Jayaraman Krishnasamy and Mark J. Jakiela
The motion of systems of polygonal objects is characterized by discontinuities due to changes in the set of contacts between polygons. Effective simulations of such a motion…
Abstract
The motion of systems of polygonal objects is characterized by discontinuities due to changes in the set of contacts between polygons. Effective simulations of such a motion requires a simulation scheme that can automatically update the set of contacts during the simulation. This article focuses on a contact updating problem that arises when a penalty based contact model is used. A penalty based model requires a finite overlap of contacting polygons. This overlap results in ambiguities in characterizing corner‐corner contact between polygons. A simple yet effective scheme to overcome such ambiguities is presented.
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Pedro Rey-Biel, Roman Sheremeta and Neslihan Uler
We study how giving depends on income and luck, and how culture and information about the determinants of others’ income affect this relationship. Our data come from an experiment…
Abstract
We study how giving depends on income and luck, and how culture and information about the determinants of others’ income affect this relationship. Our data come from an experiment conducted in two countries, the USA and Spain – each of which have different beliefs about how income inequality arises. We find that when individuals are informed about the determinants of income, there are no cross-cultural differences in giving. When uninformed, however, Americans give less than the Spanish. This difference persists even after controlling for beliefs, personal characteristics, and values.
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Paul Agu Igwe, Robert Newbery, Nihar Amoncar, Gareth R.T. White and Nnamdi O. Madichie
The purpose of this paper is to examine the attributes of the Igbos in Eastern Nigeria and the underlying factors influencing their entrepreneurial behaviour. More specifically…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the attributes of the Igbos in Eastern Nigeria and the underlying factors influencing their entrepreneurial behaviour. More specifically, the study highlights the links between family, culture, institution and entrepreneurial behaviour in the African context.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on a qualitative research method by interviewing 50 entrepreneurs and community leaders of the Igbo nation. Igbos have been described as “naturally enterprising and ingenious” and can be found throughout Nigeria and West Africa. Understanding the vagaries of ethnic entrepreneurship can arguably only be achieved through research that is undertaken within these socio-historically rich, traditional and cultural contexts.
Findings
Linked to the social learning theory, Igbo families provide an entrepreneurial leadership platform which influences youths through role models, providing mastery experiences and socialisation. The extended family provides a safe environment for risk taking, creativity and innovation. Also, an informal apprenticeship system provides entrepreneurial learning that prepares the younger generation to take to business as a way of life.
Research limitations/implications
The study is based on a relatively small sample size of 50 respondents, which makes it difficult to generalise the findings despite the benefits of the research methods adopted in the study. Also, there are limitations to the extension of the findings to a generalised Igbo population comprising individuals who may, or may not, behave entrepreneurially.
Practical implications
There are significant practical implications, both nationally and internationally, for policy makers that are concerned with developing jobs for the growing population of unemployed youths and inclusive entrepreneurship in Nigeria.
Originality/value
The research has three main contributions. First, it valorises indigenous knowledge of family and institutional entrepreneurial behaviour in an African context. Second, it highlights the importance of the linked institutions of the extended family and the informal apprenticeship system in Igbo culture. Finally, it provides a model and an explanation of how the Igbo culture nurtures and develops transgenerational entrepreneurial behaviour.
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Sumit Kumar Maji and Sourav Prasad
Present bias (PB) is a cognitive bias that stimulates the individual decision-maker to favour the present reward even over the higher reward in the future to avoid the uncertainty…
Abstract
Purpose
Present bias (PB) is a cognitive bias that stimulates the individual decision-maker to favour the present reward even over the higher reward in the future to avoid the uncertainty attached to the reward in an uncertain future. The article attempts to examine the prevalence of PB amongst Indians and the effect of such bias on savings and borrowings.
Design/methodology/approach
Secondary data on 47,132 respondents from the Financial Inclusion Insights, 2017 database was used in the study. The theory of self-control, which is captured by the widely accepted hyperbolic discounting model, was used to explore the presence of PB. Suitable statistical techniques and the binary probit regression model were employed to attain the objectives of the study.
Findings
The prevalence of PB was found amongst 8.2% of the sample respondents. The outcome of the study endorses the view of previous researchers that present-biased people tend to save less and borrow more.
Originality/value
Although the exploration of the role of various cognitive biases on financial behaviour is gaining momentum in recent times, there is a dearth of studies exploring the prevalence of PB and its implication towards financial behaviour, especially in the context of the emerging economy of India. The study makes an original contribution in this regard by using a very rich dataset of 47,132 individuals in the Indian context for the first time.
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Stephen Mark Rosenbaum, Stephan Billinger and Nils Stieglitz
Corruption has traditionally been associated with an absence of pro-social norms such as trust and altruism. This paper challenges this view by examining market corruption �…
Abstract
Purpose
Corruption has traditionally been associated with an absence of pro-social norms such as trust and altruism. This paper challenges this view by examining market corruption – one-shot exchange transactions between strangers in the shadow of the law. The paper aims to propose that in the absence of repeat interactions and legal remedies to prevent contractual violations, acts of market corruption will require strong norms of generalized trust and altruism. As such, pro-social norms facilitate, rather than mitigate, market corruption.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper utilizes meta-analysis to examine the relationship between pro-social behavior in economic experiments and prevailing corruption levels.
Findings
The results from meta-analyses of both trust- and dictator game experiments show positive, significant relationships between pro-social norms and prevailing corruption levels.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of the paper suggest the need for further research into the relationship between societal norms and different types of corruption.
Practical implications
Policymakers should be wary about attempting to combat corruption through bottom-up policies designed to strengthen pro-social norms. Such policies may be counter-productive in that they are likely to provide the breeding ground for more acts of market corruption.
Originality/value
Conventional wisdom suggests a negative association between pro-social norms and corruption levels. The paper proposes that the relationship is not that simple. Indeed, the meta-study findings suggest the reverse relationship in the case of petty (market) corruption.
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Steven Buck, Yoko Kusunose and Jeffrey Alwang
The purpose of this work is to experimentally measure trust and study its relationship to group loan allocation within a community bank.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this work is to experimentally measure trust and study its relationship to group loan allocation within a community bank.
Design/methodology/approach
An artefactual field experiment is run to capture a measure of trust that mimics aspects of trusting behavior in a community bank. The experimental design and empirical setting take into account risk and altruism, two known confounders of trust measures. Regression analysis is used to estimate the relationship between a novel measure of trust and the loan amount a borrower receives from their rural community bank.
Findings
The trust measure has a statistically significant, positive relationship with loan size. A one standard deviation increase in the trust measure corresponds to a 13.3 percent increase in the loan amount.
Social implications
Results of the study suggest that, for community banks, trust in a borrower plays a large role in screening applicants and therefore determining loan size. Several such banks have considered graduating to commercial credit. However, given the outsize role of trust in lending decisions, it is not clear if commercial lending models – which rely less on social capital – will work.
Originality/value
A new trust game is developed that captures relationship-specific measures of directed trust that community bank members have towards each borrower. The trust measure is also context-specific as play in the game is analogous to how community bank members trust some borrowers (more than others) with larger loans. The emphasis on relationship- and context-specific trust measures is key to interpreting results from artefactual field experiments.
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Stéphane Talbot, Élisabeth Lefebvre and Louis‐André Lefebvre
Closing the loop at the end of products' useful life is earning increased attention from industry and academia. The recent or upcoming enactment of regulations regarding the…
Abstract
Purpose
Closing the loop at the end of products' useful life is earning increased attention from industry and academia. The recent or upcoming enactment of regulations regarding the management of end‐of‐life products is forcing manufacturers to consider strategies to increase the residual value of the products they make. Facilitating the residual value extraction process for end‐of‐life products is a challenging issue deserving investigation. This paper proposes to investigate this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper analyzes empirical evidence from a sample of 205 environmentally responsive SMEs operating in the fabricated metal products and electric/electronic products industries. A coherent research model is developed which classifies the closed‐loop supply chain (CLSC) activities along two dimensions, the forward and reverse supply chains.
Findings
This first proposed taxonomy has been shown to be relevant for both sectors. The results also demonstrate that firms' abilities to implement CLSC environmental initiatives vary in their intensity and in their locus along the product value chain. Furthermore, benefits derived from these initiatives seem to vary according to the strategy favored by the firms.
Originality/value
This research is valuable for those firms interested in implementing CLSC strategies in a synergistic manner with their forward supply chain.
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Ebtehal Mahmoud Montaser, Nesrin M.N. El Hadidi and Enas Abo Elenen Amin
This paper aims to provide a deeper understanding of using filling materials that are used to fill gaps in wooden objects, and their response to changes in the surrounding…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide a deeper understanding of using filling materials that are used to fill gaps in wooden objects, and their response to changes in the surrounding environment to evaluate wood gap fillers and choose the best material. As a wide variety of materials, but most of them were unsuitable for filler mixtures. Specific materials were used, which can adapt to changes in wood size in response to changes in humidity. This research discusses the results of experiments that were conducted to determine how gap fillers composed of glass microballoons, microcrystalline cellulose and paper pulp fills are mixed with Klucel G, Paraloid B-72 and methyl cellulose as binders, and respond in various conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
It requires using several scientific and analytical techniques to provide a deeper understanding of filling materials characterization, dimensional stability, their shrinkage and study mechanical properties.
Findings
The analytical study of filling gaps in wooden objects with different filling materials allowed defining that the main drawbacks of the examined gap fillers were low water resistance, poor dimensional stability upon drying, or exposure to water vapor or liquid water, and fragility. Two types of gap fillers with high mechanical properties and pH values similar to those of wood were found to be appropriate for application on wooden archaeological artifacts.
Originality/value
The importance of the experimental study was to determine suitable filling materials and provide the basic characteristics of filling materials reversibility, workability, dimensional stability, lack of shrinkage, drying, ability to take color and be shaped, stability with aging, compatibility with wood in terms of behavior with changing humidity and non-toxicity. Also, strength properties or their likelihood to deform easily allowing changes in the shape of the wooden object during the movement of wood, either of which may be desirable in specific circumstances.