title: Introduction to papers in this issue

authors: Mills, Judith Patricia

abstract: The overall theme for this issue is the sharing of good ideas and support to look at alternatives - look at what might be familiar in alternative ways, and from alternative perspectives. This issue has three sections offering our professional learning community opportunities to explore pedagogy from early childhood to tertiary, from New Zealand and international authors. One thread in this issue is mathematics education. Another is tertiary education, with articles from the perspectives of the teachers and learners. The four think pieces are designed to provoke and challenge your thinking while providing something useful.

text: Introduction to papers in this issue The overall theme for this issue is the sharing of good ideas and support to look at alternatives - look at what might be familiar in alternative ways, and from alternative perspectives. This issue has three sections offering our professional learning community opportunities to explore pedagogy from early childhood to tertiary, from New Zealand and international authors. One thread in this issue is mathematics education. Another is tertiary education, with articles from the perspectives of the teachers and learners. The four think pieces are designed to provoke and challenge your thinking while providing something useful.

year: 2018

title: Information communication technology and financial inclusion of innovative entrepreneurs

authors: Wellalage, Nirosha Hewa

subjects: Social Sciences

abstract: Financial inclusion (FI) constitutes an absolute priority for poverty alleviation and information communication technology (ICT) is an essential component of any FI strategy that aims to enable access to a wide range of financial products and services. This study explores entrepreneurs’ assessments of the role of ICT on their FI and its effect in Africa. Using data on 1436 entrepreneurs from the World Bank Enterprise Survey database and applying an inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) based on propensity scores, the results of our study show that ICT increases entrepreneurs’ FI. In particular, we find that average FI of entrepreneurs using ICT in their business is approximately 12% higher than their counterparts who do not use ICT. Further, separate treatments of email, website, and mobile phone, show that business website ownership has the highest impact on FI, followed by mobile phone and email. The results are robust through a series of robustness checks including the bivariate probit model, propensity score matching model, and alternative proxies for FI. Our findings confirm the significant role technological deepening plays in advancing FI in Africa and its potential for a wider applicability to other developing economies.

text: Information communication technology and financial inclusion of innovative entrepreneurs Financial inclusion (FI) constitutes an absolute priority for poverty alleviation and information communication technology (ICT) is an essential component of any FI strategy that aims to enable access to a wide range of financial products and services. This study explores entrepreneurs’ assessments of the role of ICT on their FI and its effect in Africa. Using data on 1436 entrepreneurs from the World Bank Enterprise Survey database and applying an inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) based on propensity scores, the results of our study show that ICT increases entrepreneurs’ FI. In particular, we find that average FI of entrepreneurs using ICT in their business is approximately 12% higher than their counterparts who do not use ICT. Further, separate treatments of email, website, and mobile phone, show that business website ownership has the highest impact on FI, followed by mobile phone and email. The results are robust through a series of robustness checks including the bivariate probit model, propensity score matching model, and alternative proxies for FI. Our findings confirm the significant role technological deepening plays in advancing FI in Africa and its potential for a wider applicability to other developing economies.

year: 2021-01-08

title: The source, composition and typology of ‘Limestone’ Adzes from Eastern North Island, New Zealand

authors: Nelson, Campbell S.

subjects: adzes

abstract: Collections of stone adzes (toki) from the eastern North Island of New Zealand include a number of typologically early (Archaic) forms made from what has been previously described as ‘siliceous or silicified limestone’. Seventy five finished adzes and preforms of this material were recorded in the present study. Their geographic distribution is primarily restricted to southern Hawkes Bay – Wairarapa, and they apparently originated from a single manufacturing centre at Owahanga, on the northern Wairarapa coast. Chemical and mineralogical analyses (by X-ray fluorescence, portable XRF, vacuum gasometry and X-ray diffraction) of two artefacts from Owahanga show they contain about 20–30 per cent CaCO3 (as calcite), while samples of the presumed local source rock have a slightly higher carbonate content but comparable silica (quartz) and Rb concentrations. The rock type used in the manufacture of adzes was therefore not a true limestone but calcareous mudstone, compositionally distinct from siliceous limestones in southern Wairarapa and probably derived from the Whangai Formation. Possible reasons for the use of this stone material are discussed.

text: The source, composition and typology of ‘Limestone’ Adzes from Eastern North Island, New Zealand Collections of stone adzes (toki) from the eastern North Island of New Zealand include a number of typologically early (Archaic) forms made from what has been previously described as ‘siliceous or silicified limestone’. Seventy five finished adzes and preforms of this material were recorded in the present study. Their geographic distribution is primarily restricted to southern Hawkes Bay – Wairarapa, and they apparently originated from a single manufacturing centre at Owahanga, on the northern Wairarapa coast. Chemical and mineralogical analyses (by X-ray fluorescence, portable XRF, vacuum gasometry and X-ray diffraction) of two artefacts from Owahanga show they contain about 20–30 per cent CaCO3 (as calcite), while samples of the presumed local source rock have a slightly higher carbonate content but comparable silica (quartz) and Rb concentrations. The rock type used in the manufacture of adzes was therefore not a true limestone but calcareous mudstone, compositionally distinct from siliceous limestones in southern Wairarapa and probably derived from the Whangai Formation. Possible reasons for the use of this stone material are discussed.

year: 2016