Two essays on financial sector performance in Latin America

This dissertation consists of two essays on financial sector performance in Latin America. These two essays complement each other so that, when placed together, they are expected to provide policymakers with guidelines on how to design appropriate financial sector reform strategies in an attempt to promote long-term economic development, and thus to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows not only for Latin American countries, but also for developing countries in general. Chapter one investigates the extent to which the short and the long-run relationship between financial development and economic growth exists in Latin America. It focuses on two major aspects of financial development that can enhance growth: stock market and banking sector. Specifically, what role does the financial sector play in the economic growth process? What effect, positive, negative or zero, has financial development exerted on economic growth? Have the stock market and banking sector development indicators jointly entered the growth regression significantly? What type of causality, uni-directional or bi-directional, exists in the finance-growth nexus? Utilizing panel data methods and applying Granger causality tests within a framework of panel cointegration and error correction model, we attempt to answer the above questions empirically and shed some light on the roles of financial development as well as other conditional variables in determination of economic growth. Chapter one recommends that the real sector of Latin American economies should be developed further in order to sustain the development of the banking sector. On the other hand, the empirical results suggest that there is considerable evidence of bi-directional causality between stock market development and economic growth when stock market development indicators are used as proxies for financial development. Based on these results, government policies designed to enhance the efficiency of the stock markets and economic growth will be mutually beneficial in Latin America and other regions at the same stage of financial development such as East Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. Chapter two examines the domestic and international determinants of FDI in Latin America. In particular, what factors led to the upsurge in FDI into the region? Why are some countries more successful than others in attracting FDI? Whether factors that affect FDI in developing countries affect countries in Latin America differently. Whether countries with well-developed financial markets attract more FDI inflows. Whether FDI flows to developing countries are determined by domestic and/or international factors. This chapter attempts to answer the above questions based on the experience of 14 Latin American countries from 1978 to 2007. The empirical findings in this chapter show that both domestic and international factors have been important determinants of FDI inflows to Latin America. Therefore, chapter two recommends that emphasis in the short and medium term should be focus on reforming investment regulatory framework to remove or reduce FDI restrictions, implementing policies that promote macroeconomic economic stability, and improving the educational and physical infrastructure. While, in the long-run, more FDI can be attained by persisting support for FDI liberalization through bilateral or multilateral means, continuing of the privatization process, and implementing appropriate monetary and fiscal policies for economic reforms and international integration with the world economy, thereby improving the attractiveness of a nation as a destination for FDI. Further analyzing the relationship between FDI and financial development, the empirical findings provide supporting evidence that a well-developed financial sector can represent a source of absorptive capacity in the host country which may enable these countries to absorb the positive impact of FDI. Therefore, the evidence suggests that Latin American countries should continue to stimulate and improve financial sector development in the economy to make it more attractive for foreign investors. The Granger causality results show that the causal link between FDI and banking sector development is uni-directional, suggesting that the development of banking sector in Latin American countries can attract more FDI. We also provide evidence that the link between FDI and stock market development indicators is bi-directional. Therefore, the evidence suggests that Latin American countries should continue to stimulate and improve financial sector development in the economy to make it more attractive for foreign investors

Leadership in Nursing

The nursing literature, until recently presents the phenomenon of leadership as associated with nurse executives and formal leadership roles. That is leadership is defined in terms of an interactive process where followers are motivated and empowered to accomplish specific goals. The purpose of this chapter is to present the phenomena of nursing clinical leadership and leadership at the bedside, which is a new area of research in nursing. This chapter proposes that leadership is not merely linked to top management levels, but it can be developed and implemented at bedside for nurses. Clinical leadership skills focus on patients and healthcare teams rather than formal leadership position. In addition, clinical leadership relates to nursing professional activities, which provide direct care at bedside, which differs from the traditional nursing leadership notion. Thus, acquiring clinical leadership skills is crucial for nurses who provide direct patient care. This allows nurses to direct and support patients and healthcare teams when providing care. Furthermore, it is crucial that nurses develop an effective leadership role to deliver high-quality care and ensure patient safety while engaging in numerous daily leadership roles. Moreover, it emphasized the importance of the cooperation between nursing education programs and healthcare organizations in preparing nurses to be effective leaders by 2020 for the new era of health care

Factors Affecting the Implementation of Electronic Medical Records Systems (EMRs) in Jordanian Hospitals

An Electronic Medical Record System (EMRS) is an application that enables access and retrieval of a patient's medical history. Currently EMRS implementation does not encompass more than 50% of the hospitals in Jordan, and limited research has been done in Jordan to identify the main factors affecting the implementation of EMRS. The aim of this study is to explore the factors that affect the EMRS implementation in Jordanian hospitals. A conceptual model, adapted from Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), was built to relate Organizational Factors (OF) and Individual Characteristic Factors (ICF) to EMRS implementation in Jordanian hospitals. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect the data from healthcare professionals in two major hospitals that have full implementation of EMRS. Findings indicated that OF has significant relationships with Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) and Perceived Usefulness (PU), ICF has significant relationships with PEOU, User-Patient relationship has significant relationships with PU with exception of User Autonomy, PEOU has a significant effects with PU, PU has significant relationship with Attitude Toward Using (ATU) exception of PEOU, and ATU has a significant relationship with Behavioural Intention to Use. The finding of this study has led to the enhancement of the theoretical knowledge of TAM'S application in the health informatics domain. This study has extended the current model comprising PEOU and PU, by adding the OF and ICF. Consequently, the findings can assist decision makers in formulating EMRS implementation strategies in Jordan

WAVE SCATTERING AT A TAPERED FREE END OF AN ELASTIC PLATE

This paper focuses on the interaction of SH elastic waves in a plate with a tapered free end. The plate is modeled as a semi-infinite elastic structure, which was assumed to have traction-free surfaces. The results of the analysis based on mode matching are presented for various combinations of normalized frequencies and angles of free end inclination. The reported observations form important guidelines for the interpretation of experimental data when using horizontally polarized wave as a mean for nondestructive evaluation of elastic plates.  ABSTRAK: Kertas kerja ini adalah khusus berkenaan interaksi gelombang anjal SH di dalam plat yang mempunyai hujung bebas yang tirus. Plat ini dimodelkan sebagai satu struktur elastik separa tak terhingga, yang diandaikan mempunyai permukaan nirgeseran. Keputusan analisis berdasarkan mod pemadanan dibentangkan untuk pelbagai kombinasi frekuensi ternormal dan sudut kecondongan hujung bebas. Pemerhatian yang dibentangkan memberi panduan penting dalam menginterpretasi data eksperimental penggunaan gelombang berkutub mendatar sebagai satu kaedah penilaian tanpa musnah plat anjal

Accounting Education and Accountancy Profession in Jordan: The Current Status and the Processes of Improvement

The main aims in the current research paper are to identify the problems that are obstructing the development of accounting education and the accounting profession in Jordan and to identify strategies and techniques that can be effective in improving accounting education and the accounting profession in Jordan.  The accounting educational system in Jordanian universities should emphasize on how to better serve students and ensure that they will be competitive in the future work force. Accounting education should seek to adapt to the trend of professional accounting development. A questionnaire had been designed and distributed to (73) accounting instructors in Jordan. The population of this study consists of all accounting instructors employed in the both public and private Universities in Jordan. 73 questionnaires were distributed and 56 were returned giving a response rate of 77%. The results of this study revealed that the important factors for the improvement of accounting education and the accounting profession in Jordan include inadequate use of computers applications in accounting during teaching process and inadequate salaries of accounting instructors. Poor university infrastructure resulting in the creation of ineffective class groups. Similarly, this research tested a list of strategies and techniques that have been recommended for the improvement of accounting education and the accounting profession in developing countries. The research discovered that many of the strategies could be effective in improving accounting education and the accounting profession in Jordan. However, there are other strategies that would not be effective. Some of these include the development of accounting textbooks in domestic languages, setting local auditing and accounting standards and, localising professional accounting examinations. In this research paper, attempts were made to identify problems that are hindering the enhancement of accounting education and the accounting profession in Jordan. An analysis of strategies that can be employed to improve accounting education and the accounting profession in Jordan was also carried out, with a view to determine those strategies that can provide effective accounting education in specific developing country. Keywords: Accounting Education, Accounting Profession, Jorda

The role of Architectural Competitions in Breach the Familiar in Contemporary Architectural Production

استخدمت المسابقات المعمارية للحصول على مجموعة من التصاميم للمشاريع المعمارية والحضرية وتقديم الأفكار الخلاقة لإيجاد نتاجات معمارية بصيغ متفردة ولامألوفة تتفوق على زمانها وتضيف قيمة رمزية وجمالية لسياقها مكانيًا وثقافيًا. يحفز هاجس الفوز بالمسابقة المعماريين الى خرق المألوفات النمطية السائدة في عمليات إيجاد الشكل المعماري، وبهذا فقد برزت مشكلة البحث بـ (النقص المعرفي على مستوى الدراسات المحلية حول المسابقات المعمارية وارتباطها الفاعل بعمليات خرق المألوف في نتاجات العمارة المعاصرة) ويهدف البحث الى وضع تصور نظري واضح حول المسابقات المعمارية ودورها كمحفز ملهم للمعمارين في خرق المألوف السائد بغية الوصول الى نتاجات معمارية إبداعية معاصرة. ويفترض البحث فاعلية المسابقات المعمارية في خرق المألوف عن طريق إضفاء مجموعة من الخصائص الشكلية والجمالية اولا والمادية والوظيفية ثانيًا، ولتحقيق اهداف البحث تم تبني منهج تحليلي وصفي لمشاريع عالمية معاصرة ومن ثم تحليل مجموعة من الدراسات السابقة واستخلاص مفردات الإطار النظري وتطبيقها على عينة بحثية تضمنت ثلاثة مشاريع عالمية وإقليمية ومحلية وتحليلها. واستنتج البحث بان الخصائص الشكلية هي المؤشرات الأكثر تأثيرًا في زيادة احتمالية فوز المشروع في المسابقة المعمارية.Architectural competitions were used to obtain a set of designs for architectural and urban projects and to present creative ideas to create architectural products in unique and unusual formulas that surpass their time and add symbolic and aesthetic value to their spatial and cultural context. The obsession with winning the competition motivates the architects to breach the stereotypical norms prevailing in the processes of creating an architectural form, and thus the research problem has arisen with (the lack of knowledge at the level of local studies about architectural competitions and its active link to processes that breach the familiar in the products of contemporary architecture). The research aims to develop a clear theoretical perception about Architectural competitions and their role as an inspiring catalyst for architects in breaching the familiar in order to reach creative contemporary architectural products. The research assumes the effectiveness of architectural competitions in breaching the familiar by imparting a set of formal and aesthetic characteristics first, material and functional second, and to achieve the objectives of the research, an analytical and descriptive approach was adopted for contemporary international projects, and then analyzed a group of previous studies and extracted the vocabulary of the theoretical framework and applied it to a research sample that included three projects Global, regional, and local and analyzed. The research concluded that formal characteristics are the most influential indicators in increasing the likelihood of a project winning the architectural competition

Generalized Ridges and Ravines on an Equiform Motion

In this paper we investigate a new type of ridges and ravines of the configuration space corresponding to an equiform motion in the Euclidean space R3. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of generalized ridges and ravines are expressed as a partial differential inequalities involving the principal curvatures. For special case we obtain the solution of the differential equations which characterize some type of singularities. The singularities are displayed through figures [1, 2, 3].Key words Equiform motion; Configuration space; Generalized ridges and ravine

Local Study of Singularities on an Equiform Motion

In this paper we investigate the local singularities of the configuration space corresponding to an equiform motion in the Euclidean space $R^3$. The chaotic behavior of singularities are displayed through figures

Chemical modification of rat liver cytosolic NADP+-linked isocitrate dehydrogenase by N-ethylmaleimide Evidence for essential sulphydryl groups

AbstractIncubation of rat liver cytosolic isocitrate dehydrogenase with N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) resulted in the inactivation of the enzyme following pseudo-first order kinetics. Isocitrate affords considerable protection against inactivation whereas NADP+ enhances modification of the enzyme, suggesting localization of the modified group at the active site. Correlation of loss of activity with incorporation of [14C]NEM indicated that two sulphydryl residues/sub-unit are modified of which only one is shown to be involved in catalysis. pH dependence of the inactivation process implicates a reactive group of pKa 8.1 in catalysis. We conclude that a unique cysteine residue is essential for maximal catalytic activity of isocitrate dehydrogenase