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This paper aims to examine the effects of interest-free and interest-based monetary policy on inflation and unemployment rates for two groups of countries where in one group, interest-free monetary policy (IFMP) was pursued, while in the other group, interest-based monetary policy (IBMP) was followed.

This study involves a sample of 23 developed countries divided into two groups. The authors measure economic performance by misery index (MI), and MI is calculated as unemployment rate plus inflation rate. A group of countries, where MI is lower, performs better compared to the other group where MI is relatively higher.

The results reveal that in group of 12 countries where IFMP is adopted, the MI is lower and thus performs better compared to a group of countries where IBMP is pursued.

The findings of this study have profound implications for the policymakers and government leaders who look for a solution to maintain both low inflation and unemployment rates. The findings in this study clearly portray that such ideal situations can only be achieved by pursuing IFMP. No wonder the countries which have been historically pursuing IFMP such as Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark have been able to contain both inflation and unemployment rates compared to their counterparts among the English-speaking countries.

This is one of the most recent tests on the differences in economic performance between IFMP and IBMP. These results have significant value for policymakers and central bankers who have been struggling to maintain lower MI for decades.

This paper explores the work of the educational theorist Gert Biesta in a setting outside of the context where it was originally developed. It aims to address how Biesta’s approach can help educators and policy makers question the philosophical underpinnings of education in the UAE and thereby start a conversation that is currently absent in this context. The paper comprises three elements: first, an overview of Biesta’s educational theory is given with a focus on ‘subjectification’ and his self-titled “pedagogy of interruption”. Secondly and in brief, I use Biesta’s framework of educational dimensions to analyse the philosophy underlying education in the United Arab Emirates using published government documents and media sources. Thirdly, I report a small-scale qualitative analysis of a specific educational space, three General Studies Courses in a UAE tertiary institution, to investigate the ‘risky’ possibilities involved in implementing a pedagogy of interruption. I find that despite a dominant policy discourse that discounts subjectification, there are significant opportunities for students to develop a strong sense of self. These opportunities are created by a small but strongly motivated group of teachers and taken up, on the whole enthusiastically, by students. However, my assertions are limited by a number of challenges which warrant further research. This paper hopes to provide a meaningful contribution to the limited discussion regarding the aims and expectations of education in the Middle East, and finds a pertinent philosophical grounding for liberal studies teaching in a tertiary context. As such the paper will be of value both to policy and decision makers in the Middle East and to teachers and trainers who teach in multi-cultural and international contexts.

Loan default risk or credit risk evaluation is important to financial institutions which provide loans to businesses and individuals. Loans carry the risk of being defaulted. To understand the risk levels of credit users (corporations and individuals), credit providers (bankers) normally collect vast amounts of information on borrowers. Statistical predictive analytic techniques can be used to analyse or to determine the risk levels involved in loans. This paper aims to address the question of default prediction of short-term loans for a Tunisian commercial bank.

The authors have used a database of 924 files of credits granted to industrial Tunisian companies by a commercial bank in the years 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. The naive Bayesian classifier algorithm was used, and the results show that the good classification rate is of the order of 63.85 per cent. The default probability is explained by the variables measuring working capital, leverage, solvency, profitability and cash flow indicators.

The results of the validation test show that the good classification rate is of the order of 58.66 per cent; nevertheless, the error types I and II remain relatively high at 42.42 and 40.47 per cent, respectively. A receiver operating characteristic curve is plotted to evaluate the performance of the model. The result shows that the area under the curve criterion is of the order of 69 per cent.

The paper highlights the fact that the Tunisian central bank obliged all commercial banks to conduct a survey study to collect qualitative data for better credit notation of the borrowers.

El riesgo de incumplimiento de préstamos o la evaluación del riesgo de crédito es importante para las instituciones financieras que otorgan préstamos a empresas e individuos. Existe el riesgo de que el pago de préstamos no se cumpla. Para entender los niveles de riesgo de los usuarios de crédito (corporaciones e individuos), los proveedores de crédito (banqueros) normalmente recogen gran cantidad de información sobre los prestatarios. Las técnicas analíticas predictivas estadísticas pueden utilizarse para analizar o determinar los niveles de riesgo involucrados en los préstamos. En este artículo abordamos la cuestión de la predicción por defecto de los préstamos a corto plazo para un banco comercial tunecino.

Utilizamos una base de datos de 924 archivos de créditos concedidos a empresas industriales tunecinas por un banco comercial en 2003, 2004, 2005 y 2006. El algoritmo bayesiano de clasificadores se llevó a cabo y los resultados muestran que la tasa de clasificación buena es del orden del 63.85%. La probabilidad de incumplimiento se explica por las variables que miden el capital de trabajo, el apalancamiento, la solvencia, la rentabilidad y los indicadores de flujo de efectivo.

Los resultados de la prueba de validación muestran que la buena tasa de clasificación es del orden de 58.66% ; sin embargo, los errores tipo I y II permanecen relativamente altos, siendo de 42.42% y 40.47%, respectivamente. Se traza una curva ROC para evaluar el rendimiento del modelo. El resultado muestra que el criterio de área bajo curva (AUC, por sus siglas en inglés) es del orden del 69%.

El documento destaca el hecho de que el Banco Central tunecino obligó a todas las entidades del sector llevar a cabo un estudio de encuesta para recopilar datos cualitativos para un mejor registro de crédito de los prestatarios.

Curva ROC, Evaluación de riesgos, Riesgo de incumplimiento, Sector bancario, Algoritmo clasificador bayesiano.

Artículo de investigación

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of university-driven knowledge transfer initiatives in enhancing the capabilities and performance of local suppliers in the garment industry. By focusing on the impact of UDIs in Myanmar, this research aims to provide empirical evidence on how these initiatives can foster supplier development and performance improvement through targeted capability enhancement strategies.

This study utilizes a combination of surveys and an experimental design to evaluate the impact of university-driven supplier development interventions (UDIs) based on Lean principles in Myanmar’s garment industry. Nine garment suppliers were assessed before and after the UDI program. The research employed partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze the direct, indirect and mediating effects of UDIs on supplier performance, focusing on the role of supplier capability enhancement as a mediating factor.

The study found that the UDI program significantly improved supplier capabilities, which in turn led to enhanced performance. The analysis revealed partial mediation, indicating that while UDIs directly impact supplier performance, their effect is significantly amplified through the enhancement of supplier capabilities. These findings highlight the critical role of targeted capability development in achieving substantial performance improvements among local suppliers.

This research contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the effectiveness of university-driven supplier development initiatives in a developing country context. It validates the indirect role of UDIs in boosting supplier performance via capability enhancement, emphasizing the importance of industry-specific and capability-focused development strategies. The findings underscore the value of structured knowledge transfer programs in supporting local suppliers, offering practical insights for policymakers and educational institutions aiming to enhance industrial performance through strategic interventions.

This conceptual paper aims to present a perspective on how to engineer sustainability through the prism of Industry 4.0 technologies and outline propositions to guide future research.

This study presents a literature review developing four research propositions, focusing on the nine leading technologies underpinning Industry 4.0 to engineer economic, environmental and social sustainability dimensions.

The authors derive benefits and challenges of Industry 4.0 technologies across all three business model elements: value creation, value delivery and value capture. The authors derive those for the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainability. Thereupon, we develop several propositions for future research.

The authors provide suggestions to practice how to better achieve value in all three sustainability dimensions through implementing a business model perspective, ecosystem thinking, societal demands and Data Governance and AI integration.

By linking societal aspects of Industry 4.0 technologies with environmental, and economic aspects, the authors provide several suggestions how to implement Industry 4.0. For instance, policymakers are recommended to support entire ecosystems than isolated solutions.

The paper contributes to extant literature by conceptualising how Industry 4.0 can leverage value in reaching sustainability in all three dimensions and produce broader ecosystems-wide impacts.