Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Environmental accounting, auditing and reporting in Europe: the role of FEE

This paper reviews1 the activities of FEE (Fédération des Experts Comptables Européens) in the context of the developing environmental agenda. After a brief consideration of the constitution of FEE and of FEE's objectives as a whole, FEE's work in the area of environmental issues is discussed. This discussion covers the setting up and the operation of its Environmental Working Party (EWP), and a review of FEE's environmental work to date. While an overview of past and current work is given, some key areas of topical concern and activity are examined in more detail: in particular the scope for FEE to influence agendas at the European and wider international levels is considered.
Disability and Social Security Reforms: The French Case

The French pattern of early transitions out of employment is basically explained by the low age at “normal” retirement and by the importance of transitions through unemployment insurance and early-retirement schemes before access to normal retirement. These routes have exempted French workers from massively relying on disability motives for early exits, contrarily to the situation that prevails in some other countries where normal ages are high, unemployment benefits low and early-retirement schemes almost non-existent. Yet the role of disability remains interesting to examine in the French case, at least for prospective reasons in a context of decreasing generosity of other programs. The study of the past reforms of the pension system underlines that disability routes have often acted as a substitute to other retirement routes. Changes in the claiming of invalidity benefits seem to match changes in pension schemes or controls more than changes in such health indicators as the mortality rates. However, our results suggest that increases in average health levels over the past two decades have come along with increased disparities. In that context, less generous pensions may induce an increase in the claiming of invalidity benefits partly because of substitution effects, but also because the share of people with poor health increases.
Innovative Workplace Practices and Occupational Injuries and Illnesses in the United States

This article studies the consequences of organizational innovations on occupational injuries and illnesses in the American private sector over the past 20 years. High-performance workplace practices such as total quality management, job rotation and autonomous work teams can damage workplace health and safetythey can increase the intensity of work both in manufacturing and tertiary industries, and some practices can even be incompatible with the design and the assinirlation of safety rules. Using surveys on organizational changes in the USA, management literature and BLS-OSHA data, we show for 26 sectors that the adoption of high-performance practices seems correlated to a dramatic increase in occupational injuries and illnesses.
Which individuals make active investment decisions in the new Swedish pension system?

This paper provides a detailed examination of individuals' active participation in a new public and mandatory defined contribution pension system. The new pension system was launched in the fall of 2000 and entitles Sweden's workforce of 4.4 million individuals to invest part of their individual pension account in mutual funds. Our findings show that the system is associated with a reversed investment behavior compared with studies of 401(k) plans; that is, individuals tend to make their own investment decisions. Contrary to US studies, we also find that women and younger individuals are more likely than men and older individuals to make an active investment decision.
European Banking Integration: Don't Put the Cart Before the Horse

This paper reviews the progress in European banking integration over the last twenty years, and evaluates the current system of banking supervision and deposit insurance based on "home country" control. The public policy implications to draw from the paper are threefold: First, after a relatively slow start, European banking integration is gaining momentum, in terms of cross-border flows, market share of foreign banks in several domestic markets, and cross-border M&As of significant size. If this trend continues, the issue of adequate supervision and safety nets in an integrated European banking market will become even more pressing. Second, although until recently banks have relied mostly on subsidiary structures to go cross-border, this is changing with the recent creation of the European company statute, which facilitates cross-border branch banking. A review of the case of the Scandinavian bank, Nordea Bank AB, helps to understand some remaining barriers to integration, and the supervisory issues raised by branch banking. Third, it is argued that the principle of "home country" supervision is unlikely to be adequate in the future for large international banks. Because the closure of an international bank would be likely to have cross-border spillovers, and because some small European countries might be unable to finance the bail-out of their very large banks, centralization, or at least Europe-wide coordination, of the decision to close or bail-out international banks is needed. This raises the issue of European funding of bail-out costs, European banking supervision, and European deposit insurance.
Contemporary and past dynamics in Japan's relationship with sub-Saharan Africa: the role of aid

The Japanese-African aid relationship has evolved since World War Two. The majority of studies on Japan’s role in Africa have focused on the economic aspect, while Japan’s aid relationship with Africa remains a relatively underexplored area of enquiry. This thesis aims to contribute to the study of Japanese-African relations by focusing on the role of aid in Japan’s involvement with the continent. The research question focuses on the evolution of Japan’s aid relationship with sub-Saharan Africa and the factors that have shaped this relationship. The study is qualitative and exploratory in nature and makes use mostly of secondary sources. Theoretically, the study analyses the aid relationship with reference to three sources of motivation for the provision of aid, namely economic, political and moral rationales. The findings of this study highlight the fact that, before 1990, Japan’s aid relationship with Africa was motivated by all three rationales. From an economic perspective, aid served as security for resources from Africa especially after the oil crisis of 1973. From a political perspective, Japan’s aid relationship served a number of objectives that changed over time. The study highlights these changes, suggesting that, from a political perspective, Japan’s aid in respect of Africa initially served to play a critical role in the Western camp in its anticommunist struggle on the continent. It was also used to curb criticism directed at Japan by African countries for its pro-Pretoria policy. After 1990, Japan’s aid relationship with Africa from political perspective served Japan’s ambition to be recognised as a political power, most importantly to receive the support from Africa that would allow Japan to secure a permanent seat on the United Nations (UN) Security Council. From an economic perspective, it served to secure strategic natural resources for Japan that would sustain its growing economy and help to achieve its ambition of attaining global economic supremacy. From a moral perspective, the aid relationship served to promote a development path for Africa similar to that experienced in Japan’s Asian neighbourhood. Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za
Improving the accuracy of forward exchange rate forecasts by correcting for prior bias

Using several samples of forward exchange rate forecasts for the British pound vs. the US dollar, this article explores the post-sample predictive performance of adjusting the forecasts for recent empirical bias. Numerical accuracy is assessed via both parametric and nonparametric tests, and directional properties are also evaluated. The evidence suggests that simple linear adjustments can yield significant improvements in predictive accuracy, even if the measured bias in the original forecasts is not statistically significant.
Identification of Segments of Soccer Clubs in the Spanish League First Division with a Latent Class Model Comments

In this brief commentary, I critically evaluate the empirical application of the stochastic frontier latent class model to panel data of the Spanish Football League presented in an article by Barros, Corral, and Garcia-del-Barrio, published in a previous issue of this journal. Errors from the selection of input price variable to the interpretation of the cost function estimates are discussed, and empirical evidence that their estimates are not consistent to basic microeconomic theories is presented.
Decursin and Decursinol from Angelica gigas Inhibit the Lung Metastasis of Murine Colon Carcinoma

The principal objective of the present study was to evaluate the antimetastatic activity of decursin and decursinol isolated from Angelica gigas. Decursin and decursinol inhibited the proliferation and invasion of CT‐26 colon carcinoma cells. The expressions of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)‐2 and MMP‐9 in cells and the activities in the culture medium were also reduced by decursin and decursinol treatment. In CT‐26 cells, the extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) inhibitor inhibited cell proliferation, invasion and MMP‐9 expression, and the c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase (JNK) inhibitor suppressed the expression of both MMPs, as well as cell proliferation and cell invasion. The phosphatidylinositol‐3 kinase (PI3K) inhibitor reduced only the expression of MMP‐2. In addition, the invasion of CT‐26 cells was inhibited by the treatment with anti‐MMP‐9 antibody, rather than anti‐MMP‐2 antibody. These results indicate that MMP‐9 expression via ERK and JNK plays a critical role for the invasion of CT26 cells. Decursin and decursinol downregulated ERK and JNK phosphorylation. Moreover, oral administration of decursin and decursinol reduced the formation of tumor nodules in the lungs and the increase in lung weight caused by CT‐26 metastases. Therefore, both decursin and decursinol may be benefi cial antimetastatic agents, targeting MMPs and their upstream signaling molecules. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Política monetária e ciclos regionais no Brasil: uma investigação das condições para uma área monetária ótima

The objective of this paper is to investigate the influence of the monetary policy and other shocks on the gross domestic product of each one of the Brazilian regions. The methodology is a combination of non-observed components and auto-regressive techniques (VAR). Common and specific shocks and common and specific effects of these shocks had been identified. The results indicate that Brazilian regions have symmetric responses to the common shocks but the most important shocks are the idiosyncratic ones.
Could thermal sensitivity of mitochondria determine species distribution in a changing climate?

For many aquatic species, the upper thermal limit (Tmax) and the heart failure temperature (THF) are only a few degrees away from the species' current environmental temperatures. While the mechanisms mediating temperature-induced heart failure (HF) remain unresolved, energy flow and/or oxygen supply disruptions to cardiac mitochondria may be impacted by heat stress. Recent work using a New Zealand wrasse (Notolabrus celidotus) found that ATP synthesis capacity of cardiac mitochondria collapses prior to THF. However, whether this effect is limited to one species from one thermal habitat remains unknown. The present study confirmed that cardiac mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to heat stress-induced HF in two additional wrasses that occupy cold temperate (Notolabrus fucicola) and tropical (Thalassoma lunare) habitats. With exposure to heat stress, T. lunare had the least scope to maintain heart function with increasing temperature. Heat-exposed fish of all species showed elevated plasma succinate, and the heart mitochondria from the cold temperate N. fucicola showed decreased phosphorylation efficiencies (depressed respiratory control ratio, RCR), cytochrome c oxidase (CCO) flux and electron transport system (ETS) flux. In situ assays conducted across a range of temperatures using naive tissues showed depressed complex II (CII) and CCO capacity, limited ETS reserve capacities and lowered efficiencies of pyruvate uptake in T. lunare and N. celidotus. Notably, alterations of mitochondrial function were detectable at saturating oxygen levels, indicating that cardiac mitochondrial insufficiency can occur prior to HF without oxygen limitation. Our data support the view that species distribution may be related to the thermal limits of mitochondrial stability and function, which will be important as oceans continue to warm.
Small and Medium-Sized Japanese Joint Venturtes in Korea

Professor Jinjoo Lee is professor of management science at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST); Young-suk Hyun is currently an assistant professor of business administration at the HanNam University, Taejon, few studies have undertaken analyses of the characteristics of Japanese foreign direct investment in developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to compare the differences of behaviour and performance between small and medium-sized indigenous firms (IFs) and Japanses joint ventures (JJVs) operating in Korea. The results of bivariate analyses of behavioural differences between the two groups show that IFs exhibit more effort in technology assimilation and also show a greater interest by top management in innovation compared with JJVs. IFs also place greater importance on long range planning/forecasting formand for technology and investment while JJVs are more export-oriented and place greater importance on long range planning/forecasting for market demand. IFs tend to be more innovative but less productive than JJVs.
Faculty Choice of a Pension Plan: Defined Benefit versus Defined Contribution

Worker preferences between define-benefit and defined-contribution pension plans are estimated using a sample of faculty members at North Carolina State University. Newly hired faculty must decide between the state retirement plan (a final pay, defined-benefit plan) and one of three defined-contribution plans (TIAA/CREF, VALIC, Lincoln National). This analysis allows the authors to estimate the choice of a pension plan holding constant the place of employment. The study uses both university employment records and a faculty survey to examine the factors that determine the choice of a pension.
The financial crisis: imperfect markets and imperfect regulation

Purpose - This paper seeks to examine the role that regulation and regulatory agencies played in the creating of the subprime mortgage market, and the subsequent crash of the mortgage market. The paper has two goals. First, it seeks to document the degree to which the US housing markets, and the US housing finance market, were regulated prior to the crash. Second, it seeks to show that regulatory bodies set policies which created both incentives and explicit requirements for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as depository institutions, to enter the subprime market. Design/methodology/approach - The paper examines the regulatory environment of the subprime market. It uses regulatory filings and other documents as primary sources. Findings - The popular perception that the subprime mortgage market arose because housing finance was largely unregulated is incorrect. In point of fact, the housing finance market was very heavily regulated. Indeed, the paper shows that the creation of the subprime market was a formal goal of the federal government, and that federal regulatory agencies explicitly required participation by the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs). Originality/value - The paper's primary implication is that incentive conflicts within the US housing finance system significantly contributed to the mortgage crisis. These incentive conflicts were not just within private firms, but also extend to the GSEs and regulatory agencies. Regulatory agencies not only failed to anticipate the crisis; they actively encouraged the policies which created it. As a result, the primary focus of reform efforts should be on identifying and eliminating such conflicts.
Islam and business

The underdevelopment of many of the Muslim economies along the Silk Road is often ascribed to the negative effects of Islam. Yet historically, the Muslim cities along the Road were thriving centers of commerce, and since the collapse of the Soviet Union, there appears to be a revival of business as central Asia is opened up to the global economy. Islam has its own distinctive code of business ethics, and the trust this fosters can lower transaction costs and increase management efficiency. There is no inherent conflict between Islam and capitalism; indeed, it is possible to identify the emergence of a distinctive Islamic type where capital accumulation is based on noninterest forms of financing. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Empirical Performance of Orthodox Models of the Firm: Conventional Firms and Worker Cooperatives

Though it is routinely posited that organizations with different property rights will not exhibit the same responses to changes in their economic environment, compelling evidence of such behavior is difficult to find. We collected observations on two types of firms--conventional proprietorships and worker-owned cooperatives--operating in the same industry, in the same location, and at the same period of time. We compare the firms' reactions to changes in their input and output prices and ask whether their reactions are consistent with orthodox models of profit and dividend maximization.
Virulence of Campylobacter jejuni for chicken embryos is associated with decreased bloodstream clearance and resistance to phagocytosis

The 11-day-old chicken embryo has been shown to be a useful animal model for comparing the virulence of human isolates of Campylobacter jejuni. Virulence in this system is associated with the ability to invade the chorioallantoic membrane and to survive and proliferate in vivo. In this study, the survival and multiplication of C. jejuni in the embryonic host was investigated. It was possible to enhance the virulence of a relatively avirulent C. jejuni strain by passaging it intravenously through the embryos. The resulting isogenic variants demonstrated enhanced abilities to survive in vivo but were still unable to invade when inoculated onto the chorioallantoic membrane. The bloodstream clearance of C. jejuni was studied, and virulent, but not avirulent, strains persisted and multiplied both in the bloodstream and in embryonic liver. Virulent strains also were cleared significantly more slowly from the bloodstream of adult BALB/c mice after intravenous challenge than were avirulent strains. C. jejuni strains which were cleared slowly in vivo were also ingested slowly in vitro by mouse peritoneal macrophages. Clearance studies in mice pretreated with cobra venom factor demonstrated that opsonization by serum complement was not a prerequisite for clearance of campylobacters from the murine bloodstream.
Immigrant earnings: age at immigration matters

A correlation between age at immigration and earnings is observed in Canadian census data. The evidence supports three underlying sources of the effect; first, work experience in the source country yields virtually no return in the host country; second, the return to education varies with age at immigration, and, finally, an "acculturation" effect is observed for immigrants who are visible minorities or whose mother tongue is not English. Further, it is found that educational attainment, and relatedly earnings, vary systematically across age at immigration with those arriving around age 15 to 18 obtaining fewer years of education.
PRODUCT SAFETY IN A REGULATED INDUSTRY: EVIDENCE FROM THE RAILROADS

It is sometimes argued that a relaxation of price controls in a regulated industry would lead to a decrease in profits and hence to an incentive for firms to skimp on safety. Theory does not allow us to sign the relationship between prices and safety a priori. Analysis of data from the railroad industry from 1963–67 indicates 1) profitable railroads have fewer accidents per mile than do unprofitable roads; 2) for profitable roads, if there is any relationship at all between accidents and profitability it is positive: more profitable roads have more accidents (per mile); and 3) for unprofitable roads, accident rates rise as losses rise.
Coffee, Cake & Culture: Evaluation of an art for health programme for older people in the community

Arts for health initiatives and networks are being developed in a number of countries and an international literature is emerging on the evidence of their benefits to people's health, wellbeing and quality of life. Engagement in cultural and creative arts by older people can increase their morale and self-confidence and provides opportunities for social connection. Museums and galleries are increasingly required to justify their expenditure, reach and impact and some are working in partnership with local councils, hospitals, schools and communities to improve access to their collections. There is a body of literature emerging that describes such initiatives but empirical evidence of their benefits is less developed. This article reports an evaluation of an art for health initiative – Coffee, Cake & Culture organised and delivered by Whitworth Art Gallery and Manchester Museum in 2012 for older people living in a care home and a supported living facility. The study has identified the benefits and impacts of the arts for health programme and its feasibility for older people, with or without diagnosed memory loss – dementia, living in a care home or supported living facility and their care staff. The findings demonstrate there were benefits to the older people and their care staff in terms of wellbeing, social engagement, learning, social inclusion and creativity. These benefits were immediate and continued in the short term on their return home. The majority of older people and care staff had not previously been to the art gallery or museum and the programme encouraged creative arts and cultural appreciation which promoted social inclusion, wellbeing and quality of life. The programme is feasible and important lessons were identified for future planning. Further research involving partnerships of researchers, arts for health curators, artists, care staff, older people and their families is warranted.