Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Designing a Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) Network: Toward Water-Sensitive Urban Growth Planning in Dhaka, Bangladesh

In a warming world, urban environmental stresses are exacerbated by population-increase-induced development of grey infrastructure that usually leaves minimal scope for blue (and green) elements and processes, potentially resulting in mismanagement of stormwater and flooding issues. This paper explores how urban growth planning in the megacity of Dhaka, Bangladesh can be guided by a blue-green infrastructure (BGI) network that combines blue, green, and grey elements together to provide a multifunctional urban form. We take a three-step approach: First, we analyze the existing spatial morphology to understand potential locations of development and challenges, as well as the types of solutions necessary for water management in different typologies of urban densities. Next, we analyze existing and potential blue and green network locations. Finally, we propose the structural framework for a BGI network at both macro and micro scales. The proposed network takes different forms at different scales and locations and offers different types of flood control and stormwater management options. These can provide directions on Dhaka’s future urban consolidation and expansion with a balance of man-made and natural elements and enable environmental, social, spatial, financial, and governance benefits. The paper concludes with some practical implications and challenges for implementing BGI in Dhaka.
Essays on banking and international trade

This thesis consists of three essays: the first two on banking and the third one on international trade. The first chapter examines the impact of two programs carried out by Brazilian federal banks in 2012 aimed at ameliorating credit conditions and expanding access to credit to individuals and small and medium enterprises (SME) in Brazil. The second chapter investigates a potential non-homogeneous relation between financial intermediation and economic growth by levels of human capital development, focusing on a period of exceptional growth of the credit market in Brazil, from 2004 to 2016. The third chapter analyzes the short-run effects of the uncertainties brought along with the Brexit referendum on the bilateral trade between Belgium and its main trading partners.
Factors Influencing The Inflation of Indonesia In Islamic Perspectives

The purpose of the study is to identify the factors that influence inflation, using secondary data from 1987 to 2017. Methods for analyzing data using multiple linear regression. The result of the study shows that money supply has a positive and significant effect on inflation while economic growth has a negative and significant effect on inflation occurs in Indonesia. While interest rates do not have an influence on inflation occurs in Indonesia.
The Determinant of Banking Efficiency (Data Envelopment Analysis Based on Intermediation Approach)

This research aims at analyzing the level of efficiency with intermediation approach and determinant of efficiency of Bank Pembangunan Daerah (BPD). Efficiency is measured using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method based on the intermediation approach. This research contribute on modelling of determinant of efficiency of Bank Pembangunan Daerah (BPD) using intermediation approach. The object of this research is 26 BPD(s). Furthermore, the determinant of efficiency of BPD is analyzed using the Tobit regression. The level of efficiency is the dependent variable. Meanwhile, the independent variables used are CAR, LDR, NPL, NIM, ROA, Inflation, Economic Growth, and Interest Rate. The research results show that BPD has a different efficiency level average (high, sufficient, moderate, and low efficiency level average). This is due to the use of inputs that have an impact on the optimal output maximization. CAR and LDR have the significant and positive effects on the efficiency of BPD. Interest rate and inflation have the significant and negative effects on the efficiency of BPD. Meanwhile, NPL, NIM, ROA and Economic Growth have no effects on the efficiency of BPD. This results is expected to contribute in identifying any factor affecting the efficiency of BPD, both the internal and macro economy, and also to be the stimulus for the development of health measuring instrument of BPD in which efficiency reflects the quality of risk management on the intermediary activity of BPD.
Implementation of the market approach to the processes of management of the energy sector of ukrainian economy under conditions of European integration

We developed the system of differential equations, which describes the level of supply of energy products (production and import) and demand for them (consumption). The equations take into consideration factors of prices for fuel-and-energy resources, exports, imports, as well as a mutual influence of the volumes of production of certain types of energy resources on others. We performed calculation of production, consumption and consumption of fuel-and-energy resources based on the constructed system. We obtained a normal system of linear differential equations of the first order, which describes the dependence between 7 resource components of the fuel-and-energy complex (gas, oil, black oil, coal, uranium, electricity, and thermal energy). Efficient functioning of the energy market requires validity and transparency in the management of processes occurring in its system in the form of interaction of subsystems. The proposed holistic system of differential equations makes it possible to assess an energy supply potential of the energy market in accordance with the needs of consumers based on data on the level of reserves at the beginning of a year and production and consumption over the past year. Given such a model, it is possible to forecast daily levels of consumption and supply of energy resources, taking into consideration seasonality of thermal energy production. Despite many equations and dependent variables, we found a numerical solution to the system. We used calculation formulas from the Euler method with step h=1 for this purpose. We obtained the solution in the form of tabulated values of functions of production or consumption of the corresponding energy resources. Based on the results of calculations, we built a graph of the corresponding dependences of parameters of the system of differential equations. We used the system of computer algebra wxMaxima for calculations. Economic-mathematical modeling of energy market management processes is useful because it makes it possible to describe the resulting state of the energy market in Ukraine parametrically and opens up additional possibilities of forecasting taking into consideration stochastic phenomena of price and temperature.
Career pathways in disparate industry sectors to serve underserved populations

Since beginning his first term in office in January 2009, President Obama has called on community colleges to be a primary driver of college completion and workforce development. Career pathways are chief among the Obama administration's recommended approaches to address the middle-skills gap that some economists believe plagues the economy and fuels the nation's jobless recovery. High on President Obama's wish list is occupational training in industry sectors considered essential to the economy, including sectors such as health care and information technology. In this paper, [the author] review[s] various career pathway initiatives that have provided a backdrop for new federal policy that is positioning community colleges to train, credential, and employ adult learners and help to address the nation's economic woes. The paper considers the balancing act that community colleges are playing to fill the middle skill gap and improve the economy while still acting as primary gateway to college for America's diverse citizenry.
Relations between Conspicuous Consumption and Materialism

The research focuses on relationships between conspicuous consumption and materialism. Contrary to previous studies, here conspicuous consumption is seen as an individual trait rather than as an attitude. The purpose of the research was twofold: to establish to what extent are a) success, centrality, happiness, and b) the importance and the attainment of wealth, popularity and image responsible for conspicuous consumption. Two studies were conducted. Materialism was measured using the MVS (Richins, 2004) in study 1 (N = 80), and the Aspiration Index (Kasser & Ryan, 1996) in study 2 (N = 169). In both studies, the measure of the propensity to conspicuous consumption was the same: The Conspicuous Consumption Orientation Scale (CCO) (Chaudhuri, Mazumdar, & Ghoshal, 2011). The obtained data demonstrated that the propensity to conspicuous consumption was significantly related to only two dimensions of materialism – success and centrality. Furthermore, the results showed that while the importance of financial success and popularity enhanced the propensity to conspicuous consumption, attainment of financial and popularity aspirations had no impact on the propensity to conspicuous consumption. In turn, image (both its importance and its attainment) was a significant positive predictor of the propensity to conspicuous consumption. The research findings suggest that the crucial materialistic drivers of the propensity to conspicuous consumption are: the belief that success is closely connected with ownership; the conviction that owning and acquiring are the primary life goals; and the need to have a socially admired image.
The evolution of evaluation – the accelerating march towards the measurement of public relations effectiveness

The measurement and evaluation of public relations effectiveness has long been a major professional and research issue (White and Blamphin 1994; Synnott and McKie 1997). Recently Watson (2008) found that it still ranked third in an international study of public relations research priorities. In the first half of the last century, there was little reference to it. The first major scholarly reference came in Cutlip and Center’s first edition of Effective Public Relations (1952) which implies there was some prior discussion but there is little evidence. It was not until the late 1960s and early 1970s that the first US conference and professional publications on the topic were evidenced. The first scholarly journal special issue devoted to it, ‘Measuring the Effectiveness of Public Relations’ was published as the Winter 1977 edition of Public Relations Review. There was a burgeoning of academic and professional discussion from the mid-1980s onwards. Also the major consultancy groups started to introduce proprietary media measurement systems (e.g. Hill and Knowlton, 1979; Ketchum, 1982; CARMA, 1984). By the end of the decade there was a growing body of knowledge from academic and professional sources which led into a wide, international expansion of publications and services in the 1990s. Professional bodies in Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom and United States, as well as the International Public Relations Association, all formed task forces and prepared publications. Measurement and evaluation had at last arrived as a central professional issue. Document analysis will be the main research method to prepare the timeline of the development of public relations measurement evaluation through. This paper will also explore the theoretical and professional themes that have characterised the development of theory and methodology in this important public relations practice.
Pre-service recovery: impact on customer satisfaction and acceptable waiting time

ABSTRACT Defined as compensation a service provider offers during the customer’s waiting period before a service is delivered, pre-service recovery is becoming popular in the service industry. This paper examines two important issues: (1) how pre-service recovery affects customers’ pre-service waiting satisfaction and acceptable waiting time and (2) which type of pre-service recovery has the greatest impact. A scenario-based survey was administered to measure the impacts of different types of pre-service recovery on customers’ perceptions of justice, satisfaction with the wait for a service, and acceptable waiting time. The results show that pre-service recovery can significantly improve customers’ perceived justice and pre-service waiting satisfaction. Compared to low-level tangible compensation and psychological recovery, high-level tangible compensation results in higher pre-service waiting satisfaction. Interactional justice has the greatest impact on pre-service waiting satisfaction. Moreover, pre-service waiting satisfaction positively affects customers’ acceptable waiting time, implying that pre-service recovery can increase their willingness to wait.
Bond Market Development in Malaysia: Possible Crowding-Out from Persistent Fiscal Deficits?

In Malaysia, infrastructure financing requirements can be served through domestic bond markets, including its corporate bond markets. However, financial crises have exacted a heavy toll on government debts, which are often funded by issuance of government bonds. Persistent fiscal deficits and growing issuance of government bonds can become a double-edged sword and result in crowding-out of private bond markets. This paper represents a first attempt to analyze the potential determinants of the domestic corporate bond market in Malaysia to facilitate a closer examination of the possibility of crowding-out on the Malaysian corporate bond market. This paper finds no evidence of crowding-out effects on Malaysia's domestic corporate bond market from the country's growing government debt. Importantly, findings strongly suggest that the well-functioning Malaysian government bond market has served as a strong foundation for the growth of its domestic corporate bond market.
Household Cooking Fuel Choice in India, 2004-2012: A Panel Multinomial Analysis

We use two waves of nationally representative India Human Development Survey to examine factors driving the cooking fuel choice in urban and rural India, separately. We utilize a random effects multinomial logit model that controls for unobserved household heterogeneity. We find that a clean-break with the use of traditional fuels is less likely in rural areas, but more probable in urban areas. The household characteristics (e.g. income, education) that are positively correlated with use of clean fuel also increases the probability of fuel stacking for rural households. We also find that access to paved road is an important determinant for rural household adopting clean fuel, and there exists evidence of social spillover effects in rural areas. Moreover, the bargaining power of women that is associated with economic status (e.g. education or economic freedom) is positively associated with the use of clean fuel. Finally, we find considerable impact of liquefied petroleum gas prices on the probability of use of clean fuel for urban households, but no significant impact for rural households.
Green sourcing practices in Korea

Purpose Based on the empirical findings from a survey of Korean firms with greater environmental risks, this paper aims to identify variables that either promote or inhibit the successful implementation of green sourcing strategy and to evaluate the effects of green sourcing on the firm’s supplier selection, waste management, packaging and regulatory compliance. Design/methodology/approach To help multinational firms configure an environmentally conscious (green) sourcing strategy, this paper conducted a mail-questionnaire survey and then analyzed the survey results obtained from more than 300 valid responses by using a series of multinomial logistics regression, ordinal regression and discriminant analyses. In addition, the authors performed a cluster analysis, chi-square tests of independence and cross tabulation to analyze the data. Findings The authors found that the main driver for the firm’s green sourcing practices is its customer needs and preferences for the environment-friendly product and services instead of peer pressure or government mandates (including environmental regulation). Surprisingly, the authors also found that the firm with a greater purchasing power did not necessarily factor the supplier’s advances in environmental programs into its supplier selection, although the firm’s amount of purchase volume can give it a bargaining strength to pressure its supplier to adopt the environmental programs. Originality/value A rapid industrialization of Asia-Pacific countries for the past several decades brought unprecedented economic prosperity in those countries. However, it also eroded ecosystem quality gradually through air, water and ground contamination and pollution caused by industrial activities. Such concerns have prompted many firms in the Asia-Pacific region to reassess their up-stream supply chain strategy such as sourcing strategy. This paper is one of the first to examine how Asia-Pacific firms develop such strategy and identify the most common green sourcing practices that can be guidance for other firms embracing environmental programs.
Three essays on returns and the macroeconomy

This thesis contains three essays. Each essay discusses an aspect of the relationship between the state of the economy and returns from investing in particular classes of assets. Testing Multi-Factor Asset Pricing Models. Determination, Data Snooping and Delusion. Two theoretical frameworks for the analysis of the effects of one or more variables on returns of financial assets are considered: Arbitrage Pricing Theory and Consumption Capital Asset Pricing Models. Using Popper’s (1972) principle of falsification to decide between the models, Consumption Capital Asset Pricing Models prove to be the preferred theoretical framework in which the impact of one or many variables on returns may be considered. Whether tests of Consumption Capital Asset Pricing Models utilise a number of variables proxying for consumption, or consumption per se is used in the analysis, analysts must overcome potentially severe methodological challenges. If many state variables are used to proxy for consumption, the distribution of the maximal R , the potential for treating endogenous variables as if they are exogenous, and overlapping data samples bias the analysis towards Type I errors. The issue of whether market variables, such as size and price-to-book ratios, may function as state variables for consumption also needs to be addressed. Conversely, if consumption per se is used in analyses questions of definition and measurement error also need to be answered. Solutions to these problems are proposed. These solutions underpin the approaches that will be taken in the second and third essays in this dissertation. Investment Opportunities and the Macroeconomy: Evidence from Australia Are returns from fixed interest and equity investments inversely related to the economy? This essay uses quarterly fixed interest and equity return data, spanning the fourth quarter of 1983 to the fourth quarter of 1996, to examine the hypothesis that returns are relatively low in periods of high consumption and vice versa (Lucas (1978) and Breeden (1979)). The analysis in this essay rejects this hypothesis. Higher equity and short term fixed interest returns are associated with periods of increased consumption while returns of long term bonds behave in the way hypothesised. The essay finds evidence of flights to quality effects. Additionally, the yield curve has predictive power for future equity returns and consumption. The Price of Residential Real Estate in Australia’s Capital Cities. What moves house prices? This essay analyses changes in the price of established residential real estate in each of Australia’s State and Territory capital cities. The analysis establishes that each city has an unique relationship to the exogenous variables in the models (a short term bond return index, a long term bond return index, the All- Ordinaries Accumulation index and State Private Final Consumption expenditure). The analysis supports the conjecture that individuals treat housing as part of their investment portfolio.
Temporal aggregation of random walk processes and implications for economic analysis

Abstract This paper examines the impact of time averaging and interval sampling data assuming that the data generating process for a given series follows a random walk with iid errors. We provide exact expressions for the corresponding variances, and covariances, for both levels and higher order differences of the aggregated series, as well as that for the variance ratio, demonstrating exactly how the degree of temporal aggregation impacts these properties. We empirically investigate this issue on exchange rates and find that the values of the variance ratios and autocorrelation coefficients at different frequencies are consistent with our theoretical results. We also conduct a simulation exercise that illustrates the potential effect that conditional heteroskedasticity and fat tails may have on the temporal aggregation of a random walk and of a highly persistent autoregressive process.
Multistep forecast selection for panel data

Abstract We develop a new set of model selection methods for direct multistep forecasting of panel data vector autoregressive processes. Model selection is based on minimizing the estimated multistep quadratic forecast risk among candidate models. To attenuate the small sample bias of the least squares estimator, models are fitted using bias-corrected least squares. We provide conditions sufficient for the new selection criteria to be asymptotically efficient as n (cross sections) and T (time series) approach infinity. The new criteria outperform alternative selection methods in an empirical application to forecasting metropolitan statistical area population growth in the US.
Linking Emissions Trading Schemes: Economic Valuation of a Joint China–Japan–Korea Carbon Market

Linking carbon emissions trading systems across countries has become an important tool for global emission reduction. The three high-emission Asian countries, China, Japan, and South Korea (ROK), all have initiated carbon trading and published ambitious Intended Nationally Determined Contribution targets. Since 2016, the three countries have discussed establishing a long-term unified market for carbon emissions trading, and have sought a scheme for such exchange. This study aimed to investigate whether linking the carbon emissions trading systems of these three countries could potentially achieve more ambitious emission reduction targets. A dynamic energy-environmental version of the Global Trade Analysis Project model was used to simulate carbon market linkages across the three countries. The results indicated that a linked China–Japan–ROK carbon market would be highly cost-effective, have positive economic benefits for all three countries, and improve the carbon market’s liquidity and transaction scale. Under a scenario with no carbon market linking, the economic losses in China, Japan, and ROK would be $51.55 billion, $13.55 billion, and $74.19 billion, respectively. Meanwhile, with carbon trading linking, the losses would be reduced to $47.08 billion, $5.37 billion, and $9.10 billion, respectively. Therefore, a joint China–Japan–ROK carbon market could greatly promote the adoption of market-based tools for emission reduction.