An exploratory study of the impact of intervening variables on student performance in a Principles of Accounting course

The purpose of this paper is to provide some new empirical evidence on the determinants of student performance in a Principles of Accounting course at Birzeit University situated in the Occupied West Bank. It examines the impact of a number of new attitudinal variables on examination performance. The empirical results suggest that, in addition to a number of standard control variables, student perceptions of factors associated with class size, the attributes of the lecturer, student effort and the complexity of the course are associated with student performance in a first level principles of accounting course.     

Do foreign institutional investors destabilize China’s A-share markets?

This paper investigates the effect of foreign institutional investors on the stability of Chinese stock markets. Previous literature views this investor group as destabilizing feedback traders. We use the abolition of ownership restrictions on A shares as a natural experiment. There is strong evidence that foreign institutions have a stabilizing effect on Chinese stock markets and contribute to market efficiency. This finding is robust across exchanges, sample periods, size quintiles and alternative model specifications. By contrast, domestic investors appear to engage in positive feedback trading. Our results have important implications for market regulation.     

Efficiency of Microfinance Institutions: A Data Envelopment Analysis

This study examines the cost efficiency of 39 microfinance institutions across Africa, Asia and the Latin America using non-parametric data envelopment analysis. Our findings show non-governmental microfinance institutions particularly; under production approach, are the most efficient and this result is consistent with their fulfillment of dual objectives: alleviating poverty and simultaneously achieving financial sustainability. However, bank-microfinance institutions also outperform in the measure of efficiency under intermediation approach. This result reflects that banks are the financial intermediaries and have access to local capital market. It may be possible that bank-microfinance institutions may outperform the non-governmental microfinance institutions in the long run.     

The applicability of a national focus State of the Future Index (SOFI) on developing nations and the Implications for Stabilisation Operations—A case study of Timor-Leste

This paper argues for the applicability of utilising the State of the Future Index to forecast the future of small developing nations across a range of areas that are considered important determinants of the type of future a developing country is likely to experience. This analysis provides an insight into the benefits of using such a tool for creating more effective policy towards Official Development Assistance (ODA) and its impact on Stabilisation Operations, in addition to measuring the success and effectiveness of previous policies. Timor-Leste was chosen as a case study because of its contemporary policy significance to Australia and the considerable amount of resources that the Australian government has committed, both directly and indirectly, to its reconstruction. Outputs from the State of the Future Index (SOFI) are used to track some of the key variables that will be significant drivers of future change in Timor-Leste. Hence, Timor's progress at a national level can be monitored. Moreover, individual economic, societal and demographic forecasts provide a more in-depth perspective of the drivers of change and future challenges that Timor-Leste will face.     

Venture capital funds and the public equity market

This paper considers the relationship between the public equity market and the returns to venture investing using a dataset which is derived from the records of two large limited partners who have been investing in venture capital for almost 30 years. Evidence is found to suggest that market conditions over the investment cycle, and exit conditions at the time of exit in particular, are an important determinant. This paper also investigates whether any other aspects of the venture investment process respond to events in the broader market. While general trends are evident in the venture investment cycle, only the intensity of the investment process is found to respond to events in the public equity market.     

Structural and executional drivers of downstream revenue

Revenue flows that occur at other related organizational units and over time are an important part of customer profitability analysis and resource planning. This study analyzes downstream revenue generated from establishing a series of additional organizational units. The setting is a central hospital which established a group of specialty outreach clinics. Using a specially-collected time-series database I show two distinct patterns, depending on the clinic's specialty. One type triggers immediate incremental downstream revenue to the clinic's sponsoring department. The other type of clinic generates revenue that is smaller in value, later in time and mostly in departments not associated with the sponsoring department's medical specialty. Structural and executional clinic characteristics such as distance and clinic frequency differentially affect the amount of revenue generated, implying a need for tailoring performance measures to “clinic type”. Overall, my results suggest caution in developing performance measures that include financial impact in other organizational units – context matters even in a relatively homogenous setting of specialty clinics in one hospital system.     

从国际公共产品到区域性公共产品——区域合作理论的新增长点

区域性公共产品概念是对国际公共产品概念的继承和发展。深化对区域性公共产品的理论建构是当前国际关系学研究的新热点之一。经济学中的公共产品理论与地区主义的五阶段说和功能主义的溢出说相融合,为传统的区域合作理论提供了新的理论分析框架。公共产品消费中非排他性和非竞争性的特征为选取区域合作的内容设定了较为客观的标准。公共产品的成本-收益分析则从经济学的角度较为科学地说明了驱动有关国家开展区域合作的内在动力。此外,公共产品理论中有关外部性的论述还可解决域外大国参与区域合作的难题。     

批判与继承:二战后法国的地缘政治思想

20世纪60年代末至70年代初,法国国际影响力的大幅衰落、西欧一体化进程的发展以及战后经济社会危机的出现,为法国地缘政治研究的复兴创造了历史与社会背景。在其后几十年时间里,法国地缘政治学者在激烈批判传统地缘政治本体论、认识论及其历史影响的基础上,通过继承法国传统政治地理学的一些基本方法主张,针对20世纪下半叶世界政治发展呈现的诸多问题,在相当广泛的议程上展开了考察。二战后的法国地缘政治思想以其注重文化解读、关注个案分析、拒斥理论归纳的情调风格以及在国际合作、一体化条件下民族国家的地位作用、对广大第三世界国家的案例分析等项议题上的研究,体现出鲜明的法国特色与法国立场,具有广泛的学术与社会影响,为当代地缘政治研究的发展做出了一定的贡献。     

百年炮火中的未竟之学——对民国时期国际关系研究与教学的回溯

作者凭借史料,并参考、评价和补充既有学术史研究成果,对民国时期的国际关系学进行回溯。作者首先聚焦学术著作、教材和大学课程设置,认为民国时期国际关系学形成于国际关系史学和国际法学的基础之上、并逐渐朝多元化发展的过程演进,中国的国际关系学科是在20世纪30年代形成的。其次,文章考察了20世纪30年代中国期刊发表外交论文情况,以《外交月报》与《外交评论》为考察对象,重点探讨了民国学者在外敌压境下,放眼国际形势、关注国际格局、思考中国问题,在舆论界发出学术界的声音,尝试以智识指导舆论。国际关系学在民国时期的发展始终与国家的命运相联系,在百年炮火之下,国人眼界逐步放宽,学界亦秉持务实的精神,为实现中国之自由与平等,从被动学习到主动研究,从了解世界到救亡图存,在西学与中学交汇、政治与公众之间寻求自身的平衡点。百年前的未竟之学,要求我们对整个国际关系加以深入的研究,从而建立起一个完整的国际关系学。