Manipulation in Agricultural Commodities Futures Market: Application of Benford’s Law

Due to manipulation suspicion, farmers have less confidence in the agricultural commodity futures market. For example, the sharp increase in the 1989 July soybean futures price was due to market manipulation by Ferruzzi Finanzia S.P.A., a major buyer of soybeans (Knight, 1989). Data manipulation is generally difficult to detect; even auditing financial records with sophisticated methods often misses it. Using Benford’s Law, Amiram et al. (2015) detected manipulation in Fairfield Sentry Fund investments managed by Bernie Madoff. This study applied a modified Benford’s Law to soybean futures trading data, and preliminary results confirmed the Ferruzzi effect in 1989

Improving the Quality of Life of a Homeless Person Using Co-Design and Paul Polak\u27s 12 Steps to Practical Problem Solving

Improving the Quality of Life of Homeless Persons using Co-Design and Paul Polack’s 12 Steps for Practical Problem Solving Nana Ofei-Tenkorang Sponsor: Vinka Oyanedel-Craver, Civil and Environmental Engineering The Stewart B. McKinney Act (1994) defines a homeless person as one who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence; and has a primary night time residency that is (A) either a publicly or privately supervised operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations, (B) a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings and, (C) an institution that provides a temporary residence or service for individuals intended to be institutionalized. This definition includes those people who are on the streets or in shelters and people who face eviction from private dwellings or institutions and who have no residence or resource to obtain housing. There are two major reasons why people become homeless in Rhode Island: (A) lack of affordable housing and, (B) lack of adequate income. A diverse group of people experience homelessness – namely, children, the elderly, individuals and families in both rural communities and in the cities. The number of homeless people has been on the increase over the past few years. For example there were 484 more homeless people in 2011 than in 2007 who visited shelters in the State which accounts for a 12% increase. Considering the increase in numbers of affected people, I have tried to develop some practices that improve the quality of life of a homeless person. In this study I try to answer the following question, Is it possible for a homeless person to have access to a better life? One of the best strategies to obtain an answer to this question is to go out and talk to them. This is where co-design comes in. The term co-design simply means developing or improving a service or device together with the user and customers. To address the root causes of homelessness with the aim to improve the quality of many lives, I utilized Paul Polak’s 12 steps to practical problem solving. He has successfully used this approach to develop alternative solutions to eradicate poverty in developing countries. These steps not only apply to global poverty alleviation, but can also be used to solve problems found in many disciplines. The goal of this study is to develop a prototype that solves a common problem faced by a person who is homeless. To do this I selected a group of 18 Rhode Island residents who are homeless or on the edge of homelessness and asked them to complete a 13-question survey which I developed. Results of the survey showed that resources such as service providers, labor services, and transportation are not easily accessible. Using co-design, a prototype will be developed to solve these common problems faced by the homeless. Keywords: Co-Design, Practical Problem solving, a homeless person, Paul Polak, Povert

Manipulation in the Agricultural Commodities Futures Market: Application of Benford\u27s Law

This paper proposes that Benford’s Law is an effective tool for determining futures market irregularities and therefore should be adopted and used in efforts to detect and prevent manipulation in the agriculture commodities futures market. Market manipulation, while hard to define and even harder to detect and prevent, has long been a concern for traders and regulators alike. Market power manipulation – the intentional use of monopolistic power to cause market prices to diverge from their competitive level – harms the market by eroding its efficiency and impairing market integrity thereby driving away potential traders and ultimately undermining financial markets, investments, and the economy as a whole. An effective, accurate, and readily understood economic analysis method for easy detection of market manipulation is needed. This paper examines the data from the alleged 1989 Ferruzzi soybean futures market “squeeze” with the hypothesis that a deviation from uniform price distribution should be found in 1989. Through the application of Benford’s Law, this paper confirmed the existence of market manipulation in May of 1989. Moreover, the findings further suggest: 1) the possibility of manipulation in the soybean futures market in 1987 and 1988 prior to the Ferruzzi incident, 2) that the Chicago Board of Trade’s forced liquidation orders prevented or minimized the effects of the Ferruzzi squeeze in July of 1989, and 3) Benford’s Law is an effective method for detecting futures market irregularities and therefore promises to be a potentially useful tool in the early detection and prevention of market power manipulation

Implementation challenges of maternal health care in Ghana: the case of health care providers in the Tamale Metropolis

Background: Achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of improving maternal health has become a focus in recent times for the majority of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Ghana’s maternal mortality is still high indicating that there are challenges in the provision of quality maternal health care at the facility level. This study examined the implementation challenges of maternal health care services in the Tamale Metropolis of Ghana. Methods: Purposive sampling was used to select study participants and qualitative strategies, including in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and review of documents employed for data collection. The study participants included midwives (24) and health managers (4) at the facility level. Results: The study revealed inadequate in-service training, limited knowledge of health policies by midwives, increased workload, risks of infection, low motivation, inadequate labour wards, problems with transportation, and difficulties in following the procurement act, among others as some of the challenges confronting the successful implementation of the MDGs targeting maternal and child health in the Tamale Metropolis. Conclusions: Implementation of maternal health interventions should take into consideration the environment or the context under which the interventions are implemented by health care providers to ensure they are successful. The study recommends involving midwives in the health policy development process to secure their support and commitment towards successful implementation of maternal health interventions

Child and Young Adult Headed Households in the Context of the AIDS Epidemic in Zimbabwe, 1988-2006

The emergence of Child-Headed Households (CHH) and Young Adult Households (YAH) has largely been taken as an indicator of the erosion of the traditional safety nets in sub-Saharan countries and a direct consequence of the increasing number of orphans in the region. However, the initial evidence presented so far suggests that the process of formation of CHH and YAH is more complex than it appears to be. Using the four available waves of the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Surveys (1988, 1994, 1999, and 2005/2006) we find that the proportion of households with no adults have remained stable in the last years, although the number of orphans have increased significantly. In fact, a large number of children living in CHH are non-orphans, which suggests that this kind of living arrangements is not always a direct consequence of parental death. Moreover, our analysis show that children living in CHH and YAH are less likely to have unmet basic needs than children in households headed by working-age adults and other vulnerable households

The Impact of Gold Mining on Local Farming Communities in Ghana

The increase in leases for surface gold mining in Ghana between 1983 and 1998 has had drastic consequences for sustainable land use and management in the country. Most of these leases were for surface mining displacing the original owners from large arable land needed for their livelihoods. This situation makes the local people vulnerable to econom-ic uncertainties. The real benefits accruing to the ordinary Ghanaian in these mining communities is simply taken, for granted as monetary compensation is paid to affected community members. Such palliative payments to people displaced by mining activities do not address the existing vulnerabilities of these mining communities. This study looks at the effects of mining on households, but from the perspective of the needs expressed by individuals living in the mining area. Using descriptive survey research design, a total of 90 respondents were sampled for structured interviews. Furthermore, 27 focus group discussions with different demographic and occupational groups were organized in se-lected communities in the Tarkwa, Obuasi, and Kenyasi mining areas of Ghana. The needs of households identified in this study varied and included access to productive lands, education, and basic necessities of life. However, household needs have not trans-lated into higher levels of development as a result of mining. It is recommended that a proper cost benefits analysis be conducted when the potential for mineral mining is dis-covered in any area before the decision to mine. These analyses should go beyond just the economic indicators to social and development indicators, which include more quality of life issues

Industrial Transformation Roadmap for Digitalisation and Smart Factories:The Danish SMEs Model

Today only some sections of the supply chain are digitalized, but some companies are also already far with Industry 4.0, where the virtual factory and the physical factory work closely together (digital twin). Industry 4.0, which started in Germany among the large OEMs, seems to have not resonated much with SMEs. There is an imminent challenge of coming up with a feasible transformation roadmap which will resonate effectively and efficiently with SEMs as they are the core backbone of every performing economy. This research investigates Smart Factories/Industry 4.0 in the Danish SMEs model perspective. This research's main objectives are to develop a feasible roadmap in the form of a conceptual framework for easy industrial transformation to the digitalizing and smart way of (doing things) developing products and/or services. This research employs quantitative research methods such as surveys and interviews where applicable as well as a literature review in the SMEs perspective. Previous research has shown that the digital evolution coined as Industry 4.0 was started among large companies. However, this initial precedence has not resonated very much with all-inclusive industrial evolution, especially within the SMEs perspective. The main industrial implication will be the definition of a clear feasible roadmap for what this research terms as an industrial transformation process - "digital change management process - Industry 4.0/Smart factory" in the industrial SMEs perspective - the Danish Model. This research seeks to propose a conceptual smart factory roadmap in an Industry 4.0 perspective, which could be adopted among manufacturing SMEs to effectively, and efficiently transform their production operations. The Danish model perspective or angle of Industry 4.0.</p