Search results for: foreign investment

Authors: Chen Bingru

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This study is intended to describe and analyze the effects of polysyllabic shortening and word or phrase boundary on the duration patterns of spoken utterances by Mandarin learners of English in comparison with native speakers of English. To investigate the relative contribution of these effects, two production experiments were conducted. The study included 11 native British English speakers and 20 Mandarin learners of English who were asked to produce four sets of tokens consisting of a mono-syllabic base form, disyllabic, and trisyllabic words derived from the base by the addition of suffixes, and a set of short sentences with a particular combination of phrase size, stress pattern, and boundary location. The duration of words and segments was measured, and results from the data analysis suggest that the amount of polysyllabic shortening and the effect of word or phrase position are likely to affect a Chinese accent for Mandarin ESL speakers. This study sheds light on research on the duration patterns of language by demonstrating the effect of duration-related factors on the foreign accent of Mandarin ESL speakers. It can also benefit both L2 learners and language teachers by increasing their sensitivity to the duration differences and difficulties experienced by L2 learners of English. An understanding of the amount of polysyllabic shortening and the effect of position in words and phrase on syllable duration can also facilitate L2 teachers to establish priorities for teaching pronunciation to ESL learners.

Keywords: duration patterns, Chinese accent, Mandarin ESL speakers, polysyllabic shortening

Procedia PDF Downloads 132

Authors: Mei-Hui Liu

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This study examines the effectiveness of a blended professional development program on preservice EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers’ learning to teach speech acts with the advent of Information and Communication Technology, researchers and scholars underscore the significance of integrating online and face-to-face learning opportunities in the teacher education field. Yet, a paucity of evidence has been documented to investigate the extent to which such a blended professional learning model may impact real classroom practice and student learning outcome. This yearlong project involves various stakeholders, including 25 preservice teachers, 5 English professionals, and 45 secondary school students. Multiple data sources collected are surveys, interviews, reflection journals, online discussion messages, artifacts, and discourse completion tests. Relying on the theoretical lenses of Community of Inquiry, data analysis depicts the nature and process of preservice teachers’ professional development in this blended learning community, which triggers and fosters both face-to-face and synchronous/asynchronous online interactions among preservice teachers and English professionals (i.e., university faculty and in-service teachers). Also included is the student learning outcome after preservice teachers put what they learn from the support community into instructional practice. Pedagogical implications and research suggestions are further provided based on the research findings and limitations.

Keywords: blended professional development, preservice EFL teachers, speech act instruction, student learning outcome

Procedia PDF Downloads 217

Authors: Abubakar-Zagoon Adams, Emmanuel Intsiful, Haruna Zagoon-Sayeed

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Within the Ghanaian context, the promotion of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has been faced with many obstacles which are of great concern to national development. One of the obstacles that have been identified as having some negative impact on TVET promotion is the poor public perception of TVET. Poor public perception, as identified in the sub-sectors report in a number of Ghana Education Service reports, has received little attention in both research and the government’s effort to address the poor performance of the TVET sub-sector. This study investigated TVET stakeholders in the Ayawaso-West Municipality in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana to ascertain knowledge of technical and vocational education in Ghana. This study explored parents’ and students’ views and knowledge about technical and vocational education. The study adopted an exploratory research design and a qualitative research approach. Thirty-six (36) participants were selected by employing a purposive sampling technique. Twelve (ten parents and two school personnel) out of the total sample were engaged in key informant interviews, whereas three focus group discussions were conducted with students, eight in each group. The study found that the public has fair knowledge (positive) about TVET, and the other side of the coin knows that TVET is only meant for school dropouts, underprivileged students, and weak academic students. The study recommended that the government should intensify public education on TVET, deliberate investment should be made in TVET infrastructure, as well as proper regulation of the sub-sector.

Keywords: public perception, TVET promotion, socioeconomic, self-employment

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Authors: Usman A. Usman

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Undeniably, unlike the Classical side, the Keynesian perspective of the aggregate demand side indeed has a significant position in the policy, growth, and welfare of Nigeria due to government involvement and ineffective demand of the population living with poor per capita income. This study seeks to investigate the effect of Government Final Consumption Expenditure, Financial Deepening on Households, and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure using data on Nigeria from 1981 to 2019. This study employed the ADF stationarity test, Johansen Cointegration test, and Vector Error Correction Model. The results of the study revealed that the coefficient of Government final consumption expenditure has a positive effect on household consumption expenditure in the long run. There is a long-run and short-run relationship between gross fixed capital formation and household consumption expenditure. The coefficients cpsgdp (financial deepening and gross fixed capital formation posit a negative impact on household final consumption expenditure. The coefficients money supply lm2gdp, which is another proxy for financial deepening, and the coefficient FDI have a positive effect on household final consumption expenditure in the long run. Therefore, this study recommends that Gross fixed capital formation stimulates household consumption expenditure; a legal framework to support investment is a panacea to increasing hoodmold income and consumption and reducing poverty in Nigeria. Therefore, this should be a key central component of policy.

Keywords: government final consumption expenditure, household consumption expenditure, vector error correction model, cointegration

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Authors: Pei Wang

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The concept of social-emotional learning (SEL) is becoming increasingly popular in both research and practical applications worldwide. However, there is a lack of empirical studies and implementation of SEL in China, particularly from the perspective of parents. This qualitative study examined how Chinese parents perceived SEL, how their views on SEL were shaped, and how these views affected their decisions regarding their children’s education programs. Using the Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning Interactive Wheel framework and Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory, the study conducted interviews with eight parents whose children attended public, international, and private schools in China. All collected data were conducted a thematic analysis involving three coding phases. The findings revealed that interviewees perceived SEL as significant to children’s development but held diverse understandings and perspectives on SEL at school depending on the amount and the quality of SEL resources available in their children’s schools. Additionally, parents’ attitudes towards the exam-oriented education system and Chinese culture influenced their views on SEL in school. Nevertheless, their socioeconomic status (SES) was the most significant factor in their perspectives on SEL, which significantly impacted their choices in their children's educational programs. High-SES families had more options to pursue SEL resources by sending their children to international schools or Western countries, while lower middle-class SES families had limited SEL resources in public schools. This highlighted educational inequality in China and emphasized the need for greater attention and investment in SEL programs in Chinese public schools.

Keywords: Chinese, inequality, parent, school, social-emotional learning

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Authors: Clement Ndoricimpa

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The expression of stance is highly expected in writing at tertiary level. Through a selection of linguistic and rhetorical elements, writers express commitment, critical distance and build a critically discerning reader in texts. Despite many studies on patterns of stance in students’ academic writing, little may not be known about how English as a Foreign Language students learns to build a critically discerning reader in their texts. Therefore, this study examines patterns of stance in essays written by students majoring in business administration at English-medium University in Burundi as part of classroom assignments. It draws on systemic functional linguistics to analyze qualitatively and quantitatively the data. The quantitative analysis is used to identify the differences in frequency of stance patterns in the essays. The results show a significant difference in the use of boosters by lower- and upper-level students. Lower-level students’ writing contains more boosters and many idiosyncratic sentence structures than do upper-level students’ writing, and upper-level students’ essays contain more hedging and few grammatical mistakes than do lower-level students’ essays. No significant difference in the use of attitude markers and concessive and contrastive expressions. Students in lower- and upper-level do not use attitude markers and disclaimer markers appropriately and accurately. These findings suggest that students should be taught the use of stance patterns in academic writing.

Keywords: academic writing, metadiscourse, stance, student corpora

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Authors: M. Maleki Sadabad, A. Pointing, N. Marashi

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With respect to the role and increasing importance of technology for countries development, in recent decades technology development has paid attention in a systematic form. Nowadays the markets face with highly complicated and competitive conditions in foreign markets, therefore, evaluation and selection of technology effectiveness and also formulating technology strategy have changed into a vital subject for some organizations. The study introduces the standards of empowerment evaluation and technology attractiveness especially strategic technologies which explain the way of technology evaluation, selection and finally formulating suitable technology strategy in the field of drilling in South Azadegan oil field. The study firstly identifies the key challenges of oil fields in order to evaluate the technologies in field of drilling in South Azadegan oil field through an interview with the experts of industry and then they have been prioritised. In the following, the existing and new technologies were identified to solve the challenges of South Azadegan oil field. In order to explore the ability, availability, and attractiveness of every technology, a questionnaire based on Julie indices has been designed and distributed among the industry elites. After determining the score of ability, availability and attractiveness, every technology which has been obtained by the average of expert’s ideas, the technology package has been introduced by Morin’s model. The matrix includes four areas which will follow the especial strategy. Finally, by analysing the above matrix, the technology options have been suggested in order to select and invest.

Keywords: technology, technology identification, drilling technologies, technology capability

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Authors: Dina Zakeri, Ali Aminzad

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Multimedia-assisted teaching results in eliminating traditional training barriers, facilitating the cognition process and upgrading learning outcomes. This study attempted to examine the effects of implementing multimedia on teaching technical translation model and on the technical text translation ability of Iranian students of translation. To fulfill the purpose of the study, a total of forty-six learners were selected out of fifty-seven participants in a higher education center in Tehran based on their scores in Preliminary English Test (PET) and were divided randomly into the experimental and control groups. Prior to the treatment, a technical text translation questionnaire was devised and then approved and validated by three assistant professors of technical fields and three assistant professors of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) at the university. This questionnaire was administered as a pretest to both groups. Control and experimental groups were trained for five successive weeks using identical course books but with a different lesson plan that allowed employing multimedia for the experimental group only. The devised and approved questionnaire was administered as a posttest to both groups at the end of the instruction. A multivariate ANOVA was run to compare the two groups’ means on the PET, pretest and posttest. The results showed the rejection of all null hypotheses of the study and revealed that multimedia significantly improved technical text translation ability of the learners.

Keywords: multimedia, multimedia-mediated teaching, technical translation model, technical text, translation ability

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Authors: Jonathan Iworiso

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Forecasting the equity premium out-of-sample is a major concern to researchers in finance and emerging markets. The quest for a superior model that can forecast the equity premium with significant economic gains has resulted in several controversies on the choice of variables and suitable techniques among scholars. This research focuses mainly on the application of Regression Training (RT) techniques to forecast monthly equity premium out-of-sample recursively with an expanding window method. A broad category of sophisticated regression models involving model complexity was employed. The RT models include Ridge, Forward-Backward (FOBA) Ridge, Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO), Relaxed LASSO, Elastic Net, and Least Angle Regression were trained and used to forecast the equity premium out-of-sample. In this study, the empirical investigation of the RT models demonstrates significant evidence of equity premium predictability both statistically and economically relative to the benchmark historical average, delivering significant utility gains. They seek to provide meaningful economic information on mean-variance portfolio investment for investors who are timing the market to earn future gains at minimal risk. Thus, the forecasting models appeared to guarantee an investor in a market setting who optimally reallocates a monthly portfolio between equities and risk-free treasury bills using equity premium forecasts at minimal risk.

Keywords: regression training, out-of-sample forecasts, expanding window, statistical predictability, economic significance, utility gains

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Authors: Mahmood Dehqan, Peyman Peyvasteh

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In recent years there has been a growing interest in issues concerning the impact of sociocultural theory (SCT) of learning on different aspects of second/foreign language learning. This study aimed to find the possible effects of sociocultural teaching techniques on reading strategy of EFL learners. Indeed, the present research compared the impact of peer and teacher scaffolding on EFL learners’ reading strategy use across two proficiency levels. To this end, a pre-test post-test quasi-experimental research design was used and two instruments were utilized to collect the data: Nelson English language test and reading strategy questionnaire. Ninety five university students participated in this study were divided into two groups of teacher and peer scaffolding. Teacher scaffolding group received scaffolded help from the teacher based on three mechanisms of effective help within ZPD: graduated, contingent, dialogic. In contrast, learners of peer scaffolding group were unleashed from the teacher-fronted classroom as they were asked to carry out the reading comprehension tasks with the feedback they provided for each other. Results obtained from ANOVA revealed that teacher scaffolding group outperformed the peer scaffolding group in terms of reading strategy use. It means teacher’s scaffolded help provided within the learners’ ZPD led to better reading strategy improvement compared with the peer scaffolded help. However, the interaction effect between proficiency factor and teaching technique was non-significant, leading to the conclusion that strategy use of the learners was not affected by their proficiency level in either teacher or peer scaffolding groups.

Keywords: peer scaffolding, proficiency level, reading strategy, sociocultural theory, teacher scaffolding

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Authors: Sakapas Saengchai, Pichamon Chansuchai

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Research Thai- Myanmar Border Trade Promotion Policy, Mae Sai District, Chiang Rai Province The objectives of this study were to study the policy of promoting Thai- Myanmar border trade in Mae Sai district, Chiang Rai province. And suitable models for the development of border trade in Mae Sai. Chiang Rai province This research uses qualitative methodology. The method of collecting data from research papers. Participatory Observation In-depth interviews in which the information is important, the governor of Chiang Rai. Chiang Rai Customs Service Executive Office of Mae Sai Immigration Bureau Maesai Chamber of Commerce and Private Entrepreneurs By specific sampling Data analysis uses content analysis. The study indicated that Border Trade Promotion Policy The direction taken by the government to focus on developing 1. Security is further reducing crime. Smuggling and human trafficking Including the preparation to protect people from terrorism and natural disasters. And cooperation with Burma on border security. 2. The development of wealth is the promotion of investment. The transport links, logistics value chain. Products and services across the Thai-Myanmar border. Improve the regulations and laws to promote fair trade. Convenient and fast 3. Sustainable development is the ability to generate income, quality of life of people in the Thai border to increase continuously. By using balanced natural resources, production and consumption are environmentally friendly. Which featured the participation of all sectors of the public and private sectors in the region to drive the development of the border with Thailand. Chiang Rai province To be more competitive .

Keywords: Border, Trade, Policy, Promote

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Authors: Md. Arifur Rahman, Ummya Salma, Nazrul Islam

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Private sector banking business is one of the leading businesses of Bangladesh as it is profitable and directly attached with the economic development of the country. Training has got very high importance in this sector for increasing the performance of the banks. It has a long term impact on a number of aspects of the bank employees and their performances. It is an investment of the organization that is permanent in nature. Study shows that there are positive relationships between training and the employee commitment, job retention, job satisfaction and company performance. Training is also concerned with promotion, compensation, work-life policies, career development, task and contextual performance of the employees. As such, this paper aims at identifying the impact of training on employee commitment, job retention, job satisfaction and the performance of the private sector banks in Bangladesh. Both primary and secondary data were used to conduct the study. Data were collected from the bank officers who were trained in their banks. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the present situation of the banks and their employees. Inferential statistics were used to identify the factors and their significance concerned with training. Results show that there is a significant relationship between the performance and the training of the employees. It also shows that the training can motivate employees and encourage them to work hard. However, this study did not find any relationship between the commitment of the employees and the training. This study suggests that for increasing the performance of the banks, training is a must which is to be given deliberately for improving the specific skills of the bank employees.

Keywords: training, promotion, compensation, work-life policies

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Authors: Olivia Rybak-Karkosz

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This paper aims to present the results of scientific research on methods of forging art prints and their elements, such as signature or provenance and forensic science methods that might be used to verify their authenticity. In the last decades, the art market has observed significant interest in purchasing prints. They are considered an economical alternative to paintings and a considerable investment. However, the authenticity of an art print is difficult to establish as similar visual effects might be achieved with drawings or xerox. The latter is easy to make using a home printer. They are then offered on flea markets or internet auctions as genuine prints. This probable ease of forgery and, at the same time, the difficulty of distinguishing art print techniques were the main reasons why this research was undertaken. A lack of scientific methods dedicated to disclosing a forgery encouraged the author to verify the possibility of using forensic science's methods known and used in other fields of expertise. This research methodology consisted of completing representative forgery samples collected in selected museums based in Poland and a few in Germany and Austria. That allowed the author to present a typology of methods used to forge art prints. Given that one of the most famous graphic design examples is bills and securities, it seems only appropriate to propose in print verification the usage of methods of detecting counterfeit currency. These methods contain an examination of ink, paper, and watermarks. On prints, additionally, signatures and imprints of stamps, etc., are forged as well. So the examination should be completed with handwriting examination and forensic sphragistics. The paper contains a stipulation to conduct a complex analysis of authenticity with the participation of an art restorer, art historian, and forensic expert as head of this team.

Keywords: art forgery, examination of an artwork, handwriting analysis, prints

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Authors: J. M. Counsell, Y. Khalid, M. J. Stewart

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Achieving nearly zero carbon heating continues to be identified by UK government analysis as an important feature of any lowest cost pathway to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Heat currently accounts for 48% of UK energy consumption and approximately one third of UK’s greenhouse gas emissions. Heat Networks are being promoted by UK investment policies as one means of supporting hybrid heat pump based solutions. To this effect the RISE (Renewable Integrated and Sustainable Electric) heating system project is investigating how an all-electric heating sourceshybrid configuration could play a key role in long-term decarbonisation of heat.  For the purposes of this study, hybrid systems are defined as systems combining the technologies of an electric driven air source heat pump, electric powered thermal storage, a thermal vessel and micro-heat network as an integrated system.  This hybrid strategy allows for the system to store up energy during periods of low electricity demand from the national grid, turning it into a dynamic supply of low cost heat which is utilized only when required. Currently a prototype of such a system is being tested in a modern house integrated with advanced controls and sensors. This paper presents the virtual performance analysis of the system and its design for a micro heat network with multiple dwelling units. The results show that the RISE system is controllable and can reduce carbon emissions whilst being competitive in running costs with a conventional gas boiler heating system.

Keywords: gas boilers, heat pumps, hybrid heating and thermal storage, renewable integrated and sustainable electric

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Authors: Pragya Pandey

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A major discussion in the 21st -century international affairs has been around the shifting economic and political center of gravity to Asia. In the maritime realm, it translates into a shift in focus from the Atlantic to the Pacific-Indian Ocean region or what is now popularly called the Indo-Pacific region. The Indo-Pacific is rapidly eclipsing once dominant Asia-Pacific as center of trade, investment, competition and cooperation. The growing inter-connectivity between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean is bringing forth the ‘confluence of the two seas’. Therefore, the Indo-Pacific strategic arc is acquiring greater salience in consonance with the changing realities of the time. The region is undergoing unprecedented transformation in its security outlook. At present, the region is at an interesting historic epoch- witnessing the simultaneous rise India and China, their economic growth, naval modernization and power projection capabilities, alongside the continued presence of the United States, particularly with its rebalancing strategy. Besides the interplay among the three major stakeholders, other regional players like Japan, Australia, and Indonesia, would play a crucial role in the geopolitical re-arrangement of the Indo-Pacific region. The region will be the future theater of activities to determine the shifts and distribution of sea power, by the virtue of its strategic location, intrinsic value of the energy resources and significant maritime trade routes of the region. Therefore, the central theme of the paper would be to scrutinize the maritime security environment of the region against the backdrop of the tricky geopolitical landscape, contributing to the change in the regional and global balance of power.

Keywords: China, geopolitics, India, United States

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Authors: Innocent Uzougbo Onwuegbuzie, Siene Elizabeth Eke

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This study investigates cybersecurity challenges and solutions in managing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, South-West Nigeria. The rapid evolution of ICT has revolutionized organizational operations and impacted various sectors, including education, healthcare, and finance. While ICT advancements facilitate seamless communication, complex data analytics, and strategic decision-making, they also introduce significant cybersecurity risks such as data breaches, ransomware, and other malicious attacks. These threats jeopardize the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information systems, necessitating robust cybersecurity measures. The primary aim of this research is to identify prevalent cybersecurity challenges in ICT management, evaluate their impact on the institution's operations, and assess the effectiveness of current cybersecurity solutions. Adopting a quantitative research approach, data was collected through surveys and structured questionnaires from students, staff, and IT professionals at the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti. The findings underscore the critical need for continuous investment in cybersecurity technologies, employee and student training, and regulatory compliance to mitigate evolving cyber threats. This research contributes to bridging the knowledge gap in cybersecurity management and provides valuable insights into effective strategies and technologies for safeguarding ICT systems in educational institutions. The study's objectives are to enhance the security posture of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, in an increasingly digital world by identifying and addressing the cybersecurity challenges faced by its ICT management.

Keywords: cybersecurity challenges, cyber threat mitigation, federal polytechnic Ado-Ekiti, ICT management

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Authors: Seyed Esmail Seyedi Bariran, Khairul Salleh Mohamed Sahari

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In multi-echelon supply chain networks, optimal supplier selection significantly depends on the accuracy of suppliers’ performance prediction. Different methods of multi criteria decision making such as ANN, GA, Fuzzy, AHP, etc have been previously used to predict the supplier performance but the “black-box” characteristic of these methods is yet a major concern to be resolved. Therefore, the primary objective in this paper is to implement an artificial intelligence-based gene expression programming (GEP) model to compare the prediction accuracy with that of ANN. A full factorial design with %95 confidence interval is initially applied to determine the appropriate set of criteria for supplier performance evaluation. A test-train approach is then utilized for the ANN and GEP exclusively. The training results are used to find the optimal network architecture and the testing data will determine the prediction accuracy of each method based on measures of root mean square error (RMSE) and correlation coefficient (R2). The results of a case study conducted in Supplying Automotive Parts Co. (SAPCO) with more than 100 local and foreign supply chain members revealed that, in comparison with ANN, gene expression programming has a significant preference in predicting supplier performance by referring to the respective RMSE and R-squared values. Moreover, using GEP, a mathematical function was also derived to solve the issue of ANN black-box structure in modeling the performance prediction.

Keywords: Supplier Performance Prediction, ANN, GEP, Automotive, SAPCO

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Authors: Abdul Rauf, Xiaoxing Liu, Waqas Amin

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Stock markets are fascinating more and more conductive to each other due to liberalization and globalization trends in recent years. China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has dragged Pakistan stock exchange to the new heights and global investors are making investments to reap its benefits. So, in investors and government perspective, the study focuses co-integration of Pakistan stock exchange with world’s five big economies i-e US, China, England, Japan, and France. The time period of study is seven years i-e 2010 to 2016 and daily values of major indices of corresponding stock exchanges collected. All variables of that particular study are stationary at first difference confirmed by unit root test. The study Johansen system co integration test for analysis of data along with Granger causality test is performed for result purpose. Co integration test asserted that Pakistan stock exchange integrated with Shanghai stock exchange (SSE) and NIKKEI stock exchange in short run. Granger causality test also proclaimed these results. But NASDAQ, FTSE, DAX not co integrated and Granger cause at a short run but long run these markets are bonded with Pakistan stock exchange (KSE). VECM also confirmed this liaison in short and long run. Investors, therefore, need to be updated regarding co-integration of world’s stock exchanges to ensure well diversified and risk adjusted high returns. Equally, governments also need updated status so that they could reduce co-integration through multiple steps and hence drag investors for diversified investment.

Keywords: CPEC, DAX, FTSE, liberalization, NASDAQ, NIKKEI, SSE, stock markets

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Authors: Mostafa Jafari

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Religious tourism is the core strategy of shaping Iranian's life-style. Why and How? This paper answers to this question. Theoretical base: From strategic marketing point of view, Life style is pattern of believes values, interests and acts. Strategy can be defined as a set of continuous important decisions. Here, strategy is making decisions about the target place and vehicle of touristic travel due to reform and redefine the self-identity and shaping life style. Methodology: Target society of this research is the selected residents of three provinces at northwest of Iran. The data collection instrument is interview and questionnaire and the collected data analysis by SEM (structural Equation Modeling) and LISREL software. Results: The primary results show that variety of touristic travels play an important role on shaping new life style of Iranian people. The target places of touristic travel (Europe, USA. Japan and etc.) are at the second priority. The number of foreign friends is at the third position. The fourth criteria are the number of travels. Among all kind of touristic travels the religious tourism from competitive point of view plays the main role. Findings: The geometry of Iranian life style are shaping and reshaping through some domestic and international tourism strategies particular religious strategy. During the dynamic trend of identity redefine, so many Iranians put the quantity and quality of their touristic travel on the first priority.

Keywords: religious tourism, core strategy, shaping life style

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Authors: Nurul Ain Haron, Saiful Hazmi Bachek, Hafez Zainudin

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This study is aimed to establish the importance and contribution of Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) in Malaysian Furniture Industry and to close the gap between the players in the industry. The study confirms that today’s furniture industry favor Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) basis. Thus, resulting in the local industry lacking the expertise of designing furniture to a state of no contest. This study method used consists of literature reviews, observation, questionnaire and sessions of interviews. The result shows that the public has from minimum to almost no knowledge of the term Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) concept and the impact towards our current future industry. The manufacturers however, prefers Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) concept due to its easy and fast investment returns with the need of product designing process, while the interviews carried out with the authorized council had some convincing urges of doing their part promoting the awareness through trainings and seminars. Findings show that, in the rush of archiving ODM status needs extensive cooperation from many parties that are authorized council, furniture manufacturers, designers and also the public perceptions of labeling local made goods as the black goat. The current mind set of OEM manufacturers need to be change for industry’s future. As Malaysia’s living status constantly increases, so will the demands of a better salary. If these current issues are not resolved, OEM international buyers will definitely have to shift to some other lower cost manufacturer like China or Taiwan. When vendors stopped to order, today’s OEM manufacturers will no longer exist in the future.

Keywords: design manufacturing, furniture design, original design manufacturing, original equipment manufacturing

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Authors: Yakubu Abdulai, Kenichi Matsui

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The agricultural industry has faced a variety of challenges in meeting the expanding income demand of the rural population. As a result, rural households must diversify their income sources to meet their income demand. Although income diversification strategies help rural households, it contributes to total household income, and the socio-demographic determinants are not known in the Upper East Region of Ghana. For these reasons, the purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of income diversification strategies to household income and the socio-demographic factors influencing it. We conducted a questionnaire survey among 360 rural households in the Upper East Region of Ghana. We asked about their socio-demographic information, their choice of income diversification strategies, and their remittances through rural-city migration. The questionnaire survey findings demonstrate that the main livelihood income source contributes 22%, and on-farm income diversification contributes the most to household total income (47%), followed by non-farm diversification income (16%) and off-farm diversification income (15%). Calculations from the income diversity index showed that the average income diversification strategy was 0.5 out of 1. The calculation of the income dependence index also showed that the average dependent on a particular source of income was 0.2 out of 1. All the respondents said household members temporarily migrate to contribute to household income through remittances. The results further reveal that their choice of income diversification is influenced by their age, educational background, experience, and farm size. The paper recommends the promotion of rural development policies that increase income-generating activities and educate rural households on how to increase returns from their investment.

Keywords: income diversification, poverty alleviation, rural households, upper east region

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Authors: Ju Shan Lin

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The challenges for traditional industries in Taiwan the past few years are the changes of overall domestic and foreign industry structure, the entrepreneurs not only need to keep on improving their profession skills but also continuously research and develop new products. It is also necessary for the all traditional industries to keep updating the business strategy, let the enterprises continue to progress, and won't be easily replaced by the other industries. The traditional industry in Taiwan attach great importance to the field of enterprises upgrading and innovation in recent years, by the enterprise innovation and transformation can enhance the overall business situation also enable them to obtain more additional profits than in the past. Except the original industry structure's need to transform and upgrade, the brand's business and marketing strategy are also essential. This study will take a certain plastic company as case analysis, for the brand promotion of traditional industries, brand values and business innovation model for further exploration. It will also be mentioned that the other traditional industries cases which were already achieved success on the enterprise's upgrading and innovation, at the same time, the difficulties which they faced with and the way they overcome will be explored as well. This study will use the case study method combined with expert interviews to discuss and analyze this certain plastic company's current business situation, the existing products and the possible trends in the future. Looking forward to providing an innovative business model that will enable this plastic company to upgrade its corporate image and the brand could transform successfully.

Keywords: brand marketing strategy, enterprise upgrade, industrial transformation, traditional industry

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Authors: Ons Triki, Fathi Abid

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The basic objective of this paper is twofold. It resides in designing a model for a contingent convertible lease contract that can ensure the financial stability of a company and recover the losses of the parties to the lease in the event of default. It also aims to compare the convertible lease contract on inefficiencies resulting from the debt-overhang problem and asset substitution with other financing policies. From this perspective, this paper highlights the interaction between investments and financing policies in a dynamic model with existing assets and a growth option where the investment cost is financed by a contingent convertible lease and equity. We explore the impact of the contingent convertible lease on the capital structure. We also check the reliability and effectiveness of the use of the convertible lease contract as a means of financing. Findings show that the rental convertible contract with a sufficiently high conversion ratio has less severe inefficiencies arising from risk-shifting and debt overhang than those entailed by risky debt and pure-equity financing. The problem of underinvestment pointed out by Mauer and Ott (2000) and the problem of overinvestment mentioned by Hackbarth and Mauer (2012) may be reduced under contingent convertible lease financing. Our findings predict that the firm value under contingent convertible lease financing increases globally with asset volatility instead of decreasing with business risk. The study reveals that convertible leasing contracts can stand for a reliable solution to ensure the lessee and quickly recover the counterparties of the lease upon default.

Keywords: contingent convertible lease, growth option, debt overhang, risk-shifting, capital structure

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Authors: Usman A. Usman

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Undeniably, unlike the Classical side, the Keynesian perspective of the aggregate demand side indeed has a significant position in the policy, growth, and welfare of Nigeria due to government involvement and ineffective demand of the population living with poor per capita income. This study seeks to investigate the effect of Government Final Consumption Expenditure, Financial Deepening on Households, and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure using data on Nigeria from 1981 to 2019. This study employed the ADF stationarity test, Johansen Cointegration test, and Vector Error Correction Model. The results of the study revealed that the coefficient of Government final consumption expenditure has a positive effect on household consumption expenditure in the long run. There is a long-run and short-run relationship between gross fixed capital formation and household consumption expenditure. The coefficients cpsgdp financial deepening and gross fixed capital formation posit a negative impact on household final consumption expenditure. The coefficients money supply lm2gdp, which is another proxy for financial deepening, and the coefficient FDI have a positive effect on household final consumption expenditure in the long run. Therefore, this study recommends that Gross fixed capital formation stimulates household consumption expenditure; a legal framework to support investment is a panacea to increasing hoodmold income and consumption and reducing poverty in Nigeria. Therefore, this should be a key central component of policy.

Keywords: household, government expenditures, vector error correction model, johansen test

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Authors: Changju Lee, Seungmo Ku, Sondo Kim, Woojin Chang

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How to detecting financial bubble? Addressing this simple question has been the focus of a vast amount of empirical research spanning almost half a century. However, financial bubble is hard to observe and varying over the time; there needs to be more research on this area. In this paper, we used abnormal difference between common stocks price and those preferred stocks price to explain financial bubble. First, we proposed the ‘W-index’ which indicates spread between common stocks and those preferred stocks in stock market. Second, to prove that this ‘W-index’ is valid for measuring financial bubble, we showed that there is an inverse relationship between this ‘W-index’ and S&P500 rate of return. Specifically, our hypothesis is that when ‘W-index’ is comparably higher than other periods, financial bubbles are added up in stock market and vice versa; according to our hypothesis, if investors made long term investments when ‘W-index’ is high, they would have negative rate of return; however, if investors made long term investments when ‘W-index’ is low, they would have positive rate of return. By comparing correlation values and adjusted R-squared values of between W-index and S&P500 return, VIX index and S&P500 return, and TED index and S&P500 return, we showed only W-index has significant relationship between S&P500 rate of return. In addition, we figured out how long investors should hold their investment position regard the effect of financial bubble. Using this W-index, investors could measure financial bubble in the market and invest with low risk.

Keywords: financial bubble detection, future return, forecasting, pairs trading, preferred stocks

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Authors: Mohd Bahroddin Badri, Ridzuan Masri

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Despite the existence of large volume of waqf assets, it is argued that the potential of these assets not fully unleashed. There are many waqf assets especially in the form of land waqf that are idle and undeveloped mainly because of the insufficient fund and lack of investment expertise. This paper attempts to explore few cases on the innovation of waqf development in Malaysia and some countries that demonstrate synergistic collaboration between stakeholders, e.g., the government, nazir, Islamic religious councils, corporate entities and Islamic financial institutions for waqf development. This paper shows that cash waqf, corporate waqf, Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) and Sukuk are found to be contemporary mechanisms within Islamic finance ecosystem that drive and rejuvenate the development of waqf to the next level. It further highlights few samples of waqf Sukuk that were successfully issued in selected countries. This paper also demonstrates that the benefit of waqf is beyond religious matters, which may also include education, healthcare, social care, infrastructure and corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. This research is qualitative in nature, whereby the researcher employs descriptive method on the collected data. The researcher applies case study and library research method to collect and analyse data from journal articles, research papers, conference paper and annual reports. In a nutshell, the potential of contemporary models as demonstrated in this paper is very promising, in which the practical application of those instruments should be expanded for the rejuvenation of waqf asset.

Keywords: cash waqf, corporate waqf, Sukuk waqf, build-operate-transfer

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Authors: Abdul Wakeel, Hafeez Ur Rehman, Muhammad Umair Mubarak

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Rice is the second most important staple food in Pakistan after wheat. It is not only a healthy food for the people of all age groups but also a source of foreign exchange for Pakistan. Instead of bright history for Basmati rice production, we are suffering from multiple problems reducing yield and quality as well. Rice lodging and water shortage for an-aerobic rice production system is among major glitches of it. Due to water shortage an-aerobic rice production system has to be supplemented or replaced by aerobic rice system. Aerobic rice system has been adopted for production of non-basmati rice in many parts of the world. Also for basmati rice, significant efforts have been made for aerobic rice production, however still has to be improved for effective recommendations. Among two major issues for aerobic rice, weed elimination has been solved to great extent by introducing suitable herbicides, however, low yield production due weak grains and panicle sterility is still elusive. It has been reported that potassium (K) has significant role to decrease panicle sterility in cereals. Potassium deficiency is obvious for rice under aerobic rice production system due to lack of K gradient coming with irrigation water and lowered indigenous K release from soils. Therefore it was hypothesized that K application under aerobic rice production system may improve the rice yield by decreasing panicle sterility. Results from pot and field experiments confirm that application of K fertilizer significantly increased the rice grain yield due to decreased panicle sterility and improving grain health. The quality of rice was also improved by K fertilization.

Keywords: DSR, Basmati rice, aerobic, potassium

Procedia PDF Downloads 381

Authors: York Neudel

Abstract:

The phenomenon of tourism has been considered as tool to overcome cultural frontiers, to comprehend the other and to cope with mutual mistrust and suspicion. Well, that has been a myth, at least when it comes to mass-tourism. Other approaches, like community-based tourism, still are based on the idea of embracing the other in order to help or to understand the cultural difference. In 1997, two American NGOs incentivized a tourism-project in a community in the highlands of Ecuador, in order to protect the cloud forest from destructive exploitation of its own inhabitants. Nineteen years after that, I analyze in this investigation the interactions between the Ecuadorian hosts in the mestizo-community of Yunguilla and the foreign tourist in the quest for “authentic life” in the Ecuadorian cloud forest. As a sort of “contemporary pilgrim” the traveller tries to find authenticity in other times and places far away from their everyday life in Europe or North America. Therefore, tourists are guided by stereotypes and expectations that are produced by the touristic industry. The host, on the other hand, has to negotiate this pre-established imaginary. That generates a kind of theatre-play with front- and backstage in organic gardens, little fabrics and even private housing, since this alternative project offers to share the private space of the host with the tourist in the setting the community-based tourism. In order to protect their privacy, the community creates new hybrid spaces that oscillate between front- and backstages that culminates in a game of hide and seek – a phenomenon that promises interesting frictions for an anthropological case-study.

Keywords: Tourism, Authenticity, Community-based tourism, Ecuador, Yunguilla

Procedia PDF Downloads 275

Authors: Barzan Hadi Hama Karim

Abstract:

The topic of formative assessment and its implementation in Iraqi Kurdistan have not attracted the attention of researchers and educators. Teachers’ beliefs about formative assessment as well as their assessment roles have remained unexplored. This paper reports on the research results of our survey which is conducted in 20014 to examine issues relating to formative assessment in the university ESL classroom settings. The paper portrays the findings of a qualitative study on the formative assessment role and beliefs of a group of teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in the departments of English Languages in Iraqi Kurdistan universities. Participants of the study are 25 Kurdish EFL teachers from different departments of English languages. Close-ended and open-ended questionnaire is used to collect teacher’s beliefs and perceptions about the importance of formative assessment to improve the process of teaching and learning English language. The result of the study shows that teachers do not play a significant role in the assessment process because of top-down managerial approaches and educational system. The results prove that the teachers’ assessment beliefs and their key role in assessment should not be neglected. Our research papers pursued the following questions: What is the nature of formative assessment in a second language classroom setting? Do the teacher’s assessment practices reflect what she thinks about formative assessment? What are the teachers’ perceptions regarding the benefits of formative assessment for teaching and learning English language at the university level?

Keywords: formative assessment, teachers’ beliefs and perceptions, assessment, education reform, ESL

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Authors: Risikat Oladoyin S. Dauda, Onyebuchi Iwegbu

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This study investigates the response of human development outcomes to selected macroeconomic indicators in Nigeria. Human development outcomes is measured by human development index while the selected macroeconomic variables are inflation rate, real interest rate, government capital expenditure, real exchange rate, current account balance, and savings. Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) technique is employed in examining the response of human development index to the macroeconomic shocks. The result from the forecast error variance decomposition and Impulse-Response analysis reveals that fiscal policy (government capital expenditure) shock is the greatest determinant of human development outcomes. This result reiterates the role which the government plays in improving the welfare of the citizenry. The fiscal policy tool is pivotal in human development which comes in the form of investment in education, health, housing, and infrastructure. Further conclusion drawn from this study is that human development outcome positively and significantly responds to shocks from real interest rate, a monetary policy transmission variable and is felt greatly in the short run period. The policy implication of this study is that if capital budget implementation falls below expectations, human development will be engendered. Hence, efforts should be made to ensure that full implementation and appraisal of government capital expenditure is taken sacrosanct as any shock from such plan, engenders human development outcome.

Keywords: human development outcome, macroeconomic outcomes, structural vector autoregression, SVAR

Procedia PDF Downloads 144