Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Institutionalization of communication management

Purpose – Development and expansion of the communication management function in organizations has recently been discussed in relation to the concept of institutionalization. Empirical evidence has illustrated that the role of communication executives and communication managers varies between organizations, and could also be subjected to change within an organization. The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize institutionalization of communication management as a process. It aims to develop a theoretical framework that integrates important factors that influence and regulate this process.Design/methodology/approach – A literature review resulted in a number of factors potentially influencing the institutionalization process. These factors were attributed to three main theoretical areas and four different levels of analysis, using institutional theory as a guiding framework. The theoretical areas and analysis levels, were proposed to be mutually interdependent, and were compiled in a theoretical framewor.
School principal's effectiveness and leadership quality in education management

Purpose – This research is attempt to examine school principals’ organizational effort to create an innovative and creative environment to govern efficient and effective high quality educational Institutions. The culture and climate of certain educational institutions have great influence in determining the level of achievement. Demographic factors, such as age, gender, race, academic and professional achievement and working experiences are also taken into consideration. Design/ methodology/ approach – Six dimensions of educational institutions (schools, demographic continuum, leadership quality, managerial strategy, communication, organizational culture and practice, personal and working experience) were examined to determine the performance achievement and excellence of management in schools. Finding - In general, there is a significant difference among factors stated above with school management. The climate of the educational institutions is also closely related to the leadership management skills of the schools respectively. In addition, the school principals and management are another two essential factors found to be the strong fundamental of schools with towering quality. Research limitations/ implications – This study represents an addition to the extant literature on performance achievement towards the excellence of management in schools. Practical implications – The achievement of high performance within an educational institution is a pivotal role in managing an organization effectively. Even the Malaysian Prime Minister suggested that it was of utmost important for the civil service to improve its efficiency and integrity as the country geared up to carry out programs under the Ninth Malaysian Plan (9MP) In the effort of overcoming organizational debility in the education management, we could devise a creative and innovative move to overcome those shortchanges. Originality/value – This study provides further groundwork to assist existing and would be educational managers to improve work quality and to deliver the maximizing of performance achievements towards the excellence in managing the school.
Identification of infants at high‐risk for autism spectrum disorder using multiparameter multiscale white matter connectivity networks

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a wide range of disabilities that cause life‐long cognitive impairment and social, communication, and behavioral challenges. Early diagnosis and medical intervention are important for improving the life quality of autistic patients. However, in the current practice, diagnosis often has to be delayed until the behavioral symptoms become evident during childhood. In this study, we demonstrate the feasibility of using machine learning techniques for identifying high‐risk ASD infants at as early as six months after birth. This is based on the observation that ASD‐induced abnormalities in white matter (WM) tracts and whole‐brain connectivity have already started to appear within 24 months after birth. In particular, we propose a novel multikernel support vector machine classification framework by using the connectivity features gathered from WM connectivity networks, which are generated via multiscale regions of interest (ROIs) and multiple diffusion statistics such as fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, and average fiber length. Our proposed framework achieves an accuracy of 76% and an area of 0.80 under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), in comparison to the accuracy of 70% and the AUC of 70% provided by the best single‐parameter single‐scale network. The improvement in accuracy is mainly due to the complementary information provided by multiparameter multiscale networks. In addition, our framework also provides the potential imaging connectomic markers and an objective means for early ASD diagnosis. Hum Brain Mapp 36:4880–4896, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Using stated preference discrete choice modelling to inform health care decision-making: A pilot study of breast screening participation

This study was an important start to explore the feasibility of applying stated preference discrete choice modelling (SPDCM) for use in developing breast screening participation enhancement strategies. It needs to be followed by further research to establish model validity and authoritative results. In the meantime a random effects binary probit choice model was estimated using a main effects with selected 2-way interaction design and a convenience sample of Australian breast cancer screening participants. A response rate of 48% was obtained. Clear preferences for different service configurations were revealed and used to demonstrate how potential strategies to enhance future participation rates of women placed on routine recall could be identified. As anticipated accuracy of screening was the most important attribute of the service to influence the probability of uptake but others were screening time, travel time, information about screening benefits and the desire for privacy lending support to the view that benefit assessment goes beyond health factors. In summary, the SPDCM approach can be regarded as a judicious approach for helping decision-makers improve screening participation.
Gender and rural livelihoods in Kenya

This article considers the implications for gender relations of different rural livelihoods. While many rural areas in Kenya have been drawn into intensive commercial production, others, formerly dependent on remittances from migrant labour, have seen these diminish. Recent empirical studies of gender and livelihoods in Kenya are compared. Commercial production and the drying up of remittances set up quite different processes in rural households. These may lead to greater corporateness, to conflict or even to fragmentation. The outcome depends on the potential rewards of co-operation, but also on domestic authority relations and on ideologies of common or divided interest.
Determinants of violent and property crimes in England and Wales: a panel data analysis

We examine various determinants of property and violent crimes by using police force area level (PFA) data on England and Wales over the period of 1992–2008. Our list of potential determinants includes two law enforcement variables namely crime-specific detection rate and prison population, and various socio-economic variables such as unemployment rate, real earnings, proportion of young people and the Gini Coefficient. By adopting a fixed effect dynamic GMM estimation methodology we attempt to address the potential bias that arises from the presence of time-invariant unobserved characteristics of a PFA and the endogeneity of several regressors. There is a significant positive effect of own-lagged crime rate. The own-lagged effect is stronger for property crime, on an average, than violent crime. We find that, on an average, higher detection rate and prison population leads to lower property and violent crimes. This is robust to various specifications. However, socio-economic variables with the exception of real earnings play a limited role in explaining different crime types.
An Examination of the Fama and French Three-Factor Model Using Commercially Available Factors

In this paper we show that reasonable proxies for the FF factors can be readily constructed from ‘off the shelf’ style index data. We employ a GMM testing procedure in which the main focus of the tests is to assess the overriding validity of the restrictions placed on the empirical model framework. In addition, we augment the system of equations with a simple mean equation for each of the three FF risk factors, thereby permitting a direct estimate of the associated risk premia. The key findings are as follows. First, the proxy mimicking portfolios do represent pervasive sources of exposure across a sample of industry-sorted portfolios. Second, based on the outcome of all the GMM tests performed on our sample, the evidence seems to quite strongly support the three-factor Fama and French model. Third, when we take into account the estimated risk premia produced by our framework, the conclusion favouring the model has to be downweighted somewhat. Nevertheless, the estimated risk premia for the market and for the book-to-market factor are typically found to be significantly positive. Our main ‘perverse’ finding relates to the size risk premium which in our sample is typically significantly negative. This is consistent with other recent evidence of a ‘reversal’ in the size effect.
Prediction of common stock betas

The beta of a stock's investment return is the response coefficient to the "market portfolio" return. Another closely related definition of beta arises from a stock's statistical relationship to any "systematic portfolio. " We can decompose the stock return into two parts. One part is correlated with the systematic portfolio return, while the other, the residual, is uncorrelated with the systematic portfolio return.
Household accounting in Germany – Some statistical evidence and the development of new systems

Following an introduction to household accounting in Germany, the paper presents the results of research projects on accounting practices in private households and reports on the subsequent development of a new household accounting system. The empirical research suggested that accounting records were kept on a regular basis in 27 per cent of German households. It was discovered that self‐developed bookkeeping systems were predominantly used for that purpose. The research findings on household accounting practices were used to inform the design of Das Neue Haushaltsbuch (The New Housekeeping Book). The article charts the development of a number of variants of this prototype including a bookkeeping system which permits parallel reporting in the Deutschmark and the Euro, a system designed for use by budgeting advice services, and a pocket‐money book for children.
Changes and trends in alcohol consumption patterns in Europe

Consumer behaviourists and consumer policy-makers are interested in the degree to which global convergence is occurring for various consumer behaviour dimensions, the extent to which the consumption patterns in different parts of the world are becoming similar and the extent to which these trends may be influenced and/or influence consumer policy. With increasing internationalization and cultural cross-fertilization, the industrialized societies of the world are converging in many ways. Shifts in alcohol consumption patterns in Europe over the past 50 years represent a case in point. As traditional cultural boundaries become blurred, consumer preferences for alcoholic beverages appear to be driven less by long-standing local and regional traditions and more by growing acceptance of a wider choice. The disparity in total alcohol consumption among the 15 countries studied has also decreased. Other powerful forces are likely to accelerate the pace of convergence in the future.
Lifting the veil on environment-social-governance rating methods

Purpose - – There is growing recognition that numerous business drivers contribute to financial performance and investment returns but they are not included in a company's profit and loss statements. In the investment industry, these wider sets of value drivers are known as environment-social- governance (ESG) factors. A small number of specialized ESG rating agencies provide information to investors about the extent to which firms' behaviors are socially responsible. However, a major criticism of these rating agencies is the lack of transparency in their methods. This paper aims to examine the issues of subjectivity, transparency and uniformity of ESG ratings by exploring the methods used to assess ethics performance by an Australian rating agency. Design/methodology/approach - – A case study was conducted on an Australian ESG rating provider, Regnan. The data for the analysis were sourced from internal Regnan documents. Findings - – The paper found that a level of subjectivity is inevitable in ESG ratings and the call for uniformity may inhibit innovation, but these issues can be addressed by increased transparency of the rating methods. Research limitations/implications - – Further research is required to understand what level and, combination of, uniformity and transparency is sufficient to satisfy stakeholder requirements for ESG information. Practical implications - – The discussion of the factors underlying the ethics performance rating may prompt more open and transparent debate on how to assess ethical performance of companies, and increase investor confidence in ESG ratings. It may also provide more direction to companies on how to strengthen their ethical performance. Originality/value - – There is growing recognition that numerous business drivers contribute to financial performance and investment returns but they are not included in a company's profit and loss statements. These “ESG” factors can account for up to 66 percent of the market value of globally listed companies. In response to calls for more transparency on how ESG factors are assessed, and how ethical performance is appraised, this paper attempts to lift the veil on ESG rating methods.
Service orientation: the derivation of underlying constructs and measures

Purpose – This paper coins the construct of Service Orientation (SO) and empirically develops its measurement in the context of business‐to‐business (B2B) e‐commerce. SO is operationally defined as the business' overall propensity for delivering service excellence. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that multi‐item measurement scales have sufficient psychometric properties of validity and reliability to be useful for theory building and testing.Design/methodology/approach – The authors followed Menor and Roth's two‐phased approach to develop new multi‐item measurement scales. First, the authors reviewed the literature, held structured interviews with managers and performed six independent rounds of item‐sorting analyses to obtain insights for the initial measurement model specification. Second, survey research procedures were employed to develop and refine a questionnaire to collect data on a sample of senior managers of 181 US businesses that implemented B2B e‐services. The psychometric properti.
Grouping of trypanosome species in mixed infections in Glossina pallidipes

Trypanosomes in the dissection-positive proboscis of Glossina pallidipes were identified by PCR using species-specific primers. Of the 3741 flies dissected 643 were proboscis positive. PCR was performed on 406 dissection-positive probosces giving positive identifications in 352 (86·7%) and infection rates of 14·8% for congolense-type infections, 2·8% for vivax- type infections and 1·4% for the unidentified group. Of the 352 PCR identified infections 225 were single, 111 were double, 13 were triple infections and there were 3 quadruple infections. Statistical analysis suggests that mixed infections group into 3 largely separate divisions among the tsetse population (i) Trypanosoma congolense savannah and T. congolense Kenya coast, (ii) T. simiae, T. congolense Tsavo and T. godfreyi and (iii) T. vivax. We conclude that either differing feeding patterns among members of the fly population or the ability of the trypanosomes in each of the infection categories to significantly influence the maturation of trypanosomes in the other categories are the most likely causes of the groupings noted. Chi-squared analysis of dissection and PCR methods of trypanosome identification revealed profound differences (χ = 19·1; D.F. = 1; P > 0·05). If confirmed in other studies these findings have serious implications for our understanding of trypanosome epidemiology in tsetse flies, much of which is founded on data from dissection-based trypanosome identifications.
Heteroskedasticity Robust Panel Unit Root Testing Under Variance Breaks in Pooled Regressions

Noting that many economic variables display occasional shifts in their second order moments, we investigate the performance of homogenous panel unit root tests in the presence of permanent volatility shifts. It is shown that in this case the test statistic proposed by Herwartz and Siedenburg (2008) is asymptotically standard Gaussian. By means of a simulation study we illustrate the performance of first and second generation panel unit root tests and undertake a more detailed comparison of the test in Herwartz and Siedenburg (2008) and its heteroskedasticity consistent Cauchy counterpart introduced in Demetrescu and Hanck (2012a). As an empirical illustration, we reassess evidence on the Fisher hypothesis with data from nine countries over the period 1961Q2–2011Q2. Empirical evidence supports panel stationarity of the real interest rate for the entire subperiod. With regard to the most recent two decades, the test results cast doubts on market integration, since the real interest rate is diagnosed nonstationary.
Successive Refinability in the Wyner-Ziv Setting

In this paper, we study the succes- sive refinability in the Wyner-Ziv setting by bound- ing the rate loss of the multi-resolution source code in the Wyner-Ziv setting (WZ-MRSC). In partic- ular, we study two types of successive refinability, the narrow-sense and wide-sense successive refinabil- ity. The source is called successively refinable in the narrow sense if there exists a WZ-MRSC that achieves the corresponding minimal rate achievable by Wyner-Ziv codes at each resolution simultane- ously, while the source is called successively refin- able in the wide sense if there exists a WZ-MRSC that achieves the corresponding minimal rate achiev- able by all possible WZ-MRSCs with same side in- formation and distortions at each resolution simul- taneously. We show that the successive refinability and the rate loss largely depend on the side informa- tion in the narrow sense, while all sources are nearly successively refinable in the wide sense.
Residual-Income-Based Valuation Predicts Future Stock Returns: Evidence on Mispricing Versus Risk Explanations

Frankel and Lee (1998) show that the value-to-price ratio (Vf/P) predicts future abnormal returns for up to three years, where Vf is an estimate of fundamental value based on a residual income valuation framework operationalized using analyst earnings forecasts. In this study, we examine whether the Vf/P effect is due to market mispricing or omitted risk factors. We find that the Vf/P effect is partially concentrated around the future earnings announcements, consistent with the mispricing explanation. On using an extensive set of risk proxies, suggested by Gebhardt et al. (2001) and Gode and Mohanram (2001), we also find that Vf/P is significantly related to some risk proxies. However, after controlling for these risk factors, Vf/P continues to exhibit a significant positive association with future returns suggesting that these risk factors are not responsible for the Vf/P effect. Overall, the results seem consistent with the mispricing explanation for the Vf/P effect.
Entrepreneurship in Regional and Local Development

This article surveys the topic of entrepreneurship within the processes of regional and local development. The issue of entrepreneurship is complex, and the interest in it shown by researchers and politicians over the past decade has not made it less so. Definitional issues which often mark discussions of entrepreneurship are discussed, as are networks of interaction, culture, and local environments. Policies which attempt to alter regional or local conditions and to promote entrepreneurship and continuing innovation are given attention in the second half of the paper.
Caste and Tribe Inequality: Evidence from India, 1983–1999

Despite policies targeting scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST), there remain large disparities of living standards between SC/ST and non‐SC/ST households in India. The SC/ST households may be poorer because they possess lower human and physical capital, but they may also earn lower returns to these assets. This study finds that 30%–50% of the welfare disparities are attributable to different returns. Such structural differences between the SC and the non‐SC/ST are partly because the SC earn lower returns to schooling. A large part of the structural disparities between the ST and the non‐SC/ST comes from the fact that the areas where the ST live are different from those where the non‐SC/ST live. In addition, the ST tend to earn lower returns even with controls for geographical conditions.