Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Idiosyncratic Skewness of Commodity Futures Returns

We examine the ability of idiosyncratic skewness to explain the cross section of commodity futures returns at both the characteristic and factor levels. We find that idiosyncratic skewness negatively and significantly predicts cross-sectional commodity futures returns, and largely accounts for the skewness effect documented in previous studies. Furthermore, we find that a long/short trading strategy based on the idiosyncratic skewness generates significant abnormal returns, which cannot be explained by the traditional risk factors in commodity futures markets and persists up to 12 months. Moreover, idiosyncratic skewness appears to be a priced risk factor in commodity futures markets. Finally, we find that a novel asymmetry measure, IE, is better at capturing the effect of idiosyncratic skewness than the traditional measure.
Effects of low-head dam removal on benthic macroinvertebrate communities in a Korean stream

This study was conducted to examine how a low-head dam removal (partial removal) could affect benthic macroinvertebrate communities in a stream. Benthic macroinvertebrates and substrates were seasonally sampled before and after dam removal (March 2006–April 2007). Benthic macroinvertebrates and substrates were quantitatively sampled from immediately upstream (upper: pool) and downstream (lower: riffle) sites, the location of the dam itself (middle), and immediately above the impoundment (control: riffle). After the removal, species richness and density of benthic macroinvertebrates as well as the EPT group (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera) increased to higher levels than those before the removal, while functional feeding groups and habitat orientation groups changed more heterogeneously at the upper site. At the lower site, species richness and density decreased somewhat immediately after dam removal, which was associated with an increase of silt and sand, but recovered after monsoon floods which helped to enhance substrate diversity at the upper site. Decreased dominance index and increased diversity index in both the upper and lower sites are evidence of positive effects from the dam removal. In conclusion, we suggest that even a partial removal of a dam, resulting in increased substrate diversity in the upper site, could sufficiently help rehabilitate lost ecological integrity of streams without major habitat changes.
Do Economics Courses Improve Students' Analytical Skills? A Difference-in-Difference Estimation

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that provides robust empirical support to the claim that exposure to economics training improves students' analytical skills and problem-solving abilities. We rely on Frederick's (2005) Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) to measure these skills and abilities. The original CRT served as a pre-test, and a CRT-clone was administered as a post-test in a number of classes across various majors at a comprehensive, medium-sized university. Difference-in-difference estimation is used to assess the difference in CRT score improvements between economics and non-economics classes. Our main result shows that students in economics classes improve their analytical skills during the semester by between 7 and 11 percentage points more than those in non-economics classes. We also find that most of this effect is attributable to the economics principles courses. The results remain robust as we vary the number of control variables, the size of the sample and the estimation method, and are nearly always statistically significant at either 1% or 5% level.
Caracterização morfométrica e suas implicações na limnologia de lagoas do Pantanal Norte - DOI: 10.4025/actascibiolsci.v30i2.3628

The objective of this work is to describe the morphological characteristics of seven Northern Pantanal lakes and discuss their implications on the limnology of these environments. The following morphological parameters were used: area; volume; maximum, mean and relative depths; perimeter; volume and perimeter development indices; maximum length and width. Generally, most lakes are shallow, with low relative depths, suggesting little thermal stratification, as they are more susceptible to mixing of the water column and suspended sediments by wind action. Most lakes have regular banks (few irregularities) and have a concave shape, and thus are less subject to erosion processes. Temporal variations in the morphometry of these lakes are related to the hydrodynamic and limnological patterns of these systems.
Inventory Heterogeneity

Firms have very different inventory levels. How much of this heterogeneity is due to differences among firms, versus among industries? Using all observations in COMPUSTAT for 1950 through 2004, we find that both industry and firm effects are significant. Further, firm effects are as strong as, if not stronger, than industry effects. In our baseline model, firm effects explain 33.1% of inventory heterogeneity; industry effects, 19.3%. These findings are robust to a number of sensitivity tests. Apart from the empirical contribution, the findings can be a useful stylized fact for further theoretical development into the origins of inventory heterogeneity.
Perceptions of Corruption and Tax Non-Compliance Behaviour: Policy Implications for Developing Countries

Tax non-compliance and perceptions of corruption are key challenges to state-building in developing countries. Using a social psychology approach, we develop a theoretical model in which different forms of perceived corruption can adversely influence the way individual taxpayers behave. We then apply this model to Indonesia, placing our empirical findings in the context of compliance risk management, identifying strategies to improve tax compliance, and exploring how to implement these strategies effectively. We shed light on the applicability of the traditional responsive regulatory approach (used by revenue authorities to deal with intentionally non-compliant taxpayers), which combines measures in attempting to achieve either voluntary or enforced compliance. While the empirical evidence is based on the Indonesian experience, we suggest that our model is sufficiently general and robust to be applicable to other developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Using radar to estimate populations and assess habitat associations of marbled murrelets

I used high-frequency marine radar to count marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) entering 20 watersheds in Clayoquot Sound, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, in 1996-1998. My goal was to develop standard protocols for radar inventory and to explain landscape-level habitat associations of this threatened species. Dawn counts were consistently higher and less variable than dusk counts, but both sampling periods produced similar rankings of watersheds and proportionate numbers of murrelets. Most dawn surveys showed a unimodal pre-sunrise pulse of incoming murrelets, but a few dawn surveys showed post-sunrise pulses, likely caused by repeat visits by some birds. These post-sunrise pulses, although rare, inflated estimates of incoming murrelets and were avoided by restricting analyses to pre-sunrise counts. Dawn and dusk counts were higher on cloudy days (≥80% cloud cover) than on clear days, but among cloudy days there was no additional effect on counts caused by precipitation (thick fog or drizzle). Numbers of murrelets entering watersheds varied seasonally, reflecting the breeding chronology, but counts restricted to the core period covering incubation and chick-rearing (mid-May through mid-Jul) showed no significant seasonal effects. Counts varied among years at some stations, but when all stations were considered together, no significant inter-annual variation occurred. Murrelets sometimes flew over low ridges (200-600 m), taking shortcuts into watersheds or crossing from 1 watershed into another. I therefore adjusted the boundaries of some inland catchment areas (based on topography and likely flight paths) to match correctly counts made at the watershed mouths with the appropriate inland catchment area. Radar counts at 18 watersheds were significantly correlated with total watershed area, areas of mature (>140 year old) forest, and-most strongly-with areas of mature forest below 600 m. Logging produced negative impacts. Three of the 5 watersheds with extensive logging of low-elevation forest had fewer murrelets per area than unlogged watersheds or those that were <10% logged, but these differences disappeared once remaining low-elevation mature forests were considered. With the removal of old-growth forests, murrelets evidently moved elsewhere and did not pack into the remaining old-growth patches in higher densities.
Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets: A Selective Review and an Agenda for Future Research

Abstract In this paper, we show how corporate governance reforms and research have been mutually reinforcing in emerging markets and propose a research agenda going forward. Acknowledging the by now broad recognition of corporate governance as a key development driver, we show how work on corporate governance in emerging markets has led research globally by focusing on the deep issues of ownership structures, property rights and organisational forms. Using the papers presented at the latest international conference of the Emerging Markets Corporate Governance Research Network, we illustrate how analyses of board structures, specifically gender diversity, has contributed to understanding of board dynamics and informed corporate governance reforms. Considering ongoing economic and socio-political trends, we conclude with a general research agenda for corporate governance in emerging markets.
Does Tax Deduction Relax Financial Constraints? Evidence from China’s Value-Added Tax Reform

Financial constraint is a major obstacle for firm growth, especially in developing countries where credit is scarce. This paper explores the role of tax policy in relaxing firms’ financial constraints by exploiting the exogenous shocks from China’s value-added tax (VAT) reform in 2009. We find that VAT reform significantly reduces effective VAT rate, which in turn improves both internal and external financing capacity for firms through the increase in liquidity, cashflow and commercial credit, and through the decrease in borrowing cost as well. The findings are robust to alternative specifications but show heterogeneity across ownerships, firm sizes, regions and between export and non-export firms. Our analysis suggests tax deduction is useful to relax firms’ financial constraints.
Market Set-Up in Advance of Federal Reserve Policy Rate Decisions

This paper considers the uncertainty associated with upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announcements and the extent to which participants in the fed funds futures market prepare for such announcements before they actually occur. We demonstrate that markets set up well in advance of known announcement days, going back as far as six months prior to an FOMC meeting. As a result, there is often less variation in fed funds futures prices in the period immediately preceding an FOMC announcement, despite greater trading activity, as the market has already incorporated anticipated signals. We find that macro announcements and central bank officials' congressional testimony are of comparable importance, whereas speeches are relatively unimportant. In addition, macro announcements have stronger effects when they are released during the Fed's "blackout" period, and some forms of congressional testimony are only important when they coincide with days when important macro variables are released, emphasizing important interaction effects.
Ultrastructure of two toxic marine dinoflagellates, Prorocentrum lima and Prorocentrum maculosum

Abstract Two benthic and epiphytic toxin-producing marine dinoflagellates, Prorocentrum lima (Ehr.) Dodge and Prorocentrum maculosum Faust, were examined using light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. P. lima is oblong in face view and is characterized by numerous marginal pores. P. maculosum is broadly ovate and possesses a distinct flange around the cell edge. The electron density of chromosomes relative to nucleoplasm in the two species differs; P. lima chromosomes are consistently more electron dense than P. maculosum. In both species, two flagella emerge through a single flagellarcanal. Flask-shaped membrane-bounded organelles termed mucocysts are present in both species as well as two large spherical pyrenoids covered by thick starch sheaths. PAS (Periodic acid/Schiff) bodies and coated vesicles occur in the cytoplasm together with numerous single membrane-bounded vesicles surrounded by endoplasmic reticulum and ribosomes. No endocellular bacteria were obs.
Flowers adaptively face down‐slope in 10 forest‐floor herbs

Summary 1An animal-pollinated plant living on a slope should orientate its flowers down-slope towards the more open space if by doing so it receives more pollinator visits and thereby achieves increased reproductive success. 2We measured flower orientation relative to slope direction on individuals of 10 species of forest-floor herbs in cool temperate forests in Japan. For one of these species, Erythronium japonicum, we also manipulated flower orientation to test experimentally for its effects on both male and female reproductive function. 3In all 10 species, flowers were preferentially orientated down-slope. This pattern was more pronounced in plants growing on steeper slopes. 4Our manipulative field experiment in Erythronium japonicum demonstrated that pollen dispatch was highest in flowers orientated down-slope. Additionally, flowers orientated up-slope may have achieved a lower seed set on steep slopes. 5We conclude that down-slope orientation of flowers was a general phenomenon among the species that we studied, and that this behaviour was adaptive in enhancing plant fitness through pollination.
Semiparametric Maximum Likelihood Sieve Estimator for Correction of Endogenous Truncation Bias

Semiparametric correction for a sample selection bias in the presence of endogenous truncation is known to be much more difficult in the case of a binary selection variable than in the case of a continuous selection variable. This paper proposes a simple bandwidth-free semiparametric methodology to correct for a self-selection bias in a truncated sample, without any prior knowledge of the marginal density functions of the selection model’s random disturbances. Each of the unknown marginal density functions is estimated using Sieve estimator, utilizing Hermite polynomials as basis functions. The aforementioned procedure is appropriate for both binary and continuous selection variables cases under the covariate shift assumption. We consider a double hurdle model, which is a combination of two selection rules. The ﬁrst is propagated by a truncation in the dependent variable of the substantive equation. The second is propagated by endogenous self-selection. The suggested correction procedure produces estimates that are of high accuracy and consistent based on Monte Carlo simulations. The random disturbances are not restricted to being symmetric and their marginal distribution functions are unknown. Thus, in the data generation process we verify the applicability of our procedure to cases in which the disturbances are neither jointly nor marginally normally distributed. These disturbances are constructed as realizations of non-symmetric distribution functions.
From Stakeholder Management to Stakeholder Accountability: Applying Habermasian Discourse Ethics to Accountability Research

Confronted with mounting pressure to ensure accountability vis-à-vis customers, citizens and beneficiaries, organizational leaders need to decide how to choose and implement so-called accountability standards. Yet while looking for an appropriate standard, they often base their decisions on cost-benefit calculations, thus neglecting other important spheres of influence pertaining to more broadly defined stakeholder interests. We argue in this paper that, as a part of the strategic decision for a certain standard, management needs to identify and act according to the needs of all stakeholders. We contend that the creation of a dialogical understanding among affected stakeholders cannot be a mere outcome of applying certain accountability standards, but rather must be a necessary precondition for their use. This requires a stakeholder dialogue prior to making a choice. We outline such a discursive decision framework for accountability standards based on the Habermasian concept of communicative action and, in the final section, apply our conceptual framework to one of the most prominent accountability tools (AA 1000).
Temporal trends and spatial patterns in the temperature and oxygen regimes in the Bay of Quinte, Lake Ontario, 1972–2008

The temperature and oxygen regimes of the Bay of Quinte have been monitored, weekly or biweekly, in the open water season at a series of offshore index sites since 1972. Since 2001, temperature has been monitored in situ using loggers at both offshore and nearshore sites. This study was undertaken to assess the potential role of morphometry, climate, nutrient loading, and invasion by dreissenids in temporal trends and spatial patterns of temperature and oxygen regimes. The thermal regime was assessed using summer surface temperatures, Schmidt's vertical stability values, and vertical stratification characteristics. When the Quinte studies began taking measurements in the hypolimnion, deeper stations were attaining low oxygen levels by the end of summer, raising concerns that the cumulative impacts of eutrophication might lead to anoxia. The bottom oxygen regime at sites that stratified was assessed using the hypolimnetic warming rates and the apparent oxygen depletion rates one meter off the bottom. Quinte's maximum summer surface waters have warmed almost 1 o C from 1972 to 2008 in line with climate warming. Nearshore sites in the shallow upper Bay have similar temperatures to offshore index sites while those in the lower Bay are warmer. The warming of surface waters has increased the maximum Schmidt's stability values at the deeper sites but thermocline depth or bottom temperatures have not changed. Hypolimnetic warming rates showed no temporal change but were inversely correlated with mean summer flow from the main river draining into the Bay. Oxygen depletion was variable but exhibited a downward trend in response to reduced phosphorus loading with neither climate warming nor the driessenid invasion having a detectable effect. Projected 21st C climate warming poses a threat to the Bay of Quinte ecosystem.
Regional Growth and Finance in Europe: Is There a Quality Effect of Bank Efficiency?

In this study, we test whether regional growth in 11 European countries depends on financial development and suggest the use of cost- and profit-efficiency estimates as quality measures for financial institutions. Contrary to the usual quantitative proxies for financial development, the quality of financial institutions is measured in this study as the relative ability of banks to intermediate funds. An improvement in bank efficiency spurs five times more regional growth than does an identical increase in credit. More credit provided by efficient banks exerts an independent growth effect in addition to the direct quantity and quality channel effects.
Pleistocene survival, regional genetic structure and interspecific gene flow among three northern peat‐mosses: Sphagnum inexspectatum, S. orientale and S. miyabeanum

Arctic plant species are often characterized by a complex genetic structure because of changes in their population size, the fragmentation of metapopulation systems, extensive hybridization and allopolyploidization, and survival in disjunct refugia, historical features associated with Pleistocene glaciation. We assessed the biogeographical and genetic patterns in three closely related northern species of peat‐moss (Sphagnum inexspectatum, S. orientale and S. miyabeanum), especially interspecific hybridization, infraspecific geographical differentiation and Pleistocene survival in one or more refugial areas. We tested alternative hypotheses of refugial survival in three widely disjunct regions: eastern Asia, Alaska and Greenland.
Schmeduling Heuristic, Financial Literacy and Rural Students’ Willingness to Study

This paper examines the effect of rural students’ understanding of education investment on their willingness to study from the perspective of financial literacy. We set up a two-period model of human capital investment to show how schmeduling induces students with poor financial literacy to deviate their study effort from the optimal level. We employ the “ironing heuristic” approach to model students’ cognitive bias and misperception of education investment. Using a survey data collected in four rural junior middle schools in Southwest China, we then provide empirical evidences on it. We measure students’ willingness to remain in education in three aspects, namely their self-assessed opportunity costs of schooling, preference for saving for future education, and recognition of economic return to education. Our empirical study reveals a close correlation between rural students’ understanding of the philosophy of investment and their willingness to study. Specifically, knowledge of personal financing is significantly positively correlated with students’ self-assessed opportunity costs of attending school as well as their recognition of returns to education. Our findings suggest that improving students’ financial literacy, particularly with respect to the knowledge of money management, will foster their understanding of human capital investment, reinforce their incentive to invest time and efforts in study, and enhance their competency to make rational decisions of education.
Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in Thailand: Chinese Investors in Chiang Mai, Thailand

The objective of this study was to examine the determinants affecting the foreign direct investment from Chinese investors in a developing country-Thailand. Many theories attempted to explain the reasons and motives for the multinational enterprises (MNEs) to go abroad. This paper concentrated on the idea of the eclectic paradigm, also known as the OLI Model, stand for Ownership, Location, Internationalization”, created by John H. Dunning. The researcher of this study added value to the literature by indicating that the characteristics of local people matter for foreign investment in Chiang Mai. In-depth interviews with 10 Chinese investors were conducted by the native mainland Chinese research assistant. Ten interviewees included five restaurant owners, three business owners, one souvenir shop, and one Chinese language school. Thematic analysis was applied to analyze the data.
Efficient SIMM-MVA Calculations for Callable Exotics

Computing Standardized Initial Margin Model Margin Valuation Adjustment (SIMM-MVA) requires the simulation of future sensitivities, but these are expensive to compute for callable products. This paper introduces a method which avoids nested calls to the pricing function, similar to the use of least-squares Monte Carlo (LSMC) for producing future exposures. The method algorithmically differentiates continuation values and underlying swap values with respect to model parameters. These are transformed into sensitivities over market quantities via Jacobians. An illustrative numerical example is provided for a Bermudan swaption demonstrating a massive acceleration w.r. t. brute-force calculations.