bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Learning outcomes’ role in higher education teaching
Authors: Nasrallah Rita
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this multiple-case study was to examine the ambiguity surrounding course learning outcomes and how they are perceived by faculty members in four private universities, while simultaneously investigating the dominant teaching perspectives, practices and assessment techniques. In parallel, theory of constructive alignment was shared with faculty members and students as a possible teaching-learning model.

Design/methodology/approach

– This study is a qualitative multiple-case study designed based on Yin’s (2009) case study protocol and Stake’s (2006) cross-case analysis report. In the process, 52 faculty members were interviewed, and 38 of the 52 were observed teaching, plus 15 of 52, faculty members participated in separate focus groups about constructive alignment. Further, 18 students were interviewed in separate focus groups to find out how they perceive effective teaching and constructive alignment.

Findings

– The findings showed why faculty members misunderstood the course learning outcomes. Both faculty members and students withheld similar perceptions when it came to efficient teaching; however, they disagreed regarding the utility of constructive alignment as a proposed teaching-learning model. The 52 faculty members were mainly knowledge transmitters and this contradicts with the notion of the learning outcomes, which is student-centered. In addition, they are not familiar with the teaching-learning theories or with the various pedagogical tools that may render learning constructive.

Research limitations/implications

– The fact that this study is a multiple-case study automatically implies that the results cannot be generalized within the larger higher education context. Nevertheless, the research findings can help to clarify the reasons hindering the proper implementation of the learning outcomes in other institutions, as it can serve as a guide to improve all the detected weaknesses, which may be applicable in other contexts. It can also aid administrative bodies at the different institutions in dealing with the obstacles that restrict the workability of the learning outcomes.

Practical implications

– Teaching in higher education must be nurtured through continuously investing time and effort in supporting faculty members to develop their teaching-learning skills to suit the changing profiles of students to render learning a durable experience.

Originality/value

– The study is unique in how it combined Yin’s protocol with Stake’s cross-case analysis report. Additionally, the classroom observation instrument was, to an extent, a precedent in terms of higher education research in the Lebanese context. Further, the results obtained added to the results of previous research, i.e. the reasons why the learning outcomes were not functional. Plus, a cyclical/retrograding motion learning model emerged in the process, and the practicality of the theory of constructive alignment in the Lebanese context was questioned.
The effect of marketing constructs and tourists’ satisfaction on loyalty to a sport destination
Authors: Reza Jalilvand Mohammad , Khazaei Pool Javad , Nasrolahi Vosta Leila , Shabani Nafchali Javad
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of the current study is to explore complicated structural relationships among the variables of tourists’ perceptions of quality and the value of a sport tourist destination and their satisfaction level and loyalty that are vital for successful destination marketing and management.

Design/methodology/approach

– A survey was used to collect data from a sample of 570 sport tourists who traveled to Nowshahr and Chalous cities in Iran during September 2012. These data were gathered by convenience sampling method and analyzed using a structural equation model (SEM).

Findings

– The results of the SEM revealed that tourists’ perceived quality and perceived value have a significant impact on their satisfaction. Further, tourists’ satisfaction had a positive and significant effect on the level of their loyalty.

Practical implications

– Findings of the current study contribute to a better perception of behavioral mechanisms and incentives and provide an acceptable basis to improve tourism industry in both regional and national levels.

Originality/value

– This is the first such study of the Iranian sports sector.
Strategic plan compilation using system dynamics modeling: case study of a university
Authors: Sababi Pour Asl Golnaz , Bafandeh Zendeh Alireza
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to measure the demand for bachelors, masters and PhD degree students at an Iranian university.

Design/methodology/approach

– System dynamics (SD) modeling is used for the strategic plan compilation.

Findings

– After successful examination of the model, a simulation was carried out for the coming 18 years. The results show that in the future, the university will face reductions in the numbers of BA, MA and PhD students. Therefore, university leaders need to develop appropriate strategies to deal with this challenge.

Originality/value

– SD modeling for strategic plan compilation has been used for the first time in an examination of higher education in Iran.
A cross-cultural study of students’ perceptions of assessment practices in higher education
Authors: F. Alquraan Mahmoud
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– This study aims to utilized the item response theory (IRT) rating scale model to analyze students’ perceptions of assessment practices in two universities: one in Jordan and the other in the USA. The sample of the study consisted of 506 university students selected from both universities. Results show that the two universities still focus on paper-pencil testing to assess students’ learning outcomes. The study recommends that higher education institutes should encourage their teachers to use different assessment methods to assess students’ learning outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

– The convenience sample consisted of 506 selected university students from the USA and Jordan, and participants were distributed according to their educational levels, thus: 83 freshmen, 139 sophomores, 157 juniors and 59 seniors. (Note: some students from both universities did not report their gender and/or their educational level). The USA university sample consisted of 219 students from three colleges at a major university in the southeast of the USA studying for arts and sciences, education and commerce and business qualifications, of whom 43 were males and 173 were females. The study used the Students Perception of Assessment Practices Inventory developed by Alquraan (2007), and for the purpose of this study, the RUMM2020 program was used for its rating scale model.

Findings

– Both universities, in Jordan and the USA, still focus more on the developmental (construction of assessment tasks), organizational and planning aspects of assessment processes than they do on assessments of learning and assessment methods (traditional and new assessment methods). The assessment practices that are used frequently in both universities based on the teachers sampled are: “(I27) I know what to study for the test in this class”, “(I6) Teacher provides a good environment during test administration” and “(I21) My teacher avoids interrupting students as they are taking tests”. This indicates that teachers in the selected universities have a tendency to focus on the administrative and communicative aspects of assessment (e.g. providing a good environment during test administration) more than on using different assessment methods (e.g. portfolios, new technology, computers, peer and self-assessment) or even using assessment practices that help students learn in different ways (e.g. assessing students’ prior knowledge and providing written feedback on the graded tests).

Originality/value

– This is a cross-cultural study focus assessment of students learning in higher education.
Lean metric appraisement: exploration of grey numbers set theory
Authors: Ram Matawale Chhabi , Datta Saurav , Sankar Mahapatra Siba
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– Lean manufacturing is a production practice that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination. In today's competitive global marketplace the concept of lean manufacturing has gained vital consciousness to all manufacturing sectors, their supply chains and hence a logical measurement index system is indeed required in implementing leanness in practice. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– The present work exhibits an efficient grey-based leanness assessment system using concept of grey numbers theory.

Findings

– Such leanness estimation can help the enterprises to assess their existing leanness level; can compare different industries who are adapting this lean concept. The methodology described here has been found fruitful while applying for a particular industry, in India, as a case study.

Originality/value

– Lean extent evaluation module (lean index appraisement system) exploring grey numbers theory is quite new and not documented in literature before.
Grey cluster model based approach for selecting international cooperation key-technology projects
Authors: Xie Naiming
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to construct index system of international cooperation project selection, propose a grey cluster model for project selection and apply propose model for Jiangsu international cooperation key-technology projects selection.

Design/methodology/approach

– Considering supply of international cooperation project is different with its demand, and regional key cooperation technologies should consider urgency and possibility of project cooperation, the author separately construct index groups for supply and demand. To aggregate assessment information of each cooperation project, whitenization function for each index is constructed and then cluster coefficient of index group could be aggregated by using each index and its weight information. Fixed weight grey cluster model is redefined and applied for selecting international cooperation project. And steps of calculation of model are given out. Real application of Jiangsu international cooperation projects’ selection is used for demonstrating process of the proposed model.

Findings

– Results show that constructed indexes of international cooperation project selection can be used for selecting regional cooperation projects well. And proposed fixed weight grey cluster model can aggregate all indexes information well. Therefore, proposed indexes and model in this manuscript is effective and also it can be used for solving similar problems.

Practical implications

– Jiangsu province is a developed region of China, and its international cooperation is more active than other regions accordingly. Constructed indexes of international cooperation project selection and fixed weight grey cluster model can help government to select needed projects easily.

Originality/value

– This manuscript first define a demand as urgency and supply as possibility, and a new index system of international cooperation project selection is constructed with several urgency indexes and several possibility indexes. And a new assessment model, named as fixed weight grey cluster model, is proposed to aggregate indexes’ information.
Targeting, cascading and indirect tax design
Authors: Keen Michael
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to address two fundamental issues in indirect tax design. It first revisits the case for reduced rates on items especially important to the poor, and then explores the welfare costs from cascading taxes.

Design/methodology/approach

– Applied theory was used in this paper.

Findings

– On the first issue, the paper establishes conditions under which even very crudely targeted spending measures better serve the interests of the poor than does the reduced taxation of particular commodities looming large in their consumption. On the second, it shows that these may actually be lower the wider the set of inputs that are taxed but, more to the point, may plausibly be large even at a low nominal tax rate and with relatively few stages of production: contrary to a common mantra, “a low rate on a broad base” is not always good policy.

Originality/value

– Both issues addressed in the paper are recurrent and central concerns in the design of indirect taxes in general, and the value-added tax (VAT)/general sales tax (GST) in particular. The author is unaware of other treatments that are at all comparable in perspective or results. The author hopes the analysis will prove useful in many contexts where these issues arise – not least in India, where these issues are central to discussions of VAT/GST reform.
Poverty by social, religious and economic groups in India and its largest states
Authors: Panagariya Arvind , More Vishal
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to ground in serious empirical evidence the debate on whether the post-reform acceleration in growth has helped bring poverty down for all economic, social and religious groups and in all state or has left certain groups or states.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper uses unit-level data from the so-called thick rounds of expenditure surveys by National Sample Survey (NSS) in the years 1993-1994, 2004-2005, 2009-2010 and 2011-2012 and estimates the proportion of the population below the official Tendulkar line. Adequate care is taken to address the issue of sample size in reporting the estimates.

Findings

– Whether we slice the data by social, religious or economic groups, by states or by rural and urban areas, poverty has significantly declined between 1993-1994 and 2011-2012 with a substantial acceleration during the faster-growth period from 2004-2005 to 2011-2012. Poverty rates among the disadvantaged social groups and minorities have declined faster so that the gap in poverty rates between them and the general population has declined. In 7 of the 16 states with large Muslim populations, the poverty rate for them is now below that for the Hindus.

Research limitations/implications

– Use of survey data has its limitations, especially when the sample sizes are small. The paper also does not assess the direct contribution of growth in relation to that through redistribution.

Practical implications

– The paper presents implications for identification of the poor for the purpose of designing targeted interventions.

Originality/value

– This is the first paper to offer up-to-date estimates of poverty by social, religious and economic groups, by states and by rural and urban areas.
Optimal tax and expenditure policy in the presence of emigration
Authors: Backlund Kenneth , Sjögren Tomas , Stage Jesper
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to present a theoretical underpinning for the fact that empirical studies have found an inverted-U curve relationship between emigration and per capita income, based on credit restrictions. The implications for tax policy are also analyzed.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using an intertemporal general equilibrium model, the authors characterize how the presence of an “inverted U-curve” relationship between emigration and per capita income will influence the optimal tax and expenditure policy in a country where agents have the option to move abroad.

Findings

– Among the results it is shown that if age-dependent taxes are available, the presence of an inverted-U curve provides an incentive to tax young labor harder, but old labor less hard, than otherwise.

Originality/value

– This migration model fits the empirical facts of migration better than most of the migration models previously used in the optimal taxation literature.
CFD based study of thermal sensation of occupants using thermophysiological model. Part I
Authors: Pichurov George , Angelova Radostina , Simova Iskra , Rodrigo Iosu , Stankov Peter
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to integrate a thermophysiological human body model into a CFD simulation to predict the dry and latent body heat loss, the clothing, skin and core temperature, skin wettedness and periphery blood flow distribution. The integration of the model allows to generate more realistic boundary conditions for the CFD simulation and allows to predict the room distribution of temperature and humidity originating from the occupants.

Design/methodology/approach

– A two-dimensional thermophysiological body model is integrated into a CFD simulation to predict the interaction between the human body and room environment. Parameters varied were clothing insulation and metabolic activity and supply air temperature. The body dry and latent heat loss, skin wettedness, skin and core temperatures were predicted together with the room air temperature and humidity.

Findings

– Clothing and metabolic activity were found to have different level of impact on the dry and latent heat loss. Heat loss was more strongly affected by changes in the metabolic rate than in the clothing insulation. Latent heat loss was found to exhibit much larger variations compared to dry heat loss due to the high latent heat potential of water.

Originality/value

– Unlike similar studies featuring naked human body, clothing characteristics like sensible resistance and vapor permeability were accommodated into the present study. A method to ensure numerical stability of the integrated simulation was developed and implemented to produce robust and reliable simulation performance.
Functional characteristics of textile fabrics by plasma-nano treatment
Authors: Vellingiri K. , Ramachandran T. , Senthilkumar P.
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– Any change in physical performance of the fibre corresponds to a change in its molecular structure. Basically polyester is hydrophobic in nature due to the absence of attracting polar groups and the dense packing in its polymeric structure. Due to the dense packing in polymeric structure and lack of hydroxyl groups of polyester it does not absorb water hence breathability is poor. The possibility of using air and oxygen plasma treatments for fibre surface activation to facilitate the improvement of hydrophilicity is attempted and has been improved. The purpose of this paper is to study the possibility of engineering the multifunctional of fabrics.

Design/methodology/approach

– The treated fabric is evaluated through measuring the ultraviolet protection factor, thermal resistance, and antibacterial activity properties. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy graphs show deposition of nano particles (NPs) of Chitosan, TiO2and ZnO onto the fibre after washing several times.

Findings

– Air plasma-nano Chitosan treatment affects positively the antibacterial activity, thermal resistance of the fibre and air plasma-nano TiO2and ZnO the fibre protection against ultraviolet rays. Furthermore, the plasma treatment solves an environmental problem which offers safe production process and working place and decreases the unit cost.

Originality/Value

– The authors are confident that textiles will adopt this technology in the future.
Lightweight security scheme for IoT applications using CoAP
Authors: Ukil Arijit , Bandyopadhyay Soma , Bhattacharyya Abhijan , Pal Arpan , Bose Tulika
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to study lightweight security scheme for Internet of Things (IoT) applications using Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP). Resource-constrained characteristics of IoT systems have ushered in compelling requirements for lightweight application protocol and security suites. CoAP has already been established as the candidate protocol for IoT systems. However, low overhead security scheme for CoAP is still an open problem. Existing security solutions like Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) is not suitable, particularly due to its expensive handshaking, public key infrastructure (PKI)-based authentication and lengthy ciphersuite agreement process.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper proposes a lightweight security scheme in CoAP using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 128 symmetric key algorithm. The paper presents an object security (payload embedded)-based robust authentication mechanism with integrated key management. The paper introduces few unique modifications to CoAP header to optimize security operation and minimize communication cost.

Findings

– It is resilient to number of security attacks like replay attack, meet-in-the-middle attack and secure under chosen plaintext attack. This scheme is generic in nature, applicable for gamut of IoT applications. The paper proves efficacy of our proposed scheme for vehicle tracking application in emulated laboratory setup. Specifically, it compares with DTLS-enabled CoAP to establish the lightweight feature of our proposed solution.

Research limitations/implications

– This paper mainly focuses on implementing in-vehicle tracking systems as an IoT application and used CoAP as the application protocol.

Practical implications

– Such a lightweight security scheme would provide immense benefit in IoT systems so that resource constraint-sensing devices and nodes can be made secure. This would impact IoT eco systems to a large extent.

Originality/value

– Such kind of security suite that provides both robustness and lightweight feature is hitherto not known to the authors, particularly in CoAP for IoT applications.
LOC algorithm
Authors: Kashif Ashraf Khan Sardar , Loo Jonathan , Lasebae Aboubaker , Awais Azam Muhammad , Adeel Muhammad , Kausar Rehana , Sardar Humaira
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to propose an algorithm, location-aware opportunistic content forwarding (LOC), to improve message directivity using direction vectors in opportunistic networks. The LOC is based on the assumption that if approximate location of the destination node is known, then overall message delivery and cost can be improved. Efficient message delivery with low communication cost is a major challenge in current opportunistic networks. In these networks, nodes do not have prior knowledge of their recipients, and message forwarding can be achieved by selecting suitable forwarder based on some forwarding criteria, as compared to its ancestor mobile ad hoc networks.

Design/methodology/approach

– In this paper, the authors tested LOC in two sets of mobility models, synthetic movement model and real mobility data sets. In the first set, working day movement is used as synthetic movement model, where proposed algorithm is compared against Lobby Influence (LI) and Epidemic algorithms. In the second set of experiments, the new algorithm is tested in three mobility data sets, namely, Cambridge, Reality and Sassy, and results compared against LI algorithm. The reason of using various movement models is to establish strengths and weaknesses of the proposed algorithm in different scenarios.

Findings

– The experimental results show that the new algorithm performed extremely well in different scenarios, not only in terms of overall message delivery but also successfully managed to reduce the communication cost.

Originality/value

– The new contribution increases the overall energy and storage efficiency of nodes by targeting relevant forwarding nodes in the network.
Participatory sensing and education
Authors: Ong Kok-Leong , Leao Simone , Krezel Adam
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to present a project in Australia, where participants use smartphones to measure the level of traffic noise in their homes. Through the data collected, participants learn if they are subjected to sleep disturbances and, if so, understand how they can manage the issue to protect their health. The project also has a secondary purpose: the local council would like to engage its community through the exercise and be seen as acting on the community’s problems.

Design/methodology/approach

– The approach taken was the development of a mobile app call 2Loud? that turns the smartphones of participants into noise sensors with accuracies comparable to professional sound-meters. The data collected are analyzed by environment and acoustic experts, and personalized feedback, in the form of mitigation strategies, is then provided. The strategies are delivered through the app to allow participants to share within the community and hence, propagate the solution to non-participants.

Findings

– Participants who are technologically literate find a sense of empowerment as a result. They confirmed the importance of “closing the loop” with the feedback they received after their voluntary data collection effort. They also reported some sense of satisfaction with the technology as an interim solution and noted the council’s creative approach.

Originality/value

– This project first showcases how a participatory setup could be extended to create a “closed-loop” feedback system that further empowers its users. It is also a case example of how an organization could engage and manage its stakeholders’ expectations through innovative use of participatory sensing systems.
Energy efficient clustering for wireless sensor networks
Authors: Aliouat Zibouda , Harous Saad
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to design a hierarchical routing protocol. Wireless sensor network (WSN) consists of a set of miniature sensor nodes powered by a low-capacity energy battery. This limitation requires that energy is used in an efficient way and kept as long as possible to allow the WSN to accomplish its mission. Thus, energy conservation is a very important problem facing researchers in this context. Because sending and receiving messages is the activity that consumes the most energy in a WSN, so when designing routing protocols, this problem is targeted specifically. The aim of this paper is to propose a solution to this problem by designing a hierarchical routing protocol.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors started by designing a protocol called efficient energy-aware distributed clustering (EEADC). Simulation result showed EEADC might generate clusters with very small or very large size. To solve this problem, the authors designed a new algorithm called fixed efficient energy-aware distributed clustering (FEEADC). They concluded from the simulation result that cluster-heads (CHs) far away from the base station die faster than the ones closer to it. To remedy this problem, they propose multi-hop fixed efficient energy-aware distributed clustering (M-FEEADC). It is based on a new fixed clustering mechanism, which aims to create a balanced distribution of CHs. It uses data aggregation and sleep/wakeup techniques.

Findings

– The simulation results show a significant improvement in terms of energy consumption and network lifetime over the well-known low-energy adaptive clustering hierarchy and threshold-sensitive energy-efficient protocols.

Originality/value

– The authors propose M-FEEADC. It is based on a new fixed clustering mechanism, which aims to create a balanced distribution of CHs. It uses data aggregation and sleep/wakeup techniques.
A duration-based online reminder system
Authors: Chaurasia Priyanka , McClean Sally , D. Nugent Chris , Scotney Bryan
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to discuss an online sensor-based support system which the authors believe can be useful in such scenarios. Persons with a cognitive impairment, such as those with Alzheimer’s disease, suffer from deficiencies in cognitive skills which reduce their independence; such patients can benefit from the provision of further assistance such as reminders for carrying out instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs).

Design/methodology/approach

– The system proposed processes data from a network of sensors that have the capability of sensing user interactions and on-going IADLs in the living environment itself. A probabilistic learning model is built that computes joint probability distributions over different activities representing users’ behavioural patterns in performing activities. This probability model can underpin an intervention framework that prompts the user with the next step in the IADL when inactivity is being observed. This prompt for the next step is inferred from the conditional probability taken into consideration the IADL steps that have already been completed, in addition to contextual information relating to the time of day and the amount of time already spent on the activity. The originality of the work lies in combining partially observed sensor sequences and duration data associated with the IADLs. The prediction of the next step is then adjusted as further steps are completed and more time is spent towards the completion of the activity, thus updating the confidence that the prediction is correct. A reminder is only issued when there has been sufficient inactivity on the part of the patient and the confidence is high that the prediction is correct.

Findings

– The results of this study verify that by including duration information the prediction accuracy of the model is increased and the confidence level for the next step in the IADL is also increased. As such, there is approximately a 10 per cent rise in the prediction performance in the case of single sensor activation in comparison to an alternative approach which did not consider activity durations.

Practical implications

– Duration information to a certain extent has been widely ignored by activity recognition researchers and has received a very limited application within smart environments.

Originality/value

– This study concludes that incorporating progressive duration information into partially observed sensor sequences of IADLs has the potential to increase performance of a reminder system for patients with a cognitive impairment, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Development thresholds of foreign aid effectiveness in Africa
Authors: Simplice Asongu
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine whether initial levels in GDP growth, GDP per capita growth and inequality adjusted human development matter in the impact of aid on development. In substance its object is to assess if threshold development conditions are necessary for the effectiveness of foreign aid in Africa.

Design/methodology/approach

– The panel quantile regression technique enables us to investigate if the relationship between development dynamics and development assistance differs throughout the distributions of development dynamics.

Findings

– Three main findings are established. First, with slight exceptions, the effectiveness of aid in economic prosperity (at the macro level) increases in positive magnitude across the distribution. This implies high-growth countries are more likely to benefit from development assistance (in terms of general economic growth) than their low-growth counterparts. Second, the positive nexus between aid and per capita economic growth displays nonlinear patterns across distributions and specifications, with the correlations broadly higher in top quantiles than in bottom quantiles after controlling for the unobserved heterogeneity. Third, the aid-human development nexus is negative and almost similar in magnitude across distributions and specifications.

Practical implications

– As a policy implication, there is need to improve management of aid funds destined for health and education projects in the sampled countries. Moreover, given the magnitude of the nexuses, while blanket aid initiatives could be applied for policies targeting the human development index (due to the absence of significant differences in the magnitude of estimated coefficients), such are unlikely to succeed for aid targeting economic prosperity at macro and micro levels. From the weight of the findings, given a policy of balancing the impact of aid, it could be inferred that low-growth countries would need more aid than their high-growth counterparts because of the less positive effects in the former countries.

Originality/value

– This paper contributes to existing literature on the effectiveness of foreign aid by focussing on the distribution of the dependent variables (development dynamics). It is likely that high- and low-growth countries respond differently to development assistance.
Assessing the distributional impact of community forest income
Authors: Olushola Arowolo Aisha , Agbonlahor Mure , Okuneye Peter , Soaga Jubril
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– Emerging evidence revealed a high rate of dependence of marginal people on forest resources in developing countries for both subsistence use and cash income. The purpose of this paper is to examine the rural livelihoods welfare dimensions of community forest income in south-western Nigeria.

Design/methodology/approach

– Forest activities and income pattern data were collected from 160 rural households’ selected using multistage sampling approach. Descriptive statistics and Gini decomposition technique were used to analyse the data.

Findings

– The result shows that forest income accounts for about 38.2 per cent of total household income and was the first ranked source of income in the study area. The Gini decomposition analysis showed that access to forest income is income inequality reducing in the study area. The study findings suggests that household welfare in rural Nigeria could be improved through policies and programmes that can stimulate sustainable access to forest resources and assist households to earn income from alternative sources such as agriculture.

Originality/value

– The result of the study helped provide information on the uses and benefits of community forests as it affects the well-being of rural people. Also, it provides the benchmark for policy makers, government agencies and NGO's involved in rural livelihood outcome of forest communities.
Do local land institutions make a dime's worth of a difference in rural land markets? Evidence from Malawi
Authors: Collins Matchaya Greenwell
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– It has been argued that traditional land transfer systems provide disincentives for farmers to trade their land, thus reducing land availability and depressing productivity. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of land rentals under customary land ownership in matrilineal and patrilineal traditions and under formal land registration in the rural areas of Malawi.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using new data collected from around 100 households farming around 200 parcels in three regions of Malawi, a number of models are estimated with ordinary least squares.

Findings

– The paper finds some evidence that some variables within the traditional system of land holding are crucial for land rentals. However, when land titles are used as a proxy for security of tenure, none of the relationships commonly hypothesized between land ownership security and land lease are corroborated. Land registration is found to have no significant effects on land and rentals.

Social implications

– These results put into question the potency of sole land registration as a means of enhancing land market activities for rural masses in Malawi.

Originality/value

– The uniqueness of this paper rests in it its use of context-specific constructs of land ownership security. Moreover the tested hypotheses emerge from a theoretical model that is unique to the literature on rural land markets and land tenure.
Corruption and perceived risk: a case of the 2011 Fukushima disaster
Authors: Yamamura Eiji
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– Japan's 2011 natural disasters were accompanied by a devastating nuclear disaster in Fukushima. This paper used cross-country data obtained immediately after the Japanese disaster to explore how, and the extent to which, corruption affects the perception of citizens regarding the risk of nuclear accidents. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– Endogeneity bias was controlled for using instrumental variables when the author conducted regression estimation.

Findings

– The cross-country analysis showed that citizens in less corrupt countries tend to perceive there to be a lower possibility of nuclear accident.

Originality/value

– The finding made it evident that transparency of government enables citizens to access accurate information, reducing information asymmetry between citizens and government.
Knowledge creation. The ongoing search for strategic renewal
Authors: Begoña Lloria M. , Peris-Ortiz Marta
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to analyse how changes in a set of structural design variables (i.e. liaison position, networked design, innovation teams and work teams) affect the creation of new knowledge within organizations. The enablers intention, autonomy, fluctuation and creative chaos, redundancy, variety, and trust and commitment, taken from Nonaka's framework, are used as intermediate variables.

Design/methodology/approach

– A sample of 167 large Spanish companies was used to empirically test a general relational model.

Findings

– The analysis yielded two main conclusions. First, the relationship between structural variables and enablers, and, second, the relationship of enablers with knowledge creation emerged as highly relevant for knowledge creation in organizations.

Research limitations/implications

– A major limitation of this study was the relatively small number of variables used to define organizational structure. In reality, a large number of variables combine to create organizational structure, yet this study only included four: liaison position, networked design, innovation teams and work teams. A further limitation is the importance of the organizational context itself, which was not addressed in this study.

Practical implications

– This research has yielded findings that can help firms to understand and appreciate the changes that may occur in certain organizational design variables that affect knowledge creation. Equally, this research shows that knowledge creation has the potential to act as a catalyst for innovation, and may consequently drive change within the firm.

Originality/value

– Despite a long tradition of research into organizations and the ways in which these entities create knowledge, the literature requires enhancing through the publication of articles that provide a deeper knowledge of the context and tools that aid knowledge creation. The novel approach adopted in the current study verified whether certain variables related to organization design (i.e. liaison positions, networked design, innovation teams and work teams) exert a relevant influence on knowledge creation.
A systematic approach of partner selection for open innovation
Authors: Yoon Byungun , Song Bomi
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to propose a systematic approach to exploring potential partners for open innovation in order to facilitate the process of technological collaboration.

Design/methodology/approach

– The proposed approach utilizes patent information that is considered the most effective data to investigate innovation activities by applying morphology analysis (MA) and generative topology map (GTM) to the process to identify the configurations of technologies and visualize the collected patent information. In particular, diverse informative indices can assist researchers in deriving appropriate partners for technological cooperation.

Findings

– The hybrid approach that combines MA, GTM, and indices is useful to discover technological opportunity, identify necessary technologies and explore potential partners. The systematic process can overcome the limitations of existing approaches that depend on the insights and strategic decisions of top management, reflect a superficial relationship among firms and mostly fail to consider both theoretical and practical approaches to retrieve potential partners.

Practical implications

– The results of this paper will help practitioners, academic researchers, and policy makers link a pair of partners who can maximize the synergy of collaboration in a systematic manner. The proposed approach is illustrated to show the validity of the process with a case of light emitting diode (LED) technology. In addition, the social cost for collaboration can be reduced by applying the proposed approach in open innovation.

Originality/value

– This paper tackles the important issue of exploring appropriate partners by applying a systematic approach that utilizes text mining, MA and GTM because existing research mostly deals with ad-hoc processes. The proposed approach utilizes multiple methodologies of data mining and technology forecasting to derive promising technology areas in a systematic manner and then employs critical indices to explore proper partners. Thus, this approach considers both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to suggest a sophisticated tool for successful open innovation. Moreover, a real case – LED case was illustrated to demonstrate that the proposed approach can be employed to implement technological cooperation.
An empirical analysis of intra industry trade in manufactures between Korea and ASEAN
Authors: Phan Hoan Thanh , Jeong Young Ji
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the patterns and determinants of intra-industry trade (IIT) in manufactures between Korea and selected ASEAN countries in the period of 1997-2011.

Design/methodology/approach

– The effects of country-specific determinants of IIT in manufactures are examined using panel data approach.

Findings

– The results show that the IIT of Korea-ASEAN manufactures is positively correlated with the average income levels and foreign direct investment inflow, while it is negatively correlated with the differences in factor endowments between Korea and selected partners. Overall, market size, income dissimilarity and factor endowments are indicated as most relevant determinants of IIT in manufactures between Korea and ASEAN countries.

Originality/value

– Despites the importance of Korea-ASEAN IIT, studies on this subject are limited. This paper examines the pattern and determinants of IIT and its components in Korea-ASEAN manufactured trade. The paper also suggests the policy implications for the development of IIT between two parties.
The social valuation of income: a survey approach
Authors: Evans David John , Kula Erhun , Nagase Yoko
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to estimate survey-based values of the elasticity of marginal social valuation of income, an important welfare parameter in cost-benefit analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

– A model relating equity welfare weights to income is developed, and iso-elasticity of marginal valuation of income is tested using survey data obtained from a sample of Turkish politicians who are instrumental in policy making.

Findings

– Based on the survey feedback, formal statistical testing indicates that Turkish politicians, regardless of party allegiance, reveal preferences consistent with an iso-elastic marginal social valuation of income. The estimated value of the elasticity measure is close to unity for each of the political parties.

Originality/value

– The originality of the paper is in terms of the survey method used to obtain from Turkish politicians estimates of the marginal social valuation of income. This welfare parameter is needed in the calculation of both social discount rates and welfare weights. The paper will be of interest to academics in the field of welfare economics as well as to practitioners involved in the appraisal of social projects and policies.
Monetary policy, prudential regulation and investment
Authors: Montes Gabriel Caldas , Monteiro Gabriel Gonçalves do Vale
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of prudential regulation and monetary policies on the supply of credit as well as the influence of such policies on the aggregate investment through the credit channel in Brazil.

Design/methodology/approach

– The empirical analysis is based on estimates through ordinary least squares (OLS), generalized method of moments (GMM), system of equations through GMM (system-GMM), and impulse response functions through vector autoregressive (VAR).

Findings

– The results suggest that monetary policies and prudential regulation affect aggregate investment through the bank lending channel. With regards to elasticities, the findings indicate that the credit is very sensitive to variations in economic activity and, in turn, prudential regulation presents a stronger influence on credit than the basic interest rate and the reserve requirement rate. Moreover, the estimates suggest that aggregate investment is more sensitive to entrepreneurs’ expectations and credit supply.

Practical implications

– Aiming to reduce systemic risk in the economy, capital requirements may be increased in order to induce banks to a lower risk exposure by reducing the supply of loans. However, while this instrument strengthens the banking system, it can also lead the banking system to become less sensitive to monetary policy shocks, and also discourage aggregate demand through the influence that the credit exerts on investments. As a consequence, prudential regulation is an important tool because it acts on the balance between economic growth and low risk exposure of banks.

Originality/value

– The paper provides useful insights to academicians, economists and policymakers who are interested in understanding the effects of monetary policies and prudential regulation on aggregate investment through the credit channel in an emerging economy under inflation targeting. Moreover, the paper develops a theoretical model in order to show the influence of different monetary policies, as well as the influence of prudential regulation on the supply of credit.
Psychiatrists acting as expert witnesses – are they confident?
Authors: Gumber Rohit , Devapriam John , Sallah David , Khan Sayeed
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the current competencies and training needs for being an expert witness of trainees (CT3, ST4-6) and career grade psychiatrists (consultants and staff grade, associate specialist and specialty doctors) in a UK health and well-being Trust.

Design/methodology/approach

– This was completed through an online survey, developed by the authors, of all career grade and trainee psychiatrists within the Trust.

Findings

– Only 9 per cent of respondents reported that they felt they had adequate training to feel competent as an expert witness. Despite low levels of training and confidence, 73 per cent of respondents had written an expert report. As well as shortage of training opportunities for psychiatrics acting as expert witnesses, the findings indicated increasing fear of litigation and lack of direct experience of court proceedings during training.

Practical implications

– Doctors need to be offered formal training opportunities including simulated training, ideally organised within Trust, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) committees or Education committees. Implementation of the RCPsych report guidance into speciality curricula and CPD opportunities for doctors would ensure a robust curriculum-based delivery of these essential skills.

Originality/value

– A wealth of guidance is available for expert witnesses, but no previous study had identified the specific training issues and overall confidence in competency to act as an expert witness amongst psychiatrists. It will be valuable to all psychiatrists involved in court work and organisations involved in training psychiatrists, especially in light of recent relevant court cases and removal of expert witness immunity.