Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Is quality management appropriate for public leisure services?

There can be little debate that there has been an increasing focus on service quality within UK public leisure services which has resulted in the introduction of quality management and its associated techniques. Introduced as the result of the emergence of a customer focus among public leisure facility managers and in response to government legislation, the use of quality management techniques has become widespread throughout the UK public leisure sector. What has not been established is the appropriateness of quality management for public services, given its inherent commercialism. The use of quality management techniques in UK public leisure facilities raises two concerns, Firstly, there is evidence to suggest that the inherent commercialism of quality management and its associated techniques has led to an undermining of the social objectives of public leisure facilities. Secondly, in order to deliver high quality services, public leisure facility managers have focused on the expectations of paying customers, to the exclusion of other customer groups. Although these two weakness would suggest that quality management is therefore an inappropriate strategy for the management of public leisure facilities, it is apparent that the impact of these weaknesses is minimized by the activities of other sections of the public leisure service - primarily by community work. Secondly, it is clear that the best value legislative framework requires public leisure providers to move beyond a mere focus on paying customers. Thus when leisure services are viewed as a whole, quality management appears an appropriate strategy for the management of public leisure facilities.
Do Abnormally High Audit Fees Impair Audit Quality?

SUMMARY: This study examines whether and how audit quality proxied by the magnitude of absolute discretionary accruals is associated with abnormal audit fees, that is, the difference between actual audit fee and the expected, normal level of audit fee. The results of various regressions reveal that the association between the two is asymmetric, depending on the sign of the abnormal audit fee. For observations with negative abnormal audit fees, there is no significant association between audit quality and abnormal audit fee. In contrast, abnormal audit fees are negatively associated with audit quality for observations with positive abnormal audit fees. Our findings suggest that auditors’ incentives to deter biased financial reporting differ systematically, depending on whether their clients pay more than or less than the normal level of audit fee. Our results are robust to a variety of sensitivity checks.
Can Tourism Providers Buy their Customers’ Loyalty? Examining the Influence of Customer-Provider Investments on Loyalty

As many segments of the tourism industry reach the maturation stage, marketers have turned their attention to building long-term relationships with their best customers. Despite the importance of customer loyalty for understanding these relationships, there is no consensus as to how loyalty develops. Most loyalty programs currently being used promote repeated purchases but are ineffective in enhancing customers’ psychological attachment. The purpose was to test a conceptual framework of the development of loyalty that is grounded in resource theory, reciprocity, and customer equity. The results indicated that if customers perceived that a provider was making an investment in them, they in turn made a similar investment in the provider, and those investments led to loyalty. The findings revealed that investments of love, status, and information were more closely associated with loyalty than investments of money. These findings support the proposed theoretical model and help explain how well-designed loyalty programs may lead to increased psychological attachment. Recommendations for effective relationship marketing strategies are provided.
Rankings of Academic Journals in Accounting, Finance and Information System: Perception from the College Chairpersons

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is report the importance of research publications for the tenure promotion and for faculty in accounting, finance, and information system (IS) areas, developing valid criteria for the assessment of quality in related journals is necessary. Design/methodology/approach - Existing rankings are usually based on a survey among faculty members, while ignoring the chairs' critical role in tenure evaluation. This paper uses department chairs' responses to a survey asking to assess relative journal quality, and hence provides quantitative standards to measure research productivity. The rankings are primarily obtained by the familiarity-rank position index method. Different sets of rankings for the decision-makers in universities, with various requirements for research are provide. Findings - It is found that the rankings in accounting and finance areas are consistent with the prior research, but the rankings in the IS have changed significantly. This difference to the rapid growth in the field of IS is attributed. The robustness check also corroborates the ranking lists. Originality/value - In addition, this paper reports not only a comprehensive ranking list including most journals in accounting, finance, and IS areas, but also separate rankings in each field.
A global view on port state control: econometric analysis of the differences across port state control regimes

This article is based on 183 819 port state control inspections from various port state control regimes for the time frame 1999 to 2004. Using binary logistic regression, we establish the differences of port state control inspections across several regimes, even though theory predicts there should be no significant differences in treatments of vessels. The results indicate that the differences towards the probability of detention are merely reflected by the differences in port states and the treatment of deficiencies and not necessarily by age, size, flag, class or owner as perceived by the industry and regulators. The analysis further shows that some differences can be found across ship types and regimes and that there appears to be room for further harmonization in the area of port state control.
An Independent Sample Test of Yea-Saying and Starting Point Bias in Dichotomous-Choice Contingent Valuation

Abstract We developed several diagnostic tools to test the convergent validity of two common contingent valuation elicitation procedures. Data were collected from independent samples receiving dichotomous choice and payment card questions. We compared actual with counter-factual responses using deterministic and Monte Carlo methods and we found that WTP distributions and mean values varied by the value elicitation method. We also developed a paired-comparison test for procedure variance which indicated that yea-saying and starting point bias influenced dichotomous choice responses.
The Role of Leadership in the Turnaround of a Local Authority

This article examines leadership behaviour during a successful turnaround in a public services organization. Using findings from recent research on leaders in the public services, this article sets out a number of propositions about leadership behaviour. Then a case study of Newham Council from 1996 to 1999 is analysed to show that effective public services leaders do not simply work through visions, communications and empowerment. Successful leadership appears to be much more complex in turnaround situations than is suggested by much of the literature on visionary and transformational leaders.
[Orbital tumors in adults--a 10-year study].

UNLABELLED The authors refer about diagnostic procedures, treatment and follow-up of 87 adult patients with orbital tumors during the period 1998 - 2007 in the Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty Hospital Královské Vinohrady, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic, E.U. The group consists of 42 men and 45 women, age range 18-89 years. In 49 patients, the tumors were of benign origin (age 18-80 years, median, 48 years), and 38 patients suffered from malign tumors (age 38-89 years, median, 61 years). Among basic examinations methods ranked the magnetic resonance imaging and the histological verification of the tumor. Sixty-four tumors were treated by means of 70 surgical procedures. The anterior diagnostic or therapeutic orbitotomy was used in 72.5% of the cases, lateral osteoplastic orbitotomy (Kronlein) in 14.5%, and exenteration of the orbit in 13% of the cases. Altogether 23 patients were treated without surgery by means of corticosteroids, or are followed-up due to a benign tumor only. As the most common, the inflammatory pseudotumors of the orbit were diagnosed in 40%. Clinically they were of the anterior nodular, or posterior diffuse form, dacryoadenitis or orbital myositis. All patients were treated by means of prednisolon for at least three months; due to the relapse of the immunopathologic process, in 16 % of the cases the therapy was supplemented with azathioprime. The surgical procedure was the choice of treatment in 66% of inflammatory processes in the lacrimal gland region. In four cases the sarcoidosis was established.The second tumor in the final ranking was lymphoma in 19.5%; the MALT-lymphoma was diagnosed in 59% of these cases. The chemotherapy was chosen for the treatment in 2/3 of the cases, and in all cases the remission was reached.The actinotherapy was chosen especially in other types of lymphoma; the follicular form and "molding" lymphoma were the causes of the death in two patients. Among malignant tumors, the most serious clinical courses were histological different primary carcinomas of the orbitopalpebral region in 14% of the cases, and secondary melanoma spreading from the conjunctiva in 5.5%. Both these tumors, counting the same number as lymphomas, were the only indications to the exenteration of the orbit, and causes of the death in four patients. CONCLUSION Among orbital tumors in adults, the most common were inflammatory pseudotumor and lymphoma. The decisive procedure was always the histological verification, which directed the following therapy.
Politics, Economic Development, and the Volvo International Tennis Tournament

As cities turn to sport as a vehicle for encouraging economic development, sport managers increasingly find themselves in the midst of debates over urban policy. The purpose of this study was to examine the decision-making process that brought the Volvo International Tennis Tournament to New Haven, Connecticut. Because New Haven has been the center of classic debates over community power, the Volvo tennis case offers an excellent opportunity to examine the use of the theories of urban politics in understanding how development decisions are made. The Volvo case suggests that a synthesis of Stone's regime theory and Peterson's economistic paradigm provides a useful model for identifying the key players in economic development.
Liquidity and Market Structure

Market liquidity is modeled as being determined by the demand and supply of immediacy. Exogenous liquidity events coupled with the risk of delayed trade create a demand for immediacy. Market makers supply immediacy by their continuous presence. and willingness to bear risk during the time period between the arrival of final buyers and sellers. In the long run the number of market makers adjusts to equate the supply and demand for immediacy. This determine the equilibrium level of liquidity in the market. The lower is the autocorrelation in rates of return, the higher is the equilibrium level of liquidity.
Early onset of significant local warming in low latitude countries

The Earth is warming on average, and most of the global warming of the past half-century can very likely be attributed to human influence. But the climate in particular locations is much more variable, raising the question of where and when local changes could become perceptible enough to be obvious to people in the form of local warming that exceeds interannual variability; indeed only a few studies have addressed the significance of local signals relative to variability. It is well known that the largest total warming is expected to occur in high latitudes, but high latitudes are also subject to the largest variability, delaying the emergence of significant changes there. Here we show that due to the small temperature variability from one year to another, the earliest emergence of significant warming occurs in the summer season in low latitude countries (≈25°S–25°N). We also show that a local warming signal that exceeds past variability is emerging at present, or will likely emerge in the next two decades, in many tropical countries. Further, for most countries worldwide, a mean global warming of 1 °C is sufficient for a significant temperature change, which is less than the total warming projected for any economically plausible emission scenario. The most strongly affected countries emit small amounts of CO2 per capita and have therefore contributed little to the changes in climate that they are beginning to experience.
INSIDER TRADING AND VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE

We set up a model to study the voluntary disclosure of information by insiders of publicly traded companies. We consider a trading framework as in [14] with many assets and one insider per asset. There is one discretionary liquidity trader who can allocate his trades across the different assets and many noise traders who trade with equal intensity in all assets. Before trade begins, insiders can disclose information in order to attract the discretionary liquidity trades. We show that if the level of noise trading is above a certain threshold, then there is an equilibrium where all insiders do not disclose any information. Below this threshold, equilibria are such that some information is always revealed by insiders. We also find that the greater the number of assets, the smaller the intensity of noise trading must be in order to induce insiders to disclose some information, and we find that insiders reveal all their information when the intensity of noise trading approaches zero.
A Market for Institutions: Assessing the Impact of Restrictive Covenants on Housing

Residential Community Associations (RCAs) are quickly becoming a common but controversial feature of the housing market. Previously published empirical work on the impact of RCA zoning has been limited in institutional detail and has not corrected for spatial autocorrelation. This paper uses 1,487 single-family sales in 2000 from Greeley, Colorado, and a unique dataset that includes information on RCAs’ various use restrictions, building restrictions, and voting rules to investigate the impact of private zoning on the housing market. The main model of interest finds that building restrictions have no impact on prices, while use restrictions increase prices. (JEL R14, R21)
Enhancing Postoperative Recovery of Cardiac Surgery Patients

The purpose of this trial was to determine the effectiveness of advanced practice nursing support on cardiac surgery patients’ during the first 5 weeks following hospital discharge. Patients ( N = 200) were randomly allocated to two groups: (a) an intervention group who received telephone calls from an advanced practice nurse (APN) familiar with their clinical condition and care needs, twice during the first week following discharge then weekly thereafter for 4 weeks, and (b) a usual care group. Measures of health-related quality of life (HRQL), symptom distress, satisfaction with recovery care, and unexpected health care contacts were obtained at 5 weeks following discharge. There were no significant group differences in HRQL, unexpected contacts with the health care system, or symptom distress. The provision of APN support via telephone followup after cardiac surgery is feasible. However, further randomized trials of single and multicomponent APN interventions are needed to prove effectiveness.
Kinetics of Denitrifying Growth by Fast-Growing Cowpea Rhizobia

Two fast-growing strains of cowpea rhizobia (A26 and A28) were found to grow anaerobically at the expense of NO3−, NO2−, and N2O as terminal electron acceptors. The two major differences between aerobic and denitrifying growth were lower yield coefficients (Y) and higher saturation constants (Ks) with nitrogenous oxides as electron acceptors. When grown aerobically, A26 and A28 adhered to Monod kinetics, respectively, as follows: Ks, 3.4 and 3.8 μM; Y, 16.0 and 14.0 g · cells eq−1; μmax, 0.41 and 0.33 h−1. Yield coefficients for denitrifying growth ranged from 40 to 70% of those for aerobic growth. Only A26 adhered to Monod kinetics with respect to growth on all three nitrogenous oxides. The apparent Ks values were 41, 270, and 460 μM for nitrous oxide, nitrate, and nitrite, respectively; the Ks for A28 grown on nitrate was 250 μM. The results are kinetically and thermodynamically consistent in explaining why O2 is the preferred electron acceptor. Although no definitive conclusions could be drawn regarding preferential utilization of nitrogenous oxides, nitrite was inhibitory to both strains and effected slower growth. However, growth rates were identical (μmax, 0.41 h−1) when A26 was grown with either O2 or NO3− as an electron acceptor and were only slightly reduced when A28 was grown with NO3− (0.25 h−1) as opposed to O2 (0.33 h−1).
‘Bridging the Gap’ between EU Politics and Citizens? The European Commission, National Media and EU Affairs in the Public Sphere

Abstract Information about political processes is an important prerequisite for debates in the public sphere, which can strengthen the legitimacy of decisions. This article analyses how far both Commission communication and media news coverage contain information on (a) policy issues, (b) the policy process and (c) the actors involved and the positions they take. Data have been gathered through a qualitative content analysis of Commission communication output and the news coverage in two Dutch and two German newspapers with regard to two specific policies: the sustainable use of natural resources and wastes and the accession process leading up to the Eastern Enlargement. The results suggest that the Commission and the national media emphasize different aspects of the EU political process. This could pose problems in terms of the legitimacy of EU policies and the Commission’s role therein.
Survey of effective factors on adoption of crop insurance among farmers: a case study of Behbahan County.

Agriculture sector is characterized by a strong exposure to risk. Incidence of risk in agriculture is important to policy makers at both national and international levels. Fluctuations in producer’s income and the threat of catastrophic losses in particular can present difficult welfare problems for producers, national governments and the international community. The purpose of this study was identifying effective factors on adoption of crop insurance among farmers. The target population in this research includes all farmers in Behbahan county, Khozestan province (7314) out of which a number of 150 people were selected by a simple random sampling method using Cochran's formula and questionnaires were used as tools for collecting data. According to the findings of the study, there are positive correlation among age, experience in agricultural activities, literacy, extension participatory, amount of dry lands and satisfaction of insurance. In addition, result of regression showed that amount of dry lands, extension participatory, income of agriculture and satisfaction of insurance were effective factors on adoption of crop insurance indicator in this region that together explained 53.9% of total variance. Key words: Crop insurance, adoption, agriculture, Behbahan County, Iran.
The Role of the Regional Financial Sector in the Capital Structure of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)

Palacín-Sánchez M. -J. and Di Pietro P. The role of the regional financial sector in the capital structure of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Regional Studies. This article examines the role that the financial sector plays in explaining differences in the capital structure of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across regions belonging to a single country. Specifically, it studies the effect of the development of the financial sector and of banking market concentration on leverage of firms. This research uses a sample of 8142 SMEs representing every Spanish region for the period 1999–2007, and applies the panel data methodology. The results suggest that the capital structure depends on the regional financial sector, in terms of both its level of development and its degree of competition.
Management accounting: An instrument for implementing effective corporate governance

Management accounting is not given sufficient emphasis, at the board level, as a provider of timely and relevant information to facilitate the execution of good corporate governance. Without management accounting information corporations in Botswana may find it difficult to create sustainable corporate governance. A qualitative approach using questionnaires and interviews were used to establish the extent to which management accounting tools are applied by the directors in the target companies. The research was carried out amongst listed companies on the stock exchange and the parastatal companies in Botswana. Furthermore documentation, for instance annual financial statements from the companies were reviewed. Most directors in the companies do not fully utilise the tools of management accounting in decision making. Management accountants have also failed to provide the relevant information to the board. To execute their duties efficiently, directors may need to call for the management accounting reports from the senior management level up to the board level and regularly use these reports to facilitate decision making. Key words: Management accounting, corporate governance.
DETERMINING THE BASE COST OF EDUCATION: AN ANALYSIS OF OHIO SCHOOL DISTRICTS

The Ohio Supreme Court recently ruled that Ohio's elementary and secondary public school financing system violates the state's constitution. It was estimated that an additional $1 billion is necessary to overhaul the current system. These costs are based on a report that defined the base cost of an adequate education using an overly simplified and flawed approach. This article recognizes that variations in spending arise from differences in outcomes provided, in the cost of providing a given level of outcomes, and in the efficiency of outcome provision. The study also critiques the approach used to determine the base cost of providing an adequate education.
Technology policies and strategies for developing countries: lessons from the Korean experience

Industrial developement is a process of acquiring technological capabilities in the course of continuous technological change. Korea has made phenomenal growth in accumulating technological capabilities in the past 30 years. Despite is current financial crisis, it has a strong technological base to expand the modern sectors efficiently. This paper presents two analytical frameworks–technology trajectory framework and technology policy/strategy framework–which may be used as tools to analyze technology policies and strategies in developing countries. It then discusses implications of the Korean experience for other developing countires.