The Competitiveness of the Information Systems Major: An Analytic Hierarchy Process

A sharp reduction in student enrollment in the information systems major has become an urgent issue in the information systems (IS) community. This study investigates the factors affecting the selection of major by business students, the relative strengths and weaknesses of the IS major with respect to those factors, and the short-term and long-term strategy to counteract this phenomenon. A questionnaire-based field survey of 246 students at twelve universities in the United States was conducted. The data was analyzed using an analytic hierarchy process. The results demonstrate that the IS major retains its share of strength in factors like personal interest, aptitude, starting salary, and job flexibility. However, the study also shows that factors like most difficult major, hard to find jobs, insufficient promotional efforts, and indifference to institutional reputation are of concern and these issues need further addressing for improving the competitiveness of the IS major. Referent group also had pessimistic opinions in majoring the IS. The short-term and long-term suggestions to enhance the competitiveness of the IS major are provided

Do Dropouts Benefit from Training Programs? Korean Evidence Employing Methods for Continuous Treatments

Failure of participants to complete training programs is pervasive in existing active labor market programs both in developed and developing countries. The proportion of dropouts in prototypical programs ranges from 10 to 50 percent of all participants. From a policy perspective, it is of interest to know if dropouts benefit from the time they spend in training since these programs require considerable resources. We shed light on this issue by estimating the average employment effects of different lengths of exposure to a program by dropouts in a Korean job training program. To do this, we employ parametric and semiparametric methods to estimate effects from continuous treatments using the generalized propensity score, under the assumption that selection into different lengths of exposure is based on a rich set of observed covariates. We find that participants who drop out later – thereby having longer exposures – exhibit higher employment probabilities one year after receiving training, and that marginal effects of additional exposure to training are initially fairly small, but increase sharply past a certain threshold of exposure. One implication of these results is that this and similar programs could benefit from providing incentives for participants to stay longer in the program.training programs, dropouts, developing countries, continuous treatments, generalized propensity score, dose-response function

After-Hours Block Trading, Short Sales, And Information Leakage: Evidence From Korea

We investigate the impact of insider trading in after-hours block market on stock price and short sales volume, before and after the trading becomes public information. During pre-announcement period, positive (negative) abnormal stock return is generated when insiders buy (sell) their shares but does not when quasi-insiders trade, implying that stock price reflects long-lived private information of corporate governance structure. The impact is most prominent when ownership shares are transferred to (from) corporate insiders. In contrast, short sales volume generally does not depend on the identity of block holders. Short sales volume has a negative correlation with abnormal stock return only during the transaction date, indicating that a short-sale decision of tippees is based on their sole expectation on instantaneous stock returns. We also find evidence that insiders select the timing of their trades with respect to maximizing their realized profits or minimizing their purchasing costs.

The Effect of Negative Buyer Feedback on Prices in Internet Auction Markets

The success of the Internet economy depends largely on how parties establish trust in their transactions. Building on the premise that the major role of Internet intermediaries is to ensure efficient and safe transactions between buyers and sellers, this study tested how buyer’s feedback scores on sellers accumulated from previous transactions affect the final bidding prices in the electronic auction market

In vitro and ex vivo measurement of the biophysical properties of blood using microfluidic platforms and animal models

Haemorheologically impaired microcirculation, such as blood clotting or abnormal blood flow, causes interrupted blood flows in vascular networks. The biophysical properties of blood, including blood viscosity, blood viscoelasticity, haematocrit, red blood bell (RBC) aggregation, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and RBC deformability, have been used to monitor haematological diseases. In this review, we summarise several techniques for measuring haemorheological properties, such as blood viscosity, RBC deformability and RBC aggregation, using in vitro microfluidic platforms. Several methodologies for the measurement of haemorheological properties with the assistance of an extracorporeal rat bypass loop are also presented. We briefly discuss several emerging technologies for continuous, long-term, multiple measurements of haemorheological properties under in vitro or ex vivo conditions.11Ysciescopu