bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mechanical behavior of aeronautical composites containing self-healing microcapsules
Authors: Polydoropoulou Panagiota , Katsiropoulos Christos Vasilios , Loukopoulos Andreas , Pantelakis Spiros 
Published: October 2018

Purpose
Over the last decades, self-healing materials based on polymers are attracting increasing interest due to their potential for detecting and “autonomically” healing damage. The use of embedded self-healing microcapsules represents one of the most popular self-healing concepts. Yet, extensive investigations are still needed to convince on the efficiency of the above concept. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
In the present work, the effect of embedded self-healing microcapsules on the ILSS behavior of carbon fiber reinforced composite materials has been studied. Moreover, the self-healing efficiency has been assessed. The results of the mechanical tests were discussed supported by scanning electron microscope (SEM) as well as by Attenuated Total Reflection–Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR–FTIR) analyses.

Findings
The results indicate a general trend of a degraded mechanical behavior of the enhanced materials, as the microcapsules exhibit a non-uniform dispersion and form agglomerations which act as internal defects. A remarkable value of the self-healing efficiency has been found for materials with limited damage, e.g. matrix micro-cracks. However, for significant damage, in terms of large matrix cracks and delaminations as well as fiber breakages, the self-healing efficiency is limited.

Originality/value
The results obtained by SEM analysis as well as by ATR–FTIR spectroscopy constitute a strong indication that the self-healing mechanism has been activated. However, further investigation should be conducted in order to provide definite evidence.
Selection of crowdsourcing formats: simultaneous contest vs sequential contest
Authors: Deng Wanjiang , Guan Xu , Ma Shihua , Liu Shan 
Published: October 2018

Purpose
The online crowdsourcing has been widely applied in the practice. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the all-pay auction contest in crowdsourcing, wherein a seeker posts a task online and the solvers decide whether to participate in the contest and in what extent to spend efforts on their submissions.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors specifically consider two classic contest formats: simultaneous contest and sequential contest, depending on whether the solver can observe the prior solvers’ submissions before making her own effort investment decision or not. They derive both seeker’s and solver’s equilibrium decisions and payoffs under different contest formats, and show that they vary significantly according to the number and the average skill level of solvers.

Findings
The results show that a solver would always invest more on her submission under simultaneous contest than under sequential contest, as she cannot confirm how other solvers’ submissions would be. This subsequently intensifies the market competition and brings down a solver’s average payoff under simultaneous contest. Although the simultaneous contest gives rise to a higher expected highest quality of all submissions, it also requires the seeker to spend more search cost to identify the best submission. Therefore, when the number of solvers is high or the average skill level is low, the seeker prefers sequential contest to simultaneous contest. The results also show an analogous preference over two formats for the platform.

Originality/value
This paper investigates two formats of all-pay auction contest in crowdsourcing and evaluates them from the perspective of solvers, seekers and platforms, respectively. The research offers many interesting insights which do not only explain the incentive mechanisms for solvers under different contest formats, but also make meaningful contributions to the seeker’s or the platform’s adoption strategies between two alternative contest formats in crowdsourcing practice.
A comparative study of women entrepreneurship in transitional economies
Authors: Zhu Lei , Kara Orhan , Zhu Xiaowei 
Published: October 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare women entrepreneurship in China and Vietnam by examining the motivations, success factors and problems related to establishing women-owned businesses.

Design/methodology/approach
The sample in this study consisted of 170 women entrepreneurs in Vietnam and 180 women entrepreneurs in China. The authors used the survey instrument developed by H.M. Chu (Chu and Katsioloudes 2001), which has been adopted in a number of small business studies since 2002. To determine whether there is a significant difference between the two countries regarding each factor of motivations, success factors and problems, the authors use the non-parametric Wilcoxon rank-sum test.

Findings
Women entrepreneurs are motived to earn more income in both China and Vietnam. Vietnamese businesswomen value intrinsic rewards such as gaining personal satisfaction and freedom. They also take business ownership as a way to reduce work–family conflict. Demonstrating the ability and gaining public recognition play a more important role when Chinese women entrepreneurs decide to establish their businesses. Both Chinese and Vietnamese women agree that good management skills are essential to achieve their goals. Women entrepreneurs in both countries share similar challenges, such as the inability to recruit and retain employees, severe competition, a weak economy and limited access to financial capital.

Practical implications
Given the nature of transitional economies in both countries, the government is required to improve the regulatory environment for protecting private sector employment and private property rights. Policies such as subsidies and tax incentives may assist the development of women enterprises. To support the sustainable growth of women businesses, it is suggested that the government should design effective programs that direct women entrepreneurs to move into high-growth or high-technology sectors. Training programs are also required to improve the knowledge and skills of women entrepreneurs. Making capital accessible to women is also important to stimulate entrepreneurial growth. As a further stimulus, governments should coordinate with financial institutions to provide low-cost loans or even venture capital to facilitate this process.

Originality/value
This study is among one of the first attempts to compare women entrepreneurship in the two transitional economies of Vietnam and China. It provides insight into motivations, success factors and problems that women entrepreneurs experienced by examining small business owners in Vietnam and China.
On the value relevance argument
Authors: Avwokeni Arthur Joseph 
Published: October 2018

PurposePotential investors need information on corporate social issues to choose less risky investments, but the IASB framework excludes corporate social disclosure from financial reporting, and this corroborates Ohlson (1995) and Myers’ (1999) view that financial statements do not provide all domain variables to predict value relevance. The purpose of this study is to ascertain whether market participants place a premium on the future prospect of the firm when making investment decisions, and if they do, then Ohlson and Myers are correct, and this would be glaring evidence to recommend a rethink on the IASB reporting framework.Design/methodology/approachNigeria provides a realistic research setting to detect value relevance attributable to the IFRS because it is less affected by the 2007/2008 financial crisis. The price model was estimated for Nigerian domestic accounting standards and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The means for each predictor were plugged into each estimated equation to obtain the average value relevance of each financial reporting system. Then, the IFRS accounting policies were made to play by the rules of the domestic accounting standards. If, in fact, accounting information is the dominant factor that drives value relevance, then equalizing backgrounds should equalize value relevance, otherwise market participants place a premium on the future prospect of the firm.FindingsThe study detects,inter alia, a significant gap even after equalizing backgrounds, suggesting that market participants look beyond the financial statements in forming perceptions on the future prospect of the firm; e.g. relationship with host communities, development stages of new products in their life cycles, etc.Practical implicationsThe findings ring a bell for the IASB to include metrics of future prospect of the firm in corporate financial reporting so that investors can choose less risky investment portfolios. Furthermore, the findings lend support to Ohlson and Myers’ argument that financial statements do not provide all domain variables to predict value relevance.Originality/valueTo date, no study has reported the amount of value relevance attributable to the IFRS vis-à-vis domestic accounting standards and future prospect of the firm.
Economic freedom and tax revenue performance in sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Alabede James Oladapo 
Published: October 2018

PurposeThis study aims to expand the conventional tax effort model to incorporate relevant economic freedom variables to investigate whether economic freedom fosters tax revenue performance in `sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).Design/methodology/approachThis study uses data from 42 countries across the four sub-regions of SSA from the period 2005 to 2012 with 252 year-country observations in an unbalanced panel method. The data were statistically treated using feasible generalised least square (FGLS) and panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE) estimate techniques.FindingsThe findings are twofold. First, the principal finding of the study suggests that economic freedom promotes tax revenue performance. Precisely, the FGLS analysis indicates that property rights freedom, freedom from corruption and investment freedom, as well as the composite economic freedom, exerted positive significant impact on tax revenue performance. This implies that country, which attained high degree of economic freedom, is likely to have higher tax-to-GDP ratio than a country with low level of economic freedom. Secondly, the results of most conventional variables conform to the prediction in the traditional theory except per capita income. Specifically, agriculture share in GDP and per capita income indicate negative significant relationship with tax revenue performance.Originality/valueBecause little is known empirically about the connection between economic freedom and tax revenue performance, this study extended the conventional tax effort model to incorporate the economic freedom to bridge the knowledge gap due to the absence of empirical evidence on the relationship between economic freedom and tax effort.
Bank loan-loss accounts, income smoothing, capital management, signaling and procyclicality
Authors: Abu-Serdaneh Jamal 
Published: October 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate if Jordanian banks using provision accounts as a technique to smooth income, manage capital ratio, signal future earning and test other determinants affecting provision accounts.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted on all Jordanian listed banks, and it covers the period 2005-2014. Different models are applied to test the dependent variables (loan loss provision [LLP] accounts) and its effects on different explanatory variables by using several statistical techniques (e.g. multiple regression).FindingsThe results show that there is no conclusive evidence supports that Jordanian banks used provision to smooth income, manage capital ratio or engage in pro-cyclical behavior. However, a positive and significant effect between one year ahead change in earnings and loan loss allowance, indicating that banks may use provisions to signal future positive changes in earnings. In addition, the results show that loan-to-asset ratio and beginning loan loss allowance have positive effect on provision accounts.Practical implicationsThe results of this study are useful in assisting the regulators (e.g. US Securities and Exchange Commission, central bank) in efforts toward improving the quality of the reported financial reporting in the banking industry and focus on LLP management motivations. This study gives shareholders further insight which enables them to better understand the actions of managers and thus increase their control over their investments. Additionally, auditors should be aware of different incentives for using LLP as a tool of earnings management to be able to detect eventual manipulation of accounting earnings.Originality/valueBanking in is one of the most stringently regulated of sectors and, furthermore, has a major impact on other sectors and on economic growth in general. In view of such importance, this study focuses on the banking industry and contributes to the literature in several ways. First, it represents the first known study, to the best of author knowledge, which examines if Jordanian banks use LLP accounts as a tool to smooth income and/or to manage capital. Second, unlike most existing research, which usually studies one aspect of LLP, this study focuses on four main motivations influencing provision accounts in the banks of Jordan. Third, additional tests were carried out to check the robustness of results, for example, sensitivity analysis is used to examine the change of findings by repeating of tests after using different proxies. Fourth, as a difference from other studies, this study investigates the effects of global financial crisis of 2008 on income smoothing behavior of Jordanian banking sector. Fifth, this paper provides a timely contribution to the continuous debate of the effect of LLP on earnings management in a poorly exploited setting, emerging market context.
A survey of capital budgeting practices used by firms in Barbados
Authors: Alleyne Philmore , Armstrong Shantelle , Chandler Marissa 
Published: October 2018

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the capital budgeting practices used by firms in Barbados using contingency theory.Design/methodology/approachThe study involves the use of a self-administered questionnaire sent to the individual responsible for capital budgeting decisions (either the accountant, financial controller or senior manager) in each of the firms selected. In total, 41 completed questionnaires are received; 12 follow-up interviews are conducted with respondents to indicate the reasons for use and non-use of capital budgeting practices.FindingsCapital budgeting practices are not widely used by firms in Barbados. The payback method (PBM) is determined to be the preferred method of choice because of its simplicity, agility and cultural practices. Based on contingency theory, organisations in Barbados believe that the PBM is a better fit for them. Top management drives the capital budgeting process with crude and non-traditional methods for the acceptance of capital projects. While there are no statistically significant differences in the capital budgeting practices used in different sectors, professional accountants are more likely to use net present value and sensitivity analysis than non-professional accountants.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample is small, and consequently, findings may not be generalisable to the population.Originality/valueThis study makes a significant contribution to the body of literature in emerging countries such as Barbados on the usage of capital budgeting practices and factors that may influence their usage. It further contributes to policymakers, practitioners, organisations and stakeholders of organisations.
Corporate governance, ethics, internal controls and compliance with IFRS
Authors: Nalukenge Irene , Nkundabanyanga Stephen Korutaro , Ntayi Joseph Mpeera 
Published: October 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to establish the relationship between corporate governance, ethical culture, Internal Controls over Financial Reporting (ICFR) and compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by microfinance institutions (MFIs).Design/methodology/approachThis is a cross-sectional survey based on a sample of 85 MFIs in Uganda. Hypotheses were tested using partial least squares (PLS) analysis technique. An unweighed IFRS compliance index to capture the level of compliance with IFRS was constructed. Yet to capture corporate governance, ethical culture and ICFR variables, the perceptions of top management of MFIs have been taken into consideration.FindingsCorporate governance, ethical culture and ICFR, each makes a significant contribution to compliance with IFRS. Also both corporate governance and ethical culture are significantly associated with ICFR. However, compliance with IFRS by MFIs is better enhanced by corporate governance and ethical culture through ICFR.Research limitations/implicationsResults support the idea that in terms of agency and virtue ethics theories, the board should support ICFR to minimize egocentric managers and other employees and also inculcate an ethical culture to achieve better compliance with IFRS because corporate governance and ethical culture are associated with sound ICFR which in turn lead to compliance with IFRS.Practical/implicationsBoards of MFIs should encourage investments that improve ICFR. At the same time, regulators should ensure that boards are composed of members with financial expertise, with no conflict of interest and introduce mechanisms that encourage boards to perform their roles.Originality/valueThe study contributes towards a methodological position by showing that the behavioural perspective of corporate governance can be an alternative to the boards’ structural variables in investigating compliance with IFRS. A direct association of ethical culture and compliance with IFRS and an indirect association through ICFR can be envisaged.
Public financial management reform: an ongoing journey towards good governance
Authors: Alkaraan Fadi 
Published: October 2018

Purpose
This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the influence of contextual factors on public financial management reform (PFMR) process. It provides a comprehensive analytical view of PFMR in the UAE over the period (2003-2016).

Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a case study approach as a research methodology. It draws on archival data as well as interviews with key staff of the Ministry of Finance (MoF). A contingency model is used as conceptual framework to examine PFMR in the UAE.

Findings
Finding of this study show that the PFMR process cannot be viewed as an isolated initiative, rather, as part of a set of broader NPM reforms to strengthen public accountability for performance. The transition process creates major organisational changes; strategy, structure (new rules and roles), culture (core values about organisational vision, mission, and objectives). Benchmarks and milestones have been set in the accompanying monitoring matrix, though in practice, delays have typically occurred in the implementation of reforms. Challenges ahead facing the MoF are addressed.

Research limitations/implications
The findings should be understood in the economic, social and historical contexts of the UAE. Given the narrow scope of this paper, a single case study was conducted. Crucial themes for future research including how public sector executives employ effective independent measures of outcomes. The impact of basic supporting subsystems in translating strategic priorities and integrating them into the federal budget.

Practical implications
Research on PFMR is inherently practical. Essential factors for successful implantation of PFMR include government strategy, regulatory framework, information communication technology, technical experience, strong leadership, long-term political and administrative commitments, strategic pre-decision control mechanisms and accurate performance measurement.

Originality/value
This paper contributes to the limited studies on PFMR in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. Lessons of this study may be valid for other countries considering similar developments in their PFMR.
Significance of race in the US undergraduate public relations educational landscape
Authors: Waymer Damion , Brown Kenon A. 
Published: October 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to address a practical question and problem: what can explain the small number of underrepresented racial and ethnic practitioners in the public relations industry? By placing race at the center of this study via critical race theory, the authors sought to answer the previously mentioned practical question. The authors focused on the undergraduate environment as a pipeline to the profession. The goal was to determine whether issues of race in the undergraduate public relations environment played a role in students’ ability to succeed in their public relations coursework and in their ability to secure internships, network with professionals, etc.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors interviewed 22 practitioners with five or fewer years of industry experience. The authors used email interviews to gather data from young professionals. Although email interviews are impersonal in nature, because of a lack of the use of social cues and non-verbal communication (Hunt & McHale, 2007), email interviews are more cost-effective, expand the range of participants that one could interview, and this method allows participants to reflect longer on their answers, which could result in more detail – whereby participants might share information they would not normally share face-to-face.

Findings
The findings reveal that half of the Latina, African American and Asian American participants noted that being underrepresented was not necessarily a hindrance to their academic success; rather, being underrepresented was uncomfortable for them at times, as they believed they had to prove themselves more than whites. Additional findings reveal that in terms of developing social skills for the profession, participants did not experience negative or positive effects of race. Findings are used to gain insight into how to increase diversity in the profession and to gauge the extent to which racial identity plays a role in public relations students’ collegiate development.

Originality/value
This study asks racially and ethnically underrepresented applied communication students to reflect on their experiences as undergraduates as a means of refining the undergraduate educational experience to make that experience more attractive for and conducive to academic success for current and future underrepresented applied communication undergraduate students. It's a first of its kind in that regard.