Does Financial & Social Development are Important for Economic Growth? An International Scenario

Financial and Social Development plays pivotal role in the economic growth of nations. Developed countries have strong financial and social infrastructure. This study focuses on the social and financial development in relation to economic growth of developed, developing and frontier economies. Gross Domestic product (GDP) per capita used as dependent variable. Domestic credit, market capitalization, turnover ratio, household consumption, foreign direct investment, capital formation, Co2 Emission and trade openness are used as independent variables. government expenditures on education and current health expenditures are use as social variables. Unemployment and inflation rate also use as control variables. Pooled OLS (ordinary least squares), fixed effects and random effects models are used to check the relationship among variables from 2001-2017.  Results show positive and significant relation between Gross Domestic product (GDP) Domestic credit, education expenditures and health expenditures in case of developing countries. Market capitalization, turnover ratio, foreign direct investment, and trade openness have a positive but insignificant relationship. Co2 Emission, inflation and unemployment rate have negative and insignificant relation with GDP per capita. In advanced countries Inflation rate trade openness and FDI have positive and significant relation with GDP per capita. Domestic credit, market capitalization, turnover ratio, household final consumption and Co2 Emission have a negative relation with GDP per capita. Education and health also have a negative and insignificant relation with GDP per capita. In Frontier economies there is a positive and insignificant relation of market capitalization, FDI, Co2 Emission and health expenditures with GDP per capita. capital formation, turnover ratio, household consumption, trade openness has negative and significant relation with per capita. Education expenditures have positive and significant relation with GDP per capita. Co2 have positive but insignificant relation. Inflation and unemployment rate have negative but insignificant relation with GDP per capita

Efficacy of Misoprostol versus Syntometrine in the Prevention of Postpartum Hemorrhage

effects of oral misoprostol versus syntometrine for prevention of primary postpartum hemorrhage. Methods: Interventional study; Eighty patients were divided into two equal groups. Misoprostol 600 microgram single dose was given orally immediately after cord clamping to Group A. Syntometrine (consists of 10 IU oxytocin + 0.5mg ergometrine) was given intravenous to Group B. Patients were kept under observation for 6 hours. Pulse, blood pressure, temperature any need for other uterotonic drugs, estimated blood loss (<500ml or >500ml) haemoglobin percentage 6hours before and after delivery, need for blood transfusion, side effects, time and mode of delivery were noted. Results: Differences in blood pressure and transfusion were statistically insignificant between two groups. Shivering and pyrexia was more common in Group A , and nausea, vomiting and hypertension in Group B Conclusion: Like syntometrine, misoprostol can be used prophylactically orally during third stage of labour to reduce the incidence of Primary postpartum hemorrhage

Repurposing factories with robotics in the face of COVID-19

Can collaborative robots ramp-up the production of medical ventilators

Impact of Terrorism on Stock Market: A Case of South Asian Stock Markets

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of terrorism on stock markets of South Asia namely, Karachi Stock Exchange 100 index (Pakistan), Bombay Stock Exchange (India), Colombo Stock Exchange (Sri Lanka) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (Bangladesh). Monthly panel data has been used for the period of January 2000 to December 2016. Terrorism events happened during the period of 2000 to 2016 have been incorporated to examine the impact of terrorism on stock market returns of South Asia. DCC GARCH through R software is used to analyze the impact of terrorism on stock market returns and to analyze the spillover effect of terrorism in one country and on the stock markets of other countries of South Asia. The results indicate that terrorism has significant and negative effect on stock market returns of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh but insignificant in Sri Lanka. Results also shows that stock markets return of Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh are significant and positively correlated with each other except the Stock market of Sri Lanka

A collaboration–resilience framework for disaster management supply networks: a case study of the Philippines

PurposeThe increasing risk of natural disasters is challenging humanitarian actors to create resilient disaster management systems. However, the role of the private sector in disaster management operations (DMOs) is not as prominent as the role played by (inter)governmental agencies. This article aims to investigate the relationship of collaboration and resilience in disaster management supply networks (DMSNs).Design/methodology/approachSupply network resilience criteria were defined as robustness, flexibility, velocity and visibility based on the literature review. DMSN capabilities were identified characterising each resilience criterion through the development of the Collaboration–Resilience (COLRES) Analysis Framework for DMSNs. This theoretical model was then applied to an empirical case study in the Philippines using semi-structured interviews for data gathering.FindingsA total of 46 cross-sector collaboration activities were identified across four disaster management phases and linked to the resilience criteria. A causal analysis of each collaboration activity and its outcome was conducted to identify relationships between collaboration types and resilience constructs. Based on these results, patterns were identified, and dependencies between collaboration and resilience were defined. Collective DMSN resilience (DMSNRES) enabled by existing cross-sector collaboration activities was evaluated against a future disaster scenario to identify resilience gaps. These gaps were used to recognise new cross-sector collaboration opportunities, thereby illustrating the continuous process of resilience building.Research limitations/implicationsThis research provides new insights on how private sector is involved within a DMOs through collaboration with the government and other NGOs. It augments existing literature on private sector involvement in DMOs where common perception is that the sector is only involved in short-term response and recovery activities. This study finds that the private sector can be operationally involved not just in post-disaster activities, but also in mitigation and preparation phases as well. This then sets a new baseline for further research on private sector involvement within DMOs. As this study provided a novel framework to analyse collaboration activities and its impact to DMSN resilience, future work could be done by applying the model to further cases such as other countries'. DMSNs, or to more specific contexts such as inter-organisational collaborations rather than big sectors. A more detailed assessment method against a future disaster will prove relevance for the model in providing practical insights on how resilience can be built in DMSNs.Practical implicationsThis research proposed a novel DMSN collaboration-resilience (COLRES) model (Figure 11) to analyse existing processes in preparation for specific disasters. Practitioners may be able to use this model with the goal of identifying resilience gaps to fill and continuously improve their processes. The model also provides practitioners the lens to improve processes with the perspective on collaboration to complement government and NGO efforts and expertise with those of the private sector. For the private sector perspective, this research provides new insights on how they can be more involved with the community to provide more sustainable and long-term contributions to the society.Social implicationsWith disasters becoming more complex and frequent by the day and as humanitarian actors focus on improving their expertise, the need for every piece of the society to contribute to disaster risk reduction is continuously intensified. This research shows that each sector of the society can take part in disaster management operations to reduce unpredictability, lives impacted and increase speed of response and recovery. Each sector of the society can be of great contribution not only during post-disaster response and recovery but also during pre-disaster mitigation and preparedness phase. As such, this research echoes the call for everyone to be involved in disaster risk reduction and mitigation as a way of life.Originality/valueThis research ultimately finds that cross-sector collaboration builds resilience in DMSNs through capacity building, redundancy sourcing, information reliability and logistics responsiveness. This study shows that the private sector is able to go beyond existing short-term partnerships by participating in the 46 collaboration activities identified across four disaster management phases in order to build resilience in DMSNs.EPSR

Use of Social Commerce to Develop Intentions to Buy With Mediating Role of Social Support

Web 2.0 technology and social media have paved a new way for the communication for individuals and for the businesses of e-commerce firms. This technology has opened the opportunities to introduce new business model which incorporates several social aspects of individuals. As Social Networking Sites are gaining more popularity, these have formed the links between internet consumers and it has become a critical way of getting knowledge for individuals. It has introduced social commerce which is joining of three concepts; e-commerce, web 2.0 and social media. E-commerce firms have started to engage their potential consumers on social media websites for the sake of contacting potential consumers and getting feedback on their products and services. Social Commerce is expanding because of its importance in information sharing. However, emotional support is also considered important factor which is comprised of informational and emotional factors that lead to trust and then ultimately, intentions to buy. This proposed structural model was assessed through collecting data from the online buyers of Pakistan through social media. It was found that in order to generate intentions to buy through social networking sites, social support is vital component that should be focused by the online businesses. This paper is concluded with research limitations and some suggestions for future research

Study of Black Consciousness in A Raisin in The Sun

This work explores Black Consciousness in A Raisin in the Sun by Hansberry. Black Consciousness elaborates an awareness of and pride in one’s identity as a black person. It analyzes A Raisin in the Sun by applying the theory of Black Consciousness under the perspective of Fanon. This study analysis the drama at three levels: sense of pride on black culture and identity, struggle against Apartheid and Blacks’ resolution to accept the challenges of White Community

Reconfiguring and ramping-up ventilator production in the face of COVID-19 : can robots help?

As the COVID-19 pandemic expands, the shortening of medical equipment is swelling. A key piece of equipment getting far-out attention has been ventilators. The difference between supply and demand is substantial to be handled with normal production techniques, especially under social distancing measures in place. The study explores the rationale of human-robot teams to ramp up production using advantages of both the ease of integration and maintaining social distancing. The paper presents a model for faster integration of collaborative robots and design guidelines for workstations. The scenario is evaluated for an open source ventilator through continuous human-robot simulation and amplification of results in a discrete event simulation

Willingness to Purchase Green products: Evidence from Educated Segment of Southern Punjab

Purpose: In this study, we explore the influence of environmental concern on willingness to purchase green product of selected segment of educated consumers. Among environmental concern variables eco-labeling positive & significant and lack of knowledge has negative and significant related to the willingness to purchase green product. Design/Methodology/Approach: It is a questionnaire based survey. 500 questionnaires distributed among selected segment of educated consumers out of which 305 found suitable for empirical analysis. Logistic regression model was used to examine the connection between willingness to purchase green product and environmental concern variables (i.e. Environmental concern, comfort, eco-labeling and lack of knowledge). Findings: Logistic regression result suggest that environmental concern has negative and comfort has positive influence on willingness to purchase green product however relationship is insignificant. Eco-labeling has positive and significant impact on willingness to purchase green product. Lack of information has negative and significant impact on willingness to purchase green product. Implications/Originality/Value: So it is concluded that study has several practical implications, marketers and policy makers can adopt strategies to stimulate the segment of educated people for purchasing green product and reducing pollution