Search results for: economic ranking

Authors: Vered Holzmann, Ramzi Halabi

Abstract:

The current research investigates motivators and barriers to high-tech entrepreneurship in the Israeli-Arab Community. With the aim to exploit the capacity of Israel as a 'start-up nation', we identify the most important aspects to promote integration of Israeli-Arab entrepreneurs in high-tech startups and business companies, thus impact the socio-economic status of the Arab community in Israel. We reviewed the literature on the role of high-tech and entrepreneurship in the Israeli economy, the profile of the Israeli-Arab community with regard to education and employability, and the characteristics of minority entrepreneurship to understand entrepreneurs' intentions, their incentives to choose the entrepreneurial route on one hand and the obstacles that they face on the other hand. Based on the literature review, we conducted an integrated study that included a survey among 73 Israeli-Arabs involved in high-tech entrepreneurship and 16 semi-structured interviews with Israeli-Arab and Jewish entrepreneurs and leaders in the high-tech industry. We analyzed the data to explore personal and social motivating factors to entrepreneurship as well as educational and socio-economical barriers for entrepreneurship. Three major elements were found to be the most influential on Arab high-tech entrepreneurship in Israel: education, financial resources, and strategic-institutional support. The relationship between education and employability that is well-known with regard to general education, requires two additional aspects in the field of high-tech entrepreneurship: education of technology and engineering, and education of business and entrepreneurship. The study findings reveal that the main motivation factors for entrepreneurship are development of creative ideas and improvement of the socio-economic status, while financial-related factors and lack of institutional and governmental support are perceived as impediments to entrepreneurial activities. Financing difficulties are mainly derived from discriminating financial environment and lack of professional networking. The relationship between entrepreneurship and economic growth seems to be clear and simple; thus it is a national interest to encourage entrepreneurship among the Arab community, and especially high-tech entrepreneurship which has a significant role in the economic growth of Israel.

Keywords: high-tech industry, innovation management, Israeli-Arab community, minority entrepreneurship, motivating factors and barriers

Procedia PDF Downloads 220

Authors: Usman Dutse, Eldah Ephraim Buba, Dalhatu Sa’idu

Abstract:

The popularity of foreign football leagues are getting a soaring in Africa. Nigerian youths are following these leagues with high sense of dedication and devotion. The paper examines the factors behind the growing popularity of foreign football league in Nigeria and its socio economic implications on the country. Primary data were largely used for the study and collected through the use of questionnaire and interview. The data collected were analysed with the use of descriptive and qualitative methods of analysis. The findings made from the analysis indicates that the reasons why foreign league is popular in Nigeria is because the quality of national league in Nigeria is poor, the matches are not mostly televised, corruption/match fixing is common; for the above mentioned reasons national football league become uninteresting compared to foreign leagues. It was also confirmed that the overwhelming popularity of foreign league has the following social effects: friendship and acquaintance are created between supporters of the same club via social media and viewing centres, it has increased the knowledge and awareness of youth about the economics and politics of international sports. However, it has also brewed rivalry between supporters of clubs, drugs are sold in viewing centres and it sometimes serves as a meeting point for miscreants and criminals. Some of the economic effects were also identified as follows: small entrepreneurs establish commercial viewing centres and they employ other supporting staff to operate. On the strength of the above findings, the following were recommended: There is the urgent need to reform our national league to an acceptable standard; improve the quality of the team, the facilities and media coverage of the matches. This might make Nigerians to channel some of the love for foreign leagues to the local leagues.

Keywords: foreign, league, socioeconomic, implications

Procedia PDF Downloads 256

Authors: Arnault Morisson

Abstract:

Innovation districts are being implemented as urban regeneration strategies in cities as diverse as Barcelona (Spain), Boston (Massachusetts), Chattanooga (Tennessee), Detroit (Michigan), Medellin (Colombia), and Montréal (Canada). Little, however, is known about the concept. This paper aims to provide a framework to define innovation districts. The research methodology is based on a qualitative approach using 22@ Barcelona as a case study. 22@ Barcelona was the first innovation district ever created and has been a model for the innovation districts of Medellin (Colombia) and Boston (Massachusetts) among others. Innovation districts based on the 22@ Barcelona’s model can be defined as top-down urban innovation ecosystems designed around four multilayered and multidimensional models of innovation: urban planning, productive, collaborative, and creative, all coordinated under strong leadership, with the ultimate objectives to accelerate the innovation process and competitiveness of a locality. Innovation districts aim to respond to a new economic paradigm in which economic production flows back to cities.

Keywords: innovation ecosystem, governance, technology park, urban planning, urban policy, urban regeneration

Procedia PDF Downloads 374

Authors: A. S. Salimzhanova, J. C. Sardinas, O. A. Yanovskaya

Abstract:

The objective of this research work is to discuss the concept of green growth in the Republic of Kazakhstan introduced by its government in the National Sustainable Development Strategy with the objective of transition to a resource-efficient, green economy. We believe that emerging economies like Kazakhstan can pursue a cleaner and more efficient development path by introducing an environmental tax system based on resource consumption rather than only income and labor. The key issues discussed in this article are the eco-efficiency, which refers to closing the gap between economic and ecological efficiencies, and the structural change of the economy toward green growth. We also strongly believe that studying the experience of East Asian countries on green reform including eco-innovation and green solutions in business is essential to the case of Kazakhstan. All of these will raise the status of Kazakhstan to the level of one of the thirty developed countries over the next decades.

Keywords: economic strategy, green growth, green solutions, natural resource management, environmental tax system

Procedia PDF Downloads 281

Authors: K. Y. Chen, Y. N. Jia, H. Chua, C. W. Kan

Abstract:

In United States (US), the environmental policy went through two stages that are government control period and market mechanism period. In the government control period in the 1970s, environmental problems in U.S. are treated by mandatory direct control method, including promulgation of laws, formulation of emission standards and mandatory installation of pollution treatment equipment. After the 1980s, the environmental policy in U.S. went into the second stage, in which the government strengthened the incentives and coordination effects of market. Since then, environmental governance had been partially replaced by means of economic regulation of the market. Green Tax Policy and Marketable Pollution Permits are good examples of government's economic interventions. U.S. Federal Government regards environmental industry as high-tech industry which is promoted in this period. Therefore, in the paper, we aim to analyse the effect of environmental investment on the sustainable development in the US. Acknowledgment: Authors would like to thank the financial support from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for this work.

Keywords: United States, public environmental investment, analysis, sustainable development

Procedia PDF Downloads 252

Authors: Muhammad Ilham Agus Salim, Muhammad Ikbal

Abstract:

The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) was set up in 2003 with the objectives of creating a single market and production base, enhancing equitable economic development as well as facilitating the integration into the global economy. The AEC involves liberalization and facilitation of trade in goods, skilled labour, services, and investment, as well as protection and promotion of investment. The thesis outlines the AEC Blueprint actions in scope of globalization of investment and capital market. Free flows of investment and freer flows of capital market urge countries in South East Asia to coordinate and to collaborate in securing the interest of public, and this leads to the importance of financial services authorities in ASEAN to prepare the mechanism of guarding the flows of investment. There is no exception, especially for Indonesian Financial Services Authority (OJK) as one of the authorized body in capital market supervision, to enforce its authorities as supervisory body.

Keywords: AEC blueprint, OJK, capital market, integration

Procedia PDF Downloads 314

Authors: Olaide O. Wahab, Lukman O. Olasunkanmi, Krishna K. Govender, Penny P. Govender

Abstract:

The economic and environmental challenges associated with azo disperse dyes applications are due to poor aqueous solubility and low degradation tendency which stems from low chemical reactivity. Poor aqueous solubility property of this group of dyes necessitates the use of dispersing agents which increase operational costs and also release toxic chemical components into the environment, while their low degradation tendency is due to the high stability of the azo functional group (-N=N-) in their chemical structures. To address these problems, this study investigated theoretically the effects of some polar substituents on the aqueous solubility and reactivity properties of disperse yellow (DY) 119 dye with a view to theoretically develop new azo disperse dyes with improved solubility in water and higher degradation tendency in the environment using DMol³ computational code. All calculations were carried out using the Becke and Perdew version of Volsko-Wilk-Nusair (VWN-BP) level of density functional theory in conjunction with double numerical basis set containing polarization function (DNP). The aqueous solubility determination was achieved with conductor-like screening model for realistic solvation (COSMO-RS) in conjunction with known empirical solubility model, while the reactivity was predicted using frontier molecular orbital calculations. Most of the new derivatives studied showed evidence of higher aqueous solubility and degradation tendency compared to the parent dye. We conclude that these derivatives are promising alternative dyes for more economic and environmental benign dyeing practice and therefore recommend them for synthesis.

Keywords: aqueous solubility, azo disperse dye, degradation, disperse yellow 119, DMol³, reactivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 206

Authors: Irfan Ali, Srikant Gupta, Aquil Ahmed

Abstract:

Every country needs a sustainable development (SD) for its economic growth by forming suitable policies and initiative programs for the development of different sectors of the country. This paper is comprised of modeling and optimization of different sectors of India that form a multi-criterion model. In this paper, we developed a fractional goal programming (FGP) model that helps in providing the efficient allocation of resources simultaneously by achieving the sustainable goals in gross domestic product (GDP), electricity consumption (EC) and greenhouse gasses (GHG) emission by the year 2030. Also, a weighted model of FGP is presented to obtain varying solution according to the priorities set by the policy maker for achieving future goals of GDP growth, EC, and GHG emission. The presented models provide a useful insight to the decision makers for implementing strategies in a different sector.

Keywords: sustainable and economic development, multi-objective fractional programming, fuzzy goal programming, weighted fuzzy goal programming

Procedia PDF Downloads 224

Authors: Evgeni Baratashvili, Anzor Abralava, Rusudan Kutateladze, Nino Pailodze, Irma Makharashvili, Larisa Takalandze

Abstract:

Sinergy as a neological term is reflected in modern sciences. It can be found in the various fields of science including the humanities and technical sciences. Among them are biology and medicine, philology, economy and etc. Synergy is the received surplus of marginal high total effect of the groups, consolidated by one common idea, received through endeavored applies of their combined tools, via obtained effect of the separate independent actions of the groups. In the conditions of market economy, according the terms of new communication terminology, synergy effects on management and marketing successfully as well as on purity defense of native language. The well-known scientist’s and public figure’s Academician I. Prangishvili’s works are especially valuable in this aspect. In our opinion the entropy research is linked to his name in our country. In modern economy, the current qualitative changes shows us that the most number of factors and issues have been regrouped. They have a great influence and even define the economic development. The declining abilities of traditional recourses of economic growth have been related on the use of their physical abilities and their moving closer to the edge. Also it is related on the reduced effectiveness, which at the same time increases the expenditures. This means that the leading must be the innovative process system of products and services in the economic growth model. In our opinion the above mentioned system is distinguished with the synergistic approach. It should be noted that the main components of the innovative system are technological, scientific and scientific-technical, social-organizational, managerial and cognitive changes. All of them are reflected on scientific works and inventions in the proper dosages, in know-how and material source. At any stage they create the reproduction cycle. The innovations are different from each other by technologies, origination, design, innovation and quality, subject-content structure, by the the spread of economic processes and the impact of the level of it’s distribution. We have presented a generalized statement of an innovative approach, which is not a single act of innovation but it is also targeted system of the development, implementation, reconciling-exploitation, production, diffusion and commercialization of news. The innovative approaches should be considered as the creation of news, in-depth process of creativity as an innovative alternative to the realization of innovative and entrepreneurial efforts and measures, in order to meet the requirements of the permanent process.

Keywords: economic development, leading process, neological term, synergy

Procedia PDF Downloads 203

Authors: Muftahu Jibirin Salihu, Hazri Jamil

Abstract:

The persisting challenge of access and enrolment to higher education in commonwealth countries has been reported in several studies, including reports of the international organization such as World Bank, UNESCO among others however from the macro perspective. The overarching aim of this study is to examine alternative policy practices towards improving access to university education in Nigeria at meso level of policy practice from evidence base policy studies using one university as a case. The study adopted a qualitative approach to gain insightful understanding on the issue of the study employing a semi-structure interview and policy documents as the means for obtaining the data and other relevant information for the study. The participants of the study were purposively chosen which comprise of a number of individuals from the selected university and other related organization which responsible for the policies development and implementation of Nigerian higher education system. From the findings of the study, several initiatives have been taken at meso level to address this challenge including the introduction of the University Matriculation Program as an alternative route for enhancing to access to the university education. However, the study further provided a number of recommendations which aimed at improving access to university education such as improving the entry requirements, society orientation on university education and the issue of ranking of certificate among the Nigerian higher institutions of learning.

Keywords: policy practice, access, enrolment, university, education, Nigeria

Procedia PDF Downloads 271

Authors: Adedayo Jeremiah Adeyekun, Samuel Oluwagbemiga Ishola

Abstract:

This paper aimed to identify the significance of sustainability in the built environment, the economic and environmental importance to building and construction projects. Sustainability in the built environment has been a key objective of research over the past several decades. Sustainability in the built environment requires reconciliation between economic, environmental and social impacts of design and planning decisions made during the life cycle of a project from inception to termination. Planning for sustainability in the built environment needs us to go beyond our individual disciplines to consider the variety of economic, social and environmental impacts of our decisions in the long term. A decision to build a green residential development in an isolated location may pass some of the test of sustainability through its reduction in stormwater runoff, energy efficiency, and ecological sustainability in the building, but it may fail to be sustainable from a transportation perspective. Sustainability is important to the planning, design, construction, and preservation of the built environment; because it helps these activities reflect multiple values and considerations. In fact, the arts and sciences of the built environment have traditionally integrated values and fostered creative expression, capabilities that can and should lead the sustainability movement as society seeks ways to live in dynamic balance with its own diverse needs and the natural world. This research aimed to capture the state-of-the-art in the development of innovative sustainable design and planning strategies for building and construction projects. Therefore, there is a need for a holistic selection and implication approach for identifying potential sustainable strategies applicable to a particular project and evaluating the overall life cycle impact of each alternative by accounting for different applicable impacts and making the final selection among various viable alternatives.

Keywords: sustainability, built environment, planning, design, construction

Procedia PDF Downloads 178

Authors: Clinton Adas

Abstract:

Antibiotic resistance has been identified by the World Health Organisation as a real possibility for the 21st Century. While many factors contribute to this, one of the more significant is industrial animal farming and its effect on the food chain and environment. Livestock consumes a significant portion of antibiotics sold globally, and these are used to make animals grow faster for profit purposes, to prevent illness caused by inhumane living conditions, and to treat disease when it breaks out. Many of these antibiotics provide little benefit to animals, and most are the same as those used by humans - including those deemed critical to human health that should therefore be used sparingly. Antibiotic resistance contributes to growing numbers of illnesses and death in humans, and the excess usage of these medications results in waste that enters the environment and is harmful to many ecological processes. This combination of antimicrobial resistance and environmental degradation furthermore harms the economic well-being and prospects of many. Using an interdisciplinary approach including medical, environmental, economic, and legal studies, the paper evaluates the dynamic between animal welfare and commerce and argues that while animal welfare is not of great concern to many, this approach is ultimately harming human welfare too. It is, however, proposed that both could be addressed under a One Health and Welfare approach, as we cannot continue to ignore the linkages between animals, the environment, and people. The evaluation of industrial animal farming is therefore considered through three aspects – the environmental impact, which is measured by pollution that causes environmental degradation; the human impact, which is measured by the rise of illnesses from pollution and antibiotics resistance; and the economic impact, which is measured through costs to the health care system and the financial implications of industrial farming on the economic well-being of many. These three aspects are considered in light of the Sustainable Development Goals that provide additional tangible metrics to evidence the negative impacts. While the research addresses the welfare of farmed animals, there is potential for these principles to be extrapolated into other contexts, including wildlife and habitat protection. It must be noted that while the question of animal rights in industrial animal farming is acknowledged and of importance, this is a separate matter that is not addressed here.

Keywords: animal and human welfare, industrial animal farming, one health and welfare, sustainable development goals

Procedia PDF Downloads 86

Authors: S. P. Koko, K. Kusakana, H. J. Vermaak

Abstract:

Standalone micro-hydrokinetic river (MHR) system is one of the promising technologies to be used for remote rural electrification. It simply requires the flow of water instead of elevation or head, leading to expensive civil works. This paper demonstrates an economic benefit offered by a standalone MHR system when compared to the commonly used standalone systems such as solar, wind and diesel generator (DG) at the selected study site in Kwazulu Natal. Wind speed and solar radiation data of the selected rural site have been taken from national aeronautics and space administration (NASA) surface meteorology database. The hybrid optimization model for electric renewable (HOMER) software was used to determine the most feasible solution when using MHR, solar, wind or DG system to supply 5 rural houses. MHR system proved to be the best cost-effective option to consider at the study site due to its low cost of energy (COE) and low net present cost (NPC).

Keywords: economic analysis, micro-hydrokinetic, rural-electrification, cost of energy (COE), net present cost (NPC)

Procedia PDF Downloads 434

Authors: Moujib Bahri, Ouafa Sakka, Kallel Rahim

Abstract:

This study builds on the literature about the effects of corruption on economic growth at the firm level, which analyzes how the payment of bribes affect organizational performance. Traditionally, the literature distinguishes two points of view regarding the impact of corruption: grease view and sand view. The grease view is based on the idea that corruption can compensate for the negative effect of red tape on firms’ activities such as innovation and exports. Therefore, some firms will be motivated to pay some additional money to officials in order to reduce the delay related to bureaucratic procedures. On the contrary, the second point of view considers that corruption sands the wheels of the economy and distorts resource allocation because it increases agency and transaction costs and reduces the returns on the investment. We have tested the effect of corruption on innovation and export activities on a sample of 537 Tunisian manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) using structural equation modeling and path analysis. Tunisia has undergone a revolution in 2010 and since then, the country is experiencing a political instability and economic hardships. Our results do not support the greasing hypothesis suggesting that corruption can reduce the negative effect of bureaucratic delays and the hard access of companies to public services related to exports. Instead, our results support the sanding hypothesis according to which corruption hinders SMEs’ exports through its negative influence on innovation. Furthermore, our results show that the interaction between excessive bureaucratic red tape and corruption has a negative effect on exports. However, the interaction between political instability and corruption increases exports.

Keywords: corruption, exports, SMEs, economic conditions

Procedia PDF Downloads 179

Authors: Fawad Hussain, Saleh Abdullah Saleh, Mohammad Basir B Saud, Mohd Azwardi Md. Isa

Abstract:

It is very important for a developing nation to develop their infrastursture on the prime priority because their infrastursture particularly their roads and transporation functions as a blood in the system. Almost 1.1 billion populations share the travel and transportation industry in India. On the other hand, the Pakistan transportation industry is also extensive and elevating about 170 million users of transportation. Indian and Pakistani specifically within bus industry have good interconnectivity within and between the urban and rural areas as well as connectivity between the two countries, which is dramatically helping the economic alleviation of both countries. Due to high economic instability, unemployment and poverty rate are among the reasons why both the governments are very committed and seriously taken further action to help boost their economy. They believe that any form of transportation development would play a vital role in the development of land, infrastructure which could indirectly support many other industries’ development, such as tourism, freighting and shipping businesses, just to mention a few. However, it seems that their previous transportation planning in the due course has failed to meet the fast growing demand. As with the spin of time, both the countries are looking forward for a reasonable, safe and economical long term solutions, which is from time to time keep appreciating and reacting according to other key economic drivers. Content analysis method and case study approach is used in this paper and secondary data from the bureau of statistic is used for case analysis. The paper centered on the mobility concerns of the lower and middle income people in India and Pakistan. The paper is aimed to highlight the weaknesses, opportunities and limitations resulting from low priority industry for government, which is making the either country's public suffer. The paper has concluded that the main issue is identified as the slow, inappropriate and unfavorable decisions which are not in favor of long term country’s economic development and public welfare as well as interest. The paper also recommends to future market sense public and private transportation, which has failed to meet the public expectations.

Keywords: bus transportation industries, transportation demand, government parallel initiatives, road and traffic congestions

Procedia PDF Downloads 278

Authors: Ng Ziyi Zoe, Yow Wei Quin

Abstract:

Humor plays a pivotal role in our interaction with people. According to the age-related positivity effect, older adults (OA) demonstrate more positive emotions and are better able to modulate negative emotional states than younger adults (YA), suggesting an increase in humor appreciation with age. However, different types of humor might show different patterns of change in appreciation with age (e.g., incongruity-resolution humor, aggressive humor, self-vs.-other-deprecating humor). Thus, we aim to explore age-related effects in the perception of different types of humor in a single study, including the impact of local slang in humor appreciation. Twenty OA aged 60-and-above and 24 YA aged 13-20 were watched four short videos (i.e., benign, violent, satire+local slang, and others-deprecating humor) and rated how funny the videos were (from a scale of 1-not funny-at-all to 5-very funny). Participants were also asked to rank the videos in the order of most- to least-entertaining. Repeated measures of ANOVA found significant main effects of age, F(3,39)=12,88, p < .001, where OA gave higher ratings than YA (M=3.20 vs. 2.63), and humor type, F(3,123)=19.66, p < .001. Post-hoc analyses revealed a significant linear contrast where benign and violent humor had the lowest ratings while others-deprecating humor had the highest ratings. No significant interaction effect was found. The distribution of ranking ratings also differed between OA and YA (e.g., preferred satire+local slang and others-deprecating humor vs. overwhelmingly preferred other-deprecating humor, respectively). Overall, OA displayed a greater appreciation across various types of humor than YA. Humor perception will be discussed in the larger context of cognitive, societal, and cultural implications.

Keywords: humor, older adults, perception, age differences

Procedia PDF Downloads 175

Authors: Rathnayaka D. D. T. , Vidanage P. W. , Wasalathilake K. C. , Wickramasingha H. W. , Wijayarathne U. P. L. , Perera S. A. S.

Abstract:

This paper describes the research carried out to develop a process to increase the NaCl percentage of crude salt which is obtained from the conventional solar evaporation process. In this study refined salt was produced from crude solar salt by a chemico-physical method which consists of coagulation, precipitation and filtration. Initially crude salt crystals were crushed and dissolved in water. Optimum amounts of calcium hydroxide, sodium carbonate and Poly Aluminium Chloride (PAC) were added to the solution respectively. Refined NaCl solution was separated out by a filtration process. The solution was tested for Total Suspended Solids, SO42-, Mg2+, Ca2+. With optimum dosage of reagents, the results showed that a level of 99.60% NaCl could be achieved. Further this paper discusses the economic viability of the proposed process. A 83% profit margin can be achieved by this process and it is an increase of 112.3% compared to the traditional process.

Keywords: chemico-physical, economic, optimum, refined, solar salt

Procedia PDF Downloads 257

Authors: Shola Abidemi Olabode

Abstract:

Nigeria as a country has been plagued by numerous conflicts since the British colonialists gave in to the advocacy of Nigerian dissents for independence and relinquished power in 1960. These conflicts are often motivated by different issues, from socio-political and economic issues to struggles of ethnic and religious orientation. The Niger Delta region which accounts for the country’s economic mainstay has been at the epicentre of such conflicts. Over the years, peaceful protests, and radical insurgency and resistance movements too numerous to mention have emerged in the region. The Niger Delta Avengers is an example of a recent conflict movement in the region. Using a case study approach, and looking through a cyberconflict perspective, this paper offers a discussion on the intersection between digital and social media and framing in the Niger Delta Avengers conflict. It advocates that the Niger Delta Avengers use digital and social media to legitimise and give credence to their struggle.

Keywords: digital and social media, framing, Niger delta avengers, cyberconflict, conflict

Procedia PDF Downloads 279

Authors: Tae Young Jin, Jin Soo Kim

Abstract:

Carbon emissions have emerged as global concerns. Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) have published reports about Green House Gases (GHGs) emissions regularly. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have held a conference yearly since 1995. Especially, COP21 held at December 2015 made the Paris agreement which have strong binding force differently from former COP. The Paris agreement was ratified as of 4 November 2016, they finally have legal binding. Participating countries set up their own Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC), and will try to achieve this. Thus, carbon emissions must be reduced. The energy sector is one of most responsible for carbon emissions and fossil fuels particularly are. Thus, this paper attempted to examine the relationship between natural gas consumption and economic growth. To achieve this, we adopted the Cobb-Douglas production function that consists of natural gas consumption, economic growth, capital, and labor using dependent panel analysis. Data were preprocessed with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to remove cross-sectional dependency which can disturb the panel results. After confirming the existence of time-trended component of each variable, we moved to cointegration test considering cross-sectional dependency and structural breaks to describe more realistic behavior of volatile international indicators. The cointegration test result indicates that there is long-run equilibrium relationship between selected variables. Long-run cointegrating vector and Granger causality test results show that while natural gas consumption can contribute economic growth in the short-run, adversely affect in the long-run. From these results, we made following policy implications. Since natural gas has positive economic effect in only short-run, the policy makers in developing countries must consider the gradual switching of major energy source, from natural gas to sustainable energy source. Second, the technology transfer and financing business suggested by COP must be accelerated. Acknowledgement—This work was supported by the Energy Efficiency & Resources Core Technology Program of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) granted financial resource from the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, Republic of Korea (No. 20152510101880) and by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF-205S1A3A2046684).

Keywords: developing countries, economic growth, natural gas consumption, panel data analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 237

Authors: Kemal Comakli, Meryem Terhan

Abstract:

In this study, the potential of heat recovery from waste flue gas was examined in 60 MW district heating system of a university, and fuel saving was aimed by using the recovered heat in the system as a source again. Various scenarios are intended to make use of waste heat. For this purpose, actual operation data of the system were taken. Besides, the heat recovery units that consist of heat exchangers such as flue gas condensers, economizers or air pre-heaters were designed theoretically for each scenario. Energy analysis of natural gas-fired boiler’s exhaust flue gas in the system, and economic analysis of heat recovery units to predict payback periods were done. According to calculation results, the waste heat loss ratio from boiler flue gas in the system was obtained as average 16%. Thanks to the heat recovery units, thermal efficiency of the system can be increased, and fuel saving can be provided. At the same time, a huge amount of green gas emission can be decreased by installing the heat recovery units.

Keywords: heat recovery from flue gas, energy analysis of flue gas, economical analysis, payback period

Procedia PDF Downloads 288

Authors: Rhaptyalyani Herno Della, Nyimas Septi Rika Putri, Rika Nabila

Abstract:

The growth of population and economic activities in urban areas needs support economic development, needs to be balanced with adequate environmental infrastructure development. Settlement can avoid from rundown condition and uninhabitable if the development of urban area accordance with healthy development. Identifying database of slum in this study reference to the Review of the Spatial Plan Development of Palembang City, Laws of Public Works Department about Technical Guidelines on the Quality Improvement Housing and Slum and Urban Spatial Global Report on Human Settlements 2003. A case study for identifying in Palembang riverbanks area are located in two districts; Ilir Timur I and Ilir Timur II. This study do the identification of slum areas based on several variables about physical and non physical aspect, then the result of identification are used to define a policy that can be used to improve the area.

Keywords: slum, riverbanks area, urban area, infrastructure

Procedia PDF Downloads 350

Authors: Monica Violeta Achim, Sorin Nicolae Borlea

Abstract:

This aim of this work is to stress the needs for enhancing the role of forensic accounting in fighting economic and financial crime, in the context of the new international regulation movements in this area enhanced by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). Corruption, money laundering, tax evasion and other frauds significant hamper the economic growth and human development and, ultimately, the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The present paper also stresses the role of good governance in fighting the frauds, in order to achieve the most suitable sustainable development of the society. In this view, we made a bibliometric systematic review on forensic accounting and its contribution towards fraud detection and prevention and theirs relationship with good governance and Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs). In this view, two powerful bibliometric visual software tools, VosViewer and CiteSpace are used in order to analyze published papers identifies in Scopus and Web of Science databases over the time. Our findings reveal the main red flags identified in literature as used tools by forensic accounting, the evolution in time of the interest of the topic, the distribution in space among world countries and connectivity with patterns of a good governance. Visual designs and scientific maps are useful to show these findings, in a visual way. Our findings are useful for managers and policy makers to provide important avenues that may help in reaching the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, in the area of using forensic accounting in preventing frauds.

Keywords: forensic accounting, frauds, red flags, SDGs

Procedia PDF Downloads 141

Authors: O. Colot, M. Croquet, L. Cultrera, Y. Fandja Collince

Abstract:

The objective of our research is to evaluate the impact of the allowance for corporate equity (ACE) on the financial structure of Belgian SME in order to highlight the potential existence of a fiscal leverage. To limit the biases linked to the rationing of the capital further to the financial crisis, we compare first the dynamic evolution of the financial structure of the Belgian firms over the period 2006-2015 by focusing on three sub-periods: 2006-2008, 2009-2012 and 2013-2015. We give then an international size to this comparison by including SMEs from countries adjoining Belgium (France, Germany, Netherlands and the United Kingdom) and within which there is no ACE. This comparison allows better understanding the fiscal advantage linked to the ACE of firms evolving in a relatively unstable economic environment further to the financial crisis of 2008. This research is relevant given the economic and political context in which Belgium operates and the very uncertain future of the Belgian ACE. The originality of this research is twofold: the long study period and the consideration of the effects of the financial and economic crisis on the financing structure of Belgian SMEs. The results of this research, even though they confirm the existence of a positive fiscal leverage for the tax deduction for venture capital on the financing structure of Belgian SMEs, do not allow the extent of this leverage to be clearly quantified. The comparative evolution of financing structures over the period 2006-2015 of Belgian, French, German, Dutch and English SMEs shows a strong similarity in the overall evolution of their financing.

Keywords: allowance for corporate equity, Belgium, financial structure, small and medium sized firms

Procedia PDF Downloads 205

Authors: Nur Emma Mustaffa, Hii Ping Ping

Abstract:

Late payment is a common issue in the construction industry and the subcontractors are not spared from it. This study has been carried out with the objectives to identify the implications of late payment issues toward the subcontractors and the strategies adopted by them to overcome the late payment issues. In terms of the strategies which can be adopted in overcoming the late payment, the subcontractors may suspend or slow down the construction process, making periodic follow up with the client, demand the rights to interest on late payment or the issuance of a promissory note by the client. The focus of the study is primarily on Grade 4 to Grade 7 contractors in Johor Bahru, Malaysia who carried out subcontracting works and registered under Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB). Employing survey as the main research method for data collection, the analysis would therefore mainly be adopting Likert Scale Analysis, Ranking Analysis and Frequency Distribution Analysis. This research showed the main implication of late payment issues towards subcontractors is created financial hardship to them. Besides, the most effective strategy adopted by the subcontractors to overcome the late payment issues is follow-up with client using formal procedure. From the findings, most of the subcontractors had low level of experiences and frequency in the adoption of Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act (CIPAA) 2012 to solve the payment disputes in the construction industry. In a nutshell, it is hoped that these findings will become guidance to the subcontractors to overcome the late payment issues in their future projects.

Keywords: subcontractors, implications, strategies, CIPAA 2012, payment

Procedia PDF Downloads 174

Authors: Amirhossein Chambari

Abstract:

This article proposes a bi-objective model for the facility location problem subject to congestion (overcrowding). Motivated by implementations to locate servers in internet mirror sites, communication networks, one-server-systems, so on. This model consider for situations in which immobile (or fixed) service facilities are congested (or queued) by stochastic demand to behave as M/M/1/K queues. We consider for this problem two simultaneous perspectives; (1) Customers (desire to limit times of accessing and waiting for service) and (2) Service provider (desire to limit average facility idle-time). A bi-objective model is setup for facility location problem with two objective functions; (1) Minimizing sum of expected total traveling and waiting time (customers) and (2) Minimizing the average facility idle-time percentage (service provider). The proposed model belongs to the class of mixed-integer nonlinear programming models and the class of NP-hard problems. In addition, to solve the model, controlled elitist non-dominated sorting genetic algorithms (Controlled NSGA-II) and controlled elitist non-dominated ranking genetic algorithms (NRGA-I) are proposed. Furthermore, the two proposed metaheuristics algorithms are evaluated by establishing standard multiobjective metrics. Finally, the results are analyzed and some conclusions are given.

Keywords: bi-objective, facility location, queueing, controlled NSGA-II, NRGA-I

Procedia PDF Downloads 584

Authors: Maud Mthembu, Tanusha Raniga, Michael Boecker

Abstract:

In South Africa and Germany, countless number of children are raised by single mothers with little or no support from the biological fathers. As evidenced in literature, having an involved father living at home can have a positive influence in the life of a child and the mother can be supported in her role. Often single parenting is seen as a causative factor in numerous psychological and social challenges which are faced by children from single-parent households, which is an indication of a pathological lens of viewing single parenting. The empirical data from our study reveals that single mothers in formal employment experience social, economic and emotional hardships of parenting. However, a sense of determination to raise healthy and well-balanced children using economic and social capital accessible to them was one of the key findings. The participants reported visible and invisible sources of support which creates an enabling environment for them to negotiate the challenges of parenting without support from non-residence fathers. Using a qualitative paradigm, a total of twenty professional single mothers were interviewed in Germany and South Africa. Four key themes emerged from the data analysis namely; internal locus of control, positive new experiences, access to economic capital and dependable social support. This study suggests that single mothers who are economically self-reliant and have access to bonding social capital are able to cope with the demands of single parenting. Understanding this multi-dimensional experience of parenting by single parents in formal employment is important to advocate for supportive working conditions for mothers.

Keywords: child parenting, child protection, single parenting, social capital

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Kazem Samadi

Abstract:

In today’s world, public agencies like customs have become vital institutions in international trade processes and in maintaining national economic security due to increasing economic and commercial complexities. In this regard, human resource management (HRM) is crucial to achieving organizational goals. This research employed a descriptive survey method, in which the statistical population consisted of all customs employees. Using Cochran's formula, 300 employees were selected from the central customs office. A researcher-made questionnaire was used as the data collection tool, with content validity and reliability confirmed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The collected data were analyzed through structural modeling using SPSS and AMOS 24. The results indicated that leadership culture significantly affected employee motivation, efficiency, and performance in customs. Customs managers and leaders in Iran can improve organizational productivity by fostering this culture, thereby facilitating individual and organizational development for their staff.

Keywords: leadership culture, organizational culture, employee performance, customs

Procedia PDF Downloads 27

Authors: Indu Saini, Ashu Khanna, S. K. Peddoju

Abstract:

Cloud computing is the new buzz word today attracting high interest among various domains like business enterprises, Particularly in Small and Medium Enterprises. As it is a pay-per-use model, SMEs have high expectations that adapting this model will not only make them flexible, hassle-free but also economic. In view of such expectations, this paper analyses the possibility of adapting cloud computing technologies in SMEs in light of economic concerns. In this paper, two hypotheses are developed to compare the average annual per-user costs of using Enterprise Resource Planning systems in two ways, The traditional approach and the cloud approach. A web based survey is conducted apart from the Interviews with the peers to collect the data across the selected SMEs and t-test is performed to compare both the technologies on the proposed hypothesis. Results achieved are produced and discussed.

Keywords: cloud computing, small and medium enterprises, enterprise resource solutions, interviews

Procedia PDF Downloads 338

Authors: Christopher Meyer, Laima Gerlitz

Abstract:

European Ports are about to take an important step towards their future economic development. Existing legislatives such as the European Green Deal are changing the perspective on ports as individual logistic institutions and demand a more holistic view on ports in their characteristic as ecosystem involving several different actors in an interdisciplinary and multilevel approach. A special role is taken by small and medium-sized ports facing the same political restriction and future goals - such as reducing environmental impacts with 2030 and 2050 as targets - while suffering from low financing capacity, outdated infrastructure, low innovation measures and missing political support. In contrast, they are playing a key role in regional economic development and cross-border logistics as well as facilitator for the regional hinterland. Also, in comparison to their big counterparts, small and medium-sized ports are often located within or close to city areas. This does not only bear more challenges especially when it comes to the environmental performance, but can also carry out growth potentials by putting the city as a key actor into the port ecosystem. For city development, the Smart City concept is one of the key strategies currently applied mostly on demonstration level in selected cities. Hence, the basic idea behind is par to the Smart Port concept. Thus, this paper is analysing potential synergetic effects resulting from the application of Smart City and Smart Port concepts for small and medium-sized ports' ecosystems closely located to cities with focus on innovation application, greening measurements and economic performances as well as strategic positioning of the ports in Smart City initiatives.

Keywords: port-city ecosystems, regional development, sustainability transition, innovation policy

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: Zahra Emami, Mohammad Ebrahim Khamseh, Nahid Hashemi Madani, Iman Kermani

Abstract:

The aim of the study was to map scientific research on adrenal gland diseases in the Middle East countries through the Web of Science database using scientometric analysis. Data were analyzed with Excel software; and HistCite was used for mapping of the scientific texts. In this study, from a total of 268 retrieved records, 1125 authors from 328 institutions published their texts in 138 journals. Among 17 Middle East countries, Turkey ranked first with 164 documents (61.19%), Israel ranked second with 47 documents (15.53%) and Iran came in the third place with 26 documents. Most of the publications (185 documents, 69.2%) were articles. Among the universities of the Middle East, Istanbul University had the highest science production rate (9.7%). The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism had the highest TGCS (243 citations). In the scientific mapping, 7 clusters were formed based on TLCS (Total Local Citation Score) & TGCS (Total Global Citation Score). considering the study results, establishment of scientific connections and collaboration with other countries and use of publications on adrenal gland diseases from high ranking universities can help in the development of this field and promote the medical practice in this regard. Moreover, investigation of the formed clusters in relation to Congenital Hyperplasia and puberty related disorders can be research priorities for investigators.

Keywords: mapping, scientific research, adrenal gland diseases, scientometric

Procedia PDF Downloads 275