...ANALYZING TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION: CHALLENGES AND LIMITATIONS OF MICRO-STUDIES Cheryl R. Doss Yale University Cheryl Doss Yale Center for International and Area Studies P.O.Box 208206 New Haven, CT 06520-8206, USA 203-432-9395 (office) 203-432-9886 (fax) Cheryl.Doss@yale.edu 2 Abstract: Although the questions about the use of improved technologies in developing country agriculture have expanded to include the roles of policies, institutions and infrastructure, most micro-level adoption studies can not address these important policy issues. Drawing on an extensive review of the literature on the adoption of agricultural technologies, this paper suggests alternative approaches for designing technology adoption studies to make them useful for policy makers. It explores the generic limitations of cross-sectional adoption studies carried out in small number of communities and discusses the problems faced in conducting such studies. Recommendations include the use of sampling approaches that allow data from micro-studies to be generalized to higher levels of aggregation, adherence to clearly defined terms that are standardized across studies, and carefully examining the assumptions that often underlie such studies. In addition, the use and interpretation of proxy variables for the policy variables are discussed. Keywords: agricultural technology, adoption 3 ANALYZING TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION: CHALLENGES AND LIMITATIONS OF MICRO-STUDIES 1. Introduction For most of the world’s poorest countries...
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...Fourth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications The Development of Sociology • Social thought before sociology: strongly influenced by religion and philosophy • Modern sociology arose in 19th century Europe, influenced by several conditions: – Colonialism: exposure to other cultures – Industrial Revolution & French Revolution: desire to know how dramatic change could be systematically explained – Advances in the natural sciences: desire to apply scientific method to the social world Ballantine, Roberts, and Korgen. Our Social World: Condensed, Fourth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications The Development of Sociology August Comte & the science of society • Coined the term “sociology” in 1838 • Thought society’s problems could not be understood by philosophical or religious speculation; scientific knowledge was needed • Two main concerns – What holds society together? (social statics or structure) – Why is there change in society? (social dynamics or process) Ballantine, Roberts, and Korgen. Our Social World: Condensed, Fourth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications The Development of Sociology Early sociology after Comte • Focus on massive social and economic change brought by Industrial Revolution • Focus on relationship between micro-, meso-, and macro-level processes • Early sociological theorists: Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, Harriet Martineau, Max Weber, W.E.B. DuBois • Use of scientific method to test ideas Ballantine, Roberts, and Korgen. Our Social...
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...MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH OF SMALL & MICRO-ENTERPRISES (SMES) ACASE STUDY OF (UWMFO) MICRO FINANCE INSTITUTION BY HENRY EGYEYU DEDICATION To the memory of my grand father Daniel Egeyu Whose love & enthusiasm for academia first kindled mine? ABSTRACT This research study investigates the impact of microfinance institutions on entrepreneurial development of Small & Micro-enterprises (SMEs) that are craving for growth and development in a war revived district called Gulu. The researcher used questionnaire as an instrument of primary data collection. Tables and simple percentages were used in data presentation. For clear analysis, the study centers on two broad variables; the dependent variable which is entrepreneurial development and the independent variable which is microfinance institutions. Three different hypotheses were formulated and tested using various statistical tools such as chi-square test, analysis of variance and simple regression analysis. The study reveals that (i) there is a significant difference in the number of entrepreneurs who used microfinance institutions and those who do not use them; (ii) there is a significant effect of microfinance institutions activities in predicting entrepreneurial productivity; and (iii) that there is no significant effect of microfinance institutions activities in predicting entrepreneurial development. The researcher concludes...
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...Razmanova S.V. 55 ESSAY ON CORPORATE COMPETITIVE ENERGY CAPACITY S.V. Razmanova Branch of «Gazprom VNIIGAZ LLC» in Ukhta, Ukhta, Komi Republic, Russia grtara2011@yandex.ru DOI: 10.12731/2227-930X-2013-2-5 This paper puts forward a hypothesis explaining the nature of integration processes in the modern economy; it proposes the idea of corporate competitive energy capacity, which is understood as the company’s combined intellectual and material capital; and gives a formalized presentation of the company’s optimal state of equilibrium. It is suggested that the integration of companies with intellectual and material components of different levels does not always result in an increase in value. JEL Codes: D21, G32, G34. Keywords: intellectual capital, material capital, integration processes, companies’ competitive energy capacity. Introduction The development of an evolutionary trend in corporate analysis in the last quarter of the 20th century, mainly dealt with in the works of foreign scholars’ [17, p. 777–795; 2, p. 141–151; 11, p. 388; 1, p. 79–100; 10, p. 416; 18, p. 79–91; 9, p. 95–120] was brought about by the emergence of post-industrial economies in developed countries. The growing role of knowledge and the rapid expansion of markets for commodities and factors of production contributed to intangible assets becoming a basis for competitive differentiation between companies in many sectors of the economy. The basic object for evolu- 56 International Journal...
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...Socio-economic Impact of Remittance on Households: A Study on Khulna City Md. Ashif Hossain Economics Discipline Social Science School Khulna University Khulna, Bangladesh August, 2013 Socio-economic Impact of Remittance on Households: A Study on Khulna City …………………………………… Md. Ashif Hossain Student Number: BSS 0 9 1 5 0 8 Session: 2011-2012 Supervisor ……………………………………. Sk. Sharafat Hossen Assistant Professor Economics Discipline Khulna University Khulna, Bangladesh A Thesis Paper submitted to the Economics Discipline of Social Science School, Khulna University, Bangladesh in partial fulfillment for the BSS (Hons.) in Economics degree August, 2013 Socio-economic Impact of Remittance on Households: A Study on Khulna City ………………………………………… (Mohammed Ziaul Haider, Ph.D) Head Economics Discipline Social Science School Khulna University August, 2013 Statement of Originality Socio-economic Impact of Remittance on Households: A Study on Khulna City The findings of this Thesis are entirely of the candidate’s own research and any part of it has neither been accepted for any degree nor is it being concurrently submitted for any other degree. ………………………………. Md. Ashif Hossain Student Number: BSS 0 9 1 5 0 8 Session: 2011-2012 August, 2013 Acknowledgement First of all I express my heartfelt gratitude to supreme creator and ruler of the world Almighty ALLAH who has given me the opportunity to conduct my education...
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...Chapter 1 -The global manager’s environment Sources of Risk for International Managers -Exogenous- General environmental factors, industry-related uncertainties and some firm-specific uncertainties. -Endogenous- Uncertainties that arise from within the firm, and include managerial perceptions, attitudes and organizational perspectives. -Top two exogenous risks facing business leaders and policy makers for 2012 and the next decade would be severe income disparity (The unequal distribution of household or individual income across the various participants in the economy) and chronic fiscal imbalances (situation where all of the future debt obligations of a government are different from the future income streams) -Other issues: natural disasters such as 2011 earthquake in Japan, flood in Thailand, Political uncertainty in China and Middle East -Globalization has compounded the types and level of business risks. *Typical challenges that managers face involve politics, cultural differences, global competition, Terrorism and Technology. Managers in companies are struggling to find ways to balance their social responsibilities, their images, and their competitive strategies. -PESTEL- An analytical tool to develop and understanding of exogenous risk -Pestel analysis- Political, Ethical, Social, Technological, Environmental and legal understanding or environmental scanning that is CRITICAL if we are to strategically plan and develop our value proposition. -> Exogenous creates...
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...educating industry participants. 7 The Networking Forum 7 Q 2.2 Illustrate how local and national economic policy has an effect on the success of the travel and tourism sector 8 GOVERNMENT ECONOMIC POLICY AND TOURISM 8 • Direct Influence 8 Taxation (remove money) 8 Infrastructure investment and maintenance (inject money) Government spending on tourism 8 Tourism development 9 • Indirect Influence 9 Q 2.3 Analyse the implications of political change on the travel and tourism sector in various countries 10 Impact of political change on the travel and tourism industry 10 IRAN 10 CHINA 11 Reference and Bibliography 12 Q 2.1 Explain the role of government, government sponsored bodies and international agencies on the travel and tourism sector Role of the Government in Tourism The role of the government, according to traditional political theory, is concerned with maintaining law and order, defence, internal communication and transport infrastructure, and economic redistribution. All of these affect tourism. There are two levels in the role of government in tourist industry which can be MARCO and MICRO MACRO: is the establishment of overall Tourism Strategy and Policies to ensure sustainable growth and development of the sector at social, economic and environmental levels, and alignment of sector efforts to the greater national and regional growth mandate. MICRO: Brand...
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...best placed to delve into the individual behaviours of criminals and to understand the underlying reasoning to their behaviour, “criminal psychology is the study of behaviours, by analysing it, understanding and sometimes controlling it.” (McGuire 2004) The study of forensic and investigative psychology are devoted to an individual’s behaviour and to the effects that crime and individual criminals have upon the community, not that which involves the law and it’s process. (Popper 1968) James Cattell (1895) chose to experiment on the validity of giving, and the accuracy of testimony, which gave arguably the first empirical data. From this initial study others followed and discovered that witnesses could be greatly influenced by the conditions and suggestibility of the interrogators who took their statements. Both Binet (1900) and Stern (1910) demonstrated that eye witness reports were not infallible and could be influenced. (Gisili and Gudjonsson 1991) Criminal psychologists are significant in eyewitness testimony;...
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...randomized evaluation of the impact of introducing the standard microcredit group-based lending product in a new market. This study also follows the households over the longest period of any evaluation (three to 3.5 years after the introduction of the program in their areas) to trap impacts not only in the short run but also over the medium run. The results of this study compel us to think about the functional difference that the microfinance initiatives are making in the target community and whether it’s time to address this sphere of developmental finance with less fancy and more caution. SECTION 1: METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY CONSTRUCTION OF THE RCT Baseline Survey A baseline neighbourhood survey (2005) was conducted to assess baseline conditions such as household composition, education, employment, asset ownership, expenditure, borrowing, saving, and any businesses currently operated by the household or stopped within the last year. However, due to the absence of census and the urgent need to collect information for stratification before Spandana began operations, every nth house in the area was chosen such that there were 20 households per area, instead of a random selection from a household list (total 120 areas). Since there was a lack of...
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...\ FACTORS AFFECTING THE PERFORMANCE OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPRISES (THE CASE OF DESSIE TOWN) BY MULUGETA CHANE WUBE BAHIR DAR UNIVERSITY AUGUST, 2010 FACTORS AFFECTING THE PERFORMANCE OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPRISES (THE CASE OF DESSIE TOWN) A Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Degree of Master of Arts in Technical and Vocational Education Management By Mulugeta Chane Wube BAHIR DAR UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT AUGUST 2010 BAHIRDAR UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT FACTORS AFFECTING THE PERFORMANCE OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPREISES IN DESSIE TOWN Approval of Board of Examiners ___________________________ _____________ ________________ Chair person, department Graduate committee Date Signature ___________________________ Advisor _____________ Date ________________ Signature ___________________________ Internal examiner _____________ Date ________________ Signature ___________________________ External examiner _____________ Date ________________ Signature ACKNOWLEDGMENT This work comes in to end not only by the effort of the researcher but also the support of many individuals and organizations. To begin with, I would like to thank Ato Adane Tesera, my advisor, for his constructive suggestions throughout my work. Had it been without his support, this...
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...COMPARATIVE LAW 2013 GROUP 6 – CLC35 1/1/2013 Role of Comparative Law to legal interpretation and application Role of Comparative Law to legal interpretation and application Table of Contents I. Definition: legal interpretation and application 2 I.1 Legal Interpretation 2 I.2 Legal Application 3 II. Role of Comparative Law to legal interpretation and application 4 II.1 Role of Comparative Law to legal interpretation and application of law as the result of the harmonization and unification of law 5 II.1.1 The harmonization and unification of law 5 II.1.2 Role of Comparative Law to legal interpretation and application of law as the result of the harmonization and unification of law 6 II.2 Role of Comparative Law to legal interpretation and application of law as the result of the transplants of foreign law 8 II.2.1 An overview of Legal transplant 8 II.2.2 Role of Comparative Law to legal interpretation and application of Law as the result of the transplants of foreign law 13 II.3 Role of Comparative Law to legal interpretation and application of Legal rules which are entirely domestic and lack any direct international background or connection 15 II.3.1 Introduction 15 II.3.2 Role of Comparative Law to legal interpretation and application of Legal rules which are entirely domestic and lack any direct international background or connection 16 III. Questions 17 HCMC UNIVERSITY OF LAW ADVANCED-PROGRAM CLASS COURSE 35 GROUP 6 ...
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...stabilization and opening up may not be enough to achieve a rise in the trend rates of investment and growth. Recognizing this evidence, policy emphasis has shifted to pinpointing complementary policies that will lead an economy from stabilization to growth. The policy debate today focuses on reforms. Ghana immediately after independence made tremendous effort towards achieving full employment and socio economic development through public investment in medium and large scale enterprises. Notwithstanding the direct involvement and the effort of the government, the sector is saddled with a lot of constraints, including scarce capital, intensive technology, foreign exchange constraints, poor management, corruption and inadequate attention to economic viability and market prospects which has resulted in poor performance of the industries in terms of output and employment (Steel & Webster, 1992). Following an economic recession in the 1980’s which resulted in the retrenchment of workers from the civil service, the rationalization of production in the private sector under the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) was launched in 1983, and the high population growth rate of 2.6% per annum, coupled with the inability of the medium and large scale enterprises to grow and expand over time to absorb the idle labour, the SMEs has become an important option and alternative source of employment. SMEs have been...
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...Retail Banking - Opportunities and Challenges Shyamala Gopinath* The issue of retail banking is extremely important and topical. Across the globe, retail lending has been a spectacular innovation in the commercial banking sector in recent years. The growth of retail lending, especially, in emerging economies, is attributable to the rapid advances in information technology, the evolving macroeconomic environment, financial market reform, and several micro-level demand and supply side factors. India too experienced a surge in retail banking. There are various pointers towards this. Retail loan is estimated to have accounted for nearly one-fifth of all bank credit. Housing sector is experiencing a boom in its credit. The retail loan market has decisively got transformed from a sellers’ market to a buyers’ market. Gone are the days where getting a retail loan was somewhat cumbersome. All these emphasise the momentum that retail banking is experiencing in the Indian economy in recent years. What is Retail Banking? Retail banking is, however, quite broad in nature - it refers to the dealing of commercial banks with individual customers, both on liabilities and assets sides of the balance sheet. Fixed, current / savings accounts on the liabilities side; and mortgages, loans (e.g., personal, housing, auto, and educational) on the assets side, are the more important of the products offered by banks. Related ancillary services include credit...
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... j-gentry@uiuc.edu Office Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. on Mon. and Wed/. or by Appointment I. Teaching Objectives Financial decision making cases are used to… • Create a highly interactive learning environment; • Learn about the application of financial management and credit analysis concepts; • Discover what you do not know about the practice of financial management; • Show what you have learned; • Highlight the relationships between strategic goals and the creation of firm value; • Develop techniques for interpreting a firm’s financial data and strategic plans; • Enhance your critical thinking and problem solving skills; • Expand your understanding of financial theory and its application; • Improve your listening and cooperative learning skills. II. Learning Promises At the end of this course your will be able to… • Think like a financial manager; • Interpret a company’s financial health by evaluating the performance of its cash flow components and financial ratios; • Create financial forecasts with different scenarios; • Justify the acceptance or rejection of a loan based on credit analysis: • Learn to interpret loan covenants and the underlying collateral; • Discover the metrics that...
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...Classical theorists: August Comte: He was born on the 19th of January 1798, in Paris France. He was born in the shadow of the French revolution and as modern science and technology gave birth to the industrial revolution. During this time, European society experienced violent conflict and feelings of alienation. Comte spent most of his life developing a philosophy for a new social order amidst all the chaos and uncertainty. He rejected religion and royalty, focusing instead on the study of society which he named “sociology”. He broke the subject into two categories: i. Forces holding the society together(social statics) ii. Those driving social change(social dynamics) Comte wrote so many books which contains the outline of his thought such as: i. Positive philosophy(1830 -42) ii. System of positive policy(1851 -54) iii. Religion of humanity (1958) Comte gave birth not only to a specific methodology of studying knowledge and also analyzed the evolution of human thinking and its various stages. He developed a unilinear theory of evolution. According to Comte, individual mind and human society pass through successive stages of historical evolution leading to some final stage of perfection. The principle developed by Comte in the study of human thinking presumes gradual evolution and development in human thinking and it is known as the law of three stages of thinking. Comte’s law of three stages represents that there are three intellectual stages through...
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