9,784 research outputs found
Chapter 14: MD Anderson Publications and Publication Ethics
No full textDr. Goepfert has served on a number of editorial boards and is keenly interested in the educational dissemination of information critical to cancer research. In this section he talks about some of MD Anderson’s publications and also addresses some controversies with publication. He first raises the ethical issue of how authorship is assigned to a manuscript going out for publication. Today there are guidelines for assigning authorship, but twenty years ago, he explains, some department chairs at MD Anderson reviewed all manuscripts going for publication and insisted on being listed as first author of an article, whether they made any contribution to the research or not. Dr. Goepfert contrasts his own practice of putting his name on a paper only if he has contributed. Dr. Goepfert then shifts subjects and describes several MD Anderson educational publications, beginning with Cancer Bulletin, distributed free to all physicians across Texas.https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/2010/thumbnail.jp
Rural-urban pay difference in the microfinance industry: evidence from developing countries
No full textPurpose: This study examines the rural-urban wage disparity in the microfinance sector, motivated by the increasing urban focus of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and their emphasis on equitable compensation. It aims to test the existence of an urban wage premium and identify its key drivers. Study Design: Using panel data from 1810 MFIs across 111 developing countries (2007–2018), the study employs Fixed Effects Models and System Generalized Method of Moments to analyze average employee salaries, urban versus rural loan distribution, and firm-level metrics like operational self-sufficiency and portfolio quality. Findings: The study confirms a significant urban wage premium, reasonably driven by agglomeration effects, higher cost-of-living adjustments, and greater productivity in urban areas. Larger and financially stable MFIs also offer higher wages, regardless of location. Contributions: This research extends the urban wage premium literature to the microfinance context, incorporating firm-level factors to explain pay disparities. It provides a global perspective on wage inequality within MFIs. Implications: The findings recommend policy interventions to address rural-urban disparities, and future research into employee-level heterogeneity. They also guide practitioners in attracting and retaining talent across markets
A systematic review of gender diversity and its impact on the performance of Microfinance Institutions
No full textThis study aims to consolidate the available knowledge on gender diversity and its impact on the dual performance (social and financial) of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs). We specifically focus on MFIs due to their distinctive nature compared to other industries, being traditionally women-centered and having a substantial representation of women employees across all levels of the corporate hierarchy. To conduct this comprehensive analysis, we employed a systematic review approach, meticulously selecting 24 relevant papers from the Scopus and Web of Science databases. Our findings revealed that research on gender diversity in MFIs primarily focuses on the board level. However, existing studies present conflicting results, suggesting that the impact of gender diversity on MFI performance is nuanced and complex. This complexity stems largely from the varying roles women play within the organizational structure. Furthermore, our analysis highlights the influence of additional factors, such as the database used, the study's context, and its geographical location, on the reported outcomes. Notably, research on gender diversity at the managerial and loan officer levels remains scarce, presenting a significant gap in the current body of knowledge. To further illuminate this field, this study identifies the most influential papers on the topic of gender diversity in microfinance. Additionally, we provide a co-authorship network analysis, visualizing the connections between existing research. This analysis provides valuable insights and inspiration for future research endeavors in this critical area
Data scraping to analyze tourist attractions in Malaysia / Muhammad Aslam Md Adam
No full textIn Malaysia, there is a lot of interesting places to visit especially for the foreign traveler. Usually, before start traveling, people always plan and looking for information about the place that they want to visit. With the Internet, every information can be easily obtained. There are many websites that provide information about popular places that can be visited. However, not all websites are updated, with some of them are lastly updated in years ago, and some of them do not provide a review section. This can lead to information inaccuracy and is questionable to the people who are desired to visit the place. It also causes a problem to the initial plan and it takes a lot of time to search through the internet to find good information about the location. By using the information about the attraction place that has been posted on social media such as Twitter, this application will extract the data, analyze the information and display the information to the end user to help the user in making decision, planning and getting a good understanding about the places. Sentiment analysis also has been conducted by this application in order to give a quick review and reliable information to the end user. In this project, R programming language is used since R language is one of the programming languages that are suitable in producing and conducting analysis, where it has multiple functions and packages that can be used to make the analysis easier. Twitter API allows the data to be extract and the R language help in processing those data which give a good analysis result about the place of attraction in the type of web application
Market structure, mission drift and productivity towards a sustainable microfinance industry in Bangladesh / Md. Aslam Mia
No full textMicrofinance is a preferred development tool in most developing countries, and remains important to Bangladesh, the country where the sector is most established. With approximately half of the Bangladesh population is unbanked and one third below the income poverty line, microfinance serves as an important policy instrument in the country’s vision of attaining middle-income status by 2021. Hence, it is imperative for the microfinance industry to be effective, efficient and sustainable. This study identifies three important objectives – market structure, mission drift, and productivity – crucial to microfinance in the contemporary world. First, this study aims to investigate the market structure (concentration and competition) in order to understand functioning and the operations of the microfinance. Second, in recent years, financial interests have increasingly influenced microfinance institutions (MFIs), with financial gain overshadowing service to the poor. Hence, this study examines the incidence and explanations for commercial interests to interfere with the social mission of MFIs. Third, the long-run ability of MFIs to meet the financial needs of the poor is contingent on their economic viability. Thus, the productivity of MFIs and its determinants is assessed in this study. A balanced panel data set from 169 MFIs during the period of 2009 to 2014 which was compiled from annual reports by the Microcredit Regulatory Authority, Bangladesh is used for this purpose. Since the three objectives are independent of each other, different types of estimation strategies are employed based on convention and reported separately in different chapters. Based on the concentration ratio and the Herfindahl and Hirschman Index (structural approach), this study finds that the microfinance industry is moderately concentrated and currently transitioning to an unconcentrated market. The Lerner index (non-structural approach) confirmed that the competition level is relatively high and likely to follow an inverted U-shape during the study period. Results from the static and dynamic panel analysis, revealed that increased focus on commercial interest or profit motive leads to mission drift. Mission drift is also likely to happen when more commercial funds are injected into MFIs, as well as when MFIs are vulnerable to the macroeconomic and regulatory environment influences. The non-parametric Malmquist Productivity Index indicates that the microfinance industry in Bangladesh observed productivity progress, with a declining trend towards the end of the study period. Further decomposition results revealed that technical efficiency has enhanced overall productivity, while technological change has deteriorated. One policy implication that can be drawn from the evidence is to encourage MFIs participation in innovation activities, so that the stimulation of technological change can improve the overall productivity. The second stage parametric test revealed that GDP growth has a positive effect on productivity and technological progress, whereas an interest rate cap significantly deteriorates the productivity and technological progress of MFIs. Therefore, the policy makers and regulatory authority should consider macroeconomic and regulatory environment when designing policy prescriptions to promote sustainability in the microfinance industry
Promise - Spring 2020
No full textRogers Award honors MD Anderson nursing assistant MD Anderson awards highest nursing honor Low-grade serous ovarian cancer survivor establishes research nonprofit Celebrity Chef Cooking Demo makes young cancer patients sous-chefs for a day Bob’s Encore: hope in the fight against pancreatic cancer Board of Visitors welcomes seven new members Board of Visitors awards highest distinction to longtime member A Conversation with a Living Legend raises 2 million for cancer research, education and prevention Get to know Advance Team’s Laura Nelson Cookbook author leaves her mark on gastric cancer researchhttps://openworks.mdanderson.org/promise/1001/thumbnail.jp
Chapter 09: Creating a New Way of Conducting Research and Caring for Patients in a Changing Environment
No full textIn this chapter, Dr. Dmitrovsky provides an overview of how MD Anderson must operate in the new environment of research and healthcare economics. He begins by explaining that scientific endeavors traditionally rely on decisive discoveries by individual investigators that also reveal opportunities to development treatments. Today, he says, this process moves ahead via team- and interdisciplinary science, and the institution must educate the next generations of researchers in this way of conducting research. At the same time, MD Anderson must operate in a context of a flat NIH budget while responding to the new economics of the Affordable Care Act. Next, he notes that MD Anderson is supporting the education of the next generation by making investments in junior faculty with the R. Lee Clark Fellowship Program. He explains the award (juried by experts outside of MD Anderson). Next Dr. Dmitrovsky notes that reductions are being made to the length and complexity of informed consent forms so faculty can spend less time on paperwork and more time for their primary activities. He then speaks briefly about faculty recruitment and retention efforts. Then Dr. Dmitrovsky talks about strategies used to encourage interdisciplinary investigation. He speaks in detail about finding ways to provide team members with proper recognition for their contributions (when contribution is traditionally measured by first or last author status) and linking credit to faculty promotion. He also talks about empowering team members to initiate investigations and provides some examples.https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/1641/thumbnail.jp
Chapter 09: Strengthening Biomedical Editing Nationwide and Within MD Anderson
No full textIn this Chapter, first briefly notes his involvement with the Southwest Chapter of the American Medical Writer’s Association and the Council of Biology Editors (with a 22-year membership). He then explains that he had his biggest impact while he served on the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences and in the late 80s worked on the Editorial Certification Examination Development Committee. He describes the examination he helped create to certify competence for editors of biomedical articles and explains the significance of certification. He notes that the Department of Scientific Publications at MD Anderson uses its own battery of tests to evaluate editors’ abilities for abstract reasoning, grammar, and other skills and talents.
Next, Mr. Pagel talks about his Department’s blog, “The Write Stuff,” and two significant projects: his role on the Historical Resources Center Steering Committee, and the development of panel discussions for the Department of Scientific Publications. To begin the discussion of the Steering Committee, he notes that Scientific Publications wrote The First Twenty Years, the first history of MD Anderson. Because of this association with the institution’s history, Mr. Pagel was asked to be part of the Steering Committee when the Historical Resources Center was formed and set as its first goal the publication of an updated institutional history. Mr. Pagel wanted the perspective to be broader than the first book, situating MD Anderson and cancer research in a larger context of other cancer institutions and the history of cancer research. Though not alone in holding this view, he says he had something to do with articulating it for the benefit of the Steering Committee. He describes how James Olsen was selected to be the author and notes other Steering Committee activities.https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/2275/thumbnail.jp
Study of Pakistan pilot project farmer-leaders to Nepal
No full textFarmer participation / Irrigation management / Farmer managed irrigation systems / Irrigated farming / Sustainable agriculture / Institution building / Pakistan
Female participation and financial performance of microfinance institutions: Evidence from transition economies
No full textWe find that female board members and female clients positively contribute to the financial performance of MFIs. The literature motivates these outcomes by womens’ better organizational and monitoring techniques, and more responsible use of loans, respectively. Instead, our analysis shows that female managers and loan officers may regress financial performance to some extent, possibly because they face cultural limitations and safety obstacles, resulting in less persuasive and effective than men, especially in the process of collecting arrears payment
- …
