bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
How attractive are municipal bonds for the passive competitiveness: the case of immunization of municipal bonds
Authors: Vukovic Darko B. , Maiti Moinak , Kochetkov Dmitry , Bystryakov Alexander 
Published: May 2020

Purpose
This paper study regional attractiveness through passive portfolio investment based on duration, immunization and convexity (in case of higher interest rate volatility) of municipal bonds by using data from Standard and Poor’s. The massive variety of financial incentives to promote regional investment attractiveness is dependent on governmental strategy. Municipal bonds are the one of the most efficient ways of direct investments in the region, however, it is still a question of a good balance between a certain rate of return and an adequate risk. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the investment opportunities in municipal revenue bonds.

Design/methodology/approach
This study developed a model of investing using municipal bonds with the case of their immunization and analyze attractiveness of such investment. The theoretical model assumes a situation where the local government finances its capital projects through municipal revenue bonds. Such situations influence strongly on regional or local competitiveness provided by local government policy.

Findings
An analysis of the municipal bond market indicates that both municipal general and revenue bonds had stable and good level of yields to maturity in the past ten years. Their standard deviations were very low and in the past two years almost approached the level of standard deviations of treasury bonds. With the duration of 4–6 years on 5-year investment in municipal revenue bonds and their immunization, it is possible to provide good returns for investor.

Research limitations/implications
The limitation of this study concerns theoretical situation where local government will use non-market-based policy to reduce the interest rates and that will influence on rise of municipal bond liquidity premium (price distortion). This situation will make municipality bonds less attractive for investing, especially because of lower liquidity on secondary market. Also, this model is applicable in regions that have developed financial markets.

Practical implications
This research suggests governments a sustainable framework to use municipal bonds as a strategy for capital targeting in regions.

Social implications
This research is related to professional investors’ strategy with projects that have the highest investment potential; this is good way for an adequate allocation of resources (regional competitiveness).

Originality/value
This paper analyzes very rare subject involving local government strategy of finance and portfolio investment in municipal bonds. There is a huge gap in the literature on this issue. Also, this study provides the model that can be used as a case for higher local competitiveness.
Listening differently: youth self-actualization through critical Hip Hop literacies
Authors: Kelly Lauren Leigh 
Published: May 2020

PurposeThis study aims to refocus the field of Hip Hop based education on youth identities and epistemologies rather than on the tangible artifacts of Hip Hop culture. It argues that centering classroom pedagogy and curriculum on youth self-actualization best supports the critical literacy development of students grappling with social and structural inequities within an ever-evolving youth and media culture.Design/methodology/approachBuilding upon previous literature on critical literacy, Hip Hop pedagogy and adolescent identity formation, this paper shares data from a semester-long teacher–researcher case study of a high school Hip Hop literature and culture class to explore how young people develop critical literacies and self-actualizing practices through a critical study of youth culture.FindingsFor youth engaged in Hip Hop culture, co-constructing spaces to discuss their consumption of popular media and culture in class allows them to openly grapple with questions of identity, provide support for each other in dealing with these questions and reflect more critically upon their self-constructed, performed and perceived identities.Originality/valueThis form of English education challenges traditional notions of teaching and learning as it positions students as co-creators of curriculum and as part of the curriculum itself. Building on research that frames Hip Hop pedagogy as a culturally relevant tool for engaging urban youth, this paper argues that educators should approach critical Hip Hop literacy development as a means by which young people across diverse educational and social backgrounds come to know themselves and others as part of the process of self-actualization and critical resistance.
Toward a spatial approach for convergence
Authors: Amaghouss Jabrane , Ibourk Aoamar 
Published: May 2020

PurposeIn recent years, there is growing recognition of the importance of geography and space in the analysis of economic convergence by focusing on the dynamics of monetary indicators. The analysis of spatial convergence based on socio-economic indicators are rare. These variables present a complement to understand the spatial dynamics of territorial units. The purpose of this paper is, first, to analyzes and describes trends in multidimensional poverty in Morocco and second it explores the convergence hypothesis.Design/methodology/approachData are driven from HCP (2017). It concerns 75 provinces over the period 2004 and 2014. In addition to the availability of data, this period corresponds to significant changes in public policy. The nature of the observations necessitates the use of the spatial analysis techniques.FindingsThe results show that poverty is a geographical phenomenon with low speed of convergence. The paper propose some solutions to help policymakers implement an effective targeting policy aimed at reducing spatial inequalities in terms of multidimensional poverty in Morocco.Originality/valueThe analysis of spatial convergence based on socio-economic indicators are rare. This paper will focus on the convergence of the poverty index for a developing country.
Improved region growing segmentation for breast cancer detection: progression of optimized fuzzy classifier
Authors: Patil Rajeshwari S. , Biradar Nagashettappa 
Published: May 2020

PurposeBreast cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in women, which badly have an effect on women's physical and psychological health and even danger to life. Nowadays, mammography is considered as a fundamental criterion for medical practitioners to recognize breast cancer. Though, due to the intricate formation of mammogram images, it is reasonably hard for practitioners to spot breast cancer features.Design/methodology/approachBreast cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in women, which badly have an effect on women's physical and psychological health and even danger to life. Nowadays, mammography is considered as a fundamental criterion for medical practitioners to recognize breast cancer. Though, due to the intricate formation of mammogram images, it is reasonably hard for practitioners to spot breast cancer features.FindingsThe performance analysis was done for both segmentation and classification. From the analysis, the accuracy of the proposed IAP-CSA-based fuzzy was 41.9% improved than the fuzzy classifier, 2.80% improved than PSO, WOA, and CSA, and 2.32% improved than GWO-based fuzzy classifiers. Additionally, the accuracy of the developed IAP-CSA-fuzzy was 9.54% better than NN, 35.8% better than SVM, and 41.9% better than the existing fuzzy classifier. Hence, it is concluded that the implemented breast cancer detection model was efficient in determining the normal, benign and malignant images.Originality/valueThis paper adopts the latest Improved Awareness Probability-based Crow Search Algorithm (IAP-CSA)-based Region growing and fuzzy classifier for enhancing the breast cancer detection of mammogram images, and this is the first work that utilizes this method.
Social media–based customer service and firm reputation
Authors: Guo Yujuan , Fan Di , Zhang Xiao 
Published: May 2020

PurposeThis study investigates the effects of using social media for customer service on firms' reputation building. In addition, this study explores the role of absorptive capacity, ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 9,000 implementation and periodic training for management and employees in the relationship between social media–based customer service and firm reputation.Design/methodology/approachThis study sampled 115 US-listed firms and collected secondary data from five databases as follows: Factiva, Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies (WMAC), Standard & Poor's COMPUSTAT, American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) and Thomson Reuters’ Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). This study developed a panel dataset of these 115 firms from 2007 to 2016 and conducted dynamic panel data analyses to examine the hypotheses.FindingsThis study finds that a higher number of social media channels used for customer service is associated with a higher reputation score for a firm. In addition, the positive relationship is reinforced when a firm has a high absorptive capacity level, an ISO 9000 quality management system and offers periodic training for management and employees.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the relationship between social media–based customer service and firm reputation. This study also explores the boundary factors in terms of firm absorptive capacity, ISO 9000 quality management systems and training for management and employees.
Empowering leadership, work group cohesiveness, individual learning orientation and individual innovative behaviour in the public sector: empirical evidence from Norway
Authors: Mutonyi Barbara Rebecca , Slåtten Terje , Lien Gudbrand 
Published: May 2020

PurposeThis study clarifies the factors that foster individual innovative behaviour in the public sector by examining the effects and roles of empowering leadership, work group cohesiveness and individual learning orientation. This study also explores the direct effect of empowering leadership on work group cohesiveness and individual learning orientation, the influence of work group cohesiveness on individual learning orientation and the mediating roles of work group cohesiveness and individual learning orientation.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from an online survey of respondents working in a public sector organization. Partial least squares structural equation modelling and mediation analysis by the bootstrap method were used for the data analysis.FindingsEmpowering leadership and individual learning orientation had significant direct effects on individual innovative behaviour. Both empowering leadership and work group cohesiveness have significant direct effects on individual learning orientation. Empowering leadership was positively related to work group cohesiveness. The mediation analysis revealed that individual learning orientation mediates the relationships between empowering leadership and individual innovative behaviour and between work group cohesiveness and individual innovative behaviour.Research limitations/implicationsThe study focuses on three factors that foster individual innovative behaviour in a public sector organization.Originality/valueThis study offers new insights into the factors that foster individual innovative behaviour in the public sector. The findings reveal the importance of using a balanced leadership style and encourage learning in the workplace for individual innovativeness by public leaders.
Performance measurement for supply chains in the Industry 4.0 era: a balanced scorecard approach
Authors: Frederico Guilherme Francisco , Garza-Reyes Jose Arturo , Kumar Anil , Kumar Vikas 
Published: May 2020

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical approach based on the balanced scorecard (BSC) with regard to performance measurement – PM in supply chains for the Industry 4.0 era.Design/methodology/approachThis paper combines the literature of PM and specifically the BSC with the literature related to the dimensions of supply chain in the context of Industry 4.0.FindingsDimensions extracted from the literature based on supply chains within the context of Industry 4.0 showed a strong alignment with the four perspectives of the BSC, which make it suitable to be considered as a performance measurement system (PMS) for supply chains in this new context.Research limitations/implicationsFrom theoretical perspective, this study contributes to the limited literature on PM for supply chains in Industry 4.0 era. The study proposes a supply chain 4.0 Scorecard and strongly support researchers to conduct future empirical researches in order to get a deeper understanding about PM in supply chains in the Industry 4.0 era. As limitations, the theoretical framework proposed needs further empirical research in other to validate it and obtain new insights over the investigation conducted and presented into this paper.Practical implicationsPractitioners can use this study as a guide to develop more effective performance measurement systems – PMSs in their organizations.Originality/valueThis research is unique as it addresses a significant knowledge gap related to PM in supply chains in the Industry 4.0 era. It brings a significant contribution in terms of understanding how to measure performance in supply chains in this new era.
“Buy, buy most Americans buy”: country of reference (COR) effects and consumer purchasing decisions
Authors: Chen Ting-Ting , Wang Shih-Ju , Huang Heng-Chiang 
Published: May 2020

PurposeThe international marketing field has witnessed many studies related to “country of origin” (COO) effects or the “made in” concept over the past few decades. Yet COO research is deeply rooted in the so-called “production-related” approach, which mainly accounts for production- or technology-based factors. Barely considered is the “consumption-related” perspective, which reflects consumers' proclivity to base their buying decisions on foreigners' product choice. In this paper, we propose the “country of reference” (COR) concept, in which consumers deliberately imitate the product choices of consumers from another country, to whom the former (i.e. the imitators) attribute superior or more prestigious personas.Design/methodology/approachUnlike the made in concept, which emphasizes favored product qualities from superior manufacturing countries, we believe product preferences may arise from cross-border benchmarking or “cross-country referencing.” Pivoting on the optimal distinctiveness theory, this paper suggests a COR framework that incorporates the system justification theory and the self-discrepancy concept, along with decision heuristics and mental simulation effects. The proposed framework aims to explain consumers' inclination to “buy what certain foreigners buy.”FindingsWe suggest critical propositions related to the COR concept, discuss its marketing implications, and pinpoint further research issues.Originality/valueCOR may become a coping strategy through which low-status consumers perceiving themselves as less privileged than their high-status counterparts can narrow this gap by means of decision mimicking.
Comparative analysis of profitability of real estate, industrial construction and infrastructure firms: evidence from India
Authors: Jolly Cyril Edison , Singla Harish Kumar 
Published: May 2020

PurposeThis study aims to identify the most profitable segment of construction firms amongst real estate, industrial construction and infrastructure. This paper also examines the determinants of profitability of real estate, industrial construction and infrastructure firms.Design/methodology/approachThe data of 67 firms (20 real estate, 21 industrial construction and 26 infrastructure) is collected for a 15-year period (2003–2017). Two models are created using total return on assets (ROA) and return on invested capital (ROIC) as dependent variables.. Leverage, liquidity, age, growth, size and efficiency of the firm are identified as firm-specific independent variables. Two economic variables, i.e. growth in GDP and inflation, are also used as independent variables. Initially, the models are tested for stationarity, multicollinearity and heteroscedasticity, and finally, the coefficients are estimated using Arellano–Bond dynamic panel data estimation to account for heteroscedasticity and endogeneity.FindingsThe results suggest that industrial construction is the most profitable segment of construction, followed by real estate and infrastructure. Their profitability is positively driven by liquidity, efficiency and leverage. The real estate firms are somewhat less profitable compared to industrial construction firms, and their profitability is positively driven by liquidity. The infrastructure firms have low ROA and ROIC.Originality/valueThe real estate, infrastructure and industrial construction drastically differ from each other. The challenges involved in real estate, infrastructure and industrial construction are altogether different. Therefore, authors present a comparative analysis of the profitability of real estate, infrastructure and industrial construction segments of the construction and compare their determinants of profitability. The results provided in the study are robust and reliable because of the use of a superior econometric model, i.e. Arellano–Bond dynamic panel data estimation with robust estimates, which accounts for heteroscedasticity and endogeneity in the model.
A micro-level view on knowledge co-creation through university-industry collaboration in a multi-national corporation
Authors: Jones Shannon Elizabeth , Coates Nigel 
Published: May 2020

PurposeTechnology transfer (TT) in industry to university collaboration (UIC) literature focuses primarily on a macro view within an SME environment. While these discussions are important to establish the significance of encouraging UIC's as the value is important to both parties, there is a need for further research at a micro level to help understand key approaches to ensuring the success of the TT. By looking at how value created from TT for a multi-national corporation (MNC) with a project based within a single subsidiary, this research effectively looks at the issue from both a SME level (the subsidiary independently) and a MNC level.Design/methodology/approachThe research uses a longitudinal knowledge transfer partnership and action research to form a case study of Parker Hannifin's Gas Separation and Filtration Europe, Middle East and Africa (GSFE) division.FindingsThe research highlights the key areas to focus on in ensuring a successful TT within an UIC such as: once identifying the gap that a UIC is filling in the company, identifying internal barriers before the project starts; education of why change is necessary and then using knowledge experts to educate on the new processes being introduced and finally; incorporation of a full range of personnel, not just those directly involved in the day-to-day of the UIC.Research limitations/implicationsAs a case study, further research is required to make the results more generalisable. One way to do this would be to evaluate previous successful and unsuccessful UIC's and determine if the success criteria identified were present in these programmes.Practical implicationsThere are three critical points that can be taken away from this research and applied to any company looking to use UIC for TT and value co-creation. Education, external knowledge experts and business wide inclusion were highlighted in the findings as being potentially critical turning points and need to be addressed for successful TT.Social implicationsSuccessful UIC's further encourage investment in such programmes which has greater societal benefits. Not only can we see greater leaps in industry through better, more specific knowledge being transferred from the university, the industry knowledge fed into universities helps to guide research and teachings.Originality/valueThe micro level view created by action research based from the industry partner perspective adds another level of importance as the “how” for overcoming barriers is clearly addressed. Furthermore, the research looks at how a multi-national corporation can have value added through UIC's within subsidiaries which often is not addressed in the literature.
Canada’s financial intelligence unit: FINTRAC
Authors: Simser Jeffrey R. 
Published: May 2020

Purpose
International bodies, such as the Financial Action Task Force , have mandated the use of financial intelligence units (FIU) to address organized crime and money laundering. The purpose of this paper is to examine Canada’s FIU, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), and explore its current effectiveness and future challenges.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper examines FIUs in general and then looks more specifically at Canada’s FIU, its policy and legislative basis as well as future challenges for the FIU.

Findings
The challenge money laundering poses to society is a mirror of the challenge that organized crime poses: a test of the values and the importance of rule of law. The FIU is an important mechanism to address this challenge generally, and there are important changes in the environment that must be addressed if the future policy objectives of the FIU are to be met.

Research limitations/implications
Some of the policy nostrums that are baked into the anti-money laundering system, such as placement, layering and integration, need to be revisited and researched to incorporate changes in the licit and illicit marketplaces.

Practical implications
Financial institutions and other intermediaries must comply with domestic anti-money laundering laws. Compliance is always contextual, and this paper will outline the role of the regulator and the environmental challenges that need to be met.

Social implications
Effectively addressing money laundering and organized crime is critical to the maintenance of rule of law and the protection of the financial system.

Originality/value
This is a brief but very fulsome review of Canada’s FIU, FINTRAC, which captures broader challenges in addressing money laundering, economic crime and regulatory systems designed to protect rule of law and the integrity of the financial system. The paper not only examines the current state of the FIU but also explores challenges on the horizon.