Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
International Differences in Conditional Conservatism: The Role of Unconditional Conservatism and Income Smoothing

Prior research documents that conditional conservatism, measured as the asymmetric timeliness of earnings reflecting bad vs. good news, varies with cross-country differences in institutional regimes. In this paper, we examine the determinants of conditional conservatism and related earnings attributes internationally. First, using panel data, we investigate whether competing earnings attributes such as unconditional conservatism and income smoothing affect conditional conservatism and its international differences. We find that these attributes are predictably correlated with conditional conservatism. Second, we address the question whether income smoothing and conditional conservatism are two fundamentally different earnings attributes. We show theoretically that both attributes yield different earnings distributions and that the motivations for producing earnings which possess these attributes differ. To test these predictions empirically, we calculate firm-specific time-series measures of asymmetric timeliness, using a novel trigonometric measure based on the standard Basu (1997)-type regression. Using this cross-sectional data, we test whether conditional conservatism and income smoothing are different and find them to be only weakly correlated for a broad international sample. Also, we demonstrate that income smoothing explains international differences in conditional conservatism. Finally, we estimate simple determinant models of conditional conservatism and income smoothing, showing that both earnings attributes are driven by different explanatory firm-level factors: Conditional conservatism increases with the importance of debt financing, while income smoothing increases with the importance of dividends. Despite some important limitations, we believe our results to be meaningful because they show that cross-country differences in conditional conservatism are influenced by the effects of other accounting properties, predominantly income smoothing. Especially, legal regime appears to drive income smoothing while losing its explanatory power for conditional conservatism when firm-specific factors are controlled for.
Hyperglobalized individuals: the Internet, globalization, freedom and terrorism

This paper examines the potential uses of information and communications technologies (ICTs) to create a new, multi‐faceted phase of globalization. It goes beyond traditional explanations of ICTs and globalization, which concentrate on the cultural imperialism of mass communications or technology management. It is argued here that the “any‐to‐any” architecture of the Internet creates a hugely unstable political landscape, in which social, economic and political alliances become both more global and more local, but always more specialized. The paper concludes by asking how states might choose to strike a balance between the benefits to individual freedom brought about by the Internet and the diminished intermediary role for state, religious and other national cultural institutions.
Non-users' Willingness to Pay for a National Park: An Application and Critique of the Contingent Valuation Method

BATEMAN I. J. and LANGFORD I. H. (1997) Non-users' willingness to pay for a National Park: an application and critique of the contingent valuation method, Reg. Studies 31, 571‐582. A great deal of the ongoing academic debate concerning the contingent valuation (CV) method has focused upon whether or not the method is suitable for assessing non-use values. This paper presents results from a study examining non-users' values for preserving the Norfolk Broads, a wetland area of recognized international importance, from the threat of saline flooding. Discussion of results centres upon the validity of the CV method for eliciting unbiased estimates of non-use value. A graphical representation of findings from a variety of studies is presented to suggest that such results are logically ordered across goods and valuation scenarios. However, as the paper concludes, logicality and validity are not necessarily synonymous. BATEMAN I. J. et LANGFORD I. H. (1997) La volonte des non-usagers de payer les parcs nationaux:.
The Acupuncture Treatment of Female Infertility with Particular Reference to Egg Quality and Endometrial Receptiveness

Patients undergoing fertility treatment often believe that all that matters when trying to conceive is the number of eggs they have. However, it is actually the quality of these eggs that determines whether an embryo is able to reach the blastocyst stage, implant and continue to develop into a healthy baby. Egg quality is affected by ovarian function and the state of the reproductive environment - for instance the harmonious functioning of the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovarian axis - as well as lifestyle factors and the age of the patient. Tubal or immune factors may further impair a women’s chance to conceive. From the Chinese medical perspective the primary gynaecological functions are governed by the Kidney jing, Liver and Spleen. This paper describes the underlying mechanisms of female fertility from a Western as well as a Chinese medicine perspective, and gives acupuncture treatment protocols that can be modified to the patient’s individual Chinese medicine diagnosis, to enhance the reproductive environment to create optimal conditions for fertilisation, maternal endometrial receptivity and a subsequent healthy pregnancy.
Serum levels of heavy metals in childhood eczema and skin diseases: Friends or foes

Hon K‐LE, Wang SS, Hung ECW, Lam HS, Lui HHK, Chow C‐M, Ching GKW, Fok T‐F, Ng P‐C, Leung T‐F. Serum levels of heavy metals in childhood eczema and skin diseases: Friends or foes. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2010: 21: 831–836. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S
Detection of manipulation of inter-bank overnight rate using Euclidean-based time series cluster analysis

The interbank offered rate (IBOR) is the interest rate at which banks can borrow funds from other banks in the interbank market. It is also used as the benchmark upon which rates or financial contracts for less preferred borrowers are based. In light of the recent London IBOR (LIBOR) manipulation incident, this paper seeks to address the concern that IBOR is entirely controlled by the banks. The paper focuses on the comparison between LIBOR and Singapore IBOR (SIBOR) especially with regards to the behaviour of the interest rate with time. The nature of IBORs is such that the rates submitted by the banks will naturally be similar and should not differ excessively from the market as well as the other banks. We will compare the LIBOR and SIBOR from 2005 to 2011 with respect to the one-month rates on an annual basis. The results of our study support that the SIBOR is not manipulated like LIBOR.
Regression techniques for Portfolio Optimisation using MOSEK

Regression is widely used by practioners across many disciplines. We reformulate the underlying optimisation problem as a second-order conic program providing the flexibility often needed in applications. Using examples from portfolio management and quantitative trading we solve regression problems with and without constraints. Several Python code fragments are given. The code and data are available online at http://www.github. com/tschm/MosekRegression.
Waiting for Another Bhopal Global Policies to Control Toxic Chemical Incidents

The Bhopal chemical disaster of 1984 added the issue of chemical plant safety to the variety of health and environmental harms already associated with the globalization of the production and use of toxic chemicals. This article describes the highlights of international and national responses to the Bhopal disaster by intergovernmental organizations, national regulatory authorities and transnational corporations. It suggests that these policy responses have not succeeded in preventing the continued occurrence of toxic chemical incidents that impact on the health, environment and livelihood of those affected. The article argues that attention needs to be paid to toxic chemical production and use in public health debates, nationally and at the global level.
Product Differentiation and Non-Price Competition

This volume examines the three stages of the supply side of a market: the decision of firms to participate in the market; the selection of specific product characteristics in design, function and quality; and the formulation and execution of pricing and advertising strategies. Focusing on the influence of the product selection stage, Ireland looks at the ways in which consumers' demands for variety affect the oligopoly marketing games. He examines the various strategies adopted by firms to deter potential competitors: advertising, quality competition, or "creaming" the market of those customers willing to pay top dollar. This is an up-to-date treatment of key topics in the new industrial economics.
STATIONARITY TESTS IN GEOGRAPHIC MARKETS: AN APPLICATION TO SOUTH AFRICAN MILK MARKETS

The paper focuses on the delineation of geographic markets in competition analysis, investigating the use of tests of price co-movement in the market definition exercise. To this end, the first part is devoted to a conceptual framework for market definition (adopted from Haldrup (2003 )). Thereafter, a variety of price tests are explored that can be applied within the quantitative part of the framework. Similar to Forni (2004 ), the paper emphasizes the use of stationarity tests (that is, tests for the existence of unit roots) - illustrating their application to a recent competition investigation in South Africa. Copyright (c) 2007 The Author. Journal compilation (c) 2007 Economic Society of South Africa.
Adaptive Governance and Evolving Solutions to Natural Resource Conflicts

New Zealand is facing increasing challenges in managing natural resources (land, freshwater, marine space and air quality) under pressures from domestic (population growth, agricultural intensification, cultural expectations) and international (climate change) sources. These challenges can be described in terms of managing ‘wicked problems’; i.e. problems that may not be understood fully until they have been solved, where stakeholders have different world views and frames for understanding the problem, the constraints affecting the problem and the resources required to solve it change over time, and no complete solution is ever actually found. Adaptive governance addresses wicked problems through a framework to engage stakeholders in a participative process to create a long term vision. The vision must identify competing goals and a process for balancing them over time that acknowledges conflicts cannot always be resolved in a single lasting decision. Circumstances, goals and priorities can all vary over time and by region. The Resource Management Act can be seen as an adaptive governance structure where frameworks for resources such as water may take years to evolve and decades to fully implement. Adaptive management is about delivery through an incremental/experimental approach, limits on the certainty that governments can provide and stakeholders can demand, and flexibility in processes and results. In New Zealand it also requires balancing central government expertise and resources, with local authorities which can reflect local goals and knowledge, but have varying resources and can face quite distinct issues of widely differing severity. It is important to signal the incremental, overlapping, iterative and time-consuming nature of the work involved in developing and implementing adaptive governance and management frameworks. Managing the expectations of those involved as to the nature of the process and their role in it, and the scope and timing of likely outcomes, is key to sustaining participation.
Enterprise Skills for the Economy

Purpose: In response to the emergence of anenterprise economy, government claims that building an enterprise culture isvital. Correspondingly, provision of entrepreneurship education in highereducation has expanded. The paper aims to assess the potential ofentrepreneurship education to develop skills, and of whether students perceivethem as having value within the modern economy. Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws from a longitudinal,collaborative study of students of entrepreneurship in four universities. Usinga questionnaire-based methodology, the paper is based on responses from asample of 519 students. Results include that any increase in graduateentrepreneurship is most likely to be a long-term. Findings: Results also suggest that many students expect to work in new andsmall firms, and that skills developed by entrepreneurship education areapplicable to both waged employment and entrepreneurship. Accordingly,entrepreneurship education seems to have much potential to develop skillsappropriate for the enterprise economy. Research limitations/implications:The research is limited by itsquantitative nature. As the primary purpose is to evaluate attitudes toentrepreneurship and perceptions of the economic environment, further researchshould involve qualitative follow-up, in the form of focus groups and/orlongitudinal case studies. Originality/value: The value of the paper lies in the suggestion thatinvestment in entrepreneurship education is likely to have a positive impactwithin the economy. The long-term impact of an increase in awareness ofentrepreneurship; of the ability to start firms; and an increase in skillstransferable to waged employment within an enterprise-based economy, can not beunderestimated. (publisher's abstract)
New Protagonists in Global Economic Governance: Brazilian Agribusiness at the WTO

The existing international economic order has been heavily shaped by US power and the US has been a key driver of globalisation and neoliberal economic restructuring, prompting speculation about whether the rise of new developing country powers could rupture the current trajectory of neoliberal globalisation. This paper analyses the case of Brazil at the World Trade Organization (WTO), a core institution in global economic governance. In the last decade, Brazil successfully waged two landmark trade disputes against the US and EU and created a coalition of developing countries – the G20 – which brought an end to the dominance of the US and EU at the WTO and made their trade policies a central target of the Doha Round. Brazil's activism has been widely hailed as a major victory for developing countries. However, I argue that rather than challenging the neoliberal agenda of the WTO, Brazil has emerged as one of the most vocal advocates of free market globalisation and the push to expand and liberalise global markets. I show that Brazil's stance has been driven by the rise of its export-oriented agribusiness sector. This case demonstrates that business actors from the Global South are becoming significant new protagonists in global economic governance; they are taking the tools created by the states and corporations of the Global North – in this case, the WTO and its neoliberal discourse – and turning them against their originators. At the same time, their interests are being wrapped in and advanced through a discourse of development and social justice and a strategic mobilisation of the politics of the North-South divide.
Comparison of a Novel, Rapid Chromogenic Biochemical Assay, the Carba NP Test, with the Modified Hodge Test for Detection of Carbapenemase-Producing Gram-Negative Bacilli

ABSTRACT We compared carbapenemase detection among 271 Gram-negative bacilli (of which 131 were carbapenemase producers) using a novel chromogenic rapid test—the Carba NP test (CNP)—and the modified Hodge test (MHT). Sensitivities were comparable (CNP, 100%, versus MHT, 98%; P = 0.08), but CNP was more specific (100% versus 80%; P < 0.0001) and faster.
Privatization, Information and Incentives

In this paper the choice between public and private provision of goods and services is considered. In practice, both modes of operation involve significant delegation of authority, and thus appear quite similar in some respects. The argument here is that the main difference between the two modes concerns the transactions costs faced by the government when attempting to intervene in the delegated production activities. Such intervention is generally less costly under public ownership than under private ownership. The greater ease of intervention under public ownership can have its advantages; but the fact that a promise not to intervene is more credible under private production can also have beneficial incentive effects. The fundamental privatization theorem (analogous to the fundamental theorem of welfare economics) is presented, providing conditions under which government production cannot improve upon private production. The restrictiveness of these conditions is evaluated.
Technique and Theory in Tourism Analysis

It is argued that, in much tourism research, there has been an over-concentration on technique and not enough concentration on tourism itself. The current practice of demand modelling in tourism does not sufficiently take into account some of the particular characteristics of tourism. Important variables and significant dynamics are routinely ignored. The practices of tourism analysis in other areas, such as strategy and time series modelling, face a similar criticism of applying general techniques to tourism data without sufficiently adapting them to important characteristics of tourism. From the argument, the following propositions are put forward: (a) the results from demand models incorporating seasonality and seasonal data will prove to be better guides for policy and strategy than models of annual data; (b) the results from demand models, estimated using weighted least squares or percentage error loss functions, will yield more robust results than the usual ordinary least squares (OLS) models; (c) discrete choice models will come to be preferred as more reliable than aggregated demand models; and (d) structural equations modelling will decline in use as its weaknesses become apparent.
Intraday Lead-Lag Relationship between Stock Index and Stock Index Futures Markets: Evidence from Turkey

In perfectly frictionless and rational markets, spot markets and futures markets should simultaneously reflect new information. However, due to market imperfections, one of these markets may reflect information faster than the other and therefore may lead to the other. This study examines the lead-lag relationship between stock index and stock index futures, in terms of both price and volatility, by using 5 minute data over 2007-2010 period. The findings of this study indicate that a stable long-term relationship between Turkish stock index and stock index futures exists, however stock index futures do not lead stock index and there is a two way interaction between them. Therefore either of the markets is dominant over the other one in the price formation process.
Aging and Work Performance

The effects of age on productivity have been a long-standing concern for employers. A commonly held stereotype is that worker productivity declines with age. However, the available literature regarding occupational performance and age does not support this conjecture. This article provides an overview of the existing literature regarding aging and work and identifies those areas in the current knowledge base where additional research is needed.
Performance analysis of a linear induction motor based on the finite element method

Single-sided Linear Induction Motors (SLIMs) have been widely applied in transportation recently. For its cut-open magnet circuit along moving direction and different width between primary and secondary, it has longitudinal end effect and transversal edge effect, which bring some effluence to its mutual inductance and secondary resistance. Furthermore, SLIM has normal force for its unsymmetrical structure in vertical direction, which is evident in large slip and current region so as to interfere the propulsion control schemes. According to these SLIM traits, this paper based on the finite element method employed by the commercial software ANSOFT has investigated SLIM transient thrust, normal force, air gap flux density distribution, where the thrust is verified by the measurement. The results indicate that the 2D model can provide comparatively reasonable prediction to the SLIM electromagnetic design and control schemes implementation.
Lost human capital from early-onset chronic depression.

OBJECTIVE Chronic depression starts at an early age for many individuals and could affect their accumulation of "human capital" (i.e., education, higher amounts of which can broaden occupational choice and increase earnings potential). The authors examined the impact, by gender, of early- (before age 22) versus late-onset major depressive disorder on educational attainment. They also determined whether the efficacy and sustainability of antidepressant treatments and psychosocial outcomes vary by age at onset and quantified the impact of early- versus late-onset, as well as never-occurring, major depressive disorder on expected lifetime earnings. METHOD The authors used logistic and multivariate regression methods to analyze data from a three-phase, multicenter, double-blind, randomized trial that compared sertraline and imipramine treatment of 531 patients with chronic depression aged 30 years and older. These data were integrated with U.S. Census Bureau data on 1995 earnings by age, educational attainment, and gender. RESULTS Early-onset major depressive disorder adversely affected the educational attainment of women but not of men. No significant difference in treatment responsiveness by age at onset was observed after 12 weeks of acute treatment or, for subjects rated as having responded, after 76 weeks of maintenance treatment. A randomly selected 21-year-old woman with early-onset major depressive disorder in 1995 could expect future annual earnings that were 12%-18% lower than those of a randomly selected 21-year-old woman whose onset of major depressive disorder occurred after age 21 or not at all. CONCLUSIONS Early-onset major depressive disorder causes substantial human capital loss, particularly for women. Detection and effective treatment of early-onset major depressive disorder may have substantial economic benefits.
Hemostatic effects of aprotinin, tranexamic acid and epsilon-aminocaproic acid in primary cardiac surgery.

BACKGROUND The effects of epsilon-aminocaproic acid (EACA) and tranexamic acid (TA) on bleeding and allogeneic transfusions, and the cost of pharmacological and transfusional treatment were compared to aprotinin (AP). METHODS We randomized 210 patients subjected to elective cardiac surgery. Of these, 68 patients received EACA (a bolus of 5 g, an infusion of 2 g/h, and 2.5 g in the priming), 72 patients received TA (a bolus of 1 g, an infusion of 400 mg/h, and 500 mg in the priming), and 70 patients received AP (a bolus of 280 mg, an infusion of 70 mg/h, and 280 mg in the priming). Postoperative blood loss and homologous transfusions were collected and the cost of pharmacological treatment and homologous transfusions were calculated. RESULTS Bleeding but not allogeneic transfusions was significantly higher in the EACA group (467+/-234 versus TA, 311+/-231 versus AP, 283+/-233; p < 0.001). Costs of pharmacological and transfusional treatment were significantly lower in the TA group ($58.10+/-$105.10) versus the EACA group ($100.70+/-$158.60) versus the AP group ($432.60+/-$118.70) (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Compared to AP, TA has the same effects on bleeding and transfusions, but with a significant reduction of costs. Patients treated with EACA showed a significantly higher postoperative bleeding with an increased trend of transfusion requirement.