Home Country Bias: Does Domestic Experience Help Investors Enter Foreign Markets?

This paper investigates whether investors' domestic experience helps them enter foreign markets. We show that investors first invest in domestic securities and only some time later they invest abroad in foreign securities. We also show that investors who trade more often in the domestic market start to invest abroad earlier. Our findings suggest that the experience investors acquire while they trade in the domestic market is a key reason why active investors enter the foreign market earlier. A reason is that highly educated investors as well as investors with more financial knowledge, arguably those for whom learning by trading is the least important, do not need to trade as much in the domestic market before they start investing in foreign securities. Another reason is that investors who start investing in foreign securities are able to improve on their performance afterwards. This improvement in performance constitutes further evidence that the home country bias is costly, thereby confirming that there are gains for investors from investing abroad.Learning, home country bias, duration analysis.

Home country bias : does domestic experience help investors enter foreign markets?

This paper investigates whether investors’ domestic experience helps them enter foreign markets. We show that investors first invest in domestic securities and only some time in later they invest abroad in foreign securities. We also show that investors who trade more often in the domestic market start to invest abroad earlier. Our findings suggest that the experience investors acquire while they trade in the domestic market is a key reason why active investors enter the foreign market earlier. A reason is that highly educated investors as well as investors with more financial knowledge, arguably those for whom learning by trading is the least important, do not need to trade as much in the domestic market before they start investing in foreign securities. Another reason is that investors who start investing in foreign securities are able to improve on their performance afterwards. This improvement in performance constitutes further evidence that the home country bias is costly, thereby confirming that there are gains for investors from investing abroad

Informació negativa en copiar l'elecció de parella

Triar parella és una de les decisions més importants per a qualsevol organisme viu, especialment per a les femelles, per a les quals els costos reproductius són generalment més elevats. Per tant, s'espera que aquesta selecció sexual actuarà sobre el comportament de les femelles a l'hora d'escollir parella, afavorint els comportaments que són capaços de prendre les millors decisions. Els models clàssics de l'evolució de l'elecció femenina de parella assumeixen que les seves preferències són genèticament innates. Això vol dir que les femelles amb un, per exemple, al·lel que les faci tenir una "preferència pel verd" preferiran aparellar-se amb mascles que presentin ornaments d'aquest color, i que aquesta preferència no canviarà al llarg de la vida de les femelles, amb independència de l'actuació dels mascles amb ornaments verds. Són les preferències de les femelles exclusivament genètiques i, per tant, immutables? L'evidència empírica suggereix que no és així.Elegir pareja es una de las decisiones más importantes para cualquier organismo vivo, especialmente para las hembras, para las cuales los costes reproductivos son generalmente más elevados. Por lo tanto, se espera que esta selección sexual actuará sobre el comportamiento de las hembras a la hora de escoger pareja, favoreciendo los comportamientos que son capaces de tomar las mejores decisiones. Los modelos clásicos de la evolución de la elección femenina de pareja asumen que sus preferencias son genéticamente innatas. Esto quiere decir que las hembras con un, por ejemplo, alelo que las haga tener una "preferencia por el verde" preferirán aparearse con machos que presenten ornamentos de ese color, y que esta preferencia no cambiará a lo largo de la vida de las hembras, con independencia de la actuación de los machos con ornamentos verdes. ¿Son las preferencias de las hembras exclusivamente genéticas y, por tanto, inmutables? La evidencia empírica sugiere que no es así.Choosing whom to mate with is one of the most important decisions for any living organism, especially for females, for whom the costs of reproduction are generally higher. It is, therefore, expected that sexual selection will act on female mate choice behaviour, favouring the ones capable of making the better decisions. The classical models of female mate choice evolution assume that their preferences are genetically innate. This means that females with an (e.g.) allele for "green preference" would prefer mating with males displaying green ornaments, and that this preference will never change throughout females' lives, independently of the performance of green males. Are females' preference exclusively genetic and, therefore, immutable? Empirical evidence suggests it is not

Severe stress urinary incontinence: pelvic floor muscle training program

International guidelines recommend a first line therapy in the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence (SUI), the pelvic floor muscle (PFM) training. This case report assesses the effects of the PFM training program in treating women with severe SUI. The urodynamic parameters allow diagnosed intrinsic sphincter deficiency and urethral hypermobility. The subjective and objective parameters were assessed at the beginning and after six-month of PFM training program. This case report confirms the efficiency of the intensive training program in severe SUI. The medical implications of the PFM training as first treatment option reflect favourable individual results and additionally contribute to the selection of the non-invasive treatment, the reduction of the incidence collateral effects, low costs and that does not prevent future treatment options

Mediterranean mesocarnivores in spatially structured managed landscapes : community organisation in time and space

During the final stage of the study GCS was funded by a doctoral grant from FCT (PD/BD/114037/2015). TAM thanks support by CEAUL (funded by FCT project – UID/MAT/00006/2013).In the multi-functional and biodiverse cork oak landscapes of Iberia (Montado), agro-silvo-pastoral practices promote landscape heterogeneity and create intricate habitat and resource availability patterns. We used camera-traps to investigate the temporal and spatial organisation of a mesocarnivore community in a Montado landscape in central Portugal. The target carnivore assemblage was largely dominated by three generalist species – the red fox Vulpes vulpes, the European badger Meles meles and the Egyptian mongoose Herpestes ichneumon – while remaining community members – the common genet Genetta genetta and the feral cat Felis silvestris spp. – exhibited restricted distributions. Interspecific differences in activity rhythms and habitat use were particularly marked among widespread species. Low temporal overlap was reported between the diurnal mongoose and predominantly nocturnal red fox and badger. For the latter two species, contrasting differences in habitat use were associated with anthropogenic-induced environmental heterogeneity. Whereas the red fox used more intensively Montado areas preserving dense shrubby understory and avoided semi-disturbed mosaics of sparse shrubs, the badgers displayed the opposite pattern. Our findings add to previous evidence suggesting that the spatial structure created in highly managed landscapes, particularly the diversity of resulting understory structures, promotes the abundance and spread of generalist mesocarnivore species. These may benefit from the surplus of resource amount (e.g. prey) and the creation of different human-made habitats conditions that provide particular combinations of ecological resources favourable to each species requirements. We concur the common view that maintaining understory heterogeneity in Montado landscapes, menaced by current intensification and extensification trends, is important where carnivore persistence is a relevant conservation goal, but alert for potential effects on carnivore assemblages structuring and impacts for specialist species less tolerant to disturbance.PostprintPeer reviewe

No evidence for short‐term evolutionary response to a warming environment in Drosophila

Adaptive evolution is key in mediating responses to global warming and may sometimes be the only solution for species to survive.Such evolution will expectedly lead to changes in the populations’ thermal reaction norm and improve their ability to cope with stressful conditions. Conversely, evolutionary constraints might limit the adaptive response. Here, we test these expectations by performing a real-time evolution experiment in historically differentiated Drosophila subobscura populations. We address the phenotypic change after nine generations of evolution in a daily fluctuating environment with average constant temperature, or in a warming environment with increasing average and amplitude temperature across generations. Our results showed that (1) evolution under a global warming scenario does not lead to a noticeable change in the thermal response; (2) historical background appears to be affecting responses under the warming environment, particularly at higher temperatures; and (3) thermal reaction norms are trait dependent: although lifelong exposure to low temperature decreases fecundity and productivity but not viability,high temperature causes negative transgenerational effects on productivity and viability, even with high fecundity. These findings in such an emblematic organism for thermal adaptation studies raise concerns about the short-term effciency of adaptive responses to the current rising temperatures.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

High developmental temperature leads to low reproduction despite adult temperature

Phenotypic plasticity can help organisms cope with changing thermal conditions and it may depend on which life-stage the thermal stress is imposed: for instance, exposure to stressful temperatures during development can trigger a positive plastic response in adults. Here, we analyze the thermal plastic response of laboratory populations of Drosophila subobscura, derived from two contrasting latitudes of the European cline. We measured reproductive performance through fecundity characters, after the experimental populations were exposed to five thermal treatments, with different combinations of developmental and adult temperatures (14°C, 18°C, or 26°C). Our questions were whether (1) adult performance is changed with exposure to higher (or lower) temperatures during development; (2) flies raised at lower temperatures outperform those developed at higher ones, supporting the “colder is better” hypothesis; (3) there is a cumulative effect on adult performance of exposing both juveniles and adults to higher (or lower) temperatures; (4) there is evidence for biogeographical effects on adult performance. Our main findings were that (1) higher developmental temperatures led to low reproductive performance regardless of adult temperature, while at lower temperatures reduced performance only occurred when colder conditions were persistent across juvenile and adult stages; (2) flies raised at lower temperatures did not always outperform those developed at other temperatures; (3) there were no harmful cumulative effects after exposing both juveniles and adults to higher temperatures; (4) both latitudinal populations showed similar thermal plasticity patterns. The negative effect of high developmental temperature on reproductive performance, regardless of adult temperature, highlights the developmental stage as very critical and most vulnerable to climate change and associated heat waves.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Beneficial developmental acclimation in reproductive performance under cold but not heat stress

Thermal plasticity can help organisms coping with climate change. In this study, we analyse how laboratory populations of the ectotherm species Drosophila subobscura, originally from two distinct latitudes and evolving for several generations in a stable thermal environment (18 °C), respond plastically to new thermal challenges. We measured adult performance (fecundity traits as a fitness proxy) of the experimental populations when exposed to five thermal regimes, three with the same temperature during development and adulthood (15-15 °C, 18-18 °C, 25-25 °C), and two where flies developed at 18 °C and were exposed, during adulthood, to either 15 °C or 25 °C. Here, we test whether (1) flies undergo stress at the two more extreme temperatures; (2) development at a given temperature enhances adult performance at such temperature (i.e. acclimation), and (3) populations with different biogeographical history show plasticity differences. Our findings show (1) an optimal performance at 18 °C only if flies were subjected to the same temperature as juveniles and adults; (2) the occurrence of developmental acclimation at lower temperatures; (3) detrimental effects of higher developmental temperature on adult performance; and (4) a minor impact of historical background on thermal response. Our study indicates that thermal plasticity during development may have a limited role in helping adults cope with warmer - though not colder - temperatures, with a potential negative impact on population persistence under climate change. It also emphasizes the importance of analysing the impact of temperature on all stages of the life cycle to better characterize the thermal limits.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio