4 research outputs found
Quality of fit measurement in regression quantiles: An elemental set method approach
No full textAbstractLittle attention has been paid to assess the quality of fit in the quantile regression framework (Noh et al., 2013). As a contribution, I propose a coefficient of determination measure and model selection indices based on the elemental set method
Curate’s egg: Effects of Parental Migration on Well-being of Zimbabwean Children Left Behind
Get PDFZimbabwe has a long history of labor migration to Global North nations such as Britain and the United States of America, as well as to several Global South countries like South Africa and Botswana. This migration has seen a surge in remittances, spurring the crafting of policies and strategies to tap into this economic window for national development. While parental migration may be bringing economic relief to the nation and households left behind, it has often been associated with numerous challenges,particularly in the well-being of children left behind. In exploring challenges faced by children whose parents live and work abroad, a growing body of literature has emerged. This study reviews studies carried out in Zimbabwe on the effects of parental migration on the well-being of children left behind. It used a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology for primary studies deposited in three electronic libraries and downloaded by 31 December 2023. The purpose of the SLR is to develop a basis for empirical research, since this is a new study area in the country. It is anticipated that the study will contribute to the discourse on parental migration and its effects on development and nurturance practices of children left behind. Overall, the study asserts that there are both positive and negative effects of parental migration on children left behind; hence, the phenomenon is regarded as a curate’s egg
Factors associated with willingness to pay for primary health care services in South Africa : a cross-sectional survey of medical schemes members
Get PDFAVAILABILITY OF DATA AND MATERIALS :
Data used for the study is available from the corresponding
author on reasonable request.SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL 1 : STROBE Statement—checklist of items that should be included in reports of observational studies. SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL 2 : Appendix B: Willingness to Pay Questionnaire.The cost of healthcare is an issue of concern for both consumers and funders of healthcare in South Africa. The country spends approximately 8% of GDP on health care. Health care is financed through the public sector which covers 86% of the population and the private sector which covers 14% of the population. Medical schemes are the main source of healthcare financing in the private sector. Services covered by medical schemes include chronic diseases, emergencies, diagnosis, and treatment of a selected number of diseases. Primary health care services such as screening are limited. The aim of this study was to assess factors associated with members of medical schemes’ willingness to pay for a primary health care package in the private sector. A cross-sectional survey was conducted amongst principal members of medical schemes between July and September 2020. All principal members with access to an online questionnaire were eligible to participate in this study. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with willingness to pay for primary health care services. A total of 6512 members of medical schemes participated in the study. Thirty-five percent of the participants were willing to pay for the primary health care package. Factors influencing willingness to pay included marital status, employment status, income and household size. The study highlights the need for policymakers to consider socioeconomic factors when designing health care policies.https://journals.sagepub.com/home/HIShj2024School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH)SDG-03:Good heatlh and well-beingSDG-17:Partnerships for the goal
The Influences of Budgetary System in a Selection of Large Chinese companies in the Industry of Electronic Household Appliances
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Budgetary control has been used and researched for years by both Western academics and practitioners. In China, it is re-emerging as a tool to implement management control, but might be used in different ways both in terms of understanding and operation. The research objective of this thesis is to examine the applicability of Western theories of change in management accounting in the context of budgeting in Chinese corporations.
Challenges can exist because of the differences between Western assumptions and Chinese reality. The current thesis focuses on difficulties Chinese companies encounter in practical and deeper ideological ways: firstly, Western market-based ideology conflicts with an ideology which has been shaped by central-planning for decades; secondly, difficulties stem from the different cultural context of China which emphasizes hierarchical politeness, kinship ties, trust based on personal relationships, collectivism and social harmony, diligence and individual modesty, and less developed modern legal regulatory systems – these all contribute to China’s own way of doing things. This thesis also focuses on the transition process in China. Based on the assumption that budgetary changes do not happen in isolation from other management accounting changes, this thesis discusses these changes which synchronically took place while the case-study companies were implementing budgetary systems. This thesis adopts a longitudinal and in-depth qualitative case study research design, after adjustments made during the learning experience of the pilot study. It takes an interpretive and constructive philosophical underpinning, which allows the researcher to observe and understand the process of change, as well as the differences between Chinese practices and Western theories.
Findings show that certain Western management accounting theories of change and Western theories of budgeting work in the case study Chinese corporations. Management accounting theories using an interpretive approach (for example, Berry et al., 1985; Scapens and Roberts, 1993; Ahrens and Chapman, 2002) lead the researcher to interpret management accounting practices from the practitioner’s points of view, and they have provided a range of terms to explain success or failure of management accounting changes. This approach together with Scapens et al.’s Institutional theory approach in management accounting have been found especially useful, in explaining the differences between Chinese vs. Western context. Furthermore, the contingency theory approach in management accounting gives a ‘platform’ which allows the researcher to assess a wide range of possible factors and their relationships with budgetary systems in studied companies. This approach is found useful in this thesis to present changes in other management accounting perspectives. Last but not least, this thesis finds existing Western literature in technical perspective of budgetary objectives, budgetary evaluation and participation, and budgetary effectiveness useful in a different context of China. By describing the change management process, an aspect which is not addressed frequently in the research literature, this thesis argues that to sufficiently understand Chinese companies’ budgetary changes, one also needs to understand unique cultural, social-economical and religious circumstances, and to adjust literature and methodology to adapt to these circumstances. This thesis provides an empirical experience concerning these issues. This thesis contributes to the understanding of management accounting change in China, and the tension which exists when Chinese companies are moving into Western management accounting practices
