bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Has the efficiency of foreign exchange markets in India evolved over time?
Authors: Datta Radhika Prosad , Bhattacharyya Ranajoy 
Published: June 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine whether foreign exchange markets in India have become more efficient over time. There were two major developments in India’s foreign exchange market since the 1980s: first, a shift in foreign exchange management regime from a basket peg to a free float; and second, a rapid phase of economic liberalization since the mid-1990s. The paper attempts to find out whether the market efficiency of foreign exchange markets is affected by these developments. The paper mainly uses the well-known Hurst exponent calculated through corrected empirical R over S analysis to determine whether the exchange rates possess long memory. The robustness of the method is tested by calculating the Hurst exponent through two other prevalent methods in the literature.Design/methodology/approachThe authors apply the corrected empirical Hurst exponent which employs the Anis Lloyd correction with the modification suggested by Weron. The sensitivity of the results is then tested by replicating the calculations using the detrended fluctuation analysis and Robinson’s method.FindingsAll the methods show that: first, there is no significant change in the overall efficiency of the foreign exchange marketvis a visthe US$ for the time period from 1980 to 2017. Second, neither regime shifts nor calculations over sub-time periods is able to identify significant change in the efficiency level of the market for the US$ exchange rate. Third, efficiency of different exchange rate markets are different over the time period 1999–2017. The US$ market has unequivocally more long run memory compared to the GBP, Yen and EURO markets. Fourth, the results are robust to the method used for calculations.Originality/valueDoes the efficiency of asset markets evolve over time? This paper attempts to answer this question. In the process, the paper studies the effect of regime shifts and progressive globalization on the ability of the market to internalize information.
Vaccine promotion: impact of risk level on attitudes
Authors: Lemanski Jennifer L. , Villegas Jorge 
Published: June 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of personal relevance, source credibility and advertising appeal type on the emotional and cognitive processing of a direct to consumer pharmaceutical ad for a meningitis vaccine.

Design/methodology/approach
A 2 × 2 experiment was used, and path analysis was undertaken to test the hypotheses.

Findings
Resultant models indicated that unvaccinated (more at risk) and vaccinated (less at risk) participants are persuaded through different pathways. More specifically, vaccinated participants rely more on message credibility than creative strategy to form their cognitive evaluation of the message, whereas non-vaccinated subjects’ cognitive evaluations of the message depend on creative strategy (advertising appeal type) more than message credibility. Differences between individuals who were certain of the vaccine status and those who were not certain of their vaccine status were also apparent. Implications and areas for future research are also presented.

Practical implications
When using direct to consumer pharmaceutical ad for a vaccine, advertisers should take into account the perceived risk level of and relevance to audience members.

Originality/value
Personal relevance and risk are issues which impact the effectiveness of different types of advertising appeals, but less prior research has focused on this aspect of the target audience for direct to pharmaceutical vaccine advertisements.
Development of master-slave magnetic anchoring vision robotic system for single-port laparoscopy (SPL) surgery
Authors: Feng Haibo , Zhai Yanwu , Fu Yili 
Published: June 2018

PurposeSurgical robot systems have been used in single-port laparoscopy (SPL) surgery to improve patient outcomes. This study aims to develop a vision robot system for SPL surgery to effectively improve the visualization of surgical robot systems for relatively complex surgical procedures.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, a new master-slave magnetic anchoring vision robotic system for SPL surgery was proposed. A lighting distribution analysis for the imaging unit of the vision robot was carried out to guarantee illumination uniformity in the workspace during SPL surgery. Moreover, cleaning force for the lens of the camera was measured to assess safety for an abdominal wall, and performance assessment of the system was performed.FindingsExtensive experimental results for illumination, control, cleaning force and functionality test have indicated that the proposed system has an excellent performance in providing the visual feedback.Originality/valueThe main contribution of this paper lies in the development of a magnetic anchoring vision robot system that successfully improves the ability of cleaning the lens and avoiding the blind area in a field of view.
Strengthening the stability of exports through GVC participation
Authors: Díaz-Mora Carmen , Gandoy Rosario , Gonzalez-Diaz Belen 
Published: June 2018

PurposeDrawing on the literature that has shown the prevalence of short-lived trade relationships, the purpose of this paper is to provide further understanding about this issue by exploring the impact of engaging in Global Value Chains (GVCs) on the chance of export survival at product-country level, paying special attention to the differences between advanced and developing countries. The authors also investigate whether the type of GVC participation (backward or forward) matters for export survival.Design/methodology/approachTo capture to what extent a country’s exports are integrated in GVCs, the authors use the OECD Inter-Country Input-Output database to estimate value added incorporated in exports. Through the estimation of a discrete-time duration model, the authors explore the impact of engaging in GVCs on export survival using highly disaggregated trade data from the CEPII’s BACI database.FindingsThe findings endorse the hypothesis that deeper participation in GVCs is a key factor in explaining stability in trade relationships, mainly for developing countries where the trade flows are especially fragile. The authors also find different effects depending on the type of GVC involvement and on whether the value chain partners are advanced or developing.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the literature by extending the understanding on the factors that promote the stability of exports, including among them, involvement on GVCs (and its forms) which is one of the most relevant factors to explain recent behavior of trade.
Linking bank regulatory capital buffer to business cycle fluctuations
Authors: Adesina Kolade Sunday , Mwamba John Muteba 
Published: June 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assist bank regulators in Africa who are currently considering the implementation of Basel III countercyclical capital buffer (CCB) requirement.

Design/methodology/approach
Using a panel data set of 129 commercial banks operating in 14 African countries over the period 2004–2014, this paper estimates the system generalized method of moments regression to examine the impact of business cycle on banks’ regulatory capital buffers and attempts to identify the influence of bank revenue diversification, market power and cost of funding (CF) on bank regulatory capital buffers. It further carries out some robustness analyses using a panel data set of 257 commercial banks in 23 African countries over the period 2004–2014.

Findings
The results show that higher regulatory capital buffers are associated with higher market power, higher revenue diversification and higher CF. Additionally, the results show significant evidence of procyclical behavior of bank capital buffers (BUFs) in the sampled countries.

Practical implications
The results of this study suggest that African banking systems are not exposed to contagion and systemic risks arising from countercyclical movements of BUFs to the real economy. Therefore, this study does not support the implementation of the Basel III CCB requirement in the sampled African countries.

Originality/value
Considering that the results of existing studies on the cyclical behavior of BUFs are inconclusive, there is value in studying the cyclical movements of bank regulatory capital buffers in a set of countries that has not been analyzed before. Toward this direction, this is the first empirical study focusing on the cyclical behavior of bank regulatory capital buffers in Africa. Besides examining the cyclical behavior of bank regulatory capital buffers, this paper further investigates the effects of bank revenue diversification, market power and CF on bank regulatory capital buffers.
Factors affecting profitability in Malaysia
Authors: Alarussi Ali Saleh , Alhaderi Sami Mohammed 
Published: June 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the factors affecting profitability in Malaysian-listed companies. It has been argued that profitability is the main pillar for any company to survive in the long run. Although profitability is the primary goal of all business ventures, scant attention has been paid to the factors that affect profitability in developing countries. This study investigates the factors affecting profitability in Malaysian-listed companies.Design/methodology/approachThis research is based on five independent variables that were empirically examined for their relationship with profitability. These variables are: firm size (as measured by total sales), working capital (WC), company efficiency (assets turnover ratio), liquidity (current ratio) and leverage (debt equity ratio and leverage ratio). Data of 120 companies listed on Bursa Malaysia covering the period from 2012 to 2014 were extracted from companies’ annual reports. Pooled ordinary least squares regression and fixed-effects were used to analyze the data.FindingsThe findings show a strong positive relationship between firm size (total sales), WC, company efficiency (assets turnover ratio) and profitability. The results also show a negative relationship between both debt equity ratio and leverage ratio and profitability. Liquidity (current ratio) has no significant relationship with profitability.Research limitations/implicationsDue to the time limitation, the data includes only 120 companies listed in bursa Malaysia and covers the period from 2012 to 2014.Practical implicationsThese results benefit internal users (such as mangers, shareholders and employees). They can realize the determinants of enhancing the profitability of their company after the depreciation of the Malaysian currency and therefore concentrate more on the factors that enhance their companies’ profitability. On the other side, other external users (such as investors, creditors, new established companies, tax authority) also may get advantages of these results. It is clear that those users concern about the profitability of companies and the determinants of their profitability after the currency’s depreciation.Originality/valueThis study differs than previous studies in many ways: first, it focuses on non-financial listed companies in Malaysia. Previous studies have concentrated on companies in the financial sector, such as banking and financial institutions or on industrial organizations. Second, this study analyzes the data in companies’ annual reports for a three-year period from 2012 to 2014. During this period, the economy in Malaysia was fluctuating due to currency depreciation. Third, the study used both return on equity and earnings per share as indicators of profitability. Fourth, the results of the study provide empirical evidence that large size firms with efficiently managed assets can improve operating income and ultimately enhance profitability. Last but not least, this study applies the resource-based theory and the trade-off theory.
Firm opacity and informed trading around spinoffs
Authors: Wen Yuan 
Published: June 2018

Purpose
This paper aims to examine the prevalence of informed trading around corporate spinoffs and the relation between firm opacity and informed trading using option market data.

Design/methodology/approach
The author investigates the prevalence of informed trading by examining the relationship between abnormal stock returns associated with spinoffs and the volatility spread/volatility skewness of options prior to the spinoffs. Furthermore, the author examines how opacity and organizational complexity prior to the spinoffs affect informed trading.

Findings
The study shows that option volatility spread and volatility skewness for the five days prior to the spinoffs can predict the abnormal stock returns on the spinoff announcement days, suggesting that there is informed trading in the options market prior to spinoffs. The study shows that informed trading is more prevalent for firms that are more opaque prior to the spinoff. Furthermore, informed trading decreases after spinoffs.

Originality/value
To the best of knowledge, this is the first empirical research that examines the prevalence of informed trading around spinoffs by using options volatility spread/skewness and the relation between firm opacity and informed options trading.
Testing for the burst of bubbles in dry bulk shipping market using log periodic power law model
Authors: Chen Shun , Zheng Shiyuan , Meersman Hilde 
Published: June 2018

Purpose
The occurrence and unpredictability of speculative bubbles on financial markets, and their accompanying crashes, have confounded economists and economic historians worldwide. The purpose of this paper is to diagnose and detect the bursting of shipping bubbles ex ante, and to qualify the patterns of shipping price dynamics and the bubble mechanics, so that appropriate counter measures can be taken in advance to reduce side effects arising from bubbles.

Design/methodology/approach
Log periodic power law (LPPL) model, developed in the past decade, is used to detect large market falls or “crashes” through modeling of the shipping price dynamics on a selection of three historical shipping bubbles over the period of 1985 to 2016. The method is based on a nonlinear least squares estimation that yields predictions of the most probable time of the regime switching.

Findings
It could be concluded that predictions by the LPPL model are quite dependent on the time at which they are conducted. Interestingly, the LPPL model could have predicted the substantial fall in the Baltic Dry Index during the recent global downturn, but not all crashes in the past. It is also found that the key ingredient that sets off an unsustainable growth process for shipping prices is the positive feedback. When the positive feedback starts, the burst of bubbles in shipping would be influenced by both endogenous and exogenous factors, which are crucial for the advanced warning of the market conversion.

Originality/value
The LPPL model has been first applied into the dry bulk shipping market to test a couple of shipping bubbles. The authors not only assess the predictability and robustness of the LPPL model but also expand the understanding of the model and explain patterns of shipping price dynamics and bubble mechanics.
Knowledge transfer for sustainability
Authors: Alzubi Yazan 
Published: June 2018

Purpose
Knowledge is a fundamental source for sustainability and transfer as it plays a vital role in gaining and maintaining competitive advantage; thus it is imperative to investigate the factors that might impact knowledge transfer (KT). Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between knowledge enablers (organizational culture (OC), information technology (IT) knowledge leadership (KL) and knowledge strategy (KS)) and KT in the Jordanian construction industry.

Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative research approach was adopted, and structured questionnaire was sent to the employees in the construction industry. An aggregate of 250 surveys were distributed and out of them 195 were obtained, which represented a response rate of 78 percent.

Findings
The results of this paper showed that KS, OC, IT and KL has positive and significant impact on KT.

Originality/value
The study contributes to the literature by empirically testing the antecedents of KT in the Jordanian construction industry. To the best of authors’ knowledge, there are not many studies that incorporate these factors in single model, especially in Jordan.
Identification of new diagnostic biomarkers for Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the potential application in the serodiagnosis of human tuberculosis
Authors: Ren Ningning , JinLi Jingfang , Chen Yingyu , Zhou Xia , Wang Jieru , Ge Pan , Khan Farhan Anwar , Zhang Li , Hu Changmin , Robertson Ian D. , Chen Huanchun , Guo Aizhen 
Published: June 2018

SummaryMycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) regions of difference (RD) encode proteins which are potentially useful as diagnostic reagents for tuberculosis (TB). In this study, 75 genes from M. tuberculosis RD1‐RD16 were successfully cloned from which 68 proteins were expressed and purified. Three serum pools from patients with pulmonary TB (PTB), extra‐pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) and healthy controls (HC) were used to preliminarily screen individual RD proteins. The OD630 ratio of the PTB or EPTB to the HC group ≥ 2‐fold was positive. As a result, 29 proteins were obtained. The serological response to the identified antigens was further verified using 58 PTB samples with 38 sera from smear‐positive PTB (PTB‐SP) patients and 20 sera from smear‐negative PTB (PTB‐SN) patients, 16 EPTB samples, 42 latent M. tuberculosis infection samples and 40 HCs by indirect ELISA. With respect to the PTB diagnosis, receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that Rv0222 [area under the curve (AUC), 0.8129; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.7280–0.8979] and Rv3403c (AUC, 0.8537; 95% CI, 0.7779–0.9294) performed better than ESAT6/CFP10 (AUC, 0.7435; 95% CI, 0.6465–0.8406). Rv0222 and Rv3403c demonstrated the highest diagnostic ability in the PTB‐SP group (sensitivity, 86.8%; specificity, 80%), while Rv3403c demonstrated the highest diagnostic ability in the PTB‐SN group (sensitivity, 70%; specificity, 80%). With respect to the EPTB diagnosis, Rv0222 exhibited the highest diagnostic value (AUC, 0.7523; sensitivity, 68.8%; specificity, 87.5%). In addition, the combination of Rv0222 and Rv3403c improved the test for PTB‐SN. These results indicate that Rv0222 and Rv3403c would be potential diagnostic biomarkers for active TB serodiagnosis. Mouse experiments demonstrated that Rv0222 and Rv3403c elicited specific cellular and humoral responses which were characterized by production of IFN‐γ, IgG1, and IgG2a, but a higher level of IgG1 than IgG2a.
Changing board behaviour: The role of the ‘Two Strikes’ rule in improving the efficacy of Australian Say‐on‐Pay
Authors: Borthwick James , Jun Aelee , Ma Shiguang 
Published: June 2018

AbstractThis article analyses whether the transition from the 2004 CLERP 9 advisory Say‐on‐Pay regime to the ‘Two Strikes’ rule in 2012 influenced CEO pay in Australian firms. Analysing a panel of 2,074 firm‐years (2005–2015), we find that (i) CEO pay is a positive predictor of shareholder dissent; (ii) firm performance has a reducing effect on shareholder dissent; (iii) excessive shareholder dissent moderated CEO pay under the ‘Two Strikes’ rule relative to the CLERP 9 regime, and (iv) the market responded favourably to the introduction of the ‘Two Strikes’ rule and negatively to ‘strike’ instances after its introduction.
When Did the Swahili Become Maritime?: A Reply to Fleisher et al. (2015), and to the Resurgence of Maritime Myopia in the Archaeology of the East African Coast
Authors: Kusimba Chapurukha M. , Walz Jonathan R. 
Published: June 2018

ABSTRACTIn this article, we respond to an article by Jeffrey Fleisher et al. (2015) in which they pose the question: When did the Swahili become maritime? We draw from our research findings in coastal and inland Eastern Africa to show that inland African societies were an essential component in the development of Swahili urbanism and maritimity. To understand change in any part of the East African coast requires understanding the entire context of economic, political, and social interaction across the diverse dimensions of this society. By excluding inland Eastern Africa from their analysis, Fleisher et al. omit the interactions between land and sea that were the basis of this society's development. We conclude that Swahili society resulted from intercommunity interaction, socioeconomic networks, and exploitation of diverse regional resources. [trade, maritime, mosaics, urbanism, Swahili]
Association between the frequency of bedwetting and late preterm birth in children aged ≥5 years
Authors: Nishizaki Naoto , Obinata Kaoru , Kantake Masato , Yoshida Noboru , Ohtomo Yoshiyuki , Niijima Shinichi , Yanagisawa Naotake , Nishizaki Yuji , Shoji Hiromichi , Shimizu Toshiaki 
Published: June 2018

AbstractAimWe examined the associations between late preterm (LPT) birth children aged ≥5 years and the frequency of bedwetting. Moreover, those who were born full‐term/low birthweight (BW), LPT/low BW, LPT/normal BW and LPT/low BW were compared.MethodsIn total, we evaluated 614 patients who underwent assessments for frequent bedwetting at the three hospitals from January 2014 to December 2016. Data at the initial visit were collected from the electronic medical records. We assessed the patients’ bladder diaries and questionnaires containing detailed information on demographics and frequency of bedwetting per month. Neonatal data were collected from the Maternal and Child Health Handbook.ResultsFrequency of bedwetting in the LPT/low BW group was higher than in the term/low BW group (28 vs. 22.5, p < 0.05). However, the frequency between the LPT/normal BW group and the LPT/low BW group was not significantly different (28 vs. 28, p = 1.00). Multiple regression analyses were conducted to eliminate potential confounding factors, attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder and intellectual disability, but results were not changed.ConclusionThis study revealed that LPT/low BW was associated with increased frequency of bedwetting in children. The results suggest that gestational age should be considered when examining patients with severe bedwetting.