Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Authoritarian Regionalism in the World of International Organizations

The post-Cold War world has witnessed the extensive development of regional international organizations world-wide. The realtionship between their membership and democratization remains a topic of intense scholarly debate. This book opens up a new aspect of the debate by examining regional organization as set up by autocracies (e.g. Iran, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Russia, and China)—referring to them as “non-democratic regional organizations. ” How do these newly emerged organizations counteract and confront the democratization process in their own member states and beyond their borders? How and why do the political regimes, the economic development and the cultures of their member states impac the foundation and development of these organizations? What influence do these organizations have on migration, trade, conflicts, and democratization? The book addresses these questions by developing a new theory of authoritarian regionalism. Employing quantitative analysis of authoritarian regionalism world-wide and its historical development since the 1950s, as well as analysing case studies of post-Soviet Eurasia, the book argues that authoritarian regionalism is a new phenomenon in world politics and that modern non-democratic organizations differ from their historical predecessors and that their influence has radically increased in terms of geographic scope and intensity in the last few years. As such, authoritarian regionalism is an important addition to studies of comparative regionalism and the international dimension of authoritarianism. From the policy perspective, non-democratic regional organizations pose a challenge for Western actors in promoting democracy around the world.
Leader effectiveness – the missing link in the relationship between employee voice and engagement

Abstract Purpose— Voice and engagement studies have drawn scholars’ attention to examine how they are related. However, it appears the mechanisms that connect these two constructs are understudied. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine leader effectiveness as the mechanism through which employee voice translates into engagement. Design/methodology/approach— A cross-sectional data were collected from 106 employees in the 24 Rural and Communities Banks (RCBs) that qualified for the seventeenth edition of the Ghana Club 100 awards. A covariance-based structural equation modelling (SEM) with maximum likelihood (ML) estimation was used with a 95% confidence interval (CI) bootstrapping analysis to examine our hypotheses. Findings— The result shows that leader effectiveness fully mediated the relationship between employee voice and engagement. This is supported by our estimated fully mediated structural model which indicates a good fit to the data χ2 (52) = 61.24, p = 0.18, AIC = 113.24. The 95% CI bootstrapping analysis further lends support to the fully mediated structural model. Practical implications— Since defensive silence is detrimental to the wellbeing of both employees and the firm, this paper suggests that RCB managers and HR professionals should exhibit effective leadership behaviours that inspires employees to channel their creative ideas and misgivings by speaking up and speaking out in order to enhance and sustain their level of engagement. Originality/value— The findings of this paper suggest leader effectiveness as the missing link between voice and engagement relationship. Thus, contrary to previous research that theorises a direct relationship between voice and engagement, this paper provides leader effectiveness as a novel mechanism that explains how employees’ voice behaviour is transmitted into their levels of engagement.
What Works? Common Practices in High Functioning Afterschool Programs. The National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning Final Report.

In an effort to identify and incorporate quality practices into existing and future afterschool programs, the U.S. Department of Education commissioned the National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning (National Partnership) to study high functioning 21 Century Community Learning Center programs. The purpose of this study was to document practices to be used to develop resources and professional development that address issues relating to the establishment and sustainability of afterschool programs, to provide models and indicators of promising practices, and to highlight other descriptive information that local sites can access in planning new afterschool programs or improve existing ones. Fifty-three afterschool programs, representing eight regional divisions of the nation, including rural and urban programs and community-based and school district related programs, were identified using rigorous methods. Promising practices in content delivery, program organization, and program structure were studied. The findings were synthesized into the National Partnership’s Afterschool Training Toolkit, which was made available to programs nationwide via the World Wide Web. Based on the study findings, the National Partnership conducted professional development consistently and extensively throughout the nation.
Determinants of the marginal willingness to pay for improved domestic water and irrigation in partially electrified Rwandan villages

ABSTRACT Access to water for domestic and irrigation uses remains limited across Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in rural areas. While the technical feasibility of implementing innovative technologies to improve water supply has been often evaluated, less is known about the drivers that motivate users to pay for obtaining the inherent benefits of improved water supply. In this article, the determinants of the marginal willingness to pay (mWTP) for improved domestic and irrigation water are investigated. For this purpose, a contingent valuation study is performed in rural Rwanda. This study uses survey data from 316 households situated in 8 villages, in which ~20% of the households receive electricity thanks to microgrids powered by solar energy. It is found that the mWTP for improved domestic water supply is influenced by the proportion of children in the household, business ownership, and satisfaction with water quantity and quality. The mWTP for irrigation is determined by respondent education, business ownership and crop area planted. This paper contributes to the literature by allowing a comparison of the determinants of the mWTP for improved domestic water supply to the determinants of the mWTP for irrigation. Another contribution is to examine the mWTP for improved water infrastructure in partially electrified villages. Identifying areas with high marginal benefits from water can guide infrastructure investment and electrification efforts while improving well-being and increasing revenues in rural areas.
Geomatics’ procedures and dynamic identification for the structural survey of the church of ‘San Juan Bautista de Huaro’ in Perú

The authors would like to acknowledge the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru PUCP and its funding office DGI-PUCP (project 171-2015) for providing funds to the project within which this work was developed and the Peruvian Science and Technology Program (Innovate Peru) for their financial support on the acquisition of the equipment used (Project 128-FINCYT-ECL-2014). The second and third authors gratefully acknowledge CONCYTEC for the scholarship in support of graduate studies.
Mobile Social Commerce: Current State and Future Directions

Abstract With the sustained growth of the newly emerged market on mobile social applications such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, WeChat, WhatsApp, and Line, mobile social commerce is the subject of increased attention among practitioners and academics. However, there is no systematic study in the extant literature to evaluate the current state of this new research stream. This study is an attempt to fill the literature void. We reviewed literature on mobile commerce, social commerce, and mobile social commerce, and identified 27 journal articles on mobile social commerce from 2014 to 2019. We classified these articles based on journal types, publication years, researchers, research topics, theories employed, and study locations. We analyzed the trends of research on mobile social commerce, specifically those on Chinese consumers and firms. Potential topics for future research on mobile social commerce worldwide and in China are suggested.
On the detection, localization and repair of client-side JavaScript faults

With web application usage becoming ubiquitous, there is greater demand for making such applications more reliable. This is especially true as more users rely on web applications to conduct day-to-day tasks, and more companies rely on these applications to drive their business. Since the advent of Web 2.0, developers often implement much of the web application’s functionality at the client-side, using client-side JavaScript. Unfortunately, despite repeated complaints from developers about confusing aspects of the JavaScript language, little work has been done analyzing the language’s reliability characteristics. With this problem in mind, we conducted an empirical study of real-world JavaScript bugs, with the goal of understanding their root cause and impact. We found that most of these bugs are DOM-related, which means they occur as a result of the JavaScript code’s interaction with the Document Object Model (DOM). Having gained a thorough understanding of JavaScript bugs, we designed techniques for automatically detecting, localizing and repairing these bugs. Our localization and repair techniques are implemented as the AUTOFLOX and VEJOVIS tools, respectively, and they target bugs that are DOM-related. In addition, our detection techniques – AUREBESH and HOLOCRON – attempt to find inconsistencies that occur in web applications written using JavaScript Model-View-Controller (MVC) frameworks. Based on our experimental evaluations, we found that these tools are highly accurate, and are capable of finding and fixing bugs in real-world web applications.
Parent's Views on Internet Use.

Children's effective use of Internet relies heavily on the factors surrounding them, thus parents' views and attitudes are crucial for elementary children's productive use of Internet. Besides, parental awareness on Internet helps parents to reflect to the related issues of Internet. This study tries to reveal the elementary school children's parents' views on Internet. A questionnaire consisting of 17 items regarding financial, social, educational and safety aspects of Internet were used to collect the data. Carried out with 94 parents; the survey indicates that the parents observe Internet as an economical media, rather unaware of the safety issues, believe that Internet enhances the academic achievement and is a necessity of contemporary life. Another highlight of the study is that parents do not believe that Internet use effects family relations negatively
Behavioural Portfolio Selection and Optimisation: Equities versus Cryptocurrencies

ABSTRACT This paper investigates if real investors other than rational investors could add value to their investment portfolios considering their mentality and psychology. The universe of assets constitutes 21 cryptocurrencies (37 international equities) and covers, respectively, the period from August 1, 2016, to March 31, 2018 (January 7, 2002, to March 23, 2018). The cumulative prospect theory and variant specifications were utilized to validate and compare the classification and selection of assets driven by some decision theories. The results of optimization analysis of all the formulated portfolios constituting assets from both markets showed that portfolios constituting assets with lower cumulative prospect theory values outperformed their counterpart with higher cumulative prospect theory values. The superiority of the cumulative prospect theory was established as an empirically corroborated theory of decision-making with rich psychological content. The findings of this paper are crucial for finance practitioners as they showcase an intuitive and coherent manner to guide fund managers, investors and other economic agents in their investment practices.
Artificial Intelligence, Discretion, and Bureaucracy

This essay highlights the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in governance and society and explores the relationship between AI, discretion, and bureaucracy. AI is an advanced information communication technology tool (ICT) that changes both the nature of human discretion within a bureaucracy and the structure of bureaucracies. To better understand this relationship, AI, discretion, and bureaucracy are explored in some detail. It is argued that discretion and decision-making are strongly influenced by intelligence, and that improvements in intelligence, such as those that can be found within the field of AI, can help improve the overall quality of administration. Furthermore, the characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses of both human discretion and AI are explored. Once these characteristics are laid out, a further exploration of the role AI may play in bureaucracies and bureaucratic structure is presented, followed by a specific focus on systems-level bureaucracies. In addition, it is argued that task distribution and task characteristics play a large role, along with the organizational and legal context, in whether a task favors human discretion or the use of AI. Complexity and uncertainty are presented as the major defining characteristics for categorizing tasks. Finally, a discussion is provided about the important cautions and concerns of utilizing AI in governance, in particular, with respect to existential risk and administrative evil.
Labor Laws and Firm Performance

U.S. labor laws impose higher costs on unionized firms in states without rightâ€ toâ€ work (RTW) laws. I find that these firms experience poor stock performance. The differenceâ€ inâ€ differences analysis comparing the effect of RTW laws on unionized and nonunionized firms shows that unionized firms in states without RTW laws underperform by about 7 percentage points per year. I find further evidence of underperformance using alternative methods to estimate abnormal stock performance, examining a natural experiment, showing expected crossâ€ sectional patterns, and assessing profitability and the market reaction to earnings announcements.
Organizational Characteristics and Small Firms’ Performance Revisited

Numerous studies have attempted to gain a greater understanding of small firm performance with the intent of isolating factors which are important for success. The studies, some with serious limitations, suggest that many different variables are Important to success. A further study of 179 small, metal goods manufacturers enabled some of the specific relationships to be re-examined, but with mixed support for previous findings. Various suggestions are made for future research studies. A causal model of small firm financial performance is proposed.
Closing the Gender Gaps among Marginalized Roma in the Western Balkans

Roma women are one of the most deprived groups in Europe, as they suffer a double layer of exclusion: as women, and as members of Europe´s largest ethnic minority. Although there are no reliable data on the Roma population in the Western Balkans, available estimates suggest that the share of national populations represented by Roma ranges between 1.7 percent in Bosnia and Herzegovina and 9.6 percent in North Macedonia. Over half of these are women. This report is intended to be a concise and timely summary that highlights the key aspects of gender equality among marginalized Roma communities in the Western Balkans. The goal of the report is to strengthen the knowledge base and evidence to understand the key determinants of gender gaps among the Roma population. For that the report offers a summary diagnostic of the most important barriers that female Roma face, in particular, accessing education and employment; further, it explores the ways in which Roma women’s employment and educational outcomes are constrained above and beyond the constraints faced by Roma males.
What scenarios for the Euro-Mediterranean in 2030 in the wake of the Arab spring? MEDPRO Policy Paper No. 2, October 2011 (Updated 25 February 2013)

In the wake of the Arab Spring, the Southern Mediterranean region has reached a turning point in its history, presenting many opportunities and challenges for the EU. In this MEDPRO Policy Paper, Rym Ayadi and Carlo Sessa explore various possible scenarios that could play out in EU-Mediterranean relations over the next two decades but find, lamentably, that the EU has set itself on a ‘business as usual’ course, leaving the region open to further polarisation and the involvement of other external players.
Assessing the Effectiveness of Financial Coaching: Evidence from the Boston Youth Credit Building Initiative

Abstract: Since the 2008 financial crisis, there has been renewed interest in providing financial education programs, including financial coaching, that are intended to improve consumer financial decision making, with a special emphasis on developing financial skills among youth. Using a randomized control trial, we estimate the causal effects of a financial coaching program aimed at young adults based on linked individual-level data from administrative credit reports and self-reported survey responses. Within the first six months of the program, individuals in the treatment group were 10 percentage points more likely to have established a credit score compared to the control group. By the end of the 18-month observation window, the average credit score among individuals with a credit file prior to the start of the program was 26 points higher for the treatment group relative to the control group, raising the likelihood of achieving a “good” credit rating by 8 percentage points. These effects persist six months beyond the end of the program and are even larger among younger individuals and African‐Americans. Much of the impact of the program appears to be driven by improvements in financial self‐efficacy—a finding confirmed by focus group discussions—which may have been the missing ingredient in prior financial education programs. Finally, we demonstrate that the program has meaningful impacts on individuals, such as reducing their reliance on alternative financial services and lowering the interest rate they pay on car loans. These findings are encouraging and offer important insights for states and localities seeking effective ways to incorporate financial education into youth workforce development programs.
(Asymmetric) Trade Costs, Real Exchange Rate Hedging, and Equity Home Bias in a Multi-Country Model

There has been controversy between (two-country) theory and the empirics about whether hedging against real exchange rate fluctuations in the goods market influences foreign equity holdings. This study reconciles the theory with the empirics by introducing a multi-country framework with asymmetric trade costs. We find that the incentive to hold foreign equities to hedge real exchange rate risk is negligible because multiple trade partners act as a hedging channel for real exchange rate fluctuations. Further, our theory calls for a country’s covariance-variance ratio to be constructed as the sum of the bilateral covariance-variance ratios of the multiple partners. The empirical analysis of 24 advanced countries confirms the theoretical prediction.
Technological Progress and Youth Employment in South Korea

ABSTRACT This paper analyzes the extent to which technology progress and youth employment are related. In doing so, we divide workers into two groups – young workers and old (prime-aged) workers - and then estimate the elasticity of substitution between (physical) capital and workers à la Jaimovich et al. (2013. “The Demand for Youth: Explaining Age Differences in the Volatility of Hours.” American Economic Review 103 (7): 3022–3044) by using the Korean labour market data between 2000 and 2014. Our findings indicate that the elasticity of substitution is greater (or at least not smaller) for young workers than for old workers.
An investigation into the implementation and impact of literacy initiatives on disadvantaged primary schools in urban Ireland

Background: In 2005, a national initiative was launched in Ireland, supporting designated schools in disadvantaged areas, known as Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS). DEIS promotes national policy initiatives, with a major focus on increasing literacy levels, and diminishing the academic achievement gap of students in DEIS and non-DEIS schools. Purpose of Study: The study explored the process of implementation of new literacy initiatives in urban DEIS primary schools in Ireland. The study also examined the affect that literacy initiatives in DEIS schools had on educators through their engagement and professional development. The DEIS Initiative: The initiative supports DEIS schools to engage in school improvement, receiving additional financial support, extra teacher resources, after-school clubs and strategic planning support. DEIS primary schools implemented a suite of literacy initiatives, based on a phased delivery programme. Research Design: The research question was answered through a comparative multi-case- study approach. The study stemmed from an interpretative paradigm stance, rooted in the qualitative method, with the dominant instrument being semi-structured interviews. The learning experiences of nineteen educators in four urban DEIS primary schools and four DEIS advisors were collated. Other documentation, where available, supported and refined the triangulation of evidence. Findings: A theoretical ‘Knowledge Productivity in Literacy Framework’ emerged, encompassing a suite of three interconnecting components: infrastructure, professional learning and development, and stimulants for engagement. The study found that change needed to be (a) connected to the school’s vision and self-authored targets, (b) driven by key leaders in the school (c) amended and reflected upon through an iterative process, and (d) effectively communicated. Conclusion: This research identified key components that impact school improvement, with an emphasis on knowledge production in literacy and its management. The study investigated practices that supported critical educators, with the potential to make knowledge production dynamic. On a national level, the study’s findings can provide discussion opportunities for future literacy development.
Toward a cybersecurity curriculum model for undergraduate business schools: A survey of AACSB-accredited institutions in the United States

ABSTRACT With the increasing demand for cybersecurity professionals, the authors examined how business schools are meeting that demand, specifically the core requirements of their cybersecurity curricula related to information systems programs. They examined 518 Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business–accredited business schools in the United States and identified 278 schools that offered undergraduate information systems (IS) and information technology (IT) programs, of which 27 had cybersecurity programs. Both the IS 2010 curriculum model and Centers of Academic Excellence knowledge units are used to guide data collection. The top three security-related courses required are IT security, IT risk management/managerial issues, and digital forensics. A descriptive cybersecurity curriculum model is developed based on the results, which can also serve as baselines for future studies on business-school cybersecurity programs.