Radboud Educational Repository (Radboud Univ.)
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Counterterrorism framing in the Sahel; Impact on policy and security dynamics
No full textThe Sahel region has faced increased instability since 2020. This period has been marked by a series of military coups in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso. The European Union has a longstanding history of involvement in counter-terrorism and peacekeeping missions. However, despite these efforts, the region remains unstable and with a growing resistance towards foreign actors. This thesis examines how the European Union has framed its counter-terrorism policy in the Sahel and how this framing has influenced regional security dynamics. This research identifies dominant frames in terrorism as interconnected threats to the Sahel and the EU. Securitised framing has justified the European intervention while also aiming for long-term development goals. This has created a tension between short-term and long-term goals. This thesis concludes that the framing of the European Union does not align with the context and has limited influence on contributing to long-term stability. To regain legitimacy and impact, the European Union must better align with the local context
The role of explainability and trust in the adoption of AI-generated financial forecasts.
No full textThe influence of explainability and trust on the acceptance of artificial intelligence (AI) generated financial projections by financial experts is investigated in this study. Using survey data from 44 financial practitioners, the study builds on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by include explainability and trust as main constructions and evaluates a mediation model. Examined were the links between perceived explainability, trust, perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), and intention to adopt using structural equation modelling and regression analysis. While the direct impacts of explainability on trust and adoption were not statistically significant, the results underline trust as a fundamental predictor of adoption. But explainability's connections to trust and adoption in sensitivity studies revealed its practical importance. PU stayed the biggest driver of adoption, whereas PEOU showed an unexpected negative correlation suggesting that professionals could choose dependability over simplicity. The findings imply that open and context-sensitive artificial intelligence systems have to actively foster trust. This study adds to the body of knowledge on AI adoption in the financial sector and provides useful information for companies trying to use explainable AI solutions compliant with professional standards and responsibility criteria
The Moderating Role of Corporate Social Responsibility in Market Reactions to Financial Misconduct
No full textThis thesis investigates whether Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) moderates investor responses to announcements of financial misconduct, including tax violations, anti-money laundering deficiencies, and accounting fraud. Using an event study methodology, it examines short-term cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) for a sample of 80 violation cases and 157 matched control firms. Firms were matched on financial and industry characteristics using a propensity score matching algorithm implemented with the MatchIt package in R. CSR performance was measured using the Refinitiv ESG Combined Score, and firms were categorized into tiers, focusing on the top 25% (HighCSR) for regression analyses. The results show no statistically significant market reactions to the misconduct events, nor a consistent moderating effect of CSR. A power analysis confirms low statistical power to detect small effects, particularly for interaction terms. These findings show the empirical limitations in capturing the reputational role of CSR and suggest that future studies require larger samples and refined CSR measures
A critique of Robert Chapman’s social-ecological relational functional analysis of mental functioning
No full textWithin the neurodiversity paradigm, Robert Chapman has recently prompted an alternative functional analysis, which is based on a social-ecological model of mental functioning. Chapman argues that a more relational understanding of mental functioning advances clinical psychiatric practices, as it challenges presumed functional norms. This paper is a critique of Chapman’s relational functional analysis. It investigates whether the alternative functional analysis based on the social-ecological model is beneficial for psychiatric practice. While I am in favour of appreciating diversity in minds and brains, and recognise the need for relational and contextual thinking to understand the complexity of mental functioning, I argue that relational functional analysis in its current form is not suitable for psychiatry. My argument is twofold: first, I demonstrate that the social-ecological model has a general problem in determining function. Second, I illustrate how the model’s conceptual liberalism and arbitrariness pose application problems for psychiatry. I discuss two examples which show that a relational social-ecological functional analysis is less appealing than Chapman suggests. This approach comes with implicit norms that can make the assessment of mental health a dangerous business
Sustainability in M&A: Empirical Findings on the Effect of ESG Scores on M&A Performance
No full textThis study investigates the short- and long-term impact of ESG scores on M&A performance across listed companies in the United States and Europe. Utilizing event study methodology and OLS regression analysis with various control variables, the research examines the influence of acquirer ESG, target ESG, and their interaction on cumulative abnormal returns surrounding deal announcements, post-merger return on assets, and bid premiums spanning from 2002 to 2024. It is hypothesized that higher ESG scores of both acquirers and targets, as well as their interaction, positively influence M&A performance and deal valuation. The results show no significant association between ESG and cumulative abnormal returns but reveal that higher ESG scores for both acquirers and targets are positively related to the bid premium, with a significant negative interaction effect. For the return on assets ratio, limited evidence suggests a positive link between the acquirer and target ESG. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how ESG characteristics influence M&A outcomes and have implications for corporate strategic decision-making, investor valuation, and academic research on sustainable finance
From awareness to action: The role of cybersecurity awareness in investment behaviour among SME retailers
No full textThis study investigates the influence of cybersecurity awareness on the investment behaviour in cybersecurity measures of Dutch SME retailers. This research is relevant given the significant public investment in cybersecurity awareness campaigns. The study integrates the core constructs of Technology Acceptance Model , namely Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Perceived Ease of Use (PeoU), as a measure of cybersecurity awareness, with the NIST Framework as an instrument to measure investment level. The retail sector is becoming more dependent on digital infrastructure, making it important to understand the determinants of willingness to invest in cybersecurity measures.
Using a survey completed by SME retailers, this relationship was analysed through OLS regressions. The results show that PU and PEoU are positively related to the level of investment.
This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence that awareness, when internalised as both useful and easy to apply, supports digital resilience in unregulated sectors such as retail. The study offers relevant and timely insight into the role of awareness as a strategic condition for cybersecurity resilience in SMEs. The findings support the hypothesis that cybersecurity awareness among SME retailers is positively associated with investment willingness
Resistance in the Illegality Arena. Counter-Labelling in a Shrinking Space for Migrant Solidarity
Full text linkThis thesis explores how migrant solidarity organisations in the Netherlands engage in discursive resistance against the illegality discourse – a dominant discourse that legally, politically and socially marginalises illegalised migrants. Through ethnographic fieldwork, including interviews, participatory observation and informal conversations, this research investigates how these organisations navigate increasing political hostility, restrictive migration policies and shrinking civic space. Central to this study is the concept of counter-labelling, which I understand as a set of discursive strategies aimed at resisting dominant labels that produce knowledge about migrants and inform policy-making processes. By conceptualising the interaction between state pressure and solidarity resistance as an ‘illegality arena’, this thesis highlights the tensions and frictions that emerge from multilevel collaboration, shifting migration control and hybrid forms of solidarity. In doing so, this research contributes to academic debates on the illegality discourse, migrant solidarity and discursive resistance, offering insights into how knowledge production in the migration sphere is both contested and reimagined from below. The findings underscore the relevance of counter-discursive strategies in increasingly exclusionary socio-political contexts and call for more inclusive, transcendent and reflexive forms of solidarity.
Keywords: Illegality discourse, migrant solidarity, counter-labelling, discursive resistance, illegalised migrants, migration control, illegality aren
How Random is Random Mutation?
No full textIn biology, the nature of mutations is often described as “random”. In an evolutionary context, this represents the canonical view that mutation is not directed towards providing favourable traits for an organism. However, “mutation” can also refer to alterations in DNA, in which “mutation is random” is a vastly different and extensively debated claim within genetics. I investigate what the statement “mutation is random” means in an evolutionary and a genetic context and how different interpretations of “random” affect its meaning. I argue that using different definitions of randomness interchangeably has far-reaching implications, such as the confusion of epistemological and ontological claims, (accidental) Lamarckian conclusions, and that it raises questions about reductionism in biological science
Diverse councils, diverse representation
No full textThis master thesis focuses on patterns of descriptive representation and substantive representation of ethnic minorities in Dutch local politics. It looks into which representatives with characteristics like ethnicity, gender and party are able to advocate for ethnic minority interests. All submitted written questions - a local political instrument by local council members - from January first until June thirtieth of 2024 in the councils of Rotterdam, Utrecht and Groningen have been scanned. The ones touching the topic of ethnic minorities have been picked out for further analysis. By systematically analyzing those written questions, this study examines whether and how representatives use their positions to address issues pertinent to ethnic minorities, while studying their backgrounds. Through this exploratory research, it is found that for the cases of Rotterdam and Utrecht, there is indeed a link between descriptive and substantive representation to the extent that ethnic minority representatives are better than ethnic majority representatives at representing ethnic minority interests. For the assessment of the strength of the link between the forms of representation, further research is recommended, due to a shortage of valid data. Gender also seems to play a role in the substantive representation of ethnic minorities: ethnic minority women are better at representing ethnic minority interests than ethnic minority men, and ethnic majority women are better at representing ethnic minority interests than ethnic majority men. Party affiliation also seems to matter: representatives linked to progressive and left-wing parties more often advocate for ethnic minorities than their conservative and right-wing colleagues