cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Local Kernels That Approximate Bayesian Regularization and Proximal Operators

In this paper, we broadly connect kernel-based filtering (e.g., approaches such as the bilateral filter and non-local means, but also many more) with general variational formulations of Bayesian regularized least squares and the related concept of proximal operators. Variational/Bayesian/proximal formulations often result in optimization problems that do not have closed-form solutions and therefore typically require global iterative solutions. Our main contribution here is to establish how one can approximate the solution of the resulting global optimization problems using locally adaptive filters with specific kernels. Our results are valid for small regularization strength (i.e., weak noise), but the approach is powerful enough to be useful for a wide range of applications because we expose how to derive a “kernelized” solution to these problems that approximates the global solution in one shot, using only local operations. As another side benefit in the reverse direction, given a local data-adaptive filter constructed with a particular choice of kernel, we enable the interpretation of such filters in the variational/Bayesian/proximal framework.
De/re-constructing the Kerr metric

We derive the Kerr solution in a pedagogically transparent way, using physical symmetry and gauge arguments to reduce the candidate metric to just two unknowns. The resulting field equations are then easy to obtain, and solve. Separately, we transform the Kerr metric to Schwarzschild frame to exhibit its limits in that familiar setting.
Pursuing a Prospective Perspective

Retrospective testing of predictive models does not consider the real-world context in which models are deployed. Prospective validation, however, enables meaningful comparisons between data generation processes by incorporating trained models and considering the subjective decisions that affect reproducibility. Prospective experiments are essential for consistent progress in modeling.
A Bayesian framework for adsorption energy prediction on bimetallic alloy catalysts

For high-throughput screening of materials for heterogeneous catalysis, scaling relations provides an efficient scheme to estimate the chemisorption energies of hydrogenated species. However, conditioning on a single descriptor ignores the model uncertainty and leads to suboptimal prediction of the chemisorption energy. In this article, we extend the single descriptor linear scaling relation to a multi-descriptor linear regression models to leverage the correlation between adsorption energy of any two pair of adsorbates. With a large dataset, we use Bayesian Information Criteria (BIC) as the model evidence to select the best linear regression model. Furthermore, Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) based on the meaningful convolution of physical properties of the metal-adsorbate complex can be used to predict the baseline residual of the selected model. This integrated Bayesian model selection and Gaussian process regression, dubbed as residual learning, can achieve performance comparable to standard DFT error (0.1 eV) for most adsorbate system. For sparse and small datasets, we propose an ad hoc Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) approach to make a robust prediction. With this Bayesian framework, we significantly reduce the model uncertainty and improve the prediction accuracy. The possibilities of the framework for high-throughput catalytic materials exploration in a realistic setting is illustrated using large and small sets of both dense and sparse simulated dataset generated from a public database of bimetallic alloys available in Catalysis-Hub.org.
SkyCore: moving core to the edge for untethered and reliable UAV-based LTE networks

The advances in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology have empowered mobile operators to deploy LTE (long-term evolution) base stations (BSs) on UAVs and provide on-demand, adaptive connectivity to hotspot venues as well as emergency scenarios. However, today's evolved packet core (EPC) that orchestrates LTE's radio access network (RAN) faces fundamental limitations in catering to such a challenging, wireless, and mobile UAV environment, particularly in the presence of multiple BSs (UAVs). In this work, we argue for and propose an alternate, radical edge EPC design, called SkyCore that pushes the EPC functionality to the extreme edge of the core network---collapses the EPC into a single, lightweight, self-contained entity that is colocated with each of the UAV BS. SkyCore incorporates elements that are designed to address the unique challenges facing such a distributed design in the UAV environment, namely the resource constraints of UAV platforms, and the distributed management of pronounced UAV and UE mobility. We build and deploy a fully functional version of SkyCore on a two-UAV LTE network and showcase its (i) ability to interoperate with commercial LTE BSs as well as smartphones, (ii) support for both hotspot and stand-alone multi-UAV deployments, and (iii) superior control and data plane performance compared to other EPC variants in this environment.
Enhanced high-dispersion coronagraphy with KPIC phase II: design, assembly and status of sub-modules

The Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC) is a purpose-built instrument for high-dispersion coronagraphy in the K and L bands on Keck. This instrument will provide the first high resolution (R>30,000) spectra of known directly imaged exoplanets and low-mass brown dwarf companions visible in the northern hemisphere. KPIC is developed in phases. Phase I is currently at Keck in the early operations stage, and the phase II upgrade will deploy in late 2021. The goal of phase II is to maximize the throughput for planet light and minimize the stellar leakage, hence reducing the exposure time needed to acquire spectra with a given signal-to- noise ratio. To achieve this, KPIC phase II exploits several innovative technologies that have not been combined this way before. These include a 1000-element deformable mirror for wavefront correction and speckle control, a set of lossless beam shaping optics to maximize coupling into the fiber, a pupil apodizer to suppress unwanted starlight, a pupil plane vortex mask to enable the acquisition of spectra at and within the diffraction limit, and an atmospheric dispersion compensator. These modules, when combined with the active fiber injection unit present in phase I, will make for a highly efficient exoplanet characterization platform. In this paper, we will present the final design of the optics and opto-mechanics and highlight some innovative solutions we implemented to facilitate all the new capabilities. We will provide an overview of the assembly and laboratory testing of the sub-modules and some of the results. Finally, we will outline the deployment timeline.
Inexpensive and Portable System for Dexterous High-Density Myoelectric Control of Multiarticulate Prostheses

Multiarticulate bionic arms are now capable of mimicking the endogenous movements of the human hand. 3D-printing has reduced the cost of prosthetic hands themselves, but there is currently no low-cost alternative to dexterous electromyographic (EMG) control systems. To address this need, we developed an inexpensive (~$675) and portable EMG control system by integrating low-cost microcontrollers with a six-channel surface EMG (sEMG) acquisition device. Using this low-cost control system, we quantify, in a pilot study, the performance of a common EMG-based control algorithm–the modified Kalman filter (MKF)–when computational resources and electrode count are limited. We also demonstrate the ability to provide proportional and independent control of various six-degree-of-freedom prosthetic hands in real-time using the MKF. We found no significant differences in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the low-cost control system and that of a high-end research-grade system (paired t-tests). We also found no significant difference in the Root Mean Squared Errors (RMSEs) of predicted hand movements for the low-cost control system and that of the research-grade system when using only six sEMG electrodes. We then demonstrate that the SNR of the low-cost control system is statistically no worse than 44% of the SNR of the research-grade system (equivalence tests). Likewise, we demonstrate that RMSEs were typically a few percent better than, and statistically not more than 6% worse than, RMSEs of a research-grade system. This held true even when controlling up to six degrees of freedom on a prosthetic hand. Despite minimal computational resources and only six sEMG electrodes, the system performs satisfactorily and highlights the practicality and efficiency of the modified Kalman filter for dexterous EMG-based control. Successful deployment of this low-cost control system constitutes an important step towards the commercialization and wide-spread availability of dexterous bionic hands.
Resilient Machine Learning for Networked Cyber Physical Systems: A Survey for Machine Learning Security to Securing Machine Learning for CPS

Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) are characterized by their ability to integrate the physical and information or cyber worlds. Their deployment in critical infrastructure have demonstrated a potential to transform the world. However, harnessing this potential is limited by their critical nature and the far reaching effects of cyber attacks on human, infrastructure and the environment. An attraction for cyber concerns in CPS rises from the process of sending information from sensors to actuators over the wireless communication medium, thereby widening the attack surface. Traditionally, CPS security has been investigated from the perspective of preventing intruders from gaining access to the system using cryptography and other access control techniques. Most research work have therefore focused on the detection of attacks in CPS. However, in a world of increasing adversaries, it is becoming more difficult to totally prevent CPS from adversarial attacks, hence the need to focus on making CPS resilient. Resilient CPS are designed to withstand disruptions and remain functional despite the operation of adversaries. One of the dominant methodologies explored for building resilient CPS is dependent on machine learning (ML) algorithms. However, rising from recent research in adversarial ML, we posit that ML algorithms for securing CPS must themselves be resilient. This article is therefore aimed at comprehensively surveying the interactions between resilient CPS using ML and resilient ML when applied in CPS. The paper concludes with a number of research trends and promising future research directions. Furthermore, with this article, readers can have a thorough understanding of recent advances on ML-based security and securing ML for CPS and countermeasures, as well as research trends in this active research area.
Radical anion functionalization of two-dimensional materials as a means of engineering simultaneously high electronic and ionic conductivity solids.

A radical anion based functionalization of the basal plane of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) and other two-dimensional (2D) materials is proposed in the present study. The resulting materials can reversibly be oxidized without the detachment of the functional groups from the basal plane and can thus serve as surface-intercalation type cathode electroactive species and fast solid ion conductors at the same time. The functionalization of h-BN with [·OBX3]-radical anions (X=F,Cl) in the presence of Li, Na or Mg cations provides one example of such systems. This material can be realized in a proposed simple, two step synthesis. In the first step, a symmetric Lewis adduct of the corresponding Li, Na or Mg peroxides is formed with BX3. In the second step, the anion of the Lewis adduct is thermally split into two identical [·OBX3]-radical anions that covalently functionalize the B atoms of h-BN. In the maximum density surface packing functionalization, the product of the synthesis is An[(BN)2OBX3] (A=Li,Na with n=1 or A=Mg with n=0.5). In the highly oxidized states (0≤n≤1 for Li and Na and 0≤n≤0.5 for Mg), the electronic conductivity of this material is in the order of 1 S/cm, similar to carbon black. In the fully reduced states (n=2 for Li and Na and n=1 for Mg), the material becomes an insulator, like h-BN. The tunability of the electronic properties of An[(BN)2OBX3] via the cation concentration allows for its application as multifunctional material in energy storage devices, simultaneously serving as cathode active species, solid electrolyte, electroconductive additive, separator, heat conductor and coating for metal anodes that enables dendrite-free plating. This multifunctionality reduces the number of phases needed in an all-solid-state battery or supercapacitor and thus reduces the interfacial impedance making energy storage devices more efficient. For example, Li[(BN)2OBF3] is predicted to have 5.6 V open circuit voltage vs Li metal anode, capacity of 191 mAh/g, specific energy of 1067 Wh/kg and can store energy at a (materials only) cost of 24 USD/kWh.
Towards PTAS for Precedence Constrained Scheduling via Combinatorial Algorithms

We study the classic problem of scheduling $n$ precedence constrained unit-size jobs on $m = O(1)$ machines so as to minimize the makespan. In a recent breakthrough, Levey and Rothvoss \cite{LR16} developed a $(1+\epsilon)$-approximation for the problem with running time $\exp\Big(\exp\Big(O\big(\frac{m^2}{\epsilon^2}\log^2\log n\big)\Big)\Big)$, via the Sherali-Adams lift of the basic linear programming relaxation for the problem by $\exp\Big(O\big(\frac{m^2}{\epsilon^2}\log^2\log n\big)\Big)$ levels. Garg \cite{Garg18} recently improved the number of levels to $\log ^{O(m^2/\epsilon^2)}n$, and thus the running time to $\exp\big(\log ^{O(m^2/\epsilon^2)}n\big)$, which is quasi-polynomial for constant $m$ and $\epsilon$. In this paper we present an algorithm that achieves $(1+\epsilon)$-approximation for the problem with running time $n^{O\left(\frac{m^4}{\epsilon^3}\log^3\log n\right)}$, which is very close to a polynomial for constant $m$ and $\epsilon$. Unlike the algorithms of Levey-Rothvoss and Garg, which are based on linear-programming hierarchy, our algorithm is purely combinatorial. For this problem, we show that the conditioning operations on the lifted LP solution can be replaced by making guesses about the optimum schedule.
Cluster Prediction for Opinion Dynamics From Partial Observations

We present a Bayesian approach to predict the clustering of opinions for a system of interacting agents from partial observations. The Bayesian formulation overcomes the unobservability of the system and quantifies the uncertainty in the prediction. We characterize the clustering by the posterior of the clusters’ sizes and centers, and we represent the posterior by samples. To overcome the challenge in sampling the high-dimensional posterior, we introduce an auxiliary implicit sampling (AIS) algorithm using two-step observations. Numerical results show that the AIS algorithm leads to accurate predictions of the sizes and centers for the leading clusters, in both cases of noiseless and noisy observations. In particular, the centers are predicted with high success rates, but the sizes exhibit a considerable uncertainty that is sensitive to observation noise and the observation ratio.
Adaptively Robust Control Policy Synthesis Through Riemannian Motion Policies

Riemannian Motion Policies (RMPs) have recently been introduced as an online motion planning and policy synthesis framework that designs second-order motion policies defined on robot task spaces, and combines them into one global policy trading off between various motion objectives. Until now RMPs have only been applied either through direct joint-space acceleration control or inverse dynamics control assuming perfect knowledge of the system dynamics. It is unclear how RMPs can be implemented in the presence of dynamics modeling uncertainty and external disturbance. We address this by augmenting the existing RMP framework with a novel robust control Lyapunov function (RCLF) based inverse dynamics controller. This combination produces a fast, reactive, online motion planning and control framework that is also robust to system dynamics parameter uncertainty and external disturbance. We also propose a robust gain adaptation law that can automatically compensate for parameter uncertainty and external disturbance. We provide stability guarantees for the proposed RCLF controller with the gain adaptation law. Additionally, performance of the combined RMP-RCLF system is demonstrated on a 7-degree of freedom (DoF) robot manipulator arm in simulation.
When "Shelter-in-Place" Isn't Shelter That's Safe: a Rapid Analysis of Domestic Violence Case Differences during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Stay-at-Home Orders.

This study explored the COVID-19 pandemic's impacts on domestic violence (DV) with the following research questions: 1) Did DV occurring during the pandemic differ on certain variables from cases occurring on a typical day the previous year? 2) Did DV occurring after the implementation of shelter-in-place orders differ (on these same variables) from cases occurring prior to shelter-in-place orders? Two logistic regression models were developed to predict DV case differences before and during the pandemic. DV reports (N = 4618) were collected from the Chicago Police Department. Cases from March 2019 and March 2020 were analyzed based on multiple variables. One model was set to predict case differences since the pandemic began, and another model was set to predict case differences during the shelter-in-place period later that month. Both models were significant with multiple significant predictors. During the pandemic period, cases with arrests were 20% less likely to have occurred, and cases at residential locations were 22% more likely to have occurred. During the shelter-in-place period, cases at residential locations were 64% more likely to have occurred, and cases with child victims were 67% less likely to have occurred. This study offers a rapid analysis of DV case differences since the pandemic and shelter-in-place began. Additional variables and data sources could improve model explanatory power. Research, policy, and practice in this area must pivot to focus on protecting children whose access to mandated reporters has decreased and moving victims out of dangerous living situations into safe spaces.
Subregular recourse in nonlinear multistage stochastic optimization

We consider nonlinear multistage stochastic optimization problems in the spaces of integrable functions. We allow for nonlinear dynamics and general objective functionals, including dynamic risk measures. We study causal operators describing the dynamics of the system and derive the Clarke subdifferential for a penalty function involving such operators. Then we introduce the concept of subregular recourse in nonlinear multistage stochastic optimization and establish subregularity of the resulting systems in two formulations: with built-in nonanticipativity and with explicit nonanticipativity constraints. Finally, we derive optimality conditions for both formulations and study their relations.
Employment Effects of Minimum Wages: Evidence from a Quasi‐Experiment

To estimate the impact of raising the minimum wage on employment, this article uses a natural experiment, arising from six increases in the Western Australian statutory minimum wage during the period 1994–2001. Relative to the rest of Australia, the employment to population ratio in Western Australia fell following each of the six rises, twice by a statistically significant margin. Aggregating the increases, the elasticity of labour demand with respect to the Western Australian statutory minimum wage is found to be −0.13.
The Potential Meanings of a Constitutional Public Trust

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Robinson Township v. Commonwealth (Robinson Township) has lawyers looking at the state’s constitutional Environmental Rights Amendment (Amendment)—including its public trust provision—as if it magically appeared in the state constitution on the date of the decision. The Amendment had been so thoroughly buried by judicial decisions that most lawyers had never given the text much thought. This Article describes the origin of the Amendment, the two primary cases decided shortly after it was adopted that effectively buried the Amendment, and the Robinson Township decision. It then surveys the wide range of issues that have arisen in the courts and other adjudicatory bodies in the immediate aftermath of Robinson Township and provides suggestions for how some of them should be resolved. Taken together, these cases provide a glimpse of what constitutionally protected environmental rights, including a constitutional public trust, could mean if the Pennsylvania courts continue to treat the Amendment as constitutional law.
Jumps in equilibrium prices and market microstructure noise

Abstract Asset prices observed in financial markets combine equilibrium prices and market microstructure noise. In this paper, we study how to tell apart large shifts in equilibrium prices from noise using high frequency data. We propose a new nonparametric test which allows us to asymptotically remove the noise from observable price data and to discover jumps in fundamental asset values. We provide its asymptotic distribution to decide when such jumps occur. In finite samples, our test offers reasonable power for distinguishing between noise and jumps. Empirical evidence indicates that it is necessary to incorporate the presence of jumps in equilibrium prices.
A legal analysis of the effects of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) and Clean Air Act on the commercialization of biobutanol as a transportation fuel in the United States

Biobutanol is currently a hot topic within discussions about second-generation biofuels. Its advocates point to the fact that it possesses a higher energy content than traditional bioethanol and, most importantly, that it is compatible with existing fuel distribution infrastructure. While traditional biobutanol production processes have long since suffered from an inability to produce it in an economically viable manner, several recent technological advances have spurred interest from the private sector and several companies are now actively pursuing the commercialization of biobutanol as a transportation fuel. As such, a legal analysis of the regulatory frameworks affecting this commercialization is highly relevant. In this study, we detail and analyze the two most import regulatory frameworks affecting the successful commercialization of biobutanol as a transportation fuel in the United States. First, we provide a thorough description of the US Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) and analyze its impact on biobutanol commercialization efforts. Next, we address the US Clean Air Act's so-called ‘substantially similar’ prohibition and detail the three distinct regulatory paths it creates for biobutanol commercialization. Finally, we conclude by exploring ways in which these regulatory frameworks could be altered to mitigate unjustified regulatory burdens. While our study focuses on the commercialization of biobutanol, its regulatory descriptions and analysis are equally informative in regards to the commercialization of other alcohol-based biofuels.
Social learning in coordination games: does status matter?

We report the results of experiments designed to test the impact of social status on learning in a coordination game. In the experiment, all subjects observe the play of an agent who either has high status or low status. In one treatment the agent is another player in the game; in the other the agent is a simulated player. Status is assigned within the experiment based on answers to a trivia quiz. The coordination game has two equilibria: one is payoff-dominant but risky, and the other is risk-dominant. The latter is most commonly chosen in experiments where there is no coordination device. We find that a commonly observed agent enhances coordination on the payoff-dominant equilibrium more often when the agent has high status.
An Open Courtroom: Should Cameras Be Permitted in New York State Courts?

On June 30,1997, the State of New York became one of the nation's few states which does not permit audio-visual coverage of court proceedings. There are several potent arguments in the determination of whether cameras should be permitted in courtroom proceedings. This article will briefly summarize the history of the use of cameras in New York State courts, and then set out the arguments for and against their use in the state's judicial system. The article is prompted by the book entitled "An Open Courtroom: Cameras in New York Courts" which was published in 1997 by the New York State Committee to Review Audio-Visual Coverage of Court Proceedings.
Is Accruals Quality a Priced Risk Factor

Abstract In a recent and influential empirical paper, Francis, LaFond, Olsson, and Schipper (FLOS) [2005. The market pricing of accruals quality. Journal of Accounting and Economics 39, 295–327] conclude that accruals quality (AQ) is a priced risk factor. We explain that FLOS’ regressions examining a contemporaneous relation between excess returns and factor returns do not test the hypothesis that AQ is a priced risk factor. We conduct appropriate asset-pricing tests for determining whether a potential risk factor explains expected returns, and find no evidence that AQ is a priced risk factor.
Do Anti-Union Policies Increase Inequality? Evidence from State Adoption of Right-to-Work Laws:

The distribution of income lies at the intersection of states and markets, both influencing and responding to government policy. Reflecting this reality, increasing research focuses on the political origins of inequality in the United States. However, the literature largely assumes—rather than tests—the political mechanisms thought to affect the income gap. This study provides a timely reassessment of one such mechanism. Leveraging variation in labor laws between states and differences in the timing of adoption of right-to-work (RTW) legislation, I examine one political mechanism blamed by many for contributing to inequality. Using a variety of panel designs, I find little evidence that RTW laws have been a major cause of growing income inequality, pointing to the importance of grounding theoretical arguments about the interrelationships between states and markets in a sound empirical reality.
Optimal portfolio and consumption decisions in a stochastic environment with precommitment

Abstract In this paper we solve the stochastic portfolio consumption control problem under the assumption that individuals follow precommitment strategies over finite intervals of time. This precommitment approach is an alternative to Merton's (1969) continuous-time stochastic dynamic control problem which assumes instantaneous feedback and costless revisions of choices all along the time path. Our solution to the problem is contrasted with that of Merton and several other contributions to the subject. We show that under precommitment individuals will tend to hold portfolios that are a function of their expected risk and return parameters, but are independent of their wealth levels and risk preferences. We also show that the intertemporal consumption growth path would be a relatively smooth function of the risk-free rate of return, time preference, and the coefficient of relative risk aversion, and independent of the portfolio's risk parameters. The latter would influence only the initial consumption level. We derive a number of empirical implications of our analysis for both portfolio holding and consumption patterns.
First Principles for an Effective Federal Housing Policy

Federal housing policy is heavily funded and made up of a morass of programs. This article provides a taxonomy of goals for housing policy. The article first asks what the aim of housing policy is. In other words, what can a well-designed and executed housing policy achieve? The answer to this question is not at all clear-cut. Some argue that the aim of housing policy is to allow all Americans to live in safe, well-maintained and affordable housing. Others argue for a more modest aim – achieving an income transfer to low- and moderate-income families that mandates that the income transferred is consumed in increased housing. And yet others argue that the main aim is to create a nation of homeowner-citizens, a goal which hearkens back to Jefferson’s idealized “yeoman farmer” and continues through to George W. Bush’s “ownership society.”Beginning with these possibilities, I identify and categorize various “principles” of American housing policy. This is an important exercise because 80 plus years of housing policy; hundreds of billions of dollars; and literally hundreds of different housing programs have all conspired to confuse the essential aims of American housing policy. This article seeks to clarify debates surrounding American housing policy as the Obama Administration puts its own stamp on this field.
Selling Medellin: The Entourage of Litigation Surrounding the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the Weight of International Court of Justice Opinions in the Domestic Sphere

In Medellin v. Texas, decided on March 25, 2008, the Supreme Court neglected to address the truly interesting question in the case - the role of an international court decision in domestic law when that international court has explicit authority under a treaty of the United States. Instead, Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the majority, ruled that Article 94(1) of the U.N. Charter, which declares that parties shall "undertake to comply" with the treaty, does not create a self-executing duty of the United States, but rather requires domestic implementation in order to have force. Though the Supreme Court avoided the question presented to it, it did not render it forever moot. Instead, three developments could, and probably will, recreate the conflict the Court should have confronted in Medellin and thus require the conflict's resolution. First, Congress could implement Article 94(1). Second, the presumption against non-self-executing treaties asserted in Medellin could prove unworkable to future Courts. Finally, a different treaty with language creating a presumption of self-execution (apparently absent in Medellin) may bind the U.S. courts to International Court of Justice decisions more explicitly than the U.N. Charter did. This paper explores the role of international law precedents in the United States, and attempts to attack the relationship from a novel perspective, suggesting that the framework established in Erie - the framework establishing the relationship between state and federal law - could provide a similar framework for the relationship between domestic and international law.
The Pricing of Home Mortgage Loans to Minority Borrowers: How Much of the APR Differential Can We Explain?

The public releases of the 2004 and 2005 HMDA data have engendered a lively debate over the pricing of mortgage credit and its implications regarding the treatment of minority mortgage borrowers. T...
The Effects of Norms on Investor Reactions to Derivative Use

Prior research indicates that a firm's use of derivatives to manage business risks is viewed favorably by investors. However, these studies do not consider a potentially key factor in this setting—namely, the typical behavior (or norms) regarding derivatives by other firms in the industry or the firm itself. In this paper, we report the results of multiple experiments that test whether norms are influential in affecting investors’ evaluations of firms’ derivatives choices. Our results show that the generally favorable reactions to derivative use actually reverse and become unfavorable when firms’ derivative decisions are inconsistent with industry or firm norms. Somewhat surprisingly, though, we find that industry and firm norms are not viewed similarly by investors. These results expand our understanding of how investors respond to firm's derivative use decisions and demonstrate the role of norms as factors that influence investors’ judgments in financial reporting settings. Our results have implications for firm managers making decisions about derivative use.
Household Debt in the Consumer Age: Source of Growth—Risk of Collapse

The 2008 U.S. financial upheaval raises important questions about the sources of household consumption and debt growth, along with their macroeconomic effects. We argue that spending and financial preferences evolve as social norms interact with both cultural trends and institutional changes in household finance. We identify historical forces that raised consumption and debt over the past quarter century and interpret these events with Hyman Minsky's financial cycle framework. Strong consumption helped moderate recessions and boost growth since the mid 1980s. But unprecedented household debt has now culminated in a financial crisis that threatens to cause a deep recession.
Social class and the fertility transition: a critical comment on the statistical results reported in Simon Szreter's Fertility, Class and Gender in Britain, 1860-1940.

Simon Szreter's book Fertility, class and gender in Britain, 1860–1940 argues that social and economic class fails to explain the cross-sectional differences in marital fertility as reported in the 1911 census of England and Wales. Szreter's conclusion made the book immediately influential, and it remains so. This finding matters a great deal for debates about the causes of the European fertility decline of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. For decades scholars have argued whether the main forces at work were ideational or social and economic. This note reports a simple graphical and statistical re-analysis of Szreter's own data. We show that social class does explain cross-sectional differences in English marital fertility in 1911.
Retail Leasing in a Web Enabled World

Executive Summary. As retail marketing through the Internet expands, traditional retail showrooms will take on new roles in the collection of data for use in direct marketing efforts. How will succ...
Neural Evidence of Regret and Its Implications for Investor Behavior

We use neural data collected from an experimental asset market to measure regret preferences while subjects trade stocks. When subjects observe a positive return for a stock they chose not to purchase, a regret signal is observed in an area of the brain that is commonly active during reward processing. Subjects are unwilling to repurchase stocks that have recently increased in price, even though this is suboptimal in our experiment. The strength of stock repurchasing mistakes is correlated with the neural measures of regret. Subjects with high rates of repurchasing mistakes also exhibit large disposition effects.
Semiotics, Hermeneutics, and Cash: An Essay on the True and Fair View

Cash is king. As countries struggle to develop accounting standards that translate across borders, the cash flow statement is a promising place to look. This essay reviews global accounting practices in several countries, showing how angst expressed in concepts such as semiotics and hermeneutics are both fascinating and unnecessary. In doing so, it considers continuing weaknesses in the US regulatory model, including in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and shows ways that markets have been ahead of regulators in developing convergence in financial reporting.
Evidence of an “Energy-Management Gap” in U.S. manufacturing: Spillovers from firm management practices to energy efficiency ☆

Abstract In this paper we merge a well-cited survey of firm management practices into confidential plant level U.S. Census manufacturing data to examine whether generic, i.e. non-energy specific, firm management practices, “spillover” to enhance energy efficiency in the United States. For U.S. manufacturing plants we find this relationship to be more nuanced than prior research on UK plants. Most management techniques are shown to have beneficial spillovers to energy efficiency, but an emphasis on generic targets, conditional on other management practices, results in spillovers that increase energy intensity. Our specification controls for industry specific effects at a detailed 6-digit NAICS level and finds the relationship between management and energy use to be strongest for firms in energy intensive industries. We interpret the empirical result that generic management practices do not necessarily spillover to improved energy performance as evidence of an “energy management gap.”
Tort and Social Welfare Principles in the Victim Compensation Fund

The World Trade Center Victims' Compensation Fund is based on a blend of a private law regime (tort law) and government benefit programs rooted in public law. Unlike other programs that straddle the divide between these two regimes, the Compensation Fund has no of funding mechanism that distances government from the distributional choices reflected in both the compensation scheme and in individual compensation decisions.As a result, the Fund raises the possibility of awards determined by a tort model that are directly funded out of the U.S. treasury. Looked at from the standpoint of social welfare law, such a distributional scheme appears problematic. Departures from the tort model of compensation, however, may appear illegitimate to those who see the Fund solely as a surrogate for the tort system. This tension underlies many of the dilemmas that Special Master Kenneth Feinberg has faced. He has sought to resolve them by publicly stating that he will reign in the extreme consequences of the tort system. At the same time, he has reserved discretion in handling individual cases. This cloud of discretion obscures the actual way in which he has chosen to resolve the tensions between the two systems. Similar tensions inform the procedural regime created by Congress and Special Master Feinberg. Should the Special Master be viewed as a mediator in a mass tort case, or as a government adjudicator? The paradigm selected has important ramifications for the procedures used by Special Master Feinberg and for the standards by which his conduct should be assessed. Special Master Feinberg has gravitated closer to a mediation model rather than an adjudicative approach. This choice neglects the fact that claimants have significant due process interests at stake that are not fully protected by a mediation approach. Moreover, the mediation model places great emphasis on the conduct and statements of the Special Master, making it difficult to conceive of the Fund a legal system, rather than an expression of Mr. Feinberg's personal preferences. This overemphasis on the person of the Special Master is a major flaw in the program's design.
Low carbon fuel standards: Implementation scenarios and challenges

Performance-based low carbon fuel standards (LCFS) of the type implemented in California and being adopted in the European Union, are a promising policy approach for decarbonizing transport fuels and reducing fossil fuel use. This paper examines the efficacy of LCFS policies, along with four major challenges that threaten their effectiveness. These challenges include leakage and shuffling of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, impacts on energy security, increased GHG emissions due to global land use conversion (indirect land use changes), and sustainability issues associated with biofuel production. We identify complementary policies that mitigate the severity of these challenges, while noting that some of these challenges are inherent to carbon and alternative fuel policies.
Express Contracts to Cure: The Nature of Contractual Malpractice

The term "malpractice"' is often used to refer to any cause of action arising from acts or omissions of a physician or surgeon. Properly, it is applicable only to cases of negligent or improper conduct and thus should serve as the foundation for actions in tort. However, the term has also been applied to actions arising out of contract.Those courts which have addressed the issue have held that a physician and his patient have the same general liberty to enter into contracts as do other parties, and that breach of such a contract will give rise to a cause of action, irrespective of negligence on the part of the physician. Courts have stressed that the agreement to cure or administer a prescribed treatment must be express. In addition, the contract must be supported by consideration. In some instances, such agreements may even require consideration beyond that paid for the physician's normal services. This note will explore the theoretical bases of liability in contractual malpractice actions and suggest ways in which contract theory may be profitably employed in a malpractice setting. Specifically, this note will examine three issues which are present in all such cases and thus underlie the proper application of a contract approach: (1) enforceability of the contract, (2) proof of the contractual intent of the parties, and (3) the measure of liability for breach.
The Temporal Dimension of Voting Rights

INTRODUCTION 361 I. TEMPORALITY IN VOTING THEORY AND DOCTRINE 365 A. Temporality in Theory 365 1. The Group Dimension 368 2. The Institutional Dimension 370 3. The Temporal Dimension 372 B. Temporality in Doctrine 374 1. Partisan Gerrymandering Jurisprudence 376 2. Vote Dilution Jurisprudence 382 II. POTENTIAL OBJECTIONS TO INTER-TEMPORAL AGGREGATION 384 A. Assembly Fetishism 385 B. The Enforceability of Bargains 391 C. Evaluating Aggregation and Judicial Competence 394 D. The Problem of Entry and Exit 395 III. THE CONSEQUENCES OF VOTING RIGHTS’ TEMPORAL DIMENSION 399 A. The Voting Rights Act and Second-Order Diversity 400 B. Partisan Gerrymandering and Anti-Competition Theory 404 C. One Person, One Vote Doctrine 408 CONCLUSION 413
UNPROTECTED CLASS: FIvE DECISIONS, FIvE JUSTICES, AND wHOLESALE CHANGE TO CLASS ACTION LAw

Five decisions by five men have fundamentally changed the class action world. These changes so alter accepted paradigms that a class action attorney who retired in 2009 would be almost useless today. In short order, principles central to whether a class action can be filed, where it must be filed, and whether it is likely to succeed were remade by five opinions supported by a bare majority of the United States Supreme Court. And in every case, these changes made it less likely that people previously protected by class actions would be protected in the future. This article chronicles these recent changes, identifies the potential risks created by the changes, and identifies the need for serious scholarly engagement in this brave new world of class actions.
When is a Use in Commerce a Noncommercial Use

When is a use in commerce a noncommercial use? This question may sound like the opening for a ridiculous legal riddle, but it is a real conundrum in trademark dilution law. The current federal dilu­ tion statute, section 43(c) of the Lanham Act, creates liability based on the "use of a mark or trade name in commerce," when that use is likely to blur or tarnish a famous mark. At the same time, the statute cha­ racterizes certain activities as nonactionable "exclusions," including 'any noncommercial use of a mark." So the use of a mark in commerce can be a noncommercial use-but how--a nd why? This Article com­ prehensively examines the statutory exclusion for "noncommercial use of a mark" within the federal dilution statute. This includes the legis­ lative history of the federal dilution statute, trademark and First Amendment jurisprudence, and court decisions to date interpreting the statute. Based on this research, the Article explains how courts and potential litigants should interpret the exclusion to achieve its purpose as a predictable, efficient defense that excuses a broad range of expressive uses.
An International Comparison of Materiality Guidance for Governments, Public Services and Charities

This article compares international and country–specific guidance associated with the materiality concept as it applies to the public sector and charitable entities. The proliferation of multiple terms with similar meanings is evidenced in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom – England, Ireland and Scotland – and international guidance. Alignment of terminology could enhance harmonization of standards and increase the chances that application of standards is comparable. Conceptual dimensions of materiality in the public sector emphasize qualitative considerations such as legal compliance, fiduciary responsibility, timeliness, and follow–up.
Agency Performance Challenges and Agency Politicization

In this paper we evaluate the relationship between political control and bureaucratic performance using information requested by researchers via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and congress via congressional committee requests. The information requested was the same, and the timing of requests was similar. We find modest evidence of a relationship between agency politicization and a lack of responsiveness to requests for information from the public and Congress. Politicized agencies are slower to respond to requests even when controlling for agency size and workload. There is little evidence, however, that these agencies are more likely to respond poorly when they do respond. The difficulties in responding appear to be due to poor performance of the FOIA offices, either because political actors focus more on other agency activities or because of poorer management agency-wide. We conclude that efforts to make agencies responsive to elected officials may hurt management performance.
The cash flow–investment relationship: International evidence of limited access to external finance

Abstract In efficient and complete financial markets, internal cash flows should have no impact on investment levels; but in inefficient and incomplete markets, the pecking order theory contends that there should be a positive relationship. Further, some studies show that investments of financially constrained firms are more sensitive to internal funds than those of less constrained firms but other studies show the opposite. Using comparable recent data on firms in the four largest industrialized countries (US, UK, Japan, and Germany), this study documents that in all four countries, controlling for the investment opportunity set, investment levels are significantly positively influenced by levels of internal cash flows, indicating that firms face limitation in access to external finance and may operate using a pecking order. Further, international differences in investment level sensitivities to opportunities indicate closer outside monitoring of firms in the bank-centered countries.
Step Right Up: Using Consumer Decision Making Theory to Teach Research Process in the Electronic Age

The legal academy has framed legal research as a professional skill, and much research pedagogy centers around replicating a controlled professional environment to allow students to learn how to do research by simulating legal practice. Although this is a valid way to conceptualize research, it is not the only way. Another way to conceptualize research is as a consumer transaction. Legal information is, in many ways, a product that information providers market to lawyers and students, as the promotions and contests that LexisNexis and Westlaw sponsor demonstrate. Once legal information is understood as a product, the process of research can be seen as a purchase transaction, and research instruction can be seen as a form of consumer education. This article approaches research from a consumer perspective. It sets the stage by explaining why legal information is a consumer product and analyzing changes in the information marketplace that have affected research process. The article then explains consumer decision making theory. It demonstrates why this is an appropriate vehicle for describing the research process and explains the marketing, cultural, psychological, situational, personal, and social influences that affect consumer choice in the research context. The advantages of approaching research from a consumer perspective are addressed next, followed by an exploration of ways to incorporate consumer decision making theory into research pedagogy. The article concludes that making students better consumers of legal information will help them become better professionals.