title: Neon Chalk: Designing Software to Support Drawing as Play for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

authors: Shannon, Grant

subjects: autism spectrum disorders

abstract: Neon Chalk is a prototype piece of software designed to support drawing as play, for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). It incorporates a minimalist interface to reduce distraction while drawing, compelling colours and sound that are configurable for each user, and an interaction design that makes the stimulus reward outputted by the software contingent on input from the child drawing.
The design and development of the Neon Chalk prototype has motivated and informed the assessment of user-centred data gathering techniques. Six children with ASD were involved in this research. The techniques used within this studied are evaluated based on their suitability of use with this challenging user population.

text: Neon Chalk: Designing Software to Support Drawing as Play for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Neon Chalk is a prototype piece of software designed to support drawing as play, for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). It incorporates a minimalist interface to reduce distraction while drawing, compelling colours and sound that are configurable for each user, and an interaction design that makes the stimulus reward outputted by the software contingent on input from the child drawing.
The design and development of the Neon Chalk prototype has motivated and informed the assessment of user-centred data gathering techniques. Six children with ASD were involved in this research. The techniques used within this studied are evaluated based on their suitability of use with this challenging user population.

year: 2009

title: Three essays on corporate default prediction : special reference to corporate governance, default correlation and capital structure dynamics

authors: Fernando, Ruwani

subjects: Default prediction

abstract: This thesis consists of three essays that investigate corporate defaults connected to corporate governance, default correlations and capital structure adjustment. Granting a loan requires mutual trust between lenders and borrower and depends on the flow of information. The relevance and the accuracy of the information are necessary to ensure the best judgement about the creditworthiness of borrowers. However, information asymmetry between the borrower and the lender is the main hurdle for any judgement about the borrower. Although default prediction has commanded the attention of researchers over many years, there is still an important gap in the literature on the selection of the suitable default predictor information for improved borrower evaluation. 
To broaden the understanding of the information content of default predictor variables, the first essay addresses and tests the impact of corporate governance on default prediction. It examines several testable hypotheses regarding the relations between corporate governance and default prediction, building on the Standard and Poor (2002) corporate governance framework proposed by Ashbaugh-Skaife et al. (2006). The research employs the conventional logistic regression to provide empirical evidence from U.S. default data over the period of 2000 to 2015. Empirical results are consistent with the following notions: First, default firms are associated with high ownership concentration, low shareholder rights, low financial transparency and disclosures, and less board effectiveness. 
Second, in-sample and out-of-sample tests support the incremental contribution of corporate governance information on default prediction, when compared with the models involving just financial information. 
In addition to the analyses on the U.S. data, this thesis conducts a comparative study using the data of Sri Lanka, which serves as a representative emerging market. This study argues that emerging markets are important because they present several institutional differences that cannot be examined in the developed markets. The rapid evolvement of these markets provides excellent experimental grounds for studying many financial issues. The empirical results show that whilst an integrated model provides overall stronger predictive value; financial information is more relevant for USA firms. Corporate governance appears more relevant in emerging markets than in mature markets, but the effectiveness of the individual corporate governance practices differs between countries. 
The second essay discusses the impact of corporate governance on the correlation in corporate defaults. This essay investigates for the first time the effect of firm-specific corporate governance on default correlation as an extension to the contagion and cyclical effect proposed by Das et al. (2007) as the sources of default correlation. It hypothesizes that the degree of default correlations could increase disproportionally for firms with weak corporate governance in terms of high ownership concentration, low board effectiveness, low financial transparency, and higher shareholder rights. This study employs Lucas’s (1995) method to provide empirical evidence based on the historical default data from the United States from 2000 to 2015. The empirical results imply that corporate governance is essential for credit risk management because poor corporate governance may increase not only individual default risk but also the domino effect of credit defaults. Moreover, the impact of corporate governance on the correlation in corporate defaults is more pronounced in the financial crisis.
The third essay examines the heterogeneity of the speed of capital structure adjustment in firms. In contrast to previously documented contemporaneous results, it tests the issue through distinguishing two types of the firms (default and non-default firms), and two measures of the speed of adjustment (cumulative versus marginal). The empirical results show that the speed of adjustment is non-uniform across firms and over time. In particular, default firms are associated with a higher speed of adjustment than non-default firms. The completion of leverage adjustment takes multiple periods. The marginal speed of adjustment accelerates from the beginning period to the end period, which is consistent with the anchoring and adjustment bias heuristic. The empirical results are robust using a book/market leverage and a two/one-step estimation approach. In addition to the tests on the speed of capital structure adjustment, this essay also examines the effect of leverage deviation on measuring firms’ default risk. The in-sample and out-of-sample tests suggest that taking into account leverage deviation enhances the capacity of measuring corporate borrowers’ default risk. Additionally, such benefit is persistent over various time horizons. Overall, the empirical findings provide important policy implications for banks before granting loans to corporate customers. This work fills crucial gaps in the credit risk literature.

text: Three essays on corporate default prediction : special reference to corporate governance, default correlation and capital structure dynamics This thesis consists of three essays that investigate corporate defaults connected to corporate governance, default correlations and capital structure adjustment. Granting a loan requires mutual trust between lenders and borrower and depends on the flow of information. The relevance and the accuracy of the information are necessary to ensure the best judgement about the creditworthiness of borrowers. However, information asymmetry between the borrower and the lender is the main hurdle for any judgement about the borrower. Although default prediction has commanded the attention of researchers over many years, there is still an important gap in the literature on the selection of the suitable default predictor information for improved borrower evaluation. 
To broaden the understanding of the information content of default predictor variables, the first essay addresses and tests the impact of corporate governance on default prediction. It examines several testable hypotheses regarding the relations between corporate governance and default prediction, building on the Standard and Poor (2002) corporate governance framework proposed by Ashbaugh-Skaife et al. (2006). The research employs the conventional logistic regression to provide empirical evidence from U.S. default data over the period of 2000 to 2015. Empirical results are consistent with the following notions: First, default firms are associated with high ownership concentration, low shareholder rights, low financial transparency and disclosures, and less board effectiveness. 
Second, in-sample and out-of-sample tests support the incremental contribution of corporate governance information on default prediction, when compared with the models involving just financial information. 
In addition to the analyses on the U.S. data, this thesis conducts a comparative study using the data of Sri Lanka, which serves as a representative emerging market. This study argues that emerging markets are important because they present several institutional differences that cannot be examined in the developed markets. The rapid evolvement of these markets provides excellent experimental grounds for studying many financial issues. The empirical results show that whilst an integrated model provides overall stronger predictive value; financial information is more relevant for USA firms. Corporate governance appears more relevant in emerging markets than in mature markets, but the effectiveness of the individual corporate governance practices differs between countries. 
The second essay discusses the impact of corporate governance on the correlation in corporate defaults. This essay investigates for the first time the effect of firm-specific corporate governance on default correlation as an extension to the contagion and cyclical effect proposed by Das et al. (2007) as the sources of default correlation. It hypothesizes that the degree of default correlations could increase disproportionally for firms with weak corporate governance in terms of high ownership concentration, low board effectiveness, low financial transparency, and higher shareholder rights. This study employs Lucas’s (1995) method to provide empirical evidence based on the historical default data from the United States from 2000 to 2015. The empirical results imply that corporate governance is essential for credit risk management because poor corporate governance may increase not only individual default risk but also the domino effect of credit defaults. Moreover, the impact of corporate governance on the correlation in corporate defaults is more pronounced in the financial crisis.
The third essay examines the heterogeneity of the speed of capital structure adjustment in firms. In contrast to previously documented contemporaneous results, it tests the issue through distinguishing two types of the firms (default and non-default firms), and two measures of the speed of adjustment (cumulative versus marginal). The empirical results show that the speed of adjustment is non-uniform across firms and over time. In particular, default firms are associated with a higher speed of adjustment than non-default firms. The completion of leverage adjustment takes multiple periods. The marginal speed of adjustment accelerates from the beginning period to the end period, which is consistent with the anchoring and adjustment bias heuristic. The empirical results are robust using a book/market leverage and a two/one-step estimation approach. In addition to the tests on the speed of capital structure adjustment, this essay also examines the effect of leverage deviation on measuring firms’ default risk. The in-sample and out-of-sample tests suggest that taking into account leverage deviation enhances the capacity of measuring corporate borrowers’ default risk. Additionally, such benefit is persistent over various time horizons. Overall, the empirical findings provide important policy implications for banks before granting loans to corporate customers. This work fills crucial gaps in the credit risk literature.

year: 2019

title: "Ko au te whenua, ko te whenua ko au:" A Māori housing development process

authors: Fletcher, Marcus Anzac Kewene

subjects: Māori

abstract: Tangata whenua (People of the land/Indigenous people of Aotearoa) are being recognised as emerging property and land developers in Aotearoa New Zealand (hereafter, Aotearoa). Literature and practice demonstrates how Māori are developing housing in different ways than traditional developers, supporting the wellbeing of whānau (families), hapū (sub-tribes) and iwi (tribes), while contributing to addressing the national housing crisis. The distinctiveness of these approaches are important to understand if we want to deepen our knowledge of urban development and the modelling of housing markets in Aotearoa. This thesis aims to reveal, codify and examine Māori decision-making processes relating to how and why we develop housing in Aotearoa and the values and principles that inform these approaches. Utilising Kaupapa Māori Theory and taking an insider/whānaunga (relatives) approach to the research, four whakawhiti kōrero sessions with Waikato whānau and kaimahi (workers) were undertaken to better understand how and why Māori develop housing and the processes and rationalities at play. The thesis has three contributions for academia, environmental planning and the housing sector in Aotearoa: insights into the values and rationalities that influence Māori urban development; the introduction of a Māori housing development framework; and insights into how the framework may be utilised to contribute towards more accurate and sophisticated agent-based modelling (ABM) or urban growth modelling.  

The findings and discussion identified six prominent values that Māori utilise to develop housing: kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga, orangatanga, whānaungatanga, ūkaipōtanga and rangatiratanga. Being rooted in Māori knowledge and epistemology essentially demands differing rationalities for when Māori undertake housing development, which are placed within an overarching framework. The framework represents a new tool to disrupt the current understanding of ‘developers’ as a single entity with a defined pathway that influences all development behaviour. Moreover, it demonstrates how whānau, hapū and iwi draw on the established learning and guidance of our tūpuna (ancestors) and the strides taken to reclaim tino rangatiratanga (self-determination). The thesis argues that academics, environmental practitioners and the housing sector should re-examine their understanding of developers in Aotearoa to become more pluralistic, which may present new challenges and opportunities for ABM and urban growth modelling. This framework argues some aspects may have potential to be incorporated into these technical analyses, while other aspects should be considered in the context of Māori and Indigenous Data Sovereignty to protect the contributions and mana of the participants within this thesis, or resist the ability to be captured altogether.

text: "Ko au te whenua, ko te whenua ko au:" A Māori housing development process Tangata whenua (People of the land/Indigenous people of Aotearoa) are being recognised as emerging property and land developers in Aotearoa New Zealand (hereafter, Aotearoa). Literature and practice demonstrates how Māori are developing housing in different ways than traditional developers, supporting the wellbeing of whānau (families), hapū (sub-tribes) and iwi (tribes), while contributing to addressing the national housing crisis. The distinctiveness of these approaches are important to understand if we want to deepen our knowledge of urban development and the modelling of housing markets in Aotearoa. This thesis aims to reveal, codify and examine Māori decision-making processes relating to how and why we develop housing in Aotearoa and the values and principles that inform these approaches. Utilising Kaupapa Māori Theory and taking an insider/whānaunga (relatives) approach to the research, four whakawhiti kōrero sessions with Waikato whānau and kaimahi (workers) were undertaken to better understand how and why Māori develop housing and the processes and rationalities at play. The thesis has three contributions for academia, environmental planning and the housing sector in Aotearoa: insights into the values and rationalities that influence Māori urban development; the introduction of a Māori housing development framework; and insights into how the framework may be utilised to contribute towards more accurate and sophisticated agent-based modelling (ABM) or urban growth modelling.  

The findings and discussion identified six prominent values that Māori utilise to develop housing: kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga, orangatanga, whānaungatanga, ūkaipōtanga and rangatiratanga. Being rooted in Māori knowledge and epistemology essentially demands differing rationalities for when Māori undertake housing development, which are placed within an overarching framework. The framework represents a new tool to disrupt the current understanding of ‘developers’ as a single entity with a defined pathway that influences all development behaviour. Moreover, it demonstrates how whānau, hapū and iwi draw on the established learning and guidance of our tūpuna (ancestors) and the strides taken to reclaim tino rangatiratanga (self-determination). The thesis argues that academics, environmental practitioners and the housing sector should re-examine their understanding of developers in Aotearoa to become more pluralistic, which may present new challenges and opportunities for ABM and urban growth modelling. This framework argues some aspects may have potential to be incorporated into these technical analyses, while other aspects should be considered in the context of Māori and Indigenous Data Sovereignty to protect the contributions and mana of the participants within this thesis, or resist the ability to be captured altogether.

year: 2025