Clute Institute: Journals
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VAT And Electronic Books
Get PDFThe publishing sector has experienced an important change linked to the emergence of electronics books. This new reality has an impact in the cultural industry and demands the adaptation of public regulations that affect the production and consumption of cultural goods and services. For this purpose, the authors carry out an analysis of the legislation applicable to the cultural sector, focusing on the publication of electronic books, in order to meet the impact of these measures in the economy.The importance of public action is made clear in the protection of copyright and the fight against illegal access, in order not to reduce tax collection, because this could be negative for the support of the worselfare state.The analysis is carried out for the Spanish case, although the results obtained may be extrapolated to the rest of the states of the European Union, given that the regulations are community-based
Starting Ones Own Business What Motivates Entrepreneurs?
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to determine the factors that motivate and challenge people when starting up their own small business. This paper includes the challenges that entrepreneurs encounter, advantages and disadvantages of owning ones own business, as well as highlighting the factors that are important to succeed in owning ones own business. The study was quantitative in nature and made use of an online survey questionnaire to collect data from entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. The results indicated that the most motivational factors include the desire to pursue a business idea and that they want to be their own boss. The results further highlighted that the main challenges for small business owners are financial in nature as well as support from the government
Further Exploration Of Global Asset GMVPs: Does Risk Reduction Benefit From Weekly Data?
Get PDFThe paper studies the differences in risk reduction among global minimum variance portfolios (GMVPs) derived from the optimization of weekly and monthly return. This research follows the analysis of Zibri and Kukeli (2014) regarding differences in performance which is measured for different revision frequencies and transaction costs. The data used are weekly/monthly returns for stock, bond, gold, oil indices for the period 1996-2013. If more frequently rebalancing is applied, most restrictive weekly GMVPs reduce risk more than returns vis-à-vis monthly GMVPs
Microeconomic Competitiveness And Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Firm-Level Evidence From Zimbabwe
Get PDFThis paper examines the micro-level factors that constrain Zimbabwean firms in the country’s post-conflict environment. An analysis was conducted into what Zimbabwean firms see as their most debilitating obstacle to achieving higher levels of competitiveness. Among the findings was that so-called non-politically constrained firms face many challenges in their day-to-day operations, which often points to internal strategic and operational shortcomings. Politically constrained firms, on the other hand, have progressed to a stage where their internal systems are in good shape, but their future vision and goals are potentially threatened by the unstable political situation in the country. This creates uncertainty, which can impact negatively on ongoing investment and expansion
Differential Investment Performance In South Africa Based On Gender And Age
Get PDFBehavioral finance shows us that individuals do not always behave rationally, owing to certain behavioural biases. A certain bias known as overconfidence has been found to incite increased trading frequency which in turn, reduces the overall return earned. Behavioral biases manifest differently amongst men and women of different ages. Men and more overconfident and women are more risk averse, whilst the young hold more volatile portfolio’s and the more experienced display fewer of these biases. A sample of 19,021 individual investors from a South African investment house was analysed over five years in order to draw conclusions on the trading behaviour, returns earned and variances in these returns earned by men and women of different ages. The results showed women over the age of 60 years earning statistically significantly higher returns than men and older investors having lower variances in return. For investors of younger ages, no statistically significant difference in the returns earned by men and women are noted, however men were found to have higher variances of returns. Whilst the trading frequency of men is statistically significantly higher than women for the total sample of investors; this result is not consistent amongst the different age-groupings analysed
How Debt Financing Decisions Relate With Financial Performance Of State-Owned Corporations In Kenya
Get PDFFinancing decisions, especially debt financing, have been revealed to have noteworthy implications for the operations of corporations. Studies on finance have revolved around the theory that certain financial policies, like debt financing, should either boost or hamper a corporation’s competitive performance. The aim of this study, therefore, was to determine the effects of debt financing on the financial performance of state-owned corporations in Kenya. The “financial leverage”, which is the proportion of debt financing of state-owned corporations, based on the total debt and the total assets, was the object of analysis for the period 2002 to 2012. The fixed effects (FE), random effects (RE) and the generalized method of moments (GMM) panel data regression analysis models were applied using the financial performance ratios, such as ROA, ROI and ROE. The results determined that debt financing is inversely related to financial performance of state-owned corporations in Kenya
The Impact Of Clean Development Mechanism Projects On Sustainable Development In South Africa
Get PDFClean Development Mechanisms (CDM) have achieved a certain level of cost-effective emission reductions in developing countries. In this context the uneven distribution of CDM projects in certain regions as well as the concentration of CDM projects amongst certain sectors in developing countries have resulted in the issue of whether CDM projects contribute to sustainable development in developing countries. This article examines the impact of CDM projects on sustainable development in South Africa by examining a sample of working CDM projects there and evaluating their impact on environmental, economic and social sustainable development. Based on observations during the study, CDM policy changes are reviewed, and options to enhance the sustainable development implications of CDM projects are explained
What Benford Can Tell Us About Cover Pools – An Empirical Analysis
Get PDFLeading digits often follow a distribution described by Newcomb (1881) and Benford (1938). We apply this phenomenon known as Benford’s Law on cover assets provided by issuers of German covered bonds. The main finding of the empirical analysis is that leading digits of these assets seem to follow the Benford distribution. Standard statistical evidence, however, might be misleading due to effects of large data sets. Consequently, the present paper also provides an example of how to deal with large data sets when a Benford distribution is assumed.
A Solder Based Self Assembly Project In An Introductory IC Fabrication Course
Get PDFIntegrated circuit (IC) fabrication principles is an elective course in a senior undergraduate and early graduate student’s curriculum. Over the years, the semiconductor industry relies heavily on students with developed expertise in the area of fabrication techniques, learned in an IC fabrication theory and laboratory course. The theory course gives importance to the physics of manufacturing techniques and is often attached to a subsequent semester laboratory curriculum. The pre-requisite requirement of the theory component for a laboratory course requires students to enroll for two courses in separate semesters and is not an option for all students. Hence, an innovative student project is intended in the theory curriculum to give hands-on experience on the processes. The IC fabrication course is usually associated with high enrollment of students, leading to fewer laboratory experiments. The physics of IC fabrication techniques is important, but few students may perceive the theory as important with no laboratory experience. To improve the course and give students hands-on practice with existing state-of-the-art processing facilities, a tailored project was added to the syllabus. A solder-based self assembly (SBSA) project was introduced in the curriculum for the first time at the University of Alabama in Fall 2011. The student projects were designed in a way to provide an alternative to conventional time-intensive, high cost, and highly tool dependent IC fabrication lab experiments. SBSA forms three dimensional (3D) structures when applied to two dimensional (2D) patterns. The schedule was designed to accommodate theory classes aligned with the fabrication steps and completed by students. The project involved a brainstorming session, a design stage to develop 2D patterns using AutoCAD software, a deposition process, a lithography step, a dip soldering step, a reflow process, scanning electron microscope (SEM) imaging, and a final project presentation. Other processes required to complete the project were performed by the instructor. In general, students showed interest in working in teams, completing the project, and recommended to continuing the SBSA project in future IC fabrication course work. The SBSA project is cost effective and less tool dependent for incorporation in a semester long course. In addition, the project is time effective from both student and instructor perspectives.
Developing An Engineering Identity In Early Childhood
Get PDFThis project describes a strategy to introduce young children to engineering in a way that develops their engineering identity. The targeted age group is 3-7 year old students because they rarely experience purposeful engineering instruction. The curriculum was designed around an engineering storybook and included interactive academic discussions as well as a creative drawing activity. Results provide evidence that students developed an engineering identity based on their illustrations of themselves working as engineers. These findings lend support to the use of engineering-centered books to improve the impact of instructional strategies that emphasize the engineering design cycle. We show how both the curricular materials and the activities can work together to develop an engineering identity in this age group