D.R. Barot and M.N. Patel
This paper aims to deal with the estimation of the empirical Bayesian exact confidence limits of reliability indexes of a cold standby series system with (n+k−1) units under the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to deal with the estimation of the empirical Bayesian exact confidence limits of reliability indexes of a cold standby series system with (n+k−1) units under the general progressive Type II censoring scheme.
Design/methodology/approach
Assuming that the lifetime of each unit in the system is identical and independent random variable with exponential distribution, the exact confidence limits of the reliability indexes are derived by using an empirical Bayes approach when an exponential prior distribution of the failure rate parameter is considered. The accuracy of these confidence limits is examined in terms of their coverage probabilities by means of Monte-Carlo simulations.
Findings
The simulation results show that accuracy of exact confidence limits of reliability indexes of a cold standby series system is efficient. Therefore, this approach is good enough to use for reliability practitioners in order to improve the system reliability.
Practical implications
When items are costly, the general progressive Type II censoring scheme is used to reduce the total test time and the associated cost of an experiment. The proposed method provides the means to estimate the exact confidence limits of reliability indexes of the proposed cold standby series system under this scheme.
Originality/value
The application of the proposed technique will help the reliability engineers/managers/system engineers in various industrial and other setups where a cold standby series system is widely used.
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Soumya Roy, Biswabrata Pradhan and Annesha Purakayastha
This article considers Inverse Gaussian distribution as the basic lifetime model for the test units. The unknown model parameters are estimated using the method of moments, the…
Abstract
Purpose
This article considers Inverse Gaussian distribution as the basic lifetime model for the test units. The unknown model parameters are estimated using the method of moments, the method of maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods. As part of maximum likelihood analysis, this article employs an expectation-maximization algorithm to simplify numerical computation. Subsequently, Bayesian estimates are obtained using the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm. This article then presents the design of optimal censoring schemes using a design criterion that deals with the precision of a particular system lifetime quantile. The optimal censoring schemes are obtained after taking into account budget constraints.
Design/methodology/approach
This article first presents classical and Bayesian statistical inference for Progressive Type-I Interval censored data. Subsequently, this article considers the design of optimal Progressive Type-I Interval censoring schemes after incorporating budget constraints.
Findings
A real dataset is analyzed to demonstrate the methods developed in this article. The adequacy of the lifetime model is ensured using a simulation-based goodness-of-fit test. Furthermore, the performance of various estimators is studied using a detailed simulation experiment. It is observed that the maximum likelihood estimator relatively outperforms the method of moment estimator. Furthermore, the posterior median fares better among Bayesian estimators even in the absence of any subjective information. Furthermore, it is observed that the budget constraints have real implications on the optimal design of censoring schemes.
Originality/value
The proposed methodology may be used for analyzing any Progressive Type-I Interval Censored data for any lifetime model. The methodology adopted to obtain the optimal censoring schemes may be particularly useful for reliability engineers in real-life applications.
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This paper aims to assess the long-run drivers and short-term dynamics of real house prices in Sweden for 1986Q1 to 2016Q4. More specifically, the author examines the extent to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to assess the long-run drivers and short-term dynamics of real house prices in Sweden for 1986Q1 to 2016Q4. More specifically, the author examines the extent to which real house prices are determined by affordability, demographics and asset price factors.
Design/methodology/approach
The author conducts a cointegration analysis and applies a vector autoregression model to examine the long- and short-run responsiveness of Swedish real house prices to a number of key categories of fundamental variables.
Findings
The empirical results indicate that house prices will increase in the long run by 1.04 per cent in response to a 1 per cent increase in household real disposable income, whereas real after-tax mortgage interest and real effective exchange rates show average long-term effects of approximately – 8 and – 0.7 per cent, respectively. In addition, the results show that the growth of real house prices is affected by growth in mortgage credit, real after-tax mortgage interest rates and disposable incomes in the short run, whereas the real effective exchange rate is the most significant determinant of Swedish real house appreciation.
Originality/value
The impact of the two lending restrictions been implemented after the financial crisis – the mortgage cap in October 2010 and the amortization requirement in June 2016 – are ineffective to stabilize the housing market. This suggests that macroprudential measures designed to ease pressure on housing prices and reduce risks to financial stability need to focus on these fundamentals and address the issues of tax deductibility on mortgage rates and the gradual implementation of debt-to-income limits to contain mortgage demand and improve households’ resilience to shocks.
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Pier Luigi Giardino, Silvia Delladio, Silvia Baiocco and Andrea Caputo
This study aims to provide a systematic and comprehensive examination of the underlying factors enabling the emergence of unicorn firms. By addressing this research gap and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to provide a systematic and comprehensive examination of the underlying factors enabling the emergence of unicorn firms. By addressing this research gap and offering an integrative framework, it seeks to support future research efforts in understanding this phenomenon and contribute to the academic debate around it.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employs a systematic literature review (SLR) approach and thematic analysis of articles retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science databases.
Findings
The study sheds light on internal characteristics, ranging from the entrepreneurial (human capital and knowledge) to firm-specific level (business model, corporate governance, resources) and external ones related to the funding factors (financial patterns, venture capitalists, firm evaluation) and the ecosystem (entrepreneurial and technology) around the phenomenon of unicorn firms.
Originality/value
This is the first systematic literature review on unicorns that offers insights into the internal and external factors driving the emergence of such firms, contributes to shed light on the main criticalities that blur their understanding and presents a research agenda for developing this field of research.
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To explore the politics of gender, health, medicine, and citizenship in high-income countries, medical sociologists have focused primarily on the practice of legal abortion. In…
Abstract
To explore the politics of gender, health, medicine, and citizenship in high-income countries, medical sociologists have focused primarily on the practice of legal abortion. In middle- and low-income countries with restrictive abortion laws, however, medical sociologists must examine what happens when women have already experienced spontaneous or induced abortion. Post-abortion care (PAC), a global reproductive health intervention that treats complications of abortion and has been implemented in nearly 50 countries worldwide, offers important theoretical insights into transnational politics of abortion and reproduction in countries with restrictive abortion laws. In this chapter, I draw on my ethnography of Senegal’s PAC program to examine the professional, clinical, and technological politics and practices of obstetric care for abortions that have already occurred. I use the sociological concepts of professional boundary work and boundary objects to demonstrate how Senegalese health professionals have established the political and clinical legitimacy of PAC. I demonstrate the professional precariousness of practicing PAC for physicians, midwives, and nurses. I show how the dual capacity of PAC technologies to terminate pregnancy and treat abortion complications has limited their circulation within the health system, thereby reducing quality of care. Given the contradictory and complex global landscape of twenty-first-century abortion governance, in which pharmaceutical forms of abortion such as Misoprostol are increasingly available in developing countries, and as abortion restrictions are increasingly enforced across the developed world, PAC offers important theoretical opportunities to advance medical sociology research on abortion politics and practices in the global North and South.
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This concluding chapter summarises the main themes and topics discussed in this book, synthesising the key issues facing contemporary anti-racism efforts. It reflects on a…
Abstract
This concluding chapter summarises the main themes and topics discussed in this book, synthesising the key issues facing contemporary anti-racism efforts. It reflects on a possible anti-racist future(s) in a context of greater sociocultural affiliations and more interconnected local and global environments. Ideas about race and ethnicity have adapted, and racial hierarchies, structures and processes continuously shape the way social groups engage, interact and live with difference. This raises questions regarding the enduring influence of race and racism. What will the state of multiracial societies be in the evolving digital economy that has transformed the structural and institutional environment affecting everyday life? What kind of an anti-racist future can be imagined that will contribute to ensuring greater social equity? This chapter ponders on a range of possibilities to chart directions towards an anti-racist future that fosters increased intercultural understanding for relational engagements across difference. It draws conclusions and lessons for an anti-racist future and lays out some directions for future research.
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Philip Arestis and Maggie Mo Jia
This paper aims to examine the evolution of house prices in China and especially the effects of different financing channels on China’s house prices.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the evolution of house prices in China and especially the effects of different financing channels on China’s house prices.
Design/methodology/approach
The author use the own theoretical framework and proceed to test the testable hypotheses by using the autoregressive distributed lag bounds test approach for cointegration analysis and the unrestricted error correction model. Quarterly time series data from Q1 2002 to Q2 2016 are used.
Findings
The results suggest that in the short run, bank loans to real estate development and scale of shadow banking have significant positive effects on house prices. In the long run, the scale of shadow banking and disposable income affects house prices positively and significantly.
Originality/value
This study provides more insights into how and to the extent different financing channels affect China’s house prices, particularly the impact of shadow banking on the house prices.
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Hamzat Isah, Norhidayah Md Ulang and Norazura Mizal Azzmi
Malaysia is one of the developing countries which is progressing in terms of infrastructural facilities, but the country is facing a problem of having very low growth in…
Abstract
Malaysia is one of the developing countries which is progressing in terms of infrastructural facilities, but the country is facing a problem of having very low growth in population and this led to the frequent migration of workers with language proficiency to come to the country as foreign workers, language proficiency implications among which is causing injury to workers in the construction especially foreigners as they are getting it difficult to understand instruction during operations, safety guides and interpreting safety warning signs due to their low language proficiency. Because of this, the research aimed to reduce the rate of accident happening among the foreign workers and, therefore, the research sets three objectives: the research identified the common types of accidents faced by foreign workers due to language proficiency in construction sites, the research also investigated the extent to which language proficiency is affecting foreign workers and lastly provides an effective communication method that will help to minimise the rate of these types of accidents. The research found that language proficiency is causing several types of accidents that comes with different injury cases ranging from non-severe, severe and fatal once of about 44% of the total accident cases happening in the Malaysian construction industries.
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The purpose of this paper is to measure the impact of financial inclusion on rural development through cooperatives.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to measure the impact of financial inclusion on rural development through cooperatives.
Design/methodology/approach
The primary data were collected from 540 beneficiaries of Cooperatives banks operating in three northern states of India, i.e., J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab using purposive sampling during January to June 2016. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, ANOVA, t-test and structural equation modelling were used for scale purification and data analysis.
Findings
The findings of the study revealed that financial inclusion through cooperatives has direct and significant impact on rural development. Further, the results support the notion that financial inclusion is a strategy of inclusive growth, but inclusive growth itself is a subset of a larger set of inclusive development which means that the benefit must reach the all, particularly the women and the children, minority groups, the extremely poor and those pushed below the poverty line by natural and human-made disasters.
Research limitations/implications
The research has certain inescapable limitations. First, the in-depth analysis of the study is restricted to three northern states of India only because of time and resource constraints. Second, the study is confined to the perception of financial inclusion beneficiaries only, which in future could be carried further on the perception of other stakeholders such as SHGs, banking correspondents, etc. Third, possibility of subjective interpretation in some cases cannot be ruled out.
Originality/value
The study makes contribution towards financial inclusion literature relating to sustainable rural development and fulfils the research gap to some extent by assessing the impact of financial inclusion on rural development through cooperatives.
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Swedish house prices have risen rapidly since the mid‐1990s. How can this be explained? Are houses overpriced? In this paper the author tries to answer these questions.
Abstract
Purpose
Swedish house prices have risen rapidly since the mid‐1990s. How can this be explained? Are houses overpriced? In this paper the author tries to answer these questions.
Design/methodology/approach
The author estimates an error correction model (ECM), and sees if the model can explain the house price developments.
Findings
The model suggests that increasing household disposable income and falling mortgage rates are the most important factors behind the upswing in prices. There is no evidence of overpricing.
Originality/value
Compared to earlier Swedish studies, this study is based on new data and new variables. Furthermore, the estimation period is restricted to the more recent period when Swedish credit markets have been unregulated.