Crime and Social media

Purpose-The study complements the scant macroeconomic literature on the development outcomes of social media by examining the relationship between Facebook penetration and violent crime levels in a cross-section of 148 countries for the year 2012. Design/methodology/approach-The empirical evidence is based on Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Tobit and Quantile regressions. In order to respond to policy concerns on the limited evidence on the consequences of social media in developing countries, the dataset is disaggregated into regions and income levels. The decomposition by income levels included: low income, lower middle income, upper middle income and high income. The corresponding regions include: Europe and Central Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. Findings-From OLS and Tobit regressions, there is a negative relationship between Facebook penetration and crime. However, Quantile regressions reveal that the established negative relationship is noticeable exclusively in the 90th crime decile. Further, when the dataset is decomposed into regions and income levels, the negative relationship is evident in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) while a positive relationship is confirmed for sub-Saharan Africa. Policy implications are discussed. Originality/value- Studies on the development outcomes of social media are sparse because of a lack of reliable macroeconomic data on social media. This study primarily complemented three existing studies that have leveraged on a newly available dataset on Facebook

The development of downside accounting beta as a measure of risk

This paper develops a new method for measuring market risk called downside accounting beta (DAB). To test the validity of DAB the method is applied to the financial data for 14 food companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange during a 6-year period. DAB calculates how changes in the profitability of the whole sector affects the profitability of a given company. The paper concludes that when calculating DAB using Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) there is a positive correlation with market betas. The practical implication of this research is that investors, owners and managers can use DAB to calculate the systematic risk of companies not listed on stock markets and consequently to identify the levels of risk associated with companies within the sector

An empirical investigation into the propensity of reckless decision making within the high pressure environment of Deal or No Deal.

This paper discusses human attitudes towards risk and the development of expected utility models, laying the foundations for the creation of prospect theory in 1979. It proceeds to analyse the decisions of contestants on the popular TV game show Deal or No Deal to attempt to observe any evidence of differing levels of risk aversion under losses and gains as predicted by prospect theory. The results reveal some evidence of decreased risk aversion in the domains of losses and gains, with contestants displaying behaviour consistent with the break-even and house-money effects. We conclude there may be enough evidence of variable reference points to warrant further investigation, and propose suggestions for further researc

The Mobile Phone as an Argument for Good Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa

Purpose- This study presents theoretical and empirical arguments for the role of mobile telephony in promoting good governance in 47 sub-Saharan African countries for the period 2000-2012. Design/methodology/approach- The empirical inquiry uses an endogeneity-robust GMM approach with forward orthogonal deviations to analyse the linkage between mobile phone usage and the variation in three broad governance categories — political, economic and institutional. Findings- Three key findings are established: First, in terms of individual governance indicators, mobile phones consistently stimulated good governance by the same magnitude, with the exception of the effect on the regulation component of economic governance. Second, when indicators are combined, the effect of mobile phones on general governance is three times higher than that on the institutional governance category. Third, countries with lower levels of governance indicators are catching-up with their counterparts with more advanced dynamics. Originality/value- The study makes both theoretical and empirical contributions by highlighting the importance of various combinations of governance indicators and their responsiveness to mobile phone usage

Occupant health & well-being in green buildings: Trends and Future Directions

Expectations for high performance green buildings have been evolving over the last four decades. Green certification systems define, recognize, and demonstrate leadership in addressing building problems related to people and the environment. These systems are premised on a theory of change where making the distribution in building performance visible provides opportunities for competitive differentiation that motivates and rewards action to create better spaces, buildings, and places. To date, there are more than 200 different green building certification programs around the globe, with estimates of at least 1 million certified projects