A comprehensive test of order choice theory: recent evidence from the NYSE

We perform a comprehensive test of order choice theory from a sample period when the NYSE trades in decimals and allows automatic executions. We analyze the decision to submit or cancel an order or to take no action. For submitted orders we distinguish order type (market vs. limit), order side (buy vs. sell), execution method (floor vs. automatic), and order pricing aggressiveness. We use a multinomial logit specification and a new statistical test. We find a negative autocorrelation in changes in order flow exists over five-minute intervals supporting dynamic limit order book theory, despite a positive first-order autocorrelation in order type. Orders routed to the NYSE’s floor are sensitive to market conditions (e.g., spread, depth, volume, volatility, market and individual-stock returns, and private information), but those using the automatic execution system (Direct+) are insensitive to market conditions. When the quoted depth is large, traders are more likely to “jump the queue” by submitting limit orders with limit prices bettering existing quotes. Aggressively-priced limit orders are more likely late in the trading day providing evidence in support of prior experimental results

Letting the Wolf through the door: public morality, politics and "permissive" reform under the Wilson Governments, 1964-1970

PhDThe thesis presents an analysis of the process by which the Wolfenden tstrategy' of separating sin from the ambit of the criminal law translated into legislative change under a Labour Government wedded to a broad philosophy of legal and social reform. It examines in turn the reform of the laws governing homosexuality, abortion, theatre censorship and divorce, which were passed during the first Wilson administration, and the attempts to reform the laws governing Sunday entertainments. It is based on extensive archival research including much previously unused material, and analyses the key influences on the reform process - the Cabinet, Whitehall, the Labour Party, MPs, the House of Lords, the Churches, the press, pressure groups and public opinion - to establish their attitudes and influence on the debates. The thesis begins with a reassessment of the continuing debate about isp ermissiveness" and, the significance of "permissive" reform in the historiography of the 1960s and the Wilson Governments. It then examines the underlying causes of evolving social and moral attitudes in post-war Britain, particularly secularisation, the disruption of the Second World War and increasing economic affluence form the mid-1 950s onwards. Chapters three to seven look at each reform, or "Conscience Bill" as they were termed in Whitehall, including a comparison with their treatment by the preceding Conservative administration, particularly after the publication of the Wolfenden Report. 4 5 Chapter 8 analyses the relationship between the Government, publicly neutral but privately sympathetic on the issues involved, and the tortuous procedures which Private Members' Bills faced in becoming law, even in such a hospitable atmosphere

Accounting for healthcare in the Newcastle Infirmary during the 19th century

PhD ThesisAccounting played a critical role in the management of the Newcastle Infirmary during the 19th century. In a class-based society, the poor relied upon the generosity of the wealthy for their healthcare at a time when poverty itself was seen as a sin, an act against God. These wealthy donors established and maintained hospitals, such as the Newcastle Infirmary, and were responsible for the governance, management and admission of patients. Their aim was to be seen to use resources efficiently and to treat the “deserving poor” to restore them to productive members of society. Throughout the century new buildings, medical advances and increasingly highly specialised staff had to be financed to cope with increasing demand. In the last quarter of the century, paid administrators were employed to manage the Infirmary as finance came less from the wealthy few and more from individual workers and separate charitable bodies. This thesis demonstrates how the management of the Newcastle Infirmary used accounting as a moral practice to allow treatment for patients who were outside the rules, which were a guide to the admission and treatment of patients, and to justify expenditure on large capital projects on nothing more than acts of faith. In turn, accounting was used as a tool to hold managers accountable for their actions and as a vehicle for communicating that accountability to the changing providers of finance. This thesis adds to the literature on accounting within early voluntary hospitals by identifying the balance of contributions of costing systems to planning and decision making and the impact of finance on governance and holding managers accountable for their performance and the successful treatment of patients

Socio-economic review of saving in industrial Teesside and rural North Riding

Personal Saving is a flexible source of investment, for both the public and private sectors, for which there is great competition. Saving is a natural phenomenon, but, in the sense that securities are bought and sold, it is one which is responsive to stimulation. Almost all securities have unique qualities, thereby limiting their appeal, and, moreover, in motivating saving, account has to be taken of political and economic pressures. Consequently, the market is subjected to excessive variables and these are best tracked through current articles in financial journals. This socio-economic study brings together (i) general information about money and Thrift institutions; (ii) collected statistics over a period; and (iii) several important market research projects. It concentrates the information drawn from a wide area by means of local inquiries, and endeavours to find points of agreement and difference between the populations which are mainly industrial and those which are largely rural. There must be the ability to save, but the willingness to do so is only partially decided by the level of rewards. There are moral, ethical, and sentimental overtones, historically founded, and these appear to be more steadfast in some environments than in others. Saving activity has some barren ground, and the potential savers 'have numbers of profligates within their ranks. Sex, age, and social class give no strong lead as to where the non-savers may be found. The National Savings Movement has a two-fold official policy, (i) to attract the flow of personal saving into the public sector, and,, (ii) to assist in educating the public in sound money management. Other thrift institutions share these aims in varying degrees, and they, too, mobilise goodwill and sentiments to attain their objects; devoting, of course, their funds to the private sector

Intelligence, race, and psychological testing

This chapter has two main goals: to update philosophers on the state of the art in the scientific psychology of intelligence, and to explain and evaluate challenges to the measurement invariance of intelligence tests. First, we provide a brief history of the scientific psychology of intelligence. Next, we discuss the metaphysics of intelligence in light of scientific studies in psychology and neuroimaging. Finally, we turn to recent skeptical developments related to measurement invariance. These have largely focused on attributability: Where do the mechanisms and dispositions that explain people’s performance on tests of intelligence inhere – in the agent, in the local testing environment, in the culture, or in the interactions among these? After explaining what measurement invariance is in the context of intelligence testing, we explore the phenomenon of stereotype threat as a challenge to measurement invariance, as well as more recent work on overcoming or buffering against stereotype threat

A 'reality of return': the case of the Sarawakian-Chinese visiting China

Using an interpretive ethnographic framework, this paper focuses on how travel to the homeland informs the identity of the Sarawakian-Chinese, a diaspora that contains a composite of subcultures. The data collection is based upon 35 semi-structured interviews and participant observation of a Sarawakian-Chinese tour group to China. Whilst emotional connections with China are universally significant in constructing the diaspora's ethnic identity, the strength of association is influenced by characteristics of education, religion and language, as identity becomes re-defined and plural. The findings suggest that the influence of tourism to the homeland may not necessarily be significant in enhancing emotional and cultural connections with China. Instead, ambivalent connections to homeland become established during tourism experiences. Visits to the homeland could play a significant role in forging new and hybrid identities of ethnic communities outside the homeland, thereby bringing a new vital dimension to identity formation and communication of the Sarawakian-Chinese in the future

Transparent soil for imaging the rhizosphere

Understanding of soil processes is essential for addressing the global issues of food security, disease transmission and climate change. However, techniques for observing soil biology are lacking. We present a heterogeneous, porous, transparent substrate for in situ 3D imaging of living plants and root-associated microorganisms using particles of the transparent polymer, Nafion, and a solution with matching optical properties. Minerals and fluorescent dyes were adsorbed onto the Nafion particles for nutrient supply and imaging of pore size and geometry. Plant growth in transparent soil was similar to that in soil. We imaged colonization of lettuce roots by the human bacterial pathogen Escherichia coli O157:H7 showing micro-colony development. Micro-colonies may contribute to bacterial survival in soil. Transparent soil has applications in root biology, crop genetics and soil microbiology

University Archives & Community Organizations: Ensuring Access through Collaboration

In 2011, to further our community-engaged mission, UASC began to focus on working with, promoting, and assisting community archives in the greater Boston area through facilitating cross-organization collaboration and access to informational, educational, and practical resources relevant to archival procedures and best practices. The guiding tenets behind this continuing commitment emerged, in part, from UASC’s multifaceted collaboration with The Irish Ancestral Research Association (TIARA), a local nonprofit organization established to develop and promote the growth, study, and exchange of ideas among people and organizations interested in Irish genealogical and historical research and education. Our collaboration with TIARA formally began in 2011, driven by a unique collection, the records of the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters (MCOF)

University Archives and Community Organizations: Ensuring Access through Collaboration

How can a university archives establish a successful ongoing relationship with a community organization? What are the benefits and challenges of such a collaboration? University of Massachusetts Boston’s Archives and Special Collections (UASC) explored these questions while working with The Irish Ancestral Research Association (TIARA) to preserve and provide access to 79,000 mortuary records from the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters. Elements of the collaboration included shifting stewardship of the records from the Foresters to TIARA to UMass Boston, integrating TIARA’s efforts in processing and indexing the records into the Archives’ workflow, providing in-person and electronic access to the records, and hosting public events that celebrate the partnership and educate the public about the records. This poster illustrates the lessons learned during the records’ journey from an active business to a community organization to a university’s Archives and Special Collections