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Transformative learning experiences can expand individual personal and professional capacity. In this work, the meaning and significance of individual growth is viewed through the lens of public value, focusing on the connection between person and place. This chapter details how Nuffield International Farming Scholars perceive public value contributions stemming from their individual development and subsequent engagement in civic life and community development. Voices of program participants provide insight on capacity building experiences as part of sustainable community development efforts, and how perceived outcomes for individuals such as professional and personal benefits, post-program engagement, and a sense of reciprocity are motivators leading to public value contribution.

In the early 1990s growing numbers of investing institutions in the UK financial community crossed a threshold of awareness about the opportunities offered by the emerging stock markets of developing countries (ESMs); the returns per unit of risk, formerly considered by most fund managers to be unacceptably low because of the high risk factor, were frequently reappraised and judged to fall within the parameters of acceptability. Investment funds were set up which either invested solely in emerging markets or adopted a policy of investing a fixed percentage of their funds in these markets (Clark, 1991; Bailey and Lim, 1992). Well‐advertised instances of spectacular returns achieved by equities in emerging markets2 apparently persuaded fund managers to overcome their misgivings and to invest in these markets despite the continuing risks associated with such investment.

Very little is known about the effect of dividend announcements on stock prices in Nigeria, despite the country’s unique institutional environment. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to provide empirical evidence on this issue by investigating the stock price reaction to cash dividends by companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Standard event study methodology, using the market model, is employed to determine the abnormal returns surrounding the cash dividend announcement date. Abnormal returns are also calculated employing the market-adjusted return model as a robustness check and to test the sensitivity of the results to β estimation. The authors also examine the interaction between cash dividends and earnings by estimating a regression model where announcement abnormal returns are a function of both dividend changes and earnings changes relative to stock price.

The study find support for the signaling hypothesis: dividend increases are associated with positive stock price reaction, while dividend decreases are associated with negative stock price reaction. Companies that do not change their dividends experience insignificant positive abnormal returns. The results also suggest that both dividends and earnings are informative, but dividends contain information beyond that contained in earnings.

The sample for the study includes only cash dividend announcements occurring without other corporate events (such as interim dividends, stock splits, stock dividends, and mergers and acquisitions) during the event study period. The small firm-year observations may limit the validity of generalizations from these conclusions.

The findings are useful to researchers, practitioners and investors interested in companies listed on the Nigerian stock market for their proper strategic decision making. In particular, the results can be used to encourage transparency and good governance practices in the Nigerian stock market.

This paper adds to the very limited research on the stock market reaction to cash dividend announcements in Nigeria; it is the first of its kind employing a unique cash dividends data.

Reviews previous research on share price response to annoucements of changes in top management and the accounting policies/reported earnings around such changes. Uses 1989‐1992 UK data for a sample of 420 announcements of changes in top management, divided into routine departures, non‐routine departures and appointments, to analyse share price reaction and accounting performance. Finds insignificant price reactions but identifies consistent patterns in operating profit in the years before and after the change, according to the type of change involved. Considers consistency with other research, the underlying reasons for the findings and the limitations of the study. Promises further research to explore changes in industry‐adjusted gearing, liquidity and activity ratios when senior executives come and go.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the views of company executives and investors regarding the signalling impact of dividends in Pakistan. Quantitative research in the area has been scant, but recent large sample evidence suggests a number of noteworthy idiosyncrasies exist in terms of the market reaction and these require further analysis.

The study involves interviews with 16 financial analysts and 23 company officials regarding the impact of dividends on share prices in Pakistan. Recent work in the nation suggests that the market reaction to dividends in Pakistan is characterised by pre‐announcement leakage and interaction with the attendant earnings signal – these issues were thus central to the discussions.

The results suggest that individual perceptions both support and contradict the earlier quantitative findings in specific ways. The interviewees, particularly the company executives, were sceptical about the scope for information leakage to occur in Pakistan. In contrast, the interaction between earnings and dividend numbers was acknowledged, with – as in the earlier quantitative studies – the former figure dominating.

This is the first detailed study of perspectives about the impact of dividends on share prices in Pakistan; for reasons outlined above, this represents a major gap in the literature regarding firm‐market communication. The work follows the publication of the first large‐sample study of share price movements in Pakistan; it thereby allows a pervasive conclusion to be drawn about the over‐riding importance of earnings figures in the nation's markets and in the attitudes of the firms listed on them. The study demonstrates the importance of mixed methods research in a developing market context.

This paper aims to describe innovations at the Games + Learning + Society Center to explore the future of education.

This paper is an overview of several published studies and design interventions.

Commercial partnerships, particularly generating copyrightable materials can maximize impact and diversify research funding, but they also run counter to the culture and purpose of many research universities.

Researchers interested in forging new partnerships to maximize impact might explore relationships with commercial entities but be aware that they are running counter to the grain of most institutions and goals. Other universities of different sizes, ages and orientations may have different results.

Building private partnerships requires different staffing and skill sets than traditional research. Guidance for staffing key roles and projects are provided.

This paper is a reflection on unique research initiative that generated revenue and helped shape a subfield of education.

The authors measure the impact of culture on Sharia; Social and Financial Disclosure (SSFD) of Islamic Banks (IBs) around the world.

Content analysis is used to measure levels of disclosure for a sample of 136 IBs of 25 countries for years 2013 and 2014. Different cultural measures are used. These include secrecy/transparency as suggested by Gray (1988) and Hofstede (1980, 1983, 2001, 2010)’s culture dimensions which include: Power Distance; Individualism; Masculinity; Uncertainty Avoidance; Long-Term Ordination and Indulgence. Ordinary least square (OLS) regression is used to test the research hypotheses.

After controlling bank-specific, corporate governance and country characteristics, the authors found that Hofstede’s culture dimensions have a significant impact on SSFD. They also found that Gray's transparency dimension positively influence levels of sharia, social and aggregated disclosure. Therefore, they conclude that culture influences levels of disclosure in IBs.

This study has policy implications for managers and regulators of Islamic banking industry.

This study is the first to use both Gray and Hofstede models in the context of IBs around the world. It also the first to explore the impact of culture on three different disclosure levels for IBs.

Investigates the stock market response to interactive dividend and earnings announcements by a sample of 620 UK companies over the period January to June 1991. First, examines the possibility that the response to a dividend announcement may be influenced by whether the dividend is being increased, decreased or left unchanged. US studies suggest that this may indeed be the case and acknowledge the role of the dividend as a signal to investors; dividend increases tend to be associated with positive abnormal returns, and dividend decreases tend to be associated with negative abnormal returns around the time of the dividend announcement. Second, recognizes that identifying a unique dividend information announcement effect is particularly difficult in the UK because UK dividends are almost invariably announced simultaneously with information about corporate earnings. Addresses this problem by focusing on those occasions when the signals associated with these announcements conflict with one another ‐ where dividends are increased and earnings decrease or vice versa. The influence of combinations of dividend and earnings news is found to be important in explaining the share price reaction on the announcement day.

Purpose – Recruiting sufficient participants who adequately represent the population of interest is an ongoing issue for accounting experimental researchers. This study investigates the impact of recruitment method on the number of participants, effort on the experimental task, and sample bias with respect to three individual difference variables (locus of control, social desirability response bias, and prosocial behavior). We employ five different recruitment methods: three forms of monetary compensation and two levels of an appeal for help with a research project.

Methodology – We recruit students in five sections of the same course taught by the same instructor (not one of the researchers), manipulating recruitment method across sections. Immediately following recruitment, participants completed a simple experimental task and scales for the individual difference variables.

Findings – We find that the method of recruiting resulted in different response rates, with appeal from a fellow student yielding the highest response rate, and appeal from a professor yielding the lowest response rate. Effort was greatest for the appeal from the professor and least for the draw. While the five subsamples that resulted from the five recruiting methods were not different with respect to the individual difference variables, the relationship of those variables to effort did vary.

Research Implications – Our findings suggest that researchers must carefully consider recruitment method not only in terms of how many participants can be attracted, but also in terms of the potential impact of the manner in which recruitment was conducted on the attitudes and behaviors of the participants during the experiment.