Search results

Agent-based modelling and simulation (ABMS) has seen wide-spread success through its applications in the sciences and social sciences over the last 15 years. As ABMS is used to model more and more complex systems, there is going to be an increase in the number of input variables used within the simulation. Any uncertainty associated with these input variables can be investigated using sensitivity analysis, but when there is uncertainty surrounding several of these input variables, a single parameter sensitivity analysis is not adequate. Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) offers a way to sample variations in multiple parameters without having to consider all of the possible permutations. This paper introduces the application of LHS to ABMS via a case study that investigates the mortgage foreclosure contagion effect. This paper aims to discuss these issues.

Traditionally, uncertainty surrounding a single input variable is investigated using sensitivity analysis. That is, the variable is allowed to change to determine the impact of this variation on the simulation's output. When there is uncertainty about multiple input variables, then the number of simulation runs required to undertake this investigation greatly increases due to the permutations that need to be considered. LHS, which was first derived by McKay et al., offers a proven mechanism to reduce the number of simulation runs needed to complete a sensitivity analysis. This paper describes the LHS technique and its applications to an agent-based simulation (ABS) for investigating the foreclosure contagion effect.

The results from the foreclosure ABS runs have been characterized as “good”, “bad” or “ugly”, corresponding to whether or not a property market crash has occurred. As the only thing that can induce a property market crash within our model is the spread of foreclosing properties, these results indicate that the foreclosure contagion effect is dependent on how much impact a foreclosed property has on the price of the surrounding properties.

This paper describes the application of LHS to an agent-based foreclosure simulation. The foreclosure model and its results have been described in Gangel et al. Given a certain output “boundary” found within these results, it was highly appropriate to conduct an extensive sensitivity analysis on the simulation's input variables. The outcome of the LHS sensitivity analysis has given further insight into the foreclosure contagion effect thus demonstrating it was a beneficial exercise.

Indigenous Australians are often referred to as ‘the First Peoples’ of Australia, and the inclusion of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags in being recognised as official national flags in 1995 by the Keating Federal Government, alongside the Australian flag, embues First Peoples with national recognition. The national discussion and consultation to reform Australia's Constitution has failed to progress a proposal to enshrine Australia's First Peoples recognition in the preamble of the constitution. The Australian Federal Government also dismissed the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which calls for a national Indigenous voice to parliament and the concept of a Makarrata, to facilitate the truth-telling about Australia's violent history. This great southern continent experiences long periods of drought, intense fires and periodic intense flooding across Australia. However, Australian society has barely engaged with First Peoples and their unique knowledge of this land, whether traditional or revitalised, including their exemplary sustainable management through ‘Caring for Country’. This chapter examines the benefits of Indigenous people's knowledge exercised through their laws, customs, practices and polity, and analyses the significant impact resulting from generations of settler Australians ignoring Indigenous ontology and knowledge.

Management is sometimes challenged by investors to justify the financial benefits of voluntary disclosure and transparency related to corporate social responsibility (CSR). Researchers have found inconsistent results when examining the relationship between CSR reporting and financial performance. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between voluntary CSR reporting and financial performance. Specifically, this paper addresses three questions. First, is there a significant difference in Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reporting level for firms in a high environmental risk sector compared to those in a low environmental risk sector? Second, does GRI reporting level significantly influence financial performance measures, such as the risk ratios and information ratio? And third, does the relationship between GRI reporting level and financial performance measures differ significantly based on sector environmental risk? These questions are particularly relevant to the Indian business environment, where CSR is not just voluntary but mandated by regulation since 2013. The Indian Government is the first to do so and is ahead of many nations in collaborating with businesses to address not just environmental impacts but also social effects of industry on the community.

This study examined the relationship between GRI reporting level and financial performance for 173 firms with different levels of environmental risk. ANOVA and MANOVA were used to examine for differences in GRI reporting level and financial performance for firms from the various sectors and also to determine if there were significant relationships between GRI level and certain financial risk ratios.

Results indicate that firms in sectors with high environmental risk adopt GRI framework at a higher level than firms with low environmental risk. There is no significant relationship found between GRI reporting and financial performance at an aggregate level. However, environmental risk is found to moderate the relationship between GRI reporting and financial reporting, such that firms with high risk experience a more significant relationship between the GRI level that is adopted and financial performance.

CSR is quickly becoming a pathway to sustainable competitive advantage for businesses today. Such CSR efforts can lead to both reputational and financial performance implications. Organizations not only adopt CSR in response to regulatory requirements, but also frequently do so voluntarily to address stakeholder concerns. This study sheds valuable insight on the positive effects of CSR reporting, which provides important implications for Indian organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the current trend of pharmaceutical direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) in the USA and its effect to patients, physicians and drug utilization. The DTCA of pharmaceutical firms is defined as an attempt of pharmaceutical companies to advertise product directly to patients.

The methodology used is literature review complemented with a semi-structured interview.

Pharmaceutical DTCA showed a reduction in total spending, whereas the online channel experienced growth. DTCA affected the physician–patient relationship and patient satisfaction. Patients who received medication associated with DTCA showed higher satisfaction. DTCA of second-line drugs resulted in an increase of first-line drug utilization. Benefits of pharmaceutical DTCA include enhancing appropriate drug utilization and increasing awareness. DTCA might cause harm by interfering with physician’s decisions regarding drug choice.

Limitations include limited available information of DTCA spending from pharmaceutical companies and lack of quantitative data on the effect of pharmaceutical DTCA. In addition, DTCA is sometimes affected by research bias.

Improvement in the physician–patient relationship and patient satisfaction, as well as in the quality of care provided may be demonstrated.

Pharmaceutical firms using DTCA marketing advertisement methodologies can increase awareness of underdiagnosed conditions and affect medication costs and the utilization of appropriate drug utilization.

Review highlights current relationships between DTCA, patients, physicians and drug utilization to explore the effects DTCA on consumers.

This chapter draws upon the ongoing gaps and injustices in Western water policy and law, exploring its paucity in recognition of Indigenous Water rights. Exacerbated by National Water legislation and ongoing colonial racism, notions of ‘ownership’ of water resources that are licenced through the Crown represent a site where a paradigm shift is needed to dismiss the myth of aqua nullius and secure Aboriginal Water rights (Marshall, 2017). The Gunditjmara success in obtaining United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage listing of the Budj Bim eel traps and the Yarra River (Wilip-gin Birrarung murron) Protection Act (2017) are two examples that illustrate recognition of Aboriginal connections to water, but at the same time reveal weaknesses in Australian water policy. Sustainable Indigenous culture requires legal, social and cultural recognition and enactment of Aboriginal Water rights.

Information technology (IT) project implementation is still a grey area. There are differences of opinion among educators and practitioners on strategic emphasis and implementation methods. Implementation of IT projects, especially large IT projects, is synonymous to management of changes in an organisation, be it for altering the work culture or gaining competitive advantages. When formulating effective change management strategies to support the introduction of IT, it may be useful to integrate and use concepts and practices drawn from disciplines such as traditional project management, organisational/product innovation, and change management theory and practices. This paper examines project management and product innovation literature to identify change management concepts and practices.

The purpose of this paper is to describe an experiment in introducing fiction e‐books in two reading groups run by a public library.

A user study involving two reading groups run over a period of three months. Electronic versions of titles of interest to each group were given out to each participant on Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). Readers were then asked to fill in a satisfaction questionnaire and discuss their experience with the rest of their group.

Readers were not too negative about using a new tool/gadget like the PDA but they did not see any advantage in reading an electronic version of the selected book.

It was realised quite earlier on that the target readers were emotionally so attached to physical books to feel as if they were betraying them when reading them electronically. A different sample of users more inclined to use technology and more open to different publishing models would have possibly provided a better insight.

The group reading approach introduced a social side to the adoption of e‐books and it was hoped that that would have made a difference. It was also one of the first attempts to look into the use of fiction e‐books in public libraries as opposed to an already existing number of studies looking into e‐books and their use in education and academic libraries. As such it can benefit both publishers and librarians.

This research is a 6-year extension of Bernardi's (2005) initial ranking of the top ethics authors in accounting; it also represents a broadening of the scope of the original data into accounting's top-40 journals. While Bernardi only considered publications in business-ethics journals in his initial ranking, we developed a methodology to identify ethics articles in accounting's top-40 journals. The purpose of this research is to provide a more complete list of accounting's ethics authors for use by authors, administrators, and other stakeholders. In this study, 26 business-ethics and accounting's top-40 journals were analyzed for a 23-year period between 1986 through 2008. Our data indicate that 16.8 percent of the 4,680 colleagues with either a PhD or DBA who teach accounting at North American institutions had authored/coauthored one ethics article and only 6.3 percent had authored/coauthored more than one ethics article in the 66 journals we examined. Consequently, 83.2 percent of the PhDs and DBAs in accounting had not authored/coauthored even one ethics article.