Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
City-level auditor industry specialization, economies of scale, and audit pricing

ABSTRACT: We examine the effects of city-level auditor industry specialization and scale economies on audit pricing in the United States. Using a sample of Big N clients for the 2000–2007 period, and a scale measure based on percentile rankings of the number of audit clients at the city-industry level, we document significant specialization premiums and scale discounts in both the pre- and post-Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) periods. However, the effects of industry specialization and scale economies on audit pricing are highly interactive. The negative effect of city-industry scale on audit fees obtains only for clients of specialist auditors. By contrast, clients of non-specialist auditors obtain scale discounts only when they enjoy strong bargaining power, suggesting that auditors are “forced” to pass on scale economies to clients with greater bargaining power. Data Availability: Data are available from sources identified in the article.
Inhibition of T-Type Calcium Channels Protects Neurons from Delayed Ischemia-Induced Damage

Intracellular calcium increase is an early key event triggering ischemic neuronal cell damage. The role of T-type voltage-gated calcium channels in the neuronal response to ischemia, however, has never been studied. Using an in vitro model of ischemia-induced delayed cell death in rat organotypic hippocampal slice cultures, we show that T-type calcium channels inhibitors drastically reduce ischemic cell damage. Immunostaining studies reveal the existence of CaV3.1 and CaV3.2 types of low-voltage-activated calcium channels in rat organotypic hippocampal cultures. Low extracellular calcium (100 nM) or increase of intracellular calcium buffering ability by BAPTA-acetoxymethyl ester significantly reduced ischemia-induced neuronal damage. Pharmacological inhibition of the T-type calcium current by mibefradil, kurtoxin, nickel, zinc, and pimozide during the oxygen-glucose deprivation episode provided a significant protection against delayed neuronal death. Mibefradil and nickel exerted neuroprotective effects, not only if administrated during the oxygen-glucose deprivation episode but also in conditions of postischemic treatment. These data point to a role of T-type calcium currents in ischemia-induced, calcium-mediated neuronal cell damage and suggest a possible new pharmacological approach to stroke treatment.
Reactive power pricing in deregulated electrical markets using a methodology based on the theory of marginal costs

In this paper, a flexible formulation about the pricing of active and reactive power is presented. This proposal is developed using a decoupled formulation identifying the active and reactive subproblems. A model for the price calculation of the reactive power which is intended to incentive the participation of agents of the electricity markets is analyzed. An optimal power flow (OPF) to solve the reactive power subproblem which considers the production costs of the reactive power and the active losses minimization in the objective function, has been implemented. In order to solve the OPF and consequently obtaining the active and reactive power marginal cost prices has been adopted a nonlinear programming methodology. Tests using a 9-bus system for several load conditions show the validity of the methodology.
Knowledge sharing in SMEs: modelling the barriers

Knowledge sharing is the foundation stone to knowledge management (KM) implementation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Some variables hinder knowledge sharing (KS) in the organisations. These variables are known as knowledge sharing barriers (KSBs). The objective of this paper is to identify the critical KSBs for SMEs and their mutual influences. Identification of KSBs which are at the root of the hierarchy (called driving KSBs) and those which are at the top of the hierarchy (called dependent KSBs) is the main aim of this research work. A questionnaire-based survey has been conducted to rank these KSBs. The results of the survey and the interpretive structural modelling (ISM) methodology have been used to evolve mutual relationships among these KSBs. It is observed that two KSBs, namely ‘lack of top management commitment’ and ‘KM is not well understood’, have high driving power and therefore deserve serious attention. Arrangement of KSBs in a hierarchy and their categorisation into the driver and dependent categories is an exclusive effort in the area of KS. The study concludes with a discussion and managerial implications.
DYNAMICS OF THE CONSUMPTION–CAPITAL RATIO, THE SAVING RATE, AND THE WEALTH DISTRIBUTION IN THE NEOCLASSICAL GROWTH MODEL

The paper utilizes a common approach to derive sufficient conditions for strictly monotonic behavior of three ratios along the transition to the steady state in the Ramsey–Cass–Koopmans model: the consumption–capital ratio, the consumption–output ratio (and the saving rate), and the consumption–wage ratio. These conditions are then applied to derive additional results on the transitional dynamics of the distribution of wealth in the model (when individual consumers are differentiated by their initial wealth endowments).
Loss of cellular retinol-binding protein 1 gene expression in microdissected human ovarian cancer.

PURPOSE We have previously found that cellular retinol-binding protein 1 (CRBP1),involved in retinol transport and metabolism, is down-regulated in an in vitro rat model of ovarian cancer and in several human ovarian cancer cell lines. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical relevance of this change to human ovarian cancer. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN A cohort of 48 frozen human serous ovarian carcinomas was evaluated for CRBP1 gene expression. Malignant ovarian epithelial cells were selectively procured by laser capture microdissection, and their CRBP1 expression was determined by real-time PCR. Immunohistochemistry for CRBP1 was performed on paraffin sections of ovarian tumors using polyclonal affinity-purified rabbit anti-CRBP1 antibody. RESULTS In 35% of ovarian cancer patient samples, there was no detectable CRBP1 expression by real-time PCR. The expression of CRBP1 in microdissected serous ovarian carcinomas was not related to either tumor stage (P = 0.6839) or grade (P = 0.9599). Quantitative PCR results were confirmed by immunohistochemistry using an antibody against CRBP1. CONCLUSIONS The loss of CRBP1 expression in clinical ovarian tumor specimens is consistent with our previous findings in the rat model and human ovarian cancer cell lines. It appears to be an early event in ovarian carcinogenesis because there was no statistically significant difference in its frequency between tumor stages and grades. Our findings suggest that the loss of CRBP1 expression contributes to the ovarian cancer oncogenesis via altered vitamin A metabolism.
Taxes And State Power: Political Instability in Bolivia, 1900-1950

Acknowledgments 1. Issues and Concepts 2. The Tin Industry's Demand for Public Services 3. Agricultural Production and State Services 4. Class Contradictions and the State's Political Basis 5. Tax Policy 6. State Building and Political Instability 7. Taxes and State Power in Comparative Perspective Notes Bibliography
Union commitment and participation among Hong Kong firefighters: a development of an integrative model

This paper examines the factors influencing members' intent to participate in their union, drawing on a study of Hong Kong firefighters. As in Western studies, the main direct predictor of intent to participate is affective union commitment, but instrumentality is a relatively more important antecedent of affective union commitment and participation than in the Western studies. We found some evidence of frustration-aggression effects on intent to participate in ‘militant’ and ‘general’ union activities, although the latter was significant only among individuals who perceive management–employee relations as co-operative and trusting.
Investigating Wagner's law in Iran' s economy

The aim of this paper is investigating Wagner’s law by using Iran’s time series data of period the 1960 2000. Carrying out the Engel-Granger cointegration test showed that GNP, government expenditure and government consumption expenditure were not cointegrated. Results showed that real income elasticity for non-proportional versions were bigger than one and for proportional ones were bigger than zero. In addition, Wagner’s low was accepted for Iran’s economy. Therefore along this period of time government expenditure growth and the size of government was a natural result of economic growth.
The impact of human resource management on export performance of Chinese manufacturing enterprises

Export growth has been a major contributor to the economic development of China. Underpinning this growth was the development of special economic zones, the reform of SOEs, and the adoption of new models of human resource management. Few empirical studies, however, have been conducted to explore the effects of human resource management on the export performance of Chinese firms. This was the purpose of this study. Based on a survey of 96 SOEs in four special economic zones, the research found that human resource management had a substantial impact on enterprise performance as measured by export growth and the percentage of export sales. The article concludes by suggesting avenues for future research. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Development Administration in the Arab Middle East

economic and social development planning, increasing concern over the continued inability to attain plan targets and objectives led governments to seek assistance in the field of public management. Technical assistance efforts of various development agencies the United Nations, the Agency for International Development, the Ford Foundation had, to date, largely been concerned with establishing planning capability with little specific attention given to implementation phases. Programs aimed at enhancing management and administrative capability were largely concerned with institution building. Institutes of public administration and academic programs were established and curricular content was general in orientation, aimed at the global aspects of the management problems. While efforts at developing government administrative capacities were conducted concurrently with the work in establishing the development planning function, they tended to be more orthodox in nature, i.e. such efforts did not directly focus upon the problems of plan implementation as much
Symptoms of depression and all-cause mortality in farmers, a cohort study: the HUNT study, Norway

Objectives To explore all-cause mortality and the association between symptoms of depression and all-cause mortality in farmers compared with other occupational groups, using a prospective cohort design. Methods We included adult participants with a known occupation from the second wave of the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (Helseundersøkelsen i Nord-Trøndelag 2 (HUNT2) 1995–1997), Norway. Complete information on emigration and death from all causes was obtained from the National Registries. We used the depression subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to measure symptoms of depression. We compared farmers to 4 other occupational groups. Our baseline study population comprised 32 618 participants. Statistical analyses were performed using the Cox proportional hazards models. Results The estimated mortality risk in farmers was lower than in all other occupations combined, with a sex and age-adjusted HR (0.91, 95% CI 0.82 to 1.00). However, farmers had an 11% increased age-adjusted and sex-adjusted mortality risk compared with the highest ranked socioeconomic group (HR 1.11, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.25). In farmers, symptoms of depression were associated with a 13% increase in sex-adjusted and age-adjusted mortality risk (HR 1.13, 95% CI 0.88 to 1.45). Compared with other occupations this was the lowest HR, also after adjusting for education, marital status, long-lasting limiting somatic illness and lifestyle factors (HR 1.08, 95% CI 0.84 to 1.39). Conclusions Farmers had lower all-cause mortality compared with the other occupational groups combined. Symptoms of depression were associated with an increased mortality risk in farmers, but the risk increase was smaller compared with the other occupational groups.
Optimal zero-forcing design of precoders and decoders for multiuser cooperative networks

In this work, we proposed a multiuser relaying strategy for a cooperative network with multiple sources sharing the radio resource provided by the cooperative relays simultaneously. Different from the existing work, the set of relays forwards signals of all source users over a common channel to enhance spectral efficiency. With full channel information available at relays, the set of sub-optimal precoders and decoders was proposed in terms of average SNR of all users, subject to eliminating the multiple access interference (MAI) at each destination and satisfying total power constraint among all relays. It shows from the simulation results that, compared with the conventional cooperative strategy and direct transmission, the proposed scheme provides pronounced improvement on the outage capacity.
A preprocessing algorithm for MIQP solvers with applications to MPC

In this paper a preprocessing algorithm for unconstrained mixed integer quadratic programming problems and binary quadratic programming problems is presented. The optimal value for some or all integer variables can be computed without approximations in polynomial time. The algorithm is first derived for the binary quadratic programming problem and the result is then extended to the mixed integer quadratic programming problem by transforming the latter problem into the first problem. Both mentioned quadratic programming problems have several important applications. In this paper, the focus is on model predictive control problems with both real-valued and binary control signals. As an illustration of the method, the algorithm is applied to two different problems of this type.
Poverty, gender and migrancy: Lesotho's migrant farmworkers in South Africa

During the 1990s, eastern Free State vegetable farmers increasingly relied on migrants from neighbouring Lesotho for seasonal labour. This coincided with a major downsizing of the mine labour force in South Africa, hitherto the major employer of Basotho migrant workers. However, there was no simple process of transfer of unemployed migrants from the mining to the farming sector; rather, decisions were mediated by domestic relationships and household poverty in Lesotho. Basotho women and girls have been a major casualty of mine retrenchments and the drying up of remittances, and those with domestic skills but little formal training have been forced into the labour market, mainly domestic work in towns and labour on farms. This article examines the Basotho migrants' experiences and conditions of employment, the regulatory environment within which they are recruited and employed, and their future in the context of changing immigration and migration legislation in South Africa.
Why California's 'Three Strikes' Fails as Crime and Economic Policy, and What to Do

Although political leaders and the public believe that California's "tough on crime" policies, most notably its "Three Strikes" sentencing frame- work, put into effect in 1994, are responsible for a 100% crime drop in California since 1992, the evidence from research and a logical examination of data on violent crime state by state over the past 50 years conclusively shows this is not the case. A multivariate time series model for California over the last five decades shows that the imposition of Three Strikes in 1994 has had no impact on violent crime in the state, but alcohol consumption and unemployment have important impacts on the rate of violent crime. If these results are correct, the budget of California has suffered a tremendous burden caused by the excess imprisonment of many nonviolent offenders under the Three Strikes policy. The time has come to take action to wean California from its obsession with pun- ishment and help relieve the budget crises on a permanent basis by revising California Prison Policy.
The Role of Social Networks and Geographical Location in Labour Market Participation in the UK Coalfields

The demise of the coalmining industry has entailed an increased geographical separation of individuals from workplaces, highlighting the importance of understanding the spatial dimension of job search for those living in the coalfields. There has been an increasing interest among labour market researchers on the role of place and social networks in influencing labour market behaviour. A growing body of literature focuses on the importance of social networks in shaping people's attitudes, behaviour, and decision making—in particular, the links between people's social sphere and the nature and extent of their participation in the labour market. We aim to examine the area effects of social networks and how these affect labour market position. We will draw on material gathered from a Joseph Rowntree Foundation funded project on the economic, social, and governance links between coalfields and their neighbouring cities. Part of this research was composed of eighty-five interviews carried out with unemployed job seekers across three contrasting coalfields (Lothian, South Yorkshire, and the central Wales valleys). We will focus in particular on the issues of accessing of South Wales jobs, knowledge and experience of the spatial labour market, and the role of social networks in influencing job search and job knowledge.
The ref cost us the game: The role of sports commentators and journalists in creating stresses on sports referees

Sports referees are maligned and often controversial figures, yet they fulfill a crucial role in amateur and professional sport. The animosity that some sports referees attract comes from an array of sources, including, but not limited to, players, coaches, spectators and the sports media. This paper uses survey, focus group, and interview methods to examine the role that sports commentators and sports journalists have played in creating stress and anxiety for some sports officials. Results suggest that the portrayal of sports referees by the media can influence the decisions they make during a match, as well as contributing to stress and anxiety within officials.
An integrated approach to customer elicitation for the aerospace sector

An integrated approach, the Transitional Business Model (TBM), is proposed, to facilitate rapid and proactive response to customer enquiries, and to inform the derivation, development, and promotion of new and innovative concepts. The model fulfils a need identified within the aerospace sector to enhance the ability for rapid customer needs elicitation, and to improve competitiveness. This paper presents the results of collaborative research with a major aerospace organization culminating in the development of a prototype © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Eng 9: 62–72, 2006
The case for language policies in multinational corporations

Businesses that operate globally bring together people from different cultures and traditions; educated through different learning processes; and who operate in different political systems, in regions with different levels of industrial development. Language affects the ability of multinational organizations to function in the global market. Yet, the need for corporate language policies has not been adequately recognized in both the strategic management literature and communications literature. In this paper, we discuss some of the emergent conditions that necessitate corporate foregrounding of language in the formulation of business strategies. We also examine some of the critical factors that would define the development of a corporate language policy in a globalized market, drawing upon insights from traditional language planning in the sociopolitical context of community and nation building.
Board Characteristics and Involvement in Strategic Decision Making: Evidence from Swiss Companies

Boards of directors have a number of roles. The board's monitoring function has been the subject of much work. Less examined is the role that the board has in setting company strategy. This paper uses agency and network perspectives in developing and testing the relationship between board characteristics and involvement in strategic decision making. Using primary and secondary data, our results suggest that the level of board involvement in strategic decision making is related to a number of governance variables. We demonstrate that involvement is generally lower where boards are highly interlocked. We also show that certain types of board interlocks - namely horizontal (same industry) and those involving direct links with the banking sector - are particularly associated with this negative effect. There is weaker evidence that board strategic involvement is lower where the roles of company chief executive and chair are combined. We find no evidence that factors such as board size, or the percentage of outside directors per se are related to board involvement in strategic decision making. In doing so, this paper adds to the growing literature synthesizing the structural features and processes of boards. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2006.
Income smoothing, custo de capital de terceiros e estrutura de Capital no Brasil

In this paper using a sample of Brazilian companies and models proposed by Eckel (1981) and Leuz, Nanda, and Wysocki (2003) as empirical proxies to measure income smoothing, test results indicate that companies that promote income smoothing are likely to have a lower cost of capital and a capital structure with greater percentage of long-term debt. The methodology used included a panel data Nerlove type for a period from 2003 to 2007. The analysis lagged in one and two periods reveals that smoothing will impact on future cost of capital and the capital structure. Results after controlling heterogeneity and factors known to explain the cost of capital and capital structure proved to be robust, indicating the significance of income smoothing with respect to alternative explanatory variables. The influence of smoothing factor in one and two years delayed have comparable magnitude to other factors such as size and risk. The results support the notion that income smoothing in Brazil is an information-signaling mechanism, with implications for the cost of capital and the financing decisions.
The Alignment Of Management Accounting With Manufacturing Priorities: A Strategic Perspective

This paper proposes that traditional cost-based management accounting systems (MAS) are inappropriate for controlling a manufacturing organisation's performance in cases where non-cost factors are important aspects of the firm's competitive strategy. Manufacturing organisations in Australia are under increasing pressure to increase their competitiveness. This can be achieved by giving the manufacturing function strategic status in the organisation and by designing the MAS to support those strategies directly. The MAS should measure operational performance, control investment and report in terms of the factors which determine the organisation's competitive advantage, whether they be high product quality, manufacturing flexibility, low cost or other influences. The paper provides two applications of the concept of strategy-driven management systems: capital investment evaluation systems, and operational performance measurement and reporting systems.