Development of a voice recognition based system to help physically disabled people use the facebook

Social network sites (SNSs) have become so popular that the number of people joining and actively participating on such sites is increasing on a daily basis. Although there are several SNSs, Facebook is currently the most popular and most commonly used. SNSs have primarily been developed with able-bodied people in mind and as a result of this, people with disabilities find it difficult to join and participate on these sites. Furthermore, this topic has received little attention by researchers around the world. Facebook pages usually consist of text, graphics, and sound where the users navigate through the pages using a mouse. As a step towards addressing this need and finding a possible elegant solution, the authors have developed a voice-activated PC-based system (called NEU-FACE) in the form of an interface to Facebook. With the aid of this system, a person with a physical disability can join and participate in Facebook by giving voice commands to manage the typical Facebook activities.

     

Product choice for a firm selling related products: A parimutuel application

This paper provides a framework for analysis of product choice by a multiproduct firm selling several products whose demands are interrelated. The decision making process of a racetrack-racebook regarding the parimutuel wagering products (both number and which ones) it should supply is illustrated. A racetrack-racebook is a business entity, which offers its patrons the opportunity to wager, not only on live horse racing conducted at the racetrack but also on races simulcast to that racetrack from a variety of racetracks, from both in-state and out-of-state locations. The demands for these wagering products are interrelated and these interrelationships play a key role in determining the number (and which ones) of these wagering opportunities that will be supplied. Based on the experience of a specific racetrack-racebook, these demand functions are estimated econometrically and the role of these interrelated demands in the supply decision is explored. An algorithm is developed to search over all possible product portfolios to determine that combination of products yielding the highest sales, revenue, or profit.     

Handelsblatt Ranking and Journal Quality: A Cautionary Note

I provide a brief discussion of the Handelsblatt ranking by focusing on its journal quality weights. I summarize the methodology underlying journals’ prestige measure, which is derived from their citation networks, and discuss its strengths and shortcomings. Although I agree that Handelsblatt ranking provides a great service to the profession, that same profession needs to be rather careful not to overemphasize the journal quality weights.     

Competitive strategies,innovation, and firm performance: an empirical study in a developing economy environment

This paper studies the relationships between competitive strategies, innovation, and firm performance within the context of Turkish manufacturing companies. The data were collected from top management of the firms via Computer Assistant Telephone Interviewing method. One hundred and forty manufacturing firms operating in various sectors including textile, automotive supply, computer and electronics provide the basis for this empirical research. In order to test our model, we employ structural equation modelling using partial least squares. The results show that competitive strategies such as cost-leadership and differentiation can lead to innovation, which, in turn, increase firm performance. Managers implement cost-leadership and differentiation strategies to take part in competitive market conditions; however, they should put additional importance on innovation that plays a significant role as a bridge between competitive strategies and firm performance.     

Institutional Quality and Public Debt Accumulation: An Empirical Analysis

The question of public debt management for both developed and developing economies has generated an enormous amount of political as well as academic interest. This study examines how governance affects public debt accumulation in the MENA countries during the 1996–2015 period. The six Worldwide Governance indicators (voice and accountability, political stability and the absence of violence/terrorism, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law and control of corruption) were used to measure the quality of governance in these countries. The results show that only three governance indicators support well the hypothesis that poor governance leads to higher accumulation of MENA public debt. Moreover, the estimates suggest a significant indirect impact of bad governance operating via decreased GDP growth. These findings have important implications for policy makers of these countries, which are currently facing major fiscal and external imbalances due to the high cost of war and terrorist attacks, low oil prices and a decline in trade. Sound public debt management represents an urgent task especially that public debt management problems often find their origins in the lack of attention paid by policymakers to the costs of bad governance and weak macroeconomic management.     

Migration and employment interactions in a crisis context

This article analyses how a crisis impacts labour markets in origin countries through migration channels. For this purpose, we develop a novel dynamic general equilibrium model with a focus on the interlinkages between migration, the labour market and education. The main innovation of the paper is the retrospective modelling in general equilibrium of the impact of an economic crisis to isolate the impact of migration on local unemployment. The impact of the crisis on education decision is captured through endogenous returns to education. The simultaneity of the crisis in Tunisia and its partners worsened the labour market situation mainly through the increase in labour supply. The main result of this study is that migration is indeed one of the main determinants of the unemployment increase and that remittances have a higher impact than the variation of emigration flows. The low skilled bear the highest costs in terms of unemployment and wage decline.     

How co-branding versus brand extensions drive consumers' evaluations of new products: A brand equity approach

Current research into co-branding and brand extensions indicates that these marketing strategies benefit firms, yet marketing literature examines the concepts only independently. This article reports the findings of two studies, conducted among 256 students, that compare the effectiveness of co-branding versus brand extension strategies. The comparison of these strategies, both individually and concurrently, considers consumers' attitudes, quality perceptions, and purchase intentions toward a new product (i.e., Bluetooth-enabled sunglasses). The first study reveals that the presence of at least one high-equity brand in co-branding strategy suffices to leverage consumers' evaluations of a new product. However, the findings of the second study indicate no significant differences between co-branding and brand extensions in terms of consumer evaluations of an identical product.     

Assessment of blockchain applications in travel and tourism industry

Quality & Quantity - Blockchain technology (BCT) is a network-based system, which is developed to create secure, smart and transparent distributed ledgers. Recently, BCT has been gaining more...