Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Revisiting Development Disparities across the Indian States: In Quest of Evidence of Resource Curse

Despite a large number of studies going into the issue of income and developmental disparities across states in India, the possibility of resource curse being at the root of some states persistently lagging in development has rarely been probed. The present paper is aimed at filling this void in the literature. Economic common sense and writing of some eminent development economists suggest that regions endowed with resources should be in the advantaged position to grow fast and develop quickly. In reality, however, regions endowed richly with natural resources have often tended to lagâ€“ a phenomenon that has given rise to the resource curse hypothesis. Countries/regions rich in natural resources can be cursed if the easy and abundant resource revenue breeds moral hazards causing institutional weaknesses that allow rent-seeking and other anti-developmental processes to flourish. In the Indian context, persistent lagging behind of the resource-rich states of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Jharkhand, and Bihar hints at resource curse casting a spell over these states. Using panel data on 17 major Indian states at decennial intervals from 1981 to 2011, evidence for probable resource curse has been explored while controlling for some common determinants of development. Results confirm evidence in support of resource curse dragging overall development attainment in most of the resource-rich states. On a positive note, however, it has been found that development attainment across India has advanced progressively, especially in the post-reform decades.
The Role of Government Intervention in Financial Development: Micro‐Evidence from China

This paper distinguishes between different forms of government intervention upon a firm, including the firm&#8217;s tax burden, sales to the government and state shares. We investigate how these types of government intervention affect micro&#8208;financial development. With evidence from China, we confirm that the micro&#8208;financial development is promoted by the firm&#8217;s tax burden and sales to the government but constrained by the firm&#8217;s state shares. The findings remain robust to the endogeneity issue. The findings offer applications for government policies or a firm&#8217;s financing strategies.
Rethinking youth policy model in Europe and its constituents: civic learning and civic engagement

Drawing on the European framework for youth policy, the paper initially explores an idealized model of what governments at their best can do regarding youth policy in Europe, including its objective, core, and means. A critical analysis of the European framework yields a new dimension – internal/external Political Efficacy – which plays a pivotal role as a connector between the core and the means of youth policy. The model of youth policy proposed here is fundamentally underpinned by two means: Civic Learning and Civic Engagement. Lastly, the paper proposes the model of managing a holistic feature of the youth policy.
The brokerage role of small states and territories in global corporate networks

Global economic activity is networked through cross-national linkages between firm headquarters, branches, and subsidiaries. Brokerage emerges as a key territorial function of this network, with some places acting as gateways or intermediaries for flows of global knowledge, information, or trade. This function is particularly salient for small states and territories leveraging the benefits of borrowed size by offering global professional services, warehousing, logistics, shipping, and finance to wealthy nations or high net individuals. Nonetheless, to date our understanding of how small states and territories facilitate wealth accumulation is limited to broad concepts of their role as “gateways” or “brokers. ” Drawing on a typology of brokerage and a network analysis applied to the ties between approximately 700,000 firm headquarter and subsidiary locations of 13 of the world's largest stock exchanges, we explore the brokerage role of small states and territories through case studies of Luxembourg, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Panama. Brokerage is found to play an important role in the economy of all four. We argue that each of these small states and territories is uniquely positioned as a broker in global corporate networks, but that this role differs according to geo-economic and political positionality.
South Asia Economic Focus, Fall 2019 : Making (De)centralization Work

Global GDP growth is decelerating, while trade and industrial production are stagnating. The slowdown has been severe in South Asia, which in recent quarters was no longer the fastest growing region in the world. In most South Asian countries, growth is expected to be below long-run averages this year but there is significant diversity evident in the high frequency data of industrial production. Current account deficits have declined, as is often the case during economic downturns. Inflation remains near target in most countries, but food price inflation is picking up. Growth forecasts for South Asia are revised downward considerably as uncertainty in global markets and a worsening global outlook have become more important drivers of the forecast. The expected modest recovery to 6.3 percent in 2020 and 6.7 percent in 2021 is tentative as forecasts under current circumstances, particularly for investment, are highly uncertain. In many countries across the region, further decentralization is a high policy priority. These policies are part of a global decentralization trend, which aims to improve local service delivery. Empirical evidence of the effectiveness of decentralization is mixed, a result which is often attributed to partial decentralization. Successful development requires both decentralization and centralization at the same time. In the interplay between central and local governments, the allocation of resources plays a crucial role. In South Asia, a lack of geospatial data on expenditure and development outcomes remains a major constraint.
Analysis of Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization Combined Gamma Knife in Treatment of Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Objective To analyze the transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization (TACE) of the Commonwealth Department of gamma knife treatment of advanced liver cancer. Methods 72 patients with advanced liver cancer patients 36 patients were randomly divided into treatment group and control group,36 cases were used TACE combined gamma knife as well as conventional method of TACE treatment. Results in January reviewed CT,tumor shrinkage in patients with the treatment group there were 31 cases,accounting for 86.1% of the control group had 24 cases,accounting for 66.7%. Review Alpha-fetoprotein AFP ,the treatment group AFP value decreased more than 50% of 21,accounting for 58.3%. AFP values of the control group decreased more than 50% of 9,which accounted for 25%. 1-year survival rate of 80.5% in treatment group and control group 58.3%. The treatment group was higher than the control group,differences between the two groups was significant(P0.05). Conclusion TACE combined effect of gamma knife treatment of advanced liver cancer is better than a single TACE treatment.
One Run Leads to Another: Minority Incumbents and the Emergence of Lower Ticket Minority Candidates

The primary determinant of minority office holding is the racial/ethnic composition of the legislative district. Using comprehensive data on the race/ethnicity of state legislative candidates in 2012 and 2014, we find that minority candidates still emerge at lower rates than whites after accounting for district composition. Leveraging information about the overlap between congressional and state legislative districts, we demonstrate that the victories of candidates of color for Congress reduce the coethnic/racial demographic thresholds associated with state legislative candidacy and that the same pattern holds for white incumbents and state legislative candidacies. Once accounting for both the race of congressional incumbents and the racial/ethnic composition of state legislative districts, white, Latino, African American, and Asian American state legislative candidates emerge at similar rates. These results suggest that perceptions of minority candidate viability play a key role in structuring contemporary disparities in who runs for office.
Measuring the Size of the Shadow Economy in 30 Provinces of China Over 1995–2016: The MIMIC Approach

Applying the multiple indicators and multiple causes (MIMIC) approach, the present paper measured the size of the shadow economies in China's provinces over 1995–2016. The results show that the average size of the shadow economy in 30 provinces of China increased from 13.55% in 1995 to 14.39% in 2009, and then decreased to 12.30% in 2016. There are obvious variations in the size of the shadow economies in different districts of China. The average size of the shadow economy is lowest in provinces in the eastern district and highest in the western district. In addition, the causes and consequences of the shadow economies in China's provinces have also been analysed using the MIMIC approach, and the results show that tax burden, complexity of the tax system, intensity of regulation, unemployment, employment in the agricultural sector and economic openness have significant positive effects on China's shadow economy, while the ratio of direct taxes to indirect taxes, fiscal autonomy and income levels have significant negative effects on China's shadow economy. Using the growth rate of energy consumption as the benchmark indicator, the MIMIC analysis shows that the shadow economy has significant positive effects on the development of the official economy and income inequality while having a significant negative effect on the labour participation rate.
Global Factor Returns

Author(s): Viswanathan, Vivek | Advisor(s): Jorion, Philippe | Abstract: The 86 of 97 McLean and Pontiff (2016) factors that can be readily tested internationally deliver higher returns in Developed ex US and yet higher returns in Emerging Markets than in the United States. An equally weighted portfolio of these factors is highly significant in each region and such portfolios in Developed ex US and Emerging Markets earn a significant alpha on their US counterpart. In no region are these factors adequately explained by current models that attempt to explain factor excess returns. These factors are driven by the underlying characteristics as opposed to loadings on risk factors demonstrating that these factors are anomalies, not priced risks. However, there is some evidence that the premia on these anomalies and the characteristics’ ability to predict return are declining over time.
Institutions and the Allocation of Talent: Evidence from Russian Regions

Strong institutions attract talent to productive activities, whereas weak ones raise the appeal of redistribution and rent-seeking. We propose a theory that describes the impact of institutions on occupational choices over a range of abilities, and predicts that the sensitivity of such choices to the quality of institutions rises in talent when the latter increases from low to intermediate levels, and declines thereafter. To test these predictions empirically, we use a unique micro data set describing the choices of fields of studies by newly enrolled university students in Russian regions in 2011-2014. We show that the popularity of sciences and engineering, on one hand, and law and public administration, on the other, are linked to the quality of regional investment climate and other measures of institutional quality in a manner predicted by our theory. This confirms that investments in human capital reflect the quality of institutions, pointing to a mechanism connecting institutions to economic outcomes.
The Extent of Infrastructure Causing Fragmentation in the Hydrocarbon Basin in the Arid and Semi-Arid Zones of Patagonia (Argentina)

Fragmentation is a disruption in the connectivity of landscapes. The aims of this paper are (i) to quantitatively assess the fragmentation rates in three landscape units located in a hydrocarbon basin, and (ii) to model their behavior between 2001 and 2013 using landscape metrics at different scales of resolution. The following metrics were selected using principal component analysis (PCA): The Clumpiness Index (CLUMPY), patch density (PD), perimeter-area fractal dimension (PAFRAC) and effective mesh size (MESH). Results from our investigations pointed out that hydrocarbon activity increased the fragmentation at the sites. In particular, the CLUMPY index increased in all three landscape units, the average of PD decreased from 60 to 14 patches per 100 hectares, whereas the mean of MESH was quite constant, however, due to oil production, it decreased mainly in the coastal valleys. Finally, the PAFRAC also decreased at sites with oil production, being more evident in the plateau and coastal canyons. As a whole, outputs from our analyses clearly pointed out that the monitoring of landscape fragmentation trends in arid and semi-arid zones can be successfully achieved using metrics derived from satellite spectral information.
Participation and transitions in Australia's VET system

2. Participation and transitions in Australia’s VET system Key points • Participation is high, but is also stagnating, with falls mainly in government-funded VET. • Systemic, societal, sectoral and personal factors all impact on participation rates. • Completion rates remain mainly at the lower end of the 40–60% range. • The focus on equity groups is now narrower, in policy priorities and monitoring. • The participation rate of Indigenous people is decreasing. • The number of apprenticeships is static, and traineeships are in sharp decline. • Learner and employer satisfaction with the system is high.
The Constant Caregiver: Work–family Spillover among Men and Women in Nursing

Work–family spillover is a central concept in the work and occupations literature, with prior research detailing its negative outcomes and gendered dimensions. With increased demands for careworkers and more men entering occupations such as nursing, we examine experiences and perceptions of spillover using qualitative data from a diverse sample of 48 US nurses. We find similarities across men and women in terms of exhaustion and stress as well as in anticipating spillover in their careers. Yet, we also find some differences, with men (but not women) highlighting the transfer of emotional capital between work and family. We extend work–family research by broadening the concept of spillover to include its anticipation and the transfer of emotional capital – both aspects that have been previously under-examined. These findings have implications for the retention and support of careworkers and refine the concept of spillover in ways that could apply to various employment sectors.
Blockchains Accesses for Low-Power Embedded Devices using LoRaWAN

We present in this work a Lightweight Transaction Protocol (LTP) for enabling constrained embedded devices’ interaction with multiple types of blockchains via the LoRaWAN communication protocol. The proposed protocol provides the benefit of interacting with multiple blockchains with only 13.5% decrease in battery life. The protocol also includes a gateway module API that connects to blockchains and generic smart contracts to authenticate end devices and store their data. The study points out that, in the worst case, end-device data can be stored in blockchains with a latency of 20.3 seconds for Substrate and 6.8 seconds for the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain.
Application of Natural Language Processing Towards Autonomous Software Testing

The process of creating test cases from requirements written in natural language (NL) requires intensive human efforts and can be tedious, repetitive, and error-prone. Thus, many studies have attempted to automate that process by utilizing Natural Language Processing (NLP) approaches. Furthermore, with the advent of massive language models and transfer learning techniques, people have introduced various advancements in NLP-assisted software testing with promising results. More notably, in recent years, not only have researchers been engrossed in solving the above task, but many companies have also embedded the feature to translate from human language to test cases their products. This paper presents an overview of NLP-assisted solutions being used in both the literature and the software testing industry.
Behavioral Responses to Wealth Taxes: Evidence from Switzerland

We study how declared wealth responds to changes in wealth tax rates. Exploiting rich intranational variation in Switzerland, we find a 1 percentage point drop in a canton’s wealth tax rate raises reported taxable wealth by at least 43 percent after 6 years. Administrative tax records of two cantons with quasi-randomly assigned differential tax reforms suggest that 24 percent of the effect arises from taxpayer mobility and 21 percent from a concurrent rise in housing prices. Savings responses appear unable to explain more than a small fraction of the remainder, suggesting sizable evasion responses in this setting with no third-party reporting of financial wealth. (JEL D91, H24, H26, H31)
Factors Affecting Bone Mineral Density by Dietary Pattern Group for Some Korean College Women

To investigate the effects of dietary patterns on bone mineral density and its biochemical markers among Korean healthy college women for 2 years, 34 female college students were recruited through convenience sampling. Bone mineral density was measured using Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) twice at baseline and two years later. Osteocalcin and parathyroid hormone were measured in fasting serum and N-teleopeptides of type collagen (NTx) in urine. Dietary intake was assessed by 24-hour recall method 8 times with average 4-month interval. Dietary patterns with percent energy of each food group using cluster analysis were classified into two groups. The first cluster (n = 16) was characterized with high consumption of bread, snack, fast foods, beverage and considerable of rice so it was determined as 'Modified dietary pattern group'. The second cluster was characterized with high consumption of rice and kimchi so determined as 'Traditional dietary pattern group'. There were no significant difference of age, menarcheal age, body mass index but percent of body fat by pattern groups. The traditional group showed higher value of bone mineral density among lumber spine and all femur sites at baseline and 2 years later but it was not significant after adjusted for percent of body fat. Serum osteocalcin and urine NTx was higher among the traditional group at baseline than the modified group. There were similar proportions of carbohydrate:fat:protein between groups but significantly higher intake of protein, iron, vitamin A among the traditional group. In conclusion, there were two distinctive dietary patterns among Korean college women. There was difference of bone mineral density and its biochemical markers between two patterns. Further research would be necessary to explore the relationship between dietary patterns and health risks for larger-sized and various populations.
Digital media and perceptions of the United States among the Russian elite, 2004–2016

ABSTRACT This paper seeks to explain why Russian elites’ exposure to online media for their news contributed to stronger pro-American attitudes than reliance on traditional media. Two causal mechanisms are tested using a repeated cross-section of elite surveys. One operates at the level of attitudes and is suggested by the field of political communication; the other emerges from the literature on cognitive psychology and operates at the level of beliefs by providing a cognitive map through which individuals process information and reach conclusions. I find that both mechanisms are relevant, with framing effects being particularly important to hardliners’ perceptions of security threats.
Contagion of Entrepreneurial Passion: Effects on Employee Outcomes

This article analyzes the contagion process of entrepreneurial passion and its effects on employee outcomes. We develop a mediation model showing entrepreneurs’ entrepreneurial passion affects an employee passion response, which in turn affects employee outcomes. We draw on a dual-process perspective to analyze how entrepreneurs’ emotional and identity displays interact to create employees’ perceptions of entrepreneurs’ passion, and question whether the contagion effect uniformly works for all employees. Our empirical studies, one field study and one experiment, provide empirical support for a contagion effect of entrepreneurial passion, and show the particularities of the effects of entrepreneurs’ passion on employee outcomes.
THE SPREAD OF KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS: A COMPARISON OF THE BELGIAN AND ITALIAN EXPERIENCES (1945–1970)

This paper analyzes the spread of economic ideas based on a case study of the diffusion of Keynesian economics in two continental European countries: Belgium and Italy. The spread of ideas is often considered as an elusive topic. As remarked by Colander and Coats (1989, p. 1), ‘‘The concepts are vague, the institutions hazy, and the process is messy. Studying the spread of ideas is like studying subatomic particles with half-lives of nanoseconds. ’’ The aim of this case study is to gain deeper insight into the factors determining the dissemination of economic ideas, distinguishing also between the academic world and economic policy-making. Keynesian economics dominated economic thought and macroeconomic policymaking in the 1950s and 1960s. However, the diffusion of Keynesian economics has been uneven (Coats 1996, Hall 1989). Belgium and Italy were countries were Keynesian economics gained ground relatively late, not only in comparison with the United Kingdom or the United States, but also compared to continental European countries like the Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries, or France. This comes clearly to the fore in the Economic Survey of Europe 1949 of the Economic Commission for Europe, which criticized Belgium and Italy, together with Germany, for following deflationary policies (Baffi 1985, p. 134). In Germany, contrary to Belgium and Italy, Keynesian economics never gained the same influence as in other countries (Allen 1989). Several factors played a role herein, including Nazism and the massive emigration of (left wing) economists in the 1930s (Hagemann and Krohn 1999).