Apomorphine (Apo) administration induces a persistent bout of pecking in pigeons and other birds. Repeated injections of Apo in pigeons lead to sensitization, i.e. the pecking response to a particular dose increases up to a dose-dependent asymptotic level. It is also known that Apo-induced pecking can be classically conditioned to the cage environment where the animals experience the effect of ...

This paper argues that trade liberalization has a potentially significant impact on financial leverage. We compare the predictions of the trade-off model of capital structure with the pecking order model. In the first case, we suggest that trade liberalization affects the trade-off between the tax advantages of debt and expected bankruptcy costs. This implies that a reduction in domestic tariff...

In the first experiment, 4 pigeons were each presented with a recurring sequence of four key colors followed by the delivery of grain (block clock). Once the rate of pecking had stabilized, three of the colors were replaced, during different series of sessions, by a darkening of the key. The rate of pecking was reduced within those segments of the interval between deliveries of food during whic...

Upon systemic administration of apomorphine, a potent dopamine agonist, pigeons show a bout of pecking behaviour. When the drug is repeatedly administered a sensitization takes place that is associated with pronounced discrimination learning. Here we show that intra-cerebral injections of apomorphine in the periphery of the nucleus accumbens of pigeons also elicit pecking. We additionally show ...

The dopamine agonist apomorphine (apo) elicits stereotyped pecking bouts in pigeons, a response which increases with successive apo injections. The present study sought, first, to confirm the hypothesis that this sensitization arises through a Pavlovian conditioning driven by both external and internal cues; and, secondly, to advance the hypothesis that during this learning the dopaminergic act...

In this paper we test the pecking order and trade-off hypotheses of corporate financing decisions using a cross-section of the largest Chinese listed companies. We build on Allen (1993) and Baskin (1989) to set up three models in which trade-off and pecking order theories give distinctively different predictions: (1) the determinants of leverage, (2) the relationship between leverage and divide...

In a commentary in Frontiers, Van Rooijen (2014) states: “Today the developments in genetics are exciting. Perhaps this explains why geneticists sometimes seem to overlook common sense solutions. One example of this is the selection experiment done by Bijma et al. (2007a,b). . . . . . .As a result their selection seemed not very efficient.” In those two papers, however, we do not report a selec...

Routine removal of the tip of the beak of chickens within the poultry industry leads to changes in pecking behavior, which have previously been interpreted as being indicative of pain. By analyzing the force of pecks, with and without the topical application of an analgesic to the beak, we investigated if changes in pecking behavior were due to a loss of sensitivity in the beak or were pain rel...