Search results

This article provides a comparative analysis of the relationship between insurance and economic growth in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions. The research aims to understand how insurance impacts economic growth in these two regions, highlighting the similarities and differences between them.

The study analyzes economic and insurance data from various countries in the OECD and MENA regions over a specific period. It employs the statistical method of Partial Least Squares (PLS) univariate regression to examine the relationships between the variables.

The study finds a positive correlation between insurance and economic growth in both regions, though the characteristics and mechanisms differ. In the OECD region, where insurance markets are more developed, insurance is strongly linked to economic growth. In contrast, the MENA region, with lower levels of insurance and a less developed industry, still shows a positive effect of insurance on economic growth. The article also identifies factors specific to the OECD and MENA regions that influence this relationship, such as insurance industry regulation, access to financial services, economic and political stability and cultural and institutional differences.

The originality of this research lies in its use of the PLS regression method, setting it apart from previous studies in the same field that have typically relied on other econometric techniques.

This chapter presents an international review of the experiences of children and parents regarding care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic profoundly impacted children and families, magnifying the influence of governmental policies, socio-economic disparities and cultural contexts on children's experiences and exacerbating global inequalities. Vulnerable families faced increased challenges affecting children's rights and well-being, while the transition to digital learning highlighted the critical need for equitable access to technology. Despite extensive documentation of these challenges, research focusing on the pandemic's impact on young children's development, well-being, socialization and learning opportunities, as well as the experiences of parents/carers, remains limited. This scarcity stems from the pandemic's constraints on research activities, requiring reliance on online methods and the increased burdens on parents/carers, making participation in research more challenging.

Employing the PRISMA 2020 method for a literature review, this chapter aggregates international research findings on the subject, examining the impacts of COVID-19 on health and well-being, knowledge of the pandemic, effects on learning, educational strategies, online activity engagement and collaboration with Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services. It concludes with a synthesis of insights and recommendations drawn from the reviewed literature.

The chapter contributes to a comprehensive framework for understanding the pandemic's impact on young children and their families, emphasising the importance of targeted interventions, equitable resource distribution and ongoing support for the ECEC sector to address the challenges and opportunities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and future crises.

How to embed artificial intelligence (AI) in human resource management (HRM) is one of the core challenges of digital HRM. Despite regulations demanding humans in the loop to ensure human oversight of AI-based decisions, it is still unknown how much decision-makers rely on information provided by AI and how this affects (personnel) selection quality.

This paper presents an experimental study using vignettes of dashboard prototypes to investigate the effect of AI on decision-makers’ overreliance in personnel selection, particularly the impact of decision-makers’ information search behavior on selection quality.

Our study revealed decision-makers’ tendency towards status quo bias when using an AI-based ranking system, meaning that they paid more attention to applicants that were ranked higher than those ranked lower. We identified three information search strategies that have different effects on selection quality: (1) homogeneous search coverage, (2) heterogeneous search coverage, and (3) no information search. The more applicants were searched equally often (i.e. homogeneous) as when certain applicants received more search views than others (i.e. heterogeneous) the higher the search intensity was, resulting in higher selection quality. No information search is characterized by low search intensity and low selection quality. Priming decision-makers towards carrying responsibility for their decisions or explaining potential AI shortcomings had no moderating effect on the relationship between search coverage and selection quality.

Our study highlights the presence of status quo bias in personnel selection given AI-based applicant rankings, emphasizing the danger that decision-makers over-rely on AI-based recommendations.

This paper aims to critically examine the accounting and information systems literature to understand the changes that are occurring in the management accounting profession. The changes the authors are interested in are linked to technology-driven innovations in managerial decision-making and in organizational structures. In addition, the paper highlights research gaps and opportunities for future research.

The authors adopted a grounded theory literature review method (Wolfswinkel et al., 2013) to achieve the study’s aims.

The authors identified four research themes that describe the changes in the management accounting profession due to technology-driven innovations: structured vs unstructured data, human vs algorithm-driven decision-making, delineated vs blurred functional boundaries and hierarchical vs platform-based organizations. The authors also identified tensions mentioned in the literature for each research theme.

Previous studies display a rather narrow focus on the role of digital technologies in accounting work and new competences that management accountants require in the digital era. By contrast, the authors focus on the broader technology-driven shifts in organizational processes and structures, which vastly change how accounting information is collected, processed and analyzed internally to support managerial decision-making. Hence, the paper focuses on how management accountants can adapt and evolve as their organizations transition toward a digital environment.

Building information modelling (BIM) and augmented reality (AR) are unique technologies in the digitalized construction industry. In spite of the numerous benefits of BIM-AR, its adoption has been at a relatively slow pace. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the factors within technology–organization–environment (TOE) framework influence the adoption of BIM-AR in the context of construction companies in a developing country.

By using a mainly deductive quantitative design, survey data were collected from senior management of built environment companies in Ghana using questionnaires. The study adopted a mixture of both purposive and snowball sampling approaches. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to analyse how the factors within the TOE framework explain BIM-AR adoption in Ghana.

Findings from the study show that the top three factors within the TOE framework that facilitate the adoption of BIM-AR include ICT infrastructure within construction firms; the size of the construction firm, which may influence the financial capacity to accommodate BIM-AR; and competitive pressure. The inhibitors of BIM-AR at the company level included external support and trading partners’ readiness.

Implicit is that the significant factors will be useful to policymakers and companies in developing programs that appeal to non-adopters to aid in mitigating their challenges and further enhance BIM-AR adoption.

The value of this paper has been the use of the theoretical framework TOE to explain the adoption factors of BIM-AR in the Ghanaian construction industry. The originality of the paper is further anchored in consideration of BIM-AR, which is quite nascent in emerging countries.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a compact model to represent the magnetic field outside the sources. This model provides the multipolar ordering of a spherical harmonic expansion far from the source while being valid in its close proximity.

The authors investigate equivalent surface sources that enable to compute the field very close to any chosen surface that encloses the source. Then the authors present a method to find an appropriate initial basis and its associated inner product that allow to construct multipolar harmonic bases for these equivalent sources, where any vector of order k produces a field that decreases at least as fast as the field produced by a multipole of order k. Finally, those bases are numerically implemented to demonstrate their performances, both far from the source and in its close proximity.

The charge distribution and normal dipole distribution are well-suited to construct multipolar harmonic bases of equivalent sources. These bases can be described by as few parameters as the decreasing spherical harmonic expansion. Comparison with other numerical models shows its ability to compute the field both far from the source and close to it.

A basis for normal dipole distribution has already been described in the literature. This paper presents a general method to construct a multipolar basis for equivalent sources and uses it to construct a basis for single-layer potential.

Research-based knowledge on homecare nursing is scarce and further information is warranted about citizens’ perceptions of receiving home care under existing conditions. The purpose of this study was to investigate citizen experiences with health-care professionals in the time allotted for home care.

A questionnaire survey was distributed to 348 citizens receiving home care. The questionnaire consisted of questions whether the citizens experienced that enough time was available during the homecare visit and how the conversation and care relationship with the health-care professionals were experienced. The differences in responses were analysed using Fisher’s Exact Tests.

Overall, 94% of the citizens reported that sufficient time had been available and that care relationship and conversation with the health-care professionals had been positive during the homecare visit. However, the findings indicated that citizens aged more than +76 years and citizens with a high educational level were more prone to report that the nurses did not spend enough time during the home visit.

The findings offer useful insights for the professionals in delivering appropriate home care. Listening to citizens’ wishes and needs for home care could lead to better individualised care. Especially the youngest and oldest of the citizens seem to have specific experiences that call for further investigation.

The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyse the potential of existing buildings in the UK to contribute to the net-zero emissions target. Specifically, it aims to address the significant emissions from building fabrics which pose a threat to achieving these targets if not properly addressed.

The study, based on a literature review and ten (10) case studies, explored five investigative approaches for evaluating building fabric: thermal imaging, in situ U-value testing, airtightness testing, energy assessment and condensation risk analysis. Cross-case analysis was used to evaluate both case studies using each approach. These methodologies were pivotal in assessing buildings’ existing condition and energy consumption and contributing to the UK’s net-zero ambitions.

Findings reveal that incorporating the earlier approaches into the building fabric showed great benefits. Significant temperature regulation issues were identified, energy consumption decreased by 15% after improvements, poor insulation and artistry quality affected the U-values of buildings. Implementing retrofits such as solar panels, air vents, insulation, heat recovery and air-sourced heat pumps significantly improved thermal performance while reducing energy consumption. Pulse technology proved effective in measuring airtightness, even in extremely airtight houses, and high airflow and moisture management were essential in preserving historic building fabric.

The research stresses the need to understand investigative approaches’ strengths, limitations and synergies for cost-effective energy performance strategies. It emphasizes the urgency of eliminating carbon dioxide (CO₂) and greenhouse gas emissions to combat global warming and meet the 1.5° C threshold.

This study classifies and estimates safety costs in Arctic shipping.

Based on the literature review, the paper details shipping prevention costs into five categories (infrastructure and facilities, measures, technologies, personnel and management) and groups marine accidents into injury and death, property damage, environmental damage and others.

The proposed classification and estimation allow for a comparison of prevention costs and accident expenses. Estimating safety expenses in the Arctic presents challenges, such as data inadequacies. However, the method has been tested with data provided by an Arctic ship operator.

Thus, shipping companies can verify the effectiveness of their investments and reorientate whenever necessary, becoming a decision-support system to best allocate safety investments. Combined with company safety performance, the tool can help identify the safety areas requiring enhanced attention.

This paper presents the first classification and a tool to assess safety costs in relation to Arctic shipping, potentially supporting safety investment decisions.