Search results for: economic effectiveness

Authors: Sona Lorencova, Beata Hornickova

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The study deals with the presentation of the results of qualitatively oriented research, the aim of which was to find out the attitudes of parents to the planned compulsory pre-school education in the Slovak Republic. The research was conceived as an entry into the field of the researched issue and its aim was to support the validity and effectiveness of items in the questionnaire, which was created based on the statements of parents. The research method was an interview with 15 parents whose children attended kindergarten. The main question of the interviews was to find out what are the parents' expectations from compulsory pre-school education, which will be compulsory in the Slovak Republic from 2021 for all 5-year-old children. From the introduction of compulsory pre-school education, the professional public expects in particular greater participation of children from marginalized Roma communities in pre-school education, as well as children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, better preparation of children for primary school and better results in international testing. The research found that the expectations of parents are different and depend on their socio-economic status, in accordance with which they place greater importance on the upbringing and education of children. The findings from interviews with parents contributed to the formulation of items in the questionnaire, which will be distributed to parents whose children will attend compulsory pre-school education in the Slovak Republic from 2021.

Keywords: compulsory pre-school education, kindergarten, education of pre-school children, parental expectations from pre-school education

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Authors: Ephraim Ugwu, Christopher Ehinomen

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Despite efforts by the Nigerian government to harmonize the macroeconomic policy implementations by establishing various committees to resolve disputes between the fiscal and monetary authorities, it is still evident that the federal government had continued its expansionary policy by increasing spending, thus creating huge budget deficit. This study evaluates the effect of macroeconomic policy coordination on economic growth uncertainty in Nigeria from 1980 to 2020. Employing the Auto regressive distributed lag (ARDL) bound testing procedures, the empirical results shows that the error correction term, ECM(-1), indicates a negative sign and is significant statistically with the t-statistic value of (-5.612882 ). Therefore, the gap between long run equilibrium value and the actual value of the dependent variable is corrected with speed of adjustment equal to 77% yearly. The long run coefficient results showed that the estimated coefficients of the intercept term indicates that other things remains the same (ceteris paribus), the economics growth uncertainty will continue reduce by 7.32%. The coefficient of the fiscal policy variable, PUBEXP, indicates a positive sign and significant statistically. This implies that as the government expenditure increases by 1%, economic growth uncertainty will increase by 1.67%. The coefficient of monetary policy variable MS also indicates a positive sign and insignificant statistically. The coefficients of merchandise trade variable, TRADE and exchange rate EXR show negative signs and significant statistically. This indicate that as the country’s merchandise trade and the rate of exchange increases by 1%, the economic growth uncertainty reduces by 0.38% and 0.06%, respectively. This study, therefore, advocate for proper coordination of monetary, fiscal and exchange rate policies in order to actualize the goal of achieving a stable economic growth.

Keywords: macroeconomic, policy coordination, growth uncertainty, ARDL, Nigeria

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Authors: Radosław Pastusiak, Anna Kaźmierska, Magdalena Jasiniak

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The impact of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) has been analyzed for many years by researchers. There are lot of theoretical studies proving the SEZs importance for regional development, however, there is lack of empirical studies (and they are mainly focused on China market) that are based on available data. The theoretical studies indicate the various impacts of enterprises operating within SEZs on the economy. The article proves that, in case of Poland, locating SEZs in municipalities is an important part of increasing municipalities’ income. Therefore SEZs have a positive impact on regional development. Municipality income is understood as taxes paid by taxpayers who depend on SEZ companies’ performance. The analysis includes the Corporate Income Tax (CIT), Personal Income Tax (PIT) and real estate tax. The effects of SEZs on regional development were narrowed to a few variables that are most significant for the financial system. The analysis indicates the significant impact of SEZs on the amount of taxes influencing the municipality budget.

Keywords: special economic zone, local finance, municipal finance, government

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Authors: Chokri Slim

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The relative failure of simultaneous equation models in the seventies has led researchers to turn to other approaches that take into account the dynamics of economic and financial systems. In this paper, we use an approach based on vector autoregressive model that is widely used in recent years. Their popularity is due to their flexible nature and ease of use to produce models with useful descriptive characteristics. It is also easy to use them to test economic hypotheses. The standard econometric techniques assume that the series studied are stable over time (stationary hypothesis). Most economic series do not verify this hypothesis, which assumes, when one wishes to study the relationships that bind them to implement specific techniques. This is cointegration which characterizes non-stationary series (integrated) with a linear combination is stationary, will also be presented in this paper. Since the work of Johansen, this approach is generally presented as part of a multivariate analysis and to specify long-term stable relationships while at the same time analyzing the short-term dynamics of the variables considered. In the empirical part, we have applied these concepts to study the dynamics of of the exchange rate in Tunisia, which is one of the most important economic policy of a country open to the outside. According to the results of the empirical study by the cointegration method, there is a cointegration relationship between the exchange rate and its determinants. This relationship shows that the variables have a significant influence in determining the exchange rate in Tunisia.

Keywords: stationarity, cointegration, dynamic models, causality, VECM models

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Authors: Benjamin O. Ehigie, Aderemi Alarape, Nyitor Shenge, Sylvester A. Okhakhume, Timileyin Fashola, Fiyinfunjah Dosumu

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Organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) is a construct in industrial and organisational behaviour that explains a person's voluntary commitment within an organisation, which is outside the scope of his or her contractual tasks. To attain organisational effectiveness the human factor of production is inevitable, hence the importance of employee behaviour. While the concept of organisational citizenship behavior is mostly discussed in the context of the workplace, it is reasoned that the idea could be reflective in relation to national commitment. Many developing countries in Africa, including Nigeria, suffer economic hardship today not necessarily due to poor resources but bad management of the resources. The mangers of their economies are not committed to the tenets of economic growth but engrossed in fraud, corruption, bribery, and other economic vices. It is this backdrop that necessitated the development and validation of the Ibadan-Nigeria Citizenship Behaviour (I-NCB) Scale. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey (online) research design, using 2404 postgraduate students in the Premier University of the country, with 99.2% being Nigerians and 0.8% non-Nigerians. Gender composition was 1,439 (60%) males and 965 (40%) females, 1201 (50%) were employed while 1203 50% unemployed, 74.2% of the employed were in public paid employment, 19.5% in private sector, and 6.3% were self-employed. Through literature review, 78 items were generated. Using 10 lecturers and 21 students, content and face validity were established respectively. Data collected were subjected to reliability and factor analytic statistics at p < .05 level of significance. Results of the content and face validity at 80% level of item acceptance resulted to 60 items; this was further reduced to 50 after item-total correlation using r=.30 criterion. Divergent validity of r= -.28 and convergent validity of r= .44 were obtained by correlating the I-NCB scale with standardized Counterproductive work behaviour (CWB) scale and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) scale among the workers. The reliability coefficients obtained were; Cronbach alpha of internal consistency (α = 0.941) and split-half reliability of r = 0.728. Factor analyses of the I-NCB scale with principal component and varimax rotation yielded five factors when Eigenvalue above 1 were extracted. The factors which accounted for larger proportions of the total variance were given factor names as; Altruistic, Attachment, Affective, Civic responsibility and Allegiance. As much as there are vast journals on citizenship behaviour in organisations, there exists no standardized tool to measure citizenship behaviour of a country. The Ibadan-Nigeria Citizenship Behaviour (I-NCB) scale was consequently developed. The scale could be used to select personnel into political positions and senior administrative positions among career workers in Nigeria, with the aim of determining national commitment to service.

Keywords: counterproductive work behaviour, CWB, Nigeria Citizenship Behaviour, organisational citizenship behaviour, OCB, Ibadan

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Authors: Swati Rajput

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Wellbeing is a multifaceted concept. Its definition has evolved to become more holistic over the years. The paper attempts to build up the understanding of the concept of wellbeing and marks the trajectory of its conceptual evolution. The paper will also elaborate and analyse various indicators of socio-economic wellbeing in India at state level. Ranking method has been applied to assess the situation of each state in context to the variable selected and wellbeing as a whole. Maps have been used to depict and illustrate the same. The data shows that the socio-economic wellbeing level is higher in states of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, and Lakshadweep. The level of wellbeing is very lower in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telengana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Tripura. Environment plays an important role in maintaining health. Environment and health are important indicators of wellbeing. The paper would further analyse some indicators of environment and health and find the change in the result of wellbeing levels of different states.

Keywords: socio economic factors, wellbeing index, health, mapping

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Authors: Duncan K. Espenshade

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Scholars have established expectations regarding how the political and economic interests of a country's people and elites can influence its migration policies. Most of the scholarship exploring the adoption of migration policies focuses on the developed world, focusing on the cultural, political, and economic influences that drive restrictive policies in developed countries. However, despite the scholarly focus on migration policies in developed countries, most internationally displaced people reside in developing countries. Furthermore, while the political and economic factors that influence migration policy in developed countries are likely at play in developing states, developing states also face unique hurdles to policy formation not present in developed states. Namely, this article explores how state capacity, or in this context, a state's de facto ability to restrict or absorb migration inflows, influences the adoption of migration policies in developing countries. Using Cox-Proportional hazard models and recently introduced data on asylum policies in developing countries, this research finds that having a greater ability to restrict migration flows is associated with a reduced likelihood of adopting liberal asylum policies. Future extensions of this project will explore the adoption of asylum policies as a two-stage process, in which the available decision set of political actors is first constrained by a state's restrictive and absorptive capacity in the first stage, with the political, economic, and cultural factors influencing the policy adopted in the second stage.

Keywords: state capacity, international relations, foreign policy, migration

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Authors: Dan Han, Yukun Zhang, Jie Zheng, Rui Zhang

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Making full use of space along transportation infrastructure to develop renewable energy sources, especially solar energy resources, has become a research focus in relevant fields. In recent years, relevant international researches can be classified into three stages of theoretical and technical exploration, exploratory practice as well as planning implementation. Compared with traditional solar energy development mode, the development of solar energy resources in places along the transportation infrastructure has special advantages, which can also bring forth new opportunities for the development of green transportation. 'Road Integrated Photovoltaic', a development model of combining transport and new energy, has been actively studied and applied in developed countries, but it was still in its infancy in China. 'New Silk Road Economic Belt' has great advantage to carry out the 'Road Integrated Photovoltaic' because of the rich solar energy resources in its path, the shortages of renewable energy, the constraints of agricultural land and other reasons. Especially the massive amount of construction of transportation infrastructure brought by Silk Road Economic Belt, large area of developable land along the transportation line will be generated. Abundant solar energy recourses along the Silk Road will provide extremely superb practical opportunities to the land development along transportation infrastructure. We take PVsyst, GIS and Google map software for simulation of its potential by taking Lan-Xin Railway as an example, so potential electrical energy generation can be quantified and further analyzed. Research of 'New Silk Road Economic Belt' combined with 'Road Integrated Photovoltaic' is a creative development for the along transport and energy infrastructure. It not only can make full use of solar radiation and land in its path, but also bring more long-term advantages and benefits.

Keywords: land use, silk road economic belt, solar energy, transportation infrastructure

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Authors: Zahra Khazaeipour, Ehsan Ahmadipour, Vafa Rahimi-Movaghar, Fereshteh Ahmadipour

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Research Objectives: Chronic pain is one of the common problems associated with spinal cord injuries (SCI), which causes many complications. Therefore, this study intended to evaluate the relationship between pain and demographic, injury characteristics, socio-economic and social support in individuals with spinal cord Injury in Iran. Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study. Setting: Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Research Center (BASIR), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, between 2012 and 2013. Participants: The participants were 140 individuals with SCI, 101 (72%) men and 39 (28%) women, with mean age of 29.4 ±7.9 years. Main Outcome Measure: The Persian version of the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) was used to measure the pain, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) was used to measure social support. Results: About 50.7% complained about having pain, which 79.3% had bilateral pain. The most common locations of pain were lower limbs and back. The most quality of pain was described as aching (41.4%), and tingling (32.9%). Patients with a medium level of education had the least pain compared to high and low level of education. SCI individuals with good economic situation reported higher frequency of having pain. There was no significant relationship between pain and social support. There was positive correlation between pain and impairment of mood, normal work, relations with other people and lack of sleep (P < 0.001). Conclusion: These findings revealed the importance of socioeconomic factors such as economic situation and educational level in understanding chronic pain in people with SCI and provide further support for the bio-psychosocial model. Hence, multidisciplinary evaluations and treatment strategies are advocated, including biomedical, psychological, and psycho-social interventions.

Keywords: pain, social support, socio-economic indicators, spinal cord injury

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Authors: Brenda R. Berca, Jessica S. Vieira, Lucas G. Candido, Matheus C. Ferreira, Paulo S. A. Lopes Filho, Rafaella O. Baracho

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This study aims to estimate the economic value environmental services sustained by Flamboyant Lourival Louza Municipal Park in Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil. The Flamboyant Park is one of the most relevant urban parks, and it is located near a stadium, a shopping center, and two supercenters. In order to define the methods used for the valuation of Flamboyant Park, the first step was carrying out bibliographical research with the view to better understand which method is most feasible to valuate the Park. Thus, the following direct methods were selected: travel cost, hedonic pricing, and contingent valuation. In addition, an indirect method (replacement cost) was applied at Flamboyant Park. The second step was creating and applying two surveys. The first survey aimed at the visitors of the park, addressing socio-economic issues, the use of the Park, as well as its importance and the willingness the visitors, had to pay for its existence. The second survey was destined to the existing trade in the Park, in order to collect data regarding the profits obtained by them. In the end, the characterization of the profile of the visitors and the application of the methods of contingent valuation, travel cost, replacement cost and hedonic pricing were obtained, thus monetarily valuing the various ecosystem services sustained by the park. Some services were not valued due to difficulties encountered during the process.

Keywords: contingent valuation, ecosystem services, economic environmental valuation, hedonic pricing, travel cost

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Authors: Priyanka R. Sagar

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Social economic status (SES) is a variable that denotes the social standing of a person in society, and quality of life is a measure of health, happiness, and comfort of an individual. During early 2020, the world was stuck by the blow of the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in minimal or no economic activities to takes place. The present research paper is an attempt to analyze the socioeconomic status and quality of life of construction workers dwelling in the sub-urban areas of Hoskote located in the Bengaluru rural district pre and post-COVID-19. It also tries to analyze the difference in these variables pre and post-COVID-19. The study uses a retrospective design and data collected through a questionnaire survey from the respondents of Hoskote. A total of 100 samples were collected, out of which 73% were men and 27% were women. The mean age group of the participants is 41.04 ± 6.97 years. The overall analysis of the study shows that there is a significant difference in the socioeconomic status of construction workers pre and post-COVID-19. The study shows SES of the workers pre-pandemic is higher than post-pandemic. The other variable is quality of life which consists of physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environmental domains. The study depicts that the psychological domain alone has been impacted by the pandemic; workers had better mental health pre-COVID-19. The other domains, i.e., physical health, social relationship, and environment, remain unaffected.

Keywords: socio-economic status, quality of life, construction workers, COVID-19

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Authors: Simeon Adebayo Oladipo

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Institutional administrators are currently facing pressure and challenges in their daily operations. Reasons for this may include the increasing multiplicity, uncertainty and tension that permeate institutional leadership. Authentic engagement for institutional leadership is premised on the ethical foundation that the leaders in the schools are engaged. The institutional effectiveness is dependent on the relationship that exists between the leaders and employees in the workplace. Leader’s self-awareness, relational transparency, emotional control, strong moral code and accountability have a positive influence on authentic engagement which variably determines leadership effectiveness. This study therefore examined the role of authentic engagement in effective school leadership; explored the interrelationship of authentic engagement indices in school leadership. The study adopted the descriptive research of the survey type using a quantitative method to gather data through a questionnaire among school leaders in Lagos State Tertiary Institutions. The population for the study consisted of all Heads of Departments, Deans and Principal Officers in Lagos State Tertiary Institutions. A sample size of 255 Heads of Departments, Deans and Principal Officers participated in the study. The data gathered were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical tools. The findings indicated that authentic engagement plays a crucial role in increasing leadership effectiveness amongst Heads of Departments, Deans and Principal Officers. The study recommended among others that there is a need for effective measures to enhance authentic engagement of institutional leadership practices through relevant educational support systems and effective quality control.

Keywords: authentic engagement, self-awareness, relational transparency, emotional control

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Authors: Faisal Alshammari, Abdulmajid Addali, Mosab Alrashed, Taihiret Alhashan

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The application of acoustic emission techniques is gaining popularity, as it can monitor the condition of gears and bearings and detect early symptoms of a defect in the form of pitting, wear, and flaking of surfaces. Early detection of these defects is essential as it helps to avoid major failures and the associated catastrophic consequences. Signal processing techniques are required for early defect detection – in this article, a time domain technique called the Energy Index (EI) is used. This article presents an investigation into the Energy Index’s effectiveness to detect early-stage defect initiation and deterioration, and compares it with the common r.m.s. index, Kurtosis, and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistical test. It is concluded that EI is a more effective technique for monitoring defect initiation and development than other statistical parameters.

Keywords: acoustic emission, signal processing, kurtosis, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test

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Authors: Mahmoud Hassan, Walid Oueslati, Damien Rousseliere

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This paper explores the channels through which energy taxes may affect economic growth, using a simultaneous equations model for a balanced panel data of 31 OECD countries over the 1994–2013 period. The empirical results reveal a negative impact of energy taxes on physical investment in the short and long term. This impact is negatively sensitive to the existence and level of public debt. Additionally, the results show that energy taxes have an indirect effect on human capital through their impact on polluting emissions. The taxes on energy products are able to reduce both the flux and the stock of polluting emissions that have a negative impact on human capital skills in the short and long term. Finally, we found that energy taxes could encourage eco-innovation in the short and long term.

Keywords: energy taxes, economic growth, public debt, simultaneous equations model, multiple imputation

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Authors: Napasri Suwanajote

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The purposes of this research were to analyse and evaluate successful factors in OTOP production process for the developing of learning centre on OTOP production process based on Sufficiency Economic Philosophy for sustainable life quality. The research has been designed as a qualitative study to gather information from 30 OTOP producers in Bangkontee District, Samudsongkram Province. They were all interviewed on 3 main parts. Part 1 was about the production process including 1) production 2) product development 3) the community strength 4) marketing possibility and 5) product quality. Part 2 evaluated appropriate successful factors including 1) the analysis of the successful factors 2) evaluate the strategy based on Sufficiency Economic Philosophy and 3) the model of learning centre on OTOP production process based on Sufficiency Economic Philosophy for sustainable life quality. The results showed that the production did not affect the environment with potential in continuing standard quality production. They used the raw materials in the country. On the aspect of product and community strength in the past 1 year, it was found that there was no appropriate packaging showing product identity according to global market standard. They needed the training on packaging especially for food and drink products. On the aspect of product quality and product specification, it was found that the products were certified by the local OTOP standard. There should be a responsible organization to help the uncertified producers pass the standard. However, there was a problem on food contamination which was hazardous to the consumers. The producers should cooperate with the government sector or educational institutes involving with food processing to reach FDA standard. The results from small group discussion showed that the community expected high education and better standard living. Some problems reported by the community included informal debt and drugs in the community. There were 8 steps in developing the model of learning centre on OTOP production process based on Sufficiency Economic Philosophy for sustainable life quality.

Keywords: production process, OTOP, sufficiency economic philosophy, marketing management

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Authors: Fernando Martín-Espejo, Christophe Crombez

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This paper presents a political-economic analysis of the reforms introduced during the coronavirus crisis at the EU level with a special emphasis on the recovery fund Next Generation EU (NGEU). It also introduces a spatial model to evaluate whether the governmental features of the recovery fund can be framed inside the community method. Particularly, by evaluating the brake clause in the NGEU legislation, this paper analyses theoretically the political and legislative implications of the introduction of flexibility clauses in the EU decision-making process.

Keywords: EU, legislative procedures, spatial model, coronavirus

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Authors: Lucrezia Crescenzi-Lanna, Silvia Cataldi, Williams Contreras, Valerio Pieri

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According to the European Commission, gender-based violence (GBV) is a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination against women in five areas: physical violence, sexual violence, psychological violence, mistreatment of women, and economic violence (henceforth EV). The TESORO project "Treatment, ExpoSition, and ORigin of economic viOlence: An innovation and internationalization project between Italy and Spain" focuses on this last dimension of gender-based violence, the least studied and the one that has received least media coverage. In Spain, 12% (2,350,684) of women over fifteen years of age have suffered economic violence from their partner or ex-partner during their lives. In Italy, another country participating in the project, many women who are welcomed in refuges and who report cases of psychological violence (79%) and/or physical violence (61%) are also victims of economic violence (34%), according to the D.i.Re. Thermometer: "Donne in Rete contro la Violenza", the association that brings together more than eighty refuges against violence in Italy. At the social level, this form of violence is incorporated into practices of inequality that manifest themselves in both the daily management of couples and families and the workplace and institutional settings. As for the mechanisms related to EV, the literature argues that it is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon that has socioeconomic and cultural roots. EV manifests itself through various strategies, which represent forms of power and control aimed at preventing women's financial independence. To analyse the issue of EV we use a multidisciplinary approach and a mixed design that includes: 1) a questionnaire administered to a stratified sample of more than a thousand Italian and Spanish citizens to study the cultural and socio-relational mechanisms and the origin of EV in family and couple contexts; and 2) interviews with those running refuges as part of the struggle against gender violence, to understand how mechanisms and educational activities in the field of economic violence are manifested in the respective region and are supportive of women. The decision to use this strategy responds to the need to combine an exploratory perspective with an explanatory one in order to understand some of the relevant concepts related to the complex phenomena of EV and the interventions dedicated to its prevention. The data will be finalized in June 2022 and presented at the ICWS conference. Among TESORO’s contributions, its collection of qualitative and quantitative data on EV in Italy and Spain stands out, deepening its origin, prevention, and treatment beyond its incidence, which has already been studied in the Macro-Survey on Violence against Women.

Keywords: gender-based violence, economic violence, economic harm, gender inequality, workplace and family contexts

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Authors: James Bassey Ejue, Dorn Cklaimz Enamhe, Helen Francis Ejue

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The study examined the influence of personal variables such as sex, type of school, and parental socio-economic status on secondary school students’ perception of school security. To guide the study, three null hypotheses were formulated. The research design adopted was the survey design, and a 20-item instrument was constructed and validated by the researchers through a test-retest procedure. The sample size for the study comprised 2,198 students made up of male and female students selected through a stratified random sampling technique. This was drawn from a study population of 21,988, made up of 12,635 students and 9353 students from public and private secondary schools, respectively. Data were analyzed using an independent t-test statistical tool. The findings showed that female students were more fearful in their perception of school security; the students in private schools perceived school to be more insecure than those in public schools; and the students from high parental socio-economic status are more associated with the perception of school as insecure than the ones from low parental socio-economic status. Based on these findings, it was recommended that, among others, more reassuring measures be put in place to check school security for females, for those in private schools, and for those from high parental socio-economic status. School counsellors should also be guided accordingly in designing intervention strategies.

Keywords: personal variables, students, perception, school security

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Authors: Mohammad Reza Zamanian

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The construction industry has always been recognized as one of the most dangerous available industries, and the statistics of accidents and injuries resulting from it say that the safety category needs more attention and the arrival of up-to-date technologies in this field. Building information modeling (BIM) is one of the relatively new and applicable technologies in Iran, that the necessity of using it is increasingly evident. The main purposes of this research are to evaluate the feasibility of using this technology in the safety sector of construction projects and to evaluate the effectiveness and operationality of its various applications in this sector. These applications were collected and categorized after reviewing past studies and researches then a questionnaire based on Delphi method criteria was presented to 30 experts who were thoroughly familiar with modeling software and safety guidelines. After receiving and exporting the answers to SPSS software, the validity and reliability of the questionnaire were assessed to evaluate the measuring tools. Fuzzy logic is a good way to analyze data because of its flexibility in dealing with ambiguity and uncertainty issues, and the implementation of the Delphi method in the fuzzy environment overcomes the uncertainties in decision making. Therefore, this method was used for data analysis, and the results indicate the usefulness and effectiveness of BIM in projects and improvement of safety status at different stages of construction. Finally, the applications and the sections discussed were ranked in order of priority for efficiency and effectiveness. Safety planning is considered as the most influential part of the safety of BIM among the four sectors discussed, and planning for the installation of protective fences and barriers to prevent falls and site layout planning with a safety approach based on a 3D model are the most important applications of BIM among the 18 applications to improve the safety of construction projects.

Keywords: building information modeling, safety of construction projects, Delphi method, fuzzy logic

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Authors: A. A. Akharayi, B. E. Anjola

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The economic development of a country depends greatly on internally built revenue. Small and Medium-scale Enterprise (SMEs) contributes to the economic buoyancy as it provides employment for the teeming population, encourages job creation by youths who believes in themselves and also by others who have gathered finance enough to invest in growable investment. SMEs is faced with several challenges. The study investigates the role and challenges of SMEs Somolu Local Government Area. Simple random sampling techniques were used to select entrepreneurs (SMEs owners and managers). One hundred and fifty (150) registered SMEs were selected across the LGA data collection with the use of well-structured questionnaire. The data collected were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21. The result of the analysis indicated that marketing, finance, social facilities and indiscriminate taxes among other high level of fund available significantly (p <0 .05) increase firm capacity while marketing showed a significant (p < 0.05) relationship with profit level.

Keywords: challenge, development, economic, small and medium scale enterprise

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Authors: Melih Cattik

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The present study investigate effectiveness of video modeling procedures on request an item behavior of children with ASD. Two male and a female children with ASD participated in the study. A multiple baseline across participant single-subject design was used to evaluate the effects of the video modeling procedures on request an item behavior. During baseline, no prompts were presented to participants. In the intervention phase, the teacher gave video model to the participant and than created opportunity for request an item to him/her. When the first participant reached to criterion, the second participant began intervention. This procedure continued till all participants completed intervention. Finally, all three participants learned to request an item behavior. Based upon findings of this study, it will make suggestions to future researches.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorders, video modeling procedures, request an item behavior, single subject design

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Authors: Drago Jakovcevic, Mihovil Andelinovic, Igor Husak

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The aim of this paper is to explore the economic circumstances in which the selective credit policy, the least used instrument of four types of instruments on disposal to central banks, should be used. The most significant example includes the use of selective credit policies in response to the emergence of the global financial crisis by the FED. Specifics of the potential use of selective credit policies as the instigator of economic growth in Croatia, a small open economy, are determined by high euroization of financial system, fixed exchange rate and long-term trend growth of external debt that is related to the need to maintain high levels of foreign reserves. In such conditions, the classic forms of selective credit policies are unsuitable for the introduction. Several alternative approaches to implement selective credit policies are examined in this paper. Also, thorough analysis of distribution of selective monetary policy loans among economic sectors in Croatia is conducted in order to minimize the risk of investing funds and maximize the return, in order to influence the GDP growth.

Keywords: global crisis, selective credit policy, small open economy, Croatia

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Authors: Nikhil Yadav, Shubham Verma

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Gas lift is a common technique used to optimize oil production in wells. Prosper software is a powerful tool for modeling and optimizing gas lift systems in oil wells. This review paper examines the effectiveness of Prosper software in optimizing gas lift systems in oil-producing wells. The literature review identified several studies that demonstrated the use of Prosper software to adjust injection rate, depth, and valve characteristics to optimize gas lift system performance. The results showed that Prosper software can significantly improve production rates and reduce operating costs in oil-producing wells. However, the accuracy of the model depends on the accuracy of the input data, and the cost of Prosper software can be high. Therefore, further research is needed to improve the accuracy of the model and evaluate the cost-effectiveness of using Prosper software in gas lift system optimization

Keywords: gas lift, prosper software, injection rate, operating costs, oil-producing wells

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Authors: Nabeel Abdulkadhim Athab

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The purpose of this research is to conduct a comparative study according analysis of programmed to some of physical and mechanical variables for joint wrist injury. As it can be through this research to distinguish between the amount of variation in the work of the joint after sample underwent rehabilitation program to improve the effectiveness of the joint and naturally restore its effectiveness. Supposed researcher that there is statistically significant differences between the results of the tests pre and post the members research sample, as a result of submission the sample to the program of rehabilitation, which led to the development of muscle activity that are working on wrist joint and this is what led to note the differences between the results of the tests pre and post. The researcher used the descriptive method. The research sample included (6) of injured players in the wrist joint, as the average age (21.68) and standard deviation (1.13) either length average (178cm) and standard deviation (2.08). And the sample as evidenced homogeneous among themselves. And where the data were collected, introduced in program for statistical processing to get to the most important conclusions and recommendations and that the most important: 1-The commitment of the sample program the qualifying process variables studied in the search for the heterogeneity of study activity and effectiveness of wrist joint for injured players. 2-The analysis programmed a high accuracy in the measurement of the research variables, and which led to the possibility of discrimination into account differences in motor ability camel and injured in the wrist joint. To search recommendations including: 1-The use of computer systems in the scientific research for the possibility of obtaining accurate research results. 2-Programming exercises rehabilitation according to an expert system for possible use by patients without reference to the person processor.

Keywords: analysis of joint wrist injury, physical and mechanical variables, wrist joint, wrist injury

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Authors: Blen Telayneh Melese

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Rural development, the unending quest of a developing country, cannot be succeeded in deprived of human capital development. Human capital, the economic pillars of a country's development, appeals a policy-based supports while fulfilling what is expected. Ethiopia, one of the rural countries with untouched and forgotten land and human force, owes historical experiences of educational policy intending for mobilization of its citizen for the advancement of the overall economy. Rural Ethiopia as well has been the focus of those educational policies, considering the economic resources entrenched with in. In this literature review paper, Ethiopian educational policy and its contribution to human capital development, as well as its role in generating quality human labor force, is assessed concisely. The author argues that the foundation of rural development such as technology, knowledge, infrastructure, market chain, communication and etc., can only be achieved through enhanced education policy that conciliates the existing reality of rural communities. Ethiopia still needs an education policy that enables it to generate a human capital that is oriented with the rural areas economic opportunities and challenges.

Keywords: Ethiopia, rural development, human capital development, education policy

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Authors: N. E Okoligwe, Okezie A. Ihugba

Abstract:

Few scholars disagrees that electricity consumption is an important supporting factor for economy growth. However, the relationship between electricity consumption and economy growth has different manifestation in different countries according to previous studies. This paper examines the causal relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth for Nigeria. In an attempt to do this, the paper tests the validity of the modernization or depending hypothesis by employing various econometric tools such as Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) and Johansen Co-integration test, the Error Correction Mechanism (ECM) and Granger Causality test on time series data from 1971-2012. The Granger causality is found not to run from electricity consumption to real GDP and from GDP to electricity consumption during the year of study. The null hypothesis is accepted at the 5 per cent level of significance where the probability value (0.2251 and 0.8251) is greater than five per cent level of significance because both of them are probably determined by some other factors like; increase in urban population, unemployment rate and the number of Nigerians that benefit from the increase in GDP and increase in electricity demand is not determined by the increase in GDP (income) over the period of study because electricity demand has always been greater than consumption. Consequently; the policy makers in Nigeria should place priority in early stages of reconstruction on building capacity additions and infrastructure development of the electric power sector as this would force the sustainable economic growth in Nigeria.

Keywords: economic growth, electricity consumption, error correction mechanism, granger causality test

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Authors: Matjaz Prek

Abstract:

Impact of three different combinations of cooling and ventilation systems on the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) has been studied. Comparison of chilled ceiling cooling in combination with displacement ventilation, cooling with fan coil unit and cooling with flat wall displacement outlets was performed. All three combinations were evaluated from the standpoint of whole-body and local thermal comfort criteria as well as from the standpoint of ventilation effectiveness. The comparison was made on the basis of numerical simulation with DesignBuilder and Fluent. Numerical simulations were carried out in two steps. Firstly the DesignBuilder software environment was used to model the buildings thermal performance and evaluation of the interaction between the environment and the building. Heat gains of the building and of the individual space, as well as the heat loss on the boundary surfaces in the room, were calculated. In the second step Fluent software environment was used to simulate the response of the indoor environment, evaluating the interaction between building and human, using the simulation results obtained in the first step. Among the systems presented, the ceiling cooling system in combination with displacement ventilation was found to be the most suitable as it offers a high level of thermal comfort with adequate ventilation efficiency. Fan coil cooling has proved inadequate from the standpoint of thermal comfort whereas flat wall displacement outlets were inadequate from the standpoint of ventilation effectiveness. The study showed the need in evaluating indoor environment not solely from the energy use point of view, but from the point of view of indoor environmental quality as well.

Keywords: cooling, ventilation, thermal comfort, ventilation effectiveness, indoor environmental quality, IEQ, computational fluid dynamics

Procedia PDF Downloads 181

Authors: A. R. Abdul Syukor, A. W. Zularisam, Z. Ideris, M. S. Mohd Ismid, H. M. Nakmal, S. Sulaiman, A. H. Hasmanie, M. R. Siti Norsita, M. Nasrullah

Abstract:

In this study, the effectiveness of integrated aquatic plants in phytogreen zone was studied and statistical analysis for the promotional integrated phytogreen system approached was discussed. It was found that the effectiveness of using aquatic plant such as Typha angustifolia sp., Lepironia articulata sp., Limnocharis flava sp., Monochoria vaginalis sp., Pistia stratiotes sp., and Eichhornia crassipes sp. in the conventional oxidation pond process in order to comply the standard A according to Malaysia Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Act 127); Environmental Quality (Sewage) Regulation 2009 for effluent discharge into inland water near the residential area was successfully shown. It was concluded that the integrated phytogreen system developed in this study has great potential for refurbishment wastewater in conventional oxidation pond.

Keywords: phytoremediation, integrated phytogreen system, sewage treatment plant, oxidation pond, aquatic plants

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Authors: Salami Ayobami Taofeek, Ajayi Adeola

Abstract:

Rural tourism entrepreurship is a tourist industry which revolutionizes businesses and prompting economic development across the globe. It encompasses huge range activities, natural or man-made attractions, amenities and facilities, transportation, marketing and information systems. It is also an important export for 83% of the developing countries and the main export for one third of them. In 2000, developing countries recorded 142.6 million international arrivals an increase of 95% compared to the figures of 1990. However, only developing countries with effective natural and man-made tourism supporting and enhancing infrastructure have been able to develop their tourism sector and seize the attendance advantages. Rural areas of Nigeria possess some distinctive peculiarities which can be transformed into attractive tourist centers. In spite of all these, rural tourism areas are still faced with myriad problems which include poor finance inadequate awareness and education, lack of progress in developing the rural of progress in developing the rural tourism potentials inadequate legislation, insecurity, entrepreneurial inertness, over-dependent on oil among others. This paper focuses on the impact and challenges of rural tourism entrepreneurship as strategy for economic development in Nigeria. It reviews literature rural tourism, tourism entrepreneurship potentials and classifications of Nigerians tourism potential’s destinations. The paper concludes that Nigeria Government should encourage rural based tourism entrepreneurship development by addressing the challenges facing rural tourism entrepreneurship in the country.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, economic development, rural tourism, tourism destinations tourism potentials

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Authors: Vajiheh Javani

Abstract:

Hosting sport event result in both economic and socio-psychological impacts on host communities. Economic impacts, which are considered by many scholars and the social impacts of tourism based on hosting sports events have also been somehow investigated. But, investigating perceived social impacts based on host community perceptions has been paid not with little attention enough. Therefore, this study aims to study the beneficiary social impact of hosting sport event from residents’ perceptions. The participations for this research were 50 residents of Tabriz city who were recruited by judgment sampling method. focused group interviews were used for gathering the data. Then thematic analysis was utilized for interview analysis. Extracted perceived beneficiary social impacts include (1) economic benefits; (2) community pride; (3) community development. This study highlighted the perceived social beneficiary impacts and could contribute to a better understanding of how local residents of the studied community view the impacts associated with a sport event.

Keywords: socio-psychological impacts, sport event, community development, hosting

Procedia PDF Downloads 73