Estimating Production Response of Broadacre Farms in Western Australia: The Nexus of Empirics and Economics Revisited

Reliable estimates of elasticities are fundamental requirement to accurate economic forecasting and valid analyses of the impacts of changes in government policies or international events. The aim of this paper is thus, to estimate production response for broadacre farms in Western Australia by using a normalized quadratic profit function for the period 1977/78 to 2005/06. The result reflects the imposition of curvature restrictions for a normalized profit function, and estimated elasticities are found to be less elastic in the short run. The results from this exercise can be used in a number of ways, depending on the policy objective in mind, such as simulation for forecasting agricultural production.Production Response; Duality Production Theory; Nonlinear Inequality Constraints, Flexible Functional Forms.

ANALISIS KESUKSESAN SISTEM INFORMASI PERPUSTAKAAN SENAYAN DENGAN PENDEKATAN MODEL DELONE DAN MCLEAN DI SMK MUHAMMADIYAH 3 YOGYAKARTA

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji Model Kesuksesan Sistem Informasi yang dikemukakan Oleh DeLone dan McLean pada system informasi perpustakaan Senayan. Variabel yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah kualitas sistem, kualitas informasi, kualitas layanan, penggunaan, kepuasan pengguna, dan manfaat-manfaat bersih. Objek dari penelitian in adalah sistem informasi perpustakaan Senayan yang digunakan di SMK Muhammadiyah 3 Yogyakarta, dan subjek dari penelitian ini adalah siswa kelas X angkatan 2013, dengan jumlah populasi 478 dan sampel yang digunakan adalah 172 siswa dan 2 orang admin dari system informasi perpustakaan Senayan. Penelitian mengaplikasikan teori yang dikemukakan oleh DeLone dan McLean(2003) tentang kesuksesan sistem informasi. Teknik pengumpulan data yang digunakan adalah dengan menggunakan angket. Pengujian hipotesis yang digunakan adalah dengan teknik analisis korelasi product moment Pearson. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian ini menunjukan bahwa distribusi kecenderungan pada semua variabel adalah cukup baik dan semua hipoteseis diterima. (1) terdapat hubungan positif dan signifikan antara kualitas sistem dan penggunaan, (2) terdapat hubungan positif dan signifikan antara kualitas sistem dan kepuasan pengguna, (3) terdapat hubungan positif dan signifikan antara kualitas informasi dan penggunaan, (4) terdapat hubungan positif dan signifikan antara kualitas informasi dan kepuasan pengguna, (5) terdapat hubungan positif dan signifikan antara kualitas layanan dan penggunaan, (6) terdapat hubungan positif dan signifikan antara kualitas layanan dan kepuasan pengguna, (7) terdapat hubungan positif dan signifikan antara penggunaan dan kepuasan pengguna, (8) terdapat hubungan positif dan signifikan antara penggunaan dan manfaat-manfaat bersih, (9) terdapat hubungan positif dan signifikan antara kepuasan pengguna terhadap manfaat-manfaat bersih. Kata kunci: DeLone & McLean(2003), kualitas sistem, kualitas informasi, penggunaan, kepuasan pengguna, manfaat-manfaat bersih, sistem informasi perpustakaan Senayan

Developing quality heathcare software using quality function deployment: A case study based on Sultan Qaboos University Hospital

Development of software is one of the most expensive projects undertaken in practice. Traditionally, the rate of failure in software development projects is higher compared to other kinds of projects. This is partly due to the failure in determining software users’ requirements. By using Quality Function Deployment (QFD), this research focuses on identification and prioritization of users’ requirements in the context of developing quality health-care software system for Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH) in Oman. A total of 95 staff working at eight departments of SQUH were contacted and they were requested to provide their requirements in using hospital information systems. Analytic Hierarchy Process has been integrated with QFD for prioritizing those user requirements. Then, in consultation with a number of software engineers, a list consisting of 30 technical requirements was generated. These requirements are divided into seven categories and all of them are purported to satisfy the user needs. At the end of QFD exercise, continuous mirror backup from backup category, multi-level access from the security and confidentiality category, linkage to databases from application category emerge as technical requirements having higher weights. These technical requirements should receive considerable attention when designing the health-care software system for SQUH.Software quality; Quality function deployment; Healthcare software; Analytic Hierarchy Process

Moribund SAFTA and trade policy options for South Asia

In response to meager intra-regional trade flow South Asian countries formed their regional trade bloc SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Area) in 2004 and made operational from 2006.Defying the rhetoric of the leaders and expectation of the masses, this bloc could not make any progress until now. Using panel data over the past thirty years from the seven member states and a random effect methodology that controls for endogenous predictors, the study shows that when gravity related and other variables are controlled for SAFTA turns out to be dysfunctional. The reasons for such failure can be attributed to the thin preferential margins on only a few number of tariff lines whose benefits are evaporated once complying with the rules of origin issue and complicated administrative procedure are taken into account. Moreover appearances of new generations of traded products (e.g. computing and telecommunications equipment) that are sourced from outside the region and changes of demand structure in favor of these commodities have made South Asian trade more outward oriented. Since the “free” trade bloc is not working in South, the paper concludes that alternative trade policy options like unilateral liberalization and seeking for multiple preferential agreements can buttress trade linked growth of the region

Welfare Impacts of Preferential Trade Liberalization in South Asia

Focusing on the global trading relationship aggregated at the level of 15 regions and 10 sectors, we investigate in this paper the welfare effects of preferential trade liberalisation in South Asia from several simulation perspectives. The static version of the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model shows that countries that are initially more protected (such as India) are likely to capture the lion’s share of the gain from the liberalization scheme. Countries that maintain status quo are the losers; prominent among them are the EU 25 and the North America region. However, these results are dramatically changed in the dynamic version of the GTAP model. In terms of deviations from the baseline scenario, the regional integration policy in South Asia turns out to be net welfare reducing for both the region and the rest of the world

An Integrated GIS Method – The Influence of Human Activities on Shoreline Change in Western Indian Small Island States: A Two Centuries Analysis of Urban West Unguja - Zanzibar Shoreline

Urban areas have a high impact of shoreline changes that are influenced by human activities rather than natural factors together with hard structural mitigation and management which are more practiced compared to other areas The shoreline of Urban West of Unguja Island in Zanzibar has been undergone changes in different stages due to human activities either like reclamation of Darajani creek port expansion at Malindi Mtoni beach nourishment sewer and stormwater channeling at Kilimani construction of walls groins and jetties etc however the area experience more accretion rather than retreat integrated analysis and projections of the overall accretion and retreat for 174 years is 1 527 693 85 m2 1 53 km2 and -936 135 48 m2 -0 94 km receptively The average accretion of land from 1846 to 2020 is 8 779 85m2 yr 0 0088 km2 yr and retreat is -5 380 09m2 yr - 0 0054 km2 yr A major accretion was observed and detected during the early 1900s to late 1987 where major land transformation with other minor development activities between 2010 to 2020 Sea walls groins beach nourishment mangroves barrier islands and islets are major management practices of the shoreline which shows positive impact Integrated methods were used to analyze and detect changes using a sketch topographic map and images which were carefully georeferenced with latitude and longitudes digitized using ArcGIS and demarcated along the study area supported with ground truth observatio

How Effective Is The Free Trade Agreement in South Asia? An Empirical Investigation

We investigate the efficacy of preferential trade liberalization in changing the observed trade pattern among the South Asian countries that have entered into the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA). Although in its nascent stage, some data are now available to provide an ex-post evaluation of the performance of this bloc. Using these data, we find no empirical evidence of trade creation among SAFTA members, which is not surprising given that tariff concessions in SAFTA are small and are offset by complicated rules of origin procedure. However, a substantial and statistically significant increase in exports from SAFTA members to the rest of the world is found. Several panel strategies are used to check the sensitivity of the results against the assumptions of the estimation strategies. As some key coefficient estimates are found to differ across estimation methods, policymakers in South Asia need to use care in relying on the results from empirical studies, including our own, in formulating their trade policies

Estimating production response of broadacre farms in Western Australia: the nexus of empirics and economics revisited

Reliable estimates of elasticities are fundamental requirement to accurate economic forecasting and valid analyses of the impacts of changes in government policies or international events. The aim of this paper is thus, to estimate production response for broadacre farms in Western Australia by using a normalized quadratic profit function for the period 1977/78 to 2005/06. The result reflects the imposition of curvature restrictions for a normalized profit function, and estimated elasticities are found to be less elastic in the short run. The results from this exercise can be used in a number of ways, depending on the policy objective in mind, such as simulation for forecasting agricultural production

Varian Makna Dosa dalam Al-Qur’an : Studi Tafsir Tentang Lafadh Al-Dhanb dan Al-Ithm

Abstract: Al-Qur'an describes various forms of sin both applicatively and implicitly. but from various forms of different meanings. These all have a common thread of meaning so that in short it is immediately interpreted as sin. Although in fact there are many differences in understanding the essence of the sentences of the Qur'an which are interpreted as sin. The unification of meaning into one meaning, namely sin, makes the writer feel uneasy because reality has different applications and implications. Departing from a reflection to explore the true meaning that is appropriate to be attached to the pronunciation al-ithm and al-dhanb which have the meaning of sin. This happens because the author observes that many people understand and know what sin means, but understanding it will lead to different meanings and explanations. This happens because of various aspects which are even closely related to sin. This study is focusing to explore the true meaning of the pronunciation al-ithm and al-dhanb which are usually interpreted as sin, even though the two actually have differences. This research finally resulted in what the authors were looking for, namely the difference in the operational meanings of the two pronunciations that originated from the interpretation of the Al-Qur'an verse. &nbsp

Analysis of E-Banking Acceptance in Oman: The Case of Islamic Banks’ Customers

The main objective of this study is to examine the factors that influence the customers’ intention to adopt E-banking services in Oman across the Islamic Banking sector. This research endeavours to assess the willingness of the Islamic banks’ customers to adopt these services rather than the traditional banking methods. Accordingly, a sample of 300 Islamic banks' customers were surveyed in different districts of Oman. Afterwards, linear regression and one sample t-test were utilized in order to analyse the gathered data. The findings showed that customers have high tendency of embracing and utilizing E-banking services as opposed to the conventional services. Additionally, the results revealed that relative advantage, self-efficacy, ease of use, and facilitating conditions are the fundamental factors that impact the selection of E-banking by Islamic banks' customers in Oman. However, uncertainty had no significant effect on the intention of Islamic banks’ customers to use E-banking services. These findings would significantly contribute to the theory, and the way that Islamic banking sector would be practiced and regulated