A systematic mapping study of process mining

This study systematically assesses the process mining scenario from 2005 to 2014. The analysis of 705 papers evidenced ‘discovery’ (71%) as the main type of process mining addressed and ‘categorical prediction’ (25%) as the main mining task solved. The most applied traditional technique is the ‘graph structure-based’ ones (38%). Specifically concerning computational intelligence and machine learning techniques, we concluded that little relevance has been given to them. The most applied are ‘evolutionary computation’ (9%) and ‘decision tree’ (6%), respectively. Process mining challenges, such as balancing among robustness, simplicity, accuracy and generalization, could benefit from a larger use of such techniques.     

Debt Sustainability Under Catastrophic Risk: The Case for Government Budget Insurance

Natural disasters are an important source of vulnerability in the Caribbean region. Despite being one of the more disaster-prone areas of the world, it has the lowest levels of insurance coverage. This article examines the vulnerability of Belize's public finance to the occurrence of hurricanes and the potential impact of insurance instruments in reducing that vulnerability. The article finds that catastrophic risk insurance significantly improves Belize's debt sustainability. In addition, the methodology employed makes it possible to estimate the appropriate level of insurance, which for the case of Belize is a maximum coverage of US$120 million per year. International organizations can play a role in assisting countries to overcome distortions in insurance markets, as well as in helping to relax internal political resistance to the purchase of insurance policies.     

Personal values and leadership effectiveness

The study sought to evaluate the personal values profile, the predominant leadership styles, the leadership effectiveness, and the relationship between personal values balance and leadership effectiveness of a group of Brazilian executives. In order to evaluate the personal values profile a closed instrument of the rank order type has been developed and applied. To identify the predominant leadership styles, as well as the leadership effectiveness of the involved executives, it has been used as an instrument available in the market. To verify the relationship between personal values balance and leadership effectiveness, the linear regression method has been used computing the linear correlation coefficient between the before mentioned variables, involving 400 executives. The study has shown that the executives have an unbalance in their personal values profile, with predominance of economic and theoretical values. Additionally the study has uncovered lack of flexibility regarding the leadership styles, presenting styles of selling and sharing ideas as dominants. The study also showed that the leadership effectiveness of the involved executives was at a moderate level. Finally, the research pointed out a high positive relationship between personal values balance and leadership effectiveness, and, furthermore, it showed a better balance of personal values, if one considered only the part of the sample involving executives working in organizations which presented better results in the three previous years (50 executives).     

On the effect of prior assumptions in Bayesian model averaging with applications to growth regression

We consider the problem of variable selection in linear regression models. Bayesian model averaging has become an important tool in empirical settings with large numbers of potential regressors and relatively limited numbers of observations. We examine the effect of a variety of prior assumptions on the inference concerning model size, posterior inclusion probabilities of regressors and on predictive performance. We illustrate these issues in the context of cross‐country growth regressions using three datasets with 41–67 potential drivers of growth and 72–93 observations. Finally, we recommend priors for use in this and related contexts. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comments on ‘Jointness of growth determinants’

We consider the measures of jointness proposed by Doppelhofer and Weeks ( 2009 ) and Strachan ( 2009 ) in the context of variable selection. Using the general criteria suggested in Ley and Steel ( 2007 ), we identify some shortcomings of these measures, which are illustrated with empirically relevant example cases. We argue that careful examination of the properties of any jointness measure is critical before using it to inform decisions, and favour the use of the measures proposed in Ley and Steel ( 2007 ). Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Switching regressions and activity analysis: A new approach to frontier estimation

We explore an approach to production frontier estimation based on the direct study of the primary activities in linear technologies. Technologies with smoother isoquants can be thought of as the limit of a linear technology when the number of activities grows to infinity.     

Passthrough of Exchange Rate and Tariffs into Import Prices of India: Currency Depreciation versus Import Liberalization*

This paper examines the extent of passthrough of exchange rate and tariff changes into import prices using sectoral panel data (at the two‐digit SITC level) for the post‐reform period in India (1990–2001). After having controlled for unobserved effects that might have an impact on the import prices by using sector dummies, we find that on average exchange rate passthrough (ERPT) is a dominant effect compared to tariff rate passthrough (TRPT) in explaining changes in India's import prices. The sectoral panel results suggest that the passthrough of exchange rates and tariff rates varies across products. ERPT into import prices is significant in 12 industries, whereas TRPT is significant only in six industries, with full passthrough. However, ERPT is incomplete only in four industries, but TRPT is incomplete in 36 industries, which means that firms exporting to India more frequently adopt strategies to maintain their market share against tariffs than against exchange rate changes. The sectoral differences in passthrough seem to be related to the sector's share in total imports and the sector's effective protection rate. Hence, India's relatively high levels of protection have an impact on the behavior of foreign exporters.     

Concentration and foreign penetration in Latin American banking sectors: Impact on competition and risk

In the 1990s, Latin American banking sectors experienced an accelerated process of concentration and foreign penetration that prompted diverse views regarding its implications for the competitive behavior of banks and the financial stability of the system. In this paper, we examine these issues exploiting a rich bank-level database for eight Latin American countries. We find that, while increased concentration did not weaken banking competition within the region, foreign penetration appears to have led to a less competitive industry. Moreover, we find that bank risk has been negatively associated with competition which, coupled with the previous finding, explains the positive link between banking sector stability and foreign penetration revealed by the data.     

SECTORAL EXCHANGE RATE PASS-THROUGH: TESTING THE IMPACT OF POLICY REFORMS IN INDIA

This paper analyses the impact of India's policy reforms on exchange rate pass‐through into import and export prices, using panel data (at one‐digit SITC level) for pre‐ (1980–90) and post‐reform (1991–2001) periods. While the pass‐through into import prices has declined, the pass‐through into export prices (in USD terms) has increased during the 1990s. The results suggest that, relative to rupee depreciation, Indian exporters increased their USD prices around 20% in the 1980s, but decreased them by around 70% in the 1990s. Moreover, the number of sectors exhibiting some degree of pass‐through increased in the 1990s (six), relative to the 1980s (three). These changes may be attributable to the elimination of currency and trade controls, which increased competition among firms and fostered a concern with market share gains in the 1990s over an attempt to use depreciations to increase profits in the 1980s.     

What influences continuous employee development decisions?

Organizational changes have created a need for adaptable pre-trained workers and for employees to have more “protean” career paths and be involved in self-directed ongoing development [Hall & Mirvis, 1995. The new career contract: Developing the whole person at midlife and beyond. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 47(3), 269–289]. To help understand the processes involved in this development, a model of continuous employee development is proposed. This model integrates prior work from career development, training, and education literatures and builds on it by proposing factors that affect the occurrence of future development. Research supporting the model is reviewed and specific testable propositions derived from the variables in the model are given. Recommendations for scale usage in testing the model are also provided. Finally, the novel contributions of the model are highlighted, the practical implications of the model for organizations are outlined, and the role of the education system in these processes is discussed.