Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Information and communication technologies and economic development in Africa in the short and long run

This study investigates the relationship between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and economic development in Africa for the period 2001–15 using Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS) and panel Granger analysis, which accounts for cross-sectional dependence. The empirical results show that ICTs have significant positive effects on economic development. Similarly, the results show that ICTs lead to economic development and economic development also leads to greater investment in ICTs both in the short and in the long run. ICTs therefore play significant roles in economic development and in turn economic development plays significant roles in the expansion of ICTs in Africa both in the short and in the long run. The study concludes that the rapid growth of mobile telephony and Internet penetration in Africa can be used to promote the needed economic development in the continent not only in the short run but also in the long run.
The Impact of Lean Management Practices and Sustainably‐Oriented Innovation on Sustainability Performance of Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises: Empirical Evidence from the UK

While lean management practices (LMP) help small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) to be efficient, sustainability‐oriented innovation (SOI) facilitates adopting environmental and social practices. Although prior research looks into the effect of LMP on the economic performance (EP) of SMEs, less is known about the effect of LMP on sustainability (economic, environmental and social) performance. Studies on the effect of SOI on sustainability and economic performance are also scant. Additionally, examining the mediating effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices (environmental and social practices) on both LMP and SOI achieving sustainability performance (SP) is rare. This research bridges these knowledge gaps by answering the question of how LMP, SOI, CSR practices, sustainability and economic performance are correlated. Through hypothesis testing using structural equation modelling, this study reveals the impact of LMP, SOI, CSR (environmental and social) practices on sustainability and economic performance. The study uses data from 119 SMEs within manufacturing industries in the Midlands, UK. The analysis reveals that LMP and SOI facilitate achieving both sustainability and economic performance, and SOI mediates LMP to achieve sustainability performance. Additionally, although CSR practices mediate LMP to achieve sustainability performance, they only borderline mediate SOI to achieve sustainability performance.
Deliberate disproportionate policy response: towards a conceptual turn

Abstract Policy scholars tend to view disproportionate policy and its two component concepts – policy over- and underreaction – as either unintentional errors of commission or omission, or nonintentional responses that political executives never intended to implement yet are not executed unknowingly, inadvertently or accidentally. This article highlights a conceptual turn, whereby these concepts are reentering the policy lexicon as types of intentional policy responses that are largely undertaken when political executives are vulnerable to voters. Intentional overreactions derive from the desire of political executives to pander to voters’ opinions or signal extremity by overreacting to these opinions in domains susceptible to manipulation for credit-claiming purposes. Intentional underreactions are motivated by political executives’ attempts to avoid blame and may subsequently lead to deliberate overreaction. This conceptual turn forces scholars to recognise the political benefits that elected executives may reap from deliberately implementing disproportionate policies, and that such policies can at times be effective.
The role of tourism in island economic growth and resilience

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to verifying the economic resilience of islands and, in particular, the role of the tourism sector in the reaction to the most recent economic crisis. The analysis concerns insular contexts, such as the greater island regions in the Mediterranean basin. Design/methodology/approach Static and dynamic panel data techniques are used for a sample of 13 island economies over a period of 16 years. Findings Results show that the growth factors for regional islands are similar to the ones usually considered for other regions, but the tourism-led growth hypothesis is highly supported. Tourism demand more than supply plays a role together with accessibility. The crisis has reduced the importance of tourism supply, while tourism demand and accessibility have remained crucial for growth together with other traditional engines of growth. Originality/value To the best of authors’ knowledge, none of the current works has considered territorial determinants and tourism indicators inside the same framework analyzing growth in island economies by considering the changes occurred during the crisis explicitly.
Ownership Concentration and Accounting Conservatism: Portuguese Evidence

Existing literature suggest that conservatism is to related to ownership structure. The Portuguese governance structure is characterized by the dominance of the largest shareholder who typically exercises significant influences on management decisions directly or indirectly. Therefore, for a sample of 26 non-financial listed Portuguese firms-year from 2002 to 2016, we examine the association between accounting conservatism and ownership concentration. The study’s results suggest that ownership concentration demand for more conservatism. The results also suggest that higher leverage and large firms have a greater demand for conservative accounting.
A wavelet-based variance ratio unit root test for a system of equations

Abstract In this paper, we suggest a unit root test for a system of equations using a spectral variance decomposition method based on the Maximal Overlap Discrete Wavelet Transform. We obtain the limiting distribution of the test statistic and study its small sample properties using Monte Carlo simulations. We find that, for multiple time series of small lengths, the wavelet-based method is robust to size distortions in the presence of cross-sectional dependence. The wavelet-based test is also more powerful than the Cross-sectionally Augmented Im et al. unit root test (Pesaran, M. H. 2007. “A Simple Panel Unit Root Test in the Presence of Cross-section Dependence.” Journal of Applied Econometrics 22 (2): 265–312. ) for time series with between 20 and 100 observations, using systems of 5 and 10 equations. We demonstrate the usefulness of the test through an application on evaluating the Purchasing Power Parity theory for the Group of 7 countries and find support for the theory, whereas the test by Pesaran (Pesaran, M. H. 2007. “A Simple Panel Unit Root Test in the Presence of Cross-section Dependence.” Journal of Applied Econometrics 22 (2): 265–312. ) finds no such support.
Growth and Volatility: An Analysis for the Brazilian Economy

This paper aims to analyze if there is a relationship between economic growth and the volatility of that growth in the Brazilian economy, and, if it exists, to infer if that relationship is positive or negative, since the literature shows evidence for both cases. For that purpose, the econometric strategy used is that of a Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity in Mean (GARCH-M) model, using economic growth data compiled by the Central Bank of Brazil, for the period of 1995-2018. The results corroborate the findings of the empirical literature, suggesting a negative relationship between economic growth and its volatility; that is, the hypothesis of the irreversibility of investments prevails. Therefore, the tradeoff between short-term stability and long-term growth for the Brazilian economy in the analyzed period does not seem to occur.
Does Board Independence Increase Firm Value? Evidence from Closed-End Funds

Abstract Researchers disagree about the impact of board independence on firm value. The disagreement generally stems from the endogenous nature of board appointments. I add new evidence to this discussion by using a sample of closed-end funds to document the value-enhancing effects of independent boards. Using cross-sectional, difference-in-differences, and instrumental variables techniques, I address these endogeneity concerns and find consistent evidence that board independence is associated with higher firm value.
Pricing and Inventory Policies Under a Deterministic Supply Cycle

Abstract The research investigates optimal pricing and inventory policies in the case in which the demands of different periods are identical. However, the supplies fluctuate due to cycles in nature as well as additional environmental and other factors. Each cycle contains two periods or seasons. A peak season with a large given supply is followed by a regular season with a small supply. The model deals with deterministic supply and the question of what policy is adopted regarding the quantities produced and sold in the markets at each period. It first considers the case without the use of inventory for delivery between periods. In the second case, inventory that can be produced at the peak period is only for sale at the regular period. It is sold as non-fresh inventory that is a ‘supplement’ to the fresh output produced at the regular period.
Persistence and cyclical dynamics of US and UK house prices: Evidence from over 150 years of data

This paper provides a new and unique look at the dynamics and persistence of historical house prices in the USA and the UK using fractional integration techniques not previously applied to housing markets. Unlike previous research, we consider two components of persistence of house prices: the component associated with the long-run trend and the component associated with the cycle. We find evidence of cyclical and long-run persistence in the UK housing markets. In contrast, we fail to find evidence of cyclical persistence for the USA. For the sub-samples, which account for a structural break in each series, an important difference is the asynchronous pattern of the breaks, an indication of heterogeneity in the house price dynamics of the two countries and a sign that national rather than global events have played an important role. Although the house price movements of the last decade are dramatic, the greatest structural changes in the overall nominal and real price dynamics of the UK and the USA appear to have taken place much earlier, in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the UK and in the mid-1950s and early 1970s in the USA. An important result, common to the whole and sub-samples, is that long-run persistence plays a greater role than cyclical persistence in explaining the dynamics of house prices in both countries. These findings have substantial implications for policy decisions.
Non-urgent attendance at emergency departments: Tricia McGuigan and Patricia Watson present findings from a study of why people who do not have serious injuries or illnesses seek care at emergency departments

AIM To discover the factors influencing patients' decisions to attend emergency departments (EDs) for non-urgent treatment. METHOD A sample of 196 patients self-presenting at an NHS Lanarkshire ED were interviewed by telephone. FINDINGS The results show that most of the sample members thought that their conditions required urgent attention and that their attendance at the ED was appropriate. The largest proportion of the sample presented with soft tissue injuries or haematomas. Females tended to attend because of others' advice more than did males, with families and friends rather than healthcare professionals being their most common source of healthcare advice. CONCLUSION A targeted social marketing campaign is needed to address the misconceptions of people who self-present at EDs. The employment of nurse advisors to assess and divert patients to appropriate care services can reduce attendance at EDs and would educate attendees about help-seeking decisions.
Restorative Servicescapes in Health Care: Examining the Influence of Hotel-Like Attributes on Patient Well-Being

This study examines how 527 patients across different health states assessed the influence of hotel-like attributes on their well-being. Using theoretical mechanisms of attention restoration underlying restorative servicescapes, we postulated that hotel-like products and services will enhance patients’ perceived well-being, which, in turn, will favorably affect their behavioral intentions. We also tested an alternative model that included additional direct relationships between hotel-like products and services and behavioral intentions, based on the tenets of cue utilization theory. After conducting a series of nested model comparison procedures, we confirmed that the alternative model provided a theoretically and empirically stronger explanation for the dynamics of hotel-like restorative servicescapes. Although the differences between less healthy and more healthy patients were not statistically significant, the less healthy group demonstrated the same pattern of relationships as in the overall model, indicating that such patients may be more likely to derive greater restorative benefits from hotel-like hospital rooms, which may also make them more likely to pay higher out-of-pocket expenses for such rooms. The study furthers the empirical research agenda on evidence-based design (EBD) and the role of hospitality in health care.
Entry to vocations: current policy trends, barriers and facilitators of quality in VET in Schools

As part of the three-year research program, 'Vocations: the link between post compulsory education and the labour market', this working paper sets the policy context and direction of the entry to vocations research stream. After looking at the current 'in-school' element of VET in Schools programs and jurisdictional differences, the paper raises a set of questions for discussion. For example, are more advanced and intense programs of VET in Schools needed to deliver stronger labour market outcomes? Do VET in Schools programs need to be more directly connected with post-school VET programs?
PSS Strategic Alignment: Linking Service Transition Strategy with PSS Business Model

One of the most promising business models towards economic circularity is product-service system (PSS). Despite its great potential benefits, shifting the traditional business model of a manufacturer into PSS business model commonly refers to service transition and triggers inconsistencies between strategic direction and organization arrangement at an operational level. The absence of alignment between the service transition strategy and the PSS business model is greatly emphasized as a crucial enabler, risk factor and key success factor of the service transition. However, limited academic works have concretely contributed to the strategic alignment. Through a systematic literature review, this paper proposes a PSS business alignment that enables the manufacturer to identify the strategic objective of its service transition strategy and align it with PSS business model. The theoretical version of the proposed framework is redefined and redeveloped through two cycles of action research involving 11 Japanese companies.
The beginnings of school led teacher training: New challenges for university teacher education.

The School Direct Research Project began in May 2013 and was funded by Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). Led by Professor Tony Brown with Dr Harriet Rowley and Kim Smith, the work builds on earlier practitioner research studies undertaken by the team members which were concerned with how conceptions of theory had changed for teacher educators and trainees as a result of participation in an earlier school-based model (Smith and Hodson, 2010; Hodson, Smith and Brown, 2012; Smith, Hodson and Brown, 2013). The present research project began with an original purpose to better understand the implications of School Direct (SD) for university teacher education, towards rethinking the distinctive role of universities in teacher education. The project is located within the activities of the Building Research in Teacher Education (BRiTE) group, at the Education and Social Research Institute (ESRI), MMU. The research group has a growing membership and comprises a group of around thirty researchers in the Faculty of Education whose work is centred on exploring the opportunities afforded by combining a world leading education research group with a substantial, ‘outstanding’ teacher education unit. In this sense, the School Direct Research Project is central to the Faculty’s efforts to maximise its position by using research to locate and drive forward improvement both in terms of the Initial Teacher Education provision at MMU and more broadly the higher education sector. This report cumulates the end of the School Direct Research Project and seeks to detail the knowledge we have gathered through undertaking this work. It begins with a brief review of the professional context, which gives an outline of recent policy changes and developments in teacher education together with key themes from the academic debate that is taking place within the field. The section following this outlines the methods that were used to gather data during this project. The analysis of the findings is presented through the use of six assertions; these statements have been formulated to describe what can be supported on the basis of the data we have collected and analysed. For each assertion, we provide a detailed discussion of the data relevant to each statement including supporting evidence. A conclusion summarising the main points and implications of the research project is offered at the end of this report.
Working the News: Preserving Professional Identity Through Networked Journalism at Elite News Media

The concept of journalism as a profession has arguably been fraught and contested throughout its existence. Ideologically, it is founded on a claim to norms and a code of ethics, but in the past, news media also held material control over mass communication through broadcast and print which were largely inaccessible to most citizens. The Internet and social media has created a news environment where professional journalists and their work exist side-by-side with non-journalists. In this space, acts of journalism also can be and are carried out by non-journalists. Through the new news distribution channels offered by social media, non-journalists are potentially able to disseminate their texts to wide audiences. In practice this means that journalism is no longer exclusively the domain of the journalist, and has led to the adoption of collaboration as a journalistic convention that presents opportunities but also serious challenges and risks for the professional community. My research aims to contribute to the news discourse concerning emerging professional practices in networked journalism with a focus on how journalistic authority is reasserted within a collaborative news environment. Rather than looking at networked journalism as primarily participatory, this research explores collaborative newswork as a means to carry out professional boundary work and to articulate this to audiences. I argue that the act of collaboration in newswork at times becomes a quasi-ideological project to protect journalism as a profession that lays claim to ethics, norms and routines. The research comprises three case studies of news stories covered by the BBC World Service and the English-language services of France 24 and Al Jazeera. Using quantitative and qualitative analysis methods, they explore how social media was mobilised in the newswork. The aim was to explore how sourcing practices affected the power relationships between primary and secondary definers, and how journalists create and articulate professional boundaries in collaborative newswork. These research findings were triangulated with interviews with social media editors at the three news organisations.
Hypoxic challenge testing in motor neurone disease

British Thoracic Society guidance on air travel in patients with respiratory disease advises that a hypoxic challenge test (HCT) can be used to determine the need for in-flight oxygen in patients at high risk of medical complications. Evidence to inform the clinician as to which patients are high-risk, particularly disease-specific evidence, is lacking. We present a case series of 40 patients with motor neurone disease (MND) referred for hypoxic challenge testing. We aimed to identify parameters that might predict the outcome of an HCT in patients with MND to aid clinicians undertaking pre-flight assessments. An HCT was performed and capillary blood gas measurements, spirometric data and sinus nasal inspiratory pressure measurements were obtained. Data from those patients requiring in-flight oxygen according to the HCT was compared to data obtained from patients who did not and results are summarised below. According to our data, baseline paCO2 was the only independent predictor of hypoxaemia following an HCT. Our data also suggests that inability to perform spirometry and need for home non-invasive ventilation reflect disease severe enough to warrant an HCT as part of a pre-flight assessment.
ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES IN ALBERTA, CANADA: A POPULATION BASED STUDY

Objective: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with poor health outcomes in adulthood. We developed a four category ACE risk profile variable using a domain-specific approach and examined ACEs as risk factors for diagnosed physical and mental health conditions.Method: A computer-assisted telephone survey was conducted with a random sample of adults in Alberta, Canada. Eight questions were asked on adversity during childhood, based on the original ACE survey and modified to reflect the Canadian context and research methodology. Descriptive and multivariable analyses were conducted.Results: Among the 1207 respondents, the majority were married or living common-law (65.8%), had completed post-secondary education (78.2%), and were Caucasian (86.2%) with a mean age of 52.4 years (SD=16.3). Approximately one-third (27.3%) experienced at least one type of abuse, and almost half (49.5%) experienced at least one form of household dysfunction. ACEs were highly interrelated. Sixty-three percent fell into the low risk profile category, with the remaining 37% divided among the three higher risk profile categories. Overall, the ACE risk profile variable was significantly associated with diagnosed mental health condition/addiction and chronic pain, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics.Conclusion: The ACE risk profile category of adversity in both the abuse domain and the household dysfunction domain conferred the greatest risk for poor health outcomes in adulthood. Given the interrelated nature of ACEs, a more comprehensive approach to conceptualization of ACEs is warranted. Results have implications for prevention of ACEs and recovery from ACEs to decrease disease burden. Strategies may include effective programs to prevent exposure to toxic stress and support nurturing and stable relationships for children and families.