Significant Inverted U-shaped Relationship Research Articles

Does Financial Integration Matter for Financial Development? Evidence from the East Asian and Pacific Region

This paper assesses the impact of financial integration on financial development and establishes thresholds for materializing gains of financial advances from financial globalization using a sample of 34 countries from the East Asian and Pacific region. Following the approaches of Kose et al. (2011) and Asongu and De Moor (2016), we test non-linearity within the financial openness and financial development nexus through semi-parametric ordinary least-squares regression, and then, we develop threshold dynamics models. According to our findings, the effect of financial integration on financial development significantly changes across different financial inflows. When using external debt as a proxy for financial openness, there exists a robust significant inverted U-shaped relationship between financial integration and financial development. The empirical findings also suggest that the financial integration-development nexus is contingent on the level of trade openness, national income, and institutional quality. The results are robust to different measures of financial development and integration, the inclusion of other determinants of financial development, and considerations of endogeneity.

Empowerment, passion and job performance: implications from Ghana

Purpose Drawing upon the “too-much-of-a-good-thing (TMGT)” effect and conservation of resources (COR) theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine the mediation mechanism between empowering leadership and employee job performance. Specifically, the authors propose a curvilinear relationship between empowering leadership and job performance, and also suggest that employee harmonious and obsessive work passions mediate the curvilinear relationship between empowering leadership and job performance. Further the moderation role of collectivism orientation (CO) in the relationship between empowering leadership and job performance is also examined. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaires are used to obtain survey data from 256 supervisor–subordinate dyads in three companies in the communication sector of Ghana. A follow-up interview was also conducted to enhance explanation of research findings. Hierarchical regression analysis is used to analyze the associations among the variables. Findings The results revealed that the significant inverted U-shaped relationship between empowering leadership and subordinate job performance is mediated by both harmonious and obsessive passion for work. A significant moderation effect of CO in the empowering leadership–job performance relationship could not be established. Originality/value This study adapts the “TMGT” effect and COR theory in the explanation of an integrated model including empowering leadership, job performance, employee passion for work, and CO in the Ghanaian context.

Realization of green transition based on the anti-driving mechanism: An analysis of environmental regulation from the perspective of resource dependence in China

Environmental regulations and ecological efficiency are the driving force and objective function of China's economic growth, respectively. Whether they can achieve a win-win effect is key to the green transformation and high-quality development of resource-based cities. Based on the normative explanation of the implications of the resource curse, this paper uses panel data to calculate the ecological efficiency level and comprehensive index of environmental regulation by respectively using the global reference of undesirable output super-efficiency SBM model and the entropy method. The spatial panel Durbin model is used to test the Porter and resource curse hypotheses, and whether resource dependence can become the mediating variable of environmental regulation affecting ecological efficiency is further verified by using the mediating effect model. The results show that environmental regulation has a significant U-shaped curve relationship with ecological efficiency and a significant inverted U-shaped curve relationship with resource dependence. The relationship between resource dependence and ecological efficiency is different between resource-based and non-resource-based cities. Resource dependence can be used as a mediating variable of environmental regulation that affects ecological efficiency. Environmental regulation can directly affect the level of ecological efficiency through the mechanisms of “cost of compliance” and “cost-saving innovation,” and indirectly the level of ecological efficiency through that of resource dependence. Therefore, there exists an effective “anti-driving mechanism” in China's environmental regulation policy, which can not only promote urban ecological efficiency, but also solve the resource curse of cities.

Does the Development of Information and Communication Technology and Transportation Infrastructure Affect China’s Educational Inequality?

Educational inequality is an important factor in the development of human capital, and limits the output of regional economic activities. The unequal distribution of educational resources has become a hot topic noticed by the public, and has restricted sustainable economic growth. This paper provides a better understanding of educational inequality, and explores the impacts of information and communication technology (ICT) and transportation infrastructure on the distribution of educational resources. The panel data models are constructed to discuss the relationship among ICT, transportation infrastructure, and educational inequality, using the data of 31 provinces in China from 2006 to 2016. The empirical results show that there is a positive relationship between ICT and educational inequality, while transportation infrastructure can restrain the unequal distribution of educational resources. Moreover, there is a significant inverted U-shaped relationship between transportation infrastructure and educational inequality. Since China’s education reform in 2010, the relationship among ICT, transportation infrastructure, and educational inequality has been significantly changed, as well as the influence mechanism of ICT. In addition, transportation infrastructure in China western regions can effectively alleviate the problem of educational inequality, and its impact will increase with the growth of transportation investments. It is necessary to consider the rational allocation of educational resources, and this is essential to relieve the problem of educational inequality. Therefore, our results demonstrate the key roles of information technology and transportation network in the field of education, and provide some new ideas for the solution of educational inequality.

Is there an EKC between economic growth and smog pollution in China? New evidence from semiparametric spatial autoregressive models

Although China has achieved rapid economic growth, it suffers from severe smog conditions. Determining how to promote cleaner production and environmental sustainability is of great significance in clarifying the relationship between income and pollutants. Within an extension of the stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence and technology (STIRPAT) framework, the effects of economic growth on PM2.5 contamination are explicitly investigated based on a recent large sample of 249 Chinese cities in 2015. From a nonlinear spatial perspective, this study marks the first attempt at comprehensively exploring the nexus between the selected variables and PM2.5 emissions using semiparametric spatial autoregressive models, which overcome the misspecification issues of conventional parametric models. To avoid the limitations of a single method, this study also applies different estimation techniques such as the spatial lag model (SLM), the spatial autoregressive model with spatial autoregressive disturbances (SARAR), two-stage least squares regression (2SLSR), quantile regression (QR) and nonparametric regression (NPR). The results reveal that PM2.5 pollutants show strong positive characteristics of spatial spillover. The results also suggest that there is a significant inverted U-shaped relationship between economic growth and PM2.5 concentrations, which confirms the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. Additionally, the empirical findings highlight the influence that the population density, industrialization, urbanization and traffic development factors have on increasing PM2.5 emissions. In contrast, technological innovation and green coverage do not play important roles in reducing PM2.5 concentrations. The distribution of PM2.5 concentrations displays apparent geographical features. To provide an in-depth understanding of these impacts, marginal analysis is performed to distinguish the local and neighbouring effects of determinants on PM2.5 pollution.

Research on the Factors Affecting Regional Smog in China—Based on Spatial Panel Model

Based on the PM2.5 concentration values of 30 provinces in China from 1998 to 2016, this study empirically analyzes the influencing factors of smog pollution by using spatial Durbin model. The study found that smog pollution in China has significant spatial spillover effects and spatial characteristics of high-high (low-low) aggregation. And through the method of spatial Durbin model, it is found that the smog pollution in China is time-dependent due to the significant influence of its lag term. In terms of driving factors, it is found that there is a significant inverted U-shaped curve relationship between smog pollution and economic growth. In terms of driving factors, it is found that there is a significant inverted U-shaped curve relationship between smog pollution and economic growth. The industrial structure with high proportion of the second industry, urbanization measured by urban population, and coal-based energy structure significantly aggravate the smog pollution in our country. In view of the spatial spillover effect and time lag effect of smog pollution in China, it is necessary to strengthen regional joint prevention and control. And it is also supposed to optimize industrial structure, achieve clean and efficient use of resources, rationalize urbanization, and encourage public transportation and new energy vehicles.

Urban Scale, Environmental Pollution and Subjective Well-Being of Urban Residents

Based on the micro-data of China’s household income survey and urban macro-data, this paper uses two-stage least squares (2SLS) to explore the impact of urban scale and environmental pollution on the subjective well-being of urban residents. The study found that there is a significant inverted U-shaped relationship between urban scale and subjective well-being of urban residents. Environmental pollution has a positive impact on the subjective well-being of urban residents. Due to the existence of urban scale thresholds, only 46 small cities such as Qingyuan, Jincheng, Shangqiu, Fuxin, Changde and Qujing are not sensitive to environmental pollution. For first-tier and second-tier cities, urban scale and subjective well-being of urban residents are significantly positive. U-type relationship, environmental pollution has a significant negative impact on residents’ subjective well-being, but due to the “urban scale threshold” effect, urban residents in big cities such as Beijing and Chongqing are not sensitive to environmental pollution caused by urban expansion.

Assessing the efficiency of China’s environmental regulation on carbon emissions based on Tapio decoupling models and GMM models

This paper takes 30 provinces in China from 2004 to 2015 as research samples, using the Tapio decoupling models, differential GMM methods and peak forecasting models to analyze the effect of environmental regulation on carbon emissions, and subdividing the research sample from the regional and temporal dimensions to analyze the effectiveness of environmental regulations in different regions and at different time periods. The analysis results show that, with the advancement of environmental regulation, the dependence of China’s economic growth on fossil energy has experienced a process from weak to strong and weak. There is a significant inverted U-shaped curve relationship between environmental regulation and CO2 emissions and CO2 emissions intensity. As the intensity of environmental regulation changes from weak to strong, the impact effect changes from “green paradox” effect to “back-forced reduction” effect. The effect of environmental regulation in the eastern region is better than that in the central and western regions. However, with the implementation of environmental regulation, the inverted U-shaped curve between environmental regulation and carbon emissions gradually becomes flat. The results of the peak forecast show that China has crossed the peak of CO2 emissions intensity, but has not exceeded the peak of CO2 emissions. By further optimizing environmental regulations, China may reach its CO2 emissions peak by 2030. Overall, China’s environmental regulations at the current stage can effectively curb carbon emissions and achieve the desired goals.

Vertical Pay Dispersion and Innovation Spirit of New Ventures

How differentiated salary management policies affect the innovation spirit of new ventures is an important academic issue. Considering that there is no much comparability of the pay between corporate executives and grassroots employees, this paper subdivides the pay dispersion of new ventures into two levels:pay dispersion between top managers and middle managers (PayDHM), and pay dispersion between middle managers and grassroots workers (PayDML). And it explores the effects of vertical pay dispersion at different levels on innovation activities of new ventures. The results indicate that there exists a significant inverted U-shaped relationship between vertical pay dispersions and the innovation spirit of new ventures, which means that the innovation spirit of new ventures increases first and then decreases as the vertical pay dispersion widens. In addition, the role of pay dispersion between middle managers and grassroots workers in the innovation spirit of new ventures is also affected by board governance and external environment inclusiveness, that is to say at the same level of pay dispersion between middle managers and grassroots workers, new ventures with a board of directors and in a strong inclusive environment have stronger innovation spirit. It extends the achievements of pay dispersion theory research and has important significance to help new ventures to formulate and perfect pay incentives policies.

The dual roles of trait rumination in problem solving

Rumination is posited to encompass both beneficial and deleterious roles in problem solving. Previous work has suggested these dual roles based upon categorical factors derived from reporting on measures of trait rumination. However, the effects of the continuous dimension of trait rumination on general problem solving performance have not yet been elucidated. In this study we examined the relationship between trait rumination and problem solving ability on Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM). Results from two independent studies and a Monte Carlo simulation demonstrated a significant inverted U-shaped relationship between trait rumination and RAPM performance. These results suggest that the extent to which trait rumination is beneficial or deleterious to problem solving is contingent upon the degree of its expression.

The Association between Short or Long Sleep Times and Quality of Life (QOL): Results of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES IV-V).

Sleep can affect quality of life (QOL). We examined the association between self-reported sleep time and QOL independent of perceived health status and depressive disorder using the EuroQol-5 Dimension (EQ-5D) and a visual analog scale (VAS). We used the nationwide cross-sectional survey data of 28,178 subjects from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) IV-V. Self-reported sleep time was assessed by average hours of sleep per day. QOL was measured using the EQ-5D and VAS. A generalized additive model and multiple linear regression analysis were used to estimate the effect of sleep time on the QOL while adjusting for potential confounding variables. We found a significant inverted U-shaped relationship between sleep time and QOL using both the EQ-5D and VAS indices. Compared with subjects who slept 7 h/day, Korean men whose sleep time was very short (≤ 4 h/ day) or very long (≥ 10 h/day) had substantially worse QOL (-3.125 in EQ-5D, p < 0.001 and -4.387 on the VAS, p = 0.000 for ≤ 4 h/day; -1.763 in EQ-5D, p = 0.001 and -1.944 on the VAS for ≥ 10 h/day, all p = 0.038). A similar inverted U-shape was observed between sleep time and QOL in Korean women. Inappropriate sleep time (either short or long) in both men and women was significantly associated with lower QOL. In particular, such an association was more apparent among persons whose perceived health status was poor.

The phase of prestimulus alpha oscillations affects tactile perception

Previous studies have shown that neural oscillations in the 8- to 12-Hz range influence sensory perception. In the current study, we examined whether both the power and phase of these mu/alpha oscillations predict successful conscious tactile perception. Near-threshold tactile stimuli were applied to the left hand while electroencephalographic (EEG) activity was recorded over the contralateral right somatosensory cortex. We found a significant inverted U-shaped relationship between prestimulus mu/alpha power and detection rate, suggesting that there is an intermediate level of alpha power that is optimal for tactile perception. We also found a significant difference in phase angle concentration at stimulus onset that predicted whether the upcoming tactile stimulus was perceived or missed. As has been shown in the visual system, these findings suggest that these mu/alpha oscillations measured over somatosensory areas exert a strong inhibitory control on tactile perception and that pulsed inhibition by these oscillations shapes the state of brain activity necessary for conscious perception. They further suggest that these common phasic processing mechanisms across different sensory modalities and brain regions may reflect a common underlying encoding principle in perceptual processing that leads to momentary windows of perceptual awareness.

Cognitively Preserved Subjects with Transitional Cerebrospinal Fluid ß-Amyloid 1-42 Values Have Thicker Cortex in Alzheimer's Disease Vulnerable Areas

Establishing the relationship between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) ß-amyloid 1-42 (Aß) and cortical thickness (CTh) would represent a major step forward in the understanding of the Alzheimer's disease (AD) process. We studied this relationship in a group of healthy control subjects and subjects with subjective memory complaints with preserved cognitive function at neuropsychological testing. In this cross-sectional study, 33 individuals (17 healthy control subjects and 16 subjects with subjective memory complaints) underwent structural 3-Tesla magnetic resonance image scanning and a spinal tap. Cerebrospinal fluid Aß was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The relationship between CSF Aß values and CTh in several regions of interest, both susceptible and unrelated to AD pathology, was analyzed with a curve fit analysis and CTh difference maps were derived from group comparisons. Dichotomizing the whole sample according to Aß values (cutoff 500 pg/mL), we found the expected cortical thinning in Aß positive subjects in temporoparietal areas (p < .05 corrected). When analyzing the relationship between CSF Aß and CTh in AD-susceptible regions, we found a significant inverted U-shaped relationship (quadratic). Therefore, the sample was further divided into tertiles (according to CSF Aß values) to perform subsequent subgroup comparisons. Increased CTh in temporoparietal areas and precuneus (p < .05 corrected) was found in the middle Aß tertile (CSF Aß between 416 and 597 pg/mL) when compared with the high Aß tertile (616-881 pg/mL). The relationship between Aß and CTh in preclinical stages may not be linear. Cortical thickness in temporoparietal and precuneus regions is greater in subjects with transitional CSF Aß values.

Paternal age and intelligence: implications for age-related genomic changes in male germ cells

A robust association between advancing paternal age and schizophrenia risk is reported, and genetic changes in the germ cells of older men are presumed to underlie the effect. If that is so, then the pathway may include effects on cognition, as those with premorbid schizophrenia are reported to have lower intelligence. There are also substantial genetic influences on intelligence, so de novo genetic events in male germ cells, which accompany advancing paternal age, may plausibly influence offspring intelligence. An association of paternal age with IQ in healthy adolescents may illuminate the mechanisms that link it to schizophrenia. We examined the association of paternal age and IQ scores using the Israeli Army Board data on 44 175 individuals from a richly described birth cohort, along with maternal age and other potential modifiers. A significant inverted U-shaped relationship was observed between paternal age and IQ scores, which was independent from a similar association of IQ scores with maternal age. These relationships were not significantly attenuated by controlling for multiple possible confounding factors, including the other parent's age, parental education, social class, sex and birth order, birth weight and birth complications. Overall, parental age accounted for approximately 2% of the total variance in IQ scores, with later paternal age lowering non-verbal IQ scores more than verbal IQ scores. We found independent effects of maternal and paternal age on offspring IQ scores. The paternal age effect may be explained by de novo mutations or abnormal methylation of paternally imprinted genes, whereas maternal age may affect fetal neurodevelopment through age-related alterations in the in-utero environment. The influence of late paternal age to modify non-verbal IQ may be related to the pathways that increase the risk for schizophrenia in the offspring of older fathers.

The Storage and Production of Organic Matter in Tropical Forests and Their Role in the Global Carbon Cycle

To investigate the storage relationships between and production of organic matter in tropical forests and climate, data on forest biomass, soil organic matter, litter storage, primary production, and litterfall were surveyed from the literature and organized using the Holdridge Life Zone system of classification. Ordinary least squares regressions were applied to all the data sets using the ratio of temperature to precipitation (T/P) as an index to climate and the independent variable. Total forest biomass (40-538 t/ha) gave a significant inverted U-shaped relationship with T/P, with peak values in the tropical moist forest life zone and lower ones in wetter and drier forest life zones. Soil carbon content (24-599 t C/ ha) decreased exponentially and significantly with increasing T/P (i.e., from wet to dry forest life zones). No significant relationship was found between litter storage and T/P. Gross primary production (19-120 t/ha yr) decreased curvilinearly and significantly with increasing T/P. Neither net primary production (11-21 t/ha yr) nor wood production (1-11 t/ha yr) were related to T/P. The ratio of leaf litter production to net primary production (0.25-0.65) was inversely related to T/P, suggesting different strategies of allocation of the net primary production in different life zones. The relationship between total litterfall (1.0-15.3 t/ha yr, excluding large wood) and T/P was significant and its shape similar to that obtained for biomass versus T/P; litterfall was highest in tropical moist forest life zones and lower in wetter or drier ones. The linear relationship between biomass and litterfall suggested that the turnover time of biomass in mature tropical forests is similar for all life zones, and is of the order of 34 yr. To determine the role of tropical forests in the global carbon cycle, literature estimates of areas of tropical forests were placed into six life zone groupings. The total tropical and subtropical basal and altitudinal forest area of 1838 million ha was comprised of 42 percent dry forest, 33 percent moist forest, and 25 percent wet and rain forest life zone groups. Organic-matter storage data were also combined into the six life zone groups and the means for each group calculated. The product of forest areas in the six groups and the mean organic matter per unit area in the groups yielded a total storage of 787 billion t organic matter, with vegetation accounting for 58, soils 41, and litter 1 percent. About half of the total storage was located in the tropical basal wet, moist, and dry forest life zone groups. Litterfall data were treated in the same way as organic-matter storage, resulting in a total litter production in tropical forests of 12.3 billion t organic matter/yr. Most litter was produced in the tropical basal moist forest group (30%) and least in the tropical basal dry forest group (10%). Turnover time of litter in tropical forests was less than 1 yr. Lowest turnover times were in very wet (1 yr) and in dry (0.9-1.9 yr) life zone groups. Tropical forests play an important role in the global carbon cycle because they store 46 percent of the world's living terrestrial carbon pool and 11 percent of the world's soil carbon pool.

Visual aesthetic complexity, attractiveness and diversive exploration.

Ratings by 60 Ss showed a significant inverted U-shaped relationship between attractiveness and complexity of 15 paintings of human figures while rated interest tended to increase with complexity. Ss most often selected and least often rejected paintings rated highly attractive and moderately complex for further viewing.

Paragraph complexity, arousal, and subjective evaluations of attractiveness

The purpose of this study was to test various postulates concerning the interrelationships between the arousal potential, the arousal level, and the attractiveness of a set of paragraphs differing in complexity. The effect of paragraph complexity on arousal level arid ratings of attractiveness was significant. A significant U-shaped relationship between paragraph complexity and arousal level was observed. A significant negative linear relationship between paragraph arousal level and ratings of attractiveness was found. There was a significant inverted U-shaped relationship between paragraph complexity and ratings of attractiveness.