Suchergebnisse

This study examines the nonlinear impacts of four country risk indices on the debt‐growth nexus for 61 countries in a panel data framework. Our results show evidence of the different debt‐growth nexus under the different degrees of country risk. Under a high‐risk environment, a country's economic growth is harmed by raising its public debt. The negative effects public debt has on economic growth become weak under low political and financial‐risk environments, while an increase in public debt could help to stimulate economic growth under low composite and economic risk environments. In addition, the differences of countries' income and debt levels also lead country risks to have different effects on the debt‐growth nexus, suggesting that a country should borrow appropriately based on its current risk environments while improving economic performance. (JEL C33, E02, H63, O43)

In recent years, protest activities happened frequently in Taiwan. These protests have had profound conseąuences and changed the landscape of Taiwanese politics. Therefore, it is important to know who protests and why these people protest. This paper aims to answer two questions. First, what kind of people (according to their Socio-Economic Status, SES) is more likely to participate in protest? Second, how does SES influence protest participation? Our hypotheses are drawn from grievance theories, resources model and cultural change theory. We hypothesize that in Taiwan, people with higher SES tend to join in protest. The mechanisms are material condition, civic skills, and the value of post- materialism. Empirically, taking advantage of the World Values Survey 2010-2012, we use confirmatory factor analysis to construct an indicator of SES including education, income, and class. Then, we conduct structural equation modeling to test the mechanisms through which SES exerts influences. We find that in Taiwan, people with higher SES are more likely to protest. Moreover, civic skills are the most important mechanisms. Material condition also has a positive effect. Although the value of post- materialism can influence protest participation, whether people hold this value is unrelated to their SES.

PurposeDespite a growing interest in research, no existing study explores the nature of, and the relationship between, the real exchange rate and trade imbalance between Taiwan and China. These economies were admitted to the World Trade Organization in late 2001 (China) and in January 2002 (Taiwan). This study aims to redress this deficiency.Design/methodology/approachUsing Johansen's cointegration approach and bilateral trade data, the study reveals overwhelming evidence of a stable long‐run relationship of the real exchange rate and bilateral trade balance between Taiwan and its trading partners: China, the USA, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore.FindingsThe evidence indicates that the currency depreciation of the New Taiwan dollar improves Taiwan's bilateral trade balance, except with China.Originality/valueThe findings imply that Taiwan cannot resolve the cross‐Strait trade imbalance alone via the currency depreciation, and macroeconomic adjustments, including application of the WTO rules, currency exchange and imports of Chinese goods, need to be negotiated on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

ABSTRACTThis study explores how seller reputations affect auction prices and concludes that earlier findings may be biased due to the misspecification of seller reputation. This paper contributes to the literature by offering significant empirical evidence using Taiwanese internet auction data. Our study reveals that the influence of seller reputations on auction prices is significant, irrespective of the assumptions of linear or non‐linear relationships with price. However, failure to consider the non‐linear setting of seller reputation leads us to underestimate the impact of reputation when the seller's reputation score is low, but overestimates it when the seller's reputation becomes high. Using quantile regression, this study finds evidence of considerable differences in their impact on auction prices that are dependent on the distribution of price levels.

Qingbao Cheng,* Bin Yi,* Aihua Wang,* Xiaoqing Jiang Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: miRNAs (miRs) are short RNA molecules that are involved in the posttranscriptional regulation of mRNA. The roles of miRs in tumor pathogenesis have only recently become a focus of research. It is becoming increasingly clear that miRs are important regulators of apoptosis, proliferation, invasion, and metastasis in cancer cells during cancer genesis and progression, furthering our understanding of cancer. In the present review, we summarize and evaluate the recent advances in our understanding of the characteristics of miRs as well as their regulated functions in cancer stem cells (CSCs), the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and the tumor microenvironment (TM), describing their roles in tumor pathogenesis and their possible use as new therapeutic targets and biomarkers. Keywords: miRNA, cancer stem cell, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, tumor microenvironment

An improved method for the separation and purification of rubropunctatin from red yeast glutinous rice was developed. In this method, silica gel column chromatography and thin layer chromatography were used to separate the Monascus pigments. Pure methanol and a mixture of ethyl acetate and methanol (13:7, v/v) were selected as the eluent and running solvent, respectively. When compared with previously reported methods, the developed method required fewer types of solvents, and could be suitable for large-scale laboratory production. The extracted pigment was analysed by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) (1H NMR, 13C NMR). Structural analysis revealed a molecular mass of 353.2 m/z [M-H]-, and a structure including an azaphilone body with two side chains. This structure was consistent with that reported for rubropunctatin. Therefore, the improved purification method reported herein could efficiently be used for the extraction of rubropunctatin from red yeast glutinous rice.