Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Qualitative Study of the Problems and Prospects of Online Banking in Developing Economies – Case of Nigeria

The dawn of the new millennium brought with it a plethora of activities that has impacted strongly on the academic field especially consumers’ adoption of new technologies. This has continued to generate a great deal of interest in the academic arena and the business sector is not an exception. Researchers in these fields have been and are still formulating and extending various theories for online context. In an attempt to advance knowledge in these areas as well as build a concrete foundation which can serve as a spring board, various published literatures have been reviewed in different countries and at various times. The purpose of this paper is to qualitatively explore the problems and prospects of online banking in developing economies with Nigeria as a case study. The analysis of the data gathered produced various reasons for the non adoption of internet banking services in Nigeria. The findings provide a basis for financial managers to understand the reasons for non-adoption on this innovative services as well as paves ways to enhance the creation of awareness and promotion.
Are Scottish firms meeting the ICT challenge? Results from a National Survey of Enterprise

This paper examines the diffusion of Information Communication Technology (ICT) into firms in Scotland and northern England. Data concerning the adoption of micro-computers, e-mail, the Internet, ISDN, in-house website, and the automation of business functions is analysed by industry, firm size, firm age, rate of growth, export involvement, and innovation activity. The results from a sample of 1347 firms found an overall increase in the adoption of ICT in firms between 1998 and 2001. The increase is led by older and larger firms in comparison to younger and smaller firms. In addition, the diffusion of the automation of business functions was found to be sequential, from generic to specific applications. Further increases in the diffusion of ICT are likely to come from upgrading existing equipment and increases in the range of business functions that can be automated. Finally, although use of the Internet and web-based trading has increased in the sample firms, this has not replaced traditional marketing and sales. The results support the view that more firms are taking up the challenge of using ICT in-house, with older and larger firms leading the way ahead of younger and smaller firms.
Around Closed Doors and Through Open Windows: A Theory of Aspirant Opportunism, 1796–2004

This article offers a theory of aspirant opportunism, which claims that presidential aspirants differ in their ability to perceive and capitalize on the electoral conditions and political events that occur during their political careers. As such, it asserts that political experience matters and specific types of political experiences matter more than others do. It presents several regression models (both linear and logistic), which more formally describe the effects of aspirant opportunism and political experience on the presidential campaigns from 1796 to 2004. The findings suggest that whereas exogenous events and electoral conditions, such as a poor economy or the presence of a war, help explain electoral success or failure, an aspirant's political experience and level of opportunism matter, but that they matter less now than they ever have before. This article concludes that the selection method and its biases over the course of its developmental history are important topics for scholars to consider as they investigate presidents and the institution of the presidency.
Effects of Non-Farm Employment on Rural Income Inequality in Developing Countries: an Investment Perspective

This paper makes several points based on a review of household survey evidence from Africa, Asia and Latin America. (i) In contrast to conventional wisdom, the evidence is very mixed as to the effect of non-farm employment on rural income inequality. The non-farm employment and microenterprise programmes now in vogue will not necessarily resolve rural income inequality problems and attendant social tensions nor automatically benefit the poor. (ii) Policymakers should be worried by substantial evidence of poor people's inability to overcome important entry barriers to many non-farm activities. (iii) The main determinants of unequal access to non-farm activities are the distribution of capacity to make investments in non-farm assets and the relative scarcity of low capital entry barrier activities. Therefore, it is crucial for public investments and policy to favour an increase in the access of the poor to assets that allow them to overcome non-farm employment entry barriers, (iv) It would be an error to assume that one can address asset-poverty and inequality in the non-farm sector without addressing farm-side problems and vice versa.
The Pay to Performance Incentives of Executive Stock Options

Detailed data about stock option contracts are used to measure and analyze the pay to performance incentives of executive stock options. Two main issues are addressed. The first is the pay to performance incentives created by the revaluation of stock option holdings. The findings suggest that if CEO stock holdings were replaced by the same ex ante value of stock options, the pay to performance sensitivity of the median CEO would approximately double. Relative to granting at the money options, a value neutral policy of regularly granting options out of the money would increase pay to performance sensitivity by approximately 27 percent. The second issue is the pay to performance created by yearly stock option grants. Because most stock option plans are multi year plans, it is shown that different option granting plans have significantly different pay to performance incentives since changes in current stock prices affect the value of future option grants in different ways. Four option granting policies are compared and contrasted. Ranked from highest powered to lowest powered, these policies are: 1) LBO-style up-front options, 2) fixed number policies, 3) fixed value policies, and 4) an (unofficial) policy of back-door repricing. ' Empirical evidence suggests that (even ignoring the revaluation of past option grants) the pay to performance relationship in practice is stronger for 1) stock option grants relative to salary and bonus, and 2) fixed number plans relative to non-fixed number plans.
An analytically solvable core-periphery model

We develop an analytically solvable version of the central model of 'new economic geography', the so called core-periphery model by Krugman. While the modified model reproduces all the appealing features of the original one, it also allows us to obtain additional analytical results that are out of reach in Krugman's set-up. First, we are able to assess the exact number of equilibria and their global stability properties. Second, we are able to investigate the implications of exogenous asymmetries between countries. This is achieved by introducing heterogeneity between high-skill mobile and low-skill immobile workers, which may also be an empirically attractive property. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
Cost Analysis of Early Psychosocial Intervention in Alzheimer's Disease

Background/Aim: To investigate the impact of early psychosocial intervention aimed at patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and their caregivers on resource use and costs from a societal perspective. Methods: Dyads of patients and their primary caregiver were randomised to intervention (n = 163) or control (n = 167) and followed for 3 years. Health care use was extracted from national registers, and the Resource Utilisation in Dementia questionnaire was used to measure informal care and productivity loss. Multiple imputation was used to replace missing data, and non-parametric bootstrapping was used to estimate standard errors. Results: Overall, there were no statistically significant differences because of large variation in the observations. The average additional cost of psychosocial intervention provision was estimated at EUR 3,401 per patient. This cost masked a reduced use of formal health care and an increased use of informal care. Conclusions: Early psychosocial intervention in AD could be cost-saving from a health care perspective, whereas the opposite seems to be true from a broader societal perspective.
An Analysis of Push and Pull Motivational Factors of International Tourists to Penang, Malaysia

This study identifies the travel motivations of international tourists to Penang, Malaysia, using the theory of push and pull motivations as a conceptual framework. The methodology was comprised of quantitative research based on 400 self-completed questionnaires. A principal component factor analysis was used to identify the underlying dimensions of push and pull motivational items. The results revealed three push and three pull factor dimensions. Among the identified motivation factors, Novelty and Knowledge-Seeking and Cultural and Historical Attractions were regarded as the most important push and pull factors, respectively. Based on the study’s findings, practical implications for tourism marketers are suggested and future research recommendations are provided.
AN ANALYSIS OF THE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES CURRENTLY EMPLOYED BY LARGE U.S. CORPORATIONS

Economic conditions have placed increased importance upon rigorous financial analysis. In order to determine which analytical techniques are currently emp loyed by management, a questionnaire was sent to each fm on the May 1980, FORTUNE 500 list. The researchsought to establish a profile of the respondents' organizational structure and to identify the primary procedures used in risk assessment, working capital management, capital budgeting, and operations research modeling. The results do suggest a basic profile of the more active employers of analytical techniques. Relatively sophisticated capital budgeting procedures appear to be accepted across most industries, and many firms support their decision making with a “package” of formal tools.
Impact of Dividend-Protected Employee Stock Options on Payout Policies: Evidence from Taiwan

This study used a sample of 1035 Taiwanese firms to examine the impact of dividend protected employee stock options on stock repurchase and cash dividend policies from 2000 to 2005. This study finds a positive relationship between cash dividends and executive options, implying that executives holding stock options might prefer to distribute cash dividends to boost the stock price. This result, unlike in earlier studies, arises from the dividend protected characteristic of Taiwanese employee stock options. Finally, free cash flow, firm profitability, level of debt, investment opportunities and firm size are found to considerably influence payout decisions. Copyright 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation 2008 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd
Intermediaries in Regional Innovation Systems: High-Technology Enterprise Survey from Northern Finland

Intermediaries play an important role in national as well as in regional innovation systems, especially in innovation policy. In linking organizations within an innovation system, intermediaries are focusing on technology transfer, commercialization of ideas and funding. This research focuses on the role of intermediaries in high-technology product development in northern Finland. Based on a survey of 168 high-technology enterprises, funding services are regarded as the most important activity of intermediaries. Our results show that finance matters: a key actor within the Finnish innovation system in terms of direct funding and indirect collaborative resourcing, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (TEKES), is considered the most important public sector organization in private sector product development. The survey also reveals that growth-driven companies with emphases on product innovation and high levels of investment in research and development for increasing their annual turnover benefit the most from intermediaries.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR TOWARDS THE NEW PACKAGING OF FMCG PRODUCTS

The importance of packaging design as a vehicle for communication and branding is growing in competitive markets for packaged FMCG products. This research utilized a focus group methodology to understand consumer behavior toward such products. The challenge for researchers is to integrate packaging into an effective purchasing decision model, by understanding Consumer’s behavior towards the packaging of FMCG products. When consumers search for and process information in-store, the product's package can contain relevant and useful information for the consumer. Product packaging forms the end of the 'promotion-chain' and is close in time to the actual purchase and may therefore play an important role in predicting consumer outcomes. Packages also deliver brand identification and label information like usage instructions, contents, and list of ingredients or raw materials, warnings for use and directives for care of product.
Intakes of calcium and vitamin D and breast cancer risk in women.

BACKGROUND Animal data suggest the potential anticarcinogenic effects of calcium and vitamin D on breast cancer development. However, epidemiologic data relating calcium and vitamin D levels to breast cancer have been inconclusive. METHODS We prospectively evaluated total calcium and vitamin D intake in relation to breast cancer incidence among 10,578 premenopausal and 20,909 postmenopausal women 45 years or older who were free of cancer and cardiovascular disease at baseline in the Women's Health Study. Baseline dietary intake was assessed by a food frequency questionnaire. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS During an average of 10 years of follow-up, 276 premenopausal and 743 postmenopausal women had a confirmed diagnosis of incident invasive breast cancer. Higher intakes of total calcium and vitamin D were moderately associated with a lower risk of premenopausal breast cancer; the hazard ratios in the group with the highest relative to the lowest quintile of intake were 0.61 (95% confidence interval, 0.40-0.92) for calcium (P = .04 for trend) and 0.65 (95% confidence interval, 0.42-1.00) for vitamin D intake (P = .07 for trend). The inverse association with both nutrients was also present for large or poorly differentiated breast tumors among premenopausal women (P< or =.04 for trend). By contrast, intakes of both nutrients were not inversely associated with the risk of breast cancer among postmenopausal women. CONCLUSIONS Findings from this study suggest that higher intakes of calcium and vitamin D may be associated with a lower risk of developing premenopausal breast cancer. The likely apparent protection in premenopausal women may be more pronounced for more aggressive breast tumors.
Wage Growth and the Inflation Process: A Multivariate Cointegration Analysis

Past empirical analysis of the relationship between wages and prices within the expectations-augmented Phillips curve model have raised doubts about the effects of labor costs on inflation. Analysis of the same data used previously reveals the existence of a deterministic linear time component in the wage and price series which past research failed to take into account. Using the Johansen (1988, 1992, 1994) multivariate cointegration technique, the paper provides robust evidence on the consistency of the markup view of the inflation process with the data and concludes that monetary policy should profit from labor costs data in predicting future rates of inflation.
Does information and communication technology drive EU-US productivity growth differentials?

This paper compares the effects of information and communication technology (ICT) on aggregate labour productivity growth in the European Union and the United States. It focuses on two transmission channels, namely (i) ICT-capital deepening and (ii) total factor productivity (TFP) growth originating from ICT-goods production. We find that together these two effects almost fully explain the US lead in labour productivity growth over the EU during the period 1995-2001. We also argue that, within the EU, non-ICT related sources of growth are the main drivers of productivity differentials between member countries.
The Reservation Wage of Unemployed Persons in the Federal Republic of Germany: Theory and Empirical Tests

This study examines the determinants of the reservation wage of unemployed persons in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1976. The theoretical section presents the derivation of an optimal reservation wage and shows the source of an ambiguity of some explanatory variables. The data basis are unemployed persons leaving the unemployment register within a given sample week. For a subset of them, we know their reservation wage and a set of personal characteristics. Other variables, such as the wage offer distribution and demand side variables, are obtained by employing other data. Methodological problems, such as as a sample selection bias, are taken into account. As a result, individual characteristics and the wage offer distribution are dominant causes of the reservation wage, but demand side variables and the entitlement to unemployment compensation play minor roles.
The equity premium puzzle and the risk-free rate puzzle at long horizons

The failure of consumption based asset pricing models to match the stochastic properties of the equity premium and the risk-free rate has been attributed by some authors to frictions, transaction costs or durability. However, such frictions would primarily affect the higher frequency data components: consumption-based pricing models that concentrate on long-horizon returns should be more successful. ; We consider three consumption-based models of the asset-pricing kernel: time-separable utility, and the models of Abel (1990) and Constantinides (1990). We estimate a vector ARCH model that includes the pricing kernel and the equity return, and use the fitted model to assess the model's implications for the equity premium and for the risk-free rate. We find that time-separable preferences fail at all horizons, and none of the models perform well at the quarterly horizon. When consumption is measured as nondurables plus services, the Abel and the Constantinides models show modest improvements at the one- and two-year horizon. However, when consumption is measured either as expenditures on nondurables or as total consumption purchases, versions the Abel and the Constantinides match the mean and the variance of the observed equity premium at the two-year horizon, capture a good deal of the time-variation of the equity premium in post-war data, and have more success matching the first and second moments of the observed risk-free rate. A major unresolved issue is to understand why the measured consumption services series perform so poorly in these models.
Lack of evidence for an association between WNT2 and RELN polymorphisms and autism

Autism is a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in language development and social interaction, as well as stereotypical, repetitive behaviors. The etiology of autism is largely unknown. Family and twin studies have provided compelling evidence for a strong genetic component in most idiopathic cases. Several recent candidate gene studies have suggested that alleles of WNT2 and the reelin gene (RELN), two genes involved in distinct aspects of neurodevelopment, confer greater susceptibility to autism. We screened WNT2 for DNA polymorphisms by sequencing all exons and adjacent intronic regions in 24 autistic patients, and identified not only the WNT2 variants reported previously (two common single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 5′ upstream region and the 3′ untranslated region (UTR), respectively), but also two new SNPs in its 3′ UTR. We genotyped all four WNT2 polymorphisms and a polymorphic trinucleotide repeat in the 5′ UTR of RELN in 107 families with multiple autistic children, and evaluated evidence for association between these variants and autism by the transmission disequilibrium test (TDT). Our results revealed no deviation from the null hypothesis of no association. Our interpretation of these findings is that it is unlikely that DNA variations in RELN and WNT2 play a significant role in the genetic predisposition to autism. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Welfare expansion revisited: policy routines and their mediation by party, class and crisis, 1957–1982

Post-war welfare effort (i.e., welfare spending as a share of national income) in advanced capitalist political democracies is proposed to result from policy routines emphasized in the traditional academic literatures complemented and mediated by class-linked factors stressed in the ‘new political economy’ literature. Both sets of factors are integrated into a single conception of state policy-making. In this, self-interested elite and administrative state personnel respond to their environments by means of relatively discretionary and relatively automatic policy routines, respectively. Left and non-Left governments mediate these routines and do so differently in different long-term institutional (strong-union versus weak-union) and macroeconomic (expansionary versus crisis) contexts. Welfare expansion is found to be amply explained by the proposed processes, differentiated by context. Left parties and militants are found to matter primarily in contexts marked by ‘Left corporatism’(or strong unions) and/or by relatively ‘expansionary economic climates’. Ironically, Left-party governments in Left corporatist contexts are found to be particularly sensitive to inflation where transfer spending is concerned. Where unions are strong, policy making is generally less incremental and more flexible. After 1973, policy sensitivity to real economic growth or decline looms large, and working-class-linked politics are muted where unions are weak, most especially where they are decentralized.