cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Delaware incorporation matters for new ventures: evidence from venture capital investment and the going public process

In the United States, corporate actors choose their state of incorporation and are subject to the laws of the state in which they are incorporated. Incorporating in Delaware is a common move for most US firms, especially those interested in attracting venture capital, as the state's corporation laws are clearer, more fully defined and business friendly, courts have more experience judging corporate cases, antitakeover laws are less restrictive, and financing or merger deals are more quick and efficient than in most other states. Using a large sample of privately held companies, we empirically investigate the implications of Delaware incorporation and examine its effect on access to VC financing and the process of going public. The results suggest that companies incorporated in Delaware receive more venture financing and attract more involvement from different venture capitalists than entrepreneurial firms incorporated elsewhere. In addition, we find that Delaware incorporated venture-backed firms are more...
Are Investment Incentives Blunted by Changes in Prices of Capital Goods

Recent research on business investment decisions suggests that real investment in plant and equipment is quite sensitive to changes in the user cost of capital, pointing to the possibility that long-run changes in tax policy may have a significant impact on an economy’s capital stock. Indeed, many countries have at times adopted investment tax incentives to stimulate investment. The prevalence of investment incentives suggests that local policy-makers believe these are effective in increasing investment at a reasonable cost in terms of lost revenue. In this paper, we explore this issue by estimating the extent to which countries are price-takers in the world market for capital goods. We find that most countries ‐ even the United States ‐ face a highly elastic supply of capital goods, suggesting that the effect of investment incentives on the price of investment goods is small. Hence effects of long-run changes in investment tax policy are likely to materialize in real investment rather than simply being dissipated in changes in capital-goods prices.
Relationship Between Competitive Intensity, Internal Resources, and Firm Performance: Evidence from Indian ITES Industry

The purpose of this article is to investigate how competitive intensity impacts the relationship between crucial firm resources (human capital, organizational capital, management capability) and firm performance. Using a sample of 105 service providers from the Indian information technology–enabled services (ITES) industry, I find that competitive intensity positively moderates the relationship between firm resources and firm performance such that the relationships become stronger when competitive intensity is high than when it is low. Results imply that top managers' evaluation of the performance implications of internal firm resources are significantly shaped by the perceptions of intensity of competition encountered by their firms. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Clientele Effects and Condo Conversions

∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗∗ During an asset boom a property can develop a new usage. Appreciation investors emerge to change a property’s occupant mix or letter grade. Rental investors not intending to change the mix or grade are outbid. Sellers receive a capitalized premium from the new type of bidder. For apartments in MiamiFort Lauderdale during 2004–2006, there is an asset pricing premium from condo converters. The price of real estate depends on clienteles in addition to characteristics. In real estate there are different clienteles bidding for a property. Rental investors retain the existing occupancy and letter grade. Appreciation investors intend to change the existing usage and occupancy of the property, such as changing the letter grade from Class C to Class B. In equilibrium, properties are in grade or type categories. The asset price difference between classes is equal to the cost of investment to make the grade difference. Appreciation investors emerge as successful bidders when a change in systematic risk raises their expected returns. Condo converters appeared in the real estate market after tax law changes in the 1980s, and during the abnormally low interest rate period after 2003. If converters outbid rental investors, there is an asset pricing characteristic in apartments that depends on the buyer’s type and there is a premium in the asset price by clientele. The asset pricing premium in multifamily buildings is what converters are willing to pay over and above those interested only in renting the apartments to the same tenant mix. A separate asset pricing premium or discount is how the housing market is affected by an increase in condo conversions.
Assessing the External Validity of Election RD Estimates: An Investigation of the Incumbency Advantage

The regression discontinuity (RD) design is popular because it provides a design-based estimate of the incumbency advantage. However, the RD estimate is “local”: it only identifies the effect in hypothetical elections with a 50-50 tie between the Democratic and Republican candidates. There is significant uncertainty and disagreement over the incumbency effect in safer districts away from this threshold. Indeed, mirroring the competing arguments in the theoretical literature, a survey of political scientists reveals that roughly equal numbers of respondents predict the effect to be either larger, smaller, or the same in less competitive districts. We employ a new method based on a validated conditional independence assumption that allows us to estimate the effect of incumbency in districts in a window around the threshold as large as 15 percentage points—that is, elections in which the winning candidate secured as much as 57.5% of the two-party vote. We find that the incumbency advantage is no larger or sm...
NAFTA TOWARD A COMMON CURRENCY: AN ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY STUDY

The recent emergence of the Euro, combined with the completion of a decade of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has sparked interest in adopting a common currency for North America. This study examines the likelihood that Canada, Mexico, and the United States will adopt a common currency under fixed exchange rate regimes. The benefits and costs of a common currency are explored using the theory of optimum currency areas (OCA). Empirical research focuses on several variables including intra-regional and intra-industry trade, trade openness, gross domestic product, inflation rates, interest rates, economic growth rates, business cycle synchronization, factor mobility, fiscal policy and monetary policy coordination. The analysis also presents a comparative analysis of NAFTA with Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) nations on different economic criteria. Finally, correlation and regression analysis further explores the likelihood that members of NAFTA will economically integrate. Though this research concludes that it is economically feasible for NAFTA members to move towards a common currency, this venture depends on the political readiness of the nations. This article is available in Undergraduate Economic Review: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/uer/vol4/iss1/5 Undergraduate Economic Review A Publication of Illinois Wesleyan University Vol. IV-2007-2008 NAFTA TOWARD A COMMON CURRENCY: AN ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY STUDY Kelly Hugger Department of Economics and Business Colorado College 14 E. Cache La Poudre Colorado Springs, CO 80903.
The Behavior of Investor Flows in Corporate Bond Mutual Funds

This paper provides a comprehensive examination of money flows in corporate bond funds, which, although less researched, represent an important setting to study investor behavior. Based on a large sample of corporate bond funds over 1991–2014, we first show that flows are sensitive to both fund performance and macroeconomic conditions, but unlike equity funds, the flow–performance relationship is not convex. Then, we find that investor flows can predict fund performance. More importantly, the predictability cannot be explained by return momentum or price pressure but is subsumed by performance persistence. Finally, an examination of idiosyncratic flows reveals little evidence that fund investors use finer-than-public information. This paper was accepted by Lauren Cohen, finance.
John B. West: Founder of the West Publishing Company

* Professor of Law, Nova Southeastern University (jarvisb@nsu.law.nova.edu). B.A., Northwestern University; J.D., University of Pennsylvania; LL.M, New York University. The preparation of this essay would have been impossible without the assistance of three tal ented genealogists: Linda B. Coffin (www.historycrafters.com) in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Darlene C. Joyce, CG (www.findmyfamilyplease.com) in St. Paul, Minnesota; and Alice C. Volkert (www.volkertservices.com) in Costa Mesa, California. I also received invaluable help from Mrs. Mary D. Baker and Dr. Donald M. West, two of John B. West's grandchil dren, as well as the following individuals: Jana Armstead, Research Manager, Ramsey County (Minnesota) Historical Society; G. Burnham Atterbury, Assistant Dean?Law School Development, University of San Francisco; Mary Bakeman, Proprietor, Park Genealogical Books; Robert C. Berring, Jr., Walter Perry Johnson Professor of Law, University of California-Berkeley; Gretchen DeSutter, Senior Communications Specialist, Thomson West; Jennifer Fauxsmith, Reference Archivist, Massachusetts Archives; Michelle Gachette, Reference Assistant, Harvard University Archives; Yvonne Hasegawa, Technical Specialist, Pasadena Public Library; Don L. Hofsommer, Professor of History, St. Cloud State University; Karen Klinkenberg, Library Assistant, University of Minnesota Archives; Christina R. Lehman, Assistant Archivist, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution; William P. Logan, Reference Librarian, Santa Clara University Law Library; Jamie Murray, Information Services Coordinator, Brazoria County (Texas) Historical Museum; Brent T. Peterson, Executive Director, Washington County (Minnesota) Historical Society; Nancy Salisbury, Archival Assistant?Pioneer Room, Escondido Public Library; Joan K. Sansbury, Librarian/Curator, The Supreme Council?Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A.; Peter Steelquist, Past President, San Diego Genealogical Society; Nanci A. Young, Archivist, Smith College. As usual, I am indebted to the hardwork ing staff of the Nova Southeastern University Law Library, particularly Rob Hudson, Meg Kribble, and Maxine Scheffler. Lastly, I acknowledge with deep appreciation the generous financial support extended by Deans Joseph D. Harbaugh and Lisa A. Smith-Butler. The research contained herein is current as of April 15, 2008.
Market Collaboration: Finance, Culture, and Ethnography after Neoliberalism

In the wake of the disasters of March 2011, financial regulators and financial-risk management experts in Japan expressed little hope that much could be done nor did they take great interest in defining possible policy interventions. This curious response to regulatory crisis coincided with a new fascination with culturalist explanations of financial markets, on the one hand, and a resort to what I term “data politics”—a politics of intensified data collection—on the other. In this article, I analyze these developments as being exemplary of a new regulatory moment characterized by a loss of faith in both free market regulation and state-led planning, as well as in expert tools. I consider what might be the contribution of the anthropology of financial markets and ultimately argue for what I term a “collaborative economy” as a way to retool both financial and anthropological expertise. 概要 2011年3月の震災を受けて、日本の金融規制当局や金融リスク管理の専門家は、打つ手は限られているという見方を示し、政策的介入の可能性の提案についても、あまり強い関心を示さなかった。規制における危機に対するこうした興味深い反応は、一方では金融市場に関する文化的理解に対する新たな関心の高まりと、もう一方では本稿で「データ政治 (data politics)」と呼ぶ、集中的なデータ収集をめぐる政治への流れと、重なる側面がある。こうした展開は、規制の新しい形の典型例であり、その背景には、自由市場における規制や国家主導の政策に対する失望感や、専門家の技術に対する諦めがある。本稿は、金融市場に関する文化人類学的研究がもたらす貢献について考察し、本稿で「共同経済 (collaborative economy)」と呼ぶ新しい経済の形を通して、金融および文化人類学の双方における専門知識の再編を提唱する。[「大きすぎてつぶせない」、リスク、債権、金融、コラボレーション、日本]
Back to the Basics: Restoration of Our Right to Keep and Bear Arms Through a National Reciprocity Act

This note discusses the evolution of state and federal firearms regulation, specifically the states’ role in the governance of firearms control. The note provides an in-depth analysis of the evolution of Second Amendment jurisprudence. The note will focus on the traditional application of the Second Amendment to state and federal government and will analyze the effects of the Heller and McDonald United States Supreme Court decisions on Second Amendment jurisprudence. Additionally, this note provides a detailed analysis of state concealed weapons permit laws. Currently, the United States is divided into three types of concealed carry laws. This note will attempt to explain the major differences of these state regulatory regimes as well as highlight the number of states that participate in each regime. Further, this note will attempt to explain what effects if any, the decisions of Heller and McDonald may have on concealed carry laws, specifically whether it is constitutional for states to place limitations on the right to carry a firearm. Further, this note will describe the most recent incarnation of a National Reciprocity Act and the current controversy associated with the Act including whether a National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act is a proper exercise of Congress’ Commerce Clause power and whether such Act is constitutional.Finally, this note provides an oversight of the interplay between the Commerce Clause and firearms regulation and will analyze whether a National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act is a proper exercise of Congress’ Commerce Clause power and whether such an Act is constitutional. As a final point, this note will discuss whether a National Reciprocity Act a similar type of legislation is an essential means of protection against state infringement of the individual right to keep and bear arms.
Too Much of a Good Thing: How Much Should Hedge Funds Be Required to Disclose?

Hedge funds are currently all the rage. Their above-average returns over the past decade has generated intense controversy about the proper scope of their competitive environment. In the middle of this controversy is Section 13(f) of the Exchange Act, which requires hedge funds to quarterly report certain security positions and their value. A prominent hedge fund manager recently has brought a claim challenging 13(f). While the case is still in the early stages of litigation, the complaint poses two novel arguments for hedge funds. The first argues his positions are protected under trade secret laws, similar to Cocoa-Cola’s formula. The second claims that the government’s actions amount to a compensable regulatory taking. This paper navigates and assesses these novel arguments and their complex policy considerations. This paper argues that 13(f) remains crucial for deterring fraud and only poses a miner hindrance for hedge funds. Of the myriad of proposals for hedge fund disclosure, the use of a private market intermediary and accredited natural persons are the most promising.
Redeeming Transect Zoning

Thanks to the growing influence of the new urbanists, transect zoning” is becoming the zoning reform du jour. This alternative to zoning traces its origins to architect Andres Duany’s 2003 SmartCode, which proceeds upon the assumption that urban development naturally proceeds from more-dense areas to less-dense ones. Duany calls this progression the “transect” and urges cities to replace traditional use zoning with regulations on building form appropriate to the various “transect zones” along the progression. Over the last decade, increasing numbers of jurisdictions (large and small) have adopted “transect zoning” laws and the “form-based” codes that accompany and supplement them. Theoretically, transect zoning embraces a relatively simple conception of how to regulate urban development: buildings that are appropriate for the city center should go in the city center (regardless of their use), and suburban buildings should look suburban (again, regardless of their use). In its implementation, however, transect zoning is anything but simple. As a practical matter, the new urbanists favor meticulous and exhaustive aesthetic regulations, found in the form-based codes that represent the ubiquitous gap-fillers in transect-zoning regimes. This Essay begins by briefly describing the rapidly evolving phenomenon of transect zoning and its companion, form-based coding. It then discusses four concerns raised by the current uses of both devices as public land-use-regulatory devices. The Essay concludes by suggesting that form-based codes may be most appropriate in situations approximating the private-development context rather than as a public regulatory.
Structure of magnetic fields in non-convective stars

We develop a theoretical framework to construct axisymmetric magnetic equilibria in stars, consisting of both poloidal and toroidal magnetic field components. In a stationary axisymmetric configuration, the poloidal current is a function of the poloidal magnetic flux only, and thus should vanish on field lines extending outside of the star. Non-zero poloidal current (and the corresponding non-zero toroidal magnetic field) is limited to a set of toroid-shape flux surfaces fully enclosed inside the star. If we demand that there are no current sheets then on the separatrix delineating the regions of zero and finite toroidal magnetic field both the poloidal flux function (related to the toroidal component of the magnetic field) and its derivative (related to the poloidal component) should match. Thus, for a given magnetic field in the bulk of the star, the elliptical Grad-Shafranov equation that describes magnetic field structure inside the toroid is an ill-posed problem, with both Dirichlet and Newman boundary conditions and a priori unknown distribution of toroidal and poloidal electric currents. We discuss a procedure which allows to solve this ill-posed problem by adjusting the unknown current functions. We illustrate the method by constructing a number of semi-analytical equilibria connecting to outside dipole and having various poloidal current distribution on the flux surfaces closing inside the star. In particular, we find a poloidal current-carrying solution that leaves the shape of the flux function and, correspondingly, the toroidal component of the electric current, the same as in the case of no poloidal current. The equilibria discussed in this paper may have arbitrary large toroidal magnetic field, and may include a set of stable equilibria. The method developed here can also be applied to magnetic structure of differentially rotating stars, as well as to calculate velocity field in incompressible isolated fluid vortex with a swirl.
A Panel Project on Purchasing Power Parity: Mean Reversion Within and Between Countries

Abstract Previous time-series studies have shown evidence of mean-reversion in real exchange rates. Deviations from purchasing power parity (PPP) appear to have half-lives of approximately four years. However, the long samples required for statistical significance are unavailable for most currencies, and are potentially inappropriate because of regime changes. In this study, we re-examine deviations from PPP using a panel of 150 countries and 45 annual post WWII observations. Our panel shows strong evidence of mean-reversion that is similar to that from long time-series. PPP deviations are eroded at a rate of approximately 15% annually, i.e., their half-life is around four years. Such findings can be masked in time-series data, but are relatively easy to find in cross-sections.
Enlightened shareholder theory: Whose interests should be served by the supporters of corporate governance?

This paper questions the feasibility of Corporate Governance (CG) and a company’s Board Members (CG’s most obvious agents) being able to serve two masters at once: shareholders; and the many different agents inhabiting the labyrinth of the stakeholder universe. Following on from this is the question of which of these stakeholders deserve special treatment from companies. After analysing this conundrum, absurdist reasoning will be used to demonstrate the theoretical impossibility of a dual legitimacy that would undermine the very factors explaining the success of modern developed societies. An alternative ‘Enlightened shareholder theory’ will be proposed, inspired by JENSEN’s ‘Enlightened stakeholder theory’ (2001). After demonstrating that a company’s interest is not necessarily synonymous with the interests of its shareholders, a proposition will be made that Board Members should always highlight social interests. The paper’s conclusion will identify the consequences of the new theoretical framework for the definition of CG; Board Members’ missions; and the composition of a Board of Directors.
Zimbabwe; Staff Report for the 2012 Article IV Consultation

Under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, the IMF holds bilateral discussions with members, usually every year. In the context of the 2012 Article IV consultation with Zimbabwe, the following documents have been released and are included in this package
Uniqueness and stability of equilibrium in economies with two goods

Abstract We offer new sufficient conditions ensuring demand is downward sloping local to equilibrium. It follows that equilibrium is unique and stable in the sense that rising supply implies falling prices. In our setting, there are two goods, which we interpret as consumption in different time periods, and many impatience types. Agents have the same Bernoulli utility function, but the types differ arbitrarily in time preference. Our main result is that if endowments are identical and utility displays nonincreasing absolute risk aversion, then market demand is strictly downward sloping local to equilibrium. We discuss implications for the literature surrounding Diamond and Dybvig (1983) .
The effects of takeover defenses: Evidence from closed-end funds

Abstract I use a sample of closed-end funds to examine how takeover defenses impact shareholder value and promote managerial entrenchment. These funds use the same defenses as general corporations but provide an ideal, homogeneous environment for testing their effects. Defenses are associated with lower fund market values, weaker reactions to activist 13D filings, and higher compensation levels for both fund managers and directors. This study provides greater clarity on the unresolved impact of takeover defenses on firm value, while showing for the first time that directors, who are responsible for adopting takeover defenses, financially benefit from their use.
Discretionary compliance with mandatory environmental disclosures: Evidence from SEC filings

Abstract We examine the determinants of adherence to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) mandated disclosures of environmental sanctions. Our sample includes non-superfund U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sanctions between 1996 and 2005. Our results suggest that firms are more likely to provide sanction disclosures if they operate in environmentally sensitive industries, are subject to larger penalties and are voluntarily participating in a supplemental environmental project. Our results also suggest that firms are less likely to disclose sanctions involving judicial proceedings. Overall, we find that voluntary disclosure incentives impact compliance with mandatory reporting requirements. Although incentives exist for firms to comply with mandatory disclosures, our results suggest that increases in mandatory environmental accounting disclosures may not be effective under the current regulatory system despite the use of bright-line materiality thresholds. Our study contributes to the current and ongoing debate about the role and effectiveness of environmental risk disclosure mandates in providing information to the marketplace, as well as “mandated disclosure” rules in general. The value attributed to current and potential environmental disclosure regulations cannot be thoroughly understood without examining disclosure compliance with existing regulations. From an environmental and sustainability disclosure perspective, our findings are particularly germane since these disclosures focus on risks, liabilities, or other reputational shortcomings of the firm.
Consumer Options: Theory and an Empirical Application to a Sports Market

Abstract The authors introduce the concept of consumer options and empirically validate it in the context of event ticket pricing. They demonstrate that consumer options can protect consumers from the downside related to uncertain outcomes and enhance seller profits by enabling superior market segmentation and increasing consumer willingness to pay. The authors examine the newly proposed ticket pricing mechanism in sports markets, in which there is uncertainty about the teams that will play in a final event (e.g., the National Collegiate Athletic Association Final Four basketball tournament). Fans who want to attend the game after knowing which teams will play are often disappointed because tickets typically sell out in advance. The authors propose that a fan can buy an option on a ticket before this uncertainty is resolved. Later, he or she can decide whether to exercise the option. The authors present a simple analytical model of consumer options in this setting. Then, they empirically demonstrate that ...
Audit Committee Stock Options and Financial Reporting Quality after the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

SUMMARY: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and its associated regulations significantly expanded the oversight role of audit committees and improved independence, but regulators bypassed restrictions on audit committee equity incentives. We examine the association of audit committee members' equity incentives and financial reporting quality in the post-SOX time period. We find that audit committee members' stock-option awards and holdings are positively associated with the likelihood of meeting/beating analyst earnings forecasts. On average, a company whose audit committee holds the mean value of exercisable option holdings is associated with a 10.0 percent increase in the likelihood of meeting or just beating its consensus analyst forecast. This effect increases to 17.8 percent for companies with high-growth opportunities. These results suggest that—even in the post-SOX era—the stock-option incentives provided to independent audit committee members are associated with reduced financial reporting quality. JEL...
On the Financial Sustainability of Earnings-Related Pension Schemes with “Pay-As-You-Go” Financing and the Role of Government Indexed Bonds

In this paper we reconsider the idea of an earnings-related pension system with reserves invested in indexed government bonds as a mechanism to both ensure financial sustainability and improve security. The paper starts by reviewing the characterization of the sustainable rate of return of an earnings-related pension system with pay-as-you-go financing. We show that current proxies for the sustainable rate, including the Swedish ‘gyroscope’, are not stable and propose an alternative measure that depends on the growth of the buffer-stock and the pay-as-you-go asset. Using a simple one-sector macroeconomic model that embeds a notional account pension system we then show how GDP-indexed government bonds, if combined with the right measure for the sustainable rate of return on contributions, could be used to generate a sustainable and secure earnings-related pension system, without becoming a fiscal burden. The proposal is particularly attractive for countries considering reforms to earnings-related systems that have accumulated a large implicit pension debt. In this case, the government bonds allow the financing of this debt in a transparent way. The proposed mechanism can also facilitate the transition to a fully funded pension system when the government bonds are allowed to be traded.
The Psychology of Tail Events: Progress and Challenges

Abstract Over the past decade there has been a surge of interest in “tail events,” or rare, high-impact events. In this article, I start by summarizing some recent progress in our understanding of the psychology of tail events. I suggest that much of this progress has centered on the concept of “probability weighting” and, in particular, on applications of this concept in various fields of economics. I then describe some major open questions in this area.
Technology Adoption in the Presence of Network Externalities: A Web-Based Classroom Game

This paper describes a customizable classroom game used to demonstrate the effects of network externalities on the adoption of new technologies. The game is a web-based adaptation of Ruebeck et al.'s [Ruebeck, C. S., N. Stafford, W. Tynan, G. Alpert, Ball, B. Butkevich. 2003. Network externalities and standardization: A classroom demonstration. Southern Econom. J.69 1000--1008] network externalities game. The web-based game is freely available and can be played in a networked lab setting or via the Internet. In this game, players choose one of a number of competing technologies whose utility depends on the number of others choosing the same technology. In subsequent variations, we introduce sequential choice, imperfect information, heterogeneity, “lock-in,” and switching costs.
The Case for Decoupled Armed Interventions

This chapter suggests that if the humanitarian goals of armed interventions are decoupled from coerced regime change and nation building, they can be carried out effectively and at rather low costs. In addition, it contends that the standard for justifying humanitarian interventions must be well-articulated and set at a high level, for normative reasons, not merely prudential ones. The thesis for narrowly crafted armed humanitarian interventions is supported in the following pages by showing that a mixture of idealism and hubris drives the West to assume that it can achieve much more than it is equipped to, and that its repeated failure to accomplish these expansive goals is leading to a consensus around avoiding armed humanitarian interventions altogether— tragically including those missions whose normative standing is strong and which can be carried out effectively. The observation that nations can employ nonlethal (normative and economic) means to promote human rights and democracy further supports the thesis that the use of force should be reserved to large-scale saving of life and not to be allowed to morph into coerced regime change, not to mention futile attempts at nation building.
Production Smoothing and the Bullwhip Effect

The bullwhip effect and production smoothing appear antithetical because their empirical tests oppose one another: production variability exceeding sales variability for bullwhip, and vice versa for smoothing. But this is a false dichotomy. We distinguish between the phenomena with a new production smoothing measure, which estimates how much more variable production would be absent production volatility costs. We apply our metric to an automotive manufacturing sample comprising 162 car models and find 75% smooth production by at least 5%, despite the fact that 99% exhibit the bullwhip effect. Indeed, we estimate both a strong bullwhip on average, production is 220% as variable as sales and robust smoothing on average, production would be 22% more variable without deliberate stabilization. We find firms smooth both production variability and production uncertainty. We measure production smoothing with a structural econometric production scheduling model, based on the generalized order-up-to policy.
Time-Varying Arrival Rates of Informed and Uninformed Trades

We propose a dynamic econometric microstructure model of trading, and we investigate how the dynamics of trades and trade composition interact with the evolution of market liquidity, market depth, and order flow. We estimate a bivariate generalized autoregressive intensity process for the arrival rates of informed and uninformed trades for 16 actively traded stocks over 15 years of transaction data. Our results show that both informed and uninformed trades are highly persistent, but that the uninformed arrival forecasts respond negativelytopastforecastsoftheinformedintensity.Ourestimationgenerates daily conditional arrival rates of informed and uninformed trades, which we use to construct forecasts of the probability of information-based trade (PIN). These forecasts are used in turn to forecast market liquidity as measured by bid-ask spreads and the price impact of orders. We observe that PINs vary across assets and over time, and most importantly that they are correlated across assets. Our analysis shows that one principal component explains muchofthedailyvariationinPINsandthatthissystemicliquidityfactormaybe
The Third Wave's Break from Feminism

Janet Halley proves that third-wave feminism is wrong - wrongly described, that is. Young feminists in the United States tout a "third wave" of feminism that is hip, ironic and playful - the supposed opposite of the dour and strident "second wave" of 1970's feminism. Goodbye frumpy sandals; hello sexy fishnets, according to third-wave feminism. Initially young women themselves (and now writers and scholars) embraced a pervasive wave metaphor to convey the belief that differences within feminism are generational. Youth crashes against (and ultimately overtakes) its elders. But rifts within feminism cannot be so neatly explained. The story is more complicated than third-wave vs. second-wave, young vs. old, fertile vs. menopausal. The wave metaphor obscures a more complicated story of the power of labels. "Feminism" is such mighty label that third-wave feminists want to remake it and Janet Halley wants to take a break from it. In spite of their different vocabulary, though, third-wave feminists and Janet Halley share similar goals and methods. Feminism has no use as a label - a theory, even - unless it yields to the complex realities of human experience. This essay explores the goals that third-wave feminists and Janet Halley share. They have similar purposes and methodologies, but they differ in the vocabularly they use to describe their goals. Third-wave feminists embrace the feminist label when Halley wants to leave it aside, at least temporarily. The core idea of both third-wave feminism and Janet Halley's Split Decisions is a departure from a certain kind of feminism - a feminism does not account in a meaningful way for some women's desires for sex, subordination and (sometimes) sex that is subordinating. Third-wave feminists and Janet Halley and third-wave feminists share an affection for the interstitial, the spaces between theory and experience. That space remains unexplored and messy - with no neat division between waves or breaks to be made.
Advocacy and Objectivity in Science

Three strategies for scientific research in management are examined: advocacy, induction, and multiple hypotheses. Advocacy of a single dominant hypothesis is efficient, but biased. Induction is not biased, but it is inefficient The multiple hypotheses strategy seems to be both efficient and unbiased. Despite its apparent lack of objectivity, most management scientists use advocacy. For example, 2/3 of the papers published in a sampling of issues of Management Science 1955--1976 used advocacy. A review of the published empirical evidence indicates that advocacy reduces the objectivity of the scientists. No evidence was found to suggest that this lack of objectivity could be overcome by a “marketplace for ideas” i.e., publication for peer review. It is recommended that the method of multiple hypotheses be used.
Enhancing Mixup-based Semi-Supervised Learning with Explicit Lipschitz Regularization

The success of deep learning relies on the availability of large-scale annotated data sets, the acquisition of which can be costly requiring expert domain knowledge. Semi-supervised learning (SSL) mitigates this challenge by exploiting the behavior of the neural function on large unlabeled data. The smoothness of the neural function is a commonly used assumption exploited in SSL. A successful example is the adoption of mixup strategy in SSL that enforces the global smoothness of the neural function by encouraging it to behave linearly when interpolating between training examples. Despite its empirical success, however, the theoretical underpinning of how mixup regularizes the neural function has not been fully understood. In this paper, we offer a theoretically substantiated proposition that mixup improves the smoothness of the neural function by bounding the Lipschitz constant of the gradient function of the neural networks. We then propose that this can be strengthened by simultaneously constraining the Lipschitz constant of the neural function itself through adversarial Lipschitz regularization, encouraging the neural function to behave linearly while also constraining the slope of this linear function. On three benchmark data sets and one real-world biomedical data set, we demonstrate that this combined regularization results in improved generalization performance of SSL when learning from a small amount of labeled data. Our code is available at https://github.com/Prasanna1991/Mixup-LR.
New Wilson-like theorems arising from Dickson polynomials

Abstract Wilson's Theorem states that the product of all nonzero elements of a finite field F q is −1. In this article, we define some natural subsets S ⊂ F q × (q odd) and find formulas for the product of the elements of S, denoted ∏S. These new formulas are appealing for the simple, natural description of the sets S, and for the simplicity of the product. An example is ∏ { a ∈ F q × : 1 − a and 3 + a are nonsquares } = 2 if q ≡ ± 1 ( mod 12 ) , or −1 otherwise.
On Arithmetic Progressions of Powers in Cyclotomic Polynomials

We determine necessary conditions for when powers corresponding to positive/negative coefficients of Φ n are in arithmetic progression. When n = pq for any primes q > p > 2 , our conditions are als...
“Taking Diversity Into Account”: Real effects of accounting measurement on asset allocation

Abstract In the wake of the financial crisis, accounting issues have caught the attention of both economists and regulators. Fair value accounting has indeed been charged of amplifying the procyclicality of the banking system. Real effects of accounting are therefore to be taken into consideration when discussing the issues raised by the crisis. We develop a theoretical model to study what the real effects of accounting on financial institutions’ investment decision are. Doing so, we show that fair value accounting may incentivize banks to underinvest in long-term risky assets, while historical cost accounting may incentivize them to invest too much in those assets. At first sight, bank accounting thus appears as a choice between bad and worse. We show that this is not necessarily the case. More precisely, if financial institutions are subject to different accounting rules depending on their time horizon – i.e. long-sighted financial institutions are subject to historical cost accounting while shorter-sighted financial institutions are subject to fair value accounting – the inefficiencies associated with both accounting rules may be softened.
Bayesian persuasion with costly messages

Abstract We study a model of Bayesian persuasion in which the Sender commits to a signal structure, privately observes the signal realization, and then sends a message to the Receiver at a cost that depends on both the signal realized and the message sent. Our setup weakens the Sender's commitment to truthfully reveal information in Bayesian persuasion. We provide sufficient conditions for full communication by the Sender in the Sender-preferred equilibrium, and these conditions are satisfied under many commonly studied communication games. Under these conditions, the Sender's (lack of) commitment in the persuasion problem is quantified as a communication cost to induce a belief distribution for the Receiver. We apply this approach to study test design and information provision by lobbyists.
High‐dimensional multivariate geostatistics: A Bayesian matrix‐normal approach

Joint modeling of spatially oriented dependent variables is commonplace in the environmental sciences, where scientists seek to estimate the relationships among a set of environmental outcomes accounting for dependence among these outcomes and the spatial dependence for each outcome. Such modeling is now sought for massive data sets with variables measured at a very large number of locations. Bayesian inference, while attractive for accommodating uncertainties through hierarchical structures, can become computationally onerous for modeling massive spatial data sets because of its reliance on iterative estimation algorithms. This article develops a conjugate Bayesian framework for analyzing multivariate spatial data using analytically tractable posterior distributions that obviate iterative algorithms. We discuss differences between modeling the multivariate response itself as a spatial process and that of modeling a latent process in a hierarchical model. We illustrate the computational and inferential benefits of these models using simulation studies and analysis of a vegetation index data set with spatially dependent observations numbering in the millions.
Throttling processes equivalent to full throttling on trees

Abstract Consider a discrete-time process on a graph G where a set B of initial vertices are chosen to be colored blue (the remainder being white) and then a time step consists of every currently blue vertex forcing all of its neighbors to become blue; this process stops when every vertex of the graph is blue, and the process is called full forcing. The full throttling number of G is then defined to be the minimum sum of the cardinality of B and the number of time steps needed to complete the forcing process. On trees, the full throttling number is equivalent to the throttling numbers of several other graph processes, such as positive-semidefinite zero forcing, the game of cops and robbers, and the distance domination number (alternately, the k-radius) of a graph. For all of these, it is known that maximum possible throttling number for a tree on n vertices is somewhere between 1.4502 n and 14 2 n , with the former exhibited by a family of spiders. After introducing some new ideas and methods for working with throttling on trees, this paper determines the exact full throttling number of all balanced spiders (trees with equal-length paths extending from a center vertex), and proves that their full throttling numbers are bounded above by that of paths of the same order n, which are known to have full throttling number ⌈ 2 n − 1 2 ⌉ .
A note on sequences not having metric Poissonian pair correlations

The purpose of this note is to present a construction of sequences which do not have metric Poissonian pair correlations (MPPC) and whose additive energies grow at rates that come arbitrarily close to a threshold below which it is believed that all sequences have MPPC. A similar result appears in work of Lachmann and Technau and is proved using a totally different strategy. The main novelty here is the simplicity of the proof, which we arrive at by modifying a construction of Bourgain.
Robust testing of low dimensional functions

A natural problem in high-dimensional inference is to decide if a classifier f:ℝn → {−1,1} depends on a small number of linear directions of its input data. Call a function g: ℝn → {−1,1}, a linear k-junta if it is completely determined by some k-dimensional subspace of the input space. A recent work of the authors showed that linear k-juntas are testable. Thus there exists an algorithm to distinguish between: (1) f: ℝn → {−1,1} which is a linear k-junta with surface area s. (2) f is є-far from any linear k-junta with surface area (1+є)s. The query complexity of the algorithm is independent of the ambient dimension n. Following the surge of interest in noise-tolerant property testing, in this paper we prove a noise-tolerant (or robust) version of this result. Namely, we give an algorithm which given any c>0, є>0, distinguishes between: (1) f: ℝn → {−1,1} has correlation at least c with some linear k-junta with surface area s. (2) f has correlation at most c−є with any linear k-junta with surface area at most s. The query complexity of our tester is kpoly(s/є). Using our techniques, we also obtain a fully noise tolerant tester with the same query complexity for any class C of linear k-juntas with surface area bounded by s. As a consequence, we obtain a fully noise tolerant tester with query complexity kO(poly(logk/є)) for the class of intersection of k-halfspaces (for constant k) over the Gaussian space. Our query complexity is independent of the ambient dimension n. Previously, no non-trivial noise tolerant testers were known even for a single halfspace.
Nodal root diameter and node number in maize (Zea mays L.) interact to influence plant growth under nitrogen stress

Under nitrogen limitation, plants increase resource allocation to root growth relative to shoot growth. The utility of various root architectural and anatomical phenotypes for nitrogen acquisition are not well understood. Nodal root number and root cross-sectional area were evaluated in maize in field and greenhouse environments. Nodal root number and root cross-sectional area were inversely correlated under both high and low nitrogen conditions. Attenuated emergence of root nodes, as opposed to differences in the number of axial roots per node, was associated with substantially reduced root number. Greater root cross-sectional area was associated with a greater stele area and number of cortical cell files. Genotypes that produced few, thick nodal roots rather than many, thin nodal roots had deeper rooting and better shoot growth in low nitrogen environments. Fewer nodal roots offset the respiratory and nitrogen costs of thicker diameter roots, since total nodal root respiration and nitrogen content was similar for genotypes with many, thin and few, thick nodal roots. We propose that few, thick nodal roots may enable greater capture of deep soil nitrogen and improve plant performance under nitrogen stress. Synergistic interactions between an architectural and anatomical trait may be an important strategy for nitrogen acquisition. Understanding trait interactions among different root nodes has important implications in for improving crop nutrient uptake and stress tolerance.
Unveiling Potent Photooxidation Behavior of Catalytic Photoreductants.

We describe a photocatalytic system that reveals latent photooxidant behavior from one of the most reducing conventional photoredox catalysts, N-phenylphenothiazine (PTH). This aerobic photochemica...
Why we believe

The radical probabilist counsels the prudent never to put away uncertainty, and hence always to balance judgment with probabilities of various sizes. Against this counsel I shall advise in favor of the practice of full belief — at least for some occasions. This advice rests on the fact that it is sometimes in a person's interests to accept certain propositions as a means of bringing it about that others recognize oneself as having accepted those propositions. With the pragmatists, therefore, I shall reject the view that belief formation must in every instance be a truth-directed affair. Unlike the pragmatists, however, I shall conclude that the enterprise of belief formation is not directed exclusively, or even primarily, at attaining knowledge. In other words, pursuit of that which it profits to believe, on the one hand, and pursuit of knowledge on the other, are distinct enterprises, which overlap (when they do) only accidentally.