little sample preparation and is not completely non-invasive. The intensity of Raman scattered light can be enormously increased or boosted when a sample molecule is adsorbed on a metallic surface, a technique known as Surface Enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Since the development of this technique a lot of studies have been done on molecules adsorbed on various types of metallic structures due to the sole purpose of the increase in Raman signal which occurs under such conditions. This has led to the applications of SERS in industry and in basic research. In this study, silver and gold nanospheres of average size 20 nm were successfully synthesised and characterised using UV-Vis (Ultraviolet-visible) spectroscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Two RS setups were available, a double stage Raman spectrometer using 514.5 nm Ar + laser as excitation source and a single stage Raman spectrometer using 532 nm frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser as excitation source. The synthesised silver nanospheres were employed in SERS studies on biomolecules (amino acids) using the single stage Raman setup with the aim of advancing SERS as a bio-analytical tool using our in-house developed RS setup. Qualitative analysis was done on amino acid spectra by band profiling and quantitative analysis was performed by carrying out concentration studies so as to determine the detection limit of the measuring instrument. Results are explained based on the setup used and by comparing with what is expected from literature. It was found that amino acids mostly adsorb on a metallic surface via the common carboxylate, amine and R-groups. This is due to the availability of free electron pairs on the oxygen and nitrogen atoms which take part in charge transfer mechanisms and promote chemical enhancement. It was also observed that some amino acids have functional groups which either have strong affinity for metals or have an electronic structure that contribute to chemical enhancement, thus boosting the Raman signal. A low detection limit of 1x10 -4 M from amino acid L-Lysine was obtained. Ultimately, these results are new and provide a set of measurements done on four groups of amino acids using gold and two types of silver nanoparticles. These results form a foundation for future studies on larger biological organisations using the setup available in our labs. Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za
Addressing Endogeneity Without Strong Instruments: A Practical Guide to Heteroskedasticity-Based Instrumental Variables (HBIV)

This article provides an overview and guide to implementing heteroskedaticity-based instrumental variables (HBIV) in regression models with endogeneity, i.e., one or more of the regressors are correlated with the disturbance term. We discuss the problem of implementing standard instrumental variables (IV) solutions to the endogeneity problem when external instruments are either insufficient or not readily available, and when the disturbances are heteroskedastic, present a solution to the problem. We illustrate the implementation of HBIV in the presence of strong external instruments, weak external instruments, and no external instruments, using both traditional IV and HBIV. Finally, we discuss the pros and cons of using HBIV methods to address endogeneity.
Future Directions in Accessibility Research

Accessibility is central to ensuring that all members of society benefit from important infrastructure investments. Hence, this paper focuses on accessibility research that integrates economic and social analyses in order to inform decision processes. A focus on accurate assessment of benefits and costs is foundational. This method of appraising investment, both large and small, removes ambiguities and provides a platform, to ensure the interests of a wider section of society is included in the evaluation. Major investments projects typically do include a benefit cost analysis (BCA). However, smaller outlays often funded through an annual maintenance and improvement budget seldom address a full spectrum of considerations. In these latter cases the opportunity to redress exclusion of sections of society does not get on the agenda. This report is motivated by the need to more adequately perform investment analyses so that transport investments achieve outcomes that are both more equitable and efficient. The deficiencies of past analyses have been identified but achieving improved analyses requires careful attention to data, methods, and their application. The study builds on work already done in order to define opportunities for analysts and agencies both within New Zealand and around the world. Of particular note is the availability of data. Data in various forms are available but presently not readily accessible. Identification of the need for specific forms of data is essential for empirical work and research suggests there are more data available than previously thought. Further work is necessary to find ways in which various repositories can release local area statistics while maintaining the confidentiality of individuals. Counting mobility aid users is recognised as a low cost and relatively robust approximation of access enhancement. The structure of the report is as follows. Section 2 provides context for the study. Section 3 introduces the principles of investment analysis; Section 4 presents the approach to economic benefits whilst Section 5 addresses the estimation of benefits. Section 6 focuses on data whilst Section 7 addresses methodological challenges. Section 8 addresses costs and Section 9 concludes.
[Correct Version Of] Penalised Regressions vs. Autoregressive Moving Average Models for Forecasting Inflation

This paper relates seasonal autoregressive moving average (SARMA) models with linear regression. Based on this relation, the paper shows that penalised linear models may surpass the out-of-sample forecasting accuracy of the best SARMA models when forecasting inflation based on past values, due to penalisation and cross-validation. The paper constructs a minimal working example using ridge regression to compare both of the competing approaches when forecasting the monthly inflation in 35 selected countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and in three groups of countries. The results empirically verify the hypothesis that penalised linear regression, and ridge regression in particular, can outperform the best standard SARMA models computed through a grid search when forecasting inflation. Thus, a new and effective technique for forecasting inflation based on past values is provided for use by financial analysts and investors. The results indicate that more attention should be given to machine learning techniques for time series forecasting of inflation, even as basic as penalised linear regressions, due to their superior empirical performance.