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The Returns to Education and the Wage Effect from Overeducation in Trinidad and Tobago: A Pseudo-Panel Approach
No full textHaving highly educated workers can be beneficial for organizations in terms of innovation and problem-solving capabilities, however when underpaid and underemployed, overeducated workers may experience feelings of frustration and stagnation as they are unable to fully utilize their skills and knowledge. This can result in high levels of job dissatisfaction and a high employee turnover rate. While the literature on returns to education and overeducation is extensive in developed countries, evidence from developing (and Caribbean) countries remains scarce. This study will aim to examine the returns to education and the overeducation of public sector workers in Trinidad and Tobago. By using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Quantile Regression (QR), Recentred Influence Function (RIF) and a pseudo-panel approach to address the presence of Omitted Variable Bias (OMV), and Endogeneity, as well as CSSP data for 1991-2015, this study finds that the average returns to education in Trinidad and Tobago are 19.2% highlighting the downward bias from the OLS estimate of 11.5%. The average returns of overeducated workers although positive appear to be influenced by their year of birth, so the earnings of overeducated persons born between 1935-1942, and 1943-1950, were lower than workers born later on in 1975-1982, and 1983-1990
Beneath the Surface: Examining the Function of Female Banter
No full textThesis (B.A. in English Literature)--John Cabot University, Spring 2024.This thesis will explore the autonomy displayed by three female protagonists with a focus particularly on the function of banter and its psychological effects. Through a psychoanalytic lens, this thesis aims to uncover the concealed insecurities masked by women’s banter, as well as the desires it reveals in William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and Edward Albee’s play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. All three female protagonists’ banter, then, defensively and protectively, conceals emotions that they are often not aware of; therefore, consequently, banter serves as a catalyst for their self-awareness. The exchange of banter between Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, and Martha and George in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, thus aids in the individuals’ self-development
Depictions of Heaven: A Study of the Divine Figures in the Upper Zone of Room P of the House of the Vettii
No full textThesis (B.A. in Art History, Minor in Art and Design)--John Cabot University, Fall 2024.This thesis will explore on the central figures depicted within the upper zone of Fourth Style walls, with a focus on those in Room P of the House of the Vettii in Pompeii. It will analyze the central figures themselves via their iconographic elements, as well as their attributes, and their thematic connection to the narratives depicted in the main zones. Additionally, the research will examine how the placement of projecting architectural forms may elude to a heavenly space with which the figures in the upper zone can interact. Furthermore, it investigates how the figures interact with the physical space through gaze, specifically the central divine figures. This study aims to elucidate the purpose of these figural representations and the intended viewer reception by analyzing the figures' attributes and strategic placement within the architectural context. While scholars of this specific wall painting have given some attention to the depiction of unhappy love, analysis of the upper zone has thus far been limited. This limitation concerning the upper zone research is directed towards this specific wall painting and the theatrical aspect of figural depiction in the upper zone of fourth-style wall paintings. This study seeks to fill this gap in research by scrutinizing the nuanced utilization of the upper zone in first-century Pompeian wall paintings and unravelling the intricacies of how these depictions contribute to the overall meaning of a heavenly realm. Furthermore, this thesis aspires to contribute insights into understanding the visual and symbolic language employed in Fourth Style Roman wall painting. Through this investigation, I hope to offer a richer comprehension of Fourth Style upper zones with a further investigation of other houses with similar characteristics. Ultimately, this thesis aims to highlight repetitive decorative aspects across the Fourth Style that have been ignored
Navigating Brand Purpose in the Post-Pandemic Era: Insights from Marketing Agencies on Supporting SDGs through Strategic Delineation and Execution
No full textPurpose
This study aims to investigate the role of marketing agencies in aligning brand purpose with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the post-pandemic era. This study explores whether and how marketing agencies delineate and execute brand purpose in a way that supports sustainable consumption and marketing models.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were gathered from semi-structured interviews with 35 senior manage
rs at UK-based marketing agencies. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using NVivo software for inductive coding.
Findings
The study reveals that brand purpose in the post-pandemic era is increasingly aligned with the SDGs. Marketing agencies play a pivotal role in this alignment, as they not only help to delineate and execute the brand purpose but also do so in a way that amplifies perceived authenticity in the eyes of the brand stakeholders.
Originality/value
This research underscores the significance of marketing agencies in delineating and executing brand purpose that aligns with the SDGs. It enriches the literature by illustrating how agency expertise contributes to the evolution of brand purpose, guiding businesses towards responsible marketing practices and consumption patterns that support a sustainable future
Affirmative Mindfulness, Acceptance, and Compassion‑Based Group Intervention for Sexual Minorities (Free2Be): A Non‑Randomized Mixed‑Method Study for Feasibility with Exploratory Analysis of Efectiveness
Get PDFObjectives: Despite sexual minority (SM), i.e. individuals who identify as lesbian women, gay men, bisexual, or pansexual, individuals presenting worse mental health outcomes when compared to heterosexual individuals, they face more difficulties in accessing affirmative and quality health services. This study is a mixed-method non-randomized single-arm trial targeting SM individuals assessing the feasibility and exploratory findings from an affirmative mindfulness, acceptance, and compassion-based group intervention (Free2Be).
Method: Eighteen participants who self-identified as SM, with a mean age of 30.80 years old, underwent a face-to-face group intervention with 13 weekly sessions (Free2Be). Feasibility was assessed in three domains (acceptability, practicality, and preliminary effectiveness) with self-report questionnaires and hetero-report interviews, during and after the intervention, and using a mixed-methods approach. Using a pre–post and participant-by-participant design, changes were assessed in self-reported internalized stigma, psychopathology indicators, and mindfulness, acceptance, and compassion processes.
Results: The Free2Be was acceptable and feasible in all three domains. Participants who completed the intervention (≥ 80% of attendance) revealed significant or reliable decreases in stress and social anxiety symptoms, self-criticism, and fear of compassion for the self.
Conclusions: The study provides evidence of the feasibility of the intervention. This affirmative mindfulness, acceptance, and compassion-based group intervention seems to be feasible and acceptable for SM individuals. These promising findings warrant further investigation within a pilot study
The reassuring effect of firms' technological innovations on workers' job insecurity
No full textPurpose
This work analyses how the adoption of technological innovations correlates with workers' perceived levels of job insecurity, and what factors moderate such relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
The study makes use of the 2018 wave of the Participation, Labour, Unemployment Survey (PLUS) from Inapp. The richness of the survey and the representativeness of the underlying sample (including 13,837 employed workers) allow employing various empirical specifications where it is possible to control and moderate for many socio-demographic features of the worker, including her occupation and industry of employment, thereby accounting for various potential confounding factors.
Findings
The results of this ordered logit estimations show that workers' perception of job insecurity is affected by many subjective, firm-related and even macroeconomic factors. This study demonstrates that the adoption of technological innovations by companies is associated with lower levels of job insecurity perceived by their workers. In fact, the adoption of technological innovations by a company is perceived by surviving workers (those who remain in the same firm even after the introduction of such innovations) as a signal of the firm's health and its commitment to preserving the activity. Individual- and occupation-specific moderating factors play a limited role.
Originality/value
This study estimates how perceived job insecurity relates to the technological innovations adopted by the firms in which the interviewees are employed rather than analyzing their general concerns about job insecurity. In addition, this study identifies different types of innovations, such as product and process innovation, automation and other types of innovations
From catalyst to burden: shopping malls and franchising in Brazil
Get PDFPurpose
This research links the global advance of the franchise model to the geohistorical foray of shopping malls through an empirical longitudinal study in the largest emerging market in Latin America, Brazil.
Design/methodology/approach
We conducted an analysis of a multi-year set of qualitative interviews with the same franchised mall tenants (23 interviews in 2017 and 12 follow-up interviews in 2022) via an iterative procedure of transcript data coding and theme identification.
Findings
Shopping malls were key catalysts in the pre-pandemic growth of franchising in Brazil, yet during the pandemic, malls became liabilities. Attitudes towards malls as franchise hosts changed, flipping the mall perception from catalytic host to burdensome trap. Mall management companies, as key gatekeepers, deserve more research attention.
Originality/value
Our study reveals the detrimental role shopping malls, with their static rules and high cost structures, have played as franchise businesses struggled to survive during the global pandemic. While franchising represents one of the most influential retail business models today, shopping malls have been among the most important brick-and-mortar retail institutions since the 1950s. Jointly, they constitute a unique retail symbiosis with little attention in the academic literature
Participation of farmers in market value chains: A tailored Antràs and Chor positioning indicator
No full textThis study presents a micro-level indicator of farmers’ positioning in the market chain, based on the conceptual framework outlined by Antràs and Chor (2013, 2018). The indicator considers the selling location of a farming household and its crop buyers. Using panel data from the World Bank’s ‘Living Standards Measure-ment Study: Integrated Surveys on Agriculture’ for Ethiopia and Nigeria, this paper applies the proposed indicator empirically and showcases its superior performance in comparison to existing alternatives at the micro-level. Furthermore, by analyzing the dynamics of farmers’ food and total consumption over time and controlling for vari-ous household and production characteristics, as well as potential confounding factors, this study shows that moving towards a downstream position in the market chain has a positive impact on farmers’ food and total consumption levels. The results are validated through sensitivity analysis and robustness checks
The Green Influence: Exploring the Impact of Political Systems on Renewable Energy Transition in Oil Countries
No full textThesis (B.A. in International Affairs, Minor in Legal Studies)--John Cabot University, Spring 2024.This thesis explores the following question: How do political systems in oil-rich countriesaffect the adoption of environmental sustainability practices aligned with the UN SustainableDevelopment Goals? Existing research suggests that democratic countries better adoptsustainable environmental policies. Nevertheless, some oil-authoritarian countries can alsoimplement clean energy practices. This thesis reaches this conclusion following different steps.First, the analytical framework, establishing the research structure, explores the economicequation of the production function, the clean democracy hypothesis, the economic model of theenvironmental Kuznets curve, and the ideology of eco-authoritarianism. Then, while finding apositive correlation between democracy and environmental performance, the methodologysection that tests these theories also shows the existence of environmental initiatives in someauthoritarian oil-dependent countries: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. This isdemonstrated using a quantitative analysis of environmental performance, democracy indexscores, oil rent percentage, and GDP per capita across 156 countries and a qualitativeexamination of policy initiatives in these three Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Thesefindings encourage the international community to reconsider biases on authoritarian richcountries dependent on oil revenues and their possibility to adopt environmentally sustainablepolicies. Also, this research fills a significant gap in the literature by linking different theories toassess how political systems shape environmental initiatives in oil-rich countries. Until now,research looking at different spectrums, such as the relationship between political systems and oilor environment and oil, existed. Thus, linking these three aspects, this thesis enriches theacademic research on political economy and environmental policy, offering insights for futureassessments on oil, political systems, and their effectiveness on environmental initiatives
Cultural Translation: The Nexus of Mexican Muralism and Italian Futurism in Orozco’s Katharsis mural
No full textThesis (B.A. in Art History)--John Cabot University, Spring 2024.In the early to mid-twentieth century, Mexican muralists emerged as pivotal figures in thediscourse on art and politics following the Mexican Revolution, coinciding with the rise of theMuralist movement. This discourse explored themes such as the academy’s “buen gusto,” theadvent of modernism and avant-gardes, the revolutionary aftermath, and the concept of“Mestizo” in Mexican identity. Concurrently, Mexican muralists engaged directly with Europeanavant-gardes, enriching their artistic perspectives with influences from Italian Futurists andFrench Cubists. However, despite the significance of Mexican muralism, little scholarly attentionhas been directed towards José Clemente Orozco, one of the central muralists of the time, and hisconnection to European avant-gardes. In the interest of addressing this scholarly gap, this thesisproposes a case study of Orozco’s Katharsis mural as a means to explore a new perspective onthe intersection, translation, and critical engagement between Mexican muralism and ItalianFuturism despite their ideological disparities. Through an examination of artistic techniques,political ideologies, and international artistic exchange, this thesis aims to unravel themultifaceted dynamics that shaped Orozco’s contribution to the movement