Policy making and energy infrastructure change: A Nigerian case study of energy governance in the electricity sector

This paper focusses on investigating the underlying mechanisms and influences of the policy decision making process and how it affects and impacts the governance of the Nigerian energy industry, and energy infrastructure provisions. In-depth semi-structured interviews were used; all interviewees had been involved, directly or indirectly, in energy infrastructure policy decisions in Nigeria. Five key themes subsequently emerged as salient intra-country induced influences that were affecting the governance and performance of the Nigerian energy sector: (1) competencies – i.e. practical knowledge of energy policy making; (2) expectations – i.e. past, present, and forecasted future expectations from the energy industry; (3) legislation – i.e. institutionalized (and unwritten) rules/procedures; (4) future visions – i.e. future vision of the energy industry/energy market; (5) recruiting experts – i.e. recruiting new energy and public policy makers. In addition, three major inter-country induced influences were also identified: (1) the changing dynamics of international and foreign aid; (2) the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals; and (3) the Paris Agreements on Climate Change. The paper concludes by highlighting the policy implications of these influences, and the consequences for policy makers in the governance of the energy industry in ensuring a secured energy future

Robust image analysis with sparse representation on quantized visual features

10.1109/TIP.2012.2219543IEEE Transactions on Image Processing223860-871IIPR

College students and credit card companies: Implications of attitudes

More knowledge and understanding is needed regarding the mechanisms influencing college student attitudes toward credit card companies and the behavior that students exhibit using credit cards. Prior literature in the area has been sparse. The current article is an attempt to fill the gap in existing literature. Using survey data, we try to find the determinants of college student attitude toward credit card companies and the responsible use of credit cards. Our findings indicate that a strong positive link exists between student attitude toward credit card companies and responsible credit behavior. Two distinct groups of students are identified - one with a positive attitude toward credit card companies and positive credit use behaviors; the other with the opposing attitude and behavior. Reward cards, payment behavior, number of credit cards, modes of acquisition, awareness about credit card policies, purpose for using credit cards, impulsiveness and certain student characteristics are all indicated as variables that help discriminate between the two different student groups. Our findings have implications for both higher education institutions and credit card firms