1,720,962 research outputs found
Pension funds in sub-Saharan Africa
No full textThe population structure the world over is going through a demographic shift, and the elderly proportion is projected to increase with population growth. This change is a matter of concern for sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, where the majority of the people are young and the rates of both population growth and unemployment are high. A good pension system provides elderly assistance and is a source of savings for long-term investment. The pension systems in SSA, however, are characterized by low coverage and participation rates, and they therefore fail to guarantee a basic income to the elderly. The contributory nature of most private pension schemes is also not favourable in SSA due to high levels of informality and low levels of income, which limit contributions, and because such schemes do not promote risk-sharing and redistribution. Pension reforms in regions such as Latin America have not been overly successful, and this offers lessons for SSA countries. The pension sector in SSA is characterized by low assets under management, investment in short-term assets (mainly government securities), low returns on investment, and restrictive regulatory frameworks. The way out for SSA is to move towards a targeted universal pension system financed through public resources; however, the shift to such a system should be gradual so as not to lead to fiscal strain
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Does Bank Lending Channel Exist in Kenya: Bank Level Panel Data Analysis
No full textHG 1343 .S53 2012The study empirically investigates bank lending channel (BLC) of monetary policy
transmission in Kenya using annual bank-level panel data during the period 2001-2008.
A modified IS/LM model with bank lending is used in the spirit of Bernanke and Blinder
(1988), and banks are segregated on the basis of asset size, capital adequacy, liquidity
and foreign ownership criteria. The main finding is that BLC exists in Kenya based on
bank liquidity and capitalization. In particular, banks with less liquid balance sheets and
low total capital to risk-weighted asset ratios are hit most by monetary policy. Since low
liquidity and low capital banks are generally large banks, which contribute 82% of total
bank credit, BLC is significant in Kenya. The existence of BLC means that monetary
policy has asymmetric effects on banks and borrowers in Kenya. Further, bank credit can
be used as a nominal anchor for monetary policy and a leading indicator for economic
activity in Kenya.AER
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Discussion Paper No. 114 of 2010 on Determinants of Regional Disparity in Kenya
Get PDFRegional disparity is still a key development challenge in Kenya,
despite government efforts to reduce it since independence. Given that
regional production defines the relative state of a region’s welfare,
this study focuses on factors that influence regional investment
(both public and private) in accounting for regional disparity in
Kenya. These factors include: literacy level, proportion of members
of parliament in government, availability of security services,
proportion of arable land, electricity connection, access to medical
care, financial services, portable water, quality communication and
transport infrastructure. The study therefore regresses poverty index,
used as a proxy of regional disparity, on these factors. Overall, about
half of Kenyans live below the poverty line, and only 38 per cent of the
population have adequate access to medical care. The average fertility
rate in Kenya is 5.4, with 73 per cent of the population being literate
and only 7 per cent connected to electricity. Further, 76.5 per cent
and 74.3 per cent of Kenyans travel at least 5Km to the nearest postal
services and tarmac road, respectively. Regression results show that
regional disparity in Kenya has mainly been as a result of differences
in education levels, communication network, and access to medical
and financial services across districts. Though better access to water,
electricity connection and higher tarmac road density relate positively
with increase in a region’s welfare, differences in these factors across
regions do not explain regional disparity in Kenya. This implies that
the relatively well-off regions in Kenya are not necessarily the areas
with better access to water, electricity and tarmac roads. The study
therefore recommends policy reforms that prioritize improvement
in health, education and financial services in less developed areas.
Specifically, the study proposes identification of a critical minimum
level of literacy that the government should target to achieve in all
districts (counties), with adequate interventions being put to ensure
that all regions achieve that level. Similarly, the government should
liaise with the private sector to identify appropriate incentives to
attract investment in financial services in areas not adequately served
by the existing financial institutions. Finally, in addition to improving
the overall infrastructure, enhancing communication services through
appropriate incentives is a crucial step in reducing regional disparity
in Kenya
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