cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Synthesis and preliminary biological evaluation of a novel P2X7R radioligand [18F]IUR-1601

181 Objectives: The purinergic receptor subtype 7 (P2X7R) is a novel molecular imaging target for neuroinflammation via PET. We have previously developed [11C]GSK1482160 as a promising P2X7R radioligand for imaging neuroinflammation. Here we report the synthesis and preliminary biological evaluation of a new P2X7R radioligand [18F]IUR-1601. Methods: The reference standard IUR-1601 ((S)-N-(2-chloro-3-(trifluoromethyl)benzyl)-1-(2-fluoroethyl)-5-oxopyrrolidine-2-carboxamide) and its corresponding precursor (S)-N-(2-chloro-3-(trifluoromethyl)benzyl)-1-(2-chloroethyl)-5-oxopyrrolidine-2-carboxamide were synthesized from tert-butyl (S)-5-oxopyrrolidine-2-carboxylate, fluoroethylbromide and chloroethylbromide, and 2-chloro-3-(trifluoromethyl)benzylamine. Another labeling precursor desmethyl-GSK1482160 was prepared from L-pyroglutamic acid and 2-chloro-3-(trifluoromethyl)benzylamine. One-step radiosynthesis of [18F]IUR-1601 from chloroethyl- precursor was first conducted and failed. Therefore, [18F]IUR-1601 was synthesized from desmethyl-GSK1482160 with [18F]FCH2CH2OTs, prepared from TsOCH2CH2OTs and K[18F]F/Kryptofix2.2.2, in two steps. The potency of IUR-1601 in comparison with GSK1482160 was determined by a ligand competitive binding assay using [11C]GSK1482160. Results : The overall chemical yields for IUR-1601 and its chloroethyl- precursor were 10-15% in 3 steps. The yield of desmethyl-GSK1482160 was 76% in 1 step. IUR-1601 and its chloroethyl- precursor are unstable under high temperature and strong base conditions, converting to (S)-N-(2-chloro-3-(trifluoromethyl)benzyl)-5-oxo-1-vinylpyrrolidine-2-carboxamide by elimination reaction, which caused one-step synthesis of [18F]IUR-1601 to fail. In addition, [18F]fluoroethylation of amide requires high reaction temperature and strong base, thus both result in that radiochemical yield for two-step synthesis of [18F]IUR-1601 was very low, 1-3%. The radiochemical purity was >99%, and the specific activity was >2 Ci/µmol at EOB determined by a “spike” Methods: The binding affinity Ki for IUR-1601 and GSK1482160 is 4.3 and 5.1 nM, respectively. Conclusions : A new P2X7R radioligand [18F]IUR-1601 has been successfully radiosynthesized, and retains the P2X7R affinity of [11C]GSK1482160. The radiosynthesis optimization, automation and in vivo biological evaluation of [18F]IUR-1601 are currently underway. Research Support : Showalter Young Investigator Award and Indiana University Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences.
Simulation of Pediatric Anterior Skull Base Anatomy Using a 3D Printed Model

Objective The pediatric skull base may present anatomic challenges to the skull base surgeon, including limited sphenoid pneumatization and a narrow nasal corridor. The rare nature of pediatric skull base pathology makes it difficult to gain experience with these anatomic challenges. The objective of this study was to create a 3-dimensionally (3D) printed model of the pediatric skull base and assess its potential as a training tool. Methods Twenty-eight participants at various stages of training and practice were included in our study. They completed a pre- and postdissection questionnaire assessing challenges with endoscopic endonasal skeletonization of the carotid arteries and sella face using the 3D printed model. Results The majority of participants had completed a skull base surgery fellowship (60.7%), were Conclusions A 3D printed model of the pediatric skull base may provide a realistic model to help participants gain experience with anatomic limitations characteristic of the pediatric anterior skull base.
Risk-Constrained Linear-Quadratic Regulators

We propose a new risk-constrained reformulation of the standard Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) problem. Our framework is motivated by the fact that the classical (risk-neutral) LQR controller, although optimal in expectation, might be ineffective under relatively infrequent, yet statistically significant (risky) events. To effectively trade between average and extreme event performance, we introduce a new risk constraint, which explicitly restricts the total expected predictive variance of the state penalty by a user-prescribed level. We show that, under rather minimal conditions on the process noise (i.e., finite fourth-order moments), the optimal risk-aware controller can be evaluated explicitly and in closed form. In fact, it is affine relative to the state, and is always internally stable regardless of parameter tuning. Our new risk-aware controller: i) pushes the state away from directions where the noise exhibits heavy tails, by exploiting the third-order moment (skewness) of the noise; ii) inflates the state penalty in riskier directions, where both the noise covariance and the state penalty are simultaneously large. The properties of the proposed risk-aware LQR framework are also illustrated via indicative numerical examples.
Predicting Progression to Septic Shock in the Emergency Department Using an Externally Generalizable Machine-Learning Algorithm

Study objective Machine-learning algorithms allow improved prediction of sepsis syndromes in the emergency department (ED), using data from electronic medical records. Transfer learning, a new subfield of machine learning, allows generalizability of an algorithm across clinical sites. We aim to validate the Artificial Intelligence Sepsis Expert for the prediction of delayed septic shock in a cohort of patients treated in the ED and demonstrate the feasibility of transfer learning to improve external validity at a second site. Methods This was an observational cohort study using data from greater than 180,000 patients from 2 academic medical centers between 2014 and 2019, using multiple definitions of sepsis. The Artificial Intelligence Sepsis Expert algorithm was trained with 40 input variables at the development site to predict delayed septic shock (occurring greater than 4 hours after ED triage) at various prediction windows. We then validated the algorithm at a second site, using transfer learning to demonstrate generalizability of the algorithm. Results We identified 9,354 patients with severe sepsis, of whom 723 developed septic shock at least 4 hours after triage. The Artificial Intelligence Sepsis Expert algorithm demonstrated excellent area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (>0.8) at 8 and 12 hours for the prediction of delayed septic shock. Transfer learning significantly improved the test characteristics of the Artificial Intelligence Sepsis Expert algorithm and yielded comparable performance at the validation site. Conclusion The Artificial Intelligence Sepsis Expert algorithm accurately predicted the development of delayed septic shock. The use of transfer learning allowed significantly improved external validity and generalizability at a second site. Future prospective studies are indicated to evaluate the clinical utility of this model.
Business School Rankings and Business School Deans: A Study of Nonprofit Governance

We examine the relation between business school dean turnover and MBA program rankings from 1990–2002. We find little evidence that dean departures are related to changes in a school's overall rank in the US News & World Report rankings. However, dean turnover increases following drops in the Business Week rankings and deterioration in the student placement score as measured by US News & World Report. These results are significant in both a statistical and economic sense. Our findings suggest that schools react either directly to the rankings or to information that is reflected in the rankings.
Obliquity Variability of a Potentially Habitable Early Venus.

Abstract Venus currently rotates slowly, with its spin controlled by solid-body and atmospheric thermal tides. However, conditions may have been far different 4 billion years ago, when the Sun was fainter and most of the carbon within Venus could have been in solid form, implying a low-mass atmosphere. We investigate how the obliquity would have varied for a hypothetical rapidly rotating Early Venus. The obliquity variation structure of an ensemble of hypothetical Early Venuses is simpler than that Earth would have if it lacked its large moon (Lissauer et al., 2012), having just one primary chaotic regime at high prograde obliquities. We note an unexpected long-term variability of up to ±7° for retrograde Venuses. Low-obliquity Venuses show very low total obliquity variability over billion-year timescales—comparable to that of the real Moon-influenced Earth. Key Words: Planets and satellites—Venus. Astrobiology 16, 487–499.
Online Reviews: Do Consumers Use Them?

The use of the WWW as a venue for voicing opinions, complaints and recommendations on products and firms has been widely reported in the popular media. However little is known how consumers use these reviews and if they subsequently have any influence on evaluations and purchase intentions of products and retailers. This study examines the effect of negative reviews on retailer evaluation and patronage intention given that the consumer has already made a product/brand decision. Our results indicate that the extent of WOM search depends on the consumer’s reasons for choosing an online retailer. Further the influence of negative WOM information on perceived reliability and purchase intentions is determined largely by familiarity with the retailer and differs based on whether the retailer is a pure-Internet or clicks-and-mortar firm. Managerial implications for positioning strategies to minimize the effect of negative word-ofmouth have been discussed.
Governance, microgovernance and health

Governance, by which I mean the management of the course of events in a system, is an overarching issue of concern to health from an ecological point of view. Governance consists largely in the policing social relations, environmental conditions and the allocation of resources essential to well-being. Who decides, and how they decide, are key drivers of substantive policy. Moreover, there is at least some epidemiological evidence that the ability of people to participate in the governance of their communities is in itself significant for health. This paper offers an emerging theory of "nodal governance" to describe the management of events in social systems. The use of this theory in mapping, assessing and then productively "destabilizing" these systems is discussed, with particular attention to the extent to which promoting "microgovernance" institutions is a plausible strategy for improving population health. Nodal governance focuses attention on how governance happens - how power is wielded - at specific points within a system, and thus raises essential normative questions about democratic decision making. But the theory, with its obvious intellectual debts to network theory, systems theory and the work of Hayek, also seems to imply a challenge to the sort of thinking about regulation and law often encapsulated in the idea of the "risk society." In the final section of the paper I conclude with some speculations about new, constitutive paradigms for social governance.
“Baby, Look Inside Your Mirror”: The Legal Profession’s Willful and Sanist Blindness To Lawyers With Mental Disabilities

The legal profession has notoriously ignored the reality that a significant number of its members exhibit signs of serious mental illness (and become addicted or habituated to drugs or alcohol at levels that are statistically significantly elevated from levels of the public at large). This is no longer news. What has not been explored is why so much of the bar has remained willfully ignorant of these realities, and why it refuses to confront the depths of this problem—one which appears to be exacerbated in the cases of lawyers in large, high-powered firms.
Law and Language: How Words Mislead Us

This talk was the Reappointment Lecture for the Frederick W. Thomas Chair in the Interdisciplinary Study of Law and Language at the University of Minnesota. The topic is the way that the words we use in legal doctrinal reasoning can - intentionally and unintentionally - mislead us regarding the proper outcomes of cases and the best development of the law. Connecting to the ideas of the American legal realists Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., and Felix Cohen, the talk uses examples from Contract Law (assent to terms in electronic contracting cases, waiver of the failure of conditions), Medical Decision-Making (deciding on behalf of incompetent patients), and Family Law (same-sex marriage, child custody, and alimony) to make general points about how we choose words to make our decisions more persuasive or more comfortable, when we should instead be using more transparent (more honest) terminology, in order better to confront the real underlying moral and policy questions.
Do Consumers Perceive Precise Prices to Be Lower Than Round Prices? Evidence From Laboratory and Market Data

We examine two questions: Does precision or roundedness of prices bias magnitude judgments? If so, do these biased judgments affect buyer behavior? In a laboratory pre-test, we find that people incorrectly judge precise prices (e.g., $325,425) to be lower than round prices of similar magnitudes (e.g., $325,000). Building on evidence of greater prevalence of precision in smaller numbers and roundedness in larger numbers (Dehaene and Mehler 1992), we suggest that representativeness of digit patterns might influence magnitude judgments. We term this the precision heuristic in price magnitude judgments. We examine the effect of this precision heuristic on buyer's willingness to pay (WTP) in two distinct but complementary ways. First, we conduct a laboratory study to understand the psychological mechanism behind the precision heuristic. We find that people do learn to associate precision with smaller magnitudes, and that this association biases their price magnitude judgments. Additionally, we rule out alternative explanations which posit that a precise price signals a seller's low-price strategy or her unwillingness to negotiate. Based on these findings, we suggest that although the precision heuristic can lead to biased judgments, it is an ecologically valid judgment criterion. Next, using data from more than 27,000 residential real estate transactions in two separate markets, we find that buyers pay higher sale prices when list prices are more precise. This finding is consistent with the precision heuristic, suggesting that buyers perceive precise list prices to be lower, and therefore accept sale prices that are closer to the list price. These results have substantive implications for buyer and seller behaviors, and theoretical implications for the understanding of price cognition process.
Happiness and Time Preference: The Effect of Positive Affect in a Random-Assignment Experiment

Abstract We conduct a random-assignment experiment to investigate whether positive affect impacts time preference, where time preference denotes a preference for present over future utility. Our result indicates that, compared to neutral affect, mild positive affect significantly reduces time preference over money. This result is robust to various specification checks, and alternative interpretations of the result are considered. Our result has implications for the effect of happiness on time preference and the role of emotions in economic decision making, in general. Finally, we reconfirm the ubiquity of time preference and start to explore its determinants. (DJEL D12, D83, I31)
King v. Burwell: Where Were the Tax Professors?

INTRODUCTION 48 I. KING V. BURWELL WASN’T REALLY A TAX CASE 50 II. KING V. BURWELL WAS ALWAYS ABOUT POLITICS 51 III. NONTAX SCHOLARS HAD ALREADY OCCUPIED THE FIELD 53 CONCLUSION 54
The Openness‐equality Trade‐off in Global Redistribution

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries accept massive numbers of migrants from poor countries and pay wages that dramatically improve over outside options but are meagre by the standards of natives. As such they do dramatically more per capita to reduce global inequality than do the ‘fortress welfare states’ of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. If OECD countries were to imitate the GCC it would reduce global inequality by more than full equalisation within the OECD would. Such examples suggest a philosophically disturbing trade‐off between openness to global inequality‐reducing migration and internal equality.
Beyond Blood and Borders: Finding Meaning in Birthright Citizenship

Since the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, the United States has conferred citizenship to all children born within U.S. territory with few exceptions. In recent years, however, some have proposed legislation that would exclude the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants from U.S. citizenship as a way of reducing incentives for unauthorized immigration. Using various interpretive lenses, scholars have debated whether the Fourteenth Amendment requires the bestowal of citizenship to all individuals born within U.S. territory. This article, however, reaches beyond the Fourteenth Amendment and analyzes the concept of territorial birthright citizenship more broadly. This article explores the substantive meaning and purpose of birthright citizenship in the United States as distilled from the historical trajectory of U.S. citizenship law. Specifically, this article examines several junctures in U.S. history in which courts and legislatures have grappled with decisions about citizenship, including the aftermath of the American Revolution, the formulation and ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the exclusion (and later inclusion) of American Indians from U.S. citizenship. This article isolates the substantive factors that have played a role in these grants or denials of citizenship to evaluate whether a territorial conception of birthright citizenship continues to serve the substantive purposes and meaning of birthright citizenship in the United States. Ultimately, this article concludes that, although territorial presence is a waning proxy for substantive indicators of membership in other spheres of law, territorial presence at birth continues to serve as an accurate predictive proxy for these substantive indicators of membership in the realm of citizenship.
Ins, outs, and the duration of trade

. We employ survival analysis to study the duration of U.S. imports. Our findings indicate international trade is far more dynamic than previously thought. The median duration of exporting a product to the U.S. is very short, on the order of two to four years. There is negative duration dependence. If a country is able to survive in the exporting market for the first few years it will face a very small probability of failure and will likely export the product for a long period of time. The results hold across countries and industries and are robust to aggregation. JEL classification: F14, F19, C14, C41 Entrees, sorties et la duree du commerce. Les auteurs emploient une analyse de survie pour etudier la duree des importations aux Etats-Unis. On decouvre que le commerce international est beaucoup plus dynamique qu’on le pensait. La duree mediane de l’exportation d’un produit aux Etats-Unis est tres courte – de l’ordre de deux a quatre ans. Il y a une dependance negative de la duree. Si un pays est capable de survivre dans le marche d’exportation pour les quelques premieres annees, il fera face a une plus faible probabilite de faillite et va exporter le produit en toutes probabilites pendant une longue periode. Ces resultats sont confirmes transversalement pour des ensembles de pays et d’industries et sont robustes quand on utilise des donnees agregees.
Who will be idol? The importance of social networks for winning on reality shows

Abstract This paper examines, both theoretically and empirically, the effect of social networks and belonging to minority groups (or race) on the probability of winning in reality television shows. We develop a theoretical model that studies viewer behavior by presenting a framework of competition between two contestants from two different groups. The results are examined empirically using unique contestant data from the highly popular reality show “A Star Is Born”, the Israeli counterpart of “American Idol”. Our main finding is that social networks and belonging to minority groups play key roles in the contestant's victory. While the effect of belonging to a minority group is positive, the social network effect is U -shaped. Beyond the world of reality TV, this paper sheds light on the general behavior of social networks as well.
Rational Benefit Assessment for an Irrational World: Toward a Behavioral Transfer Test

Behavioral economists have identified certain biases in decision making that lead people to make decisions that harm themselves, but there is insuf- ficient guidance for estimating benefits in the presence of such behavioral failures. This gap in principles and standards for benefit-cost analysis has led government agencies at times to adopt arbitrary and excessive benefit valuations. This arti- cle describes an approach to incorporating behavioral market failures into benefit estimation, first by advocating a behavioral transfer test to use before applying behavioral findings from narrow contexts to broader populations subject to regu- lation, and then by comparing the outcomes from the self-harming behavior to a policy reference point in which people are assumed to be fully informed and to act fully rationally in their own self-interest. This approach, which is grounded on systematic, well-documented, and context-specific findings of behavioral fail- ings, would reduce instances of agencies assuming that behavioral findings in some contexts provide sufficient rationale for overriding consumer preferences in other contexts. It would also establish a consistent approach to government policy by, for example, creating symmetry between advancing policies that seek to discourage consumption of products for which consumers underestimate the health risks and fostering accurate risk beliefs to address erroneous individual choices based on risk overestimation.
The Cultural Orientation of Mass Political Opinion

Most Americans lack any substantial degree of ideological sophistication (Kinder 1998), yet they often manage to express coherent views across a range of issues. The conventional explanation for this is that people rely on judgmental shortcuts (e.g., Sniderman, Brody, and Tetlock 1991). These “heuristics” permit individuals with sufficient political sophistication to sort and filter incoming messages to form relatively consistent views that align with preexisting values (Zaller 1992).
Employer Recognition of Same-Sex Relationships in the United States: Legal and Economic Implications

Recognition of same-sex relationships is receiving increasing national attention in the United States. This paper discusses the current availability of employee rights in the United States on the basis of marital status to same-sex couples, and both the direct and indirect economic consequences to organizations of providing such rights. Despite legal recognition in some states and by many employers in the private sector, the availability of marital rights in the workplace for same-sex couples remains tenuous, at most. Although the direct economic consequences of same-sex relationships remain a matter of debate, the indirect economic advantages are several, including being an employer of choice and having a favorable reputation in the consumer, stockholder, and applicant marketplace. Employers should counterbalance indirect economic benefits with opposition to same-sex relationships, including product boycotts. The issue cannot be ignored from a legal or economic perspective.
Judgment is not color blind: The impact of automatic color preference on product and advertising preferences

This research examines the colors white and black and highlights the importance of automatic preference for the color white over black in product choice and advertising contexts. Across three studies, we incorporate multiple Implicit Association Tests to assess automatic preferences for colors, products, races, and advertisements. In Study 1, we demonstrate an automatic color preference for white over black, show that this preference holds for Caucasian-Americans and African-Americans, and find that automatic color preference predicts automatic product preference of white over black-colored products. Study 2 extends these findings by showing that actual behavioral product choice is best predicted by a combination of automatic and explicit color preferences. In the advertising domain, Study 3 demonstrates how automatic color preference influences advertising responses and how it explains the lack of in-group preference by African-Americans in previous implicit studies of racial preference. Collectively, our research draws attention to the need to disentangle white and black as designation of colors versus racial groups, and offers significant and novel contributions to the work on color and race in consumer psychology.
Why Judges Applying the Daubert Trilogy Need to Know About the Social, Institutional, and Rhetorical--and Not Just the Methodological--Aspects of Science

In response to the claim that many judges are deficient in their understanding of scientific methodology, this Article identifies in recent cases (1) a pragmatic perspective on the part of federal appellate judges when they reverse trial judges who tend to idealize science (i.e., who do not appreciate the local and practical goals and limitations of science), and (ii) an educational model of judicial gatekeeping that results in reversal of trial judges who defer to the social authority of science (i.e., who mistake authority for reliability). Next, this Article observes that courts (in the cases it analyzes) are not interested in pragmatically constructing legal science, but rather attempt to ensure that science itself, conceived pragmatically (i.e., without idealizing science), is appropriated in law. This Article concludes that trial judges who fail to appreciate the social, institutional, and rhetorical aspects of science tend to reject reliable—albeit pragmatic—science, welcome unreliable—albeit authoritative—science, and thereby create a body of legal science that is out of sync with mainstream science.
Estimating the value of additional wind and transmission capacity in the rocky mountain west

The expansion of wind-generation in the United States poses significant challenges to policy-makers, particularly because wind’s intermittency and unpredictability can exacerbate problems of congestion on a transmission constrained grid. Understanding these issues is necessary if optimal development of wind energy and transmission is to occur. This paper applies a model that integrates the special concerns of electricity generation to empirically consider the challenges of developing wind resources in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. Given the lack the high frequency data needed to address the special problems of intermittency and congestion, our solution is to create a dispatch model of the region and to use simulations to generate the necessary data, then use this data to understand the development patterns that have occurred as wind resources have been developed. Our results indicate that the price effects caused by changes in power output at intermittent sources are strongly dependent on supply conditions and the presence of market distortions caused by transmission constraints. Peculiarities inherent in electric grid operation can cause system responses that are not always intuitive. The distribution of the rents accruing to wind generation, particularly in unexpectedly windy periods are strongly dependent on the allocation of transmission rights when congestion occurs, which impacts potential returns to developing wind resources. Incidents of congestion depend on the pace of development of wind and transmission capacity. Not accounting for such distortions may cause new development to worsen market outcomes if mistaken estimates of benefits or costs lead to sub-optimal development of wind and transmission facilities.
Reasoning Is for Arguing: Understanding the Successes and Failures of Deliberation

Theoreticians of deliberative democracy have sometimes found it hard to relate to the seemingly contradictory experimental results produced by psychologists and political scientists. We suggest that this problem may be alleviated by inserting a layer of psychological theory between the empirical results and the normative political theory. In particular, we expose the argumentative theory of reasoning that makes the observed pattern of findings more coherent. According to this theory, individual reasoning mechanisms work best when used to produce and evaluate arguments during a public deliberation. It predicts that when diverse opinions are discussed, group reasoning will outperform individual reasoning. It also predicts that individuals have a strong confirmation bias. When people reason either alone or with like-minded peers, this confirmation bias leads them to reinforce their initial attitudes, explaining individual and group polarization. We suggest that the failures of reasoning are most likely to be remedied at the collective than at the individual level.
Growing apart: The division of labor and the breakdown of informal institutions

Abstract In this paper, we model the co-evolution of the division of labor and informal institutions based on three assumptions. First, informal institutions lower coordination costs among specialists, which increases the equilibrium division of labor. Second, advances in the division of labor increase the size of interpersonal trading groups and thereby undermine the game theoretic basis of informal institutions. Finally, the collective nature of informal institutions implies that they are undervalued in private decision making. Together these assumptions imply that the equilibrium division of labor is too high from a social perspective. Consequently, the economy has greater than optimal complexity and grows at a higher than optimal rate of growth. Journal of Comparative Economics 34 (1) (2006) 75–91.
Are Women Underrepresented as Leaders of Nonprofit Organizations

Despite the predommance offemale employees and volunteers in nonprofit organizations, research indicates that there are fewer women serving as chief executive officers and board members when compar...
Is channel coordination all it is cracked up to be

Abstract A fundamental task for supply-chain managers is to determine wholesale-prices. Such determination is a core theme in the marketing science literature on distribution channels—which seems to have concluded that channel coordination—setting wholesale-prices to maximize total channel profit—represents the best of all possible objectives. This judgment is based on analyses of bilateral monopoly models, within which profit may be redistributed to the benefit of all channel members. However, many manufacturers deal with multiple, competing retailers. The pure logic of bilateral monopoly models holds in the presence of multiple retailers if and only if the manufacturer can price discriminate between retailers. Although mechanisms for price discrimination exist, in many situations they are infeasible, illegal, or both. When retailers compete there are two feasible and legally permissible methods of achieving channel coordination: an explicit quantity-discount schedule or a menu of two-part tariffs. (The latter is derived in detail in this paper.) A feasible and legally permissible alternative to channel coordination is for the manufacturer to utilize a sophisticated Stackelberg two-part tariff—itself a form of a quantity-discount schedule. Although such a tariff cannot coordinate the channel, it is the best of all possible two-part tariffs from the viewpoint of maximizing manufacturer profit. Because manufacturers are ultimately interested in their own profitability, it follows that channel coordination is manufacturer-optimal only if it generates at least as great a level of profit for the manufacturer as does noncoordination. In this paper we determine the conditions under which a channel-coordinating wholesale-price strategy will manufacturer-profit dominate a sophisticated Stackelberg two-part tariff. We show that the optimal policy is dependent on (1) the retailers’ fixed costs, (2) the relative size of the retailers, and (3) the degree of inter-retailer competition. We conclude that, from the perspective of a manufacturer, channel coordination is often undesirable relative to utilizing a noncoordinating, sophisticated Stackelberg price-strategy. Therefore, channel coordination can no longer be regarded as the ultimate goal which supply-chain managers should uncritically pursue.
Counter-hegemonic International Law: rethinking human rights and development as a Third World strategy

Abstract The very meaning of the term ‘Third World’ has become disarticulated, with corresponding changes to the politics and structure of international law. At stake is the question: is international law of any use to the Third World, and if it could be so, how must one rethink it? This article argues that there is now a distinction between hegemonic and counter-hegemonic international law, and that the future of international law and the Third World are intricately intertwined in contributing to a counter-hegemonic international law. But, in order to achieve this goal, the past strategies of Third World engagement through international law, for example through the discourses of human rights and development, need to be seriously rethought. The article offers a critical analysis of the hegemonic nature of human rights and development discourses in contemporary international law.
Repurchases, Reputation, and Returns

This paper examines whether a firm’s reputation is a determinant of repurchase completion rates (the ratio of actual to announced repurchases) and whether the stock market discounts announcements made by less reputable firms. Prior completion rates are positively correlated with current completion rates and announcement returns, suggesting consistency in repurchases and implying a reputational effect. Further, a nascent literature regarding accelerated share repurchases (ASRs) finds them to be more credible than open market repurchases. I show that the probability of announcing an ASR is greater for firms likely to be concerned about reputation because of low past completion rates.
Do Defaults Save Lives

Default options can lead to striking differences in preferences, with significant economic impact. The authors of this Policy Forum use natural and experimental data to examine the impact of simple policy defaults on the decision to become an organ donor, finding large effects that significantly increase donation rates.
The Trips Agreement, Access to Medicines, and the Wto Doha Ministerial Conference

On June 19, 2001, the WTO TRIPS Council held its first meeting on the implications of the TRIPS Agreement for access to medicines and public health. In connection with that meeting, and a follow on meeting of July 25, 2001, WTO Members have made a number of specific observations regarding the terms, structure and spirit of the Agreement. This report analyzes issues presented by the TRIPS Agreement and its present and prospective impact on access to medicines. A number of these issues have previously been raised and analyzed by this author and other commentators, and the discussions initiated in the TRIPS Council already focus on several of them. Nevertheless, it may be useful to consider in a relatively concise and systematic format the central elements of discussion in connection with the prospective Ministerial Conference in Doha on November 9-13, 2001. There are two ultimate objectives of this report. The first is to assist Members in formulating recommendations regarding a possible Doha Ministerial Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health, or a near-term formal interpretation of the TRIPS Agreement. The second is to raise issues that might more appropriately be the subject of a longer-term review of the TRIPS Agreement.
Energy Inequality and Instrumental Violence: An Empirical Test of a Deductive Hypothesis

Economic research has firmly established that energy consumption is closely linked to economic growth patterns. The subtext of such research is that disruptions to stable supplies of affordable energy could adversely affect quality of life and interrupt patterns of social cohesiveness. This article investigates a hypothesized link between patterns of energy consumption and instrumental violence across 868 U.S. counties. Tobit regression results confirm an inverse association between a global indicator of energy consumption and robbery rates, after statistically holding constant numerous theorized correlates of crime. Results support calls for increased contingency planning in anticipation of energy-related social control challenges and continued efforts to research and develop alternate and affordable energy.
ON MODELING THE EFFECTS OF INFLATION SHOCKS

A popular model in the literature postulates an interest rate rule, a NAIRU price equation, and an aggregate demand equation in which aggregate demand depends on the real interest rate. In this model a positive inflation shock with the nominal interest rate held constant is explosive because it increases aggregate demand (because the real interest rate is lower), which increases inflation through the price equation, which further increases aggregate demand, and so on. In order for the model to be stable, the nominal interest rate must rise more than inflation, which means that the coefficient on inflation in the interest rate rule must be greater than one.
The empirics of monetary policy rules in open economies

This paper uses the empirical framework for formulating and estimating forward looking monetary policy rules developed in Clarida, Gali and Gertler (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001) and Clarida (2000) to assess what we know, don’t know, and can’t tell about monetary policy making in an open economy with an (implicit) inflation target. Among the issues discussed are: the relationship between structural VAR models of monetary policy and exchange rates and estimates of forward-looking Taylor rules; the relationship between inflation targeting and leaning against the (exchange rate) wind; why central bankers are averse to even wide-band target zones; quantifying stresses and costs of a one-size-fits-all monetary policy for the members of a monetary union or currency bloc. Copyright # 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Survival of Civil Law in North America: The Case of Louisiana

There are legitimate historical reasons for speaking seriously about a civil law heritage in Louisiana. French and Spanish civilian influences permeated the Louisiana Civil Code when it was first enacted in 1808. The current status of the civil law in Louisiana, however, is problematic; the American common law methodology has made significant inroads into the operation of the current legal system. Separated from its parenting source by geography, time, and culture, Louisiana civil law has become an ill-defined civilian entity that, in reality, is more of a common law process with civil law trappings. The civil law nonetheless has a destiny in Louisiana and other American jurisdictions. The development of international trade and commerce creates a global need to accommodate and merge different legal traditions. The future mission of the civil law in North America may reside in its ability to provide a sensible procedural and substantive model of law for the resolution of international commercial disputes.The internationalization of law and legal practice offers an opportunity to update, adjust, and adapt Louisiana's civil law heritage to the realities of contemporary society and to resurrect it from the ashes of historical memory. The national and international legitimacy of Louisiana civil law lies in its comparative law role as a means of bridging the gap between the two principal Western legal traditions. The familiarity with opposing legal concepts and methodology and the academic sophistication in teaching different branches of law could make Louisiana a training ground for American and European lawyers who wish to engage in the practice of transnational commercial law.
Who Killed the Rule Against Perpetuities

This article examines the relationship between the federal wealth transfer taxes and the rule against perpetuities. The decline of the RAP is often attributed primarily to the GST tax amendments enacted in 1986. However, while perpetual trusts were available long before 1986, their estate tax avoidance possibilities were not widely used. Even after 1986, simple repeal of the RAP leaves perpetual trusts exposed to potential estate taxation. In addition, settlors should consider non-tax considerations in assessing the attractions of perpetual trusts.
Do Party Systems Count?: The Number of Parties and Government Performance in the Indian States

Delivery of public goods varies significantly across the Indian states. This article argues that differences in state government expenditures are largely the result of differences in their party systems. Using macroeconomic data from 1967 to 1997 as well as postelection voter surveys, we demonstrate that states with two-party competition provide more public goods than states with multiparty competition, which, we argue, reflects differing mobilization strategies. In two-party systems, political parties require support from many social groups and therefore provide public goods to win elections. In multiparty systems, needing only a plurality of votes to win, parties use club, rather than public, goods to mobilize smaller segments of the population. In stressing the impact of party systems on state government performance in India, this article differs from recent political economy research, which has stressed either the effect of particular political parties or ethnic divisions on government performance and...
Duration analysis of venture capital staging: A real options perspective

Abstract This study takes a real options perspective towards venture capital staging and views the staging decision as a choice between holding the current option to invest and investing now to obtain the option to invest subsequently. It proposes that this staging decision depends on the factors that influence the value of these two options, such as competition and various sources of uncertainty. The empirical results suggest that market uncertainty encourages venture capital firms to delay investing at each round of financing, whereas competition, project-specific uncertainty and agency concerns prompt venture capital firms to invest sooner. This study has useful implications for theory and practice.
Fundamentals of corporate currency exposure

Abstract I model the relation between corporate currency exposure and fundamental variables like demand elasticities and operating cost structure. The currency location of a firm's operating costs may be in the home currency, the foreign currency, or partially in each. I start with a single-firm setting and extend the results to a competitive setting. The model should help managers better understand the determinants of currency exposure and thus better perform the important tasks of strategic planning and managing enterprise risk.
Dissecting Anomalies with a Five-Factor Model

A five-factor model that adds profitability (RMW) and investment (CMA) factors to the three-factor model of Fama and French (1993) suggests a shared story for several average-return anomalies. Specifically, positive exposures to RMW and CMA (stock returns that behave like those of profitable firms that invest conservatively) capture the high average returns associated with low market β, share repurchases, and low stock return volatility. Conversely, negative RMW and CMA slopes (like those of relatively unprofitable firms that invest aggressively) help explain the low average stock returns associated with high β, large share issues, and highly volatile returns.
The Distance Imperative: A Different Way of Thinking about Public Official Corruption Investigations/Prosecutions and the Federal Role

Overwhelmingly, cases where corruption has been unearthed and successfully prosecuted have been those where an outside investigative body—often the Federal Government—has been involved . . . . The reason is evident. When the police department is corrupt, who can police it? When the criminal investigators are corrupt, who can investigate them? When the prosecutors are corrupt, who can prosecute them? As long as law enforcement power is kept in the hands of those who are themselves corrupt, the public interest is frustrated. The only hope lies in vesting jurisdiction in an outside body that has the capacity and the will to investigate and prosecute as needed.1
Opportunity knocks but once: delayed disclosure of financial items in earnings announcements and neglect of earnings news

We define a delayed disclosure ratio (DD) as the fraction of 10-Q financial statement items that are withheld at the earlier quarterly earnings announcement. We find that higher DD firms have a greater delay in investor and analyst response to earnings surprises: (i) the fraction of total market reaction to quarterly earnings news realized around the earnings announcement (after the 10-Q filing) is smaller (greater), and (ii) analysts are more likely to defer issuing forecasts from immediately after the earnings announcement to after the 10-Q filing. Consistent with our limited attention model predictions, the response catch-up associated with DD is incomplete, even after the delayed items are fully disclosed at the 10-Q filing date, and persists until the next earnings announcement date. The return reaction to earnings news over the entire quarter does not vary with DD, so differences in earnings informativeness do not explain the DD effect. Our findings suggest that, for limited attention effects to be mitigated, the timing of disclosures must be coincident with the focal periods—at earnings announcement dates—when investors and analysts are paying the most attention.
Buys, holds, and sells: The distribution of investment banks¿ stock ratings and the implications for the profitability of analysts¿ recommendations

Abstract This paper analyzes the distribution of stock ratings at investment banks and brokerage firms and examines whether these distributions can predict the profitability of analysts’ recommendations. We document that the percentage of buys decreased steadily starting in mid-2000, likely due, at least partly, to the implementation of NASD Rule 2711, requiring the public dissemination of ratings distributions. Additionally, we find that a broker's ratings distribution can predict recommendation profitability. Upgrades to buy (downgrades to hold or sell) issued by brokers with the smallest percentage of buy recommendations significantly outperformed (underperformed) those of brokers with the greatest percentage of buys.
The Effect of Adopting Accounting-Based Bonus and Performance Incentive Plans on the Earnings Response Coefficient

This study examines the disparate market response to earnings announcements for firms adopting bonus or performance incentive plans that state plan goals in terms of an earnings-based measure of performance. Bonus plans have a one year performance horizon while performance incentive plans reward managers for improved performance over a three-to-six-year period. A reduction in the earnings response coefficient is predicted for firms that adopt bonus plans since prior research documents that managers of firms with bonus plans have incentives to manipulate earnings numbers. On the other hand, an increase in the earnings response coefficient of firms that adopt performance incentive plans is expected as prior research demonstrates that managers of firms adopting performance incentive plans are motivated to improve long-term profitability. Our results do not support the hypothesis that firms adopting bonus plans experience a decline in the earnings response coefficient. However, our results are consistent with...