Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Is More Always Merrier? A Cloud-Based Architecture to Procure Impressions from Multiple Ad-Exchanges

We consider an ad-firm that acts on behalf of advertisers to execute mobile, in-app, ad campaigns. The firm commits to provide an advertiser a specified number of ad placements (impressions) on mobile apps, usually in a specified location, and within a specified time horizon. The supply for ad space arrives in real-time – in the form of bid-requests from one or more mobile ad-exchanges. The ad-firm needs to bid on each impression in such a way that the goals of several on-going campaigns are met at minimum cost. <br><br>The ad-firm needs simultaneously executes multiple campaigns, and gets its supply (for ad space, or impressions) from multiple mobile ad-exchanges. By working with more than one ad-exchange, the direct cost of procuring the necessary impressions can be lowered. However, this lower cost needs to be balanced with the cost of the additional computing resources needed to work with multiple mobile ad-exchanges, as well as the (possible) extra cost of meeting the minimum spend (or participation fee) imposed by each ad-exchange. <br><br>In this study, we propose a cloud-based architecture to procure impressions for an ad-firm. There are two key decisions that the firm needs to make. First, it needs to select the set of mobile ad-exchanges to obtain its supply. Each mobile ad-exchange is characterized by specific supply uncertainties, location dependent win-curves, and a participation fee. Second, for each ad-exchange and location, the ad-firm needs to determine its bidding policy, i.e., how much to bid for each bid-request. We show that the proposed near-optimal bidding strategy – the strategy to bid at each exchange-location combination – is state independent. <br><br>We first analyze a special case with identical mobile ad-exchanges and show that, depending on the particular parameter setting, the near-optimal number of ad-exchanges and the near-optimal bid amount can be weak complements or substitutes. We next solve the general problem of selecting among multiple non-identical ad exchanges. <br><br>Finally, we propose a supply flexibility architecture that can further lower procurement costs. The ideas of this paper are applied to a real problem and the savings from our approach (about 33% lower cost) are demonstrated.
Effective Management Decision Making and Operational Effectiveness in Nigeria

This study sought to evaluate the imperatives of effective management decision making on operational effectiveness in Nigeria. Despite different models of decision making on effective management decision incorporates problem identification; data gathering, communication, ethical standards, management commitment and implementation. There is evidence in the literature of operational failures due to lack of ethical standards in management decision making as well as credible evidence to support the hypothesis that effective management decision making is critical to enterprise survival. The exploratory research method was used for the study. Data were generated through primary and secondary sources. Through data analysis it was found that effective management decision making has significant positive relationship with operational effectiveness. On the basis of this result, it was among others, suggested that data about important decisions should be communicated to top management by the company to enhance the efficacy of management decisions. <br>
CEO Compensation Incentives and Playing It Safe: Evidence from FAS 123R

Abstract This article uses FAS 123R regulation to examine how reduction in CEO compensation incentives affects managerial “playing it safe” behavior. Using proxies reflecting deliberate managerial efforts to change firm risk, difference-in-difference tests show that affected firms drastically reduce both systematic and idiosyncratic risks, leading to an 8% decline in total firm risk. These reductions in risk are achieved by shifting to safer, but low-Q, segments while closing the riskier ones, without significant changes in investment levels. Our findings suggest that decrease in risk-taking incentives provided by option compensation, when not compensated for by alternative incentives or governance mechanisms, exacerbates risk-related agency problem.
How Competitive Are Income Annuity Providers Over Time?

The 2019 SECURE Act provides safe harbor protections to employers who evaluate the costs of providing guaranteed income including gathering information on competing providers. Annuities can be more difficult to evaluate than mutual funds because annuity expenses can be opaque, financial strength matters, and insurer competitiveness can change over time. We find significant variation in the payout rates across providers over time. While the payout rankings of annuity companies (e.g., best to worst) are fairly sticky over the short-term, over the full period of the analysis the correlation declines effectively to zero (versus the initial rankings). This suggests individuals or institutions who choose a single annuity provider based on income payout should revisit the decision regularly to ensure the quotes are still competitive. Companies for which immediate annuities are a higher fraction of total sales tend to rank higher and remain so more persistently over time.
Information Asymmetry, Rents, and Cost Risk Allocation: An Investigation of the BMW Supply Chain

This paper studies a dynamic procurement process used by many European automakers and BMW in particular. An automaker (she) must procure components from an upstream supplier (him) to assemble cars in a given production period. Demand for vehicles is stochastic, and retail prices are endogenous. The automaker may or may not be privy to the supplier's raw material product cost, which is also stochastic. In the former case, we say that information is symmetric; in the latter case, information is asymmetric. (Existing work in this area is limited to static models with deterministic demand and symmetric information.) The contracts BMW uses are the material-plus-surcharge (MPS) and the fixed price contract (FP). In that environment, we explain how to choose between the contracts that BMW uses currently, and we identify a new, optimal contract for the asymmetric case that would net the automaker an additional profit boost. We conclude by assessing the empirical support for our predictions using a unique data set of contractual arrangements provided to us by BMW. Our analysis sharpens our understanding of contract choice in dynamic procurement settings and identifies a list of key factors in making such choices.
Wetlands in Brazil, Potential Source of Energy Biomass? Evaluating the Produced Cyperus Giganteu Pruning Material

The objective of this study was the fully characterization of the pruning wastes from macrophyte Cyperus giganteus from tertiary sewage treatment of Wastewater Treatment Plant, Ponte dos Leites, located in Araruama, RJ, Brazil. Such analyses aimed at the systematic evaluation of the feasibility of using the pruning material as an energy input. To reach the objectives, the macrophytes were submitted to experimental analyses of their physical properties (Specific density: 0.44-0.77 g.cm -3 , Bulk density: 0.08-0.09 g.cm -3 , among others characteristics), chemical and immediate analysis, and thermal analysis. The results of thermal behavior characterized the biomass as a viable energy source (High Heat Value 14-16 MJ.kg -1 ). Focused in its pre-treatment for energy use, C. giganteus different samples fractions analyses confirmed that the molecular structures of the macrophyte (Lignin: 17.32-26.83 wt%, Cellulose: 27.84-32.65 wt%, Hemicellulose: 30.09-31.46 wt%; depending on the part of the plant) affect the mechanisms of thermal decomposition. Pyrolysis processing yields vary from 83.43 to 75.91%. This shows the effectiveness of the technique adopted in the transformation of the analyzed vegetal residues into raw materials for energy generation, evidencing the energy potential of the biomass and, confirming the use of these as raw materials in thermo-conversion processes.
What Every Investor Should Know About Commodities, Part I: Univariate Return Analysis

In this paper we study the univariate return properties of a large variety of commodity futures. Our analysis shows that the volatility of commodity futures is comparable to that of US large cap stocks. Yet, with the exception of energy, a consistently positive risk premium is lacking in commodity futures. We also find that for many commodities, futures returns and volatility can vary considerably over different phases of the business cycle, under different monetary conditions as well as with the shape of the futures curve. Skewness in commodity futures returns is largely insignificant, whereas kurtosis is significantly positive and comparable to that of US large cap stocks. In almost all commodities we find significant degrees of autocorrelation, which affects the properties of longer horizon returns.
Konsekvenser av konkurrensutsatt statlig finansiering av universitet och högskolor (Consequences of Competitive Government Funding of Universities)

<b>Swedish Abstract:</b> Lärosätenas budgetar utgörs alltmer av statlig konkurrensutsatt finansiering medan de fasta anslagen minskar. Motivet är att staten vill höja forskningskvaliteten, skapa internationellt konkurrenskraftiga universitet och styra in forskningen på samhällsnyttiga områden. Fördelarna är att kostnadseffektiviteten, incitamenten för att prestera bra forskning, universitetens flexibilitet, den statliga överblicken och universitetens incitament att assistera vid kommersialisering ökar. Ansökningar är dock tidskrävande både för utvärderare och forskare, men framför allt missgynnas långsiktig och riskfylld forskning. Ökad konkurrens gynnar stora och väletablerade universitet. Skalekonomier tycks finnas för undervisning och administration på universitetsnivå, men inte för forskning. Däremot finns det en minimieffektiv storlek för forskningsgrupper. <br><br><b>English Abstract:</b> The budgets of the higher education institutions consist increasingly of government competitive financing, while the fixed base funding decreases. The motive is that the government wants to raise the quality of research, create internationally competitive universities and steer research in socially beneficial areas. The advantages are that cost efficiency, the incentives to perform high-quality research, the universities' flexibility, the state overview and the universities' incentives to assist in commercialization increase. However, applications are time-consuming for both evaluators and researchers, but above all, long-term and risky research is disadvantaged. Increased competition benefits large and well-established universities. Economies of scale seem to exist for teaching and administration at the university level, but not for research. However, there is a minimum effective size for research groups.
Warehouse and Distribution Management of National Food Authority (NFA) Rice in the Philippines: Best Practices

This study aims to assess, establish, or strengthen best practices in warehousing and distribution processes of the National Food Authority (NFA) rice. Good Warehouse and Distribution system includes protection from insects, rodents and birds, ease of loading and unloading, efficient use of space, ease of maintenance and management, and prevention of moisture re-entering the grain after drying. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) mentioned in a Journal dated July 2017 that 25 to 50 percent of the total grain value (Quantity and Quality) was lost between harvest and consumption in developing countries. Proper storage is vital to the stability of the country’s grain supply. To achieve this end-goal, good warehouse management must be pursued. The National Food Authority (NFA) is one of the most important policy instrumentalities of the Philippine Government with respect to Agricultural price policy and Food security. The study used a combination of quantitative and qualitative design and methodological that obtained credible evidence and conclusion achieved. Quantitative data were collected through the use of structured questionnaire survey between variables as attested by Saunders et al. (2010) Qualitative data, on the other hand, were gathered through the open interview questions with the respondents to acquire a detailed and comprehensive data about sustainability practices in the supply chain management of NFA rice. The result of the study shows that warehouses whether where it is located, Region III or Region XIII and what type, Owned or Lease do not have a Relative Humidity monitoring device. This device is important in monitoring the moisture content of the warehouse. Maintaining a trucker’s equipment checklist are industry practice. It is important to avert any delays that might happen in the distribution of rice.
Bond Risk’s Role in the Equity Risk-Return Tradeoff

Recent research finds no appreciable or reliable linear relation between VIX and the equity premium, but instead suggests a nonlinear linkage. We reexamine this risk-return issue in a multi-risk framework with VIX and T-bond risk (MOVE). We find that the partial relation between MOVE and the equity premium varies with economic conditions in a manner consistent with theory and recent evidence, especially becoming more negative in late 1997. Accounting for this economic variation uncovers a positive linear relation between VIX and the equity premium, in a partial sense. Our results are robustly evident in alternative specifications and in subperiod analysis.
Automatic classification of music based on the correlation between mood, linguistic and audio features

The emergence of the music in recent times has been enviable. Some people consider music to be an integral part of their regular lives, while others sometimes even consider music to be some divine inspiration setting the mood for them for the rest of the day. For such people, a well-trimmed precise playlist of the songs that they would love to listen to, based on genre or mood of the songs, is priceless. Genre of an individual song is very much available, as that information is mostly provided within the song, but getting to judge the mood of the song is much more of a challenge. If it is a challenge itself for one distinct song, then one can easily imagine the hassle that a person faces when selecting a playlist of songs from a huge library of music. This ultimately gives rise to the importance of the classification of music based on the mood of the individual songs. This paper establishes such a method, which ultimately works with a combination of features, such as the linguistic and audio features of a song to classify a song according to the mood the song represents or is appropriate for. These features are then used in conjunction with several metrics to find out their relevance or relationships and measured for validation purposes. Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res. 51(1) , 55-60, 2016
The Promise & Perils of Plain English Mutual Fund Disclosures

We examine mutual funds’ compliance with the SEC’s ‘plain English’ rules promising to make disclosures accessible to ordinary investors through short and easy-to-read statements. We find that summary prospectus (497K) risk sections have nearly doubled in size over the last decade. Also, both risk and strategy sections are hard to read. Next, we explore if fund disclosure attributes signal information about fund performance, even in the absence of price discovery. Using a two-way fixed effect regression analysis with an interaction term, we show a relationship between plain English attributes and fund returns and volatility. Easy-to-read principal risk sections are associated with higher fund returns and volatility, but we find the opposite with investment strategy sections. We also explore whether readability effects persist in funds with high derivative word counts, a proxy for strategic and semantic complexity. We link the different information signals between the two sections to content and regulatory differences. Our findings highlight enforcement opportunities for the SEC.
Earnings Preannouncements

Using a database provided by First Call Corporation, we examine the factors influencing whether a firm voluntarily accelerates the mandatory release of actual earnings via a "preannouncement. " We find that firms are more likely to preannounce earnings if the consensus of analysts' forecasts is very different from actual earnings, if the dispersion in these forecasts is high, or if the firm has negative news. Further, we document that there is a systematic pattern in the amount managers provide in the preannouncement. On average, firms with positive news only release some of this news at the preannouncement date, while firms with negative news tend to release all of this news at the preannouncement date. We also document that the decision to preannounce magnifies the stock price reaction to earnings surprises. Compared to the control sample, firms that preannounce good (bad) news experience a greater positive (negative) excess return from the preannouncement date to the earnings announcement date. Finally, we investigate whether the market efficiently incorporates the relation between the sign of the news at the preannouncement date and the sign of the news at the earnings announcement date. Buying (shorting) those stocks with the most positive (negative) news at the preannouncement date yields an excess return of approximately 8% over 27 calendar days. This profitable zero-investment trading strategy indicates that the market does not efficiently react to preannouncements.
Default Risk, Shareholder Advantage and Stock Returns

This paper examines the relationship between default probability and stock returns. Using the Expected Default Frequency (EDF) of Moody's KMV, we document that higher default probabilities are not associated with higher expected stock returns. Within a model of bargaining between equity-holders and debt-holders in default, we show that the relationship between default probability and equity return is (i) upward sloping for firms where shareholders can extract little benefits from renegotiation (low shareholder advantage) and (ii) humped and downward sloping for firms with high shareholder advantage. This dichotomy implies that distressed firms with stronger shareholder advantage should exhibit lower expected returns in the cross-section. Our empirical evidence, based on several proxies for shareholder advantage, is consistent with the model's predictions.
Optimal Investment Problem Under Behavioral Setting: A Lagrange Duality Perspective

In this paper, we consider the optimal investment problem with both probability distor- tion/weighting and general non-concave utility functions with possibly finite number of inflection points. Our model contains the model under cumulative prospect theory (CPT) as a special case, which has inverse S-shaped probability weighting and S-shaped utility function (i.e. one inflection point). Existing literature have shown the equivalent relationships (strong duality) between the concavified problem and the original one by either assuming the presence of probability weighting or the non-concavity of utility functions, but not both. In this paper, we combine both features and propose a step-wise relaxation method to handle general non-concave utility functions and probability distortion functions. The necessary and sufficient conditions on eliminating the duality gap for the Lagrange method based on the step-wise relaxation have been provided under this circumstance. We have applied this solution method to solve in closed-form several representative examples in mathematical behavioral finance including the CPT model, Value-at-Risk based risk management (VAR-RM) model with probability distortions, Yarri’s dual model and the goal reaching model. We obtain a closed-form optimal trading strategy for a special example of the CPT model, where a “distorted” Merton line has been shown exactly. The slope of the “distorted” Merton line is given by an inflation factor multiplied by the standard Merton ratio, and an interesting finding is that the inflation factor is solely dependent on the probability distortion rather than the non-concavity of the utility function.
Analyzing the strategy-performance relationship in Germany – Can we still use the common strategic frameworks?

PurposeThis study examines the strategy–performance relationship within publicly traded German firms. Strategic management literature provides several strategic frameworks that offer guidance on promising strategies. However, given major changes, such as globalization, managers wonder whether strategic frameworks are still applicable.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employ principal component analysis (PCA) to measure competitive strategy and analyze a sample of 6,037 firm-years among 651 firms between 2000 and 2019.FindingsWhile the authors find evidence for the existence of efficiency-based strategies, differentiation-based strategies and mixed strategies, only differentiation-based strategies are positively related to performance.Originality/valueThe study’s results contribute to the discourse on the strategy–performance relationship, as they provide insights into promising strategies that are of interest to researchers and practitioners. Further, the authors introduce a new measure of competitive strategy based on PCA.
U.S. Churches' Response to COVID-19: Results from Facebook

This study investigates U.S. churches' response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic by looking at their public Facebook posts. For religious organizations, in-person gatherings are at the heart of their activities. Yet religious in-person gatherings have been identified as some of the early hot spots of the pandemic, but there has also been controversy over the legitimacy of public restrictions on such gatherings. Our sample contains information on church characteristics and Facebook posts for nearly 4000 churches that posted at least once in 2020. The share of churches that offer an online church activity on a given Sunday more than doubled within two weeks at the beginning of the pandemic (the first half of March 2020) and stayed well above baseline levels. Online church activities are positively correlated with the local pandemic situation at the beginning, but uncorrelated with most state interventions. After the peak of the first wave (mid April), we observe a slight decrease in online activities. We investigate heterogeneity in the church responses and find that church size and worship style explain differences consistent with churches facing different demand and cost structures. Local political voting behavior, on the other hand, explains little of the variation. Descriptive analysis suggests that overall online activities, and the patterns of heterogeneity, remain unchanged through end-November 2020.
Public Debt and Economic Growth in Brazil

This paper provides new insights on the relationship between public debt and economic growth in Brazil. We used Granger causality tests, in multivariate and bivariate analyses using respectively VEC and ARDL methodologies, and monthly data over the period 1998:1-2019:11. We find that: i) debt-to-GDP and GDP growth rate have a bi-directional Granger causality relationship; ii) debt can improve growth in the short run and becomes harmful in the long run; iii) GDP growth always reduces debt, both in the short and long run; iv) the dynamic between debt and growth in the long run is influenced by the inflation rate, exchange rate and the Emerging Markets Bond Index Plus (Embi+)