cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Classification of the line-soliton solutions of KPII

In the previous papers (notably, Kodama Y 2004 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 37 11169–90, Biondini G and Chakravarty S 2006 J. Math. Phys. 47 033514), a large variety of line-soliton solutions of the Kadomtsev–Petviashvili II (KPII) equation was found. The line-soliton solutions are solitary waves which decay exponentially in the (x, y)-plane except along certain rays. In this paper, it is shown that those solutions are classified by asymptotic information of the solution as |y| → ∞. The present work then unravels some interesting relations between the line-soliton classification scheme and classical results in the theory of permutations.
Plasmons in Ballistic Nanostructures With Stubs: Transmission Line Approach

The plasma wave instabilities in ballistic field-effect transistors have a promise of developing sensitive terahertz detectors and efficient terahertz sources. One of the difficulties in achieving efficient resonant plasmonic detection and generation is assuring proper boundary conditions at the contacts and at the heterointerfaces and tuning the plasma velocity. We propose using the tunable narrow channel regions of an increased width, which we call “stubs” for optimizing the boundary conditions and for controlling the plasma velocity. We developed a compact model for terahertz plasmonic devices using the transmission line (TL) analogy. The mathematics of the problem is similar to the mathematics of a TL with a stub. We applied this model to demonstrate that the stubs could effectively control the boundary conditions and/or the conditions at interfaces. We derived and solved the dispersion equation for the device with the stubs and showed that the periodic or aperiodic systems of stubs allow for slowing down the plasma waves in a controllable manner in a wide range.
Drop splashing is independent of substrate wetting

A liquid drop impacting a dry solid surface with sufficient kinetic energy will splash, breaking apart into numerous secondary droplets. This phenomenon shows many similarities to forced wetting, including the entrainment of air at the contact line. Because of these similarities and the fact that forced wetting has been shown to depend on the wetting properties of the surface, existing theories predict splashing to depend on wetting properties as well. However, using high-speed interference imaging, we observe that at high capillary numbers wetting properties have no effect on splashing for various liquid-surface combinations. Additionally, by fully resolving the Navier-Stokes equations at length and time scales inaccessible to experiments, we find that the shape and motion of the air-liquid interface at the contact line/edge of the droplet are independent of wettability. We use these findings to evaluate existing theories and to compare splashing with forced wetting.
ICE LINES IN CIRCUMBINARY PROTOPLANETARY DISKS

I examine the position of the ice line in circumbinary disks heated by steady mass accretion and stellar irradiation and compare with the critical semimajor axis, interior to which planetary orbits are unstable. There is a critical binary separation, dependent on the binary parameters and disk properties, for which binaries with separations larger than this critical value have ice lines that lie interior to the boundary of stability. For an equal-mass binary comprised of 1 M ☉ components, this critical separation is ≈1.04 AU, and scales weakly with mass accretion rate and Rosseland mean opacity (). Assuming a steady mass accretion rate of and a Rosseland mean opacity of κR ~ 1 cm2 g–1, I show that 80% of all binary systems with component masses M 2.0 M ☉ have ice lines that lie interior to the critical semimajor axis. This suggests that rocky planets should not form in these systems, a prediction which can be tested by looking for planets around binaries with separations larger than the critical separation with Kepler (difficult) and with microlensing.
A soft robot that adapts to environments through shape change

Many organisms, including various species of spiders and caterpillars, change their shape to switch gaits and adapt to different environments. Recent technological advances, ranging from stretchable circuits to highly deformable soft robots, have begun to make shape-changing robots a possibility. However, it is currently unclear how and when shape change should occur, and what capabilities could be gained, leading to a wide range of unsolved design and control problems. To begin addressing these questions, here we simulate, design and build a soft robot that utilizes shape change to achieve locomotion over both a flat and inclined surface. Modelling this robot in simulation, we explore its capabilities in two environments and demonstrate the automated discovery of environment-specific shapes and gaits that successfully transfer to the physical hardware. We found that the shape-changing robot traverses these environments better than an equivalent but non-morphing robot, in simulation and reality. Inspired by many examples in nature where organisms change shape to concur environments, there is much interest in designing robots that are capable of shape change. Shah et al. demonstrate a method for automatically discovering shape and gait changes for soft robots that can adapt to different terrains.
Programming the Kennedy receiver for capacity maximization versus minimizing one-shot error probability

We find the capacity attained by the Kennedy receiver for coherent-state BPSK when the symbol prior p and pre-detection displacement β are optimized. The optimal β is different than what minimizes error probability for single-shot BPSK state discrimination.
Lynx grating spectrometer design: optimizing chirped transmission gratings

Lynx is one of four large-mission concept studies for NASA’s 2020 Decadal survey. The design reference mission includes an X-ray grating spectrometer (XGS) based on critical-angle transmission (CAT) gratings. In the past we studied different grating sizes and arrangements using traditional flat CAT gratings with constant bar spacing. However, new technology development brings chirped gratings in reach. Using chirped gratings where the grating bar spacing varies over a grating allows us to fill the aperture with larger gratings because the chirp can compensate for some aberrations caused by the deviation of large flat gratings from the Rowland torus. This reduces the area blocked by grating support structures. Using larger gratings also carries potential cost savings. We use ray-tracing to study an XGS design with chirped grating and find that using chirped gratings of 80 ∗ 160 mm size allows us to reduce the number of gratings from a few thousand to a few hundred, while simultaneously increasing the effective area by 25% and keeping the resolving power constant. Bending those gratings to maintain a constant blaze angle over the entire grating increases the effective area by another 5-10%.
Unified scheduling for predictable communication reliability in cellular networks with D2D Links

Abstract Cellular networks with device-to-device (D2D) links are increasingly being explored for mission-critical industrial applications which require predictable communication reliability. With interference being a major source of packet loss, it is thus critical to control interference among concurrent transmissions in a predictable manner to ensure the required communication reliability. To this end, we propose a Unified Cellular Scheduling (UCS) framework that, based on the Physical-Ratio-K (PRK) interference model, schedules uplink, downlink, and D2D transmissions in a unified manner to ensure predictable communication reliability while maximizing channel spatial reuse. UCS also provides a simple, effective approach to mode selection that maximizes the communication capacity for each involved communication pair. UCS effectively uses multiple channels for high throughput as well as resilience to channel fading and external interference. Leveraging the availability of base stations (BSes) as well as high-speed, out-of-band connectivity between BSes, UCS effectively orchestrates the functionalities of BSes and user equipment (UE) for light-weight control signaling and ease of incremental deployment and integration with existing cellular standards. We have implemented UCS using the open-source, standards-compliant cellular networking platform OpenAirInterface, and we have validated the UCS design and implementation using the USRP B210 software-defined radios in the ORBIT wireless testbed. We have also evaluated UCS through high-fidelity, at-scale simulation studies; we observe that UCS ensures predictable communication reliability while achieving a higher channel spatial reuse rate than existing mechanisms, and that the distributed UCS framework enables a channel spatial reuse rate statistically equal to that in the state-of-the-art centralized scheduling algorithm iOrder.
Effects of kappa opioid receptor agonists on fentanyl vs. food choice in male and female rats: contingent vs. non-contingent administration

Strategies are needed to decrease the abuse liability of mu opioid receptor (MOR) agonists. One strategy under consideration is to combine MOR agonists with kappa opioid receptor (KOR) agonists. The effects of KOR agonists (U50488, nalfurafine) on fentanyl-vs.-food choice were compared under conditions where the KOR agonists were added to the intravenously self-administered fentanyl (contingent delivery) or administered as subcutaneous pretreatments (non-contingent delivery) in male and female rats. Rats were trained to respond under a concurrent schedule of fentanyl (0, 0.32–10 μg/kg/infusion) and food reinforcement. In experiment 1, U50488 and nalfurafine were co-administered with fentanyl as fixed-proportion mixtures (contingent administration). In experiment 2, U50488 (1–10 mg/kg) and nalfurafine (3.2–32 μg/kg) were administered as acute pretreatments (non-contingent administration). The selective KOR antagonist, nor-BNI (32 mg/kg), was administered prior to contingent and non-contingent KOR-agonist treatment in experiment 3. Both U50488 and nalfurafine decreased fentanyl choice when administered contingently, demonstrating that KOR agonists punish opioid choice. However, evidence for punishment corresponded with an elimination of operant responding in the majority of rats. Non-contingent U50488 and nalfurafine administration only decreased the number of choices made during the behavioral session without altering fentanyl choice. Contingent and non-contingent KOR-agonist effects on fentanyl choice were both attenuated by nor-BNI. These results illustrate that the effects of KOR agonists on fentanyl reinforcement are dependent upon the contingencies under which they are administered.
Chance Constrained Covariance Control for Linear Stochastic Systems With Output Feedback

We consider the problem of steering, via out-put feedback, the state distribution of a discrete-time, linear stochastic system from an initial Gaussian distribution to a terminal Gaussian distribution with prescribed mean and max-imum covariance, subject to probabilistic path constraints on the state. The filtered state is obtained via a Kalman filter, and the problem is formulated as a deterministic convex program in terms of the distribution of the filtered state. We observe that, in the presence of constraints on the state covariance, and in contrast to classical Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) control, the optimal feedback control depends on both the process noise and the observation model. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is verified using a numerical example.
Manufacturing Where Agriculture Predominates: Evidence from the South and Midwest in 1860

Abstract We employ the 1860 Census of Manufactures to study rural antebellum manufacturing in the South and Midwest, and find that manufacturing output per capita was similar across regions in counties specialized in the same agricultural products. The southern deficit in manufactures per capita appears to have been largely attributable to the very low levels of output in counties specialized in cotton production. This implies that it was the South's geographical suitability for highly profitable cotton production, not the existence of slavery per se, that was responsible for the region's limited industrial development—at least in rural areas. The other major finding is that in both the South and the Midwest measured total factor productivity was significantly lower in counties specialized in wheat (the most seasonal of agricultural products with respect to labor requirements). This result is consistent with suggestions that agricultural districts where the predominant crops were highly seasonal tended to support manufacturing enterprise during the off-peak periods.
Celebrating Thirty Years of the Pace Law Review

Thirty years ago, the Pace Law Review published its inaugural issue. After two years of planning and hard work, the student editors released Volume 1, Issue 1 with the simple goal of making a "valuable contribution to legal scholarship." With articles on international disputes, state rule-making, and the use of history in judicial opinions, the first issue of the Pace Law Review set a standard for timely and relevant legal scholarship. Thirty years later, much has changed. But also, much has stayed the same. After thirty volumes and thirty years, Pace Law Review has continued the tradition of addressing contemporary legal issues and making a valuable contribution to legal scholarship.
Effective Responses to Offensive Comments

One of the most difficult elements in any negotiation is responding effectively to the other side when it has said or done something that makes you uncomfortable. Sometimes a negotiator will deliberately use comments such as those listed above as a form of gamesmanship. At other times, such comments just display ignorance. Nonetheless, perceived insults, biased comments, or questionable personal statements can and do snarl many negotiations, leaving you wondering about the other side's motives and intentions. How does a good negotiator handle this king of problem? Retaliation? Letting it go? Responding Coolly? In the heat of the moment when you are feeling flustered, it is often difficult to give the measured response you would like. All of us have had the experience of thinking of the "best line" or comment hours after the conversation has ended. But in the same way that hitting the brakes can be learned response to something unexpected in a negotiation. Negotiators need to use a three-stage process for responding to offensive comments. First, you should check your own assumptions and be sure that you are not projecting them onto the other person. Second, you can try to understand their motivation in making such a comment. And third, you choose a response to their comment with your goals in mind. The questions "Why?" can be used at every stage of this process, and is particularly important when you choose to engage the other side. By applying a structure to those comments and questions that make us most uncomfortable, we can be more effective negotiators.
Puzzles in Organizational Learning: An Exercise in Disciplined Imagination

Theory construction is in part an exercise in ‘disciplined imagination’. One way to discipline our imaginations around the topic of organizational learning, it is to pay special attention to things we forget, values we slight, goals we neglect, facts we avoid and questions we fear. Each aspect of this framework is explored in the paper through a variety of stories and examples. These include Charles Handy’s first job, fighting fires, medical diagnosis, Winston Churchill’s reflections on the fall of Singapore and the identification of dangerous viruses. These rich and evocative stories offer moments for reflection on underlying issues involved in sense–making, and provide the reader with insights into the relationship between leadership and learning.
Putting some product into work-product: corporate lawyers learning from designers

Clients hire corporate lawyers to make useful things for them. Those things are documents, such as contracts and corporate bylaws. Lawyers have some good tools for making these products; standard forms and precedents from prior engagements are prime examples. But corporate lawyers don’t seem to use other tools whose employment might contribute to the utility and value of the product for the client. Those tools, used by designers, include a stance toward the work focused on the reader and actual user experience, and an attention to typography, to facilitating communicative effectiveness through careful attention to the presentation of text. This paper reflects some work by corporate lawyers trying to learn from designers, their work-products, and their literature, in creating legal documents for clients. The materials considered here are governance documents for nonprofit corporations. The paper notes several themes emerging from the literature study, explains why governance materials are a good vehicle for this work, characterizes typical executions of those materials, describes in detail and provides examples of the documents we developed, and makes a few observations about continuing work in the area. The work here is early-stage. As designers might say, we’re doing ideation and prototyping. But we do think the work is suggestive of how even modest awareness of design considerations can make our work-products better products for our clients.
Dark Matter Density in Disk Galaxies

I show that the predicted densities of the inner dark matter halos in ΛCDM models of structure formation appear to be higher than estimates from real galaxies and constraints from dynamical friction on bars. This inconsistency would not be a problem for the ΛCDM model if physical processes that are omitted in the collisionless collapse simulations were able to reduce the dark matter density in the inner halos. I review the mechanisms proposed to achieve the needed density reduction.
Hedging Customer Risk

Companies and academics rarely account for balancing the risk and reward in a customer portfolio of a firm. Unlike a stock portfolio where both measures are taken into account, many people tend to look only at the customers’ average profit value. Applying financial portfolio management techniques to customer management has been an under-researched topic in academic marketing literature. In this paper, we propose a methodology that allows firms to create a customer portfolio maximizing return for a level of risk. We illustrate the potential benefits by optimally weighting the customer segments based on their risk–reward impact on the firm’s overall customer portfolio. Our method can be used to assist investors in their valuation of a firm or to value an acquisition with a primary goal of increasing the customer base. We use a dataset of 1,901 customers covering seven quarters for a total of 13,307 observations of a major US bank with a market capitalization exceeding $40 billion. We show measurable potential increase in profit by implementing customer portfolio management practices.
Reverence for Life and Environmental Ethics in Biblical Law and Covenant

The Bible is generally recognized as the foundation and point of departure for later Jewish and Christian religious and moral understandings. Nevertheless, both conservative and liberal schools within these traditions have tended to assume that biblical religion has to do only with humankind. Much of Western secular philosophy likewise has been pre-occupied exclusively with the human situation. In recent years, many theologians and ethicists have begun to trace the roots of emerging environmental concerns back to biblical sources. Several excellent studies have resulted from this movement. None, however, has focused on biblical laws and covenants.Commonly, biblical laws are thought to refer solely to Israel's relation with God (or Yahweh) and the structuring of relationships within the Israelite community. The term “covenant” generally refers to those reported occasions in biblical times when God designated Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants, as his particular people, and laid upon them certain obligations, typically in the form of laws. Yet a great many biblical laws refer to treatment of animals, the land, trees, and vegetation. And two major biblical covenants embrace not only the people of Israel, but all human beings and all living creatures.
Outsourcing Immigration Compliance

Immigration is a hot button issue about which Americans have sent a clear message. They prefer not to admit more aliens until the government is able to credibly screen for entrants who will abide by the terms of admission and sanction those who do not. While immigration debates now focus almost entirely on undocumented workers, they have overshadowed another critical, yet poorly understood challenge: designing institutions to properly screen for aliens who are visa-compliant and sanction non-compliant aliens. Because failed guest worker programs unquestionably increase the size of the undocumented population, this article addresses the difficulty of institutional design by analyzing the highly controversial guest worker provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This article presents original data from a study of visa-compliance decisions of Jamaicans who work in Canada under a program in which screening is precise, sanctioning is effective and compliance is high. On the basis of this study, this comparative immigration law project contends that the United States should partially outsource screening and sanctioning to source-labor countries. This article critiques the historical uni-national approach to immigration law. This approach fails to recognize that there are critical asymmetries between the United States and the countries from which aliens originate in their capacity to gather information about potential entrants and to sanction visa-violators. This recognition leads to the following insight: sourcelabor countries are often better placed to screen because can they access accurate information about potential entrants from their communities. Source-labor countries are also often wellplaced to deter non-compliance because through collective sanctioning, they can influence communities of origin to persuade their members to abide by visa terms. The criminal law scholarship regularly recognizes the impact of norms on deterring crimes; this ethnographic study suggests that the same may be true with respect to immigration violations. This article contends that aliens are more likely to be compliant so long as the authorities design legal rules that augment compliance norms already present in source-labor communities and incentivize community members to reinforce them. Outsourcing Immigration Compliance
On product uncertainty in online markets: theory and evidence

Online markets pose a difficulty for evaluating products, particularly experience goods, such as used cars, that cannot be easily described online. This exacerbates product uncertainty, the buyer's difficulty in evaluating product characteristics, and predicting how a product will perform in the future. However, the IS literature has focused on seller uncertainty and ignored product uncertainty. To address this void, this study conceptualizes product uncertainty and examines its effects and antecedents in online markets for used cars (eBay Motors). Extending the information asymmetry literature from the seller to the product, we first theorize the nature and dimensions (description and performance) of product uncertainty. Second, we propose product uncertainty to be distinct from, yet shaped by, seller uncertainty. Third, we conjecture product uncertainty to negatively affect price premiums in online markets beyond seller uncertainty. Fourth, based on the information signaling literature, we describe how information signals (diagnostic product descriptions and third-party product assurances) reduce product uncertainty. The structural model is validated by a unique dataset comprised of secondary transaction data from used cars on eBay Motors matched with primary data from 331 buyers who bid on these used cars. The results distinguish between product and seller uncertainty, show that product uncertainty has a stronger effect on price premiums than seller uncertainty, and identify the most influential information signals that reduce product uncertainty. The study's implications for the emerging role of product uncertainty in online markets are discussed.
Information Technology and Systems Research Published in Major Accounting Academic and Professional Journals

Information technology plays a critical role in modern business, especially regarding the accounting function. Thus, one might expect that information technology and accounting systems would be a major component of accounting research. This study seeks to answer the questions: To what extent does the accounting literature include technology and systems research, and is technology and systems research adequately addressed in the accounting literature? To answer these questions, this study examines the proportion of technology and systems articles in seven top‐ranked accounting journals, four academic and three professional. Journals examined include: The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Contemporary Accounting Research, Journal of Accountancy, CPA Journal, and Strategic Finance (formerly Management Accounting). The findings indicate that while there has been a dramatic increase in the proportion of systems articles published in the professional journal...
MODELING INFLATION IN INDIA: THE ROLE OF MONEY

This paper studies the role of the real money gap — the deviation of real money balance from its long-run equilibrium level — for predicting inflation in India. Using quarterly data on manufacturing inflation from 1982 to 2007, we find that the real money gap is a significant predictor of inflation in India. Our results show that this variable is a better predictor of future inflation at quarterly horizon than the deviation of broad money growth from its target for the whole sample period. We also document a break in the overall predictability of inflation in the last quarter of 1995. We find that, except for the real money gap, the forecasting power of other predictors under study has declined considerably after 1995.
“Trust” in Hobbes’s Political Thought:

“Trust” is not usually considered a Hobbesian concept, which is odd since it is central to the definition of a covenant. The key to understanding Hobbes’s concept of trust is to be found in his acc...
The Myth of Uniformity

Does careful judicial adherence to the federal sentencing guidelines advance the cause of uniformity in sentencing? Not necessarily. There are many reasons to doubt that the guidelines system embodies a coherent approach to uniformity. Given these concerns, judges should not be dissuaded by uniformity arguments from deviating from the guidelines when there are otherwise good grounds for doing so.
Teacher pay and student performance: evidence from the Gambian hardship allowance

ABSTRACTMore than two dozen developing countries have implemented policies to increase teacher compensation in rural schools. We evaluate the impact of the Gambian hardship allowance, which provides a salary premium of 30–40% to primary school teachers in remote locations, on student performance. A geographic discontinuity in the policy’s implementation provides identifying variation. We find no effects of the hardship allowance on average test scores. However, we find suggestive evidence that student performance improved at the top of the test score distribution and fell at the bottom. Our findings indicate that the substantial, unconditional salary increases earned by Gambian teachers had little to no effect on average student performance, with gains limited to the best students.
More than meets the eye: Convertible bond issuers' concurrent transactions

Abstract We document that, in recent years, over 60% of convertible bond issuers conduct concurrent transactions including share repurchases, call option purchases, warrant sales, seasoned equity offerings, and stock lending program initiations. We investigate the determinants of issuers' choice of concurrent transactions and find that a proxy for capital supply (flows to convertible bond arbitrage hedge funds) is a significant determinant. Option purchases are more likely when capital supply is low and the convertible is dilutive to earnings. SEOs are more likely when firms have valuable growth opportunities and capital supply is low. Convertible issuers establish lending programs when arbitrageurs likely encounter difficulty shorting their stock, suggesting that these firms facilitate short selling in their own stock. These results suggest that, in the convertible bond market, the influence of capital supply extends beyond the issuance decision to the use of concurrent transactions and that these transactions offer important flexibility to issuers. We find that average equity market announcement effects differ when issuers conduct concurrent transactions. Consistent with models of adverse selection, concurrent transactions that reduce the dilutive impact on earnings, thereby making the design more debt-like, are associated with less negative announcement effects. Conversely, concurrent transactions that increase the dilutive impact on earnings, thereby making the design more equity-like, are associated with more negative announcement effects.
Ethnic fragmentation and police spending

Using a two-stage least-squares procedure, we estimate the relationship between ethnic fragmentation and police spending using a cross-section of the US counties. Our results show that, when controlling for community characteristics and accounting for simultaneity bias, ethnic fragmentation is positively related to police spending. This article contributes to the understanding of the stylized fact that public spending on police increased over a period in which the incidence of crime decreased.
Gender Differences in Living Arrangements Among Older Persons in India

This article uses the 52nd round of National Sample Survey data to examine gender differences in living arrangement choices of the elderly in India. Older women are more likely to live alone than o...
Managerial Equity Holdings and Income Smoothing Incentives

ABSTRACT We explore how managerial stock holdings and option holdings affect CEOs' income smoothing incentives. Given the different roles of stock holdings and option holdings in solving agency pro...
A Right to Violate One's Duty

I argue that it is conceptually possible to have a right to do something one has a duty not to do, and a duty to do something one has a right not to do. Acknowledging this possibility is crucial – so I argue – not only for a better understanding of the nature of rights and duties, but also for an adequate discussion of several related issues in ethics and the philosophy of law (such as what rights there are and whether there can be legal rights to violate legal duties). Whether or not the possibility I argue for is actual – whether, that is, there really are rights to violate duties – is a matter for a substantive moral theory. Though my discussion is largely conceptual, I give reasons to believe that adequate moral theories will acknowledge such rights and duties.
Adequately Representing Groups

Adequate representation and preclusion, the yin and yang of procedural due process, depend on whether the courts treat a litigant as part of a group experiencing an aggregate harm or as a distinct person suffering individual injuries. And though a vast literature about adequate representation exists in the class-action context,1 it thins dramatically when contemplating other forms of group litigation, such as parens patriae actions and multidistrict litigation (MDL).2 Yet, the need for adequate representation is ubiquitous. Any time one person seeks to represent another in litigation, two questions arise: Is the representative relationship itself legitimate and, if so, are the representative’s decisions and actions adequate? Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides ready answers to both questions. Certifying a class legitimizes the attorney and class representative’s relationship with the class members and requiring a judge to approve a settlement confirms that the representative’s actions were fair and reasonable.3 But as class actions have gradually fallen into disfavor4 and
A Simultaneous Equations Analysis of Forecast Accuracy, Analyst Following, and Trading Volume:

We use a simultaneous equations model to study forecast accuracy, analyst following, and trading volume. Forecast accuracy and analyst following are determined simultaneously, with greater accuracy associated with higher following. This result supports the idea that an analyst's private information complements, rather than substitutes for, factors that increase certainty about the firm's prospects. Stocks generating more trading volume (and thus greater brokerage commissions) have higher analyst following. Given the simultaneity we document between accuracy and following, stocks that generate greater brokerage commissions not only directly induce higher analyst following but also indirectly enhance the accuracy of earnings forecasts about their firms. Finally, special items and a broad accounting-based signal of change impair analysts' ability to predict future earnings. The negative effect of special items on accuracy is consistent with concerns raised by standard setters that unusual events impair inves...
When a buyback isn’t a buyback: open market repurchases and employee options ☆

Abstract This paper examines how stock options affect the decision to repurchase shares. Firms announce repurchases when executives have large numbers of options outstanding and when employees have large numbers of options currently exercisable. Once the decision to repurchase is made, the amount repurchased is positively related to total options exercisable by all employees but independent of managerial options. These results are consistent with managers repurchasing both to maximize their own wealth and to fund employee stock option exercises. The market appears to recognize this motive, however, and reacts less positively to repurchases announced by firms with high levels of nonmanagerial options.
Law and public health: beyond emergency preparedness.

This Article examines three questions: What is public health? What is public health law? What roles can lawyers play in public health? It first describes the breadth of public health, highlighting six trends shaping its future: social determinants of health; synergy between medicine and public health; shifts in focus from external (e.g., environmental and social) to internal (behavioral) risks to health; federalization of public health law; globalization of health risks and responses; and bioterrorism. Because the domains of law that apply to public health are equally broad, the Article next offers a conceptual framework for identifying the types of laws most suitable to different public health problems. Finally, the role of lawyers in the applied field of public health law is examined, first to encourage attention to law's effect on health, even laws having little apparent relationship to health; and second, to recognize that laws intended to achieve specific health outcomes may affect broader legal principles. Lawyers have a unique role to play in ensuring that the legal principles used to promote health also preserve justice. Language: en
Dual Distribution and Intangible Firm Value: Franchising in Restaurant Chains

Abstract Dual distribution systems in which firms use vertical integration and market governance simultaneously are widely used across diverse marketing contexts (e.g., restaurants, retailing, industrial selling). A prominent example of dual distribution includes business format franchising, in which firms (i.e., the franchisors) license the operation of some of their units to franchisees while owning and operating some units themselves. Despite the widespread prevalence of dual distribution, there are few insights into its performance implications. In this article, the author examines the relationship between a firm's dual distribution strategy and its intangible value. Franchising in restaurant chains serves as the empirical context for the study. It is proposed that a firm's dual distribution strategy affects its intangible value both independently and jointly with a set of firm characteristics. The author considers the firm's age, scope of vertical integration, advertising, financial leverage, and fin...
Do Local Managers Give Labor an Edge

Based on the psychological theory of place attachments, native local managers should be more rooted in their communities than non-locals and should act accordingly. Consistent with this, local managers are 33% less likely to lay of employees than their non-local industry peers following industry distress. Additionally, when managers are forced to lay off employees, establishments near managers' homes are less likely to experience layoffs than those located elsewhere. Locals pay for these higher employment levels by spending cash, cutting investment, and selling assets. While there is no direct evidence that labor-friendly policies of locals have a differential impact on firm performance or value, only locals with weaker incentives implement these policies, suggesting that favoritism by locals may be suboptimal. Taken together these results suggest that managerial preferences impact corporate employment decisions.
Criminal Disenfranchisement and the Challenge of American Federalism

This article reviews recent developments in American felony disenfranchisement law. Examining several variables' impact on states' likelihood of enacting reform, I find that only initial policy severity proves a strong predictor of restriction-relaxing change, as most of the dozen states enacting such reforms in the last decade began the period with extremely restrictive policies. Entrepreneurship by African American and Democratic lawmakers has been important, but many Republicans conclude that debating disenfranchisement can be advantageous to them, as well. The Help America Vote Act has centralized administration of this policy, while local officials retain important roles. The article concludes by examining two unresolved problems: whether ineligibility follows a person moving from one state to another, and whether Congress has the constitutional authority to enfranchise former offenders. Copyright 2009, Oxford University Press.
Ownership structure and corporate performance

This paper investigates the relation between the ownership structure and the performance of corporations if ownership is made multi-dimensional and also is treated as an endogenous variable. To our knowledge, no prior study has treated the corporate control problem this way. We find no statistically significant relation between ownership structure and firm performance. This finding is consistent with the view that diffuse ownership, while it may exacerbate some agency problems, also yields compensating advantages that generally offset such problems. Consequently, for data that reflect market-mediated ownership structures, no systematic relation between ownership structure and firm performance is to be expected.
Trade, Power, and Political Economy: Reason vs. Ideology in Edward Stringham’s Private Governance

In Private Governance: Creating Order in Economic and Social Life, Edward Stringham explains that private ordering is sufficient to secure full exploitation of gains from trade within a society. After describing the logic of Stringham’s claim on behalf of private ordering, the remainder of this essay examines an enigma that Stringham’s argument entails: private ordering is sufficient for social coordination and yet public ordering is ubiquitous. The exploitation of gains from trade might offer a useful ideology, but this provides but an incomplete basis for a theory of society. In this respect, societies are rife with antagonism and envy, though these often manifest themselves ideologically as claims about justice and fairness. Politics goes where the money is; private ordering reveals targets that public ordering subsequently exploits. The challenge for political economy is to integrate the autonomy of economizing action with the autonomy of political action, for these dual autonomies provide the crucible out of which emerges the material of political economy. Stringham has deepened our appreciation of what private governance can accomplish, but much unfinished analytical work confronts theorists of political economy.
Drug prohibition: A legal and economic analysis

This paper argues the case for the legalization of addictive drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. It maintains that there are no “market failures’ which could justify a banning of these substances, and that, as in the earlier historical case of prohibition of alcohol, our present drug policy has increased crime, decreased respect for legitimate law, and created great social upheaval.
LEGAL FORMALISM AND LEGAL REALISM: WHAT IS THE ISSUE?

In teaching jurisprudence, I typically distinguish between two different families of theories of adjudication—theories of how judges do or should decide cases. “Formalist” theories claim that (1) the law is “rationally” determinate, that is, the class of legitimate legal reasons available for a judge to offer in support of his or her decision justifies one and only one outcome either in all cases or in some significant and contested range of cases (e.g., cases that reach the stage of appellate review); and (2) adjudication is thus “autonomous” from other kinds of reasoning, that is, the judge can reach the required decision without recourse to nonlegal normative considerations of morality or political philosophy. I also note that “formalism” is sometimes associated with the idea that judicial decision-making involves nothing more than mechanical deduction on the model of the syllogism—Beccaria, for example, expresses such a view. I call the latter “Vulgar Formalism” to emphasize that it is not a view to which anyone today cares to subscribe.
Synchronized eye movements predict test scores in online video education

Experienced teachers pay close attention to their students, adjusting their teaching when students seem lost. This dynamic interaction is missing in online education. We hypothesized that attentive students follow videos similarly with their eyes. Thus, attention to instructional videos could be assessed remotely by tracking eye movements. Here we show that intersubject correlation of eye movements during video presentation is substantially higher for attentive students and that synchronized eye movements are predictive of individual test scores on the material presented in the video. These findings replicate for videos in a variety of production styles, for incidental and intentional learning and for recall and comprehension questions alike. We reproduce the result using standard web cameras to capture eye movements in a classroom setting and with over 1,000 participants at home without the need to transmit user data. Our results suggest that online education could be made adaptive to a student’s level of attention in real time.
Prevailing patterns of liver enzymes in patients with COVID-19 infection and association with clinical outcomes

Background COVID-19 is now a critical threat to global public health. Although the majority of patients present with respiratory illness, several studies have described multiorgan involvement. This study evaluated the prevailing patterns of liver enzymes in COVID-19 patients on admission and their association with clinical outcomes. Methods This was a single-center retrospective analysis of all inpatients with COVID-19. Demographic and clinical factors, and liver enzyme tests, including aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), were noted on admission. The association of liver enzyme elevation with outcomes such as inpatient death, need for intubation, and vasopressor use was determined using the chi-square test and multivariate regression analysis. Results Among 200 patients, AST and ALT elevation was seen in 55% and 20%, respectively. Alkaline phosphatase elevation was seen in 28%. AST elevation was associated with inpatient death (odds ratio [OR] 1.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.05; P=0.035), need for vasopressors (OR 1.034, 95%CI 1.015-1.055; P=0.001), and intubation (OR 1.03, 95%CI 1.01-1.05; P=0.002). An AST/ALT ratio of 2 or more was seen in 34% of patients and was associated with need for intubation (OR 2.678, 95%CI 1.202-5.963; P=0.016), and need for vasopressors (OR 3.352, 95%CI 1.495-7.514; P=0.003). Conclusion Serum aminotransferase levels are useful markers of hepatocellular injury. Patients with elevated AST or AST/ALT ratio are at higher risk of severe disease, as evidenced by intubation, vasopressor use, and inpatient death. These patients should be monitored closely given their propensity for severe disease.
Individualization Claims in Forensic Science: Still Unwarranted

In a 2008 paper published in the Vanderbilt Law Review entitled “The Individualization Fallacy in Forensic Science Evidence,” we argued that no scientific basis exists for the proposition that forensic scientists can “individualize” an unknown marking (such as a fingerprint, tire track, or handwriting sample) to a particular person or object to the exclusion of all others in the world. In this special issue of the Brooklyn Law Review, we clarify, refine, and extend some of the ideas presented in Fallacy. Some of the refinements are prompted by Professor David Kaye’s paper, also in this issue of the Review, in which he takes issue with some of the arguments we made in Fallacy. We conclude that forensic scientists should not be permitted to capitalize on the lack of supportive scientific data about either characteristic frequency or their own diagnostic reliability by going beyond what is known and what can be stated on good grounds.
Mixed Metaphors in Cyberspace: Property in Information and Information Systems

Many scholars have commented on the use of real and personal property metaphors to describe aspects of cyberspace, often expressing concern about inappropriate uses of such metaphors. If the focus of cyberspace law debates becomes too entrenched in notions of whether we should be utilizing real and/or personal property metaphors, we risk losing focus on some of the more important issues. These issues include questions about exactly what subject matter should be regulated by cyber-laws, and how approaches to protection might be appropriately harmonized between different jurisdictions in an increasingly globalized society. This paper focuses on some of these issues, utilizing a case study involving a framework for a new approach to regulations prohibiting unauthorized 'bad faith' incursions into information and information systems. In so doing, it advocates some reliance on personal property concepts in relation to information, and aspects of information systems. However, it argues that real property metaphors should be avoided in cyberspace. It also compares legal approaches to unauthorized interferences with proprietary information/information systems between the United States and the European Union.