Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Substance and Form Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards and Financial Statement Comparability: Evidence From South Africa

We investigate whether the comparability of financial statements changes after a switch from International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in substance (i.e., content of IFRS) to IFRS in both substance and form (i.e., IFRS as issued by the IASB). While the substance of the accounting standards remains the same, form is added to the adoption in that it is now formally referred to as “IFRS as issued by the IASB. ” We use data from South Africa, a country whose local generally accepted accounting practices (GAAP) was the same, word-for-word, as IFRS prior to the adoption of IFRS as issued by the IASB in 2005. We compare South African firms with firms in other countries, divided into two groups: mandatory IFRS adopters and non-adopters. We find evidence of increased comparability of financial statements of South African firms with both adopters and non-adopters. Furthermore, we find a global increase in the comparability of firms’ financial statements, consistent with market changes unrelated to IFRS adoption. However, an incremental increase in the comparability of financial statements of South African firms with the adoption of IFRS relative to non-adopting firms is consistent with benefits from South Africa’s addition of form to its existing in-substance adoption of IFRS. This increased comparability is also consistent with the benefits observed in the accounting amounts of firms from other adopting countries becoming more comparable with those of South African firms.
Cross-Country Outliers

We investigate whether outliers in cross-country samples and the common methods we use to address them affect the trustworthiness of our empirical results. Our analysis begins by documenting recent international business (IB) research practices in the identification and treatment of outliers. We then explore the bias and error from using sample-wide univariate outlier detection and treatment methods in studies that use cross-country datasets. Additional analysis, using cross-country data on profitability, executive compensation, and R&amp;D, demonstrates the magnitude of the bias and error from common outlier approaches in IB research. We propose outlier mitigation strategies at both the sample and country levels.
Fraud Detection by a Multinomial Model: Separating Honesty from Unobserved Fraud

In this paper we investigate the EM-estimator of the model by Caudill et al. (2005). The purpose of the model is to identify items, e.g. individuals or companies, that are wrongly classified as honest; an example of this is the detection of tax evasion. Normally, we observe two groups of items, labeled fraudulent and honest, but suspect that many of the observationally honest items are, in fact, fraudulent. The items observed as honest are therefore divided into two unobserved groups, honestH, representing the truly honest, and honestF, representing the items that are observed as honest, but that are actually fraudulent. By using a multinomial logit model and assuming commonality between the observed fraudulent and the unobserved honestF, Caudill et al. (2005) present a method that uses the EM-algorithm to separate them. By means of a Monte Carlo study, we investigate how well the method performs, and under what circumstances. We also study how well bootstrapped standard errors estimates the standard deviation of the parameter estimators.
Migration and Development: A Comprehensive Literature Review

The aim of this paper is to present in a complete way the kernel of such a production. People migrate and this decision is sometimes permanent, but there are links with the country of origin that stand up to time and distances. With respect to this, the so called economic diaspora well depicts the broad transnationalism that has established as a consequence of the increasing amount of money migrants have been sending back home. The data collected and the estimates fully agree on this positive trend but the outlines of these peculiar private capital flows are still controversial. This is due to three aspects each section of this work tries to address. The first part analyses those remittances’ features on which the results of the econometric studies are still causing discussion: stability, cyclicality and sustainability. The second one deals with the reasons why people do remit, concluding that the world is more balanced than a clear-cut division between behavioural and economic motives. Finally, the third one tries to go through the relationship between remittances and development, topic on which lots of studies have been conducted but that is still far from a comprehensive and convincing conclusion.
Testing of High-Resolution SI and GE Analyzers for X-Ray Raman Scattering and X-Ray Emission Spectroscopy

A project at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) is currently underway for the building of a new multi-crystal x-ray spectrometer that will be used to probe the fundamental structures of light elements, including water, as well as 3d transition metals, such as metalloproteins, in dilute systems. Experimentation for determining the focal lengths for the prospective high-resolution, spherically-curved silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge) analyzers for the instrument and the energy resolutions at their respective focal points is described. The focal lengths of the Si and Ge analyzers being sampled were found by minimizing the focal size made from a diffused helium-neon (HeNe) gas laser operating at 632 nm (0.95 meV). Afterwards, the energy resolutions were determined by using synchrotron radiation (SR), in the range from 6-16 keV energies. The experiments were performed at Beamline 10-2 at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL), a division of SLAC. This data, along with the energies of the incident beams, was used to determine which samples are most effective at focusing x-rays to the highest spatial and energy resolution. Sample Si (440)A, with a focal length of 1015.2 mm, had the best energy resolution. Furthermore, a new multi-crystal goniometer was tested and commissioned. As part more » of this work, the device was prealigned into Rowland geometry, in order to facilitate the process of finding a single high-energy resolution x-ray focus for all 7 analyzers. « less
C-Sharpe Optimal Portfolio

The C-Sharpe ratio is defined as the amount of expected excess return per unit of risk, where the risk is given by the CVaR dispersion measure (not to be confused with the CVaR risk measure). Then, C-Sharpe optimal portfolio is the portfolio with the largest C-Sharpe ratio. It can be identified as the tangency CVaR efficient portfolio. We have shown that the C-Sharpe optimal portfolio weights can be evaluated by solving a straightforward linear programming (LP) problem. Numerical examples were carried out for a quarterly re-balanced portfolio of ETF's with long-only positions. The C-Sharpe optimal strategies tend to outperform, {\it i.e.} shallower draw-downs and higher rates of return, a similar strategy based on the mean-variance optimal portfolio with the largest Sharpe ratio. C-Sharpe optimal portfolio based strategies may be the preferred choice for an investor seeking some protection during draw-down events and reasonably high rates of return.
Are Information-Gathering and Producing Complements or Substitutes?

We aim at some simple theoretical underpinnings for the study of a complex empirical question studied by labor economists and others: does Information-technology improvement lead to occupational shifts -- toward "information workers" and away from other occupations -- and to changes in the productivity of non-information workers? In our simple model there is a Producer, whose payoff depends on a production quantity and an unknown state of the world, and an Information-gatherer (IG) who expends effort to learn more about the unknown state. The IG's effort yields a signal which is conveyed to the Producer. The Producer uses the signal to revise prior beliefs about the state and uses the posterior to make an expected-payoff-maximizing quantity choice. Our central aim is to find conditions on the IG and the Producer under which more IG effort leads to a larger average production quantity (Complements) and conditions under which it leads to a smaller average quantity (Substitutes). For each of the IG's possible efforts there is an information structure, which specifies a signal distribution for every state and (for a given prior) a posterior state distribution for every signal. We start by considering a Blackwell IG. For such an IG, the possible structures can be ranked so that a higher-ranking structure is more useful to every Producer, no matter what the prior and the payoff function may be. For the Blackwell IGs whom we consider, a higher-ranking structure is reasonably interpreted as a higher-effort structure. The Blackwell theorems state that one structure ranks above another if and only if the expected value (over the possible signals) of any convex function on the posteriors is not less for the higher-ranked structure. So we have Complements (Substitutes) if the Producer's best quantity is indeed a convex (concave) function of the posteriors. That gives us Complements/Substitutes results for a variety of Producers. We then turn to a non-Blackwell IG who partitions the state set into n equal-probability intervals. The IG can choose any positive integer n and n is the effort measure. We recapture some of the results from the Blackwell-IG case, but far different techniques are needed, since the Blackwell theorems cannot be used.
A Model of Technology Acceptance and Trust That Influences Attitudes and Affects the Intention To Use Samsung Pay in Thailand

The objective of this research was to study a model of technology acceptance and trust that influences attitudes and affects the intention to use Samsung Pay. The samples selected for this research were 400 credit card users who used Samsung Pay. The self-administered questionnaire was used as the research instrument. Statistics used for data analysis were Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. The result showed that most of the respondents were female, aged between 28 and 5 years old, with a bachelor’s degree, average monthly income 30,001-50,000 baht as a private company employee, and had a single status. The level of technology acceptance, perceived usefulness was the most average. The second was the perceived ease of use. The acceptance level was 6.50 and 6.20 respectively. For the level of trust, benevolence was the most average, followed by orientation to resolve, credibility, and integrity. The trust level was 6.75, 6.57, 6.24, and 6.04 respectively. The results of the hypotheses testing showed that the acceptance of technology in terms of perceived usefulness and trust in terms of credibility, integrity, and benevolence have influences on attitudes to use Samsung Pay and attitudes affect the decision to use Samsung Pay at the significant level of 0.05.
The Impact of Computerised Accounting Information System on the Performance of the Banking Industry in Nigeria

The study examined the impact of computerized Accounting Information System (AIS) on the performance of banks in Nigeria. The objective of this research study is to evaluate the impact of computerized (AIS) on the efficiency of bank operations, employee performance, customer satisfaction, service delivery and barriers to efficient computerized (AIS) within a bank in Nigeria. The research employed survey research design and stratified sampling technique to achieve the overall objective of the study. The target population in this study comprises of staff and customers of United Bank for African Plc. In the course of the study, two sets of questionnaire were administered, one set to evaluate customer satisfaction, service delivery quality and bank operation/performance and the other set to examine the effect of information technology innovations deployment on banks’ employee performance. The data obtained were analyzed using Means, Percentile Average, and Chi-Square. In assessing the use of new technology innovations and the performance of bank employees, over 65% of respondents strongly agreed that new technology improved the bank employee performance. Also, 73% of the total respondents strongly agreed that there has been a remarkable improvement in banking operations as a result of the computerized (AIS). The study also identified factors that pose challenges to the effective application of ICT in the banking sector such as Internet connectivity, skilled manpower; cybercrime; installation and maintenance cost; affordability of technology innovations. The study concluded that deployment of technology innovations has greatly improved the efficiency of bank operations and employees productivity; increased service delivery and banks return on equity/ profitability.
On the Private and Social Value of Consumer Data in Vertically-Integrated Platform Markets

We characterize and compare the private and social incentives to collect consumer data by a vertically-integrated online intermediary who competes with third-party sellers listed on its platform and is required by regulation to share with rivals all the information it gathers. With linear intermediation fees and price competition, the intermediary over-invests in accuracy compared to the social optimum when the intra-platform competition is sufficiently weak and when demand is not too responsive to quality. By contrast, the intermediary tends to under-invest in accuracy when the intra-platform competition is strong enough, and demand is sufficiently responsive to quality. With quantity competition, the intermediary always over-invests in accuracy. Importantly, when consumers exhibit privacy concerns, the over-investment problem worsens, whereas the under-investment problem mitigates. We also investigate the impact of alternative (non-linear) contractual arrangements.
Proprietary Information Cost of Contracting with the Government

We argue that contracting with the federal government involves significant proprietary information cost due to regulations requiring contractors to provide proprietary information, which may become available to outsiders via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. We provide evidence by showing that firms become more willing to bid for government contracts after a recent Supreme Court ruling on FOIA (Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media) that improved information protection for contractors and that this effect strengthens when the contracts entail higher proprietary information cost for contractors. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text. JEL Classifications: K4; M4.
In Situ Encapsulation of Hydrogen Peroxide in a Silica Matrix in the Presence of Divalent Metal Ions (Mg2+ and Ca2+)

Encapsulating hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in silica hydrogels is a simple, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective method that is easy to scale up. Sodium silicate is the most commonly used aqueous silicate in sol–gel chemistry. Previously, we studied the effects of Na+ and K+ ions in the starting silicate precursor on the structure of hydrogels and the stability of entrapped H2O2. In the present study, we present the results obtained when divalent ions, Mg2+ and Ca2+, were introduced in the sol. The use of divalent metal ions resulted in hydrogel structures that are different from those previously obtained. H2O2 stability increased with the addition of Mg2+ and Ca2+ ions and with decreasing pH. At low pH values, 93% of the peroxide was retained at the end of 10 days with Mg2+-containing hydrogels, compared to 91% retention with Ca2+-containing hydrogels, 87% retention with K+-containing hydrogels, and 68% retention with a unmodified sodium silicate precursor. The results show that the structure of the .
Does Firms’ Education, Social and Health Initiatives Pays: Evidence from Stock Price Performance with the Mediating Role of Financial Performance of Pakistani Firms

People tend to be more aware of environmental and social issues, and thus tend to have a soft corner for firms that include such issues as part of their corporate strategy. This has led to heightened demand for financial mechanisms that enhance responsible business practice. Shareholders, being the ultimate decision-maker also have a favorable attitude towards CSR activities, but would that reflects in prices is still an open question. This study attempt to find the answer by exploring the effect of Corporate social performance (CSP) on market performance. Previous literature establish the fact that it does have a favorable effect on the price, but how they affect, remained unresolved. For this we propose a theoretical framework, hypothesizing that CSR would increase financial performance by achieving greater operational efficiency through the eco-friendly procedure, and through enhancing customer loyalty. These factors along with a favorable response from shareholders would positively affect the stock price. For analysis, 5-year data (2014-18) was gathered for 30 companies registered in PSX. CSP was measured through environmental, social, and health dimensions. The CSP index was created using content analysis of annual reports. The effect of CSP along with other controlled variables like firms size, leverage, and age directly on market performance (measured through price, and Tobin q), as well as indirectly through enhancing financial performance (measure through ROA, ROE, and EPS). The results suggested that environmental and health disclosure have a direct, positive, and significant effect on prices. However, environmental disclosure also affects price indirectly through better financial performance (FP). Leverage affect both price and financial performance negatively, whereas size effect positively. FP also has a significant positive effect on both price and Tobin Q as expected. Whereas age has an inverse effect on price. These findings imply that responsible business practices can greatly enhance firms’ performance.
Impact of Vertical Integration and Different Levels of Corporate Governance in Electricity Sector Companies’ Profitability

<b>Portuguese Abstract:</b> O artigo tem como objetivo analisar a influência que a implantação de práticas de governança corporativa e a integração vertical possuem sobre a lucratividade de empresas do setor de energia elétrica do mercado brasileiro. A revisão teórica tomou como base a Teoria da Agência e Teoria de Custos de Transação. Foram investigadas 31 empresas do setor de energia elétrica do Brasil, entre 2002 e 2017, as quais foram analisadas por meio de uma regressão multivariada com mínimos quadrados generalizados. Os resultados apontam que as empresas que possuem mais etapas da cadeia produtiva inseridas na sua atividade econômica apresentam uma pior lucratividade. No que diz respeito à governança corporativa, observou-se um incremento rentável em alguns níveis (Novo Mercado e N1). Além disso, empresas controladas majoritariamente pela iniciativa privada apresentaram uma melhor lucratividade do que as empresas estatais. Na amostra utilizada, não foi observado diferença significativa entre o desempenho de empresas de tamanhos diferentes. <br><br><b>English Abstract:</b> This article aims to analyze the influence of corporate governance practices and vertical integration over Brazilian electricity sector companies’ profitability. The theoretical revision was based on the Agency Theory and Transaction Costs Theory. 31 companies in the electric energy sector were studied, between 2002 and 2017. They were analyzed using a multivariate regression with random effects. The results point that companies with more steps of the productive chain have a profitability advantage. About corporate governance level, it has been observed only an increase in the highest level (Novo Mercado). In the chosen sample, there is no difference between the performance of state-owned enterprises and the private companies.
EFFECT OF MAIZE SUCCESSION WITH SOME WINTER CROPS ON SOIL NPK AND ORGANIC MATTER

The research was carried out to estimate the effect of winter crops succession with maize on soil organic matter and N.P.K, at Grdarasha Agricultural Research Station, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, Salahaddin University, Erbil, Kurdistan region, throughout three seasons of 2016-2017 (two fall seasons and a winter season). During both fall seasons, the entire field was planted with maize and at winter season 2016-2017, three winter crops namely canola, chickpea and wheat were chosen as well as a fallow plot in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The results of statistical analysis indicated that each of the winter crops performed their independent impacts on soil components with different quantity, in general, first season maize exhibited the most soil elements depletion role significantly, followed by wheat and chickpea. For instance, the lowest significant value of (soil organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus) observed after each of the named crops with (0.35%, 0.27%, 2.50 mg kg), (0.57%, 0.14%, 1.67 mg kg) and (0.83%, 0.17%, 2.00 mg kg) respectively, whereas potassium exhibited non-significant variations between the treatments. Regarding the highest values, maize of the third season accomplished the maximum significant value for organic matter with (1.78, 1.04, 1.09 and 1.23%) related to the huge vegetative portion of maize. Involving soil N 1.33% was the biggest significant value after canola, while the highest phosphorus significant value notice after maize that was subsequent to canola and wheat with 5.75 mg kg.
Food Bank Donations and Retail Pricing

Food banks are an important part of the food-retailing setting. In 2018, food banks delivered a total of 1.4 billion pounds of donated food to 51.4 million clients. Perhaps more importantly, food banks serve as an important outlet for food that would otherwise be discarded in land-fills, or composted. Despite the economic and social importance of food banks, we know very little of their economic role in food distribution. In this article, we explain the existence of food banks as an essential mechanism to the food-retailing function, permitting food retailers to price-discriminate between high-valuation consumers who visit their stores, and low-valuation consumers who do not. Donating to food banks allows retailers to avoid destructive promotions for fresh products, provide an outlet for over-ordering to prevent stock-outs, and generates valuable tax write-offs. We show how secondary markets for perishable food products improve profitability, and we test the implications of our model using a unique data set of perishable food sales. We find that retailers that take advantage of secondary markets are more profitable than those that do not. Our findings explain the co-existence of traditional food retailers, and food banks.