Search results

A small-world network is a type of network structure in which nodes are highly clustered and at short distances without being directly linked. This article analyzes whether the network of interlocking directorates among the largest Brazilian corporations follows a small-world network structure and if the small-world properties (high clustering and short distance between nodes) influence the occurrence of M&A at the domestic and international level.

The authors tested hypotheses regarding the relationship between small-world network properties and M&A based on a sample of large publicly-listed corporations in Brazil for the time series of 2000–2015 and using network analysis and regression techniques (probit and OLS).

The results show that while the Brazilian corporate network fits the small-world features of high clustering and short path lengths, only the distance among connected firms has a significant effect on international M&A: the shorter the distance between firms, the more likely firms undertake M&A abroad. Moreover, being integrated into the main component has a significant positive effect on national and international M&A. These findings suggest that the information and knowledge to undertake M&A can be better acquired by belonging to large business communities and not local cohesive clusters.

This research contributes to theories and ongoing debates about the network effects on organizational decisions and the determinants of M&A in emerging markets. In addition, this is the first study to analyze the impact of small-world networks on international M&A while controlling for country-level variables.

With the growing use of technology in second language learning (L2), many techniques of incorporating digital video in L2 learning and platforms of task implementation appear in the field, however, with little, if any, research on how tasks can be designed and developed in these contexts. Based on Chapelle (2001, 2014) task design criteria, the current paper evaluates specifically the “interactivity” of task design interface and how it may contribute towards either dispersing or directing the learners' attention (Robinson, 2011) during the process of task completion in video-based L2 listening.

Using a qualitative approach – mainly focus groups and interviews – the current study evaluated a number of tasks that were used for computer-based L2 listening when digital video is the mode of presentation. The participants, i.e. English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers and learners, were presented with a number of task designs to try and evaluate.

The findings revealed that some task designs are perceived to be less interactive and can disperse the learner's attentional resources during the process of task completion. They also shed light on the importance of improving EFL teachers' current practices of task design in computer-based L2 listening.

This paper has contributed to our growing understanding of interactivity in relation to video-based learning and its task designs.

This study aims to provide a systematic review about the Internet of Things (IoT) and its impacts on happiness. It intends to serve as a platform for further research as it is sparse in in-depth analysis.

This systematic review initially observed 2,501 literary articles through the ScienceDirect and WorldCat search engines before narrowing it down to 72 articles based on subject matter relevance in the abstract and keywords. Accounting for duplicates between search engines, the count was reduced to 66 articles. To finally narrow down all the literature used in this systematic review, 66 articles were given a critical readthrough. The count was finally reduced to 53 total articles used in this systematic review.

This paper necessitates the claim that IoT will likely impact many aspects of our everyday lives. Through the literature observed, it was found that IoT will have some significant and positive impacts on people's welfare and lives. The unprecedented nature of IoTs impacts on society should warrant further research moving forward.

While the literature presented in this systematic review shows that IoT can positively impact the perceived or explicit happiness of people, the amount of literature found to supplement this argument is still on the lower end. They also necessitate the need for both greater depth and variety in this field of research.

Since technology is already a pervasive element of most people’s contemporary lives, it stands to reason that the most important factors to consider will be in how we might benefit from IoT or, more notably, how IoT can enhance our levels of happiness. A significant implication is its ability to reduce the gap in happiness levels between urban and rural areas.

Currently, the literature directly tackling the quantification of IoTs perceived influence on happiness has yet to be truly discussed broadly. This systematic review serves as a starting point for further discussion in the subject matter. In addition, this paper may lead to a better understanding of the IoT technology and how we can best advance and adapt it to the benefits of the society.

The purpose of this study is to estimate and analyze the production and export viability of organic cape gooseberry to Spain, cultivated by indigenous communities in post-conflict areas.

Based on interviews with indigenous people who grow organic cape gooseberry in post-conflict areas and information from official platforms, the data are systematized, and a matrix of costs, expenses, productivity and income from the production and export of Cape gooseberry is calculated. Financial indicators of profitability are calculated: net profit, net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR). Finally, with a regression model, the trend of the behavior of the quantity and cost of Cape gooseberry exports from Colombia to Europe and Spain is estimated.

The production and export of organic cape gooseberry is profitable for indigenous communities in post-conflict areas, favored by a special price on the European market and by the use of family labor in cultivation, which improves the profitability of the product. Because of these factors, it is likely to become an alternative to partially replace illicit crops in post-conflict areas.

This research was carried out in conflict areas, so conducting interviews in that territory put the integrity of the researchers at risk.

Studies known about organic cape gooseberry production reveal the benefits of the fruit for human health, but not the viability of production and export to Spain. This study demonstrates the financial viability of the production and export of cape gooseberry grown by indigenous people and therefore constitutes an alternative for substituting illicit crops.

Se estudian los determinantes y la evolución de la actividad bursátil mensual en el mercado accionario colombiano de 2007 a 2016.

Para ello se emplean modelos de series de tiempo tipo ARIMAX y GARCH, incluyendo variables exógenas, recomendadas por la literatura previa.

Encontramos que la actividad bursátil puede ser pronosticada en buena parte por el valor rezagado a un mes y las innovaciones de cinco y 12 meses. También contribuyen a predecirla, como variables exógenas, una dummy de rendimientos positivos en los últimos tres meses, la presencia de emisiones primarias y el índice VIX de volatilidad del SP500. Estos resultados se mantienen en un alto grado al emplear medidas alternativas de actividad bursátil, el número total de operaciones y la rotación.

Se propone un modelo de predicción de la actividad bursátil que puede servir de modelo para otros mercados accionarios de Latinoamérica. El modelo obtenido es altamente predictivo del valor transado total del mercado al siguiente mes. La estimación de la actividad bursátil es de utilidad para instituciones como la Bolsa de Valores de Colombia, reguladores de los mercados financieros, así como para grandes inversionistas institucionales.

El propósito central de los mercados financieros secundarios consiste en facilitar la transacción de activos financieros, lo que debe reflejarse en alta actividad bursátil, tanto en número de operaciones como en valor transado total. La posibilidad de transar altos montos es una medida importante del desarrollo de un mercado financiero. De esta manera, el modelo aquí propuesto puede usarse para monitorizar y explicar el desarrollo del mercado. En particular, se evidencia el nocivo efecto de la debacle de Interbolsa a finales de 2012 y el positivo efecto de las emisiones primarias.

Este es el primer paper en estudiar la actividad bursátil del mercado accionario colombiano en años recientes. Sirve como modelo para el estudio y seguimiento de esta variable en otros mercados accionarios latinoamericanos.

To study the determinants and evolution of the trading activity in the Colombian Stock Market from 2007 to 2016.

ARMA time series models were used, including several explanatory variables recommended by previous literature.

We find that stock market activity can be predicted to a large extent by its lags, and that positive returns in the last three months, emissions and the VIX index are also explicative variables, as suggested by empirical studies in other countries and theoretical models of market microstructure. These results are robust by using alternative measures of trading activity, total number of trades and turnover.

The main contribution of this study is the analysis of the trading activity of the Colombian Stock Market, a critical variable for monitoring the development of any financial market.

Purpose – One-third of the world's population is infected with tuberculosis (TB) and there are two million TB-related deaths worldwide every year. Along the U.S.-Mexico border, migration patterns, and reduced access to health care contribute to high rates of TB. Delayed diagnosis of TB, the focus of this chapter, increases the likelihood that a patient will progress to more advanced stages of the disease and heightens the risk of TB transmission to others as patients are contagious for longer periods of time.

Approach – Despite the seriousness of these consequences, few sociological studies have examined delayed diagnosis of TB and why people affected by TB symptoms delay care. Because of this, we take a health narratives approach to understanding the experiences of 15 TB patients of Mexican descent in a high-risk border community (e.g., El Paso, Texas) in order to discover why delayed diagnoses happen and how they impact patients.

Findings – Fourteen of the fifteen patients experienced delayed diagnosis. Analysis of these fourteen narratives revealed two broad themes: (1) provider lack of awareness, including repeated misdiagnosis and TB test errors, and (2) patient disadvantage, including fear of U.S. immigration authorities and few economic resources for care.

Implications – Findings from this study suggest that prompt diagnosis of TB could be achieved if providers were more cognizant of TB and its symptoms and public health policies increased access to health care regardless of immigration status or socioeconomic status.

The Euro-centric nature of dark tourism research is limiting the perspective and restricting the scope of contemporary theory. Hence, this paper aims to explore how dark tourism consumption differs in a society apart from the Anglo/Eurosphere. This is done by testing Stone and Sharpley’s (2008) thanatological framework in Mexico, a country whose residents are renown for having a unique perspective on death, to assess whether Mexican dark tourism consumers undergo a similar, or different, thanatological experience to that proposed in the framework.

The study adopts a qualitative approach in the form of a case study. The opinions of Mexican dark tourism consumers were gained by using the technique of semi-structured interviewing in four separate dark tourism sites within Mexico City, with coding serving as the form of analysis.

The findings show that due to the non-existence of an absent/present death paradox in Mexican society, the research participants experienced a thanatological process that contrasts with those from Western societies, which indicates that the thanatological framework is unsuitable in the context of Mexican dark tourism. At the same time, the study contests the common perception that Mexicans have a jovial familiarity with death, and demonstrates that in this case the thanatological process confirmed an acceptance of death, rather than any kind of intimacy.

The research is valuable in that it is a response to recent calls for research in geographical locations not previously considered in a dark tourism/thanatology context.

The purpose of this paper is to examine gender issues in Brazil from the perceptions, experiences, and discourses of professional women in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

The study is based on 26 in-depth interviews with female professionals. The methodology consists of an exploratory approach through content analysis.

Despite the fact that Brazil demonstrates an idealized national ethos that promotes equality, gender roles are still very traditional. Participants recognized gender issues at work, including covert discrimination, though most did not acknowledge experiencing them personally.

There is dissonance between global trends and the actual experience of female professionals in Brazil. Although participants rejected the idea of personally experiencing inequality, they acknowledge its existence in human resources (HR) practices. This leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy where gender inequality is perpetuated and organizations and HR departments do not seem to have a proactive role as change agents.

The Mexican-American population has experienced a dramatic increase in ethnic entrepreneurship over the last several decades. In an attempt to explain this development, 25 Mexican-American entrepreneurs were interviewed in the Chicago area. These interviews focused upon the specific ethnic strategies used by these entrepreneurs to bridge the gap between the opportunity structures for entrepreneurship in the United States economy and the unique group characteristics or capacities for entrepreneurship characterizing the Mexican-American population. Based upon these interviews, we found that the favored ethnic strategy used by Mexican-American entrepreneurs involved attempts at socializing the economic encounter between co-ethnic customers and entrepreneurs. These socializing activities were examined using Goffman's frame analysis, with particular attention devoted to the collective organization of customer and entrepreneur experience in terms of an ethnic frame.