19683 research outputs found
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Digital finance and sustainable development: Evidence from developing nations
No full textObjectives: This paper investigates the role of digital finance in promoting environmental sustainability within a group of 52 developing economies from 2010 to 2019. Specifically, it examines whether digital finance effectively contributes reducing CO2 emissions in these nations. Methods: This paper is a quantitative study which employs the IV-GMM (instrumental variable generalized methods of moment) approach that tackles any potential endogeneity. Furthermore, to ensure robustness of results, this paper also utilizes different measures of financial development. Results: Estimation results from this study reveal the presence of inverted U-shaped relationship between digital finance and CO2 emissions. This suggests that the beneficial effects of digital finance may take time to materialize. Additionally, this research also records the presence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve and a significant impact of renewable energy, trade openness, financial development, urbanization, and population on CO2 emissions. Conclusions: It can be concluded that it may take time for digital finance to become beneficial to the environment. Therefore, in addition to digital finance, countries should also adopt other measures simultaneously (use of renewable energy, combination between digital finance and financial development).</p
Social Work Students During COVID-19: How a Reflective Communication Subject Fostered Wellbeing and Mental Health
No full textStudent wellbeing and mental health is recognised as a significant issue, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Caring for your own wellbeing is key to effective social work practice and is the focus of Reflective Communication, a La Trobe University Social Work undergraduate subject based on a First Nations Family Wellbeing Program. This study explored the impact of this subject on student wellbeing during the pandemic. This mixed-methods study utilised an online questionnaire that measured students’ experiences of wellbeing before and after participation in the subject. Forty-three students completed online questionnaires, with 13 completing at both pre- and post-participation in the subject. Five focus groups comprising 14 students were conducted, as well as interviews with three subject tutors. Survey results indicated a stable and moderate level of mental distress amongst students, but a small sample size prevents conclusions from being drawn. The qualitative analysis indicated that students valued the subject for its promotion of social connection during the pandemic, but did find online classes challenging, with staff and students preferring in-person learning. Results support the subject’s value, and by implication, the relationally based Family Wellbeing Program, in enabling students to develop and/or maintain wellbeing during a challenging and unpredictable time.</p
Transforming Carbon: Ecological Portraiture Through a Carbon Lens
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.</p
Genetically Engineering a Cloning Vector for Gordonia amarae
No full textA thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science to the School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.</p
Investigating the Role of Neuropeptides for the Treatment of Gastrointestinal Cancers
No full textA thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Cancer Medicine, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.</p
Saving Hattah Lakes: Changing Masculinities and the Campaigns for a National Park, 1900–1960
No full textHattah Lakes is a network of lakes in Victoria’s north-west in a region known as the Mallee. This article focuses on three white men who were critical to saving the Lakes: a bushman, a naturalist, and a scientist. All recognised the unique nature of the Lakes and each operated within changing understandings of masculinity as they sought to protect the Lakes from development. These three men viewed the Lakes as a place of natural beauty and abundant wildlife which needed to be cherished and protected, but they were also men who in different ways profited directly or indirectly from the exploitation of the land. Their relationships to the Lakes were shaped by gendered and racial ideologies that privileged different ways of knowing the area: as a bush landscape; as a wonderland of birds and trees; as a sophisticated natural system to be studied.</p
Alert, but not alarmed: Electoral disinformation and trust during the 2023 Australian voice to parliament referendum
No full textAbstract: In 2024 experts highlight misinformation and disinformation “amid elections” as the top short‐term global risk. In addressing this pressing concern, electoral authorities are devising strategies to counter electoral disinformation while governments consider changes to public policy and legislation. Drawing on motivated reasoning theory, this study assesses the impact of disinformation and mitigation measures in Australia during the 2023 referendum campaign – to establish a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous Voice to Parliament – and its subsequent impacts on trust in the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). Through a nationally representative survey experiment (N = 3825) we find overall high public trust in the AEC with disinformation having a small, but detectable effect. This study finds a level of “moral panic” regarding disinformation's threat to electoral integrity, at least in the Australian setting. However, concerningly, we also find existing AEC communication and refutation strategies have limited impact on countering distrust arising after a disinformation attack, suggesting a need for other strategies. Nonetheless, the study underscores the resilience of Australian electoral processes against disinformation threats serving as a caution against excessive legislative reaction to this global problem. Our study contributes to understanding the complex interplay between information, trust, and public policy responses to disinformation challenges.</p
The strength of Frontline Practice Leadership in Australian supported accommodation services: Challenges confronting service providers
No full textBackground: The strength of practice leadership predicts the quality of Active Support but it can be compromised by other demands on frontline managers. The study aimed to identify and understand differences in practice leadership over time and between organisations. Method: Data collected in 2022 in 96 services from 11 organisations using the Observed Measure of Practice Leadership were compared to similar data from 2013 and 2018. Qualitative fieldnotes were analysed thematically. Findings: Practice leadership scores increased significantly between 2013 and 2018 but declined significantly between 2018 and 2022. Scores were significantly higher in organisations that had implemented Active Support since 2013 compared to later adopters. Higher scoring organisations had structures that supported frontline managers with practice leadership and that countered increasing administrative demands. Conclusions: Establishment of support structures for practice leadership by organisations warrants further investigation together with the relative importance of each task of practice leadership.</p
Gambling preference, information risk, and the pricing of bank loans
No full textOur study explores the effect of local gambling preferences (LGP) on bank loan pricing, revealing that lenders impose significantly higher interest rates on firms situated in areas characterized by stronger gambling tendencies. Our results remain robust after conducting a series of sensitivity tests that account for firm-, county-, and loan-specific attributes, as well as several identification robustness checks. Specifically, our relocation analysis shows that firms moving to areas with higher (lower) gambling preferences experience higher (lower) costs of bank loans compared to control groups. Our channel analysis further reveals that local gambling preferences exacerbate a firm's information risk environment, as captured by poorer earnings quality, heightened earnings risk, and greater managerial concealment of bad news, resulting in higher borrowing costs. Finally, we observe that firms in areas with higher LGP encounter more stringent non-price loan terms. However, institutional ownership and the threat of takeovers significantly mitigate the adverse effect of LGP on bank loan pricing.</p
Managing Madness in the 'Deinstitutionalised' Community: Carceral Control under Victoria's Community Treatment Order Scheme
No full textSubmitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Humanities and Social Science, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.This thesis was a recipient of the Nancy Millis Award for theses of exceptional merit.</p