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Article
Publication date: 25 July 2019

Elif Özcan-Tok, Mustafa Utku Özmen, Ertan Tok and Tuba Yılmaz

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the information sharing in an online discussion forum, over an agricultural market characterized by a large number of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the information sharing in an online discussion forum, over an agricultural market characterized by a large number of small-scale farmers, has an impact on the market prices.

Design/methodology/approach

All the comments posted by farmers and traders on four storable items (potato, onion, lemon and apple) in an online discussion forum over 2013–2017 are collected. By using text mining techniques and regression analysis, words characterizing the actions and expectations of farmers and traders on the course of the market price are identified. Then, summary indicators pointing to positive and negative views on prices are calculated. Finally, the relation between these indicators and market prices is analyzed.

Findings

The results point to economically significant impacts, as one standard deviation increase in the share of net positive comments is associated with 20, 22, 13 and 10 percent increase in the consumer prices of potato, onion, lemon and apple, respectively within three months.

Originality/value

Overall, this study provides an evidence for the link between information sharing of farmers on online domain and their collaboration in the physical domain. Thus, the study implies that the information synthesized from online discussion forums may actually contain valuable information for researchers and policy makers regarding the behavior of agents even on traditional domains such as agriculture.

Details

Online Information Review, vol. 43 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1468-4527

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 October 2024

Mustafa Utku Özmen and Belgi Turan

This paper investigates the impact of quasi-exogenous and substantial increases in the minimum wage on child labor outcomes in Türkiye. The study aims to provide empirical…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper investigates the impact of quasi-exogenous and substantial increases in the minimum wage on child labor outcomes in Türkiye. The study aims to provide empirical evidence on how minimum wage policies affect child labor outcomes in a developing country context, with a focus on gender and age differences. It seeks to understand whether minimum wage increases lead to a reduction in child labor and whether the impact is different for various demographic groups.

Design/methodology/approach

The research employs a difference-in-differences methodology using data from the 2012 and 2019 Child Labor Force Survey in Türkiye. The treatment group consists of children from households with minimum wage earners, while the control group comprises children from other households. Various labor market outcomes are analyzed, and robustness checks are performed.

Findings

Our findings indicate that while the overall effect of minimum wage increases on child labor is statistically insignificant, there are notable heterogeneous impacts across different demographic groups and employment sectors. Specifically, we observe a significant reduction in the employment probability of girls under the age of 15 and unpaid family workers. Additionally, the likelihood of younger children being wage earners decreases, and the minimum wage increase reduces employment in the agriculture and services sectors for certain subgroups. The impact is also more limited for children in single-adult-worker households.

Social implications

These results underscore the varying effects of minimum wage policies on child labor and highlight the importance of considering demographic and sectoral differences in policy formulation. Policymakers should complement such policies with income-generating programs and targeted education initiatives to address child labor issues more comprehensively and sustainably.

Originality/value

This study fills a critical gap in the limited international literature on the causal effects of minimum wage policies on child labor incidence. One notable exception, Menon and van der Meulen Rodgers (2018) have explored the impact of minimum wage on child labor in India using regional variation, our study uniquely analyzes the effects at the household level in Türkiye. This approach provides valuable insights into how minimum wage changes affect child labor outcomes in a developing economy context with a high prevalence of minimum wage earners. It also contributes to the broader economic understanding of child labor and household income dynamics.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 October 2015

Mustafa Utku Özmen

The purpose of this paper is to analyse users’ attitudes towards online information retrieval and processing. The aim is to identify the characteristics of information that better…

1054

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse users’ attitudes towards online information retrieval and processing. The aim is to identify the characteristics of information that better capture the attention of the users and to provide evidence for the information retrieval behaviour of the users by studying online photo archives as information units.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyses a unique quasi-experimental data of photo archive access counts collected by the author from an online newspaper. In addition to access counts of each photo in 500 randomly chosen photo galleries, characteristics of the photo galleries are also recorded. Survival (duration) analysis is used in order to analyse the factors affecting the share of the photo gallery viewed by a certain proportion of the initial number of viewers.

Findings

The results of the survival analysis indicate that users are impatient in case of longer photo galleries; they lose attention faster and stop viewing earlier when gallery length is uncertain; they are attracted by keywords and initial presentation and they give more credit to specific rather than general information categories.

Practical implications

Results of the study offer applicable implications for information providers, especially on the online domain. In order to attract more attention, entities can engage in targeted information provision by taking into account people’s attitude towards information retrieval and processing as presented in this paper.

Originality/value

This paper uses a unique data set in a quasi-experimental setting in order to identify the characteristics of online information that users are attracted to.

Details

Online Information Review, vol. 39 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1468-4527

Keywords

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