Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ICT integration in primary school music education: Experience of pioneering countries and its implications for implementation in Hong Kong

There have been many claims about the benefits that the use of technology can bring to music learning. In fact, examples of successful applications and high levels of motivation associated with computer-based music learning reported in the literature have evidentially substantiated both the feasibility and adaptability of technology applications to music education. This paper describes the experience of Information and Computer Technology (ICT) integration in primary school music education in countries where both pioneering and relatively advanced developments have taken place. A comprehensive study of related literature and curriculum documents has been undertaken, aspects including major software programs development for music education and its pedagogical orientation, hardware configuration and classroom organization, applications of ICT in music teaching and learning, requirements for curriculum, hardware and software, and technology competency requirements and related professional development for music teachers are studied. Findings from the literature reviewed and documents analyzed reveal that ICT can best support constructivist approach to music learning, particularly activities of creative nature such as composing, improvising and creative music making; in addition, resource and related circumstantial factor as well as music teacher‘s readiness were found to be the most influential factors of successful ICT integration. Coupled with these findings, conclusion and implications for ICT integration in primary music curriculum in Hong Kong are then drawn and discussed.
Farmland Owners’ Satisfaction with Agricultural Conservation Easements

Abstract Despite substantial investments in purchase of agricultural conservation easement (PACE) programs to preserve farmland, little attention has been placed on evaluating landowner perspectives of PACE post-preservation. Understanding landowner experiences and satisfaction with operation of farms subject to PACE deeds of easement can inform future farmland preservation policy and procedures. The objective of this study is to empirically examine the extent and basis of landowner satisfaction with PACE program participation through statistical modeling of data from a phone survey of 507 preserved farmland owners in three Northeastern states (Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey). Ordinal logistic regression models are developed to explain factors affecting landowners’ satisfaction of PACE participation. Results show generally high levels of owner satisfaction with PACE programs in the region. “Second-generation” landowners (i.e., those who purchase or inherit preserved farms) and owners who have had a business activity restricted by easement terms are less likely to be satisfied with the program. Implications for policy formation and program administration are discussed.
STATIONARITY PROPERTIES OF RENEWABLE ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES

This study investigates the stochastic properties of renewable energy consumption series across 11 Commonwealth of Independent States countries through the period of 1990-2015. For this purpose, along with traditional stationarity analysis recently improved unit root techniques which allows for nonlinear adjustments in the data generating process are used in this paper. Based on our findings we may conclude that, consideration of nonlinearity in regression process causes to more frequent non rejection of the null hypothesis of stationarity. It implies that ignoring possible nonlinearities in time series regression process may lead to some misleading results. Hereby, fluctuations in global energy supply and trade systems influence renewable energy consumption in nonlinear pattern and policy-makers should take it into consideration in terms of proper energy policy implication.
EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY ANALYSIS OF INDONESIAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS: MULTI-STAGE DEA APPROACH AND MALMQUIST PRODUCTIVITY INDEX

This research is intended to empirically examine the efficiency and productivity change of 26 regional development banks (BPDs) in Indonesia in 2011-2016 using a non-parametric approach of data envelopment analysis (DEA). This research was started by determining input and output variables based on three approaches, i.e., intermediation, operation, and the asset approach. The Multi-stage DEA was adopted to generate the efficiency score, and the input-orientated variable return to scale (VRS) assumption is specified in data analysis. The Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) was used to measure the total factor productivity change indicating the improvement or deterioration of performance of BPDs over time. The multi-stage DEA result shows a significant difference in the number of efficient BPDs using the three approaches. MPI shows that the highest productivity increase was in the asset approach of 84.0%, supported by the increase in efficiency change and technological change. While in intermediation and operation approach, the increase was only 44.0% and 36.0%, depending on the increase in efficiency change and scale efficiency change. This research suggests that BPDs need to invest more in technology to increase firm efficiency.
Influence of Network Embeddedness and Network Diversity on Green Innovation: The Mediation Effect of Green Social Capital

Due to the current rise in concern about the challenge of global warming, stakeholders are now more conscious than in the past regarding environmental concerns. Stakeholders are more likely than ever before to support companies that are environmentally friendly. Simultaneously, companies seek to develop their social networks in such a way as to enhance their green innovation. This study investigates the influences of network embeddedness and network diversity on green innovation. In addition, this research discusses the mediation effects of green social capital. We adopt structural equation modeling for testing the research framework. A total of 330 valid questionnaires are collected. The results demonstrate that network embeddedness positively affects green social capital and green innovation performance. However, although network diversity positively affects green innovation performance, it does not significantly influence green social capital. Furthermore, the study indicates that green social capital partially mediates the relationship between network embeddedness and green innovation performance.
Cultivating Optimal Collaborative Decision Making in Counterterrorism Contexts: An Empirical Investigation

ABSTRACT Collaborative decision making (CDM) is an important facilitator of effective response in emergencies. However, due to institutional differences, attainment of optimal CDM (OCDM) remains problematic. Thus, based on previous literature on CDM and institutional theory, this study examines the influence of enablers (e.g. organizational form, information and knowledge sharing, technical infrastructure, and informal relationships) on OCDM. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to examine the proposed hypotheses using a sample of 176 respondents. The results illustrated that attainment of OCDM is challenging since it is characterized by numerous organizational factors that agencies need to consider. Amongst the three pillars of institutional theory, the regulative pillar offers more insights on issues related to rules, discourse and practice and hence the challenges of OCDM attainment.
Coming home and (not) moving in? Examining reshoring firms’ subnational location choices in the United States

ABSTRACT The relation between firm characteristics (i.e., size) and domestic location choice (i.e., home state versus other) of reshoring firms, contingent on place (i.e., labour cost, innovation intensity, regulatory incentives) and space (i.e., agglomeration) features of regions is examined. The findings from US manufacturing firms’ reshoring activities from 2008 to 2017 suggest that larger firms are less likely to reshore to their home state. This tendency is strengthened when cost of production in a home state is higher, but offset when states provide higher incentives and have higher levels of agglomeration. Technological innovativeness in the home state did not influence this relation.
The quality of Australia's higher education system: how it might be defined, improved and assured

This discussion paper sets out to encourage an informed and critical debate concerning why educational quality needs to be demonstrated and what has been learned from the last two decades of policy and practice. The paper begins by noting how the purposes of higher education have inevitably changed as the nation has moved from an elite system towards universal participation, requiring the nation to redefine its definitions of quality. Key ideas about quality in higher education that have shaped both government policy and institutional practice are reviewed. The paper moves to an historical analysis of the different approaches to quality assurance that have been adopted since the early 1990s.
Self-employed or Paid Employed: Who can Earn more among the Slum Dwellers and Why?

Past literature in the context of slum dwellers rarely acknowledges the occupational variation in informal job types. The dearth of studies also exists in specifying the informal types where public policy can result in their improved livelihoods. Based on 240 respondents settled in the slums of four districts of West Bengal, it analyses the types of informal employment in offsetting poverty of the slum dwellers. The participation of only 27 percent of the women in informal employment as compared to 73 percent of the male suggests the existence of gender gap in informal employment. The study finds that irrespective of the types of informal employment, the workers mostly belong to the economically weaker sections. The self-employed population is better regarding earning, using the formal account for savings, and job security (tenure). The findings suggest the enhancement of opportunities for the vendors and drivers among the self-employed, and the labourers working in the electrical and electronic sectors among the paid-employees. The district, gender, relationship status, and social network are among the major variables that determine the self-employment pattern of the slum dwellers.
What can we expect in the future of academic research? Most common research problems analysed in the top journals in the field of entrepreneurship

In the modern era of academic research, it is extremely difficult to define an entirely or largely unexplored research problem. Every researcher is faced with this question in their research. It takes a lot of work and effort to primarily find a topic that is relevant and that will be attractive for study and research. The focus of this paper is research problems related to the field of entrepreneurship. This paper deals with trending research problems over the course of the last five years in the field of entrepreneurship. The survey was conducted with the aim of identifying the least explored areas of entrepreneurship in order to predict future research topics. The methods used to achieve this scientific goal include: description, classification and explanation. By analyzing the sample of 393 papers from the five most cited journals in the field of entrepreneurship, the author came to the conclusion that in the past five years the majority of papers dealt primarily with the topic of innovation and advanced technology, and hardly touched upon the topic of women's entrepreneurship. This paper should help future researchers to select the topics or fields of research in the domain of entrepreneurship.
Socioeconomic and Cost - Effective on Deforestation Compliancy Policies as Oppose to Pure Deterrence Model of Regulatory Compliance

This paper analyzes the causes of regulatory compliance using traditional deterrence variables and potential moral and social variables. Selfreported data was used to assert the objective of this write-up. A group of persistent violators react neither to normative aspects nor to traditional deterrence variables, but systematically violate the regulation and use bribes to avoid punishment. From the results, it was also indicated that tree hunters adjust their violation rates with respect to changes in the probability of detection and punishment, but they also react to social and legitimacy variables. It is recommended that if the on-going deforestation, forest depletion and degradation are to be curbed, it is essential to have proactive and forward-looking policies anticipating social, economic and environmental changes to guide the development of the forest sector. Social influence plays a significant role in everyday social exchange-the body of empirical evidence demonstrates that the pure deterrence model of regulatory compliance, which focuses primarily on the certainty and severity of sanctions as key determinants of compliance, provides a partial explanation of compliance behaviour.
Macroeconomic determinants of Malaysian housing price: evidence from 2010Q1 - 2017Q3

The main purpose of this study is to measure the significant relationship between macroeconomic factors and movements of housing price in Malaysia from period year 2010 Quarter 1 to year 2017 Quarter 3, which consist of quarterly data of 31 observations. The continuous increase of housing price in Malaysia is becoming one of the hot issues discussed these days. This paper examines empirically whether the increasing trend of housing price in Malaysia is related to changes in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Exchange Rate (ER), Lending Rate (LR), and Unemployment Rate (UR). Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method is applied in this study, with the purpose of capturing the effect of independent variables. The data of the variables in this study are obtained through the secondary sources. This paper is useful for the government, developers, investors and home buyers to know which factors is most affected the movement of property price investment decision. Thus, this paper can serve as a guide for the government in stabilizing the residential property price in Malaysia. The general results of the study obtained found that Exchange Rate (ER), Lending Rate (LR), and Real Property Gain Tax (RPGT) have the significant relationship in determining the Malaysian housing price index (MHPI), whereas the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Unemployment Rate (UR) have the insignificant relationship in determining the housing price index of Malaysia.
The Potential Impact of Morality on Medical Student Global Health Participation

Interest in global health experiences (GHEs) has surged in the last decade throughout undergraduate medical education. Positive clinical and cultural learning impacts are well described; however, the moral and motivational typology of the globally minded medical student are yet to be elucidated. We surveyed 85 US medical students, 41 who participated in a GHE during medical school and 44 who did not, to examine their sense of moral association with local community, Americans, and all of humanity. Measures of empathy and spirituality were also administered, as well as a qualitative prompt to elicit reasons for participating, or not, in a GHE. The results of logic regression analysis suggest that the strongest predictors of GHE participation are strong, geographically non-specific identification with ‘all humanity’ [OR=1.31, P<0.01, 95% CI, 1.07–1.59], as well as participation in an abroad experience prior to medical school [OR 141, P<0.01, 95% CI, 10.1–1960]. While respondent groups did not differ significantly in their association with local community, incremental increase in identification with ‘Americans’ decreased likelihood of IME participation by 20% [P=0.02, 95% CI, 0.67–0.96]. No significant effect was found between participant groups in response to empathy or spirituality scales. This pilot study demonstrates that a global regard for ‘all humanity’ may motivate GHE participation while a strong national association diminishes its likelihood.
Exploring trends in wet-season precipitation and drought indices in wet, humid and dry regions

This study examines wet season droughts using eight products from the Frequent Rainfall Observations on GridS database. The study begins by evaluating wet season precipitation totals and wet day counts at seasonal and decadal time scales. While we find a high level of agreement among the products at a seasonal time scale, evaluations of 10 year variability indicate substantial non-stationary inter-product differences that make the assessment of low-frequency changes difficult, especially in data-sparse regions. Some products, however, appear more reliable than others on decadal time scales. Global time series of dry, middle, and wet region standardized precipitation index time series indicate little coherent change. There is substantial coherence in year-to-year variations in these time series for the better-performing products, likely indicative of skill for monitoring variations at large spatial scales. During the wet season, the data do not appear to indicate widespread global changes in precipitation, reference evapotranspiration (RefET) or Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) values. These data also do not indicate a global shift towards increasing aridity. Focusing on SPEI values for dry regions during droughts, however, we find modest increases in RefET and decreases in SPEI when wet season precipitation is below normal. Dry region SPEI values during droughts have decreased by −0.2 since the 1990s. The cause of these RefET increases is unclear, and more detailed analysis will be needed to confirm these results. For wet regions, however, the majority of products appear to indicate increases in wet season precipitation, although many products perform poorly in these regions due to limited observation networks, and estimated increases vary substantially. Synopsis: Our analysis indicates a lack of increasing aridity at global scales, issues associated with non-stationary systematic errors, and concerns associated with increases in reference evapotranspiration in global dry regions during droughts.
Alternative Transportation Enterprises for Rural Australia: An Organizational Study of Greener Options and Use

Economic and social norms/behaviours challenge ‘greener’ transportation alternatives in rural Australia’s car-dependent society. Surveys (n = 412) and interviews (n = 44) conducted at a rural Australian organization reveal experiences with, and perceptions about, carpooling, public transportation, greener cars and walking/cycling campaigns. Infrastructure, cultural norms and life-stage demands competed against pro-environmental transportation actions, even if self-identifying as ‘pro-environment’. Discussed amid cognitive dissonance and impression management theory, findings support ‘attitude/action’ gaps in environmental psychology research. Interview participants knew vehicles degraded the environment and 81 per cent surveyed used environmental ratings in car purchasing decisions. Thus, deficit-based communication theory and public health campaigns are limiting approaches. Change management requires innovative solutions, not awareness-raising campaigns, to achieve organizational carbon neutrality goals beyond ‘offsetting’ and address the reasons—inconvenience and social/physical undesirability—interviewees shared about their ability/willingness to walk/cycle/share-drive.
Small and medium enterprise’s internal resources and investment decisions in Ghana: The resource-based approach

DOI: 10.14254/2071789X.2019/12-3/3 ABSTRACT. We report new evidence on Small and Medium Enterprises’ (SMEs’) internal resources, i.e investment capital, business stability, customer size, type of ownership, legal status, industrial structure and location on investment decisions in the Ghanaian oil and gas sector between 2016 and 2017. Overall, we find that SMEs of larger business size, with large investment capital, large fixed assets, more business stability, structured business ownership, large customer size, registered status, operations in urban locations and reinvested annual profits -are more likely to invest in Ghanaian oil and gas sector. Per contra, the results reveal that industrial structure has no influence on SMEs’ investment decisions. Additionally, our findings are most robust to SMEs that choose to invest in the oil and gas value chain which is consistent with the resource-based theory. This empirical study has been conducted through a survey. Data has been collected using a stratified sampling technique and structured questionnaires with 245 SMEs across diverse industries. The survey data has been analyzed using binominal logit regression and Chisquare test. The results are expected to be of substantial importance for investment decisions in the domestic business environment. We strongly recommend the replication of this study in other emerging oil and gas economies.
Shadow Banking Shadowed in Banks’ Balance Sheets: Evidence from China's Commercial Banks

Using hand&#8208;collected data, we creatively construct an &#8216;on&#8208;balance&#8208;sheet shadow banking business&#8217; (OBS&#8208;SBB) measure to precisely quantify commercial banks&#8217; shadow banking activity concealed on their balance sheets. We show that OBS&#8208;SBB activities could both increase individual and systemic risks. To further test the underlying mechanisms, we use China&#8217;s implementation of Basel III as an exogenous shock and employ the difference&#8208;in&#8208;differences approach. We find that banks demand OBS&#8208;SBB in order to bypass capital requirements, previously less&#8208;capitalised banks significantly increase their OBS&#8208;SBB ex&#8208;post, and greater impact is found among small and medium&#8208;sized banks and during loose monetary policy periods.
Seeing people in the computer: The role of information technology in remote employment services

Information technologies have been important in the emergence of new forms of control and surveillance of welfare recipients and of those who administer labour market programmes. These technologies have often appeared at the margins of accounts of welfare reform, for example as means of increasing the efficiency or consistency of services, or as constraining frontline discretion. Henman has argued, however, that information technologies need to be analysed not just as administrative tools, but as 'non-human actors', shaping policy development and implementation in ways beyond the intentions of their human creators (Henman, Governing Electronically: E-government and the Reconfiguration of Public Administration, Policy and Power, Palgrave MacMillan). This paper explores the way that the use of government information systems has shaped employment services in remote Australia where over 80 per cent of those included are Indigenous people. The article describes how the production and use of administrative data within employment services have supported and extended the framing of Indigenous people in remote communities as non-compliant and as needing external direction.